They pulled apart, gasping for air, and gazed into one another’s eyes. He traced a tear, just forming at the corner of her eye. “I believe I have fallen in love with you, Aewen. I can’t deny it. You’ve occupied my mind and my heart from my first sight of you.”
She covered his hand with her own, the tips of her fingernails blunt against his skin. “Then we are a pair of fools, for I love you, too.”
He kissed her to seal their pledge of love, however ill-fated it might prove.
“When do you leave?”
He heard the catch in her voice and laced her fingers in his own. He would let her go, but not yet. “That depends on you.”
Her brow creased. “I cannot hold you, Elcon.” She faced the pool. “I am promised to another and must give penance for all I have said and done this day. And you are not altogether safe here.”
“Aewen.” He turned her toward him. “It’s true. All you say separates us, and more besides. But I can’t leave without knowing you give yourself to Raefe willingly.”
She shut her eyes and took a breath that shuddered. When she opened them again, her eyes shone with unshed tears. “I do.”
He had not thought she would lie to him. He released her hands. “No.”
“Yes!” Her cry came so loud she looked about in alarm. “I will marry Raefe. I care nothing for him, but I will one day be Queen of Darksea. Do you think I would give that up for you?”
He stared at her. Had he been blinded by love? What did he really know of this Elder Princess?
She tossed her head. “You must leave Cobbleford at once. I—I no longer wish you near me.”
****
Kai stopped polishing his boots and gave Elcon a long look. The Lof Shraen’s pinched expression made it clear he needed to keep his own counsel. Although Kai did not know for certain what had happened, he could guess Princess Aewen lay at the center of Elcon’s distraction.
Not so long ago, Kai had faced a similar dilemma over love and honor. He had chosen honor, as had Shae, but the integrity of their choice did not remove its pain. He wondered, not for the first time, if he would make the same choice again, knowing what it would cost him. Did Shae miss him as he did her? How long before he could hold her again? A lifetime?
A tap at Elcon’s chamber door pulled Kai from his musings, and he admitted Craelin, who flashed a carefree smile. “Good morn. Do we depart for Norwood this day?”
Elcon scowled. “Not this day.”
Craelin’s smile faltered. “Perhaps on the morrow then?”
“I’ll decide the matter, Craelin.” Elcon turned away with a huffing sigh.
Craelin’s eyebrows rose and his eyes widened. “Well then… I’ll just check on the wingabeasts.” With that, he withdrew.
Silence reigned in Craelin’s absence. Kai finished with his boots and, setting aside his cleaning cloth, quirked a look at Elcon, who paced the room.
Elcon came to a standstill before him. “What would you do, Kai, if you loved a maid whose path was already set for her—someone who could not return your love without bringing dishonor to herself, to you, to her family, and even to her people and yours?”
“Ah.” Kai ignored the twist of sorrow Elcon’s words brought him. “You must find your own way in this, but forsaking honor does not nourish love. It brings destruction. Pure love refuses dishonor. I believe that with all my heart.” He swallowed and looked away.
“You speak with passion.”
“Even I know something of passion.”
****
“How come you to be so silent?” Aewen asked, although in truth she had spoken as rarely as her sister. She’d sought refuge in the simple rhythms of needlework, although she seemed to have made a mess of her pattern. Her memory strayed to place her in Elcon’s arms, and she stared unseeingly at the embroidery she held. She felt again his touch, his look, his kiss… The needle jabbed her finger. Pinching the wound, she watched as a drop of blood beaded against her skin.
“Now you’ve made me lose count!” Caerla raised puffy eyes from her own embroidery. Had she been crying? They sat in the queen’s parlor, a pleasant chamber in rich hues of red, purple and blue accented in white and gilt. No expense had been spared in outfitting the chamber, for Mother whiled away much time here and must be kept comfortable.
Aewen set aside her embroidery and put her hands in her lap. “Are you well?”
“I don’t know what you mean. Of course I’m well. Why would I not be well?” Caerla threw down her needlework and burst into tears.
Her sister’s tawny, frizzing head bobbed as she rocked in an excess of grief.
“You seem quite upset over losing count.”
Caerla gave something that closely resembled a snort. She glared at Aewen. “Go ahead. Make fun of me. I am, after all, only an unlovely second sister who will never marry. “She jumped up and might have fled the room had not Aewen risen also and put out a hand to stop her. “Wait.”
Caerla paused but did not turn.
Aewen let her hand fall from her sister’s sleeve. “I’m sorry. I’ve grown selfish of late. Tell me what troubles you.”
“Will the cause of my tears comfort me?”
As comprehension dawned, Aewen sucked in a breath. “You love Raefe.”
Caerla wrung her embroidery in her hands. “I didn’t mean it to happen. I only thought to entertain him, to make sure you didn’t drive him away with your coldness.”
Aewen had to do something to make matters right. Through the window she glimpsed a kitchen maid in the sunlit inner bailey. Shayla carried a basket toward the gatehouse. Alms for the poor. A sudden thought caught at her. “Does Raefe return your love?”
“He does not.” Caerla wept again, with gut-wrenching sobs. Aewen cradled her sister in her arms, her shoulder dampening with tears long before they eased. She wished she might comfort Caerla, but could offer no more hope than she found, which was none.
She put Caerla to bed and gave her a headache draught, glad when her sister slept. Tomorrow was soon enough to rediscover her sorrows.
With a sigh, she ran the back of her hand across her forehead. Life seemed dull and her every movement leaden. The thought of presenting herself to Raefe this night galled her.
Murial sat on a bench in her outer chamber. Her needle flashed as she drew it through a length of woven flax.
Aewen knelt and put her head in Murial’s lap.
Murial’s hand stroked Aewen’s hair. She crooned a question. “Flitling, what worries bring you to me?”
Tears pricked Aewen’s eyes, and her thickening throat choked off speech.
“Here now.” Murial lifted her head with gentle hands.
Aewen’s tears fell without restraint now, and she gave up trying to stop them.
Murial continued to stroke her hair while she wept. “What troubles you? Although I ken well enough, I think.”
Controlling herself with an effort, Aewen sat on the bench. Taking Murial’s rough brown hands, she kissed them and ventured a small smile. “What would I do without you?”
“Perhaps you would not marry amiss.”
Aewen opened her mouth to object, but Murial lifted a hand to stop her.
“When Queen Inydde first turned me out I should have gone. No protests now. Just listen. You must refuse to marry Prince Raefe, just as your heart tells you to do, and think no more of what will become of me. If you do not, you will spend the rest of your life in a prison of his making. I’ve seen enough of his ways to know what he’ll do as a husband.”
“But I can’t refuse to marry him now. The invitations have gone out and the preparations—”
“Bah!” Murial raised her hand in a claw and swept the air as if she battled invisible insects. “Don’t look to such things. And don’t concern yourself about me.” Her lips curved in a smile. “I can impose on my sister in Norwood, when all’s said and done, though being ornery she will of certain complain, and I’d miss you more than I can say.”
A small se
ed of hope stirred to life within her. It was madness to dream she and Elcon could ever marry, but at least she might not have to wed Raefe. She would never marry, just as she had wished from the beginning. The thought somehow did not bring her the peace it once had.
She dreaded a confrontation with her mother, but better that than a living hell with Raefe. She smiled at Murial. “Thank you.”
In the great hall Raefe met her with a gleam in his eye. Whatever he’d been up to in Lancert had put him in a fine mettle. When he took her hand and led her to table, she went without complaint. She would reject Raefe but after Elcon left.
As Elcon’s green gaze meshed with hers, a small jolt went through her. Raefe caught her hand and twisted it under the table, and she gasped. It felt like her wrist would break. “Why do you stare at the Kindren king so?”
“I’m sorry. He strikes me as so different. I suppose I’m curious.” The glibness of her own lies shocked her.
“Don’t cross me, Aewen.” He glared at her, but then released her.
Gritting her teeth, she rubbed her wrist beneath the table. She had endured enough of Raefe’s company for one night. When Perth leaned over to say something to Raefe, Aewen slipped from her seat. He reached for her wrist again, but she backed away in time. Elcon rose halfway from his chair but sat down again. As she fled, she glimpsed the look of venom Raefe turned on Elcon.
11
Intrigue
Someone hissed.
Kai pivoted, balanced and alert. Craelin, on Elcon’s other side, also peered down the vaulted corridor.
Aewen’s servant emerged from the shadow of the stair into a pool of torch light. “Didn’t mean to give you a start. It’s only me, Murial.”
“What business brings you?” Elcon asked. “Is Aewen well?”
Murial hesitated and then stepped toward Elcon. “Milady needs you.”
“Why say you this?” Elcon rapped out the words.
“I don’t know what to do. She places herself in peril.” Murial clutched Elcon’s sleeve. “I beg of you, come at once.” Her intent seemed harmless, but Kai shifted closer to Elcon. As if realizing she touched the Lof Shraen of Faeraven before his guardians, Murial let go and backed away, fright in her eyes.
But now Elcon grasped Murial’s arm. “Tell me, where is your mistress?”
“She has gone to the wild garden near the forest’s edge.”
“Why would she do such a thing? The forest by night is not safe.”
Murial cast a glance both ways down the empty corridor and lowered her voice so that Kai barely caught her words. “To meet with you.”
Kai read on Craelin’s face the same uneasiness he felt.
“If you will excuse me, I seem to have an errand.” Elcon faced Kai but turned his head to include Craelin as he spoke.
Craelin’s chin came up. “Surely, you do not go alone.”
“Pray do not concern yourself.” Elcon’s tone brooked no argument.
“But we must. You risk yourself, Lof Shraen, without thought.” With an effort, Kai kept his voice level. “Remember, we are a long way from Rivenn.”
Elcon gave a mirthless laugh. “If we are honest, I can no longer count on safety anywhere, even in Rivenn. But perhaps safety should not be my first concern.”
No, that should be Faeraven. Kai did not voice his thought, for Elcon was in no mood for the truth.
****
Frogs sang in the darkness, as a milky path of light descended from the full moon and crossed the pool at her feet. The flat rock shone blue at her feet. She stepped to the side, where shadow hid her. Night wind tugged her cloak and teased stray tendrils of hair from beneath her hood. Creaking in the weilos at her back made her jump, and she raised the dagger Murial had pressed into her hands.
She stood poised, scanning the dark branches, but finally spotted an owl watching her. Before she could fully recover from the fright, furtive rustlings from the broadberry thicket on the pool’s other bank sent her heart racing again. She strained to see in the dark. A jaggercat might crouch there.
After a tense interlude, she released her breath on a long sigh and scolded herself for yielding to fancies. It had been a long time since a jaggercat had actually been reported around Cobbleford Castle, and that starving creature had only come down from the mountains in a time of deep snow and little game. Still, she could not prevent herself from peering into shadows.
The back of her neck bristled, and she spun about. Elcon ducked beneath the weilo branch nearest the path. He stood before her on the flat blue stone, on his face a guarded look that shredded her heart, for she’d placed it there.
“You came.” After their last meeting, she hadn’t been sure he would.
He faced the pool so that she saw him only in profile. “How could I not offer you my protection? If harm came to you I couldn’t bear it.” He turned back to her with anger on his face. “But you should not have called me.”
“I had to. There was no other way…” She stopped short, the need to make him understand robbing her of words.
“To torment me? Does it bring you such amusement to toy with me that you would risk yourself in the wild at night?”
“No—”
“And what of your betrothed? Would he not object to this meeting?”
“You don’t understand.”
“You’ve made it clear enough.” He slid his hand beneath her elbow as if to lead her away.
She shook free. “Stop this. You must listen. I would spare you.”
“Speak your mind, princess, but then I’ll escort you back to the castle and you’ll summon me no more.”
She drew a shaky breath. “I would spare you. I saw the way Raefe looked at you tonight. I don’t know what he intends, but I think he’s guessed our attachment.”
His eyes widened, and then narrowed. “Why should I believe you?”
“Because I love you.” She hadn’t meant to blurt it out like that.
He went still and stared at her. Was that a flicker of joy in his face, or had she completely killed his love for her? And why should she care when she meant never to marry? But, God help her, she did. “Aewen.” His voice shook as he drew her to him. Their lips met in a kiss that lingered. When a nightbird whistled, they broke apart. Black wings passed across the lighter gray of the night sky, and Aewen laughed. “It was only a graylet.”
Elcon returned her to his arms. “You’re trembling.”
Her fingers curled into his woolen surcoat while she resisted the urge to shake him in frustration. “Why didn’t you listen when I asked you to leave?”
He pushed her from him. “Is your concern for me or yourself? Do you want me to leave to make sure Raefe still makes you his queen?”
She stared at him, aghast, the words she’d spoken to him earlier convicting her. She’d succeeded too well in driving him away. He no longer trusted her. Should she let him believe her so horrible she would choose all Raefe offered over her love for Elcon? The thought tormented her, but better that than for him to meet with Raefe’s cruelty. The prince of Darksea was not a man who lost with grace.
“He will make me his queen, I assure you. I want nothing better.”
Tears blinded her as she ran from him. She stumbled, and a sob escaped to betray her. Elcon caught her, and she found herself once more in his arms.
“All the treasures of Darksea cannot replace love.”
He bent his head, and she yielded to his desperate kiss.
Light fell over them as wood splintered, and they broke apart.
“They’re here!” Raefe’s voice intruded to break them apart.
Aewen blinked in the light from a lanthorn held aloft by a servant. The weilo branch that had hidden the pool from the path lay broken at Raefe’s feet.
Elcon pulled Aewen back into his arms as if to shield her, but nothing could protect her from the stunned look on her father’s face. From behind him, Mother gasped.
“When Raefe said his servant followed Elcon here an
d found you, I did not believe him. I had to see for myself.” Mother moved forward in fury, but when she looked into Elcon’s face, subsided. She glared at her daughter, her eyes sunken pools in the lanthorn light. “Have you lost all reason? You’ve tarnished yourself. You do not deserve to marry a nobleman like Prince Raefe.”
“She’ll not.” Raefe gritted out the words as his glare raked over Aewen.
Aewen swayed on her feet, but Elcon’s grip tightened on her arm.
“My queen must be without taint. I’ll not have her, and I’ll make certain no one else will either.”
“Surely you don’t mean to ruin Aewen!” Mother gasped.
“The Kindren you harbor has done that, not I.”
“Will you not reconsider your course, milord?” Mother wheedled. “It’s understandable that you would not want Aewen now, but to spread rumor is cruel.”
“Rumor? Is that what you call truth in Westerland? And let us not speak of cruelty. I had already come to regard Aewen as a wife.”
That Raefe should pretend heartbreak was too much for Aewen. She pulled away from Elcon. “The only thing I’ve wounded is your pride. You never loved me but merely thought to possess me as you do a fine destry or a jewel for your crown.”
“Aewen!” Mother’s shocked protest barely penetrated her wrath.
“I’m well rid of you.”
Mother turned to her maid. “Lock her in her chambers until she remembers her manners.”
Mother’s maid grasped Aewen by the arm. “Come Aewen.”
Raefe looked her up and down insultingly. “Your plain sister is worth two of you.”
Rage flared white-hot within her. How dare he speak so of Caerla? But Aewen went still. She wouldn’t give Raefe the satisfaction he sought by baiting her. “Very well, Mother. I’ll go. All I ask is that you’ll not touch Elcon.”
“Oh, I think none will touch Elcon.” Kai answered as he and Craelin emerged from the shadows beneath the weilos to flank their Lof Shraen.
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