A Stolen Crown (2 page)

Brian looked over to a large tree where three horses were tethered. His young brother Diller stood beneath them, holding an oilskin over his head to keep dry.

“Diller. Bring the torches and the flint,” he called.

Diller smiled and put the oilskin over his saddle. Brian saw that he already had the torches ready to go and brought them right away. Diller had been a big help for such a young lad, but even though he had been befriended by every last one of Kaleb’s men, he had still not spoken a word to anyone, including his own brother. Brian could barely remember what his brother’s voice sounded like. He sometimes worried about him, but when he smiled as widely as he now did, carrying over the oil-soaked torches to the entrance of the cave, Brian knew that Diller was at least happy, after a fashion, even though he would not speak.

Fergus stuck the shovel point into the ground and took one of the torches proffered by the young lad.

“Boys, you ready?” he asked as he struck the flint to the oily torch. It flared to life and he held it inside the entrance. Fergus let Brian and Diller light their own torches before he led them into the hillside.

Inside the tunnel, the light from the torches lit up a large cavern made of stone blocks. Brian could see workbenches and tables covered in years of dust. Though the place had long ago been abandoned, Brian was amazed to see that its previous occupants had left many things intact. Long cloaks hung against one wall and on the other wall, near a strange-looking hearth, cooking implements were neatly stacked and hung near a large service table. This must have been the main hall of the barracks where the Bordermen would have prepared meals, eaten and gathered for their duty assignments.

Back to the right of the entrance, they found a heavy iron door on large hinges. Further inspection revealed a large lock barring entrance to what looked to be the armory. Fergus handed his torch to Brian and pulled out the small axe he had used to cut away the roots on the entrance. He swung it with its blunt side forward and smashed the heavy lock several times before it broke and clattered to the floor. He smiled at Brian and Diller.

“Me father, he was a locksmith,” the fat man joked. Diller laughed and Fergus grinned down at him. "Ye do make some sounds, don't ya lad."

The big man pushed the door open and, inside they found a complete cache of weapons, enough to outfit an entire regiment of Bordermen and more than enough to supply Kaleb’s men. Racks of longbows and crossbows lined one wall while a variety of swords, daggers and axes lined another. Neatly hung were coats of armor and chainmail that, despite being dirty from the years of dust, were still slick with the oil that had been applied to keep away the rust. Brian found a pair of battle axes, much larger than the ones he had grown fond of when he had trained with his friend Aaron and the old man, Tarnath. After wiping the heavy oil from them so they would not slip from his hands, he swung them handily and tested their balance. The steel blades were worked with inlaid patterns so intricate they were hard to look at. A matching pair, Brian could tell that they were of a high quality and decided that he wanted them both so he stuck the handles into his belt and reached for a long bow.

"Ye think ye can handle both them axes at the same time?" Fergus asked him.

"I might have to practice a little," Brian said confidently, though he knew the big man had a point. Even Fergus, at his size, thought the axes were a little large, but Brian insisted they weren't that heavy.

"We'll have to put you on a training regimen, boyo," Fergus told him and then said it was time that they get going.

When they emerged from the hidden outpost, all three of them were laden with weapons enough to share with the others when they returned to camp. Diller had found a shorts word that was to his liking and Brian helped him fix the scabbard to his belt after they had loaded their horses with the rest of their find. Fergus closed the large stone door by pushing on another stone block and then gathered some brush to cover the signs that they had been there. Satisfied with the day’s adventure, they set off for camp to tell Kaleb the good news. If the other outposts were as well equipped as this one, they would not be short on weapons and armor, nor housing for the winter, now that the snows were starting to fall. The only thing they needed now was greater numbers if they were to take back Kaleb’s land from Baron Manfred.

*****

The snow did not stop falling for several weeks and dropped a thick blanket over the mountains that made any real kind of travel impossible. Aaron and the princess started keeping track of the days by scratching lines on the rock walls of their winter home. By the end of the first week, the snow was almost waist high and in places it had drifted to stand taller than Aaron. Several weeks later, the skies cleared and the sun re-emerged, bathing the mountain landscape in a glitter of tiny ice crystals.

Most of their time was spent improving their accommodations or searching for food. Luckily, Aaron discovered a sack of dried fruit in a stray saddlebag that they were able to mix into the horse oats they had been reduced to eating. Ariana was worried that they might get the sailor-sickness if they ran out of fruit but when she explained what sailor-sickness was, Aaron told her that he knew of a tea made from the needles of evergreens that had the same restorative effect. Still, their food supplies were quickly running out and, even with rationing what they had left, it would not last through the winter.

One afternoon, Aaron disappeared for an exceptionally long time and, worried about him, Ariana got tired of waiting and decided to have a look. It was a cold and blustery day and a strong wind that kicked up had whipped the snow into his tracks. Soon she could not tell which tracks were recent and which might have been from the day before. She wandered for a bit, thinking about how hungry she was. Her stomach growled at the thought and she pressed her hand to her belly. She had grown thin. She touched her face and felt her cheekbones, sharp under her skin. She felt the rough texture of the scar on her face and, even though she had not seen her reflection, she wondered how she must look.

She had noticed that Aaron’s shoulders had gotten smaller and his legs, while tight and strong, no longer had the bulky muscle they had before. He was looking gaunt and it could not be doing him any good. Ariana missed her home and she missed the kitchens of Maramyr. It dawned on her just how ridiculous things were. She was the Crown Princess of Maramyr, perhaps the most powerful Kingdom in the western lands, and yet, here she was, starving in a cave in the Kandaran mountains with a strange boy who had saved her life more than once and had a strange magic about him.

The thought of Aaron warmed her for a moment. He was truly wonderful. She smiled, thinking about his earnest charm, so boyish still for one who had known such hardship in the last year, losing his home and everything he had known, and now he had been thrust into her world and her problems. His mind, while still warded by the strange spell that caused him such pain, was slowly opening up to her and now she found she was able to read him easily, almost as though his thoughts were her own. She knew it made him uncomfortable, so she waited until he slept before she delved into his dreams and memories. Ariana hoped he would not mind. She thought he truly remarkable and she was awed with the power she sensed lurking behind the barrier. A gust of wind pushed her hair into her eyes, rousing her from her thoughts and Ariana realized that she had been standing in the snow for some time. It was getting dark and Aaron was nowhere to be found. She was beginning to worry now but the grey sky was growing dark so she turned back to the cave hoping to find that he had returned.

As she rounded the outcropping of rock, she saw the familiar wisp of smoke from he cliff face, telling her that the fire she had left burning was still lit. Soon she would be warm and she hurried her step as she neared the entrance to the cave. It took her numbed senses a moment to notice what was different but within seconds she felt her feet running of their own accord into the entrance of the cave. The most wonderful smell wafted into her nostrils the further in she went. It was something she had not smelled for weeks. Ariana almost caught herself on a rock corner right at the inner entrance to the cave as she rushed in.

Aaron was back and stood over the fire tending the large metal skillet. Large strips of dark meat sizzled on the metal, turning brown. Ariana let out a cry as she dashed toward the fire and Aaron smiled as he looked up. Ariana had not realized how hungry she was until she fell to her knees next to the fire and reached into the pan and snatched a piece of the sizzling meat out with her hands.

“Careful!” Aaron said. She yelped as the heat burned her fingers but she took a piece anyway, blew on it and put it in her mouth.

It had been weeks since Ariana had eaten meat and it tasted wonderful.

“Are you okay?” Aaron asked.

“Yes, I’m fine, where did you get this?” Ariana asked him, still staring at the pan with her mouth watering and the pain of her burned fingers being the only thing holding her back. Aaron gave her a strange look.

“Do you want to know?” he asked.

“Yes, where did you get it?” she repeated, a little suspicious now that she had swallowed the first piece.

“Well…” he said tentatively, dishing some of the meat onto a wooden plate. “It’s a Kandaran delicacy,” he said finally. Ariana picked up another piece, from the plate this time, and ate it, enjoying the rich flavor, the satisfaction of having something real to eat. Then it dawned on her.

“Horse?” she asked, remembering some of the things she had learned about Kandaran cuisine. "This is horse meat?"

“It's safe to eat. It has been frozen in the snow all this time,” Aaron assured her.

Ariana spit out the meat, disgusted.

"I can't eat this!"

"We're almost out of food," Aaron told her. "It's better than starving. Besides, the Kandarans supposedly eat this all the time. It's a traditional dish."

Ariana was skeptical. She had always thought the idea of eating horse was barbaric, no surprise from the Kandarans, but no matter how appalling the idea was, she could not take her eyes off the plate. When Aaron picked up a piece and started eating, it was almost more than she could bear.

"The Kandarans are a barbaric people," Ariana said. "And their traditions leave much to be desired."

Aaron had only read about eating horsemeat. No one he had ever heard of had actually eaten a horse before, though he knew from having read about Kandaran customs that it was served for special dinners. He had heard people around Ashford joke about eating a horse, a popular thing to say when one was really hungry, and he certainly was hungry. His teeth worked the sinewy meat and he found that it did not taste that bad at all.

"Well, it's food," Aaron said. "It might not be fancy, but there's nothing wrong with it."

Ariana took a deep breath. It had to be done. They were both starving.

“You tell no one of this. It would not do for it to be known that the Crown Princess of Maramyr eats horsemeat. And next time, please tell me, or should I say, warn me first what it is we are eating," she told him. She gave him a cross look, then set about cramming more of the delicious meat into her mouth, surprised at how good it tasted. Aaron emptied the rest of the skillet onto the plate and added a few more pieces to cook and then sat down next to her.

They gorged themselves on their equine feast until they both lay back against the large wagon cushion, unable to eat another bite. Aaron gazed contentedly at the stone roof of the cavern and Ariana stared at him. She could see that behind the new beard that he had grown, his face had indeed become gaunt. Now that she was over the shock of it, Ariana wondered why she had not thought of the horses but was glad it had occurred to him. There was no pretention to him at all, and Ariana was not used to that. If Aaron was hungry, he would find food. If something was wrong, he would try to fix it; if she was upset, he would ask what he could do to make her feel better. He had no other motives for the things that he did and, even though they had been alone, and sharing a bed for some time now, Aaron had not made any type of advance toward her. Not that he did not respond to her in certain obvious ways; it was hard not to notice such things in such close proximity, but he had always been a perfect gentleman toward her, more so than many of the so-called nobles she had met as a young woman at court.

While Ariana's mind wandered over her many thoughts, Aaron relaxed and simply enjoyed the feeling of being full, a sensation he had not felt in many weeks. It was not good for them to be as thin as they were, especially in the cold of winter and was a little worried that Ariana might be upset with him over the dinner he had prepared, but he was glad she had gotten over her prudishness and at least eaten something. Aaron was a little surprised when, a few moments later, Ariana threw her arms around him and squeezed him in a great hug.

They had slept in the same blankets for weeks but the Princess had not been so forwardly affectionately toward him, except for when he had been sick, but that was different. Still, Aaron was happy that she was so pleased and he gently put his arm around her and she squeezed him a little tighter. After a moment, she relaxed and looked up at him. Her eyes flickered for a moment from their natural green to the darker smoke of magic and Aaron felt a small pressure in his head. He twitched for a moment as he felt the warm emotion that she sent him. He had been able to feel a few things from her as the days had passed but never this powerful. He reached out with his own mind toward her; it hurt a bit for him to touch his power, but her warmth was overpowering and their thoughts connected as they lay staring into each other’s eyes late into the night.