Tyrant Trouble (Mudflat Magic)

by Phoebe Matthews

  Trying to close my mind to that death pit in Ober's heart, I kept my voice steady. “Think, Nance. With Ober and her daughter here, extra guards will be everywhere. Not only ours. We are also surrounded by Ober and Alakar's guards. Somebody is sure to see us.”

  “I suppose,” she sighed. “If you must see Tarvik, send a message with a guard.”

  “Could we send a message with Lor? Could that be done? It might be better if others didn't know about our meeting.”

  Nance clapped her hands and laughed. “I like that! Secret meetings with Tarvik! He will be pleased.”

  “Why should Tarvik be pleased?”

  “Sometimes you are truly stupid, Stargazer. But do not heed me. Find out in your own time.”

  I knew where her mind was wandering and I wasn't going to waste time explaining to her that her cousin was a typical male, all ego. He flirted with every female in sight because he thought that was his main job in life.

  “Can we send a message by Lor?” I persisted.

  Of course we could. Whatever Nance asked of the stable keeper, he did, despite his grumbled protests. I told him to ask the prince to come to the temple any time that day.

  I had thought Tarvik would come to the courtyard as he often did, but I guessed wrong. Instead he sent Lor back to us with instructions for Lor to bring me alone to the castle after dark, and in secret.

  “I don't care much for that idea,” I told Nance.

  “Are you afraid to meet alone with Tarvik?” she teased.

  “No. That’s not what I’m afraid of. If Tarvik tells me to come to the castle in secret, then he must suspect we have a private way to leave the temple.”

  “What? No! No one knows of the doorway to the stable but you and me and Lor!”

  “Then why would he ask me to do that?”

  “Perhaps he suspects,” she said slowly, her expression begging me to agree. “But he cannot know.”

  “He will, if I follow his instructions.”

  I wanted to believe she was right, that he had nothing more than a suspicion. Tarvik's knowledge of the sliding stone to the stable could foul up future escape plans. And so to avoid exposing that secret, I told our guards I was to be escorted to the castle, accompanied by old Lor. They nodded and smiled, relaxed again now that Kovat had left the city. It was as though everyone once again felt free to breathe.

  The only castle resident who never changed was Kovat's large patchy dog. It gave me the briefest of glances from where it lay against a closed door, then settled back to sleep.

  When we entered the castle, Tarvik opened his chamber door, saw the temple guards, and looked surprised. “You will leave and return to your posts,” he told the guards. “Lor will wait outside my door to return the templekeeper when I command it.”

  I stepped into his room and saw Artur, the guard with the streaked hair, standing against the far wall. He was slightly taller than Tarvik, and, I guessed, several years older. His eyes were a grayer blue, his skin a shade darker, his cheekbones and arched nose sharper. Nance was right. He was a looker.

  Tarvik turned, following where I looked. “You, too, Artur. Wait outside for me.”

  Artur nodded and followed the other guards from the room.

  After closing the door behind them, Tarvik said, “I thought you wanted to see me privately, Stargazer. Why did you bring guards?”

  Pushing the hood of my cloak back from my face so I could see him better, I said, “I can't leave the temple gates without the guards.”

  “Why did you leave by the gates?”

  “Is there some other way?”

  He frowned, drawing his eyebrows together, and bounced lightly on the balls of his feet, such a fidgety guy, always moving. Had Kovat once looked like that, young, unscarred and handsome? I glanced around his room. Rugs woven in bright patterns covered the walls. I couldn't see any openings in the walls, but I thought there might be some because one of the hanging cloths moved slightly, as though stirred by an air current. The floor was piled deeply with sheepskins and more of the bright wool rugs.

  On the side wall several of the stones had been painted blue and against that background there were small drawings of a deer, a bear, a rabbit, a squirrel. A larger stone contained a picture of a white horse.

  “Is that Banner?” I asked, walking over to the wall.

  He nodded.

  “That's very pretty.” I ran my finger lightly over it and could feel the roughness of the stone under the paint. He reached toward me, unfastened my cloak and slid it from my shoulders so quickly, I had no time to protest.

  “I am not planning to stay.”

  “Then why are you here?”

  “At your father's request.”

  He looked startled at my mention of Kovat. “He spoke with you privately?”

  “He came to see me at the temple this morning before he left.”

  “Why should he seek you out alone at the temple?”

  “Because he is free to move about his city and I am not,” I said, a bit too carefully, as though talking to a child. Might as well get this straightened out right now, wipe out any notion he had about secret doors in the temple. “While my trip to the castle surrounded by guards draws considerable attention, his brief visit alone to the temple did not. The same holds true for you, my lad. You could have come to me when I asked to see you.”

  His lower lip jutted out in that childlike way that made me want to smile. “I rule the city in his absence. It is proper for me to send for you and not the other way.”

  Not proper to come to visit me? Hmm, then what were all those evening appearances when he banged on the gate. I almost asked him if I should turn him away the next time he came to share a story or a dance, but decided not. His rapid changes of moods were puzzling and worth avoiding. No surprise that Kovat feared for the safety of his only son. The difference between the two of them was this. While both were brave and arrogant, Kovat did not allow his emotions to blind his reason.

  “What was it that Kovat the Slayer wanted of a templekeeper?” Tarvik demanded.

  “He wants me to chart the stars and to warn you if I find anything wrong, uh, dangerous, evil, like that.”

  That caught his attention. He leaned close to me, his face almost touching mine. “What did you find?”

  Something warned me, maybe some odd sound or maybe that sixth sense thing, but I reached out and pressed my fingertips against Tarvik's mouth to silence him and nodded toward the door. For all the door's thickness, its rough grain was no barrier to sound.

  From the corridor we heard a woman ask, “Is the templekeeper still in my lord Tarvik's chamber?”

  We heard Lor's mumbled admission.

  “Is it his cousin or the other one?”

  “The other.”

  “You will return to your stable. My guards will escort her back to the temple.”

  In the silence I could imagine Lor's strong, wrinkled hands clenching. He would not want to leave me. But he could not argue. Then I heard his slow shuffle down the corridor, his sandals slapping loudly on the hard floor, and I knew he meant for me to hear him and figure out what to do.

  “Which voice is that?” I whispered.

  “Ober. She can send Lor away, but Artur will remain at my door.”

  I beckoned him to the far corner away from the door. “That's what I need to warn you about. She plots against you.”

  “How can Ober be of danger to me? And why should she?”

  “I have no answer to that, Tarvik, but your father asked me to warn you and now I have.”

  “Why should I believe you?”

  “No reason at all.”

  “If you think Ober is dangerous, you have put yourself in danger by coming here to warn me.” A thought wrinkled his forehead and deepened his scowl because his thoughts always showed all over him. I didn't bother to look to see if his fists were clenched. I kept my mouth shut and waited for him to make his own decision.

  Finally he said, “Stargaze
r, do you warn me out of loyalty to Kovat?”

  “No. I owe him nothing.”

  “Then you came because you fear for me.”

  “Fair's fair. You've tried to help me. And I think if you want me to stay alive, you better send your own guards to escort me back to the temple. I don't trust Ober's guards.”

  He hesitated, glanced at the door, then caught my hand and led me behind one of the heavy wall rugs. Musty darkness made me sneeze, probably the musty more than the dark. Tarvik's grip tightened. I bumped against the wall, then moved through an archway concealed by the rug.

  “Secret passages? Wow.”

  “Between the walls,” he whispered. “Here, this place is always cold.” In the darkness he reached around my shoulders to wrap me in my cloak that he still held. His fingers touched my throat and his hands fumbled with the clasp. I couldn't see a thing in the dark but I could feel his touch, hear his breathing.

  And it was back to hand-holding, sword-carrying barbarian time. Was he carrying a sword? I hadn't noticed and I didn't suppose it was a normal piece of indoor apparel. But the hand-holding thing continued, his warm strong fingers wrapped around mine. In a strange, cold, dark, spooky secret passage, it was kind of nice to be able to feel his body heat and hear his footsteps and hang on to his hand.

  Although I had no reason to memorize the path, I did, trying to place the directions firmly in my mind. We turned corners and stumbled up and down occasional steps. At one turning I heard a woman's voice, her tone too low for me to understand her words.

  The passage had no lights, no windows, and I couldn't see a thing. I held my breath and reached out my free hand hoping Tarvik, who stalked rapidly in front of me dragging me by my other hand, would not feel my body turn. My fingers brushed the backing of a rug. So the passage opened to other rooms.

  We ended at a blank wall that appeared to be a single stone set firmly in place. I could see Tarvik now, a shadow shape in the darkness. Either my eyes were adjusting to the darkness or light entered this inner passage at this point. I couldn't locate the source.

  Tarvik reached up and touched a spot on the wall just above his head height. A stone door opened into the night air. He pulled me outside and turned me so that I saw the outline of the hill and the distant temple in the starlight.

  “I will take you back myself,” he said.

  There was a reason why I didn't want him to do that. “Tarvik, I think you should return to your chamber and perhaps move around and talk loudly so Ober hears you.”

  “I cannot let you wander the hill alone.”

  “Lor is waiting nearby.”

  “Why not let me walk with you?”

  I think he did not completely believe he was in danger. “If Ober guesses we are gone, she will search your room until she finds the passage.”

  “She would not dare enter my room!”

  “Can you be certain of that? She came to the temple today to ask me why your father stopped to speak with me this morning.”

  “How did she know about that when I did not?”

  “Exactly. Be careful, Tarvik. Wait. There, I see Lor in the shadow of those trees. Go back. It will be safer for us both.”

  “Is he there? Yes. Then I suppose - Stargazer, if you seek me again, come this way. Here, let me show you. Press upon the outer wall to open the door. Do you feel it?” He caught my hand and guided it up the wall, then spread my fingers against the latch stone.

  “Yes.”

  “Stargazer?”

  “What?”

  To my surprise, or perhaps not, he tightened his hand around mine, circled me with his other arm, pressed his face against my ear and whispered, “I have trusted you. I have shown you the secret entrance to the castle, known to none but me. My father knows nothing of this passageway and I have never shown it to Artur. If I trust you, will you trust me?”

  For a moment I could barely breathe, unsure what he would do if I pushed him away. Standing very still, held captive, feeling the heat of his cheek against mine, I tried not to panic. “I constantly trust you with my life. Now hurry, before Ober sends out a search party for you.”

  He hesitated, his hand still clinging to mine, then let go, stepped away from me and went back inside the passage. The door closed behind him. It perfectly matched the wall.

  I knew Lor could hear us enough to know we were near, but couldn't see me in the shadow of the wall. I didn't need to explain to him what I planned to do. He would wait all night for me. He'd suspect, as I did, that Ober's guards had instructions to do something other than return me to the temple.

  To wait in darkness with Lor nearby didn't take courage. The old man would protect me with his life for Nance's sake. To turn and touch the latch stone was another matter. I do not like dark, narrow, enclosed places. But I did it, turned, ran my fingers lightly across the outer wall until I found that small chipped spot on the stones. I knew I had to return to where I'd heard the woman speaking.

  Once inside I closed the door, entombing myself. I thought I knew where the inner release must be, but I wasn't sure. If I searched for it now and did not find it, I was going to give in to noisy hysterics. I could see almost nothing, a few gray shadows in the black. Feeling my way along the wall and counting turns, my shaking fingertips scraped stone until I touched rug backing. No sound.

  Tracing the wall opening with my hands, I found it to be barely large enough to squeeze a person through, a large stone missing, nothing more. I felt my way along the passage until I found the square piece of stone, bumped my toes on it, bent down in the dark and measured its size with my hands. Who had removed it and left it here against the wall?

  Ober? No. If she knew about the passageway she wouldn't bother to wait outside Tarvik's door. She would have stood behind Tarvik's room and eavesdropped.

  Tarvik? If so, then he must already suspect whoever occupied this room and that didn't seem likely.

  Perhaps the stone had been removed long ago by someone else. If so, the answer lay with Tarvik. Who had first told him about the passage? I could imagine he had accidentally found the doorway to his own room, but had he also discovered the latch stones at the end of the corridor? That was harder to believe. Over the years he had spent a lot of alone time in the castle. But not really alone, not without a guard. And he said Artur didn't know about the passage.

  “Is she still in his chamber?”

  The voice startled me out of my thoughts.

  “We will be told when she leaves.” That was Ober’s voice so the first voice had to be Alakar.

  What did I hope to gain by standing in the space between the walls? With so many missing planets in their horoscopes, I hoped I could fill in information from elsewhere. If ever a place was elsewhere, this was it, a dark passageway with a concealed opening into their room.

  “Why did he send for her?” Alakar asked.

  “I will learn that when I have her in my power,” Ober said.

  “Does she matter to us? She is nothing, merely a templekeeper, and so dark and tall and her bones stick out. Can we not have her killed now?”

  CHAPTER 11

  I bit my tongue and continued to listen. Never had liked the looks of that girl, way too smarmy.

  “She may seem nothing to you, but I have watched your Tarvik. He looks at her with great longing which is more than he has ever done with you.”

  “You're mad! Want her when he is promised to me? Why should he?”

  “Why indeed? She requested this audience with him. He did not send for her. What does she plot?” Ober sounded more as though she was thinking aloud than talking to her daughter.

  “Does Kovat long for her, too?”

  Ober's low laugh was not pleasant. “Not that way, you stupid girl. Something else. I remember his obsession with the Daughter because of her magic. I wonder. Could this one also possess magic?”

  “She cannot be powerful or Kovat would have taken her with him to defeat the warlords of Thunder.”

  To hear thei
r words was scary enough, but it was nothing compared to waiting in the dark passage after their voices died away. What were they doing? Had they turned to stare at the hanging rug that separated us? Did some movement of the air in the cold passageway stir the hanging? Or had they gone to their warm beds while I was freezing?

  Or was Ober quietly opening the door to her room and instructing her guards to go outside the castle to grab me when I stepped out of the secret door?

  I waited for what seemed to me half the night, shivering in the folds of my cloak. When my patience ran out, I touched the backing of the rug. As it moved slightly, a dim edge of light framed it.

  An oil lamp burned in their room. Leaning my head through the wall opening so my ear pressed against the rug, I listened. Somebody was moving around. There. A footstep. A scrape. Was that a bowl or mug scraping on a tabletop?

  How bright was the room?

  Should I push the rug aside or would they see it move?

  If I hadn't been so positive the lives of Tarvik, myself, and maybe Nance, too, depended on my knowledge of Ober's plans, I would have felt my way out of the passage and run back to the temple.

  Instead, I moved the carpet aside the width of a pinch at a time, the wool backing catching on my fingers, pausing after each move to listen for the sound of an indrawn breath. While I waited, I almost wished someone would scream. Then I could let go and take off out of there and forget the whole dumb idea of playing spy.

  Nobody screamed. My last move brought the edge of the rug a finger width past the edge of the opening and I blinked at the light. Set for flight, I peered through. In the lamp glow at the table the two women bent over an assortment of crockery, their attention fixed on what they did. The wall that separated us was in deep shadow.

  Ober dropped a pinch of powder into a bowl. After carefully opening a small container, she let some liquid drip on the powder. It flared. The room filled with yellow smoke that looked like the smoke created by the magician of Thunder. That trick hadn't impressed Kovat or Tarvik. How did she intend to use it?

  With a fingertip she drew a triangle on the tabletop. If she touched it with anything other than her finger, I couldn't see what she used. A red glowing line followed her touch. In the center of the triangle she placed a bowl filled with a dark powder. Making odd hand motions above it, she mumbled a chant. Then she took a part of the powder and measured it into a shiny object she held in her palm.