Flight of the Renshai

CHAPTER 7

Dewcoated the hedge of prickles, the sawgrass, and the random array of rocks and twigs that littered the central courtyard of the king's palace in Stalmize. Prince Subikahn leaped and danced through obstacles that made the gardeners shudder every time they had to tend the area. His sword cut bold arcs through the air, leaving a wake of flashing silver. Silently, his torke, Talamir, watched every movement, his expression unreadable.

Subikahn drove into the last maneuver, his sword low, his legs flexed. Silky black hair spilled into eyes nearly as dark, with just a hint of his mother's blue. The sword made a shining contrast against the deep olive of his skin. He held the position for what seemed like forever, waiting for his torke to speak.

"Beautiful," Talamir finally said.

"Thank you." Subikahn slammed his sword back into its sheath. "Now what did you think of my svergelse?"

Talamir laughed. "You did a fine job, Kahn. You'll definitely pass."

"You're sure?" Though he knew he had performed well for several months now, Subikahn still worried about his manhood testing.

"No doubt. They'll pass you."

A man. The words sounded wonderful from the mouth of one who would certainly know. "You're not just saying that because-"

Talamir interrupted, his tone gaining a note of irritation, "I would never say something that important just to please anyone. You know that."

"Of course. I'm sorry." Subikahn could not stop grinning. "I didn't mean to impugn your character. I'm just so excited." Suddenly seized by the desire to share, he raced toward the gate. "Let's tell my papa. Everything."

"Everything?"Talamir scurried after his student. "Subikahn, wait. What exactly do you mean by everything?"

"I mean everything." Subikahn tripped the latch and yanked on the heavy portal. "He's a wonderful man who deserves to share my every delight. The most understanding father in the world will find joy in whatever makes me happy."

"I'm not so sure," Talamir said, his soft reply lost beneath the squeal of massive hinges. Closing his eyes, he followed Subikahn into the castle.

Sunlight glinted from bits of quartz and mica in the mortared stone construction of Stalmize Castle. King Tae Kahn clung like a spider to the courtyard wall, directly below the library window. Above him, his constant feline companion, Imorelda, watched him through the window, tail twitching daintily, her paws tucked calmly beneath her.*You have a visitor,* she said in the mental voice only he could hear. *Who's there?* he sent back. *Not here. Down there.* The silver tabby glanced past him to the ground, five stories below.

Tae followed the animal's gaze to a plump maid arranging blankets on the ground beneath him. Alneezah. He knew her at once, from her actions alone, and he could not help smiling. The servants had grown used to their king's strange antics. The son of a crime lord who had survived his youth by his wits, quickness, and wiles, he suffered from a restless need to know the location of every exit and to practice using them on a daily basis.

Tae's guards and butlers had requested the right to cushion the entire base of the castle, in case their king lost rooftop footing or a grip on a window, niche, or ledge. Afraid to lose his edge, Tae had dismissed their requests as unnecessary. Still, Alneezah always found an excuse to keep Tae safer. She also knew Imorelda's favorite treats and somehow always had them on hand for chance meetings in the corridors.

"What are you doing down there?" Tae called to the maid.

Alneezah did not bother to look up, though she did grant the king a respectful curtsy. Tae hated formality, but his advisers assured him of the necessity. Without it, they told him, he could not command the respect required to run a single country, let alone the entire Eastlands. "I'm airing out some quilts,Your Majesty."

"In the central courtyard?"

"Yes, Sire."

"On the ground?"

Alneezah finally glanced up. Though not traditionally beautiful, her features were becoming in their own way. Shiny black hair fell in waves past her shoulders, hiding her ears, and bangs eclipsed her gentle, brown eyes. The pink circles of her cheeks gave her a look of constant coyness, and her small nose seemed to disappear above full, heart-shaped lips. "Yes, Sire. On the ground."

"Directly beneath my dirty feet."

Alneezah bit back a smile. "Oh, I hope they're not dirty, Your Majesty. Some dignitary may wish to kiss them."

Caught off guard by the unabashed banter, Tae had no retort. *She's good.You should marry her.*

Tae felt his cheeks warm. When Kevral had chosen Ra-khir as her husband, she had devastated Tae. It was not that he had expected anything different. At that time, Ra-khir had everything he did not: striking good looks, impeccable honor, and a romanticism Tae could only watch and envy. Also, Ra-khir had just single-handedly gone to war against the entire country of Pudar to win Kevral back from their custody. Since then, Tae had devoted himself entirely to their son and never considered courting another woman.

Not that Tae had had no opportunities. The lesser kings of many countries had offered their daughters to him, and nearly every unattached woman in his own kingdom batted her eyes and giggled around him. He had a trove of barren concubines who happily shared his bed to satisfy their urges as well as his own. But, his deep love, and most of his attention went solely to his son; and only Imorelda consumed as much of his time. He had brought the boy into the world and swore to any gods that might exist that he would do a far better job raising Subikahn than his father had done with Tae.

Tae reached for any excuse to silence the cat.*Alneezah? She's too young for me.* *She's nearly thirty. You're thirty-seven.* Imorelda rose casually to poke her furry head out the window. Shed hairs swirled through the sunbeams, making her appear to grow an unearthly halo.*Close enough.*

Tae ignored the animal to call down to the maid again. "You don't need to protect me, you know." His toes wedged into comfortable ledges in the mortar, and his fingers looped around irregularities in the stone.

Alneezah continued spreading blankets as if Tae had never interrupted. "Who said anything about protecting you,Your Majesty? You have two competent guard forces for that."

It was true. In addition to the main army, his father commanded an elite group of men. Organized criminals, they penetrated every area of the world with ease and acted on information with a swift efficiency the guards would not dare to emulate. Though no one other than Tae knew it, Imorelda acted as a third line of defense. Only four other people in the world would even believe he could communicate with a cat. Queen Matrinka had had a similar relationship with Imorelda's mother, Mior, and only Darris, Kevral, and Ra-khir knew about it. All three of them, as well as Tae, had needed serious convincing despite trusting Matrinka implicitly. Eventually, Tae's uncanny knack for languages had allowed him to communicate with Mior also and, later, with the kitten she had gifted to him. Few humans seemed able to resist Imorelda's charm, and they all spoke openly in her presence. *She's cagey and cheeky. Qualities I adore.* *Then you marry her.* Tae shifted fingers that had begun to cramp.*Most humans look upon those as character flaws, not qualities.* *Most humans wouldn't know quality if it scratched their eyes out and batted them around the floor.* *An interesting turn of phrase.*

Imorelda sat on the window seat and licked one gray paw.*Yes, isn't it? I made it up myself.* *I would never have guessed.*

Imorelda stopped her bath suddenly, and her head disappeared from the window.*Subikahn's here.* Her face returned, her little black nose crinkled.*And that yellow-furred one who always smells like metal and oil.*

By "yellow," Tae knew she meant blond. She always identified humans by the color of their hair, which she interchangeably referred to as "manes" or "fur."*You mean the Renshai.Talamir?* *Yes, that one.They're looking for you.*

Tae skittered back up the wall to the window ledge.

Imorelda yawned and stretched before moseying out of Tae's way and allowing him to duck inside.

"Ah, there you are, Papa." Subikahn showed no surprise at finding the king of Stalmize dangling out of a tower window. His thin black hair was disheveled, like his father's always was, his cheeks still pinkish from exertion. His olive skin always seemed darker in the presence of his pale Renshai torke. Subikahn's lips held a smile that seemed permanently glued there, while the Renshai looked more nervous than excited. He shifted from foot to foot, his hands hovering above his swords. He would not touch a weapon in the king's presence, but he seemed incapable of putting his hands calmly at his sides.

Tae spun toward them on the window seat, preparing to dismount; but Imorelda stomped into his lap before he could drop his feet to the floor. Effectively trapped, he sat. "Hello, Subikahn." He nodded toward the other Renshai, "Talamir."

"Your Majesty," Talamir executed an awkward bow. "Thank you for seeing us without notice."

It seemed a strange statement. Tae had never denied either of them audience, any time or anywhere, in the past. "Well, I could hardly have declined, could I? I simply entered the room, and there you were."

Talamir bowed several more times. "I'm sorry, Sire. Were we disturbing you, Sire? We can come back later, S-"

Subikahn seized his teacher's arm. "He's kidding, Tally." He turned Tae a pleading look. "Papa, tell him you're kidding."

"I'm kidding," Tae admitted, petting the cat hand over hand, until tiny hairs danced through the sunlight. She had a circular pattern of black stripes against a grizzly silver-gray and only one spot of white, at the very tip of her tail. "What can I do for the two of you?"

Subikahn looked like he might burst. "Talamir says I'll definitely pass my testing. When I return from the Fields of Wrath next time, I'll be a man!"

A wave of excitement passed through Tae, and he could not help grinning. The testing of the Renshai meant little to him, but it would make his son, and Kevral, happy. Nothing else mattered. "That's great news! On your return, we'll have to celebrate." A strange idea came to him suddenly. His advisers had bothered him for years about hosting a dance or massive party, a way to interact with lesser royalty and get to know them better. He was already popular with the peasantry, who saw the king as one of them. He often came across as shockingly down to earth. He kept their taxes low and allowed those with more experience and intelligence to make judgments and preside over his court.

The nobility, however, remained suspicious of the family who appeared to have no history before wresting power from the previous king of Stalmize, even nearly twenty years later. Tae suspected his advisers also hoped he would finally find a queen when he became lost in the romanticism of the event. "Perhaps a ball? We've never had one of those before."

Subikahn's smile seemed to encompass his entire face. "Thanks, Papa. That would be wonderful." He turned an adoring look upon his swordmaster.

Talamir remained stonily silent.

Imorelda butted Tae's hand with her head, and he scratched around her cheeks and ears. He could not imagine a more perfect moment: his only son deliriously happy and his cat purring mightily in his lap.

"Papa, there's more."

Still grinning, Tae inclined his head toward Subikahn to encourage him to continue.

Talamir closed his eyes and lowered his head.

"Papa," Subikahn blurted, his words nearly tumbling over one another. "I'm in love."

Though he did not stop grinning, Tae sucked in the sides of his mouth. Amused by the admission, he continued to stroke the cat. He had waited a long time for his son's first crush, glad the boy trusted him enough to share it. "Really? Who is she?"

"I've fallen for a Renshai, Papa. Just like you."

Just like me. Tae's grin wilted, and he shrugged. "I wouldn't wish my love life on anyone, Subikahn. Especially you." So it happened on Kevral's watch. He wondered why she had not mentioned it, or if she had been too busy training to even notice. Her intense and one-sided devotion to sword work might make her oblivious, even to her son's distraction. He wondered if she truly loved her children as much as her swords, her husband as much as her devotion to the Renshai techniques that made them the best swordsmen in the world.

Tae found himself shivering, filled with a sense of foreboding, and wondered why. It would fall to his long-suffering and able advisers to get the populace to accept a Renshai princess. If Subikahn had waited this long to mention her, he could not miss her too much, which meant their relationship could not have gotten serious yet.

Subikahn's excitement, however, told a different story. It was fresh and strong, beyond the level of a budding crush. In his excitement, he seized his torke's hand.

"So," Tae continued carefully. "When do I get to meet her?"

Subikahn laughed with the wild abandon of someone so madly in love it springs forth from every pore. Though playful at times, the young prince rarely became so giddy he could not contain himself. This time, the words practically spilled from his mouth. "You know my lover, Papa. Very well. It's…" He squeezed his teacher's hand. "It's Talamir."

Few things could have surprised Tae more. He sat in stunned silence, his hand stilling on the cat, his expression exposed. Unbidden thoughts jolted into his mind, among them the dire realization that his son had just blithely confessed to a capital crime.

For several moments, no one moved or spoke. Then, cautiously, Talamir freed his hand from Subikahn's, apparently anticipating a fight. Any difficult situation sent a Renshai to his sword.

Subikahn finally broke the hush. "I've found true love, Papa. True love! Aren't you… happy for me?" *What's wrong?* Imorelda stopped purring.

For once, Tae ignored her. "But… he's a…"

"… Renshai?" Subikahn finished.

"… man," Tae corrected. "Talamir's a man." He turned his son a confused look. "Right?" He wondered if he had missed something. Renshai women worked so hard, they often developed musculature in ways other females never did. Hard arms and thighs, tight abdominal musculature, were the norm for Renshai. Even Ra-khir had mistaken Kevral for a boy the first several times he met her. Yet, she had eventually developed enough breast and curve to look like a hardened woman rather than a man. And Talamir was clearly no youngster. He appeared to be in his twenties, and Renshai routinely looked younger than their ages.

"Yes, Papa. Tally passed his testing ten years ago. He's definitely a man."

Tae did not know what else to say. He and his son were talking at cross-purposes. They might just as well be using different languages, except the conversation would still make more sense.Tae spoke every known tongue fluently. He did not care when or if Talamir had ever passed beyond Renshai adolescence. He wanted to know why his son was calling a grown man "lover" as if gender meant nothing. He could not understand how two males could confess to a hanging crime with enthusiasm and excitement. Execution. Dread enveloped him. Not Subikahn. Not my only son. Tears pressed Tae's eyes, and he did not trust himself to speak. *What's wrong?* Imorelda asked again; and, again, he ignored her.

Subikahn and Talamir exchanged serious glances. "I told you we needed to keep it secret," the older Renshai whispered. The acoustics of the room carried it to Tae's ears anyway. "I warned you not to say anything."

"He's my father," Subikahn hissed back. "The best man in the world, and he loves me."

The best man in the world. It was exactly what Tae had always wanted to hear his son say, yet it did not warm his heart this day. Something inside him had died, and he worried that he might never know another moment of joy in his existence. He forced himself to speak, saying the only words he dared. "Go to your quarters. I need some time alone to think."

Talamir bowed and left the room faster than decorum dictated. Subikahn opened his mouth to speak, then closed it. He started again, stopped, and sighed deeply before shuffling from the room as well.

Assailed by all the emotions shock had kept at bay, Tae buried his face in the cat and let them overtake him.

Grimly, King Tae Kahn walked the night hallways of Stalmize Castle, blind to the minute details he usually registered from habit. As a young man, survival had meant remaining attentive, even in sleep; and the need had stayed with him every moment of every day since. His torch threw wild shapes on the stonework, bringing shadows into vivid relief as he moved. That made him wildly uncomfortable. He would have preferred creeping through the darkness, unseen and unheard; but to do so, he had long ago learned the hard way, risked attack by his own guards. He noticed their every movement as they shifted to allow him free access, recognizing him in the hated, but necessary, torchlight.

Tae reached Subikahn's bedroom door sooner than he wanted. He stood there several moments in indecision. He had not eaten or slept since their conversation that morning. Nothing but his son's confession had found a toehold in his thoughts, and formulating his plan had taken precedence even over bodily functions. He believed in the choice he had made, yet he still hesitated. No course of action seemed right; yet doing nothing would be the worst decision of all.

Tae studied the door without seeing it, knowing the teak outline as well as the palm of his own hand. He had memorized every line in the grain, every knothole in the pattern, every stain. He had spent the happiest times of his adulthood here, cradling and singing to his infant son, romping with the boy he had become, listening to the details of his adolescence. No friendship had ever been forged more solidly. The world had never known a love so genuine and deep. Yet, soon, for the boy's own good, Tae would have to do the most hateful thing he could ever have imagined.

Tae's hand rose, as if of its own accord, and knocked solidly on the teak door.

For several moments, nothing happened. Tae had just released a pent-up breath when the panel edged open a crack and one sleepy brown eye peered through it. "Papa?" Subikahn said through a yawn. His black hair lay in a tangle around his face, and he wore only his blue satin sleeping pants. His chest looked sinewy, muscled but lightly built, like his father. "What time is it?"

"It's late," Tae admitted. "I need to talk to you. Please come."

Subikahn yawned again. "Just a moment." The door swung shut.

Tae heard muffled voices through the wood. Subikahn had always shared his room with his Renshai torke, even as a toddler. For the first time, Tae found himself despising the arrangement. Was this the first time a Renshai took advantage of my son? The idea enraged him. He had obliviously allowed adults to share a room with his boy; that made it partially his fault. That Kevral and the other Renshai trusted those teachers should not have been enough. Teeth gritted, Tae waited until the door finally swung open. A now-robed Subikahn scooted out and pushed it closed before Tae managed to catch a glimpse of Talamir.

Subikahn shook his head, worsening the tangle that comprised his hair. "Where are we going?"

"The library." Tae wanted to take the young prince as far from his bedroom and the court as possible. He did not want any sound to betray the other part of his plan. "We're going to the library." He headed off in the proper direction.

Subikahn followed, clutching his robe. "To talk."

"To talk," Tae confirmed.

"In the middle of the night."

"Apparently."

That shut down the conversation. Subikahn continued to trail Tae's brisk pace without speaking, and they both moved with a delicate, silent step down the hallways, up the tower steps, and to the heavy oak door to the library. There, they paused, while Tae tripped the latch.

"Is this about Talamir?" Subikahn said as they entered.

The library appeared different in the darkness. The window seat lay empty, striped by the light of moon and stars.The shelving looked like animals hulking in the shadows. As much from habit as concern, Tae scanned the area to ascertain that they were alone, using the torch to banish shadows from every corner and cubby. He saw nothing out of place, every book as he had left it, every shelf as it should appear. Finally, he extinguished the torch, laid it aside, and claimed the window seat. He motioned Subikahn to the chair from the reading nook.

The boy accepted the seat, spinning it around to face his father. "You know I love you, Papa. I didn't mean to upset you." He sat, ramrod stiff and clearly nervous.

"I know." Tae stared through the window. He could see the empty courtyard clearly in the light of the half-moon. He was obsessively cautious by nature and would not allow anyone to overhear this conversation.

"You like Talamir. Don't you?" Subikahn's face looked childlike in the moonlight.

Tae sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Not at the moment, no."

"Papa, it's not his fault-"

"Subikahn-"

"I'm as much to blame-"

"Subikahn! Listen to me."

The young prince fell silent.

"We're not here to talk about Talamir. We're here to talk about you."

Subikahn nodded, lips tightly pursed.

Tae glanced at his own scarred and callused hands, knowing he had to broach subjects with which he never wanted to burden his son. "Subikahn, I grew up much differently than you did."

Subikahn bobbed his head again. That much, he knew.

"My father…"

"Granpapa Weile."

"Yes." Tae wished his son would stop interrupting. He had never enforced manners or formality, despite his advisers' suggestions. "Granpapa Weile… didn't have time for play. He only asserted how I had to stay tough, stay alert, stay quick to stay alive."

Subikahn tossed a glance around the room. "I know what you're trying to say, Papa. That it's a great privilege to grow up as a prince. And a great responsibility."

Tae went quiet a moment. Those words had not come from him. As king, he mostly delegated. He did not have the patience for long-winded noblemen, and he found their problems too petty to consider. He served mostly as a figurehead, and his advisers and elite warriors equated the positive things in the kingdom with him and the negative with other people or factors.

"That's true, Subikahn." Tae gave the boy an intent look, hoping to silence him. "But it's not what I planned to say."

"Are you going to tell me about… the scars?" Subikahn had pestered his father mercilessly for stories about the myriad and often fatal-looking wounds that covered Tae's scrawny body.

Tae caught himself self-consciously plucking at his garments to cover any bared flesh. Usually, he did not think about his many disfigurements. Scarcely anyone knew the cause of most of them, and he alone knew where every one had come from. He had laughed off or dodged his son's questions in the past. A child did not need to know the terrifying details. At only ten years old, Tae had found himself at the mercy of his father's enemies, forced to watch his mother raped and murdered before suffering sixteen stab wounds and being left for dead himself. It was not the last time enemies of Weile Kahn would leave their mark upon him, and he had honestly earned many of the other scars without his father's assistance.

"Not yet," Tae said, disappointing Subikahn once again. "My father and I have not always gotten along." It was gross understatement. Weile was a born leader with a knack for gaining followers and a grandness to his every action, while Tae preferred to live his life in the silent shadows. The worst and best things in his life always bore a direct connection to Weile Kahn. "And I swore that, when I had a son, things would be different. I would treat him with honor and respect. I would assure that he always knew his father loved him and would do anything for him. I never wanted him to feel alone."

"And I know that, Papa. I truly do." Subikahn seemed sincerely eager to quell his father's doubts. "No child has ever had a happier upbringing. Even Saviar is jealous."

Tae smiled, but the circumstances made it forced and crooked. "I'm glad to hear that. But, in the process of making you happy, I made a serious blunder."

Now, Subikahn finally fell into a hush, clearly focused on his father's next words.

"I coddled you too much, Subikahn. I was so intent on keeping your childhood happy that I shielded you from the necessary experiences that keep a young man from becoming a mark."

"A… mark?" Subikahn clearly did not understand, which was exactly Tae's point.

Tae leaned forward, his heart pounding. He still had a chance to retract his plan, to send his son back to bed confused but whole. Then, an image of his son's lifeless body swinging from the gallows filled his mind's eye, and he forced himself to continue, "It's the horrific things in life that make a man careful, wiser."

Subikahn laughed.

It was the last reaction Tae expected. He stopped speaking. And stared.

Subikahn explained. "Are you worried I'm too innocent to defend myself?"

Apparently, Subikahn had grasped the point. "Well…"

"Papa… I'm Renshai." Subikahn opened his robe to reveal a sword at his left hip, and little else. He had not bothered to put on clothes, but he would never go anywhere without his weapon. "And you've taught me plenty about climbing and hiding and dodging. Hel's ice, some of what you've told me overlaps eerily with the Renshai training. And don't get me started on languages…"

In that light, Tae's concerns did seem a bit silly. Subikahn was not exactly the classic prince, lounging around the castle getting dressed and flattered by servants and eating too many peeled grapes. While Subikahn did not have his father's uncanny skill with languages, he did read and speak Eastern, Common, Western, Northern, and Renshai. Though Tae appreciated the ability to communicate with anyone anytime, his skill had often seemed as much a curse. Weile Kahn had exploited his son's talent at a very young age, using him to spy on strangers and enemies. No one ever suspected a child could understand so much.

"Those things will help you," Tae admitted. "But you can't become street-smart without challenging the street. And you can't become world-smart without facing the world."

Subikahn's brow furrowed. "So you want me to… travel?"

Tae remembered his own odyssey, fleeing the Eastlands with his father's most lethal enemies on his heels. He had had little combat training and nothing but the clothes on his back. Rarely eating, never sleeping, he had tried desperately to keep just a step ahead of death, his only goal one more moment of survival.

"But I've already gone to Erythane and back many many times."

Tae sighed. The situation had utterly changed since his father had banished him, at fourteen, with the words, "Come back when you're twenty. If you're still alive, all this will become yours." Weile had waved a hand toward Stalmize. At the time, Tae had believed his father meant his current business: organizing and leading bands of murderers, thugs, and thieves. Never had Tae imagined Weile would take over the kingdom itself and pass it along to his only child. As promised, at age twenty.

In less than two years, Subikahn would reach that same crucial age with little to show for it other than the Renshai training.

Tae cleared his throat, making the pronouncement he had dreaded. "Subikahn, for your own good, I am hereby banishing you from the Eastlands until you reach the age of twenty."

"What?" Subikahn's features lapsed into confusion. He seemed uncertain whether to be shocked or amused.

"You are not to run to your mother but to seek out every part of the world and bring back some unique item as proof of your travels."

"What?" Subikahn seemed stuck on the word, his features open, registering real surprise now.

Tae could feel his resolve wavering. He hardened his heart, imagining himself as Weile Kahn. He had despised his father's business and techniques; yet Tae now, finally, saw the wisdom in the way Weile had tossed his son into the fire. Without that ordeal, Tae would never have survived his trials with Kevral, Ra-khir, Darris, and Matrinka. "I expect you to visit the entirety of the Westlands, even the parts farthest north and east. I expect you to weather the Northlands-"

"But I'm Renshai!" Subikahn shouted in horror. "The North? They'll slaughter me!"

Tae lowered his head. The differences between his own test and Subikahn's were enormous. Even sent to a land of enemies, his son would never be recognized. Tae saw no reason to give the obvious advice, that Subikahn not bother to mention his mother's heritage or his training. He would easily pass for a full-blooded Easterner if he kept his swords sheathed and his mouth shut. If the boy could not figure out something so simple, he truly did deserve to die. "You'll find ways to cope. We all do."

Subikahn considered the words in silence for several moments, nodding, clearly finding the positives inherent in having no responsibilities while exploring the entire world. "Very well, Papa. If you think that's best. Talamir and I will pack-"

"No!"

At the sudden, forceful shout, Subikahn jumped.

"You will go alone."

Now the horror that had previously escaped the prince appeared, stamped across his features. "But, Papa, Tally and I-"

"No!"

"We're a couple-"

"No!"

Subikahn's voice turned pleading. "Please, Father. I can't go two years without seeing my-"

"You can." Tae could not allow Subikahn to finish that sentence. Whatever word the boy used would enrage him. "And you will." Softened by his son's pain,Tae lowered his voice. "Subikahn, this will give you a chance to experience… other things. If your love is real and strong, it will survive two years of separation." It was all platitudes. Tae felt certain Subikahn's youth and inexperience explained how he had fallen for the first non-related person, man or woman, who had invoked feelings of accomplishment, closeness, and security. Surely, Subikahn would meet attractive young women on his journey, and their tribulations would bring them closer. Until Subikahn experienced the kind of love Tae still suffered for Kevral, until he opened himself to new and different circumstances, he would never know what he really needed, what he really wanted.

"You don't understand-"

Tae glowered at the insult. "I love your mother now as much as I did the night you were conceived, even though I have seen her only once or twice a year in the last eighteen." He gave Subikahn a pointed look. "That, my son, is love."

Subikahn's shoulders sagged. "Yes, Papa. You're right." The corners of his lips twitched but never made it into a smile. "I trust your instincts and your devotion to me. If you feel this is right, then I will leave in the morning. Alone."

Tae gritted his teeth. Nothing had ever felt less right. Subikahn meant everything to him: his beloved son, the lone product of his infinite and ill-fated affection for Kevral, the only future of family and kingdom. But Tae knew that to back down from his decision would condemn Subikahn to execution. The boy's raw enthusiasm, his ignorance of Eastern law, his emotional innocence would assure that other people, dangerous people, discovered his lethal secret. And used it against them. "You will leave now, Subikahn."

"Now?" Subikahn looked up at his father through a long fringe of bangs. He appeared so young, so childlike. "But I need to pack. To tell Tally 'good-bye.' To explain-"

"Now," Tae repeated, fighting the tears forming in his own eyes. "No packing. No good-byes. No explanations. Just outside the door, my men have clothes for you and as much food and money as I'll allow you to take." Tae avoided Subikahn's judging stare. "It is best."

Subikahn stood in silent misery.

Tae resisted the urge to gather his son into his arms. A tearful separation would destroy his will and drive him to rescind what he knew in his heart was the proper course of action. "Farewell, Subikahn. I'll see you in two years." He smiled wanly, "I only hope I'll recognize you as a man."

Slipping past his son, Tae opened the door and disappeared into the hallway with his waiting guardsmen. He did not instruct them. They knew what to do. They would see Subikahn safely off into the world.

Meanwhile, Tae had other pressing business.