The Born Queen Part 42

Nerenai shook her head. "No. As you said, you're starting to come to terms with your power. You rely less and less upon the arilac, yes?"

"I see less of her," Anne said. "And when I do see her, she seems...faded."

"Did you-" Emily began, but then stopped and put her hands in her lap. "What, Emily?"

The girl looked back up. "Did you really really kill a thousand men?" kill a thousand men?"

Anne nodded. "Does that bother you?"

"Bother me? It's amazing. The saints really have touched you. It's like you're Genya Dare reborn, come to lead her heroes against the Scaosen, to tear the doors off their palaces and grind them into the dust."

"I don't quite have her her power," Anne said. power," Anne said.

"No, but you will," Nerenai said.

"My uncle Charles is so stupid," Emily said. "He said you were just a silly girl. If he could see-"

"Wait," Anne said. "Your uncle uncle Charles? Do you mean Charles IV?" Charles? Do you mean Charles IV?"

Emily's hand flew to her mouth, and she reddened.

"I see," Anne said. "This is what I get for not learning those tedious royal lineages, I suppose."

"I shouldn't have said that," Emily said.

"On the contrary," Anne said, "you should have told me that long ago. And so I think now you should tell me anything else you might have failed to mention, or I might become very, very cross. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Majesty."

Anne stood on the battlements of the south tower again the next morning, clad in a suit of black plate trimmed with gold. She left the helm off so that she could see better.

The view was wonderful. Directly below her was the Yaner Gravigh, the northernmost ca.n.a.l of Newland, hewing from east to west. A wall four kingsyards high stood on the southern birm and went off beyond sight in either direction.

Beyond were the vast downs of Andemuer, gently rolling hills tilled and terraced by a hundred generations of plowmen.

The host of Hansa was a bit of an eyesore, but at the moment, even that was beautiful to her because for almost a league the ca.n.a.l was clogged with their wrecked and burning boats.

They had come before dawn, dragging light watercraft from behind the hills. In a few places they had tried to float bridges, but those had fared no better. Artwair reckoned that more than three thousand Hansans had been slaughtered in the attempt, falling to siege engines and archers ma.s.sed upon the birm wall.

The cost to Crotheny could be counted on a pair of hands.

"You sent for me, Majesty?"

Anne didn't turn, but she nodded. "Good morning, Cape Chavel."

"A glorious victory," he ventured.

"I'm very pleased," Anne said. "Of course, they'll try again tomorrow, two leagues upstream."

"Why not farther?" he asked. "I understand they need to reduce Poelscild, but why try to cross here, under our engines?"

"More than two leagues upstream the ground around the river gets low and swampy, or so they tell me," Anne replied, "and beyond that they would have the Dew to reckon with. South, we've flooded the poelen nearest the ca.n.a.l, so they would cross it only to find a lake."

"But the force coming on the Warlock-"

"You'll meet them," Anne said. "You, Kenwulf, and Cathond and his light horse. You'll stop them, won't you?"

"Yes, Majesty."

"Cape Chavel?"

"Yes, Majesty?"

"Why didn't you tell me you're third in line for the Virgenyan throne?"

For a moment he just stood stupidly. Then he clasped his hands behind his back.

"Ah," he said. "You've been checking up on me."

"No," Anne replied. "Emily let slip that your uncle is Charles. Once that was out, I made her tell me everything. She mentioned, for instance, that you actually came here to propose marriage."

She leveled her gaze on him.

"Yes," he replied, looking abashed. "Yes, that is the case."

"I don't like being deceived," Anne said. "Explain yourself, please."

The earl tilted his head apologetically. "My uncle sent that insulting delegation as a negotiation," he said. "He reckoned you would be desperate, and his lack of respect would make you more so. My role was to offer a marriage in return for the troops you've requested."

"So you've lied about several things. You didn't come here to fight for me."

"No," he said, "but I decided to the moment you spoke. You were right, and my uncle was wrong. I was too ashamed of my original mission to mention it to you, and the only deception I've engaged in has been to prevent that shame from being exposed. I can't tell you how sorry I am, Your Majesty."

Anne nodded, not quite sure what she should feel.

"If you had made the proposal-and if I had accepted-would your uncle have sent troops?"

He shrugged. "I don't know, to tell you the truth."

"Well, let's find out," Anne said. "Send word that you've made your proposal and I received it favorably. Court me, and I will discover what sort of man your uncle really is."

"You're going to answer one lie with another?" the earl asked.

"It's the same lie," Anne said. "I just want to expose the whole thing. Anyway, would it be so difficult for you to feign interest? I know I'm not the most beautiful of women, but I am the queen."

Cape Chavel's eyebrows went up "I have no need to feign interest, Majesty. I've never met a woman like you, and I'm sure I never will again. And it's only because you are are queen that I haven't told you that. I'm dead in love with you, Queen Anne." queen that I haven't told you that. I'm dead in love with you, Queen Anne."

As he spoke, an odd warmth suddenly spread down her limbs.

"You needn't overdo it," she said, suddenly not so sure of herself. "No one is listening."

"I'm telling you the truth," he said.

"Be careful, Cape Chavel," Anne said. "I've been badly betrayed by someone who claimed to love me. I found out he was merely using me for political gain. I won't feel like that again, ever. So be honest."

He stepped closer, and suddenly he seemed to enclose her, blotting out everything else around her.

"I am honest," he said. "I refused to court you for political reasons, remember? And I won't pretend to court you now when you so plainly have no interest in me. So let us keep things as they are: You my queen and I one of your knights."

Anne thought she had a reply, but she lost it somehow. She had believed she'd hit on a clever political ploy, but it was suddenly very much out of control. The earl sounded hurt. hurt. Was he really serious? Was he really serious?

"May I go, Majesty?" Cape Chavel said stiffly.

"Yes, go," she said.

She heard his footsteps start off. "Wait," she said.

The footfalls stopped, and she felt a giddy sort of fear.

"I never said I didn't care for you," she said softly.

"Do you?"

She turned slowly. "Since we've met, I've been very...busy," she said. "I've had a lot on my mind."

"I know," he said.

"And as I've told you, I've been hurt before." She paused. "Not just once. And there is-was-someone else. I admire you, Cape Chavel. I like you very much."

"That isn't love."

"I've no idea what love is," Anne said. "But you're judging me too quickly. You're guessing. You will never know if I can love you unless you court me, and neither will I."

He held her gaze well past the point Anne found comfortable, which amounted to around three heartbeats.

"Majesty, now I have to ask if you are serious."

She suddenly wanted to make a joke out of the whole thing, explode the moment as she had done with Cazio and back away.

And what about Cazio? She was sure he had feelings for her. If something happened to Austra- No, she couldn't think like that.

And so she nodded in response to his question.

"Then I will court you," he said softly. "And hope I do not regret it. How should I start?"

"Ideally? Long walks in the gardens, riding, picnics, flowers and poetry. But as we're in the middle of a war and I'm sending you off to fight this afternoon, I think a kiss might be nice."

And so there was a kiss, and it was was nice, and another, which was nice, and another, which was very very nice, and so they spent the rest of the morning as the boats finished burning. nice, and so they spent the rest of the morning as the boats finished burning.

CHAPTER FOUR.

FEND M MAKES AN O OFFER.

ONE OF THE WYVERS folded its wings and dropped, hitting the man riding ahead of Aspar in the middle of the back with its wicked spurs. The fellow went flying over his mount's neck, and the horse reared in terror. So did Aspar's mount, and he cursed the loss of Ogre one more time. Ogre would rear only to attack. folded its wings and dropped, hitting the man riding ahead of Aspar in the middle of the back with its wicked spurs. The fellow went flying over his mount's neck, and the horse reared in terror. So did Aspar's mount, and he cursed the loss of Ogre one more time. Ogre would rear only to attack.

Trying to control the beast with one hand, he jabbed his spear at the wyver with the other. To his satisfaction, he poked a hole right through its wing.

It screeched, hopped out of reach, and leaped skyward. The wounded wing still caught plenty of air, and in heartbeats it was up with its four brethren.

The attack had come as a surprise, because for bells the things had just been circling, following them. Fend's eyes in the heavens.

When they reached Ermensdoon, the flying creatures broke off their attack and went even higher in their coiling paths.

"We don't have long," Aspar said. "They'll be coming."

"We almost beat them," Emfrith muttered. His face was still tear-streaked. "If we could just find some way to kill the basil-nix. I hear Duke Artwair killed one down in Broogh, with fire."

"Maunt they may have another fox behind their ears," Aspar pointed out.

Emfrith nodded. "I won't argue with you again. We'll form up here only as long as it takes to evacuate the castle. Then we're off, wherever you say."

Aspar felt happier than he ought to at Emfrith's capitulation. It was the geos again.

Aspar knelt in the brush and looked down across the fields, gritting his teeth against the ache in his leg.

Leshya sighed almost silently and shook her head from side to side.

"I could have scouted alone," she whispered.

Aspar didn't answer. Fend and his monsters were just appearing over a low hill about ten bowshots away. He glanced at the sky, but he and the Sefry seemed to have been successful in sneaking away from the larger party without a winged escort.

There were more sedhmhari than ever. At this distance he couldn't make out what all of them were, but it looked as if there were at least twenty.

"Well, that's that," Aspar said.

They made their way back over the ridge to their mounts and turned them south.

"That should convince Emfrith not to fight again," Aspar said.