royal duties require him to go away for a while, then that’s his business, too! Can’t you just say that? “
Silence. Hurt, angry silence.
“You could say that, Gath, and you know it! You weren’t fighting for your father. You were fighting in case they thought you were afraid to fight. And usually that’s very silly. “
Except that this was Krasnegar, not the Impire. Gath looked like a jotunn so his peers judged him as they judged jotnar. And so did he. An imp they wouldn’t bother with, but he was blond and big for his age, like a jotunn. He must think of himself as a jotunn, although he was normally the least quarrelsome boy she had ever known. Everyone knew that jotnar would accept any odds.
She tried another tack. “You must have known what was going to happen when you went to meet Brak and the others.” Pause, then a grudging whisper: “Yes. I knew.”
“Then why did you go?”
“Because I knew I would go.” No hope there!
“You won’t go anymore!” she said sharply. “From now on, you stay in the castle. Is that clear?”
Even with so little of his face visible, the sullen, rebellious expression was obvious.
“Is that clear?” she repeated.
“Yes.”
But the fight with Brak had happened within the castle, so house arrest wouldn’t do much to solve the problem. There were dozens of adolescent jotnar living in the palace, and townsfolk could stream in and out as they pleased. She couldn’t declare a state of siege just to stop kids brawling. Not in Krasnegar. And if word got around that the queen was protecting her son, then he would be fair game for everyone, even imps.
“So your father is away on business? There’s nothing odd about that! Other boys’ fathers go out of town-trappers, whalers, fishermen-“
“He didn’t tell anyone.”
Ah! “Since when has your father had to ask Brak’s permission to go on a trip?”
The humor didn’t work; she hadn’t expected it to. Gath’s permission was what they were discussing now, even if Gath himself didn’t know it.
“He didn’t have time to say good-bye to you, dear. I told you-he had to leave on very short notice. He didn’t know he was going when you went to bed.” She thought back to that tragic evening. “Did you? Did you know?”
Gath blinked. “I can’t see tomorrows.”
“No, but I recall you looked sort of surprised at one point. Did you suspect?”
“Maybe. I’m not sure. Wasn’t sure. Maybe a little, I did.” A big disappointment might throw a longer shadow than little things, and a father’s disappearance was a very big disappointment to a fourteen-year-old. Rap had promised the whole of the following day to the children and been gone when they awoke. She sighed. “Listen, you big lummox! Maybe one day you’ll be king of Krasnegar. Kings have to keep their private lives separate from their royal duties, and you’re going to have to learn that. Your father doesn’t go around fighting everybody!”
“If someone said bad things about you, he would!”
He probably would. It was much easier to imagine Rap throwing a punch than it was to think of him calling out the guard and laying charges of lese majesty. That was certainly not an option for Gath when his friends jeered. No hope there, either.
She tried another tack. “I know he broke a promise to you. Do you think he would do that, or stay away this long, or miss your birthday-except for something really important?”
“No. “
“Well, it is important! Terribly important! I can’t tell you what it is. I don’t even know all the details myself, but I trust your father, and so should you! I told you he’d gone away for a couple of days. Then I told you that it was going to be longer. I couldn’t tell anyone else that, just you and Kadie, because he sent me word by sorcery! Now do you understand?”
He nodded, almost imperceptibly under the covers. She shivered as the cold worked deeper through her furs; she wriggled icy toes in her
Silence. Hurt, angry silence.
“You could say that, Gath, and you know it! You weren’t fighting for your father. You were fighting in case they thought you were afraid to fight. And usually that’s very silly. “
Except that this was Krasnegar, not the Impire. Gath looked like a jotunn so his peers judged him as they judged jotnar. And so did he. An imp they wouldn’t bother with, but he was blond and big for his age, like a jotunn. He must think of himself as a jotunn, although he was normally the least quarrelsome boy she had ever known. Everyone knew that jotnar would accept any odds.
She tried another tack. “You must have known what was going to happen when you went to meet Brak and the others.” Pause, then a grudging whisper: “Yes. I knew.”
“Then why did you go?”
“Because I knew I would go.” No hope there!
“You won’t go anymore!” she said sharply. “From now on, you stay in the castle. Is that clear?”
Even with so little of his face visible, the sullen, rebellious expression was obvious.
“Is that clear?” she repeated.
“Yes.”
But the fight with Brak had happened within the castle, so house arrest wouldn’t do much to solve the problem. There were dozens of adolescent jotnar living in the palace, and townsfolk could stream in and out as they pleased. She couldn’t declare a state of siege just to stop kids brawling. Not in Krasnegar. And if word got around that the queen was protecting her son, then he would be fair game for everyone, even imps.
“So your father is away on business? There’s nothing odd about that! Other boys’ fathers go out of town-trappers, whalers, fishermen-“
“He didn’t tell anyone.”
Ah! “Since when has your father had to ask Brak’s permission to go on a trip?”
The humor didn’t work; she hadn’t expected it to. Gath’s permission was what they were discussing now, even if Gath himself didn’t know it.
“He didn’t have time to say good-bye to you, dear. I told you-he had to leave on very short notice. He didn’t know he was going when you went to bed.” She thought back to that tragic evening. “Did you? Did you know?”
Gath blinked. “I can’t see tomorrows.”
“No, but I recall you looked sort of surprised at one point. Did you suspect?”
“Maybe. I’m not sure. Wasn’t sure. Maybe a little, I did.” A big disappointment might throw a longer shadow than little things, and a father’s disappearance was a very big disappointment to a fourteen-year-old. Rap had promised the whole of the following day to the children and been gone when they awoke. She sighed. “Listen, you big lummox! Maybe one day you’ll be king of Krasnegar. Kings have to keep their private lives separate from their royal duties, and you’re going to have to learn that. Your father doesn’t go around fighting everybody!”
“If someone said bad things about you, he would!”
He probably would. It was much easier to imagine Rap throwing a punch than it was to think of him calling out the guard and laying charges of lese majesty. That was certainly not an option for Gath when his friends jeered. No hope there, either.
She tried another tack. “I know he broke a promise to you. Do you think he would do that, or stay away this long, or miss your birthday-except for something really important?”
“No. “
“Well, it is important! Terribly important! I can’t tell you what it is. I don’t even know all the details myself, but I trust your father, and so should you! I told you he’d gone away for a couple of days. Then I told you that it was going to be longer. I couldn’t tell anyone else that, just you and Kadie, because he sent me word by sorcery! Now do you understand?”
He nodded, almost imperceptibly under the covers. She shivered as the cold worked deeper through her furs; she wriggled icy toes in her
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