She went up another level from the party; it spilled out of a large reception room and into a garden below her. Kaislyn found a perch between pillars and watched the party for a while. Men and women dressed in beautiful silks, slaves dressed in more muted colors, musicians clustered in artful bunches playing tunes upon wind instruments.
Were they really so ignorant to what was happening in the other Ruling Cities? No, the laughter was a little too forced, the smiles grimaces. They knew. They knew that a Phoenix Queen was coming.
Kaislyn turned to the man who inspired all these people to play along with his delusion, who were, as yet, more afraid of him, than of the long lost queen coming to claim her city.
Lord Dariz had been the Royal Governor of the First City before Tecwyn’s revolution, and he’d seized the opportunity to cement his control as its new city lord, killing anyone remotely close to him in power or faithfulness to the royal family.
To hold onto power while the other Royal Governors met with grisly ends was impressive. Dariz was the only lord the First City ever had. The Royal Assassins never visited, unlike the other cities. Watching Dariz, Kaislyn understood why now. She began to reconsider her plans.
The First City Lord was at the moment talking with a richly-dressed couple who laughed too loudly at his jokes. Dariz was tall and built along broad lines. His face was worn with age but not excessively so. His hair was grey, but still thick. Finished with his story, Dariz turned away and Kaislyn caught a better view of his face. His eyes were even greener than hers.
Kaislyn watched the party until it broke up sometime in the early morning hours. Dariz remained until the last of his guests were gone before vanishing into his own rooms. She stiffly rose from her perch and stretched out her body. Removing her inconspicuous outer garments, she tucked them into her hiding place. Next, she adjusted the pair of knives belted at her waist, tucked her pants snugly into her boots, and secured a heavy, black veil at her waist.
When Dariz reemerged, he had changed into simpler clothing and looked as fresh and rested as if he’d slept all night. She waited until he was out of sight and then explored his rooms. She found little of interest in the spotless rooms beyond a little box of tiny, corked jars. Opening one of them, Kaislyn took a cautious sniff. She recognized the faint odor. A small taste of the liquid on her fingertip confirmed it as a distilled form of Weeping flower. For a moment, she was back in the Third City, Jaden’s form slumped on the floor next to her.
“This is different,” she told herself. Ignoring her stinging tongue, Kaislyn pocketed the jar and went to follow Dariz again.
She dozed off while he talked to the palace guards and lost track of him when he disappeared into the dry, sand-strewn lower levels of the palace. Wandering lost through them, she passed a large alcove lined with pillars that contained a stone tomb. It looked abandoned.
Brushing sand and dust from the surface, Kaislyn traced over the inscription carved into the stone sarcophagus: Katera, Beloved of the Royal Governor. Well, that explained the empty, forgotten feel of the place. The woman must have been dead for at least fifteen years.
Kaislyn found Dariz above ground again taking breakfast in a different garden. His apparent cheerfulness made her scowl. She strode without a glance past the slaves and guards attending their lord. They were so surprised by her disregard of their presence they didn’t try to stop her.
Kaislyn planted her hands on the table and bared her teeth at the city lord. “The Phoenix Queen marches on your city, and you sit in your garden eating mangoes. How delightfully charming.”
Dariz set his knife on his plate. He looked her up and down, eyebrows knitting together at her strange clothes. “The bone structure is almost identical to that of Katera’s. She had the most beautifully-shaped face of anyone I’d met.”
“Until you had her killed,” Kaislyn said coldly.
“She tried to kill me first. I’ll admit her attempts were amusing.” Dariz turned his green gaze to a servant behind her. “Bring my guest a chair and a second plate.”
Almost immediately the ordered items were there and Kaislyn sat across from Dariz. He politely offered her a mango from the bowl of fruit.
“And now we both sit and dine as our impending deaths approach.”
“Yours might be,” Kaislyn replied. “Mine is less certain.”
“I hadn’t thought my annoying offspring had a child. You look too old to be his.”
“Yet here I am.”
“Which is curious. He hated me enough for killing his mother that I am certain he never would have left his child to be raised in this city.”
True enough. The few times her parents went to the First City, Kaislyn was never invited.
“If you’re here, does that mean he rides ahead of the supposed queen?”
“She’s as real as either of us,” Kaislyn answered, cutting her mango into tiny bites. “I wouldn’t jest about the Phoenix Queen. It’s foolish of you to resist while the other cities fall into submission.” She took a bite, noticing Dariz’s posture relax as she ate. She forced two more pieces past her stinging lips and tongue.
“Resist?” Dariz snorted. “I have no qualms about my fate. I’m not so stupid as to think that having been the Royal Governor once before, and then a city lord, that this young woman will fall for any pleadings on my part that I attempted only to preserve what was rightfully hers!”
Kaislyn reached across the table and politely poured more fruit juice into his glass. “So you’ll fight?”
“There are many forms of fighting. I might not live past this day but I will make this city hurt long after I am gone.”
“Do you expect your City Guards to defend you?”
“They may do as they wish,” Dariz dismissed.
Kaislyn’s eyes narrowed in thought. “And you? What can you do? No one can touch the queen. The Demon Captain rides with her and the Royal Assassins guard her. Everyone who looks at her falls before her mesmerizing eyes.”
“Except you apparently.”
Kaislyn grinned very slowly. “Very true.” Her heart stopped beating.
“Why come here? To see your heritage before it disappears in blood-stained sands?”
“I admit to some curiosity in wanting to meet you,” Kaislyn shrugged, “but no. I have a personal vendetta with the Demon Captain.”
Dariz frowned. “Whose side do you take?”
“My own. Certainly not yours.”
“I thought as much,” Dariz said.
Kaislyn smiled back at him. “But, darling,” she drawled, enjoying watching the city lord stiffen, “you made one little miscalculation.”
“Indeed? What is that?”
“You aren’t the only one adept at poisoning people.”
Dariz’s face paled and they both looked at his glass. He shoved it violently and it tipped over. The pale red juice streamed across the table and dripped off the edge. Dariz’s pupils began to dilate.
“Instead of gloating to yourself over the idea of presenting my body to my poor father as a final gift of this city, you should have inquired after my mother’s blood. I cannot die.” Kaislyn pushed her chair back and rose to her feet. She watched as a seizure shook the city lord. “You were going to poison the oasis weren’t you? Make this city hurt long after you’re gone? What else could it be? You might even catch the Phoenix Queen unawares and kill her before she realizes about the water.”
“How... could you know?” said Dariz.
“I’m the Immortal Walker. I hadn’t really intended to kill you. I prefer to leave that sort of thing to other people. But since you tried to poison me, it’s only fair I return the favor. Isn’t that what you did with Katera?”
“You—” he couldn’t finish as another seizure took him.
Kaislyn leaned across the table. “I am the daughter of assassins, Dariz. You should have remembered that before inviting me to join you at your table.” She straightened and turned to the slaves and guards standing motionless around th
e perimeter of the garden. “Personally, I would flee. Without Dariz, the city should fall—” the city lord slumped forward in his chair “—quickly enough.”
She picked another piece of fruit from the bowl.
Apparently, she does take after her parents.
“Yes,” Kaislyn sighed. She didn’t feel guilty this time either and that worried her. She left the garden, retreating to the roof of the palace to watch for Raina’s approaching little army.
The conquering of the First City went much as she expected. There was a little bit of fighting here and there, a foolish few who thought the new queen was a fake. The taking of the palace wasn’t much more than walking in and possessing it. The slaves and servants weren’t about to resist and the guards were inclined to surrender their weapons immediately and go home rather than fight, especially when their commanding lord never appeared to say otherwise.
Kaislyn made her way back into the palace and changed once more. Tripping along one of the halls, she turned a corner and saw Captain Hezere coming the other way.
He was clothed as he always was, all in black. He still wore the scarf and gloves, preserving his reputation of a demon in service to the Phoenix Queen. Hezere stopped. His eyes widened and he took several steps backwards.
Kaislyn smoothed her hands over the folds of her black and gold dress. The only addition she’d made was the black veil, currently hanging loose along the side of her face, and her belt that held two daggers. “Why, Aamir,” she drawled, “whatever is the matter?”
His hand went to the hilt of his sword.
“Are you frightened of a mere dance girl who has strayed from the Fourth City? Darling, I am so disappointed in you!”
“Dance girls do not destroy kings because they’re bored.” Though Hezere’s voice was dark and even, Kaislyn saw his sword arm twitch a little.
“Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t that exactly what Raina did in the Fourth City to Tecwyn? Or doesn’t she count because she’s your precious princess?” she asked.
“You pretend to be a harmless member of the lowest level of society, but in reality, you hide there so you can destroy everything around you. You are, and always will be, a threat.”
Kaislyn flicked an invisible piece of dirt off her dress. “Should I be flattered? Ikaros pushed me too far. I wouldn’t make the same mistake, Aamir.”
He didn’t reply and Kaislyn shrugged. “I don’t see why you’re so defensive when I have only helped you today. I met with dear old Granddad. Alas, he couldn’t be here to greet you or Raina properly.”
Hezere took another step backward, a single expletive escaping him. “I saw his body in the garden. It wasn’t suicide?”
“Well, he did try to kill me first,” Kaislyn replied. “I waited until I was provoked.”
“You waited... Gods preserve us all from your madness!”
“My madness!” Kaislyn laughed. “I’m far more sane than any of you!”
Not much of a standard, girl.
“What are you doing here? Other than killing people?”
“Is that judgment I hear in your voice, Aamir? Are you worried you do not have me safely enthralled like you do the Royal Assassins?”
“What are you doing here?” Hezere repeated steadily.
“Why, finding you. I have some questions and you have the answers. So, unless you’re going to attack me with that thing,” she pointed at the sheathed sword, “I would start talking.”
“I know you’re rubbish with weapons,” said Hezere.
Kaislyn tilted her head to the side and smiled. “True, but would you like to be the one to explain to my mother why you killed her only child?”
Hezere, to her surprise, drew his sword anyway. Kaislyn’s eyes narrowed. “Fine then—” Her hand flew to her throat and she took a retreating step of her own.
“Yes,” said Hezere. She could hear the sneering smile in his voice. “It’s the same sword from your infamous visit in Ti-em. It took a long time for me to find it.”
Kaislyn swore at him. “You are absolutely vile.”
“Well, Immortal Walker?”
Kaislyn glared at him. In the silence that stretched between them came the sound of another person. Kaislyn blinked first and quickly fastened her veil in place. Hezere turned slightly to see who was coming while still keeping her in view.
A tall boy with a thick mop of curly black hair and bright, inquisitive brown eyes appeared around the corner. “There you are!” he burst out on seeing Hezere. “I’ve been looking all over. This palace is like a maze, did you know? Raina wants you. She’s in the—Who’s that?”
Kaislyn stood rooted to the spot, staring at the gangly teenage boy.
Hezere did not answer, his attention returning fully to Kaislyn. “Immortal Walker?” he prompted her. “What’s your decision?
“‘Immortal Walker’? What’s that? Why are you standing there—”
“Ah, hell,” Kaislyn groaned. Unable to tolerate anymore, she fled.
Taking refuge in her grandmother’s tomb, Kaislyn slid against one of the columns, closing her eyes and trying to catch her breath. When would she learn not to run anymore? It hurt her increasingly fragile state of breathing. Visions of a gangly boy appeared behind her closed eyelids and Kaislyn hastily opened her eyes again. Her lips twitched upwards into a smile and she began to laugh. It quickly turned hysterical before she was able to stop again. Gods, what a mess this was!
She ought to be used to messes.
You destroy everything around you.
“Implying Raina is cleaning up after me, Hezere?” Kaislyn muttered. “I do not destroy things!” She thought of dethroning of Ikaros. “I... fix things.”
And it gets messy.
It wasn’t her fault Ikaros ruined the Five Cities. It wasn’t her fault he was insane.
Kaislyn shook her head at herself and forced her thoughts to an even more unpleasant subject. How was she going to get Hezere alone now? He would be on his guard for her. Dare she wait for him to make his own escape from the city and follow him? He’d likely head east, farther into the desert and away from any kind of civilization. It couldn’t be that hard to watch for him. She didn’t seem to have much choice in the matter anymore. Choice...
How dare he carry that sword!
Says the girl wearing the same dress she destroyed his father in?
Entirely different.
But she couldn’t be rid of the word. Destroy. She did destroy things didn’t she?
Gradually, Kaislyn roused from her thoughts to the sound of someone else arriving. Biting her lip in annoyance, she rose to her feet and scooted around the pillar she’d been sitting against. She listened to the person pass her hiding spot. Peeking around the pillar, she saw a tall, lithe figure with hair to his shoulders halt before the tomb.
Did Hezere do this? Impossible, Kaislyn told herself. He didn’t know where she was.
It was strange to see Nisken so much younger. He had fewer lines around his face and seemed more... energetic. No beard or scar yet either. He looked almost boyish.
Kaislyn tried to inch away slowly.
Nisken whirled toward her hiding spot. “Who’s there?”
Blazes. She shouldn’t have moved. Kaislyn held out her hands, empty, and stepped around the far side of the pillar, angling so that she had the hallway and escape behind her. “I’m sorry,” she trembled. “I didn’t know where else to hide. Please don’t be angry with me!”
Nisken’s stance softened. “It’s all right. You’re...” He trailed off, taking in her dress. “...safe.”
Kaislyn was glad for the veil that hid her face, gladder still for the dim light that would make the patterns on her dress less obvious.
“I’ll just... go,” Kaislyn said, still pathetically timorous. “I don’t want to... you must be very important...”
She squeaked as Nisken darted forward and grabbed her arm, relieving her of her belted dagger at the same time. “What sort of slave girl goes around ar
med and decked out like... like that?”
Kaislyn squirmed in his grasp.
“Who paid you to wait here to kill a Royal Assassin?”
She froze at the accusation.
“Dariz perhaps? With his last dying breath?”
“That fool?” Kaislyn burst out unwisely.
Nisken’s grip tightened. “Who then?”
To Kaislyn’s horror, she could hear a familiar voice coming down the hall toward them. No, no, no, not her parents too! “Let me go,” she whimpered. “You’re hurting me.”
“Dariz is dead. Who else is working against Raina that they’d plant assassins of their own in tombs?”
He’d seen her first dagger, but not the second. Kaislyn grabbed it, twisting in Nisken’s grasp. “Damnation, Nisken! Let go of me!”
He jerked at his name. Her second dagger, loose in her shaking hand, slid against his face, cheekbone to chin. He swore, letting her go at last. One hand went to his face, the other fumbled for his sword while holding her dagger at the same time.
Blood dripped down Nisken’s face.
“I am so sorry,” Kaislyn cried and ran as fast as she could from him. She hid behind a large jar used for embalming as Drazan and Sveka passed her and ran again. She escaped to the roof where she doubled over, retching. She still clutched her dagger in a shaking hand, its blade dull with Nisken’s blood.
Blazes, this kept getting worse.
It took much longer to recover this time. Her throat hurt in sharp, jagged bursts and she nearly fell off the roof when one of her seizures started. Afterwards, Kaislyn sat in the only shady spot of the roof she could find, a narrow crevice between two sharply-rising peaks.
She shouldn’t have been so worried about finding Hezere again. He found her.
“What did you think you were doing down there? You could have killed him!”
Kaislyn rose shakily to her feet. She forced herself to stand straight. Her nose stung from the smell of blood. Her blood again. She folded her arms across her chest, letting the bloody dagger dangle from one hand.
“I’m not in the habit of casually killing people, Aamir. You have that task well in hand. I want to know when Ikaros left his birth life. Tell me and I will leave you and this city alone.”
The Immortal Walker Page 23