by Megan Hart
"I meant no offense." I gazed back at him as blankly as I could.
He dropped my hand. "Get you gone, fetchencarry. Back to your master. Be assured I'll tell him of the part you played in this."
I nodded and backed away. "As you see fit."
Rosten narrowed his eyes at me. "You have no respect for me, do you?"
"I respect you, my lord Rosten. Of course I do."
"I think you'll come to realize I am to be more than respected." Rosten's hideous smile spread across his face. "I think you will find I am also to be feared."
I didn't doubt he was right.
Chapter Twenty
I'd found my place in the White Palace. I rose before Daelyn in the morn, and spent several chimes on the fight field being beaten to a pulp by Lir. I spent the rest of my time helping Daelyn dress and prepare for whatever function he might be attending that day. He wasn't easy to tend. He was fractious and demanding and expected me to read his mind. He made me feel either like the most brilliant of comrades or the most bumbling of fools, often within the same breath.
I adored him.
I wasn't as fond of Lir. Though I gave him a grudging respect because he taught me well, there were too many times his comments set my teeth on edge. He could look right through me in a way Daelyn didn't bother. Lir always knew when I was angry, and he used that to taunt me to work harder. Daelyn never cared.
"You look like you're going to cry," Daelyn remarked one day, after he'd told me I had the fashion sense of a toad.
His words stung, but my tears were from pain, not hurt feelings. I'd just returned from the fight field, where a misstep twisted my ankle. The mud on my clothes and face, which had prompted his comment, flaked onto the fine marble floor of his chambers when I walked.
"What's the matter with you?" He asked suspiciously. "What's wrong with your leg?"
"I twisted my ankle. I'll bind it up. It'll be fine." I took another step.
"Come here." His imperious command made me sigh, but of course I didn't dare show any reluctance to obey. "Sit down."
"I'll get your chair filthy," I protested, but his look stopped me. I sat. Daelyn motioned for me to lift my leg toward him. He cradled my ankle in his supple-fingered hands, and his touch was far gentler than I'd imagined.
"Think you I can't get a stupid chair cleaned? Or buy another if I wish? What do you think is more important to me, Aeris? The chair? Or my fetchencarry?"
I'd have said the chair, easily, but his expression kept me from replying. I winced again when he pressed the sore spots. Daelyn clucked his tongue and reached for a pot from his vanity. "This will help the swelling. I do have the capacity for compassion, Aeris."
"I wouldn't suggest otherwise, my prince." I stood and tested my weight. The ankle still hurt, but not as much.
Daelyn laughed. "You would if you had any balls. Lir would tell me to my face I was being a self-absorbed twit."
"Lir would be the only one." I met his eyes without wavering.
"I daresay you are correct." Daelyn's smile thinned. "Go bathe. You stink."
I ducked my head and did as he bade. When I came out of the privy chamber, I found him already seated at his vanity. He'd opened his cosmetic case and toyed now with the brushes and pots of color, but hadn't put any on. His face, clean of the paint, looked pale.
"My prince?"
His eyes met mine in the mirror. "I'm not going to be a parent this month."
I came to stand beside him, but didn't quite dare to touch his shoulder. "I'm sorry."
His laugh scorched my ears. "Don't be sorry for me. I'll get to try again. Every day, if that's what it takes, and the women are ready. Be sorry for the girls they sent me who didn't catch my seed. They'll be punished today."
A chill crawled down my spine. I took up a brush and dipped it into the pot of lip color. Daelyn turned so I could begin to paint his lips. His hand came up to clasp my wrist and hold my hand steady. His eyes met mine more intensely face to face than when the mirror had been between us.
"Rosten's been meeting with the Priests of Sinder. He's been reinventing the Law of the Book. What do you suppose that portends?"
I bit my lip before I answered. "His reputation is great, my prince. He's..."
"He's a monster," Daelyn said flatly. "He's a beast. He delights in torture. The women of his house cower before him. His friends pander to his every whim and ride so far up his ass they must eat his breakfast almost before he does."
His words were crude, but true. "He's an important man in Alyria."
"And I didn't elect him." Daelyn waved toward the cosmetic to show me to continue. "I inherited him. He was my father's comrade. Some say he was more than that. You would imagine a man who fucked the father on occasion would have more sympathy for the son. Yet I have the impression Lord Rosten does not like me. What say you?"
"No, my prince. I don't think Lord Rosten cares for you at all."
"I'd say he would rather have taken my father's seat than see me have it."
"It's not my place to say."
Again, Daelyn arrested my hand when it shook. "We both know it's the truth. If I don't spawn a boy child, I'll never be King. I could be Prince Regent forever. If the citizens of Alyria don't care, I don't either. But Lord Rosten cares, Aeris, and that makes me very nervous."
I steadied my hand and applied the glittering powder to his eyelids. "What would he have to do to declare himself King?"
"He'd have to declare me incompetent. Or unpopular." Daelyn didn't seem so nervous when he grinned. "And while he can prove I don't have any sons, the people of Alyria love me."
"They fear him."
He nodded, then turned to look in the mirror. "Sometimes fear can be more powerful than love."
I didn't know how to offer him comfort. Instead, I took up the. Daelyn sighed and closed his eyes for a moment, then leaned back against me. The contact startled me and made it impossible to continue brushing.
"I don't want to go to the House of the Book. But I have to."
I nodded, unable to say anything else. He sighed again, then reached for my hand. To my utter shock, he pulled it down and put it to his cheek. I froze at the intimate contact, uncertain how to react.
"Are you afraid of me?" Daelyn murmured. "Or do you love me?"
I didn't hesitate to answer. "I love you, my prince."
He opened his eyes. "Fear and love, Aeris. They can change the world."
Chapter Twenty-One
Daelyn rarely went anywhere by himself. His core group of lordlings followed him to Court, to places of entertainment, to wherever he might wish them to go. Yet they didn't go with him to the House of the Book.
He did take me, without an explanation other than he told me to accompany him and I did. I'd never been inside the round, white stone building, though I'd been past it many times. When we crossed the threshold, my heart stuttered in my chest and chills swept through me from more than just the dank coldness inside its walls.
I thought it might be dark inside, but the interior was bright and light. The walls were white, like the stone outside. High windows just beneath the roofline brought in sunlight that lost its golden tone immediately and became as cold and white as moonlight. The entry was empty, without furniture or decoration. A set of double doors, white-painted wood, led to a long, white hallway also without decoration. Not even tapestries adorned the walls. At the end of the hall, we paused.
Daelyn had dressed for this occasion as magnificently as any other. Against the pure white background, his crimson tunic and trousers seemed even brighter. I'd braided his hair in a simple style set off by the intricately feathered and beaded hat. Even his shoes were covered with glittering gems and embroidery. His sword, decorative as well as functional, hung at his side in a scabbard of intricately etched leather. He looked devastatingly handsome, but as he stopped in front of the doors, he looked at his outfit with dismay.
"Too much," he said.
I'd never heard him say anythin
g was too much. "My prince?"
Impatiently, he gestured at the hat, the shoes, the tunic and pants. "Too much. This is no poetry house. No ballroom dinner."
"I plead your mercy. I chose what I thought you would like –"
He gave me an eye. "I should've refused this. Take this hat."
He tossed it at me. "Get rid of the plume. And the shoes. Take off the jewels."
I didn't understand this sudden impulse toward being plain, but I did as he asked. I plucked the jewels from his shoes, then the plume from his hat. He tore the cuffs of lace and tossed them to the floor, then ripped the line of shining crystal beads from his knee garters. When he was through, he wasn't plain, but no longer did he glitter and shimmer and shine.
"Well?"
I gathered the cast-off finery and bundled it together. I slipped the jewels into my waistpurse to return to his jewel box. "You look more serious."
He twisted his mouth. "Don't mock me."
"I would never do that." I brushed at his sleeve to rid it of a few stray threads. "But, forgive me for saying this. I don't think Lord Rosten is going to be impressed."
Daelyn sniffed and looked toward the double doors. "I'm not doing this to impress him. This is out of respect for those who will take the punishment for my failure."
He looked at me very closely, then, perhaps judging my reaction. I couldn't hide it. I'd never heard a man admit to giving any sort of respect to any woman. I didn't know what to say.
"Does that shock you?" He whispered.
"No, my prince." But it did, and he could tell. And it pleased me, which he could not know.
Daelyn gave me a narrow-eyed glance. "And what will you tell the Book Monster of this?"
"Nothing."
"Because you love me," he said in a voice so low I almost didn't hear it.
He gave me no time to reply before he pushed open the doors and walked through. I followed with my awkward bundle of lace and beads. We entered a large, circular room as white and cold as the others, but this one had a large dais set up at one end and several pairs of double doors around the perimeter. One was open, and I could see it led to another corridor much like the one we'd just come down. Above us ran a gallery for spectators, empty today.
Lord Rosten and the Council of the Book sat on chairs on the dais. I saw familiar faces. Lord Adamantane, Lord Simelbon. Fiesco, the man who'd brought the girls to Daelyn's chambers the month before, shifted and looked cross as we entered.
"I'm telling you, the follies were ripe and ready!" He paused when he saw us and made a brief sign of respect to Daelyn, who acknowledged it with a tip of his head.
Rosten frowned. "Ah, my lord prince. How nice of you to join us."
"Did I keep you waiting?" Daelyn looked at the other lords with an expression of insincere apology on his face. "My goodness, I'm terribly sorry."
Rosten's lips pursed as though he'd tasted something bitter. He made a wide gesture toward the only empty chair on the dais. "We merely await your presence to begin, my lord."
Daelyn took his seat and I stood behind him. Rosten looked me up and down and frowned. "This is not the usual place for fetchencarries."
Daelyn turned to look at him. "And it's not the usual practice for you to declare whose company I keep."
Rosten didn't look chastised. He wasn't used to being spoken against. Again, his lips pursed. "Shall we get to the judgment, my lord prince?"
Daelyn turned back to face front. His voice belied the anger I knew he felt. "Carry on. I haven't got all day for this, you know."
"I know your time is valuable," Rosten said. "I'm sure you have some ale to drink and some dancing to do...."
Daelyn's head whipped around so fast his braid smacked my arm. He said nothing, but Rosten bowed his head in acquiescence. I could clearly see the power Daelyn wielded in Alyria, no matter if Rosten thought him worthy of it or not.
"Get on with it," Daelyn said after what seemed a full eternity of silence. "Unlike some of you, I have places to be."
Rosten wisely made no more comment but jerked his head toward the burly guards at the pair of doors closest to him. They opened them and in a moment, three women stumbled through, linked together by the chains around their wrists.
"These are the follies taken to your chambers during their fertile time. None of them has gotten with child. As this is the third attempt for each of them, it is up to the Council of the Book to judge and determine adequate punishment for their failure to complete this, the most basic of tasks."
"You surely can't believe any of these women deliberately refused to catch my seed." Daelyn sounded bored. "When carrying and birthing a son of mine would give them honor they could never otherwise hope to achieve? When not doing so allows them to face punishment at your hands?"
"Nevertheless," Rosten said. "The fact is, none of them have carried or birthed your child. They have failed in their duty, which was solely to birth your son."
"Nevertheless," Daelyn replied, "To indicate they did so with intent is ridiculous."
Rosten sat back in his chair, his face a sour, pinched and twisted mask. His eyes glittered with fury, but his voice was calm. "I don't presume to reach inside a folly's mind, my prince. I can only take action upon what they do. Or do not do. It is the Law of the Book."
Standing behind Daelyn, I couldn't see his face but his voice told me all I needed to know. "I've studied the Law of the Book for years. Not as many as you, true, but then...." His voice dropped a bit and became a trifle snide. "I don't have as many years as you. However, despite that, I am well-versed in the Law of the Book. I know the passage you preach, and I know I'm in the minority when it comes to belief in its meaning."
"'And the woman of his household, shall she not bring forth the fruit of her womb, she shall be dealt with,'" Rosten quoted. "'And shall three times the woman prove herself unable to get with child, measures you shall take.'"
"The Book does not say what measures those should be," Daelyn replied mildly. "There are many who believe the passage means a more compassionate solution."
"As Book Master, 'tis my duty to interpret and enforce the Law of the Book," Rosten shot back without hesitation. "And there are many who believe the passage implies severe consequences."
"Most men don't punish their women when they don't get pregnant every fertile time," Daelyn said.
"Most men are not the Prince Regent of Alyria."
Through all this, the women remained still and silent beneath their follyblankets. They wouldn't even be granted the opportunity to speak on their behalf. They wouldn't be allowed to speak at all. My guts tumbled as I watched Lord Rosten motion for them to be brought forward.
"Fiesco, do you testify these three are the last who were taken to the prince for his use?"
The small man nodded. "They was tested, my lord Rosten. All have spawned babes already. They was fertile. They just didn't catch."
"My lord prince." Rosten turned to him. "Forgive me for even asking, but 'tis the Law of the Book. Did you lie with these women for the purpose of procreating?"
Did Daelyn hesitate, just briefly? I wished I could see his face. "I did what I had to do."
Rosten didn't query him further. On that account, at least, he seemed to take Daelyn's side. "Then 'tis the failure of the follies. Now we at the Council of the Book must decide their punishment."
I heard Daelyn grind his teeth, and he muttered. "To punish them for what is not their fault is ludicrous."
Rosten pretended not to hear. "What says the Council?"
Adamantane stepped forward, jowls aquiver. He didn't even try to hide the light of joy in his eyes. His fat cheeks were flushed. Had he not been so immensely obese, I was sure I'd have seen the jut of his arousal straining his trousers. He put his quill to the thick black book sitting on the lectern in the front of the dais.
"Each of them is to give the use of their dominant hand." Adamantane scrawled the judgment on the creamy paper, then sprinkled the ink with sand to dry it
. He blew it off and the dust made me cough.
Rosten shot me a glance, narrow-eyed and suspicious. I tried to take a breath and more dust choked me. My eyes watered. I gasped. I hadn't been choking because of his pronouncement, not at first, but as the horror of what the Council of the Book had decided sank in, my throat closed further on the dust. I couldn't breathe.
"Sinder's Balls!" Daelyn got up to pound me none-too-gently on the back. The blows stung and hit me hard enough to make me step forward.
Bright spots flashed in front of my eyes as I tried unsuccessfully to take another breath. Daelyn hit me again, then handed me a cup of water that had come from who knew where. I choked on the water but it washed away the dust, and at last I could breathe.