Kingslayer (41 page)

“Trade routes,” she echoed thoughtfully. “Ahhh.
That’s
why you wanted the place. Sego mentioned that you had a pick between six different ones.”

“Trade routes means posterity even for future generations,” he pointed out. “If it’s managed right, that is.”

“Yes, likely so.” She bit her lip, brow furrowed a bit, as she thought things through. “Will you have my brother live with us?”

“Probably. He’ll likely follow me around in battle situations as well, learning the ropes. What is his name, anyway?” He’d yet to hear it.

“Roshan.” She smiled as she said the name. “I’m very glad you took him on. With you teaching him, he will learn how to be a kind man.”

Ahhh.
That
was why she wanted him to take the boy as a student. Well, true, under Darius’s tutelage he wouldn’t have that women-are-inferior belief drummed into his head. “I don’t mind it,” he told her frankly. “Really, I need to pass on everything I know to the next generation or my victories of today will be meaningless. I just hadn’t thought about it until your father asked it of me.”

“You’ve impressed him. He might not show it, but you must have impressed him for him to entrust Roshan to you. He is very protective of his only son.” No trace of bitterness shadowed those words, as if it were only natural he feel that way. “Father has a high regard for anyone that will follow the old traditions and fight for what they want. He believed Merikh to be that sort of man, which was why he chose him for me. I think…I think he regretted it. What you said to him the other day shamed him.”

“But he couldn’t do much about it, as the oath was already given,” Darius summed up tiredly. “Amalah, I’ll tell you now, if our daughters—assuming we are blessed with them—are ever in a similar situation, I’ll kill the man myself before giving her over.”

She smiled and bent far enough to lightly kiss his forehead. “I hope we have a dozen.”

A dozen little Amalahs? He would be fine with that. In fact, that sounded very much like paradise, having a dozen beautiful girls to spoil. He’d need two dozen bodyguards to beat the men off with, though.

Someone very timidly tapped on the door and stuck their head inside. Darius turned his head just enough to glare in that direction, but of course the desk blocked his view.

“Uhhh, sir?”

Sighing, he sat up and then stood up fully. From here, he could see his runner hovering near the doorway, a nervous Tolk standing just behind him. Sending the child, eh, knowing full well that Darius had a soft spot for him. He shot Tolk a glare before saying, “Payam, you realize that if you put just
one
foot inside this room, you’ll be taking your life in your hands.”

His runner gave him a game smile. “Yes, sir. But Queen’s orders, sir. She said, need to have an emergency meeting about oil.”

Oil? What oil…oh, wait. That was right. Two days ago, they’d been discussing the insane price of oil and how it had affected the people. He was supposed to think of some way around it but had been completely sidetracked by Amalah. He rubbed at his forehead and controlled the urge to bang his head against the nearest hard surface.

“Sir?” Payam ventured uncertainly.

Amalah stood and laid a hand on his arm, catching his attention. She gave him a smile and rueful shrug. “Duty calls, I think.”

Yes, so it did. Darius truly wanted to throw a childish fit and lock himself in here with her, but sadly, he was a responsible adult that didn’t do things like that. Besides, he owed the queen a major favor after everything she’d done for him. “Yes, so it does. It’s alright, Payam, I’ll let you live.”

The runner snapped out a sharp salute. “I’ll tell her you’re coming.” Without waiting for a response, he turned and darted back out the door.

Before his mind completely turned to the problem of oil, he said, “I won’t need Sego for any of this, so feel free to borrow him. Find a time either late today or tomorrow for me to sit down with your parents, too. I feel like I need to have a good talk with them.”

“Probably for the best,” she admitted. “Alright. Go save the country. I’ll start in on the house.”

Despite what she says, she has the easier job. She doesn’t have a committee to argue with every time she wants to implement a change.
“Right. If you need me, then send Payam for me. Actually, if you
don’t
need me, send Payam anyway. It’ll save me from sitting through a very boring meeting.”

Laughing, she put her hands on his back and started pushing him toward the door. “Just go, will you?”

He turned back long enough to kiss her on the forehead, laugh at her blush, and then he headed for the door, calling for Tolk as he went. 

~~~

A month of days sped past in a blur of activity. Darius became bogged down in the details of planning, as he inevitably did, and the constant argument about oil rationing. By the time he won the argument, he could lift the ban, and the normal market prices reinstated themselves without any effort on his part.

He found time to have dinner with his in-laws-to-be twice. The first occasion was a very strained affair but the second one went smoother. In part, perhaps, because of the bolts of embroidered cloth that he gifted to the family. It showed good will on his part and the means necessary to stand in their circle. He met Roshan at the first dinner and found the boy to be just as intelligent as Amalah. His dark hair had a rebellious curl to it, as his sister’s did, black eyes shining with humor, traces of baby fat still on his cheeks. Amalah must have told him stories, as Roshan almost vibrated with enthusiasm on their first meeting, and he pelted Darius with endless questions during the meal. After that, he had no qualms about taking the boy on. With the right training, he had the potential to be a very good strategian. Roshan had four months of schooling left but after that, he would come to live with Darius and Amalah.

Try as he might, he couldn’t get over to the estate, though. Amalah went several times with Sego and Bohme. She assured them that the caretaker had done an excellent job keeping the multiple farms and businesses running, but the house itself stood in a sad state of neglect. Every piece of furniture inside had dry rotted, the doors were sagging on their hinges, and a few windows needed to be replaced. At least the main structure, made of solid stone, hadn’t needed anything more than strong soap and a scrub brush.

The sad state of the house proved to be a blessing, in a way. With Darius prepping for war, and Amalah prepping for a wedding, they were both very busy. The only task they really had in common was the house. Darius discovered that “Amalah and I need to talk about the house” was a magical phrase that could make the most insistent leave. In fact, he started saying it when it wasn’t
entirely
true, just to buy him an hour’s time to spend with her. If not for that, they likely wouldn’t have been able to spend any time with each other at all.

In fact, he had to be careful to not neglect anything in this whirlwind of activity. He’d snuck out this morning to ride Sohrab before the poor stallion went mad with the lack of exercise. He’d probably been gone too long, actually, as he’d been enjoying the fresh air as much as the horse and neither one of them had really wanted to return.

He strode through the hallways, taking the shortcut back to his suite, mind ticking off points as he walked. They still had a month or so before expecting that armada on their shores, but for prudence’s sake, he should probably leave for Izeh in two weeks to check on everything personally. The last of the rationed oil should have left for Izeh this morning, and Navid had assured him the citizens there were drilling for an hour each day on putting out fires, just in case. If they could finalize their plans on where to deploy the troops in the city streets, then—

“SIR!”

On instinct, Darius stopped dead in his tracks and whirled around. The only time he ever heard
that
note of panic was when something had gone dreadfully wrong.

From a side hallway, Ramin ran for him at full tilt, sliding to a stop on the slick tiles, barely stopping in time to avoid hitting Darius. “Sir,” he said quickly, eyes wide, sweat beading on his forehead. “The Armada’s been sighted off the coast.”

For a moment, the words simply didn’t make sense to Darius. “Sighted off the coast,” he parroted in a blank tone, as if he were repeating some unknown phrase.

“Yes, sir.” Ramin nearly vibrated in place, his need to move on the information obvious.

This came so far outside of Darius’s expectations that he almost couldn’t believe it. Then it
did
sink in and he swore, turned around, and headed for his office at a run. “How far out?” he demanded of Ramin as they sprinted through the halls.

“Three days, four at most with the tides,” Ramin answered, not even breathing hard as he kept on Darius’s heels.

Three
days
?!
Good thing I didn’t talk Amalah into the one month wedding time frame. He
mentally smacked himself for the irreverent thought.

Shaa preserve them, that wasn’t enough time! He had plans in place for a sea invasion, yes, but he should have had at least three more weeks before they showed up. “Ramin, get Kaveh and Navid moving now. I want their men prepared to leave for the coast in three hours.” It took almost two hours for the message to reach the barracks alone. With a group that large, it’d take them almost three days to reach Izeh Harbor and be in position on time. If he were lucky. If nothing went wrong. They’d be cutting it close. 

“Yes, sir!” Ramin peeled off down a different hallway and, impossibly, picked up his speed.

It took precious minutes for him to reach his own suite of rooms. He hit the doors at a dead run and skidded to a stop inside. Sego, Tolk and Payam all looked up at him in alarm, pausing in mid-motion. “Armada has been spotted off the coast,” he said without preamble. “We need to leave in an hour. Move!” After that first, knee-jerked reaction, they exploded into motion. Darius wrote a short message to Amalah about what was going on and then quickly headed for the palace interior. He had to report this to the queen, now, and then rush back to help get everyone into motion. As he ran, he prayed they’d be fast enough.

He grabbed Ashtad on his way to report to the queen, pumping information from the man as they moved. Ashtad explained how this had gone so wrong as they half-jogged for the queen’s study. The spy that had originally reported in had made one very costly assumption. Most armadas of that size took time to gather sailors, rowers, and supplies together before they could leave. This took, on average, a month to do. But this time, they’d pulled everything together in barely two weeks, speeding up the process considerably. Also in their favor, the winds and tides had been strong and so the ships travelled faster than first estimated.

Ashtad had one more piece of very vital information, gained the night before. The commander of the armada was none other than Adad the Hammer, so nicknamed for his brutal tactics. The man was famous for sailing into a harbor, pulverizing any sign of resistance, and then quickly pulling out again before anyone could do damage to him. If Darius gave him any opening at all, he’d take it, and they might not be able to recover from it.

He absolutely could
not
let that man get anywhere near Niotan’s shores.

The queen asked a great many questions, which slowed him down further, but she eventually realized that keeping him here was folly and ordered him to go. He wasted no time in leaving. Darius reached the stables at a dead run, eyes automatically scanning the area as he moved. The area was awash in sound of horses snorting, metal jingling, servants running around, Ramin shouting orders. A contingent of fifteen guards finished loading up horses, tightening girths. Bohme and Tolk stood quietly talking in a corner. Sego stood nearby, but clearly had no plans to go with him. Good, he wanted the steward to stay and help Amalah. She had too much work to shoulder.

A stableboy handed him Sohrab’s reins. The stallion, having been infected by the mood all around him, pranced a bit in place, anxious to be off. Darius smoothed a hand along his neck to calm him even as he threw the reins over his head and prepared to mount.

“Darius!”

He automatically turned to respond to that voice. Amalah rushed toward him, weaving her way in and around horses, soldiers, and equipment until she reached him. Her eyes looked a little worried, and he didn’t blame her. None of this had gone according to plan and he frankly didn’t know if he could get everything set up in time to meet the armada breathing down their necks.

She surprised him by not saying anything, just throwing her arms around his neck and tugging him down far enough to plant a swift kiss against his mouth. “Shaa go with you.” Releasing him, she gave him a brave smile.

No worried questions, no demands for reassurance, just a blessing of safety as he went to war.
I don’t know what I did to deserve this woman, but I’m offering a sacrifice to Shaa at the first opportunity.
He caught her by the back of the head and kissed her in return, soft and sweet. “If all goes well,” he said huskily against her mouth, “I’ll be back in a week.”