Two Kingdoms 14: Crystal

[DoctorM]

TWO KINGDOMS 14: CRYSTAL

Author's Note: This is the twelfth part of an AU construction about a very different post-1120 Gwynedd, where the coronation challenge at Kelson's coronation went rather differently--- very differently. There are characters and background here that go back to some stories in very, very early issues of Deryni Archives and to my own much younger days. This segment falls after "Dusk" and "River", but some years prior to "Arrows and Glass". As always, input and comments are very much appreciated.

*******

"When we get to Valoret," the Shadow Queen says, "I want you in armour. I want you looking martial when we ride to the palace."

Her husband nods. He's looking back at the Ramos quay dropping behind the barges. "I can do that. I'm not in chain mail very much these days, though. I'm not even sure I miss it."

"You were born to be a light-horse captain. You always look good in chain mail."

"Family trade," Christian says. "I was halfway decent at being a horse archer. Just not a general. I'm better at being your Remembrancer. Turns out I'm good at pushing paper and finding out things."

Charissa grins. "Tell me two things you've found out on the trip."

"Seeing Ramos still makes me grind my teeth. All these years and you still can't be Deryni and look at Ramos and not feel it."

"No. You can't. That's bred in the bone for all of us. So tell me something better."

Christian moves closer to her. He slides his hand down the rail next to hers and lifts it to show her the shadow under his glove. The queen's face shows nothing at all. She turns to look out over the river. Her hand folds around his. She looks down.

There's a crystal on the rail, something in pale blue, no bigger than a man's thumb. It's shot through with a tracery of royal blue veins. It might— might —have a glow to it. Charissa is looking out upriver. She shifts into the steppe tongue. "Where?"

**********

Valoret is all pale stone under grey skies on a late morning in autumn. No rain, or no rain yet. Aurelian is waiting for them on the quay, standing in a knot of guardsmen. Grooms are bringing up horses. The Shadow Queen steps down from the gangplank with her husband a half-step behind. Aurelian advances down the quay and bows.

"Your Majesty," he says. "Welcome to your northern residence".

Charissa has to grin at that.  She has the morning's script down in a heartbeat. Your northern residence. This isn't a procession. This isn't a retreat. This is her city. It may be the new royal capital, and Rhemuth may be under siege by now, but this morning Valoret is just her northern residence. She's just visiting her own city. If it turns into her new capital, then that was her choice. No one can say she was driven here. No one can call this a bolthole.

She brings Christian along with her fingers twined through his. She looks past Aurelian at the city. She'd meant to come here in the spring, but too much had gotten in the way: getting married, dealing with the fighting on her southern front, coaxing envoys up out of the Forcinn, building her own coalition of lords in the south.

But here we are. My northern residence.

She embraces Aurelian and looks at him. He's in the dark grey he's come to wear as a uniform.  She pulls him round and nods at the city. "You have it ready for me?"

"You have a palace," Aurelian says. "Archbishops live well. Trust me on that."

Charissa points out at the Valoret skyline. "So many steeples, so many crosses. The Church is going to hate this."

"I made a point of telling them," Aurelian says. "It's not their city anymore. They can thank Edmund Loris for that." He bows again. "This is the queen's northern city. The queen's a northern girl. It's yours."

The Shadow Queen reaches to Christian and pulls her husband close.  "Let's see it," she says. "Let's see my new city."

********

Charissa is looking out from the walls of the archbishop's palace. Aurelian points out the townhouses of nobles and high churchmen. He has it all at his fingertips— whose houses these were, and who the new owners are.  The queen points south and east. "Marley's banners," she says. "Bran got some choice bits."

Aurelian grins. "He'll be at law with a couple of abbots for the next twenty years over the titles to some of those. Marley's about to learn a lot about conveyancing law."

The Shadow Queen looks up. Overhead, the royal Festillic standards catch the wind out of the northwest.  "Expensive," she says.

"Punishingly expensive. Well-crafted, though. It's a Church town. They're used to running up flags and banners for all that pageantry." Aurelian sweeps a hand along the line of banners. The royal arms are flanked by the new Kheldour standards and his own family's raven banner. "But the guilds love you right now. The Church hates you, but the banner-makers love you. Also the building trades and the wine merchants. I barely bargained at all for the royal standards— paid them almost everything they wanted. Right now the Valoret guilds think you're their fairy godmother."

Christian gestures at the buildings out in the archiepiscopal complex. "Look at the glass," he says. "More glass here than at the royal palace in Beldour. All those long galleries.  The archdiocese is richer than the royal treasury. Still, we'll need more walls and more gates. This isn't built for a siege. And I'll be taking a look at the streets down to the river.  We'll pull some things down. The archbishops weren't worrying about riots."

Charissa leans across to kiss him. "That's my light-horse captain," she says. "No narrow streets, no high buildings lining them."

"Any good street needs to be wide enough for cavalry to charge and wheel. And I don't want anything dropped down on my people. Not chamber pots, not brickbats." He shrugs. "It'll come to riots, sooner or later. Always does."

Charissa looks back at the line of her Moors and Tolan guardsmen keeping off her entourage and the palace staff. She motions Aurelian in and nods to her husband.  "Mostrar-li," she says. "Show him."

*****

They'd picked up the barges with the Duchess of Marley and her retinue at Ramos. The duchess had come ashore to pay her respects to the Shadow Queen, and Charissa had kept her face arranged and made notes of all the near-invisible messages she was being sent.

Your Grace, Richenda of Marley had said when she bowed. Perfectly correct, as far as it went.  Your Majesty was still something new, something not yet part of protocol. But the ghost of a hint was there: one duchess to another, not quite to a monarch. Richenda's gown had been exquisite, and if the Shadow Queen's dress was the more elegant, it had only been by a hairsbreadth.

And young Brendan Coris was there, holding his mother's hand. That was a harder call. That Bran Coris' heir should be with his mother to greet the queen was only proper. The question was whether Richenda was saying that the queen was childless and barren at almost twenty-eight.

The queen smiles and nods and takes Richenda's hand. "Lady Marley," she says. She bends down and brushes a long finger over the boy's hair. "Young Brendan Coris. The next Marley."  Let's see how Richenda interprets 'next'. 

The boy is staring at her, at the deep blue of her eyes and the scar across her nose and cheek. Charissa leans close to him. "I'm not that scary," she tells him. "Or at least not most of the time."

*******

Aurelian is leaning in between the queen and her husband. The blue crystal slides down from Christian's sleeve. He keeps it half-hidden, cupped under his hand.  Aurelian looks at the veins snaking through the blue. He keeps his back to the guards and the courtiers. "Honnan jött? Where's it from?"

"De les barcasses," Christian says. "From the barges."

Aurelian looks at the queen.  She flicks her eyes south and east. Aurelian breathes out.

"From her entourage?"

Charissa slowly smiles. "Not the entourage. No."

Aurelian smiles back. "Quina sorpresa." He nods down at the crystal. "Anyone else?"

"Just the one," Christian says. "I had my people and the Moors using crystals to keep track of Deryni numbers on the barges. We had Deryni contact with the escorts, of course.  There was a head count--- how many Deryni.  The crystal picked up something that wasn't one of ours. My people showed me. And it came up on the docks at Ramos. Just the one new source."

"Nothing outbound?"

"Not that we know of.  Just the one Deryni unaccounted for. Guess who was on the docks."

"So she's Deryni, Marley's woman."

Charissa palms the crystal from Christian and lets it slide up her sleeve. "So it seems. And not talking to anyone."

Christian looks back at Aurelian. "Not today, anyway. But look at the veins in the crystal. Look at what it's sensing. That's power that's well-trained. That's a shiral  picking up a lot of power. She's been taught by someone who knows what they're doing."

"She's not telling tales to Bran," Charissa says. "Being Deryni's not something she'd tell him."

"No." Aurelian's face shows nothing. But the queen can see it, the possibilities running past behind his eyes.

"And not the Haldanes. She wouldn't risk that. She won't risk her husband and his career. Or her son's. She may like Kelson Haldane, but she likes being a duchess, too.  I'd have to arrest Bran, if she was spying for the Haldanes. She knows that.  And I'd take her son."

"Just as your state Inquisitor, what do we mean by 'take'?"

Charissa points east, at a hawk wheeling over the city.  "I don't kill children,"  she says.  She puts her hand over Aurelian's. "I won't ask you to do it, either. But she'd never see him again. I'd have him fostered out in east Arjenol or Lorsol. And I would lock her up someplace— or have Bran do it. He'd do it, too, to keep his title."

Christian looks at them both. He's looking up at the hawk. The queen and her husband and the governor of Valoret are just talking about the city. All quietly ordinary conversation. No one is talking about politics and loyalties. He touches the edge of the scar across Charissa's nose. "The Council, maybe. There's that. Or her family. If she's Deryni, at least her father knows. The Rheljan family knows."

Aurelian points at the hawk and back at the standards above the palace. "I'll put people at the Rheljan household. Maybe a couple of teams. See what I can do about the Council, too. They have staff, they must have agents all over Gwynedd. I'll find a few and ask some hard questions. If she's talking to her family, though—"

The Shadow Queen shrugs. "It's not quite treason. But the Rheljans would have to spend a long time explaining about why they have a daughter at my court and haven't told me she's Deryni. They'd need to grovel, too. And do it a lot."

Christian looks at Aurelian. "We need the Rheljans. They're useful keeping Wencit out. They may not like us, but as long as we want them to fight the Torenthi and not the Haldanes, they'll stay with us.  So we can't just arrest people and start seizing lands. Or not yet."

Charissa looks up at the banners. More grey is coming in from the north and west. Rain soon enough. "Let's think about the Rheljans. And let's think about the Council. I have two wars to fight now, and a secret war with Stefan Coram and the others isn't something I need." She closes one hand and feels the shiral pulsing against the skin of her wrist. "But we need to be ready for it.  When the time comes, we'll have to fight them, too. And we will."

[Jerusha]

Oh my!  Richenda is playing a dangerous game.  But then, she is Richenda....

[DoctorM]

Oh my!  Richenda is playing a dangerous game.  But then, she is Richenda....

Oh, yes. Very much so. I want to see where this goes.

[Laurna]

So your queen has settled in in her palatial palace at Valoret. Love the comment about all the glass.
I am curious why the Duchess of Marley, attired in exquisite clothing thus using her status, would leave a crystal to spy on the queen.  Was she doing it for her husband? or had she already meet some handsome hunter on the road who was quite taken with her looks? I am not sure in this time line, if she would turn away from her husband... so.... interesting.

[DerynifanK]

You do the menacing atmosphere really well. Gives a person chills. It can be a bad idea to make too many enemies. It might cost more than one really can afford to pay. I do enjoy your writing

[DoctorM]

So your queen has settled in in her palatial palace at Valoret. Love the comment about all the glass.
I am curious why the Duchess of Marley, attired in exquisite clothing thus using her status, would leave a crystal to spy on the queen.  Was she doing it for her husband? or had she already meet some handsome hunter on the road who was quite taken with her looks? I am not sure in this time line, if she would turn away from her husband... so.... interesting.

Christian and his people are using the crystals to detect Deryni-- keeping a head count of Deryni on the barges. And suddenly there's an extra source of Deryni-ness. 

[DoctorM]

You do the menacing atmosphere really well. Gives a person chills. It can be a bad idea to make too many enemies. It might cost more than one really can afford to pay. I do enjoy your writing

Thank you! I really do appreciate your kind words about the writing...and the atmosphere.

[Nezz]

So your queen has settled in in her palatial palace at Valoret. Love the comment about all the glass.
I am curious why the Duchess of Marley, attired in exquisite clothing thus using her status, would leave a crystal to spy on the queen.  Was she doing it for her husband? or had she already meet some handsome hunter on the road who was quite taken with her looks? I am not sure in this time line, if she would turn away from her husband... so.... interesting.

Christian and his people are using the crystals to detect Deryni-- keeping a head count of Deryni on the barges. And suddenly there's an extra source of Deryni-ness. 

Ah, I was thinking like Laurna in that it was Richenda's crystal.

[DoctorM]

I've been spending time watching all 5 seasons of "The Wire", so tracking and listening in have been on my mind.

So your queen has settled in in her palatial palace at Valoret. Love the comment about all the glass.
I am curious why the Duchess of Marley, attired in exquisite clothing thus using her status, would leave a crystal to spy on the queen.  Was she doing it for her husband? or had she already meet some handsome hunter on the road who was quite taken with her looks? I am not sure in this time line, if she would turn away from her husband... so.... interesting.

Christian and his people are using the crystals to detect Deryni-- keeping a head count of Deryni on the barges. And suddenly there's an extra source of Deryni-ness. 

Ah, I was thinking like Laurna in that it was Richenda's crystal.

[Laurna]

The crystal being Christian's changes the feeling of the scene. and makes you feel much more unsure and sorry for Richenda. It makes it feel like she is in danger now that she has been found out that she is deryni. The way I originally saw it the scene, it seemed like Richenda was in control and she was the spy.  Completely different emotions.
Perhaps a little clarification would help here.  You write "The blue crystal is cupped under Christian's hand." This kind of implies that the blue crystal is embedded in something that Christian is leaning on, and I pictured a palace railing or door way, something that Christian should have looked passed but had noticed it. I got the impression that Christian was covering it with his hand so that it blocked any visualization from someone spying on them through the crystal as they talked about it. I see now that that is not the case.  So maybe a small change that the crystal is not UNDER Christian's hand. but that he is holding it or that Aurilian is responsible for the crystals and he is the one who has  brought it to Christian to review?

[DoctorM]

I may re-think this just a wee bit. I envisioned Charissa and Christian at the barge's rail, with him hiding the crystal-- and the two of them shifting to a language not likely to be used by the barge crew --because he was concealing that he'd been using crystals to count Deryni presence, to get a head count of how many Deryni were there on the barges. I imagined that each Deryni would generate a kind of signature, and that the crystal came alive when it wasn't supposed to-- around Richenda. He has his hand cupped over it so that the queen, and no one behind them, can see.

The crystal being Christian's changes the feeling of the scene. and makes you feel much more unsure and sorry for Richenda. It makes it feel like she is in danger now that she has been found out that she is deryni. The way I originally saw it the scene, it seemed like Richenda was in control and she was the spy.  Completely different emotions.
Perhaps a little clarification would help here.  You write "The blue crystal is cupped under Christian's hand." This kind of implies that the blue crystal is embedded in something that Christian is leaning on, and I pictured a palace railing or door way, something that Christian should have looked passed but had noticed it. I got the impression that Christian was covering it with his hand so that it blocked any visualization from someone spying on them through the crystal as they talked about it. I see now that that is not the case.  So maybe a small change that the crystal is not UNDER Christian's hand. but that he is holding it or that Aurilian is responsible for the crystals and he is the one who has  brought it to Christian to review?

[Laurna]

I like what you have set up.  I think just a little change to be clearer about Christian's Deryni Testing crystals will let the reader know what is really going on.
If you don't mind a suggestion, perhaps instead of saying- "The blue crystal is cupped under Christian's hand."  Try something like this instead- "The blue crystal slips out of Christian's sleeve,  he turns it between his fingers for Aurelian to see and quickly palms it after, the guards and the courtiers at Aurelian's back are none the wiser."

That would leave no doubt who was the owner of the crystal and change the reader's view of the rest of the conversation.

[DoctorM]

Good thought! I think I may do something very like that. I have a meeting (yes, I know, a holiday weekend, alas) this morning, but I'll do a bit of editing today. Merci!

I like what you have set up.  I think just a little change to be clearer about Christian's Deryni Testing crystals will let the reader know what is really going on.
If you don't mind a suggestion, perhaps instead of saying- "The blue crystal is cupped under Christian's hand."  Try something like this instead- "The blue crystal slips out of Christian's sleeve,  he turns it between his fingers for Aurelian to see and quickly palms it after, the guards and the courtiers at Aurelian's back are none the wiser."

That would leave no doubt who was the owner of the crystal and change the reader's view of the rest of the conversation.

[DerynifanK]

I do think clarification is needed because when I first read it, I thought the crystal belonged to Richenda and she was using to spy on them. And I thought she would never be so careless as to lose it or leave it where Christian could find it. The tracking idea makes more sense (and is more sneaky). Will Richenda realize she has been outed as Deryni and that puts her in more danger along with increased risk for Brendan? Will she need to find a way to escape or be rescued? could be interesting.

[DoctorM]

We'll have to see. Aurelian's people will be pursuing information from Richenda's family and the queen and her advisors will be considering links to the Council. The queen has to balance anything Richenda is doing against the fact that Bran is Charissa's captain-general, and a successful one so far.  And I think we will see the Council brought into things.

I do think clarification is needed because when I first read it, I thought the crystal belonged to Richenda and she was using to spy on them. And I thought she would never be so careless as to lose it or leave it where Christian could find it. The tracking idea makes more sense (and is more sneaky). Will Richenda realize she has been outed as Deryni and that puts her in more danger along with increased risk for Brendan? Will she need to find a way to escape or be rescued? could be interesting.