The Challenge: Circle of Conspiracy Trilogy (Artesans Series Book 4)

by Cas Peace

  Izack stepped back, massaging his right hand. “You were told not to speak,” he grated.

  Aeyron glared at him, hatred showing through his pain.

  The Baron smiled and said casually, “Since you ask, I only require you to write me a letter.”

  “Wh—?” Aeyron quickly closed his bleeding mouth.

  The Baron gestured and Izack unballed his fist, kneeling down beside their captive. He grinned as Aeyron flinched. Releasing one of Aeyron’s hands, Izack held the point of his knife painfully to the Prince’s throat. The Baron laid parchment on the floor of the cell.

  *****

  Robin had been hearing some very ugly rumors and was growing heartily sick of coming across groups of off-duty men who broke guiltily apart when they saw him. Never one for gossip, Robin had no patience with those who indulged in damaging speculation. He had rank to uphold, and could not allow a few nasty remarks to interfere in his relationship with those under his command. Nevertheless, this situation could not continue. Determined to get to the bottom of the rumors, he decided to talk to Denny.

  He made his way to the infirmary as soon as he was free. It was mid-afternoon, lunch was over, and the healers had already made their rounds changing dressings. There were few people about when Robin entered the room where Denny lay in his bed, half-propped by pillows and looking very sorry for himself.

  He looked up disinterestedly as Robin approached him. Not knowing the other officer, Robin was unsure how to proceed. He stopped a few paces away and smiled tentatively. Denny, who had an easy-going and friendly disposition, smiled back.

  He broke the clumsy silence. “Major Tamsen, isn’t it? To what do I owe this honor?”

  His cheerful manner eased the tension. Receiving his nod of permission, Robin perched on the edge of the bed.

  “I don’t know about honor,” he said. “I just thought you might appreciate some company. I know what it’s like being stuck in here, and most of your men are out on duty with ours. I thought you might appreciate a friendly face.”

  Denny grinned. “Shall I tell you what I’d really appreciate?” he murmured, leaning as far forward as his stiff body would allow.

  “Let me guess,” chuckled Robin. “Food.”

  Denny’s eyes went innocently wide. “How did you know?”

  Robin laughed. “Because Healer Arlen is a personal friend of mine and I know what she’s like. But I warn you,” Robin lowered his voice, “if she finds out you’ve asked me to smuggle food it won’t only be your hide she nails to the door.”

  Denny’s face fell. “So you won’t do it?”

  He looked so woebegone that Robin laughed again. “I didn’t say that. I’ll do what I can. There’s a young cadet who can sometimes be persuaded to run errands for me. His name’s Tad and he used to be a kitchen boy. If anyone knows how to smuggle food in here, it’ll be Tad. He’s not above taking the odd risk or two, especially for me. And Rienne likes him, so that might help. But if you say anything to get him caught, we’ll show you no mercy. Rienne’s a demon when she’s angry.”

  Denny held up his good hand in a parody of the King’s Oath. “On my honor,” he grinned, “only food shall pass my lips.”

  “It had better!”

  The two men eyed each other, Denny clearly aware that this was not the reason for Robin’s visit. Now the ice was broken, the Major felt he could address the subject.

  “Lieutenant,” he began, but Denny interrupted him.

  “Please, Major, my name’s Denny, or Owyn, if you like. I don’t feel much like a lieutenant in here.”

  “Very well,” the other man agreed. “I’m Robin when I’m off-duty. Owyn, I wanted to ask you what you know about the rumors going round. You know what I mean, the ones about Colonel Sullyan and Captain Elijah.”

  Denny’s eyes widened in shock. “I knew he was lying when he said you knew about it!” There was vindication in his tone. “I couldn’t see how you could possibly condone what they were doing right under your nose. And once I’d seen you… well, there’s no comparison, is there?”

  Robin felt his heart clench suddenly. “What do you mean, ‘condone what they were doing?’”

  “You mean you still don’t know? I thought everyone knew by now. They weren’t exactly discreet.” Seeing Robin’s look of shock, Denny added, “Oh, sorry! Do you really want me to tell you, or would you rather wait and ask them yourself?”

  Robin tried to compose himself. His heart was hammering strangely. He wasn’t prepared for this. Despite his irritation and growing concern over the rumors, his own common sense had told him he would find only spurious nonsense, something and nothing blown out of all proportion. He knew he ought to hear what Denny had to say before jumping to any conclusions, but the Lieutenant was clearly convinced he was right. If that was the case, then Robin’s whole world was about to shatter around him.

  He swallowed, his throat unnaturally dry. He was grateful for Denny’s thoughtfulness, giving him the choice of whom to ask, but he had to have the full story now. Something deep within, some strange disembodied voice, was nagging him and it would not be stilled. Hearing the tale from Denny would give him time to consider his reactions, and maybe allow him the upper hand if he was forced to confront the miscreants.

  “Tell me,” he said, his voice rough with emotion.

  “You sure?”

  Robin felt hot with confusion, but he nodded.

  “All right, then.” Denny proceeded to tell him, unemotionally, what he had seen and heard at Port Loxton.

  Robin listened dispassionately, his eyes hard and unseeing, his hands clamped together, his white knuckles the only indication of his inner turmoil. It was a mercy that no one else entered the room. Robin’s fragile heart could not have borne that. When Denny came to the part about Taran telling him that Robin knew about him and Sullyan, the Major’s eyes sharpened on the young Lieutenant’s face.

  “Tell me exactly what he said,” he demanded.

  Denny considered a moment. “He’d been acting very strangely. He was clearly worried about something, and he kept glancing over at the Colonel while we rode. You must remember that I was wounded and not at my best. I’d been watching Captain Elijah because it was something to do, and to be perfectly honest, I was amusing myself wondering how they concealed the affair from everyone else here.

  “Anyway, along you came to relieve the Colonel, and the Captain’s face was a picture. He was horrified to see it was you, and he was really squirming when you thanked him for ‘looking after her.’ I just couldn’t believe his nerve. And when I saw you, and realized that you were exactly suited to Sullyan, I—” He broke off, flushing with embarrassment.

  “What?”

  “Oh, it’s only that Captain Elijah isn’t the first to have fallen inappropriately for Sullyan. I trained with her, you know, and I was foolish enough to try my luck more than once. Came to nothing, of course. I always knew I didn’t stand a chance. With her looks and talents, she was always going to go for someone like you. But I never really expected to succeed. Not like Parren did.”

  “Don’t mention that man’s name to me!” The force of Robin’s anger startled him as much as it did Denny. “He’s been the cause of most of my problems over the past three years! If I find out he’s got anything to do with this—”

  “No, no,” said Denny hastily, “he only gave me background information. He was as incredulous as you are.”

  “Yes, I bet he was.” Robin’s heart pounded all the harder. The strange inner sensation was beginning to make him nauseous. All he needed was Parren’s vicious tongue adding to this. “Go on.”

  “Well,” continued Denny, “once I’d seen you, I found it even more incredible that Sullyan had allowed Captain Elijah’s infatuation to develop into an affair. He told me you knew all about it, that it had been going on since before you and Sullyan were wed. He even told me it didn’t matter, because you were all friends! I can tell you, it was the most shocking thing I’ve ever heard,
and I’m no prude.”

  Robin felt his face, his entire body, it seemed, drain of blood. He was struggling for breath. “Let me get this straight,” he rasped. “You’re saying Taran Elijah told you he’d been sleeping with my wife?”

  “I had it from his own lips, Robin. And that’s not all.” Denny was warming to his theme, ignoring or not noticing the tears in Robin’s eyes. “While they were at Port Loxton, he was also carrying on with Baron Reen’s niece, Lady Jinella. She was very taken with him, by all accounts, and was broken-hearted when she caught him sneaking out of the Colonel’s room in the middle of the night, both of them half-naked from her bed!”

  Robin couldn’t speak. He was trembling, his eyes feverishly bright and his face ashen. His heart had turned to stone and he wanted to vomit. He rose unsteadily from the bed.

  Denny frowned in concern. “Robin, are you all right? Gods, you look awful!”

  Robin didn’t respond. He wasn’t in control of his thoughts. All he could see were images of the two of them together, and he couldn’t push them out of his mind. All he could hear was the soft sound of Sullyan’s voice speaking her vows on their wedding day. His blood froze. What a sham that had been! He thought of the many times she had been alone with Taran when Robin was on duty, often late into the night. He remembered her strange moods lately and her reluctance to share her body, how cold she had been toward him since her return from Port Loxton. And, most damning of all, how Taran had avoided him since, and how he flushed red with embarrassment whenever he saw Robin.

  The Major put a hand on the wall to steady himself, his thoughts uncontrolled, chaotic. He remembered, with grim irony, how he had given Taran his trust before they left for Port Loxton. How thoroughly that trust had been betrayed! He only just choked down the sobs that welled into his throat.

  Denny was watching him closely. Fearful of breaking down in front of the wounded officer, Robin pushed away from the wall. He had to get out. He made for the door, stumbling blindly through it, tears filling his eyes. He nearly collided with one of the junior healers coming to check on the patients. The man didn’t speak, but Robin felt the weight of his gaze as he left.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Taran, Bull, and Ozella took their evening meal in their rooms while Sullyan dined privately with the Hierarch and his daughter. The Princess was still very shocked by her brother’s abduction, and her condition made her prone to weeping. Deshan had provided restorative treatments for them both, but Idrimar’s face, naturally pale, was still ashen.

  Since her marriage to Marik, Idrimar had blossomed out of her melancholy nature, but she had already lost one sibling—her twin—and this threat to her brother plunged her deep into gloom. She hardly touched her food and sat with her hands clasped protectively over her belly.

  Pharikian made an effort for his daughter’s sake but his heart wasn’t in it. Sullyan, who had made a full report to General Blaine via the substrate, sat lost in her own thoughts, replaying the General’s angry concern in her mind. At least she knew he would protect Elias from similar danger.

  They moved on to the brandy, which Sullyan refused, and Norkis began clearing away the exquisite but largely untouched meal. There was a commotion in the corridor and the sound of running feet. Pharikian and Idrimar both blanched in fear and Sullyan’s first thought was, No, not again!

  She moved to stand protectively in front of the Hierarch and the Princess. They clung to each other as the door slammed violently open. Sullyan stared in amazement at the tall man standing stock-still in the doorway.

  Relief and irritation coursed through her. “Ty!”

  Ty Marik grinned apologetically as his racing breaths slowed. He moved past her toward the sobbing Princess, who rushed blindly into his arms. Sullyan glanced at the Hierarch. He was smiling gently at his daughter’s husband, and Sullyan was glad to see a lighter expression on his careworn face. She wondered suddenly whether he fully appreciated that, should Aeyron not survive, the lean man embracing his daughter would be the next ruler of Andaryon.

  Once they were calm, Marik freed himself from Idrimar’s arms and greeted his father-by-marriage. He conveyed his sympathies and assured Pharikian of his total and unconditional support in the efforts to find the Prince.

  “Oh, but I nearly forgot,” he exclaimed, reaching into his doublet and drawing out a sealed parchment. “As I was coming through the Forest I met a messenger. He saw I was headed this way and gave me this for you.” He passed Pharikian the parchment.

  The Hierarch frowned as he broke the seal and opened the message. At once he gasped and let the parchment fall to the table.

  “What is it, Timar?” Sullyan asked with deep concern.

  His face had gone gray and he was trembling. He pushed the parchment shakily across to her and she took it and read. Marik looked over her shoulder, an expression of shock on his long face.

  The Prince is unharmed, for now. If you wish him to remain so, you will accede to our demands. You have three days in which to procure thirty pounds of reverse polarity spellsilver. If you fail, your son will be killed. We will send him back to you piece by piece. You will be contacted again in three days to arrange delivery.

  There was no signature and Sullyan did not recognize the writing. She raised her eyes to Pharikian’s horror-stuck face.

  “Thirty pounds!” she said. “What on earth can they want with so much?”

  No one had an answer. Dreading what she would find, she turned the parchment over. Her worst fears were confirmed and her heart turned to ice when she saw the broken seal.

  “Whose is it?” asked Marik, not able to see it clearly. Her eyes huge, Sullyan stared at Pharikian. He glanced away.

  “It is the seal of King Elias,” she whispered, letting the parchment fall to the table.

  “Then the rumors are true!” exclaimed Marik.

  “Of course they are not true!” she snapped. “Can you truly think of a reason why King Elias would kidnap Prince Aeyron? If he had a need for spellsilver, he would trade for it.”

  “But the seal—”

  “Anyone can reproduce or steal a seal,” she said.

  He stared at her. “I suppose so.” He sat, pulling the Princess down with him. “I’m sorry, Brynne, I should have thought.”

  “What can you tell us of the messenger, Ty? Was he human?”

  “Of course not. Do you think I would accept a message thrust at me by a strange human? No, he was an Andaryan messenger.”

  “Whose livery did he wear?”

  Marik had the grace to look shamed. “Do you know, I never thought to look? It happened so fast. He rode up to us, asked me if I’d take the thing, and then galloped off.” He saw the look she was giving him and added defensively, “It was getting dark, you know, and he was cloaked!”

  Sullyan sighed. “The next time something unexpected happens, keep your wits about you, will you?”

  Idrimar was about to leap to her husband’s defense, but he soothed her, saying, “It’s all right, Idri, don’t upset yourself, not in your condition. Brynne’s right, I should have taken more notice.”

  He looked over at the Hierarch, who hadn’t moved, his eyes still fixed on the parchment. “What will you do, Timar?”

  Pharikian raised his head and Sullyan saw the hopelessness in his eyes. Her heart ached with grief. “What do you think, Brynne?” he asked, unable even to consider a decision.

  She shrugged. “Pay the ransom, if you can.”

  Marik drew a shocked breath. “Do you know how much thirty pounds of that kind of spellsilver is worth?”

  “As much as the Prince’s life?” she snapped.

  He subsided at once. “Oh, gods, of course not. Forgive me, Timar.”

  Pharikian made no response. Sullyan watched him with sympathy, reading pain and despair in the lines on his face. She spoke gently. “Can you pay it, Timar?”

  He looked blindly at her, unable to think straight. “I really don’t know at this moment, Brynne. Reverse
polarity spellsilver is rare enough and its uses few, so it is not a commodity I keep to hand. I have mines, of course, and they will have stockpiles, but how quickly I could gather such a large amount, I cannot say.”

  “Well,” she said briskly, “at least this message tells us one thing for certain.” He frowned at her. “We now know that our enemy has Andaryan allies, or Andaryans in his pay, at the very least. I thought this was so after the attack on King Elias, but it was just possible that the raid was an unconnected incident, unlikely though that seemed. This confirms it was not. And I have an instant suspicion as to who those allies might be.”

  The Princess, who had slipped the parchment toward her and was reading it, gave a gasp. “It tells us something else, Father. Look!”

  She thrust the message back under Pharikian’s nose. He stared blankly at it for a few seconds, and then he too gave a gasp. “Yes, Idri, you’re right, I don’t know why I didn’t see it before. Brynne, this was written by my son. I’m sure of it.”

  “Then that is a comfort, is it not? For he could not have done so unless he was fully conscious and unharmed, as the message says.”

  The Hierarch nodded. “The writing is shaky. That must be why I didn’t recognize it at first. Yes, we must let ourselves be encouraged by this. Aeyron is strong and will conduct himself with dignity through this ordeal. He will be relying on us, so we must not fail to secure his release. Gaslek will find out how much spellsilver we have to hand.”

  Relieved to see him more himself, Sullyan made a decision. “Timar, with your permission, I should return to Albia tomorrow. I will inform the General and King Elias of this latest development tonight, but as I am certain Prince Aeyron is being held in Albia, I can be more use to you there. You have Ty to help you now. He and Idrimar will look after you and support you. If there are any other developments, you know I am at your command. I assure you, I will do everything in my power to find the Prince, but I believe I can best achieve that by returning to Albia.”