CHAPTER TWELVE

Lewvin's deception in naming Kiereg's son Dan-Pemmel worked; she herself even began to believe it. She obliterated Kiereg from her memory. To all intents and purposes Pemmel was the father of her child, and she became so accustomed to referring to him as her husband that he might just as well have been. She often spoke to Dan-Pemmel about him. Chaldez, on the other hand, became increasingly uncertain about his own status.
Lewvin spoke to the boys in her native Kroyan tongue as well as in Sairish. The language spoken in Eujinni also became familiar to them, and fearing that Chaldez might blurt out more to a servant than was wise, Lewvin hid the truth from him. Nevertheless, he became aware that Gam, the king, had a special interest in him, and it was obvious to both boys that they were not treated the same.
They had the same tutors and were instructed in the same noble arts of warfare and single combat, but a deference was shown to him which was absent in the treatment of Dan-Pemmel; if they got into mischief it was Dan-Pemmel who was invariably blamed and punished, despite being younger by nearly a year.
By the time Chaldez was ten, these differences in their treatment were beginning to matter to him because they emphasised his sense of being in a void. More and more he needed to now who he was and where his mother and father were. Lewvin's prevarications made him hate her, and she was wounded by his sullen resentment. For a while she endured the pain, but eventually she told him that Gam was his father.
This satisfied the child for a time, but the more he learnt about the court and its manners the less his position made any sense. Why was he not at court; why was he not referred to as "your highness," and why was his life so completely different from that which his tutors described when speaking of other royal princes?
Lewvin's answers were never so convincing that he was entirely satisfied by them. As he grew older he wanted to know more and more, but was told, it seemed to him, less and less. His mother, he knew, had died, but Lewvin never talked about her; she never even mentioned her name. If he asked about her she would invariably change the subject, steering it inevitably to Queen Shansi of Sair Jisenner and about the murderous Morvina and her wicked son, Sigmar. One day, she would say, they would be punished for their crimes, but she never said what their crimes were, or who would punish them. Chaldez was irritated by the mysterious King Egmar and his tragic queen Shansi: why was he supposed to be interested in them anyway?
Dan-Pemmel sneered at his dissatisfaction, and teased him for being King Gam's bastard, an accusation which Chaldez half believed must be true.
The two boys were opposites. Chaldez was shy, introspective, retiring; a willing but uncertain horseman, and a somewhat reluctant student of the martial arts. He was, however, fascinated by history, and he impressed his tutors with an intuitive grasp of the principles of military strategy.
There was a scandal when it became known that he had persuaded a scribe to teach him to read and write, but he threw such a tantrum when the learned man was dismissed that he had to be recalled and the lessons continued.
Dan-Pemmel, on the other hand, was the very model of what a young nobleman should be: he possessed an easy charm, loved to ride and hunt, was an inspirational swordsman and, for his age, very strong. Lewvin would sometimes watch him and think how much better suited to kingship he was than the retiring and bookish Chaldez.
When they were little, the two boys were friends, but as he grew up, Dan-Pemmel became increasingly aware of the favoured treatment which his companion received, and he resented it. He would speak derisively of his inferiority as a horseman and combatant - accomplishments which Chaldez, for his part, became increasingly disinterested in. Dan-Pemmel detected in the other's manner a detached superiority, and disliked him the more for it. The impression was misleading; Chaldez was merely retreating from areas in which he knew he could not compete, besides which, Dan-Pemmel was a reminder of his own lack of identity and made him feel uncomfortable. Chaldez also envied him his popularity and confidence.
For all Lewvin's determination to keep the true identity of Chaldez a secret, she was powerless to prevent the speculation which his presence provoked among the members of the household, and it was only a matter of time before most of them knew for a certainty, if not for a fact, that he was the dispossessed king of Sair Jisenner.
In Sorrin, Gam's notion of keeping the existence of Chaldez a secret was to tell everyone but the scullion, and it was from the court at Sorrin that confirmation of the rumours eventually came.
Dan-Pemmel was 12 when he found out the truth about Chaldez. He went at once to tell him.
Chaldez was having lessons in playing the zaratha, a stringed instrument favoured by minstrels. Dan-Pemmel waited until the musician who was instructing him had gone, then said "I know who your father was. He was the king of Sair Jisenner."
Chaldez played some notes on the zaratha. Without looking up from the instrument he said "His Majesty King Gam is my father, everyone knows that."
"That's what you think! I've just been talking to Iggon."
"So?"
"He's just got back from Sorrin. He says everyone at court knows you're not the king's son. He only adopted you. Your father was Egmar, who's dead."
For a moment Chaldez did not want to believe any of this; then he realised it had to be true for it explained everything: it explained why he did not live at the court in Sorrin; why he so rarely saw Gam; why his life was so different from that of any other prince of the blood, and why Lewvin was always telling him about Egmar and Shansi. He felt a sense of immense relief, as though he had been holding his breath all his life and could now, for the first time, breath.
He dropped the zaratha and ran out, calling for Lewvin.
"I'm Egmar's son!" he shouted when he found her. "The king adopted me."
"Who told you this?" Lewvin demanded, panic driving the colour from her cheeks.
"Dan."
Dan appeared at that moment.
What's this you've been telling Chaldez?" screamed Lewvin. "Why have you been lying to him?"
Chaldez said "He wasn't lying. Queen Shansi was my mother. Now I . . . "
"You know nothing" snapped Lewvin.
"Tell her about Iggon," Chaldez told Dan.
Dan was too frightened to say anything.
"But it's true, isn't it?" Chaldez pleaded. Dan was sullen. Lewvin was silent for a long time. She looked at Chaldez. His face was alight with excitement. "Yes," she said at last, and very quietly. "It is true."

Chaldez was bursting with questions, and he and Dan then heard the whole story, including the escape from Felewith, but omitting the name of Kiereg. When she had finished Chaldez said: "Sigmar still wants to kill me, doesn't he?"
"Yes," said Lewvin. "That is why he must never find out where you are."
Dan said: "He's safe here, isn't he?"
"I don't think he is now," said Lewvin. "We must all be very, very careful."
Following this conversation Chaldez found that he no longer felt discomforted by Dan. He quickly acquired a self-assurance which altered his outward behaviour, and Dan began to see that he was not the detached, superior person he had seemed to be. Each boy began to accept the other for what he was, and while there remained little affection in their relationship, there came into it a new element of mutual respect.
Lewvin decided she could give Chaldez the Roe Aada ruby now that she did not have to hide its significance from him.
Gam's smith, a master of miniaturisation, had set it in a spherical brass locket which was so finely crafted that it appeared to be solid. It was attached to a stout brass chain with a fastening which could only be released by a slender "key" - in effect a pin with two tiny prongs which depressed corresponding projections in the fastening mechanism. The locket itself sprang open only when two very precise points on the casing where tightly squeezed. Chaldez tried, but hadn’t the strength in his fingers to do it.
Lewvin put the chain around the boy's neck and fastened it. Chaldez waited to be given the key. "You won't need this," she said, "and no one else must use it, either. I shall see that it is destroyed.”

* * * *

Shortly before Chaldez's 15th birthday he and eight members of the household were poisoned. Lewvin escaped because she was observing her monthly purification fast.
Dan was at the same table as Chaldez, and was served with the same meat; he was about to take a mouthful when he pushed away his plate. "Don't touch it!" he said.
"Why?" asked Chaldez, his mouth full.
"It's bad."
Chaldez spat out the meat, wiped his mouth on the back of his hand and said, accusingly, "What do you mean, it's bad? It tasted fresh to me."
"Don't eat any more. Tell them to take it away. You must!"
Chaldez was perplexed, and a bit unnerved; he had never before seen Dan so agitated. Dan picked up his own plate and hurled it to the ground. "It's poisoned!" he cried. He and Chaldez watched the dogs gulp down the meat in chunks. "You'll see," said Dan. "You'll see!"
Chaldez ate no more. Three hours later he became ill; within four days eight members of the household who had had the same meat were dead. Chaldez survived only because he had swallowed very little, but the poison was so powerful that it seemed to Lewvin, as she nursed him, that no more than a thread kept him alive. The crisis eventually passed and he sank into a state of exhaustion, which lasted for two weeks.
Dan was to say later that he was certain the food was dangerous because
everything about the meal was familiar, and he was suddenly aware that a dream he had had was being acted out; a dream in which the food in front of them had been poisoned.
While Chaldez was still very ill Lewvin decided that if he recovered he should leave Eujinni and continue his long-broken journey to Theigia. But would Gam release him?
As soon as Chaldez was strong enough for the journey she took him and Dan back to Sorrin to confront the king.
News of the poisonings had preceded them, and Gam had to concede that Sigmar, or his mother, had discovered the prince's hiding place. Lewvin argued forcefully that no matter what precautions they might take, Chaldez was in danger for as long as he remained in Eujinni.
Gam had no wish to lose his grasp upon the prince, but realised he was of more potential value to him alive in Theigia than dead in Eujinni. Reluctantly he agreed to make the necessary arrangements for their voyage. They would sail from his port of Venka near the mouth of the River So.