“If that were true, why didn’t she come back?” Sir Hamnet asked, as he struggled to accept all that he had seen and been told.
Prince Kelton thought about how best to answer his question. “...Her captor refused to let her go.”
“Why would she even go back to him in the first place?” he replied, incensed.
“She was being controlled.”
“And how do we know she isn’t being controlled now?”
‘My captor’s control ended when he killed me, shortly after my night with Kelton,’ Mȧthair replied.
Sir Hamnet’s brow furrowed. “If you were killed, then your marriage to Kelton would have been broken, right?”
Mȧthair nodded.
“And broken it was,” Prince Kelton said as he changed which arm held Nathaniel so he could remove the Garnet ring on his finger.
He showed Sir Hamnet the Diamond band that had been reconnected by the Alexandrite and Periot and surrounded by the Aquamarine and Jet. “When I came to myself again in Salgon Town, it was because my marriage to Iredys had been broken. When I consummated my remarriage to her, I bound my soul to hers, not only in this life, but for any life we live hereafter.”
Sir Hamnet nodded then glanced at Mȧthair as Prince Kelton put the Garnet ring back on.
“And now that…?”
Prince Kelton watched his knight’s face turn a little green as the soft grinding sound that was coming from Ponderosa’s nibbling of the Jet in Mȧthair’s chest stopped. Mȧthair’s head moved a lot as did Ponderosa’s dress.
“Mȧthair turned me into a Weredin,” Prince Kelton replied simply.
“She turned you into a what?” Sir Hamnet asked.
Mȧthair stood up with Ponderosa’s dress in her mouth. Prince Kelton stood as well. He petted her head and rubbed her ears.
“Is she ready to go back?” he asked.
‘Yes and no,’ Mȧthair replied. ‘Ponderosa and Nathaniel will be ready for food soon and the ground wheat and herbs are in the other room.’
“Okay. Let me walk you over then.”
Sir Hamnet stood then.
Mȧthair turned to look at him. ‘Sit,’ she told him. ‘Stay. I know you have more you want to discuss with Kelton.’
“I do, but….”
‘No but, you might not get another opportunity like this in the days to come.’
“As you say, Prin….”
“‘Mȧthair,’” Mȧthair and Prince Kelton said at the same time.
“Mȧthair,” Sir Hamnet corrected before he bowed respectfully then sat on the couch once more.
Prince Kelton walked with Mȧthair down the hall to Ponderosa’s room. “Is there anything I can have Gailan bring to you?”
‘Fresh water and my usual scraps would be nice,’ Mȧthair replied.
“Alright.”
Prince Kelton kissed the top of her head then kissed Nathaniel’s forehead.
“I love you both,” Prince Kelton said.
‘We love you, too, Kelton.’
Prince Kelton set Nathaniel in the bassinet beside the fire then left to pass the word along to Gailan before he resumed his talk with Sir Hamnet.
When he entered the room again, Sir Hamnet was staring into the fire, chewing on one of his knuckles.
“Is the rationing so little that you are resorting to cannibalism now?” he teased.
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Sir Hamnet stopped chewing on his knuckle and shook his head with a good natured smile. “We have not seen true rations yet.”
“True enough, Sir Hamnet. True enough. ...To answer your question, I am no longer entirely human.” He shifted his tunic enough to reveal the scars left from Mȧthair biting him almost two weeks ago. “Mȧthair’s bite made it so I can transform into a Dinakal, but only on the night of the Full Moon. While in that form, I did mate her. …It was, also, the only way to get me to hear her telepathy again.”
Sir Hamnet nodded. “Does this mean that Mȧthair is also a Weredin?”
“No.”
“No? Then how did she…?”
“The Peridot,” Prince Kelton answered, pointing to his ring finger again. “Transformation magic.”
Sir Hamnet leaned forward and looked at the floor. He fisted and unfisted his hand after a moment as he thought.
“What else is on your mind?” Prince Kelton asked.
Sir Hamnet shifted how he was sitting. “…I hope you will forgive me, Kelton. What I ask, I am only asking because I want to understand, not because I have come to disapprove of your marriage to Lady Iredys… Mȧthair.”
Prince Kelton nodded. “Go ahead.”
“Knowing all the risks that would come with choosing Lady Iredys again, why did you choose to remarry her? Because I would assume that Princess Analisa or Countess Lilia would have been the safer choice.”
“Perhaps,” he replied, thinking of the best way to put the situation to Sir Hamnet.
“Was it our oaths that pushed your choice?”
Prince Kelton smiled at the memory of Sir Hamnet and Sir Droyn spilling out the various oaths they swore. “Your oaths did little to sway my decision. However, so you better understand the decision I faced, I’ll put it to you this way. Suppose for a moment, Sir Hamnet, that you were Greywolf’s Prince.”
Sir Hamnet nodded.
“You are presented with three women. All of them from noble lines. One of them is everything you would want in a Queen, the second is a bridge for a more stable political alliance, and the third is someone who could grow to become a great Queen, while being a much more soothing presence in private than that of the second.”
“Yes.”
“The one who would make the best Queen is taken from you and changed to be someone no longer welcome in your kingdom. However, despite the punishment she will suffer if this change is revealed, she returns to the kingdom anyway; not to seek the crown that would have been hers; not to stop you from marrying either of the other women, but to inform you that there is danger on the horizon, danger you were not aware of; danger you can now prepare for with better precision because of the changes she endured. ...So then who really is the safer choice?”
“...How do I know she has not brought that danger to my doorstep?”
“She would have,” he said, holding up his finger to stop Sir Hamnet’s protest, “were it not for your most trusted knights interfering. Had they not interfered, you would now be serving the man who changed her and still remains a threat to the kingdom.”
Sir Hamnet frowned.
“...Mȧthair,” Prince Kelton said, seeing the doubt and concern in Sir Hamnet’s eyes, “please tell me a lie that Sir Hamnet can hear.”
‘I cannot,’ she replied. ‘The Diamond and Wunjo rune prevent me from doing so.’
Sir Hamnet’s brow furrowed. He got up and opened the doors between the two rooms.
‘You will not find me there, Sir Hamnet. I am exactly where Prince Kelton left me—in Ponderosa’s room with Ponderosa and Nathaniel.’
“Then how can you hear us?” he asked.
‘I hear everything. See everything.’
“I don’t understand, Princess. If you cannot lie then how was this kept quiet when Princess Analisa accused you of being a witch,” he asked, “since lies of omission are still lies?”
‘Kenaz and the Emerald allow me to tell the truth with discernment. If not, Ponderosa would not have been free to rescue me from the man who tormented us both.’
“Alright. So then who is threatening the kingdom? ...Princess?”
“Mȧthair, is…?”
The bedroom around Prince Kelton vanished into darkness. The darkness moved over him while he listened to men, women, and children scream around him. He watched the darkness break through the front gates of Greywolf Castle because there were insufficient guards to keep the castle from being overrun. The darkness consumed him before the bedroom returned to his view.
He dropped his head into his hands.
“Prince Kelton, are you alright?” Sir Hamnet asked, kneeling in front of him and setting a hand on his shoulder. “Prince Kelton?”
“…Mȧthair?” he asked, holding his head in his hands.
‘Sorry, Beloved. I did not expect that vision to come so forcefully.’
“Is our son alright?”
‘Yes. Also, Dawson has dinner ready, so be sure to take several breaths before trying to stand.’
Prince Kelton nodded.
“Your Highness?” Sir Hamnet asked.
“I am alright, Sir Hamnet.”
“What happened?”
“A vision… of Greywolf’s destruction.”
“How many visions have you had?”
“That was the first. Mȧthair has had more.”
“How many more?”
‘More than I care to count, Sir Hamnet,’ Mȧthair replied. ‘Is there anything you need, My Love?’
“I’ll let you know.”
‘Alright.’
Prince Kelton rubbed his eyes. “Do you understand now, Sir Hamnet?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
He nodded while he tried to shake the images and sounds from his head. “Is Ponderosa also alright?” he asked.
‘Yes. She needed a break.’
“Alright.”
Sir Hamnet had a thoughtful look on his face as Prince Kelton took his time getting to his feet.
“Something more on your mind, Sir Hamnet?”
“Nothing I can put into words at the moment,” Sir Hamnet replied.
“Alright. Come. Let us go eat.”
“Yes.”