'No, but…'
'I say milord sure didn't waste any time.'
'Nooo!'
'Oh yes, and there's others that say worse.'
The second woman stopped placing cups on the tables.
'What do they say?'
The first girl looked left and right before speaking. 'They say that Lady Korinne didn't die birthing the child.
They say she died after.'
'Who's they?'
'Them that knows.'
'Who?' the second girl demanded.
'Mirrel,' the first whispered. 'The elf's lady-in-waiting herself.'
The second girl just shook her head. 'No. I can't believe it. Not milord.'
The first serving girl looked at the other, glaring. 'You believe what you want. My guess is that the whole truth might never be known. All I know is that it's been six months since milady died and if I didn't know any better I'd say the elf is about that far along. Maybe more.'
'It can't be.'
'Well, we'll see. But I'll bet a month's wages there'll be a little Soth running around the keep sooner than you'd expect.'
After a few moments of silence, the second girl said. 'I don't think I want to take that bet.' 'Hmmph!' said the first, satisfied she was in the right.
The two girls continued working in silence.
Darkember passed, followed by Frostkelt and Newkelt.
Over the course of the three months, Isolde's belly swelled ever larger until one night early in the new year, she went into labor.
Istvan, the keep's healer, wasn't looking forward to bringing another child into the world, especially into the increasingly mysterious world of Dargaard Keep. Since the death of Lady Korinne the keep had become a shadow of its former self. It was no longer a place of life and vitality, but rather a place shrouded by darkness and permeated by a sense of foreboding.
But despite his personal apprehension over the matter, Istvan was bound to Lord Soth and dutifully worked to bring the new Soth offspring into being. Unlike that of Lady Korinne, Isolde's delivery was almost effortless and without pain. Still, Istvan couldn't bring himself to look at the child at first, afraid it might be another grotesque monstrosity. When he finally did look at it, however, he was relieved to find it was a boy, a large and healthy boy with all of his little parts in the right places, including a thick head of coal black hair just like that of his father.
So, with mother and child resting comfortably, Istvan called on Lord Soth, inviting him to join his wife and newborn child.
'Is everything all right?' asked Soth, his usually strong voice sounding somewhat unsure of itself.
'Yes,' said Istvan.
'Everything?'
'The mother and the boy are both doing well.'
'The boy?'
'Yes. A strong and healthy boy. Congratulations.'
Istvan paused a moment to give Soth the chance to express his appreciation for a successful birth.
But instead of expressing his gratitude to the healer, Soth pushed by
Istvan and rushed into the room to join his wife and newborn son.
Istvan sighed and closed the door to his chambers, allowing the new family a few moments alone.
'You're a handsome young devil, aren't you,' cooed Mirrel as she tended to the newborn Soth. The child, a half-elf, had been named Peradur in honor of Soth's great great-grandfather who had been the first of the
Soth clan to become a Knight of Solamnia under the command of Vinas Solamnus himself.
The child made soft, gurgling sounds. It was a happy, content baby, and Mirrel was proud that the child was doing so well. While she knew of
Soth's unfaithfulness to Korinne and it was clear the child had been conceived while Soth was still wed to Lady Korinne-indeed while she was heavy with a child of her own-Mirrel still loved the child. It was an innocent bystander faultlessly caught up in a web of deceit. And besides that, Lady Korinne had wanted so much to have a child that she would have wanted this child to grow up as if it were her own.
If anyone were to blame in this whole mess it was the hallowed Lord
Loren Soth of Dargaard Keep, Knight of the Rose and philanderer of the highest order.
She'd been making her opinions known to anyone in the keep who would listen and those people numbered more and more each day. She knew it was dangerous to speak such words so freely, knew she could lose her position in the keep-perhaps even her life, judging by some of Lord
Soth's past deeds-but she couldn't stop herself. Lady Korinne had risked everything to give her husband a child, and he had repaid her by bedding the elf while she had been bed-ridden. Then he had brutally murdered her when the child turned out to be somewhat less than healthy.
She couldn't prove the last point, but she knew it almost intuitively.
Once the healer had told her that Lady Korinne had lived through the birth, then quickly recanted, saying he had become confused with the birth of another child that same day.
It wasn't like the healer to make such mistakes. He was old, but his mind was still as sharp as many of his instruments. If he had been mistaken about such a subject, then there had been a reason for it.
After hours of long thought over the matter, she surmised that he had told Mirrel the truth in order to circumvent his oath of loyalty to Lord Soth.
As a result she'd been busy spreading the word.
Not many had believed her at first, but over time more and more people began wondering if it might be true, and that was enough.
For now.
Eventually, she would make Soth pay for murdering Lady Korinne, but for now she was content merely to tarnish the image of the great and heroic knight. The rest would come later.
The baby swung his arms in wide arcs and laughed.
'You're going to be a good knight when you grow up, a better knight than your father is, which shouldn't be all that hard to do.'
'Mirrel!'
Mirrel gasped at the sound of Isolde's voice and slowly turned around.
The elf was standing in the doorway. How long she'd been there Mirrel couldn't tell, but she was fairly certain that she'd been there long enough to hear her speak poorly of milord. 'Yes, milady.'
Isolde stepped into the room. She was a beautiful being, even for an elf, and many said her beauty far outshone that of Lady Korinne's.
Mirrel didn't see it that way. In her mind, no one could match the beauty of Lady Korinne, especially inside where she had been most beautiful of all.
'I've heard some distressing things during my walk' through the keep this morning.' 'Distressing things?' said Mirrel. 'Like what?'
Isolde stepped into the room and sat down near Mirrel and the baby.
'People are saying that Lady Korinne didn't die during childbirth, but was Killed after the fact.'
Obviously Isolde had paused to give Mirrel the chance to condemn such accusations, but Mirrel simply sat in silence with her hands folded on her lap.
'I've tried to quell the rumor, but it's strong and still it persists.'
Mirrel knew she was treading on unsteady ground, but she decided to venture forth. After all, this could be her best chance to convince the elf of the truth. 'Perhaps it's true, then.'
'It is not!'
