The Gathering Storm (Crown of Stars 5)

Anna tugged, grunting, but Blessing was either stuck or was holding on. “Matto!”

He was more than happy to set down the harness and help her, because it gave him an excuse to put his arms around her as he grasped hold of Blessing’s ankles as well. “Your Highness!” he said. “I pray you, do not get stuck in there or we will be the ones who will face your father’s anger.”

There was a pause.

Blessing wriggled backward, half slid down the stair-step embrasure, and hopped to the carpeted floor. Despite everything, the girl had a profound sense of fairness and did not like to see her attendants blamed for her misadventures.

“Well, there is an Eagle with him,” she said defiantly. “I don’t know where she came from, or how she could have found us out here in Ungria. I hate Ungria.”

“We all know you hate Ungria, Your Highness,” said Anna wearily, allowing herself to lean against Matto’s broad chest. His hand tightened on her shoulder.

“Thiemo won’t like that.” Blessing had a sweet face still, although she stood as tall as many a nine- or ten-year-old child, but her expression was sharpened by a spark of malicious glee as she bared her teeth in something resembling a grin. “I hear him coming up the stairs now.”

Anna stepped out from under Matto’s arm.

“I’m not afraid of him!” Matto muttered as the latch flipped up.

The door had a hitch to it, and the floor was warped, so it took Thiemo a moment to shove it open. To be safe, Anna took two more steps away from Matto.

“My lord prince is returning,” said Thiemo, addressing Blessing. “Your Highness.” His gaze quickly assessed Anna, and Matto, and the distance between them, and then he grinned winsomely at Anna, the smile that always made her dizzy. How could it be that a lord like Thiemo even noticed a common-born girl with skin stained nutbrown from the tanning pits?

Blessing’s tunic was twisted around from climbing. As Anna helped the girl to straighten herself and found a comb to brush her untidy hair, Thiemo and Matto gathered up the harness, neatened up the chamber, and did not speak one word to each other. The two young men had never been friends, since the gulf in their stations did not truly permit such intimacy, but had once been friendly companions in Blessing’s service. Not anymore.

The clamor of footsteps and voices echoed up from below. Lamplight glimmered and, all at once, fully a dozen people crowded into the tower chamber. Blessing scrambled up to hide in the stair-step embrasure, crouching there like a sweetly featured gargoyle with Thiemo and Matto standing as guards to either side of the opening. Anna retreated to the hearth while Prince Sanglant and his noble companions and loyal followers took up places around the chamber. His sister seated herself at the table with her faithful companion Lady Brigida at her side and the others ranged about the room, standing respectfully or sitting comfortably on the bed or the other bench, according to their station. It was the usual retinue: Lady Bertha of Austra, Brother Heribert, Wolfhere, that nasty Brother Zacharias, whose robes were damp, Captain Fulk, kind Brother Breschius, even-tempered Lord Druthmar, who commanded a contingent of Villam cavalry, and the one they all called the Rutting Beast, the notorious Lord Wichman. The only Ungrian present was Istvan, a noble if rather grim captain who, like Brother Breschius, had thrown his loyalty to Sanglant after Prince Bayan’s death at the Veser. Anna had expected to see the prince’s mistress, Lady Ilona, whose favorite gown Blessing had so thoroughly ruined this morning, but evidently she did not hold an intimate enough rank within the prince’s personal circle to be invited into this private assembly.

Sanglant paced, wearing a path from the door to the window and back again, but his attention remained fixed on the battered Eagle who had been given Anna’s stool for a seat, the only common-born person in the room not on her feet. This was no arrogant privilege granted her by reason of her Eagle’s status; she looked too exhausted to stand on her own. But although her shoulders drooped, her keen gaze did not waver from the prince’s restless figure.

“So it’s true,” Sanglant said at last. “Wolfhere glimpsed the truth with his Eagle’s Sight, but we had no way to confirm what he had seen.” He glanced at Wolfhere, who regarded the other Eagle with a thoughtful frown, as though the news she had brought were nothing more troubling than the screech of a jay.

“We must march on Aosta at once!” cried Sapientia.

Sanglant barely glanced at her, nor did she try to interrupt him when he spoke. “With what magic will we combat those who have imprisoned the king? Nay. This changes nothing, and in truth only makes our course more clear. We must continue east. That is the only way to defeat our enemies.”

“But, Your Highness,” objected the Eagle, “I have been already two years seeking you. How can we know what has befallen King Henry in that time? He is hidden to my Eagle’s Sight. He may be dead. They may do any foul deed to him that they wish!”

“And so may they continue to do,” said Heribert quietly. “I have seen the power of the sorcery they wield. We cannot fight it with spears or swords.”

“But, Your Highness,” pleaded the Eagle, “if you ride east, into unknown country and the lands where the Quman breed, it may be years until you return to Wendar. What will happen to your father meanwhile?” She knelt at the prince’s feet, her presence forcing him to stand still.

“They need Henry alive in order to rule through him,” said Sanglant. “His Wendish armies will desert Adelheid and her advisers if Henry dies. The nobles and their retinues will return to Wendar without the king to lead them.”

“There is the child, Your Highness.” The Eagle’s voice was soft, but Sapientia all at once burst into noisy exclamations.

“Abandoned! Set aside! And for a toddling brat!”

Wichman snorted, but fell silent at a glance from the prince.

“It is true that the child can become queen in Henry’s place, but she cannot yet be three years of age.” Sanglant looked toward the embrasure where his unnatural daughter had concealed herself in the shadows of the window’s stone archway. Blessing was not more than three years old, but she appeared so much older that King Geza had suggested to Sanglant that he betroth her to Geza’s favorite child, a brash fifteen-year-old boy whom many whispered had been all but anointed as heir despite having a dozen older brothers.

“Regents have ruled through three-year-old children before, Your Highness,” said Wolfhere. “This girl, Mathilda, would no doubt be easier to control than a mature man of Henry’s stature and experience.”

“Are you suggesting we give up our quest?”

“Nay, I do not, my lord prince, but I implore you to listen carefully to what Hathui has seen and heard. I trained her myself, and King Henry saw her worth and raised her up to stand at his right hand as a trusted adviser.”

Sanglant’s lips twitched, as though he wasn’t sure whether to smile or frown. “Just as you stood beside my grandfather, King Arnulf?”

Wolfhere shrugged, unwilling to be drawn into an argument so old that Anna could only guess at its contours. Intimately involved as she was in the care of Blessing, she often witnessed the interactions between Sanglant and his closest counselors. Despite Wolfhere’s status as a respected elder, she had seen tempers flare and accusations thrown like knives.