by Duncan Lay
“You vowed for Aroaril to take Kerrin if you break your word?” She clenched her fists at the thought. “How could you do such a thing?”
“I am sorry,” he said helplessly.
She closed eyes that burned with tears of many types. This was not a time to be making these sorts of decisions! “He has a fleet out there,” she said. “If we give him his family, he will return with them and seek revenge. You have to make him wait, make him reveal them. Once he has sent them back to Kotterman then you can give him his family and his treaty.”
He kissed her head and she felt the strength of that kiss travel all the way through her. “I shall look him in the eyes. I have broken him before and I will know when he is lying. Stay strong.”
*
Kemal watched impatiently as his agent, Abbas, rowed a small boat across the harbor to the far side of his vessel, then scrambled up a rope to get to the deck.
“I set off as soon as I saw your ship, high one,” Abbas puffed as he bowed.
“There is no time for that,” Kemal said irritably. “Tell me quickly, who rules here and what has been happening in my absence?”
He listened impatiently, one eye on the other ship, wondering when he would see Fallon reappear, while Abbas described the death of King Aidan, how the Duchess had first taken control but had now been restricted to a townhouse while Fallon ran the capital.
“He has been creating an army, high one. It is a rare day they do not train through the streets. They use the rooftops and plan to entangle any force in the tight streets,” Abbas explained.
“Interesting,” Kemal tugged on his beard. He remembered the streets of the capital and how tight and twisting they were. Even a small force could hold up a much larger one there.
“The Princess Feray has been staying at the former King’s castle and is never without a large guard. But my men have seen her out walking in the courtyard most days, while your sons play a game with Fallon’s son.”
Kemal found all this very useful. “So will Gaelland respect a treaty he makes?”
“He is honored and respected, high one. King Aidan had him kill your father’s three bodyguards, the ones Aidan wanted in the first place, and he revealed that their doings were part of the King’s plan. The people think him a hero.”
“And can he hold on to Berry? Or will Swane try to take it back?”
“I am sure the Prince will want to. But the people will stand with Fallon.”
Kemal dismissed the man with a nod. He had used a code with Feray to discover some of Fallon’s story was true but it was always good to have that confirmed. It was very interesting. The man was a peasant, yet he had risen to control the country. That was something his father would never let happen. Fallon and Bridgit were dangerous, for having overthrown one ruler, they would be naturally thinking of overthrowing any others. Although Fallon’s idea for a new treaty could work, he could not trust them to hold to any bargain.
But he had to get his family back.
Gokmen interrupted his thoughts politely. “High one, Fallon approaches again.”
Kemal saw the Gaelish leader standing defiantly on the other ship’s deck, arms crossed and no sign of a new treaty or, worse, his family.
“Watch him carefully,” Kemal ordered. He did not think this was a trap but, after what happened last time, did not plan to meet with Fallon without at least a company of archers to watch for treachery. He took a deep breath and crossed back onto the other ship. The last moon of worry and fear had been exhausting. Now to know his wife and sons were almost close enough to touch and yet out of reach was excruciating. Part of him wanted to order his soldiers forward, to take his family back by force. But the rest of him wanted to defeat Fallon himself, the way he did every night. Only then could he have peace. Kemal could never forget this was the man who had used a blacksmith’s hammer on his toes and then held a knife to Orhan’s eye. His foot gave a sympathetic twinge at the memory. “Have you drawn up the treaty yet?”
Fallon shook his head. “What about this fleet that you have waiting beyond the horizon? You need to send them home before we can sign anything.”
Kemal let nothing show on his face. “I have no fleet,” he said calmly. “I have two other ships, which were searching for your wife and the rest of your families, because I knew they had not taken enough food to last them the trip and nor did they have any maps showing them the way home. They know to meet up with me at a point a hundred miles away in the next quarter moon. If I do not appear by then, they will come here to see if something has happened to me. But what good are two ships to me? Do you really think I am so arrogant that I can take your entire country with so few? And we cannot wait for them to arrive here. Your winter is almost upon us. If we linger, we could all be lost. If that happens, then Gaelland will be utterly destroyed in the spring when my father comes to take revenge for my death. Your only chance is to get me back to Kotterman, healthy and happy, with your new treaty. Otherwise you will see the full fury of the Kotterman Empire.”
Fallon unfolded his arms but still made no move to produce either a treaty or Feray. “But that’s what you would say, if you had a fleet out there ready to take your revenge now.”
Kemal stepped closer and let some of his frustration and anger leak into his voice. “I am not playing games here,” he said. “I want my family back. I am willing to make a new treaty with you but do not make the mistake of thinking I will give you anything you want. You tricked me, tortured me and held my wife and children, remember? If you break the deal we made before, then I know I cannot trust you and any treaty you sign will be just to give you enough time to build a new army to defy us. So I am giving you a choice. Give me a treaty and my family and I will sail away and help preserve Gaelland. Or break our deal and I will sail back to my father and unleash a vengeance on you in the spring that will make every other province in our Empire shudder in fear. Choose now.”
He crossed his arms and stared at Fallon, letting some of his bitterness leak out of his eyes.
“And your family? What of them then?” Fallon asked.
“I shall mourn them on the way home, for I know that you will never let them go. And then I shall avenge them.”
He glared at Fallon, locking eyes with the man, just as he had done that fateful night when Fallon had held a knife to Orhan’s face. That night, Kemal had blinked and it was a memory that burned his soul. He would never do that again, no matter what it cost. But now, just as he feared he was going to have to sail away and mourn his family, the Gaelish leader was the one to blink.
“Wait here. I have scribes preparing the treaty documents now. I shall have refreshments sent to you and we shall exchange treaties and then, if all is agreed, we will bring you your family,” he said.
Kemal almost staggered from the weight of relief that dropped into his chest. But he would rather burn in the pits of Zorva before showing any of that to Fallon. “I am pleased you have seen sense. Both our peoples will be grateful for this day. Let it be so,” he said.
He watched Fallon walk away and turned his back before he closed his eyes and offered up a small prayer. Aroaril willing, everything would work out now. It was not the same as taking back that fateful night when Fallon had broken him but it was a first step.
*
“Have we got the scribes? Get the treaty drawn up, then get drinks and food for the signing, as well as supplies for their trip home,” Fallon announced as he walked back down the gangplank.
Bridgit broke away from Brendan and hurried to his side. “What are you saying? Does this mean you have agreed to give his family back?”
Fallon sighed. “It was either have a treaty now or he would walk away and return in spring to burn Gaelland. I looked into his eyes when he gave in before and agreed to bring you back. But there was no give in his eyes this time. You were both right and wrong. He was prepared to let his family die in exchange for his revenge. The revenge meant more to him than they did.”
Her
shoulders sagged for a moment, then her eyes blazed. “It is not too late,” she said. “We can—”
“Bridge, it is done,” he interrupted. “The die is cast and we must hope that Feray can bring him to his senses. She could be our best weapon against a Kottermani attack. Staying here just means there will be an attack, one we cannot hold back. We have no choice but to trust he will uphold the treaty we will sign.”
“I hope you do not regret this moment,” she warned.
He let out a bark of humorless laughter. “You are not the only one,” he said. “But at least it gives our people a chance. And I need you to support me. If we are to make it through this, then we need to work together.”
“As long as you listen to me, there will be no problems,” she assured him.
CHAPTER 51
Kemal watched the harbor of Berry slip past on either side before nodding to Gokmen. “I shall be going below to my cabin. Sail to our meeting point and tell me when we reach it,” he ordered.
“Your will, high one,” Gokmen bowed.
Kemal walked past his men without a backward glance. They had watched him sign the new treaty and drink a glass of wine with Fallon without emotion. He was also proud he had welcomed his family back without any fuss. The men had been told his family had stayed behind in Gaelland as proof the new land was safe. He did not know how many believed it, nor did he care. Their lives were forfeit if they even whispered of it. But now there were no cursed Gaelish watching, so he hurried below.
He flung open the door and Asil and Orhan flung themselves into his arms. He fell to his knees and held them close, kissing them both on the head and feeling them sob into his shoulders.
“You are safe now. Nobody will ever hurt you again,” he promised. He held them tight. Finally they stopped crying and he stopped needing just to smell their hair and feel them in his arms and he stood, releasing them gently.
“Go and wash and change,” he told them. “There are fresh clothes for you – you no longer need to wear those Gaelish items.”
Accustomed to obeying him, the boys began to move off, then rushed back and hugged him again. He patted their backs until Asil took Orhan’s hand, leading him to their adjoining cabin space.
Kemal watched them go and then turned to see Feray standing at the window. Wordlessly he strode across and held her.
“I died a little each night without you,” she said softly.
“I am sorry. It was my fault you were taken and put into Fallon’s hands,” he said, drawing back a little from her. “Did he treat you with respect?”
“He did. He showed he is not the monster of that night when he hurt us. And he also saved the boys and me when the mad King Aidan took us and wanted to offer our hearts to Zorva. He risked his life for us. He, alone and barely armed, took on a King, a Prince, a Fearpriest and a whole roomful of Zorva-worshippers to save us. His son, Kerrin, even became friends with Asil and Orhan. When we return, I am sure they would like to—”
“That will not happen,” Kemal said harshly.
“What do you mean? I thought we had a new treaty with the Gaelish?”
Kemal produced his sealed copy of the treaty, ripped the wax open, tore the parchment into pieces, then threw it into the sea. He turned back to her. “There is no treaty. There never could be a treaty with one like him.”
“But I do not understand,” Feray said. “You agreed, gave your word. And Fallon is the leader of the Gaelish, we need to deal with him—”
“I will never deal with that bastard!” Kemal spat. “I have spent the last moon dreaming of my revenge on him for what he did. Every night I relive that night when he threatened Orhan and made me do his bidding. Every fiber of my spirit cries out for vengeance. I have to humiliate him to restore my pride. That will always be between us and I must wipe out that stain.”
She reached out and grabbed his hand. “There is no stain,” she insisted. “You did what you had to, to protect your family. He was driven to it by the need to get his family back.”
He snatched his hand back. “I never thought you would defend him, after he held a knife to our son’s face!”
Feray reached out again, this time with both hands. “He fought for us, faced down real monsters disguised as men. I have to respect that and I have talked with him, seen he is a man not unlike you—”
“He is nothing like me!” Kemal snarled, outraged at the thought. “And saving you means nothing. If it were not for him, you would never have been at risk.”
She hung on to his hand. He was tempted to pull away but it had been so long since they had been together.
“What will you do?” she asked.
He let a smile creep across his face at the thought. It had taken a steady nerve and a quick tongue but he had finally turned the tables on Fallon. “I have seven other ships. They will meet us a day away from here. Then we shall return at night and take our revenge. I shall have a force of more than two thousand men. More than enough to strike at Berry and take the city. Without King Aidan, the country is ripe for the picking. I can secure Gaelland and return to Adana with Fallon and his family in chains to drag before my father and take a leisurely revenge.”
She pulled her hands away from his. “So you sat there and lied to them? Signed a treaty you intended to break?”
He stared at her in surprise. He had expected her to be delighted with his cleverness and applauding his acting skills. “I did what I had to, to free you!”
“I told them you could be trusted,” she said, her voice almost a wail.
“Good! Anything that helped fool that bastard. When next we see him, he will be in chains and groveling at my feet. And then the dreams will stop and I shall be a true man again,” he said, the thought of it filling him with a delicious joy.
Next moment she was in his arms again and he kissed her lightly. This was more like it!
“My love, do not do this,” she pleaded. “You do not need to prove your manhood and you lost nothing by agreeing to Fallon that night. You saved us and now we are all together again.”
Her hand slipped down his body, just as it did in his dreams every night. But he did not react to it. He did not want to hear he had no need of proving his manhood. He wanted her to see him for a true man. He stepped back.
“My love, Fallon is a better ruler to deal with than the mad King Aidan and his Zorva-worshipping son. Think of what is best for the Empire—”
“This is best for me, which is best for the Empire,” he said. “There will be no ruler in Gaelland but me and then, when the Gaelish are cowed, one of my brothers can take over so I am free to sit on the Elephant Throne. Now, no more about it. We shall wash and dress and eat together. We must make up for the time we have lost.”
She opened her mouth again but he placed his finger across her lips. He could see in her eyes that she wanted to keep arguing but his mind was clear. Fallon must pay for his crimes. Give him a couple of days to relax and then the trap would snap around him and the dreams would stop, replaced by Fallon on his knees, weeping and pleading helplessly for the lives of his family.
CHAPTER 52
Duchess Dina watched the cheering crowds from her window, sourly, seeing the joy of families reunited. She should be at the head of the parade. She should be receiving the cheers. Without her, this would never have happened. But that bastard Fallon had been unable to see what she had done to help him. Ungrateful wretch. It wasn’t as if she had ever set out to harm anyone. She was just trying to make the best of a bad world.
She had thought she would enjoy being the Duchess of Lunster, although that enjoyment swiftly palled. Rather than spend most of his time in Berry, her husband Kinnard stopped that life and instead stayed in Lunster, which was a foul pit, denying her the adulation and luxury she deserved as his wife.
Then he had to get on his high horse and defy his cousin the King, declaring he would not have any part of Aidan’s plan to use Zorva to defeat the Kottermanis. What choice did she have? When your King
tells you to silence someone or you will die too, naturally you make the choice to survive. The fact he promised the county would stay hers and dangled the possibility of marriage had almost nothing to do with it. It was a shame that guardsman she had prepared botched the job and sent the ship in to Baltimore rather than into the cliffs, but that was hardly her fault, now was it?
Yes, she had helped the Kottermanis take her people but that was inescapable. It was part of Aidan’s plan and, once she had helped him by killing her husband, there was no refusing him. But she had not liked doing it and had tried to help Prince Cavan. Aidan was a madman and she would have happily seen Cavan take the throne – especially if she could be sitting beside him when he did so. But the Prince had not grasped the possibility and, when the King had talked about making her his Queen, what could she do but to help him with that? It wasn’t her fault that men fell over themselves to fall for her.
Of course the mad bastard had then let Meinster drip honeyed words of poison into his ears, so he agreed to marry the Earl’s daughter instead. That meant all deals were off and she could help Fallon, as she always wanted to do. That had worked well, for a time, until the fool of a guardsman blabbed his mouth off and Fallon was too stupid to grasp what she had done for him and turned on her.
She glared out of the window. It was not her fault! The men around her were the dimwits who had tricked her and forced her to do what she must to survive. She had never intended to hurt anybody, just to make her way in this wicked man’s world. And then they looked down their nose at her and accused her of treachery! Well, if that was how they insisted on seeing things, then she must look elsewhere for advancement. And where else was there to go but to Prince Swane?
