Well of Tears (Empath Book 3) (12 page)

Shiver backhanded Eden. “I am the king now,
and I can do as I please. If I think her sick ways will help me get
that Sha’sekian off the throne then I have no qualms at using her—I
will just be fighting fire with fire. What she won’t do is
contaminate my court with what she can do.”

Eden still didn
’t
think his father was justified, but he didn’t argue the point. He
worked his jaw, feeling across his cheek. It was the same place
that had been hurt on the ship, and Eden was beginning to worry
that something was broken.

“If she can only get stronger by practising,
father, you might not have a choice.”

“I know that! I don’t have to like it. I also
don’t like hearing you tell me what I do and do not do. You’re my
youngest son, you’re barely back in court, and you’ve already shown
once you’re more in league with her than you are me. So far, you’ve
been gallivanting around the kingdoms, doing apparently as you see
fit.”

“Everything I’ve been doing has been for the
good of our people, father. Surely you realise that?”

“Prove it to me, Eden.”

“Pax. The baron, in Farn.”

“He leads the council. What of him?”

“He has a plan, for all of us. He told me and
Quinn before he left.”

“Why would he do that? Perhaps it’s not a
true plan, Eden, and he wants me to hear it?”

Eden frowned at his father. “
Well
…
do you?
”

“Of course,”
Shiver
snapped.
“Even if he’s lying, we need to know what our enemy
thinks.”

“He knows what Sammah is trying to do. He
thinks you’re going to attack Sammah, but that Sammah will get some
support. Pax is going to wait for Everfell to bleed itself out in a
civil war, then Sha’sek will make its move.”

Shiver cocked his head at his son. A small
smile spread over his face, though Eden wasn’t sure if it was
anger, amusement, or both. “Well, it seems Pax has spent the last
few years studying military tactics. That actually makes some
sense.”

“So…are you going to change your mind? Are
you going to attack Everfell?”

“Of course I am, Eden.”

“But then you’ll be doing just what he
wants?”

“Only if I do it in exactly the way he
expects. The longer I wait, the more nervous Sammah’s allies will
become. They think I’m a hothead, Eden, and incapable of either
reason or patience. Well, I’ve waited this long to have my turn at
rule. I’ve seen what Sammah’s been doing, and pretended to be his
ally for long enough. I know what his strengths and weaknesses are,
and I have his biggest strength in my castle and at the beck and
call of my son.”

“You have a plan, then? My work in Farn has
helped you?”

“Okay, Eden, I get it. You believe in our
cause—but I question how she has your heart? Where does that even
come from? You know her kind are queer.”

Eden rolled on his bed, facing away from his
father. This was a question he didn’t want to answer, because he’d
asked himself, and he couldn’t think of one. He knew in his heart
that he loved Quinn, but he couldn’t tell anybody why. She was
beautiful, and she intrigued him, but was that enough? The day that
Quinn had questioned his love for her versus his love Sevenspells
had been what gave him pause. Her reasoning had been sound, and
Eden’s fears enhanced. He wanted to love Quinn more than he loved
Sevenspells, but here he was back in his home, with Quinn in
danger, and he was still confused. He wanted to help Quinn he knew
that he would, but would he put her first if it came to a choice
between her heart and his family?

“
I love her.
”

“
I don
’t doubt
that, but that’s not the question I asked. Here, let’s tackle this
a different way.” Shiver perched himself on Eden’s bed, and Eden
sat up surprised. His father even sounded vaguely kindly. “Think
about my marriage, to your mother. Do you think that I love
her?”

Eden frowned, not wanting to know where this
particular conversation would go. “Of course. That’s clear enough
for anyone to see.”

“Is it? Because I don’t. I mean I love her in
the way that you feel attached to someone over a length of time,
that’s not in question. Do I respect her? Yes, of course I do. Does
she stir me, or set my heart racing, every time I see her? Never.
What do you think other women are for, Eden? The woman you marry is
there to enhance your position. They are there to create or
reinforce a political alliance, and provide you with heirs to
continue your family name. If you want to enjoy yourself, there are
whores, waitresses, and maids. I would guess this is your first
love, yes?” Eden blushed, and Shiver gave him a pitying smile.
“You’ve fallen in love with a pretty face, but she is just a maid.
Worse; she is a Sha’sekian maid. She was never going to be your
wife Eden, and whilst I can see how it’s easy for you to confuse
what you feel for her as love, the basic truth is that
you’
re still young. She
’s the first woman
you think you had an emotional connection with, therefore you’ve
labelled it as love.

“She’s found this out the herself, even, and
you know that to be true. You need to put this lovesick attitude
aside, and start showing your Sevenspells blood. You’re not the
Eden I made a captain of the guard. I want to believe everything
you’ve been doing has been for our good, but the way you keep on
acting toward that girl, I just can’t. She is from the enemy. You
will never, ever, marry her. The sooner you get that through your
head and start making rational decisions again, being the son I can
be proud of, the better for all of us.”

Eden felt sick. Everything his father said
sounded right. In a few sentences, Shiver had pulled to pieces the
inner torment Eden had been feeling and laid it out flat and in
order. The broken points of Eden’s blade had been re-forged, and he
tried to hold that steel in his soul. Quinn had been trying to do
it to him—she been trying to leave. She’d seen this moment coming,
even if she didn’t like it. I was time for Eden to accept it
too.

“I know what I can do for Sevenspells
father.”

“What’s that?”

“You can introduce me to my betrothed.”

* * *

“Rowan told me on the way here that you’d
found someone for me; so who is it? How is it going to help
us?”

“Did he? He shouldn’t have; I told him not
to. Still, your brothers are both being married off, so I suppose
you would have guessed it for yourself eventually. Even River is
getting married, and I’d never thought I’d see that day. I suppose
war forces the hand, though I feel very sorry for his wife.”

Despite himself Eden laughed. “And which poor
unfortunate have you picked out for me?”

“If you get that Sha’sekian girl out of your
mind, she won’t be an unfortunate woman. Lady Isabella is your
betrothed.”

Eden whistled. “That match is too much;
wouldn’t she be a better wife for Rowan?”

“Her father insisted on you, astonishingly. I
did insist that my youngest son was perhaps not the best political
match, but apparently they see a lot in you. It is a high
compliment, Eden, so I need you to take this matter seriously.”

“I will father, I am. I know you need these
alliances.”

“More than that, Eden. I need heirs. If we go
to war, then our line needs to continue. I have three sons. In any
era of peace that would be enough—we are leaving peaceful times.
Between the three of you, we have no children of your own, and that
has to change very quickly. These marriages are being arranged with
haste, and they are not going to be full of pomp and finery. These
are ceremonies of necessity, not of want.

This is why it was important you to realise
the difference between love and diplomacy. You might fall in love
again, but it is not going to affect your marriage. Your wife
doesn’t get a say in who you share your bed sheets with; her duty
is to provide you with sons. That Quinn is a headstrong woman, like
all of her kind, and she’s been turning your head about the way the
world is. Women have no authoritative place in it.”

“Apart from the bed sheets or the
battlefield?”

“Exactly. None of your wives will experience
the latter. You’ll be keeping them too busy in the former.”

Eden smiled, though inside he felt sick. He
had to do this. He had no choice. Eden even tried to tell himself
that he was lucky—the Lady Isabella was beautiful, young, and
sharp-witted. She was well-regarded around court. But no matter
what he told himself, and what he said to his father, an image of
Quinn blazed in his mind. She would never be his wife, but Eden
refused that she would stop being a part of his life. It hadn’t
been false. He loved her.

“Eden
believes that you need to practice in order to use your ability. I
hate that you can do what you do, but I admit that I need you. I
will, therefore, let you try.”

Quinn tried to keep her face straight, though
all she wanted to do was scream at Shiver and tell him that he
sounded like an idiot. She had already told him that she didn’t
know how to manipulate emotion. What was Eden doing, getting
involved? What did he know that she didn’t?

“
I don
’t know where
I’d start, your highness.”

“But you will start, Quinn. You are totally
alone, here. You will not be allowed to see Eden, and I still
haven’t decided what I’m going to do with Ross, though I’m not
inclined towards mercy. If you cannot help me, then you are of no
use to me. You already know my opinion of your people. What do you
think I’m going to do to a Sha’sekian who is of no use to me
Quinn?”

Quinn didn’t give him the satisfaction of
answering that question.

“How am I going to practice?”

“There are plenty of criminals languishing in
Sevenspells and I don’t care much for them. You can experiment on
them. They won’t know who you are or what you’re doing. It will be
like old times for you, although you will be in control. I want you
to get stronger, but I don’t want you to overexert yourself. I need
you to be at your strongest for Sammah, and you can’t do that if
you’re half dead.”

Quinn thought sadly of Maertn. She wished Pax
had never sent her back across the Sighs, or even better, that she
had taken up Eden’s offer of running away with him. He was slipping
away from her now. “You want me to start practising now, don’t
you?”

“You
are
keen, aren’t you? If you
insist.”

Quinn wasn’t keen at all, but if she hadn’t
suggested it, then Shiver would have forced her to anyway. She felt
it was better to keep on his good side, especially if her life
balanced on the fragile hinge of Shiver’s good graces.

“I know where I want you to be. We’ll start
you easy, though. Rowan?” Shiver’s eldest must have been waiting
just outside the door, because he came in straight away. “Please
escort Quinn down to the courtyard. Her first test is waiting for
her there. Quinn?”

Quinn gulped. “Yes, your highness?”

“If I don’t see you improving, and quickly,
then you will be killed.”

* * *

Quinn was expecting the courtyard to be much
like Everfell’s thoroughfare. The area Rowan led her to, however,
was more comparable in Quinn’s mind to a garden. It was actually
quite pleasant, and under a different set of circumstances, Quinn
would even have found herself relaxing. A green patch of grass was
enclosed in a quaint little courtyard. A walkway skirted the
perimeter and it reminded Quinn of the courtyard in Farn, but for
the colonnade. Low well-cut hedges fenced the path, and open soil
beds waited on planting. It seemed like a garden out of the Queen
Eleska’s own picturebooks, and Quinn didn’t doubt that the Queen
had influenced this little nook of Sevenspells’ stern court.

“Sit down over there.” Rowan pointed to the
grass. Quinn trotted silently to where Rowan pointed, and patted
her hand on the ground to see if it was damp. Apparently that was
the wrong thing to do as Rowan bawled at her again to sit down, so
Quinn resolved that she’d have to do her best to ignore having a
damp backside. Rowan disappeared. Quinn glanced around. She wasn’t
alone. Armed men in the green and gold of Sevenspells stood in each
of the corners, and they were all looking her way. Quinn wasn’t
considering running, but the guards were telling her beyond doubt,
that Shiver was taking her captivity seriously. Looking up at the
castle proper, she tried to see if anyone else was looking down on
the courtyard, but she could only make out vague shapes. Part of
her desperately wanted to spot Eden, despite the fact that it would
only accentuate her feelings of isolation.

Rowan wasn’t gone long, before returning with
an anonymous straggler in tow. As they came closer, Quinn saw it
was a boy probably only a few years younger than her. His eyes were
fixated on the floor, and he walked with a stuttering gait, as if
his legs did not work properly. Rowan pointed towards Quinn. After
an obligatory stab of fear, Quinn watched as the boy sat himself
awkwardly opposite her. He did not check to see if the grass was
wet. Up close now, Quinn could see his gaunt face and hollow eye
sockets. The boy looked like he had Never eaten a good meal, and
his eyes darted around in desperation. His tongue darted out,
wetting lips that were yellowing and cracked. What had this boy
done, to deserve this appalling treatment?

“Quinn, meet Jason. Jason is a thief. He has
been caught numerous times operating outside of guild law, not
paying his dues and generally causing our militia mischief. We have
decided that spending some time in our cells might have a positive
impact on his general behaviour, but he returns to the same
lifestyle as soon as he leaves our care.”