“I offer my highest laud to the water of Lareem. Now you must allow us to pass,” I said in my most commanding voice.
The priest fell to his knees, bending forward as if I’d struck him in the belly, still holding my effigy high above him. The congregation followed his example. Many hundreds of people were suddenly kneeling in front of us, and I was afraid we would have to step on them to reach the safety of the palace. I dismounted again and touched the nearest celebrant on her shoulder, to guide her out of my path. She began shaking violently, as if my fingers held lightening, but she moved out of my way as I stepped forward. Slowly, I persuaded the congregation, one at a time, out of our path. Each one shuddered violently if I inadvertently brushed a shoulder or bowed head. I led Sabea, while M’Tek rode Twyneth, out of the square. The people shifted as we made our progress, continuing to watch us. When I cleared the crowd, I climbed up on Sabea again, and we rode back through the palace gates.
“Deus!” M’Tek said under her breath as we rode up the entryway to the palace. “We were nearly overrun by fanatics,” she said sharply.
“They think I’m a goddess,” I said, mystified by the bizarre experience.
As Sabea and Twyneth were collected from us, M’Tek gripped my shoulder, turning me away from the palace to lead me out to the cliffs. Though I was anxious to check on the girls, I accompanied her willingly enough.
“We can thank Pet for that wonderful display. That’s what happens when your information minister is in love with your Queen,” M’Tek observed as we walked.
“Don’t be ridiculous, M’Tek. Pet loves me the same way she loves you, as a cousin,” I insisted.
“I should have you laud her and then command her to walk among those grasping zealots,” M’Tek snapped. “Let’s see how she likes being overwhelmed by religious ardor.”
“It’s not Pet’s fault,” I reminded M’Tek. “I told her to do whatever she had to do to make the Fae accept our daughters,” I observed. “The miracle of their births is not questioned. Apparently, I can make anyone pregnant, just by smiling at them,” I said, joking about the situation in an attempt to lighten M’Tek’s mood.
“She’s made you into a goddess,” M’Tek snapped. “Do you understand what just happened, Lore?” she asked more gently. “You were observed in the square, lauding their water. They’ve left worshipping their abstract god, the traditional deity of the Fae, and now follow the living and breathing embodiment of their religious fervor. You’ve become Deus, my love.”
“It was just for that moment. Everything will return to normal soon,” I said, unconvincingly. “It’s not as though I actually did anything to their water. I was offering it to my horse.”
“Nothing will ever be normal again,” M’Tek observed. “Don’t you see? Your story’s too convenient. You were reborn into this world. Even I can’t deny that. You lived the first years of your life as a simple peasant boy, before transforming yourself into a beautiful and powerful Queen. You reclaimed your throne through battle, while still a virginal young girl. You saved the ailing Fae Queen through the power of your love, and the gift of your virtue. You then restored the Noge sovereignty, and united the three nations in peace.
“Now you’ve brought fertility to the barren royal House of Tannuk by bringing two, a very spiritually significant number I remind you, daughters into this world,” she said. “Not only that, you impregnated me, and were impregnated by me, more dualism. Now, chronically barren women are conceiving all over Faeland, and attributing this miracle to you. To make it even worse, you lauded the water,” she finished, shaking her head.
“What does that mean, anyway, lauding water?” I asked, trying to distract M’Tek from her disturbing edit of my life.
“In the Fae religion, the first act of love bestowed by the dual God-Goddess Deus, was the lauding of the waters, returning fecundity to Faeland. Deus purified the oceans, lakes, and rivers. After the Great Wars between the apocalyptic gods in the time before, our world was a wasteland, hardly able to support life. Deus focused on purifying water to bring life back into our world.”
“But I did absolutely nothing to their water,” I snapped.
“It doesn’t matter. All that matters is what they believe. We need to leave Lareem Palace as soon as possible,” M’Tek said in summary. “If you thought there was an ample number of pilgrims before, when you were a goddess of health and fertility, wait until tomorrow when all of Faeland learns how greatly they’ve underestimated you. The entire Fae population will be making a pilgrimage here soon, in the hopes of touching the living incarnation of Deus.” M’Tek took my hand and lifted it to her lips as she considered the situation. “My love, you’ve started a religious reformation directly outside the gates of our palace.”
“I didn’t do anything,” I snapped, growing irritated with the conversation.
“You gave a priest your highest laud,” M’Tek observed absently.
“I gave the water in the fountain of Lareem Square my highest laud,” I corrected. “I hardly acknowledged the priest. And I’m not Deus, anyway, whatever those zealots think.”
“Lareem is lost to us for now. With lauded water, the village will become the new center of the temple structure, but at least you haven’t toppled the Fae High Temple yet. If you offer your laud to the High Priest, the temple structure will hold.”
“I’m not lauding anything else,” I snapped. “This is absurd!”
“You saw their faces, Lore. They had spasms when you touched them. If you don’t put a stop to this quickly, it will get far worse,” she said. I sighed and her grip on my hand tightened. “I know my people well. What we’ve stumbled into is dangerous. Politics is perilous enough. Religion is for martyrs. Trust me about this. Please, Lore, laud the High Priest before this gets worse.”
“No one wanted to harm us,” I said softly, having lost the argument already.
“If their fervor grows, they’ll want a piece of you to worship,” she said. “They may want a finger, or a lock of your hair. If a crowd of three hundred people descend on you, I assure you, there will be bloodshed,” she promised.
“All right. Fine,” I snapped, not at all happy about what I was agreeing to do. “If you’ll write the damned laud, I’ll sign it, but we’re not going to Vilkerdam. Lareem is my home. I’ll not be chased from my home because of a simple misunderstanding over water.”
We left Lareem in the middle of the night two days later. M’Tek was correct about the exponential growth in the number of pilgrims. People from neighboring villages were flooding into Lareem Village, even as we fled. M’Tek and I carried the girls, wrapped tightly, and secured to our bodies under our cloaks. I held the sleeping Lia, while M’Tek carried Marania, or Ania as we had begun calling her. Aunt Kessa was thrilled to be leaving Faeland, but not particularly happy about riding through Smugglers Pass at night. Her only consolation was that she would be home within a few days. I, on the other hand, dreaded returning to Vilkerdam Palace.
We sent scouts ahead into the pass, and waited for confirmation that it was safe before continuing. The scouts returned with bad news. There were Borderlings camping along the eastern side of the pass. Usually we would have ridden through, rousing the Borderlings from their position, but we were unwilling to take any risks while carrying our daughters. To my immense and inexplicable relief, we changed course, heading north into Nogeland.
We rode through that entire day and night, stopping only for a quick rest and food at dawn. We arrived at Saranedam in the early afternoon. It had been a little more than two years since the building of the palace had begun. It was beautifully situated, surrounded by the steep, violet hued, Pale Mountains, and resting on the bank of the crystal clear Sweet Lake. The structure itself was built of pale lavender granite, excavated from a quarry deep in the Pale Mountains.
The entire exterior was in place, as well as the windows. The walls around the estate were also built. There was no stable, and the gate was yet to be installed, but as M�
�Tek and I surveyed the structure, we realized we could conceivably move in. It would take a few months to completely finish the interior, and a temporary gate and stables would need to be erected, but it was feasible, and as far as I was concerned, preferable to continuing on to Vilkerdam Palace.
Aunt Kessa was beside herself with worry, as she realized we were planning on stopping over in the village. When I offered to send her ahead to Vilkerdam Palace with a portion of our guards, she became sulky, refusing my offer. M’Tek looked as though she’d like to slap the woman, but managed to control herself.
The first order of business was acquiring a bed for our apartment in the palace. M’Tek put out word that we would pay a premium, and by late afternoon three beds arrived at the palace gates. She bought all three, doling out an excessive amount of coin. Two of these beds were very poor, but the third was marginally acceptable. Pet scoured the shops in the village and acquired some middling quality bed linens for us, while the guards set up a makeshift stable, and carried the best bed up to our rooms. The other two beds were offered to Pet and Aunt Kessa. The guards were to set up camp near the gates until accommodations could be made for them.
We kept our girls with us that night. It was strange sleeping in the empty palace, so accustomed was I to having a large staff surrounding us, but I felt our children were safe with M’Tek beside me. I woke the next morning to a spectacular view across the lake, and the most stunning silence imaginable. M’Tek was still sleeping next to me; both of our girls snuggled close between us. I lifted the fussy Lia first, fed her until she fell back to sleep, and then quietly rose from bed. I brought Lia to Pet, who was still sleeping. I woke her long enough to give her charge of my child, and then went back for Ania. I fed my daughter quietly, and then stole into Aunt Kessa’s rooms. The older woman was thrilled to take the princess off my hands for the morning.
When I returned to our still warm bed, M’Tek had not stirred. I took the rare opportunity to study her in stillness, allowing my gaze to travel over her as her chest rose and fell peacefully. She appeared so young, and vulnerable in sleep, her full lips pouting slightly as if she were dreaming of something sad. Her dark hair was spread around her head, and her long black eyelashes just barely brushed her high cheekbones. I focused on her lips, as I pressed my own together. I craved the touch of her hands, her smooth skin sliding against mine, and the delicate taste of her coating my tongue. She was clearly exhausted, though, and so I closed my fists tight against the temptation of touching her, and allowed her to continue sleeping undisturbed.
After a while, I turned over, and scooted close to her, careful not to jostle against, and possibly wake her. The soft and constant sound of her breathing slowly lulled me back to sleep. When I woke again, M’Tek was sitting up next to me, still wearing her shift. She was struggling to write, awkwardly balancing a small book on her knee, using it as a writing surface. I watched as she signed whatever it was and pressed her seal into the surface of the paper, before folding it and tucking it away in the book and reaching down to place it on the floor.
“What were you writing?” I asked.
“A message for my council. We were expected at Vilkerdam Palace the day after tomorrow. They need to know we’ll be at Saranedam for at least a few months,” she explained. “I don’t want to accidentally start a war,” she added, offering a wry smile. “People seem to get touchy when they don’t know where we are.”
“I guess I should send something ahead to Vilkerdam, to let them know we’ve been delayed,” I replied. “You really think we should remain in Saranedam a few months?” I asked. “There’s no furniture,” I pointed out. “We have no staff, or even a front gate. And what about Sabea? She’s not accustomed to sleeping outside.”
“Sabea’s a horse, my love. I don’t think she’ll be offended by sleeping outside with the other horses,” M’Tek chided with a grin. “You spoil that animal.”
“She’s one of the first gifts you gave me,” I said.
“She was the fifth step in my wicked seduction campaign,” M’Tek said, raising her eyebrows and grinning as she scooted down in bed beside me. “She has served me well.”
“You were already trying to get me in bed back then?” I asked, laughing at her mischievous expression.
“Of course I was,” she admitted gleefully. “I wanted you from the moment I saw you. Even dressed as a filthy little peasant boy, you took my breath away. Of course you were too young, so I had to be patient, and wait for you to finish growing up.”
“If Sabea was the fifth, what were the first steps?” I asked.
“Well, I started with the spell,” she said, diverting her gaze. “After that, I had to make certain no one could kill you,” she said. “Seducing you was dependent on making certain you continued to breathe.”
“My shield?” I suggested, and M’Tek nodded.
“And then I personally delivered my army into your service, complete with the most brilliant general living,” she continued with false bravado.
“The most brilliant general living? Are you referring to yourself?” I teased.
“Whom else could I be referring to?” she asked with mock arrogance.
“You’re certainly humble this morning,” I observed, smiling. “What was step four?”
“It was a combination of gifts,” she said, lowering her voice as she leaned forward to capture my lips. “I gave you two beautiful and loyal pets, my cousin and Faira. “I knew even if you hated Pet, you’d love the puppy,” she said shifting closer to me. “Everyone loves puppies.”
“I truly adored Faira. She made me feel less lonely,” I replied. “Pet was my salvation, though. I was losing my mind before she arrived.”
“I know. Still, Pet was a slight miscalculation on my part. If I had waited much longer to claim you for myself, you might have fallen in love with her instead of me,” she said softly.
“Don’t be silly. Pet only ever saw me as a young girl in need of guidance,” I said, thinking M’Tek was teasing. “I’m a little sister to her, even now.”
“Sometimes you’re so blind, my love,” M’Tek whispered. “Pet would cut out her own heart and hand it to you if she thought it would please you,” she explained softly. “In the many years I’ve known my cousin, I’ve never seen her yearn in the way she does for you,” M’Tek said evenly, all the teasing gone from her tone. She meant what she said, and I sensed it bothered her.
“I don’t believe that,” I said. “Pet loves you.”
“Yes, she does, but her heart beats for you, my love. If you don’t believe me, ask her,” she suggested. “Likely, she’d admit it to you. She’d risk my wrath in the hope of some small comfort from you, a little promise that you’d love her if not for me, anything to soothe the aching in her chest.”
“When I was angry at you, it was Pet who talked me through it,” I said, trying to prove M’Tek wrong.
“I know,” she replied, smiling. “My little cousin couldn’t stand to watch you suffer.”
“You’re wrong about her,” I said firmly.
“Have you not noticed the scent of lemons every time you’re near her?” I shook my head. “Why do you think she was so angry when she found you pregnant and believed I’d allowed someone to be with you?” M’Tek asked.
“She only wanted to manage the situation,” I said. “She wanted a name so she could start controlling the flow of information.”
“No, my love. Pet is a Tannuk. She wanted reprisal,” M’Tek explained quietly. “I doubt my cousin has ever considered killing anyone before, but it would have come to that. Any man you named would have died. It would have been subtle, elegant even, probably a rare, unknown poison that caused months of agony before finally ending his life. Still, he would have been dead all the same,” M’Tek pointed out. I didn’t want to discuss Pet any further with her. We saw her with such different eyes.
“We’re alone, in bed, in our new home. There are so many more enjoyable things we can be doing with our mou
ths,” I said, easing closer to her. “Let’s not waste any more time talking nonsense.”
M’Tek smiled, moving over on top of me, pinning my shoulders down on the bed. As she straddled me, she gazed down into my eyes and her hands began working on the buttons at the throat of my nightdress.
“Why do you insist on fastening every single one of these buttons, every night? It makes it impossible to reach you,” she said, giving up on the buttons, and yanking the closure at my throat to open my nightdress. Buttons flew around the mostly empty room, bouncing on the stone floor and hitting the walls, as I laughed.
“I guess I won’t be fastening them tonight,” I said with a grin, as I pulled the tie loose at her throat. She lifted her white cotton shift up and over her head, before returning her attention to the thorough destruction of my nightdress.
-CH 20-
Over the following weeks we received furniture daily, arriving from every corner of Nogeland, and even some pieces from Faeland, and Vilkerland, as Pet set to work beautifying the empty shell that was our new abode. Fine rugs from the southeastern coast of Faeland soon covered the stone floors, and beautiful plush sofas filled the keeping hall.
Within a couple of months Saranedam began to resemble a home, rather than simply the fortress it was designed to be. M’Tek and I made excursions to neighboring villages and selected some of the art and wares produced there. In this way, slowly, we began to make the palace more personal. We commissioned a beautiful bed made from the palest, carved, aspic wood, and blown glass chandeliers from the eastern coast. The palace began to feel majestic.
As time passed we relaxed into the new pace of our life together. The Fae season was underway, but only Pet seemed to lament the loss of the glittering parties, and copious quantities of gossip. The girls were growing quickly, and Lia was the first to walk, Ania mastering bipedal movement within a few days of her sister. They were attached to each other, Lia constantly leading Ania by the hand, into trouble, as Aunt Kessa chased, scolding after them.
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