I wait now only to hear of Regona’s safe arrival in Randel. A court doctor has been ordered to force-feed Danae while I am away, and I will pray daily that she comes through her grief to find something for which to live before I return.
I have put these things in motion. My own efforts, and those of my two brave, patriotic, loyal women, Regona Carvic and Etrina Lippman, may be the only way to ensure Eldarn’s future. Prince Draven survives in Malakasia and young Marek stands to inherit the throne should his father pass on as well. Marek is a good-hearted, well-read young man. I have sent word for Draven and Marek to meet me in Orindale next Twinmoon. Perhaps, together with Detria and Kantu, we can rebuild what has so quickly fallen into ruin.
May Prince Markon’s vision for Eldarn become reality.
In my own hand, by me,
Tenner Wynne of Orindale, Prince of Falkan
For several moments, no one spoke; only the crackling fire and Lahp’s resonant breathing could be heard. Then Brynne paged back through the document, in case she’d missed something. Finding nothing new, she carefully folded the pages and passed them across the table to Steven. ‘We need to keep that,’ she said, embarrassed she had broken the silence with something obvious.
Placing the parchment in his inside jacket pocket, Steven asked, ‘Did Tenner die before he knew about Marek?’
‘He did,’ Garec replied. ‘Riverend Palace burned before Draven died so Nerak must have gone from Estrad to Malakasia.’
Mark asked, ‘Did Tenner ever meet those people? Kantu, Marek and the rest? He wrote about inviting them to a meeting the following Twinmoon. Did it ever happen?’
‘No,’ Brynne said, ‘I don’t believe so.’
‘Why?’ Steven asked. ‘Maybe if we can find Kantu, he’ll have some news from their meeting that might be helpful. If he was there, maybe he knows something Gilmour doesn’t.’ Mark shot him a withering look.
‘Sorry,’ Steven amended, flushing, ‘ did not.’ He looked apologetically about the table, but no one appeared upset with him for mis-speaking.
‘I don’t believe they ever met, because we know some of what happened in the wake of Prince Markon’s death.’ Brynne laughed wryly. ‘Sallax knew a lot about it, which meant I had to learn a lot about it. Anyway, there was a flurry of political posturing and activity throughout the Eastlands and Praga, as anyone with forged papers and decent clothing had a go at claiming the thrones of Rona and Falkan. I remember Gilmour telling us there was even one family that claimed to be rightful heirs to Gorsk – that was the land ruled by the Larion Senate for thousands of Twinmoons.’
When Steven and Mark didn’t respond, Garec laughed through his nose. ‘It was funnier when Gilmour told it, but no matter.’
Brynne thumbed her teeth at him and continued, ‘Detria Sommerson and Ravena Ferlasa worked furiously to draft a policy ensuring Praga would be governed by a Grayslip family member, even if it meant some obscure second cousin of questionable pedigree.’
‘A bastard,’ Garec said.
Brynne nodded. ‘Princess Danae died in the fire with her son, and not long afterwards a Ronan admiral established a temporary government enforced by a military council.’
‘A dictatorship,’ Mark said.
‘Exactly,’ Brynne went on, ‘and several wealthy merchants battled in what was left of the court system – and in the streets of Orindale – as they sought to claim the Falkan throne. Without Tenner or Anaria to bring any leadership to the Falkan people, anyone with money could hire a band of thugs, call it a peacekeeping force and use brutality and terror to quiet the masses and hold areas of the country hostage.’
Steven anticipated the next event in Brynne’s tale. ‘And then Prince Marek arrived.’
‘Like a plague over the land,’ Garec murmured, ‘his armies came down from Malakasia, killing every false king, insurrectionist, partisan, military leader – in fact, just about anyone who even dreamed of his or her own gain.’
‘So he was seen as a hero,’ Mark surmised.
As Brynne leaned up against him, he shifted in his chair and brought his knee to rest against hers beneath the table. He felt like he was sixteen all over again. Brynne hid a smile and went on with her lecture. ‘At first, yes, but it wasn’t long before everyone in Eldarn knew Prince Marek had changed. He set up military outposts throughout the Eastlands, choked trade along the Ravenian Sea, closed universities in Rona, Praga and Falkan and forbade unauthorised travel in or out of Gorsk.’
Garec ran one finger around the rim of his glass. ‘That was the beginning of the dark period – and we’re still living in it now.’
‘What I don’t understand is why the heirs never surfaced.’ Steven pulled pieces of lint from his sleeve. ‘Regona Carvie or the woman from Capehill, what was her name?’
‘Etrina Lippman.’
‘Etrina.’ He hesitated a moment, pulling his thoughts together. ‘Why would they never come forth with a legitimate claim? Sure, Danmark’s child would be a bastard, but he was in no shape to marry anyone anyway, was he? And Tenner wrote that he married Etrina. I’m surprised she never emerged.’
Mark responded, ‘He also wrote that Etrina knew what to do and where to hide. Maybe she never came forward because she knew she wouldn’t have a hope in hell against Marek.’
‘So the child may never have known he or she was rightful heir to the throne.’
‘Exactly. Oh my rutting gods of the Northern Forest!’ Garec leaped to his feet. ‘My dream! I saw it! That was Regona and Danmark! How can I have been so stupid? Demonpiss, but I’m blind!’
He recounted the dream he’d had on Seer’s Peak. Now, remembering the girl – Regona Carvic – cold and frightened in the moments before one of her encounters with Danmark, it all made sense. That was what Lessek wanted him to know. He sighed, suddenly deflated. ‘But their efforts to impregnate these women were for nothing.’
Steven agreed. ‘What good is an heir if she or he never emerges to rally the people in revolution?’
‘Any enthusiastic leader can organise a revolution, Steven,’ Brynne said. ‘I bet the heirs remained hidden to protect their bloodlines. Perhaps that was Tenner’s directive: wait for a revolutionary force to assemble; then reclaim the throne.’
Garec said, ‘Or they remained hidden when Tenner never came looking for them. He wrote that he planned to come back and stand beside the Ronan heir. He probably told Regona to remain hidden in Randel until he returned. He died and she melted into the background to save the child.’
‘And herself,’ Brynne agreed. ‘Etrina probably did the same thing.’
Steven said, still curious, ‘I wonder if they ever told the children?’
‘Why would they?’ Mark said. ‘The kids would have been crushed by Nerak. Why put notions in their minds that would get them killed for no reason?’
‘But a generation later, no one knows the heirs are alive.’
‘They do now,’ Garec said. ‘And Lessek knew, because he showed me.’
‘So the fate of the world rests in the serendipitous discovery of a few wrinkled sheets of parchment?’
Brynne smiled. ‘It sounds almost as silly as betting the future of all humankind on the propensity of a bank manager to grow curious and steal a tapestry and an innocent-looking rock.’
Steven feigned offence. ‘ Assistant manager – you overestimate my skills – and I did not steal them.’
Mark rose and started towards the trapper’s pantry. ‘Anyone want more of this dried fruit? I like these orange ones particularly. What are they, Garec?’
‘Tempine.’
‘Tempine. Those are my favourites.’ Mark reached for the pantry door when suddenly he collapsed to his knees with a startled cry. Clamping his hands over his ears, he shouted, ‘Damnit, Gabriel, not so loud!’