duty and destiny - part 2
by armond
 

 
 

The young lovers Caden and Avila plan their summer wedding.

But the schemes of King Grithra and Fermin, his agent, are about to bear fruit.

Jaussen uncovers the plot, but can he reach Westfalon in time to save the prince and his sisters?

---

 
 

 
5.
 
“Do not think of it so. Instead, know you by your actions, lives are saved, in both kingdoms.”

Still Malavet would not touch the coin sack in front of him. Instead, he stroked his gray beard.

“How, Fermin, does my doing of this ...deception ...make me a hero?”

“Arcum has no love of war,” Fermin said, “for years we suffered the insane wars of King Amangons. Since the glorious day the Selenes destroyed him, all Arcum people view peace as the Goddess' gift.”

“As do the Parasians,” Malavet said. “Still I fail to see how-”

“Two kingdoms, in balance. Arcum, Parasia. Your army is larger, yet with our navy, we match your might. Glamorgan is the key. Their forces are smaller, but whom they align with will triumph. King Grithra cannot allow the Parasian infantry and Glamorgan cavalry to align against him. And so he will attack in a preemptive strike-”

“-if Caden and Avila wed,” Malavet said.

“Exactly,” Fermin said. “King Gritha will treat such a union as a declaration of war on Arcum. We must be the sane ones, you and I. We must avert this crisis.”

Malavet fingered the coin bag. “Which one?”

“Sorry?”

“If I carry this stratagem through, which princess should I suggest to King Coel?”

“The eldest, I suppose, Princess Gwyneth. So you will do it?”

“She will be treated well?”

Fermin smiled. “Well treated indeed, friend, it is in our best interests to do so. She will be hostage in name only; our guest in all other respects. And after living in the rugged Glamorgan highlands, she may even enjoy her seaside stay.”

Malavet picked up the coin bag; weighed it in his palm. “This bribe is heavy.”

“No, not a bribe,” Fermin said. “This plan requires a subtle touch; only you have skill to do it. You hold in your hands Arcum’s peace ransom.”

“I will ...go to the archive room and compare this document to other communications from King Rhys. If the signature is a good enough rendition, then I will seek an audience with the King.

“I can ask no more.” Fermin bowed low.

~o~O~o~

 
6.
 
“And I thought we would place a white gazebo here, with roses wrapping around the pillars. What do you think?”

“I think you are more excited about the wedding, than marrying me,” Caden said.

“A girl dreams of her wedding all her life, dear. It's something...” Avila sighed. “It's something a man cannot understand, so shut up, slap a grin on that handsome face, and suffer through this.”

They walked hand in hand through the palace rose garden.

“There are rose bushes everywhere,” Caden said. “This must be amazing in the summer; no garden could surpass this, save Rose Red's and Lily White's.”

“Hence the reason I picked it for our vow sharing,” she said, and thwacked him on his arm.”

“Ow! My princess packs a punch!”

“I've had practice on my hellion little brothers,” Avila said. “Rhonwen gave me permission to hit you, by the way.”

“I bet she did,” Caden grinned. Then his grin fled. “Who is that?”

She turned to see a dark-robed figure moving through the maze of leafless rose bushes.

“That, is Faolá¡n, father’s new toy. An expensive one too, he put a dent in Parasia's treasury.”

“Excuse me?”

“A wizardling he purchased from someone named Iacobus. Father controls Faolá¡n with a blue orb on the end of a staff.”

Caden grabbed Avila’s hands. “Iacobus? There aren’t many in the world with that cursed name. He was one of Amangons’ dark generals. Is Faolá¡n enslaved?”

“Do not look so troubled, love. The collar he wears enforces obedience, yes, but he is well cared for. And he performs the most amazing tricks-”

“-Avila! You cannot treat him as a trick pony! He is human being and-”

“-our rank permits us to treat him as we choose. Now hush,” Avila said. “Faolá¡n! Come here!”

The young man shuffled to where the couple stood and removed his hood, which allowed his black curls to spill out.

“Yes, m’lady?” Faolá¡n said with a smile. The smile turned to frown when he nodded to Caden. “Prince.”

“The Prince and I are trying to choose where our betrothal vows will be given, and I am of a mind to have them here. Would you cast an illusion to show us how the garden will look in full summer bloom?”

“I …am in the midst …of a research project …your father has ordered me to-”

“-men lack imagination in these matters, and it would be most helpful to my prince to be able to see it,” Avila said.

“What? Cannot the ‘golden prince’ manage a simple illusion?” Faolá¡n said. “I am told his is proficient at whatever he sets his hand to.”

“I am certainly no magician, and…” Caden paused to regard the man. “…why do you speak this way to me? Have I wronged you? You look barely into your manhood years, so I doubt we have met in battle.”

“You have not ill-treated me yet, but it is because you have lacked the opportunity,” Faolá¡n said. “In time you will; it is the nature of nobility to treat those of lesser rank as chattel.”

“That is not how we think in Glamorgan! There, a man’s worth is measured by his-”

“-Gentlemen! You bore me with your tedious words,” Avila said. “Faolá¡n, do not force me to tell my father of your behavior. Do this little favor for me, please?”

When she grasped his hands, Faolá¡n’s face reddened. “Yes, m’lady, for you.”

Faolá¡n closed his eyes, raised a hand, and spoke:
 
 
 
Red exploded everywhere, and where barren thorn stood before, now roses filled the bushes; thousands of them. The bushes greened too, bringing summer’s bloom into winter’s cold. Avila gasped.

“Spectacular! Yes! This is how it must look on our wedding day.”

“The illusion will last but a few minutes,” Faolá¡n sighed. “If that is all, I must return to my tasks.”

“Does it always flow out like a wave when you do that?” Caden said.

“You felt it?” Faolá¡n said. “That would be unfortunate.”

“Why?” Caden said.

“Because only one with the talent would be sensitive to the magic’s flow,” Faolá¡n said, “And the combination of an arrogant prince with the talent is a dreadful thought indeed.”

“The fellow has no love of me,” Caden said, as he watched the young wizard wander away. “I will not be on the lookout for couriers bearing invitations to his birthday party.”

“Ha! No one will receive those. His one friend in the world is his cat, whom he believes can talk,” Avila said. “Enough of him. My Ball is this evening and I must start dressing for it now. Let’s talk about what you will be wearing tonight, hmm?”

“Must we?” Caden sighed.

“I would rather be kissing you here, while the wondrous images of these roses yet remain.”

 

~o~O~o~
7.

Jaussen rode North, for several hours, alternating between gallop and cantor, and rotating among the three mounts he had hired. Once he cleared the Beldell Forest, he made better time, but stopped at last at the northern shore of the Orwyn River to rest his mounts.

“No one wins but Fermin and Grithra if I ride you fellows into the ground.”

He unsaddled and brushed them, then turned them to drink their fill and nibble on sage and rabbit brush.

Once Jaussen hung his riding cloak on a tree branch to air it out, he began executing a series of stretched to loosen his tight muscles from his angular build. The winter sun caught the copper of his hair, but did little to warm him.

His stretching complete, Jaussen paced.

“Do I or don’t I alert Rhys? I have three facts and an assumption to act on: 1) Arcum is mustering its army. 2) The forged document exists and is in Fermin’s hands. 3) the prince and princesses are in Westfalon, and 4) presumably Fermin is there now too. Doing …what? Or the better question is...

…what would I do, if I was Fermin?”

He spent another ten minutes muttering and pacing.

“Unless …the letter is designed to incite King Coel to what? Take a hostage of his own? A possibility, but, too simple for a Fermin plot. Grithra is cautious to a fault and will only attack when he is certain the odds favor him. And that would only be the case if he was certain Glamorgan would not come to Parasia’s aid. If anyone needs a hostage it is Gritha.”

After he said those words, Jaussen halted his pacing so quickly, he nearly fell over.

“Oh my holy Selene!”

Jaussen pulled a satchel from his backpack, withdrawing a small parchment, ink and quill. He scribbled words, then rolled the small strip up. He then looked skyward and whistled. High above, a falcon screeched, and soon he felt its talons gripping his shoulder.

After tying the small scroll to one of the falcon’s legs, he stroked the bird’s head.

“This is your lucky day, my friend, you fly home.” Jaussen said, and then in a louder voice,

“HOME.”

With another screech, the great bird was airborne, flying north-northwest toward the Glamorgan highlands.

When the bird was a speck in the afternoon sky, Jaussen looked to the plain where the horses grazed.

“Sorry, fellows, rest time is over. Time to move.”
 

End Part 2.
 
Author's note: This story is set in the same world as two earlier stories I have written called The Necessity of Winter, and After Winter (pdfs of those stories can be found here.) duty and destiny follows After Winter by three years. A map of the Argentian Western Reaches (where this story takes place) can be seen by clicking here. A cast of characters (evolving) can be seen by clicking here.