Accidental Champion Boxed Set

by Jamie Davis

  “Then my father can come back and save the day, not me. I just want to explore this world and see everything it has to offer.”

  “You don’t want to return home?” Chance asked, leaning forward in his chair to catch her eye.

  She looked away, uncomfortable with the question. She was torn. “Why, do you know how to send me back?”

  “Not me, but I suspect the Empress knows or can find someone who does. That requires you to return to the capital and present yourself to her. She has very fond memories of you toddling about the palace when you were younger. She’ll welcome you with open arms. If anyone can find the magic necessary to send you back home, it is her.”

  Cari considered her options for a long minute while Chance waited in silence.

  “That sounds very nice, I’m sure the Empress would help me return, if I wanted to go. As far as I’m concerned, though, I just got here. I think I’ll wait a while longer before trying to find my way back.”

  “You know, once your father and mother find out you’re missing, they’ll surely come for you. They might already be here.”

  That caught her attention. They would come after her, wouldn’t they? Where were they, though? It had been nearly two months since she’d arrived in Fantasma.

  “If they were coming for me, they’d have been here by now.”

  “I don’t know why they haven’t yet showed up; nevertheless, I believe they will come. You know it, too. You can’t use Fantasma as a way to run away from home, Cari. The things from which you flee can’t be escaped so easily. They are carried within you, no matter where you go. Until you face that, you’ll run forever and never get away.”

  “Nice speech,” Cari said. “You should get a T-shirt made.”

  Chance smiled. “You have the same odd turn of phrase your father had. He used to say the oddest things like that in passing.”

  Cari started to snap a retort back at him. She was nothing like her father. They were interrupted, though, when the serving woman she’d met in her bedroom entered the library.

  “There you are, missy. I have your breakfast here. I had the devil of a time finding you. Luckily, the orc gentleman upstairs in the hallway was happy to tell me where you’d gone.”

  Cari didn’t miss the chastising tone in the woman’s voice. She obviously thought Cari should have remained in bed.

  The woman set the tray of food down on the small table next to her chair. “Make sure you eat your fill. You need your strength back if you insist on gallivanting about the manor after all you’ve been through. I’ll come back and collect the tray later.”

  Cari’s stomach growled as the smell of the food on the tray wafted up to her. The eggs, ham, and small wedge of cheese looked delicious. She leaned forward and dug in with gusto.

  The break in the conversation while she ate served to remind her what had sent her seeking Chance in the first place. She had to tell someone about the Prince’s deception and betrayal of his family.

  “Chance, I know something. It’s something I learned during the Prince’s rescue. It’s disturbing and I need advice on what I should do.”

  “I have an idea where you’re going. Go ahead.”

  Cari struggled for a few seconds, trying to find the right words. “It’s about Timron. He — uh, well, he’s not —”

  “Not the innocent victim he pretends to be?”

  “Yes. How did you know? I mean, do you know about his part in what happened to the rest of the family?”

  Chance nodded. “We’ve long suspected he had some part in all the ‘accidents’ that befell his relatives. We had no proof, but all the signs were there. He was easily the most vulnerable of the royals, and he never requested extra protection even after the accidental deaths started. You’ve seen how he was in the city. If an assassin had wanted him dead, there were numerous opportunities to finish him. Yet despite all that, he survived while others with greater protections died. The dragoons are not idiots, Cari. We could read between the lines. What we lacked was the evidence of his treachery.”

  “So, if I tell you what I learned, that could provide that evidence.”

  “No, now it’s too late. He is the sole heir. Unless another heir is miraculously found, Timron’s protected by the position of Crown Prince. Even if we were to make a charge stick and he were executed for his complicity in the deaths of his family, who would that leave to assume the throne when his grandmother died?”

  “The Duke of Charon,” Cari said.

  “Exactly.”

  “But isn’t the Duke pulling the strings controlling Timron anyway? Won’t it be the same?”

  “Ah, but who sent the assassin here to kill the Prince? It’s obvious he’s been double-crossed somehow. He’ll not be so cozy with the Duke of Charon and his plans anymore, I think.”

  “But that means Timron will be Emperor. That’s got to scare you. He’s a pig. He’ll ruin everything his grandmother has built during her reign.”

  “Hopefully not everything. Besides,” Chance said, shrugging, “we have no other choice.”

  Cari had ventured to the library hoping that wouldn’t be the answer. Now that her hopes were dashed, it spurred the thoughts churning in her head to a new conclusion.

  “If Timron becomes the Emperor, he’ll come for me. He knows who I am, Chance. He’ll want me to become his wife, like he threatened back in the forest. It would lend legitimacy from my family to his ascension to the throne. If I refuse, he’ll think he has no choice. He’ll have to have me killed. Either way, I need to be far away from here.”

  “Running away is rarely the answer, Cari. Where will you go?”

  “I have a few options open to me.”

  “You could remain here. The Duke of Tandon not only owes you a debt for what you’ve done here, his family owes your father a debt as well. He would be honored to give you sanctuary. This is far enough from the capital, he can keep you safe.”

  “I don’t want a protector, Chance. I can take care of myself. I just want to be left alone.”

  “What we want is seldom what we get. There are great forces at play, directing us to make difficult choices. Those choices serve to put us on different paths. That is the question you must ask yourself. Is leaving now the wisest path?”

  “Leaving?” Timron said from the doorway. “Who’s leaving? Surely, you’re not leaving us already, Cari? I heard you’d awakened. I came to deliver my sincerest thanks again for your timely rescue last week. As a sign of my gratitude, I’ve already sent word out about my wish to host a series of feasts in your honor, all across the Empire, as we return overland together to the Crystal City. People need to believe in heroes. You will help me show them real heroes exist.”

  “I’m not going to be your performing monkey, Timron,” Cari retorted. “If you want to go on a cross-country victory tour after all the horrible things you’ve done, you can do it alone.”

  Timron acted like he hadn’t heard a word she said. “To kick it all off, Cari, I’ve asked the Duke to let me throw you a congratulatory dinner here at his manor. It will be a most excellent affair.”

  Cari stood. She had to put an end to this nonsense. Closing her eyes, she placed the back of her hand on her forehead and feigned fatigue.

  “I find I’m tired again and not quite as ready for an extended time out of bed as I thought. I will return to my room and get some more rest. Perhaps in a few days, Prince Timron, I’ll be ready for your dinner. We’ll see.”

  Cari nodded to Chance as she left the room. Between Timron’s announcement and Chance’s advice, she had some tough decisions to make.

  Chapter 37

  The moon rose over the east wing of the manor house later in the night, just becoming visible outside Cari’s bedroom window. The noise of the normal routine in the manor diminished, and Cari waited now for everyone in the main house to fall asleep.

  She sat next to the bed, staring out the window, dressed and ready for travel, her pack loaded with everything she owned h
ere in Fantasma. She’d packed her “bag of holding” with as much as she could scrounge without arousing suspicion. She’d even dumped the bowl of fresh fruit from the table beside the bed into the bag so she would have some food for the journey.

  Cari wanted to talk with Chance some more, but Timron’s announcement of his plans for her to embark on his victory tour made the decision to leave final. If she didn’t get out now, she feared the Prince would find a way to force her to accompany him back to the capital.

  She waited until the moon had passed out of sight through the view from the window then slid her arms into the pack’s straps and opened the bedroom door.

  The outer room of the suite sat empty, with only an oil lamp casting a yellow pool of light in the room’s far corner.

  Cari turned down the lamp, extinguishing it so no light would show when she opened the outer door. After crossing to the exit, she pressed her ear to the cool wood panel and listened for any sound in the hallway on the other side.

  Detecting nothing, Cari opened the door and peered both ways around the door jamb. After entering the deserted hallway, she sought out the servant’s stairs she’d been told lay to the right of her room.

  A few careful questions earlier of her chambermaid had revealed the stairway’s general location. These stairs descended directly to the manor’s kitchen. From there, she could exit into the courtyard.

  Cari almost missed the hidden panel disguising the door to the servant’s staircase. It took long minutes of searching a twenty-foot section of wall until she found the door’s seam hiding behind a section of wood molding. Cari stepped inside the secret passage and pulled the door closed behind her.

  Once on the stairs, she hurried down to the kitchen, where she expected to head directly to the stables. But Liam’s voice from behind her stopped her before she’d gone five steps across the kitchen’s flagstone floor.

  “Going somewhere?” the dragoon sergeant asked. He sat alone at a table, cutting a piece from a wedge of cheese with his dagger and taking a bite.

  “I was —” Cari struggled for an answer that made sense.

  “Come and sit. Have some food with me before you go. The cook leaves some items out for the night caretaker to snack on as he goes about his rounds. There’s plenty for us, too.”

  Knowing she’d failed to hide her plans to leave from him, Cari opted for the seat across from Liam. She pulled it out, turned it around, and straddled it, resting her folded arms on the chair’s back. Liam handed her a slice of cheese which she took with a nod of gratitude. The fresh farm cheese was tangy and delicious.

  He smiled and shook his head. “It seems Chance loses this bet.”

  “What bet?”

  “I told him you’d never stay for the Prince’s banquet for you. Your sense of honor wouldn’t allow you to sit next to him and smile at everyone, knowing everything he’d done to become the heir.”

  “Doesn’t it bother you?” Cari asked. “You’re just like Chance. I don’t understand it. The man sanctioned the deaths of his entire family, Liam. Doesn’t that count for anything?”

  “The stability of the Empire counts for more. A war of succession would kill thousands and create refugees of many more. If the Empress was younger or in better health, I might feel differently. Without another heir, Timron must be our next Emperor.”

  Cari hadn’t considered the effect on the whole Empire. She’d only focused on the apparent unfairness and immorality of it all.

  “You might not be able to avoid a war,” she lamented, “if the Duke of Charon continues his efforts behind the scenes to position himself as a potential choice for Emperor. He’s tried to kill Timron once now. It’s only a matter of time for him to try again.”

  “We can keep the Prince alive, despite his best efforts to endanger himself. The wild card here is the Duke’s activities away from the capital. We suspect he’s behind the raiders striking all along the southern coast. That is why we’ll take the overland route to return to the Crystal City. The imperial navy is too small and spread too thin to stop them or protect us.”

  “I’ve seen proof Charon’s involved with and, at the very least, condones the activities of the senior raider captains. He’s issued letters of marque to them, making them legitimate and supposed assistants in the war against the other raiders.”

  “How did you come by that?”

  “I took one of them from a dead raider captain. That was when I discovered the plot to kill Timron and send an assassin here.” Cari gave a brief account of how she’d become master of the Vengeance.

  “I wondered where you’d go if you left here. It was the one thing casting doubt on my assumption you’d leave. I can’t blame you. If I had my own ship and crew waiting for me, I’d be tempted to bolt as well.”

  Liam leaned forward and cut a larger block of cheese from the wedge on the table. He handed it to her.

  “Take this for your journey, along with a request.”

  “That is?”

  “Keep your eyes open out there on the high seas. There are rumors floating around that there is a survivor of the shipwreck that killed Prince Timron’s older brother and his entire family.”

  “That’s important because…?”

  “If that survivor exists and they are of imperial blood, they would have precedence over Timron for the crown, but only if they’re presented before the coronation.”

  “I’ll not make any promises, Liam. I’m inclined to stay as far away from the Prince as possible. I’m finished being the hero. The last time I tried to rescue the Empire, it nearly killed me, and all I did in the end was save a man with complicity in mass murder.”

  Cari tucked the cheese into her pack, then she stood.

  “Thank you for the cheese. Good luck with the Prince. I hope he turns out better than I fear he’ll be. Don’t let you or the others get yourselves killed protecting him.”

  Liam stood as well. He reached out to clasp wrists with Cari.

  “Farewell, Cari Dix. I hope you find that for which you seek.”

  “Me, too.”

  Cari left Liam in the kitchen and headed out to the stables. It was time to return to Tandon and the Vengeance.

  Cari stood on the Vengeance’s quarterdeck while the deck crew hoisted the cargo net up from the dock and lowered it into the ship’s hold. The netting was filled with casks of vintage wine from the hills around the city. Mr. Bowcott and Mr. Dawkins had been busy since her departure, and the hold was nearly full of goods ready for delivery to other ports farther to the east.

  At first, she’d worried they wouldn’t be happy to see her return. Their heartfelt congratulations on her actions to the north and the welcome toast they’d shared with the whole crew banished those thoughts. Cari was a little embarrassed by the cheers and attention she’d received from the crew.

  The tales spread about her by the bards and troubadours in the taverns around the city had been further embellished beyond what Timron had told them when he commissioned the original ballads. After she heard the first one on her return to the city, she’d blushed with embarrassment and hurried out of the tavern and back to the ship.

  “That’s the last of the wine, ma’am,” Mr. Bowcott said. “We’ll be ready to cast off within the hour. Do you have the heading worked out once we clear the harbor?”

  “I was just getting ready to head down to my cabin to check the charts one last time. I’ll have it for you shortly. Ready the ship to cast off.”

  “Aye, ma’am.”

  Cari left the duty to the first mate and the bosun and retired to her cabin to look over her planned route one more time. She’d laid out a course that hugged the coast, even though that put them in danger of running into more raiders along the way. That was fine with her. It was time the raider captains learned to fear the Dread Raider Cari.

  It took her almost an hour to review all her calculations and check the charts to be sure. A knock at the cabin door interrupted her just as she finished the final entry
in the day’s log. The course was set, and they were ready to head out of the harbor.

  “Yes?”

  Percy poked his head around the door. “Ma’am. Two gentlemen are here. They both claim to know you, and both wish to enlist and join the crew.”

  Cari wrinkled her brow in confusion. She could use a few more good crew members but wondered who they could be, and claiming to know her, too.

  “Show them in, Percy.” Cari stood to await these new arrivals.

  The door swung open all the way, revealing Stefan and Rodrigo standing in the passageway. Once again, they jostled with each other to enter at the same time. Eventually, they sorted it out and stood before the captain’s table.

  “You two? I should have guessed. You both wish to join this crew, with me as captain?”

  The two glanced at each other once then nodded.

  “Explain to me why I should take you on. I know for a fact neither of you has any experience as a sailor.”

  They shared an awkward glance back and forth, then Rodrigo spoke up, shooting Percy a sideways glance.

  “Um, a particular trio of mutual friends suggested you might wish to have a pair of reliable companions on your travels. We know our experience at sea is limited, but we believe you could use a few more experienced swordsmen in your crew.”

  “If you’ll have us,” Stefan added.

  Cari considered having the two of them tossed off the ship. Keeping them aboard could cause some issues, especially if they continued vying for her attention. Rodrigo wasn’t wrong, though. She was heading out, looking for trouble. When she found the first raider ship, having these two by her side would give her a definite advantage when it came to boarding another vessel and facing an experienced raider crew.

  “Very well, but there will be no hint of familiarity based on our past acquaintance from either of you. Do you understand?”

  Both men nodded.

  “The correct response is, ‘Aye, ma’am.’”