Authors: Kate Sparkes
Ulric showed no sign that this news surprised him. He backed his horse up, and the rest of us did the same. “I’ll remember your name, Hairy Hal, and I promise I won’t forget that face. Pray we don’t meet again.”
Hal spit over the edge of the roof. “I don’t think we will. Gentlemen?”
We didn’t waste any time in turning the horses. Kel’s was last to obey, and took an arrow to the chest and one to the neck. It crashed to the ground, thrashing, with Kel’s leg trapped under it. “Go!” Kel yelled.
I turned back and put my horse between him and the arrows, which now arced over our heads toward the king. “Come on!”
He grunted as he pulled his leg free and climbed to his feet. I offered a hand up and had the horse in motion before he was properly seated.
Griselda’s horse shrieked as he took an arrow in the rump, but kept running.
We didn’t stop until we were far from the building and it became clear that they weren’t following us.
“So there it is,” Ulric said, and dragged his hands through his hair.
The gesture would have been commonplace on anyone else. On him, always so composed and controlled, it shouted his distress.
“You expected otherwise?” I asked.
“No, but there was the possibility that he would respect our traditions and laws. I expected a little more time, at least.”
“How can he do that?” I asked. “Aren was certain you had until summer.”
Ulric’s brow creased. “If he has convinced his council that they’re facing war or a great threat, they may have moved to solidify his power early. It’s a security measure.”
“So there’s no way to reverse that?” Kel asked, and rubbed a knot out of his thigh.
“I think not,” Ulric said. “Not while Severn lives. The only thing I’m certain of is that Laelana’s people are no longer needed. Their recognition and support mean nothing if I can’t assert my legal right to the throne. From here out, they’re a danger and a distraction.”
Griselda dismounted and looked over her horse. “We’ll come with you. There must be a way the true king can return, especially after what Severn did to you. Some law—”
Ulric sighed. “Beaumage, you seem convinced that the letter of the law is the only way I’ll reclaim my throne.”
She looked evenly at him. “Your power’s not what it was, sire. I can’t say I knew you well when I stayed in Luid, but I met you enough times to know your behavior has changed. I would appreciate complete honesty in this, if I’m to be a part of your temporary council.” She spoke respectfully, but her expression said she was in no mood for an argument.
“You can be on it permanently if you help me get my throne back,” he said. “Very well, we carry on without the others. I can’t say what Severn will throw at us when we arrive, but it’s nothing they’re prepared to fight against. Beaumage, if you would be so kind as to gather your men to join us. Tell Laelana I thank her for their service, and their rewards will come.”
I wondered about that. They’d done nothing of practical value, except to bolster Ulric’s confidence slightly after he’d lost everything. Perhaps, to him, that was enough.
Apparently deciding her horse was fit to ride in spite of the arrow sticking out of his wide arse, Griselda re-mounted and rode off.
Thunder rumbled overhead like the hoofbeats of a thousand war horses.
“Aren will be back soon,” I said. “He can challenge Severn if you can’t.”
Kel’s hands tightened at my waist.
Ulric sighed. “He can’t. No matter what angle I look at this from, I keep reaching the conclusion that Severn has planned this too well. He’s now within his legal rights to refuse challengers, as security and stability are considered paramount in times of war. It’s how my grandfather held power for so long.”
“Something tells me Severn will want to have it out with Aren,” I said. “End that threat once and for all, if he has a chance. Aren is strong enough to fight him.” The thought nauseated me, knowing how badly Aren didn’t want that.
But he could.
“I know,” Ulric said. “But, and I admit that this is partially my fault, Aren allowed Severn to direct his gifts and his schooling. Severn made him focus on mind-control, even though it may have cost Aren in the development of other skills. But he didn’t give that order until he knew he was safe from it. He made Aren into a weapon that couldn’t be turned against its master.”
“What about Aren’s other skills?” I asked.
“If Severn knows of them, he’ll have found ways to defend himself,” Ulric replied. “I’d wager he’s been training against eagles for as long as he’s known about that trick. And if he used that, Aren would put himself at a disadvantage if he wanted to change back. Anything else he can do is a minor gift. That, or unpracticed and therefore as much a threat to him as it would be to Severn. If he had years to practice, yes, he would have a good chance. It’s not strength he’s lacking, it’s breadth of skill. There’s a reason most kings don’t take the throne when we’re young. It might take a century to master skills that don’t come naturally to us.”
“And there’s the pain,” Kel offered, speaking softly.
“Pardon?”
Kel took a deep breath before speaking again. “I think it shames Aren. He doesn’t often speak of it. You knew how badly Severn once injured him?”
“I do,” Ulric said. “He nearly died. Most would have.”
“Well, the scar runs deeper than what shows on his flesh. Severn can bring him pain—deep, physical pain that goes far beyond what most of us have ever felt. There’s some connection there that I don’t quite understand. All I know is that Aren hasn’t found a way to stop it. I don’t even know whether there’s a limit to it, whether it might kill him.”
Ulric nodded. “Thank you. That seals it. It’s down to me.”
Kel looked away, apparently ashamed for sharing a secret to protect his friend.
We got the horses moving toward the town as a light drizzle misted over the road. “I might be able to help him block the pain,” I said. “With the right ingredients, and with Mama Bunn’s help—”
“No.” Ulric spoke firmly, but not unkindly. “I have no doubt that you could, but the law strictly prohibits outside interference in a confrontation for the throne, if Severn even allowed Aren to challenge him. It’s Sorcerer against Sorcerer, bound by strict rules and observed by many witnesses. May the strongest win.”
“But Severn already cheated!” I spoke louder than I’d meant to. A crow squawked back from the trees beside us. “He had outside help getting rid of you. He’s denying you your right as current and living king to take the throne back, and is therefore breaking the law. He’s obviously willing to use force if he has to. How is it wrong for you to use the advantages you have? Or for Aren to use his? For that matter, what’s to stop us simply attempting an assassination?”
Kel placed a calming hand against my ribs. I slowed my breathing, and my heartbeat followed.
“The law means nothing if we disregard it,” Ulric said.
“Damn the law! We’re in the right, here.”
Ulric’s jaw tightened. “We will consider your offer, Nox. Thank you.” He rode ahead of us to meet the Sorcerers as they approached.
I leaned back against Kel. “He doubts his right to the throne,” Kel said, speaking so softly that I had to strain to hear even with his mouth next to my ear.
“He can’t.”
“He does. I might not see into people like Aren does, but I do have my skills.” I remembered how he’d judged me worthwhile when anyone else would have walked away, and nodded. “What I sensed in him didn’t add up until he started talking about the law. According to it, the strongest Sorcerer is entitled to the throne. He isn’t the strongest anymore.”
I sat up straight and urged the horse forward. We followed the others off the road and into the woods.
“Then we build him back up so he is,” I said through gritted teeth, “or we find another way. If he won’t cheat, I will.”
25
NOX
A
fter Griselda returned with uninjured horses for Kel and herself, our small group left Laelana’s people behind quickly. It sounded like Goff hadn’t been too pleased about losing his chance at glory, but we couldn’t worry about that. We rode without speaking, making our way through the thick, dark forest. Gwyn, the little winged cat, alternated between soaring overhead and perching on the saddle behind her mistress.
Qurwin was an accomplished scout and woodsman who used magic to choose our route, avoiding natural obstacles. The ground beneath the horses’ hooves remained uneven and they couldn’t move much faster than a quick walk, but with no false steps and no need to detour around unexpected obstacles, we might as well have been on the open road.
All of the Sorcerers carried their camp gear with them, as they had for the entire journey. They’d insisted from the beginning on keeping their food and gear separate from everyone else’s, and had not accepted offers to lighten their loads by letting others carry their packs in the carts.
“It wasn’t anything against those people,” Griselda explained to me. “We just needed to be able to get away quickly should the need arise.”
“As it did,” I said, and she smiled.
“This is not the first time we’ve done something like this. Our governor has sent many of us out on diplomatic missions before, usually to Tyrea, but occasionally overseas. We behave ourselves, respect customs, try to learn what we can, and fit in with cultures and species that are not our own. But we do not become a part of them. Our first loyalty is always to Belleisle.”
Ulric fell back to ride beside Griselda. “You did well enough in Tyrea when I held the throne.”
“You made us comfortable and never threatened our safety,” she said. “I can’t say quite the same for Severn. I went back alone the last time. He followed customs, never made me feel that I was a prisoner, spoke respectfully when we met.” Her eyes took on a distant look. “But I always felt threatened in his presence, though I couldn’t say why. I left when he sailed for Belleisle. He took only his personal vessel, and wasn’t planning an attack. But his presence near the island was a threat, and I didn’t trust that I was safe in Luid. If I’d stayed—”
“Then you wouldn’t be able to help us,” Ulric said. “I suspect you would be a prisoner by now, in practical terms if not officially.”
“Perhaps.”
“Were you there when Aren defected?” I asked. He’d never said much about leaving, but I knew Severn’s reaction hadn’t been pretty.
“I was,” she said softly. “Aren was almost never around before then, always doing one thing or another for Severn. Him disappearing was nothing new, or cause for concern. And Severn never let me in on what was happening. We rarely spoke.” She looked up into the treetops, deep in thought. “I heard things, of course. That Aren had really disappeared this time, that Severn feared him captured or dead, and seemed to be losing his mind over it.”
“He was that worried about Aren?” I asked. “I didn’t realize he cared.”
Ulric snorted. “If he’d sent Aren to Darmid, I’d say he was more concerned that they’d captured him and Aren had found me in the prisons. That would have been dangerous.”
“Indeed,” Griselda agreed. “So then people claimed to have seen Aren, and said he and Severn left with a few men but no word of where they had gone. A few days later the entire palace was living in fear of Severn’s temper. Not that it was level at the best of times, but in those days the servants feared beheadings if his tea was cold, and his advisers dreaded banishment if they spoke too loudly in his presence. Severn disappeared frequently on that flying horse of his, and apparently wouldn’t even tell Dan where he was going.”
“Dan?” I asked.
Ulric chuckled. “One of your brothers, Nox. Never one to draw attention to himself. I suspect that’s how he’s survived this long with Severn.”
“He’s Severn’s second now,” Griselda added. “He should know absolutely everything. He acts like he does, but I had my doubts. No one ever seemed entirely clear on what had happened. They held Aren’s trial in secret and convicted him of treason, and orders went out that if anyone saw him they were to turn him in.”
“Rewards?” I asked.
“Rewards, and threats against anyone who didn’t comply. And then one day we stopped seeing Severn. He was there, but only Dan, his Potioner Sara, and a handful of doctors were allowed to see him. The curtains to his rooms were always drawn, and everyone was afraid to even speak of him. I don’t know whether he’s appeared in public since then. I learned later from Ernis Albion what happened when Severn caught Aren and Rowan, and she released her magic. I don’t know how Severn survived that. She’s a powerful force, that one.”
Ulric nodded, but looked troubled.
“Shame that he did survive,” I muttered, and wondered how bad things might still be. Was Severn hiding because he was weak and didn’t want word to get out? Aren had said our brother looked ghastly when he last saw him, but that Severn had claimed to be recovering quickly.
Maybe that means Ulric might...
No. That had only been Severn’s physical appearance. Aren had felt his magic and found it effective, if not fully recovered.
I wondered about this Sara person. How was she aiding his recovery?
That set me to rifling through the ideas I’d scribbled in my mind, thoughts on the angles, the possibilities, the ways I might make a potion work to help Ulric. I kept returning to the fact that a Potioner in Luid would have access to far more ingredients, information, and resources. If only I could have those, just for a day.
It was hours before I realized that Kel had hardly spoken.
“You okay?” I asked.
“Not great,” he admitted. “Surviving. Holding out hope that we’re going to find a lake or a good river soon.”
I left him and rode up next to Qurwin. “Any water near here?” I asked.
He slowed his horse and looked around. “Not directly on our route, but there’s something to the west a ways. A little too far out to camp there, though.”
No, Ulric wouldn’t be pleased if we strayed from the path he’d set in his mind, or if Kel and I went off on our own when we might lose them.