“You're thinking defensively, Kinna,” Helga murmured, and the room quieted even more. The veneration the Seer Fey afforded ran deep among those present.
Kinna frowned. “Is that a bad thing?”
“Certainly not. However, Sebastian has control of a country embroiled in upheaval because no one is sure where their loyalty lies. Now is the time to take advantage of that, to work against Sebastian from the inside, to throw as many weeds into his garden as possible.”
Only Helga would have compared Sebastian's ruling techniques to gardening.
“What do you suggest, Helga?” Lanier's deep voice came from the corner. His craggy features beneath his dark beard showed strain. This couldn't be easy for him—a man who had dedicated his life to his King, but whose sister had been killed by that King's edict, blunting his bulldoggish loyalty. When Lanier had sworn his service to her and to Cedric, Cedric had naturally questioned his allegiance, and he had spilled the entire story. Others had corroborated the tale, and Kinna and Cedric had welcomed him, Kinna with a deep measure of relief. A seasoned Commander among their straggling ranks was no small thing.
“A direct assault into Lismaria would be as Kinna fears—a rout, and this uprising would be over before it had fairly started. No, beginning from the inside and working outward is the only way to proceed.”
Ashleen leaned her elbows on the table, her eyebrows drawn. “But we have no one planted in Sebastian's inner circle.”
Helga glanced speculatively at the maid. “Aye, but we can be in more places than only Sebastian's palace. Look here, if you please.” Helga motioned to the Lismarian map that had remained spread on the Council table since that morning. Various colored markers scattered across it, moved here and there by Lanier and Cedric and Kinna as they had talked and planned and discussed, all to no avail.
Helga tapped the symbol marking ClarenVale. “I believe the uprising can overcome Sebastian if we take three basic steps.”
Lanier raised an eyebrow. “Go on.”
“First, we must regain the Amulet, and,” she paused, her hand trembling on the map, “we must destroy it.”
Gasps echoed across the room. Kinna's hands tightened on her armrests as she stared at the Seer Fey. “But—why? The Amulet sealed the original Bond of Blood and Fire. It was given to Aarkan the Firebringer in a ceremony between Man, Dragon, and Seer Fey as a sign of the peace between creatures. Why must we destroy it?”
Helga's gaze rested softly on Kinna before moving to Cedric. “Aye, 'tis true. I once believed the Bond and the Amulet to be good gifts, too. That has changed. I—” For the first time since Kinna had known the Seer Fey, Helga's voice faltered and broke. Tears rimmed her lashes; she quickly dashed them away.
“Helga?” Kinna asked, stunned. “Are you all right?”
“Perfectly.” She sniffed before pulling a large pink handkerchief from the folds of her apron and blowing her nose into it. “Thank you, Kinna. I—I have not told you this yet; I have been struggling to understand how this news will affect our uprising against Sebastian. But I can no longer keep silent.” She paused, wiping her nose with the handkerchief, and continued with a sigh. “I received word mere hours after the battle at ClarenVale of something hitherto unknown to me, and it troubles me greatly. The Dryads passed a letter to me from my Seer Fey sister, one of the trusted few who have stood with me against Paik, the Grand-Master of the Seer Fey. Her message was short and cryptic, but she did convey one thing: evidence that the Andrachen kings had corrupted their ties with Seer Fey and with Dragons, starting a thread of degradation and evil that outlasted every reign, eventually eroding the Amulet itself.”
The room had gone utterly silent. Until now, the Amulet had been the ultimate prize for The Rebellion.
Helga went on. “This—evil—has cascading effects. We cannot use the Amulet in our quest to upset the throne; it is now corrupt, and its effects are vile. Its... polarity... has shifted.”
“But—” Kinna couldn't help interrupting, “Ay—Ayden was not evil, though the Touches of the Amulet lived in him before he—before his—death.”
Helga stuffed her handkerchief back into her apron. “We don't know that, Kinna. Ayden was a good man, one of the very best. A hero of our time, but only the Stars know how long he could have maintained his goodness had he been left to live.”
Tears blurred Kinna's vision. “He wouldn't have turned evil; he couldn't.”
“He could,” Helga said flatly, “though it may have taken time.”
No one said anything. Lincoln tilted his chair on its back legs. The scuff of wood on stone was loud in the silence.
“Where is the Amulet?” Cedric asked at last.
Helga straightened. “The Amulet lies behind the safeguards I placed around it; a magical maze wrought with taibe. Cedric, it is yours by rights. The taibe gateway begins in the Silver Rush River that winds through the Marron Mountains, due west of ClarenVale. When you go there, you will find my Seer Fey sister, the gatekeeper, who lives nearby and will allow you to begin the taibe maze. To regain the Amulet, you must pass through the safeguards and take it. Only you can.”
Cedric blinked, surprised. “Why is it mine?”
“It belongs only to the Andrachens. When I had hidden it behind safeguards previously, though I had made it very difficult to retrieve without great pain, I found that I could still retrieve it,” she emphasized. “It was not safe enough. After the battle at ClarenVale, I hid it again, calling on all my taibe to create safeguards only capable of intrusion by an Andrachen heir. It cost me dearly to regain it the first time, and it will cost you dearly to regain now. The taibe that holds it will not leave you untouched, Andrachen heir or no, Cedric.”
“But—why must I seek it?” Cedric asked. “Is it not safer to stay in your taibe maze until such a time as we can destroy it?”
Helga's eyes again sparked with tears. “I fear not, Cedric. Sebastian knows that I have hidden and protected it, though he does not yet know where. His efforts to find it increase his probability of recovering it, and the letter warns me that I must remove the Amulet—sooner than I had hoped. You must take it, Cedric, before Sebastian can find it and face the safeguards himself. You are Andrachen; you can take it, but Sebastian has the Andrachen blood, too.”
Cedric digested this. “I may not take Ember with me to seek it?”
“You may take whomever you like,” Helga answered. “The safeguards will war against you and you alone. If you were not there to enter them, Ember or anyone else would not even be able to find them. When you discover the safeguards, Ember can enter with you as you face them. The Amulet will always find its way back to the heirs unless it is destroyed. It must be you to whom it comes, not Sebastian.”
“But Kinna—”
“Is not a son of the line. Until this generation, Cedric, the Amulet has always passed from father to son. And the Stars have always gifted the Andrachens at least one male heir.”
Cedric frowned. “Kinna is more than capable—”
“I'm not saying she isn't. It is simply the way it happened, Cedric. But now,” she smiled at Kinna, “now the world can know what a truly great leader an Andrachen woman will be.”
Kinna did not feel like smiling. “What happens after Cedric gains the Amulet?”
“It must be destroyed.”
“How?”
Helga sighed. “It is not easy to destroy a gift of the Stars. One who wields all four Touches of the Amulet must give his blood to destroy it with the aid of Dragon and Seer Fey—a mirroring echo of what happened during the Bond of Blood and Fire. The Seer Fey must use the knife that brought the blood at the original Bond—it is kept in the center of the Seer Fey Council chambers in the Marron Mountains, under the Grand-Master Paik's own supervision. It is protected by taibe, and all Councils are held around it.”
Cedric shook his head, disbelief etching his expression. “And how under the Stars are we to bring together all these things into one ceremony? The Amulet? The See
r Fey knife?”
Helga smiled. “You have said it, Cedric. The Stars. They will guide us.” She paused, and a heavy silence fell over the group. After another moment, she straightened. “After such a ceremony, Cedric and Kinna will lead the people to victory over Sebastian.”
Cedric's lips pressed together. Abruptly, he pushed from his chair and paced behind it, his hands clenched into fists. At last, he stopped, gripping the back of his chair. “I have no interest in the throne, Helga.” His words pelted like hail over the small gathering. Everyone flinched. “Kinna is the one who will lead our people.”
Kinna had suspected her twin's feelings lay in that direction, but she hadn't thought he would utter them in the presence of their Council. Loaded silence followed his statement.
Kinna opened her mouth to protest, but Helga interrupted her.
“You and your sister will rule by blood-right, Cedric, and I'm afraid there is no turning from that.”
Cedric's knuckles turned the color of putty on the chair back. “So I cannot renounce my name and my inheritance?”
“Nay,” Helga said. “You cannot. You were born an Andrachen, Cedric, in the fires of Dragons. You cannot be anyone other than who you are.” She leaned forward, her gaze steady. “You will take the crown when this is over, Cedric. In the meantime, you must take the Amulet but resist its compulsions, from which I cannot shield you. Until it is destroyed, it will try to control you.”
Cedric slumped again into his chair, a stubborn frown darkening his face. Kinna did not doubt that she would hear further protests, perhaps later.
“What is the second step, Helga?” Lanier asked, bringing the discussion back to her earlier point.
“Sebastian is dependent on Nicholas Erlane's coffers until he settles into a new rhythm with his kingdom. He has yet to set up his taxation system, and his nobility is still dithering from the changeover as some have fled and others have pledged loyalty. We must take advantage now before he regroups. Cedric, after you gain the Amulet, whether or not we can immediately destroy it, we must focus on another task as well. You must devote your attention—and I think Ashleen will make a good assistant for you, as you both navigate the hazards of nature with ease—to finding the postal wagons as they traverse throughout the Lismarian wilderness carrying the army's payroll.”
Tristan spoke from his place on the other side of Helga. “Such work would be better suited for Lanier's infantry, Helga, would it not? Why send our hopeful King to do such work?”
Helga's eyes sparked as she looked back at Cedric, and a half-smile covered her face. “Because, Tristan, even the King must understand what his laborers face.” She leaned forward, touching Cedric's hand. “I foresee much grief for you, Cedric. You will struggle with your place, your position at the head of a nation. I send you, because your forebears never tainted their hands with the dirt of the common people. You will turn your family name on its head, Cedric Andrachen, because you will come to the throne from the bottom up. Imprisoned, chained, forced into Sebastian's service, sent to rob postal carts of the army's payroll—all these are foundation stones for the man—the King—you will become. A good King. An understanding one.”
Cedric nodded slowly, and then glanced across the table at Ashleen, who still refused to look up. His face tightened. “I can take Lincoln. He's as well-equipped—”
“Lincoln will accompany you only for the first part of your journey, but then I have another use for him. You and Ashleen will make it your responsibility to capture the sceptremarks financing Sebastian's armies after the carts leave ClarenVale. We will fill our own empty coffers and strike at the heart of whatever loyalty the soldiers may carry for Sebastian in one blow.”
Cedric blinked in surprise. “You wish me to become a bandit?”
“A handsome one, at that,” Helga laughed for the first time in weeks, throwing everyone off-kilter. Cedric's cheeks turned scarlet.
“What then?” asked Lincoln from his place beside Kinna. He cocked an eyebrow. “Perhaps you'd like me to sing my way into ClarenVale and sink the entire castle beneath my lovely Pixie charm?”
“Dear Linc,” Helga smiled at him. “Nay, after you leave Cedric and Ashleen, I wish you to go on to ClarenVale and find your daughter, Marigold, and bring her to safety here.”
Moisture formed in Lincoln's eyes, and he blinked rapidly. “But I—” He cleared his throat. “Thank you, Helga. But what of Kinna? I have been her guardian heretofore.”
“Kinna is of age, and though I hope you will still serve and protect her, a guardian is no longer required. Kinna, instead, will—”
A knock sounded at the door, interrupting Helga's words. Kinna stood as the door opened, and a servant entered, bowing to her and again to Cedric. “Your Graces, I apologize for the intrusion.”
“What do you need?” Kinna asked.
“A Pixie has arrived at the castle. She requests an audience; she claims an early acquaintance with you. She was most insistent that she see you immediately.”
“Oh?” Kinna glanced down the table at her father.
Tristan's eyebrows rose. “An early acquaintance? From the Pixie Clan?”
“Aye, sir. She gave the name Hazel.”
“Hazel!” Kinna felt as though she'd taken a blow to her stomach. She had trained with the Pixie in her days in the Glades, but Hazel had been stubbornly resistant to work with her. Kinna hadn't blamed her. She'd fought her own conscience on Dimn training methods even then. When Hazel had been arrested and taken to The Crossings for treason, Kinna had blamed herself.
Kinna took a deep breath. “Show her in, please.”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
The servant bowed and disappeared into the shadowy corridor, and Kinna's gaze sought her father's. “I'd heard she'd escaped from the guards before she could be chained in Sebastian's dungeons, but I cannot imagine what would bring her to me now. She hated me.”
“She hated Sebastian, too, daughter,” Tristan said. “Perhaps she has discovered she has more in common with you than she knew at the time.”
When Hazel appeared and the guard shut the door behind her, it took Kinna a moment to pull together her courage and look the Pixie in the face. But she had worried in vain. Hazel's purple eyes did not burn with anger or hatred, and Kinna hardly recognized the pink-haired Pixie lass. Hazel sketched a bow to Kinna and another to Cedric, and then stood with her arms loosely at her sides, her booted feet spread wide, as comfortable among them in her buckskin breeches and leather vest as Commander Lanier would be in his armor and shield.
“Your Graces.” Her throaty voice carried to the four corners of the Council Chamber.
“Hazel. It's—good to see you again.” Kinna flushed, embarrassed. It wasn't good; awkward would be a better word, but her peace-keeping personality surged over her recollections of the past. Hazel incited a shame Kinna had hidden deep within herself. She had agreed with Hazel that Sebastian's Dimn system of training creatures wasn't right, or fair. But she'd bowed to the pressure of her society and forced Hazel to submit to the indignity of a training routine, silently pushing her into the status of the lesser, the non-equal.
Lincoln had shown her it was wrong, later. By his quick actions, wit, thought, and feelings, in his quiet agony due to his separation from his daughter. Every day, Lincoln proved how equal he, a Pixie, was to her, a human. Chennuh, also, once she'd formed a psuche connection with the Dragon, had shown her his incredible intelligence, equal to her own. Never should such creatures have been shunted aside, trodden below humans. Though by their very natures, they lived differently, they should never have been considered inferior. It pained her even now to consider it.
Kinna pasted on a smile. “Welcome.”
“Thank you.” Hazel nodded, further stunning Kinna with her pleasant manner. She met Kinna's gaze, including Cedric in it. “I come to offer whatever services I can to your cause.”
Why? The question nearly burst from Kinna's lips, but she snatched it back in time. “Go on
.”
“After I escaped from Sebastian's guards, I hid for a time in the hills north of the Pixie Glades. I found that I was not alone.”
Kinna's eyebrows raised. “What do you mean?”
“Whole communities of creatures oppressed beneath Sebastian's rule had taken refuge in the valleys and canyons of that area. When I came, they took me in. They have since revered me, looking to me as a leader.”
Kinna smothered a smile. “You always did have the qualities of a leader.”
Hazel did not answer at first, and the silence stretched into uncomfortable territory. Kinna waited, uneasy.
At last, Hazel gave another small bow. “I do not offer my services or those of our outcast crew freely, Your Grace.”
Kinna had suspected there might be a price to pay for the Pixie's help, but she had very little bargaining power. “Go on.”
“We are made up of many and powerful creatures. We still make our home in West Ashwynd, but some have direct relations to family in Lismaria, and a select few are even connected within the castle at ClarenVale.”
Kinna and Cedric locked gazes. “That would—”
“Aye,” Cedric nodded. “That would be most valuable to our cause. How do you intend to help us?” he asked Hazel.
The Pixie crossed her arms over her vest. “I will be ambassador between you and my people, a party to your planning, and a messenger. My creatures will trust no one but me. I can set up the connections within Sebastian's castle for a spy network, and I can offer those of my Clan here in West Ashwynd to be used in battle.”
Cedric was silent, searching Kinna's gaze for a long moment. He arched his eyebrows in question. Kinna fought a quick and heated internal war. They were dramatically short on numbers. Hazel's Clan would certainly not make up the difference between The Rebellion and Sebastian's far mightier armies. However, Hazel and her Clan could be used to foment and recruit aid in West Ashwynd, even in Lismaria with their varied connections. If they accepted, it would be a steep learning curve for Hazel—but then, what wasn't? Kinna currently helped lead a country's rebellion when a year ago, she had been running off to Dragon Hollow to visit the Dragons in secret.
Unleash the Inferno (Heart of a Dragon Book 3) Page 3
