Well of the Damned

Chapter 21





Their last night together didn’t go quite as Gavin had hoped it would. Feanna was cold, shrugging off his touch, and tugged the bed covers tighter around herself. He knew what she wanted to hear — an admission that he’d manipulated Liera into supporting his argument without knowing it was Rogan’s secret and not Gavin’s they were talking about. He wouldn’t do it. The principle was the same, and Liera stated what her preference was. For Gavin to disregard it to satisfy Feanna’s sensibilities was to do an injustice to Liera. The matter was between Rogan and his wife, and not between Feanna and anyone else. Lying beside her in the dark, Gavin tried to explain it. He even told her Liera knew about Keturah but believed her to be Gavin’s daughter, but Feanna just pulled the covers over her head and made no reply.

When he awoke in the morning, her side of the bed was empty and cold. He bathed and dressed and found her outside the stable, directing the packing of her bags, while her footman chased after her with a rainshade.

“I want my books in the carriage with me,” she said. “And perhaps some bread and cheese.”

“Yes, Your Majesty, but we can stop for a meal whenever you’d like,” the footman said.

Their three daughters were sitting in one carriage, giggling and waving and blowing kisses through the open window. Their son, Trevick, was on the wagon, arranging crates and baggage and strapping them down. Gavin’s nephews Jaesh and Asiawyth were standing with Liera, watching with sadness, while Rogan’s youngest son, named after Gavin, was hunting for stones and skipping them across the larger puddles.

Gavin went up behind Feanna and put his arms around her and nuzzled her honey-colored hair where it fell softly across her shoulders and back. She turned around to face him. “Gavin, I’m glad you’re here. I tried to wake you, but you wouldn’t stir. I was hoping to say good-bye before I left.”

Hoping to? The idea that she would have left without saying good-bye if he hadn’t awoken in time didn’t sit well with him. Once she was back from Ambryce, they would need to sit down and talk, to resolve the tension that seemed to be building between them. He hoped it was just her pregnancy making her more difficult and emotional. That would pass. He didn’t want to consider the possibility that he’d chosen his bride too hastily, before knowing her true temperament.

The horses were hitched, the supplies were loaded and the battlers and attendants were ready to mount. Feanna bent down to kiss and embrace each of the children. She entreated them to behave themselves and do their lessons. By the time she reached Trevick, who’d hung back shyly, tears were streaming freely down her cheeks, and the three girls were bawling.

“Oh, don’t cry, my loves,” Feanna said, wiping her eyes. “You’ll have Papa to keep you company, and I’ll be home before you know it.”

Oh hell, Gavin thought. He’d forgotten to tell her he was taking Cirang to Calsojourn. He wondered whether he should tell her now or just explain to the children after she left. No, she would find out from them when she got home, and he would be under her shoe for days, maybe even weeks.

“Um,” he said, scratching his temple, “I meant to tell you yesterday — I got to go to Calsojourn. I’m planning to leave shortly myself.”

She looked at him with a mixture of anger and disbelief. “You were going to let me leave without telling me that? Who’s going to stay with the children?”

“Edan will be here, and Liera. Hell, we got a whole palace full o’people to look after them.”

She opened her hands dramatically. “But neither of their parents. Couldn’t you have timed your journey for after I returned? By the Savior, Gavin!”

The three girls quieted, looking at them both with wide eyes.

He didn’t want to do this in front of the children and her attendants and guards. If he just apologized, maybe she would drop the matter until they could talk. Alone. “I’m sorry. I should’ve told you yesterday.”

“Yes, Gavin. You should have. Why didn’t you? Why couldn’t you just tell me you were going away? It’s such a simple thing. I could have delayed my own journey if yours is so important.”

“You kept storming out o’the room every time we had a conversation.” He knew as soon as he said it that it was the wrong thing, but he’d never been very good at stilling his tongue when he had something to say.

From the corner of his eye, he saw Edan approach, followed closely by Eriska, who must have gone to fetch him.

“So it’s my fault?” Feanna screeched.

Now all the battlers and attendants were inspecting their boots, their saddles, anything to hide their embarrassment.

“No,” Gavin said with a sigh, wishing he could unsay what he’d said. “It’s not. I should’ve made a better effort, but you didn’t make it easy. I said I’m sorry.”

“Children,” Edan said, “say your good-byes and go inside. Your mother will be home in no time.”

The three girls quietly embraced Feanna once more, no doubt sensing the tension and not wanting to add to it with more tears. Jilly ran to Adro and embraced him tightly, and then the girls went with Edan back inside. Trevick gave Feanna a shy embrace and stepped back with blush in his face.

Gavin brushed away his wife’s tears with his thumbs and kissed her forehead. “We’ll talk when you get home. I’ll be back afore you are. Just be safe, awright? Don’t go anywhere without Tennara, Lila or Adro.”

She nodded, embraced him quickly, and climbed into her carriage with the help of her footman. Her caravan started off.

Gavin watched them ride off, then patted Trevick on the shoulder and headed back inside. “While I’m gone, I’d like you to lend Edan a hand with whatever he needs. It’ll be good for you to see how things are run around here.”

The boy bobbed his blond head. “I will. When will you be home, sire?”

“If all goes well, in about eight days.”

He found Edan squatting in the hall, explaining to the three girls that because their parents were the king and queen, they needed to get used to them traveling from time to time to take care of important matters.

The girls noticed Gavin and ran to him. He scooped Jilly up and tucked her in the crook of one arm while he joined Edan with a knee on the floor. “You girls will be awright for a few days without me, won’t you?”

They nodded, though they didn’t appear enthusiastic.

“Focus on your lessons and the time will go by faster than you know.”

“Yeh, but our lessons are stupid,” Iriel said. “I don’t need to learn letters and numbers. I want to learn swordplay.”

“I know you wanted to be a Viragon Sister, but the Sisterhood has been disbanded and the beyonders are gone. Maybe it’s time to make a new goal, and until you do, reading, writing, and figuring numbers are good skills to have, even if your goal is to become a battler. I prefer battlers who can read and understand battle plans to those who can’t.”

Iriel looked up eagerly. “So can I learn reading by studying battle plans?”

Gavin and Edan looked at each other and chuckled. “See why I love this girl?” Gavin asked him. “No, sweetheart. You got to start with more basic lessons.”

Edan said, “Another important quality of a battler is perseverance. Do you know what that is?”

Iriel shook her head.

He explained the meaning of the word for her. “King Gavin’s perseverance is why we’re here today. You’re only nine years old. If you develop perseverance now, by the time you’re old enough to serve as a soldier, you’ll be a force to be reckoned with.”

Iriel looked to Gavin for confirmation, and he nodded. “May I go with you to Calsojourn, Papa? I’ll bring my book and do my lessons while we ride. Please?”

It had charmed Gavin that Iriel was the first of Feanna’s adopted children to start calling him Papa. The other girls soon followed her lead, but Trevick still called him by his title, no matter how fatherly he tried to be. “No, we’ll have a dangerous malefactor with us. I need you to stay here and help watch over your sisters.”

Daia approached, dressed to ride with a knapsack over her shoulder. “Are you ready to leave?”

Gavin hugged the girls one last time, and tried to hug Trevick but settled for a handshake. The stable hands had Golam and the other horses saddled and ready, and his two guards were waiting. Quint met them there with a bundle of warm bread, cheese and ham to eat on the way. “You’re good to me, Quint. My thanks.”

“I’ll be glad to come along,” Quint said. “I’ve packed a bag, in the event His Majesty has changed his mind.”

Gavin clapped his shoulder. “He hasn’t. I’ll be counting on you to have bath water ready when I get back, though.”

“Of course, sire. And a shave.”

Edan surveyed his companions. “Only three battlers? Gavin...”

He’d chosen Vandra and Brawna to guard Cirang. Although Brawna hadn’t completed her training with the Viragon Sisterhood, she was a dedicated battler to whom Gavin had once promised a job. She had reason to distrust both Cirang and Sithral Tyr, and Gavin thought her a good choice to watch his prisoner. “You worry about keeping things running smoothly here. Daia’ll worry about me. I’m not in any danger just traveling from here to Calsojourn.”

“Let’s at least take Galiveth instead of Brawna,” Daia said. “She’s callow.”

Brawna hung her head.

“I have my reasons for choosing Brawna. We’ll be fine.”

Edan launched into a lecture about assassins and unresolved grievances between Thendylath and its former enemy, Cyprindia. “The fear of beyonders kept them from our shores. Now that the beyonders are gone, there’s nothing to keep them from coming to settle old scores.”

“Scores that got nothing to do with me.”

“Sons repay their fathers’ debts,” Edan said.

Gavin cast him a sharp glance, wondering whether Edan had guessed Gavin’s debt, the one he’d handed down to himself from his life as his own ancestor, Ronor Kinshield. Gavin had kept that secret closely guarded. Even Feanna didn’t know who he truly was.

“We’ll be fine. I’ll send word if we’re delayed for any reason. Fear not, Edan. Everything’ll go as planned.” As soon as he said those words, Gavin got an odd feeling that something would go wrong.