By Blood Betrayed (The Kingsblood Chronicles)

by Houpt, David

  Lian knew that she’d originally intended Gem to belong to Alec, to advise him as he presided over the country. Her plan was that Gem would pass from father to son to help ensure that the dynasty would remain a just one. On the day that she completed the weapon, however, her mentor had come to her and advised that she give it instead to her unborn son, Lian. Stephan was a veteran priest of Rula Golden, and Adrienne had grown to trust the sun priest’s insight implicitly during the years of their friendship.

  “Was it directed at Gem in particular?” Lian asked.

  “Not to a certainty, but it does seem to be the most obvious conclusion,” Lord Grey replied. “Furthermore, the blade itself would have to be within only a few yards of the object carrying the curse.”

  “Can you tell what it would have done had the spell been completed?” Gem asked, her voice shaken.

  “Yes, I think I can guess,” answered Lord Grey. “I believe the intent was to destroy you completely, by channeling your mana source into some kind of destructive magic. That’s what the first half of the spell is doing, by the way. Your mana is being depleted, but instead of fueling the destruction spell, it’s being dispersed randomly into the astral planes. If you weren’t shielded by spheres of protection, it would be as visible as lightning flashes in the night to anything with magical senses.”

  Lian cocked his head, “You managed to penetrate the protective sphere. Is this because I am carrying you?”

  “Astute of you,” the skull said approvingly. “Yes. For all intents and purposes, I am now your possession, and therefore I am held within your wards and protections. Magically speaking, I’m an extension of you.”

  “Can you break this curse?” Lian asked, adding to Gem mentally, If he can’t, I’ll find someone else who can, I promise.

  I know you will, boy, she said in reply. At this point I’m not worried beyond my inability to cast much magic.

  But eventually the magics that keep me in existence will start to unravel, she continued only to herself, keeping that concern tightly shielded from her charge. The mana which powered her magic also sustained her, and if she were effectively cut off from it, she would eventually become no more than a finely crafted but mundane blade.

  Lord Grey said, “Yes, I can. If the full enchantment had been successful, she’d be gone by now, but lacking that second half, the spell is very poorly woven. It’s difficult to see, because of the shielding built into it, but it shouldn’t be hard to overcome. I can work on it while we ride, if you can arrange for me to be in physical contact with the Lady Sword.”

  Gem? Lian asked, aware of her mistrust toward the skull.

  We have little choice, Lian, Gem said. I fear permanent harm to my spellcasting if we don’t act soon. She didn’t mention that the “harm” to her spellcasting would be her dissolution.

  Lian removed the skull from his bag and said, “I can hang you on her pommel, unless you have some objection.”

  Lord Grey chuckled. “No, that should suffice, even if it’s a little humorous.”

  The prince asked, “This is a process I shouldn’t interrupt, I assume?”

  “Most likely, I’d just have to start over, but there is always the chance that the magic would become ungrounded and have an adverse effect on you or Gem. It would be best if you don’t disturb us during the day if you can,” the skull replied.

  “I wish I could afford to stop and hole up for a day to let you work your magic, Lord Grey,” he said, “but we need to distance ourselves from Greythorn as soon as possible. One last thing, however. You said this spell had been affecting her her for some time. Is there any possibility that this is Saul’s doing?”

  “I don’t think so, Alan,” the skull replied. “My guess is that it has been working on her since the Tower, at least. No longer than three days before that at the outside.”

  Lian nodded softly. “The assassin must have brought it, then. The second half was probably on his partner, the one my aunt consumed.”

  “Logical surmise,” the skull said, “but there’s really no way to confirm or deny your assumption. I’m going to start working now, and it won’t be silent. Keep an extra watch out, and I advise you to shy away from peasants. A singing black skull won’t inspire trust and welcome.”

  “Ain’t that the truth, milords,” Snog remarked wryly. “The idea don’ make me none too happy, either.”

  The skull laughed aloud at that and then began to chant a spell. Gem allowed Lian a glimpse through their bond, and it was again colorless and unaligned. This spell is a high order unweaving magic, intended to protect the caster from assault by the spell that’s being unwoven, Gem reported. This would incidentally shield him from me were he to attempt to unweave me with it. In most circumstances, I would have said that your mother made me invulnerable to being unwoven, but with this curse on me I don’t really know. And that’s assuming that it does what he told you, of course.

  It fits the available data, and makes sense. Rishak knows about you, and would have sent his assassins armed somehow against you. It’s dumb luck that they got greedy, or maybe fate, he replied to his friend and mentor.

  Or maybe both, Gem said.

  Warn me if you perceive, even for an instant, that he is directing the unweaving toward you yourself, Lian said. I don’t want to try to figure out if he’s leading me astray without your advice and wisdom, old friend. I haven’t always followed your advice, but I’ve never been sorry to have it.

  Spoken like a poet, my boy. I’ll let you know, I assure you, she said, basking in the warm affection her wielder was broadcasting toward her along with his thoughts.

  Chapter Seventeen

  “Kra zu’l k’redor.”

  “Death is patient.”

  -- Goblin proverb

  The melodious chanting of the skull quickly rendered both of the travelers uneasy. The timbre was sonorous and low, but spellsongs carried farther than did the mundane variety. The two maintained an uneasy silence as the day wore on, extending their senses in an attempt to perceive any danger that might be attracted by the song. The two horses were apparently accustomed to magic, for neither reacted in any way when Lord Grey began, and they continued their pace, unconcerned, throughout the long day.

  It was nearly sundown when Lian finally called a halt. His chosen campsite lay near a clear-running stream which ran by a small, defensible hill. He let the horses drink their fill, then turned them out to graze on the hillside away from the stream. Lord Grey’s song had not ceased once during the entire day, though he noticed that there were breaks, obviously for breath, built into the melody. These pauses led Lian to believe that the spell came from the days when the skull was encased in living flesh.

  Show me the magic, please, Lian asked, and was instantly rewarded with Gem’s magesight. The spell was gathered about both the skull and sword, and he could discern that something dark within the sword was reacting to it. Finger-shaped fringes of spell were reaching out to grasp and entwine with Lord Grey’s enchantment, and the two spells were becoming one.

  This wizard is the most skilled I have ever encountered, Gem said in a tone approaching awe. His spell blends with the curse, and as the two merge they cancel each other out at the point of contact. It’s like he has woven the exact opposite of the curse and is knitting them together in a “loom.” The finished product is nothingness. She pointed out the features of the magic to Lian as she explained.

  What is that other part? Lian asked, indicating a second plait that enveloped only the skull.

  My guess is that’s something intended to make Lord Grey invisible to the curse he’s unweaving. I don’t know if it would be effective against all curses, but most wouldn’t be able to transfer to him simply because they couldn’t target him.

  I suppose such a curse could be drawn to someone near him, though, she mused, so beware should I not survive this.

  Do you feel any different? Lian asked as he unfurled his bedroll. His was first watch, but he’d learned long ago
to get his bed ready before he needed it. Nothing made the night longer than having to lay out camp while exhausted.

  Not really, Gem replied, but I haven’t been feeling bad, son. I just haven’t been able to gather my magic back around me. If something changes, I’ll let you know.

  Lian said aloud, “If Gem’s consciousness is disrupted by Lord Grey’s spell, I’ll probably lose my darksight, Snog. If that happens during my watch, I’ll wake you.”

  Snog nodded from where he was arranging his own “nest” of bedrolls. In clear speech, he said, “Right, sir. We need to find a clear carnelian, or a tourmaline of the right color.”

  Lian raised an eyebrow. “You are familiar with earth magic?” he asked. His mother had taught him various properties of so-called “natural” magics. She taught him that there was a quantity of innate magic in most naturally occuring things, from the tiniest grain of sand to the greatest mountain. Some contained enough magic that it could be extracted and utilized. One example of this was carnelian, or red chalcedony. A carnelian of exceptional quality could be magically awakened and used to grant nightvision. Lian was aware of this aspect of carnelian’s properties, but he’d never heard of a similar trait in tourmaline.

  Snog said, “A little only, milord. Only what I gleaned from hanging around doorways and watching the shaman to see what he did with the gems.” Gemstones were commonly subjected to awakening, but Lian knew of herbal properties that could be kindled, too.

  Their conversation was interrupted as Lord Grey’s song wound suddenly higher in pitch, and Gem said, He’s about to finish.

  Snog nodded toward the skull and sword, leaning against Lian’s saddlehorn. “He about to finish, sir?” he asked, fingering his dagger’s pommel.

  “She says so,” Lian replied, again gazing at the magical patterns through Gem’s senses. The darkening on her was almost gone, and as he and the sword watched, the remainder of the shadowy magic faded away, matched strand for strand by the spell of the necromancer.

  As his final note dissipated, Gem exclaimed, Gods and the goddess! I feel the difference, son. Magic’s flowing back into me now.

  “You should be feeling a bit different,” Lord Grey said dryly, with no trace of exhaustion in his tone.

  “I do,” she said aloud. “I didn’t realize how poorly I was feeling until you finished.”

  He chuckled softly and said, “I think you did, Lady Sword. The curse would have been the end of you sooner or later, and I think you are too wise to have missed the implications.”

  Lian looked sharply at his friend. Gem said, “It was possible that it could have been my undoing, yes. It was also conceivable that, being incomplete, it would have eventually unraveled enough for me to deal with it myself, no?”

  “I will grant that as a possibility, my lady,” Lord Grey said. “But it was far more probable that you would have simply faded when your remaining magic fell below some critical level. On the other hand, I estimate that you had months before that was a danger. The late queen wove you well.”

  “In any event,” Lian said, with a frown toward his sword, “you have my thanks, sir. As much as I need your help, I need hers more.” He instantly regretted the words, but before he could apologize, Lord Grey laughed.

  The skull said, “Because you can trust her, yes. I understand, Alan, believe that I do. I know what I look like, and what questions my imprisonment must raise within you. However, I ask that you trust I have reasons for keeping my past secret, and good ones.”

  Lian sighed. “No doubt you do, Lord Grey,” he said. “Even if they are of a malevolent nature, they are sure to be good reasons. Regardless, you have my thanks, and my gratitude.

  “Our suspicion, however well grounded, is a poor way to repay you for the aid you have given us. I beg your forgiveness for the distrust, and apologize, for it will have to continue, I fear.”

  “I accept your apology, Alan,” the skull said somberly.

  “Actually, Lyrial notwithstanding, I’m having the best time that I’ve had for centuries,” he continued in a lighter vein. “My previous bearers were far less savory types than you, Alan. And not a single one of them ever trusted me, so I’ll accept your wariness gladly.”

  His tone became more serious again, “You are most welcome to my aid, young man. I hope that it is enough to move you beyond your uncle’s reach. You are aware that there will probably be an assassin waiting in Mola?”

  Lian nodded wearily. “From my hunters’ viewpoint, there’s only a slim chance that I’d go there, so I’m hoping that the majority of the ‘pack’ headed west after the gryphon’s false trail. However, some of them move with a sorcerer’s speed, and will even now be discovering that no golden gryphon has been sighted anywhere in the western cities. These men will pore over maps looking for places that I might really have gone.”

  Slipping back into his pidgin tongue, Snog said, “It depends on how much yer uncle’s offerin’ for yer head, sir. A lot o’ those boys ‘ll be nursin’ hurts from the guards an’ each other. Gatherin’ together a group of killers like he needed to do in all yer kin, he’s goin’ to have freelancers and guild assassins, an’ some o’ the guilders will be rivals, with old feuds o’ their own. Once this turns into a hunt for you, it’ll be every killer for hisself.”

  “I’ve seen this kind of operation before, Lian, and I agree with Snog for the most part,” Lord Grey said. “The present, however, is the most dangerous time. Whatever pressure he exerted upon them to force them to work together for the initial job will be weakening. These aren’t the sort of people you can successfully bully for more than a little while, after all.”

  Lian asked, “So given a little time, the assassins will either drop out or turn on each other?”

  “Most likely the latter,” said the skull. “These are also not the sort of folk who will give up on a contract.”

  Gem said, “That’s assuming Rishak doesn’t reward the lot of them with death, my Lord Skull.” She spoke in the same deferential tone in which Lord Grey addressed her, and Lian had to stifle his grin.

  “I doubt he’d dare,” Lian said. “No matter how many mages and personal assassins he has, the guilds he hired from would take extreme exception to their operatives suddenly dying. I guarantee that there won’t be a purge, because Rishak needs to know where his threats are right now.” His uncle’s chief concern would be to strengthen his position, and a major assassin guildwar aimed at him wouldn’t help him achieve that goal, even if he was capable of surviving it personally.

  “You’ve a good head for this game, Alan,” the skull complemented. “I rather imagine that our association will be entertaining, at least. For now, however, I need to study Gem further, to ensure that there wasn’t a deeper enchantment lurking beneath the first one.”

  Keep on eye on what he’s doing, Gem, he instructed to her. Remember that we’ve seen him cast enchantments without singing. Aloud, he said, “You’re right. Snog, hit the sack, and I’ll take up my watch. Will your examination interfere with your ability to warn us of impending danger?”

  “No, Alan. My senses are radial.”

  “What’s that mean?” asked Snog of the unfamiliar word. The skull patiently explained that he could see in all directions. The goblin grinned toothily and muttered that this might be useful to know.

  Halfway through his watch, Lian said mentally, Gem?

  Reading his emotional overtones, Gem sighed mentally and said, I won’t hide my concerns from you again, lad. But you had a lot to worry about already.

  I’d prefer that you burden me rather than allowing me to spend my time imagining what you haven’t told me. We’ve always, to my knowledge, been honest with each other before this, for good and bad. I’d like that to continue, alright? he said, sending his love and concern for her along the linkage.

  I would, too, son, she said. Her maternal instinct towards him had always been powerful, due to the nature of her spirit. Adrienne had actually endowed her creation with a small p
ortion of her own soul, which Gem had always considered to be a gift beyond price. She enjoyed a special bond with Lian, for she had been close to him for nearly his entire life, but she also carried Adrienne’s love for the other children, and her sorrow at their deaths was profound.

  Her nature was derived also from the steel from which she was forged, and her grief would not interfere with her duty to her wielder. There would be time to mourn later, when the danger had passed.

  With a heavy sigh to herself, she opened her magical “eyes” and observed the mana flow in from her surroundings with approval. The necromancer certainly has his uses, she thought to Lian. Even if I never trust him.

  Chapter Eighteen

  “Once every thirty years, all six moons of Tieran are simultaneously at full phase. On that night, tides and earthquakes are terrible, and no one can predict what damage might result. On that night, the gates between the worlds may open, and no one can foresee what might emerge. On that night, magic is at its ultimate peak, and no one can anticipate what might be accomplished. On that night, the fates and chance are literally in alignment, and no one can prophecy what extraordinary being might be born under such a sky. On that night, I generally try to find a good hiding place.”

  -- Alionur the Sage

  They crossed the Villas River the next day, easily fording it at a point almost halfway between Greythorn City and Mola. At one time, the site had been a large semi-permanent gypsy encampment, back when the capital was thriving and there was a fair amount of traffic between it and the seaport.

  All that remained were remnants of old campfires, and no indication that anyone had been there in days. Lian rode Beliu across, leading Nightmare by the reins. Both horses accepted the crossing without complaint, though Beliu wanted to prance after bounding up the opposite bank. Lian kept him reined in, however.