D&D - Birthright 01

by The Iron Throne # Simon Hawke

  “I see,” said Aedan, slowly. “Yes, I think I understand.”

  “Seek also for a woman who is not afraid to express her opinions,” Raesa went on. “Not one who is talkative or stubbornly willful, but who speaks when she has something of substance to say and is not easily swayed from her beliefs. Michael would not respect a wife who would defer to him in all things regardless of what she truly felt. He needs a strongrooted mountain rose, not a shrinking violet.”

  Aedan nodded. “Yes, that makes excellent sense, Your Highness.”

  “Beyond that, look to your own knowledge of Michael,” Raesa said.

  “Look for those things in him that make you prize his friendship, those qualities that inspire loyalty and admiration in his soldiers.

  Women have similar qualities, as well, though they may manifest them differently. Follow your instincts. And then let nature take its course.”

  Aedan thanked the empress for her words of wisdom and returned to the Imperial Cairn, feeling a bit more confident, but still anxious as to where such a woman could be found. That night, however, Ariel came to him in an enthusiastic mood to report that the work of the committee was done at last.

  “We’ve found her, Aedan!” she said excitedly. “We need not even bother with a list of final candidates.

  We have found the perfect woman for the emperor!”

  Aedan seemed a little dubious as he received the news. “Well, that is all very encouraging,” he said, “but don’t you think it would be best if we could present Michael with some choices?”

  “If that is what he wishes,” Ariel replied, “then we have narrowed down the list to five, and we could hold a feast, with dancing, during which he could meet them all. But I feel confident that the moment Michael meets Faelina, he will have eyes for no one else.”

  “Faelina?”

  “She is the daughter of Baron Moergan of Aerenwe,” said Ariel.

  “I was not aware that Moergan even had a daughter,” Aedan said.

  “He has two,” said Ariel, “but the youngest is only twelve and already promised, by a long-standing arrangement, to Gaelin of Dhalaene.”

  “And how old is Faelina?”

  “Sixteen,” said Ariel. “But she possesses a maturity beyond her years.

  She is simply perfect. Wait till you meet her.”

  Aedan thought of Moergan of Aerenwe, whose holdings lay to the east, on the southern coast north of the Erebannien, near the Gulf of Coeranys.

  Moergan did not often come to court, only on important state occasions.

  He was a rough-hewn, taciturn man who brought to mind a stout and weathered oak, enduring and unbending. Aedan found it difficult to imagine that a brooding, plainspoken and even more plain-featured man like Moergan could produce a daughter capable of captivating Michael.

  He tried to recall what Moergan’s wife was like, but found that he could not even summon up the name of the baroness, much less call to mind her features.

  “Tell me about this girl,” he said. “Is she comely?”

  Ariel smiled. “She bears little resemblance to her father, if that is your concern. In her looks, she takes after her mother, but where the Baroness Vivianne is shy as a wild forest creature and takes pains not to call attention to herself, Faelina is vivacious and most attractive.

  She has poise, bearing, and a strength of personality that commands attention. The moment I met her, I was sure she was the one, and though her rank may not be high, all on the committee agreed she was the perfect choice.”

  Aedan raised his eyebrows. “Indeed? I am intrigued. When can I meet her?”

  “Tomorrow,” Ariel said. “I have taken the liberty of inviting her to breakfast with us in our chambers.

  I thought that would give you ample opportunity to form your own opinion of her.”

  “I will be looking forward to it,” Aedan said.

  In the morning, after they had dressed and the servants came to set the table for their breakfast, Faelina of Aerenwe arrived promptly with her ladyin-waiting. The baron had accompanied his daughter to Anuire, and they had been given rooms at the palace, but unlike the other fathers, he professed no interest in directly championing his daughter’s cause.

  He had served with the emperor in the War of Rebellion and had survived some of their most difficult campaigns, but socializing and political maneuvering were not pursuits for which he cared a great deal, if at all. He had an eligible daughter, and he had done his duty by putting her name forth and coming with her to the capital when they received their invitation. Beyond that, he was content to let Faelina speak for herself.

  And she did so, frankly and directly, with disarming honesty. Aedan was very much impressed. She was, indeed, vivacious and attractive, but she was no great beauty. Most of the women Aedan had seen had gone to great lengths to enhance their beauty, and while Faelina was far from plain, she was pretty rather than beautiful and did not go to any trouble to enhance her appearance.

  She wore no jewelry save for a thin girdle of silver chain around her waist and a small gold locket of her mother’s. She came dressed in a simple yet tasteful blue gown with matching slippers, and her long ash-blonde hair was arranged in a thick braid that she wore down the left side of her chest. Her skin, unlike the pale, creamy and flawless complexions of

  most young women of the nobility, was tanned from a life spent out-of-doors, rather than cloistered in her father’s house. Her eyes were a startling, gorgeous shade of blue-frank and direct in their gaze.

  She had a slight dusting of freckles across her nose and was slim rather than voluptuous, yet appeared very fit. She was built along lines similar to Ariel’s, which meant she was tall, long-legged, and small-breasted, close to Aedan’s height, which would make her about a head shorter than Michael. Before she even spoke, Aedan found himself quite drawn to her.

  There was something about her, some indefinable quality, that made her quite appealing.

  They made small talk over breakfast for a while, mostly about her life in Aerenwe, and she replied to Aedan’s questions in a very self-possessed manner.

  She did not appear at all nervous or anxious, but seemed quite comfortable in their presence.

  “What do you think of the emperor?” Aedan asked her finally “I love and respect him as my sovereign,” she replied, “but as I have never met him, I have had no opportunity to form a more personal opinion.”

  What a contrast that reply was with others he had heard to the same question, Aedan thought. Most of the others he had spoken with had gushed about Michael’s many virtues, his greatness and his bravery in battle, his handsome looks and regal bearing and so forth. And most had gone on at some length concerning what an honor and a privilege it would be to sit by his side as Empress of Anuire. Faehna’s response was simple, honest, and refreshing. He approved.

  “Why do you wish to marry him and be empress?” he asked.

  “I do not,” Faelina replied.

  Aedan raised his eyebrows in surprise. “You do not?” Ariel said nothing, merely sat there watching him, a slight smile on her face.

  “Why, pray tell? And why then have you come?”

  “I came because it was my duty,” she replied. “As to why I do not wish to marry Emperor Michael, it has nothing to do with him as an individual. I do not know him. I have never even seen him, save once, at a distance. How can I have a wish to marry a man I do not even know?

  Aside from that, I imagine life as Empress of Anuire would be much more confining than the life to which I have grown accustomed. I love the rolling plains of Aerenwe and the peaceful beauty of the Erebannien, where I can roam at will and spend my days schooling my horses. I can sew, but I have little taste for such things as embroidering and weaving and spending most of my days indoors. Given my choice, I would prefer a life that is more active.”

  “You are fond of horses, then?” said Aedan, seizing upon that.

  Faelina’s eyes lit up. “Oh, yes! I love them. There is no gr
eater pleasure for me than to breed and raise them and train them to saddle.

  I do not even allow my father’s grooms to touch my babies. I care for them myself.” She held out her hands, palms up.

  “These are, I fear, not the hands of a great lady. But then, they are hands that do not shy from honest work. My father has never pampered me, for which I’m grateful. Perhaps it makes me a bit too common, but like my father, I find virtue in hard work and self-reliance. I say these things because I do not wish to pretend I am something I am not.

  In many ways,

  he raised me like a son.”

  “Did he take you hunting?” Aedan asked, his interest growing.

  “I have gone hawking with him since I was a child,” she replied. “And I have trained Chaser, my hawk, with my own hands. He goes with me everywhere.”

  “Then you have brought him with you?” Aedan asked.

  Faelina nodded. “I thought, perhaps, there might be an opportunity to fly him, and I could not bear to leave my pet behind.”

  Aedan smiled. “Then we must go hawking after breakfast,” he said. “I will ask the emperor to join us so that you may meet him and … form a more personal opinion.”

  Michael never missed an opportunity to go hawking, so he agreed readily when Aedan made the invitation. In passing, he mentioned that Baron Moergan and his daughter would be accompanying them and that they had already left by boat for the royal stables by the parade ground.

  Ariel decided to come, as well, as she was eager to see Michael’s reaction to Faelina and enjoy some time riding in the fields after all those long days spent indoors, conducting the selection process. It was unusual for ladies to go hawking because few cared for the sport; those rare exceptions generally did not dress in breeches when they did so, as Faelina did. She made no apology for not having worn a skirt, but explained she found such attire

  39a

  cumbersome on horseback and had never cared for riding sidesaddle. To Michael, that made perfect sense.

  Her hawk was a handsome creature and Michael took time to admire it.

  As they spoke, Aedan and Ariel watched them and Ariel beamed with pleasure. “He likes her,” she said. “I can tell. She can discuss with him the sort of things he enjoys.”

  “We shall see,” said Aedan, cautiously optimistic.

  Faelina’s horse, which she had ridden from Aerenwe, was a handsome and spirited black stallion.

  Michael, an excellent judge of horseflesh, immediately asked if he could try him. Faelina hesitated and glanced at her father. Moergan shrugged slightly, indicating her response would make no difference to him.

  “If it were anyone else, Sire, I would say no,” she replied, “but you may try him if you like. However, I caution you that no one has ever ridden Midnight save me. He may not suffer you upon his back.”

  Michael smiled. “Oh, I suspect I can manage him,” he said as if humoring her.

  “Suit yourself,” Faelina said. “But don’t say I did not warn you.”

  With a smirk, Michael swung up into the saddle.

  Immediately, the stallion reared and started plunging wildly, bucking and kicking and leaping up into the air as Michael struggled to hang on.

  For a few moments, he managed to stay in the saddle, but it did not take long before he was flying through the air to land hard on chest and stomach. Aedan and Moergan hurried to his side.

  “Are you injured, Sire?” Aedan asked with concern.

  “Only my pride,” Michael replied sourly as he dusted himself off.

  “You should have listened to her,” Moergan said.

  “I tried to mount that beast once, and he nearly broke my back.”

  Faelina seemed more concerned for her horse than for the emperor. She caught the stallion by the reigns and murmured to it, stroking its nose and apologizing for having let another rider mount him. Then she swung up into the saddle easily and reached out her gloved hand to the squire, so that she could take her hawk.

  “Whenever you are ready, Sire,” she said.

  Michael snorted. “Well, she sits that hellspawn well enough. Let’s see how well she rides.”

  They mounted up and set off for the woodlands around the coastal hills.

  Once they had reached the plains, Aedan flew Slayer, whom he had named after his favorite bird from boyhood. Faelina launched Chaser, and the two riders set off together at a gallop across the fields. Michael’s horse, Thunder, was swift and strong, but Midnight was easily his match.

  The others had to ride hard to keep up as Michael and Faelina raced across the field, each trying to outpace the other. Faelina was every bit his match as a rider, and they hurdled over walls and post fences neck and neck. Their guard escort was hard pressed to keep up. Aedan and Ariel didn’t even try.

  “You were right,” Aedan said to Ariel as they reined in to watch the others race across the field.

  “She’s perfect for him.”

  “I think it remains to be seen if he is perfect for her,” Ariel replied.

  “I doubt Michael is perfect for anyone save Michael,” Aedan said. “But I think you were right.

  She may be exactly what he needs.”

  The royal betrothal was formally announced a week later. By then, it was obvious to everyone that the emperor was in love. And happily, it was a love that was reciprocated in full measure. No one seemed more surprised that Moergan.

  “I must confess,” he told Aedan privately after Michael had asked him for Faelina’s hand, “I never thought to see Faelina fall in love. I always thought her a bit too spirited for most men. She’s a good girl, and would have married as a duty to me, but it does my heart good to see her happy.”

  “They do seem made for each other,” Aedan said.

  “And with such a couple, I think we may look forward to a strong heir.”

  And perhaps to a few years of peace and quiet, he added mentally. For the first time, there was something else to occupy Michael’s attention besides plans for new campaigns. He did not delude himself into thinking Michael would settle down and give up on his goal of expanding the empire, but at least for a while he would no longer pursue it with such single-minded determination.

  The wedding would take place in the spring and would be celebrated throughout the empire. For a change, thought Aedan, there would be no spring campaign. And he would welcome the respite from going on the march, especially since Ariel was pregnant once again. This time, the midwife assured them it would be a son.

  A new heir for Michael to carry on the rule of the Roeles and a son for Aedan to carry on the tradition of the Dosieres as standardbearers and lords chamberlain to the empire. They had gone through much to reach this point. The empire was reunited and stronger now than ever since the glory days of the original Roele. There would be time for future con quests, but right now, the immediate future held a promise of peace. Aedan was looking forward to it with a great sense of relief.

  Everything had fallen neatly into place. It seemed now as if nothing could go wrong.

  **chapter Three**

  Laera’s life had taken on a surreal quality, fascinating and simultaneously frightening. For the first time since her childhood, she did not feel in control.

  Yet at the same time, there was a thrill to being balanced precariously on the abyss. It energized her and made her feel alive. In the past, she had looked to her sexual adventures to provide her with the stimulation of risk she craved, but nothing had ever provided her with the same dangerous edge of excitement she felt now.

  When she had made her pact with Callador, the one thing she could never have anticipated was that the wizard would have chosen and been accepted by Raesene, the infamous Black Prince, known and feared throughout the empire as the Gorgon.

  When Callador had revealed the name Of his patron, it had sent her mind reeling, and she had almost given way to panic. The wizard had tricked her. He had allowed her to believe the token of a lock of hair taken from her head was merely t
hat, a token and nothing more, to seal the oath between them, similar in principle to a favor given by a lady to a knight. She had known almost nothing about magic, so there was no way she could have realized the true significance of the ritual.

  When she and Callador had cut their palms and clasped hands with the lock of her hair between them, it had been a great deal more than merely a symbolic mingling of blood to seal the oath. That lock of hair alone could have served to give him power over her, but impregnated with both her blood and his, it had forged a link between them for as long as it remained in his possession, and by practical extension, that same power would also be granted to his master, Prince Raesene.

  At first, the idea had so frightened her that she had nearly succumbed to panic and the temptation to reveal all to her husband. However, common sense prevailed, and she soon realized that if she told Derwyn the truth, nothing would be changed.

  Callador would still hold power over her, and nothing short of killing him would cancel that. Such an act would incur the wrath of Prince Raesene. Even though she had Derwyn firmly under her control, Laera did not think he would be blind enough with love for her to risk taking on the Gorgon.

  More likely, she thought, if she confessed the truth to Derwyn, she would lose her hold over him and he would banish her to Ice Haven, where she would be forced to spend the remainder of her life in constant prayer, solitude, and chastity as a temple priestess.

  Aside from the utter misery of such an existence, all her plans, everything that she had worked so hard for, would have been for naught.

  And there was no telling what sort of revenge the Gorgon might exact for her betrayal.

  After several sleepless nights, she finally concluded there was nothing else to do but ride it out and hope for the best. The more she thought about it, the more clearly she saw that her situation, while precarious, was far from hopeless.

  She reasoned that she was far too insignificant to attract the notice of the Gorgon. She was merely a means to an end. She was not certain precisely what that end was yet, but almost certainly it had to involve her brother, Michael. The Gorgon had some plan in mind, and she must have become a part of it at Callador’s suggestion. Either that, or Callador himself had hatched some plan to increase his standing with his awnsheghlien lord. Either way, she would only be an agent, not the object of that plan.