Authors: Kate Sparkes
Ulric turned to look us over. His gaze rested on Rowan, considering her. This Laelana was a woman, and from the way people spoke I thought she was in charge. Showing a strong female presence wouldn’t hurt. It would be a smart move for him to take Rowan inside.
He turned away from her and nodded to me, then strode into the hut. I caught Rowan’s wince at the slight I’d hoped she wouldn’t pick up on, but there was no time for reassurances. I followed my father.
It took a few moments for my eyes to adjust to the darkness inside the windowless building. A few lamps burned on the walls, set mid-way up and sending out smoke that darkened the roof and thickened the air. My eyes watered. Two figures sat at one end of a long table, both wrapped in furs that turned them into indistinct lumps. They rose as we approached, followed by the scar-faced guard.
“Good day, strangers.” A woman’s voice, clear and musical. She stepped forward and lowered her hood—bear-skin, unless I was mistaken.
Ulric smiled at her. “It certainly was until your men decided to relieve us of our horses and belongings. I’m afraid our situation has become somewhat bleak since then. I don’t suppose you could suggest a way we might rectify that?”
Her wide lips returned his smile, but her eyes remained distant as they took him in, then turned to me. She radiated strength and self-assurance, but not magic. I opened myself and sensed no immediate threat. If anything, she was confused about what to do with us. As her gaze traveled over me, taking in my face, my body, and the travel-worn shirt that clung to my chest, I sensed that she was getting ideas. Nothing that would get us to Luid any faster, though.
“I don’t think you really expect to get your horses back,” she said, and turned to her companion. “Goff, what shall we do with our guests?”
He grunted. “Too late to kill ’em, I suppose.”
“Indeed. Or to abandon them on the road, as Jevan should have done. Where is Patience?”
The guard ducked out and closed the door behind him.
Laelana shed her furs and laid them over the table, revealing a lean body and long, blonde hair that glowed in the lamplight. “Where were you bound, strangers?”
Goff drew a long dagger and tapped it against the table. He kept his hood up, but the ugly expression on his heavy-jawed face showed clearly enough.
“Home, my lady,” Ulric said. He made no effort to hide his cultured accent, as though he’d forgotten that these people’s explicitly stated mission was to kill us on sight. Perhaps Jevan had said that for show. He seemed like he was probably full of shit. Still, exposing our identities, even our origin, would be a mistake.
“Tell me,” Ulric continued, “is it true that you work against the usurper?”
Laelana narrowed her eyes. “It’s good that you call him that. Every person in this village has been harmed by him in some way. We’ve seen Sorcerers in our towns taken to Luid under threat of violence, or killed for refusal. We’ve lost family members, friends, and important members of our communities. We’ve fled our homes to escape the punishments for trying to hide the people he wanted to take in.” She gritted her teeth. “Some have lost children, or parents. If you’re friends of his, tread carefully and make peace with your gods now. My husband’s knife is liable to slip.” Malice swirled around the woman, directed at Severn but ready to push her to action against us at the slightest provocation.
Careful, old man.
Ulric raised his hands in front of his chest, open-palmed. “Not at all, dear lady. In fact, we may be interested in aiding you. You’ll not find any among us who would wish to see Severn remain on the throne.”
Goff and Laelana exchanged another glance. “Who are you?” he demanded.
Ulric turned to me, and I shook my head. We couldn’t trust them. Their goals may have been the same as ours, but there was a chance that their animosity extended back further than Severn’s rule. I couldn’t know without probing deeper into their thoughts, and that would alert them to what we were if they had their wits about them. My muscles tensed, ready to flee or to fight.
A slow smile crept across my father’s face, and he turned back to them.
“I am Ulric, the rightful king of Tyrea.”
Goff’s dagger was at Ulric’s throat in an instant.
“Aren, don’t,” my father ordered, before I had a chance to transform and rip the man’s face off.
Laelana stepped in and placed her hand over Goff’s. “Don’t be stupid. Hear him out.”
Goff snarled and held his hand steady.
“Goff!”
The knife dropped, and the brute stepped back. Laelana moved closer again. Her green eyes studied Ulric’s face. “It may be that our interests align, at least temporarily. Tell me, how does sparing your lives benefit us?”
“I can take the throne back,” Ulric said. “But I suspect my son won’t give it up easily. We need support. An army. People who recognize me.”
“Still don’t see what we get out of it,” Goff said.
My father’s smile was somehow both savage and horribly appealing. “Revenge. Your enemy removed from power.” He spoke to Goff, but his attention kept returning to Laelana. “Power and wealth and security, if you earn it. I take care of those who are loyal to me. You may remember.”
Laelana nodded. “Your enemies were never too fond of you, though.”
Ulric shrugged. “As one would expect. But I’m sure I never hurt you as Severn has, and I promise he’ll pay for what he’s done.”
It made no sense that Ulric should seek help here, but I had no way of asking him what he was thinking. For the moment, I acted as though we were in full agreement—or at least, I didn’t let my incredulity show.
Laelana tapped a ragged fingernail against her front teeth. “So the old king lives after all. But we have no army to offer. We have men, women, children. Regular folk.”
Goff rubbed his chin. “Imagine if they trained, though. Imagine them fighting. That bastard in his lovely little city falling.”
Laelana glared at him. “Severn has a proper army under his command. We can’t hope to fight them.”
“Then what kind of rebels are you?” Ulric asked. “Is robbing folks on the road helping depose my son?”
Goff scowled.
“A fair point,” Laelana said, amused by the jab rather than offended. Though Goff seemed open to the idea of fighting, my father would need to win her over if that was truly his plan.
“I will say that we’re grateful for the provisions and the occasional weapons that we acquire,” she continued. “Goff and I will discuss this further.” I reached out to sense her surface thoughts and emotions. She held them close, but I picked up her self-interest. If she helped us, it wouldn’t be for our sake. The keen glint of her eyes revealed something deeper, the seed of a scheme she wasn’t prepared to think through until we were gone. “In the meantime, we’ll find tents for you and your companions. You will be comfortable here.” She glanced at me. “This one doesn’t say much.”
“No,” Ulric said. “But he’s useful.”
The corners of her lips curled upward as she looked me over again. “I bet.”
With a wave of her hand she dismissed us. The guard returned as we headed for the door, hauling Patience into the room by one arm. I looked back to make sure they weren’t going to hurt her, and the girl reassured me with a cocky grin.
At least someone feels confident about all of this.
We stepped out into the sunlight and left Goff’s grumbling behind us.
“That was an interesting approach,” I said.
Ulric rolled his shoulders back and took a deep breath. “One must be adaptable, Aren. On the road it made sense to hide our identities and not use magic to defend ourselves. Even if we’d escaped—and we would have—Severn would have found out and known where we were. But now there’s an advantage to having people behind us, to surround us and take up arms if needed to protect our interests, which align with theirs. Think of it. They’re here, plotting against Severn in their ineffectual way, many of them wanted criminals, and no one has come for them. They’re perfectly hidden. Where would we be safer while we make our plans?”
“I see that.” I chose my words carefully, remembering that my father would not appreciate being contradicted. “But I wouldn’t have trusted those people. They’re desperate and powerless, and Laelana is already making her own plans. It’s a bad combination, and there’s no guarantee of their loyalty.”
My father shook his head. “I wonder if your skills don’t let you see too much sometimes. But you’ll learn.” He frowned, lost in thoughts I didn’t dare interrupt. “We’ll give these people a few days, see what they’re made of, how they feel about me. There may be time to get back and take the throne by law and without a fight, but we must consider other approaches. This is a start.”
“That time must be growing short,” I said. I stopped as an older man approached, cautiously and unthreateningly. Without a word he moved closer, took a hard look at Ulric’s face, and smiled with toothless joy. He reached out with both trembling hands, and Ulric offered one of his own to be clasped tight.
“You’ve returned,” the old man said. “They said you were gone, but I knew you wouldn’t leave us to him.”
Without another word, he left us.
Ulric smiled after him, far more kindly than he ever had at me. That was his way. Beloved king of so many of his people. Ruthless with his enemies. Detached with his family, at best. Strict priorities, never violated.
I decided it didn’t matter. All the better for us if he had support. I cleared my throat to get his attention again. “Surely if we left now and went straight to Luid, informed the right people of your return—”
“Aren.” His voice carried a deep warning, and something else. A hint of anxiety broke through his defenses, faint and sharp as the scent of pine on the breeze. “Not now.”
My chest tightened, and a chill came over my skin as I realized this was about far more than taking advantage of a bad situation, putting potential enemies at ease, or finding his supporters in an unlikely place.
He wants to hide here. But why?
Even if he thought Severn would put up a fight, he still should have felt ready to challenge his oldest son to single magical combat for the throne. Ulric was undefeated against challengers. His ability to drain and use their strength against them meant no one had ever stood a chance, except when he’d been taken by surprise. He should have been charging to Luid, not scurrying for a dark corner.
He had lost his confidence. I just didn’t know why.
I was about to ask him outright about it when Rowan hurried over, followed by the others. “Well?”
“We have a place to sleep, food to eat, and folk willing to join our cause,” Ulric said. “For what any of that is worth. No promises on getting the horses back.”
Nox raised a dark eyebrow. “You don’t think Severn’s going to race out the front gates of the palace and leap into Daddy’s arms when you get back to Luid?”
Ulric gave her a cold, though not disapproving smile. “Not likely. If we can rally these people, I may have an easier time of it. But we need to get them well and truly on our side, and their leaders won’t be much help with that. We have a lot of work ahead of us.” He looked us over. “Aren, I need you with me as much as possible. I need to know what kind of people I’m interacting with, whether they’re liars or flatterers or hollow braggarts. I need their strengths and their weaknesses, and you can feel that out. Use your skills, get deep into their minds.”
“I’ll see what I can do.”
How many times had I heard similar words from Severn? I ignored the feeling of an invisible collar slipping around my neck, ready to direct and control me.
He nodded. “I doubt there’s much magic in the people here, or many who would oppose you as long as you’re subtle about it. Practice your magic in free moments, build any skill you can use against Severn or in battle. And if there’s an opportunity to get close to Laelana, you take it.” His eyes narrowed. “Understand?”
He looked to Rowan, waiting for some objection. Her jaw hardened, and she said nothing.
“I’ll try to be friendly,” was all I promised. This was one order I would not obey, no matter what it cost us.
Ulric turned to Nox. “Your skills will be useful here. Heal them. Help them if you can. Stitch their wounds, remind them that my leadership brings good things. Build them up, make them strong. Share your hatred for Severn.”
Nox squeezed her eyes closed, possibly to keep from rolling them. “I’ll do what I can.”
To the merfolk he said, “Are you with us? You are of course permitted to leave, and you’ll go with my gratitude. But we could use your help.”
Kel didn’t hesitate. “I’m staying,” he said. “We told Aren that we’d see this through. Our elders want Severn deposed as soon as possible.”
And if that’s only the half of it,
I thought as he looked to Nox,
we’ll still take it.
Cassia sighed. “He’s right. We’ll stay until it’s more of a benefit to go.”
“And I thank you,” Ulric said. “I’ve never had the honor of fighting beside a mer, but I’ve heard tales of your people’s bravery and ability. Do you think you can transfer your battle skills from underwater to land?”
Nox opened her mouth to object, but Cassia nodded. “It will take practice, but we’ve found our footing. The rest will follow.”
Ulric nodded his thanks. “We’ll try to keep you out of battle, but it’s best to be prepared. I’ll ask your opinions should we need to plan an attack on the harbor. Also, you know how irresistible your sort can be to humans.”
Kel beamed. Cassia sighed.
“I’m not asking you to do anything unsavory,” he said to them, and I couldn’t hold back a sneer of irritation.
Oh, to be an ally instead of his offspring.
“But the more you can become a part of this village, the more likely the people will be to support me. They may find me and Aren intimidating when they learn who we are, but you can overcome that.”
“No doubt,” Kel said. “Should be interesting.” He actually seemed keen on the prospect, though Cassia clearly didn’t share his enthusiasm.
Ulric turned to Rowan next. She looked up and squared her shoulders, ready for whatever assignment he might give her, whatever training he might challenge her new power with. “Yes?”