Valdemar 06 - [Exile 02] - Exile’s Valor (40 page)

But there should have been one creature above all who would have—or should have—
realized
what was happening before this. And even if she hadn't been able to stop it, she should have been able to warn the rest of them!

:Kantor,:
he called.

:I follow you,:
his Companion replied.
:I hope you don't mind; you jarred me awake and I just followed your thought.:

Once he would have been angry; not now. Now, in fact, he was grateful. Kantor had become the perfect partner, in a way; the shield-brother, the man you could depend on to fall in at your side and match you, move for move.

Well, he could see that. Clearly, it didn't always.

:You're thinking Selenay and Caryo.:
There was a moment of hesitation.
:You can't understand why Caryo didn't nip this in the bud, especially since she doesn't much like Prince Karath. And why she didn't realize how far things had gotten.:

:Exactly,:
Alberich replied.

Alberich blinked in surprise. That hadn't occurred to him as a possibility.

Oh. . . .
This was beginning to make him feel a little ill.

Now, suddenly, it all made sense. Terrible sense.

At least, insofar as he understood young women, and insofar as Caryo being in the dark about all this right along with everyone else.
:Dear God. . . . :
he replied, aghast.
:We've all been blindsided.:

:Our own damned fault,:
Kantor agreed.
:We, the Companions, should have known. We know Caryo better than anyone but Selenay—and she was exactly the right Companion for a girl who was bound and determined not to think too hard about anything that wasn't involved in being the Heir and a Herald. If Sendar was still alive—:

:If Sendar was alive, he'd have sent the boy packing, after making him look ridiculous and unpalatable in Selenay's eyes first. That's the only way to handle such things.:
Alberich was at least on surer ground there; as an officer, he'd had to break up many an ill-timed romance.

:We were fools,:
Alberich said flatly.
:She was clearly drowning in duty and we thought a festival or two would be enough.:

The very thought made him angry, made him want to get hold of the blackguard and beat him with the flat of his sword—but Kantor was right. And Talamir was right. Hadn't he
just
been watching plays all this winter and spring that proved that very point? The best way to get a young woman set on a particular young man, and vice versa, was to oppose the match. The only way to separate her from someone who was not good for her was to be reserved on the subject of the young man, while being supportive of
her.
Then, when things began to go wrong, and only then, did you make it clear that you were “on her side.” The only difference between a cliche and a truism was the skill and intricacy with which the latter was presented. And, unfortunately, Norris was a much better actor than the tawdry plays he presented for the common folk would have suggested. If he was, indeed, coaching the Prince—

:Have you talked with Caryo about this?:
he asked his Companion, as he rolled over on his back and stared up at the ceiling.

:Not yet. Right now she's very hurt that Selenay didn't even
hint
of this to her. And, frankly, angry with herself for not seeing it. And she should be.:

Well,
he
wasn't going to be the one to say anything, but Kantor was right. In retrospect, Selenay had virtually handed everyone a map to her feelings with that masque, and all anyone had thought, if they'd thought at all, was how clever she was to have devised something that would entertain and honor all at the same time. Kantor was right; in this case, Caryo
had
been as thick as two short planks. And so had they.

:Least said, soonest mended,:
the Companion said philosophically.
:I am keeping my thoughts to myself until Caryo is ready to talk to the rest of us. But I think that where Selenay is concerned, our voices must be raised in a song with but a single refrain—:

:Which is, “All we want is your happiness,” I think,:
he replied.
:It's true enough.:
At least the feeling behind that phrase would be absolutely genuine. All any of them
did
want was Selenay's happiness. They just wanted it without the Prince's presence involved.

:Meanwhile, I don't think you should give up chasing Norris,:
Kantor continued.
:Now, I think that young Devlin was probably his contact in the Court to pass him information about Selenay herself. So I don't think you should take your eyes off Devlin either.:

He smiled grimly up at the ceiling.
:Ah, now, nor do I. In the first place, Norris might
not
have been tutoring the Prince. In the second place, if that was indeed what was toward, we may someday need the evidence. Because what I overheard makes me think that once there's a wedding, the Prince will slip. Selenay might excuse him a time or two, but she won't put up with it forever. And
then
we can prove to her how she was manipulated.:
Then, because he was honest, he had to add,
:If she was. He might really be in love with her; he might be everything he seems. But my gut says he isn't.:

He felt Kantor's satisfaction.
:You're better at this business than you were.:

He sighed.
:I could wish that there was no reason to be. The Weaponsmaster is all I ever cared to be.:

:We play the game we're put into, Chosen,:
said Kantor, which seemed to be about the only possible answer.

After that, however, it seemed as if a whirlwind had suddenly engulfed them, and the whirlwind's name was Selenay.

Alberich never had a chance to voice any opinion at all, because it was never asked of him. Selenay simply seemed to
assume
that because she was enchanted by the Prince, everyone else was, too. She had never before had anything that she wanted, really and truly
wanted
so much as Prince Karath—except, perhaps, for her father to be alive again. But the latter was impossible and the Prince was entirely within her reach. She was lonely, she was in love, and at the moment, there was no more potent combination. She could not imagine living without him, and she was taking steps so that she wouldn't have to.

Alberich was not present at the Council meeting that day after the masquerade where she
announced
—not asked, not even for advice—
announced,
arbitrarily and making it clear that she would brook no opposition, that she and the Prince were going to wed. And that it would be within the month. He was told about it later that evening by Elcarth.

Elcarth, Kyril, Jadus, and Talamir were all in Alberich's quarters, which made it a bit crowded once Myste, Keren, and Ylsa joined the group. Elcarth was looking more than a bit dazed, Kyril a little grim, and Talamir very—quiet and contained. Inhumanly so, actually. It made the hair on the back of Alberich's neck rise.

But they all had other considerations at the moment.

“You ladies wouldn't have known her father when he was at his most stubborn,” Elcarth said, rubbing his hands over his temples. “When there was something he
knew
he wanted done, and he wasn't going to take ‘no' for an answer. He was a force of nature, and there was no point in getting in his way, any more than there is in standing in the path of an avalanche and expecting it to stop because you want it to. It was like seeing her father all over again, with the addition that she was positively
fixated
on getting her way in this, as if it not only would be, it
had
to be, or the world would end.”

“She simply rode right over the top of any opposition,” Kyril seconded. “Not that there was very much, not when Orthallen and Gartheser threw in on her side. But still—I've never seen her like this, she became a petty tyrant, in fact. It was as if anyone who said anything contrary to her just didn't exist—”

“She was afraid,” Talamir said, into the silence. “Fear can make anyone a tyrant.”

The men looked at him blankly; Alberich was among them. He couldn't imagine how Talamir had come to
that
conclusion; there was no logic in it.

But Keren and Myste exchanged an eloquent glance, and after Keren nodded, Myste spoke up.

“She was afraid that if she didn't force this through, now, she would lose him, you mean,” Myste said. It was a statement, not a question. “And if she loses
him,
it will break her, and she knows it.”

“I think so.” Talamir passed a hand over one eye, and looked, for a moment, impossibly frail.

“How can it break her?” Elcarth asked, aghast. “Great good gods, she's been through much worse than having a love affair end!”

“She does not precisely
confide
in me, so I can only judge by what I see and sense, based on what I know. I have never been in love myself,” he added, somewhat wistfully, “So all I can do is guess. But as for why it will break her—it is precisely because she has been through so much in this last year. I believe that she sees Prince Karath as—as a sort of lifeline.”

“I think—maybe—it's
because
he's an outsider,” Myste put in. “I mean, she thinks she can't unburden herself to the rest of us, because we're a part of that burden. And anyway, he's made himself indispensable now. If she loses him, it will be that proverbial last pebble that starts the avalanche. Maybe he's only a pebble, but sometimes that's all it takes.”

“Think about it, think back to how you
felt
with your first loves, not what you know now. The first time a youngster falls in love, there's no way to tell the difference between love and infatuation from the inside,” Ylsa added sadly. “So as far as Selenay and this situation are concerned, right now, the difference is negligible.”

“You mean, we treat it as love even though it might be—is probably—infatuation.” Kyril looked pained. “But—”

“Remember what I told you about supporting her,” Talamir warned.

“But if she goes on like this, overruling everything before anyone even has a chance to object—” began Elcarth. But both Talamir and Alberich were shaking their heads. Talamir gestured to Alberich.

“I think she will not, for there is no fear there for her,” Alberich said. “Such things do not rouse her passion or her fear, for they do not affect her love.”

“Precisely.” Talamir nodded. “Why should she be afraid about a matter of budget, or of setting a law? None of this is going to going to wrench her love out of her arms. We should be far more concerned that she stops
caring
about these things, frankly.”

“Actually,” Jadus spoke up, making everyone turn to look at him, “I think the best thing we could do is get this wedding over and done with, if it could be done
tomorrow,
I'd say to do it.”

“Because—” Alberich said slowly,
feeling
his way toward the words, “—if mere infatuation it is, the sooner reality comes, the better. So—let the Prince but think he has her, then revert to whatever his true self is, he will.”