by Katy Haye
I took the bag from Rey and held it open for Axxon to slip the fake gem inside. By the time I’d put the bag back into its hidey-hole in the wall, Axxon was holding the brick ready to return into its gap. Together, we jiffled it back into place. Axxon swept the torch one way, then the other to check that everything was back in order. There was no trace we’d been there.
We made our way back into the well-used part of the castle, dousing the torch once we got high enough for windows to allow the moonlight inside. When we reached the corridor where all our rooms were, the nearest door cracked open and Vashri’s head popped out. “You’re back quickly,” he said. “Were you successful?”
“Yes.” Axxon grabbed Vashri’s arm and pulled him onwards to the last door on that side. “We’ll only tell the story once,” Axxon said as Rey swung open the door. Axxon pulled me and Vashri inside.
The final door, of course, led into Fon’s room.
Axxon and Vashri seemed to have woken due to anticipation – or perhaps a link to Rey that had alerted them that something was happening. Fon wasn’t troubled by that magical awareness.
He was sound asleep, sprawled crosswise on his broad bed, the covers rucked up so one slim foot, the opposite arm and half his chest, sprinkled with red-gold hairs to match those on his head, were revealed. I studied the floor while Axxon poked him awake.
“Wha—?”
“We’ve found the Tears of Giera,” Axxon stated, dropping onto the bed beside Fon. Rey displayed the gem between thumb and forefinger.
Fon scratched his head. “News that couldn’t wait for the morning for what reason?” He scowled.
“Because we intend to hide that fact from Lady Leea,” Rey supplied. “She’s up to something and we need to know what. Watch her. Carefully.”
“Now?” Fon’s voice raised on a squeak. He glanced around, perhaps looking for a weapon to fend us off, on the expectation that we were there to drag him out of his bed.
Vashri rolled his eyes. “Not now. In the morning.”
Fon fell back against his pillows, trying to pull the covers out of Axxon’s grip. “Again, something that could have been communicated to me after I woke.” After a brief tussle, Axxon let go and Fon pulled the blankets over his head with a groan.
“You are awake,” Rey pointed out.
A grunt was his reply.
“If we’d waited for the morning, Leea might have been listening,” Vashri explained.
“Fine,” Fon mumbled through the covers. “I’ll watch her. In the morning. I’m sure you can find the door without my help.”
Axxon cuffed the hair that showed above the blanket.
“We’re all agreed,” Vashri said. “Lady Leea doesn’t take a step without us knowing about it.”
“Agreed,” Rey and Axxon both said. Another grunt sounded from the humped form in Fon’s bed.
“Who wants first watch?” Axxon added.
“I’ll do it,” I said. “I can hide outside her room, in case she goes to fetch the gem before morning.”
Vashri caught my arm. “I’ll do it. You get some sleep.” His dark eyes were warm, comforting.
But I didn’t need to be taken care of. “I’m the guardian. Let me guard.”
He opened his mouth to protest.
Rey put his hand on my arm. “Don’t hog all the fun, Kyann,” he entreated. “Let Vashri make himself useful.”
Vashri watched, waiting for my decision. I caught the gleam of amusement in his eyes. I guessed Rey was right – he and I and Axxon had already had a nighttime adventure.
“Fine. I’ll take a turn in the morning.” As I turned to the door I had to stifle a yawn. “Thank you, Vashri.”
His hand caressed my shoulder through my tunic. “No thanks are required, Kyann. You are the guardian. We work together.”
That warm, glowing sense of safety sent me straight to sleep when I reached my bed. I was asleep almost before I’d settled next to Essa.
Chapter Ten
“Kyann! Have you seen this?” Essa’s excited voice dragged me out of sleep. I groaned. The light was so bright it hurt my eyes. My nocturnal excursions had tired me out. The last thing I needed was an abrupt awakening because Essa had seen a cute animal outside the castle, or something similar.
“What?” I mumbled, thinking of Fon with more sympathy than I had at midnight.
“Kyann, look,” Essa repeated.
I pushed back the covers and joined her at the window.
My breath caught.
“Isn’t it amazing?” my sister demanded, craning out of the window to see more of the scene.
“It’s magic,” I agreed, my heart overflowing with love and admiration for the kings.
I hadn’t known exactly what Fon, Axxon and Vashri had been about while Rey and I had been dredging the moat. But their actions were clear now. The fields that fell away from the castle to the distant forest had transformed overnight.
The barley had burnished to gold and looked ready to harvest. The sparse greenery in the further fields was about three times as lush as it had been when we’d ridden through them a day earlier. Far from starving, the people who lived on the Baloa lands would harvest enough to fill their bellies all autumn and still have plenty to store for the winter ahead.
“Maybe this will change Leea’s mind about supporting the kings,” Essa said.
“Perhaps.” I supposed, if she had a change of heart and handed over the – now fake – Tears of Giera, we could leave, and she’d be none the wiser. That felt like a disappointing outcome. I wanted to know what her intentions were and understand her reluctance to help in the first place.
I turned my back to the window and pulled on my clothes. I wanted to see Leea’s reaction to the bounty the kings had brought her family and lands.
When Essa and I walked into the dining room, Leea was already there, addressing the kings. I thought she was probably thanking them, but perhaps I just hoped so. I would assume she was displaying her manners until I had evidence otherwise. Her attitude had certainly changed since her grudging welcome the day before, which was exactly as it should be.
Then she glanced at me and Essa and the happiness leached from her expression, leaving discontent behind. Her eyes narrowed with irritation. I was swamped again by the feeling that I ought to know her. That sense of recognition nagged at me. If not her, then perhaps I’d met her father or mother. I shook myself. That was equally unlikely when I’d spent the last eight years tucked away in the middle of nowhere in Myledene. She must just have one of those faces that reminded you of everyone.
My lips twitched. I’d keep that opinion to myself. Unless Leea particularly annoyed me.
“The Baloa family owes you a debt of gratitude,” she told the kings formally as Essa and I drew close enough to overhear her. She dropped an elegant curtsy. “Now, please; let’s eat.”
We had barely finished our meal when a man was escorted into the room. He was wearing plain clothes of the sort I was used to from Myledene.
“Ah, thank you for coming, Joresh.” Leea rose and went to greet her newcomer. He bowed formally. Leea turned back to the table. “Joresh is my bailiff,” she told us. “He wished to bring personal thanks to the kings for all you have done in ensuring our lands can feed our people.”
Axxon stood up, speaker for the kings. “It is our honour to help the people of Charnrosa. With your help, we will return this Empire to glory.”
Joresh bowed and began to speak, nerves making him trip over his words. I supposed it wasn’t every day you were in a room with four kings. Especially legendary ones.
Movement caught my eye and I turned to see Leea slip from the room. Had Joresh been summoned as a distraction? While the kings listened to the bailiff, I slipped out of the door behind our host.
I expected her to make for the cellars where she believed the Tears of Giera was still safe in its hidey-hole, but her destination lay up the stairs, not down. I followed as closely as I dared. She turned back repeatedly, forcing me to duck int
o doorways and alcoves, waiting then rushing so she wouldn’t notice me following.
As I paused beneath the staircase that led to her chamber, a shadow slid past and Vashri appeared beside me. “I thought two might be better than one,” he said.
“Shh!” I glanced up as Leea’s skirts swirled at the top of the staircase. She would hear us, and all my sneaking would be for nothing.
Vashri shook his head, his teeth white as he smiled. “I am the king of air. I have us shrouded with shadows and silence,” he promised. “She cannot see or hear us.” He looped his arm through mine and tugged me towards the steps, following our quarry.
I pulled him to a stop. He hadn’t been with us when we’d discovered the gem – and revealed my strange ability. “I destroy enchantments. You aren’t shrouding me with anything.”
“I’m confident I am.” Leea was out of sight now, so I let the king of air urge me on as we hurried up the steps and found her hurrying along the corridor. Leea turned and glanced behind her. I froze. Vashri squeezed my elbow reassuringly. She noticed nothing, turning back and continuing.
My breath sighed out in relief. Vashri’s magic had truly worked.
“Quickly.” Vashri and I hurried in pursuit. We were just in time to see Leea slip through a small doorway I hadn’t even noticed before.
Vashri tugged at my hand and we dodged inside before it closed. Leea stood between us and the window on the far side, her focus intent on the table set against the wall. She had no idea she wasn’t alone. My lips twitched. The kings’ powers were truly amazing.
Light flowed through the window, illuminating the young woman as she stroked the surface of the table. Her smile swelled with satisfaction. I craned further, not daring to leave my spot by the door and beside Vashri, but not understanding what she was doing.
The surface of the table was a mirror, while a plain wooden chair was set beside it. A fireplace filled the right-hand wall, with a bird in a cage beside it. Other than that, the room was empty. Leea scooped the skirts of her gown so she could sit down, pulling the chair up and craning over the table to peer into the mirror she’d just polished.
What was she about?
She leaned close to the table, craning over the mirror, her fingertips spanning its edges. Magic flitted across her wrists, over her fingers and then skittered over the surface of the mirror. “Father? Are you there?”
I caught my breath. A communication spell, to talk to someone miles away. The elders in Myledene had used them occasionally to communicate with other villages, or with the ruling families. I hadn’t seen it used for years. Magic was too precious to be used to talk when a day on horseback would serve the same purpose. Leea couldn’t go riding after her father, though. Not without abandoning the castle. Now, we might discover this business of her father’s, and how Leea was caught up in it.
Except that nothing happened. The mirror didn’t fog and clear, and no voice replied to her appeal.
Either Leea’s magic wasn’t strong enough, or her father wasn’t able to respond.
“Father!” She called again, leaning close as though that might make a difference. Desperation coloured her tone. I wondered if her father had been missing a long time, or if she was simply worried because the kings had arrived and were demanding she hand over a gem that the family were concealing from everyone.
After a few more minutes Leea gave a grunt of annoyance and sat back. She rose, pushing her chair impatiently away so it scraped over the floor. She walked to the birdcage in the corner by the fireplace, whistling under her breath. It was the work of a moment to unfasten the door, and she reached in. The bird, a brown drabfinch, seemed quite a pet – it jumped onto her finger when she extended her hand in front of it.
Still whistling, Leea extracted her hand and the bird from the cage. Her other hand stroked the animal’s breast feathers. “You must find my father,” she told it. The finch tilted its head, eyes bright as it watched its mistress. Blue magic wreathed her hands. The bird was being enchanted to do her bidding, to understand commands it never normally would. She walked towards the window, her free hand reaching for the latch. “You must tell him to come home. I need him, and never mind what the Emperor wants with him. He must come back to me.”
The Emperor? I squeezed Vashri’s hand. Our eyes met and we exchanged a nod. Time to challenge our hostess.
Then the door flew open and the other kings burst inside.
Chapter Eleven
“What business is your father undertaking with the Emperor?” Rey’s voice was cold enough to freeze blood. “Don’t deny it – we heard every word you said.”
Leea jumped, sending the bird flying into the air with a twitter of alarm until it settled on one of the ceiling beams.
“I was – I – nothing.” Leea clenched her fists and turned to face us, seeming to remember that she was the leader of the family at present. She straightened and faced Rey calmly. “I wished to speak with my father. It is a family matter and none of your business, sirs.”
“If it includes the Emperor, then we need to know about it,” Rey replied. “We already know you hid the Tears of Giera from us. Are you in league with the Emperor? Did he tell you to hide the gem?”
“No!” Leea’s composure crumbled. “Father told me to keep it safe until his return.”
“It’s safe with me now.” Rey’s lip curled with contempt. He unfolded his fingers to display the gem.
Leea gasped. “But we enchanted… How could you—”
“Your magic is feeble against that of the kings and the guardian,” Rey snapped. His eyes flashed. He looked less like a king, and more an avenging god. “Now, we want to know what your father is planning with the Emperor.”
Leea began to weep, sobs bursting from her. It was a complete change from the busy young woman about her magic, and again from the girl who’d pulled herself together when the kings burst in. Her bent head and shaking shoulders tugged at my sympathy, but I also had a sneaking feeling that she was exaggerating her emotions to give herself time to create a story that might placate the furious kings.
A noise sounded behind me. I glanced aside to see Essa slip into the room. She stepped around the kings to reach my side, taking in the scene.
“You found the Tears of Giera?” she murmured.
I felt a pang of guilt. I hadn’t brought Essa up to date with the results of our search. “Yes, we found the gem,” I summed up. The details could come later.
Leea glanced at Essa and me, attracted by the low hum of our voices.
“I’m sorry, I’ve done wrong,” she said, gulping a deep breath to hold back her tears. “I didn’t mean to deceive you, not really. But I did it for the right reasons.” Her gaze darted to the kings, then back to me and Essa. I wasn’t surprised she wanted to focus on us. The kings, to a man, looked furious, and frankly terrifying. I hoped Leea had learned the lesson not to deceive them, and that she was now telling the truth.
“I was trying to discover what has happened to my father.”
I stepped forward. “You said your father was away on business.” I folded my arms in echo of the kings. I didn’t want Leea to think I was a softer alternative. I wanted an explanation, and she had better hope it was convincing. “And now we find he has gone to the Emperor. What are his intentions?”
“He went to the citadel to speak to the Emperor,” Leea told me, swallowing a gulp. Her eyes were shiny from all the tears, her nose pink from crying. “A week ago, now. I haven’t heard from him since. He promised he would keep in touch.” She began to cry in earnest again, her words swallowed. “I’m … afraid…”
“Why did he go to the Emperor?” Axxon demanded.
“There was an appeal. The Emperor asked for those with magic to go and serve him. My father thought he could help the Emperor and he would restore our fortunes.”
The same announcement that had prompted my desire to leave Myledene and had swung this whole adventure into motion.
“And you haven’t sp
oken to him since?” I demanded. The Emperor was searching for the four kings. The last thing we wanted was for Leea to tell her father about the family’s sudden visitors.
“No. I don’t know if they even arrived. They could be…” Her words trailed off to be replaced by more sobbing.
Essa pushed past me to put her arm around Leea’s shaking shoulders. I felt a twinge of guilt, but only a twinge. Essa was a healer, used to offering comfort. I still wasn’t convinced of Leea’s motives, nor her truthfulness.
“Why did you lie to us?” Rey said. His fury had ebbed. He sounded as puzzled as he was annoyed. “Why would you even try?”
“I was afraid,” Leea stuttered.
“Why didn’t you ask us for help?” Essa chided.
“Father left me in charge. He told me to tell no one what he was doing. He only expected to be gone a few days.” She looked up, her watery eyes wide. “I’m sixteen. If one of the other families discovered that I was here alone… Well, we didn’t trust them not to try and steal our lands.”
Leea was worrying for nothing. Only a fool would want to steal unproductive land and starving people. I swallowed, because the kings had now made the lands of the Baloa family far more enticing.
“Can we help her?” I asked the kings.
“I suppose it would do no harm to send the bird.” Vashri glanced up. The creature was clinging to one of the rafters overhead. “I can tempt it down.”
“Or I can try a spell,” Essa offered.
“Thank you. I’ve been so scared for them.” Her voice was quiet, head bowed.
Essa gathered Leea into a full hug. “You were worried for your father. We understand that.” She met my gaze over Leea’s head. “You understand, don’t you, Kyann? You thought rescuing me first was more important than going to the four kings and helping them defeat the Emperor.”
I nodded. I didn’t like Leea, but I did understand. I’d been able to go after Essa. She must have been going crazy forced to stay here while her father walked into danger.
“I wish you’d arrived a week ago,” Leea said, recovering her composure. “They wouldn’t have left if they had the four kings to help.” If I’d gone to the kings immediately, rather than rescuing Essa first. “But what could I do? They’d already gone…”
