“The king doesn’t matter to me. That I was forced to take the time to come and collect you does. You’ll spend the rest of the night in my room, and if you’re lucky you’ll be allowed to go free in a few days.”
“That’s not fair.”
I snorted, then pulled her after me. “Fairness isn’t part of the program, princess.”
Despite her arguments, she came with little resistance to my quarters. Whenever she was close, the stone at my neck grew more pestering. I closed my door harder than usual, then went to my side of the room, away from her. I felt Ellia’s glare on my back, then heard her marching to her side—probably to the pile of blankets and pillows that acted as her bed. She’d then likely try to work herself up into killing me with the knife (my knife) that was hidden with her things. I’d noticed it gone the first night she’d stayed here, but despite having ample opportunities, she still hadn’t used it. I scoffed as I opened my trunk. I needed to grab only a few things, then I would be free of her for days.
“Are you actually planning on staying here the whole evening?” she asked. I’d expected a comment like this was coming; she was already trying to form a plan of escape. “I thought you couldn’t bear my presence.”
I closed my trunk, tied the bag of gold to my belt, and sheathed my sword. She was seated on her bed, her hands tight at her sides. “Don’t worry, princess,” I said. “I don’t plan on returning at all tonight. But don’t bother trying to leave. I’m sending a guard to watch the door, and the balcony.”
I walked towards the exit, but before I could reach it, for no reason I could determine, Ellia jumped to her feet.
“Where are you going?” she asked.
I was suddenly grateful for my early morning escapes. It didn’t seem possible—no matter how much she hated me—for Ellia to allow me to leave without asking this. And always with this look, like she couldn’t understand how or why it was happening, like she was suddenly lost in the world. I, for one, couldn’t understand why I answered her.
“To Lox’s.”
“You mean to Veera,” she replied, her demeanor losing its daze.
I tossed a hand in confirmation, then turned to the door.
I heard her scoff. “And you’re worried about me ruining your reputation,” she muttered.
I told myself to leave, just one quick turn of the knob, instead I turned around. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means I don’t think you could do worse than spending your time with someone like her.”
I narrowed, then scoffed. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t I? It’s not her I see flirting with soldiers and walking on the arms of lords?”
“She’s a handmaiden. That’s her job.”
“Then I guess that just makes her something worse.”
I tightened my fists. This sort of reaction, a lack of control, I’d lived with it for years, but hadn’t had to experience it in months. Well, it wasn’t going to happen. Not for any reason and certainly not because of Ellia. I stilled my anger, then I gave her one last sneer to let her know she hadn’t bothered me.
“Have fun in your cage,” I said, then I opened the door and left.
I consoled myself with the passing soldiers, all saluting me, eyes lit with respect. As I deserved. These people saw what I deserved. But before long all it did was remind me of the ones who hadn’t—Shaundakulians. Then I felt my blood heating again, and the urge to attack the nearest breathing thing. I wasn’t pleased with a second lapse of anger, but I realized it had do with Shaundakul, not Ellia, and this made me sure that even back in my room it hadn’t been her that had bothered me. That was also Shaundakul, it was the orders I’d received from Lox. And why shouldn’t I be bothered by that? Lox had told me time and time again, no man could bear not being seen for how great he was for long, but that had been my life in Shaundakul. Only ever seen from one perspective. Never allowed to receive the advancements I’d rightly earned.
I didn’t resent Lox’s orders. I understood why I had to go. I just wasn’t about to pretend I was happy about it.
#
I gave Veera’s door a knock, expecting her or Thane to answer it, but instead it was a councilmember, a Lord named Talvik.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, my brow dark.
“Master Dracla,” the Lord greeted, laughing a little. He gestured behind him. “Veera and I were just enjoying dinner.”
I looked past him where Veera sat, her legs stretched out in front of her as usual, up on a stool. She gave me a smile, waving her fingers at me while she took a drink. I felt that out of control state returning, but it didn’t have anything to do with Shaundakul.
“A little late for dinner, isn’t it?” I demanded of Talvik.
Talvik shrugged. “My duties constrain me.”
I gave him another cursory glare, then pushed past him.
“Would you like to join us, Cyric?” Veera asked.
“I’ll pass. I just need to use Lox’s desk.” I headed for the steps.
Veera narrowed. Before I entered Lox’s room I heard her say something soothing to Talvik. They both laughed. I ignored it and went to Lox’s desk. Once again, I pulled out my set of keys to open the drawer. I retrieved the papers I needed, maps, star-charts, glanced over them once, then shoved them in my back pocket. I glanced out Lox’s bedroom window. It wasn’t really too late for dinner, the sun hadn’t even set. All the same, now I had nowhere to sleep. I supposed I could just leave tonight and get it over with.
As I descended the steps I was surprised to see Veera at the front door, waving to a departing Talvik. It drew me to stop at the bottom of the staircase, arms crossed, leaning back against the rail. Veera closed the door.
“Hope I didn’t spoil your dinner,” I said half-heartedly.
“Talvic is one of the men Malatos has asked me to keep an eye on,” Veera replied. She turned, crossing her arms and leaning back to match my pose. “My only concern is that you upset his pride. I think he’d gotten it in his head that he was the only man I allowed to visit me here.”
I relaxed—registering that of course this was all a duty Lox had asked of Veera. I already knew this, just as I knew that she would never do anything to betray Lox. We were the same in this, I’d realized that a long time ago. Now I was even more annoyed with myself for behaving as if I thought otherwise.
Veera measured me up and down. “You don’t look well, Cyric,” she stated.
Under her careful gaze I didn’t feel like much wasn’t seen. I shrugged her off. “I’ve had better days.”
“News from Malatos?” she guessed.
I thought about Lox’s order. He hadn’t said not to tell Veera, and since I hadn’t told my soldiers or anyone else where I was going, I figured that I should at least tell her. “He wants me to go to Shaundakul,” I answered.
Her head tilted. “Because of the animals?”
“It’s the only place we know to find out where all of them are located.”
“I thought you already knew what type they were. Shouldn’t you be able to tell which countries they would belong to that way?”
“I have some guesses. Lox wants me to be sure. Besides, we still don’t know what the fourth animal is.”
Veera looked solemn for a moment, then she walked to her couch, waving me with her. “When will you leave?”
“Tomorrow,” I answered, “Or tonight, depending on whether I can find somewhere to sleep.”
Veera raised a brow. “Should I inform the handmaidens of Akadia that the Lieutenant is in need of a bed?”
While I gave her a look that said I wasn’t humored, I picked a hunk of bread off the table.
“Of course you can stay here if you like,” Veera added. Then she made a face. “Speaking of handmaidens, I saw you paying them some attention the other day. After training… when your princess was watching you.”
I met her eyes, still handling the bread. “So?”
&nbs
p; “It’s just that you usually ignore them.”
“What’s your point.” I’d known she was going to bring this up eventually, ever since I’d seen her there. I wasn’t in the mood to deal with it now.
Veera relented. “No point, Cyric,” she dismissed. Without saying more, she grew quiet, and then eventually she went to take a bath. I was left alone in the room. I leaned back and looked up at the ceiling, all crossed with square tiles and crown molding. Things would return to normal once I got back from Shaundakul. And once Lox came to Akadia and I could go back to war, even better. Anything, so long as I didn’t have to sit still.
CHAPTER TEN
ELLIA:
Yes, Cyric had told me that I wasn’t allowed to leave for days, but if he thought one of his useless soldiers was going to be able to stop me once he was off training, he was fooling himself. When the servant came with my breakfast, I asked if there was a guard outside to make sure Cyric hadn’t been bluffing. Sadly the servant confirmed it, but this didn’t deter my mission.
After eating and dressing, I peeked outside the door. I furrowed when rather than one, there were two soldiers. And it looked like one was higher ranking. He faced my direction, speaking with the other, who was a woman. I huffed dejectedly; so long as it was a woman guarding me I wasn’t going to kill her, and I certainly wouldn’t be able to slip by on my charms.
But the second soldier stopped amidst his easy laughing, seeming to notice me, his eyes flicking up to me. He had pale blue eyes, very Shaundakulian, and why not, because it was Slark, and Slark had always looked very Shaundakulian.
He patted his hand once against the woman’s shoulder then walked past her. “Princess Ellia,” he said in greeting. He bowed low, flourishing his arm as was only done in Shaundakul, and even then to only the ladies of noble standing. “I come on behalf of your master. Will you allow me inside?” He smirked a little. “Or were you on your way out?”
I felt a little annoyance and having been stopped and now patronized, but my natural temperance at the sight of one of my people won me out and I went back inside without argument, allowing him to follow.
He looked around once he’d closed the door, making no attempt to hide his admiration. “I’ve never been inside the Lieutenant’s room.”
“I can’t say that surprises me.” He looked at me and I narrowed. “What are you doing working for Cyric, Slark? If I’m not mistaken, not a year ago, you would have died first.”
He started laughing as he crossed his arms. “You haven’t changed, Princess Ellia.”
“You don’t know a thing about me. I kept my distance from you in Uldin Keep, and I’ll continue to do so here. I can see you’ve abandoned you’re heritage like so many others.”
“I do what I must,” he replied. “But I have no reservations about serving Dracla. If I hadn’t been so blinded by Shaundakulian ways, I should have been glad to follow him long ago. He’s the best of us.” Slark smiled, then he dipped his head toward me. “Then again, you did always know that, didn’t you, Princess Ellia?”
“I know that if you have nothing of use to say, you may just as well leave. In fact, I command it.”
“Settle down, Princess Ellia,” he chuckled. “I’ve only come to tell you I’m available should you need to call for me. Before he left, the Lieutenant said that I should keep an eye on you. I didn’t want you to think you were now without a protector—even if you’re not meant to leave this room.”
“Left?” I repeated, not registering any of the words he’d spoken after this one. “Cyric left?”
Slark smiled to a laugh.
I glared him down.
“He didn’t tell you? Well I won’t be one to chastise him for his methods. They certainly work well enough.”
“Stop talking in riddles. Where did Cyric go?”
“Don’t work yourself up, Princess Ellia. He’ll be back within the week.”
“I didn’t ask when he’d be back,” I snapped, though I felt a wave of… not relief, something even stronger. “I asked where he went. To Karatel?”
Slark shrugged. “It’s possible.”
“You don’t know? Isn’t he in charge of the soldiers?”
“He’s left that to one of his sergeants, but he hasn’t told anyone where he’s gone. There are rumors… whatever it is, it’s important, and almost certainly an errand for Lox.”
“Commander Lox?” I didn’t know why I repeated it—as if I didn’t know who he’d meant. I supposed Slark was simply being so freely informative that I hoped to prompt him to go on. To my surprise, it worked.
“Oh, our Lieutenant is known for nothing if not his errands for Lox. I assume you’ve been here long enough to have heard the most infamous?”
I felt great hesitation, scanning my eyes over Slark, running through what he might mean, trying to think even of something to prod him on to speaking more.
Slark suddenly smiled. “I can see the Lieutenant has meant to hide many things from you. You should be pleased, Princess. This must mean he cares what you would think of him.”
“What could he have done that I would mind?” I asked, ignoring the knotting in my stomach. Somehow I couldn’t help feeling the only one besides Malatos Lox that better guessed my natural inclination towards Cyric was this late and rather flutterish Shaundakulian lord.
Slark held my gaze, his light eyes devious. Then he took another glance around the room and nodded to me. “Tell the guard to call for me should you need anything. Perhaps tomorrow I’ll come to take you for a walk. Even a captive can’t be expected to entertain herself in such a small place. At least not while her champion is away.”
I opened my mouth to argue. He put a finger to my lips, his expression retaining its full assurance. “Don’t worry, Princess Ellia. I don’t intend to tell a soul.” As he turned back to the door, he inexplicably laughed. This, and his behavior as a whole, shocked me so that I couldn’t even bring myself to form a rebuttal. It was the strangest thing I could imagine. The Slark I’d known (granted I hadn’t known him well) but the Slark I’d known had been a bully, very often starting fights, just as often disregarding the laws. I supposed it was possible that in the lawlessness of Akadia he had flourished, and I supposed there was still the aspect of hazard about him. He closed the door so lightly behind him that it cracked back open. I went to shut it, my heart pounding furiously in my chest. As I did I saw Slark lingering beside the still present female guard. To my surprise it wasn’t seconds and then he kissed her. She responded with at least equal enthusiasm. I thought them both so absorbed that I might slip by them unnoticed. But having heard all that I had, I felt a much stronger urge to go inside or rather a lack of any urge to go anywhere. I shut the door tight.
CYRIC:
At least Tosch was excited.
We’d left at dawn and where the trip would normally have taken a full day, he’d done it in half the time. Sunny desert turned to forest then the trees thickened to an abnormal width and the air grew icy. Even though it was well into fall, colors didn’t turn in Shaundakul because the trees were evergreens. I found myself slowing Tosch’s pace more and more the closer we got; it didn’t stop the towering Keep from emerging just when it was meant to, at the base of the mountain, climbing up, higher and higher, with its many towers behind a low cloud.
I expected stench, but the only smell was that of frost and snow, which no doubt already touched the top of the keep. I hoped this meant Lox had done a better clean-up than the goblins after they’d left. Since the forest was clear I assumed it must be so.
With the open gates of Uldin Keep before me, I swung down from Tosch, frozen earth and pine needles cracking beneath my boots. Tosch’s every breath let out a gust of fog.
“Inside or out?” I asked him. “You can rest in the throne-room for all I care.”
Tosch clopped his heels, neighed, then took some testing steps forward. If he hadn’t I wasn’t sure how long it would have taken me to actually enter. Crunching earth turned to
echoing stone. A flock of birds flew out as we entered the first hall. After their departure, it was quiet, and dark, like a tomb.
“See? Even you couldn’t like it, Tosch.” And he made it a point to try and like everything low on evil attributes. He ignored my words and trotted ahead, right up to the large furnace of the entry hall. The wooden chairs that had once surrounded it lay broken and rotted on the floor. I remembered sitting in them either before or after going out for a patrol. The bliss of warming the ice out of your fingers and toes, or the dread of the cold to come. Cold. Always cold. What sort of people choose to settle in such a place?
I used flint to light a fallen torch. Knowing what Tosch was after, I piled some chair parts in the fire-place, then lit them. It crackled into rolling flames. “If it calls a bunch of carnivores, it’ll be your problem to take care of them,” I jibed.
I hoped this might dissuade him into walking further inside with me—for at least as long as he could fit—but instead he walked to the hearth, bent one knee into the stone, then rolled over onto his side.
I tossed my free hand. “You just smashed all our food.”
He rolled his lips. I gave him an expression of exaggerated disgust, which, again, had much more to do with the fact that he was abandoning me than his careless treatment of our supplies. I felt a spark of warmth against my chest and wondered if it had come from the fire, but when it didn’t go away I looked down and saw Ellia’s stone. With one hand holding my torch, I reached the other down to touch it. It was warm, warmer than the fire I’d built Tosch or the flame of the torch—a different sort altogether. I brought it close to my mouth and breathed into it. It flared with color and light. I was sure than that it was responding to the location. All the more reassurance that this place would have the answers I needed.
I readjusted my grip on the torch, let the stone fall, and walked into the Keep.
The first level of Uldin Keep belonged to commoners. Like one of the streets of Akadia, it was long and thin, with what had once been stalls and shops on either side. Narrower stone halls resembling alleys led to the homes of stone on the other sides. The ceiling was so tall in these largest ways that it may just as well have been a sky, albeit a black one. Once huge tapestries had hung across them, now it was only darkness that I couldn’t see the end of. The sound of flaps and squeaking told me bats now infested it. Uldin Keep had no windows on these levels. With my torch-light being quickly absorbed by the surrounding darkness, I had to rely on my memory to guide me where I needed to go. This wasn’t a pleasant experience. My time in Shaundakul could have easily been divided into three parts: my years on these streets, when I’d been passed from one home to the next, usually relations of my late mother, all of whom resented me, not only for being the son of the man who’d ruined her life, but the cause of her death as well. My second part would have been much higher up, where the scholars took in orphans and raised them until they were old enough to make their own way. Shaundakul wasn’t the sort of country to let any of its people go without help; I’d been just one of the many rescued. The third and longest part of my life had begun the day the palace had been open for a celebration. There I had seen Savras, and Ellia. The King had spoken to me personally, not even citing my name as others always did. And though I’d never lived in that section of Uldin Keep, it was where my heart and aim had remained until the day the entire place had been destroyed.
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