Loyal and Free Chapter 9

Burne sat closeted alone in his study, staring out at his daughter as she read in the rose garden with her maids. He hardly moved when an armoured guard entered solemnly, but the young man, new to his position in the king's household, practically dropped the sealed letter on the king's desk and retreated. Burne glanced at the black seal of two clashing swords of Lord Arakash before snapping the thick wax.

Your Grace, the letter began, the front has been secured in Your Name.

Burne barked a laugh, knowing full well that the Black Knight fought only for his own advancement and because blood was the only thing that he craved.

A quarter of their force, the letter continued, was killed or captured in the battle, but I regret to inform Your Majesty that the usurper Cuthbert and his close guards escaped. As for his sister, my men search for her presently and she shall be brought to court immediately.

Burne stared for a long while at Arakash's signature that had been hastily scratched into the thick parchment. The king knew perfectly well that the bloodthirsty knight would succeed in finding his neice, but he did worry that she would not arrive at Springford in the same state that she had fled. He rubbed his temples in an attempt to expel the pounding of his head.

A gentle knock came from the door and the king sat straight in his wooden chair. Demelza walked feebly into the stuffy room, her face pale. She fell rather than sat in the chair opposite her royal husband.

"Yes?"

The frail queen flinched at his harsher tone, her brow creasing at words higher than a whisper. "Is it true?" She replied quietly, forcing Burne to lean forward so that he could hear her. "Are you marrying my Edlyn to that monster?"

"She shall secure the Black Knight to our cause, yes," he said curtly.

Demelza lifted a small lace cloth to her long, pointed nose, inhaling the strong smelling salts. Her pale eyes closed for a moment of pain, the shaking of her body causing her brittle black hair, fashioned in the image of a swan's wings, to appear to be fluttering.

"You cannot do this," she whimpered.

Her husband stood abruptly, his round face turning red as his voice rose. "I am the king; I do as I please. I am her father; she does as I command. I am your husband; you will obey me."

She opened her eyes, unflinchingly holding his angry gaze. "He will kill her."

"Then she will die doing her duty, something that you know nothing of."

"Do not lecture me on duty, Burne." Her tone softened as her body shook from the effort of their argument. "I never wanted to marry you either but I did because my duty was to advance my family. Now my duty is to protect my children. The Gods stole fifteen of my babes before they could meet this world. They took my Tarquin from me when he was only a few days old. Dudley will probably die on the battlefield for you. Please, Burne, please do not take my little girl too. My heart will never take it."

Burne glowered at her from behind the desk. He waved his hand, dismissing the queen as though she was a fly. The broken woman fought back her tears as she walked slowly to the door, but paused to turn back as her shaking skeletal hand brushed the solid gold doorhandle. "I know my duty," she said as loudly as her weak lungs would allow, "to my king and my family. So does my daughter."

Once again he was alone with his troubled thoughts. He had once felt something for his wife, but his grief for their failure to have the large family that he had dreamt of had shattered him. And that same grief had slowly murdered his wife had destroyed all of the love that he had for anything but revenge and power.

When he looked back to where Edlyn had been sat she was no longer there.