“What do you want?”
He shrugged. “How about I think of things as we go?”
“That sounds like…”
“Hm… like you’re paying me not to kill you. Right… yeah, I see your point.”
“I’ll think of something good.”
He raised his glass to her. “Well, then. To Numenos’ bloody gods damned champion.” He grinned.
“Also, I want you to teach me to fight.”
“That’s just gonna make things harder on me, you know.”
She laughed. “I’m serious.”
“So am I. But, yeah, sure, fine.”
“First thing tomorrow?”
He frowned at her, then at his glass. “I may not be in very good condition tomorrow.”
“I don’t care. Whatever condition you’re in. Let’s start tomorrow.”
He downed the last of his drink. “Well, I’ve gone too far in this direction, can’t go back, only way is forward! Better stay up all night so I’m still drunk when you’re ready.”
She rolled her eyes. “All right, great.”
Lilianna’s stomach loosened slightly. OK. She had taken care of Kallia and Ryn. Aron was on his way to the monastery. She was going to learn to fight first thing in the morning. And read. She would find people to help her. That was enough for one night, maybe. Now she could look for the one person she really wanted to talk to.
She barely had time to move before a throat cleared behind her, and she turned to see Gird standing in the shadows.
“…Congratulations,” he said.
“Thanks.”
He held a gold coin in his long fingers, rotating it slowly. It flickered in the firelight.
“Did it help?”
“Did what help?”
Gird clasped the coin in his palm, dropping his hands to his sides and looking at her with his large, reflective eyes. “Killing the man who was like your father.”
“I wasn’t…” but she had been. Yes. She hadn’t been able to kill her father, but she had killed Jedren. Well, sort of. Technically Paric had killed him. She considered this. Did it help? Did she feel better? Mostly what she felt was overwhelmed. It had to be there somewhere, though. She wanted it to have made her feel better. “Yes, actually.”
“Well… that is wonderful, then. I am happy you have found what I could not.”
She glanced around the square, looking for Coralie. She hadn’t gone to bed already, had she?
Gird looked down, clasping his hands in front of him. “I confess… I have a… request… for you.”
Gods. It better not be to execute anyone else.
“Of course, gods willing, Master de Tamley shall return in a few years, new and reborn. However, in the meantime… I wish to remain… occupied.”
“Oh?”
“Yes. You see, when Master de Tamley found me, I was, as I believe you know, in a somewhat… terrible state. I fear I would return to that, if given the opportunity of idleness. I wonder if you… if there might be space in your household… for a butler.”
She let out a sigh of relief. “Oh, that? Yeah, sure OK.”
His eyes lit up. “Really? Oh, that’s wonderful news.”
“Yeah, in fact… you can be… the head of the servants. Try to keep an ear out, see if anyone’s unhappy with the new arrangements, all right?”
He bowed deeply. “Of course. And thank you.”
“Yep, sure. Great. Anything else?”
“No, thank you.”
Lilianna slid away from him as quickly as she could, wending her way through the crowd.
She found Coralie talking with one of Alydren’s soldiers, but as soon as Lilianna appeared Coralie set her drink down, made her excuses, and the two of them slipped off towards their old rooms at the inn.
62
Coralie
They lay together in the middle of a cloud of blankets. Did that really just happen? Did any of this really happen? Coralie glaned over, saw Lilianna’s perfect, sharp nose in profile, and reached out and touched her cheek. Lilianna rolled over to face her and grinned.
“Hey,” Lilianna said.
“How are you doing?”
Lilianna’s smile widened. “I’m doing great.”
Coralie leaned over and kissed her cheek, then her shoulder. Is this real? Can this possibly be real? Her heart was warm, and she didn’t think anyone could possibly have ever been this happy before. “I mean, with everything. With all of this.”
Lilianna rolled onto her back, letting out a sigh and staring up at the ceiling.
“Oh right, all that.”
Coralie scooted closer and lay her head on Lilianna’s shoulder. “I know this wasn’t what you had in mind, when you said you wanted to leave Harfoss. And when you said you were going to take out Jedren.”
Lilianna laughed, shaking her head, eyes still closed. “Nope. Gods, I can’t believe this has happened.”
A sudden thought popped into Coralie’s head, a sharp sliver of fear. “What are you going to do about Ryn and Kallia?” she asked. If there was anyone who could still hurt Lilianna, it was them.
Lilianna hesitated a moment before she answered. “I’ll figure it out,” she said finally.
Something in her tone made Coralie look more closely at her. “I’m sure you will. A public trial or something?”
Lilianna was biting her cheek now. “I had them executed,” she said finally.
“What? When?”
“Just now. I had Alydren do it.”
Coralie, stunned, didn’t say anything for several seconds.
“I can hear you judging me,” Lilianna said. “You don’t understand. I had to.”
Coralie swallowed. “No, no, sorry, I’m not judging you. I just… do you think they deserved that?”
“They definitely deserved that,” Lilianna said, pulling away, wrapping the covers more tightly about herself.
“Um, yeah, true… I guess…” Coralie backpedaled. She glanced over at Lilianna, who was now staring fixedly at the ceiling. I’m not making the same mistake twice.
Coralie rolled over onto her shoulder and put her hand on Lilianna’s. “Hey, I’m sorry. I have no idea what that was like. It must have been crazy.”
Lilianna eyed her. “Yeah. You have no idea what this is like.”
“You’re right, I’m sorry.” She reached out, touched the side of Lilianna’s arm. “Tell me about it?”
Lilianna rolled over and faced her. “I don’t want to be judged.”
“I won’t, I promise. I love you.”
Lilianna softened, the relief clear in her face. In that moment, Coralie put up a wall in her mind. She wasn’t here to run a country, she wasn’t here to decide what the government should be like. She was here to be with the person she loved.
“I love you, too.”
63
Lilianna
A few months later, Lilianna lay in her room with all the shades drawn, all the candles blown out. Her head was hot, her breath stifled under the covers, her hair tickling her face and neck. Every muscle in her body ached. She wasn’t going to get up. She should have met with her advisors… oh some amount of time ago. What time was it anyway? She didn’t know. One of them was plotting to kill her anyway, she was pretty sure. They all thought her incompetent. That much she was sure of. The stupid champion of Numenos. Everyone must know what a joke that was, now.
She threw her arms over her head, scrunching up her eyes. I didn’t ask for this. She heard the door open and close. Go away, Coralie.
She couldn’t take the idea of Coralie seeing her like this. She’d leave her, she knew she would.
“Miss?”
Oh. Not Coralie. “Go away, Gird.”
The shades were drawn back and bright, horrible sunshine streamed into the room. She rolled over onto her stomach, pulling the covers more tightly about her, even though she was lying in a pool of her own sweat.
In one giant, efficient yank, Gird pulled the covers back. She scrunched into a ball
, glaring at him from under a nest of hair.
A delicate hand went to his nose, and he grimaced.
“Mistress Lilianna—”
“Go away. I order you to go away.”
He moved off into the adjoining bathroom, and she could hear him lighting the fire to heat the bath. He left and returned a few moments later with two buckets of water. Then he left again, returning with two more. She laid there, not moving, for half an hour while he painstakingly filled the tub. She didn’t pull the covers back up; it was actually kind of a relief to not be boiling hot anymore.
Finally, Gird returned to stand by her bedside.
“The tub is ready for you.”
She didn’t respond.
He cleared his throat, raising his voice slightly. “The. Tub. Is. Ready. For. You.”
“I’m staying here.” She was going to stay in this bed until someone came to put her out of her misery. First one to get through Gird and murder me gets the kingdom. Actually, it would probably be Gird, eventually. Or hunger.
Gird adjusted his cuff links. “These sheets are disgusting, and I insist you allow me to change them. The water is hot. Go take a bath, and, if you still wish to, you may return to your bed once I am done.”
She glared at him longer. Actually, though, a bath did sound good. Grudgingly, she got up, made her way to the bathroom, undressed, and slipped into the hot water, sinking in up to her neck. It felt fantastic. She submerged all the way, felt her hair lift. Out of habit, she started scrubbing the oil out of it.
Before she’d thought much about it, she’d gone through the whole process, soap and all. By the time the water was cold, Gird had appeared next to her with a towel and something in a paper package.
She took the towel and dried off as Gird averted his eyes.
“What’s that?”
“Nothing.”
“Seriously, what is it?”
She wrapped the towel around herself and made a grab for the package. He let her pull it out of his hands and unwrap it. Inside was a tunic, incredibly beautiful and well-made. It was royal blue with gold trim, made of a heavy brocade.
“What is this?”
He looked at her seriously. “No one expects you to be perfect. But you were the one who defeated Jedren, when no one else could.”
Her throat clenched. “Paric killed Jedren.” She’d never said it aloud. Not to anyone.
“He was there because you asked him to be. He is alive because you intervened. You are learning faster than anyone could have expected. Yes, you have detractors, but you also have followers. Loyal followers.”
She ran her hand across the cloth, unable to speak around the lump in her throat. Finally, she shook her head.
“You and I have something in common,” Gird said. “We both carry the weight of regret. People we love died, and we weren’t able… or I suppose strong enough… to stop it. I have found that the only way forward is to have something else to focus on. Something to work towards and work for. I know I can’t ever atone for what I’ve done, and what I’ve failed to do. And… maybe you feel that you can’t either. But we can still work. We can still move forward. Imperfectly, yes. But forward.” He patted her on the shoulder. “You are doing fine.”
She shrugged a shoulder. “No, I’m not.”
“You saw the direction Mimros was headed. You prevented that.”
“Yeah, I guess… but… there’s a long way to go from there to actually doing a good or even OK job at… running a country.”
“True. Give it time. One step at a time.”
Lilianna swallowed hard and unwrapped the package the rest of the way. She held up the cloth to the sunlight, examining the subtle pattern of threadwork.
“I’ll give you a moment,” Gird said, withdrawing.
She pulled on the tunic and examined herself in the mirror. Her brown hair hung wet across her shoulders, dripping onto the beautiful fabric. She toweled it dry, then yanked the brush through it. Gird appeared, taking the brush from her hand and carefully finishing the job. Then, while she watched in the mirror, he did a few small braids, drawing her hair up into a twist, the braids running through it.
“Not bad,” Lilianna said.
“You’re not the only one attempting to master the skills of their chosen profession.”
She looked at him for several seconds, trying to think of what to say, but she couldn’t find the words.
“I’d better go,” she said at last.
“Remember who chose you,” Gird said, as she pulled on her boots and headed for the doors.
You did. Lilianna thought, even though she thought he meant Numenos. You and Aron and Coralie and Paric chose me. And I won’t let you down.
64
Lilianna
“We’ll need to wall off the monastery completely,” Lilianna said.
Across from her, Kara sipped her tea thoughtfully, her short legs extending off the couch in front of her.
“I’ll send some men to help, and to help defend it. As soon as Volaria hears about this—”
“I don’t want soldiers in the monastery,” Kara said curtly. “It is still a place of worship. We will take care of this ourselves.”
Lilianna frowned and was about to protest, but Kara held up a hand.
“I understand your concerns. I assure you we will take care of it. I appreciate what you have done for us. You’ve already done more than enough with the supplies you’ve sent.”
Lilianna nodded. “Then I’d like to discuss what you plan to do going forward.”
Kara sipped her tea thoughtfully. “Of course. In exchange for your protection from any champions of Yqtos, from Volaria or the Republic, I agree to accept only those you approve of to die at the monastery, as you have asked.”
Lilianna’s eyes lit up. This was it. This was why people would follow her. Even when they had forgotten she was the magical chosen one. She could give them something absolutely no one else could. Immortality.
“Aside from the members of our order, of course,” Kara said.
“Of course.” Lilianna bowed and took a sip of her tea. She tried to appear calm and thoughtful, but inside her heart was racing. This was going to work.
It did work. Often barely, and even more often imperfectly, but it worked. Even the stories did not fade away as quickly as Lilianna had feared they would. Everyone who was at the square that day had their own version. Some people claimed to have seen a brilliant flash of light when Jedren had struck her. Others said they’d seen the lady herself, blossoming from Lilianna’s chest in a fiery pillar of rage, striking down her enemy. Still more claimed that Lilianna had simply touched him with a single fingertip and he had died.
A few years into her rule, Aron showed up, a five-year-old boy with a very confused older sister, and from there the new country of Mimros really began to thrive.
First they called her the Champion of Numenos. After the first wave of reincarnates returned reborn, they called her the Immortality Bringer. This was the title she liked best, the one she took for herself. She had it translated into the old language, the language of the gods, and from then on, she was known as the Mandrevecchian.
65
Lilianna
Year Fifty-Six of the Reign of the Mandrevecchian.
Lilianna was the first to find her way back to Kreiss. She left her Volarian family in the middle of the night, having sent word to the monks where to find her. They met her on a flower-strewn corner, two monks and a contingent of armed guards disguised as travelers. They asked her the questions, which felt like it took hours. How many of these did I make up? But she was glad for the security.
It was strange, being young again. Being five years old and remembering old age, remembering how one’s body had used to work. This body was different. It needed more food, and it grew muscle almost without her trying. She was a lanky boy with a shock of blond hair, grinning back at herself from the many mirrors of the castle. But she didn’t feel like a boy. She still just fe
lt like herself.
It was nearly eight years, though, before Coralie turned up. Lilianna had nearly given up, was sick with worry, when word came that Coralie had been found. She was short and dark skinned and had waded alone through the mires of the Dymri until coming to the borders of Mimros and finding a courier to send word to the monks.
It was afternoon when she arrived at the palace. Lilianna was waiting for her in their chambers, nervously trying to smoothe her short blond hair, rubbing her fingers self-consciously over the soft stubble that had started on her chin.
The door opened and another boy came in, dark eyes and skin and hair, a sword strapped to his waist. They stared at each other across the room for many moments.
“Lilianna?”
Lilianna nodded, trying to figure out what to do with her hands.
Coralie smiled hesitantly. “This is very strange. This body is… different.”
Lilianna gave an awkward laugh. “This one too.”
“I can’t believe this worked. I half thought I’d never see you again.”
Lilianna nodded, trying to swallow down the lump that had formed in her throat. “Me too. What took you so long?”
Coralie tugged at the collar of her tunic. “I… I thought for a long time that I was going crazy, when the memories came. I ignored them. Then I finally told one of the elders, and he panicked. They did a bunch of ceremonies. Made me drink a bunch of weird stuff.” Her dark eyes were haunted. “I thought they were right.”
Lilianna moved a few hesitant steps closer.
“What changed your mind?”
Coralie waved a lanky teenage boy hand. “Eventually I decided I had to trust myself more than the people around me. I knew things they didn’t. Of course, I would probably have thought that if I really was crazy, too.” She shook her head. “Man, when I got to that first town in Mimros and asked them to send word to some magical monks in the mountains…” She laughed. “And then they did.” She shook her head in amazement. “That was a feeling. To tell people about my insane thoughts, and… to have them respond as if they’re normal. As if they live in my same world, too. It was like… the world in my head actually exists somewhere.” She gave Lilianna a bemused look. “And… you’re real.”
Death of the Immortal King Page 33
