Reaching the end of the line, Daimh sized up the woman before him. Her long, flowing dark hair cascaded over her vibrant green dress. She was physically more mature than the rest of the ladies, with full lips and curves in all the right places. She just looked at Daimh with her dark eyes and smiled, revealing dimples that rivaled the king’s.
After they looked at each other for a moment, Daimh said, “And you? What are your answers?
“Oh! My name is Nicole.” She paused, then smiled even brighter than before. “And I want to marry the most powerful, respected man in all of Bariwon.”
***
“Have you noticed that Nicole looks quite a bit like your son?” Caldre motioned to the newly married couple, who stood in the hall surrounded by younger nobles.
Councilor Abrecan nodded. “Yes, I’ve heard that from a few different people.”
Several nobles were speculating that the beauty from the district of Regne was chosen because Daimh was so infatuated with his own looks that he chose a female version of himself. However, Caldre thought better of mentioning it and held his tongue.
After looking around the hall, which was decorated even more elaborately than the last wedding reception, Caldre said, “It seems there are not as many people here as when Eliana and Daimh were married.”
“Meaning?” Abrecan voice took on a harder edge.
“Nothing, nothing,” Caldre said quickly. “Just merely an observation. Perhaps they are all busy with the harvest.”
Abrecan’s jaw tightened noticeably. “Yes, yes, that’s the reason. Just as well. Less people we have to feed.”
“At least this is almost over. Planning and executing the contest to find a bride for your son took quite a bit of our time and attention.”
“It will be worth it,” Abrecan said. “After he failed in the contest with Rinan, Daimh lost a lot of confidence. For some odd reason, he turned to the minstrels and became interested in the songs they sang and the plays they put on. But he was still under foot too much. With his little bride to keep him busy, I can stop babysitting him.” Abrecan turned to Caldre and poked the magistrate in the chest. “Make sure Nicole understands that her job is to keep my son happy—and out of my hair.”
***
Oakleaf sat on a large wooden chair, his elbows resting on his knees and his chin cupped in his hands. The five-year-old’s spiky blond hair was even more messy than normal, an indication of the late hour.
His younger sister slept soundly in a chair next to him. She had wanted to stay up as well, but her two-and-a-half-year-old body had different ideas.
“Daddy, when is the baby in Mommy’s tummy going to come out?” Oakleaf asked, watching his father pace back and forth in front of the door to his parents’ bedroom.
Garth stopped and looked at his son. He blinked once, then again. “When do you think the baby will get here, Son?”
Oakleaf started swinging his legs that were not quite long enough to reach the floor. “I don’t know, but this is taking forever.”
Garth snapped his fingers in agreement and started pacing again.
Trying to pass the time, Oakleaf started to count how many times his daddy walked back and forth. When he reached forty eleven, he heard a baby crying in the other room. His daddy stopped and looked expectantly at the door. After several moments, the nursemaid opened it and said, “You can come in.”
Oakleaf jumped out of his chair and ran to the door. He followed his daddy inside to see his mommy lying in her bed, holding a little baby with a full head of dark hair.
“And what is the name of this son, my love?” Iolanthe asked, looking at Garth with weary eyes.
“A son.” Garth smiled. Bending down, he looked carefully at the latest addition to his family. Then he straightened. “Snapdragon.”
Looking down at the small person in her arms, Iolanthe said, “Yes, of course. My little Snapdragon.”
Oakleaf walked up to the bed, rested his head on his mother’s arm, and looked at the baby.
“Say hello to your brother, Oakleaf,” Iolanthe said.
Oakleaf reached out tentatively and touched the baby’s small head. “Hello, Snapdragon.”
Garth held up a hand. “Don’t go anywhere—I want to get your daughter.”
Iolanthe gave him a look that said, “Where am I going to go?”
Garth left the room and returned with the dark-haired little girl in his arms.
“Look, sweetheart,” Garth said to the two-year-old, who was rubbing sleep out of her dark eyes. “It’s your new brother, Snapdragon.”
Bringing her closer the baby, Garth said, “And Snapdragon, I want you to meet your sister. Her name is Sunshine.”
CHAPTER 11
“The sun’s playing hide-and-seek,” Rinan said, squinting through the raindrops at the beams of light that had broken through the clouds.
Rayne set down his crate of vegetables in the horse-drawn cart. “What’s that, Father?”
“Just a phrase your mother would use when it was raining but the sun was out.” Rinan patted his twenty-year-old son on the back.
Rayne looked up at the sky. “I don’t get it.”
“It means…well, I guess it would be hard to explain. It’s just one of those things she would say.”
Picking up another crate off the ground and lifting it onto the cart, Rayne repeated, “‘The sun’s playing hide-and-seek.’ I’ll have to remember that.”
Rinan walked to the house to bring over the last of the crates. He glanced back at his son, who was a good twenty paces away, and got an idea. He reached into a crate and selected a fist-sized onion.
“Hey, Rayne!” he shouted as he threw it at his son.
Turning, Rayne saw the round object coming rapidly toward his head. He reached out and caught it before it could hit him.
“Another test?” the young man asked, throwing the onion back to his father.
Rinan caught the onion at chest height and smiled. “Always. You can never let your guard down. Life-changing events can happen when you least expect it.”
Rayne walked toward his father to help with the last of the crates. “I doubt much will happen on our trip to town.”
Rinan wagged a finger at his son. “You never know. I haven’t spent your whole life teaching you how to fight and keep your reflexes sharp just for the Mortentaun. These skills may come in handy when you least expect it.”
“Well,” Rayne said, lifting up a crate and walking back to the wagon, “we are the only people here on the farm, and aside from the rare trips to Grandma and Grandpa’s house or into town to sell our crops, we don’t see anyone else. So unless something happens on the visits, I don’t see why you are always pushing me to be on my toes.”
“Sometimes you just need to trust that your father is looking out for you. Understand?” Rinan put the last of the wares into the cart. “Now, untie the horse while I finish tying up the canvas cover.”
Rayne walked around the cart and undid the leather straps that kept their horse in place. A flash of lightning, followed by booming thunder, startled the horse, causing him and the cart to lurch backward. Rinan cried out when the wagon backed up over his lower leg. He fell to the ground and watched as Rayne looked back at him. Moving quickly, Rayne urged the horse forward, pulling the cart off his father. He tied the horse back up, then rushed to his father’s side.
Rinan grimaced in pain. “See? What did I tell you? I let my attention slip for a moment, and now I’ve got a broken ankle.”
“You didn’t have to break a part of your body to prove your point, Father,” Rayne said, helping him back to the house.
“Perhaps not, but I doubt this is a lesson you or I will soon forget.”
***
“Have you seen your brothers?” Iolanthe asked.
Not looking up from her book, Sunshine responded, “Of course. Every day.”
Iolanthe rolled her eyes. “I mean, do you know where your brothers are?”
“Let me guess,�
�� Sunshine replied. “You need help with something and they aren’t around.”
“Yes, I noticed we are almost out of candles. We need to get some more, but I have to start working on dinner so it will be ready when your father gets home.”
Nodding her head toward the window, Sunshine said, “It seems to me that Oakleaf and Snapdragon have the ability to sense when something needs to be done, and find a way to occupy themselves with other activities.”
Iolanthe looked out the window to the field in front of the house, where she could see her sons sparring again with large wooden swords. She worried when her twenty-year-old son sparred with his brother, who was five years younger. Oakleaf was always careful, but accidents could and did happen.
Opening the front door to the wood-framed house, Iolanthe yelled out, “Boys! I need you to go into town and buy some candles.”
Oakleaf lowered his sword. “But Mom, the Mortentaun is just a few months away. I really need to practice. Send Shiny. I’ll bet she’s not doing anything but reading.”
Snapdragon took that moment to swipe at his big brother’s legs, but Oakleaf blocked his blow.
Iolanthe looked back inside at her daughter. “Sunshine…”
She slapped her book closed. “I’ll spare us the argument of why this isn’t fair and just go.”
***
“Ah, Sunshine! Welcome, welcome,” Chandler said cheerfully when the seventeen-year-old beauty entered his candle shop.
“Well met, Chandler.” She lowered the hood of her cloak.
Peering through the misty window, the candle maker asked, “So, is it still raining outside?”
Sunshine shrugged. “Hard for me to say, since I’m inside now.”
“Yes, well, uh, go ahead and select what you would like. I was going to close up soon, but take your time.”
Sunshine went to the back of the store and picked out the candles her mother wanted. She was placing them in her wicker basket when the door opened. Three guardians, tunics and leggings wrinkled and spotted, barged into the shop, laughing loudly. Two of the guardians were obviously twins. They were nearly copies of each other, aside from a scar that ran down the cheek of one of them. The third guardian was a bit taller and more muscular, with an overbite protruding from what could be called a sad attempt at a mustache.
“Hello, guardians.” Chandler’s voice was less cheerful now.
“Take what you want,” the bucktoothed man told his fellow guardians.
Chandler cleared his throat. “Guardian Zubin, I don’t believe I’ve met the other men with you.”
Zubin started picking up various candles and then tossing them back after examining them, breaking some in the process. “Yeah, they’re new. Just came down from Erd. This here is Thomas, and that there is Thomas.”
Sunshine came around a shelf with her full basket to face the guardians. “Did you say you were both named Thomas?”
The Thomas without the scar looked at Sunshine from head to toe and smiled. “My mum and dad had only picked out one name, so when my brother here came along after me, instead of trying to think of a new one, they just named us the same.”
“I see.” Sunshine pursed her lips. “I can imagine it would make it easier to call you both to dinner.” She headed to the counter where Chandler was waiting.
“Whoa,” said the Thomas with the scar as Sunshine walked by them. He grabbed her arm.
Turning to face him, she said, “I’m not a horse.” She shrugged away from his grip and then turned her back on him.
Scarred Thomas said to Zubin, “Did she just insult me?”
Before he could answer, Sunshine turned around and said in an overly sweet voice, “Oh, no, my big tough guardian. I didn’t insult you. If I were to insult you, I would say something along the lines of, ‘You may find saying “whoa” will work better on a horse than on a human, you muscle brain.’ But I wouldn’t insult a so-called protector of the people.” She smiled brightly at the three men, curtsied, and then continued walking to the counter.
The guardians stood there looking at each other while Sunshine paid Chandler for the candles and left the shop.
Zubin followed after her. “I think she did insult you that time, Thomas. Let’s go.”
***
The horse clip-clopped on the curving road that led to the town of Lewyol in the district of the same name. Although Rayne and his father lived in the district of Tevoil, Lewyol was actually the closest town to their farm. Rayne sat up straight on the bench of the cart, his eyes searching the trees around him. He had promised his father he would stay alert and was trying his best.
This was the first time Rayne had taken the trip alone. He knew the way quite well, and his father insisted that he go before any of the food could spoil. The break in his father’s ankle was pretty bad—bad enough that he didn’t think he could handle the trip into town, but not so bad that he couldn’t be left alone for the couple of days Rayne would be gone.
The rain had turned to a light drizzle for most of the day-long trip, though the sky had remained overcast. Apparently, it hadn’t rained as hard this close to town, as the dirt road was damp, but not muddy.
Rayne had stopped only twice during the trip. Once was to drop off a crate to Dulcie, an elderly lady that lived on the Tevoil-Lewyol border. Whenever he and his father went into town, they always stopped and gave her some of their harvest. When Rayne was old enough, he had asked his father why they did this when they could sell the crops for money. His father simply said that some things were worth more than money.
The second time he stopped, Rayne moved several large branches that had fallen in the road. He noticed that one of the branches was fairly straight and solid. Using his small belt knife, he was able to strip off an eight-foot-long staff he would give to his father to help him walk around while his ankle healed.
After several more hours of traveling, Rayne came around a large bend and could see the town ahead of him. A certain sense of excitement kicked in. He wasn’t really nervous about being without his father—instead, he felt a sort of freedom.
He guided his horse-drawn cart down the wide street, looking carefully at the shops and inns that lined the road. The merchant who bought their crops was more toward the center of town, fairly close to the governor’s house.
Approaching his destination, Rayne’s attention was drawn to a tall, dark-haired, young woman about his own age who had exited one of the shops. Their eyes met for a moment before she started walking purposefully down the side of the road, carrying a large basket in one hand. Right behind her, three guardians came out of the shop and began to follow her. The tallest of the three said something Rayne couldn’t make out. The attractive brunette stopped, turned to face them, and said something in return. The guardians caught up to her, and the lead one reached out and grabbed the basket. They struggled for a moment before the basket dropped to the ground, spilling its contents.
Rayne brought the horse to a stop as the young woman placed her hands on her hips in defiance. The guardians closed in on her.
***
Sunshine was still fuming when she left the shop. It was frustrating enough that she had to do her brothers’ work, and she was definitely not in the mood to deal with the guardians’ behavior.
Her mother had told her that the guardians hadn’t always been the bullies they were now, and at one time were treated with respect. It was only when King Daimh had taken over that things had changed.
Sunshine realized at a young age that she was what others would consider to be pretty, much like her mother. But in addition, she had gotten her intellect from her father. Spats with her mother often ended with Iolanthe rolling her eyes and saying, “Sunshine, you are definitely your daddy’s daughter.”
Because of her looks, she often got attention she didn’t want. Over the last couple of years, as she changed into a woman, she found men looking at her strangely and making what she considered rude comments. It seemed that the guardians were the worst
of the lot.
Upon leaving the store, she noticed a horse-drawn cart coming down the road, driven by a young man dressed in simple clothes, with bright blond hair protruding from under a straw hat. Their eyes met for a moment, and she thought she saw him smile slightly. It wasn’t the type of smile she was used to seeing from men—it actually seemed sincere. But chances were, he was just like the rest of them, and all she wanted now was to get home and back to her book. She tightened her grip on the basket and started to head for home when she heard the guardians come out of the shop behind her. She had planned on just ignoring them until she heard Zubin say, “Hey, you may be pretty, but you have a mouth on you.”
Spinning around, Sunshine said, “Yes, I do. It’s good for eating, breathing, and saying things like ‘goodbye now, I’m going home.’”
Zubin closed the distance between the two of them and grabbed her basket. She tried to pull it away from him, but instead she managed to drop it, causing the candles to spill out on the ground.
She placed her hands on her hips and glared at the men in front of her.
“You won’t leave until I tell you,” Zubin said, a leer playing across his face. “And maybe not even then.”
Sunshine held out her hands in front of her, indicating for them to stop, and said loudly, “Keep away from me!”
“Or what?” Zubin asked, taking a step closer.
She’d had run-ins with Zubin before, but he had never been this forceful. Perhaps he was trying to show off for the new guardians. She wondered if any of the shop owners would come to her aid if she yelled for help, though she hadn’t seen anyone really stand up to the guardians except for her father. She thought about making a run for it, but doubted she would make it very far. Still trying to figure out what to do, she saw Zubin’s head snap forward.
The Hidden Sun (Bariwon Chronicles Book 1) Page 12