by Guy Antibes
She shrugged her shoulders. “As well as any other horse,” she said. “It’s not as if we regard our horses as people.”
Pol had to say, “Demeron was more like a person than you might realize.”
Shira moved her lips as she thought. “Maybe if I ever bonded to one like you did, I’d gain your understanding.”
“You’ll have to try to when you return to Shinkya,” Paki said.
“If I get the chance, and if I return.”
“Don’t be so negative,” Kell said. “Pol will get us out of this.”
Pol had to clear something up. “You are already. I suggest that you take Shira and head west. She can turn south when she gets to Boxall, and you two can carry on to Deftnis. Isn’t your uncle healthy again?”
Paki looked at Kell, who nodded, and then at Pol. “We can’t desert you like this. We three have been through a lot together, and we are with you to the end this time. I never did feel right leaving you alone with Searl, even though that ended up for the best.”
“I won’t leave either,” Shira said. “We might as well see our missions finished.”
Pol looked at Shira. “You should go, all three of you. What if the Emperor doesn’t get here in time?”
Kell laughed. “We can always swim to Volia.”
“Ah, the sea,” Shira said.
Pol nodded. “Shira hasn’t ever taken a boat on the ocean.”
Paki scoffed. “It’s not something I’m very fond of.”
Horker walked into the room. “Queen Isa needs you now, Shira. We are all to dress for dinner with the King in an hour.
Pol looked out a window at the darkening sky. “I guess our story took longer than I thought. Horker?”
The monk nodded.
“These are my two friends, Pakkingail Horstel and Kell Digbee. We call him,” Pol pointed at his old friend, “Paki. It’s shorter and somehow it fits better.”
“Good for you,” the monk said. “When I was younger the bullies used to call me Horker Porker.”
“Were you a chubby one?” Paki said with a smile on his face.
Horker narrowed his eyes. “Do I look fat?”
Paki shook his head. “No. No, sir.”
“I see Pol has shared a few stories with you,” Horker said. “Don’t keep the Queen waiting, Shira.” Horker said it kindly enough, but Pol understood the message, and so did Shira.
“We’ll get together tomorrow,” Pol said. “You haven’t told me about your adventures in Borstall.”
~~~
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
~
POL WIPED HIS HANDS ON THE NEW PANTS. They must have kept the royal seamstresses busy during the day. A servant that Pol recognized led him to the family dining room. He couldn’t tell the man that he knew the way. He had walked these halls thousands of times.
Pol could have thought that the castle hadn’t changed, but there would be no Queen Molissa to call him ‘son’ during the meal. He couldn’t help but sigh. The servant stopped.
“Is there anything wrong, sir?”
No ‘My Prince’ from anyone in the castle. Pol just shook his head. “It’s been a tiring day.”
“I heard you have traveled far,” the servant said.
No servant or guard leading one of the royal family would chat with them as they walked through the castle. Pol had to smile. His status had diminished, but he didn’t feel bad about it at all.
“Through here,” the servant said and left Pol standing in front of the doors to the family dining room. Grostin and Amonna were on the other side. They were the ones he really didn’t want to see. King Colvin would spend the entire meal talking to Queen Isa. He’d been to such gatherings often enough.
“Excuse me. Are you going to grow roots?” Grostin said from behind.
Pol stepped aside. “Forgive me.”
He let Grostin strut into the room. Grostin looked taller and older, but Pol realized that he didn’t look up to his brother in a literal sense quite as much as before he had left. He had done some growing as well. Pol used his stepbrother’s entrance as cover for his own.
Grostin sat to his father’s right, across from Queen Isa, who was looking like her old self. Wearing less-formal clothes made her look younger and more attractive. Pol liked the look of the more casual Isa. Shira sat next to the Queen. She wore a dark green dress and her black hair looked a bit longer banded with a wide white ribbon. Pol’s eyes lingered on her for a bit until he tore them away when Amonna walked into the room.
Amonna had been the instrument of his mother’s death, but she looked as pleasant as ever, although Pol sensed weariness behind her smile. It looked like Pol would be seated next to her. He longed to put his hands on her head to see if South Salvan mind-control still ruled her actions. But mind-control could be sensed from a short distance. He vowed to remove it during or after their dinner conversation.
Horker, Kelso, and Honna finally arrived. Honna sat next to her brother, and Horker sat next to Honna, with Kelso facing Pol. At least Kelso, who had risked his life in Covial, had earned a seat at the table.
Colvin signaled to a servant to commence serving. The food was familiar and good. His meals in the past year had been marginal at best, but Pol knew that Paki’s mother knew how to run a good kitchen.
Being at the end of the table, no one expected Pol to contribute to the conversation dominated by King Colvin and Queen Isa.
Amonna turned to him. “I understand you know my brother?”
Brother? Pol thought.
“Poldon.”
“Oh, Pol. Yes, I know him quite well. Not as well as Paki, but we have had our adventures.”
“Really? I hadn’t heard talk of him until we received word he was in Alsador.”
Pol nodded. “He saved King Landon, you know.”
“Oh? That’s not what I heard.”
“Pol had revealed himself to the King when the Captain of the Guard took advantage of Queen Bythia’s poisoning to attempt to kill his brother. Pol ended up killing the Captain and saved Landon.”
“My brother, the King, claims otherwise.”
Pol was about to say ‘you know Landon,’ but he bit his tongue. “I only know what Pol thinks he did. I’ve never known him to take credit for something someone else did.”
“True.”
Shira asked about Pol, diverting Amonna’s attention. Pol took the opportunity to observe Amonna’s brain. He saw a thick film of mind-control, but no evidence of coercion. He removed the spell while Amonna conversed with Shira.
“I feel a little faint,” Amonna said.
“You will be fine if you just sit still for a bit,” Pol said.
“How would you know?”
Shira touched Amonna on the arm. “He is the best sixteen-year-old healer I have ever seen.”
Pol smiled. “Have you ever met another sixteen-year-old healer?”
“No,” Shira gave Pol a seductive look that made him stammer. “But he healed my arrow wound.”
“I didn’t know you were in danger.” Amonna blinked her eyes. “Queen Isa, were you attacked when you journeyed to Borstall?”
Isa nodded. “Twice. Nater saved Valiso Gasibli from the Tesnan Guardians and Valiso saved Nater. I am honored that both were part of my protection.”
“We know Gasibli, although I didn’t think he could heal,” Grostin said. “He was Poldon’s bodyguard two summers ago. I’m just glad he didn’t try to set foot in Borstall. I would have clapped him in irons and put him in our deepest dungeon.” Grostin’s expression looked as nasty as ever.
“It is my understanding that there are no dungeons underneath the castle, just cells at the Guard headquarters,” Pol said. “Isn’t that right, Kelso?”
“How dare you contradict me!” Grostin said.
“I only meant to say—”
“Nater is correct. I can contradict you, Grostin,” the King said. “These are our guests, and I command you to treat them as such.”
Grostin
didn’t acknowledge the instructions, but went silent.
“I am sorry to have brought up a sore subject, My King,” Pol said. He knew it would be better to be as silent as his stepbrother.
“Did you help heal Pol?” Amonna said. Her face took on the sparkle that he had remembered.
“No. He found a great healer who had once been part of Deftnis in the Wild Spines. Pol’s health has improved since then.”
“What of the horse he stole? Does he show it off to the monks at the monastery?” Honna said. Pol remembered the constant edge she always had in her voice. Her way of showing ill humor differed from her brother’s.
“I can’t say. He never did such a thing while I was there. I haven’t been in Deftnis since the end of the summer.”
Horker smiled at Pol’s statement. Nothing that Pol said was a lie.
“Enough talk of Borstall’s disgrace,” Grostin said. He managed a smile. “What will you do now, Queen Isa?”
“I’m not sure. Your kingdom is in danger. I came this way in part to warn your father of the South Salvan treachery and to visit the gardens that I remembered with so much pleasure. It’s a shame Queen Molissa won’t be showing me around.”
Not one of Pol’s family said a word, but Amonna’s breath caught. It sounded like an arrested sob to him. Did the mind-control harden their consciences? If so, Amonna might be shedding a few tears in the night, now that the mind-control was gone.
“My Court Magician is not particularly adept at magic, I’m afraid,” King Colvin said. “Queen Isa says that magicians need to remove the coercion the Tesnan monks are using to force good men to do their bidding. I thought that Horker, Shira, and you, young Nater, could see what you could do to stall their advance.”
“As you command,” Horker said. “We can leave first thing tomorrow.”
The King nodded to Isa, and it seemed that it wouldn’t be right for Pol to request a change in the King’s decision just to reunite with his old friends, Paki and Kell.
“Pish!” Honna said. “There is no army, and there are no Tesnan monks leading an army of mindless soldiers against Borstall. I think it’s all a fiction. Perhaps they are on maneuvers or something. The idea that King Astor would send an army to Borstall is preposterous. You three can stay here until Queen Isa has settled and found suitable ladies-in-waiting,” Honna gave Shira a particularly dismissive look, “then you can leave us. We don’t care to listen to fables.”
Fables? Pol thought. Not even the word of Queen Isa had credence? Honna was certainly under the influence of Tesna or Covial. No rational person would behave that way, but Pol hadn’t ever considered Honna to be a reasonable person.
Talk turned towards happenings in North Salvan. Nothing was mentioned about Landon and Bythia. Pol thought that might be due to orders from King Colvin.
Dessert was served, and the small talk ended with King Colvin escorting Queen Bythia out of the room. Grostin and Honna followed.
“I’m surprised I enjoyed talking about Pol, my half-brother, tonight. I wish we could have talked more about my stepmother, too. I feel badly about my role in her death,” said Amonna.
“What role was that?” Shira said.
“I was tricked into giving her…” Amonna waved her hand in front of her face as if to push away a bothersome insect. “I’m sorry. I think I want to spend some time alone.” She curtseyed to both of them and left the room.
“I’ll be spending the night with Jamey, the current Captain of the Guard. We have some, uh, matters to talk about.” Kelso winked at Pol and left with Horker.
Pol stood with Shira, but she sat back down, and indicated that he join her.
“I’m not particularly happy about being drafted into the North Salvan army,” Shira said.
Not quite knowing what to say, Pol nodded. “At least we’ll be together in the field again.”
“And you’ll like that?” she asked.
The room felt a bit close at that moment. Pol nodded. “It shouldn’t be a secret that I have enjoyed working with you. I’ll be sorry to see you go.” Pol could feel his face warm. Emotions that he had never felt before burned within him. “I—”
Shira put her finger to his lips. His chest began to feel like it was constricting. She leaned over and removed her finger, and kissed him. “I’ll be sorry to leave you as well, but that time hasn’t come yet,” she said. “Let’s enjoy each other’s company until then. I like you, Pol, and I think you like me.”
Pol nodded and stammered, “I do, uh, like you.”
She smiled and kissed him again.
Amonna walked back into the room. “You called him Pol.”
“I thought you had left.”
His stepsister walked up to him with her fists on her hips. “I felt like I wanted to ask more about how my brother was doing, and now it appears that somehow you’ve learned to disguise yourself, Poldon. Does father know?”
Pol shook his head. He would have to reveal himself at some point and he couldn’t think of a better person to be the first to see his true self. “I’ve learned a lot of tricks since I left Borstall.”
“Stand up,” she said sternly.
Pol stood along with Shira. “Are you going to tell Grostin?” Pol said.
His sister shook her head and wrapped him in her arms. “I’m sorry. I never wanted to treat you badly. I don’t know what came over me. I love you, Pol.” She held him so tightly, Pol could feel her sobs. “You always were my favorite.”
“I thought I was supposed to say that,” Shira said.
“Do you really love him?” Amonna asked, looking at her over Pol’s shoulder.
Shira smirked. “No, I wouldn’t say that, but I like him.”
“I saw you show how much you liked him.”
Pol gasped, but it was in fun. He felt a great relief. “You were peeping in on us?”
She laughed and let him go. “It was a good scene. Like out of a book.”
“You won’t tell anyone?”
“I won’t, but you’ll have to let father know that you are here. Was what you said about Landon true?”
“I was there. Bythia was in the process of poisoning him. I temporarily had the run of the palace, working as a messenger for Regent Tomio, the Captain of the Guard. I found out she was planning something that night and slipped unnoticed into Landon’s study and switched the poison. She drank the wrong cup of wine. Regent was going to blame the deaths on me, a jilted heir to the Listyan throne, but as he was about to kill Landon, I took care of Tomio instead. He intended to kill me next.”
“I believe you. We both know Landon well. His last letter to Father, after Bythia’s funeral, was different, more humble? I know that’s a stretch for Landon, but I think you started a change in him.”
Pol nodded. “Believe me when I tell you that I wish him all the best in his reign.”
Amonna grabbed Pol by the arms and looked into his face. “I believe you. But then I’ve always believed you and believed in you.” A tear rolled down her cheek.
Shira pulled Amonna down into a chair and asked Pol to sit. “I’ll sit here to round out our little party if anyone peeks in. I think it’s time you brought each other up to date.”
~~~
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
~
POL LOOKED OVER AT SHIRA, and then quickly turned his head when she shifted her eyes toward him as they rode out of Borstall. Horker rode on ahead. Pol had enjoyed his talk with Amonna, even as Shira watched. He had been confused, if that wasn’t the best word, about his relationship with the Shinkyan. In his eyes, everything had changed between them with those two kisses.
Fortunately, Amonna walked in on them before Pol said anything awkward. He was comfortable liking Shira as a friend, but as a girlfriend, he was totally out of his element. Was she playing around with him? He didn’t know if she was sincere. As for himself, he couldn’t rely on his own feelings either.
He had read about relationships in the novels that Farthia Wissingbel, his
tutor, had made him read as part of his schooling, but nothing prepared him for the confused emotions that now roiled within him. He could always push away any girls who looked his way by thinking of his limited lifespan, but now that he didn’t fear dying before his twentieth birthday, he couldn’t rationalize avoiding all relationships with the opposite sex.
Pol smiled at the patched-up relationship with his sister. The thought of Amonna under mind-control made him seethe inside, but then he wondered who had cast the spell? Had Bythia had any magic potential? Could she have been the culprit? He would have to ask Queen Isa when they returned. Shira leaned over and flicked her finger against his arm. They hadn’t put on their armor yet.
“What are you thinking about? Me?” She smiled at him. It seemed different. She looked ahead with the corners of her lips upturned. It seemed genuine.
“Actually, I am,” Pol said. “I’m not used to having a boy-girl relationship. My previous life was, uh, sheltered.”
“Mine was, too, to an extent,” Shira said. “I have two older sisters and picked up the basics from them.” There was that grin again. She looked like she mocked him, but there was something else Pol couldn’t put his finger on. The thought made Pol put his hand to his lips at remembering her kisses.
“It was all real last night,” she said. “I meant what I said. I can see you doubting something. I know you like me.”
Pol just didn’t know how to respond with any confidence. It wasn’t as if he didn’t have any, but in this case he felt like he was lost at sea. “I do, but I lack the, uh, perspective that you have.” He returned her smile with an uncertain one of his own.
They rode on in silence and stopped by the road to rest their horses and have something to eat.
Pol used his locator skills and found too many people in range, moving in different directions. He looked for clusters of people moving more quickly than others, but nothing notable.
“We should put on our armor,” he said. “I can’t locate a danger, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t any.”
He pulled off the bundle of chainmail and a helm, this time one of North Salvan design rather than the ones they all wore coming out of Tesna. They all wore simple leather tabards tanned into a natural color.