Eleanor lay underneath hers, unable to sleep. At Merl’s request, Conlan had handed Gregor’s book over to him to read and they had held sporadic conversations about Avatars, Talismans and Conlan’s shield as Merl had asked questions. Freddie turned over in his sleep, throwing his arm over Eleanor’s waist and pulling her towards him, sighing softly as he rested his head against her back, his snoring starting up again. Conlan said goodnight to Merl, and Eleanor heard him lying down next to her, the rug underneath them not being big enough for him to get any distance. As he placed his blanket over him, Eleanor felt it cover her outstretched arm. She was just about to withdraw it, not wanting to invade his private space, when under the blanket she felt his hand close over hers. Surprised, she opened her eyes. He lay on his side, facing her. A small smile lit up his face and spoke of victory. They were so close, the sword and the crown were within their reach. His look gave Eleanor a warm glow. He stared at her for a moment and then closed his eyes to sleep. Her hand remained comfortably enveloped in his.
It was long before dawn when they were woken by the bolt on the door to their gaol being pulled back; the sound was so loud and grating that Eleanor sat up with a start, waking Conlan and Freddie as she did. Will opened his eyes but did not move, as Amelia was still asleep in his arms. The door was pulled open. It was dark outside and chilly air blew in, but it appeared to have stopped raining. Nials entered, staring at them with tired disinterest.
“Urerla wishes to speak with you, Conlan Baydon,” he said quietly.
“In the middle of the night?” Conlan asked in a thick, sleep-clogged voice, underlying the Dwarfish with suspicion. Nials raised an eyebrow, looked at him coldly but said nothing. Rolling his eyes in annoyance, Conlan got to his feet and without looking back followed Nials. The door closed and bolted behind them.
“What was that about?” Freddie asked.
“Urerla has asked to see him,” Eleanor said, noticing Will and Freddie giving each other a strange look.
“What?” she asked.
“Just a little odd, that’s all,” Will said, looking back at the door.
“Maybe the woman doesn’t sleep much,” Eleanor suggested. Freddie and Will gave each other another look she did not understand. Irritated, she glanced from one to the other.
“What?” she asked again.
Freddie gave her a wicked smile. “Think about it, Eleanor, why do you
think
a woman might be asking a man to join her in the middle of the night?” Embarrassed at her stupidity, Eleanor felt her cheeks turn crimson as Freddie’s words fitted the pieces of the puzzle together.
“She wants to have sex with him?” she asked, wanting to be very sure that she had the right idea before she said anything else.
“Perhaps,” Will said, giving Freddie an irritated glance.
Freddie sniggered softly. “Oh come on Will, you saw the look Urerla gave him, she was practically undressing him on the spot,” he said, his grin getting wider. Eleanor felt her stomach twist and was angry at her body’s response. She had no claim over Conlan. He could do as he pleased, but the thought of him in the arms of the stunningly beautiful Urerla made her physically sick. She was going to have to work hard to hide this feeling, she realised. It was unfair; if Urerla could make him happy, who was she to deny him or make him feel bad?
“As I recall, she gave you much the same look,” Will retorted quietly. The smile on Freddie’s face grew wistful, his eyes glazing slightly as he remembered.
“She is really beautiful,” he said softly.
Will rolled his eyes and then closed them, pulling Amelia closer as he tried to get back to sleep.
Eleanor smiled at Freddie’s expression. “You really liked her.” Her voice snapped him back to reality and a guilty expression flashed across his face.
“She’s very beautiful, but she has nothing on you,” he said in a very serious tone.
Eleanor giggled. “Freddie, she has a lot on me! Height, curves, big breasts… manageable hair…”
Freddie reached a hand out and ran his fingers gently over her head and through her dark hair to her shoulders. “You have beautiful hair, but what makes you special is in here,” he said, laying a hand over her heart for a moment. “And in here,” he continued, gently tapping the side of her head with two fingers. Embarrassed again, Eleanor dropped her eyes.
“I guess I should be grateful that something detracts from my physical shortcomings,” she muttered.
“Short being the operative word,” Freddie said, smiling at her. Seeing his attempt to keep the conversation light, and to distract her from her embarrassment, Eleanor smiled back, slapping him playfully. Freddie groaned, grabbing his arm in mock agony and collapsing back down to the rug. Eleanor giggled again and lay down next to him, pulling her blanket over her.
“Freddie?” Eleanor whispered, her eyes fixed firmly on the cracks in the ceiling.
“Yes?”
“Do you think Conlan really would sleep with Urerla?” she asked.
There was a long pause.
“Honestly, Eleanor, I’ve no idea,” Freddie said. She closed her eyes as thoughts of Conlan and Urerla together ran through her mind.
“And you just let him go?!”
It was a furious voice, yelling in Dwarfish, that woke Eleanor with a start. Her eyes shot open. Merl was standing inches from Will, glaring at him and jabbing his finger angrily into his chest. Will was staring back calmly.
“What would you have had me do?” he asked mildly.
“Stop him, protect him,” Merl snapped.
“He is quite capable of taking care of himself,” Will said, the hard growl he put through his reply implying that Merl was being an idiot.
“If he was, do you think his grandfather would have sent me to protect him? That boy has a truly astounding ability to get himself into trouble, he always has had. You are his Avatars, you should be defending him,” Merl said, ignoring Will’s unspoken insult. Will continued to hold Merl’s angry glare with a cold, calm one of his own, but he said nothing more. Freddie gave Eleanor a questioning look.
“Merl thinks we should have stopped Conlan leaving, tried to protect him,” she told him.
“Where did he go?” Amelia asked, watching Merl and Will with apprehension.
“Urerla asked to see him,” Freddie said.
Having nothing to fight against, Merl backed off, moving to sit back on the rug. Pulling Gregor’s book back into his lap he started to read again in hostile silence. Will sat back down next to Amelia, pulling her into his arms.
“Do you think we need to rescue Conlan?” Eleanor asked, looking at the worry in Will’s eyes.
He shook his head. “No, we’re trying to make them allies, remember? I’m sure he’ll be fine – I can’t figure out why Merl was getting so upset about it.”
“He’s just worried about Conlan,” Eleanor said, fully understanding Merl’s feelings. Will nodded, but he did not look convinced. Before they could discuss it further, the nerve-grating shriek of the bolt being pulled back and echoed through the room. Her attention flicked to the door as it was flung open, dawn’s weak light flooding in. Conlan was shoved inside with enough force to send him sprawling. The door was slammed shut again, so quickly that Eleanor did not notice who had pushed him. His hands were tied behind his back, so he landed gracelessly, his head bouncing painfully off the floor. Will moved to help him, but Merl beat him to it, flashing an angry scowl. They watched as the older man untied the restraints. Conlan sat for a moment rubbing feeling back into his wrists; he had obviously been tied up for a while, perhaps since he had left their cell.
“What happened?” Merl asked.
“Long story,” Conlan said, raising his head to look at Merl. As he did so, Eleanor noticed the bright red mark on his face in the very noticeable shape of a hand.
“Who slapped you?” she asked in English.
Conlan looked at her, rubbing his face.
“Urerla.”
Eleanor smiled, she could not help it. If the woman was slapping him, Freddie and Will’s suspicions seemed unlikely. “I thought we were trying to make them our friends, why did she hit you?”
Conlan shrugged.
“So, is she going to give us the sword?” Will asked, also sticking to English while sitting back down next to Amelia.
“She doesn’t have it,” Conlan replied.
“Then who does?” Freddie asked him.
“A rival tribe.”
“Rival tribe?” Freddie spluttered. “We got the wrong ‘People of the Horse’?”
Conlan nodded. “Many centuries ago the ‘People of the Horse’ fractured into eight separate tribes. In the beginning these tribes fought almost to the point of mutual annihilation for control of the others, but realising they were going to destroy themselves if they didn’t stop the fighting, they found another way to deal with the problem. Every year they hold a ‘meeting’, where all eight tribes get together. Alliances are strengthened, marriages are arranged and trade deals are made, but the main purpose of the ‘meeting’ is to decide who will hold the ‘Heart’ for the coming year,” he said, getting up and moving to sit next to them on the rug, Merl following.
“What ‘Heart’? There are hearts mentioned in the poem from the book, but why is holding it important?” Freddie said, asking the questions spinning round Eleanor’s head before she got the chance.
“The ‘Heart’ is what they call the sword, although to be more precise it’s what they call the large heart-shaped diamond that’s the sword’s pommel, and it’s important because the tribe holding the sword has ultimate control of all the tribes for that year,” Conlan said.
“How do they work out who gets the sword?” Amelia asked.
“I wasn’t able to get all the details on that,” Conlan admitted. “But they have some kind of competition, a test of strength, courage and stamina between man and horse.”
“They’re not going to give up the sword easily, are they?” Eleanor said quietly.
Conlan shook his head, frowning. “No, I don’t think they are.”
“Is Urerla going to release us so we can find the tribe that
does
have the sword?” Will asked.
“Urerla doesn’t have that kind of authority. That would be her mother’s decision. Her mother is the leader of this tribe. I assume we’ll be meeting her soon,” Conlan said.
“So did you tell Urerla why we needed the sword? Did you explain that we’d like them to be allies?” Eleanor asked.
Conlan smiled. “Yes, but I think getting them to be our allies could be a little difficult.”
“Why?” Freddie asked, beating Eleanor to it again.
“Because the ‘People of the Horse’ make alliances through marriage; they don’t seem to recognise there might be other ways,” Conlan replied.
Several thoughts lined themselves up in Eleanor’s head, giving her an amusing insight, and she giggled. “That’s why she slapped you – she offered you an alliance of marriage and you turned her down!”
Conlan dropped his head, looking embarrassed. “Something like that,” he muttered.
“Was that wise?” Eleanor mused. “She’s a beautiful woman, she could make a good queen and you would gain another army.” Conlan raised his head, green eyes locking onto hers.
“You think I should marry Urerla?” he asked, disbelief in his voice. Eleanor shrugged and smiled at him. It took effort, but her voice was calm when she answered him.
“Conlan, you’re going to be a king, and your choice of wife will therefore be very important. I don’t think you should discount Urerla out of hand.” There was a brief silence as Conlan stared at her.
“I don’t want to marry her.”
“Kings do as their kingdoms require,” Eleanor said. “They marry to increase their lands, to strengthen their support, to turn enemies into allies or to strengthen their own position through having children. So she’s worth considering.” Conlan flicked his eyes to Will, Eleanor could not read the look that passed between them.
“She’s right Conlan, that’s the way kings and queens have done it for centuries in our world. If we manage to survive all this, who you end up marrying is going to be of great importance,” Will told him. Conlan stared in hurt consternation, moving his gaze back to Eleanor.
“I’m not going to marry Urerla. Think of another way to get them onside,” he said flatly.
Eleanor shrugged again. “I think you might have to,” she said. “The poem spoke about a ‘gift beyond measure’ and ‘a heart for a heart’, plus finding yourself a queen would be thinking of the future.”
“Eleanor, I’m going to say this once more and then we won’t discuss this again. I’m
not
going to marry Urerla,” Conlan said stiffly from behind teeth clamped tightly over his obvious anger. “And frankly, I’d have thought you’d be the last person suggesting that I should,” he added. Eleanor smiled, knowing there was a large amount of hurt in it that she could not hide.
“Why?” she asked softly. “Because I love you? Do you not understand what that means? It means that you are more important to me than anything else in existence. I want you to be happy and I want you to find a queen who will support and protect you, be your companion, someone you can trust.”
“That’s what I have the four of you for,” Conlan said, not taking his eyes from Eleanor’s as she slowly shook her head.
“You need to have offspring, Conlan, and we can’t help you with that. An heir will consolidate your throne, stop civil war breaking out when you die and bring stability to your rule. You’re going to need a wife,” she insisted.