Chapter 8

I feel woefully inadequate. My daughter is married, and that is a very good thing. I thought I was a good wife to King Tybis, and that I had prepared Tera for the things she needed to know. Master expects so much more from a woman than I've ever imagined. It's been a week now since the wedding and his house is finally settling into place. His concubines have taken Tera under their wing and she is learning. It's slow though and she often comes to me with tears in her eyes.

He may not be Master by the law, but I feel so inept that he might as well be Master in fact. He had been very busy lately trying to find the culprits behind Tybis' murder. The more I learn of the things that were hidden from me, the less I cry over his memory. I consider myself fortunate that women were not among his interests. Tybis was a sick man, under questioning several of the bodyguards admitted knowing my dead husband was doing... unspeakable things to Belegar, his own son and heir.

I was kept cloistered so long that I never saw the unrest of the nobles, not that there was anything I could do about while he lived. Master says that writing about my anger will help. I don't know whether it will or not. I find myself doing the things he asks not just because he says to, but because I want to. And most of the time he does ask, not order, that too has been tough getting used to.

Others would do well to follow the example Praetia sets, he may be young but already he is a formidable presence in any room. He made sure I was there while he questioned the guards, saying I needed to hear the horrible things first hand that I might heal. The soldiers were all much bigger than Master, but they sat respectfully and answered the questions put to them. He had the foresight to house them in separate quarters throughout the palace mixed in with the Praetian forces. A few more useful tidbits drifted through that channel. Horrible as it all was, it still didn't answer the question of "who?"

Other hidden activities have turned up as well, double taxation and rampant corruption. Master suspects the Kingdom to be on the brink of collapse and possibly civil war. The nobles who came to Praetia have been wary, certain that at least one of their peers orchestrated the attack. I fear Master will have a terrible time meting out a just decision when this is over. Tybis deserved to die, but not my son.

Perhaps when we arrive back in Macea he will be able to uncover the truth. We'll be leaving tomorrow. Most of the nobles have already left, I'm not sure I like that.

Everything was chaos this morning. We were up before dawn to finish packing. Everyone in his house would be making the journey, none of us could bear not being with him. Carriages were available, but we choice to ride on horses instead. Master made us dress almost as men, so that anyone watching the column would have that much more trouble picking us out. He had even made sure we were outfitted with a special lightweight chain mail. He claimed it could stop even a crossbow bolt at close range.

One of the things he had done was create a battle standard that would serve for the new combined Kingdom. It was the ancient Praetian Eagle perched on the edge of an upright Macean shield. Unlike the typical Praetian Eagle with its head flung back in a challenging roar, this one held a sword, by the blade, in its beak. He created the first with the help of a mage, his pure thoughts channeled into forming the cloth. After that it was easy to make copies. It was a proud banner and all the soldiers from the mixed force stood a little straighter when it was raised into place at the head of the main body of troops.

Master wouldn't say whether he expected trouble, but it was plain he was taking no chances. It was a tense time but no unit of purely Praetian or purely Macean soldiers remained. Most were led by Praetian officers, but just enough of the Maceans had been kept in high posts that no one complained too much. Overall I was surprised they took it so well, it's a delicate thing making drastic changes to an army's chain of command. Many of the departing soldiers brought their families along expecting to be stationed in Macea for an indefinite period.

Our luggage was piled into the otherwise empty carriages. There were also a couple heavy wagons near the rear, loaded with all the materials needed to create a secure temporary fort. We would only need it a couple nights, the others we would spend at more permanent installations. Not exactly comfortable, but good enough. And nothing like Tybis would have demanded. He was a stickler for comfort, never traveling anywhere without a large wagon done up as travel quarters.

We started down the road only a half hour late. Master seemed quite pleased. It felt grand riding out under the open sun. I stayed near the middle where I had been told to along with his other slave. Every quarter hour someone would drop back from the scouts probing the road ahead. He would speak to Master then spur his horse to catch up. It was never the same soldier twice in a row. I counted three who had dropped back in the first couple hours. I was certain that at least one was formerly a Macean captain.

Every half hour someone else rode up from the rear and gave a report from there. I could hear nothing of the exchanges but to a man they showed great respect to Master. I became convinced that I had made the best possible choice when I committed my daughter and people to his leadership.

We were passing through farm land and people stopped what they were doing to watch us parade by. The small children would climb onto the stone walls and sit there, the mouths hanging open. The little boys laughed and the girls swooned.

There is one house in particular I remember. We had been on the road for about four hours. It was a small house like so many of the other cottages we passed. The gate post had a decoration I had never seen before. An old man hobbled through the gate, crippled by time and battle injuries suffered long ago. Despite his obvious pain he brought himself to attention as the column passed. What surprised me more was that every Praetian from the lowest enlisted man to the two Captains I could see returned it, and many of the former Maceans did likewise. Master even dismounted nearby and came to formal parade salute before shaking the old man's hand.

Seeing my confusing Master's other slave pointed to the ornament hanging on the gate-post, "that's the symbol for the Order of Praetia, only the King can award that."

Macea had such things, but they tended to be awarded on a political basis rather than merit. I had a feeling that here was yet another difference between our two seemingly similar nations. Master waved Tera over, I had watched her follow this show of respect and could tell she was feeling confused. It was a situation her upbringing hadn't prepared her for, she was married to the Prince, Heir to the Praetian throne, and already de facto King of Macea, yet he was showing deferential respect to someone who appeared to be nothing more than an aged farmer? His concubines approached with her, I was amazed at how well they took their change in status.

Not that anything real had changed, mind you. The forms were followed for the eyes of others, but internally Anori still managed the day to day tasks. She is a great peace maker. I suppose as his wife Tera could have tried to pushing them out of his life, but I don't think it would have worked. They had been raised from birth to please him and him alone and to be everything he needed. Tera had been neglected by her father and I had no understanding of what I needed to do.

Master helped Tera dismount, he made it look effortless. She fell into his arms wrapping hers around him for a drawn out moment. The sun sparkled in her eyes. I realized with a start that it was a new expression for her, that her eyes just a month and a half ago had been hollow and dull. Our diet wasn't terribly different, but the fabric that held our lives together had changed. I find we both laugh a lot more than we ever did before. And I began to have hope that Master might actually be able to make this work. Tera bowed deeply to the old man, then took one of his hands in both of hers. I had sidled close enough to hear her say, "Thank you, I've never really seen the glue that holds a people together before."