The Warden

Chapter 42

Velvet seats, well-cushioned and fixed to the floor, provided Masis, across from King Othrad, an easy recline while the rail-ship, the largest he had ever seen, with more than a dozen vessels linked together, rushed along, the constant hiss of air issuing from the wind-stones outside. The whole arrangement creaked and groaned as bumps shifted the vessel about. He had always wondered how wind could possibly move so much weight. Now that the linked wooden caravan creaked and swayed along the windtrack, moving at terrific speeds, he marveled that they would be able to get it all to stop.

Two days after this whole venture had been proposed he, Lady Kyla, King Othrad, Master Elwith and all the rest had boarded the rail-ship, heading for Monvé, another of the four forest duchies. The nightlings had said they would travel as quickly as they could at night to arrive when the others did. Masis could still detect remnants of their bitter, corroding aroma. Their hollow, gaping presence, in his mindeye impenetrable, disturbingly so, still at the forefront of his mind, that blackness into which he now knew his family's lifelight had disappeared. His jaw clenched at the thought, hands balling in his lap. His eyes, unfocused, stared down toward the floor, blurry lines and smudged colors dominating his vision.

"You know in these last few days," said King Othrad, forcing Masis from his thoughts, "I've never expressed my sympathy for your loss. We, the queen and I, were devastated when we heard the news. I had a great respect for both of your parents. They were two of the best people I'd ever known, and that's not some meaningless platitude. Your father lived to help those below him, and your mother, well, let's just say I can't think of a single person that wasn't in love with her."

Masis eyes, once filled with the brown blur of King Othrad's boots, had traveled to his face, watching the words as they left the monarch's mouth. Gentle. Reverent even. Somber blue streaks melted out from the core of his lifelight, sympathetically and sincerely bitter. Masis swallowed the tension that had built in his throat.

"Thank you," he said, managing to work the words out.

King Othrad nodded, lowering his gaze while rubbing his stubbled chin. "I... I know the pain you have been enduring over these past weeks and months. I've lost family as well. When I was your age, I lost my older brother in a hunting accident." He smiled with bittersweet nostalgia. "He would have been a good king... a better king."

Masis sat motionless, his mind finding no appropriate words to respond with.

King Othrad's eyes returned to Masis' face, slack with discomfort. "But you're probably thinking to yourself, 'this old fool doesn't know what he's talking about. I lost my entire family.'" Sighing, the king's shoulders sank. "And you're probably right. But unlike you, I never expected to inherit the throne or to marry my brothers betrothed," tearing up and his voice breaking, "or lose a child."

Eyes threatening to over spill their bounds, King Othrad squared his shoulders with a raspy, sniffling breath.

Masis sat stock still. The weighty impulse to extend a hand to his sovereign resided in his arm, just not the will. It remained where it sat on his leg. His eyes ricocheted about the compartment, always rebounding off the various objects then back to the king every other heartbeat.

Masis' muscles tensed with uncertainty. What in Manu's name am I supposed to do!

"Forgive me." The king harrumphed. "Forgive me. I've made you uncomfortable. It's a story most do not know. Some have wondered why my wife and I have gone so long without producing an heir. I'm sure even your parents must have talked about it on occasion."

Masis' mouth opened to speak but no words came.

"You don't need to make excuses," said King Othrad with a raised hand. "I'm sure there has been speculation on the matter from every quarter. You needn't try to deny it. The truth, that only few are privy to, is my wife was pregnant some years ago. But," lowering his voice, "it was not to be. The baby was lost and my wife nearly lost along with... her."