Blade nodded and turned to gaze at the gardens again. "I wish to purchase your estate, Lord Tremath."
"I - I had not planned to sell it, My Lord."
"No matter. I require a pleasant estate on which to retire. I think my wife will like this. The estate Queen Minna-Satu gave me is a little remote, and austere. Name your price."
"I..." The nobleman looked flabbergasted, and Blade almost pitied him. Everyone knew that his wealth was beyond calculation. Essentially, the crown would pay for anything he desired, since Minna-Satu had opened the royal coffers to pay for Kerra-Manu's safety nineteen years ago.
"Well?" Blade demanded. "I do not have all day, Lord Tremath."
"Yes, My Lord. I would ask for twenty thousand goldens."
The assassin snorted. "A paltry sum. I will pay you fifty thousand goldens if you vacate the estate within the tenday."
Lord Tremath paled. "That is most generous of you -"
"Generosity has nothing to do with it. I have more money than I know what to do with, and I am in a hurry. What is your answer?"
"I... I accept, of course, My Lord."
"Good." Blade turned to the groom and took his horse's reins, mounting the stallion. "Your retainers may remain to serve me if they wish, and leave the furnishings, I have no wish to be bothered with refurnishing it. My wife and I will be here next tenday."
"But My Lord, the Regent..."
"Is going to live here with me. She will enjoy it, I think."
Lord Tremath gaped at Blade, who raised a hand and turned the stallion, urging it once more into a slow canter along the driveway.
The Regent glanced around as Insash, who read a petition during a long and particularly trying audience, fell silent and looked up. Blade entered the chamber with swift steps, and the herald at the door stiffened, his eyes widening.
"His Grace, High Lord Conash, Lord Protector of Jashimari, former Regent, husband of Regent Chiana and sacred Knight of the Veil," he bellowed.
Blade waved a hand as the assembly bowed, stopping beside Chiana's chair. She cast him a puzzled smile, for he rarely attended audiences.
The herald shouted, "Her Majesty, Queen Kerra-Manu!"
The court sank down as Kerra swept in, and Chiana became even more puzzled, since Kerra had told her that she would not attend the audience that day. Kerra settled on her throne, and the court straightened at her gesture. Blade walked to the front of the dais.
"I have an announcement," he said. "I have decided that the Regent will accompany me to dwell on my new estate for the remainder of her regency. She will return to the palace for audiences, and Chief Advisor Insash will attend to any pressing business in between. There will be no debate. Any who wish to object may do so now, so I may add their names to the list I shall draw up, numbering those who are my enemies. Any who find their names on this list will find no favour with me in the future, and I shall, in fact, deal harshly with them at every turn."
He gestured to the court scribe, who stepped from the side-lines, looking nervous. Blade faced the court again.
"So, who would like their name on my list?"
The silence would have made a pin dropping sound like a thunderclap. Insash glanced around with wide eyes, and several tense seconds passed before a senior lord cleared his throat.
"May we know the reason for this, My Lord?"
"And you are?"
"Lord Brevare."
"Well, Lord Brevare, Regent Chiana has ruled in the palace for nineteen years without respite, except when she was ill and I was forced to replace her. I have no wish to live here, and she would like to accompany me."
Lord Brevare glanced around at the silent throng. "And what of her safety, My Lord?"
"It is assured. Captain Redgard will bring a contingent of palace guards to patrol the estate, and I will be there. Need I remind you that I have already protected her, and Queen Kerra-Manu, on several occasions?"
"Indeed, Lord Conash, but you are no longer a young man."
Blade walked down the three steps from the dais to approach the portly lord, who raised his chin. The former assassin exuded menace in palpable waves as he stopped before the nobleman.
"I assure you, Lord Brevare, that I have not lost the ability to kill a man. It is quite easy once you have the knack of it."
"What has the Queen to say upon the matter?"
Blade turned to face the dais. "As you see, she is here to offer her support."
Kerra nodded, her eyes sparkling and her cheeks flushed with excitement. Chiana did not doubt that the girl was immensely happy to have been asked to support Blade's plan. She swallowed a lump, her heart pounding, a little giddy with joy.
Blade strolled back to the dais and turned to face the court once more. "My estate is just outside Jondar, so any urgent business that Insash does not feel he can deal with, can be sent by messenger for the Regent's attention. Shall I add your name to my list, Lord Brevare?"
"No, My Lord. I have no objections."
"Anyone else?" Blade spread his hands. "Come now, My Lords and ladies, I find palace life intensely boring. I would welcome the entertainment of making someone's life unpleasant. Will no one oblige me?"
Silence and hesitant head shaking answered him, and he waved the court scribe away. Chiana gazed at the stunned assembly with a smile, a little surprised by its reaction, but not unduly. Everyone knew Blade was a vindictive man; it was a reputation he constantly fostered with his cold looks and cutting remarks, and the proof of how much power he wielded now was in the way the court accepted his sweeping declaration without so much as a murmur. Of course, Kerra's support helped, and everyone also knew that the Queen would not cross him. No one wanted to be on the Lord Protector's list, it seemed, and Chiana did not blame them. While he had not stipulated what form his retribution would take, clearly no one wanted to find out. Blade had achieved what she had thought impossible with a short speech and a few veiled threats, and her heart swelled.
Blade stalked out. Several minutes of stunned silence followed his departure, then Insash cleared his throat and continued to read the petition.
Chiana walked towards her husband across the manicured gardens of his new estate. He sat under a spreading puffwood tree, his chin sunk on his chest, his eyes closed. As she reached him, he raised his head and opened his eyes. She sank down beside him, and he cast her a smile. Chiana gestured for the maidservant who had followed her to leave the tray that held two glasses and a jug of cherry juice, and the girl placed it on the grass and retreated.
Chiana poured the juice and handed him a glass. Rivan stopped purring and sat up, his ears swivelling. She followed his gaze. A black-clad man walked towards them across the lawn with a lithe, gliding gait, and she recognised Blade's last apprentice, recently an assassin, Wrath. The young man fell to one knee when he arrived at Blade's side, bowing his head.
"Master." He shot Chiana a shy look. "My lady."
Blade held out his hand, and Wrath placed a golden in it. Despite Blade's vast wealth, his former apprentice was still obliged to share his earnings with his mentor. The only rules that applied to assassins were the Guild's, and Blade still adhered to them rigorously. He tucked the coin away.
"Was it a good kill?"
"Yes, Master."
"Have you enough work?"
"Yes, Master. As your former apprentice, I'm popular."
Blade frowned. "You are not that good, boy. Lance was better than you. You could not win the belt if it was available."
The youth hung his head, nodding. Chiana had seen him several times since she had moved to Blade's estate, each time he came to share his earnings. Blade was consistently harsh in his comments and scathing in his observations, yet Wrath never objected.
Blade gestured. "You have done your duty. Go."
The youth rose and walked away, and Blade turned his head to gaze across the gardens. Chiana took his hand.
"Thank you for making this possible, Ash."
He glanced at her and
shrugged. "I did not wish to stay at the palace."
"You did not have to arrange for me to come here."
"It was not so difficult."
"For you. For anyone else it would have been impossible. The courtiers are terrified of you."
He smiled. "As they should be. Am I not the most powerful man in Jashimari?"
"You are, My Lord."
"All those silly titles had to be good for something."
"Will you return to the palace with me for the audience tomorrow?"
He sighed. "I would rather not. I do not have the patience to deal with those primping fools, even for a few time-glasses."
"I would like you to come. Your presence makes my duty far easier. After the incident with Lord Darver and Moremar, no one dares to question my authority while you are there, for fear of receiving harsher treatment from you."
"As well they should, for they would." He inclined his head. "Very well. Perhaps some fool will brighten my day with a bit of idiocy."
Chiana gazed at him, her heart filled with joy. Every day, Blade took Rivan into the gardens to play. Usually she would accompany them, and their antics always had her in gales of laughter. Blade included her in their boisterousness, as he had done at the palace, and she was always left gasping and giggling, as well as somewhat bedraggled and grass-stained, at the end of it.
Blade also took great delight in teasing her, appearing at the most unexpected moments to make her jump, pounce on her and hug her before vanishing into whatever shadow he had emerged from. Occasionally she would catch him, although she suspected that he let her. In the afternoons he would practice his skills, then find a comfortable spot to sit and doze, read or write. Her happiest moments, however, were when they were alone, lying beside the fire sipping wine, when she could hold him.
Blade seemed content, and she sometimes wondered if he truly was, but did not dwell on it too much. She feared he would leave again one day, despite his promise. He continued his pastime of humiliating nobles at state functions he was obliged to attend, such as Kerra's birthday, and Chiana's, although he would not divulge the date of his own so it could be celebrated. Chiana revelled in his company, discovering him to be an accomplished conversationalist on many subjects, so much so that at times she felt that she was the one who lacked proficiency.
Blade had purchased several other rich estates, for them to enjoy once her regency was over, he claimed, but she suspected that he just liked having enough money to buy anything he wished. His penchant for buying the family estates of the wealthiest noblemen, and especially those who slighted him, told her that he also did it to avenge such slights or simply to demonstrate his power. Considering what he had suffered to earn it, she did not begrudge him his little foibles, even when the nobles complained. As she pointed out, Blade paid far more than the estates were worth.
It was fortunate, she mused, that the crown had wealth to spare, the way he spent it. He also lavished her with gifts. Apart from the numerous estates, he had presented her with highly bred horses, exotic pets, mountains of jewels and so many wardrobes of exquisite gowns she could never wear them all. Blade had opened the palace coffers to the poor, housing beggars and vagrants in several stately homes he had purchased and staffing them with servants to wait upon the unfortunates, whose fortunes he had changed. In addition, he opened houses for the sick and homes for harlots and abused women and children. The crown and church already had several such establishments, but Blade opened many more.
The former assassin ensured that everyone thought the crown owned the establishments, however, and only Chiana knew the truth. His reputation named him a wealthy and powerful but cold-hearted man, and he seemed to prefer it that way. Instead, Chiana was credited with all his good deeds, and it shamed her a little that she had never thought to be so generous to the populace. Then again, she supposed, she did not have the right to spend the crown's wealth so extravagantly, while he, having earned it, did. That made him more powerful than she, and even, until she ascended the throne, Kerra.
The only speck of unhappiness in her idyll was the certitude that the overabundance of gifts Blade lavished upon her was due, in large part if not in whole, to his sense of inadequacy. She made the most of his teasing company and stilted affection, although she could not shake the sense that her joy existed on borrowed time. He constantly surprised her, and she despaired of ever plumbing the true depths of the man she had come to know and love. Her only wish was to spend the rest of her life with him, so she might revel in his captivating company and bask in the reflected glory he tried so hard to hide. Her husband, who had shaped history and changed the fate of three kingdoms. The Queen's Blade.
*****
Get the two prequels, Dead Son and God Touched.
About the author
T. C. Southwell was born in Sri Lanka and moved to the Seychelles when she was a baby. She spent her formative years exploring the islands – mostly alone. Naturally, her imagination flourished and she developed a keen love of other worlds. The family travelled through Europe and Africa and, after the death of her father, settled in South Africa.
T. C. Southwell has written over twenty novels and five screenplays. Her hobbies include motorcycling, horse riding and art, and she earns a living in the IT industry.
All illustrations and cover designs by the author.
Contact the author at [email protected]
Acknowledgements
Mike Baum and Janet Longman, former employers, for their support, encouragement, and help. My mother, without whose financial support I could not have dedicated myself to writing for ten years. Isabel Cooke, former agent, whose encouragement and enthusiasm led to many more books being written, including this one. Suzanne Stephan, former agent, who has helped me so much over the past six years, and Vanessa Finaughty, good friend and business partner, for her support, encouragement and editing skills.
The Queen's Blade VI - Lord Protector Page 34