Last Knight (The Champion Chronicles Book 2) (21 page)

Berrien laughed loudly.  “You and I are much alike!  I too, keep my eyes and ears open.  And I have heard that it was your queen that gave Admiral Hester and his troops the boot.”

“It was her prerogative.  She is the queen.”

“Of course, of course.  But it has made many people in the Taran government angry.”

“That’s too bad.  So why are you telling me this?”

“Let me ask you this.  If a delegation of Taran dignitaries arrived to seek audience with the queen, how do you think it would be received?”

Havid narrowed his eyes and gave Berrien a long look.  “Probably not well.  Rumors are that it was the Tarans who were ultimately behind her kidnapping.”

Berrien smiled.  “Rumors, I assure you.”

“Oh?   And you know this for sure?”

A wide smile sprung up on Berrien’s face.  “Yes, I do.  You see, I am more than just a merchant.”

Havid nodded his head.  “That would explain why you have not set up your spot on the street.  You paid good coin for that spot.”

“Money well spent.”

“I see that, now.  What is that you want, Berrien?”

“An audience with someone who will listen.”

“But not the queen?”

“You said it yourself, dignitaries from Taran would not be well received by her.  If I show up at the castle and announce myself, I would be turned away and likely kicked out of the kingdom.  That would do no one any good.  Not you and especially not me.  If I fail in this, the emperor, whom I serve directly, will be very displeased.  Not just with me, but with you as well.”

Havid shrugged his shoulders.  “The emperor is what, a thousand miles away?  Should I really care what he thinks?”

“The emperor’s arm reaches far.”

“A threat?”

Berrien burst out in laughter.  “Of course not!  Just an observation.  So how about it, you vouch for me and get me an audience in the castle.”

Havid hesitated long enough for Berrien to finally decide that he needed to reveal his information.  Maybe Havid would have agreed regardless, but Berrien could feel the coolness coming from him.

“I will give you something.   Well, not you, but whomever it is that you bring me to.  I will reveal an important fact that I have learned in my few days here.”

Havid straightened up.  “What is that?”

“I know how your wells were poisoned, and I can even tell you who did it.  In fact, I will actually bring him to you.”

Havid remained silent for a few moments as he pondered what had just been revealed to him.  There was slyness to the Taran’s words, even though his facial expression and body language were innocent enough.  He had not gotten to where he was by ignoring his instincts, and they were telling him that something was slightly off.  Despite the best efforts of Queen Elissa, the poisoned wells had caused many problems with his guild members.  It didn’t really matter if blame could be placed, but it would sure make everyone feel better.  Plus, if they knew how they got poisoned, maybe they could clean them up.

“Tell me,” Havid said.  “And I will go straight to the castle and tell them everything.  Then I am sure that they would listen to you.  Then, even the queen would grant you an audience.”

Berrien replied with a firm tone.  “Do not confuse me for a naïve simpleton.  This kind of information is held tightly to the vest and only pulled out when most appropriate.”

“You mean when it suits you best, of course.”

“Of course,” Berrien said.

Against his better judgement, Havid decided that he would have to play along with Berrien.  He would send word through the guild ranks to keep an eye on him, just to make sure that he didn’t have any other sinister plans up his sleeve.  But if he refused, there would likely be other people that the Taran could manipulate to his will.  If he kept at his side, he would at least be able to see the punches when they came.  And hopefully duck out of the way.

“Tomorrow,” Havid said.  “We will meet at the castle gates just after first light.  That is the best time to gain an audience.”

“Until the morning then,” Berrien said.  “It was nice doing business with you.”

Havid gave him his best smile.  They both knew it was fake.

Chapter Sixteen

There was a light rapping on the door.  Queen Elissa glanced over her shoulder and caught the eye of Kimmie, one of her personal attendants who was helping her to get ready for the day.  There was a sparkle in her eye and smirk on her face.  Elissa turned away and let the young woman continue lacing up the back of her dress.

With a last tug to straighten the dress on the queen’s lithe body, Kimmie took a step back.  “Your dress is a bit…casual, Your Majesty.  Are you sure this is the one that you wish to wear?”

              Queen Elissa turned towards the nearby full-length mirror.  It was exactly the dress that she wanted to wear.  It was a simple dress of wool fabric with a very high neckline and sleeves that were long and baggy.  It was certainly not the dress that a young lady would wear trying to impress a favorable suitor.  It was more like what an old lady would wear.  Plus, it was warm and comfortable.

              “Yes, Kimmie.  It is perfect.”

              “Oh, I am sure Prince Toknon will just love it,” Kimmie retorted with a roll of her eyes.

              “I am not trying to impress anyone, especially the prince of Thell,” Elissa said.  “I am conducting the business of the kingdom.  The last thing that I want to do is impress anyone.”

              Kimmie smiled.  “In that dress, you will surely not.  Maybe a plunging neckline would help you get what you wanted.”

              Elissa let out an angry sigh.  “Do not start with me, Kimmie!”  Her tone was too harsh and she regretted it the moment the words left her mouth.

              Kimmie took another step back and bowed her head in shame.

              Elissa stepped forward and pulled her into a hug.  “Oh, I am sorry, Kimmie.  I did not mean to snap at you.  The prince is not someone that I want to get close to.  Remember, he had tried to start a war with us!”

              “He is a handsome man, though.  Tall and strong.  And he is heir to a kingdom.”

              “There is more to life than looks and power,” Elissa replied.  With one last look at herself in the mirror, she turned and nodded towards Kimmie.

The young attendant opened the door to reveal Arpwin standing patiently in the center of the anteroom.  He raised an eyebrow at her appearance and glanced at Kimmie, who could only shrug her shoulders.

              “Your Majesty,” he said with a firm tone.  “We have a full day ahead of us.  And it is already past noon.  I would ask that you consider arising earlier in the morning so that we can get our daily work done.”

              A bit of anger came over Elissa.  Why was the old man chastising her for sleeping in?  Was she not the queen?  Not to mentioned she had been up late at night listening to various lords whine and complain about all sorts of silly things.  She could not even remember one thing that they had discussed.  And now she was supposed to get up early?  Before she was fully rested?

              “Arpwin, do you forget your place?” Elissa asked, trying to avoid the snapping voice that she had just used with Kimmie.

              “I know exactly my place,” Arpwin replied.  “I have been attendant to now four rulers of this kingdom, and I know how things should, and will, work.  I know you are queen, and outside of this chamber I will never raise my voice to you or to question your authority.  But within these walls, if you want this kingdom to run smoothly and not fall apart, you will need to listen to me.  And someday, when you have more than five minutes of experience ruling a kingdom, you will be ready to make all your decisions on your own.  In the meantime, you must let me help you do your job.”

              Queen Elissa stood with her mouth open, ready to offer some retort, but none would come.  Arpwin seemed so comfortable speaking to her this way.  Had he also spoken to her father this way?  She had never seen it.  Arpwin had always been a loyal servant who did the king’s bidding without question.  She could not imagine her father taking such words from anyone and have that person not be banished to the far eastern coast forever.

              “The people of this kingdom need a royal ruler, one they can trust and look up to,” Arpwin continued.  “They need to know that you are going to serve their best interests while you serve your own.  That is, unless you want to rule the kingdom with an iron fist and force your subjects to do your bidding.  But that is not how Karmon rules.  At least not now.  Karmon rules with a peaceful, loving, and firm hand.  That is what your father believed, and that is what you must believe as well.  You have already proven yourself capable of making wise decisions.  But you must be willing to make hard decisions as well.  And that starts with taking your throne seriously and making sure that your duties to your kingdom come first.”

              Queen Elissa was still too stunned to speak.

              “There will be plenty of time for your royal activities and doing things like riding your horse through the forests.  But you must still do the work of your throne.  If you do not, someone will, and before you know it, the kingdom will be ruled by your lords rather than by you.”

              Elissa forced out a weak response, “Okay.”  A tear started to form in the corner of her eye.  The pressure of the throne all of a sudden fell onto her shoulders and she knew she could not handle it.  She wanted to fall onto the floor and curl up into a ball and cry.  She was not meant for this; she was meant to be just a princess, not a queen.  She was meant to enjoy the comforts of life, not to be mired in the horrendous details of running a kingdom.

              “You are but a child in a woman’s body,” Arpwin said.  “I do not expect you to rule this kingdom as if you have been doing it for forty years.  That is why I am here, and there are others that are going to help you.”

              “I am so confused,” Elissa said.  “One minute, I think I am so ready to be queen.  I can think and make some good decisions.  Come up with some great ideas.  And then…and then I think that it is a job that is too big.”

              “You were given the throne not because you deserved it, or even because you were ready for it.  You were given the throne because there were no others.  But you have royal blood flowing through your veins, so do not think that you can’t handle it, because you can. It will be hard and frustrating.  There will be more times like this when you think you won’t be able to do the job.  But you can do this job.  You have shown that already. Lean on your friends, lean on those you care about.  They will help you to get through.”

              Elissa sniffled and rubbed her nose.  She hardly felt queenly at the moment.  But she nodded her head.

              Arpwin smiled.  “Very well.  I understand you have an appointment with Prince Toknon of Thell.  He will be departing tomorrow as he wishes to return to his homeland before the snow falls.”

              “Snow?” Elissa asked.  “So early?  It is not yet winter.”

              “Thell is far to the north and the snow comes much more early there than it does here.  A big snowfall can make a mountain pass impassable.”

              “Oh,” Elissa replied.  She really did have much to learn about the world.  She thought the whole world was just like Karmon.  Fall was long and could be either cold and wet or sometimes sunny and warm.  The first real snow would come when the year changed, even though a dusting might happen before that.  She would not like to live in country where it snowed so early.

              “Also, this afternoon representatives from the Merchant’s Guild will be wishing to meet with you regarding some issues that they have been trying to address.  Do not worry, Lord Martin will be available for that meeting so you do not need to attend.  I know you and he did not see eye to eye with the water situation, but he does understand the business of the kingdom and his counsel should be considered.”

              “Fine,” Elissa replied.

              “And there is one other thing,” Arpwin said.

              “Yes?”

              “It is customary that when a new king, or queen as it may be, takes the throne, the kingdom puts on a lavish party to celebrate the coronation of the new ruler.”

              “That sounds fun,” Elissa said.

              “I was thinking something a bit over the top, something that we have not had in some time.  A masquerade ball.”

              A smile came to Elissa’s face.  The last time that the castle had put on such an event, Elissa’s mother had still been alive.  King Thorndale so grieved for his wife that he could not bear to host another such event.

“That would be perfect,” Elissa said.  It took all her efforts to not jump for joy.  The excitement of being a little girl dressing up and dancing the night away was one of her best memories.  It was also one of her most clear memories of her mother.  She could still picture her in a long, flowing golden dress, holding a mask upon her nose.  This would surely be the grandest party that the kingdom would ever know!

              Arpwin smiled at the excitement on Elissa’s face.  “We will send out invitations at once and begin planning immediately.  But in the meantime, we will need to make sure the kingdom’s business continues.  Prince Toknon is awaiting your arrival out in the garden.”

***

“You are still quite pretty, even in an old maid’s dress,” Toknon said.  His weathered face was as stiff and cold as ever.  Elissa never knew when he was serious or jovial.  His facial expression never seemed to waver.  It was always serious and grim.

              “I guess I’ll take that as a compliment,” she said coldly.

              “It was meant as such,” the prince said.

              Elissa shook her head at his formality.  “Very well, then,” she replied stiffly, trying to match his aloofness.

              They walked through the garden maze, sloshing through the soft, muddy grass.  The rain had stopped overnight, but the ground still held it all in.  With the coolness of the air and the overcast skies, it would take several days for the ground to dry out.  Toknon had a finely woven wool cloak pulled over his shoulders, while Elissa only had her dress.  But since the dress was so thick, it kept her warm without having to wear something over it.

              “Are you sure you are warm enough?” the prince asked for the third time.

              “Yes, this old maid’s dress is warm enough,” Elissa replied trying to keep her face from breaking into a smile.

              “I will be departing for Thell in the morning,” the prince announced.

              “With winter on its way, that would be wise.”

              “Indeed,” the prince replied, glancing at Elissa, impressed with her astute observation.  “The winters in Thell can be harsh, but when the snows fall, the beauty of the winter comes through.  You should come north for our ice festival.”

              He glanced at her, but her gaze was straight ahead, as if she had not heard him.  He continued, “The Jorgan River that flows through our capital city of Thellia freezes over during the winter.  We cut out blocks of ice and haul them up to the castle and they are carved into statues.”

              “Ice statues?” Elissa asked, with a quick glance up at him.

              “Yes, it is quite incredible what some our artisans can do with a hammer and a chisel.  They will spend days carving the more elaborate figures.  Mythical creatures such as gargoyles, dragons, and even ugly goblins!”

              Elissa made a face.

              “Oh, they also carve out swans, and eagles, and other animals.  They end up looking really lifelike.”

              “It sounds interesting,” Elissa said in an uninterested, monotone voice.

              “There is more than just the statues.  There are wagon races on the river, sleigh rides through the woods, feasts of fabulous foods.  Can I count on you to join us?  It would go quite a ways to repairing the relationship between our people.”

              “Repairing?” She snapped out loudly.  She stopped and turned to him.  “Repairing means that it was broken and needs to be fixed.  I don’t think it ever existed!”

              Toknon let out a laugh, finding some humor in her sudden change of mood and tone.  “That is true.  The only relationship our people have had has been one of hate.  Should I say your attendance will go quite a ways to
starting
a relationship between our people?”

              “Well, it has already started.  Your merchants and traders have been filling our markets for weeks.”

              “A friendship of convenience is not a true friendship.  And I was thinking of something more than a friendship amongst our people.  I was thinking of a friendship between you and me.”

              Ellisa shook her head.  “I can accept a peace between our people.  I know it is the best thing for our kingdoms.  We can’t continue on hating each other just because we live on different sides of a mountain range.”

              “Yes,” the prince said.  “Of course not, that is why…”

              Elissa spun back to him and struck him on the chest with the side of a closed fist. “You killed my father!” she screamed.  “I can hate you!”