“I’ll send the maid,” the mage said, his focus still on the book.
“I will go alone. If I need her out of the cell, I will send someone to you.”
The mage looked up at him with hard eyes, a challenge he didn’t usually offer. “Take the maid,” he said.
Thom nodded begrudgingly and turned, finding the girl waiting when he exited the mage’s room. How she did that, he wasn’t sure. He had often wondered if the girl had some power of her own. She was loyal to the mage to a fault, he had discovered early on. He wouldn’t risk the man finding out that he was trying to win her now.
They moved around the edge of the building and into another door that led to the cellar. Walking silently through the large dark space, they worked their way between bags and crates. Given the amount of supplies that were stored there, he wondered how many people moved through here every day without knowing what was beyond.
The maid reached for a hook on the wall and twisted it, opening the door. She stood back, her head bowed, and waited for him to head down the steps first. He wondered briefly if she might ever lock him down here, and if he would be discovered. He moved slowly down the slick steps into the increasing light. Another secret of the mage’s, but it mattered not. Prisoners kept in the dark were just as damaged as those kept in eternal light. He held up his hand to shield his eyes as he reached the base of the stairs, thankful that he would never need to experience this himself.
He glanced around the cages and then took a step forward.
They were all empty, even the one he knew had held the girl only days before. He shivered from both the cold and the anger. He glanced back at the maid, but she was already racing up the stairs.
The regent stood in the middle of the large courtyard at the heart of the castle and glanced around the buildings that overlooked it. There was no sign of anyone at the windows, watching him or the world. The maid had disappeared, and yet he knew just where she had gone. Had the mage changed his mind? Had he missed the girl he had known long ago so much that he needed to keep her daughter for himself?
Closing his eyes, Thom allowed Mariela to form in his mind, her dark hair, brilliant eyes and captivating smile. Ana was an embodiment of her, and yet she was quite different. She lacked the same confidence, although Mariela had been distracted from what she could have been. Another soldier, one she had disappeared with. Again, the captain came to mind.
He wasn’t the sort to do anything disloyal, no matter the enticement. And yet he had taken the girl and run. The mage had allowed it to happen. Could the captain have made it back to the capital and stolen her again?
How he might have made such a distance in so short a time was beyond Thom—unless the girl had found a way to bring him here. The regent shook his head slowly as he looked around the courtyard. The sword master caught his attention, stomping across the courtyard towards his practice halls as a young man joined him en route, although he didn’t acknowledge the boy.
Master Forest always appeared angry to the regent. Was he disappointed that the king had disappeared, and that no one cared enough? He had been too close to Thom’s brother, Barric. They had fought side by side and Barric had allowed Forest to retire to a wife Thom didn’t know he had when Ter-essa had died.
When Barric had died, Forest had returned, wife gone, child in tow. Not that he paid much attention to the child. Girls were of little use, and although someone had suggested she could go into service, Forest’s position as sword master allowed her to stay at home. Thom had worried for a time that the man might try to marry her off to raise his own status, but he didn’t appear to want such a thing for her. She seemed a strange unruly girl when he had glimpsed her, and he doubted any man of standing would have her.
The sword master jumped as he reached the doors, as though he hadn’t realised the boy stood beside him. And his glower grew more intense. He ushered the boy inside, muttering about swords and students. As he paused waiting for the student to enter the room, he glanced about and looked at Thom. He sucked in a deep breath, gave a half-hearted bow and followed the boy inside.
Thom wondered, not for the first time, if he would ever earn the respect of these men as Barric had. Not that he needed their respect, but he felt that loyalty to the crown should be a given. It was how these men had earned their status in the first place. And it appeared that the crown did have their loyalty, only it was to the boy.
Thom had managed to keep the boy locked away, out of everyone’s thoughts, and then he had disappeared. It was just what Thom had needed him to do, and yet it had sparked far more trouble than he’d expected. He had managed to convince the people that Edwin was still a boy when he had long ago grown up. Thankfully, the boy hadn’t tried to fight him on it.
Thom turned away from the practice hall and back for the mage’s cave. He might have an idea now as to where the little witch had slipped off to. And perhaps how she had managed to escape a cell the mage had assured him no one could escape.
He paused mid-step, and a couple walking across the courtyard stopped to bow their heads. He nodded, focused more on his thoughts, but he noticed the glance that passed between them. Did they know the girl had escaped him as well?
He turned to watch them go, their heads together, but they paid him no further attention. The mage had said she was looking for the king, that she wanted to look for him, and that night she’d been certain the boy was the rightful heir and deserved the crown. Thom’s hand moved to his still-tingling arm.
Did she know him? Had she somehow found a way to meet the boy?
He pushed into the mage’s quarters, slamming the door closed behind him and searching for him through the dim light. The mage stood over a bowl, grey smoke rising from it, and pushed his hand through it, muttered something as Thom approached.
“Did she know the boy?”
“What boy?” the mage asked.
“Edwin.”
The mage looked away from the smoke as a touch of red wove its way through the grey. As the regent stared at it, the mage returned his focus. “It isn’t enough,” he murmured. He moved his fingers through it again, then pushed the bowl to the floor. The clatter as it bounced across the stone floor echoed through the space, and as the coat spilled onto the floor, the smoke dissipated.
“Why do you think she knows the boy?” the mage asked.
“She is sure he is a man, one who should be King.”
“Perhaps she is better at determining his age than you give the kingdom credit.”
The regent scowled at the man before him. “He will always be a boy.”
“Where would she have met him? He cannot have reached Sheer Rock, nor even the mountains.”
“How long was he gone? How long has he walked? Could he have found a horse, or ally to take him further beyond our reach?”
“No one knows the boy,” the mage said, but the strength had gone from his voice. “There are no allies brave enough to go against you. Yet someone must have got him out of the castle. Out of the capital.”
“I am still trying to determine how that happened.”
“Then why are we surprised that he might make it so far? He is more resourceful than I imagined. There is more of his father in him than I thought.”
The regent growled at the idea of his brother. “He wasn’t as great as he thought he was. He was certainly easy enough to destroy.”
“A friend of the king? Could that be the someone who would help the boy?”
Many of their friends had left, Thom thought. The Merrin soldier being one of them.
“The sword master?” the mage mused.
“He appears just as frustrated by the loss of the boy as I am. If he knew where he was, he would go after him, and he hasn’t left the castle, let alone the capital.”
“You could question him more closely.”
“He came to me. Despite my reservations, I feel the man is genuine in his concern.”
The mage looked back to the bowl for a moment and then c
losed his eyes.
The regent was tempted to ask him what his thoughts were, or he may have been searching for something.
The mage sighed. “I can’t feel her,” he murmured. “Maybe she was with the boy when we took her.”
“The Lord of Edge Mountains would have sent word.”
“Would he? If he was aligning with the king, he might not want to let us know his whereabouts.”
The regent stomped from the room. One of his soldiers stood near the edge of the courtyard. Silent and foreboding. He waved the man to follow as he walked back to his rooms. His mind moved through various scenarios as he passed through silent passageways and up the stairs to what had once been his brother’s home—his father’s before that and the reason he was comfortable in them now. He had removed any sign of his brother and his family, as though they hadn’t existed.
“I need you to take a small trusted group, Major Field,” Thom said to the man once he was standing by the balcony, looking over what he was certain was his. He turned back to the tall soldier, who bowed his head.
“I understand,” he said.
“Good. It appears my nephew might have travelled as far north as the mountains. Find the Lord’s Seat, find the boy and…”
The soldier waited patiently, no indication as to what he thought. His face was hard but unreadable, even to the regent.
“Return him to the capital to stand trial for treason.”
Major Field bowed his head again and left. The regent leaned onto the railing of the balcony, taking in the vast city beneath him. Beyond the houses and markets and smoke, he imagined the road that eventually led north. The distance was too great to see the mountains. “What was he thinking?” he murmured aloud. “What ally did he think he could find?”
Chapter 8
Ana tried not to lean too heavily into the windowsill. She had found it difficult to look away, now that she had discovered her window overlooked the world. And yet she couldn’t seem to muster enough energy to stand there. The cleric had been filling her with broth that helped somewhat. She wasn’t shivering all the time, but she wasn’t herself either.
There were times when she would shiver at the idea of the bright lights and ice-cold walls, so cold they burnt into her flesh. The sword master and the cleric had asked her many questions and she had done her best to answer them, although she wasn’t sure they were satisfied with the responses. The child barely left her side, and the cleric visited often. The sword master’s visits were now more to check on his daughter. Although Ana knew she wasn’t his, as did the cleric.
The only one who didn’t appear to know Salima’s origins was the girl herself. But then, Ana thought, glancing at the cleric watching her from his chair by the fire, they didn’t know her true origins.
“Tell me of the queen,” she had asked. But there was little they were willing to tell. “You were her friend,” she had prompted the sword master, but he either didn’t know of her relationship with Ende or he wasn’t sharing. The image Ed had drawn of his mother was beautiful, and yet Ende was an old man. How could such a friendship have produced the child it did?
Ana stretched out her fingers, trying to find the magic she had only recently discovered in her veins. Magic that had done her bidding so easily. Now she couldn’t even raise a draft, let alone a breeze to move the thick curtains. She would be no use to anyone as she was. Not that she thought she was much use to Ed before. She still dreamt of him. She was unsure if it was just ideas or worry for him that drew him to her at night, or if she truly dreamt of him as she had before they met.
She closed her eyes, trying to refocus on the dream she’d had of him the night before. But it wasn’t clear; trees and worry were all she could make out.
“Belle,” she murmured. Belle should be helping him.
“What bell?” the child asked, coming to stand beside her. “There is said to be a bell in the old temple by the water,” she said. “I’ve heard. I don’t get out much into the city, let alone beyond.”
“It is a warning,” the cleric said, and Ana turned to take him in again. “In case invaders come across the sea.”
She nodded and turned back to the city.
The child slipped her arms around Ana’s waist, pulling in close. Ana wasn’t sure which one of them she was trying to comfort. “What bell?”
“She is with Ed,” Ana murmured. “At least she was.”
“Is she a wit… like you?”
Ana looked down at the girl snuggled against her. She wasn’t afraid of Ana anymore, or at least didn’t appear to be.
“She is just a girl.”
“And Ed likes her.”
Ana nodded. Belle was difficult to read, but she would stand by Ed no matter what she had thought of him originally. Ana couldn’t tell if she liked him or not; or was she not sure how to deal with him? Discovering he was the king would have made it even harder for Belle to voice her feelings. Ana remembered her clinging to his arm when they had arrived at the Seat of the Lord of Edge Mountains. Did she cling to him still?
The door clicked open and the sword master slipped into the room. His daughter didn’t move from her post, and Ana was thankful for the warmth.
“I think we might have a problem,” he whispered, moving into the room. The girl released her hold. Ana felt the chilled air move around her where the warmth of the little dragon had been.
“They have discovered me gone,” she said.
He nodded once.
“I’m surprised it has taken this long,” the cleric offered.
“I don’t think they were checking to ensure her health,” Master Forest said.
Ana shook her head slowly, pulled the curtains closed and moved towards the fire and the cleric. “What would you like me to do?” she asked the sword master. She clasped her hands before her, unsure what else to do with them. They felt empty.
“I think it best to stay here for now. He sent men out.”
Ana swayed a little before grabbing at the chair as Master Forest closed a tight hand around her arm. “Ed,” she whispered.
“They don’t know where he is,” the master said.
“But they might have guessed. They might have realised we had found each other.”
“Where did they find you?” the cleric asked.
“The Seat of the Lord of Edge Mountains.”
“Lord Welcott. Would he hide the king?”
“He is gone,” she said, nodding to the master. He released his hold on her, and she sat down slowly. “I don’t think they would have stayed there. But if they know he was in the mountains…”
“If you were taken, would he not come for you?” Salima asked.
“It isn’t safe,” Ana murmured.
“But he might still come,” the girl insisted.
“I don’t know. I would hope that Dray and Ende would talk him around.”
“Unless your soldier wanted to find you as badly.”
She looked up at the sword master, unable to read his features. “What do you think I am to him?”
“More than a maid,” he said. He sighed and squatted down beside her chair. “Either way, the regent has sent out men. I don’t know if they will try to bring the king back or prevent his return.”
“They may want to bring a body back to prove to the people that the regent is King.” Ana hadn’t meant to think it, let alone say it aloud, but if she were Regent and wanted to be King, it would make sense.
“They were trying to destroy you because of your strength,” the cleric said, “and how you could help the king.”
“Only I don’t have any strength, and the gods only know where the king is.”
“You say his name in your sleep,” Salima offered. “Have you reached him again?”
Ana shook her head. “I can’t make sense of the dreams,” she admitted. “It may not be safe to reach him, even if I could.”
“Try,” Salima said, holding out her arm.
Ana shook her head and turned to the fl
ames. She had used the girl enough, and she wasn’t sure it would be enough to reach him. She turned slowly back and then rose unsteadily to her feet. As she took a step towards the girl, her father stood and blocked her path.
“What did you see?” Ana asked, although it was more to the sword master than the child behind him.
“What makes you think she saw anything?”
“You told me,” she said. “You saw more than Ed.”
Salima’s face appeared around her father trying to shield her. She nodded once.
“What did you see?” Ana asked, too aware that the cleric was also standing.
“Trees,” the girl murmured, suddenly unsure.
Ana waited, wondering if she feared what she might have seen.
“I saw them all,” she said with a sigh. “As though you had dragged me through the campsite. I saw the old man, and the soldier.” She glanced at her father. “He looked older than you,” she said, turning back to Ana, her brow creased as though trying to determine as her father had what their relationship was. Although, Ana wasn’t sure if she referred to Dray or Ende.
“Ed,” Ana prompted.
She nodded. “Another girl, pretty and blonde, and her father?”
“Belle and Phillip Poales.”
“She is pretty,” Salima said, looking down. Then she chewed on her lip as she raised her eyes to Ana. “You are prettier,” she said quickly.
Ana smiled despite herself. As her legs wobbled beneath her, she sat back in the chair. The girl was stronger than she realised. She wondered if Ende had seen her for what she was. He might have known; although he, like the rest of the kingdom, had possibly assumed she had died with her mother. If they knew she was with child… Ana had heard of the queen’s death, but no one had mentioned another child. Was it because she had been conceived from an affair?
“Ed does not think of me like that. Nor I him,” Ana said. “I am meant to keep him safe,” she murmured.
“How?” the sword master’s voice was sharp, and she was taken back to the first day she met him in Ed’s room.
The Lost Endeavour Page 5