The Gully Snipe (The Dual World Book 1) (71 page)

“There is no doubt we’ve had our different opinions. Contrary to what Strafe insists, I prefer honesty and sincerity to flowers and flummery that hide the thorns beneath. All you’ve been is honest with me, Encender, and you’ve had reason to doubt me,” said Gully. He came around the stone table and put his hand on Encender’s shoulder. “Encender, you have suffered long under the task of keeping the Mercher clan safe without it breaking you. It is time for you to be able to take much of that weight off of your back while knowing those of Balmorean descent are safe and have a real home. I
will
ask of you in return, though, that you offer your skills to Roald to help improve our own Kingdom Guard so that we will all benefit from your knowledge and techniques.”

Instead of encouraged, Encender seemed even more beaten. “I...” he stammered, wiping another tear from his eye. Even the patriarch and Exoutur watched him in surprise, puzzled about the emotional reaction he was having at Gully’s offer.

“I... do not know what to say, Your Majesty,” insisted Encender without looking up.

Exoutur placed his hand on his brother’s back, “’Cender, you need not say anything. Accept the offer given you.”

“If it makes you feel any better, Encender,” added Gully, “there is another motive behind my offer.”

Exoutur and the patriarch both looked to the king with the question in their eyes.

“Bal’Iisen,” said Gully, “will not advance in joining the two bloodlines very well if they are not mingled in both the noble and peasant classes — the class into which I was born and the class in which I was raised. The people look to the nobility to see what is acceptable and proper, and what is not. Your families will be of immense value in bringing our cultures together.”

“Will you accept, Encender? I will not force you,” said Gully, nodding at him and encouraging him.

Encender nodded and barely managed to choke out his response, “Yes... Your Highness.”

“It is done, then. Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to speak to your father in private for a moment,” said Gully.

Encender and Exoutur bowed briefly and took their leave while the patriarch remained behind.

Gully motioned to the only chair in the room, the one reserved for the monarch, and said, “Please take the seat, patriarch.”

“Your Highness, I feel we will forever argue about these particular etiquettes between us,” said the patriarch with a smile.

“Fine then, Aian, I shall sit on the desk and the chair will remain useless and empty.” Gully perched up on the side of the table with a knowing smirk. “Gallun, Gellen, you have probably gone all day without eating. Go and get yourselves a meal, please.”

The two men looked at each other suspiciously and refused to leave.

Gully laughed and said, “Have I so thoroughly earned your mistrust that I cannot even have a private conversation with the patriarch? I give you my word, I will not run away and hide from you. And I have already given Roald my word on this matter, too.”

The two fighters still looked in doubt, but they finally relented and left Gully alone with the patriarch. Once alone, the patriarch moved behind the desk and took the seat.

“Thank you,” said Gully in exaggerated relief.

“I have perhaps done a disservice to you by not consulting you first about giving Exoutur and Encender the two fiefs. I beg your forgiveness if I have acted hastily, patriarch. If you would prefer to have one for yourself, I will go back on my promise to your sons,” said Gully.

“Now, Gully, you know better than that,” said Aian. “I am most pleased with your decision, and if I may be so bold in saying, in a way, I feel as if I have been blessed with three families that I may now share my time amongst.”

“The honor is mine if you now consider me family, Aian.”

“I am very proud of you, Di’taro. I am proud of what you have become, and that you now fully accept your rightful place. I am...” The patriarch paused as a hint of regret seeped into the lines of his face. “I am only sorry that your father, Ollon, is still missing and not here with us. He would be as proud of you as I am.”

“I must let go, patriarch. I can still look for him, and will probably have help now, but I cannot focus solely on the past. I have a future that is in desperate need of my attention.”

“You have made the choice laid before you, then, even at the cost it comes. Fate chose you well, Your Highness,” said the patriarch softly.

“Chosen me well?” asked Gully. “I have done nothing yet except daydream. Fate is not interested in wishes and good intentions, Aian. I would have a much harder time with all that is ahead of me without your wisdom to call upon. Thank you for that.”

Gully laughed and added, “And I suppose I should thank you for not letting ’Cender feed me to Raybb my first night among you, too! Sometimes I feel like he still wishes to do so! Until today, at least.”

“Oh, Encender is fierce in his determination to protect the clan, you are well aware. But he crossed the line to be with you today. You saw his reaction to your offer. He will continue to challenge you, but you may have full faith that he is now with you.”

The patriarch leaned over from his chair and took Gully’s hand. He held it and said again, “Fate has chosen well, Gully.”

Gully tried to believe the patriarch, but there were still so many doubts, so much he did not understand, and too many things that were not in his control. His face faltered for a moment and he admitted, “Then why do I still have this nagging void between myself and those that care so much about me? Why do I feel more alone now with more people who care very deeply for me than I have ever had before, and I for them?”

The patriarch sat back in the carved chair of Gully’s and looked on the king in deep sympathy. “What would I give to be able to tell you how to fully bridge that gulf, Gully? Part of it is the hole left by your father’s disappearance. And part of it is the position you now hold. No one, no matter how much they love you, will ever be able to fully understand the burden now upon you because of the Iisen crown and the Balmorean sigil. It sets you apart from even those closest to you in a way that the rest of us can only vaguely see and understand.”

He sighed and shook his head and told Gully, “I fear it is a burden only someone in your position will ever fully comprehend, and there has never been anyone in your position before. But I also believe that even if you always feel the emptiness and separation, you will come to learn to accept it, as you do the scar left by Krayell’s blade on your arm.”

The patriarch stood. He took Gully’s hand and had him stand from the stone desk as well, and he embraced the young king tightly. He said, “You have begun to let us into your heart, Gully, and that will help fill this emptiness you feel, even if it is never quite enough to eliminate it. That is the gift given to
you
, Di’taro... so many people now who care for you in ways that you would never have expected in your previous life. You are learning that Ollon is not the only one that could love you. Accept that gift given to you, Di’taro.”

They held each other for a moment longer, Gully fighting back the dampness in his eyes.

When the patriarch stepped back, he said, “I must thank you again. Today was a day I thought neither myself nor any of my family would ever see come. To know that the best of our culture, the best parts of Balmorea, will live again and become more than what it was, and to have that happen through the unbroken imperial bloodline, is almost more of a gift than I can withstand. Thank you.”

For the first time that day, Gully felt like things were falling into their intended places. For the first time that day, he felt like he could begin to relax a little bit. There was so much to do, so much to accomplish, so much that lay ahead, but he had successfully taken the first step. The patriarch’s smile and sparkling eyes spread their way to Gully.

The patriarch offered his arm to the king. “Come, Your Highness. Let us go find your constant wolves before they worry themselves sick that they are not watching over you!”

Wyael came running up, out of breath. “These trees are not ripe yet, but the cherries on the farther side are very good, King Gully.” He held out the small basket that had been filled with dark red cherries.

Gully put his hand on Wyael’s back and said, “Thank you, Wyael. You didn’t eat so many yourself that you’re going to get sick, are you?”

Wyael shook his head and said with a laugh, “No!”

“You didn’t swallow the pits, did you?”

Wyael laughed again at Gully’s teases and said, “I know how to eat cherries!”

Out of the corner of his eye, Gully spotted the Archbishop strolling down the orchard path towards them. It wasn’t the stroll of someone out for a leisurely walk, it was a gait with purpose and Gully knew to whom the Archbishop wished to speak.

He said, “I’m afraid the Archbishop is going to want to speak to me, Wyael. Will you take the cherries and go back to the Folly and let Roald know I will be up soon to see him?”

Wyael nodded. Gully looked thoughtful and added, “That is, unless you wish to have the conversation with the Archbishop in my place, and I will take the cherries to Roald?”

Wyael looked horrified. He shook his head and said, “No, Gully! You’re the king, not me!” Before Gully could insist that Wyael remain and conduct the conversation with the Archbishop, Wyael took off running down the path past him.

Gully called after him, “Don’t spill them, Wyael, please!”

The Archbishop approached, a dark cloud of concern upon his weathered face, and he bowed deeply before the king.

Gully said, “Ho there, Nellist, it is good to see you!”

“And you as well, Your Majesty. I have come to discuss a matter with you, if you can spare an old man a few minutes,” said the Archbishop.

“Of course I can,” replied the king and they took a seat together on a bench near some foxblush in bloom.

“I have just now heard about Your Majesty’s proposal to radically change the kingdom into something it has never been before,” said Nellist.

“Yes, I suppose the word will circulate quickly now,” said Gully.

Nellist watched Gully to see if he would volunteer any additional information on his intentions with the formation of Bal’Iisen, but Gully waited on the Archbishop patiently.

After a moment, when Gully said no more, the Archbishop nodded curtly once and said, “Well, then, allow me to get to my point quickly. There is much that I like about this idea, Your Highness, but as the leader of the religion of the Iisen people, a religion that is not shared by those of Balmorean descent, and given your disinclination towards our religion as it is, I was—”

Gully interrupted and said, “Nellist... I can guess what your concern is, and I would like to put your mind at ease. Perhaps I do not have the strong faith that you and many in the Iisendom have for the love and guidance of our honored ancestors in the night sky above us, but I want to assure you, in the formation of Bal’Iisen, I have no intention of trying to eliminate this faith from our people.”

The Archbishop immediately exhaled the breath he was holding in suspense at the king’s words.

Gully added, “Perhaps this comes as a surprise to you, Nellist, but the intention in bringing our people together is to bring the best of both to bear in one people going forward. While I will not condone forcing anyone to practice a faith they do not feel in their heart, something that you and the elocutors and interpreters of the church have never done anyway, I am perfectly content to allow you and the church to continue operating as you always have. I have no desire to disband or marginalize the church, and I would answer to Roald and to Thaybrill if I sought to do so! To be honest, I probably should speak to the patriarch to find if there is a Balmorean faith that should be formally recognized in Bal’Iisen as well. He and I have spoken often of the observance and study of fate in their...
our
culture, but I am not sure if that held the place of an established religion in the Balmorean empire, or if it should in ours.”

Nellist said, “Thank you, Your Highness. You can imagine I was a little unnerved at the news of Bal’Iisen and how it might impact the practice of the faith of our people. I am grateful and I am relieved that you see the value our religion provides in the structure of our society and in the lives of our countrymen. And it might surprise
you
, Your Highness, that the patriarch and I have had several lengthy philosophical discussions on the concept of Balmorean fate and how it relates, or does not relate, to the astrolatry of Iisen.”

Gully
was
surprised by this, pleasantly. He was not sure if the two men would get along or not due to their differences of opinion in these matters.

“Remarkably enough,” continued Nellist, “we do not see the two as entirely incompatible. After all, who is to say that our ancestors who rise to the night sky upon their deaths are not precisely the agents of fate that Balmoreans see operating in our daily lives? We’ve spent hours discussing this, and I have grown very fond of the time that I get to spend in such discourse with Aian.”

Gully said, “That pleases me very much, Nellist. I can only hope that all of the Iisen citizens and Balmoreans will find common ground as easily and as respectfully as the two of you!”

Silence fell over the two men, and Gully wondered if the Archbishop wished to speak of anything else. The Archbishop said nothing, but he seemed to be struggling with something he wanted to say, but was not sure if he should. The birds of the orchard darted from one tree to the next, and Gully turned to watch the bumblebees on the yellow blooms of the scattered foxblush bushes beside the path.

Nellist turned to the king and said, “I must confess to you, Your Highness, even as the leader of the church... there are times when I look at the brilliance of the clear night sky and I do not see the watchful and loving eyes of our parents and ancestors keeping us safe and guiding us to be better people. Sometimes, I see the evil among us, seeking hurt and pain and destruction for callously selfish ends, and, in the twinkling light of night, I have my doubts and think the stars to be no more than cold, uncaring pinpoints of light, indifferent to and even unaware of what happens below. Perhaps not all that different from what you might feel, Your Majesty.”