Duty

Chapter 19 To have and to hold

"You wait," king Marcos said firmly, "I'm already sending Cyrus to Tireze. I'll give him tasks when he gets back. Council meetings, errands, training soldiers. He won't have time for you. A year, Vara. You'll need to wait a year. And then we'll see."

Vara was about to protest, but the king gave her a warning look. He had enough to deal with at he moment. "End of discussion. You can wait one year." Without waiting for a reply, he turned his back on her and walked away.

Vara felt her legs give out and she stumbled towards a bench. Silently she let the tears fall down her cheeks. It wasn't fair. Why had he ever brought her here to the palace? She hadn't asked for all of this to happen. She missed her parents. When her father had begged the king to take care of her, he had wanted the best for her, of that Vara was certain. But he could never have foreseen how things would turn out. Would he have done things differently if he had known?

"We meet again," a voice sounded at her shoulder.

Vara looked up to find a familiar young man standing next to her bench. When he saw her tears, his eyes widened slightly. "Forgive me. I did not mean to disturb you. Are you alright? Did someone hurt you?"

Vara wiped away her tears and offered him a watery smile. "I'm alright."

Iason sat down next to her. "You don't look alright. You were crying." His voice was calm and comforting.

Vara sighed. "Don't worry about me." It seemed the soldier still didn't know her true identity and she liked it that way. He treated her like a normal person, not like the king's ward or the prince's sister, but like she was any other person. It had been a while since anyone had talked to her like that. She didn't count Eunice and Ethan. They had known her all their lives. But this Iason had only seen her once.

"Your leg seems better," Vara said.

Iason smiled and nodded. "It still gets sore when I sit still for a long period of time, but I'll be able to sit on a horse again soon. I suppose I'll be send back to my regiment then."

"Are you afraid?" Vara asked.

"No," he answered, "I want to help to serve my king. I want to feel useful. Besides, it's my duty."

Vara sighed. "Duty," she muttered. She was getting sick of that word.

"It will be a while longer though," Iason said, "the first troops are leaving tomorrow after the wedding. I won't be fit enough by then." He looked at her. "I'm not keeping you from your chores, am I? You must be busy with the preparations. I wouldn't want to get you in trouble."

She was already in trouble, but it had nothing to do with Iason. She smiled at him. "I'll be fine. I only need to get away from all the madness for a minute."

Iason nodded in understanding. "It must be quite stressful with all the guests arriving. Preparations for the festivities and your duties towards your lady."

"I should head back though," Vara said, "before I'm being missed."

"Of course," Iason said and he stood up to help her to her feet. "Have a good day."

Vara nodded at him. "Perhaps our paths will cross again before you leave."

Iason bowed at her politely. "May it be so," he said. He watched her back as she walked away from him and waited until she was out of sight before leaving in the opposite direction.

***

Cyrus hardy heard a word of what was being said to him. The past few days had been busy. After that message from Tireze , informing them that Darius had been made regent, it had been meeting after meeting. His father had insisted he take part in every one of them. Arrangements had to be made, both for the wedding and the upcoming journey to Tireze. The lords of the provinces had sent tribute for the young prince of Tireze, many of their sons would join the entourage to forge new trade connections. There had been discussion on the dispatch of the newly arrived soldiers. Fortifications had to be strengthened at the border and new patrols hips had been finished. It seemed like every day brought to light a new issue and in all this time he had not seen Vara.