by B. T. Narro
“Have you heard anything about Mathew Plumb?” I asked.
He showed me a grave look. “I’m sorry, Jon. His body was found at The Pearl not long after you left.”
I couldn’t move as the rest of my peers walked around me. I had figured he was dead, but to actually hear with all certainty that his cousin had murdered him—the man he had called upon for help—made it hard to get my legs to move. He had been terrorized for so long, right up to the moment of his death. I felt like I’d failed him, that all of us had failed him.
Byron put his hand on my shoulder. “I know that look. Your father had the same one after hearing hard news. This wasn’t your fault. You did not kill Mathew.”
It was his mention of my father that gave me strength. I thought of him watching over me, seeing what I would do now. The news of Mathew’s death hurt, but I wasn’t going to let it stop me.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
I was retrieving my sword from the chest in my room when I heard someone enter. Charlie’s face was pale white.
“I have no training,” he said. “The king can’t really expect me to fight.”
“You’re not going to be fighting,” I reassured him.
“So I can stay here?”
“You’re going to be behind us where you’ll be safe, but you’ll be there with us.”
“No.” He said shaking his head. “No, no.”
“Come here, Charlie.” I turned my desk chair away from the desk. “Sit.”
He sat on the edge of the seat. I crouched down in front of him.
“Let me explain something,” I said. “I know you didn’t necessarily come to the castle expecting you would have to do anything dangerous.”
“No, no.” He closed his eyes as he shook his head.
“Charlie, just listen to my voice. You can keep your eyes closed, but listen to me. Are you listening?”
He finally stopped shaking his head and nodded.
“We aren’t rushing into battle. We are arresting a man who doesn’t suspect that we are coming. There will be many more of us than those who might stand in our way. You will be fine, and Charlie, this is very important.”
“What?” he asked, his rapid breaths slowing a bit.
“We’re friends, right?”
“Of course.”
“As my friend, don’t you want to make sure I’m safe?”
“Of course,” he repeated.
“So that’s what you should focus on right now. We need your support. No one else can melt metal like you can.”
“But—”
“There’s a hundred excuses you could think of right now. But I promise I’m going to protect you just like I’m going to protect the others. I want to be there. You want to be there as well. There is so much you can do to help, even if you don’t pick up a sword. Don’t think about your fear. Just tell yourself that you want to be there, because I know you do. Focus on that feeling. If you start to lose it, don’t panic. Just breathe. Breathe slow and deep, and focus on that. If you must act, you will do so heroically. I saw you save Grufaeragar’s life. You were not scared when it was time to act. You are uncomfortable with fear, but you are not a coward. You want to be there.”
“I want to be there,” he repeated.
“Now breathe slow and deep. Focus on doing that every time you start to get scared, or every time you think of worries or excuses.”
He breathed slowly as I instructed, his eyes closed.
I waited with him for a while, not moving. Eventually he opened his eyes again.
“Now what?” he asked calmly.
“That’s it. You don’t need to bring anything. Just focus on your breathing until the rest of us are ready to go.”
“Can I do it here?”
“Sure.”
It was a technique I had developed in the year after my father passed, a way to deal with the panic that I would be alone forever. The more I used to think about it, the worse it got. I came to realize that there were some things for which planning and obsessing were healthy to a degree, but there were many other things—things we couldn’t help—that became worse the more we obsessed over them. It’s best to disconnect completely from dark thoughts about these things.
It was going to take Charlie some time to overcome his fear of battle, as his mind needed to be retrained like mine did, but it would work so long as he kept at it. I was certain.
I noticed Kataleya in the doorway of my room. Charlie had his eyes closed, breathing slow, seemingly unaware. She showed me a smile and opened her mouth to say something, but the councilman entered the room around her.
“Jon, I have an order from his majesty. You are to stay here and defend the castle.”
“What?”
Charlie opened his eyes and stood up sharply. “Can I stay as well?”
“Jon is staying because the castle might come under attack.”
“I thought finding Aliana’s mother created an opportunity for us,” I said. “Why would the castle come under attack if that’s the case?”
“Because we might be wrong.”
I was skeptical. “Are you saying Aliana’s mother was put in the cellar by Cason and he expected us to find her?”
“That could be the case.”
“Just so we would leave the castle to arrest Luther?”
“There is a chance of that, as well as other explanations that would make us want to prepare for an attack.”
What other explanations? But then I realized. Perhaps Aliana’s mother was in on it. Perhaps even Aliana was. I found this incredibly hard to believe, though. Aliana had been cursed, along with Eden. They had lost their inhibitions. Why would a traitor risk divulging information that could lead to their hanging? It wasn’t as if the curse benefited Cason or his people in any way. I had been thinking about the curse here and there, and it seemed clear that it was some sort of experiment or perhaps a way to turn us against each other.
It was also hard to believe that Aliana’s mother would allow herself to go through what she did, and for what? To help Cason? What could he possibly be doing for her and her daughter? No, it didn’t make sense.
“If you think this all could’ve been set up by Cason, then you must think even Luther could’ve been set up,” I said. “Cason merely took Gwen captive for us to suspect him.”
Kataleya gestured at me angrily. “And so what, Jon? So it is my family after all who are the traitors?”
My stupid mouth. “No, I was—”
Kataleya went on. “It’s Luther. I have said so from the start. I don’t think Aliana or her mother are involved, but Luther has been running around impregnating impressionable young women who fall for his promises of riches and reputation. Meanwhile, my father has done nothing dishonorable that anyone can speak of. He has only helped the king, first with Nykal’s rebellion and now as we fight Cason.”
“Excuse me, Kataleya!” Aliana said from the hall where I could not see her.
Kataleya turned. Her face fell. “Oh, I’m very sorry, Ms. Forrester!”
This is bad. I couldn’t see Aliana or her mother from my vantage point, and clearly Kataleya hadn’t noticed them, either.
“That was wrong of me to say,” Kataleya spoke quickly. “I was only angry at Jon. You see, I have been accused—no, my family has been accused of treason, the worst crime imaginable and—”
“Dear, it’s all right,” Gwen interrupted.
“Mother?” Aliana asked.
Like many of my peers, I had gone into the hallway to listen.
“This young woman is right. I did fall for promises of riches and reputation. I was young and impressionable. It’s not the best excuse, but it is all I have.”
Barrett announced, “There is no time for this, unfortunately, madams. All of you must be leaving, except Jon.”
“If you truly think there’s chance of an attack,” I said, “shouldn’t others stay with me?”
“We are bringing in archers, sellswords, and even a few o
ther sorcerers. The castle will be defended by many besides you.” He clapped his hands together twice. “You all must be leaving!” he repeated. “Hurry.”
I supposed I didn’t need to hurry like the others, so I followed Kataleya back to her room. She was getting a woolen coat over her head. When it passed her face, she noticed me in the doorway with an expression of what looked to be hope that I had come for the right reason. Her blonde eyebrows lifted.
Her eyes, green verging on gray, had a spark to them that seemed to light up when she looked at me. She’d made it quite obvious by now that she liked the way I looked, and I was starting to enjoy that I could see it in her gaze. Even now that I had upset her, she looked at me like she thought it had to have been an accident. She trusted me.
“I’m sorry to upset you,” I said. “I was trying to prove to Barrett that it was unlikely this was all planned. The hypotheticals I brought up were not what I believe.”
“Oh.”
“They were just for the sake of argument. I know your family is innocent. I trust you wholeheartedly.”
“Thank you. It was my misunderstanding, then.”
“So we’re fine?”
She walked quickly toward me, making me realize I was standing in her way at the doorway. But she reached out and took my hands as I started to move.
“Of course.” She squeezed. “I trust you as well.”
I was shocked at what I felt as I looked closely into her eyes, feeling the soft skin of her hands in my grasp.
She held a moment, waiting for me to reply. Eventually, my head gave a stiff nod.
She grew a smirk. “Did I just steal your breath from this simple touch?” Then she stiffly imitated my head nod as she opened her eyes wide. “Your face, Jon,” she said with a gleeful smile.
“Let’s go!” Barrett announced.
She rushed off down the hall, though she did stop to shoot a grin over her shoulder.
I was still without words as I watched her go.
What the hell just happened? I had never felt a flutter in my chest like that from such a simple gesture. I didn’t quite understand it.
I supposed I had admired Kataleya from the first time I met her, from when it was clear that she came from wealth but did not share the same personality defect as Reuben. This admiration had only grown since I’d gotten to know her.
But perhaps this wasn’t just admiration after all, I was beginning to realize. The more I thought about her, the more I thought she was beautiful in every way the word could be used. I’d just been too preoccupied worrying, about—I don’t know—maybe being killed by a secret army of dark mages.
And of course Aliana’s initial misconception of me had made me scared to show interest in any girl here. How could I after she had claimed that I was only interested in bedding them?
The brief moment I’d allowed myself was all I could afford to give. I’d been in a daze as I’d walked back to my room…until I noticed Charlie sitting defiantly in the chair near my desk.
“Charlie, you have to go with the others! Everyone else has left the apartments!”
He shook his head. “I’m staying here.”
I heard footsteps running down the hall. Michael appeared in the doorway partially out of breath.
“Charlie, come on!” He gestured for him. “We need you.”
He shook his head.
“They need you!” I repeated. And I don’t want to see what the king will do if he finds out Charlie remained here against orders.
“Don’t you want to keep us safe?” Michael said.
Charlie shut his eyes and shook his head again.
Suddenly Eden was walking in. “Charlie, get out of this castle right now or I’m going to slap you so hard you won’t know forward from backward!”
His eyes opened wide as he bolted out of the chair. Soon he and Michael were running down the hall and turning down the stairs.
Eden stayed with me as we watched them run across the courtyard from my window.
“Sometimes you need to fight fear with fear,” she said, as if it was wise.
“There was another way.”
“A slower way.”
We walked out to the courtyard and watched Michael and Charlie catch up to the others, the portcullis up, the drawbridge down. There was a group of guards outside the drawbridge.
It didn’t take long for all of them to rush off, out of sight.
I couldn’t remember the last time I was alone with Eden, if ever. It was a little awkward, especially considering we would be here for probably more than an hour as we waited for the others to return with Luther in chains.
“Jennava’s retrieving the sorcerers now,” Eden commented. “I think word was sent for the sellswords so she doesn’t have to fetch them herself, but I’m not sure.”
“Do you know who the sorcerers are?”
“Probably just the few who work in Newhaven. There are two fire mages I know of, and an ice mage.” She pointed a finger at me. “Don’t fall in love with the ice mage. I’ve heard only bad things about her.”
I’d never met an ice mage.
I knew I should be on guard, but it just didn’t feel like the castle was threatened. The king and his family were probably secured high in the keep by now. Many guards took their places on the battlements and turrets on the wall, most of them with bows. The only thing the castle was lacking now was six of my peers, and Leon. Actually, it was Leon leaving that made the most difference. He alone seemed capable of stopping Cason. I supposed the king thought Leon would be better out there arresting Luther, keeping me here instead. That meant the king thought the risk to the castle was low.
“Is there anything you can do if the castle comes under attack?” I asked Eden. “As an enchanter.”
“Not unless we are attacked by an enchantment.”
Eden always used the same tone, as if nothing she said was serious.
“I can’t tell if you’re joking.”
“Sometimes I don’t even know,” she said, rubbing her neck as if irritated by this notion.
I chuckled.
“There are some enchantments that could cause us a few problems, but it’s unlikely any of them would be used.”
“So you were joking.”
“Half.”
There was a long pause.
“Sword enchant!” Eden blurted.
“Excuse me?”
“I’ve been meaning to enchant your sword, and no, this is not a joke.” She winked. “Or is it?”
It reminded me of her joke with Michael, the difference between an enchantress and an enchanter. She had admitted to being both, but her definition of an enchantress had been quite shocking.
“You like confusing people, don’t you?” I asked.
“Eh, I’ll take confusion if I can get it. Anything is better than boring.”
“I like boring. There’s too much confusion and excitement already in my life.”
“No wonder we haven’t gotten to know each other very well,” she said dismissively. “So do you want your sword enchanted or not?”
“Of course I do, I’m not stupid.”
She looked shocked at my sudden aggression, exactly what I was going for.
I smiled.
She half pointed, half shook her finger. “Aha, Jon, you got me, and I’m not gotten easily.”
I didn’t want to admit that I was a little suspicious of Eden. As she had mentioned, we didn’t know each other very well. I was as sure as I could be that Kataleya was not the one who had helped Cason attempt to corrupt me or had used the callring to signal us leaving the castle so Grufaeragar could be attacked. It just didn’t make sense with everything that had happened since the accusation.
It was also difficult to believe that Aliana was responsible for all of that, given what had happened with her mother. Michael and Reuben were also innocent in my mind. I just couldn’t picture either of them involved in these affairs.
I knew this wasn’t a good reason t
o suspect someone, but I could imagine Eden looking for more excitement and coming across Cason, probably before she ended up here.
Remi was a complete mystery, still. Like Eden, I didn’t know her very well. I was a little suspicious of her, too, but not more suspicious than I was about the king’s own councilman. The very fact that the king trusted him so strongly made me not just suspicious but worried.
“Can I have your sword?” Eden asked.
If she was the traitor, could she enchant my sword in such a way that it broke when I tried to use it? No, she wouldn’t. I had learned the Identify spell recently. It should tell me what kind of enchantment Eden put on my weapon.
I took my sword out of its sheath. “You’re going to enchant it right here?”
“In my room. Want to come?”
I didn’t have anything better to do. We walked down the hall and entered Eden’s personal quarters. In the light, her room was interesting to say the least. On every surface existed a container with some kind of animal part. There were claws and teeth collecting dust in between the containers, which mostly contained pelts in some kind of drying powder, though a few legs existed as well. None was particularly large, though there was a slight odor to the room I hadn’t noticed the last time I was here, when checking on Eden’s curse.
“You can snoop around if you want,” she said, “but let me see your sword first. Put it on the bed.” She paused. “Then we can start talking about enchanting your weapon.” She grinned mischievously.
“Very funny,” I said sarcastically as I put my sword on her bed. I was tempted to snoop, but even with her suggesting it, it would be awkward. “Why didn’t you offer to enchant my sword earlier?” I asked.
“A number of reasons. The enchant isn’t very beneficial, first of all. It’s only going to make the metal of your sword sturdier. Secondly, there was a good chance before that I was going to mess up the enchantment and weaken your sword permanently, or at least until a better enchanter came around and fixed what I did.”
“How confident are you now that you won’t mess up the enchantment?”
“I promise I won’t. I have practiced many times.”
“How long does it take?”
