Kiara kept her head down until the man reached her, hoping that a quick glimpse would suffice. The guard thrust his lantern close to her, forcing her to jerk back or be burned. His eyes widened as he saw her features, and she feared that he would cry out.
“Please, say nothing,” she hissed.
Whether he recognized her or whether his power recognized the signature of her regent magic, Kiara did not know. To his credit, the man said nothing and kept up the ruse of examining the remaining members of her group before declaring them fit to pass through the gates. On the other side, Kiara heaved a sigh of relief.
“He recognized you.” Balaren’s voice was quiet.
“Apparently.”
“Let’s hope that he’s on our side.”
Aberponte Palace lay at the end of the cobblestone roadway, set on the crest of a hill. Growing up, Kiara had always loved the sight of the palace at nighttime, sitting like a jewel among the stars inside its own set of walls and gardens. Now, although the lights at the windows burned as brightly as ever, Kiara imagined that Aberponte looked worn and beleaguered, as if it hunkered down against not only the weather but the vast darkness of the night itself.
To Kiara’s relief, they passed no more checkpoints
until they reached the outer wall of the palace. Once more, Remir showed their papers, but this time, he lowered his cloak, expecting to be recognized. After a terse exchange with the gate guards, Remir swung back up to his mount and motioned them forward. Still in their formation from the road, they approached the palace from the rear, using the servants’ entrance instead of the sweeping front steps and massive entry doors of the palace.
This used to be home
, Kiara thought.
Now, it looks like a fortress fit for a siege
.
“Come in, come in!”
Kiara recognized the voice at once, and despite everything, a smile touched her lips as she turned to see Allestyr standing on the steps, barely shielded by the cloak he held over his head. “Your runner arrived a candlemark ago. We’ve been anxious to see that you made it here safely. Now hurry up, before you catch your deaths from the cold.”
Servants rushed to take their horses. Kiara swung down from the saddle, glad that the need for concealment had allowed her the function and relative comfort of traveling in a tunic and trews.
Thank the Lady I don’t have to navigate in yards of sodden silk!
Kiara opened the flap on a large saddlebag, and Jae climbed out, hissing his dislike for his hiding place. “Sorry, but we had to hide you,” Kiara chuckled. “You’re the only gyregon in Isencroft.”
Yet even here, on the steps to the palace, Kiara sensed that Allestyr was holding back, and it made a growing knot in her stomach clench even tighter.
What’s gone so wrong that Allestyr fears to speak to me in front of the palace staff?
Inside, Tice met them and servants came to take their wet cloaks. “Allestyr, what—” Kiara began, but Allestyr gave her a warning shake of the head.
“Let’s give you a chance to get out of your traveling clothes and into something dry,” Allestyr said. “I’ll have some refreshments brought to your father’s sitting room. You can join us there after you’ve refreshed and changed.”
Kiara looked to Balaren and the rest of the
vyrkin
and
vayash moru
who had accompanied her. “These men came with me from Margolan as bodyguards. They’re
vayash moru
and
vyrkin
, sworn to protect me. Since Margolan dared send no soldiers across the border, this was the compromise.”
“I’ll have the servants see to their accommodations,” Allestyr said. “We have rooms in the cellars that should suit for the
vayash moru
. I’ll have the cook draw blood from the herd animals and prepare some raw meat for our
vyrkin
guests.” He gave a small bow. “We appreciate your efforts to bring our queen home safely.”
Balaren smiled, making his eye teeth plain. “We’re honored to serve.”
Captain Remir looked to Allestyr. “My men will remain on guard. We’ll take shifts to clean up and eat, so that the queen is never without protection.”
Allestyr nodded. “Thank you.” He met Kiara’s gaze. “After what happened to your father, we’ve had mages sweep your room for any type of traps, magical or otherwise. I’ve taken the precaution to limit the servants who access your room to half a dozen, those who have been in our employ the longest and whom the mages have assured me are loyal. They’ve been given charms against magic, to prevent anyone from bewitching them. To be cautious
in the extreme, I’d like to limit your personal assistants to just Cerise and Tarra, my niece.”
“Thank you,” Kiara replied tiredly. “That will be fine.”
Kiara had the odd feeling of being a guest in her own home as she followed a servant upstairs. Captain Remir and his guards followed at a respectful distance. As the servant showed them to their rooms, Kiara realized that the only retainers she had seen were people who had been in the service of her father for decades.
Allestyr’s not taking any chances with the loyalties of newcomers
, Kiara thought. She sighed. Having to watch over her shoulder for threats within the palace as well as on the battlefield was a reality of war, but it stripped the last remnants of happiness out of her homecoming.
Too large to perch for long on Kiara’s shoulder and too constrained by the stairway’s walls to fly, Jae scurried up the steps behind them, his claws scratching on the stone steps as his compact, reptilian body undulated with the movement. The group fell silent as they were shown to their rooms.
Kiara closed the door as Cerise and Jae hurried inside. Servants had already placed their travel bags on the floor near the fireplace. A young woman with long, curly red hair was laying out a tray of cheese, hard sausage, bread, and warmed wine. There was even a small bowl of raw meat for Jae. She smiled as they entered, and made a low curtsey.
“Your Majesty. I’m Tarra. Uncle Allestyr asked me to attend you.”
Despite how tired she was from the ride, Kiara managed a smile. Tarra was noble-born, as was Allestyr, and she had been around the palace for as long as Kiara could remember. “Thank you, Tarra. It’s good to see you again.”
“I’m pleased that Your Majesty remembers me,” Tarra replied with a grin. “Now I’d best leave you to your food and a hot bath, but I’ll be back in a candlemark to check on you, and father’s put Cerise and me in rooms on either side of yours, so you can call for us if you need to.” Tarra slipped out of the room, and Kiara threw herself down into a chair near the fire. Jae curled up on the hearth next to her feet.
“Can you believe it, Cerise? Riots and fire in the palace city. Father’s barely been gone for a full month, and everything is coming undone.”
Cerise moved to stand behind Kiara, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. “I think it’s more correct to assume that everything had started to come undone before your father’s death. Knowing the king, I suspect that he kept the worst from you, hoping that it would end before you had reason to return to Isencroft.”
Kiara stared into the dancing flames of the fireplace. The exhaustion of the hurried trip and the realization of just how desperate the situation in Isencroft had become all crashed down on her at once. “But we’re in the thick of it now, aren’t we?” she murmured quietly.
She turned in her seat to look up at Cerise. “Father had been king for decades. He stared down King Radomar’s threat of war with Eastmark. He fought raiders on the western border. How can I hope to rule Isencroft as well as he did, with war and revolution on our doorstep?”
Cerise came around to kneel next to Kiara’s chair and she took Kiara’s hands in hers. “I’m sure Tris felt much the same way when he accepted the crown of Margolan. After all, his father, Bricen, was legendary, even before his death.”
Kiara nodded. “Even with all of Tris’s magic, he couldn’t imagine ever being as good a king as his father was.” She swallowed hard. “And yet, he’s found his way, hasn’t he?”
“Tris is a fine king,” Cerise consoled. “He’s wise and just, and he cares about what’s best for his people. He may not approach problems exactly as Bricen did, but he has gifts Bricen did not. It’s not about stepping into your father’s shoes, Kiara. It’s about finding your own path to rule with the gifts you’ve been given.”
“It’s just so… overwhelming. Father might have easily lived another twenty years. I had hoped—”
“That twenty years from now you’d know just what to do?” Cerise chuckled. “Fate doesn’t allow for our choosing, Kiara. And truth be told, we’re never ready for some responsibilities. We just have to do the best we can when they fall to us.”
Kiara squeezed Cerise’s hands. “Thank you for coming back with me. I know the ride was hard on you.”
Cerise stood slowly, leaning on the arm of Kiara’s chair for support. “My old bones don’t take the cold as well as they used to, nor the saddle. But after a hot bath, I warrant that I’ll feel fit again.” She eyed Kiara. “Speaking of which… I hear the chambermaid drawing a bath for you. Go take it. You’ll feel better, and you wouldn’t want to be crowned queen covered with mud from the road!”
Kiara rose and glanced around the room. In many ways, the room appeared unchanged from when she had lived at the palace. The personal items she left behind remained in their usual places. And yet, Kiara felt as if the room had become unfamiliar, although she could not put the feeling into words. Home, she realized, had become Shekerishet, with Tris and Cwynn.
Kiara permitted Cerise to hurry her toward the tub in the adjacent chamber, but although she tried to let the steaming water and fragrant bath salts clear her mind, she found that she was as troubled afterward as before.
A candlemark later the group reconvened behind locked and guarded doors in the king’s private sitting room. Allestyr turned to Kiara with a welcoming smile.
“How I wish I were seeing you under better circumstances, my dear!” Allestyr and Tice both gave a token bow and then embraced her as old friends as Remir and the others stood back. Kiara introduced Royster, who barely contained his excitement despite the long journey. Antoin and the
vayash moru
and
vyrkin
guards patrolled the corridor outside the room, giving Captain Remir’s men a much-needed opportunity to eat and rest. For the first time in several days, Kiara struggled to choke back tears, trying hard not to think about all that had changed since she had last been inside the palace walls.
“What’s going on? We saw part of the outer city in flames, and we were stopped time and again by guards who reminded us of the curfew and demanded our papers. There’s a mage at the palace gate—”
“I know, Your Highness. Or should I say, Your Majesty,” Tice replied with a sigh, seeming not to notice when Kiara winced at the title. “I’m afraid that the letters you’ve received in the last months from your father, and even the most recent letter from Allestyr, dared not convey just how dire things have become.”
“The outer city looks as if a war has been fought there.”
Tice moved toward the fireplace, beckoning for them to take their seats. A table filled with breads, honey cakes, and
dried fruit waited there, along with a decanter of brandy and a pitcher of warmed wine. “I’m afraid that ‘war’ is an apt description. Despite the valiant efforts that Cam and the Veigonn, along with the army, have made against the Divisionists, Isencroft is only a breath away from civil war.” Tice looked more tired and much older than Kiara remembered, and his shoulders slumped as he shared the news.
“In the weeks since your father’s death, there have been riots. With most of the army in the field to meet the enemy from the north, we had no choice but to enforce a curfew and restrict movement throughout the city.” He shrugged. “You can see from the fires in the north ward how well that’s working.”
“What purpose does burning down the city serve?” Kiara demanded as Balaren forced a hot cup of tea and a wedge of cheese into her hands.
“None at all, save as a message that frightened, angry people feel that events have gotten out of hand,” Allestyr replied. “This year’s harvest wasn’t enough to make up for the past several bad years. In fact, by normal standards, this was a poor harvest. That it looked good by comparison only tells you how bad it’s been lately.”
He sighed. “Few people are starving, but there’s little to go around in some parts of the kingdom, and not enough surplus elsewhere to make up for it. Margolan and the other kingdoms had poor enough harvests that there’s no relief to come from importing grain. People look to the king to make it right, but there’s little the crown can do. We’ve already stopped patrolling the kings’ forests, leaving them open for poachers who need to feed their families. By the end of the winter, I won’t be surprised if much of the kingdom is getting by on potatoes and rabbits.”
“And the war?”
Allestyr gave a bitter smile. “Which one? Even the Veigonn couldn’t keep peace in the city. The army scattered the Divisionists, but I don’t think they’re really gone. There’ve been fires throughout the city for weeks now, ever since the bulk of the army left for the war front. The guards say that there have been murders, down in the ginnels, in the worst sections of the city. Butchering is more like it. Not even the burial mounds are safe. Why someone would want to dig up the dead is beyond me, but then again, people snap when the fear and the anger get too bad.”
Kiara sipped the tea, welcoming its warmth and hoping that it would steady her as the weight of Allestyr’s revelations sank in. “How was the news received when father died?” she asked quietly.