The Arranged Marriage (15 page)

Ison went to walk away but Josa
stopped him.

“Someone’s driving this aren’t they?”
He asked Ison, his own suspicions flaring.

“Yes they are,” He replied, trying
hard to keep his anger under control. “And I intend to find out
whom, even if it kills me.”

Chapter Nine

It was late when Ison decided to call
it an eve. He had been working on the history of Centurias from
some books he had taken from the library, and he had also asked
Argarth a few questions to see what he knew of Centurias
history.

After what seemed like an age, he had
finally become restless and decided to take some of the books to
the bed chamber to continue his work. He was halfway up the
stairwell when he heard Rohesia shouting for his attention from
down the hall.

“I have been looking for you
everywhere my lord,” She said, appearing out of breath. “Father has
been very reluctant to let me near you, and he’s finally had to
confess all to the head cook who has been causing no end of trouble
to get back into his kitchen,” She smiled as she met him on the
stairs. “They have to keep it closed until the materials are
delivered for the tunnels to be blocked off, is that what you
ordered today?”

Ison was in a foul mood. He was
certainly not in humour to placate her at this moment. The question
of what was going on still continued to linger over him. He wanted
to know more, he needed to know more, and he needed to get on with
his research.

“Yes my lady,” He hesitantly advised,
eager to get to the chamber to continue his study of Centurias. “We
have managed to search the tunnels up to the point where we have
reached the caves.” He went to move on but he felt Rohesia’s hand
on his arm, her face confused.

“But you advised me last eve that you
wanted to know where all the tunnels, why are you blocking them now
when we know so little?”

“We have found the cave. It is
dangerous, and the castle needs to be protected from them as soon
as possible. Now if you excuse me I really have more work to do
before leaving for the Quart on the morrow.”

Ison turned around again and headed up
to the top of the stairs. She was not far behind him as he reached
the top.

“Do you not want to hear my news?” She
asked quickly.

He had no time for this, he thought
wearily. He was the advisor to the king and he did not need to
report every damn thing to her. He suddenly felt very
irritated.

“Rohesia, I am going to our chamber
and if you care to join me then do so,” She went to speak but he
silenced her. “However, if you are joining me then you do it
silently and let me go about my business.”

She halted at the harshness of his
tone but didn’t look ready to back down.

“Don’t let me stop you. I am certain
that you have no desire to learn what I have discovered from Old
Magan today, something that could probably help with your cause,
but please – do carry on.”

She went to walk away from him but in
two strides he was in her path.

“Who the damnation is Old Magan and
what have you been saying to the people Rohesia?” His sudden grip
on her arm was tight as his eyes burned into hers; giving the
impression that he saw nothing but an insolent child. The
realisation of it hurt her. She shook her arm free.

“Old Magan,” She advised through
gritted teeth. “Is the oldest living person in Ecripian who I
decided to question, delicately,” She emphasised. “To see if she
knew anything of the tunnels.” She stepped back from him and held
her chin high in defiance. She would not let him see her tears.
“She told me that after the War of Quitize a few farmers took it
upon themselves to earn enough equity for their lands, so they
could finally be released from Ecripian,” She calmed her voice a
little. “Apparently, they had been mining the lands in secret to
try and find precious ore, but upon discovering the lands were
barren they closed them up, don’t you see?”

Ison shook his head, he felt tired,
but sensed she was getting to something. She quickly
continued.

“What if they never planned to mine
for precious ore, but spread the rumour to use it as a cover whilst
they made the tunnels under Ecripian? People would have just seen a
mine, they may not have investigated further and that could have
been their way in. It would have been perfect.”

“They would have had the opportunity
to move around the kingdom unseen,” He said, as the realisation of
what she was saying started to sink in. Again she had given him a
lead, pointed him in a direction that made more sense, and all he
had done was treat her with harsh words of dismissal. He suddenly
felt extremely guilty.

“Rohesia,” He started to apologise but
she interrupted him, her obvious excitement taking over any anger
or upset at his treatment of her.

“It is normal for castles to have
tunnels and secret passageways running beneath them,” She
continued. “So they could easily have tapped into those weaved
beneath the castle. Or maybe they don’t even know about those that
lead inward to Ecripian, only to the tunnels to the Mount. We may
be that lucky.”

Ison kissed her. At first he told
himself that he had done so in order to cease her blabbering, but
as soon as his lips touched hers he knew it was more than that. She
was balancing him at the moment, and he was uncertain to which way
the scales would tip. It was a while before he broke the
kiss.

“Thank you my lady.” He managed to say
as she stood before him, her eyes still closed from the
kiss.

“For what?” She whispered as her eyes
flickered open.

“For getting kidnapped in the middle
of a lagoon whilst I was there to rescue you.”

She felt warm and safe in one breath,
and knew then that any emotional struggle had ended within her from
that statement.

“Are you going to bed my lord?” She
said as she took a hold of his hand. He pulled her into his
arms.

“Why, I have married a hoyden.” He
teased, whilst pulling her closer to him for another kiss. She
returned the kiss before pulling away and gently placing her hands
on his face.

“Then take this hoyden who has fallen
madly in love with you to bed,” She placed a quick kiss on his
cheek. “Before she changes her mind.”

Her stared at her for a long time, his
eyes looking down into hers, basking in the glory of her
declaration to him. His voice grew hoarse as he spoke, his words
full of pleading.

“Don’t ever do that Rohesia,” He
whispered, the fight in him waning. “Don’t ever change your mind
about loving me.” He felt her sag against him.

“That would never happen my lord,” She
whispered back. “For you have very quickly captured my
soul.”

It was early when Ison rose to make
his journey to the Quart with Josa. He had planned to wake Rohesia
before he left but couldn’t bring himself to do so as she slept
soundly next to him.

They had made love late into the eve,
and he had been unable to let her rest every time her declaration
of her love resounded in his mind. They had taken their time to be
with each other, and then the next moment he would take her with
such vigour that he was threatened to be consumed by her each
time.

He felt himself tighten again at the
memory of it all, knowing that his feelings were opening up. But
there was still a corner of his mind that put up the barriers again
and again until he was exhausted from the conflict. He was getting
tired of all the questions echoing endlessly through his mind, and
in the end he had resorted to enjoying the moment, taking
everything from her she was willing to give. That would have to be
enough for now.

“Good morning my friend,” Josa greeted
him, already mounted on his horse. “I see you are well.”

Ison noticed the smile that was
threatening to spread on friend’s face, as if he knew the reason
behind Ison’s darkened eyes.

“Oh shut up, have you broken your fast
yet?” He asked, feeling quite hungry himself.

“Of course, but I willing to go for
seconds if you are?”

Ison laughed in spite of
himself.

“We will eat in the village of the
Quart. I want to get a feel of everywhere in that place before I
start making judgements on them all.”

He had learnt from the books, and what
Argarth had told him that the Quart had turned into a peaceful
existence after the harsh rulings of Quitize. Any reasons of
following Quitize had been diluted through the
generations.

It was mainly out of respect for their
elder’s traditions that they retained their belief of a separate
Quart, rather than fighting for complete unity with the lands. He
had understood in the past there had been, on occasion, the odd
resistance against Ecripian; but due to lack of encouragement from
others, nothing had ever come of it. However, he was certain that
the separation of the Quart from Ecripian was a core matter in all
of the problems concerning the two kings. Now he just had to prove
it.

As they rode through the lands of the
Quart, it seemed well tended and the people welcoming if not
confused by their visit. On the surface nothing seemed to be any
different, making it more difficult for Ison to find the link he
was determined to locate; but there was something in the air. He
could sense it.

After hearing Josa’s stomach rumble
one too many times, he ordered them to cease their roaming and stop
at the Inn for something to eat.

Rohesia was finding it hard to
concentrate on the few plans for the ball that Yena had left alone.
All she could think about were the reasons behind the meetings in
the cave, and the fact that the underground tunnels had been
discovered.

It also hadn’t helped that Ison had
invaded her brain every other moment, feeling warm at what he
invoked in her. She couldn’t wait until they were together again,
even if he was yet to return her declaration of love. She would
give him the time he needed for that.

A knock on the door of her father’s
study chamber where she was working interrupted her from her
exhausting thoughts. She looked up as Kaya placed her head around
the large door.

“A messenger has come from the
gatehouse, my lady,” She advised Rohesia. “A delivery of silks.
Your father said to ask you for confirmation as Princess Yena is
indisposed.”

“Oh wonderful,” Rohesia advised
sarcastically. “That will be the cart with my silks for my
monstrosity of a gown. Wave confirmation for me will you Kaya?” She
advised whilst giving up on her plans. “I will make my way out to
the courtyard shortly to see it. Hopefully we can get one of the
children to destroy it by ‘accident’ don’t you think?”

Kaya hid a smile before making her way
out to the courtyard to alert the gatehouse to accept the
delivery.

Rohesia watched impatiently as the
unusual cart-cum-carriage pulled its way across the courtyard. The
servants were on standby to unload the materials as she joined them
to watch the aged carriage squeak to a stop.

A sudden feeling of dread washed over
her, not knowing why. This wasn’t the usual merchant’s carriage,
she knew that, thinking that maybe Yena had placed the order with
another But something didn’t feel right, as eeriness seemed to
settle around the courtyard like mist.

She started to walk towards the
carriage as if in slow motion, not exactly knowing what to say to
the servants waiting to unload the cloth, but knowing that she
needed to warn them to stay away from it. She looked around her and
saw the children in the courtyard, playing ignorantly to the danger
that she was feeling right now. She started to walk faster when she
noticed the covering around the side of the carriage move before
she was able to reach the servants in time. The panic inside her
rose as the realisation hit her that Ison wasn’t here.

“
Princess Rohesia, get
back to safety.” One of the servants shouted, attracting the
attention of the men who had savagely jumped out at them. They were
all wearing masks and black cloaks, armed with small weapons as
they spread like fire across the courtyard. A ricochet of screams
echoed off the castle walls as people ran in all directions to
avoid the men. She looked in the direction of the children and
noticed one of them had taken hold of a young boy, making him cry
hysterically. She lifted her skirts and ran fast towards them
both.

As Rohesia crashed into her target she
had obviously taken the man by surprise causing him to lose his
balance and grip on the young lad. The boy went tumbling down to
the ground, his cries getting louder. She took the opportunity to
pull him to safety as the men realised that the guards from the
castle were starting to make their way over to the commotion,
weapons hailed.

The largest man who was shouting out
orders made his way over to Rohesia, as the other men moved back to
the old cart. The horses were being geared up to ride away, but as
the man neared her his voice grew more threatening, dagger in
hand.

“Tell your Prince, to stay out of our
business if he doesn’t want us to make pickings of his people, you
being first.”