Frank-SPrinces

by The Shadowed Princes [lit]

  Kynyr moved with an elegant economy of motion; cold and calculating. Faerwald danced and taunted with his sword. Kynyr parried and answered with Ladyfaith alone, as if the axe he carried was symbolic only. That tempted Faerwald to attack Kynyr's left more than his right. The duelist was fast and quick. He came close to touching Kynyr several times and that emboldened him.

  Darcy went at Lairgan in a white-hot frenzy of rapid blows, her berserker nature barely held in check by Todd's training. She beat down Lairgan's defenses as fast as he could put them up, leaving him with neither time nor openings to launch a counterattack. Her right axe chopped his left arm so hard it shattered the bone.

  Faerwald unleashed a fury of swift darting attacks on Kynyr's left. Fighting with ruthless precision, Kynyr's axe swept out; the inner curve of the crescent head hooked Faerwald's saber and entangled it. The duelist tried one of his circling disengagements only to find that he could not free his blade. The axe moved with him just enough to keep the sword trapped. The main gauche shifted into a parry as Ladyfaith came at him. Kynyr reversed his motion and Ladyfaith bit into Faerwald's arm inches above the guard. The dagger fell from his fingers. He disengaged his sword and retreated only to discover that horsemyn had surrounded them as they fought. Then a scream from Lairgan made him glance to his left.

  His friend was on his knees with an axe buried in his chest and Darcy standing over him grinning as she chopped his neck with the other one.

  Faerwald glided to the side, and attacked again, desperate now. Twenty years of easy victories had not prepared Faerwald to fight someone like Kynyr Maguire.

  Once more Kynyr entangled the saber with the axe. Then he slammed Ladyfaith into Faerwald's belly and tore it across as the duelist had done to Todd.

  Faerwald's lips parted, his eyes widened, and he stared down at Ladyfaith as Kynyr drew it out of him. Denial swept across his face and into his voice. Nooo. No one's ... better ... than me."

  "I am."

  The duelist toppled to the snow.

  Kynyr stepped back, cleaning his weapons. He had been so focused upon Faerwald that he had not noticed the arrival of Tobrytan's soldiers. Darcy crouched over the body of Lairgan, cutting his genitals off as a souvenir.

  "Toby? Kynyr scanned the clearing, turning slowly to look at Tobrytan. Where's Todd?"

  "Artair and Mary took him to the house. Ossian went with them. Tobrytan drew Kynyr into an embrace, stroking his head in a lycan gesture of comfort. Kynyr, he's dying. I'm sorry."

  Kynyr pulled away from Tobrytan, walked to his horse without speaking, and mounted, riding off toward his home.

  * * * *

  The Creeyan Mender took one look at Todd as they brought him in, and shook his head sadly, before examining Ossian. Sha ordered Todd moved to the surgical room next to the main infirmary and sent Qaseem to summon her team.

  Mary stood sobbing in the hallway just beyond the door. Cahira arrived with Trevor. Mary swallowed back her sobs, mastered her own grief, and put an arm around Cahira. I'm sorry, Gram."

  "Todd? Or Kynyr? Cahira glanced from Mary's frown to her son's lowered eyes. Trevor refused to tell me."

  "Tell her, Mary. I-I can't."

  "Todd."

  Cahira's face crumpled and she pushed away from Mary, making her way into the room.

  Todd's eyes fluttered open as the surgeons began undressing him. Don't bother. His voice was harsh and gasping.

  Cahira sidled around the surgeons as she attempted to reach her wounded husband. Her eyes took in the long ugly tears in his body and his maimed hands. She shoved her knuckles into her mouth to stop her mounting scream from escaping.

  Sha leaned over him. Todd..."

  "No. Bastard ... did his ... job right. Todd grimaced and the breath seemed to shiver in his lungs. Get me ... a memory ... stone."

  Ossian, his shirt hanging open and his chest bandaged, pushed between the healers, and placed a stone in Todd's hand. Here."

  Todd closed his damaged hand around it and flooded the stone with his memory of the attack by Faerwald and what happened afterward.

  "At least let me ease your pain? Sha brandished a syringe at him as Ossian took the stone from his hand and wrapped it in a piece of shielding black silk.

  "Not the ... Gentle Path. Just a bit ... more Pollendine?"

  "Just Pollendine. That's all. Tears gathered in Sha's cornflower eyes, and her mask of authority slipped askew.

  "Do it. Todd glanced and saw Cahira. He extended his hand and she caught it before it could fall. I love you. Always."

  Sha administered the injection, turned, and ushered everyone out of the room.

  He felt no pain as his life faded. We had ... a lot of years, Cahira."

  "Good ones. She pressed the back of his big hand to her cheek.

  His eyes closed as if in sleep, and Todd Sinclair breathed no more.

  "Gram? Kynyr stepped inside.

  She gave him a brittle smile at the edge of shattering. He's gone."

  Kynyr went cold inside as if he had been plunged through his grief and out the other side into the clarity of wrath that Todd had trained into him. He hugged Cahira and kissed her forehead. I'll be back in a few hours."

  "You sound like Todd... Cahira swallowed, tears running down her cheeks. What are you going to do, Kynyr?"

  "Hang Clennan Doherty."

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  THE SONS OF TODD SINCLAIR

  Kady sat rigid in her chair in the Command Chamber, fighting back tears. Todd's death had devastated both her family and her household. Everywhere she went, someone was crying. She had finally taken refugee in that deserted room.

  Mary joined her there and Kady brushed her finger around the edge of the blackening cheek and eye. What happened to you?"

  "Faerwald kicked me."

  "Why? Kady's voice caught on the edge of the word.

  "I tried to chop him up with Todd's axe."

  A wan smile touched Kady's lips. You're a healer ... not a warrior. Kady lowered her head. If I weren't so pregnant, I would have ridden with them. I-I could have saved him."

  Mary put her arm around Kady and felt her shaking. We did what we could. Don't blame yourself. There's a lot of blaming going on. Don't add to it."

  "I'll try not to. Where's Kynyr?"

  "He's taken the army to the manor. Cahira says he intends to hang Clennan Doherty and anyone else who gets in his way."

  "Who's defending the house? Kady's ire flashed away her grief, remembering the attack upon the estate led by Belgair Doherty. Todd had turned it into a devastating defeat. Now, Clennan Doherty's pet murderers had killed Todd, destroying Kady's sense of security in the world. StealsThunder's words came back to her in that moment: 'Think like a general.'

  I will think like a general, Todd. I will hold everything you taught me in my heart and I will beat them.

  More memories flooded her; things she had been told and taught by brave myn now dead.

  Cullen saying If you can't beat them, write your name on their foreheads."

  Todd telling her, Hot rage gets you killed, cold rage gets them killed."

  "Duty is where you find it. The old Creeyan proverb that Todd so often quoted ran through her thoughts last.

  "It's what Todd would have done."

  "No, Mary, it isn't. Kady rallied, rising to the occasion from a core of stubbornness. Todd would have seen to the defense of the house first, and then gone after Doherty. Which of my officers are still here? What if killing Todd was a prelude to attacking the estate?"

  "Kady ... Kady, please calm down. It's not good for the baby."

  "Kynyr didn't consult me. He didn't inform me. He just runs off with my army. The safety of the people here is my responsibility. I deserved to be consulted."

  "Kady, please."

  "It's my bloody army. Which of my officers are still here?"

  "Trevor."

  "That's all? I want to talk to him and I want to talk to him now, Mary. Fetch him."

  "Kady
..."

  "Now."

  Kady settled deeper into her chair, adrenaline flooding her and disturbing the cub in her belly. Fergus kicked and stirred. Kady extended her mage senses and connected psychically with Fergus, calming and soothing. Her powers were growing; partly through need and partly through study. She had applied herself to learning with the single-minded ferocity of a warrior-born.

  She tried to think of everything that could pose a danger to them. Raking her mind through the book of clan protocol, she recalled the part that said each thane could only bring twenty myn-at-armswhether housecarles or guardsmynto a witan.

  Trevor arrived, accompanied by Ossian and his brothers. A mon wearing the hunter green tabard of the Wolffgard Volunteer Militia, an officer's patch on the shoulder, followed them. Their hard-eyed expressions held a promise of decisive action.

  "Who are you? Kady pointed at the Militia officer.

  "Silas Lafferty. You knew my brother, Odhran."

  "He was a good mon."

  "Yes, Ma'am. I'm sorry for your loss. One way or another there's gonna be a hangin for it."

  "There had better be. Kady gave him a curt nod, and turned to Ossian. Shouldn't you be resting?"

  The lawgiver looked pale and weary; yet his face was locked into an expression of grim determination. His childhood hero had been murdered in front of him and he had no intention of letting that act go unpunished. I have a job to do. Waid assembled as much of the militia as he could on short notice. We're going to arrest Clennan Doherty."

  "You just missed Kynyr. He's gone to hang Doherty. If you're going to do your job, then I suggest you get on over there."

  Ossian instantly excused himself and left with Silas.

  "How many myn did he take with him, Trevor? What are our defenses like?"

  Trevor's cinnabar hair looked as if it had not been combed, simply pulled back and tied. The sorrow in his eyes contrasted with the resolute set to his mouth. Kynyr took one hundred MacLachlans, all three Guild units, and the Chosen Thirteen."

  "What does that leave us?"

  "Two hundred MacLachlans under Artair's command. We're not in any danger, Kady."

  "I'll be the judge of that. How many myn have the thanes brought?"

  "Protocol says twenty each. But they are not united against Kynyr."

  "That's not what I'm asking. How many are against him?"

  "There's no way to know for certain. It appears fairly evenly split. The northern thanes are for him and the southern thanes are against him."

  "And the midlanders?"

  "Mixed so far. The Thane of Silvershire has come out in Kynyr's favor. The others seem to be listening to himat least that's what Wallace told me."

  "I see. Well Todd always told me to count my enemies twice. A single tear slid across Kady's cheek when she said Todd's name. Is there anyway that one of them could have brought more myn than they were allowed?"

  "Well, both Clennan and Vertram brought huge baggage trains. But those are servants and ostlers, Kady. Not fighting myn."

  Kady's eyes narrowed, her thoughts lunging through every text on military history that she had read over the past weeks. Are they? According to a book I read, traitors have gone so far as to disguise killers in everything from a priest's robes to women's clothing. I say, assume that at least part of those servants are soldiers."

  "I didn't think..."

  "That's my job. Kady's glance softened for a moment, knowing how hard Trevor had been hit by the death of his father. I want the gate guards doubled and the patrols increased until Kynyr returns. I want watchers on the roof. If any one tries to march in this direction, I want to know about it."

  "I'll take care of it."

  * * * *

  Kady went to the second floor parlor. Kynyr's three sisters had insisted upon being the ones to bathe and dress Todd's body; and went to the chapel to pray afterwards. Several of the myn who had survived Belgair's purge had built the simple pine coffin that now contained Todd's remains.

  It hurt her to see him, lying there in the coffin, knowing that his eyes would never open again, that she would never again hear his voice. None of them would have survived the past months if it had not been for Todd.

  She saw Cahira sitting with her hand inside the coffin and joined her there. As she looked down upon him, Kady noticed the long blonde braid wrapped around his right arm. She turned to Cahira, knowing full well where the braid had come from. Cahira had shorn her hair off at the base of her neck.

  Kady controlled herself, kissing Todd's forehead, cheeks, and lips in the farewell to the dead. I loved you like a father. The father I should have had."

  "Father... Cahira stirred from her pit of sorrow, gazing up at Kady, as if her words had touched a chord in her heart. Kady, I'll be back."

  "Gram, where are you... Kady's question died in her throat.

  Golden motes sparkled over Cahira, and she vanished.

  Fergus unleashed a particularly hard kick, startling her. Kady gave her belly a severe look and folded her hands across it. I'll be glad when you're out of me. Then I can swat you when you do that."

  Cahira returned with two large stern myn who looked like younger versions of Todd.

  Kady blinked. Where did you go?"

  "Need lends wings to the heels of the desperate, Kady. I've been to Longbranch and Havensword."

  Kady remembered Queran from last summer, when one of his sons had been killed by Waejontori raiders. His solemn cobalt eyes smoldered with repressed violence. He had the same strong features as his father, softened around the edges by what he had gotten from his mother. The other mon looked as if he had been spit from Todd's mouth and Kady realized that had to be Jordan Sinclair, the only brother she had not met before. He had steel gray eyes, not blue ones like Todd's, and yet they were Todd's eyes, Todd's look, and the same expression of I did not seek this trouble, but now that it's found me, I'm going to beat it into the ground.'

  Jordan Sinclair carried a pair of Sharani longswords at his shoulders, fighting knives at his hips and a pair of big axes in his belt. He stared down at his father's body for a long time without speaking, taking in the maimed hands that had fingers missing. Then he bent, gave Todd's cold face the kiss of farewell, and turned to Kady.

  "Tell me about the myn who killed my father. His quiet tone carried the inner strength that Kady now associated with the Sinclair line.

  "I'm Kady."

  "I guessed. Now what about those myn?"

  "They're dead. Kynyr and Darcy got them."

  "Darcy?"

  "Darcy MacIver, Finn's wife. Todd was her mentor, she ... she's my general now."

  "They were professionals employed by Thane Clennan Doherty. Trevor entered the room and gripped the forearms of his two brothers in restrained greeting before continuing. You may have heard of them, Jordy. Faerwald Davies and Lairgan Yates."

  "Ayup. Nasty pair."

  "Gram, I just heard... A voice from the door interrupted them. Quinn Sinclair stood two steps beyond the threshold, a sledgehammer in his hand with the heavy head hooked over his shoulder. Dad."

  Quinn crossed the room, lowered the sledge, and leaned the handle against the table. He hugged Jordan Sinclair.

  Jordan ended the embrace and turned again to his older brother. How'd they get him, Trevor?"

  "Ambush. Shot his horse. Dad got pinned between the dead animal and an outcropping of sharp rocks. They butchered him before he could get free."

  "Sounds like them. Never fought fair when they could fight dirty."

  "You knew them?"

  "I knew of them. They've been making their way through the various clans for twenty years, selling their swords to whoever could pay them enough. Outlawed in three. Wondered where they had gone to earth after the debacle at Clan MacGregor. Had I known they were here, I'd've come sooner."

  "You knew about those myn, Jordan? Kady moved closer to Trevor.

  "It's what I do. When members of a Battle-Clan turn renegade, the chieftains send
for me. I put the renegades back on the straight and narrow path ... usually in a pine box."

  Kady shivered, her arcane senses discerning the touch of death about him.

  "Lawgivers just passed! Rory rushed in with his brother and Cooley close behind. They looked red-eyed from weeping, but in the grip of grim excitement. They got Clennan Doherty and they're gonna hang him."

  "And there's myn following them. Cooley hooked his thumbs into his belt. Some riding down Pendarke Road. Others going through the trees, trying not to be seen."

  Jordan ran his gaze over his brothers. I think we should head for the commons."

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  THE KING HAS COME

  Stoneriver sat at the desk that had been Claw's and was now his. An open chest sat beside the desk. For the past few days, Stone had ransacked his brother's desk, chests, bureaus, and every place that might conceal evidence or clues to what had happened to Claw and his family. The first time Stone went through it all, he put things back where he found them. The possibility that he might have missed something had nagged at him until he tried another approach: removing everything to a set of empty chests once he had gone over it.

  He found a bottle of expensive Cair Dairmud whiskey in the deepest drawer of the desk, along with a set of fine crystal glasses. He poured himself a glass. Even in Creeya, that whiskey from Doronar was hard to come by. Stone turned the bottle about in his hand between sips, guessing that it probably came up through Chandler's Rock, and looking for the importation stamp to confirm it. His brow furrowed in question: there was no stamp to show that the taxes had been paid on it.

  "One more thing to ask Aramyn about."

  Stone had spent eighty years in the Creeyan Netherguard. The estimates of how many foreigners served in the Netherguard varied from thirty to fifty percent. Most of them arrived in search of atonement for crimes and sins that their own people found unforgivable. They were demon-slayers; patrolling the length of the Katal Escarpment that bordered Creeya. The Escarpment was the physical manifestation of the arcane prison that the Gods of Light had sealed the Hellgod, Bellocar, and his surviving pantheon behind. The imperfect seal had begun to fray in sections enough that dark creatures sometimes escaped. The Netherguard hunted them down.