“What were you reading?” I asked. I found myself feeling guilty for doubting his character and thinking such awful things about him. Suddenly, I wanted to make up for it all.
He smiled and shrugged. “A book on economics. It’s schoolwork for a ruler. Dreadfully boring, but instructive.”
“What would you read if you could read whatever you wanted?”
He shrugged. “Mystery, horror and intrigue, sonnets.”
I had stumbled upon many poetry books in his library while snooping last night, but pretended to be surprised. “You enjoy sonnets?”
“It isn’t something a man should admit to but, yes, I do. From time to time.”
“My father once said a well-rounded man is a true man,” I said. “You shouldn’t be ashamed of your sonnets, my lord. They make you well rounded.”
The king bowed his head with a smile. We ate in silence for a moment before he spoke again. “I apologize if I offended you last night. Being what you are, you must not be used to others caring for you. But I’m still struggling to see the warrior behind the lady. It has become second nature for me to… take care of everyone.”
I looked up from cutting my slab of ham to see him watching me with a wrinkle between his eyes.
“My bodyguards have always been men. It was easier to allow them to run themselves ragged because that’s what all the other guards do. That’s their job.” His frown deepened. “I don’t know if I’m making any sense.”
“There’s no need to apologize,” I said, eager to make nice. “I was too quick to take offense. You’re right; I’m not accustomed to being cared for. We both have some adjustments to make, but I do appreciate your ability to see the lady before the warrior.”
“I’m sorry about General Halvar.”
I tensed.
“It isn’t like him to be so severe. At your graduation ceremony and then last night with his test… It’s almost as if the idea of your ferocity brings out the worst in him.” He shook his head and sent me an apologetic look. “Not to say it’s your fault, because it most certainly isn’t. I’ll talk to him at the meeting today. You’re my Defender, yes, but you’re also a guest here. Your comfort is important to me. I won’t have him behaving like a beast every time he comes to visit. You must be able to get along.”
“My lord,” I said, perhaps harsher than I intended, “do you know what I was called before I was enrolled in the academy?”
Torvald’s brow furrowed. “I wasn’t aware that you had a name other than the one you go by.”
“They give every student a new name at the academy, one more befitting a warrior. Before I was Isa of Holger, I was Asta of Kenshore.” I let that sink in.
A flicker of surprise crossed his face. “Kenshore? How did you come to be here?”
“Roughly a year ago, General Halvar’s ship, The Great Disaster, set anchor near the shores of my hometown,” I said, rage making my voice waver. “He and his men attacked my village without warning, burning and killing everything and everyone in their path.”
The king shook his head. “That’s not possible. Halvar and his militia are only there to defend my representatives.”
My world grew misty. I blinked and took a swing of juice before continuing. “I was spared by chance. I was tossed out of my carriage and knocked unconscious by the crowd fleeing for their lives. The barbarian raiders must have thought me dead because they left me alone.” Grief built around my throat, making it hard to speak. But I had the king’s attention. I needed to take advantage of this moment.
With great difficulty, I looked him in the eye and took a deep breath. “I awoke to find myself surrounded by soldiers. I don’t know when my eyes changed color. The last time I’d seen my reflection had been earlier that morning. But when I was thrown at General Halvar’s feet, he saw my eyes were glowing and took it as a sign from Dotharr. That’s why I’m here. That’s why he and I will never be able to get along. I know you respect him, my lord, but the first chance I get, I will kill him.”
Torvald’s jaw dropped.
Tears rolled down my cheeks and splashed onto the fists clenched in my lap. “If that hurts you, if it means you must punish me… I’m sorry, but nothing you could possibly say or do can hinder my mission.”
A servant came to refill the king’s cup. I dabbed at my eyes and blew my nose with my napkin. And still he didn’t say a word. He simply stared at me, mouth agape, eyes wide. Then he fell back against his cushions. “Isa… Asta, you’re asking me to believe you over a man I’ve known for many years,” he said softly. “I don’t want to accuse you of lying. I don’t want to think you capable of making up such a tale, but please understand it’s difficult for me to accept that Halvar has been lying to me.”
I swallowed my outrage and tried to be rational. “My lord, if I had only just met the general yesterday, what reason would I have to sully his reputation?”
Torvald shrugged. “That test of his would have upset anyone.”
Aggravation made my words brittle. “General Halvar is a man of influence and power here on the island. Would I risk your wrath, the counselors’ scorn, and the general’s persecution over a test I didn’t appreciate? Would anyone?”
The king regarded me thoughtfully, almost fearfully. After what seemed like an eternity, he nodded. “I’ll have an investigation conducted to prove your claims against the general. It will be discreet. No one will know apart from the two of us and the spies I will pay to report back to me of the general’s actions on foreign soil.”
I relaxed, but only just. “Any documentation he’s provided to prove his story and any men claiming to be ambassadors for the mainland should also be scrutinized. This elaborate lie would need accomplices.”
“Yes, of course,” the king murmured distractedly. He shook his head, anger making his jaw clench. “If what you say is true, then my people’s chances of peaceful emigration and my chances of forming any sort of alliance with our sister nations have been ruined, perhaps forever, because of the actions of one man. And, if that’s the case, I don’t know what I’ll do.”
Chapter Seventeen
After breakfast, King Torvald ventured upstairs for his crown. I wasn’t sure how to feel about our conversation. I suppose if he had reacted in a fit of rage or if he had believed me immediately and given me permission to murder his general, he wouldn’t be the good, reasonable man he seemed to be. As I waited for him by the front door, I concluded that this morning had gone as well as it could have.
When Torvald descended, he was still frowning and thoughtful.
“I’m sorry I ruined your morning,” I said, and I meant it. Earlier I had been so caught up in sharing my story and receiving justice that I’d given little thought as to how my information would affect him.
“I’ve just asked my errand man to deliver a stack of documents given to me by the general along with a sample of writing from each diplomat to Ishem’s School of Science,” he said. “There is an instructor there I trust who can prudently handle the testing of the texts’ credibility. I haven’t told this man everything, only that I want to make certain of who wrote the documents. It may be that my representatives are working with the general in this but, if not, I’d like to know right away.”
“What do we know about the mainland emissaries?” I asked. “Have their stories been verified?”
The king ran a hand over his face. “There hasn’t been a reason to doubt them until now. I suppose I could write to them, but the general carries any messages from the island to the mainland whenever he comes to visit. If he opens my letter and learns that I suspect him…”