Search for Audric

by

Richard S. Tuttle

Copyright © 2010 by Richard S. Tuttle.

All rights reserved.

All characters and events in this book are fictitious.

Any resemblance to persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

In the southernmost region of the Land of the Nine Kingdoms sat the gleaming city of Tarent, the capital of the Kingdom of Borunda. The sun was sliding into the waters of the Endless Sea as a retinue of Salacian soldiers passed through the open city gates and made their way towards the Royal Palace of Borunda. The shopkeepers paused in the act of closing their shops to turn and gaze upon the small column of foreign soldiers. Their faces beamed when they saw the Royal Standard of Salacia and realized that King Hector had arrived at last. They waved in welcome and then bowed their heads in respect as the Salacian king passed by. King Hector smiled broadly at the citizens of Tarent and waved as he rode by. When the Salacian entourage reached the palace, the Borundan guards greeted them and held their horses as they dismounted.

"Shall we accompany you inside?" a Salacian officer asked King Hector.

"There is no need," the monarch replied. "Make the men comfortable. We shall be here for a few days, I imagine."

"If we are not already too late," frowned the officer.

"It couldn't be helped," shrugged King Hector as he turned and entered the palace.

A Borundan officer welcomed the Salacian king and escorted him through the empty corridors of the palace, their footsteps loudly echoing in the silence.

"Has the queen given birth yet?" King Hector asked anxiously as they wound through the stone maze.

"Not yet," came a worried reply. "You can tell by the empty corridors. Everyone is in his or her room praying for a safe delivery. When the new prince is born, the whole world will know by the shouts of joy and singing that will ring from this palace."

"So it is to be a male child then?" asked the Salacian king.

"That is what the wisper declared," nodded the officer as he led the way up a flight of stone steps. "The wispers are never wrong about such things."

"No, they aren't," agreed King Hector. "I've never heard a decent explanation of their skills, but you are right; they are never wrong."

"It is magic," shrugged the guard. "Wispers know everything that will happen in the future."

"They do have an ability of magic," smiled King Hector, "but they cannot foretell the future. They have no more sense of what tomorrow will bring than you or I do, but they do have the ability to see within the womb. I wish someone would explain to me how that is done."

The officer suddenly halted and opened a door. He stood to one side to allow the Salacian king to pass into the room beyond. King Hector entered a large room and halted as his eyes took in his surroundings. A long table ran down the center of the room, and it was loaded with plates of food, but no one was sitting at it. Along two of the walls were rows of leather chairs, and more than half of them were filled with men. King Hector recognized some of the faces as belonging to the rulers of the nine kingdoms. He assumed that the others were prominent citizens of Borunda. Most of the men puffed on pipes, and a dense cloud of smoke hovered in the air. Through the haze, he noticed King Eugeon pacing the floor at the far end of the table.

As the officer closed the door behind him, all of the faces in the room turned to gaze upon the new arrival. King Eugeon's face broke into a warm smile, and the Borundan king promptly marched towards the Salacian king. King Hector smiled in return and walked to meet his host.

"I thought you would miss the event," greeted King Eugeon. "Welcome to Tarent."

"I would not miss it for the world," grinned King Hector. "A first born is always an event to be shared by all. I apologize for my tardiness, but my own queen has just gifted me with a daughter. I could not leave until I was sure she was taken care of."

"Understandable," King Eugeon nodded warmly. "That is your third, isn't it?"

"It is," nodded the Salacian king.

"It must be something in the air," chuckled King Eugeon. "Your neighbor, King Caedmon, is also expecting another soon."

"So I have heard," replied King Hector. "His will also be female. It should happen within a fortnight."

"It's those cold winter nights," laughed King Eugeon.

A woman's cry suddenly pierced the air from beyond a doorway at the far end of the room. King Eugeon's face blanched, and his left eye twitched nervously. He looked anxiously towards the door, and King Hector's hand shot out and rested comfortingly on the Borundan king's shoulder.

"Go see what is happening," urged the Salacian king. "I can see to my own needs here."

"Thank you," King Eugeon murmured as he turned and moved quickly towards the far door.

King Hector walked to the table and heaped meat on a plate. He paused to look around the room and saw King Caedmon waving for the Salacian king to sit near him. King Hector nodded and walked over to his friend and neighbor and sat down next to him.

"At least you have your priorities straight," smiled King Caedmon. "Greet your host, stuff your face, and then visit your old friends."

"We must observe protocol," nodded King Hector as he looked back to see the Borundan king pick up his pacing again. "Eugeon is a nervous wreck. I doubt that he will last the night without collapsing."

"He has had a run of bad luck," sighed King Caedmon. "This is Abigal's third attempt. It is as if someone has put a curse on the royal line of Borunda."

"Eugeon is not an only child," frowned King Hector. "I know that he has a sister."

"True, and she is also expecting any day now" shrugged the King of Arin, "but that is two out of seven pregnancies for Eugeon's father. I know of no other royal line that has such troubles, and it extends back for many generations. It seems like the Borundan throne is always in jeopardy of having no heir."

"Perhaps," conceded King Hector, "but the Borundans have always birthed good kings. Remember that it was a Borundan king who ended warfare in the Land of the Nine Kingdoms. We have lived in peace for generations, and it was a Borundan king who brought it about."

"True," chuckled King Caedmon.

"What are you laughing about?" questioned the Salacian king.

"I always find it amusing to hear the phrase Land of the Nine Kingdoms," replied the Arin king. "In fact, there are only eight kingdoms. Lom is ruled by a council, not a king."

"It could be worse," King Hector laughed softly as his eyes darted around the room. "Capri is ruled by a madman, and Hyrem is not much of a kingdom at all. Perhaps it should be called the Land of the Six Kingdoms and Others."

"True," King Caedmon replied solemnly. "King Quanto is deranged, but he is still a decent man. We should not make fun of our fellow monarchs."

"I am only offering up levity to lift the gloom around us," shrugged King Hector. "You know that I stand with all the rulers of the Land of the Nine Kingdoms. Salacia is always among the first to help our neighbors whenever they need it, but that doesn't mean that we should not laugh at ourselves."

Suddenly a baby's cry could be heard from beyond the door at the far end of the room. Everyone's head turned towards the door, and a broad grin spread over King Eugeon's face. Before anyone's smile had a chance to fade, a woman's scream pierced the air. King Eugeon raced to the door and flung it open. The other men in the room rose and began to move towards the door, but King Caedmon rushed across the floor to stand behind King Eugeon and wave the others back to their chairs. The Arin king knew that something was amiss, and he intended to protect King Eugeon from the flood of nosy well-wishers.

King Eugeon entered the room and stared in horror. Flori, the wisper, was cradling the newborn prince, but she was also wailing in grief. The king's eyes moved beyond the wisper to his wife's bed. Queen Abigal's eyes were wide open in a stare of death.

"What have you done?" King Eugeon shouted at the wisper as he raced to the side of the bed and held Abigal's head in his hands. "What have you done?"

"I don't know," blubbered the wisper. "It was a hard birth, but this should not have happened. I don't understand."

"You don't understand?" yelled the king. "You've killed the queen, and you don't understand? Get out of my sight before I have you hung. Get out!"

The wisper's body shook with grief as she moved to leave, but she realized that she still held the child. She looked around helplessly, not knowing what to do. King Caedmon stepped into the room and gently took the child from her arms. As soon as the wisper was free of the child, she ran through the door, across the large room and into the corridor beyond.

Flori ran through the empty corridors of the palace and fled outside. She raced across the grounds and past the gate guards without noticing their questioning glances. Tears flowed from her eyes and clouded her vision. Twice Flori tripped as she dashed to the small home she shared with her sister, Naveena. When she finally reached the house, she ran through the rooms and threw herself down on her bed and cried. Naveena raced to her sister's side and tried to comfort her.

"What is the matter?" asked Naveena. "Why aren't you with the queen? Did the birth go badly?"

Flori nodded, but she continued sobbing without explanation.

"Wispers are not perfect," soothed Naveena. "We have the magical gift to help, but some things are beyond our help. It is not the first child lost to the royal family. Don't be so hard on yourself. The king and queen will try again."

Flori sat up and turned to face her sister. She tried to wipe the tears from her eyes, but she couldn't stop them from flowing freely.

"You don't understand," sobbed Flori. "The prince was born alive, but the queen is dead. I killed the queen."

Naveena's mouth opened in horror at her sister's words. Her eyes closed tightly, and she bit on her lower lip. After a moment, she opened her eyes and inhaled deeply.

"You could no more kill the queen than I could," Naveena declared. "It must be a mistake, a strange disease or something, but it is not your fault. It can't be your fault."

"It is my fault," blubbered Flori. "A wisper's task is to see to the welfare of both the child and the mother. I failed in my duty. I was so focused on the child that I failed to see the mother in distress. I killed the queen. Do you understand what I am saying? I killed the Queen of Borunda. I should be hung for it."

Naveena stared nervously at her sister. As much as she did not want to think that her sister had failed, she recognized the truth in Flori's words. A wisper's magic was in high demand specifically to avoid deaths. In a royal rage, King Eugeon might very well order the execution of Flori. Naveena would not allow that to happen.

"You stay here and sleep," comforted Naveena. "I know whatever happened was not your fault. I will go to the palace and offer my services to the king. As long as the new prince is taken care of, the king will not have cause to harm you."

"I should be hung," Flori shook her head. "I killed the queen."

"Stop it!" shouted Naveena. "Never say that again. If King Eugeon harms one hair on your head, I will make him suffer for it. Sleep. I will be back in the morning."

Naveena left the room and straightened her clothes. She breathed deeply and slowly as she tried to calm herself. She knew that King Eugeon would be in a rage when she arrived at the palace, but she was the only other wisper in the city besides her sister. He would have to let her take care of the new prince, and that meant that he could not afford to harm Flori.

* * *

"Sit, Eugeon," urged King Caedmon. "There is nothing more you can do for your lovely queen. Sit and let your rage subside."

"How can I let go of my rage?" spat King Eugeon. "It is all that I have left after that wisper killed my wife."

"That is hardly true," comforted the Arin king. "You have a son now, and he will need a strong father to raise him. And do not blame the wisper so. I have seen many a wisper in my days, and I have never met one who didn't value the life of her charges over her own. I suspect that whatever happened was beyond the aid of a wisper. Do not blame the woman."

King Eugeon clenched his fists, but he slowly nodded.

"Your advice is sound as always," he said softly. "My brain tells me that your words are wise, but I cannot control the rage I feel inside. I have so wanted a son and heir to the throne, but never at the cost of my Abigal. She was all that ever mattered to me. I do not know what I will do without her."

"You will grieve for her," King Caedmon replied comfortingly, "as all of the Land of the Nine Kingdoms will, but in time you will recover. Perhaps in a few years you will take a new wife, but in the meantime, you are blessed with a son. Do not let your rage consume you, as you know it can. Concentrate on your son's well being."

"I will never remarry," King Eugeon declared adamantly.

"All the more reason to concentrate on your son then," replied King Caedmon. "He is the heir to the Borundan throne now. What will you call him?"

King Eugeon turned and stared at the newborn that had been placed on the bed beside his mother. The king smiled at his son as a tear rolled down his cheek.

"Abigal and I had decided to call him Garrick," stated the Borundan king. "I shall not change that now."

"Should I announce Prince Garrick to the others waiting outside?" asked King Caedmon. "They must be curious."

"This is no time for celebrations," King Eugeon shook his head. "You may tell the others what has transpired, but I will not be joining them this evening. Let them eat or send them to their quarters. I care not whichever they do. Send my advisor in when you leave. I must make arrangements for the care of my son."

The Arin king opened the door and stepped out into the large room. The waiting dignitaries were no longer sitting around the edges of the room, but were standing around the table helping themselves to food. They looked towards him as he exited the small room and spoke softly to the advisor who was waiting next to the door. The advisor stepped through the open door, and King Caedmon moved to the table to explain what had happened to the gathered dignitaries. He did not even notice the young woman who moved across the room and towards the open doorway.