The Wildest Woods

by S. K Munt

  ‘Why has your Guardian sent you as a messenger?’ was the king’s response, and the emotions that should have had me trembling before my king swirled around inside my gut for the last time like wet cement, and became concrete instead. Then, when he included the innocent guard at my side in on his look of reproach, that concrete cracked just enough to let some of my charged anger burn through. ‘I made it very clear that you were not to be given any special privileges-’ his eyes flicked up and down the young, terrified guard, ‘-at all.’

  If any other man had just inferred what my eldest brother had inferred, I would have knocked their teeth down their throat, but my brother was the king of Arcadia and striking him would have gotten me whipped if not killed and I had better things to do with my time, so I silently apologised to Saul-Yin as I straightened, not giving Karol the satisfaction of believing that he’d landed a vocal blow in any way. Eighteen months ago, a comment like that would have had me rushing to defend myself if not apologize profusely for my imagined crimes, but that was no longer the case- a fact I hadn’t been aware of until just now, when he had challenged my honour so.

  I’m not scared of him anymore, I realised then. There’s nothing awful that he can say about me that I do not already think about myself, and no punishment that he can bestow upon me that will hurt more than what I’ve already endured in the Corps!

  Besides, it was easy enough to spin offence into amusement, because messengers were ranked even lower than guards were, so what privilege was I being allegedly being granted by stepping outside of my normal duties and into the king’s presence? The pleasure of his company? The opportunity to wear that constrictive formal uniform? I thought not. I’d sooner ride a message through gunfire to the devil herself, then spend a second longer with my caustic brother than necessary, and he ought to know as much because it was a sentiment that he obviously returned!

  ‘My being here in his stead is not a royal perk granted to me, your highness, but a matter of course and protocol.’ I rather forcefully handed the scrolls to the king before standing back, feeling relieved to be free of them at last. They were just rolls of paper, but they were both so weighted with significance that I was exhausted from having carried them up to Eden, and eager to pass the burden on to someone else even if that would put me in a ‘shoot the messenger’ position instead. ‘The smallest scroll is an apology from Guardian Malry Withers, penned not three hours ago, meant to explain my presence here. Originally, he was supposed to accompany me here this morn, but his wife went into labour late last night and not long after we’d returned to the barracks, and because she has not yet had the baby, he cannot leave her side.’

  ‘That’s more than understandable,’ the king grumbled, and I saw his gaze soften somewhat because he and my superior, Guardian Forsyth, were good friends that went a ways back. I hoped that would not change after the king read what his friend had penned about his little brother. ‘What is the other?’

  ‘I believe it is a confidential progress report regarding national security, your highness. I expect that you’ll want to discuss the contents of both scrolls with me,’ I wet my lips, afraid of how his reaction to my own news would effect the nobility’s opinion of us both, ‘but I would suggest that you’d consider doing so in privacy.’

  My brother’s eyebrow arched up at the warning, which he’d clearly taken as a challenge. ‘I have no secrets from my people,’ he said, and I almost laughed out loud. As far as I knew, our mother was still locked up in the basement and he was so fixated on tracking down whatever imaginary threat that Larkin Whittaker supposedly posed that he barely did anything but glare at the security monitor in his office, making many people question his sanity… but pointing out those facts would get me killed so I bit my tongue to keep a grimaced grin in check and shrugged. I didn’t want this to happen public or privately and in a few minutes he would understand why, but I’d warned him and that was all I could do.

  ‘Of course your highness,’ I nodded gently towards Amelia-Rose Choir as she and her father melted away from a gathering of people to our right and drifted our way, both bearing thin but warm smiles for me. ‘Do as thou will.’

  ‘Thank you for your permission…’ the king drawled, unfurling one of the scrolls. The rest of the nobility began to creep forward, watching him while he read it, and I felt Saul-Yin step closer to me, either seeking support silently, or offering it, I did not know.

  At the same time, Amelia-Rose mouthed: ‘You look well,’ and I did not doubt that she meant that, because she eyed me the way an esuriant person eyes a piece of cake- the same way she seemed to eye every male member of my family- and it made me downright uncomfortable. I understood the pressures that were on young women to marry well, so I usually wouldn’t have been so judgmental of a noble girl that was obviously on the hunt for an eligible prince to marry... but I’d learned since I’d last seen her cosying up to my twin brother that Amelia-Rose was undertaking an apprenticeship as a Shepherd at her father’s side, and Shepherd’s could not marry, so what motivated her to batt her eyelashes so at us? It was clear that the girl put more weight on God’s opinion of her than any man’s, so was it her hormones that had her reaching for us with her eyes like that, or did she have an ulterior motive behind them?

  But the King’s face clouded over then, and Amelia-Rose slipped from my mind as easily as Kohl had apparently slipped from hers the moment I’d walked in the door as I turned my attention back to him. I’d been dreading that moment all morning, and when my eldest brother looked up from the correspondence, his cold stare confirmed that I’d been right to, because it was very clear that absence had not made his heart grow fonder, and time had not healed any of his wounds- least of all, the ones that I had apparently inflicted upon him.

  And that he wasn’t ready for anyone else to be over them yet, either.

  ‘You’ve been promoted to Guardian of your division?’ a fraction of the king’s glow surfaced in his green eyes in response to his incredulity while the people surrounding us began to gasp in astonishment. ‘How is that possible? Was Guardian Forsyth drunk when he wrote this or-’

  ‘Your highness!’ Shepherd Choir interrupted softly, and although Karol did not look at him or apologize, I saw my brother stiffen as I already had, suddenly conscious of the fact that we were surrounded by witnesses that would judge him if he acted as Godlessly as everyone believed that I had, by cussing myself and his friend, Malry, out. ‘Perhaps Guardian Barachiel was right, and this is a discussion that ought to be conducted behind closed-’

  ‘Guardian Barachiel!’ my brother practically snarled, flicking the scroll with the fingers of one hand while he shot me a poisonous look. ‘What a joke. I heard that you were bounced from one division to another after you enlisted because you couldn’t manage to get along with any of the other soldiers at all, and yet suddenly, Forsyth has decided to force one third of them to look to you for leadership? Did he draw your name out of a hat on his way back to his spouse, or what?’

  ‘His decision making process was a bit more sophisticated than that, your highness,’ I said calmly, my voice a quiet contrast to his despite the fact that the charge in my hands was now threading through the nerves in my arms, causing them to practically hum with repressed anger. ‘In actual fact, I was promoted to becoming his second in command months ago, after Guard Chisholm contracted Malaria in Asiana.’ I folded my hands together behind my back and stood tall when he rolled his eyes, reminding myself that his opinion of me as a soldier counted for nought, because he was not a soldier himself. ‘Protocol states that every guard is entitled to paternal leave for a period of three months, and that every Guardian must defer his title to his highest-ranked subordinate should he need to take a leave of absence for any reason- so the buck has naturally fallen to me now.’ I wet my lips. ‘I am not shocked by your disbelief, and it is true that I had issues settling in with the first and second Arcadian divisions, your highness... but things are different for me within the Third Divis
ion. I have found my footing and my equilibrium there, and Guardian Forsyth is pleased with the way I conduct myself within the military.’

  ‘And how have you managed to find your feet?’ Karol’s jaded gaze drifted around the room, inviting the rest of his subjects into what ought to have been a private conversation. ‘After all, you were sent to the Corps to be disciplined, not decorated, so I’m sure that I’m not the only person here that would like to know how you’ve managed to sway so many people into not only forgiving you, but bowing to you again- despite the fact that the members of the first two divisions apparently despised you.’

  ‘I suppose it is because of the kind of people that are in the third division, your highness.’ My charge was angrily vibrating through my biceps and the back of my shoulders now, but I reined my sparks in if for no other reason than to prove that I could, and Karol motioned for me to go on while eyeing the dozens of badges that decorated my sash. ‘Division One is made up of youths from the upper castes in Calliel who did not score highly enough on their PCE’s to get into the apprenticeships of their choice, so they resent the fact that there is a need for more Corps draftees at all-’ I darted a nervous look to the surrounding courtiers, wondering how many of them were related to the spoiled brats in Division one and taking offence, ‘-thanks to my actions, of course, because they probably would have become Blue Collars otherwise. And Division Two is full of men who enlisted willingly a long time ago and resent me for how much more dangerous their duties have become now that they are used primarily as soldiers, rather than as salvagers as they always were before.’ Which is your fault, but a burden that I must bear because you don’t need a fucking army at all and we all know it! ‘So both of those first groups took an exception to being saddled with the one who created a need for an army in the first place -me- and they demonstrated their offence by rebelling against my presence constantly.’ I swallowed hard at the memories of having snakes and spiders stuffed into my swag and rucksack, of being challenged to fist fights (usually three against one), or being spat on while I slept. My nose had been broken twice, and I’d been rushed to a healer after having my food poisoned, but I’d survived all attempts against my life, which meant that I could survive any further against my character now. ‘But the guards in Division Three are third-borns, convicted criminals and foreigners that have been picked up from various missions: mostly Godless or branded folk that the army hopes to rehabilitate. As far as they are concerned, they would have been doing hard labour regardless of what mayhem I incited, so they can separate who I was from who I am now much more easily than those that hailed from Arcadian provinces could, because it has not changed who they were always fated to be. In fact, some of them are happy to be earning a wage for serving the crown, instead of being indentured as slaves.’

  ‘So you’re the Prince of the thieves, is that what you’re saying?’ the king demanded, and my stomach tightened.

  ‘No, I am no prince at all to them, sire- that’s the point. Despite the notorious Nephilim’s dark influence on me, they would have been living miserable lives anyway, so they don’t care if my backside is on a throne or leading them into a pirate raid, so long as I do my best to keep them alive.’ I narrowed my eyes at him to punctuate that. He could piss all over my lesser crown- the one that he was holding hostage until I turned twenty-one- and how I’d apparently exploited it to my advantage as much as he wanted to, but he could not shit all over everything I’d accomplished to earn Guardian Forsyth’s trust because I’d earned it through blood, sweat, prayer and tears. ‘And may I point out that being third-born does not make someone a thief, Sire; a fact that you ought not to forget consider that our younger brother is one of them. Yes, there are convicted criminals in my Division but that does not make the entire Division unworthy of your respect, because they work hard under the Arcadian flag to make amends for whatever wrong turns they have taken. That is the point to their servitude, isn’t it? Repaying their debt to society and finding their way back into God’s light?’

  Just. Like. Me. Only as far as you are concerned, I’ll never be able to atone for what happened with Larkin, will I? You call her a demon, but treat me like I’m the very devil that created her, even though you made sleazy deals with her too!

  The king’s eyebrows shot up. ‘I suppose it’s no wonder that you’ve found your place there… I expect you are as eager to forgive them their sins as you are to have your own pardoned, yes?’

  ‘And because he works hard, treats everyone fairly, takes on the most dangerous jobs himself, sire,’ Saul-Yin said quickly and rather sharply, and I smiled at her gratefully. I knew she was intimidated by my brother, but she was speaking against him on my behalf and that took guts- especially seeing as how she was a third-born girl, a foreigner and a convicted criminal, which meant that she wouldn’t have a leg to stand on in her own defence if he turned his assessment to her character. ‘We respect him, Your Highness, as does Guardian Forsyth, and if you would finish reading the letter, you would understand that.’ Her voice was soft, but she spoke carefully in her Asianan accent, so people either heard her, or moved forward more so that they could. ‘Just last week in St Miguel, he risked his neck to go under the earthquake debris and rescue a newborn baby from a collapsed hospital despite the fact that the mother of the child slapped him when she first recognised him.’ She paused, allowing a few people to process that while I flushed more deeply. ‘He also divvied up his water between everyone else’s canteens in the Monument Valley last year when us human soldiers began to suffer dehydration, and he gave up three months worth of wages during a pirate raid in Tribeca when he first joined us, so that he could trade a pirate for the hostage he’d taken.’ She lifted her sharp little chin, narrowing her almond eyes at my brother and reminding me of why I wanted her to be my second now that I’d been promoted: even when she was terrified, Saul-Yin always acted fearlessly. ‘On top of that, he’s been teaching all of us to read, your highness. None of us want him with a harem at his disposal any more than you do now that we’ve heard of how it influenced him…’ she winked at me, and I knew I was the colour of a tomato, ‘but we trust his judgement in every other area.’

  I snorted gently, as did a few others, but the people in the room were looking at me with less suspicion now and heightened interest. My brother was not one of them, and I could not tell exactly what he was thinking because his expression was shuttered behind those flat grey eyes and that bushy beard. But he spoke quickly, clarifying the matter in his usual way: bluntly.

  ‘You rave about your new commanding officer, young Guard, and it is brave of you to speak up so passionately on his behalf without first being asked to bear witness to his character. However… please forgive me for asking but I must know: do you vouch for my brother’s reputation as a soldier, or as a girl in love?’ He leaned forward, peering at her shoulder, which she was not allowed to cover up while she was on Arcadian soil. ‘I see you’ve been branded for promiscuity in the past, and I’d hate to think that you learned nothing from whatever trial you endured, or that you’re letting your desires overcome your sensibilities again. My brother may not be living as a crowned prince ought to right now, but he still has certain laws and values to uphold, and dallying with a co-ed instead of an official Companion would be flagrantly breaking them.’

  A blush bloomed on each of Saul-Yin’s sharp cheekbones, but I stepped in front of her and spoke in her defence before she could. ‘She speaks as my second-in-command, your highness, and I will have not it inferred otherwise.’

  The king’s head twisted around to glare back at me. ‘Since when do you get to police what I do and do not get to infer?’

  ‘When you are wrong,’ I said quietly, and I knew that my eyes had started to glow, just as his had. I patted my fiend’s shoulder reassuringly while she stared at the ground, humiliated, no doubt, by the sheer amount of people that were currently staring at the brand she bore- the one that told the whole world that she’d had sex before being joi
ned or married. ‘Say and presume what you will about my character, your highness, but do not let it call Guard Saul-Yin’s into question.’

  ‘Or what?’

  ‘Or know that you’ll make yourself look like a hypocrite,’ I said matter-of-factly. ‘You cannot blame me for how Larkin Whittaker reacted to getting a brand, and of how terrified she was of being judged for it- if you yourself are one of the ones that would assume that a person is worth less than others due to the markings on their skin?’

  Amelia-Rose made a face. ‘You’re very noble for rushing to this heathen’s defence, Prince Kohén, but those brandings are dispensed to-’

  ‘They’re not dispensed, Amelia-Rose, they are burned into a person’s skin,’ I turned towards her, feeling my own scar burn in memory- my first memory of this new life. ‘They are marked for an eternity for one mistake, which would be fair and just, I suppose, if they were given to everybody who broke laws, and not just those that are caught.’

  ‘They are given so people can be warned about an individual’s lack of self-control and character!’ Amelia-Rose protested, eyeing Saul-Yin’s gleaming black hair as though it were writhing with snakes rather than neatly braided back from her pretty face. ‘They are given to criminals that hurt God with their decisions!’

  ‘That’s a fallacy, because if everyone who has pre-marital sex is a criminal then Karol and I would be as covered in brands as thoroughly as our Companions were once covered in gold!’ I snapped, making the members of the nobility that were watching us rustle with disconcertion. Yes, I was afflicted with lust as apparently all Barachiels were, and I couldn’t sleep most night for the dreams that I had, or cross the path of a Companion without thinking: ‘I could have her right now and numb so much of my torment!’ (as I was entitled to do until the harem was rebuilt and I reinstated as the official crowned prince) but I hadn’t even kissed a woman since I’d left Eden, I had no memory of ever actually being with one in any way, and I didn’t plan on rectifying that until I’d found one that I could truly love. So Karol could cast as many stones my way as he wanted to for the bad choices that I’d made in the past, but I would be damned if I’d let him insinuate that I was still making them, especially if that meant that Saul-Yin would get investigated too!