Once Upon a Romance 02 - As The Last Petal Falls (30 page)

“I love you. It doesn’t matter who your father is, or what you’re heir to.”

“And I love you. So what’s the problem?”

“I have a story I need to tell you.”

“Fain.” There was impatience in her voice. “I don’t think I’m in the mood for a fairy story right now.”

“This isn’t a tale. I need to tell you what I’m doing, here in the mountains.”

She backed up a step.

“What does that have to do with me?”

“Sit down, Belle.” He gestured to the edge of the bed. “This is going to take a while.”

She eyed him warily, but settled gingerly against her pillows.

“Tell me what you know about the royal family in Toldas.”

She rolled her eyes. “I am
part
of the royal family of Toldas, Fain, I’ve learned my geneology.”

“Just humor me.”

“The first king of Toldas was a tyrannical upstart named—”

“The
current
royal family, please,
Vivienne
.”

She flashed him a quick smile. “Let’s see. When I was born, King Andras Lodney was the ruler in Toldas. He had two sons, Jestin Ruarc and Brannon Uriens, and one more potential heir, Isabelle Alaine, his niece.”

“And?”

“
And,
” she drew the word out, “with both an heir and a spare, Isabelle Alaine was considered unlikely to inherit, and was given in marriage to King Regal of Albion. They produced one child: a charming, beautiful, gracious, well-spoken—”

“—hellcat.”

“—
daughter
.” She glared at him. “Prince Jestin died in a hunting accident before fathering an heir, and King Andras died soon after his eldest son, leaving Brannon Uriens to inherit the throne. King Brannon has yet to marry, but he
has
acknowledged one illegitimate daughter.”

“Anything else?”

Some of the light went out of her face, but she spoke as though reciting a history lesson. “Isabelle was summoned to Toldas for the interment of King Andras, and never returned to her husband and daughter. She is missing, and presumed dead of unknown causes.”

“And when you told me you were going to visit your mother’s family, to find out what happened to her?”

“That was the truth.”

Fain sighed heavily and sat down on the bed next to Belle. “It’s hard to know where to begin. I told you that my father was paxman to Prince Jestin.” She nodded. “The MacTíres were trusted and well respected as a family. Nowhere near the line of succession, so no one worried we were maneuvering for the throne. The king favored us as well, which is why, when he discovered Brannon had fathered a child, he sent the girl and her mother to live with us.”

“Are you saying that your foster-sister, Bianca, is my far-cousin?”

Fain nodded. “She’s Brannon’s daughter. You’d like her, Belle. She has a heart of gold, but she’s not very strong willed. She needed someone who would care for her without trying to influence her. So you can see, when I say we had a close relationship with the royal family, I mean that we were
very
close.”

“I’m beginning to see that.”

“My father used to go with the two princes on their hunting parties. The summer I was twelve, they planned a long trek up into the mountains, searching for the lightweight pelts of the great cats that live there. I begged to go, but my father was adamant. He said that I was too young for such a dangerous trip, but that if I could track them for the first three days without being spotted, he would let me come in the fall to hunt deer.” Fain stared into the fire while he spoke. “He didn’t tell Jestin or Brannon; he planned to make it a game just between the two of us.

“I tracked them for two days without being spotted. I was so proud. On the third day I was slow getting started and lost their trail for half an hour, but I found it again. I didn’t want to stumble upon them, not when I was so close to getting permission to join them in the fall, so I moved slowly and carefully. I knew I’d have a chance to close the distance between us when they stopped to rest for the morning.”

As he spoke, Fain remembered his passage through the woods clearly. It had been beautiful, and he’d tried to remember each detail, so he could tell Bianca when he returned home.

“The air was cooler up in the mountains. At home everything was muggy and hot. I remember thinking that Bianca must have been begging my mother to let her go to the lake with the hold boys. My limbs felt so light, away from that stifling heat, and I was happy, knowing I would be making my father proud. It felt like a perfect day.

“They must have paused by the stream to refill their water. I don’t know. When I finally heard voices up ahead, I dropped to my stomach and slithered forward, trying to be silent.” Fain knew his voice sounded dead. It was the only way he could tell this tale. Belle sat silent beside him, with concern radiating from every feature. “I found a spot in the bushes where I could see. My father and Jestin were standing by the stream bed, laughing over some joke one of them had made.”

Every moment was branded on his memory. He could still hear the soft splashing the stream made as it poured over the rocks, still smell the scent of summer leaves in the sun.

“I saw Brannon glance at the other men, and this little voice in my head started screaming, but I couldn’t think what to do. I froze.” Even now he felt guilty. If he’d only called a warning, or done something… anything. “Then Jestin knelt down by the stream, and Brannon stepped forward and just… he just…”

“What?” Belle’s voice was a whisper. She had to know how the tale ended, but was waiting for him to say it.

“He took his skinning knife and drove it into his brother’s back.” She gasped and reached out her hand, but he couldn’t stop now. He had to finish. “My father drew his own knife, but the men closed on him. Brannon must have planned it all from the beginning. He didn’t even say anything, just watched while they brought my father down.” His voice sounded harsh and bitter in his ears. Hatred for the traitorous prince overwhelmed him.

“I made some sound; I couldn’t help it. I was only twelve. When Brannon lifted his head, I knew he’d heard me, and I ran. He saw me—I know he did, he called my name—but the men couldn’t catch me; I was smaller and faster than they were. I fled up farther in the mountains.”

It had been terrifying, but he didn’t say that. She probably knew. His words kept pouring out, colored by his rage.

“I knew I couldn’t go home. If Brannon suspected my mother or brothers knew anything, he would kill them, just like he’d killed my father. I thought of going to the king. There was a chance he would believe me. Like I said, our family had always been trusted. And Andras knew that his younger son was power hungry, he just didn’t know the extent. I tried several times to make it into Inisle, but each time, I found a party of men combing the lands around the city. I found out later that
Brannon,
” he spit out the name, “had put out a story about a wild beast that was terrorizing people, so that he could send small bands of loyal soldiers out to keep watch for me.”

Belle filled in the next part of the story. “And then the king died.”

“Yes. I’ve wondered for a long time if Brannon had anything to do with it. I had been lurking around small rural towns for weeks, trading odd jobs for food. When I found out about the king, I just… walked away. I headed straight out into the wilderness. I was alone in the mountains until the snows fell, and that’s when the wolves found me.”

“What happened?”

“I don’t know.” He shook his head. It was something he still wondered about. “The pack came on me one evening and didn’t eat me. I sat terrified all night, but nothing happened. The next morning, Grey Tip brought me a snow hare, and when they left I followed them. I don’t know why they didn’t hurt me, or why they let me join them, but from then on I ran with the pack.”

“How did you end up here?”

“It took a while. I would visit towns when I needed to hear another human voice, and after a few years people began to speak out against Brannon. He isn’t just a traitor; he’s a tyrant of a king. The people were only grumbling, but when word reached him he would sit in judgement on entire towns, and his punishments were harsh. Once he took the entire winter grain supply; the villagers were forced to buy back their own grain at exorbitant rates. Another time he culled the flocks and took all the best breeding stock for the royal yards. The worst was when he ‘invited’ the eldest village children to work in the castle.”

“Did he…?”

“Kill them? No. He lets their families see them occasionally. But he holds their safety hostage. After that, everyone was too scared to speak out.”

“What about you?”

“I was terrified. I found out he’d finally taken Bianca into his own household, and I wondered if he meant it as a threat against me. But my anger was greater than my fear. So I did something stupid.” Belle waited in silence, holding her breath.

“I robbed a royal caravan.”

“What?!”

“It was an impulsive thing. They were traveling through the woods, and only had a few guards. I knocked one down and pretended I wasn’t alone, and they gave over the pay chest they were carrying.”

“You could have been killed!”

“But I wasn’t. I told the captain to tell Brannon he’d been robbed by the wild beast. Then I dumped the pay chest near one of the towns he’d impoverished.”

She sat, staring at him with her mouth open.

“I kept doing it. I would rig traps and deadfalls when I knew a caravan was on its way. Occasionally the wolves would come along. They never attacked anyone, but they were menacing enough that more than one guard decided to let me go unhindered. A reward was offered for anyone who turned ‘The Beast’ over to authorities, but other rumors spread, as well. Every time I dumped my loot somewhere, the townspeople would talk.

“Once, I happened upon a prisoner transport. They were taking dissidents who had spoken against the crown to Inisle for judgement. I held them up and set all the prisoners free. That’s when men began showing up to join me. Ones whose families had been threatened, or who had nothing at home keeping them there. A few fled from unjust prison sentences, and Billy Notter is here because he refused to go to the castle to be used as leverage against his father. As more and more men came looking to join the Beast, we staged larger and larger raids. We’ve hit all kinds of targets, always things that would humiliate the king. Always things that could help us, or the kingdom’s citizens. This keep had been abandoned long ago, so we set up our base here, where no one would find us.”

“So, when you thought I was a spy…”

“I thought you were here looking for me, on behalf of Brannon.”

“And this is why you can’t leave, isn’t it?”

“Who would take my place? There are so few of us, I know we can never pull him from the throne. But the common people of Toldas need something to hope for, someone fighting on their side. I can’t leave, not when so many people count on me to stand up for them.”

Belle wrapped her arms around his shoulders, and peered intently into his face. “Did it never occur to you to come to Albion?”

“Why would it?”

“We have close ties to the throne, Fain; in fact, from what you’ve said, I may have a legitimate claim to the crown. Certainly Brannon shouldn’t hold it. Why
wouldn’t
we be willing to help?”

Fain took a deep breath. “There’s one more thing I need to tell you, Belle.”

“What?”

“Your mother… she’s still alive.”

Vivienne was pacing the room. Fain still sat on her bed, watching her prowl like a trapped animal.