Tyrant Trouble (Mudflat Magic) (35 page)

I
stopped working on the strings and looked at him until he finally met my gaze.

“Yes,
all right,” he said and took back the pouch and unknotted the strings and
returned it to me. “I don't like you angry with me.”

“I'm
not angry. And I don't need gifts every time we disagree.”

“Stargazer!
Open it. It isn't an apology. Just something I thought you could use.”

Use?
Now I was curious. I could feel small tumbling items in the pouch and cupped my
hand below the opening and poured them out. They caught the daylight, sparkled,
stunned me.

Speechless,
I pushed them around with my fingertip. They were jewels, each as clear as
water and as brilliant as a star and each was a different color. Jewel mines in
the Olympics? Not that I had ever heard of. Whatever they were, gemstone or
crystal, each was cut and faceted to reflect light.

Slowly
I sorted them out, touching each one as I whispered its color and name. “Yellow
Mercury, red Mars, green Saturn, lavender Neptune, blue Jupiter, and oh my god
is this a diamond for Venus? And this.” I touched a stone that was a soft
copper-gold and sparkled with little gold flecks. “My grandmother had earrings
of this. She called it sandstone. Perfect for Uranus.”

“Do
you like them?”

I
could hardly breathe. “You remembered all the colors I painted on the pebbles.”

Two
more pieces slid into my hand, two round flat bits the size of coins, a silver
moon and a gold sun.

“Does
that mean you like them?”

I
think I managed to say thank you. I slid the jewels back into the pouch and put
it in my pocket before he could change his mind. I had never had jewels to wear
and never thought about wanting them, but markers made of jewels? It was as
though I held stars in my hand and it frightened me a little to covet anything
so much.

“The
castle could take a while to build. I thought you might like to have the
markers now.”

“But
I don't need a separate castle. I'm fine in the temple with Nance.” I didn't
add that I wasn't planning to stay around that long.

“The
temple will be closed.” Tarvik turned away.

“Why?”
I caught at his arm to turn him to face me.

This
time he wouldn't meet my gaze.

He
said softly, “The Daughter saved my father once, but now she has forgotten him.
She no longer looks after the line of Kovat. I will seal the temple and leave
it as a memorial to him.”

“But
I don't understand! I'm the one who advised Kovat to go to battle before the
full moon.”

“You
said if he did, he and his army would be victorious, and so they were,
Stargazer. They defeated a powerful warlord and captured his treasure hoard.
That is why he gave a victory banquet for his army and his brother's army. But
you told him then, and I heard you say it, that you saw only the success of his
army, not his own fate. You saw correctly, Stargazer. The Daughter deserted
him.”

“But
what about Nance?”

She
took her role as templekeeper seriously. This was going to be a huge shock for
her, losing her temple, but maybe we could set up something in the main castle
to keep her busy. I'd have to think about that. Oh God, now I was going to be a
career counselor to barbarians. In horoscopes back home, where I knew job
categories, I gave a lot of career advice, but here? Even if I had her birth
date and could draw her horoscope, what sorts of jobs were available for a
warlord's niece?

He
pressed his lips together and stared past me.

“I
don't need a separate castle. If you have to close the temple, Nance and I can
share a room in your castle.” I could not read his thoughts on his face because
he was trying to hide them from me, not a good sign.

“There
is a city beyond the mountain's shadow ruled by a cousin of my father. He sent
his messenger last summer to ask for Nance in marriage. Kovat promised the
Daughter that Nance would remain in the temple, and he told me then that he
would not break that promise. But now the promises to the Daughter don't
matter. She deserted my father. It would be a good marriage for Nance. I need
this man as an ally.”

“Nance
is not a gold bracelet! You can't give her away like some trinket!”

He
frowned and I saw in his smooth face the twisted scowl of Kovat. “Of course I
can. I rule this city.”

“But
Nance is your friend! Your cousin! Practically like a sister to you!”

“Nance
will have her own castle. She should be pleased with that.”

“But
you will ask her,” I insisted. “It's up to her.”

He
clenched his fists and said in his low voice that was so much more frightening
than a shout, “Stargazer, you drive me to fury! I am building you a castle. I
will give you slaves and power. But you are not the ruler. I am.”

I,
too, could clench my fists and scowl, and you bet that's what I did.

“I
don't want a castle or slaves or power or anything else from you. Listen up,
little boy. I want you to promise me that Nance is free to make her own
choices.”

“That
is not possible.”

He
would not meet my stare. Instead, he swung around on his heel and marched away
from me, leaving me alone on the windy hillside.

“Well
enough,” I shouted after him. “Close me up in this prison you're building for
me, but you can't make me tell your fortune! You're on your own, fella!”

And
so it ended, as did all our fights, with both of us furious, neither of us
willing to give an inch. This time it was Nance's inch and I'd fight to keep it
for her. When I returned to the temple, I asked Nance about this cousin of Kovat,
hoping she would tell me he was some great guy she'd always had a thing for.

“A
horrible old man with breath like swamp water,” she said. “Why do you ask?”

“Tarvik
mentioned him.” I was too cowardly to tell her the rest of it.

The
pouch of jewels burned in my pocket. I would throw it back in his face, I
decided, unless he changed his mind about Nance.

CHAPTER
21

Four
days of silence was Tarvik's limit. He sent me a gold ring with odd carvings as
an apology, asking me to meet him at the castle.

I
didn't want more gifts or apologies. During those days I had thought over what
he wanted of me and what I must have from him. It didn't sound as if he would
ever help me find my way out. So what were my choices? If ever there was a time
when I needed accurate charts to guide me, it was now. But there were too many
planets missing in his horoscope.

Once
more, hoping to find I had erred, misread, or was dead wrong, I drew his
horoscope on the table top, entered the sun and the slower of the planets. And
then I pulled the jewel markers from my pocket and set them outside the circle.
I had spent the last few nights in the courtyard, thinking perhaps he would
come talk to me. He was unreasonable because he was scared, right? Because he
didn't know how he was going to live up to what he had to do.

While
I waited, I studied the skies and knew quite well where the planets were now
and where their paths would take them in the next three or four years, but
there were still gaps in his natal chart.

All
I knew for fact was that he would rule, and if he followed his father's path,
he would be remembered as a great warlord. His fate drove him straight into
battle, betrayal, and blood everywhere, including his own.

Was
there a chance of changing the direction of his stubborn mind? Fate is choices.
Unfortunately, he seemed determined to make the wrong ones. At best I could
only hope to bend him slightly toward gentler ambitions than constant warfare.

Perhaps
I should butt out and let the barbarians follow their own destinies. Perhaps
they had gods who guided them, chose their fates, and had plans different than
what I saw. Maybe those gods had a reason for creating this hidden world and
how would I know about that? My knowledge of astrology applied to my world.
Maybe these people were part of a different universe, only existing within this
bubble, turning to mist if they went beyond its boundaries.

Maybe
I was losing my mind.

If
Tarvik was mist, I was moonshine. I put my palm over the sun in his chart and closed
my eyes. The heat of his energy blew through me like a firestorm and I bit my
lip to keep from howling. It was there, his choice, with so much conflict
between his natal chart and the current placements of the planets, I saw a
glittering web of danger and death weaving around him.

The
beating of his heart pounded in my head, as though I could hear his life's
blood throbbing. He ran an impossible path of choices, death stalked him, and
if he made one wrong decision, death would catch him within the next three
years. He would never reach Kovat's thirty-nine.

Tarvik
had no future.

This
touching of a chart and seeing so much more, I hated it. It did not make me
wiser or stronger, and it certainly didn't give me answers. It did not show me
a better direction for him to follow. Isn't that what my skills were supposed
to do? This knowledge gave me nothing but grief.

Again
I pressed my palm over his sun, his heart, his life-force. And I felt his
heartbeat and then a quick flicker, some small promise, something else.

Opening
my eyes, I stared closer at his chart and saw the weak aspect between his natal
sun and Jupiter, not enough to save him. Searching the outer rim, I realized
the diamond Venus in its current location was at a positive aspect with those
other two, not strong enough to prevent disaster, but still. It might deflect
his fate and leave him a chance.

Not
much I could do for Tarvik. But maybe I could find a way to save Nance. I
wished now that Lor had taken her to his home village and never returned.

Tarvik
waited for me at the castle, slouched in his raised chair, his fingers plucking
at his fur cuffs, his head bent. His guard, Artur, stood behind him, leaning
against the wall, his streaked hair falling forward over the sides of his face.
He glanced up at me, so the light caught his eyes, and gave me a small smile. I
could never tell what Artur was thinking. Was Nance right? Did Artur believe I
had saved his life?

The
dog was back, stretched out beside the chair, its sleepy eyes glancing at me,
then closing. I don't know why it pleased me to see the dog had survived the
journey, but it did. I had never had much to do with dogs. I always had cats as
pets, but never a dog. The old dog looked a bit lonely and I wondered if it
missed Kovat.

“I
do not wish to battle with you, Stargazer,” Tarvik muttered.

“If
you still want me to be your advisor, you have to pay attention to my advice,”
I said, knowing he never would.

“I
will tell you the matters on which I choose to hear your answers from the
stars. Those opinions that come only from your own mind are to be left unsaid.”

Kovat
had once said something similar to me. I kept silent with Kovat, for good
reason, but I was not about to back down with Tarvik. “So you’re telling me I
am now a slave.”

He
looked up at me, surprised. “No. You know you are not.”

“This
is how you treat a slave.”

He
shook his head and tried to smile, but we both knew neither of us would give in
on this one.

“My
responsibilities are not easy. I must find ways to increase my power. Yet when
I carefully think through and choose a plan to build an alliance that will aid
me, you oppose me.”

“I
am trying to understand you, Tarvik. I know your position is difficult. But you
can't trade people for what you want. You can trade goods or land or animals or
treasure with this cousin for his allegiance, but not people.”

Tarvik
remained silent for a long moment, then said, “Nance is mine to give as I
please, but I will offer you a choice in this.”

Okay,
simmer down, be reasonable, hear him out. “What is my choice?”

“I
will give you Nance to keep as your companion for as long as you wish if you -
if you will agree to wed me.”

I
heard a sharp intake of breath and glanced up to meet the startled gaze of
Artur. I think we had both forgotten he was there. By the time Tarvik turned
his head to look at him, Artur had smoothed his face and lowered his eyes.

“Leave
us,” Tarvik said, and waited, while Artur walked silently past us and out the
door.

I
was grateful for the delay. Pressure in my chest had stopped my breathing. I
could not believe what he had said. Sure he was young and passionate, I
understood all that, and the opposites attract thing probably made me seem
glamorous. If he wanted me as a lover, sure, that request wouldn't have
surprised me.

But
marry me? Me, an outsider, a stranger, a woman with the status in his land
maybe three notches above slave? If I hadn't had skills that gained Kovat's
respect, I would either be dead or in a prison cell now. No surprise the
suggestion shocked Artur. I could add nothing to Tarvik's rule, no land, no
alliances, no followers, no wealth.

Our
relationship up to now had been entertaining, a little beyond flirting but way
short of a roll in the hay, and who'd be dumb enough to do that, anyway? Hay is
hard and prickly.

Okay,
we never got to sex, even if I knew it was part of his long-range game plan,
but wow, marriage? Bad for him. Impossible for me. There was no way I'd marry
into a medieval society, a life of outdated weird, where I'd be considered a
possession or who knew what else? I didn't want to guess at their customs. Oh
right, he thought he owned his cousin and could give her away, so what value
would he put on a wife?

“Why
not command me to marry you?” I sputtered, when I regained my voice. “Why ask at
all! I'm just another possession, right?”

“No!”
he exclaimed, rising to his feet and jumping down from the platform.