Give Me (Wyrd and Fae #1)(33)
“After tomorrow,” King Edgar said, “it will be for your husband to adorn you with jewels. So let me give this to you now.”
Diantha turned around, her back to her father. She was glowing with happiness. King Edgar draped a garnet necklace over her neck.
Elyse stood a little taller and touched her new scarf, a present from an anonymous person. She’d found it on her bed when she’d gotten out of her bath. It was made of something beautiful, shimmering and diaphanous, the color of flowers. Colors, rather—it changed from purple to green to blue to pink, depending on how the light struck.
It had to be from Galen. No one else would think of giving her presents. She’d expected Lourdes to be wearing one too—but Galen would probably think it too dangerous to give gifts to Lourdes.
Diantha broke away from King Edgar and nodded to the tall imperious queen. “Mother.”
“Very good,” Elfryth said without touching her daughter. Even the kings seemed in awe of Queen Elfryth, the favored daughter of a vastly wealthy family. Some said she’d arranged her first husband’s murder so that she could marry Edgar and be queen of Sarumos. “Shall we go in?”
With no oracle yet officially named, Elyse and Lourdes represented the wyrders of Dumnos at the head table. The queen sat in the center with King Jowan on her right side, then Galen, then Lourdes. King Edgar sat to the left of the queen, then Diantha, then Elyse.
The banquet tables were arranged in a rectangle around the hall’s perimeter with openings at the corner ends wide enough for the serving women to pass through. The center, where there would later be dancing, was occupied at the present by the tenor and the pipa player.
Elyse glanced sideways past Diantha at the queen. Elfryth was reputed to be a fervid champion of Rome and the Benedictines in Sarumos. She likely would prefer a chant to this rather common tune.
“She’s not displeased,” Diantha said. “About the music.”
The princess was really quite sweet. Fair and golden, blue-eyed, rosy-cheeked. A kind heart. A perfect companion. Elyse was happy for Galen. Diantha leaned closer to Elyse. “I think it’s lovely, the pipa. It’s my favorite present. Galen said it belonged to your mother. We’re both honored to receive it.”
“It gladdens my heart to know that, my lady.”
The song ended, and before another could begin King Edgar rose to his feet and waved the musicians away. “My lords and ladies, tonight we celebrate the alliance of our two kingdoms in the joining of our beloved daughter Diantha with your Prince Galen.”
The guests drained their cups and tankards and pounded the heavy pewter on the tables with enthusiasm.
“My lady and I,” Edgar continued, “have an announcement. Although of course we hope and expect the couple will be often at court in Sarumos, we have given them Chester Castle and its estates for their official residence.”
More raucous pounding and huzzahs followed. Diantha beamed with pride and gratitude. “Of course, we’ll be most often at court here in Dumnos,” she told Elyse below the noise. “King Jowan will be lonely, especially now that your mother is gone.” She was so kind, Elyse thought her heart would break. “I know she and the king were great friends.”
“I never thought about it like that,” Elyse said. “But you’re right. They were good friends.” And she was my only friend.
“My fellow countrymen and welcome guests.” King Jowan rose to announce his gifts. No one expected Dumnos to match a castle, but all wondered what the king had come up with. “Dumnos is a land of mist and rain—and not much else.”
The guests chortled heartily, and someone at the end of a long table called out, “But we love it!”
“We do have one treasure. The magnificent iron ore that runs through Dumnos makes the finest broadswords ever seen. And superb cauldrons, I’m told. Our gift to the couple includes a Dumnos sword for each member of their guard and a full complement of pots and cauldrons for the Chester buttery.”
The revelers pounded out more approval. Lourdes sat still as stone, though Galen spoke into her ear. With a raised eyebrow, she stared hard at Jowan. Elyse knew what she wanted: a word about Mother’s sacrificed health in the Great Wyrding.
But that’s not what killed her, not really. Elyse was willing to make peace with Lourdes—eager to. But she hadn’t purged the memory of that night. If Lourdes hadn’t hidden the herbs, Mother would be here now and in her rightful place, the only wyrder at the head table. A nagging thought would not let Elyse go: Perhaps Lourdes had meant to kill Mother, not merely slow her down in order to get to Galen.
“One final gift.” King Jowan nodded to his head groomsman who barked something at his men. The pride on Jowan’s face—and the twinkle in his eye—made everyone the more curious, and the loud banter modulated down to speculative whispers.
Gasps and appreciative murmurs started at the far end of the long tables and moved in waves to the royal party. “Oh, no.” Diantha grasped Elyse’s arm. Two groomsmen walked to the center of the room where the musicians had been. They lead two magnificent horses. The hall erupted in applause and pounding.
“Odysseus and Penelope!” King Jowan said.
The jet black stallion had a white blaze on his forehead. The white-as-snow filly had a matching black blaze on hers. They were saddled and bridled in blood-red leather and polished brass ornaments with trim of blue velvet and white satin. They couldn’t settle in the closed hall and pawed at the floor.