The Dragon's Devotion (Chronicles of Tournai Book 5)

by Antonia Aquilante

  Savarin took a long breath and went utterly still. He appeared to be doing some sort of magic. The prickle of it brushed over Corentin’s skin. It wasn’t his sort of magic, nothing he could do or use or touch, so all he had was the distant awareness of magic being used nearby. Loriot seemed to find Savarin’s actions unremarkable, but it was entirely likely he was used to working with him in this way. The captain examined the room and its contents in the more mundane way, with a close eye.

  Loriot looked to Savarin the instant the man stirred, several moments later, even though the movement was only a slight relaxing of his posture. How attuned to another person did someone have to be to notice and react to so slight a shift? Corentin wouldn’t have seen it if he hadn’t been watching Savarin.

  “Anything?” Loriot asked.

  “Magic was used here recently.” Savarin stretched his neck as if trying to loosen it. “There’s magic in the room anyway—the usual spells that have been laid on the house and some of the cabinets to protect the contents from damage and prying eyes—but this is out of place and recent. And difficult to identify. The traces are fading to almost nothing, which tells me the spell wasn’t put on anything.”

  “But perhaps on someone?” Corentin asked, the words dragged from him almost unwillingly.

  Savarin looked at him, and Corentin thought he saw a flicker of sympathy in the gray depths of his eyes. “I don’t like to guess, but if I had to, I’d surmise it was likely a spell to render Bastien unconscious as they did the unfortunate guard. I’ll want a look at him by the way. Perhaps I can confirm if I’m correct.”

  “Would you like to see him now?” Griffen hovered in the doorway, Ligeia clutching his hand. Corentin stood behind her, once again feeling a little bit out of place. He pushed away the emptiness that threatened to open up inside him.

  Savarin nodded, but he turned to Loriot. “And you? Anything?”

  “Not much. From the furrows in the carpet it looks as if this chair was pushed back hard, but that tells us next to nothing.” He shook his head, a brief show of frustration that did not reassure Corentin but was quickly smoothed away. “Let’s go see my guardsman.”

  They all went. It had to make a ridiculous sight, their trailing along like ducklings behind Griffen. Corentin swallowed back a laugh. He knew he was teetering on a thin edge—if he started laughing, he would end up sobbing and not able to stop. Ligeia glanced at him. Did she see how shaky he was?

  The guard had been made comfortable, but the servants hadn’t known what to do with him beyond that. Corentin felt a flicker of guilt that he hadn’t spared a thought for him after they’d moved him inside—everything in Corentin was focused on Bastien.

  Savarin moved directly to the guard’s bedside, while the rest of them remained near the door. Corentin managed to wait silently, but he couldn’t do it patiently. Every moment was another that Bastien was out there somewhere at the mercy of a cold-blooded murderer. They needed to be doing something.

  But, of course, they were.

  They had no clue who had taken Bastien or where he’d been taken, and running through the streets of Jumelle searching wouldn’t be productive. Nor would punching something—someone, anyone—even if every bit of him screamed to do just that. They were doing what was necessary, and Corentin had to trust in Loriot. As much as it pained him to stand around useless.

  “What did you find, Savarin?” Loriot asked. He must have seen some indication that Savarin was finished.

  “A sleeping spell certainly, and a strong one. My guess is the same type of spell was used on Lord Bastien in his study.”

  “Can you bring him out of it?”

  “Yes. He’d wake on his own eventually, but I can break the spell if you don’t want to wait,” Savarin said. “Though I’d like a healer to be here when I do, just for safety. There shouldn’t be any ill effects of the spell or my breaking it, but you never know.”

  “I’ll send for Jadis. When he arrives, you’ll wake him? I’d like to talk to him about what happened.”

  “Certainly.” Savarin swept his gaze over the rest of them, letting it hesitate on Corentin for a fraction of a second longer. “In the meantime, I want to examine where you found him.”

  Loriot sent one of the guards he’d brought with him to fetch the healer, and then their little procession left the house and wound its way through the garden and along the path to the back gate. The drizzle had let up, but a fine mist still hung in the air. The area near the gate looked exactly as it had when Griffen and Corentin found the guard. Griffen had ordered everyone to stay away on the assumption that Loriot would want the area undisturbed when he came to see it.

  Savarin went to work immediately, or Corentin assumed he did, since he went quiet and still again. Loriot began asking questions about where and how they’d found the guard. While he spoke with them, he prowled the area, studying the bricked path and the bushes and trees lining it. He paid particular attention to where they’d found the unconscious guard, working easily around Savarin, who had planted himself in the middle of the path and showed no inclination to move.

  “They came through the gate, knocked out the guard, and went for Lord Bastien. His study’s location at the back of the house made it easier for them. They could grab him and return this way without having to be in the house for very long.” Loriot said it all quietly. He didn’t seem to be the type to talk to himself, so the statement must have been at least partially for them. “I wonder why they didn’t try at night, though?”

  Loriot didn’t seem to expect an answer from any of them to what was an excellent question, one Corentin hadn’t gotten around to examining because he was still screaming about Bastien inside. Loriot turned to inspect the gate itself, bending to have a closer look at the handle and latch.

  “There are magical protections on it, I assume?” he asked.

  “Yes,” Griffen said. “To keep anyone not recognized by the spell out. The walls have protection spells on them as well.”

  “Who is recognized by the gate’s spell?”

  “Anyone who lives here. My siblings and I. The servants. They’re the ones who use the back gate the most these days,” Griffen said.

  “So they also used magic to get in the gate and onto the property. Savarin will have more for us about whatever they used to get through the gate. Will it open for me, or do you have to?”

  “One of us has to.” Griffen stepped forward and pulled on the handle. The gate opened smoothly, without even the slightest creak that might have alerted someone to the danger earlier. He stepped aside.

  Loriot made the same examination of the other side of the gate that he had the first. After he finished, he walked through into whatever lay beyond the garden wall. Curious, Corentin left Ligeia’s side and followed. He kept well away from Savarin, so as not to disturb him, and ducked out the gate. What he found was a narrow alley paved in stone. He understood why the kidnapper had chosen to gain entrance to the house here. The alley was long, probably the length of the block, and lined on both sides with high walls. Some of the walls had gates in them, all utilitarian with only a crest, seal, or name to identify which house they belonged to. The walls blotted out much of the light, leaving the alley shadowy and dim.

  Loriot had paced down the alley, but Corentin didn’t follow. One of his questions was answered. He’d wondered how they managed to get Bastien away without being seen, but the alley, though narrow, was wide enough for a cart or a small wagon to pass through—and many probably did to make deliveries to the houses. They could have brought a cart up to the gate, put an unconscious Bastien in the back, covered him, and driven away. No one would have thought anything of it unless they actually saw Bastien.

  And from there, they could take Bastien anywhere in the city, anywhere out of the city. Anywhere.

  Corentin fought back the panic that threatened to consume him, to suck him down into a dark abyss. At the sound of footsteps on wet stone, he looked up and found Loriot at his side. Fr
om the look in the captain’s eyes, Corentin could tell he’d surmised the same as Corentin. Given his experience, he’d probably put together even more information. Corentin had never wanted to have experience with anything like this.

  “Let’s go back in,” Loriot said after a moment.

  Corentin nodded and led the way back through the gate and into the garden. Griffen stood just inside, body tense, lips pressed into a tight line. “Did you find anything, Captain?”

  “I see how easy it would be to use that alley as a way to get on and off your property. I assume deliveries are made that way and that servants use it. We’ll try to track down tradesmen and deliverymen who were in the area this afternoon. Someone might have seen something, even if they didn’t realize it at the time.” Loriot closed the gate, and the latch slipped into place with an audible click.

  “You’re going to have to have the protection spells looked at,” Savarin said suddenly, making them all jump. Corentin hadn’t realized he’d finished his magical examination. “They broke the ones on the gate with more force than finesse. I patched it as best I could quickly, but it’s going to need more work for it to be at the level of strength it was previously.”

  Griffen looked like he wanted to curse profusely. “I hadn’t thought of it. Thank you, Master Savarin. I’ll have someone in as soon as possible.”

  “I’m going to assign more guards to you until we catch the person who did this,” Loriot said.

  “And find Bastien,” Ligeia interjected. “You’ll find Bastien.”

  “I’m going to do everything in my power to find Lord Bastien, my lady,” he said. Corentin respected Loriot for not making a promise that he’d bring Bastien home safe and sound because he couldn’t guarantee keeping it. Even though he wished Loriot could. “Did you find anything else, Savarin?”

  “Nothing we didn’t already assume. I think I’ll be able to recognize this sorcerer’s signature if I come across it again.”

  “Signature?” Griffen asked.

  “Every sorcerer’s magic has its own quirks, and every sorcerer wields it in his own way. Once I’m familiar with some of a sorcerer’s work, I can often recognize it later. As I said, this was more brute force than skill, but there’s some power there, and I should be able to pick it out if I come across it again.”

  Griffen folded his arms over his chest. “Can that help?”

  “Sometimes.”

  “What now?” Corentin asked before Griffen could say anything else in that borderline skeptical tone.

  “Now we go back inside.” Loriot gestured for them to begin walking toward the house. “I’ll get my men started going house to house in the neighborhood to see if anyone noticed anything this afternoon. Hopefully Jadis will be here soon, and we can get my guardsman to wake up. I’d like to speak to him as soon as possible.”

  The healer had arrived by the time they returned to the house. Corentin followed Loriot and Savarin back to the room the guard was using, only peripherally aware that Griffen and Ligeia were behind him. He wasn’t about to let himself be shut out; he might miss hearing important information about what happened to Bastien.

  The healer had no visible reaction to the group of them, though once more Corentin was struck by how odd they must look, traipsing around together, when they could, or perhaps should, be waiting somewhere while Loriot and Savarin did their work. He didn’t think Griffen and Ligeia wanted to be excluded any more than he did.

  Savarin and Healer Jadis conferred for a moment in low voices. Only when they seemed to come to some sort of consensus did they move over to the bed. Corentin watched along with Griffen and Ligeia, though there was very little to see. Powerful magic was often like that, far less showy than people thought it should be. Which was probably an odd thing for someone who could turn into a dragon to think, but his own Talent was useless in this situation, and that only made him feel worse.

  Savarin and Jadis were being useful. Within moments, the guard was awake, if groggy. At a signal from the healer, Loriot stepped forward and spoke quietly with the young man, ascertaining that he was all right and questioning him gently about what happened. Would the captain always be so kind to one of his guards? Corentin had the impulse, right or wrong, to scream at the guard for allowing Bastien’s kidnappers access to the house.

  After a few moments, Loriot left the guard to Jadis and came to where they waited with Savarin at his heels. “He was just inside the back gate,” Loriot said, informing them of what they hadn’t been able to hear. “Just returned from his patrol around the garden and stable area. The gate opened, and he turned toward it, drawing his sword because as far as he knew there wasn’t anyone who should be coming through that gate at the time. He remembers a glimpse of a man, and then everything went black.”

  “The spell would’ve acted immediately,” Savarin said. “They had the sorcerer go in first to handle anyone in just that way.”

  “Quicker and quieter, if he had the power for it.” Loriot gave Savarin a questioning look.

  “He only had to use the spell twice, along with getting through the gate. I didn’t find any other traces, so I doubt he did anything else. They might have had charms to hide them from sight, but those aren’t easy to get or make.” Savarin shrugged. “I can’t tell you that. But he had enough power for what he did.”

  “What now?” Griffen demanded.

  “I have as much of a description of the sorcerer as he can give me after so short a look, and Savarin can recognize the magic,” Loriot said, not reacting to Griffen’s tone. “I’m going to set some guards to working their way along the street questioning anyone who might have seen them. Then I need to report to Their Highnesses, and I need to speak with Lord Marcus. He was following up his own hunch this afternoon after speaking with Lord Bastien. We’ll put together what we have.”

  “We’ll go up to the palace with you,” Griffen said.

  “You should stay here, my lord. Wait for Lord Mathis and inform him of the situation.”

  “He doesn’t know. Why hasn’t he come home yet?” Ligeia clutched at Griffen’s arm. “You don’t think something happened to him?”

  “I think he’s slow to put his books away as always.” Still, there was a flicker of fear in Griffen’s eyes.

  “I’ll send someone to the university if you like,” Loriot offered.

  “Perhaps that would be a good idea. But Ligeia and Corentin can wait here for him. I need to go with you.”

  “No, you’re not leaving me here.” Ligeia’s fingers tightened on Griffen’s arm. “If you go, I’m going with you.”

  “It really would be best if you all stayed here,” Loriot said, his voice calm. “Not only to wait for Lord Mathis, but also in case the kidnapper contacts you.”

  They were quiet for a long moment.

  “Do you think that likely?” Corentin asked.

  “No, but I can’t be certain.”

  “Because they tried to kill him once already,” Ligeia said, the blunt words contrasting with the quiver in her voice.

  Loriot didn’t try to tell her she was wrong. They all knew what could happen. “For what it’s worth, if they wanted to kill him, they didn’t have to take him for that.”

  “So something has changed. They want something else now.” Or they wanted something before they killed Bastien, but Corentin didn’t say that. He couldn’t. And Bastien was smart, smart enough to keep himself alive until they could find him. Corentin had to hold on to that belief.

  “I believe so,” Loriot said. “As soon as I’ve spoken to Lord Marcus, I’ll return. Please wait here in the house.”

  Griffen and Ligeia agreed with every evidence of reluctance, and Loriot glanced at Corentin. His eyes held all sorts of questions and messages, but Corentin nodded. He would stay here with Griffen and Ligeia. He would do his best to keep them in the house as well. Because waiting here, in the newly secured and more heavily guarded house was for Griffen and Ligeia’s protection too.

  PHILIP L
ISTENED CLOSELY to Loriot’s report of Bastien’s disappearance and their investigation so far. Amory sat at his side, hand warm on Philip’s leg, anchoring him and allowing him to listen, to think, around the worry for his cousin. Amory didn’t know Bastien as well as he did some of Philip’s other cousins, but that made no difference today or any other day. Amory would be there for him.

  The circumstances of Bastien’s kidnapping were almost ironic—everyone had been so angry at Bastien for going off somewhere with Master Corentin without his guards, but something happened to him when he was in his own home, supposedly secure. Philip would have laughed if the impulse wasn’t born out of hysteria.

  Amory squeezed his thigh, just slightly, as if he knew Philip was drifting somewhere he shouldn’t go.

  They were gathered in the sitting room of their suite, mostly because everyone had come to wait with them for news. Cathal and Flavian. Etan and Tristan. Vrai, who was meeting with Cathal about estate business when the news reached them, Elodie, even the twins. Other than Philip and Elodie, none of them were related to Bastien by blood, but there were bonds of shared history and childhood friendship, or simply a desire to support family.

  Loriot wound up his report with a list of everything he had put into place to keep Griffen, Mathis, and Ligeia safe and to work on finding Bastien. “Lord Marcus and his people are working as well. He sent word he would join me here to discuss any findings.”

  “Do you know what he’s looking into specifically?” Amory asked.

  “He spoke with Lord Bastien today, trying to get the names of anyone he had contact with and might have inadvertently revealed his knowledge of the assassination to, Your Highness.”

  “Marcus believes that someone Bastien knows is behind this?” Philip asked. It had always been a possibility, and Philip knew more than most about betrayal by people he should have been able to trust. It was easier to think that someone far removed—some faceless agent of Ardunn, for instance—was responsible for the assassination of their parents and was now trying to do away with any who might know something of what happened. But he had to accept other possibilities as well.