Kindle the Flame (Heart of a Dragon Book 1) (28 page)

Cedric ran until he stopped at a door on the right side of the passageway and tugged on a brass ring. “This way, Rickard.” Cedric led the way, down, down a case of spiraling stairs. Ayden could hear moans, and a foul stench tainted the air. He wished they could start this day over again. What different decisions might they have made if they had known what the events of the day would bring?

Cedric searched the shadows of the cell block. Four hallways down, they finally found them.

“Ay—Rickard!”

“Kinna.” Ayden's voice choked as he saw her flame-red hair through the bars. He rushed forward, stooping to where she huddled on the ground. “It's freezing in here. Where's your mantle?”

“They took it when they threw us in here.” She glanced down at her shoulder and shrugged. “I don't have a mark...”

“I know, I heard.”

“How did you hear?” Her wide green eyes searched his face.

Cedric interrupted. “He overheard the message brought to me.” He squatted down next to Ayden, and Ayden instinctively shied away, afraid of contact. “Kinna, I must know, you are from the Pixie Clan. How long have you had this Pixie as your companion?” He motioned to Lincoln, who stood in the shadows of his cell and watched them with gleaming eyes.

“Lincoln?” Kinna swiveled her head to glance at Lincoln. “Since ... late autumn. He traveled with me when I left the Clan.”

“I see.” Cedric nodded. “So you were aware that he was a Seer Fey? A guardian?” He motioned to the symbol that hung from the chain around the Pixie's neck.

“A what?” Ayden's gaze jerked from Cedric to Lincoln and he stood. “Guardian of what?”

Lincoln refused to answer. Kinna stood, too. “He guards me, but that's all he will admit. He won't tell me why or for how long.”

“How did you know?” Pain shot into Ayden's temples from his tightly clenched jaw. His eyes bored into Cedric's face, and the auburn-haired Dragon-Master flushed.

“His necklace bears the symbol of the Seer Fey,” Cedric answered.

“A lot of good it did,” Lincoln growled. “Here we sit in the King's dungeon, caged on a King's whim.”

“Lincoln, it wasn't your fault—” Kinna began.

“I shoulder the blame, and I will answer for it. In the meantime, Dragon-Master, are you going to seek an audience with the King to try to release us?”

Cedric shook his head, and Ayden spoke quietly. “Who is Julian, Kinna?”

Kinna colored to the tips of her hair, but when she answered, her voice was quite steady. “He was a good friend from the Pixie Clan. Why? He's here, isn't he? For the Tournament. Did you see him?”

“Aye, he's here, and we met him. He is taking your case to the King at this present moment. He seemed to think it would be important that you know he's ‘keeping you safe.’” Ayden snorted.

But Kinna sagged in relief. “If anyone can talk the King into anything, it will be Julian. His tongue is lined with silver.”

Ayden glowered. He could read her attachment to the dark Pixiedimn upstairs as plainly as if it were written in the dirt before him.

He straightened to his full height. Questions spilled from Kinna's eyes as he turned to Cedric.

“I have to go check on Chennuh again. If the King does indeed want him so badly, I must stay with him to be sure he is safe and to make certain he harms none of the Dimn.” He flicked his gaze toward Kinna again. “I'm sure that you will soon be out; your Julian will strike a deal with the King.”

“Aye,” she said softly as he turned away. “But, Rickard...”

He paused, his gaze on the far door.

When she spoke again, a tremor wavered through her voice. “I know there is little reason to assume this, but ... the King seems so—changeable. When I told him my name, he—I saw hatred in his eyes, I know I did. Will you—will Julian be able to strike a deal while facing such virulent anger?”

Ayden forced a deep breath through his lungs, pushed the air back out. “I don't know.” He put one foot in front of the other, keeping his back stiff and straight as he stepped into the stairwell.

U
nder the cover
of checking on Chennuh, Ayden followed twisting passageways through the bowels of the palace, searching desperately for the secret room Helga had told him about. He had to know where it was to carry out his plan, but after so many stone passageways, he was losing his sense of direction.

He twisted around a staircase, his steps treading lightly on the tomb-cold floor. At the foot of the stairs, he stopped short.

A woman stood not three lengths away, her mahogany hair cascading over her shoulders, her arms wrapped tightly across her chest.

Ayden said nothing; he couldn't tell if this woman would shout for the guards, but it didn't seem likely. Something in her posture pleaded with him.

“You are the one who came with the Dragon, are you not?” Her voice was low and silky, her dark eyes black wells of pain.

“One of them,” Ayden said warily. “Who are you?”

“My name is Selena. I know why you're here.”

Ayden kept his expression neutral. “Aye, for the Tournament.”

“Nay.” Selena shook her head, her face hardening for a moment. “Don't toy with me, Ayden of the Dragon Clan. I am a Seer Fey, and you have no hope of deceiving me. Come, I will show you the place you seek.”

Ayden hesitated as she turned on silent feet and continued up the passageway. After a moment he followed. Through two more doors and down another spiraling staircase, down, down, he followed her until she stopped outside of a heavy oak door.

She turned back to him. “If you would be so kind, I would ask a favor of you.”

Confused thoughts battered Ayden's mind. “What favor?”

Selena reached in the folds of her gown and retrieved a small parchment. “When you are ready to do what you've come to do, make sure Sebastian gets this.”

Ayden reached for it, hesitating before finally clasping the parchment in his glove. It was furled into a spiral with no sign of a wax seal. Ayden lifted his gaze to Selena's. “An open letter?”

“Aye. I want you to feel free to read it. It will make everything clear.”

Ayden fingered the edge of the parchment. “Why are you doing this?”

Shimmering liquid rimmed her dark eyes. “Because there is pain that is worse than death, Ayden of the Dragon Clan.” Slowly, deliberately, she moved close to him. By the time Ayden realized what her intentions were, it was too late.

She trailed her fingers across his cheek in a shocking, soft touch.

With a sharp cry, he tried to catch her body as the gray cracks raced along her skin, but there was nothing he could do. Ash rained in a curtain of death over his gloves to fall in a heap on the stone floor.

Ayden collapsed against the wall, buried his face in his knees and covered his head with his ash-flaked sleeves.

C
edric turned
the last corner of the dungeon. He angled toward the stairs ahead.

“Liam.”

The name rang across the hallway, garbled, indistinct. Cedric paused, glancing into the deep shadows of the cell to his left.

“Liam, it's you.”

A quavering hand grasped the iron bar that caged the creature from the hallway. Cedric stepped closer, narrowing his eyes as he strained to see.

“You're mistaken. My name is Cedric. I am Dragon-Master here at the Palace.”

A man's face moved forward into the trembling torchlight, and Cedric stumbled back a step. It could hardly be called a face. Jagged rips in the man's flesh hung crusted and oozing from his profile. Cedric could see through a hole in the man's cheek to his tongue in his mouth.

Cedric swallowed the bile that rose in his throat. The man stared at him, squinting in the light. “I thought I'd never see you again.”

Cedric took a deep breath. “I'm sorry, old man. As I say, my name is not Liam.” He turned to continue down the hall, pity writhing inside him. That anyone should be subjected to such pain and cruelty—it was inhumane and despicable.

“Cedric. Wait. Please.” The words were still slurred, but the tone had changed from incredulous to pleading.

Cedric turned back. “Who are you?”

The hand that gripped the bars spasmodically tightened. The facial wounds looked fresh. “The real question, my boy, is who are you?”

Cedric blinked. “I thought we had just established that my name is Cedric.”

A low chuckle left the man's throat.

“Aye, that's your name, boy, but who
are
you, in truth?”

Cedric shook his head. “I'm sorry for you, old man. I pity you. But I don't have time to riddle with you.”

He turned to leave, but once again, the man's words stopped him. “I knew your father. Knew him well.”

“What?” Chills soaked Cedric's bones. “I—I have no father.”

“Well, now, that's silly, isn't it? All of us have a father by one means or another.”

“I mean, I never knew him. From as far back as I can remember, I have never known anyone but the Centaurs. Or
a
Centaur,” Cedric amended. “Explain yourself.”

The man barked a wretched laugh. “'Tis simple. I am Rennis. I served as counselor for your father, King Liam. Then I became a counselor for Sebastian after the coup when I followed Sebastian across the channel to West Ashwynd.”

Cedric felt as if the ground had opened up and dropped him into a chasm with no bottom. “You claim that my father was a king?”

“Indeed. But he did not bring you into this world by the normal method,” Rennis whispered. Both oh his hands gripped the bars, and he rested his forehead on the iron. “You are descended from the great Dragonking, Aarkan the Firestorm, and with such blood, there will always be peace between you and the winged beasts. However,” his eyes traced over the planes of Cedric's face, “your father still wished to give you and your sister a superior gift, a stronger link with the Dragons. He traveled to meet with some of the
taibe
in the western Lismarian mountains. In exchange for great wealth, they granted you and your sister a gift unsurpassed. You were born of Dragons. With a word, you can command them. With a look, you can quell them. No fire shall scorch you for long; the blood of the Dragons runs strong within you.”

Cedric's mouth hung open. This was all too much. “Sister?” he finally managed in a ragged whisper.

“Twin sister, aye.” Rennis shifted so he could slide his arm through the bars. Cedric jerked when the man grasped his hand, and Rennis sucked in his breath as his cheek brushed the iron.

“I was born of Dragons?” Cedric saw again the shattered egg from his dream, the twin babes nestled against the flaming Dragon scales. “I'm a twin?”

Rennis did not relax his hold. “Yes. Two fiery little ones from the same egg. Two Embers birthed you, cared for you until they could return you to the King and Queen.” He shook his head, his gaze roving over Cedric's face again. “I can't get over how much you look like Liam. It is like you're a spectre from beyond the grave.”

Cedric found his tongue. “No, I am real enough.” He allowed his hand to stay in the man's for a moment before pulling it away. “Tell me, Rennis, of my sister? What happened to her? What happened to me? How did I grow up in the Rockmonsters with a Centaur when I had parents, a family?”

A shadow crossed Rennis' eyes, one deeper than the pain that hovered over his expression. “Sebastian led the coup that caused Liam's death and Nicholas Erlane's invasion. The kingdom splintered into factions; after Liam’s death, some supported Sebastian, others Nicolas Erlane. Rumors and misinformation abounded. Only Liam’s closest counselors understood the depth of Sebastian’s betrayal. Those who mistakenly stood with Sebastian—as well as those he bribed, coerced, and flat out threatened—fled to West Ashwynd. Thousands accompanied him.”

Cedric shook his head. “I know the King. I find it hard to believe that he would stage such a disorganized coup.”

“Aye.” Rennis nodded. “The boy forced his hand.”

“What boy?”

“The boy who revealed the truth. Sebastian brought him in to testify to the Centaur's treachery. He'd planned to use them as scapegoats to conceal his true design in the coup. But instead of implicating the Centaurs, the boy entered Liam's chambers and sobbed out a story of a surge of soldiers that had destroyed his village, killing every last person in the place, including the boy's mother and his pet Dragon. And then the boy accused Sebastian of treachery.”

“Sebastian let him do that?”

“Sebastian was not present. I believe that he thought he had bribed the boy enough, frightened him, cowed him until he was sure the boy would listen. But the boy didn't. And so Liam learned the truth.”

Cedric exhaled. A loud metallic clank at the end of the hallway made them both jump. Cedric hurried to the corner, peered around it. A guard had passed from another hallway into the stairwell, and was taking the steps slowly to the top.

Cedric returned, dropping his voice to a whisper. “What did my father do?”

“What would you expect? Sebastian had mustered a small army behind His Grace's back, and Liam ordered Sebastian chained and thrown into the dungeon until he could cool his head and think for a little about what he wanted to happen to his brother. Out of brotherly affection Liam did not widely announce Sebastian’s treason.”

Cedric felt hatred spiraling in his ribcage, hatred for the man he had never fully trusted, but had never believed to be as corrupt as this. “And then?”

“Then the situation flipped. While Liam paced his chambers, the guards Sebastian had bribed entered and overpowered him, throwing him into the dungeons instead, and Sebastian placed himself on the throne. For a brief few months, he thought he'd won. But I had escaped the palace and led the bulk of Erlane's force against Sebastian. We swept over Sebastian's smaller resistance, but Sebastian escaped and fled across the channel.”

“But—you were Sebastian's counselor.”

“Aye. Erlane commissioned me to regain Sebastian's trust. I followed Sebastian to West Ashwynd and groveled before him, cursing Liam and Nicholas Erlane in one breath and pledging my life to Sebastian in the next.”

“A spy.”

“So Sebastian says.”

Cedric gripped the bars in his hands. “How did Sebastian manage to kill my father?”

“A few days after he seized power, when you were only four years old, Sebastian had your father beheaded.”

Cedric's mind was a dance of sparks as he considered everything Rennis had told him. “And my mother? The—the Queen?”

“Sebastian took her for himself and got a child on her. Both your mother and Sebastian's babe died in childbirth.”

“Sebastian killed her.” Black rage clouded Cedric's vision. “As surely as if he had opened her throat, he killed her.”

“Aye, that's the truth of it. Your mother never recovered from your father's death. When she gave birth to the babe, it was too early, and she had grown weak during the difficult pregnancy.”

Cedric turned away. He kicked the wall on the other side of the hallway, emotions roiling through him so violently, he thought he would vomit. He whirled back. “Tell me more of my sister.”

“Her name was Kinna.”

Cedric staggered back.

The girl who sat in a nearby cell, the girl with the fiery hair, the girl who had ridden the Mirage to compete in the Tournament, was his sister. Not just his sister. His twin. They had bundled in the same womb, the same Dragon's
egg
. And they had been separated for fourteen years.

Another thought ripped through his mind. By the Great Star, if she had told Sebastian her name ... He squeezed his eyes shut.
There are more Kinnas than solely my sister.
Even so, Cedric's mind sparked panic. If the King had thrown Kinna into his dungeon knowing that she was his long-lost niece, that meant he had a plan. Cedric dreaded to think what that plan might be.

His next thought nearly drove him to his knees. If the King knew Kinna's name, he would know Cedric's as well.

Sebastian knew who Cedric was.

Rennis watched him closely. “Your face tells me you know something of your sister.”

“Aye.” Cedric couldn't look at the man. He stared at the floor in front of him, part of him—the largest portion—wanting to fly up the stairs, seek out Sebastian in his comfort and security, and plunge a dagger into his chest to the hilt. The more subtle part of him called for reason. Methodical logic and careful planning had won Sebastian his place of power. Cedric could use those weapons as well, use them as his mother Shaya had taught him.
When you hunt, Cedric, it does no good to aim your weapon at the place where your prey stands, afraid. You must anticipate where they will run. And then you kill them quickly
.

He would anticipate the King's next moves, and he would beat the King at his own game.

Moreover, there was Lianna to consider. He had not forgotten his promise to send her safely back to Nicholas Erlane, unwed.

“Tell me what you know.” Rennis' eyes, though hazy with pain, still glittered with intensity.

“I—she's here—”

“Here? In the palace? Or only in The Crossings?”

“In the palace. In the dungeon.”

“No.” Rennis sagged, his weight collapsing against the bars, a cry of pain erupting from his lips as his face slammed into the iron.

Clanging metal echoed down the hallway, followed by shuffling footsteps. They stopped at the first cell, and Genlich's rough voice spoke to the first prisoner.

“Cedric.” Rennis' whisper brought Cedric's gaze back to the man. “Promise me that you'll get her out.”

Cedric nodded. “I'll do my best. But I want to get you out, too.”

“No.” Rennis shook his head vehemently. “If you do, you'll be discovered, and you
must
maintain your position in Sebastian's inner circles.”

“I'll fight Genlich; it won't be much of a struggle.”

“You're not hearing me, young one. Even if you overcame him, the evidence would lead back to you. You must not release me.”

Cedric shook his head desperately. “You need help, Rennis. You—you're—you'll die if you're left in here.”

Rennis nodded as he gazed at Cedric. “Aye. I will, and I mean to. My days are numbered, Cedric, and I know it. I served your father well, and I consider it an honor to have been allowed the privilege of seeing you before I take my place amongst the Stars.”

Cedric still stood in uncertainty as Genlich shuffled closer.

“Cedric, listen, quickly.”

Cedric shot a look down the hall; Genlich would round the corner at any moment. He heard the jailer pause in front of another cell, the rattle of keys in a rusty lock, and the clatter of a tray of food.

Rennis’ fingers gripped his arm, the man’s surprising strength nearly bruising his flesh. “In what were my private chambers, there is a loose stone in the fireplace, up inside the chimney. Behind that stone are several maps that detail Sebastian's battle plans against Nicholas Erlane.”

Genlich slammed a door shut. The footsteps drew nearer.

“You must gain possession of those maps, get them back to Nicholas Erlane, somehow. Perhaps through Lady Lianna.”

Cedric shook his head. “I won't endanger her.”

“You may not have a choice. She is fully capable of handling it, Cedric.” Rennis pulled back. “Go, lad. And may the Great Star guide you well.” He glanced toward the corner. “Go!” His hoarse whisper at last spurred action, and Cedric ran, disappearing around the corner as he heard Genlich shuffling toward Rennis’ cell.

His heart beat in his ears, and his temples throbbed. He drew in a deep, shuddering breath.

He was a child of the King and Queen of Lismaria.

His dreams were fact. He'd been birthed in the fires of Dragons.

His twin sister was alive.

He needed air. He ran for the stairs.

C
edric whirled around the corner
, entering the hallway that led to his chambers. His emotions had reached the breaking point, and rather than having anyone see the Dragon-Master weep like a newborn babe, he sought the privacy of his own rooms.

A solitary guard was posted outside his door. “Leave,” he told the man in a hard voice. The guard looked mystified, but hurried away as he was bid.

Cedric opened the door into his room and stopped short. Lianna stood next to the window, her beautiful profile staring out at the Tournament games on the fields behind the castle.

“My lady.” Cedric hid his astonishment behind a bow.

“My lord.” Her pale face looked his way, then back at the window again.

Cedric stepped closer, his thoughts ripped momentarily from his new discoveries about his past. “What service can I render for you, my lady?”

Her nervous fingers twisted a soaked handkerchief, and her eyes were red-rimmed. Cedric itched to wipe the one tear that still traced its way down her cheek, but he kept his hand by his side.

She pulled in a deep breath and slowly let it out. “Is it true?”

Cedric shook his head. “Is what true, my lady?”