Cenric had to assume the shepherds grazed their flocks on his fields with Leofstan’s approval.“Aldermen are no different from jarls,” he said wryly.“We always want what the others have.”
“Mmm.”Ovrek stroked his beard, seeming to think.It wasn’t like Ovrek to stall, but that was what the man seemed to be doing.
“Why am I here, Ovrek?”Cenric had never needed pretense with his mentor before.“Unless, of course, Valdar has been so dull without me.”
Ovrek did not respond to his humor.“Walk with me and tell me about this new wife of yours.”
Cenric went rigid, humor gone, but he fell in beside the king.They walked side by side, Snapper trailing after them.“Brynn is a fine woman,” Cenric answered.“What do you want to know?”
“She’s kin to several kings?”
“Dead ones, for the most part.”Cenric kept his gaze neutral and straight ahead.
“Niece to the current king?”
“She is.”Cenric cast Ovrek a sidelong glance.“Is there something in particular you want to know?”
“You must have done a great service to Aelgar for him to wed you to his niece.”
Cenric stopped, facing Ovrek.“Aelgar married her to me to get rid of her.He fears she could still try to take the kingship from him, but Hylden would never accept me as king.”When Cenric finished, he stared down his former liege lord.He had been learning the art of politics from Brynn, but with Ovrek, he would rather be honest.It seemed like he and Ovrek owed each other that much.
Ovrek threw back his head and laughed.“I have always liked that about you, son.”He clapped Cenric on the shoulder.“Straightforward.Very Valdari.”
Cenric dared to smile back.
Ovrek cleared his throat, eyes shining with mirth.“You do not care for Aelgar, then?”
Cenric surveyed the beach littered with ships.“I must make peace with my neighbors.”He glanced to Ovrek.“Whoever they happen to be.”
Ovrek made a sound of understanding.“Aelgar has sorceresses, yes?”
Cenric hesitated.“They supported his rise.”
“But?”
Cenric was sure Brynn would be upset if he revealed this part, but Ovrek almost certainly knew already.“There is a faction of sorceresses that would seek to put a sorceress on the throne.”
“I heard there was an attempt to make your wife queen.”
“Your ears must be long indeed, lord.”Cenric suspected Ovrek had spies in Hylden, but he hadn’t been sure—until now.Then again, perhaps it had been Hróarr.It stung to think of his cousin being a spy, but then again, why should he have kept it secret?Hróarr and several of his men had been injured in her mother’s attempt to abduct Brynn and they had spent weeks recovering and repairing the damage before sailing home last fall.“But if you heard that, then you must also have heard my wife has no desire to be queen.”
“Are you sure?”Ovrek clasped his hands behind his back, looking across the beach and to the men at work across it, toiling like so many bees in a hive.“Power is a thrill like nothing I know.”Ovrek winked at Cenric.“And I have known many thrills.”
“She…” Cenric wasn’t sure how to explain it.She chose me,he thought to himself.She’s a sorceress and a king’s daughter, but she chose me.
Cenric had seen Brynn tear a ship to pieces and flatten trees with her spells.He had seen her charm warlords and cajole even the fiercest warriors into friendship.He had no doubt Brynn could be queen if she wished it, but instead she spent her days as lady of Ombra, managing his house and serving his people.She could be anything she chose, yet she chose him.
Cenric thought of the story of Eponine, the moon goddess who had left life in the stars for the love of a shepherd.There were times with Brynn when he felt like that shepherd, a mere man somehow permitted to touch divinity.
“Brynn chose me.”
“How long have you been married?”Ovrek pressed.
Cenric didn’t like what Ovrek was implying, but it wasn’t anything the older man wouldn’t already know.“Seven months.”
“Seven months,” Ovrek repeated the words slowly, deliberately, like he was chewing on them.“You think you know her so well?Sifma still surprises me after decades.”
“I can manage my own house,” Cenric snapped.“Is there anything else you would like to say about my wife?”
