Roberson, Jennifer - Cheysuli 07 (65 page)

 
          
"Tell
him to come down here.
Here
, in this
vault. With the door
shut
, and the
Womb of the Earth to receive him."

 
          
Aidan
felt Shona's nearness. Also her puzzlement; the unasked questions: what did
Teirnan want? What did he expect?

 
          
Teirnan
touched marble
lir
. "Tell him to
come here before the Womb, and ask the blessing of the gods in the
old
way. The way Carillon did, wanting
to be Mujhar."

 
          
Apprehension
became fear. "Why?"

 
          
Teirnan's
eyes burned. "Because he will not. Because he is
afraid;
do you not know the stories? Brennan of Homana is afraid of
places like this. Because he
knows
the Womb will swallow him whole and never give him up."

 
          
"That
has nothing to do with it." Aidan knew very well his father would not
enter the vault, but it had nothing to do with fear of the Womb. It was a fear
of enclosed places; it had always been Brennan's weakness. "He is Mujhar,
Teirnan. The Homanan Council says so, Cheysuli Clan Council—"

 
          
"Only
the gods matter."

 
          
Aidan
nearly laughed. "I know something of
that
,
kinsman. As for you? You turned your back. You took your
a'saii
and went away from everything, repudiating your heritage.
How do you expect to convince anyone—even your own son—you are worthy to be
Mujhar?"

 
          
"How?"
Teirnan took one step into the vault, then another. "By being born,
kinsman… as the old Mujhars were born."

 
          
Comprehension
blossomed. "Teirnan—
no
—"

 
          
He
stood on the brink of the Womb. "She will give me back," he said.
"She will. I am a child of the gods. Child of the
Jehana
. I will go in the man and come out the Mujhar."

 
          
"Teirnan—"
Shona blurted.

 
          
"She
will give me back," he repeated. "Hers is a fertile Womb. She gave
Carillon back. She will give me back a Mujhar, so my son will not renounce me.
So
no one
will renounce me. I will be
Mujhar, blessed in the old way, the way of our ancestors." He lingered on
the edge. "I see it in your faces; you think she will not do it. You think
my way is madness."

 
          
"Don't,"
Shona whispered, one hand splayed across her belly. "Gods, man,
don't
—"

 
          
Teirnan's
face spasmed. "I must. It is the old way. Too much of the old ways have
been lost—too many of the customs discarded in the name of the prophecy… do you
not see? If I am made Mujhar, I can change things back. I can make us what we
once were."

 
          
"Teirnan."
Aidan took a single step toward the oubliette, and the man. "This will not
win back your son. This will not win you the Lion."

 
          
It
was a litany. "The
Jehana's
Womb
is fertile. She
will
make me Mujhar,
just as she did Carillon." Teirnan's laughter echoed. "
I
, at least, am Cheysuli."

 
          
"No,"
Aidan said. Twofold denial: of the act, and of the claim.

 
          
Teirnan
smiled and stepped off the rim.

 
          
This
time the Womb was barren.

 
          
«
^
»

 
          
The
assumption of power by a new king was done with very little fanfare. Brennan
considered it unseemly under the circumstances; even though the two-month
mourning period was over, sorrow lingered. Niall had ruled Homana for nearly
fifty years. Neither his presence:—nor the honor and affection—would fade
immediately.

 
          
The
new Mujhar received messages of condolence from other kingdoms with good grace,
remarking privately to Aidan that no one was laggard in also wishing Niall's
successor a lengthy, peaceful reign, and set about exerting his own power over
the Homanan Council without delay. And though Brennan had spent most of his
life preparing for the moment, Aidan knew he did not enjoy it.

 
          
Although
the changes were not immediately evident, it became quite clear Brennan was
arranging the governing of Homana to suit his personal tastes. His policies
were more assertive, though not overtly aggressive, and the kings of Caledon,
Falia, and Ellas found long-standing trade treaties in the throes of
renegotiation. Brennan wrote long letters under official seal to Corin and
Hart, informing them they now ruled their realms autonomously, as Niall had
always intended they do once he was dead. But he involved them in his new plans
for Homana as a way of insuring Solinde and Atvia followed suit. The prophecy
would not be served if the realms remained divided by more than distance. If
they were to insure four realms were to unite, politically the three brothers
had to think as one.

 
          
That
left Erinn, under Sean's rule. Though married to Keely, Sean was neither
Homanan nor Cheysuli, with nothing owed to the prophecy. But he did owe the
Mujhar; Niall had wisely forced a trade alliance that improved Erinn's economy
so that separation would prove detrimental. With Keely's presence—and influence—Sean
agreed to a new alliance that extended the old treaty. Erinn would not lose;
neither would Homana.

 
          
Aidan
watched his father's machinations with a sense of wonder tinged with amusement.
He had always known Brennan was the most serious of his kinfolk; now he saw
why. The Prince of Homana was never allowed to forget his place; never allowed
to think of himself as independent of the Mujhar; never allowed to think for
himself; never given the opportunity to know freedom from his future. The
Prince of Homana, named Mujhar, stood the highest in three realms. And Aidan
was next in line.

 
          
It
was brought home with perfect clarity the day Brennan called him into his
private chamber and said they should consider opportunities for betrothing
Aidan's child.

 
          
Aidan,
perched on a casement sill, stared. "It is not even
born
yet!"

 
          
Brennan,
slumped deep in a chair, gestured impatiently. "We can discuss
possibilities regardless of its gender."

 
          
"Why
should
we? Let the child be
born."

 
          
The
Mujhar sighed and rubbed a hand through silvering hair. "You know as well
as I we none of us have the freedom to wait so long.
You
had more than most, but there was me between my
jehan
and you. Now I am Mujhar and you
the Prince… we should look to insuring your hold on the succession."

 
          
Aidan
sighed with forced tolerance. "No one is going to wrest my grasp from the
succession,
jehan
. Teirnan is dead.
There is no one else in all of Homana who wants to change the order now."

 
          
"We
cannot be certain of that. Now that Teirnan is dead, the
a'saii
appear to have fallen into disarray—but how are we to be
sure? There is Blais, after all."

 
          
"Blais
repudiated him. That is one of the reasons Teirnan threw himself into the
Womb." Aidan eased himself back into the deep-cut casement. "Just
because Blais refuses to come to Homana-Mujhar does not mean he plots against
the succession. Blais is
stubborn
,
and he came to be a Cheysuli, not an ambitious kinsman desiring more than his
due."

 
          
"We
will discuss it anyway."

 
          
Aidan
eyed his father. There was a new note of authority in Brennan's tone. Their
dealings before had been courteous and circumspect with a mutual regard, but
there had always been a generalized affection that lightened parental orders
and commands. Now Brennan spoke as a king to his heir. Aidan began to see the
taut web that the title wove around him.

 
          
Since
his father had no intention of dismissing the topic, Aidan chose a diplomatic
tone of voice. "Cousins have wed cousins for years,
jehan
. Is that what you desire? Or do you think we should look
elsewhere?"

 
          
Brennan's
scowl deepened, but it was not directed at anything—or anyone—in particular.
"A part of me agrees with the first, for we have mixed linked bloodlines
to form closer kin-ties. It was required to strengthen the gifts. But we are so
closely
tied…" He sighed.
"Perhaps it
is
time we looked to
other realms."

 
          
Aidan
nodded thoughtfully. "We are now too close to Erinn."

 
          
"And
to Solinde."

 
          
"And
Corin's Glyn is barren." As his father looked up sharply, Aidan shrugged.
"He told me before he left. He does not care, he says—he did not marry her
for children."

 
          
Brennan
scowled thoughtfully. Then sighed, shrugging. "If we look to other lands,
there is Ellas, Falia, and Caledon."

 
          
Aidan
raised a single brow. "But Homana has never married into those realms.
Finn's daughter came the closest by marrying the youngest son of Ellas' High King—"
he paused "—how many generations back?"

 
          
Brennan
waved a hand. "It does not matter. That is old history, and we are
speaking of new."

 
          
"Aye,
well…" Aidan thought it over. "I am not so certain I like the idea of
marrying my daughter into foreign lands."

 
          
Brennan
smiled. "But if she is a son, he will remain here. And the princess come
to
him
."

 
          
"As
Shona has?" Aidan arched a brow. "
While
we are speaking of weddings, what of mine?"

 
          
Brennan
gestured. "I thought you might wish to wait. Even though official mourning
is ended, it would not be seemly to hold a large wedding celebration within a
year of the Mujhar's passing."

 
          
"Then
we will hold a small one." Aidan shrugged. "As I have said before,
Shona is not a woman for ceremony. And I myself do not care. I only thought it
might be wise in view of the imminent birth. There are only two months left,
jehan
. And you know the Homanans."

 
          
"Aye,
so I do." Brennan stroked a temple. "I could speak to Aileen.
Together, she and Deirdre could fashion a ceremony. And it might be good for
Deirdre."

 
          
"It
might be good for us all." Aidan slipped off the sill. "I will speak
to Shona. I promise,
jehan
, she cares
little for ceremony. She will not insist on splendor." He grinned.
"All she insists on is for the two months to pass, so she can rid herself
of the burden."

 
          
"So
did your
jehan
." Brennan smiled
briefly. "I will speak to Aileen."

 
          
"There
is
one thing."

 
          
Brennan
eyed him warily. "What is it?"

 
          
Aidan
was amused; was he so unpredictable? "I want to take her to Clankeep. To
bear the child there."

 
          
Raven
brows rose. "Why? Would she not prefer Homana-Mujhar?"

 
          
Aidan
shook his head slowly. "She has grown up ignorant of her heritage, except
for what Keely taught her. Shona has a great need to know her ancestry, to understand
the history of our people. She is empty of us,
jehan
. She is empty of the knowledge. There are
shar tahls
to learn from, and clansmen
to meet." He shrugged. "I think she longs for a thing of which she
has no understanding."