“Telvin’s here.”
Ranik nodded.
“I thought you’d want to know.” Aysha waited for him to say something and when he didn’t, she cleared her throat. “There’s something else. There’s a boat in the harbor from Crag.”
“Captain Asa’s boat?”
Aysha shrugged. “I don’t keep tabs on the boats in the harbor the way you do, Ranik.”
“I’m antsy, that’s all. I have to keep track of something so I count the boats…”
“I’ve been antsy too. I don’t want to stay in Caratia,” Aysha admitted. “Now that I can hope Darin will live, I want to leave as soon as she’s well.”
“Do you want to go back to Crag? Back to Glen Ore?” He paused. “Or Tiersten?”
“I don’t know. Darin wants to go to the Halo Isles.”
Ranik tried not to let his emotions show. Any mention of the Halo Isles brought Jenner’s face to mind, but he had no idea if he was there. And now his longing for Telvin complicated thoughts of Jenner. “And she wants you to go with her. You don’t want to?”
“I love her, Ranik. And I came so close to losing her…” Aysha stopped. “But I’m not certain that we’re meant to leave. I have something I need you to give to Telvin.” She reached in her pocket and held out a small bronze locket. “He’ll know the meaning of it. It needs a chain. I thought maybe you could find one in town. When he goes to Tiersten wearing it, they’ll know I’ve made my choice.”
“Your choice?”
“He’s meant to be king.” Aysha stared at the locket. “That was our grandmother’s locket. Lady Spur’s. She was supposed to give it to the next king.”
Ranik eyed the locket again. He popped it open. Inside, a pearl rolled back and forth. Instantly he thought of Jenner and the necklace he’d lost. He’d worn it until the day in Crag when one of Captain’s men had hit him over the head. Either the man had stolen it, or he’d lost it in the rocks. Unlike Jenner’s rough black river pearl, this was a shimmering white one and perfectly smooth. “What’s this for?”
“The pearl’s from Maylek,” Aysha said. “An old widow gave it to me, but she said I wasn’t to keep it. She was half-mad. I learned not to ask too many questions.” She paused. “Can you imagine what either of us would have thought about this a year ago in Glen Ore?”
“You would have said, ‘the wheat needs planting, the chickens are hungry, and I don’t have time for any nonsense about witches.’”
Aysha laughed. “Sometimes I can hardly remember what our life was like in Glen Ore.”
“You’ve forgiven me, haven’t you? For Shawn—”
“Long ago,” Aysha interrupted. “I wish things had been different. But I should have thanked you. I wouldn’t have left the Glenlands otherwise. Brother, you need to decide if you love Telvin. Maybe you’re the one who’s meant to be in Tiersten and not me.”
Ranik watched Aysha leave and then went to the window. He took the pearl out of the locket and let it roll in his hand. The pearl was a sign, regardless of what Aysha said. He snapped the locket closed and slipped it in his pocket. Rummaging through his few things, he found his leather vest and took his knife along the bottom edge of it. The thin leather string it carved fit perfectly through the loop of the locket.
The barn was usually filled with soldiers, but it was strangely quiet now. Ranik walked down the row of stalls until he reached Cobalt’s. He opened the stall door. Cobalt ambled over to him, searching his hands and then his pockets for grain.
A few days ago Cobalt had shown up in the barn along with Darin’s horse, Onyx. Soldiers had ridden them from Tiersten. Aside from looking a little thin and being covered in crusted mud, Cobalt was in good shape. Ranik set about grooming him, working the mud from his coat and then picking out pieces of straw. The hooves were coated in mud and it was an ordeal to clean each foot with Cobalt stomping impatiently.
“I wondered if I’d find you here,” Telvin said.
The voice startled Ranik. He straightened up, still holding one of Cobalt’s hooves. Telvin smiled at him from the other side of the stall door. Cobalt snorted and pulled his foot away. He went over to Telvin, who held a bit of grain in his outstretched hand. When it was gone, Cobalt rubbed his head along Telvin’s hand. Telvin scratched between his ears and Cobalt’s eyes closed. He craned his head closer to Telvin when the attention stopped.
“He likes you,” Ranik said.
“I’d like to keep him. He gets along well with Onyx.”
Ranik dropped the hoof pick in the groom’s bucket and then leaned against the stall door. Telvin eyed him, still rubbing Cobalt’s head. “I’d like to keep you as well, but there’s a boat in the harbor bound for the Halo Isles.”
Ranik nodded. They stood only a few feet apart, but Telvin didn’t make any move to close the distance and Ranik wondered if wanting a kiss was pure folly. He reached for the locket and held it out.
Telvin took the locket, eyeing the design etched on the surface, and then cocked his head. “Where’d you get this?”
“It was my grandmother’s locket. Aysha wants you to have it.”
Telvin studied Ranik’s face. “Did she tell you why?”
“She said you’d need a chain for it,” Ranik said, stalling. “But I wanted you to have something of mine instead.”
Telvin ran his hand along the leather rope. “And she told you what this means?”
“You’re supposed to wear it when you ride to Tiersten.” Ranik met Telvin’s eyes. “You’re meant to be king.”
“I’d be a happy man if you were at my side when I wore this.”
Ranik leaned over the stall door. He wrapped Telvin’s fingers around the locket and pressed into his lips. Telvin didn’t pull away or glance around to make sure they were alone. As much as he wanted to move into Telvin’s arms, guilt made Ranik step back. Telv’s look of happiness made his next words all the harder.
“I can’t.”
A long moment passed, and Ranik wished that Telv would ask why or argue that he loved him and they’d make it work. Instead, he only stared at the locket. Finally he slipped the leather strand around his neck and tucked the locket under his shirt. “I’ve business in Eldering. I’ll likely be gone two nights.” His tone was cold and matter-of-fact, exactly as he spoke to his soldiers. “I trust you’ll be gone from my quarters when I return.”
Ranik watched him leave, feeling a weight press down on his shoulders. When Telvin had disappeared up the stairs at the back of the barn, Ranik dropped his head in his hands. For several minutes he didn’t move. His stomach was clenched tight and his chest felt too full to breathe. Too full—and yet he was empty inside. The choice he’d made couldn’t be undone even if he chased Telvin up the stairs and begged. There was no going back. He’d been cut off instantly.
Ranik sank down in the straw, wondering where he’d be in two days’ time. He ignored Cobalt nuzzling his hair. He thought the emptiness should bring tears, but his eyes were dry. Every choice he’d made was somehow wrong and he didn’t want to make any more. He wanted fate to decide where he would go next.
“What are you doing down there, farm boy?”
Ranik glanced up at the voice. “Jenner?” The handsome face smiling down at him seemed impossible.
“Don’t get up—you look comfortable.” Jenner unhooked the metal chain and pushed open the stall door. He sank down in the hay with an exaggerated sigh and then clapped his hand on Ranik’s thigh. “You’re not an easy man to find. Do you know how long I’ve been looking for you?”
Ranik couldn’t hold back. He wrapped his arms around him, burying his face in the blond curls and breathing deeply of the smell he loved—warm summer wind and salty ocean waves. Jenner hadn’t changed.
“I missed you.”
“Not as much as I missed you,” he said, leaning closer.
Chapter Forty-Six
Of all the people she could have run into, Marian’s cousin Cyrus was not the one she wanted to meet after curfew.
Aysha slowed her steps, still several houses from the entrance to Telvin’s quarters, and prayed that the wagon would pass and Cyrus wouldn’t recognize her. Soldiers kept the townsfolk in after dusk, but Aysha had grown used to taking a walk each evening and the guards let her pass with only a nod after Raleigh had explained that she was Telvin’s guest.
Cyrus stopped the wagon in front of the door to Telvin’s quarters. A torch glowing at the side of the door illuminated his greasy face. Her breath caught in her chest, but he didn’t glance down the narrow alley where she waited in the shadows. Instead, he hopped off the bench and went to wake a man who was sleeping on a clump of hay in the back of the wagon. As soon as Cyrus turned his back to the alley, Aysha dropped to her hands and knees and hid behind a crate. She was close enough to hear him tell the man where they were and then complain about the chill that gave his joints pain.
The man in the wagon grumbled for Cyrus to shut up and brushed hay off his shirt. As he straightened up, Aysha realized with a start that it was Illyan, the seer. He had his bow in his hand as if he’d been sleeping with it, exactly as Darin had said. He glanced at the alley, but then a cluster of soldiers approached from the opposite direction and he turned his head. Aysha exhaled. She hadn’t trusted Illyan before and seeing him with Cyrus seemed to confirm her judgment.
The soldiers stopped at the wagon. Aysha had to strain to hear their conversation as more than one spoke up at once, all in muffled voices.
Cyrus’s raspy cough silenced the others: “How much longer? I’m not waiting on him all night.”
“Not much longer,” one of the soldiers answered. “He’s giving the nightly orders.”
“And you’re certain he’s coming here next?”
Another soldier nodded. “Always does. He’s got a lover waiting on him.”
“I heard there was two,” one said, grinning.
“I heard three,” someone added.
The first soldier chuckled. “And he’ll sleep with women and men. Makes no difference to him.”
Cyrus sneered. “He’s got what’s coming to him then.”
Aysha’s stomach tightened at the threat in Cyrus’s voice. She was certain they were talking about Telvin. But what were they planning? She thought of turning back to the barn and alerting Raleigh but worried any movement would attract Illyan’s gaze.
Illyan raised his arm and the banter of Cyrus and the soldiers stopped. He nodded in the direction of the soldiers’ barn and Telvin appeared a moment later, as if summoned by Illyan. Maybe from his angle, he’d seen him coming.
The street was clear except for the group by Cyrus’s wagon and Aysha suddenly wished for a dozen soldiers to be clumped around Telvin as was often the case. This time, however, he was alone. Cyrus cleared his throat and then spat. The soldiers seemed to collectively tense as Telvin approached, but no one saluted him. Illyan shifted his bow hand and hopped out of the wagon.
“Illyan? I had word that you weren’t coming until tomorrow.” Telvin’s eyes darted from the soldiers to Cyrus and then to the arrow balanced on Illyan’s bow.
Aysha hadn’t seen Illyan take out an arrow, let alone mark his target. Telvin’s chest was only a dozen feet from the arrow’s tip.
“Change of plans.” Cyrus chuckled. “Where’s that witch that you sent to kill King Bairndt? I’d like to see her hang along with you.”
“Shut up,” Illyan said. He didn’t glance at Cyrus. His focus was fixed on Telvin. “If you call for anyone, this arrow is yours.”
“And you never miss,” Telvin shook his head. “Except for that one time with Alekander…And here I thought you were on my side. Of course you’d made a deal with both of us. Why kill him when he’s paying you to spy on me? I don’t know why I thought better of you.” Telvin paused. His gaze leveled on Illyan. “You know, I’ve seen your death, Illyan. And it isn’t in a castle.”
“You’ve been wrong before, my friend. And that’s enough talking.” Illyan motioned for two of the soldiers to go forward, and each one took hold of Telvin, quickly binding his hands behind his back and gagging him. Telvin didn’t try to fight. Aysha realized he didn’t have a sword or even a knife on him. But since he was a forecaster, had he expected this? Didn’t he know what was coming when he’d seen the group waiting for him?
“Why not stab him here and be done with the job?” Cyrus asked, unsheathing the knife that hung at his belt.
“We’ll keep to the plan,” Illyan said. “Put this over his head.” He tossed a cloth sack to one of the soldiers. “If anyone asks, you’ve got the man who sent a witch to kill King Bairndt and then paid the tab for General Alekander’s murder as well. He’ll hang at dawn for the town to see. What are you waiting for? Put the sack over his head.”
“Not long then,” Cyrus said, his yellowed teeth catching in the torchlight. “Before it’s King Illyan.”
“Shut up,” Illyan said. “Get the wagon over to the barn. You know what you’re to tell the guards there.”
Aysha watched the soldiers lead Telvin away with Illyan tailing several steps behind, his arrow ready. Cyrus climbed back in the wagon, grumbling to himself. He swatted at the hitched mule and the wagon shrugged forward.
Aysha didn’t move until the street was clear. Then she bolted for the door to Telvin’s quarters. She took the stairs two at a time and only when she pushed open the door to the bedroom did she realize that the night guard wasn’t at his post in the hall. She hesitated for a moment, glancing behind her, and then realized she’d seen the night guard’s face in the handful of soldiers with Illyan. He’d been a spy all along. She stood listening to the quiet, a cold sweat covering her neck and arms.
Darin shifted in the bed and opened her eyes. “What’s wrong?”
“Telvin’s been taken to the prison. There were a half dozen soldiers—and Illyan was there with Cyrus. They had it all planned out…I did nothing but stand there. I didn’t even shout for a guard. They must have known when Telv would be alone.” Aysha stopped. The full weight of what had happened crashed down on her. She’d done nothing but stand in the street and watch helplessly. “Telvin’s going to be hung for Bairndt’s murder. And for Alekander’s as well.”
“He’s not going to be hung,” Darin said, climbing out of bed. She shuddered at the first step and then straightened, pushing Aysha’s hand away. “If Illyan was there this will all be straightened out.”
“No—Illyan was the one telling the soldiers what to do. He was behind all of it.”
Darin shook her head. “I know Illyan. You’re mistaken.”
“I’m not mistaken. He was being paid by Alekander—Telvin guessed as much and he didn’t argue.”
“There’s been some misunderstanding—”
“There’s no misunderstanding. Are you going to trust that killer or me?” Aysha didn’t bother to keep her voice low. “He’s going to have Telv killed so he can be king. This is madness—all of it. Is this what’s done in the North? One man kills the next and on and on until the last one standing is crowned?”
Darin stared at Aysha for a long moment. “You’re certain Illyan was telling the others what to do?”
Aysha nodded. “I didn’t trust him from the moment I met him.”
“You didn’t trust Telvin either.” Darin bent to pick up the folded soldier’s uniform. “I’ve got to find Raleigh. He’ll get me into the prison. He’s been on Telv’s side from the beginning.”
“You’re not going to that prison.”
“I’ve got to get Telv out. And there’s no one else I can trust for the job.”
“Exactly how do you plan to even walk that far? You can hardly stand.”
“I’ll ride.” Darin stiffened when the rough fabric of the black uniform brushed the tender flesh at her ribs. She glanced at Aysha. “And I can stand well enough—thanks to you. Walking’s not much harder.”
“You think you can stab every guard in that prison until you get to Telvin?”
“I won’t need to kill all of th
em. Some run as soon as they see a sword already dripping in blood.” Darin pushed her toes into the black boots at the foot of the bed. “It’s a clear night. Not a cloud in sight. Where’s my sword?” She glanced around the room and then settled her gaze on the bureau in the corner.
Aysha stepped between the bed and the bureau. She crossed her arms. “You’re not stepping foot in that prison. I won’t let you.”
Darin reached past her and took the sword. “I won’t be alone. I’ll have Raleigh.”
“Illyan will be expecting you…And even if he doesn’t kill you, will Telvin be any better off if they lock you and Raleigh up in the cell next to him?”
Darin’s jaw muscles clenched. “Do you have a better plan?”
A clear image of the town square flashed in front of Aysha. If she tried to reach out, she could have touched the crowd of people all around her. She saw the prison yard and Telvin with his neck in the noose. Illyan’s eyes were locked on hers, bow raised. Swallowing back the taste of bile, she stumbled back a step and Darin caught her arm. In a blink, the crowded town square disappeared. She looked up and Darin was staring at her with concern.
“What is it?”
Aysha couldn’t explain—not all of it. “I know what needs to be done and you can’t do it alone. But you’ll need that sword. Who else can we can trust besides Raleigh?”
“Ranik.” Darin didn’t hesitate in her answer.
“Of course,” Aysha said, though she had felt a moment of doubt. He hadn’t been in the image she’d seen. She wished she could have pulled the image back like a map to be studied, but it was gone now. “Anyone else?”
Darin’s brow furrowed, but she shook her head a moment later. “No one that I’m certain of. If I’ve been wrong about Illyan all this time…”
“Then Ranik and Raleigh will have to be enough.”
Aysha didn’t admit her plan was nebulous. Fortunately, Darin didn’t ask for details.
Darin could hardly manage walking more than a dozen feet before she had to pause for a labored breath and it was against Aysha’s better judgment to let her out of Telvin’s quarters at all. But she was certain that Telvin’s life depended on what they managed in the next few hours. She left Darin to ask around for Raleigh and then headed to Ranik’s quarters.
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