Where Shadows Lie

by Kim Stokely

  Your Majesty?

  Is Josh safe?

  Yes.

  I let out a sigh of relief. Ignoring my father’s questioning look, I called out again to Quinn. Braedon is up to something. Can you stay nearby in case I need you? I slowed my step when the Portal didn’t answer right away. Quinn?

  I will be here.

  “Who are you speaking with?” Geran growled under his breath.

  “Quinn. I thanked him for bringing the Chrysaline.”

  My father hrumphed. “It is curious that the Portal had it in the first place.”

  We approached the dining hall doors. “He had it because I gave it to him.”

  Geran glared at me. I knew he wanted to yank me from the dining hall and chew me out about lying, but the guards threw the doors open at that moment.

  “Her Majesty, Queen Alystrine.”

  The people inside stood. Every woman sank to a deep curtsy, every man bowed at the waist as I passed by them. The aisle to the head table seemed almost as long the one I’d walked down in the throne room. The nobles remained standing until I’d swept around the table and taken my place in the ornate chair at the center. Geran and Kennis sat on either side of me, on much smaller chairs.

  For the next several minutes, it seemed like hours, various Mystics, Commoners and Elders stood to offer their congratulations, blessings and prayers for my reign. My stomach rumbled with hunger. Several of the dignitaries close to me heard the noise. They stifled chuckles and must have given signs to their colleagues because the toasts to my reign ended soon after.

  Some signal must have been given to the servants because several hurried in, carrying trays of bread. Before they could begin serving, Lord Braedon rose from his seat.

  “My lords and ladies of the court,” his voice echoed throughout the hall. “I have an announcement to make.”

  My heart stopped beating as I caught his cruel smile. He wouldn’t dare announce our contract, not here. Not now. I shook my head toward him. He gave me a slow nod in return.

  “I forbid it!” I slammed my fists down on the table and shot up on my feet. “You can’t do this. Not now.”

  “I can and will.” He turned slowly, commanding the attention of everyone in the room. “I have the pleasure–”

  “Arrest him!” My voice rang out through the silent banquet hall. “He has disobeyed the order of the queen and I demand he be taken from the hall this instant!”

  Braedon whirled around. “You can’t do that.”

  “I can and I will.” Several soldiers ran in from the doorway.

  The former Lord Regent shrugged off their first attempts to subdue him. “Is this any way to treat your husband?”

  There.

  He’d said it.

  The Elders and Commoners breathed out a collective gasp of horror. The Mystics, I noticed as I caught my balance on the table, did not seem at all surprised. In fact, several smiled, as if they’d just won the jackpot in a poker game.

  My father’s hand grabbed my arm, his fingers digging into my flesh even through the heavy gown I wore. “Tell me he lies.”

  I shirked him off but my breath got stuck somewhere between my lungs and my mouth. I couldn’t form words.

  “Alystrine?” His face was a mask of disbelief. “What have you done?”

  Kennis leaned toward us. “We should retire to someplace more private to discuss this.”

  Geran growled under his breath as I stepped from the dais. I felt the stares of every person in the room as we strode down the main aisle and out the door. The only person I didn’t see was Quinn. Where was he?

  I paused out in the hallway before my brain decided the closest room that would fit the crowd undoubtedly following us would be the library. I picked up my pace.

  A number of footsteps tramped behind me but I refused to look back. I turned down another hallway and into the library. I walked to the far side of the room and gazed at the tapestry. Ayden as it was supposed to be. A paradise. Not this place of war and evil.

  The large wooden door slammed shut.

  For a moment, no one spoke. Then Braedon’s voice called out, “Tell them of our agreement.”

  I couldn’t turn around. I couldn’t face my father, or Devnet, or Kennis. I knew I had done the right thing by saving Tegan’s life, but now it seemed like such a betrayal of their trust.

  “Caradoc,” Braedon said. “Read the document.”

  I hung my head as I heard the parchment being unrolled.

  “Or perhaps,” Braedon practically chuckled as he spoke. “Perhaps you’d like to read it, Geran?”

  The contract shuffled between hands.

  “Read it aloud,” the former Lord Regent insisted. “So that everyone can hear.”

  At first, Geran spoke so softly that others called for him to speak louder. He cleared his throat and started again.

  “I, Alystrine, daughter of Queen Etain and Geran the Elder, do hereby pledge, on this the fourth day of the tenth moon, to wed the eldest son of Lord Donagh by the end of the first year of my reign as Queen of Ayden. Any children the gods or Ruahk bless us with will be given all rights of inheritance. In the event my husband precedes me in death, only the children of our union will have legal right to the throne. If we should not have children, and I, Alystrine, precede my husband in death, then the Joint Councils of Elders, Brethren and Mystics shall elect a Regent from among their ranks, by a three-quarter majority vote, to rule Ayden.”

  Something sounded different. I turned around and caught the worried look on Braedon’s face.

  Something was wrong.

  The Mystic lord did his best to cover his fear. He strode over to Geran as if to rip the parchment from his hands.

  “Wait!” I called out.

  My father kept the parchment from Braedon’s reach. I glanced at the faces of Caradoc and Lord Donagh. Donagh had the same dread in his eyes while Caradoc’s smile suggested he’d just heard an amusing joke. I strode over to my father. “Read it again, please.”

  Geran’s forehead wrinkled but he read the contract again. “I, Alystrine, daughter of Queen Etain and Geran the Elder, do hereby pledge, on this the fourth day of the tenth moon to wed the eldest son of Lord Donagh–”

  “There!” I pointed at the parchment. “It doesn’t say I must marry Lord Braedon!”

  “But Braedon is Lord Donagh’s firstborn.”

  Devnet stepped forward. “No he isn’t, Brother.”

  Now my father looked even more confused. “Then who is?”

  I looked to my uncle, waiting to hear the name of the man I’d pledged to marry.

  Devnet’s eyes held mine. “Kyran, outsider of the Fey.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  Debate

  Kyran? The dark, angry man who led me through the Fey to the Elders? The hot outlaw who has women fawning all over him? Another man almost twice my age, he would be my husband?

  The library broke into chaos. Elders argued with Elders. Mystics fought with Mystics. Those in the Council of the Commons tried to reason with both sides. The only good news was that in all the commotion, no one took notice of me. I crept behind a row of books and hid myself along a back wall, trying to catch my breath.

  Lord Donagh’s voice rang throughout the room. “I will not stand for this. The Portal read us one thing and then had us sign another. It is a false document and the original intent should stand.”

  My father let out a derisive laugh. “You should have read the revisions for yourself if you couldn’t trust your own cleric.”

  “Alystrine chose him,” Braedon argued. “It was a trick.”

  An underlying threat sounded in Geran’s words. “She is the Queen, Mystic. And you will address her with the respect she is due.”

  Devnet stepped in. “At the time, she was your prisoner. You could have chosen anyone to revise the contract.”

  “And tell us, Lord Regent,” Kennis demanded, “what threat did you use to get her to sign that abomination?” The other nobles
in the room quieted down when my mother spoke.

  “She signed of her own free will,” Braedon said.

  I heard the sarcasm in Kennis’ voice. “I’m sure she did.” There was a pause and then a low murmur ran throughout the room. “Alystrine?”

  A queen probably shouldn’t be caught hiding behind books at a time like this. I drew in a breath and stepped back into the open. “I signed it to pay the debt I owed to Tegan.”

  My father’s blue eyes turned to ice. “The Commoner Quinn transported?”

  I nodded. “He’d guided me through the woods and brought me to the Sanctuary. I never would have escaped the Black Guards without him.” I found strength in my belief that I’d done the right thing. “Lord Braedon threatened to have him tortured and hung if I didn’t sign the contract. And Quinn assured me the marriage would never happen.”

  Braedon’s gaze scoured the library. “Yes, where is your friend Quinn?”

  “I don’t know.”

  My father glared at me. “Send for him.”

  Quinn?

  I waited but heard nothing from the Portal.

  Quinn?

  Yes, Your Majesty?

  The crap’s hit the fan.

  There was silence for a moment.

  Excuse me?

  Come to the library. Now!

  My father continued to stare at me, I couldn’t figure out why. Then I remembered no one else heard my exchange with Quinn. They were waiting for me to order someone to look for him. I spotted the guards near the door. “Find the Portal, Quinn. Bring him here.”

  The arguments started again as we waited for him to arrive. The Mystics insisted that the intent of the contract be honored while the Elders demanded the entire document be considered illegal and therefore burned. Braedon’s brother, Caradoc, came to stand by my side.

  “Well played, Your Majesty.” He wore a deep blue tunic accented with silver threads. The color suited his pale complexion and set off the blue tint of his eyes. I caught the faint odor of wine on his breath.

  “I don’t know what you mean.”

  His crooked smile was far more pleasing than Braedon’s. “My brother has underestimated you from the beginning.” He surveyed me with a frank stare. “You are stronger than he wants to admit. That will be his undoing, I think.”

  “Why are you telling me this?”

  He leaned in close to me. “We are not all loyal to the Mystic Code. True friends can be found among those you consider your enemies.” He winked then and staggered away, even though I knew he wasn’t drunk.

  I pondered his words as the rest of the room continued to fight. Quinn arrived a few minutes later, escorted by two guards.

  Geran pushed a path through the noblemen toward the Portal. Kennis followed close behind. Quinn’s eyes searched the room until he found mine.

  They know?

  I nodded.

  Quinn drew himself up as Geran approached. “You sent for me?”

  My father waved the parchment in front of him. “What did you do?” Kennis put her hand on his arm, but Geran shrugged her off. “How could you let her sign this?”

  “She was determined to save the boy’s life. She also had the good sense to insist amending the clause that would have allowed her husband to assume the throne if she died.”

  The Elders and Commoners groaned.

  “Did you think the Elders would let this stand?” Geran thrust the parchment into Quinn’s chest. “That we would allow our Queen to marry without our approval?”

  Quinn’s face hardened. “She is not just your queen. She is meant to be a queen for all of Ayden.”

  “But the bastard son of a Mystic? An outlaw? It cannot be allowed.”

  Quinn shook his head. “You have always looked at the appearance of the man, it is your failing.”

  “What are you saying?”

  “Can you not see that Kyran may be chosen for this task, as is Alystrine?”

  My father’s voice cracked as he tried to squelch his anger. “He is nothing.”

  I shivered, remembering how Kyran had described himself the same way.

  “He is the eldest son of Lord Donagh, head of the Mystic Council. His mother was an Elder of high renown, gifted by the Messengers with the power of prophesy.” Quinn’s voice grew louder as he looked around the crowded library. “Rejected by both ruling classes of Ayden, he made a home among the Commoners and earned their respect and loyalty.”

  Quinn took a step toward Geran. “I have kept watch on him since you refused him entry into the Sanctuary. He lived the life of an outlaw in order to survive, but in truth, he never broke the law. He has been visited by the Messengers and given a sacred task, which he fulfilled at risk to his own life. And if that wasn’t enough, he saved your daughter’s life on more than one occasion.”

  My father seethed, but didn’t speak.

  Lord Donagh broke through the crowd to face Quinn. “You lied to us, Portal. You made us believe you wrote Braedon’s name into the contract.”

  “I did. But I never kept you from reading it yourself. You chose to believe what I’d said when all the while the proof lay before you.”

  Donagh reached for Quinn’s throat but one of the Commoners pulled him back. The fighting threatened to erupt again.

  I called out above the din, “Stop!” The crowd grew silent. “Let’s talk about this rationally.” I pointed to people as I called their names. “Donagh, Braedon, Geran, Quinn and Oded.” I searched the faces of the Commoners. “Rafer and . . .” I couldn’t remember the other Council leader’s name.

  He bowed as I pointed to him. “Naill, Your Majesty.”

  “Naill, thank you.” I gestured to the table. “Let’s sit and discuss this as the leaders we are. The rest of you go back to the dining hall. Tell the chef to start the banquet without me.”

  I sat at the head of the table with the men taking seats along either side. I waited until the others had left before I spoke. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe we have three options here.” I held up my hand as Geran began to interrupt. “Let me set out the problem as I see it and you all can take turns advising me when I’m finished.”

  Geran clenched his jaw but nodded.

  “I’m not suggesting any of these options right now. I’m just stating them. First, I can honor the intent of the document and marry Lord Braedon within the year.”

  The men around the table began to argue and I pounded my fist as I stood up. “Enough!” They quieted again. “The second option is to honor the actual words of the document and marry Kyran.” I waited for another rise in anger but they kept themselves in check.

  “Finally, I could say the whole document is illegal and wait to betroth myself to someone else.” I cast my eye around the room. “I can pretty much guess what the opinions of the Elders and the Mystics are.” I turned to the Commoners who sat at the end of the table. “Naill, what do you think your people would approve?”

  The older man’s gray hair and steely eyes matched his name. He set his face as he contemplated my question. Turning to his side, he whispered to his younger companion for a moment before he answered me. “Your Majesty, we of the Commoners see a benefit to our people in two of your options.”

  He stood up. “Since both the Mystics and the Elders have issues with the document, it may be best to consider it void and reject it as a whole.” He held his hand up to keep the others from drowning him out. “The Queen has asked for the opinion of the Commoners. We may not have the power of the Elders or the strength of the Mystics, but our people deserve the right to have their voices heard.”

  I nodded toward him. “Go on.”

  “I think, my lady, that if you were to accept the contract as it is written, those within the Commoners would approve.”

  “You would accept Kyran as my husband?” I asked.

  My father pounded the table with his fist. “A bastard child? An outlaw of the Fey? Your people would let him rule over them?”

  Lord Donagh si
gnaled his accord with Geran. “For once, we agree on something. The Mystics will not allow this half-breed to usurp a full-blooded Mystic.”

  Naill straightened his shoulders under their scrutiny. “That is the problem with both your people. You dwell too hard on the legalism of your faiths and forget to search the heart of the man.”

  He faced Donagh. “Your son, Lord Braedon, may have pure Mystic blood, but no one will deny his black heart. He is ruthless, cruel and evil. He has spent the last eight years oppressing all but those who accept his tyrannical rule.”

  Next he turned his accusations toward Geran. “And you, who are so quick to judge Kyran as an outlaw, do you not accept responsibility for that outcome?”

  My father glowered at the leader of the Council of Commoners but didn’t refute him.

  Naill continued, “You alone judged him to be unworthy of finding a home among the Brethren.”

  Geran’s fist hit the table again. “He was Donagh’s son and as such could not be trusted. I do not regret my advice to Aldred.”

  “Who were you to decide the fate of a boy of fifteen? Without giving him an opportunity to prove himself you forced him into the life for which you now abhor him.” Naill turned to me. “Kyran has lived among our people for some twelve years, Your Majesty. In that time, he has never been accused of stealing or unprovoked violence. He has broken a few hearts, but never a vow.”

  Naill surveyed the room. “The royalty of Ayden have often chosen their spouses from the Common people. I think I speak for them now when I say we would be glad to accept him as your King.”

  Quinn’s voice whispered in my mind. May I speak?

  I nodded to him.

  “Your Majesty, for eight years the people have lived under the tyranny of Lord Braedon and the Mystic Council. The Black Guards have increased in numbers and terrorize all those who oppose him.” He glanced at Geran. “Under King Aldred the kingdom knew peace, but the Elders treated the Commoners as second-rate citizens, unfit to have any real say in the governing of Ayden.

  “I believe, with the right council and with Kyran at your side, Ayden might finally be a united kingdom. A place where every person is respected for who they are, whether noble, Mystic, Elder or Common.”