Royal Airs (50 page)

“And you
knew
this? All this time?” Steff demanded. “She told you about it when you were growing up?”

Rafe shook his head. “I just found out about the Berringey connection a couple of ninedays ago. I just found out about Malinqua—yesterday.”

“You should have told me.”

“I found out because someone from Berringey spotted me on the streets and tried to kill me,” Rafe said soberly. “Darien Serlast decided that the fewer people who knew the truth, the safer I’d be. But that’s why he’s had me followed by guards all this time.”

Josetta nodded. “Darien thinks mercenaries recognized Rafe because of the markings on his ear. When they weren’t able to kill him, they did the next best thing—they told Ghyaneth he was still alive. He’s been hunting Rafe ever since.”

“It looks like he’s going to continue to hunt me,” Rafe said.

Josetta kept her voice even. “Maybe. But Filomara came to Welce because she’s focused on the succession in Malinqua. She was hoping to find a royal bride to take back to one of her nephews, since all of her direct descendants are dead. Or so she thought. Now that she knows you’re alive—she’s going to want to take
you
back instead.”

“I’m not going to Malinqua,” Rafe said instantly.

“Why not?” Corene asked. “Maybe you’d like it.”

“Because I don’t know anything about Malinqua! Because the people are strange to me and the customs are strange to me and everyone would be watching me, wondering if I was really who I pretended to be—”

“There’s your ear,” Corene pointed out.

“Sure. I bet I could cut your ear to look just this way.”

“I do wonder if Filomara will think you’re an imposter,” Josetta agreed. “But if she accepts you as her grandson, she might be able to do something we haven’t managed here in Welce. She might be able to keep you safe from Ghyaneth’s revenge.”

Rafe narrowed his gaze and watched her a moment. “Not enough of an inducement,” he said at last. “I don’t want to leave Welce.”

“You mean you don’t want to leave Josetta,” Corene said, as always speaking straight out loud the things other people could hardly admit to thinking. “But that’s stupid. Once you’re
king
, you’ll find all sorts of women you can marry, and I’m sure you’ll like them just as much as you like Josetta.”

“As you can see, my sister has a romantic heart,” Josetta said.

Steff spoke up. “Why not take Josetta with you? If the empress is looking for an alliance with Welce, you can marry her, and then everybody’s happy.”

Because Darien thinks I’m destined to be the next queen of Welce,
Josetta thought. Instead of saying that, she turned her gaze on Corene. “Because there’s another princess who’s already volunteered to go to Malinqua.”

Corene looked defensive, stubborn, and anxious, all at once. “Well, I don’t see why I shouldn’t,” she said. “I think it would be exciting. I’m tired of boring old Welce.”

Josetta didn’t have Corene’s ability to speak a devastating truth with ease. So she kept her voice gentle. “You think there isn’t a place for you in Chialto because your mother is having another child,” she said. “But there are so many people here who wouldn’t want you to go. Darien. Zoe. Me.”

Corene hunched her shoulders. “Everybody was perfectly fine with the idea of me going to Soeche-Tas five years ago, and Malinqua sounds like a much better place.”

“Everyone was
not
fine with that idea!” Josetta exclaimed. “In fact, I think Zoe reacted pretty drastically to the announcement.”

Corene produced a faint grin. “So maybe she’ll flood the city again if I say I’m leaving with Filomara.”

Steff spoke up in a reasonable voice. “Well, if Corene wants to go and Rafe ought to go and the empress is looking for a bride for her heir, wouldn’t the solution be for Corene to marry Rafe?”

“No!” everyone else in the room answered at once. They all looked at each other and laughed.

Then Rafe spoke up more forcefully. “No. I’m not going to Malinqua. I’ve finally found the life here that I want to live, and I’m not giving it up.”

“I’d go,” Steff said enviously. “I’ve always wanted to see the rest of the world. After all those years on my father’s farm—” His words trailed off as they stared at him. “What?”

“You
can
go, of course, don’t you realize that?” Josetta said. “You’re Filomara’s grandson, too. You’re her other direct heir.”

 • • • 

N
aturally, Darien had not forgotten for a second that Steff was related to the empress of Malinqua; he must have realized it the moment he met the boy. Josetta wondered just how he had slipped that information into his grand quarrel with Filomara and what her reaction had been. But it was clear that she had somehow learned of the connection, because before dinner had been announced, she sent a note to Rafe’s room, asking him and Steff to meet her within the hour.

Since Rafe’s injuries would make it difficult for him to navigate the long corridors of the palace, Filomara had received Darien’s permission to use his study in the men’s wing. Steff and Josetta practically carried Rafe there, ignoring his muttered curses and grunts of pain. They had just enough time to situate him in a comfortable chair before Filomara strode in.

She was dressed in her usual drab colors, but her stern face held a look of unwonted excitement. She came halfway into the room and then stood stock-still, her gaze flicking between the two brothers. Josetta saw her hands tighten as if to curb traitorous yearning; she didn’t offer either one an embrace.

“In many ways, Malinqua is much more advanced than Welce,” were her opening words. “We have techniques to test a man’s blood and determine if he is, in fact, who he claims to be. So if you are not my daughter’s sons, you will be found out quickly enough. I advise you to stop pretending now.”

Steff looked indignant, but Rafe nodded. “My mother’s name was Subriella, though my stepfather always called her Subi,” he said. “I know she was Steff’s mother because I was there when he was born, and I truly believe I am her son as well. Was she
your
daughter? I don’t know. It seems to be true, though the story is almost too fantastical to credit.”

Filomara seemed to relax at this calm rejoinder. “Then you are willing to come to Malinqua to be tested?” she said gruffly.

“
I
am,” Steff replied.

“I would happily submit to testing,” Rafe said, “but I am not interested in leaving Welce.”

She gave him a sharp look, then cut her eyes toward Josetta, who had prudently taken a poorly lit seat in the back of the room. She had offered to leave, but Rafe had begged her to stay and, well, she was dying of curiosity to see how this interview would go.

“I think you should take a look at the alternate version of your future before you decide you have already found the life you want,” the empress said.

“I’ve already abandoned one possible future because I didn’t like what lay before me,” Rafe said. “I’m content with the one that’s finally moved into view.”

“Come anyway,” Filomara said. “Come see Malinqua. There is a plain outside the royal city where the grass grows as purple as plums. There is a mountain so tall that no one has ever seen the top of the peak, because it is always hidden in clouds. The royal palace is twice the size of the one you have in Chialto. All of it could belong to you.”

“I think you have other heirs who have been brought up to believe it could all be theirs,” Rafe answered. “My time in Malinqua might be very short.”

Filomara’s eyes glinted. “I am not as ruthless as your Berringese cousin, but I can still control the members of my court. You will not be in danger.”

“I am still reluctant,” he said.

Filomara turned all the considerable weight of her attention to Steff. “And you?” she said. “Are you also reluctant to cross the ocean and explore your heritage?”

“No,” he said eagerly. “I want to come. If you’ll have me.”

She nodded. “Of course I’ll have you—Steff? There must be more to your name than that.”

“Steffanolo Kordan Bors Adova. But no one ever calls me that.”

“That’s your father’s name? Adova?” When he nodded, she prompted, “What’s he like? Not a royal man, I take it?”

“No. He’s very plain,” Steff answered. “He says what he thinks. He works hard and believes everyone else should work hard and he doesn’t have much imagination, but you can trust him. He’s all torz, but you’d think he was hunti, he’s so strong. He’d never fail you.”

Josetta heard the catch in his voice and thought this might be the first time Steff had tried to describe his father to someone who didn’t know him—the first time he truly realized what a good man his father was. And the first time he realized that journeying to Malinqua would mean leaving his father behind, maybe forever.

She judged by Filomara’s slight smile that the empress was thinking something similar. “He sounds like someone I would like and respect,” said the empress. “I am very plain myself.”

“You could meet him,” Steff said doubtfully.

Filomara actually laughed. “I intend to meet him,” she said. “You and I shall visit him before we set sail for Malinqua. With, I hope, your brother alongside us.”

Everyone in the room looked at Rafe. He shook his head. “I told you. I am happy where I am.”

Filomara turned her gaze on Josetta. “Perhaps if you offered to accompany him, he would change his mind,” she said. “And who knows? You might find Malinqua more to your taste than you expect.”

“The regent needs me to stay, and I have promised him I would,” Josetta replied. “But I agree with you. I think Rafe should visit Malinqua before he makes any decisions.”

Rafe’s head whipped in her direction. “You never said that! And it doesn’t make sense.”

Josetta kept her eyes on Filomara’s face. “I’ll do my best to persuade him. You and Steff visit his father. By the time you’ve returned, Rafe will be ready to go.”

 • • • 

T
he complicated work of convincing Rafe to leave her behind had to be put on hold, however, because the very next morning, Josetta was swept back up in her
own
life. Taro had arrived in Chialto, and all the primes had been called to the palace to discuss their own succession issues, which appeared to be even more tangled than those in Malinqua or Berringey.

“I am
tired
of sitting in rooms and listening to people argue about who belongs on what throne where,” Corene complained to Josetta as they made their way to Elidon’s quarters shortly after breakfast. Taro had been accompanied by a dozen companions, although Romelle, Natalie, and Mally were not among them. Nonetheless, Darien had insisted that the other two princesses be on hand for the discussion.

“So am I,” Josetta answered with a sigh. “As soon as we can, let’s slip off and go somewhere no one can find us.”

“The river flats,” Corene said instantly.

“Zoe could find us there in five minutes!”

“Not if we don’t put our feet in the water.”

“And we have to bring Foley.”

“Well, of course we’ll bring Foley,” Corene said. “But nobody else.”

“All right, then. As soon as we can.”

Elidon’s lovely yellow-and-white room didn’t seem sturdy enough to accommodate all the strong personalities gathered inside for the meeting. Taro alone seemed powerful enough to shove the walls outward with his bare hands, bringing down the whole ceiling, and he looked irritable enough to try it.

“I hope you had a pleasant trip,” Nelson greeted him as they settled around the table that was the centerpiece of the main room. Josetta had spent countless hours at that very table while the queens bickered and sparred. She couldn’t imagine this meeting would be much more cordial.

“No, I didn’t have a pleasant trip,” Taro snapped, his rumbling voice threaded with annoyance. “How many times am I going to be summoned to the city before the quintile is up? Can’t we just settle on someone once and for all and be done with these games?”

“You have been summoned to Chialto to do honor to the empress of Malinqua, but we may as well discuss our own issues while we are all present,” Darien said, casually taking his seat. Elidon always sat at the head of the table, and Darien had positioned himself at the foot. Staking out his position of power. “And I would like to point out that securing the succession of the kingdom is hardly a game.”

Josetta would have preferred one of the chairs by the window overlooking the butterfly garden, but she took a place at the middle of the table, Corene beside her. Zoe dropped down in the seat on her other side, and Josetta instantly felt more optimistic. Nothing
too
bad could happen to her as long as Zoe was nearby.

“No, but it’s very tedious,” Kayle replied earnestly. “I agree with Taro. Let’s just settle it so we can get back to more important things.”

“And I agree with Darien!” Nelson cut in. “What could be
more important
than the fate of the kingdom?”

“Let us first review the facts that have come to light,” Elidon said. “Odelia, the only princess who is Vernon’s daughter by blood, has a condition that makes her unsuitable to rule. We must look about us for alternatives.”

“Josetta is the eldest. Name her and let’s be done with this,” Kayle said.

Mirti frowned him down. “And is that how the Dochenzas choose the next elay prime—in five minutes—because that son or daughter happens to be the
eldest
?” she demanded.

Even Kayle looked a little chastised. “No,” he admitted. “It is a very delicate process.”

“Then naming the next ruler of the country should be approached with equal care,” she said.

“If there are three princesses, there are three choices,” Darien began, but Nelson cut him off.

“We can cast a wider net than that,” said the sweela prime. “And if our goal is to choose an heir who is related to Vernon by blood, we must.”

Darien gave him a long and level look. “And is that our goal?” he said in a mild voice.

Nelson showed surprise, an emotion Josetta had to assume was false. “Isn’t it? Isn’t that why we were all so pleased, once Odelia was born, to find that she had been sired by Vernon when all the other princesses had not?”