The Ciphers of Muirwood (Covenant of Muirwood #2)(51)

“Yes,” Maia whispered. “He did ride in with Captain Carew.”

“He was very angry,” Suzenne said.

“He deserves to be.”

Suzenne stopped combing and stared down at Maia’s neck. She waited.

Maia swallowed. In a very soft voice she said, “That was my husband.”

Suzenne gasped and threw down the comb, coming around to kneel in front of Maia. Her eyes wide with astonishment, she grabbed Maia’s wrist and squeezed it. “You are . . . you are married? Why did you not tell me before? Oh, Maia, I almost would not believe you but for the look on your face. Who is he?”

Maia pulled her arm away and quickly untied the pouch at her waist. She withdrew the white lily delicately, staring at it in her palm.

“The flower from the garden?”

“Yes,” Maia said. “It is a white lily. The royal flower of Dahomey.”

Suzenne looked at her in confusion.

Maia sighed. “Feint Collier is a disguise he wears. Collier is my nickname for him. He is the King of Dahomey. When I told you my story, I left out an important part.” She twisted the flower slowly, staring at the glow of the firelight on the petals.

“You married him?” Suzenne asked in wonderment. “You are saying, Maia, that you are the Queen of Dahomey?”

“You make it sound so grand,” Maia said, chuckling quietly. “We were not married by irrevocare sigil, Suzenne. We were joined by a Dochte Mandar. He can divorce me if he chooses. He may do that.” She was so conflicted. Her parents had been wed by irrevocare sigil, yet their marriage had proved a disaster. No glaring clues had told Maia’s mother what her husband would one day become, and the thought of unwittingly binding herself to someone like him for all eternity made Maia cringe inside. Still, marrying a maston by irrevocare sigil was a long-held dream for her. “What a mess this is,” she continued, pressing a hand to her throbbing temple. “I am not saying the words very well. Here, let me try this instead.” She rose and set the lily down on the table. Then she went to the small chest that contained her few possessions. She pulled out a thick folded set of papers. “I have not sealed it yet, for I did not know when I would have the chance to send it to him. All I knew was that he had recently been released from his confinement. I did not suspect for a moment that I would see him today.”

Maia stroked her palm against the smooth paper as she carried it over to Suzenne. “It does a better job of explaining the situation. Right now, my thoughts are fluttering like butterflies and I can barely contain them. I cannot stop thinking of the fact that he is here, somewhere on the grounds. And he hates me, Suzenne. I betrayed him. But not in the way that he thinks. I wrote this letter for him, hoping to find a way to get it to him in secret. I have been hoping this for many months.” She wiped a tear from her eye before it could fall. “The Medium truly does heed our innermost thoughts. I did not believe it would deliver him to me in such a fashion. I can scarcely believe it now.”

Suzenne gave her a look of awe and concern as Maia handed her the letter. She seated herself on the chair by the lily to read it.

Maia knew the words almost by heart.

My lord husband,

I know that by writing this, I risk my death. I was taught to read and write when I was very young by Chancellor Walraven, who tutored me in the customs of the mastons and the Dochte Mandar. He believed my parents were not able to conceive and deliver more children, so he felt it my duty as the future ruler of Comoros to understand the arts that are strictly forbidden of my gender. He gave me a kystrel when I was fourteen to protect me from the influence of the Myriad Ones when my father banished the Dochte Mandar from Comoros. I did not realize that in doing so, he put me in their power.

Revealing this, I put my life in your hands.

I have long regretted not expressing my true feelings to you relating to the circumstances of our first meeting and our subsequent marriage. In all honesty, I did not believe I could trust you. You are a vain and ambitious man. What you saw in me was not love, but an opportunity to expand your influence, wealth, and power. You are more than what your reputation holds, however. As I have grown to know you, I have come to understand you better. We were both very small when our parents agreed to our betrothal. It was my father who spurned that treaty. He has a difficult time keeping his oaths, I have learned.

Here is what I must confess. My father sent me to the cursed shores of Dahomey to find a cure for the evil of the Myriad Ones infecting my kingdom. When I discovered the lost abbey, I was attacked by my father’s soldiers because they learned I wore a kystrel and they feared me. They were right to fear me, but I did not become what I am deliberately or even knowingly. When we spoke in your tent the night we were married, I still did not know the truth about myself. You were wiser than I and perceived what I could not. When I made my marriage vow to you, I was not acting under my own volition or my own conscience. I have only ever desired to marry a maston, to become one myself, and to strengthen my Family’s bond to the Medium by irrevocare sigil.

When we reached Naess, I was not myself. I am frightened of the creature that ruled me . . . the one who is still bound to me. More than anything, I seek to banish it from my body forever. In the palace of the Naestors, I was offered a chance to become everything you desired me to become and to name you as a ruler at my side. But doing so would have meant surrendering who I am. I would have violated every principle, every spark of good, and every tender feeling I rightly possess. In giving you what you desired, I would have betrayed you more fully than I did . . . and in ways too evil to mention. I was rescued by my grandmother, who I learned is the High Seer, and have come to Muirwood Abbey to fulfill my destiny.