The Rose Throne (28 page)

The binding official took up Issa’s hand on one side and Edik’s on the other. He pulled them to their feet and then pressed their hands together. “As the weyrs are opposite hands, so are you two. Affianced to affianced,” he declared triumphantly.

There was a round of applause, and bells rang out somewhere in the distance. Issa felt numb as she turned to Edik for a kiss and felt his cold lips on hers. When he pulled away, King Haikor congratulated
his son heartily and clapped him on the back.

Then it was time for Ailsbet and Kellin to be betrothed, and they went through the same ceremony, nearly word for word.

Afterward, Issa felt confused, as if it had all happened in a dream. None of it felt real to her, though she knew when King Haikor clapped Kellin on the back and kissed his cheeks, that Kellin was farther from being hers than he had ever been.

Bells rang out again, and Issa could hear distant shouting, as if her hearing had suddenly returned. The betrothals were finished, and Issa and Edik turned together to face all of those who were gathered inside the Throne Room.

Kellin and Ailsbet were nearby, waving and giving thanks. With Edik at her side, Issa nodded and smiled and kissed cheeks and gave embraces until it was all a blur.

At last, she was in the Great Hall for the grand dinner. There were fifteen courses (including a full roast peacock, its bright feathers returned to its carcass). The feast took four hours from beginning to end, though Issa could only take small bites of the most delicate dishes, roasted fish and poached eggs, or fruit compotes.

After the feast, King Haikor stood and clapped
his hands to get the attention of the court. Issa stared at Lady Pippa, who rose to stand beside him, noticing that she seemed slightly thicker around the waist than before. Issa glanced around the room, wondering how many others had seen this. Of course, King Haikor would want more heirs, but Issa had not thought it would happen so soon.

What did this mean for her and Edik’s betrothal? Or Kellin and Ailsbet’s?

“There is another joyous announcement to be made,” said King Haikor. “After our two betrothals today, there is to be a royal wedding. And this time, not a prince and princess to be joined, but a king and queen.” He bent down and kissed Lady Pippa, and the applause from the court was thunderous.

Issa looked down and saw that Edik’s hands were clenching the sides of the table.

She whispered into his ear, “Do not show anything but happiness.” Did he understand the danger he was in?

“This should be my day, mine and yours. Why could he not have waited?”

“He is the king,” said Issa. And he had never been known for his patience, she thought.

“Lady Pippa is to take the queen’s chambers now, and she will be called queen-in-waiting,” said King
Haikor. “She will be queen when we are married in one month’s time.”

Issa clenched her jaw and held tightly to Edik’s hand. She thought of the five long years until she and Edik were married and wondered when Kellin and Ailsbet’s final binding would occur. The king had seemed so eager for them to marry, but he had not yet set a date. Now it seemed likely that would be postponed until after the king’s own wedding.

The dinner went on with more toasting to the king and his bride-to-be, and Issa only pretended to sip from her cup. As the celebration was winding down, she realized Edik had fallen asleep in his chair.

At the same moment, Issa and Kellin stood to excuse themselves from the table. Edik woke but was too groggy to do more than wave to Issa. Ailsbet stood and moved to Kellin’s side, eager to seize the opportunity to leave.

“Congratulations on your betrothal, Princess Marlissa,” said Kellin formally as the three neared the door.

“Thank you,” said Issa, “and my congratulations to you on your betrothal. You and Princess Ailsbet.” She wished she sounded more genuine, but she was not at her best and did not know when she would be again. In time for Kellin and Ailsbet’s marriage, perhaps.

T
HE FOLLOWING DAY AT DINNER
, King Haikor filled the room with energy and his excitement about the coming birth of his new heir. There would be an autumn hunt two days hence in celebration, he announced. The last hunt Ailsbet remembered was the one at which Lord Umber had been killed, but no one spoke of that. This time, the ladies of the court would be invited, and King Haikor specifically announced that Prince Edik would come. To prove his place as King Haikor’s heir, presumably, with his taweyr.

“You must be wary,” said Kellin, when he walked
with Ailsbet to her chambers after dinner. “In a hunt, with animals about, it will be difficult to keep from showing your taweyr.”

Ailsbet knew that he was right. This would be one of many occasions when she must avoid revealing herself as ekhono. Was that the life she wanted? No. She must leave. As long as Kellin watched after Edik, she could go with nothing on her conscience.

After the hunt, Ailsbet decided, she would get final word to Ambassador Belram and flee Rurik for Aristonne. But until that moment, she would let no one know of her intentions. Not a hint, even to Kellin.

“Do you wish me to take some taweyr from you, as your father does in tax?” asked Kellin.

Ailsbet shook her head, thinking of the men she had seen giving her father taweyr and how weak they were afterward. “I have kept my taweyr secret for years now. I think that I can manage this time, as well.”

This one last time, she thought.

“I know that you have done it before. But on a hunt? Your father has not allowed you on hunts since you were a child.”

“True,” Ailsbet admitted.

“Since you came into the taweyr, perhaps,” said Kellin. “But you know that the weyrs in Rurik are out of balance. The taweyr is too strong in the forest. It is like a deluge. Irresistible.”

“What should I do, then?” asked Ailsbet.

“If you will not let me take some of the taweyr from you, then keep away from the men,” said Kellin. “Stay with the women and the tamer horses.”

“If you insist,” said Ailsbet.

“Or stay at the palace,” said Kellin. “It would be safer for you here. And if you stay, then perhaps Issa would be allowed to stay, as well.”

“My father will certainly expect all four of us to be there, to prove his grip on the throne is strong,” said Ailsbet.

Kellin sighed. “I should have given you instruction before now.”

Ailsbet could feel her taweyr rising up, and she pushed it back down. She had no intention of letting Kellin see how close she was to losing control.

“Tell me something. A hint, if I get in trouble,” said Ailsbet.

“If you get in trouble, there is no help for any of us. The taweyr will burst out of you,” said Kellin soberly. “You must stop it before there is the least hint of trouble.”

“Then tell me how to do that,” Ailsbet spoke impatiently.

“It is not so easy as that. We must be away from the palace to practice. Just keep yourself from getting angry.”

Ailsbet took a breath. “If ever—” she began, hoping to give a hint of a good-bye to Edik through Kellin.

But a pair of servants came by and interrupted, and once they were gone, Kellin had already begun to think about something else. “What was it you were saying?” he asked.

“Nothing,” said Ailsbet, changing her mind. “Nothing at all. I shall see you at the hunt.”

“Until then,” said Kellin, leaving her at the door of her chambers.

Ailsbet went to Edik’s room. He looked as though he had been crying.

“I hate hunting,” said Edik.

“You have to be there,” said Ailsbet.

Edik nodded.

“You must say nothing to Lady Pippa. And only answer Father with obedience.”

“I hate him,” said Edik.

“You hate him now, but you will grow older and stronger. And he may grow softer in his later years.”

“Softer? Ailsbet, the taweyr makes him more unpredictable, angrier. Sometimes I wonder if I shall be glad never to get it back. I feel well quit of it now.”

“Don’t say that,” Ailsbet said.

“Why not? It poisons him as much as he ever poisoned our mother. Who else will he kill? We are all in danger near him. If I could leave here, I would.”

Ailsbet’s heart pinched in her chest. She was taking the easy way out for herself, by leaving Edik behind, an Edik who was becoming wiser and more mature. Was she a coward? But she would leave the kingdom to him. It would be her proof that she trusted him.

“You have Issa,” she said.

“I have Issa,” said Edik. “If she marries me in five years. But I don’t expect her to admire me after what she has seen of me so far.”

“She wants to help you and Rurik,” said Ailsbet. Did Edik know of the prophecy?

“She can help pick up the pieces that I make of it and myself,” he said sourly.

“There will be no pieces, Edik. All will go well,” said Ailsbet. “You will see. You have learned a great deal and now you know where the dangers are. You will think like a prince and say and do what is right.”

“I shall try, Ailsbet,” he said.

Staying with him would not help him, Ailsbet
decided, and it might well make it worse. Her taweyr had already confused things. Edik’s groomsmen might still be alive if Ailsbet had not made the mistake of using her taweyr for her brother. How many other lives would she save by leaving and giving up her taweyr?

“Once Lady Pippa has a son,” said Edik. “Then it will not matter what I do, will it?”

“It may not be a son,” said Ailsbet.

“Then she and my father will try again, until they succeed,” said Edik.

“And what if their offspring are all sickly and die?” said Ailsbet. “You cannot know. Lady Pippa is so young, and our father is so old. Such a match often results in children who do not survive.”

“And we are left wishing for the death of an innocent child, are we?” said Edik bitterly.

But Ailsbet was not waiting for that. She was not waiting at all anymore. She had chosen her path, and now nothing could stop her from having her freedom.

W
HEN
A
ILSBET ARRIVED
at the stables for the hunt, Princess Marlissa was already there, ready to mount her horse. There were more than a dozen other women already mounted, waiting patiently for the king. The men of the court were waiting to mount until the king arrived, and Ailsbet glanced out over them, counting more than thirty, mentally measuring their physical strength and their taweyr against her own. She did not know for certain, since she had never battled against them, but she had heard what they said about one another, and she had seen enough
of their posturing to guess how much was true.

King Haikor came out next, wearing several gold chains around his neck, along with an elaborately embroidered red-on-black hunting coat. Ailsbet wore a far plainer black riding skirt. She thought her father would look better wearing something simple, but he did not ask her for fashion advice. Apparently, he had asked Lady Pippa, who was dressed in something similarly overwrought. She had come out to see everyone off, though she would not be riding in her condition.

Prince Edik was there, as well, sitting anxiously on his horse. His face was pale, and he looked small and out of place. Ailsbet waved to offer him some comfort, but he did not appear to see her.

When Kellin arrived, he greeted the king and prince warmly, then turned back to kiss Ailsbet gently as her betrothed. He whispered as he lingered near her, “Do you remember what I said about the taweyr?”

“I remember,” said Ailsbet. Did he think she was an idiot?

“Be careful,” he said.

“I shall. Am I usually so careless?” she asked sarcastically.

Kellin stared at her, and Ailsbet thought she saw a
glimpse of hurt in his eyes. But then he was gone, to join the men.

Soon all the hunters were mounted, and the noise of jingling harnesses and voices and horses was so much that Ailsbet could hardly hear herself think, let alone carry on a conversation.