by H. L. Burke
They’d entered the Starspire through one of the herdsman’s routes and stopped along the narrow road so that Kay could be concealed. Now the wagon started rolling again. Kay hugged his legs close to his body as the barrel jolted about with him inside it. His heart pounded in his ears. There was no turning back now.
Trying to breathe slowly so as not to run out of air in the close, stuffy container, he concentrated on the heartbond. Arynne was still there—weak, miserable, and unresponsive to his attempts to reach her, but there. How long would it take for him to get enough of his magic into her to root out the dark spirit? Would he have time before his father’s guards inevitably fell upon him and dragged him to his doom? What if they caught him before he even reached her and he died for nothing?
No, he couldn’t consider that. He’d accept death, but only after he’d saved Arynne. If he had to fight off every guard in the palace to do so, he’d get to her and he’d help her.
She lives. I get one more chance to hold her. Am I really losing anything?
His heart rate slowed, and calm settled over him.
He listened to the outside world, trying to guess where they were along the path based on the various bumps and turns the wagon took. A gate creaked open, and a muffled voice shouted, “Ah! Frole, you’re back. How’d the hunt go?”
“Took down a pack of grimwolves and closed a rift while you sat here on your tail-end, drank all the ale, and played Wolves and Stoats, that’s how it went,” Frole scoffed. “Show us where we can unload our gear so we can get our chance to laze about for a while.”
The wagon shook, and heavy booted feet tromped across the bed beside Kay’s hiding place. The shaking jarred his teeth, and he clenched his jaw.
“I can help you unload, if you like ... and buy you the first round if I get to hear about your mission.”
“We can handle it,” Idyne said. “Tell you what, Flax, why don’t you run ahead to the Wolf and Otter and order that round. Bring as many of the boys as you’d like. We’ve got a story to tell, and you’ll all want to hear it.”
“Brilliant!” Flax’s grin was audible. “You hear that, Riker? Spread the word.”
Footsteps faded away from the wagon along with distant shouts.
“What did you do that for?” Crede whispered right above Kay’s hiding place. “I’m not heading to the tavern while ... I’m just not.”
“Neither am I, but I want as many of the wardens away from the palace as possible,” Idyne replied. “Clears the way for Kay.”
“Won’t happen if someone sees us let him out of this barrel.” Frole grunted. “Help me get it into the storage room.”
Kay braced himself as the barrel lurched and tipped. From the angle he found himself in and the smooth rolling, he surmised he’d been loaded onto a handcart. A few bumps and thumps later and he came to rest. With a grating sound, someone pried off the lid.
Blinking as the light flooded over him, Kay tried to unwedge himself from the awkward position. While he could travel from the barrel unseen, it was better to know exactly where he stood before he attempted it—and also awkward to travel when folded up like an unwanted blanket. Unfortunately, his legs now tingled with pins and needles, and he couldn’t quite negotiate his exit.
“Here.” Idyne grabbed him beneath the arms and yanked him up.
Kay wobbled as blood returned to his legs. “Thanks.”
He stood in a small storage room filled with crates. Various pieces of gear hung on hooks in the wall. Crede, Idyne, and Frole surrounded him, the expressions on their faces ranging from grim to downright depressing.
He forced a laugh. “Don’t mourn me just yet, fellows.”
“Do you need a blade?” Frole asked, offering up the hilt of his own.
Kay shook his head. “The men I’d have to fight through are my fellow wardens. I’d rather not hurt any of them, and if I just want to disable them or get by, starcasting and traveling are better tools.”
“Is there anything else we can do?” Crede’s voice cracked.
“Not without taking risks I don’t want you to take.” Kay rubbed his lower back, sore from the confinement. “Look, there is one thing: after this is over, a lot of things might be said about me. My father’s always seen me as the blight eating away at our family tree, so to speak, and with what I’m about to do breaking my life oath, he’ll have all the arrows he needs to fire at what little remains of my reputation. I don’t expect to be remembered well, but at least with you, the men I fought alongside, keep in mind that I wasn’t all bad, all right?”
“Sir, you’re one of the best wardens I’ve ever served with, and in a career as long as mine, that’s saying a lot.” Frole offered Kay his hand. “I don’t know what’s going on with this princess and your brother, but I know you. You’re a good man, not one to make selfish choices when the weather turns and the wolves are at our heels.”
“Yeah, if ever I hear any man drag your name through the elk droppings, they’ll be tasting my fist.” Idyne cracked his knuckles, green eyes glinting.
A smile quirked Kay’s lips. “My memory is in good hands, then.” He shook first Frole’s hand, then the other two wardens’, before stepping back so as to not accidentally draw them along with him. Taking a moment to focus his thoughts on the servants’ stairway to the royal wing, he called forth his magic and traveled.
He landed in a dim passage. Bracing himself against the walls, he managed to get his feet square on a step and avoid toppling down the stairs. He drew several breaths to bring his heart rate down, both from the energy expended from the traveling magic and the anxiety of his current situation. The stairway was empty. Faint light emanated from small starshards embedded in the walls every five steps. At the top of the flight, a curtain hung over the entrance to the royal wing above. Curtains were easier for servants to get through carrying loads of laundry or trays of tea things.
Creeping up the stairs, Kay peeked around the curtain. He grimaced.
One guard paced the length of the hall while another stood at attention besides a door towards the end of the hall: Arynne’s door. Even from a distance, Kay could feel the prickling magic of the ward around the hallway. He couldn’t travel through that. Somehow he had to make it across the hallway and into Arynne’s chambers without the guards seeing him. If he fought his way past them, they’d just go for help, and while he wasn’t sure exactly how he planned to get his magic into Arynne, he knew he couldn’t do it while fighting. However, maybe if he incapacitated them, he could slip through. He’d be able to do what he needed to do before reinforcements arrived.
He drew his magic into his fingertips. A quick burst of starlight to blind them might be enough to get him into the room. Then he could barricade the door.
But what if I need more time? I only get one chance, and if I fail ...
He concentrated on the heartbond. Arynne’s pulse quivered against his mind, so weak.
I die for her, or I die with her. Either way, time to take a leap.
The door to Arynne’s room popped open.
“Out of the way, you lurking ice buzzards.” Arynne’s maid, Sigid, elbowed her way out of the room carrying an armful of bedding. “Some of us have more work to do than pacing around the halls.”
The guard at the door snorted and moved to one side.
Sigid tossed her head so that her braid flopped from over her shoulder to behind her back then paraded past him, her nose in the air like a queen on a stroll rather than a maid carrying a load of dirty linens.
Kay slipped a few steps down the stairs and waited.
A moment later, Sigid pushed through the curtain and froze.
Kay put a finger to his lips.
“Prince Kajik?” she whispered. “What are you doing here? If your father—”
“I know!” He drew her further down the stairs. “But Arynne—Sigid, how is she?”
Wrinkles deepened around Sigid’s eyes. “Not well. I’m trying to keep hope alive, but we’re all bracing fo
r the worst.” She stood a little straighter and scowled at him. “Still, you getting yourself killed won’t help her. You need to get out of here before someone sees you!”
“I think I can help her. It’s hard to explain, but I know if I can get close to her for a little while, she has a chance.” His heart kept trying to jump into his mouth, but he pushed it down and kept his voice steady. “Obviously, though, if my father’s guards see me enter the room, I’m not going to have long. Do you have any ideas how to get me in there?”
Sigid clicked her tongue and set the laundry down on the step. “Give me a few minutes, and I can distract the guards for long enough for you to slip by. The door’s unlocked.”
Kay narrowed his eyes at her. She was a maid. Not a spy or a soldier. “Do you really think you can do that? They’re trained wardens, not idiots.”
“They’re men.” Sigid rolled her eyes and pulled a ribbon out of her hair, loosening her braid so her chestnut locks fell around her face. She then adjusted the lacings at her collar. The effect was immediate.
Kay coughed. “All right, I see where you’re going with this.”
Sigid’s brow furrowed, and she placed her hand on Kay’s shoulder. “Be careful, your highness. I don’t know you well, but I’ve watched your brother and Arynne grieving over your absence, and it’s enough to melt a heart of ice.” She withdrew. “It’ll hurt them if something happens to you, and they’re both such dears. I really hate to see them hurt.”
“I don’t want that either, but I want Arynne to die even less.”
Sigid gave a somber nod. “We’d best hurry then. You’ll need to move fast.”
After a little more fussing over her garments, she turned and sashayed up the stairs and out into the hallway. Kay watched around the curtain as she glanced at the ambulatory guard. “I lost my necklace. Look!” She waved her hands at her plunging neckline. “I had it when I left the princess’s room, so it must be here. Can you help me?”
The guard, a younger warden, still working on his first beard, cleared his throat. “I haven’t seen anything, miss.”
“We’re not here to look for missing jewelry,” the other guard, who was about mid-twenties with auburn curls, snapped from his position by the door.
Probably still sore at Sigid for calling him an ice buzzard, Kay thought wryly.
“Oh, come now, help a girl out.” Sigid plumped her lips into a pout, her eyes widening, her head tilted to one side. “It was a present from my long lost papa, and I’d sooner lose my virginity than lose it.”
Both guards turned bright crimson, and even Kay’s eyes widened. She wasn’t going for subtle.
Before the men could regain their composure, she shrieked, “There it is! You’re standing on it!” and dove for the younger guard’s boots.
He toppled onto his rump with an unceremonious yelp, Sigid somehow landing in his lap.
“Oh, dear! How clumsy of me!” She covered her mouth with her hand.
“Now cut it out!” The second guard rushed to the first’s rescue.
“Be a sweetheart and help me up.” Sigid grabbed the guard by the sword belt and hoisted herself partway up. The guard beneath gave a cry of pain, suggesting her knee had ended up somewhere sensitive in the scuffle.
“Let go of me!” the other guard yelled.
“No need to be rude.”
Seeing his chance, Kay bolted across the hallway, yanked open the door, and slipped inside. Not wanting to draw attention to himself, he eased the door shut behind him, but as it clicked in place he heard a shout.
“Did you see that? Someone went into the princess’s room.”
Pulse racing, Kay dove for the nearest piece of heavy furniture, a sturdy wooden chair, and wedged it beneath the doorknob. The door shook as fists pounded on it.
“Let us in! What are you doing in there? Who are you?”
Kay’s shoulders slumped. Well, his bet was placed. Now to wait for the dice to fall.
“What’s going on?”
Kay whirled about as Clindt emerged from the bedroom.
The healer’s jaw dropped. “Kajik? What are you doing here? If Uncle Evyd—”
“I know!” Kay held up his hand. “I need to get to Arynne.”
“No, you need to get out of here.” Jaw set hard, Clindt marched up and grabbed Kay’s arm with surprising strength. “You’re heartbonded to Arynne. If you die, she’ll feel it. She’s not strong enough to handle that sort of shock right now, Kajik. It’ll kill her.”
The blood drained from Kay’s head, leaving him woozy. He hadn’t considered that.
“Does your father know you’re back?” Clindt frowned.
Kay managed to shake his head. “Not yet ... but Clindt, I can feel her slipping away. She doesn’t have much longer as it is.”
Clindt’s gaze dropped to his feet, and he released Kay. “I know, but to lose you on top of losing her—think of Olyn.”
“I am, but more than that, I’m thinking of Arynne.”
“Lord Clindt!” the guard bellowed through the door. “Who is in there with you? Are you in danger?”
“I’m fine!” Clindt snapped. He then focused on Kay. “What do you mean?”
Kay swallowed. “I don’t know how I know, but I’m certain that if I can get close to her, if I can channel my strength into her, she’ll get better. It may sound crazy, but something is telling me I can save her.”
Clindt stepped back and blinked. “By the Ever ... the heartbond. Why didn’t I think of that?” He shook his head. “I mean, I know why I didn’t. No one has ever witnessed this sort of illness before, so there’s no reason to believe that a heartbond will cure it, but there’s also no reason to believe that it won’t—”
Worried that Clindt would never get to the point and conscious of the continuous banging from the hallway, Kay craned his neck in the direction of the bedroom door.
“Still, Kajik, you need to realize, if we do this, it’s not certain it will help Arynne. However, if you don’t leave right now, it’s inevitable that your father will catch you. From what Olyn tells me, he’s in no mood to be merciful.” Clindt searched Kay’s face. “You know what the consequences will be if that happens?”
Kay dropped his gaze but nodded.
Clindt sighed. “If you’re sure then. Come on.”
Relief coursed through Kay, and he nearly tripped over his feet stumbling after Clindt.
Chapter Thirteen
The door to the bedroom opened, and a wave of cold hit Kay in the face. He staggered against the doorframe.
“You all right?” Clindt placed his hand on Kay’s shoulder.
Kay forced himself upright again. “Yeah.”
Heavy curtains obscured the bed, and an oppressive energy hung over the room. Dark magic clawed through the heartbond, fraying Kay’s already harried nerves. Still, beyond the shadows, she was there, quivering. Her presence called to him.
“Arynne?” He took a step closer.
“We haven’t been able to wake her for the last few moonnotches.” Clindt pulled back the curtain.
Arynne huddled in a tangle of blankets, her dark curls frizzled about her head, her eyes squeezed shut, not in peaceful rest, but as if she were hiding from something, afraid to open her eyes and see it looming over her.
Kay’s breath left him, and he fell on his knees beside the bed. His hand shook as he reached for her face.
A shadow fell over Kay, and he looked up to find Clindt hovering over him.
His cousin smiled apologetically. “I know you probably want to be alone, but I feel like I should be here for at least a short while. We don’t know exactly how this will work, and when Olyn tried to use his magic to help her, she went into a fit. It took both of us to hold her still and stop her from hurting herself as she thrashed about.”
Kay’s stomach twisted.
“Do you know what you need to do?” Clindt tilted his head.
“No, but somehow I know I need to do it.” Turning from Clindt, Kay
rested his hand on Arynne’s forehead. Her skin was cold to the touch, so much so that if not for the pulse of life through the heartbond, he would’ve thought her dead. Her usually rich, dark skin was ashen, her cheeks sunken in, but in spite of all that, she was still Arynne, still lovely.
He leaned closer and brushed his lips across her forehead. The dark powers lurking within their bond screamed at him, but he powered past them. He imagined a sphere of light growing within his core, but instead of channeling it into his hands as he would for a starbolt attack, he sent it surging through the heartbond. The connection blazed to life, and the shadows burst with a keening cry.
I’m here. Arynne, I’m here. Please, let me know you’re still in there. Don’t let me lose you.
Her heart rate quickened, her pulse throbbing in his ears, weak but fighting. His light surrounded her. It seeped into her body, and her skin began to glow, softly at first, like distant starlight, but steadily growing.
Clindt inhaled sharply. “Wow ... you just ... Kay, I think it’s working!”
Pushing away the layers of blankets, Kay moved his hand down to her shoulder. She was fully dressed beneath, her garments wrinkled from her time spent tossing and turning. Sparks flew from his fingertips into her body. As if in response, dark vapor rose from her chest. A spear of magic flew through the heartbond, slamming into Kay’s soul. He cried out in pain.
“Kajik?” Clindt gripped his shoulder. “Are you—”
“I’ve got this!” Kay said through clenched teeth. With a deep breath, he gathered his magic for another wave. It washed over her. The smoke turned to flames of black fire. They crackled, dancing above her body.
Arynne went rigid. She whimpered.
Ever, help me! Kay remembered the star spirits he’d rescued from the tainted starshards. He called on them, sending out an appeal for help into the light around him. With a peal of pure laughter, tiny pinpricks of silver light rushed from his body into hers. The fires burst into vapor which broke apart on an unfelt wind.
Arynne’s body relaxed into her mattress once more. The wrinkles on her face eased, and while she did not awaken, she lay still, at peace. Out of breath, Kay’s strength gave out, and he collapsed, his upper body draped over her, lower half still on the floor. He managed to get his arms around her. With his head on her chest, he could hear her heart, feel her in and out breath, and sense his magic still seeping into her, melting away the remnants of cold and lighting up the dark.