The King's Questioner

by Nikki Katz

  Kalen held his arm out to keep everyone behind him, but Cirrus crashed into him and, as if they’d become a tumbleweed, they all spilled into the street. They now found themselves between the guardsman and his apparent foes. Kalen took a closer look and realized the group of men were all dressed in the lightweight fabrics normally found in Pantes, a city at the southern tip of Sandrasia.

  The barkeep had been right.

  “The King’s Law hired us,” one of the men said as the guardsman shoved past Kalen to get closer to them. “Step aside and let us do as we’ve been asked.”

  The guardsman frowned, and then his eyes widened as he spotted Cirrus at Kalen’s side. “What are you doing—”

  “Run!” Kalen grabbed Reign’s hand and urged her away from the men.

  Luna and Cirrus raced off in the opposite direction. If Kalen had to guess, Luna would route them past Ryndel’s residence before meeting them at the wall.

  The guardsman paused only a moment before yelling after Cirrus and following their path. The foreigners decided to chase after Kalen and Reign. It appeared nobody cared about sides; they just wanted confrontation.

  Kalen nudged Reign’s shoulder to the right, and she instinctively turned down another side street. Their feet pounded the cobblestone lane, past closed storefronts and several open taverns. Music spilled forth, but little laughter. The entire city was anxious for a quarrel.

  Two of the foreigners kept pace and chased Kalen and Reign as they turned down an alley and then onto a side street, this one leading toward the edge of the town where it butted up against the forest.

  Several men walked slowly but methodically down the center of the street, in the direction of the castle. The two pursuers had fallen slightly behind, but they still followed. Kalen wasn’t sure if they saw him when he moved off the street and ducked into a nondescript building coated in ivy with a small painted sign hanging outside.

  Kalen and Reign stepped through the door and into an opium haze. The mood was less intense than outside, and nobody seemed inclined to grab a sword and race toward the castle. Kalen wondered if it was the opium that counteracted the magick at play.

  “Another brothel?” Reign asked under her breath.

  Another brothel, but not just any brothel.

  “Kalen!” Luna’s mother swept in, her loose skirts swirling around delicate ankles. She was almost as tiny as Luna, only without the silver coloring. She enveloped Kalen in a hug and kissed him on both cheeks. “Where’s my daughter?”

  “She’s safe and will be home shortly.” Kalen urged Madam into the far hallway and nodded for Reign to follow.

  “And who is this lovely young girl you brought with you?”

  Kalen thought Reign blushed at the comment, but it could have been the rose tint of the lighting in the hallway they had stepped into.

  “Reign, this is Madam, Luna’s mother. And this is Reign; she’s visiting from Servaille.” He quickly introduced them.

  “There’s something about you that looks familiar.” Madam cocked her head to examine Reign.

  “I’ll explain more later.” Kalen urged Reign forward. The last thing they needed was Madam realizing Reign was royalty.

  “We are going to slip out the back. Two men might follow me here. I actually hope that they do.” He glanced around. “If they ask, you haven’t seen us. Have Jezebel entice them.” The curly-haired brunette would certainly keep the men ogling for the precious few minutes Kalen needed to lose them.

  “Of course,” Madam said.

  “Have the girls heard anything that might be of use since we left?”

  “Business has been good, although we’ve had more trouble with customers than we normally do.”

  “I imagine. Anything else?”

  “The other sorciers…” Her voice trailed off.

  Kalen halted midstep. “What of them?”

  “The Law had them rounded up the day after you disappeared. Nobody has seen them since.”

  Kalen’s mind churned this detail. Would Ryndel have decided to punish them all for Kalen’s desertion?

  “When will Luna return?” Madam asked.

  “I’ll send her as soon as we’re done. It could very well be later this evening.” He reached into his jacket to pull out the book he’d purchased their last day in Antioege and pressed it into Madam’s hands. “Please give this to Amya.” He gave her a quick hug before leading Reign farther toward the exit.

  A door flew open, and Jezebel stepped out. “Kalen!” Her fingers trailed along his arm as he passed, and he threw her a lopsided grin.

  Several of the girls peeked out of their doors, and each one called him by name, blowing a kiss or reaching out to run a hand over his check or back or arm. He’d spent enough time there over the years, first when he’d lived there for a few months after his parents abandoned him, and then later, gathering secrets and spending time with Luna. All the girls knew him. They also knew he wouldn’t touch them.

  Reign didn’t know that—couldn’t know that—but she kept her gaze at her feet as they passed.

  Kalen grabbed the handle just as he heard Madam’s sultry voice from the doorway at the opposite end of the hall. “Hello, gentlemen. What might I be able to do for you this evening?”

  Kalen slipped out and eased the door quietly shut behind Reign. Then they were down the darkened alley and headed toward the castle.

  They followed a street that curved along the tree line and would eventually land at the castle wall. Reign tugged her cloak tighter against the cold air of night and the drizzling rain that had started as soon as they left the brothel. It seemed the storm had followed them from the sea.

  Suddenly she stopped and tugged on Kalen’s sleeve. “What’s that?” She pointed deeper into the woods.

  Kalen squinted into the twisting trunks and tangled branches, his gaze settling on the flickering lights in the distance. At first he thought they were flickerflies playing tag, but the lights were brighter, and then he heard the murmur of voices.

  It could only be more men, waiting in hiding. But for what? And how had Ryndel been able to rally such a vast amount of people?

  Wind whipped through the branches above, coaxing the few remaining leaves to fall to a peaceful demise. Up ahead, the castle walls spread from the trees toward the sea. Kalen increased his pace. They reached the wall and headed for the side entrance. He checked that Reign still had her hood pulled over her head. Based on Madam’s reaction, he didn’t want people wondering who she might be.

  He paused outside the gates to see if any guards would stop them. Silence greeted them, and he led Reign through, only to find two of the guardsmen lying incapacitated and Luna and Cirrus waiting casually beside them.

  “Took you long enough,” Luna said.

  “We had to ditch the foreigners,” Kalen said, his voice low. “I take it there was no sign of Ryndel?”

  Luna shook her head. “He has to be here.”

  They stuck to the shadows of the inside of the wall, following it along for several paces. Above them the clouds continued to gather. Shouts and stamping echoed from outside the main castle gate. The mob was growing as people continued to feel pulled in this direction.

  Kalen tensed as he felt it again. His chest turned toward the right, almost on its own volition. The familiar buildings stretched before him—the kitchens, the barracks and training field, and the dungeon beyond.

  He glanced at Cirrus and Reign, who had turned in the same direction. Reign’s eyes were wide, and her fingers began to fist. She saw him watching, and her hand opened slowly as she took a deep breath.

  “What does it feel like?” Luna asked.

  “It’s like a hook,” Reign said. “I’m urged forward, attracted to something.”

  That was it. One of the female sorciers could attract things to her, but never something this significant in scale. She attracted small objects and animals, maybe a single person if she concentrated on it, but certainly not crowds of people from as far awa
y as the harbor. He didn’t understand how it was possible.

  The tug severed again.

  Cirrus took a deep breath, then his eyes narrowed. Kalen felt it, too, a sudden blanket of anger and rage. On the heels of the other magick, it felt even stronger, as if they’d been disarmed by the pull.

  Cirrus spun toward Kalen. “What are you looking at?”

  Kalen’s hand gripped the handle of his sword. Shouts erupted and footsteps sounded on the other side of the wall. The mob was closing in.

  Luna stepped between them. “Knock it off, you two. Let’s go find the king.”

  Kalen mentally pushed against the anger, but it suddenly cleared just as quickly as the attraction had. Whatever Ryndel was doing, it came in pulses.

  Cirrus yanked at his hair, pulling it further on end. “Bloody crow. We need to stop this madness.”

  Lightning flashed, illuminating the stretch of exterior courtyard between the wall and the side of the great hall. Thunder crashed above them, and they made a run for it, hoping the darkness and noise would cover their approach and they wouldn’t be spotted. Time was not on their side, and they couldn’t afford the delay of a conversation with the guardsmen.

  They followed the arched stone corridor that lined the front of the great hall. A high ceiling jutted above them, held aloft by columns evenly spaced along the length of the building. To their left the courtyard stretched down in wide, stepped tiers to the castle wall, where lanterns hung at regular intervals, showing the guardsmen stationed outside. Clouds darkened the horizon, and more lightning danced in the heavy clouds still hanging above the sea. The rain began to fall harder, echoing off the roof and dancing in puddles in the courtyard. The shouting continued to erupt from outside the wall.

  “How easily can the mob get in?” Reign asked as she tried to peer past the wall and gate that held them out.

  “It’s been decades since we’ve been attacked,” Cirrus said. “I really have no idea. I would hope that we are safe here.”

  Finally, they reached the midway point of the corridor. To their right stood a marble slab of flooring and two massive double doors, ornate with jeweled carvings. Reign’s mouth dropped open as she took it in. A two-headed dragon stared out at them, the eyes inlaid with sapphires and the talons encrusted with rubies. Flickerflies, dusted with diamonds, dotted the background. The dragon’s tail wrapped around and split to form the handles.

  “You ready?” Cirrus looked at Kalen, who nodded.

  They each grabbed a handle and pushed inward. The doors parted enough for them to slip in, Luna and Reign just after. They lined up side by side, a united front, as the heavy doors closed behind them.

  CHAPTER

  26

  Across the length of the massive room, at the far end where the throne sat at the apex of a rounded dais, the court council, minus Ryndel, all turned their heads.

  Terrack thrust his chair behind him, rose to his full height, and lifted his sword.

  Cirrus stormed forward. He tipped his chin up and threw his shoulders back. Gone was the charismatic jokester from their journey and in his place was the stern and serious prince. “Put your weapon away.”

  “Terrack, stand down.” The king stood, his robe settling around him as he took a step in their direction. “Cirrus, my son. Where have you been?”

  “Nice try.” Cirrus waved him back toward the throne.

  Kalen and the girls caught up to Cirrus as he continued across the floor.

  The king’s eyes narrowed, and he remained standing. “Be careful how you tread, son. I don’t suggest you anger me further. You disappeared without warning—the same day a prisoner was set free. I imagine your friends had something to do with that.” He paused to glare at Kalen. “However I still maintain it was mere coincidence that you left the same exact evening and are only now returning.”

  “The captain was wrongly accused,” Kalen said to the king before his gaze turned to Terrack. “I told you to set him free.”

  “The Law disagreed with your conclusion,” Terrack said.

  “Speaking of … where is our old pal, Ryndel?” Cirrus asked. “We have a few things we need to clear up. Things you all might want to know about, considering the mob outside your door.”

  “We are waiting on him so we can address the very problem of which you speak,” the king said.

  “He is the problem,” Kalen interjected. “You’re not likely to have him join you unless it’s to put a sword tip to your throat.”

  The council members began to mutter among themselves.

  The king dismissed the comment with a wave. “I don’t know that I can believe you any longer, Kalen. My son departs after you’ve gone into his mind, a prisoner is freed from my dungeon, and now you return with two harlots at your sides.”

  “Harlot?” Luna jumped forward.

  Cirrus held her back as Reign stepped toward the king and let her hood fall.

  “You might want to reconsider your choice of description … Father.”

  All conversation halted, and two of the council members rose, dark cloaks folding around them as they stared in confusion.

  Cirrus burst into laughter. Inappropriate, but he seemed unable to help it or even to care. He chuckled and bent over, clutching his side. “The look on your face,” he said to the king before he took a deep breath and straightened. “Did you think with Kalen’s abilities we wouldn’t figure out the truth eventually? Let me introduce you to your daughter. My younger sister.”

  As one, the king’s council shifted their gaze from Cirrus to Reign and back again. Anyone could see that they were siblings. The same hair color and freckles. Even the way they both glared at their father. It was a bit uncanny. And then the council all turned to face the king. His face drained of color while his fingers fisted at his sides. “Why did you bring her here? She’s destined to bring on the destruction of the kingdom.” His voice climbed as he repeated himself. “Why did you bring her here?”

  Reign continued to stare at her father even as the council began firing questions at the king.

  “What are you speaking of?”

  “Destruction of the kingdom?”

  “Who is this girl?”

  Reign stepped forward. “My name is Reign,” she said. “Although I have no idea if that’s my birth name or not.”

  “It is,” the king said, his voice dropping to a loud whisper. “Your mother used to sing you a lullaby.”

  Kalen remembered the song from her and Cirrus’s memories.

  “So, she’s a princess?” another member asked.

  The king looked her up and down. “Assuming she’s who she says she is, yes.”

  “I can vouch that she’s the princess,” Kalen said. “I’ve been inside her memories, and they match Cirrus’s.”

  “Plus, just look at the two of them,” Luna chimed in. “You can’t all be that dense.”

  “You’ve been hiding this from us?” the only female council member spoke directly to the king.

  “Of course he has. He hid it from everyone.” Cirrus practically spit the words, and then he turned to the king. “To answer your question from before, we brought her here because she belongs here. The bigger question is why did you send her away? The prophet told you her banishment would bring destruction upon the kingdom. You only need to look outside your castle gates to see the truth of that.”

  The council members again began to speak over one another, expressing confusion over the prophecy and banishment.

  “Silence!” The king shouted over them and then spoke to Cirrus. “What does the unrest have to do with”—he paused as if struggling to come up with a word to describe Reign—“her?”

  “Quite a bit, unfortunately. That’s why we need Ryndel. We have a few questions for him.”

  And a few amulets to destroy, Kalen thought.

  “If you could only point us in the direction we might find him,” Cirrus continued, “we’ll be happy to leave you to whatever mundane matters you were discussi
ng before our arrival.”

  “I doubt the conversation will be so mundane now,” Luna muttered with a snort.

  Terrack leaned forward. “The kingdom is under attack. I think we can all agree that is the most important matter at hand. What exactly does the Law have to do with the men advancing on the city?”

  “He’s using magick to influence the subjects, even ones from other cities,” Kalen said. “I saw residents of Pantes outside earlier.”

  “He’s been scheming for a while now, from what we can tell. Possibly years,” Cirrus added, his eyes never leaving his father’s.

  “Enough of this.” The female council member waved her hand like she was bored with the conversation already. “Throw these four in the dungeon and deal with them later. It’s obvious they are part of this revolt.”

  Before anyone could respond, the door behind the throne swung open, and a young page rushed in. “They’re through the gates, sire. The mob is headed this way.”

  The council erupted in panic. This type of unrest or attack was unprecedented.

  Cirrus and Kalen looked at each other. They needed to be out there, protecting the kingdom, not indoors explaining matters to a council incapable of action. Kalen turned to Reign. “Stay here with the king. This is the safest building on the entire grounds.”

  “No.” She grabbed his arm. “I’m coming with you. I can’t stand by idly while the fighting happens outside. So much of their anger is because of me.”

  “It’s not because of you. You can’t take any of the blame.” Kalen wanted her safe, not out where she could be impaled on a weapon.

  “Their anger is mine.” She swallowed hard. “Ryndel is projecting my emotions on the citizens. Please, Kalen. I have to help. I have to find a way to stop it.”

  Kalen nodded. He didn’t like it, but he understood.

  Luna stepped to Reign’s other side. “Don’t think for a second I’m staying behind to babysit these fools.”

  “We will go fight your fight, Father.” Cirrus freed his sword from its scabbard.