one day!' Lonepine joined them, grinning with delight. Then he mimed a blow to Fyn's head. 'I left Hawkwing with a headache that'll stop him enjoying tonight's feast. Now we must get back to sound the horn!'
Feldspar met Fyn's gaze, torn between honour and desire. His eyes held a question.
'I want you to present it to the master,' Fyn told him firmly. He had to protect Piro, no matter what it cost him.
'Only if that is what you truly want,' Feldspar whispered.
'Of course we do!' Lonepine rolled his eyes. 'What's holding you back? Come on!'
Lonepine headed off towards the island's shore.
'I'd rather I'd found it myself,' Feldspar whispered.
Fyn understood exactly how he felt. This time Piro had gone too far.
'Byren?' Queen Myrella beckoned.
He left Garzik and Orrade to join the queen. Her companions, women of the noble and great merchant families of Rolencia, moved away politely.
'Mother?' Byren knelt next to his mother's chair so that their conversation would be private. There were dark circles under the queen's beautiful black eyes and hollows under her cheekbones. With a start Byren wondered if his mother was sickening for something. Concerned, he placed his hand over hers, small and cold. 'How can I help?'
She smiled and glanced down, covering his hand and squeezing his fingers. But when she looked up her mouth was tight with worry again. 'Do you know where Piro is? She told me she was coming down early with Seela, but she wasn't here when I arrived. I just know Piro is up to something. '
He'd been wondering where his sister was. 'You know how she hates royal duties. She's probably off playing with her foenix. She's only a child.'
'In a year and a half she'll be fifteen. I was betrothed to your father at eight and married at fifteen. Besides, this is Fyn's chance to prove himself. She'd never fail him.'
His mother was right. Byren was torn between annoyance with Piro's thoughtlessness and fear for her safety. 'You want me to look for her?'
The tightness across his mother's forehead and around her eyes relaxed. 'Do you mind?'
He patted her hand. 'Of course not.'
But when he went to rise, she held onto his fingers.
'Search the guildhall below. She knows what we have planned so she should be here by now. She's probably hiding downstairs, sulking because I snapped at her this morning.'
He nodded, yet his mother still did not release his hand. He waited. She seemed to have trouble framing her thoughts.
'What is it, Mother?'
'When this is over, do something for me?'
He smiled. 'Anything.'
'Go hunting with your brother.'
'That's no hardship.' He laughed, secretly amazed that his mother should be aware of a rift he was only just discovering. 'What -'
'It is hard to be the king-in-waiting,' the queen whispered. 'It looks like your father will live another twenty or thirty years, with Halcyon's blessing. Having no real power but many boring duties, Lence watches you. You have a way with people. Everyone likes you and he can't help wondering if you will end up king instead of him.'
Byren snorted. 'But I'd only inherit if Lence died. Surely you're not suggesting...'
His mother frowned, watching him intently.
He felt the beginnings of a headache and tried to remember what he'd been saying. 'Freezing Sylion. I don't want to be kingsheir!'
The headache passed and his mother looked relieved. 'No, Byren, you don't. But maybe the people would prefer you to Lence, and that worries him.'
Frustration welled up in Byren. 'I don't see what I can -'
'Take a step back. Don't put yourself forward so much. Let Lence shine.'
He was already doing that, not that his mother knew.
'If I hadn't killed the leogryf, Lence would be dead and I'd be kingsheir,' he muttered, struck by the injustice of it all.
Garzik hurried over to them. 'Some acolytes are heading back from Ruin Isle!' He peered across the lake. 'I swear... yes, one of them is Fyn!'
Queen Myrella released Byren's hand and gave him a gentle push. 'Go. And think on what I've said.'
He slipped away from the royal balcony, annoyed and more than a little worried. But first, he had to find his sister.
After making a quick search of the guildhall, without success, he heard a carriage draw up. After pimping and preening, the Merofynian ambassador had arrived with his retinue.
Byren had run out of time to find Piro. He only hoped she was safe back at Rolenhold with her foenix, even if that meant she was deliberately misbehaving. He made for the stairs to the