A King's Ransom

by Lia Black

  "Um, t-the chamberlain…he wants to see you in the prince's room…says it's urgent…" the youth stammered. The lump of cartilage in his throat worked up and down as he swallowed.

  "What could possibly be so urgent?" Aegeus narrowed his eyes.

  "I-s-sir, I am only a messenger…"

  The young man's anxiety was irritating him. "Tell the chamberlain that I will be there in a few minutes," Aegeus said with a wave of his hand. He closed the door as the guard hastened away, and went to his wooden chest in the sleeping area to find some clothing.

  "Mmmaster?" Finn mumbled, rubbing his eyes, "where are you going?"

  "I must attend to His Highness. I'll be back shortly."

  "Is he okay?" Finn asked in his curious child's voice.

  "Fine, I'm certain. Go back to sleep. I'll have them send breakfast down soon." He ruffled the boy's soft red hair and watched him snuggle back under the blankets before he left the room to get dressed.

  He knew the guard at the door had not been lying; he really had no information other than the chamberlain had sent him with. The prince should still be sleeping, but he worried now that perhaps some idiot guard had attempted to take liberties with the unconscious man. Aegeus muttered under his breath as he pulled on a pair of breeches under his nightshirt then quickly wriggled out of it and pulled on his undershirt and black robes. He then made his way around the room, counting the stones that met at each corner, touching the same three on each side before he could leave. He was careful to avoid the crack on the eighth step, although to hit it this time might have allowed him a few more minutes in bed.

  He glared at the guards standing in the hallway outside of the prince's room. The door was open and the chamberlain's body filled the frame.

  "What has taken you so long?" He demanded.

  "I'm here now, what difference does it make?" Aegeus glared at the man. "What's this about?"

  The chamberlain nodded and a few of the guards peeled away. Something dark, greasy, and foreboding slid through Aegeus' gut.

  "It's about insurance," the chamberlain turned, going back into the room. He stood at the end of the prince's bed, looking down at the slumbering beauty.

  "He will awaken after the procedure is complete." Chamberlain Rheton did not speak the words as a question.

  Aegeus looked down briefly at the prince and squared his jaw. "This is nonsense. I am returning to my room."

  "By all means," Rheton's smile slithered under his beard like a worm. "I've done you the favor of having your boy…relocated. That way your work will continue unhampered."

  Ice lanced through Aegeus' spine. He flexed his skeletal fingers, feeling the knuckles pop as he longed to wrap them around the chamberlain's throat. "What?" He'd heard the man perfectly, but still couldn't believe his ears.

  "You are a dangerous man, magus. A sorcerer who can raise and command the dead, wipe out thousands of people with a plague spread by whispering, and transfer souls between bodies. Do you think I would be fool enough to believe you would not seek revenge for my earlier threats?"

  Aegeus ground his teeth together as he felt the spark of magick burning through his veins. "If anything happens to Finn…"

  "Well, magus, that is up to you, now isn't it? I can assure you he will be kept comfortable and well fed. In fact, he might even grow to like it here."

  A vase shattered in the corner behind Rheton, a shard of the glazed pottery slicing his face. The man flinched and brought his hand up to his cheek as blood filled the wound.

  Aegeus looked down at the prince and spoke out loud and clearly, "Veyl, your lover is alive." Then he turned on his heel before he lost control and did something akin to a murderous parlor trick.

  Although he'd wanted to find Finn, he had no doubt that the chamberlain would continue to use the boy's safety to subdue him. He cursed himself for not seeing this coming, he'd been so focused on trying to think of a way to keep Finn safe that he'd never even considered they would just slip the boy out from under his nose.

  He kept his wits about him long enough to make it to his room, but once inside, he began to shake as rage built up, seeking a release. Although he would have been glad to answer the urge to destroy without conscience, that's just what he would do, and very likely end up destroying himself and Finn in the process. What happened to this wretched body of his made no difference to anyone, and the demons already had a claim on his soul, but Finn…

  Aegeus reached out his consciousness and found Finn's aura. The boy was fine, confused but neither frightened nor hurt. Aegeus breathed a small sigh of relief and let the tendril of magick curl back up inside. He suddenly felt exhausted, his body filling with lead from his internal battle to contain his power. Moving aside the thick curtain, he found Finn's nightshirt laying neatly across his bed and unconsciously pressed the fabric to his face, breathing in the scent of his son. When the tears came, it was the first time he'd ever felt them. The hot trails of saltwater ran down his cheeks, darkening into circular splotches on Finn's nightshirt. Aegeus rocked, holding the garment as he'd held that crying child nearly eight years ago, and wept.

  *~*~*

  Aegeus woke with a start, feeling disoriented. His heart was hammering in his chest. Had it been a sound that had awoken him? As if in confirmation, there came a pounding at his door. Aegeus sat up slowly, not having even remembered lying down. He looked around uselessly for something to give him an idea of what time it was, but without windows it was futile.

  His body felt raw and his eyes were crusty with tears. He looked down at the nightshirt in his hands and folded it, placing it reverently on his pillow just as the pounding resumed.

  He bit back a literal curse directed at whomever it was that dared disturb him at such a time as this. It was not because he felt a sliver of compassion for whomever had been sent to bother him, but because he knew that he was caged by the threats implied against Finn.

  Aegeus moved stiffly to the door, his eyes feeling swollen and sore, and his lips chapped from biting them. He opened it to an older guard—likely one who'd seen Aegeus before because the man didn't flinch when he met the mage's ghostly face.

  "I've been sent to tell you that you should prepare. His Majesty's condition is worsening."

  Several vulgar responses went through Aegeus' brain in a multitude of languages, but in the end he said nothing and closed the door.

  He turned slowly, looking around at the empty room. He never realized how quiet the world was without Finn's incessant chattering, the noises his clothing made when he fidgeted, or the annoying sound of him breathing through his mouth. Aegeus' own breathing became shallow, and a wave of nausea crashed over him, causing him to sway and cover his mouth with a shaking hand. He had to focus. He had to do this. It would all be over soon. Perhaps his execution would come as a sword through his belly, or maybe they would leave him to rot in a cell in the dungeon. He had no doubt that they would kill him after this. Regardless of his method of death, if Finn survived to live a comfortable and safe existence, then Aegeus would not suffer, no matter what it was they did to his body.

  Aegeus hadn't realized he'd been moving until he swayed and his hand gripped the back of a chair for balance. That's right, it was always Finn who insisted upon him eating, and who always brought him his meals. Never matter, he would be kneeling on the floor for as long as it took to draw the sigil. If he passed out, he wouldn't have as far to fall. Aegeus walked the last several steps to the bedroom and began to get undressed.

  Barefoot and naked from the waist up, Aegeus returned to the main room. He methodically stepped out a space at the north-most edge, marking on the floor with white chalk dots where the ritual would take place. He had to do this five times, not because the ritual demanded it, but because he'd worried that his steps had not all been true, or that the chalk marks had not been placed exactly. Five times indicated that all was as it should be, though Aegeus' stomach felt full of snakes as he fought the urge to check just one more time.

&n
bsp; Aegeus took a deep breath and dropped to his knees, then began to draw out the shapes of words long forgotten by the rest of the world, and too profane to be said aloud. This part was always the easiest. Whether it was because of the magick, or the familiarity of the designs, Aegeus did not know, but somehow, his body and mind became separate, and he rarely remembered drawing anything past the first few lines. When the circle was complete, he took out the ceremonial knife—the one he'd used to cut his witch-mother's throat—and slid it across his palm.

  The pain sent a shiver through his bones, making his innards clench as the flesh yawned open and blood filled the wound. Thankfully he hadn't done this enough to have built up a layer of scar-tissue. It was hard enough to bring himself to make such a long cut, and despite his constant physical suffering—or maybe because of it—he despised pain. Aegeus carefully stepped around the circle, saying the incantation in his head. At each compass point he squeezed his fist and let the blood drip down. The chalk dust floated across the red beads like speckled clouds. Then, defying nature, the liquid flowed like little rivers over the surface of the chalk, following the designs, before being absorbed.

  Once the markings were complete, Aegeus stood in the center of three concentric circles. The two outer rings were closer together with the marks of sealing inscribed; this was to keep any spirit energy contained. On either side of his smaller, center ring were two triangles, one pointing north and the other pointing south. These would hold the king and prince respectively.

  The white chalk lines turned velvety black, radiating an aura cold enough to burn. Aegeus blew out a trembling breath that turned to steam in the icy air. Despite the fact that within the circle it was as cold as winter, sweat dripped from his brow. His hands shook as he finished the final preparations, chanting words that were half-ritual and half-nonsense as he tried to keep from falling apart. He reached out again to check on Finn and found his energy was angry and growing frightened. There was nothing Aegeus could do, however, to soothe him. He'd never bothered to learn the healing arts. Now he wished he had.

  He winced as the arcane markings on his body burned, becoming raised and red as if they were fresh wounds. These were seals of power and of a promise made by the witch-mother to the dark ones. These gave him access to magicks mortals were normally denied, and all for the trifling price of his worthless soul. Now he was bound to the sigil through his blood--the power within it feeding from him as he struggled to construct the snare that would bind the prince's spirit.

  Feeling the weakness of his body, Aegeus again dropped to his knees. In his thin fingers, he worked to wrap a glowing blue crystal with a thread of magick the texture of spider's silk. The first time the thread broke, he was not surprised. The second time, he'd nearly been halfway done and he stifled a soft curse. By the third time, he felt the burn of frustration in his stomach, and knew he couldn't risk breaking it again, but even as he told himself this, his mind again wandered to worry about Finn and the web snapped once more.

  "Why can't this just be done with!" Aegeus cried out, his emotions riding ever closer to despair.

  "Magus!" A silver-toned female voice cried out.

  Aegeus turned and saw that elf woman—Melina was it? She had crept into the room unnoticed and now stood staring at him, her eyes wide with something that looked to him like horror.

  Aegeus swallowed hard and turned back to his task. He rubbed his thumb and index finger together, creating the tiny violet spark that he spun methodically once more into the thinnest thread.

  "Break the circle," he croaked, "if you want to end me." He somewhat wished that she would. He was connected to the sigil; the chalk lines were his veins, and his magick was the blood that pumped through them. All she had to do was rub one of the marks away--just a tiny bit with the toe of her shoe--and Aegeus would effectively bleed to death.

  But the elf didn't move. "Why won't you stop this madness? Look at you...your body..."

  "My body is my problem, elf...please, leave me to my work." Aegeus coughed and turned to spit out the black oily filtrate from the magic that coursed through him.

  "I won't, because your work is evil and threatens my kin."

  Aegeus chuckled bitterly. So they were related after all. Well, too late now.

  "I no longer have the luxury of stopping." His eyes burned and he blinked, his vision becoming blurred with tears that froze to ice on his lashes. "My own has been threatened as well," he said softly, hearing his voice crack.

  Melina crouched nearer to him, though safely outside of the circle. "Please. Let me help you...there must be a way..."

  "Do you think I haven't been trying to find it?!" Aegeus yelled. He felt something cold, withering inside, and his trembling resulted now in chattering teeth. His outburst had left him vulnerable--too much taken...he needed to slow down...needed focus...

  Again he began conjuring the thread between his fingertips, blinking as sweat dripped into his burning eyes, melted the ice, and blurred his vision anew. "I don't want this," Aegeus croaked. "My Finn...they will kill him if I fail." When he raised his head to look at her, Melina's face showed something that might have been compassion. He gave a bitter, humorless laugh. "This is all that I am...all that I know, and yet I am not clever enough to figure a way to save anyone." He coughed again. The vile stuff left over from the magick was moving to his lungs. Aegeus felt his throat constrict around his rising nausea.

  "Aegeus..."

  He looked at the elf-woman through a curtain of his stringy silver-brown hair, and saw that she shed tears. "You cry for them. For your prince and my Finn," he murmured.

  "I cry for them and for you. I do not know what has brought you to such a state, but I am truly sorry."

  Aegeus huffed softly, "I chose this. You, the prince, all of the elven slaves in the castle...you are the ones who have no choice...Finn has no choice," he sighed. Compassion. It was a rare and uncomfortable sort of feeling, and one he intensely disliked. It only proved that his mind was deteriorating more each time he cast such a powerful spell.

  "If you wish to help me, then please count for me."

  "Count?" Melina frowned.

  "It is...it is something that helps me concentrate...and currently I find I can't focus. Counting...you do know how to count?" He glanced at her and with her nod he continued, "I taught Finn to count in twelve languages for me..." he giggled under the weight of his fear and exhaustion. "He always mixes them up..." Hysteria threatened--Gods he was really losing his mind this time--but Melina began a slow, steady rhythm of what he guessed was an elven number system, and it soothed him.

  "I told your prince…that his lover was alive…" Aegeus mumbled, uncertain if she'd heard him. "I gave him…something…it's not nearly enough…but maybe…" his voice faltered as he let the rhythm of the elf's smooth tone send him into a trance.

  Aegeus again started to wind the thread.

  "I will spare the prince his soul. I will do the best I can…but I fear I will not survive to wake him. Tell him…even though he seems asleep, tell him there is someone worth waking for. Remind him that his lover is alive."

  "And the king?" Melina paused her counting to ask as Aegeus finished the last three loops.

  Aegeus swallowed; the taste of his blood was on his tongue. "His survival is not my concern."

  CHAPTER THIRTY NINE

  Parthus

  The first thing that Kaidos noticed about Parthus was how unlike Dandre it seemed. While the city was well cared for, the people also appeared to be more at ease, taking their time perusing the wares in the market or standing to the side of the square to chat. Stores were open to customers, and people looked at the travelers with curiosity, not suspicion.

  The city was larger than either Aaullsworthe or Herrendsport, but the climate seemed to be a nice mix of the two—temperate, with a an autumn bite to the breeze. Among the people there were what seemed to be visitors and residents moving through the cobblestone streets. Children shrieked with laughter as they pl
ayed around their mother's skirts and there was the steady call of street vendors punctuated by the sharp clang of a blacksmith's hammer from down the lane.

  "This feels..."

  "Yes," Engel nodded, "I know. These people are not suffering. I take it as a good sign."

  They found a stable where the man tended their horses and pointed out the nearest inn, just two buildings down.

  "Certainly I have a room left for such weary travelers—two beds, both freshly made and comfortable." The innkeeper grinned as he looked at the men. He looked a bit harder at Kaidos, but Engel was wearing his guardsman's tunic, and it seemed to assure the man that Kaidos was not a thief.

  "How much extra for a bath?" Engel asked.

  "One tub will cost you five coppers."

  "Here's half a daissom. Make it two and with heated water." Engel set down the coin.

  "Big spender," Kaidos mused as they were shown to their room by a pretty young woman who was the innkeeper's daughter.

  "It's your money." Engel grinned. "I got it out of your room at the inn in Dandre while you were getting yourself thrown in the dungeon."

  Well, Kaidos thought, at least it hadn't gone to waste.

  The innkeeper's daughter swished around, rustling her skirts and flashing lingering gazes in Kaidos' direction as she moved through their room, telling them the rules of the inn as she built up a fire in the hearth. At one time Kaidos would have made it a point to put her among his intentions for the evening--whether he actually desired her or not--but he had no interest, and was beginning to find her flirtations aggravating.

  "If there is anything else you need…" she said coyly, flashing her eyes at Kaidos.

  "Nope." Kaidos dropped down onto one of the beds and lay on his back, folding his arms behind his head as he stared up at the beams in the ceiling.

  "Thank you." Engel sent the girl away with a few extra coppers, closing the door behind her. "You should have taken her up on her offer, Vailinn…" he said as he turned from the door.