The Void of Muirwood (Covenant of Muirwood Book 3) (13 page)

“You were born for such a challenge, Collett,” Maia said. “I do not know anyone else who could handle it.”

Collett gave her a small smile, but she was too proud of her humility to allow more of a reaction. “We all do what we can, thank the Medium. I am certain you have cooks aplenty in Comoros now. Many are thinking about following the Aldermaston to Augustin Abbey, but I am not such a fool. Muirwood is my home and ever it shall be.” Seeing the startled look on Maia’s face, she continued. “The High Seer announced some changes this morning while you were abed. Seems that we have a new master to serve.” Judging from her tone, she was a little unsettled by the idea, but she bore it stoically.

Maia sat on a stool and ate the salty soup Aloia brought her, relishing every bite. She dipped an end hunk of bread into the leftover broth and ate it more slowly.

“You have met the new Aldermaston then?” Maia asked.

Collett sniffed and nodded. “He is quite tall compared to our former master,” she said. “I must get used to his tastes and preferences. He is a good man, but we will always honor and respect Richard and Joanna Syon here.” She looked over Maia’s shoulder, her expression changing.

With the noise and clatter of the kitchen, Maia had not heard the doors open. She turned to see that the Aldermaston and his wife had entered, bringing with them another man who also wore the gray cassock of the order.

“Aldermaston Wyrich,” Maia said, bowing her head to him and rising. She set the soup bowl down on her seat.

He was tall and strongly built, and she was immediately struck by his sense of presence. He was a handsome, grandfatherly man, with cropped gray hair with a spike of white at the front. His natural, effusive smile and good-natured aura indicated he was at complete harmony with the Medium. When he saw her, he came forward and knelt in front of her, then reached out and took her hands.

His voice was heavily accented, reminding her slightly of the dialect of Hautland. But he spoke articulately in her language, and she realized that he had been Gifted with Xenoglossia. “Your Majesty, it is an honor and a privilege to finally meet you. We are ever your most devoted servants and friends.” He smiled at her—a smile that somehow touched his every feature. “You are the one who opened the Apse Veils again. You saved us from death at the hands of our brothers.”

Maia felt her cheeks flush to be on the receiving end of such attention and heartfelt gratitude. “Please,” Maia said, interrupting him. She helped him stand. “I am your fellow servant, Aldermaston. Do not kneel before me. It is my understanding that in Assinica, there are no rulers?”

“That is correct,” he said, each word richly accented. He smiled warmly. “But we understand the traditions here are different, and we will adapt to them. We have enjoyed a long season of peace, but that season has ended. It is the way of the world. It is we who are
your
humble servants, my queen.”

“You have left everything behind,” Maia said sadly. “It must be difficult for your people.”

“We left trifles behind, my lady. What we brought with us cannot be taken away. We bring our covenants. We bring our knowledge. We bring our empathy. I hope all will be useful to you, my queen. We have come to serve.”

Maia shook her head. “Please, call me Maia as
my
Aldermaston does,” she said, walking over and taking Aldermaston Syon by the hand. She turned back to him. “Do you have a wife?”

“I do indeed,” he answered. “She is helping in the laundry at the moment. She will wish to meet you. Her name is Frances.”

Maia turned her gaze back to Richard Syon. “Aldermaston,” she said softly, her eyes looking into his. It was always difficult to meet his gaze, for it was always so penetrating and deep. He looked troubled, his face suppressing very clear feelings of mourning. He loved the abbey. He loved Muirwood with all his being. Asking him to leave it was like asking him to stop using one of his hands. But he did not murmur or complain.

“Maia,” he breathed softly, his compassionate smile twisting his sad lips upward. His eyes twinkled with affection for her. His thick hands squeezed hers. He was not tall or handsome. He was a doughy man with large ears and thinning hair. But he was also the most patient and kindhearted person she knew.

“I know your heart will always be here,” she said tenderly. “As will mine. But your kingdom needs you, Aldermaston. Your queen needs you. If we are to restore the people’s faith in mastons, there will need to be a period of revival, of reawakening. As you taught me yourself, the word repentance means to change our thoughts, our hearts, even our breath. I need you to help breathe new life into this kingdom. If we cannot spark their belief in the Medium strongly enough, we will be made void when the Naestors come. I wish you to be my chancellor. My advisor. My friend.”

The Aldermaston’s lips pursed, his jowls quivering. “I do not seek this office,” he whispered.

Joanna’s expression was equally serious. Where once she and her husband had shared constant companionship, they would now often be parted. But Maia could see the encouraging look in her eyes. Despite the difficulties such a change would pose, she wanted him to accept the office.

Maia put her hand on his shoulder. “For that reason, I give it to you.”

He frowned, weighed down by his emotions. “It is the Medium’s will,” he said, choking. “I will do it, however it pains me to accept it.”

Maia put her arms around him and then pulled his wife into the embrace. She stared at them with joy. “Thank you. I know that with one choice I get you both.” After squeezing them tight, she pulled away and turned back to Aldermaston Wyrich. “I need your help, Aldermaston.”

“Anything,” he replied, folding his hands in front of him.

“The coronation will be in Comoros,” Maia said. “Not Muirwood. All the people must see the queen anointed by an Aldermaston. This has never happened before. But it must be clear that the authority of the Crown is below the authority of the Medium. I depend on you—” she nodded to Richard—“to help him understand our rituals.”

“There is a tome where the rituals are engraved,” Richard said. “The anointing will happen at Claredon Abbey in Comoros. I have this information and will share it with Aldermaston Wyrich.” He gave her a grave look.

“What is it?” she asked him. He gestured that he would not speak of it then.

“The plans for the coronation are well underway,” Maia said. “When will the two of you join me in Comoros?” she asked.

Richard looked at his wife. “We were planning to cross the Apse Veil today. Your grandmother has already consecrated us as the Aldermastons of Augustin. We planned to return with you to the palace.”

“If I may make a suggestion,” Aldermaston Wyrich offered.

Maia looked at him expectantly.

“I am unfamiliar with the city of Comoros. But the records have taught us that even in Lia’s day, the city was corrupted.”

“And it still is,” Maia said. “One of the first things I plan on asking the chancellor to do is to prepare the city for the coronation. If I could summon a storm, I would. Shovels and rakes will have to suffice.”

Wyrich beamed. “Excellent. I will send a few through the Veil to assist with the cleanup. I also have charged a goldsmith with making a crown for your coronation. If you will visit with him before you leave, it can be sized appropriately. I have tailors working on clothes for you as well. I understand that you prefer more simple designs?”

Maia smiled at him. “Indeed.”

“I am certain we will come up with something you like. My people are at your disposal, my lady. Over the years, we have invented many interesting devices that will be useful to your people. Have you considered what music you would like for the coronation assembly?”

Maia stared at him.

“I thought not,” he replied with a wink. “Leave that to us as well. I will go find Frances. She will want to greet you personally, and I am certain there is much you must discuss with your new chancellor. Excuse me.”

He bowed meekly and strode out of the kitchen. Maia noticed that the additional kitchen helpers from Assinica had all been staring at him in respect. Upon his departure, they immediately went back to work without a reminder from Collett.

“What troubles you?” Maia asked the Aldermaston, who still looked grave.

He glanced at his wife, who nodded and approached closer. “What Richard is loath to speak, I will,” she said in a hushed voice. “This is not about serving you, Maia. Please believe that. We are humbled by your faith in us. The city is much in commotion, we hear. There may be rioting the day of your coronation. But that is not the concern. Richard looked over the tome containing the coronation ritual. Clearly some of the words need to be adapted, but a certain practice has been in place for centuries.”

She frowned. “Maia, the anointing of a king or queen is called the Chrism. It is holy oil. It is to be anointed on your shoulders, breast, forehead, and temples.”

Maia blanched. “I did not know this.”

Richard nodded sternly, his voice too low for the others in the kitchen to hear. “It is clear that the tradition is in place to prevent an Aldermaston from unknowingly anointing a . . . hetaera.”

“The ceremony is usually performed inside the abbey walls, but it is done in front of a few witnesses,” Joanna continued. Her look darkened. “Changing the ritual drastically will only attract more attention. And it would not be honest to do so.”

Maia felt the wrenching anguish again, and tears swam in her eyes.

The Aldermaston reached out and took her arm. “I feel the Medium has forgiven you, Maia. You would not have been able to open the Apse Veil otherwise. But consequences are still being meted out, dram by dram. We will ponder this situation. Do not be grieved by it.”

“How can this not grieve me?” she said. She kept her voice low so that the kitchen helpers would not hear. The weight of the past threatened to crush her, and she felt miserable. “Before Crabwell tried to execute me, he sent Aldermaston Kranmir to talk to me. I was forced to show him my shoulder. He already knows.” She was starting to tremble and could not quell it. “He is going to try and use that knowledge to unseat my grandmother. And you. He is already calling himself the High Seer.”

The Aldermaston and his wife shared a grim look. “He may try to discredit you. But he will only invalidate his own authority,” Richard said. “When we go to Augustin, we will go with the full authority of the Medium. The Leerings there will no longer obey him. He may have deceived himself and others, but he cannot fool the Medium.”

Worry welled in Maia’s stomach. “I have the shadowstain on my chest,” she said with a groan. “And the mark on my shoulder. I do not see how this can stay secret. It is my sin. It is my offense. As long as the Chrism is anointed inside the abbey, the Myriad Ones cannot overwhelm me. They nearly did in the palace. But the witnesses will all know something is wrong.”

She felt the Aldermaston’s wife put an arm around her shoulder. “Perhaps it is time for the binding sigil to be broken,” she whispered, squeezing Maia.

CHAPTER TEN

Coroner’s Inquest

E
ven though the sun had long since set, many people still wandered the corridors of the castle, trying to complete the work of the day. Another day had passed since the news of the new chancellor had been announced, in which time Richard had been installed in the tower and his wife had taken up residence at Augustin Abbey. Kranmir had fled with some of his loyal supporters, but his whereabouts were still unknown. As Maia walked toward the chancellor’s tower, she was met with startled looks and quick obeisance as her subjects recognized her and the guardsmen escorting her. Light streamed down from several Leerings, and she saw it reflected in the glossy polish of the tiled floor. There were hardly any floor rushes and a host of servants swept the floors clean each day. Maia even saw a little drudge with a rag kneeling and scrubbing at the seams, and she frowned, knowing the little girl should be abed already.

When she reached the tower, she turned to face her escort. “Wait for me here if you must, but I would prefer that you retire for the night. It has been a long and busy day.”

“We will wait,” said one of the men without affection or warmth. The two positioned themselves on either side of the doorway. Maia sighed and then started up the tower steps.

As she walked, memories flowed back to her in a rush. She grazed her fingers along the stone of the stairwell, recalling the many times she had intruded on Chancellor Walraven as a child. When she was little, this turret had seemed monstrous in its size and filled with mystery and wonder. It had been a refuge for her, a place where she had met with her mentor and learned to read. The ban on girls reading was a law she planned to remedy. All in its proper time.

The steps were steep, but she found the exercise invigorating, and after all, she had once made a habit of crossing mountains. She smiled wistfully as she took the steps one by one toward the chamber at the top.

The door to the chancellor’s office was open, and inside she saw her chancellor, Richard Syon, bent over a scroll at his desk. He still wore the gray cassock, but a ceremonial stole of his new office had been added to his attire. His hair was askew, reminding her of the lateness of the hour and also of her old friend Walraven. There was an inviting scent in the room, which made her pause at the threshold, and then she noticed the tied clumps of purple mint hanging from racks on the walls. There were other subtle changes as well—vases of flowers, a small basket filled with Muirwood apples, a warm blanket folded on the window seat where, as a child, she had enjoyed sitting and gazing out at the city.