She glanced at Obair before she spoke. “I can’t pretend to know what she plans but I know she wants to speak with you.”
***
Selena shifted in the seat, keeping her face neutral at the stab of pain. She allowed herself a frown as she glanced out at the sky. “Hanris, we can’t be stopping already can we?”
The chamberlain glanced at the trees through the window to the carriage. “It would appear so, your majesty.”
“I’ve asked you not to call me that.” She sighed. “Not until things are formalized anyway, and certainly not when we’re alone.”
“It hardly seems proper, your grace,” the stuffy man objected. He seemed to have grown old over the last months, as if age had suddenly reached out from a dark corner to claim him. Secretly Selena worried about him. Losing Hanris was something she wasn’t prepared to accept just now.
“Would you call over that nice young man and see just why we seem to be stopping?” she said, pushing at the seat with one hand and easing herself over again.
“Captain Coulson, your grace?”
“Coulson!” she snapped her fingers. “Why can I never remember the man’s name?”
Hanris’s lips quivered in an approximation of a smile and he worked the glass window down, speaking to the man who had been riding close to the side of the carriage.
“Your grace?” Coulson said, failing to conceal the sigh within the question.
“Coulson.” Selena beamed. The man was worse than Rhenkin had ever been it seemed. He simply had no idea how to cope with a woman who wasn’t content to sit and wash pots. “I can’t help but notice that we seem to have stopped.”
“Indeed, your grace.” Coulson nodded. “The light is beginning to fade and I’d like to have a secure camp established before dusk.”
Selena squinted up at the sun. “Coulson, it can’t be much past four of the clock. I expected to reach Druel today.”
“We’re not that far off, in truth, your grace,” Coulson admitted with another nod. “We wouldn’t arrive before dark however and we’re not so strong a company that I’d be comfortable with the risks of travelling in the dark.”
Selena nodded soberly, unconsciously mimicking the man. “Exactly how far from Druel would you say we are, captain?”
He winced before he spoke. It was slight
but it was there. “We should be able to arrive by mid-morning comfortably, your grace.”
“That’s not really what I asked now, is it?” Selena pointed out with a smile. “Specifics, captain. How far?”
“Three to four hours if we pushed the horses,” Coulson said.
Selena tapped her lips with one finger while she pretended to consider this. “We push on then. The horses would rather be tired and in a warm stable than rested and out in the cold, I’m sure.” The thought of sleeping in a camp for another night was not something she was willing to endure, not with Druel so close.”
“Of course, your grace,” Coulson said. “I had just thought…”
She raised an eyebrow. “Yes?”
“Well, in your condition… The baby and all.”
“Captain Coulson,” Selena said, drawing herself up and fixing him with a stern look. “I rather think that I am the better judge of my fitness to travel, don’t you?”
“Yes, your grace.” Coulson wilted until his pride couldn’t shrink further, then gave an awkward bow in the saddle and wheeled his horse, barking orders.
“Damn that hurt,” Selena muttered, sinking back into the seat and shifting gingerly.
“You have just had a baby, your grace,” Hanris chided her.
“I had a baby almost a month ago and I’ve spent the best part of the time since being coddled and mothered. Neither the Bjornmen, or these fae that Rhenkin has produced, will wait for us.”
Hanris gave her a look that clearly said that, whilst he might find merit in her arguments, he was not about to admit it.
Coulson had the column moving again in a surprisingly short space of time. They weren’t travelling in any great numbers. Coulson had flatly refused to let her and Hanris travel unescorted and she’d had to haggle the numbers down to the size of the company. Even then he hadn’t been happy about it. It seemed she was doomed to be coddled for the near future. The thought was not an appealing one and she sat back into the seat of the carriage, slouching as much as she could as she stared unseeing out of the window. Hanris was wise enough to leave her alone and her thoughts ran from the baby, to Rhenkin’s expected reaction, to the war.
The near sacking of Celstwin had been a close thing. Too close by far. Anlan had never really been a seafaring nation. Its trading partners were all easily accessible by land and, in many cases, journey by sea was simply not worth the risks. The Bjornmen had been within sight of the city before anyone had the faintest idea they were close. If the river had been that little bit wider, or if there had been fewer bridges, Celstwin may well have been burnt to the ground.
She chewed her lip and scowled at the thought. Pieter may have been dealt with but she had done little more than inherit the problems he’d been ignoring. Removing him from power had done nothing to present her with solutions.
Not for the first time she wondered about the wisdom of sending troops northeast. Though the Bjornmen seemed to have concentrated their efforts there, if Celstwin had taught her anything, it had taught her that the Bjornmen could be anywhere.
Guilt caught her completely unaware as a stray thought of the baby drifted through her worries. She hadn’t thought of him in hours. Wasn’t she supposed to be consumed with thoughts about him by now? She’d spent the last month having her ears filled with advice and the mouthings of women who’d done nothing with their lives but birth children and produce their own squalling brats. They undoubtedly knew more about child-rearing than she did but it was doubtful they knew anything about saving a nation.
She wasn’t like them, she’d realised. She was never going to be a doting mother. This baby had been a means to an end, at best a happy accident. And yet she felt guilty that she hadn’t thought of him. If she didn’t care at all wouldn’t she not feel that?
The baby was a safe as she could make him. She was under no illusions over the plots some of Pieter's supporters still hatched. She could never have left him in the palace, a knife in the dark and her line would end with her. Bringing him north was out of the question and so she'd laid trails all over Anlan as to where he was. Raysh would guard him like nobody else could. Not because he felt a sense of loyalty but because he owed her. Jantson would have dithered and Salisbourne would never have thought to employ a thief to find their friend. Raysh owed her his freedom and probably his life.
Druel crept into sight like a clumsy thief, the pinpricks of light distracting her from her thoughts and providing a sketchy outline of her home as they drew closer. Her guard swelled as Rhenkin's men rushed out of the town and attached themselves as escort. She’d just travelled for days with her small contingent but now she was within the walls of Druel more protection was clearly warranted. She smiled to herself at the foolishness of it all.
The town was an odd place. It had never been large, and whilst Freyton’s decision to make it his ducal seat had added its own prestige, it hadn’t had a major impact on Druel's population. There had been many who had drifted out to the smaller villages, or headed east into the Reaches, but they had been offset by the influx of affluent merchants, hosteliers, and toadies seeking to benefit from Freyton’s presence. The result had been an odd town, not even half the size of Kavtrin but somehow missing the cross-section of society that one expected to find in a town of any real size.
She glanced over at Hanris as the carriage clattered through the streets. He was asleep, head hanging down to his chest. Quite how he managed it with the carriage bouncing them around she wasn’t sure but it was good to see the man taking some rest for a change.
His eyes flickered open as they passed through the gates to the ducal palace and the wheel crun
ched over the fine white gravel Freyton had insisted be spread. She looked toward the entrance and the figures stood waiting for them. She didn’t need to see his face. She could tell Rhenkin just by the way he stood.
He waved the footman away and reached to open the door himself. “Your majesty.” His eyes gave away nothing as nodded in place of a bow. “It’s good to have you back. We weren’t expecting you quite this soon.”
She eased herself out of the carriage and down the small step before she spoke. “The roads were good to us, Rhenkin. And thank you, it’s good to be back.”
“Celstwin seems to have been productive,” he said. His eyes flicked to her stomach and back to her face. It had been quick but the meaning was unmistakable. “We can discuss things inside, Rhenkin,” she told him. “I’m sure there are many things you have to report.”
“Indeed, your majesty.” He gave another short bow and extended an arm, ushering her to the entrance.
Selena headed inside. The sound of the gravel didn’t quite mask the sound of Hanris being roused from his sleep and she flashed a quick smile at Rhenkin. The look he returned was carefully neutral, giving nothing away, and she pressed her lips tight together as she sighed and led the way to her study ushering him inside.
“It’s late Rhenkin,” she told him as she leaned back against the wall beside the closed door. “I don’t want to get into all of this now. You can give me a full report in the morning.”
“Where is my child, Selena?” He sounded strained, drawn, but his voice was nothing to his eyes.
She blinked “As far as I’m aware you don’t have any children, Rhenkin. My son, however, is safe and well.”
The mask had cracked and she pressed back against the door as his anger shone through and he bit each word off. “That is my child, Selena. Don’t play games with me. Now where is he?”
“Don’t be a damned fool, Rhenkin,” she hissed in an urgent whisper. “This child is Freyton’s. Without that fact I was not still a duchess, not able to call the Council of Lords, and this nation would have no queen. You know damned well this is bigger than your wants, now stop acting like a petulant child!”
He glared at her and she could see her words fighting to push through his rage.
“We’re not done here,” he snapped and moved to wrench the door open, stepping past her as it slammed back into the wall. She stood frozen for a moment and it wasn’t until she sighed that she realised she’d been holding her breath. He would keep, she decided. There were more important issues to deal with at the moment but Rhenkin would need to be managed. The only question was how?
***
The knock at the door was followed by both Rhenkin and Hanris as they made their way in. Selena ignored Hanris’s bows and formality as she studied Rhenkin’s expression. The rage was gone. Today the man was all business and his eyes gave away nothing as they approached.
“Your majesty, Major Rhenkin has some rather pressing news to report,” Hanris said with a nod at Rhenkin.
Selena raised an eyebrow. “So pressing it requires you both to deliver it?” she mused with an arch smile. “It must be important.”
“I merely thought to…” Hanris began but stopped as he caught her smile.
Selena gave a delighted laugh and sat up at straighter at the desk. “You know me better than most by now, Hanris. Please, both of you, continue.”
“We have a Bjornman in custody,” Rhenkin told her. “We have had for a number of weeks. He claims to be one of the leaders of their forces.”
“And you managed to capture him?” Selena asked. “How in the world did you manage that?”
“We didn’t,” Rhenkin told her with a shrug. “He and two others walked here on their own. He says he wants to discuss the fae.”
“Wait a minute.” She held a finger up with a frown as she thought. “How are you managing to speak with him? You’ve told me before that any men you’ve captured or taken from the battlefield haven’t been able to speak Anlish.”
“That’s true, your grace,” Rhenkin admitted, ignoring the look Hanris gave him at the title he’d used. “The patrol that found them encountered a woman travelling behind them. She is able to speak their language.”
Selena raised an eyebrow at that. “That’s awfully convenient, don’t you think?”
Rhenkin nodded and reached for the back of the chair set at her desk in front of him with a questioning look.
“I’m sorry. Please, do sit,” she told them.
“Thank you, your majesty,” Rhenkin said, seemingly unable to stop his sidelong glance at Hanris as he did so. “Normally I’d agree with you, it’s just too convenient to have much faith in it. However, there have been other developments as well that have put her in a different light.”
“Go on.” Selena told them. She set aside her playful teasing, now was not the time.
“It’s come to light that the translator has spent some time in the realm of the fae. Indeed, it would seem that a fae herself tasked her to locate Obair for some purpose.”
Selena's eyes widened and she nodded, thinking quickly. “And do we know for what purpose?”
Rhenkin shook his head. “Not as of yet, though Obair could probably tell you more than I could.”
“They’re back then? Obair and the boy?” She picked a pen from the holder on the desk and toyed with it.
“They are.” Rhenkin nodded. “They arrived two days ago but, again, I feel he could give you a better report than I.”
“You seem to be dancing around the edge of something, Rhenkin,” she told him. “It’s really rather irritating. I do wish you’d just come out and say it.”
His eyes flashed then, a hint of the anger from the previous night. It was gone in a moment but it was there. “Very well, your majesty. We’ve had word that the fae have attacked and razed Carik’s Fort and a large portion of Kavtrin.” He glanced up at her expression and bulled on. “We don’t have full details of Kavtrin yet but some of the survivors from Carik’s Fort have managed to make it here. I suspect that this woman, Miriam, the translator, would have something to tell us about this. Despite all of this, I would urge you most strongly, to speak to the Bjornmen we have here first.”
“And why is that, Rhenkin?” she asked with a dangerous lilt to her voice.
If her tone bothered him he didn’t show it. “There are a number of reasons, your majesty. First and foremost would be the fact that the Bjornmen are a present and permanent threat. The fae seem able to vanish at will, or at least move faster than we can effectively counter. The Bjornmen are more easily dealt with. If we must face two enemies at once I’d rather deal with the one we can find first.”
“And the other reasons?”
“If I can be candid for a moment?” He waited for her nod. “The fact we have these Bjornmen here presents us with an opportunity. From what they are telling us the fae have a presence in their own lands too. Not just the lands they’ve taken from us but their homeland. It’s taken some time but I’m coming to the realisation that they may be a larger threat to us than the Bjornmen could ever be. This is more than simply a hunt, picking off the peasants that the fae can find in the open. They’re going further than that. Kavtrin alone shows us that. If we could find a way to reach an accommodation with these Bjornmen then I believe we should explore that.”
“And you think I should speak with them first?” Selena asked him.
“I do,” Rhenkin stated firmly. “Obair doesn’t live in a world with firm numbers and facts, he works on suspicions and best guesses. I can’t blame him for that but I’d rather deal with something solid first before finding a way to deal with Obair’s best guess.”
“That sounds reasonable,” Selena conceded. “I think before I speak to these Bjornmen though, I’d like to talk to this woman. It may be she has more to tell us than anyone else.”
“I’ll have her sent in directly, Your Majesty,” Hanris said with an odd, seated bow.
“Before you do, there is some
thing I’d like to discuss with the both of you,” she told them speaking slowly as she thought it through. “I find myself in a rather tenuous position. I may hold the throne but I have been manoeuvred there by various machinations and I have no intention of being anyone’s marionette. I occurs that I have two rather strong allies under my nose, if the right appointments were to be made.”
“Appointments?” Rhenkin raised an eyebrow.
Selena nodded, and looked up at the ceiling. “Within weeks most of the armies of Anlan will be mustering under my banner. Whilst I am sure the general staff have exemplary credentials I’ve yet to meet a single one of them that I could say I truly trust. Now is not the time to begin a campaign under untested officers, wouldn’t you say?”
Rhenkin said nothing, frowning slightly.
“I can’t have someone else in command, Rhenkin. You’ve shown you can achieve results. You’ve proven your skill and loyalty time and again. I want you to lead the armies.”
“That’s…generous, your majesty,” Rhenkin replied. “But I’m afraid that would never work. The men would never follow a simple major.”
Selena nodded. “Yes that’s why I’m appointing you Lord High Marshal.”
Rhenkin gaped, seemingly lost for words.
“Your majesty,” Hanris said, leaning into the desk. “You are aware the position of Lord High Marshal is usually an honorary one? It is not one usually associated with officers actually in the field, so to speak.”
Selena allowed herself a tight smile. “I am, Hanris, thank you. It does, however grant a military rank and an authority over and above any other save my own, I believe.”
Hanris coughed. “It does indeed. The rank was historically reserved for the crown prince and, on occasion, the prince consort.”
“Well now,” Selena said, glancing at Rhenkin. “Isn’t that interesting? I do take it you’d be willing to work under me in that…position?”
The Riven Wyrde Saga boxed set Page 113