Schemes E-Book

A.C. Donaubauer

• Herausgeber: via tolino media
• Kategorie: Fantasy und Science-Fiction
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2016

Beschreibung

After the delegation's return not only the Old Kingdom has to face changes as a consequence of the contact with the Western Territories. Eryn and Enric, too, realise that their recently established bond is not without side effects. Eryn centres all her hopes on the healer from Takhan who is supposed to aid her for a few months and who is bound to arrive soon...

Leseprobe

Contents

Imprint

Chapter 1 - Returning Home

Chapter 2 - Back to Work

Chapter 3 - Side Effect

Chapter 4 - New Developments

Chapter 5 - Progress

Chapter 6 - The Challenge

Chapter 7 - A New Ambassador

Chapter 8 - Considerations

Chapter 9 - Junar's Surprise

Chapter 10 - Orrin's Troubles

Chapter 11 - Intimate Details

Chapter 12 - Foreign Guests

Chapter 13 - Introductions

Chapter 14 - Learning the Ropes

Chapter 15 - The Proposal

Chapter 16 - Society Games

Chapter 17 - Malriel's Affair

Chapter 18 - Striking Back

Chapter 19 - A Second Chance

Chapter 20 - Royal Trouble

Chapter 21 - Taking Measures

Chapter 22 - Public Punishment

Chapter 23 - Mending Fences

Chapter 24 - Royal Instruction

Chapter 25 - Losing a Bet

Chapter 26 - Vern's Plan

Chapter 27 - The Exams

Chapter 28 - Stomach Troubles

Chapter 29 - Spreading the News

Chapter 30 - Combat Training

Chapter 31 - The Rules of Inheritance

Chapter 32 - Ambassador Erbál

Chapter 33 - Farewell

First published in August 2016

Copyright © 2016

Astrid Donaubauer-Grobner

Waltenhofengasse 3/3/3302

1100 Vienna, Austria

The author online:

www.ac-donaubauer.com

www.facebook.com/acdonaubauer

Cover: Biserka Design

Editing: Jürgen Donaubauer

Proofreading: Philip Scott

ISBN 978-3-9504058-2-8

* * *

To Jasmin and Jennifer, my little sisters.

I’m proud of you.

CHAPTER 1

Returning Home

Enric looked grim as he stared out over the sea. There was nothing in sight, the horizon was no more than an endless straight line that separated the brighter blue above from the darker colour below. No interruption in the form of land promised relief anytime soon.

The last time he crossed the sea he had not felt any of the effects most others in his party, Eryn included, had been suffering. Seasickness, they called it, he remembered. But this time it seemed his stomach was not as resistant to the constant pitching of the ship as before. He was told that the body got used to it after a few days, so suffering from it now when it had not affected him before seemed strange.

His troubles were not as grave as Eryn’s, though. She lay immobile on the plank bed in their cabin downstairs, her stomach empty of everything that had been in there. It was unfortunate that healing away the symptoms did not work in this case as long as the cause was present every single moment and caused them to return immediately.

But at least they had half of the journey on the ship behind them already, only one more day left until they would reach the small village of Bonhet where they had boarded the ship that had brought them to the Western Territories. Right now that seemed like an eternity ago. He had quite grand plans for the village and wondered how people would react to them. Eryn was right in that one regard: the willingness to adapt to new developments was not exactly considered a virtue, not in the city of Anyueel, and even less in remote places like that fishing village.

He felt the tension in his stomach relaxing and decided to look after Eryn. Maybe he could persuade her to let him put her to sleep for a few hours now that Kilan and Grend were not there to tease her about choosing the easy way out. It was reluctance to be forced to listen to any jibes from their travel companions that had made her reject his offer the previous time, when they were bound for Takhan.

But when he opened the door to their small cabin, he saw that she had fallen asleep already, one arm hanging down to the floor limply. She couldn’t have been asleep for very long, the tea he had made for her was still warm. Probably no more than a minute or two, pretty much when his stomach had given up complaining.

His head jerked up and he frowned down at her. No, surely not. That would be highly unlikely, wouldn’t it? And this was surely no more than a coincidence, nothing that justified jumping to any premature conclusions, he warned himself. He would keep his eyes open, though, he decided. His suspicion was maybe no more than that, but it certainly paid to be on the safe side.

He turned and left the cabin, closing the door behind him carefully. They would soon reach the barrier and he had been told that the captain would show him how to overcome it, once and for all putting an end to the limitation of going to sea for the Kingdom.

* * *

Eryn woke when a warm hand kept shaking her shoulder.

“Are we still on that bloody ship?” she murmured without opening her eyes. “If yes, you have quite some explaining to do for waking me.”

Enric smiled down at her. “The village is in sight already, so you have another hour of suffering ahead of you.” An hour that would surely provide some interesting insights for himself.

“That is one hour you might have spared me!” she moaned. “You are doing this on purpose! Is there anything I have done to you recently that justifies tormenting me like that?”

He pretended to think for a moment. “No, nothing that I can think of. But then it is well known that I have a penchant for heaping agony onto helpless women. And now get up and come on deck for a bit of fresh air. It will do you good.”

“You are joking, aren’t you? You know very well what being on deck does to me! Why are you inflicting it on me?” she wailed and felt herself being pulled up to her feet and more or less hauled up the stairs and outside. The sudden brightness of the sunlight blinded her and she quickly lifted a hand to shade her eyes. There was a stiff breeze that made her shiver and she felt Enric’s arm around her shoulders pull her against his warm body.

“We need to change out of these clothes. They are not exactly suited for the climate back home,” he murmured and watched her stare at the waves around them that made the ship pitch up and down.

Then she closed her eyes, her face growing pale again. He also felt the feeling from before returning, causing in him the urge to hold on to something firm to convince his stomach that this sense of being tossed up and down was no more than an unjustified overreaction.

He smiled despite the unpleasant sensation. It seemed as if Eryn might be up for a little surprise, though none that would make her very happy. He would see how long it would take her to figure it out on her own.

* * *

“There it is! I can see it!” she exclaimed delightedly. “Never would I have thought that there will be the day that I am overjoyed to lay my eyes upon it!”

Enric looked up as well at the hazy outline of the city of Anyueel at the horizon. “It warms my heart to see you so happy to return to it, my love,” he smiled and took her hand to kiss it. And it truly did. She had, as far as he could remember, never once mentioned missing her little cottage in the town where she had spent most of her life. That had to mean that she now considered their house in the city her home, he hoped.

Urban trotted beside the horses and had turned her head to look at Eryn when she had called out her delight at spotting Anyueel in the distance.

“The yard should be finished for her by now,” Enric remarked with a glance at the cat. “Trees, rocks, everything. With a little luck the passage between the buildings is ready as well. The servants will otherwise very probably turn out to be just a little… jumpy.”

Eryn shrugged. “Why would they? She has never hurt anyone so far.”

“Still. We are talking about a fierce animal here. After all, not everybody has known her since she was small enough to fit into your palm. And though she is still not fully grown, she has definitely lost the advantage of being considered cute rather than frightening.”

“One would think that if a four-year-old girl is not afraid, adults should be able to handle Urban as well,” she pointed out.

“Children at that age do not yet have a proper understanding of danger, Eryn. Obal would just as likely have tried to cuddle a completely wild animal if there was one around. Vran'el’s reaction was the more natural one. And consider that part of my reputation in Takhan was based on the fact that I was wandering the streets of the city with what was perceived as a very impressive wild animal,” he explained.

She sighed. “Alright, I bow to your superior wisdom. Once again. Then let’s hope that passage is ready or we will have to do our own cooking and cleaning for a while. Not that I would mind that too much - I had to do it for quite a while when I was living alone. But I fear that there will not be very much time left to devote to it. I wonder what the healers’ place looks like. Utter chaos? Or will nobody even have noticed that I was gone? I don’t know which would be worse.”

“For you? The latter, very likely,” he smiled. “I am getting hungry. We should be in the city in about an hour and a half. It will be early evening by then. We will have time to get home, have a bite to eat then wash and change into clean clothes, but that is practically it.”

She furrowed her brow. “So there is no chance whatsoever to ask the King to see us tomorrow instead of tonight?”

“None. He already waited for us rather longer than he had planned - about two weeks longer. He wants to make sure we really are back. And to learn about the latest developments as soon as possible. The last message he received from me is several days old already. After that we will have to see Tyront. He will want to learn about everything the King did not tell him. Kilan was only instructed to inform the King, after all. Whatever has been passed on to Tyront was thus filtered.”

“So this is going to be a very long day yet,” she groaned. “And I just wanted to fall into my own bed and catch up on the sleep I missed these last few nights.”

“Sorry, my love. Not much chance for that in the next few hours.”

* * *

The four guards at the western gates bowed as the two high-ranking magicians passed them. Odd, Eryn thought, how strange this formal behaviour seemed after only a few weeks in Takhan.

They rode through the city to their house and Enric whistled through his teeth when he saw the people assembled in front of it.

“Look at that. It seems somebody has spread the news of our impending arrival when we were first spotted,” he murmured.

Eryn urged her horse on until she was close enough to dismount and as soon as her feet had touched the ground, she found herself in a tight embrace with a certain sixteen-year-old boy.

“Finally!” he whispered. “I was so afraid they would not let you leave again!”

She squeezed him back, noting how his cheeks were not any longer level with hers. Was it possible that he had grown so much since she had left here?

“So was I,” she replied, “I can't tell you how glad I am to be back.”

“Let go of her, Vern,” Orrin scolded him mildly when he made no move to release her again. “There are a few others who would like to greet her as well.”

Vern removed his arms from around Eryn with obvious reluctance, and moments later Orrin’s much firmer embrace squeezed the air out of her lungs. She smiled at the unusual physical display of affection from his side.

“Look at you, you old softy! You have gone all mellow in my absence without anybody to torment and goad! Or is that Junar’s influence?” she laughed and hugged him back.

“Shut up,” he growled. “We were worried sick about you after we learned that they had accused you of some crime over there. It seems even with your companion at your side there is no keeping you out of trouble. Next time you go there, I will be sure to accompany you myself. One of us is clearly not enough to keep an eye on you.”

“That’s enough, now it’s my turn,” Junar complained from behind them and Orrin stepped aside so the two women could hug next.

Enric watched the scene, wondering about the feeling of regret and loss inside him. Nobody dared embracing him here, unlike in Takhan, where he had been hugged and kissed by a number of people, both male and female. For the first time in more than ten years he wondered if the reputation he had been so careful to build was worth the solitude that was its consequence. His stay in the Western Territories had introduced him to quite a different way of social interaction. There were those in awe of him who were mostly people he had met when negotiating, and others who were sufficiently impressed by him, but met him in a more private setting that allowed them to look behind that official mask. Here in Anyueel there was hardly anybody who dared look behind it. Apart from Tyront and the King, that is. Although they did not do so for mere social reasons but because he was, just like them, a player in the political game, and knowing one’s fellow players was essential to ensure both survival and success.

He looked up in surprise, when he felt a hearty slap on his shoulder. Orrin gave him a nod.

“Good to have the two of you back,” he said simply, yet it sounded like he truly meant it.

“Good to be back. Finally,” Enric replied and smiled at the warrior. Who would have thought that Orrin would be the only one to give him at least some feeling of being welcome?

At the back of his mind, he wondered if he wanted to change that somehow, if he wanted to work on establishing friendships here in Anyueel. Would such a thing even work? People here were less open, less casual, more easily intimidated by rank and power. He imagined that Eryn would feel the contrast of being addressed with Lady again even more noticeably. But then she had quite a few people around her who would refrain from doing so anyway, as she had let them come close enough for them to forego the title.

In the entire city there were no more than four people who addressed him without Lord. Tyront, his companion Vyril, Kilan and Eryn. Before Eryn, there had been only two, since he had not had any contact with Kilan in these last ten years.

He saw Eryn frown in confusion while talking to Plia and wondered if she had caught on to his feelings, wondering where that melancholy came from when she felt herself happy and relieved at being back.

“Is everything alright, my love?” he enquired and put an arm around her shoulders.

She nodded and plastered on a smile to conceal her puzzlement. “Yes, I am just a little exhausted, that’s all.”

Enric noted how Junar, Vern and Plia around them had taken a small step back at his approach.

Junar widened her eyes as Urban squeezed her way between them to rub her head against Enric’s legs. “Look at that cat! She has grown quite a lot in these last weeks. If she grows any larger, you can use her instead of a horse next time.”

“She may still grow a little more over the next two or three months, but that should be it,” Enric explained and bent down to rub the cat’s cheeks.

“Look at that! So you managed to escape the claws of the foreign senate!” an amused voice from behind them called out.

They saw Kilan approaching them. The few people around them collectively turned their heads around, and jaws dropped in surprise as the two men hugged affectionately. Lord Enric hugging people was not exactly a common sight.

Kilan then turned to Eryn. “They said you were trouble. But I didn’t want to believe it. I stand corrected.”

She rolled her eyes at him. “Says the man who jumped aboard the ship and sailed off in my hour of distress.”

His expression became serious. “Believe me, in all my life that was one of the most difficult things I have ever had to do. I hope I will not be in such a situation again anytime soon. But I had my orders.”

“I was not serious, Kilan,” she sighed. “Your returning was the only sensible thing to do. Especially as the King would of course need first-hand information about the whole mix-up.”

He smiled in relief and squeezed her hand. “True enough. But next time we will just try not to have you accused of anything, shall we?”

“I’ll do my best, just to keep you happy,” she grinned. “But I suppose there will not be another opportunity for us to go to Takhan together again anytime soon, so no worries about that.”

“I would not count on that too much, Eryn,” he shook his head.

“Why not?” she frowned, then her brow furrowed. “You are not trying to tell me that they are sending you back there, are you?”

“Well, there is an opening for someone as permanent ambassador to Takhan, since the man who initially applied for the job decided not to remain after his companion was released from custody,” he smiled.

That caused a few frowns around them and Eryn remembered that they were very likely not informed of the important things that had happened. There would be some explaining to do, she thought, and sighed inwardly. And that meant once again telling the story of her father’s death. Though not today.

“What are the plans for the next few days?” Vern cut in. “Unpacking? Distributing gifts among your most valued friends?” he added, with a gleam of hope.

That made her laugh. “Well, that last one obviously.” Then she turned serious. “Tonight we will have to do some reporting to the upper ranks, and tomorrow I want to have a look how things are going at the healers’ place.”

“The Magic Council might want to see you tomorrow,” Enric reminded her.

“I was counting on you to give them all the juicy details. I really, really want to get back to my work,” she said, hoping he would see things her way, and smiled when he assented by nodding.

“I will try to convince them that they don’t need to see you tomorrow. But you will have to show up there sooner or later.”

She nodded. “Very well, as long as it is not in the next one or two days, when I have more important things to take care of.”

Orrin sniffed. “The Magic Council will be so pleased to hear that you do not consider them important enough to be worthy an hour or two of your precious time.”

“Well, they won’t be hearing it from me,” she shrugged.

“You are aware that myself and Lord Orrin are members of the Council, aren’t you?” Enric said. “So strictly speaking the Council has heard about it already.”

She chuckled. “But I trust that my two favourite members will not get me into any trouble because of it.”

Orrin grinned broadly and put an arm around her shoulders. “Trust, my girl, is something of a luxury. It makes you vulnerable.”

Eryn’s face fell. “Yes, that lesson I learned well enough in those foreign parts,” she said quietly.

Orrin frowned. “Hmm, it seems that was exactly the wrong thing to say. I am sorry. You will have to tell me about it. Soon.” It was not an order as such, but definitely more than a polite request. She smiled at him and nodded. It was good to see that some things would probably never change. No matter how high up she was, this was one man she could always depend on still to tell her what to do.

“So, everyone, let’s give the two of them a little space to return to their home after their journey. They have some work ahead of them yet,” Orrin called out, following which the two of them were finally able to take the last few steps towards their home.

* * *

Eryn frowned in confusion when one of the Palace guards in front of the doors to the throne room indicated for them to follow him instead of admitting them.

“Judging from the direction, the King will be seeing us in his study instead,” Enric murmured. “Probably a concession to our having travelled all day long. Provided he lets us sit down,” he added dryly.

She nodded slowly. Sitting down in a study was definitely a more appealing thought than standing before him on weary legs. She had never been to his study before and wondered if it would look any different from others due to the importance of the man occupying it.

The guard bowed to them and left when they had reached an unassuming looking door.

“That’s the right door? Are you sure? It looks unexpectedly modest,” she commented.

“This is the right place, really,” Enric nodded and knocked at the door.

“Come,” a muffled voice from inside called and they entered and faced Marrin, who rose from behind his desk and seemed, to Eryn’s surprise, genuinely pleased at seeing them.

“Lady Eryn, Lord Enric. What a relief to have you back safely. His Majesty is expecting you,” he smiled and indicated a door to his right.

“Thank you, Marrin,” Enric replied. “We are happy to be back.” Then he opened the door and let Eryn enter first. Marrin followed them into the room, closing the door behind him, stepping aside as usual to more or less merge with the surroundings like an unobtrusive piece of furniture.

Eryn looked around, almost a little disappointed at how undistinguished the room looked with its books, papers and writing utensils. Elegant, but not much more elaborate than her own study. A room for working, not for fancy displays of power the way the throne room was.

The King was standing behind his desk, facing the window behind it, and turned when they entered and bowed.

He looked at them for a while before nodding, obviously satisfied with what he saw. “Finally the delegation has returned in full. You had us all worried a little there.”

Eryn suppressed a snort. He had been worried? Not half as much as she herself had when facing the threat of being detained in that place across the sea for two years, she thought.

“I am sorry to hear that my troubles caused you distress, Your Majesty,” she replied with a thin smile, “I assure you it was not done deliberately.”

The monarch raised an eyebrow at her. “I see that your stay in Takhan has not changed your attitude towards authority one bit, Lady Eryn. I think we may consider ourselves lucky you had your companion with you, or the outcome of the trial might have been less favourable.”

The warning undertone in his voice let her reconsider the wisdom of speaking without being explicitly asked. Right, back to where they had been before their departure: Enric would do the talking.

She wondered at the mild sensation of disapproval she felt and looked at Enric. Was she imagining that? She searched his face, but it did not reveal anything - just the usual composure when he was in public. And in control of himself. So what had caused that impression had probably been her imagination. She had come to know him quite well, after all. Of course he would not approve of the way she had just spoken to the King. Interesting, though, that she seemed to have switched from not only anticipating his feelings, but also imagining an echo thereof.

“Is everything alright, Lady Eryn? You seem a tiny bit distracted,” the King observed.

“Sorry, I am just a little tired. It was a long voyage.”

“Then I would ask the two of you to take a seat and rest your weary limbs,” he smiled. “I must say that like Kilan after his return, your appearance strikes the eyes as slightly exotic with your tanned skin and Lord Enric’s bleached hair. How did you cope with the climate?”

Eryn smiled politely and waited for Enric to reply. He wanted to talk about the weather there? Really?

“It was unusually warm by our standards, but after adapting our wardrobe to the local conditions it became fairly pleasant. The locals have adapted their schedules to the climate and avoid being outside when the day is at its hottest, which means they generally stay up longer in the evening before retiring,” Enric explained.

Oh, she thought. So the weather question had obviously been an invitation to elaborate on the local customs instead of just meaningless chatter. Implications, she thought tiredly. Why could people not just say what they wanted and thus avoid depending on others to guess correctly?

She felt Enric’s hand take and squeeze hers. She couldn’t help the impression that it was meant as a warning. But why? She was not displaying any outward sign of the impatience she felt, she was absolutely sure of it.

“I am of course aware of the general developments due to Kilan’s report upon his return and the message you sent me after the senate’s decision, but there is surely a lot more. Your message informing us that the proceedings had gone in your favour and that you were about to return in a few more days was rather terse,” she heard him say, a slight hint of reproach discernible in his tone.

Enric nodded. “You assume correctly, Your Majesty. Allow me to expand on what occurred. You are aware of the situation with Ram’an and Lady Eryn, I assume?”

The King nodded. “If you mean his claim to her due to an arrangement between their families when they were still infants, then yes. From what I understand, Lady Eryn was placed under his care for the duration of the proceedings.”

Good, Eryn thought glumly, at least they did not have to go into more detail than necessary. Kilan had obviously provided a thorough report.

“Yes,” Enric confirmed. “Though the senate was considerate enough to have the arrangement carried out at the residence of Lady Eryn’s father’s family instead of Ram’an’s.”

“Due to a rather impressive display of your disapproval, if my information was correct?” the King prompted with a raised eyebrow.

“That might have been part of the consideration, yes,” Enric admitted unabashedly. “I myself was made to stay with the strongest of the three triarchs. It seems that in comparison my strength also ranks somewhat above average in the Western Territories. Thus it was considered wise to have me under observation as well for the duration of my extended voluntary stay.”

“They would have let you leave any time had you expressed a wish to do so?” the King enquired.

“I trust that they would have, yes,” the magician nodded. “Although they might actually have preferred it if I had left. They were not entirely sure what to expect of me.”

“I understand it was Lady Eryn’s own mother who made the accusations. I assume this influenced the nature of the political landscape quite a bit. From what I heard Lady Eryn has turned out to be the sole heir in a powerful family. An inconvenient development, if you will allow me to say that much.”

Eryn smiled grimly. “None that will serve to cause you any further concern, Your Majesty. I corrected that inconvenient circumstance after the trial by renouncing House Aren and thereby severing all bonds with it.” She shot an annoyed look at her companion. “Or at least that’s what I thought at that time.”

She admired the King’s command over his facial features. All that spoke of his surprise were pursed lips.

“Renounced a powerful House, did you? I would imagine that you gave up quite a considerable personal advantage by doing so, unless I am mistaken. The status of belonging to a House, as I am given to understand, also reflects the social standing of a person, especially of a magician in the Western Territories.”

“It does indeed. However, I have not given up that advantage as such as I was subsequently adopted into another House,” she explained. So much for letting Enric do the talking.

The King remained silent for a few moments before he smiled faintly. “House… Vel’kim, I assume? You father’s family?”

“Yes,” she confirmed, slightly annoyed at his quick thinking. Why was it so hard to catch him off-guard? Well, it remained to be seen how much he liked Enric’s own small gambit.

“I would have thought you to be more reluctant to bind yourself to another family after what happened with your mother. Am I right in assuming that there was a reason behind this very quick connection to another House?” he asked.

Damn him, she thought. How did he do it? Was there not a single detail she could keep to herself? This was too closely connected to her own personal story with Ram’an. Too private for him to know. Though by refusing to tell him when he asked her directly was equal to disobeying an order.

She breathed out steadily. “There was, yes. My cousin is a lawyer and suspected that Ram’an had been planning to claim me as a member of his House under an ancient but still active piece of legislation. The still valid companionship agreement our mothers had entered into would have made that possible.”

“But only if you had not been a member of another House already?” the King asked.

“That is correct,” she nodded.

“You mentioned that you thought your bond with your mother’s House would be severed. This conveys the impression to me that it is not?”

“I would rather let my dear companion elaborate on that, with your permission. He may be able to outline the motives behind his actions more… convincingly than me, I believe.”

The King’s questioning gaze moved to Enric.

“Lady Eryn refers to my compliance with Malriel’s request to adopt me into House Aren as her son,” he said slowly.

Eryn felt a surge of triumph when the King’s eyes bulged. “Pardon me?”

Finally! So it was possible to surprise even that seemingly cold-blooded fellow.

The monarch covered his eyes with a hand for a moment before he had regained his control. “So what you are telling me, Lord Enric, is that you let yourself be adopted into a powerful House to take Lady Eryn’s place as heir to the title of Head? This means of course you have subjected yourself voluntarily to the local jurisdiction as a consequence.”

“Indeed,” Enric confirmed. Eryn cast a quick look at him. He seemed completely at ease, no sign of tension at all discernible in his features or posture. Why then did she have the impression that he was taut with unpleasant expectation, dread even?

“Lord Enric,” the King said slowly and carefully, linking his fingers. “This means that you have made yourself answerable to two masters, as it were. From what I understand, the Houses in Takhan are also an important part of the local political system. You are already politically involved here and, sooner or later, will be also in the Western Territories. This puts us in a very difficult position here as we shall at some point have to consider where your true loyalties lie.”

Oh dear, Eryn mused, that did sound as if Enric was in trouble. It wasn’t a good portent.

“How about your intention of assuming the position of Head of House Aren, Lord Enric? Do you have any ambitions in that regard? I assume this must have been a major consideration in adopting you in the first place. I can see why you would be a desirable choice for Malriel, being both an experienced leader with considerable influence and the companion to her renegade daughter. I can see why you were the obvious choice for the position. Yet I can't help being curious as to your own motivation for that step.”

Enric took a deep breath before replying. “Let me assure you, Your Majesty, that my loyalties lie with the Kingdom and the Order, just like before. My primary reason for accepting Malriel’s adoption proposal was to keep harm away from Lady Eryn’s new House. As you may imagine, owing to the history of both Houses, Malriel was quite unhappy over the impending adoption of her daughter into the House of the man who had stolen her so many years ago. Malriel’s condition for not causing them considerable hardship was my consent to serve as a kind of… compensation for her loss.”

The King considered him carefully for a few moments before smiling. “That seems like a noble, selfless gesture resulting from a very strong attachment to your companion. And yet I can't help but think that you yourself will profit from it as well.”

“Not only myself, Your Majesty,” he replied mildly, “all of us stand to profit. Being in constant contact with a high-ranking member of not only the society in Takhan, but its senate as well will strengthen our political connections considerably.”

King Folrin nodded. “True. And yet a decision I would have preferred you not to have made without my assent.”

“I understand, Your Majesty,” Enric nodded.

The monarch raised an eyebrow. “No excuse that time was of the essence, Lord Enric?”

Enric smiled faintly. “I was under the impression that you would not have appreciated such a thing, Your Majesty.”

The King leaned back in his chair and sighed heavily. “I would not have, no. Though in general this does not stop people from tiring me with them. Is there anything else you wish to inform me of? Maybe why your departure was delayed for several days after the trial had ended in your favour?”

“The reason for this, Your Majesty, was that Lady Eryn and I entered into what is in the Western Territories known as a third level commitment bond,” Enric explained.

“You are full of astonishing news today,” the King commented tartly. “I was informed of their nature. A magical binding only recommended to those truly connected to each other in great devotion.” His gaze rested on Eryn. “A bond, I am given to understand, that needs to be entered into voluntarily.”

She smiled. “I assure you, Your Majesty, that Lord Enric’s decision to accept my request to enter into the bond with me was entirely voluntary. I did not apply any means of duress whatsoever.”

The King’s look at her was intense as he nodded slowly. “You were the one who expressed the wish to be joined magically, were you?” He noted the quick flicker in her eyes and smiled. “Yet there is a little more to it, would I be correct to assume? You were the one who asked finally, but not the one to ask initially, I cannot help but think?”

His smile grew wider as she pressed her lips together in annoyance. “You do not have to answer that, Lady Eryn. Your reaction is quite revealing in itself. I admit I am pleased to see that the commitment I made you enter into so hurriedly has grown into something more substantial in a matter of mere months. On both sides.” He rose from his chair, causing them to follow his example. “I will expect a detailed report from you, Lord Enric. I have little hope of receiving one from Lady Eryn, having heard of her dislike for written reports when it comes to her superiors,” he added pointedly. “Do include some information about the legal situation of both your new family situations and the magical commitment. I assume you familiarised yourself with each of those instead of entering into them blindly. And now you may leave. Lord Tyront is doubtlessly eager to hear about these most interesting developments.”

Eryn bowed, grateful to have the first of the two meetings behind her. Though she did not have great hopes that the one with Lord Tyront would turn out to be any more pleasant.

* * *

King Folrin pressed the thumb and index finger of one hand into his eyes.

“I am at a loss whether to admire or curse Lord Enric. Publicly I need to commend him for his merits, of course. It would not do to make our new friends across the sea think I disapprove of his connection to their society, would it?” he sighed tiredly. “I need information, Marrin. We have received the formal invitation to establish a permanent ambassador in Takhan, and I am recommending your son leave here and take up his new position as soon as possible. Though I fear the kind of information I need from him will put his own loyalties to a test.”

Marrin lifted a questioning eyebrow.

“The commitment bonds. You are aware, of course, that the bond we place our own magicians under when they have finished the training is what is considered a so-called second level commitment bond. I imagine they have worked out a way to counteract the binding effect. This will sooner or later become common knowledge here as well and change the nature of the bond between the Crown and the Order. As yet we have more or less forced magicians to bind themselves to us. If the bond can be easily reversed, this would change into a voluntary bond,” the King explained with a dark expression.

“So you assume that the Order itself is not aware how to dissolve the binding to the Crown?” Marrin enquired.

The King smiled at his adviser. “You know me too well, Marrin. You are right of course. I am sure enough that at least Lord Tyront could reverse the effect of the binding any time he chose. Probably even Lord Enric, especially after his journey to Takhan.”

“So if your assumptions are correct, Your Majesty, the Order would anyway have kept the binding intact in the past voluntarily,” the older man pointed out.

“True. But only the Order’s leader or leaders would be aware of it. Other magicians would not be. It seems like a detailed conversation with Lord Tyront is overdue. Before that I will allow him a day or two to recover from the news he is about to obtain from our two voyagers,” the King smiled without humour.

* * *

Eryn flopped onto the bed, face first, intoning something muffled that was swallowed up by the mattress.

“This was not exactly a clear statement, my love. Try again without your mouth buried in fabric,” Enric advised her.

She lifted her head, “I said that those two summonses have managed to reduce my happiness about returning home considerably. I feel spent and weary. Exhausted. We should have pretended to be returning tomorrow and instead have spent the evening in secret with Orrin, Junar, Vern and Plia.”

The unexpected amusement she felt made her frown and she lifted her eyes up to his lopsided grin.

“You know,” she said deliberately, “somehow I have the feeling that something is wrong here.”

She saw the expression in his eyes become more intense.

“Indeed?”

Her eyes narrowed. “Yes, indeed. And I can't help thinking that you are very well aware of it. What is this? A little game to see how much time I would need to work it out?”

“What is it you think is wrong, dearest?” he enquired gently and leaned against the chest of drawers behind him with folded arms. “What have you divined?”

“That I seem to be a little more perceptive than before when it comes to judging your moods, I think,” she said carefully. “I wonder if this is because I have finally admitted to myself the true scope of my attachment to you or if this is one of the side effects of our bond.”

“Then let me add my own impressions to yours,” Enric offered. That would probably make the evening even less enjoyable for her, he thought. “I do not believe your first assumption is the true reason. I have been aware of my own feelings for you for quite a while, though for the first time - and only recently - have I experienced the effect you are describing.”

She nodded. “So it is the bond, then. A closer connection than before, the need to share more. This may include an enhanced sensitivity to the other person’s moods, I assume.”

He sighed. “Eryn, I think it is a bit more than that. I suffered from seasickness this time.”

“Did you?” she asked.

“Only while you were awake. It was gone when you were asleep,” he added quietly.

“Well, that is unfortunate for you, but I don’t…” Her voice tapered off when the full implication of what he had just said hit her. She jumped off the bed and shook her head frantically. “No! Tell me that this is not true!”

He exhaled slowly. “Judging from the level of panic that I feel inside me that is clearly not my own, I would say that denying it does not make much sense.”

She buried her face in both hands. “But Vran'el said this hardly ever happens! That I don’t need to worry about it!” she wailed. “Why? Why is there always something that hits me on the head when I decide to open myself to somebody?” She gasped at the surge of anger that shot through her like a hot spear and stared at Enric, who did not show any sign of agitation apart from narrowed eyes while still leaning against the chest, apparently calm.

“How can you keep that inside you without any outward sign?” she groaned and returned to what had in the past worked reasonably well when dealing with strong emotions: breathing.

A thin smile spread across his lips. “Good. A very effective and direct way of communicating my sentiments. You just received a little impression of what goes on inside me when you talk of binding yourself to me and regretting it.”

“I didn’t mean to say that! I don’t regret it, I promise!” she called out, relieved once the anger he projected had noticeably subsided.

“We need help with that,” he told her. “If we fight, neither of us has a chance to stay calm and reasonable if we keep experiencing each other’s feelings in addition to our own. I will despatch a message to Valrad tomorrow and ask him to send us whatever information he has on mind bonds. Do not count on it being too much, though. You heard Vran'el; not a lot of research has been done on the topic as it does not occur very often.”

He sighed at her desperate expression and pushed away from the chest to sit on the bed with her. “This is not necessarily a burden, my love. It is a way of sharing something most people never would have a chance to experience like this. The trouble is just that we have yet to learn how to deal with what it brings. The upside, though, is that only strong emotions seem to be reflected in the other, which is quite a relief. We will need to see if distance has any effect on the potency of the sensations. Maybe there is even a way to reduce their influence.”

She lifted her face to him and nodded unhappily. “That would be good, yes. Just now your anger almost brought me to my knees. Oh dear, I hope this is also something we experience with positive emotions in the other.”

“It is,” he nodded. “I felt your glee at the King’s surprise when I told him of my adoption into House Aren.”

She gave him a shaky laugh. “If you could call that a positive emotion…”

He smiled. “I also felt your joy at finding your friends waiting for you when we returned here earlier.”

Her eyes widened when she thought back. “That feeling of regret I couldn’t quite place - that was you, wasn’t it? Why?”

So it seemed the bond was already causing him, too, to share more than he would have otherwise, he mused. “Seeing you being received like that, and coming back from a place where I had for the first time in many years formed friendly attachments with other people, made me understand how I have not exactly been the social type here.”

She blinked and thought for a few moments. “People here are mostly either awed by or afraid of you. Just like myself not too long ago. I suppose that socialising is not exactly easy for you here,” she conceded. “Funny, I wouldn’t have thought that something like that mattered to you very much.”

He shook his head. “Interestingly enough, me neither.” He took her hand and squeezed it. “You see? The intimacy aspect of the bond has been working already.”

“Yes,” she smiled, “and I am pleased to see that for once not only on me. Our usual discussions about personal matters tend to be rather one-sided and result in your analysing me. Maybe it will be liberating to have that work both ways now.” Then she said, more hesitantly, “So keeping secrets from you from now on will really be impossible, won’t it? If I feel guilty about keeping something from you, you will sense it immediately.”

“That I am counting on,” he said with a raised brow. “It is a habit I have been trying to break you loose of for quite some time now. Though you did show some first signs of improvement in Takhan, I have to admit.”

“High praise indeed,” she murmured. Then a thought occurred to her and she narrowed her eyes. “You woke me one hour too early on the ship to experiment with this, didn’t you? You made me suffer intentionally to verify your suspicions! You were aware of it back then already!”

He smiled apologetically. “Will it console you if I tell you that I had to suffer with you?”

“No,” she growled, then shrugged. “Well, a little. How much did you suffer?”

“Terribly,” he replied earnestly. “Like my empty stomach was on the verge of upending constantly without anything in there to bring up other than the bitter fluids that left a burning sensation in my throat.”

She considered him thoughtfully, then nodded. “Alright, that is adequate. How do we deal with this mind bond for now? Avoiding strong emotions seems somewhat difficult.”

“I am used to dealing with them, but from what I have seen, you have yet to get used to mine. You have a hard time keeping your own emotions under control, so sensing mine in addition to that might turn out to be quite a burden for some time.”

She swallowed. “What if there is no helpful literature on how to deal with this?”

“Then, my love,” he kissed her hand, “your enormous aptitude in the category of explorer will doubtless turn out to be very useful. You will have the unique chance to experiment and thus contribute to a field of expertise that will bring you fame and glory in both countries.”

He smiled at the spark of interest which ignited in her eyes.

CHAPTER 2

Back to Work

Enric held her hand in his while they were strolling through the streets of Anyueel on their way to the healers’ place. He was relieved that yesterday evening she had taken what must have been to her distressing news reasonably well. He had pondered his own point of view on that unexpected development and found that he was slightly worried about how to deal with it in a way that did not cause them any undue disadvantage. But all in all he did not consider it the curse Eryn seemed to regard it as.

“Do we need to tell Lord Tyront about this?” she said, interrupting his thoughts. So her mind was occupied with this matter as well. “He was not any happier about your adoption than the King. And unlike the King, he was not too thrilled about our commitment bond either. What did he call it? Playing around with magic we had no understanding of?” She grimaced at the memory of their superior’s foul mood. She did not envy Enric the task of seeing him again at the Council meeting today.

“We might want to wait a while with that,” he sighed. “He needs to come to terms with the news we have given him so far. Let’s not overstrain his frayed nerves for the moment.”

“Good. I don’t think I want to deal with him again anytime soon.”

“Give him some time to deal with the new situation. He is not a great friend of surprises but does not need long to adapt to them. His bad moods tend not to linger for long.” He stopped when they had reached the healers’ building. “Here we are. Eager to get back and show your colleagues what astounding new things you have learned?” he smiled and kissed her on the forehead.

“That would be fabulous,” she nodded. “But I dare say there will be quite a lot of work to take care of first. Good thing today is not a treatment day. Not that I expect too much peace and quiet, though. I am a bit worried after the hints Plia dropped yesterday before we left for the meeting with the King.”

“How bad can it be? The building is still standing, after all. No angry mob has ransacked it or burned it down.”

“Very funny,” she growled and started to open one of the large double doors, but felt herself gently pulled back into a warm embrace.

“Don’t work too long today. I need you fit to participate in an experiment.”

She raised both eyebrows. “What experiment?”

“With the mind bond. It concerns how the more intense positive emotions are conveyed.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Are you using fancy words to mask the fact that this is about sex?”

He chuckled and shook his head. “I wonder why you even have to ask. Of course it is.” He bent down to press a quick kiss on her mouth and turned to continue his way to the Palace. After a few steps he half turned and lifted a finger. “Return home timely, do you hear?”

She rolled her eyes and then looked down at the symbols on her wrist that were growing fainter with every few steps he took away from her. When he turned the next corner, they disappeared completely.

As she lifted her hand to push against the door, it was opened from the inside and she saw before her a familiar face. Rolan.

“Lady Eryn,” he sighed and she blinked at the relief in his voice. “I am so glad you are back. Really glad.”

“Rolan,” she smiled uncertainly. “It’s good to be back.” Rolan happy to see her? That was probably not a good sign. “Would you like to tell me what's wrong now or do I need to sit down for it?” she said with a slightly ironic smile at him.

He blushed slightly. “Sit down, probably. With a nice warm drink.”

“That bad?” she sighed.

He seemed to think about that for a few moments, then shrugged. “You know, now that you are back I am not so sure about that any longer.” His voice sounded surprised. “Interesting.”

Indeed, she thought but didn’t say it out loud. It seemed as if his confidence in her having the solution to whatever catastrophes had occurred was as unexpected for himself as it was for her. That had to be a sign of trust, didn’t it? Or perhaps just plain desperation. Well, she would know soon enough.

She looked around surreptitiously while walking after Rolan to the small kitchen to get her drink. Everything seemed clean, undamaged and the way it was supposed to be. Her assistant waited for her to fill a cup with water, stir in a spoonful of finely ground herbs and heat the mixture with a touch of her finger and a little magic, then he preceded her up the stairs and held the door to her study open for her.

Happiness about seeing her as well as almost overbearing courtesy? Now matters were shaping up to be scary indeed, she thought.

Her study did not look too messy, she decided. After an absence of more than six weeks it was a bit more untidy - with papers strewn about - than she had left it, but nothing to shock her or make her recoil.

She went to her desk, placing the cup on it before letting herself sink onto the chair, exhaling and smiling contentedly.

“Now I am back. Truly back.” She motioned for Rolan to sit as well. “Alright - shock me. What has gone wrong?”

“Vern,” her assistant said carefully.

“Vern has gone wrong?” she enquired gently.

Rolan thought for a moment, then obviously reached the conclusion that the term was suitable. “Yes, I think we could phrase it like that.”

“Very well,” she said slowly, “could you elaborate some more? A few more details would be good.”

“He was not getting along very well with the other healers,” her assistant supplied.

“What do you mean by that? Rolan, fill in the blanks for me! This is very tedious!” she exclaimed impatiently.

He grimaced unhappily. “Vern seems to have developed certain qualities of a tyrant. The healers were on the verge of revolting against him openly. I was afraid I would soon be standing here alone with a house full of patients and the healers refusing to work.”

A tyrant? Vern? Well, she mused, judging from how she had seen him act when he was negotiating, that was probably not so very unlikely. There was definitely a propensity for that in his character.

“I see. What was the reason for his behaviour in your opinion?”

“Youth. Inexperience. Idiocy,” Rolan threw up his hands. “I don’t know!”

“Think again,” she said gently. “I need a neutral point of view from you. Give me your thoughts.”

“A voice of reason,” he murmured and shook his head. “That seems luxury in the mayhem we had here in these last weeks.” He cleared his throat and looked up again with less desperation and more focus in his eyes, she noted, relieved.

“He was overwhelmed with the double burden of heading a group of people much older than himself where he had to struggle to be taken seriously, and healing and teaching in his other role. He spent long nights here, doing the paperwork, despairing over it at times,” he explained, some sympathy clear in his voice.

“How did you get along with him?”

“Well enough. I tried to take as much off his shoulders as I could, but my own experience with leading people and healing or teaching is not exactly noteworthy. All I could help him with was the paperwork.” He sighed. “As well as with getting him out of the safe room once when they had blocked the door while he was in.”

“They?” she asked. “The healers?”

Rolan nodded.

“What else have they done?” She felt anger rising at the stupidity of adults teasing a young man several years their junior who instead would be best shown their support.

“Wilfully misunderstood orders, from what I have gathered. Hidden his clothes. Locked the study door. Twice.”

Eryn closed her eyes, calming her wish to hit out at someone. There was steel in them when she opened them again. “Alright. Tell me what he did to provoke those things. They are not normally that stupid.”

“He resorted to shouting at them quite a lot. Made them stay longer, gave them more to learn than they could cope with. It seems he is used to a rather more rapid rate of progress when it comes to learning things.”

Yes, she thought, and she had always taken advantage of the fact that he was smart, interested and a very speedy learner. Had she inadvertently encouraged him to think that this was the way everybody should be tutored? Obviously she had.

“They tried to talk to him first,” Rolan continued. “But they made demands, which he did not take very well, either.”

She thought back to the hug Vern had given her. The panic in his voice when he had told her that he had been afraid they wouldn’t let her leave any more from Takhan. There had obviously been a little more behind that than merely missing her as a friend.

“Oh dear,” she sighed. “So it seems I will have to start mending that breach again. They need to be able to work together again as professionals. And Vern is still far enough ahead to train them occasionally or at least supervise their work. I need to get them to respect each other again. Any suggestions?”

Rolan straightened. She couldn’t help but notice that he very much appreciated being asked for his thoughts. She tried to think back. Had she never bothered to ask him before? It seemed as if Vern’s approach to leading people was not the only one that needed mid-course corrections, she thought.

“I think what both sides have been missing over these last weeks is appreciation,” he ventured and waited for her reaction to that.

“Appreciation? As in telling them that they have performed good work?”

He nodded. “Something like that, yes.”

“Alright, I can do that.” She emptied her cup. “Do you have any information for me about training progress, stock, treatments?”

She saw him smile for the first time since her arrival and couldn’t help but relish the sight. He had never once failed to produce a piece of paper with lists, numbers or whatever else on it since they had started working together. It was what he was good at. So now they were about to enter his realm of expertise.

* * *

Eryn had just finished reading the reports about the nature and quantities of medicines that had been administered to patients in her absence, when there was a knock at the door and upon her invitation a liveried Palace messenger entered.

Oh no, she thought. Not a summons from the King or the Council. Not now when there was so much to be taken care of. However, he did not seem to have a written message on him, so he was surely here to tell her to come with him.

She sighed before he could speak. “King or Council?”

The messenger blinked. “Magic Council, Lady Eryn.”

“Right now or do I have time to finish a few things first?”

He grimaced sympathetically. “Right now, I am afraid.”

She pushed back her chair. “Of course. What else? Lead on, then. I suppose you were told not to leave without me.”

He nodded and waited for her to slip into her robes and adjust them before preceding her down the stairs.

Enric had warned her that they might want to see her soon enough, but she had hoped that whatever they needed or wanted to know could for now be dealt with by him alone. Whatever concerned trade or politics he would surely be the one to satisfy their curiosity more effectively. She stopped and slowed her breathing. But there was one area in which she