Fire of the Soul (15 page)

“Of course not.” To her own ears she sounded
befuddled by desire. The condition lasted for only a few moments
before she came to her rightful senses and shoved at him again.
“This is about Lord Durand, isn’t it? You think he wants me in the
same way that you say you do. I can tell you, Garit, it’s not
so.”

“I can tell you that it is so,” he said. “Any
man with half his wits intact would want you, and would take you if
he could. Some men will do so without offering an honorable
proposal, either before, or immediately thereafter.”

“If you think that, then you lack even half
of a man’s rightful wits, which is no great amount of wits to begin
with,” she told him. She moved back another two paces, well out of
the warm and inviting circle of his arms. After she took a few deep
breaths of sea air, and after the insistent pounding of her blood
had subsided a little, she was able to think more clearly.

“I do want you,” Garit said. “I want you with
me permanently, and I intend to take the necessary steps to make
that arrangement happen as soon as possible. I will begin by
speaking to my grandmother.”

“Why?” she demanded, and added a bitter laugh
to the question. “If you truly mean to offer an honest proposal,
then I must tell you that I cannot accept. If your plan is merely
to lie with me, then why bother to ask Lady Elgida’s
permission?”

“What do you mean, you cannot accept?” he
demanded.

“I’d explain if I could. When you speak with
your grandmother, insist that she release me from the silence she
has imposed on me.”

“What silence?”

“Oh, Garit.” She touched his cheek, stroking
along the rough stubble in a wistful, final caress. Then she moved
two more steps away from him. “We met such a short time ago, yet
you are so important, so dear to me.” She regretted the impulsive
confession as soon as the words were out of her mouth.

“Then I see no problem,” he said. “You know
about my past, about the tragedy of three years ago. But what’s
past is over, Calia. I swear that from this night onward, you will
have my full loyalty.”

“Don’t say another word,” she cried. “I
cannot accept a promise made in ignorance.”

“If there’s something I need to know, then
tell me and I will understand,” he said.

“I cannot tell you.” She choked on a sob.

“Because Lady Elgida has sworn you to
silence?”

“I took no oath. She ordered me not to speak
and I am bound to obey her. You must ask her.”

“This is ridiculous!”

“I agree. I will tell you this much, Garit.
Very soon you are going to loathe the sight of me and you’ll be
glad that I refused you. Now I bid you good night.”

She fled across the deck, past the gambling
men-at-arms with their dice, past Captain Pyrsig and Lord Durand.
Through the hatchway she went, down the ladder to the narrow
corridor from which the cabins opened. There she paused to collect
her thoughts, to dry her eyes and try to breathe normally
again.

Finally, she crept into her cabin, pulled off
her cloak, and lay down fully clothed on her narrow bunk. She could
not sleep. She lay there for hours, knowing she had refused the one
chance she’d ever have to experience a night of passion with the
man she loved. She knew she’d regret that refusal for the rest of
her life.

Yet every bit of common sense she possessed
told her she had done the right thing. Garit would be grateful in
the end.

When Durand came to stand at the rail next to
him, Garit spared him only a quick, angry glance. His mind was
still filled with thoughts of Calia after their brief interlude.
He’d been relieved to learn that she held no especially warm
emotions toward Durand.

“I suppose this is as private as we can be
while aboard so small a ship,” Durand said, keeping his voice
low.

Something in his voice told Garit that Durand
wasn’t thinking about Calia, or about any woman. Garit remained as
he was, keeping his hands on the rail while he continued to gaze
out to sea. And he made sure that his voice when he spoke matched
Durand’s quiet tone.

“I have a feeling that you learned something
important after we parted company the other day in Port Moren. And
it’s something you’d prefer not to discuss when my squire is
present, or you’d have told me what it is when we three were alone
in our cabin last night.”

“That’s true.” Durand leaned forward, resting
his weight on the rail and looking toward the same spot on the
horizon that Garit appeared to be watching. “Just before boarding
this ship, I received two coded notes, both delivered to me by a
messenger I know well. One note was from King Henryk, the other
from the Lord Mage Serlion.”

“Serlion?” Garit had trouble keeping his
voice to a level that wouldn’t be overheard by the men working on
deck. “I thought he gave us our final instructions before we left
Calean City.”

“Well, you know how the Mages are always
interested in anything that occurs in the known world,” Durand
responded in so bland a tone that Garit knew the matter was vitally
important.

“I suspect the Mages of also being interested
in events that occur in unknown worlds,” Durand added, “such as the
worlds beyond the heavenly blue sky and the worlds spoken of in
legends.”

“And this particular event would be...?”
Garit paused, waiting.

“Domini Gundiac has fallen gravely ill,”
Durand said. “As you might expect, his nobles are becoming restless
in anticipation of his death. No doubt each is planning to make
himself the next ruler of the Dominion.”

“That is disturbing news,” Garit agreed, “but
that particular event is taking place in the Dominion, not in
Kantia. Anyway, Gundiac is an old man.”

“Not old enough to sicken suddenly and die,”
Durand said. “According to Serlion’s message, Gundiac has good
reason to become sick. The Great Emerald of the East has been
stolen, and with it went Gundiac’s protection from earthly
ills.”

“Stolen?” Garit stared at his companion. He
needed a moment to recover from his astonishment before he offered
his protest. “Such a theft ought to be impossible. Gundiac keeps
the Emerald on his person at all times, just as every other Domini
has done since the days of Gundolam the Great. I’m sure he wears it
bound to his upper left arm even when he’s bedding one of his many
wives.”

“And when he’s finished with the wife, or the
wives, he’s using of a night, even a powerful ruler must rest,”
Durand remarked dryly. “According to Serlion’s message, one of
Gundiac’s women took the stone and vanished with it.”

“Did Serlion hint at where the Emerald and
the woman are now?” Garit asked.

“He and I believe that both are on their way
to Kantia.”

“Kantia?” Garit exclaimed, forgetting to
speak softly. The last shreds of his previous erotic excitement
dissipated at this news. Calia lingered at the back of his mind;
she’d never been completely out of his mind since first he’d seen
her in the fields at Saumar. But now the image of another woman
filled his thoughts, a tall lady with flowing brown tresses that
glowed as if with hidden fires, and blue eyes capable of piercing a
man’s soul. He’d met her just once, the last time he’d attended the
Kantian court, when she was there with her husband, Prince Dyfrig,
who was brother and heir to King Audemer.

“I see by your expression,” Durand said,
“that you have guessed the reason behind Serlion’s conclusions and
mine, and the reason why he sent us that message.”

“Queen Laisren?” Garit whispered the
name.

“Laisren is the daughter of the Great Mage of
Chandelar,” Durand said. “The Emerald came originally from the
ancient village of Tannaris, which is now the capital city of
Chandelar. But you know all of that.”

“What does Serlion expect us to do?” Garit
asked.

“As a Mage, of course he’d give his soul to
see the Emerald returned to Chandelar. Every Mage believes that is
where it rightfully belongs. You know the old legend. When the
Emerald is home once more, peace will come to the known world.

“King Henryk, on the other hand, would like
to preserve the current balance, Sapaudia against the Dominion,
both countries equally strong and thus each unable to attack the
other for fear of annihilation. The kings of Sapaudia have always
derived a great deal of their strength from that threat of war with
the Dominion. They have used the threat to keep their nobles under
control. The nobles need the royal armies to protect their castles
and lands in case of invasion. It’s a precarious balance, but it
has worked for several centuries. Now that Henryk has twin sons for
heirs, he naturally doesn’t want the situation to change.”

“You’ve told me much that I already knew or
guessed,” Garit said. “You haven’t revealed what you and I are
expected to do.”

“Whatever happens at Kinath,” Durand said,
“you and I must continue on to the royal court at Kerun and there
try to learn where the Emerald is. If your little brothers are at
court, so much the better. You’ll have an unexceptional excuse for
visiting Kerun to see them.”

“That will mean taking my grandmother with
us,” Garit said.

“Yes, and the rest of her party as well.”

“I won’t put Lady Elgida into danger,” Garit
declared, thinking of Calia, too.

“From what I’ve seen of Lady Elgida, she’ll
relish whatever happens,” Durand said. He made a motion with both
hands, as if to ward off any problems. “There’s more, Garit.”

“Of course there is. You haven’t told me yet
what King Henryk had to say in the second message you
received.”

“Actually, it’s new information about Kinath
that you may find helpful, though I’ve been wrestling with whether
to tell you or not.”

“Why bother?” Garit put all of his newfound
suspicions and frustrations into his voice. “My grandmother is
keeping secrets from me and she has sworn Calia to silence about
them. You see before you a man ignorant of important family
matters. Why not keep me ignorant of other matters, too?”

“Because you need to know this fact.” Durand
lounged against the rail. “What I am going to tell you must go no
further than the two of us. It’s one of several reasons why I am
traveling to the Kantian court.”

“For the same reason I am going to Kantia;
because both King Henryk and the Lord Mage Serlion have given us an
assignment to carry out there. And also to visit your sister, or so
you said.”

“Ilona is the excuse I’m using, though I’ll
be happy to see her again.”

Garit took a good look at the man standing
beside him. He knew something of Durand’s life; as a foreign
emissary to the court of King Henryk, it had been Garit’s business
to gather such information and to use it to his own king’s
advantage if he could.

Durand was the son of an impoverished
nobleman, with no hope of inheriting anything from his father or
any other relatives. The castle where he was born was long sold to
pay his late father’s debts. Shortly after he was knighted Durand
had joined the small group of men who carried out private missions
for King Henryk. For his bravery and daring as Henryk’s spy in the
Dominion, he had earned enough gold to provide a sorely needed
dowry for his only sister, Ilona, so she could make a good
marriage. But Durand remained a man without a home, an oddity in
Sapaudian society.

“I require your word that you will not
divulge what I am about to tell you,” Durand said.

“You have it,” Garit told him. “I assume the
secret you think I should know has to do with our mission?”

“I have been thinking about the problem ever
since I realized that your stepmother is the lady of Kinath,”
Durand said.

“There I cannot be helpful to you. I haven’t
seen Fenella for years. She doesn’t like me. If you are hoping I
can wend my way into her good graces, that isn’t very likely,”
Garit said. “My grandmother is in a better position to become close
to Fenella.” He almost suggested Calia as a prospective friend who
was close in age to his stepmother but, not wanting to provide
Durand with a reason to spend private time with the woman he
intended to marry, he restrained himself.

“Lady Elgida may well inform me of any
interesting details she learns about Lady Fenella,” Durand
said.

“So, you’ve been charming her, have you?”

“Charming ladies is part of my work.”

Garit almost warned him not to try to charm
Calia unless he wanted a meeting at sword’s point, but again he
held his tongue.

“The fact that I’ve decided you must be told
is this,” Durand said. “The man who recently married Lady Fenella
is the illegitimate son of Walderon of Catherstone.”

“
What?”
Garit stared at him in
disbelief. “You must be mistaken. I know of a legitimate son, but
no other children.”

“Few did know about Mallory. He grew up at
Catherstone and seldom left the place. As you know, when Walderon
was convicted of treason, all of his lands were confiscated. King
Henryk later restored to Walderon’s widow one of the small estates
that she brought to her husband as her dowry, so she’d have an
income. She then bestowed that land on her only son, who was left
destitute by his father’s treachery. I’ve heard that the young man
lives there quietly, having no taste for dealing with the gossips
at the royal court. He has sworn fealty to King Henryk and we have
no reason to think he bears a grudge against the king. What he
feels about his late father, I do not know.”

“You said Fenella’s new husband is the
illegitimate son,” Garit prompted.

“Sir Mallory; his father personally knighted
him. Mallory was turned out of Catherstone when King Henryk seized
his father’s lands. He fled into exile on the Northern Border of
Kantia and there he joined the hangers-on around Prince Dyfrig. He
later moved to Kantia with Dyfrig when Dyfrig became king.”