Out of the Faold (Whilst Old Legends Fade Synchronicles) (13 page)

Kel jumped up during a song with a faster tempo, pushed a table out of the way and grabbed Pearl’s hand, pulling her to dance. He twirled her around the room then spun her off to
Roben
. Pat and Krisa got up to try their turn at it as Kel motioned
Karl to
join him. Amias’ back straightened briefly at the joy she showed at being asked to dance. She easily swung around the room in Kel’s arms, laughing in a way he’d never seen before.
He could have drilled holes into Kel’s back with the fierceness in his eyes if Glory hadn’t
bounced up to him for his turn.

Kel was a good man, he thought to himself as he twirled Glory and held her small hands as they swept across the room. He had no family obligations, no betrothed nor anything keeping him from being there for
Karl
and the girls for years to come. He would make a good husband to her. He was honest and hard w
orking.

Glory twirled a little too far and fell against Kel, causing a collision between the two cou
ples. She wasn’t hurt at all. She
demanded she now dance with Kel, who traded Karl to Amias. He took her hands stiffly in his and they spun more carefully around the room.

“The girls are so happy,” she told him
looking at each as they turned.

“I’ve never seen you with such a sparkle in your eye,” he said, looking into her face. “Do they teach all Brothers to dance like this?”

“I had to learn in secret,” she told him, pulling a bit closer. “Though I probably look a lot less clumsy in a dress than in grey robes.”

A smile flicked the corner of his mouth and she laughed, reaching up to twirl the hair touching his collar around a finger. He saw that look in her eye again, one of longing as she studied him. He pulled away, quickly stopping their dance.

As he moved away her smile turned to a concer
ned frown and then he was gone.

Amias delayed their departure
. Karl was anxious to get home and told him so but he seemed not to listen or care. He had changed, become more distant and she didn’t know why. He was fine with the girls,
but became indifferent to her.

Two days and nights passed. On the first night, after everyone had settled in and were fast asleep, the storm resumed but further north. It had passed them, to their relief. They would not have to endure that again.
At dusk o
n the second night Karl
stopped to talk
to Horse at the paddock
.
Amias stepped toward he
r from the side of the building, startling her. She didn’t know he was there. He’d been avoiding or ignoring her so much lately she thought he was angry.
He just stood silently beside her for a long while.

“I’ll take the girls and go in the morning,” Karl told him. “I don’t want to delay any longer. You don’t have to take us.”

“I’ll take you. But not tomorrow.”

“For someone in a rush
to get home and to get rid of us, you are certainly slow about it.”

“I don’t want…” he started but she turned away, not wanting to hear what he had to say. “Please, listen to me.”

She turned back to him. “Yes?”

“I don’t want to be rid of you. The girls. It’s just complicated,” he told her. He watched her eyes as she looked at him. And there is was again. That expression. She wanted him as much as he wanted her. Did she realize it was not possible? Had
n’t
the gods told her he was never going to be hers?

“I am returning home to marry. I will take over my father’s lands and his position in the King’s court. The girls are in your hands when we reach your home. I will have to go.”

Karl watched him for a moment then turned on her heel and took two steps before his hand caught her shoulder. There was the shudder again.

His hand grasped her shoulder, a firm pressure holding her in place. Her breath caught as he moved close, pressing himself against her back. His mouth, his
rough unshaved
cheek and jaw
were
just a hair away from her neck. A tingle swept from her neck through her chest and into the deepest parts of her in anticipation of feeling his mouth on her skin. When it didn’t happen, when all he did was stand there breathing her in, she turned her ear toward him, as to question.

“I’m afraid my destiny is not the same as yours,” he whispered in a strained, gruff voice. “I have obligations elsewhere.” And he was gone.

Karl staggered.
Her heart broke in that instant.
She remembered to breathe when Horse nudged her hand on the fence she was using to hold herself steady.
She hated herself for falling for this man. He was handsome, gentle with the girls, thoughtful…she fell onto her knees beside the fence. What
had she done?

The messenger returned the next morning. He’d delivered their notes to the post further to the east and forwarded hers to her parents’ estate. One was waiting for Doran from the King’s office. Amias held the sealed letter looking at it for long minutes
before he dared open it, fearing the worst news of his father. As he read, Karl noted that his shoulders relaxed, he re-read a few of the passages and then was able to breathe freely.

To everyone’s cheers he announced that his father lived. He was still ill and weak but expected to recover. Amias was needed home to fulfill his obligations in case of a downturn in his father’s condition. King’s orders. The letter was passed to Kel, who read it out loud until the words, “
I regrettably need to inform you of the passing of your betrothed…
” at which point he read in silence. Karl moved to his side and read it with him. Amias waved his hand as if that part
of the letter were unimportant.

…the passing of your betrothed, Ruby Cyntai Latha Marden. It is with mixed emotions, both sorrow and relief to inform you that her younger sister
you
will wed
in her stead. She will be prepared for your forthcoming nuptials within the fortnight, which will take place
at the home of your father when he has recovered.
An invitation for the King to the ceremony between yourself and Coral Estel Teres Marden is required. Please pass my best…”

The look of horror on Karl’s face was unmistakable. Amias felt shame and regret at hurting her so. He wanted to tell her how he felt about her but it would do well for no one. It would make everything worse. He would go marry this unknown girl, have his own children, grow old and die as he was destined to do. He hoped his wife was homely and stupid, so he could perform his duties, be done with her, not have to worry about attraction and the messy business of love. The las
t thing he wanted now was love.

Karl rushed from the room. She didn’t know what to feel.
Well, she knew what to feel but she was so full of every emotion imaginable she couldn’t select just one at the moment. When she got outside, away from everyone else, hidden in the latrine, away from the eyes of even the guards, tears welled up in her eyes. Great gulping breaths escaped her as she remembered reading the words on the paper
Coral Estel Teres Marden
. She hadn’t heard her
real name in many, many years.

Many years before…

The five Brothers sat together at the end of a long rectangular table. One had papers in front of him and the others watched the woman standing in front of them intently as they leaned their heads together in heated discuss
ion. She wasn’t offered a seat.

“This girl solidifies and guarantees a Sanctuary in that entire county,” one reminded them.

“Do you know how many we can reach on her father’s lands? We can’t pass this up,” another said.

“She’s already here, been here for six weeks, we can’t just stop the process,” a third commented.

“She cannot be a Sister,” the woman told them with a clear tone. She stood tall, taller than any of them, very slim in her yellow robes, and out of cloister she wore a yellow veil over her face. They had agreed to meet with her out of cloister only because she’d had word from the gods and it was urgent. “I’ve had a vision. She is not to be a Sister.”

The Brothers weren’t in the habit of questioning divine inspiration but one had to ask her, “Are you sure it wasn’t a dream? What exactly were you told?”

She gazed at him with eyes that stopped his heart for several seconds. He shouldn’t have asked, he thought to himself as it started beating again. That woman could chil
l the whiskers off a pig snout.

“My vision was from the gods. She is not to wear the yellow robes. I saw her in the grey robes of a brother.”

“A Brother?!” one demanded, spitting in protest. “She’s a girl!”

“She is not to live cloistered with us,” the woman insisted. “It’s been forbidden.”

Without a clear explanation the Brothers had a hard time coming to a decision about the girl. They
needed
her in the Faold. They needed her father’s support and the followers from his lands. The King
would allow a new
Sanctuary
in Dan
yc if they had both western
and eastern interests covered.

“We need her in the Faold,” one told her leaning forward to make his point. “It is without question. But she is a girl. She cannot be a Brother.”

“I understand it is unusual. I don’t doubt we should keep her close at hand. But she cannot be a Sister. The gods did not tell me why. But they were insistent. If you don’t agree I am to dispatch her to the underworld.”

All five of the Brothers gasped in horror at the thought a Sister would take the life of a child, even at the urging of the gods. Colour drained from the face of the Brother who then asked, “It is that dire?”

She nodded without delay.

The man signed a parchment in front of him then passed the quill to the brother to his side. They took turns signing the document, sealed it with wax and stamp. He let the woman look over the document. She turned and wal
ked out without a further word.

“Send for the girl,” Brother Chel
m said to no one in particular.

She was brought from the underground Sister quarters. The girl of ten years wore the drab yellow robes of the Sisterhood. Her long brown hair was tied back i
n a single plate down her back. H
er blue
eyes peered at them curiously.

“Coral Estel Teres Marden,” one said and she smiled. “The Faold brought you in to be a Sister. To learn and live as a Sister.”

“Yes, Brother.”

“We feel you are better suited to a life out of cloister, to join us in the Brotherhood.”

The little girl’s eyes opened wide in surprise. She had never seen a girl become a Brother before. She didn’t know it was possible. Oh, to get out of that dungeon. Anything was better than that dungeon.

Another Brother told her, “We will send word to your family. Go pack your things, return the robe to the Sisters and meet me in the boys’ quarters. You will now be known as Karl. We won’t be using your other name.”

“Yes, Brother!” she called, spinning to run out the door.

As Coral ran down the steps of the Sister quarters into the darkness below she wondered if the Sisters were angry with her. Just the day before she’d stumbled into a room where two of the tall ones, ‘the trees’ one of the other girls maliciously called them, huddled talking. She froze in place for only seconds, thinking she’d been so scared of the look she’d received that she couldn’t move. When she was able to move again she apologized four times before leaving. Yes, that must be why they didn’t want her here. But it didn’t matter. She was getting out of the dungeons and up into sunlight and real air. No more itchy y
ellow robes. It was a good day.

Kel watched her run out the door. He frowned, knowing the news was painful. She tried hard to hide feelings for his Captain, first as a Brother of the
Faold
, then as a woman with an important task set before her. Kel had always attempted to be friendly with her, maybe dampen the sting of what was to come, for he knew the fate of Doran.
She knew. She knew he had to return home and take care of his part of the world. Did she think that would change?

“Poor t
hing,” he whispered to himself.

“Why?” Krisa asked. He hadn’t noticed her beside him.

“Oh, just grown up stuff. She’s upset.”

“No, she isn’t,” Krisa told him, looking toward the door. “She’s happy.”

“Hap
py?” Captain Doran interrupted.

She nodded, walking away, “Very happy.”

Amias looked to Kel for an explanation
. He could only shrug in confusion. He grabbed the letter from Kel’s hand and stomped out the door to find her. All the anger he’d been feeling, all the rage at the gods for the trick they had played on him, all of it welled up in him at the thought she was
happy
he was off
to marry another girl when she’d
made it so clear she wanted him. Was she playing a game? Was she in love with Kel? Was this her relief at being rid of him now so she could go to Kel? Was she playing both of them?