Chapter Twenty-Seven
Thibault paced in front of the monastery, waiting for Raulin. The whole situation with Mariana and Orlando was not having the effect Thibault had hoped. He’d expected the King to realize he couldn’t keep his problem secret much longer. He would have to abdicate in favor of one of his children.
Thib hadn’t believed that Jonathan would truly think Mariana’s death would be best for the kingdom.
Brother Raulin stepped out onto the rainy street. “You know, I’m not supposed to leave the grounds after dark.” The monk smirked as he said it. “What is so important you would risk the Father Superior finding out what my relationship to the King is?”
Thibault replied, “The Queen wasn’t happy to find out Orlando is not an ordinary commoner.”
“Jonathan ordered Orlando’s death, didn’t he?” He didn’t wait for Thibault to answer. “My brother has never been known for his subtlety.”
“It’s worse. He wants Mariana dead, too.”
Raulin gasped. “This is getting more complicated. The Brotherhood will have to get Orlando and Mariana to safety until we can make Jonathan see reason.”
“He won’t.”
“I beg your pardon?”
Thibault took a deep breath. “I’ve been thinking about this a long time. He doesn’t want to leave the throne, not even when it meant giving the crown to Ramone. He wants to stay King as long as he can. I think that’s the only thing that matters to him.”
“That’s why he never told anyone what Mariana is.” Raulin nodded. “Of course. By definition, a Chaos Sensitive would be the strongest Sensitive. If only he’d been able to think beyond his own desire for power, he could have had his daughter trained appropriately, and she could be our Queen now.”
He took a deep breath and tucked his hands into his sleeves. “Well, it doesn’t do us any good to think about what ifs. We need to get to Mariana and see she is somewhere safe. I fear this isn’t going to end well.”
“I have to get back to the palace, but I will contact the Brotherhood. They will meet you in the village.”
“Good man. Watch your back. Jonathan will not be happy to find out you are aligned with us.”
“I fear he won’t be happy about much in the coming days.”
****
“You don’t have to pack all that stuff,” Orlando said. He stood in the doorway of the bedroom, keeping one eye on the men outside the house. They were milling around the two wagons that would take them and the treasure to the mines. “We will come back here.”
“Eventually,” Mariana replied, folding another dress and putting it carefully in the trunk. “You can’t tell me how long we will have to be in the mines.”
“I don’t know. A lot of things have changed, and I need to figure out our next move.”
“Our next move?” She straightened and faced him. “I told you what my next move should be. I should go to the palace and confront my father and mother.”
“And then what? Are you ready to challenge your father for the throne?”
“I don’t want the throne,” she said. Then she sat on the bed. They had argued this last night, and she was tired of talking about it. “I just want them to tell me the truth. Then I’ll relinquish any claim to the throne.” She shrugged. “That sounds simple enough to me.”
Orlando sighed. “Nothing is ever that simple. Even if your father were to agree to let you do that, the people won’t. There is a lot of dissatisfaction with his rule. If your Abilities became known—”
She cut him off. “I don’t even know what my Abilities are. Why would the people want someone like me to take the throne?”
“It’s the Law, Mariana. It’s what Valborough was built on. The strongest Sensitive has always been the King or Queen.”
With a sigh, she stood and slammed the trunk closed. “I can’t go around and around again about this. We’ll do things your way, but as soon as I figure out what I am and what it means, I’m going to the palace.”
“Then I will go with you.”
“Orlando.” Adindira’s frightened voice came through the bedroom door. “You need to get out here.”
He threw the door open to see Honoria and four men standing in the middle of his living room.
“Orlando,” his stepmother said, “we think you and Mariana are in danger.”
“We’re leaving, anyway,” he said, looking at the men. His heart thumped hard against his chest when he recognized the Abilities Trainer among the men with her. “The King won’t be able to find us.”
“Kylan? George Evan?” Mariana came out of the bedroom to stand beside him. “What are you two doing here?”
“Progenna, I think you may have questions for me.” The old man, who had been half hidden in a deep hood, stepped forward. “I also think I owe you a grave apology.”
“You lied to me.”
“While that isn’t completely accurate, I was party to the deceit your parents choose to perpetuate. My only explanation is that I acted under the orders of the King. It is not an excuse, mind you. I could have told you the truth at any time.”
“Why didn’t you?” Adindira asked, stepping into the group of people. Orlando marveled at how protective she had become of Mariana. It was the way she’d been with him when they were children.
“We have bigger issues at the moment,” Honoria said. “Kylan will answer any of your questions after we get you to safety.”
“I told you,” Orlando said, “I’m dealing with it. We’re headed for…some place safe.”
“I don’t think your rebel hideout will be enough,” Honoria said. “The King has ordered your deaths.”
“What?” Mariana said. She took Orlando’s hand tightly in her own. “Why?”
“I think you can figure out why,” Kylan said. “Orlando is a Blood Sensitive, so he knows what you are. That is dangerous to your father, but if the two of you were to bond, that would be disastrous.”
“To the King,” Orlando said. “I don’t think Mariana finally knowing the truth about herself is so bad for her.”
Mariana sat down. Orlando wondered how all this was affecting her. She had to be overwhelmed, but she seemed to be handling it better than he would have predicted.
She shook her head. “None of this makes any sense to me.”
“I don’t think there’s time to explain it now.” A man in the orange robes of some kind of religious order stepped forward. “We need to get the two of you to safety until we can find Valentine.”
“Mariana?”
She jumped to her feet and stared at the door. “Darius?”
Everyone whirled toward the door where Rianaer stood. A man about Mariana’s age, who looked like he’d been sleeping in the woods for the last two weeks, had one arm around the boy’s stomach and held a knife to his throat.
Dira screamed and lunged toward her son, but the man said, “I don’t want to hurt him, but I will.”
Elnys grabbed his wife around the waist and pulled her away. “Stay back.”
“Why are you here? What do you want?” Mariana took a step toward the intruder.
“I didn’t expect all these people,” he said. “This wasn’t how it was supposed to go.”
Orlando stepped forward. “Let Rian go. Whatever you want, I’m sure we can talk about it.”
“No.” The man’s voice trembled and his gaze darted around the room.
Kylan said, “Darius, let the boy go.”
“No tricks, old man. I just wanted to talk to Mariana, and he wouldn’t let me in. I didn’t want it to be like this.”
“I’m here,” Mariana said. “Talk to me. You don’t need Rian for that.”
Darius shook his head slowly as though he was trying to figure something out. “It’s too late. I heard you talking. You married him, didn’t you?” He jerked his chin toward Orlando.
“I did, but why does it matter to you? You didn’t want me.”
Orlando studied this man, Darius, a little close
r. Was this the man his wife had wanted to marry?
“That was before.” His eyes pleaded with Mariana, and Orlando scowled. “You have to marry me. I can’t go back to my father if you don’t.”
“What are you talking about?”
He tightened his grip of Rianaer. Dira whimpered and struggled against her husband’s hold.
“I messed up. I lost all my money at the dice tables. My luck just ran out.”
“How is that my problem?” Mariana took another step closer. “Please let Rianaer go.”
“No. You have to listen to me. I didn’t know how much my father was relying on an alliance with the royal family. Our finances weren’t what I thought.” His voice took on a desperate, shrill quality. “If you don’t marry me, he’s going to cut me off. He won’t pay my debts.”
He shook his head. “I owe a lot of money to a lot of very bad people. You have to help me.”
His knife hand trembled, and the tip nicked Rian’s chin. The boy jumped, but Darius held him tighter as a small trickle of blood ran down his neck.
“Elnys,” Mariana said, her voice cool. “Get Dira out of here.”
“But…” Elnys started to protest, but Orlando stopped him.
“She shouldn’t be here. Mariana won’t let anything happen to Rian. I promise.”
Elnys nodded and led the weeping Adindira outside. Honoria and the man in the religious robes followed.
“Listen to me, Darius,” Mariana said. “I am sorry you’re in trouble, but I’m married to Orlando now.”
“Right. I know that. Married but not bonded. I heard some people talking in town. They say your marriage isn’t a real one.” His eyes grew wide and took on a wild, glazed look. “It’ll be easy. Come with me. I know you’re an Insensitive, but I can overlook that. If I take you home, Father will pay off my debts, and you can be in charge of the household. That’s what you were trained for, right? I know the King wanted you to marry that old deformed Valentine, but I’m better looking than he is, right? It wouldn’t be so disgusting being with me, right? Then you can have a nice life, I’ll have money, and things can go back to normal.”
Mariana furrowed her brow. “But you don’t love me.”
“That shouldn’t matter. You don’t love this pig farmer. I figure you’d rather have the nice house, and since you’re an Insensitive anyway, it won’t matter who else I sleep with.”
Orlando scowled at Darius. He wanted to throttle him for speaking to Mariana this way, but he couldn’t risk Rianaer’s life.
“Listen to me, Darius. I am not going with you. I am married to Orlando.” Her voice was stronger than Orlando had ever heard it. “And, what’s more, we have already bonded.”
George Evan spun around to look at them, but Orlando kept himself from reacting. He didn’t know what Mariana was playing at, but whatever she said, he would agree with.
“No.” Darius shook his head. “He’s a commoner.”
“I’m afraid you’re mistaken. He is the son of the Sahdeer of Geindara and a stronger Blood Sensitive than I am,” Kylan said. “The only noble I’ve ever tested who was able to touch me back.”
Darius’s eyes darted from one person to another, clearly unsure who to believe. “This is impossible. The King would never have allowed the Progenna to marry someone as strong as you say.”
“I am a Chaos Sensitive,” Mariana said, proudly. “Do you believe he can control anything I do?”
The Rieravo paled, and his hand holding the knife at Rian’s throat began to tremble. “You’re an Insensitive. The whole kingdom knows that.”
Now Mariana laughed, and Orlando stifled a grin of pride. She’d found her strength and wouldn’t let his nephew be hurt.
“You believed I didn’t know my Abilities? How would it be possible for a Chaos Sensitive not to know what he or she is? Do you have any idea how powerful I am? I blew the windows out of the carpentry shop because someone lied about my husband. Do you want to keep believing I am a weak little girl?”
There wasn’t a sound in the room as everyone waited to see what Darius would do. Orlando didn’t know if his wife had a plan if the other man called her bluff.
“You think I’m stupid,” Darius said. “You think I would believe this story you’ve made up to scare me? I don’t have anything left to lose. You will go with me or I will kill this boy.” He pressed the knife tighter to Rian’s neck.
“You won’t.” Mariana’s voice was calm, and she took a small step toward him. “I will never let you out of this house alive if you hurt him.”
Her words were quiet but the rattling of the windows and dishes in the cupboard said more. Darius glanced over his shoulder toward the kitchen but turned back to her before Orlando could reach him.
“Who’s doing that?” he cried, his voice wavering. “You’re trying to frighten me.”
“Is it working?” Mariana’s lips tilted up in a small smile. “You should be afraid. I could bring this house down on your head, and there is nothing you could do to stop me.”
Something hard dropped into his expression, and he began to pull the knife across Rian’s throat.
Suddenly, dishes and pans from the shelves in the kitchen flew across the house and hit Darius, knocking him down. He fell against the hearth, and his left arm and shoulder landed in the fire. Flames roared up, and he screamed.
George Evan and Kylan grabbed him, pulling him from the inferno.
“It’s done, Princess,” Kylan said. “He won’t hurt anyone again.”
“Is he dead?” she murmured right before she passed out in Orlando’s arms.
****
Mariana tried, once again, to start the fire in the hearth in Honoria’s sitting room. Kylan and Orlando watched as the embers glowed brightly but no flames danced on the wood Elnys and Rianaer had stacked for this experiment.
She had regained consciousness about half an hour after Darius was taken away. Honoria had insisted they all go to her house, as it was less likely the Guards would look for her there.
Servants had brought tea and cookies, and now, as the sun was starting to descend to the horizon, Kylan was trying to teach her to control her Abilities a bit.
“It’s no use.” Mariana dropped into a chair. Her breathing was ragged, and damp strands of hair stuck to her cheeks. “I can’t do it. I don’t even know what I’m supposed to be doing.”
Kylan nodded, holding his chin with his right hand while he rested his elbow on the other arm across his stomach. “I suspect she’s having trouble because there isn’t a Fire Sensitive in the room. Eventually, with the right training, she’ll be able to command the Elements by virtue of her own Abilities, but right now, she needs someone else’s power to enhance.”
“There wasn’t a Fire Sensitive at the restaurant,” Adindira said, handing Mariana a cup of cold water.
“No, but she wasn’t in control of that, either. She didn’t do it on purpose.”
“There isn’t time for her to get training,” Orlando said.
“She is right here.” Mariana stood up. “Will you please talk to me instead of around me?”
“I’m sorry.” Dira patted her shoulder. “I’m not used to being so close to Sensitives when they are…doing whatever they do.”
Mariana rolled her eyes. “It’s not like they’re some kind of mysterious wizards from fairy tales, you know. I’ve been around them my whole life, and it isn’t that special. I’ve never seen anyone do anything remarkable.”
“In the palace, you wouldn’t,” Kylan said. “The King lives in fear of people showing themselves more powerful than he is. He never even lets the Cognate Prince use his Abilities when those outside the royal family could assess just how strong Ramone is. In reality, your brother isn’t anywhere near as strong as Ursula will be in another year or so. She should be named Cognate Princess, but the King will never do that.”
Then the Abilities Tester inclined his head. “That is, of course, that was before now. Your discovery of your own Abilit
ies changes everything.”
Mariana took a deep breath. “I can’t do this. I don’t want to be Queen. I don’t know how.”
Orlando took her in his arms. “You’re the strongest Sensitive in the Kingdom. You have to challenge your father.”
Now her uncle Raulin, who sat at the kitchen table, a cup of coffee in his hand, spoke up. “That is your decision, Princess.” From the time she woke up, Brother Raulin had started calling her Princess, because she was no longer the King’s daughter by blood only, but also by Sensitivity, and “more worthy to the title than many who have carried it before now.”
Mariana said, “My decision?”
“Of course.” He shifted his chair, scraping the legs on the floor, to face her and all the people gathered around the fire. “You don’t have to challenge Jon. You could choose to live out the life you chose for yourself. You could live as a simple pig farmer’s wife, here in Talla.”
“Isn’t that a bit irresponsible?” George Evan asked. “She has a duty to the people of Valborough.”
“A duty to the same people who were so quick to believe she was the product of an illicit liaison?” Raulin asked. “The same people who accepted, without question, the creation of a made-up title designed to tell her every day she wasn’t royal?”
“That was Jonathan and Alexandria’s fault,” Honoria said. “The people of Valborough need not be punished for trusting the word of their King.”
“How would Mariana be punishing the people if she chooses to live the life she chose when she married Orlando?” Raulin asked. He stood and carried his empty cup to a nearby tray left by the servants for such things. “No one, other than the few people in this room, and…” He shrugged. “…maybe a handful more would even know she should be the Queen.”
His words made her heart flutter and her stomach tumble over and over. She should be Queen.
All her life, it was drilled into her that the First Law was above all else. Every decision made by the King and the Councils was examined through the First Law and how best to uphold it.
Under any other circumstance, Mariana would be horrified to think the person that should rule would even consider choosing a different path. Yet, that was what her uncle was suggesting she do.
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