A Kingdom Lost

by Barbara Ann Wright

  “My father wants to talk to Reinholt,” Katya said.

  “I don’t know if I can manage that,” Starbride said. “I’m getting better at using this pyramid, but I’m not Redtrue, so I don’t think I can enter his mind and let him communicate through Redtrue to you. I can relay all the messages you want.” A twinge of panic passed through the line. “Are you going to act as relay for your father? I mean, he and I aren’t going to connect like this, right? So…intimate?”

  Katya hadn’t thought of that. After a bit of discussion, they decided that relaying messages would be the best idea, leaving Starbride and Katya in contact. Any relay would have to be brief, though, as having Starbride going in and out of focus and Redtrue serving as conduit was going to be hard on both of them.

  When everyone was in place, Da begun with, “My boy, I’m so glad you’re safe.”

  Personally, Katya wanted to throttle Reinholt, and she bet her father did too, at least a little, but he opened with how much he cared. Reinholt would easier listen to happiness about his safety than he would anything else.

  “He’s glad everyone there is safe, too,” Starbride said.

  They didn’t seem that safe to Katya, not if assassins were going to be coming after them, but she kept that to herself. No sense worrying Starbride with something she had no control over.

  Da could have mentioned duty. He could have filled their time with recriminations or threats. He could have wheedled or cajoled, but he spoke mostly of the children, information that seemed inconsequential when compared to the fact that there was a Fiend on the throne. Katya relayed his words dutifully, knowing that Starbride wouldn’t pass on any of Katya’s wounded feelings that traveled down the line.

  Katya tried to be patient as Starbride passed on the message, and Reinholt responded. Finally, Starbride said, “He seems speechless. He just stuttered a few things and said ‘well’ a lot.”

  Katya passed this on to her father, who had more stories of the children. He didn’t mention if they cried out for their parents in the night or if they asked where their father had gone. It began to sound like a letter any grandparent would write if given temporary custody of his grandchildren.

  “He’s crying.” Starbride’s pity mixed with impatience. Katya always felt that way when dealing with the distraught. It seemed a little new to Starbride. Usually, nothing moved her like tears, but this was war.

  And it was Reinholt.

  “He says he’s sorry,” Starbride said. “He doesn’t say for what.”

  Katya’s father sighed deeply and rubbed his temples, reminding Katya of herself. She didn’t dare ask him if all his talk of children had been the ploy of a master manipulator. She almost hoped it wasn’t, that Da wouldn’t play one of his children so. Had he ever played her that way? Could he manipulate so well and still feel the weight of his words?

  “Tell him it’s all right,” Da said. “He’ll always be my boy and his mother’s. We love him. Nothing will change that.”

  Katya passed that along, warmed by the words because they also applied to her, but she frowned at the idea that her father seemed to have forgiven Reinholt. When they returned to Marienne, Da might even slap the heir’s crown on his head again.

  “Careful,” Starbride said. “I won’t be able to separate the words from your feelings.”

  “Sorry.”

  “Don’t apologize. I agree with you. But you might want to add a pause between your father’s words and your reactions so I can tell them apart.” When Starbride returned with Reinholt’s response, Katya nearly felt the fatigue traveling down the line. Starbride couldn’t keep up with falling in and out of a trance much longer. “He wants your father to tell him what to do.”

  When Katya came back with, “Whatever his heart tells him to do,” Redtrue cut into the conversation.

  “I’m tired,” she said, “and I can feel that Starbride is, too, so with everyone’s permission…”

  “If we must,” Katya said.

  “I hate to say it, but I agree,” Starbride said. “Good night, dearheart. Good night, Redtrue. And good night, King Einrich.”

  “Sleep well, my love,” Katya said. “I’m sure my father would say the same if he could hear you.”

  “Let’s hope not exactly the same,” Redtrue said. “Sleep well.”

  Katya felt the connection go dark. She opened her eyes to find that her father had already left. “What a mess.”

  Redtrue shook her head. “It does not seem so. You wished him to be contrite, yes? You have succeeded.”

  “I just hope it’s enough to make him behave.”

  “Blackmail with emotions. You once accused me of such.”

  “Better than using a mind pyramid to get what we want, eh?”

  “Eminently better. With blackmail, at least the victim still has a choice.”

  Katya chuckled as she stood. “Maybe when you start talking degrees of evil, it’s already too late.”

  Redtrue smirked. “There may be hope for you yet.”

  Chapter Twenty-six

  Starbride

  Starbride faced Reinholt where he sat in her room’s lone chair. She had stayed cross-legged on the bed, Dawnmother beside her. And though the door was pulled shut, Starbride knew Pennynail and Hugo waited on the other side. No one trusted Reinholt, not yet.

  Now she wondered if such precautions were needed. His shoulders shook in silent sobs. Starbride was moved to pity even as she was pricked by impatience. His life had come down around his ears, but that had happened to all of them. Still, she could pity him a little. After all, Katya would never betray her as Brom had done to Reinholt.

  But as Brutal might say, it didn’t give him leave to act like an ass.

  Dawnmother scooted to the edge of the bed. “Come now. Deep breaths.” She pulled a handkerchief from her pocket and pressed it into Reinholt’s grasp.

  “Thank you,” he muttered.

  Starbride cleared her throat. “Perhaps you’d like a moment to—”

  He leapt from his seat and tottered out the door. Starbride leaned out in his wake. “Keep an eye on him,” she said to Pennynail. He followed Reinholt down the hall.

  Hugo watched them until they disappeared into another small room. “Is that a good or a bad sign?”

  “I have no idea.”

  “Master Bernard would like to speak with you,” Hugo said.

  She nodded. They were all on terrible schedules, only sleeping when they were about to drop.

  When Master Bernard came in, Dawnmother stood. “Any news of our patients? I was just about to visit them.”

  “From what I gather, they’re both recuperating well. I’ve come to talk pyramids. We’ve had a breakthrough.”

  “With the traps in the monks?” Starbride asked.

  He nodded, and Starbride clenched a fist, suppressing a loud whoop just in case anyone nearby was sleeping.

  “It’s two cancellation pyramids used at the same time,” he said. “The first dampens the effect of any trap pyramid, slowing them down for the second pyramid to cancel the trap completely. You need two pyradistés with intense concentration and timing.” He smiled proudly. “Ansic and Claudius have gotten it down to an art. They’ve tested it on several trap pyramids and think they’re ready for the monks if we can get a volunteer.”

  “I have no doubt of that,” Starbride said. She had to grin at Master Bernard’s still beaming face. “You’ll never have to buy your own drinks again if there are strength monks around.”

  “It was a group effort, and it’s not my only news.”

  She fought not to hold her breath. “Tell me.”

  “The heads and I have crafted a pyramid that can block mind intrusion.”

  Starbride let her breath out so quickly, she felt lightheaded. “Master Bernard, that’s wonderful!”

  “And the quicker we can make them, the faster our friends will be safe. Odd how simple the solution was when Effie finally had her breakthrough. She supposed that pyradist�
�s never tried in the past because they were the ones with the power.”

  “And why create something that would thwart one of their greatest weapons?” Starbride asked.

  “Shortsighted, perhaps,” Dawnmother said.

  Master Bernard shrugged. “If we had ever conceived of a Fiend-ridden pyradisté taking over the throne and hypnotizing the populace, I suppose so.”

  *

  Starbride hurried toward the strength chapterhouse, taking Dawnmother, Master Bernard, and Hugo with her but leaving Pennynail to guard Reinholt. Claudius and Ansic had already gone ahead to see what they could do for the monks.

  Despite the late hour, there were still a few people out, though most of them hurried as if afraid to be caught on the streets. The only ones who took it slower had the steady tread of the city Watch, and they still seemed wary. Crime had become almost nonexistent, but no one knew what could be declared a crime at any moment.

  As they turned closer to the chapterhouse, Starbride’s steps slowed. Along the wide avenue, people strolled as if it were the middle of a feast day, and they had no particular destination in mind. Unlike revelers, these didn’t look in windows or point out things of interest to one another. A pair of men walked arm in arm but didn’t lean on each other’s shoulders or share the laughs and smiles of lovers.

  Starbride pulled on Hugo’s arm. “Wait.”

  The strolling people didn’t seem threatening, but something about them put her off. She reached into her satchel and gripped a flash bomb.

  “Perhaps we should find a different way,” Master Bernard said.

  Starbride turned. Dawnmother did the same only to bump into a Watch officer going the other way.

  “I beg your pardon.” Dawnmother stepped aside and kept her face low. Starbride ducked hers as well, trying to hide her heritage. Captain Ursula was their friend, but they had no way of knowing if all the Watch felt the same.

  “Quite all right,” the officer said. To Starbride’s surprise, he took his helmet off and bowed. He swayed as if drunk, a dreamy smile on his face. The streetlights winked off the sergeant’s stripes on his collar.

  “Having a fun night, are we?” Hugo asked.

  Starbride nudged him. The starch in his tone could get them all thrown in jail.

  But the sergeant brayed a laugh. “Not much to do but drink and be happy, lad. Not since his Majesty cleaned up all the crime.” He slipped an arm around Hugo’s shoulders. “Enjoy it, lad. Enjoy the peace.”

  “Peace,” the strolling people said in unison. They sighed in blissful contentment.

  “He’s been at it again,” Dawnmother whispered. “Fiend king fever.”

  Starbride glanced around but saw no obvious pyramids. Could Roland have found a way to mind warp large segments of the populace at once and have the effect be permanent?

  The sergeant leaned close. “If you haven’t found the peace, my friends, I know just where to take you.”

  “Take you,” the strolling people echoed. Some of them had come very close indeed.

  Starbride put on a vague smile. “We were just taking them there,” she said.

  “Oh…yes.” Master Bernard’s attempt at dreamy seemed a bit crazy to Starbride’s eye, but at least he was trying. “Just taking them.”

  Starbride looped her arm through Hugo’s, and Master Bernard did the same to Dawnmother. They couldn’t hurry, though, not if they wanted to fit in. They tried to stroll, but the newly formed crowd followed them.

  “That’s the wrong way, dear,” the sergeant said. He hadn’t lost his smile, but in the dimness it turned sinister.

  “Temperance.” Starbride threw the flash bomb and squeezed her eyes shut, but she didn’t hear the normal screams. She ran, keeping the others with her but expecting someone to try to tackle her at any moment. If Roland had found a way to make people immune to flash bombs…

  Starbride risked a glance over her shoulder. Most of the crowd had fallen. A few staggered or clung to one another. The pair of lovers had collapsed arm-in-arm.

  The sergeant lay on his back, eyes tightly shut and back bowed in pain, but she could still see his tranquil smile.

  “Keep running,” Hugo said. “We have to get off the street.”

  It wasn’t until they were safe inside the chapterhouse that she relaxed. She told Ruin what they’d seen.

  “We’ve seen them too,” he said. “Lucky for us, your pyradistés have been working like mad after we helped them retrieve some hidden crystal from their homes in the city.”

  “Were they able to remove your pyramids?” she asked.

  “They neutralized them, but most of us didn’t think surgery worth the risk.” Ruin chuckled. “And by that, we mean the risk that we’ll be left out of the fighting.”

  “Are Averie and Maia awake?” Dawnmother asked.

  He gestured up the stairs, welcoming them to go and look. Master Bernard went in search of his fellow pyradistés while Hugo followed Dawnmother and Starbride upstairs.

  Averie sat on Maia’s bed, talking softly to her. They’d only let Maia awake in small doses, or so Starbride had been told. Her neck was healing fine; it was the emotional scars they were concerned with. Her eyes were still a little sunken. Even with the sleeping draughts, she hadn’t been resting peacefully. Averie seemed worlds better, though. She bowed as Starbride entered. Starbride waved her back down.

  “Feeling better?” she asked both of them.

  Averie nodded. “Ready to take to the streets, if you’ll have me.”

  “You’re sure?” An archer with Averie’s skill would be welcome, though Starbride didn’t know how inconspicuous she would be while carrying a longbow. Averie nodded.

  “And how are you, Maia?” Starbride asked.

  “Ashamed.”

  “My sweet, there’s no need.”

  “I’ve told her that,” Hugo said as he approached her other side.

  “And me,” Dawnmother said.

  Maia sighed. “And now I’m ashamed of feeling ashamed.”

  “You will recover from this,” Starbride said. “All of it.”

  “Time is the balm that heals all wounds,” Dawnmother said.

  Maia managed a tiny smile. “I’ll know all of Horsestrong’s sayings if I stay here.”

  “And you’ll be the wiser for it,” Dawnmother said. “Now, why are you still awake?”

  “I’m tired of sleeping. I’m not badly injured. I’m just…” Her eyes grew hazy with tears, lost in the past.

  “Maia.” Starbride touched her arm. “Stay with us. Did Dawn tell you we’ve found your elder cousin?”

  “Reinholt?” Maia and Averie asked at the same time.

  “I mean, Prince Reinholt?” Averie said.

  Starbride glanced at her. “You don’t have to worry about offending me. My opinion of him as a prince is pretty well known.”

  “And deserved,” Hugo said.

  “Is he being a pain?” Maia asked.

  “We’re having trouble finding a place for him,” Starbride said.

  Dawnmother cleared her throat. “It’s not something you should be worrying about right now, Maia. Focus on recovery.”

  “To hell with recovery.” Maia pushed herself higher on the bed. “Helping you will make me feel a thousand times better than any nap.”

  Starbride saw her own surprise on the faces around her, but she waited for Maia to settle and continue.

  “Reinholt and I weren’t incredibly close, not like Katya and me, but I know he has a soft spot for his little cousin. He probably still sees me as a child.” Her smile was slight, as if she wouldn’t mind being a child again. “If I urge him to go along with you, it might help.”

  “It might at that,” Starbride said. He’d seemed moved by King Einrich’s words. Maybe another family nudge was all he needed to go from grudging obedience to eager to help.

  Well, maybe not eager. Starbride would settle for compliant.

  “I’ll make a deal with you,” she said. “We’ll all n
ab a few hours’ sleep, and then he’s all yours.”

  *

  No more hurrying through the streets; they had to stroll, not daring to look different from anyone else. They hurried whenever they saw anyone as anxious as them, but that sight seemed less common in only one night. If they were going to do something about Roland mind warping the populace, they had to do it soon.

  Hugo, Dawnmother, Averie, and Maia carried pyramids that blocked mind tampering. Maia also wore a necklace like Hugo’s, designed to keep her Fiend inside, though Starbride didn’t think it could present without help. She’d needed to have a pyramid to keep it out, and she’d never Waltzed, but Starbride wasn’t taking any chances. Besides, the feel of it seemed to make Maia more confident. She kept touching the spot where it rested under her clothes, as all Umbriels did when they were angry, but their pyramids burned, letting them know their Fiends were close to the surface. Maia seemed to take comfort only in that hers couldn’t come bursting forth at any moment.

  Starbride had Reinholt brought to her room at their hideout, but only Maia and Dawnmother waited with her inside. If they tried to cram any more people in, it got crowded, and everyone wanted to give Reinholt space.

  When he stepped inside the room, he went from frowning to shocked in a moment. “M…Maia? I thought you were—”

  “Starbride rescued me.” Maia patted beside her, and Reinholt sank down on the corner of the bed. “It’s good to see you. We’ve had a hard time lately.”

  That was the understatement of the century, but Starbride held her tongue. Maia had some of her uncle Einrich’s magic, and Starbride wasn’t about to interfere with it.

  “Yes.” A myriad of expressions flashed across Reinholt’s face. He looked at Maia with naked pity. All the troubles he’d gone through must have seemed like nothing compared to what she had suffered, what crimes she’d been forced to commit on Roland’s orders.

  “Are you well?” he asked.

  “No.” Her voice cracked slightly. “But I’m mending. We’re all mending.” She laid her head on Reinholt’s shoulder.