The Void of Muirwood

by Jeff Wheeler

  Once Maia was dressed and Collier was busy combing the tangles out of her hair, Suzenne left to find Aldermaston Syon and his wife, Joanna. As soon as he entered, Maia painfully pulled herself to standing and went to him, hugging him hard, despite the way it made her injuries throb. She was too grateful to see him hale and uninjured after his brush with death. How horrible it would have been had she arrived too late to save him.

  “Welcome home,” Richard said soothingly, patting her arm and stepping back. “You could not have arrived through the Apse Veil at a more urgent moment.”

  “Indeed, a most desperate moment,” Joanna agreed. She clutched Richard’s hand as if she would never let it go. The look of relief on her face was palpable.

  “Were you frightened, Richard?” she asked him, pulling away.

  He frowned and shook his head. “If the Medium suffered me to die, I would have joined countless others who have lost their lives defending our beliefs. I was more concerned with how the Medium would punish the Naestors for my death. They have been humbled by what transpired this . . . day?” A smile quirked on his mouth. “I had not even considered halting the setting of the sun and reversing it, but it is mentioned . . . only once . . . in the tomes. A battle was being fought long ago, and the mastons knew they would be defeated if night fell. The Aldermaston leading the fight made the maston sign in full view of his army, and it halted the sun for three hours. That was centuries ago, and it is the only reference I am aware of to anyone invoking that power. The Medium obviously inspired you.”

  “Tell her about the Dochte Mandar,” Joanna urged him.

  “Let me get to the point quickly. The Naestors are convinced, utterly and completely, that the teachings of the Dochte Mandar are false. When the sun came back, many of their warriors fled in terror. The majority fell down and started worshipping me, thinking that I had done it. While the choir was still singing, they hurriedly escorted me back to the abbey as a peace offering, and that was when I learned that it was you who had summoned the Leerings. The chieftains rounded up all the Dochte Mandar and seized their kystrels, ripping the chains from those who did not cast the amulets away themselves in fear. They did not fight it. There were eight hundred and fifty to be precise. We have blacksmiths destroying them even now. The Naestors are completely submissive, Maia, and fearful of the future. They rely wholly on the Dochte Mandar to invoke their Leerings in Naess and are afraid of living in the dark and by the light of torches.”

  Maia pursed her lips. “We must build an abbey in Naess for them,” she said firmly. “We will send mastons—”

  Richard smiled, pleased. “I already suspected you would feel that way. And so this is what I proposed after speaking to the Privy Council as well as the other Aldermastons and leaders who have gathered here at Muirwood. They all wish to know if you approve of their plan. If the Naestors enter into a covenant agreeing that they will not attack the other kingdoms, they will be permitted to leave in peace without their weapons. We, in turn, will promise to continue trading relations with Naess and to teach them the crafts they do not know. Their people are mostly warriors, Maia. Some are fishermen and a few are farmers. They have earned their bread mostly through stealing and raiding. They need to be taught, and we have knowledge to impart to them.”

  Maia liked the idea very much. “No retributions,” she said, nodding. “No punishments. But what if they refuse? And what of Corriveaux?”

  Joanna looked at her intently and answered. “He and the other Dochte Mandar are under guard. Those who refuse to make the covenant will be banished from the kingdoms forever. The chieftains told us of an uninhabited island between here and Assinica where they can be exiled. The Naestors also promised to release all of their political prisoners, including Chancellor Walraven and your grandmother.”

  “Thank Idumea!” Maia sighed.

  Richard nodded. “Indeed. Though many of the rulers of the other kingdoms still want vengeance and retribution. The Naestors have hoarded wealth, and there was talk at first about plundering their kingdom and leaving them in poverty. But I thought you would not approve, so it was not made a condition of the Covenant of Muirwood, as we are calling it.”

  Maia smiled, feeling her heart swell with love and admiration. “You know my heart, Richard.” She turned and touched Collier’s arm. “What do you advise, my lord?”

  “We cannot change the past,” he said softly. “We can only move forward. I say we forgive the Naestors. They have been cruelly duped by the Victus. They see now that they are guilty of the most grievous murders. They need time to heal, Maia. They need to know how the Medium feels when it is not forced. Some of the chieftains said they should be our slaves to repair the damage.” He shook his head, chuckling. “We knew you would not accept those terms.”

  “You are right. I accept the terms of the covenant,” Maia said. “If they will agree, then I will set the sun.” She gave Richard a small smile, smoothing the fabric of her gown. “Make it thus so, Chancellor.”

  Maia and Collier walked hand in hand into the Queen’s Garden as the sun slipped down past the wall. Though a new day should have been dawning, they were instead moments away from a second sunset.

  She squeezed his hand. “Nightfall instead of dawn,” she said. “The poor flowers are confused.”

  “Not as confused as the Naestors, I think,” he said. Their pace was slow and languid. “And no Thewliss! He is well, rest assured. I should tell him never to grease the axles of his noisy cart, because I prefer to have a little warning that he is coming.” He gave her an inviting look.

  Maia smiled at him. “I want to hear your story,” she said. “I am desperate to hear it.”

  “You have had a busy day, my love.” He noticed her subtle limp. “You are tired. Here, sit by the flower beds.” Taking her arm, he put his other hand on the small of her back and led her toward the bed with all the blue forget-me-nots. She suspected he did that deliberately and could not keep a tender smile from her lips.

  “Thank you,” she said, accepting his help to sit on the wide stone railing surrounding the elevated flower box. She smoothed her skirts and gazed up at him, drinking in the sight of him.

  “What do you wish to know first?” he asked her. “I suppose you are wondering about Murer coming to get revenge on me?”

  Maia shook her head. “I already know you are faithful to me. She told me herself. She was especially vengeful because of the way you had humiliated her here.”

  He winced at that. “Yes, I can see that. I believe there is a maston saying about a woman scorned. I should have remembered.”

  Maia smiled and rubbed her palms over the smooth stone of the bench.

  “My goal was to fool the Dochte Mandar. I am rather cunning, my lady,” he said with an impertinent look. “I warned you of that long ago. There is another maston saying—you can tell I have been reading my tome every day—about being as wise as a serpent yet as harmless as a dove. That describes the two of us perfectly, I think. I had a suspicion that my messages to Simon were being intercepted. So I deliberately sent him news that would misdirect our enemies, including any possible hetaera.”

  Maia stared at him in surprise.

  “Devious, I know,” he said with a smirk. “Sometimes I cannot help myself. For example, when I returned to Dahomey, I went straight to the Aldermaston of Lisyeux, confessed my many faults, and asked for his counsel on how to end the war with Paeiz in the shortest time possible, win them to our side, and pass the maston test . . . all in less than a fortnight.” He grinned to himself at the memory. “I could only think of one way. And that would mean borrowing some of my then-wife’s meekness and humility.” He paced slowly in front of her, glancing at her periodically to see her reaction. She had the sense he rather enjoyed startling her. Though she admired his handsome looks, she tried not to make that admiration so plain on her face.

  “Go on,” she said.

  “The Aldermaston suggested,” he continued, “that instead of quarrelling w
ith Paeiz over our shared borders, I should grant them the lands they contested in a secret agreement. That was my thought as well, so I believe the Medium had prompted us both. I sent my army marching to crush our invaders, but instead I rode ahead as Feint Collier and negotiated the treaty without the Dochte Mandar’s involvement, persuading the king to pledge their support to Comoros. We had a merry time positioning our armies for battle and then moving them hither and yon, all while preparing our fleets to sail to your aid.”

  Maia could not help herself. She was impressed. “That was what happened, truly?” she asked. “You gave up a portion of your kingdom?”

  He stopped pacing and gazed down at her upturned face. “I considered what I was getting—you—to be infinitely more important. And that land had been a source of contention between our nations for years, so I knew the agreement would benefit me in other ways as well. Having struck an understanding with Paeiz, I had time to focus on the maston test. I passed it several weeks ago and earned my chaen.”

  “Weeks ago?” Maia asked, perplexed. “Why did you not tell me?” She felt a small throb of resentment in her chest.

  He held up his hands. “It was a secret! I absolutely forbade Simon to tell you. Even though I did pass the maston test, I still struggled to pass the Apse Veil on my own. Every time I tried, I would get sick and retch, but I worked at it, very hard. I told you in my letter that I wanted to come to you. I wanted to surprise you, which is why I refused when you offered to come to me.” He shook his head guiltily. “Then that ship from Hautland came. Oh, by the Blood, how that tormented me! The Dochte Mandar annulled our marriage and began their invasion. Simon was murdered!” He threw up his hands. “I dared not reveal the truth then because my strategy required the armada to strike your coasts and move inland a bit. Only then did I move in on their fleet with my ships. The Naestors are trapped here, you understand. Their armada is no more. They require our leniency to return to their lands. While I attacked the armada, Paeiz challenged the army following Caspur. The Naestors were trapped between us, and we had the ships to move our forces around quickly. I do not think Corriveaux even understood how desperate their situation truly was. The only Void they were likely to create was their own.”

  Maia closed her eyes, trying to absorb the information flooding her. Collier had been a maston for weeks. Simon had known.

  “It was only later that I learned you had kissed the Prince of Hautland,” he said, drawing her from her reverie.

  “That is not true!” Maia said defensively.

  He smirked at her. “I know. Richard told me, and Aldermastons cannot lie.” He then knelt down in front of her, resting one hand on the stone railing, one hand on her knee. Even with him kneeling and her sitting down, he was nearly at eye level with her. “Then,” he said in a low voice, “I knew I had to tell you everything, so I came on the Argiver after I sacked the armada at Comoros. I knew that you would know it was me if I took that ship. You cannot know how it tortured me to learn that you had been abducted by that . . . man.”

  Maia touched his cheek with her palm, her heart fluttering with new emotions. She sensed he wanted to kiss her. “And you cannot know how it felt when I believed I had lost you,” she whispered, her throat seizing up with tears. She moistened her lips, which suddenly felt dry as dust. The feeling in her stomach was like a whirlwind. “The dagger wound was fatal, I thought. But when you kissed me . . .” She shut her eyes and lowered her head, shuddering with the memory of those dark emotions.

  She felt his fingers lift her chin.

  “I was wounded, but not fatally as I supposed. Jon Tayt is quite able. When he brought me back to Muirwood, I could not stand up by myself. Within a day, I was walking. Within two, I could move freely. Richard told me that the prince’s symptoms began immediately after he kissed you. They kept me apart from everyone else after I told them about our kiss. But there was no sickness. Nothing. And then the truth struck me.”

  Maia could hardly concentrate on his words. His face had gotten closer and closer as he spoke. She already knew the truth he was about to say. It sent tingles throughout her body.

  “I realized your kiss would harm anyone else in the world . . . but me.” He smiled. “Or my Family, but I do not feel inclined to share you very much.” He gazed at her. “I have given you my kingdom, Maia. I have given you my heart.” He snagged her fingers with his own. “Please tell me that you are mine. Forever. Always.”

  Maia stared into his vibrant blue eyes. “Forever,” she whispered. And then she planted a kiss on his warm lips. She pulled back, barely noticing the little burn on her shoulder, her tingling lips. “For always,” she whispered next and kissed him again.

  Collier kissed her back and drew one arm around her waist. Then, parting from her for a moment, he gently lowered her onto the bed of tiny forget-me-nots. He joined her on the bench and proceeded to kiss her ardently, claiming her mouth with his own, claiming her heart and all that she was and wanted to be. And she kissed him back without timidity, digging her fingers through the thick locks of his hair until she was breathless.

  The crushed blue flowers cushioned her hair, filling the air between them with the sweetest of fragrances. Her shoulder throbbed dully from her wound, but she could hardly feel pain through the blissful sensation of his mouth on hers. She surrendered to his kisses, feeling as if her heart would burst apart.

  They both heard the creaking of the cart wheels as it approached the garden.

  Collier lifted his head, cocking it to listen, sighed deeply and with exaggerated anguish, and they began to laugh.

  Where there is darkness, there is courage. Where there is ambition, there is power. Where there is will, there is dominion. I thank the Medium for an unconquerable soul.

  —Corriveaux Tenir, King of the Kjavik Wastes

  CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

  Irrevocare Sigil

  Never before in the history of the kingdoms had so many leaders assembled in one place at one time. Emissaries from all the kingdoms descended on Muirwood, either by ship or by Apse Veil, summoned to a Great Council by Maia, Queen of Comoros, and her betrothed, King Gideon of Dahomey. Some of the rulers were the age of her parents. Some were older. She and Collier were by far the youngest, but they were both treated with a deference and respect that surprised her.

  A meeting had been called for that afternoon, during which all the leaders of the realms would be informed of what had caused the sun to linger in the sky. Every kingdom had experienced it. The people were frightened; they were struggling to understand what the Medium was saying. As she walked with Collier, greeting the various nobles, thanking those who had sent their support and assistance, Maia noted the conspicuous absence of one person she desired to see above all—her grandmother, the High Seer.

  Collier touched her elbow and pulled her away from the chatter and noise. They were in the audience hall in the Aldermaston’s manor, the same room where Collier had danced with her and declared that she was his wife.

  “There is that look in your eye again,” he told her softly. “And the fidgeting. I see how you keep glancing at the delegation from Pry-Ree.”

  She forced herself to stop wringing her hands and smoothing her dress. It still felt strange to her to wear a filigree coronet in her hair, but she had to admit that Collier’s crown made him look even more handsome.

  “You know me too well,” she said. “I worry about my grandmother.”

  He took her hand, his fingers firm and steady. “You know that my fleet captains are assembling the provisions to strike for Naess tomorrow. If the Naestors will not surrender your grandmother, as they promised they would, then I will make them.”

  She saw his determination and did not doubt it. “Yes, but I want her here so desperately. I want her to be the one to marry us.”

  “It begins with a thought,” Collier reminded her, brushing her chin with his knuckle.

  “Thank you,” she murmured, feeling her heart swell with gratitude for him.


  “Tell me about the King of Paeiz,” Maia asked, nodding toward the man Collier had persuaded to be his ally. “Tell me of his wife, his children.”

  Collier smirked. “I know the least about those things,” he said with a chuckle. “He is a fencing master, though I think his training masters let him win. He was more than willing to seize part of my kingdom. Which I do not regret at all now that I know you revoked the Blight Leering.” He looked at her with awe and adoration. “The cursed shores took up half of my kingdom. Think of what that means for us.” He put his arm around her waist, pulling her closer to him. “I am not sure I have thanked you properly for that kindness yet.”

  “Consider it my wedding gift to you,” she answered in a playful tone.

  Maia noticed Tomas winding his way through the crowd toward them. He looked flustered, and his eyes were wide with excitement. She could see the dimples, so she knew it was good news, and her heart started to beat faster in anticipation.

  As soon as he reached them, he said, “The Aldermaston . . . Richard—my apologies, I cannot help but call him that still—he wanted me to let you know that the Holk is docking at Muirwood as we speak. Would you both come with me? He thought you might appreciate a private reunion before the others know.”

  Collier took her hand, squeezing it so hard it almost hurt. “My mother arrived this morning as well,” he said, whispering in her ear. “She came so that we could be married quickly when the High Seer arrives. If she is truly here, I do not want to wait any longer. Today, Maia? Can we marry today? If the sun actually sets, of course!”

  Maia’s heart thrilled at the thought. Pulling his hand, she led him out of the manor, following fast on Tomas’s heels. Even Collier’s long legs struggled to keep up with her as she hurried across the grounds. Several bystanders stood around gossiping, and Maia heard a few of their comments as she hurried toward the docks.

  “The High Seer has come!”