57. Chapter 57
Chapter 57
The rambling house sat in southern Nis-Illous, just past the outskirts of Zebitun village. Its walls were more colorful than the typical limestone, decorated as they had been over the years with ceramic mosaics. Scattered pots dotted the messy garden. Some held plants while others were empty, or stacked, or half-broken but not discarded.
I sat in front of the house, on the slope down to the water. A gangly russet hound loped over to me, received a scratch behind his ears, and trotted back to the house with his nose on the ground. I sighed contentedly as I scanned the horizon. Then I smiled.
“Meda,” my brother Dareios called from the yard. “Any sign?”
“His ship’s in view,” I called back over my shoulder. “An hour, maybe two.”
“I’ll tell momma.”
Even after half a week at home, being inside the Protectorate made me feel strangled with cold. The Ward was down, but there was no heat source nearby. The fae seeds Kalcedon had given me to plant on Nis-Illous would take weeks to germinate.
Two hours later I stood and stretched, watching as a narrow Cachian ship came up to my family’s squat dock.
“Oraik’s here,” I announced quietly. “Stop avoiding your duties, Lord .”
“Tell the overgrown idiot I say hello,” Kalcedon’s spelled voice muttered in my ear. “Horns. Put that down, will you ?” his voice pitched, directed towards somebody else. “…Nobody around here will follow instructions the way I mean them. This would be much easier if you were here,” he told me.
“Something to look forward to,” I said. Kalcedon chuckled. Then the space beside my ear fell silent.
A distant figure tied the boat beside our fish-craft. Then Oraik disembarked and looked up at me with his hands shielding his eyes. I waved. He waved back and grinned.
“Nice of the Cachians to give you a ride,” I called to him as I made my way down the hill.
Colynes had fallen during our time across the Ward. The old King was dead. When we came back over, one of the Nameless had found Oraik and told him the chancellor wanted to speak.
“Why, to trade him away?” I’d snapped.
The Nameless had tilted her head slightly to look in my direction, then calmly replied, “because he is rightful king of two lands. There are treaties to renew.”
Oraik had headed alone to Rovileis while I went to the tower, then to my family’s home. Now the royal man clambered up the hill towards me, hands on his knees.
“They wouldn’t let me stop anywhere along the way,” he called back to me. “It was horrible. ” The man who’d tied the ship to the dock remained there, but an armored guard followed on Oraik’s heel, wearing the shroud of the Nameless.
“I don’t know how to bow to a King,” I told him as we finally met. He crushed me in a hug, then stepped back, his hands light on my arms. His eyes were lined with thick kohl and a glimmer of gold.
“Good. I’m not a King. I abdicated.”
My eyes widened.
“You what? Are you sure?”
“Of course I’m sure. It’s not the sort of moment one forgets.”
“God’s peace. No, I mean, are you sure that was smart? You’d be good at it. Everybody likes you.”
“Oh, is that all it takes? Colynes isn’t my home, and I never want it to be,” Oraik said with a shrug. “And why would I want to sit in one place forever, anyways?”
“But…” I shook my head. It was too much to take in. The Nameless guard had stopped a pace behind Oraik and stood there with hands folded.
“I turned it all over to the Cachians so they could figure out what to do with it. Well, except Doregall. She’s her own country again,” Oraik said. “I’m headed there, after this.”
“So you’re King there , or…?” I asked, tucking back my hair as the wind ruffled it. Oraik shook his head.
“Of a country I’ve never even seen yet, one my father did unspeakable things to?” He made a face. “I don’t believe anybody with Colynes blood should ever rule her. But the Chancellor thought, given my mother’s line, that building a new government would go better if I gave my support. Lest anyone try to build an army ‘in my name.’”
“I see,” I told him. “What a week for you. From prince to king to… whatever you are.”
“Just a stunningly handsome, wealthy individual,” he said with a wink. “But come on. I didn’t come here to muse over the future. What a pretty little house! So this is Nis, is it?” Oraik turned and grinned at his companion. “ This is Damianos, by the way. The Chancellor lent him to me. Can you imagine?”
I didn’t think he was supposed to share the name of a Nameless guard, but it was done.
“We haven’t met, have we?” I asked nervously. It was going to be an awkward visit if the man I’d threatened to kill was serving as Oraik’s shadow.
The veiled man shook his head no.
“Good,” I said. “Come on, then. Let me show you the house. My mother will be relieved you're not a king, you know. She was terrified she’d cook the wrong thing.” We started to walk up the hill.
“I can’t wait to meet her. Is it rude to ask, ‘how did you raise such a surly child?’”
“Incredibly rude,” I told him flatly.
“Really? But if I ever have my own, how will I know what to avoid?”
“You’re a menace.”
“I know I am. Now, remind me when you and Tarelay will begin writing the new ward?”
“Eleven days. I’ve been counting them down.”
“Excellent. Please say you’ll come to Doregall with me first, then?”
“Sorry.” I looped my arm in with his as Oraik groaned. “Kalcedon’s waiting for me. I promised him I’d be home for at least a week.”
“When all I get is two days? Your cruelty knows no bounds. And it’ll take how long?”
“A year, give or take, though some of that will be in Sorrow instead of visiting the stones. I’ll visit you after. Better yet, you visit us. ”
“Hmph. Thank the Goddess I have Damianos to keep me company.”
“I’m sure you’ll make lots of new friends during that time,” I told him. “I’m glad you’re getting along with your guard.”
Oraik leaned towards me and cupped a hand to my ear.
“He has the prettiest eyes,” he whispered to me.
“What? You aren’t supposed to know that, are you?” I hissed back.
“Well, he can’t wear the shroud all the time,” Oraik said with a giggle. “I mean, he has to take it off to eat. And sleep. And… kiss.”
“ Oraik ,” Damianos said, the guard’s voice outraged. “Why would you—that’s not—!”
“A Cachian ? You ?” I asked, startled off my guard.
“Well, stop eavesdropping,” Oraik shot to Damianos over his shoulder. “It’s a very bad habit.”
“But I thought…” I continued, baffled at this turn of events. “You’re not—and you hated …”
“I’ll tell you all about it,” he promised.
“Meda!” Dareios yelled from the top of the slope. “Momma says you’re taking forever.”
“I did not!” a woman’s voice answered, high and nervous. “Take all the time you want! By all means, I’d never dream of rushing—” my mother appeared beside my brother, looking harried and waving her arms.
“He’s not a king, ma,” I yelled. “He abdicated.”
“Well, in that case. Hurry up! It’s getting cold!”
“Do you think they’ll like me?” Oraik whispered, tightening his grip on my arm.
“Everyone likes you,” I thought I heard Damianos mutter.
“They’ll like you just fine. Oh, but please don’t tell my parents about anything too near-death, would you? They won’t let me leave if they knew how many times we all almost passed over.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it. But anyways, I almost died a lot more times than you did.”
“That’s the worst competition ever,” I grumbled. Oraik tipped back his head, and laughed.