Divided (22 page)

This actually surprised the older prince.  He had not
expected that his mother knew that about him, let alone that she would comment
on it.  He blinked at her.  “I… yes,” he said.  He couldn’t very well argue
with her when he was this impressed that she’d known at all.

“Why don’t you enjoy it?” Tareth asked.  This conversation
had turned out to be far less painful than Calis had anticipated, though he was
still having images of throttling his brother against the obnoxious table at
which they all sat.

Calis stared at his younger brother with no expression.  He
couldn’t say why he didn’t enjoy it—he just knew that he didn’t.  “Why don’t
you enjoy riding?” he asked.  “I can’t say why I don’t—I just don’t.”

Tareth seemed to take this as a suitable answer, and he
nodded his head.  Despite the appearance that all was forgiven, Tareth was
harboring more dislike than usual for his brother, and Calis could detect it
even at their current distance.  Well, he wasn’t going to go to bizarre lengths
to repair the fracture in their already haphazard relationship.  “You should
learn to like people more,” Tareth said, “it would make your life more
enjoyable.”

“It would make his life less productive,” Lavus spoke with a
decisive voice that cut through the air and informed everyone in the room that
they had better stop talking until he’d given them specific permission.

Neither of the boys responded but with a nod and a glance
down at the table.  Now that their father was present, that meant any and all
free conversation was gone, and they had to pretend to respect him wholly.  The
sad part was, Lavus truly believed that they did respect him.  Though, Tareth
did fear Lavus so much that he seemed to genuinely respect him.

“Good evening, dear,” Claudia was the one who acknowledged
her husband’s presence verbally.  Though everyone had done so physically, and
that was all Lavus truly cared about.  He needed to know that he was the center
of attention.

Lavus offered a greeting that Calis scarcely understood, and
the servants were soon bringing out the first course.  Calis barely noticed
what it was.  They always had soup first, even when Calis took dinner by
himself.  This soup was a pale, golden color, and the taste of salt had his
face twisting into a frown.  

The servants were the only ones that made any noise.  Calis
hadn’t the slightest idea why Lavus called them to dinner on these occasions—no
one ever ate enough, mostly because they were so nervous that Lavus might want
their attention mid-bite.  Calis’s eye twitched as he shoved another spoonful
of whatever was on his plate into his mouth.

Calis was counting the ticks until he could find a reason to
excuse himself.  Claudia was staring at Lavus with eyes that seemed to hate and
respect him at the same time, and Tareth was obviously still brooding over the
things Calis had said to him.  This was miserable—and this was his life.  He
longed instantly for the dinners back in Dokak—he and Lee had insisted on not
imposing on the royal family in Dokak—and so they had been able to eat without
feeling, well, uneasy.

In fact, Calis just missed the time when his father wasn’t
around.  He had felt so much freer, and now that his father was back in his
life, he felt as though walls were closing in on him, and closing in more
quickly than he could react.  “Your majesty,” Claudia started, as Lavus
considered anyone using his name as offensive and vile, even his own wife,
“were you able to resolve the matter of the Taron and Ukar house amiably?” she
asked.

Her tone was contrite, and Calis knew she was only venturing
into conversation for the sake of her children.  If Claudia wasn’t a lovely
wife to Lavus, she did love the children he had given her.  Just the same, she
did pretend to be a loving and respectful wife.  If Calis hadn’t seen those
daggers in her eyes when she thought no one was looking, he’d never have
expected how deeply the hatred ran. 

The house was full of madness and corruption, and his
deceptively unfortunate birth trapped him behind its walls.  He was desperate
for any other life, even one of the other noble houses would have been more
tolerable, certainly.  Surely, the heads of those homes weren’t such unkind
brutes.  Lavus was staring at Claudia, as if deciding whether or not he ought
to speak.  “Of course I did,” he answered simply.

“Lovely,” she answered, without the tiniest hint of the
dryness that she no doubt wanted to convey.  She was probably wishing in her
heart of hearts that he’d irritated the Ukars or Tarons so that they would feel
the same need to run a dagger through his heart that she felt. 

What a morbid place this was. 

“I noticed you don’t seem particularly interested in any of
the women at court, son,” Lavus finally initiated conversation after a few more
cold seconds.  Calis was all too wary when he realized that the words were
directed at him.

Though, when he thought about it, he was the one that Lavus bestowed
with conversation most frequently.  Calis would never understand why, but the
older he got, the less he liked it.  As a child, Calis had enjoyed being
Lavus’s favorite—but now the idea was horrifying.  For being the favorite of
someone who did not have favor was little more than being last in line for an
execution. 

Not to mention, now he was being called out for one of the
things that he had not done a fair job at disguising.  Lavus would no doubt
have some rather insulting words on this matter for him.  He couldn’t lie,
either, or the conversation would only deteriorate more rapidly.  “I do not
find any of the women particularly pleasing,” Calis said.  “Apologies.”

“Do not apologize,” Lavus said with a far more merciful tone
than Calis had expected.  Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the
disappointment flicker across Tareth’s face.  Calis’s younger brother had been
desperate to see Calis humiliated for once.  Though Calis could hardly see how
he could be insulted too harshly for rejecting the women with which he was
presented.  They were, after all, interested enough in being with him.  Even if
they didn’t like him, they didn’t hate him—they wanted to marry him.

Calis wasn’t sure how to proceed with this conversation.  He
thought it possible this was an elaborately set trap so that he wouldn’t
apologize and be insulted more later.  “I had thought that you wanted me to
take one of them as a wife,” Calis said, “or rather, you had wanted me to take
Lady Avyon as a wife.”

Lavus let a wicked smile move across his lips.  Calis
thought for a moment that the man might be planning to murder him, but then the
smile subsided and he was staring at Calis with those hard eyes again.  “I do,
and you will,” he said without question.  As Calis had always expected, he had
no say in who he married.

“As I thought,” Calis said flatly, “but I assumed you would
have wanted me to enjoy her company if I am to marry her.  The marriage may be
more convincing that way.”

The moment passed, and the feeling that he was going to be
humiliated rose again in Calis’s chest.  Not that he cared what his family
thought of him, as he was fairly certain none of them cared for him,
anyway—except maybe Claudia and she would not hold Lavus’s disfavor against
him.  She had never held it against Tareth.  “Quite the contrary,” Lavus said
with conviction, “enjoying a woman’s company can be dangerous.”

Well, that had not been at all what Calis had expected.  The
words were simple, as though Lavus had just explained a critical point of
battle.  In fact, his voice sounded remarkably like the one he’d used when training
Calis during earlier times.  “And, my son, I have seen how well you can deceive
when you feel the need to.  The marriage will be as convincing as it needs to
be,” Lavus added.

The thought reassured and infuriated Calis.  On the one
hand, Lavus had not brought this up to tell his son that he needed to like Lady
Avyon, but on the other, Lavus wanted Calis to live perpetually with a woman for
whom he had no desire.  “I feel as though I should at least have some sort of
desire, my lord,” Calis said warily.  He should probably just nod, but the
entire concept seemed so foreign that he asked anyway.

Claudia was clearly not enjoying this conversation, and
Tareth seemed a little stricken by it as well.  Lavus had never gone so far as
to say that marriage should not involve any sort of love—he had only not
demonstrated it.  “Desire for her will come when the time is right.  She is a
woman, and therefore she will be able to satisfy you and bear children, and
that is all that truly matters beyond her noble birth.”

Calis’s jaw clenched and he worked to ease it before he
opened his mouth and shouted at his father.  He had never anticipated falling
in love, but the idea of purposefully avoiding it was disgusting.  This world
was more than what his father made of it.  Yet, saying so would do nothing for
Calis now.  “That is not… I was not seeing it that way, Father,” Calis said.

“Of course you weren’t,” Lavus said, as gently as he knew
how to speak.  “You felt as though you should feel for these women, and the
idea frightened you because you did not—as you should not—unlike your brother
who chases them like a dog chases geese.  You are a smart boy, and you are not
so foolish as to fall for some woman.”

Smart? 
Calis thought sardonically. 
Perhaps
socially isolated and unable to interact well with others, but I wouldn’t
contribute that to my being smart.  My being smart consists of getting Dokak to
trust your pathetic name when you have not earned any such trust. 
Clearly,
his father believed that emotions destroyed logic.  Lee may have agreed with
the idea, if Lee had been a coward and a fool.

Without being able to agree or disagree properly with his
father, Calis just nodded his head in acceptance of the idea.  There was not a
damn thing he could do to sway his father, and there wasn’t anything he could
do to convince himself that his father was right.  “Very well,” he said,
“perhaps I will view court more lightly, then.”

“I hardly think court is necessary anymore,” his father said
decisively.

Calis flinched.  Here it was—something far worse than the
humiliation he had anticipated.  The one thing he had been dreading since he’d
returned from Dokak, and the one thing that would never leave him, was upon him. 
“Why not, Father?” he asked when his father’s pause merited it.

“I believe you should propose to Lady Avyon whenever you see
fit, and I will let her family—and the families of the others know.” 

Calis had to work to restrain his sigh.  He had seen this
coming, and he thought he was prepared for it, but the emotional shock that
came with being forced into a marriage was suffocating him.  He wished
fervently that the meal was over, but he still had a course to go before he
would be allowed to leave.

“And without knowledge or understanding, the boy left
his home, and all that he had to fulfill his promise.”

-A Hero’s Peace v.ii

Calis kept up a quick pace, with Lee following behind.  The
journey to Dark District had never been so filled with unhappiness.  “He truly
told me that I was not supposed to desire the woman I married!” he spat.  “What
nonsense is that?”

“Lavus’s,” Lee answered helpfully.  Calis had been venting
for the past few shifts, and Lee had handled it all very well.  Though, even
Calis’s advisor had been a little surprised when he’d been told about Lavus’s
view on marriage.

Passing over the wall was easier with the burst of strength
that came with his anger.  He swallowed as he landed in the dirt patch, and he smirked
cruelly at how pathetically the guards watched the walls.  If a commoner was
smart enough, he could easily have made his way into Shining District without
trouble. 

Lee landed beside Calis a few moments later, and his green
eyes watched the blond for some sign of insanity.  “You are angrier than your
father normally makes you,” Lee said.  “I understand why, but I think you ought
to watch yourself—don’t do anything rash.”

“Are you implying that I might take out my frustrations on
the commoners like my pathetic excuse for a brother?” Calis asked flatly.  Lee
flushed and then looked away.  Apparently, he had thought Calis just angry
enough to try it.  “Though, seeing our little vigilante friend might be worth
pretending,” he said.  “But, I’m dressed as a commoner, and so that might be a
bit odd.  I doubt the Phantom Blade interferes much in the business of
commoners fighting with commoners.”

Lee nodded his head, as if he’d already thought about and
confirmed this for himself.  Calis had no doubt that he had.  They were both in
unexciting brown colors.  Calis’s boots had torn in his last visit to the
district, and they were a might uncomfortable, which was unfortunate because
this outfit was one of the few in which he’d found himself comfortable.  A
simple brown tunic and pants were far more fitting for a man than all that
shining nonsense that he was forced to wear to be considered a well-off noble. 
Lee looked better in the brown, as well, though Lee’s nobleman outfit was far
less elaborate than Calis’s.  “If your theory is correct, I think even if you
were dressed as the truth, then picking a pretend fight would be a mistake.”

“Right you are,” Calis agreed.  He doubted he’d have much
success in explaining to The Phantom Blade, or to Kilik, that he’d simply been
toying with the commoner so as to see him.  The story would not have been a
very believable one, and Kilik seemed very much too modest to listen to any
silliness such as that. 

But it would be true,
Calis thought amusingly. 

As they moved into the flow of the people, men hurrying by
on their carts and women oohing over the few pieces of clothing that were in
the market eased into their vision and overcame them.  Calis could instantly
feel his uneasiness slipping from him, and he wished fervently that he’d been
born a commoner.

If people like Kilik were commoners, then he was sure that
his life would have been much more filled with friends.  Once their path
reached the middle of the market, Lee spoke.  “I ought to go see one of my
sources at the inn.  I think I’d like to know a bit more about the inner
workings without actually having to ask him,” he said.

Calis didn’t bother trying to keep Lee with him, as he’d
discovered that he was just as comfortable on his own as with Lee in Dark
District.  As Lee walked off, Calis started in a different direction and let
his mind begin to wonder. 

Truly his father had told him that not only love—but desire
and happiness—should not accompany a marriage, and that Calis would be expected
to propose and become married very shortly.  Why would Calis ever want that—and
why would Lavus be so soulless as to expect him to?  The strange part was that
he seemed to think that Calis felt the same.

Perhaps Calis had given that impression though, with his
disinterest in everyone at court.  He had never been one to enjoy events like
that, and now that the court was his own, he hated it even more.  Lavus could
easily have misconstrued it as superiority and hunger for power.  Calis could
only imagine Lavus’s horror if he knew that his favored son had simply been daydreaming
about trips to Dark District to mingle with the commoners.  That would
certainly give Lavus the shock enough to kill him for which Claudia seemed so
desperate.

“You look a little dazed, sir,” someone near to him said. 
Calis nearly jumped at being addressed so suddenly.  When he searched for whom
had spoken, he found the sandy haired boy that had been out front of the
healer’s house when Lee and he had gone there a few cycles prior.  “My mother
is a healer if you aren’t feeling well.”

The kind heartedness of the offer made Calis smile, but he
simply shook his head.  As much as he might like to go back to Kilik’s home and
see the boy again—he knew that Kilik would certainly be wary of that
situation.  “I was simply thinking—I feel fine.”  Though, he didn’t know if
fine was the right term.

He thought about asking the boy if his mother could do
anything about being forced into a hapless and loveless marriage, but that
might frighten the poor child.  “Well, you don’t look happy,” the boy informed
him cheerily.

The boy was just reaching his growth spurt, with a tuft of blond
hair on top of his head.  His eyes were a pale blue, and his smile was missing
a few teeth.  A cute child, to be certain.  “I appreciate your concern,” Calis
said, “but whatever my unhappiness is, rest assured that it will pass.”

The child didn’t seem entirely convinced, and he frowned a
puzzled little frown at Calis.  “You look familiar.  Have you come to see my mother
for healing?”

“I was there a few cycles ago,” Calis answered truthfully. 
There was no sense lying to the poor kid, and if he told the truth, the child
might lose interest and leave him to his wanderings.  For as cute as the kid
was, Calis was not overly interested in his conversation. 

The boy’s eyes lit up.  “Oh, that’s right—you’re that guy
who Kilik was trying to find!” he said.

Now he was interested
very
much in the boy’s
conversation.  In fact, he tilted his head and quirked an eyebrow at his small
conversationalist friend.  “Why was he looking for me?”

The boy grinned wolfishly and then let out a quick little
laugh.  “He was very angry with you for not keeping your coins.  He looked for
you everywhere, but no one had seen you—I think he finally gave up.  Should I
not tell him I saw you?”

That sort of request would have been quite shady, Calis
thought, and he certainly didn’t want Kilik thinking him shady.  “Why would I
not want you to tell him?” Calis asked thoughtfully.

“Well, I thought you were hiding from him—since no one had
seen you, and he couldn’t find you.  Kilik is very good at finding people
usually.”

“Is he?” Calis asked.  “I was not hiding from Kilik.  I was
just busy with my own affairs.”  There was a pang of regret when he thought of
Kilik searching for him.  Maybe the young man had thought that he’d finally
left, which would not have looked good the sun after helping with the
unloading.  “Maybe I will go look for him,” he concluded.

The boy shrugged his shoulders, and Calis could see that now
he was the one losing interest in the conversation.  “I doubt you will find
him,” he said.

That was a strange thing to say.  Truly, the boy didn’t seem
to be paying attention, but the words had been sincere enough.  “Why wouldn’t
I?”

“I just doubt it,” the kid said absently.

After a moment of hesitation, Calis decided to change the
course of the conversation to bring the child back into it.  “What is your
name, child?” he asked.

“Oh!” the boy said with a start, and Calis’s attempt to draw
him back in had succeeded.  Children were very easy to manipulate, he though
wanly.  “My name is Aitken Amaral,” he answered dutifully.

“Nice to meet you, Aitken, thanks for the information.”

Another less than toothy grin greeted Calis at that.  “It
was awfully nice of you to help Kilik out like that, sir, not many people do
here in Dark District.”

Calis forced the frown from his face at the remark.  Despite
everything, people in Dark District seemed to have a reputation of being just
as selfish as the nobles from which Calis wanted so desperately to escape. 
“That is surprising,” Calis said, “Kilik seems like a nice guy, and the people
in Dark District don’t seem overly mean.”

“They aren’t,” Aitken answered.  “And they all like Kilik
very much.  The problem is—and I don’t think my mother sees it this way—but
Kilik doesn’t accept help very well.  He is always telling people he doesn’t
need them.  I’ve never seen anyone insist on it as much as you did.  People
offer to help him, but when he tells them not to—well, they have their own stuff
to do, so they go away.”

It would have been easy, Calis thought, to simply leave
Kilik be after the boy had refused his help so vehemently.  If he had been
less… drawn to Kilik, he would certainly have left.  “I enjoyed it,
regardless,” Calis said.  “And you can tell Kilik that as well.”

“You must really like him.  My sister said that you must
because you were so set on helping him.  Do you like Kilik?”

The question was meant to be innocent enough.  Clearly the
boy was not asking Calis for intimate personal details, but the attachment of
Calis to Kilik was already personal.  He blushed and nodded his head.  “Well,
I—yes, I do.  Why wouldn’t I?” he asked, a little more defensively than he
should have.

Aitken frowned.  “I don’t know.  But my sister seemed to
think it was worthy of whispering to her friends when she thought I wasn’t
listening,” he said.  This meant that Alyx, the healer’s daughter, thought that
he more than
liked
Kilik.  Nevertheless, Calis was sure that was
positively nonsensical.  Kilik was everything that he was never permitted to
like, let alone have romantic feelings for.

“Your sister is odd,” Calis told the boy.  Aitken grinned
and nodded his head in certain agreement.

“Kilik thinks so too.”

The sound of hooves beating against the dirt sparked Calis’s
attention.  His head lifted, and he glanced through a few of the buildings. 
“Horses?” Calis asked the boy before him.  He quirked an eyebrow.  He was sure
that he’d only seen mules in Dark District.

Aitken’s eyes were sparkling with excitement, and the boy
jerked his head quickly.  “I bet it’s nobles!  Come on!” he said and headed off
towards one of the alleys.

Calis hadn’t the slightest idea why the boy would want to be
near the nobles—unless he expected what Calis was beginning to expect as they
neared another of the streets between the two buildings.  Though, they could
hardly be classified as streets at all.  Sure enough, when they were in view, Calis
recognized the black horses of the Ukar family.

Pretending to slip in the dirt, Calis found an excuse to
dirty his face a little.  The last thing he needed was the son of the Ukar
family recognizing him—especially after Calis had just been unknowingly responsible
for rejecting his sister.

The horses, all black, with their green stirrups and
saddles, were surrounding an older woman who looked more than a little
frightened.  Calis frowned.  “Really, Althion?  Why?” Calis hissed.  His fists
clenched in response.  An old lady—really—why did they feel the need to be such
bloody monsters?

“What did you say?” Aitken asked him.  He had nearly
forgotten that the boy was standing at his side, doubtlessly because of the
very people he was trying to avoid.

“Ah, nothing,” Calis answered.

They must be here often, as every time he came to Dark
District, or nearly every, there was a noble about making trouble for the
commoners.  The old lady—well, not old, her hair was only beginning to gray,
and her face still held a little bit of youth—but she was too old to be picked
up for the pleasures for which noblemen were known for picking up women.  “Hey
there, little lady,” one of the men said as the horses circled her.

There were a lot of men, too, more than any Ukar would have
taken for a typical stroll.  Calis had a distinctive feeling that he knew what
this might be about.  “Wow, there is a lot of them,” the boy said.

“Yeah,” Calis said sourly.  “There are.”

Finally, one of the men reached down and yanked the woman by
the arm, bringing her up onto his horse.  “You wouldn’t happen to have a
daughter that we could go visit?”  She choked an incoherent reply. “We’re a
bunch of very bored men, and we were hoping someone here could entertain us,”
the man added cheerfully.

The woman shrieked in protest and when she tried to get off
the horse, the man let her fall without much resistance.  When she landed with
a hard thud, the group of them laughed.  Calis counted seven of them.

One of the men got off his horse, handing the reins to his
nearest friend.  Calis recognized this one as the eldest Ukar boy.  His name
was Althion, and he’d never been anything but cold and fake to Calis.  The blond
doubted he’d be recognized, but he was not wanting to take that chance right
now. 

“Well, I’m alright with older women.  How old are you, sweet
cakes?” Althion asked, and he grabbed her when she tried to run.

Her eyes were darting about the market, and Calis could see
the other commoners staring in horror.  A few of them looked conflicted, but
most of them looked as though they weren’t even considering helping the poor
woman.  “Leave me alone!” she said.

One of the other men had hopped down, and Althion tossed her
into him.  “What do you think, Jermaian?” he asked his friend.  “She isn’t too
bad for someone with gray in her hair.”

“Not too bad, but I would like to know if she had a
daughter,” his friend replied.  Calis felt anger welling in his mind, and he
wasn’t sure that he was going to be able to remain where he was for very much
longer.