The Rose Throne Read online

  “And your daughter,” Issa put in.

  “You cannot be king, Issa, but you can serve Weirland this way.”

  “You will make Edik your heir, then? He will be king of Weirland and Rurik?” The distant cousin who was currently her father’s heir would be disappointed, but he had been waiting for years for King Jaap to remarry and have another child. He would not suffer from shock.

  “He has the taweyr, and you do not,” her father reminded her. “The throne needs to be held by both weyrs, you know that. Only one, and there would be an imbalance.”

  “That does not seem to bother King Haikor, who refuses to allow the neweyr to be used anywhere in his palace. Though his queen is not much bothered by the rule, since she has nearly as little neweyr as her daughter, so we hear.” They were sharp words, and out of character for Issa, but she felt she deserved to be out of character just now.

  “And that is another reason for you to accept the offer,” said her father. “You can help restore the balance of the weyrs in Rurik, before the effects there are too strong to reverse, and before they touch Weirland, as well.”

  Yes, this was what she had been born for. It was all laid out for her now. Should she blame her father that she had not seen what was so obvious? He had encouraged her blindness, but she had been willfully blind. Perhaps that was the effect of her immersion in neweyr. She had spent all her life trying to see the connections between all living things. She could look out at the pink flowers that grew on the hillside and sense the sweet nectar that waited for the bees. She could sense the field mice quivering in the shadows of the castle, fearful of the hawk circling above. But she had not thought of what the kingdom itself needed, the balance of the weyrs.

  “And then there is the prophecy to consider,” said King Jaap.

  Issa knew the prophecy. She had learned it as a child.

  One child will hold two weyrs.

  One child will hold two thrones.

  Two islands will be one.

  Or the sea will swallow all.

  The prophecy was said to have been spoken by King Arhort on his deathbed, his vision of the future that would heal the breech of the two islands he had himself divided in his great grief after his wife’s death. Issa did not know what kind of power would have allowed him to tear two landmasses apart, leaving only a small land bridge between them, but legend said this was also what separated the two weyrs. King Arhort had taken the magic of death and anger for himself, leaving the magic of life and growth to women.

  “But it’s just a rhyme,” said Issa. “It’s an old story, a myth.” That was what most people even in Weirland believed now, though the prophecy had a stronger tradition here than in Rurik. Issa could not understand how it was possible that the weyrs could ever be combined or how the two islands, so long separated, could be literally joined again.

  “It is real,” said King Jaap. “And this may well be the chance to make it come true. A child of yours and Edik’s would sit on both thrones. Perhaps that child would also have both weyrs, and would bring the islands together literally, as well as in name.

  “Edik is young enough that he may still be molded,” the king added. “Perhaps you may be able to do a little of that yourself. You may write to him over the winter if the betrothal is agreed upon. I imagine that will give him even more reason to be swayed by you.”

  “I always thought that I would remain here in Weirland all my life, as you have,” said Issa. If she went to Rurik in the following summer, would she ever return home? She might for a short time, but she would only be a visitor then.

  “When you arrive in Rurik, you must learn quickly the ways of Haikor’s court. Women have power there, though it is not the power that you are used to.”

  She would have to begin all over again, making friends and allies. And it would be in a new court where she would be seen as the interloper. She would have to give up all thoughts of love. Because her kingdom needed her to do so and because she was a princess and had been born to be sacrificed for her kingdom and her people from the first. Her father had never forgotten that, even if she had.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Issa

  THE NEXT DAY, with a clear head, Issa could see the advantages of the betrothal. It would end the threats of war with Rurik and the constant fear of spies from King Haikor. The stress in her people’s hearts would be decreased, and the neweyr would benefit, as well, since it could unfold more freely in the south, without the threat of invasion.

  And even if the two islands were not magically combined as the prophecy promised, they would still be politically united. Weirland had suffered for years from the tariffs that the Rurese charged when goods were transported north. Because ships from the continent could more easily cross the ocean to the southern island of Rurik, the Rurese had almost complete control of continental trade that was shipped north over the land bridge. But all that would be ended if the two kingdoms were one.

  Telling herself that she had not yet given up her place in Weirland, Issa went out to the tangled Queen’s Garden, which lay in a far and private courtyard of the palace. She could always feel the neweyr strongest here, since both she and her mother had left paths of it in past years. This was where she had gone the day her mother had died, just before she had come into her own neweyr, when only the earth itself seemed able to comfort her.

  Issa fingered a wilting pansy. She could withdraw the neweyr from it, letting it wither quickly and sink back into the earth, but she felt that it had beauty even at the end of its life, and so she let it be. She noticed the ivy growing near her window, and with a wave of her hand, directed it to remain at a height that would keep it from pulling down the white stones of the castle.

  Putting a hand on the ground, she let her sense of neweyr sink down into the lower level of the dirt, beneath the upper layer of soil, below the bedrock on which the castle’s foundation had been built. Each part had its own distinct taste of neweyr, the oldest parts darker and colder, the newer parts richer and fuller. Guiding the neweyr, Issa brought water up from an underground stream to saturate the dirt. Coming from this depth, the water was cold, which would stimulate the plants to prepare for winter. She enjoyed the smell of the decaying leaves, the neweyr floating off of them into the air to share with all the surrounding life.

  When she looked up into the sky again, she realized she had spent too long in the garden. She had to prepare for her meeting with Duke Kellin. She hurried inside to dress.

  Issa’s maid used neweyr to coax her thick, curly dark hair into a single plait that sat low on her back. The braid was traditional in Weirland, the sign that a woman had come fully into her neweyr. Only a girl without neweyr wore her hair unbraided. But there were some women who wore many bunches of small braids, who looped their braids into elaborate coifs to mimic the court style of Rurik. For today, Issa would wear the simple style to show Duke Kellin that whatever happened with the betrothal, she would always be a princess of Weirland.

  She wore her best short-sleeved damask gown, but added a shawl over it, for the castle could be cool even in late summer. The shawl had been knitted with neweyr in an elaborate pattern that echoed the braids the women wore. Issa had designed it herself, and she was proud of her work.

  She went downstairs and found her father on his throne. It was made from a single piece of white sea-stone, shot through with threads of black and silver. They formed patterns that Issa had once believed would show her the answer to the prophecy, if only she looked hard enough.

  Duke Kellin and her father were already there, waiting for her. Their silence was not a comfortable one.

  “I am sorry to be late, Father,” said Issa, head bowed.

  “I shall explain any necessary details to you later, Issa, when Duke Kellin has gone,” said King Jaap. “There is no need for him to waste his time with repeating what he has already said.”

  “My time is not wasted when I am serving you in any capacity, Your Majesty,” said Kellin. “Though perha
ps your daughter does not know how valuable the time of her father the king is.”

  “She is my only child, and the image of her dead mother. I have indulged her too much,” said King Jaap.

  Issa flushed, embarrassed that her father was forced to lower himself in the eyes of another kingdom’s emissary. “I apologize to you, as well, Duke Kellin,” she said.

  “Clearly. I should ask King Haikor to send someone else to speak to you on this matter, someone whose company you would find less loathsome,” said Kellin. “It would take some weeks for the journey back to Rurik and here again, but it could be done. King Haikor would want to ensure that you had no grudge against the man with whom you will hold such a deep obligation.”

  “No! I did not mean that at all,” said Issa. “It was nothing personal. I was late because I was distracted with the neweyr in the Queen’s Garden.” She hated to admit a true weakness, but she had no choice.

  “Yes? And does this happen often?” asked Kellin.

  “I shall work hard to ensure that it does not happen when I am in Rurik,” said Issa. To herself she wondered if there was enough neweyr there for anyone to be distracted by it, either in King Haikor’s court or out.

  “You will work hard?” said Kellin.

  “She will make sure of it,” King Jaap said.

  “My own subjects appreciate my abilities with the neweyr,” Issa said stiffly. How dare this duke of Rurik come here, demand she marry the puny prince of his kingdom, and then tell her that she was not good enough as a princess?

  “But Rurik is different than Weirland, as perhaps you might have heard if you had been here while I spoke to your father.”

  “I have said I am sorry and I have promised it will not happen again,” said Issa.

  Kellin took a deep breath. “Quite right,” he said, and the tension seemed to melt out of him.

  There was a silence and Issa knew that it was her place to break it.

  “I shall agree to the betrothal,” she said, and found herself looking for her father’s smile and slight nod of approval.

  “That is good to hear,” said Kellin. “Well, then the official ceremony will be scheduled for the first day of autumn in the new year. I shall remain for a few days here in Weirland until I know all your father’s needs with regard to the official documents,” said Kellin. “King Haikor instructed me to tell you to bring a retinue of up to twenty women to the palace, as well as twice that many guards.”

  “I do not know how many guards my father will wish to accompany me.” Twenty guards was more than he had for himself, even when he left the castle. But Weirland was not Rurik. “I shall not need so many women, however. Perhaps five.” It would be difficult for her to find that many, in fact.

  Kellin’s eyebrows rose. “Five for the princess of Weirland and the future queen of Rurik? Well, it is to be your choice.”

  The future queen of Rurik and Weirland, Issa thought to herself.

  Kellin turned to her father. “Then we are finished, King Jaap.”

  “Wait,” said Issa. “I had a question to ask you regarding Prince Edik. What does he love best? If I were to bring a gift for him, what should I bring?”

  “I am sure that he would like anything that you would like to bring him, in honor of your own kingdom and yourself,” said Kellin.

  But she did not mean that kind of gift. Of course, she would bring official gifts from her kingdom. She meant a personal gift. “A metal soldier?” she hazarded.

  There was a momentary twitch in Kellin’s face. “He has a fondness for metal soldiers,” he admitted, but it seemed it was with reluctance. He had brought a metal figure as a gift for Issa to Weirland. In Rurik, however, her presentation of Edik’s gift would be public. It would be very different and the boy would not wish to be seen as a child.

  “I might bring instead something that he will remember me by. A book of poems that I loved as a child?” said Issa.

  “Yes,” said Kellin politely. “I’m sure that he would like that.” His eyes seemed distant.

  Not a book of poems, then. “Or a hound that I have raised myself?” Issa asked. Must she continue to guess at what the prince would like?

  “You raise hounds?” asked Kellin with surprise.

  “With the help of my servants,” said Issa.

  “Well, then, a hound would be a perfect gift. Edik loves the king’s hounds. I am sure he would like to have one of his own,” said Kellin.

  “Ah,” said Issa. “Thank you!” Some truly personal information about the young prince at last.

  Duke Kellin bowed and excused himself, leaving Issa once more alone with her father.

  “I am sorry,” she said again. All this time, her father had put up with her. She had not seen herself as petted and spoiled until now. “I did not mean to embarrass you in front of that man.” She shivered, though she knew she would have to get used to him, and more than that, to King Haikor himself.

  Her father put a hand on her shoulder. “You are doing well, Issa. You have always made me proud of you, and I expect no less this time. You may even enjoy the court of Rurik. You have a bright mind. There will be so many things for you to learn there that I could never offer you here.”

  “I’d rather not learn them, then,” said Issa. It was true, even if it was petulant.

  “King Haikor is not the only man in his court,” said her father. “There will be others who are as interesting as Duke Kellin is.”

  Issa did not like Kellin at all. He was arrogant, presumptuous, and he could only see the bad in things. Or at least the bad in her. “If by interesting you mean disagreeable,” she said.

  Her father laughed. “My only worry is that Duke Kellin is too honest and faithful a man to last long with King Haikor.”

  “He seems intelligent,” Issa allowed. “But that does not excuse his arrogance.”

  “And so you would not mind seeing him die at King Haikor’s hands, his heart stopped with taweyr on the Tower Green?” asked her father.

  The thought made Issa feel ill. “Of course, I would mind that,” she said. “I would not wish to see anyone face that fate, especially undeserving.”

  “Well, Issa, try your best to see that he is not deserving of it. He may be your one ally when you arrive there.”

  Issa did not understand what her father meant. If she was sure of one thing, it was that Kellin was not to be her ally, here or in Rurik.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Issa

  THE NEXT DAY, Issa went to visit the ekhono, refugees who had come to Weirland from Rurik. They were housed past the courtyard, beneath the guardhouse beside the castle pastures, underground. Once, Issa had asked her father why he kept them hidden. He had told her that the purpose was to keep those who had newly arrived from Rurik safe. Otherwise, King Haikor’s spies might find them and do them harm, even in Weirland.

  It was cool and dark inside the ekhono refuge, with a deeply peaceful quiet that was one of the things that drew her back there often. Her father knew of her trips there and did not disapprove, and Issa liked it that the ekhono from Rurik did not treat her with the same caution and formality that her own people did.

  The damp smell grew more intense once Issa entered the elaborate underground courtyard. Here, heavy sunflowers, black currant bushes, and creeping moss grew with neweyr drawn from underneath the ground. Light came in from openings cut into the dirt ceiling and candles placed at regular intervals along the walls. Within the refuge were nearly a hundred ekhono from Rurik. They typically stayed for a year or more. Once they could prove that they could use their weyr well, they were placed in homes around Weirland where there were those willing to protect the ekhono. Some married and had children, but most lived rather solitary lives and were unable to inherit property or to run a business without help.

  In the courtyard, both men and women were sewing and knitting, cleaning skins and making boots. There were a few young mothers who had brought their children with them out of Rurik, playing and cooking fo
od over a large hearth that vented upwards through a chimney. But mostly, the ekhono were youths and a little older, those who had come to Weirland to be able to show their weyrs freely. They were all familiar to Issa from her previous visits, except a man standing by Kedor, a bright youth whom Issa had met two years ago. She moved toward the man, thinking that he must have come recently to the refuge.

  But when he turned, Issa realized it was Duke Kellin. He looked up at the same moment and seemed startled.

  “Princess Marlissa,” he said.

  Issa glanced back and forth between Kedor and Kellin. She had not noticed the similarity between them earlier, but now that he was standing next to Kedor, she could see that they had the same dark coloring, the same pointed chin and sharp eyes. They were quite obviously brothers.

  It seemed that there was more than one reason for Duke Kellin’s journey to Weirland. Had he come before? If so, she had not seen him.

  “Kedor,” said Issa. She did not know what else to say.

  “Good to see you again, Princess Marlissa. And this is—” Kedor began.

  “She knows very well who I am,” said Kellin, his chin lifted. “And now that you know the truth about my brother, what will you do with that information?”

  “You may count on my discretion,” she said, determined to give a better impression than earlier in the Throne Room.

  “Oh?” Kellin seemed dubious.

  “I swear to you, I shall tell no one.”

  “Not even your father, who could use the information to force me to give him more favorable conditions for the betrothal?” asked Kellin.

  Issa paused a moment, thinking how difficult it would be for Kellin to explain to King Haikor how King Jaap had managed that. “Not even him,” she said. Why did Kellin have to think the worst of her at every step? She had not come here to embarrass him. She only meant to help the ekhono.

  “Thank you.” Kellin nodded.

  “Your father says that it won’t be long before I leave here,” said Kedor, sounding happy. “I’m almost fully trained in the use of neweyr.”