The Queen's Blade IV - Sacred Knight of the Veil

by T C Southwell

  "I assure you, the one you seek is not here, but a higher power protects us. You are brave indeed to provoke Tinsharon by insulting one of his servants. Perhaps his wrath will fall on your prince and not you, but he will surely seek the one who has brought the god's curse down upon his head."

  The soldiers shifted and glanced around, as if expecting Tinsharon to jump out of the woodwork and strike them down. If the situation had not been so dire, their expressions would have amused Blade. He deliberately used Tinsharon's name often, since most people believed that speaking his name drew the god's attention, and few wanted his scrutiny, especially Cotti.

  Blade pressed home his advantage. "Step aside now, and no one need ever know that we passed this way without your seeing the face of one young virgin."

  The first Cotti nodded, but his comrade muttered something in his ear, and he frowned, then turned to argue with the other man. Blade watched them, fairly confident that his words would have the desired effect once they had finished their debate. The first guard looked up and waved them through. The second Cotti still looked unhappy, but had evidently bowed to the other's superior wisdom. Blade settled back into his seat with a sigh as the driver whipped up his team and the Knights remounted their steeds.

  As they rattled away from the city along a rutted road, Kerra pushed back her hood enough to shoot him an incredulous look.

  "Chiana said that you were a consummate liar, Blade, but I have never heard such a ridiculous yarn, and yet they believed you."

  He smiled. "The Cotti fear Tinsharon's wrath more than anything. They just needed to be threatened with it. The Cotti priesthood use it to control the masses, and I spoke to them as one of their priests would."

  "Is this why you chose this method to leave the city?"

  "Of course."

  "But there is no prohibition against a man seeing a priestess' face," she pointed out.

  "They do not know that."

  "How could you be so sure? If you had been mistaken, it would have gone badly for us."

  He shook his head. "I know the Cotti, Kerra. They think themselves superior, and do not bother to learn about other cultures. If they had insisted, the Knights would have dealt with them while we made our escape. That is why I asked for an escort."

  "I see." She glanced at the passing scenery. "Why are we going south?"

  "Because Endor will expect me to go north, deeper into Jashimari."

  "I would like to be consulted in future, Lord Conash. I may not be well versed in the ways of the world, but I should like to know what is to happen, even if you do not want my opinion."

  He inclined his head. "Very well. Wherever possible."

  After they had travelled in silence for a few minutes, the Queen began to pleat her robe and bite her lip, which told Blade that she was trying to get up the nerve to ask him something she knew she should not. He watched her out of the corner of his eye, wondering what inappropriate query she had on her mind, and whether she would ask it.

  When she spoke, he tended to forget her youth, for the best teachers had moulded her manners and speech, which gave her a false air of wisdom. If he did not look at her and ignored the higher tone of her voice, he could sometimes hear Minna-Satu. Just when he was beginning to think that she would not speak, she blurted, "How did you get the scars on your back?"

  His mouth twisted in distaste. "You have your mother's curiosity, I see. However, my mishaps are not for your entertainment."

  "You were flogged, that much I can gather, the only mystery is by whom."

  "A man with a whip."

  "And did you kill him?"

  "No." A faint smile curled his lips. "He lived to regret it."

  "Was it my father?"

  "No."

  "But you hate him."

  He glanced at her. "He is a Cotti, but he has some redeeming qualities."

  "You hate all Cotti, so how do you feel about me?"

  "Does it matter?"

  "I am at your mercy."

  "So you are." He gazed out of the window, his expression shuttered. "But do you think Chiana would have entrusted you to me if she did not know you would be safe?"

  "How well does she know you?"

  He smiled. "A good question. Probably better than you suspect."

  "She loves you very much. All my life, she has told me stories about you."

  "Good, then you will not plague me with questions."

  "Were you this rude to my mother?"

  "Quite often."

  Kerra settled into the corner of the coach, where she could study him. "How did you get free at the palace?"

  "I killed the guards."

  "You were unarmed and injured."

  "I was once an assassin, too."

  "But -"

  "Enough questions." He rubbed his brow. "I have a headache."

  The Queen pouted, but turned to stare out of the window, and Blade leant back, closing his eyes.

  Chapter Ten

  Kerrion pulled his lathered stallion to a halt and gazed at the long, meandering caravan that stretched across the dunes before him. The people had seen him coming, and were already on their knees, their foreheads pressed to the sand. He gestured to his men, and the troops dismounted to round up the women, herd them closer and strip off their headdresses and veils so he could see their faces and hair. After the last had been exposed for his perusal, Kerrion turned his horse and started away, his heart heavy with despair. His subjects stared after him in confusion, and he did not bother to question them. He was sick of negative answers.

  By now, he had searched every keep, village and estate within two tendays ride of Jadaya, and was losing hope. Only a few scattered villages remained further from the capital, and he doubted Trelath would have been able to transport Minna that far without someone seeing him. The other Cotti cities were rife with his spies, and their garrisons had been searching them since Minna had disappeared.

  It was unlikely that Trelath had taken her to another city, where so many eyes could note the arrival of his party and spread the news. Wherever Trelath had hidden Minna, it was somewhere he did not know about, yet it had to be somewhere with shade and water, or she would die. The possibility that she was already dead weighed heavily upon him, and if he could not find her, he would never know. Now he was reduced to searching caravans, and soon he would have to start looking further afield, a prospect that did not please him. No word had reached his ears from any of his spies, not even conjecture, which was strange.

  The stallion stumbled, bringing to his attention the animal's state of extreme fatigue. He stopped and turned to gaze back at his exhausted troops, whose steeds drooped and familiars limped through the hot sand. A tenday spent in the desert was taxing even at a sedate pace, and he had pushed them hard. His body protested its abuse too, his muscles ached and his skin burnt from the harsh sun and the grit that had found its way into his clothes. None of his officers had dared to suggest that they should return to Jadaya for a rest, but he knew they must. Turning his mount, he headed in the direction of the distant city.

  Four days later, he rode into the palace courtyard at sunset and dismounted with a groan, patting his horse's neck in gratitude before the groom led it away. Limping into the cool halls of the palace, he made his way to his study. Jadar met him in the corridor, his visage grim. Kerrion walked into his study with the advisor on his heels, and went over to the table to pour himself a cup of wine.

  "What is it, Jadar?"

  "Grave news indeed, Sire."

  "Well, spit it out."

  Jadar lowered his eyes. "Your daughter has fled, and Endor is furious. Apparently she was removed from the palace by someone you used to know, an assassin."

  "Blade." Kerrion drank deeply to hide his smile.

  "Yes, Sire. The same assassin who killed your father and your brothers. I was told this by Chaymin, Trelath's brother, who said you must send troops to aid in the search for your daughter, or your wife will suffer."

  Kerrio
n's blood heated with fury. "I have already given in to his demands and ordered Kerra to allow him to visit her, now he adds more demands and threats?"

  "That is the way blackmailers work, Sire."

  "If Kerra has persuaded Blade to help her, then no one will find them. Clearly she does not wish to submit to Endor, and even defies me. Sending more troops will do no good, that country could hide an army for a hundred years. It is full of caves and forests and secret valleys hidden amongst the hills. I have done as they asked. I will do no more."

  Jadar reached into his robes. "Chaymin also gave me this, and bade me tell you that more will follow if you do not obey."

  Kerrion stared at the knotted black tress in Jadar's hand, then banged down his goblet and strode over to take it, running it through his fingers. "I will kill that little bastard."

  The King headed for the door, but Jadar said, "He has gone, Sire."

  Kerrion swung around. "Of course he has, the cowardly piece of dung. I hope you had him followed."

  "I did. He went to Lord Rothgan's estate, where he remains."

  "I have searched that place. She was not there."

  "Chaymin is a man of crows, and undoubtedly his familiar carries messages to and from Trelath."

  Kerrion returned to the table and picked up his cup again. "It must be so, since Trelath is a rat. Did you have a man of birds follow him?"

  "Yes, Sire, but as yet his familiar has not left him."

  The King sat down behind his desk and pulled a blank parchment from the pile before him, dipped a quill into the inkpot and scribbled a quick message, then sealed it with his ring. He held it out to Jadar.

  "My order to send all available troops to Jashimari to search for my daughter. I am confident they will not find her while the Invisible Assassin guards her. I am going to join your man near Rothgan's estate, so I can follow Chaymin's crow when it leaves. If it leads us to my wife, Kiara will have some hunting to do. She hates crows."

  Kerrion turned to smile at the huge desert eagle on her perch by the window, and the bird met his gaze, raising her crest in pleasure at his attention. Jadar's hand crept to the pocket sewn into his robe, where a tiny bat-eared shrew made its home.

  "You would kill Chaymin's familiar?"

  Kerrion glanced at him. "I would kill Chaymin himself if I could. And Trelath's rat is in even greater danger, should I find it. There is no law against killing familiars."

  "But few would contemplate such a terrible thing. The suffering..."

  "I would contemplate many terrible things now, Jadar. And my brothers' suffering will only ease my own a little." The King rose and picked up his goblet, wandering over to gaze out of the window. "Did you know my mother is a woman of gazelles?"

  Jadar shook his head, and Kerrion continued, "When she bonded with a doe, her father had it slain, since women are not allowed to have large or powerful familiars. Where is the justice in that, hmm? She suffered terribly, simply because men were jealous of her. Her father was a man of lizards. My brothers have hurt me, now it is time to hurt them back."

  "When your wife is safe."

  Kerrion's hand tightened around the goblet, and the metal crumpled with a soft creak. Dropping the crushed cup, he gripped the window ledge with white-knuckled hands and stared out across the city. When he turned to face the advisor, the old man retreated a few steps from the anger in his eyes.

  Kerrion ran a hand through his hair. "I am not angry with you, Jadar. I just hate being so damned helpless. Yes, only when she is safe, or dead, will I be able to strike back. I dream up all sorts of ways to punish that scum, but I keep forgetting that I cannot do anything yet, much as I long to."

  He paused, thinking. "Now I understand that which drove Blade to kill as many Cotti as he could, after what they did to his family and him. I had not known what it was like to truly hate someone until now. Minna told me that Blade said revenge is a sweet cup with bitter dregs that never runs dry, and I now know this to be true. You sup the sweetness when you find it, but then the thirst for more vengeance fills the cup with bitterness again. After fifteen years of retirement, Blade's cup must be overflowing."

  "You knew him well, Sire?"

  Kerrion turned to Jadar, searching the man's face for signs of duplicity. "If you want me to answer that question, you will have to swear to absolute silence."

  "I swear it, on the blood of my familiar."

  The King filled another goblet with red wine, indicating that Jadar should join him. "Yes, I knew him well. I even liked him, after a fashion. I saved him from death and brought him here. He hated me, of course. He probably still does. He is a complicated man. I tried to make amends for what was done to him by finding his sister, but then Ronan killed her. If I had not found her, she would still be alive, which has haunted me ever since. He probably hates me even more for that." Kerrion sipped his wine and shook his head. "But enough about Blade. How did the courts take my decree?"

  "Not too well, Sire. They said, as I thought they would, that she is not your property, since she is not a slave, and therefore cannot be stolen. They also said that kidnapping her is not the same as enslaving. Cotti men kidnap girls from their fathers all the time. They say it is a rivalry between two men, each wanting the same woman, and must be settled in the time-honoured way."

  Kerrion snorted. "The time-honoured way involves a fight to the death, but I cannot do that even if I could find him, never mind her. If it is to be settled in that manner, then they must allow me to fight Trelath to the death."

  "They will not, Sire. The only time a Cotti royal may fight to the death is when a prince challenges for the throne, and even then it only means that if the loser dies from his wounds, the King is not guilty of treason."

  "None of my half-brothers will ever challenge me. They are all cowards. They know if they stick their necks out that far, I will chop off their heads. Is there any other way of presenting it to the courts?"

  Jadar shook his head. "I fear not, Sire. They were unmoved by your decree, and ruled upon it within minutes."

  Kerrion put down his cup. "I will wager that my half-brothers have bought all the court elders. I will not waste any more time asking them to help me. I shall find ways to punish my brothers. I think of new ones every day. That is how hatred works, as I am discovering. Now I must bathe and eat before I leave for Rothgan's estate."

  "But Sire, the petitions..."

  The King glanced at the pile of papers on his desk, which had grown considerably in his absence. "I have no time, nor do I care right now. When my wife is found, I will attend to it. Tell them that."

  Jadar bowed as Kerrion left the room, not bothering to argue this time. He had grown to realise that the King was obsessed with finding his wife, and nothing would sway him from that path. All he could do was pray for was a speedy outcome, and the safety of Minna-Satu.

  Minna sat in the corner of her cell, swung the chain that hung from her wrists and hummed a tune. Her situation had improved somewhat over the tendays, which seemed like moons. A longer length of chain allowed her to walk around, and a basin of water now stood in the corner, from which she could drink whenever she wished. There was no door on her prison, which allowed Shista to come and go, and the cat went out at night now to hunt. Fortunately, she was a desert animal, able to survive in the harsh conditions.

  There could be little prey in the small oasis, except for snakes and rats, but, although she had lost some weight, she remained sleek and fit. The same could not be said for Minna, who had lost a great deal of weight and was weak and listless. The diet of stale bread, dates and dried fish did not agree with her stomach any more than it did with her taste buds, and she struggled to keep each meal down. The stench that rose from her was rivalled only by the stink of the bucket in the corner.

  Once a day, the Jashimari slave boy came to bring her food and empty the bucket, but he never washed it. Her filth disgusted her, and she sought escape from her situation in sleep, walking through the lush gardens of her
palace in her dreams. When sleep eluded her, she sang soft tunes to entertain herself, and composed poetry in her head, anything to keep her mind off her prospective fate. Sometimes, she played with Shista on the sandy floor, and her purring presence was her only comfort.

  Blade sat up as another town came into sight ahead of the coach, studying it. So far, the journey had been uneventful, and he had begun to hope that it would remain so. Ferndar was only a couple of days journey away now. They had been on the road for a full three tendays. They spent their nights in roadside inns, and the Queen had found little to complain about, apart from the poor food and uncomfortable beds. Gold greased the innkeepers' hands, and bought the best of everything, though none of it was up to Kerra's standards.

  Fortunately, the novelty of her situation and the excitement of exploring the outside world had made up for the discomforts, and she had been remarkably well behaved. Blade shared the Queen's room to guard against unwelcome visitors during the night in the form of any drunken, lecherous patrons who thought that she might welcome some company. So far, nothing like that had happened. He had forbidden her to speak to the Knights or show her face, which had prevented her from giving them any foolish orders or revealing her identity.

  Since the Queen traditionally never left the palace, it did not seem to occur to the Knights that they might be protecting her, although rumours abounded about her disappearance. The Knights had remained taciturn, which suited Blade, and most of the journey had been achieved in silence. He had purchased four more daggers, which were secreted about his person as usual, and had added a small crossbow to his arsenal.

  His gaze sharpened as he studied the town ahead, and he frowned, filled with foreboding. Leaning out of the window, he ordered the coachman to stop. As soon as the coach halted, he jumped down and gazed at the town again, trying to discern what it was about it that he disliked. Sir Raylin rode up, and Blade glanced up at him.