DECISIONS
Sunlight flowed into the room as Laren remembered it
from the last time she’d been here. Estora stood there conferring
with a mender. The light turned her skin to pale marble and her
mourning clothes gray. Laren blinked as though confronted with a
lifelike statue. Then Estora turned to her. Gems dazzled on the
fillet crown she wore. Laren had last seen it upon the brow of
Queen Isen as she lay in state at her funeral.
Estora dismissed the
mender and approached. Laren dropped to her knee and bowed her
head.
“Rise, Captain,”
Estora said.
Laren did so and the
two faced one another with steady gazes. Laren had to tilt her head
to gaze in the eyes of the taller woman. There were shadows beneath
Estora’s eyes. So much she’d had to contend with—the murder of her
father, the injury to her betrothed, the hasty marriage and
coronation.
A low moan came from
the bed. Laren licked her lips, wishing to rush to Zachary’s side,
but so unsure of this new Estora she did not dare move or say
anything.
“He has not changed
much,” Estora said. “Still burning up and . . . and delirious. The
menders have given him something to keep him easy. Please, please
do go to see him.”
Laren nodded and did
just that. She found him pale, sweat runneling on his skin. His
bandage was fresh and she smelled no odor of a festering wound. She
brushed damp hair from his brow. His hand clenched and unclenched
as though gripping a sword and he emitted a sound like a
growl.
“He’s been like
this,” Estora said, “forever. It feels like forever.”
Laren glanced
sidelong at the woman who was now Zachary’s wife and saw genuine
concern and fear. She had always liked Estora, thought her the best
possible match for Zachary. Recent events did not change her
assessment at all.
“He’s fighting,”
Laren said. “It’s what he does. Fight.”
A sob escaped
Estora’s composed facade, and then another, until it was a
shuddering torrent. Instinctively Laren drew the young queen into
her arms, spoke soft words, soothing nonsense words as she had when
Melry fell and twisted her ankle, as she had for Zachary when he
was little and his brother bullied him, and then again as a young
man when his grandmother died. She rubbed Estora’s back and
comforted her until the sobs subsided and Estora pulled away,
dabbing her eyes with a handkerchief.
“I’m sorry,” she
said.
“Oh, my lady,” Laren
said, “you’ve been through too much in so short a
time.”
“But I cannot break
down like this anymore.”
“A crown does not
make you immune to emotion,” Laren said, “nor should it. It made
Isen and Zachary the compassionate monarchs they were. Zachary
still is.”
Estora sniffed. “My
mother and sisters left with my father’s body today. They are
taking him home to Coutre. And ... and of course my sister must be
readied to assume my father’s place. I’ve ... I’ve had no one. No
one but him.” She glanced at Zachary.
Laren could not
imagine the terrible loneliness. “I am at your service,” Laren
said, “if you wish it, Your Highness.” It felt strange to address
anyone other than Zachary so.
“I appreciate that,”
Estora said, her tears now well gone, and her tone different. “But
I heard you did not support my marriage.”
Laren’s spirits
sank. So here it was. “I supported your marriage as contracted.
However, when situations such as this arise, there are protocols in
place, established two hundred years ago, that we are supposed to
follow, no matter how much sense an alternative makes. It does not
mean I’m not willing to swear my fealty to you now, as my queen.”
Laren went to her knee again.
Estora tilted her
chin up, shadows shifting across her face like a veil. “I am not
certain,” she said from above.
Elgin stood a few paces in front of Colin Dovekey
glaring at him with arms folded. He remembered the man from when he
was just another Weapon guarding Queen Isen. Colin was a bit grayer
now, but still solid and fit.
The counselor
remained seated and did not pay any attention to Elgin. Instead he
looked over some papers, rustling them back and forth.
Elgin did not know
exactly what game was afoot, but he knew that where it concerned
the royals, the stakes were high, a real life game of Intrigue. Red
had gotten snared in it and he didn’t like it, not at all. They
hadn’t listened to her. They hadn’t liked what she said, so they
knocked her out and now threatened to relieve her of duty. They
could do far worse if they chose to, he knew, if she pushed them
too hard.
Colin set his papers
aside and looked up at Elgin, his expression neutral as if seeing
him for the first time.
“Elgin Foxsmith,
isn’t it?” he asked. “Former Chief Rider?”
“That’s
right.”
“It’s been many
years, but I recognize you. Had some action in the battles with the
Darrow Raiders, didn’t you?”
“Most Green Riders
did back then,” Elgin said, his tone darkening. “Including Laren
Mapstone. But you wouldn’t have seen any kind of action, would you,
safe and sound here in the castle.”
“My duty was to
guard Queen Isen. She resided here.” Colin’s tone was not at all
defensive. He folded his hands together atop his lap. “I want you
to know I have nothing but the utmost respect for Captain Mapstone.
She’s been the king’s most trusted friend and advisor for many
years. And my friend as well.”
Elgin snorted. “So
that’s how you treat your friends, eh? Then I pity your
enemies.”
“I realize it
appears harsh, but this is an extraordinary and precarious time.
Right now the queen must have at her side only those she can trust
the most.”
“Laren Mapstone is
the most honorable person I know,” Elgin said.
“I do not dispute
her honor. It is, however, what has put her in her current
position.”
“Taken that way, it
means you are admitting you are not honorable.”
There was a slight
downturn of the edges of Colin’s mouth, but he did not show any
anger. “Whatever the outcome, what we have done is in the best
interests of the realm, and in Laren’s, believe it or
not.”
“You just don’t know
her, do you? No matter you call her a friend, you don’t know her.
You Weapons, you have no idea about anything. If the king wakes up,
I warrant there’ll be a reckoning. He loves her, he does.
Laren.”
Colin’s eyes grew
unfocussed as he gazed across the room. “I imagine there will be a
reckoning,” he said as if to himself. “I imagine there will
be.”
Elgin had expected
at least some anger from the man, and even wished it, but he sensed
sadness instead. These Weapons, they were unnatural, it seemed to
him. Almost inhuman and secretive in their ways.
The door to the
bedchamber opened and Laren and Lady Estora—now Queen
Estora—stepped out. Colin rose and bowed. Elgin followed suit. He’d
never been so close to the king’s betrothed. She was striking from
a distance. Close up her beauty practically hurt his eyes. Humbled
by her presence, Elgin could only gaze at the floor.
“Counselor Dovekey,”
the queen said, “I wish to relieve Laren Mapstone of duty
immediately. Lieutenant Connly will assume her responsibilities at
once.”
“No,” Elgin
whispered.
“Yes, Your
Highness.”
“And confine her to
quarters,” the queen added.
“No!” Elgin wailed.
He started toward her, but suddenly a pair of swords wielded by the
black-gloved hands of Weapons were pointed at his
chest.
“Chief,” Laren said,
“peace, my friend. You cannot help the Riders if you are
imprisoned. I’ll be fine. Don’t worry. Tell the Riders not to
worry.”
He watched in
astonishment as another pair of Weapons took her arms and led her
from the room. The queen receded into the bedchamber.
Elgin pointed an
accusing finger at Colin. “I won’t forget this, Weapon. None of the
Riders will. Even if the king dies. Especially if the king
dies.”