Keepers of the Moon

Chapter 11. Water (3)

‘That’s not an answer. I thought you wanted to come here today? Why come with me if you think that we had anything to do with your friend?’ He was biting the inside of his cheeks, hard. Clearly having difficulties keeping in his anger and disappointment. This time there was no guilt in me, I was angry too.

‘You are not your father.’ I said it matter-of-factly, though the words came out cold. Like it was an insult that he was not like his father, but it was meant as a statement. That his father’s actions were not his and that he was not inherently evil like Einar.

And even though my words sounded different from what I had meant, the meaning was not lost on Hlér who opened his mouth. No words came pouring out, he just looked at me. After a minute passed he looked away, blushing.

‘Let’s not talk about politics then.’

I nodded curtly and let some of the anger go. At least the anger that was focussed on Hlér, though it still gnawed at my conscience that I was here and Mo Bhean was at the hospital.

‘Did you know that there’s a legend of a Queen that cannot give up the throne. Even long after she passed, she is still considered to be the rightful heir to the throne?’ Hlér looked at me again, this time without a clenched jaw, but with that same innocence from when I met him.

‘There is?’ I knew this story, Ben had told me this during the tour around the museum in the castle. However seeing Hlér excited to tell this story I decided to remain silent about this.

‘Yeah, she was the first true Queen of Keltia and after about 20 years on the throne she just left. Her brothers took over the throne and then made her High-Queen of Keltia, even though she was long gone. There’s still a law that states that she is the rightful owner of the throne and that nobody but she can undo this law. But because she is dead, no-one can surpass this law, so technically everybody that ruled the kingdom after her were not really Queens or Kings. They just pretended to be for the sake of clarity.’

‘You are forgetting the part about the fact that the Dìonadair line is the longest uninterrupted bloodline to ever exist in a kingdom. The legend is not so much about the High-Queen, but more about the persisting bloodline. Though they just keep referring to the legend because it draws tourism.’ Hlér looked at me with surprise.

‘I work in the castle where the legend came from in the first place. I’ve heard the story.’ I snorted and he laughed.

‘Except that Gaeilaí castle is not the castle where Queen Mairin Dìonadair was born, it burned down in 1236 and the new castle was built closer to the shore in honour of Queen Mairin. This is Gaeilaí castle.’

This time I looked at him in surprise, he did know his stuff.

‘Ow wow, even I didn’t know that. I guess they keep that more or less secret to make sure the tourism comes to the right place.’

‘Yeah probably.’ An awkward silence fell between us. The tension was still there and talking about nonsense had done nothing to alleviate that. And even though I felt more and more guilty that I had talked to Hlér this way, but I also knew I was right. I needed him to know what I thought, he needed to know that my guard was up. I wouldn’t be played by him.

The contest had already started and the sailboats were approaching our location fast. A sailboat with a large red sail was leading the competition, but followed closely by a blue sail. Now that they were closer I could see that the boats were long and narrow. Two people were handling the sails and the jibs, while the third was steering and shouting commands. They all wore helmets and lifejackets, which suggested that the competition could get dangerous. While I’d never been on a sailboat I knew from stories that people could get knocked of the boat by the boom, when the boat turned around or the wind suddenly changed. Right now the wind was strong enough to nearly topple the boats over, but the kept on sailing desperate to win the race.

‘What do they win if they come in first?’ Just as much as the competitors wanted to win, I wanted to get out of the uncomfortable silence between us.

‘I have no idea actually. Eternal glory?’ He laughed, but then fell back into silence. I knew then that I’d blown my chances with the Prince of Nordlys and I was both heartbroken and relieved. There was now a distance between us, which I felt growing larger. Now I could go back to my own life. Now I could focus on my past and my future. I could forget the guilt about spending time with him, while Caledonia was at the brink of war.

I let out a sigh and more tension finally waned.