Chapter Five

Duke Barradin walked through the palace halls, a frown creasing his face. It had been a mere week since Queen Selena's disappearance and he knew that if he failed to find her nothing would hold back Rurik's fury upon the Canthans. Gatanx scoured the North, just in case the Kurzicks had decided to head North. Arya Bladedancer had been called, but so far she had not answered and this was worrisome to Barradin.

Never before had Lady Arya not answered Rurik or Selena when they had called for help. And even more worrying was the report of the fall of the Keepers of the Shadow Empire Guild. Barradin was now heading to King Rurik to report this new development and as he was about to walk around the last corner, he caught part of a conversation.

"So she is gone?" asked the familiar voice, and Barradin recognized the cultured voice to be Lady Maria of Surmia.

"Yes, Maria, she is missing," and that had to be Lord Darrin of Ranik. "Rumor has it that she is dead, so even if you wished to contest her marriage to him, you may not have to. However, you can still contest it to dislodge Prince Salamar, but, if you don't want to you can still mold the boy and have your niece marry and have as Queen. I would suggest the latter after allowing a proper length of time to pass for Rurik to grieve. 'tis tragic, though, you must admit."

"How so?" asked Lady Maria.

"Well, Rurik was fond of Lady Althea, and while one could not say it was a passionate love affair, it was a lovely matching. He grew close to her as a friend, and perhaps would have had better had they married, but when she died, I guess you could say he tried to commit a very slow, but equally as deadly, sort of suicide to join her," Lord Darrin chuckled darkly. "And now his second love is gone, likely dead. This time he had a good couple of years of marriage and a son to show for it and his young and pretty wife is killed by another enemy of the state. Being Queen is dangerous, perhaps, then…"

Lady Maria snorted in a derisive but yet still ladylike fashion. "One could also think of a darker motive if one were like me, Darrin," she retorted sharply.

"I would watch well what you say," Darrin's voice dropped dangerously, and Barradin had to stifle his own bark of laughter. Lord Darrin was an insufferable ass at times but traitor he was not, not even in thought. "King Rurik loved both Althea and Selena and would not have wished ill on either, on pain of his own death, and so would not be even indirectly responsible for either of their deaths. It is simply tragedy that they both died so young when they had so much potential. I had great respect for both. Lady Althea was a true lady and would have been a wonderful Queen. The fact that she never got to see what she was capable of in such a position of power is tragic. Of what I saw, Queen Selena was far stronger than any one gave her credit and so her loss is sad, she left a handsome son behind. And that is the tragedy. The poor boy won't remember his mother as well as he should and a boy needs a mother to know the softer things in life."

"You are a poetic man, Lord Darrin," Lady Maria's tone had softened slightly. "And you are right. The boy does need a softer influence, if only to curb the hot headedness that runs in the de Drascir family line."

"The La Runes aren't much better," snorted Lord Darrin. "I fought beside Salamar's grandfather. Trust me on that!"

Barradin finally decided to end this conversation as he blithely continued his path around the corner. Feigning surprise, he greeted them, "Lady Maria, Lord Darrin. Beautiful day, isn't it?"

"Duke Barradin," Maria bowed slightly. "It is a beautiful day. Lord Darrin and I were discussing the tragedy that has befallen our young Queen. It's sad, isn't it? She was barely even past her quarter century mark, as I understand."

"Actually, she is thirty this fall," corrected Barradin. "She only appears so young because she is so tiny."

"Indeed?" Lord Darrin mused. "Then not so young. But—seven years younger than Rurik?"

"Yes, she is," Barradin smiled slightly. "Six and a half, actually. Rurik was born in the winter, Selena in the fall, remember? Anyway, I was on my way to meet with the King. Good day to both of you."

With that Barradin continued on by while he could feel their gazes on his back.

Rurik walked in the courtyard and watched his son as he played in the gardens. With a half smile, he allowed himself to enjoy the momentary peace at this simple act. Barradin walked from the shadows of the halls within the Palace and judging by the expression on the man's face he didn't bring good news either. With a nod to Delei, Rurik walked over to Duke Barradin. "What is it?" asked Rurik.

"Lady Arya has not answered us—in person or otherwise. No one has heard from her in over eight months," answered Barradin as he fell into step with his King, noticing that Rurik's pace was still slow compared to a few years before.

"There's more."

"Yes, my King, there is," Barradin stopped, drew a breath, then continued. "Keepers of the Shadow Empire have fallen. A Charr messenger brought the news from Gatanx who looked for the Guild Hall and found a different Guild within, one not friendly to KSE and very neutral to Ascalon. There was no aid there."

Rurik stopped, his brows creasing. "It can't be. Arya Bladedancer is…" he turned to Barradin, disbelief on his face. "She would have not fallen to another Guild. Hers was a Guild of strength and honor…"

"Nonetheless, KSE is no more," answered Barradin. "Some of the old members of KSE are beginning to filter in to other cities, some in the Shiverpeaks, some here in Ascalon, some as far as Kryta. Most are seeking refuge in New Ascalon due to the ease of defense. But I have a letter from Akruan Soulblesser;" Barradin cleared his throat. "My King and liege, King Rurik of all of Ascalon, I send my greetings and regret that I cannot be there in person to deliver this message. I hope this letter finds you well. I have heard about Queen Selena and will endeavor to personally find the other La Runes that were in our scattered guild. I do not know what has happened to Arya, but when I find out I will be sure to tell her that you need her now more than ever. In respect, Akruan Soulblesser."

Rurik lifted a brow, "And why could he not be here?"

"In whatever battle brought Keepers low, he was gravely injured and is recovering in Grooble's Gulch. It was as far as he could get before collapsing," Barradin explained. "The Deldrimor care for him now and brought him back from the edge of death."

For a long moment, Rurik stood there, fingers bracing the bridge of his nose as he thought about how grave the situation was abruptly turning. He could afford to stretch his own defenses of his nation too thin as the ranks of the Ascalon Army were thin as it was. The Charr were at best a shaky alliance and the Deldrimor had problems of their own as, even though the Stone Summit were leaderless without Dagnar Stonepate, they were still a threat and kept the Deldrimor on constant alert.

At that moment a guard walked in and saluted to Rurik and then bowed, "Your Majesty, your Grace, there is an ambassador that requests entrance to Rin and audience with his Majesty."

Rurik blinked, "Now what?"

"Who is this Ambassador?" asked Barradin.

"Seaguard Berial from the Luxon Faction," answered the guard.

Rurik waited until the guard disappeared from view before he let his head drop, eyes closed. Barradin grabbed his shoulder thinking that the younger man was about to collapse again, but Rurik waved him off as he walked over to a bench and sat heavily on it. "I'm fine," his voice was pitched low, barely above a whisper but still full in voice.

Rurik sat very still for a moment, almost as if he was fading mentally and collapsing from the inside out. The expression on his face was… entirely too expressionless and reminded Barradin of a man he had seen in Sardelac. He had been through so much shock from the Searing that he had simply faded mentally from the world. So much like Selena had been when she had been called Rosa. But Rurik looked up, the haunted look in his eyes again.

"Would you like me to meet the Ambassador and tell him you have matters of State?" asked Barradin. "You look like you need rest and Selena would be angry with us if I allowed you to push yourself past the point of collapse again."

"I am fine, truly I am," Rurik forced a smile, but it didn't quite convince Barradin. "I will meet with the Ambassador and then I think I will retire for a short sleep."

"Swear on it?"

Rurik blinked, but sighed and nodded, "Of course I do."

Barradin looked back at him once as he walked back into the Palace. Rurik, thinking that he was not being observed, closed his eyes again, a hand going to his face as he ran a hand down it. His thumb rubbed at an eye, and then the careful, cool, King was back and Rurik was push aside for the meeting with the Luxon Ambassador.

With a sad smile, Barradin whispered, "Still our Rurik no matter what…"

Hours later, Barradin walked quietly to the hall outside the royal suites where Rurik lived with his wife and son. Entering into the foyer of the private entrance, the guards stood straight. In this common area, Adelburn's Queen walked out and nodded once to Barradin, who bowed to the woman. "My Lady Queen Farina, elder of Ascalon," he greeted. "How fare you this day?"

"I would be better knowing that the Queen of Ascalon was safe at home," she answered with a sigh.

"Did Rurik actually lie down for a short nap like he said he was going to?" asked Barradin, concerned.

"He did," she smiled. "He didn't have much choice. After the meeting with that Luxon Ambassador he didn't really have enough energy to consider doing anything else. He was almost asleep on the throne. I think he was sleepwalking when he got back here. Salamar slept beside him for a while on the bed. It seemed to make the both of them sleep better, I think. Although Salamar is playing in his room now. And before you ask, yes, Rurik is still sleeping. I don't think he'll awaken before morning. Today was a full day for him."

Barradin touched the woman's shoulder, "How are you holding up with all of this?"

She smiled as she laid a hand on the one that was one her shoulder. "I am holding, but I see my son who is now falling apart at the seams again as history repeats itself. I have a grandson that may grow up never knowing his parents and King far sooner than he ought—and Ascalon will fall on to a Regency instead of a Kingdom."

"You don't think that he's—do you?" Barradin felt a thin stab of fear settle into his heart.

It had been so long since a Soul Bond had been performed that no one knew how long it would take for the other to die if one died in the pairing. Mhenlo had told him that if Selena died, Rurik would perhaps as long as a few scant months to live before he weakened and died depending on how hard Rurik fought the icy fingers of Grenth. Weeks if he didn't fight at all. Now that Farina had pointed it out, Rurik had seemed to slide back into the shape that he had been brought back in, and he was often pale and quiet.

Could it be that Queen Selena was already dead and Rurik was slipping away after her?