For a moment, Senneth stared, for that had not been her intention when she entered the room this morning-far from it. Beside her, Kirra started laughing helplessly, both delighted and appalled. Senneth spread her hands because she couldn’t think of an answer. In the end, all that was left was to laugh along.
SENNETH and Kirra tracked Ariane down in the sculpture garden. The day was exceedingly fine, and the marlady and her youngest child sat in the sun on one of the marble benches, deep in earnest conversation.
“I’m so glad to see there has been a rapprochement between mother and son,” Senneth greeted them.
Darryn smiled and came to his feet. “We’re still finalizing the terms of our accord.”
“I hope they’re favorable to all parties,” Senneth said.
Kirra put her hand on Darryn’s shoulder and gave him a little push. “Go away. We need to talk to your mother about Amalie’s matrimonial prospects.”
Darryn’s pleasant face darkened. “Then I think I’d better stay.”
“Trust me, you’re not the one we’re going to try to marry her off to,” Senneth said. “You’re perfectly safe to go.”
He left, though with some reluctance, and Ariane sighed. “Much as I’d like to see him beside Amalie on the throne, I have to admit I’ve come to like his little Sosie very much,” she said. “I have no other unmarried sons, so how can I help you?”
“Amalie has her heart set on marrying Cammon, the young mystic boy you met last summer,” Senneth said bluntly, seating herself next to Ariane. Kirra settled on Ariane’s other side. “She swears she will accept no other bridegroom, and I have come to believe her. Kirra and I hoped you could help us fashion a pedigree for him-find some Rappengrass nobles who are willing to claim him as their son, cast off long ago. These would have to be vassals you trusted absolutely, of course, for the only thing worse than foisting off such a lie on the people of Gillengaria would be having that lie discovered.”
Like Malcolm Danalustrous, Ariane Rappengrass was rarely shocked, and Senneth watched the marlady as she analyzed the situation. “How old is Cammon?”
“Twenty.”
“So this couple would have to be in their forties or fifties. And why did they abandon him?”
“He’s a mystic,” Senneth said dryly. “It was the fashion twenty years ago for nobles to rid themselves of such inconvenient encumbrances.”
“Still, if he was only a baby-”
“Perhaps they kept him until he was three or four, when his powers began to manifest,” Kirra suggested.
Ariane pursed her lips. “Or perhaps they did not give him up at all. Was Coralinda Gisseltess actively persecuting mystics so long ago? Perhaps she stole him from his parents, and they have spent all this time grieving.”
Senneth laughed. “By all means, tailor the story however you wish! All we need is someone willing to embrace it-and withstand a certain inevitable scrutiny.”
Ariane had folded her hands together and rested her fingers under her chin. “But who…” she said in a ruminative voice. “My daughter Bella is too young, of course…and my friend Amanda would be willing, though she does not lie well…”
“Oh, a talent for prevarication is essential in this case,” Kirra said.
“But if we changed the story…” Ariane said, and then fell silent. Senneth watched the older woman’s face as her eyes narrowed and her thoughts settled on a new possibility. The marlady meditated for a few moments, and then gave a decisive nod. “Why not me?”
Senneth peered around Ariane to give Kirra one quick look of surprise. “You?” she repeated.
“Well, I’m not that old,” Ariane said with some asperity. “I’d have been forty-three when Cammon was born. That’s not unheard-of.”
“Yes, but wasn’t your husband dead by that time?” Kirra said. “We don’t want to ruin your reputation! If you claim Cammon as your son-”
Ariane nodded. “Easy enough to explain away. An indiscretion. My husband had been dead a couple of years, and I was lonely. I began seeing an unsuitable man. Everyone was quite shocked and pressured me to give him up, so I did. But it was too late by then, and I was already pregnant.” Ariane unfolded her hands and tapped her fingers together lightly. “Yes, I think that will serve.”
Senneth felt Kirra’s eyes on her face and knew Kirra was thinking exactly what she was: This actually happened. Kirra said softly, “What’s the rest of the tale?”
Ariane gave her a quick sideways glance. “For the purposes of this story, I made it known that I was ill, and I retired to a secluded house where I could make an unobserved recovery. There I delivered the child-a boy. I planned to keep him with me, pretending he was my maid’s son, but my advisors spirited him away in the night. I never knew what happened to him after that. But then-last summer when you brought him to my house-I felt a strange affection for this complete stranger. I began to make inquiries, and I learned he was the son I had given up so many years ago. Naturally, I was overjoyed.”
Senneth laid a hand on Ariane’s arm. “What happened to your baby?”
Ariane didn’t reply at first, as if unwilling to admit the tale was true. “He arrived two months early and stillborn,” she said at last. “I didn’t believe them when they told me he was dead. I had to see for myself. But it was true.” She shook off a spell of melancholy and said more briskly, “Enough people know part of the story to be able to confirm that I indeed took a lover and bore his child. Very few people were present at his death, and all of them would tell any lie I asked. The dates are not exact, for my son would only be eighteen now, but no one will remember that.”
“Ariane-” Senneth said, and then stopped, not sure of what to say. “I hate to take advantage of your personal tragedies in such a way.”
Ariane gave her a somewhat painful smile. “You have lost a child yourself, Senneth, though the story is not generally known. And I believe you would exploit your own sad history if you thought it would help Amalie in any way. Permit me to do the same thing. I will be happy to claim Cammon as my own. I have always longed for that sixth child, the one I lost so long ago.” Her smile widened. “And, of course, I am not at all reluctant to have Ghosenhall indebted to Rappen Manor.”
“No, indeed, there are benefits all around,” Kirra agreed.
“There’s just one more thing,” Ariane said. “Before we buried him, I had him branded with a housemark. Anyone who knows me realizes I would never have given up my child without stamping him as my own.”
“That will be tricky,” Senneth said. “We can give him a Rappengrass housemark, of course, but it won’t look twenty years old.”
Ariane stood. “I’m sure you can find a way around the difficulty. Bring me my son, identified with my emblem, and I will give your princess her husband.”
CHAPTER 44
CAMMON was wholly bewildered by the sudden changes in his fortune that unfolded after their return to the royal city. He had never, not in any scenario he’d been able to devise, imagined that he would be allowed to marry Amalie. All his energy had gone to trying to figure out a way to stay at the palace, a way to serve her-a way, even, to be her lover, if she was willing, if her powerful protectors did not find it preferable to separate them completely. Of course, he was profoundly relieved that the war was over and all his friends had survived it whole, but it had always been clear to him that the cessation of hostilities would signal the end of his idyll with Amalie. What was allowed on the battlefield during tumultuous times could not be permitted in ordinary life. Now that she had won the right to take the throne, Amalie must prove herself a worthy ruler. And her first act must be to choose her husband wisely, with an eye to placating the marlords.