Riders of the Realm #2

by Jennifer Lynn Alvarez

  “I—I won’t join you. I won’t do that to I’Lenna,” Rahkki stuttered, his eyes rolling toward the distant fortress on the hill. “Don’t—don’t tell me any more about it. Come on, Sula.” He clucked to his mare, and they bolted out of the tree line, away from General Tsun.

  The man’s voice trailed after him. “Choose a side, Rahkki, before it’s too late.”

  After a few lengths, Rahkki slowed, trying to walk like he wasn’t on fire. Since it was almost se-vu, the fallows were deserted. Rahkki and Sula traveled beneath the naked sky, his heart racing, his brow sweating. His mare nickered and lipped at his tunic. Absently, he murmured soft words to her.

  The general was one of Lilliam’s top advisers. Rahkki had heard whisperings about an uprising, but he hadn’t imagined it was this serious. And whether the Stormrunners joined it or not, Lilliam would assume they had. No usurping queen trusted the children of her predecessor. Anger seethed within him. This wasn’t his fight. Yes it is, said a voice in his head. Lilliam killed your mother.

  Rahkki tugged on his short hair, feeling confused.

  For a clan to rise up against their sworn monarch, well, that upset the order of Clan Law. Only a princess could usurp a queen! What the general was plotting could rile the neighboring clans against the Fifth. It also meant that I’Lenna would inherit a clan she could never trust—unless the rebels planned to destroy the entire Whitehall family! I’Lenna had told Rahkki she didn’t want the throne, at least not yet, but that wouldn’t matter if she were dead.

  His breath rushed from his chest. Did I’Lenna understand how much danger she was in? Rahkki mulled this as he jogged toward Fort Prowl.

  9

  Report

  HEADWIND HARAK NIGHTSEER MET RAHKKI AT the base of the fortress steps, his expression screwed tight. What now? Rahkki wondered.

  Sula snorted at the man and tossed her head. Rahkki sensed her impatience. He could imagine her thoughts—when are you going to rescue my friends?

  “Hey, little Rider,” Harak said, his green eyes cold. He and Brauk had never gotten along, and Harak’s animosity had overflowed onto Rahkki long ago. “We start drills tomorrow, yeah. Think you can keep that beast in formation?”

  “I’ll try, Headwind Nightseer.”

  “Come on then, it’s time to tell the queen what you saw out there.” Harak slapped the back of Rahkki’s head, too hard to feel playful.

  Rahkki let out his breath. “After you.”

  The Headwind shot Sula a dark look and turned, springing off the balls of his feet. Rahkki tugged gently on Sula’s lead rope and the trio climbed the wide steps cut into the hillside. The day sweltered, as if the vast sky were sweating moisture. A light wind met them at the top, and Rahkki glimpsed the flat ocean shimmering in the north. Harak had tied his stallion’s black-and-silver feathers to his wrists, and they fluttered in the salty breeze.

  When they reached the smaller of the two fortress gates, Harak yanked Rahkki through and whispered into his ear. “You can’t trust the guards. Some of them are against the queen.”

  Rahkki absorbed this, noting what it meant—that Harak must be for the queen, which was no surprise. Lilliam favored him above the other Headwinds. Rahkki stared at the guards, wondering if everyone knew about this uprising.

  “Tie your braya there until you’re done with the queen. The one place Sula’s not allowed is in the command chamber, yeah.”

  “Come on, girl,” Rahkki said, urging Sula toward the wooden post.

  She lowered her head and sniffed the structure.

  Harak squinted at the mare. “I don’t agree with this wildling joining the Sky Guard. She’s dangerous, yeah? She doesn’t know our ways.”

  “She’s just different; she was born wild,” Rahkki said.

  “You see?” Harak bumped Rahkki’s shoulder. “That’s exactly what I don’t like about her.”

  Rahkki tied a slipknot so that he could quickly free her, and Sula dug at the spongy soil with her sharp front hoof.

  “Wait here,” he pleaded.

  The silver mare stared at him for a long moment, violence churning in her gaze.

  “Please,” he said.

  Sula seemed to read his pleading tone and ceased pawing.

  “I’ll be right back.”

  As Rahkki entered the royal command chamber, he passed Jul Ranger, Meela Swift’s wealthy young apprentice. It was Jul’s duty to be available to the Headwinds for errands and other services. But right now he was digging into his nostrils and flinging the contents to the floor. When he saw Rahkki, he stood taller and blushed. “Greetings.”

  “Greetings,” Rahkki answered.

  Inside the chamber sat Queen Lilliam, General Tsun, and the three Headwinds of the Sky Guard: Harak, Tuni, and Meela Swift. Meela had been chosen to replace Brauk until he healed, if he healed. Also in attendance were the three princesses—I’Lenna, Rayni, and Jor—and the Fifth Clan treasurer. Attendants flocked to the table behind the throne, replenishing bowls of soup and stew, adding fresh cooked fish, pouring steaming pots of tea, chopping pineapple, and whisking away empty skins of rice wine and adding new ones.

  “We’re ready to hear your findings, Stormrunner,” said Queen Lilliam, leaning back against the throne that had once been his mother’s. Her iron crown, a replica of Reyella’s lost one, encircled her head. “Princess I’Lenna, take the floor with our new Rider as witness to the report.”

  I’Lenna rose and walked to Rahkki’s side. She didn’t meet his eyes but stood next to him as they each faced her mother. Lilliam’s advisers, who were stuffing sauced meat and dripping fruit into their mouths, paused to wipe their fingers across their trousers.

  Rahkki and I’Lenna took turns explaining what they’d seen the day before when the mares had flown off with them.

  “You saw six hundred giants?” General Tsun asked. Nothing about his tone or posture betrayed his earlier conversation with Rahkki, and Rahkki wondered if the queen had any idea he was plotting against her.

  “It’s my best guess, General,” Rahkki replied.

  “Six hundred is a big number,” Harak interjected. “Can you even count that high?”

  “It’s an estimate,” Rahkki answered. But yes, I can count that high, he thought.

  I’Lenna spoke up. “I verify it.”

  Queen Lilliam lifted her hand and asked, “What was the condition of the winged herd?”

  “Captured, but good,” Rahkki answered, remembering that he’d noticed little blood on the giants or on the wild Kihlari.

  The queen turned to a lithe woman dressed in clothing from Daakur. “What are they worth?” Lilliam asked her.

  The Fifth Clan treasurer consulted a parchment. “Each steed is valued between eighty dramals to a full round,” she answered. “But to the Daakurans across the bay, they’re worth up to five rounds apiece. Depending on how many steeds we rescue, the wild herd could fetch between five hundred to seven hundred rounds in total. In our coin, that’s five hundred to seven hundred thousand dramals.”

  Silence filled the chamber as each person considered her assessment. The sum was unbelievable. If all seven Sandwen clans combined their treasuries, the total would be less than seven hundred thousand dramals! But to get those coins, they’d have to sell the wild herd to the Daakuran Empire.

  I’Lenna glanced at Rahkki, her look saying: I told you she’d sell them.

  But no Kihlari had ever been sold to the people across Cinder Bay, and the Daakuran Empire protected the sacred steeds from illegal sale and theft, ensuring that the winged horses remained in the Sandwen Realm. Lilliam wouldn’t break that tradition, would she?

  The general’s thoughts matched Rahkki’s. “Are you suggesting we sell the wild steeds, my queen?”

  “I’m suggesting that as an option, yes.”

  General Tsun’s mouth snapped shut.

  Rahkki felt sick, as though they were discussing something criminal.

  Tuni rose from her seat, struggling to control the ha
rsh tone of her voice. “Queen Lilliam, the Kihlari steeds don’t belong in Daakur.”

  “The other clans won’t agree to sell them,” Headwind Meela added.

  Lilliam smiled, showing her small white teeth. “Do you think you are educating me?” Her dark-blue eyes shifted from one Headwind to the other.

  They shook their heads.

  Lilliam paused to touch her rounded belly and then continued. “The wild herd has not enjoyed hundreds of years of domestication like our prized animals. They are thin and needlessly aggressive.” She pointed at Rahkki. “You saw what this boy’s Flier did to Headwind Stormrunner. I believe it will take a generation to tame the wild herd—that’s years of hay and medicine, and for what? We don’t need them; we can breed our own animals. But those wild Kihlari are worth a fortune.”

  She shifted her weight and leaned against her throne. “I’m not suggesting we sell them to private buyers, but to the empire’s zoological society. It will be good riddance, and the clans will come around when they hear how much the steeds are worth. We’ll split the profits with them, less our rescue expenses. War with the giants is inevitable now, and this way we won’t have to pay for it.” She tightened her lips. “There is no downside here.”

  General Tsun addressed the treasurer. “How much will war with the giants cost our clan? Surely we can fund it without selling those precious steeds.”

  Lilliam slammed down her fist. “Our treasury won’t support a war with three hordes. Not now.”

  The Fifth Clan treasurer nodded in agreement.

  The general snapped his eyes to Lilliam, brows furrowed. “But we’re not in famine or drought. Isn’t our treasury strong?”

  “Finances are a matter for treasurers and queens,” Lilliam growled. “Not for generals.”

  Tsun’s chest ballooned and his scarred face reddened. He stood to pace the room.

  Rahkki risked a glance at Lilliam’s fine clothing. Fortress workers reported that the queen was as loose with the treasury as a child. They gossiped about shipments from Daakur that arrived often at their port in Cinder Bay, carrying silks and spices, jewels, presents, foreign sweets, and books—all for Lilliam and her daughters. She hired overqualified tutors and imported expensive Daakuran servants for her private quarters. She’d once spent ten thousand dramals on a new saddle for her stallion, Mahrsan.

  Tuni’s face reddened. “I don’t understand. You’ve increased our tithes for five of the last eight years, your Land Guard eats almost for free, and your Borla charges for medicine that used to be free to the clan. Why do we need more money?”

  The general tapped Tuni’s arm, a warning to stop talking, and Rahkki wondered if Tuni was also part of the uprising.

  Queen Lilliam ignored the Headwind while an attendant brought her a crystal glass full of water and fresh mint leaves. Rahkki stiffened. All glass came from the empire; her cup was an expensive import and more evidence of Lilliam’s waste.

  “What you need to know,” the queen continued, her blue eyes sweeping the room, “is that I’ve chosen a solution that will fund the war, rid us of the giants for good, and replenish our treasury.” Lilliam stood. “Enough discussion. I proclaim it. We’re selling those wild steeds to Daakur.” She took a breath and added with less confidence, “After we rescue them.”

  I’Lenna tilted her head toward Rahkki and whispered, “What does she mean, rid us of the giants for good?”

  “I think it means exactly that,” he whispered back. “No more giants.”

  “None? That’s brutal.”

  He agreed. No one liked the giants, but invading their camps and murdering all of them—even their children—it felt wrong.

  Lilliam shifted beneath the weight of her unborn child. “First steps,” she said. “We need more reliable information about the giants and the wild herd than what we have gleaned from two overexcited children.”

  I’Lenna huffed and crossed her arms.

  The queen called for Harak, and he darted forward with a familiar smile dancing across his lips.

  Her fondness for the handsome Headwind softened her expression. “After morning bells tomorrow, you will lead a patrol to Mount Crim to scout the hordes.”

  Harak bent at the waist. “Yes, my queen.”

  “And take Stormrunner with you,” she said. “Initiate our newest Rider.”

  All eyes turned to Rahkki, and he instantly felt younger and shorter.

  The queen continued. “The boy knows where he last saw the giants, and his Flier is connected to the wild herd. She dragged Stormrunner straight to them yesterday; she can do it again. Yes?”

  “Yes, my queen,” Harak agreed.

  “Keep the boy . . . safe,” she added.

  Rahkki’s belly clenched. The word safe had never sounded more threatening.

  Harak grinned. “Yes, my queen.” He flipped back his golden hair, ringing the bells tied within, and strode out of the command chamber.

  Lilliam rose and left with her guards, her hand resting lightly on her belly. She caught Rahkki’s eye and snarled at him. “Don’t be useless, Rider. Go.”

  Rahkki bowed and reluctantly left I’Lenna’s side. He’d have to find her later to tell her about the uprising. He jogged into the courtyard and caught up to Harak as they returned to Sula, who was still tied to the hitching post. “What do I do?” Rahkki asked the Headwind. “Sula and I don’t have armor yet.”

  Harak bopped Rahkki on the forehead. “Get some, little Rider, before morning.”

  “But—”

  Harak ignored him as he called to another Rider and strode away.

  Rahkki halted beside his silver mare. She’d never worn a saddle before, and he didn’t have one to put on her. He needed to fly to Uncle’s right now and ask for coin.

  Sula whinnied at him, irritated and scolding.

  “I’m sorry I left you here so long,” he said to her, “but I have good news. We’re scouting tomorrow.” Rahkki untied her rope, amazed that she hadn’t broken free on her own. With a small prayer to the wind spirits, he climbed onto her back. “You’re so patient,” he said, complimenting her.

  But Rahkki should have known better.

  As soon as she was free, Sula tossed her head and bolted across the courtyard, almost throwing Rahkki off her back. Years of riding young horses saved him as he counterbalanced and grabbed her mane.

  “Whoa!” he cried. But his wild mare lifted off, and her wings swirled dirt into his eyes as they swooped up and out of Fort Prowl.

  10

  The Bet

  ECHOFROST CLEARED THE WALLS OF THE FORTRESS and sailed toward the Kihlari barn, passing Harak, who stalked swiftly across the yard. It had only been a day since she’d returned, and her resolve to act obedient had already dissolved.

  She spied Rizah, coasting across the blue sky with Tuni. They were off-duty, flying for pleasure. “Rizah!” she whinnied.

  The palomino startled and braked, hovering at cloud level. The wind tossed her white and gold forelock to the side. “Where’s your tack?” she asked. “How is Rahkki guiding you?”

  Tack was the Kihlari word for all the accruements Landwalkers used on their mounts: saddles, bridles, halters, and the like. “I don’t need tack to fly,” Echofrost snorted.

  “But he does,” Rizah nickered, her green eyes shining. “He can’t join the Sky Guard without armor and tack.”

  “But we’re Paired,” Echofrost neighed. Had she been branded for nothing?

  “You can’t fight against giants unprotected, Sula, and neither can Rahkki. But don’t worry; he’ll buy what you need. He has to.”

  Mollified, Echofrost asked, “When will we fly east to rescue my herd?”

  The palomino narrowed her eyes. “I don’t know. War is complicated, Sula.”

  “Not really,” the silver mare replied.

  Tuni spoke to Rahkki. “What did I tell you about controlling that mare? Harak won’t let you fly bareback, or without armor, and he won’t let you fly at all if you can’t
keep Sula in formation.”

  “I know,” Rahkki answered. “I’m taking Sula to Uncle’s now and then to the trading post for armor. We’ll have everything we need by tomorrow.”

  She frowned. “You shouldn’t be scouting. It’s too soon since you Paired and neither of you are trained yet, and the queen knows that. Please be careful.”

  “I will.” Rahkki finished his conversation with Tuni, tugged on Echofrost’s mane, and pointed north. She felt his rapid heartbeat and noted his trembling legs. She’d frightened him when she’d bolted skyward; she’d have to be more sensitive about his fears in the future. But now he was pointing, and she understood what that meant.

  With a parting whinny to Rizah, Echofrost flattened her neck and followed Rahkki’s finger north. The boy clutched her mane hard, his pulse thrumming. When the rice farm swept into view, she understood that this was where Rahkki had wanted to go. Perhaps he kept armor here.

  She angled her purple wings and descended, landing lightly near Darthan’s hut. The boy slipped off of her back, pale and shaking, but he did not tie her up. The Pair stood side by side and faced Uncle Darthan, who rocked on a chair, resting in the shade. Smoke poured out from between his lips, startling Echofrost. Did Landwalkers breathe fire? But the scent of his smoke was sweet, almost pleasant.

  “You and Sula have been to Brim,” Darthan said, eyeing their bandages. “Did you visit your brother?”

  “Yes.” Rahkki sat cross-legged at his uncle’s feet and caught his breath. “Is Brauk going to be okay, you think?”

  He shrugged. “That is up to Brauk.”

  To quell her impatience, Echofrost dropped her head and grazed on the sweet wild grass that grew around Darthan’s hut.

  After a long pause between the two Landwalkers, Darthan exhaled another stream of smoke and smiled at Rahkki.

  “Uncle Darthan, I need to talk with you.” Rahkki glanced at Echofrost. “I—”