The Changeling

by Jennifer Lyndon

  “All right, so simply for the sake of succession, I must produce an heir. It doesn’t follow that I must take a consort,” I pointed out.

  “A bastard won’t inherit,” Pet replied quietly.

  “A changeling did,” I countered.

  “You fought for your throne. It wasn’t handed to you,” she explained. “And you’re no changeling. You’re the rightful heir, the only living issue of royal Noge blood,” she said with a fervor that made me slightly nervous. Pet was a true believer, I realized, while I was doubtful about the importance of the blood in my veins.

  ****

  M’Tek sent a parcel of books from her library, intended to educate me on Noge and Fae history. They arrived about six weeks after her departure. She then ceased entirely communicating with me for almost three months. I stopped writing to her after my third letter went unanswered. I knew every piece of correspondence I sent was read and noted within my own palace and hers, as were those letters I received from the Fae Queen. I chose to wait, rather than appear vulnerable, by questioning her about her lack of responsiveness. Still, cautiously, I drew Pet into conversations about the Fae Queen whenever I could, gleaning as much as possible about M’Tek’s world and background.

  Finally, I received that much anticipated invitation to the season in Faeland. I happened to be in conversation with Pet in my council chamber when the parcel arrived. I carefully concealed my surprise at receiving anything at all from M’Tek. After realizing it was only the expected invitation, and nothing even slightly personal, I handed it to Pet as if it were commonplace. Pet immediately began worrying over my entourage.

  Up to that point I’d resisted every attempt by Pet to bring to the palace people close to my own age, who were of high birth. I preferred solitude to this contrived sort of socializing. As Pet started naming families and drawing up one of her lists, I realized she was correct. I had to start accepting the fact that M’Tek was beyond my reach. She had never taken a consort, and perhaps never even felt love. Meanwhile, I’d lived with the constant ache of what I believed was love since she’d left. As I sat in my council chamber glaring at that impersonal summons M’Tek had issued, I decided what I felt for her was more likely attraction, or lust.

  Over the following months I threw myself into preparations for the season. I learned, with the help of my newly acquired dancing master, and Pet, all of the traditional Fae dances, and worked to perfect my understanding of Fae etiquette. Pet deemed me an inspired student. When the string of potential entourage subjects began filing through the palace at my invitation, I left it up to Pet to choose between them.

  I was far from interested in the social facets of my role as monarch, but Pet insisted they were possibly the most important aspects of my work. Obviously, I had quite a great deal to learn.

  A month before we were to leave for the season, while Pet was busy putting together yet another list, of about twelve Vilkerlings she thought might possibly survive the season in Faeland, finally, I decided I’d had enough. I’d been throwing parties and socializing with these strangers for months, and still found the entire ordeal excruciating. As Pet worried over finalizing her list, I reached a hand out to clasp her wrist, to stop her progress.

  “I’m not bringing an entourage with me,” I announced flatly.

  “What? Of course you are,” she insisted, staring at me in shock. “We’ve put months into this decision.

  “I’m sorry,” I said quietly.

  “Do you not like the ones I’ve chosen? We can go through the candidates again. Those twins you liked, the Vasseks, Kieran and Kolten, we’ll even invite them if you like. I know I said they had the manners of Borderlings, but if they’re interesting to you…” I shook my head.

  “Organize a season here in the summer,” I said. “Invite every one of them if you like.” I saw the wheels begin spinning in Pet’s head. I’d just offered her exactly what she’d been trying to manipulate me into allowing. “This winter, for the Fae season, I will attend alone.” Pet nodded slowly.

  “Possibly you’re right,” she said cautiously. “You should be presented to the Fae people without all your Vilken baggage. We only just signed the treaty between our lands,” she added. “Maybe it’s too soon to shove a roomful of sullen Vilkerlings down the throats of the Fae nobility.” I shook my head.

  “All right, then we’re agreed,” I said, forcing a stiff smile.

  “Yes, of course. It’s your choice. We’ll do whatever you want,” she said. I rolled my eyes when Pet glanced down at the invitation. She was so pleased I thought she might start dancing.

  Those summer and fall months passed too slowly as far as I was concerned. I met and dined with so many Vilken nobles I was having trouble remembering names and titles. Luckily, Pet was always nearby to inconspicuously whisper the information I needed in my ear. When I wasn’t entertaining, I devoted most of my energy to two main areas of concern, first, studying the books M’Tek had sent to remedy my gross ignorance of Fae and Noge history, and second, working on the Vilken servitude laws, which were both brutal, and archaic.

  With the books, at least, I made progress. I began to grasp the cultural nuances of the two major national entities just beyond the borders of my own realm. By the time we left Vilkerdam Palace for the Fae season, I had committed to memory, in finite detail, vast amounts of Fae and Noge history. I knew of every Noge monarch from each period, and even the Fae Primes from the period of the Fae Republic. M’Tek’s father, Prime K’Fex of the House of Tannuk, had been the one to seize power as boundless ruler almost six hundred years earlier. At the end of a bloody civil war, he claimed the title King of Faeland and founded the Tannuk Dynasty.

  Finally, as the opening of the Fae season approached, we had been on the road to Lareem, the capital city of Faeland, for five days. We anticipated reaching the gates of the city within the hour. I was repeating the names of important historical figures in my head to pass the time, and calm my nerves, when I glanced over at Pet on her gentle grey gelding, a few feet to my left.

  “Are you excited?” I asked her, gaining her attention.

  “You’ve no idea,” she replied, her golden green eyes alight in anticipation. “I can’t wait to see my cousin, and stand on the cliffs above the ocean, and swim in the Luminous Gulf,” she volunteered. “You’ll soon see, Lore. Lareem Palace is the most beautiful place in the world,” Pet added. “I’ve missed her with every breath.”

  I smiled at my friend’s enthusiasm. She looked all of about fifteen with that silly grin on her face, making her longish nose stand out. Pet’s guileless expression reminded me of M’Tek, and her happiness when giving gifts.

  “Tonight will be the first party, correct?” I asked Pet. I already knew the answer to my question, but wanted to make conversation. Pet smiled.

  “A welcoming banquet will be held in your honor. It will be lovely, but nothing compared with tomorrow evening. That’s when the most elaborate ball you can imagine will take place. I’ve been planning it from a distance. It will be held outside under the stars, with vivid torches, in every color, to light the pathways. Vividly colored flowers, all blue, gold, and red, gathered from the far reaches of the realm, will be overflowing every table. The Fae moon will be bright in the sky. Oh, and the music, you have never heard such music,” she elaborated. “Women will be sparkling in their most ostentatious jewels, and dancing until they can no longer move.”

  “I’ll be alone,” I said, as if considering this for the first time. Pet nodded.

  “Yes, unless you’d like for me to be your escort,” she offered, smiling sweetly. When I didn’t respond she added, “You could also select a member of your guard to escort you, if you prefer to have a man on your arm.”

  “That would be inappropriate,” I said softly.

  “My cousin has never thought so,” Pet countered without thinking.

  “What do you mean?” I asked, diverting my gaze from Pet.

  “Oh, well, she hasn’t attended the seas
on in quite a while, but when she did, one of her generals was usually on her arm,” Pet replied.

  “Has she often been linked romantically with one of her generals?” I asked, unable to keep from glancing back at Pet. Her cheeks colored, and I knew she was embarrassed about her slip.

  “You would have to ask her?” she replied. I smiled.

  “If you think it would be wise,” I said. “Should I tell her you told me to ask of her many liaisons with the generals under her command?” I asked evenly.

  “Deus! You wouldn’t!” Pet said in a sharp whisper. “She’d never forgive me for suggesting such a thing to you.”

  “Then maybe you’d better tell me yourself,” I proposed. Pet shook her head.

  “You promise you won’t say anything to her?” she asked. I nodded, offering my most innocent smile. “Well, she’s been linked to several of them over the years,” Pet said. “In fact, it’s been said that if a general couldn’t please the Fae Queen in her tent the night before a battle, she’d terminate his commission and lead the troops herself.” That statement rang of gossip to my ears. A good general’s worth was almost incalculable, a fact of which M’Tek was obviously even more aware of than I. Still, I wasn’t ready to shut Pet down yet.

  “And you believe that?” I asked, controlling my voice so she wouldn’t detect my skepticism.

  “No,” she admitted. “I believe that choosing a general to escort her was simply a convenience for my cousin. Those she chose understood their roles, and expected nothing of her.”

  “M’Tek’s never taken a consort,” I observed.

  “And she never will,” Pet replied. “No one could hold her attention for long,” she added casually. “In the nearly ten years I was her personal assistant, she had countless affairs, and not one lasted more than a few weeks.” Her gaze returned to me as we rode over a hill, our vantage suddenly offering a wide view of the royal city. M’Tek’s palace was at the end of a long winding stone lane which lay open in front of me. Gleaming white walls of stone stretched toward the brilliant cobalt blue sky, and the shimmering aqua blue of the ocean loomed in the background. The palace was more spectacular than anything I could have dreamed. “You promised you won’t repeat what I said,” Pet reminded me, forcing me to peel my gaze from the impossible beauty laid out before me. “My cousin would be furious with me if she knew I told you all of that.” I nodded.

  “Of course I won’t tell her. You can trust me, Pet,” I replied. “I love you. I wouldn’t do anything to hurt you.” Pet beamed a smile at me and I reached out to squeeze her shoulder. It was true. Pet was one of a very few people I actually loved. I would do almost anything to protect her.

  When we arrived at the entry to the palace, serving staff quickly appeared to collect our horses and gather our trunks. As I watched Sabea being led away, a woman with caramel skin and pale metallic eyes bowed in front of me. Her bow was odd, neither Fae nor Vilken, but more what I’d been taught of the Noge greeting.

  “The Noge Queen will please follow me,” she spoke in Noge, her accent strange to my ears, the wording peculiar, and her cadence off. “Your chambers are waiting, Your Royal Highness,” she added. I nodded and followed the woman, without comment.

  I glanced around, searching for Pet, who had already abandoned me. Probably she was running to the cliff’s edge to swim in the sea. I obediently followed the woman into the palace. Once inside I was overwhelmed with the opulence surrounding me. Every wall was gilded, and jewel tiles decorated the floors in intricate spiral designs. While my own palace had murals on most of the walls, and beautiful stone floors, M’Tek’s was all gilt surfaces and unimaginably high ceilings, with light dancing across the walls. Sunlight reflected through the hall by way of rounded copper plates set into the walls. The salty breeze swept through open windows and doorways, tantalizing my senses as I followed the caramel woman up a wide, well lit, stone staircase, and down an open hallway to one of two doors. She stood aside and bowed in that strange manner again.

  “The Noge Queen will call if she has needs,” the woman spoke again, awkwardly in Noge. I smiled at her.

  “Yes, of course,” I replied, also in Noge. “May I have your name?” The woman bowed again.

  “Gerina, I am called,” she said, her eyes lowered as if afraid to meet my gaze.

  “Thank you, Gerina,” I said automatically.

  Gerina lifted her pale metallic eyes to mine for a moment, her gaze intent, as if seeing something extraordinary. She then quickly looked away. I watched her retreat a few strides down the hallway before I tried the door. When I stepped inside I found M’Tek waiting for me. She sat, casually clasping a glass of some dark, evil looking, liquid in one delicate hand. She swirled it around inside a fine crystal glass, so intent on the process she failed to glance up at me as I entered.

  “I expected you two days ago,” she said in a quiet voice, without raising her gaze from her glass.

  “Smugglers Pass was difficult,” was my reply. “The Borderlings are getting out of control. Maybe we can send a party of border officers up before I have to cross the pass again.”

  “I’ll see to it,” she replied with little enthusiasm.

  M’Tek kept her focus on the strange beverage, all the while refusing to look at me. I walked over to stand in front of the chair she was sitting in, but still, failed to gain her focus.

  “M’Tek,” I said insistently. “I’ve suffered a difficult journey, at your invitation. Won’t you at least greet me properly?” She swirled the dark liquid in her glass again.

  “What sort of greeting would be proper between two queens?” she asked absently.

  “You might at least look at me,” I replied, growing exasperated with her strange mood.

  “Hundreds of people are traveling from the farthest corners of my realm to attend the party tomorrow,” she replied. “Our presence makes it quite a spectacle, the two Queens on display, one a remnant of the Noge line long believed to be extinct, the other simply too long lived.” She tipped her glass dangerously toward her, hesitating to press her lips to the crystal. The dark liquid ran to the edge of the glass. I waited for her to spill it upon herself, but she didn’t. A moment later she brought the glass to her lips and took a deep swallow. Still, she avoided looking at me.

  “Won’t you offer me a glass of what you’re drinking?” I asked. “I’m tired, and thirsty. I’ve been riding all day.” M’Tek stretched her arm out to offer me her own glass.

  “Here, take mine, my love. I’ve had enough. I’ve drunk the rest of the bottle already,” she said softly. I accepted the glass from her hand. “This torppa was meant for you, of course. It’s an extremely rare vintage. I’ve been saving it for your first evening here.” She finally gazed up at me, and my chest tightened at seeing the pain in her eyes. “I ate the fruit from your basket as well. I hope you don’t mind,” she added. “You see, I’ve been in here all morning with nothing to do but wait for you,” she continued, her eyes searching mine.

  “What’s wrong, M’Tek?” I asked. “Why are you upset?”

  “It’s nothing,” she whispered. “I take that back, everything is wrong for me, but there’s nothing for you to worry about, my sweet girl.” She forced a tight smile and I noticed the insides of her lips were just barely stained by the dark beverage. “All that matters is that you’ll be all right. Pet will see to that. My cousin is such an efficient girl, so good at her work. But of course that’s why I gave her to you.”

  “Tell me what’s wrong,” I said more firmly.

  “It’s nothing of importance,” she replied. “I let my guard down,” she added. “It was a mistake. One I’ll manage.”

  I placed the glass I was holding on the nearest table, and then I eased onto M’Tek’s lap. I straddled her, my knees on either side of her narrow hips, and then relaxed down against her. Her arms came around me, holding me. I tucked my head against her neck and sighed.

  “I think you might be a little drunk,” I observed. M’Tek lau
ghed at that, the sound light and airy, happy even.

  “No, my sweet, beautiful, Lore, I’m extremely drunk,” she corrected. “I’m the drunkest I’ve been in, Deus, seventy years, maybe.” She laughed lightly, and the weight I’d felt in my chest for the past several months lifted. “I’ll tell you a secret,” she whispered next to my ear. “It’s almost impossible for me to get drunk. Even the first time berrywine crossed my lips, when I was a little girl, with Sarane and Svenar, sneaking wine from the cellar, I couldn’t manage it. I drank three bottles myself and still felt nothing. You see, my treasure, I have to really work at it. So, I had a couple of bottles of torppa in my room before I even came in here to await you,” she explained. “And all I’ve had to eat for the past day and a half was the fruit I found in your rooms. Finally, I’m drunk enough to eat something.” I lifted my head and looked into her eyes.

  “Why did you need to be drunk to eat?” I asked.

  “Why do you think?” she replied. I shook my head.

  “Truly, M’Tek, I don’t know. That’s why I asked you,” I said.

  “Well, I guess it’s unfair to expect you to divine the situation.” She smiled. “I’m used to having my way, you know,” she continued. “It’s one of the perks of being the Queen. I work constantly, through all hours, and every damn problem is mine to solve, but at least I can have my own way.” M’Tek raised her ash colored eyebrows to emphasize her point. “But not this time. You see. She told me no. She actually threatened me, if you can imagine. She’s the only person, besides you, who can tell me no.” M’Tek smiled as she diverted her gaze to the half full glass.

  My mind followed three strands of information. First of all, she was upset because she wanted something she was being denied. Second, she believed I could refuse her, when quite frankly I could refuse her nothing. The third direction my mind took was toward the person who could threaten M’Tek, Queen of Faeland.