Warprize

claimed. If he can’t produce you, the people will say that the Warprize rejected him.” She thought for a moment, stroking the cover of the Epic. “The Warlord built this army carefully, explaining that we would not receive the usual share of the spoils. Instead, he made agreements to pay his warriors with money or land. If he can’t reward the army, he will be shamed. Or worse.”
    “I don’t understand him.” I set my mug down and ran my fingers through my hair. “Why is he doing this?”
    She shrugged. “Atira, Simus said that the warrior-priests and the elders hate Keir as much as he hates them. Why?”
    “I don’t know all the details. Keir has always been vocal that warrior-priests withhold their magic from those who need them most.”
    “Magic? They use magic?” My voice squeaked. “There’s no such thing, Atira.”
    “Yet that is what they claim.” Atira frowned. “I’m not privy to the ways of warlords, or their councils. I didn’t even know that a warlord could renounce a warprize.” She shrugged. “But then, I am no singer, to know all the laws and customs.”
    I blinked. “Joden would know, wouldn’t he?”
    “Of course.”
    Keir had taken Joden back to camp, and forbidden me to follow. I chewed my lip, thinking about that for a moment.
    “Now.” Atira looked at me intently. “You can answer a question for me. I’ve been thinking about the Epic, and Us-tening closely. It speaks of a son ‘inheriting’ from his father. Does this mean that the son can ‘inherit’ a thing? Like a horse?”
    I nodded. “Yes.”
    “Can a son ‘inherit’ power? Status?”
    “Or even a throne. Xymund got the throne when my father died.”
    Atira frowned, thinking. “So a man with no real skill could hold a place of power, without earning it? That is very strange.” She sipped her tea, then looked at me. “And with Xymund’s death, you take the throne.
    ” She paused. “Who takes the throne if you die with no children?”
    My eyes widened. Who indeed?
    I burst out of the clinic, to find Heath and the guards at work on the firewood. “Heath!”
    “Lara?” Heath turned, surprised, as the guards reached for their weapons. “What’s wrong?”
    “I need to get some maps of the lands that surround us and talk to Remn. And Estoval, and Kalisa, if I can find her.” I grabbed my horse’s reins and mounted. The guards ran for their mounts.
    “The cheesemaker?” Heath stood there, looking like a half-wit, the axe in his hand.
    “Yes, the cheesemaker.” I urged my horse out the back gate. Heath dropped the axe and ran to his horse. “And Warren. I need to talk to them all, right now.”
    Heath heaved himself into the saddle. “What’s the rush, Lara?”
    “The Warlord’s army leaves in two days!”
    My hands were sweating, my stomach lay in knots, my head ached, and the crown of the Kingdom of Xy was going to fall off my head at any moment. I’d sent messages as soon as I had returned to the castle, and called a Council meeting for sunset. Since that time, I’d locked myself in my room with maps of the region and considered my options.
    The council room was packed, with Simus, Othur, Warren and the council members. All of them staring at me as I sat behind my father’s desk. I sat up straight, and kept my hands in my lap. It would make it easier to conceal their shaking. I cleared my throat, and the room settled. “I have called this meeting to discuss the welfare of the Kingdom of Xy.” I took a breath to quiet my stomach. “Simus of the Hawk is here as a representative of the Warlord Keir. The Warlord has confirmed that he will relinquish his claims to the Kingdom of Xy once I have been crowned.” Simus inclined his head as an acknowledgment. His attendance was important, but even more important was that he didn’t understand what I was doing until it was too late.
    I smiled at the council members. “Thank you for attending this meeting on such short notice. I wish to apologize for not being prepared to name my council at this time, for I am minded to reduce the size of the council. I regret the delay, but ask your forgiveness during this chaotic period. I would request that you all continue to serve in a temporary capacity, until I have considered and chosen my permanent advisors.”
    That set the cat among the fowl. I could tell that some hadn’t considered my right to name a new or smaller council. Good. I wanted them unsettled and thinking about what my coronation