King's Man and Thief

by Christie Golden

  Suddenly he shuddered and a small sound of pain escaped him. Worried. Deveren reached to steady his friend. "Pedric, are you all right? You're probably exhausted. Here, let's get you away from this crowd. I've got some wine at home, we can go and talk and—"

  "That's your answer to everything, isn't it, Fox?" The word was spat, like an epithet. "Talk, talk, talk, let's all play nice, be good little thievey-weeveys. Well, I'm not going to play nice. I want whoever killed her and I want to rip him apart with my bare hands! You once felt as I do, but you let it go. You let life just suck the hurt right out of you. You go home to your fine house, and you drink your fine wine, and you watch your fine plays, and you spin fine little schemes for turning your thieves into kind-hearted do-gooders."

  Pedric was raging now. His bloodshot eyes were wild and flecks of saliva flew from his lips. His voice was rising, and Deveren grew alarmed. If someone overheard ...

  "Lorinda wouldn't want you—"

  "To the Nightlands with Lorinda! She's dead, Deveren, dead, and the dead are nothing but dirt. There's no purity in rot. Gods, Dev, couldn't you smell her as we brought the coffin by? She's gone, and there's nothing left of her now but decaying flesh and a memory, and the hope that I can somehow do to her killers what they did to her. So you can just take your wine and your talk and leave me alone!"

  He stalked off, head held high, every line of his slim but muscular form radiating anger. Deveren watched him go, absolutely stunned. He had never seen Pedric like this before. Grief he had expected, and anger, but not the poisonous vitriol and contempt that had spewed from Pedric.

  The reaction set in and Deveren began to shake. He felt as though Pedric had physically assaulted him with his words. Dear gods, the boy must be dying inside to have spoken like that. "Give him a little time to think and room to be alone with his pain," said Damir's soft voice behind Deveren.

  Deveren started. "Damn it, I wish you'd quit doing that."

  Damir smiled briefly, then sobered. "I'm going to have to leave very shortly. I've been coughing this morning and doing my best to appear as if I'm going to get very ill. It's up to you to keep that appearance going."

  Deveren searched his brother's eyes. "I don't like this, Damir. I don't like it at all."

  "You don't have to like it," replied Damir. "You just have to agree to keep up the illusion that I'm resting in your house." At once, he leaned away and coughed loudly, raspily. Deveren thought that had not Damir pursued the path of a diplomat, he'd have made an excellent thespian.

  Castyll could not contain his excitement. Freedom was just a few hours away. He laughed as he rode the beautiful white horse down the main road of Ilantha, waving to the enthusiastic throngs who had turned out to see their young king walk the path to true manhood.

  He was clad symbolically in white, down to the beautiful leather boots that had been made specifically for the occasion. The guards who rode attendance had exchanged their somber uniforms for bright tunics, and their horses all had colored ribbons braided in their manes. Even Bhakir had supplemented his sky-blue robes with a lively crimson and gold sash. The entire company looked more like they were going to a festival than to a holy rite. But then again, this rite was something out of the ordinary.

  As usual, Bhakir was never more than a yard away from him. The counselor sat astride a large bay gelding. Castyll felt his disapproval.

  "You're in a jovial mood, my good King Castyll," said Bhakir.

  Castyll didn't take his eyes off his subjects. He didn't want to spoil the mood by looking at Bhakir. "And why shouldn't I be?" he replied gaily. "I'm a healthy young man going off to learn the secrets of love."

  Bhakir snorted. "She's hardly qualified to teach you anything."

  "Doesn't matter. She is the Blesser of Love. It's her right."

  "She's not beautiful."

  "She doesn't have to be." At once, Castyll realized he had misspoken. He had meant that physical beauty had no part to play in the holy rite between Blesser and initiate. Instead, Bhakir clearly interpreted the words to have a cruder meaning, and he laughed nastily.

  "All cats are gray in the dark, eh, lad?"

  The king's good spirits soured. Bhakir managed to sully everything he was part of. Castyll did not let his ire show, however. Instead, forcing himself to reply on Bhakir's level, he replied, "Indeed."

  Again Bhakir laughed, and turned around in the saddle, sharing the coarse joke with the guards riding attendance. They laughed along with their master. Castyll swallowed his anger and his natural instinct to come to the defense of the shy young Adara. Instead, he rejoiced in the fact that he had lulled Bhakir into a false sense of security. If he thought that Castyll was riding eagerly toward a long night of rutting, then Bhakir would not be expecting an escape attempt.

  Up ahead, he glimpsed the temple of Love. In the smaller towns and countrysides, the temple would often be surrounded by trees, or in the center of an uncultivated meadow. Here in a major port city, it was not as rustic as men's memories tended to paint it. Necessity required that a city dwelling forgo such a setting, but the actual building itself still spoke of the uncomplicated goddess it represented. The building was a simple, single-story stone house. There was a garden; Love's temple always had a garden, but instead of a vast, fruit-laden orchard, this one was small and simple. It was crowded with flowers in the front, and Castyll knew that there was a small plot of land in the rear. Flat stones formed a path from the street up through the simple garden to the door.

  On the overlarge wooden door was a carving of Love laying a small hand on a fawn. Castyll dismounted. The crowd had gone quiet. Had things progressed as they ought, Castyll thought bitterly, he would be coming as a prince, not a king. Shahil would be there, asking the questions and answering them, performing the part of a father leading a son to manhood. Bhakir had proposed taking this role, but for once Castyll had given full reign to his feelings and shot down that idea as if it were a quail he was hunting.

  Alone, then, the young king approached. He stepped forward and respectfully kissed the image of Love, then knocked on the door. After a moment, one of the Blesser's Tenders, a girl not much younger than the youthful Blesser herself, opened the door. She was as awkward as Adara herself had been just a few days ago, but she stood arrow-straight and her voice didn't tremble. The Tender wore a simple white gown, belted with a length of rope, and her feet were bare.

  "Who comes to the Temple of Love?"

  "I, Castyll Alhaidri Shahil Derlian, knock on Love's door," the young man replied, complying with the ritual. He did not use his title. He came now as a supplicant, not a king.

  "What seek you, Castyll Derlian, within these walls?"

  "I seek Love's Blesser."

  "What would you have with her, Castyll Derlian?"

  "I would be taught in the ways of Love, that I might better honor the goddess."

  The Tender nodded. "It pleases Love. Enter in." She stepped aside and allowed the young king to pass into the coolness of the house. "Castyll Derlian, you have come as a boy to Love's Temple. By this time tomorrow, Love shall have made you a man."

  Cheers broke out among the crowd. Castyll waved to his people, met Bhakir's eyes for a long moment, and then Love's Tender closed the door.

  She indicated a table in the center of the room. It was laden with simple foodstuffs—bread and cheese, meat, fruit, wine. "Please, Castyll. Sit down. Take refreshment after your journey." "I thank you, Tender, but I must speak with the Blesser as soon as—"

  "Within these walls," said the young girl with more dignity than her years would indicate, "you do not reign. Whatever you may be to the world outside, here you are but a humble subject of the goddess, like any other man. The Blesser will come to you at the time of her choosing. You cannot order her about at your whim."

  Castyll raised his eyebrows. He was not offended, but he was slightly taken aback. He recovered quickly. "Your pardon, good Tender. I meant no offense. Certainly I will partake of the good food you hav
e provided."

  He wasn't hungry —in fact, his stomach was turning somersaults—but he sat down on the wooden bench at the table regardless. The Tender, satisfied that Castyll was going to abide by the rules, slipped quietly away. He poured himself a goblet of wine and drank, glancing around.

  The windows and the door to the garden in the back stood wide open, letting a breeze circulate through the house. The fire was unlit, but the remains of one sullied the otherwise clean hearth. There were no rushes on the floor; rather thick woven rugs. As he continued to observe, a small cat wandered in from the garden. It paused, regarded Castyll, then slowly, regally approached him. It rubbed its smooth head against his leg, and Castyll heard the rumblings of a purr. He bent and petted the creature.

  "Well, if you meet with Timmar's approval, then you are welcome indeed." It was Adara, of course. She had followed the beast in from the garden and now leaned against the doorway. Castyll was pleasantly surprised at what ten days as Blesser had done to the shy young girl he had seen invested.

  She stood straighter now, and her movements were more composed and fluid. While she was still sadly plain, there was a dignity about her that cloaked her rough features with a beauty all its own. He smiled and bowed.

  "Lady, you do me honor."

  She met his smile, then her own faltered. Suddenly both young people realized the full awkwardness of the situation. Here they were, both virgins; one a king, the other a priestess. They were both young for the weight of their stations, and neither could rely on the other for a mature head and years of experience to steer them through this uncomfortable period.

  Castyll was the first to recover. He strode swiftly to the Blesser, gathered the slim girl in his arms, and nuzzled at her ear. But what he said were not honeyed words of romance. "Are you loyal to your king?" he murmured.

  Adara was thoroughly confused. Her arms crept up to embrace him as she replied softly, "Of course I am. That is why..."

  "Then I must ask you to do something very dangerous," continued Castyll, continuing the charade of seduction lest a curious, giggling Tender was watching. "Is your bedchamber secure from prying eyes and ears?"

  Love's Blesser pulled away, her hands on his chest, pushing him back slightly. "Yes," she said, a bit louder this time. "My room is private. We need have no fear of being observed at our pleasures."

  Her hand dropped to his. Smiling coyly, though Castyll could see apprehension in her eyes, she led him through the door to her own bedchamber. When they were inside, she leaned on the door and turned, questions on her lips.

  Castyll held up a warning finger. Carefully, he began to inspect the room. The bed, large enough for two and covered with soft blankets, had no canopies. No one could hide there. He checked Adara's wardrobe and finally peered outside, glancing about repeatedly before closing the shutters. Moving purposefully, he seized Adara's upper arms and gently but firmly steered her toward the bed.

  She began to laugh. "Usually it is the Blesser who does the seducing, but..."

  He laid a finger on her lips. Still pitching his voice soft, he began to speak.

  "Things are not as they seem. I am a prisoner in my own castle. My counselor Bhakir murdered my father and he plans to murder me as well. He has cut me off from any official sources. He has dissolved the betrothal between myself and the princess of Byrn. I am nothing but his puppet. I believe he plans to make war on innocents, and I believe that after tonight I'll see nothing but the walls of a prison cell."

  Her eyes widened. He removed his finger and she said softly, "But Your Majesty—how could this happen and we your people not know?"

  "There is much that the people do not know," replied Castyll, his face grim. "But you must believe me. If I am ever to be a true king to my people I must escape tonight. It is my only hope." He sat back, letting her absorb what he had told her. She seemed stunned. Finally he said, still whispering, "I need your help."

  "What... what can I do?"

  "You can help me escape. I cannot lie to you. If they find you here tomorrow and me gone, they will interrogate you. Your only chance is to come with me. I know there are people who are still loyal to me. It's my hope that I can find them and rally them to my cause. They do not know," he said sadly. "Even some of my closest men think me happily here in Ilantha for the summer."

  Adara edged back, unaware that she was putting the down pillow between herself and the young king. "But... I have my duty as a Blesser. I cannot abandon my Tenders. They are unsettled enough already, with the death of the previous Blesser. To lose me so soon ..."

  Castyll realized with a growing sense of horror that he had made an enormous mistake. Adara would not willingly betray him, but he should have tried to escape without involving her. Far better to have lain with her as was expected and have left like a thief in the night. Now it was too late. She would be subjected to mind-reading, he felt certain. And very few mortals, certainly not a person with no magical training, could resist that. She would therefore betray him in the end anyway, if she did not come with him.

  "I'm sorry," he breathed. "I'm so sorry. I should never have done this to you. It's only ..." What? Only that he missed speaking heart to heart with someone? That he was weary of guarding his true plans? That he yearned for someone to say it's all right, you're doing the right thing, I understand'!

  She gazed at him for a long moment, then reached to touch his face. "How horrible this must be for you. I cannot imagine ... Of course I will help. I serve Love, and part of our training is to know and understand our own hearts. My heart wants to help, even if that means abandoning my duties. My Tenders will be confused and hurt, but I will serve my goddess best this way."

  A lump rose in Castyll's throat and he hugged her tightly. "Thank you," he whispered. "No harm will come to you. I give you my word."

  "Speak not so," she warned, "for you tempt the gods when you do."

  He nodded, acknowledging the truth of what she said. Castyll took a deep breath. "It would be best to wait until after dark," he said. "I know there will be guards posted."

  Adara's brows drew together angrily. "Not around the temple of Love!" she said indignantly. "It would be a blasphemy!"

  Castyll nodded sadly. 'These are men who have no sense of honor." He watched her reaction, knowing that this, more than anything had yet said, brought home to her the depths to which his captors would sink.

  She glanced down at her hands clenched around the pillow, and deliberately disentangled them. She straightened, and jutted her chin slightly forward. "You came for a purpose other than flight," she reminded him.

  Suddenly, Castyll's mouth went dry. He felt shy and awkward, and judging by the flush in Adara's cheeks, she did as well. "True," he managed.

  Her mouth opened, her small pink tongue creeping out to moisten suddenly dry lips. "Nightfall ... is a long time away."

  Castyll's heart began to race. No, Adara was no beauty like his beloved Cimarys. But she was brave, like Cimmy, and kind. And she was the Blesser of Love. To not lie with her tonight would be an insult. Besides, Castyll found that he was more than ready for her. Their gazes locked and he moved toward her over the soft bed.

  "A very long time," he agreed. He gently pressed his lips to hers, felt the soft swell of her small breasts as she arched up toward him.

  And for a time, all thoughts of flight were banished from their minds.

  Castyll started awake much later. The room was completely dark. His jerky movements awakened Adara, who awoke with a gasp. "Castyll?"

  "Shh, I'm sorry. I didn't remember where I was for a moment." She moved toward him, her skin soft as silk, her warm nakedness inviting him back to sleep—or sport. He placed a kiss on her hand and slid out of the bed. "It is time we were gone."

  He groped about for his clothes as she rose to light the lamps. She moved gracefully, without embarrassment, as the lights revealed her nakedness to his eyes. Seeing her thus brought the image of Cimarys to his mind, and suddenly tears clouded his vision.
He wiped at his eyes. At once Adara was there.

  "What is it?" she asked, concerned.

  He took a steadying breath. "It's just... forgive me, Adara. But lying with you only makes me want my Cimarys all the more. I miss her so much."

  He had thought he would hurt her with the words, but instead Adara flung her arms about his neck. "Oh, Castyll, thank you!" Tears were in her own eyes. "This was my first ... I was afraid I couldn't..." Seeing his confusion, she replied, "A Blesser hopes that the man she has initiated into lovemaking will take that skill to his own bed, share it with his beloved to their mutual joy. I am so happy that you are even more in love with your Byrnian princess after being with me!"

  He grinned back at her and kissed her soundly on the lips. "Then know, dear Adara —that when your king lies with his queen, we will both think of you . . . and thank you. But we must hurry. I know not the hour."

  Adara dressed quickly. "I have nothing but my Blesser's robes," she said apologetically. "Do you have a cloak?" She nodded. "Then wrap yourself in that. Be quiet—I'm going to take a look around first."

  He went to the door, opened it and peered out. It was dark in the main room of the temple. But he couldn't just walk out. Castyll went to the window and gently opened the shutters. And stared, shocked, into the hooded features of a man waiting outside the window.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  What has a thousand faces, a hundred voices, the conscience of a cur, and the purse of a beggar? A thespian.

  —traditional Byrnian riddle

  Swift as a thought, the dark-clad stranger seized both of Castyll's arms just as the king curled his hands into fists. Friend! Friend! came a cry, but not in Castyll's ears. It hammered in his brain with a truth that could not be denied. Even as his eyes recognized the face inside the cowl as a familiar one, the young king had already opened his hands.