The Castrofax (37 page)

Calsifer took an extra-long time chewing his
bread and even swallowed a draught of water before glancing at her.
“It is possible,” he replied in his deep voice. “Prince Nolen has a
knack for pain infliction and domination, but your Mage has a will
of his own and knows you are safe.” Robyn knew the comment meant
the General wanted to stay out of Anatoly City, but she was not
about to back out now.

“What will we do if he is?”

The General fell silent for a while, picking
his words carefully. “We would order him to come with us, and he
would. That is how you will know if he is truly broken.”

She nodded with a soft exhale. Andolyn shoved
several onions into the coals and left the camp while Talon looked
to be already asleep. In the other circles someone was telling a
rousing story, and two others laughed. “You don’t like the
Shalabane boys, do you?” she said more as a statement.

“Am I so transparent?” he asked, and she
shrugged. “I have no love for Shalabane.”

She did not either. They were a sad race led
by cruel Emperors who constantly sent ships to her shores. She did
not know the full extent of it, but the General had hinted to some
wharf towns overrun by colonies of the olive-skinned people with
their sharp language. “Why?”

“I suppose since you will be Queen, you
should know my story, but do not let it sway your opinion. Did you
know I am a married man?”

The question took her aback. She never
remembered seeing him with a woman or ever heard of a lady
Calsifer. She shook her head.

“I married Daneya in my prime, twenty three
years ago last spring. This was back when I was a
Captain-Commander, before your father King Eirian began his battles
against Shalaban. We had a small estate on a good spot of land on
the Ellonine in the Glover region. Do you know it? She gave me a
son, a sweet lad with a baby-face and a laugh to melt your heart.
We were so happy, but that was before the skirmishes.

“I accompanied your father on many battles
along the coast and watched as week by week the Shalabane ships
sailed further up the Ellonine and the Tributine Rivers. I knew
Daneya could be in danger; it was always forefront of my mind. We
drove them back eventually as you know, and I did not return until
the battle of the Red Moon that took your father’s life.” He paused
and stared into the flames. “I returned to an empty home. The door
was broken in, the place raided, Daneya gone. I found my son who
was six years of age with the closet neighbors. They told me
Shalabane raiders ran a barge onto a sandbank miles downriver and
pillaged to cut their losses before their ship came free days
later.”

He picked at his bread and put his elbows on
his crossed knees. “I never found her. I have nothing but loathing
for Shalabane. I hope she died that night, but I lay awake
sometimes wondering if she is still alive, tortured, torn from her
life, and hoping I come for her.”

She sat in horrified silence. Shalabane
soldiers had a reputation for being disorderly and cruel. She could
only imagine the end the poor woman came to. “Was your son
wounded?”

“No, he ran miles inland to a plantation of
good people. We had a serving woman at the time, and she was found
in the river downstream with her throat cut.” He took a swig of
water from a skin and looked at it as if wishing it was something
stronger. “I hope Daneya is still alive for my sake, but for her
sake I hope she died that night.”

“How long has it been?”

He thought back. “You were two when your
father died, so it was near eighteen years ago. She had sandy hair,
a bit like yours but not as yellow.”

Robyn had little appetite now, and she
searched for a new subject. “Did you see my father die?” It was
another question she had few answers to. Her father had been a
well-loved man by those who spoke of him, if not a little proud,
and she knew only that he died when a castle he defended was
breeched. All she had of him, so she was told, was his dark flashy
eyes unlike her mother’s which were faint hazel.

He gave her a sidelong glance. “I did.” His
tone waited for more questions to be asked.

“I was told the castle you walled up in was
broken, but no one has ever told me the truth of his death. Would
you be honest with me?”

“I need a drink,” he sighed.

“I will fetch you some wine,” she half-rose
to leave, but he put his hand out.

“I don’t drink. Sit, sit and I’ll tell you.”
He unbuttoned his coat and shucked it off as he spoke. “King Eirian
was a good man and a good Head Commander. I see more of him in your
brother every day. The battle of the Red Moon took place in
Malinster Castle, which is a little thing on a hill and was never
designed to hold back anything but unruly river pirates. We held
them off for a few days, but on the night when the moon shone full
and red as a bonfire, your father’s destrier took an arrow, and the
Shalabane breached the walls. The animal collapsed and Eirian fell
on his neck.

“I was on the wall pushing ladders off when
it happened, and by all accounts it looked as though the King had
died. But I learned later that morning after we pushed the
Shalabane back, that your father was still alive. He was paralyzed
from the neck down and being cared for. He called his Commanders
together, gave us instructions on how to handle the army, and then
commanded us to cut his throat.”

“Wh—
what
? Why?” She exclaimed.

“Have you ever seen a paralyzed man, let
alone a king? A cripple thinks he is a terrible burden on his
fellow men, thinks his ailment is a sign of weakness. Your father
was a proud man and could not bear to be brought back to his Queen,
the Queen of the greatest kingdom this side of the ocean, in a
palanquin.”

“Did you—was it you who…?”

“I could not have. My job was to protect my
Head Commander and King, not kill him in his weakness. In the end
one of the Generals—who died of old age a few years back, so don’t
try searching him out—he held a pillow over his face. He went
quickly and quietly.”

She sat in numb silence, staring into the
flames. She had been told stories of valor that her father went
down in battle like a King should but they were always exaggerated.
Her mother never told her the truth, and she never asked her
brother. “I do not remember him at all. I would have liked to.”

“He was a good man, and he loved you
fiercely. He was so proud when both you and your brother were born,
happy to have a son to take after him and a daughter to rule. He
would have been proud of the woman you’ve become.” He smiled and
patted her on the shoulder in a most fatherly way. Tears welled in
her eyes, but she batted them back. “You should know your mother
was pregnant when we returned with him. The healers could not tell
if it was the sickness beginning or the sight of her dead husband
that caused her to miscarry. It was shortly after that she began to
show signs of the sickness that claimed her life.”

Robyn closed her eyes. “Was it male or
female?”

“I was not privy to that information.”

Robyn swallowed back furious thoughts. “Thank
you for the truth.” The strength had gone out of her voice, and she
admitted to herself she was terribly tired. She turned around and
snuggled under the blankets with thoughts and questions still
running rampant. “Did your son take after you and join the
army?”

“He did. He is a Lieutenant now on his way to
a Captain’s commission in time, though he took his mother’s
surname, so my status would not affect his ascension. When we
arrive in the City I will find him and gather him to our cause.” He
unlaced his boots as he spoke. “His name is Lex Shepherd.”

The thought of being sent to the kitchens was
demoralizing, but Gabriel found himself easily at home within the
first few minutes. Marya was quick to make him her pet, and though
he thought the idea objectifying, she made sure he was comfortable.
Rather than having him peel potatoes or stir roux, she sat him down
and had him try everything she sent out, dubbing him a poison
tester. The Queen’s real poison tester, a young man with a shifty
eye for the ladies, found better things to do.

Marya sashayed her round hips over to him
cradling a steaming pie in a white crock, and ladled up a spoonful
for him.

“I don’t need to be handfed,” he said as she
shoved the spoon in his face. He snatched the utensil from her,
blew on the concoction, and downed it. Bursts of cinnamon and peach
flowed over his tongue before mingling with flaky, sugary crumble.
“
What
is this?”

“Peach pie. Are your senses dull?”

“This is amazing,” he whispered and licked
the spoon.

She laughed loudly. “I knew I’d find a
favorite! Take care to save room after suppers now. Speaking of
which, it is past supper time. You best be heading back to your
rooms. Can I send you with a meal?”

“Stars above, you’ve stuffed me, Marya.”

“Take yourself a skin of wine regardless and
don’t forget to visit often,” she grinned, her rosy cheeks plump
and her smile wide. She gave him a solid slap on his behind with
the spoon as he strode away, laughing about the stars falling.

The strange fatigue from the attack at Telmon
Palace had still left him stretched and weary. Water had helped
with the blood loss, but nothing had alleviated his Elemental
weakness. He took his time on the walk back to his rooms, pausing
to greet those who said hello. He was getting to know some of the
regular inhabitants of the palace, old Officers, servants, and
nobles knew him by name and greeted him by his proper
salutation.

The door to Lady’s Aisling’s room was open
when he entered, so he stopped in to tell her of the attack on
Viorica. He stopped short when he heard her laughing. His father
stood by the fire telling her a story. Cordis stopped when Gabriel
appeared and smiled a little sheepishly.

“Why are you…never mind,” Gabriel sighed and
ran a hand through his hair. He quickly summed up the day to
Aisling, telling her of the attack, the wound Celise took, and the
information Queen Challis gave up. Aisling listened with a grim
look on her face that was becoming all too common. She rose and
scratched out a note to send by bird.

“We need to get to the Silex before Nolen.
The Head Mage will know what to do.”

“You truly did not know where Kindle was
being kept or why?” Gabriel asked.

She shook her head. “I was aware of the
situation and knew she harbored a secret, but no more was told to
us for our own safety.”

He looked at his father and mouthed ‘
What
are you doing here
?’ Cordis shrugged his shoulders.

“How goes it with the Arconians?” Aisling
asked as she wrote.

“Balien is mixing me concoctions, and I have
met three that are loyal to me.” She fixed him with a cold look.
“Yes, Aisling, still virtuous.”

“Robyn will appreciate it,” Cordis nodded.
“About bloody time you idiots fell for each other. I saw it coming,
but it sure took its time arriving. I was surprised she did not
fall into your arms when you came back with your Class.”

Gabriel wrinkled his nose. “She was
fifteen.”

“I fell for your mother when I was
seventeen.” Cordis beamed. “She was a few years older than I. Had
her Class already.”

And that was when Gabriel saw the betraying
look Aisling shot him, and knew in an instant the secret they had
been keeping. His eyes widened, and he grew silent as his mouth
fell agape. After several moments of silence they looked at him in
unison. His mouth snapped shut.

He pushed a lock of hair from his eyes. “This
explains everything.”

Aisling stood quickly. “Let me clarify.”

His mind reeled. “
Somebody
better.”

She held her hands up. “Your father and I
were very much in love—are still—but my parents would not have him
because the Lenis line is not wealthy. My family are material
people.”

“But you are not married, and I am still
bastard-born.”

“We are not married....”

He cut her off before she could continue.
“Why was I never told anything about you? I have been waiting to
hear of you for twenty-four years. How could you give me up like
that?” All this time he expected her to be dead. “Did I mean
nothing to you?”

“Of course you did,” she whispered. “We did
not mean to get pregnant. The palace was no place for a babe, and
my job journeying between Jaden and Kilkiny was too dangerous, so
we decided Cordis would raise you far away to keep you safe. We
were waiting for my parents to die before we told you because they
would not approve.” She had been inching closer, but all he heard
was ‘unplanned mistake’ in her dialogue that sounded
rehearsed
—and untruthful.

“Then Urima Manor is yours. And that is why
you ventured here every year, father. Why did you hardly ever
visit, Aisling?”

“I could not bear to see you and know I could
not be with you.”

“How many people know my true lineage?”

Aisling licked her lips. “Head Mage Casimir
is the only one. Queen Rincarel knew, and she gave me time to slip
away when I began to show.” She looked worried, an expression he
had not seen before. “Can you ever forgive me?”

He let out a deep breath. This information
changed everything. There were ways to expunge an unwanted baby
before it was birthed, so he supposed he had her to thank for being
alive. “I can,” he finally said. Despite his anger towards both of
them, he stepped forward and embraced Aisling as his mother.

He looked at his father. “You don’t actually
have rooms here, do you,” he stated. Cordis grinned and shook his
head. Aisling gave him a tight squeeze before letting him go. She
had a proud look on her face as she pulled away. “I am retiring for
the night,” he said and patted the wineskin hanging from his
belt.