Khalshir (Kingmakers Book 1)

by Jaye McKenna

  “I did.”

  “Good. Then we ride east, for Cathan, and we keep to the stream until we can leave it without leaving too much a trail.”

  “If Coryn’s as skilled as you, won’t he know what we’ve done?”

  “Ai, he’ll find our tracks eventually,” Rio said, “but he’ll still have to comb the banks of the stream to figure out where we left it, and if I’m careful, I may be able to obscure the trail enough to buy us some time to get ahead of him.”

  They were only a few hours out from the Jherek estate, and Dani was still burning with excitement. Rio was burning, too, but with fatigue. The effects of two nights without sleep were beginning to catch up with him, but he dared not give in to exhaustion now. He and Dani needed to make use of every bit of daylight they had to get ahead of the searchers he knew would be coming after them.

  Leaving the estate hadn’t been difficult. Dani had made a show of ordering the servants to begin packing his things in readiness for his journey to Altan. He’d supervised the resulting chaos for an hour, then decided he was bored with it and announced he was going riding, and things had best be put to rights by the time he returned.

  The stream widened enough for them to ride side by side, and Dani pulled Meri up beside Rio’s gelding. “I hope Pen doesn’t worry too much.”

  “What will happen to him?”

  “He came with Mother, from Altan, so I suppose once he realizes I’m not coming back, he’ll go home.” Dani flashed Rio a grin. “We’ll probably see him again before long.” They rode along in silence for a short time before Dani said, “Will we be camping tonight or riding straight through?”

  “Camping,” Rio said. “If I don’t sleep tonight, I’ll be no good to you as a bodyguard or a guide.”

  “Haven’t you been sleeping?”

  Rio shook his head. “Been too worried about you.”

  Dani smiled, then slapped a hand to his neck. His eyes widened as he pulled away a tiny dart and held it up for Rio to see. Moments later, he slumped forward in the saddle.

  Rio looked about wildly for the source, heart sinking as he felt a sting on his back. Moments later, the world went hazy, and a loud buzzing filled his ears. He was unconscious before he hit the ground.

  * * *

  Dani woke up in his own bed. His stomach was queasy and his head was pounding. Once he managed to pry open sticky eyes, he realized it wasn’t morning at all, but the middle of the night. His room was lit by a single lamp, burning low, and he wasn’t actually in the bed, but on top of it, still dressed in his riding clothes, including his boots.

  Memory washed over him in a sickening wave: he and Rio had been on their way to Altan. He’d been bitten or stung, and now, somehow, he was home in his own bed.

  But where was Rio?

  Dani sat up quickly and looked about, letting out a low groan as his head spun. There was no sign of Rio, nor of Coryn, who had, for the past five weeks or so, spent every night right here in his room, keeping watch over him. He eased himself off the bed, hanging on to the bedpost for support. Once he’d been on his feet for a minute, the room stopped tilting, and he was able to make his way to the door.

  It was locked.

  He stood there, frozen, trying to understand what it meant. If his father intended to kill him, why go to the trouble of bringing him home? Working through the tangle of possibilities was too much for his fogged mind at the moment. He rubbed his face with his hands, hoping to clear away some of the fuzz clogging his thoughts.

  When that didn’t help, he tried pounding on the bedroom door and calling for Pen, but no one answered. Shouting outside drew him to the bedroom window, which had been left open just enough to let in the cool night air. Dani opened it wide and heard his father’s voice barking orders. Two wagons waited in the drive, and a group of the estate’s guardsmen were climbing into the wagon beds. Larrad stood between the wagons, directing the men. Once the guardsmen were all aboard, Larrad climbed up next to one of the drivers, and the wagons headed down the drive at breakneck speed.

  Dani sank back down on the bed. The breath of cool air had helped clear his head, but he still had no idea what was going on.

  Or where Rio might have ended up.

  A shadow moving outside the window caught his eye, and a moment later, a masked, black-clad figure slipped in through the opening. Dani’s heart leapt with hope.

  Rio?

  But no — this man wasn’t big enough to be Rio.

  Assassin, then?

  Heart pounding, Dani rolled across the bed, putting it between himself and the window. As he gained his feet, the man hopped lightly down from the windowsill and pulled off the dark mask covering his face.

  Coryn.

  Dani choked back a whimper. With him out of the way, Coryn’s path to Rio would be clear. “Are you… are you here to kill me?” he asked, voice breaking.

  “Fiora’s tits, whatever gave you that idea?” Coryn’s brow scrunched up in a scowl. “I’m here to get you out of here. Assuming you’d prefer to live.” He’d let the cultured accent drop, giving his words softer edges and an almost lilting sound.

  “Where’s Rio?”

  “Buried under a heap of trouble. I’m going to try to get him out, but we don’t have much time.”

  “Because he wouldn’t kill me?” Dani asked.

  Coryn’s pale eyes widened, but he nodded grimly and began stripping the sheets off Dani’s bed. “Ai.”

  “But… wouldn’t you be happier if I was dead?”

  “What?” Coryn froze in the middle of tying two sheets together.

  “I mean… then you and Rio…”

  Coryn flushed. “It ain’t… it’s not like that. He don’t see me that way. Never has.”

  “But… but don’t you want him?”

  “Sure I do, but what’s that got to do with it? Spent half a lifetime living with someone who only kept me around out of a sense of duty. Ain’t doing that again. I want Rio alive and happy. If you die, he’s not going to be happy. And if we don’t get our asses moving, he’s not going to be alive, either. So are you coming with me or not?”

  Dani glanced at the makeshift rope Coryn was tying together. “Out the window?”

  “Easiest way to make sure no one sees us. It’s black as pitch out there. Moon’s covered by clouds. For now.”

  “But the guards—”

  “Spread thin. Half of ’em just left with his lordship. Something about a fire in the warehouse district. He’ll need them to protect his holdings from looters once the fire’s out.”

  “Fire?” Dani asked faintly.

  One side of Coryn’s mouth curved up in a wicked little grin. “Figured it would make a good diversion. I made sure the slaves were out first, though. Thought you might like to know that. They’re on their way out of the city. A friend of mine is helping them. They’ll be all right. And the slaver… well, let’s just say he’s not in any shape to be dealing in slaves anymore. Or anything else, for that matter.”

  “Wait, you set fire to my father’s warehouse?”

  Ice-blue eyes glinted with something that looked a lot like amusement. “Ai.”

  “And you set the slaves free? The boys, too?”

  “Ai.”

  Dani couldn’t stop himself. He flung his arms around Coryn. “Thank you!”

  Coryn jerked away from the contact and shot him a fierce look. “Enough with that. We still got a lot to do. Bajhan will be leaving with Rio in the morning. We got two days to intercept him and rescue Rio.”

  “Two days? Where is he taking him?”

  “South.” Coryn finished tying the sheets and blankets together and tested the knots, then coiled the rope he’d used to climb up to Dani’s window.

  “Wouldn’t it be easier to use the rope you climbed up here with?” Dani asked.

  Coryn arched one dark eyebrow. “Do you have rope in here?”

  “No, but—”

  “So… better to make it look like you escaped on your own
. Once I get Rio free, I still have to go back to my employers and convince them he’s dead.”

  “Your employers… you mean the Khalshir Guild?”

  Coryn’s eyes narrowed. “What else did he tell you?”

  “He said… if he didn’t kill me, you would do it, and you might be ordered to kill him, too.” Dani’s voice dropped to a whisper. “He didn’t know if he could trust you.”

  “Kill him? I would never…” A look that might have been anguish twisted Coryn’s features. A moment later, his lips thinned and his eyes went hard. “You have two choices, Danakho Jherek. You can trust me or you can stay here and take your chances with your father. I don’t much care which you do, but if I’m going to have any chance of saving Rio, I need to leave now.” He secured the rope to his belt, moved to the window, and held out a hand. “You with me or not?”

  It wasn’t a choice. Not really. Coryn had come for him when he could have just killed him. And he’d set the slaves free. Dani squared his shoulders and took a deep breath, then moved toward Coryn and took hold of his hand. “I’m with you.”

  * * *

  Rio’s whole body hurt: his head was pounding, his left side felt like one big bruise, and his shoulders were wrenched painfully behind him. He spent several minutes struggling to shift into a more comfortable position before realizing his wrists and ankles were tightly bound.

  Cold stone beneath him, chill, damp air kissing his skin… A cellar? Or perhaps a cell? Had to be one of the two; he’d been hit with a sleep dart, which meant Coryn or Bajhan. Wherever he was, he was in Guild custody, and he would soon face the Guild Master.

  His chest constricted painfully. If he’d been caught, then Dani must be dead.

  “I don’t think I’ve ever been so disappointed in my life.”

  Rio didn’t need to twist around to see who the harsh, rasping voice belonged to. He’d trained under Bajhan for years, knew that ruined voice almost as well as his own. Bajhan moved into his field of vision. In the flickering lamplight, the ragged scar across his neck was but a faint shadow. His glossy black hair was pulled back in a neat queue, and his cold eyes fixed on Rio with disturbing intensity.

  Rio shifted his own gaze to the gritty stone floor and waited for Bajhan to condemn him.

  “Your lover is dead,” Bajhan said flatly. “I trust Coryn to obey his orders without question. I thought I could trust you, too, but you’ve betrayed that trust twice now.”

  Your lover.

  They knew. Coryn must have told Bajhan everything, the bastard. Rio choked back a sob and forced an apology past the lump in his throat. “I’m sorry, Uncle.”

  “Sorry.” Bajhan managed to put all his contempt, all his fury, into that single word. “I’ve invested twelve years of my life in you, Rio. Twelve years. I took you in out of love for my sister. Argued with the Guild Master for permission to train you, even though she thought you were too old. And then I did the same damn thing for Coryn when he came to us, because you wanted him with you so badly. I called in more favors than you’ll ever know to get the Guild’s approval to take him on as well. Staked my reputation on both of you because it was all I had to give you. I couldn’t give you back the family we both lost, but I did all I could to give you a career and a place to belong.”

  Rio squeezed his eyes shut. Bajhan had always been a demanding but patient teacher. He’d taught his nephew far more than the skills the Guild demanded he learn, was the closest thing to a father Rio remembered.

  “Coryn won’t disappoint you,” Rio whispered.

  “No. Of that, I have no doubt. Coryn’s focus has always been where it belongs: on the job at hand. Your problem is the same as it’s always been — you’re too damned emotional. I thought it could be trained out of you, but I was wrong.”

  When Rio opened his eyes, his uncle had turned away, as if he couldn’t bear the sight of him. “What… what happens next?”

  “I have no choice,” Bajhan said in a thick, rasping voice. “I take you back to the compound to face the Guild Master. You know what that means.”

  “Retirement.” Rio felt sick. He’d watched a retirement once. He and Coryn both had, as part of their training. The condemned man had been forced to drink inizia, the cruel, slow-acting poison the Khalshir used to execute their own. He’d been chained in the central cavern of the Khalshir’s underground training complex so the trainees could witness his agonizing death firsthand. For three long days, they’d listened to his screams echoing through the stone passages of the compound.

  It had been months before Rio’s nightmares had subsided, but it hadn’t seemed to bother Coryn. He’d simply shrugged it off and suggested neither of them ever give the Guild reason to retire them.

  Rio had fervently agreed at the time. But that was before he’d been ordered to kill. Before it had ever occurred to him that committing the act might be far more difficult than simply imagining it.

  Would his uncle — his only living relative — truly condemn him to the Guild’s justice?

  “We leave in the morning,” Bajhan said. “You’ll be drugged for the journey. I suggest you spend the rest of the night giving some thought to what you’re going to say to the Guild Master when she questions you.” He turned away.

  Rio’s vision blurred. The door banged shut, and a key scraped in the lock. Bajhan’s footsteps faded into silence, leaving Rio with only his fears and his regrets for company.

  Hot tears leaked from his eyes.

  “Dani,” he whispered. “I’m so sorry…”

  * * *

  Huddled in the corner of a ruined stone cottage, Dani held his breath, shivering at the unfamiliar rustlings and peepings of the forest at night. Broken stone walls loomed over him, dark shadows in the inky black of a cloudy night.

  He’d never spent a night outside in his life, and though Coryn had assured him he’d be perfectly safe here as long as he kept quiet, Dani wasn’t so sure about that. He’d been here since before dawn, when Coryn had led him to this place. The day had dragged, but at least he’d been able to see.

  With the onset of night, his nerves magnified every sound, and his overactive imagination didn’t help matters. Every rustle was the careful step of one of his father’s guardsmen, every sigh of the wind, the breath of an assassin on the back of his neck.

  Coryn hadn’t known when he’d be back. He planned to catch up with Bajhan on the road and then wait for his chance. They’d escaped the estate without incident; the guards had, indeed, been spread thin, and Coryn must have known exactly where they were, for they met no one on their way out. Some distance away, hidden in a small grove of trees, Coryn had two horses waiting.

  They’d ridden south at a faster pace than Dani was comfortable with at night on an unfamiliar horse. An hour or so out, they’d left the road, cutting across country to the remains of a cottage. Coryn had told him to stay hidden until he returned. He’d left a backpack full of supplies and two water skins with Dani, then taken both horses and disappeared into the trees.

  As Dani waited, the clouds thinned enough for the moon to peep through. Though it was comforting to be able to see a little, the moonlight only added to his anxiety. Would it make Coryn’s task more risky? What if Bajhan wasn’t alone?

  Had Coryn already been caught?

  Sharp prickles skittered up and down his spine as his imagination helpfully listed all the things that could go wrong: Rio could already be dead, Coryn could be dead or captured, or Dani could be discovered. The rapidly thinning cloud cover only increased the chances of this venture ending in disaster for all three of them.

  Snapping twigs and the sudden snort of a horse had him leaping to his feet, heart pounding. He pressed his back against the rough stone wall behind him, wishing it would swallow him up.

  Had he been discovered?

  “Danakho?” Coryn’s voice drifted through the darkness.

  Relief and anxiety tangled together, making Dani feel sick. “Here,” he called back. “I… I’m here. Did you�
��?”

  He could barely voice the question, but Coryn knew what he was asking, for he said, “I got him. He’s out cold. Bajhan drugged him to keep him quiet.”

  In the moonlight, Dani made out the shadow of a rider. He ventured closer. Coryn had Rio slung across the horse in front of him, and was leading a second horse behind him.

  “Sorry I took so long,” Coryn said. “Had to make sure Bajhan was drugged deep enough that he wouldn’t wake, and then I had to deal with Rio’s tattoo.” He kept one hand on Rio’s back, steadying him as he slid down from the horse. “Come help me get him down.”

  Dani frowned. “Won’t Bajhan realize he was drugged?”

  “Hope not.” Coryn sounded far too cheerful. “He’ll remember getting drowsy, but he won’t have any after-effects that’ll make him suspect.”

  When they’d moved Rio into the dubious shelter of the ruined cottage, Coryn said, “I burned off his tattoo. You’ll need to keep an eye on it, help him keep it clean and covered. There’s a pot of burn salve in with the gear I packed. Make sure you use it.”

  “You burned off…” Nausea roiled in Dani’s gut. “Why in Fiora’s name would you do that?”

  “You ask too many questions, Danakho Jherek.”

  “I’m sorry. I—”

  “Look, I’m no mythe-weaver,” Coryn said in a low voice, “and I’m not privy to Guild secrets, but I’m not stupid, either. The tattoos are how the Guild marks us. We all have one, but they’re all different. We choose the design, but the Guild Master does the inking. I think she ties them to the mythe somehow, uses them to track us. She might even be able to spy on us through them, hear what we say, maybe even see what we see.”

  “But… but don’t you have a tattoo, as well? How do you know she’s not spying on you right now?”

  “I don’t think mine works the way it’s supposed to. Been testing it for a while, now. I’m pretty sure she’s not spying on me. If she was, I’d have been retired by now.” Coryn flashed Dani a grin, then continued, “Once you’re on your way, you want to put as much distance between yourself and the city as you can. Head for the mountains and stay off the main roads. Rio’s gear is strapped to the grey horse. There are supplies in the saddlebags: a few tools, some trail rations, a pouch of silver. There’s a couple of vials wrapped in cloth, too. Anzaria and some more of that stimulant. It’s not much, but I did the best I could on short notice. Should be enough food to last you a week or so, if you’re careful.”