The Dragon of Despair (18 page)

“Ancestors forfend,” the grand duchess muttered automatically.

“And being a confidant of the crown princess is dangerous,” Elise said with a sigh. “Certainly I have been on the knife’s edge more than once this last year. Better that Deste live a quiet life, away from court and its problems…”

And its influence
, she though maliciously, knowing that Rosene would be thinking something similar.

“…Than have her take similar risks.”

Elise’s polite defiance, for defiance it was no matter how agreeable her words sounded, seemed, oddly, to do her good in her grandmother’s eyes. The faded blue gaze that studied her now held a trace of respect.

“You’ve thought the matter through so quickly,” Grand Duchess Rosene said. “It must come from all your royal friends. Or maybe,” and the sneer was back in her voice, “you just want to be disinherited so you will be free to marry your common-born lover.”

Elise flushed. She had no doubt who Grandmother Rosene meant.

“I have no lover,” she said stiffly, “nor any serious suitors.”

“Then why is your cheek so red where it is not pale?”

The old woman chuckled, pleased now that she felt she had regained the upper hand.

“Very well, Granddaughter. So the king wishes to consult you about New Kelvin—wishes to consult you so urgently that he has summoned you to the capital when the mud is deep on the roads. Very well. Just remember what I have said, and don’t forget to visit your granny when you next come to the castle.”

Later, Elise remembered little of the polite conversation that had followed, only vague notions that she had answered questions about her parents’ health and about the prospects for the coming year. She sat alone in the parlor long after the grand duchess had taken her leave, but she was not thinking of the grand duchess. Instead she was thinking about a man she had not seen since the previous Wolf Moon, and whom she wondered when—and if—she would see again.

VII

THE NEXT DAY
, Elise kept her appointment with the king. She chose her attire carefully, knowing she would be observed by dozens of jealous pairs of eyes.

Let them think I’m going to a garden party, not a meeting,
she thought, having Steward Dayle lace her into a becoming gown of ivory cotton printed with tiny blue forget-me-nots with hearts of gold. Ribbons in matching shades were woven into her hair when Dayle put it up, and Elise threaded a cameo on a braided choker in the same three shades and fastened it around her throat.

The end result was becoming while remaining maidenly and perfectly proper. Elise nodded to her reflection in the mirror, well pleased.

Today she didn’t ride, but told Steward Dayle to have a light carriage readied. Traffic in the city streets was becoming so congested that there was talk of forbidding horses and vehicles during daylight hours. So far, nobles protesting their privilege had halted such a drastic move, but Elise felt it wasn’t far away.

And then what will we do?
she thought.
Entertain only at night? Certainly foot travel is out of the question. My slippers wouldn’t hold up to such abuse.

With such thoughts, Elise distracted herself from her budding nervousness at the coming meeting. She did such a good job that by the time she’d arrived at the castle she’d pretty much decided to suggest to her father that if such a law was passed the noble houses should donate a sum toward the founding of a new trade, one in people-drawn vehicles or perhaps fancy litters.

I’m certain that I saw something along that line in New Kelvin
, she thought.
And in the long run it would be less expensive than every House making up their own litter. The operators could be part of the guild that deals with livery stables and carters. Derian Carter would be just the person to consult.

The sound of the castle gates opening to admit her carriage roused Elise from her thoughts. She straightened, resisted an impulse to pull a mirror from her small handbag, and concentrated instead on appearing more confident than she felt.

Why am I so nervous?
Elise scolded herself.
I’ve been here hundreds, if not thousands of times. I know Great Uncle Tedric well. He has always been kind to me. Queen Elexa is far sweeter than Grandmother Rosene.

But such assurances did no good. Elise knew why she was nervous. All those other times she had been here as a child. This was her first attendance upon the king as an adult, her presence desired for herself and what she could offer rather than out of kindness to her parents or respect due to her birth.

And what if I disappoint?

On that terrifying note, Elise let herself be handed down from the carriage. Then she politely asked the coachman to wait for her—a formality, for he certainly would have done so in any case—and made her way into the central keep.

The interior of the castle was cool, almost chilly after the warmth of the sunshine without, for the weather had made one of those rapid springtime transformations, as if apologizing for the rain that had plagued Elise during her days of travel.

Elise shivered and wished she had brought a shawl. The room to which she was taken for her meeting with the king was markedly warmer, sunlight pouring through windows and even—wonder of wonders—a fire burning on the hearth. King Tedric was sitting near the fire, a rug over his knees, a bit more bent than she recalled from her last visit.

She made a deep curtsy. When Elise rose, the king smiled at her and she saw that his gaze had lost nothing of its sharpness.

“Give your old uncle a hug,” he said, “and forgive me for not rising when you entered, as one should for a lady. I caught a cough this winter that will not leave no matter how many foul-tasting syrups I drink.”

Elise complied gladly with the king’s request and was shocked despite herself to feel how frail he was. Even the jacket he wore over waistcoat and shirt did not provide enough padding to conceal how wasted he had become.

The king coughed slightly as she released him. Elise hastened to apologize, but the king waved the words away, sipping on a cup of tea ready at his elbow. Elise had some training in medicine—mostly of the first-aid variety, but she had some knowledge of more practical herbalism—and she recognized the scents of hyssop and wild cherry. That confirmed the king’s story about his cold.

Why should I expect him to lie?
she thought.

She had no chance to consider this further, for King Tedric was gesturing her to a chair.

“Don’t feel you must seat yourself by the fire out of courtesy,” he said. “I can see you wherever you place yourself.”

So Elise chose a chair near to a window that stood ajar enough to admit fresh air without creating a draft.

“Sapphire and Shad should join us quite soon,” the king continued. “Sapphire had an appointment with a midwife—no troubles, just checking on the pregnancy—and Shad wanted to be with her.

“Sapphire’s impatient these days,” Tedric went on, and Elise heard the implied warning in his words, “with herself for not being stronger and with…other things.”

Elise nodded. She might have hazarded a question, but the king asked after her parents and her journey. Then she asked after Queen Elexa—who she knew from the queen’s letters to Lady Aurella was also suffering from the same winter chill. So the time was spent until the arrival of the heirs to the throne.

When she arrived, Princess Sapphire looked quite good for someone who was still regularly throwing up her breakfast. It was impossible to tell if she was rounding out yet. Fashions in Hawk Haven varied with the seasons and if the gown Sapphire had worn for her autumn wedding had been quite trim to the waist, it was not unreasonable for her summer gown to fall less closely from beneath her breasts.

The embrace Sapphire gave Elise was warm and genuinely affectionate, from which Elise guessed that the midwife’s news had been positive.

“She says,” Sapphire replied in response to Elise’s question, “that the signs are all good. She even said that I may stop vomiting soon. I am past the first third of the pregnancy and my body should be growing accustomed to its new tenant.”

She patted her abdomen when she spoke with such genuine affection for the little life within that Elise found herself beaming. It was delightful to see Sapphire, so long a fighter, mellowing into motherhood. Within a few minutes, however, Elise would learn that the fighter had not vanished, but had merely moved to other tactics and other battlefields.

“Shad,” Sapphire continued, “will join us soon. He needed to attend to some of yesterday’s business.”

The king nodded and as this was obviously routine, Elise did not question further. Instead, as Sapphire bent to embrace the king—an automatic gesture so relaxed that it said everything Elise needed to know about how successful the adoption had been—she took the opportunity to study her cousin.

The blue-black hair was bound in a loose braid threaded with a gold cord, a hairstyle that left the princess’s forehead open to view. With anyone else, this would hardly matter, but for Sapphire it was a statement.

Since she was an infant, Sapphire had worn a resplendent blue sapphire on the center of her forehead. Her attire was always dominated by shades of blue. Her toys were blue. Even her horse was dyed blue.

Similar themes were followed for each of the children of Lady Melina Shield and Lord Rolfston Redbriar. Black for Jet, the current head of the household and once Elise’s betrothed. Swirling sheens of red and orange sparked with gold for Opal. Deep, shining red, rich as freshly drawn blood, for Ruby. Reddish orange, vibrant as a good cognac, for Citrine.

Although Lady Melina was gone, dishonored, exiled, and disowned, Elise had heard that all her children continued the pattern set out for them by their mother. All of them except, that is, for Sapphire.

On Sapphire’s forehead there was no glittering gemstone, only its absence, marked by a white oval the precise size and shape of the gem, which remained even after the mark left by the cornet had faded to match the surrounding skin. It seemed to Elise as she studied what remained of that oval mark that it, too, had faded so that if she hadn’t known what to look for she might have missed it entirely.

Elise was one of the few people who knew just how difficult it had been for Sapphire to throw off her mother’s bond. Even as she rejoiced in this further evidence that Melina’s influence was completely gone, she felt a tremor of concern.

Melina’s hold was gone, but Melina herself was not. She was showing herself a power in a much more important arena than merely her own family politics. Whatever that might mean for Sapphire, it wouldn’t be good.

Prince Shad entered then. Elise thought he had lost a bit of weight since his wedding, but otherwise he looked good. His bearing was martial, the relic of training in the navy since he was young, and his manners were courtly.

After making his bow to the king, Shad came and gave Elise a cousin’s embrace. Elise stole a glance toward Sapphire, but the princess only looked pleased. Knowing her cousin’s capacity for envy, Elise thought this augured well for the marriage.

Or that Sapphire’s got Shad so snugly under her thumb that she doesn’t worry about him being unfaithful.

Even as she tried to dismiss the thought as unworthy of Sapphire, Elise felt a thread of concern. The arrangement for the inheritance of Hawk Haven was peculiar—unique to her knowledge. Shad was the eldest son of Allister of the Pledge, ruler of the neighboring kingdom of Bright Bay. Shad remained his father’s heir, even after his marriage to Sapphire. Moreover, he was King Tedric’s heir as well.

That in itself was not too odd. Households had been known to make similar arrangements in order to merge lands or assets. What was odd was that Sapphire had not renounced her right to inherit in Hawk Haven. At the arrangement of King Tedric with King Allister, she shared it. Equally, Shad shared the inheritance of Bright Bay with Sapphire.

Therefore, ideally, they would rule in both lands and the lands would merge into a single kingdom already named Bright Haven in anticipation. If one or the other died, the remaining partner did not lose the inheritance. In theory, this was meant to stop any bickering or hope that assassination would end the union of the monarchies.

In reality, it meant that everyone watched each of the heirs apparent with double the care, looking for any sign that one ruled the other—and thus that one land might be favored over the other.

No, it would not be a good thing if Sapphire came to dominate Shad. Or Melina to dominate Sapphire.

That last thought made Elise shiver, but she thought that no one noticed until Shad, a slightly concerned smile on his lips, handed her a cup of tea from the fresh tray the servant had just brought in and offered to close a window.

Elise smiled, “No, the fresh air is lovely, that is, if the king isn’t cold.”

“I’m well enough,” King Tedric grumbled. “Now…”

He waited until the maid had left and his personal guard, Sir Dirkin Eastbranch, had signaled that he would assure their privacy, and then he went on: