Quintana of Charyn (43 page)

‘I swear I’ll die a barren woman and give my life to those whose wombs bear fruit.’

I see Arjuro and Lirah exchange a look.

‘Make peace with Olivier the traitor,’ Arjuro mutters. ‘Or I’ll kill you all.’

Later, Arjuro walks us down to the Citavita and I let him hold Tariq because it brings them both pleasure. We pass more women with swollen bellies hurrying towards the godshouse and Arjuro presses a kiss to Tariq’s outstretched fingers.

‘She’s mocking me, runt of our litter,’ Arjuro tells him. ‘The Oracle is mocking me for choosing a man to share my bed. And her punishment is that I spend the rest of eternity staring between the legs of women.’

And for the first time since I can remember, I laugh, and I watch my little king leap in his uncle’s arms at the sound of it.

 

 

W
hen Perri arrived at Lord August’s farm one morning while they were fixing the fence, Froi knew it was time.

‘Can we borrow him, Augie?’ Perri asked.

‘For how long?’ Lord August said, not looking up from his task.

Perri didn’t respond.

‘Last time you rode by to “borrow” him we didn’t see him for nine months and he returned with a body full of scars and an awful Charynite accent,’ Lord August complained, glancing at Froi. ‘When do you get to be ours for always?’ he asked, his voice low.

‘Do I have to be here to belong to you?’ Froi asked. ‘Can’t I belong to you wherever I am?’

In the kitchen making honey brew with the village women, Lady Abian had the good sense not to ask too many questions.

‘Is August blustering out there?’ she asked quietly.

‘A bit,’ Froi murmured. ‘A gentle early-winter bluster, I’d call it.’

She pressed a kiss to his cheek and he went to speak, but she held up a hand.

‘Don’t make promises you can’t keep.’

At the palace stable Perri insisted on Froi taking Beast as Trevanion fitted him with his weapons.

‘Your … Gargarin never wrote back,’ Finnikin said, standing beside Isaboe and Sir Topher.

‘After the letter Finnikin wrote promising to share ideas with Charyn about reservoirs and waterwheels and anything else we’ve been able to translate from the chronicles Celie stole … I mean, borrowed from Belegonia,’ Isaboe said.

Froi was confused. ‘Gargarin loves talk of reservoirs and waterwheels.’

Sir Topher handed him a satchel of documents. ‘Tell him we don’t beg and if he chooses not to respond to our attempts of peace, we don’t offer again.’

Finnikin nodded. ‘First time. Last time.’

Froi placed the satchel in the saddlebag.

‘You travel through the Osterian border. It’s quicker from here than if you travel from the mountain through the valley,’ Perri said.

Too many abrupt instructions.

‘You tell them that under no circumstances will the Queen travel to Charyn, so not to make that part of their terms,’ Finnikin said.

‘Anything else?’ Froi asked, mounting Beast.

‘Yes, you can at least look a bit upset about leaving,’ Isaboe said.

Froi rolled his eyes.

‘Did he just roll his eyes at me?’ she asked the others.

‘I’ll be back in two weeks!’ Froi said.

‘Yes, I think you said that last time we sent you off to meet with Gargarin of Abroi and he cast a spell on you,’ she said.

Froi held out a hand to her and she looked away.

‘I don’t shake hands. I’m not a Charynite.’

He sighed and dismounted, embracing her.

‘Trust me when I say that Gargarin of Abroi’s spell has well and truly worn off.’

 

 

P
haedra and Grijio reached the rocky outcrop that marked the beginning of the road from Alonso to the Lumateran valley. They had left the Citavita days ago and Phaedra’s heart had hardened the further they travelled away from the palace. She didn’t know what faced her in the valley. It had been more than six months since she left and she was frightened that everything had changed. But how could it have stayed the same, when she herself had changed? Who was Phaedra of Alonso after all this time? She had lived her entire existence as a lastborn, controlled by Quintana of Charyn’s curse.

‘Are you sure you don’t want to visit your father?’ Grijio asked as they glimpsed the walls of Alonso in the distance.

Phaedra nodded. ‘I need to write to him first. There is much distance between us and it won’t be solved with a visit.’

They continued riding towards the valley and she felt the anger build up inside her.

‘I hate her,’ she suddenly announced.

Grijio stared at her, taken aback by the outburst.

‘You don’t mean that,’ he said patiently.

‘Oh, I do,’ Phaedra said. ‘She’s cruel and she’s cold and she doesn’t understand love. Look at the way she treated you, Grijio. You come for a visit and she sends you away instantly.’

Grijio shrugged. ‘I can see her anytime. Gargarin’s offered me a place in the palace as an envoy. And anyway, I jumped at the chance to see Froi.’

Grijio dismounted his horse and shuffled through his pack. When he found what he was looking for, he held out a letter to her.

Phaedra recognised the writing and she refused to take it. She refused to be controlled by another’s cruel plan, or by a pledge made before she was born. But Grijio continued to hold out his hand.

‘Quintana gave me four absolute instructions,’ he said firmly. ‘And I’m not to return until my work is done.’

Phaedra walked away and sat on the rock face that gave her a view of the caves. On a clear day, she’d be able to see Alonso to the west, and she wondered if she would be better off there. Grijio came to sit beside her, taking her hand and placing the letter there.

‘She’s playing with you, Grijio,’ Phaedra warned. ‘It’s what she’ll do now with the little power she has.’

‘If you say another word, Phaedra, I think you’ll have much regret,’ he said sadly.

Phaedra refused to open the letter. In the distance she could see Lucian’s mountain and she kept her gaze fixed ahead. The sun was setting early and her body was beginning to feel the cold and all she could think of was Lucian’s fleece that made him resemble a bear.

‘Did I tell you that once I sat out on a rooftop in early winter and got a chill and almost died?’ Grijio said with an exaggerated sniff. ‘We’re very fragile, us lastborns.’

She glanced at him and could see that, despite the soft, fair curls and gentle face, this lad was steadfast in his decisions and she knew he would not move until she read the letter. So she opened it.

Dearest Phaedra,

I asked Grij not to give this to you until you reached the ridge before the valley, so you wouldn’t turn back. Because I know you well, and I couldn’t bear you not taking the journey back to the valley where I know you belong.

I remember on the day I was separated from Froi outside Paladozza, I learnt that I could be loved. That was his greatest gift to me. From you, I learnt that I could love my people. Don’t ever underestimate the power of that. I needed to learn. How can I guide the little King without that lesson?

We speak the words gods’ blessed again and again in this kingdom. I’m not sure what they mean. But know this. That what you have in spirit is a gift indeed, Phaedra of Alonso. It’s a true blessing from the gods. It’s one I will be grateful for each day of my life. My king will be raised with the privilege of his mother having known you.

When I saw the list of consorts I knew I would never have true happiness in my spousal bed. But you love your Mont, Phaedra. So it’s only fair that one of us finds deep happiness. You said repeatedly that you’d never leave me and I knew you’d keep that pledge. But what I feared most is that you’d come to hate me for trapping you in the Citavita.

As I write this I feel as if I’m broken in all these pieces that only you and Froi and little Tariq can put together. I will miss your presence every day of my life.

Quintana of Charyn

Phaedra stared at the words. Read them again and again. She scrambled to her feet, hurried to her horse and mounted it.

‘Take me back, Grijio. I’m begging you.’

Grijio shook his head and got to his feet.

‘She said that if I returned you to her, she’d never speak to me again.’

‘Take me back,’ she cried. ‘
Please
. You don’t know her, Grij. You don’t know how lonely she can get.’

‘I’ve lost too many friends, Phaedra,’ he said. ‘Through betrayal or distance or circumstance. I couldn’t bear to lose her.’

Grijio was resolute as he mounted his horse. ‘My pledge to Quintana was that I’d get you to your valley.’

They arrived later that afternoon and her heart leapt to see the busyness of the camp dwellers’ day from where they were standing on the path behind the caves. Their lives seemed full of talk. It’s what she had noticed these past months. That Charynites had found their voices. But she wondered how long the valley dwellers would stay here. Perhaps a new Charyn meant there was a place for them across the kingdom. Gargarin’s focus was to bring the dry lands back to life for farming. It would take the pressure off the overcrowded provinces. In the months to come when children were born to this valley, the people would have to leave and find a home, not a temporary camp. Phaedra wondered what would become of them all.

She led Grijio between the caves and saw Cora and Jorja in a vegetable patch crowded with produce and colour. Close by, a few of the men were roasting a boar on a spit, and women were scrubbing clothes by the stream. Phaedra’s heart leapt to see one or two of the camp dwellers with swollen bellies. She gave a sob of laughter, and then someone pointed up to where she sat astride the horse, and as Phaedra dismounted, the valley dwellers rushed to greet her from caves above and below. Cora and Jorja heard the commotion and turned and suddenly she
was running towards them and she was clasped in their arms weeping.

‘Look at you,’ Jorja said.

‘You’ve a bit more weight,’ Cora joined in.

‘Well, there’s a bit more food to be had in the palace,’ Phaedra laughed, looking back to search for Grijio.

‘How is she?’ Jorja asked. ‘How are they both? Is he as beautiful as they say?’

Phaedra held a hand to her chest. More tears because there would never be words to describe the little King.

‘Enough of the crying,’ Cora snapped, but she hugged Phaedra all the same.

Grijio reached them as Harker and Kasabian approached and Phaedra completed the introductions.

‘We’ve met, sir,’ Grijio said to Harker, shaking his hand. ‘On the day you took this valley.’

‘How are things in the Citavita?’ Harker asked.

‘Hopeful, sir.’

Grijio searched through his pack and handed Harker the mail. ‘These are for the Lumaterans. Is there a chance they can reach the palace soon? Gargarin of Abroi was very insistent.’

Harker shook his head. ‘When it comes to messages and mail, we have to wait for the Monts to visit and then it’s up to chance when they next visit their palace. Sometimes a week passes. But we’ll do our best.’

‘I’m presuming that I’d be expecting too much if Froi of Lumatere was here in the valley?’ Grij said.

Harker shook his head again with a grimace. ‘He’s on his way to Charyn, the way we’ve heard it.’

Phaedra turned to Grijio, understanding his disappointment.

‘Rest first and then go,’ she urged, knowing he’d want to see his friend. ‘You may catch him in the Citavita if you’re lucky.’

‘And which of you is Cora?’ Grijio asked.

‘Me,’ Cora snapped. ‘Why?’

He retrieved a tiny purse from his pocket and held it out to her. Everyone crowded around Cora, curious to see what it was.

‘She’s rewarded you with gold,’ someone murmured.

‘Perhaps a trinket.’

They waited as Cora emptied the contents into the palm of her hand and soon there were sighs of disappointment. But Cora looked up and caught her brother’s eye and Phaedra saw a smile on both their faces as they studied the seeds.

‘Where would she have found herself a pair of Klin tree seeds?’ Kasabian asked, as Cora placed them in his hand. He clenched a fist and pressed a kiss to it. ‘These seeds grow hope,’ he said.

‘I have one more letter,’ Grijio said. ‘Quintana said I had to deliver it by hand. To Florenza of Nebia.’

‘My daughter?’ Harker asked, perplexed.

‘By hand, you say. Why?’ Jorja asked.

Grijio shrugged. ‘Quintana said I could not leave until the letter was read out loud, and then I had to wait for Florenza of Nebia’s response. So then Her Highness would be sure it was delivered.’

‘I’ll go find her,’ Harker said

More of the valley dwellers came to greet Phaedra and she introduced them to Grijio, who seemed fascinated by the way they lived.

‘For now, every family is assigned to their own cave with ample privacy,’ Jorja said. ‘It was difficult for us during the time of Donashe and his friends. Families were separated.’

‘But still a blessing that our Quintana found herself in a cave with you women,’ Grijio said.

‘Phaedra!’ they heard Florenza cry, and next moment they
were in each other’s arms, laughing and crying.

‘I was with the Mont girls when we heard the news,’ Florenza said. ‘Are you back for good?’

‘I am indeed.’

‘And how is she?’ Florenza asked solemnly. ‘I dream of them both. All the time, I do. Is she happy?’

Phaedra didn’t know how to answer that truthfully.

‘The little King is the most beautiful creature I’ve ever seen in my life,’ she said. ‘Is that not true, Grij?’

Grij was staring at Florenza, who was now staring at Grij with a hand held to her face to hide her nose, which had survived its ordeal in the caves with quite a large bump.

‘Yes … yes, of course,’ he said, flustered, clearing his throat.

‘Father said you have something,’ Florenza said, and Phaedra watched as Jorja’s hand brushed a leaf from Florenza’s hair surreptitiously. Cora exchanged a look with Phaedra.

Grijio removed a letter from his pack and handed it to Florenza.

‘She requested that you read it aloud before me,’ he said. ‘So then she’d be sure that it was read.’

‘Why?’ Cora asked bluntly.

‘Hurry up and read it, Florenza,’ Jorja said.

Florenza broke the seal of the letter.

‘Dear Florenza,

‘I hope all is fine with you. Phaedra will tell you more about life here. The weather is quite unspectacular and so are most of those who live in the palace …’

‘They are,’ Phaedra agreed.

‘
Of course, I’m yet to meet a girl such as you, Florenza, who crawled through the sewers of Nebia to save the life of those Serkers and whose nose was broken as she fearlessly fought a man who was a threat to myself and the future King of Charyn …
’

Florenza touched her nose again, self-consciously.

‘You crawled through the sewers?’ Grij asked in awe. ‘To save the Serkers?’

‘And broke her nose as she fearlessly fought a man who was a threat to Quintana and the future King of Charyn,’ Jorja reminded him.

Florenza removed her hand from her nose and continued reading.

‘
Anyway, enough of all that. I was wondering if you’d like to come and visit some time. You can give your response to Grijio, the brilliant scholarly son of the Provincaro of Paladozza and one of the heroic masterminds of my rescue in the Citavita.
’

Phaedra burst out a laugh and stared at Cora. This time it was Florenza who looked up in awe.

‘You were the mastermind?’ Florenza asked Grijio.

He waved a hand in embarrassment. ‘One of them, anyway,’ he murmured.

‘Our little savage has turned matchmaker,’ Cora muttered. ‘What have they done to her?’

Lucian finished helping Orly with the fence post and they both stood back to assess the work. Lotte joined them soon after and handed Lucian a hot brew. There wasn’t much talk between them, although he could sense that Lotte was dying to say something and Lucian knew exactly what that was.

‘Lady Zarah,’ Lotte said politely. ‘She seems a fine girl.’

‘Yes, indeed,’ Lucian said curtly. He was sick and tired of being asked at every turn if it was true that he was betrothed. No, he wanted to shout. Fabrications from an overzealous lord who wants a cut in our fleece market!