Kingdoms of Caelum; Autumn of the War Queen

Chapter 25

The sweet smell of meat, honey and rosemary roused Katla from her sleep. She was back in Bane's little tin home and a pot of stew bubbled on a stove above the fire. She found herself on the mattress; Bane was prodding the fire to ignite the flames higher.

"What happened?" she asked heavily. It felt as though she had been asleep a while.

"You're awake?" he said, his thunderous voice echoing off the walls. "You fainted and I caught you."

Katla felt herself blushing; how extremely feminine of her to faint into the arms of a giant warrior. She tried to justify the actions so outrageous in her own mind.

"I'd had a shock."

She saw Bane smile mockingly, but he didn't comment.

"There's so much more we need to talk about," she said quietly as she watched him dish up a bowl of the stew. He brought it over to her, placing it on top of the furs.

"Eat", he commanded.

For once she obeyed without further objection. The stew tasted as delicious as it had smelt, and soon after she began to feel her strength returning.

"So you don't think the spirits brought us together?" she blurted.

"The spirits don't exist any more", he answered flatly.

"Do you really believe that?"

Bane shrugged. Awkward silence descended once again but there were too many questions that needed answering for Katla to remain quiet. "I want to talk about what you said," she asked, and the sarcasm in his reply was clear, but he didn't dismiss her this time.

"Which part?"

"You said Ragan set you up for a murder you did not commit?"

This was it, Bane thought, as he considered the question. He had never spoken to anyone about this episode in his life. It seemed quite surreal he was about to speak to Katla Veurink about it. He sighed, bending to her curiosity.

"As soon as Thornic Raak was born, Ragan was hell bent on wanting to break up the betrothal of our houses. He knew if he could manipulate the right people, then a union with Thurlstone would not only make history, but root Roskilde in a powerful position. I would often hear my father curse him, and his lust for power."

Katla slurped her soup slowly, enthralled in this new information.

"What happened? How did Ragan succeed?"

"Ragan offered the older boys Caelum Silver to fight me. He wanted to prove I was not a worthy suitor for his niece."

Katla felt herself blushing again as Bane continued; like he had said before, she was the cause.

"I was only thirteen but I was a great sword hand. The boy was called Salvardi Aki of Clan Conwin. He was in his sixteenth year and very strong. It didn't take him long to over power me and win the duel. For my punishment and humiliation, Ragan made me wait on Salvardi, at the evening Clan banquet."

Katla's hatred for her uncle surfaced again. The gall of the man, how dare he manipulate and deviate the lives of others like this. She was ashamed to share his bloodline, and as Bane carried on talking, she removed the red ribbon from her hair absentmindedly and began to pick at the jewel, angry with everything Ragan stood for.

"That night, I did as requested and I had no ill feeling towards Salvardi. I brought him food and drink and we were quite merry about the whole thing. I did not know his berry wine had been laced with poison."

Bane sat straight in the chair and looked at the dancing flames as Katla gasped.

"The boy died in my arms that night. Immediately, Ragan declared I had done it out of spite and vengeance. My father, your father, they did nothing to stop the guards taking me to the cells. That night Ragan paid me a visit. He said if I did not leave, I would hang the next day."

Bane stood from his chair and walked over to the cupboards. In one, a rack of several dusty wine bottles lined up the shelves; he opened one quickly, downing the entire contents in less then a minute.

"You're not a coward Bane. You were thirteen," Katla said after a while.

Bane shrugged and opened another bottle, "Running away proved to the masses I was guilty. That is a fact. Ragan pushed his idea of your betrothal to King Edwin and Thornic, that I heard years later. What I can't understand now, is why his plans have changed?"

Bane took a swig from the wine and offered it to Katla. She declined.

"What do you mean?" she asked, and now it was Bane's turn to demand answers.

"You said you are no longer betrothed to Thornic. What happened?"

Katla bowed her head feeling the fresh grief and pain wash over her.

"My father had never told me about the betrothal before he made it public. I was not at ease with the decision. Ragan befriended me, encouraged me to run away. He told me my father had arranged the whole thing, that he had let power cloud his judgment."

"Ragan said this?" Bane questioned. "That was not true."

Katla hung her head, she had thought as much, but there were so many unanswered riddles. "I'm not sure what is and what isn't true anymore, I only know that once I was off the Kingdom, he took my father with him to look for me with his men, and he murdered him... I heard the scream and I saw... I saw...-"

"It's okay. You don't have to carry on," Bane said as he let her cry for a moment.

He felt numb, confused.

"I'm not sure why his plan's changed," she said angrily, now wiping away tears with her sleeve, "Perhaps just being the brother of the Chief of Clans wasn't enough. Now he is the Chief of Clans and, like you, the Kingdom believes I am a murderer. They believe I killed my own father out of desperation over this damn betrothal."

Katla began to sob again, "I would never hurt my father." Through tears that came heavy now she breathed, "Ragan warned me to never return, or he will kill me too. I've lost everything."

The wine in the bottle sloshed as Bane took a last swig and placed it down.

"I need some air", he mumbled.

Both their past and present had been cruelly entwined by the same man, for the same reason and none of it made any sense.