Chapter 12

  Andorae

  Andorae was preparing for the next step. She had to be careful. Danghe’llan had spent five delicious nights in her chamber before he was called away on some errand for his father. He was an unrestrained glutton when it came to pleasures of all kinds and drank wine as if it were water. But wine could be easily replaced. The essential ingredient, however, was finite. If worse came to worse, she’d have to sacrifice one of her beloved companions, but their disappearance would be much more difficult to explain than that of the whelps. That could always be blamed on Thorna and open windows. After all, one or two did fly away that way.

  The stupid girl’s voice penetrated through the door and almost made her spill the mixture she’d so carefully prepared.

  ‘Your Highness, Lady Rhae has arrived.’

  Damn the woman. She was too early. Was she hoping to catch her in something? Andorae took a deep breath and told herself not to be paranoid.

  ‘Tell her I’ll be there in a moment!’

  She locked her equipment securely and buried the evidence deep in the Silverleaf pot. Such a small thing would disintegrate within a few bell chimes. The earth was too moist and smelled strangely of fermentation. Stupid Thorna must have overwatered it again.

  The princess checked her appearance in the mirror. It was important to look especially enchanting today on the first visit to her future home. Lady Rhae had promised her a place of serene beauty but it was the memory of Danghe’llan’s sweet smile and lustful eyes that raised her mood.

  What had her mother said? She’d be sent as a bride to the goblins if their plan failed. She shuddered. Then a mad thought possessed her. So what if the plan failed? Maybe she should let it fail? In the best case, it would trap her mother’s insufferable lover and his soldiers in the mortal realm forever. Sillan could be a scourge to the mortals there instead of being a constant humiliation to Andorae’s father.

  No, that would not work. Sillan would do anything to return to the woman he was soul-bound to. He would fight his way through the Veil and the kingdom of Sol if he had to and the whole plan would come to light eventually. Couldn’t she simply pretend she’d known nothing of her mother’s machinations? Danghe’llan would be her devoted husband and slave by then. For once, she would be the one in power. Her mother’s execution would mean her freedom!

  The exhilaration of the thought vanished as quickly as it had arrived. If her mother were accused of high treason, the consequences would not only be born by her. Even if Andorae could save herself, her father and sisters would still be at King Lordin’s mercy. No, she had to make sure her mother got what she wanted. But once she did, she would never return to Dorchad again, whatever its new queen demanded.

  ? ? ?

  The carriage stopped in front of Andorae’s future home and she looked around curiously.

  ‘Have I promised too much?’ Lady Rhae asked with a triumphant smile.

  Andorae gave her her best wide-eyed look and said, ‘Not at all. What a beautiful place.’

  ‘It’s just as beautiful inside,’ the other woman promised and Lord Morvannon’s footmen hurried to help them out of the high seats.

  The master of the house awaited them in a large reception room that was less opulent and much more tastefully furnished than Andorae would have expected from someone as ostentatious as Lord Morvannon. She wondered if this elegance was a result of his late wife’s influence or maybe even Danghe’llan’s impeccable taste.

  The way his face lit up when he saw her made her heart skip a beat. Memories of their nights together rose unbidden in her mind and she could feel her face heat up. Composure, detachment, grace, she reminded herself and nodded regally as both men bowed to her.

  Danghe’llan’s eyes never moved away from her while their elders exchanged pleasantries and she found herself wanting to be alone with him again. Was this affection real? She glanced at his fingers and saw that he still wore the ring. The stone was still not lit. It didn’t matter. The potion must have started working its way through his blood and soul but it was still too early to see its full results.

  ‘Maybe Danghe’llan would like to show Her Highness the house and those gorgeous gardens?’ she heard her chaperone suggest.

  Lord Morvannon agreed and Danghe’llan obediently offered his arm. She looked around with interest and stopped at the large painting of a dark-haired woman. It was an exquisite work of art yet the woman looked melancholy and lost in reverie.

  ‘Is that your mother?’ she asked.

  Her betrothed just nodded and made to go on. She held him back. ‘That is a very touching portrait. You must all miss her very much.’

  ‘I don’t.’

  The cold matter-of-fact tone shocked her and she searched his face to see if that was some strange joke.

  ‘Would you rather I lied to you?’ he asked with a smile.

  ‘But surely a person who wrote such songs of love could not have been cruel to you,’ she said in wonder.

  ‘She wasn’t. She was a very dutiful mother. But the only person she ever loved was the Queen. That’s a common thing with bards and poets. They will always worship what they cannot have. Everything else is bound to disappoint them.’

  There was a hint of unusual bitterness in his smile. She squeezed his hand and asked, ‘Do you think she loved her so much that she shared her soul with her? Maybe that is why she couldn’t love anyone else?’

  ‘I don’t know. If so, it was one-sided. A monarch is not allowed to share his or her soul. And I don’t believe in that nonsense.’

  ‘You don’t believe in soul-sharing?’

  ‘I know it exists. I just don’t believe you cannot love anyone else just because you are soul-bound to a person. That is just the invention of bards and poets.’ He glanced up at his mother’s face. ‘She used to call it poetic licence. But it’s just exaggerated and sentimental gibberish that has nothing to do with real life.’

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  ‘Did you ever see it?’

  ‘I once knew a young knight who saw the only person he loved fall in battle. He couldn’t bear it and shattered his soul to give a part of it to the one who mattered most to him.’

  Andorae frowned. ‘Now you are taking poetic licence. You cannot bring people back once their soul has left for the Source.’

  ‘But you can stop it from leaving. It is like giving your life energy to another.’

  ‘And you saw that?’ she asked sceptically.

  ‘As far as I know, you can’t see it from outside. Shouldn’t you know that better than I do? After all, you are a direct descendant of Queen Morgana’s creation line.’

  ‘My much maligned ancestor. That too is just a stupid poem that has nothing to do with real life,’ she said lightly, trying to hide her nervousness. Was he suspecting something?

  He smiled and kissed her hand. ‘I am just teasing you.’

  A servant came rushing down the stairs. “My lord, there is trouble in your chambers. That creature you brought …,’ the young Fae began breathlessly.

  ‘Just make sure she stays in there,’ Danghe’llan interrupted and led Andorae into the garden, ignoring the servant’s sputtering protests.

  ‘Who is causing trouble in your chambers? Some lover you are hiding?’ she asked, looking back at the desperate servant.

  He leaned against the tree with crossed arms and raised an eyebrow. ‘Didn’t you say you wouldn’t hinder me in the pursuit of my pleasures?’

  Andorae swallowed. He had been so sweet and affectionate that it didn’t occur to her that he would just jump into someone else’s bed.

  ‘Do you want to meet her? We could all have fun together,’ he suggested with a teasing smile.

  ‘Danghe’llan!’

  He laughed and cupped her cheek. ‘There is no lover in my bedroom, darling. It’s just my father’s falcrys that escaped the stables and flew into the house. We chased her into my chambers before you came. It would have been a very undignified reception otherwise. Father is likely to kill her because she is so badly trained, so it’s better if he doesn’t see her for a while. Maybe I should give her to Moriddan.’

  She looked up at him suspiciously. He looked so innocent and merry. The suns were bathing his hair in the most wonderful shades and she reached out to touch it. Surely no man who looked that irresistible could be trusted? Still, she couldn’t help but pull him to her by the hair to kiss him.

  When she let go, he said, ‘I don’t mind a bit of roughness, darling, but maybe leave that for the bedroom. You don’t want our elders to think you wanton and shameless.’

  ‘Do you think I’m wanton and shameless?’ she whispered into his ear.

  ‘Yes, but I wouldn’t have you any other way,’ he replied with a wink. ‘But let’s go on before they start scolding us for inappropriate behaviour.’

  ‘Do you often go hunting with your father?’

  ‘Hunting?’

  ‘A falcrys is a hunting bird, isn’t it?’

  ‘I’ve never been hunting and I don’t think my father has either. That’s probably why the bird is so unruly. It was a present from some dignitary from one of those northern kingdoms.’

  ‘You should try. It is an exhilarating sport.’

  ‘It seems pointless to go to such efforts to kill something that cannot defend itself. I’ve seen humans hunt, but they do it because they eat the flesh of the animal. At least there’s some purpose to it.’

  ‘So you have crossed to the mortal realm?’

  ‘My mother took us there often when we were younger and Father sent me to guard the Veil as a punishment once. It is a primitive place and not suitable for a lady. Especially not for one created in the eternal twilight of Dorchad. The sun there would be unbearable to you when it’s at its brightest.’

  If that was true, she hoped Sillan suffered greatly. She listened with interest as Danghe’llan entertained her with stories about peculiar human habits and the strange animals of that world until they were called back to the house.

  Both Lord Morvannon and Lady Rhae had lost their artificially cheerful demeanour and were glaring at each other. Andorae felt her heart beat faster in sudden fear.

  ‘Is something wrong?’ Danghe’llan asked, squeezing her hand reassuringly.

  ‘Moriddan seems to have gone missing,’ his father said with a frown.

  ‘When did you last see him?’ Lady Rhae inquired of Andorae.

  ‘Two days ago. Maybe three?’ she replied uncertainly.

  ‘I had a drink with him two days ago and suggested a few places he could visit since he was so bored at the court’, Danghe’llan volunteered.

  ‘He is not supposed to roam Sol at his pleasure!’ his father thundered.

  ‘None of the places was far away. Maybe he found a nice tavern with a pretty Low Fae keeper on the way …’

  ‘His battlekin was found by our guards in the woods near the Veil,’ Lord Morvannon interrupted coldly.

  Lady Rhae gave him a dark look. ‘Unsaddled and unbound. A squire wouldn’t allow himself to do such a thing, let alone my king’s paladin.’

  ‘What are you saying?’ Andorae asked, trying not to show her panic.

  ‘Who knows what old grudges arose in some people? He decimated your armies for eighty years. Do you think they’ve forgotten that?’

  Lord Morvannon stiffened. ‘What you are suggesting is …’

  Danghe’llan cleared his throat. ‘There is no need for such baseless accusations from either side. I will go and find him. Maybe he got lost and wandered off into the mortal realm by accident.’

  ‘You cannot simply cross the Veil by accident,’ his father pointed out stubbornly.

  ‘I will get to the bottom of it,’ Danghe’llan replied equally stubbornly.

  ‘I want to come with you. I can help,’ Andorae said, grasping her chance.

  ‘You are not married yet! It is improper,’ Lord Morvannon protested.

  Andorae straightened her shoulders. ‘Both our countries have been sending female knights and soldiers into the army for centuries, your Lordship. Who worried about proprieties then?’

  ‘You are a princess, not a warrior.’

  ‘My mother is a princess, and she led a battalion against you in the Marshlands. I am sure you remember that.’

  She knew he did. It had been his greatest defeat in the previous war three hundred years ago. Lady Rhae gave her a warning look. Andorae realised her mistake. It probably wasn’t wise to remind him of that, so she quickly changed her tactics.

  ‘I will be your daughter-in-law soon, your lordship. Is it really the alleged impropriety that you are objecting to, or do you not trust another Dorchada near your precious Veil? Is that how you will treat me when I come to live under your roof? Like an enemy instead of a daughter? Will I be an outcast in my new home?’

  ‘Of course not. You will be a daughter of this house and treated as such. I apologise if I ever gave you a different impression, Your Highness. But that thing you refer to as my ‘precious Veil’ is dangerous. Sol, Dorchada, or any other Fae - no one is ever allowed to cross it without my explicit permission. The place on the other side is barbaric and full of pitfalls. I am its keeper, and I will not risk your safety by allowing you to go there,’ Lord Morvannon explained.

  ‘That country house Mother always dragged us to is not that far from the Veil. Andorae can stay there with her retinue while I stay at the camp. If I find out anything, she will still be close enough to call her as a witness,’ Danghe’llan suggested.

  ‘That is a good idea. It will satisfy anyone’s sense of propriety. It is better if we are both involved in the investigation. My uncle trusts me, and Queen Mab trusts your family. Whatever we find, it is better if we can both swear to the truth of it. Please, Lord Morvannon. I was sent here as a bride to ensure peace between our nations. I will not let anything come in the way of that.’

  ‘Neither will I,’ Danghe’llan promised solemnly.

  His father gave him a strange look, then looked at Lady Rhae, who said, ‘All right. I agree if Lord Morvannon does.’

  Danghe’llan’s father narrowed his eyes at his son. ‘If you insist on commanding the garrison again, be my guest. It is time to rebuild its strength again, now that we are finally at peace. You will stay there until I find a satisfactory replacement.’

  Andorae could feel Danghe’llan’s whole body stiffening in anger, and she quickly said, ‘But your Lordship, an auspicious day for the wedding will be decided on soon. It is the most important ceremony of this treaty, aside from the ratification.’

  ‘You cannot send a prince to guard some outpost, my lord,’ Lady Rhae joined in.

  ‘Actually, Father, you cannot send me to do anything when I outrank you,’ Danghe’llan said with such an insolent grin that Andorae was sure his father would hit him.

  Lord Morvannon’s hands balled into fists, but all he did was reply coldly, ‘You are not a prince yet. And until you are, you will do as I command.’