“A few injured,” Ashlynn answered, straightening. “Edvard being one of them. Tant, split up into two teams, one sweeping the outside grounds, one sweeping the inside. I think we got them all but I want to be sure.”
Tant snapped out a salute before obeying orders.
“Master, come with me to heal Edvard,” Ashlynn directed, already striding for the back room. “Unless Ash needs help?”
Ash waved his sister onward. “This is minor, he’ll be back on his feet in two days.”
Broden decided to take a moment and satisfy his curiosity. Nothing dangerous was left in this temple, he felt it, and there were enough armed and trained people here to take care of it if he were wrong. “Daughter.”
She gave him an inquiring, ‘Aye?’ expression.
“Daggers?”
“I snuck in a few,” she admitted as if he did not already know that.
“A few,” Ash snorted, hands still busy bandaging Argent’s leg. “She handed you four, she handed Argent…two?”
“Two,” Argent confirmed, grimacing. “Not that tight, Fallbright.”
“It has to be that tight to stop the bleeding. Anyway, and I lost track of how many daggers she herself used. She was flinging them left, right, and center like they were arrows and not knives.” Ash sat back on his heels and regarded her with frank amazement. “Just where did you put them all?”
Riana put a demure hand on her chest and looked away shyly. “Oh. A lass has her ways.”
The family still sitting in Ash’s ward started laughing at this.
“In other words,” Ash translated to Broden, “she’s never going to tell me.”
“She might not,” Bria told him, still giggling, “but I was watching her and I think I figured it out. It was quite clever. Ash, can you let us out yet?”
“Not just yet. I want to make sure that we didn’t miss anyone. Right now you’re very safe in that ward and I’d rather not take chances.”
Gwen reached out to tug on Ash only to flinch when her hand touched his magic. “I don’t like this. It’s icky.”
“Icky won’t stick,” Ash responded patiently.
“And I’m worried about Edvard,” Gwen added, her hands flexing in the folds of her dress. She looked ready to cry in a split second.
“Your sister is taking care of him, nothing to worry about.” Ash looked up and pointed with his chin. “See? Here they come.”
Edvard was walking a little unsteadily, face white from the pain, but he was moving upright and under his own power, which Broden felt was a blessing. Someone had helped him back into real clothes although they’d left the jacket off. An impromptu sling had his injured shoulder propped up. Ashlynn paced herself next to him, hovering without actually looking as if she were.
“You can let them out,” she informed her twin. “I’ve gotten a report from both teams that there’s no one else around. We got all of them.”
Ash flung out a hand, like dismissing a fly, and the ward came down. Gwen immediately went to her brother and hugged him around the thighs, tilting her head up to stare at him in open worry. “Hurt bad?”
“Hurt a little,” Edvard responded. It was a bald faced lie and every adult in the room knew it but was kind enough to not correct it and worry the child any further. “Mostly it’s irritating. Ashlynn said I have to be good and not use it for a week so I can’t hug you with more than my right hand, alright?”
She nodded, still looking stressed, but took his hand without a complaint.
Edvard looked around the room and winced. “So. How did we fare?”
“You and Argent were the only ones injured, which I take as a miracle.” Ash helped Argent to his feet and supported the man so that he did not put his full weight on the injured leg. “Speaking of—Argent, how did you know what was going on?”
“You forget, I was there when all three princes were welcomed into court as official heirs of Iysh. I know what a coronation ceremony is supposed to look like. Even if you were trying to keep things simple, there were a few necessities that were just missing. I felt like it was an oversight—I mean, these fake priests were novices after all—so I went back to correct it. For one thing, there was supposed to be a witness from the nobility that followed the process from beginning to end with Edvard. I was the highest ranking member from Iysh; by duty I was supposed to be at his side.” Argent winced and adjusted his grip on Ash’s shoulder. “I got there just as he was attacking Edvard. Fortunate, that.”
“Truly,” Edvard agreed. “Also fortunate that they chose the only non-magical assassin to deal with me. I suppose it was because the other two would have to fight with Ash and Ashlynn. I had no idea what was going on until I was attacked. I was too surprised and, ah...” he cast a glance down at the innocent face of his six year old sister before continuing blandly, “unarmed to put up much of a fight.”
Broden cleared his throat and fought a smile. Unarmed, was it? The man was going through a cleansing ritual; he’d been in a thin white robe and nothing else. Basically naked, in his opinion.
Tant came up and snapped out a bow to his king. “Sire. We’ve swept the area three times and there aren’t any other dangers here. Allow us to escort you to the castle and strengthen the guard. Just in case.”
“Permission granted,” Edvard agreed wearily. “Let’s retire to the castle, everyone. Tant, I leave you to investigate and gather what information you can. Report to me within an hour.”
“Yes, sire.”
Chapter Thirty-Four
It took closer to two hours before Tant arrived at Edvard’s study to give a report. It was just as well, as it took that long for both Edvard and Argent to be properly treated and to get into clean clothes. Neither man would hear of doing something silly like getting rest and, instead, were waiting patiently for the report.
Bria, Catriona, and Darisa insisted on hearing for themselves what was happening so they waited in the study as well. They had taken time to change into more practical clothes although no one had bothered to change their hairstyles. In the interest of keeping Gwen out of Edvard’s lap—she had a bad habit of accidentally leaning against the injured shoulder—they had a board game on a table off to the side and were playing with the child to keep her distracted.
Riana noted that everyone’s opinion of Argent had changed. He was no longer the semi-tolerated flunky from Iysh. His bravery and skill in protecting Edvard had spoken well of his mettle and now he had the respect of the entire Knolton family. He seemed to realize this too because of how differently he was treated, but it didn’t go to his head. Argent accepted their attitude to him with a smile and many a word of thanks. Mayhap there was hope for him yet.
Tant did not look at all pleased when he entered the study. He gave a suitable bow to everyone in general, Edvard in particular, and stated, “Reporting, sire.”
“Come in, Tant.” Edvard waved him in with his good hand, careful to not move his injured shoulder. He still looked white from the pain, lines around his mouth and eyes, but the spell that Gerrard had invoked on him and the potions he’d been given were helping. He no longer winced every time he breathed. “What were you able to discover?”
“Not much, sire,” Tant admitted sourly. “They hid their tracks well. The two wizards that attacked came under the disguise as fellow priests, as I’m sure everyone has guessed by now. Graff, we assume, came in first because he was not magical and so wouldn’t raise any suspicions. I took a look in their rooms and there was nothing in there to suggest they have ever studied in any religion. Quite a few weapons were secreted here and there. I think their plan was foiled by Lord Argent, here,” Tant gave him a respectful nod, “as I found traps of various kinds throughout the back of the temple. They planned to lure both of our wizards there and trap them, killing without a fight.”
Riana went pale as this plan was so bluntly outlined. They’d almost succeeded.
“I don’t think they planned on anyone disobeying their direction of coming unarme
d, either,” Tant continued. “There was a magical lock on the door to prevent people from escaping or the guard outside from getting in. It was set up like a slaughterhouse, sire.”
“Locked magically. Is that why no one else came in after us?”
“That was partially it, sire,” Tant confirmed. “Lady Ingrid came and found us when she couldn’t get in. She suspected something was very wrong. Master Gerrard contacted us about the same time. It’s how we knew to come. Sire, the guard feels like we have failed you in this.”
Edvard shook his head, disagreeing. “We all met Graff and didn’t feel like anything was out of place. He was a very skilled assassin. We will have to think of precautions from now on, however, to prevent this disaster from repeating. Tant, please go back and oversee cleanup. Has Troi been notified?”
“He’s already on his way here, sire.”
“Good, good. Dismissed, Tant, thank you.”
Tant bowed himself out. Riana regarded the room in general and was dismayed by how deflated everyone was. They had been looking forward to today for weeks and to have it turn out like this…well.
Ash cleared his throat. “If there’s one thing we have learned from this, it’s to always take Riana with us into any ceremony. That way, we always have a stash of weapons on hand.”
It broke the somber mood. A few people smiled, but Broden outright chuckled. “True, that. Daughter, how many did ye secret in there?”
Not seeing anything wrong with confessing, she admitted baldly, “About two dozen. If ye include the hair pins and the fan.” She hadn’t ended up using either of them, though, as they were definitely a last resort.
“Two dozen.” Darisa rubbed at her lips, trying to erase a smile. “Is that why were you sitting oh so carefully in that prim way?”
“I would have clanked otherwise,” Riana admitted cheerfully.
Edvard waved a hand between her and his sisters. “Teach them some of your tricks of hiding weapons, please. Obviously going about unarmed is suicidal, no matter where we’re going.”
She dipped her head, silently promising to do just that.
“After all of this, I think we need to make a bodyguard a priority.” Ashlynn speared Edvard with a look. “I know that tradition demanded you go into a cleansing ritual alone before the ceremony, but a bodyguard outside of that door would have foiled the attempt. Guards outside the temple obviously aren’t going to help if they can’t get in.”
Edvard put a protective hand near his injured shoulder. “I can’t argue. But you have yet to recommend anyone I like, dearest sister.”
“How about Argent?” Darisa suggested with a graceful wave of the hand. “He’s proven to have the skills.”
Argent seemed to realize she was teasing as he grinned and shook his head. “While that would be an honor…no. I have other duties to see to. Besides, wouldn’t that be a sight in my current state? Hopping around on one good leg and fighting off assassins?”
“My dear Lord Argent, why do you think I suggested it?” Darisa batted innocent eyes and smiled when the other man chuckled.
Troi gave a deferent knock at the door before stepping in. “Sire. I believe Tant reported to you?”
“He did, just now. Anything more to add?”
“Not at this time, sire, but we are hoping to get more information as we investigate.”
Edvard heaved out a sigh. “I certainly hope we can. Although I think we all realize that this is long overdue on Iysh’s part. We expected wizard-assassins months ago. I wonder what made them send some now?”
“They might have been waiting for an opening,” Bria suggested. “Your letters were the perfect excuse for a priest to come in. And we wouldn’t scrutinize a priest the way that we would any other person.”
“Truly, sire, we have caught assassins before this who were trying to sneak in under some other guise,” Troi admitted. “These were just the first ones that managed to slip in.”
“We’ll need some other safeguard to prevent this happening again.” Catriona looked back and forth between Edvard and Troi. “Especially since the academy has moved here. Didn’t you say before that you were attacked several times on the trip here?”
“We were,” Ash acknowledged with a dark frown. “And you do bring up a good point, Cat. Iysh really can’t afford to let any of those students complete their training. It puts them in a very unfavorable position.”
Riana’s eyes flew up to his face and she had a terrible feeling he was right. They’d been attacked so many times on the road, it didn’t make sense that they would just stop once the students reached Estole.
“I’ll set up more wards, be more cautious with them, as we can’t afford to lose any one of them.” Gerrard’s face was set in grim lines. “But if you’re asking me what set them off, it was my academy moving here. They had a hard battle against you when there was just two wizards. Now there’s over twenty of us living here. Their only prayer of winning the next battle against you is to start picking us off one by one.”
“Noted,” Troi stated with a smooth, iron voice.
Riana took note of that tone and the rigid posture the man stood in. The Master of Spies was going to have a much more strict patrol on his country’s borders now. He wasn’t about to let this repeat. She too started making mental plans to guard Ash better. Clearly, the danger he’d warned her about that first night she’d met him had finally come true.
“So…” it was Ashlynn that dared to ask the question they were all wondering but didn’t want to voice, “…was he an actual priest? I mean, the man’s been marrying people, baptizing them, christening them, and everything else now for months. Is anything that he did valid?”
Edvard groaned and shifted, his shoulder paining him. “No. Of course he wasn’t. Who heard of a priest becoming an assassin?”
“Doesn’t that mean that we absolutely have to find someone that can come in and redo everything he did?” Ash asked hesitantly. “Now? I mean, the baptisms are one thing, but he married people.”
“Troi.”
The Master of Spies snapped to attention. “Sire.”
“Send out a notification to all of Estole at once alerting them to the problem. I’m calling for reinforcements. Tell them to rest assured and that a legitimate priestess will be here by the end of the week.”
No one else understood what he meant by that, but the twins certainly did. In unison they spluttered out a protest: “Edvard, there’s no way she’ll come.”
“She’ll come,” he assured them confidently.
Riana leaned into Ash. “Who be we talking about?”
“There is a priestess by the name of Ellora that was like a nursemaid and governess to all of us growing up,” Ash explained quickly. “She was specifically assigned to serve the Knolton family but she took on all of us as well. She’s more like an honored aunt than anything. But she went into retirement right after Edvard’s eighteenth birthday, stating that we were all grown, we’d be fine. Really, I didn’t blame her, she was in her sixties by that point.”
“Edvard,” Ashlynn had that discouraging note in her voice that suggested she didn’t like this idea, “I know we’re desperate, but Ellora’s nearly seventy now. She hates traveling, for good reason, and she doesn’t have the energy she once did. It’s why we haven’t called for her before this. I’m not even sure if she’ll come if you call for her.”
“Oh, she’ll come. I know the magic phrase.”
The twins shared a look, both confused and suspicious. “There’s a magic phrase,” Ash repeated, eyes narrowing.
“What?” Edvard grinned at him like a gambler with a winning hand. “You thought you were the only ones who worked magic in this kingdom? You’re about to be proven wrong.”
“Oh, this is going to be good.” Ashlynn threw her hands up in the air. “Fine, write to her. Who knows, maybe your magic spell will work.”
“You leave that part to me,” the King of Estole stated with utmost confidence. “Troi, go spread t
he word. I have a letter to write.”
The front door banged open and a voice, reedy but strong, carried out. “EDVARD KNOLTON, WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THIS?!”
Broden’s eyebrows arched as both twins and Edvard choked on their dinner. Every single one of them recognized the voice, that much was clear. Broden, going off of a hunch, asked, “Priestess Ellora?”
“The same,” Bria answered, already out of her chair and striding for the door. “Ellora, we’re in here.”
The retired priestess came into the room like a woman on a mission. The picture painted for Broden had been of an aging woman, growing frail in her older years, who would not have the energy to keep up with a young kingdom. What entered was a robust woman that could make two of him, hair iron grey and neatly caught up in a bun, with more fire in her eyes than some young men. She did have a cane in her hand but it seemed more like a potential weapon than a walking aid. Ellora used it to point at Edvard, who was smiling at her entrance.
“You rascal. What does this letter to me mean?”
“Exactly what it says.” He came around the table to give her a fierce, one-armed hug, one that went both ways, Broden noted.
Ashlynn slipped up behind her brother and hissed in amazement, “Edvard, what did you write?”
“That the next generation of Estole was living in sin,” he whispered back.
All of the siblings choked, the sound suspiciously bordering on a laugh. Broden bit his bottom lip to hide a smile. He did not know the woman at all, but it was clear from her reaction that Edvard knew exactly what strings to pull to get her to move. The ‘magic phrase’ was indeed a valid spell, apparently.
A round of hugs proceeded as each member of the Knolton family greeted their former priestess/nursemaid with open delight and affection. Even after she had greeted them all, the scowl did not leave the priestess’s face as she demanded, “I want a proper explanation, young man.”
“Certainly,” Edvard promised, escorting her to a chair. “But sit and eat. If you’re here at this hour you must have left very early this morning and travelled all day.”
Arrows of Promise (Kingmakers Book 2) Page 30