‘Benetir Estate is in Sefarra’s hands again. Camoric and his men are staying on to help her make the great house defensible.’
Piro wanted to ask about Byren, but it was too soon for news. ‘And Fyn?’
‘He returned with over a hundred freed seven-year slaves.’
‘Then they can sail for Rolencia.’ She saw Dunstany’s expression. ‘I see. You mean to keep them here until he needs them.’ She frowned. ‘I wish I knew if Byren—’
‘Don’t fret.’ He cupped her cheek, too briefly for her to object. ‘You don’t have to go up to the palace until you’re ready. My Affinity will be restored by this evening. I’ll work on your wound then.’
She nodded and he left her. It was pleasant under the lemon tree, and she let herself drift into a doze. She was still aware of the soft brush of the breeze over her skin, still felt the dappled sunlight like warm kisses on her face and arms, still heard the chatter of the servants in the kitchen, but she drifted free of her body to float above the courtyard.
In this state, she was aware of Siordun’s Affinity. She sensed him as if he was a slow burning beacon inside the townhouse. It was almost as if she was using her unseen sight, and she wondered if her Affinity had been restored before her body was fully healed, thanks to Siordun’s attempts to heal her.
A delivery cart arrived, and as the cook came out to chat to the carter, Piro wondered if she could use her Affinity to find her foenix, but she was afraid of wandering too far in the unseen world. She might lose herself, and not be able to find her way back to her body.
A bird landed in the lemon tree and began to sip nectar from the sweet flowers. Piro tried to reach out to the creature. Instead, she sensed the Affinity of a half-grown kresillum in the lemon tree, below her. The Affinity creature’s back was covered by hard plates. They had an almost mirror-like finish, so that the kresillum seemed to be covered by a shell made of sunlight and leaves.
She wished she had thought to research kresillums after her encounter with the kresatrices on the voyage to Ostron Isle.
Luckily, this creature did not seem aggressive. It scurried down the tree to crouch on the branch directly above her body, possibly attracted by the Affinity she was exerting.
The kresillum twitched as another cart arrived. This cart belonged to a cheese monger; Piro could smell the cheese, even with her awareness hovering above her body.
As the cook made her purchases from the far side of the cart, a muslin flap opened on this of the cart. Intrigued, Piro watched as one long leg slid out, followed by another. A youth climbed down from the cart. The cheese monger’s stowaway went barefoot and wore a thigh-length smock over knitted breeches. Their hair was tied back in a long queue, such as sailors wore. The androgynous face and neutral clothes gave no clue as to the stowaway’s gender.
Spotting Piro asleep under the lemon tree, the stow-away glanced left and right before drawing a sharp little paring knife.
A corax. Fear froze Piro.
Already the assassin was approaching the day-bed. Piro tried to reach out to Siordun, but he was impervious to her.
The corax’s hands neared Piro’s throat.
Panic made her Affinity surge. She felt the kresillum jump with fright and emit a high noise.
The kresillum’s unearthly song made the corax forget their mission. Face slack, eyes wide and dreamy the entranced assassin swayed in time to the kresillum’s melody. But even so the knife remained in their grasp.
As the cheese monger and cook came over to the lemon tree to investigate the sound, Piro felt a wave of relief. They would save her. But by the time they stood under the tree, they were also under the kresillum’s spell. A boy came out of the stable and became entranced by the song.
‘Here, what’re you doin’,’ the stable master demanded and strode after the lad. ‘There’s work to... be...’
And he too was lost. This was ridiculous.
Fear churned in Piro, stirring her Affinity. What if the corax grew used to the kresillum’s song and managed to throw off its effects? She could end up dead while everyone stood around with silly smiles on their faces.
Here came Dunstany’s trusted servant, Gwalt, with young Illien. But they were captured too.
A servant poked her head out the window and gestured to the crowd under the lemon tree. ‘What’s going on?’
No one answered.
The woman slammed the window shut and a few moments later ran out the back door. Piro wanted to shake her, then realised Dunstany was one step behind her.
The woman lost momentum and purpose by the time she reached the cook, but Dunstany approached as if pushing through thigh-deep snow.
Piro tried to reach out to him but, once again, he was impervious to her Affinity, although the act of reaching out had stripped him of illusion. She now saw Siordun in costume, not Dunstany the elderly scholar.
And despite his own Affinity, Siordun was not impervious to the kresillum’s allure. He fought it, raising his cane to prod the creature.
Frustration ate at Piro. The kresillum was not the threat. She wanted to kick Siordun.
The closer the cane came to the Affinity creature, the more intense its song became.
Just before the cane tip struck, the kresillum ended its song and leaped off the branch, back plates opening up to reveal shimmery gauzy wings that looked too fine to support its weight.
Wings whirring, the Affinity creature swept out over the crowd. Several people fell to their knees, others swayed.
Siordun finally noticed the blade in the corax’s hand and rapped the knuckles sharply with his cane.
The corax gave a bark of pain and sprang upright, colliding with the cheese monger. The two of them seemed to shiver. Their slack expressions focused, revealing purpose and training. Both were coraxes.
They made for the gate, leaving the cheese monger’s cart behind.
‘Coraxes!’ Dunstany shouted. ‘Stop them.’
But his townhouse servants were still recovering from the kresillum’s trance. Only Gwalt tried to tackle the cheese monger, who flipped him over his shoulder, tumbling him to the stones of the courtyard.
‘Piro!’ Siordun took her shoulders in his hands.
The moment he touched her, she slipped back into her body and regained control with a gasp. Looking up at him, she found he was once again Dunstany.
Behind him, the servants helped Gwalt and tried to make sense of what had just happened. They didn’t remember the kresillum.
Illien returned to report, ‘We lost them, my lord.’
‘Don’t worry. We’ll be on our guard from now on.’ Dunstany dismissed him, and turned to Piro. ‘You were under the thrall of a kresillum’s song.’
‘No, I wasn’t. I made it sing to stop the corax from cutting my throat. Everyone else was under the kresillum’s spell.’ She eyed him. ‘Even you had trouble fighting it. Why didn’t it affect me when you struggled? What are you not telling me?’
He glanced to the servants. ‘This is not the time or place.’ He beckoned the stable master to carry Piro inside.
She did not argue.
By the time she was in her bed again, her fever had returned. Dunstany sent the servants away and reached out to her.
She pushed his hand away. ‘Why are coraxes after me?’
‘Cobalt has told everyone that Byren killed you.’ Dunstany went to the door and asked for a tisane to be made up, then returned to sit by the bed. ‘It would look odd if there was another Piro in Merofynia.’
‘But who knew I was here?’
‘The ship’s surgeon?’
‘I told him I was your servant.’
‘Would Lord Dunstany collect his servant in person?’
‘You gave me away.’
‘The surgeon really annoyed me. The thought of you in his power...’ He glowered. ‘The coraxes must have been waiting for an opportunity to identify and remove you. A while ago some footpads attacked Fyn, but—’
‘Coraxes tried
to kill Fyn?’ Piro was horrified.
‘They were too clumsy for coraxes. ’
‘Then who tried to kill Fyn?’
Dunstany sighed. ‘He advises the young queen. There are many who would like that position.’
‘You advise the young queen.’
‘Enemies have already killed Dunstany once. One day they will succeed. Before that day, Dunstany will have to die a natural death. If I’m killed, my disguise will be revealed. My fall would bring down Fyn and lose Byren this kingdom.’
Piro found she could not bear the thought of sponging the blood from Siordun’s dead body to prepare him for burial.
‘I’ve sent for Byren. Lord Elcwyff has asked for help. The warlord of Wyvern Spar came over the pass and attacked his lands. They were turned back, but I fear...’
‘Merofynia is vulnerable.’
‘We are all vulnerable.’
She frowned. ‘Why was it that I had no trouble controlling the kresillum, but you were almost under its spell? Why can’t I make the sorbt stone glow, when you could do it as a ten-year-old?’
‘That really rankles, doesn’t it?’ His mouth twitched, then he sobered. ‘What was King Byren the Fourth known for?’
‘You mean apart from fathering bastards?’
‘Piro!’
‘You sound just like my mother.’ She could see he didn’t like the comparison. ‘My grandfather was known for his menagerie... His Affinity was best suited to communing with animals!’
Siordun nodded. ‘Specifically Affinity beasts. I’ll give you another type of sorbt stone. Maybe it will be easier for you to focus your power in it. As for the coraxes... I think it is time the mage had a talk with Lady Death.’
‘But...’ That meant he had to sail for Ostron Isle. She had only just found him again.
‘Don’t worry. I won’t leave you unless I have Lady Death’s word that she will call off her assassins until after our meeting.’ A dark light came into Dunstany’s eyes. ‘She will regret attempting to kill you.’
Piro shivered.
BYREN TOSSED HIS reins to the stable boy and strode across the stronghold courtyard. Feid broke into a run, outpacing him. The servant had said only that they must make all haste back to the keep, which everyone took to mean that Cinna was having the baby.
‘Where’s Cinna, is she well?’ Feid asked Florin, who stood at the door. ‘Is the baby—’
‘Cinna’s fine, she didn’t have the baby. It was a false alarm.’ Florin shrugged.
‘So we rushed back for nothing?’ Vlatajor said, as his two companions caught up. The six Snow Bridge men-at-arms had dismounted. ‘I wanted to see how effective the ulfr dung was.’
‘Ulfr dung?’ Florin glanced to Byren. ‘Last time, when we trapped and killed a manticore pride, we used tar and flames to drive them—’
‘Aye, but I’m older and wiser now,’ Byren said. ‘Why use force when guile will do the job?’
Florin looked to Orrade for an explanation.
He grinned. ‘Byren found the spoor of an ulfr pack. They’re natural enemies, so—’
‘—you planted ulfr dung near the upper trail to keep the manticores away,’ Florin anticipated, making Byren proud. ‘Could work.’
Vlatajor stretched, easing his back. ‘If there are no more manticore attacks you’ll know it was successful.’
‘A bath has been drawn in your chamber, Lord Vlatajor,’ Florin said, leading them into the stronghold. ‘And Lady Cinna was asking for you, Lord Feid. This way.’
‘I know the way to my own bed,’ Feid muttered, slipping past her.
‘Ah, young love,’ Vlatajor said.
Byren would have gone to his own room, but Florin caught his eye and jerked her head towards the warlord’s chamber. He and Orrade followed her.
When Florin opened the door to the warlord’s private chamber, they found Cinna sitting up in bed while Feid paced. ‘...Byren has to go.’
‘Go where?’ Byren asked, as Florin shut the door.
Cinna explained about the spar attacks, finishing with, ‘So you could lose Merofynia if you don’t make haste.’
Byren cursed. ‘I shouldn’t have left Fyn in charge. Book learning is all very well, but nothing beats experience.’
‘You can borrow my ship,’ Feid said.
Byren nodded his thanks. ‘I’ll take my honour guard, all fifty of them.’ After his army had been decimated in the Battle of Narrowneck, the survivors had dispersed, but the most dedicated had trickled over the pass. ‘How soon will the ship be ready to sail, Feid?’
‘Wait...’ Orrade held up a hand. ‘Could you repeat the message exactly as the bird said it, please, Cinna?’
She shrugged and obliged. ‘Spar warriors threaten the crown, Seek D’s seat, lest your lords let you down.’
Orrade rubbed his jaw. ‘Sounds to me like the mage wants you to report straight to Dunstany’s estate without stopping in Port Mero. He doesn’t want the nobles knowing you’ve arrived. Sounds like they’re the ones letting you down, not Fyn.’
‘You’re right,’ Byren conceded. ‘So we sail through the grand canal and across the Landlocked Sea to—’
‘Feid is generous to offer his ship, but the arrival of the Foenix Spar warlord’s vessel would cause speculation. Everyone knows he’s your staunchest ally,’ Orrade said. ‘On the other hand, Vlatajor wants you to meet the Snow Bridge king. If memory serves me right, the summer journey over the spar takes around fifteen days. We—’
‘That’s if you take the Rolencian pass,’ Feid said. ‘If you sail to the southern pass, then take the long valley north, you cut your journey in half.’
‘Excellent,’ Orrade’s said. ‘If we enter Merofynia via the Snow Bridge pass that comes out behind Dunstany’s estate, we’ll have the element of surprise. It will also give you a chance to meet King Jorgoskev and take his measure. No one has united the city states of the Snow Bridge before. Maybe an alliance with him would be a good idea.’
‘Piro is not going to be happy if I marry her off,’ Byren said. He grinned. ‘But I can use the betrothal negotiation as an excuse to meet this new Snow Bridge king who thinks we’re savages.’
Orrade nodded. ‘You’ll need to tell Vlatajor why you’re going to Merofynia.’
‘If the king’s spies are any good, he’ll know why,’ Byren countered.
‘Very likely, but admitting that you’re worried about spar invasions is very different from returning to Merofynia to celebrate your betrothal. You need to negotiate the marriage contracts and sit for your formal betrothal portrait.’
‘What betrothal portrait?’
‘It’s an old Merofynian custom. Honestly, Byren, I paid more attention to your mother’s stories than you did.’
Byren frowned. ‘I told Isolt I wouldn’t marry her until I had reclaimed my father’s throne.’
‘This is just the betrothal ceremony. We sailed the day after Palatyne was killed and her father died. It was not the right time to hold a betrothal then.’
‘Very true,’ Cinna agreed. ‘I’ll send a message to the mage so that Queen Isolt can make plans.’
‘That settles it,’ Feid said. ‘You leave tomorrow with your honour guard.’
‘And Florin,’ Orrade said.
‘But...’ Florin looked horrified.
‘Leif will be safe with us,’ Feid assured her.
‘Besides,’ Cinna added, ‘he’s too weak to travel, and the thin air of the Snow Bridge taxes the strongest of constitutions.’
Byren rubbed his jaw, pretending to consider. ‘Florin...’
‘She’s the only one who speaks the Snow Bridge language,’ Orrade said. ‘You’d be a fool to give up that advantage.’
Byren turned to Florin. ‘I’m not forcing this on you. You can say no.’
‘You know very well I can’t let you walk into danger,’ she told him, quietly furious. ‘Not when I can protect you.’
‘Then it’s decided,’ Byren said, secretly delighted.
‘One of your honour guard,’ Florin said.
‘Done,’ Byren said.
She frowned, surprised by his quick capitulation. He grinned and she looked away.
‘STAY A MOMENT, Florin.’ Cinna patted the bed beside her as the others left.
Florin crossed the chamber and sat down, her back resting against the headboard. She frowned. Knowing Byren could never be hers was one thing, but having to watch him celebrate his betrothal to Queen Isolt was another thing entirely.
‘You’re angry with me,’ Cinna said, taking her hand. ‘You love Byren and—’
‘No. No, I...’ Florin pulled her hand away then flushed, unable to meet Cinna’s shrewd eyes.
Cinna patted her arm. ‘Where I come from, the Comtes or the Comtissa takes a partner to advance the family. Once the woman produces an heir and a spare, they both take their lovers...’ Cinna laughed at Florin’s expression. ‘You Rolencians are so prudish. Would you rather Byren waste his life in a loveless marriage?’
Florin slipped off the bed. ‘Do you plan to take lovers once you’ve produced an heir and a spare for Lord Feid?’
‘Of course not. Ours is a true match. But Byren does not have that luxury. He marries because he must, and he loves where his heart leads.’
Florin shook her head. ‘Byren doesn’t love me. He doesn’t even want me.’
‘That’s simply not true.’
‘Don’t.’ Heat flooded Florin’s cheeks. ‘Believe me, I know.’
Chapter Forty-Six
AFTER CLIMBING THROUGH the tunnel into the grotto, Piro had to bend double to catch her breath. Two days had passed since the coraxes had tried to kill her and Fyn. This was the first time she’d managed to escape Dunstany since he’d taken an apartment at the palace next to hers. She had spent much of these last two days watching her brother. She knew Dunstany and Isolt were pretending to be at odds with Fyn, but Fyn seemed genuinely distanced from them.
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