He looked up at Thessalina and found, to his surprise, a measure of understanding. “I remember a struggle, then the next thing I knew, Father lay at my feet with…with…” He could not make his mouth form the words. He shook his head to loosen his tongue.
“A maid came in and she must have seen him. She screamed and I panicked. In hindsight I know now pure cowardice made me run. I wish I’d had the courage to stay, but at the time, all I could think of was that I’d be blamed for his murder. So I ran and I didn’t stop until I’d made it all the way to Darguinia. Where better to go, if one wants to disappear? It would be as if Magnes Preseren had never existed.”
His mouth twisted in a bitter smile at the flood of memories. “I changed my name and joined a holy brotherhood of humble healers, of a foreign god, no less! I thought by serving the poor and living as a simple healer, I could somehow make up for what I’d done.”
He went on to recount his life as an Eskleipan and how it had eventually brought him some peace. “The daily routine helped me to deal with the pain and, finally, to get it under control.”
“Why did you come back?” Thessalina asked quietly. She had remained silent throughout her brother’s narrative, until now.
“I ran into someone in Darguinia, a friend. Someone you’ve met, actually. He had suffered incredible ill fortune and had wound up in terrible circumstances. He convinced me I needed to come home and face up to what had happened, but now that I’m here, I’m beginning to think I should have stayed away.”
He looked around the room with haunted eyes. “Entering this room again took just about everything I had. I can feel Father’s presence so strongly. It’s as if he’s still here! I feel his anger, Thess. He blames me for his death, and rightly so.” He paused and drained his cup. “If I spend the rest of my life in atonement, it still won’t wash me clean of my crime,” he added.
Thessalina pushed away from the window and returned to her desk. She held still for several heartbeats, her eyes focused on her sun-browned hands. Finally, she spoke. “Magnes, the maid saw everything. She testified at a formal inquiry that Father attacked you, and how, during the struggle, he slipped and fell against the mantle. The magistrate officially ruled our father’s death an accident.”
Thessalina fell silent for a moment, then continued. “You know I love you,” she stated. “You’re my big brother, the one who took me riding on his pony before I was old enough to have one of my own. You taught me how to swim, and how to steal sweets from the kitchen without getting caught.” She looked up at him, her face stark with hurt. “How could you run away from me, Magnes? How could you not trust me to see the truth of things? Gods, Brother! I know you could have never, ever killed our father on purpose.”
“Thess, I’m so sorry,” Magnes whispered. “I don’t deserve your forgiveness.”
Tears wet Thessalina’s cheeks. “I would forgive you anything, Brother. Now, you have to forgive yourself,” she replied.
“Someone else said the very same thing to me recently,” Magnes murmured. He looked into his sister’s dark eyes. “I’m not sure I know how.”
A dog howled in mournful counterpoint to Magnes’ words from the yard below.
Thessalina sniffed and blotted her wet face on her sleeve. “Now that you’re back,” she said slowly, “there’s the question of your inheritance.” She paused and Magnes could sense a subtle shift in her attitude, from empathy to ambivalence.
“What about it, Thess?” he prompted.
“When you disappeared and we’d heard no word from you, Father’s vassals grew restless. There was even a plot, hatched by Sebastianus of Veii, to ride into Amsara and declare himself Duke! Thank the gods I had enough allies to prevent that.” She picked up a gilt-handled letter opener and began twirling it in her hands. “Magnes, none of us knew if you were ever coming back. I even sent a professional Tracker to find you, but he failed, obviously. Word started going around that you were dead.”
Magnes bit his lower lip. “Death may have been easier on me than what I went through,” he muttered.
“I had to make a decision,” Thessalina continued. “The duchy needed leadership and a clear succession. I thought long and hard and decided I couldn’t wait, so I sent a petition to the capital, asking the empress to officially bestow upon me the title of Duchess and grant me all of Father’s lands. I’d already led the diversionary campaign against the elves last fall, and I had the respect and support of most of Father’s allies.”
Magnes nodded. “None of this comes as much of a surprise,” he commented.
“The empress granted my petition, Brother. I am legally still your regent, but when a year and a day have passed from the date of my petition, I will officially become Duchess of Amsara; that is, unless you decide to contest it. You are still alive, after all, and your claim supercedes mine. The empress will have no choice but to rescind my grant if you declare your intention to take back what is yours.” Thessalina’s next words fell from her lips reluctantly, as though they had to be pushed. “I won’t fight you, Magnes, if you want Amsara back.”
Ever since they had been children, Thessalina led and he, Magnes, had followed, even though he had been the firstborn. Thessalina had inherited all of Duke Teodorus’ drive and ability for leadership. Though Magnes favored their father in appearance, their mother’s gentle temperament formed the core of his personality.
No. Thessalina stands in her rightful place and we both know it.
“I won’t contest, Sister. You should have been Father’s Heir all along. I just wish he could have seen the truth of that. It would have saved all of us a lot of pain.” A tangle of emotions wrapped up and stilled his voice. He closed his eyes and concentrated on breathing until the spell passed. “All I ask is that you allow me to stay on and manage the estates, like I always did for Father,” he murmured.
Thessalina stood and stepped around to the front of the desk. Magnes rose to meet her and they fell into each other’s arms.
“I missed you so much, Big Brother!” Thessalina mumbled into his shoulder.
“I missed you, too,” he replied, stroking her dark, braided hair.
They held each other awhile longer, then Thessalina gently pushed away. A wan smile curved her lips. “You said you’d found a friend in Darguinia in bad circumstances, someone I’d met.”
“Yes, and he wanted me to give you a message.”
“Tell me who it was,” Thessalina demanded.
“Let me give you his message first. He said to thank you for his life.”
Thessalina’s brow furrowed with puzzlement. “I don’t recall saving anybody’s life, Brother,” she said. “Are you certain this friend…” She paused in mid-sentence and her eyes grew soft and unfocused. “The elf,” she breathed. “Ash…Ashee…”
“Ashinji Sakehera,” Magnes corrected. “You remember him now, I see.”
Thessalina nodded. “One of my patrols captured him at the beginning of the fall campaign. He had been badly wounded. Shot through the shoulder. My commanders demanded he be killed and returned to the elves in pieces, but I refused. Since I couldn’t send him back alive and I couldn’t stomach having him killed, I sold him to a slaver instead.” She paused, hand pressed to her mouth. “So, he survived. Or did he?” Magnes heard a strange catch in her voice.
“He did, though for a time, I didn’t think he would. I worked as a healer at the Grand Arena. I found Ashinji enslaved at the de Guera yard, one of Darguinia’s most prestigious. He was one of Armina de Guera’s best fighters, but it wasn’t in the arena where he nearly met his death. A fellow slave stabbed him in the back.”
Magnes went on to recount the difficult feat of surgery he had performed on Ashinji. He also described the escape and flight out of Darguinia.
“You helped a slave escape his rightful owner, Brother? Do you know what would have happened to you if you’d been caught?” Thessalina frowned for a moment, then sighed. “I’m glad to hear the elf’s alive and on his way back
home.”
Her expression grew pensive. “My men dragged him into our camp, badly hurt and in a lot of pain. He must have been so afraid.” Thessalina’s voice grew soft as she remembered. “But he never gave in to fear and he never lost his dignity, even in the face of the most terrible humiliation. I only spoke to him briefly, but it was enough to make me think.”
“About what?” Magnes asked.
“About why we hate the elves. I’d never seen one before, other than Jelena, and she’s only half-elf. I looked at him…” Thessalina paused and a stain of red crept into her tanned cheeks. She cleared her throat and continued. “I spent a lot of time just staring at him while he slept. He never knew I did that. I finally realized he was just a scared young man, hurt and alone among his enemies. I came to admire him for his courage. I knew I couldn’t change the attitudes of my commanders, or of the ranks, but I could change my own.”
“Ashinji sensed your change of heart, Sister. That’s why he wanted me to thank you,” Magnes said.
“Someday, I hope I get the chance to apologize to him and to Jelena,” Thessalina murmured.
A loud knock on the study door interrupted their exchange. “Come!” Thessalina called out.
A man dressed in dusty brown leathers strode into the room, a packet clutched in his gloved hand. The silver badge of the Imperial Couriers winked on his shoulder. He touched his fist to his cap in salute and said, “My lady, I bear an official dispatch from the Soldaran High Command.”
Thessalina held out her hand and the messenger placed the packet in it. She laid it on the desk, then rummaged among the clutter to retrieve a silver half-sol coin, which she dropped onto the man’s palm. He saluted again and departed.
Thessalina eagerly picked up the packet. Several official wax seals affixed to cords secured the wrapper. Magnes recognized the largest-—the Great Seal of Empress Constantia herself.
“What is that?” he asked, but he had already guessed the answer.
Thessalina broke the seals and unfolded the thick sheaf of papers. Her eyes scanned the contents. “These are my mobilization orders,” she said, confirming Magnes’ suspicion. “I’ve been expecting these, but I thought they would’ve come long before now. I’m to bring my levies with all speed to the Portanus Pass to join with the main body of the Imperial Army.” She glanced at Magnes, then looked back to the papers. “I’m to leave a third of my forces behind, to act as a rear guard against any attempt by the elves to cross the border at the Janica River fords.”
“That’s unlikely,” Magnes stated. “I’m certain there’s nothing but a small defensive garrison left at Kerala Castle. Lord Sakehera, Ashinji’s father, is one of the elf king’s generals. He’ll be at Tono, I mean Portanus, for sure.”
Thessalina dropped the papers atop the desk. Her demeanor had changed again. The acting Duchess of Amsara stood before Magnes once again. “There’s much to be done, Brother. I must go now. I’ll see you at supper in the hall tonight?”
“Yes,” Magnes replied.
***
“So, how fares our cousin?” Thessalina inquired.
She and Magnes sat at one end of the massive rectangular oak table that dominated the center of Amsara Castle’s great hall. A simple supper of rabbit pie, boiled turnips, salad, and apples had been sent over from the kitchen, along with a crock of last fall’s hard cider.
“Very well, when last I saw her,” Magnes replied. He took a bite of pie. “She and Ashinji had not yet wed, but from what I could see, they were very much in love. By the time your men captured Ashinji, he and Jelena were married and she was several months pregnant. Ashi has a son or daughter he’s never seen.”
“I hope, truly, that our cousin and her child will be safe,” Thessalina sighed. “This war is going to be very hard on the elves. I wish…” Thessalina paused to wipe at eyes gone red. “I wish now that I had treated Jelena better.”
Magnes’ eyebrows shot up. “I never expected to hear you say that.”
“Well, that makes two of us,” Thessalina replied, taking a deep pull from her cider mug.
“There’s something else about Jelena I haven’t told you yet,” Magnes said, setting his fork down. Thessalina looked at him, waiting.
“I know you think Jelena left Amsara to avoid becoming Veii’s concubine, but that’s not the only reason,” Magnes explained. “She also wanted to find her father.”
“Did she?” Thessalina asked.
“Yes, she did, but he was not at all what she expected.”
“Oh?”
“Just before she, that is, before we left, Claudia gave her a signet ring and told her it belonged to her father.”
“A signet ring? Then he must be one of their noble-born,” Thessalina said.
“You could say that,” Magnes chuckled. “The signet turned out to be the family crest of the Onjaras, the rulers of Alasiri.”
“Jelena’s father is a member of the elven royal family?”
“Not just a member, Thess. Her father is the Onjara. King Silverlock, himself.” Thessalina stared at her brother in shocked silence. “I know how you feel,” Magnes continued. “I think I looked the same way you do now when Ashinji told me. Turns out, our cousin is a princess.”
“Gods,” Thessalina whispered.
“What we call the Portanus Valley the elves call Tono. Thess, if they can’t hold it, Alasiri will be overrun. You and I both know what that will mean for them,” Magnes said.
“Yes, and there’s not a damn thing I can do about it, Brother,” Thessalina snapped. “I have my duty to the empress as one of her chief vassals. I can’t disobey her orders.” Her dark eyes roiled with anger.
“I’m not suggesting you shirk your duty, Sister. I just want you to know what’s at stake. Jelena and her child, both of whom are innocent, may not survive.”
“I know what’s at stake! A lot of innocent people won’t survive, Magnes. It’s what happens in war, for gods’ sake.” Thessalina threw up her hands. “I wish things were otherwise, I really do, but I haven’t the power to change what’s going to happen. We outnumber the elves by at least three to one. They can’t defeat us. Portanus will be taken, and if the empress orders us to press forward and take all of the Western Lands, then that’s what we’ll do!” She lowered her voice and her face softened. “I’m sure that once the elves surrender and they’re absorbed into the empire, things won’t be so bad for them.”
“How can you say that?” Magnes’ voice rose to a near shout. “First, they’ll never surrender. Second, you know what the average human believes about them. You believed all of that rubbish yourself!”
“Brother, I…” Thessalina began, but Magnes cut her off.
“The empress doesn’t want the elves as subjects. She wants them all removed and Alasiri repopulated with humans. This isn’t a simple war of conquest, Sister. It’s a campaign of extermination!”
Thessalina leaned back in her chair, jaw set. “What would you have me do?”
“Damn it…I don’t know!” Magnes cried. Immediately, he regretted his outburst and the anger within him trickled away, leaving a dark stain of sadness in its wake. He cursed the powerlessness that threatened to drown him in despair. In truth, there was nothing either of them could do to stop any of it, just as Thessalina had said.
“I can’t come with you,” he murmured. “I won’t bear arms against the elves.”
“I’d be lying if I said I’m surprised,” Thessalina sighed. “You’ll stay, then, and run Amsara while I’m gone.” Her words, for all their softness, still fell upon Magnes with the unmistakable force of command.
“Thank you,” he replied. An enormous yawn threatened to break apart his jaw. “Gods, I’m so tired. I’ve been on the road for over two weeks. I need to go to bed.”
Thessalina nodded. “Your old rooms aren’t too dusty, I hope. I had standing orders to keep them clean just in case you returned, but two of the chambermaids left service so we’ve been short-staffed.”
&nbs
p; “They aren’t bad. A little musty, is all,” Magnes replied.
“I doubt I’ll see my bed much before sunrise,” Thessalina said. “There’s still so much to do.” She reached over and laid a hand atop his. Her fingertips and palm felt as callused as any peasant’s. “I’m glad you’ll be here to look after Amsara while I’m gone, Brother. Our people have always loved you. They’ll feel safe with you here.”
“Our people have nothing to fear,” Magnes replied quietly.
***
Magnes woke later that night with the sour taste of nightmares on his tongue. Afraid to go back to sleep, he rose, pulled on a tunic and trousers then slipped his feet into a pair of old sandals. A shadow among shadows, he made his way out of the keep and headed across the yard toward the chapel. He paused outside the door, then looked up at the glittering vault of the night sky.
Are Jelena and Ashi reunited yet, he wondered. Did they sleep within the comfort of each other’s arms beneath this very same sky, their baby cradled between them?
He pushed the heavy wooden door inward and entered the silent chapel. Two brass lamps burned on the altar, filling the room with dim golden light and flickering shadows. A sweet residue of incense hung in the air. With faltering footsteps, Magnes made his way down the center aisle, past the front of the altar painted with representations of the gods, to the staircase leading down to the crypt. An unlocked iron gate barred the entrance. Realizing he had no light, Magnes stepped over to the altar and grabbed a lamp. He thought of the last time he had come here, on that long ago night he and Jelena had fled Amsara.
Now, guilt pricked him as, trembling, he descended to the crypt. In the cool darkness, the departed generations of Preserens, rulers of Amsara for over three hundred years, rested in silence. The tiny pool of light cast by the altar lamp allowed Magnes to find his way through the rows of sarcophagi without stumbling. As the most recent internment, he knew his father’s sarcophagus would lie near the front.
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