by C. J. Archer
Dane glared at his hand and Barborough let go. "This isn't about King Phillip or Vytill," Barborough said. "I'm not offering to help you so I can gain advantage with him. Nothing like that. My interest isn't political, it's purely personal. I want to help because I want to find out all I can about magic."
Dane walked off leaving Barborough glaring at his back. Dane went only so far as the counter where he ordered ales.
"I'm going to our room," Meg said in my ear. "Coming?"
I watched Lord Barborough leave and nodded. Dane and Quentin could inform the others what we learned today. I needed some peace and quiet.
I was ready to tell Kitty and Meg about the mapmaker, but Kitty didn't give us a chance to speak when we entered.
"Thank Hailia you're back," she said, sitting up on the bed. "I'm utterly, totally, completely bored."
"Then we are at your disposal," Meg said. "What would you like to do? Play cards? Shall I do your hair? It looks like you've been lying on it all day."
"Arrange it while I talk. I sorely need to say something. I haven't spoken a word all day, except when someone tried to open the door."
Meg and I stared at her. "What do you mean?" I asked.
Kitty sat on the chair and ruffled her hair. "Don't worry. They didn't get in. Someone tried the door but it was locked. They didn't give up, though, and I worried they were going to get a key and let themselves in. So I put on a Zemayan accent and pretended to be a maid cleaning the room. Whoever it was left and never came back."
"Any clues as to their identity?" I asked. "Were their footsteps loud, like a man's?"
"Yes," she said as Meg brushed out her hair. "It was either a man or a heavy woman."
"It could have been Lord Barborough," Meg said. "He sent a maid to look through Brant's things," she told Kitty.
"The poor girl was accosted by Brant," I said, "and was terrified of Barborough."
Kitty wrinkled his nose. "He is a strange one, Lord Barborough."
"In what way? Was he nasty to you at the palace?"
"Not at all. He ignored me. It was as if I wasn't even there. Very odd behavior, considering I was a duchess."
"You couldn't get him what he wanted," I said. "He only sees those he can use or manipulate."
"And I was useless." Kitty sighed. "My husband made sure I had no real power. Anyway." She picked up the handheld mirror from the table and smiled at her reflection. "The duke is Violette's problem now, not mine."
Meg set down the brush. "And what a perfect match they are."
Kitty suddenly turned to us. "I've been thinking about something all day and haven't come to a conclusion. Perhaps you two can help. Tell me: am I still a married woman?"
"Of course," Meg said. "Your husband isn't dead. That's the only legal way you can be free of him."
Kitty's entire body slumped. She turned back to allow Meg access to her hair.
"I think your situation is unique," I told her. "While you are legally still married, morally I'm not so sure."
"Morally?"
I raised a finger. "Your husband is trying to kill you." I put up a second finger. "You left behind your old life as his wife at the bridge." I raised a third. "He is going to remarry."
Kitty's face lifted. "So can I remarry too?"
"No!" Meg said. "Josie, stop making up the rules. She's already married. That's the end of it."
"I agree," I said. Kitty's face fell again. "I don't think you can remarry," I went on. "But you are also an independent woman now. Your husband can't tell you what to do, nor can your parents. You're guided by your conscience alone. You're free to make your own choices, Kitty. That's what I meant. Of course you can't remarry until the duke dies. But you can be the woman you've always wanted to be without a man at your side."
"Free," she murmured to her reflection. "I am, aren't I? Free to do as I please. And as long as I don't remarry, I am not breaking any law."
"Precisely." I looked to Meg and even she nodded, agreeing with my assessment of the situation.
"We are all three of us free to do what we like now," Meg said as she braided Kitty's hair. "None of us have family or husbands to make our decisions for us. Well, no family near enough to try. I'd wager there isn't a trio of female friends in the whole of Glancia who can say that."
I regretted going with Dane to meet with the Duke of Gladstow's men the following morning at the city's public stables the moment I saw Lord and Lady Deerhorn with them. Even Dane's step slowed with his uncertainty.
"Keep walking," I told him. "I won't let them know I fear them. They can't harm me here."
"They can," he said. "But I won't let them."
His words bolstered my confidence, and I met the Deerhorns with my head high.
Lady Deerhorn eyed me coolly while her husband took in my presence with a quick glance. Then he ignored me and addressed Dane. "Inform the grooms that we are His Grace the Duke of Gladstow's representatives in Tilting," he demanded. "Let's get this over with. I'm busy."
"I'm surprised you bothered with such a trivial matter at all," Dane said, leading the way to the coach house. "This is a menial task for the duke's servants." The duke's men now followed in our wake. I counted nine of them in addition to Lord and Lady Deerhorn.
"We wanted to inform you of some good news, Captain," Lady Deerhorn said. "Our daughter Violette will marry the duke."
"After a suitable period of mourning," Lord Deerhorn added.
Lady Deerhorn's lips tightened, perhaps displeased that the protocol had to be followed at all.
The confirmation of their marriage chilled me. Kitty's life was most certainly in danger now. If the duke or Deerhorns learned she were still alive, they'd stop at nothing to remove her. With Kitty supposed to already be dead, they could get away with her murder.
"You should congratulate us," Lady Deerhorn went on. "As the duchess, our Violette will wield enormous power. She'll have the power to destroy her enemies."
"I wouldn't be so sure," Dane said. "The last Duchess of Gladstow had no power. She couldn't even sneeze on her enemies."
"That girl was stupid," Lord Deerhorn said. "Violette is not."
"Are you returning to your home near Mull?" Dane asked. "Or the palace?"
"That is none of your affair," Lady Deerhorn said.
Dane met with the head groom and instructed him to bring out the horses and carriage we'd stabled there on our arrival in Tilting. "These men will take them," he said, indicating the duke's liveried servants. "And Lord Deerhorn will pay."
Lord Deerhorn's nostrils flared.
"Can't pay?" Dane asked idly. "Did you leave all your money behind at the castle? Perhaps you should have stayed longer to collect it all. And answer for your crimes."
Lord Deerhorn rounded on him, his hand raised to strike. Dane caught it.
Anger flashed in his lordship's eyes. "I'll thrash you one of these days."
Dane waggled Lord Deerhorn's hand. "Not with this limp thing."
One of the duke's men snickered.
Lord Deerhorn snatched his hand back. "Get out of my sight before I have you arrested."
Dane stood with his hands loosely at his sides and didn't move. He had one more thing to do, something important to him, and he wouldn't let the Deerhorns bully him out of doing it.
The resulting silence stretched until Lady Deerhorn broke it. "It was useless, wasn't it?"
Neither Dane nor I responded.
"The gem," she went on in a triumphant voice. "It didn't perform how you expected it to."
Again, we remained silent.
She moved to stand in front of us, giving us no choice but to look at her. "The world has not changed. No one else has become king or suddenly become rich. You are staying at a mediocre inn, wearing ordinary clothes, with no horses of your own. I've made inquiries about you all," she went on. "I know what purchases you make, what meals you eat, and how generous you've been to the inn staff. I know you're living modestly."
"If you say so,
" Dane said.
"Your lackadaisical air belies what you're truly feeling. And what you feel is devastation that your gem doesn't work. It contains no magic or you would be rich and powerful by now."
"Perhaps we wished to be free," I said. "Free to do as we please."
She stepped up to me, toe to toe, her deep blue eyes drilling into mine. Beside me, Dane tensed. "You might be free to do as you please, but you are not safe." She grabbed my chin, pinching it. "I will grind you under my boot."
I slapped her hand away. She smiled cruelly and walked off. Her husband watched, then, when he realized she wasn't going to stop, he followed, tossing a coin purse at the head groom.
I turned away and watched a groom bring out Lightning.
"Don't let her get to you," Dane said quietly.
"I won't. Now go and say goodbye to your horse. Try not to cry in front of the duke's men."
I waited as Dane rubbed Lightning's neck and exchanged a few words with the head groom. We walked off together, leaving the horses, carriage, and Kitty's luggage to the duke's men.
"Are you all right?" I asked him.
"I will be as long no one mentions horses, lightning or storms in general."
I laughed softly. "You're much softer than you seem."
He took my hand. "Don't tell anyone."
We rejoined the others at the inn where some of the palace servants were about to set off again to roam the city and show their faces. It unnerved me to think that Lady Deerhorn had spies here, but I suspected those spies were among the inn staff, not the palace servants.
Dane, however, wasn't ready to leave yet. He suggested we meet with the others in our room so Kitty could take part in the conversation.
"I propose we leave Tilting tomorrow," he said when we were all settled. "The city is restless, and I don't want to become entangled in any trouble."
"Thank the goddess," Kitty said on a breath.
"It will be just us. We can't risk anyone else knowing about Kitty."
"What about Balthazar?" I asked. "He'll want to come."
"We'll inform him now."
"He won't need much notice," Quentin piped up. "He ain't got no belongings to pack."
Max smacked his arm. "You can come with me today. I reckon we start in the dyers and weavers districts. Meg, you joining us?"
"I'll stay with Kitty. Not because of this," she assured Erik, indicating her birth mark. "She'll go mad if she spends another day alone in here."
"Then I will stay too," he said.
Max grabbed his arm. "You're coming with us."
Erik allowed himself to be led out, blowing a kiss to Meg and Kitty from the doorway. Quentin followed. He also blew a kiss back at them, but stumbled over his feet because he wasn't looking where he was going.
Theodore, Dane and I were about to head out of the inn when a note arrived, delivered by a priest. He waited for an answer as Dane read it.
"Tell the high priest I accept his offer." Dane handed the note to me. "You two have also been invited, along with Balthazar and Rhys."
"I accept," Theodore told the priest.
"As do I." After the priest left, I said, "What do you suppose dinner at the high temple will be like?"
"Flavorless," Theodore said. "Certainly nothing like palace food."
We traveled to the garrison of Merdu's Guards, but Balthazar informed Theodore and Dane he would remain there. He would see us that evening, at the high temple.
"What about tomorrow?" I asked. "Is he leaving Tilting with us?"
"That's why he's remaining behind today," Theodore said as we set off on foot. "He wants to spend time with Elliot and the other brothers so he won't feel guilty about leaving them."
I was relieved that Balthazar had decided to travel with us. It wouldn't be the same without him. Indeed, I would miss him. I smiled to myself. A few months ago, I wouldn't have expected to miss the grumpy master of the palace. How things had changed. I was far from Mull and my home, with people I'd met only at the beginning of the summer. My father would never have allowed me to go on this journey. Everything would have been different if he were still alive, yet I missed him terribly.
Dane's hand slipped into mine, and we walked side by side until we reached the dyer's district. Curtained behind cloth newly dyed and hanging out to dry, the air smelled like my kitchen after I made up tisanes and ointments, with an underlying stink of ox blood used to dye fabric and leather a dark reddish brown.
We returned to the inn at the end of the day without success, but were met by a group of enthusiastic palace servants sharing a round of celebratory drinks.
Yen had been recognized.
Chapter 18
"A woman came up to me in the street, claiming she was my cousin," the guard named Yen said. "She took me to a house to meet my family. A nice house in a good area." He seemed more pleased about this than about meeting his cousin. "I have a mother and two older brothers, both married, and nieces and nephews too."
"Were they overjoyed to see you?" Theodore asked.
Yen grinned. "They couldn't stop feeding me." He glanced at Dane. "I told them I lost my memory and somehow ended up working at the palace. I didn't tell them everyone was the same."
"When did they say you went missing?" Dane asked.
"That's the thing. I wasn't missing, as far as they were concerned. I simply left Tilting to go traveling. They said I had itchy feet and always wanted to go on adventures, even as a boy. I set off in the spring before last with my pack, a good horse, and plenty of money to see me all the way to Freedland."
"Freedland?" Dane echoed.
Yen nodded. "That was my ultimate destination."
"Why?"
He shrugged. "Because it was the furthest place from Glancia? No real reason, so they said."
Freedland again. The number of times it had been mentioned lately was adding up.
"When I didn't return and my letters stopped, they were a little concerned," Yen went on, "but they assumed I would write to them eventually, or just show up. Apparently I wasn't a good letter writer."
"What did they say about your memory loss?" asked Deanne. "Did they think it strange?"
"They just took it in their stride."
"What are you going to do now?" asked one of the footmen.
"Move back here, I suppose. This is my home. They're my family." His smile widened. "My mother cried when I walked in the door and hugged me so hard I couldn't breathe."
Yen received congratulatory slaps on the back and Max bought him a drink.
Dane joined in with the celebrations at first, but after the initial raising of the tankards, he went quiet.
I pulled my chair closer to his. "Something wrong?"
"I'm happy for him," he said.
"I know you are. But you're sad to lose him, aren't you? He's the first of your men to leave."
"That's not it." He cradled his tankard in both hands and stared into the liquid. "I'm jealous. I wish it was me." He shook his head and looked away. "I'm being selfish."
"You're being human." I rested a hand on his arm then withdrew it when Theodore and Max joined us.
"That makes five from Tilting," Max said. "Balthazar, Amar, Paddy, Percy and Yen. I expected more."
"So did I," Theodore said. "But the Fist Peninsula is a big place. There are many cities and villages."
"Too many to visit in a lifetime," Max said heavily.
I eyed Brant, sitting alone in the corner, the only one not joining in with Yen's celebrations. He hunched over his tankard, watching us with a bitter curl of his top lip. He still thought we had the gem. I no longer thought he did. He would have used one of the wishes by now.
But the Deerhorns and Lord Barborough might have it, despite claiming they didn't. I didn't trust either of them. Whoever had the gem must realize it didn't work alone. It remained to be seen if they knew Brant had inherited the unused wishes.
"It's time to tell them we're leaving." Dane finished his ale and stood. The
guards instantly fell silent and the rest of the servants soon followed until a hush fell over the taproom. "I have an announcement to make."
"How did they take it?" Balthazar asked us when we met for dinner in the high temple that night.
"Well enough," Dane said.
Theodore arched his brow. "Most of the guards wanted to come with us," he said. "Some were put out that we were heading off alone."
"They were fine once I explained we can cover more ground by splitting up and traveling independently," Dane said. "Most agreed."
"Most?" Balthazar asked.
"Brant wanted to join us."
Balthazar leaned heavily on his walking stick. "Because he thinks you still have the gem. Can we expect him to cause trouble in the morning?"
"He wouldn't dare."
The high priest entered the reception room where we'd been waiting and welcomed us. "You must be the captain," he said to Dane.
Dane bowed his head. "Your Eminence."
"And this is Theodore," Balthazar said. "My very good friend and valet to the late king."
"So you are calling him the king again now, are you?" the high priest said as he watched Theodore bow.
"I thought you might prefer it, Your Eminence, however I stand by what I told you. Leon used magic to gain the throne. The sorcerer removed our memories so we couldn't divulge Leon's secret."
The high priest slapped his hands together at his back and regarded Balthazar with sympathy. "I have been thinking about what you said. I do not doubt that you all lost your memories, and I can concede that King Leon gained the throne under unusual circumstances. But it was not through magic or any efforts of a sorcerer. It is the will of Merdu."
"Not Hailia?" Balthazar asked.
"The goddess has no interest in the whims of kings and the jostling for their crowns. It's the God of Change you have to thank for your predicament." He directed us towards the far door. "Come, dinner will be served in a moment."
Balthazar led the way, the sound of his walking stick dulled by the rug covering the flagstones. "So we should not bother to search for our pasts? Since it's Merdu's will, we should merely accept what happened to us?"