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Two days had passed when Yovan returned to his apartment in the Citadel to find his son waiting for him. As soon as he stepped inside the sitting room, Rysander hastened to him and wrapped him in a tight embrace, burying his face in Yovan’s shoulder. Yovan rubbed his back soothingly as they exchanged silent greetings.
I’ve been so scared. You didn’t even let us know if you’d arrived safely.
I’m sorry, Rys. It slipped my mind.
Rysander pulled away slightly and gazed at him, anxiety clear in his eyes. “Why here? Why didn’t you stay at the house? Imagine our fright when we arrived and the servants told us you instructed them to send your belongings here.”
“We?”
“Ama and I. He’s so distraught. It took me a whole day to calm him down enough to safely translocate the both of us here.”
Yovan looked away. “I suppose if I were caught thusly, I’d be distraught too.”
“Nay! He told me naught happened between him and Debrith.”
“Because I came home earlier than he expected,” Yovan retorted. “Really, Rys-min, do you expect me to believe anything he says? All the more now that I know what Debrith was to him. Or should I say is?”
Rysander looked confused. “What do you mean?”
“Did he tell you Debrith was his most fervent suitor before we were betrothed?” At Rysander’s widened eyes, Yovan chuckled bitterly. “He’s also known for his first two spouses divorcing him because he couldn’t hide his continued yearning for your father. I doubt Mered wasn’t aware of that. My sources discovered this in less than a day. What more he who spent so much time with him even after I expressed my displeasure?”
“He-he didn’t tell me that,” Rysander admitted. “I don’t know how to explain...”
Yovan clapped a hand on Rysander’s shoulder and squeezed it. “It’s for him to do that. If he can sufficiently enough to win back my trust, which is much eroded right now.”
Rysander exhaled. “I can’t blame you. He told me what happened. He admitted his folly, but he said he didn’t cuckold you. That he’s never betrayed you that way. Verily, I wasn’t sure what to think. But then he practically tossed Debrith out and told him never to return.”
Yovan’s eyebrows rose sharply. “He ejected Debrith from the house?”
“They had some words first. Or rather Ama did. I didn’t hear it all but he said he was a big fool and had likely ruined his marriage.”
“Like he did his first two.”
“Ama was talking about himself. About your marriage.” Rysander blinked hard. “I’ve never seen him like that. As if he’d lost everything. He looked devastated.”
Yovan frowned. “Then why take the risk if our marriage— if I truly meant that much to him?” He shook his head. “I’m sorry, it doesn’t ring true. I know you want me to believe him but I can’t just now. It’s too soon.” Without warning, anguish overtook him. “Deity’s blood, I’ve never hurt this much! Not even when your Opa Laval passed away. I...”
Try as he might, he could not restrain his tears. Yovan covered his mouth with his hand to keep from sobbing out loud.
Rysander pulled him back into his arms. “I wish I could fix this,” he whispered. “I can’t bear to see you thusly. I wish there was something I could do to make it better.”
Yovan heaved a shuddering breath and hugged Rysander back. “Just having you here makes it a little better,” he hoarsely said. “I’m glad you came. I’m glad I have you even if— even if I lose all else.”
Rysander pulled back with a jerk. “Don’t say that,” he begged. “Please let Ama explain his side. It mayn’t be enough to satisfy you, but give him a chance. If not for his sake, then for me. I don’t want our family torn apart. I don’t want to lose either of you.”
He looked so desperate, Yovan could not deny him. “I’ll give him a chance to explain himself,” he agreed. “Just not yet. I can’t see him now without striking him or hunting the rest down and unleashing havoc on the lot of them.”
“The rest?”
“That whole benighted family,” Yovan spat. “I suspect the Cordonas are involved in this. Your father was more in their company than mine these past many years. At least, it feels that way.”
“If they are involved, they must have pushed Ama to behave thusly,” Rysander insisted. “I’ve seen how manipulative they can be, especially Opa Asrael and Uncle Havir. Ama is too honorable a Deir to do anything as vile as what you suspect him of. I can’t believe he betrayed you. Verily, who in his right mind would cheat on someone like you?”
Yovan smiled through his tears. “So loyal,” he fondly said. “Small wonder I can’t refuse you. Tell him I’ll receive him in a month.”
“A month is too long,” Rysander countered. “How about a fortnight? Surely you’ll be ready to see him then. And the sooner you meet, the greater the chance of-of amicability between you. Even if you don’t reconcile at once. Or ever,” he reluctantly added.
This time Yovan chuckled, soothed by his son’s earnestness. “Very well, a fortnight it is. But wait for my summons. I don’t wish to meet him while I’m still angry enough to do him harm.”
––––––––
He should not have attended the meeting. He could have easily invented an excuse to stay away. Now he was under his much too observant nephew’s scrutiny. Rohyr had likely got wind of his move into the Citadel and made the connection between that and Yovan’s lack of concentration this morning.
Yovan tried to ignore the way Rohyr looked at him from across the table, his eyes narrowing speculatively every once in a while. He was relieved when the meeting finally drew to a close and everyone stood up to leave.
“Uncle? Please stay a while.”
Yovan grimaced and nodded. One did not refuse one’s sovereign even if he was close kin. He moved from his seat to the chair at Rohyr’s right-hand side.
Rohyr watched the other counsellors leave the Council chamber. When he did not turn his eyes from the door and grinned after a minute or so, Yovan stifled a sigh and waited for Lassen to join them. He smiled faintly at the Ardis as he took the seat beside him. He was certain Rohyr had asked his mate to come. Lassen would never insinuate himself into a conversation uninvited.
Recognizing the meeting for a personal one, Yovan dispensed with protocol and said, “Yes, Roh-min, Las-min, I am presently residing here and will be for the foreseeable future.”
Rohyr frowned. “This is so unlike you. What has happened? It isn’t anything Rysander did, is it?”
Lassen shook his head. “If it were, Uncle Van would have just sent him to Woodmere to stew awhile. And you wouldn’t have taken up residence in the Citadel,” he said to Yovan. “Are you avoiding Uncle Mered?”
Yovan had to smile despite his sore heart. Rohyr was an immensely gifted ruler with a knack for ferreting out information and potential problems when it came to the governance of his realm. But it was Lassen who provided him with much insight into the everyday goings on in the kingdom.
Rohyr had made it a point when he was still crown prince to mingle incognito among his subjects to try and know them better. It was a practice he occasionally carried out to this day. However, having been raised in the Citadel by protective parents, he could never truly understand them as his common-born mate did. And one other skill Lassen possessed that made him the perfect partner to Rohyr was his ability to perceive people’s hearts.
Perhaps the only person whose heart had remained hidden from him was Rohyr himself. But then Lassen had been hampered by all the doubts and misunderstandings that had come of being a mere leman to the Deir he deeply loved.
“We’re estranged,” Yovan admitted. “And, yes, I initiated the separation.”
Rohyr pursed his lips. “It must be a grievous transgression on Uncle Mered’s part for you to take so drastic an action.”
Yovan swallowed. “It was. I can’t tell you the whole of it without turning you against him. But I will admit feeling disillusioned and deceived.” He forced back his tears as fresh pain threatened to overcome him. “I’ve agreed to meet him here a sennight hence to thresh out our problems. See if we can salvage our marriage.”
“How long has it been plagued thusly?” Rohyr worriedly asked.
“Longer than anyone with sense and a backbone would have borne,” Yovan admitted. “Some thirty years now though I recall we started to quarrel more frequently around the time you met Dylen. Something changed in him. But I never suspected what caused the change. Or perhaps I was too much of a coward to dare consider it.”
Rohyr and Lassen stared at him in shock.
“Holy Saints!” Rohyr softly exclaimed. “You hid your troubles so well. None of us suspected anything wrong. Even Rysander didn’t seem aware.”
“We never argued in front of him or revealed our differences,” Yovan explained. “It became easier to keep him from finding out as he matured and spent more time apart from us. I didn’t confide any of this to him. I didn’t want him to have to take sides; mayhap be pitted against one of us. It would have wounded him deeply. Obviously Mered thought likewise. I just pray now that he knows, he’ll be able to cope with the situation.”
Lassen reached over and gripped his hand. “’Tisn’t for us to pass judgment on either of you,” he murmured. “But verily I can’t conceive of Uncle Mered hurting you so terribly, you would doubt the viability of your marriage. I’ve only ever seen how much he adores you. How much he loves you.”
His words both stung and soothed Yovan. “I wish I had your confidence in him,” he said, his voice breaking at the thought that perhaps they’d all been duped into believing that Mered loved him. “I wish I could think of a plausible excuse for what I saw—”
He broke off when he realized he was revealing more than he should.
“Does the builder Isron Debrith have aught to do with your problem?” Rohyr quietly asked.
Yovan snapped his stare to him. “How do you know about him?”
“Keosqe mentioned you’d inquired about Debrith’s dealings with the Cordonas. It appears Debrith had hoped for more than a business relationship with the family.” Rohyr glanced at an inquiring Lassen. “He was Uncle Mered’s schoolmate and an early suitor.”
“Sweet Veres, I—” Yovan covered his eyes with a hand, unwilling for them to see the hurt and humiliation in them. “Rysander told me Mered claimed naught had happened between them but...”
He trailed off in dismay. He’d said too much. Rohyr and Lassen would infer what had caused his estrangement from Mered. But he had to admit, the partial disclosure had eased some of the heaviness in his heart. He needed comfort and support while he mourned the loss of a love he’d thought he knew so well. And like it or not, his son could not always be there to provide either. He lowered his hand, no longer caring if they saw his teary, reddened eyes.
“I don’t know what to believe,” he half whispered. “Only what I want to believe. And what I want is probably the farthest from the truth.”
Rohyr stood up, gently pulled him to his feet and hugged him tightly. It brought Yovan back to Keldon’s funeral when he’d given his nephew a much-needed shoulder to cry on. Now it was his turn and he rendered Rohyr’s shoulder damp with his tears. Saints! He could not count the times he’d wept since walking in on Mered and Debrith.
When Rohyr released him, he noticed his nephew’s expression had hardened. “Debrith is supposed to build the new wing of Castlegrove. Shall I rescind the appointment and strike him from the list of Crown warrant grantees?”
Yovan gaped at his nephew. He drew a deep breath.
It was tempting to accept the offer. Such a move would send the Deir’s business on a downward spiral. Once it was known he’d been dismissed as a builder of the Crown Prince’s estate in Vireshe and then blacklisted by Rohyr no less, Debrith’s pool of upper crust clients would dry up. They would not care to be associated with one who’d been rejected by the Ardan himself. Debrith would be reduced to catering to well-off commoners and arrivistes who tended to be stingy with their money and were generally less affluent than bluebloods and the landed gentry. He would be forced to considerably lower his fees which would have a deleterious impact on his deep pockets.
“Nay,” he forced himself to say. “Much as it would please me to see him come to ruin, I can’t justify punishing him when matters progressed thusly because Mered allowed it. Or even sought it perhaps. It wouldn’t be fair.”
Rohyr’s eyes softened. “And there’s one of the reasons Aba made you a royal advisor so soon. Why I wanted you to be my Chief Counsellor.”
Yovan’s cheeks warmed at the praise. “My thanks, Roh. But really, it’s my duty to uphold the right thing to do.”
“Nay, Uncle, it’s your duty to give me the best advice in rulership regardless of the rectitude of any path or lack of it. Doing the right thing is a personal decision you’ve always chosen to make.”
“Almost. I don’t always hew to it.”
Lassen chuckled gently. “Not if doing the right thing might hurt the ones you love. Oh Uncle, Roh is so fortunate he had you to guide him when his parents could no longer do so.”
Yovan knew his blush was deepening from the growing heat in his cheeks. He also knew they were distracting him for the moment from his sorrow while making it clear they loved and admired him. That they would be there for him as he made this most difficult journey thus far in his life.
He smiled at them in gratitude. “I’ll keep your words about Mered in mind, Las. They give me hope mayhap all is not lost. And, Rohyr-min, you make me prouder than ever that I had a hand in your growth into possibly the finest ruler Ylandre has ever known.”