“Of course.” She couldn’t help the bite in her voice.
“Good. How did you escape?”
“I didn’t. They let me go.”
“I see.”
“Will you please send for Talar?”
“Not yet.” He steepled his hands and tapped his index fingers against his lips. “What made you come here?”
“I didn’t have any other choice, did I? I couldn’t go to Talar and I can’t go home. Eventually, Talar will come home and they’ll catch him. You’ve got to warn him.”
He waved that off. “The Front Guard won’t catch Eladra. He’s already been warned. The people here do love him so.”
“I need him.”
Dryden studied her a moment in silence. “Galfir said you carry Eladra’s child.”
She nodded, wishing she hadn’t told them that. She felt Talmond’s eyes shift to her.
“We want to protect you.” Suddenly, Dryden frowned. “Forgive my manners. I didn’t ask your name.”
“Kaelene.”
“Kaelene, lovely name. Kaelene, we want to protect you.”
She swallowed hard, her grip tightening on her glass. “Thank you.”
“How badly do you want to protect yourself?”
“What?”
“Let me put it another way. How badly do you want to protect your child?”
Kaelene glanced up at Talmond, but he looked away. “I don’t understand.”
“I’m sure you don’t.”
Kaelene would have bristled at the condescending tone, but she was too tired and afraid.
“What you’ve been through today – the questioning, the running, the fear – that is the life Talar Eldralin lives because he refuses to accept his role in the Nazarien. I’m sure you’ve heard his diatribes against us.”
Talar had never said much about the Nazarien, except he wanted no part of them.
Dryden held out his open hands. “Not to say, life isn’t difficult for him regardless of all that. Whether he was part of the Nazarien or not, Talar would be a hunted man. His power, his ability, his paternity would have made that a reality no matter what.”
Kaelene didn’t like where this was going. He was playing into what she’d already been thinking all day. Still, she wanted Talar. She wanted to see him, tell him about his child.
“Is this the life you want for your child, Kaelene? Is this the world you’d give him?”
Kaelene blinked. “Or her.”
“Or her,” he amended.
“What are you saying?”
“I was hoping not to have to say it, but there it is. We can protect you, Kaelene. We can protect you and the babe…”
Kaelene lifted her chin, knowing there was more he wanted to say, hesitated to say. “But?”
“No buts.”
“Then what?”
“We can protect you. We can give you everything you need for a safe, productive life. We can offer you a place to live, food, clothing, education for the child. We can make sure no one ever frightens you again.”
“But?” she repeated.
Dryden gave her a grim, half-smile. “But, there is a price.”
CHAPTER 11
Adison watched from his throne as Talar Eldralin’s bastard moved across the room and greeted the older man just arriving with more of the spawn’s bedamned soldiers. They embraced and then the older man shook hands with Eldralin’s ancient Nazarien lapdog. The bastard never went anywhere without his tail wagging behind him.
Leading the newcomer forward, Eldralin paused before Adison’s throne. “Your Highness,” he said, motioning to the older man. “This is my second, Parish Brazelton, but everyone knows him as the Baron.”
Adison offered his hand, but he didn’t bother to rise. Lyell Vito made a choking sound at the slight. “Welcome to Dorland, Baron,” Adison said as politely as he could.
“The honor is mine, Your Highness.” He inclined his head. Silver streaked his hair, but his green eyes were clear. He dismissed Adison and turned to Eldralin’s spawn. “Your Majesty, there’s much to tell you of our pursuit.”
“Yes, of course. We can discuss everything in the library. By your leave,” Kalas said, inclining his head toward Adison.
The library? What the hell did that mean? “Your Majesty, you’re welcome to discuss the situation here in the throne room. By pursuit, I take it to mean the slavers, yes?”
Kalas exchanged a look with the Baron. “Yes, but the library is more conducive to our needs.”
“How so?”
“Your brother has been good enough to offer his assistance in the matter. He’s apparently done a great deal of research on the topic.”
That brought Adison to his feet. “I think I should be included on these discussions. After all, the King is my brother. I want him returned as much as the rest of the kingdom.”
Kalas made show of looking contrite. “Of course, Your Highness. How could I be so callous? Please join us.”
“I’ll be along presently,” said Adison, forcing a smile.
Kalas inclined his head, then motioned the Baron and his Nazarien attendant to follow him. Lyell Vito gave Adison a cool look, then hurried after them. As soon as they left the throne room, Adison climbed down from the dais and headed toward the doors, ignoring the two guards who flanked him. He went to the guest wing and banged on the first door.
The door opened and Halish stood in the entrance, wiping his face with a towel.
“Who’s the Nazarien that follows Eldralin’s spawn like a puppy?” Adison demanded, waving the guards off and stepping into the room.
“Good afternoon to you, Your Majesty,” said Halish, shutting the door.
Adison rounded on him. “Why weren’t you in chambers? I’d planned to make your pitch to Eldralin’s spawn about seeking out the slavers yourself, but you weren’t there. Who is the Nazarien that follows Eldralin about?”
“Dolan. He’s been with the King of Eastern Nevaisser for over a decade. Before Kalas, he was advisor to Lord Tarnow.”
“Will he recognize you?”
Halish shrugged. “He hasn’t been with the order in more than fifty years, I’d say, but he may still keep abreast of newer members. I would were I him.”
“We had a plan. Why weren’t you in chambers?”
“I wanted a bath, a nap, to eat off the fine silver of your brother.”
Adison took a step closer to him, his jaw tense. “They’ve gone to meet in the library with my invalid brother, Alasdair.”
“Who has?”
“Talar Eldralin’s bastard, this Dolan character, and Eldralin’s second, Parish Brazelton.”
“The Baron?” Halish folded a hand across his chin. “Interesting. He’s here now? Well, he’ll get results, he will, and the people love him.”
“You were going to take care of this.”
“And I will. Surely you don’t intend to let them meet without being a party to it, do you?”
“No, I told Eldralin I would attend.”
“Then bring me in to assist. Tell Kalas I am well-versed in the slavers’ movements and I’m happy to assist the Baron wherever necessary.”
“And you think you can handle this Baron?”
Halish gave him a chilling smile. No warmth lit his blue-eyed gaze. “I can handle the Baron. What’s more, I’ll get Eldralin out of your hair for a bit.”
Adison rubbed his temples. “This has gotten more complicated than I planned. You should have warned me Kalas Eldralin wouldn’t be able to keep his bedamned nose out of it.”
“How was I to know he’d go to Chernow to break bread with the new Nazar? He hasn’t left Adishian much since the birth of his daughter, but it only makes sense that he’d come to Dorland once he heard her king had gone missing. You should have thought of that yourself. Kalas Eldralin has worked too hard to restore peace between Dorland and Eastern Nevaisser. He doesn’t want the area destabilized.”
Adison’s eyes bulged. “I thought that was your goal – destabilize the r
egion.”
“It is.”
Adison shook his head. “I give up. I don’t understand any of this.”
Halish moved close to him, glaring him directly in the eyes. “Then you shouldn’t play with things that are bigger than you.”
Adison took a step back, dropping his gaze. “We should go. I don’t like them meeting behind my back. Lyell Vito went with them and I just know he’s plotting something.”
“Have him killed.”
“And risk a full rebellion, no. This is getting away from me as it is.”
Halish tossed the towel onto the bed and grabbed his uniform jacket, sliding his hands into the arms. “Wait until Tovan, the Tirsbor Commander, sends word to Chernow to give them his news.”
“What?”
“I told you, your slavers kidnapped a very important woman, setting into motion something neither of us predicted. If Tovan goes to Chernow, you’re going to have the entire Nazarien order breathing down your neck.”
Adison felt the blood drain from his face. “You’ve got to stop this. Whatever you have to do, you have to stop it.”
Halish shrugged. “Not sure I can now.” He pulled open the door. “Are you coming, Your Highness?”
Adison straightened his own jacket and smoothed down his blond hair, then he tilted up his chin and strode for the door with more determination than he felt. He led Halish and the two guards to the library.
The stale, musty scent of the books struck Adison immediately. His brother had cleared two tables, joining them together to make a large table, and the entire party sat around it, looking at maps.
Lamps burned along the edges, but Adison could feel the shadows cast by the stacks pressing in on him. He stormed over to the window and yanked back the dusty floor to ceiling curtain. Brilliant sunlight flooded the room.
Everyone made an exclamation of pain and Alasdair hurried over, taking the curtain from him and pulling it closed again. He blinked at Adison myopically from behind his thick lenses.
“Light isn’t good for the books, Adison,” he scolded. “Some of these tomes are ancient.”
“Well, we can’t work in the dark,” Adison snapped.
Eldralin’s bastard motioned to the lamps. “Come to the table, Your Highness. There’s plenty of light here.”
Adison shot a look at Halish, then moved to the spot Eldralin pointed. “Your Majesty, may I present one of my advisors to you?” He indicated the tall, lanky Nazarien. “This is Halish from Chernow. He’s come to offer his aid. He has skill at tracking.”
The entire assembly looked up, surveying Halish. The Nazarien made a low bow.
“Your Majesty, it is an honor to meet you,” he said. “Long have I admired your diplomacy.”
Kalas straightened from where he’d been leaning over the table. “Anyone with expertise is welcome, Halish,” he said. “And I thank you for your compliments.”
Halish inclined his head, but Lyell Vito gave Adison a suspicious look. Adison ignored it. “So what do we have?” he said loudly.
“Baron?” requested Eldralin.
“We picked up the trail of the slavers a couple of times, but as soon as we closed in on them, they were gone. We found a number of campsites, but they move nightly and they’re headed into the hills around Terra Antiguo. The terrain there is difficult. It’s much like Tirsbor with blind canyons and confusing rock formations.”
“How do you know the campsites you found were slaver campsites?”
“We weren’t sure at first. We did get a few people in Marsino and Raimondi to confirm they’d seen fliers for auctions – slave auctions – but no one could tell us when the next one would be or point us to anyone who’d attended the previous ones. Then two days ago, we found a camp and we knew we’d found them.”
“How?” pressed Adison.
“We found ankle shackles that had been hastily discarded. We figure we’d been close to them and they abandoned the site as quickly as possible, leaving evidence behind.”
“Still doesn’t prove it was slavers,” said Adison.
“Adison!” scolded Alasdair.
Adison held out his empty hands.
“He’s right,” offered the Baron. “But we also found a body. Female, Stravad. They hadn’t even bothered to remove her chains. Look like she died of starvation or dehydration or both.”
Kalas drew a breath. “No one has reported seeing a Human male at the auctions?”
“Not that we’ve found.”
Alasdair lowered his head.
“Most of the reports talk about Stravad women being captured or young Humans of both sexes. Why is it assumed the King of Dorland was taken by slavers?” asked the Baron. “It’s out of character for their practices.”
Everyone’s gaze shifted to Adison. He didn’t want to answer that. He felt as if he was standing on quicksand and any wrong move would send him under.
Alasdair blew out a frustrated breath when Adison didn’t answer. “They found the slaver’s symbol written in blood on the door of Aiden’s bedchamber. I wasn’t sure what the symbol was at first.” He reached for a book and drew it in front of Kalas, touching the mark. “Two swords, crossed, the tips pointed down. It’s the mark of the slavers from time immemorial. I didn’t immediately recognize it, but I’ve been warning Aiden about slavers in the region for a month now. Suddenly I remembered where I’d seen the mark – in Dorland, tattooed on the hand of a man in a printing shop. I finally confirmed it in this book.”
“The mark was written in blood?” asked Kalas.
Alasdair nodded grimly. “The slavers killed Aiden’s guards as they stood watch; they murdered them.”
“It was their blood that the slavers used to leave their mark,” finished Lyell. He leaned heavily on the table. He looked older than he had just a few days ago.
Adison hoped the old bastard blew a vessel and died, but he didn’t say it out loud.
“I sent you letters, warning you of the slavers the same way I warned Aiden,” said Alasdair, giving Kalas a pained look.
Adison opened his mouth to protest, but Kalas laid a hand on the Baron’s shoulder.
“And I sent my best man to investigate. It’s one of the things I discussed with the Nazar when I was in Chernow.”
Alasdair gave a nod, but Adison wanted to cuff him. How dare he communicate with another King without the Dorlandian crown being aware!
“Your Majesty,” said Halish, moving to the edge of the table.
Adison looked over, but Halish was addressing Eldralin’s spawn, not him. He bristled a little at that. Kalas wasn’t running this operation, he was. He was King here. He needed to remind them of that.
“Halish believes he might be able to track the slavers,” Adison said.
The looks directed his way were condescending. Kalas arched one single black brow. “So you’ve said, Your Highness.”
Adison clasped his hands and looked down, pretending to study the map.
“We have a bigger problem,” said Halish.
That caught Adison’s attention.
“The slavers attacked a patrol out of Tirsbor at nearly the same time as they abducted the King of Dorland. They took a Nazarien woman named Naia.”
Kalas nodded for Halish to continue.
“Naia’s damaged, Sire. She’s unable to hear or speak.”
“I’m very sorry for this, but as I understand it, they’ve kidnapped many Nazarien women. We intend to find them all.”
“This one’s special.”
Kalas rose to his full height, folding his arms over his chest. “Go on.”
“She’s the daughter of a woman named Kaelene Taheny…” He paused significantly.
Kalas shared a look with his Nazarien lapdog, Dolan. “The name means nothing to me.”
“I understand,” said Halish, but he didn’t bother to elaborate. “She’s also sister to Amaroq Taheny.”
Kalas shook his head.
“Amaroq’s very important to the Nazarien, very impo
rtant. He has powers unlike any we’ve seen in decades, with the exception of your own sister, Tyla.”
“And?”
“Amaroq’s gone in search of his sister, but he’s never left Tirsbor his entire life. He has no experience with the outside world, even though he’s only a few years younger than you are yourself, Your Majesty. The Nazarien are very determined to recover him and his sister, return them to Tirsbor. I’ve been instructed to give you any aid, any resources at my disposal to assist you in ending this slavery threat, and I will help you search for the King of Dorland, but my primary directive is and will be the recovery of both Naia and Amaroq Taheny.”
Kalas gave an inclination of his head. “We accept your assistance, Halish, and understand your priorities – they aren’t so different from our own.” He studied the map that Alasdair had laid out for them. “I say we head back to the spot where you found the leg shackles, Baron, and search from that point west toward Terra Antiguo.”
“We?” asked Adison, leaning forward. “I heard we.”
“Of course, Your Highness. We. This isn’t the first time I’ve ridden out to secure my holdings,” said Kalas.
“My people are without their King, Your Majesty. I don’t think they’d like it if the next King to take the throne suddenly leaves in the midst of a crisis.”
“An outing might be good for you, Adison,” said Lyell Vito with the slightest hint of a smirk. “Your brother’s stallion Dancing Thunder’s in need of a ride. He’s pining for his master. He’s also been known never to fail a rider, so you should be well protected.”
“If your concern is with my brother’s horse, Lyell, why don’t you go with His Majesty?”
Lyell didn’t answer, but Adison could see how it cost him not to.
Alasdair held up his hand as if he were a boy in the school room again. “Your Majesty, I could ride with you.”
“You will not!” snapped Adison. “You have your duties here.”
“What duties, Adison?”
Adison didn’t want to admit he needed his brother to continue their reading lessons. “This library needs to be cleaned!”
Kalas held up a hand. “Any other information you can gather for us, Alasdair, would be appreciated. Perhaps you and Lyell might go into town and ask questions. According to the Baron, the slavers post fliers for their auctions. If we could see a flier, hear about an auction...”
The World of Samar Box Set 3 Page 110
