Echoes

by Christine Grey

  “I would like you to leave in the morning. The captain of my guard and a small contingent will go with you. Gather as many as possible in the villages and from the farms. The people of Mirin Tor have lived in peace a long time, but I believe they will respond to their king’s call.”

  “We will do just as you say. I will let everyone know, and we will prepare at once.”

  Dearra bowed before the king and was about to leave when—

  “Not the Breken,” Jaymes said.

  “Sire?” Not the Breken? What did that mean?

  “The Breken, Darius. He is not to go. He will remain here, where we can watch him,” the king said, using his most commanding tone, indicating that, on this point, he did not wish to argue.

  “Jaymes? The boy has been perfectly pleasant during his stay. You have no reason to distrust him,” Marianne said, trying to reason with him.

  “I have every reason! Besides, he’s a Breken, and that is reason enough.”

  The queen scowled, but she was unable to comment further when the king called out, “Shanks!”

  The door opened. A grizzled veteran entered the room and bowed low.

  “Yes, Your Majesty?”

  “Bring me the Breken,” Jaymes said.

  Shanks snapped another quick bow and left the room.

  “Please, King Jaymes! Darius would never betray us! He…he and I wish to be joined, Sire.” Dearra wasn’t sure this was the best time to bring it up, but maybe if the king saw how serious her feelings were, he might be a bit more hesitant to harm the man she loved.

  Queen Marianne leaned forward slightly in her chair and her eyes darted to King Jaymes. It looked like she was more interested in her husband’s reaction than surprised by Dearra’s news.

  “Joined? Dearra, you are Lord of Maj, or you will be. You can’t honestly think to join with a Breken! Your father would never have allowed—”

  “My father approved of the match. Not at first, it’s true, but he came to look upon Darius as a son. He would have wanted this. He—”

  “I find that very hard to believe, Dearra. Your father was an intelligent man. He would never have sanctioned a union with a Breken.”

  Shanks returned and bowed once more before the king. He was clearly not accompanied by the Breken.

  “Well? Where is he?” King Jaymes demanded.

  “Gone, Your Majesty,” Shanks answered almost casually.

  The king, however, was not as indifferent, and he turned an alarming shade of red.

  Chapter 14

  “Gone? Shanks! What do you mean gone?” The king shot a look at Dearra, but the expression of confusion on her face probably cleared her of any wrongdoing in his mind, and he immediately turned his attention back to Shanks.

  “I mean, not there, Your Majesty.” Shanks seemed neither concerned nor upset. He reported the facts to the king with no outward show of emotion on the subject one way or another.

  Dearra, keep that lost cow look right where it is. If the king sees a smile, he will be all over you like a bear on honey. I warned Darius. He’s hiding in the queen’s greenhouse. It was the only place I could think of that would be ignored in the search. Even the guards do not wish to incur the queen’s anger by going in there…at least for a while.

  Brin! You’re brilliant!

  Yes, I know, and try to look a little more worried, will you? The king isn’t stupid.

  Dearra rearranged her features into a dark veil of concern. She wrung her hands and bit at her bottom lip.

  Don’t overdo it, Dearra.

  “Jaymes, stop scowling. The boy is clearly not here. I am sure he has gone back to his room. Ask some of the guards to find him and bring him to you. Standing there glowering isn’t going to accomplish anything.” Queen Marianne picked absently at some lint that was stuck to her skirts, but she looked up through her lashes as if trying to read Dearra’s expression.

  The king motioned to Shanks who bowed and left on his mission.

  “Lady, Dearra!” the king said, startling her. She thought it was the first time the king had ever addressed her by her title.

  “Yes, Your Majesty.”

  “Go and find Daniel. Get the fairies too. They can accompany you. I have no reason to detain them. Also, I would just as soon they were out of the castle.” He hadn’t made it a secret that the Etrafarians made him nervous. He was courteous to them, but it was obvious he was uncomfortable with the two small foreigners.

  Dearra bowed, and was about to leave when the queen stopped her.

  “Child, before you go, I would have a word with you. Would you accompany me on a stroll?”

  The king’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. “Marianne?”

  “She is still a girl with no mother or father, Jaymes. I thought a little motherly advice on romance and making good choices might be beneficial.”

  “Oh, well, that’s fine then. I’ll leave you to it.” He sounded relieved. If Marianne was going to handle that delicate subject, he was probably more than happy to have her go to it.

  The king left them, and Dearra opened her mouth to speak, but she was halted when the queen held her finger to her lips.

  “Come, Lady Dearra. I think a walk will do us good. This room is so stuffy; don’t you agree?”

  “Yes, Your Majesty,” Dearra agreed readily.

  The queen rose and smiled warmly. She linked her arm through Dearra’s, steered her out of the room, and down a corridor that Dearra had never been in before. The queen spoke not a word. Her step quickened the further they got from the throne room.

  They came to a door and the queen pulled Dearra inside. The room was magnificent. It dripped with flowers wherever Dearra looked. There was a wonderful fireplace with a marble mantelpiece. Sumptuous furs covered the bed. Silken flowers had been embroidered into tapestries that covered the walls. Added to the live flowers in the room, the tapestries created the illusion of having stepped into a summer garden.

  “Where is he?” the queen said without preamble.

  “Your Majesty, I have no idea! I—”

  “Dearra, it is wrong to lie to royalty, unless, of course, you’re married to him, then it’s completely acceptable. Now, let me ask again. Where is he?”

  “In your greenhouse,” Dearra answered with a blush. She had no idea she was so easy to read, and she was glad the king wasn’t quite as observant has his lovely wife.

  “My greenhouse? How very clever! The guards won’t look there until all other possibilities have been exhausted. Shanks might, but he’s my man through and through. He’s perfectly loyal to the king, of course, but he had quite the crush on me when I was a girl. I think he’s served all of these years so he would be available in case the king ever grew tired of my company.”

  Dearra’s mouth gaped at the revelation, but then the queen laughed.

  “I’m mostly joking, of course. Shanks is an excellent soldier, plus he does tend to take my view on most things. I trust him implicitly.”

  A tap came from the window. They were several floors above the ground, and both women were startled to see Aesri knocking gently at the glass.

  Marianne quickly recovered from her shock. She opened the window and extended a hand to help the fairy into the room.

  “Thank you, Your Majesty,” Aesri said, brushing snow from her hair. “I have just come from Your Majesty’s greenhouse. It is truly lovely, but there seems to be one bloom that is a bit out of place. Perhaps we should transplant it to a location better suited to its needs.”

  “Yes, Aesri, I believe that is a very good idea. I would like you to come with me. Your gifts might be quite helpful. Dearra, you go and pack. The king has given you instructions to leave, and you should make haste to do so.” The queen lowered her head to Aesri’s level, and the two women shared a few conspiratorial whispers, effectively dismissing Dearra.

  Dearra’s heart slammed in her chest. She couldn’t leave without Darius. She wouldn’t! She felt numb as she turned to leave, and there was a loud buzz
ing in her ears. It went against the grain to leave Darius’s safety to someone else, even if it was Aesri and the queen.

  “Dearra! Wait!” Marianne commanded before Dearra could step from the room. “I almost forgot. I told the king I would advise you how best to avoid making bad choices in your relationships. I, therefore, will tell you this—hold onto that man with everything you have. He adores you. When you are fortunate enough to find someone who completes your soul, makes you stronger than you are alone, shares your joy and your sorrow, making you feel as though there is nothing you can’t face as long as you face it with him, then you have discovered a treasure that is beyond any other. Believe me, I know.”

  Dearra smiled at the queen. Maybe she really did understand. “Thank you, Your Majesty.”

  “You are welcome, child. Go now. Aesri and I will ready the rest of your baggage and have it waiting for you outside the city. I promise.”

  ***

  An hour before dawn, Dearra, two Etrafarians, Daniel, and a small contingent of the king’s guard led by none other than Shanks, rode out of the walled capital city and joined the road that would lead them onward to their destination. Despite its size, Mirin Tor was not a highly populated country. The capital was, by far and away, the hub of life, but that was not to discount the small hamlets and towns which dotted the rest of the country. Each area was valued for specializing in some craft or skill that could be useful when trading for their other needs.

  Dearra was thoroughly miserable. She had been given one of the king’s large war horses to ride. He was not as big as Kahn, thank Cyrus, but he was still a brute of a horse, and Dearra was finding him difficult to manage. She’d told the king she adored horses. She said she would never be comfortable riding just any old mare, and would His Majesty be so kind as to loan her one of his destriers? She had almost choked on the words, hating horses as she did, but she would need to ride with Darius when and if he was able to join them, and he would never fit well on a smaller mount.

  Daniel rode to the front of the group and spoke quietly with Shanks, probably planning the best route to take. It would be easiest if they stopped at one of the larger towns first and let word trickle to outlying farms. They couldn’t be everywhere, and winter was already half gone. There wasn’t time.

  Aesri and Niada sat on the backs of their horses. They used neither saddle nor bit, but seemed to direct the animals by no more than their will.

  The further they got from the castle, the more Dearra fidgeted in her saddle. She looked around herself, almost without ceasing. Suddenly, she heard Reo yip, and she saw him bolt ahead of the lead horses. She watched as he raced down the road to plant his paws on the chest of Darius, who had just stepped out from the shadowy woods.

  “Oh, thank Cyrus!” Dearra said. She kicked wildly at her horse’s flanks to get him moving, but her actions earned her nothing more than a snort from the animal who hardly seemed to notice her existence. She tried to yank back on the reins to get the behemoth to at least stop. If he wasn’t willing to go faster she would climb down and run ahead herself, but even that was unsuccessful. Finally, out of frustration, she jumped off the steadily plodding horse, and ran wildly at Darius.

  He was able to push the wolf aside just as Dearra collided with him. The two of them landed in a tangle of arms and legs on the snow covered road, and she kissed him passionately. He answered her with kisses of his own, twining his fingers in her hair.

  Dearra! Darius! A little decorum if you please! We’re not alone, you know! Brin scolded.

  “I was so worried,” Dearra said between kisses. “I thought for sure the king’s men would find you and you would be taken.”

  Darius held her head between his hands and looked into her eyes. “Nothing will keep me from you, Dearra. I would have found a way, somehow. The queen and Aesri were wonderful. There wasn’t much for me to do but get myself here and stay hidden.”

  “Darius! Would you mind getting off of Dearra?” Daniel said. He held the reins of Dearra’s horse in his hand from atop his own horse and scowled.

  Darius extricated himself from Dearra’s embrace and helped her to her feet.

  Shanks rode forward, eyed Darius for a moment, and said, “Her Majesty is going to have a lot of explaining to do, I think.”

  “You will not say anything, will you, Shanks?” Aesri asked.

  “No, I suppose not. I suspected we might meet up with him when Lady Dearra didn’t squawk about leaving today. I didn’t believe she would leave him behind that easily.”

  “What about the other men?” Dearra asked, indicating the rest of the guard who traveled with them.

  Shanks shook his head. “They’ll do as they’re told. His Majesty said he wanted the Breken watched. We can do that just as well here as they could back at the capital.”

  “Thank you, Shanks,” Darius said.

  Shanks nodded and offered Darius what could have almost passed for a smile.

  Darius pulled Dearra up onto the horse, secured her hands in one of his own, and nudged the stallion with his heels.

  They were on their way, and they were together. For now, that was enough.

  Chapter 15

  A heavy blanket of snow covered the ground. Daniel poked at the fire before him with a stick that had been charred black. Every once in a while, he knocked the char away from the end. It had taken him the better part of an hour to clear the ground enough to allow for a fire. Most of the fuel was too wet to burn under normal circumstances, but Darius had the fire going in only a moment. The area was thick with smoke, and Daniel had to change position every few minutes when the wind shifted and blew the smoke his way.

  Aesri and Niada were speaking quietly to one another. They preferred to stay close to the fire. The brutal Mirin Tor winter was especially hard on them after their years in the heat of the Breken desert, but to their credit, they never complained. Even when Niada’s fingers had been frost-bitten, she didn’t say a word. Daniel had to admit he was impressed—the Etrafarian women were a lot tougher than they looked.

  They had visited more towns, villages, and hamlets than Daniel cared to count. It was the same thing everywhere they went—they would ride in, and people would poke their heads from their doorways to look on in wide-eyed wonder. Darius and the wolf always caused some concern, and children were rarely allowed near when they were present. The fairies drew curious stares, but they seemed oblivious to the rude behavior of the people around them. Aesri’s perpetual serene smile never broke, and Niada remained cool and aloof, except with the children who seemed to bring out a playful side to her that Daniel would never have imagined was there.

  The people of Mirin Tor were not the same as the people of Maj. Here, women found little use for weapons training. Most of them preferred to care for their families, farm the land, tend their animals, or cultivate a skill at which they excelled. Truth be told, not many of the men knew one end of a sword from the other either, as they had lived their lives mostly free of danger, and therefore had little use for battle strategy.

  The situation wasn’t completely hopeless. There was strength in numbers, and they would outnumber the Breken, but Daniel was worried that numbers alone would not be enough. The people were, at least, receptive to the king’s call. Those who would fight went to the capital to receive instruction in basic battle techniques.

  The others loaded as much food and supplies as they could into carts and wagons and made for the mountains where there were tunnels leading deep underground in which they could seek shelter if the Breken could not be stopped. It wouldn’t be comfortable with so many crammed into the mines, but hopefully, it wouldn’t come to that. Still, it was best to prepare for every contingency, and food and other provisions would need to be stocked as a result.

  Darius settled next to Daniel and stretched his legs before him. “You’re pensive today. Everything okay?”

  “I miss Carly,” Daniel said.

  It was a blunt admission from a man who’d tended to keep his
feelings to himself.

  Aesri and Niada stopped talking and were now looking Daniel’s way.

  Darius rubbed his smooth jaw and nodded a little. “I imagine you are, but we’ll be back to Maj before you know it. Another month at the most, and we’ll be able to head home.”

  “A month is a long time.” Daniel tossed the stick he was holding onto the fire and watched the sparks drift skyward. “She wasn’t well when I left. What if something’s happened? I hate not knowing.”

  “Did you ask Dearra to check with Brin? She’s a long way away, but maybe he can—”

  “I already checked. Brin told Dearra that his range has boundaries. He can hear everything on the island, as long as he knows what or who to listen for, but he can’t hear across salt water. Once he is more than a few hundred yards out, everything goes silent.”

  Darius frowned. “I didn’t know that.”

  “Dearra found out when we were on the ship going to Parsaia. Once we realized Royce had stowed away, Dearra asked Brin to go to Catherine in a dream to let her know her child was safe. That’s when she knew. She never mentioned anything, since we didn’t think to ask, and she didn’t want to upset anyone. Royce said he left his mother a note, but there was no way to know for sure if she got it, and even if she had, she was likely beside herself with worry.”

  “That’s too bad. If we had a link with Maj it could be very useful,” Darius said.

  “Yes, very useful, as it would keep me from going mad!” Daniel stood up and began to pace. He ran his hand through his red hair causing it to become even more mussed. He wasn’t one to primp, but Darius noticed he was looking especially unkempt as of late.

  “Daniel, please,” Aesri said gently. “Carly will be well, I promise. You must not lose focus on your task here.”

  Daniel stopped pacing and looked at Aesri. “What do you mean she will be well? How do you know? Is this some sort of fairy trick? Can you see her or hear her or…something?”