The Arranged Marriage (36 page)

“You are not to wear the guilt of him
do you hear me?” She practically ordered before twisting around to
him. She placed her hand upon his cheek. “You did what needed to be
done and avenged my father. Something I should have
done.”

He couldn’t help but laugh then, and
even more so at the confused expression that appeared on her face
from it.

“My sweet, sweet wife. A warrior to
the very end.”

“What’s that supposed to
mean?”

“Your honour, your heart, your
bravery. You know all of that is very scary to a man like me don’t
you?”

She studied him carefully.

“I’m not sure that I do.”

“Every part of you is strong, even
your stubbornness. You are never afraid to feel, to love, to fight.
I was always terrified. Scared of my emotions because I thought
they would make me weak, when I was wrong, so very
wrong.”

“You are not weak Ison, and you have
very strong emotions when you want them, trust me.” She smiled back
at him but he was serious as he dropped his hands to rub her
shoulders, she turned back around to let him massage her and
relaxed.

“I thought being a leader of an army
was the same as being a king,” He continued. “That being who I was,
feeling who I was, would cloud my vision. But I was wrong in that.
Being a king is so much more. You have to understand everything,
everyone, and know that when you think you think for your people,
and not just winning. I know now that loving you, seeing how you
rule your people as one of them, seeing you fight with everything
you have and not just your strength. I now know how to start being
a king.”

“Oh Ison,” She said proudly as a tear
dropped down on to a cheek. “You always had the heart of a king,
always. You just had to realise it, and you would have done that
without me.”
“You’re beautiful Rohesia,” He interrupted before she could praise
him anymore. “And when the horrid memory of you standing before the
baron stops eating at me so much, I will be able to tell you how
proud I was of you standing there challenging him with your words.
Your stance, even with child, was that of a warrior, and that fool
couldn’t even see how much danger he was in from you.”

“Danger? Ison I tried to harm him and
my belly got in the way. I was scared for lashing out at him
because I thought he might retaliate and hurt the babe. I couldn’t
even let my anger take me over as not to cause harm. I have never
felt so weak in my life.”

“Yet still you stood against him. You
never backed down, and you never would have done. Eventually, he
would have seen that.”

“And ended me?”

“He needed you. He needed your
people’s faith in you. You were a vital part to every one of his
plans you ironically foiled.”

“You give me my strength.”

He kissed her then, knowing her
modesty would never let her fully understand her own power, and
maybe that was the difference. Maybe that is what made her so
strong. She would think for others, but also for herself, she would
love him, but also herself, and she would fight for all, but also
for herself. She was his balance, and his world would never be the
same without her.

“And you give me mine.” He whispered,
before lowering her down beneath the covers and kissing her
senseless.

* * *

“How many were killed?” Rohesia asked,
scared to know the answer.

“Only fifty seven my lady.”

Rohesia turned on Josa so fast that he
soon realised his mistake. He looked pitifully at Ison for help and
took a subtle step back from her. Ison felt sorry enough for him to
intervene.

“Rohesia,” Ison commented from the
desk he was leaning against in the master study.

“Josa is a man of war, he meant no
offence.”

She looked at Ison, then back at Josa,
before shaking her head and reseating herself behind the
desk.

“I know. I know that, I’m sorry. But
fifty seven men, fifty seven people are dead.” She finally felt
brave enough to look at the list of the deceased laid out in front
of her. Only a few names had been identified so far, and it hurt
her that she knew three names on the list already, guards who had
only know the peace of Ecripian.

She would speak with Gilden to see if
he could recognise anyone from the Quart, then she would see if any
of those they held in custody could recognise the others. She would
have names for each and every one who the baron had manipulated
into a hopeless battle, and each one would be put to rest properly.
That was the least she could do.

Ison watched her as she pondered over
the parchment, pretty much knowing what she was thinking. He
silently ushered Josa out of the room.

“Why are you taking all of this on
your shoulders Rohesia?” He asked gently.

“I must speak to Gilden, he can
recognise some of the dead, and so can the men in custody. We need
to get names for the burial so we can notify any families here and
afar.” She spoke as if to herself and it broke Ison’s heart. “I
just don’t know how to judge those in custody Ison, I don’t know
what to do,” She stood up from the chair to pace. “They came at us,
with intent to harm our people, yet some of them, those from the
Quart are our people. Even those I saw who were strangers to us,
some of them looked, uncertain, as if the baron’s impressions were
wrong. It was if they sensed they had been manipulated but had no
other way but to press forth on the side they had chosen. But then
there were those I noticed who wanted it, they wanted the fear and
the blood. They got off on it. How can I judge those the same as
the others and feel good about any general decision that I make.”
She threw her hands up in frustration and Ison took the opportunity
to take a hold of them.

“Rohesia,” Her eyes focused on him.
“Will you please do me one thing?”

She could only nod as the emotions
threatened to consume her.

“Trust me,” He whispered as she
finally let a tear fall. “Trust me to handle this.”

“I do trust you Ison,” And she meant
it. “But you shouldn’t be burdened with this alone.”

“And you should?” He gently touched
her cheek. “Sweetheart, you are amazing. To have such compassion,
and not see things as black and white as I do. “He kissed her brow
before continuing. “You feel and judge fairly, and at the same time
you show everyone that they will be looked after. You are loyal and
true but that comes at a price Rohesia.”

“What?” She looked at him confused. He
laid a hand on her heart.

“It hurts you,” He gently rubbed where
his hand lay. “Let me balance us. Let me judge. Trust me to deal
with them fairly.”

She sobbed quietly as she
spoke.

“I trust you Ison, but I will not back
down and be a coward by running from this.”

“Yet you would let me be
one?”

She loosened her hand to wipe her
tears and shook her head.

“Of course not.”

“But I am king, and you know I would
never cast you aside, we are equal, but I need to do this. I need
to make amends.”

“For what?”

“For not protecting you or this
kingdom as I should have. For not seeing what you did.”

Rohesia understood it all then. She
knew that Ison would take the blame on to his shoulders and aim it
toward himself. But even though the warrior in him was unsatisfied,
the king in him was hurting too.

“Very well.” She laid her hands on his
cheek and smiled through her tears. “But you have nothing to prove
to me Ison. You are going to make a wonderful king.” She kissed his
cheek. “Because deep down, you always have been.”

Ison had been busy over the past few
days. He had Josa ride out to Dondayas with his father, who was
only just leaving them, to hire more men to bring back as a
priority. He would put the protection of these lands off no longer
as the tales of the baron’s audacity would soon reach the Foreign
Lands, giving other fools more ideas.

He had devised one of his infamous
strategies for training the men once Josa returned, one that would
include Ecripian guards and hired men from the Quart. No longer was
the Quart to be seen as separate lands, and they could damn well
contribute if the lands were to be protected. Training would also
include those he had interviewed from the Foreign Lands who had
wanted genuine refuge for their families.

Ison had seen to it personally that
every one of the hundreds who had not escaped when the Mookai had
arrived, were interviewed before their fate was either decided by
him or one of his men. The rest were to be shipped off to one of
Ison’s strictest Generals to be put to war in the Foreign Lands, or
killed should they ever flee and try to return. He would keep that
part from Rohesia, and he had made sure that the one who had been
identified as attacking her, the man who she had knocked
unconscious, was to be one of those being shipped off. Even if it
had been just to see the smug look disappear from his face when he
had found out his fate.

Ison was sat now making a list of the
names he had managed to gather for Rohesia’s cause; one that had
quickly become his own once he had questioned those who had been
hoodwinked by the baron. The grand burial would be in three day’s
time and they were only missing a few names from the list. He hoped
to get them through Gilden who would be travelling here on the
morrow.

He was exhausted right through to his
very bones but he had never felt so right. It was because of
Rohesia he was able to do this, and that he was able to at last
think as a king and not just a warrior.

He pushed himself back from the desk
and thought back to how empty his life had been until he had met
her. Before now some people had seen his queen as spoilt and
unruly, but she was anything but – well, maybe a little unruly, but
she always seemed to be able to look further ahead than others. She
was everything to him, so special, and to think that he once looked
down his nose at her and at being king. He had once thought it
would be easy to run a kingdom, easier than what he had been used
to, but he had been so wrong. A king needed to be strong, but not
only with physical strength. He needed to be able to feel emotion,
but to manage it, not control it. A king needed to see through the
grey and not make selfish decisions or those just for ease, but to
make decisions for the kingdom, for their future. He now understood
that he needed to trust his instincts as a warrior, but to also
learn and trust those of others. And most of all, he now understood
that a true king must learn how to love. He smiled to himself as he
realised that the young boy in him may have finally become a man
and had survived, but now the man had become a king and been taught
how to live.

Chapter
Nineteen

The burial had been a large affair,
and Ison was aware that Rohesia was exhausting herself by passing
through each of the mourners. She had also been spending additional
time with Gilden for all to see a bond in the making. They had made
it a legal requirement for everyone from the Quart to attend, and
with Ison’s backing the Mookai were also in attendance with Fabian.
He had read the speech she had prepared and found it pleasing, if
slightly delicate. If he were to be the one to do it, there would
definitely have been an underlying warning to anyone who would
think on the rebels’ path again, but he knew she needed to do this.
The warning could come later.

It was almost time for the closing as
he joined her on the mounted platform that had been erected for the
day near the burial site. He took a seat next to his father and his
father’s wife Morell on the platform, as Rohesia took her place.
She cleared her throat ready to begin when Ison saw her look in the
direction of a woman dressed in black with a protruding bump. Yena
had returned.

He readied himself to stop Rohesia
rushing off in attack, but she stayed where she was and settled the
crowd. He hesitantly leaned back into his seat.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” She addressed
them. “I thank you for coming this day, whether you intended to or
not,” Ison picked up on her tone and knew from memory that her
speech hadn’t started like this. He leant forward again as she
continued. “We have had some harsh lessons to learn of late, and
the biggest one of all is that the past will always impact on the
future. I know the history of this Isle, I was raised on it, and
each person played a part whether right or wrong. Each person made
a decision out of ignorance, greed, fear or honour. But what we
have to remember is those decisions were made by the individual,
through pressure or not, but either way they always, always had a
choice,” Fabian felt unsettled as he sat in the crowd with the
Mookai, hearing his own words regarding choice come out of her
mouth. “Every one of us made a choice,” She looked towards the
Mookai. “Whether to side with the blind-sighted,” She looked at
Gilden who nodded in approval. “Whether to be ignorant to things
they don’t understand,” She looked to her own people of Ecripian,
the anger building in her at the sight of Yena’s presence. And
finally, she looked at Yena directly. “Or whether to kill without
honour or remorse,” She stared at her for a while to let the words
sink in. “It was still a choice,” She finally continued. “And now
we have another choice to make. We have a choice to unite as one,
to fight as one, and to live and love as one. We choose that path,
or we choose not to break the cycle of those in our past, until
there is no one left to rebuild the lands,” Ison winced at her
tones, thinking this was what he had wanted to do himself, but
somehow he felt it different coming from her lips. He didn’t want
her hardened by this he realised. He didn’t want her to have to
deal with this. He looked unsettled as she persisted with her
words. “All Ecripians have a choice from this moment forth. To
follow a king and queen who will be loyal to you all, and look out
for not only those of their kingdom, but for our neighbours and our
allies. We will always try to do our best by the lands and our
people.” She then turned to Ison, a look on her face that resembled
an apology, and he raised his brow in question before she turned
back to the crowd. “I announce here today, that to help us support
this cause, that Gilden Embray from the Quart will become the new
advisor to the king.” So that’s what the look had been for, he
thought, and the reason she had been talking to Gilden earlier. He
wasn’t angry, his thoughts continued as the crowd started to hush
from their short outburst from the news. He understood her
reasoning and the rationale to make the decision on the spot, but
he still needed her to understand they were one in this. She was
not a lone ruler of this kingdom. But it could wait. He watched her
wait for silence so she could finish her address. She was far from
finished. “The Quart will be no more than a village of Ecripian,
because you are a part of Ecripian, an equal part, and we work
towards this from today. I am sorry for those of you who have
suffered loss through all of this, but you are not alone. I
suffered a great loss when my father, our old king, was taken away
from me too early, a result of this hatred that has gone on too
long. It is a hatred that is easy fodder for the manipulations of
the greedy,” She felt her heart trip. “I still grieve for him, and
I will always miss him, but I would give thanks to my husband, our
new king, and our friends, for doing what my father couldn’t quite
do once he had lost my mother. We will fight for what is right. We
will not follow the path of our ancestors, but learn from them and
make a new path,” Her voice took on a heavier and louder tone.
“Anyone who does not wish to help us pave a new way should leave
the Isle now or be prepared for the consequences. This is an Isle
of Peace, and it will continue as one. But Ecripian will not stand
idly by because we are peaceful. It will attack and defend against
anything, anyone that tries to hurt it,” She did not move her eyes
from where Yena sat. “And its vengeance will be swift if the need
arises. The past will no longer have a hold on our future even
though it will always be a part of us and that we must respect. But
today is now and tomorrow is in our power,” She paused. The passion
of what she spoke threatening to consume her, but as she took a
breath the crowd erupted into applause. It was a good feeling and a
good sign as the applause came from different areas of the
audience.