Aftermath (3 page)

But it would not work this time. No lesson was being learned here.

And when her mother found out what her father had done, there would be hell to pay.

She was simply biding her time until her father returned for her. While she was waiting, there was no reason to be impolite. After all,
she
had been raised not to be rude to people. Unfortunately that same type of upbringing apparently had not been given to King Braedon.

After they were finished in the kitchens, Nadine took her to the hall, demonstrating how to arrange and set the tables for the evening meal, then led her up the staircase to the bedrooms.

“We have moved your things to your new bedroom,” Nadine said over her shoulder.

“New bedroom?”

“Aye. Next to Braedon’s, of course.”

Trista swallowed. The thought of sleeping this close to the heathen was more than she could bear. “The bedroom I stayed in last eve is more than adequate.” Nadine shook her head as they reached the top of the stairs. “No, ‘tis not adequate for someone who will soon be queen.”

Not in this lifetime
. But she followed along without comment as Nadine showed her to a lovely room.

A large bed centered the cozy, expansive space. Tapestries hung on the walls and thick drapes covered the tall windows. A hearth sat against one of the stone walls, with a privacy chamber on the other side.

Much more space than she needed.

“I will have Maita move your things. She will assist you with bathing and dressing.”

“I am perfectly capable of dressing and bathing myself, Nadine. I am sure Maita is as busy as everyone else here. I do not require a personal maid.”

Nadine’s eyes, so like her nephew’s, sparkled when she smiled. “Very well, then. Would you like to rest a bit?”

She had rested plenty while her father and Garick had left her alone the day before. The last thing she wanted right now was more time alone to think about her predicament. “No, I do not need to rest. I would love to meet everyone and see the rest of the castle.” Nadine beamed. “Wonderful.” She led her down the long hallway and back down the stairs to the main hall. A child’s laughter and giggles rang out in the empty room.

“Donny! Come here!” Nadine shouted.

A boy no more than eight or nine stepped out from underneath the long trestle table and approached them. His hands were hidden behind his back. He stopped in front of Nadine and stared up at her, beguiling innocence and a devilish smile mixing together.

Something about the boy seemed familiar, but Trista could not tell what it was. A shock of dark hair fell across his brow, and his blue-green eyes twinkled with mischief.

“What have you behind your back?” Nadine asked.

The boy shook his head. “Nothing.”

Placing her hands on her ample hips, Nadine bent forward. “Donny. What have you behind your back?” With an exasperated sigh, the boy pulled his hands forward. Mud and tiny pebbles filled his small fists, oozing out onto the floor.

“Are you trying to torment Braedon again?” she asked.

“No, Aunt Nadine. I was just building a castle from mud.”

“On Braedon’s chair,” Nadine added.

A kindred spirit, Trista thought. She hid her smile behind her hand.

“Go wash yourself. Then come back and clean up the mess you left. Hurry, before he comes in and catches you.”

Rolling his eyes, Donny scurried off.

Nadine shook her head. “He tries to get his brother’s attention in all the wrong ways.”

“Brother?” Donny was Braedon’s brother?

“Yes. Did Braedon not introduce you to Donny and to Erin?”

“No he did not. Who is Erin?”

Nadine sighed. “I am so sorry. Braedon involves himself completely in training for war with the wizards.

He does not take much time to socialize. Even with his own siblings, I am afraid. Erin is his sister. She is fifteen seasons. Donny is eight seasons.”

So, Braedon had a brother and sister he had not bothered to mention to her. Not that he had mentioned much of anything else, for that matter.

“Ah, here is Erin now.”

Trista followed Nadine’s gaze, watching a young girl walk toward them. She was tall, like her brother, but very willowy. Her long hair was a mixture of brown with sun-kissed highlights. She smiled like her younger brother Donny and unlike the surly Braedon.

Erin grasped Trista’s hands and squeezed. “Hello, you must be Trista. I have always wanted a sister. I am so happy that Braedon is to be married!”

Trista grinned at the eager sincerity in the girl’s tone. Only a handful of seasons younger than herself, Erin was just beginning to show the bloom of womanhood.

“Hello, Erin. I am pleased to meet you.”

Erin tilted her head and leaned to the left, obviously trying to peer around Trista. “You are faerie. Your wings are beautiful.”

“Can you fly?” Donny added as he swooped down the staircase and ran toward them, throwing his arms around Erin’s waist.

“Thank you. And aye, I can fly.”

“Oooh, let me see, let me see!” Donny exclaimed.

She looked to Nadine, who smiled encouragingly.

Trista lifted herself off the ground and hovered a few inches, fluttering her wings slowly. Donny stepped behind her and reached out, gently caressing one of her fluttering wings.

“Donny, do not touch!” Nadine admonished.

Trista laughed. “It is all right. It tickles.”

The boy laughed.

Erin approached and gingerly touched her wings. “It must be lovely to have such magic within you. I have always wanted to possess powers of some sort. But I am only human and bound to land, with no magic whatsoever.”

Trista fluttered to the ground and took Erin’s hands in hers. “Oh, that is not true. There is magic in your bright smile, in the way your eyes sparkle and your cheeks turn a beautiful shade of pink when you blush.

Your soft spoken voice has a lilting quality to it and I would wager you have quite an imagination. The words you speak are lovely. Do you write?”

Erin’s mouth opened in a wide “O” and she blushed profusely. “Why, yes, I have papers and write poetry.”

Trista nodded. “I thought as much. I used to love to take one of the tree sticks in the D’Naath forest and write love stories in the rich soil. Sometimes I would write them on paper up in my room. Words that only I would see. They contained my wishes for my future.” And a young girl’s fervent hope that she would some day find the man of her dreams. If she ended up married to Braedon, her hopes would be forever lost.

Donny tugged on her shift. “I build things from mud, rock and sticks. But Braedon will not let me go to the forest. He said the wizards hide there and they killed my father. Do the wizards really live in your forest, Trista?”

Trista looked down at Donny. Such a serious face for such a young child. She shook her head. “Not where I live. We watch them closely and our magic keeps them away.”

“Oh.” Donny looked down and studied his shoes, then quickly brightened with a smile as he glanced up at her again. “I could show you my forts sometime. Don’t tell Braedon, though. Or he will make me take them down.”

“I would like that very much.”

“All right, children. There is much to be done here. Run along so I can show Trista the rest of the castle.” After they walked away, Trista asked, “What happened to Braedon’s father? And is his mother here?” A glimmer of tears pooled in Nadine’s eyes. “Oron, Braedon’s father, died in a battle with the wizards nine years ago. Braedon’s mother, my sister Felicia, died giving birth to Donny a few months later.” Trista’s hand flew to her heart. “Oh, I am so sorry. What a terrible tragedy for all of you.” Nadine nodded. “It was hardest on Braedon and Erin. Erin at seven years old lost her mother, and Braedon had to become king much earlier than anyone planned. He takes his duties very seriously now.

Too seriously, sometimes.”

Trista wondered if losing both his parents in such a short period of time had made him the way he was.

The enormous responsibility of running a kingdom at such a young age must have been difficult for him.

Who was his counsel?

“Does he have elders?”

“Nay. Neither my sister nor Oron had brothers. When Oron died, Braedon became the official leader. Other than the guard, many of whom are older, there were none in the kingdom to counsel him.” All that responsibility thrust upon him. No time to even mourn his losses. “Is that why he never smiles?” Nadine took her hand. “Child, that boy has not smiled since they laid his mother in the ground. Nor has he paid any attention to Donny or Erin. It is almost as if losing his parents extinguished a light inside him and took all his joy away. Nothing anyone says or does can lift his spirits. He is bound and determined to single-handedly vanquish the wizards.”

Trista sensed there was more to it than vengeance, but she could not yet delve deeply enough into Braedon’s emotions to tell what was there.

Perhaps that would be her mission here. To bring Braedon and his family close again. She would not stay, of course. Her father would soon come for her once he realized his error. But while she was here,

‘twould give her something to do besides oversee the purchase of animals and the preparation of food.

A crash and an ensuing argument in the kitchen captured Nadine’s attention. “Stay here. I must mediate between the cooks again.”

Trista nodded and looked around the hall. Windows high above the walls let in enough light to shine on the myriad of dark wooden tables set up in neat rows. Large tapestries hung on the walls showcasing humans engaged in bloody battles.

Not very appetizing artwork.

As she stood in the center of the hall, people passed by but did not stop to greet her. They nodded and inclined their heads toward her but then scurried off.

So unlike D’Naath, where everyone embraced and smiled all the time. Or even Winterland, where Noele had breathed life and love into the wintry castle. Perhaps it was the faerie and elvin cultures that were so different from these humans. Maybe this was how people here normally acted.

If she stayed here, she would die of loneliness, unable to bear the solitary lifestyle the people seemed to have adopted. Despite the glimmering sun overhead, ‘twas as if a cloud hung over the castle, affecting everyone within.

“My brother needs a wife.”

Trista gasped and turned quickly to see Erin standing behind her. The girl was so light on her feet Trista had not heard her approach. “Why do you say that?”

“He needs love. Much love. More than we can give him.” Her heart ached for this young girl who only wanted to be loved by her brother. How sad and how incredibly irritating that Braedon did not notice her plight. “I am certain your brother loves you.” Erin shrugged. “It does not seem as if he loves anyone. He has not been capable of it since our mother died. Before that, he was—”

“Erin!”

Again, Trista jumped, this time from Braedon’s gruff bellow as he entered the hall. He strode quickly toward the two of them, his brows knit in an angry frown.

Erin’s creamy face pinkened as she looked up at her brother.

“You would do well to mind your own business. Elsewhere,” he said to Erin.

Erin nodded, dropped her chin to her chest and hurried off, but not before Trista caught the tears welling in the young girl’s eyes.

She whirled on Braedon as soon as Erin disappeared. “How could you treat your sister so? She loves and cares for you. Are you blind?”

“Stay out of matters you know nothing about, faerie. And stop prying into my family’s business.”

“
Your
family. Am I not to become
your
family?” If she deigned to marry him, of course. Which she would not.

“That is different. You are an outsider, a faerie, and do not understand our ways.” Placing her hands on her hips, Trista glared at him. “So faeries are stupid?”

“I did not say that. You twist my words for your own convenience. You are simply not knowledgeable of what we do here.”

“It seems to me that what everyone does here is hide. From
you
.” He crossed his arms. “You have been here one day and you have figured it all out, I see.”

“I have seen enough to know that everyone hides from your wrath and sour disposition. And that your brother and sister miss you very much and only want your love and attention.” He frowned, an angry tic jumping alongside his generous mouth. “Stay out of my way, Trista. And leave my family alone.”

With a quick turn on his heel, he walked away. She followed, determined not to let him get away this time. She was not finished talking to him and this time she
would
be heard.

She had to flutter her wings and fly above the ground to keep up with Braedon’s long stride, but finally she settled in front of him, halting his determined progress.

“You will not walk away from me again. This time you must listen.” Heaving an exasperated sigh, Braedon said, “What is it now?” His insensitivity was appalling. “You treat your brother and sister as if they are no more than pieces of furniture. Can you not see the hurt in their eyes?”

Braedon’s gaze darkened like ominous clouds. “I warned you once not to interfere with Erin and Donny.

Do not make me say it again. You will not like the results.” Unafraid, she pushed further. “You treat them terribly. And I will not be silenced in this matter or any other.”

Mumbling about bad choice of potential wives, he turned away. She followed. “If you do not wish to marry me, then return me to D’Naath. I will be only too happy to leave.” He stopped and glared at her. “You stepped in this mess, according to King Garick and your father. I was betrothed to your sister and you interfered, resulting in both of us being stuck with a situation neither of us want. I have to learn to live with you as my bride and my queen. You must learn to live with it also.

Now go find Nadine and see if you can learn something about how to act like a proper queen.” A proper queen? “I do not wish to be Queen of Greenbriar.”

“That is unfortunate, but you have no choice in the matter. You
will
marry me, you
will
become queen and you
will
learn to run this keep. Now do not bother me again with your inane comments and do not involve yourself in my family’s business.”