“But the neweyr—” said Issa.
Prince Edik cut her off. “White hands are the sign of royalty. But perhaps in Weirland, you are not used to true royalty.”
It so incensed Issa that she had to turn away. But that was a mistake, for she caught a glimpse of Kellin touching Princess Ailsbet’s loose red hair, the two of them laughing intimately together.
Sitting behind her, Edik spoke close to her ear: “You see, you are far too modest in your habits. In Rurik, women in love smile and laugh and flutter their eyes,” he said.
“I am sorry. I do not know you well yet. And I have many responsibilities,” said Issa. How else could she excuse herself?
“And I have none?” demanded Prince Edik.
“No, I did not mean that. I only meant—” She stopped.
“I have as many duties as you do. I must use my taweyr many times a day. My father has great need of me. Just because you do not see it does not mean you should not respect it.”
“Of course, I respect your taweyr,” said Issa. He was so much younger than she was, and she felt she had to treat him gently.
“I do not believe it,” Edik said, belligerent. “Have you ever noticed when I used it?”
“I’m sure you have not noticed when I used my neweyr, either,” Issa said.
There was a moment of frozen surprise. “You have used it here? In the palace?” said Prince Edik. “Without my father’s permission?”
Issa hesitated. “I meant no offense to you or your father. I beg your pardon for what is so natural.” She could hardly avoid using it every day. It was her habit to use it when she woke to find out the weather, to smell her favorite flowers, even though there were none in her chambers.
“If it is so natural, then you can show it to me. Here. Now.” There was a hint of mockery in his tone.
“I think that is not necessary,” said Issa.
“And I think it is. If you think the neweyr is so much a part of you that you cannot bear not to use it, then prove it to me. Prove it is so much more powerful than my mother’s.” His arms were crossed over his chest petulantly.
“I did not say it was more powerful than your mother’s,” said Issa. “I never meant to cast aspersion on her or her neweyr.” But clearly, he thought she had.
“Make my father’s hounds dance,” Edik commanded her.
It was then that Issa saw that Edik wanted this less as a reminder of his mother than as a rebellion against his father, who had moved on so easily after her death.
“Or plant a tree at the foot of my father’s throne. Do it boldly and unmistakably,” said Edik.
“If I planted a tree at your father’s throne, it would grow for many years until it swallowed the throne that will be yours one day,” said Issa.
Prince Edik shrugged. “Then something else. Could you grow a flower in your hands and give it to me?”
Issa could do that. But she felt she had gone too far in coddling him tonight. “When we are married,” she said, “you will command me in many things. I shall wear the gowns you choose and say the words you write for me. But the neweyr is not a prince’s nor even a king’s. That will remain mine always.”
At this, Prince Edik’s face went as fiery red as his sister’s hair. “I shall show you my taweyr now, for all to see.”
He looked around the room and saw his sister with Duke Kellin.
“You, Kellin,” said the prince, stepping forward.
Duke Kellin looked up, unafraid. Issa could see no way to send him warning. Her heart pounded in fear for him.
“Spar with me. Show your taweyr, if you think you are worthy of my sister, the princess of Rurik.”
“As my prince commands me,” Kellin said immediately.
Prince Edik began to shift his weight from one foot to the other.
Duke Kellin stood before him calmly.
Prince Edik slammed his fist forward, into Kellin’s stomach. The duke groaned but held his place.
Issa could see no taweyr in what he had done. That was only a physical action. But what did Issa know of how to use the taweyr? Or how to stop it?
“I could send you flying across the room if I wished it. I could kill you with a thought,” threatened Edik. He was a foot shorter than the duke and must weigh less than half. Even his voice was still a child’s.
Issa thought Edik must be depending on Kellin to allow him to win, because he was the prince.
“Come, give the prince a battle,” King Haikor called out. “There’s no honor in it for him if you bow down and make obeisance, Kellin.”
“He is your son and heir,” said Kellin.
“He is prince of Weirland,” said King Haikor, “and as such, he needs a little honest battle of taweyr now and again. Teach him to believe he can lose, Kellin. For only then will he truly have the courage to win.” The king waved out the wide, lead-paned windows to the fields where the most famous battle of the war against Aristonne had been fought and won only twenty years earlier.
“You give me permission to unleash the full strength of my taweyr against him?” asked Kellin.
“As if you would not otherwise—” Edik began.
“I do,” said King Haikor.
“It will make no difference,” shouted Edik.
“My prince,” said Kellin.
Prince Edik ran at him again.
Where was Ailsbet? Why did she not try to stop her brother? Issa saw her standing nearby. She looked angry, her face flushed, her fists clenched.
Duke Kellin slid to the side, easily evading the prince’s attack. Edik had to throw up his hands and stop himself.
The prince whirled. “Show your taweyr!” he shouted.
“There is more than one use of taweyr, my prince,” said Duke Kellin smoothly. “A subtle trick turns away an obvious one. Not all battles are on an open field.”
This response only made Prince Edik angrier. He barreled forward again, this time knocking against Kellin’s chest. The prince stumbled but did not fall, and when he stood again, there was a trickle of blood falling from a shallow cut on one cheek.
Edik put a hand to his cheek, his eyes wild. “You will regret that!” he shouted.
Issa looked over at Ailsbet again. She had a dark expression on her face and seemed to be holding her breath.
Prince Edik ran again toward Kellin, and Issa saw in the corner of her eye a flickering of Ailsbet’s hand. At that moment, the duke flew across the room and landed heavily on his side, unconscious.
Prince Edik cheered for himself, and then others joined in.
But Ailsbet looked ill. She moved toward Kellin as if she had lost all her strength.
“Kellin?” said Ailsbet.
The prince waved a hand. “I could kill him if I wished it,” he said casually, striding away.
“Yes, we all know,” said the king, sounding bored. “But I find Duke Kellin a useful tool. If he dies because of this night’s contest, you will have deprived me of his service, and I shall expect compensation.”
Issa began to tremble, and Prince Edik put his arm around her possessively.
Issa was glad that no one else was watching her. They were looking at Ailsbet, who was weeping and shaking uncontrollably. Only Issa knew why she was weeping. It was because she had been forced to use her taweyr against Kellin to protect her brother. She must have worked very hard to avoid killing them both.
King Haikor motioned to the servants to help Kellin. He was carried off between the two of them. Ailsbet followed behind, in control of herself once more.
“I showed him not to treat me as a boy,” Edik said to Issa.
“Indeed you did,” said Issa, afraid to contradict him now.
“He will be well in the morning. Father will send a physician to him. You will see, Princess Marlissa. There is no need for you to cry.” He patted at her shoulder, but Issa told herself that this time, at least, there was a reason for her to weep.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Ailsbet
&
nbsp; AS SHE SAT IN KELLIN’S bedchamber, Ailsbet was conscious of the fact that it was her own taweyr that had hurt Kellin. She had not meant to do it. She had only meant to help Edik, and then she had lost control. Afterward, the taweyr had fallen away from her in a rush, and she was left panting and exhausted. No wonder her father had become more irritable and irrational in his later years, living with this pressure of the taweyr day after day. How did any man stand it?
Stupid, stupid Edik, showing off for Issa. Even now, Ailsbet could not understand why Kellin had done so little in his own defense. She could hardly wait for Kellin to wake up so she could scold him on this point.
Near dawn, Kellin had still not opened his eyes, nor spoken. He had fallen hard, and there was a terrible bruise on the left side of his head. The physician also suspected that one of his ribs had been broken, because of the hot swelling on his left side there, though Ailsbet did not have the chance to view that damage under his shirt.
The physician insisted that the window in Kellin’s chamber be curtained, and Ailsbet felt oppressed by the emptiness of the room. There was nothing here to tell her about Kellin. Even in his own room, he was hidden under a cloak of mystery.
Some time later, the physician began to pack up his things.
“You cannot give up,” said Ailsbet. “You must do something for him. I shall offer you anything you want. Just help him.”
The physician raised his bushy eyebrows. “I am leaving because he is better, not worse. If he has made it this far, he may be too stubborn to kill. Summon me if he wakes so I can ask him what his secret is,” he added drily.
“You are not lying to me to make me feel better?” Ailsbet asked.
“Princess,” said the physician impatiently. “I know that your tender feelings for him mean that you can hardly think. But I swear to you that he is doing well. He will wake soon enough and tell you himself how he does.” He nodded and then left.
When the physician was gone, Ailsbet allowed herself to move closer to Kellin. She held his hand to assure herself he was still alive.
Some hours later, she felt Kellin stir and saw that his eyes were open. She started and pulled away her hand.
Kellin groaned, “Head hurts.”
“You are a fool,” she said. It was only the beginning of the lecture she had stored up.
“Doubly a fool,” said Kellin. “The prince?”
“He is not hurt.”
“The princess?” said Kellin.
“Princess Marlissa is also uninjured,” said Ailsbet. Issa had never been in any danger.
“I meant, did she show what she felt for me?” said Kellin. It was the first time that he had admitted that he knew what Issa felt, and that he knew Ailsbet also knew.
Ailsbet shook her head. “Nothing that my brother or father saw. Or anyone else, I think. You and Edik fighting with taweyr was as entertaining as anything my father has ever paid for.”
“Edik and I?” said Kellin.
Ailsbet tensed, ready to deal with an accusation that she was ekhono, but Kellin asked, “She has not come here?”
“I think she must have decided that she does not love you so very much, after all,” Ailsbet said. “A man who gives up his life so easily cannot be worth the trouble.”
“It would be better for her,” said Kellin.
Ailsbet did not argue with him on that point. She stood and stretched. She could feel the taweyr inside herself once more, not uncontrollable, but there, like a banked fire.
“I should call the physician,” she said. “To tell him you are awake.”
“No,” said Kellin. “Not yet. First, tell me what you remember from last night.”
Ailsbet looked at him suspiciously. “You engineered that. As a test for me,” she accused.
“You think I control your brother? If I had meant for you to show your taweyr to me, it would have been privately, not in front of your father and the whole court.”
So he had known about her taweyr before then? It seemed that every time she thought she had the better of him, he found out something just as dangerous to hold over her.
“Do you think Edik has no taweyr, then?” asked Ailsbet.
Kellin sighed. “He is too young to be sure. It may yet come to him in full force.”
“And do you think my father suspects anything with regard to me?” asked Ailsbet. It was surprisingly easy to talk about her taweyr with him.
Kellin shook his head. “Certainly not. His reactions last night were all of a father enjoying his son’s display of power. But we must make sure it does not happen again. You must deal with your taweyr properly and mask it when necessary.”
“And how do I do that?” asked Ailsbet.
He shook his head. “It is not something I can tell you about. We will have to be in a place where you can use it. I have some experience with the ekhono. But you need training, to learn control.”
“And how will we do that without my father knowing?” asked Ailsbet.
“We will have to be away from the palace on some excuse.”
Ailsbet reddened. She had immediately thought of an excuse. If they married, then her father would send them to tour the kingdom. It would be the perfect time to practice whatever Kellin had to teach her. But she did not want to say it out loud. Neither, it seemed, did Kellin.
“For now, tell me when you feel desperate,” said Kellin. “I can take some from you. That is easy enough.”
Like her father taxing taweyr from his nobles. It did not look pleasant, but it would do what she needed, she supposed.
But Ailsbet was not desperate with anything now, except frustration with Kellin. She shook her head, and he let it go.
Kellin fell asleep soon after, and Ailsbet was about to steal out of the room when he started awake suddenly and called after her, “Don’t let her come! It is too dangerous.”
Ailsbet turned back. “She will know the danger already,” she said. “She is not a fool.”
“Women like a doomed love,” said Kellin with a hint of a smile.
“Well, she cannot be in love with you anymore. You are too much trouble,” Ailsbet said.
“What a song you could make of this,” said Kellin.
“Are you giving me advice about my music?” asked Ailsbet, smiling. “I don’t write music with words. It is—cheap.”
Ailsbet brought the physician to him again, and when he was gone, Princess Marlissa came into the room without a knock.
“Issa, what are you doing here?” said Ailsbet.
At the sound of her voice, Kellin stirred awake. “Issa?” he said, and smiled. “You should not have come.”
Issa held her head high, but her eyes were shadowed. “I have come on behalf of Prince Edik. He wishes to know if the duke yet lives.”
“He will live long enough to annoy us all many times again, according to the physician,” said Ailsbet. She opened the bed hangings, and Issa ran to him immediately. She touched his hand, but Kellin pulled away.
Ailsbet turned and stared out the window, thinking of an intricate song that required almost all of her attention.
“You must go,” said Kellin after a long while.
“In one moment.” Princess Marlissa said. “Prince Edik asked me to come. He was worried that he might have killed you. He is very proud of himself.”
“Good. Tell him how weak I still am. He will like that.”
“I shall tell him I slapped your face for your arrogance.”
“Oh, yes, he will like that, too. But now you will have to do it,” said Kellin. He pointed to his cheek. “Someone is sure to come in and see me, and if there is no mark, then the truth will come out.”
“No.” Princess Marlissa sounded stricken. “Don’t ask me to do that.”
Ailsbet thought it was time for her to intervene. She tugged on Marlissa’s arm. “Come back tomorrow,” she said. “I shall slap him for you today, and gladly.”
“No, do not come back,” said Kellin. “Not ever. Wait until I retur
n to court.”
“Tomorrow,” said Ailsbet. “You can castigate him again and make the walls ring with the sound.”
When Princess Marlissa had closed the door to the outer chambers, Ailsbet returned to Kellin.
“You are going to make sure you leave a mark, aren’t you?” he asked, his dark eyes wide.
“With pleasure,” said Ailsbet. This was one use of her taweyr that she did not need to conceal.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Issa
THE NEXT DAY, Prince Edik insisted on going to see Duke Kellin for himself, and Issa had to go with him. Ailsbet stood aside as Edik strode into the duke’s chamber and yanked open the hangings around the duke’s bed. “Kellin, I have come to offer you my forgiveness,” he said loudly.
“I thank you, Prince Edik,” said Kellin, lying back on his pillow. “For your kindness in coming to visit me.”
“And now if you hear of any saying that I have not yet proven strong in taweyr, you will have to speak against them.”
“Of course,” said Kellin, as Issa tried to pull Edik away.
“You don’t sound convinced,” said Edik. “Let me show you my taweyr again. There can be no doubt here, among women, that it is mine and mine alone.”
“Surely there is no need for that,” said Issa.
“My prince,” said Kellin. “I have long shown myself to be your friend and supporter. I know that your taweyr is as strong as any boy’s your age.”
“As any boy? You mean as any man of any age,” said Edik.
Kellin would never have made that mistake if he were not ill, thought Issa.
“But—” began Kellin.
It was too late.
Edik lifted a hand to Kellin and then thrust it out, as if expecting the force of the taweyr to carry it forward.
But his hand sagged.
“What is wrong?” Edik demanded. “I have done this before. Dozens of times.”
“You are a little weak, that is all. Depleted,” said Kellin, shrugging. “It happens to those who have expended a great deal of taweyr.”
“It does not happen to my father,” said Edik. “And it has never happened to me before.” He shook his head and thrust his hand out again.
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