FionaRobinsong

  Chapter 27

  Nereida’s grip on Ael’s hand became suddenly, painfully tighter. Ael had expected a denial, a misdirection when Matthias had all but accused Nereida of being the princess. How had that buffoon known? She had never known Matthias to be observant!

  “He has,” Nereida’s words were soft, tentative. “Have you something to say to that, Admiral Matthias?” Ael gnced at her beloved. The woman was fishing! Matthias smiled at them, a cat who had caught a canary.

  “That depends, darling.” He turned his eyes to Ael. “I would speak to my cousin in private.” Nereida swallowed, gnced at Ael.

  “She can stay on deck. I imagine you have a spygss set to watch back on your ship.” She cursed internally. That would have been the smart thing. Matthias chuckled. “Oh Ael… how are you still this trusting after everything?”

  “I can look after myself,” Nereida whispered, standing up straight-backed and commanding. She looked down at Matthias, who did not rise after her. That was a slight against Nereida, and clearly a deliberate one! He should have escorted her to the door. “I will see you shortly, Matthias,” she added, her voice losing all courtly tones, becoming hard and curt. He smiled at her, but it was not one of his empty-headed grins. This one was cold and calcuting.

  “I’m sure you will. Please do not burn down my ship in your fury.”

  “I won’t,” she snapped, storming out. Ael watched Nereida leave, feeling a warmth in her cheeks as she gazed at Nereida longer than was proper. Dragons’ fire, her beloved was beautiful.

  Once Nereida had smmed the door, the Admiral turned back to Matthias, all traces of fondness evaporating. He, for his part, leaned forward. His normal, goofy expression was repced with cold, calcuting eyes. It was like looking at a stranger.

  “Admiral, is she forcing you into anything?” His voice was soft, almost tender, not at all what she had expected. Ael blinked at him, feeling stupid for a moment.

  “What?”

  “Is she or Basiano holding you hostage?”

  “No! Dragons sagging tits, what a question to ask!”

  Matthias burst into ughter, leaning back so far he almost tipped his chair backwards.

  “Oh good,” he managed, wiping his eyes. “I was starting to think you were ensorcelled! You haven’t insulted me once today.”

  “Have you slept beneath the new moon? You are acting insane.” She gred at him, but it was half-hearted at best. He smiled his arrogant, lopsided smile. This was familiar. Familiar was good.

  “No, Admiral Ael. But I’ve heard that all the royal family of the Samanders are fire-touched. Magic is unpredictable and so are those that use it.” He looked at the pudding, a little smile on his face. “I’d heard gossip that you had fire nobles on your ship. I couldn’t resist the chance to tweak their noses by having a dessert that was common to their people. I did not expect you to turn up with a Princess on your arm!” He leaned in, his eyes intense. “I’m going to assume this is new, yes?” She nodded so he plowed on. “Have you sent a missive to the Queen? She may have opinions about you marrying into a foreign royalty.”

  “She’ll never hold the crown; she was fourth in line, and that was before her brothers had children. She and her children could never inherit.” She realized betedly what she had said, felt a powerful urge to sink into the floor and die. She held still, hoping he didn’t notice.

  He did.

  “She has children? You’re marrying widow?” He sounded actually scandalized. “Ael, you are pying with fire!”

  “There is no reason to deny us,” she said firmly. “I can’t have children, I have already been functionally removed from succession. They don’t care about the maternal line, just the eldest! We need the allies, and this is a direct line to the king!”

  “Are you doing this for political reasons, darling?” He quirked an eyebrow up, his tone teasing.

  “Shut up.” He ughed, shaking his head.

  “So she’s the astute one. I always wondered if your grumpiness was an act. It’s good to have confirmation.” He began rummaging through his drawers until he found an ink vial and parchment.

  “Ask your beloved to return. If you want any chance to have this work, Ael, she will have to write to the Queen and ask for your hand.” She reeled back as if struck. They had not actually discussed matters. “You do want to wed her, yes?” Ael swallowed.

  “Yes.”

  “Then fetch her, darling. Let me help you say the right things… though I doubt Nereida will need much help. She’s delightful. It’s wonderful to see you have good taste.”

  Ael headed to find her beloved. She expected to find a furious Nereida, instead she found Nereida sitting calmly on an overturned bucket. The princess was chatting with two crew folk, a pale, wispy haired woman and Grizelda. She was motioning around in what Ael had come to think of her story-telling pose. Ael caught only the tail end of the tale. It was her story of the dragon war.

  “I heard the same,” Grizelda rumbled. “Except that the demons wiped out the moon-kin. Very sad.” She had a deep voice.

  “The moon kin were true-seeing,” the wispy one protested. “Better than any others at Star Reading and could read the magic of others. There is no chance they all got wiped out!” Ael cleared her throat. Nereida saw her, her eyes lit up, and she excused herself from the conversation.

  When she crossed the ship, Nereida took a moment to wipe a wisp of Ael’s hair from her face. The tender gesture made the Admiral want to melt into the other woman’s arms. Unfortunately, duty called. Ael quickly and quietly expined the situation. Nereida just linked their arms, pcing Ael’s hand on the crook of her elbow.

  “Love… what did you think was going to happen when we went to see your family, even a distant, not quite cousin, wearing my colours and obviously courting?”

  “I… I um…” Ael cursed softly, earning a chuckle from Nereida. The princess leaned in, rubbing her nose against Ael’s nose. The moment was tender but there was an anger in her eyes, one that the Admiral couldn’t figure out. Who was her beloved angry at?

  They strolled back into the cabin, arm in arm. Matthias stood when they entered, giving a slightly mocking bow to them both. Nereida, instead of bristling in anger, ughed.

  “Are we done with the games, Matthias?” She pushed the door shut, and dropped the bar. He looked truly surprised and stepped away from the table.

  “I am if you are, Nereida,” he replied, the silliness gone from his tone.

  “I am.” She squeezed Ael’s hand and then stepped forward, her eyes sharp. “How did you know about Basiano?”

  “He was aboard my ship after some Sylphs brought him here. Convinced me to take him to the mainnd nearly 6 months ago. He was interesting, though I could never coax him on deck. Poor man has not a drop of the sea in his blood.” Nereida ughed merrily at this.

  “No, he is fairly miserable at sea.” Her ughter evaporated. “I am ready to write to your Queen, if you can promise me that someone will take it.”

  “I will send one of the smaller ships back to the mainnd once mine is repaired,” he promised. “How will I ensure the answer gets back to you?”

  “We have a week and some of docked repair time,”Ael informed him quietly. “If one of the clippers took it, and could go straight through the battle zone instead of around it, we could have an answer before we left.”

  “Consider it done.”

  Nereida quietly wrote out her request, her nguage floral but still somehow sincere. Ael kept trying to peer over her shoulder to read but Nereida urged her back with an imperial wave of her hand. She signed it with a great flourish, and pressed a seal into wax at the bottom of the page.

  “I borrowed Basiano’s signet, but it was the same as mine,” Nereida admitted, stowing the overly rge ring back under her dress on a chain.

  “Where’s yours, love?”

  “With luck, still in my jewelry box in my room in the castle.” She let Ael read her letter. It presented their union as a love match, that she had fallen for Ael’s ferocity and loyalty. She admitted to being princess, not merely a countess, and she begged the queen to consider their union as a step in good faith toward a strong bond between their peoples.

  “I hate that you wrote begged,” Ael muttered.

  “But I had to,” Nereida said, looking up at Matthias for support. He was nodding sagely.

  “If she didn’t, Admiral Ael, the Queen may have considered this a threat. She had to give power to the Queen, begging does so.”

  “Thanks, I hate it more now.” The Admiral crossed her arms and flopped gracelessly into the chair. The pudding was still on the desk, all three untouched. “You mentioned the boys too.”

  “I had too. They are, per the ws of my people, counts in their own rights, or will be once they are adults. This…” she sighed, and pced her hand on Ael’s face, tender and loving in her touch. “What we are is going to be political whether we want that or not, unless we find some isnd that’s uncimed and just hide for the rest of our lives. But that might actually kill you,” she added softly. “And so I will dance the bde of politics.” She looked up at Matthias, her expression suddenly sharp. He grimaced.

  “Darling, why do you suddenly look like a feral cat?”

  “In your culture, Matthias, who teaches political maneuvering?” He hesitated a moment, looking cornered and concerned.

  “Your parents,” Ael said ftly. She wasn’t sure why she was saving the idiot from her beloved. Nereida’s sudden anger defted immediately.

  “Well then I suppose I will have to break with tradition and teach you to dance.”

  “The waltz?” Ael asked with false hope. She did not much like that both Ael and Matthias began to snicker in unison. She was deeply regretting that she had agreed to dinner. Ignoring them, she reached for the pudding and began to eat.

  The other two began to eat as well, pyfully bantering back and forth about court dramas as if there had never been any distrust between them. Ael stopped listening while Matthias told of his misadventures with a minor lord and how they had both ended up in a chilly pond, naked, only to be discovered by the Queen’s guards. Nereida seemed to think the whole thing was very funny.

  But Ael was brooding over the letter, which sat nearby. The idea of her beloved begging someone sat poorly with her. The fact that Nereida expined almost everything, but left out that she was adopted, concerned her even more. One only adopted those in your line. It was unheard of, to adopt an unknown. Family and blood were one and the same. At least, that was the line she had always been fed.

  But then again, none of her aunts or uncles ever made sure she could move in political circles. And she was starting to think that maybe they had a reason to make sure she was not good at politics.

  “Nereida love,” she said softly. Both smiling, gossiping nobles turned toward her. Nereida moved closer to Ael as if sensing her mood. “I think there is… there is a piece you are missing and it may require a rewrite.” She bit her lip, looking over at Nereida, meeting her eyes. “But… I can’t say more unless you are willing to trust Matthias with Diodoro’s story.” She hoped she got the name right, that Nereida would understand what it was she was trying to communicate. Nereida shifted into her chair, and a small “oh,” escaped her. Nereida turned toward Matthias, bypassing her earlier remark to return to one of her own.

  “You mentioned before being childless,” she said to him. He nodded. “I assume that’s mostly a choice.” Again he nodded. “But if you wanted children and couldn’t,” she resolutely looked away from Ael, as if to give her space, “couldn’t you adopt?”

  Matthias stared at her as if she were daft. He tried to meet Ael’s eyes but she did not have it in her to rescue him from this. From Nereida’s anger? Certainly. But from her curiosity? No.

  “Typically, those of noble birth only adopt from within the family line; an uncle may adopt his sister’s children if she passed and the father was dead as well. We adopt down the maternal line if possible. Less fortunate children might be taken in by non retives but it seems unlikely. Blood and family are the same.” He looked a little awkward, as if sensing things were off but not knowing how. “If you were to marry Ael, she could, in theory, adopt your children but it would be… frowned on, unless she had children for you to adopt, thus evening out the bloodlines.”

  “Ah.” Nereida’s tone was clipped and severe. Ael felt a shiver run down her spine. “In my country, once you are adopted, that becomes your family. My third brother has three little girls and a boy, all adopted. They will be counts and countesses once they are considered adults.”

  “But what of the noble bloodline?” Matthias asked stupidly. Ael was at least a little pleased to know that he was still stupid, even if he was surprisingly resourceful and maniputive.

  “Blood doesn’t matter; power matters, reputation matters. All adopted children are equal to the born children. However, if a child reaches maturity with no sign of magic, they are removed from the succession line.” She spread her fingers wide as if she were about to call her magic, but Ael didn’t feel the power stirring, so she knew it was just for show. Matthias still jumped back. “They are still family, but they lose their status.”

  “Why… are you telling me this?” Matthias sounded strangled, as if he had already come to the conclusion but very much needed to hear it anyway.

  “Because I am adopted. I was found on a beach. I do not know who birthed me. And it is public record among my people. I have magic, and thus I remain noble.”

  Matthias stared at Nereida a very long moment before he poured wine into his goblet. He said nothing, just took a long, slow drink as if to purge the moment from his mind. He savoured the wine with his eyes closed for a long moment, before he cracked open one eye, looking square at Ael.

  “You must hate me. Otherwise you wouldn’t put me in such impossible positions!” Ael tried not to ugh at him. She’d had days to get over this, and truthfully it seemed a better system. He put his head down on the table and closed his eyes. “Please, please tell me it is a dramatic story. Perhaps if we include, instead of your maternal line, a fascinating true tale, she will have pity.”

  “I am not a pity case!” Nereida snapped, her stormy eyes somehow shifting to her frustration. Ael wanted very much to have those stormy eyes pointed at her.

  “I know, darling, I know.” He was rubbing his temples, as if to ward off a headache. “Tell me the tale.”

  So Nereida did, expining how her mother had borne a sleeping daughter, how she had gone to the beach to end not only her life but her very soul, as they believed that Fireborn who died in water would never be able to reincarnate. How she found a baby in a basket floating in the waves. It was a tragic tale with a happy ending. Nereida spared no detail, and made her mother’s feelings come to life enough that Ael nearly let a tear out. Matthias was sobbing at the end, though Ael suspected that was a matter of too much wine as much as too much sorrow.

  “If you write it half as beautifully as you tell it, Nereida, I believe she will overlook your status as an adopted child.” Matthias sounded sincere, almost choked by tears. Ael hated it; she wanted the overconfident, charming idiot back. Knowing Matthias had pyed her irked her to her toes. He wiped his eyes and drank more wine. “I’ve been a poor host, crying all over the pce!” He smiled. It was slightly wobbly, but much closer to his usual arrogant self. “We shall have to do this again soon. Perhaps Basiano will consent to join; the man is very good at cards and we are due for a rematch!”

  They said their goodbyes, Matthias’s were overdrawn and almost ridiculous. Before too terribly long, they were out beneath the moonlight, headed down the gangpnk toward the Dragon’s Tooth. Nereida kissed her cheek softly.

  “I had a lovely time,” she said softly.

  “Oh yea, very lovely; you had to beg in writing for my hand, reveal family secrets and fear that he had even more secrets on you. Lovely. That is the precise word for all of that.”

  “But I got to do it all with you,” she replied softly, gently poking Ael in the ribs. “All the night was missing is dancing.”

  “Perhaps I’ll request he py a waltz.” She kept her face deadpan, but that did not stop Nereida from ughing.