She disengaged from her own brood and stepped to the door, holding the same fat, dark-haired baby I’d seen in her arms weeks before. Tears ran down her face. “He already feels like one of mine.”
“Eddie, man, damn. How’d you know? ” Terry asked.
“When I visited you, you told me you had five kids. Mentioned it a couple of times. I counted six, and since the baby doesn’t look a thing like either one of you, I could guess who he was.” Oh, if only I were so bright. It took weeks for that nagging detail to finally announce itself. But nobody else needed to know that.
Shana held Pridiri out to me. I shook my head, and whistled sharply to signal Anders. To Shana I said, “You can give him back to his mother.”
Rhiannon emerged from the woods like a ghost materializing from the darkness. Her pale skin and flaxen hair glowed bone-white in the moonlight. Shana gasped, for a moment actually convinced this was some ghoulish banshee. Then Anders appeared behind her, leading the horses. I stepped aside so Rhiannon could see her son.
With a cry she ran forward, practically knocked me over and took the baby from Shana. She swayed as she clutched him, murmuring, “Pridiri, Pridiri, my baby.” Terry and Shana slowly knelt, and gestured at the rest of their now-awakened clan to do the same.
Rhiannon spun in place, laughing and crying. Finally she stopped, saw the Vints on their knees and wiped at her tears. “I don’t know why you hid him from me, Terry,” she said, torn between relief and anger, “but thank you for at least keeping him safe.”
“They’re not the bad guys,” I said. “They’re victims just like you.”
Rhiannon and Shana exchanged a significant, probably mother-exclusive look. Then the queen smiled. “Then I thank you even more for caring enough to protect him. Please, stand up. Under the circumstances it seems silly to be formal.”
“Would you like to come in?” Shana said, reflexively polite before she could stop herself. The thought that the queen might accept the invitation visibly terrified her.
Rhiannon looked at me over Pridiri’s fuzzy head. “I’d really just like to go home now.”
“Yeah,” I agreed.
TWENTY-EIGHT
The city gates were guarded and blocked by the time we returned, but of course they let us through when they saw Rhiannon and Pridiri. After conferring with Anders, the royal guard sent a messenger to the king and cleared a path all the way through town from the gate straight to the castle door. Some of the big, burly soldiers even visibly cried as the queen and crown prince passed them.
Word spread through Arentia City like the spring flood through Neceda, and the streets filled with citizens anxious to witness Rhiannon’s triumphal return. By the time we reached the steps that led up to the king’s great hall, the cheering had grown so loud it blocked out all other sound, like storm waves crashing on a beach.
Phil, Wentrobe and a dozen castle guards waited at the top of the stairs as our horses stopped at the bottom. The doors to the great hall stood open behind them, and I saw pages frantically lighting the chandeliers. Phil wore his crown and royal cape, and as I dismounted and helped Rhiannon to the ground, he swept down to meet her. I took Lola’s reins and pulled her aside so nothing impeded this reunion. But when Phil at last stood before her, neither of them made any move. They faced each other in grim silence.
The cheers gradually faded as it dawned on the crowd that their king had imprisoned an innocent woman, who now stood ragged and filthy before him with the proof of her innocence squirming in her arms. Her feet were planted wide in a fighting stance, and I was near enough to see the fury blazing in her eyes.
Anders stood nearby, his hand casually on his sword hilt. We exchanged a guarded, uncertain look. Like everyone else, we wondered what Phil would do.
The king removed his crown and handed it to Anders. He draped his cape around Rhiannon’s shoulders. Formally, he knelt before her.
A gasp went through the crowd; the king of Arentia fell to his knees for no one.
Then Phil lowered himself all the way to the ground and publicly kissed his wife’s dirty feet.
I swear my hair blew back from the approving scream that erupted from the crowd. Phil stood and wrapped his family in a tight embrace. Our eyes met over the top of Rhiannon’s head and I saw the depths of his gratitude.
He retrieved his crown from Anders and placed it on Rhiannon’s head. It was too big, and so rode askew on her greasy locks. All of Arentia City laughed.
The rest of the evening-the entire night, in fact-was given over to a spontaneous celebration. It started after Phil and Rhiannon adjourned to their private quarters, where I’m sure the first thing she did was bathe. At least I hope it was. Wentrobe woke the kitchen staff and had them fire up the ovens, then led a raid on the wine cellar. I never saw the old guy move so purposefully. By the time the king, his clean and slightly breathless queen, and their son returned to the great hall the party was in full swing. Someone dragged a band from a tavern and they played ragged, bawdy dancing songs that ordinarily would never have echoed in the palace, especially on Wentrobe’s watch.
I drank a little, thanked Anders for all his help, but really didn’t feel like joining the party. I was too tired, and too many things had happened that didn’t really merit celebrating. Ideally I would’ve just left, but Phil was no ordinary client and I really did want to see him one last time. So I slipped out and returned to the secret spot on the castle roof until the party died down.
I hadn’t noticed how clear the night was until I settled in against the chimney. The stars shone like frozen sparks thrown from lightning, and I easily picked out all the constellations I’d learned in school. The waning moon still provided plenty of illumination.
My attention stayed on the stars. Some believed that each one was the soul of the dead, and they shone more brightly when someone they loved thought of them. Were the two brightest stars that night the souls of Janet and Cathy? I hoped so, because in that glorious sky, I knew they’d found peace.
This high, even in the summer, the night wind grew chilly. Rhiannon still had my jacket, so I shifted to the chimney’s opposite side. Here I had a view across the moonlit city, fully alive at the news of the queen’s return. A soft rushing sound I attributed to wind at first grew louder until I recognized it as cheering. The whole town was still cheering. Wow.
I didn’t quite fall asleep, but my mind drifted until I completely lost track of time. When I snapped back to the moment, I tried to quickly reorient myself by the changed position of the stars. Before I could, though, the rooftop door opened. I thought I’d have to explain that I wasn’t some burglar trying to get into the royal treasury, but when I peeked around the chimney, I saw Phil emerge and make his way across the slanted roof. He dropped wearily onto the shingles beside me and leaned back against the brick. “I’m exhausted,” he said.
“I bet.”
“There’ll be another big soiree tonight to officially welcome back the queen. We’d both really like you to stay.”
“Can’t say no to a king.”
He handed me a small flask from inside his jacket. I took a drink and passed it back. “I owe you one,” he said.
“Nah. Friends do this stuff.”
We sat silently for a while. Then he said, “Is there anything you need to tell me privately? About Ree?”
I slowly shook my head.
“So you didn’t find out anything about her past?” he pressed.
“That wasn’t what you asked me.”
“Come on, Eddie, I need to know.”
I turned to face him. “Phil, suppose I told you I found out the most horrible, repulsive thing about her? Something that would make you never want to be near her, let alone touch her, ever again. Would you want to know?”
He nodded.
“Now suppose I said I found out the most amazing, transcendent, beautiful thing imaginable about her? And that knowing it would make you feel unworthy to even be in her presence. Would you want to know that?”