Chapter 7 Brynn
Brynn
Someone had intentionally poisoned Ovrek’s concubine. As much as Brynn didn’t want to believe it, the more she considered it, the more likely it seemed.
Simple bad meat or moldy grain wouldn’t have caused that kind of damage to her organs. Nor would it have affected her, but no one else. Intentional poisoning was the only logical explanation.
Worst of all, Brynn had no way of guessing why.
There might be any myriad of reasons to poison a woman close to Ovrek.
Brynn had no idea how many concubines he might have.
It might be a way of getting rid of competition for another desperate woman.
It might be something even more complex.
There were thousands of people here for the Althing.
Any one of them might have a reason to not want Ovrek to have another heir.
Then again, it had been Sifma who had not wanted Brynn to attend Gistrid.
That did seem suspicious and surely Sifma, as mother of Tolvir, would have her reasons.
This was an emergency, but Brynn had to wait until Cenric returned. She didn’t want to send for him and risk drawing the attention of the king—or the culprit.
Not a day here and already she was getting dragged into the intrigues of this place.
Brynn made her way back toward the beach with Esa, Lena, and Guin. Daven and the others might not be back for a time, but at least Brynn would have the chance to clear her thoughts.
People milled in every direction, carrying bundles and barrels and even leading live animals. The Althing was getting underway, and more people were arriving by the hour.
“Lady Brynn!” A woman in rich blue burst through the crowd, flanked by servants and guards. People parted before her like sheep before a shepherd.
Brynn turned and dropped into a bow as soon as she saw who it was. “Lady Tullia.”
Guin went rigid, standing close to Brynn’s side. Esa fell silent at her back. Lena’s head dropped and she seemed to shrink into the background.
“There you are!” Tullia cried, sweeping in to catch Brynn’s hands. “You are a difficult woman to track down. Even after I sent you a spy!” At that last part, Tullia cast a knowing look to Lena.
Lena kept her head down, shoulders hunching.
Brynn wondered once again if Tullia knew Lena was Istovari. “Were you seeking me, lady?”
“It so happens I was.” Tullia came to stand beside Brynn, tucking Brynn’s arm through hers as if they were sisters or close friends. “Where has that husband of yours gotten to?”
“My husband went to meet your father this morning, I am afraid.” Brynn wondered how long he would be gone. “I do not know when he will return.”
“Late, if I were to guess.” Tullia eyed the crowd as if she was looking for someone. “My father has much to show him.”
A pit of dread seemed to open up in Brynn’s belly, but she forced her face to remain friendly. “I am sure.”
Tullia let off a Valdari curse. “So many people here. My father has built the largest fleet ever seen in Valdar.”
“You must be very proud.” Brynn offered a polite smile. “I can tell my husband you wanted to speak with him.”
“It is you I wished to speak with.” Tullia seemed to give up trying to find whoever she was looking for in the crowd. “Have you visited the bazaar yet, Lady Brynn?”
Brynn chose her next words carefully. “No, lady. I sent my men there this morning.”
“You have been working hard, it seems.”
“I dislike being idle.” Brynn had the impulse to clasp her hands together, but she tried to remain relaxed, at least on the outside. These Valdari royalty made her nervous.
Guin plopped back on her haunches, staring at Tullia with interest. She peered up at the Valdari woman and then to Brynn as if asking whether she should growl.
“Would you like me to show you?” Tullia asked. “It is not every day that I meet someone of my own station.”
“Your station?”
Tullia’s eyes sparkled. “The daughter of a king.”
Esa shifted, but remained silent as befitted her age and rank. Lena made no sound at all. She didn’t even move. She reminded Brynn of fawns that laid still in the brambles, motionless even at the approach of hounds.
What would be the correct response? Brynn could refuse and risk offending Tullia.
Again, Brynn had to wonder if Tullia knew Lena was Istovari or if it was coincidence. Was Brynn being threatened?
She wished again she’d accepted Vana’s invitation for today.
Vana made Brynn uneasy, especially because she still hadn’t gotten up the courage to ask Cenric about his past with the gorgeous Valdari woman.
But Brynn had allowed that to influence her decisions when Vana had made good efforts to be friends.
Vana also seemed to be close with Queen Sifma.
This whole situation could have been avoided if Brynn had controlled her feelings.
“That should be alright,” Brynn conceded.
“Excellent!” Tullia clapped her hands together and in that moment Brynn could see the resemblance to Ovrek. “Do you have anything to trade?”
“I sent my men to do the trading for me.”
“You sent men to do your trading?” Tullia’s brows rose in mock consternation. “You must have faith in them indeed.”
Brynn offered a wry smile. “They are sworn to die for me. The least they can do is barter for me.”
Tullia laughed at that, a great belly laugh. “Fair enough.”
“They also speak the language,” Brynn admitted, then added. “Your interpreter had not arrived last night when we made this plan.”
“Yes.” Tullia glanced over her shoulder to Lena. “That one lacks the backbone for bartering, I think. Far too timid.”
If possible, Lena shrank even more into herself.
“Just as well. This way, Lady Brynn.” Tullia tugged Brynn through the crowd, her servants and attendants falling in around her.
Guin padded alongside Brynn’s skirts, tail and ears up as she investigated their surroundings.
Brynn noticed that two of Tullia’s attendants were lanky men made bulky by their weapons. They also appeared to be wearing mail under their cloaks. How odd that Tullia had armed guards when her father did not.
“Do you like them?” Tullia asked, glancing over her shoulder. “I picked them up in Kersus. All the great ladies there have eunuchs as guards. They don’t speak Valdari yet, but we are working on that.”
Brynn’s mother had told her of the Kelethi practice of mutilating boys and young men. Brynn didn’t know where Kersus was, but she assumed somewhere in the southeast.
Making eunuchs had been outlawed for decades, but the Kelethi government was still almost entirely run by the household eunuchs of powerful families.
So, slaves were castrated elsewhere and brought into the empire after.
With their manhood completely severed, not only were eunuchs left with no place in society beyond what their masters offered but they were left unable to urinate without assistance.
Brynn’s mother had told her in a detached, scholarly tone that they carried quills for the purpose.
It had sounded horrific then and seemed equally horrific now, but Brynn tried to mask her thoughts.
“I’ve been wanting to buy another eunuch,” Tullia mused. “One that has his letters and can write for me. I’d like to have a written history of Valdar and my father’s conquests. What do you think?”
“I think you are quite far-thinking, lady.” Brynn chose her words carefully. “Very learned as well.”
Tullia was magnificent in every way. As tall as a man and dressed in lush fabrics, she moved with utter confidence.
She spoke Hyldish effortlessly. Everything about her testified to a quick mind and indomitable personality.
Tullia seemed like a woman who had yet to meet an obstacle she could not overcome through sheer force of will.
It was hard to guess her age, but she must be around thirty, assuming Ovrek had been about thirty when he married Sifma, who was probably younger. Tullia was at the age where she had both the gift of experience and the zeal of youth.
“I speak Valdari, Hyldish, Ramthi, and a little Azric.” Tullia sounded flippant, as if those foreign tongues had come easily to her and were barely worth mentioning. “Writing does challenge me, but I can make myself understood in most ports. For years, I handled trade with the south for my father.”
“You must be very well-traveled.”
“More than most, but less than some.” Tullia smiled almost wistfully. “My husband and I sailed to Kelethi and back a few times. That was exciting.”
“It sounds like it.” Brynn didn’t have to feign her sincerity. “Will I meet your husband?”
Tullia shook her head. “He’s dead.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Thank you. He was an oaf, but an agreeable oaf. I only wish I’d gotten a son from him before he died.” Tullia let off a sigh that sounded regretful, but not particularly grieved.
Then again, Brynn didn’t know this woman at all. Who was she to judge whether Tullia was grieving?
“My father will hand me off to another oaf, and I will try to manage this one better. Meanwhile, my dear brother will keep swyving his way through the house thralls all while pining over the girl who rejected him.”
Brynn had no idea how to respond to that.
Tullia waved her hand in the air. “My brother thinks using his cock makes him a man.” Tullia laughed, shaking her head. She indicated her eunuchs. “I have better men right here and neither one has a cock.”
“I think we have all wished to be men at some point,” Brynn admitted softly. She had—as soon as she had been able to understand why she had been such a disappointment to her father.
“Why should I wish to be a man?” Tullia demanded. “What is wrong with being a woman?”
“I meant no offense.”
Tullia waved her hand as if to say it was nothing. “I used to spar with spears against Cenric and the others around his age. Did he tell you that?”
“No,” Brynn admitted. “But Cenric has not told me much of his training.”