Chapter 16: White and Gold
"Haven't you heard that one can grow attached to a certain object, and if that object is removed, that person would die? Eventually, the two become one."
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Places mentioned:
Castle Katella
A self-sufficient, city-like castle where the King and the Queen and the unmarried Valrinos live.
Tyrannoson:
One of the three kingdoms on the Central Continent, ruled by the Valrino family.
Spring
The capital city of Tyrannoson.
Linsaidea:
One of the three kingdoms on the Central Continent, northwest of Tyrannoson, across a narrow sea, the Rustless Sea, to Mandia. A nomadic, rather savage people that tame mammoths.
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Creatures (that can speak and have names) mentioned:
Leopoldo Valrino
The King of Tyrannoson, and the sixth monarch of the Valrino family.
Queen Evelyn
Leopold'o’s wife. Her brother is the King of Dovewing.
Yisreal Valrino
A son of the King. Leopoldo met the young Yisreal in the woods while hunting. Then the King brought him back to Castle Katella and announced him to be his son.
Chester Valrino
The first-born son of King Leopoldo and Queen Evelyn.
Princess Irene
Leopoldo’s daughter-in-law, married to Prince Chester. She’s also a princess of Dovewing and Queen Evelyn’s niece.
Sean Valrino
The second son of the Queen.
Leslie Valrino
The third son of the Queen. When Leopoldo first brought Yisreal back from hunting, the Queen was pregnant with Leslie.
Nicholas Valrino
The youngest son of the Queen.
Carwen Valrino
The youngest child and the only daughter of King Leopoldo and Queen Evelyn.
Meredith
A mysterious murderess—presumably a mermaid—entrusted to Ivan’s custody by Yisreal, who was supposed to execute her.
Mr. Galorde
Ivan’s grandfather’s apprentice, having served both his grandfather and father as their assistant.
Susan
A pharmacist working under Ivan at the Medical Tower.
Lewis
Ivan’s apprentice, working at the Medical Tower.
Princess Lorien
The daughter of the King of Linsaidea. She arrives in Tyrannoson to fulfill a marriage promise between the two nations, a condition for the Tyrannoson army to pass through the Mammoth Plain and invade Mandia.
Mitheran
One of the two guards and mammoth riders for Princess Lorien. Mitheran was the one wearing a golden tunic and stalked by Ivan in the last chapter.
Armoros
One of the two guards and mammoth riders for Princess Lorien. Armoros was the one wearing a white tunic and stayed with Carwen and Meredith in the woods in the last chapter.
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16
Immediately, the distraction shut off my sight and hearing. I could no longer see his face—only a black dot amid the grass. I wasn’t sure if he had seen my eyes; no one should have been able to from such a distance. But this was Yisreal. He could spot the carved snowflake on an earring without any hint of supernatural aid, unlike my eyes, which always sold me out.
By the time I came down from the Castle Wall, he was gone.
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Something had happened.
The moment I got out from my chamber, I felt it. The sun had passed its highest point in the sky, yet the palace remained quiet—almost desolate—as if I’d slept so long that everybody had died.
Were they at the arena? But I remembered it wasn’t today. I got outside and finally saw people amid those workshops. An apprentice from the kitchen told me in his rush that they’d gone to Chestnut Hill.
It had already passed lunchtime, hadn’t it? I asked him. We had no idea what happened, the apprentice said, but we had to remake some dishes because of the delay.
Though my curiosity tickled me, my hangover persuaded me to go back to the Tower. Time was running out, and none of that was my business. Galorde had gone to Chestnut Hill with Lewis, Susan told me.
“The old man was drunk like a dog,” I said.
I was in the banquet the whole evening until most of them were either gone or drunk. How could I possibly have overslept, yet Galorde was on duty?
“Maybe,” she shrugged, “but at least they found him.”
“What are you talking about?” I protested at her back. “I was in the palace the whole night!”
“Definitely not the whole night.” She observed the potion in front of her face, shaking the bottle.
Ignore her. She had no idea what she was talking about, just like most women. Being intelligent simply lowered—not cancelled—the chance of talking nonsense. But how old was Susan? She was older than Carwen certainly, and younger than the Queen I guessed, but had she ever had a child?
She turned around with a tray of sun-dried herbs and noticed my contemplation of her. She shook her head and continued bustling around.
“Do you know why Irene is barren?” I asked Susan.
“We don't know that, Maester.”
“What do you mean?”
“It's not like she's tried with someone else.”
That turned me speechless, yet she added nothing.
I shook my head, laughing quietly. “I can't bring that to the Queen.”
“No, unless you get evidence.”
“Like I can get evidence?”
Susan turned around this time. She came over and sat down at the table opposite me. I poured her a cup of tea.
She sipped it and said, “Prince Chester certainly has mistresses—he is in charge of cities as far as Kent. If you investigate that, you'll know who's the problem.”
“Susan.”
“U-hum?”
“I'm a physician, not a woman.”
She rolled her eyes.
“Unless you're willing to investigate for me.”
“You want me to stalk a prince.”
“You hardly go to the palace, most people don't know you, and it's easy for you to find an excuse to go to Spring.”
“And what will I get by doing all of that?”
I needed to think about it. The Queen wanted a solution as soon as Princess Lorien left. For one, not even the King knew when she would leave; for another, Chester wasn't likely to meet his mistresses as long as Lorien was here.
“All work, no reward.” Susan stood up.
“How about this—” being desperate, I stopped her from walking away. “Before I think of the reward for you, at least you get your curiosity satisfied and on top of that, extra days off.”
“Now that sounds like a plan.” She sat down.
We discussed stalking Chester. The difficulty did not lie in getting his schedule—to my surprise, Susan had a younger sister, Dalia, responsible for changing beddings and making beds in the palace. Dalia would know if Chester slept in his marriage bed or not. The challenge was that Susan couldn't follow him each time he left Castle Katella, as she might expose herself while crossing the river in another boat.
“I'll go meet her near the laundry house tomorrow,” Susan said. “I won't mention anything other than Chester's schedule.”
I nodded, and seeing the west side window glittering, I said, “Why haven't Galorde and Lewis come back yet?”
“They throw a banquet every day, every meal, anyway.” Susan stood up, stretching, completely uninterested.
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I went out to the palace again and happened to see the hunting party rushing through the gate in stern haste.
Many prey had been brought back in different carts - a few deer and rabbits, some furry four-legged animals I couldn't recognize, and a black bear. But most ostentatiously, at the end came a full-sized tiger.
The game was transported to the side of the palace, and then came the hunters: the King and his children, including all his sons and his only daughter on horseback; then the Queen in her wagon, followed by Lewis sitting outside Carwen's wagon, with the two guards of Princess Lorien bringing up the rear on horses.
I didn't see Galorde. Princess Lorien must have been in Carwen's wagon. Lewis didn't stop before the front gate but detoured to the side. He was going to ride the wagon into the palace, as the front gate had no slope for the horses.
The wagon went all the way to a chamber that I assumed was vacant. The two Linsaidea guards hopped off their horses and edged Lewis out, who just lifted the screen. The white-tunic went into the wagon and came out holding a woman passed from Galorde - an arrow stuck straight up from her chest. After Galorde, Princess Lorien hopped off the wagon.
As I stood perplexed, Lewis saw me in the outer sphere and waved at me.
I passed the royal guards and asked him, "Who was that?"