Cal’s chest hurt. He touched the red patches where Gale’s hands had seized him, still raw. Anders’ incessant complaints were driving him up the wall. “Shut up!” Cal said sharply, staring him down.
“What?!” Anders replied, turning away from Nalani. “Are you serious?” He faced Aaron. “I said one day, Lorne. That dragon is due back and you better put your shadow back on its leash. I think you’re forgetting our agreement, Little Pixie Eye.”
Cal stepped forward and smoothly decked Anders, catching him cleanly under the chin. Cal immediately turned, readying himself for an attack from Gabriel. Gabriel barely blinked. Cal looked around, not sure if anyone else was going to leap forward for retribution. When no one moved, he shrugged. “Guess he isn’t that popular.”
Miriam smiled and said again, “I missed you, Cal.”
Cal smiled back. Never any shortage of honey from that trap. “I missed you too, Miriam, that’s why I went to such lengths to bring back your employee.” He flicked his head towards Nalani.
That won him no favors from Miriam or Nalani, both of whom darkened in anger. They didn’t like that revelation. Cal could see Aaron giving the tiniest of nods, agreeing with Cal’s conclusion.
“You brought me back?” Nalani said. “That’s one way to call it. Another might be you were locked in a cell, waiting for the Sunken to come back for you, when I sprung you.”
“I killed the guards,” Cal argued, not liking the petulant tone in his voice. Anders was climbing back to his feet and Cal turned to face him.
“More coming,” Shay’s voice from the back, causing several in the room to start. “And well-armed.”
Jon reacted first, pushing through the room towards the bedroom. He kept his eyes on Lorimer, refusing to show his enemy his back. As he squeezed past Miriam, he looked at her and said quietly, “Wish I’d known you were in Surdoore. I would have reached out sooner.” There was a bit of venom to the words. Jon had been kept in the dark about Miriam’s presence?
Several eyes followed Jon as he walked through the door to the bedroom, but the sound of a sword blade drawing, the sharp hiss of steel, pulled them back to the center of the main room. Anders’ blade was out. “You’re dead, Castalanian.”
Cal drew his own sword, dropping his sheath to the floor. Nalani and Miriam both had knives out. Aaron raised his sword, black blade seeming to swallow the light. Gabriel sank deeper into the sofa cushions. Lorimer watched, chuckling, hands stuffed deep into his coat pockets.
Before anyone could move, a Queen’s Guard burst into the room. Tall enough for his head to graze the doorframe, he looked around with sharp eyes. “All blades sheathed for the Queen,” he barked, voice laden with authority. There was a moment of stillness before he said, “Don’t even fucking think of making me ask twice. I’ve got seventeen guards on the stairs just looking for an excuse.”
Everyone complied as more uniformed Queen’s Guards filed in, filling the already crowded corners. Cal looked at the blade in his hand and the belt at his feet. When he looked up, the lead guard was staring at him.
“Then set it on the floor, smart guy.” He looked at Cal’s bare chest and shook his head in disgust.
Cal did, conscious of his lack of clothing as the Queen swept into the room, Jenner right behind her. She marched straight to Cal. “What news of the underneath?” she asked, ignoring the boiling tensions in the room. Cal’s eyes flickered to Aaron, hoping for some sort of guidance. The Queen saw the look and darkened. “I do not leave the Palace lightly. You are working for me. Whatever layers between you and me, I will have answers. Now. From your mouth. I have forgiven appalling behaviors from many in this room. My patience is at an end.”
“You can add flouting official decree and assault to any charges,” Anders said, moving closer to the Queen, which her guards didn’t like.
“I can get answers from him,” Lorimer said at the same time, earning looks from both Jon and Aaron that promised violence.
“Jenner,” the Queen said, her voice cutting through the uprise in chatter, “kill the next to speak without my leave. Whomever it is.”
Jenner drew his sword, his expression as serious as ever. Silence fell immediately.
“Does my daughter live? Did you see her?” Her questions carried an edge of shrillness.
Cal opened his mouth to answer, but was stalled by the appearance of the Queen’s daughter in the doorway. His confusion flared for a moment as he saw her, then Cal realized he was looking at the twin, likely come from the Palace with the Queen, who would insist on keeping her close, probably for the rest of her life. And seeing her, seeing that same face in wildly different surroundings, brought confirmation that the girl he’d seen below was the Queen’s other daughter.
“Yes,” Cal said. “I’ve seen her. She’s alive and appears well.”
The Queen’s face slackened, and the room seemed to fall away from her. She held Cal’s eyes as her own filled with tears, but she was seeing something far away from this time and place. She held the pose for an uncomfortable time, before her daughter walked fearlessly into the room behind her and touched her arm.
The Queen whirled as though under attack, and then burst into tears, fiercely seizing her daughter in her arms. “I never gave up hope,” she cried out, voice broken with sobs. Abruptly the daughter was crying too. “Never once. They told me I should, but I could not. And I did not.”
And then she was overcome, and the pair sank to the floor, clutching each other as though they would drown if they let go, releasing three years of worry in a storm of tears.
Jenner never lost his fiercely protective expression, never lowered his blade as he stood over the pair, making it clear the order for silence was still in effect. The room stayed quiet for the duration of the storm, a long time, during which everyone’s thoughts were their own.
Chapter 26. To Be Known and Feared
Jon started out pouring the whiskey neatly into each glass, then grew impatient and slopped it over the tray, bringing each of the six glasses to roughly the same level. He returned the bottle to the amply stocked bar, noting in his quiet way that if Miriam was paying Nalani’s bills, the arrangement was lucrative. He picked up the tray and slipped into the center of the room. Cal, Nalani, and Miriam were perched on the sofa. Aaron stood in the corner. Shay was by the window, looking out. Finn waited outside with the carriage.
The Queen had grilled Cal relentlessly after she’d returned to herself. What little he’d given her had been grudging. He’d confirmed her daughter lived and was in Lord Gale’s hands. She wanted to know more about this new enemy. He shared what he knew. But when she pressed on the details of his escape and the Sunken’s plans, Jon could tell Cal was keeping quiet. He didn’t even need to see Aaron’s hands to know the Corvale was signaling Cal on when to speak and when to feign ignorance. Jon had been around the pair for a long time. Information was never free.
Aaron wouldn’t want Lorimer or Anders, both listening attentively, to know more than necessary. If it was Lorimer that was causing Aaron’s reticence, and by extension, Cal’s, that was fine with Jon. He liked Lorimer being in the dark. Aaron no doubt remembered being tied to the chair and beaten, and that was plenty enough cause. He carried grudges. But if it was Anders that Aaron was scheming against, that was more troubling for Jon. Jon had been frustrated to learn about the SDC play on the CA contract, even more so because it hadn’t come from Aaron directly. The fact that Miriam was in Surdoore but hadn’t made her presence known to Jon was equally frustrating. Cal and Aaron were meant to be working for him and he was meant to be working for the Queen. Instead, Aaron’s SDC ties were complicating the already overcomplicated picture.
The Queen had aptly summarized that they still didn’t know the intentions of the Sunken and had to behave as if there was still the possibility of an attempt on her other daughter with the full moon tonight. She returned to the Palace, the place she felt safest, requesting that Jon pay a call in the afternoon. Jon seemed to b
e on her good side at the moment, which made sense given that his agent had provided a long-sought verification that her daughter was still drawing breath. The Queen spared a withering look for Lorimer and ignored Anders, who had to be wondering if the CA contract was getting shakier even without overt action from the SDC.
After she’d left, Lorimer was quick to follow, no desire to be outnumbered. Shay reported from the window that he’d climbed into a carriage that was waiting outside. Jarmis, the one who’d been so desperate for a swim the other night, was driving the carriage. He paused to give Shay the finger before driving off in the direction of Lorimer’s offices.
Anders had looked ready to renew his tirade against Nalani, but managed to pick up something of the mood of the room. Instead, he’d grabbed Gabriel by the arm and dragged him out the front door. Shay updated the group as they made their way down the street, Anders occasionally cuffing his employee on the head and shoulders. When the room was down to the last six, ostensibly on the same team, Cal went to put some clothes on and Jon poured the drinks.
“She’ll want to know options to get her daughter back, naturally,” Jon said, dropping the tray onto the table.
“I can’t think of a much harder place to get her from,” Cal said. “Lord Gale’s court is stocked with Sunken warriors. They know the terrain. They know where the gates are and they’ll be guarded.”
“Could we go in through the harbor?”
Cal snorted, gave a look to Nalani. “We barely got out that way. Going in would be harder. And it would take days to find Gale’s court. Not to mention Odell’s people seem to have the harbor paths covered.”
“What about Locke’s gate?” Jon asked, looking at Aaron.
“He drew in the wetcloaks, then shut it behind him. He might talk to us, maybe, but if he was going to let us pass he’d extract a price. And we can’t trust him to hold to any deal. We’ve been warned not to trust him at all.”
“So we’re left trying to deal with Gale?”
“Seems like that’s at least where to start,” Cal said. He lit a cigarette. “Did a ransom request come up for our friends from the Club Diamond?”
Jon looked at Shay. She said, “No. Nothing for them and we never heard anything for the others from the Laurent House.”
“I don’t like that,” Cal said. “They’re stringing them up down there like the ransom has been refused. Why kidnap nobles if you’re not going to ransom them? What does it gain you? For that matter, why the princess? What’s the value of keeping her hidden? It seems like Gale wants to be known and feared. But he just sits on the Princess of Camron? It doesn’t make sense.”
“Will they come for the other with the full moon?”
“They’ll have the opportunity,” Aaron said. “The harbor will be open enough and they know the paths. But we don’t know about motive yet. The footprints were the only reason to think they’d come back. I found the muskrat man’s partner last night. He says Locke told him to do it. If he was telling the truth, there’s no reason to think Gale or Odell has designs on her. They’re not doing anything with the daughter they have.” Aaron was running his fingers over the pixie eye scar on his cheek. “If Locke had real designs on her, he wouldn’t have alerted the Queen by leaving the footprints. It comes back to motive. What do each of the three want?”
Cal said, “Odell wants a dragon. And alliance with some old friends of ours. I think it’s fair to say we don’t want to see either of those happen. He had a target at the Club Diamond, but we don’t know if he got it or not.” He leaned forward and put his head in his hands. “I should have killed him when I had the chance.”
“We need to be careful with him,” Aaron said. “Locke called him a setter of traps.”
Cal nodded and straightened, took another drink. “And Gale wants to be known and feared.”
“Gale wants to return,” Shay said, still gazing out the window. “Isn’t that what Locke said?” She looked at Aaron. “Gale grows restless in his prison? Random kidnappings, murder on a grand scale. Sounds like the actions of a man who wants to return to power. The Gales seem like the type to carry a grudge through generations.”
The room fell silent. Finally Jon said, “Then that leaves us with Locke. What does he want?” He looked at Cal, who shrugged.
Aaron spoke quietly from the corner. “Locke ordering the footprints makes it look like he wanted the Queen aware of a Sunken threat. But I have no idea why or what that means.”
Jon grunted, staring at the ceiling for a moment. Eventually he looked at Miriam and Nalani. “Anything to add?”
Miriam gave him a smile. “You’re doing great.”
Jon returned the fake smile. “Nothing from all the time you’ve been here? Just been scouting out the CA contract?” She didn’t reply.
Jon sighed inwardly. He missed his wife and children. He wondered if coming down here had been a mistake. Could he have said no? The order had come from the King of Tannes following Queen Cassandra’s request for help. Jon knew the King was poorer than one would expect, his funding consistently under threat from the Tannes Senate. Sending Jon was his way of helping out his fellow monarch without emptying his limited coffers. And Jon hadn’t exactly been in a position to say no to his King.
He’d been lucky to stumble upon Shay and Finn, who had real potential. But any pleasure from that had been balanced out by the challenges of squaring off against Lorimer, the distrust of foreigners on the Plate, and slim to no progress on the case over weeks. He tried not to forget that there was a missing girl at the center of it. How would he have felt, seeing his daughter vanish, taken from her bed while he slept? A pawn in a game whose rules had never been shared with him. No word, no ransom. Just gone.
His youngest Jamie would turn seven in three days. Jon would miss the celebration, the day she turned the same age Kylee was when she was taken. His grip tightened on his glass. She liked horses. She’d taken to sitting outside in the mornings, watching the carriage traffic roll by their house down Delhonne’s wide streets. She’d quickly learned the regular commuters by their horses. She’d given them names. Jon saw elements of himself in her, the careful way she observed the passersby. And parts of her mother in the way she amused herself with silly stories about where they were going and musings on what good friends she would be with the horses once they got to know her better.
Jon had seen what the grief over a lost daughter had done to King Jacob. And he was learning more than he cared to about the ashes of the Olmont family, their ship only afloat by Queen Cassandra’s iron will. Her husband had fallen overboard.
He looked around the room. Though they were close to the same age, he’d always felt older than Aaron and Cal. Sometimes felt like the only adult in the room. If someone had taken Jamie, he’d burn Delhonne down to find her. The horrible things he would do to those who took her would become legend. Would he hole up somewhere? The way the Queen seemed determined to remain in the Palace, her foray this morning the rare exception?
If it were his daughter missing, how would he use Aaron and Cal? He’d set Aaron watching, ready to deliver the killing blow the second the enemy’s weakness showed itself. Set Cal against an obstacle, let his pride carry him directly into the face of his enemies. Jon had seen the set of Cal’s jaw when he said Gale’s name. It was the same way he’d looked when he talked about the Avlors, the family that nearly drowned him in the Bay of Castalan. And he’d broken them, reckless to the consequences.
Jon took off his hat, threw it onto the table. He picked up his glass, the only one remaining on the tray, and took a long drink. “Okay, fine. We know who the enemy is, even if we don’t know exactly what they want. Our job is to get the daughter back. If the Sunken are working against each other, that may make things easier. But they still may have access all over the Plate and it isn’t going to take a large force to do some real damage. We need to move quickly if they surface. Shay, get Finn to assign men to sit on every gate we know about. Regular check-ins. Tell them
to be ready for violence from the surface or from below. They might not be the only ones watching. Then see if you can find another gate. If anyone can, it’s you.” He looked at Miriam and Nalani. “You sticking with us?”
Miriam nodded. “We may have come late to the game, but we’re happy to help. You know me, nothing motivates me quite like a young girl being sold like an animal.”
Jon looked at Aaron and Cal. “Any other leads to follow up on?” When they didn’t have any to offer, he waved Cal off the sofa. He sat down in his place. “Then get me another drink. When I’m good and ready we go back to my place and wait to hear from the Queen or the Sunken. I’m guessing one way or another it will be the Sunken. We don’t have any option beyond waiting for their next move.”
For a moment the room was calm, then an angry roar came from outside, shattering the silence of the neighborhood.
“Were you planning on doing something with that dragon, Cal?” Jon asked.
Chapter 27. The Hall of Whispers
Lord Gale entered the Hall of Whispers, ducking so that his black crown and crest did not scrape the low ceiling. In his left hand he held a lantern, its green light spreading down the Hall. In his right, a hook.
The Hall had only two entry points, one on either end. It was long and straight, offering no place to hide. It had been named the Hall of Whispers during the long war between the Gale and Ungale. It was one of the few places under the Plate where a fair council could be held. It was nearly impossible for the Gale to access the Ungale side and vice versa. With the tunnel too narrow to allow passage for more than one, two Sunken could parley with minimal fear of treachery.
Lord Gale raised his lantern and saw a green light rise from the other end in response. He began walking slowly down the tunnel. His small guard mustered behind him but Gale waved them back. He would welcome Locke to try something. He would drag him back to his court and take his time killing the spy.
Alliance of the Sunken (Spies of Dragon and Chalk Book 3) Page 18