Fire of the Soul (23 page)

“You weren’t looking for similarities,”
Durand said.

“Even so, I ought to have been more
perceptive.” Garit went silent then. He could not admit, not even
to himself, the pain that Anders’s revelations were causing him.
The memory of Calia in his arms with her sweet lips opening to him
tore at his heart until, with a terrible wrenching sensation, he
thrust the recollection and the longing firmly aside.

She was Walderon’s daughter! He could never
offer to marry her now, not knowing that the kindness and honesty
he had thought he saw in her were only illusions. Clearly, Calia
was as treacherous as her father had been. And that meant his
grandmother could be in danger.

“There’s more,” Anders said. “Mairne and I
have been asking questions among the castle folk. Most of them are
unhappy with Sir Mallory – except for Lady Fenella, who is
apparently half-mad in love with him. That’s according to the
lady’s personal maidservant, who revealed a few intimate details
that Mairne refused to repeat to me.”

“Can we depend on any information we have
from Mairne?” Garit demanded. “Didn’t she arrive at Saumar Manor
with Calia? The two of them may be working together in this strange
conspiracy. I am beginning to wonder if Calia and Mairne convinced
my grandmother to come here to Kinath, knowing she’d be at
Mallory’s mercy.”

“Mairne has told me that she first met Calia
at Talier Beguinage and that Calia was kind to her,” Anders
protested Garit’s assessment of the women. “Mairne says they were
both unsuited to life in a beguinage and that Calia pleaded with
Mother Mage Adana to let Mairne go with her to Saumar. Mother Mage
Adana is your aunt, Garit; why would she send someone dangerous to
live with her own mother?”

“Perhaps the Mother Mage didn’t know who
Calia is,” Durand suggested. “Sometimes even the cleverest mage
cannot read another person’s heart. Or, perhaps Calia is in truth
the honest woman we believed her to be until a few moments ago. In
any case, we have to investigate the situation here at Kinath
thoroughly, so that I can present the facts to King Dyfrig as soon
as we reach Kerun.”

“And also send a report back to King Henryk,
of course.” Anders frowned at Durand, then nodded. “I realize now
that I didn’t overhear as much as I thought that night aboard ship.
So, you’ve pulled Garit into your secret investigation of Mallory.
I should have guessed.”

“I volunteered for this mission as soon as
King Henryk spoke of sending me to Kantia,” Garit said. “That
decision was only re-enforced when Durand told me who Mallory
is.”

“I was with you three years ago and I saw the
damage Lord Walderon caused,” Anders said. “This latest
investigation will determine who rules Kinath Castle, won’t
it?”

“Very likely,” Durand said.

“Then, it’s also about the safety of young
Lord Belai and his brother,” Anders persisted. “Which makes the
matter my concern as well as yours, Garit.”

“Anders,” Garit began.

“They are my brothers, too!” Anders
exclaimed. “You know they are. Though you and I seldom speak of it,
we all had the same father. I understand my place in the world as a
bastard, but I also know the call of kinship. I learned it as your
squire these past few years. If there’s to be a battle, then it is
my battle as well as yours.”

“Garit, it seems to me,” Durand said, “that
we can use all the help we can get. I especially value the
assistance of an honest man who has contacts among the ordinary
folk of this castle.”

“If I have my way,” Garit told him, “I’ll
take my grandmother and depart from Kinath at first light, leaving
Calia and Mairne to deal with Mallory on their own.”

“Only if you throw Lady Elgida over your
shoulder to carry her aboard
The Kantian Queen
,” Durand
said. “You will have to explain your reason for wanting to depart
so precipitously and without her companions. If I know anything
about your grandmother, she will insist upon staying to watch the
excitement.”

“Besides,” Anders added, looking worried, “we
have to take Mairne and Calia with us to Kerun City, in case King
Dyfrig wants to question them.”

“Just so.” Durand nodded his agreement.

Garit scowled at both of them while he
refused to acknowledge his desire to learn exactly what Calia had
been up to during the years she had spent with his grandmother.

Calia was just helping Lady Elgida to
complete her morning toilette when a sharp rap on the bedchamber
door made her jump.

“Good heavens, child,” Lady Elgida exclaimed,
“stop looking as if you expect to see a ghost. Kindly open the
door. You know it’s most likely Mairne with a tray of food. If both
of her hands are full she can’t pull the latch, now can she?”

But it wasn’t Mairne waiting for assistance.
Garit and Durand stood in the corridor. Garit, his face dark as a
winter storm cloud, shouldered his way past Calia and into the
room.

“Grandmother,” he said, “there is something
you ought to know about this person who has been your
companion.”

“About Calia? Good morning, Lord Durand. Do
come in and shut the door so we may be private.” Lady Elgida stood
serenely, with her hands clasped at her waist while Durand obeyed.
“Is Winn outside to keep away possible eavesdroppers? Good. Now,
Garit, kindly lower your voice while you say what you must.”

“This creature,” Garit said, sparing a brief,
scathing glance for Calia, “is the daughter of the traitor, Lord
Walderon of Catherstone.”

“Yes, I know,” Lady Elgida said.

“What?” Garit glared at her, looking
stunned.

“I’ve known since she first joined my
household bearing a letter from your aunt in which Calia’s past was
thoroughly described. Adana told me about Mairne’s past, too, in
case you are interested. You ought to be interested in Mairne. Your
squire certainly is.”

“You knew, and you never mentioned a word to
me?” Garit’s face seemed carved in stone, only his lips moving when
he spoke, though his eyes blazed with the outrage that Calia knew
he must be feeling.

Calia had never imagined that a man so quiet
and pleasant by nature could be so angry. In fact, she’d first been
attracted to Garit partly because of his calm and open manner, so
different from the cold and secretive natures of her father and her
brother. She saw now that she had misjudged him. Garit had employed
his training in diplomacy to conceal the depth of his emotions.

“You should have told me,” he said to his
grandmother. The statement was an accusation.

“Why?” Lady Elgida asked, unperturbed by
Garit’s outrage. “So you could punish the girl for something that’s
not her fault? Calia knew nothing of her father’s villainy until
the day when Catherstone was confiscated by King Henryk’s men. Nor
is she to blame for her brother’s actions. She is afraid of
him.”

During this speech Winn had opened the door
without knocking, so he could let Anders and Mairne into the room,
after which he closed the door again, presumably to continue
standing guard outside it.

“Garit,” Anders said, coming forward, “last
night Calia couldn’t have known that anyone would overhear her
quarrel with Mallory. She stood up to him, but it was plain to me
how afraid of him she is. Mallory is a vicious brute. He struck his
own sister and slammed her against the wall when she refused to spy
for him. Just look at the bruise on her cheek.”

“I heard the quarrel, too,” Mairne said. “I
was shocked to learn whose daughter she is, but I’ll still vouch
for Calia. I know she has a kind and loving heart.”

Garit stared at Calia with that same
stony-faced outrage, a look so damning that she could not speak.
She turned her head, letting him see the bruise she bore, knowing
it was the best proof she could offer that what Anders and Mairne
were asserting was true.

“Winn can confirm what we say. He heard the
noise and came along just after Mallory left,” Anders
continued.

“Winn didn’t actually see what happened,”
Mairne added with scrupulous honesty. “Only Anders and I did.
Mallory never guessed we were witnesses to his cruelty. If any man
ever spoke to me like that, or hit me, I’d take a knife to him and
he’d not get up again.”

“But you are Sapaudian,” Anders reminded her.
“In Sapaudia, you could punish a man who abused you, while here in
Kantia you’d be hanged for killing a knight.”

“All the same, I think Calia ought to carry a
weapon while we are at Kinath,” Mairne continued with some
heat.

“Be quiet, both of you!” Garit roared. “The
issue here is not Kantian law or Sapaudian law, but why Calia
concealed the very important fact that she is Walderon’s
daughter.”

“Because I forbade her to tell you,” Lady
Elgida declared before Calia could respond.

“You? Why, Grandmother?” Garit was obviously
still very angry, and his blue gaze on Lady Elgida remained
cold.

“I knew you would refuse to admit that she
could be an honest young woman who is worthy of your respect,” Lady
Elgida said. “Garit, I tell you once again that for too long you
have allowed yourself to be blinded by grief and anger. It’s time
for you to stop mourning for Chantal. That’s why I insisted-” She
went silent then, clamping her lips together in a firm line.

“Why you insisted that we come to Kantia,”
Garit finished for her. “Why you suddenly decided to pay a visit to
Kinath. You knew I’d meet Mallory here.”

“Yes!” Lady Elgida responded. “You’d meet him
and settle your differences, and you’d finally be done with the
past. After which, I dare to hope you can begin living again.”

“Unless Mallory kills him first,” Durand
remarked. “But you did devise a clever plan, my lady. And a timely
plan, as it happens. Tell me, did Calia ever describe her brother’s
character to you?”

“Oh, yes,” Lady Elgida said.

“Then you knew the danger you were putting
yourself into,” Durand murmured. “Yourself and your entire party,”
he added.

“We brought men-at-arms with us,” Lady Elgida
said. “In addition, you and Garit are here.”

“You flatter us. Dear lady, I fear you have
never encountered deep malice until now,” Durand told her.

“Indeed, I have. Why do you think I left
Kantia all those years ago? This land is plagued by men like
Mallory, shrewd, vicious men who will not hesitate to commit any
crime that will advance their own interests. Thanks to my honest
outspokenness, I made enemies here, and so did my dear Belai,
because he would not stop me from saying what I saw as truth.

“I have long suspected that Belai wasn’t
killed in battle, but was murdered in the midst of the fray by one
or more of his fellow nobles whom I had angered. If that is true,
then I am guilty of the death of the man I loved. I, too, know what
it is to harbor a hatred that corrodes my very soul,” she said,
looking hard at Garit. “I also know the freedom and peace I found
when I finally gave up my hatred and allowed time to heal that
terrible wound.” Lady Elgida stopped to draw a deep, shuddering
breath.

“After my husband died, I didn’t care whether
I lived or not,” she continued. “But I did care what happened to my
son and grandson and even to my foolish granddaughter. So, I warned
Kinen of my suspicions and then I returned to Sapaudia, knowing if
I were gone from Kantia, those who hated me would have no real
reason to come against Kinath and its new lord. My good judgment
then kept my loved ones safe.”

“Your judgment is flawed now,” Garit snarled
at her, apparently unmoved by her story. “You’ve brought yourself
into danger, and I may not be able to protect you.”

“My safety doesn’t matter,” Lady Elgida said.
“Now it’s your little brothers who are in danger, only this time,
my staying away will not keep them safe. Only my personal appeal to
King Dyfrig, added to Calia’s testimony against Mallory can do
that.”

“Dear heaven above,” Garit muttered.
“Grandmother, I have known double agents, even triple agents, whose
minds were less convoluted than yours. Let me see if I understand
you correctly. You expect me to settle my differences with Mallory
and his with me, even if doing so means one of us must die. Then
you want me to rescue young Belai and Kinen in some miraculous way
and make myself their protector until they come of age, all the
while keeping you and Calia and Mairne safe?”

“Exactly.” Lady Elgida smiled at him. “I know
you can do it, Garit. And in the doing, you will discover a new
reason to live.”

“My lady, I salute you.” Laughing, Durand
bowed low. “If you were just a few years younger, I’d court you.
Seldom have I met so intrepid a woman.”

“Don’t encourage her,” Garit warned.

“While you are working these miracles,
Garit,” Lady Elgida continued, “I also expect you to forgive Calia
for not revealing who she is. She’d have done so the very first
night you were at Saumar Manor if I hadn’t refused my
permission.”

“I will consider the matter.” Garit cast a
deep frown at Calia. “First, I’ll have to be certain I can trust
you.”

“I understand,” Calia said. At his words a
faint glimmer of hope entered her heart. Perhaps, in time, Garit
would stop hating her because her father had killed the woman he
loved. She knew she couldn’t ask for more than that, though. The
love she felt for him would have to remain hidden deep inside her,
never to be spoken of, never acknowledged to another person. The
kisses they had shared a few nights ago would be the last he’d ever
bestow on her. She told herself she must bear the loss of any
affection he had begun to feel for her, so long as he didn’t
despise her.

“We need to make a plan,” Durand said.
“Calia, are you willing to act as a double agent? Will you pass on
to Mallory false information that Garit and I will provide, and
then learn everything you can about your brother’s intentions and
tell us what you know?”