Mercy's Prince (23 page)

“Is
that so?” Caelis lifted an eyebrow to appear interested, but all he could think
was that these men were setting their sights too low. Why desire half a kingdom
when the whole of it was within their grasp?

Ulfred
studied Caelis before answering, as if he were a Seer. Would Caelis have any
way of knowing whether or not the man could read his thoughts?

“While
you and Lewes and the others at the Keep watch for opportunities to forward our
cause, Swift and I and others here in the south will continue to make
disciples. Once we have sufficient numbers, we will plan our course of action
to bring about the desired separation.”

“Even
if it means war between north and south?” Caelis asked. He had to know if it
could come to that.

Ulfred
nodded curtly, his gaze never wavering.

“War
is inevitable,” he said. “The only question is when.”

“Then
I shall look for every opportunity to foment instability.”
For my own ends,
whether or not they align with yours
. Caelis smiled.
After all, you are
but a captain of my uncle’s guard, and I intend to be king of Levathia
.

Merry
woke with the sun, more refreshed than she had been in a long time. She’d never
slept in a real bed before. She jumped up and smoothed the covers. Once she
figured out the purpose of the chamber pot beneath the bed, she decided it was
a happy improvement over the outdoor necessary behind her cottage.

She
poured water into the basin and bathed herself, drying off with one of the soft
towels. Her clothes badly needed a washing, though she knew the blood stains
would never completely fade no matter how many times she scrubbed them. After she
combed and braided her hair, she tried to straighten her wrinkled scarf before
tying it under her chin. Then she opened the door to her room and stepped out.

Merry
crossed the hall, marveling at the high ceiling beams, and peered into one of
the open doorways. She gasped when she saw it was a kitchen as large as her
entire cottage. There was even an oven. Imagine, an oven
inside
one’s
home!  She’d had to share the one village oven with everyone else.

Hoping
Shannon wouldn’t mind, Merry poked around in the kitchen to see what was
available. Every ingredient to make her special bread was there, and Merry
decided to surprise everyone, with Shannon’s permission, of course. She would
have to wait to ask Valerian, but all she’d need to do was get up earlier the
following morning.

“Good
morrow.” Shannon’s cheerful voice startled Merry out of her reverie. “I see you
are an early riser, as I am.” The woman gestured around her. “What do you think
of my kitchen?”

Merry
hugged herself and smiled. Then she pointed to Shannon and pantomimed rocking a
baby.

“Nathan?
He’s still asleep, what a mercy. He woke up three times to nurse in the night.”
Shannon paused for only a moment. “Did you know that Nathan means ‘gift’? ’Twas
a blessed gift to us after waiting so long for a child. Ruddy and I have been
married for ten years.”

Merry
smiled. She wished she could better communicate with Shannon, who seemed kind-hearted.

Shannon’s
maid wandered into the kitchen, yawning.

“Elsbeth,
please prepare our breakfast. The men will be up soon.”

The
girl nodded and yawned again.

“Yes,
my lady.”

Merry
made as if to help her, but Shannon shook her head.

“You
are our guest, Merry. Elsbeth will do it. Let’s go sit down while we can.”

But
as soon as they made themselves comfortable in the manor’s hall, the baby began
to cry.

“Aye,
me.” Shannon sighed and got up to fetch her son. Merry went with her.

The
men were waiting in the hall when Merry and Shannon returned. Kieran beamed at
Merry, and she ducked her head. When they all sat at the table, Shannon held
Nathan and tried to eat one-handed. Merry held out her hands to take him, but
Shannon shook her head.

“You
must eat first, Merry. I’ll let you have him when you’re finished, and then I’ll
take my turn.”

When
Merry later took the infant from Shannon, she cradled him and bent her head
close to better see his long lashes and his puckered mouth. There was something
especially sweet about a tiny babe. Holding him brought a peace to her heart,
even if for a moment.

Merry
lifted her head when she sensed Valerian’s gaze upon her. He regarded her with
a quiet smile. Could he feel her tranquil spirit? Or was he truly peaceful in
his heart, even if he had to be a soldier?

After
breakfast, Shannon took Nathan back to the bedchamber to change and nurse him. Merry
helped Elsbeth clear the table. The girl didn’t have much to say, and Merry was
grateful. Quiet companionship was especially helpful now that she couldn’t talk.
Would her throat ever heal? Or would she be mute for the rest of her life? She
hadn’t considered that possibility until now.

***

When
the women stepped out of the hall, Valerian spoke to Ruddy.

“If
you don’t mind my asking you, has your leg completely healed?”

“Aye,”
Ruddy answered, scowling. “The stump has scarred over, if that’s what ye mean.”

“I
only wanted to make sure because you aren’t using a wooden leg.” Valerian hated
to even bring up the subject, but he felt responsible, since he was the one who’d
cut it off.

“Me
uncle Torus had a wooden leg,” said Kieran. “He could do all manner of things: ride
a horse, shoot a bow, even throw knives.” He grinned, but Ruddy did not return
it.

“I
canna wear a wooden leg.”

Valerian
glanced down at the shortened limb.

“Why
not?”

“Because
o’ the way the leg was severed and burned, I feel constant pain, and ’tis much
worse with any pressure tae the stump.”

Merry
stepped forward.

Please
ask him if I may examine his leg.

Valerian
told Ruddy what she said.

“She’s
a Healer, after all. I’ve seen what she can do.”

Ruddy
frowned while he massaged the leg, keeping his gaze away from Valerian’s. At
last, he spoke to Merry.

“Are
ye sure, lass, that ye want to look at this ugly stump?” When she nodded, he
untied the leather strap and pulled back the breech leg, exposing an angry
puckered scar.

Valerian
cringed. But Merry knelt and covered the stump with her hands. The glow
appeared, and Valerian watched her face for signs she was going too far into
the Healing.

Her
concentration was deep, but he saw none of the strain of yesterday. Finally,
she sighed and the glow disappeared. Merry sat back on the floor. After a
moment, she turned her face up to him.

I
think I was able to stop the pains. I hope so.

Ruddy
moved the stump in several directions. His face was visibly less tense.

“I
dinna know how you did that, lass, but I feel no more sharp pains. They were
like wee knives stabbing me almost constantly.”

Shannon
came in from the bedchamber, the babe in her arms.

“Do
you want to try the wooden leg again?”

Ruddy
probed the stump and nodded.

“Aye,
why not?”

Merry
stood and held out her arms for the babe. Shannon handed her the sleepy bundle.

While
Shannon left the hall, Valerian watched while Merry cradled Ruddy’s tiny son. She
obviously had experience handling infants. This time, when she gazed at the
babe, a tear rolled down her cheek.

“Merry?”
Kieran made as if to go to her, but she shook her head and fled from the room. Kieran
turned to Valerian.

“Do
ye think she had a babe of her own? That she was married already?”

“I
haven’t sensed that from her. But she isn’t yet ready to talk about the family
she lost.” Valerian frowned. What if, young as she appeared, she
had
been married and lost a child? A chill briefly seized him. What if she had been
Gabriel’s
wife
and not his daughter?

Shannon
returned carrying a peg leg with a padded leather cup at one end and straps
sewn to the leather. She handed it to Ruddy and let him position it. He secured
the straps around his thigh and pulled the breech leg down to cover the place
where flesh and wood met. Then he used his crutch to stand. He put weight on the
wooden leg and took a few awkward steps, still leaning on the crutch.

Finally,
he lifted the crutch and walked around the hall without its support. Merry
entered just as he completed a circuit around the hall. He grinned at her, his
teeth gleaming beneath his red mustaches.

“Bless
ye, lass. I can walk without pain.”

Valerian’s
heart swelled.
This
was the Sir Rudyard he remembered. Was it too much
to hope that the knight might someday forgive him? Was it possible to restore
their former companionship?

Merry
handed the infant back to Shannon. Though her eyes were red from crying, she
had regained her composure.

Ruddy
turned to face Valerian. The knight stood taller.

“Are
ye ready tae visit Eldred? I can take ye there myself.”

“Yes,
I’m anxious to see him,” Valerian said.

Ruddy
spoke to Shannon and included Merry and Kieran.

“We
might as well all go. The old man does enjoy company.”

Shannon
gazed down at the babe in her arms and shook her head.

“I’ll
stay here today, if you please. Now that Nathan is asleep, I may have time for
a wee nap myself. Send Eldred my greetings.”

Ruddy
and Valerian walked together. Merry and Kieran followed a few paces behind. Kieran
chattered to Merry as usual, but Ruddy was unusually quiet. Perhaps he merely
concentrated on walking with his new leg. Valerian made sure to match his pace
with Ruddy’s.

Once
they entered the village, everyone they met commented on the wooden leg.

“Sir
Rudyard,” an older man called from his seat in the square where he puffed on a
long pipe. “’Tis wonderful to see yer gettin’ around on yer own two limbs.”

“Yes,
Sir Rudyard,” the blacksmith said between hammer blows. “Let me know should the
leg ever need repairing.”

At
last they came to a small cottage. Ruddy knocked loudly, and a voice called out.

“Come
in.”

The
four of them crowded into a cottage with a single room. It had a large window
opened wide to admit light and fresh air. Seated in the only chair was King
Orland’s former Seer. The old man had a coverlet across his lap.

“Good
morrow, Sir Rudyard.” Eldred’s pleasant voice quavered more than when Valerian
had heard it last. “I see you have brought company.”

Valerian
stepped forward. He towered over the elderly man.

“Hello,
Eldred. I’m very glad to see you again.”

The
old man peered up. His rheumy eyes widened.

“Prince
Valerian? Is it really you?”

“In
the flesh.” Valerian went down on one knee. He locked eyes with Eldred and
Saw
his amazement that Valerian was a Seer, too.

“When
did this happen?” Eldred whispered.

“Almost
the instant Waryn died the Sight came upon me. I have so many questions to ask
you.”

Eldred
nodded and glanced behind Valerian. “I will answer all your questions. But
first, you should find out why your companion left us so suddenly.”

Valerian
turned, and Kieran whirled around.

“When
did the lass leave, Sire? I didn’t hear her go.”

“Stay
with Ruddy. I’ll return as soon as I find her.”

Valerian
stepped outside and searched up and down the lane. There was no sign of Merry. On
an impulse, he went to the sheep pen. The shaggy ewes bleated as he approached.
There was a movement beyond the pen, and Valerian strode around it toward a
shady grove.

When
he entered the wood, he found Merry slumped against a tree. She had pulled off
her scarf and twisted it in her hands. What had caused her distress? Concerned,
he knelt beside her and prayed he could say the right thing to ease her
discomfort.

“Merry,”
he began, but he got no further. She shrank from him, and he was shocked to
See
her fear and loathing. Merry pushed herself off the ground and poised to flee.

“Wait!
At least tell me what I’ve done to cause you such grief.” Valerian held out a
hand in entreaty, and she turned, wiping her face with the scarf in a savage
gesture.

Why
didn’t you tell me you are a prince?

“When
we found you, I told you my name, but it is true I did not
say
I was a
prince.” Valerian paused to choose his words carefully. “It has been such a
relief to be among people who don’t know who I am and therefore treat me as an
ordinary person. I didn’t think about the consequences of omitting that truth. I’m
sorry.”

Are
you the one, then? The prince who ordered the Brethren to work as slaves as if
they were common criminals?

He
blinked, caught off guard by her question.

“My
father, the king, commanded me to decide the Brethren’s punishment for refusing
to fight with us. I found a solution that would allow him to obey the law yet
spare the men’s lives, since the penalty for disobedience to the king’s edicts
during a time of war is death.”

Your
father, the king.
She
shut her eyes and tears leaked out, tracking through the grime on her face. Valerian
realized only then that she’d somehow gotten dirt and leaves on herself.

“Please,
let me take you back and we can talk more about it.”

You
don’t understand.
Merry blinked away the tears.
Their time in the prison and after damaged
their souls.

“Who
was damaged? What are you talking about?”