The Caged Kingdom

by M A Price

  It wasn’t his and Jala’s usual meeting place but instead had been Reyn’s idea.

  “Even The Unforgiven would stay where they are rather than go there,” he’d smiled as Katanya had tutted, “It’ll be an experience for you all!”

  The nearer they got, the more Jaxon agreed. He didn't want to ask why Reyn knew of such a place.

  The smell of the slums was truly invasive; the scent of sweat and sewage riper than he remembered from previous trips to the area. The city itself seemed unkept and wilder. The usual policing patrols certainly hadn't been high on Jefferson's recent agenda. He looked towards Katanya and even she was screwing up her petite nose.

  “Pungent,” she declared, tugging him towards The Cult, “Put your arm around me, act however you need to.” He gulped but did as she bid.

  He pushed open the door of the inn and ignored the drunk patrons swaying outside. Sick was already over the uneven cobble stones, but they stepped over it swiftly. Inside seemed worse. The stench was stronger and the light dingier. Half-dressed men and women sat on various laps, candles burnt in every corner trying, rather unsuccessfully, to add a less dismal atmosphere. His boots stuck to the floor’s various wet substances. He daren’t examine what they were.

  Katanya seemed to spot Reyn and Jala before he did and yanked his arm towards a corner table, a curtain half across it. He thought he knew what that curtain was supposed to be used for.

  Jala was wearing a low-cut red dress, her silver hair curled around her head. She sat practically on top of the Prince, who was dressed down for once. A simple black tunic and breeches; Jax couldn’t help but wonder if he had bought them especially.

  “That one’s very pretty!” Jala exclaimed as they came closer. They both seemed to be appraising the women in the tavern. Jaxon couldn’t decide whether he wanted to laugh or despair.

  Reyn, as they took their seats, lost interest in his and Jala’s game. He was transfixed by Katanya; by the pitch-black figure-hugging corset she wore, which left little to the imagination and at the skirt, which whilst floor length was only a gauze from her hips downwards, revealing the cream of her athletic thighs.

  It was the first time Jaxon could ever remember seeing the Prince speechless. He couldn’t argue that Katanya looked incredible. She had had looked incredible since the first time he’d seen her hiding outside Reyn’s chambers, but she also scared him. He was quite sure she would be able to kill him without knocking a hair on her head out of place and he certainly didn’t share the desire written so plainly on Reyn’s face.

  “What lovely company we’re keeping,” she exclaimed looking around. Other tables had curtains drawn, some couples weren’t even bothering with them or the booths, and everyone else seemed blind drunk or intoxicated in some manner. Jala pushed a pint of ale towards them both.

  “It tastes bad, but it does the job.”

  Looking for something to do, he reached for his and sipped it, whilst Katanya adjusted his other arm around her waist. He saw the line of Reyn’s perfect jaw set as she did so and felt strangely uncomfortable. Oddly sorry for him. He doubted Katanya with her agenda of vengeance and work with The Guild would have any time to contemplate any form of romance. Even if he wasn’t the son of her enemy. Jala had found it hilarious how she turned out to be the girl from the kitchens and Reyn had only simpered in response to her consistent giggles.

  “Shall we get this over with? As dashing as I look, I’d rather not let this smell get into my hair,” Katanya winced, staring at Reyn. He cleared his throat and sipped at his own ale, curling his body more towards Jala. Was he doing it to get a reaction from her? She very much seemed not to care, to be barely aware of the Prince’s attention, let alone give a damn.

  “I have some bad news,” he finally said and now all eyes were on him. “My mother came to me today, she told me there was something she thought I should know; something that answers quite a few of our questions and your Guild will find invaluable.”

  Katanya urged him to go on. “The serum, the one that they are using to make non-Wielders compatible hosts… it’s ready for mass use. The Users have finally found a way, and it’s already begun. They have enough for half of Brodanna. Enough to return half of The Unforgiven. Apparently, it’s been in production for some time.”

  “Where is it? Can we destroy it? Who knows how to make it?” Katanya’s questions were the questions of a soldier and Jaxon was impressed. He hadn't even finished absorbing the information and she was already jumping into action.

  “I don’t know yet, but I doubt it. It’ll be heavily guarded and from what my mother said it’s been shared between them. Destroying it isn’t going to suddenly make it go away, they can make more. So long as they have the Users.”

  Jax tried to think of something to say as Katanya’s head fell into her hands and Jala repeatedly cursed. Reyn remained expressionless, waiting for a response from Katanya.

  “Does your mother know of any immediate plans for it?” he finally asked. Maybe he could be useful, “We don’t have the power or the ammunition to attack ourselves, but Katanya didn’t you say that you were here because of Ivloch’s plan? To look for a weakness, a way to liberate the Palace.”

  Everyone had shifted their attention to him and Jaxon felt that familiar heat in the depth of his belly; but more welcome than usual. His power was pleased with what he was saying, it wanted him to continue. To help.

  “Nobody knows the weaknesses of the palace better than Reyn, and he certainly needs help. If we can work out what else we need to know then he can talk to the Queen, and we can take the information to your resistance. We can make a stand, destroy the serum they have. Maybe they can make more, but wouldn’t it buy us some time? Especially if we could hold the palace.”

  Katanya drummed her long fingers on the table and finally drank her own ale. Half of it disappeared in one gulp.

  “It does taste like piss,” she commented, but smiled. Jaxon almost felt sad as her grin turned from him to Reyn. “Ivloch would want to meet you, to know he could trust you. This would be a big op and we planned one, but we’re going to have to put every man and woman into this. It would be our last chance and I mean that.” She shook her head and finished the rest of her tankard. “We would have to move quickly and get this right,” she took both Jax and Jala’s hand into hers, “…and you two would have to stay here, lay low, be careful and get as much information as you can. We can find a way to contact you when we’re back in the city, before it begins.”

  Jala agreed eagerly and Jax could see the relief on her face; the pride of knowing she was finally doing something that she believed in, even if it amounted to very little.

  “I will have to find an excuse to get away, I’m sure I can make up some ridiculous story my father will hate but believe,” Reyn swallowed at his own words. Jax had seen their relationship and he believed him. “Katanya, I will need your word though. I will come with you, I will get whatever information we can, I will help your Guild as much as is in my power and I will aid in the attack, but I want your word on my safety. That I won’t be taken prisoner or used by your forces as much as my own would use me.”

  Jaxon could only imagine the embarrassment Reyn must have felt at asking for protection.

  Katanya removed her hands from him and Jala but didn’t offer them to Reyn. She did seem to almost glow as she eyed him like prey. “For what it’s worth, you have my word. Some of us don't remove people's heads.”

  If Reyn noticed the barb, Jaxon didn’t see him react.

  "What about your camp? Doesn't Xave know the location or Jefferson if Becca's body reached them?" He asked the question quickly to end the awkward silence.

  "They wait for me there anyway. It just means we have to move quickly. If we can do that then all of us will be in less danger,” Katanya responded.

  He went to fetch more ale as they sat in their seedy tavern to make a plan that may or may not decide the fate of Brodanna and the war to come.

  It cert
ainly seemed like a plan that Becca Youchnore would approve of, and he had to agree with Jala, not for the first time, doing something did feel rather nice.

  ***

  They rode out two moons later. He knew Reyn had found an opportunity to talk to his mother. Had gathered the information they so desperately needed.

  He watched them go through the palace gates, Jala at his side.

  “You think this’ll work?” she asked tentatively, her head leaning against his arm. Neither of them were meant to be on duty or even awake, but had somehow found themselves watching from a distance. Wanting to be part of things, even if they couldn't accompany their friends.

  “If anyone can change things or give us a bit of hope then I think they can.” She squeezed his arm as he spoke, and he looked down at her.

  He was glad, despite everything else, that for once in his life he had managed to make a true friend. Someone who knew who he was, what he was, and wouldn’t turn from him for it.

  “Do you think he’ll get to kiss her like he wants? He wasn't joking that first day when he said he was smitten.”

  “Not a chance.”

  “Ah, you spoilsport. Everyone needs a little romance Jaxon!”

  “He is a dramatic power-hungry prince and she’s a scary assassin woman who could eat him for breakfast!”

  “We’ll see Rowdedge. We’ll see.”

  He really hoped they would.

  Jala tugged him towards the kitchen entrance. "Come on. Let's go eat. A day of trying not to die is always better on a full stomach."

  Fifty-Seven - Katanya

  They hadn’t rested since they left Tonkara, the days melting into one. Always keeping to the quieter tracks, avoiding villages, or anywhere that they could be seen. Anywhere a report could get back to the palace or The King’s Men could come looking.

  It would take at least another day to reach the camp and they would have to stop to rest soon. Ballaca needed a respite or she wouldn’t recover and that wasn’t an idea Katanya would even entertain. They may never go back to the Spykelands, but they had a different home to reach.

  The Mark on her wrist was still hidden under the fabric band she had worn at the palace, but she knew it suited her. More importantly it felt like it belonged there.

  Her thighs were aching; she could feel the bruises and the cuts on them from the constant hard riding. A long bath and a massage seemed like a dream; not to mention the notion of sleep.

  Reyn had so far not complained but she doubted he was in any better shape than she was. Did he ride often? If he didn’t then his pain threshold must be exemplary not to be showing any signs of burnout. She had gotten used to riding every day again since leaving the Spykelands. You could not think when you rode. Just be. Just her and Ball on a quest of their own choosing. Except when you had to chaperone Reyn Landress.

  “We’ll stop as soon as we find somewhere,” she finally said, tilting her head back to look at Reyn and his stallion, Indy. Named after some Earth hero he had said, she had no idea who that was but did secretly intend to ask Idyn as soon as she got the chance. Earth junk was his forte; he would know. Whoever he had named him after might reveal something about the man.

  “If you wish.”

  “You want to ride through the night?” She asked and the easy look finally left him. His usually neat hair had fallen out of the bun he had placed it in and scattered around his face. The clothes, so regal before, looked torn and dirty. Despite it, in fact, she cursed herself for it, he still looked ruggedly handsome.

  She could believe the stories that came out of Tonkara about his prowess. The girls who fell so in love with the 'perfect' prince; she had witnessed the jealousy herself. It also made her incredibly conscious about how she must have looked. Not that it mattered what he thought but...she felt like a mess. The thought of how bad her hair would be when she finally let it out its braid made her consider cutting it all off. The smell of kitchens and dirt and that stupid tavern…

  It would be nice to use her power again.

  “I’d like to stop, but I understand how important it is we get to The Guild, I know how dangerous it is out here,” he finally reasoned. She focused her attention on Indy. Like Ballaca he was not only carrying his rider, but their armour and provisions. Reyn might want to play the hero and keep going but she wouldn’t risk either mount.

  “If I remember correctly there is a forest not far ahead. We camp there for the night. Take turns on guard duty.”

  “As I said, if you wish.”

  She swallowed her annoyance and plodded on. For a prince he was hideously agreeable. He wasn’t the only reason she was annoyed; she knew that, but he was the only thing she could currently take it out on. What they had left behind and discovered could change everything. It was mixed with worry for what they would also find ahead. Ivloch’s self-appointed mission. Would he even be there to greet her? Had Mara’s training gone well? She was curious to see if her and Idyn had eventually managed to talk to one another. A trivial concern compared to the rest, and she had worried about the romance, but part of her wanted them to figure it out. They would both need something good in their lives. She could only hope Camrin had held it together enough to protect everyone in her and Ivloch's absence.

  It had been half a moon turn since she had left them. She was part of Kara’s Guild now, until the day she died. This was her life and she had to accept it. Accept loving the people in it. Caring, even as a soldier, wasn’t a smart thing to do but as the path lead them slightly further towards home, she found she couldn’t quite help herself.

  “You miss them, don’t you?” he asked from behind her, causing her to drop the rein from her hand. Ballaca made her usual snort of disdain but slowed to let her pick it back up. She hated being caught off guard and tried to ignore the chuckle she heard him make.

  “I do. They’re my family. I’m sure you’ll miss yours in a day or two.”

  “You’re wrong about me you know?”

  “Am I?”

  “I am not your enemy. I’m risking my life here, going to your friends, to people my family alone would kill me for working with.” He sighed, long and hard. “You think I’m some spoilt rich prince, have you even seen evidence to support that theory? Barring a few clothes and some rugs I didn't choose. If anything, I seem to care about Brodanna and its people considerably more than you or Jaxon do.” He rolled his eyes in exasperation. “I wasn’t involved in your friend’s death. I tried to campaign for her release, she wasn’t her husband. She was an innocent woman. I’ve explained that.”

  Katanya thought about his words. Was she simply judging him without knowing him? Maybe. Becca was part of it. Becca had died in the grounds of his palace. In his home. Yet she didn’t hate Jaxon for it. Becca, as she knew now, had chosen to die to save him and she hadn’t even considered blaming him. Did the blood in Reyn's veins make him that different? Jax was adamant Becca liked the Prince more than he did.

  “She was more like my mother.” She finally said, hearing the dulcet tones in her own voice.

  “I know what it’s like to lose one of those.”

  “Yours is behind us.”

  “You heard her cry. One of her children is dead. Another has a soul inside her that will never willingly leave. Her husband has forsaken her kingdom. He hates their other child, is blind with greed, and doesn’t love her anymore…” He swallowed loudly, an edge of emotion in his tone. One Katanya had never heard before. “The Unforgiven were always going to return but my father has chosen to let them in. He has caused this, and I hate him for it but mostly, mostly I hate him for the fact that my mother is broken. She doesn’t have the energy to want to stay alive, let alone save her kingdom from the cage that he has put it in.”

  “So that’s why you’re going to do it. For her.” It was a statement not a question.

  “So that’s why I’m going to do it. For her. You think I’m a monster? I’d really rather you didn’t but fine, I’m pretty sure though that you know what
it’s like to do things for the people you love.”

  She did know; better than most. This whole journey, this fight; it was for the people she loved.

  “Why do you care what I think Reyn?” The question slipped out before she was prepared to ask it. Before she could structure any form of response. Her power sent out a heat into her stomach. It was angry; it was feeling something, and it wanted to be used. She lowered a hand to the nape of Ballaca’s neck and released some into her. She needed the extra strength and Katanya needed to get rid of it. To do something. To not think about Reyn’s words. To not question the reaction, he seemed to entice from her body. Or her mind.

  “I wish I could tell you, but for some strange reason I do seem to find myself giving a damn about what you think Katanya Leshi, a lot more than I would like.” He seemed to breathe with relief, as if he had told her some secret. Harder words to say than the ones about his family. The power inside her confirmed the confession, as truth.

  “No. I don’t think you’re a monster. The spoilt rich prince bit…maybe, I won't complain about your taste in clothes again either. They're not awful. Deal?”

  He hooted with laughter and they rode on to their rest spot in companionable silence.

  Fifty-Eight - Mara

  The stick man was burning.

  The correct one this time. Her power had lit the flames and continued to turn the wood to cinder.

  Idyn came running at her from his perch by the river. He was beaming, his brown cape bristling in the wind as he moved.

  “Mara, you…wow.” He placed her in his arms and twirled her in the air before placing her down and covering her face in kisses. “I am so proud of you.” As he said the words the fire seemed to cease. She pulled a face in response.

  “Guess I got distracted.”

  “You did it though. You did it and you’re amazing.”

  She gazed up at his hazel eyes and stepped further into the warmth of his welcoming embrace.

  “Thank you for helping me. Thank you so much.”