Frank-SPrinces

by The Shadowed Princes [lit]

  Regina linked her arm through Emma's and headed off to introduce herself to Kady.

  * * * *

  Wallace Callaghan led Selwyn across the winter-clad garden to where Todd stood speaking with Stone and Reist.

  "Todd, I'd like you to meet the Thane of Anglecyn, Selwyn Brawleigh. Wallace indicated his companion.

  "So you're Todd Sinclair? Selwyn Brawleigh extended his hand to Todd and they shook.

  "Ayup."

  "My son, Ocvran, has read everything he could get his hands on about you."

  "Nice to hear."

  Wallace's eyes slewed to the side and he nudged Selwyn.

  "I heard that you've started teaching again. Selwyn pressed his hands together.

  "Ayup."

  "I would consider it an honor if you would train Ocvran."

  "I'd have to meet him first. See what his temperament is like. I don't train bullies."

  "When we get these matters settled and Kynyr crowned, I'll send for him. I think you'll approve of him. He's a good lad."

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  RIDING WITH THE ENEMY

  Zinzi paced her parlor, snarling. Blood rimmed her mouth and her fangs were descended. Where is your sister? Where is Shelley and Gilzean? Where are they hiding?"

  Ocvran Brawleigh sat on the sofa bare to the waist, his arms and neck marred by fresh bites and his chest marked by long tears and bruises. He regarded her dull-eyed, worn down by abuse.

  "Where are they?"

  "I don't know. Ocvran whimpered far back in his throat. Terror lit his eyes and sent tears down his cheeks. Please don't hurt me."

  She stopped pacing and leaned into his face. I don't like you any more."

  "I love you, Zinzi. Please don't hurt me."

  Zinzi wrinkled her nose and barred her fangs. She had liked him better before she broke his mind open. Oh, I'll do more than hurt you."

  She extended her right hand palm up. Her venomous secondary nails emerged from beneath her primaries and she jabbed two into his chest. Zinzi felt the satisfying relief of pressure in her fingertips as the venom pumped into him.

  "Oh, gahh ... gaahhds. Ocvran Brawleigh sagged against the arm of the sofa, a bluish tinge to his parted lips, his breathing stertorous. He twitched and shuddered uncontrollably, his fingers jumping.

  "I love the taste of poisoned blood. Zinzi bit him again, extended her sense through his body, and enjoyed the way that his struggling heart kept fluttering.

  "You still have not found the cubs? Hoon strolled into her apartment.

  She lifted her mouth from Ocvran's throat. His head fell back, mouth slack and eyes staring without seeing. They're hiding. They're always hiding."

  "And he is dead. I was going to ask for him back. Now I have no Brawleighs."

  "Ask Silkie what happened to them. She came and took them from me."

  "Yes, ask me what happened to them. Silkie swept in, her expression haughty and stained with ire. I gave them back to you before my last assignation. I think you ate them."

  "You're always having assignations. Can't keep your bloody twat filled, whore? Zinzi leaped at Silkie with her claws out.

  Silkie backhanded her across the room. Don't threaten me. I have crushed little girls like you many times before."

  Zinzi crouched, gathering herself for another spring.

  "That is enough. Hoon stepped between them. I do not know whether my Brawleighs were eaten or whether they escaped. Considering the nature of my forces, it could be either. However, I will discover the truth. Then someone will be punished for it."

  Zinzi straightened with a huff and adjusted her dress, smoothing the skirts down. It wasn't me."

  "Enough, Zinzi. I am sending you to Wolffgard. I want you to stay in the field until I send for you."

  "Why?"

  "Because you are good at it."

  Silkie put her arm around Hoon's waist and laid her head on his shoulder. He kissed her hair and then walked out with her.

  "Silkie, Zinzi snarled. Always Silkie."

  * * * *

  Aelfwin Cadwallader led them southwest to Sunderborough. Paolo Nicoletti and his myn made odd companions to the lycans. The deeper into Red Wolf they rode, the quieter the humans became.

  Shelley rode behind Aelfwin on his horse, patting his back frequently and prattling on about Waller this and Waller that. All of the fear had gone out of her as soon as she had her Waller back and they were away from the city. The absence of her brother, Ocvran, puzzled Shelley; however no one ventured to tell her that he was dead.

  The little girl was the only one who could get more than two or three words out of Gilzean. Last night Shelley managed to coax the name of the boy's father out of him: Domhnall Taite. All attempts to elicit his mother's name led to tears, and either sobs or silence. Aelfwin suspected that something bad must have happened to her and the cub was trying to block it.

  The day after reaching Sunderborough, Aelfwin sold their horses, parceled their supplies out into backpacks, and set a large crate down on the banks. This is how we're traveling. Can you skate?"

  Paolo lifted a critical eyebrow as he watched the lycan bring forth an assortment of ice skates. The lycan skates were built to handle rough going. They were twice as long as their feet with wooden platforms and metal blades. Their boots were strapped near the back of them. I haven't since I was a boy. I suppose it will come back to me."

  "I hope so. This is faster than the horses in this weather. We'll tow the little ones. And, best of all, we're not likely to encounter someone trying to stop us. Straight down the Bonnie Draw now that it's iced over."

  Shelley settled beside Daffyd Cadwallader and patted his arm. Nother Waller, which skates are mine? Which are Gilly's? Gilly wants to know, Nother."

  "The two of you are going on the sled."

  She clapped her hands. A sled for Gilly and me."

  Paolo cast a glance at Shelley and Daffyd filled with envy and longing. I wanted a family. I never had the opportunity ... or the time."

  "Career military? Aelfwin moved on, checking that Lady Brawleigh and her daughters had their skates on proper.

  "Yes. I was with King Baaltrystan when the palace collapsed ... barely got out."

  "Sa'necari in your family?"

  "None. We've been soldiers to the crown for generations. The opportunity to embrace the rites has been offered us, but we've always turned it down."

  "I find that hard to credit."

  "I'm a captain. None of my family has ever risen higher than that. Had any of us embraced the rites, there would have been a General Nicoletti at some point."

  "Good point. But that still doesn't answer the question. Why refuse power when it's offered?"

  "Maybe we find value in our humanity. Paolo shrugged and changed the subject. You know, there's something I have always puzzled over."

  "About lycans?"

  "No. About the collapse of the palace. Most of those sa'necari who carried a long legacy of the rites ... those who got out ... I'm certain that there were far more than showed up afterward. It's as if someone were waiting for them and grabbing them up."

  "Maybe there was."

  Paolo nodded. Two-thirds of the highest ranked, the greatest powers in the old families vanished."

  "You shouldn't be telling me this."

  "Because you'll go to the King with it? Maybe I want you to. You see, Aelfwin, Queen Tomyrilen is a usurper. The throne belongs to a legitimate male heir, and there's three of them. Or there was. An assassin was dispatched to kill the twin sons of Mephistis, Fauxx and Wolff. The deed is probably already done by now. That leaves just one legitimate heir."

  "Cooley?"

  "Yes."

  "Does it bother you that he's lycan?"

  "Not as much as it bothers me that Tomyrilen is a murderous usurper."

  Conyn Pritchard sauntered over with the sled he had carried from town. He uncoiled the rope hanging from his shoulder and attached it to the front between the back-curved runners. Two smal
l seats with raised backs would keep Shelley and Gilly from falling off if the cubs became drowsy or tired.

  Had Waller been traveling alone, he could have made the journey down the Bonnie Draw in two days. As it was, between the less experienced humans, ten-year-old Jeremy Brawleigh, and the three bitches it would take considerably longer. They would need to stop periodically throughout the day to let them rest; and it was decided that each time they stopped it would be at villages and towns where the lawgivers could be alerted to the fall of Anglecyn.

  Then Waller took the point as the strongest skater among them.

  * * * *

  They overnighted at Doningcote. The cubs were exhausted. Waller carried Shelley and Daffyd brought Gilzean. The boy tended to flinch away and start crying whenever one of the Waejontori tried to touch him.

  Once everyone was settled in, Waller went down to the common room for a tankard and a chance to spread the word about Anglecyn to the regulars. His knowledge of the sa'necari was limited to how to kill them and the fact that they became stronger the more lives they took in the rites. Some of the things that Paolo had said to him that morning hung in his mind.

  "These legacies you were talking about, what are they exactly?"

  "Souls."

  "I gathered that. The Steeped-in-Death have taken a great many souls. It was one of those buggers that captured me."

  Waller found it disturbingly easy to talk to Paolo. They were both officers and career soldiers of military families. Waller's family had served the thanes of Anglecyn for generations. Their loyalty ran deep and there was a strong bond between them.

  "Legacies are nasty things. When a sa'necari gets too old and feeble or when he's injured past healing, his sonusually it's the sonrites him. That adds the father's stolen souls to that of the son and doubles his power."

  Waller's sphincter tightened at the thought. So those who went missing when the palace collapsed ... supposing a single mon got them all? How powerful would he be?"

  "I can't imagine it."

  "Try."

  "As strong as a yuwenghau I would think. Several of those legacies counted for thousands of souls."

  Waller had been hearing odd and troubling rumors for months before Anglecyn fell and now he tried to piece them together. There's a rumor, Paolo. I'll understand if you can't answer my question."

  "Ask and then I'll tell you whether I can or not."

  Waller stared into his tankard as if there were truths written in the drink. The Butchering Serpent is in Red Wolf."

  "I've heard that one."

  "What if the reason he's so powerful is because he took those legacies?"

  "If he did, Waller, he would not be able to hide from your people. He'd stand out like a bonfire in a midnight field. You haven't been around sa'necari like I have. When you come across those with the greater legacies, it makes your skin itch to be in the same room with them."

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  TAVERNS AND TARTS

  "Did anyone recognize or catch the names of those two professionals Clennan brought to the funeral? Stone stood on the roof with his foot resting atop the short stonewall.

  He had spent hours walking the roof. The plants that made up the avenues of alcoves had either gone dormant in their pots or been taken inside for the season. A few of the larger pots contained the withered remains of plants that had not survived the first sudden frost. Piles of hewn stone squares lurked beneath snow covered tarps. Stone could tell that Claw had intended to add merlons and possibly arrow slits to the roof. Seeing how many things his brother had left unfinished sent a wave of melancholy through Stone. He longed to finish them for him.

  It all added an edge to his thoughts as he listened to his second.

  "You're not going to like it. Reist's lips pursed and his head angled.

  "Who are they?"

  "Faerwald Davies and Lairgan Yates."

  "Davies. That's the one. Slender?"

  "Yes."

  "We exchanged threats yesterday. Stone leaned farther out, gazing down on the empty yard. He saw the barns and cotes beyond the main stable. Claw had added several. That used to be thickets of ash and elm.

  "He's a master, Stone. Reist shrugged abruptly, a contemptuous twist coming to his lean features. Even if his talent is as large as his ego, which it isn't, he'd never be able to take you."

  "No doubt. They can see I'm long-lived. They've been told by Cedric that I'm yuwenghau. And yet, it doesn't really sink in. I'm still Mad Brock to them. Stone dragged a deep breath through his nostrils. I had a feeling that Clennan would bring his pet duelists along. At least I know what they look like now."

  "Clennan has sicked them on Todd. Sinclair is good, but he's old. They'll kill him."

  "Goat-lickers. The only way they are getting to Todd is through us. Agreed, Reist?"

  "Agreed. I'll stick a tail on them."

  "Have one of Jenny's girls put a bug in Lawgiver Ossian O'Reilly's ear about them. And set a watch on Todd as well."

  "Am I interrupting? Pandeena appeared on the roof, materializing out of thin air in a sparkling shower of silver motes.

  "Yes, you are. Stone threw her a contemptuous look.

  Pandeena's mouth tightened. It's important."

  "It had better be."

  Reist glanced from one to the other, gave a small bow, and left them alone.

  "Now that you've chased my second off, what was it you wanted? Stone turned and sat on the wall with his hands gripping the edge. His body reacted to her presence, and he could not decide whether the attraction was genuine or a response to the native allurement of their kind.

  "I wanted to tell you about Nikko Softpaws."

  "The first lawgiver they killed? Stone frowned, wondering why Pandeena had been finding every little excuse she could to talk to him. He had his suspicions and felt tempted to test them.

  "That one. Except he isn't dead. Pandeena settled on the wall at a modest distance from him.

  Stone tilted his head away, watching her covertly, a twist of arrogance on his lips. You've been holding back on us."

  "I had to. Pandeena shifted uneasily and crossed her legs. Nikko was shot several times. The trauma took his memory. He's begun to remember. But at first he could not even recall his own name."

  "Why bring it up now? Stone's voice hardened as the intelligence officer he had been trained to be came to the fore.

  "He wants to come home."

  "I know a lot about coming home. Stone's hand shot out, snaked around her waist, and pulled her close. He had not told her the full truth when he said he had always wanted to kiss one of the Mothershe had fantasized about doing much more than that.

  "You shouldn't do this. Pandeena pushed away from him, and rose.

  He swaggered after her. Don't speak to me of shoulds."

  Pandeena swallowed, backed into a stack of cut stones covered with a tarp, and flinched. Stone, don't."

  "I make you nervous? Stone pressed himself against her. This close together, if she Jumped, she would only take him with her.

  "Yes ... yes, you make me nervous. Pandeena squirmed, pushing at him vainly.

  "You're a battlemage. A warrior. The Second Mother. And I make you nervous. Stone nuzzled her hair, licked her ear, and kissed his way down the side of her neck.

  "Stone..."

  He slid his hands beneath her winter tunic, pulled the bottom of her shirt free of her trousers, and caressed her breasts.

  "Stone, it's wrong. Pandeena trembled violently, her legs went weak. We're cousins."

  "When has that ever stopped our kind? Stone nuzzled her neck.

  Pandeena sucked in a shuddering breath as he massaged her nipples. I'm afraid of you."

  "You're afraid of yourself, of your needs and desires. You want to be dominated in bed. You want me, Pandeena. Say it."

  "No."

  Stone lifted her shirt free, exposing her breasts. The shock of cold air followed by the touch of his warm tongue flicking across her nipples felt lik
e being struck by lightning. Pandeena moaned.

  "Caimbeul dominated you in bed. That was the bond."

  Pandeena shivered as he sucked her nipple to hardness. Her loins grew wet and aching with need. Yes. YES!"

  "Take us someplace warmer ... before I pull your trousers down ... and introduce you to the best part of me."

  Her power wrapped around them and they vanished from the roof, materializing in her bedroom at the Lawgiver House. Stone swept her into his arms and placed her in the middle of her bed.

  She lay waiting with the stillness of a trapped deer, trembling in the presence of a predator. Stone unlaced her trousers, pulling them to her ankles. Then he opened his own and lifted his manhood out. He was large and hard beyond anything Pandeena had ever experienced.

  He entered her and Pandeena burst into tears and sobbing.

  As Stone thrust deeply into her body, they both knew that he had conquered her.

  * * * *

  Finn plopped into the wheel-chair like a cub with a new toy. Sha did not want him putting weight on his legs or his arms until the Mending had settled properly. Crutches remained out of the question. He tested it, turning it this way and that.

  Then he went looking for Kynyr. Wheeling through the corridors, people nodded and greeted him, glad to see him at last. Russa popped out of a room and grabbed the handles.

  She caromed him through the corridor before he could stop her. Where you going, Finn?"

  "Hey! Hey, stop! Russa, stop. Finn's eyebrows shot toward his hairline as a large cabinet loomed with a threat of imminent collision. Russa veered at the last possible moment and collided with Trevor who was on his way to the salle.

  Trevor gave her a long disapproving glance as he picked himself up. Russa..."

  She flushed, her guilty smile changing to a moue. I know, Uncle Trevor. I have the lecture memorized."

  "Are you this madcap with your cubs, Russa?"

  "Absolutely. They love it. Then she set off again at a more sedate pace.

  It took some searching before they found Kynyr. They checked the kitchen first, then his suite, the study, the Command Chamber, and the chapel.

  Finn thought for a moment. Infirmary. Maybe Sha and Qaseem are poking at him again?"