Chapter 28
The next morning, he went to Paige's room, surprised to find her in bed with papers spread out all around her. Normally, she got out of bed and met people in the workroom, but this morning she was looking more rundown. The poison must be having a greater effect on her than the day before.
She looked up when he walked in, stopping whatever she was doing, her hand hovering over a paper she was about to grab. Her eyes shifted to solid yellow as she studied him.
"Do you want to talk or work?" she finally asked.
"Work," he said. Sitting at the foot of her bed, he leaned back against the tall bed post. "What is all this?"
"Bluescale finances."
"You're going to tackle this now?"
"I need to know how much is here before my lifesaver decides to start acting like all these assets are community property."
"All right." Zane pulled a stack of papers over so he could help her. "What are we looking for first?"
"I need to know the basics: how much is in the vaults, how much, if any, we have coming in, by what sources, and how much is going out."
The castle's gold monitor, Talbot, sat at a small table by the fireplace with a stack of scrolls, answering all the questions Paige put to him. Zane was impressed by Paige's shrewd understanding of the finances. She kept a log of her own for quick reference.
Surprisingly, Bluescale didn't actually have very much coming in anymore, but they had the largest gold store Zane had ever seen. As each Bluescale died and the inheritances started to consolidate, the majority of the family gold was returned to one of the vaults in the castle.
They also had relatively little going out for a castle this size. Since Theo Bluescale had cut the staff back as far as he could, their real expense was the guard, with a current standing of three thousand, to police the entire Bluescale territory.
"Before we were targeted, one of our major exports was Firth, correct?" Paige asked.
Firth was a plant that grew under water and was used as a binding agent in most potions. Without the plant, most potions were rendered ineffective.
"Yes, My Queen," Talbot said.
"What has happened to the Firth harvest?"
"Well, My Queen, as the members of the Bluescale line were, uh..."
"Assassinated?"
"Well, yes." Talbot made an unpleasant face. "Anyway, without a Bluescale to let the harvesters know where the Firth was growing, we didn't know where to move the harvesters once the current location was depleted."
"The price of Firth has become exuberant," Zane advised. "I'm sure as soon as you're well, you can locate new Firth fields to harvest."
"Yes, I'm sure after all this time the harvest will be abundant," Talbot agreed.
"Why are we not employing Bluescale Dyad's to assist the harvesters?" Paige asked tiredly.
"King Theo only allowed the Dyad to become members of the guard. He didn't allow them to have any other function in the kingdom, fearing that their presence would cause too much tension in the towns."
"See if we can hire some Bluescale Dyad's to help the harvesters. Their skills should be put to good use. Besides, I'm sure there's a captain or two out there already doing so, or the harvest would have stopped completely."
Ignoring Talbot's disapproving look, she picked up another paper and studied it for a long time, while Zane was looking over the paper nearest him. It was a log of the gold that Theo Bluescale had removed from the vaults in the time before his health started to fail. The old king had taken more than thirty thousand pounds of gold, but the ledger had no record of what Theo had done with all the gold.
"Zane, how much is your guard paid?" Paige asked, distracting him from the mystery in front of him.
"Last I heard, our upper-level guard are paid twenty pounds of silver and seven pounds of gold each month."
"Ash, how much are you paid?"
"About half that, My Queen."
"Someone get Byran please," Paige requested.
When Byran arrived, she asked him several questions about the guard's pay. At what rate did new members start? How often did they receive increases, and what ranks were paid the most?"
Zane asked a few questions as well, which Paige actually seemed to appreciate, making follow-up inquires of her own that complemented his. They worked well together. It was a flow of ideas that seemed to feed off one another, growing until they both seemed to reach the same conclusions at the same time. Working with her one on one like this was different than listening to her translate documents. He felt for the first time that they were equals, that her knowledge of Balaan's language and the Earth realm had been evened out by his upbringing and his insight into the ways of running a castle.
"Effective immediately, I want everyone's pay doubled and half again for any positions deemed hazardous, such as the members of mine and Dean's personal guard."
"My Queen, do you understand that will offset our income, creating a deficit which will force us to tap into the reserves in the vault?" Talbot asked.
"Yes, I know," Paige said, then turned to Byran. "With the increase in pay, do you think we could recruit more members of the guard?
"Yes, I believe so."
"What if you put in a signing bonus?" Zane asked. It was something he thought his father's army should do, but Titus had never tried to expand their forces, even though they'd been at war for thirty years.
"My Queen, Theo Bluescale believed that the citizens of this kingdom should find more honor than wealth in serving his Highness."
"Be that as it may, I think the citizens that serve this kingdom will find more honor if they can afford to feed their families in the process." She turned her attention to Byran. "What would be a fair bonus to catch their eye?"
"Ten pounds of silver," Byran said. Zane smiled when Talbot rolled his eyes.
"Make it happen. We need to build up the guard. We are at war, and we need the numbers." Paige said the last part to Talbot. "We will start looking into increasing our revenue as soon as I'm feeling better. Besides, when the Firth harvest is increased, that will help."
Paige dismissed Byran and Talbot after another hour of going over the finances. Talbot took the stacks of scrolls, leaving Paige with only the notes she took.
"So, which one of my suiters do you hate the least?" Paige asked, tapping Zane's leg with her foot.
"Paige..." Zane hesitated.
"I know, they're all pretty awful." Paige smiled, as if it was a silly joke. From the corner of his eye, he saw Ash frown. She leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees. "Do you think anyone else will come?"
"I don't know." Zane reached out, placing his hand on her arm. She turned her head away from him, hiding her face. He wanted to tell her that there were more dragons on the way, that these were just the first greedy lowlifes, hoping she would hurry up and pick one of them. But he couldn't give her false hope if it meant watching her be let down later. It was better to be honest; he knew she respected that more.
"This was not supposed to be me," she whispered, her shoulders hunched defensively. She looked small compared to the large room and the heavy burden resting on her shoulders. She seemed too fragile. Zane's heart went out to all she had to endure. The unfairness of her life made him sad and angry in a way he hadn't felt since his mother's death.
Before Zane could probe her to elaborate, Dean ran in and jumped up on the bed. He threw his arms around Paige, and she automatically returned his embrace.
"What's wrong?"
"Cain said if he saves you then I can't be friends with August anymore."
"What did you say to him?"
"I told him that you said I could and that you were the queen, so he had to listen to you."
"Don't worry, Dean. You can be friends with anyone you want."
"Don't choose Cain. He's too old and mean."
"Dean, remember we talked about this. We don't have many options here, so we will have to make the best of whatever happens."
"Why do so many bad things have to happen?"
Zane's heart broke for Dean. It was a fair question for a child to ask, but it was one that didn't have any good answers.
"We can't pick what will happen to us, we can only choose how we will react to them. Now, I promise I'll try to pick the very best option for you, but you have to remember to be brave until you're older and can make some of these choices for yourself."
"Okay."
"Now, go play. If anyone says anything about you being friends with August, you can tell them that you're the prince of Bluescale, and you'll be friends with anyone you choose."
"You said I'm not supposed use my being a prince to get things I want."
"I think in this very special case, it'll be okay."
"I wasn't really considering Cain anyway," Paige said after Dean left. She laced her fingers in her hair, pulling on the short strands so they stood high, then let them fall around her face.
"I don't think Cain is as self-sacrificing as he claims," Zane grunted. Paige gave him a questioning look. "He wants your heart."
"My heart is poisoned. What good would it be to him?"
"Paige, you are a young dual-natured dragon. Your heart has to be strong for you to survive this poison for as long as you have."
"What will my heart do for him?"
"It will extend his life by another twenty or thirty years. Of course, it will probably have the opposite effect on you, shortening your life the same number of years."
She considered that for a moment "Whitetail is weak. He only wants the money, and he'll do everything in his power to get it."
"But you are strong, you can stand up to him."
"Do you think he'll resent me for my strength and independence?"
"Not if you pay him enough."
"Hudson is strong, and not as greedy as Whitetail."
"He is strong," Zane agreed, "but he thinks he can use that strength to force his will on you."
"I just don't think I can stomach Vic, being treated like his personal status symbol."
"He's probably the most liberal of all of them, and wouldn't try to stop you from starting Dean's school or spending the night with assassins."
She made a face that let him know she didn't find that to be an appealing enough reason to choose Vic over the others.
"Don't worry, the Desma will mold your feelings together," Zane explained in a vain effort to reassure her. "You'll be able to find common ground with whoever you choose once the spell is complete. It would be good for Vic to know another's heart. It would probably have a dramatic effect on how shallow he is."
"Daynon is just so naive."
"He's a good kid, and he has a good heart. One day, he might grow into a proper king." Zane considered Daynon as the best choice for Paige, but he could see the reluctance in her eyes.
"Ryder sounds more appealing every minute. Too bad he's already in love with someone."
"What? Why would you say that?" Zane asked.
"I could sense it the moment I saw him, just like I could with you. I figured it would be better for him if I rejected him from the start." She looked at him, shocked. "You don't know who it is? He's been keeping it a secret?"
"Don't sound so excited," Zane chided.
"Why not? Is it a commoner?" She put the back of her hand to her forehead, feigning drama, but the move only made her look weaker than she already was. "Perish the thought."
"Like you would find that scandalous."
She shook her head and gave him an apologetic smile.
"My father would. Especially since my sister ran off with her guard about eight years ago."
"Oh?"
"But it would explain a lot." Zane wanted to keep the focus of the conversation on Ryder. He didn't want to talk about his sister.
"Do you have any ideas—" Paige clutched her heart, in pain. Her face twisted and her eyes started to water like the night she'd worn the quill.
"Where is her medicine?" Zane asked, feeling anxious. Ash handed him a vial and Zane moved to wrap his arm around her, leaning her back so he could tip the liquid down her throat. She swallowed the potion, then wiped her forehead that was suddenly damp. She leaned her head against his chest while she caught her breath. He wrapped his other arm around her, pulling her into a tight hug. The only comfort he could offer, knowing it wasn't enough, but there was nothing more he could do for her.
"Does she know?" Paige whispered.
"What?" Zane asked, on edge after his recent conversations with Ryder and Lavender. Their accusations swam in his mind like sharks ready to tear at his good intentions. His hold on Paige loosened.
"How lucky she is to have you?"
Zane didn't answer. Lavender was reacting to her insecurities at the moment, which didn't allow her to appreciate him. He didn't want to share that with Paige, she had too much to deal with to listen to his inconsequential problems.
"I hope she does."
"I'm going to take her home tomorrow. It's what she wants," he finally said.
"What do you want?"
"I want to stop Balaan. I want you to teach me English. I want to see what else those documents hold. I want her to understand all that."
"What does she want you to understand?"
Zane didn't answer. He knew Lavender wanted to join hearts more than anything else, and he was not taking that away from her. So why was she trying take this from him?
"It's good for you to go," Paige said, her voice gaining some strength.
"Go?"
"Take her home, like she wants." She pulled away and was suddenly business like.
"You really think so?"
"Yes, Zane, you need to put her first."
Zane felt a strange flip in his stomach, the kind that either makes a person ill, or excited. He didn't quite know which. Paige's words were a release, but was she setting him free or casting him out? She'd consumed his life for almost two weeks and he couldn't decide if he was willing to let her go or if he wanted to hold onto her.
"I was hoping I would have more time, another day or so to see if anyone else showed up," Paige said, changing the subject.
"How bad is it?" Zane asked, a wave of apprehension crashing into his lungs, making his breath shallow.
"I think I'll have to make a decision today."
"It's going to be okay, Paige. Everything will work out." Zane took her hand, desperately willing his words to be true for her.
She pulled her hand away. "Ash, please show the Lord Prince out. He's grown far too sentimental."
"I know you can't see it right now, Paige, but you can't give up hope. I know what that feels like to live without hope, and it's no way to live. You gave us all back our hope when you came here. And whoever you choose will be lucky to have you."
"Go away." The cold, hard edge in her voice dismissed him, but the look in her eyes said something entirely different.