Prince of Swords

by Linda Winstead Jones

  “Hurry.” Rayne tugged on his arm. “We must leave before Ciro’s soldiers arrive. You are in no shape to fight an entire army.”

  He was well trained, and he had an extraordinary gift, but Lyr had never attempted to fight an army on his own. He’d never even imagined he might be called upon to face such a task. In the weeks to come, he would need to rest, even if just for short periods of time. If the opposing army—or a single soldier—came while he slept, he might be killed before he had a chance to stop time. There was no one to watch his back, not anymore. There was no one but Rayne.

  Rayne’s grip steadied him as he drew his sword and stepped toward Segyn.

  “What are you doing?” she asked.

  “I’m going to kill him.”

  Her grip tightened. “You can’t kill him. He’s helpless, and…and no matter what he’s done, he’s your friend.”

  Lyr turned his head to look down at Rayne. Her cheeks were damp with tears, and she was very pale. She wanted to escape this situation, to ride away quickly and forget all that she had seen here.

  He did not have the luxury of taking escape.

  “If we leave him alive, he will come after us. He will tell Ciro’s men of your talents, and they will be on guard. He will tell Ciro that you are no longer the pure maid he chose as his betrothed.”

  If Lyr thought he could ride away from the bound man and never face the consequences of that weakness, he would gladly do so. He did not wish to take the life of a man who could not defend himself, but when he looked at what remained of Til and Swaine, when he looked at Rayne and wondered what Ciro’s soldiers would do to her if they got the chance, he knew he had no choice.

  His sword was heavy, much heavier than usual thanks to the weakness in his limbs, but he was able to lift it enough to point the tip at Segyn’s heart. Segyn could not speak, could not move, but his eyes spoke of fear. Even a fiend could fear for his own life apparently.

  Lyr trembled, a combination of a lingering weakness from the poison berries he’d eaten and the realization of what he was about to do. This was Segyn…and yet it was not.

  He pushed the blade forward cleanly, into Segyn’s chest, into the black heart which was capable of unspeakable treachery. He did not immediately turn to face Rayne, the woman who continued to hold on to him. Lyr could hear Rayne’s tears; he did not wish for her to see his.

  SINCE THERE WAS A SMALL CHANCE THAT SEGYN HAD been right in telling them that Ciro’s army was close, Lyr changed his course of travel. Instead of taking infrequently traveled roads, he turned into the forest itself. He explained to Rayne that he’d studied the maps of Columbyana carefully before starting his journey to retrieve the dagger he now possessed, and while the roads they’d been upon for many days were the easiest route to the site where Ariana’s army should be at this time, the swamp which lay beyond the forest was a more direct route. If they didn’t run into trouble along the way, they’d reach Ariana and General Merin more quickly, and he now felt an urgency to do just that.

  Rayne was not at all anxious to discover what awaited in the swamp.

  Lyr hadn’t said a word since they’d left the others behind, all dead, and Rayne had remained silent as well. She didn’t know what to say to take away his obvious pain. Maybe some things could not be helped with words of comfort. Maybe some pain went too deep.

  Instead of the regulated column of five, they were now two. Lyr had freed the other horses, mounts which were no longer necessary as the men they had carried for such a long time were dead.

  It was difficult to travel in the forest after darkness fell, so they had no choice but to stop. Here the moonlight did not light their way. Instead it was caught in the leaves overhead, and as the pathway they made was not free of obstacles, they were forced to rest, no matter how much they wanted to move onward and away from the scene of betrayal and death.

  Lyr saw to the horses first, then he built a small fire in the clearing where they would make camp until morning. Still, he did not speak. He unpacked food and handed Rayne some, but did not eat himself. After inadvertently feeding Lyr poisoned berries, she found she could not urge him to eat. Tomorrow, perhaps, if he did not display a return of appetite of his own accord, she would find a way to suggest that he take some nourishment.

  It was bold of her, perhaps, to seek him out, but Lyr was her lover, and they were now alone in this endeavor. What sense did it make to settle on the ground far apart, alone and cold and shaken to the core? Rayne sat next to Lyr, who was near the fire staring at the flames, and without hesitation she placed her head in his lap. She wasn’t sure how he would react, since he was obviously shaken, but he didn’t order or push her away. Instead he settled one hand in her hair and seemed grateful for the touch, however innocent.

  After a while, he finally spoke. “Segyn said I would be burned one day,” Lyr said softly. “I thought he was speaking of you, or perhaps of women in general, but in the end he was the one who did the deed himself. I wonder if he would think me done now.”

  “Done?”

  “Finished. Burned. Done.”

  She didn’t exactly understand, but in a way she understood enough. Until now, Lyr had never been hurt. Not like this.

  A moment later, the first raindrop fell. Lyr made a snorting sound of disgust. “Not a drop of rain since we left your house, and now, on this of all days, it begins.”

  They were almost sheltered by the trees above, but there were gaps where raindrops could fall through, and when water gathered on the leaves, it would drop upon them in streams. Rayne worked her fingers in the dirt. Directing the growth of the berries this afternoon had been relatively easy, but calling on the vines to entrap Segyn had drained her. She didn’t know if she had any magic left, but she tried. She whispered to the dirt and the trees and the bushes, she asked them to provide for her shelter. In a matter of moments they closed in around her and Lyr. The overlapping leaves formed a shield which protected them from most of the rain.

  “Your gift is much more useful than mine,” Lyr said. “At least, it has seemed so since revealing itself.”

  “You saved my life with your gift,” she said.

  “And you saved mine with yours.”

  They lay down on the ground together, the leaves forming a sort of tent around them, and Lyr wrapped his arms about her. Again he was silent, and she hated the deep quiet when she knew neither of them were near sleep.

  “I once thought all magic was bad,” she said. “Of course, I only had my father as an example, and magic twisted him horribly. The more power he possessed, the more he wanted. He was a wizard by birth and in that he had no choice, but he did have a choice in how he used what he’d been given. I thought all magic corrupted those it touched, but you don’t seem to be damaged by your gifts. I don’t want to be corrupted by mine,” she added softly. “I don’t want my soul to be tainted by a greedy darkness.”

  “I thought tainting your soul was what you wanted.”

  “No,” she whispered. “For a short while I thought that was the way, but the spirit, the soul, is too important to treat in such a manner. I think I knew that all along, but my fear of Ciro made me desperate.” She stroked her hand against his back. “I don’t feel desperate anymore, Lyr. I don’t know if I will be forced to hide or to fight, but I won’t give him my soul in any way.”

  “I think that’s wise.”

  Now was likely not the time to tell Lyr that she would gladly give him her soul. As she finally drifted toward what she suspected would be an uneasy sleep, it occurred to her that perhaps she already had.

  After a long bout of silence, Lyr whispered, “I’m sorry.”

  “Sorry for what?” Rain pattered on a roof of entwined leaves, lulling her, pulling her toward dreams. She would sleep tonight, after all, and she would likely have horrible nightmares.

  “For a moment this afternoon I suspected you. I thought you were the traitor. I thought you had killed me with those poison berries.”

  Her h
eart became heavy, even though she understood why Lyr had believed her to be guilty. She had been the one to give him the berries, after all. “I will never hurt you,” she whispered.

  “I know that now, I truly do.”

  Rayne buried her face against Lyr’s chest and held on tight. She listened to the patter of rain above their heads, and sleep came.

  CIRO HAD DISCOVERED THAT HE DIDN’T NEED MUCH sleep since the demon had taken him. When he did sleep, he had vivid dreams that he knew were not exactly dreams. They were uncontrolled glimpses through the eyes of others who were connected to the demon, and so to him.

  What he saw on this night terrified him. Rayne was not where she should be. She was in the care of another, in the embrace of a warrior who thought he could protect her.

  A warrior who had already taken that which should’ve been Ciro’s to take.

  He came awake instantly and in a rage. Rayne would still wed him, she would give birth to their son as he and the Isen Demon had planned, but in many ways she had been ruined by the man who now protected her. Her time as his wife would not be as pleasant as it might’ve been if she’d waited for him. She would pay for her sin a thousand times.

  She thought to soil her soul but she only made it brighter.

  “How?”

  The demon did not answer, but Ciro knew. Love. Rayne thought herself in love with the man who’d taken that which was rightfully his.

  His empress had been fouled by another man.

  She is still capable of carrying our child. She is the one.

  Ciro knew that to be true, but anger filled him. First his father dies with his soul intact, and now this. His power grew every day, he had never imagined that he might possess such power, and still all did not go as he planned. If Ariana had not taken back so many souls, would he be strong enough to end them all? Would the demon have reached his full power if not for the witch’s interference?

  All is not lost.

  “Show me something which proves that to be true.”

  The room, Ciro’s fine bedchamber, melted away and he found himself standing by a stream. The image looked almost real, though on occasion the view shimmered as if to remind Ciro that he was not actually in this place. In the moonlight, three dead bodies were illuminated. Two lay by the stream, while another was caught in tangled vines that wrapped around his body and held him as steadfast as any chain.

  “Where is the hope in this?” Death was everywhere, and more was coming. Ciro was certainly not appalled by the death of his enemies, but he did not see the hope in three dead soldiers, either.

  The body which was caught in snarled vines twitched, and one of the men Ciro had thought dead sat up and took a deep breath. The bald man placed a hand on his chest, where blood had dried on his skin and his vest, and then he laughed. He laughed loud and long as he ripped the vines away. When one hand was free, he drew a knife and began to cut at the plants.

  “Why should this insignificant man’s survival take away my pain?” Ciro asked.

  The bald man did not hear or see him, Ciro knew that. The bald man did not know that he could be seen, either.

  Phelan will take your bride from the man who dared to join with her when she is rightfully yours. Phelan will capture the warrior who thinks he can kill you and take your place in Rayne’s bed. Phelan is one of us, and we are harder to kill than most yet know.

  That was true enough. Ciro had received more than one wound that would’ve been the death of him if not for the demon’s strength and magic.

  “I want the warrior to suffer.”

  He has, and he will.

  “I want to kill him myself, and I will take his soul.”

  If you are strong enough when you meet him, you will take it.

  Apparently the warrior had a white soul, and no matter how strong Ciro grew, the white eluded him.

  With a suddenness that startled him, Ciro found himself back in his chamber, with a few pots of oil burning to create light in the darkness of night. Knowing that the man who had violated his virgin bride would die did ease the sting, but the dissatisfaction of having his plans spoiled was not so easy to dismiss. He dressed quickly and left his bedchamber, hoping to find some solace in the offices of the emperor, where he now held court, issued commands, and took blood and souls from those who dared to speak against him.

  Yes, all in all, being emperor was pleasant enough.

  In the dead of night, Ciro found little comfort in this official room. It was cold and without blood, and his anger at knowing another man had touched Rayne did not entirely abate—justice promised or not.

  Only one thing would ease him, for a while. The drug Panwyr.

  Ciro opened the top drawer of his desk, where he kept a healthy supply of the drug both he and Diella needed. In a drug-induced state he would envision fucking Rayne and then killing her. He would envision tearing her lover into small pieces, and it would seem almost real. It would seem real enough until the two came to him and his plans for them became true.

  In his anger Ciro pulled too hard and the drawer flew out too far and too fast. The drawer came out of the desk entirely, swung to the side, left Ciro’s grip, and landed on the floor with a sharp crack.

  Ciro snatched the drawer from the floor, his eyes on the undamaged Panwyr, but his attention was averted when his fingers brushed against a thick sheaf of paper which was attached to the bottom of the drawer.

  Curious, he snatched the folded papers from the drawer’s underside. For a moment, at least, the Panwyr was forgotten. He unfolded the papers to reveal his father’s handwriting.

  I, Emperor Arik, name my illegitimate son Sian Sayre Chamblyn as my successor…

  There was more, but Ciro read that first line many times before he allowed his eyes to move down the page. Not only had his father named this bastard as emperor, he’d coldly dismissed his own son, his own Prince Ciro, as a monster.

  The papers could and would be destroyed, but first Ciro made note of the signatures at the bottom of the document. Chamblyn himself. The witch Ariana, who had also taken the name Chamblyn. There were other names…names he did not recognize. Names which did not matter.

  Ciro built a fire in the stone fireplace, and as soon as it was blazing, he dropped the document on the flames. He watched it burn, pushing away the too-human sensation of the pain of betrayal. This was the brother his father had sought to shield by hiding his thoughts. A brother who might attempt to claim what Ciro had taken.

  Chamblyn would take nothing. Very soon, Ciro would have his bastard half brother brought to him. In pieces, if necessary.

  10

  THE SWAMP WAS AN ODDLY NOISY PLACE, CONSIDERING no humans but the two of them dared to travel through it. Birds chirped and animals hidden from their sight screeched and growled. Fish splashed. On the far, marshy bank, a large reptilian creature left the water to catch the sun and watch the travelers. All the creatures kept their distance from the intruders and their horses. Lyr imagined it was possible no other human had ever passed this way. Their path took them across an unfriendly landscape, with stark trees more dead than alive rising from the stagnant water.

  The horses plodded through that shallow water on occasion, and when it was possible, they walked along a bank which was often too soft and slippery for the horses to safely tread upon. It was a treacherous path for any traveler, that was certain.

  Ciro’s men would not find them here, and if they did, Lyr would know long before the enemy soldiers were in sight. Sounds traveled a long way in this flat, echoing swamp, and his ears were alert. He would not sleep, and this path would take them to Ariana’s army quickly. Lyr dismissed the horrors of past days and looked ahead. All that mattered was getting Rayne to safety and killing Ciro and the demon who lived within him. There had been a time when killing the enemy would’ve been first on his list of priorities, but no more. Until Rayne was safe, he could not face Ciro.

  Rayne would not be truly safe until Ciro was dead.

  “You
haven’t spoken in two days,” Rayne said, her own voice not much more than a whisper.

  “We must be quiet so I can listen for what might lie ahead.”

  “Nothing lies ahead in this place,” she argued, and he could hear the shudder in her voice.

  “I have heard that there are those who live in the swamps of the Southern Province,” Lyr said, though it was not those few residents who caused him to be on alert.

  “Why would anyone live here when they could live elsewhere?” Rayne asked. “Why would they live in this swamp where creatures slither in the muddy water and the smell of decay is always present?”

  Lyr’s eyes cut to the left, and he allowed himself to see beyond the obvious for a moment, to see beyond his initial impressions of desolation. “You are the one who is connected to the earth, so you should see what I see. You should see more.”

  “I’m too frightened to see anything beyond what’s beneath my feet and on the opposite bank,” she said, and about that time another of the reptiles slipped into the water. “What do you see that makes this place worth inhabiting?”

  Glad to turn his thoughts to simpler matters, Lyr lifted one hand and pointed into a thick stand of trees. “There. Do you see the growth amidst those trees?”

  Rayne turned her head and silently studied the area for a moment. “Those are unusual flowers, and very beautiful. I did not say there was no beauty here, but it is overwhelmed by…by…”

  “See that tall plant with the thick stem?” Again, Lyr pointed. “It looks very much like a cor shoot, and is most likely edible. The water is filled with fish, and I have spotted other edible plants along the bank as we’ve traveled. One who lived here would never have to toil at a farm, or worry about hunger, no matter what the season. The silence might be comforting, I suppose, to those who have become accustomed to it, and there is beauty in this place if you can see past the danger.”

  The stark trees, the still water, the long-legged birds, red and white, even the reptiles…they were picturesque in a new way. Maybe he saw some beauty here because the landscape was so different from what he had known. Then again, perhaps the starkness of the place spoke to him at this moment when he felt desolate through and through, as if every bit of life had been sucked from his soul.