I winked at him, “A friend told me recently that I ‘overdo’ my acting and I should just be honest. It seemed like good advice.”
Marc grimaced in mock pain, as if my joke had wounded his delicate sense of humor. Rose appeared in the doorway before he could prepare a good come back though. “From the look of things I doubt you gentlemen are up to anything good,” she said.
Marc held up his hands, “For once I am innocent of all wrongdoing, though I cannot be so sure of our friend the incipient thespian here,” he said pointing at me.
An arched eyebrow was all the response he got. Rose ignored our banter and asked a question instead, “I need to visit my father, would either of you gentlemen care to escort me?”
I knew for a fact she wasn’t afraid to walk the streets of Albamarl by herself. After all the last time we had been here together she had crossed half the city at night, alone. She was simply being polite, and perhaps offering us a chance to stretch our legs. She could have just taken one of my guards with her if all she wanted was an escort.
I glanced at Marc and found him watching me. We knew each other well enough that it only took a glance for us to communicate volumes. I was planning to volunteer if he didn’t feel like going out, but he wanted to go. I waited and Marc answered her, “I’ll come with you Rose. I was hoping to stretch my legs in town today and I couldn’t think of anyone who would be better company.”
“Thank you for the offer Rose, but I’ll let you two go without me. I have some things I’d like to take care of,” I said, chiming in.
“More research?” she asked.
“Essentially,” I replied. “I found some interesting information in the library and I’d like to test some ideas.”
“Experiment, that’s what he really means,” said Marc said with a chuckle, “It’s probably safer if we leave anyway Rose.”
“I wasn’t planning to try anything dangerous,” I said without humor.
“Sure, sure… I believe you,” he replied, “but I made a promise to Mother after all, and I can’t go back on that.”
I stared at him quizzically, “You made a promise to Genevieve?”
He gazed at the ceiling innocently, “Yes, she said that she had to shout at you once over tea… when she had come to visit. Apparently you had nearly blown yourself to bits during some experiment and you were half deaf as a result. I had to promise her that I wouldn’t go near you if you were doing any future experiments. She was very worried…”
I knew for a fact she would never have forced him to make such a promise. Well, I was pretty sure anyway. The more I thought about it the less sure I became… he was her son after all.
Rose started laughing and then exclaimed, “Oh that’s nothing! You should have seen him the day he first tried to get into this house! He nearly fried himself and his hair was standing on end for hours afterward.”
The conversation was rapidly devolving into one long joke at my expense. “I’d have thought you two had already told each other these stories,” I put in.
Rose smiled at me, “We all have other things to talk about you do realize? We don’t just sit around talking about you all the time.”
“Well no, I didn’t think that,” I said caught off guard. My legendary wit had abandoned me, so I settled for escorting them to the doorway.
Rose gracefully took Marc’s arm and the two of them left the library. They kept talking as they went, having stumbled upon a juicy subject. As they went down the stairs I could still hear them. Marc was telling another story, “You should have seen the day he tried to tell Penny he was a wizard. He nearly convinced her he was working with the powers of darkness and when I saw her bolt from his room I thought he had tried to assault her…”
It was several minutes before I turned my attention back to the silver-bound book I carried. I had the rest of the day to myself now and I didn’t intend to waste it. Drawing out the silver stylus I started thumbing through the book, considering what I should try first.
Chapter 22
The sun was shining down like the wrath of a vengeful god, causing me to squint. While some people love sunny days I found them to be intrusive. The bards sing of cloudless skies and bright sun, but I honestly preferred a few clouds and a bit of shade. Not that I minded the sunshine, it was a welcome respite from the past winter… it was just that sometimes it was too much. Especially with hundreds, perhaps even thousands of people staring at me.
That many eyes watching made me understandably nervous, and with the glare from the sun overhead I couldn’t see their faces clearly. Of course I could have closed my eyes and simply relied on my mage-sight, but sometimes there’s just no substitute for seeing something with your own eyes, a mob of strangers staring at me being at the top of that list.
“…and while the Baron of Arundel abandoned his people to the unkind mercies of the enemy, this man, stayed to defend them!” King Edward’s voice rose to a crescendo while his arms waved to highlight me standing beside him. “This man stayed, to protect his people, to protect his neighbor’s people… and to protect us! All the while his fellow lord, the craven Baron, was here… spreading lies and dissent. Even so, this man, the Count di’Cameron, stayed to do his duty, both to kingdom and crown, and so doing he saved us all.”
I was finding it difficult to keep from fidgeting as I stood there. Being the object of an unrestrained river of praise and compliments was more uncomfortable than I had imagined. Not that I had ever imagined such a barrage of half-truths and exaggerations. Well I had to admit the last part was true, but much of what had come before had been outright fabrication.
Apparently the late Baron was a scoundrel and coward of immense proportions, who had not only run from danger and abandoned his people, but also a tremendous liar who had worked tirelessly to have our hero, yours truly, deposed so that he could receive my lands. This ignored the fact that my lands would have reverted to the Duke of Lancaster if I had had my title stripped from me. According to the tale, the baron was soon confronted by our wise and good king, once he had learned of the plot. Naturally the villainous baron had attempted to kill the good king once he realized that he would not be fooled by the baron’s wicked lies.
All of this led of course, to today, when I, the loyal servant would be rewarded for my faithful service in protecting the kingdom from both treacherous cowards and powerful armies. The tale was so sickeningly sweet I could almost hear my mother warning me that I would get a tummy ache if I listened to any more.
While I wasn’t particularly heart-broken about Sheldon’s sudden execution I didn’t think he fully deserved to be hanged for his cowardice. Worse I knew he had been executed simply to smooth the way for my ‘reward’ today. My thoughts flew apart at that moment, for Harold had just nudged my elbow and I realized I had lost track of what the king had been saying. I looked at the king with a question in my eyes.
“Kneel before the king,” Sir Harold whispered to me and I realized I had nearly made a grave mistake. I hastily genuflected, hoping the pause had not been noticed by the crowd.
Edward drew forth a simple gold circlet, set with a large blue sapphire. He had had it made specifically for today, to symbolize the accolades I was receiving. Gently he placed the circlet on my brow and then rested his hands on top of my head. “Take this as a small token of our gratitude for your service, and with it we name you the Protector of the Northern Reach, in honor of your victory. In addition to this title we also bestow upon you the lands formerly held by your neighbor, the late Baron of Arundel, to keep or use for your own vassals.”
When he had finished speaking he put his hands on my shoulders and lifted upward as a signal to rise. As I stood I felt a wave of disgust crash over me, disgust for the entire ceremony, and for myself for participating. It was nothing more than an overblown lie, meant to sooth the people and create more support for the king, a man I could barely stand, much less respect.
Raising my head I saw Cyhan standing beside and slightly behind our monarch and as our eyes met he saw the look in my eyes. An imperceptible shake of his head cautioned me to hold my tongue. Taking a deep breath I knew he was right, the wrong words now could start a civil war, and that was precisely what I was here to
