Kingdom's Fall

Chapter 21, Part 1

Aiden was surprised to find that the Islander earl was older than he expected. He had imagined a young boy perched on a throne too big for him, with a crown sliding off his head and robes of office precarious about too-thin shoulders. Instead, the earl was tall and heavy with muscle, with long blonde hair and a close-cropped beard. The only thing that marked his youth was his narrow waist; when it filled out in his later years, the earl would be the picture of his father, Einar. When they were led into his presence, he was down amongst his men, twenty or so of them packed around a table on long benches, laughing and talking freely amongst themselves. There was no court, no petitioners, and few guards. There was only the earl and his men, having lunch. 

As informal as it seemed, Aiden knew better than to think it was anything other than a carefully-staged moment to throw him off his guard. Their arrival in the southernmost harbour had raised enough of a panic that it couldn't have been anything but. As the Sparrowhawk caught sight of land, the Islanders on shore were scrambling to launch their boats and intercept them. There had been a tense few minutes as the captain of the Shark made their case, and Aiden had stood at the rail alternately worrying that he had either shared too much with the man or not enough for him to win them over. After what felt like an age the crew of the Shark had pitched in, apparently on the side of the Sparrowhawk, and Aiden was certain that their unanimous, enthusiastic display of loyalty to a foreign ship was what tipped the balance in the end. 

The Sparrowhawk had a shallow draught, and she was allowed to sail right into the harbour. The Islander boats were massed around a small scoop of land shielded from the open water by a natural promontory. Off to the side, the sea tipped endlessly against a sandy beach that went on until the land turned out of sight. As they put into the harbour, or as close as the Islanders would let them, the beach quickly crowded with onlookers all vying to find the best spot to see the Kingdom ship up close. 

Aiden had imagined they would slip unnoticed and ignored into the presence of the earl before realising that he had underestimated how much of a novelty they presented to the Islanders. In working for the king he had met Islanders before - far more than anyone else in the Kingdom had, and yet he realised that he had no image in his mind of them past the gruff sailors who occasioned to land on Kingdom shores. That they had a harbour, built homes, and lived lives that were completely unknown to him was a revelation. Not realising that the Sparrowhawk would be the one thing to draw every one of them out of their homes was an oversight. 

As they approached the table, the men seated around it laughed in chorus, apparently oblivious to their audience. Jonas halted at a modest distance and Aiden, Kara, and Aradan fell in behind him, waiting to be introduced. Aiden watched the young man carefully, taking in the flicker of his eyes as he looked across at the group and then back to his companions. He wondered if Jonas had mentioned they had news of Einar or Siv. He guessed not, as there was nothing forced about how the earl was acting. The Kingdom had come to make nice, it seemed, and as far as he was concerned they could wait at his leisure. Aiden didn't grudge him the pleasure of it - it was one of the perks of being powerful - but he knew the longer they waited, the less important they would appear. He stepped forward, and raised his voice. 

"You're Siv and Einar's boy, aren't you?" 

The laughter stopped dead. In silence, all of the men at the table turned to look at Aiden. The earl stood, an awkward movement made harder by the fact the bench and the table were made immobile by the other men around it. Aiden guessed that he had intended to spend the entire meeting seated. He had the earl's attention, but a tiny voice at the back of his mind wondered if he really wanted it. The boy - the man - was massive, far taller than his father or mother, as though the pair of them had produced something greater than either of them. If the Islanders were struggling to get behind the idea of having a living mountain as their earl, Aiden had obviously given them too much credit for brains. He looked as though he'd walked straight out of legend. 

"You know my mother?" The earl's voice betrayed how young he was, and how highly born. While the captain of the Shark spoke the Kingdom tongue with a heavy accent, the earl's was almost non-existent, his pronunciation excellent. 

"You speak my language very well," Aiden said. "Your mother's decision?" 

The earl paused. "Yes. She thought it would be useful." 

"Then she was thinking ahead." 

"You haven't answered me. How do you know my mother?" Aiden could hear the emotion pressing at the boundaries of the earl's voice. Young, strong, and  inexperienced. Your men expect you to be solid as a rock, and you're not. Not yet. 

"I met her in the Kingdom, hunting the same quarry. They saved my life." 

"Where are they?" He said it too urgently, and the men around the table averted their eyes, embarrassed. This is why they won't accept him, Aiden realised. His parents haunt him. 

"That's the reason I'm here," Aiden said. "I want to return the favour." 

As the earl made to speak, one of the men at the table stood up. An older man, he'd positioned himself at the end of a bench so that when he stood he seemed to flow into a standing position. He looked like the most senior of the company, but his wiry, compact frame showed he was by no means any less dangerous. The earl looked at him, and stayed silent. 

"The issue of Siv's fate is closed," he said, "as is her husband's." He had a strong accent, but spoke without difficulty. The Islander's pride made flesh, Aiden thought. How hard did he press to become earl when Siv was gone? "They chose their own path, and now must walk it alone. We cannot risk any more of our people in trying to follow them. We have discussed this already, outsider."

Aiden smiled. "I thought you might have, which is why I come bearing gifts."

"That ship in our harbour?" The man scoffed. "If we wanted those, we would take them instead of sinking them." 

"Again, friend, you speak too quickly. I didn't come all this way to bring your earl a trinket." Aradan stiffened next to him, but wisely remained silent. Aiden spread his hands, a gesture of welcome common to every trader, stall owner, and merchant he'd ever met. "I bring you something far greater. I bring you the north."