Last Knight (The Champion Chronicles Book 2) (27 page)

Chapter Twenty

Queen Elissa watched Prince Toknon and his retinue ride away.  They all rode horses, unlike most of the dignitaries that visited the capital city of the kingdom.  Those others had always come in a carriage, spending their long rides in comfort and peace.  They were protected from cold, from rain, and even from the occasional wild beast.  But the prince from the north traveled as the warrior he was.  It was telling of his character, and after spending time with him, she knew it was the only way he would have it.  He was not a pompous prince, living a life of comfort.  He was a soldier first and a politician last.  She had found it so refreshing after being around the lords of her kingdom that were politicians first in all things.

              She stood with a small group of city guard that came with her from the castle.  They were some hundred yards from the main gate of the city, past the outlier buildings, almost to the first field of wheat that was in the process of being harvested.  Along with the city guard, Lord Martin and Arpwin and joined her.

She watched for some time as he took the road north, following the well-worn highway that merchants had forged over so many years.  As she was about to leave, the prince slowed his horse and turned, giving a quick wave.

              She waved back, which surprised herself as much as his turning back to wave at her.  They had spent little time together, but she found herself becoming friends with this former enemy.  It confused her, because some of the feelings that she had felt for Conner, she now felt for Toknon.  And that made no sense to her at all.

              After the quick wave, Prince Toknon resumed his journey north.  While she watched, Elissa thought about Conner.  She missed him, missed their talks and their time together.  But those same talks she had with Toknon as well.  They talked politics of their kingdoms, their childhood, and their lives as royalty.  Toknon and Conner could not have been more different.  She liked them both, but she certainly was able to connect with the prince much better because they had lived somewhat similar lives.  The similarities pretty much stopped at their both being royal children, but that was enough.  He had grown to be a soldier and she had grown up being a spoiled princess, but much of their pampered childhood had been the same.  It was refreshing to be able to talk with somewhat who truly could understand her life.  She didn’t blame Conner for not being that person for he could never really understand what it was like to grow up as royalty. 

              It suddenly occurred to her that she finally understood why the lords of her kingdom kept trying to keep her away from Conner.  He was a nice enough young man, but there was still a great gaping gap between them.  All that her father had said when she had first brought Conner to meet him came crashing down her.  He had been right in so many ways, and she had been such a young and naïve little girl.

              She wanted to cry.  She wanted to just fall down onto the ground and curl up in to a ball.  She knew that she loved Conner, but she now also finally knew why she couldn’t.  She was not only the queen of a kingdom, she was its leader and she needed to act like one.

              She cleared her throat so that the emotions that were deep inside of her would not come out.  Then she turned to Arpwin and said, “The prince has invited me to their ice festival.  You will make arrangements for me to attend this festival.”

              Arpwin raised an eyebrow and collected his thoughts for a moment.  “I had expected that you would decline such an invitation.  It is not an easy journey through the mountain passes at this time of year.”

              “In the spirit of friendship between our kingdoms, I think it is important for me to accept his invitation.”

              “It is a dangerous time for travel.  The wolves of the north will be hungry for food and they have been known to attack stranded travelers.  Are you sure that you want to risk such travel at this time of year?  It would not be impolite to refuse his invitation and visit him in the springtime, when travel is much less a problem.”

              “No,” Elissa said, watching the group of Thellian riders disappear around a bend.  “This is something that I want to do.  This is something that I need to do, and as head of the kingdom it is important to show our new friends to the north that we intend to be committed to our treaty and to stop being enemies.”

              “Not being enemies does not mean that you need to be friends,” Arpwin said.  “Or more.”

              “Prince Toknon is a warrior and doesn’t seem very compassionate at times.  But he is very devoted to his kingdom and I find that…refreshing.”

              “You sent Marik after Conner.  What will you do if they both return?”

              Elissa replied sharply, “And what concern is that of yours?”

              “I hope that I am more than just the person who schedules your day.  I know I do not know much about the politics of running a city, although I think that over the years of serving your father and his father, that I have learned a thing or two.  But when it comes to other matters, like matters of the heart, I would hope that you would listen to those who have been there before, who have lived and loved.”

              “What are you saying?”

              “You must follow and listen to your heart.   You can love more than one man, but you cannot give your heart to more than one.  And whichever heart you choose to break, you can still do it with honor and dignity.  But regardless of how you choose to do it, a heart will be broken.”

              “I must do what is right,” Elissa said.

              “Maybe.  You can think what you are doing is right, but in the end, it may have been wrong.”

              “I don’t understand.”

              Arpwin smiled.  “You have grown into such a wonderful lady, but you are still a young girl at heart. Some things take a lifetime to learn.  Joining the kingdoms of Thell and Karmon had been a dream of your father’s for a long time.  He knew that the kingdoms together would be much stronger than apart.  There are so many good things about each kingdom that would only be that much better if the two were one.  Each kingdom has its own natural resources that the other does not have.  Large herds of buffalo roam the open steppes of Thell, providing an unlimited food supply, but not so much around here.  Karmon has forests full of great trees that can be used for construction, while Thell is nearly barren of trees.  Around here, lands are fertile and are able to grow crops for much longer into the fall.  Individually, both kingdoms are strong in their own ways.  But together, you have a nation that could rival the Taran Empire for resources.”

              “I guess I really never understood,” Elissa said.  “Maybe I knew, but I never really understood.”

              A fatherly smile came to Arpwin’s face.  “It is the nature of kings, queens, and even the lords who rule their villages.  They have good intentions, but they are sometimes not capable of sharing what those intentions are.  And sometimes youth cannot see the wisdom of the elderly.”

              “So you are saying I should marry Prince Toknon and join our kingdoms?”

              Arpwin shook his head.  “I am not advising that, nor am I advising against that.  I think it is important for you to make that decision on your own.  You need to trust those around you, those who are devoted and committed to the kingdom.  But in the end, it will be your decision.”

              “I have a duty to my people, to my kingdom, to do what is best for them.”

              “That is one way to look at it,” Arpwin replied.  “Regardless, it is a life changing decision that you cannot take lightly.”

              “What would you do?” Elissa asked.  “If you were me, what would you choose to do?”

              Arpwin opened his mouth to reply, but then closed it.  He looked down at his feet in thought, trying to pull the words together.  “I have committed my life to serving the king, and now the queen, who rules the kingdom.  For many years I have done this, since I was a young boy.  I have sacrificed much of my life, my dreams, for the service of the kingdom.  Some days I regret it.  But most days, I look at you and see the great young woman that you are, and can only be proud that my service has helped you become the leader that you are.”

              “Then you have no regrets?”

              The fatherly smile grew into a chuckle.  “Oh, I cannot say that.  Most decisions will end up with regrets.  And sacrifices.  Doing what is right is sometimes the toughest decision to make.  Which is why I do not envy you.”

              Arpwin watched Elissa for a few moments, watching the turmoil within her.  Finally, he said, “You want me to tell you what to do, but I cannot do that.  No one can, and no one should.  It is up to you to listen to all those that will give you advice, but you must make that decision on your own.  But I firmly believe the One God has placed us all in the positions that we are in not for ourselves, but for others.  So when it comes to serving ourselves, or serving others, the only right decision might just be to choose to serve others.”

              Elissa pulled her thick, fur-lined cloak tightly around her.  The cold autumn winds were blowing as if it were winter.  She gave a slight nod to the city guard who drew into formation and escorted her back through the city gates.

              She let herself ride a carriage back through the city to the castle.  She usually chose to walk, but she needed the time to think without the distraction of being approached by her people.  She knew it was selfish of her, because she really did enjoy walking and talking with even the most common of her people.  But not today; today she needed to think.

***

Arpwin moved slowly and with pain.  He always did when the cold weather came.  Every joint ached and his muscles just didn’t seem to do what he wanted them to do.  He tried not to show it when he was around others, so when he was alone, he allowed himself to let out little grunts as he moved.  Once a week he would take a bath in near boiling water, and that allowed the pain to go away for some time.  But the pain of old age was not going anywhere, it was just something that he had to get used to.

              Walking down stairs was painful to almost every muscle from his lower back on down, so he avoided it as much as possible.  The wide stairwells that led to the upper levels of the castle didn’t hurt quite as much, but the steep stone stairwell that he now descended was uncomfortable at best.

It had been so long since he had been here, he had almost forgotten how steep and how long the stairwell was.  It had been cut smooth many years ago when the castle was first built.  In fact, the chamber at the end of the stairwell was why the castle had been built in the first place.

He carried a small oil lamp that gave enough light for him to see the stairs ahead and also exposed the sheen of dampness that filled the air.  With that dampness came a green sheen of mold that made the steps slippery and dangerous.  He wore what amounted to leather slippers that had no sole, which made his walk a little better.  If he had worn boots with a hard sole, he likely would have already slipped and fallen to his death.

The stairwell was an amazing feat of engineering.  It was basically a wide hole that was cut into the stone underneath the castle and the stairs had been carved into the wall.  He knew the dampness came because the stairwell descended well below the level of the water of the Gulf of Taran.  But the men who had constructed the stairwell had been experts in their craft and had known that they would need to accommodate the high water table.  Grooves were cut into the stairs that captured the flow of water that leaked through the stone walls and directed that water away from the center of the step.  A near steady stream of that water followed him down into the depths of darkness.

Like always, he started to count his steps as he descended.  But like every time, he lost count around five or six hundred.  He got distracted by the slick and dangerous steps, choosing to concentrate on keeping himself from falling to his death rather than counting the steps.

When he reached the bottom, he let out a long and audible sigh.  It was then that he realized how fast his heart was beating.

Using the small flame from his oil lamp, he circled around the chamber and lit torches.  They were all well used and several of them did not light at all.  He then remembered that he was supposed to bring fresh torches down to replace those that hadn’t lit the last time he was here.  But it had been so long that he had forgotten.

The chamber at the bottom of the stairs had been as expertly constructed as the stairwell.  It was an exact square, twenty-five paces on each wall.  In the center of the room, a small stream flowed from one wall to the other.  The grooves from the stairwell that carried the water that came from the walls continued along the floor and dumped the water into the flowing stream.  The water was refreshingly cold, crisp and clear.  Arpwin took the opportunity to satisfy his thirst.

It had been explained to him so many years ago that the stream was simply one of many veins of water that flowed under the city.  It was from those veins that the city’s wells drew their water.  It was hard for him to imagine rivers flowing under the city, and he had not believed it until he had seen it with his own eyes. This particular vein was not very wide, but he couldn’t just step over it, he had to jump a little to cross it.