Her adjutant delivered the news reluctantly, although it was exactly what Therese had wished for.
“It’s done, Your Majesty. Kami’en has ordered a search for her, but Jacob swears they won’t be able to find her.”
Yes. Her defeat was not final yet. For the first time in months Therese felt her old confidence.
“Tell Jacob I am glad I didn’t have him shot.” She touched her tightly coiffed hair. It was turning gray, but she had it dyed. Golden, like her daughter’s. She would get to keep Amalie. And her throne. And her pride.
Donnersmarck hadn’t moved.
“What are you waiting for? Give the orders.”
He lowered his head, as was his habit whenever he disliked a command.
“What?”
“You can kill Kami’en, but his armies are still barely twenty miles away.”
“They’ll surrender once he is dead.”
“One of the onyx Goyl will replace him.”
“And bargain for peace! The onyx just want to rule underground.” She made sure Donnersmarck felt her impatience. She didn’t want to think, she wanted to act. Before this opportunity passed.
“They’ll want revenge, both his soldiers and his people. The Goyl worship their King. Whatever the onyx say.”
Heavens, he was so obstinate! Why had she made him her adjutant? Because he was smarter than anyone else. And incorruptible. And because he dared to tell her the truth. That took a substantial amount of courage.
“I won’t say it again: give the orders.”
Auberon waved in the servant who brought her breakfast. Good. She was hungry. For the first time in weeks.
Donnersmarck still hadn’t moved.
“What about Jacob’s brother?”
“What about him? He’s Kami’en’s bodyguard, so I expect that he will die with his King. Did you get what I asked you to bring for Amalie?”
He placed the items on the table where Therese had often sat as a child, watching her father put his seal on treaties and death warrants. Now it was she who wore the signet ring.
Yes, Donnersmarck had brought everything: a Healing Witch needle, a Dragon’s claw, and the skin of a Waterman. Therese stroked the pale green scales that had once covered the Waterman’s hand.
“Have the claw and the skin sewn into my daughter’s wedding dress,” she instructed the maid waiting by the door. “And give the needle to the doctor who will be standing by the sacristy.”
Donnersmarck handed her a second Dragon’s claw.
“I brought this one for you, Your Majesty.”
He saluted and turned to the door.
“What about Jacob? Did you have him arrested?”
Donnersmarck turned around, his face as expressionless as hers.
“The soldier I ordered to wait for him swears that he hasn’t return from the gardens. The palace guards haven’t seen him either.”
“You’re having his hotel watched, I presume?”
He returned her glance calmly.
“Of course. I will be informed as soon as he returns to his room or tries to check out.”
The Empress closed her fingers around the Dragon’s claw that he had dropped into her hand.
“I want him found. You know what he’s like. You can let him go again as soon as the wedding is over.”
“It’ll be too late for his brother by then.”
“It is already too late. He is a Goyl. Since when do I have to explain to you what that means?”
Outside a new day was breaking and the Dark Fairy was gone. Time for Therese of Austry to claim back what the crowned Goyl had stolen from her.
Who makes peace when you can have victory?
49
ONE OF THEM
Will tried not to listen. He was the King’s shadow, just there to watch and to protect. But Hentzau was speaking so loudly that what he said was hard to ignore.
“You have to postpone the wedding! We expected to have the Dark Fairy by your side. With her gone I have to reorganize your protection and the additional troops can’t get here before tomorrow.”
Kami’en buttoned up his uniform. No tails for this groom. He had defeated them wearing the uniform, and he would marry one of them in it. The first Goyl to take a human wife.
“You know I never trusted her. I stated that more than once, but this is not like her. To just vanish!” Hentzau’s voice betrayed something Will had never heard in it before. Fear. Fear for his King.
“On the contrary. It is very much like her.” Kami’en signaled Will to hand him his saber. “She hates our custom of having several wives, although I’ve told her often enough that it also gives her the right to have other husbands.”
He fastened the saber to his silver-studded belt. He moved close to the mirror, which Hentzau had had inspected after they’d found one of them to be a device for the Empress’s spies. The shimmering glass reminded Will of something. But what was it?
“She probably planned this from the start,” Kami’en said. “That’s why she was so eager to find the jade Goyl before the wedding. Because she knew she wouldn’t be here. And there he is—” he looked at Will, “—you see, I am completely safe. As long as we both believe in fairy tales.”
Kami’en didn’t believe in them. And neither did Hentzau. Will knew that by now. But the Dark Fairy believed in them, and she knew more about the world than the King of the Goyl, and far more than his jasper dog. She knew everything because she was everything the world was made of. She was life. And death.
“Never leave Kami’en’s side. Never.” She had told him that so often that Will heard the words in his dreams. “Even if he sends you away, do not obey him.”
She was so beautiful, more beautiful than anything he had ever seen. The Goyl didn’t dare to look at her, only their King did. Kami’en looked at what he feared. He took danger as a challenge and loved to put his own strength to the test. Maybe he loved the Fairy more than any other woman because of that. After all there was nothing more dangerous in this world than she. Hentzau, on the other hand, despised her. A shadow could see and understand all that and Will loved to be a shadow. Watching silently, serving, and protecting. Had he ever done something else? He couldn’t remember.
Hentzau had trained him hard, sometimes so hard that Will had been sure he intended to kill him. Fortunately the jade skin healed fast, and just yesterday he had for the first time managed to strike the saber from Hentzau’s hand. “What did I tell you?” the Fairy had whispered in his ear. “You were born to be a guardian angel. Maybe one day I’ll grow you a pair of wings.”
A guardian angel. Yes. He liked the sound of that. He had almost failed her, though, with the one who’d been hiding in her walls. He couldn’t forget his face: the gray eyes, the dark hair as fine as cobwebs, and the soft skin that betrayed his frailty.
“The truth is you don’t want this peace.” Kami’en’s voice gave away his irritation. “You’d rather slaughter them all. Every single one of them. Men, women, children.”
“Yes,” Hentzau replied hoarsely. “Because they want to do the same to us. My King! I urge you once again. Postpone the wedding, until the reinforcements get here.”
Kami’en pulled the gloves over his fingers. Most Goyl wore gloves when amongst humans to hide their claws, and Kami’en was no exception, although he kept his almost as short as human fingernails. His gloves were tailored from the leather of a snake that dwelled deep underground, where the heat melted even Goyl skin. The Fairy had told Will about the snakes. She had described it all to him—the Avenues of the Dead, the sandstone waterfalls, the underground lakes, and amethyst meadows. He couldn’t wait to see all those wonders with his own eyes. The Fortress… that was all he remembered. And then the train that had brought them here.
“You know exactly what they’d say.” Kami’en turned away from the mirror. “‘The Goyl postponed the wedding because he can no longer hide behind his lover’s skirt. He only won the war because she helped him with her magic
.’”
Hentzau handed him his helmet. It was adorned with feathers and lizard spikes. Feathers for the humans, spikes for the Goyl.
“You know I’m right.” Kami’en turned his back on Hentzau and Will quickly lowered his head when the King moved next to him.
Kami’en eyed him as if he was still surprised to see him. The jade Goyl. The other soldiers called him by another name: the Fairy-Tale Goyl. It was intended as mockery but Will could hear their fear—of what couldn’t be, even though this world was filled with magic. A trace of that fear nested in Kami’en’s eyes as well, but it was outmatched by his curiosity. Kami’en’s curiosity was insatiable and it never gave in to fear. Will was glad that the Fairy had made him his shadow. He wouldn’t have wanted to serve any other King.
“I was with her when she dreamed of you, did you know that?” Will saw his own reflection in Kami’en’s eyes. “How can one dream of something that has not yet happened and see a man one has never met? Or did she dream you into existence? Did she sow all that Petrified Flesh only to reap you?”
Will bowed his head. “I am here to be at your side, my King. I will live and die for you.” For that’s what she wanted and there was nothing else.
Kami’en smiled.
“You heard him,” he said to Hentzau. “It seems the fairy tale continues. The King of the Goyl has lost his lover, but she left him a present that will keep him safe, made from breathing sacred stone.”
He once again turned to Will.
“What were the exact orders you received from her? Do you have to stay by my side even during the vows?”
Will felt Hentzau’s milky gaze like hoarfrost on his skin.
He nodded.
“Then that’s how it shall be.” Kami’en turned back to Hentzau. “Have the horses readied. The King of the Goyl is taking a human wife.”
50
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST
A wedding. A daughter in payment, and a white dress to hide all the blood-soaked battlefields under its train. The cathedral windows were dyeing the morning light blue, green, red, and yellow, and Jacob was standing behind one of the garlanded columns, watching as the pews filled with guests. He was wearing the uniform of an imperial guard, whose owner was tied up in an alley behind the cathedral. The guards were posted all over the massive church, so nobody noticed one more unfamiliar face. Their uniforms bleached flecks of white into the sea of color that was filling the nave. The Goyl’s gray, in contrast, made them look as if they had all come out of the walls. They shuddered in the cold, humid air trapped between the church’s columns. The twilight gilded by countless dripping candles was surely much more to their liking.
Jacob felt for the golden ball in his pocket. He still cursed the wane-slime that had made him as helpless as a newborn during the precious hours of the night. He was only on his feet thanks to the sharp teeth of the vixen, but now he would have to steal his brother from Kami’en’s side, witnessed by hundreds of wedding guests. And hope that the willow leaves in his pocket would indeed force the Dark Fairy to send the jade Goyl back into the fairy tales he came from.
The jade Goyl must be at Kami’en’s side until the wedding is over.
Yes. Maybe it would be better to wait for that. After the wedding all eyes would be on the bride and groom, and the Dark Fairy would be much more willing to lift her spell. But what made her fear this wedding so much? Certainly it was not the vows. What was Will supposed to protect her lover from? What? Who is probably the right question, Jacob.
He saw Valiant walk down the center aisle followed by Clara and Fox. The Dwarf had shaved, and not even the imperial ministers sitting in the front row were better dressed. Fox and Clara caught many admiring glances as well. The robes Valiant had bought for them must have cost a fortune, but what did he care as he soon would be the proud owner of a gold tree? Clearly Fox hadn’t shown it to him yet. She frowned when she spotted Jacob between the columns. She didn’t like his plan, of course not. He didn’t think much of it himself, but this was his last chance. Once Will followed Kami’en and his bride into the Royal Fortress, it would be absolutely impossible to get him to the Dark Fairy, who thanks to his brother would still be residing in the Empress’s gardens.
Outside the huge crowd that had been gathering in the cathedral square since dawn began to cheer. Goyl, Dwarfs, and human guests turned in the pews to stare expectantly at the garlanded portal.
It was the groom who appeared among the white lilies and roses. Kami’en halted and the church filled with murmurs when Will joined him. Carnelian and jade. They did look as if they were made for each other, even Jacob caught himself in that thought.
Including Will, there were six bodyguards flanking Kami’en. Plus Hentzau.
The organ on the balcony struck up a wedding march, and the Goyl began to walk toward the altar. Surely they has sensed the hatred coming from the pews filled with the human guests, but Kami’en was radiating confidence, as if the cathedral had been built by his ancestors and not by Therese of Austry’s great-great-grandfather.
When Will walked past the pew where Clara was sitting, he almost brushed her shoulder with his Goyl-gray sleeve. Clara’s face became rigid with pain as she followed him with her eyes, and for a moment Jacob was worried that she would get up and run after his brother. Maybe Valiant had the same thought for he kept his hand on her arm until Will was a few pews ahead.
Kami’en had just reached the steps in front of the altar when the Empress arrived. Her ivory dress would have done credit even to the bride. The four Dwarfs carrying her train pointedly ignored the groom, but the Empress gave him a benevolent smile before proceeding up the steps. Therese of Austry had always been a magnificent actress. She sat down in the royal enclosure to the left of the altar, surrounded by her Dwarfs.
Now there was only one guest missing.
Once upon a time, there was an Empress who had lost a war. But the Empress had a daughter…
Not even the organ could drown out the roar drifting in from outside announcing Amalie’s arrival. Whatever the crowds thought about the groom, a royal wedding was still a good occasion to cheer and dream of better times.
The bride wore her beauty like a porcelain mask, but nonetheless Jacob thought he could detect something akin to happiness on those all-too-perfect features. Amalie’s eyes fixed upon Kami’en as if she herself had chosen him to be her husband, not for his crown or to make peace, nor to support her mother’s political ambitions. No. Jacob would have accepted any bet that Amalie of Austry was in love with the King of the Goyl.
Kami’en awaited his bride with a smile. Whether he was in love too… his carnelian face kept the secret. Will was still right by his side.
The jade Goyl must be at Kami’en’s side until the wedding is over.
Jacob scanned the crowds but he could detect nothing to justify the Dark Fairy’s worries. He just wanted it to be over. He had decided to catch Will when the couple came out of the cathedral, or when they were waiting for their coach. Yes, maybe then. Walk faster! he was tempted to call out to the bride. Get it over with. But her mother’s highest-ranking general was leading the bride to the altar, and he was in no rush.
Four additional guards had positioned themselves in front of the enclosure from which the Empress was watching. Donnersmarck had joined her. He was whispering something into the Empress’s ear. They both looked up at the balcony, but Jacob still didn’t realize what was happening. Blind and dumb, he would tell himself later. He already imagined himself on his way back into the palace gardens with Will. And like many others he was foolish enough to believe that even Therese of Austry was first a mother and then an Empress.
The first shot rang out when Amalie was barely a dozen steps down the aisle. It came from a sniper hidden next to the organ and was obviously aimed at Kami’en, but Will pushed the King aside in time. The second shot missed Will’s head by an inch. The third bullet hit Hentzau in the chest. He fell to his knees and the Dark Fairy, trapped in a skin
of willow bark, sighed with helpless rage in the palace gardens. Well done, Jacob. Therese of Austry had used him like a trained dog. Therese and Donnersmarck. No, Jacob, he tried to warn you. In his very own way.
The Empress had obviously kept her assassination plans even from her daughter, and her ministers were desperately ducking behind the thin wood paneling of their pews. Amalie stood in the aisle staring at her mother, the perfect face contorted by horror and disbelief. The general who had led her into the church was trying to pull her away, but they were swept along by the screaming guests as they stumbled out of the pews. They hadn’t realized yet that there was nowhere to go. The great doors had been bolted. Clearly the Empress was hoping to rid herself also of a few unwanted subjects along with her future son-in-law.
Jacob tried desperately to spot Fox and Clara amongst the panicked crowd. He reminded himself that Fox was usually far better at keeping herself safe than he himself was, and that neither Clara nor Valiant could wish for better protection, but he was nevertheless sick with worry when his eyes couldn’t find her. Will was still shielding Kami’en. The bodyguards had formed a wall of gray uniforms around their King, while the other Goyl were trying to fight their way through the crowds to join them. Not many of them reached the altar steps. The imperials shot them down like farmers aiming at rabbits.
Jacob was luckier. He managed to reach the steps unharmed. He had to help Will, whether his brother still knew him or not. One of the Court Dwarfs jumped on Jacob on the stairs, but he drove his elbow into the bearded face and then slipped in a puddle of blood when he took another step. It was everywhere, on silken dresses and marble tiles, but the Goyl stood their ground amongst all the screaming and shooting. They supposedly prepared their skin for battle by eating a plant they bred especially for that purpose. Maybe they’d been wise enough to do the same for their King’s wedding, but there were at least ten imperial guards for every Goyl. Will and Kami’en appeared to be still unharmed though, and even Hentzau was back on his feet.
The Petrified Flesh Page 21
