Dividing Eden (Dividing Eden #1)(19)
The midwife disappeared from the castle one evening two days after their birth. She was found dead, thrown from her horse while riding away from Garden City. Mother said it was the Gods’ way of helping to keep Andreus safe. But the way Mother looked at Oben when she said it told Carys that the Gods had little to do with the accident. Their mother was determined to do whatever was necessary to see Andreus safe from the harm the Council and others might do to him.
How anyone could believe Andreus’s condition could cause the kingdom to fall into darkness was beyond Carys. But people had faith in the power of the seers.
For hundreds of years the people of Eden had been encouraged to believe in the seers’ visions and predictions that promised to keep the kingdom from harm. The stories all said it was a seer who foretold that the castle and the kingdom would fall three hundred years ago. And a seer also saw the rebuilding of the kingdom, a monarch who held fast to the seven virtues, the orb that would someday shine above the castle, and the bloody battle that brought Carys’s grandfather to the throne. Belief in the seers’ magical powers and the forces beyond ordinary knowledge were sacred here. As sacred as the honoring of the winds.
Kings had always had a seer to advise them because the people trusted the visions that came from the Gods. They believed in them with a devotion that scared Carys. Because she knew one day that firm faith in the seers could turn against her brother and end in his death.
But not today. From the way everyone stared, she knew that all of the castle and Garden City tomorrow would be talking about her and the sword she now wielded.
She shifted the heavy blade in her hands. Her arms were growing weary. The fear that had propelled her to act was quickly being replaced by the sorrow and shock she’d pushed to the side. Still, she continued holding the sword and stared down the Council, giving a few last seconds to her brother. Then, looking down at her father and brother’s bodies, Carys let the sword drop from her hands.
Metal clattered on the white stones. The large guardsman who gave up his sword snatched it from the ground with only one hand. And the Council, led by Chief Elder Cestrum, moved toward her.
“I apologize for my outburst, my lords,” she said, lifting her chin the way her mother always did. “But I am glad you agree that these remaining members of the King’s Guard should be questioned. I want whoever was behind this slaughter of my family brought to justice.”
It was the truth. Not the entire truth, but enough that she could say it with absolute conviction. Her father was dead. Her oldest brother cut down. She wanted vengeance against those who took their lives. Killing those who tried to defend them made little sense to her. Oath or no oath.
“My mother is out of her mind with grief,” she continued. “We must not act in haste or out of anger.”
Elder Cestrum pursed his thin lips together as he smoothed the white hair on his chin. “Captain Monteros,” he called.
The longtime captain of the castle’s guardsmen stepped forward.
“Seize these members of the King’s Guard and have them taken to the North Tower. And have your men place King Ulron and Prince Micah’s bodies in the chapel. Women will be sent to prepare them for the funeral.”
Captain Monteros bowed slightly and said, “Yes, my lord.” He glanced at several of his men, who immediately took the surviving members of the King’s Guard into custody. The King’s Guardsman who spoke of why they still lived looked at her, then at Elder Ulrich, then back at her and held her gaze with a fierce intensity as he passed. As if he were trying to tell her something.
“Princess Carys.” Chief Elder Cestrum turned to her, and she knew before he said the words what was coming. She’d known what would happen when she’d grabbed the sword. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t been down this road before. Although it had been years since the last time.
With a bow Elder Cestrum explained, “You are to be reprimanded for threatening your mother’s life and defying the will of the Queen. However, the Council has decided that in deference to your sorrow, you are to be given the option of submitting to your punishment now or waiting until tomorrow when you have had a chance to come to terms with your loss.”
“I shall go now,” she said. As much as she wanted to check on her brother, there was little she could do for him. Her punishment tonight would keep the focus on her instead of allowing people to speculate on the absence of Andreus.
“Are you sure, Your Highness?” Elder Ulrich asked as several guardsmen lifted her father and brother’s bodies off the ground and began to carry them inside the castle.
Everything inside her stopped for a second. Tears began to build as the tangible reminder of her loss cut a fresh wound in her heart.
When the bodies disappeared inside the gate, she turned back to Elder Ulrich.
“I’m already in pain, my lord.” She focused on the one blue eye that stared at her with great concern and the mangled, white-scarred slit of the other that could never close and yet would never again see. “Nothing more terrible can happen to me today.”
Elder Ulrich sighed. “As you wish, Princess.”
“Guards!” Chief Elder Cestrum clapped his hands. Two members of the guard appeared next to him. “Please escort Princess Carys to the North Tower. Captain Monteros will meet you there as soon as he can so we can all put this part of the night behind us.”