Daughter of the Disgraced King

by Meredith Mansfield

  “Part of your job would be to train Prince Savyon here to replace both you and King Ewart, eventually. That is, after he’s had a year or two of training, here.”

  Papa nodded acceptance of that. “I’ve already started teaching him a little. It would be easier to be able to do it openly, rather than in secret.”

  Sav let out his breath. Had he ever really doubted that he’d still be the heir, Ailsa wondered. Apparently so.

  “So,” Papa said, “how do we plan to hem Ewart in? He won’t react well at all to force.”

  The emperor frowned. “There’ll have to be some force, if only to keep the barons in check. We can’t have a repeat of what happened eighteen years ago. Arrigo is already in place for that. I’ll send him more forces before we put any plan into action. For the rest . . . ?”

  Papa cocked his head to the side. “Strategically, the first move would be to separate King Ewart from his power base—those barons who remain loyal to him and would oppose you. Force will only take us so far, there. We also need a carrot to pair with that stick. We need to offer them something King Ewart can’t. But I don’t know what that would be.”

  “Hmm.” The emperor turned slightly to look at Ailsa. “I think that’s where you could help us, Princess Ailsa. That is, if you’re willing.”

  Ailsa darted a look at Sav. He couldn’t be planning to make Sav’s proposal an imperial request, could he? “Willing to do what?”

  “To go back to Far Terra as a green mage.” The emperor’s eyes flicked to Papa. “From what Sandor has told me of your life there, I’ll understand if you choose not to. Even I cannot compel a mage. In this, I wouldn’t force you, even if I had the right.”

  Ailsa relaxed. Oh, that. “I always meant to go back to Far Terra when my training is complete. Far Terra needs a green mage. Especially one who cares enough about Far Terra not to give up when things get difficult.” She turned slightly, so that she faced the emperor more directly, pleading. She’d been thinking a lot about this lately. She had a foot in both Far Terra and Terranion, now, and she wanted to keep it that way. “At least . . . at least part of the year. I thought I might come back here during the summers. You can’t really do much outdoor work in the summer in Far Terra, anyway.”

  The emperor smiled. “That sounds like a very good plan to me. Any time you spend in Far Terra will be a great help.”

  It wasn’t really quite what she’d been planning—what Jathan had suggested on that mountain ridge looking over the desert. Ailsa would rather attempt this work as a team, with Jathan beside her. “But . . . do I have to do it alone?”

  “Well, I hope that as we get things sorted out in Far Terra, more mages will be willing to go there. Perhaps on a part time basis, as you suggest. It may be necessary for you to lead the way, however.”

  Ailsa swallowed and nodded. “It’ll be a year or two before my training is complete, though.”

  The emperor smiled. “If we can formulate a satisfactory plan, I think I could arrange for you to return home sooner—before next summer at the latest—just for a visit. It need only be long enough to put on a display of your powers. A demonstration that will give the barons something to think about.”

  Ailsa swallowed hard. The emperor was asking her to make herself conspicuous. Just the sort of thing she’d been avoiding all her life. And not here, in Terranion, where Jathan had half convinced her it was safe to do so, but right under King Ewart’s nose. Could she do it? More, could she do it without Jathan to back her up? Probably. If she had to. But she’d really rather not.

  The emperor broke the silence of her long pause. “Your father and possibly Prince Savyon would travel with you, of course, along with enough guards to ensure your safety. I don’t intend to trust King Ewart with your wellbeing.” He looked directly at her when he spoke that last sentence.

  Ailsa caught the inference at once. For some reason, the emperor didn’t want to say so openly, but he believed King Ewart was responsible for the man on the coach. The same man who’d accosted her at the Solstice Ball. She nodded her understanding of the subtext and drew a deep breath. He’d misunderstood her hesitation, though. More important than her bodyguard right now was the knowledge that at least Papa would be beside her to shore up her confidence. Sav . . . well, maybe Sav could serve to make her angry enough not to care. “I think I can do that.”

  The emperor sat back in his big chair. “There is something else.” He looked between Ailsa and Sav, who were studiously not looking at each other. “Can you two work together?”

  “Of course they can work together. They’ve been friends for years,” Papa said.

  The emperor raised an eyebrow. “They haven’t seemed very friendly the last few days.”

  Ailsa bit her lip and looked across at Sav. “We . . . had a disagreement. But we both care very much about Far Terra, in our own ways.”

  The emperor clapped his hands on his knees. “Good! Then let’s get down to details. The first question would seem to be when.”

  Papa chewed his lip. “If the point is to impress as many of the barons as possible in a short time, then the Winter Ball would seem to be ideal. Nearly all of them will be there.”

  The emperor sighed. “I’d hoped we’d have you here longer, old friend, but you’re probably right. That would also coincide with a scheduled break in Ailsa’s training.” He nodded. “Yes. I think we should plan for that. What else?”

  ~

  When the meeting ended, Savyon waited outside the door to the emperor’s office while Ailsa said her goodbyes to her father and promised to spend more time with him and her mother. Leaving, she narrowed her eyes at Savyon and tried to sweep past him.

  He made a grab for her arm. “Ailsa, you were right. We could—”

  Ailsa pulled her arm from his grasp and turned to face him. “No.” She shook her head firmly, mouth set. “We should try to just be friends, the way we used to be.”

  Savyon choked as if he’d been kicked. “Ailsa—”

  Ailsa held up her hand to stop him. “Sav, please. I’m trying, if only because Far Terra needs both of us. It would really help if you’d just not argue with me anymore.” She paused. “Probably the best way to achieve that is just not to talk to me at all for a while longer.” She turned away from him and walked briskly up one of the many paths through the garden. Not the way she’d arrived.

  Savyon swallowed and took a step to follow her. He couldn’t just let it end that way. He needed Ailsa.

  “I wouldn’t do that, if I were you.”

  Savyon whirled to come face to face with Princess Mayra, standing at the end of another one of those garden paths.

  “Of course, it’s none of my business,” Princess Mayra went on, looking after Ailsa’s retreating form, “but it doesn’t look like what you’ve been doing so far is working. Mother always says that if something doesn’t work, you should try something else, not keep doing the same thing over and over.”

  Savyon stared down at his empty hands. “I don’t know what else to try.”

  Princess Mayra cocked her head and studied him for a moment. “Well, maybe I can help. Tomorrow’s Starday.”

  “So?”

  “So, Ailsa, Jathan, and I usually go riding on Starday.”

  Savyon ground his teeth. Jathan again!

  Princess Mayra’s smile was slightly secretive. “Now, I could ask you to come along, as my guest.”

  “How would that help? She doesn’t want to talk to me.”

  “Well, precisely. See, if you were my guest and paid attention to me, well . . . you might just make Ailsa jealous.”

  Savyon blinked as that idea sank in. “Do you think that would work?”

  Princess Mayra shrugged. “I don’t know. It couldn’t be any worse than what you’ve been doing, could it?”

  ~

  Ailsa took the path that led around the palace to the stables. She’d go check on Pearl—and maybe Diamond. They’d never let her down and Pearl had always made her feel b
etter at home when things got unpleasant. So, usually, had Sav—back then. She shook her head to clear it of those thoughts.

  Pearl whinnied as soon as Ailsa started down the long aisle of the stable towards her. Diamond, in the box stall next to her, tossed his head in greeting. Ailsa smiled. She paused to scratch Pearl’s ears and got a nose push in her back from Diamond. That made her laugh. She ended up with one hand raised to each horse, their heads leaning out over the stall doors, noses nearly touching. Pearl extended her nose a little farther to lip at Ailsa’s pocket.

  “Sorry, girl. I don’t have any carrots today.”

  “We can fix that,” Jathan said.

  Ailsa turned slightly to see him coming up the aisle. She suppressed a frown. She wasn’t sure she wanted to talk to anyone right now.

  He stopped to open a bin and came out with a handful of carrots. “The grooms keep some handy for emergencies such as this.”

  Ailsa huffed a laugh in spite of herself. “This isn’t exactly an emergency.”

  Jathan pointed to Pearl with one of the carrots. “Explain that to her.”

  That did make her laugh. Diamond pushed her with his nose again. “Sorry, boy. I’m not dressed for riding today.”

  “But you’ll be riding with us tomorrow, right?” Jathan asked.

  Ailsa bit her lip. Diamond nodded his head as if to answer for her. Well, the exercise of riding usually made her feel better, too. “Sure. But . . . I can’t ride both of them. Unless Mayra wants to ride Diamond.”

  Jathan cocked his head to one side. “Doubt it. She’s still a little shy of him. But . . . I think there’s a way you can ride them both. Not at the same time, but sequentially.”

  “What?”

  He winked at her. “Just come earlier. You and I can take a short ride, to give Diamond some exercise. Something a little more . . . fast-paced than what Mayra usually likes. I know a couple of good places for a flat-out run, besides the track. Then we can all three go out for a quieter ride and you can take Pearl. Problem solved.”

  Ailsa grinned. She took a pair of carrots from the bunch Jathan held and offered one to each horse. “I’m going to miss both of them when I have to leave.”

  Jathan went still beside her. “Where are you going?”

  “I have to go home to Far Terra at midwinter. Just for the school break. I’ll be back.”

  “Why?”

  Ailsa bit her lip. Jathan hadn’t been in the meeting. Then again, the emperor hadn’t said anything about keeping it secret. The only one who needed to be surprised by it was King Ewart, and Jathan certainly wasn’t going to tell him anything. So she told him all about her meeting with the emperor and what had been decided.

  Jathan listened and then nodded. “Good. I’ll come with you.”

  “Jathan, do you think your father . . . your stepfather will agree to that?”

  Jathan held his arms out from his side in a gesture of freedom from constraints. “I can do what I want, Ailsa. Artair’s the heir, the next emperor. Rishiart is the diplomat. Arrigo is the soldier. Even if I were really a son of the emperor, I’d be the spare. I think when they let me go to the Institute, Father was really hoping for the Academy. Then I could fit into another tidy niche—the scholar and archivist. But I fooled them. I turned out to be one of the most powerful green mages in a generation. I’ve busted out of their pigeonholes and I can be anything I choose.” He winked at her again. “Besides, I don’t think Father would actually object to this. We are pretty impressive when we work together. That’s the point, after all, isn’t it?”

  Ailsa smiled. It’d be so much easier with Jathan’s company and cheerful support when she went to tweak King Ewart’s over-large nose. He was comfortable making a spectacle of himself. Maybe he could teach her the trick of it. “Yes, I guess it is.”

  ~

  Walking back across the garden to the palace gate, Ailsa ran into Mayra, who seemed to be waiting for her. “Hello, Mayra.”

  Mayra turned to walk beside her. “Hi. Um . . . I think I should let you know, Ailsa. I’ve asked Prince Savyon to join us on our ride, tomorrow.”

  Ailsa stopped, stunned. “Oh. Oh, I wish you hadn’t. Maybe . . . maybe I’ll stay home. Explain to Jathan for me.”

  Mayra gripped her arm. “Don’t do that. Listen, I could tell, even if he couldn’t, that you’ve got no more interest in Prince Savyon.”

  “Yes, but short of hitting him on the head with a plank—or a hammer—I don’t know how to get that through to Sav.”

  Mayra smiled. “So, if you’re sure you don’t want to be more than friends with him, would you have any objection if I . . . tried to break his fall?”

  That surprised a laugh out of Ailsa. “Gods, no! Take him with my blessing.” She paused. Mayra had just been through her testing and barely begun her training. “But . . . well, I think I should tell you . . . why I was . . . am so angry with him. How I know I’ll never marry Sav. He asked me to give up my magic in order to marry him.”

  “Well, that was stupid of him,” Mayra said.

  Ailsa nodded. “You’re a healer. I guess that’s sometimes less . . . threatening. But . . . doesn’t it bother you?”

  Mayra shrugged. “Not nearly as much as you. So far, I haven’t tested very high as a healer. Besides . . . healer training isn’t exactly what I pictured. A lot of it is messy and unpleasant and has nothing to do with magic at all.”

  Ailsa digested that for a moment. “Why Sav?”

  “Well, I don’t know him well enough to answer that, yet. But, after four rowdy brothers, tall and serious looks pretty good. You know, it’s only an afternoon ride. Worth a try. I’d far rather find someone acceptable for myself than wait for Mother and Father to choose for me, anyway. Prince Savyon might not be the one, but the field’s not that wide. Anyway, I won’t know if I don’t try, will I?”

  Ailsa took this in. “No, I guess you won’t.”

  Chapter 24: Harvest Ball

  Ailsa had dressed for the Harvest Ball with some trepidation. The last few Starday rides had been awkward with Sav along. She’d caught him staring at her several times despite Mayra’s best efforts to capture and hold his attention. It was bound to be difficult again tonight. She wore the same dress she’d first worn to the Student Ball months ago. In deference to the cooler evenings, she’d replaced the lace bolero with a velvet capelet of such frothy pale green that it was almost white.

  This time, it wasn’t either Sav or Jathan waiting to greet her and lead her into the ball. Papa stood by the gate. Ailsa released her breath with a smile and stepped out of the carriage. She hugged him and kissed his cheek. “Papa!”

  He hugged her back and then held her back at arm’s length. “We haven’t seen enough of you. I suppose your studies keep you busy.”

  Ailsa gave a guilty shrug. It wasn’t only her studies that kept her away. Except for riding excursions, during which she at least had the buffer of Jathan’s and Mayra’s company, she’d avoided the palace for fear of running into Sav. “It does take a lot of my time. I’ll ask Grandmama. We should have you and Mama come over for the evening more often. Just family.”

  Papa started to lead her towards the palace and the ball room. “That would be nice. Speaking of family, Perion is going to be tested at the Institute next week. He hopes to be a water mage, like his mother.”

  “Good for him.” Would Perion want to come back to Far Terra with her at some point? Or would the treatment of his mother—of their whole family really—make him want to stay as far away as possible? There was other work for a water mage, if that’s what he turned out to be. But it’d be nice to have familiar people to work with.

  Mayra came to greet Ailsa as soon as they reached the ballroom. Papa released her with a final pat on her arm.

  Mayra leaned closer and whispered, “Is Prince Savyon a good dancer?”

  Ailsa considered her answer. “Not as good as Jathan. He’s nearly always awkward at first—a little stiff. But if you can get him to relax, he
’s pretty good.”

  Mayra smiled. “I can do that. Have you ever danced with my older brothers?”

  One corner of Ailsa’s mouth quirked up in memory. “I had that misfortune once. Sav’s a better dancer than any but maybe Rishiart.”

  Mayra giggled. “They can be a pain. Especially in a pack.”

  Ailsa nodded. Then she caught sight of Sav walking toward them and stiffened. Mayra turned.

  Jathan stepped in front of Ailsa just before Sav reached them. “Dance?”

  Ailsa smiled. “I’d love to.”

  ~

  Savyon watched Ailsa spin away in his arms. Jathan’s. With very little effort, he really could learn to hate Prince Jathan. He turned his head when Princess Mayra touched his arm and looked up at him inquisitively. He could almost call that look a challenge. Their plan to make Ailsa jealous didn’t seem to be working very well. Still, it was the best plan he had for the moment.

  He bowed to the princess in front of him. “Would you care to dance?”

  “Why, yes. Thank you,” Princess Mayra answered with only a touch of sarcasm.

  Savyon took her hand and led her out onto the floor, wishing he had Ailsa to help him not look so stiff and awkward. The thought only made him feel more self-conscious. When he mistepped, Princess Mayra followed smoothly, the way Ailsa usually did, and kept him from looking clumsy. Savyon smiled down at her and Princess Mayra smiled back.

  He relaxed a little and let his eyes drift upward and scan the other dancers, picking out Ailsa and Prince Jathan nearby. Savyon glowered as he watched them whirl so effortlessly. Dancing was never that easy for him.

  Sharp pain in his instep made him look down.

  “You’re dancing with me,” Princess Mayra said, a strange, unreadable expression on her face. “Pay attention.”

  “Sorry.” Savyon glanced up once more to track Ailsa’s progress around the floor and steer Mayra a little closer. “I don’t think your plan is working.”

  “Well, of course not. If you keep staring after her like a moonstruck calf, how do you expect to make her jealous? You have to actually look like you want to be with me for that to work.”