“My Lord King!” The cry came from behind him. Ireic turned just in time to see a man jump the partition separating the seats from the floor.
The assailant wielded a sharp blade. Ireic dodged the weapon, but the man struck, shoulder first, into Ireic’s middle. They fell to the floor. Ireic took most of the brunt of the fall since the man landed on him, but he managed to throw the assailant aside.
Ireic gained his feet and pulled out his eating knife. Still gasping to regain his wind, he turned to face the attacker, but guards already surrounded the two of them.
“Spread your hands,” a palace guard ordered. “The fight is over.” Before would-be-assassin had a chance to obey, one of the guards knocked him to the ground. Within moments he was trussed up and led away.
Ireic sheathed his knife and slumped into the nearest seat as the guards emptied the room. Head in hands, he hunched over his knees and contemplated the floor between his feet.
What am I going to do now? The thought sat there like a bad meal in his stomach.
“Sire?”
Ireic looked up and into the very concerned face of his personal assistant. Dorn had been his whipping boy growing up because the queen mother believed royal children should never be physically punished. When Ireic entered the army, Dorn became the prince’s armor bearer. Since Ireic became king, he was his secretary.
“Sire, are you alright?” Dorn’s long face was even more lengthy than usual. “Should I fetch the healer?”
“No, Dorn.” Ireic looked back down at the floor. “I dissolved the council. Will you send word to my brother for me?”
“Of course.” After a quick shuffling of papers, Dorn asked, “What do you wish the message to say?”
Ireic closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead. “Just tell him that the council has been dissolved. I do not want to see him until after Eve has safely delivered the child and can travel.”
“I will send it right away, sire.”
“Contact Lord Siver and have him in my study in four hours along with…” He named three other lords and one of the military officers that he knew before taking the throne. Then, while Dorn still scribbled on his paper, Ireic rose.
“Where are you going to be, sire?”
Ireic shot his secretary a longsuffering look. The man swallowed carefully.
“Just in case I need to contact you,” Dorn explained.
Ireic nodded and sighed. “I am going to check on my wife. If anything needs my attention, you will find me in her apartments.” Turning, Ireic circled the room and exited the hall in the opposite direction he entered it.
~~~~~~
Lirth heard the door to the hall open and close.
“Larissa?”
Ireic’s deep voice answered. “I sent her away.”
Lirth raised her head to greet her husband. “What is wrong?”
She set aside her stitching. The bundle missed the table. The thimble bounced across the carpet and rolled across the wood floor near the wall. She ignored it.
“Why do you think something is wrong?” Ireic asked. He crossed the room with heavy steps and fell into the far armchair with a soft thump. Settling deeper into the seat with a sigh of fabric and upholstery, he groaned.
Thinking as she stood, Lirth crossed to him, avoiding the small table between. She had bumped into that thing enough times to never again forget it was there.
“It does not matter,” she replied, catching one of his hands and kneeling at his feet. The muscles of his forearm were knotted beneath her touch. His long fingers immediately closed on hers.
“Just tell me. I might be able to help.”
He sighed and leaned back farther in the chair, seeking comfort. “I abolished the council.” Lirth rubbed her thumb, the only part of her hand free of his clasp, across the back of his fingers. Silence reigned briefly.
Tilting her head so she addressed her hands, she nodded.
“Why do you nod?” Ireic was so full of tension it washed over her in waves.
“Your brother warned me you might.”
Ireic shifted again, but did not speak.
“He did not seem to be clear on when it was going to happen, but he hinted that you might eventually do something drastic. What is the next step?”
“I do not know, and it scares me.” The exhaustion in his voice tugged at her conscience. “I have called a meeting of the few men I trust in four hours. I wish Trahern was here. He would know what to do.”
“Then you were not planning to do this?” Gradually, Lirth eased her hands free. As she rose, she traced her fingers up his arm and shoulder until she found his head. Her fingers gently massaged his temples.
“No.” He relaxed slightly. “I was planning on just being firmer, making sure they understood that I would not be pushed around anymore. The plan changed when they committed treason.” Slowly, he rotated his head to ease the tension in his neck. She dropped her hands to his shoulders. “Even then, I didn’t see dissolution as the answer until…” His voice trailed off and he stopped moving altogether. She waited but soon realized he had lapsed into his own thoughts, leaving her alone.
“Until when?” She prompted.
Ireic started slightly. “They started discussing exiling you without my approval.” He turned in his chair and captured her hands. “The fact we are married carried no weight in the council’s deliberations. They would have turned you out based on the malicious tale of a councilor. I didn’t realize the extent they were willing to go to enforce their agenda.”
“Do they know the truth?” Lirth asked.
“Enough to cause trouble. I informed them of the crucial points.” Rising, he turned to face her. “I came to ask you to come to the meeting with me. I want you to meet these men and them to meet you.”
Her mind raced. “You mean you are going to present these men to me?”
Ireic fell silent. It took her a moment to realize he had nodded. “I want to make it all clear. I have married a wise and beautiful woman endowed with all the qualities of a good queen. Please come.”
Lirth’s stomach tightened at the thought of facing such powerful strangers. If Ireic trusted and respected them, they would be perceptive and wise men. She doubted she would match up to their standards for a queen.
“If you want me there, I will come.”
“I do.” He engulfed her in a warm hug. She had just begun relaxing into his closeness when he muttered something about having a great deal to do. Easing her from him, he kissed her cheek and was gone as abruptly as he had come.
Lirth remained where she was. Her emotions were too coiled to allow her to sit once again, but she didn’t know the room well enough to pace. She resigned herself to clasping her hands and praying.
“My queen?” Larissa’s voice asked hesitantly. “His majesty said you needed me.”
“Yes.” Lirth dropped her hands to the rough fabric of her skirt. She needed to dress.
__________
Chapter Eight
“Larissa, please fetch Isack,” Lirth instructed as soon as the girl settled the light shawl over Lirth’s shoulders.
“Yes, your majesty.” The girl exited the sitting room in a rustle of petticoats. Lirth heard the door to the hall open and a muffled conversation. She smoothed her skirt nervously as she rose and then adjusted the soft shawl so it lay without a wrinkle across her shoulders. Isack was announced by a heavy footfall just inside the door. “Your majesty?”
“Larissa informs me an hour remains before the king’s meeting.” Lirth stilled her hands by folding them across her middle. “Do you know where the king might be?”
“In his book room, your majesty.” The man replied without hesitation.
“Are you certain, Isack?”
“Yes, my queen.” His voice lightened with amusement. “As the chief of his bodyguard, I make it my duty to know his every movement.”
“That is good,” Lirth smiled in the man’s direction, grateful he hadn’t taken offense at her
questions. “I wish you to escort me there. I need to speak with him.”
“If that is what you wish, your majesty. If you would follow–” He hesitated. “Majesty, how would you like me to guide you?”
Lirth smiled up at where she guessed Isack’s face would be. “If you would lend me your arm, I will gladly follow.” She offered her right hand in the direction of the man’s voice. His hand guided it to his forearm.
“Is there anything else I can do?” he asked. Based on his voice, she would guess he was about the same height as Ireic.
“Yes, Isack.” She carefully gathered her skirts in her left hand. “Warn me if we come to any steps.”
“Yes, your majesty,” he agreed with a smile in his voice. “This way.”
The distance to Ireic’s book room turned out to be briefer than Lirth expected. Isack announced her, “Her Majesty, the Queen.”
“Lirth.” Ireic’s voice reflected his surprise.
Lirth couldn’t detect whether or not he was pleased to see her. As the door closed behind Isack, warm fingers closed around hers and guided her into the room.
“You are early.”
“I was hoping to speak with you before the meeting. I wondered what is expected of me.” As she spoke, realization dawned on Lirth. Her presence in his sanctuary might not be appreciated. “I am sorry, if I am interrupting anything–”
“No.” Ireic tucked her hand under his arm. “I wished to speak with you, too. Do you want a tour of the room first?”
Suddenly feeling shy, Lirth nodded. As he patiently led her from one piece of furniture to the next, Lirth tried to memorize their placement. A few times she requested that he let her move from table to chair to wall and back again.
Finally they came around to his desk. As she ran her fingers across the smooth polished surface, she caught the edge of an object. While straightening it back into place, she realized it was an open book. “What are you reading?”
“A gift from the Lisbrith,” He answered. “He hopes to convert me into a follower of the Kurios. I can’t blame the Lisbrith for trying, it is his mission, but I am not sure it will offer what I need right now.”
“Don’t be so certain.” Lirth caressed the vellum pages, wishing she could read the words for herself. “The words I could remember from my tutoring with my brothers comforted me a great deal during my imprisonment.” Careful not to lose his place, Lirth picked it up and examined it more closely. The leather casement was smooth and supple; the parchment was stiff with newness. A well sewn binding was just barely detectable beneath the leather.
“I thought the Sardmarans worshiped a goddess.”
She nodded. “Yaren. I count it a blessing daily that my father sent us a tutor from Braulyn. In addition to giving my brothers a superior education, he also taught us about the Kurios and the teachings of the manuscripts.”
“If you think it will help, I will make a point to read it.” Ireic then fell silent.
Lirth replaced the book on the desk. Had she said too much?
Suddenly Ireic spoke again. “I already started reading it. I was curious if I might learn something helpful for tonight.”
“Have you?” She looked over and up in the direction she guessed his face to be. In moments like these, she desperately wished she could see. It was so hard to read him without touching him and sensing the tensing or relaxing of his muscles.
Has he encountered you, Kurios? The thought passed swiftly as she fingered the book’s edge. I pray he does. You could ease the overwhelming burdens he carries so faithfully.
Ireic sighed deeply as he took the book from her hands. She could hear the rustling of the pages as he opened it again. “Not yet, but I will not give up without giving it a fair chance.”
“If you are depending on it for this meeting, I certainly hope you have a reserve plan.” She restlessly ran her fingers along the desktop, tracing the grain and carved ridges. “You have less than an hour.”
“That is why I wanted to talk to you.” He set down the book with a thump and took her hands. “Come and sit down.” He guided her to a seat, sat next to her, and reclaimed her hands.
“I have been considering the best next move, and I want you to be crowned as soon as possible. According to my assistant, Dorn, the preparations will be immense. The bare minimum should be achievable in two weeks if the invitations go out by the end of tomorrow. This will place a horrendous burden on you. I wanted to obtain your opinion before proposing the plan to anyone else. Reorganizing the government will consume all of my time, so you will need to handle all the decisions about the coronation without me. Dorn can handle most of the work, but I need to you make the decisions.”
“Why must it happen immediately?” Her head spinning, Lirth struggled to keep her reaction from showing in her face.
“The sooner we declare you queen, the better. The former councilors will try to convince the other nobles to support their view of the situation. The nation needs to see that I have chosen and accepted you as my queen.”
His fingers massaged her hands, the pressure grew almost painful in his eagerness. Or was it desperation? Despite the panic constricting her chest, Lirth felt compelled to agree. Ireic needed her. She wished to be useful. The unfamiliar was better than sitting alone and wasting time.
“I will.”
His hands stilled. “Thank you.”
“It has to happen sometime.”
“It does.” He sighed heavily. “The tasks ahead seem to grow in number the longer I think about them. I still can see no end. So much depends on tonight. I know I can’t run the government alone. I wish…” He fell silent again. She suspected it was a habit. One he needed to break. She depended on his voice.
“What do you wish?
“What?”
“If you could do anything you wanted, what would you do?”
He leaned back. “When I was a child, I spent long summer months with my grandfather in the western wilds on the peninsula. He owned a vast estate complete with castle and acres of deep forest. I inherited all of it when he died. If I could choose my life, I would go there. I would hunt, fish, ramble, and oversee my small kingdom of peasants, fields, and trees.” He lifted her hands to his mouth, brushing his lips across her knuckles. “We could raise hordes of children, refuse to wear court finery, and ignore the world.”
“I do believe you envy your brother.”
“In a way I do. He has the life I want. What makes it worse is that he knows it. No matter how I try, I can’t seem to erase guilt from our relationship.”
“Guilt?” Lirth tilted her head. She didn’t remember any traces of tension between the brothers.
“Neither of us wanted the throne. He feels guilty for forcing it upon me. I struggle with ripping him away from home and family each time I ask him for help.”
“Helping and supporting each other is what brothers do.” Lirth ignored the memories of her own brothers that flooded forward. Now was not the time to mull over lost years. “Does he ever complain?”
“Never. That is the whole problem. He sees it as payment for making me take the throne.”
“But he didn’t make you. You chose to.”
“Anavrea needed me. She still needs me.”
Why didn’t you send him a real helpmate, Kurios? Lirth prayed. He needs someone to be a fellow worker, someone to bear part of the burdens of state. Not another person needing support.
As though catching her thoughts, he kissed her hand again. “At least now I have you.”
“What little I can do, I will,” she promised.
“You have helped immensely already.”
She opened her mouth to protest, but a sharp rap on the door cut off the words.
Ireic dropped her fingers to retreat to a socially acceptable distance. Lirth straightened her back, composed her face and arranged her hands.
“Come,” Ireic called from the far side of the room.
“Ireic, is it true?” An excited male voice burst f
orth as the door sprang open. The breeze of its passing brushed Lirth’s face. She instinctively turned toward the source. The door closed again with a soft thud. “You disbanded the council this morning?”
“Han, I would like to introduce you to my wife.” Ireic stepped forward and reclaimed her hand, drawing her to her feet.
“Your Majesty.”
Lirth elegantly inclined her head to acknowledge the bow she assumed he offered. Ireic squeezed her fingers to encourage her.
“I had not heard that you were wed.” Han sounded half apologetic and half wondering. “My congratulations.”
“The council kept the plans secret to prevent embarrassment should the treaty fall through.”
Han exhaled sharply. “Sardmara?”
“Yes.”
“Why Sardmara? Surely Rhynan is preferable to that corrupt–”
“Han!” Ireic’s sharp retort brought the tirade to an abrupt end. “There are strategic reasons for the alliance, though they seem small at the moment. With the recent breakdown in trade relations with Braulyn, the peace between us grows strained. An alliance with Sardmara seemed the wisest course.”
“May I remind you, sire?”
“There is no need, Han. I remember very well your past and the role the Sardmarans played.”
Ireic’s sigh pulled at Lirth’s heart. She lifted her hand to touch his arm in support, but then thought it wiser to not.
He continued explaining. “Sardmara is a powerful ally perfectly situated to ensure that Braulyn’s fiery, young king will satiate his war lust far from our borders.”
Ireic pulled Lirth gently to her feet, separating her hands so that he clasped one in each of his, fingers intertwined. Guiding her closer, he lifted their joined hands to his face. A warm flutter of breath against skin was the only warning Lirth received before Ireic’s mouth brushed the sensitive skin of her inner wrist. Lirth’s middle warmed pleasantly in response.
“I have been blessed that this duty is much more pleasant than I expected.”
Heat flooded her face. Lirth tried to temper the thrill of hope that filled her chest. She pleased him at least a little. But they had only just begun.
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