Defender of Hearts by Tanya Bird

Chapter 21

‘Stop before you collapse,’ Harlan called to Astin. ‘I’m not carrying you inside.’

Astin leaned on his knees, trying to catch his breath. Since sleep continued to elude him, he had opted for laps of the training yard instead.

‘What exactly are we running from?’ Harlan asked, walking over to him.

He was trying to run off his anger after someone had locked Lyndal in a smoke-filled room two nights earlier. It was also possible he was running from other feelings, feelings that seemed to be multiplying each time he laid eyes on her. ‘I’m just doing my hours.’

‘She’s alive,’ Harlan said, seeing through the lie. ‘You did your job.’

He straightened. ‘If you had seen her when I found her, you would know how close I came to losing her.’

Harlan looked in the direction of the castle. ‘I hear the defender on duty was dragged naked from a bed in the servants’ quarters. Must have been having a real good time.’

‘He swears he never locked that door.’

‘You think he’s telling the truth?’

Astin threw his hands up. ‘There’s no motive. Plus it doesn’t make sense that he would set the castle on fire and then stay there, knowing he would either burn to death or be caught.’

All they had was a defender scratching an itch and a maid who claimed the fireplace in the solar was down to embers when she checked on it before retiring.

But someone locked that door.

‘Thanks for loaning me Thornton,’ Astin said. ‘I need someone trustworthy who’ll remain at his post.’

‘He should have waited until he was off duty, like you do.’

Astin did not even register his words. ‘I was hoping the fire might be enough to scare her home, but Queen Fayre’s still whispering promises into her ear.’

‘Wow.’ Harlan watched him a moment. ‘No pithy comeback? This is worse than I thought.’

Astin squinted in his direction. ‘What are you talking about?’

‘This is real. You have genuine feelings for Lyndal, and I’m at a loss at what to think about it.’

Astin ran a hand down his face, not bothering to deny it.

‘And now she’s going to marry the king.’ Harlan tutted. ‘That’s quite the mess you find yourself in.’

Astin paced a few steps, then stopped. ‘Let’s say you’re right. Say an attachment has formed. What do I do? How do I sever it?’

Harlan clapped him on the back. ‘You’re asking the wrong man. In my experience, it can’t be done.’

Astin closed his eyes and exhaled. ‘This is going to end badly.’

‘Have you told her how you feel? It might be mutual.’

‘God, listen to you. No, I haven’t fallen at her feet and sung of my undying love.’

Harlan’s eyebrows lifted. ‘Is that how you think it’s done?’

‘And it makes no difference if it’s mutual. If she’s prepared to sacrifice her family for this noble cause of hers, I’m irrelevant.’ His eyes went to the tower, which was alive with activity. ‘Do I want to know what’s going on over there?’

Harlan leaned his weight on one foot. ‘Riot in the merchant borough this morning. Tenth day straight with no meat or eggs at the market. Fifty-plus merchants locked up.’

Astin swore under his breath. ‘I’m surprised they have the energy to riot. They should be applauded, not locked up.’

‘King’s orders. Even my father disagreed.’

‘Then I should go have a wash,’ Astin said, wiping sweat from his face. ‘Lyndal’s with him on the stone court porch as we speak. If there’s been a riot, he’ll be in a mood.’

‘Don’t you mean Lady Lyndal?’

Astin shook his head. ‘I’ll throw your arse to the ground in front of the recruits if you push me to it.’

Harlan only grinned. ‘Send Thornton to me.’

‘I hope you’re going to let him sleep.’

‘Yes. After he’s trained.’

Astin mock saluted him. ‘Yes, sir.’

Astin heard their argument before he saw it. Lyndal and King Borin were standing by the north wall, the king gesturing wildly while she clutched the skirt of her dress.

‘What’s going on?’ Astin whispered to Roul when he entered the court.

The defender glanced sideways at him. ‘She wants the prisoners released. Apparently the butchers were promised a supply yesterday. Now the king is saying it’ll be at least another two weeks.’

‘Half won’t survive another two weeks.’

Thornton nodded. ‘That’s what she’s telling him. And she’s really telling him.’

Astin exhaled. ‘She sleep last night?’

‘Nope. She came out twice asking if I could smell smoke, and she won’t let the maid light the fire in her room.’

Astin squinted in her direction, listening.

‘They’re allowed to feel angry,’ Lyndal said, letting go of her skirt. ‘Those people are living moment to moment, and every day no meat arrives brings them another day closer to death.’

As tempting as it was to intervene, Astin knew there were no grounds for it. ‘You go,’ he told Thornton. ‘Commander Wright’s waiting for you in the training yard.’

Roul nodded, then quietly stepped out.

Queen Fayre appeared a moment later, striding towards the pair with a concerned expression. ‘What on earth is going on here? I can hear all the way inside.’

Borin turned in a circle, attempting to calm himself. ‘I will tell you what is going on. Because of you, I have a merchant telling me how to run my kingdom.’

Lyndal shook her head, her green eyes ablaze. ‘It doesn’t make sense. I’ve done the math.’

Borin jabbed a finger at her face. ‘This is not your concern.’

That was enough for Astin. He walked over to them, positioning himself in front of Lyndal. ‘Hand down, Your Majesty.’

Borin’s eyes widened, and his mouth twisted. ‘Is this a joke? I am your king.’

‘And Lady Lyndal is the job I was assigned. My orders were to protect her as I would a queen, so hand down, Your Majesty. Then I’ll move aside.’ He kept his voice calm.

Borin sniffed and retreated to his mother’s side. Then Astin stepped back.

‘Let us all take a breath. I gather this is about this morning’s riot?’ Queen Fayre asked, looking to Lyndal.

‘We were in the farming borough just a few days ago,’ Lyndal said. ‘Every farm we visited reported higher yields and a decrease in mortality rates year on year. Yet the merchants are getting the same amount of meat as two years prior—which is none.’

The queen mother’s eyes shone with something resembling pride. ‘You really have been paying attention.’

‘It is not simple math,’ Borin snapped. ‘The needs of the merchants have to be balanced with the needs of other boroughs. The nobility require meat also.’

Lyndal stared in disbelief. ‘Yes, I know all about their needs. While the nobility are always complaining about something, I assure you it’s not the lack of meat.’

‘The farmers were supposed to deliver carcasses to the butchers yesterday,’ Fayre said to her son. ‘Why the delay?’

Borin shifted his weight and looked away, which Astin knew meant whatever came out of his mouth next would be a lie.

‘The heifers and ewes are to be kept for breeding. That is how one grows a herd.’

Lyndal blinked in confusion. ‘There must have been some males among them.’

Borin turned to his mother. ‘Do you see the lack of respect? How is this to work when she questions me so?’

Fayre placed a calming hand on his arm. ‘Lady Lyndal is still recovering from a very traumatic experience. Her mind is likely still impaired from the smoke.’ She looked to Lyndal for confirmation.

Lyndal exhaled. ‘Yes. Forgive me, Your Majesty. I’m in need of rest.’ Her tone lacked any conviction, though the dark circles enclosing her eyes did support the lie.

‘So we are done with this conversation now?’ Borin asked. ‘I am a busy man.’

Lyndal went to the king and took his hand. Astin felt a pull of jealousy at the intimate gesture. God help him if she did make it to his bed while he was forced to stand guard outside.

‘Please,’ she begged, ‘let the people locked in that tower go home. Don’t punish them for being hungry.’

Borin pulled his hand free. ‘They are criminals. They took axes to the wall that my father built.’

‘They were desperate to gain your attention, to be seen and heard—and it worked. Please. Let them return to their families who are already suffering more than you can imagine.’ Seeing his hesitation, she added, ‘You could do it. You could go to that tower and release them yourself, be the hero of the story. They’ll not forget it.’

He searched her eyes for a moment. ‘If I do that, they will think they won.’

Lyndal stared at him in confusion. ‘Your Grace, you’re on the same side. It’s not you against your people, it’s Chadora against the famine. Their win is your win. But right now the merchants are losing, which means we’re all losing.’

Astin’s throat thickened, and a realisation hit him hard. She really was the queen Chadora deserved. He had been too lost in his jealousy to truly see it.

Borin looked to his mother. ‘And what am I supposed to say to these criminals? Am I expected to simply pardon them and open the gate?’

‘Yes,’ Lyndal said immediately. ‘That’s how an act of mercy works. Maybe it’ll result in one less riot down the track, or maybe it won’t. But you do it anyway.’

Borin tapped a foot on the ground, looking between the two women.

‘I think you should listen to her,’ Fayre said after a long silence.

‘And be seen as weak?’

Fayre shook her head. ‘Acting out of pride and anger is weakness. Showing mercy takes incredible strength.’

Borin huffed like an angry bull. ‘Fine. Let us go to the tower before I come to my senses.’ He looked at Lyndal. ‘You will stand at my side so I can blame you when they turn on me.’ With that, he marched off in the direction of the gate, two guards flanking him.

‘Off you go,’ Fayre said to Lyndal. ‘You do not need me.’ The corners of her mouth lifted slightly when she said that.

‘Do hurry up,’ Borin shouted over his shoulder, prompting Lyndal to start walking.

Astin ground his teeth together and followed them.

When they arrived at the tower, Astin trailed Lyndal up the winding narrow steps, to a cell halfway up where all the prisoners had been packed in. Lyndal stood at the king’s side while he addressed them in a slightly less obnoxious tone than usual. It was interesting to Astin that the prisoners were not watching the king but were looking at Lyndal. And when the cell door swung open, they continued to look at her, as though they did not trust what the king had said.

‘There’s nothing to fear,’ Lyndal reassured them. ‘The defenders will escort you to the gate. You’re going home.’ She moved back, going to stand with Astin.

Slowly and cautiously, the merchants filed out, each one pausing to bow or curtsy before descending the steps.

Borin lifted his chin and pushed out his narrow chest, visibly pleased by the show of respect.

‘At least he’s happy,’ Lyndal whispered to Astin.

‘Until he realises the truth.’

‘The truth?’ She looked up at him.

The young king was not the only one who was clueless about what was happening at that moment. Leaning in so Borin would not hear, he said, ‘They’re not bowing to their king. They’re bowing to you.’