Cormyr_ a novel - Ed Greenwood [163]
"Princess," Aunadar said gently, "I have just now come from where the king lay abed and found him gone from the chamber, but the priests there said he yet lived! High Lady, there is still hope!"
"My father is dying," Tanalasta sobbed. "Dying! He lies so near death that they've moved him to somewhere secret, and they've forbidden me-me, his only family present!-from seeing him. Only our Lord High and Mighty Wizard and his two cronies, the bloody-minded sages, can see my father! They'll not let me in to see him until all that's left is a cold corpse!"
She rose bolt upright on her bed and hurled the sodden pillow across the room. The heavy, waterlogged cushion struck an oval mirror as tall as the princess herself and shattered it into a spiderweb of cracks.
"Princess-" Aunadar said helplessly, and she answered him with a snarl of rage that rose into a scream, then thrust her fingers into the next pillow like claws, ripping and tearing.
Aunadar put firm arms around her and endured a few frantic moments of struggling and clawing before his lips found hers, and he began to stroke and soothe and rock her gently.
It seemed a long time before she broke free of his kiss, trembling, and said quietly, "I'm all right now, Aunadar. Let me go. Thank you."
Aunadar Bleth released her and sat back, concern darkening his eyes, and she managed a wan smile. "I'm not handling this very well, am I?"
"Lady," he said gravely, "I don't think anyone faces the loss of her father very well. We do what we can, as the gods made us, and that is all we can expect and hope for." He smiled faintly. "Right now, what I hope for is your smile. I haven't see you smile in days!"
Tanalasta burst into fresh tears, a short shower that ended in a lopsided, sputtering smile. She put a hand on his cheek. "You are the sweetest of men, my Aunadar."
"Oh? Deceived you, too, have I?" he teased, stroking her upraised hand. She chuckled weakly, and his lips found hers once more.
They rolled over on the bed, and Tanalasta came up alone. "No!" she said. "No, Aunadar… much as I'd like that right now, I can't, I-I just can't. There's too much to worry about! Nobles muttering everywhere, rumors of rebels gathering in the King's Forest and even somewhere right here in Suzail, that old wizard gliding around, smiling at me and waving his writ of regency whenever he passes! I can't spend what may be my last few days of life rolling around on beds with you! What if the nobles came in and stabbed us both? What then?"
"Then we'd be together forever," Aunadar said lightly, adding hastily, when he saw her brows darken in fury, "But you're right, Lady Highness, and I am wrong to distract you now. Your birthright is this fair kingdom of ours, and I must tell you that I have been very busy these last few days trying to ensure that what is rightfully yours does indeed pass to you!"
"What do you mean?" Tanalasta asked softly, her eyes dangerous.
"I've been talking to all the nobility I can find here in Suzail, putting to them the blunt question of their loyalty to you, should Crown Princess Tanalasta claim the Dragon Throne in the face of Vangerdahast as a declared regent-or anyone else who thinks the throne might be his for the taking, 'for the good of the realm.'"
"What did they say?" Tanalasta's voice was calm, but the last pillow she'd caught hold of was now a tortured rag in her hands.
"Most of them offered guarded support," Aunadar said carefully, "but many of them also complained about this and that which displeases them about the governance of the realm. I sense that if Cormyr is to stay strong under a ruling Queen Tanalasta-without its war wizards, perhaps-certain, ah, concessions to the nobility may be necessary to guarantee the security of the kingdom."
"Were they any more specific?" Tanalasta asked dully.
"Some of them want a small say in the policies of the realm," Aunadar said gently. "A council of nobles that you'd consult with, or something of the kind."
Tanalasta frowned. "I see. So