Draka’s beard grew like a coarse scrub pad in a pattern similar to Rosemary’s coat. His neck and cheeks were white, the dimple of his chin grew as a bright spot of red, and above his lip was dark as Maud’s hair. She rested her hand against his slumbering cheek and moved her thumb over the stubble with a distant, warm grin.
He looked so peaceful for once, lying there on the cot. A few lines at the edges of his eyes, those silvery strands in his auburn hair, and the grays of his beard, but otherwise, he had no signs that he was the same age as her mother. Maybe a laugh-line here and there. The beard aged him. She was trying to decide whether she would shave him before he woke up.
She had already washed his feet, scrubbed his hands and carved the grime from under his fingernails before trimming them. She had washed and trimmed his hair with the help of Senna. Valmond had Draka’s manservants wash his other areas for her and dressed him in clean clothing. That was the only time she wasn’t at his side. And even then, she was only a few paces away from him. She would be there when he woke up.
“The general store is nearly ready,” Cleric Fleurie stood over her, her chainmail clinking with every shifting. “He complained about the price, but didn’t try to bargain for more. I think he is just thankful to be allowed to stay in the walls at all.”
“The apartment above? All of Nina’s things?” Maud moved her hand from Draka’s face cover his arm so she could look up to the Cleric.
“All is prepared according to your command,” Cleric Fleurie mustered a sympathetic grin. “The infirmary is set to receive urgent surgeries and we have pitched roofs for the excess casualties. The Monks are already organized. By your command, are we to move the King or keep him here in the Hall?”
“None of them need be moved except to make room for the bunks,” Maud answered. “Just, make sure the supplies I listed are where I said and in great number.”
“Of course, your Majesty,” Cleric Fleurie nodded. “He’ll wake up soon. He’s just sleeping now, you know.”
“I know,” Maud let out a long breath, “But he needs me when he wakes up. Go, you’re responsible for the Infirmary until she gives in.”
Maud decided she was going to shave him. She was tempted to shave the top of his furry chest, too. How tufts poked from the collar of his shirt sometimes was so gross. Maybe she could snip a bit of it instead. Either way, she began looking through the rack for the oils and blade she needed, she was going to take care of him as much as she could until he woke.
“Majesty,” Valmond finally came to her, accompanied by Cardinal Thomas, who had been the one to coronate Draka in Strasbourg, along with a Paladin who looked about Draka’s age. “I’m so sorry for the delay. Of course, you are familiar with Cardinal Thomas and allow me to introduce Paladin Huhnem Qasim of the Six Pointed Star, Draka’s second within the Order of the Holy Sepulcher.”
Maud straightened from nearly climbing into a cabinet to grab the brush she needed. He had olive skin like Jasmine and Isabella, his hair and beard were dark and trimmed, and his mouth had a thickness and shape she had never seen on a man before. And, he was only a little taller than her, though his broad shoulders didn’t make him any less imposing than the men who towered around him.
“A pleasure to meet you, your Majesty,” his accent was music to her ears.
“Paladin Huhnem, if you have Six Points…”
“Qasim, if it pleases you, your Majesty. Huhnem is the name of my family tribe,” He corrected her politely.
Maud nodded with a sheepish grin. That accent, she swooned. “Qasim. If you are of Six Points, that means you are higher ranking than Paladin Enya.”
“That is true,” Qasim turned his eyes to Cardinal Thomas. “And I have spoken with her on many subjects about the coming engagement and we have come to agreement on that. There will be no conflict between our Orders and I will respect her place as your advisor and liaison between you and myself. I’m merely here to introduce myself as a representative of the Order of Holy Sepulcher until Paladin Draka awakens and retains command. Also, to reassure you that we are preparing this castle and the village properly for siege.”
Maud carefully arranged her words before she spoke them, having filled a bowl with all the things she needed from the shelf and cabinet, “Then I am grateful for your assistance and support, Paladin Qasim. I am sure you have much to do and will keep you no more. If you’ll excuse the Cardinal and I.”
“Of course, Majesty,” the Paladin bowed to her with a hand on his sword—a falchion, like Adrian's, though his was like a curved fish fin with how wide his blade became at the middle of its curve. She wondered if he might have been the one to teach him how to use it. Or did Draka know how to use a falchion as well? Or did Adrian know him at all? And how well did Draka know him?
Once the Paladin was away, Valmond said as Cardinal Thomas sat in the chair Maud was planning on sitting in to shave Draka’s beard, “Enya is finishing with reports from the lesser officers before she will be coming in. The villagers are being vetted and volunteers recruited. Our stocks are nearly full because of the harvest, thankfully, so we should have an approximation of how many we can house inside the keep at capacity and for how long before this evening.”
“Valmond,” Maud gave him a curt blink, “I need actual reports. Everything else, I know is being done because if it isn’t, I’m going to remove whoever didn’t do my command from the keep and replace them with someone who will. Make sure they know this and come to me with what is being completed. I want the villagers inside this keep, vetted or not, before the first skirmish. All fighting age men are not coming into this keep unless they are members of the Holy Sepulcher or ranking Clerics of Enya’s staff. Women and children will be inside these walls. Tell Enya that for me.”
Valmond leaned toward her with a whisper, “Your Majesty, that is ill advised. Notwithstanding what you're doing with Anatolians, you put yourself and all of us in grave danger. If there is one within…”
“You’re fighting age, are you not?” Maud glared.
Valmond stiffened. “I will relay your message forthwith.”
Cardinal Thomas chuckled. His watchful eyes followed Maud as she moved to the other side of Draka’s cot and set the bowl on his chest. His bushy brows were cocked at her while she took out everything and laid them across Draka’s blanket.
“I apologize for the informality of our meeting, your excellency,” Maud poured water onto the powder a few drops at a time, shaking the bowl to stir it until she poured enough in it. “I will kiss your ring as soon as I have the mixture thick enough that it won’t spill from his breathing.”
“I don’t expect you to anyway,” Cardinal Thomas leaned back in the chair with a warm grin. “I’m merely glad you have found time to speak with me.”
That made Maud grin. “Thank you, Cardinal, but I know that etiquette requires me to.”
She finished the stirring of the bowl and walked around the end of the cot where Draka’s bare feet poked out, all eight toes and two knubs. Lifting her red petticoat of her crimson wardress, she knelt before the Cardinal and took his hand with a kiss of the plain iron cross on the ring of his pinky.
Maud returned to where she had been and began using the brush to lather Draka’s stubbly beard. “I hope your trip from Sodiulakim was an uneventful one. At least, in comparison to your arrival.”
“It was,” Cardinal Thomas was studying her with a cocked brow. “I was expecting a very different reception, I will admit, though it was a difference in the adversity, not the adversary.”
Maud made it thickest on Draka’s chin. She had never shaved a man’s face by herself before. Once or twice, she had helped her mother shave her father and that was mostly by holding the bowl. She began sharpening the knife on the wet stone.
“We were told you came with my mother’s first set of armor. Is that true?”
“Yes,” he nodded, ever watchful of her hands. "Though, it is not her official Paladin armor. It will suffice against mortal enemies."
“And Draka’s replacements? His armor was very damaged after Strasbourg and the harpies. He needs his armor in the upcoming siege. I already know I won’t be able to stop him from leading his men in battle, whether he has it or not.”
“I have his armor as well. Your Marshall has them in her possession, for when they are ready to acquire them and I’ve already anointed them.”
“Good,” Maud tested the edge of the blade after eyeing it. She needed it a little sharper. “And my father’s dissolution. What is to happen with that?”
This made Cardinal Thomas’s grin fall away along with that crooked brow to the sound of a heavy breath. “That, my dear child, is the reason I was hoping to speak with your father as soon as he awoke.”
Maud eyed the blade after a few more slides across the wet stone. “I understand the hesitation, excellency, as I, too, have been advised of the…consequences.” She decided it was sharp enough and drew in a breath, leaning close to Draka’s ear as she laid the blade to his cheek. She drew it slowly across, cutting the stubble away to reveal smooth skin beneath. Her steady hands were leaving it unscathed. “But that marriage makes the Mother of Demons my step-mother and, therefore, the Queen of Alcalia.” She lifted the blade and her eyes to look at the Cardinal, “You understand why I might be impatient.”
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“And you understand that unleashing the fury of that being while under siege would only compound an already precarious situation,” the Cardinal gave her the same warning Enya had. “I am impatient of the issue as well, but you cannot lay siege and be under siege at the same time within the same space. It would be tactically foolish. You should listen to the counsel of those who have the knowledge and experience in such things.”
Maud brushed the lather she had scraped from Draka’s newly shaven cheek onto the towel on her shoulder with a somber nod. “I believe they have come to prevent or lift the siege of the Abbey anyway. Their movements according to our scouts say as much. So, why not free him of that—creature—and be done with it?”
“Once we are sure,” Cardinal Thomas narrowed his eyes. “I will free your father of his connection to her, but not before.”
Maud turned Draka’s head and began shaving his other cheek. “That seems very reasonable, thank you, excellency,” Maud didn’t look away from concentrating on her careful slides of the knife across Draka’s skin. As if she were saying it to no one in particular, perhaps more to herself than to him, she said, “What could possibly have gone through his head to marry her in the first place? Why would God have allowed such a match when he was meant to be a Paladin?”
Cardinal Thomas shrugged, now looking thoughtfully at Draka, “It is always a fruitless venture to question God’s plans or intentions. One tends to see their meaning and reasons long after they come to fruition, and never before. I do have this to ask of you, Queen Regent…”
Maud wiped the excess lather on her towel again when she met his eyes.
“Why do you think Sophia Lilith chose Draka when his sister introduced them?” Cardinal Thomas was studying her again. His eyes piercing deep into hers. “Twenty-five years past, you know. Which was about the time that your father first laid eyes on your mother, when Talkro had its first bout of violent upheaval against a newcomer—led by your grandfather, and when many other things happened that led to this exact moment and the people who are here, now.”
“I don’t know,” Maud shook her head, pursing her brows. “I think that Draka was chosen by God and so she chose him because she’s twisted and evil that way, hoping to corrupt what God had made.”
“He was a pagan when she chose him,” Cardinal Thomas shrugged again. “He partook in ritual sacrifices—human sacrifices—I know, I was a missionary in the area trying to convert his tribe.”
He leaned toward her. She still hadn’t returned to shaving. All he had left was his moustache and chin.
Cardinal Thomas narrowed his eyes, “I’ve been thinking about this since the moment it was revealed to me and the conclusion I’ve come to is one that I’m deeply uncomfortable with, but it makes sense.”
“What?”
“God created Draka so that Lilith would choose him, placed him in a tribe where he, as a man, would accept her with all his heart,” Cardinal Thomas’s gaze drifted to Draka’s nearly shaven face, “And would hold true until he found your mother and you, until he came to Talkro to awaken the good within it and defeat the evil that has been festering here for a century with all the might to might to bring it down. And when this battle is over, I have no doubt that there is a greater purpose to the union of your mother and him than anything we could imagine. And, from what I’ve seen since my arrival, since I last saw you at the coronation, for you as well.”
Maud choked a laugh, shaking her head. “Right.” She had her doubts about that. She shaved Draka’s upper lip and began concentrating on carefully shaving his chin. “I’m just a farmgirl playing queen until he wakes up and makes babies of his own.”
“With your mother?”
That made Maud laugh even louder, forcing her to pull the blade away. “Either way, they’ll be his trueborn heirs, not me.”
“You’re his adopted heir and you are your mother’s heir,” Cardinal Thomas was studying her again.
Maud shrugged at that. “I guess I should have asked if you brought me armor, too. My Paladin powers should be coming soon, then. Like mother, like daughter.”
“Paladin? Interesting,” Cardinal Thomas regarded her once more. “That isn’t something that is hereditary. I was referring to the only title Draka has issued and wanted our support on for you in particular in case you found yourself precisely where you are. Your claim to Alcalia as his adopted daughter isn’t only through him.”
Maud had finished the chin and was lifting it to get Draka’s neck with a smile, “Is that so?”
“Your mother’s family were once the rulers of these lands until about the time the Abbey was overrun. In fact, their support was once considered integral to this region’s diocese,” that made Maud freeze. “An odd coincidence, isn’t it? That when the Taggertys overthrew your family, the Abbey was overtaken by demons and Talkro became pagan. Draka is reinstating your family’s claim, making you the rightful heir by adoption and as a Beauvais claimant with the highest noble title. Your mother is second only because, as the direct heiress by lineage, she is a Countess once he bestows the title to her. And yes, you have the support of the Church as a Beauvais claimant and the Paladinate as a Luminis.”
“Well, that’s a relief,” Maud dropped the knife in water and began cleaning Draka’s smooth face with a damp cloth. “So, my family was overthrown by them while being supported by you. What good is your support then?”
Cardinal Thomas drew in a breath, his eyes widening. “Well…”
“They encourage loyalty and tend to be useful in alleviating upheaval among the masses,” Enya leapt to his rescue. “I warned you, didn’t I? She’s quick. Your Majesty.”
Maud straightened with a smug grin.
“Yes, I see that now,” Cardinal Thomas had a humored look on his face.
“Valmond gave me your message,” Enya began.
Maud narrowed with a sharp turn of her eyes, “And it will be obeyed. Have those that are not native to Talkro—including the offlander husbands and wives—confined to the Hall while the rest help with the siege and care of the wounded. Place guards, reliable and loyal ones, if you must. But no one who isn’t going to be fighting will be outside these walls.”
“There are Celestes within Talkro, that was Nina’s warning. They’ve infiltrated us,” Enya was gritting her teeth. “One door, one window, and the whole keep falls!”
“Then make sure that there are men-at-arms among the guards who don’t have to worry about being revoked if they kill someone trying to open that window, Commander,” Maud returned the glare. “I’m not having my first act as Queen be leaving children on the streets of our village while a battle is raging around them. This Hall should be filled already. What of the fishery and the stocks? Have the fishermen moved their equipment to the docks beneath us so they can fish during the siege?”
Enya looked like she wanted to spit. Grinding her teeth, “Balian Clevlan has been leading the fishermen in the efforts. He says the fishery will be stripped before nightfall. I would like for you to walk with me along the battlements to see what our preparations entail when you are ready, your Majesty.”
“I will stay by the King’s side until he wakes. I trust you know what you are doing and will work seamlessly with Paladin Qasim and maybe convince Princess Jasmine to change her mind and coordinate your strategies.”
“Then, I would like to move you and the King to his chambers as soon as possible.”
“I must be where I can keep an eye on Nina and Adrian, should they have complications from their surgeries as well as future casualties since your forces are ill equipped for them,” Maud’s fists were balled tight. Her own teeth were grinding as she growled, “Which is your fault. I’m the only qualified surgeon present, which is Princess Jasmine’s fault, I have to be where the wounded are. Find a solution to those problems and I will gladly go where you advise. Until then, I remain where I see fit as the senior Infirmarian.”
“Maud, for all that is holy!” Enya stomped, her gauntleted hand reaching as if it was yearning to grab her by the throat, “You’re putting yourself in the most vulnerable possible position and you’re the only heir left! If something happens to you, we have no one left to rule!”
“Then do your job and protect me while I do mine.”
“If I may interject,” the Cardinal began.
“You may not,” Maud snapped.
Both Enya and Cardinal Thomas stared at her with widened eyes.
“I won’t move Nina, it could kill her. Block us off with sheets, guards, whatever, but get those people inside this Hall. And anyone that does pose a threat is someone who should have a spear and be on our lines. If they can fight, then they better be learning how while your trained soldiers prepare the rest.”
Enya nodded, softening, “Good point.”
“They tried to kill my family, they’re coming to kill my people,” Maud took a step toward Enya, glaring. “I’m not telling you how to defend us. I’m just telling you to make sure that the defenseless are in here. Why is that so hard for you to follow?”
“Because you and the King are in here.”
It took a moment, took Maud turning to Draka, but she knew in her heart that Enya was right. She relented with a nod. “Take him to his chamber, then. And, I…I’m your only surgeon. So many will die from wounds that can be treated if I don’t—”
“You need armor,” Enya drew her gaze back to her.
Maud crinkled her brow, knowing that her face was filled with worry. She only nodded, “It needs to allow me the ability to move my arms and use my hands freely.”
“We have some that will allow you to do that,” Enya nodded. “I’ll send for the quartermaster.”
“He needs me there when he wakes up,” Maud combed Draka’s hair with her fingers. “He lost Vigora. He’ll feel so alone without her.”
“He’ll get over it when he knows you’ve been safe,” Enya shrugged. “Now, if you will, please, I need you to come with me. I’d like to show you something while they move him.”
Maud nodded, hesitant to move from Draka’s side even as men were coming to lift his cot. “Of course.”
