Queen (Brotherhood of the Throne) (27 page)

Right now, with Captain Filbee’s
approval, she’d gathered a strong wind and the ship was slicing through the
water with a purpose. They’d reach Whitehaven the next day, the captain had
said, shaking his head. They were still on schedule despite the storm.

“Here Brenna.” She turned to see
Pater standing beside her, a steaming mug in his hand. “It seems the only thing
I do these days is bring you food and drink.”

“I don’t believe that’s true,”
Brenna said, taking the mug from him. “But I appreciate it. Otherwise I’d need
to get to the galley and back and that would only add to my collection of
bruises.”

“Glad to see yer not worryin’ so
much about it.”

“I’ve spent enough time being
humiliated,” she said. “Besides, there are a lot of things I can do that others
can’t. So what if I can’t walk upright on a ship at sea?”

“Good lass,” Pater said and paused.
“Are ye goin’ to talk to Kane tonight? He’s like to be worried about ye.”

“Yes, I’ll talk to him. I didn’t
want to scare him, not when he couldn’t do anything about it.”

Since she’d handled the storm’s
power she’d had to fight to stay in control. Using the power of the elements to
manage the elements was easy, using it to do anything else had proved very
difficult, as she’d found.

Instead of lurching and fumbling
her way to the captain’s cabin she’d tried to contact Dasid - he’d come
running, thinking that she was in pain or dying. He’d described her contact as
a wild, tortured howl and she’d decided not to force this on anyone else,
especially not Kane, not when he was so far way.

She finished her tea and Pater took
the mug back to the galley. Brenna continued to stare out at sea. It really was
too bad that she couldn’t walk on the deck of a ship - she loved the feeling of
flying across the waves.

fifteen

At supper Brenna sat comfortably as
Pater told stories about his family. She’d been late and had decided it would
be better to eat in the galley with the men rather than interrupt the captain’s
meal. Half a dozen men remained at the long table, telling stories over pots of
tea. Brenna took the plate of fish stew the cook handed her and squeezed in
beside Pater. She was preoccupied with her planned meeting with the king of
Langemore but a familiar name caught her attention.

Pater was talking about Martyn, his
nephew, and Brenna thought back to when she’d met the lad, during her early
days at Feiren Rowse’s house. She idly wondered how all the young Brothers
were, last she’d heard both Carolie and Colm were spying on Beldyn, and Jemma …

“Jemma, of course.” Brenna jumped
up, almost dumping her stew into her lap. “Pater, Jemma’s in Silverdale.”
Finally, some good news.

“Aye, she is. That’s one of the
youngsters Martyn knows,” Pater said to the group. “A merchant she is and a
fine girl.”

“But Pater, she’s in Silverdale.”
Brenna grabbed his head and placed a kiss on it. “I can contact her. I’ve
always been able to. I need to find Dasid.” She slid out from the table and
lurched to her feet. Why hadn’t she thought of Jemma before this? She
had
a contact in Silverdale. She’d let Dasid know and then get in touch with Jemma
immediately. Kane would be happy to hear the news too.

 Brenna was so excited that she
barely noticed falling against the cabin walls half a dozen times as she
stumbled to the captain’s cabin. She knocked once before flinging the door
open.

“Dasid, Jemma’s in Silverdale,” she
said as she stepped into the room. On her second step the deck wasn’t where she
thought it should be and she felt herself pitch forward. Dasid grabbed her and
she slid to the floor, grinning. “Jemma’s in Silverdale!”

“So you said.” Dasid lifted her
back to her feet, looking confused.

“I can contact Jemma,” Brenna said.

Understanding lit Dasid’s face.
“You can contact Jemma, in Silverdale. Then let’s do it.”

It took some time but eventually
Jemma, in contact with Brenna, was at Duke Ewart’s front door.

“
Should I just knock
?” Jemma
asked. “
Wouldn’t it be better if I went around back
?”

“
No, no, go ahead and knock. Ask
to speak to Neemah, she’ll know who’s around
,” Brenna said and she waited
nervously until Jemma finally replied.

“
All right, they’ve gone to
fetch her. What should I tell her when she comes
?”

“
Tell her you’re in the
Brotherhood and that you know me and Kane
,” Brenna said. “
Then tell her
you’re in contact with me right now. She’ll know who to find after that
.”

“She’s at Duke Ewart’s. They’ve
gone to fetch Neemah,” Brenna said out loud.  

Dasid smiled when she mentioned the
other healer. Brenna sat in the hammock in Captain Filbee’s cabin while Dasid
stood beside her. Wils and Captain Filbee were seated at the table looking on
with interest.

“Oh, I think Neemah’s there,”
Brenna said. “
Jemma
?”

“
I’m here Brenna. I like this
Neemah. I told her what you said and she brought me into a fine room and then
hurried off calling for folk to come quick
.”

“
Neemah’s not one to waste time.
Who’d she call for
?” Brenna asked, hoping Ewart was in town.

“
She was calling for Duke Ewart
,”
Jemma said and Brenna sighed in relief. “
And someone by the name of Gaskain
.”

  “Gaskain,” Brenna said aloud, her
voice breaking. “
Jemma, are you sure she said Gaskain
?”

“
Is he a soldier, about middling
height, youngish, not more than twenty-five
?” Jemma asked.

“
Yes
.”

“
That sounds like him. Least he
says he’s Gaskain
.” Jemma paused. “
Says he was afraid you were dead
.
”

“
I thought he was dead. I
thought I killed him
,” Brenna said, hardly daring to believe she hadn’t.
“Gaskain is alive,” Brenna said out loud to the men in the cabin. “Jemma is
talking to him right now.” She said a quick prayer to thank the old gods and
then she smiled, feeling a weight lift off her.  

“
Neemah says it was a close call
,”
Jemma broke in. “
You nearly did kill Gaskain. Said it took some days for her
to nurse him back to health but he’s fine now. But after, his sword was brittle
and it shattered. That’s why they couldn’t contact you. Gaskain’s sword was
gone
.”

“
Tell him I’m sorry
,” Brenna
said. “
Tell him I never meant to hurt him
.” He had to know she hadn’t
meant to use him so badly, he had to.

“
Gaskain says he was only
worried that you were hurt, not about himself
,” Jemma said. “
He’s your
sworn man to use as you need
.”

Brenna choked back a sob. It was a
precious enough gift to have someone swear to give their life for you, but to
have almost died and to still feel the same way? She had to take better care of
those who had pledged to her.

“
Neemah wants to say hello to
Dasid, and Duke Ewart asks what the devil is his cousin up to now
?” Jemma
said and Brenna laughed.

“Neemah says hello,” she said to
Dasid. She smiled when she saw his face redden slightly. “And Ewart is there as
well.”

“Here’s what’s happened in
Silverdale,” Brenna said, pushing her hair off her face. She’d joined the three
men at the captain’s table once she’d finished talking with Jemma. She was
tired - it was almost midnight and she’d been in constant contact with Jemma
for over four hours. Her head ached and she gratefully accepted the brandy that
Captain Filbee slid her way.

“Neemah and the guards arrived
safely with the prisoners. Gaskain met up with them at the border without
seeing any sign of Duke Thorold’s militia. Gaskain says the army is ready to
march. He sent a note to Marcus Brunger to let him know but he’s had no word
back yet. I’ll contact Kane in a moment.”

“Tomorrow,” Dasid said sternly but
Brenna shook her head.

“No, tonight. Just a brief message
to let him know that Gaskain is alive and that we can communicate with
Silverdale again.”

“You’re exhausted, Brenna, leave it
until tomorrow.”

“No. This is important and it won’t
take much energy,” she said. “It’s easy for me to contact Kane. I’ll do it when
I’m settled for the night.”

Dasid frowned but really, he didn’t
have the ability to stop her. Brenna would talk to Kane tonight, she needed to.

It took her another half hour to relay
all the Silverdale news to Dasid and then finally she headed back to her cabin.
Lying in her hammock she reached out to Kane.

“
Kane, are you there
?” she
called. She heard a grumbled response and then she felt his presence through
the old steel.

“
Brenna, are you all right
?”

“
I’m fine. Good actually, with
good news
,” she said. “
I’ve been in contact with Jemma. She’s at Duke
Ewart’s estate in Silverdale
.”

“
Jemma, of course
,” Kane
said. “
And she’ll be able to relay information
?”

“
Yes
.”

“
That’s excellent,
” Kane
paused. “
Are you all right? You feel different tonight. Exhausted but happy.
Is there more news from Jemma
?”

“
Yes
.” Brenna smiled and took
a deep breath. “
Gaskain is alive. I hurt him and destroyed his sword, but
he’s alive
.”

“
Thanks to Jik
,” Kane said.
“
Thank you for letting me know. I can feel how tired you are so get some
sleep. We can talk about what your news means tomorrow
.”

Kane stretched and shifted in the
chair. He’d been so relieved that they could once again communicate with
Silverdale, that after saying goodnight to Brenna, he’d fallen into a deep and restful
sleep. Eryl had come in early this morning and they’d had a quick chat, but afterward
Kane had fallen right back to sleep.

When Brenna contacted him later
today he would get more detailed information from Ewart and Gaskain – Gaskain
who was still alive. He’d have Gaskain bring the troops closer to Kingsreach. Beldyn
would name his heir tomorrow – the men couldn’t be here in time to free Beldyn
before that - but they’d be just two days away.

“Eryl,” Kane said. “We need to know
more about the ceremony for Beldyn to name his heir.”

Bleary-eyed, Eryl squinted at him
before he finally rolled off the pallet. It was just after noon, early by Eryl’s standards but Kane needed more details before he talked to Brenna.

“I know, you told me last night,”
Eryl grumbled. He fumbled around for some water and a piece of left over bread.
“I’ll let Marcus know to expect some news from Silverdale. He’ll be happy to hear
that one of his merchants is being useful,” he said.

Kane laughed. Marcus and Eryl had
an ongoing argument over who had the best spies - Marcus and his group of
widely traveled merchants or Eryl and his snitches and thieves.

“Find out what else is happening in
town – changes in Kingsguard schedules, food shipments, unusual Church activity.
I need to know if Thorold has any new resources,” Kane said. “And try to find
out what’s been done to Beldyn. I’m still not sure we shouldn’t try to rescue
him before he names an heir.”

“I told you what Marcus thinks Thorold would do if the king went missing,” Eryl said.

“Yes. And we don’t want that, we
don’t want to put the Quarter at more risk than it is.” Marcus’ opinion was
that Thorold would torch the Quarter if Beldyn was missing even if he had no
proof that anyone there was harboring his son. And he wouldn’t care if Beldyn
died or not, at least not after Liam had been named heir. He might even welcome
the chance to dispose of Beldyn without having any blame fall directly on him.
“I’ll ask Duke Ewart for his advice tonight. I’d hate to see Beldyn get hurt or
worse.”

“Aye, he seems a nice enough lad
and bright enough to know he doesn’t want to be king. At least not with his
father at the helm.”

“And I think not at all,” Kane
said. “I don’t blame him. Brenna doesn’t want it either.”

“And she’s as smart as they come,”
Eryl said. “I’ll be back after dark.”

He grabbed his coat and left Kane
to think through their options for rescuing Beldyn. None of them seemed
realistic and none of them made any sense for their cause but he didn’t like
leaving Beldyn at the mercy of his father - and worse, the High Bishop.

By the time Eryl returned Kane had
decided that Beldyn had to stay where he was. He would still discuss it with
Ewart, but as long as Beldyn followed his father’s orders there seemed to be
little real danger. He would suffer at the hands of High Bishop Valden but he
wouldn’t be killed or seriously injured, at least not yet. After the ceremony
they would have to re-assess based on Thorold’s actions. If they thought Beldyn
was in grave danger they would do their best to get him out of the city. But they
needed more time – Gaskain and his troops were at least two or three days away
from Kingsreach.

Eryl had little more to tell about
the ceremony. It would be held in the square near the church in three days, at midday. The full force of the Kingsguard would be out so some of the good folk of Thieves
Quarter were hoping to find opportunities in less-watched parts of town. Eryl
had even heard of one petty thief who planned on breaking into Duke Thorold’s
estate. Kane thought back to the times he’d been inside and wished the man
luck, for surely he’d need it. Thorold had always had his own guards and now
the rumors were that he was taking the best from the Kingsguard for his
household.

Finally, Brenna contacted him.

“
I’m here
,” Kane replied. “
I
have news.
” He described the ceremony that would see Beldyn name his heir
and his own thoughts on the young king’s tenuous position. “
I would like
Ewart’s opinion
,” he said. “
Is Beldyn safe for a few more days
?”

 He sat back to wait as Brenna relayed
his information to Jemma, who was sitting in the kitchen in Duke Ewart’s
Silverdale home. Kane smiled - they’d spent a lot of time in that kitchen pouring
over maps of Soule. He could almost smell bread baking in the oven.

“
Kane
,” Brenna said. “
Ewart
agrees that you should wait. He feels that Thorold still needs Beldyn too much
to risk hurting or killing him unless Beldyn publicly rebels against him. As
Ewart put it, there’s still the matter of King Mannel’s daughter. He wants her
wed and Beldyn is the only choice
.”

“
Then we’ll wait
,” Kane
said. “
And we’ll watch Beldyn. If his situation becomes desperate I’ll be told.
And the army, it can move out soon
?”