The Ciphers of Muirwood (34 page)

The minstrels began the passionate tune of the galliard, only slower, and Maia and Collier danced before the assemblage. Though hundreds of eyes were focused on her, she looked only at Collier, trying to ignore the others’ attention. His hand pressed against her hip as their steps built toward the lift and twirl. She swallowed, anticipating it, and then she was flying, pressing against his firm shoulders and looking down at him, the tips of her hair just touching his. There was an audible gasp of delight from those watching them. He twirled her slowly before bringing her back down, and she felt dizzy and alive. The minstrels’ flutes cast a haunting spell on her.

Collier took her around the circle again, then lifted her high, bringing her around. She felt her skirts swishing, felt the palpable thrill of the dance invade her heart. When it was time for the third lift, she was patently exhausted and dipped her head down, resting her forehead against his. Their noses just touched. He set her down.

“Are you all right?” he whispered, his eyes staring into hers.

“A little faint,” she answered, smiling shyly.

The smile he gave her was a reward in and of itself. Their performance was met with a round of applause, and a circle of dancers who wanted to try the new style favored in Dahomey formed around the maypole. Maia saw Lia and Colvin join the circle. Then Suzenne and Dodd. Then Jayn and her father, which made her wince. The music began once more.

As the next dance began, Maia caught sight of Maeg Baynton, standing alone in the shadows, without a partner. She was wiping her eyes. Maia’s heart went out to the girl who had just lost her father.

“What is it?” Collier’s question drew her eyes back to his face. “You look pained.”

She smiled wistfully. “You always watch my expressions.”

“Always,” he answered. “Whenever I am near you, I am drawn to your face, to your gestures, to your glances. I can tell how much you truly care about others just by observing you, Maia. You are constantly assessing their needs. Truthfully, I find you remarkable . . . most princesses are fixated primarily on themselves. Why did you wince just now?” he asked her and then lifted her high again and twirled her.

As Maia came down, she glanced back at Maeg. “I saw Maeg Baynton over there, and my heart went out to her.”

“Where?”

“By the hanging lantern near the cook’s stall.”

“Ah, I see her. She was the sheriff’s daughter?”

“Yes. His death last night . . . oh, she looks so miserable. I wish I could do something for her.”

Collier smirked. “Sending me to dance with her would create the wrong impression. Hopefully you were not thinking that.”

Maia shook her head decidedly. “I want you to myself.”

“I could almost kiss you for saying that,” he said, pleased. “But I will not. I respect you for your compassion, Maia. Truly I do. I have much to learn from you. But you cannot meet the demands of all the people your heart pities. Who was there to ask you to dance when
you
were banished?”

Maia stared at him thoughtfully. “Perhaps that is why I do it,” she answered. “Because I know what it feels like to be so alone.”

He stopped in the middle of the dance, ignoring everyone else around them, and reached out to take her chin in his hand. “
That
will never happen to you again.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

Assinica

T
he Leerings throughout Muirwood Abbey thrummed with power and radiated cool light. Maia and Lia stood with Sabine, who clung to a carved wooden staff and was garbed for a long journey. A strap and satchel hung behind her cloak, and part of her hair was braided on one side. They were in front of the Rood Screen inside the abbey, and Sabine looked a little nervous about what lay ahead of her. It was time for her to go to Assinica and prepare the mastons there for their return to Comoros.

Sabine looked to Lia. “Will I have trouble understanding them when I reach Assinica?”

Lia smiled knowingly. “You have the Gift of Xenoglossia, Sabine. You will be fine.”

Maia gave her grandmother one last hug and felt a few tears go down her cheeks.

“I will return as soon as I can,” Sabine whispered into her ear, then pulled back and squeezed her hands. She looked to Lia again. “Will I not see you again?”

“If the Medium wills it. Colvin and I will go to Tintern Abbey next to fulfill a promise there. Sabine, now that you have authority over the Apse Veils, as High Seer, it will be up to you to open the rest of them. This is not our era. We do not belong on the records here and must leave you to your destiny.” She looked knowingly at Maia. “Remember everything I have told you.”

“I will,” Maia promised. The prospect of never seeing Lia again flooded her with tender sadness. Lia’s tome had influenced so much of her thinking and maston training. The little girl who had been a wretched in the Aldermaston’s kitchen was a legend. But she was still a person, and Maia could feel the intensity of her love for Muirwood.

Sabine adjusted her satchel strap and turned to enter the Rood Screen. Maia watched her disappear behind the wooden latticework.

“Are you and Colvin leaving today?” Maia asked. “Could I persuade you to stay longer?”

Lia shook her head. “We are not taking the Apse Veil into Pry-Ree. We have decided to travel into the Bearden Muir first. There are memories there. Old friends to bid farewell. The mountains of Pry-Ree are special to us.” She took Maia’s hand and gently squeezed it. Her countenance became serious. “If there is one thing I have learned, Maia, it is the loneliness of leadership. Bear it as graciously as you can. I do have compassion for what you have suffered . . . and for what you will suffer yet.”

Maia fidgeted, feeling her stomach wrench with anxiety. “Yet? Can you not prepare me for it?”

Lia shook her head. “The Medium coaxes us along the road we must travel. It does not tell us the destination from the beginning. If we knew the travails we would face on the road, would we have the courage to step forth at all?” Her grip tightened. “Have courage, dear one.”

Maia embraced her, relishing the time she had spent in her presence. As they left the abbey together, Maia saw one of Lia’s Evnissyen waiting for them. She recalled his name, Jouvent. Lia gave him an enigmatic look. Jouvent nodded subtly and walked away.

Maia and Collier walked together in the Queen’s Garden, both of them enjoying the smells of the flowers and the blossoming trees. The workers at the abbey were still harvesting the apple crop from the Cider Orchard and the air had a sweet aroma. The learners had left with their Families after the Whitsunday festival, and the village was slowly returning to its normal, languid pace.

“Have you decided where you will take the maston test?” Maia asked him after watching him bend to examine a bee sipping from a bloom.

He glanced back at her, his expression somber. “How did you know what I was thinking about?” He smiled wryly. “I thought Lisyeux, the chief abbey in Dahomey. It would certainly startle and shock my old Aldermaston if I returned to Paeiz to finish what I started there.”

“Why not Muirwood?” she pressed.

He shook his head. “It should be in my own kingdom. I have been visiting here for long enough. I need to make preparations to receive you for your coronation. You are already queen in my mind, but not officially. There are rites and customs—” He waved his hand as if that all bored him. “The people need to know you as I do. They are lucky to have you, Maia. As am I.”

He moved to a stone bench and sat pondering for a moment before lifting his finger, inviting her to come closer. “There is something else we must discuss. I must break my oath to you.”

A prick of apprehension shot down her spine. “What do you mean?” she asked in a small voice. She stood near him but did not sit.

He winced. “This is difficult. I am a man of my word. Yes, a good lie seasons the truth, but it does not change the dish. You see, when I accosted you in Dahomey, I asked what your conditions were for becoming my wife. You wanted me to spare Jon Tayt and even that ugly kishion. I need to educate you further on negotiation tactics, Maia, but we will save that for a later discussion. My terms were rather specific and I regret them now.” He looked at her seriously. “My condition was that I would not love you.” He shook his head slowly and clucked his tongue. “My dove, I am afraid I have broken that oath. I am sorry.”

Maia stared at him in surprise and then felt a playful smile tug at her mouth. “Is that your way of declaring yourself, Feint Collier?”

He tried to keep his expression neutral, but failed miserably. He reached out and took her hips with his hands and pulled her down onto his lap. “If I must say it, then you had best be here where I can see you better.”

She sidled even closer to him. “Is this close enough?” Her heart was hammering in her chest, and she felt a flush creep onto her cheeks. She was used to his attraction to her by now, but hearing his tender profession of love felt marvelously heady.

His arms wrapped around her. “I do love you, Maia. My dearest, sweet Maia. I have been tempted all this while to risk fate and kiss you.” He shook his head. “I will not, though part of me feels it would be worth dying for. You are my friend, my companion, my queen. I must go to Dahomey, but I will not leave until I am sure you are safe. I do not trust your father. Nor should you.”

She smiled and stared into his piercing blue eyes, losing herself in them. “You have my heart as well, Collier. I think you started to steal it when I was a very young lass. I often daydreamed that my parents would fulfill the plight troth.”

He hugged her warmly. “Then it was time well spent. Parting from you will be painful. So is not being able to kiss you. But I will endure it for you.” He grinned slowly. “You are worth the suffering.”

She dipped her forehead until it touched his, closing her eyes. The feel of warmth transferring from his skin to hers made her shiver. The urge to kiss him was so intense it caused pain. But she pulled away and traced a finger over the little scar beneath his eye.

“How did you get this?” she asked, touching it.

He smiled. “I have had it since I was a child,” he said. “A story that makes me look quite foolish, actually.”

“Then I will enjoy it all the more,” she teased. She put her arms around his neck.

“When I was quite small, I climbed up on some wine barrels. It was Whitsunday, I think. Some celebration. As I stood there on the barrel, I felt so tall and proud of myself. And then I had the notion that I could fly. If I just believed enough, I could jump off the barrel and soar back up the stairs and startle everyone, especially my little brother.” He smirked and shook his head. Maia smiled at him, imagining what must have happened next.

“I leaped,” he said, chagrined. “I leaped as high and hard as I could, and for just a moment . . .” He paused for effect and winked at her. “For just a moment it
felt
like I was flying. I saw the ground rushing at me . . . the cobblestones, really. I hit them hard and knocked myself senseless. There was a broken bit of wood or a small nail on the ground where I fell. It could have taken out my eye, but it only scarred my cheek. When most people ask, I tell them it was a badge of honor given from a Paeizian fencing master. But to you I give the whole truth, unvarnished.”

He paused for a moment, chuckling to himself. Then his expression became serious again. “About my
other
oath,” he murmured softly. “I said I would let you continue on your mission to Naess that night without first consummating our marriage.”

“I do recall you promising that,” Maia said, nodding sagely, though it felt like her insides were being burned with a hot brand.

“I regret letting you slip away from me so easily.” His whisper purred in her ear. “We are husband and wife, you and I. Would it take much persuasion to start acting like it?”

She looked into the intense blue fire of his eyes. “I might be convinced,” she quavered. “If . . .”

The door to the gardens opened, the Leering swinging wide. It was the gardener, Thewliss, with his rickety cart. Maia was surprised she had not heard him approach. It embarrassed her for him to find them in such an intimate position, but Collier did not seem concerned a bit.

“You were saying?” he whispered, grinning at her.

“He is in here,” Thewliss said, turning to someone who was following him.

It was Owen Page, and he seemed shocked to find Maia sitting on Collier’s lap. The boy had damp hair and was gasping for breath. Maia and Collier both scrambled to their feet, sensing the grave urgency in the air. Owen beckoned to someone behind him and a tall man entered, wearing a merchant’s tunic, several bags of coins buckled to his belt, and a rapier.

“My lord,” the man said in Dahomeyjan, bowing stiffly. He had a golden goatee and his hair was receding up his scalp. “Fox sent me.”

“What is it, Piers?” Collier asked, replying in the same language. Maia was grateful she knew Dahomeyjan as well.

“I did not spare horseflesh to come,” he stammered. “Think I killed my mount to get here fast enough. My lord, news from Comoros. There was a quick and shabby trial, and Lady Deorwynn was found guilty of treason.”

Maia gasped, and the servant gave her a startled look, as if surprised she understood him.

“Say on,” Collier muttered darkly. “She is to become your queen, so you can say what you must in front of both of us. I trust her.”

“Very well, my lord,” the servant said, then glanced at Owen and Thewliss.

“They do not understand us,” Collier said, gesturing with impatience for him to continue.

“Lady Deorwynn is to be executed tomorrow at dawn. The king has divorced her and has announced his impending marriage to Lady Jayn Sexton, his wife’s lady-in-waiting.”

“No,” Maia whispered in dismay. “Not Jayn!”

The servant nodded vigorously. “It is a hard ride from Comoros. I barely just arrived. Simon is going to attend the execution and send word. I think the king is planning to renege on his promise to share his rule with his daughter. No one from the Privy Council spoke in favor of Lady Deorwynn, not even her own uncle, Aldermaston Kranmir.”

“Is Kranmir still part of the Privy Council?” Maia asked him forcefully. He nodded yes.

Collier frowned. “This is not just,” he said, shaking his head. “I have no compassion for Deorwynn, but it is the height of hypocrisy to execute her for adultery when he himself is guilty of it.”

The spy nodded vigorously, stroking his goatee. “Indeed. Though the charge is treason. She and her children have been imprisoned in Pent Tower. Simon wanted you to know in case you were planning to travel through Comoros or Doviur to return to the kingdom. The ship is still waiting for—”

Collier held up his hand sharply, silencing him.

“What ship?” Maia asked.

He shook his head, muttering to himself. He sighed and turned to look at her. “I had a plan to abduct your father here at Muirwood and hold him hostage in Dahomey,” he said in a very low voice. “If the abbey fell, I was going to abduct you as well, unless you came willingly. The mist the morning of Whitsunday thwarted my plans and prevented my soldiers on board from coming. Another testament to the Medium’s powers, I daresay. I have a ship waiting to take us to Dahomey.” He looked at Maia pleadingly. “Come with me.”

Maia stared at him in disbelief. “No,” she said. “Now is not the time. I must go to Comoros and stop this murder.”

“You just heard the man,” Collier said, his color rising. “Even if we rode immediately, we could not prevent it. It is midafternoon and there is no way to reach Comoros until after it is done.”