“The guards claim that no one has passed through the door except the Queen’s servant and Aylaen. They said there are hidden passages in the palace. Farinn and his lover probably slipped out through one of those. They don’t know any warrior named Kailani, but she could be new. They laughed and added that the boy would return a man.”
“I hope they are right,” said Skylan, though he remained unconvinced. “I am his commander. He should not have left without telling me.”
“He’s sixteen,” said Acronis. “And I don’t imagine he was thinking much about you last night. The Aquins said they would search for him. We must leave it to them.”
Skylan did not want to leave this to the Aquins, but there wasn’t much he could do. He went back to his room to worry about Farinn and fume over Aylaen, only to find her waiting for him. She was tense and pale and Skylan forgot all about Farinn, and that he was angry with Aylaen. She closed the door and turned to face him.
“What is wrong?” he asked her the moment the door had closed. “Have you been crying? Did the Queen upset you? Is she going to hand us over to Raegar? By Torval, I will-”
“Skylan, let me speak!” said Aylaen desperately. “If you don’t, I will lose my courage. First, the Queen is going to give you the Torque. On our wedding day…”
“But this is wonderful-”
“Wait! Yesterday, you wanted to marry me,” said Aylaen, her voice trembling. “I said I would, but now-”
Skylan turned livid. He forgot about Farinn, forgot about Raegar. “Tell me you have not changed your mind!”
“No, Skylan,” said Aylaen softly. She took hold of his hands. “But I must give you a chance to change yours. Last night, Vindrash sent me a vision.”
She related the dream, told him everything. “Sund wants me to destroy the Vektia spiritbones. If I do not, he claims that I will be barren. That you and I will never have any children of our own.”
“It was a dream, Aylaen,” said Skylan.
Aylaen shook her head. “I have had these visions before, Skylan. I am a Kai Priestess. Vindrash gave me her sword. She speaks to me.”
Skylan would have said something, but Aylaen put a finger on his lips. “I have to say one thing more. I thought about doing what Sund asked, Skylan. I thought about destroying the dragon bones of the Vektia. I couldn’t. Not even to save our happiness.”
Aylaen looked into his eyes. Skylan brought to mind the picture of the son he had imagined, the picture of the little daughter with the red curly hair. He watched them fade away like the mist and then he gathered Aylaen to him and held her close.
“You are my happiness, Aylaen,” he said. “The threads of our wyrds are so tangled together, not even the gods could unravel them. I cannot say what the future holds for us. But with you as my wife, I do not fear it.”
CHAPTER 28
The morning of his wedding day, Skylan eyed with disfavor the long caftan the Aquins had given him to wear. A warrior was wed in his best clothes, a man’s clothes. Skylan thought back to his first marriage, the ill-fated union with Draya. He looked backward through time at a Skylan he barely knew-a callow youth, arrogant and proud, thinking only of himself, never of others.
“I treated Draya shamefully,” Skylan said softly, overcome by guilt and remorse. “I deserved the punishment meted out to me by the gods. I do not deserve the reward of such happiness I will be given this day.”
He took hold of the silver amulet of Torval he wore around his neck.
“I swear to you, Torval, I have learned from my mistakes. I will be worthy of your trust.”
Skylan wanted to wear his own clothes at his wedding. His shirt and breeches had been taken from him and he had no idea what the Aquins had done with them. He tried to think of a way to ask that would not insult them. He gave a sudden, rueful grin.
“Not so long ago, I wouldn’t have given a damn if I insulted anyone,” he said to himself. “Garn would be proud of me.”
Skylan grew somber, thinking of his friend.
“I hope, Garn, that you are not angry with me for marrying Aylaen,” Skylan said. “When we meet in Torval’s Hall, we should meet as brothers. I could not bear to lose your friendship, not even for Aylaen’s love.”
A knock on the door startled him.
Skylan answered the door, half-expecting to find Garn there, for Skylan’s mind was centered on his friend. Instead he faced a male Aquin, an older man, with a grave expression, dark hair that was gray at the temples, and deep-set eyes. He was tall and muscular and wore a caftan of fine cloth, light blue in color, trimmed in deeper blue with pearl buttons set in gold.
“I am Tai,” he said, by way of introduction, “King of the Aquins. I come to bid you joy on the day of your wedding.”
Skylan was impressed. The king spoke with dignity; his bearing was regal. Skylan would be happy to stand beside Tai in a shield wall, if only he could get the image out of his head of this Aquin male carrying babies around in a pouch.
“I am Skylan Ivorson, son of Norgaard,” said Skylan. “Chief of Chiefs of the Vindrasi, which is similar to a king among our people.” He said this not to impress the man, but to let the Aquin king know they were on equal footing.
“Is there any way in which I can be of service to you?” King Tai asked.
This was the perfect opportunity to ask about his clothes. Skylan opened his mouth, and was interrupted by Acronis.
“I wish you joy on this day, Skylan,” said Acronis, smiling broadly. “If your marriage to Aylaen brings you half as much joy as my marriage brought to me, you will be a blessed man.”
“Thank you, sir,” said Skylan earnestly. “Any sign of young Farinn?”
Acronis shook his head. “He has not returned.”
King Tai heard this exchange with concern. “What has happened? Is the young man missing?”
Skylan explained, adding that they had not said anything yesterday, because they thought Farinn had gone off with a comely young warrior woman. He added that the Aquin warriors had promised to search for him.
King Tai smiled. “The young are ruled by their hearts. I will go ask the guards if there has been any word of him.”
King Tai stepped out of the room. Once he was gone, Skylan shut the door and seized hold of Acronis. Keeping an eye on the door, in case King Tai returned, Skylan said urgently, “You have to tell him. I don’t want to insult him, but I won’t be married in a dress!”
Acronis raised his eyebrows. Skylan jerked his thumb at the caftan lying on the bed.
“Ah, of course,” said Acronis.
“I am good with a sword,” said Skylan. “But when it comes to words, I’m likely to cut off my own hand.”
Acronis promised he would undertake the task.
King Tai’s return ended their conversation.
“The warriors have not found the young man,” King Tai said. “They went to Lover’s Cove, but there was no sign of him there. There is no need for concern yet,” he hastened to add.
“The two could be almost anywhere. If you knew the name of the young woman or something about her-”
Skylan shook his head. At the moment, he could not even describe her very well. He had been thinking only of Aylaen.
“The warriors will continue to search. Let us not worry,” said King Tai. “Nothing should mar the happiness of this day.”
Skylan decided the king was right. He could do nothing for Farinn now except to wait. And today he was to be married to the woman he had loved all his life. He nudged Acronis.
“Which brings me to broach a rather delicate subject, Your Majesty,” said Acronis. “I know nothing of the customs of your people-though I would be so pleased to learn about them, if ever you had time-”
Skylan nudged Acronis again, this time harder.
“As I was saying,” Acronis continued, “Skylan is to be wed this day and while he is respectful of your ways, it is natural that he would like to be wed according to the customs of his people. He would like to be wed in his own clothes, with his chain mail and helm-”