had already provided a sufficient trial in the form of Ellese’s violent reaction to being told she had to stay behind.
“I’ll go wherever I bloody well want!”
The plate she hurled at him missed his head by less than an inch, shattering on the wall of the meal hall where they had, up until this moment, shared a fairly convivial breakfast.
“By order of your mother and, I might add, our queen,” Vaelin told her in a shout that brooked no argument, “you are under my command, Lady Ellese! And you will follow your instructions or I’ll have you bound and gagged!”
She blanched a little in the face of his anger but stood her ground, hands twitching as she presumably resisted the urge to reach for another projectile. Amidst the fury, he detected an additional sting of rejection. It hadn’t occurred to him she might react this way, and he reminded himself once more how much the wounded child she remained. Reva packed her off to the Reaches; now I abandon her for months.
“Lord Orven will see to your lessons in my absence,” he said. “You will also study healing with Brother Kehlan. Come winter you will journey to stay with the Eorhil until the turn of the year, after which you will spend a month with the Seordah. There will be plenty to occupy you.”
“You heard what that thing said,” she replied, her voice calmer now but still betraying a harsh quaver. “It wanted to kill me, after hurting me all over again. I know you’re going to the Far West to find whoever sent it here. You promised me a reckoning, Uncle, and I didn’t get it.”
“That thing is dead, in any way that matters. There is no reckoning to be had and I will not take the heir to the Fiefdom of Cumbrael into unknown dangers. You will remain here and I’ll hear no more on the subject.”
There had been further angry words, and a few inventively profane insults, before she stormed off to her rooms. He had decided it was best to leave her there, hoping she might have calmed herself come the late morning tide. However, she remained conspicuously absent from the throng on the quayside.
“Are you sure this is an altogether good idea?” Kerran asked him, her gaze fixed on the trio of North Guard carrying an unconscious figure aboard the ship.
“He was always a better man when he had a task to perform,” Vaelin replied. “Although, I’ll admit the voyage is likely to be a trial.”
He held out his arms to Lohren and Artis. The girl came to embrace him immediately, Artis after a moment’s sulky hesitation. “Take care of your aunt,” he told the boy, drawing back. “I’ve appointed Captain Embi to take over your lessons with the sword. He’s a fine teacher, but not so forgiving as I so don’t forget to duck.”
Artis blinked and lowered his gaze. “I won’t, my lord.”
“Will Father be all right?” Lohren asked him, eyes bright with tears. “Will you?”
Vaelin resisted the impulse to lie, knowing such kindnesses were wasted on her. “The road is long and the future ever uncertain,” he said, cupping her cheek. “Even for you, I suspect. Any . . . special insights to offer your uncle?”
She smiled and shook her head. “It went away again, much to Auntie’s relief.”
He wasn’t sure if she was lying. Kerran’s fear of the Dark had always been palpable, and consequently it had taken her years to form a true bond with her niece. Vaelin pulled Lohren close once again, whispering into her ear. “If it comes back and you happen to learn something of importance, go straight to Lord Orven. He has instructions to hear you out and act accordingly.”
Releasing her he exchanged a brief bow with Kerran—an embrace would have been unseemly—and moved to the gangplank where Orven waited to offer a salute. “I wish you would reconsider, my lord,” he said. “Just a small escort of North Guard . . .”
“You have need of them all,” Vaelin broke in. “Besides, stepping ashore in the Venerable Kingdom with soldiers in service to a foreign crown would be certain to attract the wrong kind of attention.”
“There is . . .” Orven hesitated, shifting in discomfort. “A small matter of law, my lord?”
“Law?”
“The original charter set down by King Janus authorising the settlement of the Northern Reaches stipulated that the Tower Lord is forbidden from absenting himself from these lands without express royal consent.”
“I see. And the penalty