A Dance of Shadows

CHAPTER 2

Her servant women fussed over her, fitting clothes, applying rouge, and brushing her hair, until Alyssa Gemcroft finally sent them away, unable to take any more. They filed out, leaving her alone in her extravagant bedroom. Well, not quite alone…

“Come down, Zusa,” she said. “Tell me what is wrong.”

From a far corner of the room, hidden in a dark space unlit by the windows, a woman fell to the ground. Despite the many years since she had left Karak’s cult of faceless women, Zusa still wore the tight wrappings across her body, strips of cloth colored various shades of black and purple. Her head, at least, she exposed: dark skin, dark hair cut short at the neck, and beautiful green eyes. A long gray cloak hung from her shoulders, the thin material curling about her body with the slightest tugs of Zusa’s fingers.

“There is nothing wrong,” Zusa said, crossing her arms over her chest and leaning against the wall.

“I’m used to you keeping an eye on me, but you only hide on the ceiling when you’re nervous.” Alyssa smiled at her friend. “You know I trust your instincts, so tell me.”

Zusa gestured to the dress.

“You doll yourself up worse than a whore. Powder everywhere, rouge, perfume on your neck… and I must say, I pity your breasts.”

Alyssa looked down at herself. She’d let her servants prepare her for her meeting, but had they gotten carried away? Her dress was a sultry red, tightly fitted, with a ring of rubies sewn along the neck. A gold chain held a large emerald tucked into the curve of her breasts, which, true to Zusa’s words, her corset had rammed almost unnaturally high.

“This is what is expected of me,” Alyssa said, sighing. She wanted to sit down but feared wrinkling her dress or, even worse, straining the ties of the corset. The realization made her blush, and she could tell Zusa knew her defense was a flimsy one.

“Since when did Lady Gemcroft do the expected?” Zusa asked, the last of her nerves fading away with a smile. “But you are beautiful, even if overdone. I only wonder why. Lord Stephen is but a child, young even compared to you. Your smile alone should impress him.”

Alyssa paced, keeping her movements slow and controlled lest she muss her appearance.

“It’s been a year since his appointment, and I have yet to meet him. I fear he’ll think I have snubbed him, or deemed him unworthy of his position. I wish only to make a good impression.”

Zusa sat down on the bed, shifting the daggers tied to her waist so they did not poke into the soft mattress.

“He will think it anyway,” she said. “Though I fear his impression will be that you are making advances on him.”

Alyssa opened her mouth, closed it, and then looked to her dress. She sighed.

“Help me, will you?” she asked.

Ten minutes later she was in a far more comfortable dress, and they’d wiped clean her face. Alyssa left her hair the same, having always enjoyed the sight of thin braids woven throughout her long red locks. Able to breathe and move far more freely, she hugged Zusa, then attached a simple lace of silver about her own neck.

“We have kept Stephen waiting long enough,” she said. “Let’s go.”

A litter waited outside her mansion, and she and Zusa climbed inside. As they traveled through the streets of Veldaren, Alyssa felt butterflies in her stomach and did her best to belittle them. It was stupid to be nervous. Of the three family rulers of the Trifect, she’d been in power the longest and had clearly solidified her control of the Gemcroft fortune. Stephen Connington was but a bastard son of his father, Leon. Still, he was the only one with a clear biological relation. It’d been a couple of years before he’d been granted control of the estate from the caretakers. In the end they’d had no choice. Leon had killed most of his family members and steadfastly refused to name heirs, lest they drown him in his bath.

She winced at the memory of Leon. He’d been unpleasant at times, if not repulsive. The fat had rolled off him, yet his tiny eyes had always been those of a young, starving man eager to take, and take, regardless of the vice. She’d heard stories of what his gentle touchers-his private group of elite torturers-could do to a man to make him break. A shudder ran through her. She prayed that Stephen had inherited very little of his father beyond his name.

As for the last family of the Trifect, the Keenans, they’d yet to recover from the fiasco in Angelport two years before, when both Madelyn and Laurie had been murdered along with their temporary successor, Torgar. Their grandchild, Tori, was the biological heir, but it would be many years before she could take over rule. That had left Stern Blackwater in charge of the Keenan fortune down in Angelport. There was a benefit to this: the cessation of significant conflict with the Merchant Lords of the south who had done their best to destroy the Trifect families. Still, even Stern’s rule was conflicted, and he rarely made any appearances beyond the walls of Angelport. If he thought the Trifect was no longer in his granddaughter’s interest, he’d cast it off in a heartbeat.

That meant Alyssa was the pillar of strength of the Trifect, the one holding it all together. She had to be strong and confident whenever in public.

“I should have brought Nathaniel with me,” Alyssa said as the litter bounced across the rough street.

“Your son is better served with an honorable man like Lord Gandrem than dealing with worms like the Conningtons,” Zusa said.

Alyssa frowned and glanced out the curtained window to the passing homes.

“Perhaps,” she said. “But it won’t be long before he must put away foolish fantasies of knights and armies. I won’t have all I’ve built squandered and broken like it did for the Keenans. In time he must learn to deal with the worms as well as the dragons.”

Not long after, they arrived at the closely guarded Connington mansion and exited the litter. Thick, high walls protected the mansion from intruders, and armed soldiers with sashes about their waists to show their loyalty to the family patrolled the area. At the gate, two men bowed and opened it wide so they could enter. One of them sneered at Zusa’s appearance, but the woman twirled, blew him a kiss, and then followed after Alyssa.

“Must I tell you to behave?” Alyssa whispered as they crossed the stone path toward the mansion entrance.

“I could have struck his head, if you would prefer.”

Alyssa glanced back, saw the same guard watching them with a sneer on his face.

“Perhaps on the way out,” she said, and they both quietly laughed.

Another guard stopped them at the door, and he glared at the daggers Zusa carried.

“No weapons,” he told them.

“Zusa is my bodyguard, and will use them only to protect me,” Alyssa said.

“There is no need. You are safe within these walls.”

“Is that so?” Alyssa asked. “How long have you served the Conningtons, good sir?”

“Nine years,” said the guard.

“That means you were here. Excellent. Please, tell me, where were you when your former master died?”

The guard swallowed hard. Leon had died in the mansion barracks, believed by most to have been killed by the Watcher.

“Very well,” said the guard. “But do not draw them unless forced.”

The doors opened, and they stepped inside. Alyssa had been there before, after its reconstruction following the fire during the Bloody Kensgold. The floors were still soft, deep-red rugs that she knew had to be a nightmare to keep clean. The ceiling was high above her, the wood columns decorated with various animals. But where there should have been vases, the tables were only bare surfaces. Where there should have been paintings and murals, there were bare walls.

“Much missing extravagance,” Zusa said, keeping her voice soft.

“Perhaps their coffers are worse than we thought,” Alyssa said.

Zusa didn’t look convinced. She gestured to where many portraits of Leon were clearly missing.

“Or the son looked upon the father, and did not like what he saw.”

At the end of the hall they waited until a servant stepped in, announced their presence, and then flung open the door. A practiced smile on her face, Alyssa went in to greet the new heir to the Connington fortune.

She knew he’d be young, only eighteen if their information was true, but she was still surprised by his small size, soft face, and even softer hands, as he bent on one knee, bowed low, and kissed her offered fingers. He had his father’s brown hair, though it was kept shorter, and far cleaner. Alyssa felt her smile grow more natural. He may not have spent his early life in affluence, but he’d learned quickly over the past year.

“I’m thrilled to at last make your acquaintance,” Stephen said, his voice tinged with a charming honesty. “I must admit, ever since my appointment, you were the one I was most nervous to meet.”

“May I ask why?”

“Your beauty, of course,” he said, and Alyssa caught his nervous glances about the room, his struggle to meet her eye. “That, and your unpredictability. Would you care for something to drink?”

They were in a cozy study, one wall covered with books, another with maps of Dezrel. Between the chairs was a small table, currently empty. When Alyssa agreed, Stephen noticeably calmed, calling out orders for servants and offering seats to his guests. Alyssa sat opposite him at the table, while Zusa refused, instead lurking behind Alyssa’s chair, always keeping an eye on the doors and those coming and going.

As various cakes and fruits were placed before them, Stephen sat down and cleared his throat.

“I must confess, milady, that I asked you here with reason, one that you will… well, one that you’ll find surprising.”

“I’ve had advisers attempt to take my life, lovers turn to madmen, and my son brought to me from the dead.” Alyssa smiled at him. “I daresay you have a difficult task if you think you can surprise me.”

Stephen cleared his throat, but she saw a gleam in his eye piercing through his nervousness. He looked… pleased. She tried not to show it as she nibbled on a sweet cake, but a bit of worry crept up her belly. What if he did have something worthy of surprise?

“Alyssa… milady… what do you remember of your mother?”

The cake caught in her throat, and it took all of her control to keep her from launching into an unseemly coughing fit. Her mother? Why did he ask of her mother?

“She died when I was young,” she said once she had swallowed. “The servants would not tell me the reason, and my father would only say that she left. I presume you think you know the truth of the matter?”

Stephen stood, as if unable to sit any longer.

“That I do, if you’d…”

She waved a hand dismissively, interrupting him.

“I am no fool, Stephen, and rumors are no stranger to me. I know what happened, if that is all you’d tell me. My mother was unfaithful to my father, and he…” She shook her head. “I love my father, but he was right to hide it from me. I’m not sure I’d have forgiven him, certainly not back then. She was given to Leon’s… your father’s gentle touchers. I can only pray they were merciful, if such a word even has meaning for their kind.”

She felt Zusa’s palm cup against her face, and she closed her eyes and leaned against it, accepting the comfort. When Alyssa looked again, Stephen was approaching the other door to the room.

“Well then,” he said, unable to hold back a grin. “Everything you have said is indeed true. But you are still wrong.”

He opened the door, then stepped back.

“Alyssa,” he said, “may I present to you Melody Gemcroft.”

Alyssa’s heart stopped. Standing in the hall, as if afraid to enter through the doorway, was a woman from a dream. Her eyes had sunken farther, and many new wrinkles stretched across her lips and face, but the hair was the same, the ears, the nose, all the same as those of the woman who had sat on Alyssa’s bed, candle in hand, and read story after story until sleep had taken Alyssa away. A thousand memories assaulted her, many long forgotten. Of brushing each other’s hair. Of strict discipline and teaching of etiquette. The way she’d flicked Alyssa’s nose with a finger whenever she grabbed the wrong utensil at dinner. The smell of crushed flowers every time they’d embraced.

“Mother,” Alyssa whispered.

Tears swelled in Melody’s eyes, but they did not fall. She took a few tentative steps inside, and then Alyssa was on her feet. Their hug was careful, slow, as if each was afraid of the other. When they separated, Alyssa looked deeply into that tired, pale face and was convinced beyond a doubt. She didn’t know what to feel. Didn’t know what it meant.

“How?” she asked.

“Not now,” Melody said. “But… it is good to see you, Alyssa. You’ve grown to be so beautiful, just like I knew you would.”

“She still needs her rest,” Stephen said, gently taking Melody’s hand. “I’ll explain what I can. Servant?”

He snapped his fingers, and when the elderly servant arrived, he directed the man to take Melody back to her room. Feeling as if the world were spinning, Alyssa watched her long-dead mother be led away. Her stomach cramping, she went back to her chair, where Zusa remained leaning against the top, a guarded expression on her face.

“Is it true?” Zusa whispered as she sat.

“I think so.” Alyssa felt as if she walked in a dream, one where the dead had come back to life. Would Maynard be revealed next, having lived in hiding after taking an arrow to the chest? She looked to Stephen, who appeared ready to burst with pride.

“How?” she asked again.

“Your father did give Melody over to my father’s gentle touchers,” Stephen said, sipping from his drink. “He even paid for it. But they didn’t kill her. I believe my father fancied her beauty, from what I have learned. I will spare you all I know, but her detention was… unkind, as you can imagine. When Leon was killed, everything here was in chaos. It was several years before the caretakers would even acknowledge my presence, let alone my true birthright. None of us knew who Melody was, for we had no record of her existence. Even the gentle touchers didn’t know for certain.”

He took another drink. Alyssa felt chills, imagining what it’d have been like to be trapped in Leon’s dungeon while the years crawled by. What “unkind” tortures might she have been subjected to? And for how long? Struggling to remember, she thought back to when she’d first heard of her mother’s disappearance, a year before the Bloody Kensgold. That put it at near ten years. Ten years in darkness. No wonder her eyes had sunken in, and her thin frame had been unable to fill the simple violet dress she wore.

“I’m not surprised Leon kept it a secret,” Alyssa said, trying to hold down her anger. “My father would have murdered him if he’d found out.”

Stephen’s cheek twitched, but his smile remained. “Maybe so,” he said. “But when I finally accepted power, I cleared out all the prisoners, either through release or execution, depending on the measure of their crimes and the length of their stay. But what crime had this mysterious woman committed? She told the truth, of course, and as you can imagine, we did not believe her. Melody Gemcroft was dead. We all knew that. We all knew, but she persisted…”

He suddenly lurched to his feet, and before Alyssa knew what was going on, the young man had knelt before her and taken her hand in his.

“Please forgive me, Alyssa,” he said, staring at the floor. “For a year she stayed, and I disbelieved. But she did not relent, and told us stories, memories, all to prove she was who she claimed to be. I should have known sooner; I should have believed her. Will you forgive me for adding torment to an already tormented woman?”

“I… yes,” Alyssa said, carefully freeing her hand. Something about his touch made her squeamish. “How could you have known? I barely believe it myself.”

This seemed to be enough, and with a jarring mood swing, Stephen was once more the charming boy.

“The finest physicians and priests in all of Dezrel have attended her,” he said, grabbing a cake smothered with blueberries and wolfing it down. “Better food and bed have helped nurse her to health, and I am glad she took meeting you so well. Even walking at times puts her out of breath.”

“I must thank you,” Alyssa said, standing. “For everything.”

“It is all I can do to make up for the sins of my father,” Stephen said. “That, and to earn your forgiveness. I want us to be friends, Alyssa. May your next visit be far sooner than the last. As for Melody, we’ll have her few things packed up and ready in just a few moments.”

It was only then it hit Alyssa that it wasn’t all a dream. Her mother was alive, and of course it was expected that she would go with her, to her proper home. Alyssa swallowed, and she felt her world crumbling. She hated it, how she hated it, but her immediate thought was nothing but an angry denial.

I am still ruler of the Gemcroft family!

She dug her fingernails into her arm as punishment. Such a selfish, childish thought was unbecoming of her. She was better than that, more mature.

“All the best,” she said to Stephen, forcing a pleasant mask across her face. “It will be such a pleasure to bring my mother home.”

To meet her grandchild. To see how the rooms had changed. To hear of Maynard’s death, and the thief war that had nearly decimated the family.

To reenter a family of which she was the eldest, and the lawful ruler.

“All the best.” Stephen smiled.

Alyssa grabbed Zusa’s hand, squeezed it tight.