The High King: A Tale of Alus (49 page)

With that in mind, the vizier set to waiting for the mistake that would doom the woman. One of Terris's spawn so near the true throne of power made him uneasy. If it came down to it, Krulir would have the woman killed before she could ever rule, but it was not his place to remove her before his king asked.

Unless, of course, the High King no longer served his purpose either. But no, he could not do that now. Krulir was getting too old to care for being king and he had no children of his own to extend his rule. Merrick was as close to a child that the vizier had or even wanted.

Shaking his head, Krulir sought different thoughts. He was hunting a traitor, not trying to become one himself.

"You just wait, my lovely, little queen. When you make your mistake, I will make you pay long and hard. You’ll pray for death, but I will not give it to you, my plaything. You just wait and see."

"What did you speak about with my brother, my queen?"
Alyanna shook her head. Looking out the window at the pleasant morning scenes of a city not thinking of war had caused her to daydream. Turning to look at Serra, she questioned, "I'm sorry? What did you ask, Serra?"
The younger woman sat cross-legged on the bed in her usual lack of clothing. The single piece of silk used to partially conceal her thighs did little to keep one warm, but the weather was still reasonably nice so the stone of the castle was more tolerable than some days. Alyanna wore one of her blue, silk robes, though it was not tied.
"I asked what you talked to Simon about?" the girl asked trying not to sound annoyed. Friends or not, Alyanna was still queen.
"Ah," was the first contemplative answer. The woman touched her lips in both memory as well as an attempt to cover a smile. After a moment, she continued, "He talked of how your brother Gerid wishes to come back with an army to fight Merrick. I guess that he has become quite an amazing warrior since escaping Marshalla.
"Simon said that your brother just became an official admiral for Rhearden as well as personal knight protector of the king himself. I have never heard of such a title being given to a commoner, but I admit that I do not know the exact politics of Taltan. I was about to study them when Merrick and I found ourselves wed." The woman grimaced at her own reminder of the man she had come to loathe. "I don't think that he can truly raise that big of an army let alone ship them here, but I give him blessing for at least wanting to try."
"You think that Merrick can't be beaten?"
"I just doubt that any man will be his downfall aside from Merrick himself. How can I think otherwise? True generals and kings fall before Merrick and his demons. How can anyone seriously hope to bring enough power to bear from across an ocean when Merrick governs the lands?"
Serra's nose crinkled in thought before she said, "I am no warrior or tactician either, but there is a lot of land for Merrick to try and keep under his thumb. Can't a fleet of ships land where he is not and set out from there?"
"Food." "Huh?"
"How will your brother keep supply lines open long enough to keep his armies moving against Merrick should he ever get here? Again I say that Merrick controls the land, not just its people. Your brother can not grow crops and hope to have his men fed while still fighting the armies here.
"Meanwhile the gargoyles and dragons and all the rest of the human soldiers get their food from those already beaten. They just have to fight while the king's people keep him supplied. So now do you understand just what your brother faces?"
Serra frowned. "Then why do you bother resisting him, Alyanna? If he cannot be beaten by anyone other than himself while the gargoyles remain loyal enough to him, then why fight him? Those refugees that killed those wizards and soldiers said that they would not fight their warlord. Kar'esh rules his people. They escaped a dying planet, but they still serve their word of honor.
"Where else can our hope come from? I think that perhaps my brothers can find a way to hurt Merrick. Or at least I still have hope that they can. If anyone could come through what has happened to our family, it would be those two."
Alyanna sat beside the girl and gave her a hug. "I hope that you are right even though I fear it is
impossible."
The door opened and Baitrum called inside, "Is it all right to come in, your majesty?"
"Of course, captain, there is little reason that you should ever be unable to come in."
The door was shut tightly again and Baitrum grinned, "I guess finding you indecent would be almost unheard of seeing as you walk the city naked as you do. Morning, Serra," he added to the pretty blond beside his cousin. Alyanna smiled the same smile she had since meeting Simon, but the captain had a feeling this look was for him. There was nothing going on between him and the girl, but the queen always seemed to think so. Though the sight of the girl's beautiful form still tended to cause his heart to beat a little faster every time he was in her presence.
Swallowing his emotions, Baitrum looked back to his cousin's face. The man hoped that he was not blushing. Alyanna's smile seemed to widen, though, if he measured it, the lieutenant would probably find that it had not. "Oh, I intercepted a message that will go out to the entire city by this evening. Merrick defeated Maris and Sileoth. The message said all the golem wizards are dead and the armies are routed or slain."
Both women looked saddened.
"I'm sorry that it isn't good news, my ladies," the man apologized.
"You cannot help was has already happened," the queen sighed and looked at Serra with a look that told her that all was as she had said.
Serra rose angrily to her feet. "I was right," she declared. "You are giving up! I never thought that you could give up so easily. My brother would never love someone who could give up so easily!"
Shock showed plainly on the queen's face. A pair of gasps hissed in the quiet room at the girl's words. "How could you say such a thing? I have never said anything about your brother, nor have I said that I give up. As my friend, I would have thought you knew me better.
"I love your brother as much as you love say... Baitrum," Alyanna wished she could take back the words immediately. She had no knowledge that they cared for each other aside from a few blushes and lingering looks. All her women received stares of longing from men and Baitrum was handsome enough for women to take an interest in as well. "I'm sorry. I did not mean to say such a thing about the two of you."
The man looked at her horrified and Serra could not even bring her eyes up to meet either one of them in her shame. Alyanna hung her head and collapsed weakly onto the bed beside Serra.
"I am so sorry," she repeated woefully and tears formed in her eyes to run unchecked down her cheeks. It had started as such a nice day, Alyanna thought sadly.
After a long silence, Serra looked up at Baitrum. Her cheeks were almost as crimson as a rose. "I am sorry that you said as much too," she responded though only partially angry at Alyanna, the queen thought; as the girl continued with words that hurt her even more. "I am sorry that you can say such a thing when you know that I could never love a man like Baitrum!"
The captain's jaw firmed in anger easily as great as the girl's. The man was glad that he had never followed his heart if this was the reaction he was going to receive, but Serra was not done.
"How could I ever fall in love with a brave knight? I know how the stories go, Alyanna. The knight saves the princess and runs off with her on his horse to live happily ever after, but the real world says different. In the real world, princes marry princesses while slave girls get used and thrown away. Maybe they find comfort and even love among those similarly enslaved or the poor find the poor, but heaven forbid a rich lord marry a mere peasant. Never should the duchess love a pig farmer. Heaven and man forbid such a love from happening because a rich man will not change his life to suit the poor, the noble does not forsake a title to live on a farm."
Tears had formed in the girl's eyes and she turned to walk toward the window. It was the furthest place in the room from the others. Serra could no longer look at these two that she had called friends. The girl had shamed herself and they had shamed her. No, she clarified for herself, Alyanna had shamed her by voicing what could only be a dream and she had further hurt Baitrum by calling it that.
Alyanna's face sank into her hands so that the tears would not be seen by the others. She never saw the captain walk stone faced towards the window. The queen never saw the man lay his heads gently upon Serra’s sobbing shoulders or lay his head against hers. But she heard his words. Alyanna heard as her cousin's voice, pitched low and filled with kindness, still struggled to break.
"I never even thought that you would care," he said softly into the golden strands of the girl’s long hair. "I could never bridge the gap to see for sure. I was a noble, a soldier and I'm older than you by several years. Why would I believe that such a gentle, delicate, beautiful woman would even want such as me?"
Serra's sigh could be heard as if it was thunder in the stillness of Alyanna's chamber. "Why would the slave girl ever long for the knight on his shining white horse to come save her? The handsome knight, so beautiful in his glistening armor, is only a dream. No man could be so kind and so heroic at the same time, but here you are, noble Baitrum.
"You ask how I could want someone so kind and gentle? How could I not?"
Baitrum turned the young woman to face him. "Alyanna said what we could not. Our fears would have kept us apart a lot longer, if she hadn't said something now. I just wish that you hadn't needed to cry, to be so hurt, for us to know the truth that we sought to hide from one another. For the truth, I thank you cousin, but now that you have unleashed truth, I would ask that you give us a moment's joy to remove the pain."
"Anything, cousin," Alyanna replied eagerly. She wiped at the tears with her robe. Sniffing at her runny nose, the woman was glad for his words that would allow atonement. "What is it that you wish?"
"Just a few moments alone. Perhaps you could find something else to do, both you and the other guardsmen?"
"Of course!" she replied happily and guessed what the two would do with her gone. It would be what she had wanted to do with Simon, Alyanna guessed.
Checking herself in the mirror, the queen touched up her makeup enough to mask her crying and slipped the robe free of her shoulders. The woman would worry about her jewelry later. Wearing less or more had always been up to her. She had not given up as she had told Serra from the very first. Maybe this would be a good time to get a message to the rebellion about the good news from Rhearden.
The queen opened the door and motioned for the guards to follow. The men exchanged glances. It was unusual for the captain to remain behind, though their duty was to the queen so it mattered little. It was also unusual for the queen's favorite maid to remain behind. Grins appeared on the soldier's faces.
It was about time the captain had made his move. He had been mooning over the girl long enough.

"You didn't have to say that," Serra said from where she rested her head against Baitrum's chest. "You don't have to make me feel better. It's a crush. It'll probably go away eventually."

The man leaned down and kissed her hair. She smelled like roses or some flower anyway. He had never been good at knowing the plants let alone their smells. If Serra taught him the name, the man knew that he would never forget it again though. Baitrum hugged her tighter. "Maybe I don't want that feeling to go away? Did you ever think of that?"

Hands raised to push away his embrace. Serra turned to look into his eyes and he felt as if she must be able to see into his soul. His love ran rampant through his chest, now that it was fully unleashed. If Serra turned him away again, Baitrum thought that his heart might truly want to stop.

The girl's big eyes looked up at him and the knight considered their green depths in turn. Like a pair of forests, they called him to them, but the man stood where he was and awaited her words. Baitrum knew that she had a question. The wrinkling of her nose usually gave that much away.

"Are you sure that you can love me? I can't change the fact that I am just Alyanna's maid, you know?"

He laughed. It was a gentle laugh and Serra felt goose bumps rise on her arms and shiver up her back with the sound of his voice. "I could."

"Could what?" she asked suspiciously. "Make you more than Alyanna's maid. And always love you too, of course." He looked thoughtful and she awaited his thoughts, "It took me so long to realize that it wasn't just lust for the beautiful girl that you are. Then when I realized it, I didn't know what to do about it. Love is complicated sometimes, you know?"
Serra shook her head, "I knew that I was in love when you first touched my hand in the hospital. My mouth went dry and I prayed that the gods would let me stay near you longer. I feared that you were that way with all women. You were so handsome, even laid up in bed."
"It only goes to prove the old adage."
"Which one?" she asked. The man watched her brow crinkle up in confusion and nearly laughed. Serra was so beautiful and marvelous in her very movements, Baitrum could hardly think with the pounding of his blood rushing so furiously.
"Love is blind, of course," he replied. "Even when one of us knew that we were in love, we couldn't see that the other was as well."
Serra nodded slowly, "And now that we can see?"
Swallowing, Baitrum could not find the words to speak. He opened his mouth uncertainly.
Laughter met his confusion. Her voice seemed to sparkle and cause the room to brighten even more than from the morning's sun. He let her hands undo the buttons of his shirt and then helped her remove the belt holding his scabbard and sword.
Soon they lay on the bed making love to each other and truly that was what it was. Each caress, each movement spoke to the other of how much they had waited for this moment and even later when they both lay together spent, they continued to share their love.

Alyanna spent the rest of the morning receiving and sending messages. She ordered the household to chores. Her maidens walked with her through the castle and went riding when she left for a picnic.

When lunch was over, the woman found any other thing that she could to keep her away from her chambers. Even so, when Alyanna arrived with less than an hour until the supper bell at her chamber, the queen found the two of them still together in her bed.