The Destined Queen

by Deborah Hale

  Maura braced herself for Idrygon to tell Rath what he had discovered. Meanwhile she cursed herself for confiding in Delyon. She hadn’t expected him to keep her secret forever, but at least until the fate of Umbria was decided and she had a chance to break the news to Rath as gently as she could.

  “On the contrary, Highness, I have reconciled myself to the presence of the Hanish woman.” Idrygon’s gaze bored into Maura’s as one corner of his lips curled in mocking smirk. She knew he was not talking about Songrid. “Provided she poses no threat to our cause in the critical days to come, but proves herself helpful and agreeable, I see no reason to pursue the matter.”

  He addressed himself to Maura. “Do you believe the woman can be persuaded to cooperate, Highness?”

  So that was what he wanted. She should have guessed. If his true aim had been to expose her, he would have gone to Rath at once, instead of seeking her out to reveal what he knew. She could buy Idrygon’s silence in exchange for using her influence over Rath on his behalf.

  Given only an instant to decide and reply, her mind buzzed with arguments for and against, while her heart felt as if it were being torn in two. Could she betray the promise she had just made Rath to stand by him in any disagreement with Idrygon? But what was the alternative—leave him bereft of her support and counsel altogether?

  Besides, she might not approve of Idrygon’s ambition or his methods, but she could not quarrel with his results. Without him, she and Rath could never have hoped to liberate the hated mines at last and purge the Han from great areas of the kingdom.

  Maura met Idrygon’s challenging stare. “Whatever her blood, the woman has already proven herself a friend to the Umbrian people. I am certain she would be willing to oblige any reasonable request for help.”

  In spite of all the worthy excuses she gave herself for what she was doing, Maura could not escape the feeling she had betrayed Rath and all her beliefs. Could it be her Hanish blood finally making its influence felt?

  “Very well, then.” Idrygon’s dark eyes glittered with secret triumph. “If she continues to cooperate, nothing more need be said. If she proves intractable, however, I will be forced to raise the matter again with His Highness.”

  “If Maura feels we can trust this woman, that is good enough for me.” Rath seemed unaware of the byplay going on in front of him. “Unless you have clear proof she poses a threat. Now, let us not fret so much about one Hanish woman that we forget the two armies of her countrymen closing in on us.”

  “On the contrary, Highness.” Idrygon bowed. “I study to be vigilant of the Han in whatever form I encounter them.”

  He looked toward the swarming mass of mainlanders being marshaled by his trained Vestan soldiers into something like orderly ranks. “I believe we are ready to march, sire. I must mount and lead them out. Will you join me?”

  “I will catch up with you shortly.”

  Once Idrygon had departed, Rath turned Maura around to face him. “You see what I mean? He is a forceful character with ideas that don’t bend easily.”

  Forceful and unscrupulous. Though he had gone, Maura fancied she could feel Idrygon’s hands around her throat. If he believed she might pose a threat to the Umbrian alliance, he should have told Rath at once instead of using her secret to coerce her into helping him get his way.

  “The trouble is, he’s right nine times out of ten.” Rath gave a rueful shrug. “That’s what makes it so hard to oppose him the tenth time.”

  Maura could only nod in reply. If she tried to speak, she feared the truth would burst out of her.

  “Any luck finding Anulf?” asked Rath. “I’ll worry less about you visiting Windleford if I know he and the others are watching out for you.”

  “Not…yet.” She forced the words out. “I was looking for him when I met up with Idrygon.”

  “Could you fetch Snake along with you, too?” asked Rath.

  He’d told her how the beggar boy had crossed the mountains to bring word that she and Delyon had been captured. Though she wished Rath had been spared the worry, Maura was touched by what Snake had tried to do for her. It gave her hope that, if they could somehow defeat the Han, the ills that plagued her people might still be remedied.

  “I tried to send him back to Boyd Tanner in Prum, but he wouldn’t have any of it.” Rath stared toward the columns of men on the march. “The young fool says he wants to fight the Han, but I cannot stand the thought of him coming to harm…or of turning a lad his age into a killer.”

  Maura guessed what he was thinking. “I’ll try to leave him with Sorsha and Newlyn. I reckon they could use his help around Hoghill.”

  More than ever, she longed to see Sorsha—to confide in her oldest friend and ask for her practical, caring advice.

  “We’d better be quick about it before they all march away on us.” Beckoning the nearest Vestan officer, Rath ordered him to find Anulf and Snake and arrange Maura’s escort to Windleford.

  Then he lifted her off the ground and wrapped her in a surprisingly gentle embrace. “Give Sorsha and Newlyn my greetings. Let them see I took better care of you than they expected when we left Hoghill in the spring.”

  Maura threw her arms around his neck and squeezed with all her might. “No one could have taken better care of me, aira! Do you reckon Idrygon would be scandalized if I kissed you now, in plain sight of your troops?”

  When might she get another chance to kiss him? After their sudden separation when she’d been whisked away from the Islands, Maura had vowed to miss no opportunity to show Rath how much she loved him.

  “Scandalized?” A deep chuckle rumbled through Rath’s massive chest as he angled his lips toward hers. “I reckon he might be, but I don’t care. This is one of those tenth times when clever Lord Idrygon would be dead wrong!”

  “I can’t get over it, mistress…that is…Highness,” said Anulf a while later as he rode by Maura’s side toward Windleford, with young Snake perched behind him. Three men had fanned out ahead to watch for trouble, while two more brought up the rear. “The last time I saw you, I wasn’t certain you’d last another hour, let alone weeks and months.”

  For a moment Maura wasn’t sure what he meant. Then it dawned on her. “At the mine, you mean? It was a very near thing. I almost didn’t survive.”

  “I never saw the beat of it.” Anulf shook his head. “A slip of a lass standing her ground against a death-mage and turning his power back on him. The air was fairly crackling with it. Why, the hairs on my arms stood straight up.”

  Snake stared at Maura with wide eyes.

  “From that day on,” said Anulf, “I never doubted but you was the Destined Queen, like Wolf claimed. So when I heard tell the Waiting King was on the march, I had to come join him. When the other lads from Beastmount got wind of it, naught would do but they must all come with me.”

  Maura’s throat tightened. “You honor us with your service.”

  Anulf’s face reddened. “If it ain’t too forward to ask, Highness, whatever became of old Wolf? Last I saw, he was heading down the river with you in an ore barge. Half the reason me and the others joined the king’s army was hoping we’d find him here. But we’ve seen no sign of him.”

  “Were you not told?” Maura wished she could share the truth with Rath’s comrades, but she dared not antagonize Idrygon. “Your friend is very much alive. I saw and spoke with him not long ago.”

  She flashed Snake a look that bid him keep quiet about what he might know or guess.

  “Did you?” cried Anulf. “It does me good to hear news of him. What is he up to that keeps him away from your lord’s army? We could use a few more like him.”

  “He is doing his part for the liberation of Umbria, of that you may be sure,” said Maura. “He is…carrying out a very important mission for the king.”

  It would do Rath good to see his old mates again. Especially now, with the pressure mounting. Was there some way she could arrange it without Idrygon being the wiser? Maura was mulling the p
roblem over when one of the advance party came galloping back toward them.

  He reined to a halt in front of Maura and Anulf. “The village is just beyond those trees, Highness. There’s a crowd of folk holding the bridge. They don’t look like Han—just villagers with hay forks and flails. Should we turn back or try to fight our way across?”

  “No fighting,” said Maura. “There has been too much blood shed in this land for too long. Bad enough we must battle the Han—I will not see Umbrians fighting one another.”

  “Go around then, my lady?” asked Anulf. “Look for a spot to ford the river?”

  Maura shook her head. “It would take us too far out of our way. I promised we would rejoin the army by nightfall.”

  She thought for a moment, imagining herself still living in Langbard’s little cottage on the edge of the village while the events of the past weeks played out. “If the garrison has left, the villagers may fear an attack by outlaws. Let me go and talk to them, show them we mean no harm.”

  “Are you sure, my lady?” Anulf looked doubtful. “If any ill befalls you on our watch, we might be sorry we weren’t back in the mines.”

  “No harm will come to me. This is the village where I grew up. Just keep your men back until I have had a chance to speak with someone in charge.”

  Urging her mare forward, she called, “And while we are here, don’t anyone call me Highness!”

  She rode ahead, following the track through a bit of woodland. Her heart seemed to swell and grow heavy in her chest as she caught sight of Windleford Bridge for the first time in many months. During all the years she’d lived here, the village had never felt quite like home. But returning to it for the first time after a long absence, a warm sense of familiarity and belonging enfolded her.

  Waving back two of the advance party, she slowed her mare to a walk and held her hands out to show that she came unarmed.

  When she drew near enough that she could recognize several of the men guarding the bridge, she called out, “Master Starbow, how is business at your shop these days? Master Howen, did young Noll’s hand heal from the burn of that pain spike?”

  “Well, I’ll be blessed!” The shopkeeper dropped the staff he’d been holding in a rather menacing posture. “Is that Mistress Woodbury who used to live with old Langbard?”

  “It is.” Maura pulled the hood back from her hair. “I’ve come to visit my friend Sorsha Swinley for the day, if you will give leave for me and my friends to pass. Has it been long since the garrison departed?”

  “Five days, lass.” Master Starbow stooped to retrieve his fallen staff. “At first everyone was so glad to be rid of them, we were beside ourselves. Then we got to thinking how the Han always kept order, at least. Before they pulled out, there was rumors going ’round of an outlaw uprising. Some of us reckoned that might be worse than what we had before.”

  “There is an uprising,” said Maura, “led by the Waiting King as the legends have foretold. The Hitherland and the Long Vale are free of the Hanish yoke and the mines have been liberated. If this rebellion succeeds, you will be better off. When the cost of order is freedom, is that not too dear a price?”

  Her question seemed to puzzle the villagers, for they grew quiet and thoughtful, muttering to one another. Then Noll Howen’s father spoke up. “If you’ve only come for a visit, why have you brought all them men with you?”

  Maura glanced back to see Anulf and the others clustered along the edge of the wood. One held a bow, ready to fire if she were attacked.

  “Those men mean you no harm. They have only come to protect me on my visit. These are uncertain times and I feared there might be Han still lurking hereabouts. Now that you’ve assured me I will be safe in Windleford, I can bid my escort wait here until I return. If I do that, will you let me pass?”

  The bridge defenders whispered among themselves and quickly came back with their answer, which the shopkeeper delivered. “You may come ahead, lass, and welcome home. If that young nephew of Langbard’s is among your escort, you could bring him along, too.”

  For an instant, Maura puzzled what he meant, then she recalled Rath posing as Simple Ralf from Tarsh. “He…is not with me today, but he will be pleased to hear you remember him with trust. Give me a moment to tell my friends what I mean to do, then I will return.”

  Anulf shook his head when Maura informed him. “No, you don’t, my lady. The river may keep trouble at bay on this side of town, but who’s to know what might strike from out of the north? If aught happened while you were over there, and us cooling our heels on this side of the river, I’d have a Wolf hunting me the length of the kingdom.”

  Before she could protest, he handed his weapon and Snake off to one of the others then rode toward the bridge with his arms in the air.

  After a brief exchange he returned, looking much better pleased. “They’re willing to let four of us across with the lady provided the rest stay here and give no trouble.” He nodded at the largest of his companions. “Odger, Tobryn, you and the lad are with us. The rest of you keep your eyes open and stay out of trouble till we get back.”

  As she rode across the bridge into Windleford, Maura called her thanks to Master Starbow and the others.

  “This way.” She pointed down a wide street that would take them through the village and out to Hoghill.

  They rode slowly to avoid children and chickens scurrying about. An echo of her old dread seized Maura when they passed the garrison compound. Though the buildings were deserted, the place did not look as if any of the villagers had gone near it. Likely they feared the Han would return.

  Maura’s hand tightened around the reins. She must make certain that did not happen.

  “Mistress Woodbury?” a young woman called from her doorway. “I heard you’d come back to town. Can you stop in later to take a look at my youngest? She had a cough that won’t go away.”

  “I’ll try,” said Maura. She had nothing in her sash to help the child, but there might be some starslip growing untended in her old garden…if she could bring herself to go there.

  As word spread of her return, more and more villagers turned out to greet her. Some came to ask her services as a healer, but more only wanted to wish her well. It moved her to see that they had appreciated all she’d done for them. Perhaps the people of Windleford had not realized how much they’d relied on her and Langbard until they were gone.

  “Well, well!” Anulf chuckled. “A popular lass you are in these parts, High—er, mistress.”

  “Not always,” Maura murmured. She longed to set her horse galloping to match her heart, bearing her that much quicker to Hoghill and Sorsha—the one friend who had stood by her always.

  A few moments later, the beast had scarcely slowed when Maura scrambled from its back and ran into the Swinleys’ house.

  “Sorsha?” she called. But no one answered.

  Maura ran from room to room in mounting alarm, but Hoghill appeared as deserted as the Hanish garrison. A cold knot of fear tightened in her belly. Then she spied Sorsha’s egg basket sitting on the table, filled to the brim with fine brown eggs.

  She sniffed the air. A thick mutton stew was bubbling in a kettle on the hearth, a low fire still burning beneath it.

  Maura darted back outside. Cupping her hands around her mouth, she shouted, “Sorsha! It’s all right. It’s only me and some friends. You can come out!”

  The barn door flew open and Sorsha raced toward her, ruddy brown curls rippling in the breeze. “Maura Woodbury,” she gasped between bursts of frenzied laughter. “Don’t you ever…give me…a turn like that again…you hear?”

  Maura opened her arms and the two friends collided in a laughing, weeping, grappling rush of joy at being together again.

  “I near swooned—” Sorsha wiped her warm hazel eyes with the corner of her apron “—when young Bard ran in saying he’d seen riders coming up the lane. I thought sure it must be the Han come back…as if they didn’t take enough with them when they left.”


  “I’m sorry we gave you a fright.” Maura introduced Anulf, Snake and the others. “I was so anxious to see you again, I didn’t think.”

  A loud wailing erupted from the barn. “Is it all right, Ma?” Sorsha’s oldest boy peeked out. “Can we come out now?”

  “So you can, my good, clever boy,” Sorsha beckoned him. “Bring the little ones, then go fetch Papa. Tell him Auntie Maura has come for a visit!”

  “Look at them!” Maura hoisted three-year-old Lael into her arms while Sorsha took Baby Vela and jiggled her into a happier mood. “They’ve all grown so. Have I been away that long?”

  “Half a year,” said Sorsha. “Younglings can change a good deal in that time. Until now you’ve never gone more than a day or two without seeing them. This little one’s walking, if you please. And Lael can talk up a storm once he gets over his shyness. You remember Auntie Maura, don’t you, pet?”

  The child gazed at Maura with a grave expression for his young years. His thick, dark brows, so much like his father’s, knit together as he puzzled his mother’s question. At last he replied with a silent but definite nod. How much longer could she have stayed away before the child forgot her altogether?

  A tempting picture rose in Maura’s mind of her and Rath living across the way in a cottage rebuilt on the foundation of Langbard’s. Seeing Sorsha and the children every day as she’d once done. Providing healing for the village folk while Rath planted crops and raised a few animals.

  It was no sense trying to fool herself that they could return to such a life if the rebellion failed. They would be lucky to escape with their lives back to the Islands. And if the rebellion succeeded, there would be no quiet life in Windleford for them, either. Rath would be a prisoner of his position, trapped in that elegant palace that held so many troubling memories for Maura.

  And her? Maura dared not guess what the future held for her once her secret became known.

  “How far have you ridden this morning?” asked Sorsha. “How long can you stay? Why don’t you all come in and have something to eat.”