Then it was time for Ailsbet and Kellin to be betrothed, and they went through the same ceremony, nearly word for word.
Afterward, Issa felt confused, as if it had all happened in a dream. None of it felt real to her, though she knew when King Haikor clapped Kellin on the back and kissed his cheeks, that Kellin was farther from being hers than he had ever been.
Bells rang out again, and Issa could hear distant shouting, as if her hearing had suddenly returned. The betrothals were finished, and Issa and Edik turned together to face all of those who were gathered inside the Throne Room.
Kellin and Ailsbet were nearby, waving and giving thanks. With Edik at her side, Issa nodded and smiled and kissed cheeks and gave embraces until it was all a blur.
At last, she was in the Great Hall for the grand dinner. There were fifteen courses (including a full roast peacock, its bright feathers returned to its carcass). The feast took four hours from beginning to end, though Issa could only take small bites of the most delicate dishes, roasted fish and poached eggs, or fruit compotes.
After the feast, King Haikor stood and clapped his hands to get the attention of the court. Issa stared at Lady Pippa, who rose to stand beside him, noticing that she seemed slightly thicker around the waist than before. Issa glanced around the room, wondering how many others had seen this. Of course, King Haikor would want more heirs, but Issa had not thought it would happen so soon.
What did this mean for her and Edik’s betrothal? Or Kellin and Ailsbet’s?
“There is another joyous announcement to be made,” said King Haikor. “After our two betrothals today, there is to be a royal wedding. And this time, not a prince and princess to be joined, but a king and queen.” He bent down and kissed Lady Pippa, and the applause from the court was thunderous.
Issa looked down and saw that Edik’s hands were clenching the sides of the table.
She whispered into his ear, “Do not show anything but happiness.” Did he understand the danger he was in?
“This should be my day, mine and yours. Why could he not have waited?”
“He is the king,” said Issa. And he had never been known for his patience, she thought.
“Lady Pippa is to take the queen’s chambers now, and she will be called queen-in-waiting,” said King Haikor. “She will be queen when we are married in one month’s time.”
Issa clenched her jaw and held tightly to Edik’s hand. She thought of the five long years until she and Edik were married and wondered when Kellin and Ailsbet’s final binding would occur. The king had seemed so eager for them to marry, but he had not yet set a date. Now it seemed likely that would be postponed until after the king’s own wedding.
The dinner went on with more toasting to the king and his bride-to-be, and Issa only pretended to sip from her cup. As the celebration was winding down, she realized Edik had fallen asleep in his chair.
At the same moment, Issa and Kellin stood to excuse themselves from the table. Edik woke but was too groggy to do more than wave to Issa. Ailsbet stood and moved to Kellin’s side, eager to seize the opportunity to leave.
“Congratulations on your betrothal, Princess Marlissa,” said Kellin formally as the three neared the door.
“Thank you,” said Issa, “and my congratulations to you on your betrothal. You and Princess Ailsbet.” She wished she sounded more genuine, but she was not at her best and did not know when she would be again. In time for Kellin and Ailsbet’s marriage, perhaps.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Ailsbet
THE FOLLOWING DAY AT DINNER, King Haikor filled the room with energy and his excitement about the coming birth of his new heir. There would be an autumn hunt two days hence in celebration, he announced. The last hunt Ailsbet remembered was the one at which Lord Umber had been killed, but no one spoke of that. This time, the ladies of the court would be invited, and King Haikor specifically announced that Prince Edik would come. To prove his place as King Haikor’s heir, presumably, with his taweyr.
“You must be wary,” said Kellin, when he walked with Ailsbet to her chambers after dinner. “In a hunt, with animals about, it will be difficult to keep from showing your taweyr.”
Ailsbet knew that he was right. This would be one of many occasions when she must avoid revealing herself as ekhono. Was that the life she wanted? No. She must leave. As long as Kellin watched after Edik, she could go with nothing on her conscience.
After the hunt, Ailsbet decided, she would get final word to Ambassador Belram and flee Rurik for Aristonne. But until that moment, she would let no one know of her intentions. Not a hint, even to Kellin.
“Do you wish me to take some taweyr from you, as your father does in tax?” asked Kellin.
Ailsbet shook her head, thinking of the men she had seen giving her father taweyr and how weak they were afterward. “I have kept my taweyr secret for years now. I think that I can manage this time, as well.”
This one last time, she thought.
“I know that you have done it before. But on a hunt? Your father has not allowed you on hunts since you were a child.”
“True,” Ailsbet admitted.
“Since you came into the taweyr, perhaps,” said Kellin. “But you know that the weyrs in Rurik are out of balance. The taweyr is too strong in the forest. It is like a deluge. Irresistible.”
“What should I do, then?” asked Ailsbet.
“If you will not let me take some of the taweyr from you, then keep away from the men,” said Kellin. “Stay with the women and the tamer horses.”
“If you insist,” said Ailsbet.
“Or stay at the palace,” said Kellin. “It would be safer for you here. And if you stay, then perhaps Issa would be allowed to stay, as well.”
“My father will certainly expect all four of us to be there, to prove his grip on the throne is strong,” said Ailsbet.
Kellin sighed. “I should have given you instruction before now.”
Ailsbet could feel her taweyr rising up, and she pushed it back down. She had no intention of letting Kellin see how close she was to losing control.
“Tell me something. A hint, if I get in trouble,” said Ailsbet.
“If you get in trouble, there is no help for any of us. The taweyr will burst out of you,” said Kellin soberly. “You must stop it before there is the least hint of trouble.”
“Then tell me how to do that,” Ailsbet spoke impatiently.
“It is not so easy as that. We must be away from the palace to practice. Just keep yourself from getting angry.”
Ailsbet took a breath. “If ever—” she began, hoping to give a hint of a good-bye to Edik through Kellin.
But a pair of servants came by and interrupted, and once they were gone, Kellin had already begun to think about something else. “What was it you were saying?” he asked.
“Nothing,” said Ailsbet, changing her mind. “Nothing at all. I shall see you at the hunt.”
“Until then,” said Kellin, leaving her at the door of her chambers.
Ailsbet went to Edik’s room. He looked as though he had been crying.
“I hate hunting,” said Edik.
“You have to be there,” said Ailsbet.
Edik nodded.
“You must say nothing to Lady Pippa. And only answer Father with obedience.”
“I hate him,” said Edik.
“You hate him now, but you will grow older and stronger. And he may grow softer in his later years.”
“Softer? Ailsbet, the taweyr makes him more unpredictable, angrier. Sometimes I wonder if I shall be glad never to get it back. I feel well quit of it now.”
“Don’t say that,” Ailsbet said.
“Why not? It poisons him as much as he ever poisoned our mother. Who else will he kill? We are all in danger near him. If I could leave here, I would.”
Ailsbet’s heart pinched in her chest. She was taking the easy way out for herself, by leaving Edik behind, an Edik who was becoming wiser and more mature. Was she a cowa
rd? But she would leave the kingdom to him. It would be her proof that she trusted him.
“You have Issa,” she said.
“I have Issa,” said Edik. “If she marries me in five years. But I don’t expect her to admire me after what she has seen of me so far.”
“She wants to help you and Rurik,” said Ailsbet. Did Edik know of the prophecy?
“She can help pick up the pieces that I make of it and myself,” he said sourly.
“There will be no pieces, Edik. All will go well,” said Ailsbet. “You will see. You have learned a great deal and now you know where the dangers are. You will think like a prince and say and do what is right.”
“I shall try, Ailsbet,” he said.
Staying with him would not help him, Ailsbet decided, and it might well make it worse. Her taweyr had already confused things. Edik’s groomsmen might still be alive if Ailsbet had not made the mistake of using her taweyr for her brother. How many other lives would she save by leaving and giving up her taweyr?
“Once Lady Pippa has a son,” said Edik. “Then it will not matter what I do, will it?”
“It may not be a son,” said Ailsbet.
“Then she and my father will try again, until they succeed,” said Edik.
“And what if their offspring are all sickly and die?” said Ailsbet. “You cannot know. Lady Pippa is so young, and our father is so old. Such a match often results in children who do not survive.”
“And we are left wishing for the death of an innocent child, are we?” said Edik bitterly.
But Ailsbet was not waiting for that. She was not waiting at all anymore. She had chosen her path, and now nothing could stop her from having her freedom.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
Ailsbet
WHEN AILSBET ARRIVED at the stables for the hunt, Princess Marlissa was already there, ready to mount her horse. There were more than a dozen other women already mounted, waiting patiently for the king. The men of the court were waiting to mount until the king arrived, and Ailsbet glanced out over them, counting more than thirty, mentally measuring their physical strength and their taweyr against her own. She did not know for certain, since she had never battled against them, but she had heard what they said about one another, and she had seen enough of their posturing to guess how much was true.
King Haikor came out next, wearing several gold chains around his neck, along with an elaborately embroidered red-on-black hunting coat. Ailsbet wore a far plainer black riding skirt. She thought her father would look better wearing something simple, but he did not ask her for fashion advice. Apparently, he had asked Lady Pippa, who was dressed in something similarly overwrought. She had come out to see everyone off, though she would not be riding in her condition.
Prince Edik was there, as well, sitting anxiously on his horse. His face was pale, and he looked small and out of place. Ailsbet waved to offer him some comfort, but he did not appear to see her.
When Kellin arrived, he greeted the king and prince warmly, then turned back to kiss Ailsbet gently as her betrothed. He whispered as he lingered near her, “Do you remember what I said about the taweyr?”
“I remember,” said Ailsbet. Did he think she was an idiot?
“Be careful,” he said.
“I shall. Am I usually so careless?” she asked sarcastically.
Kellin stared at her, and Ailsbet thought she saw a glimpse of hurt in his eyes. But then he was gone, to join the men.
Soon all the hunters were mounted, and the noise of jingling harnesses and voices and horses was so much that Ailsbet could hardly hear herself think, let alone carry on a conversation.
“To the hunt!” said King Haikor at last. He set out quickly, so the others had to nudge their horses into a gallop to follow him. His mount was larger than any of the others, almost a draft horse, and it could not keep up this speed for long, but for a little while it made Haikor look, if not young, then at least like a much younger version of himself.
Ailsbet watched as Edik, with Kellin close at his side, chased after the king, with the other men not far behind. The women, while allowed on the hunt, knew they were not to get too close to the men, for fear of interfering with the taweyr. Ailsbet took care to stay with them, though at the very front of the women. Issa was close on her heels, though the other women remained far back, talking animatedly with one another as they would have at court.
Kellin looked back several times to see Ailsbet, and he nodded with approval. But she could feel the taweyr in the air. It had never been like this, not even when she was in the south country and had first realized she had the taweyr. Then, it had felt rich and thick, and easy to take hold of. Now it felt as if it were pressing on her, like heavy air being forced into her lungs. She had to concentrate on her breathing to keep from using it. It was not only King Haikor’s taweyr, but the taweyr of all the men around him, and it was different out-of-doors than inside the court. The taweyr was freer here. It wanted to be free, and she had to stifle it.
Ailsbet normally thought of herself as a good rider, but she found herself struggling to relax on the horse, trying to force the animal to her own pace. It would not listen to her, and the more she fought with it, the farther back she fell from the other women.
The royal forest was just on the west side of the palace gates, away from the river, near the hills where the battle with Aristonne had been fought. The trees were old oaks that had been growing for many generations, tall and thickly leaved so that there was little light allowed beneath them. The forest floor was dark, nearly black, and the heat was oppressive, made more so by the moisture trapped in the air.
Ailsbet relaxed for a moment and found herself alongside Issa.
“It is so strange here,” said Issa, her face troubled. “So little neweyr in a place where I would have expected so much.”
“My father thinks of the woods as his own,” said Ailsbet. “Is it difficult for you?”
“I am used to so much taweyr by now,” said Issa. “But I am disappointed that it is this way even here.”
“Perhaps it will be good for Edik,” Ailsbet suggested.
Issa sighed. “Have you spoken to Edik about his taweyr?”
“He says he feels it returning to him. That might mean he is coming into his own taweyr at last. But then again, he is sure that he has had it all along, and that it has been stolen from him. He thinks he has only to wrest it back.”
“You see no similarities between him and yourself?” asked Issa.
“In the taweyr?” Ailsbet shook her head. “I know so little. He should speak to Kellin about it.” Since she would be gone. “Perhaps you could ask Kellin to bring it up with him.”
“Kellin and I do not speak anymore. It does not seem wise,” said Issa.
“I do not think that is the right course for you. On the contrary, you should speak to Kellin as often as you can, and in full view of others,” said Ailsbet. She did not know if she and Issa were friends, but she felt she owed her some last, parting gift of advice.
“But when we speak—” Issa reddened. “We always do more than speak.”
“You must practice not falling into temptation,” said Ailsbet. Just as she must do, herself, with her taweyr.
“It is easy for you to say,” said Issa.
Easy for Ailsbet to say? No, it wasn’t. Just because she was not in love, that did not mean that she did not have feelings.
After this conversation, Ailsbet rode out ahead, spurring her horse past Issa and the other women, until she was nearly closing in on the men. The smell of the forest was intoxicating, and the sight of the animals darting out all around her only made her want to follow them. She let go.
She realized that this was where she felt truly herself. She loved the feeling, hot and heady and open. It made her feel as broad as the whole forest, and not crammed into a tiny space in a castle.
There was music all around her, natural music. She could hear it in the wind that whipped around her face, rushing through
her hair. She could hear it in the cawing of birds overhead, in the thumping of her own heart, in the cadence of the horse’s hooves, in the dance of her father’s hounds just ahead of her.
She could hear everything as she never had before. She heard the horn calling out ahead of her, signaling to the hounds that a stag had been sighted.
But Ailsbet already knew he was there. She could see the weight of him, the color of his golden hide, the tines on his antlers so heavy that it did not seem he could stand upright. She smelled the blood in his veins, and felt the thirst in his dry throat as he passed by the river crossing, not daring to stop. He was afraid, but he was also full of excitement. His senses were keener than ever before, and he loved the feel of his hooves against the dirt of the forest floor, challenging him every second to go faster.
Ailsbet felt his urgency, his heat, and his speed. She pushed her face into her horse’s neck and dug in her heels. She smelled the forest and the taweyr and the freedom and the wholeness that was here.
There was a voice calling behind her, but Ailsbet ignored it. She could not ignore the rush of blood in the men ahead of her, like the stag himself. That was where she belonged, with them.
She could hear her father shouting at Prince Edik to hurry, to go ahead, to ride close behind the hounds. She could see and hear and smell and feel and taste so many things at once. Death was all around her, though its presence made life seem more real.
Every male creature in the forest stood out for her like a beacon in the darkness. Ailsbet could see them turn and stare at her as she passed. They were blood and death, war and violence, mastery and victory, bloodthirst and terror.
Then came the moment when Ailsbet had broken free of the trees and the women were so far behind her she did not think of them. She looked up and there was the great golden stag in all his glory before her, with a true crown on his head. No need for jewels here, the twisting tines of the rack were a beautiful, unconscious pattern that nothing man-made could match. Ailsbet wanted that crown for herself.
The men had turned one way, but the stag had doubled back. She was only yards away from him, closer than anyone else.
The Rose Throne Page 20
