"Greetings," he said again, using his performing voice. "It is I, Percieus the Sage, who has come to tell you a tale that may serve as a parable to some, or a warning to others. While in this lark, you will hear great deeds and thrilling escapades. You will also know the pain of conflict and the ache of loss.
"For today I tell you the story of Kanedari the Young on his liebereisen, for he is a lad of uncommon strength and wit, on his quest to find what fate has in store for him."
Zayn backed away from the center stage, and in a booming voice, declared, "Behold, Kanedari the Young comes forth."
Keelan burst through the curtain to begin his argument with his mother.
Zayn watched his cousin perform for the first few lines, expertly twitching as if he were being controlled by ropes. The dozens of performances had honed their acting, and they'd learned which lines brought applause or laughter. Getting that instant feedback, especially as their crowds grew each night, charged their performances. But now they were acting before an audience of one.
While trying not to appear to stare, Zayn examined Prince Orráine from his place on the stage. If the older brother, Prince Aethalstar, was a paragon of physicality, then the younger was the opposite. The reason for the extra-small seats became apparent. Prince Orráine appeared the size of a human ten-year-old, even though Zayn knew he was much older. He held his arm against his side as if it pained him, and his mouth tilted to the side as if he'd eaten something horribly sour. And while other maetrie had smoky gray skin, it still contained the vibrancy of their energy and power. Prince Orráine's seemed sickly with a chalky pallor, and stringy thin hair hung loosely around his small face.
The longer Zayn watched the prince, the more he was convinced that the performance was going terribly. Without an audience, everyone seemed to get swallowed by the empty room. Zayn was worried that the prince would get up and walk out, but that changed the moment Petri stepped onto the stage.
In her misshapen body, she limped into view, and Prince Orráine sat up straight. As Kanedari interacted with the caterpillar-like faeila, the prince was enraptured. This change extended even when Petri wasn't on stage, as if the prince was waiting anxiously for her to reappear.
Zayn exchanged his nerves for relief that they were going to get through the play without incident, giving them a chance to spirit Petri from the building. He had decided that at worst, Prince Orráine might want to speak to her before they left, delaying her slightly.
All this changed in the third act when the door to the auditorium burst open, and Prince Aethalstar ducked through with Captia and Precept behind him and then trailing behind them, the maetrie in the umber robes. The older royal said nothing, but Prince Orráine slumped into his chair as if he were melting.
The imposing prince had an effect on the actors too. Both Keelan and Skylar flubbed their lines, which brought cutting laughter from Prince Aethalstar, and a return of the sour expression on Prince Orráine. The focal point of the room had changed from the stage to an area directly between the two brothers.
With the jeweled scepter under his arm, Prince Aethalstar began to make comments, directing them towards his brother. The third act of the play seemed irrelevant, but they delivered their lines. When at last they finished with Keelan and Petri's characters marching away on the liebereisen, and then everyone returned to the stage to bow, Prince Aethalstar gave slow, sarcastic applause, while the younger prince glowered in his seat.
"A thrilling performance," said Prince Aethalstar. "It was better than the time the jade witch stabbed me in the heart with a sharpened bone."
Without turning his head, Prince Orráine said, "Kindly please leave, brother."
The older snorted derisively. "Why? I thought the point of the play was to have some fun. You wanted a little fantasy of how your journey might go. I hope you enjoyed it, because that's the best it's going to get. The only good thing that's likely to come out of it is that I won't have to deal with such a worthless brother anymore."
Still holding his arm against his side, Prince Orráine faced his brother and said, "Your arrogance will be the death of you someday."
"If the queen wouldn't be angry with me, I would kill you myself." The prince's gaze flickered to the stage. "But maybe I can have some fun."
Zayn's stomach tightened as Prince Aethalstar approached. A few gestures passed between the others.
Flee?
Fight?
Zayn gestured back: Stay.
They had no choice but to wait to see what was going to happen. Even if the six of them jumped him, Zayn knew they had no chance, given that Captia and Precept stood at the door.
"Which one is your favorite, dear brother?" asked Prince Aethalstar, moving behind them with his hand over each, waiting for a reaction. When his hand hovered over Petri, resplendent in her multicolored butterfly wings, the slightest twitch formed at the corner of the young prince's eye.
"I see that," said Prince Aethalstar. "More than a favorite. I think I detected anger. Do you dare to face me again, dear brother?"
More gestures passed between them, but Zayn motioned for the others to hold. There was no way they could defeat even one maetrie, let alone five, including the prince and his two lieutenants.
When Prince Aethalstar put a hand on Petri's shoulder, she shrugged it away.
"Don't touch me," she said, her voice dripping with venom.
A wave of distress passed through them. Zayn had to fight for his knees not to buckle, and though he couldn't see the prince's reaction, he heard his inhalation.
"What do we have here? Brother, were you aware of what stood before your very eyes?" asked Prince Aethalstar.
Petri flinched away when he tried to touch her again, spinning around and throwing out her hand as if she might fling him away, but the gesture did nothing. The prince stared back at her as if he were truly seeing her for the first time.
"What fortune to find this underfoot, at a moment of great importance," said Prince Aethalstar. "I don't quite know what you are but I see the power in you. Power that I can use."
He grabbed Petri by the throat. She fought back like a wildcat, swinging her arms and legs in reckless abandon. When Zayn moved towards her, the prince brought down his scepter and the five of them were slammed to their knees. Zayn struggled against the invisible force that held him in place, but it was like struggling against the earth itself. The others strained equally, but with similar results.
"Do not presume to oppose me, especially in my house," said Prince Aethalstar.
"Brother," came a weak voice from the audience. Then again, but stronger, "Brother."
"Hush," said the older prince as he lifted Petri by the neck and examined her as if he were pricing a prized article of clothing.
"Put her down," said Prince Orráine, his hands as fists at his side. "Stop hurting them."
The corner of Prince Aethalstar's lips curled with amusement.
"I'm feeling generous today, dear brother, so I will not hurt them. But her, I'm taking with me. This is too big of a prize for you."
Prince Orráine marched towards his brother, though his limp made his anger almost absurd. When he climbed onto the stage, the older prince kicked him in the face, sending him sprawling onto the front seats. Before he could get up again, Captia and Precept took the young prince by the arms and led him stumbling from the room.
"I told you not to oppose me," said Prince Aethalstar to his brother's back. "And you. Stop fighting me. You might think you're powerful, and maybe someday you will be, but for now, you're mine."
Petri kicked out, barely skimming his leg.
When she didn't stop no matter how hard he squeezed, the prince said, "If you don't stop fighting me, I'll kill one of your friends."
Petri went still right away, her eyes wide with concern.
"That's better." The prince nodded towards them. "I'm going to let go of your neck. If you do one thing wrong, I'll bash this one's head in."
Keelan knelt c
losest to the prince and glared at him as much as his immobility would allow. Petri nodded once, and the prince released her neck.
"Good. This will work out nicely. Ullar," said Prince Aethalstar to the maetrie in the umber robes who had brought them to the theater, "you're going to stay here and watch these pathetic fools. If one of them even makes a single wrong move, kill them all."
Then the prince turned to Petri, lifting his jeweled scepter.
"Do you know what this is?" he asked, lifting up the weapon.
She shook her head.
"It's a little tool I made to help me with people like you." He snapped off the bottom of the scepter, revealing a hidden compartment, from which he removed a diamond-studded chain. "Put this around your neck."
She held the necklace, but made no move to put it on. Prince Aethalstar lifted his scepter over Keelan's head. Petri's lips squeezed to a point, but she placed the necklace around her neck. As soon as the clasp snapped together, her eyes lost focus.
"Very good," he said. "Now come with me. You're going to be very useful in the festivities to come."
Zayn watched in horror as Prince Aethalstar, with an obedient Petri in tow, marched from the room, leaving Ullar and two maetrie guards. As he realized the extent of his mistake, his body faded to an empty numbness. He'd brought Petri to the embassy, thinking they'd be able to hide her during the play, but he was wrong, and now the whole world was going to pay.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Diamond Court Embassy, May 2016
The understudy revealed
About five feet in front of Zayn, there was a little spot on the floor. A nick in the hardwood, possibly from them when they were putting up the runed ceiling, or maybe during the construction. While the umber-robed maetrie, Ullar, paced across the front of the stage, Zayn stared at the little spot and tried to think of nothing at all.
It was comforting to let his mind go, to unfocus, to forget they'd ever come to the Diamond Court Embassy. It was comforting, but it wasn't right.
He looked up when he felt Vin nudge him in the side. The big man stared at him as if he'd grown a second head. He knew that look in his eyes. Vin thought he'd given up.
Zayn hadn't even though he sorely wanted to. Did he feel like every choice he'd made had turned to disaster? Yes. Did he want to strike out against the Diamond Court? Absolutely. The only problem was that he didn't know what it would accomplish.
There was no way to get out of the embassy at this point, a massive gemstone golem army lay waiting in the basement, and Prince Aethalstar had enslaved Petri—a fledgling goddess of death and destruction—to his will. The result of which would turn the prince's war into a global bloodbath.
Even if they could take down Ullar, there was no way to get to the prince. Or stop his army. Or...
Vin motioned again. What do we do?
Thinking.
Ullar cuffed him upside the head. "No moving."
Behind the maetrie's back, the others gestured for them to attack. Zayn considered the request, but knew that Ullar could quickly call others.
When the door opened, Zayn expected Captia or Precept, or maybe even Prince Aethalstar, but was surprised by the diminutive Prince Orráine.
Zayn heard the derisive snort from Ullar as the young prince approached.
Prince Orráine hooked his stringy hair out of his face as he looked up at Ullar, who towered over him, even when he wasn't on the stage.
"I would like to speak to the actors," said Prince Orráine deferentially.
"Your brother told me not to let anyone near them," said Ullar.
"That is true, but that command doesn't apply to me," said Prince Orráine.
Ullar wrinkled his face as if he'd smelled something awful. "Why do you want to speak to them?"
The prince made a small gesture—a squeezing of his shoulder to his body. "I wish to speak to them about the craft of the play. After all, they were here upon my request."
Ullar blinked as if he couldn't understand why a maetrie would want to converse with a human.
"It is your choice, Prince Orráine," he said, then started to walk towards the stairs on the far side.
"Help me up," said Prince Orráine, holding his hand out.
Ullar gestured towards the stairs, but the prince shook his hand insistently, so the umber-robed maetrie reached out to pull the small prince onto the stage.
As Prince Orráine clasped hands, allowing himself to be tugged upward until he was on the stage next to Ullar, he quickly produced a tiny blade in his other fist, stabbing it into the meat of Ullar's forearm as if he were squashing a bug. He didn't stick the knife deep into his flesh, but the effect was immediate.
"You—"
Ullar's voice seized up, followed by his limbs. His expression flitted from surprise to anger before ending on shock. The umber-robed maetrie pitched off the stage as stiff as a board, landing hard onto the first two rows of seats.
Zayn leaned backwards as Prince Orráine carefully returned the blade into a hidden sheath beneath his coat.
"Smoke-Eater poison," said Prince Orráine with an odd little smile.
"Is he dead?"
Prince Orráine shook his head. "While the cloud that surrounds the creature disorients prey, the poison immobilizes them so they can eat at their leisure. He's paralyzed. For a few hours."
"Thank you," said Zayn, motioning for the others to stay kneeling so they were at the same height as the prince. "May I ask why you have come to our rescue?"
Prince Orráine worked at words in his mouth, but nothing came out for a few moments. "I...I felt bad for the way my brother treated you, and I worry for your friend."
"We worry for her too," said Zayn.
The prince's eyes searched them. "Did you know?"
Zayn quickly decided he was going to play it as truthfully as possible. If the prince was opposed to his brother, then they might have an ally.
"We did," said Zayn. "And we are not as we seem either."
This news seemed to surprise the prince. His forehead creased as he looked deeper into them.
"We're not regular actors," said Zayn.
"From the Guild of Dramatics?" asked Prince Orráine.
Zayn shook his head. "The Subtle Arts."
Prince Orráine's eyes widened with understanding and maybe a hint of hopefulness. "Priyanka's brood. I should have known."
The recognition bloomed in Zayn's heart. They sorely needed a break if they were going to stop Prince Aethalstar.
"You know her?" asked Skylar hopefully.
"No," said Prince Orráine. "But Mother complains about her regularly, blaming her for any trouble within the court."
His warming mood dimmed upon hearing that news. If the queen was opposed to Priyanka, then it might put a damper on the younger prince's willingness to help. A minor war within the young prince surfaced as twitches at the corners of his lips, and nervous adjustments to his stringy hair.
"Do you have a plan?" asked Zayn, gaze resting on the fallen Ullar.
"I...I don't." The prince shook his head. "I shouldn't have done this. My brother will kill me. He's been looking for an excuse for a long time."
Prince Orráine backed away from them as if they'd developed a bad case of leprosy.
"Don't go. You did the right thing," said Zayn. "If you don't have a plan, we do. We're here on Priyanka's orders. She's in the Grand Ballroom with the others in disguise. Now that you've freed us, we can turn the tide against your brother."
Prince Orráine paused, his fingers kneading each other. It was clear he'd never gone this far in his opposition.
"I don't know," said the prince.
"You can do this. We can do this," said Zayn. "We'll save Petri in the process, and she'll be eternally grateful, especially when she hears about how easily you dispatched Ullar, who was quite rough with her earlier today."
Prince Orráine glanced back at the fallen Ullar with pride. "She would like that?"
"She would," said
Zayn. "But she's in danger. And we need to help her."
Prince Orráine nodded, his expression almost painfully enthusiastic, as if he’d rarely the opportunity to feel joy. The minor light that shone from his face told the tale of how his brother and Queen Zaire treated him. The maetrie were not known for their softness, mirroring the Eternal City in which they were raised. Zayn could imagine that it’d been difficult for Prince Orráine to survive under those circumstances. That Prince Aethalstar had wished for his younger brother’s death during his liebereisen showed the cruelty of their world. Zayn looked to his cousin, with whom he shared a brother-like bond, and felt heartbreak for Prince Orráine that he lacked the same.
"What can I do?" asked Prince Orráine.
Zayn heard breaths of relief from his teammates.
"Well, first I need to know if you have any allies or anything else that can help us," said Zayn.
"There are few guardians loyal to me, but none that would oppose Prince Aethalstar if it came down to it," said Prince Orráine.
"I see," said Zayn, wishing they had more to work with than a diminutive prince with a penchant for poison.
"Is there a problem?" asked the prince.
"No. It only makes it more challenging," said Zayn. "It's going to be hard to fight through all his guards, not counting what any other allies can bring."
"Only the prince needs to be stopped. If he’s dead then the rest will listen to me," said Prince Orráine.
"Kill the prince? He made us look like marionettes for real," said Skylar.
Zayn glanced at his arm where Abzu, the Hidden Blade, rested in wait. He hated to think about using it for anything but the Lady of Varna, but if he didn’t survive to that time, what was the point?
"You don't have to kill him," said Prince Orráine. "I doubt you could anyway. And it would be unwise. My mother would stop at nothing to get her revenge. You would only trade one problem for another."
"Great," said Vin. "So we lose even if we win."
"Not if I am the one wielding the dagger," said Prince Orráine. "Court intrigue is an acceptable reason for a sibling death, assuming that a non-royal does not strike the final blow."
The Reluctant Assassin Boxset Page 70