Griffin's Shadow (16 page)

Before Amara could answer, Sadaiyo, who had said nothing until now, spoke. “Goddess forbid that anything should happen to this
particular
Sakehera grandchild, for is this child not also an Onjara and thus far more valuable to you than my own, Father?” He made no attempt to soften the bitterness of his tone.

Jelena’s happy mood evaporated. Ashinji stiffened and she felt him struggling to remain calm.

Sen’s face fell; his eyes darkened with anger and sadness. “How can you say such a thing, Son?” he asked.

“Sadaiyo, not now…” Misune murmured, almost too low to be heard.

“I’m only speaking the truth, Wife,” Sadaiyo shot back. “Father agrees, but he’d never admit it—has
never
admitted it—though it’s always been plain to me and everyone else in Kerala! Ever since my little brother came mewling into the world, anything that is a part of
him
will be more precious to you, Father, than anything I can ever give you.”

The air in the room grew heavy, as oppressive as the atmosphere right before a summer thunderstorm.

“I think I’ll go up to bed,” Lani murmured.

“Take your sisters,” Amara directed softly, gesturing to the two little girls asleep before the hearth. Lani nodded, kissed her mother’s cheek, then rose to gather the twins up, one under each arm. They complained drowsily, but went along without much more fuss.

“Sadaiyo,” Sen said as soon as Lani and the twins had departed, “you are my firstborn…my Heir. When have I ever given you cause to doubt my regard for you?”

Sadaiyo shook his head in incredulity. “Every time you look at my brother,” his eyes flicked to Ashinji’s face then back to his father’s, “I see in your eyes the love you have for him…love I never had, nor ever will. Oh, I understand it,” he said, raising his hand to forestall Sen’s response, “but understanding is a long way from acceptance.”

“Brother, you need feel no jealousy toward me. I’ve never been a threat to you.” The anguish in Ashinji’s voice nearly broke Jelena’s heart.

“Not so, Little Brother!” Sadaiyo replied. “The people of Kerala love you about as much as they hate me. How will I ever govern them without their support? As long as you are around, my position as Lord will be severely compromised.”

“That is not true, Son! Our people don’t hate you!” Sen objected. “Perhaps, if you showed them a little more compassion…”

“Like Ashinji, perhaps? Oh, yes… kind, compassionate Ashinji! I’m sick to death of you—you and this…this half-breed who pretends she’s as good as a pureblood because she’s the king’s bastard whelp!”

“
Sadaiyo!
” Amara’s voice cracked like a whip.

Sadaiyo rose to his feet, ignoring his mother’s warning. “You’ve never said it, Father, but I know you wish it. You wish that your
precious
Ashinji could succeed you as Lord!”

Father and son stared at each other for several agonizing heartbeats.

“Go ahead,” Sadaiyo bluntly challenged. “Admit it!”

Something in Sen seemed to snap. Jelena saw his control give way and she braced herself for the consequences.

“Goddess forgive me, but it’s true!” Sen whispered hoarsely, then hung his head.

“Father!” Ashinji cried. He struggled to rise, but Jelena locked her arms around him and held him down with all her strength.

“I can’t lie to you anymore, Sadaiyo.” Sen raised his head and Jelena witnessed something she never thought to see—Sen weeping. The sight of his tears seemed to temporarily dampen Sadaiyo’s anger. Father and son stood a handspan apart, each searching the other’s face for something—
anything
—that would banish the terrible pain between them.

“I’m so very sorry, my son,” Sen murmured.

For an eternity, no one moved or spoke.

“Damn and curse you,
Brother
,” Sadaiyo whispered at last.

“Sadaiyo,” Amara called softly this time, breaking the leaden silence. Sadaiyo turned to regard his mother with flat, pain-filled eyes. “Come here,” she commanded.

Even in his current state, Sadaiyo did not dare disobey his mother. Like a sleepwalker, he went to her side and sat down. Gently, Amara slipped her arms around him and rested her forehead against his. She closed her eyes. “Leave us, all of you,” she ordered.

“I’m going for a walk,” Sen mumbled and headed for the outer doors. Misune, loathe to leave her husband but fearful of disobeying a direct order from her mother-in-law, reluctantly retreated up the stairs.

“Let’s go to bed,” Ashinji whispered. “I really need to be in your arms right now.” Jelena nodded and took his hand. She glanced at the eerily still tableau of Sadaiyo and his mother, then looked away. The two were obviously joined in trance, and to Jelena, it felt like too intimate a thing for her to see.

When she and Ashinji finally fell into their bed, they held each other for awhile, taking comfort in simple closeness. Eventually, Ashinji moved to rest his head on Jelena’s belly, as if by doing so, he could somehow cross the divide that, by nature and necessity, now separated him from his unborn child. Jelena stroked his hair with one hand and wiped away her tears with the other.

By mutual, unspoken agreement, they remained silent about Sadaiyo’s outburst and Sen’s agonized confession. Jelena understood that things were too raw now. There would be plenty of time later to sort things out.

After a time, they both drifted to sleep.

~~~

Emerging from a tangle of disturbing dreams, Jelena sat up in bed, a vague sense of alarm jangling her nerves. She glanced over at Ashinji, who lay on his side, face slack. Too unsettled to remain in bed, Jelena finally gave up and slipped from beneath the covers, moving carefully so as to not wake her husband. She threw on her robe and went to sit in the window seat, pushing open the shutters so she could look out.

Thousands of stars glittered overhead in a clear, black sky. The moon had not yet risen—the bulk of the castle lay in darkness below, like a slumbering dragon. She leaned out over the sill and inhaled deeply of the cool air.

A tiny whisper of sound, like the soft chime of a bell, caused her to start. She peered into the darkness below, trying to pierce the veil of shadow that obscured the source of the mysterious noise.

A ghostly, bluish light flickered to life and revealed the dim outlines of a figure standing in the yard directly below the window. As Jelena watched with growing unease, the light waxed stronger, resolving itself into a perfect sphere that floated just above the head of a woman with fiery red hair.

Sonoe stood looking upward, right into Jelena’s eyes.

Jelena hissed in surprise and fell back from the window, nearly tripping over the hem of her robe. Trembling with reaction, she crouched on the floor beneath the sill, her thoughts racing.

What is my father’s Companion doing here at this time of night?

The beautiful mage’s eyes had looked like two black stones set in alabaster. Jelena felt a sudden wave of fear, like the cold exhalation from a freshly opened tomb.

This makes no sense! Sonoe is a Kirian, and if not a friend, then at least an ally!

Profoundly disturbed, Jelena scurried for the safety of the bed and Ashinji’s comforting presence. She climbed in, pressed herself against him, then lay unmoving for the rest of the night.

Ascension Day

"This hikui girl, your Majesty. You are certain she is yours?” Lady Odata of Tono asked, disbelief coloring her voice.

“Yes, quite certain, my lady,” the king replied, clearly irritated by the implication. “The White Griffin confirmed it. You know as well as I that it only reacts when one of the true blood of Onjara touches it. I’d be happy to demonstrate to all of you!” He pounded his fist on the polished oak of the council table in frustration.

“Easy, Brother,” Raidan soothed. “Your lords only want assurances that this isn’t some sort of deception. You can’t blame them for that.”

“No…no, I can’t. You are right,” Keizo admitted. He sighed and unclenched his hands, laying them flat on the table. “My apologies, my lords and ladies.”

Raidan observed his brother over steepled fingers. They had spent most of last night arguing over how best to handle this situation. Raidan had urged caution, recommending that Keizo present the girl to the Council, but hold off on any public proclamations to legitimize her. Keizo would have his hands full just dealing with the shock and dismay of his advisors. He didn’t need a public outcry to add to his troubles.

In the end, though, Keizo remained resolute. The Council and the elven people would know about his daughter, and, in time, come to accept his decision—or so he believed.

Now, faced with the full wrath of his lords, Keizo remained in control, handling the situation well enough, considering.

Several of the lords shouted simultaneously, but one voice in particular—Morio of Ayame’s—rang out above the others. “Your Majesty, where is this leading? You have no child of your blood, save this girl…this
hikui
girl. If you legitimize her, then you are as good as declaring that you plan to name her your Heir!”

“That I cannot do, my lord of Ayame. It is against our law,” the king replied, tight-lipped.

“How do we know you won’t suspend the law?” Lord Morio continued. “With respect, Majesty, if you try, there are many of us who will oppose you! The elven people will never accept a hikui as their ruler!” Many voices cried out in agreement, adding to the general cacophony.

Sen Sakehera, who had been silent until now, finally spoke up. “My lords and ladies, I pray you,
shut up
!” he roared. All shouting ceased and every eye fixed upon the King’s Commanding General. “That’s better,” he said. “Now that I can hear myself, I’d like to get in my few humble words, with your permission, Majesty.” The king waved his hand in consent.

“It was I who brought Jelena here to Sendai. My son Ashinji found her along our southern border, fleeing from bandits. If he hadn’t come along, she’d be dead, and so would I, because some months later, Jelena saved my life. I owed it to her to try to help her find her elven kin.” He glanced at the king, who sat very still, face impassive.

“I’ve come to care for this girl very much, and so has my son. I know her mind, far better than even her own father does,” Keizo’s mouth twitched at this, but he otherwise showed no reaction. “and I know that she has absolutely no desire to be anything other than my son’s wife.”

Lord Sen turned to regard Raidan. “Your Highness, Jelena is no threat to you, even if the king claims her publicly.”

Raidan heard the unspoken message in Sen’s softly spoken final words and saw the promise in his eyes.
You’d go to war against me to protect this girl!
he thought
. We’d both better pray to the One that it never comes to that, for then I’d have to destroy you, my friend!

The Lord of Kerala sat down and glanced around the table at his fellow advisors. A heavy silence, full of consternation and confusion, blanketed the room. The air hummed with energy, the result of fourteen individual Talents amplified by proximity and stress.

The whole situation threatened to give Raidan a vicious headache. He rubbed at his temples. “Brother, why don’t you send for Jelena now? I think it’s time that your Council meet your daughter and see for themselves just what she’s like.”

“I’ll go and get her myself,” Keizo murmured.

The king stood and exited the room. He returned a moment later with Jelena on his arm. “My lords and ladies, I present to you my daughter…Jelena.”

Raidan’s eyebrows lifted in surprise at the transformation his niece had undergone. The girl wore a splendid, multi-layered court gown, an ornate silver headdress resting on her tamed locks.

By the One, she’s really quite pretty,
he thought,
and if she weren’t a bastard Onjara, and already married, she’d have no trouble finding a place as a concubine to some minor lord or court official.

Jelena held her head high, but Raidan sensed her nervousness; to her credit, she masked it well.

“My lords and ladies, I thank you for receiving me,” the girl addressed the Council in excellent, though heavily accented, Siri-dar. “Please allow me to sit and answer any questions you may have for me.”

Well said, girl,
Raidan thought.

The king snapped his fingers and a servant came forward with a chair, which he placed next to the king’s. Keizo waited while his daughter sat with admirable grace and adjusted her skirts, then folded her hands demurely on her lap.

Keizo resumed his seat and held up his hand before anyone could speak. “Before you question my daughter, I have an announcement to make. There will be an official ceremony of legitimization for her in two days time. I will then present her to the people.” The king calmly gazed at his advisors, daring them to challenge him.

“Tell us about yourself, child,” Lady Odata spoke up first, breaking the tense silence.

“I was raised in the house of my mother’s brother, Duke Teodorus of Amsara,” Jelena began, her voice quiet but steady. “My mother bore me in disgrace, disowned by her own family because she confessed to the crime of lying with an elven man. She died giving birth to me, so I never knew her, except through the stories told to me by my foster mother.”