Rook

by Robin Roseau

  And so, we were three.

  When we’d first married, I hadn’t really understood what to expect. I barely knew what to expect if I’d married Juleena. Oh, I knew how to make love to a woman; I’d had excellent teachers, after all. But two at once? And to accept lovemaking from two together? That had been something new.

  But the day I’d walked in to find the two of them making love -- making love without me -- I’d been upset. They were making love without me? Was that allowed?

  Alta had looked up at me and smiled, though. “Yalla. Why aren’t you undressed?”

  I’d moved to them, a little sluggishly, and they both turned to me. I’d stood there, somewhat numb, and let them undress me. And then I let them make love to me. I think they knew I was upset, but they made slow, gentle love to me, and it was later, as we lay together, that Juleena said, “We are three. But we are also two and two and two.”

  “There will be times that you and I travel to Alteara, and Juleena can’t come,” Alta said. “But you are still my wife, and I am yours.”

  They let me think about that for a minute, and then I asked, “Did you plan this?”

  “Yes,” Juleena said after a brief pause. “Are you still upset?”

  “I don’t know.” They let me think about it. “This is going to take work, isn’t it?”

  “Yes. All relationships take work. We need to communicate.”

  “Like the two of you communicated with me about this?” I asked.

  “Ah,” said Juleena. “But we did communicate with you. Do you feel loved?”

  “Yes,” I whispered. And then I nodded and smiled.

  And that was the last time it was weird. We were three, but we were two and two and two, and we each loved and were loved.

  * * * *

  “Everyone is here,” Féla said into my ear.

  “We just need the queen then.”

  She said nothing, but when I turned to her, she was smiling broadly. I grew instantly suspicious and began looking around. We had our honor guard, only slightly larger than normal, and far smaller than I thought should surround the queen. Larien and Terél were in the cluster of priestesses and acolytes, including our three newest.

  To the side, Mellara was talking to Mandi’s and Nissi’s nanny. With them was another woman, dressed similarly to the nanny, and I wondered if Alta had arranged for two for some reason.

  I looked around and found Alta talking to Juleena, still standing on the palace steps.

  I glanced at Féla. “Naddí--”

  “--Is talking to Captain Wellna,” Féla completed.

  I turned, and yes indeed, she was. Then I examined each of the other guards carefully, wondering if that was how Ralalta was disguised. I didn’t know all the guards, but clearly none of them was the queen.

  When I turned back to Féla, she was grinning. “The queen now officially owes Naddí and me a boon. What do you think we should ask for?”

  “You made her invisible.”

  Her grin grew wider.

  I spun and looked at the spare nanny and then began moving closer, circling around to get a good look. Féla followed, and when I looked back, her grin hadn’t shrunk. “Maybe the queen will make you pay the boon.”

  “Ones from her are worth more,” I said. I circled the woman, who finally noticed what I was doing, and a moment later, her face broke into a grin that was decidedly Ralalta.

  I stepped up to join them. “Well, well,” I said. “And do you intend to carry this image into the palace in Lopéna?”

  “Only during our travels,” the queen replied. “I believe you are owed, Féla.”

  “We don’t know what we want,” Féla replied. “We’ll think of something.”

  “I’m sure you will.”

  “Why not travel openly?”

  “Because then Tradódid and Mesenorié would need to treat this as a state visit,” Ralalta said. “I’m not traveling to see them. I’m traveling to meet the goddess. I have an invitation from Princess Lásenalta to visit her parents, and so this is family, not a visiting monarch.”

  “And so, you’re a nanny?”

  “I can’t imagine more fun,” she declared.

  * * * *

  I could tell Juleena wanted to actually ride off with us, but she played the role normally played by her mother; she wore a gown and saw us off from the palace steps.

  It was quite the entourage that passed out the gates. Counting the guard of a dozen and a half, our total number was just under 40. It wasn’t the largest retinue that had made this trip, but it was close to it.

  My eldest two daughters were with us, of course, but for this trip, we left the two youngest at home. But we also had Lamarta and another six acolytes. With us, and helping to watch over the children, were three more priestesses. Larien and Terél could see to my needs and leave oversight of the acolytes to others.

  Looking around as we traveled through the city, I was filled with pride. I couldn’t imagine what anyone else thought of us; we were such a strange mix.

  My entire household, excepting Juleena and Alta, had taken to riding Arrlottan horses. Alta and Juleena had helped me to grow my herd. As always, I rode Zana, Hamper following along. I would switch off periodically, typically at each stop.

  Larien rode Mozza, Zana’s first filly. But I’d been the one to train her, and I’d threatened Larien with Dire Consequences if she taught Zana’s baby to speak Altearan. By that I didn’t mean Altearan words but instead the Altearan methods of guiding a horse. She’d immediately asked if that meant she was to teach it Framaran instead, which only earned a glare.

  “You will speak Arrlottan to her or I’m not letting you have her,” I had declared.

  She’d promised not one Altearan shifting of weight would the horse be taught. And so she rode Mozza.

  I’d acquired mounts for the other three in the traditional fashion: I traded for them. And using my resources as Duchess in two countries, I built additional herds on both sides of the border. Our daughters were in the saddle their first month, and for a long time, they received daily riding lessons from me, as befits a daughter of a girl of the Hippa.

  But it made me sad to realize my daughters wouldn’t ride as well as I did; they would never really have the experience of living on The Hippa for the first ten and three years of their lives, and while I didn’t wish The Hippa on anyone, the better life in Framara came with at least one small price.

  But they could ride well enough, and so they each had their own horses, traded specifically for their small size.

  They sat well, and far better than other children of either Alteara or Framara.

  Not everyone sat a horse, however. Mellara could ride, but she couldn’t sit a trot, and her daughter was not much better. I’d have to do something about that. The other acolytes were only marginally better. And so rather than putting all of them on mounts, we had two carriages with us, but we also pulled extra mounts, and I’d be conducting daily riding lessons.

  Anyone who wished to travel with me needed to learn to ride properly, after all.

  And so, I looked around and smiled. It was a fine, late spring day in Alteara. The summer solstice was still a month away, but we would travel via Lopéna, and I wanted to arrive early.

  I missed the Goddess.

  But it was a fine day. The sun was shining brightly, and around us, the sounds of nature. To our left we could see the great ocean, and we would travel this way for the first two days before cutting inland. We would approach Lopéna from the south after traveling through the lands I owned as Duchess of Indorítanda.

  Ah, Duchess of Indorítanda. What a waste that seemed to me. Oh, I made good use of the income, but it was beautiful, beautiful country, and I barely spent any time there. Instead, it was managed by others, and I was there barely a week a year, if even that.

  I was a terrible duchess.

  But for some reason, everyone seemed genuinely pleased whenever I arrived, and they treated me quite warmly. I
magine that.

  * * * *

  We rode until noon. I moved between the various groups in my entourage, talking to this person for a while or that one. I spent some time with my daughters and more with Ralalta.

  But it was at midday while I was riding alongside Larien that Ralalta dropped back to pull in beside me. “Yalla, I know you normally eat a trail lunch.”

  I smiled at her. “You want to stop in Barton. You want to cram forty of us into an inn.”

  “It’s not forty,” she said.

  “You’re right,” I said. “It’s thirty and nine. This is twice the size of a clan of the Arrlotta.”

  “Don’t blame me for that.”

  “I don’t know, Your Majesty,” I said. “I’d be perfectly happy without the honor guard. There’s ten and eight right there.”

  She offered a brief smile. “We don’t all have to eat at the inn.”

  “When’s the last time you ate at a roadside inn?”

  “It wouldn’t be the first time.”

  “Is it the first time this year?”

  She didn’t answer.

  “This decade?” I asked.

  “Yalla!”

  “Is it?”

  “I’m not sure. Please.”

  “I’m pretty sure you outrank me. Why are you asking me?”

  “You are the leader of this expedition, Yalla, not me. I’m just a nanny.”

  “You know, if the nanny sits with the high priestess, I don’t know what that does to your disguise.”

  “I’m a beloved member of your family,” she said. “Aren’t I?”

  “I suppose you are, but are we going to exclude the other nanny?”

  “She’s sweet on Perlorta.” She was one of the guards. “You’re right. We can’t descend on an inn with this many and expect to leave before nightfall. But some of us could eat at the inn, and we could gather an hour or so later.”

  “Ralalta, are you going to ask this every day?”

  She frowned and leaned closer. “I’m embarrassed, Yalla.”

  “Oh, Ralalta,” I said, understanding immediately. “Will you be riding in the carriage later?”

  She nodded. “I used to ride as much as Juleena does.”

  “This decade?”

  “You know the answer to that.”

  Yeah, I did.

  * * * *

  I’d passed through Barton a number of times since Muranna had betrayed me here, eight years ago, but I’d done so without pausing any longer than it took to let the horses take a little water. And so when the guards led us to a familiar looking tavern not far from the waterfront, I eyed it carefully then sighed.

  “What is it?” Terél asked.

  “This inn should be famous,” I said. “Have you heard of it?”

  She read the sign. “The Laughing Skiff? No, I can’t say I’ve ever heard of a skiff laughing. What’s a skiff?”

  “I think it’s some type of fishing boat,” I replied. I pointed to the sign. “I imagine they look like that.”

  “So why is this skiff famous?” Terél asked as we dismounted.

  “Because this is where Lady Yallameenara of Framara last had far too much to drink, waking later to find herself at sea.”

  Terél said nothing for a moment but moved closer and then whispered, “Are you all right?”

  “Yeah,” I said. “I guess. I wonder if the queen did this intentionally.”

  I had my answer five minutes later when she leaned across the table to me. “So. Do you even remember that night?”

  “You set me up,” I whispered to her. “Why?”

  “I wanted to see it,” she said. “But I didn’t lie earlier. I just didn’t tell you everything.”

  “What if I’d said ‘no’?”

  “Then I might have asked to borrow a third of your guards and made a short side trip, then caught up. Do you wish I had?”

  “It’s fine,” I said.

  Then she grinned at me. “So, you’ve been here before. What’s good?”

  “I’d avoid the drugged drinks,” I replied with a straight face.

  * * * *

  The border between Framara and Alteara was not a straight line. To the far east were mountains, the same mountains that held the Heart of the Goddess. There, the border was defined in places as the top of a series of ridges and in other places by a river traveling down a valley. My tutors had said the decisions were made long ago based upon what seemed most natural.

  Leaving the mountains, the border wasn’t always as clear, and in some places was defined as a straight line connecting this hill to that one.

  But we arrived at the border perhaps a hundred miles from the coast, and here the border was defined by the center of a beautiful lake. From this point west, a river flowed to the sea, and it was that river that marked the border between the two countries.

  We spent a night in a village right on the southern shore of the lake. And in the morning, we traveled a scant mile to the crossing, a manned bridge spanning the river that fed the lake. We came to a stop on our side of the bridge, but looking across the water, I could see our Altearan honor guard waiting for us.

  We waited until the Altearans had clearly noticed us and had opportunity to assemble. And then, now with me in the lead, we stepped onto the bridge.

  We met in the middle, coming to a stop a dozen paces apart. From their saddles, the Altearan soldiers all bowed to me, and then the troop captain rode forward. Zana stepped forward, and then we came to a stop, facing opposite directions, but close enough to clasp hands.

  “Greetings, High Priestess.”

  “Well, Captain Evestia,” I said in Altearan. “Fancy meeting you here. Are you well?”

  “Quite well,” she said. “And your family?”

  “Also well,” I said. I grinned. “Mandi and Nissi are with us.” I turned and pointed.

  The captain’s eyes followed my gesture, and then they widened. “Ohhhh,” she said slowly. “Ohhhh,” she repeated. Then she looked back at me. “This is cause for great joy.”

  “And you only know two thirds of it,” I said. “There is a third girl, the daughter of my maid when I first arrived in Framara all those years ago.”

  “A Framaran?” the Captain clarified.

  “Yes,” I said. “Do you suppose we can reach Lopéna ahead of the resulting rumors?”

  She laughed. “That depends entirely on how fast we ride, and how long we remain in Indorítanda.”

  “I suppose it does.”

  “May I ask? How many of your Framaran guards will be passing into Alteara?”

  “All of them. Princess Juleena was unable to come and so insisted on a larger guard. Apparently she considers herself worth at least six of the queen’s guard. They’re prepared to bivouac, so as long as we can purchase supplies now and then, they should be little drain.”

  She frowned but nodded.

  “I had thought to travel widely this trip, but the situation has changed. I expect us to travel to Indorítanda, remain a day or three, and then spend time in Lopéna before heading to the Heart of the Goddess. Unfortunately, we’re slower than I would prefer, but there’s nothing to be done about that.”

  “Spring arrived late, and some of the roads remain wet.”

  “Well, that will help,” I said sarcastically. “Alta is going to enjoy telling me, ‘I told you so’.”

  “Oh?”

  “She wished to travel by ship.” I shuddered then leaned over and patted Zana. “How could I leave this lovely one behind for a month or more?”

  “How indeed?” asked Evestia.

  * * * *

  The roads were, indeed, wet. Traveling was slow. By the time we reached Indorítanda, everyone was ready to be away from the mud. And so our arrival at the manor home belonging to the Duchess of Indorítanda was quite welcome.

  It was there we had our next surprise, and this was the biggest since the day of Nissi’s birthday. My troop rode into the courtyard and began to dismount. I was
barely off Hamper’s weary back when the manor doors opened and several people stepped out to greet us.

  Almost as one, the entire Altearan honor guard knelt, right where they were standing.

  “Oh, hell,” I muttered. In Arrlottan. Just in case. Then I smiled and turned to the steps.

  “Alta,” I called out. “Your family has come to greet us!” I waited for her, holding out my hand, and together, muddy and tired, we approached Alta’s parents and brother.

  I didn’t kneel, but at least neither did they. Alta did briefly. Instead, I simply offered greetings. “Tradódid, Mesenorié, Prodótar. What a pleasant surprise.”

  “It sounded like we caught you by surprise,” said the queen with a smile. “Mission accomplished.”

  “I would rather have looked like a high priestess and less like a girl of the Hippa,” I replied. “But I am what I am.” I smiled. “I’d offer hugs, but...” I gestured to myself. Then I looked around. I saw Ralalta with the children, talking to them quietly. She had three of them, each wearing a hooded cloak, miraculously clean. I had no idea how she had accomplished that. But while she was talking to them, she was watching me, and when she saw me looking, she nodded, just once. I nodded back.

  I returned my attention to the waiting king and queen of Alteara. “You seem to have come under heavy escort,” observed Tradódid.

  “Juleena insisted,” I said. “And I come with several of my own surprises.”

  “Well, we began drawing baths the minute you were sighted,” said Prodótar. He and I had gotten off on a bad foot originally. Well, I’d gotten off on a bad foot with everyone in Alteara, originally. But now I relied on him, and he relied on me as well. He’d grown up a lot in the years I had known him.

  “I believe these surprises shouldn’t wait.” I looked down at myself and winced. “We need somewhere private, but I don’t want to track this much mud all over the house.”

  “We can remove our boots,” Alta said. “And there should be servants to see to the mud, at least enough for this. But I don’t think there should be any kneeling until we’re clean.”

  “Excellent,” I said. “Would you gather the, um. Surprises?”