The Seeking Series Box Set

by D. R. Grady

  Then he entered the dim room, and his heart drooped at the sight of the woman on the bed.

  Despite Raene’s warnings as to this woman’s failing health, he hadn’t grasped the extent.

  Shrunken in on herself, so much so that what remained was a mere shell of the woman he had known. The vitality and vigor of Margina weren’t even echoed in this pitiful casing.

  He took her hand and her eyes opened. She was weak now, so it took her long moments to recognize him. “Vidar.” Her voice was a fleeting whisper.

  His heart clenched. “Hello, my queen.”

  “My daughter told you not to speak to us in such a manner.”

  “You know of our meetings?”

  “Oh yes.” The old glow that used to light her eyes gleamed for a heartbeat in those blue orbs. They were nearly colorless now. “I am heartened by your association. My daughter won’t take the same path I did.”

  “Of course not.” Raene faced a modern age.

  “She’s chosen a far better one.” The words were wisps, but his heightened senses allowed him to hear them.

  Vidar cleared his throat since he didn’t know how to answer. “She is learning to fight and is exceeding expectation.”

  “She is her father’s daughter.”

  “And Queen Bronwyn’s.”

  “And Bronwyn’s.” A short-lived smile creased the current queen’s face, although it more resembled a grimace. A terrible parody of the beautiful woman she’d been. “Don’t pity me, Vidar. I am going to my husband.”

  “Yet you hate to leave your daughter.”

  “Yes. But I must or she cannot set her own course. ‘Tis the way of life.” Her faded eyes flashed once. “I am content with her choices.”

  Despite his years, and his long friendship with this monarch, he didn’t know what in Montequirst she spoke of. Perhaps he needed to let this mystery be.

  Her pale skin lacked the peachy glow she was renowned for. Now a faint blue tinged it. His muscles tightened at the evidence of her decline.

  “I wish . . .” But he couldn’t finish the thought.

  “I understand Vidar. But this is what is to happen. I would have enjoyed more time with my precious Raene, but this is my lot.” A mother’s smile creased her face. It was beautiful.

  “You will protect my daughter with your life.” A statement, not a question.

  “Of course.” He was a little offended that she had even mentioned it.

  “Perhaps not for the reasons you believe.” Another gentle smile sent her into the deep sleep of one who suffered greatly.

  He gazed down at her face, horrified by the damage wrought to her by this disease. Thus far, no one had been able to defeat it. Vidar was more than capable of wielding his sword and taking on any enemy who threatened with an answering weapon.

  But he was powerless against the microorganisms invading the queen’s body. Rising, he gazed down at her, knowing this was the last time he would see her alive. The air jammed in his throat as he swallowed painfully. “Goodbye, my friend.”

  Sorrow accompanied him back to the cavern.

  Chapter 6

  The overwhelming urge to rip out her hair kept encroaching, but the techniques Vidar had taught her aided Raene now. Just thinking about him helped to calm and center her. If he could stand at his post for centuries, she should be able to speak properly to the idiots who felt they could overwhelm her into doing what they wished.

  “Princess, this really must be done now.” The fussy man in front of her was her least favorite of the court. His slicked back hair and curling mustache left her cold.

  “No, it doesn’t.” She met his demand head on. “I see no reason why we must rush to change things. The methods my mother put into place for helping the poor have worked for years and they will continue to do so long after we’re gone.” If she read properly between the lines of his double speak, his idea of helping the poor veered toward lining his own pockets rather than aiding those in need.

  “It’s . . .”

  She rang the bell on her desk and the guards who saw visitors in and out of her mother’s office escorted the protesting man out.

  Raene sighed in relief at his exit. Any additional meetings with him, despite her new training, and she would rip his hair out. “Stefana, he is not to be on the list.”

  Stefana’s dark eyes widened. “You don’t wish to meet with your court?”

  “Not him.” And he wouldn’t be a part of her court when she became queen. Still uncertain as to why he had been counted into her mother’s, she fully intended to release him from his court duties.

  “Is that wise?”

  “I spent years beside my mother’s desk.” They both glanced at the spot where she, and sometimes, Stefana, had played as children. It didn’t take long to turn their gazes to the small desk Margina had placed in the library for the older Raene to study and then as she grew older still, to assist with the monarch’s duties.

  Unshed tears made her throat ache as she glanced at the desk she would no longer use. Stefana rose to wrap Raene in the sweet arms of a lifetime of friendship.

  “Nothing will be the same.” Stefana’s voice trembled.

  “No.” The tears pricked at Raene’s eyes and she had to blink rapidly to prevent them from escaping. Still not the time to give in to the circling grief. “I don’t know how I’m going to do this.” Her shaking hand encompassed the room.

  Stefana understood what she meant. “Your mother has trained you from the cradle to fulfill her duties.”

  All those years of resenting that she couldn’t play with the other children or attend school functions. Now she understood. “I need to see her.”

  Releasing her, Stefana rubbed her eyes and sniffed, before she nodded. “Yes. Do you wish for me to accompany you?”

  “No. You have many things you must see to.”

  “I didn’t expect to become the princess.” A trace of her best friend’s usual optimism peeked through before her expressive face contorted into a grimace.

  “Yes, I’m sorry to encumber you. But you also spent much time in this room.”

  “I did. Not as much as you, but I am perfectly capable of stepping into your old duties.” Stefana’s teary gaze swept the room. “I simply loathe the reason.”

  “Yes. We expected to have her for much longer than this.” The hollowness inside expanded, and because she couldn’t bear it, Raene left the room to hurry to her mother’s bedchamber.

  Upon entering, the stuffy air and lingering scent of illness marred the normal clean, flowery scent she associated with her mother. Two healers emerged from the shadows. “Princess Raene.”

  Their greetings were respectful, and Raene returned them, as a huge weight settled on her shoulders. They left the room as she tiptoed to her mother’s bedside.

  Faded blue eyes gazed at her. They were ringed by lines of agony on a face that no longer resembled her mother’s. The burden settled more firmly upon Raene as the emptiness inside expanded.

  “Hello, my love.” The voice that greeted her was a fraction of the queen’s normal hearty, sweet tones.

  “Hello.” She settled on the mattress, careful not to rock the patient. Taking her mother’s now bony hand in hers, she could barely contain her shock at how quickly this illness had stolen the essence of Margina.

  “You are doing fine, love.” As usual, her mother picked up on all of Raene’s little problems.

  Her throat ached. “I’m not. I’m floundering and struggling and I hate this.” She resisted the urge to fling herself off the bed. Raene longed to shout and throw things and maybe slam her fist into the wall. These tempting impulses surged into childish so she refrained.

  A squeeze from the hand holding hers brought her back to reality. “This is your course. It is your path to follow. Therefore you must.” The nearly colorless blue eyes gazing back at her remained steady and sure.

  The weight on Raene’s shoulders didn’t lighten. The emptiness inside didn’t shrink, bu
t strength infused her so she could bear these burdens.

  “Thank you.” Tears welled. Still not the time for them to fall. She continued her resistance. The show of sorrow would only distress this woman who meant the world to her.

  “You don’t believe you are strong, love, but you are. You have already settled everything necessary.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “Now isn’t the time for you to understand. That is fine. It will all become clear when the timing is right.”

  “When will that be?” The wail came out of nowhere. But she felt better for the little outburst.

  Her mother squeezed Raene’s hand again. “When it’s right. Now is the hardest time, because we wait. Waiting is not for the faint of heart. You are not faint of heart.”

  “Sometimes I am.”

  “One who is faint of heart would not have approached an Aasguard warrior and demanded he teach her how to fight.”

  “I didn’t demand.” Surely not.

  “Not with words, no.” Amusement imbued her mother’s words and those notes lightened Raene’s mood.

  “I hope I wasn’t overbearing.” Vidar had been so patient with her.

  “He is intrigued by you, my love.” This time what sounded like satisfaction threaded her mother’s weakening voice.

  “I like him.” Raene only managed a whisper.

  “Yes. So do I. He has been a friend to your father and I for many years.”

  Raene longed for any additional information she could discover on the warrior who guarded their treasury. “You’ve known him for years?”

  “We’ve been friends since I was a very young woman. He and your father instructed me on weaponry, but I lacked the deftness you are showing.”

  “I don’t feel deft.”

  “You are your father’s daughter, and as Vidar observed, also Queen Bronwyn’s daughter.”

  “You’ve mentioned her before.”

  “I have. You must study her. You might ask Vidar about her. He knew her.”

  “Didn’t she live hundreds of years ago?”

  “Yes, love. Perhaps nearing a millennium now.”

  Her breathing suspended. “Just how old is Vidar?”

  A secret shone in her mother’s eyes. “Perhaps you should ask him your question.”

  “I cannot do that.”

  “Why ever not?”

  “Because it’s . . . It’s rude.”

  “Not if you are friends.” Her mother’s strength waned then, because her thin eyelids fluttered. Her presence left abruptly to enter the land of dreams. Rest was what the queen needed, but Raene’s stomach muscles ached at the effort she exerted to keep from rocking the bed.

  Using some of the techniques Vidar had instructed her on, she rose from the mattress without one shimmy.

  With a sigh of relief at the success of the maneuver, she gazed at this woman who had shaped her, loved her, and was now preparing to leave her.

  Hideous images of her dying mother accompanied Raene through the stone passages deep below the castle.

  When she entered the cavern, Vidar greeted her. “The passages have been cleared.”

  “Yes, I ordered it done as the passage had grown hazardous.”

  “How are you doing with taking over your mother’s duties?” His eyes gleamed in the waning light from overhead. It neared sundown, but the cavern was lit internally from gems that stored the sun’s rays and emitted light throughout the dark hours.

  She explained about her mother’s way of teaching her to be queen. “The hardest part of this is it’s too soon.”

  “Yes. She’s much too young. However, blue fever is not selective.”

  “No.” Her heart hung heavy in her chest. Yet, this was part of what had lured her here. The sense of comfort and peace she received whenever she made the effort to come to Vidar had lured her here.

  Breathing seemed more natural, and life didn’t look quite so gloomy and challenging when she entered this space. Raene picked her way across the expanse separating them.

  “Is everyone responding favorably to you?” His hand tightened on his sword hilt.

  “Most of them are. I plan to make changes when such actions become necessary.” A knot tightened her throat, but she was so used to it now, she barely noticed.

  “If you have trouble, please inform me?” His dark eyebrow rose as she finally reached him.

  “Thank you. I will.” Something told her if she did have difficulty, she would mention it to him.

  He drew his sword, indicating their chat had come to an end. This time he thrust at her. “Counter this.”

  Driies now felt like an extension of her arm. As though it should be in her hand, and with narrowed eyes, and a lightened heart, she lunged into the lesson. This time, her body absorbed the reverberations.

  Vidar didn’t congratulate her on this success. He slid right into another parry and she foiled this one as well. Keeping her thoughts centered on the battle, Raene defended herself. They circled through the various ways an attacker might threaten her life.

  His sword slashed and gleamed with each blow. Only once did she stumble, but remained on her feet, even when he forestalled her with a blow that should have taken her head off. If they actually had been battling.

  She gasped, and only her quick steps prevented her from slamming into the hard surface behind her. When he called a halt to their lesson, she was breathing heavy, but not panting. This time only a ladylike sheen coated her skin, not the flat out dripping sweat from earlier sessions.

  “You have definitely advanced from a novice.”

  “I have?” Her eyes met his as her stomach gave a little roll.

  “When you first arrived, you knew the basics. Now you’ve progressed to the intermediary stage.”

  “Isn’t this too fast?” She accepted the flask of water he handed her. After drinking her fill, she handed it back to him. He drank and then capped it again before setting the flask aside.

  “No. With the basics learned, one can progress quickly if they are willing to put in the time.”

  Her mouth firmed. “I’ve been much busier of late.”

  “Yes. That has limited you. However, you make an effort to come every day. This tells me you wish to continue with our lessons.”

  “I do. This is what keeps me going.”

  His silver eyes glittered. “Why do you seek to learn to use Driies?”

  Stepping closer to a new stalagmite that had caught her attention, Raene peered at the gorgeous colors while she thought about her answer. “I learned today that two of our neighboring countries have heard my mother is not well.”

  He inclined his head. “I have heard the same.”

  “They have eyed Montequirst for years. If they wish to overtake our nation, the transition between two monarchs is the best time in which to do so.”

  “Yes. They appear to be preparing for war.”

  Her shoulders sagged before she stepped away from the new formation. She faced him again. “One of the best ways to merge nations is through marriage.”

  Vidar’s face blanked. “Yes.” His voice strangled.

  “It would be a military as well as a national coup to snatch the Crown Princess of Montequirst before she is named queen.”

  “And afterward, it would strengthen their nation to force you into marriage.”

  She kicked a nearby stalagmite. “I am not getting carried off by some neighboring king.”

  “All of them are already married.”

  “You did not hear that Queen Lalika of the Land of Ostard has succumbed to blue fever?”

  His indrawn breath was answer enough.

  “She died two weeks ago.”

  “I’m sorry to hear this.”

  “As am I. Although not necessarily for her. She is better off in the next realm.”

  Both of Vidar’s eyebrows rose. “I thought her marriage was a love match.”

  “Not at all. There is word the current king killed several of his
closest family members in order to take the throne. Then, when he did ascend to the kingship, he discovered the empty family coffers were not malicious gossip as he’d believed. His people have suffered greatly these latter years.” Brushing the tickling strands of hair from her cheek, Raene wished she had known about all this before her friend had been married off.

  “So King Ostard went looking to refill them?”

  “Yes. Lalika wasn’t a beauty, but her parents are fabulously wealthy.”

  “Perhaps as wealthy as your mother.” He frowned. “He came looking for you first?”

  “He did. My mother put a stop to him even visiting. She had confirmed several rumors about him and even cautioned Lalika’s parents, but her mother wanted her to be a queen.”

  “Did Lalika actually die of blue fever?”

  “From what I’ve ascertained, yes. It carried her off, and far faster than it has my mother.” Sorrow surged through her in a wave. For her parent, but also her friend.

  “So now Ostard will be seeking a wife again.”

  “And my mother is also in the throes of blue fever.”

  “Ostard is said to be one of the best swordsmen in the world.”

  “He’s said to be. I have had very little contact with him, and don’t intend to in the future.”

  “You’re not up to his rank yet.”

  “No.” She bit her lower lip, heartened by his usage of yet. “However, if I can at least offer the element of surprise, and defend myself, I shall do so.”

  “Most ladies do not know how to fight.” Vidar appeared agitated by this.

  “My father was adamant that I learn and my mother agreed. She felt that since I so resemble Queen Bronwyn, then I must be fated to learn sword skills.” Raene shoved at the same strands of hair again. “Was it more acceptable for women to know how to defend their own in Bronwyn’s day?”

  “Hers was a different age. One of far more peril and your ancestress understood this. She was also a fierce fighter worthy of the legend she is touted to be.”

  “You saw her fight?”

  “Yes. Several times. Bronwyn did not give up. She did not back down, and she was smart, fast, and like you, small. In an age where brute force often won the battle, she won through skill, dexterity, and strength of mind.”