Chapter Fourteen

The Silent Castle came into sight after three days of solid riding. They had been the longest three days of my life. I couldn’t wait to pass Ro’at on to someone in the castle so that I could speak privately with the kings. My stomach had knotted itself in spirals that had wound tighter and tighter as time had passed.

But I was destined to have to wait a little longer.

Full moon was a day away, which meant that the representatives of the four families were gathering at the castle as we arrived. Osgan Hullar had already arrived, which didn’t surprise me in the slightest, and our horses nearly caught up with those of Horris as we crossed the bridge into the courtyard of the Silent Castle.

Horris had travelled on a fine, if highly strung, stallion. He was watching impassively as two of the castle servants tried to get the uncooperative beast into the stables. I might not have thought any more of the matter, but then the sun shifted, glinting off a handful of rings that were new adornments for the man, along with the fur-lined leather cloak he’d thrown back from his shoulders.

Horris had been told to consider himself on probation. But he didn’t look like a man who had any doubts about his exalted position. My lips tightened. He looked like a man who had used the chance of promotion to improve his own lot.

And yet, I didn’t begrudge anyone a warm, weatherproof cloak if they were to travel around the Empire on the council’s business. And perhaps the rings had belonged to Lady Ullagar. I might prefer that they be melted down and their value used for the good of all, but if he was to represent his region, then Horris should be allowed to make the decisions he thought were best.

I had just resolved to watch him carefully and ensure I made time for an in-depth conversation with him, when the clatter of our hooves drew his attention and he swung to see who had arrived.

The expression of shock on his face changed everything.

“Lady Kyann! You should be in T—” He shut his mouth and schooled his expression to hide his surprise, but the damage was already done.

I went cold as understanding dawned. The Shah’s envoy had known exactly where to find me, while I slept on Ullagar land. He’d had help. “In Torval?” I asked. The kings dismounted around me. “Was that what you were about to say?”

“N-no, of course not.” He stepped back, eyeing the kings nervously as they advanced. “Forgive me. I thought your trip around the Empire might have taken longer, that’s all.”

Fon stood in front of him, glaring at the man. “You thought she might have taken longer – or you hoped she would never return?”

“Of c-course not. Lady Kyann is our guardian.”

“She is,” Rey agreed. “Charnrosa would be nothing without her.”

Horris had turned a puce shade of red and sweat gleamed on his brow. If he planned to make a career in treachery, he’d need to train his face not to give him away. I had no doubt now that he’d been involved in the Shah of Torval’s attempt to kidnap me.

“That’s a fine beast you’ve gained,” Vashri said, nodding towards the stables where the stallion had finally been confined and was now kicking against the stable door.

“Looks like there may be Torval blood in the animal,” Axxon added, folding his arms across his chest so he looked large and terrifying.

“N-no, there isn’t. I’ve never visited Torval.”

“But has Torval visited you?” Rey stepped closer. A drop of sweat beaded and trickled down Horris’s temple. “Asking for help – asking to be notified when the guardian was close, perhaps?”

Just when a repeated denial might have left us nowhere to go, Horris regained the courage of his convictions. He sneered. “You rejected a match with Torval, when a union might have been of untold value to the Empire.”

I remained seated on Windspeed so I could look down at him. I forced my voice to stay calm. “I considered the Shah’s offer and turned it down. Did you think you knew better?”

He glared at me as though I were nobody. A foolish eighteen-year-old girl who needed to be instructed by her elders. “Of course I knew better. The council’s consultation was a mockery – we should have made that choice, not you.”

“You said your piece and were overruled. It was my future life under discussion. I think it’s acceptable that I had the final say,” I snapped.

Vashri held up a calming hand and I bit down my fury. He turned to Horris. “You admit that you helped the Shah’s envoy steal the guardian away?”

He scoffed. “That’s what he was supposed to do. I warned him she wouldn’t cooperate, but it looks like he didn’t take my warning seriously.”

“We could kill you for this,” Fon said, bitter fury burning in his eyes.

Horris took a step back. “No, you – I was acting in Charnrosa’s best interests.” He lifted his chin belligerently. I half-thought Fon would punch so inviting a target, but Rey put his hand on Fon’s arm.

“You were acting in your own best interests,” Rey stated, his gaze dredging Horris’s handful of rings and his new clothes before resting with distaste on his face. “And I would consider your actions to be treason.”

“Never.” Horris was pale, only now realising how his actions might rebound on himself. “We don’t need the guardian now we have peace. We must look to the future. Torval would have traded—”

“We need the guardian,” Axxon stated. “We need her far more than we need you, Horris.”

At last, I slid down from Windspeed’s back and made my way over to the men. As I drew close, Fon put his arm around my shoulders protectively, as though he feared Horris might attempt bodily harm now his kidnap plan had come to nothing. “You may have thought you were doing what was right for Charnrosa, but your actions have shown what a different future you envisage to that planned by the kings and me. The envoy misled us all, and yet I found a solution that has cemented peace between our countries.” I jerked a thumb to Ro’at, waiting patiently on his mule. “You didn’t even try to understand what was truly needed, you just fell in with the envoy’s plans for your own gain.”

“No, the Shah—”

I didn’t allow him to finish. “At best, you tried to force me into a match that I had already rejected. At worst, you committed treason against Charnrosa by trying to hand the guardian over to a foreign power.” I sighed. “The council will decide your fate, but you will certainly not be a part of that council yourself, not any longer. You have shown yourself entirely unfit to lead.”

He continued to protest, but the kings cut him off, Vashri and Fon gripping his arms to lead him away, Rey following behind.

Axxon took my hand. “I meant what I said,” he told me, voice rumbling in a way that sent a welcome shiver down my spine. “We are nothing without you, Kyann.”

I looked up, meeting his warm, brown gaze. “And I’m nothing without you, Axxon, all of you.”

He nodded slowly, and my heart leapt in my chest. He would agree. He might agree. Goddess be blessed, please let all of them agree! I had to lick my lips before I could speak. “I need to talk to you, the four of you.” I glanced over to where Rey, Vashri and Fon were leading Horris away. “As soon as you have time.”

Axxon nodded. “We’ll join you as soon as we can.”

He hurried after the other three, and I turned back to ensure Ro’at had a place to sleep. What a welcome to the Silent Castle he’d received!

~

“I have a – a proposal, if you will listen to it.”

An agonising hour later we were finally together and alone in my chamber in the Silent Castle.

The room immediately filled with tension. Four pairs of eyes settled on me.

“Go ahead,” Vashri prompted calmly.

I took a deep breath. “I have had a crush on the four of you, I think for as long as I’ve known you. I hoped that spending time with you as we’ve just done would make that crush go away.” I cleared my throat. The kings didn’t speak, just watching me. “I hoped that my crush would either fade, or that it might grow and I’d find that I loved one of you in particular, enough to spend my life with him as husband and wife.”

How could silence be so thick it was louder than noise?

Finally, someone else spoke. Vashri shifted, his brown gaze full of hope and fear. “Has it faded – or grown?” he asked.

“It has grown.”

The silence was broken by four breaths being drawn at the same moment. “Who—” Fon choked out the word.

“My crush has grown and strengthened and deepened. It’s no longer a crush. I would name it love, true and abiding.” Four masculine sighs rent the air. I bit my lip, then admitted, “But it has not singled any one of you out.

“I love you all. I thought at first that my feelings were wrong, that I ought to love only one, or none at all, but that’s what was wrong. I love you all and want to spend my life with the four of you, and in the end I hope we’ll have little kinglets and guardianettes who will serve and protect Charnrosa as we have done.” I ran out of words, daring to look at the faces around me. “But that’s only if you agree.”

“I agree.” Axxon spoke first, his hurried words reflecting the abrupt flare of emotion in his eyes. “We belong together. We always have. I see no difference in this matter than any other.”

“Kyann and the four kings, for all time,” Rey agreed.

Vashri lifted my hand and pressed a kiss to its back. “What’s right for you is what’s right for Charnrosa, and that’s all we care about.”

Fon was last to step forward, but his smile was brightest of all. “That’s very noble, Vash, but it’s not why I’m saying yes.” He pressed a kiss to my lips, soft and gentle, but it sent heat soaring through me. “I want you, Kyann, body and soul.”

Elation filled me as the kings surrounded me with hugs. I couldn’t be sure whose hands were on me, or who was kissing me as they each played their part confirming in gestures the promises they’d spoken.