Sea of Sighs (Empath Book 2) (6 page)

“What else is going to happen, Ross?”

Ross opened his arms wide, trying to look
both subservient and amenable. I”I know as much as you your
highness, but these are dark days. We both know what Baron Sammah
and Lord Shiver have done to your reputation is terrible, but it is
not beyond repair. You will regain the respect of your lords.
Sha’sek, however, is a different matter entirely. We don’t know
what the council has planned, nor whether they support Sammah in
his actions. If it comes to war, you’re going to need every healer
you have, and Maertn was the best of them all.”

“But what will the lords say to me having a
Sha’sekian under my roof in a position of privilege? I can’t
knowingly protect one of those things, no matter who it is.”

Eden bristled at the king’s phrasing, but
had enough sense to keep quiet. This was Vance’s court, and Eden
had no range to step out of place with his father already under
such scrutiny. Thankfully Ross again saved him. “What have your
nobles thought at you having a leading mercenary, who raised his
blade against Everfell during the wars, as your chamberlain?”

Vance looked over his shoulder at Ross and
grinned. “They’re petrified of you, you know that. We both know
that’s half the reason you’re in this position.”

“So you made an unpopular decision for a
good reason. Can you put the wellbeing of your men above your
pride? You are going to have the most skilled healer, in either
Everfell or Sha’sek, right here, within your walls. Are they going
to deride you, or admire your tenacity at overcoming minor
boundaries for the greater good of your people?”

Vance pondered these words, taking a sip of
wine as he mulled them over. “You’re an astute politician Ross,
despite your past. That’s the other reason I like having you
around. You already know that I like the sound of that. Small
boundaries for the greater good—that sounds like the kind of man I
am. That sounds like the kind of king Everfell needs. Why, however,
will this boy have to be in charge whilst you’re gone?”

Ross waved to Eden and he shuffled forward a
few steps. “You know full well your highness, that Eden had nothing
to do with the transgressions of his father. Shiver is under
inquiry here, not Eden, and not Sevenspells. The lad was crucial in
finding out Baron Sammah’s plans to take your throne.
He’
s proved
—with his own father ending up
in your gaol—that he will do what it takes to keep your position
safe. Now, I’m not under any illusions that my post is any grander
than it is, because I’m just a chamberlain. But it does need a
strong hand to keep everyone in check. It needs someone with
temerity and knowledge of the court. And most important of all, it
needs to be someone that can put their own interests aside, to put
yours first, your highness. Eden has proven himself to you already,
and let’s be honest, the retinue from Sevenspells isn’t going
anywhere right now; you might as well make use of him.”

This last comment made Vance laugh out loud,
and both men laughed along with him nervously, not wanting to spoil
the mood. “I like this, Ross, I really do. I thought you were
trying to jest with me at first, trying to fool me. But I do see
how serious you are, and I would like to make sure that Maertn is
safe. You’re quite right, he is obviously chasing this Quinn on
some kind of romantic whim. As soon as she drops him on those
islands, you’ll need someone to bring him back here safely. For the
good of Everfell, I will welcome him back with open arms, despite
what he may be.”

Eden caught Ross’s eyes shifting to him at
this last point, but both men were sensible enough to keep quiet at
their king’s bigotry. Ross grinned. “I knew that your highness
would make the best decision for his people. I will make the
arrangements to hand over control of the basic chamberlain duties
to Eden then, and make my preparations to find Maertn and keep the
boy safe?” Ross deliberately left Quinn out of all of his
statements. He didn’t want to bring her to Vance’s attention,
despite the fact that she was the only one he was really concerned
about keeping safe. It wasn’t that Maertn didn’t matter, nor that
Ross didn’t care about him as much. Whilst Maertn was important, he
wasn’t as key in this dance as Quinn. That was an unfortunate fact,
and Ross knew better than most the casualties that occurred in
wars.

“Eden?”
Vance
intoned the name with a hiss, and the young captain recoiled
involuntarily before stepping forward and sweeping his best bow for
the king. “Yes, your highness?”

“I already have your father rotting in the
depths of this place. Ross is right, you have been loyal, but I
will be keeping an eye on you. If I even hear so much as a whisper
that you’re plotting with your father against me, you won’t join
your father. I’ll have your head on a spike quicker than you can
whimper for mercy. Is that understood?”

“Implicitly, your highness. I wouldn’t dream
of betraying you.”

“You may say that Eden, I just wanted to
make sure that we all know our positions in this game. Despite the
events of the past few days, this isn’t just my castle, this is my
kingdom. Call a meeting, and we will let everyone know where they
stand, including your father and your brother. We have to bring
things into tight control, and I do believe you can be part of
that. Given the tense situation between Everfell and Sha’sek,
perhaps having my mercenary chamberlain elsewhere for the time
being would be the most prudent move. I’ll need you to be at that
meeting, and it’s going to be tomorrow at sundown. You will,
however, sit with me, and not your brother, in your new role. You
are a man of Everfell now, Eden, as of now Sevenspells means
nothing to you.”

This turn wasn’t something that Eden had
expected as part of their bargain, and Eden had no idea how he felt
about it. Sevenspells wasn’t just his life, it was his heritage and
he didn’t want to betray his own blood. Eden was in a dangerous
position, though, and recognising self-preservation when he saw it
he nodded dumbly.

“I can’t hear a gesture, Eden?”

“Of course your highness, I understand your
needs fully. I am yours in service as, and when, you need.”

Vance smirked and dismissed them both. They
tried to leave the room without running, but they could barely
restrain themselves. Out in the corridor, they made sure they were
at least a few dozen paces past the guards before they dared speak
to each other again. “I can’t believe it was that simple? How
quickly can you get out of Everfell?”

“That was the easy part. I made it sound
like the idea would benefit Vance. Always approach the king with
something that will either make his life easier, or make him sound
better. I won’t need do much to get my affairs in order, to be
honest. This castle is so well-rehearsed it mainly runs itself. I
just need to introduce you to a few people, make sure they know
you’re the one that they have to report to, and you have to tell a
few people off when they do things wrong. Really, people don’t do
too much wrong. I just get paid for hanging around and looking
menacing.”

Eden snorted, “Surely that’s not it?”

Ross made a mocking noise back. “If you
spend as many years as I did swinging a sword for a living, and not
knowing if you’ll make it through the day, you’ll take the easy
jobs where you get them. Now, follow me. All we need is a couple of
hours, and I’ll be chasing your lass down across the plains of
Sevenspells.”

“She’s not
my
lass
Ross, she left me.”

“She’s loves you almost as much as your
father loves wine. She’s only gone the way she has to spare your
feelings. We all know you couldn’t have followed her.”

Ross carried on walking, expecting Eden to
follow. Everfell’s newest chamberlain did without a word. He
couldn’t quell his anxieties, though.

Every day and every decision he wanted to
make was taken out of his control, and that’s all his life had been
since Quinn came into it. What could he do, though? His father was
a stranger, and his hated older brother was now his liege lord.
Would his fate be better in Ross’s hands, and Vance’s? Regardless,
those were questions for the future, and despite the questions
Ross’s actions raised, right now Eden only wanted to know that
Quinn would be safe.

Ross was Quinn’s future, and Quinn was
Eden’s life. He would place all of his hopes in a mercenary who had
fought for Sha’sek in the war, and his life in the hands of the
king his father had sought to overthrow.

“It’s Ross.” Quinn
dropped the reins to her horse, shocked at what she had felt.

“Really?” Maertn trotted up beside her,
squinting into the distance, as if Quinn’s ability lent him better
sight. “It can’t be.”

“I’m telling you, Maertn, it’s Ross. I know
it is, just like with you; I can recognise him anywhere.”

“Are you
really
sure? I mean, it’s so
far away. You could be mistaking him for someone else?”

Quinn gave Maertn a withering look. “That
would be like me mistaking you for Grainne.”

Maertn took the barb without a word. “Okay,
but why is he here? Why is he following us?”

“That’s the bit I’m not sure about, and I’m
not certain that I want to know the answer.”

“Why not? It can only be a good thing Ross
is coming for us, can’t it? He’s on our side.”

“He always has been, yes. So why is he not
in Everfell? Why has he come after us?”

Maertn grimaced. “Because something’s gone
wrong?”

“We’re only going to know if we wait to find
out. Let’s tether the horses and build a fire. The sun’s getting
low, and I’
m getting hungry.
”

Quinn looked around, more with her powers
than with her eyesight, trying to find anyone else in the vicinity.
She knew from sensibility that setting a fire in the middle of
nowhere would only be asking for trouble, but they were still
within the borders of Everfell, and bandits hadn’t been common for
years. Quinn felt safe enough, and they needed to eat. It didn’t
matter how long Ross had been riding, she didn’t want to risk the
chamberlain arriving on an empty stomach if his intentions towards
them were benign. She nodded to Maertn, and he set about trying to
find some kindling for a small fire. For her part, Quinn started
taking the packs off the horses and setting up their camp. They
really didn’t have much with them, and though the weather was still
amenable, they had already taken into consideration shelter from
the rain or, more likely, the harsh winds they’d encounter across
the Sevenspells plains. They only had their bedrolls for warmth, so
if a clear night sent the temperatures plummeting, they would be
miserably uncomfortable.

“I really didn’t think much of this through,
did I?” Quinn muttered to herself as she spread their bedrolls out
on the thin ground. She watched on, feeling useless as the second
roll was caught by the wind and fluttered off, to be caught against
the legs of her whinnying horse. “By all the spirits, what am I
doing?”

“What was that?” Maertn yelled over his neat
stack of kindling as he tried to set it alight with a flint and
tinder. He’d been shown how to do this as an apprentice, but the
fires in his workshop had always been running. Torran never let
them go out. He wasn’t doing very well at lighting this one.

“Oh, nothing. Just thinking out loud.”

Quinn chased down the bedroll and got their
cooking gear ready whilst Maertn struggled with the fire. It didn’t
take long for the hoof beats of Ross’s horse to come into earshot.
By the time the chamberlain arrived in camp, Maertn was crowing
over the sparks of his infant fire, and Quinn had made them look at
least reasonably organised. There were limited reasons why Ross
would be coming to join them, and she didn’t want to look like they
were a pair of struggling children on the road, despite that being
the basic truth.

Ross dismounted and led his horse to where
Maertn and Quinn’s mounts were already tied up. Without hailing or
greeting either of them, he secured his stallion and fed it from a
bag he grabbed from the saddle. Quinn grunted in frustration. She
hadn’t even thought of feeding her horse, let alone giving it a
drink. They had water in skeins. She hadn’t even bothered to find
out the nearest water source. And she had expected to survive out
here on her own? The horses hadn’t drunk all day. Quinn glanced
over at them in the dwindling twilight. Was that…
foam
around
their mouths? When would they need to drink next, before they
started to fall ill?

Maertn walked up beside her and whispered in
her ear, “What’s up with him? He said anything yet?”

Quinn batted her hand at him in frustration.
“No,” she hissed, “and I’m not about to disturb him now. Look at
what he’
s doing.
”

“What?”

“Feeding the horses! We haven’t even thought
of doing that yet.”

“You might not have, but I did.”

“When?”

“Earlier, when you were chasing around our
bedding still. They haven’t had that much, but it was something,
and I watered them.”

Quinn blushed. So maybe Maertn was thinking
of things, and she was the child out on the road. Regardless, she
had been firmly put in her place, and she realised that the road to
Sha’sek was going to be a long one.

* * *

After what seemed like an agonising wait,
whilst the chamberlain silently organised his gear without hailing
either of them, Ross finally approached. He removed a pair of worn
brown riding gloves, clapping the leather together and hooking them
in his belt. He locked his thumbs into the belt too, and regarded
them with an amused stare. Both of them fidgeted under Ross's gaze,
unused to such scrutiny from anyone but their father. Eventually,
Quinn broke. She didn’t say anything, but she did sense out for
what Ross was feeling. He wasn’t angry, and that was a great
relief, but Quinn was bemused to sense his amusement. As the quiet
stretched, Ross couldn’t keep the grin from his face.