“So where do we stand?” Queen Sorcha asked the four members of the Circle gathered before her.
“Angora has returned,” Emil reported, “though not of her own accord. Tiderius found her attempting to escape with King Samian and a fight broke out. Finally, Tiderius’s double is revealed to us. The king himself is a swordsman and has done Tiderius considerable damage.”
“Of course!” Aiyla exclaimed. “That makes sense. There were always six of them but I never even imagined that the king himself – Is Tiderius all right?”
“I’m assured he’s healing well. Unfortunately, Angora brought Samian here, grabbing him at the last moment. He has also been tended to and now resides in the dungeons.”
“What? King Samian in one of my cells?” Sorcha exclaimed. “How could you let that happen, Emil? First the wedding and now this? If the Ayons needed yet another motive to launch their invasion, you have provided it!”
“They wouldn’t dare attack us recklessly, not when we have their king.”
“But you must send him back immediately!” the queen cried, standing. “This was a bad move, a very bad move.”
“At least let us question him,” Markus said.
Sorcha turned to him, her eyes wide and disbelieving. “You as well? What is wrong with all of you?” she cried. “Every moment that passes brings the war closer and we haven’t the strength to fight them!”
“Then we should name terms,” Kayte said. “Send a message to Delseroy with a decree that Samian won’t be harmed if they remain on their side of the border.”
“After the abduction of their king and queen, they would never agree to any such thing,” Sorcha said. “No, you will return him immediately! Gods, what was Angora’s motive in bringing him here?”
“I’m not convinced she meant to,” Kayte said, “but I believe there is more between them than was immediately obvious to us.”
“What do you mean?”
“We initially thought,” Emil said, glancing at Kayte, “that they had come to some agreement involving Angora’s allegiance and the protection of the neutral islands, especially Teronia, but now I assume she has genuine affection for King Samian.”
Sorcha put her head in her hands. “This complicates things,” she said, “and our reinforcements from the south are taking too long!”
“They are on their way,” Aiyla assured her. “Prince Korrosus must have written a very persuasive letter to his father, for at least a dozen ships are preparing to make sail from Milena. That must be thousands of men.”
“But will it be enough?” Sorcha asked. “What of our southern allies?”
“Unfortunately, it will still be some time before the southern regiments will be able to send us aid, for the wild Highlanders have flared again and Commander Mainar is struggling to keep them at bay. However, they have promised us a significant number of men, should their conflict in the Argyl Ranges be quick and successful.”
“That is some comfort at least,” the queen said, sighing with relief. “But this situation with King Samian is a troubling one. We have dug ourselves into a hole, a very deep one. I agree that sending him back will do very little, but I don’t like having him here, not one bit. This will not go unpunished and we must be ready for the retaliation.”
*
Angora sat alone under a great oak in the courtyard. The thought occurred to her that she was no longer a girl, but a young woman. Her life had sadly come full circle. After escaping so dramatically, she had been returned to Te’Roek. It dawned on her that she had known only a few moments of true happiness since setting foot on the mainland: the first day she had met Rasmus; the brief weeks leading up to her wedding; and the time she had spent with the king as his wife and queen before Emil, Tiderius, Kayte and Markus had dragged her back to Te’Roek. She found it sad that she could count these rare moments on one hand and wondered whether there would be any chance for her future to brighten.
What was Sorcha thinking? Did she really think she could use King Samian as leverage? It had been days now. Surely Galenros would have seen their situation and related every detail to Varren, and the sorcerer would now be hatching a plan to retrieve the king. When Varren attacked, would Sorcha threaten to kill Samian? Angora could not think of anything worse. Trying to blackmail Varren was like fanning flames.
“If you can see this, Galenros,” she whispered, looking up at the cloudy sky, “tell him – tell Varren to please come quickly. The charms on the castle walls do not prevent summoned creatures from flying across the walls and down into the courtyard. If you come with Vrór, then you can take the main stairs down to – ”
She heard a footfall on the stones behind her and turned her head to see Emil approaching. She could not stop herself from glowering. The shaman’s expression remained blank and it was this more than anything that annoyed her. His apathy was worse than his fury.
“May I join you?” he asked.
“You never ask for anything,” she replied shortly. “You take or you do, I have no choice.”
Emil sighed and glanced away. He lowered himself onto the bench beside her. “I want to ask you something and I’d appreciate it if you would answer truthfully.”
“Now you are attempting civility?” Angora asked, raising her eyebrows. “What a day of paradoxes. I suppose it would be too much to expect an apology from you next.”
“What is the history between yourself and the king?”
The question caught her off-guard and her eyes narrowed. “That is none of your business.”
“Do you wish me to read your mind?” Emil asked.
“Never.”
“Then use your tongue, girl! He didn’t marry you on mere acquaintance, did he? Why would he marry you when he could have gained a stronger alliance elsewhere? Turgyl has many prominent families, as does Leith. He could have married into wealth. You, however, have not a pfenn to your name. And as for the islands, they pose no such threat to him and can offer him very little in return for his protection. Why would he marry on such terms?”
“Because he values life!” Angora exclaimed. “He is trying to undo what his father did.”
“So how did you go from fighting Vrór in the skies above Kirofirth to marrying the king of the Ayons?”
“Vrór was too strong, he could have killed me, but he has peculiar tastes. He brought me back to Delseroy as a trophy and expected praise from the king and Varren. But when Samian found out who and what I was, he spared my life and offered an alliance. He promised me the protection of the islands in exchange for my hand, but I wanted more. I wanted the pirates and bandits gone from the Kalladean, to free up the trading routes. He agreed.”
“To all those terms?”
“Yes.”
“Though they offered very little advantage for his own cause.”
“What would you know about my husband’s cause?” she asked bitterly. “You know only of Ronnesian ways and Ronnesian motives. My husband wants to keep his people safe and enrich their lives as best he can. His father ordered him to raze the south to the ground but he withdrew the armies the moment he was made king! Had you forgotten that? He wants peace in these lands, that was why he made the offer of marriage to Queen Sorcha. And why did she refuse? She was too proud, and chose war over peace!”
“None of us believed he was sincere in his promises. Not even you.”
“Ah, I see! So again this is my fault!” Angora cried. “Of course!”
“Please, don’t exaggerate.”
She sighed and crossed her arms grumpily. “Yes, when I first saw King Samian in Delseroy, I thought he was everything his father had been – cruel, war-hungry, unconcerned with the plight of the people – but he is nothing like Corhillar. Nothing at all. If his farms fail in a season, he boosts imports. When his allies are racked with civil war, he moves in to prevent the factions from eliminating each other and forces them into diplomatic talks. He is kind and fair and dedicated to his people.”
“You seem to know a lot about his character for only a matter of weeks.”
“Not weeks,” Angora said, shaking her head. “I have known him for years.”
Emil appeared confused. “But you only went to Delseroy a few months ago.”
Angora looked away. Hiding her past would do nothing to alter her situation and, she reminded herself, Emil could command Aiyla to investigate her past if he suspected she had not been honest with him.
“Before the burning of my homeland, there was a great storm and a young man was washed up on our northern coast. He said he was a rich islander who had been thrown into the sea during a voyage and separated from his crew.”
“Samian?”
“Yes. My father resented outsiders and I feared he would kill Samian, so I hid him in the caves. I took him food and water every day until the storms passed and it was safe for him to leave the island. My mother and I prepared a boat for him and he left. I never thought I would see him again.”
“When did you find out he was the king of the Ayons?”
“As soon as I saw him in Delseroy.”
“Did he recognize you?”
“Oh, yes.”
“Were you intimate on Teronia?”
Angora turned to face him with pure disbelief in her eyes. “What sort of question is that?”
“But you loved him?”
“What I knew of love, yes.”
“And when you were reunited, did you love him then?”
“I hated him at first, but it is very hard not to love a man who is so devoted to the needs of others. He is the best man I have ever known.”
“Despite the fact he’s an Ayon?”
Angora slammed her hands down on the bench and glared at him. “The Ayons are not monsters!”
“You swore you would seek vengeance for the damage the Ayons did to your island. When you were part of the Circle, it consumed your every waking hour. Are you telling me you have forgotten the suffering your people endured?”
“Don’t you dare suggest I have forgotten what happened!”
“Then why give up your vendetta?”
“It is not right to condemn a man for the sins of his father,” she said. “I have relinquished my vow for vengeance. I do not hate the Ayon soldiers for burning my island, only the man who gave the order. He is dead, long dead.”
Emil’s eyes narrowed and his lips grew thin. “Why do you wish so badly to disrupt the equilibrium?” he asked.
“I wish only to be free!” Angora insisted. “I never wanted to be part of this war but you keep dragging me back! I may have been born a leika but I was never born to be Queen Sorcha’s pawn.”
“None of us ever had the choice, Angora,” Emil said, his voice almost soft. “When Markus found me, I knew the Spirits had decided my future long before I had been born.”
Angora shook her head and looked out over the lush courtyard. “That is a lie. You say you had no choice but you did. You chose to go to Te’Roek because you believed it was your path. I do not believe this is mine.”
Emil was silent for a long while, his dark eyes studying his hands.
“Tell me truthfully, what do you think Varren’s reaction will be?”
Angora met his gaze sternly. “You have effectively abducted the entire royal family of Delseroy in a single afternoon. Do you think you will be able to stand up to the full fury of Lord General Varren when he comes to reclaim his king? And he will come, you can be sure of that.”
“This castle is secure. We have more men patrolling the corridors and more restraints on the front doors. I worked on them for hours.”
“That will not be enough. No matter what you do, Varren will come and he will enter this castle again. You had your chance to return King Samian but you persuaded the queen to keep him. I cannot understand how you all can be so stupid…” She shook her head and looked up at the darkening sky. “When Varren comes, he will want blood…and I believe he will get it.”