Gulping in air and keeping upright required all my focus, so I said, “We’ll stop for the moment. We can go again after lunch.”
Hopping on the unharmed leg, she said, “And you call yourself a dragon knight. Can’t outlast a little girl?”
“I just trounced her twice.”
“Well, I’m still raring to go.” To the crowd, she asked, “Who’s next?”
The hooded Clarissa raised her hand. “Me, Your Highness!” She walked up to the princess. “I want my water spells to go against your shield. Is that all right?”
“Of course. And don’t be afraid to give it everything you got, okay?”
“I will, but since it’s sunny, I won’t be at full strength, so you should be the one going easy on me.”
Odet laughed while she and the vampire took their places. I wobbled over to Bell and buckled to the ground. With the main event done, half of the onlookers, particularly the older ones with more pressing jobs to get to, trickled back to their previous endeavors.
I was too weary to notice how seriously each opponent treated the other, but I could still perceive how spirited Odet appeared to be. Even with an enfeebled vampire, diverting her tendrils and spouts of water proved no mean feat. Still, Clarissa was too well rested to not conquer the princess in due course. The triple string of losses did nothing to damper Odet’s mood, but it did convince her to take a longer respite. She sat next to me as Gerard, Bell, and Clarissa started a group sparring session.
With seriousness, I asked, “Is that truly all you have?”
“Hey, I thought I did pretty well against a dragon’s flame.”
“No, yes, your shield did very well, but that’s meant for defense, not attack. I’m really asking if you can cast anything more, um, hostile.”
“Oh. More or less, yes.”
“What is it?”
“It’s my shield, actually, only with a different shape. Flat wards are easiest to cast, but mastery over my family’s power means I can shape a ward into a spear, or at least something pointy. I can bend my wards, but I’m still many months away from forming one into anything resembling a weapon.”
“I see. And what of Beatrice’s wards?”
“They exist. As possible future queens, she and I trained with Mother to release our power. I have to push Beatrice to keep it up, but as you can guess, training is not her strong suit.”
“Can she summon Mytariss?”
“With my help she will.”
“How?”
“The same way your crystals keep you flying. I will refine my holy prana until I can store it in a prana crystal and give it to my sister. Though I’m not quite there yet.”
“How do you know if it’s refined enough?”
“Sorry, family secret.”
Repeating what Aranath said, I said, “Is it when you can summon Mytariss?”
“Damn, now I need a new family secret.”
Chapter Five
A lunch of meaty sandwiches was eaten in the barracks before more training took place. To rest up a little longer, Odet helped me in my flame-in-a-ward training for an hour. Then we moved on to swordplay, which expanded to include duels among the others. A damn good way to spend a day.
With this place being a common training area for the former king and princess, Odet did not bring about so much veneration from those around us. She was almost just another soldier in the army. Nevertheless, the deference they gave to a princess who did not fear leading an army into battle still brought out more reverence from her subjects than true fraternity.
As the sun’s strongest rays dipped beneath the palace walls, Odet and I decided to conclude the day’s training with the comparatively relaxing flame-in-a-ward training. We were a few minutes into the exercise when I saw Clarissa coming back from her stroll. I knew her well enough to conclude that her rushed strides and slumped shoulders told of a collected tension in her mind and muscles. I extinguished my flame and rose to my feet.
“What’s wrong?” asked Odet.
“Ask Clarissa.”
Odet stood up and we waited the few strides it took for the vampire to reach us. Tellingly, Clarissa didn’t speak when reaching earshot. She took the effort to get into whispering range.
Applying such a whisper, she said, “Mercer, Odet, I-I was in the main garden looking for shade when I got a whiff of blood. Human blood. Fresh. I followed the trail deeper into the garden. Under that big tree with blue flowers is where the scent is strongest. There’s loose soil near the roots, but I didn’t want to go digging up anything without telling someone first.”
“And you’re certain this is human blood?” asked Odet.
“Not a doubt in my mind. I even think it’s of a woman’s, but don’t hold me to that. So, what do we do?”
I looked at Odet with a blank stare, inviting her to speak first.
She bit her lip and considered her feet for a moment. Lifting her head back up, she said, “It’s good you came to us first, Clarissa. If someone learned you found a body, word will spread, and whoever buried it might panic and do who knows what. We have to uncover the victim without anyone finding out. Unfortunately, there’s always a few dozen people milling about the garden.”
“Then how do we move in?”
“We get an illusionist to cover us.”
“An illusionist we trust,” I added. “If there’s a killer in the palace, we can’t trust anyone within it without at least knowing who died. We can’t use any of your people, princess.”
“But we can use yours. Ghevont can cast illusions well?”
“Well enough. There’s a storage building by the central garden, right?”
“The one with the copper doors, yes. We can use that to bypass most of the garden without attracting attention. Get Ghevont and meet me by the storage building as soon as possible. I’ll inform Gerard and Bell what we’ve learned, but they won’t follow us into the garden.”
“Why not?” asked Clarissa.
“I don’t want to chance alarming a possible murderer if they see a big group of us heading for the garden. Besides, I want them to find Elisa. Do you know where Ghevont is, Mercer?”
“He should be in his room reading tomes from the royal library. It won’t take long to retrieve him.” She nodded and moved to inform Bell and Gerard. As I walked briskly alongside Clarissa, I told her, “I hope you’ve suddenly become prone to dark humor and you yell out ‘Got you!’ when we get there.”
“Me too. Do you think the Advent are involved?”
“Probably. The one in Dulcet threatened the lives of the king’s daughters if we refused to turn back, and we know they’ve infiltrated the palace before.”
“Gods, I rather we find out a gardener was killed over a game of cards or something.”
“Fingers crossed.”
We reached the guest tower, noticing many were heading inside to dress and wash for the dinner hour. My recent training made the three story climb annoying, but at least Ghevont turned out to be in his room.
“Ah, is dinner ready?” asked the scholar, not looking up from a scroll. “I missed lunch, so I’m quite famished.”
“We have work to do first,” I said. “Bring your staff.”
He looked up. “What kind of work?”
Clarissa, after making sure no one was listening behind us, said, “Possible murder investigation, but we don’t want to attract attention, so act casual.”
“You shouldn’t have told him that,” I said. “Now he’s going to act anything but. Ghevont, forget what Clarissa said and come with us.”
Tucking the staff in the two bands in the back of his new cloak, the scholar followed us into the hall without piling on the casualness.
“Where’s Marcela?” asked Clarissa.
“Oh, she left my room two or so hours ago. She desired treats. Can’t say whether she found them or not.”
With a hasty hush, Clarissa explained what her sense of smell discovered and what we wanted from him. I had to acknowl
edge a couple of guards and palace personnel to continue on our way, but we made it to the elongated storage building without being retained.
Peeking out from behind the bronzed building’s corner was half of Odet’s head. Recognizing us, she came out fully and opened the door for us. Glassless little windows lined the upper portion of the squat structure, letting a fading natural light illuminate the garden tools and building supplies stored on tables and shelves.
“No one’s in here?” I asked.
Closing the door, Odet replied, “There shouldn’t be. Our gardeners and builders normally work at night to avoid disrupting our visitor’s strolls. Come, let’s hurry.” We ran toward the other end of the building. Before getting to the last exit, Odet stopped to a door on our right. “This should be pretty close to the jacaranda.”
“The what?” asked Clarissa.
“The tree,” answered Ghevont.
“Scholar,” said the princess, “please go out first and cast an illusion spell in front of the tree. There’s no path leading up to it, but still make certain no one catches you.”
“Not a problem… er, Your Highness.”
Ghevont stepped through the half opened door, which was left ajar to let Odet and Clarissa watch him work. A minute later and Odet opened the door wider and waved Clarissa through. I stepped outside next. The tree with blue flowers germinated ten yards to my right, which Clarissa headed straight for. The vampire tiptoed to the patch of flat brown soil surrounding the tree. She stopped alongside a human-sized blemish of stirred dirt. Several flies buzzed about.
I smelled nothing, but on reaching a hunched Clarissa, she whispered, “Blood.”
Also using a low tone, I said, “Ghevont, start removing the dirt here—carefully.” As the first clumps of loosened soil rolled out of the way, I told the princess, “You should wait until I say it’s okay to look.”
“But I’m the only one here who has a chance of identifying the body.”
“Yes, but if the face is too mangled to do such a thing, I’d rather you not get nightmares for nothing.”
“I’ve seen entrails spilling out of men before, dragon knight. I’ve smelled burnt bones and heard people dying not a few days ago.”
“And unless you enjoyed all that, my point still stands. I’m only trying to prevent you from witnessing a worst case scenario. If it isn’t as bad as that, then I’ll tell you to turn around.”
She sighed. “Very well. I’ll keep a lookout.”
Odet moved to stand closer to the tree, putting the burial site behind her. Not five seconds later, the next layer of detached dirt displayed flecks of blood. A layer deeper, near Clarissa’s feet, revealed a semi-dried blotch of red earth. Ghevont focused on lifting the dirt there. An inch more exposed the grimed covered flesh of a feminine jawline. Knowing exactly where the body lied allowed the exhumer to shove aside a thick deposit of dirt.
The profile of a gray haired, wrinkled woman no less than seventy years old greeted us, her brown eyes still wide open. Her neck had been slashed open from throat to ear. The edges of the gash showed signs of being seared. I didn’t need the scholar to tell me she couldn’t have died earlier than last night. I told him to cover the wound and shut her eyes. With the gruesome gash concealed, I gave Odet the okay.
The princess turned around and stepped up to the old woman’s face. Odet cocked her head. She crouched for a closer look. “Marie?”
“You’re not sure?” I asked.
“She looks so much like her, only three decades older.” Her fingers brushed aside more dirt from the top of her head. “There are even strands of her brown hair still present.”
“Hmm…” mumbled Ghevont.
“What is it, master scholar?”
Ghevont squatted next to Odet to give the deceased his dissecting eye. “Finding fresh cadavers with unexpectedly matured ages and traces of youth points to a prana absorption spell. A delicate incantation to master. The side effects can also be quite painful. I suspect someone absorbed this woman’s prana to temporarily mask their own. Combined with a good illusion spell-”
“Oh no. Marie’s specialty is prana detection. She belongs to Beatrice’s personal guard. Gods.” Odet stood up and dashed for the storage building.
“Shit!” I said. “Ghevont, cover up the body and keep the illusion up until we’re gone. Follow us as soon as you can.”
He went to work as Clarissa and I chased after Odet.
We caught up with the princess when she paused to open the exit door.
I seized her shoulder and said, “Odet! Hold on a minute. What do you think will happen if the killer sees us running at Beatrice? Disappear? Run away? Take someone hostage? Go after your sisters? Let’s not invite panic from this enemy.”
The hard breathing woman did not look at me, but she did supplant her run with an impatient walk. We kept the pace to the throne hall, finding it largely devoid of nobles.
To a knight guarding the inner side of the opening, Odet asked, “Sergeant Kosta, is my sister preparing for dinner?”
“Yes, Your Highness. She went up to her changing room not fifteen minutes ago. She shall be in the banquet hall in half an hour.”
“And Elisa?”
“She hasn’t been here since morning.”
“I see. And do you happen to recall if Lady Rine is currently with Beatrice’s guard?”
“Lady Rine?”
“Yes, the right hand of Lady Pastor’s detection force. Marie Rine. A woman your age with short brown hair.”
“Er, I’m not-”
“Come on, you know her,” said his younger counterpart. “Good singing voice, always dresses in yellow.”
Facing the second knight, Odet said, “Yes, that’s her. Did she go up with the others?”
“No, Your Highness. Her watch ended an hour ago. She left with her comrades.”
“Do you know where she would be now?”
“My guess is the lady’s barracks. Do you wish for her to be called upon?”
“No, that won’t be necessary… Sergeant Darrion, correct? I need you to deliver a message for me. Inform the queen she suddenly feels ill and cannot go to dinner. She will stay in her room until Odet can see her.”
The sergeant looked confused at the wording, but guessing the word choice must have been meaningful, he bowed and jogged for the stairs. Another knight came toward us to usurp the vacant post.
“Sergeant Kosta, if Lady Rine happens to return…” She tapped her boot on the large rune carved at the entrance floor. “Use the paralysis spell to trap and apprehend her. Don’t say anything, don’t give her a chance to argue or see your intentions, just cast it, understand?”
“Uh, yes. As you wish, Your Highness.”
The four of us moved back outside with swift dignity.
“There, Beatrice should be safe. I’ll feel infinitely better once we secure Elisa.”
“Where would she be?” asked Clarissa.
“I told Bell and Gerard to check the seer’s tower. They’ll be inside the temple if they found her, outside it if they didn’t. Look, it’s that tower with the glass dome. Let’s hurry.”
Sprinting fifty yards brought us within sight of the holy place, which was a third the size of the average noble temple. Sinking Odet’s heart, Bell and Gerard clustered outside the white building. They spotted us and came running up.
“I’m sorry, Odet,” said Gerard. “She’s not with the seer, and he doesn’t see where she is. What happened with the body?”
“It’s Marie Rine, a prana finder for Beatrice’s personal guard. Ghevont believes someone absorbed her prana and took her place.”
“Shall we warn the queen?” asked Bell.
“I already took precautions. She’ll stay in her changing room until we find the killer. Elisa is my priority now.”
“And so we have to keep an eye out for someone who looks like Lady Rine?”
“Yes.”
“We should alert the guards of the infiltrator, Odet,�
� said Gerard. “She won’t be able to hide with all the palace looking for her.”
“But if she hears she’s been exposed, and she’s near Elisa… No, we alert the guard only after we find my sister. Come, she must have gone to prepare for dinner in her room. If she isn’t there, then we’ll bring in the guard to aid in the search.”
Our group scrambled like geese attempting to take flight. We headed for the palace’s largest structure by volume. It contained the royal bedrooms, the main dining hall, a ball room, two libraries, and the last queen’s throne hall on its roof.
On reaching the ten foot tall doors of red oak, Odet asked the guards, “Have you seen Elisa recently?”
The senior High Guardsman answered, “Aye, milady. She came in an hour ago with three other children.”
“The throne hall! She loves pretending to be queen up there! Now sirs, this is important. Do either of you remember if Lady Rine passed through here? Marie Rine of Lady Pastor’s detection force.”
“Why yes, Lady Rine came through not ten minutes ago. She also asked for the little princess, in fact. I told her to follow the sound of laughing chil-”
Running inside, Odet ordered, “Lieutenant, gather every knight you can and meet me on the roof!”
Our little stampede hurtled for the stairs leading to the roof sixty feet up.
On climbing the first dozen steps, Clarissa said, “Ghevont! The staff’s crystal is glowing!”
The scholar pulled out the staff and saw that the green nismerdon crystal in the raven’s mouth gleamed just bright enough for a mortal eye to pick up. Another twenty feet higher gave the greenish glow an extra coating of light specks.
The day’s training made the running climb more wearing than it otherwise would have been, but the pair of prana crystals hanging down my neck gave me the confidence that I wouldn’t spend all of my energy in the ascent. Odet had no spare energy hanging outside her body, but she ran harder and faster than any of us, including the handful of guardsmen at our heels.
The stairs widened after fifty feet. Several of the marble treads and risers were replaced with grated metal to let rainwater to flow through and prevent the staircase from becoming a cataract. Then the ceiling ended, but the steps continued for another ten feet before they reached the roofed throne hall. I pushed myself to reach the open-air hall at the same time Odet did.
The Dragon Knight's Soul Page 5
