By Blood Betrayed (The Kingsblood Chronicles)

by Houpt, David

  “I assigned Sileth to guard Adrienne and to prevent rebel soldiers from reaching her. She took a cadre of my best troops with her, and while they held the corridor, she took to the shadows.

  “Revé, Shaidrak, and I assumed the task of repelling the invading troops, but we quickly became embroiled in a magical duel with the rebel mages. Evan’s use of hedge wizards for communication was not the only battle tactic he’d developed, and they were very effective in ways that kept the three of us distracted and unable to inflict real damage. They employed diversions such as small swarms of birds and sudden sunbeams, focused by magical ‘lenses,’ and other such things which a traditional battle mage wouldn’t have stooped to use. However, we didn’t really know how to deal with them.

  “While the hedge wizards’ small spells kept us occupied, his battle mages pitched lightning at the doors and broke into the main hall. Too late, we realized that we’d been duped by the lesser mages, and rushed to the great hall. The spells which burned back and forth between us made our recent duel with that necromancer seem like a traveling illusionist’s show. Soldiers on both sides were caught in the detonation of deflected spells, and the castle itself caught fire.

  “Revé fell early, destroyed by two mages singing their spells in a deadly duet. His deathstrike shattered the outer wall, and claimed the lives of those two wizards as well as about thirty troops. Revé was one of my youngest, yet he’d been practicing magic for centuries.

  “Revé’s death enraged me, and I left Shaidrak to weave defenses while I leapt into direct combat with the soldiers. I was looking for Evan, while simultaneously summoning the wolves and the weres of the forest to my aid. They had already begun streaming into the city from the woods, for I keep them nearby at all times, but without direction from me, the wolves, at least, were little danger to well armed, well disciplined troops.

  “The weres drew the hedge wizards and priests away from the fighting in the castle, however, for they had charms effective against the lycanthropes. Each unit of the rebel vanguard, it turned out, was equipped with some weapon of silver, be it a dagger or a few crossbow bolts. Weres are a ferocious adversary, but they are accustomed to being immune to harm. The army held up well against them.

  “I couldn’t locate Evan, but Sileth did. The rebel leader had left the battle to his officers and broken into the postern gate with a small elite force. While the guards that Sileth had assigned to hold the hallway fought with Evan’s troops, Sileth got her hands on him somehow. Dragging him bodily through the secret passages of the castle, she managed to climb up to the watchtower with him.

  “I remember her shriek even now, and it certainly captured the attention of all down below. ‘Enough!’ she cried, ‘This ends now or your leader dies!’ ” Kolos said, his voice eerily mimicking the tone of the vampire woman.

  “She had knocked Evan unconscious during the trip up to the tower, so he wouldn’t be tempted to say something heroic and stupid. A lash of magical energy began its journey toward her, but she grasped his head in a way that left no doubt that the general would be dead long before she was.

  “‘Kolos!’ she shouted, ‘The time has come to end this! Let her go!’

  “At the time, I viewed this as a betrayal, but in retrospect, I realize she was trying to save my life. Shaidrak had fallen, and the rebel mages were gathering their powers to deal with me. I was soaked in the blood of the rebel soldiers, and they surrounded me armed with spears, pikes, and broken-off ax handles. For the first time, I actually looked around with a clear mind, and saw the burning castle, the flames licking their way up the tower to Sileth’s position. Despite our natural fear of fire, she stood unflinching, prepared to kill Evan if necessary.

  “I saw my troops lying dead and dying, and heard for the first time the screams of the townspeople and the animals I had summoned.

  “And for the first time in centuries, remorse overtook me. I shouted my surrender, and dropped to my knees. A rebel soldier moved to rush in and drive a stake through my heart, and at that very moment, I would have allowed them to do so. But Sileth shrieked again, ‘No! If he dies, Evan dies with him!’

  “To the surprise of all the contenders in the battlefield, Adrienne took her own post upon a battlement, fortunately far from the fire. I guess that Evan’s men had freed her, or she’d found some way to defeat the lock after all. ‘Let this battle be over!’ she shouted, making herself heard somehow over the flames and screams. ‘In Evan’s name, I accept this surrender! Take the king prisoner, and bind him magically, but allow him to come to no harm.’

  “Looking up to where Sileth still held Evan hostage, she yelled, ‘You have my word that Kolos will not be harmed, so long as Evan is returned to us unhurt. But you also have my word that you will wish I’d merely killed your sire if Evan dies.’

  “Sileth bowed and appeared to notice her precarious perch for the first time. The flames were climbing the very tower that she’d chosen, and it was a matter of little time before the supports would fall, undermined by the fire. Gripping the rebel leader tightly, she leapt from the tower to rooftop to rooftop, bringing herself and her prisoner to the ground safely. She was always the strongest of us, physically, despite her fifteen-year-old body,” Kolos said. He paused for some time, but Lian knew that he wasn’t yet finished.

  Looking around at the city and the ruined castle, visible from his position in the street, Kolos said, “Adrienne held Evan to her promise not to harm me, despite his terrible rage at my actions. Revé and Shaidrak were lost to me, as well as my Companions Direlle and Elaine, who dwelt among the weres and had fallen along with many of them. I was prepared to die at Evan’s hand despite Adrienne’s promise to Sileth. I made Sileth promise that if I did die, she’d simply leave them alone. I think that she understood my feelings, but I can’t tell you if would have kept that promise or not.

  “Evan, however, insisted that I be prevented from interfering with his plans further. The men and mages he’d lost that day would be sorely missed in the months to come, and he wanted to ensure the security of his landing zone. He ordered his wizards to construct a geas for me, and bound me to it with the power of all the magicians, great and small, which were a part of his force.

  “This geas kept me asleep for over a year so that he wouldn’t have to worry about my interference. It also confined me within the borders of Greythorn forever, binding me in truth as legend had always claimed. My people, terrified by the battle and by the fact that I would so badly betray my office, fled from Greythorn City. Much of my army enlisted in the rebel force, and that which remained found employment as local constabulary. Some of them turned to banditry, but the six remaining Companions, and I when I awoke after my year, have made sure that the brigands paid for their disservice.

  “I keep the Companions abroad most of the time now, and they bring me news of the outside world. I sent one to your family’s court several times, to report to me that your family has been doing well. I find that I still care for your mother, Lian, and I am truly grieved at her death. I pray that you will forgive me for that which befell them at my hands, so long ago,” Kolos said, sinking back to his original seat.

  Chapter Sixteen

  “Beware the oaths of kings.”

  -- Argesh gypsy proverb

  Lian and Snog both rose. “And so you have lived since, Your Majesty?” Lian asked, stretching some life back into his limbs. The vampire king’s tale had been chilling and unexpected, and Lian struggled with a new fear of the man who’d aided them as well as the wash of other emotions the tale evoked.

  Kolos nodded. “Yes. The folk of the kingdom know that I still live, but they treat it as a secret, hoarded as carefully as their buried coins. They see me as a protector against the monsters that dwell in the forest, as well as those foolish enough to encroach on my lands.

  “So you can see, young Prince Lian, why I readily joined you in battle against the necromancer,” he said with a slight smile. “Both the dark mage’s incursion an
d your lineage drove me.”

  “You knew who I was that early on?” Lian asked, somewhat dismayed.

  “I would recognize Adrienne’s blood kin anywhere I could scent them, son,” Kolos said, “for I have tasted her blood. I understand that she enjoyed a very happy life with your father, and that under their benevolent rule Dunshor prospered. Part of me was glad to hear of her successes, but I confess that a small part of me has remained tremendously jealous.

  “Perhaps for my people and myself, it is best that she is gone,” he said. “It has removed from me the temptation to break the bindings and to try to claim her once again.” A single tear welled in his eye, and left a crimson trail down his face. There was no trace of the vampire’s sorrow in his voice, however.

  Lian said, “My mother was an exceptional woman, Your Majesty. I can understand the attraction you felt, though not the actions you took. It must have been a bone of contention between my parents, letting you live. They never mentioned it to me, nor to my knowledge has anyone else ever mentioned it.” He felt that his words were stiff, but he couldn’t dredge up much emotion of any kind at the moment. The shock of the vampire king’s tale, coupled with other recent events, was still too great.

  Kolos wiped away his blood-tear and said, “Those who fought that day certainly knew, but I guess they wished to allow Evan an opportunity to keep his honor intact. But that is no longer important, young prince.

  “We need to get you far away from this land and to what safety you may be able to find,” he said, producing a battered silver coin with the spined tree symbol of Greythorn. The minting on the back had worn away, and a rune had been carved into the silver. The rune appeared to be a thick thorn or perhaps an obelisk. Lian decided that it looked more like a stake than anything else.

  Kolos said, “This token is a symbol of my favor to any of my agents. I want you to show this to the bartender at the Lonely Gull Tavern in Mola. The staff there are in my service and will aid you as best they can. Mola is not the busiest of seaports, but you should be able to find a ship that will take you away from here.”

  Lian took his farewells from Teg, wishing the new vampire well. The transformation did not seem to rob the ogre of his kind and gentle nature, despite the fact that Lian had seen his bestial side when he was awakened into the state. The ogrish vampire hugged Lian gently and then at Kolos’ behest headed back toward the ruined castle.

  Kolos accompanied them to the edge of the city, walking silently beside the human and the goblin. “I cannot undo that which I have done,” he said heavily. “Not to your parents, mind, but to my people. They trusted in me and I threw that trust to the four winds. They are relieved to have me and mine patrolling the forest, but they will never again bow to my rule.

  “Even the gypsy clan which served me for countless ages no longer refers to me as their lord. They still live here and aid me from time to time, but it is something more like an alliance than an allegiance,” he said.

  Lian had heard of the implacably loyal gypsies of Greythorn, who had served Kolos for centuries. It surprised him that they had broken with their lord, but not overly much. Gypsy honor was a complicated matter, and part of their unswerving loyalty to the king must have been based on his own loyalty to them. By allowing his baser desires to take control of his actions, he had shown that he was, in the end, unfit to be their ruler.

  Kolos’ dereliction of his word and his duty horrified Lian, and he was glad to be moving on. Kolos had proved himself untrustworthy long ago, and Lian didn’t know enough of him to judge him redeemed.

  They neared the edge of the forest, and Lian heard the jingling of harness. “One last bit of aid to you, Highness,” Kolos said, holding his hand out toward a pair of mounts tethered to a tree.

  The larger of the two steeds was a beautiful bay gelding with black mane and tail. It had good lines and was saddled with a quality war saddle, heavily reinforced to protect the rider and designed to help keep him mounted. Beside the gelding stood a fine Venturi pony, pitch black. It was an older horse than its companion, and stood calmly and quietly while the bay stamped its feet and shifted its weight restlessly.

  Snog eyed the pony doubtfully. Kolos said, “I didn’t think you’d be an accomplished horse rider, goblin.”

  The goblin spat on the ground and said, “Didn’t have much luck breedin’ horses belowground, did me clan, sir.” He was trying to hide his nervousness.

  Kolos chuckled. “Then Nightmare there is the perfect steed for you, scout. She’s the calmest, steadiest horse I’ve ever seen, and I’ve been judging horseflesh for many centuries. The bay is quite spirited, but I presume you’re an excellent horseman, Highness. His name is Beliu, by the way.”

  “Nightmare, eh?” Lian said, chuckling himself. “A jest on her color, no doubt. My sincere thanks for all your aid, Your Majesty.” Lian didn’t allow his gratitude to color his distrust of the vampire, but he did mean his words.

  “It is a small thing compared to the weight of my sins, Highness. But you are welcome in any event,” Kolos said, offering his hand to the prince.

  Lian accepted the hand, shaking it firmly. “I hope that one day you find peace, sir. Gods smile on you and your land.” The vampire raised his hand in reply, before turning away to return to the ruins. He didn’t look back toward the departing pair, though the smaller of them did glance back to keep a wary eye on him.

  When they had walked the horses for about fifteen minutes, Snog asked when they were going to mount up. “Horses can’t see in the dark without magical aid, Snog,” Lian explained. “We’ll ride in an emergency, but for now we’ll lead them.”

  The scout nodded and looked back toward the ruined city, nervously fingering his magic dagger. It was the hundredth time he’d done so.

  “You might as well relax about Saul,” Lian said, using the vampire’s alias deliberately. “If he reverses his position and strikes at us, we probably won’t know until it’s too late.”

  “Not necessarily true,” commented Lord Grey from within his sack, “though I’m quite sure your senses aren’t perceptive enough to locate a vampire who doesn’t wish to be seen. However, the ‘ranger’ has returned to the ruins of the keep at present.”

  Lian narrowed his eyes. “Your faculties have that kind of range?”

  “No, Alan,” Lord Grey replied, “but the wards I placed upon the bakery can sense his movements while they last. They will hold until daybreak, I should think, unless he chooses to unweave them. However, they shouldn’t bother him unless he’s nearby, and he may want to use them to instruct Teg.

  “My wards are the kind that Teg should recognize and leave alone,” he finished matter-of-factly.

  Lian nodded his agreement, leading the mounts around some difficult footing. “We’ll continue for a few more miles, and then we’ll camp until noon. I know that your eyes are more suited to the night, Snog, but the horses need to rest before moving on tomorrow.”

  Snog said, “Be happier not stoppin’ anywhere’s near Greythorn, but I’m guessin’ he can ride us down any place in the kingdom, eh?”

  Lian replied, “Yes, I’m sure he could. Furthermore, we have only his word that the Companions aren’t nearby. He lied to my father, and for all I know, he may have some reason to lie to us. I will be glad to put some sea leagues between us and the King of Greythorn.”

  They picked their way carefully in silence for nearly two hours before Lian called a halt. They had entered a clearing where the horses could graze while their riders slept. The two magical beings suggested they keep watch for the rest of the night, and Lian was prepared to allow it. “But this is not something we’ll do normally,” Lian clarified. “First off, it may raise suspicions if we keep no watches. Second, there are dangers capable of blinding the senses of a magical construct. For lack of better information, that’s how I have to treat you, Lord Grey.”

  “Actually, it’s not an inaccurate description, in those terms,” Lord Grey said. “Spells intended to blind th
e senses of your sword might or might not work on me, but you should never assume that I’m immune to them. Nothing I have encountered works permanently on me, but I have been enspelled many times in the past.”

  There were a thousand questions that Lian longed to ask the skull on that subject, but he decided to let them lie for now. Foremost among them was what kind of enchantment did Lyrial place on you at Whitefall and did you truly not tell him who I was?

  Instead, Lian and Snog went promptly to sleep, only to be awakened before daybreak by Lord Grey.

  “Good morning, Alan,” he said cheerfully. “I have done what you asked, and I’m ready to tell you what I’ve learned . . . ” He let the sentence hang meaningfully.

  “Snog has my confidence, Lord Grey,” Lian replied.

  “As you wish,” he said curtly, his disagreement evident.

  “Gem has been cursed, Alan. This curse has had some amount of time to work on her, yet it seems to be strangely incomplete, as if only half of the spell was emplaced upon her. My assumption is that something prevented the other half from reaching or affecting her, but I don’t have any clue yet as to where the curse originated,” he said. His voice settled into an obviously familiar “lecture” mode.

  “There are any number of old curses in and around the Tower, and it’s conceivable that you could have stumbled upon one of them before you encountered me. But it would be highly unusual for such a curse to be so selective and specific.”

  “What do you mean?” asked Gem, before Lian could formulate the question. Snog sat in silence, packing his pipe carefully.

  “I mean that this curse is not one that would affect Snog’s dagger, or any of Alan’s other magical equipment. It is aimed precisely at intelligent weapons of a certain type. More precisely, the curse will only take hold of a soul shard creation.”

  There existed several ways to devise an intelligent weapon, from confining a creature within it to killing a man or woman and binding the soul within the blade. A soul shard was a unique type of construction, in which the maker placed a part of themselves within the weapon. Adrienne had constructed Gem thusly, so that her child would always have a part of her with him. Although she managed to keep memories of the Greythorn misadventure from me when she made me, thought Gem to herself. She had known nothing of Kolos’ story.