Page 28 of Skysong

‘My sister,’ King Tomas went on, ‘is in need of companionship. It can be a lonely life at court sometimes, and I thought – that is to say,wethought – you might be the perfect person to spend some time with her. During the days, after you have performed.’97

‘Oh,’ Oriane said, a little taken aback. She was flattered, of course, to be considered worthy of becoming a companion to the princess – but the request seemed a little odd, and out of the blue. ‘Me?’ she asked, looking between Tomas and Hana for confirmation.Whyme?sounded the unspoken question.

The king opened his mouth to respond, but Hana answered first. ‘We thought you might know something of loneliness yourself, Lady Lark.’

Oriane felt herself flush. The princess was right, of course. Oriane did know what it was like to be lonely, to crave friendship. Perhaps Hana did too. Perhaps they had more in common than she thought.

She dropped into the best curtsey she could manage, the movement still foreign and awkward. ‘It would be an honour to spend time with you, Your Highness.’

A corner of Hana’s mouth quirked. ‘Only if you swear never to curtsey to me or call me “Your Highness” again.’

Oriane’s face warmed once more, but she soon realised Hana was joking – the way Kitt and Andala joked with each other; the way friends seemed to do. She smiled tentatively at the princess, whom she could have sworn winked back at her.

‘Excellent!’ Beaming, King Tomas clapped his hands together, the sound echoing through the hall. ‘I’ll have Terault escort you—’

‘I know my way to my own rooms, Tomas,’ Hana cut in with an eyeroll. ‘I think Oriane and I can manage on our own.’

They bade him farewell and began moving through the corridors, Oriane trailing slightly behind Hana like a pup at its master’s heels. The princess was light on her feet, and silent. Oriane grasped mentally for a topic of conversation and found none. What foolishness had made her think she had anything in common with a princess? Hana must think her a dullard already.98

‘Here we are,’ the princess announced. They had arrived before a large set of doors, which Hana pushed open to reveal her rooms.

Oriane blinked a few times, trying to comprehend the sheer size of the space. Her cottage could fit inside here three times over.

Hana’s maids brought a tray of tea, and Oriane sat before the banked fire with the princess, trying not to appear as out of place and awkward as she felt. Hana seemed at ease, at least. She poured a cup for both of them and made polite conversation. Slowly, the tea and talk began to thaw Oriane’s stiffness. Before she knew it, the pot was nearly finished, and she had begun to enjoy herself.

‘Right,’ Hana said, draining her cup and standing. ‘I had thought we’d have a game of chess – that’s if you play, of course – but I find myself with a mountain of things to do today.’ She glided across to a desk, covered in official-looking papers and documents, that sat before one of the windows. ‘Letters, contracts, appeals – I look over them for Tomas sometimes,’ she explained. ‘Filter the important bits from the fawning drivel, make recommendations on matters he doesn’t have time for, that sort of thing.’

Oriane was puzzled. ‘Is that not … the sort of thing Lord Terault would help him with?’ she ventured.

‘You would think so, wouldn’t you?’ Hana’s tone was mild, but something about it suggested she wasn’t overly fond of the king’s seneschal. ‘But actually,’ she went on, ‘I don’t mind doing this kind of thing. I enjoy it a sight more than Tomas does, anyway. He hates all the ins and outs of governing and politics.’

Oriane frowned. ‘But he is …’

Hana raised an eyebrow, her lips quirking as if she’d read Oriane’s thoughts. ‘The king? Yes, I know. Part and parcel, and all that. He knows that, too. He’s tried to be better at all this, to put as much heart into it as he does the other parts of the role. But he doesn’t99really have a head for it, and – well, I suppose I do.’ She shrugged. ‘We may be twins, but in many ways we are quite the opposite of one another.’

Oriane blinked. ‘Twins?’

She’d spoken before she could stop herself. Still looking mildly amused, Hana raised her eyes from the document she’d been studying and nodded. She considered Oriane, as if trying to decide something, then turned back to the paper. ‘I’m actually the elder sibling, when it comes down to it. I was born an hour before Tomas.’

Oriane had to stop her mouth from falling open. She had always assumed Tomas to be the elder sibling. Nothing she’d read had mentioned the pair were twins. ‘But – wouldn’t that have made you the heir to your mother’s throne? Would it not have put you in line for it since birth?’

‘I suppose. It never really came up when we were children, though. Most people, us included, seemed to think our mother would simply live forever.’

A shiver traced down Oriane’s spine, her father’s voice echoing in her head:Youwillneverdie.

‘The rest just assumed it would be Tomas to succeed her, I think,’ Hana continued. ‘Him being sokingly-looking, and a man, and all of that.’ There was humour in the words, but no real malice. It seemed the princess bore no ill will towards her brother. Indeed, her expression softened as she went on. ‘Tomas was never really interested in ruling. I can’t say what kind of life he envisioned for himself, but I’m not entirely sure it was this.’

‘Yet … yet he still ascended the throne in your stead?’ Oriane probed gently.

‘He had no choice,’ Hana said, a little defensively. ‘Neither of us did. Our mother’s rule was strong. You might have noticed, Oriane,100that I’m not in the best of health, and a sick queen could only be a weak one.’

She picked up a quill, dipped it in an inkpot, touched it to the paper before her. The action was a full stop on a sentence, her next words closing the cover on the conversation.

‘Things are the way they should be.’

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Chapter 13

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