Her Cinder Throne (Completed)

Chapter 79

Tanwyn drew in a slow breath. "Are you going to report me?"

Cadfael laughed. "What, and connect myself back again to your family? I think Queen Gethwine would suspect me of even worse treason if she knew that I was the one who found you. We'd both end up on the execution platform."

Cole sat up straight. "Thank you for taking us in," she said. "We don't have many friends left."

"Who is this, then?" Cadfael asked, raising an eyebrow. "She seems to be made of wild winds and untamed waters."

"Princess Caspia. And her mother, Queen Aderyn."

Cadfael fell silent, his eyes now hungrily taking in every detail of the two sorry bodies before him. He steepled his fingers, bringing them to his lips. "Well. I guess I now know what those dangerous rumors you are supposed to be spreading might be."

"We've been in Soma all this time," Cole said, desperate for him to understand. To care. "My mother was King Thijs' prisoner. I didn't even know she was alive until Tanwyn told me."

Cadfael slowly lowered his hands, placing them in his lap. "I can see now why you came to me," he said, directing this at Tanwyn. "But I cannot help you. Helping your mother try to take the throne nearly cost all my brothers and sisters their lives. We tried to bring change, to find a new queen, but it only ended in failure. Gethwine will not be as merciful this time around."

Tanwyn leaned forward. "My mother was greedy. She wanted the throne for herself, and she moved too fast." If it pained him to talk about his mother this way, he did not show it on his face. "She brought you in to help persuade the Eldritch to back her, but she had as little claim to the throne as her sister. Why would they listen to her, even if she had the ancient bards to back her?"

Cadfael raised his eyebrows. "Well, I would like to think we had a bit of sway over what the people think."

"Of course. You are the most trusted and respected members of the court," Tanwyn replied. "But without the right cause, even your words cannot ring true enough."

"We thought your mother's cause was right. Gethwine was too flippant about the humans. She ignored the rising king and his interests in the dark magic of the old worlds."

"You knew the person who she showed you. I knew her since the day I was born. She meant well, but she was raised in the same household that Gethwine was. She may have been better, but she would not have been the queen you thought she could be."

Cadfael's eyes swung to take in Cole's mother, propped against Cole's shoulder and looking frailer than ever before. She did not look Eldritch, surrounded by the rich fabrics and warm light of the fire. She looked all-too-human, with sunken cheeks and shallow breathing.

"And you think that the old queen is the answer to all of this?"

"No. I think Caspia is." He turned to face Cole. "I've watched her since before she knew me. I've seen her work to repay her father's debts to wretched people who she should have shaken off her boots. I've seen her protect the helpless animals of her city. I've seen her take pity on someone she should have hated for what his father did to her family. I've seen her love for her mother and her compassion for me." He looked back to Cadfael. "She's the key to bringing the coming war to an end before it becomes too big to survive."

Cadfael's pale pink lips twisted as he stared into the fire at the twisting flames. He was quiet for a few minutes, before finally talking without looking up. "I'm sure she has a good heart. I am sure she could do what Gethwine fails to do. But I cannot risk the death that I only narrowly escaped last time."

Tanwyn surged to his feet. "I lost my wings to my mother's foolish plans. But, Cadfael, I'd wager them all over again on Caspia. I know that she can sway the hearts of the Eldritch and take the crown back. She has the power to stop Thijs and protect both our lands."

Cole bit her lip, but then stood up, pressing next to Tanwyn. "I didn't want this. I wanted to leave with my mother and forget all that Tanwyn told me of being a princess and the throne. Believe me, if I thought there was some way that I could disappear without risking the people of both my land and yours, I would. But Thijs is dabbling with dark magic. He's fusing humans with powers that they were not ever designed to meet. And your queen is helping him. She's aligning with a madman, and they're going to bring around the end of your peace. Of everyone's peace."

Tanwyn gripped her hand. "Cadfael, if Gethwine leads our people into either a treaty or a war with Thijs, they will both be catastrophic. You are far removed from King Thijs and the destruction he's wrought on the humans, so you may not understand what he is. But I spent some time there, and he's the type of man to use people. Not ally with them. Whatever deal Gethwine thinks she's made with him, I know it won't last very long. Thijs will want the magic for himself, and if he cannot take it from our bodies, he will just use us like he used the labor of Caspia and many others like her in the mines."

"Give me some time to think this over," Cadfael finally said, pressing up from his seat with a whoosh of silk and the scent of fresh rain. "You are welcome to sleep here for the night and regain your strength. I will bring over Maelona to treat Lady Aderyn. We cannot offer much in way of medical magic, but we'll do what we can."

Tanwyn's jaw jumped and Cole could see the frustration in his eyes. But from what she had picked up, Cadfael had already put his trust in a cause that collapsed. She knew that it would be hard to get him to do it again, especially when this time the plan was much more flimsy and the stakes much higher. So she squeezed Tanwyn's hand, pulling him a bit behind her and smiling at Cadfael.

"Thank you," she said. "You've given us much more than we should be able to claim from you. I hope you'll think about what we said and see the importance."

Cadfael nodded. "I will. Now, head into the back and you'll find a chest of blankets. Please help yourself. We'll leave Lady Aderyn here and Maelona and I will see to her. You two sleep. She'll be safe."

Cole nodded her head in acceptance of his generosity, and she dragged Tanwyn with her to the shadowy back walls of the circular house. A small bed sat in one spot, and by its foot was a large and well-oiled chest. Within, they found masses of blankets of all different shapes and fabrics. Cole didn't even care as she pulled them out and stacked them in her arms to carry to just behind the couch her mother was now laying across and already drifting into sleep on. Behind the couch it was shadowed and hidden from the room at large, and Cole dumped the blankets and kicked them into a small nest.

She collapsed down, burying herself in the soft fabrics, almost crying with the feeling of her muscles relaxing and the luxury of comfort and security. Tanwyn lowered himself next o her, adding his blankets to the edge of hers. They lay silent in the shadows, staring up the rafters of Cadfael's house and listening to her mother's labored breathing. 

"Do you think she'll be all right?" Cole whispered, fighting the urge to jump up and start ministering to her mother herself.

"Maelona is known for the easing of her tales. Your mother will be feeling much better once Cadfael returns with her," Tanwyn replied, and the confident and soft tones of it lulled Cole into one of the only times, for as long as she could remember, where she left herself relax and wait on others instead of worrying about taking charge herself.