Heart's Desire
Chapter 6- The Trunk Beneath the Bed
Disclaimer-
I do not own Delia, Jon, Alanna, etc. I do own Kelsie, Jazz, Matthew, etc.
The next morning, Kelsie sat in bed nervously. She wasn't so sure that she wanted the King to see Alex's things, as she herself had never seen these things, and she had sort of hoped that when she was ready to see them, she would be able to do it in private. She didn't want to have a bad reaction to Alex's possessions in front of Jonathan, for Mithros sake!
Slowly, she prepared for breakfast. She pulled on a lavender blouse and a violet skirt, and brushed her hair so that it fell softly around her shoulders. Quietly, she left her room and headed down to the dining hall. Matthew was seated next to Jonathan, Alanna, and two men she assumed were Gary and Raoul. There was an empty chair next to Matthew, and he motioned for Kelsie to come sit with him. Reluctantly, Kelsie got her food and sat down next to Matthew.
"Kelsie, this is my brother, Raoul, and this is Jon's cousin, Gareth the Younger of Naxen. Call him Gary. Guys, this is Kelsie of Tirragen." Both Raoul and Gary kissed her hand, and said they were pleased to meet her, then resumed the conversation they had been having with Alanna.
"I still can't believe she's really dead," Gary said, and Kelsie knew right away that they were talking about Delia.
"Get off of this, it's been discussed more than necessary. Until I find out what Delia meant by her threats, there will be no more discussion of Delia of Eldorne, you hear?" Jon said, and the three nodded.
"Lady Alanna, where's George?" Kelsie asked.
"Please, just Alanna. George says he doesn't feel well. He asked to be left alone for several hours so that he could sleep." Kelsie nodded, but something didn't feel right. She shook it off when the King asked her if she was ready to go through Alex's things.
"Yes, sir," Kelsie said.
Kelsie led Jonathan into her quarters, and he sat in a chair while Kelsie went back into the main part of her bedchamber. She pulled a trunk from beneath her bed. It was painted emerald green- Alex had painted the trunk that color because of her. She had never opened it before, though.
Next Kelsie went to her own trunk, and pulled things out left and right until she got to the item she wanted. It was a small box, made of cardboard, with a lid that was too big for it. Inside were letters that Kelsie had received from Alex while he had been at the palace. She didn't fancy showing the King her personal things, but she knew that he needed to see the letters- there was plenty about Delia of Eldorne, Roger of Contè, Ralon of Malven, and Josiane of the Copper Isles in the letters.
Kelsie set the box on top of Alex's trunk, and then dragged the trunk out into the main room. Jonathan looked at the trunk in awe.
"You have all this?" he asked.
"Most of it is probably just his clothes. And in the small box are letters he wrote to me while he was here. I know there's some stuff about Delia in them, and about the others, too." Jon nodded appreciatively.
"If you want, I'll read the letters while you go through the trunk. Would you like to do that?"
"Yes, sir. Thank you."
"Don't call me sir."
"Yes, Jon." Jon sat on the couch and put the box by his side. He took off the lid and pulled out the first letter, then began reading to himself.
Kelsie used her magic to break the lock (she didn't have the key) and then opened the top of the trunk. On the very top were Alex's breeches and shirts. His knight's uniform was below that, followed by some books on sorcery.
"But Alex wasn't a sorcerer," Kelsie murmured to herself.
"They were for Roger. Alex did all his research for him," Jonathan said in response. Kelsie nearly jumped when he spoke, she hadn't been expecting a response.
"Oh," Kelsie said. She continued to go through Alex's things. There were some nice clothes that he wore to balls, and there were several different weapons- a sword that must have been his back up, an axe, a dagger, a bow and arrow. She lay everything on the bed.
"Nothing that I see in here is useful," she cried in frustration, and pounded her fist on the empty bottom of the trunk. It moved. Kelsie stared at the panel and then picked it up. Underneath it, it looked almost like another lid. There was a lock on the top.
"Jon, I think I've found something," she said. Jon dropped the letter he had been reading and came over to Kelsie. He looked at the panel.
"Should I try and use my magic to unlock it?"
"I suppose," she said, and a ball of sapphire fire came to Jon's fingertips. Kelsie watched as he flung the magic at the lock- and it did nothing.
"Unbelievable. It won't unlock!" Kelsie looked at the frustrated man, and then she took the axe, and hurled it at the bottom of the trunk. The axe bounced off the trunk, and landed across the room in the door to Kelsie's bedchamber.
"Woah. Alex must have gotten Roger to put some really strong magic in this trunk. We have to find out what's in there. Is it all right if I take it to the mages and see if they can figure it out?" Kelsie nodded.
"Sure. But- I can keep the rest of the stuff, right? His clothes, and his weapons, and all."
"Of course. Those do them no good. I better take this to the mages now- the sooner we find out what's in it, the better. I'll come back later to get the letters, all right?" Kelsie nodded.
"In the meantime, will you read some of them and see if there's anything useful?"
"Sure thing."
"Thanks," Jon said, and he picked up the trunk and went to the door.
"Oh, by the way- one of the mages has Heart's Desire. I'm going to see if he's train you. That talent of yours could come in handy, Kelsie." And the King walked out the door, trunk and all.
After Jonathan had left, Kelsie picked up the box of letters, and she saw one pile that Jon had started- the ones he had already read. Then she picked up the first one in the pile of unread letters.
Dear Kelsie,
How is life at the convent? I got your letter asking about the newly uncovered Alanna of Trevond- she has left Court. I suppose you must have heard about my Lord's death at the hand of the Lioness. It was a disgrace, an outrage. A woman defeating the most powerful sorcerer there is! Well, I suppose there are ways to bring him back. Delia says that we should try and convince Thom of Trebond. I want nothing else to do with the Trebond twins! Alanna always made me look bad when she was Squire Alan, and she outsmarted me on a number of occasions when I was ordered to kill her. Roger was so disappointed with me when I failed- with the ice-skating, then with the practice sword fight. And after I failed, she was able to uncover Roger, and then kill him in front of the whole court. Thank the Dark God that Alanna has left Corus to go on adventures elsewhere. Perhaps we should send the thief Claw (Ralon of Malven, you know, I'm sure I've told you) after her so that he can kill her. How nice that would be. Delia, however, thinks that more important is raising Roger from the dead,. She says if we play things just right, play with his pride, then he'll vow to do something stupid- like bringing Roger back- so that he can prove how powerful he is., The man is a great sorcerer, but he is also a real idiot. Delia and I got into a fight about it, too. She insisted that we needed Roger back, but I told her that the two of us were perfectly capable of carrying out Roger's plans without him. Of course, in the end she convinced me we needed Roger. You know how she plays with your mind. That's part of what I love most about woman. And you'd best not let anyone know about my relationship with Delia. We've been through a lot together, and in the end she always comes back to me. I remember when Roger's duty for her was to pretend that she loved Jonathan and make him fall in love with her. It was terrible, pretending to Jon that while he was in fights with Delia I wasn't off sleeping with her behind his back. Delia always pouted and made fun of Jon, saying that I was obviously the better man, Mithros, Kelsie, that woman is so manipulative.
Kelsie dropped the letter in horror. Alex- and Delia? That was something she had not remembered from before! She had never met Delia of Eldorne, and now it was too late, but she had the feeling that she would not have liked Delia of Eldorne very much. The things that Kelsie had heard about Delia were th not exactly flattering, though. The fact that even Delia's lover had thought that she was manipulative and played with people's mind only proved things.
There was a knock on the door. Kelsie opened the door to find herself face to face with the Lioness.
"Jonathan said that you had a lot of stuff to go through of Alex's. I'm here to help, and see if any of his letters are of any use."
"Oh, I found one that may be of use, Lady Alanna. I think you should read it." Kelsie handed Alanna the letter that she had just read. Alanna read through it, and then she fell over in a dead faint.