by Anna Kashina
A long, charged glance passed between the two men.
“Is this true, Aghat Mai?” Evan asked.
Mai shifted from foot to foot.
“With all due respect, Your Majesty, I fail to see the reason for this conversation.” He slid a cold glance over the Keeper. “I am being recalled by orders from our Guildmaster. The Majat Guild has sent my replacement for the Pentade to fulfill our obligations to the crown. That’s the end of it. The rest doesn’t concern you. Or the Magister, for that matter.”
“It concerns us all very closely, Aghat Mai,” Egey Bashi said. “For a very simple reason. You and Kara are the only two Diamonds who can resist the Kaddim’s mind control powers. We are at war, and both of you are critical to our chances of winning it. If one, or both of you, go back to your Guild to be killed, in order to uphold the Majat Code, it would be a bloody waste; one that we can’t afford at the moment.”
“Kara’s not going.”
“Like she said, you can’t do much to stop her, Aghat. Can you?”
Mai’s eyes darted to Raishan with an expression that, for a fleeting moment, seemed like a plea.
Raishan shook his head. “I won’t take sides in this one, Aghat Mai. I’d hate to see either of you die, and I can’t possibly overlook the fact that with Kara’s help you do stand more of a chance.”
“Against the entire Guild?”
“I was hoping it wouldn’t come to that.”
Mai smiled. “That’s because you haven’t read the Guildmaster’s letter.”
“I see.”
“Can’t you refuse to go?” Evan asked.
Mai’s smile faded. “If I do, I’ll renounce everything I am. Given that it’s only my life that’s at stake here, I’d rather not.”
“So, you’d rather go there and face certain death?”
“I’ll take my chances.”
“From what I heard just now,” Evan said, “there won’t be much of a chance.”
Mai’s gaze became distant.
“I don’t think our Guildmaster fully understands what he’s up against. The Kaddim Brotherhood is set to destroy everyone, and recent events suggest the Majat Guild is not immune to its powers. I must make sure Aghat Oden Lan is aware of this, whatever he chooses to do to me afterward.”
Evan stared at him in disbelief. “How can you think like this, Aghat Mai, when they’re effectively ordering you to return and be executed?”
“My life’s not important, Your Majesty. Not when the integrity of our Guild is at stake.”
He looked calm as he said it, as if there was nothing out of the ordinary in his assertion. Looking into his impassive face, Evan could see no room for further argument.
“If that is the case,” he said, “I tend to agree with Aghat Raishan. With Kara’s help you do stand more of a fighting chance.”
“If she gets involved in this,” Mai said quietly, “there will be no return.”
“It seems to me she’s already involved.”
Mai shook his head. “Her situation is unprecedented. No one’s ever survived in her circumstances. My guess is, as long as she remains free, the Majat Guild has no idea what to do with her. But if she follows me back to the Guild…” His gaze darkened, but before Evan could catch the emotion that passed within, there was a barely perceptible glint, as if invisible shutters inside his eyes slid into place, hiding Mai’s feelings behind an expression of calm tranquility.
“I violated my orders,” Mai went on, “so that she could live. If she goes with me and dies protecting me, all this would be for nothing. You’ll lose a prize fighter who can help you against the Kaddim. If no one else here sees it this way, maybe you would, Magister?” He turned to the Keeper.
Egey Bashi shook his head. “I’d hate to lose either one of you. If you really must go, Aghat Mai, then I’m the one who should be going with you to explain the situation to your Guildmaster.”
Mai smiled. “I heard you tried, when he gave the order to kill Kara.”
“True,” the Keeper said grimly. “He feels quite personally about her, doesn’t he?”
“Yes, he does.” Mai exchanged a glance with Raishan.
“But we have to do something,” Egey Bashi insisted.
“In this particular case, Magister, the best thing you could do is let me go, and make sure Kara stays behind. I’ve sent a messenger raven to the Guildmaster to explain the situation in advance of my arrival. There’s a chance he will listen. And if not, you’ll at least have Kara to fight on your side.”
“Do you really think you have a chance, Aghat?” Egey Bashi asked.
Mai averted his gaze.
“I didn’t think so. From my personal experience, Aghat Oden Lan can be quite stubborn, especially when he feels personally about something.”
“All the more reason to make sure Kara doesn’t get anywhere near him. Not until he’s had a chance to relieve his anger by punishing someone else.”
“You.”
Mai’s lips twitched. “I have a plan.”
“A good one, I hope.”
“As good as it can be, under the circumstances.”
“Why don’t you share it with Kara? Maybe she’ll agree to stay behind?”
Mai let out a barely perceptible sigh. “Not as good as that, I’m afraid.”
Egey Bashi shook his head. “If you can’t prevent her from coming, Aghat Mai, what do you suggest I do to stop her? Unlike you, I can’t even stand up to her in a fight for more than, oh, three seconds?”
Mai shrugged. “Perhaps you can persuade Aghat Raishan to help?”
“I will not take sides in this one,” Raishan repeated. “This is between you and Kara, Aghat Mai.”
Mai’s face became stern. “Fine.” He turned to Evan. “I’ll need my token back, Your Majesty. If I may, I suggest we go back into the throne room so that you can give it to me and accept Xandel’s, or things might get out of hand.”
Evan ran his gaze around the silent faces.
“I hate to lose you, Aghat Mai,” he said. “But if you insist there’s no other way, let’s go back to the audience chamber and finish the show, shall we?”
3
ARCHERY
Kyth followed Kara all the way to her room and paused in the doorway, looking inside.
“Come in,” she said. “And close the door before somebody else sees me.”
The room was small and bare. Light finding its way through a small window did little to illuminate simple furnishings that consisted of the bare necessities with no embellishments of any kind. A sleeping cot stood by the wall next to a large trunk, two chairs, and a weapon stand in the corner. Kyth had been to this room before, and like before he couldn’t stop wondering how Kara could possibly find such a place acceptable for living.
He sat in the indicated chair, watching her sweep through the room, collecting things into her travel pack. Her face was drawn and composed, showing deep concentration on her task. She looked so distant that his heart ached. He knew that their relationship, while it had lasted, was too good to be true, but it still hurt to see how quickly she retreated back into her Majat world at the first signs of trouble. As she darted around the room gathering her scarce belongings, she looked worlds away.
“Do you really have to go with him?” Kyth asked.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
She paused and turned to face him. She seemed calm, but knowing her well, Kyth recognized the air of detachment that spoke of turmoil within.
“I owe him my life,” she said. “It’s a debt I must repay.”
“By getting yourself killed?”
She lowered the shirt she had been folding. “I won’t get killed. Mai needs my help, that’s all.”
“Your Guild has issued a death warrant against you. What do you think will happen when you go back there?”
She shook her head. “If Mai goes there alone, it will be worse.”
“But what if he’s telling the truth? What if this has nothing to do with y
ou?”
She walked over and stopped directly in front of him.
“Do you believe that yourself, Kyth?”
He rose from his seat so that their faces were level. He ached to put his arms around her, to hold her. He hoped there was a way to make it all go away. But deep inside he knew she was right. Mai was being punished for sparing her life. And she was about to commit herself to sharing this punishment.
He swallowed, holding her gaze. “No.”
She nodded and turned away, but he reached forward and caught her by the arm. She slowly turned back to him, their faces so close that he felt her warmth and the barely perceptible smell of wild flowers emanated by her skin.
Her closeness made his head spin. He couldn’t bear the thought of losing her.
“Is there anything I can do to make you stay?” he asked quietly.
She ran her hand along the side of his face. His arms responded on their own accord, enfolding her, pulling her close. She rested her face against his shoulder, cradled in his embrace. For a brief instant it seemed as if everything were all right, again. Then she drew back.
“Remember when I told you I’m different, Kyth?”
He nodded. She had told him early on, when he made his first advances and she had tried to warn him off. He knew she believed it, but it never made sense to him.
“Of course you are different. You are the most amazing woman in existence.”
She shook her head. “I’m a trained killer, Kyth. I may look to you like a normal woman, but I’m not. For a brief moment when we were together, you made me very happy. But you know, as well as I do, that it can’t possibly work out between us. This life – it just isn’t for me.”
His heart quivered. “It can be. If you give it a chance.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because,” she said, “I can’t renounce what I am. Even if my Guild casts me out, I can’t stop being a Diamond Majat.”
He leaned forward, looking searchingly into her face. “Are you telling me everything?”
She frowned. “Yes. Why?”
He swallowed. “It’s because of Mai, isn’t it?”
She stepped back, watching him, wide-eyed. “Are you jealous?”
Kyth frowned. “No. It’s just… You do care about him, don’t you?”
“Not the way you mean.”
“Which way, then?”
She sighed. “I admire his skill. And… I owe him. It’s just like any other debt, but with higher stakes. I can’t possibly stay behind when Mai is going there to face punishment for saving my life. If one of us must die, it has to be me.”
“But–”
Her quick glance stopped him. “I’m sorry it has to be this way, Kyth. But I’m going, and that’s that. Believe me, it will hurt less if we say our goodbyes now rather than dragging it out.”
“No. You got into this whole ordeal because of me. If you truly must go, then I’m coming with you.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. Your kingdom needs you. Your power is the only hope against the Kaddim. Besides, there’s nothing you can do against the Majat Guild.”
“And you can?”
“I don’t know. But the Guild is the only home I’ve ever had. They gave me my life. They can take it away if they really must.” She turned away, shoving things into her pack.
Kyth sat down on her bare bed, watching her. He felt numb. His mind just couldn’t possibly enfold everything that was happening. The woman he loved, breaking up with him so that she could run off with another man to face certain death.
“Mai seemed very determined not to let you go along,” he said. “If you go with him, he’ll just keep fighting you all the way. You might kill each other before you even reach the Guild.”
She shook her head. “I’ll find a way to convince him. Once he sees there’s no return, he will accept me. And you – you must help me.”
“Help you?” Kyth raised his eyebrows. Helping her to run off to her death was the last thing he wanted to do.
“Don’t talk to anyone of my decision, or try to use anyone’s help to stop me. Just accept it. Please?” She slid forward and sat next to him, clenching his face in her palms, turning it to her. “Will you?”
He swallowed. “You are asking me to help in what I believe is equal to suicide.”
“If you don’t help, Kyth, I’ll do it anyway. You must know that by now.”
He exhaled slowly. “I do.”
She quickly leaned forward and brushed his lips with hers.
The touch sent warmth through his body – and, just as suddenly, the realization of what was happening hit him full in the face. She was leaving him. She was going to die. She had made up her mind, and there was nothing he could possibly do to stop her.
He swallowed. “All the times we were together... You felt the same way I did. I know it.”
She sighed. “I felt happy with you, yes. But I now know for certain that it wasn’t meant to be. I hope you can accept that. I always told you, no promises, remember?”
“Yes.” She had said that, just like she had told him how different she was. It’s just that Kyth had never believed it. To him, she was always, above all, a beautiful woman, and the moments they spent together made Kyth the happiest man in the world. If she felt the way he did, how could anything else matter at all?
“Forgive me,” she said. “I never meant to hurt you.” She stepped away, once again picking up her half-finished pack. “Goodbye, Kyth. And, thank you. For everything.”
Kyth could barely feel his way as he stumbled out of the side door into the castle’s garden. His hands clenched into fists until they felt numb, his entire body shivering with the effort of holding back tears.
He could not bear the thought of losing Kara. Her resolve to return to her Guild and face punishment, his inability to sway her decision, left him shattered. But worse than that, the fact that she broke up with him just didn’t make sense. They had been so happy together. Or so he had thought.
Was she really as different as she tried to make him believe? Was she incapable of loving anyone?
Or, was it that Kyth was not the right man for her all along?
The thought stung him as he blindly wandered along the garden paths. The gleaming waters of the Crown Lake shone unbearably bright through the slits of the outer castle wall. He had always loved watching the lake and the ever-shifting colors reflecting off the water. But now, his gut wrenched as he glanced that way. The last time he and Kara had been sitting together was on top of the wall overlooking the lake, watching the sunset. Only a few days ago, but it felt like an eternity. Would they ever be able to do that again?
He steered deeper into the grove of apple trees, but their whispering shade brought no comfort. His thoughts were going in circles. He was losing Kara. She was going to die. And even if, by a miracle, she survived, she may no longer choose to be a part of his life. It stung even more to think that everyone else, starting with his father, would feel nothing but joy at such a turn of events. A crown prince could never marry a hired guard, even one released from her former duties. The kingdom had enough trouble dealing with the fact that Kyth was the first royal heir in history to possess magic, a feat that, until recently, had marked him as an outlaw and an ungodly abomination. It had taken a lot of effort on his father’s part to change this law, and some of his subjects were still coming to terms with it. To marry a former Majat warrior would be taking things too far.
Kyth had always believed things would work out somehow. He loved Kara with all his heart and could never think of any other woman in his life. Even now, when she had decided to leave him, he couldn’t imagine he would ever recover enough to be with anyone else.
A movement ahead caught his eye. He froze, peering through the greenery into the sunlit glade adjoining the back palace wall.
Inadvertently, he had wandered too close to the archers’ practice range. And it was occupied. As he watched, an arrow whistled past and hit the
very center of the bullseye.
Kyth narrowed his eyes. The feathers on the arrow shaft looked unfamiliar, green and yellow. Who could this possibly be?
He carefully edged through the bushes, heading for the archer, invisible behind the protrusion of the wall. As he rounded the bend, he stopped, gaping.
A slender young woman with long auburn hair stood by the wall, taking aim. She held a Lakeland bow so long that, when raised, it reached down to her knee. He couldn’t see her face, but the colors of her dress, green with a thin yellow trim, left no doubt of her identity. Lady Celana, heiress of the rival royal house Illitand. After her father, Duke Daemur Illitand, had temporarily fallen under Kaddim influence, she had been staying at the Tandarian court in his place, serving on the royal council with fervor, in an attempt to diminish her father’s mistakes in the eyes of the King.
Kyth knew Lady Celana to be highly intelligent, with a grasp of politics that went far beyond her tender age of seventeen. But he had never seen her do anything physical. To think that she was also an adept archer...
He watched the royal lady release the arrow, which hit the target very close to the first one. Then he gently cleared his throat.
Lady Celana spun around with unladylike speed. Her startled expression slowly relaxed into a smile as she recognized Kyth.
“Your Royal Highness.” She sank into a deep curtsey.
“Forgive the interruption, my lady,” Kyth said awkwardly. He had been raised in a Forestland village to protect his identity, and even after all his time at court, he still found it difficult to get used to all the bowing and curtseying from high nobles.
She lowered her bow and watched him with a chilling intelligence he had always found disconcerting. Her eyes missed nothing as she slid her gaze over his face, likely bearing the trace of recent tears, his ripped sleeve, which had caught on a rose bush as he stalked unseeingly through the grounds, his aching hands, their knuckles still white from the force with which he had been clenching his fists, now slowly relaxing by his sides. She was in no hurry to start the conversation, for which Kyth felt inwardly grateful. He was in no mood for court pleasantries.
