Warrior (76 page)

his eyes burn and his throat grow

tight. It was a reaction he had not felt

in years, this need to cry. He’d

watched friends die on the battlefield

and had been saddened but not to the

point of tears. Like Vulcan, Varian

had been taught by his father that the

Mor’an did not cry. Crying was for

the weak, and Frederick would rather

kill his own son than have him be

raised a weakling.

Lydia’s eyes closed but she blinked

them open rapidly. Tears swam in

their blue depths. Her breath came in

labored gasps, and blood bubbled at

her lips. “Did it—for—you. All—for

—you.”

“
What?
What did you do for me?”

He dreaded the answer. His emotions

were coming to the front, and he

could not think clearly. All he could

see was his mother, bloodied and

gasping for breath, in his arms.

“Loved...you.” She expelled breath

with that last word and her lids fell.

“Mother!” He shook her hard.

“Mother.” He shook her once more.

Suddenly, there was shuffling and

bustling

all

around

him.

The

apothecary had arrived. The man

placed his hands across her lips,

opening her mouth with a wooden

device, and shaking his head. Next, he

tried to open her eyelids.

Varian sat there, knowing his

mother was no more. He felt an icy

coldness seep into his body, starting at

his feet, and climbing upwards until it

enclosed his heart in a tight cage.

***

Anhur arrived with a cup filled with

liquid. Jaisyn had slipped out of

consciousness and Vulcan held her up

as Anhur pried her lips apart and

forced the drink down her throat. She

came awake briefly to cough and twist

her head but the two men were

insistent and most of the brew was

given to her. She immediately fell

back into a restless sleep.

After that, Anhur walked over to

where Varian sat on the floor, his

mother’s newly-expired body still in

his arms. He said a brief prayer for

her soul. He’d seen the anguish in

Varian’s eyes as he looked up, before

the prince banished all emotion and

stood, pulling the weight of his mother

up with him. The apothecary moved

away from Varian, who lifted her and

draped her limp body over his arms.

They all watched as Varian looked

down into his mother’s pale face and

left the chambers. No one followed

him. The Seer walked back over to

Jaisyn and touched his hands to her

forehead.

“Will she live?” Vulcan asked

immediately, staring at Jaisyn’s drawn

face. Her lids were flickering rapidly,

although she was asleep.

Anhur did not take his gaze from

Jaisyn. He replied softly. “That I do

not know, Majesty.”

Angry grey eyes immediately pinned

Anhur. “How can you not know,

Seer?”

The Seer’s eyes did not move from

Jaisyn, and he did not flinch at the

anger he heard in Vulcan’s voice.

“I only see what the Gods allow,

Majesty.” He finally looked away

from Jaisyn and stared at Vulcan. “At

the moment, both the child and your

wife live. She has ingested some of the

poison—”

“
Poison?
” His voice was both

surprised and violent. He stared down

at his wife before turning back to

Anhur. “
She has been poisoned
?”

Anhur’s gaze travelled the room and

Vulcan’s did the same, only then

noticing that the apothecary, a few

servants and his warriors were still

there.

After dismissing everyone but Anhur

from the room, Vulcan asked for an

explanation. He would not get one

from his wife at the moment, and he

certainly wouldn’t get it from his

stepmother.

A soft sigh escaped the lips of Seer

and he placed a hand on Vulcan’s

shoulder. “I will tell you all that you

should know.”

Vulcan listened in surprise, anger,

and horror as Anhur told him the story

he’d kept from him for long years. He

could never have imagined Lydia

could be so cruel.

“Lydia killed my mother,” Vulcan

stated, shaking his head at the

thought, and feeling a fresh boost of

anger for the deceased woman. “And

tried to kill my wife and unborn

child.”

Anhur nodded. “She made attempts

on your life too, Majesty.”

Vulcan shook his head, not in the

least surprised by that. If Lydia could

kill one queen, and attempt to kill

another, why wouldn’t she make an

attempt on him?

“Why was this kept from me? From

my

father?”

he

demanded,

remembering times when he would

observe Frederick glaring at Lydia.

“I did not know at first that Lydia

killed your mother. I was up in the

mountains, praying to the Gods for the

soul of Eleanor when the vision took

me. I left immediately, and headed

back to the castle in search of your

father but he had ridden to the

Dakars. I waited for him, but when he

returned, he came with a wife, the

one who had murdered his first. He

was under a witch’s spell, held captive

by his own emotions, and when it was

finally broken, Lydia had already

conceived. I could not tell him then,

else I would have changed the fate of

your brother. If Frederick had been

told, he would have killed Lydia

immediately. Varian would not have

been given the chance to enter this

world and everything would have

changed. So instead, I warned him to

guard you well.”

Disbelief settled over Vulcan’s

features and he ran his hand through

his hair.

“I know that you believed your

father a cold-hearted—”

“Bastard of the highest degree,”

Vulcan spat.

Anhur continued on as if Vulcan

had not spoken. “—
person
, but he did

love you in his own way. He protected

you from Lydia, although he did not

know it, and taught you to defend

yourself. Your mother gave you the

gift of life but your father made sure

that you lived to see it to this point.”

He disliked the question he would

have to ask next but there was no

avoiding it. He had a wife and an

unborn child to worry about now.

“And Varian? Did he know?”

Vulcan did not know how he would

respond if he found out that his

brother and his stepmother were

allies. Could he kill his brother?

Would he be forced to kill Varian?

Anhur shook his head vehemently.

“He did not know. In fact, many of

the assassination attempts on your life

were thwarted by him.”

Vulcan nodded, let out a sigh of

relief, and stood, pacing around the

room. He cared for his brother, and

could not imagine the pain that Varian

was feeling right now. “Will you tell

him what you’ve told me?”

The

older

man

shrugged

his

shoulders. “If he wishes to know,

Majesty.”

Nodding, Vulcan dismissed him and

thought about his brother. Varian had

been quiet on the trip back to Morden.

Had he suspected something then? If

so, was it better to tell him or to save

him the heartache?

Sighing, he went back over to his

wife and took a seat on the bed beside

her.

“She has to live, Anhur.” His voice

was soft as he stared down at the

woman who’d taught him to love. He

felt pain lacerate his heart as he

remembered the last time he’d been

with her. He’d callously used her,

humiliated her, because he’d thought

she had betrayed him. His hand

moved down to the long-fingered hand

that was not bandaged and he lifted it

to his lips. “She must live.”

***

Varian had never carried his mother

before. She was not heavy but he

knew that in a few more hours, that

would change. The warriors who

stood outside of the door, mostly men

who’d ridden with him to Montak,

moved out of his way as he cradled

the lifeless form. He stared down at

her face braced against his the linked

chains of his armor, remembering

numerous times when she’d smiled or

laughed with him. Hers was the first

face he’d seen, the first his eyes

remembered.

He was approaching the staircase

now, intent on bypassing it for the

passageway that would lead to his

mother’s chambers, when he heard

startled gasps. Stopping abruptly, he

looked

down

the

staircase.

A

gathering of ladies stood there, and

among them, he discerned Calista and

Isolde. His eyes caught Isolde’s

immediately and he noticed that her

gaze was travelling from him to

Lydia’s prone body and back. He saw

her eyes widen and looked away,

searching the women gathered for the

face that would give him explanations.

A hand covered her mouth and her

eyes were round and confused. She

was back to staring at Lydia’s body in

his arms.

“Calista.” The single word was a

command she could not ignore. Her

eyes lifted to his and he saw the tears

that were beginning to form there.

His eyes briefly surveyed the other

women. Jaisyn’s ladies. His mother’s

ladies. They were all wide-eyed. He

continued on, not even looking back

to be sure that Calista followed. If she

valued her life, she would obey.

***

As soon as Varian entered his

mother’s chambers, her servants

began weeping. He dismissed both

ladies and walked to the bed, placing

his mother onto it. Arranging her head

against the pillows and straightening

her legs, he looked up to find a

frightened Calista standing before the

open door.

“Close it.”

Moving over to the flower-patterned

water basin, he dipped a piece of cloth

into it before moving back to Lydia.

He said nothing as he smoothed the

wet cloth over her face, removing

traces of blood from her lips and the

sheen of sweat from her forehead and

cheeks. That done, he rinsed the cloth

and used the edge to dry her face.

Now she looked more like the woman

he remembered. Her face was still

pale, but flawless. He stared down at

her for long moments. Finally, he

lifted his eyes to Calista, whose slim

hands covered her face as her

shoulders trembled.

“Tell me everything you know.” His

voice was soft and almost calm.

Calista lowered her hands from her

tear-streaked face and stepped closer

to him, sparing a glance at her

deceased aunt before shaking her

head, and beginning to cry once more.

Varian’s eyes never left hers.

“Everything, Calista. You will leave

nothing out.”

***

After listening to Calista, Varian felt

anger surge alongside the sadness in

his heart.

He had always been content as the

second son, had never begrudged his

brother the throne, but his mother had

schemed to take it from Vulcan.

Calista had not told him that, and he

doubted whether she had even thought

ahead to that point, but after hours of

staring at the now-bandaged corpse of

his mother, he’d put it together. His

cousin had told him that Lydia wished

her to marry Vulcan, and that she had

drugged Bael while Lydia had drugged

Jaisyn, and together they’d made it

appear that Jaisyn and Bael had spent

the night together.

She’d been crying hard through the

tale, but he understood most of it.

When she was finished, he ordered

her to her room and stationed a guard

before her door. He’d left his

mother’s room when her maids had