“Not so very soon,” his young wife contradicted him gently and he was compelled to concede her point.
“No, I suppose not,” he agreed distractedly, but his thoughts were already far from his wife and the comfort of the chambers they shared. He cursed himself for his carelessness in not taking precautions to see to it that Elena did not find herself with child so soon, at least not until after he’d solved the riddle of the curse on his heirs. As things stood he was no nearer to unravelling the mystery that beset his blood than he was on the day he first learned of its existence.
“Michel, if you’re not displeased with this news than what troubles you?”
Michel considered lying in answer to his wife’s direct question, realized immediately Elena knew his moods well enough to recognize a lie on his lips when she heard it, and then decided she deserved the truth. Better even for her to understand he was truly concerned about the effects of an ancient curse on the child she carried, than to have her believe he was not happy about the blessed news she just gave him. He reached up to brush a gentle hand through her hair. “Elena, you have lived in Calei long enough to know the details of the plague on the royal blood.”
Michel was amazed by the look of relief that crossed his wife’s face at his words. He couldn’t come up with a single explanation for her odd reaction and concluded she did not truly accept that the curse was more than just an old legend without any real ability to hurt them or the child she carried. He only wished he could share her certainty.
“Oh, that’s why you reacted the way you did. I thought perhaps you had decided, like Uncle Barnabas, that you did not wish to become a father.”
Michel exhaled a deep sigh and protested, “I imagine your Uncle Barnabas would have been pleased to become a father if he did not already have a child.”
“What do you mean?’ Elena’s brows furrowed in confusion.
Michel replied gently, “Your uncle told me himself that no child of his body could be more precious to him than his beloved niece.”
Michel watched tears fill her eyes. “He was the only father I have any memory of.”
“I know, and I will do my best to be as worthy a father to our children as he was to you.”
“Of that I have no doubt.”
At the serene certainty in her face, Michel could not let the matter of the curse rest unacknowledged between them. When her terror for their unborn child threatened to overwhelm her, he did not want Elena to feel she must conceal her fears from him.
“Elena, it is all right to be afraid. We will not long be able to hide your condition, and then you can be very certain the topic of the curse will be on everyone’s minds even if they restrain their lips in our presence.”
Her serene expression remained unchallenged by his dark truth. At the puzzled expression on his face, Elena leaned towards him to smooth away the fierce frown line between his eyes. “Michel, I will not waste whatever time we have together with worries of when it will be taken away from us. Haven’t I known loss in my life? The one thing I have learned from my grief is to live in each moment, to be grateful for every blessing we are given, and to clutch to my heart every moment of each day and each hour we have together, and rejoice in these precious moments between us.”
Awed by her peaceful acceptance of the invisible threat hanging over them and the life of their unborn child, Michel thought to hide his own unreconciled rage at the burden he had inherited from some nameless, unknown ancestor. He would gladly risk life and limb to protect his wife and the child she carried within her. If he thought abdicating his throne and fleeing with them away from the place where the curse began would save them, he would not hesitate to do so. But he feared even if he was willing to take such an unprecedented step, and he was successful in carving out a new life for his family far away from Calei, he would then only be passing along the bane of the curse to the very child he was desperate to protect. No, he would not run away. He would contest his destiny here where it began and God willing remove the stain of the threat from his blood.
Chapter Twenty Three
Michel divided his time over the next months between the demands of his kingdom and resolving the curse that was an ever present shadow to his joy in his young bride and the growing evidence of the child she carried within her. Every spare moment, which were few…too few, he spent researching the mystery that had descended on his unsuspecting shoulders as surely as had the burden of reclaiming his grandfather’s throne from those who had followed the murderous traitor that stole it from him in his sleep. He spent much of that time in the cathedral library where the lamps burned long into the night, until he finally took to his bed for a few hours rest before rising to meet the needs of his kingdom. He would not deny himself the pleasure of the scarce private hours he had with Elena. So each evening he waited to take up the search for the answers he sought until after he’d spent precious hours with Elena, finding both pleasure and peace in equal measure in her loving, tender arms. Then replete, he held her while she fell asleep against his chest and he stroked her long, silky hair in a rhythmic, soothing motion.
He treasured the intimate moments they shared, and held close to his heart the memories of his child’s tiny limbs pressing against his mother’s swollen middle as if his babe was in a hurry to escape her tender womb. Michel would watch awed as his wife’s soft flesh yielded to accommodate their child’s sometimes languorous stretching against its confinement, which at times was followed by a rapid flurry of fists, foot and head, as though his babe danced to a music only he or she could hear.
When his unborn child finally settled down and followed his mother into sleep, Michel would slip from his bed and dress before pausing at the door to his chambers to stare back at his slumbering wife, her face peaceful in repose, as if she remained completely untroubled by the demons that tormented him about the threat that hung over their child’s life. Some nights Michel would stand there long moments memorizing her features. It was as though some part of him knew these rare, priceless moments they enjoyed were destined to be taken from him, and he sought to clutch them close to his heart so he could carry them, and the memory of his wife’s beauty, into the darkness that awaited him in the shadows hovering just beyond his line of sight.
Then he would make his way down the darkened hall and exit the keep, accepting Arden’s reins from the stable master’s hands, recognizing the man waited up each evening to perform this task for him. Michel thought perhaps the older man wanted him to know he understood what drove his king, and offered this small service to show his support by offering to share, in the only way he could, the lonely vigil Michel labored under. Michel would ride to the cathedral, accompanied by Amele and his guard, where most nights they were greeted by Bishop Maren. The three men would exchange familiar, trifling greetings and the quickly settle down to work among the ancient books and journals in the church’s stewardship.
In the swift passage of time since Elena shared the news of her pregnancy with him, the three men spent most nights surrounded by books, journals, maps and family bibles trying to decipher each hand-written document, often struggling against old ink fading on the parchment pages while they searched for any mention of the curse to assist them in finding its resolution.
“Listen to this; I think it’s written in King Nathaniel’s hand. I don’t know how I missed this before,” Bishop Maren proclaimed in an excited voice, breaking into the heavy silence that had fallen between the three men, ‘My heart tells me I am close to understanding the curse that besets my blood. Alyssa has brought new hope to my house. The people respond in some inexplicable way to her gentle, assured faith. I remember the moment we passed through the gates of Calei, the people lined the streets to catch a glimpse of her and waited hours in the cold so they could cheer her arrival with an enthusiasm even I had not anticipated. It was as if they too sensed the light within her that I was aware of from the moment of our first introduction. In some way I have yet to comprehend, Alyssa’s comi
ng to Calei has brought new hope to my home and my subjects.’
“Didn’t the elder say something about King Nathaniel not realizing what he held in his grasp?” Amele reminded them.
“Apparently my grandfather concluded that my grandmother was part of the resolution of the curse,” Michel mused, nodding in response to Amele’s comment.
“Was it Queen Alyssa or the unusual stone she wore? Though I have only heard rumors of the queen’s amulet, I cannot help but wonder if it is the same stone you now wear, Your Highness,” Bishop Maren asked.
“Yes, the stone is the same one my grandmother brought with her to Calei, but the clue refers to the daughter of the moon. If my grandmother is part of the resolution of the mystery it seems far more likely she would be connected to the first part of the clue,” Michel replied.
“Could the stone be the heart of the sun?” Amele interjected.
Michel shook his head. “If my grandmother was somehow the daughter of the moon and the Salusian stone the heart of the sun, the curse would have been resolved in my grandfather’s time as my grandmother entered Calei with the stone in her possession. In essence, she had already captured it. No, we must be missing something. Is there anything more to the passage you were reading from?”
The bishop shook his head. “No, but we’ll keep looking. Like King Nathaniel when he wrote this entry, I think we’re close…closer perhaps than anyone has been since the hour he penned it.”
All three of the searchers were aware of the new aura of hope that hung suspended over the dim room where they sat huddled around a small work table piled high with old records. It was Amele who finally broke the silence that fell between them, as if the three men feared disturbing it would dispel their burgeoning optimism as easily as a man’s voice dispelled the silence. “May I suggest we continue our search tomorrow? The night is already well advanced and you will soon be rising, my king, and greeting the demands of a new day.”
Michel nodded his assent. Gaining his feet he addressed the others, “Perhaps I was too quick to dismiss the stone’s part in this. Has it not always passed from mother to daughter in an unbroken line for a thousand years? It’s very possible the stone is as old as the curse. Perhaps it is in some way connected to its origin.”
“If what you say is true, Your Highness, I find it interesting that the stone has returned to Calei in the hands of its new guardian. I believe I recall correctly the elder stating your presence here brought him hope for the curse’s resolution…hope that he has not known since the reign of King Nathaniel.”
Amele added softly, “That would be the last time the stone and its keeper were both in Calei.”
“But I am not the stone’s proper keeper, Melissa is.”
“Melissa?” Bishop Maren echoed.
“My twin sister. My grandmother passed the stone to her daughter, my mother, who passed it as she lay dying to my younger sister, Rhiann. When Melissa was found alive, Rhiann gave the stone to her, as Melissa, being the elder daughter, was the rightful steward of the stone.”
The bishop nodded and added curiously, “How did the stone come to you?”
“Melissa insisted I wear it when I returned to Calei,” Michel replied.
“So the rightful steward, as you refer to your twin, insisted the stone return to Calei with you? That’s interesting.”
“And the elder said I was not to be concerned about its loss because it was in trustworthy hands,” Michel added. For the first time feeling true optimism that they were close to the solution they sought begin to take hold in his heart.
“Didn’t Queen Elena tell you the stone appeared anxious to escape her stewardship until she made the decision to return it to you when you were injured?”
“Yes,” Michel admitted, then added with growing certainty. “The stone is at the center of this. And so is my grandmother. She knows something. She knew she would never return to Calei…and so did the stone,” Michel tacked on in an awed whisper. “The stone has been trying to return to Calei ever since it left.”
“But it was necessary for it to do so in the hands of the rightful steward,” Amele concluded, following Michel’s reasoning.
“But I am not the rightful steward,” Michel protested.
“Twins have always been the exception, my king. You have every right to wear the stone.”
“Perhaps, but I am not the stone’s true steward. I need to speak with my grandmother. She is the key,” Michel announced.
“You cannot think to make this journey personally, my king. Your wife will give birth soon. Your place is here with your wife, and mine is at your side,” Amele quickly inserted when Michel would have interrupted him. “With your permission, I will send Melos with a company of men to seek Queen Alyssa. I believe your conclusion is correct and that your grandmother was somehow able to deflect the power of the curse.”
“What do you mean?” Michel wondered.
“Has it escaped your notice, my king that Queen Alyssa managed to elude the effects of the curse for herself and the child she carried?”
“But she was forced to flee Calei for her life,” Michel protested.
“I did not say she ended the curse, only that she was able to escape its impact on her and her child. That should give you hope for your family’s safety as you now have the stone in your possession.”
“You believe the stone will protect my wife and child?” Michel asked awed by the thought.
“I have never known the stone to react to another outside your family, yet it reacted most forcibly to Lady Elena’s possession.”
“Reacted to it by attempting to escape her grasp and burning her hand,” Michel reminded him.
“The stone burned Queen Elena’s hand?” Amele echoed.
“Yes, her palm bears the imprint of the stone.”
“Before or after you were wed?”
“Before.”
“I find that astonishing. In all of the legends I have heard of the stone, there is none where it reacts in any way except to turn cold and dark when it leaves the keeper’s hand. Yet it appeared to have the opposite reaction when held in the hand of your wife.”
“What do you think it means?” Michel wondered.
“I do not know, but I think you are right to discover if Queen Alyssa can shed any additional light on this mystery. What do you know of Queen Elena’s family?”
Michel considered Amele’s question, wondering why he’d never pursued this line of reasoning in his search for answers. “Very little, only that she was Barnabas’ niece and that she was sent to live with him as a young girl when her parents were killed in an accident in the mountains.”
“Is there anything more in Barnabas’ personal journals about Elena’s parents?” Michel asked.
“I never thought to research your wife’s family. It never seemed significant before, but I will do so immediately, though I think, Your Highness, King Barnabas’ personal journals are likely still at the keep,” Bishop Maren replied.
“Yes, I will go through them in the morning. For now, let us take to our beds. Amele is right; the sun will soon be rising on a new day.”
“Yes well, perhaps it will drop its heart at our feet on its way over Calei, thus clarifying the other half of the clue we haven’t yet begun to unravel.”
His companions laughed at Amele’s wry comment, and then exiting the imposing library, paused to extinguish the lamps on their way out.
Chapter Twenty Four
Michel nodded his greeting to the guards stationed outside his door and entered his chambers. As he stripped out of his clothes he went over in his thoughts the results of his research that evening and concluded he had genuine reason to hope the resolution of the ancient curse was within his grasp. Melos would leave in the morning to bring his grandmother to Calei. Though he did not doubt Amele’s claim that his grandmother intended never to return to her dead husband’s kingdom, Michel did not doubt she would respond to his summons and he felt confident when she did so, ano
ther piece of the mystery would fall into place.
Satisfied with his reasoning, he threw a few additional logs on the dying fire, then stripped out of his clothes and crossed to the bed. He stood gazing down at his sleeping wife, heavy with the burden of his babe and thought they would not have long to wait now to meet their child. For the first time since Elena informed him he was going to be a father, Michel felt true joy at the prospect, unburdened by the dread of the curse. He sank down on the bed and gathered his sleeping wife in his arms just as the deepest hours of night before dawn fell over the heart Calei. His unborn child gave him a gentle nudge in greeting, and smiling, Michel gave into his exhaustion and allowed sleep to claim him.
His rest was deep and dreamless, so it came as a surprise to him when a heavy pounding disturbed him in the depth of his slumber. His wife’s drowsy voice calling his name, finally roused him,
“Michel, there is someone at the door.”
Their eyes met for the briefest of moments, both of them well aware only ill news would cause such an interruption in the darkest hours of night. Michel bent and kissed his wife, “Go back to sleep. I am certain it is nothing for you to be concerned about. The city is not under attack. There is no sound of the bells ringing, alerting the city’s defenders.”
Elena nodded at his reassurance, but Michel felt her eyes following him anxiously around the room as he dressed then crossed to the door and pulled it open. Amele stood in the doorway, and Michel released a deep sigh at the concern etched into his friend’s face. The city might not be under attack, but he could tell the news Amele bore was ill indeed.
“There’s been a rock slide at one of the mines. A dozen or more men are trapped beneath the rubble,” Amele informed him gravely.
Michel nodded. “I’ll come with you directly. Let me share the news with Elena and try to persuade her to remain behind at the keep.”
Amele nodded and Michel returned to his chambers only to find his wife already rising from their bed and searching through her chest for fresh undergarments. Releasing a soft curse beneath his breath, Michel swiftly crossed the room. He slid his arms around his wife’s rounded middle from behind and drew her back against him.
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