Bishop (The Pawn Series Book 2)

by Robin Roseau

  Bishop

  The Pawn Series #2

  Robin Roseau

  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  Audience

  A Certain Acceptance

  Travels

  Heart Of The Goddess

  Pestering

  Oubliette

  An Offer

  Part Two

  Recovery

  Terélmarestra

  Rites

  Agreements

  Time

  Dragons

  Hostages

  Reunion

  Negotiation

  Termination

  Intervention

  Goddess

  Bonding

  Final Questions

  Part Three

  Home

  Court

  Juleena

  Temple

  Return Journey

  Another Princess

  Landed

  Royal Family

  Protection

  Petitions

  Greetings

  Duties

  Conversation With The Goddess

  Hunting

  Part Four

  Triad

  Afterword

  About Altearan Names

  About the Author

  Copyright

  Prologue

  So much had changed. And so much hadn't.

  I was no longer a helpless girl of the Arrlotta. Oh, I was sure I would always carry The Hippa with me. But I had become so much more. So much more.

  I was no longer a girl. I was a woman, most definitely a woman, with the curves of a woman and the passions of a woman.

  And while I would not say I was sophisticated, I was definitely far more sophisticated than I had been during my ten and fourth summer, and perhaps more so than any previous woman once born upon The Hippa.

  But some things hadn't changed. I left The Hippa as a helpless piece in the games of adults. And now, again, I was a helpless piece in the games of others.

  And I was not happy about it.

  Not happy at all.

  Audience

  I stood upon the ship's deck, looking out over the starboard railing as we approached the harbor. My wrists were crossed before me and then bound to my waist, the knots clever and unreachable by my fingers. My ankles were hobbled. I could take normal steps and, with care, move about the ship. But the precautious were necessary.

  I had been quite violent when presented with any opportunity at all.

  It was a week previously that Muranna fended me off in the cabin assigned to me. I'd gotten one mighty punch in and perhaps one or two not so mighty before she wrestled me to the cabin floor, telling me over and over she didn't want to hurt me, and to just stop fighting. As if. That incident resulted in my wrists being tied together, but not to my waist.

  It was over lunch that day, which she foolishly tried to deliver herself, that she discovered two hands tied together could still make an effective club. Only through surprise did I land the first blow, and that was when they added the extra rope, tying my wrists to my waist.

  It was two days after that before I sufficiently found my sea legs to earn the hobble, this time unleashed upon Trace, one of the ship's officers who had helped to drug me and haul me aboard the ship. Muranna had learned to stay away from me by then; just the sight of her sent me into a screaming rage. But my anger found other targets. Unfortunately, I was a particularly poor fighter, and my attempts to kick Trace right off the ship were ineffective. I nearly went over the railing myself. That was when they added the hobble.

  The restraints were removed at night, when I was locked in my quarters, and reapplied by several careful sailors each morning. For mealtimes, one of the sailors fed me.

  I was actually surprised they didn't treat me far worse. I was sure they had somewhere they could have locked me. Instead, they were all actually quite gentle and polite with me, almost to the point of being obsequious. I was quite convinced they were all insane.

  Other than the restraints, I wasn't punished for my violence. I wasn't even berated for it. Instead, they apologized for upsetting me but said it must be this way. I was their high priestess, and the Goddess wished my return.

  They were quite insane, but my protests were even less effective than my fists had been. My sole compensation was seeing the large bruise on Muranna's cheek the few times she was foolish enough to face me.

  She'd been my best friend, and now I felt hating growing in the pit of my stomach. It was an uncomfortable feeling.

  Of course, they hadn't turned the ship around. We had sailed north, and north further, until finally turning to the northeast and this arrival.

  Hergenseé, the largest harbor in Alteara, the hub of commercial traffic for the country, connected by fine roads to the important cities of the country, including Lopéna, the capital, two days away by carriage, or one long day if they would have brought Zana with us. Of course, they'd have been fools to let me atop my own horse. Just as Juleena had worried five years ago, putting me on my own horse, especially Zana, was a guaranteed attempt at freedom.

  I watched our approach, my stomach in knots, and then turned south, the direction of my adopted homeland, and wondered if I'd ever again see the people I loved. I wondered what lies Ralalta had been told, and if she cursed my name before striking it from all records.

  Tears began crawling down my cheeks.

  * * * *

  I'd given up speaking to any of them. We left the sailors behind, but there were soldiers waiting, or king's guards, or whoever they were. I didn't care about these details. Around me, they spoke Altearan, and I didn't, and I intended no effort to learn.

  The squad leader spoke Framaran, although poorly, and it was she that took direct charge of me, riding in the carriage with me while the other men and women of the squad rode their mounts, before and behind the carriage. They'd tried to put Muranna in the carriage, but the moment I saw her, I began kicking at her, connecting a few times before she was able to escape the carriage again. And so I saw her on our stops, but she kept her distance. I grew tired of glaring at her, and so I gave her my back instead.

  I spoke only one sentence to any of them, once we left Hergenseé. "If Queen Ralalta ever learns the truth of this treachery, she will destroy all of Alteara looking for me." That had been too many words for the squad leader, so I'd screamed them at Muranna to translate.

  The squad leader said something gentle in return, some sort of denial, but her accent was thick, her words poor, and I paid no mind.

  We traveled for two days, me staring ahead, sometimes looking out the window at the passing scenery, but generally staring straight ahead, saying nothing.

  And then we reached Lopéna.

  * * * *

  We came to a stop. Outside the carriage, the squad dismounted, and my curiosity got the best of me. I saw grooms, coming to take horses. There was a glimpse of Muranna, but then she disappeared. Two of the soldiers approached, one opening the carriage door. She said something to the squad leader, then handed in a new rope.

  In turn, the squad leader bent to my feet. She adjusted the hobble, releasing my ankles from the secured bolt on the carriage floor then tying them enough I would be forced to take short, almost mincing steps. I didn’t say a word.

  "We not want hurt," said the squad leader. She'd said those words before. I didn't share them. I definitely wanted to hurt a few people, starting with Muranna, but certainly not ending there. "We here. You come."

  She sat up then took my arm. I pulled away, but when she did it a second time, I let her help me from the carriage into the hands of the two waiting guards. They steadied me on my feet as the squad leader stepped out. She
turned and began to step away, my guards trying to tug me forward, one on each arm, but I set my heels in and looked around.

  Behind us, I saw stone walls. We were inside a castle. Before me stood a tall building. Looking up, I couldn't see all of it.

  "Where are we?" I asked, my first words since yesterday.

  The squad leader turned around and cocked her head.

  "Where. Are. We?" I repeated, far more slowly.

  She nodded. "This." Then she searched for words. "Home. King. Queen."

  The palace.

  "Are you taking me to the king?" I asked carefully. She didn't understand. "I see king?"

  That, she understood. "Soon. You come. No fight."

  Yeah, we'd see about that.

  But this time, when the guards tugged my arms, I didn't resist, and we followed the squad leader into the palace. Oh, they didn't take me by the front entrance but instead by one of the side entrances. And then it was through a variety of narrow passages, four of the guards ahead of us clearing people out of the way and two more behind, keeping it clear in our tail.

  Then it was up a narrow set of stairs, the walls and floor stone, but we emerged onto a far wider corridor, the floor wood along the edges but carpeted in red through most of the width. The walls were rich wood, and there was artwork here and there.

  It looked quite similar to the hallway outside my old quarters or outside Ralalta's. A private meeting with the king? I was going to meet the king dressed in the clothing I'd worn aboard ship for a week and two more days in the carriage?

  Nice.

  I didn't say a word.

  And it turned out I guessed wrong.

  They led me to a door, and then through the door, into a luxurious room, as nice as any in the palace in Marport. There were two women, clearly maids, standing at attention along one wall, and in the center of the room:

  "Larien."

  She looked different. She wore her long hair straight, but it had changed color, and in an unusual fashion. It was still that darkest of black until the bottoms of her ears, but then it turned as white as the whitest snow for a similar distance, and then black again, and then white at the tips. And it wasn't even. The color change was at an angle, higher on the left than the right. It was an unusual style, although striking in its way.

  Other than the hair, she looked much the same as she had.

  She smiled and stepped forward but then looked me up and down and spoke Altearan for a moment. The squad leader answered at length, and I assumed she was giving an account of my violent tendencies. Larien's smile faded, but she nodded in understanding and then approached me.

  I noticed she stopped outside kicking distance. Pity. Not that I could have kicked her with my feet hobbled, but I might have been willing to try.

  "Hello, Yalla."

  "You will address me as Lady Yallameenara," I said. "Only my friends use the more familiar name. Was everything you told me a lie?"

  "Very little was a lie," she said. "Henry is not my brother. He has a sister named Larien, and we even have a similar appearance. I took her place."

  My lips tightened. "I see. So very little was a lie. Except your name. Your relationship to the ambassador. Your intentions for me. Your parents, I assume, aren't anxious to meet me."

  "On the contrary, my mother is quite anxious to meet you, although that will not be today."

  "Your father is not lying ill."

  "I have never known my father," she said.

  "Your words of passion and love-"

  "Quite earnest," she said. "An offer to be yours also earnest, and still standing."

  "Is that why I'm here?"

  "No. You are here because your mother was our high priestess, and now you will be."

  "You are all insane. My mother was traded to the Arrlotta, probably in exchange for a horse or maybe nothing more than a buffalo hide. Perhaps she was taken in a raid, I suppose."

  "We do not know why she left or how she found herself on The Hippa," Larien said. "But she was our high priestess."

  I stared for a moment, thinking as quickly as I could. "I don't know how you can come to such a sweeping conclusion. But even if that were true, that has nothing to do with me, and stealing me from Framara is an act of war."

  "All will be made clear."

  I huffed. "What do I call you?"

  "You know me as Larien, and so for you, that is now my name."

  "You changed your name for me? Why don't I believe that?"

  "And yet, it is true," she said.

  "Unlike your previous lies? You perhaps understand why I won't know what to believe, so I choose to believe nothing you say."

  "I'm sorry about that, Yalla."

  "Lady Yallameenara!" I screamed.

  Immediately she dropped into a deep curtsey, which was quite uncalled for. She bowed her head. "I am sorry, Lady Yallameenara. It is only habit."

  "Break it," I said. "Don't curtsey to me. I'm not a queen. Or the daughter of your high priestess. You're all insane. I can't believe you would do this to me!" I screamed the last few words. "Ralalta will think I betrayed her. She will think I committed treason. Princess Juleena! What will she think? How could you do this?"

  She stood. "I am sorry for that. We tried other ways."

  "Your apologies are not accepted," I said, cold again. "What do you want with me?"

  "Most immediately," she said. "We wish to clean you from your travels and dress you in more appropriate clothing. And then the king and queen wish to meet you." She looked me up and down. "You have a choice. You can agree to be peaceful and cooperative, and that is what will happen. Or you can make no such promise, and you can appear in court as you are."

  "What do I care?"

  "I think you care," she said. "I know you are angry, and no one blames you. But these are your people, Lady Yallameenara. You will be loved and revered, even more than the king and queen, and you will be the voice of the Goddess."

  "Well, the Goddess says you should send me home with a nice, long letter to Ralalta accepting blame for events and assuring her I didn't cooperate in the slightest."

  She cracked the ghost of a smile, quickly smothered.

  "We will have proof of my words," she said, "but they will take time to appear."

  "Of course they will," I said, dripping into my voice all the sarcasm I could muster.

  "A bath will feel good," she said. "The maids speak no Framaran and they are entirely innocent of these events. But they know who you are and are exceedingly gifted. They are anxious to fully attend to your needs. Will you allow them to do so?"

  "It is possible Muranna brought my other clothes, but they are only riding clothes, and dusty from a day of travel."

  "Even that would be better," she said. "But we have clothing waiting for you. So you will let the maids attend to you?"

  "I suppose you intend to dress me in gowns, or perhaps whatever robes your priestesses wear."

  "We have a full wardrobe for you, actually," she said. "What would you like to wear?"

  "You're serious."

  "I told you: very little I told you was a lie."

  "Just the most important things."

  "I do not believe I lied to you about the most important things, Lady Yallameenara. I did not lie with my body. I did not lie when I said I wished us to be together."

  I smiled. It wasn't a good smile. "Riding clothes. Do you have riding clothes for me."

  "You would meet the king and queen in riding clothes?"

  "You said you had a full wardrobe. If you don't have riding clothing for me, then I don't consider it a full wardrobe, and I think you know that."

  She returned the smile, hers far kinder than mine. Then she spoke a sentence or so in Altearan, and one of the maids detached herself from the wall. She hurried to a door that led, I saw, to the closet. She opened the door, disappeared for a moment, and then returned with a leather tunic and breeches. They were actually far too fancy for traveling clothes, but they were clearly model
ed after my favorite clothing from home. I stared.

  "Of course, we have the other things," she said. "And everything should fit you."

  "Muranna knows my sizes," I said, staring. "Fine. I'll wear that. I won't fight with the maids. But if I see an opportunity to return home, you know I'll take it."

  "Lady Yallameenara, you will find us willing to give you nearly anything you could request. But there will be no opportunities to leave Alteara. You are home now, the land of your mother, and where you rightly belong."

  "You're insane," I said.

  * * * *

  There was a bathing chamber, the tub already full. It was heated by some method I couldn't determine, so in spite of the delay, the water was still steamy.

  I let the two maids do everything. Larien entered with them but wisely maintained some distance, and when I snapped at her to turn her back, she did. The squad leader had untied my knots before leaving, but the maids saw to everything else before carefully handing me into the tub.

  It was hot, almost too hot, and so I sank slowly. No one rushed me.

  Then the two of them set to bathing me, slowly and gently. They washed my body and my hair, clucking over the state.

  "What is your plan for me?" I asked.

  "We have whatever time you require here," she said. "Once prepared, we will descend to meet with the king and queen."

  "Privately?"

  "I believe the room will be quite full, actually," she said. "Word arrived ahead of you, and everyone knows Yahamala's next high priestess is amongst us."

  "They're going to be disappointed."

  "I guess we'll see," she said.

  "Fine. King. Queen. Blah, blah. What do they want?"

  "To meet you. Beyond that, I guess we'll see."

  "Will I be allowed to speak?"

  "If you wish," she said. "Will you scream?"

  "Will anyone stop me if I do?"

  "No."

  I found that unlikely, but I said nothing. "After that?"

  "We remain here tonight. And then we travel. The home of the Goddess is deeply isolated. But it is quite comfortable, and you will have everything you require."

  "You know you're insane. I have no intention of cooperating in any of this, and you have to know that. You can't force me to act as some priestess. I don't believe in gods and Goddesses, but if this Goddess of yours exists, talk to her yourself. You don't need me."