Authors: Kate Sparkes
He approves of her,
I realized. He didn’t respect her, but he was having fun. As much as I thought he could, anyway.
“I believe I have more with me than you do.”
Laelana’s smile widened, showing off one long and crooked side-tooth that gave her a predatory look. “For now.”
Ulric appeared unimpressed. “Are you expecting company?”
I forced myself to eat as I listened, though I hardly tasted the mush. Aren kept a sharp eye on Laelana, monitoring her, ready for any thoughts that came close enough to the surface that he could catch them without prying.
She grinned wider still and looked over Ulric’s shoulder as someone shouted outside of the tent. “I
have
company,” she corrected, and moved in long strides toward the door.
“Well?” Ulric asked, turning to his son. “What did you learn?”
Aren scraped his spoon against the bottom of his bowl and licked it clean. “She has a plan. She’s pleased about it. Feels she has leverage to use against you if you try to take over her people.”
“Pah. I could have told you that.”
“She’s guarded. Not by magic, but she’s heard rumors of what I can do, and she’s waiting for me to try something. I’m not going to use my magic in any way that will turn our allies against us.”
“Seeing thoughts is not the same as changing them. You’d do no harm.”
“She’d know I was looking.”
Ulric snorted. “I guarantee she wants you to. I’m sure she’d show you a few things. Do try harder next time.”
“Or,” I said, and they both looked at me. I got the feeling they kept forgetting I was there.
Speak up, dummy.
“Or we could just go out there and see what’s happening. I don’t think it’s much of a secret anymore, and it’ll be more useful than speculating.”
Ulric strode toward the door.
“He’s a lovely fellow to work with,” I said as we followed.
“Even better than I remembered.”
We dropped our dishes in the woven baskets near the door with the others, and were greeted by a wall of bodies outside the tent. People closest to us craned their necks to see over the ones in front. Aren took my hand and picked his way through the crowd, which parted before him though no one noticed us until we’d passed.
Five riders on sturdy horses had stopped at the other side of the square. Their leader had her head down, speaking with Laelana, who was grinning like a cat that had caught a bird.
A beautiful, olive-skinned, blonde bird.
I gasped. “Griselda!”
Aren looked at me with raised eyebrows. “You know her?”
“She came back to Belleisle just after you left. It was her idea for me to work on illusions. I didn’t mention that?”
He arranged his features into their usual neutral mask. “No, I don’t think you did.” He hesitated. “She didn’t say anything about me, did she?”
“She said it wouldn’t be right to talk about you when—Oh.” Suddenly her desire to not talk about what Aren had been like in Luid made more sense.
He grimaced. “It was before I met you.”
“Of course. It’s just a little...it’s fine. This isn’t weird.”
“It’s not. Trust me.” He offered a warm smile, which I couldn’t help returning. It didn’t change anything. His history with Cassia hadn’t caused problems, and this wouldn’t either. And Griselda would be a great help to us.
I ignored the jealousy that twisted at my gut.
Ulric reached them before Aren or I did. Griselda spotted him and sat up straight, her mouth opening in surprise. She swung to the ground, revealing a small, furry, black lump seated on the saddle behind her. The lump—a cat, as it turned out—arched its back in a high stretch and spread its feathered wings, which were also black as soot. It shot us a haughty glance and flew up to perch on a low tree branch.
“Your Highness,” Griselda said with a delighted grin. “This is a wonderful surprise.”
Before he could respond, she looked past him toward me and Aren. Her hand flew to her mouth. “Laelana, you didn’t say.”
Griselda took a step toward us, but caught the narrowing of Ulric’s eyes and paused. She had enough experience with the man to read him better than I was able to.
“They only arrived yesterday,” Laelana said. “Looking for help to get the king back to his throne.”
Griselda grinned again and turned back to her companions, three men who looked utterly bewildered. “Gentlemen, we’ve had a change in plans.”
Aren stepped closer to Ulric. “What was that about Albion not caring enough to send help?”
Ulric frowned. “Help for these rebels. Not for us.”
“It works out to be the same now,” Aren replied.
Ulric crossed his arms. “We’ll see.”
“Hold on,” Laelana shot a glare at Ulric. “Ms. Beaumage, we need to discuss this before we involve him. I haven’t yet decided what’s happening with this lot.”
The ground beneath us shifted. A subtle tremor, to be sure, but the people fell silent at the deep rumbling, and a small child cried out as he lost his balance and fell on his bottom. The crowd dispersed, suddenly remembering things they needed to do elsewhere.
Laelana’s lips pulled back in a silent hiss, unappreciative of Ulric’s reminder of his power. Though I hadn’t seen further evidence of it since he’d opened the earth to swallow several men at the border, I suspected he could level Laelana’s village if he so chose.
She had strength of numbers. He had strength of magic, especially if the Belleisle folk joined us.
Griselda laid a hand on Laelana’s arm. “Of course, we must speak privately.” She offered an apologetic glance to me and Aren, then spoke to Ulric. “I’m so pleased to see you are well, sire. The governor and Albion sent us to assess the situation here and see what could be done about the threat Severn presents to the island, as well as to the people of Tyrea.”
“With the promise of more magic-users to come.” Laelana grinned.
“With the
possibility
of more,” Griselda said gently. “If you’ll excuse me, sire, I’ll speak to you after I’ve met with Laelana and Goff.”
I wondered whether he would try to stop her. She wasn’t his subject, but this was still technically his land, even if Severn was ruling it. And what of the rebels? His subjects, but Laelana seemed comfortable testing him, knowing that the power balance in the village still favored her. I knew so little about politics and how things worked in Tyrea.
But I could listen, and I could learn. Aren would answer my questions when we were alone, when I wouldn’t feel foolish asking them in front of Ulric.
“Aren, come,” Ulric ordered, and stalked back through camp. Aren followed at a more casual pace, but Griselda held onto my shirtsleeve and kept me back.
“Good luck with those two, Sorchere,” she said with a wink, and released me. “You and I will talk, as well. We’ve been so worried about you and Aren. You must tell me everything.”
“I will,” I said, and wondered whether that was the right response. Ulric already didn’t trust me. I was fond of Griselda. She was my favourite teacher by far, and I trusted her. But maybe
everything
wasn’t exactly what I should share. I no longer knew who I should trust.
She turned to the trees and made a puckering noise, and the flying cat soared down to perch on her shoulder. “I don’t believe you met Gwyn back at the school. She tends to keep to herself.”
I held out a hand and smiled at the cat, but didn’t make eye contact in case she didn’t like it. She sniffed my fingers, tickling them with her long whiskers, then sat and began washing her face.
“We’ll talk later,” I told Griselda. “The others are waiting for me.”
“Of course.” I couldn’t tell whether her tight smile was amused, or whether that was a hint of suspicion I spotted. “Later.”
I turned and hurried after Ulric and Aren, determined to not be forgotten.
6
AREN
“
C
atch anything useful that time?” my father asked, speaking over his shoulder as we moved away from the crowd. His skin had gone pale, and a faint sheen of sweat coated his forehead. I pretended I didn’t notice, and didn’t answer until he stopped and I caught up, just as Rowan joined us.
“Laelana has little interest in seeing you back on the throne,” I said. She’d been more open in her excitement, and I’d slipped deeper into her thoughts. “Her chief goal is to see Severn deposed, but putting you back on the throne isn’t the resolution she had planned.”
“Obviously. Everyone thought I was dead. But even now, knowing I’m alive and capable?”
“She’s considering her options. She thinks you’re better than Severn, but not necessarily ideal.”
Ulric’s lips pressed together into a tight line. “And is that your opinion as well?”
I chose not to answer that. “I don’t think Laelana knows what she wants, exactly. Just that Severn’s not it.”
“And that’s why she doesn’t deserve to lead these people,” Ulric said, speaking to himself as much as to me, and I thought not at all to Rowan. “Clear goals and an unwavering path toward them are what’s needed. No faltering. No distractions.”
He turned to Rowan with a stony glare, then nodded slightly as though confirming something to himself. “I’ll speak to Aren alone now. Go about your assignment.”
She held his gaze for a moment, then looked away. “I’ll be making friends in the kitchen.” She left us, and Ulric turned to walk in the opposite direction.
“You’re cutting off a potentially powerful ally,” I reminded him.
He turned to watch her disappear into the kitchen tent, wearing a far less pleasant expression than I ever did when I watched her leave.
“At least she has the sense to respect me,” he said, ignoring my words completely.
“She doesn’t respect you,” I said quietly, and he turned. “She fears you.”
“Is that so?”
“She saw the joy you found in killing a handful of prison guards with nothing more than a wave of your hand, how you fought your way through a dozen more in the city. She knows what you can do to people. I’d say her caution is warranted.”
He turned to me with narrowed eyes. “Yet you suddenly find it in yourself to speak disrespectfully and second-guess my every decision. Why is that?”
I pushed down the instinctive, childish fear that his glare still called up when he turned it on me. “Things have changed. Besides, you taught me that to show fear is to show weakness. I’d say you should be pleased.”
He snorted derisively. “At least you learned one of the lessons I tried to teach you. Not the most important one, though.”
I didn’t have to ask what he meant. My father had virtually ignored me throughout my youth, but he’d taught me a few things. Fear, regret, and love were all weakness, and if we couldn’t keep from experiencing them, we could at least keep them to ourselves. I’d known my relationship with Rowan would horrify him. I just hadn’t particularly cared.
“Aren, part of wisdom is understanding the difference between immediate and important.” He paused to take a shuddering breath, then continued as though nothing had happened. “Right now, Rowan could be an asset. She could train, learn to control her magic better, fight with us. But if she survives that, she’ll be a threat. The effect she’ll have on your life will be disastrous, and that’s only the barest beginnings of the problem.”
I followed him into the woods, leaving the sounds and smells of camp behind us. “Rowan is nothing if not loyal. If you’d just—”
The toe of Ulric’s boot caught on a log as he stepped over it, and he lurched forward. Without thinking, I reached out to steady him.
“Leave me,” he snapped, and ripped his arm from my grasp. He leaned back against an ancient oak and turned his face to the sky.
I watched from a distance—out of his arm’s reach, if not his magic’s. He caught his breath and recovered quickly, but not quickly enough to hide much from me. He looked ill. Worse, he looked
normal.
This was why he hadn’t helped me extinguish the fire. I flexed the fingers of my left hand, where the skin had healed but remained stiff and tight. My skin prickled at the realization that this went far deeper than I’d suspected. He wanted us to think we’d kept our magic hidden in order to win the trust of these people, that everything had played into his hands, but that was a lie. He’d disguised it well, but Ulric’s magic was either failing or hurting him. And a man with weak magic couldn’t rule Tyrea. Not for long, rightful king or no.
If his magic was weak, our plan had already failed.
“Are you going to tell me what’s wrong now?” I asked, offering no sympathy in my voice.
“There’s nothing wrong with me,” he snapped, then took a deep breath to regain his composure. “Just been a little off since prison. I’m still recovering. I shouldn’t have let my temper loose back there.” He pushed away from the tree, straightened his clothing, and squared his shoulders. “You’re going to end things with her now. I’ve arranged for you to move into a tent next to mine.”
My shoulders tensed, and I fought the urge to clench my hands into fists. His order didn’t trouble me. There was no question of me obeying him, not when losing her would cost me so much. What angered me was the assumption that I would slip back into my old habits of obedience so easily, that I would follow his orders as I had Severn’s for so long.
“I will do no such thing,” I said, keeping my voice low. I crossed my arms and hoped I was projecting confidence rather than the cold fear that filled me when he stepped toward me, his magic thick in the air, ready to strike. Even pale and ill, the man carried an air of danger and destructive power with him.
“Don’t defy me, Aren. Not now. Not with so much at stake, with the fates of three countries at risk if Severn keeps the throne. Now is not the time to question me.”
“No?” I refused to step back, even as he glared at me, lip curled. “Someone has to question you. Nothing about what we’re doing here makes sense. If you feel so much is at stake, why are we wasting our time with these people? We could be on our way to Luid. You could challenge him, steal his strength, and be done with it. The only reason he didn’t just challenge you in the first place is because he knew he couldn’t overcome that. Give me a reason for your hesitation. Tell me why we need these people, and why you’re so concerned with my personal affairs.”