“What are you talking about?” Mersby asked in an intimidating tone. “Who are you young man, and what nonsense have you filled this girl with?”
“She and I are in love, your highness,” Marco said simply. “And I’ve seen Count Argen and how he treats her; he is not good for her and cares nothing for her.”
“Uncle!” Ellersbine cried. “Don’t get angry at Marco. He’s done nothing wrong. But he saved my life when we were attacked at sea by Corsairs, and by a sea monster, and when our ship sank, and when I was abducted, and even when Argen left me in the clutches of Baron Crassten. Marco has looked over me better than anyone but father would have!”
“He’s the finest swordsman in the army,” she declared, as Marco blushed. “And he knows alchemy; he healed my wounds. And…,” she paused without saying anything further.
“Indeed?” her uncle asked mildly. “I should enjoy learning more about him. But the fact remains that you are engaged to Count Argen at this moment.”
“Where are you staying in Foulata?” Grace asked Marco.
“Ellersbine has asked me to stay with her,” Marco answered, and saw the immediate frown on Mersby’s face.
“We’ll invite you to stay here with us, and Suseen and Sarai will move into your home with you, Ellersbine,” Aunt Grace immediately pronounced, naming her own daughters, Ellersbine’s cousins.
Marco could see that his beloved princess was about to break into tears, and he stepped over to hug her. He realized the prudence of what her family was suggesting.
“Don’t cry,” he told her soothingly. “You’re back in Foulata now, and your uncle and aunt are watching out for you. I’ll be able to see you every day, all day long, until we have this all figured out.”
“Listen to the boy,” Mersby spoke up. “You’ve got some very tough circumstances Ellersbine, my dear. We’ll put the pieces of your life back together, just be patient. You and your aunt go upstairs and see your cousins and announce our plans, so they can start packing. Marco and I will wait for you down here,” he said in a mild voice.
Ellersbine squeezed Marco tightly. “You think this is alright?” she asked in a whisper.
He squeezed her back. “I think it is best, and if anything goes wrong, I’ll set it right again,” he promised.
She turned her head to smile at him, then kissed him and departed with her aunt, and Marco and Mersby remained behind in the study. Marco looked from the retreating forms in the hallway to the uncle.
“So who are you Marco, and what will it take to get you away from my niece? How much money do you want?” the uncle immediately asked.
“Baron Crassten is dead. I killed him to rescue Ellersbine,” Marco said flatly. “I can protect Ellersbine from any threat, including Argen’s nasty soul. I don’t want any money, and I don’t need any. I’m just here, waiting for my fate with your niece to reach its destiny.”
“Destiny?” Mersby asked sarcastically.
“I believe you are doing what you think is best for Ellersbine,” Marco answered. “And I think you are right to protect her reputation. But you’re wrong to think you need to protect her from me. I welcome your offer that I stay here with you, if it’s genuine. If it’s not, I’ll find someplace else to live in the city, and I’ll still watch over, and share my love with, your niece,” he stated.
Mersby said nothing, as he stared at Marco, weighing the young stranger’s words.
“You may stay here, and we’ll take time to find out more about you and your claims while we get Ellersbine settled back into society,” he said at last. “We’ll have your belongings sent over here from my late brother’s home, when the ladies arrive there. And we’ll plan to go to the armory to find out just how well you handle your sword.”
The sound of Ellersbine and the other women returning down the hall reached their ears, and then a quartet of ladies entered the room. Marco saw Ellersbine first, and recognized her Aunt Grace. He studied the two additional arrivals, a pair of girls who appeared slightly older than Ellersbine; they had dark golden complexions and the same dark red hair their mother had.
“Suseen and Sarai, this is Marco,” Ellersbine introduced.
“It’s a delight to meet someone our little cousin raves about so much,” Suseen spoke first. The girls’ eyes were inspecting him closely, he could tell, and he was thankful that Fara had pressed for him to wear presentable clothes while out with Ellersbine.
“When you reach Ellersby’s home, have Marco’s belongings sent back here,” her father said to the girls,
So you’re a great swordsman; will you join any of the clubs in town?” Sarai asked.
“I’m not sure,” Marco answered. “I just want to spend time with Ellersbine and make sure she’s safe,” he added.
“All the boys join the clubs, and compete in the tournaments,” Sarai prodded.
“Marco would beat all of them,” Ellersbine said. “When we were attacked by the Corsairs, he singlehandedly sent Rhen and Gielle and Daddy and me free by fighting a whole clutch of the Corsairs.”
“That’s quite a story,” Suseen said. “We’ll have to ask Rhen about it. I heard she returned just a couple of days ago.”
Marco and Mersby and Grace walked with the girls out to the drive in front of the palace, where trunks were being tied onto Ellersbine’s carriage.
“We’ll see you tomorrow; we’ll come over for lunch,” Aunt Grace told the girls as she hugged them all.
Ellersbine hugged Marco tightly, and kissed him passionately. “I’ll miss you,” she told him.
“I’ll miss you too,” he said. “But we still have this between us,” his hand stroked the short line of wraithlike energy between their chests. “I’ll visit you tomorrow. Please tell Fara I said hello,” he added, as the girls climbed into their conveyance and left the grounds of the palace, the afternoon sun overhead.
“We’re very thankful for all you’ve done to help Ellersbine,” Grace said as the three of them walked back into the large house. Marco felt at a sudden loss, not knowing what to do. He felt Ellersbine drawing away, his awareness of her emotions growing dimmer as the distance between them widened.
“She held up very well over a long, hard journey that very few people of your class could have survived,” Marco answered.
“You’re not of our class?” Mersby asked as the three of them stood in the hall.
“Me? No, I grew up herding goats and sheep,” he grinned.
“I’ll ask the butler to show you to a room that will be yours while you stay with us,” Mersby said. He motioned and a man approached quickly. “We’ll eat dinner an hour after sunset,” Mersby told Marco, and then they went their separate ways. Marco followed the servant up to a third floor suite that had a private bathroom and a balcony with a view over the city surroundings.
Marco thanked the man, then stood alone on the balcony and looked out at his view, where he saw that the distance royal palace was like a patch of shadow that darkened a large swath of the city. He decided to explore his new home away from home, and wandered back down to the lower floor of the palace, and explored the grounds. He found the forge and the stables and the armory and the kitchen and all the working parts of the palace, and he found the homes of those servants and slaves who lived on the estate.
Over the course of the next month, Marco watched and participated as Mersby’s family conducted a careful campaign to slowly reintegrate Ellersbine into society in Foulata, and introduced Marco into society as well. It was an effort that the prince and his wife focused much energy on, as they worked behind the scenes at court to have themselves declared Ellersbine’s legal guardians, protecting her and her estate. They took her and Marco to numerous events and activities around the capital, with a busier social schedule than Marco had ever known during his short tenure as a nobleman in Barcelon.
They accepted that the love between Marco and Ellersbine was genuine, although they nearly came to conclude that Marco was a bore and a non-entity, as he refused
to do anything to shine or stand out among the nobles and society that they traveled among. He would not take up fencing as a way to enhance his social status; he remembered too well the failure he had experienced when he had tried to fence in the armory on the Isle of Ophiuchus, where he had disappointed Albany and been so badly thrashed while using a practice blade. His only strength as a swordsman came from the abilities that resided within his sword itself, he knew, not any talent that he had.
There was no immediate reunion with Argen, and Ellersbine’s family listened to the gossip that slowly swirled through the nobility of the capitol, as Argen ignored Ellersbine and slowly worked to establish the credibility of his own version of events. He began to be frequently seen with another young noblewoman, and gossip spread that he would petition the king’s court to dissolve his engagement to Ellersbine on unfavorable terms.
Two other elements of society were at work in the mischievous world of Foulata nobility as well, and worked to the favor of Ellersbine and Marco. The return of Fyld’s column of survivors at about the same time Argen, Marco, and Ellersbine returned allowed Fyld to give an army perspective of Marco’s abilities and heroism. Additionally, Duchess Rhen seemed driven to spread her version of the story of the long march along the length of the continent, and Marco was portrayed as a demigod with his abilities to fight, to suffer wounds, to overcome monsters and warriors and the elements.
Rhen moved into Ellersbine’s home to join the three women there, and her reunion with Marco was full of joy when he rode to the palace one morning during his first week in Foulata. The guards at the gate allowed him to enter, and Fara greeted him in a kindly way; the steward seemed to feel a fatherly affection for Marco, once he moved to the other quarters.
As Marco sat in the parlor with Ellersbine, Suseen, and Sarai, a visitor was announced, and Rhen arrived at the parlor door. She saw Ellersbine first and the two girls embraced in tearful joy for several seconds until Rhen saw Marco sitting in a corner of the room.
She left her grasp of Ellersbine and threw herself at Marco, her body flying into his grasp with such impact that he staggered back two steps as he accepted her embrace, and they kissed soundly, each delighted at the reunion.
“Marco! Marco! Oh thunder and lightning!” she laughed delightedly. “Look at you! The greatest hero I’ve ever seen, and you’re alive!
“Have you seen Fyld? Does he know you’re here?” she asked. She broke her clinch with Marco and dragged him over to see Ellersbine. She looked at the two of them side-by-side. “There’s something going on between you two,” she accused them, then embraced them both at once.
“Isn’t it wonderful to be back in the city? We can change clothes and eat fresh food and not have to walk all day long!” she gushed. “Have they told you about our adventure?” she asked the two cousins.
“I’ve told them bits and pieces, but I don’t think they believe me,” Ellersbine laughed, as the trio of travelers broke their hug and took seats around the room.
“I will never ever go on an adventure again,” Rhen told the girls. “But I will never forget everything I experienced and learned during the past year. Did you hear about the sea monster that ate Gielle?”
“I didn’t tell them that story,” Ellersbine said softly.
“It did not have a happy ending,” Rhen agreed, placing her hand on Ellersbine’s. “But Marco almost gave it one,” she told the others. “He dove into the sea to fight a monster that seized poor Gielle, and he defeated the monster. He swims and talks to dolphins too!”
The two cousins looked at Marco speculatively.
“So how long did it take you to catch our girl after the raiders kidnapped her?” Rhen asked.
“You were really kidnapped?” Sarai asked.
Ellersbine shuddered at the memory of her treatment. “I nearly died. Marco brought me back to life after he rescued me and Argen,” the princess answered.
“It was a long journey to catch them,” Marco said cautiously. He still didn’t truly know what had happened during his vision-filled quest, what had been dream or real or vision. He only knew he had another golden hand, and he had finally caught up to Ellersbine in time to save her life by tying her life to his own life-force.
“What about your magical hand? Did you tell them about that?” Rhen asked. She forged ahead without waiting for an answer. “He has an enchantment on his left hand; you can drink spring water from his finger, and it will make you healthy,” she explained. She reached over unexpectedly and grabbed his hand, then tugged the glove off to demonstrate.
“Your hand!” she stopped, shocked by the golden shine it displayed. “What happened to it?” she asked in a hushed voice.
“I had an experience when I was chasing after Ellersbine,” Marco said softly. “But the finger still gives water,” he gave a gentle grin, then held the finger out to her.
“I haven’t had a taste of that since we got back,” Ellersbine spoke up as Rhen sucked on Marco’s finger. She reached out and firmly removed the digit from her friend, then took a sip as well.
“It doesn’t taste any different,” Rhen judged as she smacked her lips.
The two cousins sat in shocked silence. They had considered Ellersbine’s tales of her adventures to be fanciful, but Rhen’s corroboration, and the revelation of the golden hand had shaken their skepticism.
“Your stories are real?” Suseen asked Ellersbine.
“Give the girls a taste from your finger,” Ellersbine instructed Marco, who complied, and watched with amusement as Suseen looked stunned, while Sarai coughed and choked at the taste of the water she had doubted existed. The two girls looked at Marco with different eyes.
“If you’re really so good with your sword, able to fight so well, why don’t you go show off in the tournaments and the clubs?” Suseen asked.
“I don’t want to show off,” Marco answered.
“When are you going to go see Fyld?” Rhen asked. “Won’t you take me to the army post, so I can see him?” she begged Marco. “It would look wrong for me to go to the base unescorted.”
And so it was arranged that the next morning, Marco and Rhen went to the army post where Fyld and the other survivors of the long march home were stationed as they recuperated from their ordeal.
“We were written off as lost,” Fyld told Marco when they affectionately reunited. “The other escapees and captives from Athens sailed around the coast and got back weeks before us. No one’s ever taken such a large body of men and marched as far as we did along the continent.”
“After everything we experienced, I can see why,” Marco answered dryly.
“My commander will want to meet you. He didn’t believe all the stories the men have been telling about the great Marco who saved them all and pulled them through,” Fyld insisted, which led to a promise that Marco and Rhen would return to the base two days later to meet the commander and several of the other survivors of their long journey home, to participate in a ceremony to celebrate everyone’s safe return.
When informed of the proposed ceremony later that day, Ellersbine insisted that she join in the reunion with the others from the long march as well. She invited her cousins to come along as well, and word got back to Mersby’s home, so that he and Grace were invited as well. The army base commander was most impressed when two carriages that carried the royal family’s crest rolled through the gates of the army post on the morning of the ceremony.
“They say there’s going to be a field general here for the ceremony,” Fyld told Marco as he escorted the entourage to a raised dais where chairs were arranged for the family of the prince. “They apparently think they need to make a point of recognizing what you did, and I’m sure they didn’t know you were going to bring such an exulted audience for the event today; that will make the high command ever more pleased with you.”
Marco felt his cheeks grow warm at the implied praise from his friend, as Mersby and his family, along with Rhen and Marco, all took their seats. Fyld bid
them farewell as he returned to his unit, but they were alone on the stage for less than two minutes before a bevy of officers approached them, circling around a pair of field marshals who looked at the stage to appraise the seated guests. As their eyes reached Prince Mersby and Princess Grace their eyebrows raised dramatically, and they whispered hastily to some of the junior officers in attendance upon them.
A pair of the attendants hastily walked away, while the field marshals stepped up onto the platform to greet the visitors.
“Your highness,” the senior of the leaders spoke first, “we did not expect such an august presence for our little recognition ceremony today.” As he spoke, aides came bustling towards the reviewing stand carrying large umbrellas. The aides quickly deployed themselves behind the seated guests and held their umbrellas to provide shade as the field marshal continued to speak.
“We have heard nothing but unceasing praise for your young friend, who helped lead our troops on the longest march ever recorded by the king’s army,” the second marshal spoke up. “To a man, the troops and officers agree that this Marco,” he waved at the guest of honor, “is the only reason that any men were able to complete the journey.”
As he spoke, two columns of men came marching into the open parade ground in front of the viewing stand, approaching from both sides of the field, and uniting in formation in the center of the yard. Marco looked out at the men, and started to simultaneously tear up and grin. He felt Ellersbine reach over and squeeze his hand.
They were the men who had left Athens together, and suffered through all the unexpected challenges of the journey home. There were perhaps a third of the men who had originally left Athens’s dock, Marco guessed.
As he thought of the proportion lost, Marshal Tanner began to speak in a loud, booming voice that carried across the parade grounds. “Only a third of the prisoners who left Athens as part of this expedition are alive today. Almost as soon as their ships took to sea, they began to encounter hostility and calamity that claimed the lives of their companions.
The Southern Trail (Book 4) Page 29
