CHAPTER
7
“HEATH.” ELN’S
REASSURING VOICE DID NOTHING to ease the pain in Heath’s heart as
he advanced into the room. “He’s just—”
Othur jerked up in
bed. “Heath?” To Heath’s astonishment, Othur threw back the
blankets, leapt to his feet, and caught Heath up in his
arms.
“—overacting,” Eln
finished, his tone as dry as always.
“Papa.” Heath hugged
his father hard, and tears filled his eyes as relief flooded
through him. “Papa, you are well?”
“My son, my son.”
Othur grabbed Heath’s shoulders and took a step back. “Let me look
at you!”
“Keep your voices
down,” Eln said sharply. “Or the entire castle will be in here to
look at him. And you.”
“Returned from the
Plains and the better for it.” Othur beamed at Heath, and pulled
him into another hug.
OTHUR WAS A NAME
ATIRA HAD HEARD. SHE KNEW he was Heath’s father and had been Lara’s
thea as she had grown up. He was also the man Lara had named as
warder, to hold the kingdom while Lara had gone to the Plains. He
was a big-chested man and his thin wisps of brown hair were
standing up all over his head.
What struck her was
the joy in their reunion. Othur was in tears as he clasped Heath’s
face in both his hands. Heath was tearful as well. The relationship
seemed stronger, deeper than any she had with her
theas.
“I take it he is not
going to the snows,” Atira asked Eln softly as she watched the two
men.
“He is not.” Eln took
up a taper from a table and started to light candles. “It is good
to see you, Atira of the Bear. How does your leg?”
“Well, Master
Healer,” Atira responded, tearing her gaze from father and son to
look at the tall, thin man.
“And Lara?” Elan
asked.
“She’s good, elder,”
Atira replied. “As big as an ehat.”
“Whatever an ehat
is,” Eln said with a wry smile. “I’ve yet to see one.”
“I’m fine, fine.”
Othur’s voice drew her attention back to the two men. Othur was
reaching for a robe at the foot of the bed and pulling it on. “But
tell me, how did you come here? Did anyone see you? And where are
Lara and Keir?”
“Lara and Keir will
be here on the morrow,” Heath said. “And a few of the Guard know
that I am here, and they are ones I trust.”
“Excellent.” Othur
drew Heath closer to the hearth, away from the door. “You must take
word to Lara. There is so much she doesn’t know—and we don’t have
much time.”
OTHUR’S JOY KNEW NO
BOUNDS. HIS SON HAD RETURNED to Xy—fit and strong by the looks of
him, and no worse the wear for his adventures on the
Plains.
And just in time, to
Othur’s way of thinking. Othur pulled his son closer to the fire
and reached for the poker.
“I’ll do that,
Father.” Heath took the poker and stirred the coals.
Othur sank into the
closest chair with a sigh. Eln ghosted up next to him and dropped a
blanket into his lap. “You need to look the part if anyone
comes.”
The woman with Heath
moved then, throwing back her cloak to take wood from the firebox.
She was blond and strong, with a good figure. And she was armored,
carrying a sword at her belt. This had to be the Plains warrior who
had won his son’s heart. Suddenly, matters of state seemed less
important. Othur cleared his throat to give his son a chance to do
the right thing. He loved his boy, but there were times he could be
a bit thick. “And this would be?”
She looked at him
then, with clear, brown eyes, a sharp gaze. There was intelligence
there. That was good.
“Father, this is
Atira of the Tribe of the Bear.” Heath finished with the fire and
added a log.
“Welcome, Atira,”
Othur said. He wished he could say more, ask more. But there wasn’t
time. “Sit, sit. There is much to tell you.”
Heath pulled Atira
down to sit on the hearth. Eln settled in the chair opposite
Othur.
“Xylara and Keir are
walking into a hornet’s nest.” Othur took a deep breath. “And I
cannot determine if it was planned or just bad
happenstance.”
“What happened,
Father?”
“It hasn’t been easy,
since Xylara and the Warlord left the city. We’ve been walking a
careful path, balancing the ways of the Plains with the ways of
Xy.” Othur spread the blanket over his legs. “Lord Simus and I
worked well together, for the most part. Although he managed to
offend my ladywife fairly quickly.”
Eln snorted. “He only
did that once.”
Heath and Atira
looked puzzled, but Othur shrugged. “That’s a tale for another day.
Suffice it to say that when Lord Simus and you both left for the
Plains, we were at an uneasy peace. The Plains warriors that
remained were careful, and I always tried to take their ways into
consideration.”
“It worked well,” Eln
added. “And Warren’s friendship with Wilsa of the Lark didn’t
hurt.”
Othur chuckled. “They
do ‘communicate’ well. Everything was working fine until word came
that Xylara would return to Xy to bear her child and heir to the
throne.”
Eln nodded. “Tension
began to rise at that point.”
“It rose to a boil
just a few days ago,” Othur said. “I was in the throne room,
holding a Queen’s Justice.” He looked at Atira. “Do you know what
that is?”
“You make decisions
about disputes. As an elder does for the tribes.”
Othur gave her a
smile. “Yes. We were in the middle of a border dispute. One of the
tenant farmers was testifying to me how the border stream had
shifted, when the doors opened with a bang. The City Watch escorted
in a writhing mass of Plains warriors and Xyian nobles, and dumped
them in my lap to deal with.”
“What happened?”
Heath asked.
“It took a while to
sort out, let me tell you.” Othur shook his head. “A bridal party
headed for the Temple of the Sun God was accosted by a group of
Plains warriors. Seems one of the merchant families was marrying
off a daughter to Lord Korvis’s son. The marriage sealed property
and trade agreements, the usual thing,” Othur said, taking a deep
breath, “except the daughter is barely of an age to marry. And
Careth is at least six years older.”
Heath raised his
eyebrows, but of more interest to Othur was Atira’s reaction. Her
face was filled with fury. “A forced bonding?”
“Aye.” Othur ran his
hand over his thinning hair. “Atira, please know that this is our
tradition. The physical aspect of the marriage is delayed.
Usually.”
Heath shook his head.
“There have been stories about Careth, Father. Spoiled.
Arrogant.”
“Aye,” Othur said. “I
know, lad. But even the Crown would not interfere in a private
matter.”
“Regardless of
whether it should or not,” Eln said softly.
“Some of the female
warriors of the Plains were in the street, watching the procession.
The girl threw herself at them, crying for help.” Othur grimaced.
“They knew just enough Xyian to understand, and they
interfered—drew their swords, and dared the wedding party to take
the girl back.” Othur looked at Heath. “Can you imagine Lord
Korvis’s face?”
Heath grinned back.
“Wish I’d seen it.”
“Anna will be here
soon, to spoon broth into you,” Eln reminded Othur.
“Broth again?” Othur
grimaced.
“A loss of weight is
to be expected in a man that has been ill,” Eln
replied.
“Father,” Heath
prompted.
Othur nodded and
hunched forward, keeping his voice down. “The Watch was summoned,
and the Captain saw it for the mess it was. So they were all
brought to the throne room. Crying women bedecked in flowers and
ribbons, the outraged groom and his family, and the defiant
girl-child standing between the Plains warriors who were bristling
with blades. It was a nightmare.”
“Who were the
warriors?” Atira asked.
“Three women, the
chief of which is Elois of the Horse,” Othur said.
“I know her,” Atira
said. “She is a powerful warrior. Strong in arm and
opinion.”
“And a voice that
cuts like a shard of glass. She well and truly made her thoughts
known.”
“What did you do?”
Heath asked.
“I did what any smart
man would do. I clutched my chest, wheezed, and slumped in my
chair.”
Heath started to
laugh weakly.
Othur grinned. “What
else could I do, lad? Lord Korvis would insist that the wedding go
forward. And those Plains women were willing to gut the groom where
he stood to stop it.”
“I’ve permitted no
one to see him except Anna,” Eln said. “Due to the grave nature of
his illness.”
“Anna knows the
truth,” Othur said. “But we haven’t been able to get word
out.”
“Where is the girl
now?” Heath asked.
“Aurora? She is in
the east tower, with the Plains women. They have locked themselves
in one of the chambers there, with food and drink.”
“I’ve checked on
them,” Eln said. “They are fine, and are teaching the girl to use a
dagger.”
Othur rolled his
eyes.
“As well they
should,” Atira said. “A girl who is not yet come into her courses,
married to a man who would force himself on her? Who would
allow—”
“That’s what Lara is
stepping into, Heath,” Othur said. “You need to warn her that they
will press for her decision before she’s been in the castle an
hour. Tell her to have a care, and that delay—a legitimate delay—is
her best weapon.”
“I will, Father,”
Heath said. “But what of the Guard?”
“Guard?” Othur
frowned. “I’ve heard nothing.”
Heath explained what
he’d been told of the placement of the Guard. Othur listened with
growing horror. “Son, this may go deeper than I thought. Embarrass
Lara, force her to make decisions against the way of the
Plains—yes, that I can see. But this? Is this a plan to harm
her?”
“I don’t know,” Heath
said, “but I will find out.”
“Lord Durst has been
vocal about his opposition to the Firelanders,” Eln
said.
“The more I think,
the less I like this,” Othur growled. “With Warren and Wilsa off
fighting bandits, there aren’t that many Plains warriors here. If
Keir no longer has an army . . .”
“The force with him
is loyal but small,” Atira said.
“This does not bode
well,” Othur said. “I think—”
Knuckles rapped on
the wooden door.
“That’s your mother,”
Othur sighed. “Let Eln get the door. Don’t want her dropping the
tray.”
“No escaping this,”
Heath said. He stood and faced the door.
“True enough,” Othur
responded, standing as well. He put his hand on Heath’s shoulder.
“Just remember, son. She does love you very much.”
ATIRA WATCHED,
PUZZLED, AS HEATH STOOD AND faced the door. From the sounds of it,
both Heath and his father were about to face an enemy, yet it was
his mother that was outside the door. One of his
theas.
Yet Atira remembered
all too well that a thea’s disapproval could cut deep. Heath had
not spoken of his mother much, but clearly all was not
well.
She moved to stand
shoulder to shoulder with Heath. He gave her a grateful
glance.
Together they faced
the door as Eln threw back the bolt.