Hidden Warrior (49 page)

“We’ll always be friends, won’t we?” he said, leaning on Korin’s shoulder.

“Friends?” Korin laughed. “Brothers, more like. A toast to my little brother!”

Everyone cheered, waving their mazers about. Tobin joined in, but the laughter died in his throat as he caught sight of two dark figures lurking in a shadowed corner of the minstrel’s gallery. They stepped forward, oblivious to the fiddlers sawing away beside them; it was Brother and their mother. Tobin went cold at the sight of her. This was not the kind woman who’d taught him to write and draw. Bloody-faced, eyes burning with hatred, she pointed an accusing finger. Then both ghosts faded away, but not before Tobin saw what she held under her arm.

He scarcely remembered anything of the banquet after that. When the last dessert was finished he pleaded weariness and hurried upstairs. His traveling chest was still locked, but when he burrowed down through the tunics and shirts the doll was gone, just as he’d feared.

“Fine. I’m glad!” Tobin raged at the empty room. “Stay here together, like you always did!” He meant it, and couldn’t understand why tears welled up to blind him.

T
he weather held fair and the hunting was good. They rode out at dawn each day and combed the hills and brakes, returning with enough stags, bear, grouse, and conies to feed a regiment. The king was in good spirits, though Tobin knew better than to take this for granted. It was easier to relax and trust a little, without Niryn there to read his every thought and gesture.

Every night they drank and feasted, entertained by an ever-changing troupe of players. Tobin avoided the third floor and did not see the ghosts again.

“Maybe we should look for the doll,” Ki said, when Tobin finally told him what had happened.

“Where? In the tower?” Tobin asked. “It’s locked and the key is missing; I already asked Nari. And even if it wasn’t, I wouldn’t go up there again.”

He’d thought about it, even dreamed about it, but nothing in the world would make him go near that room or that window again.

He put the doll out of his mind and Ki didn’t mention it again. He was more concerned about Lhel. They’d slipped away and ridden up the mountain road several times, but found no sign of Lhel or Arkoniel.

“Probably safer for them, with this great crowd wandering everywhere,” Ki said, but he sounded as disappointed as Tobin felt.

O
n his name day morning Tobin saw that a new pavilion had been erected just beyond the barracks. It was nearly as large, and made of brightly painted canvas hung
with silk banners and gaily colored ribbons. When he asked about it, Korin replied with a wink and a smirk.

At the feast that night it was clear some conspiracy was afoot. Korin and the others spent the meal whispering and laughing among themselves. When the last of the honey cakes had been eaten, they rose and surrounded him.

“I’ve got a special birthday present for you, coz,” said Korin. “Now that you’re old enough.”

“Old enough for what?” asked Tobin uneasily.

“Easier to show than tell!” Korin and Zusthra picked Tobin up and hoisted him on their shoulders. Looking back in alarm as they bore him away, he saw the squires blocking Ki from following. He didn’t seem upset, though. Far from it, in fact.

“Happy birthday, Tob!” he called after him, laughing and waving with the others.

Tobin’s worst fears were realized as they carried him down to the gaudy pavilion. It was a brothel, of course, run by one of the king’s favorites in Ero. Inside, heavy tapestry curtains divided the tent into different rooms around a central receiving area. Braziers and polished brass lamps burned there, and it was furnished like a fine villa, with rich carpets and fancy wine tables. Girls in sheer silk chemises greeted the guests and guided them to velvet couches there.

“I chose for you,” Korin announced proudly. “Here’s your present!”

A pretty blond woman emerged from behind one of the tapestry walls and joined Tobin on his couch. The other Companions had girls of their own, and from the looks of things, they were far more at home with all this than he was. Even Nikides and Lutha appeared to be pleased with this development.

“You’re a man now, and a warrior,” said Korin, toasting him with a golden mazer. “It’s time you tasted a man’s pleasures!”

Caught in a nightmare, Tobin fought to hide his dismay. Alben was already smirking with Urmanis and Zusthra.

“I’m honored, my prince,” the girl said, settling close beside him and offering him sweetmeats from a gilded plate. She was perhaps eighteen, but her eyes were as old as Lhel’s as she looked him over. Her manner was demure, but there was hardness just behind her smile that curdled the dinner in Tobin’s belly.

He let her fill his cup again and drank deeply, wishing he could just vanish or sink through the ground. He could do neither, unfortunately, and at last the girls rose and took their chosen paramours by the hand, leading them off to the rooms at the back of the pavilion.

Tobin’s legs would hardly support him as the girl parted a curtain and drew him into a tapestry-walled inner chamber. A silver lamp hung from a chain overhead, and incense burned in a censer on a carved stand. Patterned carpets gave softly under his boots as she led him to a curtained bed. Still smiling her false smile, she began to unlace his tunic.

Caught between mortification and despair, Tobin kept his head down, praying she wouldn’t see him blush. To run away would make him the laughingstock of the Companions, but the alternative was unthinkable.

Tobin’s heart was hammering so hard in his ears that he hardly heard her when she stopped and whispered, “Would you rather not undress, my prince?”

She was waiting, but no words would come. He stared miserably at the floor and shook his head.

“Just this, then,” she murmured, reaching for the lacings of his trousers. He flinched away and she stopped. They stood like that for some time, until he suddenly felt the soft brush of lips against his cheek.

“You don’t want this, do you?” she whispered close to his ear. “I saw it the minute they dragged you in.”

Tobin shuddered, imagining what she’d tell Korin
later. He’d cast Quirion out for cowardice in battle; would this amount to the same thing?

To his astonishment, she hugged him. “That’s all right, then. You don’t have to.”

“I—I don’t?” he quavered, and looked up to find her smiling, a real smile. The hardness had left her face; she looked very kind.

“Come, sit with me.”

There was nowhere to sit but on the bed. She curled up against the bolsters and patted the place beside her. “Come on,” she coaxed. “I won’t do anything.”

Hesitantly, Tobin joined her and pulled his knees up under his chin. By that time soft cries and louder grunting were coming from the other enclosures. Tobin resisted the urge to plug his ears; he recognized some of those voices and thanked the Four that the squires hadn’t come along, too. He couldn’t have stood hearing Ki going on like that. It sounded almost like they were in pain, yet it was strangely exciting, too. He felt his body responding and blushed more hotly than ever.

“The prince means well, I’m sure,” the girl whispered, not sounding as if she meant it. “He’s been quite the stag since he was younger than you, but he’s a different sort of fellow, isn’t he? Some boys aren’t ready so young.”

Tobin nodded. It was true enough, in its way.

“But you have your reputation among your friends to consider, I think?” she went on, and chuckled at Tobin’s groan of agreement. “That’s easily dealt with. Move over to the edge, if you please.”

Still wary, Tobin did as she asked and watched in amazement as she knelt in the middle of the bed and began to make those alarming sounds, moaning, laughing deep in her throat, and letting out little yelps very much like those that were echoing around them now. Then, to his complete consternation, she began to bounce on the bed like a child. Without breaking off her cries, she grinned and held out her hands to Tobin.

Understanding at last, he joined her and started bouncing on his knees with her. The bed ropes creaked and the rails rattled. She raised her voice in an impressive crescendo, then collapsed on the bed with a breathy sigh. Burying her face in the coverlet, she smothered a fit of giggling.

“Well done, coz!” Korin called drunkenly.

Tobin covered his mouth with both hands to stifle his own sudden laughter. His companion looked up at him, eyes bright with shared merriment, and whispered gleefully, “I believe your reputation is safe, my prince.”

Tobin lay down close beside her so he could keep his voice low. “But why?”

She rested her chin in her hands and gave him a sly look. “My task is to bring my customers pleasure. Did that please you?”

Tobin stifled another laugh. “Very much!”

“Then that’s what I shall report to your cousin and the king when they ask me. Which they will.” She gave him a sisterly kiss on the cheek. “You’re not the first, my dear. A few of your friends out there share the same secret.”

“Who?” Tobin asked. She clucked her tongue at him and he blushed again. “How can I thank you? I don’t even have my purse with me.”

She stroked his cheek fondly. “You are an innocent, aren’t you? A prince never pays, my dear, not among my sort. I only ask that you remember me kindly and treat my sisters well when you’re older.”

“Your sisters—? Oh, I see. Yes, I will. But I don’t even know your name.”

She considered this, as if weighing the question. At last she smiled again, and said, “It’s Yrena.”

“Thank you, Yrena. I won’t forget your kindness, not ever.”

He could hear people moving around, the rustle of clothing and the rattle of belts.

“We’d better put on the finishing touches.” Grinning,
she pulled the lacings of his tunic awry, tousled his hair, and pinched color into his cheeks with her fingers. Then, like an artist, she pulled back to inspect her work. “Nearly there, I think.” Going to a small side table, she took up an alabaster rouge pot and painted her lips, then kissed him several times on the face and neck. When she was done she wiped her mouth on the sheet and pressed a last kiss to his brow. “There now, don’t you look the proper wastrel? If your friends ask for details, just smile. That should be answer enough for them. If they insist on dragging you back, say you’ll have only me.”

“Do you think they might?” Tobin whispered, alarmed.

Laughing silently, Yrena kissed him again and sent him on his way.

Y
rena’s ruse worked. The Companions carried him back to the keep in triumph and the squires listened enviously as the other boys bragged about their evening’s conquests. Tobin felt Ki’s eyes on him every time he avoided answering questions.

Alone in their room later, Tobin could hardly look him in the face.

Ki hiked himself up onto the windowsill, grinning expectantly. “Well?”

After a moment’s hesitation, Tobin told him the truth. Ki might laugh at him, but they could laugh together.

But his friend’s reaction wasn’t quite what he’d hoped. “You mean, you—couldn’t?” he asked, frowning. “You said she was pretty!”

Every time he’d lied to Ki, it had been because of the same secret, and every time it had felt like a betrayal.

Tobin struggled with himself a moment longer, then shrugged. “I just didn’t want to.”

“You should have said something. Korin would have let you pick another—”

“No! I didn’t want any of them.”

Ki stared down at his dangling feet for a long time, then sighed. “So it is true.”

“What’s true?”

“That you—” It was Ki blushing now, and he still wouldn’t look at Tobin. “That you don’t—you know—fancy girls. I mean, I thought when you got older and all—”

The panic Tobin had felt in the brothel tent crept back. “I don’t fancy anyone!” he shot back. Fear and guilt made the words come out angry.

“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean—” Ki slid off the sill and took him by the shoulders. “That is, well—Oh, never mind. I didn’t mean anything by it, all right?”

“Yes, you did!”

“It doesn’t matter, Tob. It doesn’t matter to me.”

Tobin knew that wasn’t true, but that Ki wanted it to be.

If only I could tell him
, Tobin thought.
If he knew the truth. How would he look at me then? The
urge to blurt it all out was so strong that he had to turn away and press his lips together to stop the words.

Somewhere nearby, he could hear Brother laughing.

Neither of them spoke of it again, but Ki didn’t join in with the others’ good-natured teasing when Tobin found excuses not to go back to the painted tent.

Tobin rode out alone more often after that, searching for Lhel and Arkoniel, but they were still nowhere to be found.

T
he king kept his promise and at mid-Kemmin, the Companions rode out to hunt bandits in the hill country north of Ero. Korin talked as brashly as ever, but Tobin could tell that he was anxious to redeem himself in their eyes. According to Tharin, whispers about his previous falter had found their way around the Palatine.

T
he night before the Companions left, the king hosted a feast in their honor. Princess Aliya sat at her father-in-law’s right and played hostess. In spite of early fears, this pregnancy had progressed well. The birth was expected soon after the Sakor festival and her belly filled out the front of her gown like a great round loaf.

The king continued to dote on her, and she was all sweetness with him, and with everyone in public. In private, however, Ki’s prediction had proven true. She was still the same harridan she’d always been, and the discomforts of her state had not improved her temper. Tobin escaped her sharp tongue most days, though only because he was Kin. Korin wasn’t so fortunate; already exiled from his lady’s bed for months, he’d quietly gone back to his old ways. Aliya had learned of it, of course, and the ensuing rows had become legendary. According to her lady-in-waiting, the princess had a strong throwing arm and excellent aim.

None of this made Tobin like her any better, but he found himself fascinated by her all the same, for she was the first pregnant woman he’d known. Lhel said this was part of a woman’s secret power and he began to see what
she meant, especially after Aliya insisted that he put his hand on her belly to feel the child move. Mortified at first, his embarrassment gave way to wonder as something hard and slippery skittered fleetingly against his palm. After that he often caught himself staring at her belly, watching for that mysterious play of movement. That was Korin’s child, and his own kin.