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Meg stared out her window, over the yard where the men exercised and beyond to the river. The sun glinted on the calm water and the grass seemed greener this morning. Were the gods as close as she hoped? Had she seen what she thought she had? Who was to die?
She had hardly slept the night before. Every time she had closed her eyes, she had seen the death of someone she cared for, someone she knew. She had tried to distract herself with the image of Brodwyn, for she hadn’t allowed herself to think of him at all since coming to the Keep. And yet despite his smiling face and dark eyes, he too entered her dreams as another body lying at the gates of the castle.
She rubbed her temple, worried that perhaps she was not as well healed as she hoped, and leaned against the cool glass. The men all faced the same direction in perfectly formed lines and stepped forward, swung their swords around and then stepped again, swinging the swords with full force. Meg should have been standing amongst their number. The smooth movements were a wonder, like a dance, and each man was perfectly in time with his neighbours. She wondered how well these men would dance in court if they were given the chance.
Watching Rainger, she realised that there was something very serious occurring between him and Kellin. She liked the man and he kept Kellin calm, but it had to stop.
She should raise it with Brent, she thought, but it wasn’t as though they could be separated. Nor could he be sent away. Meg sighed. Brent would have an idea. A loud whistle drew her attention and she saw Kiam waving with two hands above his head from the yard below. She gave him a small wave back and smiled as he waved her down. She nodded and turned slowly.
Her leg gave her far more pain than it had recently. Months it had been, and she still limped. They seemed to have been here so long that she wondered, as she took the stairs slowly, step by step, if they would ever return to Rocfeld. So many times she had told Kellin that they would return, but the longer they stayed at the Keep the less she believed it herself.
As she stepped out into the sunshine, she had to raise her hand to shade her eyes.
“Good morning,” Kiam said, skipping up to her. “How do you feel this morning?”
“Well,” she said.
He looked at her seriously then. “Truly?”
“A little sore,” she admitted.
“No chills or fevers or the like from your swim?”
She shook her head and smiled at him. They had all worried when she had been pulled from the water, and she was unsure now as to what she had seen. The nightmares and the soothsayer’s words had only made her doubt herself more. It was only as Kiam’s face became stern that she realised she was rubbing her head again.
“I’m fine,” she said quickly. “It was a long day yesterday.”
“That it was,” he said softly. “Perhaps we could take a small walk today, rather than working with the men. I think it would be good for you.”
Meg nodded and turned back to the house to find Lora standing in the doorway with her shawl.
“Thank you,” she said and then took Kiam’s offered arm. “Could we take it slowly?” she asked.
“Slowly is the only way we shall be taking it,” he said.
“You are worried.”
“Always, but after yesterday, I am your new mother hen.”
Meg giggled. “I promise no more swimming.”
Kiam shook his head slowly.
“And yet again you all came to the rescue.” She looked out over the water as they moved around the yard. “Can we go down to the chapel?”
“Not today.”
She was disappointed but didn’t let him know just how much. They were going to be watching her far more closely now, thinking she was no longer capable of doing anything without risk of injury. As they passed the barracks, she noticed Raf watching her. She gave him a short nod and he returned it with a small smile.
She sighed and stopped.
“We will head back, it is not far.”
“Kiam, it is 50 yards to the door, I think I can manage.” She pulled from his arm and moved as quickly as she could across the gravel to the door. Kiam took long strides to keep up with her.
“What is it?”
She ignored him and kept moving. She was supposed to be the one in control, the one leading the way and showing that they could survive here. Yet she was constantly looking to these men for support and they had to watch over her in case she fell like the child she was.
“Meg,” he called as he followed her into the front room, where she found Brent standing by the fire.
“What has happened?” he asked, his face concerned.
Meg sat slowly in the chair, using the arm for more support than she wanted to. She shook her head but looked into the flames rather than his face.
“Meg?” Brent asked.
“Do I need to check your leg? Was the walk too much?” Kiam asked quickly. “Does your head hurt?”
Again, she realised she was rubbing her temple.
“I am fine,” she said slowly. “I am feeling somewhat...”
Brent sat beside her on the matching chair. “We are concerned.”
“I understand that. I am feeling a little closely watched today.”
“You understand why we do that?”
She nodded.
“We worry,” Kiam said.
“I know,” she said, turning to him. “But I’m not a child. I feel as though I can’t be trusted.”
“You went swimming,” Kiam said, using his hands for emphasis.
“I fell in.” She stood too quickly and her leg pinched, and she groaned as she started to go down. Brent’s arm was quickly around her waist. He lowered her into the chair and she looked down at her hands, willing the tears of pain to stay away. “If I promise not to move, or walk, or swim,” she added, looking up at Kiam, “will you leave me alone?”
“Yes,” he said softly, and Brent gave her a little nod as they left the room. She thumped the arm of the chair with her fist as Kellin entered.
“Do you need anything?” she asked as she paused with her hand on the handle. “I could fetch Kiam.”
Meg shook her head. “I’m fine.”
“Are you sure? I was going to walk with Rainger, but if you need me I could put him off.”
“Not at all. You need your exercise and I would quite like to be alone today.”
Kellin quickly disappeared. As she heard the crunch of footsteps by the front entrance, Meg remembered that she had been planning to talk to Brent about them. But now she had the room to herself, she was a little lonely, but also pleased that there was no one there to judge her, or check on her, or watch her every move or facial expression to determine what she might need or what she might do.
The fire crackled and she smiled at the warmth. “I just want to go home,” she said. “I just want to go home to Rocfeld.”
Meg woke in the night to screaming and a strange crackling sound. She raced out of her room into the hallway to find it filled with smoke. She dropped to her knees, groaning with the pain that shot down her leg, wondering what was happening as the screaming continued.
Brent was suddenly there, taking her by the hand and leading her down the stairs. He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her from the Keep rather than helped her. He left her on the gravel yard, and then Kiam was there putting a rough blanket around her shoulders.
She smiled thanks at him and then said, “Kellin,” and he followed Brent into the building. Flames cracked the small windows in the upstairs rooms, and the noise overtook everything else. “The maids,” she whispered, racing back towards the door, but strong arms enveloped her, holding her back.
“No,” she screamed and then Rainger pushed through the door, Kellin in his arms, and Meg took hold of her. “I have her,” she said, but his arms remained tight around her. “Rainger,” she said slowly, “I have her, there are more inside.” He looked down at Kellin for a moment and then rushed back into the Keep.
The screaming had stopped and Meg focused on the men. A bucket chain formed from the river to the intense heat, but the only way up to the flames was the small staircase already blocked by men searching for maids and the plump cook.
Bess appeared before her in Brent’s arms. Her skin was blackened and her nightgown burnt, and Meg reached out to her but she was dead.
“Oh, Bessie,” she murmured.
Brent, bent over at the knees, coughed and coughed. Kiam appeared not far behind him, the young scullery maid in his arms, but she was clearly dead as well.
He had tried, and the burn was deep on his arm. Meg reached around him for the pouch, scooped a handful of ointment and smeared it down the burn. He called out and then nodded his thanks.
“I love ducks,” he said sadly, placing the body down gently in the gravel, and Meg took the young girl’s hand.
A large popping sound was followed by a crash, and Kellin was on her feet running for the door. Brent caught her just in time.
“Rainger,” she screamed. Another crash filled the night air and Meg feared the whole Keep would collapse. “Rainger,” Kellin screamed again, her whole body pulled against the tight hold of the commander.
It felt an age before Rainger appeared, his bulk pushing through the doorway, two small figures beneath his arms, a blanket covering them all. He dropped to his knees and the girls ran forward into Meg’s arms.
“Thank the gods,” she whispered into their smoky heads. “Thank the gods.”
Kellin had thrown herself into Rainger’s arms, sobbing with relief. The men looked from the strange scene before them to the crackling building and back.
Commander Brent rubbed his sooty hands over his sooty face. “What now?” he muttered.
“We return to Rocfeld,” Meg said clearly, and he turned from the blaze to her. “We return to Rocfeld.”
Brother Erasmus drummed his fingers on the table and watched Elalia closely. She tried not to grimace at the burning sensation building in her veins. She took a deep breath and smiled at him.
She had dreamt the night before of an angry Sythia, and the memory made her shudder.
“The ravens are free of the cage,” she had said, over and over again. She had been hidden in the shadows, but Elalia could sense her tension, her voice sounding as though her jaw was clenched.
“Where have they flown?” Elalia had asked, unsure where her words had come from because she didn’t think of her sisters as ravens. Not now, despite them still being of the raven family.
“Away,” Sythia screamed, loud enough to wake Elalia from the dream.
She hoped that they weren’t returning to Rocfeld, but where else could they go? She continued to try and smile for Brother Erasmus, to whom she wasn’t listening.
“This is serious, Your Highness,” he said.
“I understand that,” she said as calmly as she could. “But there is little I can do.”
“You can send for them, or else Tands will stay here indefinitely.”
“They were sent away for their own protection. I am not sure it is safe for their return as yet.” She sat slowly at the table, wondering just where her sisters were and why they had left the old Keep in the first place.
“If you do not bring them back, it may well be that you anger Tands further and put us all in danger of war.”
“It will not come to that,” she said, waving away his fears. They were only here for Meg, and she wasn’t prepared to let her go to Tands.
“They will remain here until the girls return,” he said, leaning forward. “You may have dissolved the match, but the way in which it was done has only caused more problems. And now hiding the princess strains those tensions further.”
“I am not hiding her. I need to keep her safe.” Only I could not say for certain where she is.
“By sending them to a distant castle that has not been used in the gods only know how many generations. Was it even fit for two princesses? Did you have it checked?”
“They have soldiers to keep them safe,” she said.
“Yet no Sisters or Brothers or companions. Two young princesses and a company of men.”
“There is a cook and maids, I believe.”
Erasmus opened his mouth and then closed it, his face stern, and Elalia knew it took a lot of self-control for him to stop.
“They are safer away from Rocfeld,” she said. And I am more secure for it, she thought.
Erasmus looked at her more closely, his head leaning a little to the side. She wondered for a moment if he really could read minds, as they had thought when they were children.
“The property is deep within Rocfeld territory,” she continued. “There is no way for Tands to reach them.”
“And if the threat is not Tandian?” he asked.
Elalia stood quickly as her skin burned hot and her fingers tingled.
“Send for them,” Erasmus said quietly.
“No,” she said, pushing a smile across her face. “They are safer there and safer they shall remain.”
“What did they do to you?” he asked suddenly, standing more quickly than she expected him capable.
“I have made the decision,” she said. I hope it is not undone as we speak.
“Then prepare for Tands to remain at your hospitality until the princesses return, or until they tire of waiting and start fighting for what they want.” He moved swiftly from the room.
“I have done the right thing,” she said, standing before the fire. The flames crackled and leapt, and the heat was a little less intense across her skin. “Meggie is a problem,” she continued. “She wants my crown, and Sythia has determined it is mine.”
The fire crackled and jumped, and she focused on it for a moment. “Has she?” it seemed to hiss, and then it went out.
“How strange,” she muttered, leaning down over the black embers. “She has marked me,” she said quietly. “And she will give me what I need to maintain that power.” She stood and called for Terra.
“Relight the fire,” she said. “I am going for a walk.”
“Brother Adroth,” Brother Erasmus said with a polite nod as the visiting Brother approached him in the Temple. “I have had no luck with the queen, but I feel the situation will right itself shortly.”
“I do hope you are right. The young prince fears for her.”
Erasmus nodded slowly.
“You realise that the rumours of the princesses” removal instantly angered our king. I fear if they do not return soon, despite Queen Elalia’s assurances, the outcome may be far worse than either of us expected.”
“I see,” Erasmus said slowly. He watched a young girl run into the Temple and only barely greet the twin gods before moving quickly to the feet of Fire.
Adroth followed his gaze. “Do you know the child?”
“She is the queen’s maid,” he said, moving towards her. “Let us check on her.”
She leant over the feet of Fire, her hands moving back and forth, “Please, please, please,” she murmured between kissing his feet.
“Terra, child, are you well?”
She lifted her wet face to him, her eyes red.
“What has happened?” he asked, stepping forward.
“Fire is angry with me, yet I know not what I did.”
“Why do you think Fire is angry with you?”
“The fire in the queen’s solar was out, and as I drew close it sparked into flame again. Crackling and hissing at me.”
“Perhaps there was not enough air for the flames,” Adroth suggested.
“I do not think, Brother, that it was the air.”
“I do not believe you could anger Fire,” Adroth said.
Brother Erasmus nodded his agreement. “Pray, child, but do not fear.” He gave her a smile and she kissed the feet of Fire one last time and then moved to kneel before the twin gods.
Erasmus and Adroth moved to the back of the Temple to talk in hushed tones.
“Strange that Fire would show himself thus to a serving girl,” Adroth said.
“Perhaps he had removed himself from another first,” Erasmus said.
“The queen?”
Erasmus shrugged. “We cannot know what the gods do or who they choose to reveal themselves to.”
Adroth gave him a smile. “True, Brother. But that still does not answer the question as to the safety and return of your princess.”
““Princesses,” is it not?”
“You know it is only the one that we are interested in.”
“And yet the gods watch over them together,” he said. “The agreement is dissolved. What does the prince think he can accomplish?”
“He only wants to ensure her safety and the peace of Rocfeld and Tands.”
“Yet his father may have different ideas.”
“That he does, my old friend, but the boy thinks he can sway his father’s thinking,” Brother Adroth said.
“And can he do that?”
“I doubt anyone can influence him short of the gods themselves.”
“Then we shall see what is to come.”
“That we shall,” Brother Adroth said, turning to the great statues that lined the far wall of the Temple.
“You are to stay until they are returned?”
“Which is soon, I believe,” Adroth said.
“Yes, very soon.” Erasmus said. “Would you care to join me for supper?”
Adroth gave him a smile and they both watched the young girl that had knelt before the gods as she kissed the feet of Kira for the second time and headed for the door. Then they left the busy Temple for the peace of the study.
In his study with a cup of wine in his hand, Brother Erasmus stared into the flames and wondered what Fire might be trying to show him. He sat and stared until the flickering flames died down, and he continued to stare into the embers.
“Sythia,” they whispered.
“Do you think we are at risk with the Silent Mother still away from the Sanctuary?” Adroth asked.
Erasmus shook his head. “I believe she has returned to the Sanctuary.” He was trying too hard to find answers to an unknown question that he was hearing things that were not there. He had moments of discomfort around the new queen, but there were no signs of Sythia.
“I am sure we are safe enough,” he said.
What would Sythia look like? he mused. He worried more for the new queen, the assuredness she had that what she did was right. He wasn’t sure that she worked for the Kingdom of Rocfeld, but then he had no evidence that she worked against it. She was still young, still new to the crown, and she was finding her feet.
“Sythia,” the dying embers hissed, again.
He pushed up slowly from the table, his bones creaking. He stepped forward and lifted a log from the basket beside the fireplace. He tossed it onto the embers and the fire instantly sparked to life again.
He sat slowly at the table. “What will occur when the prince is revealed?” Erasmus asked, looking into the flames rather than at Adroth.
“Do you think he might be?”
Erasmus shrugged. He was sure that several in the castle already knew who he was, and with Meg’s return he may be more obvious than he had been before. As long as the new queen didn’t discover his deceit, he was sure they were safe. She had allowed them to stay as long as they wished, but she had removed them from the kingdom before and he didn’t think she would be as kind if she was required to do so again.