Chapter Forty Seven
'Little Nellie is about six months old now and can hold herself up on her hands and knees. She hasn't started to crawl yet, not that Halt hasn't tried to teach her, trying to coach her forward with her toys held just out of reach. I keep telling him that she's too young, but he doesn't listen.
She's still a little terror at night, especially if she's hungry, but apparently most of it has to do with the dark. She has to fall asleep with the light on and if she wakes up and that lantern is out, well God help us because she'll be crying all night long. At least now we know what to do.
Of course, of all the things for our child to be afraid of it had to be the dark. Not bugs or heights or horses or even weapons, but the dark. In the last week alone I have caught her playing with three spiders, a garden snake, Pritchard's dagger (how he didn't notice she had grabbed it I will never figure out), and the fireplace poker! I don't even know how!
For a baby who can't crawl, she is very mobile, rolling herself over and over until she gets what she wants.
Something tells me that will only get worse as she gets older.'
'Her new favorite toy is her father's beard, although I can't blame her for that one. He makes very funny faces when she pulls on it. Halt has spent the last three days trying to keep her little fingers away from it, but she gives this happy little squeal whenever she succeeds. I love it.'
'Halt and I ran into town today, leaving Nellie with Pritchard. Halt was nervous, but he made it through and I'm very proud of him for that. He really has made a lot of progress towards trusting others again.
I can't believe how much has changed since we met Pritchard, but it has most definitely been for the better. Halt and I are so much happier than we ever were in Clonmel. Without the burdens of the kingdom, finally having some freedom, I think Halt is finally able to be himself. I love seeing him so happy. He never smiled this much as a prince.
When we got back, the cabin was a mess and both Pritchard and Nellie were passed out next to the fireplace.
I guess a seven month old was just too much for him.'
'Well my traitorous child said her first word.
Actually no, it wasn't a word. It was just a bunch of sounds she babbled over and over that vaguely sounded like a word.
"Dadadadadadada…"
Ugh, Halt has no right to look that smug. I'm the one who takes care of her all day long, I carried her for nine months and feed her every day, tuck her in every night, but no, she has to be daddy's little girl.
Oh he is going to regret this when I teach her to tease him about his height and raggedy hair, just wait and see!'
The room was completely silent following Duncan's confession. The king was looking back and forth between all of them, waiting for any reaction.
Finally, Cassandra spoke up, rubbing one of her fingers in a circle on her temple as she did so, "I'm sorry, but Dad, did you really just say what I think you said?"
He nodded.
There was another long moment of silence.
Then Cassandra said a very unladylike word.
"Cassandra!"
"Don't 'Cassandra' me! Dad, do you realize what you did?!"
"How can you be so stupid!" Crowley yelled out, looking completely enraged.
"Why would anyone agree to that?!" Selethen shouted at him.
Halt just threw his coffee mug at the king, a murderous look on his face, and Duncan just barely dodged. The Ranger grabbed another, hurtling it before the first had hit the wall.
Amidst all the yelling, Nellie sat there in absolute disbelief. She didn't even register when Cassandra joined Halt, both of them now throwing books across the room at the ducking ruler.
Her future kids…were in line for the throne? That's why Atanyan needed them? But-But she wasn't even pregnant! She and Selethen hadn't decided to try for kids yet and-
And now their future had already been stolen from them.
That disbelieving look turned into a hateful glare, Nel finally coming back to reality. Crowley had gotten her dad and best friend to stop throwing things at Duncan, but everyone was still yelling, screaming at him.
Duncan looked to her, hoping to find some sort of understanding or even pity, but there was none. He paled when he saw her anger.
The others fell silent as they registered the expression on his face, turning to see what made him so terrified.
Nel stood up, walking towards the door. She had to pass Duncan to do so, the man backed against the wall from avoiding all the objects thrown at him.
He reached out, grabbing her arm gently to stop her in her tracks, "Nel, I-"
"Don't." she whispered, voice hoarse, but everyone still heard her, "Don't touch me."
His hand shook as he let go, Nel rounding on him.
"You had no right. None. My children have no future now because of you. You've sentenced my entire family to a life of fear, and why? Because you refused to make the same sacrifice you ask others to make. You have dozens of advisors, dozens, and yet you ignore every one of them so you can make your own stupid decisions, only you haven't learned yet that your choices affect everyone in this kingdom. You have no clue what you've done. None. You had no right."
"I-I am your king." he stammered out in defense, "I did what I had to do for the sake of the kingdom."
"No." Nel laughed humorlessly, "You did what was best for you. Don't ever try to pretend otherwise. There were other options, you had choices, and like the idiot you are, you ignored them."
"Nel-" he tried, reaching out to grab her hand.
She jerked her hand away from his, moving faster than they thought possible for her, to reach up and-
SMACK!
"I said don't touch me." she growled at him, lowering her hand and letting everyone see the bright red cheek on his face, "You are not my king. I refuse to follow someone like you. Do whatever you like to Gorlan Fief. I don't want it, or anything else, from you."
And she walked out, storming down the hallway, anger still bubbling underneath her skin and her hand stinging from when she slapped him.
How dare he?! How dare he actually say that it was-the gall of that man to suggest that-
"Nel! Nel, wait up!" a familiar voice broke through her thoughts and she stopped at the corner of the hall, turning around to see her family and Cassandra running after her. Leading the pack was Selethen, a proud smile stretched across his face.
He reached her first, sweeping her into a tight hug. She returned it gratefully, her nerves settling at the contact.
"I love you so damn much." he said. A smile appeared on her face at the words.
"I don't think my father has ever looked so dumbfounded!" Cassandra laughed.
"I can't believe you actually slapped him!" Crowley joined in.
Nel pulled away from the hug sheepishly, face red, "I-I didn't plan on it…"
Her dad laughed, ruffling her hair affectionately, "You get more like your mother every day."
She blushed harder at that, but couldn't stop the pleased feeling from spreading throughout her chest.
"So, what do we do now?"
"Get out of here?" she suggested shyly. "I-I don't think I can stay here through the winter and see him everyday, not after what he did, I'm sorry."
"Don't be sorry." Selethen said, arm still wrapped around her shoulders, "Trust me, none of us want to stay here right now."
"Let's get the horses and go to Redmont then." Halt said, "It's as good a place as any to wait out the winter."
"Give us a few to pack then." Crowley gestured to him and Cassandra, "We weren't as prepared as you lot."
Halt rolled his eyes at the poor joke.
"Y-You two are coming with?" Nel asked.
Cassandra rolled her eyes at her, "Of course! What, you thought that you could slap my dad and then not have to hear me gush about it for the next week?"
"Y-You aren't mad?"
"What? Of course not! After what he did, Dad deserves far worse than a slap."
"He got worse. 'I refuse to follow someone like you'? I didn't know you had it in you Nellie-girl." Crowley smiled down at her.
"Ok, ok, shower her with praises later. Specifically at the stables in half an hour." Halt told them, saving her from an embarrassed, stammering response, "We'll decide our next step on the road."
They nodded, the group splitting up, Crowley and Cassandra to get packed and Halt volunteering to get some food. Nellie and Selethen made their way to the stables, saddling the horses.
"You can use Kicker if you like," Nel muttered when they got there, "Horace won't mind."
"Thank you."
She made her way down to the end of the stables where her own horse waited. Nel hadn't seen Hope since she left for Arrida, but it felt amazing to reunite with her.
The short and shaggy mare was a retired Ranger horse, pure black with some white spots going down her legs. She had been part of Old Bob's breeding program, but was given to Nel right before the second war with Morgarath. Nel couldn't have an actual Ranger horse as she wasn't part of the Corps, but that hadn't stopped Uncle Crowley from finding a loophole.
Hope was getting old and wasn't nearly as fast as the other Ranger horses, but Nel loved her.
The two of them got the horses ready in silence for a while, waiting for everyone else to show up.
"Are you ok?" he finally asked as she put the reins on Abelard.
Nel took a deep breath before shaking her head.
He sighed, walking over and bringing her into another hug that she returned gratefully, shoulders relaxing as he held her, "Me either."
"What are we supposed to do?"
"I don't know, habibi, I don't know."
"I…I can't believe he did that. Our children and he just-like they didn't matter."
"He can justify it all he wants, but what you said was true. He had no right."
"I understand using me instead of Cassandra. I understand needing a marriage contract to seal everything together. I can even understand why Atanyan thought he was using a loophole, but I just don't understand why Duncan would do that to children we don't even have yet or why he, once again, didn't consult any of his advisors."
"I wish I knew." Selethen said, "After everything that's happened, one would think that he would've learned that lesson at least."
"You know what makes it worse?" she whispered, "We are just as much at fault for it."
Selethen pulled away a bit, giving her a confused look, "What do you mean?"
"We signed that contract, we agreed to it, and we didn't even read it. We did all of that and had no clue what we were doing." she said sadly, "We signed our children's futures away."
"That's not our fault." he said, "We were trusting everyone else to make sure it was right. We had enough going on, there was no reason not to believe that the marriage contract was anything less than perfect. It's not our fault. They should've told us about something that major."
"Why didn't they? Why keep it a secret?"
"I wish I knew," he repeated.
Nel sighed and he kissed the top of her head.
"We'll figure it out." he promised, "I'm not going to let anyone harm our kids."
"If we have them." she said, "Sel, do we really want to bring children into this? Knowing what kind of life they'll have?"
"Hey, by the time we have kids, all of this will be over. Our children won't have anything to worry over."
"How can you be so sure?"
Selethen tilted her head up so they could look at each other and all she saw was determination, "It's going to end, one way or another Nellie. Atanyan won't use our children for whatever twisted plot he has in mind and Duncan won't have any control over them, I swear."
She smiled tearfully, hope flickering in her chest, "You are going to be such a great dad."
He cleared his throat uncomfortably, not meeting her gaze. Nel just laughed. Selethen didn't get embarrassed often, but she loved it when he did.
"That's a happy sound," her dad's voice floated over to them.
Nel poked her head out of the stall, wiping her eyes to get rid of the unshed tears, seeing him at the entrance of the stables setting down their bags and the food.
"Horses almost ready?"
"Just have Cassandra's left. Get enough food?"
"More than. It's only a three day journey."
"Is Duncan going to have a problem with us staying in Redmont or Cassandra coming with us?" Selethen asked, also stepping out of the stall. Nel moved to saddle the princess's horse while Halt answered.
"None. After all, what's better protection than two Rangers for her? Besides, something tells me he isn't eager to continue the conversation."
"More like I'm not giving him a choice." the girl in question said, walking in with Crowley just behind her, "Dad's crossed a major line. He needs to learn to stop acting on his own. He thinks he has to as king because that's what Grandad did, but it's wrong."
"Spoken like a very wise ruler." Selethen smiled at her.
She grinned at the praise.
Crowley walked up to his horse, patting him affectionately on the nose, "I'll escort you all there and stay a week or two, but after that I'll have to return with the princess. Hopefully Duncan will have seen sense by then."
"Thank you." Halt said, strapping the bags onto the saddles.
It didn't take them very long to finish getting ready and in just a few moments they were on the road, bundled up to protect from the giant flakes that had started to fall. It wasn't until they were a couple hours outside of town that anyone finally addressed the Wargal on the road.
"So, your kids are eligible for the throne if Cassandra dies." Crowley said somewhat conversationally.
"Apparently so." Nellie whispered.
"Least now we know what Atanyan was after," Halt muttered, "your kids for the throne, gives him almost complete control. Honestly, we should've seen it coming; after what happened with the last Emrikir, there's no way he would forgive us so easily, even with the threat of the Temujai."
"Just went the political route instead of all out war." the Arridi agreed sadly.
"If only Dad had listened to one advisor during all of that negotiation." Cassandra huffed, glaring at the road.
"It also solves the mystery of the assassins." Crowley realized softly, "We thought it was all about the treaty and the war, not the history between the countries. Now is the best time for an assassination."
"It's a good cover up." Halt admitted begrudgingly, "None of us ever thought otherwise."
"The person who hired the Genovesans was at the negotiations. He killed them to cover his tracks so Duncan wouldn't back out of the wedding."
"So, what should we-"
"Gorlog's beard, I just slapped the king!" Nel burst out, cutting off the princess.
There was a shocked silence for a moment before Crowley reached over, smacking Halt upside the head.
"Hey! What was that for?!" the grizzled Ranger yelled.
"She picked up that language from you!" Crowley explained firmly, glaring at his oldest friend.
"Did it just now sink in?" Cassandra asked Nel, trying not to laugh.
"I-I can't believe I just did that!"
"Habibi, it was a couple of hours ago…" Selethen said softly, also failing at keeping a straight face.
"I was so angry, I wasn't thinking, I-I-" Nel stuttered out, eyes blown wide in panic.
"As you should be." Halt grumbled, guiding his horse up next to his daughter's, "Trust me, Duncan's not going to do anything about it. If he did, we'll simply have to explain to the kingdom how he sold their future to a power hungry ruler. No offense."
He added the last part softly towards Selethen.
"None taken." he replied, "It's an apt description now that I think about it."
"What exactly are we going to do about that power hungry ruler?" Crowley asked, bringing them back on track, "We can't just hide you and your future kids here forever and he's not going to stop going after Cassandra."
The group had stopped in the middle of the, luckily, deserted road, but that didn't stop Halt from looking around cautiously.
"Nervous about being in the open?" Cassandra asked.
"Always, especially when discussing what amounts to either a war crime or treason." he answered.
"Let's wait until we get to Redmont then. We can talk at your house dad." Nel suggested.
"Few people would try to eavesdrop at a Ranger's home." Crowley agreed.
"Let's get going then, preferably before our resident giant here freezes to death." Halt huffed.
"Hey!"
"Sweetie, your lips are turning blue."
"...What?"
"Someone give him another cloak!" Cassandra giggled, urging her horse back into a trot.
Selethen rolled his eyes, "I think I hate all of you."
