by Sarah Dalton
However, the generals were not as happy as he had thought they would be to stand aside and keep the troops from battle. Luca could not understand it. No one wanted to lead troops into battle only for them to be killed. Surely, even Lord Tinian could not object that saving the lives of the soldiers was a good idea.
The generals did not agree.
“Prince Luca,” Lord Feryn said now, “please understand. We wish only to keep you safe.”
“I know that,” Luca snapped. He took a deep breath and tried to behave as his father would have behaved. “I thank you,” he said more calmly. “Truly, Lord Feryn, your caution does you credit. I am grateful to my generals for offering to go into danger on my behalf.”
He looked around the room and managed to smile at them. These were not his picks for generals, but he had to admit that they were putting themselves in danger, and he should respect that.
“However,” Luca said now, steepling his fingers under his chin as he had seen his father do before, “I have powers that others in the army do not possess. Stefan has such powers as well, as I have explained to you.”
The generals exchanged a look. They plainly did not believe him about Stefan being a dragon. On one hand, Luca could not blame them. He would have to struggle to believe it if he had not seen it with his own eyes. However, he had seen it with his own eyes, and now he was trying to keep the army from being slaughtered.
“When I first fought Stefan,” he told them, “he was only a fledgling. Now he may be considerably stronger. A dragon is not only a devastating force in terms of claws and teeth, it has excellent mobility, too. Stefan will be able to devastate any army we put in the field. Grouping our soldiers together will only make them a tempting target for a dragon in the air.”
Lord Rokkan had understood this, he thought resentfully.
“I can fight Stefan,” Luca said when the generals still did not say anything. “I can defeat him. What I need is for you to keep the army from engaging so that good lives will not be lost.”
Lord Feryn sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. He was relatively young, and he wore his gold hair long, pulled back in a queue at the back of his neck. He had dressed very finely today, and he did not look very much like a general, in Luca’s opinion.
Lord Trewan was the one who spoke this time. “Prince Luca,” he said bluntly, “it would not be a good strategy to pin our entire defence on one fighter, no matter who that one fighter is. You say you have the powers to defeat Stefan. We believe you.” His tone was less sure than his words. “However, Stefan also has an army.”
“Where?” Luca demanded. “There are stories of many who have joined the ranks of Anios, but those are peasants, not soldiers. There is no report of any armies. We would know if they were anywhere in the countryside. We can assume that Stefan is in hiding and his army is gone.”
“With respect, Prince Luca, we cannot assume that.” Lord Trewan was adamant. “As we have said, the best thing is to send the army out into the countryside with aid for the peasants—food and help for the fields. While we disperse around the country, able to respond quickly to any reports of an army, our soldiers can help with the harvest and distribute medicines. With so many struck down by the plague, this has been a bad year. Our soldiers could earn you much goodwill, Prince Luca.”
Luca ground his teeth. He did not like this. He did not want his soldiers out in the field to be picked off one by one. Worse, it seemed as if nothing he did was enough. He had kept the workers in the Gardens of Anios enslaved in order to provide medicine, and for what? He heard reports that the people were still on the verge of revolt because the harvests had been bad. Luca was doing all he could. Could the people not see that?
“Leave me,” he said abruptly. If they were only going to argue with him, he would not listen.
“Prince Luca—”
“I said, leave me.”
He turned his face away as they filed out of the room. He could hear them murmuring to each other on the stairs. What were they saying? That he was not fit to wear the crown?
He took off his circlet and threw it across the room. He was not a king. They were holding off on crowning him because they were not sure he had it in him to be king.
He must be crowned. Only then would he begin to have their respect.
He stalked to the window to look out on the gardens. He could see Alberto playing in the sunshine, which surprised him. Usually, at this hour, Alberto was hard at work with his tutors. Alberto, like Luca, had never been in serious contention for the throne, but the prince took his duties seriously nonetheless.
Luca squinted down into the garden. Alberto was playing with a girl who, to judge from her complexion, was likely Xanti. Then saw Serena walking with Lord Riziq. Perhaps this was Lord Riziq’s daughter, then. Luca knew that the Second Councillor had brought his daughter to Estala, primarily as an opportunity for her to see the world, but also as a signal, Luca thought, that the Xanti intended to be in Estala for a long time.
What were Riziq and Serena talking about? Luca frowned, and then frowned more deeply when Lord Tinian came to speak to Serena. Though the two were often at cross purposes in his council meetings, now Tinian and Serena seemed to be being very friendly to one another.
Luca slipped out the door of his chambers and down the stairs, hardly pausing to nod to the guards who saluted him. He went as quickly as he could without tumbling down the stairs, and at last came out into one of the secluded parts of the garden. He had spent many hours here in his youth playing hide and seek with Reva, so he knew where he would not be seen.
He got as close as he could to where Tinian, Serena, and Riziq were walking together.
“So you would mean for Prince Alberto to live in Xantos?” Lord Tinian was saying.
“Yes,” Serena said without any hesitation. “I think it is essential. How better can we understand what issues are vital to the Xanti? Alberto will be a great asset to you, I believe. He is young, but he is a bright boy, and he is very conscious of his duty.”
“To be honest, Your Highness, I would suspect you were putting an agent of your own under our roof,” Lord Riziq said. He sounded hesitant, yet as if he wished to speak honestly. “What stops me from thinking that is the fact that Alberto is so young.”
“Yes,” Serena said again. “And I hope we can see past our history as enemies, my lords. This is not about whose agents are under whose roof. It is about understanding that Xantos and Estala are both stronger and more prosperous when the world is at peace. We could spend the next years jockeying for position, trying to wring as much out of each individual treaty as possible, or we could leave that past behind us. I believe this marriage would help us do so, building a new future which will endure long past the usual declarations of friendship. Alberto and Oriana will represent a new union of Xanti and Estalan interests.”
Luca frowned. He had told Serena that he did not want to bargain his siblings away, but here she was, making the bargain without him. She was acting against his interests, as Tinian and Josef had suggested she was.
More to the point, Serena was speaking as though she were on the throne. She was promising his goodwill to the Xanti for years—or, Luca thought, hers. There was a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. His father had told them always to be cautious of those who were near the seat of power. In Stefan’s case, their father had been correct to worry.
Was it possible that behind her quiet, respectful manner, Serena was just as bad as Stefan?
Luca whirled and climbed back up the stairs to his apartments. He was fuming. He could no longer trust Serena. Worse, one of the few people he had thought he could trust was now missing, perhaps dead.
He squeezed his eyes shut and leaned against the wall. He had done everything in his power for the past few days to forget that Reva was missing. He had read more policy papers than he had known existed. He had invited the generals to a meeting. He had practiced with Josef until he thought he would collapse.
&
nbsp; None of it had helped him forget that she was gone. She had come to him only for him to disappoint her and then see her abducted. He had not even kept her safe while she was in Reyalon.
Luca crouched down and tried not to groan aloud. His head felt like it was splitting open, and he dug his fingers into his scalp to steady himself. He stumbled up and went to the table to pour himself a cup of wine, and downed it in one gulp.
He stared at his circlet, lying in the corner of the room, and his mouth twisted bitterly. He was not king, and he was alone. They were all circling, wanting his power, wanting to throw him out of the way.
How was he supposed to defeat Stefan when he did not even have the support of those closest to him?
Reva
The villagers were kind, far kinder than they would have been if they knew the three women were Menti. Rooms were found for them in the inn, and the men of the town took turns standing guard as a village healer saw to Reva’s and Carlia’s wounds. Carlia was still prone to feeling dazed after the hit on the head and their days in a hot, dry cart.
Though Reva was not injured, she felt as though she were broken. They had been captured within view of Nesra’s Keep. The kidnappers had been taking them to Stefan, who Karine said was claiming to be Anios reborn, and not trading on his royal lineage at all.
Even in this small village, there were those who spoke of joining the mysterious Lord. They said that Luca was no better than Stefan, that he had come back with a Xanti army, Menti at his beck and call, and there were rumours that he had killed his own brother. Reva heard the whispers more than once: That is why there is a plague….
She did not contradict them. To her shame, she was far too scared for her own skin to defend the Menti.
Carlia and Karine seemed to feel the same. Neither of them spoke much, though Karine explained in whispers what she had done at the Gardens of Anios. And then Reva told Karine about Nesra’s Keep. About Luca keeping the Gardens open.
“I was not able to persuade Luca.” She shook her head angrily. “I fear I have missed my chance to make him see the right thing to do.”
Karine considered this. Horses were being readied for their return, and Carlia was being tended to inside the inn. Reva and Karine were strolling through the village under the watchful eyes of the town’s men. They had tried to offer help to the Widow Adelyn, who had given Karine food on her first day here, but the woman would not think of taking their help now.
Ye’re noble, she said when they asked her about it. Noble ladies shouldn’t be doing hard work with us folk. Reva got the sense that she was pleased they had offered, but she would not allow them to do even the smallest thing.
Now Karine gazed up at the sky. It was a fine, cloudless summer day, and a breeze stirred her golden hair. To Reva, Karine resembled a statue, thin and sad but beautiful.
“What did Luca say to you when he knew you had been in the Gardens of Anios?” she said finally.
“He told me that he had made things better for them, but he could not free the slaves yet,” Reva said bitterly. “He was very defensive.”
“Then he knew he was doing wrong,” Karine said. She studied Reva. “It’s not your job to make him be a good man.”
“No.” Reva drew out the word uncertainly. “But Brother Axil—he was Luca’s Governor when we were children—told me that no one stands apart from everyone else. We all rely on friends sometimes to remind us of the right thing to do.”
“I was relying on you to do the right thing,” Karine said miserably. “I’m no better than Luca. I left them there, Reva. I left Lottie and Rohesa behind.”
“No. It is not the same thing,” Reva argued. “You took action with the intention to go back for them. You meant for them to be freed, not save yourself and leave them there forever.” She reached out to grasp Karine’s hand. “We will free them, Karine. I will help Luca be the king he was meant to be, whatever it takes.”
Karine smiled, and the two women turned their heads at the sound of a shout. Another cart had been readied and hitched to horses, and Carlia was being led out to it as supplies were loaded in.
“It won’t take ye long to get back to Reyalon,” the innkeeper said when Reva and Karine came up to the cart. “Sounds like those beasts took ye through the woods and on back roads so no one’d see what they were. Ye’r lucky that horse was doing so poorly, or they’d not have stopped.”
Reva nodded. She was well aware how unlikely their rescue had been. The horse had been found a few hours after Karine had cut its traces, trembling and near collapse in a field. One of the stable boys had been able to lure it back after a time, but it was still skittish.
“Here.” The innkeeper passed Reva a piece of paper with a wax seal on it and a jagged scrawl of a signature. “Daniel will take care of ye until ye get to Holt’s Hill. The innkeeper there will know this for my sign. Tell him to give ye new horses, and we’ll sort it all out later.”
Reva wanted to throw her arms around him, but she knew he would be embarrassed by that. She curtsied instead, mindful of her manners. “I thank you,” she said honestly. “I was trapped in a nightmare, and you all came to my aid.”
He smiled and cleared his throat gruffly. “It’s no more’n we should be doing fer each other, my lady. You tell ’em that at the Keep, will ye? Whoever’s rulin’ there by the time ye get back.” He clearly thought this was a great joke, so Reva found a smile for him.
Still, she wanted him to know she would do what she could. “I will,” she said. “And I want you to know I will tell whomever is on the throne what I have seen—about the people, about the harvest and the plague. I will fight to make sure that whoever sits there helps all of you.”
“Ah, ye’r sweet.” He gave her a sad smile. “But we know how the world works, my lady. Kings care for grand gestures and big conquests. The small business of the realm doesn’t matter much to them. We know. We won’t hold ye responsible if nothing changes.”
Reva swallowed and went to the cart. Of all the things she had heard while she was here, this was the most disheartening. That the poor should believe no one was going to help them, and that they should accept it as no more than the normal course of things….
In her youth, she had thought Estala was prosperous and happy. Clearly, she had been wrong.
Their journey back along the roads was pleasant. Daniel seemed overawed at first to be in the presence of three noble ladies of the court—they decided to let him believe that Karine and Carlia were also ladies—but he grew more comfortable as the hours progressed. By the time night fell and they could see the lights of Holt’s Hill glittering in the distance, the four of them were singing songs they had taught one another, and when they parted at the inn the next morning, Reva embraced him and smiled when his cheeks turned pink.
“You are a kind man and a brave one,” she told him. “Your village is lucky to have a man like you in it. We all thank you for what you have done.”
“It was nothing, my lady.” But he bowed as best he was able and hurried away with his ears pink and a grin spreading across his face.
Reva grew more nervous as they came closer to the city. They were nearly at the gates, or so it seemed, when they came across a complement of soldiers looking for “the ladies Reva Avalon and Carlia.” They were bemused to find three women instead of two, but Reva was accomplished in giving orders after her year at court. She simply lifted her chin and smiled, and the three women were lifted onto the saddles of the officers to ride back to court.
In Reyalon, people drew aside to watch the horses go past. They must have heard about the search for Reva, for there were whispers and stares, and a few people called out Reva’s name.
“What are they saying?” Reva asked.
“They remember that your parents were killed by Menti, my lady,” the lieutenant explained. “They fear the rumours that Prince Luca is a Menti. Pardon me, my lady. I’m only repeating what they say. They think you’re a good luck charm, someone who will make thin
gs right at court.”
Reva turned back to the road. She tried to smile at the people who called out to her, but she could hardly make herself do so anymore. Anger welled within her. Stefan was a Menti as well as Luca, and he had done nothing but harm the country with his policies. Still, he had managed to poison the people against Luca and against those who bore them no ill will.
She was still angry when the gates of Nesra’s Keep swung open and they trotted into the courtyard. The women were let down from their horses, and messengers were sent racing to the council chambers. Reva grasped Karine’s hand and found that she was terrified. Luca was unpredictable, Reyalon unstable, and there was a threat out there that they had to face together soon. But she had faced uncertainty in the past, and she would do so again.
Sam arrived first, running across the courtyard to fold Carlia in his arms. The siblings whispered together, tears in their eyes. This had been their worst nightmare since they had hidden themselves away, and Sam had clearly feared that he would never see Carlia again.
When he turned to Reva, she saw his gaze flick over Karine, but only in a distracted way. He stepped toward Reva and opened his mouth, but he did not seem to know what to say.
“You are alive,” he said finally.
Reva took two steps and flung herself into his arms. She hugged him tightly.
“I am so sorry,” she whispered.
“You are sorry?” He laughed awkwardly. “What for?”
“I put us in danger,” Reva said with a groan. “We refused the offer of guards that day, and when we walked through the alleyway, I bickered with you. I walked away with Carlia. If we had not been alone, we might not have been taken. I am so sorry, Sam.”
