“Ah, I see now.” Father Northam’s words broke her reverie. He smiled sadly. “You are afraid of losing Usharna. That is why you have come to the library today. Here you can enter all the worlds in these books, all the histories and all the legends, and in none of them must you ever confront the mortality of your own mother.”
Areava laughed bitterly. “Her mortality? It is her heritage that makes me afraid, Father. She leaves behind a kingdom that is entirely loyal to her but not to the throne.”
Father Northam looked at her blankly. Areava shook her head in frustration. “When she dies, she takes with her all the goodwill owed her, Father. The merchants and generals and magickers and even the church will not know where they stand when Berayma becomes king. Nor will any of the kings and queens who come under Kendra. Only the Twenty Houses will be sure of their position, for Berayma has made clear where at least some of his sympathies lie.”
“But, Areava, why should anyone want things to change? There is peace in the kingdom now, and there will be peace in the kingdom after Usharna. Berayma will not change the good administration she established. You know he will rule fairly.”
Areava shook her head. “For the kingdom’s wisest man, you understand so little of the real world. With a new ruler, everyone will try to maneuver closer to the throne, to benefit themselves and their friends. Queen Charion will try to take trade from King Tomar, the merchant guilds will try and reduce the influence of the theurgia, Haxus will try and take a bite from our northern territory…”
“Your mother went through the same turmoil when she first ascended the throne, and came through it,” Father Northam argued. “So will Berayma. The people will not want to destroy the prosperity they enjoy.”
“There will always be those disgruntled with the share they receive. When my mother became queen, she was forced to marry into the Twenty Houses. There was no center of resistance, no rallying point. But this time there will be. This time there will be Lynan.”
“Lynan?” Father Northam said, obviously surprised. “This is about Lynan?”
“Am I the only one who can see how destabilizing it will be for Berayma to have Lynan at a loose end, an heir to the throne whose father was a commoner and a soldier? Lynan will become the focus of every disgruntled citizen and every conspiracy.”
“He is so young, so… so uninterested in being the center of anything, let alone a conspiracy against the throne.”
“It does not need his compliance. His very existence is enough.”
“But, Areava, you said yourself that his father was a commoner. The people won’t follow him, or pay attention to anyone else trying to raise him up.”
Areava sighed deeply. “Do you know what will happen to the Keys of Power on Berayma’s succession?”
“He will inherit them with the throne—”
Areava shook her head. “Your Father Powl could tell you. He understands the politics of the palace far better than you.”
“I am not Prelate because I understand politics—” he started to reply.
“Exactly. That is why my mother allows you to hold the office. She does not want a prelate who plays at politics as well as religion.”
Father Northam opened his mouth to object, but stopped himself before he made the lie. Of course that was why Usharna had given him her support. He had known this ever since the queen had allowed the church to base itself within the palace walls, but it was a truth he hid behind what he believed was the greater worth of his faith, their work among the poorest of Kendra’s people, and their quest for knowledge from all corners of the queen’s kingdom.
“My confessor would tell you that Usharna was an only child—”
“I knew that, Areava—”
“Which is why she inherited all the Keys.”
The primate’s eyes widened with sudden understanding that came from a memory from his own youth. “Only the ruler inherits the Key of the Scepter, the ‘Monarch’s Key.’ The ruler’s siblings inherit the other, lesser Keys.”
“And this time the queen has four children, so each will receive one,” Areava said.
“You mean Lynan will possess one of the Keys of Power?” He was genuinely surprised. “Which one?”
Areava shrugged. “That is for the queen to decide, and if she dies before she makes known her will it will be for Berayma to decide.”
“But surely the tradition can be changed?”
“The queen could do so, but only at the risk of destabilizing the kingdom just as Berayma is about to inherit it. The Twenty Houses were the queen’s opponents for so long because she received all the Keys. That is why they twice forced her to marry within their ranks. It was only after she had been ruler for nearly twenty years that she could marry without their blessing, and when my father died, she chose that trooper-made-general, Chisal. Usharna would not risk alienating the Twenty Houses now when she is too weak to isolate them. And if the decision is Berayma’s, who is a friend of the Twenty Houses, Lynan will still get his Key. Now do you understand why I am afraid of him? Common blood or not, as a holder of one of the Keys he becomes a symbol beyond his own birthright.”
Chapter 6
Captain Ager Partner of the Royal Guards studied himself in the reflection of one of the tall windows that illuminated the Long Walk, the palace’s chief promenade, connecting the throne room to the queen’s private rooms and offices. He could not believe how well the uniform had been made to fit. That dark, wire-haired woman Kumul had found to measure up Ager and then sew and stitch the blue jerkin and pants was a miracle worker. He spun on his heel and admired himself in left profile, but his high shoulder spoiled the view. Ah, well, he told himself, not everyone can be Kumul’s size and shape.
The wide double doors to the throne room opened wide. The queen appeared, followed by her entourage and a bustle of guests. Ager shouted a command, and his own detachment of guards formed in front of the party and led the way down the Long Walk to the official dining room, a long space filled with the biggest table Ager had ever seen. Despite the room’s name, the queen herself ate there only if she had a large number of guests, preferring her own sitting room for most meals. Ager and his men spaced themselves evenly along the wall and stood at attention, the blades of their long spears glistening a foot above their heads.
Ager watched Usharna sweep by, looking frail but still regal and completely in charge. She was followed by her family and chief officials, then her special guests—some nobleman and his party from one of the provinces, Ager had gathered—and finally by representatives of Kendra itself, such as the mayor and heads of the major merchant guilds. Attendants, polite and bowing, made sure everyone sat exactly where they were supposed to and then brought in large platters and bowls which they set on the table between the guests.
The nobleman, Ager could now see from his long formal coat, was from Aman. Seated between his countryman, Orkid Gravespear, and the Princess Areava, Ager thought he was a pleasant-looking youth with a quick smile and an open face. He noticed that several of the guests, relatives of the royal family from the Twenty Houses and including Berayma’s cousin and friend Galen Amptra and his father the duke, were looking with some displeasure at the visitor and the easy familiarity he was showing toward Areava. The princess, for her part, seemed to enjoy the attention of the foreign prince, talking with him animatedly and occasionally even laughing softly, something Ager had never heard her do before.
Perhaps she is just a good actress, Ager thought. Kumul had told him that, unlike Berayma, Areava held a great antipathy toward the Twenty Houses; so, knowing their dislike of commoners, provincials of any class, and clerics, she might be paying special attention to the Amanite prince simply to irk them. If that was the case, it was working. And good for you, Your Highness, he thought. Anything to put a burr under the seat of a nobleman.