A dozen questions ran through my mind but I kept my tongue and waited, watching her carefully. Penny looked away before she spoke again.
“We were fed well enough, but they took Dorian’s armor and clothes from him. He was badly bruised and battered beneath it, with blisters where it had pinched and chafed. I had to bathe him with what water they would bring me and eventually I managed to convince one of them to give us a blanket,” Penny stopped and looked down, letting her hair cover her face.
A new fear replaced the ones I had held before, a fear not of abuse but of solace. Alone for so long I began to realize the toll her isolation might have taken… and the ways she might have held it at bay. Yet I could no more voice those fears than I could have deliberately hurt her in any other way, but the seed of doubt was there now. I had been tempted as well, though my situation had been far easier to bear.
“It was cold at night, especially when we were in the caves. They fed us nothing but meat and water. We had no fire and so we slept huddled together. Occasionally they approached us, but Dorian wouldn’t let them near me, though if they had wanted they could have slain us both very easily by then. When they eventually brought us to the King it was a relief. His men clothed us and gave us both privacy and warm rooms. It was almost like being a guest of the King again,” she finished.
I stroked her hair. “I suppose that is one thing I cannot lay blame on the King for… he did treat his hostages well,” I said at last.
Penny glanced up at me with wet eyes, “Mordecai… I need to talk to you… about Dorian.”
Closing my own eyes I summoned up all the strength I could muster before opening them again. “Penelope, I love you. Whatever happened I will not feel differently or lay blame upon you,” I answered with honest eyes and a liar’s heart. I knew that deep down it would bother me and it might take years to completely accept it. Still I knew I could not honestly blame her.
“Hey!” she said loudly, snapping her fingers in front of me. “Don’t ever think that again. Nothing of the sort happened! Are you listening Mort?”
Something like relief washed over me. “I just want you to understand that I love you, no matter what.”
She glared at me suspiciously and then her face softened. “You are right to worry. They kept us like caged animals and we had only each other for support. I was tempted Mort, sorely tempted, I will not lie. We slept together for warmth only, but I do not know if Dorian will ever get over his shame.”
I understood immediately. Dorian was the one man I would trust more than any other in that situation, but the toll upon his self-image might be too much for him. He held impossible ideals for himself and even having resisted temptation the reality of his own human frailty might have undermined his sense of self-worth. “I’ll talk to him,” I replied.
“No!” she said, alarmed. “He’d die of shame if he knew I had told you this.”
I shook my head. “He’ll die of guilt if I don’t. I know Dorian. He won’t be able to live with himself until he has confessed every sin that he didn’t actually commit, both to you and me,” I told her. Then I had a sudden realization, “Oh damn!” He would also want to confess to Rose. I trusted her reaction but things might get terribly awkward before it was all said and done.
“What?” asked Penny.
“Rose,” I said simply.
Penny shrugged, “I think you’re underestimating her.”
“Maybe you’re right,” I agreed. “She is a woman of rare talents.”
Penny gave me a discerning stare, “Something happened.”
I stared back, “Nothing. You have my word on it.”
Her features relaxed, “What was that look then?”
“Rose and I both suffered a tragedy at the same time, so I got to see her at her worst. There were some temptations… but mostly I just gained respect for her character. You are still the only woman for me my dear,” I said truthfully.
Penelope’s face contained a mixture of warring emotions, or so I thought. Eventually she leaned over and kissed me quickly. “I have to go.”
Confused I asked, “What?”
My bewilderment set her to laughing, “Nothing serious, I believe you… it’s my bladder. I think it’s the size of a pea these days. Honestly, I can’t go more than ten minutes without having to find a chamber pot or run to the privies.”
I laughed as well. Marriage was nothing like I had expected a year ago, instead it was different, better in some ways and simply weirder in others.
The weeks went on and things settled down. Walter and I took turns playing King and keeping the kingdom running, though he took the larger portion of the job. James was kind enough to stay near and lend his advice on policy matters. His newfound closeness to the King was the source of a number of new rumors but none of them amounted to much. A few weeks after the ‘incident’ at the palace Edward suddenly decided it was time to clear up the matter of his succession.
Cyhan had hidden the King’s body and I used the ‘stasis’ enchantment I had found to preserve his corpse until we would need it at a later date. I was quite grateful for his quick thinking… otherwise we might have had to find a body and then arrange some sort of disfiguring accident or fire. In either case there would have been rumors.
A proclamation was made and a document drawn up, setting out in clear language that James Lancaster was to be the next king. This created an uproar among the gentry, but most of the nobility were wise enough to avoid antagonizing King Edward… at least while he was still alive.
A month later he abdicated in favor of James, though Edward was kind enough to stay in the capital to provide advice and counsel to the new king. He also made it quite clear that it was fully his intention to make certain that James held the throne. There were numerous grumbles among the landed nobles but none were made within hearing of the King, present or past.
The summer had faded and autumn was beginning to make itself known. The leaves had yet to turn but there was a crispness in the air that hinted at the coming cold of winter. The mood in Albamarl had become rather festive as people began to anticipate the final harvest and the end of another year’s labors.
Penelope had ripened to a fullness that I had trouble believing and I had grown nervous with anticipation. I was also afraid she might fall every time she took to her feet.
We were sitting in the parlor on one of my days ‘off’ from playing the retired king and Penny was watching the fire when she suddenly rose from her chair. “Mordecai,” she said.
I was already up and across the room. The midwife had told me she was due in just a week or so and since then I had been unable to relax. “Let me help you,” I offered.
“I’m not dying you know,” she said irritably, “just pregnant.”
“I know,” I said for what was probably the twentieth time.
“I need to show you something,” she told me. “My time is soon and I need to talk to you beforehand.”
“Why don’t you sit down and let me fetch whatever it is you need?” I suggested.
The look she gave me was anything but grateful. “I want to show you what is in the stone,” she explained.
“Oh,” I said with remarkable wit. “Wait… what stone?”
She graced me with an expression of deep sympathy, such as one might bestow upon a very dim but well- loved child. “For all your cleverness you really do have the memory of a turnip sometimes Mort,” she answered. “Moira’s stone… the great stone,” she added to clarify.
I couldn’t understand her change of heart. “After months making me wait and putting me off, you suddenly want to show me… now?” I asked.
She nodded.
“You make no sense. Your water could break any day now. I don’t know if it’s even safe for you to leave the house. What if something happened?” I told her sensibly. “Why not wait till after the baby comes?” I suggested.
Penny laughed, “The baby won’t just fall out right after my water breaks you know. There would be plenty of time to get home and call for Sarah.” Sarah was the name of our midwife, a woman of towering confidence and
