When Dare awoke the next morning, he found himself alone.
His aching head reminded him painfully that the evils of drink should never be underestimated. Grimacing at the throbbing inside his skull, he sat up in his bed and stared for a moment at the empty space beside him and wondered where Arianne was. Slightly disappointed by her absence, he was not so drunk the night before to forget the heat of their lovemaking. It would have been much nicer to suffer the drumbeat inside his head if he could lie in bed with her.
No doubt she was somewhere in the palace, attending to her own duties, most likely conferring with the seneschal regarding the comfort of their guests this morning. He supposed she would appear soon enough.
Still, when he climbed out of bed a feeling of uneasiness came over him he could not explain.
Ignoring it, he went about the rituals of morning, dressing and making himself ready to move about his court and appear kingly as he did so, still dogged by this odd sensation that something, somewhere was not right. These were instincts he had relied upon for much of his life and had saved him more times than he could count. That he was visited by them now, in a place he should have felt the safest, made him tense. When he emerged from the royal chambers he was gripped by this feeling that something was lurking in the periphery, waiting for an opportunity to ambush.
Making his way to the Great Hall, which had been cleared of the previous evening's decadence and readied for breakfast, Dare was certain that the others would be awake by now, headache or not. His long friendship with them had taught him one thing about his former travelling companions—not even Balfure could keep them from a good breakfast. Indeed, before he even reached the large doors that emptied into the room, he could hear the chatter emanating from the corridor. The sound of their animated voices brought a heartfelt smile to Dare’s face, for it felt like old times again.
However, before he could join them, he heard a familiar voice call.
‘Dare.’
Dare glanced over his shoulder to see Aeron behind him. Of course it was, he thought silently, Aeron was still the only person he knew who capable of sneaking up on him. As the elf approached, Dare stifled the smirk that wanted to come as he noted the Prince did not have the usually spring in his step that the King was accustomed to seeing. In fact, for someone so light on his feet, it was safe to say that at the moment the expression on Aeron’ face was positively grim.
Elves were notoriously bad drinkers but when Aeron and Kyou resumed their playful rivalries, all good sense left them both. Last night, their competition was joined by Tully, Ronen and himself to a lesser degree. However, they were accustomed to drinking; Aeron was not.
‘How do you fare this morning, Aeron?’ Dare asked.
‘I think I’m going to be ill,’ Aeron grumbled.
‘The nearest window is that direction,’ Dare said helpfully.
The elf gave him a look through narrowed eyes. ‘If you were truly my friend you would kill me and end my misery.’
‘I thought elves were known for their ability to endure,’ Dare teased. ‘I am certain that your suffering will pass.’
‘Not soon enough,’ Aeron grumbled as the two resumed their journey into the hall where the smell of food was wafting down the hallway towards them.
‘Tell me,’ Dare asked as they approached the entrance. ‘Did you see Arianne anywhere?’
‘No.’ Aeron shook his head. ‘I have not. Why?’
‘It’s just that I have not seen her this morning,’ Dare replied, feeling once again that uneasiness. ‘I wonder where she is.’
‘She is probably seeing to your guests,’ Aeron responded, noticing the concern in Dare’s face as real worry.
Dare supposed he was being ridiculous. After all, they were host to some of the most prominent people in Avalyne during this celebration. Aside from her mother and their friends, there were lords from other cities in Carleon in attendance, and he could appreciate Arianne feeling a little self-conscious while playing hostess to such a prestigious collection. She was Queen as long as he had been King, and while he had numerous chances to prove himself since beginning his rule, Arianne’s opportunity to shine in her position was limited to occasions such as this. Prior to the arrival of their guests she had been a flurry of action, moving across the palace and ensuring everything was perfect.
‘I am sure that you are right, my friend.’ Dare patted Aeron on the back and grinned. ‘Come along Aeron. Let us get some food into you. I am certain some meat off the bone, tender and red, covered in thick gravy, and a couple of eggs bubbling with fat will make you feel much better. All that food churning in your belly, bubbling with last night’s spirits…’.
Aeron glared at him and muttered under his breath, ‘And they thought Balfure was the evil one.’
*****
If there was one thing Dare knew he would never become accustomed to since becoming King, it was the practice of everyone rising to their feet when he entered a room.
While he resigned himself to his fate in the company of his subjects, it was even more disconcerting when he saw it performed by his friends. These were the people with whom he had travelled the wilds of Avalyne, shared a campfire and gotten drunk with in taverns. They’d fought together and bled together. They even mourned as one. Their friendship was far too deep for this formality to ever feel appropriate.
Nevertheless, it was a burden of his station and he bade them to sit as soon as they had made the attempt to stand. Beside him Dare heard his best friend snigger in discomfort, and so he felt some vindication for his earlier teasing, because Aeron knew just how much he loathed the ceremony and pomp that accompanied his title as King.
At the long dining table in the Great Hall the servants were working busily to see to the needs of his guests. They walked up and down the large room, filling up goblets and setting down trays of food. They kept their heads bowed and tried to go about unseen as they carried out their duties. Directing this activity with the expertise of a battlefield general was a thin, hollow cheeked man with an aquiline nose and an impeccably groomed beard named Esau.
Esau had come into Dare’s service when the King had finally regained control of Sandrine Keep. Esau’s family had served the Keep and the kings within it for five generations, and now that a king had returned he wanted to serve House Icara again. Dare, who knew nothing about maintaining a castle, was more than happy to appoint Esau his seneschal, and the man had never given Dare cause to regret it.
As he approached his seat in the centre of table, Dare noted that Tully and Kyou were already well into breakfast, if the pile of food on their plates was any indication. Also present this morning was Lord Navarre of Varaen, who had wisely retired early the night before, engaged in conversation with his youngest son Adevane. Both nodded at Dare in greeting as he walked past them and took his place at the table.
Navarre ruled Varaen in the Southern Province before the occupation of the kingdom by Balfure. As an elder statesman approaching his seventieth year, Navarre was an able diplomat who had little taste for power, but he knew how lightly he needed to tread around Balfure to spare his people molestation by Balfure’s Berserkers. During those dark days Navarre had managed to reach an accord of sorts with Abraxes that allowed him some control over his city .
When Dare staked his claim upon Carleon, it was Navarre who was his strongest ally after Ronen. He had known Dare’s father and played intermediary between the would-be-King and the other leaders of the fragmented kingdom as Dare rallied the support needed to launch the assault against Balfure. During that time Navarre earned Dare’s respect by his wise counsel and a real friendship was forged between the two.
The first thing Dare noted when he sat down was Ronen. The Bân seemed preoccupied and barely acknowledged the King next to him, not that Dare was concerned about that. No, it was the look on the man’s face that left prompted him to speak as he was being fussed over by one of the servers.
‘You seem troubled,’ Dare remarked quietly once his meal was laid out before him.
Ronen glanced at him slightly startled, having not noticed that Dare had sat down. ‘It is nothing,’ Ronen said quickly, trying to shrug off his distracted state.
‘Come now Ronen,’ Dare insisted. ‘It does not appear to be nothing. We are friends, tell me what bothers you. I know with Aeron it is clearly too much drink.’ He threw a teasing smirk at the elf who had taken the seat beside him.
Aeron glared at Dare through narrowed eyes and then muttered something in elvish that was not at all appropriate for repeating. Dare chuckled inwardly, he didn't think elves knew such words.
Ronen managed a smile at Dare's attempt to lighten the mood and then exhaled deeply, expelling his reservations and deciding that Dare was right. They were friends and he would only work himself into a state if he did not voice his concerns. ‘I cannot find Celene,’ he admitted.
‘That is hardly a cause to worry,’ Dare said smoothly. He had learned a long time ago that Celene was not like most women. Being of Angarad, she was accustomed to going where she pleased and any man who married her needed to accept or be prepared for a most tumultuous union. While she had taken to married life quite well, Dare suspected that there was always going to be a part of Celene that remained the free spirit who travelled with him, Aeron and Kyou across Avalyne.
‘She is probably somewhere with Arianne. I have not seen the Queen this morning either,’ Dare confessed.
‘Under most circumstances I would not be concerned,’ Ronen explained, because he too knew the woman he’d married. Part of why he had fallen in love with her was because of her strong, independent nature. He would no sooner try to tether her spirit then he would trying to pin a cloud in the sky. ‘But…’ His words faltered because he could finish speaking.
‘But?’ Dare stared at him and by now even Aeron was paying attention.
‘She took her sword and her travelling clothes.’
Now he understood why Ronen was concerned. Celene would not take her sword with her unless she was fully intending to use it, and the absence of her travelling clothes meant that Celene intended to do that somewhere other than Sandrine. However, what could possibly warrant such a departure from the city without at least giving her husband some word of it? It was not like Celene to behave so thoughtlessly.
As he pondered this, Dare was suddenly revisited by the uneasiness he felt this morning when he awoke to find Arianne gone. Of course, he’d told himself that there were a dozen explanations for that and now that he knew Celene was gone, it was highly likely that the two were together. Suddenly Ronen’s comment about Celene’s sword made him anxious.
‘Ronen, have you see Arianne at all this morning?’ he ventured to ask. It was entirely possible that the duo had chosen to leave the walls of Sandrine for a day of exploration. After all, the countryside beyond Sandrine was quite breathtaking, to say nothing of the spectacular waters of Lake Tijon that sat within sight of the city.
The Lord of Gislaine’s eyes widened, realising that perhaps his situation was not unique and shook his head in reply, ‘No, I have not.’
Still refusing to think the worst, Dare rose to his feet and addressed not only his guests but the servants in the Great Hall.
‘Has anyone seen the Queen or Lady Celene this morning?’ he asked out loud, silencing everyone in the room with the question.
Tully stopped eating in mid-chew as Dare spoke, because until that moment he had not assumed that Keira had gone off with the Queen and Celene. He didn’t expect to her wait around their chambers until he woke up this morning, especially after drinking himself silly the night before. In fact, he had not thought twice about where Keira might actually be and that made him feel a little guilty now that Dare was asking after the Queen and Celene.
There was a long pause as Dare waited for someone to answer, and he was not comforted by the blank stares he received in return because no one could give him an answer. The lack of response was not merely to confined to the guests but also the serving staff. The servers, compromised of young men and women, whispered amongst themselves as they tried to remember when each of them might have seen the Queen. Finally, it was Esau who stepped forward and spoke on their behalf.
‘Sire, no one has seen the Queen at all,’ Esau declared.
‘Dare, I haven’t seen Keira all morning either,’ Tully spoke up, now convinced all three women were together.
‘I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about,’ Kyou declared seeing no reason for concern in any of this. ‘They’re probably at the market or something.’
Aeron shot the dwarf a look, wondering if he had been deaf, dumb and blind during the years that Celene was a part of their Circle. ‘When have you ever known Celene to go to a market?’
‘My wife would not simply leave without telling me,’ Ronen pointed out and was in full agreement with Aeron. Such pursuits would have bored Celene to tears. ‘Besides, she took her blade. What need should she have of it?’
‘I have an idea,’ Tamsyn’s voice sailed across the room and drew all eyes to him as he and Lylea appeared at the threshold into the hall.
Their arrival immediately brought an air of dignified stillness to the room. As Dare watched Tamsyn and Lylea enter, their expressions gave him immediate cause for concern. Their manner appeared grave and that gnawing sensation which had pursued him for much of the morning had finally ensnared him in its jaws. Lowering himself into his chair, he awaited for them to tell him what they knew about Arianne and the others.
‘What is it?’ Dare demanded, his tone cold and hard. ‘I would know what has happened to my wife.’
‘As would I,’ Ronen said with just as much concern as Dare. ‘If there is reason for concern, we all have the right to hear it.’ He glanced at Tully whose brow was furrowed with increasing anxiety.
‘Arianne has embarked upon a quest of her own,’ Tamsyn explained, aware that the tempers in the room were already frayed and this words would offer no relief.
‘A quest?’ Dare jumped to his feet, his hands knuckled against the table. ‘She is with child! She is in no condition to embark on any kind of quest!’
‘She must go on this one,’ Lylea answered, trying to subdue Dare’s ire. ‘It involves your child.’
‘My child?’ This was getting worse the moment and Dare’s patience was almost at an end. ‘Why? If there is a quest or some danger to our babe, I should be the one to fulfil any quest. Not her!’ Dare boomed. ‘How could you keep this from me, either of you?’ he demanded, his eyes filled with accusation.
‘Please understand that it is not our wish to see Arianne harmed,’ Lylea’s calm town was a stark contrast to Dare’s growing outrage. She shared his anguish at being forced to allow her only daughter to go forth alone to fight so ancient an evil, but Lylea had thousands of years to become accustomed to sending people she loved into battle. That it was her own daughter now changed nothing. ‘The quest has to be fulfilled by her. She alone can fight the evil that threatens us all.’
‘And what part does Celene have in all this?’ Ronen asked, forced to watch his tone as he addressed the elven Queen. Unlike Dare, he was not her son-in-law.
‘She pledged her sword and her life to her Queen,’ Lylea answered, ‘as did your wife, Master Tully.’
‘Keira!’ Tully stared at her in shock. ‘Keira's not a soldier! She's just my wife. She doesn't know how to defend herself! Hasn't she already suffered enough? How could you let her go?’ he shouted, and he didn’t care who he was speaking to. ‘She's not strong enough to go out there by herself.’
‘There is more to your wife than we know, Master Tully,’ Tamsyn explained calmly. ‘She chose to go without any prompt from us. As you said, she has indeed suffered at the hands of the Disciples, and lest we forget, she did prevailed when most would have not. She has talents that none of us suspect.’
‘What is this danger they face?’ Dare asked, his head spinning, as he fought to restrain the urge to storm out of Sandrine Keep and go find Arianne.
Tamsyn and Lylea exchanged glances, knowing that there would be no peace with Dare or anyone else present until they learnt the reason for Arianne’s departure from Sandrine. Neither could blame those assembled for their anger, especially Dare’s, for it was not only his wife at risk but his child as well. As a King, a husband and a soon-to-be father, it was his natural instinct to protect them both, however he had to be made to understand why it could not be him, even though Lylea suspected it would do little to hold him back.
Lylea braced herself and answered, ‘An agent of Mael.’
An audible gasp rippled through the room a split second before Dare's sputtered in fury. ‘MAEL! You allowed my wife to ride out with a company of two to face someone who is ally to Mael?’
Mael.
For an instant, Dare was filled with such outrage that he could barely think. He knew who Mael was, and he knew the legends of the dark god who took physical form in the Age of Awakening to wage war against Celestials for the conquest of Avalyne. Did Lylea expect Dare to believe that sending Arianne with only Keira and Celene to face such horror a credible way to handle the situation?
‘Yes,’ Lylea continued to explain. ‘His agent has chosen to resurrect Mael by using your unborn child as its vessel. The Enemy seeks to bring Mael's essence from the Aether and infuse it into your son's body, displacing his soul for Mael's own and then giving him your kingdom to rule.’
‘By the Gods,’ Dare heard Aeron whisper in shock while Ronen had dropped to his seat in horror.
‘And you sent her to fight him?’ Dare managed to speak, his voice nothing like a low growl.
‘She is the only one who can fight him Dare,’ Tamsyn answered for Lylea. ‘While your child slumbers in her womb, the Enemy cannot harm her. It requires your wife and child for his plans come to fruition. Had you gone to face the Enemy, he would have killed outright and anyone else with you with ease. It must be Arianne that goes because she can use the enemy’s need for her safety as a weapon.’
‘And what of Celene and Keira?’ Ronen demanded coldly of the wizard. ‘What of them? How safe are they?’
‘Celene pledged herself to her Queen,’ Lylea stared at him. ‘She is not safe, but she is a good warrior and will acquit herself well. Your wife insisted on accompanying them with no prompt from us.’
Tully didn’t appear convinced, but could think of nothing to say to refute the Queen’s words if that was what had happened. He was still in shock at the fact that Keira had agreed to go on this quest at all. It was so unlike her to behave in such a way. Over the last few years she had hardly wanted to leave home at all. For her to suddenly decide to ride off into the unknown like this left Tully reeling.
‘Where did they go?’ Dare demanded in a tone of voice that would not broke evasion.
‘They ride towards the Frozen Mountains,’ Tamsyn answered.
This was getting worse by the minute, Dare thought. The Frozen Mountains! That was leagues away and was known to be a place full of ancient dangers. Even he had never ventured that far in his travels, and now Arianne was going there? With only Celene and Keira for company while pregnant? The enormity of it was almost too much for him to endure.
‘That's almost the other side of Avalyne!' Tully gasped, unable to imagine Keira being so far away from him and agreeing to cross that distance without even telling him. Probably because she knows you’ll stop her, an inner voice in his heard spoke with surprising sharpness.
‘Yes,’ the Queen nodded. ‘They must cross the mountains and descend into Mael's Pit.’
‘Then that is where I will go,’ Dare stated firmly, pushing himself away from the table.
‘Dare, you must let Arianne complete this task!’ Lylea implored. ‘You are vulnerable. She is not.’
‘You do not understand, do you?’ He glared at her sharply. ‘You assume she cannot be harmed, but if she refuses to submit to the Enemy, what assurance do you have that he won’t capture her and keep her until she is no longer needed? As with all dark magic, I assume that this spell to bring about Mael’s resurrection requires no permission from Arianne? Just the use of her body and the presence of a vessel? If she does not defeat him, he’ll take her alive and that may be even worse than death. If Arianne even lets it get that far. She knows the necessity of sacrifice. She learned it by choosing to be my wife. Do you not think that if she believes for one moment that she could be overcome that she wouldn’t kill her herself to save Avalyne? To save me?’
‘She would not do that,’ Lylea retaliated, refusing to believe that any elf would return the gift of immortality granted by the Celestial Gods so recklessly.
Yet even as the thought crossed her mind, Lylea knew that Arianne had always been something of an aberration. She took too much after the human who had helped to conceiver her, and nothing she had done since birth was according to plan.
‘Yes she would,’ Aeron spoke up for the first time in this matter. ‘If she for one minute thought that her child could be harm either Dare or Avalyne, she would not hesitate to make that choice.’
‘Lord Navarre,’ Dare turned to his trusted comrade, no longer looking upon the troubled visage of Lylea. He was too angered by what he had learned, and although he had no wish to disrespect Arianne’s mother, she sorely deserved it in his opinion. ‘I would request that you remain in Sandrine and oversee the kingdom for the duration of my absence.’
‘Of course, Sire,’ Navarre nodded obediently.
‘I will go with you, Dare,’ Tamsyn offered, wishing to be present to counsel Dare when the time came.
Dare was still angry at Tamsyn for keeping his secrets with Lylea, but their long friendship stilled his fury and Tamsyn’s knowledge of the events transpiring was needed for the journey ahead. ‘I will be grateful for your counsel in this mission,’ he said tautly.
‘My wife rides with yours,’ Ronen stared at Dare. ‘So I will ride with you. I pledge my sword to my King as my wife has done for her Queen.’
Dare smiled gratefully and could not refuse his aid. Celene was his wife and he would not refuse Ronen’s desire to protect any more than his own. ‘Thank you, my friend.’
‘You will need my sharp eyes and senses, such as they are at the moment,’ Aeron added his voice into the mix. ‘When my head stops hurting, I am certain I will be of use to you.’
‘Well you cannot go out there with so much danger armed with an elf who can hardly hold his drink,’ Kyou’s loud voice snorted in Dare’s ear.
Aeron frowned at the dwarf, wondering again why it was he considered the Master Builder as a good friend.
‘I would be glad to have your company, Kyou’ Dare said, grateful to be surrounded by his Circle once more.
‘And mine,’ Tully declared hotly. ‘You’re not going after them without me. Keira’s my wife.’
‘Of course,’ Dare answered without hesitation.
He sat down again, needing to catch his breath. The night before replayed in his mind, how she felt when he kissed her, how she had whispered his name in his ear when their bodies were one. He closed his eyes and in a split second all that she was since the day he met her, tugged at his heart. He loved her so, his beautiful Arianne, and the thought that she was beyond the safety of her home, preparing to fight a battle she may not win not only for him, but for their child, was more than he could stand.
In this life, meeting her was his happiest hour, and if he had to die to keep her and the baby safe, he was willing to make the sacrifice. Being King without her was being less than nothing.