Chapter 17
CHAPTER 17
N eve and Brigit moved into the sitting room for privacy, leaving Eleksi with Jamy and Saxon.
Brigit built the fire while Neve fidgeted and paced.
“Can I help you, Mama?” she asked, as her mother arranged kindling in the hearth.
As anxious as she was to discuss her father, she wanted to do it properly, sitting face to face with Brigit.
“No, Neve, I’ll manage.”
Swallowing her words, Neve went to the single window overlooking the gloomy courtyard below and fretted.
Remaining at Jamy’s house beyond sunrise wasn’t an option. Even now, they put everyone here at risk by virtue of their presence. But would she and Eleksi be safe at his home in the countryside?
With the Crown in pursuit, the kingdom seemed small indeed. The queen had unlimited resources and her thirst for Neve’s life wouldn’t be satisfied with anything except confirmed death. The sorceress shuddered as she imagined the trials Meliohr would put her body through to ensure her death was genuine. Would she be stabbed a hundred times? Dismembered? Thrown into the ocean? A simple Glamour would not work a second time. It barely worked the first time.
She turned her back on the window. “Mama, I believe that’s plenty of wood.”
“Oh.” Brigit stood, wringing her hands. “Quite right. I suppose I’m nervous.”
The fire sent a warm yellow orb into the gray room.
Neve pulled a seat from the desk over to the fireplace and indicated for her mother to take the armchair already there. Brigit sat, folding and unfolding her hands in her lap. Neve looked at her expectantly, somehow both terrified and very eager to hear what she had to say.
Brigit picked an invisible piece of lint from her skirt, then swiped her hand over the fabric. “I hoped we’d never have to have this conversation.”
Neve’s face fell. “You hoped I’d never find out about my father?”
“For good reason, Neve. And I am sorry you found out this way.” Brigit inclined her head. “I didn’t realize you were in such danger. The High Magus assured me you would be safe at Starlight Gardens. When I?—”
Neve spluttered, interrupting. “Do you mean to tell me the High Magus knows Leonid is my father?”
“Yes. But not because I told him.” She gave a long, quavering breath. “I’ll start at the beginning, shall I?”
Neve nodded, resolving to let her mother speak uninterrupted, no matter what. She came here for answers and there was no time for recriminations.
“You know I’ve always been a housemaid,” said Brigit. “And that I started as a young woman in the palace, before you were born. Back then, King Hektor reigned. His sons, Branimir and Leonid, were princes. As the eldest, Branimir was groomed for the throne. Leonid was mostly left to his own devices, which seemed to suit him, because he didn’t care for official engagements and political games. He was handsome. Even more handsome than his brother, I thought.”
She smiled faintly, her eyes misting with memories. “We met on the night of a ball hosted by his family. He snuck outside to the gardens for some air and he caught me doing the same. I curtsied and apologized, sure that I was about to be dismissed from my position. But he surprised me. He invited me to join him, and we shared a bottle of champagne. It was so peaceful out there. We spoke for a long time. It’s hard to explain, really. But it was like seeing colors I’d never known existed.”
It was surreal for Neve to hear her mother speak about King Leonid in such a familiar way, let alone dwell on the fact that this unlikely meeting led to her very existence.
Brigit continued. “We saw more of each other, in secret. We fell in love. A tale as old as time. I continued working at the palace, so we’d have a reason for me to be there, and we saw each other at every possible moment. He dreamed of escaping his life, as I dreamed of escaping mine. But then, disaster struck.” Her mouth turned down at the corners. “A royal guard caught us together. I was ejected from the palace at once without ceremony. Leonid was sent away to Hatara on royal business for an indefinite period. I thought that was that. The fairytale was over. Weeks after he left, I discovered I was with child.”
She swallowed hard and looked at the dancing fire. “I made the mistake of confiding in a woman with whom I used to work at the palace. Word reached the court, who sent the head of the royal guard with a bag full of gold and a stern threat, disguised as a choice. I was to end the pregnancy, in return for the gold. Knowing they would kill me and you if I refused, I said yes.”
Neve’s mouth went dry. Twice now, her life had been traded for a bag of gold coins. Twice now, the deal had failed.
Her eyes shining, Brigit looked at Neve. “As scared as I was, I couldn’t abide such brutish coercion. I departed Klatos with you in my belly and we stayed away until the gold ran out. I returned quietly and never made the mistake of telling another soul about your father’s identity. I planned to reveal it to you when you came of age. But by then, Levissina had cursed Branimir and his family, leaving Leonid to take the throne. As a potential heir, you were in more danger than ever. Finally, rumors that a Garstang would marry Leonid began, and I was even more glad that you were residing safely at Starlight Gardens. Meliohr comes from hard, cruel people. Sure enough, she wed Leonid, right when he had been weakened to the point where he couldn’t object.”
“You say weakened, like his condition is not natural.”
“Corruption has long tainted the court, even when I worked within its walls. Some say Branimir’s madness was from being poisoned covertly by his rivals, the Garstangs of Morktland, who had agents within the court. And the official story is that Levissina’s husband, Malakai, was slain in a tragic mistake. But there are murmurings that Malakai was murdered with the express purpose of evoking Levissina’s wrath against the Nikolaous. Her temper was legendary, as was her love for her husband. The Garstangs loathe sorcery in general, and King Reynard Garstang hated Levissina in particular, beyond compare.”
“He used one enemy to destroy the other,” said Neve in a dull voice, absorbing this information in horror.
Was Reynard truly behind the downfall of both Levissina and the Nikolaous? If so, his plan was revolting, but undeniably effective. He hadn’t even needed to leave his own kingdom, nor get his nubby hands dirty.
Brigit nodded. “The Garstangs covet Zermes kingdom for our fertile lands and rich mineral deposits, but the Nikolaou family has always been unwaveringly popular with the people of Zermes. If they were to be defeated, it needed to be by duplicitous means. And now? The Nikolaou name is sullied. The king is ailing. The prince is in exile. And you, the king’s own flesh and blood, are being pursued by assassins. Please understand, I only ever hoped to keep you safe. And I failed.”
“You didn’t fail,” replied Neve gently. “I’m alive, am I not? But how does the High Magus know Leonid is my father? He’s never given me more than a passing glance or comment.”
A log in the hearth fell, sparks flitting into the air like red insects.
“He read your aura the day he met you, when I first took you to Starlight Gardens. Since he was already familiar with the king’s aura, he linked the two of you right away. You share emanations only possible with blood relation.”
“Of course,” said Neve, nodding slowly. “It wouldn’t have been difficult for him to figure it out.”
“When your classmates were showing you the Gardens, he spoke to me in his parlor. He assured me that you would be safe there.”
Neve recalled the protection spell painted under her bed. Did the High Magus paint the symbol, as a precaution?
“What are you going to do?” asked Brigit, her face drawn.
Neve exhaled. “For now, I must get out of Meliohr’s reach, and regain my strength. After that, I don’t know.”
Brigit fiddled with the sleeve of her dress. “I pray Prince Davron will return. Although, I imagine the queen thirsts for his blood even more vehemently than yours.”
Something clicked into place that gave Neve a little burst of joy, despite the dire circumstances. “Davron would be my cousin, would he not?”
“Well, yes. I suppose he is.”
Neve gazed into the fire, smiling softly. She’d never known any relatives besides her mother. To imagine having a cousin, even if he was an exiled stranger, was novel and sweet.
Brigit pointed at the door. “And who’s that man out there?”
“Oh.” Neve sat straighter, her smile fading. “He’s the assassin Meliohr sent to kill me.”
Her mother opened her mouth, then closed it, lost for words.
“He’s helping me,” explained Neve. “We’re helping each other.”
“I’ll have to take your word for it. Gods know, I can’t lecture you on keeping ill-advised company. You are in this mess because of me.”
“I’m in this mess because the Garstangs are murderous, power-hungry fiends.”
The women lapsed into silence, staring at the fire and becoming lost in thought.
Neve envisioned Leonid trapped in the golden cage that was the palace. Had Levissina truly been tricked into unleashing her fury on the royal family?
If she had been provoked in a calculated way, Neve felt a new sympathy for her. Everybody had a breaking point.
Even so, she couldn’t imagine loving anyone enough to curse a whole family out of retaliation. Killing the assassin who strove to murder her had been too much for her to bear.
But then, what did she know, really? She’d never been in love.
Neve thought of the pirate, Jarin, who she’d met on the night of Leonid and Meliohr’s wedding. She strongly suspected that he was Levissina’s son. Out of respect for his privacy and concern for his safety, she hadn’t told anyone.
Was his goodness proof that Levissina wasn’t completely evil, given she’d raised him? He wore her gold pendant, which surely meant he didn’t condemn her utterly.
Or perhaps he wore the pendant as a reminder of what could happen when a person gave in to the darkness of their heart.
Neve had always felt safer ignoring her darkest and most hungry impulses. But perhaps she could afford to ignore them no longer. She was being hunted by the queen. And her power, which she’d reviled for so long, could save her.
Next time she was threatened, she vowed that she would not hold back.