No lie, he said. But twelve is too young. Eighteen is a good age for marriage, Jorg. Youve waited long enough.
What happened to your wife?
Died. There was a child too. He pressed his lips together.
Its good to know that you dont know everything about a man. Good that there might always be more to come.
So, my queen-to-be is nearly ready, I said. Shall I go to the altar in this rag? I tugged at the heavy samite collar, all scratchy at my neck. I didnt care of course but a marriage is a show, for high- and low-born alike, a kind of spell, and it pays to do it right.
Highness, Coddin said, pacing his irritation out before the dais. Thisdistractionis ill-timed. We have an army at our gates.
And to be fair, Jorg, nobody knew she was coming until that rider pulled in, Makin said.
I spread my hands. I didnt know she would arrive last night. Im not magic you know. I glimpsed the dead child slumped in a distant corner. I had hoped she would arrive before the summer ended. In any case, that army has a good three miles to march if it wants to be at my gates.
Perhaps a delay is in order? Coddin hated being chamberlain with every fibre of his being. Probably that was why he was the only one Id trust to do it. Until the conditions are lessinclement.
Twenty thousand at our door, Coddin. And a thousand inside our walls. Well, most of them outside because my castle is too damn small to fit them in. I found myself smiling. I dont think conditions are going to improve. So we might as well give the army a queen as well as a king to die for, neh?
And concerning the Prince of Arrows army? Coddin asked.
Is this going to be one of those times when you pretend not to have a plan until the last moment? Makin asked. And then turn out to really not have one?
He looked grim despite his words. I thought perhaps he could still see his own dead child. He had faced death with me before and done it with a smile.
You, girl! I shouted to one of the serving girls lurking at the far end of the hall. Go tell that woman to bring me a robe fit to get married in. Nothing with lace, mind. I stood and set a hand to the pommel of my sword. The night patrols should be back about now. Well go down to the east yard and see what they have to say for themselves. I sent Red Kent and Little Rikey along with one of the Watch patrols. Lets hear what they think about these men of Arrow.
Makin led the way. Coddin had grown twitchy about assassins. I knew what lurked in the shadows of my castle and it wasnt assassins that I worried about. Makin turned the corner and Coddin held my shoulder to keep me back.
The Prince of Arrow doesnt want me knifed by some black-cloak, Coddin. He doesnt want drop-leaf mixed into my morning bread. He wants to roll over us with twenty thousand men and grind us into the dirt. Hes already thinking of the empire throne. Thinks he has a toe past the Gilden Gate. Hes building his legend now and its not going to be one of knives in the dark.
Of course, if you had more soldiers you might be worth stabbing. Makin turned his head and grinned.
We found the patrol waiting, stamping in the cold. A few castle women fussed around the wounded, planting a stitch or two. I let the commander tell his tale to Coddin while I called Red Kent to my side. Rike loomed behind him uninvited. Four castle years had softened none of Rikes edges, still close on seven foot of ugly temper with a face to match the blunt, mean, and brutal soul that looked out from it.
Little Rikey, I said. It had been a while since Id spoken to the man. Years. And hows that lovely wife of yours? In truth Id never seen her but she must have been a formidable woman.
She broke. He shrugged.
I turned away without comment. Theres something about Rike makes me want to go on the attack. Something elemental, red in tooth and claw. Or perhaps its just because hes so damn big. So, Kent, I said. Tell me the good news.
Theres too many of them. He spat into the mud. Im leaving.
Well now. I threw an arm around him. Kent dont look much but hes solid, all muscle and bone, quick as you like too. What makes him though, what sets him apart, is a killers mind. Chaos, threat, bloody murder, none of that fazes him. Every moment of a crisis hell be considering the angles, tracking weapons, looking for the opening, taking it.
Well now. I pulled him close, hand clapped to the back of his neck. He flinched, but to his credit he didnt reach for a blade. Thats all well and good. I steered him away from the patrol. But suppose that wasnt going to happen. Just for the sake of argument. Suppose it was only you here and twenty of them out there. Thats not so far from the odds youd beaten when we found you on that lakeside down in Rutton, neh? For a moment he smiled at that. How would you win then, Red Kent? I called him Red to remind him of that day when he stood all atremble with his wolfs grin white in the scarlet of other mens blood.
He bit his lip, staring past me into some other place. Theyre crowded in, Jorg. In those valleys. Crowded. One man against many, hes got to be fast, attacking, moving. Each man is your shield from the next. He shook his head, seeing me again. But you cant use an army like one man.
Red Kent had a point. Coddin had trained the army well, the units of Fathers Forest Watch especially so, but in battle cohesion always slips away. Orders are lost, missed, go unheard or ignored, and sooner or later its a bloody maul, each man for himself, and the numbers start to tell.
Highness? It was the woman from the royal wardrobe, some kind of robe in her hands.
Mabel! I threw my arms wide and gave her my dangerous smile.
Maud, sire.
I had to admit the old biddy had some stones. Maud it is, I said. And Im to be wed in this, am I?
If it pleases you, sire. She even curtseyed a bit.
I took it from her. Heavy. Cats? I asked. Looks like it took a lot of them.
Sable. She pursed her lips. Sable and gold thread. Count- She bit the words off.
Count Renar married in it, did he? I asked. Well, if it was good enough for that bastard itll do for me. At least it looks warm. My uncle Renar owed me for the thorns, for a lost mother, a lost brother. Id taken his life, his castle, and his crown, and still he owed me. A fur robe would not close our account.
Best be quick about it, Highness, Coddin said, eyes still roaming for assassins. Weve got to double-check the defences. Plan out supply for the Kennish archers, and also consider terms. To his credit he looked straight at me for that last bit.
I gave Maud back the robe and let her dress me with the patrol watching on. I made no reply to Coddin. He looked pale. I had always liked him, from the moment he tried to arrest me, even past the moment he dared to mention surrender. Brave, sensible, capable, honest. The better man. Lets get this done, I said and started toward the chapel.
Is it needed, this marriage? Coddin again, doggedly playing the role I set him. Speak to me, I had said. Never think I cannot be wrong. As your wife, things may go hard for her. Rike sniggered at that. As a guest she would be ransomed back to the Horse Coast.
Sensible, honest. I dont even know how to pretend those things. It is needed.
We came to the chapel by a winding stair, past table-knights in plate armour, Count Renars marks still visible beneath mine on the breastplates as if Id ruled here four months rather than four years. The noble-born too poor or stupid or loyal to have run yet would be lined up within. In the courtyard outside the peasantry waited. I could smell them.
I paused before the doors, lifting a finger to stop the knight with his hands upon the bar. Terms?
I saw the child again, beneath crossed standards hanging on the wall. Hed grown with me. Years back he had been a baby, watching me with dead eyes. He looked about four now. I tapped my fingers against my forehead in a rapid tempo.
Terms? I said it again. Id only said it twice but already the word sounded strange, losing meaning as they do when repeated over and again. I thought of the copper box in my room. It made me sweat. There will be no terms.
Best have Father Gomst say his words swiftly then, Coddin said. And look to our defences.
No, I said. There will be no defence. Were going to attack.
I pushed the knight aside and threw the doors wide. Bodies crowded the chapel hall from one side to the other. It seemed my nobles were poorer than Id thought. And to the left, a splash of blues and violet, ladies-in-waiting and knights in armour, decked in the colours of the House Morrow, the colours of the Horse Coast.
And there at the altar, head bowed beneath a garland of lilies, my bride.
Oh hell, I said.
Small was right. She looked about twelve.
In peace Brother Kent reverts to type, a peasant plagued by kindness, seeking God in the stone houses where the pious lament. Battle strikes loose such chains. In war Red Kent approaches the divine.
3
Wedding day
Marriage was ever the glue that held the Hundred in some semblance of unity, the balm to induce scattered moments of peace, pauses in the crimson progress of the Hundred War. And this one had been hanging over me for close on four years.
I walked along the chapel aisle between the high and mighty of Renar, none of them so high or so mighty, truth be told. Ive checked the records and half of them have goat-herders for grandparents. It surprised me that they had stayed. If I were them I would have acted on Red Kents sentiment and been off across the Matteracks with whatever I could carry on my back.
Miana watched me, as fresh and perky as the lilies on her head. If the ruined left side of my face scared her she didnt show it. The need to trace the scarred ridges on my cheek itched in my fingertips. For an instant the heat of that fire ran in me, and the memory of pain tightened my jaw.
I joined my bride-to-be at the altar and looked back. And in a moment of clarity I understood. These people expected me to save them. They still thought that with my handful of soldiers I could hold this castle and win the day. I had half a mind to tell them, to just say what any who knew me knew. There is something brittle in me that will break before it bends. Perhaps if the Prince of Arrow had brought a smaller army I might have had the sense to run. But he overdid it.