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Chapter 49
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“I forgot to tell you – I think Loren is going to apologize to Danetha.”
Dynan looked at Marc as they walked to the dining hall with Danetha, keeping the conversation internal so no one else could hear. Alexia walked a few paces in front of them with Creal. “I sent her a message relieving her of the need an hour ago.”
“I was with her when she got it. Her reaction wasn’t exactly what you’d expect it to be after how clearly she indicated she didn’t—”
“What did she say, Marc?”
“She said, ‘he can’t make up his mind, can he? We’ll just have to see about that.’”
Dynan mumbled under his breath, drawing a look from Danetha. “She’s the one who can’t make up her mind, or ever do as she’s told.”
“I think you can expect that to be the case for the rest of your life.”
“Trouble, Your Highness?” Danetha asked, glancing at Marc and indicating that she was aware of their silent communications.
“As trouble goes, Princess, this is more of an annoyance. Here we are,” he said as they reached the sitting room. The first person he saw was his brother who he hadn’t expected and truthfully hadn’t wanted to attend. The next was Liselle. Loren hadn’t arrived yet. There were a number of other Lords and Ladies, Guildsmen and Governors in various conversations around the room. Dain was doing his usual job of keeping them all entertained, but Dynan could tell he was anything but happy.
“This ought to be fun.”
“Shut up, Marc.”
Marc left him instead, directing his escort to start making the rounds, greeting Governor Windsen and his wife. Dain excused himself from Governor Jerrim Peroll, indicating that he meant to leave.
“Now I know why you didn’t want me here tonight,” he said, looking back at Liselle. “Next time, why don’t you just say so, instead of making excuses.” He went on silently, “Father is dining with Drake tonight, or didn’t you know that?”
“No, I didn’t.”
Dain didn’t believe him, and left without another word. “You have an interesting concept of what constitutes trouble, Your Highness.”
Dynan smiled, nodding with as much reserve as he could manage. Danetha excused herself to go join her mother, sitting with her and the other Ladies who were gathered around the Queen. It would be a relief, he thought, when Marella arrived. Her presence would give them all someone else to flock around, making him infinitely more comfortable than he was now.
Loren arrived a few minutes later. The level of tension in the room suddenly increased. Everyone else seemed nervous when Dynan wasn’t at all. They didn’t know that she didn’t have to apologize any more.
He frowned at that thought. He hadn’t looked at it that way. He’d been so concerned with getting the Queen off his back, that he’d taken the out provided by Alvuen’s timely blunder. He wondered suddenly if Alexia had wanted it that way. She surely would have realized just as easily as Marc that Loren wouldn’t suffer any disgrace for apologizing. But if she didn’t apologize, that was an entirely different thing. No one would ever know that Alexia didn’t require it. He was instantly certain that was exactly the intention.
Alexia hardly looked at Loren, ignoring her presence by listening intently to Lady Gurrell’s account of how she’d just acquired a rare Corinthian statue, now prominently displayed in her home.
Loren greeted a few of the guests, hardly sparing him more than a nod. An act, he thought immediately. If she meant to apologize, she couldn’t really be angry with him. He glanced over at Liselle and she hid a smile behind a sip of wine, making him wonder again what the two of them had discussed. That they had talked was obvious and left him intensely uncomfortable. He didn’t know why exactly, but it didn’t seem normal that these two women should get along.
Conversations dropped in volume as Loren moved to Alexia, all of them straining to hear while trying not to look that way. Instead of speaking to the Queen though, she turned to Danetha and bowed before her, keeping her head down and her eyes on the floor when she rose.
“I owe you an apology, Your Highness,” she said quietly, causing another drop in the babble of conversations around the room. “My behavior toward you was inexcusable, when you were only trying to be of help. I’m very sorry to have caused you any embarrassment.”
For a space of breaths, total silence blanketed the room. Danetha didn’t look like she knew what to say, and glanced at her mother, but Alexia ignored her. There was little mistaking the glint in the Queen’s eyes. Dynan wasn’t sure how to react either. He certainly couldn’t let Alexia think he’d planned this, deciding with that thought that it would be better to appear surprised by it. Difficult to do, since he was fighting down a smile at the same time. He made a show of being exasperated by it all. That was close enough to the truth anyway.
“What ever insult incurred was minor, my Lady,” Danetha said. “I understand the enormity of this task you’ve undertaken. It was my intention only to be of assistance.”
“And I do thank you for it. I am, however, no longer in a position to accept or deny your offer. Plans for the coronation are now in the capable hands of Lady Bairing until Queen Marella arrives from Trea. I’ve discovered, after the few days of rest I was granted, that I’m in need of a more lengthy respite. My experience here, as you know, has been difficult. That, more than anything affected my behavior toward you. I realize that now, and see that I require at least some time to recover from my ordeal.”
Everyone was listening now without pretense, nodding in agreement and growing sympathy. She’d experienced horrors that most in this room had never dreamed endurable, then set immediately to work on the coronation, driving her to the very brink of exhaustion. And for that, Dynan was to blame. Without her ever saying so, he was suddenly responsible for the entire mess. He saw that clearly enough in the glances cast his way. Dynan wanted to laugh, and couldn’t, seeing in her carefully chosen words how she had just proven her point. He never should have interfered.
“You’re smiling,” Marc said as a warning, and joined him.
“You knew about this.”
“I had a feeling she was going to do something.”
“And you didn’t think I might want to know about it?”
“Since I wasn’t sure, I thought it better to spare you the worry.”
“Until I couldn’t do anything to interfere with her intentions,” he said.
“Worked, didn’t it?”
Dynan bit back another smile, guessing that Alexia was aware of it regardless of how hard he tried to hide it. She wasn’t watching him though, having gone back to Lady Gurrell’s continuing dissertations. The Queen didn’t look so attentive any longer, but was stuck now, having shown interest earlier. He smiled again and sipped his wine. He noticed Liselle again and she raised her glass in salute, a gesture he stopped himself from returning.
“Stop that.”
“How is it you know anyway? I thought you weren’t supposed to be watching.”
“This, I had to see, and I’m allowed when I think it’s necessary.” Marc looked around the room. “It’s also pretty handy that no one can tell when I am or not.”
Dynan saw who he meant immediately. Lady Alvuen was practicing the same art, watching Loren without seeming to. “She doesn’t look too happy now, does she?” Dynan said, then turned his back to her.
“No, but you on the other hand are too close to gloating.”
Marc frowned when Dynan smiled. “Yes, all right, but it’s hard not to. You realize that Alvuen’s encounter with Bronwyn was planned.”
“Seems that way, doesn’t it,” Marc said.
“It was.”
“Which means you’re not off the hook with Her Majesty. She’s going to push for that announcement.”
“She can try. Loren just made it a little less likely that she’ll succeed. She doesn’t have very much to hold over my head at the moment.”
“At the moment,” Marc said. He was trying not to appear overly pleased too. “I won’t be staying for the meal. Do you think you can refrain from being so happy?”
“Why aren’t you?”
Marc hesitated before answering. “Just look at the menu. I’ll be with Shalis.”
“Where is she, anyway?”
He hesitated again. “She said she was too tired. Must be all the traveling she’s done.”
Marc laughed when Dynan flashed him a look that said he knew better. “Go on. I’ll stop in after this, and I want to talk to Ralion before he leaves tomorrow. I don’t want the same mess with the Guilds that we had with the Governors over security.”
“And you won’t, Your Highness, mainly because the Guilds are being sensible about it. I’ll see you later.”
Dynan watched him leave, realizing at the same time that he’d been completely abandoned. No one from his staff was here, except Loren and since she had just relegated herself to being only a guest, he couldn’t count her. Neithia Bairing handled all the announcements as hostess, and they were soon called to eat. He understood then what Marc meant by the menu. There were three separate meat entrees, none of which Dynan found too terribly appetizing himself.
Several hours later, all the guests departed and he was left alone. He was bone weary, having not slept since yesterday. For a minute, he didn’t want to move, so he sat where he was while the servants cleaned up around him. As days went, this one had ended far better than he’d expected. What he wanted to do was go crawl into bed with the happy events of the evening to lull him to sleep. But he’d told Marc he would see him, and he wanted to say goodnight to his father, so he pulled himself up, and left the sitting room for the Lord Chancellor’s quarters.
Thurmond met him at the door, directing him back to Marc’s study. He wasn’t there though, but in the ballroom. Loren was with him. Dynan didn’t know what to say to her, gripped by an unreasoning fear that she was still angry with him.
“I’m going to bed,” Marc announced, stood and left them alone. Loren stood with him, and seemed suddenly as hesitant and unsure as Dynan felt, but she reached for him, and that was all the prompting he needed.
He apologized to her, repeatedly, in between kisses. She laughed and finally stopped him, smiling up at him as she ran her fingers down his face. She shook her head, but Dynan could see how deeply she had feared his old relationship with Liselle.
“There will never be anyone else for me, Loren. Never. I love you, and no one will ever change that. I will always love you, and I am so sorry for making you think differently. Liselle is part of my past, not my future.”
Her smile assured him of her understanding, followed by a long embrace that sent the inevitable chill down his spine. All the sensations her touch elicited in him returned in a wave of overpowering desire. The risk he took in being alone with her faded. The wall of control he’d built to avoid feeling anything in her presence disappeared. They landed on the closest couch, laughing at each other at the near frantic tugging and pulling of clothing. There were far too many buttons, lace and fasteners to contend with. He kissed her instead.
Somewhere in the back of his mind, he thought he heard voices, recognized Drake Mardon and remembered his father, realizing in the same instant that they were both headed toward them, followed by their immediate appearance in the ballroom.
“Dynan?” His father stopped abruptly only a few paces away. He turned his back to keep Loren from seeing who he was, but not before Dynan saw his surprise at catching him like this. The only saving grace was that they both still had their clothes mostly on.
“Yes, sir,” he said, getting off of Loren. She looked at him oddly, then tried to see who it was.
“Have you taken complete leave of your senses?”
He cringed. “Yes sir.”
“Dynan, who is that?” Loren asked as she repaired her gown, mystified by his behavior. “And why is he talking to you like this?”
Drake was explaining quietly that this wasn’t at all unusual, which Dynan didn’t think was helping. Loren was suddenly angry and she stood. “Wait—”
“Drake Mardon, I would kindly thank you to keep the details of our relationship to yourself. It isn’t just anyone’s business.”
“Loren, please. You don’t understand,” Dynan said, stopping her from going any closer.
“Not just anyone’s business, my Lady,” Ambrose said, turning to face them. “But certainly mine.”
Loren gasped, recognizing him immediately, and for a moment, shock drove anger from her face. A rapid succession of realizations followed. Amazement that he was alive mingled with happiness that he wasn’t being held by Maralt any more. That she was meeting his father for the very first time came next, along with a flash of embarrassment at the circumstances of it, but that was gone the next instant and her breath sharpened.
“He’s still King. You know what this means? We don’t have to go through this. We can—What do you mean no?”
“Loren, all it means is that my father is alive, which is enough in itself. It doesn’t mean he’s King, or will be again. I already tried that. He won’t take it back.”
“Why not?” She turned to Ambrose for the explanation.
“Don’t you think my son should be King?”
“Of course I do. It’s just—”
“My reinstatement would make it easier for you to get what you want, what you both want.” He smiled, softening his tone. “It only seems that way to you now, but if you think about what my presence represents, you’d see that what you ask is impossible and impractical as well. My time won’t be unlimited. If you don’t face these obstacles now, you’ll face them later.”
“But we could be married, legally, here, and Alexia wouldn’t be able to stop us.”
“Couldn’t she? The facts of your situation won’t change with the passage of time. I can not be King again. Such a thing would go against natural order, and it wouldn’t last.”
She didn’t want to accept that, stark weariness and fear dashing a hope so swiftly given and taken away. Dynan started to reach for her, but his father’s disapproving frown stopped him.
“Now, with that in mind, I do assure you that refusing the crown doesn’t and shouldn’t imply that I haven’t any authority over my son. I’m still his father, and I’m going to exercise a little parental judgment right now. Drake, would you please see that Lady Loren is escorted to her rooms.”
She stared at him, and immediately started shaking her head. “No,” she said, really surprising Dynan. “You might still be his father, but he isn’t a little boy. As His Majesty so clearly pointed out, we’ve been together before.”
Drake smiled. “You’ll find that Loren is entirely too outspoken.”
“When I need your help, Drake, I’ll ask for it.”
“You see?”
“It isn’t a question of my approval, or lack there of, or even my understanding of your desires. It is a question of what is proper and decent behavior, especially for a Crown Prince.”
Dynan held up his hand, amazed and a little angered his father had said that. “Decent behavior?” he said. “There seems to be something a few of us are forgetting. We’re married—”
“You’re not married here,” Ambrose said immediately, “and this is too great a risk.”
“You don’t have any right to talk to me about what is or isn’t proper behavior,” Dynan said, really shocking his father. “Or what is and isn’t too much of a risk. You told me last night that you weren’t here to judge me. No one knows she’s here, at least not anyone who’ll go running to Alexia about it.”
It was the first time in his life he’d ever spoken to his father like that, and Dynan wasn’t sure if he would accept it or not. There was a coldness in Ambrose’s eyes that left him shaking, but it was gone the next instant. “I suppose I deserved that, didn’t I?” he said, and smiled. “Forgive me. You’re right. It’s still a terrible risk you’re taking, but since it is yours, I’ll leave you to your own designs.” He eyed their disheveled clothing, arched an eyebrow at them both and left with Drake.
Dynan groaned, and sank into the couch they’d so rapidly vacated. Loren dropped down beside him and Dynan pulled in a breath. “Well, that was ... not how I envisioned that.”
“They act as if we’re doing something wrong,” she said quietly.
“He knows we’re married, Loren. So does Drake, and I think they both accept that. It’s just...he’s my father. It’s more habit, I think, than anything else, and he knows the risks, probably better than I do.”
“You’ve never talked to him like that before, have you?”
“No. Not to him. It was always, Dynan do this, or do that and I did, usually without question. It’s not like he was some sort of tyrant, but he expected me to behave in a certain way, demanded it really, so I did.” He smiled at that. “Most of the time, anyway.”
“Seems a little hypocritical to me when Dain got away with everything.”
“Dain tried to get away with everything, and he succeeded often enough, but he got caught often enough too. Where I, on the other hand, was supposed to set an example of what is decent and proper behavior because I’m the Crown Prince.”
“I should have nodded like a proper little lady and done as I was told,” she said. “And to meet your father like that. Your father!”
“I forgot he was even here. Otherwise, I would have made certain that he didn’t find us. It’s not like there aren’t enough beds in here.” He grinned at her and kissed her.
“Something I sincerely wish you would do,” Ambrose said, startling them again. “Taking this risk is one thing. Doing so without any semblance of sanity is another.”
“Yes, sir,” he said. Loren started giggling at him. “We’ll go do that now, sir.” Dynan smiled at Ambrose’s smirking frown, and started to pull Loren from the room.
“Wait,” Ambrose said, and joined them. “I did forget, briefly, that you had already exchanged your vows, and that there isn’t anything improper about what you’re doing by being together. For that, I apologize. Really, I’m very sorry.”
“It’s all right, Pop,” Dynan said easily.
“We haven’t formally met,” Ambrose said, smiling at Loren. “Welcome to the family.”
Loren took the King’s hand, then surprised Ambrose when she kissed his cheek and put her arms around his neck. “I’m so happy you’re here. It’s a miracle for all of us,” she said. “Even if you won’t take the crown.”
