In Defence of the Crown (The Aielund Saga Book 2)

by Stephen L. Nowland

  “People in this city can simply walk around with weapons?” Aiden asked Criosa as they made their way through the throng.

  “For now, yes,” she replied curtly. “Father has been imposing regulations to reduce the number of weapons being carried openly in the city, though they’re still not technically illegal. You may be inspected by the City Watch if you’re seen with weaponry on your person - they’re just making sure that you aren’t going to murder anyone.”

  “I feel safer already,” Ronan said absently.

  “In a few years it will be a punishable offence to bear arms in the city, but you needn’t worry about that for the moment,” Criosa added.

  “No, we just have to worry about everyone else who may be armed,” Pacian muttered. “It’s going to be difficult to keep you alive if any little old lady could be carrying a concealed weapon.”

  “I know, but there’s only so much we can do,” Criosa sighed. “The nobility are resistant to change and it will take time to bring them around.”

  The fog was diminishing as they moved further from the docks, allowing Aiden to take in more of the scene around them. The quality of the roads and buildings nearby was improving noticeably as they walked, and the clothing worn by passers-by was of a higher quality. An assortment of non-humans could be seen moving amongst the crowd as well. Sturdy, solidly-built dwarves went about their business, along with well-dressed raelani men and women, the little people navigating the crowd of humans with practiced ease. The air even smelled clearer, carrying with it the aromas of hot food and exotic spices.

  “This is the Market District,” Criosa explained, turning around for a brief moment to speak. Her voice conveyed a sense of pride as she spoke of her home. “If there’s anything for sale, it can be found here. We may be on the top of the world, but the Fairloch markets are a central hub for all manner of goods. That leads me to my next topic - your reward.”

  “Reward?” Pacian asked, sounding innocent despite the twinkle in his green eyes.

  “You saved Culdeny and my own life,” Criosa explained, leaning close to be heard. “I am not unappreciative. There are some excellent shops around here, so I want each of you to pick something for yourselves. Money is no object, so think big.”

  “From what I can see, the doors appear to be closing,” Ronan pointed out, gesturing at what appeared to be an armoury.

  “Sir!” Criosa called out in dismay. As a petite blonde girl with alluring eyes, she did not, of course, have any problem catching the attention of the burly man.

  “Sorry ma’am, I’m closing up for the evening,” he said gruffly as Aiden’s group moved in closer. “The missus doesn’t like me working late these days.”

  “If I could just have a moment of your time,” Criosa pressed, stepping right up to face him. They spoke for half a minute, their quiet conversation lost in the din of the surrounding population. The transition of emotions on the face of the big man was curious to watch - he started cautious, then ashamed, and by the end of the conversation he looked like he was trying to figure out how to propose marriage to the princess without his wife finding out.

  Whether or not she had used her position in the city to leverage his favour or not was a subject for discussion, yet she succeeded in keeping the doors open for a while longer. She waved Aiden and the others to follow her in. The warm air was a welcome relief from the bitter cold of Fairloch’s streets.

  “This is Magnus, who has kindly allowed us to peruse his wares after hours,” Criosa said as a way of introduction. “Aiden, why don’t you and Ronan take what you need and I’ll catch up with you shortly?”

  “Wait, where are you going?” Aiden asked just as she was about to head out the door again.

  “There’s a dress shop just a few doors down, and I want to get there before they close up. Oh, and I’m stealing your sorceress, too,” she added, grabbing Sayana by the wrist and playfully dragging her along, her sudden expression of distress notwithstanding.

  “Nel, could you keep an eye on them?” Aiden pleaded, silently wondering how on earth they were going to keep control of the spirited princess, and fearing the repercussions if they didn’t. Nellise nodded and joined the other two women.

  The three men spent some time examining the weaponry on offer, most of which Aiden couldn’t use without risking the lives of everyone around him. He settled upon a fine arming sword, while Ronan took a matched pair of short swords for himself. When he inquired about some leathers, the man behind the counter voiced his opinion.

  “Leather? Might as well wear a frock for all the good that’ll do you when a sword’s coming your way,” Magnus grunted.

  “Was that a yes or a no? I’m sorry, it was kind of hard to tell,” Aiden drawled.

  “We don’t have the basic leathers,” the armourer grunted dourly, “but we do buy some of it from Clancy down the street a bit in order to make the plated stuff.”

  “Bring it out then,” Aiden shrugged.

  “Make that two,” Ronan added quickly.

  “And me,” Pacian said as Magnus went through a small door behind the counter to fetch the suits. While they waited for him to return, Ronan turned to speak to Aiden.

  “So, this Sayana girl,” Ronan asked with a slight catch in his voice. “What’s her story?”

  *

  By the time they left the armoury, they’d added quite a bill to Criosa’s account, for the plated leather armour that they’d selected was very fine quality indeed. After a little adjustment, Aiden donned the dark brown suit and found it to be a near-perfect fit.

  He had kept his remarks about Sayana short, explaining only how she had lived in the Highmarch Mountains for most of her life, and was a talented sorceress. He refrained from mentioning their brief dalliance, for he didn’t want to go into detail of why they broke up. Ronan listened without comment until Aiden had finished, and then refrained from commenting after he’d stopped, too. It was hard to get a read on the man.

  The laconic sailor led them down the snow-covered street a little further, until they reached a store with a sign hanging out front with the words ‘Fairloch house of fashion’ engraved upon it.

  Once inside, they discovered that despite having ample time to choose a new dress, the princess was still trying things on. Her current choice was a slim blue garment that accentuated her curves nicely. Dresses of varying designs were piled up on the floor nearby, and although the proprietor of the establishment was maintaining a pleasant demeanour, the tightness around her eyes suggested her patience was wearing thin.

  “Your Highness, I hardly think this is the time to be concerned with picking the right dress,” Aiden suggested diplomatically. “What you have on right now looks fine to me, so how about we get you safely to the castle?”

  “There’s no rush,” she answered with more than a hint of defiance. “I’ve been living in an old fort for months, and I’m about to endure a prolonged visit to the castle, so permit me to have a little fun while I can.” Aiden exchanged a glance with Nellise, who wore a similar expression of suffering impatience as the lady in the store.

  “Far be it for me to tell you what you should be doing with your time, Highness, but your pretty new dresses will be irrelevant if you’re too dead to wear them.” Criosa turned and looked shrewdly at the young man, possibly deciding whether or not to be offended by his comment and then sighed at her reflection in the mirror before her.

  “Your point is well taken, sir,” she relented. “I’ve suddenly decided upon this one, Anita, and I do apologise for keeping you after hours.”

  “Not at all, Highness,” the lady replied graciously. If she was relieved in any way, she hid it well.

  “Before we go however, I have a little surprise for you all,” Criosa said, a sly grin appearing on her face as she looked at them over her shoulder. “Sy? Could you come out here, I want to see how you look.” Across the room, a door opened up and Sayana walked out, dressed in expensive yet practical clothing. Suede boots complime
nted her leather trousers, finished off with a snug white blouse and dark vest that seemed to go well together. It was a startling change from the ragged girl they had first encountered in the mountains, wearing only animal skins to keep her warm.

  “Why didn’t you put the dress on?” Criosa cried at the sight of the wild girl’s appearance.

  “That silly thing was too impractical,” Sayana answered bluntly. “How am I supposed to do anything in it without tearing it to pieces?”

  “Well, you’re not supposed to do anything in a dress like that,” the princess explained, “except to stand around and bask in the admiration of any men within sight.”

  “Nonsense,” Sayana said dismissively. “I need to be able to fight, not stand around like…”

  “Go on,” Criosa dared her as the wild girl suddenly stopped speaking. Sayana glanced briefly at Nellise, who was shaking her head back and forth, her eyes wide.

  “It’s nothing,” the sorceress muttered, eyes on the ground. “I just can’t do what I need to do in that thing.”

  “Your point is valid, I suppose” Criosa conceded. “I still think you would have looked stunning in that red dress. Perhaps another time?”

  “Perhaps,” Sayana smiled slightly, looking up at the princess with her large green eyes.

  “At least allow me tidy your hair a little,” Criosa offered, stepping forward to pull back Sayana’s mop of wild red hair. The princess managed to move it aside for a brief moment before Sayana recoiled, pushing her hair back into place, but not before they all had a glimpse of her slightly pointed ears, revealing her half-elven ancestry to all present.

  “I’m so sorry,” Criosa breathed, “I didn’t mean to…”

  “It’s fine,” Sayana whispered, taking a heavy winter cloak off a nearby chair and throwing it over her shoulder, allowing her to bring the hood up to obscure her features. Pacian sneezed, the only sound that could be heard for a long moment, contributing to the awkwardness of the situation.

  “Perhaps we should get moving, Highness?” Nellise interrupted to draw attention away from the shy girl.

  “Yes, I think we’ve had quite enough fun for one evening,” Criosa agreed in a measured voice. “Thank you again, Anita, and I shall forward the balance of my account first thing in the morning.”

  “I don’t know about all of you,” Pacian remarked, his breath misting in the freezing cold air as they continued on, “but I’m starving. Can we get something to eat soon?”

  “Just as soon as we deliver our package to its destination,” Aiden replied, putting his gloves back on. “Is it far to the castle from here?”

  “Not far at all, perhaps fifteen minutes,” Criosa told him.

  The sun had well and truly set by now, and the cold, foggy streets were lit by lanterns hanging on poles. Many people were still out and about, though the majority of the population were no doubt enjoying the warmth of their homes on this winter’s evening.

  They’d only travelled a few hundred yards when the street opened out into a large, circular area, easily a hundred yards across, with a large statue of a man astride a horse that was rearing up on its hind legs. Around the horse was frozen water, and Aiden assumed it was a fountain in the warmer months.

  “This is Foundation Circle,” Criosa informed them as they walked across the open space, in her new role as travel guide. “We have a celebration here at the start of every spring, to remember the founding of the city.”

  “Who’s the man on the horse?” Pacian asked.

  “King Alaric Roebec, the patriarch of my family who founded the Kingdom of Aielund two hundred and three years ago. If you want to know more, there are extensive texts on his life in the library.”

  “No, I think I’ll manage,” Pacian drawled, his allergy to books acting up.

  “Do you smell something burning?” Ronan asked, casting his gaze around curiously.

  “I’ve smelt little else since we arrived,” Aiden remarked. “I think every single house in this city has a fire burning right now.”

  “No, not wood smoke, something… else,” the sailor muttered to himself.

  “I smell it too,” Sayana added quietly. “It’s very strange; I’ve never come across anything like it before.”

  “Wait, I smell it too, now,” Nellise said. “I think it’s coming from up ahead.” Lit by the glow of nearby lanterns, a scene of destruction was visible before the group as they approached the eastern street leading from the Circle. Makeshift wooden gates were placed across the street and a member of the Watch was diverting people away from what appeared to be a smoking crater in the middle of the street. A tall, robed man with an impressive grey beard was talking with the watchman, who seemed to be paying only scant attention.

  “I’m sorry, people, but you’ll have to go around this mess, just like everyone else,” the watchman grunted.

  “What happened here?” Aiden inquired, taking in the scene. The crater spanned the entire street, nearly ten yards across, and the shattered chunks of cobblestone were strewn about.

  “Seems a few of the wizards at the University got a little carried away with an experiment,” the watchman explained. “We’re damn lucky nobody got hurt.”

  “I’m telling you, sir, that it wasn’t us!” the robed man – apparently a wizard – protested. “None of the faculty was doing anything of a magnitude great enough to destroy that much stone at this distance.”

  “And what of your students?” the watchman pressed.

  “Those upstarts? Please,” the wizard scoffed. “They’d be hard-pressed to burn toast, let alone destroy a street.”

  “Well, it certainly looks like someone blew up that street,” Aiden observed, using the power of empirical evidence to move the conversation forward.

  “Zach, are you telling me you keep an eye on every one of your students twenty-four hours a day?” the watchman pressed. “And there isn’t even the tiniest chance that one of them did this?” The wizard was quiet for a long moment before he spoke next.

  “Well… perhaps there is a minute chance that a student was able to perform such a feat,” Zach admitted. “I shall have to investigate this matter further, and if I find out that anyone at the University is responsible, I’m going to make them do chores ‘til their fingers bleed for embarrassing me like this.”

  “Your embarrassment is only just beginning, sir,” Nellise remarked. “Allow me to introduce Princess Criosa Roebec. Your Highness, this is an inept wizard who may have been responsible for blowing up part of your city.” The wizard reeled back a step as he looked a little more closely at the blond girl in the pretty blue dress, and appeared to be trying to swallow his own tongue.

  “Your Highness, allow me to convey my deepest regrets at this incident,” he stammered, breaking out in a cold sweat. “Fear not, the University shall make recompense for the damages, I assure you.”

  “Relax, Zachariah,” Criosa said to placate the startled old man. “Accidents happen. See to it that the street is fixed and I’ll be sure to forget who was responsible for the damage.”

  “You’re too nice, Criosa,” Pacian grumbled, and possibly committing a breach of protocol by calling the princess by her first name. She didn’t seem to notice or care, however.

  “Thank you, Highness, I am most appreciative of your discretion,” Zach said with obvious relief. “I will see to it that the culprits are caught.” He stormed off to get started on his investigation.

  “Excitable chap,” Aiden remarked mildly.

  “He was my teacher at the University for a few years,” Criosa told them. “He’s a little eccentric, but he’s a man of his word so I believe what he’s telling us.”

  “In any case, that’s not a major concern for us right now,” Aiden said. “Can we pass through, sir?”

  “It’s quite dangerous underfoot, so I don’t recommend it,” the watchman replied. “Just head around to the left and take Mantle Lane. It’ll reconnect with Renown Street a hundred yards or so down there a wa
ys.”

  “Thank you for the guidance, and keep up the good work” Criosa said in thanks. The watchman touched his forehead in salute, and then Ronan led them to a smaller side street heading east, with the sign ‘Mantle Lane’ hanging off a post above them.

  “Does that sort of thing happen often around here?” Sayana inquired.

  “If you’re referring to the damaged street, I think that’s the first time an accident like that has ever occurred,” Criosa replied casually. “Wizards are usually a careful bunch, which means they limit their explosions to their laboratories, of course. You can learn more about the University while you’re here, actually. I’m sure they’d be thrilled to meet another practitioner such as yourself.”

  “I wouldn’t be so sure of that,” Nellise muttered, drawing concerned looks from Sayana and the princess. “Have you seen her looking through a spell book, Highness?”

  “Well no, actually,” Criosa replied uncertainly. “I assumed she was studying while I was busy elsewhere.” Sayana shook her head. Criosa’s delicate brow creased slightly in thought, and Aiden had to wonder what the problem was.

  “Could you ladies perhaps continue that discussion later?” Pacian asked, his attention focused on the laneway they were walking along. “I don’t like this.” The lane was only half the width of the main street they had been travelling along, with two-storey buildings towering overhead on each side. Although it was a fairly clean passage, there was no sign of other people moving along it.

  “What’s the problem?” Nellise asked, unconcerned by the empty lane.

  “Pace is just being paranoid, I’d have thought you’d be used to it now,” Aiden advised dryly.

  “No he’s right, something feels off,” Ronan stated, looking back at the way they’d came. Aiden was starting to feel the tension build when he was struck by something on the back of his head, sending him onto his knees as he reeled from the blinding pain. The rasp of steel being drawn from scabbards could be heard around him, and within an instant, they were fighting for their lives.

  Throwing his back against the wall of the alley, Aiden took in the situation with a quick glance, and saw four shadowy figures in amongst them, their faces obscured by black hoods and face masks. The glint of steel daggers flashed, with one assailant in particular catching Aiden’s attention, since he was plunging a blade straight for his gut.