Changing Fate [Fate series] (23 page)

Wesia scowled. “I still don't like it, but there's not much we can do about it now. Done is done, and, in any case, Druscilla won't do at all as your heiress.” She leaned over to stroke the Queen's hair. “You have a care to yourself; remember that we need both you and your daughter to come out of this healthy. It is a daughter, isn't it?"

"Of course,” the Queen replied, shifting to prop herself up higher on the pillows. “I wouldn't go through this for another boy—I know the dangers involved. But, Wesia,” she added, “there is one thing I need from you: watch Druscilla and Briam."

"I'm glad you're not being silly enough to trust them. What about Akila?"

The Queen chuckled. “That poor child is run off her feet; she doesn't have time to get into mischief. Besides, she comes to me faithfully every day and reports on what she's doing."

"Are you sure she's telling you the truth?"

"I'm not a fool,” the Queen replied evenly, “and carrying a child is not rotting my brain. Why do you think I assigned Akila so much work if not to keep her busy and under nearly constant observation? As long as her accounts agree with those of the steward, the healer, and my maids, I shall be inclined to believe her—except about her brother and Druscilla. After all, she does love her brother, and she seems to be fond enough of Druscilla.” She thought for a moment. “You know, in many ways, Akila and Druscilla are amazingly similar."

"Yes,” the swordswoman agreed. “They certainly have at least a few things in common. Akila even runs the household almost exactly the way Druscilla did—and they weren't together long enough at Druscilla's estate for her to have learned it there.” She frowned. “And it must have been Akila who sent for Druscilla—if you didn't and I didn't, who else could have? They could be a formidable combination if they decided to work together—"

She broke off abruptly, went into the hall, and shouted down for a servant to send for the Lady Druscilla. “We had better talk to that girl,” she said, returning, “and make very sure that she doesn't tell Akila anything we don't want Akila to know."

"Sweet Queen of Heaven,” the Queen gasped. “I had forgotten about that! Everyone else here has orders to watch what they say to Akila—but surely Druscilla wouldn't? It would only hurt the girl unnecessarily—there's nothing anyone can do about it now."

Druscilla arrived in a flurry of petticoats and embroidered overskirts.

"Are you feeling more rested, Druscilla?” the Queen asked as Druscilla rose from her curtsy.

"Yes, thank you, my lady,” Druscilla replied formally. “You do still wish me to lead the evening ritual tonight?"

"Please,” the Queen said. “I find that I tire very easily these days. And come see me afterward and we'll go over what you have to do for the presentation tomorrow. You'll have to give the awards to the craft masters and accept the first-fruits. We'd best have you try on the robes, too—then the sewing women will have all night to alter them if need be."

Druscilla bowed her head in assent, the picture of maidenly obedience. Akila hoped she wasn't overdoing it.

Wesia seemed to suspect this sudden meekness. “What were you and the twins quarreling about at the table, Druscilla?"

Druscilla shot her a startled glance. “Nothing in particular,” she said quickly. “I was hungry, tired, and still very sore from several days of near-constant riding—you should have seen the pace the Guards set when they dragged me back here! I'm afraid I was being snappish."

"Who sent the Guards for you?” Wesia asked.

Druscilla looked innocently up into her eyes. “I thought that you had, until I got here and found you were away. I suppose it was the Healer, since she wanted me to take over the rituals."

"I trust,” her aunt said quietly, “that you did not choose supper at the high table as a suitable place to inform Akila and Briam of his approaching fate."

"No, of course not!” Druscilla started at her in honest astonishment. “I wouldn't dream of telling Briam; he'd be miserable!"

To the surprise of everyone present, she burst into sudden tears. “He loves you and thinks you're wonderful; how can I tell him you're planning to kill him?” She looked up at the Queen and added in anguish, “And how can you kill him? He's shared your bed and fathered your child—a child he'll never even see! How can you slaughter him like some dumb animal?"

"You must admit,” the Shield-Bearer said, “that he's not overly endowed with intelligence."

"So he isn't as brilliant as you two are,” Druscilla said fiercely, “well, very few people are! That still doesn't mean he deserves to be killed; he's a human being! You let Ranulf live,” she added accusingly, “and he wasn't even truly human!"

"Lord Ranulf went through the ritual like every other Year-King,” the Queen pointed out. “It was the Goddess's choice to spare him, not any doing of mine."

"Why would the Goddess spare a monster like him and let every other man die? It doesn't make sense!” Druscilla wailed. “You should have seen him when he came out of the river—all twisted up and melted together in a horrible mess of scales and fur and gills and flippers with his face right in the middle!” She pressed a shaking hand to her mouth and fought to control the gagging the memory was inspiring. Then she shook her head and shuddered. “And then he turned into a wolf and ran into the woods—he probably still spends his nights howling in the forests!"

That certainly explains why Druscilla feels the way she does about wolves
, Akila thought.

"The sacrifice was properly performed,” the Queen said firmly. “What happened to him afterwards is no concern of mine."

"You let him take your son,” Druscilla said accusingly.

"The boy is better off with his father."

"Yes, he certainly is,” Druscilla said bitterly. “Better there than here, watching a series of step-fathers go to the annual slaughter!"

"I believe we are all agreed on that,” the Shield-Bearer said, rejoining the conversation. “So you will say nothing of this to Briam and Akila—or to Rias."

"The twins will find out soon enough,” Druscilla said, “and Akila, at least, may survive the experience—or do you intend to kill her too?"

Now that's a good question, Akila thought, waiting with interest for the reply.

"Of course not!” The Queen was shocked at the idea.

"Then what do you intend to do with her?” Druscilla asked. “Surely you don't expect her to stand calmly and watch her brother be sacrificed, then come back to the palace and make sure that dinner is properly seasoned and the maids have done their quota of spinning and weaving?"

"The Lady Druscilla does have a point,” the Shield-Bearer said reluctantly. “Year-Kings don't generally come with family—at least the wandering ones don't. And when someone from the town is the chosen one, his family all know what it means from the outset and accept it, knowing it means that the crops will grow and the harvest be good."

"We'll have to get her out of the city,” the Queen said decisively. “If she's gone when he dies, we can tell her later that he met with some sort of tragic accident—that he fell in the river while fishing or something."

"It should do for the moment,” the Shield-Bearer said, “but she isn't stupid; she'll figure out the truth next year."

"That still gives us a year to think of something,” the Queen said, “and I have enough troubles right now, thank you. Where shall we send her?"

"She can bear Druscilla company on her trip back to her estate,” the Shield-Bearer replied promptly. “It would be most cruel to ask either of them to stay and attend the sacrifice."

"You don't care a bit about my feelings—or Akila's,” Druscilla retorted. “You just don't want us to disrupt the ritual!"

"Quite right,” the Queen said briskly. “Once in a year is enough. Now that we've settled that,” she added, “please go find Briam and bring him here; I need to tell him what's expected of him for the presentation tomorrow."

Druscilla made an ironic curtsy, then turned and ran from the room.

The Queen watched Druscilla go and shook her head. “It's rather a patchwork solution,” she sighed; “I only hope it will hold together."

"I'll watch them closely,” Wesia promised grimly, scowling in the direction Druscilla had gone. Then she turned quickly to the Queen. “Druscilla hasn't enough training to break your bond with the Year-King, has she?"

The Queen shook her head. “I very much doubt it—you can see for yourself that she doesn't truly understand it. Remember her saying that first morning ‘you can't have him; he's mine'—as if I'd deliberately chosen him!” She laughed. “The poor child doesn't even see that it's the Goddess who does the choosing; the Queen is only the vessel through which the calling flows."

"I wonder,” Wesia said slowly, “if even the Goddess chooses. Perhaps she simply sings, and whoever truly hears her answers."

"Perhaps,” the Queen agreed. “But chosen is chosen, however it's done."

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Briam arrived, smiled dotingly at the Queen, and bent to kiss her cheek—very carefully, under Wesia's baleful eyes. Akila slipped quietly out of the room then; she didn't need to know Briam's part in tomorrow's ritual, and she did have plenty of household tasks awaiting her.

She headed back to Druscilla's room to retrieve her clothes. Wolf was already there, curled up in his den.

She was half-dressed when she realized that she couldn't lace up the back of her dress by herself and she had no reasonable explanation for being undressed this early in the evening. While she was struggling to accomplish the near-impossible feat of lacing the back of her bodice, Druscilla came in.

"What's wrong, Akila?” she asked in concern. “Are you feeling faint?"

Bless you
, Akila thought fervently, you've thought of a reasonable explanation.
I think I'm about to become subject to sudden spells of faintness
.

"A bit,” she said, putting a slight quaver into her voice, “my gown suddenly seemed to be laced too tightly—but mostly I feel shaky. How long do we have before the sacrifice?"

"Do you still plan to save him?” Druscilla said sarcastically. “I thought you were in favor of going along with whatever the Queen wants."

"Druscilla,” Akila said firmly, “I ran away from home and lived in the woods to save him, and I'm not going to let him get killed now."

"Then what are you going to do?"

Akila thought for a moment. Given Druscilla's recent remarks about Lord Ranulf's lack of humanity, she didn't particularly want to tell her the whole plan.

"Can you get him out of town the morning of the sacrifice?” she asked. “Even if he doesn't want to go?"

Druscilla spread her hands wide and shrugged. “Well, yes and no. I can make up a sleeping potion—I know one that acts in less than a minute, and I can give him that, stuff him in one of my clothing chests, and head down river toward my estate, but the Shield-Bearer would catch up with me before I'd gone two miles!” She paused and blushed. “I made a bit of a fuss when he was chosen, so I'm the first one they'd look for if he vanished."

"But if they didn't miss him?"

"How could they not miss him?"

"I can take his place,” Akila said quietly. “They don't throw him into the river naked, do they?"

"No,” Druscilla said slowly, “he wears a large, loose, elaborate robe, and a crown that covers most of his head, but the Queen dresses him! You couldn't possibly fool her—could you?"

"I think I can,” Akila said. “She's pretty sick these days, so she's not taking that much interest in what's going on around her."

"That may be true of the Queen,” Druscilla agreed, but she's not the only one you have to fool."

"I can manage,” Akila assured her, not wanting to go into too much detail. “After all, Briam and I are twins, and while we don't look much alike normally, I can occasionally fool people into thinking I'm Briam.

"With your dark hair?” Druscilla was incredulous, and Akila really couldn't blame her.

"It's a sort of glamour,” she explained.
You could call it that, after all.

"Well, if you say so,” Druscilla said doubtfully. “I think the Queen identifies him more by how he feels than how he looks anyway—have you ever noticed how she always seems to know who comes into the room before she looks at them?"

"Now that you mention it,” Akila said, remembering several times when the Queen had named her before opening her eyes, “yes. I've seen the Shield-Bearer do it too.”
Fortunately they don't seem to be able to do it when I'm in changed form
.

Druscilla grimaced. “They make quite a team. They've been closer than sisters for as long as I can remember—I've always been hopelessly outnumbered. And I'd swear they read each other's minds."

"They may,” Akila said, “but they talk a lot too. Listening to them can be very informative."

Druscilla grinned. “I knew you were my kind of person. Have you taken up a career as an eavesdropper?"

"Well,” Akila reminded her, “I
was
under your bed that first morning when they sent you to find your maids and start packing. If I'd entertained any thoughts that you were mistaken about their plans for Briam, I'd have known better after that."

Druscilla nodded grimly. “But can we really convince them that Briam is you? I don't think we can count on him to cooperate at all."

Akila frowned thoughtfully. “I'll have to get sick—if they're that anxious to get rid of me they'll bundle me into a litter and send me with you anyway. So you come up with something to knock Briam out; we'll bundle him into one of my bedgowns and a nightcap, wrap him in a few blankets—as long as you leave before dawn, it should work. I'll make sure we've run a bit low on torches around then."

Druscilla nodded. “It does help sometimes, being the one to supervise the household. And if they think you're sick, they won't watch you that closely."

"I hope not,” Akila said, “but I'm not going to depend on it. And you had best be very, very careful, because the Shield-Bearer is going to watch you like the proverbial hawk. I'm surprised she's not here now."

Druscilla looked sharply at her, then abruptly went and looked out down the hall. “No sign of her. She's probably guarding the Queen from Briam—not that there's any necessity for that. Her devotion to the Queen is her only weakness."