Give Me (Wyrd and Fae #1)(32)

“What are you suggesting, Lourdes?” Elyse entered the parlor. “That I took the ring? That I killed Mother?”

“I don’t like to suggest it, Elyse. But what do we really know about you? What blood runs through your veins? We don’t know who your father was. He didn’t have the decency to stick around and marry Mother.”

Elyse said, “That was harsh.”

“Believe me,” Lourdes said. “It pains me to have to say it. But surely you agree, Elyse, the king’s oracle should not be a bastard.”

“Enough.” King Jowan rose to his feet, obviously irritated by the turn in the conversation. “Lourdes’s arguments are sound, but I’m loath to deny the oracle’s last wish.” He turned to Lourdes. “Elyse wears the ring. That is fact.”

“But sire—”

“I won’t be bothered about it now. A decision can wait until after the wedding.”

Deliberate or inadvertent, it was the cleverest move Jowan could have made, and Lourdes went pale. Elyse too understood the full meaning of a delay: Lourdes could maneuver her way to becoming the oracle or plot her way to having Galen, but not both. To become the oracle, she must behave until Galen and Diantha were married and the king was ready to decide between her and Elyse.

Elyse watched the emotions play over Lourdes’s face. What was truly her heart’s desire? Would she let Galen go?

“Of course, sire.” Lourdes gave the king her sweetest smile. Elyse remembered how much she admired her sister. Lourdes was so very beautiful!

“And until I decide,” King Jowan said, “Lourdes will take up the Friday pleas.”

The pleas had been a drain on Frona’s health, and both Elyse and Lourdes had begged her to stop them. She would visit the castle every Friday and grant wyrds for two hours. She insisted on the continuing the practice because King Jowan considered the Friday pleas an expression of his kingship, coming as they did from his oracle.

“I’ll be there this week,” Lourdes said.

“No need for that,” the king said. “You can take them here at Glimmer Cottage until your mourning ends.”

“Yes, sire.”

“I’ll be glad of that, I don’t mind telling you. Frona did praise your skills, Lourdes. The witch at the keep has done her best, and that’s the best I can say for her.”

The use of the word witch grated, but the king meant no disrespect by it.

“How fare the happy couple?” Lourdes said. “My sister and I hear the prince and princess are deeply in love.”

“Yes, well,” King Jowan said. He shifted his weight from foot to foot, clearly ready to leave. Either Elyse’s wyrd had worked or Lourdes’s had worn off.

Elyse said, “It was Mother’s fond wish that Galen and Diantha would be happy together.”

Lourdes’s eyes flashed with anger, but she quickly controlled herself. “Let me and my sister be first to offer the bride and groom a gift.” She turned to Elyse, glowing as if she’d had the loveliest thought ever. “Don’t you think Mother’s pipa would be just the thing?”

Elyse’s heart contracted. It felt like losing Mother a second time, and she was equally helpless to do anything about it.





11

A Leap of Faith



Tintagos Castle was ablaze with light. Every torch in the keep was lit, every stick of tallow but for the candle-clocks. Laughter spilled out of the great hall along with the song of a tenor. Accompanying the singer, one of Galen’s men played the pipa. Over the last few weeks Elyse had taught the retainer to play, and he had done quite well. She wouldn’t say the music made her cheerful, but it was soothing.

On the landing below, Galen waited for her and Lourdes to accompany Diantha down to him. They would all join the kings and Queen Elfryth in the antechamber and enter the great hall together. Galen was silly with love. His eyes didn’t leave the princess.

The tapestry commemorating the Great Wyrding hung on the wall above Galen. Elyse’s heart caught in her throat on seeing Mother in the picture, and she squeezed Lourdes’s hand.

“Oh!” Diantha tripped in front of them and fell.

Elyse started forward but Lourdes, fixed on the tapestry, held fast to her hand. “Oh, Elyse. I miss her so much.”

“Have a care.” Galen caught Diantha before she hit the landing and held her close to him like a treasure. He tweaked her chin. “You might break your lovely neck!”

“Never mind.” Lourdes smiled through her tears. She nodded toward the kissing couple. “At least that has worked out for the best. And we’ve set things right between us too.”

It was true. Lourdes had decided what she wanted—to be the king’s oracle—and she’d put her heart into making it so. She’d been more than sweet to everyone. She’d been cheerful, even kind. Mother must have made a mistake, Elyse told herself. It was better this way. Lourdes should be the oracle. Elyse certainly didn’t want it, and Lourdes did. Things had turned out for the best.

A page pulled aside a curtain to the antechamber where the two kings and Queen Elfryth had already gathered. Diantha went to her father, King Edgar, who kissed her forehead. She almost disappeared in his arms, safe and cherished. What would it be like to have such a father, loving and protective? Until Mother had told her about Aubrey, Elyse had never considered the subject.