Scrivener's Tale by Fiona McIntosh Page A

can’t be ignored. Darcelle must marry King Tamas and here’s the most interesting part of all.’ Cassien looked over at him. ‘He’s fifteen years her senior and Tamas seemingly adores her as much as she adores the notion of being Queen of Cipres. In his presence she is almost gentle and genuinely fond of him.’ Fynch laughed. ‘A match made by Shar.’
    â€˜And of course she would return to Cipres.’
    â€˜If Darcelle goes to Cipres, I no longer have to fret about the threat from within.’
    â€˜So where is the hurdle?’
    â€˜Darcelle may not want to leave Morgravia just yet. The empress is not encouraging her to rush away. Her stepmother, whom she is very close to, wants her to have this Ciprean crown but again I think they’re clinging to their youngest.’ Fynch stood. He shrugged. ‘I can’t second-guess women. Walk with me. It is time to return to Loup.’
    â€˜I don’t understand why you need me especially.’
    â€˜I need your fighting talents and especially that magical skill you possess that you don’t speak of to anyone.’
    Cassien halted abruptly. ‘What do you know?’
    â€˜Only what Romaine has told me, for we both know that you have hidden this aspect from your fellow Brothers. Oh, Brother Josse knows there is something rather special about you but he doesn’t really know much at all. He believes you can “see” things. Puts it down to being in tune with the spiritual world.’
    â€˜And you?’
    Fynch urged him to move forward, his look gentle and reassuring. ‘Romaine has spoken of the magic you call “roaming” as dangerous to the forest creatures but that you’re careful.’
    â€˜I shall have words with Romaine about her loose mouth.’
    â€˜I must assure you that she was torn between her loyalty to you and her duty to her king. Be assured, she loves you, Cassien.’
    â€˜So tell me how you want me to protect the queen? Should I call her a queen or an empress?’
    Fynch nodded. ‘Confusing, I agree. In Morgravia she is addressed as its queen. But she also sits on the imperial throne and is an empress by right, although that increasingly seems to be in title only. The union of the three realms, so strong under Cailech, has been whittled away gradually. She hasn’t travelled enough to each for people in Briavel or the Razors to know their empress.’
    â€˜How is she addressed?’
    â€˜In Morgravia as Queen Florentyna.’
    â€˜And surely she has an army to command,’ Cassien retorted.
    â€˜She does. But no number of mortal men can fully protect Florentyna. The Crown needs the aid of skills that go beyond.’
    â€˜Why?’
    â€˜Darcelle is only the closest threat but by no means the most fearsome. The greatest danger to Florentyna will come from the spiritual world, where gods and demons play.’
    Cassien stopped walking. ‘I’m very confused.’
    Fynch chuckled and Cassien heard a soft note of underlying despair. ‘I have seen the signs. No-one is better placed than I who straddle the two worlds of men and spirits. The threat is real. The enemy is hungry. The queen is vulnerable …’ Fynch trailed off.
    Cassien could see the soft drift of smoke coming from the hut’s rudimentary chimney. ‘What does the enemy want?’ He still didn’t understand what this was all about.
    â€˜Oh, the usual. Destruction, damnation.’
    â€˜Why?’
    â€˜I suspect because magic was unleashed into Morgravia a long time ago — a very powerful magic that disrupted the natural order of life decades previously.’
    â€˜Wyl’s magic?’ he wondered aloud in a blind thrust.
    â€˜Wyl didn’t possess magic and he didn’t wield it. That was the tragedy of his life. He was a good man, who never sought power or wealth or status; all seemed to find him. But it was brought about