The Shadowed Throne

by K J Taylor

  Laela peered at him. “No, I don’t think so.”

  “We met just a few days ago, you know. I wasn’t feeling too well, but I’m better now. Thank you for coming to see if I was all right.”

  Laela raised an eyebrow. “Sorry, yeh ain’t making sense yet. Where’d we meet?”

  Oeka had stood up. “What is this filthy thing?” she said. “He smells of dead rats.”

  Laela was very, very glad she was speaking griffish. “Uh, this is Oeka. I should have said so before—sorry. She says—”

  The stranger looked down at the aggressive griffin, who just about reached the level of his waist. “I see you’re no different toward humans as you are toward griffins, but you don’t look any bigger from here.”

  He said it in perfect griffish.

  Laela gaped, then glared. “All right, that’s enough. Who are yeh, an’ why do yeh speak griffish?”

  Oeka was already advancing on him. “Do not ask. I shall tear the information from his head.”

  The stranger threw an appealing look at Laela. “You really don’t recognise me?”

  “No. Now tell us the truth.”

  He held up his hands—they were big and clumsy, and the nails . . . “It’s me, Laela,” he said. “Kullervo.”

  “What? What are yeh talkin’ about? I don’t know nobody called that.”

  Kullervo looked at the floor, in a way that seemed familiar. “Well . . . I don’t look the same now. Can’t pronounce my name through a beak, either. Always comes out sounding like Kee-ya-oh.”

  Oeka had stopped. “I knew that I knew him!” she exclaimed. “The scent, the feel of the mind . . .” She made a disgusted noise. “This is magic that was never meant to be.”

  “All magic is meant to be,” Kullervo said sharply. “And doing what you do to other people’s minds without permission sounds far more wrong to me.”

  Oeka gave him a murderous look, but, surprisingly enough, she didn’t attack him.

  Laela finally found her voice. “Wait. Wait. I don’t believe this. Are yeh sayin’ that you—you’re that griffin? The one what flew in the storm? That griffin?”

  “I am,” said Kullervo. “Was.” He flexed his arm. “It still hurts when I move it. But it’ll get better.” He smiled nervously.

  Laela sat down and massaged her forehead. “I can’t take this. What are yeh, then? A griffin what turns into a human, or a human what turns into a griffin?”

  “Both,” said Kullervo.

  The idea was just too bizarre for Laela to take in. “I never knew there were griffins . . . people . . . like that.”

  “And there should not be,” Oeka interrupted. “A griffin’s magic is not meant to be used on himself.”

  “But that’s how I am,” said Kullervo. “I didn’t choose it, but I accepted it. Nobody can do anything else with who they are. Including you.”

  His voice was soft and persuasive, and Laela nodded without even thinking. “Yer right. Fine, well—” She stood up. “If that’s how it is, then so be it. I seen weirder things in my life. So, Kullervo, they said yeh caught Lord Torc. How?”

  “Yes.” Kullervo looked relieved. “I took some time to recover, then changed. It happens slowly, and I haven’t done it too many times. But when I’d made myself human again, I took some clothes and food and listened to people talk. I found out about you, and what happened with this Saeddryn. I wanted to do something for you in return for your help, so I went into the city and caught this man I heard you wanted.”

  “How’d yeh find him?” Laela asked.

  Kullervo shrugged and smiled. “I have a very good sense of smell in either shape. And I suppose I’ve just always had a knack for hunting. I found him hiding in a cellar, alone. I think he was planning to leave the city as soon as things quieted down.”

  “Yeh didn’t hurt him, did yeh?”

  “No, just scared him very badly. With this ugly face, it’s not hard.”

  Despite herself, Laela chuckled. “Yeh did me a great favour, Kullervo, an’ I’m grateful. What can I do for yeh to say thanks?”

  “There’s only one thing I want,” Kullervo said. “I want to stay here. Let me help you.”

  Laela frowned. “How? What else can yeh do for me?”

  Oeka rasped to herself. “Send this freak away.”

  “I can be useful,” said Kullervo, ignoring her. “I can fly long distances as a griffin, and be a messenger or a spy as a human. I can fight in either shape.”

  “We do not need him,” said Oeka.

  “Hm.” Laela rubbed her chin. “My father always said the best way to rule a Kingdom is to always keep useful people around. All right then, Kullervo—yeh can stay.”

  He grinned. “Thank you—”

  “But—” Laela held up a hand. “But first, prove how loyal yeh are. I can’t trust everyone what just says they’re loyal.”

  “I brought Torc in.”

  “Anyone lookin’ for money might’ve done that. I want yeh to do somethin’ else.”

  “Anything,” said Kullervo. “Name it.”

  “Good. Go find Saeddryn.”

  Kullervo looked shocked. Oeka looked pleased.

  “Yeh say yer a hunter, so hunt her,” said Laela. “She’s the one I really want.”

  Kullervo bowed. “Give me a map and some food to take, and I’ll leave tomorrow.”

  Laela didn’t let Kullervo leave immediately, instead giving him a spare room to stay in and arranging for him to be given some clothes and the opportunity for a bath.

  “An’ I want yeh to come eat dinner with me tonight,” she added.

  He looked surprised. “Me, eat with you?”

  “I’m interested in yeh,” Laela said bluntly. “I want to know more about yeh and where yeh came from. It’ll be better’n just eatin’ with Oeka. She doesn’t talk when she’s at her food.”

  “I’d be honoured.”

  “Great, see yeh then, then.” Laela hesitated. “Uh . . . what do yeh eat? Anythin’ special I oughta know about?”

  “I like meat,” said Kullervo.

  “Er . . . d’yeh want it raw?”

  He wrinkled his nose. “Cooked, please. What do you think I am, some sort of animal?”

  Laela reddened. “Sorry—”

  Kullervo broke the tension with his wheezy laugh. “Heh! Don’t worry, it was just a joke. I’ll eat whatever you do.”

  Laela smiled. “All right, I’ll send someone to get yeh when it’s time. See yeh later.”

  “You like this one,” Oeka said when he had gone. “I smell it,” she added accusingly.

  “He’s nice enough,” said Laela. “An’ he’s direct. That’s somethin’ I don’t find much these days.”

  “He is unnatural,” said Oeka. “Ugly.”

  “Why are yeh so bothered about that?” said Laela. “What’ve looks got to do with anythin’?”

  “He has no shape of his own,” said Oeka. “He is not human, or griffin. Be cautious, Laela. One with no true shape has no true mind.”

  “What’s that meant to mean?”

  “I cannot sense him. I smell nothing from his mind. The shape is wrong.”

  “Hm.” Laela rubbed her neck. “If he ain’t givin’ yeh anythin’, then it must be up to me to do the readin’. That’s why I asked him to dinner. The more we know, the better.”

  “I agree.”

  “An’ speakin’ of that, it’s time we had a chat with ole Torc.”

  “I shall help you,” said Oeka. “It is time I used my powers again.”

  “I’ll be glad to have yeh there.” Laela sighed. “This ain’t gonna be nice at all.”

  Laela brooded on her way to the dungeon. She didn’t know Lord Torc well enough to like him, but she had always looked on him as a good man, and she knew he had a strong sense of jus
tice. She also knew about how he and his wife Saeddryn had drifted apart, through no fault of his own as far as she could tell.

  She knew his personal history fairly well; he was an orphan, and had been a slave up until the age of thirteen. Then he had been lucky enough to meet a fellow slave who turned out to be Arenadd himself, who had been waylaid on his way to the North and sold. After Arenadd had escaped with Skandar’s help, the pair of them abducted every single slave in the area, including Torc, and ran away. During the journey, Arenadd set the slaves free, and Torc had been adopted into the Taranisäii family by Caedmon, the old man he had later named his son after.

  Torc eventually met up with Arenadd again and had joined in his fight to take over the North. Sometime during the war, he’d married Saeddryn, and had gone on to become an important member of Arenadd’s court.

  Now, years later, after a long journey to become so much more than he’d been born as, Torc Taranisäii was imprisoned once again.

  It put a bad taste in Laela’s mouth. She hoped that she wouldn’t have to hurt him. Please gods don’t make me hurt him. Not my own family.

  “Rulership comes before everything,” said Oeka. “Even family.”

  “What?” Laela stopped. “What did yeh say?”

  The small griffin passed her. “You must be strong, Laela. Remember, there are more important things here than your feelings.”

  “Yeh knew what I was thinkin’.” Laela hurried after her. “Tell me yeh didn’t just hear what I was thinkin’ . . .”

  A guard ushered them into Torc’s cell. It was bigger and much more comfortable than most, intended for wealthy prisoners. There was proper bedding, and even a writing desk. Torc was standing in the middle of the floor. He started when the Queen came in but didn’t move.

  “Stay outside,” Laela told the guards. “I got enough protection.” When the door had slammed shut, she turned to face Torc. “Sit down, will yeh, so we can talk. Don’t worry; yer in no danger. Trust me, Torc, I want to help yeh.”

  He didn’t sit. “Where is my wife?”

  “I was hopin’ you knew, my lord,” Laela said. “I thought since yeh ran off like that, you probably knew more than I did. Sit down, I said.”

  Oeka had come closer and circled around Torc; he glanced down at her and reluctantly sat on a stool. She positioned herself behind and to the left of him, and sat on her haunches, silently flicking her tail. Torc didn’t dare look at her.

  Laela took the desk chair. She adjusted the crown she had decided to wear today. “Now look,” she said. “I’m gonna be direct. Where did Saeddryn go?”

  “I don’t know. She never told me.”

  “So yeh saw her, then? Before she left?”

  “No.” Torc shifted on his seat. His eyes were red. “I warned her that you were going to try to have her killed. But she wanted to stay here and do whatever she could while she still had the chance. She promised that the moment she knew for certain that she wasn’t safe any more, she and Aenae would leave.”

  “An’ in the meantime, when yeh heard she’d gone, that’d be time for you to leave, too.”

  Torc nodded. “I was going to leave the city when it was safe.”

  “To go join yer wife,” Laela said immediately.

  “No,” Torc said, just as quickly. “We agreed not to tell each other where we planned to go. If one of us was caught, we couldn’t betray the other. Torture me as much as you want; I don’t have anything to tell you.”

  Laela’s eyes flicked toward Oeka. The small griffin inclined her head, yes.

  “Where d’yeh think she would’ve gone, then?” said Laela.

  “Somewhere safe,” said Torc. His bloodshot eyes narrowed. “Somewhere you and your assassins couldn’t find her.”

  “Listen, I never sent that man,” Laela said sharply. “He decided to do it himself. He was out of control.”

  “So you say.” Torc sneered. “I’ve told you the truth, how about you do the same for me, half-breed?”

  Oeka hissed in his ear. “Tread carefully, traitor. I can crush your mind like an insect.”

  “I told the truth,” said Laela. “Lyin’ ain’t somethin’ I’m good at. What’s Saeddryn plannin’? Where are her children hidin’? Answer me quick, Torc.”

  “Arddryn and Caedmon chose their own destinations, just like their mother.”

  “An’ what are they gonna do there?” Laela leaned in close. “Did they tell yeh that, my lord?”

  “No.”

  “But yeh can guess, can’t yeh?” said Laela. “Yeh know what Saeddryn wants to do, don’t yeh? Don’t think I’m stupid, Torc.”

  “Bring you to justice,” he spat. “You’re a murderer and a usurper, and probably a spy for the South as well.”

  Laela stood up as Oeka snarled. “I’m your Queen, Torc, an’ if yeh say anythin’ like that again—”

  Torc jerked upright. “There’ll only ever be one ruler for me, half-breed, and it’s not you. King Arenadd is my master, no-one else.”

  “He’s gone, Torc. He ain’t comin’ back. I know it.”

  “Because you killed him!” Torc yelled. He pointed at her face. “You killed him! You seduced him, you tricked him, you made him leave his own Kingdom, then you murdered him and stole his throne!”

  Laela was about to shout back at him, but she faltered when she saw that there were tears on his face. “I didn’t kill him, Torc. I swear I didn’t. I never killed anyone in my life. Believe me.” Her voice broke. “He was my father. He saved my life, gave me everythin’. How could I want him dead?”

  “You’re not his daughter,” Torc said. “You’re a filthy half-breed.”

  “Look at me,” said Laela. “Look at me! Look at my face, damn it! He’s in me, Torc. All over me. My face, my hair, everything.”

  “My King would never touch a Southern woman,” Torc snarled. “Never.”

  “But he did. He loved her an’ killed her. I’m sorry, Torc. I never made it happen, an’ there’s nothin’ I can do about it. He made me a half-breed, an’ he made me Queen. That’s just how it is.”

  Torc had gone quiet. He was shuddering, Laela saw. Oeka had put herself between the two humans, her wings raised to make herself look bigger. She said nothing but faced Torc, threatening to attack if he moved.

  At last, Torc raised his head. “Where is he?” he asked, forlornly. “Where is the King? What did you do to him? Please just tell me. I’m begging you.”

  Laela softened. “Saeddryn was trying to take his throne, Torc. He knew it. He planned for it. When she tried to kill him, he took me and left.”

  “You’re lying. He wouldn’t do that.”

  Torc hadn’t denied what Saeddryn had done, Laela noticed. “Yeh knew she wanted to take over, didn’t yeh?”

  Torc looked away. “She wanted to be Queen. She deserved to be. Deserved better than me. She’s a hero. She should have had a hero for a husband. Not me.”

  “But he wouldn’t have her,” Laela said.

  “No. He loved Skade, not her. Skade was all he cared about, even after she died. And Saeddryn had me instead. I would have stood aside and let her be with the King, but she wouldn’t let me. She said he would never marry her, no matter what happened.”

  “Is that it?” said Laela. “That’s all there is? She wanted to steal his throne away just because he wouldn’t marry her?”

  “No. She never really wanted to rule. She only wanted . . .”

  “Wanted what?” said Laela.

  Torc stared at the floor. “She was afraid of him. She grew more and more afraid all the time. I think . . . I think she could sense what was different about him. Most people couldn’t, but she could. I could, sometimes.”

  “What d’yeh mean?” said Laela. “Sense what?”

  “He wasn’t really human,” said Torc. “He was something else. Somethi
ng the Night God sent. A chosen warrior, meant to protect us and hold us together.” His voice was awed, almost worshipful. “That’s why he never aged.”

  “I know,” said Laela.

  “But it was easy to be afraid of him,” Torc went on, as if he hadn’t heard. “Sometimes . . . when he was there, the air felt cold. He was cold. I touched his hand once, and I shivered. And his lovers, all dying. He couldn’t be one of us, not on the inside. He had death in him, not life. Saeddryn knew it.”

  “An’ she couldn’t bear it,” said Laela.

  “She was wrong,” said Torc. “He was our friend, not our enemy. But sometimes, you forget. Now, we remember. I want him back. We need him back. Tell me where he is, half-breed. Tell me what you did to him. Please.”

  Laela couldn’t stand to look at him any more. She turned her back, and tried to control herself. The memory was strong in her mind, too strong. Oh, gods, don’t make me remember. I don’t want to remember.

  “Please,” Torc said again, behind her. “Just tell me.”

  “I know what he was,” said Laela, without turning around. “He told me. He let me touch his neck. I know he didn’t have a heartbeat. An’ I know that the Night God was his master. He told me that, too.”

  “Why?” Torc demanded. “Why tell you? Why trust you?”

  Laela turned around. “I asked him that, an’ he told me why.” She smiled sadly. “Because we were both outcasts. The half-breed an’ the heartless man.”

  “You’re nothing like him,” Torc spat. “Nothing.”

  “That’s right.” Laela lost her smile. “I ain’t half as nice.”

  “Why did he run away?” said Torc. “Tell me that. He wouldn’t run from a fight.”

  “He ran because he didn’t want to fight no more,” said Laela. “He knew there’d be civil war, an’ he didn’t want t’have to tear up what he made. He left that to me an Saeddryn,” she added bitterly.

  “Then where did you kill him?” Torc asked sharply.

  “I didn’t kill him,” said Laela. “Are yeh stupid? D’yeh really think a little half-breed like me could kill him? The Dark Lord? The one no weapon could kill? He wasn’t mortal.”