“Good luck, Marie,” Aelwyn said. “I hope very much that you know what you are doing.”
Marie laughed. “I don’t…but maybe that is for the best. This will be the greatest adventure of my life.”
She hugged her friend tightly, said good-bye, and did not look back once.
On her way back to her apartments Marie ran into Hugh Borel, the so-called Red Duke, who had been in and out of the St. James Palace throughout the season with the French contingent. She hoped he was happy with the reinstatement of Orleans into the court. Perhaps Aelwyn would do Isabelle a service, and take her as one of her attending ladies.
“Princess,” he said, bowing.
“Lord Burgundy,” she said with a smile, hoping he would be brief and not desire to hold her attention for longer than necessary. She knew she should be flattered by all the attention, but run-ins with obsequious courtiers usually resulted in another round of coughing.
“Congratulations again. I wish you every happiness with Prince Leopold,” he said with a shy smile.
“Thank you,” she said. “And thank you for your most generous gift. I hear our sommelier is beside himself.”
“It is our pleasure.” He smiled. “It is an honor to be part of your wedding.”
Marie smiled and did not respond, hoping he would get the idea and gracefully end the conversation as soon as possible.
“No one will have seen anything like it, I’m sure,” he said. “It will be spectacular, a real thrill.” It appeared he had more to say, but Marie had had enough; Gill was waiting for her, and she wanted nothing more than to bury her face in his chest and breathe.
“Yes, yes, thank you. Please excuse me,” she said, trying not to be too rude.
“By all means, Your Highness.” He bowed, but Marie could tell he was annoyed to have been dismissed so quickly.
She tried to shake it off. She was tired of trying to please everyone. She was looking forward to tomorrow, when she would only have to worry about herself.
The next morning, before the sisterhood went into seclusion, Aelwyn was called into her father’s office. Emrys’s back was turned to her. He was facing the window to the garden, where the staff were putting the finishing touches on that night’s party. When he turned around to face her at last, he looked grim.
“Father.” She bowed.
He motioned for her to sit, and she did, wondering why he had called her in. Did he know exactly what she and Marie were planning? In a moment he could clap chains on them both and put them to the fire. She touched the white illusion stone around her neck for luck.
“My time grows ever shorter, my daughter,” he said. “You must be ready when you are called to serve.”
“I will be, Father.”
“How do you find the studies of the sisterhood?”
“Dull,” she said. “Rote.”
“You prefer Viviane’s approach to magic.”
“I see the benefits of both,” Aelwyn said.
“I am feeling my age, my child,” he said. “And, like it or not, you are my only heir.” He explained that once she said the words that bound her to service for a thousand years, he would leave his own mortal body. She would replace him, taking the title of Morgaine to Marie-Victoria and Leopold and their descendants, as he had served as Merlin to Artucus and his. As Morgaine, she would be forbidden from holding title or lands, marriage or children; a spinster. But as the royal sorceress, she would be the invisible hand that ran the palace and ruled the empire.
She would be immortal, but never bear children…not that she cared about offspring at this stage in her life. But the thought that she could never have them in the future was daunting. Except, of course, the Merlin had fathered a child. She was living proof. Maybe there were others like her.…But if she ever bore a child, she would have to give the baby up to the Order as her father had done, and sentence her own progeny to a life of servitude. An honor, Emrys had always said. A shackle, Viviane had argued.
“Do you know what the sisterhood and the brotherhood truly do, Aelwyn? Do you know what my job is? What your job will be?” Emrys asked.
Aelwyn waited patiently, as she surmised her father was speaking rhetorically.
“We keep the kingdom safe, my daughter. From the rot inside as well as dangers from outside. Viviane believes that we have surrendered our power, but in truth, we are the power behind the throne. The wizard chooses the monarch. We place the crown on their heads. It has always been thus.” He stared at her intently, almost as if he were looking into her soul.
He knows. He must know what I’ve been doing, what I am planning. Was this a way to tell her he approved? That he would allow her to be the princess, and queen one day? She had no idea. But if he did know what she and Marie were planning, why did he not stop it?
When her father dismissed her, Aelwyn’s thoughts flitted back to the night of the royal ball, when she had danced with Leopold. At first she’d wondered why it was that the prince had accepted Marie’s change so wholeheartedly. But she’d realized that Leo had just taken her change of heart in stride—Marie had finally succumbed to his charm—and there was no suspicion in his eyes. He was just relieved to see the princess finally coming around to the way everyone else thought about him.