Realm of Light - Deborah Chester [102]
Silence fell over them, and they bowed to her in startlement. She passed them without stopping, heading for Albain’s chamber.
Guards opened these final doors, and she walked inside, halting just across the threshold. She found herself suddenly without breath, her heart pounding too fast.
Tall-ceilinged and spacious, the chamber’s walls were hung in silk that was sun-faded and out of style. Her father’s bed was enormous, both broad and tall, with netting looped back out of the way. He lay on his back, his head propped up on a single pillow. His large hands were folded.
She had never seen him look so still, so thin, so pale. She stood there, afraid to walk closer to this stranger.
The room smelled of medicines and blood. A valet stood in a shadowy corner of the room, hastily bundling up stained sheets and sleeping shirt. A lackey with his sleeves rolled up held a basin of dirty water that he carried out through the servant’s door. Her father’s jinja lay curled up on a plump silk cushion at the foot of the bed, whimpering softly in its grief.
Elandra realized she was standing frozen in place while the physicians stared at her back. Frowning, she forced herself to walk forward, only barely aware of the doors closing quietly behind her.
The valet glanced at her, bowed, and departed. She was alone with her father, a man who had sired her and given her a home, yet little of his time and still less of his affection. She was only one of his many bastards, but unlike the others who worked as overseers and stable hands and gardeners, Elandra had a mother who was highborn. Albain had sired only one legitimate child: the vain, spoiled Bixia, who had thought she would marry Kostimon and who had joined the terrible Maelite order in anger when Elandra robbed her of that glory.
Where were his children now? Who of his family stood near to mourn him?
Elandra swallowed and walked to his bedside. His eyes were closed. She could hear the quick rasp of his breathing. His face was an ashen color that frightened her.
Slowly, she placed her hand atop his. She did not want to disturb him, yet it was important that he know she had come.
“Father,” she said softly.
He did not stir.
“Father.” She spoke more loudly. “It’s Elandra. I’ve come.”
He groaned, frowning and turning his head. Watching his pain, she bit her lip and dared say nothing else. He had always been so large, so strong. She remembered him striding through the palace, bellowing orders and slapping his gauntlets in his palm. He always made noise wherever he went, whether it was his mail creaking or his spurs jingling, or his satisfied belches following dinner, or his fist thudding against his chair arm. He was life and movement, blunt and coarse and ferocious. Through his days, he had worked and fought with equal vigor. To see him now so thin and frail, fading before her very eyes, seemed impossible.
Her fingers tightened on his hand, as though by their pressure she could impart her strength to him.
A tear spilled down her cheek and splashed on the coverlet. She rubbed at the spot with her thumb, feeling helpless and afraid.
“Elandra?”
She looked up to find him gazing at her. His single sighted eye was bleary with pain and medicine, but he knew her. Her tears fell freely now, and she couldn’t hold them back. Leaning over, she kissed his cheek.
It felt hot and clammy beneath her lips.
Finding a shaky smile for him, she said, “Hello, Father.”
He let out his breath. “Thank the gods you are found. This madness in the—”
“Hush,” she said, trying to calm him, certain he must not talk too much. “Be still. I am safe. You must not worry.”
“Murdeth and Fury, but I do worry,” he said, refusing to be quiet. “Kostimon dead. You gone to Gault knows where. That puppy Tirhin proclaiming himself. Madruns running wild. I—”
He broke off, coughing up blood. His face lost even more color.
Alarmed, Elandra took a cloth from the bedside table and pressed it to his lips. When the coughing fit finally ended, he lay back exhausted on his pillow.
Elandra drew in several breaths, trying to calm