Prince of the Blood (11 page)

He attempted to gather his wits about him as he fought down the aching pain inside. “What happened? Over there …” He indicated the reed-filled pool.

“Your thoughts startled me, and I reacted without reason. I can defend myself, as you discovered.”

James raised a hand to his head, a memory of pain there. “Yes,” was all he could say.

She reached out and touched his cheek softly. “I am sorry. It was not something I would have done knowingly. I can cause much harm to the mind. It is one of the ways my talents could be abused.”

James found the touch of her hand both reassuring and disturbing. A fearful thrill ran from his chest to his groin. Softly he asked, “Who are you?”

She smiled and pain and fear fled from James. “I am Gamina. I am Pug and Katala’s daughter.” Then she leaned forward and softly kissed his lips. “I am who you have been seeking, and you are who I have sought.”

James felt hot desire rise up within, but a giddy fearfulness came with it. No stranger to a woman’s embrace, he suddenly felt a child with his first stolen moment of love.
Words he had never thought to hear himself utter came unbidden. “I am frightened,” he whispered.

“Don’t be,” she whispered back.

Holding him close, she spoke to his mind.
When I stunned you, you fell back into the water. Had I not pulled you out, you would have drowned. As I revived you, your mind was open to me, and mine to you. Had you the ability, you would know me as well as I know you, my Jimmy
.

James’s own voice sounded small and wounded in his ears as he spoke. “How can it …?”

“It is,” she answered. Then she sat back, rubbing salt tears from his face. “Come, let me show you.” Like a baby, he let himself be gathered to her breast, and as her hands caressed his head and shoulders, her voice spoke into his mind.
You will never be alone again
.

Borric and Erland sat beside each other, enjoying the array of foods for the morning meal. Besides the usual Kingdom fare, a large number of Keshian delicacies also were provided. Pug’s family as well as Kulgan and Meecham dined with the guests. Two places were empty, next to Katala and Locklear.

Borric chewed a mouthful of fine cheese and wine, while Erland said, “Cousin Pug, how many people live here now?”

Pug picked lightly at his plate, not eating much. He smiled at his wife and said, “Katala attends the daily business of governing this community.”

Katala said, “We number nearly a thousand families, both here and on the shore. Here, upon the island—” Her words fell away. All at the table turned to see the cause of Katala’s truncated speech.

The door at the end of the hall had opened and James entered, escorting a young woman dressed in a simple
lavender dress cinched about the waist with a rainbow-colored belt.

Borric, Erland, and Locklear rose, as the girl hurried to Pug and kissed him upon the cheek. Then she looked into Katala’s eyes for a long moment, as if speaking, though no words were exchanged. The older woman’s eyes began to brim with tears as a smile spread across her face.

Pug turned to look at James, expectantly.

Locklear said, “James—”

James cleared his throat, and in a self-conscious tone of voice, like a schoolboy reciting before his master, said, “Lord Pug, I—I have the honor to ask permission … to ask for the hand of your daughter in marriage.”

Borric’s and Erland’s eyes widened in disbelief, then both looked at Locklear. James’s lifelong companion since coming to the palace sat down heavily with a stunned expression equal to the twins’ own. Shaking his head, all he could say was, “Sink me!”

B
ORRIC SHOOK HIS HEAD
.

Erland asked, “What’s bothering you?”

Borric said, “What?”

“You’ve been shaking your head ‘no’ as you’ve been walking for the last couple of minutes. You’re arguing with yourself again.”

Borric made a sound between a sigh and a grunt. “I’m worried about Uncle Jimmy.”

Erland turned slightly as he picked up the pace so he could examine his brother’s face while they walked. The evening sky was turning inky, as the middle moon hadn’t risen yet. But the balmy evening promised romance for those inclined and able to find willing partners. It was upon such a search the twins were now embarking. As they headed to where the ferry barge was tied, Erland said, “It’s not usual for you to concern yourself with others, let alone someone as capable as Uncle Jimmy.”

“That’s why I’m worried,” said Borric, halting to emphasize the point. He poked his finger on Erland’s chest. “ ‘There’s nothing dumber in the world than a man with an erection,’ he used to tell us, right?”

Erland laughed and nodded. “Except Uncle Locky. It just makes him that much more cunning.”

“Only when it comes to finding a warm place to put his great sword. Otherwise, he’s just as stupid as the rest of us.”

“The rest of us except Uncle Jimmy.”

“Right,” agreed Borric. “My point exactly. He’s had his share, we both know that. But he’s always kept them at a distance and never made stupid promises. It’s like … he never found something he was looking for. Now he meets this woman and …” He paused, at a loss for words.

“Like magic.”

“Exactly!” said Borric. “And what better place to find magic than an island of magicians?”

Erland put a restraining hand on Borric as his brother started to walk again. “You think this is some sort of spell? An enchantment?”

“Ah, a very special enchantment,” said a gravelly voice from the dark.

Both brothers turned to see a stout figure sitting upon a tree stump not ten feet away. Because the man had been motionless, he had remained unseen in the gloom until he spoke. Coming closer, the young Princes saw the speaker was the old magician, Kulgan.

“What do you mean?” asked Borric, as if his suspicions had been confirmed.

Kulgan laughed. He stuck out his hand for a moment, then waved it impatiently. “Well, just don’t stand there. Give an old man some help. My knees are older than creation!”

Erland assisted the old magician as Kulgan pulled himself upright, one hand in Erland’s, the other on a large wooden staff. The magician continued, “I’ll walk with you to the ferry landing. I assume you’re going across to find some trouble. Boys your age always are interested in trouble.”

“The enchantment?” said Borric impatiently.

The old man laughed. “You know, when your grandfather Borric was a little older than you, he was just as unwilling to wait. When he wanted an answer, he wanted it right now, by damn. It took a lot of years for him to get over that. Your father has the same flaw, but he hides it better. Arutha always was among the best I’ve known for recognizing limits.”

Erland said, “He has that knack, except when it comes to us.”

Kulgan fixed both brothers with a baleful gaze. “Limits? What do you spoiled children know of limits? Oh, maybe you’ve had to use your swords now and again, but limits?” He halted for a moment and leaned upon the staff. Tapping his head with one finger, he said, “This. Your brain. When you bring all your faculties to bear on a problem, try every conceivable solution in your mind, and still have no solution, then you’ll understand what limits I’m talking about.”

“Father always said you were one of his most demanding teachers,” said Erland with a grin.

“Ha!” snorted Kulgan. “Now Father Tully, there was an exacting taskmaster.” His eyes looked off in the distance, reflecting for a moment, then he continued, “It’s a pity you never knew him. You were babies when he died. Tragic loss. One of the finest minds I’ve ever known … even if he was a priest,” he added, unable to resist the jab at his old debating partner, and feeling sadness at the lack of a rejoinder.

Borric said, “Were you joking about the enchantment on Jimmy?”

Kulgan said, “You are very young, my Prince. You don’t know half of everything yet. Or a half of a half. Or even half of that,” he added with a more than playful whack with his staff to Borric’s leg for emphasis.

“Ow,” Borric said, reflexively dancing back.

As Erland began to laugh, Kulgan gave him a bark on the shins as well, saying, “Just to keep things even.”

As both brothers made a show of being in pain, Kulgan said, “Now pay attention. I’m old and I don’t have the time to waste repeating myself.”

When the twins ceased their little dances of distress, Kulgan said, “The sort of enchantment I am speaking of is nothing you can teach. It’s not of the sort of magic men can employ at whim. It’s a magic the gods have given to only a few lucky men and women. It’s the magic of a love so real and profound that nothing can change you back once you’ve known it.” His eyes again sought distant horizons as he said, “I’m so old I have to work to remember last night’s dreams. Yet there are times boyhood recollections come to me as if they were but moments ago.” He looked at Borric, as if searching for something familiar in his young face. After a quiet moment, he said, “Your grandfather was a passionate man, and your uncle is, as well. So’s your father, though you’d not know it to look at him—he was trapped by your mother almost from the moment they met, though he was too thick to know it. He was incredibly fortunate that he fell in love with a woman to whom marriage was advantageous to the nation. If not for that, your mother might have been a minor Princess from Roldem or the daughter of some eastern Duke.

“Your aunt Carline was set upon marrying your uncle Laurie within days of meeting him. And do you know what a fuss that caused? She was the King’s sister, and it could have been vital for Lyam to marry her off to a Prince of Kesh or Roldem, or the Duke of Olasko, or an eastern noble to strengthen his rule, but she would have none of it. She made him name a commoner Duke of Salador so she could marry nobility, but your aunt would have run off with him had he stayed a lowly minstrel.” He chuckled. “Fortunately for everyone, your uncle Laurie turned out to be a competent enough ruler.

“The point is that you will feel needs as you get older, needs that carousing through alehouses with netmenders’ daughters will not satisfy, no matter how rosy their cheeks, sweet their laughter, or soft their arms may be. And the bedsilks of nobility’s daughters will lose their luster as well.”

Both Borric and Erland exchanged glances, and Erland said, “That will be some time to come, I think.”

Kulgan silenced him with another smack to his shins. “Don’t interrupt. I don’t care if you are a Prince. I’ve whacked better men than you and of higher rank. Your uncle, the King, was a poor student and saw the flat of my hand more than once.” He sighed. “Now, where was I? Oh, yes, true love. You’ll find as you get older that passion fades, but the need for a true mate deepens. Your father found it, Carline found it, your uncle Martin found it. The King did not.”

Borric said, “He loves the Queen, I’m certain.”

“Oh, in his way, certainly. She’s a fine woman and I’ll not hear any man say otherwise, but there’s love and there’s what your young Baron James has discovered. He’s a changed man, no doubt about it. You watch and learn. If you’re fortunate, you might see what you will likely not know.”

Borric sighed and looked at the ground. “Because I am to be King?”

Kulgan nodded. “Precisely. You’re not as thick as I took you to be. You will marry for the good of the nation. Oh, you’ll have plenty of opportunity to satisfy itches with willing ladies of many ranks, no doubt. I know your uncle has given you at least a half dozen cousins born on the wrong side of the blanket. Several of them will no doubt be rising in the ranks of the nobility by the time it’s over with and done. But that’s not the same thing.

“The King is very fond of the Queen, and from what I hear, she is an able confidante and wise counselor, but she
is still no more than a friend. Your uncle has to live every day of his life without that one special thing that your father, your aunt, and your uncle Martin were blessed with.

“James has found that person whom the gods placed here to make his life complete. Don’t doubt for a moment that it was fated, and don’t think for a moment that he was taken unawares. What seems to you to be a hasty act of rash thoughtlessness is in fact a recognition of something so profound that only one who has known it can understand. The mind and logic have nothing to do with this; it is a thing of the heart and intuition. So, do you understand now?”

“We should let him alone?” said Erland.

“Precisely,” said Kulgan, pleased with himself. He smiled as he studied the Princes for a moment. “You know, you two are nowhere near the stupid pair of street thugs you resemble. Blood will tell after all, I guess. Now, you’ll most likely forget everything I’ve told you five minutes after you find an alehouse with a card game and a couple of amply endowed servingwomen looking to snag a rich gift from a young noble.

“But with luck, at some critical time in your life, you will recall what I’ve said. It will help you make choices you must make, both of you, for the good of your nation.”

Borric shrugged. “It seems that the last few weeks have been dedicated to constantly reminding us of our duty.”