The Black King (Book 7)

by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

  “She’s pregnant, Gift,” Xihu said. “She’s carrying your child.”

  He let go of Xihu’s hands. He turned away from her so that she wouldn’t have a chance of seeing the expression on his face, even in this darkness. His first thought wasn’t of Skya or the child, but of himself, standing in a Vision, holding a newborn and crying.

  “Gift?” Xihu said. “You must listen to me, Gift.”

  His mother had wanted this. She had said the child was the most important thing. His mother had known. She had given up her freedom for children, children that would unite the Islanders and the Fey. She had given up her life to have Arianna.

  Look where that had gotten them.

  “Gift.” Xihu put a hand on his shoulder. “You know what this means?”

  “We have an heir.” Gift felt numb. Why hadn’t Skya told him? She knew he loved her. Maybe that was what she was afraid of.

  “Yes,” Xihu said. “You have an heir. And you must take care of this child. It has to be the most important thing to you. Your child will inherit the Throne even if you do not.”

  “No.” Gift shook his head. He didn’t want a child of his—any child—to be mixed up in these crazy political life. “Arianna will have children.”

  “Arianna will never let anyone close enough to her. Gift, this is the Empire’s only chance. You must have this child.”

  “I’m not in charge of the child. I didn’t even know it existed until a moment ago.” If he had, would he have done anything differently? Maybe he would have heeded his mother’s warnings. Maybe he wouldn’t have seen Arianna.

  But that wasn’t true. The child was conceived on this trip. He would have come to Blue Isle, and he would have seen his sister. He would just have been more protective of Skya.

  “I’m sorry to tell you this way,” Xihu said. “But I had to. I won’t say anything to Arianna or to the rest of your family, but you must take care of Skya. Because if she dies and it’s at the hand of a family member, that’s Blood against Blood.”

  “I just invited Lyndred and Bridge to stay aboard this ship.”

  “Perhaps you want to rethink that.”

  Gift shook his head. “I don’t know what to think any longer. The child changes everything.”

  “Does it? I think, in some ways, it gives us hope.”

  “Hope?” He turned to her. She looked old and sad.

  “Before, it was you or your sister who held the future of the Fey. Now it is your child. Perhaps that was why everyone saw you as the center. Because of this child.”

  “And what if it isn’t Visionary? What if it doesn’t have the qualities a member of the Black Family needs?”

  “You’re a Visionary. Skya’s a Warder with Visionary parents. If this child is not a Visionary, then the magick has gone wrong.”

  That didn’t reassure him. Part of him wanted the child to be simple, ordinary. An Islander without magick. A person who had no responsibilities to the Empire or the world.

  “All right then.” He needed to talk with Skya. He needed time to think about way everything had changed. “Thank you for telling me.”

  Xihu touched his face, her fingertips brushing the line of his jaw. “I’m going to be continuing my work for the Black Family,” she said. “It is your family that holds my loyalty, Gift. Remember that.”

  He nodded, and then pulled her into a hug. She held him tightly. He buried his face in her shoulder. She smelled faintly of cinnamon. He would miss her. Now more than ever.

  It would be the first time in years that he had lived without a Shaman nearby. It felt as if he were losing a lifeline.

  It felt as if he were losing a friend.

  VISIONS

  (Two Days Later)

  TWENTY-EIGHT

  THE CARRIAGE BOUNCED down the last of the mountain road, hit a rut, and toppled Arianna into Coulter. He grunted and helped her right herself. She had tried not to fall into anyone, knowing that this body weighed so much more than most, but Dash was probably as excited as she was. They were on the outskirts of Jahn.

  They were coming home.

  She glanced at Con, sitting in the seat opposite. He was staring out the window, his face tight. He loved it here, too. Together they had planned to restore the Tabernacle, make it safe for Islanders and Fey to worship together. Then this had happened, and that dream had disappeared.

  The road abruptly switched from dirt to cobblestone and the horses slowed down. Coulter took Arianna’s hand. “I’ll make sure no one sees you, but be careful.”

  He had already told her that a dozen times. He didn’t want her looking out the windows, and when they stopped the carriage, he didn’t want her to get out until he told her to.

  Dash was going to buy some supplies before they crossed the bridge and went into the Tabernacle. They also had to find a place to keep the carriage and horses. Coulter didn’t want the horses too far from them, but Arianna felt they had no choice. Rugad was smart and anything out of the ordinary, particularly around the Tabernacle, would catch his attention.

  Arianna squeezed Coulter’s hand and peered out the window. She recognized the buildings, their whitewash indicating the very outskirts of the city. These were the dwellings of old Islanders, those who had been adults before the Fey onslaught. She had thought them strange and unyielding, uncomfortable with change. Now she was relieved to see them.

  “This would probably be a good place to get supplies,” she said.

  “I was thinking we’d wait until we got further in,” Coulter said.

  “No. There will be Fey farther in. They could be working for Rugad. I suspect attitudes have changed in the few short months I’ve been gone. It would be better for you three Islanders to stop here than farther into the city.”

  “Good point,” Con said. “I never really thought this community had its uses before.”

  Arianna smiled at him. He smiled back then leaned out the window, and shouted the plan to Dash.

  Coulter frowned at her. “We’ll be drawing attention to ourselves too early.”

  “We won’t draw any attention here,” she said. “That’s what I’m trying to tell you.”

  He stared at her, then he sighed and shook his head.

  Con leaned back into the carriage.

  “Did he hear you?” Arianna asked.

  “He’ll stop at the first place that looks promising,” Con said.

  “At least tell me,” Coulter said, “that you’ll stay in the carriage when we stop.”

  “I will,” she said. “And so will Con. He’s well known in Jahn.”

  The road rose and turned, the carriage swaying from side to side. Outside, Arianna heard the clip of other horses, some conversation in properly accented Islander. The neighborhood looked wonderful. The smell of the Cardidas mixed with horse manure and too many bodies too tightly packed wafted through the open window and she inhaled deeply.

  She had actually missed it.

  The carriage eased to a stop. Arianna glanced out her window, saw several merchant buildings near the edge of the road. These were still whitewashed and had old signs. Coulter opened the door and stepped out. He and Dash went to one of the stores, and disappeared inside.

  “It’s not as changed as I thought it would be,” Con said.

  “There hasn’t been enough time,” Arianna said. “Another six months and we won’t recognize the place.”

  “Do you think Matt’s in the palace?”

  “I hope so.”

  “Coulter seems more and more reluctant.” Con glanced out the window. This was the first chance they’d had to speak alone since the trip began. “Is he having second thoughts?”

  “He would rather hide in Constant than come back to Jahn. He would be happy if he and I lived out our lives there.”

  Con studied her. “That seems harsh.”

  “From him or from me?”

  “From you. He loves you.”

  “I know that. But he doesn’t know what it means to stand up for h
imself.”

  “Where would he have learned it? He told me how he grew up, unwanted by the Fey, then raised by an Islander who wasn’t his real father, who died because Coulter made a mistake.”

  “That’s what he doesn’t understand,” Arianna said. “Coulter made no mistake. Adrian would have died anyway.”

  “This disturbs you,” Con said.

  Arianna nodded. She kept an eye on the shop that Coulter and Dash had gone into. She didn’t want to be caught in the middle of this conversation.

  “When it comes time,” she said, “I’m not sure if Coulter will be able to do everything he’s supposed to.”

  “I’m sure he’s learned by now.”

  “No.” Arianna saw the shop door open, but no one came out. “He’s spent all this time reviewing his failure. He hasn’t considered all the things he did right.”

  “Was that a lot?”

  She glanced at Con. He really didn’t know. “Coulter saved my life twice. He’s saved Gift’s life once that I know of, and probably more than that. Even his mistake was an understandable one. I don’t know why he flogs himself about it.”

  “Because it left him alone.” Con spoke softly.

  Arianna frowned. No wonder Con understood. He was alone, and had been as long as Arianna had known him. All he had had was his religion, and that had been destroyed when he was a very young man.

  “I guess it did,” Arianna said. “But it was by his choice.”

  The door was still open. Dash carried some sacks out, but Coulter remained inside.

  Coulter could have come to her. She always expected him to. Instead he had waited fifteen years, and had only come because he knew she was in trouble.

  He saw that as a failure too. If Coulter had been successful, Rugad would not be running Arianna’s body right now. Rugad—and all shades of him—would be dead.

  Finally Coulter came out. He too was carrying sacks. Dash went back for more. Already Coulter had provided a lot for this trip. The carriage, the horses, the coin. He had done more than most would have, and she had been thinking it hadn’t been enough.

  Perhaps he wasn’t the only one focusing on his failures.

  Dash emerged from the building carrying more sacks. He went to the back of the carriage where Coulter was already working. Arianna knew what they were doing; they were tying the sacks in place, making sure they were ready for whatever came.

  Con was playing with the small silver sword around his neck. It was a symbol of the position he had once held in Rocaanism. He’d been an Aud, which had been normal for a boy of his age. Fifteen years later, he still thought of himself as an Aud. If Rocaanism had survived Rugad’s attacks, Con would probably have been in its upper echelons by now.

  Coulter opened the door to the carriage and crawled inside. He nearly bumped his head on the top of the frame. Dash walked past the window, and the carriage shook as he climbed to his post. Arianna heard Dash cluck at the horses, and then everything jarred forward as they drove away.

  Coulter looked paler than usual.

  “What is it?” Arianna asked.

  “Gift is here.”

  “In Jahn?” She had thought he might be on the Isle, but she hadn’t expected him to be here. “Is he at the palace? Is he all right?”

  “He’s been to the palace and there are rumors of some sort of rift between him and—” Coulter glanced at her “—the Queen.”

  Arianna let out a small sigh.

  “The Islanders don’t know what that means, but the Fey are really worried about it. The Islanders in that store were saying that it was probably good the Queen kicked Gift out, since he’s so Fey.”

  Arianna started every time Coulter referred to Rugad as the Queen. But he was reporting what he heard, and that would have been how the Islanders spoke. “Has Gift changed?”

  “I don’t know,” Coulter said. “But there seems to be a dislike of him I haven’t noticed before. And it seems deeply rooted in what they call his ‘Feyness.’ Dash pointed out that you—the Queen—were part Fey too, but they said that since you were raised by your father, you aren’t nearly as Fey as Gift. They seemed to think Gift was here to destroy all the Islanders and make Blue Isle a Fey homeland.”

  “Where would they have gotten that idea?” Con asked. “Gift is a gentle man. He would never do such a thing.”

  Arianna folded her hands in her lap. “From Rugad.”

  “That’s my guess,” Coulter said.

  “So where’s Gift?” Arianna asked.

  “He’s on a ship in Jahn harbor. He’s under orders to leave Blue Isle—and the Fey Empire—in little more than a week.”

  Was Rugad afraid of him? Had Gift seen through him? “He’s been banished?”

  “So far as I can tell,” Coulter said. “This is all rumor.”

  “How did you get them to tell you so much?” Con asked.

  “I didn’t,” Coulter said. “Dash did. He said he’d been out of the city for a month and wanted news.”

  “Amazing.” Con shook his head slightly.

  “I don’t understand. If Rugad wanted to get rid of Gift, why not order him off the Isle immediately? Why give him a week?”

  Coulter glanced at her. “Obviously he’s planning something.”

  “Gift should know that. He’s smart enough.”

  “Maybe he’s trying to figure out what.”

  “Maybe.” Arianna felt cold. She rubbed her arms to warm herself and then realized that this body couldn’t be cold. The chill had come from within. “I don’t like this, Coulter.”

  “I didn’t think you would.”

  “We have to see Gift.”

  “I know.”

  “If I were Rugad, I’d have Gift’s every movement watched. So you and I can’t just go up there.”

  “Rugad could recognize all of us,” Coulter said.

  “Except Dash,” Con said.

  “He was with us when we rescued Arianna.”

  “But Rugad didn’t see him,” Con said.

  “Rugad won’t be watching Gift’s ship,” Arianna said. “He has too many other people for that.”

  “He’ll have them watch for anything unusual,” Coulter said.

  Arianna nodded. “I would be considered unusual, but neither of you would. Nor would Dash.”

  “Except that we’re all Islanders,” Coulter said.

  “How would someone describe this to Rugad?” She leaned forward, excitement filling her. This was better news than she had thought. “Three blond Islander males went to Gift’s ship.”

  “A lot of the Fey around the palace saw me,” Coulter said. “They might recognize me.”

  “Two then. All we have to do is let Gift know we’re here.” He would be able to help her. Gift was very creative. Together, the two of them could defeat Rugad. She knew it.

  “He may not know that the woman he saw wasn’t you,” Coulter said.

  “But he’ll know that I wasn’t acting like myself,” she said.

  “He’ll believe me.” Con spoke softly. “He was very grateful to me for all I’ve done for Sebastian.”

  “You’re right. He will.” She hadn’t felt this good in months. “We’ll go to the place where Con was going to hide us. Then we’ll send Con and Dash to Gift to arrange a meeting.”

  “If he’s being watched, someone will follow him,” Coulter said.

  She let out a long breath of air. “I wish I could Shift properly.”

  Coulter bit his lower lip. “Maybe I could shield you, or make you appear to be a fourth blond Islander.”

  She grinned. “I have never been a blond Islander.”

  “But for a very short time,” he said, “I could make someone think you were.”

  “I still think we should hide the carriage,” Con said.

  “Yes,” Arianna said. “You and Dash do that. Coulter and I will meet you at the base of the bridge on the Tabernacle side. Four blond Islanders to visit Gift. I trust you know where the ship is?”

>   She directed that last to Coulter.

  “I have a vague idea,” he said.

  It would be vague. Coulter wasn’t really native to Jahn. Neither was Dash.

  “We’ll find it,” she said.

  Coulter took her hand. “Your mood has shifted. What do you think Gift can do for us?”

  “I don’t know,” she said. “But we were a good team once. We’ll be a good team again.”

  TWENTY-NINE

  WISDOM HAD an uncanny sense of time. Matt still thought it was the middle of the night when Wisdom woke him up. But Wisdom assured him, still using sign, that it was morning.

  Time had gone by so quickly. Matt had spelled Wisdom the first night, and then rested to restore his magick the second. Matt had tried two different spells, both of them powerful, before he found one that worked. The problem was not so much that Wisdom couldn’t talk, but that Rugad had cut out his tongue.

  The spell Matt had first tried was one to restore a voice, which wasn’t quite necessary. The second didn’t work at all, and the third was a growth spell. Matt had to touch the stump of Wisdom’s tongue and start it growing. He also had to end the spell before the tongue became too big to carry inside the mouth.

  Wisdom had played with the tongue, touched it, rolled it like a child, but he hadn’t spoken with it. He still preferred sign. It was as if he were afraid of his own magick.

  When Wisdom had awakened him this morning, Matt had to do another lightstick. He watch Wisdom as he signed the plan to go to the palace.

  “How do you know this place so well?” Matt asked.

  Wisdom had simply smiled. He had been roaming Blue Isle for fifteen years, most of them homeless and begging. Matt got the sense that Wisdom’s six-month stay at the school had been his longest anywhere. And now, Matt knew, Wisdom had stayed because of him.

  They ate a silent breakfast from the supplies in Matt’s sack. Matt felt for the hidden space in the back, reassuring himself that the dolls were still there. He wasn’t done yet. He just wasn’t going to do this the way that Coulter had planned.