Rulers of Westover (Book 1 in the RoW Series)

Chapter Thirty-Three

"Already?" Irving murmured. "They wouldn't even be in the Westlands by now..." 

Maxwell suddenly dreaded to know what the letter said. Surely not Ravenots? It would not bode well for such a large army to be so close. He held out a hand and the soldier passed him the folded piece of paper to him. He unfolded it tentatively and began to read silently. He could feel Irving watching, waiting, but the letter.... it held unexpected news and Maxwell's eyes widened with each line. "What does it say?" Irving asked quietly. He still felt awkward being around the men he had been killing since the war began. He should be happy Colton was a captive and far away. The fourteen year old would have slit the Vaughan's throat in his sleep. 

Maxwell did not reply. Irving would not know who this letter spoke of. He wouldn't understand how remarkable a story this was. "Where's Lanford?" he asked. Irving blinked. He didn't know Lord Thaon's first name of course. The soldier did though, being one of the few Thaon soldiers left. "My lord is in his tent, I believe, your majesty." 

"Go wake him, will you?" 

The soldier nodded and headed for the Island lord's tent. 

They waited in silence for a good ten minutes; Maxwell rereading the letter again and again, Irving twiddling his thumbs awkwardly, having still not been told what the letter said. And then finally Lord Lanford Thaon appeared, a look on his face that meant he had been sleeping and hadn't wanted to be woken. Before he could shout at Maxwell like the now eighteen year old wasn't the older man's king, Maxwell thrust the letter in Lord Thaon's direction. "It seems Arthur is still as hard to keep track of as ever." Lanford Thaon frowned at him, read the letter and then stood there staring at it in shock for a moment. "By the gods..." 

Maxwell grinned. He didn't much enjoy Arthur's personality, but the twelve year old was one less person the different factions of the old Auber Rebellion could use against the Talvace Alliance. He was safe and Maxwell was already planning on sending a letter back to the scouts, telling them to have Arthur escorted to Castle Deerfax, House Vaughan's seat in the south. It seemed, if Irving were to be believed, that out of the three High House's castles, it was the only one safe. An even safer bet of course, was to have the young Thaon taken to one of Maxwell's more southern banner's castles. But maybe he should leave Lanford to decide that. "He needs to be kept safe," Lord Thaon said, as if reading Maxwell's mind. 

"You could send him to Deerfax..." Maxwell and Lord Lanford turned to Irving who must have roughly guessed who Arthur was. "It's further south than any of the other armies are willing to go, I'd wager." 

"Yes and you have only just joined us. Gods, you haven't even helped us win a battle yet," Lord Thaon replied back sourly. 

"Nor do I hope to. Not for a long time," Irving said after a moment. "Lord Ravenot will head east most likely and he'll fight whomever he meets first. Maybe they'll wipe each other out before we get there..." Irving suddenly realised his place and flushed red. "It was only a suggestion, my lord." 

Being called 'my lord' after so long of everybody being slack and forgetting his title seemed to put Lord Thaon in a more accepting mood. He scratched his neck, staring at the letter. "Alright... Have my son sent to Deerfax." 

This brought a smile to Irving's face, like he'd finally been accepted into his new alliance. "You won't regret it." 

Lanford eyed him cautiously. "Good. Otherwise I'll kill you." 

Maxwell barely refrained from facepalming. 

                                                                                    *     *     * 

9:7:13 Light

The arrival of an Auber soldier was unexpected to say the least. Roldan watched from his perch on the window sill as the man in his blood covered armour rode through the gates. Aland appeared within seconds. Roldan didn't hear what Aland asked, nor did he hear the soldier's reply, but the soldier suddenly looked up at him in the window and frowned. And then the pair of them disappeared into the keep. 

Roldan steadily got down from the sill and made his way to the door. He had all but recovered from the Silence - finally. The same couldn't be said for Magge Vaughan. Roldan wasn't allowed to see her just in case it made him sick again, but he'd heard from one of the servants that she'd become so thin and frail that she looked half a skeleton. What on Parrith would the rest of the Vaughan family say when they found out after the war? 

He hopped down the stairs two at a time and made his way down the long dark corridor, straining his ears to find out where his brother and the soldier were. And then Bosley poked his head out one of the keep's many disused rooms. "Roldan, over here." It had to be something big if all the Auber boys had to hear about it. "Alright, we're all here," Aland murmured. "Say what you've been told to say." 

The soldier just stared at them for a moment. "I thought..."

"Well there aren't four of us anymore - speak already."

The soldier suddenly seemed a little lost. "We were betrayed... The Maynet soldiers and Quentin's banners attacked us. Your father... we couldn't get to him in time." 

"What." Bosley hissed after a moment. "You're saying father is dead?!" 

Roldan looked form his brothers to the soldier who nodded uncertainly, like he thought he was going to be poked full of holes with swords and arrows for bringing them the news. Not father... "What about Blake?" he asked in a squeak. 

"Your brother is leading the remaining Auber forces north against Quentin."

Roldan saw Aland frown. "And what of the Vaughan forces?" 

The soldier had that look of trepidation on his face again. "Lord Jarret and Cleavon Vaughan were killed by Maynet banners also. Only your lord brother and Lord Irving Vaughan left the lords' tent alive. Irving left your brother to fight his way out... and took the Vaughan soldiers west." 

"What's this about Vaughan soldiers and the west?" 

Roldan turned to see Tiana Talvace in the doorway, the little prince clinging to his mother's skirts, silently staring back at them all. Roldan would never be able to think of Easton as his brother. His father wouldn't betray mother like that! Aland snorted. "Quentin Maynet has bested our father. He shan't be returning. When he died, so did your reason for being here. And that means you best leave... and take your bastard with you," he sneered. "Let us mourn alone." 

The queen was silent for a moment. And then her eyes widened. "And what of my grief?!" she hissed. "I loved your father just as much as you!" 

"But you weren't meant to!" Bosley was shouting at her now. "You were married to the king! You were never meant to be with father!" 

"My lords!" 

One of the castle guards pushed past the queen, ignoring her title when she hissed in surprise. "My lords, Talvace men less than a day away!" 

Tiana Talvace paled, but Roldan didn't understand why. She nodded suddenly. "You're right, Aland, Bosley - I should leave. Come Easton." 

"Whoa, whoa, whoa - wait." Roldan turned to his older brother. Aland suddenly looked a lot like Blake, a shark-like smile on his lips. "You're right, my queen. We should not force you to leave." He nodded at the guard and then at the soldier who still stood beside them. "Would you to be so kind as to escort our queen and the prince to their room and make sure they do not get in harm’s way and leave." The last Roldan saw of the queen was her panicked expression as she was dragged away screaming. Roldan didn't understand that either. 

"I thought we wanted her to leave?" he asked quietly. 

Aland smirked. "Oh she'll leave. But not before she gets to see her dear eldest son again." With a snort of a laugh, he left, already shouting for the guards to close the gates and line the walls.