by Jude Marquez
Alyx stared at the closed door that Gia had stepped through and then to Evander. He was studying Alyx and gave him a small smile before stepping closer to him.
“Other than lessons and an interrogation by the queen, do you have any other thoughts for today?” Evander murmured.
Alyx's heart was still pounding and it took a moment for the words to sink in. For the short time that he still could, Alyx reveled in being this close to Evander.
“Assuming I survive the interrogation, no," Alyx said. “None, why?”
Evander leaned in even closer and Alyx had a sudden flash of memory, of meeting Evander on a muddy road, soaking wet and frozen to his marrow. Of Evander’s bare hand on his collarbone. His breath caught in his throat when he felt Evander’s breath on the shell of his ear. “Meet me in our room before dinner," he murmured and was gone before Alyx remembered to breathe.
When he did remember, he turned to the front door and saw Lisa, Cordelia, Verna, Bianca, and Auelina’s staring at him. They were all standing in a semi-circle and looking up at him on dais, looks of delight and surprise on all their faces.
“Do you have anything to wear?” Verna asked, breaking the silence. It seemed like they knew something that he did not.
Alyx shook his head.
“Dear boy," Bianca murmured.
“It’s a good thing we’re here," Bianca told Cordelia. Cordelia nodded.
“I’ll have something taken up to your room," Auelina said softly and there was a look in her eyes that Alyx could only call fond. “For now, your students are waiting for you.”
Alyx nodded and left the hall, only to stop just outside the doors and looked around.
“This way," Ely said from a spot near the side of the door and laughed. “I didn’t know if you would remember which way to go.”
Alyx shook his head and Ely pointed at the classroom. When he walked in, all four of his students were already seated. They watched him with a steady gaze and Alyx was glad to find a chalkboard near the front.
He found a piece of chalk on his desk and turned back to the students.
“On our first day we are going to start with out letters...”
∞∞∞
Alyx had the children for the first four hours of the day, until twelve in the afternoon, when they had to go to lunch and spend the rest of the day on chores. He was not surprised at Nicholas for adapting to numbers so quickly or Annabelle for her naturally elegant writing and mind for memorizing letters and words easily. George asked questions that often took Alyx a moment to parse through and Kenley’s questions about nature and science delighted Alyx. They cleaned up after themselves before leaving for lunch.
When Alyx left the room, Geoffrey and Gabrien were waiting for him. They looked down curiously at Knight and he raised dark eyes up at them. It was a ridiculous tableau.
“Her Highness requested that we take you to her quarters for lunch," Gabrien said. Alyx felt the blood leave his face but nodded anyway. He walked with them down a series of halls and up two staircases and they stopped outside a huge set of double doors, decorated with a pair of lions on them.
Alyx glanced back the way they came and Geoffrey clapped him on his shoulder. “We’ll be here to take you back. Promise.”
“Thank god," Alyx muttered and they opened the doors. Knight hurried in before him and sat by the Queen’s foot and looked up at her adoringly.
Queen Gia sat at a table with papers spread out over it and looked up at Alyx when he came in. She gave him a smile that reminded him of all her children and he felt a little more at ease. She cooed at Knight and scratched his ears.
“Alyx," she said warmly and stood. She pulled on a rope by the door after she greeted him with a hug. Servants came through a door on the other end of the room, carrying plates and jugs. They began to set everything down on a smaller table and Gia put her arm through Alyx’s and led them to the table. He waited for Gia to sit first before sitting himself. They were served quickly and then only two servants remained as the others left.
“Alyx," Gia said after a moment. She seemed to be searching for the correct words to breach such a sensitive subject.
Alyx waited, unsure of how to answer. He braced himself for the inevitable subject of him and Evander continuing to share a room and how she might gently break the orders of him to leave the room.
“I want you to know that whatever is said in this room will not be shared with anyone else. And if I hear so much as whisper among the servants, it will be rooted out quickly and punished," Gia glanced at the two servants who only bowed their heads out of acknowledgment. She turned back to Alyx. “My children do not know anymore than I do, otherwise I would have talked to them about this.”
“This, my lady?” Alyx asked. He wasn't following the conversation correctly. The Queen was supposed to be telling him to end his close friendship with Evander, that to be so close with a commoner wasn't appropriate. He did not understand what she was asking him now.
“What happened to you, Alyx?” She asked and reached for his hand.
On that one hand, there were three separate scars. A knife at supper, a candle snuffed out on his skin, a piece of glass. On that arm were so many more that Alyx would have to inspect them to remember each one.
There were innumerable bruises, sprains, and aches that remained hidden from the eye. There was a history of anger etched on Alyx’s skin and sometimes, when he caught sight of himself, he wondered how he was able to come this far. He wondered why he hadn't just given up already.
“My stepmother. My stepsisters, sometimes. It was-” Alyx glared down at his food and Gia tightened her hold on his fingers when his throat tightened. “It was the only thing I knew for a very long time.”
“Tell me," Gia said.
“There isn’t much to say," Alyx replied with a heavy sigh. “I knew no different. One day my father was there and then he was gone and then my stepmother hated me and showed it to me in every single exacting way that she could.”
“Why did you-?” Gia asked but stopped herself.
“Kill her?” Alyx asked.
“No, I understand why you killed her. But what made you finally decide to do it? What was it that made you finally go through with it?” Gia asked.
Alyx opened his mouth and then closed it. He didn’t have a good answer and looked at a tapestry hung on a wall behind Gia. “I think-” he said slowly, “I think because Evander was the first person to show me kindness. And it was like a dam breaking," Alyx turned his eyes to Gia. “And also because I think she was either going to rape me or kill me that night. Maybe even both.”
Gia sat back and let out a breath.
“Am I to be punished?” Alyx asked.
“No. For what?” Gia shook her head. “You acted out of self-defense. And if I were to punish you for killing your stepmother, I would have to punish Evander for killing his father.”
Alyx felt as though the world stopped spinning and had tossed him out into the vacuum of space.
He remembered the king's funeral well; it was one of the few public events that he went to with his stepmother and stepsisters. The royal family; Cade, barely able to toddle on his own; Auelina, small, quiet, and deathly still as her father's casket passed her by; Gael, still very young but his face was politely blank and Alyx wondered if he even felt anything at the time. And Evander, next to his mother, stone faced and unmoved by the ceremony. At the time, Alyx thought it to be royal decorum. Now, with this new information, it was clearly something else.
“It’s no small secret here," Gia said and looked at the servants, neither of whom seemed outwardly surprised. In fact, one refilled their cups with wine, as though news that changed Alyx's entire view of the Crown Prince hadn't been dropped in his lap.
“Evander killed Serlo. And not a single one of Serlo's soldiers stopped Evander or even helped Serlo when he was drowning. They watched their drunken, angry, abusive king drown in a river. I was given the throne as queen regent, until Evand
er married," Gia smiled. “Not that it matters, Evander being married or not. He can have the crown when he wants it. I am the last one who would want to stop him. But he plays this thing by the rules set out.”
“Prince Evander killed King Serlo?” Alyx whispered, unable to follow the entire conversation.
Gia pressed her mouth together in a tight line. “Serlo was very much like your stepmother. I tried to keep the children from him, but I wasn't always successful. Evander bore the worst of it, but sometimes Gael was caught up in it as well. The final straw, in Evander’s eyes, was when Auelina crawled into his bed with a bloodied lip and blackened eye. That night, Evander went to his father, expressed an interest in wine and fed his father jug after jug of wine until even the king could bear no more. Then Evander asked his father if they could ride. Serlo saw it as a challenge, his whelp challenging him so of course he took it. I followed with Edward and Rufus, Serlo’s closest confidantes. But they hated him just as much as the others," Gia cleared her throat. She reached for a knife on the table and spun it restlessly in her fingers as she recalled that cold and clear night. She knew, without a doubt, what her son was going to do and she did not raise a finger to stop him.
“Evander rode to a bridge. Once there, Evander leaped from his horse and shouted something about a drunken king destroying the entire kingdom. Serlo followed and Evander tackled him against the bridge. It was notorious for being unstable and the stones crumbled underneath Serlo. Evander would have gone with him, were it not for Edward and Rufus there to pull him back from the edge," Gia took a drink of her wine. Still her fingers spun that knife, the light catching it and reflecting into Alyx's eyes.
“I stood by my son and we watched as his father, my husband, our king, drowned in the waters beneath us. And the next day, I stood by my son and we wept when his body was brought to us. And I stood by my son when he took the vow that no one will suffer the kind of abuse that Serlo inflicted on us and I stood with each child of mine that took the same vow. I will continue to stand by my son, my future king, until my last breath.”
“Why do you tell me this?” Alyx whispered. He gripped his own cup, just to steady his hands.
“Because," Gia said and gave him such a steady look that Alyx didn’t know if he should duck his head and look away or if he should continue to hold her gaze. “Any person that comes into my castle and looks to make a life here, is required to make that same vow.”
Alyx opened his mouth and realized what she was saying. “What is it?” He asked after a moment.
Gia stood and so did Alyx. She disappeared through another door and reappeared before Alyx could wonder if he should follow. In her hand was an accolade sword, the one used in ceremonies.
Alyx immediately dropped to one knee.
Gia approached him and said, “Repeat after me.”
Alyx bowed his head.
“I swear fealty to the crown and he who sits at the throne.”
“I swear fealty to the crown and he who sits at the throne.” Alyx repeated.
“And in doing so, I take the most sacred of duties as my own.”
“And in doing so, I take the most sacred of duties as my own,” Alyx said softly. The words settled on his shoulders like a warm blanket after a long day in the snow and wind.
“That I will do everything in my power to protect the powerless.”
“That I will do everything in my power to protect the powerless.”
“That I will fight with honor.”
“That I will fight with honor.”
“That I will act in defense and never in anger.”
“That I will act in defense and never in anger.”
“That I will keep the secrets of the crown as my own.”
“That I will keep the secrets of the crown as my own.”
“I swear this oath and will protect it with my life,” Gia finished.
“I swear this oath and will protect it with my life,” Alyx said.
Gia touched the sword to either of his shoulders and he looked up at her. She smiled at him and her eyes were brighter than before. “Good," she whispered. She left to put the sword back and they sat back down. “Now, to the matter of your lands-” She looked to one of the servants that had a small stack of papers in her hand.
“I’m sorry, Your Majesty, my what?” Alyx said. Gia was changing his life, one conversation at a time and doing so in such a casual manner that he was often left floundering like a fish on the beach.
“Your lands, Alyx. Your lands," Gia said. She pushed aside a goblet and laid the papers out.
“What lands?” He asked. “I don’t- what?”
Gia studied him. “Dear boy, she kept you in the dark about everything, didn’t she?”
Alyx blinked and his tongue refused to form any kind of a reply.
“Your father, he has lands and a small holding in the north. You are a Marquess of Cerith. A man by the name-” she shuffled through the papers, “Franco, has been keeping it for you until you sought to claim it. He sends monthly reports of grain, livestock, and trade to me," she tapped the pile of papers. “And now that you have the freedom to go, I was wondering if you would want to travel there.”
“Who is he?” Alyx asked when Gia pushed the papers over to him.
“I don’t know how he knew your father, only that your father trusted him a great deal. He lives there with his wife Teresa and their three children. He is a very intelligent man and keeps the land and castle there well. All reports say he is a fair and easy man to deal with and few leave his side when they go into service with him," Gia sat back and plucked a grape from a bowl. “What do you wish to do with the lands?”
The thought of having a place where he could go, away from all of this, away from the memories and the people-
And Evander. Evander's brothers and sister and their mother. The students that were already showing promise after only one lesson.
“What would happen to his family if I wanted to claim it?” Alyx asked.
“That’s up to you," Gia said thoughtfully. “You could have them stay on as caretakers or you could ask them to leave.”
“How long has he lived there?”
“Nearing twenty years, I believe," Gia said.
“Oh," Alyx said in a small voice. He studied the papers in front of him. The villagers under his care were happy. The land and livestock was thriving and his children showed promise as future squires or knights or as a lady in waiting.
“You have a place here, Alyx. There is no need for you to leave unless you desire to do so," Gia said gently.
Alyx let out a breath. “I have no desire to leave," he said.
Gia clapped her hands. “Excellent! I had no desire myself to lose my tutor only a day after I hired one and frankly, there would be the matter of Evander to consider.”
“Evander?” Alyx squeaked. He felt he might collapse underneath all this new information.
Gia’s eyes were bright and fond. “Yes, Evander. But let’s move on to the last matter, shall we?”
She put one last stack of papers in front of him.
“Your title. Your lands. Your wealth," She said. “I had your banker here yesterday to understand the state of your affairs. It seemed like your father suspected a little of what your stepmother was after and put into place a few steps to get to your inheritance that even she couldn’t maneuver around.”
Alyx picked the papers up and looked at them and set them down carefully. “There has to be a mistake.”
“No. No mistake," Gia replied. “Franco, faithful and true as he is, has been depositing the correct percentage all these years. It has gone untouched, accumulated and there you have it.”
“That’s too many numbers," Alyx said.
It did not feel like freedom, this wealth. It felt like someone was clinging to his neck, like there was such a great thing to take care of and he was only this one small man, there was too much-
“Alyx," Gia snapped. “This is what your father left
behind for you. You have paid the price many times over. Sit up straight," she snapped and Alyx did, feeling scolded like a child. “Now, this money has been yours since your birth. The only difference is that you know about it now. Nothing else has changed.”
Nothing else has changed. His place at the castle, his friends, this new place he could call home.
“Yes, Your Majesty," Alyx said, feeling settled once more. He hesitated and then asked, “What of my old household? Have you any word of them?”
“Your stepsisters-” she hesitated.
“It’s okay. I bear them no affection," Alyx said.
“It is said that Thea is making her living at the tavern. Mariana has disappeared, having headed east toward Thomas’s lands," Gia shook her head. “Women who travel with the war parties do not fare well.”
“She was going to the war march?” Alyx muttered. Lord Thomas had been picking at the De Loughrey borders for years but nothing had come of it. There were rumors that swarmed through the lands that he knew far too much for a foreigner and that was a trader in the castle. So far, none had been found.
“That’s the last we’ve heard. The butler has disappeared but that was after a skirmish in a bar. I didn’t probe too deeply into that particular incident," Gia picked delicately at a piece of veal in front of her.
“Have you heard of Gilbert?” Alyx asked.
Gia tilted her head. “I have no word of him.”
Alyx sucked in a deep breath. “He has no use of his legs. My stepmother-” He shook his head. “He is constrained to a chair. He cannot move on his own," he felt guilt like a wave crash into him. He had been enjoying the castle while god knew what happened to Gilbert.
She waved at one of the servants. “Go fetch,” she thought for a second. “Fetch me Ricardus and Ralph. Quickly.”
The servant left and was back only moments later with a panting Ralph and a calm Ricardus. Gia explained what they had discussed and they disappeared just as quickly.
“Let’s return to our lunch," Gia said and the same servant picked up the papers and tucked them away on a desk. “And let me tell you embarrassing stories about my children.”