Fey 02 - Changeling (57 page)

"Dreams," Canter said.

Nicholas shook his head.
 
"Reality."

"I believe the King is right," Enford said.
 
"The situation we have now is untenable.
 
The Queen's death only made things worse. But I'm not sure I like your proposal so far, Highness."

"You may like this part even less," Nicholas said.
 
"I propose we do not fight the Fey.
 
I —"

"We couldn't fight them anyway," Miller said.
 
"You forget, Highness.
 
The Rocaan is the only one who makes holy water.
 
If we anger him, we lose any advantage we have against the Fey."

"Do we?" Nicholas asked.
 
"I contend we have no advantage now.
  
The Fey may be planning something even now as a retaliation for Jewel.
 
And they won't come for me.
 
They'll go for Matthias."

"Or the rest of the Isle," Fesler said.

"That isn't the Fey way," Nicholas said.
 
"They won't destroy the place in order to win it.
 
Jewel taught me that.
 
You have to listen to me.
 
I think I have the only way out of these conflicts.
 
The only way that will leave Blue Isle intact."

He was begging, but he no longer cared.
 
They had to listen to him.
 
They had to understand.

"Go on, Highness," Egan said.

Nicholas took a deep breath.
 
His heart was pounding.
 
Hard.
 
His palms were so damp they were sliding on the arms of the throne.
 
"I will propose to the Fey that they turn over their killer to us, and we'll turn over ours to them."

"What?"

"Highness!"

"You can't mean that!"

The cries were so uniform that he couldn't tell who had spoken.
 
He kept his grip on the chair.
 
He might be nervous, but he couldn't show it.
 
Not now.

"I do mean it," he said. "It's the only way."

"And what if they don't turn over their killer?"
 
Holbrook asked.

"Then we don't turn over ours."

"But what if they give us the wrong person?"

Nicholas's mouth was dry.
 
He hadn't thought of that.
 
"I'll make the exchange with their Shaman.
 
She'll know."

"How will she know?" Canter asked.
 
"Magic?"

Nicholas nodded.
 
"Some Fey have a gift of clearness.
 
The Shaman is perhaps the most gifted of all in that area.
 
She will be honest with us."

"You're putting a lot of trust in them," Egan said softly.

"They saved my daughter's life."

"They had benefit in that too," Enford said.
 
"She is their ruler's great-granddaughter."

"Jewel believed that they had benefit in the alliance," Nicholas said.
 
"She believed it was the only way for Fey to survive."

"Not if you give them our Rocaan, it's not.
 
Then they can attack us with impunity, especially if you take over the church.
 
Who'll make the holy water?" Canter asked.

"I will," Nicholas said.

"Forgive me, Highness, but you don't know how," Holbrook said.

"Matthias will teach me," Nicholas said, although he wasn't sure how he would accomplish that.

"Giving you the secret to holy water would be useless," Canter said.
 
"You would never use it against them."

"Exactly," Nicholas said.
 
"That is one of the things that gives them safety in this bargain."

"But that will never protect us," Canter said.

"Of course it will protect you," Nicholas said.
 
"As long as the agreement remains alive, the Fey will not attack us. They will work with us." He stood.
 
"I have said I will do anything to save my daughter and to save this Isle.
 
I mean that."

"Do you?" Holbrook asked softly.
 
"Do you really mean that, Highness?"

Nicholas cocked his head and looked at Holbrook.
 
"Why are you asking me that, milord?"

"Because, Sire, it seems to me that your actions now will destroy this kingdom.
 
To separate the state and the Tabernacle is like severing the Isle down the middle."

"I find it ironic," Nicholas said, "that you men are blaming me for the severing.
 
Matthias murdered my wife.
 
Matthias already severed this Kingdom.
 
If I let him go without punishing him, then we are all at risk.
 
The Fey, and our own people, will believe that we will do nothing if the royalty is attacked.
 
So they will attack.
 
Matthias murdered Jewel.
 
He did so in front of the elite of the Kingdom, and in front of her people.
 
Witnesses saw that he planned this murder.
 
If I do not punish him, I lose what little power I gained upon taking this throne."

The lords were watching him, open-mouthed.
 
He had been speaking loudly and with a force he rarely used.

"If I do not punish him," Nicholas said, "Blue Isle as we know it will disappear.
 
Chaos will reign, and eventually the Fey will win."

"The Fey will win under your plan.
 
They almost did," Canter said.
 
"If your wife had lived, we all would have lost."

"That's treason," Stowe whispered to him.

"No, let him say this," Nicholas said.
 
He walked down the stairs until he faced Canter.
 
"If he's saying it, so are others.
 
I am only going to explain this to you once more.
 
By your definition, the Fey won when they invaded.
 
They breached our impenetrable walls, and slaughtered people in a nation that had never seen outside war.
 
They changed the face of our land, of our religion, and of ourselves.
 
If we do not acknowledge that, then we are fools."

Canter's eyes narrowed.
 
He was frowning.

"We had beaten them back, but we couldn't let them leave.
 
They can never leave.
 
All we can do is wait for the Black King to arrive.
  
He may never arrive.
 
He may believe that Blue Isle is lost to him.
 
He may have sent his son here to get rid of a rival.
 
He may have no interest in the Isle.
 
That's what we hope for."

"Then why do we ally with them?" Canter asked.

"Because we do not know.
 
This Black King may not come. The next may not come.
 
But the next will.
 
And what do we do with all the Fey?
 
They have more magicks than we know.
 
Some will survive.
 
And when the Black King comes, with his superior magicians, we will die.
 
They will find a solution to holy water, and we will all die."

"We may not live that long," Canter said.

"And some of us might," Miller said.

"Some of us," Holbrook said slowly, "care about the future we give to our children, and our children's children."

"If my alliance with Jewel had been allowed to stand, we would have secured that future.
 
Jewel and I would have kept the Isle running as it always ran.
 
She was even willing to support the religious traditions which were deadly to her.
 
Matthias changed all of that.
 
Matthias, and people with attitudes like yours, Lord Canter.
 
I will still try to meld both cultures into one.
 
That is my job now.
 
But I will do so my way.
 
And my way does not include Matthias."

"Would it include another Rocaan?" Egan asked.

Nicholas took a deep breath.
 
This was an option he had considered and discarded.
 
"I don't know," he said.
 
"I only know that a man who has purposely taken a life in the name of religion does not belong in charge of that religion."

"Are you suggesting a puppet leader of the church?" Holbrook asked.

"If need be," Egan said.

"There will be no need," Nicholas said.
 
"I will make arrangements to give Matthias to the Fey, and get their killer in return."

"I cannot support this plan," Canter said.

The fury Nicholas had suppressed all afternoon rose and he almost brought up his fists.
 
But he took a deep breath, as his father had taught him, and waited until the anger surged through him.
 

"You will support it," Nicholas said in the most measured tone he could manage.
 
"You will support it and all I do or so help me God I will take your lands and your title and all you are from you so quickly that you won't see it coming."

"You wouldn't dare," Canter said.
 
"You're a new King on shaky ground, a Fey-lover, and an appeaser."

"I can and will," Nicholas said.
 
"Except for Sebastian, I am the only heir to the throne, with no possibilities for a regent.
 
None of you can lead this country.
 
You are stuck with me and no one else.
 
And you are stuck with my policies.
 
One of my policies is, Lord Canter, that you support me in all you say or do or I will confiscate all that you own, all that you are and all that you will ever be.
 
Is that clear?"

"A man cannot rule by tyranny," Canter said.

"'A man must rule with force and dignity," Nicholas said. "My father ruled with kindness and a weak hand.
 
It got him killed.
 
I have to survive until my daughter reaches her majority.
 
I will do so any way I can.
 
Will you support me, Canter?"

Canter stared at Nicholas.
  

Nicholas nodded, feeling as if he had gotten his answer.
 
He grabbed the skirts of his robe and started up the stairs.

"Wait, Highness," Canter said.
 
"I will support you."

Nicholas smiled to himself before he turned around.
 
He didn't know where this coldness had come from within him, but he was learning to work with it, to survive with it, to allow it to show him the way.
 
The smile had disappeared by the time he faced Canter.

"You will support me in all things, Lord Canter," Nicholas said. "You will support me in action, in word, and in deed.
 
If I hear so much as a whisper of your misconduct, I will strip you of your lands and titles so fast that you will not have time to steal a prized possession from the house."

Holbrook frowned.
 
"Highness, a man says things —"

"Men say things, yes," Nicholas said.
 
"But Lord Canter cannot and keep his title.
 
If you talk in your sleep, milord, I suggest that you sleep alone.
 
Am I making myself clear?"