12. Confession
A few days before the party, the whole Evergreen was one big hub of preparation.
Skylar got permission from the Queen to focus all her efforts on making sure the event was successful enough to be the talk of the city for weeks.
After all, it was the first official social gathering hosted by the Lord General himself.
And although Gawyn was the one that attracted so much attention, he let Skylar have free reign to organise the whole thing.
After setting some ground and unnegotiable rules first, of course.
Skylar had never done anything like this before, but she found that commanding household staff wasn't different from leading a unit of soldiers.
It was late afternoon already, and she discussed the last bits of flower arrangements that should be delivered tomorrow when Zachariah appeared at her side.
"My lady, you wanted me to check up on Lord General. I'm pleased to say he's already feeling better and is out of bed."
"That's great. Has he eaten anything yet?" Gawyn had a migraine and was bedridden since yesterday evening. Skylar made sure to send him her herbal brew every few hours, but she didn't even have time to see him with all the work.
"No, he said he'd rather wait and dine with you at the usual time."
Skylar frowned. "That's in two hours. He hasn't eaten anything today, has he?"
"I don't think so, my lady."
"Could you not give him some light snack to make sure he won't pass out till evening?"
"I can try, but I'm afraid he won't listen to me, my lady. But I do believe you could be more persuasive," said the servant with a small smile.
"Right, he's so bloody stubborn sometimes." Skylar rolled her eyes. "I'm almost finished here, so can you please prepare something for him? I'll go and see him in a couple of minutes. He's in his office, I suspect?"
"No. Currently, Lord General is in the attic."
"Oh. We have an attic?"
There was an attic in the mansion indeed.
Because it was a huge building, not all the parts were in use.
A narrow staircase was well hidden on the western side of the premises, and Skylar had never wandered into this part.
Preston tried to follow her, but she dismissed him, making sure he was busy helping the servants decorate the halls.
They were both far beyond pretending he could guard her.
The room Skylar entered was spacious but dusty and clattered.
The gable roof of the mansion was cutting into one side, making it smaller and more cramped.
The floor was full of old and discarded furniture, most of which were covered with white sheets.
Gawyn was sitting in the middle of it all on a crate, looking at a tapestry overlaying most of the other wall.
"Hey, you." Skylar strolled toward him. "Is there any particular reason you are hiding in here?"
"Our house became as loud as a market on a busy day," Gawyn replied, turning his head to look at her. "I do not appreciate it."
"On the bright side, the party is in two days. After that, the peace will be restored, I promise."
Skylar gestured for him to move over and sat down next to him.
"Here, I brought you a snack. I thought you might need some fuel if you ever plan to go out and face all the hustle and bustle." She grinned.
"Thank you." He took a tray from her but didn't pick anything and put it down on the floor.
"So, what are we looking at?" Skylar asked, turning to the tapestry. It was covered with emblems, lines, and short descriptions too small and faded to read. Some lines were drawn in green, others in red, and there were even some black ones.
"It's a gigantic genealogic tree for most of the noble families of Lamyria. It used to hang in my office before we moved to this place."
Skylar cocked her head. "Can you make sense of it? Some parts are so faded it's hard to read."
"I know it by heart. Every name and every line."
Skylar turned to him with a frown. "Why would you learn something like that? It looks like it goes centuries back."
Gawyn scoffed. "I thought you would say so. It's our history. Our Legacy. How can you make an efficient decision if you're not learning from the past?"
"All right, you might have a point here. But still," Skylar pointed at the extensive list, "it seems a bit excessive to me."
"Let me show you, then," the General stood up, unclipped his sheathed sword, and used it to point at the tapestry.
"Elias Fletcher, the founder of the Eaglepoint and the first king of Lamyria."
He moved his sword a few rows down. "For a few generations, the kingdom was thriving. Fletcher's family members only married those of the highest position among nobles. But then, Elodie Fletcher has been crowned."
Gawyn pointed to a name encircled in red.
"She didn't like the social order. She preached about equality and taking away nobles' privileges. She married a lowly born Guardsman."
"You said as if it was the worst crime," Skylar said with a frown.
"Do you know what happened next?"
"No? It's still a good few centuries back." She shrugged.
"Do you know any Fletcher family now?"
"No."
"Doesn't that strike you as strange? What happened was the riots. The nobles raised against the Queen, and chaos reigned in Lamyria for over fifty years. The result was the complete extermination of Fletchers, right to the last member. The nobles disregarded the monarchy,
and every noble family ruled their domains for the next hundred and fifty years. The kingdom fell into dark times. Some parts were prospering, while others were starved and diminished, almost ruined."
"But you can't blame it all on one decision of the Queen," Skylar protested.
"Can I not? Then let's see what happened next."
Gawyn moved his pointing sword further down.
Asher Gryphonheart. After long and exhausting civil wars and extensive negotiations, he managed to bring the monarchy back.
He was crowned the King of Lamyria and married Aurelia Ironhand, the most powerful woman at the time.
See down here? Another four generations of prosperity and progress."
"Then what this big black sphere means?" Skylar asked, pointing to the left side of the tapestry.
"That was Natan Gryphonheart. Against all advice, he decided to marry the woman from outside of Lamyria, Nevaeh of Irdelum."
"Irdelum?" Sky cocked her head. "Where is that?"
"You should know that one," Gawyn said with a condescending tone. "Now we call it the Blighted Lands."
"Oh..."
"Oh, indeed. Unfortunately, we don't know many details, as most of the historical records were destroyed. What we do know is that it was a very dark time. That single event led to nearly complete devastation of the entire kingdom. Natan Gryphonheart failed the kingdom and his family,
" the General said, and there was so much bitterness in his voice that Skylar felt her skin crawl.
"Fortunately, before ruination was complete, the noble families with Hawkclaws at the lead managed to banish the King and Queen to Irdelum. If they failed, we would probably call our kingdom the Blighted Lands."
"I didn't know," Skylar said quietly.
"Now you do," Gawyn said sternly. His whole body was tense, and there was a deep wrinkle between his brows when he looked at the tapestry.
"After that, there were a few long centuries of slowly rebuilding everything that was destroyed by one bad decision of a foolish man. Then, War of Crowns happened, and I suspect you know the rest."
He clapped the sword back to his belt and sat next to Skylar, still looking at the map.
Skylar's mouth went dry, and her heart was thumping when the realisation dawned on her. "Gawyn..." she whispered. "Do you think I'm Nevaeh?"
"What?" he asked, surprised, turning to her.
"Do you think I'm her? Because that would explain why you are so stubborn in refusing all my aid when it comes to the Blighted Lands and their dark magic."
"I don't...." Gawyn started but then closed his mouth and turned away. "I know you are not her. But..."
"But you can't dismiss this possibility considering your family's history?"
Skylar asked quietly. Her voice shook a little.
Her throat was tight, and she had difficulty breathing.
Suddenly it all made sense - Gawyn's cautiousness of everything she was representing, his quick anger when she suggested ways to counter dark magic. He was afraid of repeating history.
"Since I was a child, I was taught that family name was everything. Because of our position, it is our duty to work for the prosperity of the whole kingdom. And when you have so much power and influence, you also hold responsibility for all your subjects. If I make one wrong decision,
it will impact the whole kingdom."
Gawyn clenched his fists. "I do not have the luxury of just hoping for the best. I must consider every possibility. Even if..."
"Even if what?" Skylar asked, her voice barely a whisper.
The General looked back at her; his usually cold grey eyes were now bright with conflicting emotions.
"Even if I'm growing fond of you," he admitted, and Skylar felt the warmth spreading through her chest, but Gawyn continued.
"But every time you start talking about dark magic, the rituals, and all these bizarre things, I'm reminded just how little it takes to ruin the centuries of progress."
"I'm sorry."
Gawyn raised a brow. "What for?"
"I didn't know why you were so stubborn about this. I thought you didn't like listening to others. But the burden of responsibility you're carrying...." Skylar reluctantly put her arm around his waist and rested her head on his shoulder. "It must be so hard. Thank you for telling me that."
The General sighed and put his arm around her shoulders, pressing her tightly to his side. "I'm sorry I can't treat you right. I know it causes you pain, and I know it's cruel, but I can't just get over it."
"It's all right," Skylar murmured to his chest. "For what it's worth, I swear I'm not a witch, and I would never do anything to harm you or our kingdom."
"Thank you," Gawyn said and gently kissed the top of her head.
They stayed like this for a while, just sharing each other's warmth. Finally, Skylar withdrew her arm and straightened, looking at the tapestry with a frown.
"Why is your sister's name marked in red? I thought she was an ambassador in Torringland. Isn't that, you know, a respectful position?"
The General sighed. "Well, she was pushed there, as none of us was sure what to do with her."
Skylar cocked her head. "What do you mean?"
"You'll see soon. She'll come for the party and stay with us for a week."