Kinshield's Redemption (Book 4) (38 page)

Tears fell from her eyes as she carved the rune. The king was watching her, his face curious and concerned, but he said nothing until she stopped.

“What’s wrong?”

“I remembered something from my old life.” She offered him the stone. “It should be done now, my liege.”

He took it and wiped the water off with the tail of his tunic under his mail shirt.

“You should test it,” Daia said. “Who can you summon other than Ritol or the Baron?”

A line appeared between King Gavin’s dark eyebrows. “The only other one whose name I know is Bahn from the midrealm, but I don’t know what would happen if he’s taken from his own realm without his complement. It might kill him.”

“Even for a second?” Daia asked. “Summon him long enough to see that it’s him, and then send him back.”

“I don’t want to take a chance with his life to prove Cirang’s skill is true. We can go to another realm tomorrow, maybe the indigo realm. They’re more zhi than kho there, so it won’t be dangerous.”

“How do you know? Have you been there?” Daia asked.

He grinned and wagged his eyebrows. “Only for a minute, to have a look around.”

“What about the little boy?” Cirang asked. “In the yellow realm. You asked his name. Did he tell you?”

Gavin snapped his fingers. “You’re right. He did. Good thinking, Cirang. You have a good memory.” He shut his eyes for a moment before whispering, “Whemorard.”

Nothing happened.

Cirang’s heart sank. She was sure she’d properly re-etched the rune.

“Shit,” he said. “The boy told me his name, but it was shortened. What was his full name?” He drew his brow in concentration. “Churylshigryf. That’s it.”

“You’re welcome,” Daia said with a grin.

“What would I do without you?” he asked. He shut his eyes once more and whispered that strange word. A spot of night opened in the air, and the boy they’d met on the street in the yellow realm stumbled to the ground at their feet.

“It worked!” King Gavin said. To her surprise, he put his arms around her and spun her around before setting her down again.

The boy said something that sounded like gibberish. The king laughed. “Awright, Churl, you’re released. Go home.” And a few seconds later, the boy was gone.

The mood was light as they readied their horses for their continuing journey. Hennah complimented her and thanked her for helping King Gavin. She felt valued, needed.

“Who would’ve thought you’d end up being useful,” Daia said. She rubbed Cirang’s hair playfully.

For the first time, Cirang dared to hope that the king would spare her life. She dared to hope she might see her son again someday.

A voice in her head told her to forget it.
You don’t deserve it.

Chapter 49

Feanna removed the pendant and tucked it into a pocket sewn into the seam of her dress. “Well played,” she said, quietly enough not to attract the attention of the guard outside the door. “You sold that well. Perhaps you should consider a career in the theater.”

Kaoque scowled at her. “I was not acting. His behavior truly offended me. Is he not an official representative of the crown?”

“He is at present.” She draped a hand across his shoulder and leaned over to smile into his face. “But once my husband finds out he tried to pass off my sister-in-law as me and then accused the emissary of Cyprindia of a crime, he won’t be.” She twirled in a circle, clapping and giggling. If only she could be here to witness Gavin’s wrath, sending his long-time friend packing back to Lalorian. It served the high-brow jackass right.

With his eyes boldly on Feanna, Tokpah said something in their native language. He sounded displeased.

“Tokpah believes I’ve made a mistake in gifting you my misdirection amulet.”

Feanna gripped it more tightly in her fist and held it to her heart. “It’s mine now. You cannot have it back.”

“I’m not asking for it back, Queen, only that you stop hiding from your own people. They are desperate to find you, and we have been cast under suspicion.”

“Well, you are responsible for my disappearance,” she replied with a grin.

“I am responsible for giving you a powerful tool that you treat as a toy.”

She laughed. “I’m only having a bit of amusement at their expense. I’m perfectly safe in my own home. Once my husband arrives, I’ll greet him in full view of everyone and surprise them all. Worry not. Edan is a wicked and deceitful man, as you’ve seen. This is harmless amusement. I beg you to stay at the palace tonight,” she said. “As my guest, not as Lord Dawnpiper’s. I’ll see that a bag of food is packed for your journey in the morning.” She pushed some of her own satisfaction into him with a touch on his forearm.

“Very well, Your Majesty. If you wish it, we will stay the night.”

###

The following morning, Feanna arose early and made the bed so it would appear she hadn’t slept in her room at all. She packed a satchel with two dresses and clean undergarments—small enough to easily carry herself—and stashed it in a closet near the palace’s rear door.

Though she didn’t have to use the servants’ passageway to leave her own room, she had to use it to enter the Cyprindians’, for Ragetha was standing guard at their door. They were finishing their breakfast when she slipped in.

Tokpah shot to his feet and grabbed his weapon as if he were embarrassed to be caught doing something other than guarding.

“Good morning, gentlemen. I trust you slept well?”

“We have, thank you,” Kaoque said, standing. He bowed politely. “If I may beg a favor, Your Majesty?”

“What favor?”

“We wish to depart soon, but Edan Dawnpiper might detain us against our will, on suspicion that we are responsible for your disappearance. If you would, please reveal your presence to your people. It would prevent further complaints against Thendylath by our people.”

Feanna scowled. She understood his concern and, in fact, needed him to leave, but exposing her presence could have the side effects of having her amulet confiscated and being locked away once again. She supposed that if she called to Edan to attract his notice and then ran around a corner out of his sight, that would work. He would know that she hadn’t been abducted, and the Cyprindians would be free to leave—and she with them. “All right, I agree. I’ll let Lord Dawnpiper know I’m still here and safe.”

“Ohkay itso?” Tokpah asked. He was looking with great interest at something behind her.

Kaoque and Feanna turned to see a ghostly image of a man staring back at them. It wasn’t the cat person she’d seen before. This fellow seemed to be sick, with blackened lips. He did something with his tongue, long and black, and three others like it came into view, similar to the first.

“Heavens,” Feanna whispered. “They aren’t human, are they?” She took a couple steps towards them, curious. They obviously saw the three of them as well, and the two groups looked curiously at each other.

“Now cheg vay pektok,” Tokpah said, grasping her arm.

“No, it’s all right,” she said. She reached slowly towards the first person to see if her hand would pass through its ghostly form as she thought it would. He seemed to think she was making some sort of friendly gesture and reached towards her as well.

“Your Majesty,” Kaoque said cautiously, “perhaps that is not wise.”

“It’s an illusion. They aren’t truly here. I want to see if—”

Her hand touched something like fast-moving water. Before she jerked it back, she was pulled forward so hard, her head snapped back. She bit her tongue, and her mouth filled with blood. A strange wind rushed through her senses and threw her into a whirlwind. Only the firm grasp of Tokpah’s hand on her arm kept her from screaming. When at last the wind died down, dizziness overwhelmed her. She faltered, flailing to hold onto the table, but it was gone. Tokpah, beside her, stumbled to his knees, as did Kaoque to his right.

She fell onto her left hip. Onto grass. They were still on the island, sunlight warm in the cool autumn air.

The palace was gone.

Chapter 50

Gavin went for a swim in the lake to refresh himself before they mounted up. They rode for a couple hours, stopped for a few hours of sleep, and continued riding through the deepest part of the mirknight with the aid of his light balls. No one complained, not even the horses, though the riders did dismount and walk more often than usual to give them a rest.

Because of his eagerness to get back, the ride seemed to take longer than it should have, but his mood was as bright as his outlook. He kept glancing at Hennah and examining her haze, partly to assure himself that she hadn’t reverted back to a kho-bent state and partly because he was so damned pleased with himself for having discovered the cure. “I’m bloody brilliant, you know.”

“We know,” Daia said, smiling. “It’s wonderful to see you in high spirits again.”

It was mid-morning when they arrived in Tern. Gavin disguised himself and his companions as a family, with himself and Daia as the middle-aged parents of the two others as their daughters. Had he not been in a hurry to get started curing his wife, he’d have done without the disguises and greeted the people of Tern as he rode through town. He hoped to have the real Feanna back before the midday meal. He couldn’t keep the smile from his face while he imagined spending all night and the next day alone together, reconciling their differences. If Cirang and Hennah were any indication, Feanna would be horrified by her behavior and treatment of him and would be especially willing to please him. He wouldn’t mind that. Not at all.

“She’ll be back to her old self by dinner,” Daia said. She looked haggard, her face drawn and her hair dull.

Beneath her smile was something else, something Gavin couldn’t identify. Sometimes he wished for a little of Feanna’s gift for empathy, just enough to more accurately read emotion in the faces of his friends. “What’s wrong?” he asked.

Daia raised her eyebrows. “Nothing’s wrong. We’re almost at the end of this mad journey. Perhaps we can finally sit for a bit and rest.”

“You look as tired as I feel.”

“Don’t mistake my reverie for wistfulness. I miss the comfort of my bed in the palace, but if serving you meant I never slept in it again, I wouldn’t complain. I would like to soak in a hot bath until my fingertips wrinkle, though.”

“That makes two of us.”

“Three,” said Cirang.

“Four,” Hennah added. “Especially with bath salts to make the soap bubble.”

“I make my own bubbles,” Gavin said, and then burst out laughing.

Daia rolled her eyes. “It’s official. We have our king back.”

They rode through the city, weaving their way to the palace by way of less crowded streets where possible. The closer they got to their destination, the more anxious Gavin became. How was his son faring? Had Feanna done something to him, as she’d threatened? He would touch his little prince’s haze again, even if he had to bind and gag Feanna to do it. His son would know that his father, at least, loved him.

When they crossed the bridge over the River Athra, the two guards stepped in front of them to block their way. “No visitors today,” one said.

Gavin let their disguises drop. “How now, Latrisha, Ivah.”

Their mouths dropped open in unison. “King Gavin? How did—” Ivah remembered herself and stepped back with a brisk salute. “Welcome home, my liege.” Latrisha stepped back as well and echoed the greeting. Ivah apologized for the lack of a proper fanfare to greet them. “We didn’t know when to expect you, and everyone’s been so frantic.”

Golam had become restless and started towards the stable. “Frantic?” Gavin asked over his shoulder. “Over what?” Her reply was muffled, and he was tempted to turn Golam around to ask again, but one of the stable hands spotted them approaching and rushed over.

“Welcome home, Sire.” He stroked Golam’s big face. “Bet you’d love a good hoof pickin’ and washin’, wouldn’t ya, boy?”

“I would, actually,” Gavin said.

The boy blushed and giggled nervously. “I-I was just talkin’ to Golam, Sire.”

In the courtyard moments later, they were swarmed by a crowd rushing to help them dismount, unstrap their bags, offer them wine and biscuits with cheese, and welcome them home. The guards didn’t quite know what to do with Cirang and Hennah, who rode up, unbound by chains, carrying weapons, and wearing mail. Gavin instructed them to treat the two battlers as they would any other First Royal Guard. Cirang smiled at him with a gracious and hopeful look in her eye. He wanted to tell her that didn’t mean she wasn’t going to be executed as planned, but he didn’t have the heart.