by Billy Wong
Good point. But Rose wasn't used to doing nothing when someone she cared about was in trouble. "Maybe I could just observe what's going on for a while. Then I'll have a better understanding of things."
"Leaving again?" Finn asked testily.
She looked down. "It's what I always do. You have to be used to it by now."
His rough, yet gentle hand brushed her cheek as if telling her not to feel too bad. "Yeah, but I still don't like it. You know how I worry when you're away. You always let yourself get messed up so bad."
"I'm not looking to get into a fight."
"And yet, you always do," he said with a grin.
She spread her arms helplessly. "They find me. What can I do about it?"
"You can take me with you, and I'll help you protect yourself." These days, he didn't quite have the bluster to imply that he'd be the one doing the bulk of the protecting.
"And leave the kids behind again?"
"They're two. They're not going to remember."
Rose wasn't so sure about that. She thought about his proposal. To be sure, she'd be glad for his company, and his presence would make it less likely for her to get hurt too badly. On the other hand, their children... "I wish there was some way we could take Jacob and Amber with us, without putting them in danger."
He gave a sad shake of his head. "You know that's not possible."
"I know. Some people love to pick the easiest targets, damn them."
Finn lifted her chin and looked questioningly into her unhappy eyes. "So are we going or not?"
She forced a smile. "Looks like we'll be having another adventure."
"You don't have to go, if you don't want to."
"But I do have to. If I don't and something really bad happens-"
He interrupted. "I know, you'll be beating yourself up for years over not helping when you could have. You make life too hard for yourself, Rose."
"I'm who I am. It's life that makes itself hard."
"You have great maternal instincts."
After a moment, Rose realized he said it ironically and agreed, "Yeah, for my friends, who I leave my kids to take care of. Great mother, huh?"
"Maybe your real problem is that you make friends so far away. If all your friends lived nearby, you wouldn't have to travel to help them out."
"Yeah, but it just happens. Unless you want me not to travel at all."
He pretended to consider it for a moment. "No way, love. It'd be too much of a waste of your talents. How would you save the kingdom cooped up in here?"
She chuckled. "I couldn't. Kayland would have to find a new champion."
"Maybe you could keep your exploits limited to Kayland?"
It wasn't a serious suggestion, and she readily answered, "Hell no! Got to stop some threats before they ever reach our soil, or hunt them down where they live, no?"
"You're right again, of course." They shared a long, comfortable silence. Then he asked, "Are we going now?"
"There's no better time." After arranging for their children's care and packing their bags, the couple went to say goodbye to Derrick. Upon seeing his unhappy stare at their full knapsacks, Rose could tell it wouldn't be the smoothest of farewells.
Their longtime friend wasn't too thrilled about having to take charge of the expanded center by himself again. "Why do you guys still act like this, when you have kids to take care of? I would've thought that you'd grow out of your thirst for adventure by now." He himself had lost much of his taste for it, after losing his love Julie the year before.
Rose shook her head. "We're not doing this just for fun. A friend of mine in Terlon is really having problems, so of course I want to help him, same as I would you. And it's not just him, but the whole country that's involved in this mess. I put a lot of time, effort, and pain into saving it, so it'd be hard just to watch it all go to waste from afar."
He seemed to understand, but asked, "So why does Finn have to go with you?"
She didn't have to answer, because her husband did it himself. "I'm going because I love Rose, and want to protect her from harm as best I can. And I obviously can't do that from here. You remember what happened to her last time she was there without me. Hope I'll be able to keep her safe this time."
"I know you have the best intentions, and that it's noble of you to go out there to help other people. It must be tough to sacrifice time with your kids." The words pained Rose; doing the right thing was indeed difficult when it required such a tradeoff. Derrick continued, "But it's hard for me too when you're gone. Last time it was hell to keep things running at all, let alone smoothly. I wish you wouldn't get attached to so many people you meet during your trips."
Rose exhaled. "I've considered that thought on occasion. But it's just not something that's feasible. I mean, I've made most of my best friends during my travels—you included, not to mention Finn! So I'm not about to cut myself off from that. Sorry."
He smiled then, letting her know he more than forgave her. "I guess it wouldn't suit you to do it. Take care, Rose, Finn. Come back safe!"
Though it was obvious he would still be unhappy with their absence, there was nothing to be done for it, and the couple left for the port of Nacin. Walking down the road together with her mighty husband, Rose felt a sense of safety lacking when she'd traveled alone, and somehow, though past experience told her otherwise, she knew she'd be just fine.
#
That unaccustomed feeling of security didn't quite make it to the ship, and before boarding Rose made a silent prayer to any gods who would listen that this time, she wouldn't encounter the same misfortune as she had on her last two sea voyages. Perhaps some divinity did hear her plea, for Rose and Finn made it to their destination safely and disembarked in Polier without a hitch. At least, until less than ten feet from the docks, they were accosted by a dozen Terlonian soldiers whose hands hovered close to their weapons. Rose recognized a couple from the battles they'd fought together against the Fanteians. But they acted like they didn't know her, refusing to meet her eyes as they stood there stiffly and in silence.
The leader of the squad, a husky veteran of about forty in a faded breastplate, said authoritatively, "Come with us. Queen Danica would like a word with the two of you."
Queen? Did that mean she'd already taken the throne from Sean? If so, there would be little to discuss, and at least Terlon was in sturdy hands, but what had happened to the deposed king? Rose smiled and replied casually, "Sure, no problem."
It seemed the soldiers had somehow expected a more hostile reaction, and they relaxed noticeably. "Good to see you again, Spirit Queen!" one greeted her. He referred, of course, to her ability to outdrink everyone who'd challenged her in Terlon.
Their escort led them to a manor on the north side of Polier, and Rose noted after entering that the interior had been decorated to create a semblance of a royal palace. So Polier had become the new capital? Soon she and Finn were brought before Danica, who reclined in a large armchair in the manor's great hall. Though luxurious, it seemed not quite a royal throne, and the queen's bearing was equally lacking in regality as she leaned forward and said coldly, "Hello, Rose. What brings you back here?"
Before she could answer, Finn asked, "What did you do to Sean?"
"That's my first question, too," Rose agreed.
"I didn't do anything. He's just fine, residing richly in Belar as before."
Whew. At least Rose wouldn't have to consider taking action against the new queen. "So did he give you the crown willingly, or did you take it by force?"
"Neither."
Huh? Only then did she look closely at the thin circlet Danica wore, and realize it wasn't the crown she had passed on to Sean. "So you're not queen?"
Danica frowned. "I'm queen—of southern Terlon, or what's considered southern Terlon now that Fanteia occupies the real south. Your friend's still in charge of the north. He adamantly refused to give up his title of 'king,' and both of us knew a civil war would do our people no good at all, so we agr
eed to a compromise."
"And split the nation in two?!" Not exactly a good show of Terlonian solidarity for sure. "What about the army? Who got what?"
Now she smiled and explained, "He got to keep the city of Belar and its surrounding lands. I control the rest. Don't worry, I have more than enough... no thanks to you."
So Danica was, in effect, the queen of Terlon, or most of it now. Of course—Sean couldn't have done much to resist a forceful takeover by her, and so had agreed to this disadvantageous solution to avoid a worse outcome. But what good was ruling Belar to him? Maybe he just wanted to retain some acknowledgment of his kingly descent.
"Thank you for trying to keep the peace," Rose said evenly with effort.
"I did wonder if you would come to fight against me on your friend's behalf, actually," Danica mused. Her eyes narrowed. "I'd crush you."
Rose shrugged. A lot of leaders had thought the same thing, who were now either dead or severely weakened in power as a result of their conflicts with her. Danica didn't intimidate her much, though it annoyed her to be treated with such terseness after all she'd done for Terlon. "By the way," she asked suspiciously, "why did you take so long to come back if you weren't dead? Were you that willing to stand by and watch while they killed your father and tried to conquer your homeland?"
"I was stabbed again while already having a pierced lung and needed a lot of time to recover. I'm not quite as much of an inhuman monster as you, even if I can carry on with severe wounds for a while."
She wasn't sure she completely believed Danica, and wondered if she had delayed her return until Rose left so she could bully Sean with impunity. And if she could bring herself to do that despite her father's murder... Rose worried for Sean's continued safety.
"Can we go now before you guys start scratching and pulling out each other's hair?" Finn asked impatiently.
Danica sneered. "You're dismissed."
Rose wasn't done yet. "Wait, do you know what's happening in Fanteia right now?"
"After going missing for a bit, Julian came back, but soon left again. He's said to be on a quest, looking for the sword of his god or some such. Guess he's gone completely insane now that his brother's gone. Bad for Fanteia, good for us."
"Well, that's good at least."
They left the temporary palace, and Finn asked Rose uncertainly, "What now?"
"We go see Sean, and find out why he hasn't just given up his crown. It's not a good thing for Terlon to be divided like this, especially when the threat of Fanteian hostility isn't quite dead."
Finn's eyes widened in surprise. "So you're going to try and convince Sean to give up his little kingdom? But aren't you his friend?"
"Well, Danica certainly won't be letting go of her right to rule without a fight. And even if she isn't much for formalities, she has a lot more leadership experience than him. So even if we're friends, I should try and make him see what's best for everybody."
He smiled and said, "You're a wise woman."
"You think I'm being heartless?"
"No. Practical. Besides, it's not like I'm sure you won't have a total change of heart once you talk to him."
"That is true. Whatever I decide to do, though, I'd like to try and bring this kingdom closer together as much as we can, so it'll be more ready to fight off future threats."
"Isn't the main threat gone?"
Rose shook her head. "Delayed, maybe, but not gone by a long shot. Julian's alive, and if he finds Deathend's sword—or something he believes to be it—I'm afraid he might gain a major boost of confidence. I don't know what he'll do, maybe just try in some crazy way to kill Deathend, but we have to consider the possibility he'll decide to seek his god's favor again by doing what he failed to before. Taking Terlon and killing Sean."
"You're right—especially if he finds himself unable to kill what isn't there to be killed, then he just might do that. Hope you won't end up fighting Sean though, right?"
She did fear that eventuality, having been forced to slay former friends and allies in battle before. But she didn't think it would happen this time; if anything, one didn't have to kill someone to beat them, and she doubted Sean could put up much of a fight. Still, you didn't want to hurt him at all, physically or otherwise. "Just let me do all the talking this time, okay," she said, "and hopefully everybody will get through this with intact pride and bodies."
#
The trip to Belar was a familiar one by now for Rose, and when she got there, she didn't need any help finding what had once been her royal manor. She spotted Katie in the hall and thought to just greet her and walk by, but seeing the girl's tired, puffy eyes stopped her. "What's wrong? You look like you haven't been getting enough sleep."
"You have to help Sean," Katie said. "He thinks to take on Danica, but I don't think he's up to it. She seems really dangerous..."
Rose gently patted her shoulder. "Don't worry, I won't let anything bad happen to him."
She continued on to Sean's office and found her friend browsing through a large pile of documents. "Guess who, Sean... I'm back!"
"Rose!" he beamed. "I'm so glad you've come. Now we can get this kingdom back in one piece, huh?"
The enthusiasm with which he said it made her uneasy, for it indicated he expected to reunite Terlon under his rule. "That's just what I came to talk about. The country can't remain split like this."
He didn't seem to notice the somber tone of her voice. "Yes, exactly. So how do you think we should go about doing it?"
"Rose thinks you should give up your piece of the nation to Danica," Finn said.
She glared at him for an instant, then smiled. He'd saved her the difficulty of saying the words herself, even if she had told him not to. "It's true."
Sean's face fell with disappointment. "So you're not going to help me take back the kingdom, huh?"
"I don't think so."
"Why? Danica's not much of a queen."
"Neither are you such a great king," she said bluntly, "unless you've grown more than I can imagine in the last three months. Last time I saw you, you were all worried about not being ready to take the throne."
"I know I don't have much knowledge or experience yet. But I have something Danica doesn't. A dream for the future of this nation beyond simple survival."
"I'm sure most rulers have dreams of making their nations greater, and Danica probably does too. But many don't get to realize much of their dreams because, well, life is hard. Katie's worried about you, you know."
"I know." He looked at her with sad eyes. "It hurts me that even the woman I love doesn't believe in me. How can you all dismiss me so easily?"
She tried to soothe him. "I'm not saying you could never make a good ruler if you got the chance. But as circumstances are now, you don't have much of a chance. People don't believe in your lineage, and nobody wants their king to be a lie."
"Rose, you gave me your crown. How could you do that thinking I was a lie?"
She hesitated to say what came to mind next, for she feared he wouldn't take it well. But she'd given it much thought on the way here, and felt he deserved to hear everything she considered. "I don't think you're lying, and know you really believe you're of royal descent. But you only believe that because your uncle told you so."
"What? He was dying when he told me! And he was a good man. Surely you can't think he might have lied about something like this!"
"Yes, he was a good man, and loved you very much. But every parent wants something better for their children, and being as a father to you, this was his last chance to give you that. I can understand why he'd do such a thing. I'm not saying it's certain he lied, just putting it out there as a possibility, and something your opponents could use as an argument against your claim." Really, she herself didn't want to think Kelvin had been dishonest about Sean's heritage in his last moments. But Sean needed to see how people could doubt his unproven claim of royal parentage, true or not.
His conflicted frown told her he understood her r
easoning, but he shook his head. "I stand by my uncle's words. I am Gregor's son."
Feeling guilty for upsetting him and knowing he could well be right, she backed off. "Fine, tell me your dream for your kingdom."
"I want to give everyone, commoners as well as lords, a chance in government, and allow merit, not birth, to decide the power of one's voice. Turn Terlon into a republic."
"Like Sevria?" A southern island republic, Sevria had attempted to invade Kayland a few years ago. Despite their supposedly superior, fairer form of government, they'd proven just as capable of unjustifiable aggression as any monarchy. If more of their people had approved of the war against Kayland, that hadn't made it any less bloody and devastating to its victims. But she supposed in theory, a republican government could work well, as probably any type could under the right leaders.
"Yes, but with all people able to elect their leaders, not just the wealthy."
Okay, that was something different from Sevria. Less wealthy folk like her family might not be as educated about political issues as the rich, but they were probably more knowledgeable about other matters those more well to do were distanced from and deserved a say. After considering it further, she said, "It could be nice to try out. But maybe trying a new form of government isn't the best thing for a country that might soon go back to war?"
"It could always wait until we have stable peace with Fanteia."
"But you don't know when, if ever, you will. Even then, adopting a new government could easily be enough to throw the nation into chaos and make it vulnerable again."
"You're such an innovator on the battlefield, Rose. But not so open to the same in politics, huh?"
She shook her head. "It's not change I fear, it's failure. I improvise a lot on the battlefield because it works. I just don't know if a new system of government will."
"So there's no way I'm going to get you to help me take Danica down?"
"See? You're ready to start violence now for the possibility of a better future. Even Danica tried to avoid such strife by making this deal with you. Is it really justified to resort to violence when you're not under immediate threat of it being done to yourself?"
