The Stolen Princess

by Kristen Gupton

  Keiran leaned down and offered her a quick kiss before standing and looking at Corina. “If anything doesn’t seem right, please come get me right away.”

  “Women have been doing this since the beginning of time. Chances are, this will pass without incident,” Corina said, waving him toward the door. “Go on, so Thana can do what she needs to.”

  He lingered in the doorway, looking back at Thana before leaving. She offered him the best smile she could muster, but it soon faded as another strong contraction wracked her body.

  Keiran stepped out in to the hallway, closing the door behind him. Leaving Thana to endure what was about to happen wasn’t what he wanted to do, but he wasn’t going to make a scene or argue with Corina.

  He glanced around, engulfed in the crowd. Multiple people filled the corridor, looking at him expectantly.

  He forced up a faint smile for them. “The baby should be here before too long.”

  Jerris lingered near the stairs, two bottles in hand. He waited for Keiran to make his way through the group and over to him. “How is Thana coping?”

  They started down the stairway, Keiran shrugging as they descended. “She’s doing well, according to Corina. I’ll have to defer to her knowledge on this.”

  Once down, Jerris passed one of the bottles off to his friend. “Then we will wait together. I have nothing better to do, since Magretha is up there with her.”

  Keiran was too worked up to honestly want a drink, but one bottle wouldn’t affect him. He pulled the cork out and took a long pull from the bottle.

  The redhead watched him, easily seeing all of Keiran’s quirks of being on high alert. While he held the bottle in his left hand, the fingers of his right were each touching the tip of his thumb in rapid succession. He stood with the heel of his left boot pressed down against the tip of the other. Jerris knew as soon as Keiran lowered the bottle again, the vampire would probably reach up and squeeze the bridge of his nose.

  Keiran slowly lowered the bottle and he did exactly as Jerris had silently predicted, gripping his nose between his eyes briefly. He saw the guard staring at him, and he quirked a brow. “What?”

  Jerris smiled and shook his head. He knew there was nothing he could really do for Keiran’s worry other than simply remaining with him. “Nothing. I can tell you’re ready for this whole thing to be done with.”

  He nodded. “I hate being helpless. For all the power I may have, there’s nothing I can do for her pain or to ensure her survival. I know things aren’t as dire as they were during the Mother’s Plague, but I can’t help but worry.”

  “Thana’s a strong girl,” Jerris replied. “She’s already been through painful trials we can’t relate to.”

  “Aye, she has.” Keiran frowned, thinking back on the loss of her hand. Dwelling on it wasn’t going to help his state of mind, however.

  Jerris didn’t know what else to say. They stood there together for a long while without any words passing between them.

  Garhan wandered down the stairs, looking tired. “Rather hard to sleep with all the commotion going on across the hall.”

  “Sorry about it,” Keiran said. “Thana’s having the baby.”

  “I gathered. I didn’t really have anything to do tomorrow, anyway.” He moved to lean against the wall next to where his brother had ended up. “At least Mari can sleep through it.”

  “Sound sleeper, eh?” Jerris asked.

  Garhan made an odd expression, his eyes panning to the side, mouth pulling downward. “Drugged sleeper. Riding like she has all of her life has taken a toll on her body. She won’t admit it, and she hides it well, but sometimes it gets to be too much.”

  Keiran looked over at him. “What did she take?”

  He shrugged weakly. Talking about it at all felt like betrayal, but it worried him too badly to keep in. “She smokes meadow wort.”

  “That’s dangerously powerful medicine,” Keiran said, brows rising. “She should see Corina. She has far less dangerous remedies.”

  “Those far less dangerous things no longer work for her,” he said. “The damage has been done. She hurts whether she’s moving or not, I suppose. I think she’d rather die working than being sedentary for the rest of her life. Nothing to be done about it at this point, though. How’s Thana faring?”

  The brief distraction of talking about Mari was obviously over, and Keiran bent down to set his empty bottle on the floor. “Corina assured me when I was thrown out that things were going exactly as they were supposed to.”

  Garhan leaned forward to look past Keiran at Jerris. “Has he been driving you mad about all this baby business? I know I’ve heard more than my fair share about it from him over the months.”

  The guard smiled. “He’s always anxious about something. It’s how he’s always been. You’ll see him obsess about other things once this child birthing issue is put to rest.”

  Garhan let his head lull back against the cool stone wall. “A monarch who gets so openly taunted. Didn’t see much of that in Aleria. I like it.”

  “I’d imagine our dear departed aunt wouldn’t have tolerated much,” Keiran said.

  “Not in the least. She didn’t understand the subtleties of humor at all, much less the self-deprecating sort.” Garhan smiled. “Terribly dull woman, honestly. I know we shouldn’t speak ill of the dead, but there it is.”

  Magretha came running down the stairs, spotting the three men. She jogged over to them, her face red from exertion. “My Lord, Corina says you must come up!”

  Keiran immediately took off, kicking over the bottle he’d set at his feet as he launched toward the stairs. The crowd in the hallway parted to let him by when he appeared, allowing him to get to the door unfettered.

  He threw open the door, eyes wide. His entire body shook in fear. All of the worst possible scenarios had run through his mind as he’d raced up to the room. “What is it? What’s wrong?”

  Corina stood next to the bed, offering up a tired smile. “Calm down and close the door. Everything is just fine.”

  He swung back with his leg, hooking the door and closing it without taking his eyes from the scene. Thana was lying on the bed, her head turned toward him, a bundle clutched to her chest. She was exhausted. Dark circles ringed her eyes, her hair matted down to her head from sweat. Still, she managed up a smile.

  His fear abated, and he gave a quick thanks to God as he moved across the room. He sat on the side of the bed, looking Thana over. “Are you all right?”

  “I’m fine, now,” she whispered, reaching up with her hand and peeling back the blanket from the baby. “Your son is fine, too. Corina says he looks quite healthy.”

  “Son?” Keiran’s eyes panned down to the infant.

  The baby’s skin was still dark and mottled from being so recently born. His tiny fists were pressed to his cheeks. A small tuft of black hair lay wet against the top of his head.

  “Quite a big one,” Corina said, coming closer. “Thana did an excellent job. I might as well have stayed in bed.”

  “He felt much bigger than he looks when I was pushing him out,” Thana added, slowly shaking her head. She smiled at Keiran and offered the baby to him. “Take him. Corina is going to help me get cleaned up.”

  He’d never held a baby before, and he didn’t know what to do. Still, he reached out and took his son.

  Corina helped him get the swaddled infant situated in his arms before stepping back. “Go on and show him to the others while I help Thana get back in order.”

  Keiran nodded, not taking his eyes off the slowly wriggling and grunting infant. He shuffled toward the door, the enormity of having a child starting to sink in. While he’d been worried about Thana during her pregnancy, the thoughts he’d had regarding the baby once it was actually born had been abstract.

  They weren’t any longer.

  He clutched the baby to his chest and reached out with one hand to open the door. He glanced back before going into the corridor, seeing Corina carefully helping
Thana up from the bed. He closed the door behind him to give his wife some privacy before looking at the others.

  “Well? What do we have?” Kanan asked, standing with Jerris and Garhan amongst the others.

  Keiran gave them the smile of an overwhelmed man. “Thana has borne a son.”

  The old man glanced upward for a moment, his shoulders relaxing. Corina had told him about Athan’s claim all of his daughters died, and he’d worried any girls Keiran sired would suffer the same fate.

  “Another troublesome prince. What is his name?” Kanan asked.

  “Thana and I agreed on what we’d name our first son three days ago,” he said, his eyes fixed on the baby. “Zacherious Kanan Magnus Sipesh.”

  Kanan blinked and straightened up, looking confused. “Keir, perhaps I’m unaware of something, but there is no Kanan in the Sipesh lineage.”

  Keiran noticed the expression he wore. “Turis Lee may have sired me, but you’ve always been my father, just as Corina has been my mother.”

  The old man didn’t know what to say. Displays of open emotion weren’t in his nature, but there was a sudden knot in his throat and a sting in his eyes. He nodded his head and dropped his gaze to the floor, trying to push back his reaction.

  Keiran smiled to see Kanan caught speechless. He’d not only raised Keiran, but he’d watched over Thana since her own father’s death. They’d both known from the outset any son of theirs would share the elder guard’s name.

  The others gathered slowly pressed in, each getting a look at the new prince before they began to dissipate. With the birth over, the servants and guards returned to their rooms for the night.

  Kanan, Jerris, and Garhan remained with Keiran for a while after, until Corina emerged. She told Keiran he could finally come back in, the other three men saying goodnight and leaving.

  Thana eagerly took the child back, instinct telling her to keep him close. “Did you tell Kanan our little prince’s name?”

  “I did,” he said, sitting on the bed next to her.

  “Did he approve?” she asked.

  “It caught him by surprise, but I think he liked it,” Keiran said.

  Corina smiled at the two of them, clasping her hands together before her stomach. “I’m sure I will hear about it when I go back to my room. He might not openly express it to you, but knowing you’ve acknowledged him by giving his name to your son… it surely means the world to him. He’s a bit more sentimental beneath the surface than he ever lets on, you know.”

  Thana reached down to toy with the baby’s small fluff of hair. “We wanted to show Kanan how much we both appreciate him. I think Keir will pardon me for saying this, but Turis Lee never did us many favors.”

  “I won’t argue that in the least,” Corina said with a smile.

  * * *

  Stressed and not knowing if Vinson’s plans would ultimately produce working machines, Athan had been far nastier around his fortress than usual. Over the preceding days, he’d killed four of the female servants in his keep; two to satisfy his thirst, and two simply out of rage. The male staff had fared a little better with only three slain.

  Vinson had been locked away with several metal smiths and engineers as the finer details of his envisioned machines were hashed out. Though the younger vampire wasn’t keen on his father’s idea to invade the north, avoiding further torture was a great motivator. Even while working without protest, it wasn’t uncommon for him to be beaten almost nightly to try to improve his productivity.

  Athan found rest hard to come by in his agitated state. Though late, he paced the halls anxiously. He knew things could only progress at a given pace no matter how he pushed, but it didn’t make waiting any easier. The decade that he’d longed to have Kayla back in his possession had been enough.

  A door along the corridor opened up ahead of him, a young man stepping out. “I thought I heard you storming about.”

  Athan stopped and turned toward Baden. The twenty-one-year-old was just one of his many sons, but likely his heir apparent, at least for the time being.

  “Frustrated on my perception of time and how slowly it passes when I need it to go much quicker,” Athan admitted.

  Baden’s teal eyes squinted. “You know it will take years for that machine, if it even works, to be completed. While I’m impressed a vision like that came from Vinson, he’s not particularly fast or motivated on the best of days. I can’t even speculate on the amount of time it will take to build such a behemoth once the design is finished.”

  “Oh, I’ve made certain Vinson found a reason to be motivated,” Athan said, starting to walk again with Baden at his side. “And I’m not so out of touch with reality as to think that the ice ship will be completed anytime soon. Still, I do want it finished, and I won’t tolerate any delays.”

  “At least you know where Kayla is, and you know she wouldn’t dare leave the protection of the Nahli. She’ll be there when you find a way to cross the Wastes.” He smiled and hung his head. “And you will find a way. Someone who poses such a threat to you cannot be allowed to run free forever.”

  “Indeed I will find a way, but I’m not a man of any particular patience anymore. This madness has gone on long enough. If I can get this situation with Kayla resolved, then I can go about my other experiments and plans in a much more relaxed manner.” Athan gave his son a sidelong glance, his own smile appearing. “To see the look in her eyes when I have her within my grasp… if you only knew how it would make me feel.”

  Baden had watched his father come unraveled after the woman’s flight a decade prior. While he’d eventually gotten back in control of his faculties afterward, it had been a hard time for everyone in his company. There were hints of those same bad times coming now that Athan knew she was alive, and Baden was as eager to see it resolved as anyone could be.

  “It will come to pass,” Baden said quietly. “While you may be short of patience, you aren’t short on time. If there is a way to get to her, you will find it.”

  Athan nodded and patted his son’s shoulder. “And that faith in me is why you are my favorite son.”

  They both halted when Sabetha stepped out into the corridor before them. Her fluttering eyelids gave evidence of her exhaustion. The harpy was in no way nocturnal, her internal clock generally forcing her to sleep when the sun set. She only stayed up late when something troubled her.

  “What are you doing up this late?” Athan asked, already having said goodnight to her several hours before.

  “A problem,” she whispered, going closer. She focused on Athan, giving no regard to the younger vampire. “I dreamed I could no longer see Tordan Lea.”

  Athan frowned, knowing she had a propensity for nightmares. “And was a dream like that really enough to send you wandering the halls?”

  She shook her head, her thick feathers ruffling in the process. “No, it was when I awoke and tried to see Tordan Lea, but could not, that I became concerned.”

  “Your abilities aren’t at their best at night,” Athan replied. “You shouldn’t be this concerned unless you can’t see Tordan Lea come morning. The nightmares you have always cause you problems, Little Bird.”

  Though it was rare for Sabetha to show anything like anger, it boiled up. Her clawed hands hung from her wings, clenching and relaxing in rapid succession. A hiss burned in her throat as she started to sway back and forth. “It is not the hour! It is the location! I cannot see Keiran, his castle, or any of Tordan Lea! It’s a hole, a blank in my mind! It has ceased to be!”

  Though Athan felt a spike of irritation at her outburst, he pushed it down and kept his tone metered. “Sabetha, Tordan Lea hasn’t ceased to be. I may not know what’s going on, but cities don’t disappear. Given the hour, it’s probably simple fatigue.”

  “You need to go see what has happened!” she said, stomping one of her clawed feet against the floor. There was a sensation of swirling insanity around her over losing part of her sight, and she wasn’t going to back down.

&nbs
p; While Athan appreciated how delicate the harpy was mentally, he didn’t feel like there was much he could do. “Little Bird, I can’t take off right now to go deal with Tordania. I have plans I’m working to formulate. Leaving right now—”

  “I can go.”

  They both turned and looked at Baden.

  The younger vampire raised his hands before him and took a small step forward. “If all Sabetha needs is reassurance Tordan Lea is still there, I can go look. It’s not a terribly complex mission by any means. I’m fluent in Tordanian, I’ll be able to understand what I see and hear.”

  Athan drew in a long breath and gave a shallow nod. While he’d allowed Baden out on small errands before, Tordania was further than he’d ever traveled. Still, there was no pressing reason why Baden couldn’t be the one to go on his behalf. Tordania wasn’t a particularly hostile country.

  “Very well, Baden. I know you’re due to get out and stretch your wings,” Athan said. “I’ll allow you to do this. However, only look around and come straight back. I don’t want you interacting with anyone while you’re there, especially Keiran. Though your abilities are far more advanced than his, he’s unpredictable and you’ll be too far away for me to help if something happens.”

  “Nor will I be able to see if you are in trouble,” Sabetha added. “Unless you find a way to fix whatever is stopping me from seeing there, you will be hidden from my sight.”

  Athan shook his head. “Do nothing other than look, then come right back and report to me. We are only doing this to calm Sabetha down. We can’t afford her getting stressed to the point of illness again.”

  Baden offered up a faint smile. “I can handle that. I will leave immediately. A few days out, a few days back, nothing too complicated. I doubt there is much down there to threaten me.”

  * * *

  Though Keiran hated to leave Thana and the new baby, the following afternoon he headed to meet Kayla again. Kanan and Jerris were the only two accompanying him, and he’d dressed in his more subdued clothing, trying to pass himself off as a normal traveler.

  He made the ride down into Tordan Lea in a daze, his eyes closing several times as they moved along.