Page 24 of Keeper of the Word (The Unsung and the Wolf Duology #2)
Chapter
Nineteen
ELANNA
E lanna was fully unprepared for the spectacle in front of her.
Aura Hall hosted no banquets, no festivities—save for Heddwyn’s Night, the Nay Moon following the Solstice Full Moon—and no elaborate celebrations.
The Great Hall of the sovereign was an enormous, loud, dizzying circus—and this was merely King Rian’s nightly feast. On the opposite wall from Elanna, the sovereign’s long table stood on a dais.
Two long tables stretched on either side of the room.
Scores of servants and pages milled about, carrying large pewter trays or pitchers.
In the middle of the hall, a troop of dancers performed in mid-motion.
Everyone was in mid-motion because everyone was fixed on Elanna.
She hadn’t expected this much of a scene. This many people.
While this was the largest assemblage she’d ever faced, she’d nonetheless taken part in enough court and council meetings to instinctively straighten her shoulders. She fought the urge to ensure that her hair covered her neck.
King Rian stood. He did not appear pleased by her presence.
Murmurs echoed across the expansive hall .
A tall, thin man carrying a wide scroll stepped beside her.
“Your name, madam.”
“My name?”
His smile was as thin as he was. “So that I may announce you.”
Ah, aye. Announce her.
She smiled innocently. “Lady Elanna the Fourth, StarSeer, and Mistress of Ashwin.”
Would that she could paint the herald’s gape-mouthed expression. She raised her chin while listening to her name bounce off the walls.
In seconds, the whole of the hall was on their feet.
Stars.
“Lady Elanna,” King Rian shouted across the hall as he made his way off the dais toward her.
Elanna inclined her head and strode across the hall to greet him in the center.
“I am most honored you could join us this eve.” The sovereign gestured toward the dais. “Come. Pray, sit next to me.”
The murmuring resumed as her seat was arranged with panicked haste. Elanna found herself fawned over by three servants.
By and by, the diners slowly returned to their meal, dozens of eyes finding her and re-finding her, guised as blinks or a shake of a head.
A golden spoon was offered to Elanna. She accepted it and attempted to eat with a casual air, only too aware that the sovereign had not yet spoken to her again. Certainly, this would be noticed.
After two courses, Elanna didn’t think she could eat another bite, but a third course was served. In Ashwin, their meals were always hearty but simple. And only ever two courses if they dined on soup.
She scanned the hall several times, finding that Tolvar was absent. Strange.
She was also too aware that the person on her left, a familiar-looking young man with the sovereign’s same broad nose, openly stared at her .
“Do you have words to say to me, m’lord?” She pierced his eyes with her own.
He grinned, unencumbered by her gaze. “It seems I need to make an excursion to Ashwin. Tales of the beauty of the StarSeers is, of course, a common yarn, but to gaze upon you this close is indeed a privilege. No tale or song could ever do justice to your beauty.”
Elanna had listened to many a song and verse and sonnet written by traveling jongleurs who’d pleaded to be granted their only life’s wish—to earn an audience with and pay ode to the StarSeers.
Until now, no one had ever been so brazen in their words.
Another might blush. But when Elanna stared into her looking glass, she only ever spied her reflection; she wouldn’t conceive of flushing her cheeks prettily due to flattery.
She was not vain, but she knew what she looked like.
“’Tis the stars, m’lord. I do not consider myself to be any great beauty, but starlight courses through my veins. ’Tis its beauty you note.”
“And filled with humility. I say, I must come to Ashwin.”
“Ashwin is open to those who are in need of it, m’lord,” Elanna said. “But do not trouble yourself to make a fortnight’s journey if you come to gaze at what beauty you hope to find there.”
The young man laughed. “Fair enough. But mayhap I do have need of the Seers’ guidance. I find I am a troubled mess, or creating one anyway.”
His forehead creased as he sipped his wine.
“How is that, m’lord?”
“Your Highness.” A messenger stood at the table with a sealed note. “This arrived via raven.”
The young man, the prince, accepted it and shoved it into his pocket, glancing at King Rian as he did.
“You are Prince Dashiell,” Elanna said, not entirely surprised.
Of course. The foreSeen face of the prince came into her mind’s Sight. But if he was here, certainly he was not elsewhere, as the man in Tam’s Ford had said. What of the rumors they’d heard whilst traveling ?
“I am.” His smile was tense; his palm rested on his pocket concealing the note.
“I must speak to you. You are the very purpose of my journey here.”
“I beg your pardon, Lady Elanna. What did you say?” King Rian said, giving her his full attention.
“What a preposterous rumor! I tell you, Dashiell was on the annual Dew’s Nay Hunt in the Emryn Forest. He certainly was not absent without my leave. And he certainly was not in Askella of all places.” King Rian continued to pace the Royal Solar.
Elanna stood next to a chair she’d not been given leave to sit in. Prince Dashiell had been barred from the room.
“I am not here to utter rumors to Your Majesty, nor question Your Majesty’s knowledge of the whereabouts of your son for the last fortnight. I am here to warn you that the future of the Capella Realm hangs in the balance. Prince Dashiell must marry?—”
“Do you think me daft? Why do you speak in riddles? Dashiell’s betrothal contract with Lord Ulara’s daughter has been scheduled to be formally signed and witnessed in but a few weeks.
Betrothal gifts have been exchanged. The wedding itself shall take place on the Harvest Nay Moon.
The House of Sidra is perfectly intact.”
“I do not question Your Majesty’s authority. But you cannot question mine. I know what I have Seen. And I have Seen Prince Dashiell, your very son, shirk that contract.”
King Rian paused long enough to give a wrinkled-nose glare. ’Twas the first time he’d met her eyes since they’d entered the solar.
“Pray, why is this fortune so difficult to believe? The fact that I stand before you outside of the walls of Ashwin should convince you of the very gravity of this situation. Asalle’s Light is in danger?—”
King Rian held up a protesting hand. It took all the discipline in Elanna not to continue. The sovereign tugged a velvet cord hanging from the wall. A moment later, his chancellor entered, his eyeballs twitching about.
“Griffith, fetch Lady Tara’s correspondence so that Lady Elanna may read it.”
Chancellor Griffith bowed out of the room and returned with a folded square of parchment on a silver tray. The sovereign nodded to Elanna, and she took it.
Tara had not painted Elanna in a good light.
“Lady Tara states you must have been through an ordeal as of late. She begs that Asalle lend knights to escort you safely home. And that Lord Tolvar not be involved henceforth.”
This is why she’d been all but locked in the Delara.
Think. She could buy time, just as she had with Tolvar. King Rian was a logical sovereign.
“And what will Your Majesty do if I request to remain at court?”
This was uncharted territory. Both for the StarSeers and the sovereign. Who ruled whom? But she could not offer the same threats as the guards in the corridor.
King Rian sat on his cushioned chair, tiredness plainly on his face.
“The creed states that StarSeers are welcome anywhere they so choose to be. With very few exceptions. But you put your sovereign in a predicament. Shall the first or fourth StarSeer’s wishes be granted?
I ne’er heard of a disagreement between the Seers of stars. ”
“Your Majesty,” Elanna knelt before King Rian, hoping her display of humility would soften the sovereign’s heart.
“I do not wish to cause any grievance. But I will not deny what I have Seen in the stars as I have been ordained with their Sight. If you would only summons your son to join us here. Ask him about his betrothal.”
The sovereign nodded to Chancellor Griffith. ’Twas not long before Prince Dashiell sauntered into the room.
Able to observe him head-on, he was younger than Elanna had perceived at their first meeting in the Great Hall. Only twenty, mayhap? A few years younger than she. His eyes darted between her and his father. A carefree smile cut into his face.
“Father, this is most unusual, indeed. How am I to one day rule when you exile me from rooms like a naughty child?”
King Rian’s frown did not disappear. “Lady Elanna has brought some troubling news. A troubling fortune, more specifically.”
Prince Dashiell furrowed his brow. “Oh? Tell me.”
“Your Highness—” Elanna began, but King Rian cut her off.
“Were you in the Emryn Forest?”
Prince Dashiell cocked his head. “When? For the hunt? You know very well I was. Why this accusation guised as a question?”
Elanna felt her face flush. Surely King Rian could see how his tone pressed the prince into defense.
The sovereign studied his son.
“My man, Karro, can vouch for me. Though it wounds me, Father, to think you need more than my word.”
“This betrothal contract is newly sanctioned. ’Twould be the greatest embarrassment?—”
“Your Highness,” Elanna interrupted the sovereign from saying more. “I mean not to offend you, but I have Seen a grave misfortune surrounding your impending marriage to Lady Wenonah. A misfortune surrounding all the Capella Realm, for that matter. It is essential?—”
Chancellor Griffith sneezed.
“A thousand apologies, Your Majesty.” He sniffed and bowed his head.
“Go on,” Prince Dashiell said, his face grave.
“The tradition of uniting the twin countries together—your marriage to a lady from Grenden—is imperative to the peace the House of Sidra keeps. ’Tis a balance that helps hold the Light in the center of the Heart, Asalle.”
Prince Dashiell crossed his arms.
“’Twill mean ruin. The end of the realm, should Your Highness break tradition. ”
“Is that all?” Prince Dashiell smirked. “Father, what must I do to convince you that my intentions toward the Grendenian lady are well intact?”
“And what of the rumors of you being recognized in the south of Askella?” King Rian asked.
The prince shrugged. “Mayhap I simply have a familiar face.”
“That is what troubles me.”
The prince’s mouth was a firm line. “Father, you have my word.” He faced the StarSeer. “What are you saying, Lady Elanna? That I am lying about my whereabouts? That is ridiculous.” He placed his palm on his chest as he addressed King Rian once more. “I swear on my crown, Father. And yours.”
Something flashed through Elanna’s mind. Something…nay, someone…some?—
But she could not hold on to it. The men’s voices chased it away.
“…then I suppose you’re looking forward to the Lady Wenonah’s attendance at court in a few weeks’ time.” The sovereign stood, appearing satisfied.
“Most emphatically, Father. I await with anticipation,” Prince Dashiell said, placing his hands behind his back. “Now, if there was naught more.” He pivoted and left the room without a backward glance.
“What say you?” King Rian turned to Elanna. “Did that put your Sight at ease?”
“He was very amiable, Your Majesty.”
“Should I give the order to begin preparations for Lady Elanna’s return to Ashwin, Your Majesty?” Chancellor Griffith said.
King Rian lifted an eyebrow at her.
If Prince Dashiell intended to fulfill his duty of matrimony, all would be well. The House of Sidra would be safe. The peace—and, more importantly, the Light—of the Capella Realm would be safe.
But her visions.
Mayhap the future’s path had changed.
If you have made plain and convinced the royal family of your warnings, your work is fulfilled. StarSeers aren’t meant to act .
Aye, she’d done her part. No more, no less.
She’d made known the gravity of the situation by endangering herself to come here.
And though Tara would be angry with her upon Elanna’s return, the first StarSeer would understand how important this was.
And so long as Prince Dashiell’s marriage was carried out, there was naught more to do.
“I do not feel the need to stay any longer than necessary, Your Majesty. But allow me to pray to the stars this evening to be certain that I am no longer needed in Asalle.”
The chancellor nodded, but King Rian was not so forthcoming with his answer.
“Very well, Lady Elanna. You have my welcome and the extension of any comforts you seek. I shall assign three of my Warins to you for the duration of your stay. I have no reason to think you’d need protection here, but as I am not in the habit of entertaining StarSeers, I wish to ensure your safety above all else. ”
“My thanks, Your Majesty, but if it is all the same to you, I’d rather not place any inconvenience upon you by robbing you of your personal guards.
With your permission, I would have Sir Tolvar and his knights as my protectors while in Asalle.
” She kept her eyes lowered for good measure, hoping he’d relinquish Tara’s request that Tolvar not be further involved.
“’Twould be more convenient to Your Majesty’s kingsguard,” Chancellor Griffith offered counsel.
“I’m told that the four new Warins are a moon away from being elevated by High Commander Dirk and placed into the royal guard rotation.
If you assign three to Lady Elanna, ’twould only leave seven to Your Majesty’s protection.
Unless you’d like to draw knights from the queensguard? ”
“Nay. Most certainly not,” King Rian said. “Queen Ferika’s safety shall not be compromised for mine.”
“As you wish, Your Majesty.”
“Very well, Lady Elanna. Lord Tolvar and his knights shall be commanded to your safety, but let us reconvene on the morrow in the hope that it will be to bid one another farewell.”
“Your Majesty is most gracious.”
The cord on the wall was pulled again, and a female royal page entered the room. “See to Lady Elanna’s comforts. ”
Elanna curtsied to King Rian and crossed the room to the doorway.
“Send for Sir Karro,” King Rian said under his breath. “And do not make Dashiell aware of it.”
She paused, her heartbeat suddenly racing. Why did the sovereign wish to question the prince’s man-at-arms?