Koal’s large hands rubbed at his temples as he paced. “None of this makes any sense! You’re sure it was the influenza when you checked him yesterday, aren’t you?”
Marc kept his head low, still holding the King’s limp hand. “Yes. Early onset. Nothing to be done except drinking and resting.”
“Wolfsbane acts too quickly for this to have happened prior to today,” Koal said. “And no one else is showing symptoms. Where the hell did the poison come from?”
Gib had to strain to hear the King’s labored voice. “It’s poison even to the touch. It could have been on my clothes or gear.”
“Bailey would have gotten sick too when he laid out your clothes. And you’ve been in close contact with your family and councilors today. No one else has fallen ill.” Koal stormed over to the wall and slammed a fist off the stone. “There has to be something else!”
King Rishi’s eyes slipped shut again. “There isn’t anything else. Call NezReth and Natori. They can check the room. Don’t touch anything.”
Gib drew away from the wall and wrapped his arms around himself. He wanted to run out of the suite and pretend he hadn’t seen anything. Perhaps he’d wake up momentarily and realize this was all a horrific nightmare. He took a deep breath and held it, waiting. Hoping. Nothing changed. He didn’t wake up, and the King didn’t look any better.
Suddenly Aodan issued a sharp gasp. “Wait,” he rasped, scrambling to his feet. “The remedy! It’s the only damned thing he’s had that we didn’t!” Aodan fished through the King’s pockets without asking permission and after several agonizing moments of searching, produced the small vial.
Koal snatched it immediately and pulled out the stopper. Several shouts rang in unison before he silenced them all with one withering glare. Lifting the flask to his face, he took a short sniff and shuddered. Closing it tightly, his shoulders sagged. “This is it. I’m sure of it.”
“Impossible!” Marc floundered, his face a sickly white. “I picked the vial up from the Healer’s Pavilion myself. I checked to make sure it was the correct remedy! It was with me the entire time! There’s no way it could have been tampered with!”
Koal rushed toward the door. “I’ll get NezReth and Natori. Maybe there’s something they can do. They’re the strongest mages I’ve ever met—”
“Koal.” The King’s voice was barely more than a whisper, yet it enveloped everyone in the room. “It’s too late for that. Marc said so.”
Aodan was on his feet as well. “Aye. Marc’s also the one who fed ya poison! We have ta try somethin’.”
Marc wept harder, but the King waved his hand once, effectively silencing his bodyguard. “This was an act of betrayal, Aodan. Marc’s been framed.”
“Why?” Dahlia implored. She leaned her face against the top of King Rishi’s head, crying into his hair. “Why would someone frame Marc and kill Rishi?”
Koal shook his head. “Why wouldn’t they? They found an opportunity to take out the King of Arden and one of his biggest supporters.” He put his hands on his hips. “Who saw Marc give you that remedy?”
The King didn’t offer to respond, so Aodan did. “Neetra. Liro. All of us. Anyone else who might have been in the hall. Guards.” He sat heavily on the arm of the chair next to the ailing king, looking utterly lost.
Koal scowled. “Whoever did this wanted to make sure it was well seen. There’s no way in hell Marc’s going to come out of this unscathed.”
Gib shuddered at Koal’s words but knew he spoke the truth. Too many people had been present. He dared to raise his own meek voice. “How are we going to prove Marc didn’t do it? I mean, we can’t let him take the fall.”
Pained, unbelieving laughter burst from Aodan’s throat. “Rishi’s dyin’ an’ yer worried about Marc?” His shoulders heaved, and he put his face down in his hands. Dahlia reached over and began to rub small circles on the bodyguard’s trembling back.
Three long strides found Koal at their side. “This is a hard time for everyone, but Gib’s right. We have to figure this out. The council can’t lose two votes for—”
“Is that what yer worried for? Votes?” When Aodan looked up, fierce light glinted in his single, bloodshot eye. “He’s dyin’! He’s yer friend, yer king, and all ya have any worry for is the council vote?”
Gib sucked his bottom lip into his mouth, the undeniable truth tasting bitter on his tongue. Even in the wake of tragedy, they had to concern themselves with the welfare of Arden. No one spoke for so long Gib thought his heart might hammer right out of his chest.
The King’s dry rasp brought them all back. “Bird.” He managed to lift one shaking hand and set it on Aodan’s knee. “It’s all right. No man lives forever. Arden has to be cared for.” He licked his lips, brows knitting tightly. “How much time, Marc? How long before this is done?”
Marc’s entire body shook. “I don’t—two marks? Three? One? Not long.” He broke down, sitting on the floor at his friend’s feet, crying. “I’m sorry, Rishi. I’m so sorry.”
King Rishi flicked his hand, irritation pulling at his features briefly before his strength abandoned him once more. “No time. Whoever did this is clever. You won’t catch them before I’m dead.”
The proclamation sank like a stone dropped in a well. Marc shuddered and wept harder but didn’t try to defend himself. Koal put a hand on the dean’s shoulder. “What the hell are we supposed to do?”
“I’ll go,” Marc choked in between sobs. “I did this. I’ll go.”
The King frowned. “No. You have Beatrice and Callidora to care for.”
Koal laughed incredulously. Gib had never before heard the seneschal’s voice sound so crushed. “Then what would you have us do, Rishi?”
The King’s face twisted, conflict clouding his dark eyes. “Lie to everyone. Tell them I killed myself.” Dahlia let out a mournful whimper, and Aodan nearly fell from his seat.
“N–no,” Koal said, shaking his head in protest. “No one’ll ever believe it anyway.”
King Rishi locked eyes with the seneschal. “Then you’ll have to make them believe. You’ll have to make it look like I killed myself.”
Koal trembled in his place. “How would you even have us do that?”
“I don’t know. Toss me from the balcony! Hang me from the rafters! Just do it!”
Aodan staggered back from the chair, eye wide and fists tugging at his red hair. “Have ya lost yer mind? Do ya hear what yer askin’?” He paused and lowered his voice. “Ya can make this go away, Rishi. All ya have ta do is open the box—”
Koal and Marc both turned uncomfortable gazes onto the King. The ruler himself stiffened in the chair and gave a firm shake of his head. “No. It’s not an option. You know that.”
Gib’s heart thudded in his ears. What box? Was there a cure of some sort hidden away? He wanted to ask in the worst way but didn’t dare interrupt.
Koal stood again, one hand over his mouth. He spoke as much to himself as anyone else. “Impossible. There’s no way. You ask too much. I won’t take your legacy away from you. Even at the cost of sending Marc into the unknown. I won’t make you out to be a coward in your last moments.”
King Rishi reached one hand toward Koal. It shook while he held it aloft, and he had no choice but to drop it to his lap a moment later. As Gib watched, he realized just how weak the King really was. How much time did he have left?
“You do as I say. This is an order. You are my Right Hand, Koal, and you will do as your King commands—”
“You don’t get to tell me what to do anymore!” Koal lurched forward, only stopping when he loomed above King Rishi, face to face. Gripping both armrests of the chair, the seneschal leaned closer yet. “You stubborn, miserable, son of a bitch, you don’t get to order me around! Not like this! I won’t smear your name! I won’t do it!”
Gib would have thought it impossible, but the King found his voice despite being so frail. “There’s no time to argue this. By nightfall, I’ll be dead. You can either sa
ve Marc, his family, and Arden, or spare my image and throw the rest away.”
Silence rose up to meet the King’s strenuous breathing. No one spoke. Koal took a teetering step back and turned to lean his forehead against the wall. Gib could only watch and hold his breath, waiting.
Finally Koal lifted his reddened face and, with a defeated sigh, met King Rishi’s somber eyes. “I hated you from the moment you came through the portal. Loud. Arrogant. Sly. There was nothing about you I trusted. I hated that King Eitan approved of you. I thought him a fool. And yet—when Arden needed you most, you stepped in like it was your birthright. You’ve done nothing but serve her as if she were your own homeland. You commanded respect and earned the love of the people. You made me see you as a brother. But even now, with damned near your final breath, you’ve vexed me yet again. How can you ask me to do this to you?”
Agony gripped Gib’s soul as he watched Koal rake the back of his hand across his eyes. Never before had Gib witnessed the seneschal in such a state of despair. Never before had he seen Koal Adelwijn cry.
The King blinked away tears of his own as he rested his head against the velvet-covered chair. “I was afraid of you. And jealous. So very jealous. Eitan had no son, yet you were his first choice. I couldn’t comprehend what power you must have had to win him over so fully. I was sure you’d never accept me and terrified I’d never be as good as you. I taunted you so you wouldn’t know how envious I was of you. No one’s acceptance in all of Arden has meant more than yours, Koal. I ask you to do this because I would do it for you. This is how it has to be. Please. Please, just do it.”
A long moment passed before Koal nodded, pressing fingers over his glistening eyelids. He laughed feebly, defeated. “All right, you stubborn arse. I’ll do it, but only if my tomb is engraved as your favorite servant.”
Weak laughter spilled from King Rishi’s parched lips. He promptly grabbed for his ribs. “Ow. Stop.”
“I’d always thought watching you die would be more gratifying than this.”
King Rishi smiled and, despite his ashen hue and failing body, he looked like himself. “I hate you, too.”
Gib wrung his hands together, glancing around the room, from one person to the next. Now what do we do? What happens next?
They rode fast and hard to the palace gates. Joel’s mind swam with dread at the possibilities of what could be so wrong. One moment he’d been riding with Hasain and Diddy, and in the next, a page had flown up beside them, frantically demanding they return to the palace. The King had sent word for his sons to be brought to him, and Joel was pulled along with them.
Once inside the gates, Diddy’s faithful servant, Gideon, met them to take their horses. Diddy asked briefly what the problem was, but Gideon answered that he didn’t know. They swept through the palace without a single delay. In fact, Joel noted, the halls seemed to be barren.
Outside the suite, Joel thought to excuse himself for he hadn’t been invited, but when his father opened the door, all three boys were ushered inside. One look at the seneschal’s drawn face and red eyes had them silent and waiting with bated breath.
Koal didn’t mince his words. “You’ve been called here to be delivered a blow. I don’t want to give this message any more than you’ll want to hear it, but there’s nothing to be done for that now. Come with me.” He turned and swept through the inner room of the suite, and Joel followed at the heels of Hasain and Diddy. They didn’t stop until they reached the entrance to the King’s private bedchamber. The cedar door stood closed, and Joel found himself not wanting to know what lay beyond.
The color had drained from both Hasain’s and Diddy’s faces. The former cleared his throat, voice shaking. “Koal? Is Father in?”
Koal set a hand on the brass handle. He wouldn’t meet their eyes. “Yes.” Without knocking or announcing his arrival, the seneschal opened the door and let them in.
Heart already racing, Joel craned his head and peered inside. He started shuffling forward but stopped dead in his tracks when he saw King Rishi’s slight form sprawled upon the bed. The ruler looked like nothing more than a wisp, with closed eyes and greying hair falling loose from his woven braid. Joel couldn’t remember a time he’d seen the King look so frail. Daya, what’s wrong with him?
Hasain rushed to the bedside, grief distorting his features. “Father?”
King Rishi’s bleary eyes opened entirely too slowly, and he had a difficult time focusing on his son’s stricken face. The corners of his mouth flicked up for the briefest of moments before he had to close his eyes again and rest. “Hasain. Where are your brothers?”
“I’m here, Father.” Diddy’s voice was small as he also approached the bedside. They both reached to touch him.
“Deegan will be brought in shortly,” Koal said. He stood beside the only window, and Joel sucked in a sharp breath of air when he noticed Gib shadowed the seneschal. Heart hammering within Joel’s chest, he chose to stare at the intricate carpet beneath his boots. Everything else in the room felt as though it was off limits.
“What’s happened to him?” Hasain asked through gasps for air. “Why is he so ill?”
“Poison.” Aodan sat to one side of the King while Dahlia sat at the other. Both of their faces were tear trailed and worn. “Someone plotted against him. They’ve won this time.”
Hasain dropped to his knees, weeping into the blanket as he sought his father’s hand. Diddy sat on the foot of the bed, eyes searching but not seeing. “Poison? Is—is he—?”
King Rishi uttered a shallow sigh. “I’m dying.”
Both sons gasped and began to weep. Joel put a hand to his throat. This can’t be happening.
The King pressed on in a labored, slow tone. “Some bastard bested me. It was bound to happen sooner or later—”
“What?” Hasain bleated. “Where are NezReth and Natori? They can help you!”
“No. Marc’s seen to it that I’m not in pain, but there’s nothing more to do.”
From his seat beyond the foot of the bed, Marc made some sort of indiscernible noise. Joel hadn’t even noticed the dean when first entering the room.
Dropping his head, Hasain wailed into the quilted bedspread. King Rishi managed to lift a hand and placed it atop the young lord’s head. “Don’t, Hasain. Don’t cry for me. I’m old and have had a good life. Don’t mourn my death.”
Tears streamed down Diddy’s face. “Don’t ask the impossible of us, Da. What’ll we do without you?”
King Rishi’s face lifted into a smile for a fleeting moment, as though he were enjoying a peaceful dream. “You’re both grown. You’ll need to watch out for Deegan and Gudrin. Keep our family whole.”
Joel bit the inside of his cheek until he tasted blood. He refused to break down here. He’d already been crying for so long, and right now his cousins and aunt needed his support. He needed to be strong for their sake. Sparing a glance at Gib, Joel saw the understudy had a hand on Marc’s shoulder, offering silent comfort of his own.
“There’s not a lot of time. Hasain, I have to give you something.” The King sounded more and more tired with each passing moment. Like sand wisping through an hourglass, his life was slipping away. “It’s an unfair burden, my son, but I have no choice. I’m sorry.”
Koal took up a small box and brought it to Hasain. Joel noted the concentration in his father’s eyes as he held out the chest, and as soon as Hasain took it, Koal retracted his hands and backed away. Joel couldn’t fathom why his father would be so unnerved by such a simple thing as a box but supposed the weight of the moment might be to blame.
The King’s eyes fluttered open, looking straight through Hasain. “Don’t open it now. I wrote a letter some time ago when I knew you were the one I’d give the box to. I’ve explained why I chose you, but—I can never ask enough for your forgiveness. Only know I have no choice. Please know that.” King Rishi’s desperation made Joel wish he could offer reassurance, despite not knowing what was happening.
Hasain mu
st have felt the same way. A trace of confusion flashed behind his dark eyes, but a moment later he took his father’s hand and squeezed it. “I believe you, Da. There’s nothing you could ask of me that I wouldn’t do for you. Worry not about this box or what’s inside.”
King Rishi blinked. “I love you.” His fragile gaze passed over Diddy as well. “Both of you—all of you children—more than I can say. Deegan will be king, but he’ll need guidance and protection. You mustn’t let the crown ever come between you. Just like this box, the crown is an empty promise. It delivers more pain than favor. Your family is the only thing you ever really have in this world.”
Joel wiped at his treacherous eyes. All around him, people wept. His aunt, Marc, Aodan, both Hasain and Diddy—even his father had to keep rubbing tears from his cheeks. The only person who’d managed to maintain his calm was Gib. He stood on the other side of the window, hands clasped in front of him, with a dazed look about him. Was this what it had been like when his father had died? It had been so long since Joel had spoken to Gib that he supposed he’d never be able to ask him.
Gib looked directly at Joel for no longer than a heartbeat before gazing back toward the window, and his heart twisted for an entirely different reason. There’d been a time when he could have mourned King Rishi’s passing with Gib, but no longer. Now he’d have to cry for yet another loss on his own.
A lone knock cut through the stifling air, and Joel twisted his head in the direction of the common room. “Someone’s here.”
Koal was on his feet and out the door before anyone could say another word.
Dahlia brushed back a strand of her husband’s unruly hair. “That may be Deegan, my love.”
“Good. I’m so damned tired.” The King’s words were vapid, completely devoid of life.
Dahlia’s quiet resignation didn’t settle well with Joel. She’d given up. They’d all given up. Where had this poison come from? What did they plan to do to catch the person responsible? Why weren’t there guards out there, right now, searching?
Nightfall: Book Two of the Chronicles of Arden Page 43
