Oracle (4 page)

    
“It has
nothing to do with that,” Jana said. “Whether or not Richard was his son didn’t
truly matter to Robert. He loved him regardless. No, I say this because Robert
knew Richard was not fit to be king. The kingdom would not fare well under his
rule.”

    
“Some
would say the same of Robert,” Victor said.

    
“I know.”
Jana stared at her hands, twisting the gold ring on her finger. “Yet he wasn’t
as bad as people made him out to be. You of all people know that. Perhaps he
was not the best king. He made mistakes. But Richard would be far worse.”

    
“Did
Robert tell you he meant to name me his successor?” Charles asked. Victor had
told him as much, but it surprised him to think his uncle would have shared
such intentions with his wife.

    
“He did.”
Jana lifted her head to meet his gaze. “Shortly before he fell ill, he informed
me that within the month he intended to formally set Richard aside as his heir
in favor of you. Only he never got the chance to follow through.”

    
Charles
and Victor exchanged a look. They had discussed at length the nature of
Robert’s mysterious, incurable illness and both had come to the same conclusion
as to its origin. Charles had been wary of the idea of sharing this
supposition, for which they had no tangible proof, with the queen. Victor,
however, was adamant they must tell her, if for no other reason than to
forewarn her of a possible danger to her life.

    
“Your
Majesty,” Victor said, “I have something I feel the need to discuss with you.
This may not be the most opportune of times, but we must talk of my suspicions
concerning the circumstances surrounding the king’s death.”

    
“
Our
suspicions,”
Charles said, not wanting Victor to take all the blame if Jana was upset by his
words.

    
Jana rose
from her seat and approached the hearth, where a crystal carafe of wine sat on
the mantle surrounded by matching glasses. “If your suspicions concern my stepchildren,
then we have nothing to discuss.” She poured herself a glass of wine. “I am
well aware
Daniella
poisoned her father.”

    
Charles
sat back in his seat. He looked to Victor whose expression bore the same shock
as he was feeling. It was one thing for the two of them to suggest such
suspicions and another altogether to hear Jana come right out and accuse the
princess of regicide.

    
“How do
you know?” Charles asked.

    
“Richard as
much as told me.” Jana stared at the glass. “Oh, not in so many words, but in
the gloating smile on his lips every time I have the great misfortune of being
in the same room with him. He hasn’t the nerve nor the wits to pull off such a
plot on his own. It had to be
Daniella
.” She sipped
her wine.

    
“Everyone
in this castle knows her interest in witchery is far from academic,” Jana
continued. “Even if they won’t speak of it. The Hawthorne family all deal in
illegal witchcraft. It’s hardly a secret. Robert should have had the lot turned
over to the Magi instead of marrying two of them. If he had, he’d still be
alive.”

    
It
startled and disturbed Charles to hear Jana speak so bitterly. “Did Robert tell
Richard what he planned to do? Is... is that why they killed him?”

    
“Yes.”
Jana brought her wine back to her seat. “I told him it was a fool thing to do,
but he said he couldn’t make such an announcement without informing Richard
first. He paid for his sense of graciousness with his life.”

    
“Do they
know Robert spoke to you first?” Victor asked.

    
“I doubt
it. Otherwise I too would have ‘taken ill.’ Or perhaps suffered some
‘accident’. But I have no illusions about my fate once Richard is king. So you
see,” she sat her glass on the table beside her chair, “it is not for purely
unselfish reasons I intend to help Charles take the crown.”

    
“It won’t
be easy,” Victor said. “Richard is the recognized heir and that stands strongly
in his favor.”

    
Jana
nodded. “We’ll have to go about subverting his claim carefully.”

    
“Richard
won’t be happy about this,” Charles said. He didn’t want to admit fear of his
cousin, but a man who would be party to the murder of his own father was
capable of anything. “Maybe I’ll have an ‘accident.’”

    
“No,”
Jana said. “
Daniella
is too smart for that. And she
has complete control over Richard, though I can’t see how when he so loathes
women. It’s a strange relationship those two have. They seem to hate each
other, and yet I know of no two people who are closer.
Daniella
will want to wait and see how this plays out before she makes a move. You’re
safe for now. The real threat will only come if it begins to look as though the
High Priest will choose you over Richard.”

    
“And then
I am good as dead.”

    
“We will
protect you,” Victor said.

    
“Like you
protected Robert?” Charles regretted the words the moment he saw how they
affected both Victor and Jana. “I’m sorry. That was uncalled for. I guess...
I’m more afraid than I like to admit and so I allow it to come out the wrong
way. It’s not only my own life at stake here. I fear for my sister.”

    
“I
understand,” Jana said. Though of course she did not know everything and no
doubt believed his only concern was the marriage agreement his father had made
with Chancellor Rhine. “But if Richard is king then nothing will stop him from
forcing Anastasia into marriage. Isn’t preventing that the reason you’re here
to try and take the crown for yourself?”

    
“Yes.”
He’d agreed to do this instead of going with Anastasia and Simon so things
would be safe for them when they returned. “I’m uncertain. I have second
thoughts. It doesn’t mean I don’t intend to go through with this. I’m simply
not sure it will do any good.”

    
“We’ll
have to pray to the God Above it will,” Jana said.

    
And of
course, knowing what he now knew, Charles had no response to that.
 

CHAPTER
FIVE

    
Simon sat
on the broad stump of a tree. He was tired. Not physically, but emotionally. Even
in his human form he’d maintained much of the stamina he possessed as an
archangel and so did not tire out as those around him did. Such stamina was
necessary when wandering the blasted plains of the
aether
where he’d lived out his previous life.

    
He’d come
to love his life as a human and even looked forward to growing old beside his
dearest friends and passing into whatever waited after death. But that life was
over now. Simon knew this as surely as he had ever known anything. Charles and
Anastasia had accepted the truth of who he once was and they felt no
differently toward him for it. But it didn’t matter. Much as he would prefer to
maintain his human form even through the pending disaster, his gut told him he
would be forced to shed his human form before he saw an end to all of this.

    
Anastasia
was not going to die. He was determined of this. Even if her death truly was
the only way to stop the Cataclysm. Simon felt certain his human form would not
be enough to keep her protected through everything which lay before them.

    
And then
there was Selene. Simon had convinced himself he could live a life and pass out
of it without ever seeing her again.
Mishkael
, whom
he had then known as the God Above, had called him to a higher purpose and he
had gone without question. He’d been born again as a human, while still
retaining all of the memories of his former life, and was sort of adopted into
the
DeHaviland
household.

    
During
all of this, he’d put what he shared with Selene to the back of his mind,
convinced as he was they would be forever parted. Now she was here, standing
only a few feet away though the true distance between them must be counted in
years. She had every right to be angry with him for leaving the way he had, without
a word, only to come back begging her help in saving another woman. And yet he
wished she could forget. Or at least forgive.

    
Selene
turned as if sensing his thoughts. Their gazes met but briefly before she
looked away again. Simon held back a sigh. If only he could know what she was
thinking, what she was feeling. When they found her father dying in his castle
of ice she had clung so closely to him and she had followed him into this
strange place. But they might as well be strangers for all the attention she
had paid him since.

    
Maybe she
was only there because of the things her mother had told them. Maybe it was
something more. He certainly hoped for something more. For some faint spark of
the fire which once burned between them. It almost felt as though she were
waiting for him to somehow close the gap between them, only he had no idea of
how to even begin such an undertaking. Especially now, with so much depending
on the successful completion of their mission.

    
Anastasia
came and sat beside him on the stump. Simon could tell by her expression she
was troubled, and no wonder. “What do you think will happen when we finally
reach Oracle?” she whispered.

    
“She’ll
tell us what we need to do.” How he hated to see such fear in her eyes. He
would take it away if only he could.

    
“What
if...” She took a deep breath. “What if what we need to do is... I mean... what
if the only way to prevent the Cataclysm is for me to--”

    
“Don’t
say it.” Simon grasped her hand. “Nothing bad is going to happen to you. Oracle
will know of another way. A
better
way. I’m sure of it.” Only he wasn’t.
Not really. And it was eating him up inside. But he didn’t want her to see it.
She needed him to believe.

    
Anastasia
stared off into the woods. “I wish Charles was here.”

    
“So do
I.” He put his arm around her and pulled her close. When
Mishkael
had sent him to be Anastasia’s protector he was certain the god had not meant
for him to come to love her the way he had. She and Charles meant more to him
than anything. They were his family.

    
“Time to
move on,” Reaper said, his irritation with having to rest for the sake of the
humans and the elf clearly showing in his tone.

    
Simon
rose, gently pulling Anastasia up with him. It bothered him to no end to have
brought her to this place under the advisement of two higher powers he could
not bring himself to trust. Both Reaper and Fate had aligned themselves with
one of the exiled gods and it was beyond him how they could have done so
knowing what the gods truly were. If the situation were not so desperate he
never would have brought Anastasia to this place. Despite having earlier stood
up for Reaper, truth was Simon felt exactly as Selene did about the elder
power.

    
As the
two of them fell in behind Reaper,
Lorn
moved to his
usual spot to the left of and slightly behind Anastasia. If one comfort lay in
this place for Simon, it was in knowing one other in there group would gladly
lay down his life for Anastasia’s sake.
Lorn
had been
her personal guard long before Simon entered her life and his loyalty was
unquestioned. If this thing went bad and anyone dared to imagine they would
take Anastasia’s life, Simon knew he could count on the older man to see her
safely away.
        

    
Simon himself
would willingly shed his humanity and face off even with a higher power for her
sake. It was confrontation he could never hope to win, but such a diversion
would give
Lorn
a chance to help Anastasia escape.
Mishkael
had sent him to the lower plane to lose his life
if necessary to protect her. And though Simon had foresworn his oath to the
god, he had another, better reason to yet lay down his life if it was asked of
him. Love.

CHAPTER
SIX

    
Mark held
the squirming pup to the light so he could get a better look. He smiled.
Another male. Four in a littler of six. King Robert would be pleased. Mark’s
smile faded. He shook his head as he gently placed the pup with his siblings.
He continued to think on the late king as if he were still alive. His mind
simply couldn’t accept the man’s death, even though he knew all the truth of
the circumstances surrounding it. A truth he’d gotten straight from
Daniella’s
lips.

    
King
Robert had been fond of the hounds. A feeling the two men, who otherwise had
nothing in common, had shared. As head breeder of the prized dogs, Mark had
come into more personal contact with the king than most other castle servants.

    
He never
would have presumed to go so far as to claim the king a friend, but they were
connected by a mutual appreciation of the creatures and had frequently carried
out long conversations concerning their breeding. The king took great pride in
his hounds being the finest in Hyacinth, and yet was always seeking means of
improvement.

    
Thus, Mark’s
position was a rather high one in the king’s eyes. Something which he had no
doubt was going to change once Richard took the throne. The Crowned Prince had
regard for neither man nor beast, and might even go so far as to have the
hounds slain. Mark certainly wouldn’t put it past him. And if he did choose
such a course, Mark wouldn’t have the power to stop it. Still, if given enough
forewarning, he might find a way to at least save some of them.

    
“Don’t
you worry, Sapphire,” he crouched down to pet the weary mother, “you and yours
will be well taken care of. I promise.”

    
“Sweet
talking a new lady friend?”

    
Mark’s
heartbeat doubled at the sound of the familiar voice. He rose to his feet and
turned to face
Daniella
. “Sometimes it’s nice to talk
to a bitch who can’t talk back.”

    
Daniella
arched an eyebrow. “And what, exactly, do you mean
to imply with such a remark?”

    
“Oh, I’m
not
implying
anything, your Highness. I believe my meaning is quite
clear.” Being this close to her never failed to stir a heat inside of him.
Knowing his was a hopeless infatuation did nothing to dampen the fire. He was
not so foolish as to think he could ever have her heart, but nor was he wise
enough to resist what part of her he could have.

    
“Still
taking lessons on manners from your mutts, I see,”
Daniella
said.