“Nor would I ask you to,” said Jun. “I have my guards. But I mean to take back my throne, not merely survive. If I leave, I will look far too weak in the eyes of the senate.”
Loren looked to Jo. The large bodyguard’s face had darkened, making the white of his long scar stand out in stark relief. “If it is not too presumptuous, I would ask Jo’s opinion on this matter. Your safety is his responsibility, after all.”
“I serve at the pleasure of His Grace,” said Jo.
But King Jun shook his head. “Jo does not wish to gainsay me in front of others. But I will tell you what he has said in our private meetings: he agrees with you. He wants to get me out of the city, where he believes he will be able to protect me more easily. But I have told him what I tell you now. I will not leave Danfon while I still have claim to its throne. On this matter, my mind is resolved.”
Loren looked to Annis. The girl shrugged.
“Very well, Your Grace,” said Loren. “If that is the case, tell us where you would like us to begin.”
“We must unite the people behind me,” said Jun. “Wojin is not well loved, neither by my citizens nor by most of the senators—only a few of them were in his pocket before the revolt. If we can inspire a popular uprising, the senators will rally behind us, and Dorsea itself can overthrow the usurper.”
Loren had to fight hard to keep from rolling her eyes. But to her surprise, she saw Annis and Jo both nodding at the king’s words. “Do you think such a plan is wise?” Loren asked Annis. “We speak of ordinary citizens, not trained soldiers. Would they risk their own lives in a battle?”
“I think they might,” said Annis. “Even as far away as the High King’s Seat, I heard how His Grace is beloved by the Dorseans. Nowhere is that more true than here in the capital. Yet Loren strikes upon a truth—by and large, the citizens of Danfon are not trained soldiers. If you reveal yourself, there is a strong possibility that Wojin will manage to kill you before you can rally enough support. A determined force of soldiers could cut their way through even a great mass of loyal citizens in short order.”
“Yet the states have their own standing armies, and the senators can control them,” said Jo. “And while senators can be conniving, they generally bow to the will of their people. Several senators are in the capital now, as it happens. If we can gain their support, we will have more than enough trained soldiers to resist Wojin.”
“That could work,” said Annis, tapping her teeth. “But still, at least for now, His Grace must not reveal himself. It would be far too dangerous.”
“Then we must fight from the shadows,” said Jo. He lifted a hand to scratch at his scar where it met his temple. “The people must know their true king is alive, but his location can never be known.”
“That seems a tall order,” said Loren. “If they cannot see you, how can you unite them?”
“We will have to proceed slowly,” said Annis. “Plant the seeds of rebellion one at a time, the way a farmer turns crops—first doubt, then distrust, and finally anger. When the whole city has come to believe in Wojin’s treachery, then His Grace may reveal himself. You will have a popular revolt already in progress, and a trained army awaiting your orders.”
Prince Senlin leaned forwards suddenly. “Yet even that plan requires some level of exposure,” he said. “People spread rumors all the time. But no one places much faith in such rumors unless they come from a strong source.”
“You could reveal yourself,” said Loren, pointing at Senlin. “If the people saw you, even briefly, that rumor would fly far and fast.”
“No,” said Jun, Annis, and Jo all at once. Jun shook his head furiously and went on. “No. I will not risk my son.”
“If anything were to go wrong, it would be disastrous,” said Annis. “This is not yet a battle of swords, but one of hearts and minds. If Prince Senlin revealed himself, that might stoke the flames of hope in some citizens. But if Wojin managed to capture or kill Senlin, that would quench such hope beyond chance of rekindling.”
Gem smiled. “It should be the Nightblade.”
They all paused. Loren turned to him with a frown. “Gem, still your tongue if you have nothing useful to say.”
“But that is useful,” he insisted. “Loren, it should be you. The people will have heard tales of you. It was not only His Grace who knew of your exploits. Keridwen knew of you, and I am sure many others in the city do as well. You can be the one they rally behind. And if Wojin should try to track you down, he will have a hard time of it. There is no one better than you at escaping danger—except for me, of course.”
Loren opened her mouth to argue again, but Annis spoke first. “I think he may be right,” she said. “If the Nightblade tells them that King Jun is still alive, that would be worth more than whispers from a gossiping neighbor. You could tell them Wojin is an impostor and a liar. You would be a messenger of the king himself.”
“I like it,” said Wyle. Loren shot him a dirty look, but he only beamed back at her. “I myself would never do something so ostentatious, but I appreciate that it has a certain … grandiose style. What did I tell you, Nightblade? I place a high value on courage.”
Jun nodded and held up a hand. On it was a ring in the shape of a dragon, twisted around a great ruby. “I will give you this. It is one of the emblems of my office. I would wager the fact that Wojin does not have it rankles him. It will lend credence to your words.”
But Loren shook her head. “You cannot be serious. I am a spy, not a general.”
“You are more than a spy,” said Gem. “You are a legend.”
Annis silenced him with a sharp look and put her hand over Loren’s. “Gem speaks with words that are more flowery than useful, but he is not wrong. He is too eager to overestimate your worth, but you are too eager to dismiss it. Let my voice be the middle ground—you cannot singlehandedly save the nine kingdoms, but you can do this.”
Loren frowned. “I do not share your confidence.”
Annis’ eyes sharpened. “Sky above, Loren. You claim to keep me by your side because you value my advice. I am giving it now. Will you not heed it?”
Loren sighed and looked towards the ceiling. “Very well.”
“Very good,” said Jun. “And I believe I know what your first task must be. Wojin means to address the public tomorrow. It shall be a large event, carried out in a great square. We can expect many hundreds of people to gather. No doubt he means to lament my untimely death and decry the High King. He has not properly done so since he took my throne. We could hardly design a better place for you to reveal yourself.”
“That should work well,” said Annis. “If you interrupt his address, you should have just enough time to tell the people that Jun is alive and Wojin is a traitor.”
Loren’s throat had gone dry. “And then? I will be a poor figurehead if soldiers fill me with arrows.”
“You shall have to be fast, and you shall have to escape quickly,” said Wyle. “I can help you with that. My knowledge of secrets is not limited to ways in and out of this city. I know its streets as well.”
“We should go there today,” said Annis. “Scouting the place first will give us a greater chance of success—as well as a greater chance of getting out alive.”
Jun turned to the back of the room and beckoned to Kerri, who came forth at once. “Take Keridwen with you,” he said. “I do not doubt the craftiness of this man Wyle, but if I understand right, he has not been in the capital for some time. Keridwen lives here, and will no doubt have useful insight.”
Kerri inclined her head towards him. “It will be my pleasure, Your Grace.”
Loren nodded and stood. “If we mean to do this, we should not delay. I shall return before nightfall, Your Grace.”
Jun nodded and stood. The others were quick to follow, and Loren led them from the room.
“This is glorious,” said Gem. “I knew that tales of you would one day turn to legend, but this is something beyond what I had hoped.”
&nbs
p; “Stop treating this like a lark,” said Loren. “It seems to me that your whispered rumors have only led me—and all of us—into greater danger. Some bodyguard you are.”
Gem ducked his head, but Annis smiled at him. “That may be true—but only because his tales have added to your power. You wish to do great things in Underrealm, Loren. But great actions always carry at least some danger. You cannot have the one without the other. We all play by the same rules in the end.”
Loren’s scowl deepened, and she waved her hand sharply. “Let us get on with this, then.”
LOREN SENT GEM TO FETCH Chet and the Mystics before they left. Once the party reached the streets, Kerri took them southeast on a path that briefly drew near the palace. Loren eyed the place with distrust. It was familiar from her dream, and this close the resemblance was even more clear. The mountains loomed above, just as she had seen them in slumber. She thought she could even see the street down which the faceless, masked army had marched, flowing into the front courtyard and breaking around Damaris and Gregor.
They passed the palace, and soon Kerri led them to a town square. In the center was a statue of a man Loren did not recognize, a man with a full beard and long, flowing robes. He had one hand raised to the sky. But before Loren could ask about him, Kerri pointed. A large manor dominated one entire side of the square, far more impressive than Yushan’s home where they had spent the night. The manor looked to be of the same sort of construction as the palace itself. Two of the square’s other sides were composed of shops, while directly across the way were four more manors, though they were far smaller and less impressive than the first.
“Wojin will speak from there,” said Kerri, still pointing at the largest manor. Set in its side was a wide marble balcony that stretched a few paces out into the air, overhanging the cobblestones below.
Even as Loren studied it, her attention was pulled away by the people milling about. Passersby gave the manor an uneasy look. The merchants hawking their wares seemed to studiously avoid looking at the place, as though they wanted their customers to forget it was there. Loren saw two children running along, and one of them stopped to spit on the building’s wall. A nearby guard gave a cry and came after the girl, but she laughed and scampered off.
“I am no great judge of people,” said Wyle, making it clear in his tone that he did not think that was true. “But I would wager that these citizens do not enjoy that building.”
“That is Wojin’s home,” said Kerri. “Or at least, it was before he moved into the palace.”
“Then why would he not give his speech from the palace?” said Chet.
Kerri glanced about to make sure no one was close enough to overhear them. “King Jun used to do so,” she said. “But it required opening the palace gates so that the people could fill the courtyards inside. They loved Jun, and so he did not fear to do so. I doubt Wojin feels the same. It would surely make him anxious to have so many thousands of citizens inside his very walls.”
“This is heartening,” said Wyle, grinning. “These people seem to be half revolting already.”
Annis frowned at him. “That was a poor joke. And we should not grow overconfident. Let us craft our plan.”
“The crowd could hear me from the statue,” said Loren. “It stands on a pedestal in the center of the square.”
“Yet you would be surrounded,” said Wyle. “The crowd would hamper the guards from coming to attack you, but it would not stop them completely. And the people would be a hindrance to your escape as well. Also, there is no cover to stop an arrow.”
Loren grimaced. “Of course. My first thought was that Wojin would not have his soldiers shoot at me if I stood there, for a miss might strike the crowd. Yet from what I hear of him, he might not be deterred.”
Kerri’s expression grew dark. “No, Wojin would care little for that.”
Gem bounced on his feet. “The rooftops!”
He pointed to the manors across from Wojin’s. Their roofs were the same red tile as most in Danfon, and each a gentle slope meeting in a peak. And Loren saw now that while they were far shorter than the manor across the square, they were almost of a height with the balcony from which Wojin would deliver his speech.
“That would do,” Loren mused. “But I should like to get a better look.”
“I will find us a way up,” said Gem, and scampered off to do just that. It was only a few moments before he returned. “Follow me.”
Just beside the middle building was a huge pile of fresh-cut lumber. It was stacked neatly and formed a sort of staircase leading to the roof’s edge.
Loren nodded. “This is perfect. It will let us get up and down from the roof, and I can address the crowd from there.”
“Yet it still proves a poor means of escape,” said Wyle. “If the space is indeed packed with the citizenry, you will not be able to get through them after climbing down.”
“There is likely another way off the roof,” said Gem. “Let us climb up and see.”
He leaped up the piles of timber like a satyr, and Chet started up behind him. But Wyle took a quick step back and raised his hands. “I shall leave such exertions to you. I have a physique built for cleverness and charm, but not for climbing.”
“That goes for me as well,” said Annis. “Besides, someone should keep an eye on the smuggler.”
Wyle held up a finger. “Ah, ah. I work for the king now. That means I am an honest businessman.”
Loren arched an eyebrow. “Indeed. But all the same, I think Annis is right—Uzo and Shiun will remain here with the honest businessman.”
“Certainly,” said Shiun. She took a step closer to Wyle, as though she were ready to catch him if he tried to sneak away. Uzo stepped up on the smuggler’s other side.
Wyle shook his head with an air of long-suffering dignity. “Always so distrustful,” he said. “But I forgive you. Who could blame such an upstanding servant of the King’s law?”
Loren smiled and turned to climb the pile of timbers. But to her surprise, she saw Kerri starting the climb as well.
“It might be better to remain here,” said Loren. “There is no need to risk yourself.”
Kerri raised an eyebrow, but she did not stop making her way up. “You think this is a risk? I think the danger will come during Wojin’s speech. If you fear I cannot keep up, do not worry. I am as much a city child as you are.”
Loren laughed at that, and so did Gem. The boy had reached the rooftop already, and had lowered a hand to help Chet make the last few steps. “She is no daughter of a city,” said Gem. “Loren came from the forests.”
Kerri seemed surprised—so much so that her foot slipped. Loren quickly caught her hand and steadied her. “Thank you,” mumbled Kerri. “And forgive me for assuming. You are more refined than I would expect from a backwater bumpkin.”
Loren’s cheeks flushed. “I am only pleased you have not made fun of my accent, the way most people do. As for refinement, I would not say that I possess much, though I have had many experiences since leaving my home.”
“She has indeed,” said Gem. “You should have seen her when we first met in Cabrus. She stared in wide-eyed wonder at all the buildings, and her accent was even worse than it is now.”
Kerri laughed. “I think it is lovely.” Loren’s cheeks flamed still further.
Chet helped Kerri make the last few paces of the climb. The girl was not quite as agile as she had boasted, though she was no bumbler, either. They took a few cautious steps on the roof. Loren was pleased to find the red tiles were firm under her feet—they would not slip and make her lose her footing, and she doubted if they made any noise that could be heard in the manor below. Gem bounced close to the front edge of the roof, making Loren’s heart skip nervously. She always had to remind herself of Gem’s familiarity with heights, for he took risks and balanced on perches that she herself would not have dared. Chet stopped a pace behind the boy, looking at the square below.
“It is a bit more exposed than I
would like,” said Chet. “They might still be able to shoot at you.”
“The lip of the roof will give me some cover from the street,” said Loren.
“I do not mean down below,” said Chet. “If he has any archers on the balcony with him, or in the building, they will have a clear shot.”
Loren looked at Wojin’s manor. There were, indeed, many windows with a good view of her, and the balcony was more than wide enough to allow for archers. “I had not thought of that. I suppose I shall have to keep my words brief, then.”
“But at least there are many routes of escape,” said Gem. “And not just to the sides, but behind.”
He pointed, and Loren could see that there were indeed many rooftops leading directly away from the square. There were not many gaps, and all were an easy leap.
“That shall be my route of escape,” she said. “But we should find a place to climb down. I would rather know just where to go, rather than have to discover a ladder in the thick of things.”
Gem led the way, jumping from one roof to another, and they all hurried to follow him. But it was almost no time at all before he stopped and pointed again. There was a drainpipe against a solid shop wall, anchored to the building with thick iron bands that would form perfect handholds.
“There,” he said. “And we are far enough from the square that I doubt they will be able to reach you here.”
“It is perfect,” said Loren. “Though just to be safe, let us all climb it, to make sure it will hold.”
It did, and when they had reached the cobblestones, Kerri led them back towards the square. When they came around the corner of the manor, Annis and the others turned to them in surprise.
“Back so soon?” said Wyle.
“Will it work?” said Annis.
“It will,” said Loren. “It is as good a place as any to address the crowd, and there is an easy way to escape once I have done so.”
“Most excellent,” said Wyle. “Though while you have been scampering about having an adventure, I have turned my considerable mind to our plan. I think there is a way to make your appearance do more for our cause.”
Yerrin: A Book of Underrealm (The Nightblade Epic 6) Page 14