Queen of Sorrows--Part Three, Chapter Ten

[Evie]

Previous chapter:  https://rhemuthcastle.com/index.php/topic,3495.0.html


Chapter Ten

June 18, 1465
Coroth Castle
The Duke's bedchamber
Night

After Healing the Duke of Corwyn of his remaining injuries, Marc had been sent back to Rhemuth within minutes of the Queen of Orsal and Tralia's rescue with her young children, to apprise the King of the latest news concerning the Hortic royal family and to inform him of the Duke's intention to bring Queen Miranda, her children, and the ladies-in-waiting who were currently housed at Coroth to Rhemuth on the following morning, so that proper accommodations for them all could be arranged for in the meantime. That duty discharged, he returned to Coroth with one final message for Duke Joscelin, which he delivered on behalf of the King before retiring for the night.

The unexpected news Joss had received was nearly enough to keep him awake all night despite his exhausted state. It was just as well he was only learning of it now, because it would have been a serious distraction to him earlier at a time when he needed his full attention focused on his missions. He had not realized until Miranda had dropped her guise as Maida that she had returned to Horthánthy. Nicholas, in turn, appeared to have assumed that Joss had known her whereabouts the full time, because when she had left Rhemuth, she had left a note behind stating her intentions to return for her children by way of Coroth, rather than making the jump directly to the Palace into unknown circumstances. Joss supposed it was a small relief that she had shown at least that much forethought before putting herself directly in harm's way, but the thought of how disastrously wrong things might have gone for her if she'd been discovered earlier, before he and his men had shown up to bring her children to safety and found her with them, was sobering.

Joss had been under the mistaken impression until that evening that Miranda was safe in Rhemuth. The King had been under the equally mistaken impression that Miranda must surely have remained in Corwyn in the safety of Coroth Castle while waiting for her children and her ladies-in-waiting to be rescued and returned to her there, either by Portal or by crossing the Southern Sea to Gwynedd's closest port. Only Queen Soraya, it seemed, had fully understood from the outset that Miranda was indeed as willful and heedless of the danger to herself as to take the immense risk of returning to a realm whose usurper had declared her an outlaw and her life forfeit. And now the King was demanding to know if his King's Champion and Duke of Corwyn had any part in Miranda's rash return to Horthánthy.

The Duke's heart might have been utterly lost to the lady years ago, but right now he wanted to shake her until her teeth rattled! Not that it would help; Miranda Haldane, as always, was a law unto herself. But she had not simply put him at risk, she had put his men at greater risk as well, raising the stakes of their mission at a time when they were perilously high already. He would need to address that with her.

True, in fairness she had saved his life that night. But he would also have been far less distracted had she not been there to begin with.

He eventually fell into a restless sleep, but was not in a much better frame of mind once he awakened the following morning.

#

June 19, 1465
Rhemuth Castle
The Library Annex
Morning

The small party from Coroth were brought into the Library Annex at Rhemuth a few at a time, two of the Duke's Deryni officers bringing three of the Hortic Queen's ladies-in-waiting through the portal as well as the Royal Children, while the third returned Lady Danelija to Horthánthy via the wine merchant's portal. While Joss was not entirely happy with her choice to return there, especially after all the pains he and his men had gone through to rescue her not just once, but twice, she was neither a Gwyneddan subject nor his to command.

Miranda was also no longer a Gwyneddan subject, nor was she his in any meaningful way, and as for commanding her, Joss was beginning to suspect the utter futility of that also. Still, he felt a need to impress upon her the rashness of her actions, particularly because they were about to find themselves in an audience with a King who was decidedly unamused by them, not to mention displeased with the man he apparently believed had aided and abetted her, needlessly risking her life at a time when Colin already had additional worries on his plate.

Joss and Miranda joined the others, and Miranda started to head towards the barrier ward to lead the others through when Joss stopped her with a hand on her arm. "Your Majesty, I need a word with you before we meet with His Majesty the King."

Miranda, ready to have the audience with Colin over and done with, for she already suspected he would be less than thrilled by her sudden disappearance, glanced at the barrier with growing impatience. "I'm sure Colin must have enabled you to walk through the wards since you're his Champion, but the others aren't Haldane, so we will need to escort them through."

"No, we will not," said Joss, taking each of her children and peremptorily handing them each over to one of the ladies to hold. "Now each of your ladies is accompanied by someone of the Haldane bloodline." Waving the bewildered women towards the barrier in question, he grabbed each of his officers by the arm. "I will be right back, Your Majesty. Wait here." He didn't stop to see Miranda's reaction as he steered his men through the wall without a backwards glance, but he didn't need to. He could feel her indignation flowing off her in waves. "Follow me," he told the women as he brought the men through, inserting a subtle note of command in his voice. He was not entirely sure if that would work, since at least Lady Anna and Lady Zjata were Deryni, albeit not highly trained ones, but to his relief they followed his lead willingly enough, though Anna glanced uncertainly over her shoulder as she stepped through the ward.

"Your Grace, it's not entirely proper...." Anna bit her lip, looking torn between protecting her Queen and not wanting to get involved in the altercation that seemed imminent.

Joss did his best to give the anxious lady before him a reassuring smile. "Believe me, your Queen's virtue is quite safe. Seduction is the very last thing on my mind right now."

"Of course, Your Grace," agreed the young lady before him. "I was more worried about murder, quite frankly."

Joss barked a frustrated laugh. "Not entirely off the table, I will admit, but I promise I didn't rescue her from Horthánthy just to murder her on her family's doorstep. Just give us five minutes. You are welcome to wait here. You can even re-enter if you hear signs of a struggle. I might be in need of a rescue."

#

Miranda appeared to be fuming when Joss reappeared a few seconds later. That was fine, at least he could match her mood.

"The King is waiting for us," she reminded him, sounding every bit as testy as he felt.

"Yes, he is. And you need to be aware of what we are about to walk into," Joss said. "But before we deal with him, first you are going to deal with me." He ran his fingers through his hair in agitation as she simply stared up at him mulishly. "Damn it, woman, you sent me and my men to rescue your family and your household! Why couldn't you stay put and trust us to do the bloody job? You could have got us all killed!"

"I saved your bloody arse!" she snarled back.

Joss's mood was not helped by that reminder. "Yes, but without the additional distraction of discovering you there, we might have been in and out of there a lot quicker, and without having to do all but dance a volta with Davorin's viper of a daughter in the process of trying to distract her from you!"

"Right! What was your brilliant plan? Smuggle the children out via the dumbwaiter, and then what? Wander through the kitchen with them and hope for the best?" Miranda took a step towards him until he found himself nearly nose to nose with the irate queen.

"No, that was a back up plan," Joss replied. "One of several. My first plan was to use the bloody portal that you told me about at the very beginning of all this, once I realized that the new nursery was in Lady Jesaminda's old apartment!"

"Oh." Miranda looked slightly deflated, but only slightly. "And if your men hadn't managed to make it that far? Those are my children! Did you think I was just going to sit here in Rhemuth and embroider, knowing they were in the hands of Lord Davorin?!"

"No, I suppose that might have been a bit much to hope for, but I would have hoped you'd at least have had the bloody good sense to wait in Coroth, if not Rhemuth, until I either returned with them or sent word back that I would need additional reinforcements! I sent the King daily updates. Did you think I wouldn't? Or did you even...I don't know, think?!"

Miranda blinked away angry tears. "You try thinking clearly whilst stuck here in Gwynedd when the ones who are dearer than life to you are all the way in bloody Orsal!"

"Woman, I have spent the past eight years of my life stuck here in Gwynedd and not thinking clearly because the one who is dearer than life to me was all the way in bloody Orsal!"

She gaped at him, her anger suddenly spent, replaced by mingled confusion and hope. "You...still care for me?"

Joss stared up at the ceiling, sending up a prayer for patience. Bringing his voice back down to a volume less approximating a shout, he replied. "Miranda, I wouldn't have risked my life, not to mention my men's, by rushing into Horthánthy in the middle of a foreign coup without waiting on my King's command before proceeding if I felt indifferent towards you, now would I?"

She averted her eyes, looking uncertain. "I suppose not."

"Bloody hell, woman, you are the most maddening creature on God's earth." Joss gave her a reluctant smile.

"You might well be in a very close run for second place," Miranda replied, "although I've not yet faced Colin, so I'll have to reserve judgment on that for later."

Joss sighed. "Speaking of facing Colin, until last night, he thought you were safe in Coroth. And until last night, I thought you were safe here in Rhemuth. When the King Mind-Read last night's events from Marc's mind–well, let's just say that he is far from impressed by either of us."

Miranda stared up at him. "I can understand why he would be upset with me. Why is he angry with you?"

"Because he thinks I knew all along about you being in Horthánthy, in harm's way.  Or that if I didn't know, at least I must have suspected. You must admit, you turning up in the same place at the same time looks rather suspiciously coincidental."

"It was coincidental, though!"

"We still need to convince him of that. It's not the best of looks, him thinking that the King's Champion of Gwynedd just went haring off to involve himself in a foreign conflict without so much as a by-your-leave, not to mention endangering his sister the Queen of said foreign realm in the process."

"But...that's not what happened!"

"It is what happened, or at least the first half of that is. You deciding to endanger yourself certainly hasn't helped, though. As for my own actions, I ought to have at least checked in with him and secured his permission before involving myself in an undercover operation that I could as well have delegated to my men." Joss sighed. "As it turns out, Gwynedd was dealing with not just one missing Queen in the past couple of days, but two. And while my fleet officers and foot soldiers have been dealing very ably with coordinating their response with your Tralian supporters, my commanders in the fleet and field have been having to act on their own initiative and best-guess as to what my orders would have been, rather than having me there to coordinate their response. That's dereliction of duty on my part, so Colin has a right to be livid. I let my personal feelings for you get ahead of my duty to the Kingdom."

"I'm sorry," Miranda whispered. "I was so caught up in my own pain, I didn't recognize the broader implications of asking you for help."

"My actions are my own responsibility," Joss said. "But I can't bring myself to regret the outcome of my choices too much, since at least now you and your children are safe. However, I'm going to need to work hard towards regaining the King's trust if I'm to convince him that I'll show better judgment in future."

"Wait...." The Queen of Orsal and Tralia looked up at him with a puzzled frown. "You said two missing Queens? Who is the other one?"

"Queen Alixa," Joss told her. "Apparently while she was in the middle of her monthly visit to Joux, she went missing mere hours before you did. Colin had just been informed of her disappearance when he received your message also."

"I had only heard about Renier's disappearance..." Miranda's voice trailed off as she realized she'd only been half listening to Camber's report of the situation in Joux when she'd attended the King's emergency council meeting because she'd been too distracted by her own emergent situation in Orsal and Tralia to give much thought to the bigger picture. Of course the King would have wanted his King's Champion's counsel at a time when the entire region was threatening to go up in flames! And instead, when he'd been most needed, he'd been away without the King's leave in Horthánthy at her request. "Colin's going to go full avenging angel on both of us, isn't he?"

"Quite likely." Joss sighed. "Which is why I didn't want you just walking in there unprepared and full of maternal high dudgeon."

"Thank you." She tiptoed slightly to kiss his cheek. After a moment's hesitation, he drew her into a fierce embrace with a groan.

"Miranda, don't you ever scare me like that again!" he whispered into her hair. "I was terrified I was going to lose you forever, back there in Horthánthy."

"I'm sorry!" she whispered back. "I never meant–"

She found herself silenced by a gentle kiss, which increasingly grew more urgent with nearly eight years of pent up longing and need behind it. At last, Joss forced himself to pull away, taking a step back.

"My apologies, Your Majesty. I didn't mean to do that," he confessed.

"Shut up and do it again, you lout."

He chuckled. "I'm in enough trouble with your brother. And I promised your lady-in-waiting that I wouldn't seduce you in the damn library."

#

June 19th, 1465
Rhemuth Castle
The King's withdrawing room
Morning

To say that King Nicholas was not best pleased with his sister at the moment would have been a severe understatement. As his squire announced the new arrivals, he took a deep breath, bracing himself to hear Miranda out before verbally flaying her alive.

He was taken completely off guard when instead of appearing before him with a list of excuses for her sudden disappearance and rash behavior, she simply fell onto her knees at his feet. "Forgive me, my brother," she said quietly. "I was distraught and didn't take the time to think through the potential consequences of my actions. I knew that going back for my children would put me at risk, a risk I was fully willing to assume, but I hadn't stopped to consider the greater ramifications of how getting Joss involved might affect your own Kingdom and needs, nor how it might affect him to find me there in Horthánthy rather than safely here in Rhemuth where he expected me to be."

The words he had ready to blast her with suddenly evaporated, lost as his brain belatedly tried to form meaning from her statements. Miranda apologizing to him was nowhere on his mentally rehearsed list of potential reactions she might have to being summoned to explain herself.

"Well...don't do it again," he finally managed, looking rather nonplussed. Who was this woman, and what had she done with his hot-tempered sister?

Miranda's lips twitched slightly. "I certainly hope I shall never have to, given the circumstances!"

The King offered his sister a hand up. "I am given to understand that your children are all well and out of harm's way now, as well as most of your ladies-in-waiting. I don't know if you'll have heard yet, but some of them who managed to escape the Palace have found refuge at the Duke of Bočna's court."

"Yes, I learned that last night," Miranda said. Her eyes sparkled with sudden tears. "Although not everyone made it out. Lady Genevieve and Father Emrys were executed by Lord Davorin two days ago, along with two of my children's nursemaids. Genie's son as well as Lady Ailis Montrose's were also killed by Lord Davorin's men." Her voice hardened. "Apparently they were extraneous to needs."

"We will handle Davorin," the King assured her. With a warning look, he added, "Note that by we, I do not mean you!"

She nodded grudging acceptance. "I suppose that's fair. I've already eliminated Jesaminda, but that's not exactly a habit I want to get into."

"Let's hope not!" agreed Colin with a startled laugh, staring at his sister as he remembered the scene he'd Mind-Read in the Coroth Healer's mind. "Bloody hell, 'Randa! Remind me not to turn my back to you when you're pissed off!"

"Don't threaten my children, and you're safe," she replied mildly.

#

"One matter that concerns me," said the King after he'd taken the next several minutes to debrief Joss as well as his sister, "is how Lady Jesaminda happened to figure out the exact right moment–or I suppose the wrong moment, from your perspective–to put in her appearance. By what you've said of the timing, she ought to have been in the Banqueting Hall with everyone else. I realize the children were being kept in her former apartment, but from your Healer's memories of the chambers, it doesn't appear that any of her own belongings were still there, so she must have had some reason to go back there, and to do so via the garderobe portal rather than simply walking through the main door." Colin frowned.

"She might have had some sort of alert placed on the door to let her know if anyone had unlocked and gone through it," Joss speculated. "Although come to think of it, Rafe didn't need to pick the lock to get in, since we entered as the apartment's designated chambermaid was walking out, so we wouldn't have tripped a door alert that way."

"One of the nursemaids might have somehow notified her of your appearance there," said Nicholas, but Miranda shook her head.

"They're human. And anyway, one of the nursemaids was my lady-in-waiting Danelija Marić, placed under a guise by one of Joss's men because she asked to return to Horthánthy.  She informed me last night that she is also in the Regent's service, charged with protecting my son."

"And you are certain you can trust her?" asked Nicholas.

"Very certain. More so than most of my other ladies, truth be told." She frowned. "I got the impression that Mistress Lucija might have somehow been responsible for dispersing the wards Genie and Gareth were sheltering the children under, but I'm certain she's human rather than Deryni, so I'm not entirely sure how she'd have managed that."

The King considered the problem. "It would be possible, if Lord Davorin or some other Deryni had her under some sort of psychic control and did the dispersing through her at the proper moment."

Joss frowned, not liking the sound of that. "Jesaminda had access to Miranda's children while they were in her father's custody. Might she have planted some sort of control in one of their minds that would alert her if someone showed up to rescue them?"

Miranda's blood ran cold as Joss's words brought up older memories. "Rezza disappeared from my bedchamber several years ago,shortly before Lord Jourdain entered my service. I had reason to believe Lady Jesaminda took her from her bed and brought her somewhere using the portal hidden behind my chapel wall, but I never could figure out why she'd been taken. Might Jesaminda have set some sort of control then? I tried to take a look in Rezza's mind once we found her, suspecting that Jesaminda must have done something, but I didn't find anything too unusual. But might I have missed something?"

The King and his Champion exchanged glances. "If Lord Geoffrey were here, I'd have him take a closer look, since that's more his area of expertise, but I've sent him on a special mission. My Healer would have a better idea of what to look for than either of us, I think. Joss, please summon Master James at once."

#

June 19th, 1465
The Palace at Horthánthy
The Hort's Apartment
Morning

Lord Davorin was not having the best of mornings.

Not only had Adémar's damned heir managed to get spirited away from Horthánthy practically out from under his very nose, Davorin's last remaining child of an age to be truly useful to him was dead. It practically served her right, rushing into a confrontation with multiple opponents without notifying him or summoning anyone else to back her up first! She'd been overly confident right up to the very end, a bad habit he had spent years attempting to break her of, but Jesaminda had been stubborn and willful just like her dam had been. And now, just when he needed her support the most, the chit had been stupid enough to turn her back on a woman she'd spent nearly eight years actively antagonizing, assuming Adémar's Haldane-bred Queen was harmless. No Haldane was harmless! Interfering? Yes. Annoyingly powerful? Yes. Useful? Occasionally. But harmless? Never.

Now he had the bother of not just one grand funeral to arrange, but two. Adémar still needed to be laid to rest. That would mark the final chapter of the past reign, giving the people closure and more of a readiness to move on as the last Hort of the House of von Horthy was buried with the rest of his forefathers. Young Létald von Horthy didn't really count; even if he'd managed to escape Davorin for now, children were so fragile at that age, and with any luck Davorin would eventually find some opportunity to make the little nuisance even more fragile, preferably even nonexistent, if Nature didn't do the job herself.  And of course Jesaminda would need to be laid to rest with all of the pomp and ceremony due to a daughter of the new Hortic Royal House of von Horthy-Bogdanovich. Perhaps he could claim she had been slain while trying to defend the young Hort, and they'd both lost their lives in the process? Only a few Palace retainers and a small number of courtiers had ever set eyes on the little Prince since his baptism, after all, and one tiny weanling looked very much like another. The ruse might actually work, especially if he could manage to procure some dark-haired, wobbly-legged boy child to bury alongside her. Perhaps his men could acquire one from some peasant woman with too many mouths to feed already.

At least he still had Arijana. She was far less powerful than her half-sister had been, and her Deryni training was less than adequate, but at least she was more biddable than Jesaminda had ever been. She could become more of an asset once he had a little more time to work on her skills. And there was Mirna, of course. Being human, she could be of little help to him, and her company was growing tedious, but at least her pregnancy was coming along nicely. She would do well enough for breeding heirs until someone else more advantageous to marry came along.

Even more concerning to him was the news that in addition to all of the Gwyneddan ships swarming around the Île and the Tralian coastline like flies, there had been a sighting of additional ships sailing down the Beldour river towards his island capital. Rumors had begun to spread that the missing Comte Réhon-Rogan was aboard one of those Beldourian ships. As much as he'd wanted to hope that his rival for the Hortic throne was dead, having succumbed to injuries incurred while making his escape from the mercenaries he had sent to take the man's life, he couldn't discount the possibility that the Comte had managed to slip past the Corps Phénix and seek assistance from those interfering busybodies, the Furstáns d'Arjenol.

And now despite his loyalists keeping the populace of Horthánthy in line, they brought back reports of growing whispers of unrest and sedition among the common folk. He would need to tighten his grip on them and show them who their rightful master was soon. He was the Hort now, in power if not yet in name and popular acclamation. He sat on the Hortic Throne. And the Corps Phénix would help to assure his right to remain there. His was the mind and might; theirs was the muscle and military strength, so long as he had the money to keep them content, and sufficient funding was something he could access readily enough now.

He had hoped to win the people over to his side with his claims that their Queen and her household had conspired with the Comte to overthrow their rightful overlord, but it would seem they still remained unconvinced. Fine, then. Let them hate him if they must, so long as they feared and obeyed. He would be their Hort either way.

And if he was done with pretense, he was also done with diplomacy. The Kingdoms of Gwynedd and Beldouria wished to show off their naval might? Well, let them get a belly full of what the Hortic fleet could deliver in return.

"Summon my admirals," he told his newly appointed chamberlain. "Have them prepare the fleet to engage with the hostile navies invading our waters and threatening our sovereignty."

"As you wish, My Lord Protector."

Davorin, self-proclaimed Hort of Orsal, slanted a warning glance at him. "I believe you meant to say 'As you wish, Your Hortic Majesty.'"

The man offered a deep, hasty bow. "Yes, Your Hortic Majesty! I will deliver your summons at once."

#

June 19, 1465
A small inlet off the mouth of the Beldour River
Near the border of Beldouria and Tralia
Morning

The fleet of ships heading down the Beldour River towards Horthánthy dropped anchor long enough to send a boat out to shore. The oarsmen headed into a small, secluded inlet so that their kingdom's esteemed guest could parley with the small group of mounted soldiers who had ridden out to greet them beneath the familiar banner of a well-known Tralian Duke.

Armed soldiers and sailors on either side watched warily for any threats that might approach the area. Their wariness was not towards each other, but for any signs of the Jouvian mercenaries who had made an earlier attempt on the Lord Regent's life, or for any other potential foes who were more personally loyal to Lord Davorin than to the late Hort's rightful Heir.

The brief conference lasted less than an hour. The boat returned to the flagship as the mounted riders melted into the surrounding countryside, their paths diverging for the moment, but both sides heading slowly, inexorably, toward their final goal.

Next chapter: https://rhemuthcastle.com/index.php/topic,3499.0.html

[Jerusha]

So happy Lord Davorin was not having the best of mornings.   

Loved the dialog between Joss and Miranda.  Nice little ending to that, but not a done deal, so to speak.

[Evie]

So happy Lord Davorin was not having the best of mornings.   

Loved the dialog between Joss and Miranda.  Nice little ending to that, but not a done deal, so to speak.

A bad day couldn't happen to a better guy. 

And Joss might find Miranda maddening at times, but at least she's not boring! 😂

[Demercia]

I love the interaction between Miranda, Joss and Colin.  The last has grown up amazingly since we first met him, I guess that's what being forced into responsibility does for you!

[Evie]

I love the interaction between Miranda, Joss and Colin.  The last has grown up amazingly since we first met him, I guess that's what being forced into responsibility does for you!

Yes, Colin has had to leap straight into the deep end of the pool when it comes to learning how to be King, since he hasn't had the time to wade in from the shallow end first. (Or rather, he could have chosen to do so earlier, but he was too much in denial and clinging to his hopes of continuing his family life with Mellie.) You'll get to see a lot more of Colin and his continuing growth in The Rebuilding, even though it's more centered on Alixa and Camber.