WINDDREAMER

by Charlotte Boyett-Compo

  * * * *

  "Regan?" Corbin looked back at his brother. "Is it true you're leaving when The Ravenwind sets sail in three days?"

  "That's his plan." Regan looked hard at Conar's back. "But he doesn't always get what he wants, does he?"

  Sentian turned a fierce look on the boy. "Aye, but he does. You'll be on that ship, mister."

  Regan turned his face away from the warrior, hating the man almost as much as he did his own father. Inside, he seethed, loathing everyone around him. His narrowed gaze took in the pennants being hoisted above the battlements--Conar's, Legion's, the woman's. Even Corbin's personal standard soon fluttered beneath Conar's.

  "No damned flag for me!" he spat, envy eating at his vitals with bitter acid. "I don't count."

  "No, you don't," Sentian agreed. He dug his heels into the flanks of his roan and shot forward.

  "Bastard," Regan whispered, tears filling his eyes. He looked up to the pennants, then cast his gaze to Corbin, waving gaily at civilian's paying homage to the royal family. When stares lit on him, though, heads turned to whisper in shushed tones.

  "The witch's spawn," a woman said nastily as her glower bore into him. "His Grace had no choice but to take in the brat. His mother didn't want no part of him."

  "Must be something wrong with the child," another answered.

  That Regan could hear their words made no difference to them. His face, red with shame, apparently did not register as they pointed and laughed or shook their heads. They had no smiles for him as they had for Corbin. No waves, no cheers. Only speculation and wariness.

  Trying desperately to show these people that he didn't care what they thought, Regan held his head a little higher and did not look down again at the people he passed.

  * * * *

  Gezelle was waiting for the travelers at the keep's front entrance. Beside her, the King and Queen's children jumped up and down, waiting impatiently for their mother to dismount. They craned their necks, looking for their father. When Conar slid from his mount and lifted down their mother, five sets of little eyes widened in surprise.

  "Where's Papa?" Kells, the youngest, asked Justin, the eldest of Legion's sons.

  "Why is he holding Mama's hand like that?" Jarad hissed.

  Cayn groaned behind her. "There's been a change, I think."

  Gezelle looked around. Like her, those gathered along the covered passageways apparently did not miss the possessive way Conar helped the Queen from her mare. Nor did they miss the affectionate way in which she smiled at him. As the crowd watched the couple enter the keep after stopping to hug Gezelle and greet the children, they looked to one another with expressions of surprise.

  * * * *

  At precisely four of the clock that rainy afternoon, the courtyard filled to overflowing with the curious and the worried. Huddling under every available overhang, most of the people shivered with cold, and more than one person remarked that it seemed reminiscent of that November morn long ago when they had waited to see their Princess Elizabeth McGregor for the first time.

  An old man chuckled. "Do you remember how he had her come out in the veil? How pleased with himself he was? Should have known he was up to something, that lad. Always knew he was a mischief-maker! God love 'em. Hope they're back together."

  That seemed the sentiment of most of the people waiting for Conar to come out on the balcony and speak to them. A few seemed hesitant to accept the situation, still worried about Tribunal law, even though the Tribunal had not existed in Boreas since Conar took charge the year before. And a few did not want such a thing to happen at all, their loyalty held expressly to Legion A'Lex.

  When the balcony doors opened, the crowd instantly fell quiet.

  ----

  "I won't keep you long," Conar said, mindful of the steady rain. "You have questions, and I hope to give you answers both of us can live with." He looked behind him and held out his hand. Liza stepped onto the balcony to join him. "This morning, King Legion signed a paper relinquishing all ties to this lady."

  A shocked gasp ran through the crowd.

  Conar waited until things quieted. "There can be no annulment under the old laws of the Tribunal, for neither this lady nor her husband has committed any act of treason or treachery."

  Legion might disagree, Conar thought with some sadness.

  "From this moment forward, your Queen has resumed her former title of Princess." Conar smiled. "You may ask how that can be, and I hope I can explain it where you will understand."

  He clenched Liza's hand, took a deep breath, and hoped to the gods his explanation would satisfy those gathered.

  "As you know, there is no provision under Boreal law that allows for divorce. The old laws were changed to suit the Domination, but those laws were not what the people wanted, so I have discarded them. Most of what the Priests of that hellish order did was to create laws that benefited them and not the people, so I believe nothing they did should be kept on the books. Do you?"

  A general roar of denial thundered through the courtyard.

  "But Tribunal laws were, for the most part, geared to protect and preserve our culture. Even though some of those laws--laws like the ones that sent me and many a good man to the Labyrinth--were aimed at keeping total control of our culture in the hands of the priesthood."

  "Aye, Your Grace!" someone shouted. "But not no more!"

  "No, never again will the priesthood rule this country." He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "And never again will a sovereign sit on the throne of this palace to govern you by the old Tribunal laws."

  Another gasp flowed through the courtyard. Heads turned; voices lifted in confusion. When quiet finally returned at Belvoir's roar of command, Conar could have heard a pin drop.

  "I have spoken with my son, Corbin." Stunned looks crossed the faces of many who obviously did not know the identity of the boy's true father. "He and I have agreed that the monarchy in this land is finished as it was before. A government of the people, and for the people, shall be established. A commission of men and women will make the new laws, which will be voted on by those being governed. Such a democratic concept is alien to most of us, but it works well in Oceania where Prince Grice and Prince Chand have adopted such a system, and I believe it will work equally well here."

  "Who's gonna make such laws, Lord Conar?" someone called.

  "We will hold a free election in the next few weeks. Before then, I will expect each and every one of you to write down--or to tell your choice to one of the scribes we will make available to you--the man or woman you think is well suited to help form these laws. Your candidate must be someone who can read and write, who is fair-minded and ethical, who you believe will represent you fairly and equally under the law." His expression turned stern. "I will have no man or woman sit on the commission who is there for personal gain. And believe me, I will know. So make your choices well, my friends, for you will be the ones to reap that man or woman's harvest."

  "What about you, Lord Conar?" a woman shouted. "We don't want no one but you!"

  When other strident voices chimed in, Conar held up his hand. "I will be the arbitrator in final matters--a judge, if you will. Until the laws that will govern this land are enacted, and each and every one of us is pleased with the outcome, I will remain your Regent. When Prince Corbin is of age, he will assume the position of Prince of Serenia."

  "We won't have no king?" an old man asked. "King Legion has been dethroned?"

  "I am, with this document"--Conar held up a paper--"abolishing my brother Legion's Kingship of this sovereign land and declaring it a Principality." He waited until the uproar died down before resuming. "This, along with the divorce I have had prepared for the Princess Elizabeth, will be the last acts of this monarchy under my brother's rule. He has signed each article and will not challenge the divorce."

  "Then the Princess ain't his lady no more?" a young man yelled, obvious disappointment on his beefy face.

  "No," Conar said. "She's not.
"

  "Is she yours, then, Lord Conar?"

  He looked at the lovely woman at his side. "She is."

  "And how can you do that?" a woman asked. "How do you justify taking her away from her lawful husband?"

  A few angry mumbles echoed the woman's sharp words.

  "I would not dare to change any laws that would harm my people. But since the Princess Elizabeth was forced into marriage with Galen McGregor in order to protect my son, Corbin, then forced to wed my brother, Legion, as ransom for our people's good conduct, I hereby invoke the laws of our ancestors and declare both marriages to have been invalid."

  "Prince Corbin be your son?" a woman shouted.

  "Conceived the night before I was jailed. My lady had no choice but to let the world think he was Galen's son, for fear the Tribunal would try to prevent him from being born. Galen knew the truth, and upheld the ruse for that very reason."

  A mumble of understanding spilled from the crowd, but one irate man shouted over the noise. "That makes it all legal-like, don't it?"

  "That is does!"

  "But ye ain't married to Her Grace, neither!" a woman accused. "Your marriage to her was annulled 'cause of adultery, and now here you be with her again, all cozy. How do we take that, Lord Conar?"

  ----

  In the back of the crowd, Duncan felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to stare into the face of an old friend.

  "Shall we discuss this new turn of events?" the man asked.

  "Aye." Duncan cast one final look at the balcony, where Conar and Liza stood side by side, their arms around each other.

  Conar continued. "The lady and I are to be betrothed in a ceremony performed this eve by Father Barell, the High Priest of the WindWarrior Society. When her divorce banns have been read and the prescribed three-day wait is over, we will be rejoined according to the old laws. That will make it legal in the eyes of the gods and man."

  "Not in my eyes," Duncan's friend mumbled.

  Duncan turned away, shutting out the arguments coming from the crowd, Conar's explanations, and the cheers that finally erupted when the talking finished.

  "He always get what he wants," Duncan sighed heavily.

  "Not this time," his friend vowed. "Not this time..."

  Chapter 14

  * * *

  Sadie MacCorkingdale glared across the room at the two people laughing softly over some private joke. The old cook's face turned malicious, filled with enough venom to slay an entire regiment of men. Snorting when a lingering kiss became the punchline to the joke, Sadie turned and found herself confronting Regan's cold stare.

  "What you want, boy?" she snapped, stirring a pot of bubbling oatmeal.

  Looking past her, Regan saw his father and the Queen--he would think of Liza in no other way--staring foolishly into each other's eyes, oblivious to anyone else in the kitchen. With a bony hand, Sadie shook him. He glared at her with such hate, the woman jerked back her hand.

  She looked at Conar and the lady, then returned her gaze to Regan. "You don't care much for the way things have happened, either, do you, boy?" she whispered.

  "Do you?"

  "Nay, I do not." She crooked her finger at him. "Let me show you something, child."

  She pulled him into the storage room. When she bent over him, her foul breath made his upper lip raise in disgust.

  "There are methods," she slyly whispered, "to alleviate your dislike of the way things are. He don't have no business taking away Legion's woman." Her cracking voice turned hard. "He ought to be made to leave her alone. Don't you agree, boy?"

  Regan stared up at her, unsure of her motives and not quite trusting her sanity. He shrugged. "Conar does what he wants. Can't anybody do anything about it."

  The hag straightened. "I wouldn't say that. There's ways to make the lady hate him--she'll run as fast as she can away from his lechery."

  "Elizabeth loves him," Regan said peevishly. He turned his back on the woman. "Can't anybody ever change that."

  "I can."

  Regan shook his head. If there was anything in his life of which he was certain, it was the Queen's foolish love for Conar. To be rid of the hag's silliness, Regan exited the storage room.

  "What are you doing, boy?"

  Regan's jaw clenched. "About to break my fast, Father." Sadie's claw-like hands tightened on his shoulders. He shrugged away the vile hands and turned his attention to the Queen. His insides did a funny little flip when she smiled at him. "May I eat here, or am I to take my meals in the servant's quarters?"

  Liza touched Conar's hand, then stood, pulling back her chair. "Come sit with your father, Regan. I have work to do and he doesn't."

  The last thing Regan wanted to do was take his meal with Conar. But he shrugged, walked sullenly to the table, and sat down. Sadie plopped a bowl of oatmeal before him.

  "Do you really like that stuff?" Conar asked, conspiratorially leaning toward his son.

  Regan glared at him and moved away. "I would not have asked for it if I did not."

  Conar watched him ladle spoon after spoon of sugar into the lumpy, gray gruel. He cocked a brow when Regan shoveled a glob into his mouth. Regan knew his flickering eyelids gave him away--he didn't really care as much for the mess as he had pretended.

  "You can have eggs and toast, if you like," Conar said. "Bacon or ham steak, too."

  "This is fine," Regan snapped.

  "You finished with your plate?" Sadie grumbled, pointing at Conar's half-eaten food.

  "I'd like some milk, if that's not too much of a bother."

  The old woman chuckled. "Oh, milk is it you want?" She smiled. "Then milk it is you'll have." She hobbled off to the storage room.

  Regan wondered at the look on the hag's face and contemplated their recent conversation.

  "Are you all packed for your trip?" Conar asked, bringing Regan's thoughts back to the present.

  "My exile, you mean," Regan snarled, poking another glob of oatmeal into his mouth, chewing it with difficulty.

  "It isn't exile. I'm sending you where you'll be safe once I begin my battle with Tohre."

  "Then why aren't you sending away Corbin, too?"

  "I am."

  Regan paused with his spoon at his mouth. "With me?"

  Conar shook his head. "He's going somewhere else."

  "Where?"

  "You don't need to know."

  A furious stab of betrayal shot through Regan's body. With a loud plop, his spoon dropped into the bowl. "You don't trust me."

  "That's precisely the reason," Conar answered, looking around as Sadie waddled into the room with a tall glass of milk. "Did you have to milk the cow to get that?"

  Sadie smiled. "I had to have time to put in the poison, didn't I?"

  Regan started, looking at the glass in the woman's hand. Wide-eyed and open-mouthed, he watched his father bring the glass to his lips. "Don't--"

  Conar laughed. "She's just joking." He drained the glass in three long gulps.

  His heart thundering in his chest, Regan gazed at the hag's satisfied face. A part of him wanted to tell his father about her earlier words, while another part waited anxiously to see what the milk would do.

  "That was good poison," Conar said, handing the glass to Sadie. "Fix me another of your potions, witch, and I'll take it with me." He winked at the woman and stood, looking back at Regan. "I wouldn't feel at home if I didn't get my morning ration of Sadie MacCorkingdale and her insults." When the cook returned, she handed him a second glass.

  "Is this one poisoned, too?"

  The woman's smile brought goosebumps to Regan's arms. "I put in even more, Your Nubs. You should start to feel it soon enough."

  Conar downed the milk and licked the white mustache from his upper lip. He gave the glass to Sadie, took two steps--then went rigid.

  Regan stood, fear making his heart thump so wildly he could hear it.

  Shaking his head, Conar put a trembling hand to his brow.

  Sadie cackled. "Feeling all righ
t, Your Nubs?"

  Conar turned, vicious fury on his face. He pointed a finger at Regan. "Get your damned bags packed and quit your sullenness. You're going to Chrystallus tomorrow morn on the tide." He swung his hot glare to Sadie. "I've told you before that if you don't stop insulting me, I'll have you locked out of this keep."

  "Do it," Sadie cooed. "See if I care."

  With a growl of rage, Conar spun on his heel and stomped from the room, leaving behind him a cackling woman and a terrified boy.

  Regan looked at her with horror.

  "Ain't no poison I gave His Nubs, boy." Sadie laughed, drying tears of enjoyment from her rheumy eyes. "Just an instant reminder of what a bastard he truly is! Gets his dander up, it does!"

  "Tenerse," Regan whispered. He understood the properties of many potions. Tenerse was one of the most potent. "You gave him tenerse?"

  "Don't know what it's called, but it sure does set him off!" She hooted with laughter and went to her stove, mumbling happily.

  Shocked, Regan sat at the table and pushed away the bowl of horrible goop. "He'll go looking for the Queen. Tenerse mixed with milk makes men do sinful things to women."

  Sadie sniffed. "Nothing new where he is concerned. Every women he's ever touched has known the sinfulness of him."

  Regan stared at the doorway into the keep proper. His was not the only hatred for Conar inside Boreas. He looked around at the old cook as she hobbled to the table. "Why don't you like him?"

  She eased her bones into the chair and ladled a large spoon of sugar into her oatmeal. "I have my reasons. Reasons that don't concern you, boy. Let's just say he deserves it and let it go at that."

  "But you'd never kill him?"

  Sadie snorted. "Killing that son-of-a-bitch would be too quick and too easy for him. I like seeing him suffer." She dropped in another spoonful of sugar. "I like seeing what his natural anger does to the people around here!"