The Rival (14 page)

From that moment on, he gave the boy as much attention as he could spare.  Arianna had taken some of the worries from him.  When Sebastian took over the throne, Arianna would be beside him, his brains and his guide.  Sebastian listened to her.  Her impulsiveness wouldn't be on the throne  —  the boy's slowness would always give her time to reconsider her decisions  —  but her brilliance would.

Nicholas reached the top of the stairs.  The servants said they had dressed Sebastian and told him to wait.  Then Nicholas had gotten delayed.  The poor boy had probably been standing near the window for most of the afternoon, trying not to soil his good clothing.

The hallway was empty.  Most of the servants were below, cleaning the Great Hall, or putting the finishing touches on platters of food.  This would be a feast and a celebration no one would forget.  They would all accept Sebastian.  Nicholas would see to that.

Still, he didn't like the emptiness.  In the future, he would make certain that someone guarded Sebastian at all times.   The boy was heir to the throne, and an unpopular heir at that.  All it took would be one unguarded moment, and the boy would be lost for good.

Nicholas's heart twisted.  He had guarded Jewel every moment of every day, and still she had been lost.  Betrayed by a man of God.  Since then, no Rocaanist had been allowed in the palace.  Nor would one ever be allowed, as long as holy water killed the royal family.

Sometimes it felt as if he were over her death, and then the next moment, the heartache would return, as fierce as it had been the moment it happened.  He had been without her longer than he had been with her, but it seemed like he could still hear her.  He could still see her, more and more each passing day, as Arianna grew up. She was approaching the age Jewel was when Nicholas first saw her, wielding a sword in the palace's kitchen.

He shook the memory away and made his way toward Sebastian's suite.  The door was closed, but he heard voices. Angry, female voices.

Arianna and Solanda.

They were fighting.

They never fought. 

He opened the door quietly and stepped inside.  Sebastian was sitting on the bed, his fine robes gathered beneath him, the smoothness of the fabric already creased.  A smear of dirt ran along one side of his robe.

Arianna was sitting beside him, arms crossed, eyes fierce.  She frowned when she saw him.  Solanda was straddling the cane-backed chair.  She stood abruptly, as if Nicholas had caught her doing something wrong.

"Are we having a meeting?" he asked.

"No, Daddy," Arianna said, and he could tell from her tone that she was upset.

Sebastian looked at him.  The boy's eyes held a deep sadness, and for the first time since he'd been born, he looked guilty. 

"What happened to your robe, son?" Nicholas asked gently.

Sebastian looked down at his robe.  Slowly his large hands closed on the dirt stain.  "Ohhhhh."  The word came out as a sigh.

"Daddy," Arianna said.  "There was a Fey in here."

Solanda started.  Guiltily, it seemed.  Nicholas had never seen her do that before.

He tried to keep it light.  The room had an air of tension.  No sense magnifying it because of his own disquiet.  "As I see it, there are one Fey and two half Fey in here."

"No, Daddy."  Arianna's exasperation was quick and sudden.  She put a hand over Sebastian's, stopping him from examining the stain on the side of his robe.  "A Fey man was here.  He was trying to get Sebastian to leave with him."

Nicholas's throat went dry.  Arianna was fanciful, but she would never make anything like that up.  "What happened?" he asked.

"I scared him off.  Then I chased him.  I would have got him, too, but Solanda stopped me.  She knew him.  She let him get away."

Nicholas felt the blood drain from his face.  First a report of Fey armies in the south and now this.  "Solanda?" he said.

She was standing rigidly, her usually graceful body a single line.  Her fists were clenched, and her gaze darted between Arianna and Nicholas.  "You don't want to ask me this," she said.

"I do if they were trying to kidnap my son."

"They weren't trying to kidnap your son," she said.

"Then what happened?" His voice was harsher than he'd planned.  He would never let anyone attack his family again.  Never.

"Gift … " Sebastian said. 

All three of them looked at him.

" … was … here."

"You
know
him?" Arianna asked.  Her fingers wrapped around his hand, her knuckles white.  The grip looked painful, but Sebastian didn't pull away.

He nodded.

"How could you know a Fey?" she asked.

He looked at Solanda.  She had backed up toward the cold fireplace.  She shook her head.

"Solanda," Nicholas said, a chill running through him.  Something was wrong.  Something was very wrong.  "It would take him too long to tell us.  You explain this."

"You don't want me to," she said.

"I have asked.  Twice." 

Arianna was watching her, features set.  Sebastian looked terrified.  He hadn't looked that scared since he saved Arianna's life.  How could Sebastian know something the rest of the family didn't? 

"I tried to tell you.  Years ago," Solanda said.  "You didn't believe me."

"I'm ready to believe you now."

Solanda glanced at Sebastian, as if asking for his permission.  She hardly gave him credence before. 

Nicholas's mouth was dry.

"It's … all … right," Sebastian said.   A tear had formed in his left eye.  It hovered on his lower lid.  "Bet-ter … now … than … to-night."

Nicholas frowned.  He could feel the detachment happen as his brain separated from his body.  He had learned that so that he could make decisions under extreme emotion stress.  He could tell that this would be one of those times.

Solanda took a deep breath.  "The Fey that was here this afternoon, Nicholas, was your son."

His son?

The tear fell off Sebastian's lower lid and landed on his cheekbone.  Arianna wiped it away.

"Sebastian is my son," Nicholas said, not understanding, maybe deliberately not understanding.  He couldn't have this conversation now.  Not with the Coming of Age moments away. 

"No," Solanda said.  "Sebastian is not your son.  He's a golem.  A changeling.  Rugar stole your son five days after he was born."

"No," Nicholas said.

"Yes," Solanda said.  Her voice actually had compassion in it.

Nicholas took a deep breath and turned toward the wall.  The detachment wasn't working.  Emotions flowed as quickly as the memories:

The laughing, bright-eyed baby that grabbed his finger in its tiny fist.

The stone-faced creature that woke from a nap one afternoon and never left.

The dream child, the boy he had imagined, brighter, better than any born on the Isle.

The real baby, so heavy that Nicholas grunted when he lifted him, whose skin was cold and whose eyes were as dull and flat as rock.

"No," he whispered. 

The baby he always wanted existed.  The son of his imaginings was alive  —  and raised by Rugar.

Nicholas shoved away from the wall.  "Why didn't you tell me?  Why didn't you let me know so that I could get him back?"

Sebastian winced.  Arianna's skin turned gray.  Solanda had her arms crossed over her chest.  "I did tell you," she said, speaking slowly, as if Nicholas were the imbecile.  "more than once."

Then Nicholas remembered the day Arianna was born.  He had been holding her in his arms.  She was still covered with afterbirth,  and already the Fey were fighting over her.  Nicholas was in the kitchen, Jewel's body in front of the hearth fire, the nurse and Sebastian cowering beside it.  The cat that had watched the birth had just Shifted from cat to woman, the first time he'd ever seen that happen. 

That was when he met Solanda.  She had looked at him with contempt, even then, even when she was offering to care for his daughter.

Rugar wants this little girl,
she had said. 
He'll never have her.  There are ways he could steal her, you know.  It's been done before.

Then she had looked at Sebastian.

He stole my son?
Nicholas had asked.

Solanda had nodded.

But my son is here now,
Nicholas had said.

She had made a small huffing sound, as if she couldn't believe how stupid he was. 
You believe that is your son?

What else could he be?

She had shrugged. 
A bit of stone?  A lump of clay?

He hadn't believed her.  How could a living, breathing child be clay? 

His own son.

His real son. 

His boy, and Jewel's, full grown and raised by the Fey.

At every turn, they stole from him.  Since the Fey had come, they had taken everything precious from his life.

And given him such precious things in return.

Arianna had taken a step toward Solanda.  Her little hands were in fists.  Sebastian reached for her  —  slowly, and too late.

"That's not true," Arianna said.  "You lie.  Sebastian is my brother."

"Is he?" Solanda asked.  "Then why did that Fey boy look just like him?  Only that boy could move.  He could speak clearly.  He was brilliant.  Why?"

"What kind of magick are you talking about here?" Nicholas asked.  He felt dizzy.  He propped himself against the wall.

"Changeling magick.  The Wisps brought in an enchanted stone.  They put it in the place of your son, and it became him.  Except it was empty inside.  It should have disintegrated after a few weeks, but it didn't.  It became a golem.  I thought Jewel had infused it with life by loving it, but I was wrong.  It outlived her.  Someone else had given it life."

" … Gift … " Sebastian said.

Nicholas looked at Sebastian.  He loved that boy, stone or not.  How could he love something that wasn't real?  "Why does he keep saying that?"

"Gift is your son's name," Solanda said.

Gift.

He had a son named Gift.

A real child, as bright and quick and beautiful as Arianna.

As Jewel.

Jewel, we have a son.

" … Gift … made … me … " Sebastian said.  " … Through … our … Link … "

Solanda shook her head once and closed her eyes.  Her features were pursed together, and she looked more like her cat self than her Fey self.

"What's he saying?" Arianna asked.

Solanda opened her eyes.  "You are unbelievable children," she said.

"I still don't understand," Nicholas said.  "If this Gift is my son, why did he come for Sebastian?  Was he going to stand in Sebastian's place during the ceremony?"

"I don't know," Solanda said.  "I didn't know he was here until I saw Arianna chase him out of the window."

"What did he want?" Nicholas asked Sebastian.  The boy's entire face was a mask of sorrow.

"He kept saying he wanted Sebastian to leave with him," Arianna said.  "He was trying to get him to agree.  I made him run away."

"Why did he want Sebastian to leave?  Did he want to take his place?"

"He wanted them to go together," Arianna said. "I thought he was kidnapping Sebastian."

" … No … " Sebastian said.

Nicholas crouched before him, and took the boy's hand.  Sebastian's skin was cool as usual, something Nicholas had always found odd.  The boy had never been warm enough.  "Why did he come?" Nicholas asked.

Sebastian took his other hand away from Arianna's.  Then he held up one finger.  It meant he was going to say something which would take some time.

"Gift … said … he … Saw … death … here.   … He … showed …  me … an … old …  Fey … talking  … to … one … of … us.  Some-times … it … was … him.  Some-times … it … was … me.  Then … another … Fey … killed … him … or … me.  It … hap-pened … in … the … pa-lace.  He … was … a-fraid … to … let … me … stay.  But … I … didn't … want … to … go … with-out … telling … you … or … Ari."

Nicholas sat down.  All of this was too much for him.  The boy had come to save Sebastian?  Not to take his rightful place at Nicholas's side? 

Solanda had focused all her intensity on Sebastian.  Her cat's eyes glowed.  "An old Fey?" Solanda said.  "The Shaman?"

Sebastian shook his head.

"Had you ever seen Gift before?" Nicholas asked.  How many times had he missed his son?

"Not … in … per-son.  He's … been … in … here  — " and Sebastian slowly pointed to his head " — since … we … were … tiny.  We're … Linked."

"What's Linked?" Nicholas asked Solanda.  His impatience came through his voice.  How could Sebastian have known Gift and Nicholas not have?  Why hadn't Solanda told him?  Or Arianna?

What were the Fey doing by holding his son?

"We're all Linked," Solanda said.  "We are Linked by blood and we are Linked by love.  Most of us feel those ties but can do nothing about them.  A few, Visionaries and Enchanters mostly, can travel across the Links and visit the other person inside his own head."

"So Gift," Nicholas said, "has magick."

Like Jewel had said he would.

She had been right.

She had been so right.

And her father had destroyed it all.

"Visions," Solanda said.  "Gift is a powerful Visionary.  The most powerful we've seen."

She was looking at Arianna as she spoke, and Nicholas knew why.  Jewel had said their children would have powerful magick.  Arianna had Shifted since she was in the womb.  Her abilities were strong.  So, apparently, were her brother's.

"And he created Sebastian?  He made the Changeling?"

"No," Solanda said.  "Rugar had the Changeling made.  Usually that's a Domestic skill.  What Gift did was breathe life into stone.  Essence can be left inside a Link.  If this worked in a traditional manner, little pieces of Gift were left inside Sebastian until they became their own personality."

"So Sebastian is a living person," Nicholas asked, with some relief.

"Did you doubt that?"  Solanda asked.

"You did," Arianna snapped.  "You called him the lump."

His personality did seem to have evolved over the years.  Sebastian was a child of Nicholas and Jewel too, then.  A bit of Gift living among them.