She did not look at him. "No. I went to Kollinor. I had a great-aunt whom I had never met. Your father went to Schagarn to hunt--it was a good place for a secret meeting."
"He didn't trust you near dear Alvo?"
Color showed in her face. "Perhaps not. There were certainly many troopers around Kollinor."
"So Vindax is alive," he said. He rose and moved his chair around so that he was directly in front of her. Then he leaned back and sat with folded arms until she raised her eyes nervously to meet his. It took quite a while.
"You think I should abdicate?" he asked. "Well, Mother, if you will give me your sacred oath that you never met Alvo after you left Ninar Foan, then I shall accept Vindax as my king. Go ahead."
It should not have been possible for that dry-bone face to go paler, but it did. "You dare question my honor?" she asked pathetically.
He felt an enjoyable sense of triumph. "I don't need to. I checked the aerie records--as I suppose Father did when he at last became suspicious, long, long after. Kollinor is not far from Schagarn, and between them lies Hiando Keep, and one of your ladies was graciously allowed to fly home for third watch each night, for some kissing and cuddling. I suppose the guards grew accustomed to the habit. But on the last night of your stay she flew on WindStriker."
"That proves nothing!"
"Mother, Mother!" he said patiently. "I talked this over with Father, not long before King Shadow killed him. He said I had reminded him of something. That same day he had Sir Whatever-it-is Harl thrown in the dungeons and his wife, too. I suppose he would have put them to death, except that their son was Prince Shadow and his loyalty was needed--until Vindax returned."
He had been thinking that it was all a coincidence. Now he suddenly saw that it was not--Vindax had met Shadow, the Harls' son, in the palace school. The Harl woman was the connection--no real coincidence.
"Had Vindax come back from the Rand, then there would have been a new Prince Shadow and two fewer witnesses. Of course Father had found out eventually about your little escapade, but he hadn't realized until we spoke that Harl was another Schagarn witness also. He had met Foan on the Range, perhaps even Karaman."
She bent her head. "Yes."
He laughed. "I pulled them out of the cells and explained that their son was now guilty of treason, because of Vindax. A royal pardon loosens tongues like nothing else!"
She met his eye again momentarily. "A sealed pardon?"
"Certainly," he said. Of course there were faults in the wording; the pardon could be repudiated, but that was none of her business.
"So they will be willing witnesses if you decide to put Alvo and me on trial?" she asked, gazing at her own clasped hands.
"Another interesting possibility. But if the likeness is as strong as I hear, then Foan's face at court should be enough." He giggled. "So you went to Hiando Keep and met dear Alvo. Only once...day 1165...but once is enough, and I expect you did it more than once."
Now he had roused some spark in her. "You disgust me more every time I see you," she said. "Yes, we met at Hiando Keep. Yes, we were alone there for many hours. Whatever else I say, you will believe what you will believe. Fill in the details from your own experience."
"I can't guess," he said, grinning. "I prefer my women coy and reluctant, certainly not eager." That made her redden, as he had known it would. "What happened--afterward?"
Darkside was warm compared to her stare.
"The next day he went rightward on the Rand, and I came back to Ramo. And when your father and I were alone together, I asked him what had happened at Schagarn."
"Ah! I want to hear that."
She shook her head. "No, you don't! He said it was terrifying. He said he had won peace for himself only, for his lifetime. But..." She closed her eyes. "I think I remember his exact words. He said, 'But it will bring great trouble in future; great trouble for that son you carry, my darling.'"
Jarkadon's mouth opened and then closed.
"I was pregnant!" she shouted at him. "I had told the king. I told Alvo--he would have refused me otherwise. I was carrying Vindax when I went to Kollinor. That was day 1165, if you say so. And Vindax was born on 1374!"
"It is still possible," he mumbled. "He was a very small baby. You could have been mistaken."
"Yes, I could have been mistaken. It was very early. But I never doubted."
"Wishful thinking!" Jarkadon could feel his face burning. "I'm told it is an incredible likeness. Which is more probable: that you missed a thirty, or that remote cousinship could produce that?"
She turned away from him and spoke very calmly. "Neither is likely, but one happened. You make up your own mind--it won't change your plans."
"Vindax is Foan's bastard!" Jarkadon yelled, rising. "I am the rightful heir. Why did you and Father not disown him? Perhaps you weren't sure when he was a child, but later it must have been obvious to both of you!"
She stared up at him coldly. "I never believed. Perhaps your father did--he never said. And by the time the likeness became obvious, so had something else."
He knew he shouldn't, but he asked. "What?"
"That the alternative was unthinkable. And it was too late for me to have a third son."
He turned to go, and she laughed. He stopped in surprise.
"And the trouble Aurolron saw has not come to Vindax!" she said shrilly. "It is coming to you! I know him--he will demand his birthright. Train your birds, King Jarkadon! Sharpen your arrows! Prepare to defend your throne!"
Chapter 15
"Who has seen the wind?"
PALM trees and rice paddies and sugarcane...The hot countryside unfolded gently below Shadow's bare toes. Prepared for the heat at Pharmol, he was wearing only shorts and a loose shirt, and he sat at ease in his sling and mused on what a strange way this was to fly. Now he could not command--he must humbly ask. NailBiter had considered carefully and then consented, but his comb had changed color at once at the question, because he was still a very young eagle and not yet accustomed to being free to choose. And he enjoyed carrying his friend Shadow around and feeling important.
Shadow had changed color also. He was not as dark as Potro, but thirty or forty days in Allaban had browned him, except for the frost scars on his face. He thought he might even be putting on some fat for the first time in his life. That would not worry NailBiter. As Karaman had explained, eagles were not built to be ridden; girths constricted their lungs, and the weight distribution was all wrong. By choice and by instinct the birds carried their kills in their beaks or talons, and they found a human passenger in a sling a much lighter load than a rider on a saddle.
Soon it would again be time for the ordeal of facing Vindax and telling him how much better he was looking. The prince would not be deceived.
Off to the right was IceFire, with the tiny form of Karaman sitting below her beak. It was a great honor to carry him. Potro was just ahead, sitting on his mount's foot as usual, without a sling, but he had promised not to change feet in midair on this trip.
Now the house and outbuildings of Pharmol were coming up ahead, set in a rare array of open water: paddies and canals and even a reservoir which also served as a swimming pool. One reason Vindax had been brought there was to exercise in that pool. Potro's mount was sweeping in low over it, IceFire following, NailBiter soaring in high circles, waiting until the little perching wall was clear.
There was a distant roar from Karaman--Potro had dismounted in midair, vanishing in a cloud of spray as the bird soared away. After a heart-stopping moment he reappeared, paddling to shore. The young idiot could easily have broken his back, and his grandfather would have words for him when they met, but Shadow doubted that they would make much impression on Potro.