Cara went to the sanctuary with Wesley without trepidation, and during their time alone, she learned more about him then she had in the many months that they had been together. They spoke openly of the things they desired, and she was overwhelmed by how much he truly loved Landon. She didn't deny that the relationship was strange to her, but she accepted him and Landon with the same grace that she had given Reyn and Maeve. Wesley still believed that Reyn was dead, and she didn't correct him because it was safer that way. In her heart, however, she wished that she could give him the same freedom to love and be loved. In the end, she convinced him to allow Landon to join them on their tour, and when the servants came to retrieve them the following day, while not fully confident in his fealty, she believed that they had taken the first steps towards friendship.
Despite the protests of Lord Wilber, they left Colechester a few days after the winter solstice. The weather had turned bitter, and it took nearly a month for their caravan to reach the capital city of Crantock. It was a miserable journey; hail and wet snow beat down on them, and Cara was for once grateful of the confines of her carriage.
Their arrival was unheralded as they entered the fortified city of Keverne. The Viceroy's estate was well protected, situated on an outcropping of rock that overlooked the sea.
It was just past midday when their small group was ushered into the great hall, where already an alarming number of warriors had gathered.
Cara glanced nervously at Finn who seemed unfazed by the assemblage.
“Finn of Crantock,” someone shouted from across the room.
A murmur spread through the assembly, and she heard her name whispered on the lips of the men and women dispersed throughout the hall. Cara's eyes were immediately drawn to an imposing figure of a man with hair the color of snow, seated behind a large oak table that was piled high with papers, books, and scrolls. At first she thought she knew him, but as she looked more closely she realized it was his resemblance to Finn that made him seem familiar.
“Father,” Finn said, his face composed as he approached the older man.
Pushing himself away from the table, Finn's father rose to greet him. The man matched Finn in height, and despite his advanced age he was solidly built. Wrapping his arms around his son, he held him in a long embrace and whispered words that Cara couldn't hear. When he pulled away, there were tears in both of the men's eyes.
“Little brother,” came another shout. Two men, both blond and tall and sharing similar features approached Finn, each taking turns to embrace him. “Welcome home.”
When the men turned to her, she smiled and greeted them each by name. The oldest was Artor, next in line to take his father's place as Viceroy. Linos was the burlier of the two, his eyes a darker shade of blue, and his hair already streaked with shades of silver despite his young age. Both men were well into their thirties, and it was evident they doted on their youngest brother.
“Lord Gorlos,” Cara said, bowing her head in formality and respect. “I cannot express how happy I am to finally meet you.”
“It is our privilege to have you here,” Gorlos said, watching her with interest. He released his gaze with a small smile, but there was distress in his silvery blue eyes. “Come let us retire to my study where we can speak undisturbed. I'm sure your men would be grateful to rest and bathe before supper, and I have some pressing matters that I would like to discuss with you and my son.”
Cara followed Finn and his father out of the great hall. The Viceroy's estate was more of a fortress than a home, and she found the place cold and dark, with few if any comforts. It reminded her in a way of her home in Crowthorne, if there had been a few more cracks in the stones and nicks in the mortar.
“Have a seat,” Gorlos said, as they entered the sparse room. Motioning towards two leather backed chairs, he nodded for them to sit. His hands fisted on the hilt of his sword, and his knuckles whitened as he clenched the hilt.
Something flickered behind the old man's eyes, as if some inner struggle was going on, and she felt the uneasy feeling she often got right before something terrible was about to happen.
“My son trusts you, and by the reports I have acquired, I have seen no deception in your character,” Gorlos said, his face impassive as he stared at her. “Because of that I have decided to allow you to be part of this meeting. I trust that what I say will remain between us.”
Cara swallowed the sarcastic retort that was on the tip of her tongue and reminded herself that the man was Finn's father.
She tilted her head in acknowledgment.
Gorlos picked up a handful of papers and scrolled through them as if looking for a particular report. Finding what he was looking for, he placed the other copies on his desk and handed Finn the letter. “I've had runners following your caravan since you left the palace, so I am aware of the trials and misfortunes that have occurred along your way. I am sorry to hear of the loss of your two men.”
Cara nodded and looked over at Finn, whose brows were drawn downwards as he read the message his father had given him.
Standing with his arms crossed in front of the large heath, Gorlos continued, “I am also aware of the relationship that has unfolded between the two of you.”
“Father——” Finn warned, dropping the letter in his lap.
“You are aware of the danger it puts you in,” his father said, shaking his head, as if he had already lost the argument before it had started. “So much like your mother. Always led by your heart instead of your head.”
Finn didn't speak, but Cara could see that something passed between father and son that needed no words.
Gorlos sighed heavily. “Very well,” he said, turning to address Cara. “It seems my dear that you have inherited a country on the brink of war.”
“War?” Cara exclaimed.
“You are aware that the council issued the surrounding provinces to send troops when Lydd was overthrown? Our own infantry returned two weeks ago when the issue was retracted. Hellstrom and Bere Alstern's men remain positioned around the city. There are also reports that Ashwater is sending more men to join their forces.”
“I don't understand,” Cara said. “If there is no longer any threat, why would they be sending more troops?”
Finn cursed and stood. “My father believes that Lord Ballack plans on overthrowing the council.”
“But that would be treason.” Cara stared at him, incredulous. “They wouldn't dare. Would they?”
“I can neither confirm nor deny Ballack's ambitions, but only express my suspicions.”
“And if they succeed?” Cara asked, thinking about the repercussions.
Gorlos shook his head. “Let's hope that doesn't happen.”
“The warlords in the great hall,” Finn said sighing. “That's why they are here. You plan on sending an army north.”
That explained the throng of warriors that crowded the hall when they arrived. Cara shook her head and tried to make sense of what she was hearing, but she couldn't get past the notion that Ballack would even consider attacking the Holy City.
On the desk there was a flagon with wine, and Gorlos poured some in a cup and handed it to Cara. Grateful, she took it and drank. The ache in her chest made it hard to breathe, and she choked on the liquid as it passed the lump in her throat.
She drew a trembling breath. “You would fight against Hellstrom without reinforcements?”
“Our men are prepared to fight for the future of Elbia. When the enemy strikes we will be ready,” Gorlos said, his hand once again returning to the hilt of his sword, as if he were ready at any moment to draw the blade.
To Cara, he seemed to almost yearn for battle, as if it would give him great satisfaction to send his men to fight against Hellstrom.
“If this is true, that Ballack intends to attack the palace, then Edmund would know what his father plans,” Cara said, looking to Finn and then back to Gorlos. “Surely there must be some way to thwart Ballack's plans by using his son against him.”
/> The older man shook his finger at her as if she were a small child to be reprimanded, and his handsome features twisted in a scowl. “You must not raise his suspicions that you suspect anything. Until we have confirmation, that Ballack intends on overthrowing the council, we are at a standstill. We wait and watch, and when they attack we will be ready.”
“Wait and watch?” she repeated, biting her lip and looking down so that he would not see her roll her eyes at him. She had just had this argument with Finn, and if his father was half as stubborn as his son, there would be no point in arguing. Still, Cara didn't understand their reasoning. They already suspected Edmund and Arwel of being involved in Batch's death, and now this. Waiting and watching was going to get them killed. “And your men?” Cara asked. “What are your numbers?”
“If Ashwater has joined the allegiance, we would be outnumbered more than a hundred to one,” Finn answered, as he raked a hand through his hair.
Cara gaped. “It would be a suicide mission.”
“You underestimate our soldiers,” Lord Gorlos asserted, his eyes blazing with pride. “Our men are born and bred to be warriors and our steel is sharp. We may not have numbers on our side, but any one of my men could take on a hundred Hellstrom soldiers singlehandedly.”
“Father,” Finn said, his voice thick with emotion. “That may be true against Hellstrom and Ashwater, where they send boys to fight their battles, but Bere Alstern is different. Their men are barbarous and depraved. Cara is right. Sending our army alone would be an absolute slaughter.”
Gorlos shook his head in denial, and added, “I have sent word to Lord Eoghaan and Lord Wesley, and informed them that we need as many mounted infantry soldiers ready for battle as they can muster. That is all we can do for now.”
“We are heading to Bere Alstern once we leave Crantock,” Cara murmured, and then glanced up at Finn's father. Despite the seriousness of the situation, Cara laughed out loud. “We ride into enemy territory. How do we know they won't kill us then?”
Gorlos looked at Finn and shook his head. “You don't.”
Cara closed her eyes and blew out an uneven breath. “Then what do I do?”
When she opened her eyes, Gorlos was watching her, his blue eyes hard as steel. “You continue onwards. As much as I would like to keep my son under my roof for the allotted time, it is imperative that you hasten your journey. We will hold the required ceremony tomorrow evening, and then send you on your way in three days' time. I have secured two dozen men to ride with you. Enough for protection, and not too many to stir suspicion.”
Cara didn't argue, despite her disappointment at having to leave so soon after their arrival. She had looked forward to seeing all the places that Finn had described, and getting to know his brothers and their wives, but it was not to be. They fought against time that they didn't have and an army that they couldn't see. Every day that they prolonged their journey was a day that Cara didn't sit on the throne.
Lord Gorlos, having known weeks ahead of their arrival, had made full preparations for the moon ceremony. It was a simple occasion, not what she had hoped or imagined for her dedication to Finn, but she took solace in knowing that despite the simplicity of the ceremony, his heart belonged to her. She pledged herself to Finn and the province of Crantock in front of his family and a small gathering of warriors. It was enough. It had to be.
They left Crantock and began the long journey northeast towards Bere Alstern. Snow turned to heavy rain, slowing their progress as the horses and carriages got stuck repeatedly in the sludge that permeated the roads. The soldiers that Lord Gorlos had sent with them proved invaluable. Accustomed to the soggy soil and muddy footing, they pressed forward and helped the others navigate through the thick muck.
After a week of boredom, confined once again to her carriage, Cara asked Helfrich to ride with her. Under his supervision she had begun to learn the histories of the provinces, and it was under this vice that she took the liberty of keeping his company day after day. In truth, it was more to help ease her anxiety over their upcoming visit to Bere Alstern, and to seek his advice.
“Are you frightened?” Cara asked him, curled up beside him, their legs and arms entwined, as the carriage rocked and jolted around them. “Of the future? Of what will happen to us?”
“Not so much for myself, but for the future of Elbia.”
Cara nodded and smiled at his altruistic response. “If we survive Bere Alstern and Ashwater, and the journey across the sea to Drumlish, the wilderness of Northlew and Dalgliesh, and make it out of Hellstrom alive, how are we ever to mend the damage that has been done? Is it even possible?”
Helfrich intertwined his long fingers with hers and traced the pattern of lines on her palm with his thumb. He had kissed her only once. The day that Finn had seen them on the hill. Since then, he had never pressed the matter, nor had she ever attempted it again, and there was something about their innocent relationship that helped steady her when everything else seemed erratic.
“Today has its own worries,” he said, his voice steady. “We will fight each battle as it comes.”
Cara knew he was right, but the closer they got to the capital of Bere Alstern, the more her tension grew.
Bere Alstern marked the halfway point of their tour, but it also meant, if their suspicions were correct, they were entering enemy territory. She worried if she had made the right decision not to question Edmund and Arwel. If they were guilty of the crime, was it right that they should walk freely while Batch lay cold in the ground? And if they were innocent, then was it not just as wrong to harbor mistrust and animosity towards them?
When Cara voiced her concerns to Helfrich, he had merely sighed and said, “Not even the wisest of us can make the right decision every time.”
She didn't know if he meant that she had made the wrong choice in following Finn and his father's advice, or if he didn't know himself what the right decision was.
“And what if more men die because I made the wrong choice?” she asked, her voice quivering with emotion.
“Death is not a failure if a man has sacrificed himself for the greater good,” Helfrich said, playing with a strand of her hair.
Cara didn't agree, but she didn't argue. Would he feel the same way if it were his own life that were sacrificed? Cara looked at him and sighed knowing that he would.
“And what is the greater good?”
“A united Elbia,” he said simply.
Cara shook her head and sighed. “If the price is your life, then I am not willing to pay the cost.”
“All men die,” he said softly. “Some of old age and some as young men on the battlefield.”
“Why are men so quick to take up the sword?”
“Peace often requires great sacrifice,” he murmured with an unnerving resignation that made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.
“Then let us hope and pray that no further sacrifice is required,” Cara said into the silence that followed, but even as the words passed her lips, she knew that her prayers would go unanswered.
Chapter 24
The room smelled of blood, ale and rotting meat, and Cara's stomach revolted as the guards carried another broken body out of the ring that was situated in the middle of the great hall. Already two men had been knocked unconscious, others had multiple fractures and injuries, and still the room cried for more blood to be spilled.
Cara took a sip of her watered down wine, and tried not to show her revulsion to the Viceroy who sat beside her at the center of the head table.
Scantily dressed women moved through the hall carrying platters of food and jugs of ale and wine. One of the young girls, no older than thirteen, offered to fill her cup. Cara placed her hand over the cup and shook her head, but just as the girl was about to turn and leave, Lord Belk grabbed her by her waist and forced her to sit in his lap.
“Such a pretty young thing,” Belk slurred, squeezing her breast through the thin fabric of her dress. Grabbing her face, he gripped
her cheeks and kissed her harshly on the mouth, then shoved her away from him, slapping her backside before she scurried away.
Arwel chuckled and swung an arm around his oldest brother's shoulders.
Belk returned the gesture, and looked at Cara with drunken eyes, grabbing his crotch and making an obscene gesture that made the blood rush to her face.
“I hope my little brother has shown you how a real man satisfies his woman,” Belk jeered, his eyes already trailing another of the young servants.
“I'm afraid your brother is a little shy of women,” Cara said, feigning an innocent smile as she looked directly at Arwel.
The men at the table roared in laughter, and Cara saw Arwel's face darken in rage.
“Aw, well I'll give him a few pointers so he's good and ready for you. Unless of course you'd like me to stand in his place for the moon ceremony. I'm sure I could have you screaming like a Crowthornian piglet in no time.”
Again the men snickered, but Arwel's dark gaze never left her.
Cara's stomach rolled in revulsion at the man's crude jokes. How could such a man rule an entire province? His lack of respect and decorum horrified her. She needed to get away from them before she said something she would regret.
“I hope you'll excuse me, but I'm suddenly not feeling well.”
“You're going to miss the entertainment,” Belk boasted, a dark gleam in his eyes as he gestured towards the blood soaked floor in front of them. “We have two of our finest warriors up next.”
Cara shook her head and stood up. “Thank you for your hospitality Lord Belk, but I really need to lie down.”
The man shrugged and dismissed her with a flick of his wrist.
Cara bit her tongue and turned to leave the hall.
“Where do you think you're going?” Arwel hissed, grabbing her arm and twisting so that she faced him.
“Let go of me.”
“You disrespected me in front of my brother and made me look like a fool before my men.”