by Fran Jacobs
"Well," my father said, "we can deal with that later. What we need to discuss now is what you were doing, Candale. Why did you leave your own ball like that?"
I hesitated, biting on my lip, blinking back the tears I could feel burning in my eyes. "I ... I asked Lykeia to look into something for me," I said finally, in a very small voice, "and when he sent me that message I thought he'd found out something important that couldn't wait for morning so I went." The look in Sorron's blue eyes told me he knew exactly what it was that I had asked Lykeia to look into for me. I felt a flush of embarrassment flood my cheeks that I had given that much credence to a story Sorron had tried to convince me to just ignore.
"What did you ask him to look into for you?" my father asked. I hesitated again, not sure what to say or how to say it. "I will repeat my question," Gerian said, in a dangerous tone. "What did you ask him to look into for you?"
"I-I know," I whispered.
"Know what?" my father asked.
"I know that Mayrila thinks that I'm a seer," I whispered. "And that is what Lykeia was researching for me."
"You know!" My father got to his feet in a sudden rush. I cringed back in my chair as he stormed towards me and grabbed my shoulders in his hands. "How do you know?" he snapped, his blue eyes locked onto mine, his face a mask of fury. "How in Drakan's name do you know of that witch's foolish fantasies?"
"I-I went to see her," I said. "After she spoke of me being poisoned, I was afraid. I-I had to find out why she would say such a thing. And she told me she thought I was this Shadow Seer and-"
Gerian cut me off by shaking me hard enough to make my eyes rattle around inside my head. "I told you not to go and see her," he snapped at me. "And I asked you if she had spoken to you about anything and you said no! You lied, right to my face!"
"Gerian!" Sorron exclaimed, seizing his son's hands and leading him firmly away from me. "This isn't going to help! The boy has been through a terrible shock-"
"Do not make excuses for him, Father," Gerian barked. "The boy did this before his 'terrible shock'!" He turned back to face me, anger blazing in his eyes. "I should have known that you wouldn't listen to, or obey me, Candale. I don't think you ever actually have! I should tan your damn backside!"
"I didn't have a choice!" I protested. "You hate Mayrila. You nearly let me die rather than have her here! And then, when you say that I wasn't poisoned, but she said that I was, how was I meant to know that your hatred of her hadn't clouded your judgment? I went to see her, yes, and I knew you would be angry with me and hurt, if you knew, which is why I said nothing. If you hadn't been so unwilling to discuss anything she had said then maybe I wouldn't have had to sneak around behind your back!"
"Don't bring this back onto me," Gerian snapped. "You disobeyed me!"
"I nearly died!" I snapped back. "And you refuse to acknowledge that! Gods, what else would you have me do? Obey you blindly? What kind of king would that make me?" His eyes narrowed and I really thought that he would hit me. I swallowed. "Father," I said, "Father, I love you, you know that. And I respect you. But when it comes to Mayrila you just don't think clearly. I couldn't just sit back and do nothing, knowing this. I had to find out for myself because it's my life that's at risk, not yours. And I'm old enough now to take responsibility for myself and make my own decisions." Gerian just stared at me and I took a deep breath, striving to calm my nerves. "I'm sorry," I said, "but only because I hurt you. I still think that I did the right thing."
"Who else knows this nonsense?" my father asked, in a quiet voice.
"Teveriel," I whispered. "He knows all of it and Trellany knows that Lykeia was looking something up for me, but she doesn't know the details."
I saw Trellany stiffen, afraid that my father would suddenly turn his anger on her. Only he didn't. He sat down heavily in his chair, seeming crushed and defeated. "And the bard does?" he asked softly. "You don't trust a woman of the Royal Guard who has been around you for years, but you do trust a bard you have known for the matter of a month. A bard who is friends with Mayrila!" My father shook his head.
"Even if you don't trust Mayrila, it doesn't mean that I'll come to any harm through her, or through Teveriel," I said. "If Mayrila wanted me to die, she could have just let it happen when I was ill. And I told you, Teveriel isn't friends with Mayrila, and I trust him."
"You trusted your tutor as well."
"Yes."
Gerian shook his head at me again. "Candale," he said wearily. "Oh, son." He exhaled heavily. "You're too trusting. I don't want you to live your life in fear, but you have to be more careful. Going out into the garden, in the dark, to answer a strange message from your tutor was very foolish, and taking only Trellany with you was as well!"
"I know," I said, "and I'm sorry for that."
"Is there anything else?" Gerian asked me. "Is there anything else that I should know?"
Wordlessly I shook my head, my lips pressed tightly together. I couldn't tell him the truth, that I knew Mayrila was really my mother, and I didn't trust my voice to lie to him, even if it was to say one word, 'no.'
"So you spoke to Mayrila and she told you her nonsense and you asked your tutor to look into it for you?" I nodded. "So you believed her? You believed what that lying witch had to say?"
"It wasn't that I believed it. I was curious." I bit my lip, regretting the words as soon as they slipped out of my mouth. Curious wasn't really the right word to have used. It made me sound like a foolish child, one who gets stuck in a cupboard because he was curious about seeing whether or not he could fit. I didn't want them to see me like that, especially not now. "I didn't really believe that someone wanted me dead, just as I know that you didn't. Although I didn't fear assassins, I did fear that perhaps Mayrila was right, that I wasn't who I thought I was. I just wanted to be sure, so when Lykeia offered to look into it for me, I agreed. I gave it no more thought than that."
"You don't think," my father said. "Ever."
"That isn't fair, Gerian," my grandfather said. "The boy is curious and what he did may have been a blessing in disguise. If Lykeia was a traitor, plotting against just the boy himself, for some reason, or the entire family, then it's better that we know this now."
"It has to have something to do with what I asked him to look into," I volunteered nervously. "Mayrila did say that was why I was poisoned, because someone believed that I was this Seer. Now there has been another attempt on my life, just like she said there would be, and it was after I asked Lykeia to look into this for me. It has to be connected."
"Mayrila lies," Gerian said harshly. "And, as even she only 'believed' that you were poisoned and could only guess that, if you were, it was because of this Seer nonsense, I'm not sure how you can suddenly be sure that that was the reason behind last night's little attack. Besides, you're a prince. You have enemies. We all do! The fact that she, a witch, could predict that there might be an attack doesn't mean anything. She has powers and she isn't stupid! Perhaps she could sense some sort of discord while she was here, something that passed by the rest of us, or she has some knowledge of Lykeia that the rest of us do not. Maybe she even organised this attack herself to try and add some weight to her previous claims about you! She's playing games with you, Candale. For what reason only she can know and you, by believing this nonsense, are falling for it all!"
"I don't think she would do that," I said quietly. "She has too much to lose by setting up an attack against me-"
"You don't know her," my father snapped back, and it looked as though he wanted to say something else, but Sorron interjected.
"Let's not argue this right now," he said smoothly. "We will find out who was responsible for last night's attack and we will find out why. Debating it now is pretty pointless." He turned to me. "Candale, all that appears to be clear, at the moment, is that someone, probably in league with your tutor, tried to kill you. They may very well have just used your request to Lykeia to look into this Shadow Seer story as bait. There is no evidence that May
rila's belief about you actually has anything to do with this, or that her suggesting a second attack makes her right about the reasons behind it, or-" and he gave my father a hard look, "that she was even involved with it. I don't want you to start jumping to conclusions and seeing connections where there aren't necessarily any to be seen. If we manage to find evidence that you were poisoned, then perhaps we will have to reconsider what she told us about you. But even if that does happen, it isn't going to suddenly make you a prophet."
"I know that, but-"
"Why didn't you just use the library yourself?" Gerian asked me. "Why did you go and ask Lykeia about this when you're perfectly capable of finding your own way around all those books?"
"I was too busy trying to catch up to the others and having Trellany's sword lessons and so on. He offered and I saw no harm in it."
"Well," Sorron said gently, "it might be an idea for you to consult it now, just to keep yourself distracted. Lessons are cancelled until we can find another tutor. I can see that this all still bothers you. If you occupy yourself with this it will help to put your mind at ease." He gave my father a firm look and Gerian sighed, wearily, and nodded.
"You just want me out of your hair," I said, "while you deal with this Lykeia affair."
"Yes," Sorron said, "we do. What a bright boy you are."
"I was meant to go for a ride, with Teveriel ... I had better cancel that now."
"Yes," Sorron agreed. "I think so. I think it best that you don't leave the castle, not until we have a better idea of what Lykeia was involved with." When my face fell he added quietly, "We are all in the same boat, Candale, until we know whether the attack was against you personally, or us, as a family. We will all have to be more vigilant." He turned to Trellany. "Take the prince to his rooms, fetch him a drink, but make sure you don't leave his side."
"Of course, Sire," Trellany said smartly.
"And, Dale, you can take all the time you need," Sorron said, turning back to me, "to come to terms with this. I know that Lykeia was your friend."
"Yes," I replied. "He was."
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Chapter Nine
BRUISES
Trellany sat on a chair across from me, her legs drawn up, filing her nails. She did it often, keeping them short and neatly trimmed. It was a habit I was starting to find very annoying. "You could just bite them," I told her, turning my head so that I could see her properly.
"I could," Trellany agreed, "but I don't. It's a disgusting habit to go around with your fingers in your mouth all day." She set the nail file down. "I think it's time that you went and got dressed."
"Why?" I asked, smoothing my robe down around my bare knees self-consciously. "I'm not going anywhere."
"No," she said, "but King Sorron is coming to see you and I doubt he will be impressed to see you in that state."
"What?" I sat up quickly and swung my legs down, banging my feet on the low table in the process. "Why is he doing that?" I gasped, through gritted teeth, as a flood of pain shot through my calves.
"Because he needs to talk to you, Prince Candale. He sent a message earlier today, but you were in your room when it came. He is due here in about half an hour. Just enough time for you to get cleaned up and dressed, wouldn't you say?"
"Why didn't you tell me this earlier?" I asked, sinking back against the couch's arm.
"In case you decided you didn't want to see him and tried to hide," Trellany replied. "Now you have just enough time to get dressed before he arrives. I would suggest that you do so."
I didn't say anything for a moment; I was too surprised with how perceptive she was. I wasn't ready to see anyone from my family and I would have tried to hide elsewhere in the castle if she had given me enough warning. But I hadn't thought that she would realise that.
It had been four days since they had buried Lykeia. I hadn't gotten dressed or left my suite the whole time. I knew no one had been to the funeral, that his body had just been tipped into a grave with no one around to say their goodbyes, but I had said mine in the safety of my bedroom, away from the prying eyes and gossiping voices of Court. I had gone on to mourn him the same way, by myself, quietly and alone, as I struggled to come to terms with what had happened to me.
But it wasn't easy. Lykeia had been a friend, as well as my tutor. We had spent many evenings together discussing literature and history and I had trusted him. It was hard to comprehend the fact that, all that time, he may have wanted me dead. How was I going to be able to trust anyone again? How could I ever be sure that my friends, or people I had known from childhood, were trustworthy? How could I ever be sure of anyone, if my own tutor could turn against me like that? The whole affair left me feeling confused and insecure and afraid of everyone. I wanted to hide away in the safety of my bedroom for as long as I could while I tried to come to terms with it all.
It seemed, however, that my family now had other ideas. Sorron had said that I could have as much time as I needed to deal with this, but I knew he had still expected me to attend the evening meal, and I hadn't. So it wasn't a complete surprise that someone from my family was coming to see me. The fact that it was Sorron meant that they were worried about me, but not so worried that they didn't want to knock some sense into me. Silnia was too soft, Gerian too hard, Sorron had always been somewhere in the middle. Gentle, but firm. And he wouldn't be easily dissuaded by my request to be alone, which was what I wanted. I was going to have to get dressed and face him.
Trellany was still looking at me so I sighed and got to my feet. "I'll go and get dressed," I said.
"Good idea," she replied.
In my bedroom I washed and got dressed as quickly as I could, pulling on whatever clothes I found first, smoothing them down anxiously. I barely had time to think before I heard the knock on the outer door. I hurried back and found that Sorron was already making himself comfortable in a chair by the fire. He held a glass of brandy in one hand. Trellany handed me one as I slid into the room. I flashed her a grateful smile as I took my seat.
"You look a state," Sorron told me.
"Thank you," I said sarcastically, and saw a faint grin cross his lips. I crossed my legs as I leaned back in my chair. "So, what brings you here this afternoon?"
"I came here to see how you were," Sorron told me. "To see how you were coping." I just snorted at that, bitterly, and Sorron raised a slim eyebrow. "Oh," he said, "that badly eh?" I didn't answer. "Well, I'm not here to drag you back to Court life, so you don't need to worry about that. You can take as much time as you need, although I do wish that you would at least attend supper." When I didn't say anything again, he sighed. "But I won't force you."
"Thank you."
"But I do need to talk to you."
"Yes," I said. "I know. But if it isn't about my lack of appearance at Court then what is it about?"
"You haven't made it to the library yet?" Sorron asked instead.
"Oh," I said. And realisation hit me. The only reason he could be asking about the library was because something else about the accursed Shadow Seer had come up. It was the only reason he would be interested in whether I had gone to the library or not. And the first, and only, thing that sprang to my mind that could be connected to the Seer was the attack on me, the attack that I was still struggling to recover from. "This is about the attack, isn't it?" I said. "You ..." I swallowed tightly. "You found out that Mayrila was right, that it was connected to my illness. I-it's connected to what she believes about me."
"Yes," Sorron said. "I'm impressed that you guessed that just from my question and-"
"No," I said. "Don't. Grandfather, please, just tell me what you found out. I'm not a child anymore; I won't be comforted by praise or easily distracted. If you want to tell me what you found out, just tell me."
Sorron nodded sadly and took a long sip of brandy to steady himself. His face was pinched and very pale. "We found letters," he said, "in Lykeia's rooms. They were written in Idryan, in some so
rt of code, which took our men a few days to decipher, but we got there in the end. These letters to Lykeia confirm that the attack in the garden was against you, not the family. They confirm that you were poisoned, as Mayrila had said, and that Lykeia knew about both attacks. And ..." Sorron's voice became stern, his expression grim, "apparently, your asking about the Shadow Seer confirmed to Lykeia, and to an ancient institution, the Order of Culdenth Hyun, who he worked for, that you are this Shadow Seer prophet. The same one that Mayrila believes you to be." He took a deep breath. "Son," he said very quietly, "this Order, was created with the sole intention of finding the Shadow Seer and ... and killing him."
I felt a cold chill run down my spine and I shivered violently, spilling the brandy in my glass all over my hands. I vaguely heard Trellany leave the room as she went to fetch me a towel, but I barely paid her any attention. It was one thing to have been told by a woman who I didn't trust that my life was in danger. It was quite another to find out that she was right. And if she was right about that, was she right about everything else? Was this Order right about me as well? Was I the Shadow Seer?
"They ... they want to kill me?" I whispered. Sorron nodded. "They believe that I'm this Seer? Why? Why would they think that?"
"I don't know, Candale. I don't know how, or why, they came to that conclusion, but they did. And when you asked Lykeia about it they saw that as just further proof of what you are."
"C-could Mayrila have told them?" I asked. "Could she have told them what she believed me to be? Convinced them I was this Seer?"
"Why would she do that, Candale? As you've said before, she saved your life. Why would she do that just so she can hurt you?"
"Because she wanted a position at Court?" I was only vaguely aware that Trellany had reappeared beside me and handed me a towel. Nor did I really notice when she took the brandy glass out of my hands because they were shaking so much.
Sorron thought about it and shook his head. "No," he said. "I don't think so."