Read Online The Rose Throne by Mette Ivie Harrison - Free Book Online
Authors: Mette Ivie Harrison
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queen brought you to my attention.”
“No, Your Majesty,” said Sir Jarl. “It is not so.”
Ailsbet wished she could sense some connection in him with life and growth rather than war and death. But Sir Jarl seemed exactly as any other man in the court. What if it was her fault that he was being accused, her fault that the king had detected an ekhono tainting the weyr? What if the king had sensed that the ekhono was Ailsbet?
She should step forward and reveal herself, she supposed. Save Jarl’s life in exchange for her own. That would be the way a character in a story would do it. A hero.
But Ailsbet was no hero.
And she did not believe that Sir Jarl could be saved by any confession on her part. If Sir Jarl was ekhono, he probably had very little of the women’s magic, but that did not mean he was safe from her father.
“I have done nothing wrong!” shouted Sir Jarl as the king’s guard approached him, swords raised all together as if they had practiced this. “If I do not have taweyr, then that is no crime. I see no reason that I should be punished for it. Surely, it leaves more taweyr for the rest of you. It does not take from you.”
It was a valiant argument, but it would not work. He knew it, too, thought Ailsbet. He was making a show of defiance, and her father had always liked a show.
“Do not touch him if you can avoid it,” King Haikor advised his guards. “Use your swords to prod him forward. If he tries to escape, run him through.”
Sir Jarl looked wildly about the hall. “If I am ekhono, what then? You should be afraid of me. I shall make you all regret this. I shall shower out myneweyr on this place, and the taweyr will be ruined. Isn’t that what you are most afraid of?” he said, but his manner made it clear that he was grasping at anything. He had no real belief in his own power.
King Haikor nodded to his guards, who began to use their swords to push Jarl out of the hall. They did not use the taweyr on him, only their own strength and the weapons of steel. To touch an ekhono man with taweyr would run the risk of taint.
“Let me live and I shall leave Rurik!” Sir Jarl pleaded. “I shall freely give you all my lands, all my gold. I shall ask for no recompense but my life. I shall serve you all my days, on the continent.”
How King Haikor would be able to hold him to such a promise Ailsbet could not understand. But the man was mad with fear, and he would have promised anything in the moment.
Because he would not move as the guards demanded, Jarl’s mouth and tongue were pierced with a sword, and he did not speak after that.
Ailsbet could see the rest of the court moving to the windows to look out on the Tower Green. In a few minutes, Sir Jarl emerged. The guards forced him to kneel, and he was stabbed over and over again. Since they did not use taweyr, it was a slow and painful death. His body would be burned on the TowerGreen once he was dead, to keep the taint of the ekhono away from the court.
Would her own death be like that? Ailsbet wondered, feeling cold at the thought. Sir Jarl should have kept far away from her father to avoid scrutiny and she should do the same. Whomever she married, she should make an excuse to keep away from court and have a quiet life. She had once wondered if she would help Edik when he took the throne, whisper to him when he needed advice, become the power behind him. But now that seemed too dangerous.
The silence ended, and the court began to murmur again. Ailsbet struggled with anger that Sir Jarl’s life should so easily be dismissed as unimportant. Then King Haikor clapped his hands, and Ailsbet immediately jerked to attention. “But that is not the special occasion that I spoke of. There are happier things for us to celebrate this day. Princess Ailsbet, I present to you Lord Umber of Weirland,” he said, nodding to a man at the far side of the Great Hall, who strode forward.
He was tall and thin, and he dressed very well. He wore a
“No, Your Majesty,” said Sir Jarl. “It is not so.”
Ailsbet wished she could sense some connection in him with life and growth rather than war and death. But Sir Jarl seemed exactly as any other man in the court. What if it was her fault that he was being accused, her fault that the king had detected an ekhono tainting the weyr? What if the king had sensed that the ekhono was Ailsbet?
She should step forward and reveal herself, she supposed. Save Jarl’s life in exchange for her own. That would be the way a character in a story would do it. A hero.
But Ailsbet was no hero.
And she did not believe that Sir Jarl could be saved by any confession on her part. If Sir Jarl was ekhono, he probably had very little of the women’s magic, but that did not mean he was safe from her father.
“I have done nothing wrong!” shouted Sir Jarl as the king’s guard approached him, swords raised all together as if they had practiced this. “If I do not have taweyr, then that is no crime. I see no reason that I should be punished for it. Surely, it leaves more taweyr for the rest of you. It does not take from you.”
It was a valiant argument, but it would not work. He knew it, too, thought Ailsbet. He was making a show of defiance, and her father had always liked a show.
“Do not touch him if you can avoid it,” King Haikor advised his guards. “Use your swords to prod him forward. If he tries to escape, run him through.”
Sir Jarl looked wildly about the hall. “If I am ekhono, what then? You should be afraid of me. I shall make you all regret this. I shall shower out myneweyr on this place, and the taweyr will be ruined. Isn’t that what you are most afraid of?” he said, but his manner made it clear that he was grasping at anything. He had no real belief in his own power.
King Haikor nodded to his guards, who began to use their swords to push Jarl out of the hall. They did not use the taweyr on him, only their own strength and the weapons of steel. To touch an ekhono man with taweyr would run the risk of taint.
“Let me live and I shall leave Rurik!” Sir Jarl pleaded. “I shall freely give you all my lands, all my gold. I shall ask for no recompense but my life. I shall serve you all my days, on the continent.”
How King Haikor would be able to hold him to such a promise Ailsbet could not understand. But the man was mad with fear, and he would have promised anything in the moment.
Because he would not move as the guards demanded, Jarl’s mouth and tongue were pierced with a sword, and he did not speak after that.
Ailsbet could see the rest of the court moving to the windows to look out on the Tower Green. In a few minutes, Sir Jarl emerged. The guards forced him to kneel, and he was stabbed over and over again. Since they did not use taweyr, it was a slow and painful death. His body would be burned on the TowerGreen once he was dead, to keep the taint of the ekhono away from the court.
Would her own death be like that? Ailsbet wondered, feeling cold at the thought. Sir Jarl should have kept far away from her father to avoid scrutiny and she should do the same. Whomever she married, she should make an excuse to keep away from court and have a quiet life. She had once wondered if she would help Edik when he took the throne, whisper to him when he needed advice, become the power behind him. But now that seemed too dangerous.
The silence ended, and the court began to murmur again. Ailsbet struggled with anger that Sir Jarl’s life should so easily be dismissed as unimportant. Then King Haikor clapped his hands, and Ailsbet immediately jerked to attention. “But that is not the special occasion that I spoke of. There are happier things for us to celebrate this day. Princess Ailsbet, I present to you Lord Umber of Weirland,” he said, nodding to a man at the far side of the Great Hall, who strode forward.
He was tall and thin, and he dressed very well. He wore a
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