Nethermost Realm: Prisoner of Arlunn

Chapter 36

   Please note: I am updating this draft of The Prisoner of Arlunn. The most important change is that the main character's name has been changed from Philip to Rian.

36

Back in Gwindle's private sitting room at the Palace on Chuness, Shaz stood face to face with his mother. She hit him hard across the head with her large folded-up wooden fan. "Idiot!" she screamed at him. "You had the Favored Heir and you let him go?"

"I didn't let him go," said Shaz, trying to explain. "I wanted to make an alliance with him, since I was going to marry Anya."

"And that turned out to be a waste of time!" said Gwindle. "I can't believe that Aldena would mislead everyone at court into thinking that waif was her own daughter! It's dishonest!"

"But, Aldena does consider her as a daughter ... and we are engaged," began Shaz.

"No," snapped Gwindle. "You're not. That was never official."

"But Aldena will still be offended."

"You are about to kill her nephew in the Challenge. She'll be offended anyway. No, you have to break it off with Anya."

"But, she's carrying my child."

His mother turned away and picked up something, a small viol, out of a cabinet. "Give her this. Slip two or three drops into a cup of tea and the child will be gone by morning. With that problem eliminated, we can send Anya back to her loving mother. She's no longer a concern of ours."

"You want me to kill my own child?" asked Shaz. The thought was disturbing.

"Well, we can't let that child be born," said Gwindle. "Can you imagine it? What if your first two heirs die? You want a 'nobody' like that coming into power on Chuness? I won't have it. The child must die."

She took his hand and put the viol in it. "Tonight when you return, you'll put some of this in a glass with some tea and you'll see that she drinks it. I won't hear any more about this." She moved away, pacing.

Shaz felt a chill, but he put the dark viol in his pocket.

"No. You'll need another heir," said his mother, already moving on. "We'll have to think of something else."

"I already have two heirs," began Shaz.

"Not enough," snapped Gwindle. "What if you were to die in the Challenge? Two heirs won't be enough. What about Ashette or Kami, the Loncalla sisters? They are fairly stupid girls. Surely you could lure one of them to your bed?"

One of the twins?

"Or both?" said his mother. "Why not?"

That had some appeal, but neither Ashette nor Kami were stupid. Though he thought that perhaps Ashette was attracted to him. It might work. "But," he objected. "We're in the middle of the challenge and they all know about Anya."

"I don't care about this. Once she loses the baby, she'll be gone. And you have the best chance of winning this challenge. Any one of those girls would be lucky to have you."

"But the Challenge is a competition. It's not a time for romance."

"Fine," said his mother, moving closer to him. "Then capture one of them and put them in your dungeon in the Interstitium. Just make sure you get a child from her; it should be easy."

He felt both appalled and fascinated by the idea. "Lock her up and ...."

"Or capture them both. Then you'll have two heirs. Even better."