“I shall offer prayers for his life tonight, before I retire,” Aruk-cho said, then as carefully as he had entered, he departed the infirmary.
Magnes waited until the yardmaster had moved out of earshot before he spoke. “You didn’t tell Aruk-cho that you’re taking the boy with you. Why not?” he asked.
Seijon, who had remained silent up til now, responded with a “Yeah, why not?” of his own.
“Because Aruk-cho has already been compromised enough!” Gran snapped. “He has agreed, at the very least, to look the other way while I steal one of his employer’s most valuable pieces of property! If he knew I’m planning to steal the boy as well…The money I will leave behind won’t come near to covering the mistress’s losses for both Ashinji and you, imp!” She wagged her finger at Seijon for added effect. “No, it’s much better that he not be privy to everything.”
“Sensible,” Magnes agreed. “I also think it wise not to let him know I’ll be in on the breakout. Fadili can be trusted to keep quiet.” Fadili nodded for emphasis.
Gran sighed and rubbed her eyes. “Ai, Goddess I’m so tired,” she whispered. She eased her thin body off the stool and down into the chair that Fadili had placed by Ashinji’s bed. Tenderly, she caressed Ashinji’s pale cheek and began fussing with the blankets.
Seijon and Mistress de Guera aren’t the only ones who’ve fallen in love with Jelena’s husband, Magnes thought. “Ashinji reminds you of someone who’s close to you, doesn’t he?” Magnes asked. A flash of insight had made clear the old woman’s behavior toward his friend.
“Yes,” Gran replied. “I had a son once, very much like Ashi.” She said no more and Magnes didn’t press, sensing the terrible weight of grief behind her words.
Fadili came up behind him and touched his shoulder. “Everything is clean and packed up, Tilo,” he reported. “I’ll return to the temple now, if you have no further need of me.”
“Thank you, Brother,” Magnes replied. “Tell Brother Wambo that I’ll be back sometime tomorrow afternoon.”
After Fadili had departed, Magnes pulled up another chair beside the bed and sat. Seijon had made himself a pallet on the floor at the bed’s foot, and now lay curled up under a blanket with only the top of his head showing. Gran gazed at Ashinji’s face.
“You miss him, don’t you? Your son, I mean,” Magnes said.
“I miss all my family,” Gran replied. She reached out and laid a hand on Ashinji’s forehead, closing her eyes. Magnes didn’t realize he had been holding his breath until Gran’s lids fluttered open. “Ashi is adrift… lost in the gray lands between life and death. All I can do is to continue to call to him, in the hope that he hears and heeds my voice.”
“If he dies, what then?” Magnes asked. “Will you be able to do what you need to do without him?”
“I don’t know. I’m not even certain that we can prevail, even with every weapon at our disposal, and Ashinji’s death would make things that much more difficult.”
“Then he has to live.”
The night passed slowly. While Gran dozed and Seijon snored, Magnes remained awake, keeping watch. When the first light of dawn leaked in through the slats of the shutters, he rose, stretched the kinks from his back and reached over to press his hand to Ashinji’s throat. A pulse-weak, but steady-beat against the sensitive tips of his fingers. He breathed a sigh of relief.
His friend still lived.
He bent over to whisper in Gran’s ear. “Gran, wake up.”
“Hmmmm, yes, yes, I’m awake,” she muttered.
Her eyes flew open and before she could speak again, Magnes reassured her. “Yes, he’s still alive.”
“I know,” she answered.
The infirmary door rattled in its frame, then swung open to admit Mistress de Guera. “How is he?” she demanded without preamble.
“Still alive, Mistress, but just barely,” Magnes answered. Mistress de Guera advanced upon the bed and Magnes had to dodge in order to avoid a collision. She stood for many heartbeats, looking down at Ashinji, her face a mask of conflicting emotions.
At last, her eyes turned first to Gran and then to Magnes. “Leal admitted to stabbing Ashinji only after much…persuasion.”
“What’ll happen to Leal, Mistress?” Seijon asked, awake now, and sitting up on his pallet, hair tousled from sleep.
The mistress’s full lips compressed and a tiny vertical crease appeared between her eyes. She reached beneath the blankets and withdrew Ashinji’s hand clasped in hers.
She stood thus, unmoving, until Gran broke the silence. “Leal is dead, is that not so, Mistress?” the old elven woman asked. Mistress de Guera laid Ashinji’s hand down on top of the coverlet.
“Yes, that is so.”
Abruptly, the mistress spun on her heel and paced toward the door. Before she stepped through, she paused.
“My thanks, Brother Tilo, for your good efforts to save my slave. I am…appreciative.” With that, she departed.
Gran shook her head. “The mistress has made a terrible mistake,” she declared.
“What do you mean?” Magnes asked, though he already knew the answer.
“She has allowed herself to love a slave,” Gran replied.
Chapter 35
A Declaration Of Love
A month had passed since Jelena gave birth, and to celebrate the newest Onjara’s first four weeks of life, the king commanded that a feast be given in the little princess’s honor. At the same time, he would officially present his granddaughter to the people of Alasiri.
The day of the festivities dawned wet and blustery. The spring rains had been much heavier this year, a gift and aid from the One, many folk said. The longer the rains lasted, the longer they would delay the Soldarans’ northward march.
Hatora remained calm and quiet throughout the entire presentation ceremony and the feast that followed. Even as her two proud grandfathers passed her back and forth between them like a game ball, she maintained an air of total contentment. Everyone present could see how much both the king and his oldest friend adored the granddaughter they shared.
The day after the feast, word arrived from the south. The Soldaran legions were on the move.
~~~
“Keep your eyes on your opponent’s face, Princess! The eyes! Watch his eyes! Yes! Excellent!”
Jelena parried a blow aimed at her midsection, feinted left, then whipped her blade up and to the right, clocking her sparring partner on the side of his helmet, rattling him hard. He stepped back and lowered his own blade. With unsteady fingers, he fumbled at the strap that held his helm in place.
“Are you all right, Mai?” Jelena called out.
“He’s fine, aren’t you, boy?” Kurume Nohe, swordmaster and Jelena’s teacher, answered. “My son has a very hard head.”
Mai Nohe nodded in agreement as he pulled his helmet from his head and let it dangle from his hand by the strap. “Just a little dizzy is all, Princess. Don’t worry yourself.”
“I don’t know, Mai. I hit you pretty hard.” Jelena dropped her own sword and removed her helmet. “You look pale.”
Mai laughed, his dark eyes gleaming. “Like my father says…I have a hard head.”
Kurume Nohe and his son had been working with Jelena now for several weeks, taking up her arms training where she and Ashinji had left off before he’d ridden east to his death.
“You are making tremendous progress, Highness. One would think that you were born to this.” Kurume nodded approvingly.
Jelena laughed in turn. “Hardly!” she exclaimed. “I was born into servitude in my uncle’s house. I never would have been allowed near weapons of any kind had it not been for my cousin insisting I receive at least a rudimentary education. I learned the basics from him.”
“You possess a natural ability, then. Frankly, I’m not surprised, considering your bloodline.”
“Yes, well… natural ability aside, will I be ready to ride to war at my father’s side?” Jelena caught Mai scrutinizing her fro
m the corner of her eye. He seemed like he wanted to say something, but couldn’t quite work up the nerve.
“I would wish for more time, but there’s nothing like the forge of battle to temper a young warrior. You’ll be ready.” Kurume picked up Jelena’s sword and held it out to her, hilt first. “I think you’ve had enough practice for today, Highness. We will resume tomorrow, same time.”
“Until tomorrow, Master Kurume,” Jelena replied, taking her sword and carefully sheathing it.
Kurume bowed, then turned and headed for the gate that led out of the king’s private sparring yard. “You coming, Son?” he called out over his shoulder, never breaking stride.
“I’ll be along shortly, Father. I want a word with Princess Jelena,” Mai replied. “That is, if it’s convenient, Princess.”
“Of course, Mai. What is it you wish to speak to me about?” Jelena started walking toward the gate, helmet tucked beneath her arm. Mai fell in beside her. She kept her eyes focused straight ahead, afraid to look directly into Mai’s face, afraid of seeing what she suspected might be there.
Please, Mai! Don’t say it! Don’t change things between us!
“I have a confession to make, Princess,” Mai began. He hesitated, then stopped in his tracks, head lowered. Jelena had no choice but to stop walking as well. She waited for him to continue, dreading his next words.
“I…I have tried to control my feelings. Tried and failed!” Now that he had committed himself, words tumbled from Mai’s lips like a river in flood. “It’s been nearly a year since your husband died. I’ve waited, as was decent, because you’ve been in mourning, but now… now I feel like time is wasting! Alasiri will be at war soon, and if I wait much longer, it may be too late!”
“Oh, Mai,” Jelena breathed.
Mai stood at about the same height as Ashinji, but where Ashinji had been fair, Mai was dark. His raven warrior’s queue fell to his waist and his eyes, the color of aged wood, blazed with emotion.
“I love you, Jelena,” he whispered.
Jelena squeezed her eyes shut to close out the sight of Mai’s vulnerability. The ground beneath her did a slow roll, and she abruptly found herself clinging to his arm.
“Oh, Mai,” she repeated in dismay as she pushed herself away from him. “I…I don’t know what to say!”
“You don’t have to say anything yet, just listen…Your husband was a good man. Many in the army admired Ashinji Sakehera, and not just those who served under him. I would never seek to take his place in your heart.” He paused, then continued, “I’m common-born. You are a princess. It seems like an insurmountable obstacle, but it can be overcome, if only you can return my feelings, Jelena.”
He stepped forward and swept her hand up in his. “Jelena, I promise that I’ll love and cherish you as you deserve, and I’ll love your daughter as if she were my own.”
Jelena trembled. The strength of Mai’s passion engulfed her- almost too much to bear, and yet…
Ashi is gone. I’ll never see him again in this life; why hold on to a ghost? Mai is honest, kind, and nice to look at…and he loves me. Perhaps, in time, I’ll come to love him, but if I don’t…can I accept anything less than what I had with Ashi?
A sudden rush of anger from some deep, hidden place within her soul surged forth, taking her by surprise.
Damn you, Ashi! Why did you leave me like this? Why didn’t you fight harder! Hatora and I need you!
“Jelena, are you all right?”
Jelena shook herself and nodded sharply. “Yes, yes, Mai. I’m all right. This is just a lot to take in. I mean, I suspected that you might…have feelings for me, but to hear you say it out loud…well, I need time to think.”
Mai raised her hand to his lips and kissed her palm. “I’ll give you time,” he said, “but remember…none of us has as much time as we think we do.” He released her hand and the two of them exited the yard. Jelena turned left toward the section of the castle where her apartments lay. Mai turned in the opposite direction.
“Mai, wait!” Jelena called out. He stopped and turned to face her, the hope on his face heartrending. “I promise I’ll think about what you said, and I’ll try not to keep you waiting too long. You deserve a quick answer.”
Mai’s eyes swiveled downward then back up to her face. “Thank you, Princess,” he replied, then bowed and walked away.
Jelena stood watching his retreating figure, and tried hard not to cry.
~~~
“Lady Odata, has there been any more news from the south concerning the plague?” the king asked. Everyone seated at the large, rectangular table looked at the Lady of Tono.
“Sporadic reports, yes,” Odata began. “It seems the disease went dormant over the winter, but with the coming of the spring rains, it has resurfaced. Most alarmingly, all of the new cases are occurring in okui.”
Jelena’s status entitled her to sit in on council meetings, though she had no right to speak without permission. Once she had shown an interest in matters of state, Keizo had encouraged her to do so, and for the last few weeks, she had never missed a session. She always tried to remain as unobtrusive as possible, dressing plainly and positioning her chair behind and to the left of her father’s. After the first couple of times she attended, the council members appeared to forget about her presence altogether.
The king and his advisors knew they had little time left. The rains had stopped and the ground grew dryer by the day. The Soldaran forces were on the move. The elven army had to be ready to meet them.
Life in Sendai went on as usual, but an undercurrent of nervous trepidation flowed through the air like smoke-no panic yet, just a heightened sense of unease. It showed in the faces of the people as they went about their business and made their preparations for the gathering storm. Sendai had never in its long history suffered a siege, but the city had been built with numerous defenses, and according to a committee of experts put together by the king, it could withstand a prolonged blockade-six months, maybe seven-provided all storehouses were full.
The elves’ biggest fear now, besides invasion, was the plague.
Keizo turned to his brother, who sat to his immediate right. “What do you propose we do?” he asked.
“I’ve decided to go down to Tono myself to personally investigate,” Prince Raidan announced. “Secondhand reports are no substitute for firsthand observation.”
“Do you think that’s wise?” Keizo asked. “We don’t know how the disease is spread, nor why it can now affect okui. What if you fall ill? I need you too much, Brother.”
Jelena sipped at a goblet of wine, watching with keen interest the dynamic between her father and uncle. She understood exactly why Raidan wanted to go to Tono himself. Her uncle firmly believed in the ability of science to solve all mysteries and problems, and as a scientist, he would want to apply what he referred to as the scientific method to the problem of the plague.
Keizo, by contrast, held a traditionalist’s view. He preferred to rely on Talent and its application through the use of magic.
“I’ve spoken to you of the theories of Nazarius, Brother,” Raidan replied impatiently. “As long as I take precautions to avoid all bodily excretions from the plague victims…”
“Yes, yes, I know!” Keizo interrupted. “However, I don’t put the same stock in those notions that you do.”
The prince’s eyes flashed with annoyance. “I’m a trained physician, Brother. I’m convinced my methods can uncover the cause of this plague, but I need to go to the source to apply them! I must examine victims, collect samples…”
“Majesty, I agree with his Highness,” Sen interjected.
Both the king and the prince turned to face the Lord of Kerala.
“It’s vitally important that we learn all we can about this illness and it seems to me the prince is the one best qualified to investigate.”
“Don’t fight me on this, Keizo,” Raidan said in a low voice. The rest of the council looked on, faces impassive. Jelena watched h
er father’s face slowly relax as he relented.
“Very well. Do what you must, but do it as quickly as you can.”
“I will leave at first light tomorrow. I shouldn’t be gone more than five days,” Raidan promised.
After the matter of Raidan’s investigation of the plague had been decided, the council spent the remainder of the session reviewing the battle plans. The complex logistics of gathering the combined forces of all Alasiri’s fiefdoms were finalized. A plan for provisioning was already in place and supply lines established. The forces themselves still needed balancing and separation into two divisions-one under the command of Sen, the other to be commanded by the prince. The Sendai Home Guard also needed augmentation with additions from the main army. Sen would see to these details later, as the time drew nearer for mustering.
The king and his generals had worked out the final plan over many weeks of intense research and discussion. They had options available to cover all possible scenarios-from the quick defeat and rout of the enemy to a full scale invasion and siege of Sendai itself.
Not a single man or woman on the council wanted to contemplate the possibility that the heart of Alasiri might be invaded, but contemplate it they must. Their duty compelled them to plan for the worst and come up with ways to safeguard the future of the elven people.
Jelena listened attentively at first as each lord gave an accounting of the size and composition of his or her force, but her mind soon wandered. The image of Mai’s face kept intruding on her thoughts, and with a painful start, she realized she now thought more about Mai these days than about Ashinji.
She knew she should look upon this as good and healthy-a sign that she at last felt ready to let go of the past and move on, perhaps to a new love. Still, she couldn’t help but feel a small twinge of guilt and sadness, even though she realized she in no way betrayed what she and Ashinji had shared.
I promised Mai a speedy answer. That was five days ago. It’s time to end his suffering.
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