ASHE
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Chapter Three
Which examines dungeons and mild concussion.
It was crazy. She’d lived in Lascar all her life, had been in and out of the palace maybe half a dozen times each week, every week, and yet Ashe still hadn’t known that the palace had dungeons. The palace had seven levels above ground, and apparently two beneath. Above stairs the festivities were beginning, and there was music coming from the main hall.
“Oh,… Gods,” Ashe said, coming to in the dungeons. “This is so far away from good.”
The dungeons were silent. No wonder she’d never known about them: she was the only occupant. Ashe ran a review of the various pains making themselves felt, and decided that the ache at the back of her head – the blow that had finished her – hurt the most. Then she heard footsteps and the grating swirl of metal on stone. She glared in the direction of the sound and a shadow detached itself from one of the pillars and said, “Don’t worry. I’m probably not going to kill you. I was going to throw this at you but you’ve saved me the trouble. I need you awake and alert. Are you?” Alexis put down a bucket on the stone slabs.
“All things considered, yes,” said Ashe. She would have killed for a shot of Lammoran brandy, or two new arms.
“So, no water in the face? Shame: I haven’t gotten to do that in ages. It’s like cutting off someone’s head so fast they die still staring at you. Still, enough of the niceties. I’m Alexis. I serve Calypso. If I cut these ropes, will you stop still and listen to me?”
“I know who you are,” said Ashe. “And I’d be grateful if you did cut the ropes.” A few minutes later she was gently massaging life back into her arms.
“I’ve been waiting for you to come round for the last half-hour. Believe me, Ashe, there is absolutely nothing to do down here. I’m nearly dead from boredom. And I’m expected in the main hall any time now. If I’m any later, my boss is going to have me hanged at dawn.” She paused then said, “I think that sounded like a joke. It isn’t. She’d kill me if she knew I was down here.”
Ashe said, “I’m sorry: now I have to know. Why are you down here? And why aren’t you killing me?”
“I don’t want you dead, Ashe, I just want you gone.” Alexis tended to put an emphasis on certain words. “Permanently gone. “
Alexis stood in front of Ashe. “Look, it’s like this: Calypso has an idea of keeping you down here to use as a tool on the princess. While I don’t deny the usefulness of the plot, it has the potential to be messy and awkward. It might well go wrong. And if someone happened to find you, that’d screw everything up. I don’t want you remaining a risk or a player. Laure may think that Calypso wants her, and while I don’t doubt that the sex between them has been wild and revolutionary, I know that it won’t last long. Laure’s far too needy; Calypso doesn’t like needy people. She likes people who don’t bow down before her – for whatever purpose – and I’m afraid that your little rebellion earlier today may have just made you a potential fuck in Calypso’s book. The black eye you gave her is going to shine on in my memory for months to come. I suppose you might have blacked the other one if she hadn’t got those two morons to hold you. Believe me, I don’t want life getting any more complicated. I - ”
Ashe said, “You’re Calypso’s lover, aren’t you? And her captain.” Alexis nodded.
“I can cope with her using the likes of the princess, and she does have her heart stuck on the idea of an alliance – the Gods alone know why – but I can’t handle yet another wheel on the cart. You’d be a distraction and potentially trouble. I am… I am just about prepared to know that Calypso will be bedding your glorious leader on a daily or nightly basis, because I know that it will end. It always does end. At the moment she’s a little infatuated with Laure, but it won’t last. Your being there today may already have put Laure into second position. And when it ends, as it must end, I get Calypso back.”
Ashe used some of the water Alexis had brought with her to rinse the taste of blood out of her mouth. Spitting out the bloody mouthful onto the ground it struck Ashe that although she didn’t exactly dislike the strong, coppery taste, she wasn’t keen on tasting her own blood. Alexis watched her.
“So you see, I want you out of here. As soon as possible. The celebrations will be starting soon, and then there’s the great announcement, which, by the way, I feel I’ve been rehearsing for the last six months. What is it with you people and your announcements?” She glanced at Ashe and said without skipping a beat, “You should wash the rest of that blood off your face. It makes you too noticeable.” She almost grinned, but forced the expression back down. “Those marks won’t scar. I’ve seen my mistress do much, much worse. I guess there were extenuating circumstances. Mind you, I’m biased. For my part, I’d have had the princess down here where you were, and chained rather than roped. What was going on in there, Ashe? A farewell fuck?”
Ashe was beginning almost to like Alexis, crude as she was. “Something like that.” Except that I didn’t know it was, she thought.
“Yes, well, she’s no longer your concern. Frankly, I think you’re better off out of all this. You’ve been in this court so long you’re stagnating. I know you, Ashe, or I’ve known people like you. This whole court, it’s not so fine. It’s nervous and narrow.
“Laure wants to have a good ally in case there’s a war, but she’s more likely to cause a war by taking up with the leader of Mercia. There are some swords sharpened too well on both edges: you think you’re more deadly, but in fact you’re more likely to cut off your own arm. You’ll have to forgive Calypso. She’s not used to people saying denying her anything. People who keep saying no to Calypso are few and far between. And mostly dead,” she added, thoughtfully. “But can you blame her? Here we are, travelling for almost two weeks so that Laure can present my leader as her consort. And when she gets here, what does she find? As to the rest, I can guess it. I bet that Calypso made several demands of a sexual nature. Judging from the mess she made of you, and the abysmally bad mood that Calypso was in when I dragged you out of there, I’d hazard a guess that you denied her. There I was, stupidly thinking of you as weak, when in fact you’re anything but. It’s just the atmosphere of this flouncy place that’s gotten to you. It’s funny what it takes to bring out character. Mind you, it wasn’t the best possible move,” she glanced at Ashe and added, “Calypso really hates people denying her.”
Ashe said, “I figured that out for myself. What happens next? I tunnel out of here?”
“Don’t be stupid. You escape.” Ashe raised her eyebrows and nodded in the direction of the cut ropes.
“Did I gnaw through the ropes with my teeth?”
“Don’t be so smart, Ashe, you’re still potentially dead. Alright, ropes… Could you have had a knife hidden on you?”
“No,” said Ashe. “That won’t work… Maybe someone crept down here, saw me and stuck a knife into my belt. I rub the rope against it until the rope gives.” She frowned at Alexis. “What do you think?”
“It’ll have to do. We’re running out of time. But you have to escape. If Calypso thinks I let you go, she’ll never forgive me.”
“What do I do? Knock you out?”
“I hadn’t thought about that. Oh, Gods, I suppose you’ll have to. What a bore! Alright, … I come down here to check on you and you crack me on the back of the head. When I wake up, you’re long-gone.”
She handed Ashe her sword. “Make it convincing. Hit me lightly about here.” She tapped a place on the back of her skull. “Ashe, I’m serious about Calypso: just because she didn’t kill you doesn’t mean she might not consider killing me. And, Ashe, just because I’m not running that sword through you here and now doesn’t mean I’m on your side. I just need you to get out of here and to make sure you never come back. Got that?”
“Believe me,” said Ashe, feeling inside her mouth with her tongue for a loosened tooth and spitting another bloody mouthful onto the ground, “I won’t ever be coming back here.”
“Good.” Alexis took off her cloak and handed it to Ashe. “Keep this over your face and go out by the kitchens, alright? And once you’ve gotten going, don’t stop. Got it? Okay, Ashe, get it over with. Just try not to crack my skull, alright?” Ashe brought the sword-hilt down. There was a soft, dull thud and then Alexis sagged to her knees. Ashe bent down and felt for a pulse. Then she stood up, Alexis’s sword in her hand. As she crept out of the dungeons she wondered if she should have thanked Alexis for her help before knocking her unconscious.
*******
Laure sat in her chair on the dais that overlooked the great hall. The queen and Jura sat only feet away, greeting guests, paying compliments. The view was sweet, as was the scent of the newly-opening flowers, and she had a cup of wine beside her, but Laure’s throat felt as though it was closing up: she couldn’t drink a drop.
The seat beside Laure was abundantly empty, and her gaze kept travelling from it to the figure standing across the room from her: Calypso. Dressed in ornate robes and brightly-polished armour and with a strange, cold smile on her face, the visiting princess never took her eyes off Laure.
After Alexis and another of Calypso’s soldiers had carried Ashe out of the room and down the servants’ staircase, Calypso had closed the door behind them and turned to Laure. “And what was that all about? I had the funny idea that Ashe was nothing more than a servant, but I can’t see you ordering just a servant to fuck you. No, Laure. Don’t even begin lying. I know what Ashe was to you. Was. And now it’s you and I.” She held Laure tightly and smiled at her. “So let’s forget all about Ashe and let’s not have you changing you mind about anything, Laure. Everything will be fine so long as you stick with our announcement. I’ve given my orders to Alexis: if you really want Ashe to make it out of this evening intact, you know exactly what you’ve got to do.”
Laure tried to meet Calypso’s stare and found that she could not. She sat up in the chair, trying not to wince: Calypso hadn’t marked her skin in any place that would show. And Calypso had entirely ignored Ashe after she’d finally knocked Ashe to the floor. Laure found that her breathing hurt. She couldn’t stop shivering. The worst thing about it, she thought, and she never stopped thinking, was that there had been something attractive in Calypso even when she was being cruel.
When Calypso had walked in on them, Laure had gone red to the ears. Her pulse seemed to flicker within her and her mouth went as dry as the desert. There had been something about the tone of Calypso’s voice that insinuated itself into Laure’s very marrow. Later, when Ashe had gone, she’d tried to manufacture a convincing explanation. “Calypso, I… I had planned to give her as a present to you, that’s all. And I needed to know - ”
“Oh, I think I can guess. You needed to know how sexually amenable she was. Well, having tried just about every kind of order there is on her, Laure, and getting no response whatsoever, I guess I’d say that Ashe wasn’t amenable.” She looked at her hands. “Amenable people don’t leave you with bleeding knuckles. I honestly think this might scar.”
And now Calypso stood across the room from Laure, that odd, cold expression on her face, and Laure realised that she was utterly incapable of doing anything other than what Calypso wanted: she was completely trapped. Either she made the announcement concerning her choice, or Calypso would simply go back to her country and declare war on Lammor. And Ashe would be… Gods, what would Ashe be? She’d watched Alexis reach down and pick Ashe up, seemingly without effort. She’d seen drops of blood on the marble floor. It was extraordinary that so much had happened in such a short time.
*******
Ashe stole a horse from the stables and slipped away from Lascar without a backward glance. She heard the scream of the first celebratory fireworks ascend the sky and saw in reflected in a puddle near to the main gate a brilliant rush of red and purple. She wrapped Alexis’s cloak around her and as soon as she was comfortably free of the city she let the horse canter. It was strange to her that, even though she could see nothing of it, she could feel the force of the city behind her, could imagine she heard the sound of distant music and cheering.
She wore Alexis’s sword on her back. She had taken with her some food, a flask of water and one of brandy. She’d stolen a short knife, which she’d pushed inside the compass of her belt. She’d taken two mouthfuls of the brandy, which seemed to be clearing her head. Her thoughts were steady and cold, and she found herself aware of an anger burning within her that was equal to the brightness of the fireworks and the sounds of the festivities. It might have helped her to have cried, but Ashe no longer felt like crying. But if she didn’t fight away the reminders, all that she could see if she closed her eyes – even for a moment – was the smile on Calypso’s face.
Ashe had realised that Laure’s feelings toward her had changed, but it was not until that she heard Laure rush to defend herself and her actions that she understood just how low she stood in the princess’s esteem, and how very… negotiable was her own situation. Ashe wasn’t sure when she’d lost Laure’s love; she was beginning to suspect that she’d never had it in the first place. Stupidly loyal as she had been, she would rather have died than give up Laure, but apparently the princess didn’t see the two of them in quite the same light. She would have smacked her own forehead for sheer idiocy, but her head was sore enough already.
Alexis’s situation gave Ashe more cause for thought. She could only assume that Laure knew nothing about that. It was ironic to consider that out of all the people she’d seen that day, it was Alexis for whom she held some degree of respect. Alexis would even risk Calypso’s reactions by getting Ashe out of the picture. Ashe found herself hoping, variously, that Alexis wouldn’t get into any trouble on her account, and that she hadn’t hit Calypso’s second-in-command too hard. Despite herself, she took a single look back toward the palace. Already it looked like a child’s toy, one that had a hundred windows blazing like the facets of a diamond. It looked lovely but unnecessary.
She reached the end of the road that led directly to the city, dismounted and with a slap to its back, sent the horse back on its way to the city. The city would be far too occupied to wonder about a stray horse wandering about the stables. She felt the bite of the night air and shivered, but there was something good there, too. She wondered how Cairo was, and wished she could have said goodbye, but there just hadn’t been the time.
*******
In her tower room, Rhea stared at the bones she had just cast. She knew that Ashe was gone, and might hopefully be safe. She had intended on sending Cairo to let out Ashe, but then she had read the bones and seen Alexis’s intervention. That had been unexpected: Rhea was pleased with Alexis. By the fireside, purring comfortably, Catkin let out a short cat murmur, and Rhea turned to look at her. “It’s all very well for you to purr. You’ve got a warm fire.” She glanced up at her shuttered windows. “It’ll be cold in the mountains.”
At a quarter to midnight, a gradual hush began to descend over the crowds. Jura and the queen began to look toward Laure, who had still not moved, nor drunk the cup of wine poured for much earlier.
When the great hall had fallen entirely silent, but for the faint crackling of some candles, and the creak of the wooden benches, the queen rose to her feet. As she moved forward to address the crowd, Ashe stood at the narrow path that would – in time – lead her up into the mountains. There were no fireworks now: everything had become very solemn. Everyone not watching the queen had their eyes on the princess. Calypso stood leaning against a wall, the flesh around one eye still swollen, watching the princess, wondering absently where the hell Alexis had gotten to.
“You all know why you’ve been invited to Lascar,” began the queen. “From this night forward, I will share the rule of this country with my daughter, the princess Laure.” Jura smiled, encouragingly, and looked around for Ashe, but could not see her.
“We will celebrate this night for not one but two reasons. The first you already know. The second is that this night Laure will name her consort. You will all know that in our country, this is a very old and solemn rite, and one that can only be dissolved death. I know that many years ago,” - ‘Oh, come on’, thought Jura, not smiling: ‘We’re not that old.’ - “I shocked many of my court by choosing someone from outside our country, someone from a different race than us. I know that Laure’s choice too will come as a surprise to some, but I know that you will accept and support her decision.” She put out a hand to Laure, and when Laure walked toward her, she bent and kissed one of Laure’s hands. She said, “I give you all the voice of the princess.”
Laure stepped forward and looked out over the sea of faces. Everything before her seemed to be sparkling; the edges of everything were a little fuzzy. She tried to speak, tried to swallow and so clear her throat, but it would not happen. The queen, thinking Laure’s silence to be simple nervousness, indicated for one of the servants to run over to Laure, a cup of reviving wine in one hand. A little roll of tolerant laughter rippled through the crowd.
“Tonight I take my place as my mother’s right hand,” said Laure, speaking as though reading from a manuscript. Her voice was oddly uninflected. “And I swear before you all that I will do everything in power to be a good and fair joint-ruler of this land.
“When my mother took Jura to be her consort, it did, as she says, cause considerable unrest. This unrest was banished in time, but I do know that change is not something this country always celebrates. I am therefore asking that you accept my choice of consort here and now, and that any reservations you may feel are immediately overcome. This is a good time for Lammor but we cannot afford to hesitate in the face of change.” The queen looked at Jura who glanced, equally puzzled, back at her. Laure had been tutored in this speech for weeks… and what she was saying now bore absolutely no reference to what she had been taught at all. Jura glanced around again for Ashe, and was about to whisper to the queen when Laure spoke again.
“Many years ago, there was unrest between our country and that of Mercia. But since that time there have been meetings between our two countries, and a strong bond has been formed. With Mercia as our ally, our future is assured. And in order to make that bond closer still…”
Jura whispered, out-loud. “Oh, dear Gods!” The queen stared mutely at her daughter, knowing what had to come next but simply not believing it.
“..I have chosen as my new consort and the ally to this country from this night onwards, the Mercian princess… Calypso.”
Jura took the queen’s arm to steady the unsteadiness she now saw.
“Calypso. Please come forward and meet your new people.”
Alexis, a damp rag held to the lump on the back of her head, stood just inside the hallway, not far from Cairo. Cairo felt her mouth go dry. Alexis winked at her. Cairo scowled.
A silence so severe it was almost painful settled over the crowd. While there were few of the Lascar court who didn’t know Ashe, the rumour of her existence and the likelihood of her being the princess’s choice had spread, bit by bit, until it had become generally accepted that it was Ashe whom Laure would choose. As Calypso walked forward to take Laure’s arm, her own stride as comfortable and assured as if she’d been taking a casual walk through the summer fields, the silence held.
*******
Ashe put her flask up to her lips. The mouthful made her eyes burn with tears. Good Lammoran brandy. Suddenly, despite the myriad aches and pains, Calypso had left in her wake, Ashe felt an unlikely and unlooked-for wash of happiness. She was free: answerable to no-one. Could it possibly be that she’d lost the knack of simple… happiness? She couldn’t remember when she’d last felt free of responsibility or the day-to-day trappings of the court. Her own people – whoever they were, if ever she found them – were perhaps more like this: easy and rootless.
Ashe straightened her shoulders, pulled her cloak (Alexis’s nice cloak) more closely around her, and walked on. She meant what she’d told Alexis: she didn’t ever plan to come back.
********
Then the cheering finally began, and it was less lacklustre than might have been expected. There were so many visitors from outside Lascar, for one thing, people who’d never even heard of Ashe, and in response to their traditions they had broken into immediate applause and shouts of congratulation. The Lascan court itself was a little slower in its response, and there were some confused conversations going on in corners of the room. But Calypso had the princess’s hand in her own, and Jura and Leanna had come forward to stand behind them in the manner in which they had been schooled, to show off their support of and respect for the new alliance, and that forced the cheers to become a little louder, and little less… feigned.
Jura glanced across the crowded hall to where Cairo stood. She could see no sign of Ashe anywhere. And the cheering began to gain in strength as more wine was produced and poured. The queen looked as though she’d been hit no less lightly over the head than Alexis had been. Anyone standing close to her would have noticed the loss of colour in her face, and the unsteadiness of her hands. Just so do the old legends come into being, Leanna thought, taking advantage of the moment to slip back onto her throne. There was a dryness in her voice and she knew that she wouldn’t be able to keep her condition quiet for much longer.
Laure felt the grip of Calypso’s fingers around her own, and smiled at her. Laure had, after all, gotten exactly what she wanted, and now there was every sign of a new and powerful future for Lascar, not to mention the whole of Lammor. Besides, Calypso kept stroking the back of Laure’s hand with the ball of her thumb, a mildly hypnotic, partly erotic repetition, and the contact was clouding Laure’s perceptions.
“What do the Elders say to welcome our new consort?” Laure heard this question rise from the mouths of more than a dozen courtiers and guests. At first the words sounded very small in the great hall, but they were repeated often enough for Calypso to notice them. The Elders were sitting at a special table that was set at a slight remove from the remainder of the crowd. Laure looked toward them.
It was blatantly clear to anyone with half an eye that the Elders were at a complete loss. But habit is hard to lose, and at length one of the Elders managed to stand, to reach into her leather bag for the bones that were then thrown onto the hall floor, to scatter them, and then to read. Laure watched them with nervous anticipation, but it was not one of the Elders who next spoke: it was Alexis.
Alexis had pushed her way through the crowd and reached the scattering of bones. She had straightened her clothes and her armour was brightly polished. Though not tall, she commanded an unmistakable authority that seemed to daunt the Elders. Not one but all of them shrank back from the force of her arrival in their midst.
“The Elders?” Alexis’s voice rang out across the hall. “The Elders see what we shall all see in the months to come, the rightness of this alliance, and the good future that awaits us all on account of it. They see Calypso as the true consort to the princess, and they celebrate this. Princess Laure? My lady Calypso? My ladies, the Elders salute you both!”
The Elders watched Alexis and in response to a growing outcry from the crowd, began to nod and smile and approve the alliance. All were aware that their words sounded a little mechanical.
Alexis leapt upon a table and raised a cup to the new couple. “A toast!” she shouted. “Good fortune to them both!”
*******
Ashe felt the warmth of sweat on her back. She was setting a remarkable pace, but her feelings seemed to be of hurrying toward something. With every pace she felt some part of her Lammoran self slipping away from her. She felt her fringe grow damp, and her heart pounded with a good, resonant beat. The path ran up-hill, and the stones beneath her feet were slippery from frost. The moon came out from behind a cloud to illuminate her way. She took the sensation of chill against her face as nothing but the bite of the wind: if she was crying, she didn’t know it.
*******
Calypso watched Alexis, a faint smile on her face. Alexis was very, very good. She would have to find a way to reward Alexis for this night’s work. Everyone was now raising a cup toward the happy couple… Laure looked at Calypso, standing by her side, and realised that she knew virtually nothing about the woman she’d just announced as her consort.
The Elders looked at one another, aware that a magical force greater than their own had overwhelmed them. The bones had spelled out no message at all. Quickly, and without comment, the Elders slipped away from the hall.
Leanna and Jura stood apart, their cups of wine untouched. The moonlight touched the palace and made it shine like silver.
The foundations of the palace really should have given out then. But foundations are unlikely things: they stood firm. Something had to.