An Oath Of Lords And Ladies (ARTK, Book 1)

PART FOUR

"Look at my face, Lord. It's the last thing you'll see before you die."

"If you think this has a happy ending you haven't been paying attention."

"It was necessary."

"I am so, so sorry. You trusted me with your life and I failed you. It won't happen again."

"We will avenge them all- and we will do it together."

Derun 4th, 3328 A.G

  For a long while, Nara and Aalart did nothing but stare at each other. It took a certain amount of bravery to deliver such a message- especially as the younger brother of a commanding lord, and Nara could respect that. Instead of sending a servant who had no political value to them, he'd brought himself.

  They stared at each other moments longer before Nara finally spoke. She meant for her words to come out kindly, yet all she could manage was: "You may go." - with her 'Queen's' voice through gritted teeth.

  The soldier had a hand on his arm then, and was trying to guide him out by force. He yanked his arm away immediately, and Nara could respect that too; as it was something she would have done.

  After they'd gone, she paced for a few moments- thinking. She all but forgot the presence of her husband, Andre, and and Tuyon when it hit her.

  "Somebody get Maude." She said. Renard and Tuyon exchanged glances, only for Andre to beat them to it. Nara was no fool- she'd understood how silently Maude could move from their first encounter; when she'd jumped down in front of her from a higher tree branch without making a sound beforehand.

  Andre brought her in quicker than Nara'd expected- since she'd been standing just outside the strategy tent eavesdropping. When she spoke, she looked only at Maude- though the question was more for Tuyon.

"I will assume we have no map of House Hilith's interior and surrounding streets?" Tuyon mumbled a yes. The next question was for Maude. "You can move quickly and silently?"

  Maude shrugged. "More or less depending on the lands and buildings. I learned how to move silently through trees and over rocks.... But there were no trees leading to the main house that I could see."

Nara frowned. Of course she already would have taken a moment to memorize what she could of her surroundings. She was Maude.

  "As long as I can get onto a street without what direction I came from being noticed- I should be fine." Maude continued. "Buildings are easy enough to weave between- but hells, I look like a girl servant in their boy's dress code. House Hilith has a large enough population that I should be able to slip through the guards."

  Nara thought it over. There were plenty of ways for it to go wrong- all for one item that might help their plans. There was a small chance she could lose her ward- which would cause a war with a kingdom under her rule, and she did not want to deal with that so soon- but Maude was Maude. She'd treated her like an eleven year old girl since she'd become her ward despite knowing how wise she was.... and it could stop now.

  "Very well." Nara nodded. "There has to be a map of the streets and House Hilith's interior in some drawer or book somewhere. I want you to find it and bring it back to us."

  For a moment, time stopped. Tuyon glanced up from the book of war strategies he'd been looking at, trying to find a single, even partially completed map of House Hilith- eyes widened. "You mean to send a child in there alone?"

  He'd been here once before, with Drace Ashhand. Sharean's signs of what made an adult were odd, to say the least. For a boy- it was was whenever they started to grow body hair. For a girl, it was after their first blood- but unlike Kroba, they did not wait until their women's blood was a monthly occurrence to marry them off. Tuyon had seen far too many eleven and twelve year old brides back home, where it was considered normal only if it was a monthly occurrence already- but in Sharean there had been girls as young as nine with husbands five times their age. He'd even met a girl of six who'd apparently bled far earlier than most- whose father married her off to a trade merchant to have one less mouth to feed.

He'd never been so close to losing his composure or puking before, but he'd felt nauseous then.

House Hilith was not a safe place for children, especially not young girls.

"Not a child-" Nara shook her head. "A girl far more intelligent than most her age who is also capable of defending herself."

Maude smiled, but Renard started to protest too. "If anything happens to her we will have a smaller war on our hands-"

"My brother is a reasonable man. My mother tries, but she hasn't influenced him as much as she'd like. He will not start a war if... something goes wrong and you tell them it was my own doing." Maude interrupted.

Nara sighed, stepping closer. "If anything happens to you, I will be honest with your brother and return your things to your family because it is the honorable thing to do. I have faith that nothing will. Go now."

Maude slightly curtsied, then left as she was told. Renard only glared at her and left without a word. Tuyon at least showed some shred of respect.

"May I be dismissed, my queen?" He had to force the words out, so he was grateful when she nodded. Left alone, Andre and Nara exchanged glances. In truth, he felt the same as the others. He was simply intelligent enough to know he had no true authority here-

Not yet, anyways.

He watched as Nara reached for one of the extra crates of jarred beef, sat, and rubbed her forehead with a thumb on her left temple. She seemed not to remember he was there for a few moments, but when she did she raised an eyebrow.

"Where is your wife?"

"Asleep." He replied. "She's grown.... quite tired these past few days. Says it has something to do with the constant travel but... it's never bothered her before."

As he spoke, Nara saw something in his eyes that she realized she'd never seen in her own husband's: love. The most she'd gotten out of Renard was a friendship. For whatever reason, she thought of Terricus then. How many new guards had he trained- how many new recruits each months? Was he still sleeping with the Murenese whore? Did he have to pay her? How was he doing, protecting Lillian's life with his own? Was he-

Before she could let herself go any deeper into thought, Andre's hand was over her own. It was not an amorous touch in the slightest, but still- Nara flinched away.

"You will find someone, your grace." He said. "Who are the common people to tell a queen she can't have a lover?"