Midnight Moon

Chapter 7 - Conflict

The King strode into his chambers, slamming the door behind him. He didn't wait to check that his guards positioned themselves on the other side. They were always there now, in his shadow. But no one had been there for Veanna.

The scowl lifted from Koan's face as the Queen entered the room, smoothing back golden hair that was gradually leaching to silver. He raised a tight smile, though her expression had been drawn and exhausted since the terrible day that had turned their lives upside down.

"No news?" Palimara asked tentatively. The shadows under her eyes were stark against her pale skin; a mark of all the sleepless nights she spent in Veanna's chambers, staring at the empty bed. It enhanced the lie they circulated that the Princess was confined to her room with an illness, but he was loath to pay the price of losing the Queen as well within her own grief.

He shook his head silently. Unable to watch the flicker of hope fade from Palimara's eyes once again, he moved to the window. He didn't truly see the gardens below or the city beyond, but if he let himself believe for a moment, he could almost glimpse his daughter in the corner of his eye, strolling through the fallen leaves.

His heart squeezed and he turned back to his wife. Looking at her hurt too, but at least that pain was real, it was here.

Koan held out his arms and she stepped immediately into his embrace. For a brief moment, he could focus on holding her, on the sound of her breaths. For a few heartbeats, his pain was shared and it was almost bearable. But the moment broke, as it always did.

"Don't you think it's time to announce that she's missing?" she said hesitantly, tilting her head up. "We have no idea when a guard will notice things are amiss, or a servant will let something slip."

His arms stiffened around her, but he didn't look down, unwilling to face yet another issue he couldn't resolve. "Mara..." he began softly, but she guessed how his sentence would end even before he had thought of his next word.

"No, then." His consort pulled away.

"It's complicated..." he implored, rubbing his forehead as though that would dispel the ache that had taken root. With anyone else, he would hate sounding so weak, so deferential, but he needed her to understand him. Needed her to forgive him. If he could persuade her that he was doing the right thing, perhaps he could persuade himself.

"Things are always complicated," she snapped, her Horsine accent creeping in with her distress. "But one thing is very simple: our daughter is missing."

"I know that! I can't forget it for a second! But I also can't forget how many people will be vying to be named my new heir if I announce that she's gone. I have no other children, no siblings; it would be chaos. The southern nobles are unsettled enough already after the troubled harvests; a scramble to prove who has the strongest blood claim to the throne will tear Levea apart. What's the good in saving her if she has no kingdom to come back to?"

Palimara's face paled further as he spoke, but her cheeks suddenly flushed. "The damn kingdom is not more important than her life!"

"Her life is exactly what could be put in jeopardy if I announce she has gone! What if whoever took her decides they would be safer getting rid of her?"

Her lips tightened, and he ploughed ahead.

"And even if they weren't involved before, anyone with a stake to the throne might want to prevent Veanna from returning home. Not to mention all the traitors and bounty hunters who would happily sell her to the highest bidder, or harm her just to make us suffer. We might be putting her in more danger by announcing her disappearance."

All emotion slid from Palimara's face, leaving her gaze hollow. It was so much worse than the anger. "Fine. You play your games in court, but know that I would pay any price to get her back." She moved towards the door.

"I've sent the boy, Aeron, to look for her," Koan called weakly.

"What can one lovesick soldier do?" He wished the venom would come back into her voice. Punishment was better than resignation. If they resigned themselves to losing her, that meant they had lost all faith that she would return.

"More than me, I hope," he murmured. He almost glanced out at the gardens to search for the miracle of spotting Veanna there, but he stopped himself. If he didn't look, he could pretend he hadn't seen the empty paths.