In time, the supernatural chill withdrew from his bones. He doubted he would ever truly feel warm again, but his teeth stopped knocking together so much.
Blowing warm breath on his fingers, he struggled to sit up and look around. Nothing had changed over the last hour, save that more men had been brought into the hall. Very few of them were talking to each other. Mostly they sat in dull silence and stared at things that weren’t there. They came and chained up a man next to him, a middle-aged starveling whose eyes were quite mad. He stared at Malden without speaking until the thief turned to the man on his other side.
“You,” Malden said to the surly fellow. He needed information, and no other source provided itself. “What did they get you for, then?”
“What’s it to ye?”
“I’m a scholar of justice,” Malden told him.
That elicited a brief laugh, though little humor. “They never said why. Just grabbed me up outta me bed. Mind, I suppose I deserve to be here more’n some.”
“You’re a thief, then?” Malden asked. The other bridled, so he held up his hands for peace. “I’m in the trade myself,” he explained, “and will say as much to any man who asks.”
“All right, then. Call me a thief, if ye like.”
Malden nodded eagerly. Then he ran his hands across the rushes on the floor. As expected, there was a thick layer of dust underneath. He cleared some rushes away, then drew in the dust with his finger, sketching a heart transfixed by a key.
The other thief stared down at the image. Malden knew right away that the man recognized the symbol-he knew it for the mark of Cutbill, the master of the thieves’ guild in Ness. Malden had worried that the symbol might not be known in Helstrow.
The other thief slid one foot through the drawing, obliterating it before anyone else could see. “You’re his man?” he asked.
Malden nodded.
“We got our own boss here, though I shan’t say his name out loud, not in this place. You can have what they call me, though, which is Velmont.”
“Malden.”
The two of them clasped hands, but only for a moment.
The thief made a point of looking away as he spoke out of the side of his mouth. “Now maybe my boss has heard o’ your boss. Maybe they’s even friends. Well, men of business will come together, eh, and find ways to help each other out, from time to time. Still, I don’t know what you’re after, showing me that.”
Malden frowned. “Just a bit of knowledge, really. The watch here-the kingsmen-are rounding up every scofflaw in town, it seems. I’ve never seen such a complete sweep before. Unless you tell me this is a common occurrence in Helstrow-”
“It ain’t.”
“-then I can only wonder why they’re being so thorough. There must be a hundred men in this room. And why here? This looks like a banquet hall, not a dungeon. The only reason to put us here is if the gaol is already full. And that means there must be plenty more of us stashed in other places, too. Maybe hundreds of men. Surely the king doesn’t intend to hang us all. He wouldn’t need to slaughter so many just to improve public morale.”
Velmont scratched himself. “It started just a few days ago. Folks that’d been in the game far longer’n me-folks that shoulda been untouchable, like-got scooped up in the middle o’ the night. Then they started raiding the gambling houses and the brothels at dawn.” He shrugged. “No one tells us anything, o’ course. We’re just peasants, what do we need t’know? But ’twas at the same time that all the honest men in town got taken outside the wall to learn how to shoot a bow.” The thief shook his head. “You just in town today? Your accent says you’re from Ness, is that right?”
Malden assented with a nod.
“You picked a lousy time to come see Helstrow, friend. Now, I don’t think we’re to be killed. No, not as such. But I’ve been wondering ’bout what they’re up to meself, and there’s only one conclusion I can draw. Conscription.”
“They’re going to press us into military service?”
“Give us a choice, like.” Velmont smiled wickedly. “The noose or the army. Well, I know my answer already.”
“I suppose we all do. That must be what they’re counting on. By law they can’t force freemen to fight for the king-”
“But a prisoner’s another story, aye.”
Conjecture was all Velmont had to go on, but what he said made sense to Malden. But why did the king want an army? The two thieves discussed various theories for some time, without coming to any useful ideas.
They were still talking when the sun went down and darkness filled the hall. The only light they had came from the fire in the hearth. All around them men laid down as best they could and curled themselves in sleep. Those who still spoke softly among themselves all seemed to agree that they were to be kept in the banquet hall overnight at the very least. So when someone entered the hall with a lantern and started shining it in the faces of the imprisoned, everyone sat up and looked. Velmont and Malden fell silent and tried to look as if they’d never spoken to each other. They were in enough trouble as it was and didn’t need to be accused of conspiracy.
The lantern moved up and down the hall. The guards never spoke, just played their light over each face and then moved on, clearly not finding what they sought. As the guard with the lantern came closer, Malden somehow knew they were coming for him. When the light hit his face, he refused to blink. The guard beckoned to someone else-a kingsman-who came rushing up out of the darkness. Then the guard pointed one accusing finger at Malden. “Him.”
Chapter Ten
“This way, Sir Knight, milady,” the castellan said, and ushered them inside a low-ceilinged room. “Please wait here until you are officially presented.”
“What are we waiting for?” Cythera asked. “I don’t understand. We wanted to talk to the magistrate so we could find out where our friend is being held.”
“I was bidden only to bring you here, where you may await your audience,” the castellan told her. Then he stepped backward out into the hall and closed the door behind him.
Croy stared at the doors, wondering exactly what was going on. Why had they been brought here, of all places? Why now?
Cythera turned to him and said, “This doesn’t look like a law court. Where are we?”
The knight cleared his throat. “The privy council chamber. This is where the king consults his closest advisors.”
“And-our audience? Who have we been summoned to see? One of those advisors?”
Croy could barely speak for the emotion he felt. This room-this very room. “I don’t know why we were brought here,” he said at last.
Cythera sighed deeply and went to sit down. It had been a very long day for her, Croy thought. They’d had to run from office to office in the inner bailey, looking for anyone who might tell them where Malden might be, or who might take charge of Balint so they didn’t have to keep looking after her. They had at least succeeded in the latter goal. They were allowed to turn the dwarf prisoner over to the king’s equerry, of all people-the official in charge of the royal stables. It seemed there was nowhere else in the inner bailey that wasn’t already full of prisoners.
No one could tell them anything about Malden. But after they approached the keep, where they were told some prisoners were being held, the castellan himself had come looking for them and then brought them here.
To this room.
Croy had been inside the privy council chamber before, many times. There was a time when he had stood in this room every day. The Ancient Blades had been forged to slay demons, but by the time Croy received Ghostcutter from his father, there were too few demons left to justify having five knights just for that purpose. Instead the bearers of the Blades had been commissioned to be the personal bodyguards of the king-the previous king, Ulfram IV.
It was in this room that Ulfram IV had died. A villainous councilor slipped poison into his mutton. The Ancient Blades had caught the councilor before he could escape, but it was already
too late. It was also in this room that the king’s son, Ulfram V, current sovereign of Skrae, had blamed the bodyguards for his father’s death and stripped them of their commission. He would have done far more to them if he’d been able to prove they had anything to do with the assassination, but everyone knew the sacred honor of the Blades. All Ulfram V could do was send them forth from Helstrow in disgrace.
Croy remembered that day very well. It had been the worst day of his life. In some ways he would have preferred to be hanged rather than face that shame. That was the day he became a knight errant-a servant without a master.
He had never expected to enter this room again.
He looked around him and saw how little had changed. The shields hanging on the walls were a bit rustier than they had been. The upholstery on the chairs that lined the walls had been changed from red to green, that was all, really. Then he spotted the one significant change.
A tapestry map covered one wall of the chamber, a cunning depiction of the natural and political features of Skrae picked out in minute embroidery of silken floss. The Whitewalls-the mountain range that formed Skrae’s eastern border-had been stitched from thread of silver, and it glittered in the firelight. Except for one dull patch.
Croy approached the map and looked more closely. It was as he expected. Someone had used the point of a knife to pick out all the threads that made up the image of Cloudblade, the kingdom’s tallest mountain. Which only made sense, since the mountain wasn’t there anymore.
He blushed to think of the part he’d had in that.
“Croy,” Cythera said, turning to him to speak in a hurried whisper, “I don’t know what we’re doing here. But I’m certain that once it’s done we should leave Helstrow as soon as possible. My mother sent me a message today, telling me to come home.”
“She sent a message here? How did the messenger find you?”
“She didn’t send me a letter,” Cythera pointed out. “She has other methods of getting her point across. It doesn’t matter how it was done. She said that things were about to change, that all seven of the Ancient Blades were coming here. She said many things I didn’t understand. We need to find Malden as soon as possible and-”
She stopped because there was a knock on the door, and then two prisoners were brought inside. Balint and Malden, both of them in chains. Croy rushed toward Malden’s side, intending to ask his friend what had happened, but he was not given time. The same guard who brought the prisoners in had an announcement to make.
“All bow for His Majesty Ulfram Taer, fifth of that name!”
It was to be a royal audience, then. They had been brought here to wait for the king himself. It made no sense. Yet Croy knew exactly what to do. He drew his sword and held it before him with the point on the floor, then knelt behind it. He lowered his head as far as it would go.
“Oh, do stand up, Croy,” the king said. “And put that thing away before you scratch up the floorboards.”
Chapter Eleven
Ulfram V was a year younger than Croy, but the strain of ruling a nation had aged him prematurely. The hair on his chin had turned gray since the last time the two saw each other, and a constant diet of rich foods had swollen his belly. It was held almost in check now by a steel breastplate and gorget that he wore over his state robes.
When Croy saw the king’s armor, he knew at once the explanation for many of the strange things he’d seen since coming to Helstrow. The king of Skrae only wore such protection in times of war.
“My liege,” Croy said, “I beseech your mercy, and honor your rank, for-”
“Shut up,” the king said, in a tone that could not be argued with. “I told you never to come back here, didn’t I? Don’t bother answering. I know I did. But here you are. I could have you hanged right now. Unfortunately for me, however, it turns out I have need of you, Croy. So I’m going to let you live.”
Croy said nothing, only lowered his head farther.
“I have very little time for this audience, so we’ll dispense with formal salutations, I think,” the king told him. “I seem to recall that when I took away your commission, you said some pointlessly devout thing about never forgetting your vows anyway. Is that right?”
“It is,” Croy said, and dropped to one knee again. “The vow I made to you is a sacred bond. I swore it on the name of the Lady, and to break that promise would cost me my utter soul. I will forever be your vassal, your majesty.”
The king sighed and waved for Croy to stand again. “Very well. As of now you’re reinstated as one of my knights. I suppose you’ll want a ceremony for that or something, but I don’t care. You’ll report immediately to Sir Hew at the gatehouse. He’ll give you your orders. You may leave me now-I have these others to account for.”
“Majesty,” Croy said. He almost knelt again but thought better of it. “I came here for a reason. It’s of these two prisoners I wished to speak.”
The king had started to turn away, to address Balint. Now he stopped and for a long moment stood in silence, a confused expression on his face. “I beg your pardon? You wished to speak to me?” he asked. He seemed more surprised than angry. “You have been errant a long time, knight. Perhaps you’ve forgotten that a vassal does not speak to the king unless he is bidden.”
Croy lowered his head. “Your forgiveness, Majesty. Yet you must know of the crimes of this dwarf, and the innocence of this man. Justice demands that I speak.”
The king crossed over to one of the chairs against the wall and sat down. It was a chair like any other in the room, but by virtue of Ulfram V’s presence, it legally became a throne at that moment. Croy knelt before it.
“Just make haste,” the king said. “I’m quite busy at the moment.”
Croy kept his head bowed. “This dwarf is an oathbreaker. I’ll bear witness to the fact, in any court you decree. She is a murderer and a despoiler. A… poisoner,” he added. Ever since his father’s death, the king had been especially frightened of poisoners. Croy knew it was cruel of him to even speak the word in this room, but it was the truth, and it needed to be aired. “She took up arms against humans and
… others. She laid waste to an entire city, by deceit, by design, and by use of weapons.”
Ulfram turned to look at the dwarf. “Is this true?” he asked.
“Every fucking word of it,” Balint told the king. She rolled her eyes. “Do your worst, and send me on my way. I’ve an itch on my buttocks I can’t scratch, not with my hands tied like this.”
“Another pointless delay!” the king screeched. Pressing his fingertips against his temples, he called out to his servants in the hall. “Fetch a scribe! Have him bring parchment and ink. And someone unchain her. What is your name, dwarf?”
“Balint.”
Croy glared at her. “When addressing the king, you will call him ‘your majesty’ or-”
“Or not. I certainly don’t care,” Ulfram said. Croy’s shoulders tensed. He’d always thought kings should be somewhat aloof, detached at least from the lesser folk they governed. Ulfram V clearly thought otherwise-he’d always disdained the careful phrases of court etiquette and spoke plainly as a peasant. That was his right, of course-the king could speak how he chose to whom he chose. If he himself found it unseemly, that was his own problem.
“It seems I’m to be merciful today,” the king said. “Believe me, it’s not by choice. Any other day if you came here under these accusations, I’d exile you on the spot. I have very little patience for those who won’t do as they’re told.”
Balint said nothing. Her face was a mask of nonchalance, though Croy could see her bound hands were trembling.
“Tell me,” Ulfram said. “Can you repair a broken ballista?”
“Any dwarf could do that,” Balint assured him.
The king nodded. “And you laid waste to a city. That’s what Croy said. He does tend to exaggerate, but you don’t deny the charge. So you know how to conduct a siege. Do you know how to defend cities, too, or is it jus
t destroying them you’re good at?”
“I’m trained in all manner of siegecraft,” Balint said. “I can work either side.”
“Sometimes the Lady drops Her blessings right in our laps.” The king reached down and put a hand on the dwarf’s shoulder. “I’m going to give you a pardon for all crimes you may have committed in the past,” he told her.
Croy’s jaw fell.
“I assume that will earn me some gratitude. Perhaps,” the king went on, “you’ll consent to come work for me. I am in desperate need of sappers and engineers. Are we agreed?”
“Do I have to kiss your royal fucking codpiece or something to seal the deal?” Balint asked.
The king studied her carefully, then raised one eyebrow. “No.”
“Then I’m all yours.”
“Your majesty!” Croy objected. “I–I can’t believe that-”
But then he stopped. He couldn’t finish that thought out loud. He wasn’t a knight errant anymore. He had lost certain freedoms the moment he was recommissioned. Questioning the king’s word was one of them. “I beg your pardon, Majesty. I will be silent now.”
“That’ll be a nice change of pace,” the king told him. “Very good. Milady Balint, you’ll report to the keep. Sir Goris is the master of the armory there-tell him I want a full inventory of every trebuchet, battering ram, and mantlet in our possession, and how many more of the same can be constructed in short order. Goris is a fool of parts. He knows the difference between a besagew and a rerebrace, but I’m not sure he can tell his hundreds from his thousands, so double-check every number he gives you. We’ll have much to discuss later, so stay close by.”
Balint bowed low and said, “Your majesty.”
“One thing,” the king said before dismissing her. “Sir Croy may be an idiot, but all the same if he says someone’s not to be trusted he’s probably right. Serve me well and we’ll forget about your indiscretions. Betray me and I’ll send you back to the dwarven kingdom sealed up in a barrel like salt pork. Do you understand?”
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