Page 9

I pull on the yellow cord beside the fireplace in my chamber and hope a healer, preferably the healer from yesterday evening, isn't long in coming.

The events of the day – the Harvesting, Greythorne and his threats, the banquet, and the hours afterwards spent in conference with the Grand Council have all caught up with me.

I am exhausted and my head is pounding and I'm in dire need of some attendance.

The Grand Council is in uproar and I couldn't take any more of them screeching at each other across the Council chamber. Predictably, they have fallen into a number of factions – those calling for Greythorne’s head, those who wish to do nothing but appease him, and those who don’t know what to do.

The Grand Master, of course, tried to turn the situation to his advantage and suggested I accept an offer of marriage from Lord Crottingham.

He quickly abandoned this idea when I reminded him that once an offer of marriage is on the table, no other offers may be put forward, and since Greythorne’s marriage proposal was submitted first that put paid to his brilliant idea.

I also pointed out that Greythorne would see another proposal as a direct challenge and any lord submitting such a proposal would most likely feel the pointy end of Greythorne’s sword.

The Grand Master had turned a shade paler at this point and urged everyone to forget he had made any such suggestion.

It was at this stage I excused myself and returned to the sanctuary of my chamber.

There is a knock at my door and I give permission for the captain of the Night Guard to enter.

“Your healer is here, my Queen,” he informs me.

“Let her in,” I reply.

Myreena comes through the door and a small flurry of disappointment moves through me that it’s not the healer from yesterday evening. Myreena is a wonderful healer, but her methods are more traditional.

“The hour is late, my Queen, tell me what is it that ails you?”

“The hour is indeed late, Myreena,” I reply, “and I am weary, but I prefer not to go to sleep with a blacksmith pounding an anvil inside my head for the night.”

“Ah, I fear the events of the day have taken their toll on you. Give me a moment and I shall concoct a potion to soothe your mind and ease the pain in your head.”

She sets down her healer’s bag and proceeds to mix together a number of potions in a goblet, into which she adds some drops of goodness knows what and a sprig of verbena. She mixes it with a silver spoon and then hands it to me to drink.

It doesn’t smell as bad as some of her previous concoctions and I drink it in small sips.

I know from prior experience some of her elixirs can have a knockout effect and I don’t want to fall asleep until I’ve had a chance to ask her about the young healer.

I start my line of inquiry by asking about the birth she attended yesterday evening, as for some inexplicable reason I feel I should not look too eager to know more about this healer.

“Tell me, Myreena, how is the infant doing who was born yesterday?”

“Progressing well, my Queen.”

“And the mother?”

“Also doing well, thank the gods.”

“Did the dead infant live for any length of time?”

She looks immensely sad as she replies, “Yes, my Queen, he let out one heartbreaking cry and then he passed away.”

This news weighs heavy on me and I share in her feeling of sadness.

“I'm sorry, I can't imagine what it must be like to have a babe die before your eyes. I'm just glad you were there for the other child and the mother.”

“Thank you, my Queen, and thank you for being so understanding as to why I could not attend to you yesterday evening.”

“No problem, Myreena. The young healer you sent in your stead was most effective, if a little unorthodox in her methods, at relieving my pain.”

Myreena looks puzzled. “Healer, my Queen?”

I find her response strange. “Yes, the young healer who came here yesterday evening. She was most excellent in her ministrations. What part of the realm does she hail from?”

A look of concern clouds Myreena’s expression.

“My Queen, I'm afraid you must be mistaken, I sent no healer in my stead yesterday evening. However, I sent a rider with an elixir and I suspect due to its potency you fell into a deep sleep and perhaps dreamed of this healer of whom you speak. Once I finished caring for the mother and surviving child, I came to the castle to attend to you but was told by the captain of the Night Guard that you were fast asleep. I did not wish to disturb you, so I left.”

I am dumbfounded at Myreena’s response but I'm not sure what to say.

The feeling I had from earlier, cautioning me about speaking of the healer with Myreena, returns, but this time it's stronger.

I know the healer was not a dream, she was as much flesh and blood as I am.

However, I decide to trust this feeling.

“Well, that was a pretty potent elixir you gave me as I could swear a healer was in this room yesterday evening as much as you are here now.” I laugh, as I drain the goblet she gave me earlier. “Let’s hope my dreams are not quite so vivid tonight.”

Myreena smiles. “I pray to the gods you shall feel its effects soon, my Queen. Is there anything else you need from me or shall I leave you to rest?’

I can already feel the heady mixture starting to take effect but there is one more matter I wish to attend to before I succumb to the inevitable slumber it will bring.

“I’m already starting to feel better and a little sleepy, thank you, Myreena. You may go.”

She packs up her things and leaves.

I immediately pull on the black cord and wait.

Ten minutes later a small part of the wall slides open in my private study and my most trusted advisor steps forth.

She is clad head to toe in a black cloak, the hood of which she removes to reveal her closely shorn hair, perfect brown skin and dark, intelligent eyes. The first thing she does is quickly scan the room for any sign of a threat.

“It's okay, Kes,” I assure her, “there is no danger. You may remove your cloak and sit with me.”

She removes the cloak that enables her to move through the night unseen and places it on the back of the chair in which she then sits.

Tonight she is dressed in the soft black leather of an assassin, with the silver glint of her weapons serving as deadly accessories.

I smile at her intense expression. Even when no danger is present she is constantly alert, but then again, considering her history, I suppose I can't blame her.

“You observed the Harvesting ceremony today as I instructed you?” I ask.

“Yes, my Queen.”

“And did you see the man there who abducted you and brought you to Ardvalla?”

A flicker of pain illuminates her dark eyes for a moment but she quickly gets it under control.

“I did, my Queen.”

“Which one was he?”

“The one who wore the red and gold coat.”

“Lord Montrose?”

“Yes, my Queen. He is the one.”

“So, the rumours are true,” I say in a soft voice, as a flash of anger moves through me.

Kes doesn't reply. I imagine she is silent as she doesn't wish her voice to betray the pain she must have felt at seeing the man who held her captive and abused her for over two years.

I still wince every time I remember the poor state she was in when I found her quite by accident one day when out riding in the lower valley.

My horse had refused to jump a ditch, which was highly unusual, so I dismounted to see if there was a problem with my horse when I spotted a strange form lying in the bottom of the ditch.

On closer inspection I discovered Kes, bruised and broken and very close to death.

I had my soldiers bring her back to the castle and Myreena and a team of healers worked on her to bring her back to health. Her presence in Ardvalla caused great consternation amongst the members of the Grand Council and all manner of theories were put forward as to her purpose here.

Some believed she was a witch. Others theorised she was a demon conjured up by dark forces, and the Grand Master and his cronies insisted she was an assassin who had been sent to kill me and would do so once she returned to health.

I'd felt there was something else at play, and as she slowly healed I worked to gain her trust.

Eventually, she revealed the horrible truth to me that she had been abducted from her homeland and brought as a secret captive to Ardvalla.

She had been held prisoner and subjected to horrific abuse by a man she believed to be very rich and powerful.

She couldn't remember much of her past life as a blow she received to her head during the abduction had affected her memory. However, she sensed she had been a warrior as she knew how to fight and also had other skills that would only be known to someone who’d had specific training.

It was this training and those skills that enabled her to escape the castle where she was being held and flee.

More skills, and knowledge of weaponry and combat became apparent as she returned to full physical strength, and I spotted an opportunity. Having watched Greythorne build up his private army over the years, I decided to take a leaf out of his book and create a unique fighting force of my own.

As a result, Kes is the commander of my private guard called The Khaleeni, a one hundred strong fighting force made up solely of female warriors. They report to no one, only me, and operate outside of the Ardvallan army.

Much of what they do is done in secret and only I am privy to their operations. Kes was so grateful to me for saving her life she pledged hers to protecting mine. I trust her unequivocally, above all others, and seek her unbiased counsel in all things.

“I'm sorry you had to look upon him today,” I say in a soft voice, “but it was necessary to finally confirm him as the man responsible for bringing you to Ardvalla.”