Two Kingdoms 19: Walls

[DoctorM]

TWO KINGDOMS 19: WALLS

Author's Note: This is the nineteenth  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. This segment falls I think a bit after "Plaza" and is a follow-on to "Crystal".  As always, input and comments are very much appreciated.

***

There are tumbled stones on a hill to the northeast, broken grey blocks half-overgrown on the hillside. Christian looks over to catch young Brendan Coris' eye and points up at the stones. "Red Crests," he says. "That was a Red Crest dun—  a fort back in the days when the  Rûmi were here. That's a good nine hundred years ago."

The boy stands in his stirrups and looks out at the hill.  "That's so old!"

Christian nods. "This is all old. Valoret country is old, old. The Rûmi were here, and then the Byzanti. This is all older than Gwynedd itself."

Brendan Coris is looking across the line of the hills, wide-eyed. There are other ruins here, weathered stone tumbled and broken all along the line of hills above the river.  Overhead the sky is grey and black, and there's a winter wind in from the west and north. The boy shivers inside his heavy cloak. "Are there ghosts here?"

Christian laughs "Oh, always. That's what you do when you look at history. You talk to ghosts. History is ghosts talking back to you."


Down by the Valoret road there are horses milling and servants running back and forth with wine flasks among the Shadow Queen's riding party. On the high ground above the road, there are Queen's Moors and Tolan Guard posted as vedettes. The Queen and her women and staff are halted by the path up to the crest. Christian can see Bran Coris' woman there near the Queen. Marley's duchess is staring uneasily at her son sitting on his pony next to Christian. The Queen raises a gloved hand and motions him back down. He grins at Brendan Coris and they ride back down to the royal entourage.

The Shadow Queen leans forward to the boy. She's all in black this morning, a long, flowing Eastern coat worn over doublet and hose. "Young Marley," she says, "is my husband telling you all about the long ago here?"

"Yes, Your Grace." Even at his age, the boy's salute is perfect. He's every inch a duke's son. "There are ghosts here!" He sounds far more thrilled than scared.

"Of course there are," Charissa says. "This was my family's capital when the Festils were kings. You can't put a hand out here and not touch the past." She looks back at Richenda and then at Christian. "Show him everything," she says.

Christian salutes and turns his horse up the hill again. Behind him he can feel Richenda's eyes on him and feel anxiety and dislike in the air. The boy follows on close behind him, the pony coming up with Christian's shaggy steppe-bred mount.

There are decayed towers like broken teeth on a hilltop to the northeast. Christian draws in. He points beyond them. "That way is Marley," he says. "Your father's duchy. Yours, one day. But it's a long way from here to your father's capital at Marbury. I'm from up there, too, by the way. I'm Tolan born—  east of Marley, up on the Gulf."

The boy nods solemnly. He looks at the towers and crumbling walls along the crest. "Those are really old, too."

"Right. Back to the first days of Gwynedd, some of them. Some just back to when the Festils were kings. Abandoned after the capital went back to Rhemuth."  He points out into the winter landscape. "You'd need to be careful going up there. See? The hillside's not stable. One day this whole place is going to slide down into the river."

Brendan stares out at the shape of the land. "You can see all that?"

"It's not hard," Christian says. "That's what I used to do— read landscapes, map them out. Now your father— your father's a general. He knows how to marshal an army and lead it in battle.  He's really good at that. But it's people like me who show him where to move his armies and what they have to march through."  He leans down to the boy. "I'll show you how one day. When you're older, I'll show you how to make a map."

He runs his gaze over the boy's reins and saddle. "And I'll teach you about riding like they do on the steppe— teach you to ride like a huszár and shoot a bow from the saddle. Your father just might be the best swordsman in Gwynedd, but I'll teach you to be a horse-archer if you want." 

The boy breaks into a smile. "Will you really?"

Christian nods. "My promise," he says. He tilts his head and closes his eyes for a second.  "And...time to go down. The Queen wants us."

****

Charissa is waiting dismounted  with her women around her. Blonde hair falls unbound over the silver-worked high collar of her coat. There's wind in over the Eirian out of  the Culdi highlands, and the tails of her coat stir behind her. She hands her reins over to a servant and waves Christian and the boy over. "Young Brendan Coris," Charissa says. "Come attend me." Her smile is dazzling.

She can sense Marley's woman moving forward and she turns back and keeps the smile aimed at Richenda. The duchess draws her reins in. Charissa watches the boy jump down from his pony. He runs to the Queen and bows. Charissa wants to laugh. She'll give Bran and Richenda this— the boy's being well-groomed to be a duke one day.

Charissa points out to a set of ruins above the road. She extends her hand and Brendan Coris darts glances at both Christian and his mother. Christian nods at him and grins. The boy reaches up and the Queen closes her gloved hand around his.  "My escort," she says.

Behind her Richenda is looking at the decayed walls and fallen towers on the crest of the hill. "Your Grace," she calls out. "He's just a child."

Charissa looks from son to mother. She makes a face, but she's still smiling. "Why, Lady Marley," she says, "this is my escort today, This is what he'll be doing when he's a courtier— attending on his queen."

Richenda senses something alongside her. Somehow Christian is there next to her on her left, sitting there quietly on his steppe-bred. Something's to the right of her, too, and she can sense a presence all in grey. She knows who that must be, and she tries not to shudder at the thought.

****

Charissa pulls the boy after her.  "Allez, courons! Let's run!" She launches into a dash up the hillside, and Brendan Coris sprints alongside. The Queen calls him on in Torenthi— Davayte rabotat'! Bystro!  They're both laughing when they get to the top. Charissa's guards are giving them a wide space.

The Queen looks down at young Coris. "Here's a secret. If you're a duke or a king, mostly you never get to do what you want to, but once in a while you can just run up a hill and see the world. Take a look."

Brendan Coris is looking out at the river, at the great stream of the Eirian. He can see the ruins clinging to the other side of the hill and out to the west and north he can see villages and towers in the distance. He draws in a breath.

"Take a look at the world," the Queen says. "It's a big place. And one day soon a lot of it will be yours. When you're a duke."

The boy thinks. "Your Grace...you were a duchess. Was that hard?"

Charissa shrugs. "Some days. Harder than being a queen sometimes. But you'll learn."

"My father says I have to learn to be a general. He wants me to be your general one day."

"Maybe you will be. But you have a lot to learn. You'll need lots of languages. You need to know about things like law and talking to diplomats. You need to know how to pick your friends and your enemies both." She looks at him hard, "Pick your friends and stand by them. Loyalty matters, young Coris. Loyalty goes both ways. I'm a Festil of Tolan. My father used to say that you're loyal or you're nothing. That's something you need to remember."

Very quietly, the boy asks, "Is my father loyal?"

Charissa shakes her head, "You're too young for that question. But... well, your father is loyal to you.  I made your father an offer once, and when he accepted, I made him a duke. He's been loyal to me, even when he didn't have to be. He wants you to be a duke one day, too. So he's been loyal."

"Oh."

Charissa squeezes the boy's hand. "You'll be loyal to me and my House. I know that. After all, we're going to be friends, you and I."

"Yes! We are! I like my lord of Kheldour, too. He says he'll teach me to make maps."

"He's good at that. Get him to talk to you about languages, too. And about anything that's ever happened a couple of hundred years ago and a thousand miles away."

The boy looks shy. "Your Grace, may I ask you something?"

"Always. We're friends, aren't we?"

The boy touches a finger to the side of his nose. "Your Grace, did it hurt? I mean..."

Charissa shrugs again. "My face?  I can't really remember. It must've hurt a lot— it broke my nose, too. But I was busy when it happened. Look, your father has lots of scars. Kheldour has a big one, too. That's what happens when you fight for things in life. You get scars. I'm proud of mine."

"My mother says that you look—"

Charissa puts a finger to her lips. "Hush. You can always ask me things, but you mustn't give away secrets. That's important." She points out over west Gwynedd. "I know what your mother thinks. Your mother thinks the Haldanes should still be kings. She's wrong about that, but I'm not going to do anything to her. You can believe that."

The boy looks out. "You can see everything from here. The river is so small!"

Charissa looks back and down at the riding party and at Richenda flanked by Christian and Marc Aurelian. She turns to the boy and gives him her most dazzling smile. "We can get closer. Want a better look?"

They climb up to a line of half-crumbled battlements. Charissa points north and west, "You can almost see Marcher country from here. Let's go up." She pushes herself up over the edge of the battlements. Her riding boots scuff across the stone. Brendan Coris is right behind her.

She can hear it from downslope— Richenda of Marley calling to her son: Brendan! Brendan! No!  Charissa grins at the boy. "We didn't hear that, did we?"

They lean out and look down at the river. The boy's eyes are bright. "What do you think?" Charissa asks. "Four hundred feet down, maybe? Maybe five?"

"It's so high!"

The Shadow Queen laughs. "Your mother's right down there behind us and your father's my captain-general. You're an only child, too. So don't you go falling. You fall, and I'll have to come after you."

Brendan Coris looks at the Shadow Queen with awe. "You can fly?"

"Well, we'd find out, wouldn't we?"

The boy shivers in the wind.  "Can we go to the top?"

Charissa nods. "Stay behind me. If I slip, I'm not taking you with me."

"If you slip, I'd catch you. I'm your escort."  The boy's voice is proud and serious.

The Queen laughs. "You would, too. Young Coris, you're worth trusting. Come on."

Whatever's happening downslope, Charissa ignores. There's no time for voices from down there. She's judging every step, but they make it to the top.  She pulls the boy next to her. "This is how it works," she says. "Top of the world, but it's a long, long way down and the stones are all ready to crumble. That's what having a crown is like."

"You just have to be careful when you climb."

Charissa touches a thumb to the boy's forehead. "Damned right, you do. But that's a craft, if you're a ruler. You'll have to learn it."  She looks at the battlements. "Here's what we'll do. Two over and then down. Keep my hand. We're going to take a breath and start jumping."

They spring from stone to stone. She jumps light as a mountain deer,  but her breath is caught between her teeth. Brendan Coris is right behind her, unafraid. It never occurs to him that they could miss a jump. They both cry out and jump from stone to stone to brown winter grass and come up laughing. Charissa slaps dust off her coat and the knees of her hose. She looks down at the boy and straightens his collar.  "I think I heard your mother being loud down there. Let's go show her that we're both alive."

They come downslope hand in hand. Her guards are staring at her with exasperation and anxiety, but they have enough sense to stay back. The Queen can already imagine what al-Fayturi and Colforth are going to say, but she's not about to apologize to anyone for this.

Richenda is off her horse and she's trying to push past Christian and Aurelian. Charissa leads young Coris over to his mother and her women. Brendan is still too thrilled to look contrite. Richenda manages to get past the Queen's husband and the State Inquisitor. She points at her son. Her voice is shaking. "Brendan! Go back to the horses! Stay there!"

Charissa draws herself up and waits. Marley's woman is shivering with rage and fear. Richenda points at her. "You could've killed him! You could've killed my son! You're a monster!"

Charissa is smiling. "Well, at least you didn't say 'bitch'. That's something. I might've said worse, myself. Now, Lady Marley— whatever seems to be the problem? Your son just had the best day of his entire life. He's the queen's friend now...and Bran is going to think he's as brave as a duke's son should be." Her smile is fixed, but there's nothing at all in the sapphire eyes.

"He's a child! He could be down there dead on the rocks! You could've killed him!" Her hands clench and open. The fingers of her left hand start to move in a pattern.

Charissa's smile widens. She's watching Richenda's hand. She can feel it starting to form— the hint of lightning in the air, She looks up and holds Richenda's eye. Richenda freezes. Charissa says very mildly, "Whatever you're going to do, it won't be enough. It won't ever be enough."

The colour drains out of Richenda's face. She's standing there motionless, the fingers of her left  hand spread wide. There's no sound around her at all. She and the Shadow Queen hold one another's gaze.

Charissa brushes blonde hair off her collar. She nods down at Richenda's hand. Her voice is light and soft and pleasant. "Of course I know. And now you know we don't have any secrets at court." Charissa walks past her.  "We'll talk," the Queen says.

Halfway to her horse she turns back. "The court's going to Tolan next month. I'll be expecting you and your son to be there, of course. I like having you both at court. I like you near at hand."

[DerynifanK]

I  like the interaction between Christian and Brendan. I wonder if Christian misses having a son. I really like your description of history as a conversation with ghosts.  I can see why Charissa finds Christian fascinating. Charissa seems, briefly, to be enjoying some freedom running with Brendan, but I wonder if she is a bit overconfident. What if one of them had slipped and been seriously hurt or even killed? Children seldom think ahead or consider dangers but Charissa is not a child. Recklessness in another setting could be disastrous for her. Thank you for an intriguing chapter

[DoctorM]

I  like the interaction between Christian and Brendan. I wonder if Christian misses having a son. I really like your description of history as a conversation with ghosts.  I can see why Charissa finds Christian fascinating. Charissa seems, briefly, to be enjoying some freedom running with Brendan, but I wonder if she is a bit overconfident. What if one of them had slipped and been seriously hurt or even killed? Children seldom think ahead or consider dangers but Charissa is not a child. Recklessness in another setting could be disastrous for her. Thank you for an intriguing chapter

I think you're quite right. She can be reckless sometimes (see, e.g., the Coronation). I think she had the climb planned out well in advance, but any single misstep could've been a disaster. (Which Richenda certainly sees)

She does find things like running up the hill and jumping along the battlements freeing. And she very honestly likes the boy. Christian, too. He's 28 now, and in his world, that's late not to have a son.

We'll see how she manages the results of the day-- pushing Richenda to reveal herself.

[Laurna]

This was all about the elegance of Control. Charissa is proving to Richenda that she has the dominating hand. She has just proven that Richenda is Deryni and so therefore is Brendan.  She wins Brendan over for the future long game and she beats Richenda into submission for the short game.
The thing of it is, Richenda is far more protective of her family than Charissa may have counted upon. And she is intelligent and has distant family backing that Charissa may not be aware of. Charissa pushes Richenda too far too fast and the consequences will be rebellion.

[DoctorM]

This was all about the elegance of Control. Charissa is proving to Richenda that she has the dominating hand. She has just proven that Richenda is Deryni and so therefore is Brendan.  She wins Brendan over for the future long game and she beats Richenda into submission for the short game.
The thing of it is, Richenda is far more protective of her family than Charissa may have counted upon. And she is intelligent and has distant family backing that Charissa may not be aware of. Charissa pushes Richenda too far too fast and the consequences will be rebellion.

"The elegance of Control" is the best phrase I've heard today. I do love that.

Now Charissa is playing a long game with Brendan-- she does quite like the boy (so does Christian), but she's building loyalty and looking ahead to when her heirs will need someone like him.

And for the moment, it's enough that Richenda knows that the Queen knows. She's not going to push Richenda's family (or not yet). For the moment, it's enough to make it clear that she knows what's what. "We'll talk," she says. I'm looking forward to writing that encounter.

[DerynifanK]

She really seems to have it in for Richenda, not sure why. Is is because Richenda remains loyal to the Haldanes even though she can't say so publicly? Is it because she criticizes Charissa for being reckless and not always considering the outcomes of some of her actions?  Has there ever been a duel arcane between women? Could there be such an encounter between Charissa and Richenda? I could see Richenda challenging her to protect Brendan. And does she realize that Richenda's aunt is a co-adjutor of the CC?  I think they probably still have a fair amount of influence in this period; does she really want to anger them? Charissa is hard to read as sometimes I like her and sometimes I really don't. I never hear any real concern from her about the people who live in the lands she currently rules. And you mention her heirs. Will she and Christian ever have any? And what are the Haldanes doing? I don't see them just sitting back and accepting things as they are now yet they're really not mentioned.  Lots of things to ponder here.

[Jerusha]

It would appear that Richenda can be as impulsive as Charissa.  Taking on Charissa with magic - surrounded by the Shadow Queens's chosen men - was a great risk.  I don't want to contemplate what would have happened if Richenda had won.  But she has proved a ferocious protector of her son, a fact Charissa will do well to remember.  (As I am sure she will.)

[DoctorM]

She really seems to have it in for Richenda, not sure why. Is is because Richenda remains loyal to the Haldanes even though she can't say so publicly? Is it because she criticizes Charissa for being reckless and not always considering the outcomes of some of her actions?  Has there ever been a duel arcane between women? Could there be such an encounter between Charissa and Richenda? I could see Richenda challenging her to protect Brendan. And does she realize that Richenda's aunt is a co-adjutor of the CC?  I think they probably still have a fair amount of influence in this period; does she really want to anger them? Charissa is hard to read as sometimes I like her and sometimes I really don't. I never hear any real concern from her about the people who live in the lands she currently rules. And you mention her heirs. Will she and Christian ever have any? And what are the Haldanes doing? I don't see them just sitting back and accepting things as they are now yet they're really not mentioned.  Lots of things to ponder here.

So many interesting questions here!

A duel-arcane between women? I don't think any are referenced in the books, but I don't see why it couldn't happen...though there would be a lot of social pressure against it, I'd think.

I don't know that Charissa is especially hard on Richenda. She obviously dislikes Richenda's politics, but she's willing to overlook Richenda's private views in order to keep good relations with Bran. But there is a deep, fundamental personality clash. Charissa has spent a lifetime deliberately, painfully stripping away the shell of custom around herself, and she dislikes Richenda as too accepting of ordinary beliefs and roles.

Charissa I think is quite fond of Brendan. She'd never act with the intent to harm him, but she is thinking ahead twenty years. She knows she and Christian will have to have children to secure the Festillic throne at Valoret. But I suspect she sees that as a duty and as a riskier thing than most men face in battle. It's something that has to be done ("an heir and a spare") but she's not looking forward to it.

The Haldanes are at a standstill this winter. They're slowly investing Rhemuth, but there are tensions between Morgan's and Nigel's supporters. And there are anti-Deryni rebels like Warin de Grey in Corwyn country. Kelson will be trying to gather allies in Bremagne and elsewhere.

I suspect that the Council remains somewhat shadowy to the Queen and her inner court. Charissa knows Thorne and Kyri well, and at some point she had a bitter verbal encounter with Tiercel to defend Kyri. But backstage at the Council is a murky business. Christian knows that there's an inner world there, but neither he nor Aurelian has penetrated it.

I think Charissa has reached a point where she's wondering why the Council still exists.

[DoctorM]

It would appear that Richenda can be as impulsive as Charissa.  Taking on Charissa with magic - surrounded by the Shadow Queens's chosen men - was a great risk.  I don't want to contemplate what would have happened if Richenda had won.  But she has proved a ferocious protector of her son, a fact Charissa will do well to remember.  (As I am sure she will.)

I think Richenda starting to call up her powers was exactly what Charissa wanted-- Richenda would have to know that she couldn't actually challenge the Queen with magic. That would be open treason, and mean the ruin of both her own family and her husband. And she knows that Christian-- and Aurelian (who does terrify her) --were right there. But it was an open admission that Richenda was Deryni, which was what the Queen wanted.

The Shadow Queen and Christian both like Brendan, and they'd be deeply unlikely to harm him. But it is true that Brendan is part of the Queen's long game-- one day he'll be Marley-and-Eastmarch, and be both more trustworthy than Bran and long accustomed to being a Queen's supporter. The question now is...what has Brendan already been taught about being a Deryni child, and how much does Charissa know?

We'll have to see what cats are being set amongst the FitzEwans in Rheljan.

[DesertRose]

I thought, in the original timeline at least, Charissa was no longer able to have children.  Her canonical husband, King Aldred II of Torenth, was abusive to her and one of his last attacks on her occurred when she was near to term with her son; the child died very shortly after his birth, and the whole experience was sufficiently traumatic as to cost her her fertility.

(She schemed with Wencit, who was Aldred's uncle, to have Aldred overthrown and executed, so all of this would have occurred during the Childe Morgan time frame, and I don't recall KK dedicating much time to Charissa in that trilogy.)

But assuming that in the Two Kingdoms universe, canon is still canon up to the Duel Arcane at the end of Deryni Rising, Charissa and Christian are going to have to look elsewhere for heirs.

Frankly, they could do worse than Brendan Coris.  A lot worse.

[DoctorM]

I thought, in the original timeline at least, Charissa was no longer able to have children.  Her canonical husband, King Aldred II of Torenth, was abusive to her and one of his last attacks on her occurred when she was near to term with her son; the child died very shortly after his birth, and the whole experience was sufficiently traumatic as to cost her her fertility.

(She schemed with Wencit, who was Aldred's uncle, to have Aldred overthrown and executed, so all of this would have occurred during the Childe Morgan time frame, and I don't recall KK dedicating much time to Charissa in that trilogy.)

But assuming that in the Two Kingdoms universe, canon is still canon up to the Duel Arcane at the end of Deryni Rising, Charissa and Christian are going to have to look elsewhere for heirs.

Frankly, they could do worse than Brendan Coris.  A lot worse.

In the Two Kingdoms timeline, the divergence comes a bit earlier-- maybe at the point where the young Charissa finds Christian. But certainly prior to any marriage to Aldred. Charissa alludes to it in "Faces and Hands". There's a move by several Torenthi nobles (including the young Lionel of Arjenol) to prevent the marriage. Aldred is unstable and unpopular, and Wencit and his clique plot to curb his power behind the scenes.

In the end, he rejects marrying Charissa because she's "ruined"-- known to be having an affair with Christian, something open enough to reflect on Aldred's reputation.

In "Faces and Hands" Charissa tells the young Christian that Aldred thought her spoiled goods, and not good enough to be queen-consort of Torenth. It's risky-- she could've ended up in a convent and Christian could've ended up dead. In "Rings" she and Lionel speak before her wedding to Christian and she tells Arjenol that she knew an assassination was coming, but that she wasn't the one behind it. She also says that she'd have killed Aldred herself had he ever touched her...or moved against Christian. If she has any regrets about what happened, it's only that she feels sorry for the bride Aldred did marry, and who was killed with Aldred during what was Wencit's coup.

So she is I think still able to bear children, though despite having Christian in her life and bed for a dozen years and more, she's never had a child. That's by design, I suspect-- there was no room in her life or world for a child during the ten years before the Coronation coup. But she's 27 or almost 28 now, and she understands what has to be done for House Festil.

She may well look at young Brendan and see that one could do a lot worse than young Coris, who's smart, brave, and (though he's only five or six) shows great promise. Bran Coris, I think, fully hopes that the Queen bears daughters, so that Brendan will become a royal son-in-law.

[DerynifanK]

Bran may be, and probably, is scheming to gain power through Brendan. However, I don't think Richenda would accept this or want this position for her son. I'm not sure what she might do about it. She might enlist the help of her powerful family to get Brendan away from Charissa's influence. He is still young enough that he could be turned away from following her. It will depend on what happens next and who is involved.

[DoctorM]

Bran may be, and probably, is scheming to gain power through Brendan. However, I don't think Richenda would accept this or want this position for her son. I'm not sure what she might do about it. She might enlist the help of her powerful family to get Brendan away from Charissa's influence. He is still young enough that he could be turned away from following her. It will depend on what happens next and who is involved.

In a world of medieval nobility, it is hard to turn down the chance to see one's son married into royalty...where one's grandchild might easily wear a crown.

[DerynifanK]

But this crown seems to be very uneasy on the head of the one that wears it. I'm not sure I would want my child to face having to always fight to retain power or that power is necessarily a good thing. He could end up wearing a crown but he could just as easily end up dead.

[DoctorM]

But this crown seems to be very uneasy on the head of the one that wears it. I'm not sure I would want my child to face having to always fight to retain power or that power is necessarily a good thing. He could end up wearing a crown but he could just as easily end up dead.

All true. What's the GoT quote about playing for a crown-- "you win or you die"?

Still...we'll see what happens at the end: where the boundaries get drawn, who gets a crown, who meets a bad end.