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Once again, it is like the other man is speaking another language. “The regents?”
Now the man laughs. “Really, you should have done more research before coming here. Do you not at least listen to gossip? Good Queen Adalind and her orc husband set two regents to rule Adrik while they are away in Orik. Though gossip says they are coming back to Adrik for the trials.”
Everything goes still. I think even my heart stops beating. Blood rushes to my ears and for a moment I feel faint.Good Queen Adalind? I barely even hear the rest of the sentence.
I hurry to ask, “The queen? She is married to an orc?”
“Not just any orc,” the innkeeper scoffs. “She married their king.”
He leans forward, like he is about to share a juicy story. “They say that after King Yorian, a pox upon him, was killed at Fort Attis, the Horde rode toward High Citadel, ready to end the war through bloody means. But the queen rode out to meet them, only accompanied by one guard to stare down the entire Horde. She talked them down and offered herself up to the king, and ended the war without further bloodshed. She’s fairy-blessed with beauty, you know.”
I do know. But what I don’t know is what to do with the information the oblivious man has just given me. Adalind is alive? She ended the war herself? It sounds a little far-fetched that she would have gone with only one guard. I know her Gold Guard’s captain, Dame Zera, would probably have had a heart attack if Adalind had attempted such a thing. More likely it is exaggeration, like is common with such stories. The rest of it sounds true, however.
He continues, “Now we are a protectorate of Orik and the orcs are helping guard the country, while us common folk don’t even have to pay more taxes. The surviving army is all home to recover and peace reigns. The queen truly saved us all.”
A thought strikes me. Did Adalind sacrifice herself, going from one abusive marriage to the next, just to save the kingdom? I ask, “The queen? Is she said to be happy with her new husband?”
“Oh, they say it is a love match, that they never are parted. He’s supposedly very protective of her, as well. Apparently, Duke Grimble tried to strike the queen after the treaty was made and the orc king killed him, just for the attempt.”
That pulls me up short again. My father, dead? “Duke Grimble was executed? When?”
“Almost two months ago, when the treaty was first made. The orcs are serious about protecting women. Beating a woman is cause for death. Apparently, the king walked in on Duke Grimble about to strike the queen, and instantly killed him. Of course, that drove Duchess Grimble mad, and she tried to kill the queen as well. She’s still alive though, but her trial is going to be soon.”
My heart goes cold. My father tried to hit Adalind and my mother tried to kill her? My parents were always awful to my sister, but I never thought they would go that far. Perhaps unsurprisingly, considering my strained relationship with my parents, I feel little about their deaths or impending deaths. All I feel is a deep, abiding shame for being related to them.
The innkeeper shakes his head, as if he can hear my thoughts. “Such a shame,” he says. “The queen was raised by the Grimbles. She was a commoner like us, but was placed in noble fosterage when her blessing was discovered. You’d think that, after practically raising her, they would have been kind or seen her as a daughter. Their actions paint a different picture, however. The poor queen’s childhood must have been a nightmare. If they couldn’t even treat an orphaned child with kindness, then the world is better off without them. Their only son and heir was killed in the war, so they are a dead house now. Good riddance to House Grimble. Hopefully, whoever takes over their lands and holdings will be better than they were.”
My head is reeling and I hardly know how to react. In the space of a few minutes, I have discovered that Adalind is alive and my parents are dead, or as good as dead. That they tried abusing and killing her. I knew my parents were bad, bitter, power-hungry people, but did I know they could be that evil? It doesn’t surprise me, but it feeds into my feelings of shame. They are my roots and my roots are rotten.
The innkeeper keeps talking. He’s apparently the chatty sort. “All that to say, the word around the kingdom is that the queen is happy in a protected marriage now. Her orc is absolutely besotted withher. So she’s got a happy ending, thank the gods. Of course, they also say that orcs have a dark magic that tricks people into mating with them. I don’t believe that, though. Like I said, we were having fires in the south that were set by people trying to destabilize the country, and the orcs saved Kingsbury from burning down a few weeks back. I’ll hear nothing bad about them.”
The innkeeper looks at me, an expectant expression on his face, waiting for my reaction to his information. But I am numb, bowled over by what he is saying. My parents, traitorous and dead. Adalind, alive, protected, happy. In a love match? With an orc? It sounds impossible, but I’ve heard it with my own ears. The other man frowns slightly, confused by my lack of reaction, but I have none to give. After a moment, a young girl, maybe fourteen, comes up to the table, smiling.
“The room is ready, Father.”
The innkeeper smiles back at his daughter. “Ah, petal, thank you. You do such good work.” He turns to me, still smiling, but looking at me with more than a little curiosity. “Well, as you heard, your room is ready if you want to retire to it. It’s the room at the end of the hall. Excuse me.”
He stands and walks away, mingling with his customers once more. I feel the orcress move from my back, but I am still sitting in shock, my thoughts racing. If Adalind is safe, what will I do? If she doesn’t need avenging or rescuing . . . I am directionless. My plans are for naught. My every thought since I woke has been for Adalind, but now . . . I don’t know. I could still go find her, make sure the innkeeper’s story is true, that she is happy, but something about his words makes it hard to doubt them. Besides, would she even want to see me after what my parents tried to do? I might be a reminder of things that she would like to forget. And to think, in just a few more moments, I was going to betray the orcress, send her to a terrible fate, for a misunderstanding.
After a while, I finally feel like I can move again and I stand, scooping up the now-tepid meat pies in my hands and make my way to the stairs that lead to the rooms. Upstairs is fairly straightforward, a hallway filled with doors and I follow the innkeeper’s instruction, heading to the closed room at the end of the hall.
When I open the door, I see the orcress standing in the middle of the room, fiddling with the chain around her neck. She glances up as I enter and close the door behind me, looking as wary and lost as I feel. And as I stare back at her, the silence between us growing uncomfortable, I only have one thought.
What do I do with her now?
Chapter 10
Dura
The quiet is too tense for me. I say, “I didn’t know.”
“What?” he asks, not following me.
“I wasn’t lying before,” I elaborate. “The last I heard, the plan was to kill both the king and the queen. I didn’t know she still lived.”
“I know,” is all he says in reply.
“I would have told you,” I insist. “I wouldn’t have tortured you like that.”
