Redemption (5 page)

"And when will you help me?" asked the spy. "How long must we hold the bridge?"

"A couple of days at the most," answered the dark prince. "An event will take place sometime during the next week which will surprise the world. There will be much confusion when it happens, but you will understand much earlier than anyone else exactly what the event portends. It will be your signal to prepare."

* * *

The room where Belon slept was above a butcher shop. The shop had closed hours earlier, and the stairway was unlighted. The stairs creaked slightly as the shadow moved slowly up them, but no one heard the noises. The dark prince slid the door open and peered into the dark room. He could barely make out the two forms sharing the bed with the aid of the scant moonlight flowing through the window. Stealthily the dark prince crossed the room and stood next to the bed. He gently placed a hand on Belon's head and felt memories surging into his mind. His lips curled upward as he was pleased with what he had learned. Belon had had a long and illustrious career, but he also held many secrets within his mind. The high officer had far more to hide than the mere using of his men as enforcers for a local gambling ring. The dark prince discovered several offenses that would surely result in the officer being hanged if King Gregory should discover the infractions, but the list did not stop there. Belon appeared to have swindled everyone that he had ever come into contact with, including the gambling ring. The dark prince was pleased to learn that the rumors he had heard had more than a grain of truth to them. Belon was the perfect man for the dark prince's mission.

Prince Zinan slipped out of the room the same way he had entered it. He closed the door and retreated down the stairs. In the morning he would catch Belon on his way back to the palace and strongly suggest that they have a little talk in private.

* * *

Prince Zinan rode into the army encampment and dismounted outside the tent of General Wikner. He did not wait for the guards to pull the flap open for him, but rather opened it himself and walked in. General Wikner was meeting with several of his officers and looked up in surprise.

"We will continue the meeting later," announced the general. "Think about the problem I have presented and be ready to propose solutions when we meet in an hour."

The officers glanced at the prince and bowed respectfully before filing out of the tent. The general retrieved a decanter of wine and poured two cups.

"The king rode through yesterday," declared the general. "He saw nothing to upset him."

"I know," replied Prince Zinan. "I passed him on the road to Laborg. Is your army ready to move?"

"It is always ready," assured the general, "but there is no reason to move just yet. Are you expecting trouble?"

"More than you can imagine," sighed the prince. "I tried to persuade the king not to go to Laborg, but he refused to listen to reason. I feel certain that our king will be assassinated in the next three days."

"Then he must be stopped at once," gasped the general. "Didn't you explain the danger to him?"

"Most explicitly," nodded Prince Zinan. "He would not hear of it, nor would his personal detail listen to reason."

"I will send men after him immediately," as the general moved towards the tent flap.

"No," Prince Zinan commanded. "You will not send anyone. King Garrick was quite incensed that I was interfering in his diplomatic mission. If you sent men to remind him of the threat that I have already warned him about, you would undoubtedly be dismissed from your position, and I cannot allow that to happen."

"I cannot stand by and do nothing," argued the general. "If I must lose my position to save the king, then so be it."

"Borunda values your service greatly," declared the prince, "and we are going to need your skill in the coming days. I am not expecting you to do nothing about such a serious threat to the king, but I will not let you send riders after King Garrick in a futile bid to advise him of the threat. I have already covered that quite fully."

"Then what can we do?" asked the general.

"Mobilize your armies, general," ordered the prince. "Get them moving on the road to Laborg with great haste."

"You want me to take my armies into Odessian territory and threaten Vineland?" frowned the general. "You can't be serious?"

"I am quite serious," affirmed the dark prince, "and I will take full responsibility for this action. The Odessians will protest our actions, but their protest means little to me where the life of my cousin and king are concerned."

"Agreed," the general sighed nervously. "We can deal with their hurt feelings afterwards. What about Vineland's reaction?"

"That is the key to everything," stated the prince. "My hope is that they will feel threatened enough to abort the assassination."

"Abort the assassination?" echoed the general. "Are you telling me that King Gregory is the one authorizing the assassination of King Garrick?"

"Of course," responded the prince. "Did I not make that clear earlier? If it were not the government of Vineland threatening King Garrick, I would not be so concerned. Hopefully when they get reports of your armies on the move, they will think better of their vile plans."

"They certainly had better," scowled the general, "because if the sight of my armies does not stop the assassination, the might of them will extract revenge from their hides."

"Precisely why you need to get your men moving right away," nodded Prince Zinan. "I do not want them far behind the king, but not close enough so that my cousin gets wind of it. He is stubborn and would order you to retreat and then we would not be a deterrent to King Gregory."

"You can leave it to me," promised the general. "My men will advance with all due speed and still never be seen by the king's party. Will you be riding with us, or are you going to return to Tarent?"

"Return to Tarent?" questioned the dark prince. "Certainly not. I will be riding at your side, general. Whatever happens in the next few days, we will bear it together."

* * *

Just below the crest of a large sand dune three Odessian scouts watched the Borundan army march over the border and proceed north on the Dulga-Laborg Road.

"They are making no secret of their incursion," commented one of the Odessians. "What do you make of it?"

"The army is larger than any that I have ever seen," frowned another Odessian. "Wherever they are going, they mean to crush their opponent decisively."

"We cannot take for granted that Odessia is not their target," remarked the leader. "One of you must ride to Natura immediately. Stop for nothing but to change mounts. Alert everyone between here and Natura, but do it without stopping. If the people cannot hear your shouts, let them learn of the danger another way. It is more important that King Rihad learn of this as soon as possible."

One of the scouts rose and ran down the back of the sand dune. He leaped onto his Odessian beauty and galloped westward.

"Where do you think they are going?" the other scout asked the leader.

"My gut tells me that Laborg is about to fall into the hands of the Borundans," answered the leader. "War has come to the Land of the Nine Kingdoms."

The Odessian warrior galloped across the sand and raced into a small oasis. He dismounted before the horse had come to a complete stop and ran towards the yurt reserved for the royal family of Odessia. The warrior burst into the yurt to find Prince Umal sitting with a foreigner. He bowed low, not only to show his respect, but also to regain his breath. The Odessian prince looked up with a mixture of curiosity and concern.

"What urgency causes your haste?" asked Prince Umal.

The warrior locked eyes with the prince and then glanced at the foreigner. The warrior's fingers moved swiftly alongside his leg with a question about the identity of the visitor.

"Sandar is a guest from Arin," Prince Umal declared. "There is no need for secrecy among our friends, besides he understands the horse language very well. Speak what you have come to say."

"Legions of Borundan soldiers are marching through Odessia," reported the warrior. "It appears that they mean to attack Laborg, but we cannot tell if they will be satisfied with only one country. Our eastern armies are preparing to defend the Natura-Laborg Road."

Prince Umal's eyebrows rose in surprise. "And we thought that Arin would be their first conquest," mused the prince. "Is there still time for me to enter Vineland before the Borundans seal it off?"

"Doubtful, my prince," the warrior shook his head. "If they seek to conquer Laborg, they must control both bridges over the Vine River. The only way into Vineland now would be through Caxon, and there is no telling how long that will last. Eventually the Borundans must also close off that access as well if they are to subdue the entire nation of Vineland."

"Then we have little time to waste," Prince Umal said as he rose to his feet. "Come, Sandar. It is time to put into practice what you have learned in the horse camp."

"You are not joining the eastern army to rebuff the Borundans?" asked the Odessian warrior.

"No," replied the prince. "The Borundans are not foolish enough to attack Natura. I could understand the allure of Oran to them, but not Natura. The Borundan armies are on the wrong side of Odessia to worry me where our nation is concerned, but I do have a different concern that is affected greatly. I have friends in Vineland who must be warned to flee before the bridge at Caxon is closed."

* * *

In Kyland, the Salacian prince strode into the armory and looked for the officer in charge. When he found the man, he approached him.

"You have a driver who makes regular runs to Anatar," stated the prince. "I need to know when he is next expected."

"We have many such drivers, my prince," answered the officer. "We ship about a dozen wagons a week to Anatar."

"This driver is neither Salacian nor Arin," replied the prince. "His name is Kerzi. Can you check your schedule and determine when he is due into the city?"

"There is no need for me to check," replied the officer. "Kerzi's wagon was loaded less than four hours ago."

"Four hours ago," echoed the prince. "He usually loads in the morning. Why would he begin a trip so late in the day?"

"He has not left yet," declared the officer. "To make it easier on our men, I now have the drivers leave their wagons here. We load them as we can and then notify the drivers when their loads are ready. No doubt Kerzi will depart first thing in the morning. Is there a problem with this particular driver, my prince?"

"No," Prince Derri shook his head. "Kerzi is an excellent driver. I just needed to get a message to him about a friend who is in need of help."

The officer's eyebrow rose as he watched the prince turn to leave. Members of the royal family were not known to be messengers for drivers.

"Let me get his records," offered the officer. "I can tell you where he is staying while he is in the city."

Prince Derri waited anxiously for the officer to return, but he was in good spirits about not having to wait for Kerzi to arrive. If the old man had still been days out of Kyland, Prince Derri would have had to leave without talking to him.

"The Golden Shield," announced the officer as he returned. "That is where you will find the driver Kerzi."

"Thank you," smiled the prince as he turned and departed the armory.

Prince Derri walked swiftly to the Golden Shield Inn. He found Kerzi, Talot, and Monte in the common room and promptly joined them at their table. Before he could even speak to welcome them to Kyland, the innkeeper hurried over to welcome the prince to his inn.

"Welcome to the Golden Shield, my prince," smiled the innkeeper. "May I have the honor of serving you?"

"Just an ale," answered the prince, anxious to speak to his friends.

The innkeeper frowned with disappointment but he hurried off to procure an ale for his prince.

"I am glad to catch you in the city," Prince Derri said softly. "I just received word from Anatar that Zalman was murdered."

"I thought he was being safeguarded in the palace?" frowned the merchant.

"He was," replied the Salacian prince as the innkeeper arrived with a large pitcher of ale and a mug.

"Will there be anything else, my prince?" the innkeeper asked hopefully.

Prince Derri sensed the innkeeper's disappointment. He turned and looked into the man's face and smiled.

"This will do nicely, good innkeeper," smiled the prince. "Sometimes rumors spread through Kyland like wildfire. Is it true that the Golden Shield has the best ale in the city?"

The man's face beamed with pride, and he grinned broadly. "I do a little something special to spice it up," he nodded. "Would you care for a dinner to go with it?"

"I would not wish to steal from its flavor," smiled the prince. "I think I will just sit here and savor the pitcher. Thank you."

The innkeeper smiled, nodded, and bowed before retreating towards the kitchen.

"Nicely done," smiled Kerzi. "I guess I should be glad that you traveled as Kenra the last time we rode together. I can see how much notice we would have had otherwise."

"Prince Antion and Jared must be warned," interrupted Talot. "If the dark prince's hand can reach into the royal palace in Anatar, it can reach anywhere."

"You are absolutely correct," nodded Prince Derri. "King Caedmon has asked me to travel to Vineland to inform Prince Antion. He is afraid that Zalman may have inadvertently given up the location of Jared and his son."

"A valid concern," nodded Talot. "There are precious few people who knew where the two of them were, and Zalman was one of them."

"Zalman did not even know," frowned Monte.

"He knew enough," retorted Talot. "He knew of Audric and he knew that they went to find him in Vineland. The Borundans are not stupid. They can fit together the pieces of a puzzle."

"Who killed Zalman?" asked Kerzi.

"They don't know," frowned the prince. "It was a high officer in the Arin army that physically pulled Zalman's head off, but King Caedmon is convinced that someone was just using the officer's identity. It appears quite similar to the problem they had with that prince from Caroom last year."

"Prince Calitar," nodded Monte. "Someone has the ability to impersonate others. That scares me."

"I should send a note to the armory not to load my wagon," mused Kerzi. "There is no sense taking a load of weapons to Vineland. They would just sell them to the Borundans."

"There is no time for you to join me," Prince Derri shook his head. "I must travel with great haste."

"I will not slow you down," Talot vowed to the prince as he looked at the merchant and shrugged apologetically.

"Nor will I," added Monte. "After all we cannot let a prince travel the dangerous roads alone, can we?"

"I kind of thought you two might want to join me," grinned the prince. "In fact, I was hoping that you would."

"You will stand out without my wagon," protested Kerzi. "No one will believe you are a merchant warrior without a merchant."

"I will not be traveling in disguise," declared the Salacian prince. "There is no need to. The Borundans are not searching for me, only Antion. I am sorry, Kerzi. I know that you want to go, but it is not possible this time. I will see that Talot and Monte are replaced with a squad of Salacian soldiers for your protection."

"Don't bother," Kerzi said dismissively. "The Anatar-Kyland Road is so thick with Arin soldiers that no self-respecting bandit would come within a hundred miles of it. I will need no escort. You boys take care of each other. I want to see you all return safely."

* * *

The Borundan officer walked into General Ortega's office and waited to be noticed. The general stood staring at a wall map and finally turned around to look at the officer.

"Has there been any communication from General Wikner?' asked General Ortega.

"None," the officer shook his head. "We have not heard a word since King Garrick left the palace."

"Most unusual," frowned the general. "Are you sure about the reports of his troop movements?"

"Positive," nodded the officer. "The whole district between Tarent and Dulga is devoid of troops. They have all been ordered to the eastern border, supposedly for some training exercise."

"Bah," snorted General Ortega. "Since when did Wikner take such an interest in training? Something is afoot, and I do not get a good feeling about it. I leave Tarent for a week, and everything is amiss when I return. Where is Prince Zinan?"

"He has been gone for some time," replied the officer. "He appeared for a single day about two weeks ago and then disappeared again. As usual, he told no one where he was going."

"And what about Naveena?" asked the general.

"Something is strange there," frowned the officer. "She has not come out of her room for two weeks now. Servants deliver trays of food and collect them empty, but no one has seen Naveena or talked to her."

"Well," the general declared forcefully, "someone is about to talk to her. I must know what is going on. Wikner did not move his troops for a training session, and if he is doing something that might start a war, I need to be prepared for it."

"I would advise caution," warned the officer. "She has a temper at times."

"I am well aware of that," replied the general. "I have been the target of her tantrums before, but we have a country to protect."

The officer nodded and retreated from the office while General Ortega removed some papers from his desk. The general left his office and proceeded to the chambers of Naveena. He banged loudly on the door, but there was no response. Boldly, the general opened the door and entered the room. He found Naveena on the floor next to a tray of half-eaten food. Her hair was a tangled mess, and her nose appeared broken. One arm was twisted grotesquely, and her eyes were deep dark hollows that seemed devoid of life. She looked up at him and glared.

"Get out!" she demanded. "No one is to enter my chambers."

General Ortega refused to move. He was well aware of her power, and he was deathly afraid of it, but he could not leave.

"You need a wisper," he said softly. "What happened to you?"

"I am a wisper," retorted Naveena. "I will heal myself."

"If you have been healing yourself for the two weeks that you have been hiding in this room," frowned the general, "I can only imagine what shape you must have been in. Who did this to you?"

"Get out." Naveena tried to scream, but it came out in a choking voice.

Tears formed in the dark hollows of her eyes, and the general moved to her side. He bent down and extended his hand to the wisper.

"Let me help you onto the bed," offered the general. "The cold floor will not help your healing any."

"Help me and you will incur the wrath of the Crown," warned Naveena.

"Then let me incur it," shrugged the general. "You need to be in bed. Give me your hand."

Naveena stretched her right hand upwards and the general grasped it. He pulled Naveena to her feet and caught her as she began to topple over. He picked her up and carried her to her bed. As he placed her down on the bed, he noticed the strange twist in her leg. He knew the woman would never walk again.

"Incur the wrath of the Crown?" the general mused as he made the wisper comfortable. "Are you saying that King Garrick did this to you?"

"Not Garrick," sobbed Naveena. "It was Zinan. I must leave the palace before he returns. He thinks I am dead."

"You are in no condition to go anywhere," sighed the general. "Why did you call Zinan the Crown? Does this have anything to do with King Garrick's trip to Laborg?"

Naveena refused to answer. General Ortega felt as if she would have magically attacked him if she had any magic left in her, but she merely glared at him.

"Naveena," urged the general, "I must know what is going on. General Wikner's troops are gathered on the Odessian border, and I do not know why. Borunda could soon be embroiled in a war, and I don't know whom our enemies will be. We have been basing our defenses on an attack from Arin, not Vineland."

"I do not know the prince's plans for sure," Naveena finally said, "but I expect that General Wikner will be attacking Vineland to avenge the death of King Garrick. Now that I have helped you, you must help me. Get me on a horse."

"Not a horse," the general shook his head. "I will summon a wisper for you. You are too weak to heal yourself, but I need to know more about this threat to the king's life."

"I have no more to offer you," Naveena shook her head. "Call it a hunch or a premonition. I just think that Prince Zinan will be returning to Tarent as the king. I must leave the city before he returns."

* * *

The king and queen of Vineland sat on one side of the table, and King Garrick and Princess Belinda sat on the other side. Over a dozen personal guards stood at the two sides of the room. Six Vinelander guards stood behind the king and queen, and six Borundan guards were behind King Garrick. It was an unusually high number of personal bodyguards for such a small, intimate dinner, but the royals were effective in ignoring their presence.

"You promised that you would give a hint about your mysterious instructions when we met," stated King Gregory. "Why were we asked to bar entry to Prince Zinan?"