A loud banging on the door interrupted him. Both Lily and Kirin froze. “Master Kirin?” a voice inquired.
Lily melted into his side as Kirin put a protective arm around her. He nodded encouragement when she stared at him, terrified, and then called out, “Who is it?”
“It’s Leak, Master Kirin, General Stracker’s messenger.”
She felt Kirin straighten and knew her own body had stiffened at the mention of the barbarian.
“Don’t panic, Lily,” he whispered. “We just have to continue playing our role.”
She nodded, swallowing. Her father had always cautioned that there was no good to be had in the cities. She’d been aware that he had always avoided any contact with the capital in particular; even at festival time when it seemed as though everyone except themselves would travel to Brighthelmstone to enjoy all the merrymaking, she and her father had remained deep in the woodland. When she was younger, Lily had resented their isolation.
But now, sensing Kirin’s fear, knowing that General Stracker was a thug, she realized that life in the woods with her father, and more recently with Kilt, had been so wise. How had Kirin and Freath lived with such constant anguish all these anni?
“Just a moment,” Kirin called out and he looked her way.
They had no choice. She nodded.
Kirin opened the door. “Yes, what is it, Leak?”
“General Stracker wishes to see you immediately, Master Kirin.”
“Immediately?” Kirin repeated. “I thought the general was away.”
“He returned a short while ago, Master Kirin.”
“I see. And why the urgency? I have only just returned from a long journey myself. My wife and I are weary, keen to—”
“I’m sorry, Master Kirin. I was simply asked to fetch you. I have a soldier escort waiting.”
Lily felt her throat go dry as she watched from behind as Kirin peered into the hallway.
“Since when do we use armed escorts around the palace?” he demanded, his voice even tighter. “What is going on?”
Lily stepped up to her husband and linked arms; she had to convey to him that she would be brave and he must do whatever he had to in order to keep up the front they had constructed. As frightened as she was, and she knew Kirin must be, it sounded as though facing the general was his only option now. Escape would have to wait.
“Forgive me, Master Kirin. I am just doing as bid by the general. Can you please come with us now.” The messenger’s voice was polite but even Lily could hear his waning tolerance.
“Let me just settle my wife, please. This is most inconvenient and—”
“Er, the general has requested your wife’s presence too.”
Lily’s heart skipped. “Now look here, Leak,” Kirin tried, “this really is—”
“General’s orders,” a new voice growled.
Lily didn’t think Kirin had even seen the soldier approach. His bulk filled the doorway without warning as the man stared down at them with an unswerving gaze.
There was nothing her husband could say. “Right. Just give me a moment.” He closed the door and turned to Lily, his mind clearly scrambling.
“Listen, Kirin,” she whispered. “You have nothing to fear. You had nothing to do with Freath’s death. Your conscience is clear and they will see that as they question you.”
“But, Lily, I am a traitor. Perhaps they’ll see that too,” he whispered back, sounding helpless.
“You’ve hidden it for a decade. Keep hiding it. Come on. How do I look?” she asked, pushing back her hair and pinching at her cheeks.
“Beautiful,” he replied, taking her hand and kissing her cheek. “Let’s go face the barbarian beast.”
“I sense you would prefer to face Loethar.”
“Not really. Stracker is just a thug. Loethar is far more dangerous because he’s clever and cunning.”
“So there’s hope, then,” she quipped and felt a surge of helpless affection for Kirin’s lopsided smile when it came.
Kirin hesitated. “Why are we being taken to the emperor’s salon if we are to see General Stracker?”
“The general has summoned you from these rooms,” Leak explained.
Kirin glanced at Lily. She looked so pale. He hated himself for bringing her here suddenly. He had endangered her life in order to secure his cover. Glancing at the two guards who flanked him, he caught Lily’s attention and gave her a soft sad smile of encouragement. And as the messenger knocked on the door, he promised himself that come what may he would get Lily out of the palace to safety . . . even if it killed him.
“Enter!” boomed the familiar voice.
“Kirin and Mistress Felt to see you, general,” Leak said, entering first.
Kirin duly trooped in, resisting the urge to quail before Stracker’s overwhelming bulk. The general eyed them both smugly and with what Kirin sensed was malicious intent.
“Welcome back, Felt. You’ve had us all worried.” He looked over their heads to the soldiers and a slight inclination told them they were dismissed. “You too may leave, Leak.”
Kirin waited while the three others left. When the door closed he swallowed. He thought about Freath and how he no longer had the man’s cunning to rely upon; now it was down to him to find a way to extricate them from Stracker.
Stracker seemed to be waiting for a response. Kirin frowned and shrugged. “I don’t know why, General Stracker. There was no need for anyone to worry. Master Freath gave me permission to leave Francham.”
“Freath is dead.”
Kirin blinked. “I still can’t believe it. I’ve known the news barely minutes. It seems unthinkable.”
“And yet it’s true. His body was brought back just days ago. He lay in the morgue while my brother came to terms with it.” He turned, walked back toward the window and seemed to ponder this thought. Kirin glanced at Lily, trying to reassure her. She looked petrified. “He was murdered, you see.” He swung back and gave Kirin a hard look.
A silence lengthened as they stared at one another.
Kirin swallowed as the horror of what he’d just heard sank in. “Murdered?” he finally repeated. “Kain at the gate mentioned he’d been killed. I assumed it was an accident.”
“No accident,” the general said harshly. “Stuck in the gut like a pig.”
“When?”
The general smiled maliciously. “The same night you disappeared. Coincidence, eh?”
Kirin felt his throat go dry. He swallowed again. “And you think I had something to do with it, general? That I might have organized the slaughter of the man I have kept company for the past decade, with whom I have been friends for all of that time, my superior?”
Stracker shrugged. “We’ve been waiting to hear your side of it, certainly.”
“I did not kill Freath. I did not know of any plot to kill him and I have no knowledge whatsoever of anyone who would wish him harm.”
“Apart from any number of people he has offended at the palace, starting with me,” Stracker continued acidly.
“No one knew of our arrival in Francham. He hadn’t even met anyone official for anyone to be forewarned.”
“Well, you knew. And then you conveniently disappeared.”
“I left Freath, at his behest and with his best wishes, to visit my old home. There was nothing untoward about my departure. We planned to see each other back at Brighthelmstone on this day, as arranged,” Kirin lied.
“And he had no other meeting arranged in the north other than with the local mayor?”
Kirin frowned. “None whatsoever,” he said indignantly, hoping his lie sounded convincing. “Certainly none that I was privy to.”
Stracker’s glance slid across to Lily. Kirin could feel her flinch beside him.
“This is my wife, Lily.”
Stracker’s tatua stretched and a ghastly, malevolent smile spread over his face. “Mrs. Felt. How beautiful you are.”
Lily bit her lip. “General Stracker,” she said, curts
eying.
“You can’t have known Master Felt terribly long.”
“Actually, general,” she said, nervously smiling, glancing at Kirin, “I’ve known him since childhood. We . . . er . . . we both grew up on Medhaven.”
“Is that so?”
She nodded. Kirin felt his gut twist. “We were childhood sweethearts. I thought I’d lost Kirin for good,” she said, giving Kirin a sweet side smile. “But then he came back. No warning,” she said archly and Kirin loved her all the more for trying so hard when he knew how frightened she was. “He just arrived back on the island. ‘Hello, Lily,’ he said, as if we’d only parted a few days previous.” She gave a soft laugh. “I’m embarrassed to say my heart leaped. I thought I was over him, particularly as I was seriously considering Link Chervil’s proposal of marriage.”
“Link Chervil?” Kirin repeated in mock astonishment. “What an oaf.”
“Link’s doing very well, if you don’t mind.”
“What does Link do for a living?” Stracker asked and Kirin knew he wasn’t in the least bit interested. This was a test.
“Link is a—”
“I asked your wife, Master Felt. Mrs. Felt?”
Lily hesitated, but tried to cover her nervousness with a small smile. “Why, Link is a miller.”
Kirin died inside.
Chapter Six
Loethar was breathing hard. “Elka, stop,” he croaked.
She turned around and came back to him. “Are you in pain?”
He shook his head, unable to talk, as he sucked in air. “Can’t breathe.”
“Does your head ache?”
“As though it may explode.”
She nodded. “Sit down.” He needed no further encouragement, and dropped immediately to the ground. “I think you’ve got what we call ‘mountain sickness.’ It’s the air up this high. It does affect some people this way if they’re not used to moving around at such a height.”
“I’m a tribal man from the plains,” he said, trying to grin but it quickly turned into a grimace. “All right, now I’m hurting. Everything hurts.”
“So much for the barbarian warlord.”
“I was never either of those things,” he complained. “That’s a title the Set royals gave me. I’m a king in my own right, of the Steppes even before I took over the empire.”
“Forgive me.”
He waved a tired hand. “Is this going to get any easier?”
She shook her head. “Only with many moons of practice. So, first things first. Watch how I’m breathing.” She began to take very quick but deep breaths. “This will fill your chest with air faster than trying to breathe normally at this height.”
“Like this?” he asked, trying to mimic her.
“Good. A breath every five counts if you can and as deep as you can achieve. And drink. You have to take on more water than normal. Believe me, it will really help.”
He immediately swigged from the water sack she handed him.
“Keep sipping. It’s important,” Elka urged. “Now,” she said, sounding distracted as she scanned the landscape, “what we have to do is get you lower.”
“Lower?”
“You can’t stay this high. Your sickness will only get worse before it gets better. And we don’t have time to spend getting you used to this height. We’ll have to descend. The problem is I suspect Leo knows his way around those lower levels.”
“Let’s face it, Elka, after living around you I suspect de Vis knows how to handle the higher levels, too. We’re trapped.”
“Yes, but Gavriel doesn’t know the geography of the higher altitudes as the king must of the lower forest. Besides, we can outwit Gavriel, I know how he thinks. But not the king.”
“Don’t call him that.”
“Why? Does it offend you?”
“Yes, damn you. I am the true King.”
“And just look at you.” She laughed but not unkindly.
Loethar found himself smiling bleakly. “I’m a picture of power, right?”
She helped haul him back to his feet. “Come on, my lord. You can fight it out for the title another time.”
“Why are you helping me?”
“Frankly, I don’t know. Behind me is the man I love. And even if I find his loyalty to Leo pig-headed, I couldn’t tell you why I’ve chosen to betray Gavriel and side with the enemy! The problem, I suppose, is that I expected so much more of Leo.”
“No, the problem, my beautiful mountain goat, is that you didn’t expect to like me as much as you do. You’d anticipated some sort of thuggish monster and what you’ve found during our journey into the forest is the opposite. Handsome too.” He gave her a smile.
“Lo save me. Are all the Valisars this arrogant?” She pushed him forward and they traveled in silence until he needed to stop again.
She watched him settle himself against a tree. Her brow knitted together. “Do you hate him?”
“Who, Leonel?” She nodded and he paused while he considered her question. “In a way, like you, now that I’ve met him I’ve changed my opinion. I wanted him dead like his father. But now that I see him, I see a young man desperately trying to fulfill what his father had been force feeding him, insisting he achieve since he was born. These last few hours I’ve put myself into Leo’s position and I would be lying if I didn’t admit that I would have acted no differently. So I don’t hate him. I pity him. He is compelled—as I am—to claim what he believes his.”
“But now neither of you have it. Your brute of a brother does.”
“He’s my half-brother. We shared a womb, that is all. I wouldn’t hesitate to kill him, nor he me—as you witnessed.”
“I was surprised that you didn’t fight back.”
“Perhaps it was a mistake. He is fearless but he is a lout, never did bother to learn the art of war or how to fight with skill rather than brute force.” He gave a small sigh. “I didn’t even bother to arm myself properly. I anticipated a fight, but I should have anticipated the ambush. Somehow I wanted to believe our family had been raised to fight fairly. I am not his enemy. I never was. But he hates me and,” he shrugged, “I am not overly fond of him.”
“You seemed ready to die.” She shook her head. “I mean, you appeared to accept your fate.”
He nodded. “It was a strange moment. It felt fitting at the time. I think I’d become disillusioned. My mother should not have died—certainly not the way she did. I have never loved my wife. I have never loved a woman.” Elka looked astonished. “It’s true. This sounds arrogant but it’s genuinely the reason: I’ve never found anyone who matched me. Valya is beautiful but I am not a man who chases outward beauty. I love things only if they appeal to me on all levels. Valya is cold, calculating. She is driven by a poisonous bitterness that dates back well before she ever knew of my existence. The tragedy is that Valya, I believe, does love me . . . and in the right way.” He shook his head with regret. “She is a stunning woman but her looks are constantly compromised by a grasping, shallow, vain, and cruel personality. She actually enjoys watching people suffer. I suppose many would level the same accusation my way,” he said, when he saw the look of astonishment flit across Elka’s face. “But when I punish people my only satisfaction is knowing that I am right. I don’t torture for the sake of it.”
“You just leave that to your brother,” she finished dryly.
“My half-brother can be useful if he’s channeled the right way. Until now my mother and I have been the only people who can really exert control over him. Her death changes everything—from the way he views me to his believing he answers to no one any longer. And that’s dangerous. He’s happiest when there’s chaos, bloodshed, disruption.”
“And people he can hurt,” she remarked.
“Indeed.”
“From what I hear, you seemed pretty happy with yourself during the overthrow.”
His brow furrowed. “War is different, Elka. War is not polite or pretty. But there should always be a decency to it, f
or want of a better word. If people surrender, it should be accepted without further death. I only ever held the royals of each realm responsible. Their heads were all I was after. The Set kingdoms were so smug and impressed with themselves. We got word that they were laughing at the thought of a Steppes invasion. Not one of the kings ever for a moment thought a horde of tribal warriors from the plains was a match for even one of their fighting units. So we had to desecrate the armies, completely crush their sense of superiority. That was the only way to force quick surrenders before the civilians began to suffer.”
“Spoken like a true king,” Elka said lightly.
“I am Valisar,” Loethar replied. “Even if my father refused to acknowledge me.” He gave a harsh laugh. “You know, my mother was just a night of diversion. A warm and willing body to forget about the minute he mounted his horse the next morning. But she never forgot him; I suspect she loved him more than she cared to admit.” At Elka’s look of wonder, he shrugged. “She was young, impressionable and no doubt vulnerable. An older, very important man wanted her. Why wouldn’t she fall for him?”
“Forgive me, but can I ask how it comes about that a woman with a child, already married, is able to lie down with a stranger . . . a foreigner?”
Loethar sighed. “I know it seems hard to imagine in this day and age but nearly forty anni ago there were strange customs. The Steppes people were quite used to seeing trade caravans going into or out of the Set. I think my mother and Stracker’s father were having difficulties. I don’t really know what occurred—she refused to talk about it with me—but whether she spent that time with the Valisar royal simply to spite him or there were other circumstances, I’ll never know. The fact is Stracker’s father treated me as his own son. I will always respect and admire him for that. He was a good man.”
Elka shook her head in quiet disbelief. “Did your mother know her lover was the king at the time?”
King’s Wrath Page 6