A Crown Disowned Read online

  "Where is Weyse?" she asked Zazar. "And where have all the war-kats gone? Surely they were not hurt or destroyed—"

  "No, my Ashen," Gaurin told her.

  "They've all gone back where they belong," Zazar said brusquely. "After all, the need has passed." She turned to Ysa. "Daresay your little flyer has disappeared, too."

  "Oh—" Ysa said. "Yes. Daresay." She seemed downcast at the idea, but did not dispute it.

  Ashen digested this in silence. At a crossing in the road, they encountered someone who looked familiar and different at the same time. Ashen stared at him, trying to remember where she had seen him. He wore a breastplate made of shell and carried a spear. Then, abruptly, it came to her. "Tusserl" she cried.

  Indeed, it was the Bog General, but so changed that he was all but unrecognizable. In contrast to his former stooped posture, now he stood straight and as tall as his low stature would allow. Even his features seemed to have changed, becoming regular and almost attractive.

  "Lady Ashen," he said. He bowed, and then, as Ysa had done, went down to his knees.

  She tried to stop him, but he shook off her restraining hand.

  "You do—have done great works today. Great work." His words came haltingly, as he searched for the correct manner of speaking. "Bog-people now—we are now out from under long shadow that has been plague to us many years. No more

  Outlanders. All one. I come now tell you—to tell you all Bog-people swear allegiance to Rendel. And to you." He arose again, grinned, and ducked his head.

  "Tusser now your man forever. Anything you need, you call upon Tusser and he will do."

  He bowed once more and disappeared back down the snowy street, toward the area where the Bog-men had been encamped.

  Ashen was so astonished she almost lost the power of speech. "I—I never thought such a thing would ever happen. The swearing of allegiance, I mean. His appearance is another matter."

  "Both the Bog-men and the Frydians were transformed with the, the—"

  "The Changing," Zazar supplied. "That's what happened. All Changed, as was foretold."

  "So many changes that I cannot encompass them all," Ashen murmured faintly.

  "Oh, you'll get used to it," Zazar said with an airy wave of her hand. "We're here."

  Royance was standing outside the entrance to the tent. He, too, bowed to Ashen.

  "Come inside, my dear. There is much you can tell us, and much that you do not yet know."

  "One thing I do not know is why everyone is treating me like some kind of royalty!" Ashen exclaimed.

  "Ah, but you are that, and more," Royance said genially. "All of you. Please come inside."

  "Don't spoil her," Zazar muttered, as if to herself.

  Royance took Ashen's hand and tucked it into the bend of his elbow as he showed her to the counsel table where she had so often sat before, only much, much farther down. "Here are even more to greet you as the heroine you have become."

  Looking around, she saw all her friends and acquaintances as they arose and, as had Lord Royance, bowed. Rohan, Lath-rom, Cebastian, Steuart, Jabez, Reges—all the splendid young knights were there, along with someone who had not been present in the Snow Fortress before, though his keep stood hard by. Gattor of

  Bilth bowed like the rest, his plump, sleepy face devoid of expression.

  "Greetings, Lady Ashen of Ash," he said. "I am in your debt, as are all of us here. You saved my lands from the Great Foulness."

  "You saved the entire country!" Steuart exclaimed, and the other young knights nodded vigorous agreement. "There is no honor too great for you."

  "Gentlemen, please," she protested. "It is too much. I am like to perish with embarrassment!"

  "Then sit you down and listen to the great things you have accomplished,"

  Royance said.

  With the Great Foulness and his lieutenant occupied, facing three women who, inexplicably, seemed to pose a greater threat than did the armed men opposing their forces, the two armies met in a battle for which there could be only one conclusion.

  Whereas Gaurin, when he left the field, had turned over command to Lathrom who was not only able, but also prepared to delegate in turn, only a weak chain of command existed among the enemy once both Farod and the Great Foulness were otherwise engaged. In the chaos that followed these two leaders disregarding the battle, Baron Damacro, leader of the human army, had fallen, and with him had gone all pretense to order and discipline. Likewise, when Chaggi, leader of the

  Frydians, surrendered, that fight ended.

  Among the dead were discovered the bodies of Piaul and his traitorous followers.

  They had been stationed, perhaps deliberately, where the brunt of the assault would fall on them. It was thought that Gaurin had killed Piaul, not recognizing him in the press of battle. Duig also perished in that skirmish though who had killed him no one knew or ever would.

  Not all the news was good. Admiral-General Snolli was no more. The wounded Ice

  Dragon had attacked the Sea-Rovers' ships, and Snolli bravely finished off the hideous beast single-handedly, only to be carried down to the ocean floor with its body.

  Though the day belonged to the Rendelians as far as the actual battle went, victory could not be declared as long as the instigator of all this evil survived. And then the unhopedfor occurred. The Great Foulness himself, inexplicably, vanished in a cataclysm that literally changed the face of all the land.

  Gaurin had found Ashen lying crumpled atop the rocky pinnacle where three women had stood, facing the unimaginable without flinching. She was so white and still he had thought she had perished, but Zazar told him she yet lived.

  And so he had brought her back to the Snow Fortress, carrying her in his arms as one would the honored dead for he thought, despite Zazar's assurances, that she surely would never awaken.

  With the rounding up of stragglers and taking them prisoner being accomplished, the Rendelian army returned as well, many of them casting sideways glances at the Bog-men and at the Frydians, wondering at the changes that had been wrought.

  "It is a remarkable tale," Ashen said. "I mourn for Snolli, though he and I were at odds most of the time. He never forgave me for Obern's death. Rohan." She held her hand out to her foster son.

  "He died a proper Sea-Rover death," Rohan said. "There is nothing to be sorry for."

  "And now in the midst of the wreckage of war we find that you are well, Lady

  Ashen, and unharmed by this most extraordinary event," Royance said, his eyes twinkling warmly. "I do not know how, but we rejoice nonetheless." He lifted her hand and kissed it.

  "She is a repository of Power," Ysa said, and all eyes turned toward her. She arose from her chair. "Lady Ashen— Princess. Your strength and the Power you wield cannot be gainsaid. I see now that I made a mistake, those years past.

  Here before this company I declare it. I see that Rendel needs you and not my grandson to be its ruler, its sovereign Queen."

  "No—" Ashen said, but Ysa continued as if she had not spoken.

  "Yes, I once declared that you could not succeed, any more than could the King's mother, Rannore. But that is only a custom and custom bows to princes. Peres is a nice enough boy, but we can likely find a cloud on his legitimacy—"

  "No!" Ashen repeated, this time so firmly that even Ysa took heed. "Do not say it. I do not want the crown under any circumstances, and certainly not what you are proposing. I never wanted it."

  Ysa just stared at her, as if thunderstruck that anyone could deny the gift she was offering. Lathrom, who had been scowling at Ysa, slowly relaxed and took his hand from the hilt of his sword. Gattor of Bilth gazed sleepily at the Dowager, and lifted his eyebrows.

  "Believe me, Madame," Ashen said more gently. "Your grandson's legacy is safe from me. All I want now is to go home, and there live out my days with Gaurin, and my daughter."

  "Well," Ysa commented, determined to have the last word, "that will be as it may."

  In a remar
kably short time, the Snow Fortress had been dismantled and the prisoners set to the task of conveying the wounded on both sides to Rendelsham, where the physicians could begin their work of repairing the ravages of war.

  Ren-delian soldiers, however, saw to the transport of Hynnel, Norras, and the four others still suffering the effects of Dragon's Breath, not trusting this precious cargo to their recent enemies.

  Surprisingly, Zazar accompanied Ashen and Gaurin to Rendelsham. "I'll be only a few days here," she said. "Then I'll be returning to the Bog—or rather, what's left of it—to start preparing for a new Wysen-wyf."

  Both Ashen and Gaurin stared at her, as if thunderstruck.

  "Oh, don't gape at me like idiots. Nothing lasts forever, not even me. I am feeling the weight of my years, particularly after all the business with the pillar of fire." Unexpectedly, Zazar grinned.

  "Y-you are welcome to come and stay with us after you have made your, your preparations," Ashen managed to say.

  "Oh, I know that. And I might just accept your offer." Zazar peered at Ashen keenly. "If only to get the new one a good start."

  "What new one?"

  Zazar just laughed. "You'll find out."

  Abruptly, she returned to her original subject. "Good thing I had experimented with that fire pillar so long ago, eh? It worked much better this time, I must say. I didn't have to be hauled out bodily."

  With the cessation of war and the return of the fighting men to Rendelsham, Lord

  Royance resigned his position as Lord High Marshal of Rendel in favor of Gaurin, a move that met with great approval and was ratified at once by the Council.

  With this change in his status, the apartment in Rendelsham Castle was now deemed too insignificant for a man of Gaurin's high birth and lofty position.

  "That means, I suppose, that we must remove ourselves to Cragdengard," Gaurin told Ashen. "It is the home of whoever is the Lord High Marshal, after all.

  Artisans are already at work on my banner, with my snowcat badge as a crest atop the arms of Rendel."

  He was not prepared for her vehement reaction, almost as strong as when she had refused and disowned Ysa's offer of the crown of Rendel.

  "Never," she said, her voice low and her face very pale. "I would have you give up the title first!"

  "That I cannot do, my Ashen," he replied. "Duty binds me. And I suppose that our using Harous's old town house is out of the question as well."

  "Yes," she snapped. "It is."

  Gaurin sighed. "Very well. I will give Cragden to Lath-rom. It is my right to do so. And I will begin construction on a fine new house here in Rendelsham for us to live in. But if I have to build a new keep close by Rendelsham's walls, it will be very awkward. I must maintain the custom. The Marshal guards the city and the country as well."

  With that, Ashen had to be content, though she longed for the day when she could return to the Oakenkeep. Her solace lay in the golden presence of her daughter,

  Hegrin, who had moved out of the rooms occupied by Rannore and Anamara. She now had her own room in their apartment, to Ayfare's delight and that of Beatha,

  Hegrin's nurse who had been brought to the city. Now that Beatha was established again as part of the household, she was elevated in stature and given charge of the girl in the manner of all highborn young ladies who were not yet betrothed.

  Rohan and Anamara came to pay a call on Ashen before they left for New Void, where Rohan would take up his new duties as hereditary leader of the Sea-Rovers.

  Ashen noticed that he was once more wearing the Rinbell sword.

  "I already have an idea about how I will approach what might be a problem," he said. He flexed his arm, newly released from the splint. "You see, I am, in a way, half Ren-delian and half Sea-Rover. This is the direction the rest of the

  Sea-Rovers will have to go as well, if we are to be a part of this country they have chosen. I think it will work out."

  "My good wishes go with you," Ashen said. She looked at Anamara with a critical eye. Her condition was beginning to make itself obvious. "Be sure that Rohan takes good care of you and doesn't let you fall into the hands of the Sea-Rover women. They have no sympathy with anyone who is not one of their own, and you would suffer at their hands when your time comes. You are taking your maid

  Nacynth when you go, aren't you?"

  "Of course," Anamara replied. "She assures me that she has some training as a midwife. Between her and Madame Zazar, I can do naught but prosper."

  "Good journey, then, and send word back to me frequently of how both of you fare."

  They promised to do so, and so departed.

  Lathrom and Rannore had scarcely settled into Cragdengard when she was delivered of a beautiful little girl. As soon as she was able, the parents brought the

  King's new sibling to the city to be named, and also so that all could admire her and shower presents upon her.

  "It is a good day when babies are born," Gaurin said, "and especially after the miseries we have had to endure of late. Have you noticed that the dank chill that enveloped the land for so long has begun to lift?"

  "Yes," Ashen said. "My garden back home must be blooming."

  "Our lives have changed," he told her, "and so you must likewise change."

  "Perhaps," Ashen said. "But does it all have to happen so suddenly?"

  Gaurin laughed. "You are in danger of becoming a provincial, my Ashen!" he exclaimed. "Surely you deserve what- ever you desire, after the great work you and Madame Zazar—aye, and even Her

  Highness—did in vanquishing a mortal foe who would have defeated even me, but you must also be aware that your desire might run squarely athwart what is required of you now. You are, after all, a national heroine."

  "I don't feel like a heroine," Ashen muttered.

  "Come with me. We are bid to attend a gathering in the Great Hall, to honor

  Lathrom and Rannore's child, and the King will be there."

  And so Ashen dressed in her best, with Ayfare's help, surprised that her dress fit so snugly. She was, it would seem, too used to the many layers of thin tunics that had been required at the Snow Fortress. Nevertheless, she and Ayfare persevered until she was turned out to both their satisfactions. At the appointed time, she, Gaurin, and Hegrin, also sumptuously clad as befitted their stations, entered the Hall where a large number of people had already gathered.

  Zazar stayed behind in the room that had been given to her in the physicians' quarters, claiming to have no interest at all in whatever was going to take place in the Hall. It was as if she knew all beforehand. And anyway, she told them, she was much too busy for such frivolities.

  Twenty-three emGreetings, good people," Peres said.

  Ashen couldn't help noticing that he looked much more mature than the last time she had seen him, before she had departed so precipitously in a dog-sled driven by Lord Royance to the camp of the Rendelian warriors. Tunics had shortened again, and where once the King's hose had sported wrinkled, baggy knees, now he displayed a well-turned, if slender, leg.

  "We are gathered to honor the brave man who is second in command to our Lord

  High Marshal, Gaurin." Peres inclined his head in Gaurin's direction, and he returned the gesture, bowing low from the waist. He beckoned toward his mother and her husband. "Come forward, please."

  The Lady Rannore, carrying her new infant, and Sir Lath-rom approached the dais, as bidden. Peres smiled on all three. Also on the dais, but standing well back, was Ysa. She smiled as well, though to Ashen it appeared that her pleasant expression had been achieved only with an effort.

  "There is much to share with you, my good friends," Peres continued. "First, there is the naming of my new sister. My mother has informed me that she wishes to honor her late sister, who would have been my aunt. So, give greetings to the new Lady Laherne!"

  A buzz of laughter and murmurs of approval swept through the people gathered.

  Someone began clapping his hands, and immediately everyone join
ed in. Only a few in the room cast longing eyes at the feast that stood waiting on nearby tables.

  Peres held up his hands for silence. "Today is truly a day of beginnings," he said. "I have yet another announcement."

  He held out his hand to Hegrin where she stood with her parents, and, her face glowing, she nodded.

  "What does this mean?" Ashen demanded.

  "You'll see," Hegrin answered, the mischievous dimple showing at the corner of her mouth.

  Ashen would have hindered her, but Gaurin laid a hand on her arm. She could only watch as Hegrin made her way through the crowd and up onto the dais beside the