The King's Questioner

by Nikki Katz

  “This one’s coming to.” He barely heard Luna over the shout of the other prisoners.

  Kalen cupped his hands and yelled, “Give him another dose.” He reached out and helped Belrose to his feet. The captain rubbed at his lower back. His jacket pulled tight against his chest, and he winced.

  “Can you walk?” Kalen held his hand toward the door, urging the captain in front of him.

  “Yes. I can probably even run.”

  “Good, that may be a possibility.” Kalen walked to the guard and clipped the keys to his vest. He looked at Belrose. “Let’s go.”

  “What about me?” the mercenary called out.

  “Consider yourself safe and well-fed,” Kalen said as he crossed the small antechamber.

  Belrose walked toward the stairs, seeming to accidentally trip over the guard, although his steel-tipped boot caught the prone man’s cheek with a sickening crunch. “Oops.”

  Kalen led the way to the floor below. The thief’s blue eyes peered at them from between the slats of the left cell door. As soon as he saw Belrose, he began to beat against them. “Let me out!” He screamed the phrase again, over and over. Kalen worried he’d wake the guard, but Luna’s second dose appeared to continue to work.

  Through the prisoner’s shouting he heard Luna grunt from the first floor. “Let. Me. Go.”

  Kalen’s step quickened as he raced down. The guard had his back to him, but his burly arm wrapped around Luna’s neck, and he’d lifted her high enough that her toes barely touched the floor. “Not fast enough this time, were you?”

  She lifted one foot to kick out to her side but couldn’t get enough leverage.

  Kalen went to rush forward, but Belrose was even faster. His hand came down at an edged angle into the guard’s neck. The guard’s arm fell and he crumbled into a heap.

  Luna barely leaped out of the way to avoid being crushed. She rubbed at her own neck as her eyes flitted from Belrose to the guard. “That move may be more effective than the night lily. You need to teach it to us.”

  Belrose nodded. “Sometimes your hands are the only weapon you need.”

  Luna unbolted the door, and the trio slipped outside, leaving the shouting prisoners behind them.

  CHAPTER

  7

  The moon was practically overhead as they raced from the dungeon tower to the back gate. The woods had darkened to shadows, the tall trees stretching up until they blended into inky sky. Off in the distance flickerflies darted through branches, daring one to follow their tiny paths of light.

  Kalen and Luna stopped to grab their packs. Luna threw hers over her shoulder and pulled up her hood, which had fallen during their sprint. Her silver hair glowed in the dark, and she hid it all beneath the black fabric.

  They readied to begin a path along the wall when Belrose grabbed Kalen by the shoulder. He slowly turned around.

  “I need to know I’m not walking into a trap,” the captain said.

  “I just freed you. Why would I go to those lengths only to lead you into a trap?”

  “One would wonder why you freed me in the first place. What do I owe you?”

  “Passage to Antioege?”

  “Shouldn’t be too difficult as I’m headed that way anyway. But why?”

  Kalen paused. “There’s not enough time to explain right now, but that chest in your memory may lead us to something we’re looking for. We need more information, and since you obtained it in Antioege, that seems the best place to start.” He began to walk backward away from them. “Please know I speak the truth. Nobody knows of my intention to free you or to leave the country.”

  Belrose stayed silent for a few seconds. “It will take a while to prepare to sail.”

  “I already warned your crew.” Kalen started forward again, traversing a completely different route than the one he’d taken earlier that day.

  Silence built, heavy and humid as the air around them, until they finally neared the harbor.

  Kalen turned a corner past one of the buildings and did a double take.

  Cirrus lounged against the side of the building, his boot against the wall and a bag casually sprawling on the ground at his other foot. “Planning to leave without me?” he drawled.

  Kalen had forgotten about his meeting with the prince. “Actually, I was hoping you’d change your mind,” he said. Kalen moved to edge past. Cirrus would make the trip hell. The prince was spoiled, and the two of them in close quarters would not fare well.

  Cirrus shifted his head and looked past Kalen. “You’re the captain, I presume?”

  Kalen frowned. “What have you heard?”

  “An argument between Terrack and Ryndel. Right before the unconsciousness…” He rubbed the back of his head as if the memory had triggered a pain. “Terrack said you’d recommended clemency, but Ryndel refused. He wanted to know exactly where the cargo had been abandoned and told Terrack to torture the prisoner until he revealed the location of the island. Next thing I knew, a sudden rage flooded my senses and took over. I was charging Terrack, and he knocked me on my back.”

  The thought pricked at Kalen and he remembered feeling that same pull when he was near the crowd earlier. He’d been drawn against his will to the anger of the crowd. Kalen’s mind churned these details. Ryndel had been in both locations. He was also after the chest and was willing to imprison and torture to get it. Kalen wondered if the king knew Ryndel was arresting citizens of neighboring kingdoms without his command. He glanced at Belrose. “Did they get the island’s location out of you?”

  Belrose glared at him as if offended that he questioned his ability to withstand torture.

  Luna interrupted and pointed at Cirrus. “He is not coming with us.”

  While Cirrus had tolerated Kalen’s lack of royal bloodline as a child and counted him as a friend, he tended to look down on Luna and her family. It had been years since he’d last slighted her, but Luna was known to carry a grudge.

  “Au contraire. It would be you who is not going,” Cirrus said.

  “Stop it, you two.” Kalen squeezed his temples. “I’ll leave you both here if you don’t promise to stop.”

  “Time is wasting.” Belrose’s words were clipped.

  “Let’s go.” Kalen reached for Luna’s arm and leaned in. “There’s something I haven’t yet told you,” Kalen said.

  Cirrus grabbed his bag, caught up, and loudly whispered, “And it involves me.” Then he stepped away, like that would be the end of the discussion. In essence, it was. They both were along for the ride, whether anyone liked it or not.

  The foursome passed boats moored along the length of the dock on either side. At the end, a lone person sat in a shallow tender. The same sailor they had spoken to before waited for them.

  Kalen eyed the sailor warily. The chest was gone, and Belrose obviously trusted his crew, but Kalen only wished he hadn’t seen what the man was capable of.

  The captain motioned for Luna to board first. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and mumbled something toward the moon above. The boat rocked as she stepped in, and a light moan escaped her lips before she settled on the back bench, her pack at her side. Kalen and Cirrus followed after.

  Belrose slipped the rope off the piling. “Ready to push off, Jasper?” he asked the sailor, who nodded. The captain dropped the rope and stepped into the boat just as Jasper began rowing away from the dock. They made their way quickly toward the ship, which waited in the bay beyond the other boats, black sails extended.

  Luna rested with her forehead against the tender’s edge. “This is going to be horrible.” And with that said, she vomited over the side.

  Jasper flinched and looked away. “This is just one of the reasons we don’t sail with girls,” he said.

  * * *

  IT WAS WELL after midnight when they boarded the ship. Belrose immediately began directing his skeleton crew to pull up anchor and take advantage of the outgoing tide and westerly winds. The sailors quietly focused on their work. No celebrator
y atmosphere accompanied their escape from Mureau with their freed prisoner of a captain.

  Kalen asked the captain if he could do anything.

  “Perhaps see about finding something to eat belowdecks. I don’t know what provisions are left, and we obviously didn’t have time to restock.” He paused and rolled a shoulder. “I could also use some fresh water if you can find any. I’d like to clean up a little.”

  “Water.” Luna collapsed at the bow of the ship, her head propped against the side and her body swaying to and fro along with the waves. “Can you bring me some?” She weakly patted at her cloak, and Kalen gathered she wanted to mix herself some tea with the herbs in her pocket. He nodded and climbed down into the ship’s galley.

  Once inside, Kalen made quick work setting a pot of water in the fire hearth to get it boiling. He rummaged through some of the cupboards and found salted cod, biscuits, and butter. On the counter sat a dented pail, which he used to carry the food and a jug of ale.

  The water boiled and cooled and Kalen grabbed the pot in one hand, the pail in the other, and made his way above deck. The moon was near full and cast the entire ship in a pale silver sheen. For once Luna didn’t look at odds with everyone.

  Kalen lowered everything to the floorboards and reached around her shoulders to help her sit up. A tin cup rested on top of the food, and he filled it with the water. She took a deep breath and pulled out two packets of dried herbs. A pinch of each went into the cup, and then she raised it to her lips. A few forced swallows and she seemed a little steadier. Kalen reached into the pail and tossed her a biscuit. With deft fingers she broke a piece off and bit into it.

  Kalen gathered the water and food and shuffled across the deck as the ship dipped into a swell. He moved to distribute the food and drink among the crew on deck.

  “Need help?” Cirrus suddenly appeared at his side.

  “Not really, I’ve got it—”

  “Perfect.” Cirrus grabbed the pail of food and followed.

  They made their way to the quarterdeck, where Belrose stood talking to his first mate. The captain suggested a change in course and then motioned for the two of them to follow him to his quarters. Kalen took in the room, all the small clues to the captain’s personality. Everything had its own place. Books stacked along a shelf, in order from biggest to smallest. The bed neatly made with corners tucked in. Not a speck of dust on any of the furniture or the nautical paintings framed in wood. Belrose was meticulous, detail oriented, and cautious. He had nothing to indicate a family back home.

  Belrose accepted the water from Kalen and poured it into the basin.

  “So we are heading to Antioege?” Belrose asked.

  “Yes.” Kalen knew the captain wouldn’t like the next part. “But first I want to stop and see the chest.”

  Belrose shook his head vehemently. “Absolutely not.”

  “I’m paying you.” He removed his pack and pulled forth coins until Belrose seemed content. “We will head to the island first. You don’t even have to disembark from the ship, since I know from your memories where the chest is hidden. We will leave it there, so there’s no need to worry I might bring it aboard the ship.”

  Belrose exhaled slowly. “Well, thank you for that, I guess.”

  “What chest?” Cirrus leaned against the wall, one foot propped up behind him. “Now seems as good a time as any to fill me in on exactly what’s going on, considering I was left from any sort of plan making. Good thing I showed up on the docks when I did.” He raised an eyebrow at Kalen.

  “Good thing,” he muttered.

  “So, why did you free him?” Cirrus pointed at the captain, who had taken off his jacket and was now hanging it neatly on a hook on the wall. “And what are we doing here?”

  As Kalen filled Cirrus in on the interrogation and what he’d seen in the captain’s memory, Belrose began to unbutton his shirt. He winced as he eased it off his back. Welts lined the skin there, some raw and weeping.

  Kalen flinched. They certainly had tried to torture the island’s location from him. He wondered why the King’s Law was so interested in the chest.

  “The chest reminded me of another power we saw somewhere recently.” Kalen cocked his head to the side, willing Cirrus to understand. He didn’t want to reveal the knowledge of an abandoned princess to this captain from another kingdom. “I went to ask Belrose for further details, only to discover that instead of granting him clemency as I’d suggested, Ryndel had thrown him back in the cell. That’s when I decided to free him myself. With Luna’s help, of course.”

  “Thank you.” Belrose cupped his hands into the basin and scooped water to splash on his face. It dripped into the bowl, and he grabbed a towel to wipe at his forehead and cheeks.

  “Why did you come to Mureau?” Cirrus asked him. “You knew you’d be questioned about the chest. Why not return to Antioege as soon as you left it on the island?”

  Kalen wondered the same. He didn’t understand why the captain had sailed into port only to be tortured.

  “It’s my job to transport goods between the two cities—sometimes during the trading cycle, and sometimes just for hire. This one was given to me by a stranger right before we set sail, a personal request—and a good amount of money—instead of a merchant. I underestimated its importance upon arrival, figuring I could just land, load for my return, and return to Antioege.” The captain dipped the towel into the water and reached behind himself to wipe at the wounds on his back. His breathing hitched, and he exhaled slowly as he pressed the cloth against his skin. He rinsed the towel and wrung it out. “Instead I was thrown in prison.”

  “There’s more.” Kalen started to tell Cirrus about the skirmish outside the bar, but the prince looked even further confused.

  He held up a hand. “Wait. They were complaining about the king? And our army? They have no idea what I’ve seen out in the countryside—”

  “You don’t have to convince me,” Kalen said. “I’m on your side.” Kalen loved his kingdom, and, as a member of the royal court, he would always defend the king. Perhaps when Cirrus eventually took his place as monarch, Kalen would have an easier time. Whatever Cirrus was, he couldn’t imagine him demanding questionings with the same zeal. “And that’s not even the shocking part.”

  Cirrus reached into the pail, grabbed a stale biscuit. He took a bite and talked around it. “What else could there be?”

  “Ryndel was there.”

  “Perfect. So he stopped it? That’s not surprising.” Cirrus swallowed.

  Kalen shook his head.

  “That’s impossible. They were talking treason. Ryndel would have had them all thrown in the dungeon before you could blink.”

  “And yet he didn’t. He also had some sort of object in his hand. It flashed in the light.”

  “Was it magicked?” Cirrus asked.

  “I don’t know. But I can’t help but wonder if this is all tied together.”

  Cirrus ran his hands through his hair. “The King’s Law is more afraid of magick than anyone I know.”

  “Even yourself?” Kalen mumbled.

  Cirrus rolled his eyes. “He wouldn’t be a part of this. You must be mistaken.” He turned to the captain and asked if Ryndel had had any involvement with the shipment.

  “Not to my knowledge. He was nowhere on the manifest.”

  “There you have it,” Cirrus said to Kalen. “These are all just coincidences.”

  “I don’t believe in coincidences.” Belrose hung the towel on a hook and faced them. “You say he was there with an item and that the crowd seemed distorted in their emotions. Aggressive even?”

  Kalen nodded. “They agreed with one another, and yet they fought all the same. I even felt this strange pull to join in, and I don’t believe in what they were saying.”

  “What did it feel like?” Belrose asked.

  “Almost like I was being pushed from behind to join. My mind sort of went into a fog.”

  Belrose took a drink from a cup on his
desk. “That does sound similar. We never saw the contents of the chest; it may hold a similar item. Has it happened before?”

  Cirrus nodded. “There has been some general unrest lately. Pockets of rallies and protests, and the council hasn’t been able to pinpoint an exact source or way to address it.”

  “Has the King’s Law been a part of those conversations?” Belrose asked.

  Cirrus paused a moment to think. “He has been pushing for more patrols, more guardsmen out at night.”

  “And did they intervene?” Belrose asked Kalen.

  “Yes. They arrived and Ryndel disappeared.”

  “It’s possible he’s intentionally creating this cycle.” Belrose rested the cup on his desk. “A mob mentality and then he encourages the guardsmen to break it up. The tension will continue to escalate as both sides feel justified and fueled to continue. The subjects start to believe it’s them versus the king and council.”

  “And then what?” Kalen asked. “What’s the purpose behind it?”

  “It makes no sense,” Cirrus said. “What does Ryndel gain if the subjects are against the council?”

  “Perhaps he wants to overthrow the king.”

  Cirrus crossed his arms over his chest. “He’s the biggest coward I’ve ever met.”

  “I don’t know,” Belrose said. “He wasn’t a coward when he had a whip in his hand.”

  “The council would never approve it. They would crown me as king.”

  “Perhaps he plans to dispose of the council. And you as well.”

  Cirrus’s lips pulled into a frown. “Good luck with that.”

  Kalen shoved his hands through his hair. “We need to learn more about these objects, find the source, and destroy any others being sent to the kingdom.”

  “And return to see if Ryndel is up to anything,” Cirrus added.

  Kalen glanced at the captain. “I’m glad you kept at least one of these objects out of the King’s Law’s hands.”

  An eyebrow rose in their direction. “And yet I’m taking you right back to the island to place it in yours.”