The King's Bastard - By Rowena Cory Daniells Page 0,107
Seela to pack enough food for the journey. No one must know you've been here. You'll leave as soon as possible.'
He hurried off.
Piro couldn't stand still, could hardly believe her luck.
'Come here,' her mother beckoned.
She darted over, stepping through the gate as her mother opened it. The queen snatched Piro's hand and lifted it to her face to inhale.
Piro froze. Could her mother sense the Affinity she'd used to lure the unistag?
Queen Myrella's eyes widened and Piro's heart missed a beat.
'You reek of Affinity. Why didn't you tell me, Piro?'
'Seela said -'
'Seela knew?'
Piro nodded. 'She told me not to tell you because you would be disappointed.'
The queen let her hand drop. She looked pale and her fingers trembled visibly. 'Oh, Piro. I am so sorry. Your father will be devastated.'
'We don't have to tell him. We can hide it,' Piro insisted. 'After all, you've been hiding yours for years!'
'Seela told you about me?' Her mother went even paler.
Piro nodded. 'I've been careful, just like you.'
'You just gave yourself away!'
'But only because you knew what to look for,' Piro insisted.
'The abbey mystics know. Our Affinity warders will guess -'
'They haven't so far and my Affinity came on at autumn cusp.'
'You'll give yourself away. I know you.' Her mother sank to sit on the lower rail of the enclosure, head in her hands.
Piro rubbed her back and the foenix came over, making soft interrogative noises in his throat. Piro knelt to reassure him, as well as her mother. 'I won't slip up. I stood right next to the mystics mistress at midwinter and she sensed nothing.'
Her mother lifted her face to Piro, black eyes swimming with tears. 'You've no idea what it means to live your life as a lie. Sometimes, I... but then I look at you children and think, if I'd joined the abbey, I wouldn't have you. Only now you and Fyn are both cursed. Oh, Piro, I'm so sorry!'
And then her mother... her proud, regal mother... burst into tears.
For a moment Piro stared, stunned. Then she put her arms around the queen's shaking shoulders. Tears stung her own eyes. She laughed at herself. 'Oh, Ma. It's not so bad. It's not like anyone's died!'
Her mother pulled back. 'But don't you see? It means the seer was right. And if she was right about us being alike, what else was she right about?'
The seer had forecast death for the queen's loved ones. Piro fought a moment's panic, then rallied. 'But the mystics mistress said there are many possible future paths. We're lucky we know about this one. Now we can make sure it doesn't happen!'
Her mother smiled through her tears, visibly regaining her composure and strength of purpose. 'I'm lucky to have you, Piro. For you the cup isn't half full or half empty, you're always topping it up.'
Piro laughed and her mother joined her. It felt good.
Byren had timed everything and planned for every contingency. He knew how long it would take Temor to trek back to Rolenhold and how long it would take to return with the unistag. If Temor arrived at the Lower Portals, the camp below the pass, before Byren did, he was to wait for him just off the track in a cave Byren had chosen.
Today was the day he had to fight with Unace and storm off with his men. She had been quick to understand his plan and embellish it, suggesting that he march off about mid-afternoon and then she could reconsider overnight and follow him the next morning, seeking reconciliation. This would explain how she happened to be in the high mountains to find the unistag.
Byren hadn't warned his men to pack. Their reaction had to look authentic. Lucky for him, the wait had given Garzik a chance to recover and he would be well enough to make the journey.
'There you are, Byren,' Unace announced as she strode into the open area in front of her snow-cave. They wanted a public place for the fight. 'I'm getting tired of this waiting game. My fighters need to be home by spring cusp to put their crops in. I need to take the stronghold and avenge the murder of my kinfolk.'
'I understand but my hands are tied,' Byren protested. 'I could support you if the warlord of another spar attacked Unistag, but not with an internal war.'
'What kind of man are you?' Unace demanded. 'Here I am, wronged, cast out, facing a ruthless kin-killer and you -'