Ice Forged (The Ascendant Kingdoms Saga) (60 page)

“I apologize for the condition of the house and grounds, m’lord,” Edward said quietly, shame clear in his voice. “We’ve fallen on hard times, and the death of magic made even small improvements too difficult and expensive to undertake. I’m
sorry you have to see it like this.” He paused. “For whatever reason, we were spared the brunt of the attack, though the old manor and its buildings were almost completely destroyed.”

If Meroven struck at the old lords’ castles, maybe that’s not as surprising as it seems
, Blaine thought.
Technically, Meroven hit their target. Luckily, you weren’t living there anymore.

Blaine mustered a faint smile that he did not feel. In the pit of his stomach, the apprehension he had felt about his homecoming increased. “I had a hand in your hard luck too,” he said with a sigh. “And to tell you the truth, since I never expected to see Glenreith again before I died, it still looks pretty damn good to me.”

The doors opened before Edward could pull on the handle. Judith McFadden Ainsworth stood in the doorway, staring at Blaine as if he had risen from the dead. “Gods above and below, can it be?” she breathed.

This time, Blaine’s smile was genuine, if tempered by sadness. “It’s really me, Aunt Judith.” He turned to indicate Kestel, Dawe, Geir, Verran, and Piran behind him. “And I brought some friends.”

The last six years had aged Judith more than the mere passage of time. Her dark hair, still raven-colored when Blaine had been exiled, was now liberally salted with gray. Judith’s naturally lean form seemed gaunt, and there was a new tightness around her eyes and mouth. Her eyes flickered from Blaine to the others, but if she had any misgivings, Judith kept them to herself. “Of course,” she said graciously. “You’re all more than welcome.”

To Blaine’s surprise, his usually reserved aunt stepped forward and embraced him. “I never thought I’d see you again, my dear boy,” she murmured, her voice catching.

Blaine returned the embrace, though he was acutely aware of
how filthy he was and how rank they all must smell after their adventures on the road. “If you can come within ten paces of me without gagging, you must have missed me,” he joked halfheartedly. “I stink like a tinker.”

Judith sniffed back tears. “Perhaps that’s why my eyes are watering,” she said, blinking. “And here I blamed it on sentiment.”

Edward cleared his throat. “I will be glad to see our guests to their quarters, but perhaps introductions might be in order?”

“Sorry,” Blaine said, stepping back from Judith. “We came through Velant together,” he said with a meaningful glance at Judith and Edward. “There, and afterward, we survived by banding together. They’re as much kin to me as you are,” he said, a warning edge in his voice in case anyone thought to argue. When neither Judith nor Edward moved to say anything, Blaine relaxed a bit.

He nodded to Piran. “This is Piran Rowse. A fine soldier of the king—back when we had a king.” His gaze shifted. “Dawe Killick, silversmith extraordinaire. Which reminds me—tomorrow morning we need to fire up the forge, if it survived. Dawe’s got an idea for some new weapons we’re going to need.”

“Weapons?” Judith asked.

Blaine held up a hand. “All in good time. First, introductions.” Judith nodded her assent, though Blaine could see concern in her eyes, and saw the worried gaze she shared with Edward.
They’re wondering how much more trouble I’ll cause for them, and whether I’m going to disappear again and leave them to clean up the mess
, Blaine thought.
Can’t blame them for thinking it, although with luck, they’ll support what we came to do.

“Verran Danning, an excellent musician and agile locksmith,” Blaine said, watching as Verran squelched a guffaw at the respectable turn of phrase to describe his thievery.

“Geir is one of Lord Penhallow’s men,” Blaine said, hoping his pointed gaze silently impressed upon Judith and Edward the importance of that relationship. “He’s
talishte
, so he’ll need… special quarters.”

“Oh, my,” Judith murmured.

Geir gave a smile that was charming in spite of his long eyeteeth. “My dear lady,” he said with a deep bow. “I swear that I will cause you no trouble at all. I’m quite adept at hunting for my own provisions in the forest. I give you my word that none of the mortals loyal to Lord McFadden will come to any harm.”

Blaine wondered if he was the only one to hear the nuance in Geir’s vow.
Meaning that anyone who is disloyal had better watch out.

Judith recovered her poise and managed a sociable smile worthy of court. “Of course, Sir Geir. Please forgive my surprise.”

Geir’s charm never wavered. “Nothing to forgive, m’lady. Completely understandable, given the circumstances.”

Kestel ended the awkward moment by stepping forward. Blaine gave a silent sigh of relief. “And this is—”

“Mistress Kestel,” Judith finished, her tone utterly neutral.

Kestel’s expression was equally unreadable. “Lady Judith,” she said with a fluid curtsy.

Blaine’s gaze flickered between the two women, trying to discern the nature of their acquaintance. “You two… know each other?”

“We crossed paths in certain circles at court,” Judith replied.

Kestel gave a quick glance in Blaine’s direction. “Before you ask—or even think it—no, I was never a companion to your father.”

Judith surprised Blaine with her knowing chuckle. “You were out of Ian’s league. You drew a much better sort of suitor,
and Ian’s tastes were more savage than civilized,” she said with more than a trace of bitterness.

Judith looked to Blaine. “Are the two of you—”

“No, not at all,” Blaine replied quickly.

“No, no, no—just friends,” Kestel said in the same breath.

Blaine met his aunt’s gaze. “I took a wife in Edgeland. Her name was Selane. She died of fever.”

Judith looked down. “I’m sorry, Blaine.”

There were so many things Blaine longed to ask Judith, not the least of which centered around Carensa and what had become of her, but an awkward silence descended over the group, and Blaine became aware of just how badly they needed to make themselves presentable. Judith, too, seemed to struggle between playing the gracious hostess and her hunger for details. With a sigh, she brightened, and Blaine knew that for now, the hostess had won.

“You must all be tired and hungry,” Judith said. “Edward will see you to your rooms, and I’ll have someone draw baths for you.” She blushed. “Our meals aren’t quite the fare they once were, but no one’s gone hungry yet. I’ll see that food is ready for you when everyone’s had a chance to be refreshed.” She looked to Geir, and took a deep breath.

“Sir Geir,” she said gingerly, “If you’ll inform Edward of your requirements for safe quarters, he’ll find you something suitable.”

For the first time in their acquaintance, Blaine spied a hint of laughter in Geir’s eyes at Judith’s discomfort, but Geir’s manner was charming as ever. “Please don’t worry overmuch, m’lady. I’ll be quite content with a wine cellar or other belowground vault so long as it has no windows or outer door.”

Edward nodded, as if hosting a
talishte
was an everyday
occurrence at Glenreith. “That won’t be difficult. I’ll see to it right away.”

The others followed Edward up the long, sweeping stairway to the second floor. Blaine noted how marred the once-beautiful balustrade had become and how worn the treads were, details that would never have gone without maintenance in the old days.

“Your room is where it always was,” Judith said quietly, jarring him out of his thoughts.

Blaine looked up, caught by surprise. “You didn’t clean it out?” he said with halfhearted humor.

Judith linked her arm through his. “Don’t be silly,” she said quietly. “Even though we didn’t think you would ever return, I couldn’t bear to part with your things. You’ll find it much as you left it, if a bit dustier.”

“What about Carr and Mari?”

Judith sobered. “Carr went off to war with the king’s troops and never returned. Like so many of the young men, he just disappeared.”

Blaine caught his breath, stunned. “Mari?” he said, knowing Judith could hear the despair in his voice.

“Blaine!” Blaine looked up at the shout. A young woman came running down the corridor. Her dark hair was unbound, and it streamed behind her as she ran. She barely stopped when she reached him, and threw her arms around Blaine, clutching him to her so hard that he could scarcely breathe.

“Mari?”

Mari covered his cheeks with kisses. “I can’t believe you’re back! I didn’t believe Edward when he told me. I’m so happy to see you again!”

Mari drew back, and Blaine got a good look at her. Just a half-grown girl when he left, Mari was now a pretty young
woman. Her features were thinner than he remembered, due no doubt to the manor’s circumstances, but her eyes were bright and the fear that had always darkened her gaze was gone. He took a second look and saw that Mari’s face was more careworn than it should have been for a woman who was barely twenty-two years old. Mari continued to chatter on excitedly, not noticing his assessment.

“You have a nephew, Blaine! I can’t wait to introduce you to him, but he’s sleeping,” Mari continued.

Blaine shot a look toward Judith, alarmed. Judith shook her head slightly. “I’m sorry that you missed Mari’s handfasting,” Judith said as Blaine gave a sigh of relief that the child was not his father’s. “Her husband, Evaret, went to war with Carr and also did not return.”

Mari’s chatter abruptly stopped. Blaine took her hand. “I’m sorry, Mari. Of course I want to meet your son.”

Mari swallowed hard and nodded. “You couldn’t know. We had no idea whether or not you were still alive. We wrote letters for so long, but nothing ever came back to us.”

Blaine felt a surge of anger at Prokief. “I never received them. I would have paid whatever the smugglers asked to have gotten any letters from you at all.”

Mari gave him another fierce hug. “Crazy world, huh?”

“I’m beginning to realize just how crazy,” Blaine replied ruefully. They reached the door to his room, and Judith touched Mari’s arm.

“Perhaps we’d best let your brother get a bath and change his clothes. You’ll have plenty of time to trade stories.” She looked quickly to Blaine. “You are staying, aren’t you?”

Blaine nodded. “If you’ll have us. And we’ve got some important business to discuss, later.”

Judith drew a deep breath and then managed a worried
smile. “Absolutely. But first, I’m certain that a hot bath and a fresh change of clothing will help. By Esthrane’s stars! Here we are, keeping you talking, with no regard to how far you’ve traveled or how tired you must be.”

You have no idea
, Blaine thought.

Blaine walked into his room at Glenreith and let the door close behind him. He could hear shuffling in the attached parlor as servants brought in warm water and a tub for him to bathe. For the moment, he stood transfixed, feeling as if he had crossed into a netherworld where time had stood still in his absence.

His room was, as Judith said, much the way he had left it. Only a light film of dust covered the books on his desk and the surfaces of the furniture, testimony to the fact that someone had bothered to dust fairly often while he was away.
No one expected me to ever come back, but Judith and Mari kept the room for me, like a memorial
, Blaine thought. He realized that he was holding his breath, and willed himself to step farther into the room.

It was so like he remembered that for a moment he felt as if the last six years had never happened. He felt as if he had just come in from the hunt or from lending a hand in the fields, as it had always been.
Only back then, I’d have heard father thundering about, cursing me or Carr or the servants. It was never this quiet when he was alive.

He moved slowly around the room, as if in a daze. His boots made prints in the dust on the carpet as he walked over to the bookshelves. Blaine’s finger traced the leather spines of his favorite volumes, which were just where he had left them. Beside them on the shelf, a clever wooden puzzle lay next to a small silver statue of a dragon, a long-ago gift from his mother.
He smiled sadly as he looked across the shelf, at the clumsily carved wooden bird Carr had made for him as a young boy and at the carefully knotted token Mari had once given him, the day she was playing at being a princess and had named Blaine as her champion.

Neither of us ever thought it would be true in real life
, Blaine thought.
And unlike Mari’s games of pretend, it didn’t end happily ever after.

He moved farther into the room, still captured by the past. His writing desk had been cleaned off, evidence that someone, sometime, had made the room presentable after his departure. Blaine did not doubt that he would find everything as he left it in his wardrobe, and in the desk drawers.

I know all these things were mine, but they belong to another life, another person
, he thought.
I’ve been “Mick” so long I barely recognize “Blaine.” Gods forgive me, I once lived such a soft life and never even knew to be grateful.

He had moved around the room to stop at his desk, and as he glanced down at the dusty quills and yellowed parchment, one item made him catch his breath. Blaine’s hand shook as he reached out for a small silver frame. The delicate oil portrait of a young woman stared back at him, unchanged by the years.
Carensa
, Blaine thought, surprised that the stab of longing he felt was so strong after all this time.

For a few moments, he stood without moving, staring at the portrait, lost in thought. Quiet rapping at the door startled him.

“M’lord? Your bath is drawn,” a servant’s voice called from outside the door.

“Thank you,” Blaine replied absently. “That will be all.”

With a sigh, Blaine set the portrait back where it had been and turned away from the desk. He went to the wardrobe and
rummaged through its contents until he found a tunic and trews that would be suitable to the weather. As he stripped off his old clothing, torn and filthy from travel and the fight outside the gate, his gaze lingered on the brand scar on his right forearm. “M” for murderer.