They arrived in Palas to find all the flags at half-mast and the palace gates draped in black. Dryden stopped the carriage and leaned out to speak to the nearest guard.
'What's happened? Is King Aston dead?'
'No, sir,' the guard replied. 'Princess Marlene.'
Carenza gave an involuntary cry of grief.
'Are you sure, man?' Dryden asked.
'Oh, yes, sir. The news came five days ago.'
Dryden signalled for the driver to move on, and sat back inside the coach.
'Five days,' Carenza whispered.
'We were in the wilds of Fanelia,' Dryden pointed out. 'News can take weeks to reach a remote place like that.'
'Poor Eries! Poor, poor Millerna! I should have been here for them.'
'You're here now,' he said, squeezing her hand.
Carenza all but ran to the royal apartments. She burst into the familiar downstairs parlour, and paused. It was very dark inside; all the curtains were drawn, and the mirror over the mantelpiece was shrouded in black crepe. A single oil lamp burned on a side table, and as her eyes adjusted to the gloom she could make out a tall slender figure in black, seated by the empty hearth.
'Eries?'
The middle - now eldest - princess looked up. Her face was as white as the marble fireplace against the black of her mourning costume, and there were grey smudges beneath her eyes.
'C-Carenza?'
She stood, and Carenza rushed over to hug her.
'Marlene is- is- she's-' Eries burst into tears. Carenza could not recall ever having seen Eries cry, even as a child. She still felt too numb to cry herself.
'I know, I know,' she murmured comfortingly.
After a few moments the princess regained her self-possession and wiped her eyes.
'I'm so glad you're here,' she sniffed. 'Father has suspended all court business for a week's mourning and Millerna hasn't left her bed since the news arrived.'
Carenza guided her towards the sofa and they both sat down.
'How did Marlene-? She looked so well when we visited last year.'
'About three months ago I received a letter from her,' Eries said, 'saying that she was pregnant again. She sounded so happy...'
And so she would, Carenza thought. A legitimate child for her beloved duke.
'Then about a fortnight ago a short note arrived, saying that she had lost the baby and was unwell as a result. The- the next thing we knew- a heliogram from Godashim announced that she was-' She twined her black-gloved hands in her lap.
'Did the message say how?'
'J-just "after a short illness" - it was one of those official announcements.' She looked up and smiled weakly. 'If Millerna were not so upset, I'm sure she could tell us all the medical details.'
Carenza drew a deep breath. First Folken, now Marlene. How many more of those close to her was she going to lose? Of course Folken was long gone, but finding proof of it had only reopened old wounds - and now this...
'How is Allen taking it?' she asked.
'Allen's in jail.'
'What?'
'Ever since the news came, he's been going out every night, getting blind drunk. Last night he went to the opera and stood up right in the middle of "Il Pensiero della Gettura" to accuse my father of killing Marlene.'
'My God! Did no-one try to stop him?'
'It was all so sudden. One minute he was sitting quietly listening to Meifia's solo; the next, he stood up in his private box and started yelling "King Aston is a murderer!" The city guard had no choice but to arrest him on a charge of treason.'
Carenza shook her head in disbelief. She knew Allen had loved Marlene, but such an excessive display of grief could only set the gossips' tongues wagging.
'What happens now?' she asked.
'I don't know. The Knights of Heaven come under the jurisdiction of the king himself. I'm going to talk to Father and see if I can get the charge reduced.'
'And if you can't?'
'There is only one penalty for treason.'
Neither of them spoke the word, but it rang in their minds as clearly as if it had been shouted.
Death.
King Aston had forbidden his daughters to visit Allen in jail, but that did not prevent Carenza from going. Eries had given her a note to pass to Allen if she could. Carenza wondered what could be in it that could not be more safely conveyed by speech, and said as much.
'It's- I just feel compelled to send my condolences personally,' Eries said. 'It is easier to write it down than to rehearse a message for another to say.'
Carenza just nodded and took her leave of the princess. This was not easy for any of them.
She made her way to the basement level of the palace. It was not a dungeon in the traditional sense; the cells were bare but clean, with iron bars from floor to ceiling and a narrow window high on the opposite wall. As if in compensation for this lack of privacy, the small latrine was situated in a tiny room of its own, discreetly out of sight. She was shown to the end of the row, where Allen sat on the bed, his head in his hands, long blond hair skimming the stone floor. He was wearing his Knights of Heaven uniform; the snowy white shirt and blue serge trousers were as immaculate as ever.
'Allen?'
He looked up. Hope flared in his eyes for a moment, then he realised that it was only Carenza and his smile faded.
'Oh, it's you.' After a pause, he bowed stiffly. 'Forgive me, Miss Fassa. I am not myself at the moment.'
He stepped into the light, and Carenza suppressed a grimace. His clothes might be unmarked, but there was a large purpling bruise on his left cheekbone and his eyes were bloodshot, though whether from a hangover or weeping she could not tell.
'That's all right,' she said. 'We have all been badly shaken by...events.'
He nodded.
'Your friends still remember you kindly,' she added, holding the note against her body so that the guards could not see it, but waving it slightly to attract Allen's attention. To his credit, he gave it only the briefest glance then stepped closer, holding her eyes with his own.
'And you, dear lady - would you spare a kiss for a condemned man?'
She was about to object, but Allen's eyes flicked towards the note and away. Oh, a ruse to get close enough to pass it. She smiled.
'It would be a pleasure.'
She glanced back at the guard.
'May I?'
He frowned.
'We're not supposed to let anyone have close contact with the prisoner...'
She pulled out her purse and counted out three gold coins.
'I'm sure you know the sentence for treason,' she whispered. 'Surely you can let a condemned man enjoy a last kiss. I promise I'm not carrying any weapons or other means of escape.'
The guard palmed the coins and leered at her.
'I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that a pretty boy like him has the ladies paying for his favours instead of the other way around.'
Carenza bit back a retort; she didn't want to antagonise the man and waste this opportunity. Instead she bobbed a curtsey and returned to Allen's cell. He was pressed against the bars, and when she stepped up close to him he cupped her face in his gloved hands and leant his head as far out as he could. His long blond hair fell between them like a curtain, and whilst he kissed her he lowered the hand farthest from the guard and Carenza slipped the note into his waiting fingers. His lips were soft and warm, but if there was any passion behind them it was meant for another. For a moment she allowed herself to imagine that he was Folken; a shared kiss for their lost loves. Then he was releasing her, and the real world flooded back.
'I-I'd better go,' she murmured, and he nodded.
'Thank you, sweet lady. I will remember you.'
The trial took place a couple of days later, once the official period of full public mourning was over. Carenza was relieved to hear that the case would not be heard in open court, being a military matter not a civil one. She and Dryden were not allowed to attend, but in a surprise move Eries was not only in court but spoke as the chief witness for the defence. The siblings paced Carenza's apartment for four long hours before a messenger came with news.
Eries' eloquence had prevailed. The charge of treason was dropped in favour of "causing an affray" and a verdict passed of "guilty owing to a temporary fit of insanity brought on by grief". Allen retained his title of Knight of Heaven but was relieved of his post on the palace guard and sent to command a remote fort in the swamplands; an ignominious demotion for one of the kingdom's warrior elite.
After a discreet interval it was announced that Princess Eries had abdicated her position as heir presumptive owing to ill-health, her title of Crown Princess thus passing to her sister Millerna. Carenza later found out that this was the price King Aston had demanded in return for sparing Allen's life. So the princess who had once thought of Allen Schezar only as her ticket to power had fallen in love after all, and given up her throne forever to save him even though he was still in love with her sister.
Carenza found herself wondering how Allen managed, without any sign of malice in his heart, to sail through life leaving so much emotional wreckage in his wake.
END OF PART TWO
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Author's Note: the opera "Il Pensiero della Gettura" was invented by my friend Sarah-neko for her own Allen story "In Disgrace with Fortune" (in a very different context!). Thanks for letting me use it, Sarah!
Part Three coming soon - I'm afraid you may have to wait a couple of weeks as I am away on holiday.