Chapter Two
Lord Juul walked toward the throne with me on his arm, with the rows of bejeweled nobility whispering and murmuring behind their hands.
The king was still lounging on his throne—there was no more accurate word for it.
One of his legs was slung across the arm, and he was slouched down with his chin on one fist when we walked up.
Tarrak straightened slowly and looked at me with his eyes wide.
“He is pretty,”
he said to Lord Juul.
“Or passably so.
You have a good eye.
Too bad about the hair, though.”
He got out of his chair to walk around me and look me up and down.
He fingered my hair.
“Soft, at least.
He looks stubborn. And he talks too much. Do you think he’ll do as he’s bidden?”
“Not really,”
Juul admitted, giving me a long look.
“You may have to beat him.”
“Is that right?”
King Tarrak finally turned to address me directly.
“Will I need to beat you?”
I didn’t answer, but just stared steadily back at him.
“Well, mortal? You aren’t hard of hearing, are you? It’s not necessary that you speak, actually, but it would be better, I suppose, if you could actually hear the orders I give you.
You certainly talked a great deal before you left earlier.”
“I can hear you just fine, Your Majesty.
But the two of you were discussing me as if I weren’t in the room, so I didn’t think you required my input.
Besides, I didn’t think you could possibly expect an answer to such an insulting question.”
I heard the loud gasps around me, including Juul’s, but the king only gave me a sardonic smile.
I noticed, however, that it didn’t quite touch his eyes.
“Ah me,”
he sighed, “I think you must be what other mortals call ‘spirited.’ Just be careful that you don’t carry that too far, mortal, or things could get bad for you.”
“Your Majesty, with all due respect, I’ve been kidnapped away from my home in the dead of night, frozen half to death, transported to another realm on the back of a stag, threatened with having my family murdered and my own throat cut.
And now I’m expected to marry a man I only first set eyes on less than an hour ago.
I think I passed ‘bad’ a way back.”
Tarrak laughed, a sharp, cold sound, like icicles breaking, and all the court laughed along with him, even Lord Juul.
When he was done, he wiped his eyes and nodded at me.
“You’re right.
And to be honest, things will probably get much worse from here.”
He held out his hand to me.
“Come up here beside me, mortal, and I’ll introduce you to my court.”
I took the hand he offered me and joined him on the dais.
His strong fingers pulled me up beside him, and he gazed out over the assembled Elven nobility.
“I present to you my future King’s Consort…”
He hesitated and turned his head questioningly.
Juul stepped up beside him to whisper in his ear.
“Ah, yes,”
Tarrak said, nodding.
“I present to you, my future Consort—Pavel.”
He said my name oddly, with the emphasis on the last syllable, like Pa-velle.
He took one of the huge diamond rings from his own finger and slipped it on the ring finger of my left hand.
Then he took the crown off his own head and placed it on mine.
Both were heavier than they looked, and I glanced up at him in surprise. His lips were close to mine as he looked down in my eyes. “I declare that we are betrothed.”
There was no fanfare, no applause.
No bells ringing or flowers strewn.
It was remarkable only for its complete lack of pomp and ceremony.
He turned, taking my hand in his, and led me down from the dais. We stood in front of his throne and one by one the Quendi nobles came by us, bowing and curtseying. Or, I should say, they bowed and curtsied to Tarrak. Juul stood by, slightly behind me, in a custodial manner. In case, I suppose, he had to suddenly remove me from the king’s presence. The Lords’ and ladies’ eyes slid over me, some with curiosity and some with dismay, and I wondered again what could possibly be happening to me.
****
Later, there was a huge feast of meats and vegetables, with foods I barely recognized.
They tasted good enough, so I ate them in order to keep up my strength for whatever was coming next, and because it seemed like centuries had passed since I had eaten the charred pieces of baked potato for my supper.
The wine was excellent—though I’d not had much wine before in my life to compare it to.
Anyway, I thought it was good—bright and cold and biting on my tongue. Afterward, the servants brought blood- red cake with white icing. Lord Juul sat on one side of me and the king sat on the other, hemming me in. Both of them stared at me with hot, dissatisfied eyes, and I wondered again why Lord Juul had brought me there to marry the king if it made him so unhappy. I gathered my courage to speak to the glorious royal being, leaning slightly toward him, like any newly betrothed person, or as if anything about this was normal.
“What happens now?”
I asked, just to see if he would tell me or if he’d turn to me with that glacial slowness he’d shown me earlier when he snubbed my efforts to find out his name.
He did neither of those things, actually, and instead looked over at me in as much surprise as if one of the chairs had spoken to him.
I wondered for a moment if he’d forgotten I was even there, but he inclined his head and answered me after a time, impatiently, so I knew he wasn’t used to explaining himself to anyone.
“Now we prepare for the ceremony and wait for our guests to arrive.
Meanwhile, I have a small problem I need to attend to on my western border.”
“A small problem?”
He had already turned to answer a question from a Lord on the other side of him, however, so I redirected my question to Juul.
“What kind of problem?”
He glanced over at me.
“An incursion onto a property belonging to one of his Lords.”
“An incursion?”
He turned his head sharply.
“Yes.
A foray.
An aggression.”
“Oh.
Like a raid?”
“Of course, like a raid.
Did you not understand the term ‘incursion,’ or have you found another way to annoy me by questioning every word out of my mouth? The soldiers of the king’s brother have besieged the castle of one of his Lords.
It’s been reported that Adan has ogres in his army now to fill out his ranks.
We’ll take a small company of soldiers and take care of it, and you’ll stay here until the king’s return.”
I felt a hot blush stain my cheeks.
I had wanted to ask him about the ogres, but I’d be damned if I’d ask him anything else now.
Anyway, I knew a little about ogres.
They were mythical creatures, or so I’d thought.
Extremely tall, as I recalled, and lean for their height.
They looked a good deal like humans, except for their grayish-green skin.
Most of the ones I’d heard about had a crest or a mane of hair that stood on end when they got angry.
It was believed by some that ogres had traces of demonic blood, as evidenced by their long talon-like fingernails and their reportedly gleaming red eyes.
I’d never actually seen one and hoped never to do so. As I said, I hadn’t even thought they were real. Yet King Tarrak was discussing going to this Lord’s castle to kill some of them and engage his half-brother’s men in battle.
“Will the king’s brother be there to lead his men?”
“I have no idea, but I shouldn’t think so.
He prefers the comforts of his castle where he lives with his mother.”
“Is she still alive?”
“Did you think he lived with a corpse? Yes, she’s still alive.
She’s practically mummified by now, but she lives to spite us, I think, out of sheer stubbornness.
This little skirmish won’t take long to put to an end, and when we return, the king’s guests will have arrived so we can get this ceremony over with.”
I don’t think Juul was being deliberately cruel, though he would have, I’m sure, if he’d thought of it.
On the other side of me, the king finished his conversation and leaned in to murmur in my ear.
“Drink that,”
he said, “and I’ll take you to bed.
Please tell me you’re not a virgin.
Virgins can be so tiresome.”
I managed—just barely—not to choke on my wine.
“I am a virgin,”
I said.
“But I won’t allow you to sleep with me before we marry.”
He shot me an amazed and affronted look.
“Who said anything about sleeping?”
“I won’t allow you to fuck me either,”
I said, raising my chin, “if that’s what you mean.
Not until we’re actually married.”
He shoved his glass away impatiently, spilling the blood-red wine on the white tablecloth.
Some of the wine ran toward the edge to drip down and make a tiny puddle on the floor.
Several of the nobles cast a startled glance our way, but no one dared to intervene.
“Allow me! Who do you think you are to speak to me that way!”
“I think I’m your betrothed, or that’s what you told me I was!”
I shouted back at him.
“Why are mortals always so much trouble?”
He glared at me, but though I trembled inside, I held my head even higher and somehow found the nerve to face him down.
When I thought he might not draw a dagger and slit my throat, I tried to explain—or talk my way out of this, which amounted to the same thing.
“It’s about respect, Your Majesty.
I’ve done nothing to deserve any less than that from you, sir.”
He looked genuinely confused.
“What are you talking about? I made a bargain.
Or at least, Lord Juul did so on my behalf.
And I have just presented you as my betrothed. That gives you the right now to have me come to your bed.”
I could see that he didn’t understand my thinking.
He was talking about rights, while I was worried about my virtue.
And there was that word ‘bargain’ again.
But I knew it wasn’t only my bed he would expect to share with me.
He thought he wouldn’t be holding up his end of the deal if he didn’t grant me the favor of his lovemaking.
And it might well be a favor—he was certainly one of the handsomest men I’d ever seen, like all these Quendi Lords.
But I had the feeling that if I let him sleep with me, he’d lose all interest and become bored.
And for this king, I believed boredom was the kiss of death. Perhaps even literally.
“Then let’s make another bargain.
Or amend the original one.
What will you give me for my rights?”
“What?”
“What will you give me for my rights to have you make love to me?”
“Give you? Is not my crown and my hand in marriage enough?”
“No.
I want to modify the bargain.”
He glowered at me.
“The bargaining is over.
Fairly offered and…”
“Fairly accepted.
Yes, yes, I know.
But Lord Juul made a mistake.
That man he gave the money to was not my father, so he had no right to make the bargain in the first place.”
“What?”
Lord Juul said from beside me, an affronted look on his face.
“What do you mean? He said he was your father.
You called him Father.”
Juul was looking at me with true astonishment, and his face actually paled, or at least I thought it did.
It was hard to tell with such porcelain-like skin.
And it was a lie, of course.
I had no other father, unfortunately, that I knew of anyway.
And I couldn’t imagine there had ever been anyone else for my mother.
At least, I knew my mother had never been unfaithful. But it was the best I could come up with on short notice, and I didn’t feel I owed Juul or Tarrak or any of these people the truth anyway.
“He played me false?”
Juul said, a dangerous quality to his voice.
I could see right away I had to be careful or Juul would go back this very night to cut my father’s throat and then what would happen to poor Sergey?
My young brother might even make the mistake of trying to help our father if Juul attacked him and then what? No, I had to protect Sergey at all costs.
“No, not in the way you mean.
My mother told me he wasn’t my true father, but he doesn’t know.
He made a bargain that he thought was true, so surely you can’t fault him for that.”
Tarrak cocked his head in the way I was coming to learn that Elves did so often.
“So your mother was a faithless who…”
“Stop.
You’re speaking of my mother—my dead mother—and if you finish that thought…I’ll…well, I don’t know what I’ll do, but I won’t like it.
And speaking of mothers, from what I’ve heard, yours wouldn’t have won any prizes, either, you know.”
The king stiffened and his eyes grew so stormy I feared he might actually kill me this time.
But then he took a deep breath and turned to call for more wine.
Juul took that opportunity to hiss at me.
“Be careful, mortal.
The king’s patience is growing thin.”
I sat there nervously, but more quietly, until Tarrak turned back around to glare down at me.
“What is this new bargain you wish to make? Do you want more gold coins?”
“Yes, I believe I do.
My ‘father’ can keep the money you gave him, but I should get the same amount at least.
And I want to amend the bargain so that you don’t have to give me my…uh, my rights until after we’re married.
And in return, I can help you with the magical skills I told you about. They could benefit you and your kingdom.”
“Ah yes, your alleged skills with musical ‘pipes.’ You say you want to be my wizard and you can make men ‘dance to your tune,’ is the way I believe you put it.”
“And provide harm to your enemies, and healing to you, don’t forget.
I offer you this new bargain in return for the amendment to our original one.”
He rolled his eyes a little and waved a hand at me as he picked up his glass and held it up to be refilled as the servants rushed over, almost tripping over their own feet to get to him.
“Very well, I accept your offer,”
he said, “and it’s done.
I’d like to see a demonstration of these skills of yours.
Lord Juul, please get him ready to travel with us in the morning.”
Juul looked astonished.
He gave me a heated look but then inclined his head.
“Yes, sire.”
“T-travel with you?”
I asked, even more shocked than Juul appeared to be.
“I thought you said I’d stay here until you returned?”
He took a long draught of wine and turned to smile at me with lips reddened by the wine.
“Ah, but that was before I remembered.”
“Before you remembered what?”
“That you were such a great and powerful wizard,”
he said, and he toasted me with his wineglass.
“I may have need of your services after all.”