Page 4 of Ceridor

My voice flowed into the vast room, filling each ear with a tale that should be as familiar here as it was back home, since stories as well as mulberries passed through our borders on a daily basis. The song I had selected was, admittedly, something of a children's tale about an eagle befriending a bear, but I did not wish to stir further animosity from the king by choosingsomething with battles and bloodshed. Putting such ideas into this room was best avoided.

Additionally, the tale cloaked what I truly wished to say, so that I had plausible deniability in the face of an angry petty king should I need it. The House of Ott used a hawk as their symbol rather than an eagle, and Ulbrecht the Great was represented by something with arguably more strength and ferocity than even a bear—the Danubian Dragon. Friendship here would be as difficult as in the story, but in no way less rewarding for either party. These parties needed friendship and loyalty, not division and strife, lest these blood-soaked plains be driven once again into the brutal poverty and instability I had witnessed as a traveling bard before the rise of this great warlord king.

Said High King Ulbrecht had recently been wedded to the sacred Danube river, in an ancient pagan tradition not practiced in these parts since the Celtic and later the Germanic tribes that bookended the Roman era. In my long travels since leaving my homeland, I had learned many hidden and precious things, and a king wedding the local nature spirit for protection of the human and earthly realms was an act that had both intrigued me and garnered my respect.

King Ott would be wise to form an alliance with Ulbrecht, but the fully manned camp in front of the castle proved they had not been invited to dinner. I could not blatantly state my advice—I had too much survival instinct for that—but I had to hope someone around the king would have enough sense to convince him to let Ulbrecht stay the night in the castle and feast with him for several days.

As I sang, two young adults watched me with such riveted gazes that it caught my attention. I recognized them: Princess Alodia and Prince Johannes, though they'd gone by Effie and Johann back when the queen was still alive and they had played with my younger brother Magnus.

I was twelve years older, and likely they did not recognize me now, but regaling Johann with stories from the legends and his captive audience was no small part of what had inspired me to become a bard. And ever since becoming a traveling bard, I had used a disguise as an old man and visited this court several times a year to check on the twins, to reassure myself that they were safe and growing up strong, and to bring news of Effie's wellbeing to my little brother Magnus.

I would do what I could to save this neighboring region from bloodshed and turmoil, and hopefully spare the Ott twins a tragic fate.

Chapter Four

Ceridor

After I finished singing the legend of the eagle and the bear, King Ott said that I needn't continue to entertain them. I could have dinner and boarding tonight in thanks, but that was all that was needed.

Not a good sign, especially considering the other guests in the hall this evening, ones I recognized as local warriors and rulers under the regional rulership. King Ott had his support gathered around him already, as if he were planning an attack.

Princess Alodia waved me over, scooting so as to clear the chair between her and her twin. My smile stretched into a grin as I sat between them and both twins leaned into me conspiratorially. Some things certainly hadn't changed since they were little: these two were still mischievous siblings with no shortage of mirth that would drag Magnus into trouble with them.

"Master Bard," Effie prompted, "you look so familiar to me. Are you sure we haven't met before?"

I decided to let her try to guess before I gave it away. I turned to my right, and one look into Prince Johannes's beautiful brown eyes told me he knew the truth.

For an instant fear flashed across my skin that he might not have wanted to see me again, but the shy smile on his lips and the hopeful gleam in his eyes put my heart at ease.

"It's good to see you," said Johannes, as if he couldn't believe I was here.

"It's good to see you too, my prince," I answered, so proud that he had grown up strong.

"Oi!" interrupted Effie, patting my knee urgently. "Johann, how do you know who he is and I don't? Ceridor doesn't ring a bell, but if that is your bardic name...is there another name you go by?"

I decided to put her out of her misery. I turned to her with the indulgent smile I'd always used with my brother and the twins. "Magnus sayshallo."

Effie's beautiful brown eyes grew impossibly wide, then she gasped and exclaimed, "Christian!"

"Shhhh!" I hushed her and Johannes all but leapt across my lap to cover Effie's mouth with his hand. Thankfully King Ott was distracted by the festivities and hadn't heard.

"Where have youbeen?" Effie asked through Johannes's fingers.

Johannes released her with a bashful apology to both of us and slunk back to my other side, making me chuckle at his antics.

"I work as a bard," I said, stating the obvious. "Magnus hammers me with questions about you two whenever I visit home, so I've actually been dropping in and singing to your father at least a couple of times a year, in the guise of an old man."

I'd never risked appearing as myself at this court until now, when I needed to project my full strength to get my message across. What protected me from recognition by King Ott was the sheer fact that I looked much more like my late mother than my father, the Regent of East Helvetica. The petty king of West Danube had no reason to remember a Prince Regent, even if our lands were neighbors.

"Why would you hide?" Johannes asked.

"I need my anonymity for a number of reasons," I answered, dodging the fact that King Ott had frankly delusional ambitions of becoming a High King himself, and ever since Queen Ott had died, my father the Regent of East Helvetica understandably hadn't trusted him.

"Could Magnus visit?" asked Effie hopefully.

Sadly, I shook my head. "My baby brother unfortunately looks exactly like a younger version of our father—I worry he'd be recognized."

"He's bald already?" Johannes asked. He covered his mouth with his hands when I pinched his leg and shot him a look. "Sorry, Christian."

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