DAWN OF THE PHOENIX Read online

  “Nonsense, Finn Selmac is a fool and an incompetent healer. How can you get any better closed up in the dark, breathing filthy air?”

  The princess ran her finger across the footboard of the king’s bed and held it up for him to see.

  ”This room is unacceptable. I guess since you’re sick, the servants don’t feel the need to work. Every one should be…”

  “Raygan,” her father grumbled. “Not a very nice attitude, young lady. My servants do their best, and Finn Selmac has been my friend for years. He’s just doing what he thinks is best.” The king broke into a coughing fit then cleared his throat, spitting a large amount of phlegm into a bowl that sat on his bedside table. Raygan turned her head.

  The king spoke quieter when he continued. “Besides being my friend, he has seen to your health since you were a child. You should show the surgeon a little respect, my dear.”

  “He never did anything for me more complicated than wipe my nose,” the princess said with a flip of her hand.

  The king coughed again and this time he wiped his mouth with a rag. He clutched the nasty thing tightly in his hand. The cough had gotten worse over the last month.

  “Finn is my healer, he is the man I chose and that’s the end of it.”

  Raygan rolled her eyes and picked up the tray of food from the table. The small girl walked over and sat down on the great bed by her father.

  “Now eat this before it gets cold.”

  She scooped up a spoon full of the king’s favorite porridge. “Now open up, you need to eat so you can start getting your strength back.”

  The king took a very small bite off the spoon, and she wiped his mouth. She tried to hand him a cup of water, but King Aaron’s hand was shaking so hard Raygan had to help guide the cup to his mouth. He drank deeply as if he had not had a drink of water in days. When he was done, she wiped the water he had spilt off his face and chest.

  “My dear sweet girl, you’re the only one that thinks I have any chance of getting better. I’m afraid I must tell you you’re wasting your time.”

  “You know that’s not true, Father. Cain thinks so too.”

  Raygan had no idea what her brother thought, as she had not spoken to him since he had returned. She just thought it would make her father feel better to know his son had hope as well.

  “Besides, you have to get better. We have to plan my sixteenth birthday party… I think a grand ball would be in order, and I can’t plan that without you.”

  The old king laid his head back on the mountain of pillows behind him.

  “Cain thinks no such thing. He has only come to see me twice since he returned, and I could tell my condition sickened him. I also know very well that you don’t need me to plan anything, you have far outdone me when it comes to hosting and organizing royal events.”

  She tried to give him another bite, but the king shook his head and pushed the spoon away. She got up and placed the tray back on the table. This was more food than she had gotten down him the day before.

  Raygan curled up in the big, soft bed with her father, just like when she was a little girl. He slowly lifted his arm and put it around her. Raygan snuggled up against him. She could smell his infection and the warmth of his skin from the fever.

  “You’re going to get better, Father. I would know if you weren’t. You look much better than yesterday. I think you have improved since I have been overseeing your health. Before you know it, you will be out on the balcony with me having breakfast and watching the birds. I’m simply tired of you being sick; you haven’t even been out to see the garden at all this spring.”

  The old king stroked her hair. “Why don’t you ask Cain to have a meal with you? Both of you are older now and should try to get along with one another, it would please me a great deal.”

  “He wouldn’t come if I asked him. Cain will be insufferable now that he is home and you’re ill. He will play at being king, ordering everyone about, and you know he will be especially unpleasant to me.”

  King Aaron patted her arm. “Your brother might be a little overzealous, but he will be a great help to Marin and William running the kingdom. Cain is very smart, you should try to win him over, my dear. One day he may be of use to you.”

  “My brother is an ass. He should be the one trying to win me over.”

  The king started to laugh but coughed instead. Raygan rolled over so she could see his face; his smiles had become as rare as desert rain.

  “Sometimes you sound very much like your mother. She thought the world should bend to her will as well. What a beautiful, strong woman she was. I wish you could have known her, my dear. It is one of many regrets I have. She was truly something to behold, and she would have loved you more than I do, if that is possible.”

  Raygan thought that he must have loved her mother a great deal. It sometimes made her almost jealous when he talked about her. Hopefully when she married, she would love her husband that much, but she was fifteen—still young and not ready to be anyone’s wife. There was still too much to do before she was tied down to some man, and the thought of bearing children simply terrified her.

  The king turned to his daughter and looked into her eyes. “I miss your mother, it will be good to see her again. Now I want you to hear me, my pet, you must make peace with the fact that I am dying. Lord Selmac said it could be anytime. You should prepare yourself.”

  Raygan’s mouth turned down into a frown. “I don’t care what he said, you are not dying. You’re going to be fine. You just need to rest and get some fresh air and eat. Yes, eating is good; from now on I am going to bring you every meal myself.”

  She could feel the tears begin to run down her face. She didn’t want to hear her father talk like this. She tried to get up, but the king pulled her close and patted her head.

  “There, there, my sweet. Even as beautiful as you are, you can’t charm death. It’s my time, but while I have a little strength left, there is something I want you to help me do.”

  She wiped the tears from her face. “You know I will help you with anything you ask, Father. Just tell me what I can do.”

  The old king looked at his daughter. “I would like to sit on my throne and hold court one more time.”

  “Why would you need me for that? Just order your servants to handle the details. I am happy to help, but I don’t understand why you would need me.”

  “Finn and Marin won’t let me. They said I am too weak and the strain would be too hard on my body. I have come to think they know more about my health than I do. My servants have been instructed not to follow my commands on anything but my personal needs.”

  Raygan’s eyes flashed with anger.

  “How dare they, an overblown priest and a barber. Just because they are council members, it gives them no authority over their king, ill or not.”

  The king smiled sadly. “When you grow old and weak, your rank becomes less important. They all know I am finished. I am starting to think they know it for a fact now.”

  Raygan looked at her father, confused. “What do you mean they know for a fact? Only God knows things like that.”

  “They brought your brother back from his studies in Asqutania, and now I’m told they have been trying to curry favor with Cain. They know he will be king soon. I suppose it’s the way of things,” the king said.

  Raygan pushed her father’s wispy hair to the side and began to smooth the top of his head with her hand. “When the time comes, Cain will make a fine king. It’s all he has ever dreamt about. Even when we were small children, he always talked about the day he would rule Bandara, but even at his best, he will still never be as good to his people as you have been.”

  The king took hold of her wrist with his shaky hand and eased it from his head. “Don’t you love your brother, dear?”

  “Of course I love Cain, he’s just so boring—going on and on about armies and taxes and the trade guilds. He is no fun at all.” She slumped over on the bed and rolled her eyes. “He makes me tired,
Father.”

  King Aaron laughed that deep rich laugh Raygan loved so much. It made her happy to hear it, even if he was laughing at her. “Don’t you care about the kingdom, dear? Directing the future of Bandara is important, Cain knows this. Do you?”

  She looked into her father’s eyes, not as a princess but as his daughter. He had never asked her a question like that. “I know it is important, Father, all that courtly business keeps the country together, but it’s the land and the people I love. Bandara is like a part of me, just as much as I am part of it. I adore the very air of your kingdom.” She smiled slyly. “And I do think about taxes, sometimes.”

  The king looked at her quizzically. “When is it you think about taxes?” he asked.

  “Right before I ask you for the coin to go shopping in the trade district.”

  They both laughed at that.

  Raygan took the king’s liver-spotted hands in hers, leaning over and kissing the backs of both of them. He smiled at her sadly.

  “You must listen to me now and no arguing. Since your mother died, you have been my greatest joy. It has been a true gift watching you grow into a young woman. I wish I could be here to see your children play in our garden like you did as a little girl. That would have brought me great pleasure. I will miss many things, but it is you I will miss the most when I am gone. I just wanted you to know that I love you, and I am so very proud to call you my daughter. You, my dear, are Bandara’s greatest treasure,” the king said, weeping softly.

  Raygan’s eyes filled with tears as well. She hugged him around the neck like she did when she was a girl. “Shhhh now, Father, it’s okay. I know how you feel about me. I have always known. You have been the best father anyone could ever had. And I love you too, but if you leave me, I won’t know what to do. So I won’t allow that, I forbid it.”

  She began to cry. They held each other for a few minutes, then King Aaron gently pushed her back. Tears covered both of their faces.

  She wiped her eyes on the sleeve of her robe. “If Cain could see us, he would never let us live this down.” She deepened her voice mocking her brother. “Kings don’t cry, Father, and neither should a princess. Raygan, show some dignity.”

  She grinned at her father, but he didn’t grin back.

  “Yes, I believe that’s what he would say, or something close to it. Your brother has always taken his royal blood more seriously than you have. It’s just the way he has always been, my dear. A bit high strung. He worries me. Sometimes I think he needs to find something in life that makes him happy besides the throne.”

  “Yes, every man should find someone who makes their life delightful. Maybe if Cain had a daughter like yours, Father, he would be a much happier man.”

  “What will I ever do with you, Raygan?” the king said with a slight chuckle. “I want you to promise me something else. When I am gone, please be kind to you brother. Don’t drive him to the point of madness like you did as children. Spend time with him, treat him with kindness and understanding. He will need someone. More than you know.”

  She reached out and touched her father’s cheek. “Of course, I will take care of Cain. We are just very different, that’s all.”

  The old man pressed her hand to his cheek and kissed her palm. “Go, my dear, you shouldn’t spend your day with a sick old man.”

  Raygan smiled at him. “I will return for lunch. We can talk more then.” She kissed him on the head and gracefully walked from the room.

  The king rubbed his eyes. he was tired and Raygan’s visit had used up much of his strength. He loved that girl. He wished there was something else he could do, but nothing came to mind. He just hoped she wouldn’t hate him when it was over. King Aaron knew there were others that would.

  “Where have you been, Highness? I told you to wait until I returned from the seamstress before you left this morning.” Agnes Cort stood in the middle of Raygan’s room, arms folded across her chest and foot tapping. Her pinched face frowned at the young princess.

  “I went to visit my father. I didn’t know I had to wait for you to do that.”

  Raygan hated her royal attendant. That was what her father called Agnes, but she was more like a royal taskmaster. Cain called her Raygan’s nanny, which infuriated the princess.

  The older grey-haired woman unfolded one arm from her chest and pointed at Raygan. “I see you managed once again to ‘accidently’ allow you robe to fall open, Highness.”

  Raygan would usually never allow anyone to talk to her like that, but her father had told her that Agnes would only answer to him.

  “Oh, I hadn’t noticed,” Raygan said as she pulled the robe closed.

  Lady Cort put her hands behind her back and walked around Raygan, looking her up and down. “You should only leave the room fully dressed, Highness. I won’t have your father thinking I allow you to run around the palace like a little royal strumpet.”

  Raygan stuck her tongue out at her attendant and jerked the doors open on the huge wardrobe that contained her dresses and she began to throw them on her bed.

  “I see you're showing your maturity again today, Highness. I will send Isabella in to assist you.”

  Agnes walked out, closing the door behind her.

  Raygan threw a shoe at the door and sat down on her large canopy bed. If it weren’t for those two stupid boys, she wouldn’t have to put up with Agnes. Her father had overheard two young nobles talking about her attributes at her last birthday party. The next day, he had assigned Agnes Cort to be Raygan’s attendant. Cain had come home last year to attend her party, and she believed he was the one who had suggested the idea to her father. Agnes’s duties were to make sure that the princess’s virtue stayed intact and see to it that the princess acted like a lady. It was the only time her father hadn’t let her have her way and she abhorred it. Agnes had made her life boring and insufferable of late. Raygan wished the dreadful woman would find someone else to criticize and bother.

  The princess lay down on her bed and stared at the silk canopy. Her father had tried to say goodbye to her today, but she was not ready to let him go yet. If he died, she would have no one. She had no real friends and her brother was not very fond of her. When her father was gone, her life would be very lonely, and she hated being alone.

  “Why isn’t he dead, Selmac?”

  Bishop Lyfair was unhappy about the fact King Aaron still lived.

  “You told me he would die last week, you told me the same thing the week before, and yet that old fool still lives.” Lyfair’s brows lowered. He was not a tall man, but his looks of displeasure could be imposing. “If he starts to suspect what’s happening, things could go very wrong. You know what that would mean for us, Finn?”

  The healer ran his hand through his thin, graying hair. The royal surgeon was spindly and frail-looking, his face reminding Lyfair of a starving rat.

  “I don’t understand it, Your Eminence. The lung sickness should have killed him some time ago. I have done everything I can think of to hasten it, but still he hangs on. I don’t know what else I can do, short of poisoning him.”

  Lyfair rose from his great oak desk, a gift from the king years ago for his outstanding service to the crown. How things had changed over the years. Once he was the king’s confessor and most trusted advisor, now he was trying to orchestrate the old man’s death.

  Bishop Lyfair began to slowly pace back and forth, stroking his close-cropped goatee. It, as well as his hair, had gone grey in the last ten years. It was the stress of trying to keep the declining kingdom afloat. He turned back to the royal surgeon and held his arms up, exasperated.

  “You know the rest of the council will be here soon, what am I to tell them? The royal healer is at a loss on what to do? He can’t even see to it that one sick old man dies. Cain has returned home, Finn, we can’t dally now. They will all want this over so we can get on with the succession and restore the kingdom.”

  Lyfair knew the Lords of Bandara that were mixed up in this nefarious sche
me were already impatient. The king was supposed to be dead before Cain returned from Asqutania. Selmac had failed to see to that now, and he would be pressured to make it happen. The intrigue in Turill was beginning to exceed his skills as an agent provocateur.

  “Tell me, Selmac, do you understand what is at stake here? Not only the well-being of this kingdom, but our very lives could be in danger. There are powerful men embroiled in this. They have risked a great deal on the consummation of their plan, and if it fails, who do you think they will blame?”

  Lyfair rubbed his eyes. He hated to be stressed. “I’m a man of God, do you think I would involve myself in this most unsavory of affairs if the very realm did not hang in the balance?”

  “It’s the princess, Your Eminence,” Selmac said, almost whining. “She is the one that is keeping him alive. She gives him reason to live, and she is always interfering with my medical orders, causing the king to hang on a little longer. You saw her yourself this morning taking him food.”

  Lyfair clasped his hands behind his back and walked over to the healer, screaming, “Then do something to stop her!”

  Lyfair took a deep breath and lowered his voice, realizing he didn’t want to be overheard by one of the young priests outside his office. “Finn, the fate of this kingdom is resting on your shoulders. For us to move on and rebuild this nation, the king must die and Prince Cain must take the throne; there can be no other way. King Aaron has forced our hand. We must bring solidarity back to Bandara. Our country must be allowed to thrive again.”

  The healer nodded as there was a knock on the door.

  A priest stuck his head in the door. “They have arrived, Your Eminence.”

  Lyfair cupped his hand to his ear as if he was intently listening to the priest. “Then see them in, Father.” Whirling around, Lyfair faced the nervous surgeon, the hem of his black robe spun tightly around his feet.

  “You hear that? Some of the most powerful nobles in the land have arrived. What should I tell them, Finn?”