She saw anger in the faces of the three men around her, though it wasn’t aimed at her, and in truth she shared it. Cargius should have told them! “I didn’t.”
Eden snorted, and walked over to the fireplace as if to be still pained him. “Cargius said nothing? So what is likely to happen when you take his head in a few hours?”
“I don’t know.”
“Gods! We can’t trust these people.”
“Leave her be,” Joseph warned.
“It’s not her I want a piece of. That is our brother on the table out there and what we have just done to him is more foul that any torture they perform in the bowels of that bastard abbey across the way.”
“Eden, calm yourself. You are not helping your sister.”
A knock came at the door, and Sir Jeffery poked his head in. “Milords, Milady, you should come, I think your brother has died.”
Oh, gods no, Danielle thought as she got up and darted across the room. Cargius had been clear, Kane had to die at dawn, and from a blade that had felt the warmth of the rising sun and was firmly grasped in her hands.
Once they had returned to the cell, Joseph asked for quiet before putting his ear close to Kane’s gaping mouth and listened.
To Danielle’s mind, her brother looked dead. His eyes were closed, blood leaking from under the lashes; his chest still and his blood splattered skin grey and pale. She could feel nothing other than emptiness in the body that lay there.
“Your dagger, please,” Joseph asked, putting his hand out to Eden. When the weapon was handed over, Joseph placed the blade over Kane’s mouth and squinted through his spectacles. After a minute, he shook his head, his face grim, and handed the weapon back. “I’m sorry, lass, but he’s gone.”
Danielle thought she should feel more grieved than she did, and certainly she should be worried about what Cargius would have to say and what this would mean for all of them. They’d failed to rid the world of the Hand’s soul, so another would be born after Kane. Oddly, though, she didn’t really care—at least not right now. Instead she felt an overwhelming relief. Kane no longer suffered and he at least had escaped this horrid prophecy. “Someone should tell father and Michael,” she said quietly.
It was Sir Thomas that gave a nod and headed for the door.
Danielle sat down on the small stone bench that lined the back wall of the cell and cupped her head in her hands. James joined her. His presence was a comfort and she leaned against him, wondering what their next move should be.
“Perhaps you should summons Cargius before we dispose of the body,” Joseph suggested.
Danielle looked up to find they were all looking at her. “He’ll only come if I’m in peril.”
“So what do you want to do?” Eden asked.
She shrugged. “I don’t know.”
A curious crackling sound began to emanate from the direction of the table, drawing everyone’s attention. Kane’s body began to blacken and crumble into what looked like iron sand. An odd tingling touched Danielle’s skin. Magic was at work here, she knew that immediately. She realised she wasn’t the only one it seemed for swords rang loudly as mailed hands drew them from their scabbards.
“Get her out of here,” Eden demanded.
James pulled her up, but before they made it half way across the cell the door slammed shut of its own accord, and the lock clunked into place.
“Open the door!”
On the other side of the iron bars Jeffery and several of his brother knights were trying to prise the lock open. “It won’t budge. We’re going to need a smithy, Milord,” Jeffery said.
“Then fetch one, and be quick about it.”
James quickly pushed Danielle into a corner and drew his sword to protect her. Sir Wilaby and two of his brother knights joined him while the other two men of her father’s personal guard went to Eden’s side to help protect the prince regent and Lord Protector.
“It’s Fren,” Danielle said. A sharp pain had gone through her head and in that instant she had seen the old witch and her brother standing looking into a pot of water and laughing hysterically at her. Kane’s not dead “Kane’s not dead!”
“What are you talking about?” Joseph said.
The body on the table had completely dissolved. The cracking and popping had stopped and his garments lay rumpled half buried in black sand. Danielle’s heart raced. The tingling was still in the air around her and it was growing stronger by the minute.
“Do you know what’s going on, lass?” Joseph asked. “Are you saying that’s not Kane?”
“It’s not. He’s alive and playing with us. Fren is with him. And whatever they are doing it is strengthening and means us harm.”
“Get that door open,” Eden urged. Jeffery was still trying to jemmy the lock and having no luck.
“Quiet!” Eden suddenly demanded.
The rattle of amour, the metallic tinkering at the door all stopped. Danielle had felt it too; a gentle breeze. It stirred the sand on the table and the flames from the torches flickered. More than a few of the knights made the sign of protection for there was no window to let a breeze inside these walls. But what this was didn’t require a window.
“I suggest you summons Cargius,” Eden said.
Danielle was already whispering the Druid’s name. Now she spoke it aloud. “Cargius, help me. Cargius—”
The wind instantly intensified into a howling gale, as if the name provoked it. The sand on the table and every hint of dust and dirt in the prison dissolved in the buffeting wind. It began to form a vortex around the table. The grit stung Danielle’s eyes and was bitter on her tongue, but she kept screaming Cargius’ name, her hair whipping around her face. “Cargius, Cargius, Cargius!”
The torch nearest the table guttered out, then the one in the cell to the left, and another in the passageway outside the cells as the wind howled its fury at her and plunged the prison into darkness. It was almost impossible to hear her own voice in the noise, but she could feel the malignant presence gathering strength. If it had materialised into a form she could not tell in the dark, but she felt it focus on her. Screams erupted as men were cast aside around her. Something cold latched onto her throat and the next she knew she was flying through the air. She was vaguely conscious of Cargius’ commanding voice and a flash of blinding white light and heat. Then nothing.
When Danielle came too, the prison was in darkness and the wind and the cold presence it had contained had vanished. Those on the floor around her and outside the cell in the passageway were dragging themselves up and coughing against the dust that still hung in the air. General Hendrix was shouting to them from outside the prison block, his voice muffled by the iron-braided door at the end of the passage. Axes began to fall against the door.
“Someone fetch a torch, and open the door,” Eden said, his voice stiff with pain. “Danielle, are you all right?”
“I think so.” She felt like she’d gone a dozen rounds in the tourney ring.
“What happened?”
“Cargius is here,” she said with little enthusiasm. Even in the dark she could sense him standing at the table behind her. He clicked his tongue and in the same instant all the torches flared back to life. He was attired in the same white robes she’d last seen him in. He had his back to her and looked to be studying the remnants of Kane’s clothing, and muttering something to himself. His lack of concern for the human carnage around him annoyed her tremendously. Sir Wilaby was lying beside her, his head twisted at an unnatural angle; his eyes stared unseeing at the ceiling. Coughing against the dust, she crawled over to Sir Uthalan who was bleeding profusely from a cut above his right eye. Sir Willum joined her. I’ll see to him, Milady.”
Nearby, Eden was helping a dazed Joseph to sit up so she went over to them. Jeffery had opened the prison door and the door to the cell and Hendrix and more grey cloaks were arriving to offer assistance.
“Send for the court physicians, and get these men out of here,” Hendrix said.
“Let’s get you out of here.”
She could see his anger and knew who was the cause of it. The same sentiment graced every brow in the room. And she shared it. But it was the nasty wound to James’ left temple and the blood running down his cheek and dripping from his jaw that worried her. She stood quickly to examine it. “You’re hurt.”
“But still living, unlike some.” James glared over at the Druid who was studying the dust and clothing on the table with a sour expression. “You said you’d defend her,” James said, firmly enough to draw everyone’s attention, except the Druid’s.
Joseph said, “That’s enough, James, you need to get your head looked at. You too, lass.”
“The girl stays,” Cargius said, without turning to face them.
Danielle ignored him and saw James down the passage to the door. Leaving him in Jeffery’s care, and promising to come to him as soon as she could, she returned to the cell. Cargius was still at the table, his concerned frown set on his business.
“You said I’d be safe. You also said you’d come if I was in danger.” Danielle was furious.
“And you would have been safe if you weren’t surrounded by such incompetents!” The Druid’s green eyes flicked to Joseph for the briefest of moments before returning to whatever it was he was doing. Joseph was sitting on a stone bench, coughing a little and trying to catch his breath while Eden poured a little water from a skin into a tin cup Sir Brutus had found in the mess hall. Lord Hendrix was helping Sir Nathan to his feet. The man’s arm looked to be horribly broken.
Infuriated by Cargius’ arrogant indifference Danielle crossed the cell in three long strides and shoved him hard. “How dare you! A man is dead, and others injured, and you gave no warning that this would be dangerous!”
“Of course I didn’t. Because if this was your brother, as it was supposed to be, none of this would have happened.”
“What are you talking about?” Joseph said, coming to his feet using Eden’s arm for support. “How can this not be Lord Kane?”
“I have no intention of discussing such things in the company of so many.”
“Every man here is loyal,” Eden said.
“Perhaps to you, Lord Eden, but not to me.” Cargius had drawn something from his robe and was sprinkling it on the dust and ash that had settled back on the table.
“Then perhaps a retainer of knights, irons and chains and a short trip to the throne room would please you more?” Danielle said.
Joseph quickly spoke up. “No need to be rude, lass.” Then to the knights who had stayed to protect the members of the royal family and the Lord Protector, he said, “Hendrix, if you please. And close the door on the way out.”
As the Lord Defender nodded and gestured his men after him, Joseph approached the table. “You say this is not Kane de Brie, yet we all saw him, and it was certainly the king’s second son.”
“What you saw was a rare conjuring and a rather powerful one called transmutation or Corpraltranformatus by the old tongue. You should count yourself lucky more of you aren’t dead.”
“Corpraltranformatus? Can’t say I have ever heard of it,” Joseph said sceptically.
“I’m not here to enlighten the minds of half-wits.”
That was the last straw. Danielle stepped back and drew her sword—her mother’s sword. This time there was no one to stop her getting the blade to Cargius’ neck. “You will explain, sir.”
To her surprise neither Joseph nor Eden contravened her demand, but merely watched the Druid expectantly.
Impatience swept across Cargius’ face, but he begrudgingly said, “The body of another, usually of a similar size, shape and colouring is, through the use of considerable mystical power and a great deal of blood letting, made to look like another—in this case, your brother. It is then controlled via a seeing glass, which more often than not for the Larniusians is a pot of bitter water. Fren and her ilk must have had a great deal of amusement just now, playing the lot of you for fools.”
“And you did not think to warn the lady that this was possible?” Joseph asked.
“We did not suspect Fren and her sister capable.”
“Her sister?” Danielle demanded. “Fren has a sister? What else have you neglected to tell us?”
“I will tell you what I deem necessary. Now remove your sword from my neck. I have important business to attend to with these remains. Unless you would prefer that I left this dust here to haunt you?”
Joseph sniffed. “Eden, would you be so good, and let the three of us talk alone, please.”
“Milord?”
“Oh, and please make sure that when your father and younger brother arrive, they do not enter until I call. Thank you.”
“Are you sure?”
“Quite.”
“Then I need to know that this or something like it will not happen to my sister again,” Eden said, his question aimed at Cargius.
Danielle had sheathed her sword and the Druid was now sprinkling some herbs over the remains on the table. “Now that you have botched this ceremony and let your brother escape, I can give you no such assurances. Until he is dead, they will pursue her. However, with the amount of magic they used tonight, I would not expect them to trouble you in this way for at least another turn of the moon, particularly if they intend to anoint your brother as the next Hand with the new moon, as we suspect they do.”
“How do we find him before then?” Eden asked.
“Do you think I would leave it to you lot if we knew how?”
Eden smiled coolly and turned to leave.
“If you do not find your brother before his anointing, only a person who has walked the road of enlightenment to its completion will be able to kill what dwells inside him,” Cargius said as he finished up whatever odd ritual he was performing and turned to face Eden, who had drawn up in the doorway to the cell. “And in the six months that will take, I assure you, he will not sleep in his want of evil and destruction and the blood letting Maig will demand. There will be very little left to save.”
“Then I will not sleep until he is found.” Eden acknowledged them with a slight bow and left.
There was the hint of respect in the Druid’s eyes as he watched the prince regent walk away. A father’s pride Danielle thought, grudgingly.
She had a fairly good idea what Joseph wanted to ask and when the door at the end of the passage had opened and closed again, she took the lead. “Where is the girl child my mother had by you? We want to know.”
“It won’t help you to know,” Cargius said, dismissively, as he turned back to the table and muttered a spell and waved his hand over the dust.
“We beg to differ,” Joseph said. “If we are to believe that Mr O’Brook is as you say, a liar, then an answer from you is required.”
Cargius pursed his lips and turned to face them. He considered them both for a moment then said, “She was secreted away after the birth and was raised by a peasant couple here in Arkaelyon.”
“Is she alive?” Danielle asked.
“Yes.”
“Does she know who or what she is?”
“No. She doesn’t seek us so I cannot go to her. And besides, I think you would both agree, there would be certain complications if the realm was to find out that your mother had not just one child out of wedlock but two.”
Danielle smiled at the Druid’s veiled threat “I want the name of the village, and my sister’s name.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. This isn’t necessary. She can’t help you. And if anything, her anonymity keeps her safe.”
“It also means we cannot validate your claim that she lives,” Joseph said amicably.
“If you think part of the enlightenment ritual involves a child of light eating the flesh of her unborn child, or madness of the sort you fear, then you are more of a fool than I thought.”
“What about drinking blood?” Joseph asked. “
And how many of your own progeny have you been forced to kill, Lord Cargius? And while on that subject, can you guarantee our lady’s safety once this prophecy has been turned back on itself?”
“I think you should be more concerned with keeping your lady safe and securing the capture of Lord Kane de Brie than seeking answers to questions as ridiculous as these. And you, Danielle, I will see you in Amthenium in three weeks. Now if you will excuse me, I am finished here. Have this dust collected and put in the lake; that will nullify the spell completely. Now farewell.”
At that Cargius dissolved in a blinding white light and was gone.
“I don’t believe him,” Danielle said when Joseph and her were alone. “You were right. He’s not telling us everything.”
“He’s barely telling us anything.”
Danielle was pondering an answer to their dilemma. “So we find the truth by finding my sister. If she is alive my mother became Druid’s Bane without the horror O’Brook described.”
“True. But how to find her?” Joseph said.
“She would bear the same birthmark as me and I expect there’ll be a similarity in appearance.”
“Not necessarily. You do not share the same father. She could be quite different in look. Besides that particular path could prove to be a great deal more trouble than it’s worth. And the Druid is right on one point. The woman is safer in her ignorance.”
“I think Arkaelyon’s security is a little more important than her. And I’m sure father will understand given what is at stake here. And it can be handled discreetly.”
“I’ll think about it. We don’t yet know if she even exists. We’ll see what becomes of my letters to my friends in Lunwraith. What about Eden?”
“The realm doesn’t need to know about him.”
Joseph nodded, evidently thinking that wise for the moment.
There was a knock on the door and Sir Jeffery’s voice informed them that the king was waiting.
“We are coming,” Joseph answered back. He looked at Danielle. “We’ll talk later. I don’t want your father to hear about this. At least not yet.”
***
Maig's Hand Page 25
