Shadow of the Father (48 page)

“I can handle—”

“Will you stop trying to be so self-sacrificing?” She glared at him. “You’ve already as much as said you’d give him up to do your duty. You’ve proven you’ll be a better lord than I or—or anyone else ever would. So allow yourself a little happiness. Didn’t you say that the mice are your people too?”

“Yes, but—”

“Do males ever get easier to understand?” She leaned around him to ask Lady Dewanne that question.

“No more than we do, dear,” the older vixen said. She returned her attention to Yilon.

“It’s simple. Either you get me and him, or you get neither of us.”

Yilon felt his insides thaw. For the first time, he looked at Dinah as a companion, and the thought made him smile. “That’s the condition, eh?”

She put a finger to her muzzle. “And that you take me to Divalia.”

Yilon smiled. He leaned forward to touch his nose to hers. “Will you be my bodyguard when he’s not around?”

“We’ll share that duty, I guess.” She laughed. “I can’t believe how hard it is to convince you to take something you want.”

“I suppose I’m not used to having that.” He felt too tired to argue about duty and responsibility.

She bumped his muzzle. “Is that a yes?”

He nodded and took her paws in his. “Yes. Thank you.”

Their muzzles hovered near each other’s, and then Dinah turned away, ears flicking. “Maybe we should save that for another time.”

Relieved, Yilon squeezed her paws lightly and let them go. They grinned at each other and then saw Lady Dewanne wiping her eyes with a finger, delicately. Both mice were watching them, too, Sinch over Incic’s arms, Valix with her arms folded. When she saw the foxes looking at her, she snorted. “How romantic.”

“
You’re
married,” Sinch said, but then his voice cracked. Yilon saw the tears streaking his muzzle and the smile he couldn’t hide.

“Well, what’s that got to do with anything?” Valix twisted a band on her wrist. “Anyway, I just told ya that to keep you from tryin’ anything. Never been married.”

“What about Balinni?” Sinch said, and then Incic turned to the rest of the room.

“What did I say?” he snapped. “Upsetting a patient. What are you all talking about? Death? Plague? Family?”

“Family,” Valix said, rather cheekily. “Balinni’s my father.”

“Out!” Incic shooed the foxes out. “And you,” he said to Valix, “quiet, quiet, quiet.” As they crowded out the door, Yilon raised a paw, and Sinch returned the gesture, both of them smiling hugely. He was still smiling even as he bumped into Dinah in the waiting room. She’d stopped unexpectedly to confront Lady Dewanne. “It’s isolated here,” she said, drawing the heavy curtain along the doorway leading to the interior.

“Indeed,” Lady Dewanne said in her high voice. “And now that we have privacy and opportunity, I find… that what I had to say does not need to be heard.”

Dinah’s brow furrowed. “About your family?”

Lady Dewanne paced the length of one of the benches and then turned back. “I want to give you my blessing. Velkan is a good governor and you can trust him. But you will need to spend some time here in order to make the changes you wish. It will be a hard road.” She paused and waved a paw. “Too much time spent with Incic. My thoughts are scattered.”

“Just say it.” Dinah flicked her ears, impatient.

Lady Dewanne smiled. “The people of this land deserve better than I was able to give them. I feel confident that you will give them what they deserve. You, your alliance with your father and brother will be important, both for yourself and for Dewanne.” She hesitated, and then smiled. “Having met you, I see that your father was right.”

“About what?” Dinah asked.

Lady Dewanne walked to the door and held aside the curtain. “I have one more matter to attend to tonight. Dinah, I will perhaps see you at breakfast tomorrow. Good night.”

 
Dinah didn’t move as the curtain fell behind the elder vixen. “What was your father right about?”

Yilon glanced back toward the inside of the house. He’d forgotten about his father’s letter. “Something he said a couple months ago. A long story. Speaking of which… my mother wanted me to look in on her before it became too late. You don’t think it is, do you?”

“I don’t think it’s ever too late.” Dinah smiled. She walked over to the curtain and held it aside. “You can tell me the story on the way.”

So on the way back, as they walked slowly through the streets, he told her about his mother’s exile to Vinton, how his father had not known him until his fourteenth birthday, how he had not been designated the heir until two months ago. “Your father just sent your mother away so he could be with Streak?”

Yilon shrugged. “If we’re to be married, we’ll stay together. If I have Sinch, you’ll have to find someone in Divalia.”

She smiled. “Is that an order?”

“If I’m not allowed to be miserable,” he said, and she bumped her shoulder against his. She laughed, and after a moment, he smiled too.

“It’s only sex, after all.” She looked sideways at him. “Is it really that important?”

He thought again about Sinch. “If you do it right,” he said.

They walked on under the moon. As they reached the plaza, they heard the cheers and songs of revelers still celebrating. The square was just as busy as it had been when they’d left, the wine still flowing. Impromptu dances had broken out. “My Lord, my Lady!” Drunken foxes waved as they went by.

“My Lord, just one dance?” A vixen approached him. Her breath reeked of wine, and her ears were comically askew. She was smiling broadly.

“I have to get back,” Yilon said, but Dinah laid a paw on his arm.

“One dance,” she said. “I’ll go ahead and tell them you’re coming.”

He would have hesitated longer, but the vixen grabbed his arm and whirled him into the plaza. The music never seemed to stop or pause, so he just joined in, hopping from one foot to the other, holding on to the vixen. She laughed and jumped back and forth with him, not so much a dance as a romp. “We’re just all so happy,” she bubbled, and hiccupped.

He danced with his vixen for a few moments, but then had to disengage, as the music kept on and on, the foxes with the fiddles and horns apparently tireless. She leaned forward to rub muzzles as he slowed down. “Thank you for the dance, my Lord,” she said. “I’ll not forget.”

Her glistening eyes told him she truly wouldn’t. “You’re welcome,” he said, and returned her smile. When he turned around, Dinah was still there.

“It looked like fun,” she said. “Just a little longer.” And she took his paws and swept him back out into the plaza.

What a thing, he thought, as the foxes around them cheered at their dance together. All this merriment, all this hope, all for him. He could easily have felt elevated or special, but more than anything, he felt the weight of responsibility, the powerful urge to protect the foxes in the plaza, to keep them safe and happy and joyful for as long as he could. But he wouldn’t be alone. He smiled down at Dinah, guiding her back to the castle.

“It’s a bigger celebration than Rekindling,” she said, panting a bit. “I’d hope this one doesn’t happen as often.” Yilon held the door for her to enter the great hall. The footservants were still cleaning up after the crowd, going about their jobs quietly and efficiently. But even they smiled as Yilon passed, perking their ears. He nodded and returned their smiles as he and Dinah mounted the stairs.

Dinah rubbed her whiskers. “I do wonder what she’d been going to say. About her family. I wonder if it was about her not having cubs. I could swear she had one that died, but in the church, she said…”

“She was afraid of Dewry. That doesn’t make sense, either. They could have had the cub here while he was in Divalia.”

Dinah nodded. “Or put out the rumor that he’d died. But she told you she was barren. Maybe she pretended to have a cub so Lord Dewanne wouldn’t cast her aside?” She shook her head. “I don’t know how she could do that, though.”

Yilon sighed. “It’s done. I suppose it isn’t important anymore.”

The west side of the second floor held four small guest rooms and the stair to the third floor, where Lady Dewanne had apparently already retired to her suite. Yilon’s mother had been sent to the Garden Room, the first one on the right. He approached the door and heard the murmur of two voices in side.

He hesitated, then knocked, and heard his mother’s voice say, “Come in.”

“I’ll leave you here,” Dinah said. “Good night.”

Yilon clasped her paws. “You’re staying here?”

She shook her head. “I’m going back to the Heights.”

“You should stay,” he said. “I wouldn’t want anything to happen.”

She smiled. “I’ll be safe.”

“You don’t have your sling,” he pointed out.

She winked. “You don’t know me very well yet, do you?”

He laughed. “If you really won’t stay, at least take one of the soldiers at the gate to walk you home.” She gathered her breath to protest, so he cut her off quickly. “Remember, all those residents in the plaza, and out there in the city, they’re depending on you now. You have to be safe.”

“Oh, very well.” She considered him, and then leaned forward to tap her nose to his. “Good night, Lord Dewanne.”

He watched her walk toward the stairs, and then opened the door, with a little wag to his tail.

 
His mother and father sat together on the bed, smiles lighting up their muzzles as he walked in and closed the door behind him. They were sitting very close; they might have been holding paws before he walked in. To his surprise, Lady Dewanne sat in one of the chairs near the bed, sitting up straight. “We’re so proud of you,” his mother said.

“Not just for today,” his father added. “For the way you’ve handled yourself the past few days.”

“From what we’ve heard.” They looked at Lady Dewanne.

She nodded. “You both have much to be proud of.”

His mother and father looked at each other. “We raised him as best we could,” Ilyana said softly.

Yilon took the other chair, his eyes on Lady Dewanne. She was watching him in turn, the corners of her mouth curved very slightly upright. “He is his mother’s son, and his father’s.”

They both looked at him then, and he saw that she’d told them. He nodded. “She knew. And… Maxon did, too.” He thought of Maxon’s cry, “He
is
your brother,” in the church, and winced inwardly. Despite his loyalty to the old lord, he’d lied to save someone else’s son. For the benefit of Dewanne. Yilon said a quick, silent prayer to Canis for the steward.

“We came down to see you when you were two years old,” Lady Dewanne said. “You wouldn’t remember, of course. You,” she turned to Volle and Ilyana, “were so proud, and you had fairly drenched him in rosewater. I remember thinking it odd. Sheffin, bless him, didn’t. So I spent a short time among Yilon’s private things in his bedroom here, and that was enough to confirm my suspicion. It also raised some interesting questions about mice, which have since been answered.”

Yilon flicked his suddenly-warm ears. His parents turned to each other, and then Volle began to rise. “Delia—”

“Sit,” she said. Had I intended to take some sort of action, I would not have waited until after the Confirmation. No, I just find it extraordinary and beautiful, that this web of lies is untangled into truth with such a simple stroke. After all our pretense and preparation, it turns out that Yilon is exactly what he says he is. He is your son.”

Volle sat back, slowly. Yilon brought his ears up. “Does anyone else know?”

She shook her head. “I have not told anyone. Maxon…” She paused, while her eyes drifted to stare at something not in the room. “It would not be in his nature to reveal that secret.”

“Why are you telling us now?” Ilyana said, softly.

Lady Dewanne turned to her and smiled. “To reassure you that your secret is safe. And to congratulate you on your devotion. I did not know of any way to end a pregnancy save for wormwood, and that would prevent another until the following season. Incic tells me it is possible with certain herbs, but that it is a painful and unpleasant process. To have gone through that simply to ensure that your cub would have one father and not another shows far more strength than I possess.” She bowed.

Ilyana looked at him, and then up at Lady Dewanne. “Thank you.”

“And you,” she said to Volle, “you stood by your wife, even though she allowed another into her bed.”

He took Ilyana’s paw, and nodded. “Would you not have done the same for Sheffin?”

“I would have done anything for him.” Her muzzle assumed that faraway expression again. “He protected me his whole life, forgave me everything. Every room in this castle holds memories of him. I will be glad to be gone, tomorrow. But before I go…”

Yilon had not thought about that, that his mother had loved his father enough to double-cross Lord Dewanne so that the cub would be his. That his father had forgiven a serious transgression to remain with his mother. He rubbed his fingers together, staring down at his paws, thinking about Maxon’s story, how Kayley had refused to end her pregnancy. Lord Dewanne’s mistakes, now both erased by him and others, as cleanly as with…