“Go tell them to look somewhere else,” I said.
Fink folded his arms and sat beside Imogen. “You’re only saying that to get rid of me.”
“On the contrary, I’ve never been happier to see you.” He was the one I’d worried about most since reaching Belland. “You were never meant to cause one of those explosions.”
Fink smiled proudly. “I told Imogen I could do it, and I did.”
I squeezed her hand. I may have loaded the gunpowder in the cargo hold with Fink, but while on the fishing boat, Imogen was the one who figured out how to make it work.
It began with an understanding that everyone would need a way onto the ships. That was why Tobias had gathered them in a place where they’d easily be found, and why Imogen had threatened an uprising to ensure they were separated onto the various ships. Once the ships were emptied to fight the pirates, the rest was easy. They watched for my signal, lit a fuse, and escaped the ship before the flame reached the gunpowder crate.
I glanced over at Imogen. “You really are brilliant, you know.”
She beamed back at me. “It may take a lifetime for you to fully appreciate that.”
I leaned toward her again, only to catch Mott and Trea in my side vision as they came around the bend, hand in hand.
“Will you sit with us awhile?” Imogen asked. I groaned. I wanted to kiss Imogen properly, and I was tired of interruptions.
It appeared Mott and Trea didn’t want to sit with us either, and perhaps for similar reasons. After glancing at Mott, Trea said, “That’s very kind, but it’s been so long since Mott and I were together, we’d like the time alone. Maybe for dancing.”
I preferred that they were alone too. I’d never seen Mott in love and had no interest in watching him dance. I couldn’t even comprehend what that would look like.
“I have a request,” he added. “I would like to remain here on Belland for a while. Trea wants to help these people rebuild, and I want to help her. The work will be good for me, Jaron. It’ll strengthen the old injuries, from the war.”
“I agree.”
He continued, “Besides, I don’t need your permission. I’m simply telling you my plans.”
I smiled warmly at him. “Yes, Mott. Stay for as long as you are needed here. But I hope you will return to Carthya soon, for you are needed there as well.” To Trea, I added, “And you are wanted there. I know Darius will have every hope of bringing you with him.”
“We’d better be leaving soon ourselves,” Roden said as he walked up to join us. “We don’t want the Bellanders to get the idea that we’re taking the Prozarians’ place, and the pirates are beginning to take the Bellanders’ things.”
“How much have they stolen so far?”
“Plenty.”
“Tell them to give it all back. These people have lost far too much already.”
“I will tell them,” Roden said. “I am their king.” He eyed me. “Yes?”
“Don’t be absurd. I only lost as a favor to you.”
“You think you did me a favor? That was my plan to save your life.”
“Or your plan to get a kiss from Wilta. Saving my life was only an extra benefit.”
Roden sighed. “I really did like her. Just my luck that she turned out to be the monarch of our enemy.”
“And a soulless villain.”
“Yeah, that too. Do you think maybe one day —”
“No, I don’t.”
“Well … maybe.”
“How long until the repairs are completed on the Shadow Tide?”
He shrugged. “The pirates will finish them today, if they hurry. You left quite a mark on that ship.”
“He leaves his mark everywhere.” Tobias arrived with his medical bag in hand. “Where do you feel the worst?”
“Everywhere. I’m cold, but I’ll be all right.”
“You’re still shivering. I’ll stop complaining about spending a night in the crow’s nest. This is much worse.”
“Do you think so?”
Imogen gave me a cloak, which Tobias wrapped around my shoulders, then he looked down at my leg. “I heard it’s infected.”
I smiled over at him. “My leg is fine. If Wilta expected less of me because she thought it was infected, that was just an unfortunate misunderstanding.”
Tobias still reached for another bandage. While he worked, I looked down at my thigh and said, “This was not my plan, though.”
“Nor mine. I truly am sorry.” Roden quickly added, “Though you gave me no other choice.”
“Maybe not, but I am cutting your pay as captain, if you will be captain again. I’ll make things easier on you this time.”
A corner of his mouth turned up. “Then there are things you’re sorry for too?”
“There must be.”
Roden groaned. “Can’t you tell me you’re sorry? Just two little words: ‘I’m sorry.’” I only grinned back at him, so he said, “Perhaps your apology will come in the form of a reward.”
I arched a brow. “Such as?”
“The greatest of all treasures? Between the few of us here, is it true what you told the pirates? The lens is gone?”
My grin faded as quickly as it had come. “When did you last see the Devil’s Scope?”
He shrugged. “When Darius gave it to Wilta on the beach, in exchange for Amarinda.” I continued to stare at him, and with a long sigh, he finally said, “I suppose it’s good the lens is gone. We cannot take any risks of her getting it.”
“Agreed.”
Another beat passed, then he seemed to cheer up. “Perhaps you’ll reward me with a new title? Something more than just captain of the guard.”
I was ready with an answer. “I’m glad you asked, because I have been waiting a long time to give you this title.”
His eyes narrowed. “What is it?”
“The one I offered to you earlier: minister of oats.”
“No, Jaron!”
“It’s too late. I’ve decreed it!”
“It’s not yours to decree,” Tobias pointed out. “That’s for the king to do.” His eyes softened. “That’s for Darius now.”
“Jaron clearly is confused about who is the true king here.” We all turned, startled to see Darius approaching us. He eyed me. “You forget who you are, Jaron, and who I am. Let’s settle this.”
I stood to greet Darius, feeling strangely anxious about speaking to him. I did understand who he was, who he would be now, and I’d accepted it, but that wouldn’t make this conversation any easier. Perhaps because I no longer had a sense of who I was.
Notably, Amarinda was not with him. His only explanation was, “Don’t worry. She’s safe.”
Darius next gave his attention to Tobias, who looked terrified. Tobias reached for a weapon at his side, then realized he had no weapon there. So he squared his body to Darius’s and stared back at him, respectfully, but with courage.
“Do you really love her?” Darius asked Tobias.
Tobias rarely looked directly at anyone, but he did this time with Darius. “She’ll choose who she will choose. But for my part, I love Amarinda more than my life.”
Darius kicked at the ground for several seconds. “She and I have talked. Take care of her.” Tobias began to say something, but Darius finally glanced up. “It’s her choice, not mine. We’re not friends, Tobias.”
I stepped between them, then pulled the king’s ring off my finger and held it out for Darius. “I believe this is yours.”
He only stared at it, gave a sad smile, then turned to me. “Can we talk?”
All of us were standing now, in deference to Darius’s title. I looked around. “Shall we talk here, or alone?”
“It doesn’t matter. Everyone will know the truth about me eventually. How long have you known it?”
“Only since coming to Belland. But I don’t care, and neither should you. We are brothers, Darius, as we’ve always been.”
He smiled and turned to Fink, at my side. “And i
s this our brother too?”
Darius offered his hand to Fink, who pushed it aside to close Darius in an embrace. Surprised, Darius widened his arms at first, then finally closed them across Fink’s back.
The instant Fink pulled away, he began speaking, so quickly it was clear he never intended to take a breath. “I suppose you’ll want your old room back, but Jaron gave it to me and I’ve changed a few things. Or maybe you’ll want the king’s room, that makes more sense. Jaron hasn’t used it yet. He’s still in his old room, which I can’t understand because the king’s room is much bigger, but maybe that’s for the best because it’s yours now.”
The instant he was forced to draw a breath, I grabbed him and pulled him away from Darius, then said, “Leave him alone, or he’ll never want to come back.”
Darius turned to Trea. “Is it true? My father was Bevin Conner?”
Trea’s eyes filled with tears. “The only father that should ever matter is the one who raised you and loved you as his own, King Eckbert.”
“If Eckbert was anyone but a king, that would be enough.” Now Darius turned back to me and Imogen. “Will you both walk with me?”
I put the ring in my pocket, then took Imogen by the hand, saying nothing as we followed Darius away from the cliff and farther up the hillside. Against the rising sun, we saw the sole surviving Prozarian ship pull away from the docks of Belland, hopefully for good.
“The people are free again,” Darius said. “Thanks to you.”
“Thanks to us.”
“No.” Darius shook his head. “Thanks to you. We both know that, and yet the people here have asked me to be their king. They are rewarding me for a gift I did not give.”
“They chose to honor you for two years of reasons,” I said. “And if it were possible for you to accept their offer, I know you would be great here.”
Darius patted my arm, then turned to Imogen. “What I have to say is for you, and I hope you will pass this message to Jaron when he is able to hear it, and that you will make him understand that these are my wishes.”
I stepped back. Obviously he knew I was here. Why should he address Imogen as if I weren’t?
He took Imogen’s hands in his. “Yesterday, I said something cruel to Jaron, calling him an embarrassment to our family. Those words have haunted me since. You see, I am embarrassed for myself, that I did not understand what he understands, that I did not see what was so clear to him. That for so long, I failed to follow, even when he led with such clarity.”
Imogen shook her head. “Please say this to Jaron, not me.”
“I can’t. We both know that he is also stubborn beyond reason and that even now, he is biting his tongue to keep from arguing back against everything he is hearing.”
He was wrong about that. Even so, I loosened the pressure of my tongue against my teeth and forced myself to unclench my fists.
Darius said, “There has been a great deal of talk these past few days about a true king. In Carthya, that is Jaron.”
I couldn’t stop myself any longer. “Darius, come back with me —”
“The throne belongs to him, by rights of birth, and more importantly, because he has earned it.” Finally, Darius released Imogen’s hands and turned to me. “When you were in the river trying to rescue Wilta, there was a point when your shirt rode high on your back. I saw scars there that a king should never bear. I see the cuts on your hands and wrists now, the slight limp to favor your right leg, and I know you will leave here with new scars. Jaron, I may one day earn the throne the Bellanders have offered me, but there is only one true king of Carthya. And it is you.”
“You must come back.” Tears filled my eyes. “You’re my brother, Darius.”
“I am your brother, always. But we are brothers who will rule from opposite sides of a sea. For now, Belland needs my help here, to rebuild, to regain all that we have lost over the last month.”
Imogen touched my arm, and in her hand I saw Conner’s journal, pulled from her shoulder bag.
I passed it to Darius, who took it with curious eyes. “Read this, and understand who this man was,” I said. “Learn what was good about him, and be warned for where he destroyed himself. In this book, Conner requested that all his possessions be passed to his heir. That’s you, Darius. Other than a portion reserved for Mott, it’s a significant inheritance.”
A smile widened across his face, the smile I remembered so well from when we were boys at play on the castle grounds. “Send everything that you can. That is how I will rebuild this place, make Belland greater than it ever was.”
“I am relieved to do that,” I said. “Because I promised the regents that I would return with a trading agreement. Tell me what you need, and I will provide it.”
“All I ever needed was my brother back in my life.” Now Darius’s smile fell on me, though it could not match the happiness I already felt. “When you return, bring our brother, Fink, along too.”
Darius offered me his hand, and just as Fink had done, I folded him into a warm embrace. I would always miss my parents and mourn their loss, but for the first time since hearing the news of their deaths, I felt something begin to heal.
When I pulled away, I said to Darius, “I will try to be as good a king there as I know you will be here.”
He swatted me lightly against one arm. “Wherever Father and Mother rest with the saints, I know they are already proud of you. Now go back and make Carthya into the country we always believed it could be.”
I embraced him again, then he excused himself to begin addressing the needs of the Bellanders, his people now.
And I took Imogen’s hand again to walk back down the slope.
“What do you think?” she asked. “How does Carthya become the country you wished it would be?”
“For now, I need to sleep,” I said. “After that, it begins with you and I talking through our ideas together. That must always be part of our life.”
“I have only one more request,” Darius called back to me. “Tonight there will be an official ceremony to make me king of Belland. Will you be there?”
“Of course.” In that moment, I believed that nothing would ever make me prouder.
I was wrong.
That evening, a large fire was built on the beach. The platform that Wilta had used for her own glory had been expanded and raised high enough for all those who had assembled to see their new king. Imogen and I were given a place in the front of rows of hundreds of people, who all arrived while singing what appeared to be an anthem for Belland.
Imogen slipped her hand into mine. “How do you feel about this?”
“Darius will be a great king here,” I replied. “But I will miss him.”
“He’s alive, Jaron.” Imogen kissed my cheek. “And somehow, so are you.”
With the setting of the sun, another moon would rise. It would be smaller than last night’s moon, at a degree’s difference in angle, and it would no longer be a reason to hold any people in captivity. Tonight, it would simply be something beautiful.
As soon as the sun dipped below the horizon, Trea stepped onto the platform. In words that sounded well practiced, she said, “Darius Hadranius Eckbert has lived among you for almost two years. He has worked at your side, fought at your side, and most recently, triumphed at your side. Welcome him now.”
Enthusiastic applause thundered around us as Darius climbed the steps to the platform. A long purple robe hung from his shoulders, trailing behind him as he entered the platform stage. He smiled and waved at the people, earning himself even more applause.
His sword was at his waist, and Trea said, “By authority given to me —”
“Stop!” With a kind smile, Darius leaned forward and whispered something in her ear. She immediately set down the crown and pillow, then exited down the back of the stage.
“What’s wrong?” Imogen asked.
I didn’t know. He didn’t look upset or uncertain, but he clearly was waiting for something.
A moment later, Trea touched my shoulder. “He wants it to be you.”
I stared at her, sure I could not have heard her correctly. “Me?”
I looked up at Darius, who had his eye on me. He smiled and motioned with his head that I should join him on the platform.
“Hurry, everyone’s waiting!” Imogen pushed me along with Trea, who walked me around the rear of the platform.
“It should be you.” Trea spoke as proudly as any mother would in such a moment. “Go and make your brother a king.”
I walked up the platform, unsure of how to greet a people who were not my own. I didn’t know if they’d respect anything I said up here, or if they’d even listen. It seemed more fitting to have another Bellander do this.
I stood beside Darius and the crowd went silent. I looked first to Imogen, silently vowing yet again to one day fully deserve her. From here, I scanned the crowd, seeing rows of faces that had been through far too much over the past month, faces that had lost hope once and then had it returned to them again. Faces that had a future now, and Darius to lead them.
“People of the great country of Belland,” I said, hoping my voice would carry to the farthest rows, “this is a glorious day for us all! Today you celebrate your freedom, and a new beginning. For these new ambitions, you have a king who will serve you, and make possible what you had only dreamed of in the past.”
I glanced at Darius. “But this new king is also my older brother. He was always the one to pick me up when I fell, to warn me of dangers I had not yet discovered, to teach me the wisdom I had yet to learn for myself. All my life, I thought if I could only be more like him, then I would somehow find the best in myself. All my life I have fallen short of that goal, and yet he believed in me anyway, and gave me hope of being a better person tomorrow. He will do the same for you. Tomorrow will come, and when it does, Belland will always have a friend in Carthya across the sea.”
I paused to look at my brother. “Kneel, Darius.”
He did and lowered his head. Using his sword, I tapped him on the right shoulder, then the left. “Darius Hadranius Eckbert, you were born to be a prince, but you will live forevermore as a king.” I held his sword flat on my hands to return it to him, and once he took it, I picked up the crown from its pillow and placed it on Darius’s bowed head, then announced, “Rise, Darius, king of Belland.”
The Captive Kingdom Page 27