The Heir (4 page)

Luana wrapped a heavy robe around her and
tightened it with a sash.

“Do you know of Mirstone and the royal
family?” Baylin inquired.

“I know of them, I suppose,” she said,
straightening a stack of books on her small writing desk. “Everyone
in the villages is taught of the five Kingdoms. Though, I could not
tell you who they are ruled by.”

Baylin smiled and laughed, as though he were
enjoying a joke that only he had heard.

“What is it?” Luana asked, walking over to
the settee in front of the hearth and sitting down.

Baylin followed, kneeling down and throwing
a log on the sleepy embers, trying to revive them. “I just found it
amusing. I can only imagine how Queen Fia would react at
discovering there are people who do not know who she is. She tends
to assume the world revolves around her.”

Luana smiled at the remark. “Do you know the
royal family well?”

“I certainly would not say we are close,”
Baylin replied. “However, I have met them several times on business
for the Kingdoms when I was younger.”

“What are they like?” Luana asked, unable to
contain her curiosity.

“To be honest, they are a bit…” Baylin had a
distant look on his face as he searched for the right word.
“Superior?”

Luana laughed at the Prince, covering her
mouth to stifle the sound. She looked up and noticed her handmaid
had entered the room holding a dress for her to put on.

“Good morning, milady,” Meg, Luana’s
handmaid, greeted.

“Good morning to you, my dear Meg,” Luana
replied with a smile. She thought of the girl as a true friend. No
one in the castle knew the lengths that Meg had gone for her, and
she didn’t plan on letting them know. Meg had risked her life to
help Luana.
Hopefully I will be able to repay her kindness and
loyalty.

The handmaid began to dress Luana in a
beautiful light blue gown with delicate white embroidery along the
bodice.

“Oh, and did I hear right?” Luana asked
Baylin as the handmaid began brushing her hair. “Are we to break
our fast with the King and Queen?”

“It would appear so,” Baylin replied. “I’m
certain it is merely to congratulate us on our child.”

“But why?” Luana was not convinced.

“Why ever not?” Baylin questioned. “You are
the mother of their grandchild, an heir to the throne.”

“I suppose.” Luana wrapped her arms tighter
around herself to fight off both the fear and the cold.

Meg finished pulling Luana’s hair up into
the traditional braids of the bed wife, something that was required
when she was out of the bedchamber. “Will that be all, milady?”

Luana gave a weak smile. “Yes, Meg, thank
you. That will be all.”

She watched the handmaid leave the room,
Luana sighed at the worry that was beginning to build inside
her.

“What is it?” Baylin walked up to her and
wrapped a fur around her.

“It’s only that… Well… You said I am not to
leave the chamber under any circumstance,” she said in a soft tone,
making a great effort to examine the fabric on her dress rather
than look him in the eye.

“Of course, and we know you’re one to always
obey the rules,” he said with a laugh. She could not help but look
up and smile at him.

The Prince sat down beside Luana, bringing
her into his arms. “There is nothing to worry about. This is my
father and mother, a private meal, not a council meeting. I wish
you could have been there when I told Father you were with child.
He looked so proud. I am certain our child will change
everything.”

Luana pulled back, looking up into his eyes.
“How so?”

Baylin smiled at her lovingly. “I have made
it known that I love you. Father has seen that. He may be King, but
I believe in his heart he is my father first. I am certain, with
time, he will give us his blessing.”

Luana was scared to hope, but could not help
but cling to the thought.
Blessing? I could be Baylin’s
Queen.
The idea made Luana feel warm all over.

“I suppose you’re right,” she said, looking
up at him. “I’m sorry that I worry.”

Baylin lifted her hand to his mouth and
kissed it. “I’d have you no other way than exactly as you are—worry
or not.”

*****

After Baylin and Luana finished making
themselves presentable, they made their way up the stairs to the
King and Queen’s private chambers. Luana could not help but feel
queasy. Yes, it could have been the sickness that came with being
with child, but she knew better than to think it was merely that.
Something wasn’t right. It did not seem customary for the King to
summon her with Baylin to celebrate. She wanted to believe what
Baylin hoped to be true, but she was certain something was off.

When they arrived, the room was filled with
the yellow and orange tinges of the morning’s rising sun. The King
and Queen were already seated at the table that was covered in a
great bounty of bread, cheese, fruit, eggs, fish and even sausage.
The smell of the food nauseated Luana further, and she couldn’t
help but wonder how the people in the villages could be starving
when that table was overflowing.

“Lord Father.” Baylin bowed. “Mother.”

Luana followed suit and bowed also. She did
not speak unless spoken to. Everyone knew she liked to try and bend
the rules on occasion, but she respected the King and Queen. Her
admiration for them ensured that she observed the proper courtesies
when in their presence.

Baylin pulled a seat out for Luana. She sat
looking at all the savory food and wished she had not come.

“So,” Queen Valasca began as she
meticulously peeled the shell off a hard-boiled egg, “I hear your
Luana is with child.”

Baylin smiled and Luana could not help but
feel joy for him. It meant so much to know how pleased he was.

“Yes, Mother.” Baylin took Luana’s hand in
his under the table and squeezed it. “According to Master Keon it
is so.”

Queen Valasca gave Luana a sweet, loving
smile. “That is wonderful, dearest.”

Luana lowered her head in a seated bow.
“Thank you, Your Grace.”

“Excellent!” piped the King. “Most
excellent. So once she has had the child and the royal line is
secure, you can then begin preparations to choose your Queen.”

Luana looked up, first to the King, then to
Baylin. Her eyes were wide with shock as she glanced between them.
The past few months had been so wonderful with the Prince, and
though she knew the possibility of a betrothal could come, she
never imagined it coming so quickly. She looked down at her plate
as the sickness rushed over her. She felt faint.

“Father,” Baylin interceded with anger in
his voice. “Is that really necessary?”

The King coughed on a bite of sausage.
“Necessary? Is it necessary to secure the royal line and the
continuation of the Kingdom? Yes, boy, it is necessary!”

“No,” Baylin continued. “I mean is it truly
necessary to choose a Queen as well as a bed wife. Could not they
be one and the same?”

Luana looked over at Baylin. He had such
determination in his eyes, but he also showed a great deal of fear.
Baylin was the heir to the Kingdom, but he was certainly not the
King. To challenge the King of Grasmere, especially in front of the
Queen and Luana, was not something to be trifled with. Even if the
King was his father.

“Have you lost your wits? You would have a
common villager be Queen of Grasmere?” The King pulled a hunk of
bread from a large loaf and threw it down on his plate. “Now come,
Baylin, let us be serious.”

The Queen made an attempt to intercede.
“Surely, Ashmur, you can at least hear Baylin out.”

“I will have none of that from either of
you,” the King said angrily, pounding his fist on the table. “We
hold with tradition!”

Baylin pushed his plate of food away from
him. “Father, I love Luana. She is the only woman I will call my
Queen.”

Luana watched as the King’s face turned red
and his jaw tightened at his son’s insolence. The Queen reached out
a hand and placed it on Ashmur’s. Her touch appeared to calm him.
Even in his anger, there was tenderness between them.

“It is amiable that you care for the girl,
but it is folly,” the King said, trying to steady his tone.

“Father,” Baylin tried to interrupt.

“Enough!” the King said.

The room went silent. The tension was thick
and heavy in the air. Luana looked down in her lap, fearful to make
eye contact with the King.

After a few quiet moments the King
continued. “Now, I was thinking that since she is already going to
be our guest here, you might consider Princess Isla. You’ve known
one another since you were young, and it would surely solidify
faith with King Gideon that we mean to make right on our plan to
assist in retaking Mirstone.”

“I do not want Isla!” Baylin shouted,
knocking his chair back as he stood. “I will not yield on this,
Father.”

The King sighed and rubbed his wrinkled
forehead. His face changed to a mournful expression as he looked up
at his son. “We all make sacrifices for the good of the Kingdom,
Baylin. You must do your duty.”

“Ashmur.” The Queen attempted to urge the
King to reconsider. Baylin paced back and forth, balling his
fists.

Luana watched the scene unfold before her,
as though she was not in the room. The three argued about her and
this Princess Isla as though they were pieces of property to be
secured.

Isla.
The name caused bile to rise up
in the back of Luana’s throat.
So this is who will take Baylin
from me. Is there really a troll problem in Mirstone, or was Baylin
lying to hide why Isla was actually here?

The large room felt suddenly very small to
Luana. It was filled with sounds and smells that assaulted her
senses. She could not take it anymore. Respect or not, she had to
leave the room.

She stood, tipping her chair back and losing
her balance. She extended her arms, trying to catch herself. She
reached for the edge of the table, but she missed and her hand
knocked a tray of cheese onto the stone floor with a crash. She
swayed backward, her feet going weak under her. Just before her
body hit the floor, Baylin caught her in his arms. His mouth was
open and he was saying something to her, but she could not hear the
words. Then there was nothing but darkness.

Chapter Four

Baylin raced down the halls with Luana’s
motionless body cradled in his arms. His heart drummed in his
chest.
Stay with me.
He ran up the stairs two at a time,
carrying her as gently as possible. His muscles announced how
fatigued the journey made him as they burned from the exertion.

Baylin burst into the room. “Master Keon,
help!” The Prince tenderly laid Luana down on a nearby bed. “Luana?
Please, dearest, you must wake up.”

One of the physician’s handmaids ran up to
the Prince. “Your Grace, what has happened?”

“Please,” Baylin pleaded. “Something is
wrong. She won’t wake. Where is Master Keon?”

“I am here, my Prince,” the old man said,
hobbling over to the bed. “Quickly now, tell me what has
happened.”

As Baylin tried to explain, reliving the
scene in his mind caused his heart to race. “We were breaking our
fast with Father and Mother. Luana was fine and then… she wasn’t.
She stood, lost her balance and fell. She will not wake.”

The old physician went to work evaluating
Luana’s condition—lifting her eyelids to examine her eyes, using a
strange instrument to listen to her chest. While Baylin watched,
his mind relived the morning. The sight of her tumbling toward the
floor as her eyes fell shut, the feeling of her lifeless body in
his arms.
Luana, you must come back to me.

Master Keon turned to Baylin and gave him a
reassuring smile. “Your Grace, the young lady appears to be
healthy. She is very weak, most likely due to the child. Many young
women experience pregnancy illness during the first few months of
being with child. She needs a good amount of rest to allow it time
to pass.”

Baylin gave a sigh of relief. “Then she will
recover?”

Master Keon nodded.

Baylin allowed his tense muscles to relax as
he willed his heart to slow its pace. “Thank you, Master Keon. You
have put my heart at ease.”

The old man patted Baylin tenderly on the
shoulder. “You gave the Queen the same ailment. No need to worry.
Luana is strong; she will recover easy enough.”

Master Keon crossed to the door of the room.
“Please excuse me, Your Grace. I will fetch some herbs to help the
young lady rest and ease her sickness. I will return shortly.”

Baylin nodded to the old man, signaling his
approval, before he left the room.

The young Prince sat on the edge of the bed
watching Luana sleep. He was certain he had never been so scared in
his entire life. He stroked her cheek, causing her to stir. Her
eyes fluttered open.

Baylin exhaled in relief. “My love, how do
you feel?”

“What happened?” Luana blinked, taking in
her surroundings. “Where am I?”

“You fainted.” Baylin helped Luana rise on
the bed. “Master Keon says you overexerted yourself.”

Luana looked up at him with an expression of
sadness and betrayal that cut through him. “Exerted myself? I
exerted myself?” she spat in a heated tone. “Yes, listening to your
father plan your marriage to Princess Isla is very exerting.”

Her tone hurt Baylin, her words too. “You
know that is not what I want.”

“What either of us wants matters little in
this Kingdom it would seem,” Luana said as she attempted to rise
out of the bed.

Baylin put a strong arm around her waist,
assisting her. “There is still time. Right now we must focus on
your health and that of our child.” He could feel Luana tense as he
lowered her into an ornate old wooden carved chair by the glowing
hearth. He knelt down before her, placing a hand on her own small
hands that lay in her lap. “Luana, I love you and you alone.”