Ascendant (34 page)

“
I did, when I thought we
had a real chance to find it. If King Nestor, with all his troops and advisors,
couldn
’
t find
it, what chance do we have?
”

Ariana bit her
lower lip, and looked down to blink away a tear. She had so wanted to have a
nice afternoon with Koren; the day was sunny and warm enough for the windows to
be cracked open, the light breeze brought in scents that held the promise of
springtime, Ariana had gone down to the royal kitchens herself to make sure her
table was set with Koren
’
s
favorite honey cakes, but he had hardly touched the food. "Koren, what's
wrong?"

“
Nothing.
”
Koren said, feeling a
little guilty. He saw the honey cakes, and knew Ariana had gone to extra
trouble to make him happy.
“
I
’
m tired, is all. This
morning  Thunderbolt was cranky and wanted to go for a long ride, and I
didn
’
t have
time, because Paedris almost blew up his laboratory yesterday, and I had to
straighten up.
”

Ariana had
heard the explosion, and seen the yellow smoke rising from the highest chamber
of the wizard
’
s
tower.
“
What
was he doing?
”

Koren managed
a smile.
“
I
never ask. It
’
s
better not to. Can I see that scroll?" The two sat quietly for a while,
reading scrolls, or rather, Koren was engrossed in reading a scroll about the
early days of the wizard
’
s
council, and Ariana was watching Koren. Whenever he looked up, she glanced
away, pretending she was looking at a scroll, or a map, or nibbling on a honey
cake. But she was looking at Koren, the way his thick curls of hair fell in
front of his eyes, the curve of his jaw, the way his eyelids slowly blinked
while he was reading. Her hero, the boy who had saved her from a bear, a raging
river, and a pack of bandits. All by himself. And she couldn
’
t even tell people how
very brave he was, for that would draw the enemy
’
s attention to him.

Ariana had
heard about girls getting foolish crushes on boys; from listening to her maids,
those silly girls fell in love with a different boy every week. Ariana was sure
what she felt for Koren was different, of course it was. The boy she had a
crush on was a true hero. But other girls probably thought their own crushes
were true love, also. And true love was a romantic notion that a crown princess,
and certainly not a queen, could not spend much time dreaming about. Queens
married for political advantage, not for love. She sighed, loud enough for
Koren to hear.

“
Huh?
”
Koren asked.
“
Did you say something?
”

“
No. Um, Koren, do you ever
think about getting married, someday?
”

“
Married?
”
A boy, who was not tired,
and not intent on stuffing himself with honey cakes and reading about wizards,
would have recognized the dreamy look on the crown princess
’
s face, but Koren was very
tired, and getting very stuffed with honey cakes.
“
No, I never thought about
it, not really.
”
Why did girls always want to talk about such things?
“
How about you?
”

The dreamy
look fell from Ariana
’
s
face.
“
Mother
says I
’
ll
marry the son of a duke, whoever offers the best alliance within Tarador. Or
maybe a prince from another kingdom. I
’
m
sure mother will find someone suitable, someone horribly boring.
”
She made a face.

“
But, when you
’
re queen, you could marry
anyone you like!
”
Koren said with surprise. What good was being a queen if you couldn
’
t do whatever you wanted?

“
It
’
s not like that. I have to
think about what
’
s
best for Tarador, not only about what I want.
”

“
I think that stinks! If I
were king, I would marry any girl I liked.
”

“
What kind of girl do you
like?
”
Ariana
asked, while twirling a stand of hair around her finger.

“
Oh, I don
’
t know, that's all too far
away to think about now. It doesn
’
t
matter anyway. I
’
m
living in a cubbyhole of the wizard
’
s
tower, that doesn
’
t
make me a good catch for girls.
”

“
Some girls would think you
’
re a good catch.
”
Ariana said in a small
voice. She hadn
’
t
thought about the subject of marriage from Koren
’
s side. He was living in the royal castle,
but in truth, he was only a penniless servant.

Koren
shrugged.
“
Maybe
someday, I can rent land for a farm somewhere. My father bought his own land,
before he met my mother. My mother says he was the best catch in the whole
village.
”

“
You like farming?
”
Ariana asked, surprised.
It didn
’
t
sound like fun to her.

“
I know how to do it. You
need a skill, if you
’
re
not going to be someone
’
s
servant your whole life. I mean, not you, you
’
re a princess, and you'll be queen. You
’
ll never have to worry
about earning your keep.
”

The
conversation was not going where Ariana wanted.
“
Would you like another honey cake?
”

That evening,
Koren was walking across the castle courtyard with Cully, after helping the
other servant boy move furniture from a part of the castle that was going to
be  renovated. It was hard work, and the tired boys were headed to the
kitchens to scrounge up whatever food was available. "Look, it's the
princess," Cully whispered as he grabbed Koren's arm. Ariana was standing
on a stone platform up against the castle wall, bundled up in fine, heavy
clothes, her hair waving gently in the cold breeze. "She's reviewing the
evening changing of the guard." Cully explained.

"I want
to see," Koren said, standing on his toes to see above the crowd.
"Let's go around the side." They squeezed their way along the wall,
until they were in front, close to Ariana's personal guards. A guard held out a
hand to prevent them getting closer, then recognized Koren and nodded. The boys
stood quietly, waiting for the princess to signal the ceremony to begin. Ariana
looked around the assembled crowd, from left to right, and  when she saw
Koren, she smiled, and winked at him, then gestured the guards to begin.

Cully at first
thought the princess had smiled and winked at him, which froze him in place for
a second. When he realized Koren had been the target of her affections, he looked
at the other boy, and frowned. They stood silently until the guard had been
changed, and the princess escorted back inside the castle. "Brother, you
are in trouble," Cully said in a low voice, shaking his head.

"Huh?
What do you mean?"

"I saw
you making goo-goo eyes at the princess. What in the world are you thinking?
Not thinking, you must be."

"I was
not making... goo-goo eyes at Ari- at the princess."

"You
should have seen your face, you were all 'Oh, I'm so in lu-uh-uv with her, the
princess is my everything'." Cully said mockingly.

"Was
not!" Koren said hotly, his face red from embarrassment.

"Was too!
I know what I saw! Seriously, you must be crazy in the head, or something.
She's the crown princess, she's going to be
Queen
soon. Her mother could
have your head chopped off, if she saw you looking at the princess that way.
Listen, brother, I know you're more used to being around goats than royalty,
but they're up here," Cully stretched his hand up way high over his head,
"and we're down there someplace," he pointed down at the muddy
ground. "You can't even
think
about what you're thinking. You know
that, right? She's going to marry some duke's son, or a prince from a foreign
land. And you may not always be a servant, but you will always be common-born."

Koren looked
down at the ground, miserably. "I know, I know all that. You don't need to
tell me,  I know who I am." A lowly servant, a boy without a family.
"I'm grateful to be where I am, with a roof over my head, and food in my
belly. I don't ask for more than that."

"Speaking
of food in my belly, let's get to the kitchens, before all these guards going
off duty eat everything."

Seeing Nestor
’
s inscription had dampened
Koren
’
s
enthusiasm for finding the Cornerstone, but reading the musty old scrolls in
Ariana
’
s
library renewed his interest. If the weather had been warmer, he might have put
it aside, but as it was still winter, and there wasn
’
t much else to do, the
itch to find the Cornerstone came back quickly. As the winter snows began to
melt, and patches of stubbly grass appeared in the muddy fields around the
castle, Koren returned to studying ancient scrolls for clues about where the
Cornerstone could have gone. Ariana, he became convinced, was right. There was
not enough time, during the battle, for the enemy to have carried the massive
Cornerstone away. Yet, it was also clearly not hidden anywhere in the castle,
which had been thoroughly searched by many generations of kings, queens,
princes and princesses, as Nestor's note attested.

“
Paedris,
”
Koren asked one night, as
he cleaned up the wizard
’
s
dinner plates,
“
do
you know about the Cornerstone of Acedor?
”

“
Oh, ho! Is that where you
have been sneaking off to, my curious little friend?
”
The wizard asked with a
raised eyebrow.

“
You don
’
t know?
”
Koren asked, surprised.
Didn
’
t wizards
know everything?

“
Er, well, yes, of course I
did,
”
Paedris
lied.
“
I was
waiting for you to speak to me. I suppose every young person in the castle gets
pulled into that fool
’
s
errand eventually. Don
’
t
worry, it
’
s
harmless fun, and you can learn a lot in the process.
”

“
Did you ever search for
the Cornerstone?
”

“
Me? Goodness, no. I haven
’
t been that young in many
years.
”
The
wizard was lost in thought for a moment.
“
Many,
many years. No, I have never searched for it. Never even been to the old
Cornerstone chamber, although I suppose I should someday.
”

“
The scrolls say the enemy
was not in the castle long enough, before Aldus Trehayme drove them away, for
the Cornerstone to have been hauled away.
”

“
That, young Koren, is why
it is such a famous mystery!
”

Melting of the
winter snow couldn't come fast enough for Ariana, and the cold, gray weather
wasn't the only issue weighing on her mind. She was running out of money,
keeping her personal guard stationed in the Thrallren woods. The men, although
they were helping themselves to game and fish in that dense forest, with Duke
Yarron's permission, still needed an enormous amount of supplies for themselves
and their horses; most of the money for those supplies came out of Ariana's personal
account, which had almost run dry. Yarron had sent a private note offering to
pay part of the cost out of his own pocket, so much he valued royal troops
patrolling his borders, but Ariana had stubbornly insisted that supplies for
royal troops be paid for with royal funds, so she had summoned the royal
chancellor.