by S K Wee
“Thanks, Quin. Maybe that will keep him occupied until dinner. I’ve barely had a chance to talk to you since you returned from the Academy. Let’s walk together and get caught up.” Quin was happy to walk with his mother. He had really missed having her to talk to while he was training at the Academy.
They each took a hand and walked with Mitt to the marketplace. Quin told his mother about all the things he was learning at the Academy. He didn’t mention the team training with Kappy. He knew she would be upset that he would be leaving again. He had always been quite shy, but he managed to make a few friends—though mostly the boys he knew before; Kappy, Sylly, and Dank. Dank had already begun to go his separate way after meeting one of the girls that attended classes with him at the Mage School. Kappy and Sylly always tried to include him but they were best friends and Quin often felt left out. Both Frankie and Twig tried to make sure he had good teammates, but Quin still had a hard time making and keeping friends. When he was picked for the special training with the other Whispers, he was just beginning to feel wanted and needed within a team and didn’t want that feeling to end. Kappy had already returned to Port Devdan and Sylly with him.
They stopped at a few of the vendors and Mitt received treats wherever they went. Everyone treated Mitt like a king since they knew he was the governor’s son. The excitement soon dwindled and Mitt was ready to return to the manor. Quin was much happier having spent the entire morning catching up with his mother. She had a way of making him feel much more vital. Though he still didn’t know what he would be doing with the rest of his life, he knew that he was loved.
After dinner, Frankie and Twig asked if they could talk with him and Desta. He immediately knew what they would bring up and felt nervous—he had always felt they cared for him and wanted what was best for him. They followed the pair into the study and Twig shut the door.
Once they were seated, Frankie turned to Quin. “As you know, the team we were training at the Academy was cut short. I have complete faith that the training was nearly complete, and I believe you were beginning to feel a strong sense of belonging within that group.” Frankie could always tell what he was feeling.
“Yes, I was. I loved training with them. I wish that it didn’t have to end, but I understand the circumstances. I haven’t spoken to my mother about the decision you asked us to make, but I know what my answer will be.” Quin looked over at his mother, who looked confused.
Twig cleared his throat and turned toward Desta. “The team was set up for a specific purpose. We wanted Quin to have a chance to be a part of the team but it will be up to him to decide if he would like to continue with them. Within the next couple of weeks, they will travel to Port Devdan to continue as the personal guards for Amir Kurush. I put the question to each member of the team and asked if they would like to continue in this capacity. It is a wonderful opportunity for these young recruits.” Twig looked at both Desta and Quin.
Quin noticed the sad look on his mother’s face. She probably knew what his answer was going to be. “My answer is easy, Twig. I would love to continue with the team and pledge myself to Kappy. Do you think he will have me?” Quin still felt so unsure of himself.
Both Twig and Frankie smiled at him and though Desta looked sad, she also gave him an encouraging smile filled with love and pride. Frankie patted his shoulder in reassurance. “Quin, you are important to the group and I know they will be thrilled that you want to join them. You do have to discuss this more privately with your mother and Jeffro, of course. If it’s all right with them, we want to move the team by the end of the week and get all of you settled in Port Devdan.” Frankie smiled and seemed relieved that he had chosen to go. He could already tell his mother would not be happy to see him leave once more, but he was nearly seventeen years old, nearly a man.
*****
The drama surrounding his family had Darby shaking his head in despair. His eleven-year-old daughter suddenly took on airs and felt as if she was the queen of the castle. Lysette tried to take control of everything after Arlie left. Though Darby had to hold back his amusement at times, he didn’t want her to believe she could treat the others like they were servants, even the servants. That wasn’t how they did things here on the island.
After shutting his daughter down and sending her to her room in disgrace, Darby left her to stew. Lysette pouted like the little princess she claimed to be, but after letting her simmer for over an hour, Darby went to smooth his lovely daughter’s feathers.
“Do you know what you did wrong?” Darby wanted to see if any of it had made any sort of impression.
“Yes, Papa. I was feeling full of myself and thought I was the woman of the house. I know better than to treat Desta that way. Ellinor was kind enough to act like she wasn’t offended by my treatment of her, but I shall apologize to her also. I don’t know why I felt the need to lord over them. I even told Frankie what to do. What’s wrong with me, Papa?” Lysette had tears in her eyes and his heart went out to her.
“Nothing, sweetie. Nothing at all. I would have been disappointed had you not been able to see how you were wrong, but you do. You are my princess, make no mistake about it. You always will be. But that fact does not make you any better or any worse than anyone else. You always need to treat people how you want to be treated. It’s as simple as that. Now, go down and talk to your family. They still love you, as do I.”
Lysette scampered out the door and Darby went to stand near her bedroom window. How he missed Arlie. She always knew what to say. Darby sent his senses forth toward the cliff and his hawk’s aerie. Erram answered back almost immediately. She shared his sense of loneliness also. She had just sent the last of her group of fledglings off that morning. She was always sad when they left her nest. She flew over to the window and Darby sat with her for a while.
They always grow up and leave the nest. Most of them without a backward glance. After all we sacrifice for them. I now have too much time on my hands. Darby would not be in that position for many years. Young Mitt would be his fledgling for quite a while yet. But he could feel the hawk’s sadness and sent her what comfort he could.
Chapter 4
City of Port Devdan, Country of Bhaelor
The whole city was in mourning. Kurush felt the sadness throughout not only the palace but the entire city of Port Devdan. Uncle Anduras was well loved and Kurush was beginning to feel the weight of his birthright. Anduras held the office of Regent for many years. He was to hold that office until Kurush came of age in another year and a half, but now as unprepared as he felt, Kurush would have to take over the reins of the government.
They held many meetings in the two days since he had returned from the Academy. Aunt Rose would always stand alongside him to help him out, but she was grieving also. Sophia had come to help with the arrangements and was busy dealing with the church getting the funeral arrangements in order. Aunt Rose was drilling him on how to handle the council members. She felt certain they would use the turmoil to try to take over some control of the government.
“Kappy, sweetheart, you cannot allow one speck of doubt to enter your decisions. You need to project complete self-confidence even if you don’t feel it. They will take advantage of the slightest lapse. Trust me in this—I know these men through and through. They will pounce on you and try to break you.” Aunt Rose was always giving him pointers on how to deal with the men on the council.
“Must we meet already, Aunt Rose? We haven’t even had the funeral yet. Can’t they wait until then to call a council meeting?” Even to Kappy’s ear, he sounded like he was whining. But it was true; he hadn’t had a chance to come to terms with losing the only father figure he ever knew.
Rose stood before him and set her hands on his shoulders in comfort. She looked Kappy straight in the eye to make sure he understood what she was about to say. “They want to test you to determine how strong you are. They will attempt to make demands so they can see how far they can push you. We need to show them that nothing has chang
ed and you will continue to lead as Anduras did. You will follow his path. Show them what you want them to see. I know you can do this and remember, I’ll be right beside you.” Rosaline straightened his robes and pushed back his hair. They both took a deep breath and opened the doorway to the Council Chamber.
When they entered the room, Kurush saw five men sitting around a large table. They all appeared to be at ease and in deep conversation. Aunt Rose stopped their entry near the door until she got their attention and then motioned for the men to stand. It was a show of respect for the future Amir and she would not allow anything less. Once they proceeded to the head of the table, Rose nodded at him to sit, then took the seat to the right of him and the rest of the men took that as their cue to once again take their seats.
Rose started the proceedings with introductions—she did not allow anyone to speak out of turn and it wasn’t until Kurush was introduced and apprised of everyone’s duties within the council that the meeting was allowed to continue. Kurush immediately requested that the Honorable Mallory from the cathedral give an outline of the funeral proceedings. Kurush wanted all the council members to realize that this was the most important business that needed to be taken care of. Everything else could wait.
It wasn’t long before arguments arose about the funeral. Kurush let the bickering continue for some time until he finally stood up and slammed his fist down on the table causing everyone to jump back.
“How dare any of you question the wishes of this family! Anduras will be honored and all proceedings will be orchestrated by his wife, Rosaline, or by me. That is final. Now, if there is any other business that can’t wait until after our period of mourning is completed, I would like to know what it is.” Kurush sat back in his chair and looked from one shocked face to the next. He was not proud of his outburst but it seemed to have made an impression. It seemed none of the men had any issues they deemed important enough to bring up and the meeting was quickly adjourned.
Aunt Rose led him into the study that Anduras had used. Kurush always knew that Rose was the primary decision maker. It was her cunning and strength that led the country out of the dark era that his father placed them in. Kurush spent most of his life trying to make sure he would never become anything that remotely resembled his father. In that, he was assured, he was successful. He could tell both Rose and his half-sister, Frankie, were proud of him, at least he hoped Frankie was still proud of him after his misadventures at the Academy.
Rose stood to the side of the desk and waved Kappy toward the cushioned seat placed behind it. “Try out your seat and see how it fits. You were magnificent in there. I saw those arrogant, pompous fools shut down right in front of my eyes. I want you to figure out what your council will look like. You can add some positions but I don’t think you should try to eliminate any of the old fools right away. You need to make them think they are still valuable. Until you are more secure in your rule, they are still a danger to you, so you need to tread carefully.” Kappy both felt and appreciated Rose’s praise.
“Thanks for all your help, Aunt Rose. I just don’t want to think about any of that until we have paid our respects to Uncle Anduras. One thing at a time. I wish I had known he was that ill. Maybe we could have done something for him.” Everyone he spoke to was surprised at his death.
“He kept his health issues from me as well. I didn’t realize how ill he was until it was too late. I didn’t realize that I would miss him so much.” Rose wiped some tears from her eyes. Kappy couldn’t remember ever seeing his aunt cry before and found that he needed to wipe some tears from his face also.
“I’m really going to miss him, too.” There was a knock on the door and one of the servants announced that Arlie had arrived. “Go ahead, Aunt Rose. I need to find Sylly and see what he has been up to.” Kappy knew Rose was anxious to see her sister.
After his aunt left, Kappy sat and looked over his uncle’s domain. He wasn’t ready to change anything yet, but he thought he would probably make this space his own. When the servant returned with some refreshments, he asked her if she knew where Sylly was. She was young and somewhat pretty. Kappy couldn’t help but compare all the girls to Pritha from the Academy. Big breasted Pritha, who actually touched him and it had felt so good, even if it had been for only two seconds. He barely had a chance to touch her large breasts when their explorations were cut short by the arrival of Frankie with her bad news, but his fingers still held the memory. They really felt like nothing he had ever encountered. The weather had been below freezing and her nipples were hard as nails. Kappy couldn’t help but smile at the memory. Why would those images cause all these warm feelings within him?
“My, don’t you look comfortable. I heard you were looking for me.” Sylly plopped down in one of the other cushioned chairs, his feet automatically coming up onto the desk.
“Guess I don’t need to invite you to sit. I was just wondering what you have been up to while I was busy taking care of politics” Kappy leaned back into his chair also and plopped his feet up on the opposite side of the desk.
“Well, I did get a chance to talk to Twig before he went back to Orion. He warned me that my amma is not very happy with me for coming straight here with you instead of going home first. You know how she can get. I just didn’t want to have to explain our indiscretion with the girls. I really don’t think she would understand.” Kappy knew exactly what he was worried about. Due to all the uproar; Aunt Rose had yet to hear the news either. For some reason, he thought Rose would probably just smile. He couldn’t imagine that Conny would be very upset either.
“You may be surprised at what she understands, my friend. Conny has always seemed very accepting to me. Did you learn anything else from Twig?” Twig must have brought Arlie across the bridge and left right away. Kappy would have loved to talk with him.
“Yes, but it’s not all good news. The team we were working with was actually set up by Frankie for your benefit. She wanted a well-bonded team that would leave the Academy with you and become established as your personal guard. It seems that even though the training was cut short, they still want to join you here, all but Dank who wanted to come but Amma said she needed him to work the shipping office.” If Kappy could handpick his team, they would be the ones he would have picked.
“That sounds like great news! We worked very well together, didn’t we?” Even though they just started working together as an elite team, Kappy had known the others for years.
“Yeah, except for that snob, Malini. She has always gone out of her way to irritate me. I don’t know why. I know she was the only one who was really upset with the spying thing. It wasn’t that big of a deal.”
“I don’t know what you have against Malini. She is one of the best warriors we have. She has a right to be smug about that. I really can’t blame her for being upset about us spying on them. They expected privacy and we violated that. I for one will be happy to have her at my back. Too bad Pritha wasn’t in the group. I would be thrilled to have her at my front. Tee-hee. You know what I mean?” Pritha had never excelled at any of the training, but he still would have enjoyed her with the team.
“Yeah, I certainly know what you mean. She does have quite the front and you even got to touch them. I can only dream of something like that.” Sylly sighed and closed his eyes like he was trying to envision such a happenstance.
“The little touch I did get disturbs my dreams to no end. What I wouldn’t give to touch them again. Not just touch, but . . . you know.” The boys sat still with their eyes closed in their little dream worlds where many teenage boys wandered relentlessly.
The following days were very busy for everyone around him. Kappy found he really had little to do himself. People were designated to watch over all the little details and Aunt Rose took care of doing all the designating. He had plenty of time to deal with the loss of his uncle and become increasingly nervous about his upcoming coronation ceremony.
The arrival of his personal guards gave rise to a mee
ting. Kappy was surprised that Quin agreed to join the group but was extremely happy about it. Quin, with his unique gift, would certainly come in handy for all sorts of clandestine operations if any should come up. Kappy set Sylly in charge of the group but made sure he would not treat Malini unfairly. Kappy wasn’t sure why his best friend didn’t like her but wanted to make sure he didn’t let his personal feelings for her cause problems within the group.
By the day of the actual funeral, Kappy was thrilled to have something he was required to do. It seemed like the Palace and even the government, was being run without any of his input. He only needed to make an appearance here and there and that was about it. He knew, of course, that these idle days were nearing an end. Once he was officially crowned the head of this nation, he would have plenty to do. So he should enjoy his freedom while he could.
The funeral itself took less than an hour. All the extra posturing and processions took the rest of the day and into the next. Soon, though, all that was left was the coronation ceremony and then, everything would get back to normal. What normal would comprise was not something Kappy could even imagine.
“How are you holding up, Kappy?” Dianna’s smile could charm the wildest beast. Sylly’s little sister had always been like a little sister of his own and he couldn’t help but smile back at her.
“Sweet Dianna. I am doing just fine now that you are sitting beside me. What do you think of this city of mine?” Dianna had never been to Port Devdan and Kappy was curious to hear what she thought of his new seat of power.
“It’s so much bigger than Briar. Dirtier, too. The streets near the harbor are terribly filthy. I think you should clean this city up when you’re the boss. I do love the palace, though. Aunt Frankie showed me some secret passageways and Amma showed me her old room from when she used to live here.” Kappy wasn’t even aware of the secret passageways. He was going to speak with Frankie about that.
