The Squire and the Acolyte - 4. Evil, and Rumors of Evil

—Ill news comes apace, while good news the morrow waits.

Cam and Eric were alone. Not in the boys’ barracks, but in a suite of rooms high in the palace.

“Eric, I have to know…” Cam’s protest was smothered by the younger boy’s kiss. Cam returned the kiss, but stopped short of continuing it with the passion that Eric was trying to inflame.

Eric broke away. His eyes were hooded. “Do I presume, Cam?”

“No, Eric,” Cam answered gently. “You could never presume. However, your Uncle has presumed, and I have to know what’s going on!”

“What have you been told?” Eric began.

“No,” Cam answered. “Not what I have been told, nor what I have not been told, which is probably a great deal more than I have been told. Not second hand, or more, but straight from you. Not what may be or what might be, but what is. Not what your uncle wants, but what you want.”

Eric was stunned by the strength of Cameron’s answer. However, in the boy’s eyes, he still saw the love he’d seen—he’d hoped he’d seen—the few times…the three times…they’d been alone together.

“I’m sorry, Cam,” he said. “Of course. Um, where to start? I can’t tell you what you must know without being foresworn. Come on.” He took Cameron’s arm, and pulled the boy through a narrow door into a hallway only slightly wider, through another narrow door, and into a small room. The only occupant was a man, whose back was to them, sitting at a desk.

“Uncle,” Eric began, “Cam is here, and he must know the truth.”

Uncle? Cam thought. This must be… Cameron drew strength from Eric, who still held his hand. He began to bow, but the king’s voice stopped him. “No courtship here, Cameron. You are in family quarters. You are in a place where you are loved.”

Cam’s head spun as he tried to digest what he’d just heard. He nearly missed the king’s invitation. “Come, boy; sit here.” The king had moved to a couch, and was patting the cushion beside himself.

Eric led Cam to the couch, and guided him to the seat before sitting, himself, on the other side of Cameron.

“My nephew is impetuous, but correct,” the king began. “He says you must know the truth, and you shall. Before you leave this room. But you must promise never to reveal to anyone but Eric and myself…no one but the two of us…what you will hear. Do you agree to that?”

“My Lord, I swear on the Light…” Cam began.

“I appreciate your oath, Cameron, but I want your promise to me as the uncle of your friend, Eric,” the king said, gently.

Of course, Cam thought. Such a promise would be even more powerful than an oath!

“I promise,” Cam said.

“Court gossip moves throughout the kingdom faster than the fastest messengers,” the king began. “At least it seems that way. Gossip can be vicious and dangerous. A rumor that such-and-such a person is in favor or out of favor can affect the lives and well-being of that person’s family down to cousins so remote they don’t even know they’re related. A story that pertains to me, the Queen, or any member of the family can affect the lives of everyone in the kingdom; it could affect the welfare of the kingdom, itself. This may be difficult to understand; however, please accept it as true.

“Gossip cannot be controlled. What begins innocently, quickly becomes larger and more serious. Often, it becomes grossly distorted. Even if a story is true, it becomes puffed up beyond its real importance. The dark side of the story often grows more powerful than the light side. The direst consequences become more likely than the most benign.

“I and my father before me and his father before him have known this. We listen for gossip, and we have agents throughout the kingdom who listen for gossip and report it to us.”

He paused, and chuckled. “It takes a lot longer for their reports to reach us than it does for the stories to reach them.

“We have tried, usually with limited success, to use gossip to counter gossip. When we become aware of a dangerous story, we might start a story to counter the slander of the first. It’s a risky game, and where we can find another way, we generally use it.

“The story that the Queen is dying of ovarian cancer and will not bear an heir, has been bruited throughout Elvenhold and is making its way into Arcadia, the Rain Forest, and beyond. That story is not true.” The king looked at Cameron. “That story is not true. Yes, the Queen has not born an heir. Yes, she has been ill. However, her healers assure me that she will recover, and that she and I can have children.

“The story has inflamed old resentments. It has stirred up pockets of darkness and chaos. It has sparked hope ambition among certain families of Dark elves living in Eblis and west of the mountains that they may, once again, overrun Elvenhold.”

Cameron gasped as he realized what the king was saying. “Again?” he whispered.

“Yes, not in the last war, but two before that. Elvenhold fell to Darkness. Arcadia fell, as well. Dwarves stepped in and freed Arcadia, which then freed Elvenhold. That is one reason the King of Elvenhold bows as an equal to the Prince of Arcadia, and why we both treat even the smallest dwarven kingdom with honor.

“Denying the rumor…well, we’re doing that. However, it’s not enough. It was essential that everyone know that Elvenhold has an heir. That is why, despite his desire to be an anonymous squire, Eric must be Heir Presumptive. This is why he must be as loud and visible an Heir Presumptive as heralds and trumpets and parades can make him.

“I am asking a great deal of Eric. I have asked that he take this role, which isolates him from boys his own age. I have asked that he leave the camaraderie he had begun to find in the boys’ barracks, and that he leave the trust that was beginning to develop between him and some of the boys there.

“Cameron, your presence is not a payment made to Eric in return for his cooperation. He did not ask for you that way. In fact, he asked for you before he knew of his new role. Eric showed me that I was wrong to send you away. I sent you away because of the danger your developing talent posed to him. Eric showed me that you and he could deal with that danger. It was then that I resolved to send for you. You and he were to have remained in the boys’ barracks. On the night before the messenger was to depart for Myre, news was brought of what I spoke earlier. The messenger to Myre was delayed for several tendays while other messengers reported, and the situation was debated.

“The final decision is what you see. Eric must be Heir Presumptive. He has asked me if you might be his Consort. From the speed with which he brought you here, I take it he hasn’t asked you, yet?”

“No, My Lord, he hasn’t,” Cam said.

“Then I’ll leave you two alone,” the king said. He stood and left his closet.

*****

“Cam…will you?” Eric asked.

“Will I what?” Cameron said. “Do you know what you’re asking me? I don’t.”

“Umm, not really,” Eric admitted. “You’d live here as a member of the court. We’d appear together at official functions, audiences, formal meals, meetings with ambassadors, inspections of the Army, temple rituals. In between, you’d train with me…weapons…you already do some of that, but there’d be more. And other things, too. I mean, Prince-Consort is like a brother and a companion and a lover. It wouldn’t mean,” he hastened, “that you’d have to share boy magic with me if you didn’t want, or that you couldn’t share with others…

“I don’t know everything, Cam, but I do know that I’m asking you to face all the things I didn’t want to face as a prince: the loneliness, most of all. I can’t do it without you. Will you, at least until we figure out what it’s all about?”

“Eric, how old were you when you became a tween?” Cameron asked.

“Huh? Um, I’d just completed my 10th decade,” Eric said.

“That’s centuries too soon! They made you, didn’t they?” Cam said. “The healers gave you stuff…um, hormones, didn’t they?”

“Yes,” Eric whispered. “Was that wrong? I was excited to become a tween and a squire.”

“Oh, Eric,” Cam said, taking his friend into his arms. “No, it wasn’t wrong. It wasn’t entirely right, either. The danger to Elvenhold must be greater than your uncle said—perhaps greater even than he contemplates—for you to be made a tween so early.”

Cameron paused while he and Eric both thought about this new information.

“Okay, Eric,” Cam said. “I’ll be your companion or consort or whatever you want, for as long as you want.”

“But do you want?” Eric asked, softly.

“Yes, Eric,” Cam said, and then kissed the prince. “I want to be with you so very much. I’d do much, much more than this.”

The End

Translators’ Notes

The quotation, Ill news comes apace, while good news the morrow waits, at the head of Chapter 4, is reminiscent of “Evil news rides post, while good news baits,” from John Milton’s Samson Agonistes.

A story, believed to be a continuation of this story, has been found and is in the process of being translated. When translation is complete, it will be posted as a separate story, probably entitled, “The Squire and the Acolyte—II.”