The Veil of Trust

by S. Usher Evans

  "I think he'd be honored to have helped you escape," I said. "How did you get out of the city? Surely, you had an escort."

  She shivered. "I thought we'd get caught but…one of yours, Aline, came to the rescue."

  "Aline?" I perked up. "And Elisha? How are they?"

  "They've certainly taken the vigilante flag from you," Katarine said with a small chuckle. "Coyle about wet himself running away."

  "I must've made an impression on them," I said, giddy at the thought of Coyle fearing for his life. But my happiness was fleeting. "I hope Fishen isn't punished for helping you."

  "She was one of the first to succumb to the powder. Perhaps by design." She cast me a furtive look. "I can't believe you left such a young girl behind like that. Then again…" She glanced out the open door. "There seem to be younger children working here."

  "They're hardier than they look," I said. "I gave them their freedom, but this is home to most of them. The older ones keep watch and are learning how to be soldiers from Jorad, and the youngest are learning to read. I would've preferred to have an army of fully-trained, adult soldiers but…" I shrugged. "At least I know they're loyal—as are your brother's soldiers. I'm so thankful they've come to our aid as many times as they have. I wouldn't have been able to take Neveri without them."

  "I see now why you wanted me out of the castle so quickly," she said. "I could scarcely believe Maarit when she said Luard had brought ond out of the country.

  "I don't understand how you were able to convince Ilara you were still on her side after that."

  "I'd been preparing for it, though the details were a surprise," she said. "I wanted her to think she was the only person I had left, and that my safety was dependent on her good graces."

  "I mean…" I made a face. "It was."

  "But as I said," Katarine replied thoughtfully, "Ilara likes absolute power. So if she felt she was the only thing keeping me from the noose, she wouldn't send me there. She just wanted me to dangle, and know that she would determine my fate."

  Again, I couldn't see a difference between what Katarine was saying and the truth, but still, I shivered. "I can't hide my emotions the way you can. Five minutes with Ilara, and she'd know every secret I had."

  "It's not about hiding emotions, it's about using them to your advantage," Katarine said. "So yes, when Ilara asked about Beata being gone, I could dredge up the loneliness and be honest about how much I missed her. And when I found out about Neveri, I was honestly shocked and surprised—and also honestly scared for what it meant for my own place at Ilara's side."

  "But what about when you had to lie?" I asked.

  "For that, it's simply recalling a time when you felt a certain way," she said. "So, when it came down to making her believe Beata had abandoned me, all I had to do was think back to the day my father told me I was the one chosen to marry your brother." Her eyes grew wistful. "At the time, I was hurt and scared and betrayed. My other sisters were of marrying age as well, but I was the one who could be spared. That day I left, the last time I saw my mother and family…" She sighed mournfully. "That's a pain I carry with me to this day."

  My heart began to ache from the pain in her voice, as I knew exactly where she was coming from. Then, I shook myself. "Damn. You're good."

  "See?" She wiped the tears from her eyes. "In reality, while I was very lonely on that day, I found my home and my heart in Forcadel." She cast a look at Beata, a smile fluttering onto her face. Even though she'd just given me a primer in how to lie, there was nothing dishonest about the warmth in her eyes.

  "I'm glad you're here, too," I said, rising from the table. "Your insight into Ilara's plans will be invaluable when we finally get around to dealing with her."

  "Which will be…?"

  I shrugged. "Working on it."

  Chapter 40

  Dinner had passed in a blur, and I'd barely gotten a chance to swallow my food in-between the questions about Felix. I had nothing more to offer them than that he was in very good hands, and that he had woken up briefly and he seemed to be in good spirits.

  When the crowd finally thinned, I was left with my ten vigilantes-in-training, and a long night ahead.

  "I thought you said we couldn't train in the ring," Orman said.

  "Good memory," I said, hiding my annoyance. "I want to try a little hand-to-hand combat. You know how to fight with swords. I want to see how you fare without them."

  "So, beat each other up?" Malka said.

  "Not too much," I said. "It's more about the upper hand. Once your opponent is on their back, the match is over. Then we'll try again. As long as you're on your feet, you can still escape."

  "Escape?"

  I nodded. "One of the most important lessons we learned was the art of escape. No one in the camp was asked to lay down their life—at least not needlessly. If you needed to run, you ran."

  They stared at me as if I had two heads. "You're asking us to be cowards?"

  "Not cowards," I said with a small sigh. "I'm asking you to survive. No one here should lose their life to Beswick. His men aren't going to stick around long enough to give up theirs." I licked my lips. "We always gained the upper hand by outsmarting soldiers—but also because we were fighting for ourselves. If things got too bad, we'd leave the mission and get home. Whereas the soldiers were trained to lay down their lives."

  Slowly, they nodded, but more than a few had confused looks on their faces.

  "I promise," I placed my hand on Malka's shoulder, "when we go up against Ilara, you'll all have a chance to fight to the death. But for now, all we need is for you to come out of this in one piece. Now pair off."

  They did, but we were missing Narin, who couldn't quite fight with his bloody shoulder. So I matched myself up with his supposed partner, Orman.

  "I'm quite uncomfortable with this, Your Majesty," he said. "I don't know if I should be fighting you. I could hurt you."

  "You won't," I said with a grin. "Now come show me what you can do."

  He ran at me and I dodged his first blow with ease. I tapped my heel against the back of his leg to remind him that he'd left himself open. He swung his fist around, but it was slow, so I ducked and tapped him on the inside of his ribcage. He came back around, but this time, I went in for the kill, flipping him over my shoulder. He landed in a puff of dust and a loud grunt.

  "She fights dirty, doesn't she?"

  Felix leaned against the fence, a knowing grin on his face. He wore a loose white tunic, and his complexion was still sickly, but the sparkle in his eyes had returned.

  "Captain!" chorused the soldiers behind me. They rushed past me and up to him, bombarding him with questions about his health and about Forcadel. I stood back, watching the joy on his face as he deftly answered every query, our training session long forgotten.

  "Ilara has to try harder if she wants to kill me," he said, catching my eye. I personally thought she'd come damned close, but I didn't want to dull his shine. "I hear you've been training hard in my absence."

  "Princess Brynna has been showing us how to fight in the forest," Orman said. "She's an excellent teacher."

  "I don't doubt it. Why don't you show me what you've learned?" His eyes flashed. "Why don't you take on Her Majesty?"

  I laughed a little. "Does Nicolasa know her patient is walking around the camp?"

  "She said the fresh air would be good for me," he said with a look that awoke a feeling of longing in me. Perhaps it was the way his lips quirked upward when something amused him, the low, gravelly sound of his voice. The color of his eyes and the way his hair fell against his forehead.

  "Your Majesty?" Malka asked.

  "Fine," I said, blushing as I made myself stop staring. "Let's show Captain Llobrega what we've learned so far. Pair off."

  "I'd like to see them go up against you," he said. "Ten to one. Didn't you fight more than that as The Veil?"

  "My best was five," I said.

  "Then five," Felix said. "And don't go easy on her."
<
br />   I cast him a dirty look, but walked into the ring, finding a pair of wooden knives that felt close enough to my usual weapons. After some finger pointing and self-selection, five of my guards joined me in the ring. They hesitated at the edges, none of them willing to make the first move.

  Finally, I sighed. "Well? Let's get this over with."

  Orman was the bravest, running at me with his sword up. I easily deflected it, but then was met by Malka's blade, which I parried. Emerick received an elbow to the middle, and Saral a kick to the back of the shins. Orman came back for seconds, and while I knocked him away, I barely missed Lileth's blade and lost my footing.

  I landed hard in the dirt, the tips of the wooden swords coming for my neck. But I rolled out of the way, pushed myself to a crouch then swept my leg around to knock them both on their asses. I scooped up their swords and pointed them at their necks.

  "Yield?" I asked, panting a little.

  The first one nodded, but the second slammed his foot into the back of my knee, then pulled a real knife from his back pocket and held it to my neck.

  "Yield?" he said with a grin.

  "Yield." I held up my hands. "Well done."

  Behind me, Felix clapped, and was joined by the rest of the group. "That was absolutely impressive. It takes a special talent to defeat The Veil."

  "Keep practicing," I said to the rest of them. "I'm going to walk Captain Llobrega back to Nicolasa's hut."

  "I can't help but feel you were setting me up. Or did you just delight in watching me get beat?"

  "I was curious how well you'd taught them," he said. "Clearly, they're learning how to be a little less upstanding and a little more ruthless. They'll need that."

  His gait was steady and the cuts on his cheek were already healing over. It had been less than a day, and he was already nearly back to the man who used to drive me up the castle walls.

  "You look good," I said. "Nicolasa is a miracle worker."

  "She is that," he said. "As are you, Brynn."

  My name on his lips—not my full name, but the shortened, familiar version only he seemed to use—sent chills down my spine.

  "Things are steady, at least," I said, shaking the feeling from my body. "For the moment."

  "Kat stopped by this morning and told me what you've been up to," he said. "As I said, miracle worker. You went from absolutely nothing to an army nearly two hundred strong in the span of a few months."

  My face grew hot once. "And you? Playing masked vigilante in Forcadel?"

  "Unfortunately, I'm not cut out for that work," he said with a sad shake of his head. "I spent most of our time apart figuring out that Beswick was behind the fires, while also trying to balance keeping my guards—and myself—out of harm's way." He shook his head. "I can't help but feel like I failed you."

  "There's no way you could've failed me," I said, covering his hand with mine. "You sacrificed yourself for me. I could never repay you for that. And trust me when I say that whoever was responsible for it will pay mightily. I already socked Kieran in the face."

  "As much as I would've loved to see that," Felix smiled wryly, "he was actually quite helpful. Well, not helpful, but he did help me get a little further along. I just…" He sighed. "I suppose I was asking the wrong questions. As I said, not cut out to be a vigilante."

  "I'm happy to have you as captain," I said, squeezing our joined hands. "Jorad's certainly been exceptionally helpful, but I know he's happy to see you."

  "And his partner Aline?" Felix asked. "I haven't seen her."

  "I left her in Forcadel with one of my best thieves," I said. "Once Maarit was freed, it was too dangerous for me to remain in the city."

  "Hm." Felix made a face.

  "What?"

  "I'm just… That doesn't sound like the Brynna I know," he said. "Don't get me wrong, it was the right choice. But when have you ever let someone else do your dirty work?"

  "What can I say?" I said with a small laugh. "I'm learning. It hasn't been smooth, though. I feel like half the camp's been ready to walk out at least three times already"

  "Growing pains are to be expected," he said. "But they look up to you. They listen, they follow you. Whatever you did to keep them here, it's working."

  Yet again, that familiar warmth spread across my face and chest. "I feel bad undoing all that you taught them. They're upstanding soldiers. I'm turning them into thieves."

  "They'll be whatever we need them to be," Felix said. "And I don't think learning how to survive in a real battle is the worst thing. Sometimes, I felt like I was training them to be peacocks. Strutting around the castle in their finest uniforms and keeping the peace in what was already a peaceful city. Now, at least, they'll be battle tested when we go up against Ilara—or Ammon." Felix shook his head, disgusted. "No honor amongst the Kulkans, it seems."

  "Some honor," I said. "But perhaps it's more that he thought he could get away with it. After all, what recourse do I have against him?"

  "Plenty," Felix said. "You can't be precious with your soldiers, Brynn. They may not be ready to fight in a forest, but they'd be more than enough against Ammon. And you need him back on your side before you can even think about taking on Ilara."

  "I know," I said heavily. "It's just hard to know the right move to make."

  "You've made plenty of right moves thus far," Felix said as we arrived at the Nestori hut. "As long as you keep listening to the same people who led you here, you won't fail. You clearly have good council."

  "Council, hm…" That gave me an idea.

  Nicolasa appeared in the doorway of her hut, her eyes alight with indignation. "Captain, I don't believe I allowed you a full walk around the camp."

  Felix shared a look with me, as if he'd been caught stealing sweets from the kitchen.

  "Back inside with you," the Nestori said. "And I'll thank you not to keep him too long, Larissa. He's still got a long way to go to heal."

  He mouthed 'Larissa?' to me before the Nestori hustled him inside. And I, eager to avoid any more lectures, turned and hurried away.

  Chapter 41

  The next morning, I asked for my most trusted advisors to meet me in the mess hall after breakfast. Jorad arrived first, a little confused as to what he was doing there, followed by Luard, who seemed pleased that things were finally moving. Arriving next, arm-in-arm, were Felix and Katarine. I didn't miss how the younger Llobrega perked up when Felix came in the room. Some of his cuts were fading, and his color had improved. Still, he favored his left side, where his ribs had been broken, and he barely hid a wince as he sat down on the bench.

  Finally, at the very last minute, Jax strolled in, taking a seat in the back and looking very uninterested in being there at all.

  "Thank you all for coming," I said, offering each a smile. "Back in Forcadel, when I first showed up on the throne, I had a group of people who were supposed to advise and counsel me on matters."

  "As I recall, you didn't listen to them," Felix said lightly.

  "And that was my mistake," I said. "But also, I had no say in who was advising me. Therefore, I'm reconvening my official royal council—and asking all of you to sit on it."

  "Technically, foreigners aren't supposed to sit on your Council," Katarine said, looking to Luard. "Are you sure you want us here?"

  "Technically, I'm not queen right now, so we're both bending the rules," I said. "But you five are the ones I trust the most, so I'm asking you to help me make better decisions. I have a lot on my plate, and I need help."

  I glanced around, waiting for someone (probably Jax) to stand up and walk out, but everyone remained seated.

  "Excellent." I unfurled a map on the table, flipping it around to face the rest of those assembled. "Right now, we have three enemies. The first, of course, is Ilara. But in order to face her, we have to deal with the other two enemies. Ammon and Beswick."

  I pointed to the western part of the country.

  "Ammon is currently in Neveri. From what Katarine's told me, Ilara
was unreceptive to his overtures. Therefore, we have an opportunity to reforge our alliance with him or, at the very least, keep him out of our way."

  I slid my finger across Forcadel to where the Ash river met the Niemenian border.

  "On the other side, we have Beswick. He's after the ond, and by now, Kieran should've delivered the message that I want to have a chat. I expect he'll send a messenger or a message in the coming days. To that end, I'm preparing the troops to be ready to take on his criminals. We've also got Jorad's younger cadets," I said to the younger Llobrega, "who can serve as lookouts and messengers."

  "Some of the older ones will be ready for service soon," Jax said. "They're not terrible."

  "So what's our next move?" Felix asked. "Ammon or Beswick?"

  "We can't do anything about Beswick until he answers our message," I said. "Eventually, he's going to get frustrated with what Aline and Elisha are doing and reach out. So our focus, for now, should be on Ammon."

  "Our messengers say he's got a hundred soldiers in the city," Jorad said. "Plus additional warships helping to protect the ocean and river."

  "I'm not looking to wage war just yet," I said. "Not unless I have to."

  "I don't think it's necessary to go to war," Katarine said thoughtfully. "The forces move where Ammon tells them. So all you need is to convince Ammon to return to your original agreement."

  "And how do I trust that he'll stick to it this time?" I asked.

  Luard tapped his fingers on the table. "What we have to ask ourselves is why Ammon's gone in a different direction than his father. It's been months and Neshua won't accept Ilara as queen. But Ammon sent envoys to ally himself with her. What's to say they don't have differing opinions about everything else? Maybe Ammon's getting tired of waiting for his father to give up power."

  I tilted my head toward him. "You don't think he was planning to use the Severian ore as leverage to get his father to give up the throne early, do you?"

  Luard quirked a brow.

  "Seriously?" I turned fully to him. "You think he'd try to blow up his own people?"