Chapter Forty-One

 

 

Av knew he was in trouble before walking into the queen's rooms. Para was there, having some sort of twisted audience with Aren. He participated because he sensed the danger coming off of Aren. Whatever was going on, Para wasn't participating as she should have and Aren had let him into the room in order to control the older woman.

When Para left, Av allowed her to go, and met the eyes of his queen. Aren was furious, her emotions brewing under a mask of indifference. Av feared because he had never seen this side of Aren before. She felt and she showed her emotions even while she put on the mask of calm that commoners expected. Her time in the chamber had changed her. Her time with Danya changed her.

“You commanded, I came,” Av said.

The old rules, he had to recall them as best he could. He remembered watching his parents go through motions that he thought were strange.

Until his mother was taken by the throne, his father had commanded the house. Afterwards his father still commanded the house, but his mother ruled the public life. When she looked at her mate in just such a way, the trainer submitted.

“I did,” Aren said. “Lady Para will be returning to her vineyard. From there she will send a dimwit who lives on the land. They have no use for the boy but, here at the palace, we will find him a place. The healers here are more able to help his sort of problems.”

“Do you wish to see the boy when he arrives?” Av asked.

“He's fifteen—hardly a boy but not yet a man,” Aren said.

Aren's brother. Av knew that and yet he had no idea what he would do with the boy. He knew that he would protect the boy with his life, because it was what Aren wanted, but he was also concerned that his reaction to a dimwit would not be what Aren hoped. How could he promise to provide companionship to a creature that he wasn't certain he could stand to be around?

“Do you wish to see the boy when he arrives?” Av asked once more. She hadn't answered the question the first time—why hadn't she answered the question?

“No,” Aren said, facing the fire for a moment to poke at it with the iron stick before she turned back to Av. “No. I want all records to tell everyone that this dimwit was sent from the vineyard for the special care of the healers. His name is Bilgern, mine is Argnern. No one is ever to link us. Ever. Do you understand me, Av?”

“I understand the command, but not the why,” Av said.

Aren had spoken of her brother before. She had said more of this brother than she had of the one who could speak full sentences. Why bring him to court only to push him into the shadows?

“Because he is a dimwit,” Aren said. “Anue can protect herself, so can you. Any children we have would have the common sense to run for an adult, or the palace would protect them. He is blood, but he is not fast enough to understand friend from enemy.”

“He's never to know you are here,” Av said.

“Anue is not to know he is here either,” Aren said. “I know I can keep my distance, but I do not know about my sister.”

Protected and yet close at hand. Av wondered how much it hurt Aren to have to tell that to him. He knew, on some level, that he would have to stop Aren from contacting her brother. It would be easy to prevent Anue from knowing her brother was at court. Aren would know, and she would attempt to resist but some days would be more difficult than others.

“There are other places he can go,” Av said. “Places which might be better able to care for him. The palace is about to go through a change. Change always means pain. Pain means disaster, especially for those who are dimwits, out of it, or drooling husks.”

“I want my brother here,” Aren said.

“I'm just saying it would be prudent to—”

“Here!” Aren shouted at him. “Not elsewhere, not tucked away somewhere as if he's a mark on my bloodline! It's not his fault he is the way he is, so you don't get to tell me to hide him in the shadows. The only reason I move him about is to keep him safe!”

“I never said he was a mark on your bloodline,” Av said quietly.

“As you said, changes will be coming to the court,” Aren said.

She took one of the seats before the hearth. Relaxing slightly, she looked up at Av and motioned to the other seat. Because he knew he needed to ease the tension in his body, Av sat.

He had been disturbed for days over the murder he had committed. Upon arriving at the palace, he had been hoping to be able to speak to his father about the event but instead he had spent his time in the healer's hall, setting a proper example for the new lady.

Or so the healers said.

“What are these changes?” Av asked.

“Lady Para and Lord Cerlot Bilgern will stay on their vineyard,” Aren said. “They will send their son to court for finishing. My sister will remain here with me, as she is Argnern.”

“I understand that much,” Av said.

“Court is calling in a few days, possibly tomorrow,” Aren said.

“Three days at least, you need sleep,” Av countered.

“Fine,” Aren said. “Three days. I will quell gossip mongering. You, Av, as your position, will help me. Same gender is allowed, anyone who says otherwise will be stabbed by you. If you fail, I will strip their skin from their flesh, roll them across the training yard and then start at their feet and work my way up. Do I make myself clear?”

Av swallowed the bile that attempted to rise in his throat. “Perfectly.”

“The barons are coming. Telm is not up to task. You will take over her duties and care for their rooms. They come for my mating ceremony. Every due care must be made to ensure their comfort. Whatever they could need. They are also bringing their mates, which to my understanding means they are bringing three queens with them.”

“They are, and I may have invited another from a little fugitive camp,” Av said, wincing as Aren shot him a scathing look. “I know, but I thought you and she were paired well. You'll get along well.”

“The wards must be brought to hand. I expect your support in this,” Aren continued on, not commenting on what Av had said. “I expect you to take them to hand. Train them until they are too tired to whine. If they have time to gossip, you are not working them hard enough. Am I understood?”

“You are, yes,” Av said.

“Good. When the barons arrive, I will mate. Put this nonsense down once and for all. And Mar, once she arrives, will stand as my queen after all.”

“Of course,” he said, noting that Aren hadn't mentioned who she would be mating. His heart broke just a little bit as he watched her stare into the fire, seemingly caught in thought.

“From this point forward,” Aren said to the fire before she turned to Av, “no man is to be alone with me. Is that clear, Lord Av? Mated or not, I am not to be alone with a man, not for any reason. Not because he's sneaking a kiss or because he thinks he's above the rules.”

“From this point?” Av said. “Should I leave?”

“I'm not done with you,” Aren snarled.

“I was just asking,” he murmured. “I would hate to upset you before you are mated.”

He was hoping for something—anything at all—from Aren assuring him of what he had waited for all winter. Av drew in a breath as Aren breathed out.

“Have you heard of ‘right to rest’?” Aren asked.

“No,” Av said quietly.

“It is claimed for another, usually a rank. Likely always for a queen. I want to claim this for Telm, who is being a stupid poop-pants.”

“Did you just call your head of house a...” Av trailed off when Aren shot him another scathing look. “Fair enough. I'm guessing it's straightforward, meaning she has to rest and the ranks, I'm guessing, make certain she does rest?”

“That's about the gist of it,” Aren said. “She is on her way here for me to have this conversation with her. After that, all lines are cut.”

He would not react. He would not say anything or betray how he was feeling. She was his—that was what he believed and what he felt in every part of him. Even if she attempted to deny him, there was nothing she could do to stop him from chasing her.

“I understand,” Av said.

There was a knock on the door. Aren looked towards the door and held up her hand as if to say no, then turned back to Av. Frowning at Aren, Av turned to the door, only then noticing a young woman standing there. He almost recognized her. The woman had a blank look on her face, as if blocking out everything she heard.

“Has Jer come to court as well as your father?” Aren asked. “I have a need of him to sit by my side. No one else can sit beside me, aside from a mate. I can't very well greet the barons with no one at my side, now can I?”

“It is my understanding that he is, yes,” Av said. “It was also my understanding that Jer would stand as warrior to your mate.”

Who else could he have stand at his side? Who else would he entrust with the lives of his mate and his children?

“As you wish,” Aren said.

“How can a man offer you up and yet stand as warrior at the same time?” Av asked, daring to broach the subject Aren seemed to be dancing around.

“A warrior's place is to protect a mate,” Aren said. “I see no reason why a man cannot offer up one and stand as warrior for the other.”

Which was not the kind of answer he was hoping for. It was still closer than he had been moments before. Av took in a breath and ventured to poke Aren.

“And what else might a mate of yours expect, Lady Aren?” he asked.

“From me?” Aren asked, meeting Av's gaze. “Well, a mate of mine might expect papers and commands and throne business.”

“I meant as a mate,” Av ventured.

“Nothing. I'm not mating with anyone at any point,” Aren said.

“Damn, because I could offer up a few ways to put that mouth to good use,” Av grumbled.

Aren paled considerably. “Never use those words together again.”

“I have an even better way I could put my mouth to use,” Av said, watching Aren turn a funny sort of red. “By telling bad jokes.”

He was going to stab every male of Aren's bloodline until he discovered which one gave her a reason to blanch at such an innocent set of words. His attempt to calm the awkwardness of their conversation brought out a stiff smile from Aren, but that was all.

“What's your point, Av?” Aren asked.

“No point,” he said.

“I'm a queen, you're a warrior. Why can't we just leave it at that?” Aren asked.

Av sighed, then said, “I rode out on a white horse, though it wasn't my choice. I saved you and I got nothing.”

“You didn't save me,” Aren said. “The only reason I walked away was because of me. Not because of you. You rode out and retrieved me.”

“I waited all winter—I waited, when I wanted to go out immediately, because people kept telling me I'd die going and then where would you be?” Av said. “I showed up, and I didn't kill your friend, I only killed the bad person.”

“And you think that entitles you to sex?” Aren asked.

“No! Not sex. At least a pat on the head. Preferably a damnable kiss.”

“You came to me covered in blood and bits of body,” Aren said sternly.

“And you were dirty and covered in weeks of sweat and bodily items, but you didn't hear me complaining, now did you?” Av said.

“It's my body, I've a right to say no,” Aren said.

Taken aback, Av stared at Aren for too long before he managed to speak. “Of course you do. And I understand that things change and you might change your mind. But I don't know where I stand.”

“Suddenly you want everything laid out in terms that everyone can understand?” Aren asked with a small smile. “It is getting late, and I have one final audience tonight. I think it's time you get going, before the lords and ladies begin gossiping of the illicit things we've been doing.”