by Monica Hahn
For the first time in her life, Arati summoned her father. He came with ill grace, as Arati hadn’t given the guardian entrusted with this message any explanation, so he didn’t know why his daughter expected him to leave his cozy bed in the middle of the night to attend to her. However, any petulance that he was feeling disappeared when he saw Arati’s distraught face.
“What happened?” Saras asked, any remaining grogginess dissipating.
Arati explained the sequence of events, and went through the entire conversation that she had overheard. She had expected her father to display some surprise at Zanth’s exposed perfidy, but there was nothing but speculation in his expression.
“You did well,” he said. “The only good thing to come of this is that one of the prongs of Zanth’s attack has been neutralized. I do worry that now Zanth might feel he needs to escalate a different path to power. I’ll see if I can keep him fixated on marrying you in lieu of war.” He looked at Fiern and then Arati. “Zanth must not know that we suspect him.” They both nodded at him.
He clumsily patted Arati’s hand. “We’ll double your guard tonight,” he said.
Arati managed a shaky smile for this display of fatherly concern.
Saras then told Fiern, “You take care of her.”
“That’s what I do,” Fiern said, reassuringly.
The king smiled in an almost approving fashion, and then left abruptly.
“That was different,” Arati said.
“He’s getting soft in his old age,” Fiern agreed. She tenderly tucked Arati into bed, and had a cot brought in beside Arati’s bed, so that she could be available if needed. It had been an upsetting night, and she felt even more protective than usual. Murder in the castle… what was the world coming to!
Chapter Sixteen
The next morning at breakfast, Saras had a guard check on whether their guest was planning on attending the meal or not. The guard returned with the disturbing news that the guest’s room was unoccupied, and the bed appeared to be untouched. Also, there was no trace of Rayan’s belongings at all. Saras appeared upset and requested that Zanth meet him in the cabinet room. There, Saras expressed bewilderment at Rayan’s absence. Zanth pretended shock in return.
“Why would he just leave?” Saras asked.
“Perhaps he grew uneasy at the thought that he might be discovered and simply escaped,” Zanth suggested.
“But he already knew that we knew he wasn’t Horatio,” Saras said, craftily being candid. “We had even discussed offering him the position anyway, as an emergency measure to stabilize the kingdom, so him leaving doesn’t seem very likely.”
“It’s surprising, definitely,” Zanth said. “But not completely unexpected with someone of his character.”
“That’s a valid point,” Saras said. “It seems strange that it’s come to such an unsatisfactory conclusion. We’re still in same situation with the threat our kingdom is facing, and we still have no solution.”
“Have you thought anymore about your daughter assuming the throne?” Zanth asked.
Saras sighed and took a moment before answering. “With the right husband, she might be capable,” he mused.
“As I’m certain your Royal Highness is aware, your daughter is, despite her rather unfortunate age, an attractive and intelligent matrimonial prospect. Anyone would be lucky to have such a consort, including someone like me, were I bold enough to propose such a lopsided arrangement. I understand that my bloodline might not be as impressive as you may aspire to, but my loyalty to both you and Tibercon could certainly not be in question!”
“Your loyalty is certainly not the issue here,” Saras said. “If anything, recent events have put any doubts about that to rest. As for any other factors governing your suitability as a suitor, there is nothing insurmountable. My only hesitation in making a favorable reply is simply political. I’m still waiting to hear back on several previously extended offers that I feel must be resolved before any further action is taken. You are definitely on the list of possibilities, however, and very near the top.”
Zanth preened himself just a little and left soon after.
Saras took a deep breath and crushed the quill pen he had been fiddling with as they had talked. It had been all he could do to be civil to that disloyal vermin, but Zanth was undoubtedly on edge after taking such drastic action, and Saras did not want to provoke him into any others. It was surprising the difference that loss, weakness, and age could bring about when it came to his previously famous bad temper. He was finding himself unable to even consider making his daughter an actual sacrifice to Zanth. That marriage was absolutely out of the question. Unfortunately, there didn’t seem to be any other solution, at least not any that he could see. Perhaps it was time to expand his strategy sessions to include Arati. She had been quite resourceful lately.
He requested her before he could change his mind.
After he gave her a short recap of his conversation with Zanth, he told her, “If I felt that the Guard was not so entrenched in Zanth’s leadership, I would have Zanth brought up on charges of treason and executed with your testimony.”
“It wouldn’t be prudent now,” Arati said. “With the Guard split, there’s no way of knowing where their loyalty lies. At least with Zanth in charge they are under control as long as he is handled.”
“With that in mind,” Saras said, “Zanth has grown arrogant enough that he thinks himself a worthy mate for you.”
“You didn’t anger him, did you?” Arati asked, her nervousness obvious.
“I didn’t,” Saras said. “I assured him that his loyalty was without question, which it is, and put him off with the excuse that I’m still waiting for replies from other possible suitors. Which is true, but sufficient time has passed that it’s surprising to me that we haven’t received any replies. Unless we actually are both being ostracized.”
“My theory is that Zanth has ordered all of the outgoing communications intercepted so as to prevent any other arrangements being made,” Arati said. “To make us grow even more desperate.”
“That would make sense,” Saras said. “And how horribly insolent of him if true! There’s probably no sense in sending anything out again, in that case. We might be stuck. I am considering having him assassinated.”
“I would applaud that as a solution, if I didn’t fear that it would cause the same potential outcome as to have him arrested for treason,” Arati said. “Then again, if it looked accidental it might work…”
“Poison, perhaps.” Saras smiled at her. “Not a conversation that I ever thought I would have with my daughter.”
She laughed. “Times have changed us both.”
“Check with Fiern and see what her sources believe would happen in the event of Zanth’s demise, whether natural or otherwise,” Saras said.
Arati acknowledged with a small nod that her father was much more aware of the intrigue in the castle than he appeared to be. She suspected that he had recovered much more fully from his stroke than his doctors believed.
Chapter Seventeen
It was another mellow day at sea, and Catarina was up on the quarterdeck with Mikel. She had swept aside some maps and was perched on the edge of a table, eating a pear. Mikel was tracking and recording their course in the ship’s log, although it was taking him longer today as Catarina being there was distracting.
She leaned over to look at his work and frowned. “Is that right?” she asked. “Is it really February 20th today?”
“Yes,” Mikel said. “Is something amiss?”
“I didn’t realize so much time had passed,” she said. “I have to get back to Tibercon by March 1st. It’s important.”
He had been planning on finding a way for them to get there once they had reached Rouland and unloaded Mr. Freyer and his wares, as Mikel had decided to not even ask Tarik about sailing the Quest there. Currently they were heading in the opposite direction of Tibercon. He shook his head. “You’re not going to make it. We have Mr. Fre
yer’s contract to complete. By the time we make our delivery and head back, it’s going to be around March 6th at the earliest. At this point, the only possibility would be to turn around right now and hope the weather holds.”
“Let’s do that.” She turned pleading eyes at him.
“We have a contract. We’ve never broken a contract.”
“But this is really important. I have to be in Tibercon on March 1st.” She jumped off the table and started to pace the room, her skirts swishing around her.
“Why? What is so important about March 1st?” Mikel asked, putting down his pen and facing her.
“It’s my wedding date.”
He stared at her, certain that she must be joking, although it was obvious that she wasn’t. “But you’re married to me,” he said.
She laughed. “Yes, but just pretend married.”
Mikel was genuinely confused at this point. “Pretend? Why would you think it was a fake wedding?”
She looked at him in surprise at the obvious puzzlement in his voice and on his face. “Because that’s what Tarik said it was, when I told him that I was already engaged. He said I could either pretend to marry you or throw myself overboard.”
“He said that?”
“Yes.”
“Excuse me. I need to go speak to someone.” He left without saying anything else.
*****
Mikel, his head spinning with this new information, tracked down Tarik who was alone in his cabin, reading. “Tarik, we need to talk,” he said, without any other attempt at a greeting.
Tarik swung his legs off his bunk where he had been lying and sat up. “What about?”
“My wife thinks that our wedding was fake. She says that you told her it would be. After she told you that she was already engaged!”
Tarik shrugged, looking a little uncomfortable. “I was trying to save her life,” he said.
“By lying to her? And to me?”
“I never—”
“Never what? Had me marry someone that I thought had agreed to marry me? Never told me that it didn’t matter what I did in my cabin, with my wife, as long as I spent the night? Why would you do that to me? Tarik, I love her!”
“I know,” Tarik said. “I knew that then, when I saw the way you looked at her, and that’s why I did it. If she had told you that she was engaged you never would have married her, and I couldn’t have guaranteed a positive outcome. This way you have the woman you love as your wife. It’s a gift.”
“A gift?” Mikel laughed bitterly. “If you want to give me a gift, I need you to turn the ship around and get to Tibercon by March 1st.”
“That’s not going to happen,” Tarik said.
“That’s when my wife is going to marry another man,” Mikel said. “So, yes, it is going to happen. It’s the least I can do for her after deceiving her.”
“You didn’t deceive her,” Tarik said. “I did. And it’s not as if she can marry someone else now anyway.”
“There is no reason why she couldn’t,” Mikel said. “She still thinks it’s a fake marriage.”
“She thinks it’s fake and she still…” Tarik raised an eyebrow.
“No, she didn’t. And I didn’t. We didn’t. So, she’s going to marry her fiancé.”
Tarik’s face reflected the pain on Mikel’s. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I was only trying to ensure you a happy ending.”
“I didn’t ask for your help,” Mikel said. “What you’ve given me is a broken heart.”
“But it doesn’t have to be that way,” Tarik said. “She loves you, and when we get to Rouland, you can take her out dancing and dining and she’ll forget all about her fiancé and you can enjoy being married.”
“I can’t do that,” Mikel said, stubbornly. “She needs to get back to Tibercon.”
“Well, we have a contract for Rouland, so that’s where this ship is going.”
“Tarik, please. I need to make this right. I know you’d prefer to never go to Tibercon, for whatever reason, but this is important. You wouldn’t even have to dock there. We could row in.”
“I would make an exception for you about Tibercon,” Tarik said. “But I need to honor my contracts. You know we’ve had an impeccable record this far. I won’t let Catarina ruin that.”
“Don’t do it for her. Do it for me.” Mikel turned fully towards Tarik and looked him in the eyes. “I never knew my father. Just my mother and grandfather. Lately I’ve thought that if I did have a father, I would want him to be like you.”
Tarik’s eyes softened. “Lad, I think the world of you,” he said. “And I would have been proud to be your father, but there’s two things that I would do for you in that role that I’m doing now. One is to make sure that our contract is honored, and the other is to keep you together with the woman you love. Because once you’re separated, it’s over and you’ll be left with nothing and I want you to be happy.”
Mikel closed his eyes and opened them again. “You won’t break the contract, even just to delay it?”
“No, I can’t.”
“Then I’ll talk to someone who can,” Mikel said.
*****
The crew was surprised to hear the announcement at dinner that evening that they were changing course. Not only was it surprising that they were no longer going directly to Rouland, but they were shocked to hear that they were now heading to Tibercon, somewhere this ship had never docked before, either as the Spawn or the Quest.
Catarina thanked Tarik after this announcement.
“Don’t thank me,” he said. “It was your husband that got Mr. Freyer to free us from the contract that had us heading to Rouland. Mikel did it for you even though it cost him a fortune.”
“Mikel gave up his fortune for me?” she asked.
“Of course, he did. He loves you, and a man in love will give up everything.”
Catarina felt stunned. It was how Tarik spoke that convinced her. He was so matter of fact about it. She turned without a word and left without finishing her meal.
She searched the ship for Mikel, and finally found him up by the bow. “Tarik said you gave up the fortune you’ve been saving to get me to Tibercon,” she said, without any preamble.
He would have denied this, but she had caught him off guard and the proof was on his face. He shrugged. “It won’t take all that long to regain it,” he said.
“You won’t have to earn it back,” she said. “I will repay you, once I’m back home. I don’t want you to have to suffer because of this.”
He grimaced, wondering if she had any clue how he was suffering. Giving up his treasure, and even his dream of saving his mother, was nothing compared to relinquishing Catarina. “It’s nothing,” he said. “Keep your money.”
“No,” she said. “I pay my debts and you have sacrificed so much to help me. I want you to be able to give your mother the life that you both deserve. I will get you the money.”
“Your family must care about you a great deal,” he said.
Her eyes widened. “My mother does,” she said. “I don’t think that my father has ever viewed me as anything but a commodity. He cares about my brothers, of course, but not me. He will be pleased to see me, however, as I imagine that me being gone has been a bit of an inconvenience.”
“I’m sorry,” Mikel said, and there was understanding along with sincerity in the simple phrase.
“I have to do this,” she said. “I made a vow.”
“Naturally we must honor our vows,” Mikel said. “Especially to those we love.”
“I don’t love Stefan,” Catarina said. “I never did. But, I promised my father that I would marry him, and so I must. Our family’s future is tied to it. I was never consulted about the agreement, because my desires were never considered important. I never thought that I would be happy with the arrangement, but I dreamed of at least being content. Now that I’ve had this, though,” she said, waving her arm to encompass the sea, the Quest, and him, “I doubt I’ll even be that.”
He nodded. “I’m sorry,” he said, again.
Catarina smiled, even though she knew it probably looked as fake as it felt. But, smiling was what one did in all circumstances. “Will you miss me?” she asked. She had meant for it to be teasing, but it didn’t sound that way at all. She knew it wasn’t a fair question, but Mikel seemed bound and determined to do all in his power to ensure that she ended up out of his life and with another man, and just because she said that’s what she wanted, didn’t mean it really was.
“Yes,” Mikel said, his eyes not on her, but on the mesmerizing waves leading out to the horizon where the sun was just starting to set. “Very much.”
Mikel then walked away from her, again.
Caterina sat on the nearest thing available, a cask of unknown contents, and reevaluated her entire relationship with Mikel. If he had really believed this whole time that they were actually married, then his restraint was admirable. The noble and protective attitude that he had always had towards her, especially in light of him believing that he had a moral right to her, was indicative of a finer upbringing than most men she had ever known. He was extraordinary, and she would give anything to actually be his wife. There wasn’t any point in pining about possibilities, though, as she had made a vow that she intended to honor whether she wanted to or not. She knew that Mikel understood that. It would be wonderful if this ship and the amazing man that she was in love with were the only things in the world that existed, but it wasn’t true, and she needed to stop pretending that reality didn’t exist. She was going to marry Stefan, and soon all she would have of Mikel were the memories. She suddenly wanted to cry, so she slid off the casket and climbed to the crow’s nest where she could do so in peace.
*****
Mikel procured a bottle of cheap gin and settled back into his favorite place on the ship, right against the bow where it felt the most like he was master of his fate and charging towards his future. Although he normally loved speed and getting things done as quickly as possible, at this moment he was wishing for any and all of the calamities they tried to ward against: storms, ship malfunctions, even attack. Anything to slow down the inevitable. Catarina was going to leave him, and despite knowing that was what needed to happen, he hated the way it made him feel. He understood and respected her sense of honor to keep her commitment, but he didn’t want to give her up and have to live without her. He wanted to keep her safe and keep her close. He could feel the devastation wash over him, and he took another swallow. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt as much if he was numb. He kept drinking and thinking and trying not to feel. Intellectually, he knew that he was fine before he met her, that she had only had a short while to imprint on his heart and that he should be fine without her, but he knew those were lies. She’d become a part of him and letting her go was going to rip his heart out and be the most painful thing he’d ever experienced. He thought of Tarik and felt empathy. Would he cope by denying most human contact also? Probably. They were a lot alike.