Errant

by Armas, Florian

  “Things are going well,” Mohor was pleased. Knight Grama was convinced to join our cause. “You brought a lot of people from the north. We now have half the soldiers we need to attack Orban,” he shook Grama’s letter in front of me.

  “Half the men on paper could mean less on the field.” I remembered how Tardin betrayed us, leaving the battle just before Orban’s army attacked. And the other two who pledged allegiance but never arrived. We played, Orban played too. And he was the most skilled... The Circle helped him. Only because father refused the request to marry me with Orban. How could the Sages of the Circle be so blind and think that a man like Orban had the required qualities to become the next King? Eighteen years ago, when Duke Stefan lost any chance to take the crown, father and Orban were the main contenders for the ‘would be’ king. Not that they really competed; the Circle has its own secret life that we knew little about. Father lost, and even now we were unable to learn what happened. After eighteen years, Orban is not even a Duke...

  “They are slowly accepting our lead,” Mohor ignored my worries, putting me in the lead, too. “And we are now strong enough to go harder for the Devans. With them…” Mohor did not continue, but he was clearly optimistic.

  Grand Seigneurs, the Devans were three times as strong as Mohor, yet he felt confident, because our alliance was now large enough, that they would accept our lead, too. Three years ago, we also negotiated with the Devans, and in some ways, it was a continuation of that when father informally pushed for it a month ago in Deva, their city.

  Saliné was included in the negotiation, I suddenly remembered. She was supposed to marry the Devans’ first born. There was no Codrin at that time. Saliné will accept... She knows what is expected from her, if things start again. We need the Devans. In all the noble families, marriages were a political thing. But she will not be happy. And Codrin... How will Codrin react?

  “Yes, with the Devans our chances will grow,” I continued his words just to stop my inner rumbling. The Devans are too powerful, and we are no longer what we were at that time. There will be no marriage.

  Mohor agreed, and our talk continued for a while until everything new was dissected and finished.

  “Things went too far last night with the fools,” I said, after all the political subjects were exhausted.

  “Codrin handled it well,” Mohor tried to avoid the subject.

  “That is not an excuse.”

  “I understand you, but I have to understand our Spatar and main Knight too. Aron was badly humiliated in that duel. I have known him for many years, and he never was in a worse mood than after...”

  Last night I was humiliated, too, I thought, but chose not to follow that path. “Nobody pushed Aron to act so poorly, nor with the duel,” Apart from Codrin... “or with the fools. Codrin is just seventeen years old, and he could have reacted in a violent way, and ruin the night. Did our wedding matter less than Aron’s pride to you?” I let another dose of disappointment pass through my voice. Ah, I so much wish that the duel never happened.

  “Jara, we need Aron in good shape for our cause, and I had to tolerate his revenge,” Mohor avoided my question. “A childish one, I recognize, but nothing harmful in the end, and it went less well than he expected, anyway.”

  “At our wedding,” I insisted, just to accentuate Mohor’s guilt.

  “It will not happen again,” he said in his most serious voice, but his eyes were humorous, and I had to fight hard to stop a smile; of course we could not marry again. “Everything was … settled last night.” There was a brief hesitation in his voice that I considered just a search for the proper words to convince me. “There will be nothing more, and, let’s agree at least on this: Codrin needed a lesson. He must learn his place in the hierarchy and the rules.”

  “He is learning. He let you return Aron’s sword for free. He helped us gather information, he trained Vlaicu and your guards, and we agreed to consider Codrin as being part of my family. You have to keep Aron under control.”

  “Everything was taken into consideration. Please, let’s end this now. Codrin means a lot to you and your family, and I respect that,” he said, staring at me. “His time will come. It may be sooner than everyone is expecting, and I count on you to keep him close to us.” He did not finish his phrase, leaning toward me, and our second night together began.

  I went to collect my girls, five days later than planned – their rooms were still not completely ready, but at least they were habitable. Things were moving slowly in Mohor’s castle, because of an old inertia, because they were still not accustomed to a woman giving orders in the house, and generally, there was a careless attitude about everything. Well, now they have to handle three women...

  As he had done in the morning, Vlaicu opened the gate to let us pass. The Chief of the Guards was the man I was the most accustomed to after Mohor, as he had visited our house many times before. “Did our guests come?” It was probably too early for the embassies from the northern territories to arrive, but I wanted to be sure.

  “No, only Mohor and Big Mouth,” he winked, and the girls chuckled, while I could not stop a smile – the pejorative nickname was spreading fast.

  Codrin will have problems...

  I left the girls in their rooms, promising them a tour of the castle the next day, and went to the council room. As Vlaicu mentioned, Mohor and Aron were the only ones there.

  “They will come tomorrow,” Mohor said, when I entered. “How are the girls?”

  “Ready to explore,” I smiled, and sat down.

  Mohor pushed a letter across the table, with an intense look at me. It was not a long letter, so I finished it fast. Tardin… That traitor. How is he daring to propose an alliance with us? He left our army just before the battle with Orban started, and that disorganized our left wing. “Tardin is a traitor,” I said, trying hard not to growl.

  “We need him,” Aron answered. “We need as many people we can gather.”

  “Tardin betrayed us, he will betray us again.”

  “He betrayed you, not us.” Aron’s voice was mocking me; he could be quite unnerving when he wanted.

  Big Mouth! I shouted inside. “Tardin will betray everybody,” I countered, trying hard to keep my voice low.

  “He is in a very difficult position now, afraid of Orban. I know what I am saying,” Aron put some emphasis in his last words, in a heated tone. “Let me do my job,” he added, rudely.

  I waited for Mohor to react, yet he said nothing, and I remembered Codrin’s warning that Aron would try to marginalize me. “Your job is what we tell you to do. In no way I will accept Tardin in our alliance. He is a factor of uncertainty, and many consider him untrustworthy. They know what happened and will react, leaving us alone.” In contrast with his voice, mine was now chilly, trying to convey that I was in a better state of mind and knowledge to assess the situation.

  “Mohor, we can’t continue like this, it will impact any further development.” Aron was now growling. “You have to decide if I lead the negotiations, or her,” he pointed toward me, and I was shocked by his ‘me or her’ insolence, as if I were just another councilor.

  You must learn your place… “I am not ‘her’,” I cut him.

  “Or Jara…” he tried again to be too familiar with me.

  “Lady Jara,” I put more pressure on him. “I am the Signora of this house.” I frowned at Mohor, his intervention should already have happened.

  “Aron, please leave us. I have to talk with Jara.”

  “Finally.” Big Mouth was being insolent again, and I had to grip the table with my fingers to stop a curse.

  “It seems difficult for you two to work together,” Mohor started calmly when we were alone, yet his words were quite far from what I was expecting from him.

  “So, after all he said, you just philosophize about some vague difficulties. And I, in my foolishness, I was thinking that you would put that rude man in his place for being insolent to your wife.”

  �
�Ignore his words; it was an ill-tempered reaction. It happens from time to time. It’s nothing serious. He will apologize…”

  “Are you serious?” I could not believe what I had heard.

  “Sometimes, he is rude to me, too,” Mohor shrugged. “I don’t feel the need to react.”

  “I can see that. Aron seems accustomed to ordering you around.”

  “You are going too far. This is Aron. He exaggerates sometimes, his temper might fly, but he works well for us. You have to get to know him better, and see the full picture. It will take a while, though,” he said thoughtfully. “And that brings us to the negotiations again. I know it will upset you, but Aron started this a long time ago and we have a better chance to win if he continues to lead our negotiations. He is capable to deal for us, and he can travel.” Mohor took my hand over the table, but I swiftly retracted it to evade his touch. “I was right about you being upset,” he smiled gently.

  “Yes, you were right,” I said, bitterly. “But you did nothing to prevent it. And he is not that capable, but you think I am biased, so I will not push it. Time will tell which of us was right. And what kind of ‘good man’ he is, I saw at our wedding.”

  “I thought we have left that behind,” he sighed.

  “What we leave behind doesn’t change that he is a wicked man. And I can leave one thing behind, but they are accumulating quite fast, and I don’t know where this will lead in the end. You see me in a place lower than your main councilors.”

  “Jara, you are upset now, and I understand that. You are my Signora and nothing will change that. My decision is hard for you and I apologize, but it’s the right one. Many times we think the same, sometimes we differ.”

  “You don’t even realize that a Signora, your wife, cannot be treated like that. My authority was already low from the wedding night – everybody knew what Codrin is to me, and understood that Big Mouth had your approval to play against me. And day by day, made my authority even lower, and Aron is speculating this, against our interest,” I remembered again Codrin’s words about rivalry. “Tomorrow, Aron will brag everywhere how I was kicked out of any political negotiations. He is not called Big Mouth for nothing. This may have some long-term consequences that you don’t seem to see. Now, I will take the good part, having more time for my daughters. Please excuse me.” I stood up and went for the door.

  He moved swiftly in front of the door, stopping me. “You have been part of the council for two months already.” There was a slight underlining that I was favored by receiving a place in the council, even before the wedding, but he never said it directly. And it was true, there were very few Signoras in the councils of their courts. Our brutal world was a man’s world.

  “You wanted our relations in the north, and our help to take the lead. Now that you have them, you don’t even consider that I need a certain authority to play my part in our house.”

  “Jara,” he said softly, pulling me closer to him, but I disengaged, trying to move past him. He stopped me again, his hand moving around my waist, pulling me with my back against him. “Your place is granted by marriage and your place in the council, but I will be more careful from now on. This house has functioned in a certain way for many years. Things started to change with your arrival, but people are conservative by habit. The good part is that women are more intuitive than us, and I am sure you will find your way and improve many things.” He pulled me even tighter, and I realized that the tone of his voice stayed calm and gentle all the time.

  “Well,” I said, unsure how to react. “I tried with the Secretariat, you stopped me. It looks like I am not suited for diplomacy, either. I may be the right thing for my girls, though.”

  “The Secretariat,” he said slowly, turning me in his arms. “I talked with Senal about your suggestions for improvements, and how everything was structured at your previous court. He agreed with you, so … you will have less time for the girls than you think. And even if Aron leads the negotiations, it doesn’t mean that we are here for nothing.”

  “Well, if I’ve received Senal’s approval...” I said, sarcastically.

  “Don’t you think that I should have talked with him about that?” he asked, slightly irritated for the first time.

  “No. I think that we should have both talked with him about that and let me explain. I know better how my previous court worked.”

  “Right,” he agreed, with a sigh. “At least I learned something today,” he smiled. “Can we make peace now?”

  I nodded, not very enthusiastically, and left.

  Despite all his assurances about my authority, things advanced slowly, both in the Secretariat and in the castle itself – some people were almost ignoring me. It took me two years to become a real Signora in Malin’s house, I remembered. But I was so young and inexperienced. Three weeks and a few days here, I complained to myself, then burst into laughter because of my almost childish eagerness. Three weeks means nothing when you move into a new castle. I entered the living room still smiling, and ready to give Mohor the news that I had kept hidden for a few days just to be sure. He and Veres were already at the table, and the servants finished setting everything in place. I hid my smile to avoid unwanted questions and went to my seat. The door opened again, a few minutes later.

  “Sorry for being late,” Saliné said, breathing heavily, still not recovered after some physical effort, and joined by Vio she took her place at the table. “We trained later than usual today.”

  Even with Codrin missing, the girls were training almost every day; the exile and the attack on our house had altered their childhoods too much. They wanted to be prepared for the worst, and Codrin was an excellent teacher, even father recognized this, and Vlaicu too.

  “That’s not training,” Veres sneered. “You are moving like a drunken crane. Like this,” he stood up and moved his hands in a hilarious way. He was both malicious and wrong, yet I bit my lip not to laugh. And even worse, he used Aron’s pejorative way of describing the Warrior’s Dance.

  “Veres, we are eating right now,” I tried to stop things before an argument broke out between him and the girls. “Sit down, and stop playing the fool.”

  “Codrin is the fool, not me. Fight!” Veres mimicked the fool that attacked Codrin at my wedding. “Why are you playing at being outraged now?” he asked, to prevent another scolding. “You all laughed at him. It was a good show.” His finger pointed to all of us, and he was right, we all laughed.

  “It was just a stupid game set by Aron. He was upset after losing the duel with Codrin and couldn’t find another way to get revenge. The big fool paid the small ones to fight for him.” I went too far, but the influence Aron had on Veres was unnerving me, and despite all my efforts, it was not possible to cut the links between them. Veres did not like Codrin, for some reasons that were still unknown to me, and found a natural ally against him.

  “There was indeed an exaggeration that night,” Mohor interjected, “but Aron is not a fool. Let’s have a…”

  “Yes, we can agree about exaggerations,” I said, sarcastically, as he took Aron’s side again, “Big Mouth is not a fool. Codrin is.”

  “Neither is Codrin,” Mohor shrugged. “But he does not have a position I need to consider.”

  “Aron never lost a duel with Codrin,” Veres jumped in before I could answer Mohor back. His strange reaction came late; something had boiled within him and was bursting out only now. “It was an accident. Aron’s foot slipped and he lost his sword when he fell. Codrin would never win against him.”

  “Well, you missed the duel,” I reminded him that I was there. “We both observed it,” I included Mohor with a gesture. “Codrin took away Aron’s sword with a maneuver that you never tried to learn.”

  “You always take Codrin’s part,” Veres growled at me. “Mohor said the same thing to me as Aron, so you are wrong.” He stopped just short of saying that I was lying, and the implication about Mohor was disturbing; someone was clearly not telling the truth.

&
nbsp; “We should stop now,” Mohor interjected again, a slight urgency in his voice. “The steak is going cold.”

  “It looks like my son thinks I am… wrong.” I avoided the word lie, but my tone was harsh enough to imply it, and I had to leave the part about me always taking Codrin’s part for a later conversation. “Mohor? Would you be so kind as to unravel your memories of the duel?”

  “It doesn’t matter who won or not, that is something we should pass over, the same as that unnecessary event at our wedding. It’s a family dinner. Let’s enjoy it,” he tried to avoid answering.

  “I fully agree with you, Mohor, about the need to pass over Aron’s appalling behavior, but not over what my son said about what you said.”

  “I am hungry,” Mohor countered dryly, and started to eat.

  “As Mohor has finally agreed that our troublemaker Aron lost the duel, we can eat,” Saliné interjected subtly, in a charming voice. “I am hungry too.”

  I stared at Mohor: he was slightly annoyed and amused at the same time that she had ruined his strategy, but he continued eating in a silence. It was now sure that for whatever reasons, he had confirmed Aron’s version to Veres.

  “Shut up!” Veres shouted, disappointed that Mohor had not put Saliné in what he considered her place. “You have no idea. Aron is a great Knight. Codrin is the troublemaker. That’s why he is in jail now. Downstairs,” he pointed with his hand to make things clear, a wicked smile spreading on his lips.

  “Veres!” Mohor growled, and our family dinner became a total disaster.

  Vio ran out in tears, and Saliné followed, after I nodded to her.

  “Mohor, it looks like we have some things to settle, but they may burst out if we talk now,” I said in a glacial tone. “So we leave it for tomorrow. Now, thanks to you, I have to go and take care of my daughters. Enjoy your steak.”