“I have one last question,” Aiden said. “You mentioned the dragon’s little island of reality had drifted to that shallow place where our worlds connect. Where is that place?”
“It resides within the western borders of Tulsone,” Desmond replied tightly, clearing papers from an overstuffed chair nearby. “A small temple was built there long ago to mark the place. Over the years, prophets and monks have flocked there to meditate, unwittingly touching the Aether. Soon the Ironlord will appear there and begin its cycle of destruction anew. It will be weakened from its long captivity, however and may be vulnerable for a short period of time.
“Tulsone… but that’s where the King is waging his war,” Aiden surmised. “So that’s what it’s all about? He’s trying to get to that temple and hit it while it’s weak?”
“I’m afraid so,” Desmond nodded, sitting in his overstuffed chair at last and appearing relieved for doing so. “His Majesty sought to gain permission from King Evariste Davignon of Tulsone to take his army through their lands, but this was met with an understandable measure of suspicion and mistrust. Negotiations broke down and King Seamus was forced to invade in order to be in position in time, thus resulting in an unnecessary war in which thousands have perished.”
Aiden could scarcely imagine the magnitude of what he had learned today. Sayana was finally waking up, and looked up at Aiden with a vague expression on her face. His feeling of betrayal felt insignificant compared to the events taking place in the world right now, so he pushed aside any childish emotions and helped her get back on her feet.
“Are you hurt?” Aiden asked.
“Just a few bruises,” she whispered tremulously. “If I’d known what was on the other side of that glowing door I wouldn’t have stepped through it. What on earth were the two of you doing in there?” Aiden exchanged a glance with Desmond, unsure of what to say. It was possible she’d heard some of what they’d spoken about, but if she called him out on any lies it wasn’t going to be the end of the world.
“Getting to the bottom of a few mysteries,” he told her cryptically. “I think I should tell you that you were right about me - that dragon does have a hold over me, but believe it or not it’s using me to help the Kingdom anyway. And since I’m already doing that, I guess we can think of Salinder as an ally. But why does it hate you so much? When you were thrown back through the portal I could swear he was trying to kill you.”
“Maybe he’s sensing my distrust and hatred of him and his kind,” Sayana answered in a menacing voice. “Even if this ‘Salinder’ seems benign, other dragons in recent history have not been so benevolent Aiden, and you would do well to be cautious around that one.” Aiden didn’t answer, his attention caught by a tattoo on her exposed shoulder that set his mind thinking about sorcerers, and the dragon’s reaction to her.
“Desmond, when you were using that strange device over there you mentioned that ‘Terinus usually handles this’,” he said to the old wizard. “Did he ever actually go through the portal to speak with Salinder directly?”
“Yes, but only once,” Desmond answered. “I don’t know what transpired between them but Terinus did retreat from the portal after less than a minute, swearing never to step inside again. Ever since then only the King has actually crossed the threshold into that realm.”
“Are you sure Terinus isn’t a sorcerer?”
“I have never witnessed him using sorcery, and I’ve been here at the University for a most of my life, young man,” Desmond replied, sounding grumpier by the minute. “His command of magic is the greatest I have ever seen, and it takes a lifetime to attain the mastery he exhibits with each incantation. Even if he had some natural talent for it, the possibility of him also achieving any degree of sorcerous power while also mastering conventional magic is preposterous – there just aren’t enough years in one lifetime, my boy.”
“Then perhaps it’s just power Salinder distrusts,” Aiden surmised, looking at Sayana in a new light. “Maybe the University was right to worry about you.”
“Nonsense,” Desmond huffed, “we conducted long-established tests on her and concluded she was no more harm than that damnable student that blew the top off the other tower. Mark my words, it’s irresponsible young people like him with access to equipment well beyond their ability to control who are the real threat to this country. No, this poor young woman is cursed, unable to enact even minor invocations without putting herself in bed for a day to recover.”
“But what about when you -” Aiden began, but stopped mid-sentence when Sayana glared at him and shook her head. She definitely didn’t want him to mention the battle where she was able to summon energy from the very air around her. “I mean, it’s probably time we got going, what with assassins wandering around and such. Terribly dangerous.”
Desmond gave him a shrewd look, but didn’t follow up on Aiden’s slip of the tongue. “Yes, well, go about your business then, but remember what you have learned here today, Mister Wainwright, and know that I will be calling on you in the near future,” the old wizard instructed, and then leaned back in the chair and closed his eyes to take a nap. Aiden ushered Sayana out of the laboratory and closed the door, then started down the stairs.
“Thanks for not mentioning that little trick,” she said to him on the way down. “As far as they know, I’m just a novice ‘wild talent’ and I want it to stay that way. Drawing in power from my surroundings is the very thing that defines a truly powerful sorcerer from a novice, and I don’t want to find out what they do with people like that.”
They opened the tower doors to a blast of cold wind and looked out at the freezing conditions with little enthusiasm. “Listen, about Ronan,” Aiden said, receiving a withering gaze from Sayana.
“I don’t want to talk about that anymore,” she replied curtly, then stormed out into the weather. Aiden hurried along to try and catch up, cursing himself as he went. This had turned into quite a fine mess, and apparently it was entirely his fault, although he couldn’t pinpoint exactly where he had made the mistake.
Aiden had lost sight of her by the time he had stepped inside the Fair Maiden, but he surmised that Sayana had returned to her room for some privacy. It was possible Ronan awaited her there, but Aiden did his best to ignore that particular thought. Instead, he made his way across the crowded floor towards a table where Pacian dozed in a chair, half asleep.
“Nice bruise,” Pacian remarked lazily, looking over at him. “You seem to get beaten up a lot, you know.”
“This time it was a little different,” Aiden muttered, gently touching the side of his face that had hit the floor earlier. “There was a dragon involved, so I think I came away from it better than could be expected.”
“Dragon?” Pacian asked, sitting up straight. “Is there something I should know?”
“It’s complicated,” Aiden explained, “but no, there isn’t a dragon about to eat the city. Just give me a few minutes of peace, would you? I’ve had a hell of a morning.” Pacian was gracious enough to remain silent as Aiden rested his head on the back of the chair and stared up at the ceiling.
The distinctive sound of a man with a cane approaching the table caused Aiden to groan silently, for a few moments later they were joined at the table by Mister Kinsey, whose ruffled appearance indicated he had not slept the previous night.
“Good morning, gentlemen,” he addressed them, leaning on his cane. “I trust you are all recovering from your efforts?”
“You look like you’ve had a busy night,” Aiden remarked, noticing the heavy bags under the man’s eyes.
“I’ve been waiting for many years to get my hands on Holister,” Kinsey growled, “and I wasn’t going to sleep until we’d had some time to talk. He proved to be remarkably co-operative, far from the cold and elusive professional I had always pictured him.”
“Were you able to discover anything valuable?” Aiden asked, leaning forward as his curiosity was piqued.
“I won’t discuss the nature of my ta
lk in public,” he replied, “but I can tell you your instincts were correct – I believe he does know more than he’s telling us, though he has so far been reluctant to divulge anything further. That is not the reason for my visit, however. One piece of information I gleaned from our discussion is the sum of money he was paid to perform this job.”
“Yes he told us that too,” Aiden nodded, taking the time to detail the exact nature of the talk he’d had with the assassin last night, and Kinsey listened patiently to the whole story before speaking again.
“Based on this information, the Bartlett family needs to be investigated a little more closely, and a lot more discreetly,” Kinsey surmised when Aiden had finished.
“You don’t think Lady Chelsea or this Senator Johnson have anything to do with it?”
“Chelsea is an old lush, more interested in the pursuit of hedonistic delights than political turmoil,” the spymaster responded. “All we’ve learned about the senator is that he is wealthy enough to have been a part of this conspiracy, which isn’t enough cause to start an investigation of a reputable nobleman,”
“I think you’re confusing ‘rich’ with ‘reputable’ there mate,” Pacian remarked.
“You know the old saying, Mister Savidge - ‘He who has the gold makes the rules.’ I’m afraid I can’t authorise you to investigate the senator, but Thomas Bartlett’s involvement has yet to be ascertained. Would you two gentlemen consider taking a closer look?”
“Are you suggesting that I break into a man’s house illegally?” Pacian asked with exaggerated innocence.
“I am suggesting no such thing,” Kinsey replied evenly. “We have never even spoken of such activities, and my meeting here with you was merely a courtesy to Her Highness.” Aiden groaned inwardly at the machinations of the spy, finding all this cloak and dagger stuff to be rather tiresome.
“Gotcha,” Pacian winked, chewing on some bread to hide his grin. Apparently, he felt differently about the situation.
“Then I shall leave you to it,” Kinsey finished, standing up and smoothing out his black longcoat.
“I’m not sure what to make of that man,” Aiden mused after Kinsey had left the inn. “It’s hard to get a read on him.”
“Seems fine to me,” Pacian said. “He’s the King’s go-to man for getting things done, even if they aren’t, strictly speaking, legal.”
“Yes I can’t imagine why you’d have anything in common with Kinsey,” Aiden drawled. “You know, with the storm outside, this might be the best time to carry out this little investigation anyway,” Aiden mused. “No-one is going to see us breaking in.”
“If he’s home, it shouldn’t pose a problem,” Pacian said ominously, wiping his mouth on a napkin. “We’ll be able to have a nice heart-to-heart chat with him.”
“Sounds delightful,” Aiden replied sarcastically. “If we’re quick, we can be back before sunset.”
“I’ll be taking my cloak back now,” Pacian reminded him. Aiden reluctantly conceded the warm garment back to its rightful owner and then headed upstairs to his room and quickly dressed in his leather armour. He looked around for his longcoat, but then recalled he’d given it to Valennia last night. When he returned downstairs and pushed through the crowd towards the door, she appeared next to them.
“Aiden, I require my daily payment in order to purchase new clothing,” she declared, moving to obstruct their passage. Aiden fished around in his pouch, but came up empty.
“Come with us to the bank and I’ll pay you. You can probably return my longcoat too.”
“If you wish the return of your garment, then I shall hand it over now,” she stated, moving to take off the coat.
“No, that’s okay,” Aiden blurted, catching a glimpse of what little lay beneath it. “You can keep it until you buy something else to cover yourself with.”
“As you wish. Lead on, then,” she relented, stepping aside so they could exit through the door. Aiden glanced briefly at Pacian, who seemed to be remembering some more details about what lay beneath the coat. He kept his gaze averted however, and tried not to unduly draw her attention.
It seemed the inclement weather was here to stay, at least for the foreseeable future. They moved along the freezing streets for a few minutes before arriving at the Royal Bank, a small fortress of a building that was blessedly warm inside. A quick talk with a mousy woman behind a long, polished counter revealed that he had, at his disposal, the sum of fifty gold sovereigns, an amount that made his eyes bulge in disbelief.
The crown was a generous employer, though he did realise this was supposed to be for emergencies only. He withdrew the modest sum of six coins, and flipped two of them to Valennia.
“Get yourself some proper armour while you’re at it,” he told her, smiling slightly at the shocked look on her face as she caught the precious coin. A moment later she was taking off the longcoat, and this time nothing was going to stop her.
There were several gasps from bank patrons and staff at the scantily clad women in the hall, and more than one elderly man was slapped for his wandering eyes by his wife. Her body was covered in bruises and cuts from the battle, and it was for that reason alone that Aiden took a moment to examine her - in case she needed medical attention or something.
Leaving her to take care of her own shopping across the street, the two boys pressed on through the terrible conditions. He hunched down in his longcoat as they walked, wishing that he could be sitting next to the fire instead of out here freezing his behind off.
Aiden was snapped out of his idle reverie by Pacian, who seemed just as miserable pushing his way through the ever-deepening snow banks covering the streets.
“So do you want to talk about it?” Pacian asked bluntly.
“About what, exactly?”
“Sayana being in bed with Ronan, what do you think?” Pacian stated caustically.
“Nope, can’t think of a thing to say,” Aiden replied mildly.
“That’s a lie and we both know it,” Pacian chuckled. “You’ve never been short on words, Aiden, so if it’s bothering you, just speak your mind.”
“Of course it bothers me,” Aiden snapped, “do you think I’m made of stone? Maybe I read more into our little fling than I should have, okay? We had a talk about it and she’s going through some hard times lately. Criosa certainly wasn’t helping with all that flirting she was doing. She’s not exactly what I thought a princess would be like, you know?”
“That’s more like it,” Pacian said with a nod. “Look, I think it’s safe to assume you were Sy’s first, right? She’s new to the civilised life, and there are a lot of interesting people to meet along the way. Let her have some fun and frankly, you should do the same.”
“Bed Ronan? He’s not really my type,” Aiden remarked drily.
“No, I mean there are plenty of girls here in the city to uh, ‘bump into’, and they’re not royalty or anything,” Pacian clarified. “A few of those serving girls at the inn are very nice, and I don’t mean they’re pleasant to talk to either, if you get my meaning.”
“I’m sure Valennia does,” Aiden pointed out, not willing to take relationship advice from Pace.
“Ugh, don’t remind me,” Pacian groaned. “That was completely unintentional. I guess when I’m drunk, old habits kick in.”
“Go easy on the beer next time,” Aiden advised. “You’re lucky she’s not going around the city telling everyone how underwhelming you are in bed. Imagine if Nel heard about it.”
“She’d better not,” Pacian muttered, his breath freezing in the chilly air as they passed through a gate to the affluent northern part of the city.
“Not that you’re a couple or anything,” Aiden mused. “How’s that working out for you anyway?”
“Hey, she’s going through some changes lately and I don’t want to pressure her,” Pacian protested.
“Are you trying to win her favour or that old argument you two have?” Aiden inquired archly. “The one where you try to convince
her stabbing people is the best way to resolve issues, while she tries to make you into a proper gentleman.”
“I think I can do both,” Pacian replied after a moment’s thought. “Once she comes around to my way of thinking, I’ll seem like the perfect soul-mate and then I’ll make my move.”
“So did you head straight for Val, or did you try to kiss Nellise at some point during the other night when we were drunk?” Aiden pressed.
“How should I know, I can’t remember a thing,” Pacian muttered. “If she saw me snogging Val it sure would explain her attitude towards me since then. My real concern is that bloody knight. He should know better than to make a play for a woman young enough to be his granddaughter.”
“Are you still hung up on that?” Aiden asked in disbelief. “I think their relationship is more spiritual than physical.”
“It better be, or I’m gonna take that poncy sword of his and shove -”
“Okay I think this is the street,” Aiden interrupted quickly, looking at the small piece of paper with Thomas Bartlett’s address scrawled on it. Although in the wealthy quarter of the city, the buildings here weren’t exactly mansions. A few brave souls hurried along through the streets going about their daily work where possible, but with the shroud of fog and snow reducing visibility down to less than twenty yards, the two friends should have no trouble with this task.
“Ok that’s the place on the corner,” Aiden whispered, nodding towards the small, two-storey house that was crowded up against all the other small abodes in this part of the city. There were a few people about, but they were more intent with getting out of the weather than watching for thieves.
“Watchman over there,” Pacian added, subtly gesturing towards a man wearing the helmet of the City Watch, who seemed to be casually patrolling the street. Pacian pushed Aiden back towards the wall of a small house behind them, which offered a little shelter from the wind.
“Let’s just see how long it takes him to walk his route,” he advised. Pacian watched with his sharp eyes and made notes as to how often the guard passed by. There were, in fact, two guards that went along this street, on separate patrols that happened to cross over.
In Defence of the Crown (The Aielund Saga Book 2) Page 30