Chapters 3 and 4 were originally a single chapter, finishing up the flashback of Derek's winter visit to Odette's kingdom. But it got so long, I figured no one would want to read 6,000-plus words in a single session. So I broke it up into two chapters. Chapter 5 will get back to the main storyline, I promise. But in the meantime, I hope some of you enjoy this foray into Odette and William's world, which Derek will try but ultimately fail to fully understand.
Cymdros, 1 year and 10 months earlier. December.
The welcome banquet Derek had been anticipating—and mildly dreading—happened on the third night of his visit to Cymdros. King William's banquet hall was a lofty chamber of grey brick, brightened by dozens of gilded chandeliers and colorful tapestries on the wall. The most elaborate tapestry, stretching twenty feet high and at least sixty feet wide, hung behind the king's table. It depicted two armor-clad figures, a dark-haired queen and a fair-haired knight.
Derek recognized the two figures on the tapestry from their kingdoms' shared history. Odette's great-grandfather Siegfried had led the five-year rebellion against the Veiled Kings who once ruled the Isles of Cymdros. Chamberg had joined the rebellion a year in, helping end a reign of terror that had lasted over four hundred years. On the tapestry, Derek's great-grandmother Queen Moira sat on horseback next to the future King Siegfried. She held her sword aloft and looked over her shoulder at the legions of troops she had brought with her. Meanwhile, Siegfried held a glowing, golden-orange orb that he was preparing to hurl into the entrance of a black cave that emitted the same eerie light.
After their victory over the Veiled Kings, King Siegfried had created the Cygnian Dynasty, though most people now simply called them the Swan Kings. A swan and a rowan tree—the sigils of Cymdros and Chamberg—framed the top corners of the tapestry.
A few minutes after the servants had brought the last course, King William leaned to his right, where Odette and Derek sat beside him.
"If you want your people to love you, remember one thing," he said in a loud whisper. "Never put a speech between them and their food. Save it for the end of the meal. And give them plenty of wine first."
"He says that at every banquet," Odette said, looking somewhat embarrassed. Her father gave her shoulder an affectionate shove. Then the king stood, and within seconds the hall became silent.
"Tonight we celebrate the Winter Solstice," King William said, his deep voice reverberating off the walls. "It is the night when darkness is strongest. But it is also the night it triumphs for the last time. And in these dark hours of winter, it is fitting that we honor Chamberg—our first and greatest ally!" The king paused, and Derek heard the thunder of over a hundred hands slapping their tables and boots stomping on the floor. One of the hands, he was surprised to see, was Odette's, though her face was grim. Not an angry grim, he thought, but a somber grim.
"Chamberg fought with our people against the Veiled Kings, when no other kingdom believed they could be driven off!" the king continued. "We are grateful for their courage and sacrifice during our kingdom's darkest hour. And we are honored to share our prosperity with them now, at the dawn of the golden age of Cymdros. Cofia Loerenys yn y dyfnder!"
The king raised his glass, and the rest of the hall echoed the chant in the high Cymdraeg tongue.
"Cofia Loerenys yn y dyfnder!"
King William had not mentioned a marriage or a joining of their two kingdoms, for which Derek was immensely grateful. But as the only person from Chamberg in the hall, Derek felt an uncomfortable heaviness, as though the weight of a hundred years of history had just dropped onto his shoulders. The king remained standing as his subjects finished drinking their toasts. Derek swallowed, knowing it was now his turn. Speaking in public had always made him nervous. Trying to look confident, he pushed his chair back and rose.
He scanned the crowd, looking for a friendly face to lock onto. Most of the hall of strangers looked politely tolerant at best. But he spotted Captain Josiah and Lady Anisha at a table near the king's, slightly to the right. Captain Josiah appeared cheerfully drunk, and Lady Anisha was looking at him with an open, encouraging smile.
"Thank you for the kind welcome, Your Majesty," Derek began, raising his glass to King William before turning back to the rest of the hall. "And thanks to all of you, for your hospitality. I realize this visit is long overdue. But someone told me you make all your guests ride nearly three miles uphill to reach the palace, and I was a little afraid to come." That remark generated a few quiet laughs. Derek took the small victory and quickly moved on, knowing better than to expect more.
"I don't know nearly as much about your kingdom as I should, but I sincerely hope to remedy that in the next two weeks," he continued. "Our shared history has always been a source of pride for Chamberg. The beauty of your islands and the richness of your traditions would put any of the continental kingdoms to shame. I can only hope you'll forgive any mistakes I make as the…bumbling of an idiotic foreigner."
His closing sentence also elicited a few chuckles. From her table, Lady Anisha gave a warm nod of approval and began applauding. Many others in the room joined her, though it was a polite, subdued applause. Relieved, Derek sat down. His speech had been stilted, unoriginal, and probably a bit lame. But most importantly, it was over.
He was so immersed in the relief of getting through his address, he barely noticed when the servants removed the dessert course and the musicians struck up the first notes for dancing. He didn't even realize Odette had left the table until he glanced up and saw her paired off with a bearded nobleman.
He didn't recognize the dance they were doing. It looked incredibly complex—like a lively galliard, but with steps he'd never seen before. But even taking that into account, he couldn't help thinking there was something unusual about the way she was dancing. He'd seen Odette dance plenty of times in Chamberg. He'd even danced with her often enough, though he usually had to be cajoled. Why did he think she looked different tonight? Her movements across the floor in her midnight blue gown seemed more carefree, almost flighty.
After watching the other couples on the floor, he finally hit on the reason. The dance wasn't complex at all. The strange extra movements were pure improvisation. In Chamberg, even the most energetic ballroom dances had every step carefully choreographed. The dances of Cymdros left room for creativity. It had some advantages, he had to admit. Captain Josiah had hit the cherry wine pretty hard. The improvisation gave Lady Anisha more freedom to dodge her husband's clumsy steps.
Derek watched the second dance, and the third. He tried to focus on the subtle lead-and-follow cues and not the way Odette swept her arm behind her or the graceful curve of her neck, more visible tonight since she had tied her hair back with a wreath of stars.
"May I join you, Your Highness?"
Derek turned at the voice that had interrupted his thoughts. An older nobleman with dark braided hair and a deep crimson tunic had approached his chair. "Councilor Andreas, Your Highness. I'm one of the Council of Seven who advise the king."
"Of course," Derek said. "King William told me about all the Council members. I'm sorry we haven't had a chance to meet yet."
Councilor Andreas waved his apology off with a chuckle. "I'm just another bureaucrat. The king has more important things to show you. But I had hoped to steal a few minutes' conversation with you. Our kingdoms are at a crossroads, and many of us are anxious to learn where Chamberg is leaning. Would you join me outside?"
Derek rose, feeling a little apprehensive. Councilor Andreas looked friendly enough. Still, Derek wondered if he was about to be tested. He'd really hoped the most difficult part of the evening was behind him.
As he followed the councilor out of the banquet hall, another movement caught his eye. A servant approached King William at the head table and whispered in his ear. Derek saw the king's face darken. He looked very troubled. The king rose and followed the servant in another direction outside the hall. Derek was tempted to follow, but he didn't see a way to extract himself without being rude, so he let Councilor Andreas lead him beyond the dance floor, to the courtyard outside.
"You did an admirable job with your speech back there. Cymdrosi are a notoriously difficult audience to impress," Councilor Andreas said once the noise of the musicians had faded behind them.
"I don't think I impressed anyone," Derek said honestly.
"No one expected you to," the councilor said. "Your job was simply not to offend. I'm sure you've heard something about how defensive our people can be about our way of life."
"A bit," Derek replied. "Now that I'm here, I wish more of my people would visit. I think they'd be amazed how much you've accomplished without magic."
"You're very kind," Councilor Andreas said. Had he thought Derek's compliment patronizing? The man was a trained diplomat. With his polite smile, it was impossible to tell. "For the record, Cymdros has a summer palace that's much easier to reach. We don't make all our guests trek uphill for two hours just to reach their rooms."
"Just the arrogant teenage princes who probably have it coming," Derek said. Councilor Andreas laughed. The councilor turned then and leaned against the stone railing that surrounded the courtyard, looking out. Beyond the castle grounds, Derek could see tiny flickering lights from the Fire Market nearly half a mile away, celebrating the last night of their solstice revels.
"There are many who say we are isolationist, but that is unjust," the councilor continued. "We welcome anyone to our islands who wishes to escape the evils sorcery can unleash. It is an important role. One that we hope Chamberg will respect."
"Believe me, my kingdom has no interest in pressuring you to change your laws. That's your own affair," Derek said.
"Even if our two kingdoms were joined?" the councilor pressed. Finally, Derek thought. There was the test.
"Forgive my bluntness," Councilor Andreas said, holding up an apologetic hand. "I realize this must be a sensitive topic for you. But there are many in King William's government who are concerned about Cymdros' future if we merge with a kingdom that has not explicitly outlawed magic. A few words of reassurance from you would go a long way."
Derek paused, weighing his next words carefully.
"We outlaw certain forms of magic in Chamberg," he said. "Mind enchantments. Transfiguration. Anything that could be used to harm or deceive."
"And you have not commissioned a royal mage, despite pressure from the scholars at Merduin," Councilor Andreas added. "That makes Chamberg the only kingdom left on the mainland to turn them down. But you have worked with them before."
"To help in our hospitals. To create buildings. To predict the weather for our farmers," Derek said.
"And in war?"
"As medics," Derek returned. He was starting to feel defensive. He tried to check the sharpness in his voice, reminding himself this was likely the reaction Councilor Andreas was looking for. And the entire argument was moot anyway; a merger between their kingdoms wasn't going to happen as long as he and Odette remained opposed.
"We wouldn't force your kingdom to accept mages inside your borders," Derek said, trying to keep his voice level. "As far as I can tell, the most Chamberg would ask is that you let anyone who wants to practice magic leave freely."
"That would be a one-way journey for them," Councilor Andreas said thoughtfully. "You know, magic used to be punishable by death in Cymdros. It was our current King William the Second who commuted the sentence to banishment. Just a few months before his daughter was born."
"And then the sorcerer Von Rothbart tried to usurp the throne," Derek said. He'd learned that much about Cymdros' recent history from his own tutors, and the episode had always puzzled him.
"Ironic, isn't it?" Councilor Andreas remarked.
"I never understood why King William didn't execute him," Derek said. "He wouldn't have needed magic to be a capital offense. Rothbart had done plenty of other things to deserve the death penalty. Treason. Attempted regicide. An entire terror campaign to weaken the king's government."
"I agree with you, Your Highness," the councilor said. "I was one of the ones calling for his death. But King William wants to be remembered as merciful." He let out a sigh that sounded more like a hiss. "It is not mercy to set a monster like that loose on the world. Even stripped of his power. Men like that will always look for a way back. And they will make life miserable for those who cross their path on the way."
A tapping on the stone wall interrupted them. Odette was standing outside the doorway to the courtyard. She looked grave—the same graveness Derek had seen on the king's face before he had left the hall.
"I'm sorry to interrupt, but something serious has happened," she said. "No, please stay, Councilor. This concerns you too. An eldritch mine went off on the island of Serenys earlier this morning. My father got word a few moments ago."
Councilor Andreas' face turned ashen. He made a sign of divine protection on his forehead. "Are there any dead?" he asked.
"Not this time, thank God," Odette said. "But the blast zone was over half a mile. At least a dozen people were blinded, and thirty more are hallucinating. And the water is poisoned."
"I'll inform the rest of the Council, Your Highness," Councilor Andreas said.
"Thank you," Odette said. "My father and I will be gone for three days helping the recovery. He'll want to convene a meeting once we're back."
"Of course." Councilor Andreas bowed and withdrew. Derek looked at Odette, trying to figure out which question to ask first of the dozens racing through his mind.
"What did you mean, not this time? This has happened before?"
"It was a landmine made with the Forbidden Arts. A relic from the War of the Veiled Kings," she explained, answering the question he hadn't asked but probably should have.
"The war from over a century ago," Derek said.
"Yes, that one," Odette replied tersely. She paused and held up her hand. "I'm sorry. That was unfair. You don't know," she said. She let out a slow breath before continuing.
"In the last year of the war, the Veiled Kings began getting desperate," she said. "They buried hundreds of eldritch mines on every island of Cymdros. It was…scorched earth, with a dose of nightmare and whatever other affliction they felt like mixing in. Even after the war was over, our people still stumbled on them and set them off. Nearly every week at first. Eventually the explosions tapered off, but we don't know how many mines are actually out there." She folded her arms and leaned against the wall. "This is the first eldritch mine that's gone off in nearly three years. I don't think we'll ever know when they're all finally gone."
"How soon do we leave tomorrow?" Derek asked.
"What are you talking about?" Odette asked. "You don't need to go with us. You're supposed to be…visiting the summer palace on Nefynmor."
"You think I care about that? I want to help," Derek said.
"But we'll be gone for three days. That's nearly a quarter of your trip," Odette protested. "And we're not going to be touring Serenys. We'll be sealing off wells and visiting patients and restocking supplies."
"I didn't come here to be a tourist, Odette," he said. "Just let me do something useful."
She studied his face, and Derek tried to guess the emotions that were passing across hers in turn. Skepticism? Pride? Disappointment, that she hadn't been able to hide the more unpleasant corners of her kingdom from him? After what felt like several minutes but was probably no more than ten seconds, she released him from her gaze. Her face softened.
"Thank you," she said, and she sounded sincere.