The Pyramid Waltz

by Barbara Ann Wright

  Katya clutched her pommel. “If we suspect traps from every angle, we’ll never get anywhere. Pennynail, drag this person to the gap just ahead. Averie, stay by the road, and once you’ve checked our mystery guest out, signal us either to come forward or stay back.”

  The two sped away. “Spread out,” Katya said. She almost wished for a little ambush to release the tension. Ahead, Pennynail dragged someone into sight, and Averie bent over the person before waving the Order forward.

  “Who is it?” Katya dismounted. Close up, she saw it was a man, face-down, with a knife sticking out of his back.

  “The wound’s not that deep.” Averie lifted the fabric of his coat and peeked under it. “His clothing shielded him a little. He’s got a coat, a shirt, and what looks like an undershirt…two undershirts.”

  “Two?” Katya asked.

  Averie turned the downed man’s face to the side. His nose was a mess, bloodied, bruised, and swollen, undoubtedly broken. “He’s pretty young. I’d guess he was bulking up to impress everybody.”

  Katya sucked in a breath as she recognized him. “Lord Hugo.”

  “Will you cut these clothes down the back, Pennynail?” Averie asked. “Carefully. This knife would have fallen out by now if he’d been lying on his side.”

  Using one of his thin stilettos, Pennynail sliced the fabric in half with a soft rip. Katya bent closer. The knife had penetrated Lord Hugo’s back an inch or so. Luckily, it was small; the weight of it hadn’t torn it from his flesh.

  “This needs Brutal,” Averie said.

  Katya waved him forward. “Bring the patch-up kit, Brutal.”

  He eyed Lord Hugo’s wound. “Not so bad.”

  “What do you think?” Averie asked. “A quick pull and then bandages?”

  “Nah.” Brutal rooted around in the medical satchel and pulled out a handful of soft bandages. “Had a brother fall against a table last year during a duel. Got a knife stuck in his leg, and one of the chapterhouse heads wrapped a bandage around the knife, on the wound, and then pulled it out. Then they could put pressure on it right away, see?”

  “Good thinking.”

  Katya watched them work. They could fix up Lord Hugo, but then she intended to wake him and find out why he was there. As soon as the knife left him, however, he came awake with a grunt and tried to push off the ground. Brutal shoved him down, pushing on the wound. Lord Hugo cried out, and Katya knelt by his head. His eyes rolled, panicked.

  “Easy, Lord Hugo,” she said. “We’re trying to help you.”

  He focused on her face. “Highness?”

  “That’s right. Can you sit up so we can wind a bandage around you?”

  As he did, his clothes slipped down his arms, exposing his rather skinny chest. He made a grab for one of his shirts, but Katya made him sit still. As Averie wound the bandages around his bare torso, he squirmed and wouldn’t meet anyone’s gaze.

  Katya had the grace to look away until Averie finished. Lord Hugo clutched the remains of his coat around his thin body. “Is Miss Starbride all right?” he asked, his voice distorted by his broken nose.

  Katya paused, trying to tell herself she’d misheard. “Who?”

  “Miss Starbride.” He glanced around. “Isn’t she here?”

  Katya gripped him by the shoulders and pulled him close. “Tell me everything that happened to you this day, Lord Hugo. Tell it clear and in order.”

  He swallowed hard, but he followed instructions. Blood raced through Katya’s temples as he spoke. She didn’t believe for one second that Starbride thought she’d gone hunting, or that Starbride had planned a good-natured surprise. She had acted exactly as Katya imagined she would. Only instead of confronting her, Starbride had followed her, the damned little ferreter of secrets!

  Lord Hugo winced as Averie wiped the blood from his face. “The robbers said they wanted ‘one of her friends.’ That must be you, Highness.”

  “Did you recognize them?”

  He started to shake his head, and then stopped, grimaced, and reached for his face.

  “Describe them.”

  He did, adding the name he’d caught: Cassius. Katya paced and bit her index finger. She didn’t recognize the name or the descriptions. “They wanted one of us and got her instead.”

  “No doubt for ransom,” Lord Hugo said.

  “And how do you know that, Lord Hugo?”

  He shifted. “Well, if you two are romantically involved…”

  Katya knelt in front of him so quickly he shrank back. Brutal laid a large hand on his shoulder. “And how do you know we are…romantically involved, Lord Hugo?”

  He blinked, and Katya could almost see the fear ooze across his features. “I…assumed, Highness, after she said she wanted to surprise you, and after Lady Hilda seemed so interested in your relationship…”

  Katya’s fingers rested on the grip of her rapier. “And who else have you and Lady Hilda been talking to, eh?”

  Lord Hugo glanced at her rapier and then her eyes. “No…no one, Highness.”

  “As I recall, this is twice you’ve been caught following Starbride.”

  “I wanted to protect her this time. The first time was a mistake.”

  “Where did they go?” He shook his head slowly. Katya stood and slid her rapier from its sheath with a slow rasp. “Where did they go?”

  His unblinking eyes grew wide as saucers. “I don’t know, Highness. I was incapacitated.”

  “Convenient, that,” Brutal rumbled.

  “Where?” Katya pointed the rapier under Lord Hugo’s neck, forcing his chin up.

  “I swear on my honor and on the ten spirits, I do not know.”

  Katya turned from him, sheathed her rapier, and marched to Crowe. “Can you pyramid him?”

  Crowe’s mouth turned down as if he’d bitten into something sour. “The king’s pyradisté pyramiding a nobleman without a trial will have them all in a tizzy. The traitors would suddenly find themselves overburdened with allies.”

  Katya clenched her fist. “What if you erased his memory?”

  Crowe gave her an angry look. “I’d have to take out the entire thread of this incident, maybe of Starbride, maybe of you, and it would look damned funny if he suddenly forgot who you are. Someone would catch on, and then they’d take him to the Pyradisté Academy, and holes in his memory would be discovered.”

  Katya nearly told him to do it and be damned, but he leaned forward, cutting off her thoughts. “You can’t kick the anthill like this, Katya, not for one of us or for Starbride. We have to find another way. Your threatening him was bad enough.”

  Katya strode back to Lord Hugo as Brutal and Averie helped him to his feet. “If you’re lying to me…”

  “I swear I’m not!”

  Katya leaned close to Averie. “Get me a path to follow.” With a nod, Averie hurried away. Katya stared at Lord Hugo again. She couldn’t let him loose to go blabbing at court, but she couldn’t share why they were out in the middle of nowhere. “Lord Hugo, you have a chance to redeem yourself.”

  His chin lifted again, his eyes glittered, and she knew he blamed himself for losing Starbride. Tickle his pride, give him a way out of guilt, and he’d do anything.

  “You will help me rescue her.”

  Lord Hugo nodded before wincing and touching his face. Katya just kept from rolling her eyes. He hadn’t even asked why they weren’t summoning the king’s Guard, as if he’d already assumed they’d storm the heights and rescue Starbride themselves. That was what all the great heroes from the storybooks did, wasn’t it? No self-respecting hero sent for the Guard. When they led him to the horses, he stopped and stared at Maia with his mouth open.

  Maia frowned and glanced down as if worried she’d spilled something on the front of her coat. “What is it?”

  “I beg your pardon,” Lord Hugo said. “It was…nothing.”

  Brutal gave him a nudge. “Keep moving, my lord.”

  Katya filed his reaction away for later and mounted u
p. Brutal lent him a cloak and hoisted him onto Averie’s horse. Lord Hugo’s eyes bulged at being handled as easily as a babe in swaddling, and he stared at Brutal with naked awe.

  Averie waved them on. “Two horses led off the road by three people; the last set of footprints is much deeper than the other two. He was carrying…something.” Her mouth a tight line, she looked away.

  Katya’s jaw clenched. The “something” had to be Starbride. With a start, she realized that as angry as she’d gotten, her pyramid necklace hadn’t tingled once. “Lead on.” She rode near Crowe again. “Is my necklace working?”

  “I haven’t sensed anything wrong.”

  “I’ve been close to rage, and it hasn’t tingled or burned.”

  Crowe smiled, seemingly pleased with himself. “I told you I made it extra strong. Your anger isn’t even affecting it. It should keep the Aspect contained despite your feelings.”

  Katya resisted the urge to touch her chest and remind herself that the necklace was still there.

  Crowe cleared his throat. “You know this is a trap.”

  “Of course.”

  “She might already be dead.”

  Katya turned her head slowly, her stomach roiling at the thought. “We will act as if she’s still alive, Crowe.”

  “Katya, I don’t wish to hurt you, but—”

  “She’s alive.”

  Up ahead, Averie signaled them to halt. “There’s a large clearing ahead,” she said when she returned. “This path is a very old one, not used for a long time and then used heavily recently.”

  “Crowe?” Katya asked.

  He nodded. “I can find out if anyone is using a pyramid nearby, but if the traitor pyradisté is watching for us, he could be doing the same thing.”

  “It’s a risk we have to take if we’re going to use pyramids at all,” Katya said. “Do it.”

  Crowe pulled a pyramid from his satchel and went silent a moment. “Nothing, as far as I can tell.”

  “Search instead for active pyramids.” She could not force the pace; she had to remain calm. If only her necklace would burn as a reminder. “Averie, you and Pennynail creep toward the clearing. If you see any kind of structure, stay at the edge of cover and send Pennynail to scout while you watch.” They started off. “Wait. Maia, go with Pennynail. Cover him and watch for archers. Step in his footsteps, though,” she cautioned her. “Keep a keen eye for traps.”

  “I don’t sense any active pyramids in the immediate woods,” Crowe said.

  “Good, then you’re going to tail Maia tailing Pennynail. I want to know what exactly is ahead of us.”

  Lord Hugo sat swathed in the dark red fabric of Brutal’s cloak, pale and nervous, his bruised face darkening by the second, and his mouth open to breathe. “What shall we do, Highness?”

  “We wait.”

  If these traitors thought that kidnapping Starbride would make Katya careless, well, they were right. If she’d been alone, she would have been careless, but she had the Order to think about—and Lord Hugo, providing he was innocent. She couldn’t throw away their lives in a fit of passion.

  Maia, Averie, and Pennynail returned in a clump. “It’s the remains of a manor house,” Averie reported.

  “No active pyramids in the woods,” Crowe said. He stooped, out of breath, and then straightened with a grimace. “I’m no longer built for sneaking.”

  “No traps,” Maia said, “at least, none that we saw. No visible people, either.”

  Katya tapped her chin. “Brutal and I go in first. Maia and Crowe, come in just after us and get ready to cover us. Pennynail, search for Starbride. Averie, you and Lord Hugo will watch for anyone escaping. If anyone does, you’ll have to follow him, Lord Hugo, especially if he looks like he’s carrying someone.”

  Lord Hugo nodded, and Averie nodded with him. She cast a quick glance at him before looking to Katya. Masking the gesture as she passed a hand through her hair, Katya nodded, too, signaling that Averie would also be watching Lord Hugo.

  They tethered their horses and crept toward the clearing. Katya tried to tell herself that the kidnappers wouldn’t harm Starbride. To set a trap, they needed live bait. This, of course, assumed Lord Hugo was telling the truth. If he wasn’t, he was dead, sure as the sunset.

  The manor house was more dilapidated than Katya had imagined. Most of the woodwork had fallen off, leaving sad, sagging stone. The eight windows on their side stood as still and empty as a skull’s eyes but had the good fortune to be close to the forest. They snuck one by one through bushes, weeds, and overgrown shrubs until they stood against the wall near a window.

  Crowe clenched his pyramid and closed his eyes. He leaned to Katya’s ear. “There is a pyramid protecting this window and the next. We must assume every gap on the first floor is so protected. I sense nothing on the windows above.”

  “Can you cancel this pyramid?”

  “Yes, but if the owner missed us before, he’ll know about us now.”

  “There’s nothing for it.” She pulled Pennynail close to whisper in his mask’s ear. “Can you scale this wall and go in via the second story?”

  He nodded. Katya let him go and signaled the others to get ready.

  Maia put her bow under one arm, and Brutal took his spiked mace from his belt. Crowe lifted his pyramid, his forehead creased, and then he nodded.

  Brutal grabbed the lip of the window and heaved his body inside. Once he was clear, Katya followed and drew her rapier once inside the old stone room. She and Brutal took positions beside the doorway as Crowe and Maia followed them inside.

  Crowe lifted his pyramid and then shook his head. Brutal and Katya stepped out of the room to a short hallway that led to an adjacent room and then around a corner. In the other direction, the short hallway led to a longer hallway with daylight leaking down it. Katya chose the long hallway and sneaked through the still air in eerie quiet. Brutal followed her. Maia took the other path, and Crowe stayed behind Katya. Motes of dust drifted through the light, and from somewhere ahead came the rasping sound of booted feet on dusty stone. Katya and Brutal froze.

  “Come out, come out, Princess,” someone called from deeper in the house. “We have a very short time in which to play.”

  Katya glanced at Brutal; he led the way, Katya a step behind. In the crumbled remains of a main hall—a dining room or ballroom—four men waited. One matched the description of Lord Hugo’s stabber, and one of the others, a larger man, seemed a good fit for Cassius, but the other two were also twenty-something, and neither had a beard.

  The lanky, young stabber smiled from where he stood atop of a pile of rubble. His brown hair curled across his forehead, and his brown eyes held amused contempt. Katya hung back in the hallway. A balcony ringed the large room, and the walls above it were decorated with the remains of old paintings, nice camouflage for archers.

  “Well, I’m here,” Katya said, not stepping out into the open. “Who are you, and what do you want?”

  The young stabber grinned. “Darren is my name, and I’ve taken great pains to get to this moment.”

  “You’re about to experience great pain,” Brutal said.

  Darren chuckled and crossed his arms. “We’ll see.”

  “I don’t recognize your name or your face,” Katya said. “If you wanted to meet me, you could have introduced yourself at the Courtiers Ball, unless of course, you weren’t invited.”

  “What a delightful attempt to try to get information from me! Or were you meaning to prick my pride?”

  “Whatever I could get.” Katya hoped to stall him until her team could get in position and prayed that Pennynail would find Starbride before the fighting began.

  Chapter Fourteen: Starbride

  Starbride heard Katya’s voice and paused. Her climb along the ledge had taken moments, but it had seemed like hours of inching along, trying to make her numb hands get a grip on smooth stone while she fought to maintain her balance. After she’d climbed into the house through another window,
she’d started down this hallway, searching for a staircase. Darren’s voice had made her pause. She didn’t want to run into him, but Katya got her feet moving again. The thought of freedom quickened her steps nearly as much as the desire to keep Katya from walking into an ambush.

  Sunlight streamed through a gap in the wall, and Starbride peeked through at a balcony surrounding a large room. Katya’s voice drifted upward, but Starbride couldn’t see the floor or any of the room’s occupants. “I don’t recognize your name or your face,” Katya said. “If you wanted to meet me, you could have introduced yourself at the Courtiers Ball, unless of course, you weren’t invited.”

  Starbride failed to hear his response as a man moved past the gap, cutting off her view. He crouched, facing away from her, a crossbow at the ready. As he sidled along the balcony, his head bobbed to and fro as if searching the floor below for a clear shot.

  Starbride glanced up and down the hallway and bit her lip. She couldn’t let Katya be shot by this assassin, but what to do? If she called out, she would give away the fact that she was free, and any lurking enemies could collect her and use her as a hostage. Maybe she could lead the crossbowman away? She hurried down the hallway as she thought about it and tried to ignore her throbbing head and aching side.

  At the next corner, a narrow stairway stood across the hall, and a doorway onto the balcony opened just to her left around the corner. She paused, torn between running for it and trying to stop the crossbowman. If she got to Katya, she could do both. She started to move and pulled up short as the crossbowman backed from the balcony doorway, between her and the stairway. She paused in the shadows, and he didn’t seem to spot her. He was too busy staring at the balcony doorway and then looking in the other direction down the hall. He rubbed his chin as if trying to calculate the best place to position himself.

  He took a step toward the stairway. Starbride had to act. Katya’s life was in her bound hands. Her bare feet made little sound as she sprinted. The crossbowman didn’t turn. She hit him full force and knocked the breath from her lungs. She hoped to push him down the stairs, but he grabbed her as he started to fall, and his crossbow thumped to the ground. She shoved as hard as she could, but he made a grab for the wall, and their legs tangled together. They fell at the top of the stairs.