Chapter 5
Chapter Five
Caerith Castle
The War Room
King Dravic stood at the table in the war room, one hand resting on the edge of a map. More maps lay unrolled across the long table, weighted at the corners by carved stone markers.
“I have not ridden across this land in several years,” Dravic said, spreading his hand across the map before looking at Adira standing opposite him at the table. “I wonder how much of it has changed, and if my regional lords have kept me informed of such change.”
Adira watched him. His gestures told her he spoke of Scotara. His expression told her he questioned something. The slight narrowing of his eyes told her he did not yet know what to do about it. Whatever it was, it concerned him.
Her eyes followed the king’s to the door and it opened.
Tavish entered.
“They have left without incident,” Dravic asked, it having taken a full day to ready the group before they could take their leave.
“Aye, my king,” Tavish said. “Wynn, Bria, Kaelan. Dar and Elara as you ordered. They ride for Driochmor. Though with substantial snow on the ground, their journey will take longer, as will any word sent back to us.”
“Dar and Kaelan will make sure any important news reaches me posthaste,” Dravic said with quiet certainty.
Tavish nodded and remained standing there, silent.
Dravic glared at him. “What is it? You look troubled. Do you not agree with my decision?”
“Your decision to send all of them was sound,” Tavish replied without hesitation.
“Then speak.”
Tavish hesitated for only a moment. “Rumors are spreading like wildfire through the castle.”
Dravic’s eyes narrowed slightly. “What rumors?”
Tavish cast a quick glance at Adira. “That she is more than your companion.”
Silence dropped into the room like stone.
Adira glanced between the two men. The king looked angry. The other looked uneasy.
“Tell me, Tavish, do you believe this?” Dravic asked.
Tavish shook his head. “Nay, my king.” He paused. “But I believe the castle does.”
Dravic looked at Adira. “She remains under my protection.”
Tavish did not argue that point, but his next words came carefully. “Then she should not be sleeping in your bedchamber.”
Adira understood then. They were speaking about her, and the king was not pleased.
“I will take that under advisement,” Dravic said, keeping tight rein on his anger. “Bring Eunice here to me. NOW!”
The war room went quiet again after Tavish’s departure.
Dravic remained standing at the map table, one hand gripping the edge of the wood trying to contain his anger. Adira stood nearby, as she always did, watching him more than the room. She had learned the patterns of his silence as much as his movement.
He had not spoken since Tavish left.
The air even felt different.
He finally turned slightly toward her. “It will be dealt with.”
Adira did not know what he said but from his controlled manner she believed he had made a decision about something. She had a feeling it concerned her and her stomach churned with worry.
The door opened and the king’s advisor entered again. This time he was not alone.
A woman stepped in behind him and Adira recognized her immediately. She was the woman who had been in the king’s bedchamber the other night.
Adira was not sure what to do, but since she was not permitted to be with the king when the woman was around, she turned to leave.
Dravic’s hand struck the table hard.
Adira froze, a strong vibration running along the floor and up through her. She turned. The king’s eyes were on her and he pointed firmly beside him.
Adira obeyed immediately, hurrying around the table to stand at his side.
Eunice and Tavish remained silent, waiting.
“What rumors do you spread, Eunice?” Dravic demanded, then angrily added, “No lies better leave your tongue, Eunice, or you will lose it.”
Eunice stiffened but spoke bluntly. “I saw clearly enough, my king.”
Dravic’s eyes narrowed. “Did you, now?”
“Aye,” she said quickly, more emboldened. “Her—standing there in her shift. And you—half dressed—”
Dravic cut her off. “You mean my shirt was off.”
Eunice lifted her chin slightly. “Aye, it was obvious.”
“What was obvious?” Dravic demanded again.
“Your intentions,” Eunice said, without hesitation.
“You claim to know my intentions?” Dravic pounded the table again.
Eunice wisely lowered her chin. “If you sent me away when it was my night to pleasure you, then it was obvious who you would take pleasure with.”
Dravic stepped forward just enough to make the space between them feel smaller.
“You assumed wrong.”
“Then prove me wrong,” Eunice challenged, raising her head.
“How dare you challenge the king,” Tavish said, stepping forward.
Eunice had the audacity to laugh. “Then I am right, for it has been far too many days since any woman has graced the king’s bed. He should be only more than eager to have me pleasure him. But then, of course, if he already has been pleasured and is in no need—”
“Enough!” Dravic commanded.
The anger in his voice had Eunice wisely lowering her gaze.
“I need to prove nothing to you,” Dravic said, “but you shall suffer for your lies.”
Eunice paled.
Dravic looked to Tavish. “Have her hair sheared from her head and put her in the stocks and make sure everyone knows that her crime is… lying.”
“For how long, my king?” Tavish asked.
“Until I decide otherwise. Afterward, she is to work at the wash house, her chore from that day on.”
“Nay! Nay! Please, my king, do not do this to me. I will admit my lies to all but please, I beg you do not punish me like this.” Eunice fell to her knees, holding her hands out to him in mercy.
Adira felt the woman’s fear. It ran through her so strongly that her legs grew weak. Her heart ached for the woman. She could only imagine what the king had said to her to frighten her so badly that had her on her knees begging.
She did not know what made her do it, the overwhelming heartache or the fear she felt, but she could not just stand there. She stepped around the king and dropped down beside the woman and put her arm around her back.
The woman looked up so shocked that her tears halted. “I am sorry, so very sorry. I meant you no harm. I was jealous. I thought he wanted you more than me.”
Adira did not know why she shook her head, she only knew it was what she needed to do. Then she placed her hand on her chest and then the woman’s chest.
“You forgive me,” Eunice said, understanding.
Adira smiled softly again sensing it was the right response.
“She may forgive, but I don’t,” Dravic said, and grabbed Adira’s arm and pulled her to her feet.
Adira rested her hand on the king’s arm, narrowed her brow, and shook her head.
Dravic lowered his face to hers. “It does not matter if you do not understand. My word is law.”
Adira pressed her hand to his chest.
Tavish took note of both touches. Touches the king had not granted and had not objected to. It also had not been the first time he had seen Adira touch the king without permission.
“Don’t ask me to forgive her,” the king snapped.
She pressed her hand harder against his chest.
“She lied,” Dravic said as if she’d understand.
Harder still she pressed until she felt the rapid beat of his heart.
Dravic did not know what he felt, but he felt something, strange as it was, and stranger still was what he did.
He turned to Tavish. “She is banished to Venngraith, never to set foot in Caerith again.” He paused for a heartbeat. “After she announces to all that she lied.”
Tavish did not hide his shock.
Eunice, however, scrambled to her feet, bowing her head repeatedly. “Thank you, my king. Thank you so much. I will shout from the rooftops that I lied. I will make sure all hear that I am a fool, a lying fool, and how grateful I am to the king for his leniency.”
“Take her!” Dravic commanded.
Tavish grabbed her arm and marched her to the door.
“Tavish,” Dravic called out, stopping them both. “Shear her hair from her head.”
“Aye, my king,” Tavish said, looking pleased, not so much Eunice.
The door closed as Adira dropped her hand off the king’s chest, but he caught her wrist and held it tight.
He raised his other hand and shook his finger at her. “Never again.”
She felt the rumble of anger roll through him and understood he was not pleased with her.
He pressed his finger against the tip of her nose. “Never again!”
She nodded, understanding from his anger and gestures that he was warning her never to do what she just did again. Then she made a sorrowful face and tapped her chest, hoping he understood she was sorry.
“Sorry does little good. Do not do it again,” he warned, then released her hand and walked to the window, stopping before he reached it to glance back at her.
They had communicated. He was not sure how, but they had made themselves clear to each other and that surprised him, but why did it also please him?
Dravic turned back toward the window.
The snow outside the glass softened the edges of the courtyard below, turning stone and shadow into something quieter than it had any right to be.
Yet his mind was not on the view.
It was on her… Adira.
He realized, with a faint tightening in his chest, how little he actually knew of her beyond what stood in front of him each day.
Where did she come from? What of her parents? Had she ever known siblings? And what had life been like before silence and stillness became her way of meeting the world?
His jaw tightened slightly.
He had never asked, not once.
His gaze stayed fixed on the glass, but his thoughts did not remain there.
Had she been born this way? Or had something taken it from her—sound, voice, the ease of simply existing in conversation?
His hand flexed once against the stone window frame, the thought lingering longer than the others.
Dravic turned from the window. Curiosity had settled where anger had been. Without another word, he moved toward the door and swung it open.
The guards stationed outside straightened immediately.
“Fetch Feena,” he ordered.
One of them bowed and left at once.
Dravic returned inside to wait, eager to speak with her.
Adira stayed where she was, watching him pace and cast glances at the door. It was obvious he had summoned someone, and she wondered who it was.
It did not take long to find out.
The door swung open and Feena entered with the returning guard.
Adira smiled, seeing Feena hurry to brush the silver strands that had loosened from the braided coil at the nape of her neck away from her face. It was a familiar gesture that made Adira realize how much she missed Feena, her time now spent so often with the king.
She moved immediately to go to her, crossing the space quickly, then stopped. She turned to look at the king, having forgotten to seek his permission.
Dravic held her gaze for a moment then gave a single nod.
Adira hurried forward and hugged Feena tightly, the older woman returning the embrace just as heartily.
Her sweet fragrance drifted over Adira, and she relished the scent of mixed herbs so familiar to her.
Her hugs and scent were like returning home to a safe place, to a person who truly cared for her, and she wanted to linger there.
Dravic watched the exchange without comment, seeing the way Adira clung to the woman and did not seem to want to let go.
“Enough!” he said abruptly.
Feena quickly turned Adira to face the king.
Briefly, Adira had forgotten she was in the king’s castle. For a fleeting moment, she was back home in the small cottage she and Feena shared. She was reminded all too well when she saw the king point toward the chair near the hearth.
She was to sit, and she did so immediately.
Feena remained standing.
Dravic pointed to the other chair near the hearth. “Sit.”
Feena waited for the king to sit first.
“You have permission to sit, Feena,” he said, and she did.
Feena did so, carefully, hands folding in her lap as she settled.
Dravic began to pace in front of her, not a hurried pace nor aimless, more measured as if something weighed on his mind.
Adira watched from the chair, quiet, attentive, trying to follow the expressions, gestures, and shifting energy in the room.
Dravic stopped suddenly. “Tell me about her.”
Feena did not need to ask who.
“Everything that you know or may think,” he added before she could respond.
“There is not much to tell my king. I came across Adira half-starved after a particularly brutal winter. Her mom had been a healer and a good one. A fever had taken her, and Adira had struggled to survive. It has been about three winters since I brought her home with me. Her hands are clever with herbs, and her heart is steady.” Feena smiled gently and looked at Adira.
“I assume she is around twenty years, though I cannot be sure of her age. She became mine and I think of her as my own. I cherish the day she came into my life.”
Dravic kept a stern eye on her. “That was generous of you to take in a woman who certainly would not be easy to deal with.”
Feena kept her smile gentle. “What kind of healer would I be if I turned her away?”
“Since you are a healer, tell me this… have you any idea why she cannot hear or speak?”
Adira felt a quiet stillness settle in the room, and she sensed the conversation continued to remain about her.
Feena did not answer at once. Her eyes drifted briefly to Adira, then back to the king. Not with concern alone, but with something older—thoughtful, measured, as if weighing not only what she knew, but what she believed could ever be known.
“I have asked myself that question more than once. But some things are not wounds to be understood like others.” She paused briefly. “Not all silence is taken, and not all voices are lost in the same way.”
Dravic’s eyes narrowed slightly.
Feena met his gaze without flinching. “If there is a reason, it is not one my skills have ever been able to reach.” She took a soft breath. “But I have learned this… whatever her afflictions, she was meant to be protected.”