A Fortunate Woman

by Jennifer Lyndon

  “Why are you telling me all of this?” Lia asked, looking slightly disgusted at the thought of her mothers getting sperm from a surrogate.

  “Because they had a problem similar to ours. They didn’t want the parentage of their offspring scrutinized. The first law I ever wrote made it an act of treason to question the parentage of royal offspring. Lore and I entered it into the Noge Legal Code first, and then I adapted the language slightly, and had M’Tek write it into the Fae Legal Code. It was eventually written into Vilken Law,” I offered. “You are royal, as will be this child. Whatever we say about the origin of the child has to be accepted without question, or it’s an act of treason,” I summarized.

  “No one has to know,” she observed.

  “No one can even ask you without risking a prison cell,” I added, smiling at Lia. “I worded the law very well.”

  “M’Tek doesn’t need to worry about a charge of treason,” Lia observed. “And she’ll be here next month.”

  “Do you trust me?” I asked evenly.

  “Of course I do, Pet,” Lia said, growing exasperated with me. “At this point, you’re the only person I trust.”

  “Then let me herald the birth of our child properly,” I said, forcing those two words from my mouth, and in that moment finally surrendering to the situation. This would be our child, regardless of how she or he came into being. The baby would be half Lia, and I loved Lia completely. I would love the child as well. “Please, let me handle your mothers and their questions,” I suggested. Lia nodded, her eyes growing red as one of her hands released mine to cradle her rounded belly. She had felt that shift inside of me, my final acceptance.

  I spent all day writing a carefully worded letter to M’Tek and Lore, informing them in the most exultant of terms about their daughter’s happy condition. Lia wasn’t as large as one might expect at more than four months along, so I took liberties with her due date. Lia chose to write her sister Ania herself, to my relief, as I was already drafting the proclamations for the rest of the Tannuk family. By the end of the week everyone, who needed to know, knew that the House of Tannuk was expecting a new, high-ranking member.

  Twelve days after my letter left Lauderdam, we received a reply from M’Tek, offering her congratulations and excitement over our news. I couldn’t help but read between the lines at the obvious astonishment M’Tek felt over the situation, but I didn’t point it out to Lia. Upon receiving the letter, Lia had become even more anxious. The last she had seen of her mother was the day she fled after being attacked. Lia didn’t speak to me about her discomfort over the impending visit, but it wasn’t difficult to see the anxiety in her eyes.

  Within the expected timeframe, M’Tek arrived with her small contingent of guards. I stood on the steps of Lauderdam, with Lia stiffly waiting beside me, and my staff and guards in attendance, as M’Tek dismounted her beautiful grey mare, Eren. I offered M’Tek an informal Vilken bow. My cousin smiled at me, recognizing my jest. Her daughter she wrapped her arms around.

  “Deus, I’ve missed you, Lia,” M’Tek said gently, as her eyes took in the pregnant state of her daughter. “You’re bigger than I expected.”

  “I’ve missed you too, Mata,” Lia said with genuine emotion. M’Tek nodded, and shifted her focus to me.

  “Cousin, you look extremely well,” M’Tek observed. “My daughter has made a happy woman of you, I believe.”

  “Yes,” I agreed with a curt nod. “Please, come inside,” I offered, gesturing for her to enter our home.

  As we entered our home with M’Tek, the stress that had been weighing Lia down for the past few weeks seemed to lift from her shoulders. My cousin walked alongside Lia, her gaze shifting from her daughter’s face to Lia’s slightly rounded belly. I walked behind them, hoping everything would go smoothly when the Fae Queen began grilling me about the identity of our child’s surrogate.

  Once inside I offered M’Tek berrywine and petou, as it was far too early for dinner and well past time for the midday meal. M’Tek only nibbled at the food, but drank freely of the wine.

  “Pet,” M’Tek said after her third glass of berrywine, turning her attention from her daughter to me for a moment. “You produce the finest torppa in the twin sovereignties,” she observed. “Please explain to me why I’m drinking this feeble berrywine.”

  “I’ll bring you a bottle of torppa, cousin,” I replied before heading back to the cellar to select a magnum.

  When I returned M’Tek’s eyes were red, and Lia was smiling at her. I’d obviously missed something. I carefully sabered the hard wax on the bottle rim, and poured a glass of torppa for M’Tek, and one for myself. Lia had sworn off the dark liquid, fearing a beverage made from poisonous berries might harm our child.

  After a few glasses of torppa M’Tek took her leave, heading upstairs to settle into her rooms. Lia smiled at her mother’s back as she left.

  “You seem to be getting along,” I observed. “This visit is going better than I expected.”

  “Pet, Mata apologized,” Lia whispered. “Can you imagine that? I think she only sent you to choose a bottle of torppa so that she could have a moment alone with me. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, truly.”

  “What did she say?” I asked, nearly whispering as well, because I didn’t want M’Tek to overhear.

  “She knew I was in love with you. She admitted that she had known ever since the night you were turned out of Lareem Palace. She worried over it constantly,” Lia said. “She saw that Lore was merciless, and forcing me into joining with a man I didn’t want. She then told me that she’s ashamed of her own inaction, and that she didn’t step in sooner to curb her Lore. Apparently Mata had already stopped the ceremony, even before discovering I’d gone missing,” Lia said, her quiet voice revealing her astonishment.

  “At least one of them has some compassion,” I snapped, trying to remain calm.

  “But Pet, that’s not what really shocked me. Mata was heated in her criticism of Lore, pointing out what she termed my mother’s ‘unfathomable cruelty’ in her treatment of me. She’s never said anything remotely negative about Lore before,” Lia observed. “It’s always been as if Lore could do no wrong.”

  “Did she question you about the baby?” I asked, not really wanting to think about Lore just then. Lia shrugged.

  “She only asked if I’d been suffering from morning sickness, and how I was handling the pregnancy,” Lia observed. “She didn’t ask about the father. She did comment that I looked further along than three and a half months, though,” Lia whispered, cutting her eyes to mine and raising her eyebrows. “I’m not certain we should have lied about that.”

  “Trust me, Lia. We had no choice but to lie about that,” I assured her. “Even I couldn’t have procured a surrogate quickly enough to tell the truth about your due date.”

  M’Tek reappeared in the late afternoon, dressed for a ride. She found me in my office, working on the accounts. Lia was taking a nap. M’Tek sank down in the chair opposite my desk, and crossed her legs wide, one booted ankle resting on her opposite knee.

  “Lia’s happy,” M’Tek said, settling back in the chair. “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen her smile so freely.”

  “Pregnancy agrees with her,” I observed.

  “Being joined with you agrees with her,” M’Tek replied. “Her life wasn’t easy at Lareem that last year and a half.” I swallowed back my response to that unpleasant observation and forced a smile.

  “Would you like another glass of torppa?” I asked, rising. I didn’t want to think about what Lia had gone through.

  “I’d rather go for a ride with you, cousin,” M’Tek said. “I used to know these woods well,” she added.

  “I’ll need to change first,” was my reply.

  “By all means. I’ll wait for you here,” she offered.

  I made my way back to our bedchamber and quickly changed while Lia snored softly in our bed. For some reason she had begun snoring in recent weeks. It wasn�
�t loud enough to keep me awake at night, more of an endearing sort of snuffling sound. I wanted to press a kiss to her beautiful pink lips, but that might have awakened her, so I resisted.

  When I returned to my office, I found M’Tek sitting in the same place, but flipping through an old book I’d acquired on the Temple of Vilken. It was called Following the Vilken Way. I’d found the book a surprisingly interesting read.

  “Have you truly converted?” M’Tek asked, lifting the book, and raising a dark eyebrow. “I thought you only changed your religious affiliation in order to join with my daughter.”

  “You’re right about the reason for my conversion, cousin, but I do believe most of the tenets,” I replied. “Also, our status as active, and financially contributing, members of the local Vilken Temple makes us far more popular with our Vilken neighbors than any Fae grand duchess, or Noge-Fae princess for that matter, should ever expect to be in Baneland,” I said, smiling. “You and Lore are not loved here.” M’Tek laughed at my obvious understatement and then glanced at the book again.

  “At least it’s an interesting religion,” she observed. “Trees are important, right?” she asked.

  “Everything possesses a life force. The forest and the sea are most sacred as life giving environments,” I explained. “In its purest form the religion is only practiced in a forest or upon the beach, but there are too few trees now, in this area, so they built temples. Good deeds make you more powerful, bad ones weaken your soul. If you refrain from doing harm, or at least kill only justly, your power increases. If you destroy for the sake of avarice, your soul begins to wane and die,” I said. “That’s really the essence of it.”

  “As I said, an interesting religion,” M’Tek repeated in a curt tone, placing the book back on my desk and standing. “I feel I should point out, however, that if you’d joined with my daughter in either a Fae or a Noge Temple, you might be Princess Pet’Wyn now.”

  “I honestly couldn’t care less, cousin,” I said, grinning at her. “I’m thrilled to be joined with Lia, even as her lowly consort. Besides, I’m not certain a princess outranks a grand duchess. It’s a grey area, and dependent on several variables, for example, the land controlled by the title holder.”

  “That’s true, cousin,” M’Tek agreed, grinning at me. “And you hold a massive amount of land. You truly are powerful enough in your own right.”

  As we walked through the house, M’Tek’s glance was captured from time to time, as if she were confused and trying to make sense of her surroundings. She noticed me watching her and smiled.

  “You have built a beautiful palace,” she offered.

  “I’m not a queen, therefore Lauderdam is not a palace,” I explained. “I’m pleased you like it, though.”

  “You’re joined with my daughter,” she replied. “Of course you have provided a palace for her, whatever you choose to call it. Your furnishings are lush without being dramatic. You have intricate tile work, obviously from the Tannukyn quarry in southeastern Faeland, and large open halls. You chose glasswork from the finest crafters in western Nogeland, and the best Vilken wood masters were employed to beautifully carve your ceilings. Your knobs and fixtures are all platinum, and your views of the surrounding mountain range and redwood forest are spectacular. It’s an elegant palace, and no less than I’d expect from you, cousin.”

  “Thank you, M’Tek,” I said, gratified by her blatant praise. She smiled at me, noticing that I’d used her first name. She didn’t correct me. “Is it strange to you to be in this place again?” I asked. “You must keep wanting to see it as it was.”

  “You know I grew up in that old Noge Palace,” she said.

  “Yes, of course,” I replied. “I haven’t forgotten.”

  “Though you’ve clearly built a more imposing palace, I never would have wanted Lore to raze the old one,” she said. “Something happened to her when they took me. She snapped.”

  “I remember that too,” I replied cautiously. “She was grief-stricken when she believed you were dead. I decided at the time that it was more difficult for her because it happened here. The circumstances were very similar to the way her mother was murdered. She had been protective of the Vilken people before. Of course she felt betrayed.”

  “But it was the witch,” M’Tek countered. “I’ve never liked Vilkerlings. Their manners are too sullen, their cuisine is abhorrent, and even their nobility was little more than a band of washed savages. Still, they weren’t the ones trying to kill me, at least not that day. More than two thirds of the witch’s force was Borderling. I know this, because I killed at least a hundred of them before I was taken by the witch.”

  “Lore is not always rational when she feels betrayed,” I observed. M’Tek nodded her agreement, but refrained from elaborating. “Cousin, do you anticipate Lore ever forgiving me?” I asked, changing the subject slightly.

  “No. It’s not likely,” M’Tek said gently. “She hasn’t been the same since she found out about Lia and you. As you said, she doesn’t handle betrayal well. And you did betray her, Pet, whatever your reasons. I’ve never seen Lore this enraged. If she says she’s forgiven you, be wary. You may find a knife at your throat in the next moment.”

  “Will you be able to forgive me?” I asked.

  “My daughter loves you, Pet,” she said gently. “And so do I. I forgave you very quickly, some might say, too quickly.”

  “Thank you, cousin,” I said. “That means more to me than I could ever express.”

  “Well, I don’t view your actions as extremely different from my own with Lore. You fell in love with a beautiful, intelligent, and much younger woman. Despite what Lore thinks, Lia is not a child. And I’m certain you never set out to hurt any of us. You aren’t malicious,” she added. “It was insulting that you went behind my back the way you did, but I understood why you were afraid to come to me. Lore was possessive of you. You never would have been granted permission to be with Lia, not as long as Lore could prevent it,” she admitted. “Once you fell in love, you had no choice but to hide it.”

  “You were angry when we joined,” I observed. “I could tell from the tone of your letter.”

  “You know me too well,” she replied offering a wry smile. “I would have appreciated being invited to my daughter’s joining ceremony. As your closest relative, I should have been invited to yours as well. And I’m not exactly pleased that either of you have converted to the Vilken Way,” M’Tek added, lifting a dark eyebrow for emphasis. “Lia’s not a savage, and neither are you.”

  “Lore could have undone any joining in either a Fae or Noge temple,” I replied. “The Fae believe she’s Deus.” M’Tek started laughing, and patted my back.

  “And whose fault is that, cousin?” M’Tek asked, grinning.

  “I was only doing my job as information minister,” I replied, not wanting, or in my opinion deserving, the blame for that fiasco. “How else was I to smooth over that whole issue of surrogacy when there was no surrogate. They had to see Lore as divine in order to believe she did what she did. If she hadn’t lauded the water, on a holy day no less, it would never have evolved into that disaster.”

  “You’re probably right,” M’Tek said, still laughing when she walked into the stable. “You’ve improved the design of the stable,” she commented. “The air flow is far better, and the stalls are more spacious.”

  “I’m glad you approve.”

  “But where are all of your horses?” she asked. “All I see are empty stalls, and outside, empty paddocks.”

  “We haven’t started a breeding program yet,” I replied. “There’s no one willing to sell me good foundation stock at the moment, as both the Noge and Fae nobility are still actively shunning me. I’m not fond of Vilken horses. They’re too short and thick.”

  “Thank Deus your taste in horses hasn’t been corrupted by these Vilkerlings!” she exclaimed. “You know, cousin, I have a nice stallion I could send you. He’s quite good, but I almost had him gelded because he
’s too closely related to my mares,” she said. “I’ve been looking for an appropriate trade.” She glanced over to Khol and smiled. “I don’t suppose you and Lia would consider trading Khol,” she observed.

  “Never,” I said quietly. “He saved Lia’s life. No other horse could have survived what he endured bringing her to me. Neither of them had food or water for days. He was almost dead when they arrived, as was Lia.”

  “I was only teasing you,” M’Tek said, diverting her gaze to hide a pained expression. “Please, accept the stallion as a joining gift from Lore and me.”

  “That’s very generous,” I replied. “I will.”

  “On that note, may I ride Khol this afternoon?” she asked, offering a winning smile.

  “Of course. I’ll ride Fiora.”

  “No, you’ll never keep up with me on Fiora. Take Eren,” she offered.

  We rode until it was dark, racing through the woods, jumping fallen trees, and finally riding out by the old gamekeeper’s cottage.

  “You’ve repaired the old ruin,” M’Tek observed. “It’s been abandoned since I was a girl.”

  “This is where I lived while the main house was going up,” I said. “It’s quite comfortable, for being only six rooms.”

  M’Tek didn’t comment, but rode deeper into the woods, coming out at the glacier lake in the clearing. She seemed almost brooding as she scanned the area, finally focusing her gaze on the rock upon which Lia and I enjoyed bathing in the sun. Finally, without commenting, she turned Khol away, and we returned to the stable.

  She was silent on the ride back. I guessed she was tired from her journey. We put the horses away and headed back toward the house without conversation. As we were walking, M’Tek’s attention turned to me again.

  “When I was fourteen, I killed the Noge Crown Prince out by your glacier lake. Whenever I return to that place, I’m reminded of the woman I could have been. I changed that day,” she observed. “He was the first person I killed,” she added. “Within five years I’d slaughtered thousands of Vilkerlings.”