Kingslayer (34 page)

As Darius told the story once again, a pained smile on his face, he had to wonder why everyone had latched onto this event. Because it had happened in the palace interior and they were afraid of being attacked next? Because it had become the most scandalous event after Raja Betha had had an affair with her brother-in-law last week? Some mix of the two?

Gossip was the main source of entertainment in a formal court. He knew that. (Well, that and political back-biting.) But he hoped to heaven that he
never
fell to the point that he would latch onto events like this.
I will never retire,
he swore to himself right then and there.
I will die of boredom if I do.

“General!”

Amalah? He turned instinctively, searching for her in the crowd. She had to fight the press around him to get through. He reached out, grasping her hand, and pulled her closer. The crowd, no doubt thinking that they would get a show of some sort, amiably drew back a pace to give her room to approach.

Darius eyed them—not a familiar face in the lot—with a sort of frustrated resignation. So, the court still believed them to be lovers, apparently.

“General, you are well?” Amalah’s eyes were searching him head to toe, looking for any signs of injury.

“I am,” he assured her, the first genuine response he’d had all evening. “In fact, I didn’t even get a chance to defend myself. My bodyguard took them down quite efficiently.”

She put a hand to her heart and breathed out in relief. “I am glad to hear it. Do you know who was behind it?”

“Not as yet.” He was beginning to think the two thugs were feigning sleep just to avoid being interrogated. Either that, or Tolk had put them in a permanent sleep. “But I’m sure that we’ll figure it out soon,” he assured her. “Queen Tresea will not let it rest otherwise. You know, I don’t think I’ve ever seen her
livid
before.”

“It’s rare,” she responded with a grimace. “And scary when she is.”

Truly. He’d almost felt like defending himself when speaking with Tresea earlier and he knew full well she hadn’t been mad at him.

“Amalah!” a deep voice called impatiently from nearby. “Where did you go?”

Darius turned to see who hailed her. Whoever the man was, he had to be close enough to her to drop all honorifics. What approached from the crowd was a bear of a man, stocky and very casually dressed for such a formal occasion. Darius couldn’t put his finger on it, but he almost instantly disliked the man. His clothes were that of the latest style, but he wore them in disarray, with nothing properly fastened. Dark hair cut short, but a half-shadow on his chin as if he hadn’t thought to shave. In this world where appearance mattered, he did not give a good impression.

He ignored Darius outright and went straight to Amalah, almost roughly grabbing her by the arm. “Where are you disappearing off to when my back is turned, eh?”

Darius clenched his jaw to keep from telling the man off. It didn’t look like the grip hurt her, but he didn’t like the rough way this man was handling her. “I’m sorry, I don’t believe we’ve had the pleasure of meeting,” he said quietly.

The man stopped dead and eyed him from head to toe before speaking. “I’m Merikh Grygotis, Raj of Ardakan. I am Amalah’s betrothed.”

Darius’s heart went cold. So she
was
betrothed. And to this beast of a man, no less. He stole a glance at her. Amalah wouldn’t meet anyone’s eyes, her gaze steadfastly pointing at the floor, her face expressionless.

“You must be that Brindisi General,” Grygotis observed tactlessly.

He knew better than to get riled up at such a provocation. He stared Grygotis down like a bumbling greenhorn, eyebrow cocked an nth degree, making the other man flinch back instinctively. “I am Darius Bresalier, Lead General of Niotan, yes. I do not believe you were in court on the day of my Oath-giving.”

Grygotis heard the challenge in his words and almost snarled out a response. “I was at my estate that day. Pity I wasn’t there.”

My me my, what a bad temper you have. Especially for a man that grew up in court politics like you have, you should have been able to respond better than that.
Darius could play him like a wind flute without trying at this rate. But he saw from the corner of his eye that Amalah had recoiled from this scene. She didn’t like it, and he didn’t blame her. In an effort to draw her back out of her shell, he smoothed out his voice and directed his next words to her. “Raja Amalah, I hear that you are teaching the children here in the palace how to read and do arithmetic.” A venture that Darius wholeheartedly approved of and he smiled at her to show it.

She couldn’t quite seem to meet his eyes and her cheeks were pink as she responded. “Yes, I find it quite enjoyable. They’re very eager to learn.”

“Teaching street rats and the classless to read?” Grygotis gave her a disgusted look. “I can’t believe you’re wasting your time like that. You’ll not be doing that again.”

Amalah stiffened and shot him a glower but didn’t defy him.

Darius tensed as well, staring at the man incredulously. Waste of time? Educating
anyone
was never a waste of time. “I’m afraid I must disagree with you, Raj.”

Grygotis didn’t quite sneer, but his eyes were narrowed into slits. “Oh?”

“One of my commanders hailed from the streets. He’s one of the most brilliant strategists that I’ve had the privilege to serve with. Without him, your country might well have been conquered.” Darius sharpened his tone. “You cannot make any judgments about a man’s potential based upon his birth.”

He gave a dismissive snort. “Well of course
you
would say that. You’re a merchant’s son.”

“I believe there’s quite a few people in this room alone that would agree with me,” Darius retorted mildly, “
because
I am a merchant’s son.”

“I would be one of them.” Amalah met her fiance’s eyes steadily, cheeks hot with anger. “He was chosen as the lead general for this country for a reason. Where would we be, if no one in the world would have been willing to educate him fifteen years ago?”

Grygotis didn’t like her defense, not one bit. He stared at her with open anger in his eyes, jaw working.

Darius didn’t know what his reaction would have been if they weren’t at formal court, but he knew that it had only been delayed. Later, out of sight of everyone else, Amalah would likely pay for her defense of him. The thought made his heart sick.

“Darius!” Tailli appeared from the crowd and elbowed her way to his side. “There you are.” She gave him a practiced, polished smile. “I am sorry to steal you away, but would you come and assure my mother that you are well? She cannot move freely today because of a sprained ankle.”

He probably needed to extract himself from this situation soon to avoid making Amalah’s situation any worse. But he hated to abandon her with Grygotis.
I can’t do anything about that, she’s betrothed to him after all.
To Tailli he gave a short bow and a smile. “Of course. Raja Amalah, if you would excuse me?”

Amalah smiled and waved him on.

Pointedly ignoring Grygotis—the man fumed at the insult—he offered his arm to Tailli and escorted her away from the avidly listening crowd.

When they were far enough away, Tailli leaned up to murmur in his ear, “She
does
want to see you, but I was really trying to get you away from Grygotis before you came to blows.”

Wise woman to read the situation as she did. He very nearly had. “Was I that obvious?”

“No. Well, only to someone who knows how to read you. The last time I saw
that
smile on your face, you were reaming my father for abandoning his family near the front lines.”

Ah. Well, that was good. “Why is Amalah betrothed to that cocked fool?”

“Her dowry is a rich stretch of land that is adjacent to Grygotis’s estate,” she answered on a sigh. “Their betrothal was set almost before she was born. Poor girl. We all feel sorry for her.”

In that case, he hoped that Grygotis met with a fatal accident. Soon.

~~~

Darius came back to his suite in a foul mood. Half-formed ideas of helping along Grygotis’s demise played through his head as he shed the formal uniform. He had half a mind to go to the baths and soak there for a while, but…no. Despite the mid-noon nap he had, he felt strangely tired. He’d go in the morning. Tonight, he needed proper sleep.

The main door opened and closed. “General?”

Sego? Now what? The man couldn’t possibly need anything from him at this ungodly hour. It had to be close to midnight by now. Unless… Stepping out of the bedroom, he said, “Here.”

Sego greeted him with a tired nod. “The thugs woke up an hour ago.”

Oh, so Tolk hadn’t managed to kill them after all. “And?”

“The Captain of the Guard himself interrogated them. He didn’t get much.” Sego grimaced. “And believe me, with the methods he was using, he should have. If they actually
knew
anything.”

Yes, this was the perfect ending for a thoroughly rotten day. Somehow, he just knew they wouldn’t be able to find out anything.

“The investigation has hit a dead end.” Sego threw the cane carelessly onto the bench as he plopped down on it. He looked beyond tired as he ran a hand roughly over his hair. “They don’t know who hired them. Just an anonymous note with your name and description, instructions on how to get in, and the money to pay them with.”

Darius nodded, not surprised.

“Those spineless twerps have more spine than I gave them credit for.”

He hesitated before speaking but he felt he was right. “I don’t think this attack was for political reasons.”

Sego gave him a funny look. “Then why?”

“I think it was personal.” He hesitated again before continuing. “I think Merikh Grygotis sent them after me.”

Both of Sego’s eyebrows rose. “Jealousy over how close you are with his betrothed?”

“Possibly. Possibly as revenge for the rumors spreading around court about the two of us.” He shrugged, silently saying he wasn’t sure. “I don’t have any concrete evidence to give you, it’s just a hunch. The way that he looked at me when we were first introduced made me think he was surprised to see me unharmed.”

Sego mulled that over for several minutes. “It fits what I’ve seen of the man’s character. He’s petty enough to hire thugs over something like that.”

Yes, he’d had the same impression. “Well, either way, we can’t prove it.” Darius relaxed back into his seat with a resigned sigh. “We’ll just have to go on and keep an eye over our shoulders until everything dies down.”

The library in the Niotan Palace had the most impressive collection of books, charts and scrolls that he had ever seen bar the one in the Brindisi Palace. He liked the building, the way it had been designed, and the quietness of it that inclined a man to think before acting. That was why he looked for excuses to come here as much as he could.

He took in a deep lungful of air as he stepped through the doorway. The smell of leather, parchment and cool air swept over him. Ahhhh. How peaceful. Maybe it would take longer for him to fetch what he needed today.

Now, if he remembered correctly, the charts he wanted were on the second level. He’d rarely found anything of interest on the main level, as most of the area had tables set up for people researching, and the back shelves were full of the
popular
books, mostly love poetry and things of that nature. So as soon as he cleared the door, he headed instantly for the stairs on his left.

He’d taken all of three steps when he spied Amalah in the library. She didn’t notice him, though. She’d squirreled herself away in a corner near a window, legs tucked up near her body, open book in her lap. Whatever she had in her hands had captivated her attention and she remained completely oblivious to the outside world. He maneuvered his way for the stairs and stole glances in her direction. She never looked up, though.

Well, he’d stop by as he left and talk with her. Maybe even sneak up behind her and scare her a little. The second level wrapped around the back end of the room before leading to another staircase that led downwards on the other side, near where she was sitting. He could make a simple loop and end up near her oh-so-casually. That shouldn’t rile that obnoxious fiancé of hers.

He went to the now very familiar shelves and gathered up the books and the two charts that he needed. Then he went back toward the railing to check and make sure she hadn’t moved yet.

She hadn’t, but another player had entered the field when he wasn’t looking.

Grygotis now stood near the center of the room, in a circle of women who were vying for his attention. Darius recognized several of them—none of the women there enjoyed a particularly wholesome reputation, to say the least. They were pressed closer than they should have been, and the smile on Grygotis’s face had a lecherous slant to it. Clearly, the man enjoyed this feminine attention. One of them said something to him and he threw his head back and laughed much louder than he should have within the sanctity of the library’s silence.