Kingslayer (22 page)

~~~

Bohme could give Sego a run for his money when it came to hiring people. Darius barely had his letter to his family written and dispatched to a courier before his bodyguard arrived in his study with the new man in tow.

“Shir,” Bohme gestured to the man standing at his side with a cat-in-the-cream smile. “Thish ish Tolk.”

Did his mother not feed him?
was Darius’s first impression. Tolk barely made it to Bohme’s shoulder, body slim to the point that his clothes hung on him. He looked like a strong wind could break him in half although the dark tone to his skin silently said that he spent a great deal of time training outdoors. Darius re-evaluated his first impression when he got a good look at the man’s eyes. Those dark eyes radiated a self-assurity and depth to them that he’d only seen in veteran fighters.

“A friend of yours, Bohme?”

“Trained under shame mashter,” Bohme answered, smile bordering on a smirk.

He’d sparred with Bohme often enough that he knew without asking how good Tolk must be. Besides, Bohme would never jeopardize Darius’s safety by bringing aboard a sloppy fighter. Darius trusted his judgment enough to say to Tolk, “Welcome. Has Bohme explained the terms to you?”

“Yes, Raj,” he answered in a soft voice. “I found them generous.”

“Good.” His accent wasn’t as thick as Bohme’s but it could still be detected in the slight slur of the
s
. “Did Bohme warn you that I like to spar?”

Tolk’s lip teased up in a feral grin. “Look forward to it.”

Darius grinned back. Yes, this man had the fire in him of a strong fighter. “Tolk, I think we’ll get along just fine. Take a day to settle in but be warned: we leave for the harbor in two days.”

“I will be ready, Raj,” Tolk promised.

“Bohme, show him around. Oh, and introduce him to Payam. We just hired him as a runner.”

Bohme blinked, clearly a little taken aback. “Payam?”

“Sego was badgering me about hiring on more staff,” Darius explained with as much innocence as he could muster. “It’s only fair I get to pick people I like, right? Besides, having Payam to team and train will keep him busy.”

“You mean you got tired of hish nagging,” Bohme translated dryly.

Darius had to bite the inside of his check to keep a demented chuckle from escaping. “He’s happier when he’s busy,” he protested.

Bohme shook his head in a sad manner. “Poor Shego.”

“He’ll live,” Darius observed with a distinct lack of sympathy. “But don’t let me keep you. We all have a lot to do before we can leave. Once again, Tolk, welcome.”

Tolk gave him a bow although it looked rough, as if the man had limited experience with the motion. “Thank you, Raj.”

Both bodyguards took themselves out of the room. Darius looked down at his desk as he resumed his seat. Now, what had he been doing before the interruption? Oh, right, he’d—

A quick knock on the door and then Payam stepped in. “Adit, sir!”

His announcement of his arrival seemed superfluous considering he had already made it halfway into the room. “At work already, Payam?”

“Yes, sir,” Payam responded with clear satisfaction. Darius understood without needing the boy to explain. Working had its own joy and being employed by someone you respected made the work even more satisfying. “Master Sego asks: do you want a House uniform?”

House uniform? Darius hadn’t thought of it, but the idea had merit. Anyone working for him would automatically be given more respect if they were affiliated with a House—even one as new as his. “Tell him yes and design one for the runners first.”

“Yes, runners first,” Payam parroted back.

Darius nodded confirmation and shooed him off. Now, what had he been doing? For the life of him, he couldn’t remember.

Blowing out a breath, he shoved away from his desk and headed for the door. He might as well hunt down his commanders and notify them of his plans. For that matter, he’d have to tell Queen Tresea he’d be out of the capital for a while.

On second thought, he’d better tell Queen Tresea first….

“Now wait a minute,” Darius objected to a very empty courtyard. “Where did
this
come from?!”

He looked down at the map in his hands in frustration. He hadn’t read it wrong. He’d swear on that. This admittedly pretty water garden he’d stumbled into couldn’t be found on the map Payam had found for him. Which begged the question: just how old was this map?! The water garden looked quite established to his eyes, with mature flowers and obvious wear on the blue tiles so it had to have been here at least five or ten years.

Growling in frustration, he crushed the paper in his hands. All he wanted was a quick shortcut from his wing of the palace to the stables. Really, was that too much to ask? He needed to spend at least an hour with Sohrab everyday otherwise things could get dicey with the warhorse later. But he hadn’t wanted to trudge all the way out of the palace through the main gate and around to the back just to get to the horse.

“At the rate I’m going,” he growled to himself, “I might as well have done just that. Especially since I’m lost.
Again
.” Darr take the architect of this mad labyrinth anyway. For that matter, Darr take the dogs that had bred the man!

If he could just find a door,
any
door that would lead outside, he’d be able to make it back to his suite without embarrassing himself. But he couldn’t retrace his steps back the way he had come—he knew that route didn’t have outside access. Alright, maybe this garden had another door somewhere. He walked inside and took a closer look. The setup seemed to subscribe to the same pattern he had seen in other gardens—a large water fountain in the center with benches surrounding it, pots with flowers standing here and there. This one had a raised arbor over the benches with vines growing along the wood. There were only two walls, both with fountains carved in the stone and a trickle of water flowing out and into a small dish at the base. The sound of trickling water was quite soothing, actually. His irritation eased as he stood there and listened.

But the part that truly interested him lay ahead. Instead of being enclosed, the other two walls were pillars with a stone staircase leading up between two of the pillars. Stairs were promising. Stairs tended to go from one place to another.

He headed straight for the staircase. The last time he’d gotten lost, he’d seen a flight of stairs leading up toward the roof. Maybe this was the same staircase. If that were the case, he might remember enough to get back to his suite. Maybe.

“General?”

Amalah? He froze on the second step and looked at her with mixed feelings. She stood near the base of the stairs, a book in her hand, and she’d obviously been heading up toward the garden when she’d spotted him. He was always happy to see her, as he liked being in her company, but this was the second time he’d stumbled into her while lost. And that was
not
the impression he wanted to leave on this woman! Clearing his throat, he smiled and offered pleasantly, “Raja Amalah, what a pleasant surprise.”

“Yes, it is,” she responded as she continued to climb the stairs. “I thought that only I knew of this particular garden. I’ve never seen anyone else up here.”

Alright, so he hadn’t intruded on someone’s private garden this time. Phew. At least he had that in his favor. Darius widened his smile. “I just chanced upon it. It’s quite pretty.”

For some reason, she paused and really looked at him, as if his innocuous words had hidden meaning to them. “You’re lost again, aren’t you?”

Curses. Why is she so good at reading me?
Growling, he waved the crumpled map in the air. “I had a map this time. An
inaccurate
one.”

She bit her bottom lip as if struggling not to laugh.

“Oh go ahead and laugh,” he said in resignation. “Everybody else will when they hear about this. Doesn’t this palace have at least
one
accurate map?”

“I doubt it,” she responded frankly. Gesturing to the paper still in his fist she asked, “May I?”

He handed it to her and watched as she smoothed it out and looked it over. “I think I see the problem,” she said after a moment of study. “This is based off the blueprint for the original palace structure. Or at least, I think it is, considering what’s not drawn here.”

“The original structure, eh?” Darius looked around him but he couldn’t begin to discern between the original and the renovated areas. His specialty lay in breaking
into
buildings, not building them. “And that would make this map…?”

“About fifty years out of date,” she answered with a sympathetic smile. “No wonder you got lost.”

Well, it might give him a good excuse, but it didn’t change the facts any. “Raja Amalah, I want to take this moment to assure you that I
do
have a good sense of direction. Truly.”

She handed the map back to him with a hint of mischief in her smile. “General Bresalier, the evidence speaks against you.”

His shoulders slumped. “It’s alright. If I were you, I wouldn’t believe me either.”

Amalah lost her control and started giggling. “If you wish, I can guide you back.”

A stubborn part of him wanted to just bull ahead and find his own way back. But he had to leave tomorrow for the harbor, so he couldn’t afford to be wandering around all night until someone found him. Resigned to being teased about this, he nodded. “Please do.”

She took his arm, eyes laughing, and led him down the stairs.

He followed her lead and his eyes searched for the woman she had been with last time. But for the first time, Amalah had no one with her. “I believe this is the first time I’ve seen you alone. You normally have an older servant with you, don’t you?”

“You mean Hali?” Amalah shrugged, unconcerned. “She’s been my nursemaid and companion my entire life. My elder sister will be married next month and at the moment, my household is in a frenzy trying to prepare for it. Even Hali’s hands were drafted to help.”

Darius’s attention sharpened. She’d never mentioned her family before this. “Does that mean you’ll be the last child married?”

“Hmm? Oh, no. I have a younger brother.” The stairs branched off into two different directions and she led them to the right branch. “My father was only blessed with one son.”

A frown passed over his face. “I’m afraid I don’t understand that way of thinking. To Arape, any child born is a blessing. My father praised Shaa for her mercy in giving him only three sons. Daughters were less destructive.”

She paused on the last step and gave him a strange look. “In Arape, daughters are as valued as sons?”

“Yes.” He’d thought with a queen reigning, that Niotan would appreciate women more, but apparently not. It had been culturally ingrained to believe men had more value at some point. Darius thought it ridiculous. Women had every bit as much intelligence and talent as men. The only thing that barred them from certain occupations was physical strength. “Actually, I think my father had a soft spot for his daughters. Not that you could ever get him to admit that.”

“I wish my father thought that way.” She sounded a little sad and wistful. “He’s always complaining that we’re expensive.”

“Women
are
expensive,” Darius responded dryly. When she pouted at him, he laughed and added, “But a beautiful woman is always worth the expense. Your father, especially, has nothing to complain about.”

She blushed at the sideways compliment and couldn’t seem to meet his eyes. “You flatter me, General.”

“Truth is hardly flattery, Raja.”

Amalah clearly didn’t quite know how to respond to that, as she silently directed him to a different hallway that led them into the palace. He watched her out of the corner of his eye. Did no one compliment her? She was so awkward under the words, as if she had limited experience with them. Hmmm. True, he’d seen more beautiful women. But no one could accuse her of being plain. In his eyes, the quiet intelligence and charm she had made her truly beautiful instead of the artificial beauty of most court women. It seemed wrong that she couldn’t see herself that way.

Trying to ease her past her awkwardness, he asked lightly, “So what present do you want this time?”

As he expected, she blinked at him in confusion. “Present?”

“You’re rescuing me, aren’t you?” he asked mock-seriously. “I always give something to people that help me. It encourages them to do it again. Well, that and it’s just good manners. Last time, I took a wild guess as to what would please you. But I think we know each other well enough that I can ask you directly this time. Is there something you want?”

She shook her head at him. “You don’t need to give me a gift every time you get lost, General.”

“You make it sound as if I get lost all of the time. I take umbrage at that accusation!”

She bit her bottom lip again and carefully didn’t meet his eyes. “I didn’t say that.”

“Then why are you trying not to laugh?” he accused, silently pleased that he had gotten her to smile again.

Amalah batted her dark brown eyes at him innocently. “But I’m not.”