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Caedmon simply said, “Jorunn,” but Rohesia had not needed this confirmation that the fireballs had been magysk. The way they had hung in the air, the destruction they had caused could not have been, well, “normal.” That was the only word Rohesia could think to use. The last of Grigory’s marvelous weapons were being incinerated, and the Gramirens now had a hillichmagnar fighting for them. The end of the siege was near.
Rohesia turned away from the chaos outside and looked Caedmon in the eye. “Edwin needs to leave. Now.”
Caedmon nodded. “Have you decided who will join King Edwin and myself?”
Rohesia closed her eyes, saw in her mind her words scrawled across the pages of her journal. Until this moment, she still had not decided. She said a quick prayer and opened her eyes.
“My brother, if he still lives and we can find him,” Rohesia said. “And Elwyn. Broderick will surely kill Lawrence if he stays, and he will be a help to Edwin in exile. And Elwyn would only be used by Broderick as some kind of horrible political tool. And as she is also fit for the journey, I believe she ought to go.”
“And yourself?”
Rohesia shook her head. “Helena is too small to make the trip, and I do not believe Alice could make it, either. Someone must remain to be a mother to those girls, and if not me, who?”
“Broderick, and I daresay, Muriel, will not be kind to you. Are you certain?”
“Absolutely. Someone must locate Lawrence immediately, and you must prepare to leave with King Edwin and Princess Elwyn.”
Without troubling to say more to her, Caedmon began preparations by sending one of the exhausted messengers, who had just returned, to find the captain general. Rohesia moved quickly to Edwin’s side where Caedmon had been standing. Her most difficult duty could wait no longer.
“Edwin, I must speak with you, dear.”
“I can’t believe Cousin Broderick has magy and I don’t,” Edwin huffed, paying her no mind as he watched the fires outside the Bocburg wall. Sigor soldiers were hurrying through the gate, but how long would they have before Gramiren forces followed?
“Edwin, listen to me, please. You must leave with Caedmon at once.”
That got his attention, but his face immediately flushed red. “I will stay and fight to the last man!”
“You will not, Edwin. We discussed this last night. You, at all costs, must live. The city has fallen and the Bocburg will shortly follow. You say we have no magy? We have Caedmon Aldred, the greatest hillichmagnar in the world, and his only duty is to keep you safe.”
Elwyn had joined them, and she quickly jumped in to support Rohesia. “Mother is right, Edwin. As long as you live, Cousin Broderick will know fear. Caedmon will take you away so you can regroup and fight Broderick again another day.”
“Listen to your sister, now and always. Elwyn will be going with you,” added Rohesia.
“Yes, of course I will,” said Elwyn. She had her hands on her hips and an eyebrow raised, as if offended anyone might think she would stay. “And Sir Alfred Estnor will be coming, too, I assume.”
“Sir Alfred will be staying here. He is our best commander.”
This was the terrible judgment Rohesia had been forced to make. Alfred would stay; Lawrence would go. Rohesia wished she could explain and defend her decision to her prickly stepdaughter. Except she still wasn’t sure, herself, that she had made the right choice.
“But Alfred.... I love him,” said Elwyn. “I told him I would marry him last night. He has to come with us. And if he doesn’t, then I’m staying here. I can’t leave without him.”
“And I can’t leave without Elwyn,” said Edwin.
“Edwin, dear, why don’t you go over and talk to Caedmon?” Rohesia gently guided him on his way.
Before Elwyn could protest further, which she clearly longed to do, Presley joined them. “I talked to Rory Finch, the riverman I’ve been working with the entire siege, this morning before coming up here. The boat should be ready at this very moment. Shall I send word he will be setting out shortly? Four passengers?”
“Five,” Elwyn hissed between clenched teeth. “Either five or three, because either Alfred and I are both going, or—”
“Four,” Rohesia answered. “And, yes, please let him know he will be casting off in no more than fifteen minutes.”
Presley set to work, and Rohesia focused on Elwyn. Nothing would be gained by making a scene or yelling, so she steered Elwyn to a corner where they might speak without the entire room overhearing them.
“I love Alfred,” Elwyn repeated. “You can’t make me give him up now.”
For months there had been few words Rohesia had wanted to hear more. Elwyn had finally said yes to Alfred. This should have been a joyous announcement, and they should be passing around the wine. But there was no time for any of it.
“If you stay here, then you will be a captive, and Broderick can make you do whatever he likes. You won’t be able to marry Alfred if Broderick forces you to marry his son or one of Lukas’s sons.”
“Yes, yes, I understand,” said Elwyn. “I have to leave. So does Edwin. But why can’t Alfred join us?”
Rohesia took a deep breath. “I wish for your uncle, the Earl of Hyrne, to act as your guide and chaperone on this—”
“Oh, so we’re saving Uncle Lawrence instead of Alfred?” Elwyn gave a bitter laugh. “Come on, Mother. You said yourself that Alfred is our best general.” She gestured down toward the chaos in the city. “If it’s just a matter of having someone at the front gate to hand his sword to Broderick, why does it have to be Alfred?”
“He will be able to hold out longer than anyone else against this last assault. He will buy time for you and Edwin to get away.”
“As if an hour more or less is going to make any difference.” Elwyn’s eyes blazed with fury. “You want to save Lawrence because he’s your brother. He’s family, and Alfred isn’t—at least not yet. You don’t want to lose anyone you care about.”
That hit uncomfortably close to the mark, but Rohesia refused to let Elwyn see that her words had stung. “We are all going to have to sacrifice things we love, Elwyn.”
“What are you sacrificing?”
“My son,” Rohesia barely managed to answer through her breaking voice. “I am sending him off with you so I can stay behind with Alice and baby Helena. So do not speak to me of sacrifice.”
They stood staring at one another as Rohesia watched recognition and pain spread over Elwyn’s face. The girl always felt contrite after she had been stubborn. Rohesia knew exactly how that felt, and she would have given the girl a hug if she thought Elwyn would accept it.
“I care about you, too, Elwyn,” she said. “That’s why I need you in that boat with Edwin. He trusts you; he looks up to you. Help him learn to be a great king. Earstien willing, we will all see each other again soon—including Alfred.”
“Your majesty, I can’t say how it grieves me to report we have lost the city. I have lost the city.”
Lawrence had entered and now knelt at Edwin’s feet. His mail was covered in soot and blood. His eyes irritated and red. All the grief of the previous days and even years seemed to have finally come to rest on his shoulders and it looked ready to crush him. Somehow, he had never felt more like her brother than at that moment. She wanted to hold him and tell him everything would be alright, even though it was a terrible lie.
“I... I am sorry to hear that,” Edwin stammered. “Oh, Uncle Lawrence! Is there really nothing we can do?”
“Yes, there is,” Rohesia said, striding over to them. “The two of you can flee, along with Princess Elwyn. There are no three people the usurper wants more, and we shall deny you to him.”
“The queen is correct,” Caedmon said. “I have already sent a message by bird to a good friend in Sahasra Deva. She will keep you safe while we all plan how to return the crown of Myrcia to its rightful king.”
“Yes, Uncle Lawrence,” Elwyn now added, fighting back tears. “We must go and look after the King of Myrcia.”
Lawrence shook his head. “I am not worthy to serve my king. I should stay and die fighting that bastard.”
“You must live,” Rohesia insisted. “For king and country. And for your daughter. I promise that I will do all to care for her in your absence. I will love and protect your child as if she were my own, just as I know you will do for me with my children who go with you.”
Some piece of Lawrence that longed to perform his duty (even if sometimes it was the wrong duty), awoke at this. He nodded to Rohesia, and then spoke to Edwin once more. “We all must obey the queen, your majesty. So, if you will have me, I will go with you.”
Edwin cleared his throat several times. Eventually, he found his voice. “I would be honored to have you at my side.”
Presley raced back into the room. “Word has been sent to Mr. Finch. The boat will be ready whenever you reach it. But the river is busy. You are not the only people making their escape that way.”
“It will be no trouble,” said Caedmon. “I can get us through, and more than that, I can do so unseen.”
“Then you must go now,” Rohesia said. “There isn’t a moment to spare.”
***
IT TOOK EDWIN MERE seconds to be ready to depart. Working with a couple of his personal servants, Rohesia had made certain the night before that Edwin had a bag ready to go. Even though she had told both Elwyn and Lawrence to do the same, they had not heeded her. In the chaos of packing, Robert Tynsdale arrived and Rohesia begged him to help Lawrence, while she and Intira saw to Elwyn.
It took far longer to get them ready than Rohesia liked, and the entire time, she strained her ears for the sounds of screams or clashing swords or some other indication that Broderick was already in the castle. As they all met in the hallway, she thought she heard something not terribly far off crumbling. But Edwin, Lawrence, and Elwyn were at last ready to leave. Caedmon had gone ahead to see to his own business, and the rest of the travelers were to meet him at the boat.
Alice was crying, saying she did not want Edwin to leave without her. She was a big girl, she insisted, and there was no reason why she couldn’t climb mountains. Jennifer was trying to console her, and Rohesia found herself wondering what Broderick would do with Alice’s best friend. Her father, the Earl of Stansted, was fighting Broderick the younger in the western desert. Jennifer was a year older than Alice and more mature in body and mind. She might very well manage the Losianbeorgs. Perhaps Rohesia should send her along with Caedmon and deny Broderick a Stansted hostage?
But the girl’s father had given Jennifer over to Rohesia’s care, and hurting Jennifer would gain Broderick nothing. So she was likely safer not going on a long, perilous journey. Or so Rohesia hoped.
Turning her attention away from Edwin and Alice, she saw Elwyn speaking to Robert. He had sent his family out of Leornian already. Rohesia wondered if she had been a fool for keeping Edwin here as long as she had.
“Don’t worry,” Robert was telling Elwyn. “Alfred was alive and well when last I saw him, being the leader the men need. I will tell him which way you have gone and then help him to join you.”
This made Rohesia sigh with relief. Not only was Alfred apparently still alive, but Elwyn could leave with the knowledge he would find her again. That must mean the world to her.
The nurse appeared with little Helena. For several seconds, Lawrence merely stood there looking at his daughter, his eyes filling with tears. When the nurse finally held Helena out for him to take, he shook his head.
Rohesia took the baby, thinking she could guess at his hesitation. If he held Helena now, even for a second, he would not be able to leave. Rohesia cradled the sleeping girl in her own arms.
“Be well, Lawrence,” she said to her brother.
He wiped his eyes. “I will try.”
Leaning closer to him, she whispered, “Please try not to let Elwyn destroy her life if it takes Alfred a while to join you. I do not want her to do something irreparably stupid to ruin her future.”
“I promise.”
She glanced quickly at Edwin. He was hugging Alice, and Elwyn had a hand on both their shoulders. “Make him tough, Lawrence. He needs to come back here and defeat Broderick. I refuse to live the rest of my days under that man’s rule. So, make sure Edwin can beat him.”
“I will.”
“Say goodbye to your daughter.” Rohesia leaned closer to Lawrence, so he might see Helena. She shook a fist in her sleep, eyes squeezed tight shut. He smiled at the baby, then stretched out a single finger to brush across the light fuzz on her head. Tears now spilling freely from his eyes, he kissed Helena’s forehead.
“It is time,” Robert finally said, as even Rohesia was now having difficulty finding the words that would send so much of her family away.
Rohesia knelt before Edwin. “Say goodbye to your cousin.”
He patted the baby’s head. “Goodbye, Helena. Don’t cry too much for Mother.”
Rohesia kissed his cheek. “Be strong, Edwin. You will be back in Formacaster one day where you belong. But never forget that wherever you are, you are the King of Myrcia.”
“Yes, Mother.” He tried to maintain his composure, but eventually, the tears fell from his eyes and he threw his arms around Rohesia’s neck. “I love you.”
“I love you, too. Which is why you must go for now.” She kissed him on the cheek and continued pulling back from him until he had no choice but to let her go.
Rohesia stood and now addressed Elwyn. Poor, misguided, well-meaning Elwyn. “Look after each other.”
Elwyn nodded and clutched her bow tighter.
Robert now herded them down the stairs, while Alice clung to Rohesia’s skirts, Intira at her side. All Rohesia could do was force a smile and pray they might all come safely through this travesty.