“I had no idea, until this very moment, just what being at The Shadows had come to mean to me, how important it has become to me. And to think, I once felt myself trapped there, put out to pasture,” he murmured.
“You have done great things,” Eiren said. “Made a home there for all of us, nurtured a community. It’s something to be proud of.”
“I had help,” Menders replied softly, looking at her. “I cannot imagine what I would have done if I hadn’t found you there.”
Eiren blushed and smiled.
He shook his head to clear it and looked at Eiren again. “My dear, do you wish me to leave Katrin’s service?” he asked firmly.
Her response was immediate and definite.
“No. She needs you – and you need her.” She smiled, and he knew she spoke the truth.
“I’ll go speak to her then,” he replied, smiling back.
***
Katrin turned to look back at Erdahn in the distance. She hadn’t seen much of it and that mostly from the carriage on her way to the dock that morning. They had passed the Palace and she’d been appalled by its condition. Once a gracious building, it was now disheveled and unkempt, just like the Queen inside it.
The town had a down-at-the-heels look too, nothing like the crispness of Erdstrom, which was becoming known as the “Second Capital”. It was saddening, because Erdahn’s boulevards could have been majestic and the parks should have been at their best in the late springtime.
“H’lo Cuz,” came Borsen’s voice beside her. She looked round to see him leaning on the railing, looking weary. He’d been copiously ill at the stern, so Katrin had stationed herself at the prow to give him some privacy.
“Feeling better?” she asked.
“Oh yes. I’ll be a regular seadog for the rest of the trip,” Borsen said. “It just takes me a while to adjust.”
“Whatever will you do going to Surelia on a boat?”
“Same as now. Puke for fifteen minutes and then have a wonderful time,” Borsen answered. “It never lasts longer. What are you doing out here?”
“I’ve never really had a look at Erdahn, so I was just watching it,” she answered. “I’m ashamed that it’s in such a state.”
“It is bad,” Borsen agreed. “With everyone leaving the Court a few years back, the town went right down. I can remember when you used to be able to get a tram anywhere. Now there are hardly any trams at all.”
Katrin sighed. There was nothing she could do about it but it bothered her because it was her mother’s lack of initiative that had allowed the fine old city to become so run down.
“Heigh-ho, here’s the rest of the crew,” Hemmett said, coming up to them, putting an arm around Katrin’s waist and the other around Borsen’s shoulders. “And how are my little brother and sister, bobbing around on the big salt briny? Finished shouting at the fish, Borsen?”
“At last. Have anything to eat?” Borsen answered.
“Sorry, no, but I saw Eiren taking over sandwich making from Kaymar, so I suspect you will be brought something that is not one of his mustard specials. Kaymar’s never happy unless his tongue’s aflame. Did you know this young fellow was gazing wistfully at a certain gentleman of my acquaintance last night?” Hemmett said baitingly in Katrin’s direction.
“I was looking at his suit,” Borsen replied calmly.
“All those soulful glances just at his tailoring?” Hemmett grinned.
“All right, but looking’s free,” Borsen snickered. “I didn’t even speak to the fellow. I’m still young and innocent. You’re the jaded man of the world, you old fart.”
“Listen to Little Man abuse me,” Hemmett said with false injury in his voice.
“You’re a dreadful tease, Hemmett,” Katrin laughed.
“Me? Never, fair Highness,” Hemmett gasped, bowing comically, inadvertently grazing his head on the rail in the process. He swore and crossed his eyes for a moment and then leaned on the railing between them.
“Hemmett, where were the Special Services graduates yesterday?” Katrin asked. “I looked around, but I had no idea.”
“They don’t have graduations,” Hemmett answered. “They’re actually taking on missions when they’re as young as fifteen, some of them. It’s said that their graduation is when they complete their first mission, if they’re spies, or their first kill if they’re assassins. There were a few of them at the reception last night but since they’re not supposed to become known, I’m not going to tell anyone who they were.”
Katrin shuddered.
“It’s a hard old world, Willow,” Hemmett said. “If it wasn’t for those fellows and those who came before them, it would have been a very different story for Mordania. I’ve found out a lot about Menders and about the history that we never see in the textbooks.”
Borsen eyes grew huge.
“Tell,” he demanded.
“Well, let’s just say that he singlehandedly saw to it that Surelia didn’t take over Mordania,” Hemmett said. Katrin and Borsen stared at him.
“I’m not well educated, but Surelia hasn’t tried to invade Mordania since Morghenna the Wise raised the army that expelled them from the country two hundred years ago,” Borsen refuted him. Katrin nodded.
“That’s what I mean, the history that isn’t in the books,” Hemmett explained. “You see, there’s this whole other history that’s all secret missions and clandestine operations. Katrin’s grandmother, Morghenna the Terrible, was on the Throne forever. She lived to be about a hundred years old and she was an active Queen in her time, not like the Queen now. But when she got old, she let go of actually governing and then she had a stroke and was pretty much a breathing corpse for ten years. The Council were a bunch of old fools, just like they are now. Before anyone knew it, powerful people were dropping off like flies. Surelian assassins were wiping out the Royal Family and trying to get at Katrin’s mother, who was the Heiress then.”
Katrin stared at him, amazed.
“Yes, Blue Eyes, that’s right. They killed off a lot of the people close to the Throne and they got some of the high-up military as well. They wanted to create a situation where there was considerable confusion as to just who was in charge, coerce as much of our military leadership as they could onto their side and then invade with their rather pathetic little army. At the time it could have worked. This was a couple of years before Katrin was born.
“Mordanian spies got the information back as to who was behind the entire plot. It turned out it was most of the high-ups in Surelia, many of them involved with an organization called ‘The Old Family’. It was almost impossible to get at because they had good security and were spread all over the country. So they sent in Menders. By then he was already considered the greatest assassin who ever lived, even though he was only eighteen. He was a specialist at infiltration and had a record number of kills. A sudden rash of assassinations would have tipped the Surelians off that we were onto them, so things had to be done carefully. So in the end it all came down to Menders – just Menders.”
Katrin and Borsen exchanged glances.
“No-one knows just how he did it, but somehow all of ‘The Old Family’ ended up at the same place at the same time, an estate in the Surelian countryside for a social gathering. It was a great big do, hundreds of people there – and by the end of it all the people who had been plotting were dead. It seems some were poisoned, some were caught in out of the way places and stabbed to death, but most died when the main building blew up in a huge fireball.
“That was the end of the ‘Surelian Problem’, as it was called. That’s why Menders’ nickname in the service is ‘The Surelian Solution’.”
Hemmett shook his head, impressed with his own story.
“Gods!” Katrin breathed. It was awful, but also exciting. Borsen’s almond eyes were almost round behind his glasses.
“Sir - Commandant Komroff to you - told me lots of stories like that. I think he really wanted me to understand Menders, what he did and
why. Sir said Menders did many skirt roles, dressed as a shy little governess type complete with meek bonnet, moving almost unnoticed down a street. Then suddenly someone would slump down to the ground. The crowd would gather while little governess would toddle on all unawares. No one suspects that what appeared to be a little woman venturing along is really an assassin with a big knife.
“Sir also said that Menders would have made a wonderful spy if it hadn’t been for his eyes making him so easy to spot,” Hemmett went on, while Borsen hung on every word and Katrin held her breath. She was finally coming to understand some of the things that she’d always wondered about.
“He could get in anywhere. Up inside pipes and airshafts. He could climb straight up a wall, like a fly. When he went to the military academy he was a tiny little boy, only eleven, and puny. When we first went to The Shadows he really looked like a boy, like Borsen here, not fully grown. I can just remember it. He grew a bit after he was twenty, bulked up too. When he was an assassin, he was really small. He worked like the hells to build himself up when he went to the Academy. He went on his first mission when he was only fifteen. Sir says that he could see in the dark, like a langhur, because of his eyes…”
“He walks silently as a langhur too,” Menders said behind them.
All three of them started and spun around. Menders was smiling. Hemmett let out a sigh of relief.
“I know you’ve kept it very quiet, Menders, but I’m proud of you,” he said.
“So am I!” Katrin declared. “Singlehandedly saving Mordania? You should have a medal!”
“I am too!” Borsen added.
“Medals are for soldiers. Assassins don’t get medals. And I didn’t come up with The Surelian Solution singlehanded, for all they hung the nickname on me,” Menders replied, standing there with his hands in his pockets as if the motion of the boat on the waves didn’t affect him in the least. He could have been standing in the Great Hall at The Shadows.
“Many men who went in before me did the espionage work to identify the targets,” Menders explained. “Some of them lost their lives getting the information back to Mordania – Ifor’s partner, Falk, was one of them. That’s how Ifor caught the bullet that’s in his back to this day. Yes, I carried out the assassinations, but without the support of many, I wouldn’t have succeeded.”
“It was still a great thing,” Hemmett protested.
“Perhaps. Mordania is still here and maybe someday it will be all it could be,” Menders responded, joining them at the rail. “Doing what I did wasn’t glorious. It was often frightening and upsetting. Being an assassin was a job I had once. It isn’t the only thing I’ve done, by far. I’ve been Katrin’s guardian and Head of Household at The Shadows for many more years than I was ever an assassin. I consider that much more important work.”
“I don’t see how,” Borsen burst out. “Compared to saving a whole country?”
“It’s much more important, because I’ve been fostering and nurturing life,” Menders explained, putting an arm around Borsen’s shoulders. “Helping stop the Surelian takeover was important, yes, but so is sustaining and guiding young lives. More important by far, in many ways.” He hugged Katrin close with his free arm, kissed her cheek and then reached over and ruffled Hemmett’s hair.
“Now, I came out here for an entirely different reason, not to relive past glories,” he said, looking at Katrin. “It’s something very serious, my dear.”
“Come on, Inchworm,” Hemmett said, starting to walk away. Menders reached out and stopped him.
“Stay. It’s a family matter and concerns you all,” he said. The boys settled back beside Katrin at the railing.
“Little Princess, something has completely slipped my mind for some months,” Menders said, taking her hand. She looked puzzled and worried. “You turned sixteen this winter. Because you’re a member of the Royal Family, that means that you’re legally of age. It also means that I am no longer your guardian and that I am no longer bound by the order given by your mother the night you were born.”
Katrin swayed slightly, Hemmett’s mouth dropped open and Borsen looked as if the world was ending.
“You mean… you won’t be Papa anymore?” Borsen said, his voice catching. He sounded like a very little boy.
Menders released Katrin’s hand, removed his glasses and stepped back, slowly dropping to one knee before her, lowering his head to the opposite knee with his arms outstretched at his sides. Though her mind was reeling, Katrin was aware of the incredible control and grace of his movement. I must learn how to move like that, she thought. But what is he doing?
“I wish to request that you permit me to continue in your service, Your Royal Highness,” Menders said, raising his eyes to meet hers. “I also request that you consider your answer well, for what is quickly done is not always quickly undone.”
Katrin had her mouth open, ready to say ‘of course’. Then she hesitated.
If she released him, he could go with Eiren and have a private life. She knew that their lives had been restricted by Menders’ duty to her. If Menders was free, he could marry Eiren. They could go live somewhere else. There was time for them to have children of their own. It would be a wonderful thing for them.
But she couldn’t imagine Menders without The Shadows – or the Shadows without Menders. He loved it, more than she loved it herself. He had created it; it was his more than it was anyone else’s. If she refused his request, that meant she would be sending him away from The Shadows. She knew that would hurt him terribly.
She needed him as well. Katrin felt no more ready to be an adult than she was ready to fly to one of Eirdon’s moons. He was her father, she loved him and sixteen was not old enough to be on her own, despite what the law said.
Katrin looked at Hemmett and then Borsen. Hemmett was carefully keeping his face expressionless. Borsen looked stricken and shrugged with a great deal of desperation. They could not help her with this decision.
She looked back at Menders and then felt her answer within herself, just as she’d known which strand of gems to pick up when Tharan Tul presented her with so many when she was only four years old. She saw through the grey of indecision to the glowing gold underneath.
“Yes, please continue in my service, as my Head of Household,” she said, surprised to hear tears behind her voice. “It would please me so much for you to stay because you want to this time and not because you are ordered to – Papa.”
Menders nodded, but remained on one knee despite the rolling of the boat.
“Was that enough? Was it formal enough to make it official?” Katrin asked.
“Normally there might be some inclusions such as terms of service and length of tenure, that sort of thing.”
“Oh? All right then. I wish you to remain in my service, until… until the day one of us decides otherwise. Will that do?”
Menders smiled, remaining on one knee.
Katrin remembered. She put out her hand to him so he could rise. With perfect protocol, he took it, kissed it, and rose. Then he smiled and took her in his arms.
“You are still my little one,” he whispered. She rested her head on his shoulder. For a moment, there was no-one else in the world.
Menders released her and she wiped at her eyes, laughing a little.
“Very unexpected,” she said.
“Yes, it was. Our esteemed cousin reminded me of your majority only a few moments ago. In case you were wondering, Eiren wants me to stay in your service as well.” Menders blinked again and passed a finger under his glasses to wipe his eyes.
“I’m glad,” Katrin sighed with relief. She did not want Eiren just dragged along willy-nilly.
Hemmett and Borsen both cleared their throats at once and they all laughed aloud. Menders stepped forward and leaned on the rail, standing between Katrin and Borsen. He put an arm around Katrin’s waist and the other around Borsen’s shoulders. Hemmett wrapped his arm around Katrin’s shoulders and Menders raised his hand to grasp
it, linking them all together.
“Well, my children, here we are at the point where you’re beginning your lives as adults,” Menders said. “The years have gone so quickly. Borsen, you are a tailor, a craftsman and an artist. Hemmett is a soldier, a distinguished officer and a gentleman. Katrin is a lovely and accomplished grown lady. I am so very proud of you all.”
Katrin flushed with pride and saw Borsen and Hemmett doing the same.
The day was rapidly turning toward evening, the sky overhead darkening from deep blue to indigo. The three brightest stars showed as small points of light overhead, always the first objects visible in the evening sky. As the light faded, the other stars of The Weaver began to twinkle around them.
“Make the best of your time,” Menders said softly, so softly that they could barely hear him over the noise of the engine and the splashing of waves against the bow. “It shall not come again. Once it passes, it is gone forever and never comes back – so make the best of it, brood of mine.”
“Yes, Father,” the trio whispered softly.
He had many names. And now, another – Father.
Aylam Josirus, Lord Stettan, The Surelian Solution, who used his dead mother’s tribal name, Menders, as his only identity, held his children safe around him, looked toward home – and smiled.
UNTIL THE CIRCLE TURNS AGAIN
Weaving Man: Book One of The Prophecy Series Page 76
