The Arranged Marriage (30 page)

Rohesia hesitantly lifted her head
from Ison’s beating chest, smiling at the thought of his hands all
over her only moments before. She started to move away out of fear
of squashing his arm but he held her firm.

“Are you asleep?” She
whispered.

“You always ask me that afterwards.”
He answered groggily as he gently stroked her arm.

“Yes well most of the time you
are.”

“I don’t remember you asking me that
when I am asleep.” He said jokingly as she chuckled by his
side.

“Fool.”

“Hoyden.”

She felt herself smile.

“Thank you Ison.”

“For what?”

“For helping me find the
way.”

“To where?” He asked, still half
asleep.

“To myself.”

Her statement seemed to bring him out
of his reverie as he turned to her and lifted her chin to look at
him.

“What do you mean?” He
whispered.

“I felt a part of me pass away last
eve, after your heartfelt declaration.”

“Do you mean part of you died?” He
said, suddenly nervous.

“In a way yes. Or maybe just, moved
on. I couldn’t have continued to fight as the person I was because
I would have lost, now I feel like someone different and the future
seems, well, good.”

“Only good?” He probed with a
smile.

“Very well, brilliant, as long as I am
with you.”

“You would do great on your own
Rohesia.”

She felt herself panic a little but
then remembered the story of when her father and mother first fell
in love.

“I know, and I know I don’t have to
need you, but I want to need you. You are a big part of my life
Ison.”

“And you are a big part of
mine.”

“Literally. “She teased.

“Stop it you siren, did you see the
state you got me in just now? I don’t think that belly is anything
to put down.”

“Mmm, maybe I could make a living from
shaking it about during dance theatre season. What do you
think?”

“I think that no man is ever going to
see your belly other than in your very unrevealing clothes, and I
also think you will be shaking nothing madam wife. Our poor
child.”

She laughed with him.

“I suppose it would never forgive me
if I resorted to shaking it senseless, I shall retract my offer
from theatre season.”

“Very good.” He idly placed a hand on
her stomach and closed his eyes again. She waited a time before
speaking.

“I now know what I have to do
Ison.”

“With what?”

“With the kingdom, with what we need
to do to sort out this mess.”

“And what is that?” He opened his eyes
again at her tone.

“I need to go and see the man from
last eve, the man who I,” He watched as her cheeks reddened. “The
one whose name they said was Gilden, the one whose face I pushed to
look at the damage of the fires.”

“You don’t need to do that
Rohesia.”

“Yes, I do, I feel that is where I
need to start.”

He sat up to face her.

“I will not have you going there
alone.”

“I will not be alone, I will take
Kaya.”

“
What the blazes good is
Kaya if the rebels come out and attack you, or if they set a trap?”
He practically shouted. “Nothing that is what; I shall go with you
if you are so determined to go.”

She laid a hand on his arm.

“No, if you go then I do not expect to
get anywhere with Gilden. He will be threatened the moment the
words reach his ears that we have arrived.”

“You are not going alone
Rohesia.”

“Then wait at the border for me. If I
am not back by a certain moment then you can ride in. It won’t take
long for you to reach me.”

“I won’t take that risk.”

She stood up and reached for her eve
coat to cover her naked body, walking back to Ison once she had
tied the sash.

“Ison,” She sat on the edge of the bed
and rested her hands on his face. “I vow I will not defy you on
this, if you say no then that will be the end of it. But I have to
do it. That man looked into my eyes last eve and apologised, after
how I treated him he apologised for my father’s passing. I saw
something in him Ison, I felt in a way he was trying to tell me
something,” She let her hands drop to hold on to his. “I need to do
this, please? I vow that I will only stay a short time. I only
intend to see if anything further can come out of this to protect
our kingdom. If there is nothing then I will walk.”

He stared at her for a long time and
he couldn’t deny it had been her instincts and ideas that had
brought them this far. He knew that he had to trust that, and trust
her, even though it killed him to do so.

“Very well,” He agreed eventually.
“But I will wait at the border with Josa, and if you have not
arrived back by the time we agree on I shall come and get you.
Understood?”

She wasn’t offended in the gruff way
in which he spoke to her, in fact it touched her heart.

“I will go today, and as soon as I
return I will sign any papers of which you desire. You are already
king to me Ison, and I will not let a bunch of legalities stand in
the way of you achieving what you need to do for this
kingdom.”

He froze for a moment as he realised
that by giving her his trust, he had managed to get hers in return.
He lifted her hand to kiss it.

“I vow that I will protect you and
these lands with everything I have. I will never let anyone hurt
you.”

She smiled as the tears of pride
welled up in her eyes.

“If you don’t mind me saying so Ison,
your father was a fool to never contest the laws of Centurias
regarding you inheriting the kingdom, Dondayas has certainly lost
out.”

He couldn’t help but feel a flip in
his stomach at her words, certain that he almost
blushed.

“You deal me too much consideration my
lady, my father knows the true me.”

“No he doesn’t, I know the true you. I
see it every time you look at me, and every time you make love to
me. I see it when you put your heart and soul into the workings of
this kingdom, and I see you hold no animosity to me running as
queen before you’re even king. I see the real you Ison, and I am
actually thankful to your father’s decision, because if he had
contested, I may never have met you in a lagoon, with a dagger at
my throat.”

He laughed with her but shook his
head.

“Can we never speak of that again? It
is not fair to tease a man with something he cannot hunt down and
kill to make him feel better.”

She kissed him.

“I love you Ison.”

She went to walk away to summon Kaya
for dressing, never expecting a reply back, but Ison grabbed her
arm and pulled her back to him.

“And I love you, Rohesia. With every
part of what I am.”

Rohesia made her way into the Quart
with Kaya and left a worried looking Ison and a hungry Josa at the
border; even though Josa had already eaten his way through three of
the muffins she had in the basket she carried.

It was a sunny day, and she used the
advantage of the Sun to see if there were any glints of shiny
objects being exposed by the rays, wary that an ambush may occur
after hearing the queen was entering the Quart practically alone.
It was a trick her tutor had taught her to try and entice her back
into the history lesson, and it had surprisingly worked.

Kaya’s nervous energy was deafening by
the side of her as they entered the village. Even more so when they
approached the houses and asked after Gilden. She even had to give
Kaya a look at one point when she saw she was near to crying
through fear of them being in the Quart without an
escort.

After a lot of curious conversations
with people, they finally found Gilden at a table in the local inn,
reading a public journal with a tankard of ale in his hand. He
looked up as she entered and didn’t look that surprised to see her.
He hesitantly stood as she approached.

“My queen,” He bowed to her and
quickly stood up straight. “Is there anything I can do for you
today?”

“I have come to offer my apologies for
last eve, peace offering,” She said with a nervous smile as she
lifted the basket of muffins in a gesture to say sorry. He looked
around the inn, wary of the onlookers watching his every
move.

“I do not need your apology my queen,
and my wife is competent enough to bake muffins.” He nodded before
moving past her to leave. She quickly followed, her heart beating
rapidly in her chest.

“Please,” She pleaded as she followed
him outside. “I am so sorry for how you were treated last eve; it
was a mistake, one that will not be repeated.”

He turned suddenly and she had to stop
quickly to avoid crashing into him. He lowered his voice as Rohesia
felt a slight trickle of fear ride through her, Kaya whimpered from
behind.

“I live in the fifth house from the
next lane, give me some time and then go there. Make enquiries to
where I live, and bring your basket of muffins,” He raised his
voice for the benefit of anyone listening. “Good day, my
queen.”

Rohesia watched him walk away,
understanding that Kaya mustn’t have heard what had been said as
she was hesitantly pulling on her arm. Rohesia knew that there was
more to this, and was determined to follow Gilden’s instructions
exactly; it was not trap she was certain. She was
hoping.

After eating a small pie from the inn
to pass the time Gilden had asked for, Rohesia and Kaya set about
their enquiries to where Gilden lived. It was only through her
questioning and how the people were trying to protect him, did she
realise how honoured Gilden was, reminding her of
Claimont.

Not many of the villagers were willing
to help her, and Rohesia was fed up with the strained politeness as
each reply held no clue to where he lived. She had to rely on a few
gold coins for one of the young lads from the bakery to confirm
where Gilden lived. It was a time after when she knocked on the
door of the fifth house.

“Come in.” A gruff voice said from
behind the red headed woman who opened the door. She did as
Gilden’s voice asked and marched into the house.

“You can’t stay long,” He said
quickly. “There are spies for the rebels throughout the whole of
the village. Take this,” He dropped a piece of folded paper into
her basket and placed a muffin over the top of it. “It should
explain what you need to know. Now you must leave.”

Rohesia nodded, understanding his
earlier actions. She made to leave but turned back to face
him.

“I truly am sorry for the way you were
treated, especially by me.”

His face softened.

“We are not all against Ecripian my
lady and the letter should explain a lot. I believe you were put as
queen earlier than anticipated for a reason. Good morning my lady,
and be well.”

She nodded as the realisation of his
words soared through her mind. She was eager to read the note as
she left the house, her role at the ready with Kaya dumbly
following her queue.

“Well I never,” She announced as she
left the house. “Of all the rude,”

Gilden shut the door behind
them.

She stomped off to the border with her
head held high, and pleased with her bit of fine acting, even if
she thought so herself.

She said nothing as they approached
the border and threw herself into Ison’s arms. She whispered into
his ear.

“We make it back to Ecripian in
silence. I will tell you all when we are safely in our chamber, now
make it look like I am devastated and take us home.”

“Kaya take the basket from Rohesia, we
are retiring to the chamber for her to get some rest.”

Kaya suddenly looked panic stricken,
knowing what was in the basket. Thankfully, Rohesia came to her
aid.

“I am taking them with me Ison, I am
in need.”

“Of muffins?” He asked,
dumbfounded.

“I have a need for muffins, is that a
problem?”

He shook his head at her odd behaviour
and then smiled.

“Is this the stage Nani warned me
about?” He commented just before he ducked at the onslaught of a
muffin, caught gleefully by Josa. Kaya hid a smile and curtsied to
exit so they could make their way to the chamber.

Rohesia remained silent until their
chamber door was shut behind them.

“Do I need a shield before we
continue?” He asked as she placed the basket on the bed.

“Oh don’t be silly I was just acting.
I don’t have a need for muffins thank you very much.”

“Good to hear it.” He said confused as
he watched her rummage through the muffins.