The Crown of Anavrea (The Theodoric Saga)

by Rachel Rossano

  Her stomach rumbled loudly in reply.

  He smiled. “I will take that as a request for speed.”

  Within moments he had her settled in a heavy, comfortable chair, feet toward the fire and the smell of warm bread filling her nose.

  “So, tell me about yourself.”

  She eyed him suspiciously. Labren indicated he trusted these men, but her habits and instincts of self-preservation were hard to ignore.

  “Okay, tell me about how you got here.”

  She summarized the events of the last few months. Han, she discovered, was a great listener. He waited patiently for her to form her thoughts, asked the right questions, and prodded her to continue when she slowed. She discovered herself saying much more about her worries regarding Ulysses and the hunters pursuing Labren than she intended. When she finally halted her ramblings with a large chunk of bread oozing over in cheddar, Han leaned back in his chair and contemplated the dancing flames in silence. She swallowed her bite and he spoke.

  “I am certain Ulysses’ reach will not extend this far. A member of a traveling caravan has little clout with locals of the towns he passes through. I doubt he will even bring up charges against Trahern, whatever it was Trahern did to him.

  “The patrols are another problem completely.” He glared at the glowing logs. “I will have to speak with Professor.” He glanced at her and caught her worried expression. “We will protect him, Eve. Trahern is among friends. We will protect you both.

  Lessons began for Eve the next morning. In an empty classroom on the first floor, Professor Olof set her to learning how to walk like a queen, at least that is what he called it. She thought the contortions made her resemble a woman with a rod stuck up her back.

  “Chin higher.” His voice echoed in the hollow space. The wooden floors and bare windows offered nothing to muffle the sound. “Shoulders back, stomach in, smaller steps, you must look as though you are above the world.”

  But I am not. She obediently attempted to glide up and down the row of desks with her nose pointed at the far wall, but her heart didn’t agree with the new posture. Fear seeped in. If Labren became king, she would always have to be like this. Years of parading for unfriendly eyes loomed before her. At least as a slave, she could do what she needed to avoid the malevolent attention that frequently turned her way. As a queen, she would never be allowed to hide. Labren would depend on her to keep up the act. A lump formed in her throat and tears pressed behind it.

  “What do you think you are doing, Master Trahern,” Abrigail demanded outside in the hallway.

  Professor Olof strode the doorway.

  “Trahern, you will never heal if you don’t rest.”

  Labren’s muffled reply sounded weak. Eve darted to Olof’s side. Sagging against the wall, face whitewashed and eyes closed, Labren took slow measured breaths.

  “I underestimated the effort of going downstairs.” His eyes opened. Glassy, they focused on her reluctantly as though fighting him. “How go the lessons?”

  “Back to bed.” Professor Olof signaled to Abrigail. “Go fetch Han. Trahern will need carrying back up those stairs.” The woman disappeared and Olof turned steely blue eyes on Labren. “Can you walk?”

  “I made it here, didn’t I?” He shoved away from the wall, but the bravado ended there. Eve and Olof barely caught him as he sank toward the floor. Maneuvering him into a chair took even more effort and skill. Once there, Labren settled his head in his hands and didn’t move.

  “Now don’t be a fool.” Olof retrieved his book and returned. “You are helping no one, least of all yourself with these games. Han and I will return you to your bed and you will stay there until I tell you that you can rise, understood?”

  “I will not spend the next month on my back in a bed.” Labren raised his head and straightened to glare at Olof. “My leg might be weak, but my mind is active. You take Eve away, Han has his duties, and I expect everyone else has occupations more pressing than entertaining an invalid.”

  “I will have books brought down from the library. You will only be bedbound for a few days.” Olof waved the volume in his hand for emphasis. “Just pick a subject and we will collect what you need.”

  “Books are well enough, but I need some interaction. You know I have never been able to read for more than a few hours without a need for a break. My mind will not stay focused that long.”

  Olof grunted as Han appeared around the corner. “I will see what I can do.”

  “So, he escaped.” Crossing his arms, Han regarded Labren with a light twist of his mouth. “Have you been chasing skirts?”

  “No.” An edge to Labren’s voice hinted at anger.

  “So, where do you want the miscreant?”

  “In his bed.” Olof waved Eve into the classroom. “Back to work, Eve. You are doing passably well with the walk. I want you to attempt a curtsey now. Remember, keep your back straight.”

  “Olof, books?” Labren called from the hallway.

  “Han, will you see about someone fetching some reading material for Trahern?” The professor pointed to Eve’s feet. “Now stand feet together, legs straight…”

  Eve obeyed, but her attention was on the muffled sounds of Han and Labren in the hallway. She strained her ears to no avail until the sounds disappeared.

  “I demand an audience with Eve Ethan.”

  A loud voice broke through the hushed corridors on the first floor. Almost all of the children were romping outside, making the best use of the brief hour before dinner. Labren, resting in Professor Olof’s office on his way to the dining room, lifted his head from a tome chronicling the genealogy of the Theodorics. If Ireic was set on offering him the crown, Labren intended to find an alternate possibility.

  “You shall not speak to any one if you do not regulate your volume, sir.” Han’s voice carried despite the even tones.

  “I will not quiet down until I get Eve.”

  Labren attempted to stand without the assistance of the desk. He managed, but pain sluiced through his thigh. A deep breath steadied him as he waited for the discomfort to settle to a dull ache. “Bring him in, Han,” he called.

  “Come this way,” Han directed.

  “I know Eve is here. They turned off at the crossroads and this is the first place on this road that has a wagon….” The man’s voice trailed off upon setting his gaze on Labren. “You!” The man lunged forward.

  Labren staggered back a step, his bad leg almost collapsing beneath him. He grabbed the back of the chair for balance.

  Icy blue eyes spewed hatred. If Han hadn’t kept his restraining hand on the man’s compact shoulder, he would have seized Labren.

  “Where is my sister?”

  About hand’s span shorter than Han, the man was built like a wall. Massive shoulders, solid chest, and well-muscled arms. His movements declared a skilled quickness on his feet and comfort in his own skin few men possessed. Labren scanned his face searching for a familial resemblance, but was hard pressed to find one beyond the blond hair and perhaps something about the set of his eyes.

  “I demand to see my sister.”

  “You can demand all you want, sir, but you cannot assail this man.”

  “I have cause.”

  Han’s eyebrows rose.

  Labren frowned. “What cause would that be?”

  “Kidnapping of my sister from her owner.”

  “I didn’t kidnap her.”

  Approaching footfalls outside interrupted any further conversation. Not that they were really accomplishing much with the words they had exchanged thus far. Professor Olof appeared in the doorway, Eve at his heel.

  Labren watched her face intently as she entered the room.

  “I understand…” Professor Olof’s voice was lost to the mutual cries of joy and relief from the siblings.

  “Ruarc!”

  Eve bypassed the Professor and ran into the stranger’s out flung arms. The unfettered euphoria of her expression banished all doubt of the man’s rel
ation to her. Simultaneously, Labren’s gut gave a terrible wrench. His knuckles whitened as his fingers dug into the upholstery. If only she became so overjoyed at his appearing.

  “I thought I would never see you again.” Ruarc stepped back, cradling her face between his hands. “I came to rescue you from Mridle only to find you gone, stolen away by some criminal, and dragged into harms’ way.” He pulled her into a massive hug. “Now put your mind at rest, little sister. I shall free you from this…” He uttered a word that Labren had only heard used by the roughest of the seadogs. Professor Olof’s eyebrows rose and Han coughed. “He has no hold on you.”

  Eve tried to speak, but Ruarc shushed her. “Now, villain…” He turned and pinned Labren with a frigid glare. “Will you release her or do I need to call upon the law to deal with you.”

  Han stepped forward and opened his mouth, but Eve beat him to it.

  “You don’t understand.”

  “No, sister, you are the one who doesn’t understand.” Without dropping his glare from Labren, Ruarc pulled Eve behind him and pulled out a knife. “You are coming with me.”

  Balancing precariously, white fire searing his thigh, Labren raised both hands to hip level, showing the man his palms.

  “She is not going anywhere,” Professor Olof interjected.

  “Would you attack an unarmed man?” Han asked.

  “Remember what Father taught you. Listen!”

  Ruarc ignored her, raising his knife slightly higher.

  Eve ripped her hand from Ruarc’s grasp. Frustration sparked green fire in her eyes. “Ruarc Ethan, you aren’t listening.”

  Ruarc swung to face her. The mask of focused determination slipped and wariness flickered across his features. “Listening.”

  “I am free.” Her voice weighed heavy in the room. “Look!” She pulled back the collar of her dress to reveal her bare collarbone. “He already freed me. I am his wife. It was my choice, Ruarc. I choose to stay.”

  A slow dawn spread across her brother’s face. “So, he didn’t steal you?”

  “From Mridle’s perspective, perhaps, he did. From mine, I was freed.”

  “But he is a criminal.”

  “Wrongly accused,” Han pointed out before Labren’s tongue formed a sound.

  “The man from the caravan said he abused you.”

  “Let me guess his name,” Eve offered, “Ulysses?”

  “He was the one harassing her,” Labren protested.

  Ruarc glared at him. Distrust still hung between them. Labren didn’t completely blame him.

  Eve crossed to Labren and slipped an arm around his waist. “You are pale. Sit before you fall over,” she whispered, guiding him back to the chair.

  “But…” Ruarc’s voice faded to silence.

  Labren wanted to protest and remain standing, but a sudden wave of lightheadedness cut off the possibility. “What a way to feel useless,” he muttered. “A brother-in-law I never knew I had threatens to abduct my wife and all I can do is struggle not to pass out at his feet.”

  “He becomes a bit intense at times.”

  “Intense?” The room shifted. Labren dropped his head between his knees, thankful for the gentle pressure of Eve’s hand on his shoulder keeping him anchored to the floor.

  “Perhaps Labren and Eve can explain everything at another time.” Professor Olof suggested from the other side of the room. “We have refreshment and a room to rest in if you should need…”

  “I am not leaving Eve with that man.” Ruarc replied.

  “I understand that. However, Labren needs her now.”

  “May I suggest a tray be brought here,” Han suggested.

  “Labren should be in bed,” Professor Olof pointed out.

  “What is wrong with the bloke anyway?”

  “Recent injuries are affecting his health.” Professor Olof pulled out a chair. “Will you please have a seat? I will gather something from the kitchen.”

  Ruarc settled in the seat, but Labren could still feel the steely pressure of his glare.

  “Are there any other family members of yours I should know about?”

  “No.” Slender fingers slipped through his hair, lulling him toward sleep. “Our parents are dead, we only have each other.”

  It was a feeling Labren couldn’t quite relate to. Ireic and he had never been particularly close, more from their parents’ choices than theirs. It was hard to have a relationship of any kind while physically miles apart. Besides, the price on his head didn’t help matters.

  ~~~

  Chapter IV

  Eve wanted to drop through the floor. Ruarc’s glare burned the air between him and Labren.

  Thankfully, Labren appeared oblivious of the intense emotions emanating from her brother. His fingers trembled. Her stroking his head seemed to relax him, but he needed to be lying down in his own bed. Since Ruarc refused to let her out of his sight, she scrambled for a compromise.

  “Might we use the front room? There is a couch there for Labren.”

  “Perfect,” Professor Olof said. “We will move him.”

  Han reappeared just in time to assist with trooping the whole party into the new room.

  Ruarc continued to glower as Eve plumped pillows, unfolded and draped blankets, and then settled on the floor at Labren’s side. Perspiration coated his face. She tentatively claimed the hand resting on the blanket. He weakly squeezed her fingers before closing his eyes and relaxing against the cushions.

  Ruarc claimed the chair closest to Eve, and Han purposefully placed one immediately to his left. Only the professor remained standing. Pacing the rug for a moment, he allowed them all to drink in the tension before suddenly breaking it.

  “Master Ruarc…” He raised an inquiring eyebrow.

  “Ruarc Ethan, Seaman Ethan if you desire.”

  “Very well, do you mind if I call you Ruarc?”

  Ruarc shrugged. “I have never been one to stand on formality.”

  “Eve hasn’t volunteered much about her past so far. Perhaps you would be willing to enlighten us?”

  “I don’t know much more than her.”

  Han stepped. “She mentioned your father. Is he living?”

  “If he was, we wouldn’t be in this mess.”

  “Why?”

  “Eve and I would be free citizens. She wouldn’t be married to this…” Another slur. “And we would not be here.”

  Feeling sorry for Han, Eve decided to help. “Our father was a free man. Our mother was a slave woman owned by a friend. Father had partially purchased her from the friend when he died.”

  Her brother interrupted. “The bastard wouldn’t honor the fact Father paid over eighty percent of the price upon his death. He claimed all three of us. He sold me within a month and I was at sea before the season changed.”

  Tears burned unbidden in her eyes. Eve blinked them back. “Mother died in childbirth that winter. He sold me to Mridle before her body grew cold.”

  Ruarc grunted. “I made him pay.”

  “So, you are still a slave?” Olof asked.

  “Hardly. You don’t see any collar here, do you?” Ruarc bared a naked neck. “I worked off my price a couple years back. I was just coming back for Eve.” He pulled a leather bag from beneath his belt and dumped it on the table with a thunk. “That was to buy her freedom. A pretty hefty sum of gold considering she is of childbearing age and attractive.” He eyed Labren. “Is there a chance that he would accept it and release her?”

  “I told you. I have chosen to stay.”

  Ruarc studied her.

  Eve met his gaze and tried to look as determined as she felt. Labren might not love her now or ever love her, but he was unerringly kind and considerate. Prince or criminal, she promised him before the Kurios that she would be his wife. Ruarc would just have to accept that.

  Jaw set, blue eyes blazing, and barely restrained anger in every line of his face, her brother looked just as stubborn.

  “Fine. But, I am not sure you are
making a good choice.” He swiped the pouch from the table and tucked it back under his belt.

  Eve dropped her eyes to Labren’s hand in hers. His long fingers were cold against hers, a sign that the fever was back. She watched him shift on the pillows, sweat glistening on his face.

  The dinner tray arrived. In his movements, Olof crossed to claim Labren’s other hand. His features immediately tightened.

  “You are welcome to stay with us, Ruarc, until you are convinced. However, I am going to insist Labren be removed to his room.”

  “The fever is back?” Han moved to call for assistance.

  “I am afraid so.”

  “I want to speak with Eve alone.” Ruarc stood, confronting Professor Olof.

  Olof studied him for a moment before shaking his head. “Trahern needs her and his health is more important than your right to answers. You will be given plenty of opportunity later, perhaps tomorrow.”

  Ruarc opened his mouth to protest, but the arrival of three large young men stalled him. Eve made efforts to making everything ready and ignored his efforts to catch her attention.

  Early the next morning, Eve encountered her brother coming down the stairs when she was climbing up them. A laden breakfast tray filled her arms. Ruarc exploded.

  “What are you doing? He expects you to wait on him, fetching this or that. You are no better than a slave, Eve. I heard that professor man last night. That man’s health is more important to them than yours. They don’t value you here. Come away with me and you will be truly free.”

  “No. You don’t understand. I promised to care for him in sickness and in health.”

  Ruarc scoffed as he took the tray from her. “I think he is getting the better end of that deal.” She led him up the remaining stairs.

  “I promised.” She opened the door to the bedroom. “Besides, he treats me like an equal.”