The King's Messenger

Chapter 26

Messenger invited Kaeda with him to search for an emerald large enough for Eden's taste. He had promised they would talk, after all.

Of course, that wasn't the only reason, but that wasn't important.

It was a day of azure sky and bright white clouds, the sun not as blisteringly hot as usual, with Autumn Hail approaching.

"Your name isn't really Ry, is it," Kaeda asked, more of a statement than anything. "You told me that the night we met."

"No, it's not," Messenger said. "It's just a name I made up."

"Is your name Irelian?" Kaeda asked.

"Yes, but just call me Ire, if you must," Messenger said.

"Ire," Kaeda said, sounding it out. "Saint Ire?"

"Saints, no," Messenger said, exhaling sharply.

Laughing, Kaeda asked, "Saints? Really?"

Messenger smiled as well. "It's a common phrase. I can't avoid it, I fear. But Ire is for people, and Irelian is for people calling me a saint."

A scent of rosemary filled the air, diffusing from a perfume shop. The jeweler was just ahead, then, the first of several Messenger would visit if need be.

"And how does one become a saint?" Kaeda asked.

"Mostly luck," Messenger said, "and a grisly death, usually." He fell silent.

"What was your grisly death?" Kaeda asked hesitantly, "If you don't mind me asking."

"I... was a Messenger, years ago," Messenger said. "One of our duties in the past, as I said, was to act as diplomats. I was sent to a hostile country- it doesn't exist any longer- with four others; a noble, a scribe, a princess, and a fellow Messenger." He stopped outside the jeweler, story paused midway. "Let's check here." Kaeda didn't push him to finish his tale just yet.

"What size emerald?" the jeweler asked, incredulous, after Messenger explained his request.

"About this size," Messenger said, making a ring with his thumb and forefinger.

The jeweler shook his head. "I don't have anything close," he said.

"Thank you anyway," Messenger said as they left. Onto the next jeweler it was.

"What happened next?" Kaeda asked.

"As I said, it was a hostile country; we weren't at war, but there were tensions at the borders and in the capitals. Naturally, they didn't trust us, nor us them," Messenger said. "They insisted that at least one of us be under strict supervision at all times, 'for our protection.'"

"They wanted leverage?" Kaeda asked.

"Right, a hostage. After some weeks, we had all grown increasingly unnerved. Tensions were only growing, despite our diplomatic efforts, and they grew more and more suspicious of us." Messenger paused, eyes distant. "I suggested that we should flee before the war inevitably began. Princess Adrea would have been a powerful tool for our enemy, as would two Messengers."

"How did you escape?" Kaeda asked.

"It would have been impossible for all five of us to escape with how they watched us, but if one of us were under guard, they would relax their scrutiny," Messenger explained.

"And so, you stayed," Kaeda said softly.

"I did. Princess Adrea was far too important, the noble the next head of his house, the other Messenger, an expecting father, and the scribe, a talented young girl with impressive speed and penmanship. Barely seventeen at the time, if that. So... I volunteered." Messenger smiled wistfully. "They protested, of course, but nobody could have taken my place." Nor had they tried to, truly. They all had something to return to; Messenger had only Valina. "I told them, at worst, I would be a political prisoner, a failed bargaining chip. Messengers were important in those times, but wars would not be waged or lost over us. But we all knew I wouldn't be a simple bargaining chip. They were far too... pragmatic for that."