The Reign of Trees Read online

  And then it felt as if a window opened in her heart, letting in an icy gust of winter air. He knew she had toyed with him; of course he was keen enough to figure that out. But he had said men. Plural. Meaning he knew what she had tried to do with Leif. “What do you imply, My Lord?” she asked, barley able to speak.

  “I imply nothing. I speak the truth. You use your femininity as a weapon, where as we men use a sword. The sword is much swifter and less painful, let me assure you. Matters of the heart are not to be trifled with.”

  “You mean to tell me you would rather have your arm smitten off than to lose your heart to love?”

  “But of course. I have two arms, but only one heart.”

  “If you are trying to impress upon me that men are weak if they lose their heart to love, know that I have witnessed the perfect model of manhood and he is not afraid to give me his heart.”

  “Ah, you could only be referring to one man: the stout and garish Prince Harrington. Let me assure you Princess, that man has lost nothing.”

  It felt as if Donovan had shot a cannonball straight into her chest. She struggled to find air. Her eyes filled with tears so quickly that she could no longer see.

  Restraint. I must use restraint. I cannot let him see how he hurts me. She blinked rapidly and swallowed her emotions to keep the tears at bay. “You do not know Leif’s heart,” she said with veracity.

  Donovan did not reply to her with words, but the look upon his face said that he knew. He was not gloating. He was not trying to inflict pain. But he knew her husband had no love for her. Donovan’s eyes reflected kindness. And guilt.

  “You read his letter.” Her voice did not sound angry, like she hoped it would.

  “Yes,” he admitted.

  Illianah closed her eyes as shame washed across her. “And my letter?” she asked. When she opened her eyes, she saw Donovan excuse her two lady’s maids with the wave of his hand. Her cheeks flushed with embarrassment at the thought of him reading her very private, very improper words. “How could you?” she whispered.

  “How could I not?” his voice was not chastened, as it should have been. “I had to make certain you did not pass information to him.”

  “You do not trust me,” she said.

  “I do. However, my father and General Montague insisted upon your letters being read. They do not have that same trust. I thought it would be best if it was I who read the letters. I did it out of respect for you, My Lady.”

  She brought her hand to her mouth and collapsed into the back of her chair. She wished she could vanish from this very spot and disappear from the world entirely. Leif was right to censure her. Their private honeymoon had now been shared with a third party—a man whom she had once thought would be her husband. This was vile. She felt ill and worried her breakfast would be lost.

  “Respect?” she whispered through thick tears. “You did it to humiliate me.”

  “No, Illianah.” His voice was firm, as if he hoped to convince her she was wrong.

  “You … you have betrayed me.”

  “I have protected you.”

  “From?” She sat up, now enraged.

  “From your words being read by less partial eyes.”

  “That would have been preferable. You have been laughing at me all week and now I know the cause. You read my letters for amusement, and you try to pass it off as if you were doing me a favor.”

  “It was never my intent to read your letters for sport, but when I read your last letter, I was greatly entertained. I knew what you were at, Princess, and I found it amusing that a woman would try to seduce her own husband.”

  “You speak of honor and of … friendship, yet if you knew what ‘I was at,’ then I wonder why you did not spare me the humiliation my letter would bring.”

  “I hoped it would work, Princess. You do belong in Burchess, with him.” The way Donovan said “him” sounded like the thought of Leif had left a noxious taste within Donovan’s mouth. A taste he wished to expel and never again allow into his body.

  His words stung as much—or more—than Leif’s words. Donovan did not want her either. Was she so unlovable? She turned her head away from him and fixed her eyes on the fire. “If you wish me gone, then I do not understand what I am still doing here,” she said, trying to sound staunch instead of feeble, but a quiver in her voice betrayed her emotions.

  “Yes, it does seem rather pointless, does it not? Unfortunately Illianah, you are just a pawn in this game. You have two kings trying to use you as leverage. I do not envy your position, but perhaps it will elevate your confidence to know that you are a desirable commodity.”

  “It does nothing but cause me pain.”

  “As it does me.” His voice sounded like he was replying with joviality, but his eyes expressed otherwise. Her presence really did bring him pain. He really would rather have her gone.

  “I do not understand why you will not see to my freedom, Donovan.”

  “I will not go against my father. He is king. He insists that King Gregory will eventually accept our terms for your release.”

  Although Illianah knew speaking out against the king was treacherous, she did so anyhow. He was not her king after all. “Your father is arrogant, rash and dangerous. You would do well not to follow his example.” She expected to be reprimanded for her words, but Donovan did not reply. “Surely you can see the harm he does to your kingdom.”

  “I see no such thing.”

  “Well surely you see how his demands against my father are unreasonable. My father has great wealth. You must be asking too great a sum if he refuses to pay it. Convince King Henrick to request a lesser amount then I may go home and this war may end.”

  Donovan stood and paced across the room, turning his back to her. She assumed she had angered him, but when he finally turned to her, his face showed no emotion whatsoever. “This was never about money, Illianah. It saddens me you think Deltegra is so desperate as to start a war for a few thousand gold pieces. And that we would do this to you—take you away from your throne in order to add more coins to our treasury. We would never ask our soldiers to lose their lives for money. This is about the truth.”

  “The truth?” She did not know what he was speaking of.

  He looked at her carefully, as if his eyes were trying to reach into the depths of her soul. For once, she did not force herself to break eye contact. “I assumed you knew, Princess. How could you not? But the longer you have been here and the more I have seen your unskilled deviousness, I have begun to wonder: do you know what has happened to our trade agreement with your father?”

  The trade agreement? Illianah knew very little about it, other than Deltegra was to provide timber to Burchess.

  Just as she was about to claim her lack of interest in this area, she remembered hearing in the days before her wedding how Deltegra had broken their agreement; two shipments of wood had not been sent. The commoners were complaining that work had come to a halt at the shipyards of Pontic. With no wood, there was no work. With no work, there was no food. The workers from Pontic had begged her father to do something. But then the wedding took place and Illianah had given no more thought to the breech of the trade agreement. “You broke the agreement. That is what started this war,” she realized, although it still did not make much sense. Why would Deltegra provoke Burchess?

  “We did no such thing. When the last snow thawed, our laborers were again in the mountains, harvesting wood for Burchess. In April, we sent our scheduled shipment, but our wagons and horses never returned. Nor did our men. Soon, a letter came from Burchess, warning us of our breech in contract. The shipment never arrived in Freidlenburg. We quickly went in search of our missing caravan. A dozen men and double as many horses had vanished without a trace. We suspected foul play, but no evidence was found: not even a drop of blood in the forest.

  “We wrote to King Gregory and insisted the shipment had met with disaster on its way to Freidlenburg. He was understanding, however, he required the n
ext shipment come a week early. We did as he asked. We sent the next shipment early and sent a small group of soldiers to protect the caravan. But again, the entire fleet vanished. No wood. No horses. No men. King Gregory was not so understanding this time. He accused us of lying and said that such a large number of men and horses could not disappear without it being whispered of among the gypsies and robbers. He put us on warning: we had but a fortnight to provide the shipment to Freidlenburg or it would be considered an act of war.”

  Donovan paced for a moment and then turned back to Illianah. His eyes were black with pain. “Your father was right. Two shipments could not disappear without a single forest thug knowing of it. We sent our best hunters and scouts into the forest between here and Freidlenburg. The wagon train was not attacked anywhere along the route. They were attacked when they reached Freidlenburg.”

  “That is preposterous.”

  “We had hoped as much. But when word came that Prince Harrington and his new bride were to honeymoon in Freidlenburg, we knew Burchess was hiding something. Why else would such an isolated, barren village be chosen as a spot for your holiday? We had sent a request to King Gregory to allow us to investigate the area surrounding Freidlenburg, looking for any signs of our shipment, but we were denied, due to the royal newlyweds being in residence. We took this as a sign that King Gregory did not want us to come close to Freidlenburg, as a hundred soldiers were also now in residence. We knew whatever evidence was at Freidlenburg would be taken to the capital upon your departure. If we were to find proof, it had to be done while you were still there.”

  “And so you attacked Freidlenburg and found nothing, but captured me instead. Now I know what you are asking of my father. You want him to admit that he brought destruction upon your shipments. No wonder he is not negotiating. He will not take blame when he has done nothing wrong.” Illianah felt like her mind had expanded and she was now akin to the greatest intellectuals on the continent. She finally understood the conflict. She could see how Deltegra would need to find someone to blame for their missing shipments, but putting the blame on her father was completely irrational. “You have sorely misjudged my father. He would never do anything to harm innocent men, nor would he do anything to destroy your treaty.”

  Donovan let out a sour-sounding chuckle and paced away from her again. His hands were behind his back, his posture straight and proud. He did not look like a man who was being scolded for his errant thinking. When he turned back toward her, he looked confident. And smug. “You do not know King Gregory well, do you?”

  “Of course I know him well. He is my father.” Illianah sat taller, wanting her posture to match Donovan’s. How dare he claim that Illianah was not close with her only family member? Her father was all she had. And likewise for him: she was all he had.

  … And the kingdom of Burchess. The kingdom was his as well. He often affectionately referred to Burchess as his child. She tried to shrug away thoughts of the jealousy she often felt when her father referred to his kingdom with such great love.

  “Let us review the history of relations between Burchess and Deltegra, just so we know we are speaking of the same King Gregory,” Donovan said. He was still pacing, like a scholar on the brink of making an earthshattering discovery.

  It was driving her mad. She did not wish to be taught by Donovan. “I do not need a history lesson, thank you,” she said as she stood. She had planned on leaving the room to get away from his insults to her and her kingdom, but he quickly stepped toward her and grabbed her arm.

  “Please hear me out, Illianah,” he said with soft persuasion.

  His hand wrapped around her wrist, causing a burning sensation to travel up her arm and into her heart. But then he quickly removed his hand, as if he just remembered he should not be touching another man’s wife. Although his hand was now gone, she could still feel the ghostly imprint his touch had left behind. She still wanted to flee, but her legs seemed as if they had been charred and turned to stubble. She had no choice but to listen.

  “Our great countries were at odds from the beginning, back when Deltegra was separated from your land and given to my grandfather four times removed. But as our rugged landscape was deemed uninhabitable and our people were declared backwards, a union between our countries was unnecessary, even though King Polard and King Lamont were once the closest of kin. We lived as enemies, yet neither kingdom posed a threat to the other. But that changed not long after our births, Illianah.”

  She already knew this. When she was a toddling child, the great New Land had been discovered far across the sea. In the New Land, more gold could be harvested in a single day than had ever been mined in an entire decade in Burchess. Riches beyond any king’s vain imaginations would be found in the New Land. King Gregory had quickly jumped into the race across the vast sea and claimed the land as his own and named it New Burchess. A new colony was formed there. To support the new colony that was to mine the endless amount of gold, many ships were needed to take supplies to the new land, as well as give new settlers and soldiers passage to New Burchess. In order to build all those ships, King Gregory needed wood. Deltegran wood.

  Burchess was flat and dry—almost barren of trees. But Deltegra was the opposite. The mountains were green and lush. The cool climate and frequent rains gave way to the greatest forests in Western Corridor. King Gregory knew a treaty with Deltegra must be reached at once if he were to sustain the growth of New Burchess.

  King Henrick—happy to finally have something to export and thus add wealth to his impoverished nation—eagerly agreed to provide timber to Burchess. And to show his commitment to Burchess, King Henrick offered the hand of his son, Prince Donovan Henrick. The two kingdoms would become more than just friendly. They would be united.

  Donovan had told Illianah many years ago how her name was the only female name he had ever heard, outside of his mother’s and sister’s. Before he could even speak, his ears continually heard the praises of the lovely Illianah. He called her “Lily” as a young child, as his tongue had not yet learned to roll through the delicate syllables of her given name.

  Illianah’s memories of Donovan were not as favorable. She remembered being told she was to marry the young prince from Deltegra, a kingdom she had always found repulsive. And Donovan was two years younger than she. She thought it was ridiculous to think of marrying a baby. But as she grew, so did he. Every two years, he would come to Burchess with his father, and each time he seemed less and less like a baby and more and more like a man. When he came to Burchess in his sixteenth year, Illianah could see the potential. In fact, she found him favorable. He had grown to be distinguished and princely, yet within his eyes remained a boyish twinkle, indicating that he continued to seek adventure and mischief. She also noticed a look of adoration anytime his eyes fell upon her. She knew he would cherish her, and that thought made her heart feel as if it was being blown by the gentlest of winds. Was it possible that her arranged marriage would actually bring her great happiness? She felt so blessed, like the misery of living a life without a mother and sisters would finally become a life like she read of in fairy tales.

  But then the negotiations with King Henrick fell to pieces. Henrick and his son left after nightfall in the second fortnight of the visit; the prince did not even have the dignity to say goodbye.

  “I am older than you, Donovan. I have a perfect recollection of what has happened during our lifetimes.”

  “Yes. You know what your father has told you; but perhaps there is more than just his side of the story.”

  Illianah did not want to hear Donovan’s perspective, but the deep pleading within his eyes begged her to remain silent. She sat back in the armchair. He did not sit, but he did not resume his pacing either. He stood still, the sadness upon his face indicating that this was something he did not want to recollect.

  “When we came to Burchess two years ago to create the marriage treaty, I fully expected to leave there betrothed. In fact, I hoped for it.”

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bsp; If this was the point of view he wanted to share with her, she thought she might have to fling her body into the fire. Listening to his story may very well turn her soul to ashes. Her thoughts of that time gave her enough pain as it was; she did not want to give consideration to his pain.

  “King Gregory demanded us to increase our yearly timber production, however, he did not increase the amount he was to pay for the extra wood. We agreed, recognizing he should be entitled to price abatement as we were soon to be bonded. A week after the initial treaty had been signed, he added an addendum: Deltegra was not to export wood to any other country. This grieved my father greatly. The amount King Gregory was to pay annually was not enough to support our workforce. My father had agreed to the low price, knowing he would be able to supplement our annual funds with exports to other countries like Liksland, who had already shown great interest in our wood. King Gregory said in exchange for our absolute allegiance, he would offer troops to enforce our borders. Thieves from the north and the west had been sneaking into our forests and stealing wood while we slept. We needed support from more soldiers, so my father agreed. He sent word to our diplomat in Liksland to stop negotiations with King Edvard. Our diplomat quickly replied, saying that he had just received word from Liksland stating the same thing. Our wood was not needed. They had already negotiated with another country for wood at a much lower price. After digging and prying, our diplomat was able to discover that the wood was to come from Burchess. It was Deltegran wood. Wood we were selling to your father for a fraction of market value. Your father was betraying us, before the ink on the treaty had even dried.”

  “That is ridiculous. My father did no such thing.”

  “I assure you he did. King Henrick confronted your father. King Gregory said that once the wood was in his possession, he could do whatever he liked with it. It was none of our business if he desired to sell excess wood to Liksland. But my father disagreed. He said he did not like being taken advantage of. It affected his ability to allow Deltegra to prosper. Do you know what your father said?” he asked.