After pondering her order for a moment, Faegan decided to obey. Perhaps taking charge of the future is the best medicine for her, he thought, rather than lying there and wondering what it might do to her. He smiled and gave her a nod.
“As you wish, Princess,” he said.
Faegan raised one arm and summoned the craft. At once the bedsheets and comforter lifted away to drift to the floor. Then the craft levitated the princess into the air and onto her feet. As the spell dissipated, she gradually found her footing.
“Can you walk without help?” Faegan asked.
“I think so,” she answered. Then her expression softened. “I’m sorry if I was harsh with you, but I must do this. Please leave me. I need to dress.”
“As you wish,” he said. “Do you have any other orders?”
Shailiha nodded. “I’m starving,” she said. “I know that it’s late, but I want Shawna to prepare a full breakfast for me, including lots of hot, extra-strong tea. I want Traax to personally deliver his battle report to me as soon as he awakens. And return my medallion to me. I can guess why you took it, but I’ll have it back. When theInkai contact me I will inform you at once.”
Nodding, Faegan removed the enchanted medallion from his person and handed it to her. As she placed its chain around her neck, her expression fell. She gave the wizard a worried look.
“There’s one more thing,” she added quietly. “I realize that Morganna will be fast asleep, but have her brought to me. There is something that I must know.”
Faegan understood, and his heart went out to her. “Of course,” he replied.
Knowing that there was little more to be said, he swiveled his chair around and wheeled it across the princess’s quarters. Calling the craft to open the door, he steered his chair into the hallway and the door closed quietly behind him.
Shailiha shuffled painfully across the room toward her wardrobe, gingerly trying to become accustomed to her aching body and impaired vision. She hurt everywhere, but she also supposed that the more she pushed herself, the quicker she would recover. After lighting more candles, she changed from her gown into a pair of close-fitting black breeches, a white silk blouse, and a sleeveless brown leather doublet. Putting on her knee boots was an immense challenge, but she finally managed.
After running her fingers through her long blond hair, she was breathing heavily and sweating lightly. She slowly crossed the floor to sit gratefully in one of the comfortable balcony chairs overlooking the palace grounds. The night air was sweet and cooling. After taking a few deep breaths she regained a modicum of composure.
And so I am partly blind, she thought. But my body and mind remain intact, so therefore I can still rule. And rule I shall.
As the night creatures sang and the stars twinkled in the sky, Shailiha explored her feelings. Her personal circumstances had changed, perhaps forever. This pain was new, but older, even deeper wounds that had come long before these new ones still scarred her heart. Since the death of her husband, Frederick, she had felt desperately alone, despite all the people and Minions who shared this great palace.
Morganna had helped to fill the void left by Frederick’s passing, but since then there had been no love like that which Frederick had given her. For a time after his death she believed that her love for her child and the love that Morganna gave her in return would be enough to fulfill her. But she later realized that this vacuum would be unique and long lasting, regardless of how much she and her growing child loved one another. She needed a man’s arms around her. She wanted a man’s strong but careful touch, his scent, his passion. She wanted to be swept away-even if only for one night-so that she might fully experience womanhood once more. But there had been no such passion in her life for more than three years, and she deeply mourned its loss.
Because of the new injuries to her face and eye, added concerns unfolded in her heart-concerns about which she was at once sure and unsure. If her injuries did not heal, the likelihood of finding romantic love would be dampened still further. As much as that thought plagued her, another plagued her more. Morganna’s presence had partly filled the hole in Shailiha’s heart, but without her daughter’s love and trust, that hole would only widen again, perhaps irrevocably. And so she had demanded to see her daughter straightaway. She had to know, before trying to carry on and rule the land that she and her brother so loved.
As she sat there with her thoughts, a soft knocking could be heard against her doors.
“Enter,” Shailiha called out hoarsely.
The doors parted to reveal Shawna and Morganna standing there. Shawna was dressed in her usual work clothes, and the precocious three-year-old obediently held the gnome’s calloused hand. Morganna was clothed in a simple red and white checked dress, white leggings, and shiny black shoes. Her long blond hair lay behind her neck, collected by a jeweled pin. As Morganna looked toward the balcony to find her mother, her face suddenly changed from delight to fear. Cringing slightly, she lifted Shawna’s apron before her face, trying to find safety there.
Shailiha felt her heart break, but she continued to smile for Morganna’s sake. Shawna gave Shailiha a concerned but knowing look, telling the princess that she had been fully informed of her situation. Then the gnome pursed her lips and nodded, tacitly signaling her deep sympathy.
Shailiha stretched out her arms. “It’s all right, Morganna,” she said. “Please come to me. I’ve missed you.”
Morganna moved slightly away from the protection of Shawna’s apron, but she refused to venture farther. The look on her face now spoke of both fear and confusion.
“Mamma…?” she asked softly.
“Yes, it’s me,” Shailiha answered. “I’m a little bit sick, but I’ll be better soon.”
Morganna looked up at Shawna as if silently asking what she should do. After giving the princess a wink, Shawna scowled at Morganna and put her hands akimbo.
“Don’t just stand here, child,” she said. “Go to your mother. I must get back to the palace kitchens and cook up a great breakfast for you two. Now scat!”
Morganna swallowed hard, then started taking small, unsure steps toward the balcony. As she neared, she realized that the person in the chair really was her mother, and her expression changed from fear to concern. But as she reached Shailiha’s chair, the princess was overjoyed to see her daughter suddenly reach up to be taken into her arms.
No amount of pain could stop Shailiha now. She scooped her daughter up and sat her in her lap. As Morganna’s young eyes explored her mother’s wounds and the mysterious new eye patch, at first she seemed frightened again. Then, to Shailiha’s delight, she smiled.
“It’s a game isn’t it, Mamma?” she asked. “You’ve made a game just for the two of us.”
Unsure of how to respond, the princess decided to agree. Holding her daughter closer, she said, “Yes, Morganna, it’s a game. And when it’s over I will look the way I did before.” Holding Morganna closer yet, she rocked her in her arms. Then she looked across the room to see Shawna brush away a nagging tear.
“I’ll take my leave now, Your Grace,” she said. “The breakfast and all…”
As Shailiha pressed her lips against her daughter’s forehead she gave Shawna a little nod. The gnome let herself out and the doors closed again.
Morganna pulled away a bit to again look into her mother’s face. This time the child’s fear was gone, and Shailiha finally felt her heart calm. The worst has passed, she realized. Morganna again reached up to touch her mother’s ravaged cheek.
“I love you, Mamma,” came the soft, longed-for words.
“I love you too,” Shailiha whispered back.
For the first time since she was injured, theJin’Saiou ’s tears flowed freely, and this time she did nothing to hold them back.
CHAPTER XXXIX
MASHIRO’S WORDS STRUCK TRISTAN NEARLY SPEECHLESS. He quickly looked at Tyranny and Wigg and saw that they were as amazed as he.
