Schemes

by Krista D. Ball

  Marcia

  ****

  Arrago,

  I’m sorry for not writing. I have no privacy. Hawks watch their prey less than the scrutiny I’ve been under. I am doing double and triple sentry duty shifts. I’m going along with it because I am trying to find out what is going on. I’m learning all that I can, however. I wish Kiner was here. He is better at this stuff than I am.

  Jud’s on to me, but the Council voted to keep me in the ranks. So, he’s punishing me by making things as miserable as possible. He’s gone back to Orchard Park, but I have no friends amongst the Wyllow guard. They all believe I am the reason Apexia withdrew her blessing. Like she would have done that over any spat between us!

  Because of my “conviction,” I won’t receive my annual entitlement that all citizens receive. If that’s not enough, Jud is withholding my wages for ten years as punishment. They’ve also limited my access to Lendra, Jovan, and pretty much any ally or friend I have here. I am here in the library with Lendra, with an armed escort around me, writing this letter as pretense of doing work for our trip to Taftlin.

  If you hear any rumours about Erem, no matter how small or far-fetched, please get word to Queen Marcia, not Lendra. I cannot know when we’ll be finally released, and Marcia isn’t being watched like we are.

  Have to (unintelligible) is here. All love, B.

  ****

  Lord Defender Jud,

  Thank you for your most recent letter regarding the peculiar nature of Lord Kiner’s circumstances. It is rare to find a military commander who takes such personal interest in the lives of all of his men. It warms my heart to see such a fine example of manhood and leadership. You will be pleased to know that I have shown your letter to King Arrago, who shared my surprise concerning the contents.

  Regrettably, His Majesty is unable to grant your request to detain and return Lord Kiner. Lord Kiner had recently accepted a position as military advisor to His Majesty and, therefore, it would make no sense for us to arrest a man we hired solely based on your correspondence.

  I must also thank you for informing us that there are spies amongst us here at the Imperial Palace. How else would you know the inner workings of Lord Kiner’s mind? Unless, of course you have intimate knowledge of his personal inclinations. For which we would never cast judgment upon you, for we see Lord Kiner as a valued and respected friend of the Taftlin court and any particular friend of Lord Kiner’s will also be a valued, respected, and particular friend at court.

  May the grace of the Gentle Goddess shine her light upon you.

  Lord Stanley

  Senior Adviser to Arrago, King of Taftlin

  ****

  My dearest love,

  How are you holding up? I have sent a letter to the Elven Council requesting that they provide me with an ambassador immediately, for I have matters of politics something something; you know how it goes. Lord Rayner wrote it for me. I wish you could have read it. It dripped with so much polite sarcasm that I’m surprised the page stayed dry. I hope this puts a fire under their elven skirts.

  Queen Marcia has helped us arrange private messengers amongst some Elorian merchants she knows. It’s not perfect, and it still takes weeks for letters to move about, but we are trying our best.

  Rayner and Stanley are looking for Erem. We are using the excuse that we want to give him a title for his defense of Castle Gree and the protection of the King, or some nonsense. Rayner came up with it. There is a rumour Erem never left Orchard Park, so we are investigating further.

  I am so tempted to write to the elven council and tell those broody pointed-eared bastards that they have turned their backs on the anointed of Apexia herself. But I will not. I will restrain my anger for your benefit and yours alone. I know this concealment is for the best, for myself as well as the others. This is trying that resolution, however.

  I have written to Jovan inviting him to Taftlin. I know it’s not the climate he prefers, but Kiner is here and you’ll be here eventually. Please hurry and come back home. This is your home now. You belong here, with me, away from those vipers.

  Arrago

  Chapter 1

  Bethany tugged on each of her knees in a vain attempt to stretch the cramps out of her legs. The carriage which carried her and her sister had too little leg room for her taste. She’d already spent three weeks onboard a ship getting to Taftlin, and now she had the three day carriage ride to the capital.

  “At least the road is smooth,” Lendra observed, who was craning her neck from side-to-side.

  “The Queen’s Road,” Bethany said with a little chuckle. “How typical of Arrago.”

  “To be fair, the road was Celeste’s idea. She told me all about it one day.”

  “I know it was hers.”

  “The name is his, though. She was planning to call it the Imperial Highway.”

  “Oh, I like that,” Bethany mused.

  Lendra nodded, then stretched her arms out in front of her. “She had maps of Taftlin and she thought that linking all of the bigger towns in Taftlin to the capital with better roads would help commerce.”

  “Commerce is good, though in Taftlin that means slaves.”

  “Arrago promised he would abolish slavery in Taftlin. I believe he will.”

  Bethany looked at her sister and smiled. Even with all of their travel, Lendra’s blond curls were perfectly shaped and pinned up on the sides of her head. She wore a yellow silk dress, one of the dresses the late Queen Celeste had given her before she’d died. It still fit her, though Lendra was finally losing the last bit of youthful slenderness as her hips and breasts filled out.

  Her little sister was finally grown up. It made Bethany’s heart pang a little.

  “You don’t think he will?”

  “Oh, sorry. I drifted off there. I think he will. It’ll take time, though. I wish he could do it overnight, but Celeste, Edmund, Lord Stanley...all of them were right. Arrago needs to secure his throne and build his army, and then he can do whatever he wants.” Bethany sighed. “I don’t have to like it, though.”

  “I don’t think anyone would expect an elf or an Elorian to like slavery.”

  “True enough.”

  Bethany ran a hand along the satin padding of the carriage’s interior. It was bright purple. The window blinds were purple, and the tassels were gold, though she assumed they were gold-coloured and not gold thread. She hoped, anyway. Gold thread inside a carriage was rather extreme, even for a visiting dignitary’s carriage.

  “This is a really ugly carriage.”

  Lendra snorted. “I love it.”

  “You would.”

  She was here, in Taftlin. For the first time in her life, she wasn’t feeling dread about her geographical location. Instead, she was overcome by excited anxiety over the prospect of living here for the next five years. Five years, with Arrago at her side.

  They’d written over the last fourteen months, their letters growing more cryptic and coded as events unfolded. By the end, she was using Eve’s old workers as couriers as she didn’t even trust the ambassador office to keep her correspondence secret. She did write him a short note upon her arrival in Gree and hired one of the Castle’s servants to take the letter to the Imperial Palace. She should be safe in Taftlin.

  What a horrible thought. She was safer in Taftlin than in Wyllow, Ellentop, or Orchard Park amongst her own people.

  Bethany had no clue what was going on with the elves, but anyone with a pair of eyes could see the pieces moving across the board. Blocks were forming. Power was changing hands. Soon, someone was going to make a move. She didn’t know against who or what, but it was coming.

  Jud was involved. She was certain of that, though, she didn’t know if he was merely a pawn or a leader. The elven council were already in charge, so it made no sense for them to close ranks, but that was exactly what they’d done.

  With Bethany’s reduced rank, she no longer had access to anything. She’d used nearly all of her own money for the war effort,
so she was broke. She’d asked for an advance on her salary and her annual payment that she received from the Council. Both were denied, leaving Bethany cash-strapped for the first time in her life. When she investigated, she discovered Jud had been the one to order the rejection of all her requests.

  Things were very wrong.

  “Do you think Arrago will ride out to meet us?”

  Bethany smiled. “I’m sure he’ll try, though one hopes Edmund or Stanley will prevent him.”

  “Poor Edmund,” Lendra whispered.

  “Don’t pity him,” Bethany scolded. “He wouldn’t want that.”

  “But he lost his hand! And his eye!”

  “And he kept his life,” Bethany reminded her. “He can learn to write with his other hand. He can learn to dress himself with only one hand. As long as he’s with Arrago, he’ll never want for anything. He will be fine.”

  “You’re heartless,” Lendra said flatly.

  Bethany shrugged. “Probably.”

  Bethany fell silent, listening to the wheels crunch, the horses trot, and the reins jingle. Her insides knotted in anticipation. The early summer air was sweet with grass and flowers. She closed her eyes and listened to the chatter of birds and the chittering of squirrels. She never thought Taftlin would feel like home, but that’s exactly how she felt as they traveled along the path.

  She needed to write to Jovan once settled. He was with his parents in Ellentop, last she’d heard. He might be able to find Erem’s exact location. Then, she could use Arrago’s connections to pull strings to get Erem up North, too. There were a handful of mid-level clergy that Bethany trusted who were also looking to get out of the temple. She’d speak with Arrago to see if he could issue an invitation for the re-establishment of a monastery.

  She had to protect her friends.

  A rider pulled up alongside Bethany’s window. Apprentice Knight Myra sat on her horse, grinning far more than necessary. “Lady Bethany?”

  “Yes?” Bethany replied with a hint of a smile in her voice. She didn’t bother to correct the title. Technically, Myra outranked Bethany these days.

  “Everything is quiet out here so far,” Myra reported.

  “Good,” Bethany answered, again with that touch of a smile.

  “Everyone is hungry, though,” she said.

  Bethany smiled. “They’re elves. They’re always hungry. We stop in King’s Falls tonight, if I recall. We can eat there.”

  “Will they have anything we can eat?” Myra asked. “The last time I tried animal, I vomited.”

  Lendra leaned around Bethany to speak to Myra. “I purchased bread and cheese at the wharf. I promise no one is going to starve tonight.”

  “Thank you, Ambassador,” Myra said. “I’ll get back to my post, then, if there’s nothing else?”

  “Lady Myra! Back in formation!” called out a stern male voice over the sound of the carriage.

  Bethany rolled her eyes and said, “As you were, before Lord Dingleballs has a fit.”

  Myra’s eyes widened before she broke out laughing. “Now I’m going to think that every time he speaks to me.”

  Bethany’s smile grew as Myra pulled away from the window. Once Myra was out of sight, Bethany laughed. “Isn’t she precious?”

  Lendra smiled sadly. “Bethany...”

  Bethany groaned. “Let it rest. I’m fine.”

  “Are you telling me the truth?” Lendra asked, concern creeping into her voice. “You were demoted all the way back to the bottom. You will have to take all of the training courses all over again! It might be decades, even a century, before you get back your seniority and a command. Jud will have to die before you’ll be allowed to be Lady Champion again.”

  Bethany gave her sister a hard glare. “Thank you for reminding me. I had forgotten.” At Lendra’s horrified expression, Bethany added, “I’m teasing.”

  “I don’t know how you can laugh about this.”

  “What do you want me to do? It’s ridiculous what happened to all of us, and it all stems from Jud and the senior Council members. I only kept my position because of you, and Apexia, I suppose.”

  “I can’t believe Jovan quit,” Lendra whispered, her voice full of awe. “Jovan quit.”

  “Did you hear Kiner was fired?”

  Lendra’s eyes widened. “He was?”

  Bethany nodded. “Yup. If Allric was alive, I’m sure he’d have been jailed.”

  “No!”

  “They are out to blame someone and they wanted to blame Allric. He did himself a favour by dying. Good for him,” Bethany said with a heavy sigh. “Five years up here. I never thought I’d be grateful for that.”

  “You’ll miss Orchard Park’s reconstruction.”

  Bethany looked out her carriage’s window, enjoying the fresh air blowing in through it. “I can oversee the reconstruction of Taftlin.” She looked back at her sister. “Right?”

  Lendra grinned, but it only lasted for a moment. “Does it bother you Knight Darien is in charge of my escort?”

  Bethany gave her sister a level look. “Does it bother me that a pimple-faced elf who hasn’t even passed proper field testing was elevated to the rank of Knight and put in charge of me with my decades of experience? No, not at all. Why would you think I’d be bothered by that?”

  Lendra winced. “Sorry. I pulled every string I could just to get you attached to this mission.”

  “Oh, I think I was coming to Taftlin one way or another.” Bethany stared out of the window at the evergreen trees. “There’s a reason I was demoted and it has nothing to do with the war. They wanted me out of the way.”

  “Then why did you come?”

  Bethany turned her gaze to her sister. “To protect you.”

  Lendra grew silent and Bethany went back to staring out of the window. They passed a number of traders and farmers along the road with their carts and wheelbarrows full of goods. They passed barefooted beggars and illustrious peers in carriages nearly as gaudy as the one Bethany travelled in.

  The air smelled more of grass than salt now that they were moving away from the coast. The road was dry, but not as dusty as it could have been. Bethany’s lungs were grateful for that, allowing her to keep the small glass pane cracked open for air movement.

  She didn’t want to tell Lendra how weary and worried she was. It had been a long year fighting with the Council, and then Jud. She had been used to having her position to control every situation. Whoever was playing the game on her had moved the pieces perfectly. She had been completely cut off from her ability to uncover the movements behind the scenes. Which, in her eyes, meant there was movement she was not meant to see. Which just made her want to see it all the more.

  She glanced at her sister. Lendra was her only living family now. Apexia was dead. Drea was dead. Sarissa, may the Creator Gods forgive her, was dead by Bethany’s hand. There was only Lendra now. With Arrago on the throne, Taftlin was now safer for her than Wyllow or Orchard Park, which seemed a cruel twist of fate. The nation that destroyed one sister would now be the safe harbour for another.

  “I think we should ask Lord Stanley to help us find Erem,” Lendra said finally.

  “If you want,” Bethany said quietly.

  She was beginning to believe Erem was dead in a ditch. He’d been sent off on a “secret” mission to Ellentop, but he never arrived. Bethany had used all of the older knights, who still all trusted her, to help her find Erem, but he’d disappeared.

  “I sent a letter to Queen Marcia before we left, asking for her help.”

  “Anything?”

  Lendra shook her head. “We left two days later. I’m so worried.”

  “We’ll keep looking,” Bethany said. “I should have killed Jud when I had the chance.”

  “Don’t say stuff like that,” Lendra complained. “Someone might hear you.”

  “Dingleballs can’t hear me over the wheels. Even if he could, I’m not afraid of that little spy.”

  “They’re all spying on
us, aren’t they?”

  Bethany rested her head against the cushioned back of her seat. “The only one I trust is Myra.”

  “This is a complete mess.”

  “It will work out,” Bethany said.

  Lendra frowned at her. “I don’t see how. They blame you, and the others, for losing Apexia’s blessing. That’s not what happened at all! She gave her blessing to the five of you. Well, four, I guess, since you already had it.”

  “Six sounds better,” Bethany said. “We should count you.”

  “Can you please be serious?” Lendra demanded.

  “I am being serious. We decided, as a group, the story I was to tell the Council. I didn’t expect they would react quite this badly, and I certainly didn’t expect them to let Jud basically gut the Knights. But this is where we are. The others aren’t ready to step forward, and I can’t blame them.” Bethany raised her hand to silence Lendra’s objections. “I spent most of my life in hiding. It seems rather hypocritical for me, or you for that matter, to tell them how to behave. We can all live with this, at least for now.”

  “People will figure it out,” Lendra protested. “Between all of the stuff about the swords and the Magi dying, they are already talking. What happens if Arrago doesn’t age, the way we don’t?”

  “We age.”

  “Very slowly,” Lendra said.

  “That’s because we’re part-elven.”

  “So will Arrago age normally still?”

  Bethany blew out a breath. “I don’t know. I try not to think about it.”

  Amongst the trees off to the side of the road danced a number of horses and riders. Bethany squinted her eyes as the sun glinted against steel. An arrow embedded itself into the wood of the carriage door and Bethany flinched in shock.

  “Fuck!” she shouted.

  Another one hit the door.

  Bethany grabbed Lendra’s arm and dragged her to the floor of the carriage. The coachman shouted and the carriage bolted, charging down the path away from the shouts of the inexperienced knights.

  She yanked out her shield, which had been wedged underneath the seat opposite of them, and held it against her torso as she leaned to look out of the window. Sunlight flickered off several gleaming breastplates as knights charged through the thicket of trees in hot pursuit of the attackers.