The Silver Pear (The Dark Forest Book 2)

by Michelle Diener

  Rane was standing beside her, arm raised as if to throw something, and Sooty was butting her hip, suddenly her usual size again.

  She spared a glance down at her, wondering how she’d managed that, because Kayla hadn’t done it, but Sooty wouldn’t meet her gaze.

  The wind blew again, and broken arrows skittered and rolled across the cobbles. Her wild magic cloak was lighter, and blew about more easily, no longer heavy like velvet, but a gauzy silk, the bulk of it used up in protecting them.

  Vik stood, frozen.

  Kayla pointed a finger at him, and saw she had no rings left and only two bracelets after what she’d done. “I never realized your feelings ran that bitter and angry, Vik, that you would wish me dead.”

  A soldier stepped out of the castle door with a crossbow, and Rane flicked his arm.

  Whatever he threw struck the bow out of the man’s hand and broke it, and Rane caught his weapon as it flew back to him.

  Vik spun as the guard cried out. “Stop! When did I give the order to fire? This is our ally, the princess of Gaynor.”

  “That warning was a little late in coming,” Rane said. “Or do you usually stand around with your mouth open while your men try to murder your allies?”

  “I think perhaps my husband was simply astonished by Princess Kayla’s ability to single-handedly render the guard of this castle harmless.” Queen Elanie stepped out of the door, and her gaze moved slowly over the scene. “Princess Kayla, I’m happy to see you again, and can only extend my sincere apologies for what just happened. I didn’t realize my husband’s men were so ill-disciplined.”

  Kayla gave her a tight nod. “You’ll forgive me if I’m not quite sure whether to believe it was just ill discipline, your highness. Vik always seemed to be a very competent military leader to me.”

  Vik rubbed his face with both hands. “I used to be. I obviously have let things slip.”

  “Obviously.” Rane tightened his grip on Kayla’s shoulder, and she realized he was vibrating with anger. She was shaking herself and she lifted her hand to grip his. It steadied her.

  Vik glanced at Rane and then away.

  Elanie walked up to her husband, and let her hand rest on his arm. “Would you come in?”

  Kayla shifted uncomfortably.

  “No.” Rane squeezed her hand and then dropped it, and Kayla realized he was keeping both hands free for whatever came next.

  Elanie blushed, and looked down. “I am sorry our first meeting since my marriage has been such a disaster. I had hoped . . .”

  She looked up at Kayla, and Kayla saw the glimmer of tears in her eyes.

  “You really are a bastard, Vik. You don’t deserve your wife.” Kayla couldn’t keep the anger from her voice. “Elanie, you’re welcome in Gaynor any time, and we would love to have your company at our wedding.”

  She started to turn, and Vik lifted a hand and tugged at his hair. “Wait!”

  She looked over her shoulder.

  His face contorted, as if he was fighting with himself. “I’m sorry. I truly didn’t order that attack on you, and I will get to the bottom of why my men thought it acceptable to fire on you. I swear it.”

  “Perhaps it has something to do with the boasts you made on the way to Gaynor, and the fights my countrymen picked with yours when you had to go back without what you came for.” Kayla turned again.

  “Kayla. Your highness.” Vik drew in a deep breath. “You’re right. I don’t deserve my wife, and I would consider it a personal favor if you overlooked my men’s behavior today and mine in the past and ate a meal with us before you set out.”

  Kayla hesitated, looked back at Elanie and then at Rane.

  He wanted her to say no, she could see it in the line of his mouth. She stepped close to him.

  “Sometimes, for the good of all, you have to set aside your personal feelings and do things you would rather not,” she whispered in his ear.

  She lifted a hand, laid it on his chest.

  He gave a sharp, reluctant nod.

  Kayla turned back, ignored Vik and looked straight at Elanie. “We accept.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  VIK’S private dining hall was long and narrow, with dark paneling and military standards hanging from the wall.

  The room smelled musty and unaired, and Rane guessed Vik dined more often in the great hall with his men and the castle staff.

  His wife looked cool and collected as she inclined her head to the servers to begin, although he could see in her movements and the straight line of her back that she was no more relaxed and happy than her husband.

  There seemed to be a great many courses, but the food was good and hearty, rather than exotic and strange, and Elanie had all the dishes placed on the table and then dismissed the staff.

  The doors were closed, and there was silence for a moment as they were finally left alone, the current rulers of Phon, and the future rulers of Gaynor.

  Kayla had certainly walked into Urlay Castle like the queen she would one day be.

  Rane knew he wasn’t the only man in the courtyard who’d been struck speechless when she’d come flying to his rescue. Vik had had some trouble himself.

  She’d been magnificent. The jewels and style of her hair and gown had been eye-catching, but it was her face—determined, full of energy and purpose, that had truly gripped him.

  He dropped his hand below the table and rubbed her thigh, just to remind himself of the warm feel of her, that even when she sat in her wild magic-wrought splendor at the King of Phon’s table, she was still his.

  Sooty lay curled between them, snoring softly.

  “How are you enjoying life in Phon?” Kayla asked Elanie, stirring a spoon through her soup, although her free hand came down over his and squeezed. “I know the land is less steep and more forested than Tibalt. Has it been difficult to adjust?”

  “It is very different, but I enjoy the forest and I have been welcomed here.” Elanie’s words were measured, and Rane wondered what she wasn’t saying.

  “How long has it been? Just over a year, if I remember correctly.”

  “Yes. It was a year two days ago.” Elanie said, and Rane saw Vik go suddenly still.

  He was seated next to his wife, and he looked sidelong at her, but said nothing.

  He’d forgotten the anniversary, Rane would bet money on it. And he was both sorry and embarrassed about it.

  That he was, tempered Rane’s anger at him for what had happened earlier.

  Kayla set down her soup spoon. “I know it’s a good two days’ journey, and these aren’t the safest times, but I meant what I said earlier, you are most welcome to visit—”

  “Enough!” Vik’s shout startled Elanie so much she upset her almost empty bowl, and Kayla went still.

  Sooty stood, her hackles raised, and Rane realized he was out of his chair, stone in his hand.

  Vik stood himself, tipping his chair back so it fell with a crash behind him. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to shout. But we’re talking in polite circles, when there are far more important topics to discuss.”

  “And what would those topics be?” Rane asked, slowly sitting down to diffuse the suddenly dangerous atmosphere.

  Vik’s shout had brought his guard running, and the last thing they needed were more arrows pointed at them.

  Vik noticed the guard as well, signaled them to leave and then scrubbed his face with his hands, just like he’d done out in the courtyard. “I haven’t gotten much right today.” He looked across at his wife. “For the last few days.” He picked up his chair and sat again. “Some might say for the last year.”

  Elanie said nothing, and Rane decided she agreed with him, but was too polite to say so in front of an audience.

  He liked the queen more and more.

  “You want to know about the sorcerers?” he said into the tense silence.

  “Yes!” Vik pushed his soup aside. “What is going on?”

  “It’s simple.” Rane tucked into the roast
meat in front of him. “Eric the Bold, and a few other sorcerers, Andrei Wolfsblood included, are indulging in a little war. They’re flexing their muscles, trying to prove they’re the most powerful sorcerer in Middleland.”

  “To what end?” Elanie asked.

  “If they can kill all their rivals and become the one great sorcerer of the region, they have also realized it means they can control the region itself. So they are aligning themselves with princes and kings they think will help them, or deliberately setting countries against each other, so there is no unity, and therefore no opposition to what they’re doing.” Kayla ran a soothing hand down Sooty’s back, and Rane realized the cat was still rumbling under her breath from Vik’s sudden movements.

  “How do you know this?” Vik leaned forward across the table.

  “Because my father, who has never allowed a sorcerer into Gaynor, suddenly allowed Eric the Bold into Gaynor Castle, allowed him to dictate the terms of a contest for my hand, and Nuen of Harness’s brother tried to interfere with that contest. Rane and I were caught up in it, and we came to realize my father was probably coerced into co-operating with Eric. We’ve also spent time with a powerful earth-magic witch who’s been watching the sorcerers for the last few years. They are definitely involved in a power struggle.”

  “Well, perhaps Gerald of Halakan has been removed from the chess board,” Vik said. “Andrei left here to go work for William of Nesta, and Gerald was his sorcerer. I can’t think why William would poach Andrei if Gerald were alive.”

  Rane gave a hum of agreement, tamping down the sudden surge of urgency in him at the mention of Gerald. He needed to get to Halakan as fast as he could and find Soren. “Don’t discount that Andrei is probably manipulating William. None of these four sorcerers care for their liege lords. They plan to overthrow them when they’ve cleared the field of their competitors.”

  Elanie looked across at Vik, her eyes narrow.

  He sighed and then shook his head, meeting her gaze. “You told me Andrei was lying to me.”

  Again, she said nothing. There was a tension between them, based on hurt and pride and idiocy.

  Rane would guess most of the idiocy lay in Vik’s camp.

  “So Andrei was whispering lies about my allies to me, stirring up trouble to destabilize this part of Middleland, and having done that, took a position with William to do the same?” Vik stood, but carefully this time. He placed his hands on the table and leaned forward. “I’ve been a dupe?”

  Rane shrugged. “You and every other regent in Middleland.”

  “And your father?” He looked over at Kayla. “You say he’s been coerced by Eric the Bold?”

  She lifted her shoulders uncertainly. “From some things he said to me, I had the impression Eric threatened to harm me if he didn’t cooperate.”

  Vik pushed himself upright. “Drink?” he asked Rane, and then stalked to a small table near the massive fireplace at the far end of the room which held a collection of bottles.

  Rane didn’t have time for a drink—all this talk of sorcerers only strengthened his need to be off and searching for Soren, but he forced himself to follow.

  He saw Elanie and Kayla come together, talking in low voices as they stood a little to one side.

  “What was your journey here truly about, De’Villier?” Vik handed over a crystal glass of liqueur.

  “I was telling you the truth. I’m looking for my brother, although I was hoping to get some idea of Andrei’s strengths and weaknesses while I was about it. There is only one option to save Gaynor from Eric, and that’s to bring all the sorcerers down. If we get rid of only Eric, one of the others will simply take his place.”

  “You say ’we’?”

  “Kayla and I. And possibly a powerful earth-magic witch called Ylana.”

  “What can Phon do to help in this?” Vik watched him over the rim of his glass.

  Rane considered it. “You’ve been manipulated by Andrei, and other regents in the area will have been, too, either by him or one of the other sorcerers. You could start to spread the word, send messages out explaining what Kayla and I have told you this evening. Start undoing the damage. And start with the king of Therston. Nuen is theoretically his sorcerer, but his real loyalty is to his brother, Jasper. If Nuen wins this war, Jasper will be reigning by his side, and the king of Therston will be either killed or expelled, of that I have absolutely no doubt.”

  Vik gave a slow nod. “Andrei told me Gaynor was gearing up for war. That Therston was planning to boycott our fruit and that Klevan was considering going to war with Tibalt. Elanie refused to believe it, especially the information about Klevan and Tibalt, and she sent a secret message to her father to clarify. He sent a messenger who arrived today, denying it all. What you’ve told us tonight makes more sense than anything else has these last few months.”

  Rane set down his glass. “We must go now. Every moment we waste, my brother could be in trouble.”

  Vik set his glass down as well. “I have said sorry more tonight that I think I have in my whole lifetime, but I am sorry about what happened today. Kayla is right, I could have accompanied you along your way, and I would know all this already, and still have a gate on my castle entrance.”

  Rane smiled. “And more bows and arrows in working order.”

  Vik didn’t smile back. “What is she?”

  Rane looked across at her. “Extraordinary.”

  “You know what I mean.” Vik shifted his stance, looked at the two women as well.

  Rane didn’t think Vik would be pleased to learn Kayla had brought as much wild magic as she could into his home, so he shrugged. “I know what you mean, but I’m not prepared to tell you. She is powerful, and she is determined to protect Gaynor from Eric and anyone else. That’s all you need to know.”

  “I asked her to marry me four times.”

  Rane lifted a brow. “I gathered that from what she said outside. It sounds as if you failed to win her over.”

  Vik huffed out a laugh. “I was an ass. Although it turned out for the best. I’m happy in my marriage, although I haven’t done much better in winning over Elanie.”

  Rane watched Kayla and Elanie embrace, the dark, almost black, of Elanie’s hair contrasted against the deep chestnut of Kayla’s. He turned to the king. “Try harder.”

  Vik bowed to him. “I think I will.”

  Rane bowed back, but before he could take his leave, Vik raised a hand. “I think you’ll want to take this.” He opened a long flat wooden box that sat on the table and lifted out the knife inside it.

  Rane stared down at it, and then took it, his hand clenching around the hilt. “You saw me hide it?”

  “Let’s just say I was suspicious. I sent someone back to search the area until they found something.”

  Rane slid it into its place on his belt.

  “May I ask why you did hide it?”

  “It’s precious to me. I knew your guard would take it from me at some point and I planned to escape you as soon as possible. If someone had my knife, I would have had to find them, and that would have taken time and been . . . messy.”

  Vik looked at it. “It doesn’t seem particularly sharp, or even very fine. Why do you prize it so much?”

  Rane smiled. “Sentimental reasons.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  HALAKAN LOOKED PRETTY in the morning sun.

  The large village, almost a town, sat nestled in a valley against a hill thick with trees, and the steep pitched roofs gleamed warm and red as the light touched them.

  Rane stood next to Kayla on the opposite slope and they both looked down.

  They’d ridden wild magic through the night, and again, all the wild magic had followed her, so the woods were thick with it.

  Sooty had been left at Ylana’s as they’d passed near her cottage on the journey from Phon to Halakan.

  Kayla still hadn’t worked out how Sooty had managed to change back to her normal size, and they couldn’t afford to draw atten
tion to themselves in Halakan.

  Kayla chose less noticeable clothes and a more subtle method of carrying wild magic with her this time, using it to create petticoats under a sensible wool skirt and the lining of her wool jacket. Out of sight.

  She also took Rane’s satchel and slung it over her shoulder, and let as much wild magic as could fit pour into it before buckling the straps.

  Rane stood watching her, legs braced apart. “Ready?”

  She could see the tension in him, the drive to get into Halakan as fast as possible.

  It was almost as if he was under a compulsion like the one Eric the Bold had used on them both when they first met. Kayla knew the feeling of being driven to a goal, although this one was entirely born of Rane’s loyalty and love for his brother.

  She stepped close to him, brushed her lips over his. “Ready.”

  He drew her close and hugged her very tight, then took her hand.

  They stepped out from the cover of the Great Forest and walked down the open slope toward the village. A little way in the distance, down the far end of the valley, she saw a stronghold, high-walled and as imposing as Jasper’s.

  If he was still alive, Gerald of Halakan was aligned to a powerful lord. A ruler with this much status would only have the best sorcerer he could find.

  The village gate was already open, but when they reached it, two guards stepped into their path.

  “What business?”

  Kayla took in the wariness of the guards’ stance, the way one kept his gaze locked on Rane, and the other looked over Rane’s shoulder, as if expecting trouble, or more men to emerge.

  She let Rane answer.

  “We’ve come to speak to Gerald of Halakan.”

  “What do you want with Gerald?”

  “I sell wild magic items and I heard he was in the market.”

  Sorcerers were always in the market for wild magic items, so Kayla didn’t think Gerald would turn the opportunity down.

  “Which direction did you come from?”

  “From Therston.”

  “Through the Great Forest?” The guard scoffed.

  Rane shrugged. “I’m a wild magic hunter. The Great Forest is where I make my living.”