The Immortal Walker

by McKellon Meyer

  Kam folded his arms and rolled up onto his toes. “Insults, Kaislyn?”

  “You should be glad I’m only insulting you! You settled for making sure Falan had a trusted description of me. After that, it was only a matter of time before he or a contact recognized me.”

  “We both lost something then. Call it even.”

  “Is that all it was about? Petty scores?”

  “Why not? At least it got rid of you for a while. Keeping you around is a weakness to Jaden.”

  “No one keeps me. No one!” Her voice dropped into a furious hiss, hand straying to the knife at her waist.

  Kam rolled back again. “You have a temper now!” he said in open surprise.

  “Around you, maybe.” Kaislyn quickly dropped her hand. She’d been about to attack Kam. Kam. She hoped the darkness hid her shaking.

  Kam eyed her for a minute, rolling back and forth. “All right. I guess I deserved that. Now we’re even. What are you doing anyway? Jaden didn’t mention you being here too.”

  Kaislyn rolled her eyes, letting her anger seep through to mask her lie. “As if I would trust you enough to tell you! It’s between me and Jaden why I’m here.” She jerked her head toward the palace. “Does your girl know you’re a thief?”

  “She’s smart enough not to ask. Planning to ruin that for me too?”

  “I’ll let you know.”

  Kam glared at her. “I have to go.”

  “I’m not the one keeping you here.”

  She watched Kam trot down the street, checking over his shoulder repeatedly to see if she was following him. Kaislyn held her breath until her vision was speckled with black spots. It wasn’t so much that she had or had not lost her temper. It was that she had instinctively responded to Kam the same way she did to Ikaros. Impulsively. Violently.

  Focus.

  Right. Focus on something else. Kam kept mentioning Jaden. Was Jaden really trying to pull something off in another city? What did he think he was doing? She’d have to keep an eye on Kam. Make sure he didn’t ruin anything for her here. And perhaps figure out what he was up to.

  It was getting late. Dismissing Kam from her thoughts, Kaislyn turned her attention back to the palace. She smoothed the front of her shirt and walked up to the gate, halting near the alcove entrance.

  “Hello.”

  As one, the guards drew their swords. This was not a promising start.

  “Demon kill the mountains,” said one of them. “He was right. How’d he do that?”

  “Captain Zarif warned us about you,” added a second guard.

  Zarif? He must have been the royal captain from earlier. “And he told you to draw your weapons on a tiny thing like me? How chivalrous.”

  “He said to watch out for a small, blonde-haired woman with green eyes.”

  “He could be speaking about someone else.”

  “Is he?”

  Kaislyn grinned. “Is Nisken around?”

  The guards stiffened. “The Royal Assassin? He’s busy.”

  “I’m sure he is. Just tell him Kaislyn’s here. That’s all.”

  “No. You might be trying to lure us away one by one—”

  “Just what did Zarif say about me?” Kaislyn cried, incredulous. “I’ve never even met the blasted man!”

  Before a guard could say something else, the door to the alcove opened and a large form emerged. “What’s going on?”

  “Sir,” said a guard as everyone came to attention.

  The royal captain was no longer dressed formerly, sword absent, vest gone, shirt open to reveal dark, curly hair on his chest. He saw Kaislyn. “So you did show up. What took so long?”

  Kaislyn had never felt so small in her life than she did standing in front of Zarif. He practically loomed over her.

  “She wants to see Nisken,” said a guard.

  “Does she?”

  “I’m right here. You don’t need to talk as if I can’t hear you,” Kaislyn interrupted.

  Zarif looked her up and down and stepped to the side. “This way,” he said, opening the door to the alcove again.

  “That wasn’t hard, now was it?” Kaislyn said, marching through.

  Without a word, Zarif closed the door on her and locked it.

  Kaislyn knew before trying the second door in the rock-walled room that it’d be locked also. She turned back to the first door, hands planted on her hips. “You’re arresting me? I didn’t do anything!”

  Zarif leaned against the wall beside the door. “You yelled ‘attack’ earlier and then those thugs attacked.”

  “I was trying to warn you.”

  “How did you know something was amiss?”

  She shrugged. “I saw some of them in the crowd. It was a poorly thought out attempt.” Except for the poisoned water to set everything up. Except for Ikaros’ blue-eyed assassin.

  “Huh.”

  “Nisken knows me. If you told him—”

  “I don’t care whom Nisken knows. I don’t know you and that’s enough.”

  “My name’s Kaislyn. Now you know me. Happy?”

  “Kaislyn.”

  “Drazan and Sveka’s daughter. Maybe you recognize their names?”

  She got no more than a blink from Zarif. At least the other guards were responding with appropriate surprise.

  “Sir, if she’s their daughter and they find out we didn’t let her in...”

  Zarif ignored his guards. “Just how old are you?”

  “Too old for you,” Kaislyn drawled.

  “Huh,” said Zarif again.

  “Are you capable of anything more than grunts?” Kaislyn demanded.

  “Don’t let her out,” Zarif said, re-entering the palace grounds through the gate. He walked away.

  “You’re stupider than a rock!” Kaislyn yelled after him.

  “You shouldn’t insult him,” said a guard behind her.

  “He locked me up! I haven’t done anything!”

  Yet.

  “Are you really... you know... their daughter?”

  Kaislyn folded her own arms and glared at them. An uneasy silence fell as the guards divided their attention between the street and her.

  Kaislyn sat on a chair and watched them watching her.

  To her surprise Nisken himself appeared a few minutes later.

  From what her parents said, Kaislyn suspected Nisken had changed as little as Raina had since the Second Bloody Year. He had fewer wrinkles and grey hair than her parents and age had not slowed his fighting skills. He remained as lithe and casually dangerous as ever. The greatest change was a long, thin scar that stretched from cheekbone to chin. It was something he had received near the end of the Second Bloody Year. Not even Drazan and Sveka knew what happened. Nisken always turned red when the question arose and changed the subject.

  “When Zarif told me there was a tiny assassin at the gatehouse, I had no idea he was making a joke.” Nisken surveyed Kaislyn through the barred door.

  Kaislyn rose from her seat. “I’m not sure it was a joke. Will you let me out now?”

  “Depends. Do you have my diamonds?”

  “Nisken!”

  “Do you?”

  “Sveka took them from me.”

  “Hmm. If you say so.” A grin broke across Nisken’s solemn face and he unlocked the door for her.

  Kaislyn promptly threw her arms around him in a hug. “Missed you!”

  He hugged her back.

  Under the open stares of the guards, Nisken led her up the wide set of stairs that ended in a courtyard draped in greenery. On the other side was another set of stairs leading into the palace itself. Zarif stood near the second set of stairs, arms folded across his chest again.

  “Kaislyn can come and go as she pleases, Zarif,” Nisken said, pausing.

  “So she really is the Royal Assassins’ daughter?” Zarif asked, his attention fixed on Kaislyn.

  She smiled brightly at him. “See? I was telling you the truth.”

  “Somehow I don’t think that
’s normal for you.”

  “Probably isn’t,” Nisken agreed.

  Smirking, Kaislyn followed Nisken up the last few steps and into the palace. A cool, dark corridor tinted green from the stone flooring stretched before them.

  “You do realize that Zarif is smarter than he looks?” Nisken added. “I would watch out around him.”

  “I can take care of myself.”

  “Sure. Just keep in mind that if Zarif arrests you again, I’m not saving you.”

  Save her from Zarif? Ha!

  “Are your parents here? The ugly vulture said they were on their way.”

  Ugly vulture. Kaislyn couldn’t remember Nisken ever referring to the phoenix as anything else. She couldn’t tell if he liked the royal bird or not. Sveka said the phoenix called him names too so maybe the feeling was mutual.

  “I think we just missed each other in the mountains,” Kaislyn lied. “I’m here alone. Why?”

  A brief, anxious look crossed Nisken’s face. “It’s not relevant anymore.”

  “I, um, heard there was an attack in the streets earlier.”

  Nisken ran a hand through his hair. She’d never seen him so stressed. “It was nothing. A few stupid mercenaries looking for trouble.”

  “Are things better? Everyone in the mountains is talking about the city being poisoned,” she added under Nisken’s suspicious look.

  “Actually, yes,” he admitted. “Two days ago we started noticing a difference. I don’t know. The air felt... clearer somehow. The poison must have run its course. Of course, now we’re getting reports that the Fifth City and surrounding area is starting to get sick, but it’s not nearly as bad as it was here.”

  Which just left the Third City to get hit, being the last of the three cities that relied so heavily on the Sabah river. By then, there wouldn’t be much poison left at all. Take that, Ikaros! She hastily wiped the pleased smile off her face when Nisken glanced at her.

  “So what urgent matter has you disrupting the entire Royal Guard and setting Zarif off? You really got under his skin. I haven’t seen him that mad in a while.”

  Kaislyn thought of her confrontation with Zarif. He’d acted bored. “I just wanted to stay here for a while. That’s all. Nothing important.”

  Nisken snorted. “That’s what Drazan always says and then it ends up being something disastrous.”

  “Well, darling, if that’s the case, you’ll find out soon enough, won’t you?”

  “Don’t you start that! It’s eerie enough having one Drazan without two of them running around.” Nisken grinned at her. “You’ve grown up.”

  “Thank you.”

  “I haven’t decided if that’s a compliment yet. Raina’s... a little busy at the moment but I’m sure she’ll be delighted to see you tomorrow. I don’t think she’s seen you since you were a small child.”

  “Oh, I don’t... that is...” Kaislyn’s stomach dropped. Why did Nisken have to go and marry her? She forced herself to keep eye contact with him. He was giving her a strange look. “I don’t want to bother her, and you do have a new baby.”

  “Well, come along,” said Nisken after a moment. “I have just the place for you.”

  Kaislyn trailed after Nisken.

  Afraid of a Phoenix Queen, girl? After two Phoenix Kings?

  3 | Ti-em

  Kaislyn was soon situated in a small suite of two rooms with windows that opened into a semi-private courtyard. She located the nearest gate from the palace and introduced herself to the guards posted there. She didn’t want any future issues coming or going.

  From there, she began her study of the palace. She went room by room, memorizing every nook and cranny, making special note of any section that seemed to be older or repaired from the First Bloody Year. If she was going to visit the Second City during Ikaros’ reign, she wanted to know her way around his favorite palace with her eyes closed. She made a mental note of adding the rest of the city to her list of places to navigate.

  She returned to her rooms later that night and collapsed into bed, falling asleep the moment her head touched the pillow.

  It was almost noon before Kaislyn woke and groggily made her way to her washroom to dress for the day. When she returned to her first room it was to see a girl going through her scattered belongings.

  “What are you doing?”

  The girl shrieked and dropped a boot. She looked wildly around before locating Kaislyn. “I thought you were gone.”

  “You’re not a very good thief,” Kaislyn said. “Couldn’t you hear me in the other room?”

  “I’m not a thief,” the girl said, her face turning bright pink. “I was tidying up your room.”

  “Which means going through my things?”

  “Putting them away.” The girl had thick black hair and dark eyes. When she spoke, it was with just a trace of an accent. Her family must have moved here from the First City when she was small, Kaislyn thought. She appeared to be about her own age, only... not. Younger somehow.

  The girl scurried back when Kaislyn moved toward her boots. Hiding a frown, Kaislyn pulled them on.

  “I’m Keera,” the girl said, breaking the growing silence. “If you need anything, just tell me and I’ll take care of it.”

  Kaislyn kept her attention on her boots. “How long have you been working here?”

  “A year.”

  Longer than she would’ve guessed. She chose her next words carefully. “Have you been friends with Kam long?”

  Keera froze and her cheeks turned bright red. “It’s not against the rules! How could you know about us? You only just arrived.”

  Because she was as suspicious as a bat. It wasn’t hard to recognize the slight, quick movements of Keera with that of the girl last night with Kam anyway. “I knew Kam when he lived in Ir-Ime.”

  “You were friends?” There was no mistaking the jealous suspicion in her voice now.

  “Not at all!” Kaislyn said and then reconsidered how that must sound to Keera. “We were... in similar circumstances and would run across each other periodically.”

  Keera did not look assured and Kaislyn regretted ever bringing the thief up. She’d barely even met Keera and already she was meddling with her life. The girl would figure out soon enough what a slimy person Kam really was.

  Kaislyn forced a smile to her face and rose to leave. “I’m sorry I scared you earlier.”

  “That’s all right. I could have...”

  She didn’t hear the rest of Keera’s response. As her hand touched the door, her ears began to ring with the echoes of slamming doors, locks jiggling, someone sobbing. Kaislyn pressed against the door as the Shift attack engulfed her. She could smell wet straw and blood. Her blood? She began to shake.

  “Are you all right?” Keera’s voice broke through the noise.

  Kaislyn forced herself upright and cast a bright smile at Keera. “Just dizzy for a moment. See you later.”

  Once in the privacy of the hall, she stopped. Resting her forehead against the cool stone wall, she closed her eyes. This latest attack had been like the one in Falan’s jail. Only more intense. The sounds harsher. The scents sharper.

  A sigh escaped her. Why couldn’t her Shift attacks ever be of a minor injury? A pleasant death?

  Can death ever be pleasant, girl?

  As long as it wasn’t final, did it matter?

  Kaislyn shook herself. She didn’t want to explore the palace today. Perhaps visit the records room instead. Maybe there would be a hint there as to when Ikaros left his birth life.

  The records room was much smaller than Kaislyn expected it to be and was not even locked, though a guard did patrol the hall in a regular pattern. The room, located on a lower level, was made all of stone with the scrolls stacked every which way on crooked shelves.

  Kaislyn left the door open for light and began to peruse the scrolls. There were not nearly as many as she thought there would be and soon discovered why. Nearly all of the scrolls were burnt around the edges, a few so dam
aged that when she tried to open one, it fell to pieces at her feet. The scrolls all seemed to contain information on either taxes, harvests, or laws. She soon noticed a pattern. Red sealed scrolls related to Raina’s rule. Gold seals were Athalia, and black was Nakia. There were very few of hers. The blue ones now...

  “Gotcha,” Kaislyn crowed, running her fingers over the blue seal of a snake twisted around three falling feathers. “Gotcha, you insane, obnoxious excuse of a man. Push me off the mountain will you? How would you like a dagger in the heart?”

  “Talking to yourself is a very bad sign in someone so young.”

  Kaislyn yelped and spun to see Nisken leaning against the doorframe.

  “What are you doing here?”

  He took in the scrolls clutched in her arms and the bits of broken ones on the floor. “Halting some flagrant vandalism apparently.”

  “Those weren’t my fault. They broke when I tried to open them.”

  “Hmm. I’ve been looking for you. Your parents arrived a few hours ago. Drazan had some choice words on hearing you beat him here.” Nisken paused to give her a thoughtful look. Kaislyn looked back at him. She was not about to tell him how she beat her parents on foot with only a half day’s start yet arrived a day ahead of them when they had horses.

  “They met with an ambush near the edge of the mountains,” he added.

  Kaislyn froze, a scroll half-shoved into the shelf. “Oh?”

  “They’re fine. Just thought you’d want to know as I doubt they’ll say anything about it.”

  It didn’t mean it was Ikaros again. It could have been random bandits. In the mountains. Right after Kaislyn stopped him in the Second City against Raina.

  “They’re used to that sort of thing,” Kaislyn said, all too conscious of the growing silence.

  “Sure,” Nisken said. “They’re staying at the guardhouse for a while. The City Guard was hit hard from the poisoned river so they’re overseeing it for now.”

  “Mmm.” Kaislyn started to push scrolls onto the shelves again. “Oh, no, don’t do that!” She skipped backwards as a scroll popped out, releasing a torrent of scrolls. They spilled onto the floor and several rolled toward the doorway. Nisken stopped them with a booted foot.