Beneath the Veil Read online

  I put my hands on his forearms to push him away, but he held me fast. "If she doesn't speak, how can she choose this?"

  Galya moved closer and put a hand on my shoulder. "She rises in the morn from her bed, often just as the sun is rising. She goes to the armoire and the drawers, and she pulls out what she's going to wear. I help her bathe. I help her dress. Then she goes to that chair and she sits there for the entire day, until the sun sets. Then she gets up and waits for me to undress her, put her in her nightgown, and she goes to sleep."

  "But what else have you offered?" I sounded desperate, slightly hysterical. "Maybe if you gave her a choice, gave her some clothes that made her feel normal--"

  "She screams." Galya's voice was flat. "It's the only time she makes a noise while awake, though she sometimes screams at night, too. We tried to dress her in clothes like what you've got on. She fought us. You have to believe me, Aeris, she chooses this way."

  "Surely you must see that the clothes are like those Dae would choose for herself. They are garments fit for her station. She is well-cared for. Don't denigrate Galya's efforts. She's done a fine job with Daelyn."

  "She's done my job," I whispered. I turned back to Dae and knelt again. "I should have been here for her. I should have done these things. Those are my tasks. I've failed you, Dae. I'm so sorry, my prince."

  Galya knelt beside me, her pretty face furrowed with concern. "I did it when you couldn't. I did it because I love her. I love her as much as you do. It's been my honor and pleasure to attend to our prince in her time of need."

  She reached for my hand, and I let her take it. "I know, Galya."

  Tears brimmed in her blue eyes. "In Alyria I wouldn't have been allowed to do this for her. I'm glad to have the chance."

  "And you've done much for her, and for us," said Lir.

  Galya nodded and looked up at Daelyn, then rose and kissed the prince's cheek. There was an affection there I couldn't miss as she smoothed Dae's cheek, then turned to look at me with shining eyes.

  "I would have carried a child for her. I can't do less than to care for her now."

  I got to my feet as well and tried to smile, though in sooth it hurt my face to do so. "I've been replaced."

  Galya shook her head. "No."

  I nodded. "Yes. I have. And I can't argue the choice. You've done well by Daelyn, Galya. We shouldn't fight over who loves her better." I stepped back. "But now I have no place. What am I to do?"

  I left the room without waiting for the answer.

  Chapter Forty-Seven

  For almost the whole of one year my sole purpose had been to care for Daelyn. Now I felt lost, adrift. I'd been thrown into an entirely new world, one in which I had no direction. I made my way through the corridors of Carinda's palace until I found a small side door that led into an enclosed courtyard.

  I found a spot on the grass and began to move through the positions of the Art. They came with difficulty at first. My body ached and stung in places, though my heart ached far more. As I warmed up, the Art flowed more easily. I didn't have to think. I only had to move.

  Soon I was sweating in the warm air. I took off my vest and worked in my shirt. I dipped and swirled, my hands making the patterns in the air, and as they did, I calmed.

  "Very nice."

  I had come to a stop, and I looked up at the sound of an unfamiliar female voice. I recognized the face to whom it belonged, however, and went to one knee. "Your Majesty."

  Carinda clucked her tongue and motioned impatiently. "Rise you up, Aeris Delaya. When it's only us in the garden I need no such formalities."

  She looked so much like Daelyn it hurt to look at her. "As you wish."

  She smiled. "My sibling has trained you well. Fetchencarry, isn't that what you were called?"

  "Not any more."

  "Ah." Carinda nodded. "You've been supplanted."

  I nodded. I put my vest back on and ran a hand through my sweat-spiked hair. "Daelyn is in capable hands."

  "But not your hands." The queen of Elitan sat on the bench by the fountain and spread out her skirts. She lifted her face to the warm sun streaming through glass.

  "It doesn't matter."

  "It matters to you. I can see that quite clearly."

  I stood stiffly, uncertain how to behave with her. "I don't like seeing him...her this way."

  "None of us do." She cracked open one eye to look at me. "Should I find another position for you? Do you seek service? I'm certain there are lords or ladies in my court who could use an accomplished body servant."

  The thought made my stomach tighten. "I plead your mercy, Your Majesty, but if I'm not to serve Daelyn, I don't wish to serve anyone."

  She laughed, a sound that matched the tinkling of the water fountain. "No. I didn't think so. Have you thought that perhaps your fate is not to serve another, after all? Have you thought about what you might like to do, instead?"

  "A long time ago, I thought I might like to open a fight school." That idea seemed ridiculous now.

  "So why don't you?"

  I looked around the garden. "I don't know anything about your country. I have no money. I have no resources."

  "You are beloved of my sibling. Because of that, you are as a sibling to me. Don't you understand that?" She sounded curious.

  The idea I could be a sibling to a monarch seemed even more ridiculous. I was even able to laugh. "I can't be."

  "But you are. Do you think I would have ridden myself to help save you, only to let you founder in Elitan?"

  "I don't know."

  Carinda narrowed her eyes and looked me up and down. "Lord Akean tells me you are quite a fighter. I believe him. If you choose to start a fight school, there is naught to stop you but your own stubbornness. And, Aeris, it might be possible that Elitan is in need of a fight master."

  "Lir is better suited to it than I."

  She gave another tinkling laugh. "Possibly true. It was my thought you'd be best working together."

  "Don't you have a fight master here? What about Gerard?"

  She looked thoughtful. "Gerard is truly a master. But Elitan is a small country. Smaller even than Alyria. We've not had much need for fighting. Until now."

  "What has changed?"

  "Alyria is my sister's country. She belongs on its throne. Men like Rosten have no place in power. There can be no question that we need to fight him for control of Alyria."

  She smiled, and all at once she no longer looked so much like Daelyn. She looked like Carinda, and I found it hard to believe I'd ever thought them so much alike.

  "So, will you help me raise an army?"

  "I'm not sure I'm the best person for the task, Your Majesty. You might lose, and badly."

  She gave me her hand, and I kissed her ring. "On the contrary, Aeris Delaya, I expect to win. And greatly."

  Chapter Forty-Eight

  Against my better judgment I accepted Carinda's invitation to her parlor social. I didn't want to, but an invitation from a queen, no matter how elegantly offered, is always more of a command than a suggestion.

  When I protested I had nothing suitable to wear to such a gathering, Carinda had replied, "I'll send someone to fit you."

  I bathed and put on a robe while I waited for the tailor to come. Lir had not returned to our chambers, and I tried not to think of where he might be...or with whom. When the knock came at the door, I opened it to find a small, lean woman dressed from head to foot in black. A cheroot hung from the side of her mouth and wreathed her head in fragrant smoke. She squinted through it, looked me up and down and sighed heavily.

  "By Kedalya's Womb, what am I supposed to do with this?"

  Stung, I stepped back. "I'm sure I don't know."

  Her laugh was hoarse. She pushed past me and snapped her fingers to the three young men attending her. I watched, fascinated, as she ordered them about, telling one to position the rolling rack of garments in one corner and snapping at another to push the large trunk on wheels to the other side.