The King's Guard

15

THE palace is frantically busy for the next few days while I sit in my old quarters, no longer the king’s squire and not really a recruit for the Royal Guard. Vicenç ushers a stream of visitors in and out of the king’s chambers, but I am not one of them.

Finally, we are called to the courtyard, every member of the palace household. We stand shoulder to shoulder, all mixed together: Royal Guard and palace watch, laundresses and stable boys, the queen’s ladies and even a few in-residence nobles.

Lucio and Fernando find me in the crowd. It’s the first time I’ve seen them since returning from Puerto Verde.

“Did you hear about the lord-commander?” Lucio whispers.

“No,” I say. I haven’t heard anything.

“He resigned from the Guard. You heard that Solvaño got roaring drunk and fell on his dagger, right? Well, the king has assigned Enrico guardianship of the Fortress of Wind.”

Fernando is eager to confirm this. “Rumor is the resignation was forced. He’s to leave at once to tend to the restoration of the tower.”

“How nice for him,” I say. “He must be happy to finally be a lord of his own land.”

“It’s awful,” Lucio says. “Mandrano’s been named interim lord-commander. He made us scrub the training yard.”

I grin. “But on the positive side, he dumped your wine.”

This earns me a staggering cuff on the shoulder, but Lucio is grinning too.

I search for Mandrano and find him standing near the front. Beside him is Miria. They are holding hands.

Of course.

I immediately regret every word I’ve ever said about him.

He catches me looking at him and glowers. So much for my hope of returning to the Guard. Rosaura’s warnings to keep my mouth shut were meant in more ways than I could have ever guessed.

Alejandro and Rosaura appear at the balcony above us. The buzz of conversation in the courtyard falls silent. They wear royal white, and their golden crowns shimmer in the sunshine. Rosaura’s face is as pale as death, and I know, because I know her, that it is taking all her strength and focus to be here. Even so, she manages to exude radiant purpose.

Dr. Enzo approaches from behind, carrying a small bundle in his arms.

Alejandro takes the baby from him and holds him up for the crowd.

Alejandro’s voice booms, “Her Majesty Queen Rosaura and I announce the birth of our son and heir to the throne. Please welcome your future king, Prince Rosario né Flurendi de Vega!”

The crowd goes wild. The baby jerks in Alejandro’s arms and starts to squall, which sends everyone into an even louder frenzy of cheering.

Rosario.

Poor boy. He had such a rough beginning. But with Alejandro for a father and Rosaura for his mother, life ought to get a lot better for him. At least I hope so.

Lucio and Fernando cheer with everyone else. “I guess we missed all the important stuff while we were away in Puerto Verde,” Lucio says to me. “What happened with Lady Isadora? Miria said you got her away safely.”

“Yes. Everything turned out well for her,” I say.

“Good. Though it was probably all for nothing, since her father ended up killing himself anyway.”

“Yes,” I say. “All for nothing.”