Chapter 7
"I hear that your sisters have drugged the King and refuse to let anyone in the room," Gael said quietly, when he slipped into Eamon's quarters that night.
"Nonsense. Both your mother and sister have been in there, visiting with them, while Alyx sleeps," Eamon said. He was pulling off his riding wear, having just returned from running the perimeter of the castle and meeting with his men. So far there was no word of scouts or any strangers to the land this close to the castle, but Eamon preferred to keep in contact with his men as much as possible. There was only so much leading that could be done from a castle on high.
"He does not fare as well as I hoped," Gael said.
Eamon chose to say nothing and threw his cape over a chair.
"Evander gave him this chance and I fear that if Evander really is-"
"He's not. We haven't proof of his demise, do not speak or think like that. For now, we must continue to believe that he is alive," Eamon said.
Gael was silent for a long moment and when Eamon looked up at him, he found Gael staring at him. "Why?" He asked.
"For the sake of the country. You say it as though it were an easy thing to do, but forcing Alyx's abdication and giving you the throne will take longer than we have and will only prove to worsen the countries upheaval and the ties to your allies. You know this, Gael."
"What do you mean, longer than we have?" Gael asked.
Eamon sighed and stood up. He gestured for Gael to come closer to the map that was always laid out on the table in his room. "I do not wish to alarm Alyx but these attacks on your border seem to be coordinated. Between your army and mine, we have the manpower to keep them at bay, but at some point, I do have to return home. I know you know that."
There was a look in Gael's eye that Eamon did not like, something that was akin to an idea, but something that he would not say out loud either.
The idea hit Eamon in the face like a bucket of cold water.
"I will not marry him, Gael. I will not do that to Evander. I refuse to think that he is dead and even if he is, I believe Alyx really will kill himself before he takes another," Eamon said harshly and stood up straight. He crossed his arms over his chest.
Gael rubbed his mouth and Eamon had to face the fact that his friend had fallen much farther down than even Eamon could realize.
"I want to preserve what I can for my family," Gael whispered.
"I understand that. But if you insist on acting as though your brother died and is buried in a nameless grave in some place that we will not ever find, then you should act in his memory. What did you tell Alyx? Do not dishonor him, Gael. Him or his memory. Do not become desperate. We have yet to reach that point," Eamon said.
There was a knock at the door and Edmond stepped in. He looked from Gael to Eamon and back again before stepping out without having said a word.
"I fear that whatever we do next will be for nothing, Eamon. I fear that when we lost Evander, we lost it all," Gael said and picked up his cloak. He draped it over his shoulders.
"Despair is greedy. Do not feed it."
"How can I not?" Gael asked.
Then he was gone.
∞∞∞
Josette left Paige with Kane and set out on foot to the village. It didn't take her long to get there and even before the village was in sight, she could hear the raucous laughter of people that had had too much to drink. Josette made a face at the thick mud that seemed to dominate the entirety of the village and tried to skirt around the worst parts of it.
She had to consider the thought that she had been spending too much time with the nobles and their finery. She should get out more. There was no point in becoming too relaxed in the comfort of the castle.
Josette only decided on taking a few knives with her, a few coins, and not much else. She knew what kind of trouble she could get into with too much money and too many weapons.
The center of the activity seemed to be focused on one tavern in particular. People were sitting outside the tavern, while others seemed to be coming and going. As Josette headed up to the establishment, she got a few curious looks but didn't pay them much attention.
Once inside, the sound hit her like a slap to the face. For the past several weeks, she spent the majority of her time in Paige's company. It was overwhelming to be inside where there were competing musicians, more people than strictly comfortable, and the smell of food drifting around.
Josette shoved the discomfort to the back of her mind and headed straight for the bar. It was roughly made and there were more than a few puddles of ale splashed over it that no one had mopped up yet. When she looked around, she saw why. There were two young girls, around Paige's age, serving ale and food to the tables. There was a young boy taking money and handing out pints behind the bar and an older man and woman in the back, dishing up whatever food was on the menu for that night.
"Ale?" The young boy shouted in Josette's face. She could barely hear him but nodded anyway.
"Food?" He asked and pointed behind him.
She nodded and handed over some coin. He took it and looked to the couple behind them. The woman nodded and the boy poured her ale. He left without another word.
"You don't belong here," a woman shouted at Josette from the stool next to her. She wasn't that much younger than Josette but her eyes seemed decades beyond them both. She slowly began to list off her stool and Josette reached out to help her stay upright.
Then she caught the woman's wrist as she tried to sneak her bag of coins from her waist.
"Does not mean I'm an idiot," Josette shouted back and let her go. She threw the woman's hand away from her.
She glared at Josette but Josette remained impassive.
The boy came back with a dented plate and what could have been stew and a hunk of hard bread. He glared at the young woman and she, in turn, spat on the ground.
Then she was jostled away from the bar and Josette turned back to her meal. She did not look up at the newcomer at her side even when he flipped an impressive looking blade in his hand and slammed it into the bar. Neither did she flinch, but rather kept on eating. She felt guilty for the meal, since Paige had not had a decent one in days. She thought that when they got to Alik's lands, she would ask for the girl to be properly fed before they moved on. Josette decided to ask for the meal before she accused Alik of conspiring to help in Evander's kidnapping.
"She is a thief, but she is right. You don't belong here," the man shouted at Josette.
"I have coin to pay and I am hungry. What else does someone need to belong here?" Josette asked and tore a piece of bread off with her teeth. She looked over at the man and realized it was the same man that had stabbed the man through the hand for the pelt on the table. He was broad, though not nearly as broad as Eamon. He had a look of a man that had spent far too many nights at a bar and not enough in front of warm fire in a welcoming home. He squinted at her, as though he were trying to place her from long ago but Josette was certain they had not met before.
"Only the banished and desperate are ever this far north. Why are you here?" He asked.
"I am looking for my brother. I had word that he was conscripted into Thomas' war march. I seek to find answers of him," Josette said. She scraped the bottom of her bowl with her bread.
Something in her words made the man's face shutter and he pointed at the boy who seemed to be waiting on the man in particular. The boy ignored all others and got the man an ale.
"The war march? Wasn't that months ago?" The man said. Someone shifted behind him and he raised a hand. They stepped back. In the far corner, Josette saw the woman who tried to rob her whispering to a group of other people.
Josette did not reply. He knew when it was and sought only to find out more information from her.
"Weren't all the men in his army taken into the De Loughrey castle? I hear that the barbarians from the islands east of here have them and make sport of them," the man went on.
"I haven't made it as far as De Loughrey's lands. I hope not to," Josette said.
"Why?" The man asked.
Josette shrugged. She could feel more and more eyes on her the longer their conversation carried on. "I hope to find him sooner than that."
"This brother of yours, does he resemble you?" The man leaned closer and Josette fought the urge to lean away.
"In a manner. Same mother, different fathers."
The boy brought the man a steaming bowl and set it down in front of him. The boy left and the man didn't pay him. Josette did not mention it.
"Have you searched here?" The man asked.
"It seems as the the entire village is here and as I do not see him here..." Josette glanced over her shoulder. "I will be moving on."
There was truth to her words. These people would not be any help to her. They seemed to be the type that was more loyal to Thomas than to a far away king. She could not begrudge them that; they did not know their king and the lengths he would go to for them.
Josette put another coin in the boy's hand before she stood up and nodded at the man. While he had not been helpful, she did not want to leave on disparaging terms with him either. She was under the impression that more of these people followed him than not.
"I hope you find your brother," he said.
"Thank you," she replied.
She left as quickly as she arrived and as she skirted the people outside with another curt nod, she decided that she would pack her and Paige up that night and ride for Alik's lands, to get away from this oppressive village and their destitute lands.
Even as she thought that, she heard someone shout behind her.
Josette turned and as she did, she saw the woman and the group of people she was talking with in the corner of the tavern rush from the doors. One of the people outside pointed in Josette's direction and the group turned towards her. Paige was too far away for Josette to make a run for it.
A fight it would be, it seemed.
∞∞∞
When Alyx woke the next day, he felt better, more rested, but the heavy weight of his day ahead of him was no less. And now with almost the entire royal family of Ataton with him, his responsibilities were likely to double.
When he was dressed and he was joined by Lord Ethan, they headed for the barracks.
"Was the royal family accommodated?" Alyx asked.
Lord Ethan scoffed. "Who do you take me for? Princess Lissandra and Princess Avelina are sharing Auelina's old rooms. Prince Edmond insisted on the barracks with his brother and their men. Auelina is having a grand time helping dress the other two princesses. But before we go to Prince Eamon, I wanted to ask you something."
Alyx paused. In all their time working together, Lord Ethan had never asked for a thing, other than a job to do and a place for his family.
"It's- It's a private matter, Your Highness, of the utmost importance," Ethan said and Alyx had to remind himself while Ethan was efficient and could do things that few people had accomplished for Alyx, he was still new to protocol and stumbled over a few things. Alyx had to expect this.
"Certainly. Here," Alyx said and gestured to an empty sitting room off the hallway that led them outside.
Alyx made sure that the door was shut and sat with Ethan at a small table.
"What troubles you?" Alyx asked.
Ethan paused for a moment and seemed to gather his thoughts before nodding to himself. "I do not wish to seem improper, Your Majesty, but the bar- the royal family from Ataton, they seem to be taking over."
Alyx did not miss the word he almost said but tried not to give anything away. "In what way?" He pressed and leaned forward.
Ethan wouldn't meet Alyx's eyes. "Yesterday, when the Princesses arrived, they swept in and took charge of you. Put you on bed rest. You, the King! And as if that were not enough, Edmond and Avelina both started taking visitors as if they had been born and bred here. They were hearing grievances from those in the village. Avelina sat down with Gael and they worked through the math of rations for the villagers and the new orphans we brought back with us and Avelina went with the guards herself to supervise the distribution. Edmond took over drills and runs from Eamon who we both know took that duty from Gael. Lissandra and Auelina met with the court and while our Princess was there, Your Highness, Lissandra was the one obviously in charge. I do not wish to seem like I am- I am-"
"Jealous?" Alyx provided.
"Yes! But I do not trust them, not at all."
Alyx sat back and studied Ethan. He was a very young man and his concerns were legitimate and Alyx could not begrudge him that.
But Ethan had spent many of his formative years under Thomas and he had to have picked up many of his habits, one of which was undoubtedly being suspicious of everyone.
"In your observations, was the Ataton family unfair in their rulings? Did they favor one side or the other? Even if it is our family, please, speak plainly," Alyx said.
Ethan looked down and shook his head.
"I want you to know that what you are going through right now, learning this castle, our ways, the customs, is hard. And what you are feeling is normal. When I was first brought here, I expected to be cleaning the floors, not warming the Crown Prince's bed every night," Alyx said.
Ethan would have been less shocked if Alyx had run him through with one of his blades.
"And I thought that was all it was. Honestly and truly, I rarely thought myself better than a man selling his body in some dark alley. But the family here, my family, our family showed me better. They showed me truth and honesty and kindness. I feel like the Ataton family is the same, otherwise Evander would not have trusted them so. And where Evander shows trust, I follow."
"Your Highness, they are in a position such that they could easily overthrow you. Their men outnumber our own three to one, not that it matters, with their battle experience. You are untested and-"
Alyx nodded. "I agree. It would be very easy for Eamon to take Cerith from my hands. Laughable, even, I suppose. But let us look at this in another way. You say I am untested King, not even raised noble, correct?" Alyx asked.
Ethan nodded, wary, that he was stepping into a trap.
"Eamon has been raised Crown Prince of his lands. He knows the customs, the rules, where I do not. He has the experience of a hundred men, just as Evander does. I do not. Now, let us look at the rest of the family. The Queen Mother, how does she fare?"
They both knew that Gia did not fare well at all. She did not take visitors, rarely left her quarters, and only allowed Alyx and Ely in.
Ethan looked away.
Alyx nodded. "Exactly. And Gael? He is barely hanging on by his fingertips. Cade does what he can, leads the men in the field, where I am not allowed to go. Auelina should be taking on fewer duties with the baby's arrival closer and closer each day, not more."
Ethan drummed his fingers.
"It is not that the Ataton family is trusted advisors, Lord Ethan. They are faithful friends and allies that seek to help me keep Cerith together until Evander returns. Eamon leads the men, sees other generals. Edmond is helping Cade, no doubt training him as well. I hear stories of his masterful teaching even at such a young age. I trust that Avelina will find mistakes when Gael makes them and will rectify them without humiliating the family. Lissandra will do what she can as I recover so that Cerith doesn't have one dying king and one missing king. If you do not trust me on this, trust Evander," Alyx said.
Ethan did not look satisfied and Alyx had to warm to the fact that this young man was so loyal to the royal family.
"Fine. Watch them closely but do not hover. If you feel that our kingdom or family is at risk, come to me immediately and I will hear you out with an open mind. I swear it," Alyx said.
At that, Ethan relaxed.
"But be warned, you are a foreigner accusing a long time family friend. Those who are royal themselves. Baseless accusations will cost you your place here," Alyx said.
"Of course."
"Are we ready to begin our day?"
"Yes, Your Highness."