Chapter 46
After all the effort that Chaela had gone through to prepare Dijana to attend the banquet at which her mother disbanded the council, Lord Prince Taeron did not even attend! Not that she was looking her best for him! Her mother had demanded that she look presentable when she announced that courting would commence and that her daughter would join the other female candidates. Chaela had chatted excitedly as she combed out her hair and arranged it with bejeweled pins that had been among Sharisse's things. Dijana had not wanted to wear them, but Chaela reminded her that Sharisse had stolen everything from her in the first place. The lovely gown she wore had also come from Sharisse although the maids had to work at altering it to fit Dijana who was somewhat larger than her sister thanks to her giant sire. When she joined her mother, Neria gave her an approving look before leading the way to the banquet hall.
The elders had not attended the banquet, so Dijana guessed that they had wanted to put as much distance between them and Neria as possible. Her announcement of their retirement was met with silence as the men and women gathered probably did not know how to react. Neria did not seem to care as she took her place beside Roehan and ordered the meal to be served. The hall was filled with Roehan's commanders and their mates, so there would be no trouble. Dijana sat between her father and Chaela at the largest of the round tables, of which there were many in the banquet hall that were laden with food and flowers that looked as though they had been through a storm. Her mother was complaining in her imperious voice to her father and anyone else who would listen that Prince Taeron and his band of Calabrian thugs had destroyed her wedding decorations. Now they would have to postpone the celebration until more flowers could be harvested.
"I shall send those imperial scoundrels into the marshlands to collect exotic blooms this time," she vowed.
Prince Amyr arrived with the scribe and Jeshed at his side, but Prince Taeron was not with them. The man who wore black from his headdress to his boots stood behind the Calabrian prince and Dijana noted that his warriors were scattered around the banquet hall. After the furor he had caused on the roof of the palace that afternoon, Dijana could understand Prince Taeron's reluctance to face her mother.
"Did I hear you say that you are sending us into the marshlands?" asked Amyr. Dijana wondered if anyone in the banquet hall did not hear her say it.
The marshlands were so inhospitable that few ventured in, but the flowers growing there were beautiful and fragrant. Dijana had seen such blooms only once when one of Sharisse's admirers had dared to venture into the marshlands for them on her suggestion, and while he had given her a bouquet that had lasted several days, he had lasted only until the following morning when he suffered an agonizing death from the toxic poison of the beasts that he had braved to get them. Dijana had been surprised that the Calabrian forces had not only traversed the large expanse to the north of Nidum harried by winged warriors and venomous creatures in water and air alike, but they seemed robust for the experience. She had heard that some of the warriors had been poisoned, but they had only suffered mild illness when the poison was lethal to the winged warriors.
"Are there forces hiding in the marshlands that we did not eradicate thoroughly?" asked Amyr. He sat next to his sister who was trying to look around him at Jeshed who had placed himself on the other side of Stryfe. If he was trying to hide from Chaela, which it certainly appeared that he was, he had done a good job by placing himself opposite and beyond the enormous display of food and flowers which completely blocked Chaela's view of him.
"Don't be ridiculous," said Neria with an autocratic raising of her chin. "Even if you Calabrians were not so efficient in your butchery, no winged warrior could survive even a few hours in that dreadful swamp. I often dreamed of staking Balak out in the marshland so that he could die a slow and painful death."
"I am glad you don't often confide in me your dreams," remarked Roehan as he signalled to a servant to fill his cup and Dijana's with sweet nectar wine.
Dijana still felt disconcerted in his presence, but after he had taken her from the council chamber and she allowed him to comfort her, she understood why her mother had fallen in love with him and why she loved him still so many years later after everything that had happened. How could she blame this loving man after he stood by Neria in her imprisonment when he could have left her and begun his own life with a female that could have given him children. If Neria would have borne him a child in the northern palace, Balak would have discovered and denounced her. Few would have disputed his right to give her the harshest punishment for betraying the husband she did not even want, had been forced to acknowledge over the corpse of another.
Now Dijana wondered if they might have more children although Neria had already informed her that she expected her and Prince Taeron to offer their eldest winged daughter to rule Teralon. Dijana was not disappointed to be passed over although her mother made it clear to her that it was not because of anything that had happened to her. The invasion from Varoonya was not the first such an occurrence in the history of Teralon, but she hoped it would be the last. With Dijana as the wife of the lord prince commander of the imperial warriors, she doubted any of the worlds on the frontier would dare to attack. Roehan had reminded Neria that the lord prince had yet to court her let alone marry so she should not be counting on Calabrian grandchildren yet.
Taking a sip of her wine after a grateful look at her father who smiled at her before turning his attention to her mother, Dijana sighed as she heard her speaking again.
"You are to gather flowers for my nuptial celebration," she was saying to Amyr.
The prince was digging through the food to find something that would be acceptable to his exacting taste, but he paused to look up and Dijana almost laughed at his shocked expression. "Flowers? You are sending the imperial warriors of Calabria to pick flowers?"
"It is the least you can do!" She frowned as if she noticed for the first time, having been distracted by her wedding plans, that Taeron was absent. "Where is Prince Taeron?" she demanded irritably. "If you are displeased with your duty for me, you have him to blame."
Jeshed peered around the mountain in the middle of the table to look at Dijana's mother. "I humbly beg your forgiveness, beautiful queen, but I am to blame for ruining what would have been a momentous day in your illustrious life."
For the first time, Queen Neria seemed to be at a loss for words. Even Roehan looked at her with surprise. Then she relaxed and smiled pleasantly at Jeshed. "You are Prince Taeron's brother, are you not?" She patted the empty place beside her where Dijana guessed she had planned to trap Taeron. "I accept your apology, Lord Jeshed."
He scooted quickly to her side. "I am not a lord, sweet queen, only the brother of the paladin."
Queen Neria sighed. "If only more of those Calabrians had your manners," she murmured regrettfully. Then she looked at Amyr. "I must insist that you do as I ask. My marriage to Roehan must be a grandiose event or there will be many who question its validity."
"Are the flowers absolutely necessary?" he dared to ask. "On Calabria..."
"They are absolutely necessary!" she cut him off with a near shout and her shoulders twitched as if she wanted to extend her wings. "And I know all about your austere customs which seem more like a male submitting to an executioner than a man and woman pledging their love for each other before their people."
"I will discuss your suggestion with my lord prince," said Amyr as he lifted a fruit to inspect, his distaste in their food obvious.
"It is not a suggestion."
Then the dark clad warrior leaned forward to whisper something in his ear and Amyr smiled. "By the gods, Darlac, you are right!" Tossing the fruit back onto the pile, he turned to the queen as he half-rose from his place. "We will begin the search this night. I am starved and Taeron ate the last of what we collected in the swamp."
"There is food in the swamp?" asked Chaela, dropping the fruit she had in her hand.
"Tasty food," Amyr told her. "There is a green, red spotted beetle this big," he indicated with his fingers, "that is absolutely divine. And the marsh spider is a gift from the gods themselves. Taeron suggested we harvest enough to take back for father to sample."
Dijana thought she was going to be sick.
"What are you talking about?" demanded Neria who had turned her attention away from Jeshed. Dijana wondered if Jeshed was using magic on her to smooth her ruffled feathers over the disaster caused by his own wings.
Amyr launched into a description of their eating practices and at first Neria seemed as disgusted as Dijana, but then she began to listen with interest while Dijana wondered if she would starve to death on Calabria rather than eat any of the variety of creatures that were pests, some deadly, on Teralon.
When he finished, Neria said, "And you believe that the creatures," she swallowed and winced, and Dijana knew her mother was as repulsed as she was at the moment, "that you found in the marshlands would please the emperor?"
"I know so," he told her.
"Then you may harvest them as you do my flowers, but on the morrow. You are here to celebrate and I will not have you marching out now. My people will wonder if I have insulted you or they will fear what mischief your men are getting into, especially after what you did to my celebration preparations."
Sighing, Amyr dropped back down. "As you wish, my lady."
"You have not given me an explanation for Prince Taeron's absence from this celebration."
Thinking of his wound, Dijana remarked, "I know that you all think that he is an impervious god, but he is only a man and needs time to recover from a grievous injury."
Silence met her comment and she realized that everyone was looking at her. Chaela reached under the table to squeeze her hand and Dijana saw that she had a hopeful smile on her lips.
Amyr chuckled. "I think we have found a way for Princess Dijana to look more favorably upon my lord prince. If we can keep them separated, their marriage shall be a complete success!"
Neria laughed and raised the cup that had been filled with wine. "A wise observation."
Dijana glared at him. "I was stating a fact." There was nothing that Calabrian idiot could do or say that would make him palatable.
"So was I," he said, returning her glare with a smirk. "I think my lord prince would be far safer if you were kept away from him."
Dijana felt her face heating and her heart beat painfully as she recalled how she had helped Kai.
"Amyr," warned Chaela who must have sensed her shame. "I don't think Taeron would appreciate how you are speaking to his mate."
Dijana drained her cup of wine when realized that she was, in fact, Prince Taeron's mate, had become so in all ways since the moment she had invited him into the pond on Norvana and he had affirmed it by bonding with her in the old way. That very spot seemed to be tingling now as she remembered the moment.
Chaela's words had a sobering effect on Prince Amyr because he fell silent and he took a sip from the cup of wine.
"Don't drink too much of that," warned Stryfe who held out his cup to a pretty serving woman who filled it and brushed blatantly against him to announce her availability. The human scribe watched her walk away with a twitch of her hips. "I think I am going to enjoy my stay on Teralon."
Jeshed had watched Stryfe interact with the servant and now he remarked, "Why do you think that merely after having your cup filled? I have not noticed that you lack in your desire for fermented beverages on Calabria."
"My dear Jeshed, he is talking about the female," Neria told him.
"What about the female?"
"You truly do not know?" Neria first seemed aghast and then she smiled and leaned closer to him. "I will be delighted to let you know."
"Not here, Neria," warned Roehan.
"His mother is a dear friend of mine and I know she is sorely disappointed in the education her eldest son received. I completely understand her shame since the fool cannot please my daughter."
Dijana's cheeks heated, but she was not going to announce the ease at which Prince Taeron could please her. She would not think about the trance, but there were so many moments on Norvana when he made her forget everything that had happened to her. She would have enjoyed remembering some of those moments, but her father had turned to look at her. His long-suffering grimace as Neria began a quiet lecture to the shape-shifter about the relations between a male and female told her that he would rather be elsewhere.
"You look lovely, Dijana."
Dijana glanced at Chaela who was talking to her brother before responding to her father. "You should thank Chaela. She prepared me for the banquet." She had also convinced Dijana to attend when she would rather have remained in her room than face Prince Taeron. At least he was not in attendance so what she feared most, having to talk to him after he had humiliated her before the council, would not come to pass.
"She dressed you, Dijana, but the beauty is yours."
After so many years of hearing Balak's scorn for her plain features, Dijana was touched by his compliment. "I still think Chaela deserves much of the credit."
"Neria and I are happy that you have made a dear friend although we are leery of her powers."
"Her powers have protected me," she told him quickly. She remembered how Avar and Balak had reacted to Chaela's powers and she feared that her parents would reject Chaela. "She is a healer, not a sorceress."
He patted her hand. "Do not worry, Dijana, I am not about to forbid you her company. When Neria learned of her marriage to Avar, she feared for the emperor's daughter when she knew what kind of man Balak had made of her son, and we are both saddened to realize that her fears were not groundless."
"Avar resented that he had not won the hand of Princess Shamara."
"Then he should not have seduced her sister," he said with disgust. "Avar was Balak's son in every way. The few times he came to the northern palace to visit her, I hid nearby with my weapons drawn in case he made a move against her."
Dijana glanced past him to her mother who was engrossed in her discussion with Jeshed and she noted the armaments with which she was adorned. "My mother seems to be able to protect herself."
"That has not always been true," he told her with a smile. "When she was your age, she was as ill-prepared to face an enemy as you are."
She blushed deeply. "I once thought I could defend myself." First Kai and then Balak and Avar proved how incapable she was.
"I trained her in the dark of night after all but the perimeter guards had gone to their beds," he told her. "Night after night we worked on the skills that have made her the warrior she has become. There were many nights that she did not want to train, but I had only to remind her of what Balak had done to her."
"Balak provided me with a trainer after the Varoonyans were driven off," she told him. Balak had wanted to refuse, telling her it was a waste of a warrior's time, but she had brought the matter to the council who reluctantly agreed with her. At the time she had been happy to learn, but the man had not taught her anything useful, which she did not realize until she tried to fight. Heat crept to her cheeks now as she recalled the time she had attempted to train Taeron.
"There is no time for me to work with you as I did your mother," Roehan said regretfully. "The Calabrians are eager to return to protect the emperor from their internal threat, which is something that Neria understands. Within the month we will be headed there with our own pledged warriors to aid in his war, and I am tasked with training them to work with the imperial warriors."
"Do not worry about her training," said Amyr who had been listening. "My lord prince has already insisted that I train her."
"You?" Dijana was disgusted at the prospect. "Is this Prince Taeron's particular punishment for me after shaming him before the council?"
Chaela laughed. "This is Taeron's idea of a reward! Don't worry, Dijana. I will work with you first, and when you are able to deliver a head-ringing blow, I will hand you over to Amyr so that you can beat him."
She was skeptical about that, and judging by Amyr's smirk, he was not worried.
"Perhaps you should visit my brother in his sickbed," suggested Stryfe who she noted had drained another cup of wine. Dijana knew he was flirting with the serving woman, but he was also becoming inebriated.
"I am not going to visit him! I have no need to court his favor."
"Courting?" Her mother's head snapped her way, proving to Dijana that Queen Neria was aware of everything being said around her although she had been whispering the finer points of female pleasures to Jeshed who listened with rapt attention. "Shall we discuss Lord Prince Taeron's courtship?"
She could not even imagine Taeron courting her like the males of Teralon, certainly not singing ballads as he hovered in the air outside her window as a winged warrior might. In the first place, he did not have wings and in the second, she doubted he could sing although his voice was pleasant when he spoke and especially pleasant when he murmured in her ear.
She was about to say that she did not want to discuss his courtship, but the intoxicated scribe of the emperor spoke before she could even take a breath. "I shall endeavor to record the event faithfully for the emperor."
She looked at her father for help but he looked thoughtful and she was mortified that the scribe would entertain the emperor with the story of her courtship.
"I shall enjoy watching that arrogant Calabrian brute attempting to prove his worthiness to my daughter."
Amyr burst into laughter which Stryfe joined him in.
"Why are they laughing?" asked Jeshed.
"Because they are idiots," Dijana told him before her mother could respond.
Chaela rose and headed to the empty place on the other side of Jeshed, but before she could reach it, the white-haired shape shifter leaped from the table and hurried away and she stopped in midstride to watch him with a perplexed frown. "Why did he do that?" she demanded aloud. "I have not had a chance to talk to him!"
"I think Queen Neria told him too much about women," chortled Stryfe as he waved his cup of wine, spilling some on Amyr who did not even notice. "Now he is as scared as Taeron was when we first came for Princess Dijana."
"Nonsense!" Queen Neria sniffed. "I merely gave him some advice that he was in sorry need of."
"My dear Neria, I only heard a quarter of what you said to him, so I imagine he is overwhelmed." Roehan took a drink of his wine and muttered, "I know that I am."
"When will he allow me to thank him for saving his life?" asked Chaela, trying to follow his departing figure with her gaze. It wasn't difficult because he was tall and he stood out with his long white hair that he had pulled back from his face in a braid like his brother. When he departed the hall, Chaela sighed and dropped down on the place he had vacated.
"He will make some female a good mate," remarked Neria. "After my instruction, how can he fail?"
"How indeed?" wondered Roehan aloud.
"Where is my ink and my pen?" Stryfe called out. "You must tell me what is expected of Lord Prince Taeron so that I might make a list."
Prince Amyr drained his cup and signalled to the serving woman who hurried to refill it without trying to attract his attention. She had tried earlier, and not only had he ignored her, but he had gently shoved her away. Given what Dijana knew of his behavior as the crown prince, she was surprised that he was not taking advantage of his wife's absence to dally with willing females.
"Brother, you are not drinking the wine are you?" demanded Chaela with annoyance. "You know what it does to you!" She called the serving woman to her and whispered something to her.
Amyr ignored her, but his voice was slurred as he spoke to the scribe although he had only drank one cup. "Excellent idea, fool! My father will want every detail of this farce. And so shall I!" Dijana looked at her cup and wondered if the wine was unusually strong.
"I agree with the drunken buffoons," said Neria. "I doubt he and my daughter discussed courting when they were fumbling with each other, so he shall need to be informed of our customs."
After a frown at his queen, Roehan rose and offered his hand to Dijana. "Will you honor me with a walk in the queen's garden?"
Dijana knew that the queen's garden hadn't been cared for in many years, but she did want to escape the group now discussing what Prince Taeron should do to properly court her. She was surprised that Chaela was participating in the conversation, but not so surprised that she had ordered the serving women to water the wine served the males. When they left the dining hall, she became aware of a shadow, and she turned to see that the warrior called Darlac followed several paces behind.
"You will have to get used to it," her father remarked as they entered the overgrown garden. "If you choose Prince Taeron as your mate, you will rarely have private moments with him."
The dark warrior stayed a respectful distance from her, but Dijana doubted Prince Amyr would be so considerate.
Her father stopped and turned her to face him with his hands on her shoulders. "I cannot change the past, Dijana. But I want you to realize how difficult our life in the northern palace was, and how even dreaming of escape was futile. Even if we had known the truth, that you were not Nykos' child, there was nothing we could have done, and I think the truth would have driven us mad knowing that you were in Balak's power."
"I am sorry," she said, reaching up to put her hands on his. "I want to understand, but after everything that has happened, I need more time. Tell me about the northern palace."
The northern palace, he explained, was an abandoned fortress that had originally been built at the northern edge of the marshlands. The balmy heat made it unbearable, so several generations of peace after the last invasion by a frontier world, the queen had decreed it an unnecessary defense, that the marshlands alone would serve. After so many years of disuse, it had become overrun with vegetation and creatures that had made their homes inside. Many men had succumbed to the poisonous creatures in the effort to clean it out, and even Roehan had been attacked and poisoned, barely surviving with Neria's nursing day and night. There were times when the supply shipments did not make it to the palace and they went hungry for many weeks before another shipment would come.
Balak abandoned the soldiers stationed at the northern palace for fear that word of her imprisonment would be discovered, and any visitors were Balak's supporters and they were infrequent. On a handful of occasions Avar or Sharisse had visited, but not out of any affection for their mother. They came to gloat and give her the news that would hurt Neria most, the last time being when Sharisse paid a visit to tell her in detail what the warlord Kai had done to Dijana. She had bragged that she soon expected to supplant her in line to succeed Neria. Once that happened, Balak would have no need to keep Neria alive. So on that same visit, Roehan had managed to bribe one of the soldiers in the squadron that had escorted her to deliver Neria's offer to the emperor to the elder Kaseja who in turn had secretly given it to one of the Calabrian warriors. After driving off the Varoonyans, the warrior returned to Calabria to deliver it to the emperor.
Dijana did not know the history of the treaty with the emperor and she was amazed that it had passed through so many hands before reaching him. That the emperor acted upon it without any way of determining its validity was a testament to his intuition.
"I am sorry, if your mother is not, that your marriage to Lord Taeron was made a part of the treaty. She did not specify Lord Taeron, but a male strong enough to protect you in the future." He stopped and turned to face her. "But now you need not consider him if you do not wish to. There are many strong winged warriors that served us well in the northern palace that would make good mates for you."
Dijana could not imagine being with any other man, but she would not tell her father when he clearly did not like Taeron. "I will think about it," she told him although she would not, not when she was wondering when she could see Taeron to apologize to him for everything she had done.
Her father took her hand and brought it to his heart. "I will not allow anyone to hurt you ever again, Dijana."