Chapter 17

Chapter

Seventeen

I t was rare to see Elara in the hall for the evening meal.

Alden knew of her presence even before he saw her. He'd been about to take a sip of ale when an entire table of recruits' heads turned toward the hall's entrance. Their expressions were appreciative, and though at one time they could have been gazing at either Evelina or Amalia, both beautiful women, their being now married to fellow recruits had put a swift stop to the pining. There were pretty maids, but none that might illicit the broad smiles he spied.

If he needed acknowledgment of his suspicion, Alden had it in the form of an elbow to his side—Darien's not-so-subtle way of informing him that Elara was, indeed, walking toward the dais.

He looked just as a seat was pulled out for her.

Resisting a groan, Alden turned away. Not wishing to stare at her in the same way as many of the others, fellow recruits he liked but also wished to punch in their leering faces, he concentrated on his ale instead.

As usual, she looked beautiful. He'd seen her but a moment but had memorized every detail. Long, flowing hair held back by a gold circlet around her head that matched the gold thread adorning her deep blue gown. Her expression, also typically serene, yet stern, as if she were about to scold one of the men, likely for leering at her as they did.

He understood why she took most meals in her chambers.

"How is she still unwed?" Aldric asked.

It would be surprising to Alden if he were able to get through this meal.

"If my father would allow it, I'd ask her to marry this very day," Corwin said. "And you all know how opposed to matrimony I am."

The others laughed. At least they spoke of her respectfully, as was her due.

"What of you, Alden?" Aldric asked. "What do you think of the lovely Strategies instructor?"

Darien nearly choked on his stew.

"Someone teach the archer how to chew his food," Corwin jested.

"I know well," Darien quipped back, "how to chew. And how to lie with a woman, which is more than can be said of you. At least..." He grinned. "From the rumors I've heard."

"A pox on you, Ellsworth."

Everyone laughed, including Alden.

Resisting the urge to look toward the dais, and glad to move on to another topic, he asked the men what they'd heard about last eve's fire.

"Some are saying 'twas set intentionally," Corwin said.

Alden wondered what Elara had uncovered and was eager to learn more after the meal. Although, to be fair, it was not all he looked forward to later.

"Indeed?" he asked. "Who is saying such? And how do they know?"

He shrugged. "A maid I . . . speak with—"

"Speak?" Darien laughed. "Is that how you name it? Speaking?"

"Piss off," he continued. "So the maid said that one of the stableboys told her the fire began in more than one spot."

Alden froze.

The others seemed to shrug off such a notion, saying it had to have been an accident. Conversation quickly moved to the injured mounts and rebuilding of the stable that collapsed.

They'd dismissed the notion as it likely seemed implausible to them. But to Alden, with the information he had about the traitor, it was anything but. In fact, if it was true, and the fire did begin in multiple locations, he would tend to believe it was very much intentional.

Without thinking, he looked up to the dais. Finally, he had something to offer, though Elara likely knew this information already.

When her eyes darted down to him, Alden became immediately uncomfortable on the bench. He shifted, attempting to turn his mind away from the very last thing he said to her. The thought of Elara on her knees in front of him was not something he could imagine and continue to sit naturally.

He looked away, but not before Darien caught him.

"Be careful," his friend whispered. "The others may notice."

"Pardon, my lords. I would refill your pitcher of ale."

Alden turned toward the maid Lila as she reached for the pitcher. He was no lord.

Though she'd once had attentions for him, the maid no longer seemed inclined to them. And neither was he interested in a dalliance with the woman, pretty as she may be. There was only one in this castle he cared for.

Cared for.

He realized it was true, that initially he'd been enamored by Elara, and later intrigued, but he was now in the precarious position of wanting to keep her safe. Of needing to protect her even as he wished to be with her. His feelings, Alden realized, had quickly become complicated where Elara was involved, and he liked it not.

Cared for could easily become love, and loving a woman he could never have would be the worst sort of torture.

"As to the fire," Darien said to the others as Lila finished pouring ale into their pitcher.

Alden had been about to thank her when he noticed the maid's expression. As Darien once again speculated about the fire, his friend less ready to dismiss it as an accident, Alden could not dismiss the sense that the maid appeared...disturbed.

She quickly moved away, and Alden tracked her movements. Since her back was to him, he could no longer see her face, but something about the interaction bothered him.

Returning to his ale, he dismissed such thoughts. Attempting to uncover the traitor had begun to make Alden see and hear things that were not there.

It wasn't until the meal had ended, his tablemates beginning to leave, that Alden allowed himself a final glance up to the dais. Elara was speaking with Eamon, but looking at him from the corner of her eye.

She then glanced to the exact direction above them where her chambers were located. As if he wasn't headed there already, Alden was now tempted to break into a run leaving the great hall.

Corwin's voice stopped him.

"We're going into the village tonight. Some are saying Matilda is once again on the move, which means some of us will likely be as well before long."

His implication of their impending demise hung in the air. All knew that, when they left these castle walls, they would be thrust into the most dangerous of situations. One of their instructors had been killed not long ago, a man as skilled as Gareth on horseback, reminding them even the best trained men were not impervious to injury, or death.

"Perhaps," Darien hedged, looking at him.

"Go," he said. "I have some business to attend to."

"What business is that?" Corwin asked, likely having noticed his absence from the barracks these pasts nights.

He was becoming suspicious. As would the others, before long.

Alden had no other cover besides the truth, or an approximation of it. But while he might let Darien and Roland believe he and Elara were together, Alden could not do the same with any others.

"He is training for a secret mission, but do not bother to ask any more of him. If Alden will not tell me," Darien said, "he will tell no others."

Corwin and his friends looked to Alden for confirmation. He neither confirmed nor denied Darien's story, though he silently thanked his friend for the cover.

As they left, two thoughts stayed with Alden.

The first was of Elara and what awaited between them this eve.

The second was that they needed to find the traitor, and quickly, before suspicion moved to him, and he and Elara risked being compromised.