Scrivener's Tale (64 page)

He urged his horse forward. ‘Where are we going?'

Tamas shrugged in his saddle theatrically. ‘I'm just trying to get us away. You get to choose where we go.'

Ham was not as familiar with his realm as perhaps the king presumed, but he knew Tamas couldn't be expected to make the most informed decision either.

There was only one direction to ride. ‘We head north, back the way we came.'

‘Where in the north, though? Not that it matters to me … I have no idea where I am even now,' Tamas admitted.

Ham wanted to say the Forest. But the Forest was huge. He wouldn't have any idea where to start looking for Cassien even if they did make it to the Great Forest. He frowned and it occurred to him that apart from Orkyld, there was one other place that he and Cassien had shared and that Cassien may think to go to as a meeting point.

‘We'll head for Rittylworth Monastery,' he finally yelled as they galloped, knowing he sounded more confident than he felt. ‘It's a direct route northwest. We can avoid Pearlis too.'

‘You're in charge, Ham. Lead the way,' Tamas said.

Gabe was holding to the Void as instructed but was relieved that he could still sense the familiar grey stone of Pearlis Cathedral. He knew he was sitting by the great dragon and that his hand was still placed against one of the huge toes of the beast's clawed foot and it reassured him.

What Fynch had told him had been startling, but there was no time to reflect on his past, the discovery that he had family in this world, or the identity of his real parents. He was now part of a triumvirate of power that had to link together in order to destroy Cyricus and he wouldn't let his companions down.

‘Everyone will be counting on each other, none more important than the next … but you, Gabe,' Fynch said, fixing him with a stern look, ‘you're the eldest brother and without you we have no means of fighting Cyricus. We need your skills alone to entice him into the Void. You must commit to memory how to get here, how to stay here and how to design the architecture in your mind to allow others to travel to it. You will have to be strong — you will be tested like never before.'

‘Eldest,' Gabe murmured. ‘Tested like never before,' he added. Surely the loss of a child and a wife was more than proof of his mental strength? Maybe that's why he had been chosen. ‘No,' he whispered, alone in the nave, ‘you were chosen long before then.'

It was all coming back to him now. Memories that had been so deeply buried that he'd needed the shock of learning that his father wasn't dead to retrieve them.

Florentyna had reluctantly agreed to rest. She'd fought it, but Cassien had joined forces with Fynch to insist and she'd eventually lain down. A check by Cassien a moment earlier had seen her fast asleep in his old cot, her mouth slightly open. Cassien had smiled; he was glad that this place was the safest for the queen. He'd never felt anything but secure here.

He stepped outside the hut, knowing time was short. ‘She's asleep although I doubt it will last,' he said to Fynch, who was seated on the stump of a tree that Cassien remembered felling to make his small clearing.

‘And you?' Fynch asked.

Cassien shrugged. ‘I can go without sleep for days, but then you know that.'

‘I do.'

‘There's something I want to ask you before Florentyna wakes.'

Fynch smiled, but it was awkward. ‘Mmm, well, there's something I need to tell you before she wakes.'

‘All right.' Cassien was aware of Romaine padding up to sit beside him. He buried his hand affectionately in the ruff of thick fur at her neck. ‘Tell me.'

‘I'm wondering whether I should pre-empt it by suggesting that you're not going to be very happy by what you learn.'

Cassien looked at him quizzically. ‘And you just did.'

‘I did, didn't I? At heart I'm a coward, Cassien.'

‘I doubt that very much. I can tell whatever you wish to say is hard.'

Fynch looked away. ‘Painful is a more appropriate word. Anguish is also another that comes to mind. And perhaps even fear.'

‘Fear? Of whom?'

‘Of you, Cassien,' Fynch said, raising his head to meet his gaze.

‘Me? Nothing you say could —'

‘Make you despise me?' Fynch cut in.

Cassien stilled, his mouth open as though robbed of the words it had wanted to say. He frowned.

‘Despise you?' he repeated in disbelief. He shook his head. ‘No, nothing you say could make me despise you. I revere you.'

Fynch nodded with resignation as though he'd expected Cassien to say something like this.

‘Just tell me,' Cassien urged.

‘Your mother's name is … was Jetta.'

Cassien blinked with confusion. Of all the topics that Fynch could have raised, the furthest from his mind would have been his mother. He swallowed, immediately feeling defensive. ‘Jetta,' he repeated.

‘She was exquisitely beautiful. Her hair was raven and she possessed huge, dark, searching eyes that looked like depthless caverns when she was upset, or black sparkling jewels when she was happy.' Fynch looked away again, but this time it didn't seem to be from self-consciousness; rather, it was him focusing his gaze on a distant point, searching back through memories … or it seemed so to Cassien. ‘Her complexion was like the palest rose you can imagine and just as velvety.' Fynch touched a spot on his chest. ‘Here, just above her heart, she had a tiny mark of the gods; it looked like a crescent moon. She once laughed and told me that although she'd known many men she had not loved a single one. And when she did fall in love she was going to ask him to ink the corresponding and opposing half-moon on his chest.' He sighed and laughed to himself. ‘She said it would form a loose heart shape that would bind them.'

‘How did you know my mother?' Cassien asked, sounding fearful.

‘I met her by chance on a visit to the Pearlis Cathedral. She lived in the city and loved the cathedral. She told me it humbled her and she liked to clean the feet of the dragon.'

Cassien swallowed. ‘Why?'

‘Jetta said the dragon was the king's beast and it was her way of honouring Florentyna's father. Later I learned more. She admitted one day that she felt a strange kinship to the dragon himself.'

‘Surely she wasn't —'

‘No, she wasn't, son. Her beast was the blackbird. Appropriate. Mysterious, busy, good mothers, and the females not even black.' The last one Cassien could see was added for levity, but he wasn't feeling it.

‘Good mother? Really? I couldn't agree with that.'

Fynch glanced at him. ‘You didn't know her.'

‘That's my point. She gave away an infant.'

‘Your father made her give you away.'

‘Then my father's a bastard!' Cassien snarled, hurling the word as an insult.

‘He is indeed.'

Cassien shook his head, looking perplexed. ‘What?'

‘A bastard, but I use it in its original meaning. Your father was never claimed by his father. Although he suspected he knew him. The truth is the man he knew as his father liked him and was liked back in return.'

‘Are you saying my grandfather didn't know his own son?'

‘Yes. That's what I'm telling you.'

‘Then my father's a fool for forcing my mother to give me up.'

‘Yes, he's that too. A fool in many respects.'

‘Fynch, you speak about my father as though you know him, as though he is alive.'

‘I know him. He is alive,' Fynch replied, meeting Cassien's angry gaze.

Cassien stood in shock. ‘What?' he whispered. ‘You know him? You can name him?'

Fynch nodded, grief reflected in his eyes. Cassien watched as Fynch began to fumble with the neck of his robe. The man never took his eyes from Cassien, but Cassien shifted his to stare at the flesh that Fynch revealed. Inked onto his chest just above his heart was a crescent moon. Cassien felt a choking pain at the back of his throat and the animal sound that issued had Romaine on her feet and growling back at him.

In a blink, she stood between the men. Cassien wasn't sure whether she was defending Fynch against potential attack, or warning Cassien.

Fynch moved. ‘I deserve it, Romaine,' he said, standing with effort and moving stiffly to where she stood, no longer snarling, but hackles raised. He stroked her. ‘I know,' he said.

‘What did Romaine say?' Cassien demanded, his words sounding as choked as he felt.

‘She repeated what she'd said earlier to me … that I should not be here.'

‘Why are you here, Fynch? Or should I call you father? What's the protocol now?'

‘Call me Fynch. I don't deserve to be called anything but that. And I'm here to finish what I began and to be truthful about it. No more intrigue.'

‘You gave me up to the Brotherhood; why?'

‘For this role. I knew you would possess certain skills that came from my magic. I needed you to learn about them in safety and over time. I needed you to prepare yourself for the fight that is coming. Only you can fight him, Cassien. You have the power. You are what stands between Cyricus and the desecration of everything we hold sacred. He wants the Wild. If it is breeched, there is no more magic that can protect our land. Our animals will be powerless. The Dragon King will die. Our world will wither.'

Cassien held his head. ‘I don't know how to fight him. This is too much responsibility on my shoulders. I barely know real life. You took it from me.'

‘There's no point in turning away now,' said a new voice.

Romaine had heard her, because the wolf had moved to the entrance of the hut, but neither Fynch nor Cassien, both more than capable of sensing someone's approach, had even noted her silent arrival from her cot to the doorway.

‘Your majesty,' they said together and bowed.

‘How much did you hear, Florentyna?' Fynch said.

‘All of it. I'm sorry, I had woken. I hated eavesdropping, so thought it best to show myself.'

‘It's best you know it,' Cassien replied, throwing a glare toward Fynch.

‘Cassien, isn't this what you wanted? When we spoke on our journey, I heard only longing in your voice to know where you belonged, why this special task had been placed on your shoulders, why you were sent to the forest to learn. Now, you know. And it is not a blot on your life, but surely an acknowledgement of just how important you are to us, to this land, to the Crown and its wellbeing and continuation. I know about duty. And that's what you're in the midst of … doing your duty. It doesn't mean you weren't loved by either parent.'

‘It's the lie, my queen. You've not been lied to.'

‘Oh, I think I've had my share. Seeing only the darker side of this will be a poison in your heart, believe me. You can't undo what has been done, Cassien. Fynch has given you the truth. Can't you see how painful this is for him to tell, just as it is painful for you to hear it? I suspect he would like to tell you that he loves you.' Florentyna turned her gaze on Fynch, who looked instantly mortified, as though reprimanded.

‘Cassien,' he said, his voice suddenly raspy with emotion, ‘I held you as a newborn and I wept for your perfection. Both of us did. Your mother understood me. She accepted me and all of my burdens. She possessed no magic, but she revered mine.' He swallowed. ‘Jetta, your beautiful mother, was glad to shine the feet of the dragon in the cathedral long before she met me, but perhaps long before she met me she felt me in her heart. Your mother knew me and loved me as instantly as she loved you. Giving you up was one of the hardest tasks she'd ever had to face.'

‘One of the hardest,' Cassien sneered. ‘What were the other hardships that she could compare to giving away her son?' he snapped, feeling churlish and wishing he could be understanding in this tense moment. But years of loneliness were driving this despair.

‘Two others compare,' Fynch answered. ‘Giving up Gabriel and Hamelyn to similarly lonely fates.'

Cassien's head snapped up, shocked. Fynch didn't wait, pressing on. ‘She'd had to face relinquishing Gabriel before she gave you up, and by the time it was Hamelyn's turn, she'd hoped it would be easier, but that was not the case. Your mother took her own life the day she handed me Hamelyn, the day he was weaned, and I took him north. She couldn't face life a moment longer, and while others believe she succumbed to the disease that was ravaging folk, she ended her life. It was from heartbreak, not from the poison brew she drank.'

Cassien could hear a ragged sound. It took him a moment to realise it was his own breath, shallow and difficult to draw, making the noise. ‘Brother Josse said —'

‘I know what he said. He believes your mother was a whore as well. Everyone thought she gave birth to three boys from different fathers. No-one knew of me, or our love and faithfulness to each other. Josse knows none of the truth. I alone am telling you the truth. Gabriel is your elder brother, sent to a different world for reasons perhaps you can now piece together. Hamelyn is your younger brother. He has a special role to play that he is not aware of yet. He does not know about my connection to each of you, but it will be my task alone to explain as I have to Gabe first and now you. You should also know that I will not permit Hamelyn to face Cyricus, even though he sees things and has such deep knowledge. He will be the one to connect you all.'

‘We knew it!' Florentyna said, unable to help her excitement. ‘Not about Ham, but we could see the undeniable likenesses between Gabriel and Cassien.'

‘Gabe's dark eyes reflect his mother. Cassien, my colouring affected yours.' He shrugged. ‘Your eyes were always such a deep blue. But Hamelyn …' he grinned softly to himself. ‘I believe I looked very similar to him as a youngster. He does not resemble Jetta so much as a gong boy called Fynch. It was long long ago …'