Adrienne (25 page)

“You aren’t mad because he’s gay, uh, homosexual?”

“If I disdained him for taking men to his bed, then I would be a hypocrite, as I do the same.”

Adrienne let her mouth drop open in shock. “I thought you were married—to a woman, High Chancellor,” she said.

“I am. My wife and other two children are teachers in the Mage School of Ulan. My marriage was of convenience. I needed children to satisfy my family and my wife needed a husband her parents would not disapprove of outright.”

“You don’t love her?”

“I am fond of my wife. We are friends after all these years. But we both married for obligation.” Travers smiled at Adrienne’s disapproving look. “Don’t think I am benefiting alone, Majesty. My wife has lovers, as well. We have had our children. We stay married for the sake of our families, but our life together is that of friends, not spouses.”

“Then I don’t understand. Why doesn’t Khursid do the same thing? Marry a woman, have kids, and take a lover on the side, I mean?” asked Adrienne.

If she were back on Earth, there would be a hint of impropriety in her question. Ulan, however, embraced a form of consensual adultery. So long as both spouses agreed, a lover could be added to the household as a legal family member.

“He doesn’t see it as an option. As you have just enlightened me, my son thinks I disdain him for sleeping with men. He obviously doesn’t know of my predilection. My daughters do, but that is only because they know of their mother’s lovers. As they all teach at the same school, it is hard not to notice.”

“You live in the same palace as Khursid—down the hall from one another, no less—and you two don’t notice anything about each other. I didn’t even know you were related until Malik told me. You act and look nothing alike. Well, except for liking men.” Adrienne studied Travers and tried to see any of Khursid in him, anything at all. Malik must be right—Khursid took after his mother.

Adrienne asked, “If it’s not his preference for guys, then what’s the problem?”

“He is a soldier.”

Adrienne waited. When Travers didn’t continue, she shrugged and asked, “And?”

“My family and his mother’s family are all mages.”

She looked to the ceiling for help. Of all the stupid… “You’re telling me that you and your son can’t stand each other because he decided to ‘be all he could be’ instead of casting spells for a living?” She slumped into her seat and let her head fall against the high back.

“‘Be all he could be’? I don’t understand your meaning, Majesty.”

Adrienne replied, “Never mind.” She pushed herself back to an upright position and straightened her skirts. She mumbled something about men and stupidity and the hard way before she said, “Get over it.”

“Majesty, I don’t think you understand.”

“I understand enough. Do you even know how lucky you are? I can’t even
see
my parents unless Malik takes me to them. And you… You’re not twenty feet from your son—he’s standing at the end of the hall—and you can’t even look at him.” Adrienne stood and paced in the little space in front of her chair, which consisted of three steps, turning and repeating. “Both of you are idiots and that’s what you have in common,” she finally pronounced.

Adrienne plopped back into her seat. She met Travers’s worried gaze. “Okay, look, Travers. You and I both know in order to be in the Elite guard—let alone one of the chosen few to guard the royal couple exclusively—you
have
to know how to use magicks. Khursid is a mage. Khursid is a soldier. Don’t know if you’ve noticed, but Malik prefers his guards to be both.”

She searched his eyes to see if he comprehended her words, then continued, “It doesn’t matter that Khursid became a soldier and chooses his blade before magicks. He still has magicks and uses it if he has to.” She thought back to his nose dive out of her window. “That’s all that should matter.”

Travers bowed. “I know the Elite must have knowledge of magicks. I know that, Majesty, but I have seen Khursid in battle before; he never uses his magicks, even if his opponent does.”

“So what? Be happy he can cover his ass with his blade even if the other guy is throwing fireballs at him. I think that speaks volumes about his combat skills.”

Adrienne rose once more and walked over to Travers. She laid her hand on his shoulder. She felt him jerk and smiled at him. “‘It’s better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it’. That’s a saying where I’m from.” She gave his shoulder a pat and backed up a step. “In my opinion, though a strong mage you may be, it’s you who’s lacking in skills, not Khursid. Not to mention, isn’t this soldier versus mage crap what got this feud between Ulan and Kakra started in the first place?”

She didn’t wait for his answer before she turned and headed for the door. A thought brought her to an abrupt halt. She turned back to Travers, who had risen when he realized she intended to leave. “Khursid will be at dinner tonight, like always. You two have my permission to step out and have a talk. You will explain to your son about your relationship with his mother and about what the real problem is. He will give you the heirs you wanted and you’ll start treating him like he means something to you. Be thankful you can see him at all—it’s more than my parents have.” She gave a slight nod and left.

Travers stared after his queen in stunned silence. Before, his silence was to save himself from upsetting her—now his silence was from shock. He didn’t have any time to recover before Malik stepped out of a portal directly in front of him. Travers opened and closed his mouth many times.

“Calm yourself, Travers. I simply want to know what my wife found more important than the welfare of the kingdom,” Malik said. He smiled at Travers’s state. Adrienne had that effect on people.

“Majesty…” Travers stopped, passing his hand over his face. “I don’t envy you, My King. She truly is your equal.”

“You felt it then?”

“As soon as she touched me, Majesty. When did she learn to forge contract spells?” He waved his hand in front of himself. “Strong contract spells, at that. I will be near death if the spell perceives I am not following her orders to the letter.”

“She has not.”

Travers stared at his king in stunned shock. “You…you mean… She forged a contract spell of this power, this magnitude, and she has not yet learned—”

“Yes. She has this capability. That is not my worry, Travers,” Malik dismissed. He sat in the chair Adrienne had vacated.

“Majesty?”

“Something is wrong with Adrienne’s powers. She was more powerful before we wed. She imagined what she wanted and it would happen. Now all her magicks are unconscious. She seems to not have noticed the change.”

“I don’t understand, Majesty,” Travers said.

“She wanted me to be calm during our wedding dinner and wove a calming spell around me. She wished for you to follow her words without hesitation and bound you in a contract. Her magicks are acting on inner desires. It is my theory her magicks will not work if she actively concentrates on a specific goal. I do not plan to test this theory and alert Adrienne to her impediment.”

“How did this happen?”

Malik recounted the incident in Adrienne’s former chambers before the wedding ceremony. He finished, “I have never known any mage who could hold me silent and immobile. Whoever the mage, they did something to Adrienne to stunt her powers.”

Travers nodded. He almost mentioned the interference spell placed on the blood spell that found Adrienne, but he stopped himself. This didn’t sound like the work of the same person. Why would they stunt Adrienne’s powers? Making her weaker would only make Malik guard her more closely. Anyone who wished to do her harm would want Malik to be overconfident in his wife’s abilities and thus protect her less.

Instead, Travers said, “I shall look into this matter, My King.”

“Do not bother,” Malik said as he got to his feet. “There is no trace of the mage who cast the spell and no trace of the magicks used. If I had not felt Adrienne’s true powers before our marriage, I would have thought she was fine—weak, but fine. I know better. But what mage can cast spells and leave no trace of their power afterwards?”

“None.”

“Someone on Bron is more powerful than me, and they showed this by affecting Adrienne. But to what purpose?”

“I do not know, My King.”

“Keep all I have told you to yourself, Travers. I do not want even the other chancellors to know. They will think Adrienne is not my true blood-spell-chosen bride.”

“I will breathe not a word, Majesty.” Travers bowed. After all, he hadn’t told the other chancellors about the possible traitor in their midst, as they were all suspect. Not telling them of Adrienne’s now-stunted powers would be easy. As a matter of fact, he wouldn’t even mention these visits to anyone—Adrienne’s or Malik’s.

Malik returned to the throne room through a portal, leaving Travers alone. He looked around his rooms. His king and queen must think him a slovenly person for having his rooms in such disarray. He was not usually so disheveled. The search for the traitor made him frantic, and he didn’t have time to clean.

And now it seemed he had to worry about another who may or may not be a traitor. Malik told him not to search for answers to Adrienne’s stunted powers, but Travers didn’t believe as his king. The two incidents were related.

Chapter Seventeen

“Mushira.”

Mushira stopped searching the closet and looked at Adrienne. “Yes, Majesty?” she asked.

“I want you to come with Malik and I this weekend to visit my parents,” Adrienne said. The day Malik would take her back to her parents had arrived, six days before Malik’s birthday. The whole kingdom had started preparations for a huge party. They would celebrate not only Malik’s birthday, but another heir’s ability to hold Ulan.

Court matters lulled, since nothing was more important than planning the celebration. Malik thought it was the perfect time to take Adrienne home.

Adrienne couldn’t agree more.

“As you wish, of course, Majesty. May I ask why? I would think you would like this chance to be alone with your family and away from reminders of court,” Mushira said.

“‘Away from reminders of court’?” Adrienne asked on a laugh. “We’re taking Feyr and Mischief. If they aren’t a huge reminder, I don’t know what is.” Mischief came over to her at the mention of his name. He rubbed against her ankles and purred. She picked him up absently and started petting him. “I think my mother will take this whole situation much better if she knows there is someone here taking care of me, namely you.”

Mushira looked shocked. “Majesty, I…I am only your maid. It is the king who—”

“That’s not what I meant, and you know it,” Adrienne interrupted. “I know you and my mother will get along, because you’re a lot alike. She’ll be happy to know you’re by my side.”

“It is my honor,” Mushira said with a deep curtsy.

Malik entered the room. Travers, who looked pale and carried himself like he was in pain, trailed behind him.

Malik stopped short and whirled around. “You are not going, Travers. It is a three-day trip to visit Adrienne’s family, not a diplomatic mission to another kingdom. Even then, you would not accompany me.”

Before Travers could open his mouth and argue, Adrienne said, “You aren’t coming, High Chancellor. I distinctly remember telling you to talk to your son, which you still haven’t done. This would be the perfect time since I won’t be here for him to protect. He has three days’ free time. Use it wisely.” There was a warning in her tone. From the way Travers snapped his mouth shut and took a step back, she knew he heard it.

Adrienne put her smile back in place with a nod. She looked around the room. “Are we ready to go then?” she asked Malik.

He came to her side and kissed her neck. “At your command, my lady,” he agreed.

Mushira said frantically, “I have yet to pack for you, Majesty.” She returned to searching through the closet.

Adrienne waved that away. “You don’t have to. I have clothes at my parents’ house. They aren’t what you’re used to dressing me in, but I don’t need to dress like a queen at home. Pack what you need for yourself and we can go.” She watched Mushira rush out of the room.

“I want to go,” Rena said.

Adrienne smiled at the little girl. “Not this trip, sweeting. I promise you can come next time, though.” Adrienne didn’t know what would happen on this trip. Whatever it was, she didn’t want Rena exposed to it.

Feyr said, “
Mischief will tell you all about it upon our return. Though you must remember what we told you, Rena. No one is to know Adrienne is from a different dimension.
”

“I won’t forget, Master Feyr. I won’t say anything to anyone. Promise,” Rena vowed with a hand over her heart. With Malik’s help, as Adrienne couldn’t seem to get the job done, Rena had learned to communicate with Feyr. This little ability surprised her father. Rena could use very little magicks since she hadn’t started her schooling yet, but at the whim of her queen, she had surpassed almost every mage on Bron with her ability to speak to Feyr and any other animal she wanted.

“Good girl,” Adrienne praised. She smiled as Hani came forward and retrieved Rena. Both of them moved to stand near the others.

Her attention returned to Malik. “You did pack enough for Feyr and Mischief to eat, right?”

Malik held up the orb for her to see. He had ordered the cook to prepare the meals, not offering an explanation for their purpose, and the cook not asking for one.

“Good,” Adrienne said. With an excited squeal, she hugged Mischief close. He purred at her affection. She was going home. It had taken three months but she was going home.

Adrienne’s excitement thrilled along Malik’s skin. He liked the feel of it. Suddenly this errand didn’t seem as trying as it had an hour ago. He’d had to practically cause his chancellors bodily harm when they insisted on knowing where he planned to vacation with Adrienne.

Only Travers, Adrienne’s entourage, and the Primaries knew of her true origins, and Malik planned to keep it that way. Now Rena was added to that list.

Malik didn’t like the little girl knowing, most of all. She could mistakenly tell someone without thinking. She was a child. But Adrienne told him not to worry about it.