A Sea of Shields

by Morgan Rice

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  Reece sprinted along the trail in the woods, scratched by branches and not caring, his heart pounding as he made for the Lake of Sorrows. After his visit with his mother, Reece had realized the wrong of his ways, and had raced through King’s Court searching for Selese, determined to tell her that he loved her, and that he could not wait to marry her.

  Reece had decided that his love for Stara had been momentary craziness. Whether his feelings had been real or not, he realized he needed to strike Stara from his mind. He had to be with Selese, regardless of how he might also feel for Stara. It was the right thing, the honorable thing, to do. And he also loved Selese, very, very much. He realized he might not have quite the same level of passion for her, but he also loved Selese in a different way, and while in some ways, his love for her might not be as strong, in other ways, it might just be stronger.

  When Reece had arrived at the House of the Sick looking for Selese, he had instead encountered Illepra, who had told him the terrible news: one of Tirus’s sons had paid her a visit, had shown her a scroll, and ever since that moment, Selese had not been the same person. She had been devastated. She had withdrawn into herself, and would not tell Illepra what it was about. All that Illepra knew was that she had fled toward the Lake of Sorrows. Illepra was baffled.

  Illepra handed Reece one of the torn-up fragments of the scrolls, and his blood curdled and his skin grew cold as he recognized his own handwriting. He realized, with shock, that it was an old scroll, from his childhood, professing his love to Stara.

  But Selese wouldn’t have known that, he realized. She would assume it was fresh.

  Reece realized—it all came washing over him in one horrible moment—that Tirus had set in motion an elaborate treachery; he had sent one of his sons to convince Selese that Reece loved Stara. To tear Reece and Selese apart, to assure Reece ended up with Stara. No doubt, to serve his own purposes. Tirus wanted power—and Reece’s union with Stara would assure that for him.

  Reece had flushed with rage and humiliation when he’d realized it all, realized that Selese now thought that he loved Stara and was going to call off their wedding. The thought of how it must have pained her, especially to hear it from a stranger, tore him apart.

  When Illepra mentioned the Lake of Sorrows, Reece immediately thought the worst. He had turned and sprinted for it, and had not stopped sprinting since.

  Please, God, he thought as he ran. Let her be alive. Just give me one chance, one chance to tell her that I love her, that I will marry her, that Tirus’s scroll was treachery, that it was all a mistake.

  Reece ran until his lungs burst, and finally, as the second sun began to dip below the horizon, he burst from the woods, to the shores of the Lake of Sorrows. Reece had hoped and prayed to see Selese standing there.

  But as Reece arrived, his heart dropped to see the shore was empty. He looked down at the sand, and his heart fell to see torn-up fragments of the scroll. He realized that Selese had been here. That she’d held the scroll. Had torn it up. None of this could be good.

  Reece looked out at the water, panicking, hoping for any sign of her. Yet still, he saw none. He scanned the treeline, desperate for any indication of her, any sign for where she might have gone. Yet still, there was none.

  As the sun dipped lower and twilight spread across the sky, Reece squinted into the darkness, and he spotted an outline of something at the shore of the lake, a figure lying on the sand.

  Reece sprinted, his heart pounding, praying it was Selese, and that she was okay.

  “Selese!” he called out.

  But she did not move.

  Reece reached the body and dropped to his knees in the sand beside it, gasping for breath. He turned the body over, praying she was okay.

  Please, God. Let this be Selese. Let her be okay. I will give you anything. Anything.

  As Reece turned her over, he felt his entire world go numb.

  There was Selese. Eyes wide open. Her skin too pale. Her skin, ice to the touch.

  Reece leaned back and shrieked to the heavens.

  “SELESE!”

  Reece broke into sobs as he reached down and hugged her, lifting up her body, holding her tight in his arms as he rocked her back and forth. He wanted with all he had for his warmth to seep into her, to bring her cold, lifeless body back to life. He would give anything. He had been stupid. So stupid. And now this poor girl, who had loved him so much, had paid the price.

  “Selese,” he moaned, again and again. “I’m so sorry.”

  Reece held her, tighter and tighter, wondering how fate could be so cruel. Why? Why had it all had to happen like this? Why couldn’t he have arrived here just a few minutes sooner? Why couldn’t he have a chance to explain?

  It was too late for all of that now. As he held her dead body, he collapsed on the sand with her, his entire body wracked with sobs, knowing that he would never, ever, be the same.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  Gwendolyn stood beside Thor, surrounded by attendants, in the sprawling grounds of King’s Court, watching the final preparations for her wedding unfold in the night. The plaza was lit by a thousand torches, nearly as light as day, and an army of servants rushed to and fro, lugging thousands of flowers, shaping hedges, even bringing in exquisite rows of flowering trees. Other workers set up chairs, decorations, while others put the final touches on the altars for the ceremony. There was not just one altar, but two, one each for Gwendolyn and Thorgrin and Reece and Selese. The entire Ring prepared for their joint wedding. It would be the biggest and grandest wedding that King’s Court had ever seen, and Gwendolyn was determined for that to be the case.

  Gwendolyn knew that this was what her people needed. She loved all of this splendor for herself, too, of course, but it was her desire to please her people that drove her to make this spectacle what it was, to make it over the top. Sometimes, she knew, her people needed shelter and protection; other times, though, what they needed was joy, distraction. Entertainment, after all, was as vital a human need as any other. What would life be merely with food and shelter? Life needed a soul, a supreme distraction. Her father had always told her that good rulers considered the people’s needs; great rulers considered their hearts.

  Gwen walked slowly through the ceremony space, large enough to hold a city, overseeing the workers and making small adjustments to the army of servants creating decorations, putting her stamp on the wedding to make it as beautiful as it could be. She wished her mother could be with her now to see all this, to celebrate with her. It was hard to go from a funeral to a wedding, and a part of her wondered whether they should; yet another part of her knew that that was exactly what they needed to do, what the people needed, and what her mother herself would have wanted.

  Gwen was also driven by her love for Thor, and for her love for their new baby. She wanted this to be the most beautiful celebration to ever take place. Thor deserved it. Their love deserved it. She and Thor had been through too much together for it to be anything less.

  Reece wanted it to be magnificent for Reece and Selese, too. After all, Reece was her brother, a member of the royal family, and he, too, was deserving of the greatest, grandest wedding the kingdom had to offer. Her father and mother, if they were alive, she was sure would want no less. And since they were not here to oversee it, as they had been for Luanda’s wedding, it all fell on Gwendolyn’s shoulders. She felt she needed to act not just as Queen, not just as a bride-to-be, but also as the missing parent for Reece. It was easy, though, being as close as she was to Reece, and as close as she was to Selese, who already felt like a sister to her.

  Attendants followed Gwen, busy behind her, fitting her with a spectacular wedding dress. They had been working on the dress for moons, and now they were putting the final touches on it. Gwen tried to hold still as they made adjustments, twisting the fine silks around her arms and legs and wrists, measuring, adjusting.

  Gwendolyn looked it all over and was content—yet deep in
side, she was restless. She found herself thinking, brooding, like her father used to do. She looked out, beyond the plaza, to King’s Court, her kingdom and beyond, and she pondered affairs of state. She worried. She worried the way a good Queen should worry. Everything here was perfect, shining, resplendent, more beautiful than it had ever been. Yet still, somehow, she could not help feel as if some terrible storm were brewing.

  “My lady?” an attendant prodded. “We should not wait longer.”

  Gwen looked at him and realized he was right. She felt overcome with a wave of anxiety as she wondered, for the millionth time, where Reece and Selese could be. Selese should have been here hours ago, and Reece, she knew, had recently arrived from the Upper Isles and had seen their mother before she’d passed. Reece, too, should be here. Where was he? Could the two of them have forgotten somehow?

  She did not think it likely.

  It was getting late, and Gwen knew the rehearsal needed to continue, and she nodded her consent.

  A horn sounded, and Gwen and Thor walked down the endlessly long wedding aisle, holding each other’s hands, and each holding a single lit torch out on either side of them. They were followed by a trail of attendants as they walked down the aisle for their rehearsal, heading slowly toward the altars. On either side of them, thousands of chairs sat empty, waiting. Soon, Gwen knew, they would be packed with people. She felt butterflies. It was all becoming real.

  It was the final rehearsal before the big day, and Gwen’s heart was fluttering with excitement—yet she was also nervous. It would be the biggest day of her life, and she wanted everything to go smoothly. The entire kingdom would be watching, and knowing her people, they would be searching for any signs of omens.

  They reached the altars, and they placed their torches in the holders, and Thor helped Gwen as they stepped up onto the platform.

  Gwen looked about the altars and wondered. Where was Argon? He was supposed to be here, to preside over the rituals and ceremony. Had he not appeared because it was just a rehearsal? Would he show up on the wedding day?

  Gwen stood there, feeling an increasing sense of foreboding. She saw the two other torches on the altar, placed where they’d been all night—Reece’s and Selese’s—and Gwen turned and looked out at the darkness.

  She felt something was wrong. It was unlike her brother not to show up, and unlike Selese, who had been here with her for all these moons, through every step of the preparations. They were all getting married together, after all, and she knew how much it meant to Selese.

  Had the two of them gone somewhere?

  Gwen peered onto the darkness and began to feel her stomach turning. Not on this day, Gwen thought. More than anything, she wanted nothing to be wrong on this day.

  As Gwen looked out into the blackness, past the rows and rows of torches, she began to see something. Her royal messenger was racing her way. He ran faster than she had ever seen him, and he was flanked by two attendants. She saw by the look on his face that whatever news he carried, it was not good.

  Gwendolyn took Thor’s hand and stepped down the steps, back to the aisle. All of her attendants parted as they looked, puzzled, at the messenger. He came running forward and Gwendolyn watched, a sinking feeling in her chest, as he knelt before her.

  He bowed his head low, then looked up at her with bloodshot eyes.

  “My lady, I bear news,” he said, then hesitated. “News which no man should have to bear.”

  Gwen’s heart pounded, as her mind raced with a million scenarios.

  “Out with it then,” Gwendolyn said harshly.

  “It is…” The messenger trailed off, stopping himself, wiping away tears. He took a deep breath. “My lady, it is Selese. She has been found dead.”

  Gwen gasped, as did Thor beside her—as did all of her attendants. She reached down and clutched her chest, feeling as if she had just been stabbed.

  “Selese?” she said. “What? How? It is not possible.”

  Gwen looked around at all the wedding preparations, half of them for Selese. None of it made sense. She was alive. She had to be.

  “Was she attacked?” Thor demanded, his brow furrowed in anger as he clutched the hilt of his sword.

  But the messenger shook his head sadly, to her surprise.

  “No, my lady. I am sorry to say…her life was taken by her own hand.”

  Gwen gasped again, horrified by the news. She clutched Thor’s hand, and he squeezed hers back. She could not fathom it.

  “I don’t understand,” she said. “Why would Selese…take her life? Our wedding…it is but one day away. She looked forward to this day, more than anything on earth…”

  “I do not know, my lady,” the messenger continued. “All I know is that your brother is by her side. At the Lake of Sorrows.”

  Her close friend dead, the night before her wedding? The night before the biggest day of her life? How could it be?

  Gen felt herself reeling, felt all her carefully laid plans falling apart around her.

  She turned and looked at Thor, who looked back at her, equally grave, equally puzzled. This night of the highest joy had so suddenly been turned into a night of deepest mourning.

  “Bring me to him,” Gwen demanded, already walking, her people filing in behind her, determined to understand what had happened.

  *

  Gwendolyn held Thor’s hand as they walked, squeezing his hand, it giving her the reassurance she desperately needed. She closed her eyes and hoped this was all a nightmare, some terrible mistake, as they all made their way through the forest path, toward the Lake of Sorrows. But a part of her could not help but feel that it was all real.

  Gwen was crying silently, and she quickly wiped a tear, knowing she needed to show the strength of a Queen. But inside, her heart was breaking as the news was settling in. Selese, dead. One of her closest friends. Her future sister-in-law. The love of Reece’s life. Her wedding partner. And her life taken by her own hand.

  How could it all be?

  It made no sense. Gwen knew how much Selese had been looking forward to the day. Why would she do such a thing? Selese had always been brimming with joy, the first to help someone else in need, to volunteer her time in the house of the sick.

  Gwen sighed. Just when she had envisioned all the darkness behind them, just when she had envisioned them breaking free from sorrow and into times of joy, now, the times of darkness seemed to have returned. It was as if a curse lingered over the royal family, one they could never quite escape.

  They finally broke through the clearing of the woods, and Gwen gasped as she saw the Lake of Sorrows before her, and her brother, kneeling on the shore, huddle over Selese’s body. Her blood ran cold as she heard Reece’s cries. She knew, with dread, that all of this was real.

  Gwen approached, Thor beside her, her entourage trailing her, and as she neared, she saw the pale white face of Selese, her long hair spilled out on the sand, lit under the moonlight. Gwen clutched Thor’s hand tightly.

  Gwen stopped but a foot or two away and looked down at her brother. She had never seen him so devastated, wracked with sobs, looking as if his whole life had been destroyed.

  Gwendolyn, crying herself, knelt down and laid a reassuring hand on Reece’s shoulder. She hardly knew what to say. She wanted answers, of course. But now was not the time.

  Reece turned and looked at her, his eyes bright red, tears sliding down.

  “My brother,” she said.

  She leaned in, but instead of giving her a hug, Reece turned and looked back at Selese, staring at her, running his hand along her face, as if still trying to bring her back.

  “She died by my hand,” Reece said, his voice that of a broken man.

  Gwen looked back in shock.

  “By your hand?” she repeated.

  He nodded.

  She was perplexed.

  “I was told she took her own life,” Gwen said.

  Reece shook his head.

  “She did the deed,” he said. “
But the fault is mine. I might as well have wielded the dagger.”

  Gwen furrowed her brow.

  “I don’t understand. How is the fault yours?”

  Reece sighed.

  “Selese received word, through subterfuge, that I was in love with another woman. That our wedding was off.”

  Gwen gasped, shocked.

  “And is it true?” she asked.

  Reece shrugged.

  “It was a partial truth, a truth obscured by lies. It is true, I fell in love again with my cousin, Stara. But since then, I had changed my mind. I had come to find Selese, to tell her I loved only her. That I wanted to marry her. But Tirus deceived her. He sent his son, who convinced her I did not love her. I have been betrayed. But the fault is mine.”

  Reece sobbed.

  “If only I could take it back, I would give anything. But now it’s too late.”

  Reece sobbed, and Thor laid a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

  “Whatever the situation is,” Thor said. “You did not kill her. As you say, she was deceived. And whoever was behind this treachery shall be brought to justice.”

  But Reece ignored him, wracked with sobs.

  Gwendolyn felt her heart breaking as she tried to process this terrible tragedy. She felt a need to take action, to do something. She saw that Selese’s corpse was stiff with cold, and that Reece had been here too many hours, and she knew something needed to be done.

  “She will be given a proper burial,” Gwendolyn said. “With all the honors and glories of our kingdom.”

  Reece shook his head.

  “No she won’t. The royal cemetery will not accept her. Suicides are not allowed, remember?”

  Gwendolyn thought, and she did remember. It was the one rule that her father had been strict about: no one who took their own life could be buried with their royal ancestors.

  It came to Gwen that the time had come to make a strong decision.

  “I am Queen,” she said, confidently, “and I write the law. Selese will be buried with all glories and honors in the Royal Cemetery.”