I was hoping that kiss might lead to something more satisfying, but Penny could be as stubborn as a mule about some things. With a sigh I went to sleep.
Chapter 5
The next morning was better. People had a purpose and it gave them strength. The workmen continued their efforts to repair the inner keep, and the stone masons turned their efforts to the outer walls, making sure they were sound. When the keep had burned, seventeen years before the outer curtain wall had been untouched. Even the walls of the inner keep were in fairly good shape, though they had tumbled down in places. At the rate they were working the walls and gates would be finished within a few months.
I was at the smithy again, enchanting more necklaces when a rider from Lancaster showed up. It was one of the duke’s regular messengers. Every time I saw one of them I reminded myself that someday I would have to have a few as well. It was damned inconvenient trying to find people heading that way whenever I needed to send a message. I walked out to meet him.
“A message for the Count di’Cameron!” he said loudly, his horse was lathered with sweat. I figured his message must be urgent.
“That would be me,” I said to him.
He looked at me in surprise. I guess most people don’t expect to see a count dressed like a workman and wearing a smith’s apron. He recovered quickly and handed me a sealed message tube. I opened it deftly and soon had the paper unfurled so I could read it.
Lord Cameron,
I trust this note finds you well. Unfortunately I have no good news for you. The King, his majesty Edward Carenval sends greetings. You are expected in the capital immediately to swear fealty to him. I have enclosed the letter he sent for you. He wants you to arrive as soon as possible after receiving his command and it would be unwise to delay. I did not think he would require your presence so soon but the matter of your wizardry has complicated things I think.
Regarding the other matter you informed me of, I will send ten of my men to guard Washbrook until you return. I wish that I could send more, but I have few to spare, especially given the vague nature of the threat. Please make haste to Albamarl, and take Penelope with you, he will wish to meet her.
I will meet you at the Capitol. I have also been summoned to answer for the matter of Devon Tremont. His father, Lord Tremont has demanded an accounting for his son’s death and I must present my case, your testimony will be helpful.
James Lancaster
I found the other note inside, but it contained no better information. It was beautifully written and sealed with his majesty’s personal signet. It annoyed me to think I would have to leave my people at such a dangerous time. The journey would take a solid week on horseback. Thankfully my father had brought his horses; otherwise I would have been afoot. I hadn’t had time to buy any horses of my own yet. I asked the courier to wait so I could send a reply with him, then I went to find Penny.
She was busy setting up the interior of our new apartments within the castle. She saw me coming and knew something was going on by the look on my face, “What’s up?”
“I just received word from James; we have to go to the capital... immediately.” No use beating around the bush.
“Now?”
“Yep, we are summoned by the king himself. James is going as well, to answer for Devon’s death,” I replied.
“Surely they don’t plan to place blame on him? Devon got what was coming to him!” she was already getting worked up. I tried to head her off before she got too far into it.
“I feel sure that it is just a formality. He has to present his case before the king and the council of lords. We will probably have to testify on his behalf as well. The other reason we have to go is that his majesty wants my oath of fealty.”
She pursed her lips, “I thought we would have more time. I don’t even have anything to wear.” Trust a woman to think of that first. I almost smiled.
“What are you smiling at?” she growled. Damn, I thought I had hidden it better than that.
“You,” I replied simply. “Start packing, I’ll go write a response for James and another for the king.”
We got busy after that, I talked to my father to make sure he wouldn’t mind us borrowing his horses. Then I went to see Dorian and Joe, they would have to handle things by themselves for at least a few weeks. They seemed a lot less nervous about my trip than I was.
“Don’t worry so much,” said Dorian, “This place will still be here when you get back.” The irony of Dorian telling me not to worry struck me as funny. He was generally the most anxious one of all my friends; usually I was the easy going one.
“I know, I know…,” I replied, “I’ve just never had this many people depending on me before. It’s not something I’m used to dealing with.”
“Just take care of your business with the king and return as soon as you can. We’ll make sure there’s still something to return to.” Dorian clapped me on the back. I was expecting it so I braced myself, sometimes he doesn’t know his own strength.
Penny and I left an hour later. Frankly I was amazed at her speed in packing. As lovely as she was it was easy to forget she wasn’t some fragile flower raised in a nobleman’s home. She had lived a hard life for all her youth and she knew how to get things done when she needed to. We rode two solid palfreys and carried our luggage on a sturdy packhorse.
For the journey we wore plain traveling clothes and I convinced Penny to wear her chain shirt as well. “I still don’t see why you want me wearing this smelly thing. It’s hot enough already without wearing a lot of heavy metal on top of it all,” she complained.
“It isn’t that heavy anymore and you know it,” I countered. Part of the enchantment I had placed on her armor reduced the weight by half. The shirt had weighed over thirty pounds before, now it was closer to fifteen.
“Why aren’t you wearing armor then?” she arched an eyebrow at me.
“You’re my guard, I’m just a traveling nobleman,” I smirked at her. “Besides, do you honestly think anyone could hurt me?” I said a word and my shield glowed visibly for a moment.
“That didn’t work so well the other night with that creature,” she pointed out.
“That’s why I have my stalwart companion to protect me,” I declared loudly.
She snorted, “And here I thought I was your fiancée, so much for my gallant knight!” That remark annoyed me and she knew it. Still I didn’t let her take off the chain byrnie. I worried she might need its protection at some moment when I couldn’t protect her.
I need not have worried. Our trip passed uneventfully, but the first night we discovered how cold the evenings could be. We were eating cold rations so we hadn’t bothered with a fire. Lying on a lumpy bedroll and wrapped in a simple wool blanket we huddled together for warmth.
“It’s awfully cold. Couldn’t you just ‘bippity boppity boo’ up a fire for warmth?” she suggested.
“Then we wouldn’t have an excuse to snuggle!”
“As if you ever needed an excuse!” she replied mockingly, but her eyes were smiling.
Overall it was a pleasant trip. Rather like a camping vacation. We rode, we ate, we camped and within a span of six days we arrived at Albamarl. We had passed through several villages on the way but we declined to stay in them. Something about the novelty of being on our own, alone for the first time; appealed to both of us. I think we were both a bit regretful that the trip was over when we reached the city gates.
Neither of us had ever been outside of the area of Lancaster or Washbrook, so the sight of the great city was a shock. The pictures and drawings I had seen in books just didn’t do it justice. It was so big. The road was paved the last few miles before we reached the massive gates. At the entrance the road expanded until it was over thirty feet wide, flanked on either side by two massive towers of stone.
There was a famous quarry near the capital, which produced a lot of rose granite, so everything had been faced with it. This had the effect of making the entire city sort of
pink. For that reason Albamarl was sometimes called the ‘Rose of Lothion’.
The guards took no notice of us as we entered. I suppose so many people went through the gates each day they couldn’t question them all. I stopped to ask one how to reach the royal palace and he looked at me oddly, “Just follow the main street. You’ll know it when you see it.” He turned away, without waiting to see if I had any more questions. I decided if I ever had guards they’d be trained to be more polite.
His directions turned out to be more than adequate though. The main road was straight, heading directly into the heart of the city. Various winding streets led away from it, probably circling the great city, but this street went straight to the center, like the spoke of a wheel. We passed stone buildings and houses, shops and businesses, till at last we reached what could only be the royal palace.
The gate here was also guarded, but a bit more seriously. “Ho! State your business traveler!” Two men barred our path. Their faces bore looks of extreme disinterest; apparently road weary travelers were rarely welcome.
“I am Mordecai Illenial, the Count di’Cameron and this is my fiancée Penelope Cooper. We seek entrance that we may obey the summons of our king,” I answered, using my most disdainful tone. I had been taking lessons from Benchley.
“You’ll pardon me my lord, if I find that hard to believe. Do you have papers to prove your claim?” He gave me a hard stare but the other guard’s eyes widened a bit. He leaned in to whisper in the first man’s ear. I couldn’t quite make out what he was saying, but I distinctly caught the word ‘wizard’ and ‘Tremont’. Even after a year the story of the battle at Lancaster must still be circulating.
“Certainly,” I answered him and drew out the letter from King Edward. As I handed it over I made sure he saw my grandfather’s signet ring on my hand. He scanned the document quickly, but I’m not sure he even read it.
“If you will come inside I will have someone escort you immediately, my lord.” His tone was suitably respectful now. We were taken in and told to wait for a moment in the courtyard. A moment later two groomsmen arrived to take our horses. One of them assured me our things would be sent directly to our rooms.
Penny leaned over to whisper in my ear, “Doesn’t all this make you nervous?”
I smiled at her confidently, “Hell yes. But one thing I learned from watching Marc is never let them see you sweat. Half of being an aristocrat is confidence.” In fact I had never been more nervous in my life.
“If you’ll follow me sir,” the man who spoke looked as though he might be a close relative of Benchley’s. He had that air about him, smug bastard. He led us through a maze of courtyards and hallways, until at last we reached a door. Presumably to our room, if it was a dungeon they were considerably upscale from what I had been led to expect.
He opened the door and passed me the key. The rooms, perhaps I should call them a ‘suite’, were sumptuous. The first room was a large living area, wide open spaces and furniture for lounging dominated the room. It had several doors leading off from it. Upon investigation I found one led to a large bedroom, the second to a smaller bedroom. A third door led into a private bath! I had never heard of such a thing.
It was like having a small pond indoors. Water ran constantly from a small opening on one wall and drained away where it overflowed through a clever arrangement of drains. I had no idea how it was managed but it seemed like purest extravagance to me.
“Are the rooms to your liking sir?” the servant asked meekly. Inwardly I was sure he was sneering. How could they not be to my liking? Until recently I had lived in a house with a dirt floor and thought myself lucky.
“They’re satisfactory,” I replied. I could ‘snob’ it up with the best of them. I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of seeing just how impressed I was. “When will we meet with his majesty?” I asked.
“He has already been informed of your arrival. I should expect he will send for you when he is ready.”
“What is your name?” I inquired.
He seemed mildly surprised, “Adam sir.”
I liked to know the names of the people I was dealing with, “Adam, could you give me an idea when that might be? I fear I am new to the royal court and have no clue what to expect. I’m sure you possess far more knowledge on the subject than I.”
Adam was definitely surprised now; I would guess he wasn’t used to being spoken to so directly. “I would venture to say he will probably call for you sometime before dinner. Otherwise you will see him at the evening meal.”
“I appreciate your candor, do you know if the Duke of Lancaster has arrived yet?”
“He sent his man over yesterday to announce his presence,” Adam replied.
“He isn’t staying at the palace?”
“The Lancasters maintain a residence in the city my lord.” That was news to me, but then I knew very little about the city. I knew Marc was here somewhere as well, but I had assumed he would be staying at the palace.
“How would I send a message to him? I am loath to leave myself, not knowing when the king’s summons might arrive,” I asked.
“Simply give me the message sir, or one of the other servants. They will see it delivered promptly,” he answered in a tone that made it clear I should already know these things.
“Very good, I’ll write a note out and give it to someone shortly. You may go now,” I made it clear that I was dismissing him.
After he had left Penny spoke, “You handled that well. You sound more like a Count every day.”
“Is that a compliment or a rebuke?”
“I’m not sure; I’ll let you know when I make up my mind,” she said, winking.
I wrote a quick note for the duke and gave it to a servant I found outside. Apparently the king could afford to have servants just waiting around for that sort of thing. After that I found myself at a loss for something to do.
We couldn’t exactly go sight-seeing. It was mid-afternoon and there was always the possibility we would be summoned by the king, which effectively tied us down. I gave serious thought to a nap, but Penny had other ideas.
“Don’t lie on the bed! You’re dirty,” she admonished me.
She was one to talk, “You’re not much better.” In fact the chain mail had her smelling significantly worse.
“Let’s try out the bath,” she suggested. Normally I wouldn’t have been a huge fan of that idea, but taking a bath with Penny reversed my usual misgivings.
“That sounds like a wonderful idea!” I replied. My enthusiasm showed though, and I could see caution in her eyes.
“You have to behave, or you’ll be bathing alone,” she said with a warning tone, naturally I agreed immediately. I had no dishonest intentions either, I swear. You believe me right? Yeah, she didn’t either. We wound up sitting on opposite sides of the tub. She was more wary than a deer in the forest, so there was little chance I would be able to sneak up on her.
***
Penny herself was enjoying the warm water and watching Mordecai watching her almost made her laugh. She enjoyed the attention even if she wouldn’t admit it. Closing her eyes she leaned back, letting the water wash away her cares. Drifting she could see a blue sky studded with fluffy clouds. It might have been beautiful if not for the smoke spoiling the picture. Glancing around she realized she was standing just outside Castle Cameron. Men in armor were rushing around her, readying weapons and pulling back the wounded.
At a glance she knew it was spring, which seemed odd. For some reason she thought it should be late summer, but she pushed the thought aside.
She looked for Mordecai for a minute before she spotted him. He was standing on a rise, holding his staff and sending lines of fire into the enemy. He cut a heroic figure standing there but he looked tense. She felt an uncommon sense of urgency and she knew he was in danger. Running she reached the top where he was standing and looked down. Thousands of soldiers were arrayed against them, advancing steadily.
Mordecai raised his
staff again and a cone of fire surged forth. Cries went up and men died, yet still they came on. The enemy answered with crossbows but few of the bolts found their marks, the men of Cameron were well sheltered. Looking out across the field she suddenly spotted a ballista, a large crossbow-like weapon that fired bolts the size of heavy spears. Somehow she knew its target.
In slow motion she saw the heavy shaft soar out over the battlefield. Light glinted from the steel head as it flew. She opened her mouth to yell, to warn him, but no sound came out. Time snapped back as the great bolt slammed into Mordecai, striking him squarely. It ripped through his chest as if it were no more than tissue paper and drove him back several feet. Falling backward he struck the earth, blood running like water from a broken vessel upon the ground. He was dead within seconds.
***
I watched Penny relaxing in the bath across from me. A better vision I couldn’t imagine. Her hair floated in the water as she slid down ever further into the warm water. I couldn’t even see her eyes now, she had submerged herself. I kept trying to think of ways to coax her into dropping her silly premarital prohibition but I doubted any of them would have worked.
She hadn’t come up for air in a while, which seemed odd. She had been under for nearly a minute now, so I leaned over to check on her. She was lying on the bottom of the huge tub, and she didn’t look right. Something told me she was unconscious.
Grabbing her by the arms I dragged her up quickly. She was limp as a ragdoll, which scared me even more. I pulled her out of the tub and laid her on the tile floor, “Penny! Penny! Breathe damn you!” I turned her onto her side and tried to get her to expel the water from her lungs. I didn’t have the faintest idea what I was doing.
She drew a great gulp of air and opened her eyes. No water came out but she looked at me, terror marking her face. “Mort!” I realized she hadn’t swallowed any water at all, she simply hadn’t been breathing.
“What the hell was that?” Fear and anger had me almost shouting. She ignored me and sat up, throwing her arms around me, sobbing. At this point I remembered a crucial factor; women are strange and mysterious creatures. “What’s wrong with you?” I asked at last.