The Chaos Crystal

by Jennifer Fallon

  Books by Jennifer Fallon

  DEMON CHILD TRILOGY

  Medalon (1)

  Treason Keep (2)

  Harshini (3)

  SECOND SONS TRILOGY

  The Lion of Senet (1)

  Eye of the Labyrinth (2)

  Lord of the Shadows (3)

  THE HYTHRUN CHRONICLES

  Wolfblade (1)

  Warrior (2)

  Warlord (3)

  THE TIDE LORDS

  The Immortal Prince (1)

  The Gods of Amyrantha (2)

  The Palace of Impossible Dreams (3)

  The Chaos Crystal (4)

  PROLOGUE

  Seven years ago ...

  The thick stone walls of Lebec Prison seeped misery as a rule, which made this day quite unusual. For the first time in months, Bary Morel had hope. He hurried after the guard escorting him to the Warden's office, filled with an emotion he thought he'd never feel again. Despite everything that had befallen him since they'd raided his house a few months ago and found him treating a runaway feline in his basement, finally, out of nowhere, there was a glimmer of hope.

  The Duke of Lebec had come to visit him.

  Morel had no idea why such an important man would take the time to visit a convicted felon. Admittedly, he'd once enjoyed a tenuous connection with the ducal family. He'd visited the palace a number of times when the current duke was a boy if the old duke's regular physician was out of the city. But he hadn't seen Stellan Desean for a number of years. Not since he'd been called to treat a young man at the palace — a friend of the new duke's who'd almost died from food poisoning — a few years back.

  Bary couldn't think of any reason why Stellan Desean would visit him now. Only that he had — and it must mean good news. Dukes didn't bother delivering bad news personally; they left that sort of thing to their underlings.

  Maybe Arkady had managed to gain an audience with him. She promised she'd try on her last visit,

  despite his attempts to discourage her from doing anything so brazen. In reality, Arkady had nothing else left she could do. They were out of money. They couldn't even afford the most basic representation to lodge an appeal through legal channels. And even if they could, there would be no chance of overturning the conviction — not with the calibre of witness the court had been able to bring against him.

  Bary stopped for a moment, gripping the wall as his lungs spasmed painfully. The guard heard him coughing and stopped, turning to look at him.

  'You all right?'

  'I'll be fine ... just give me a minute to catch ... my breath, would you?'

  The man waited until Bary had recovered sufficiently to continue. When the doctor pushed off the wall, he resumed his walk toward the Warden's office, albeit at a less enthusiastic pace.

  The Warden wasn't in his office when they arrived. He had already vacated it for the duke. Stellan Desean was standing by the window, staring out into the rain that trickled down the glass and pattered softly against the stonework. He was wearing a fur-trimmed cloak against the cold. He turned as Bary entered, indicating with a wave of his hand that the guard should wait outside.

  'Dr Morel.'

  'Your grace.'

  Stellan smiled. 'Please, take a seat. You look like you could use it.'

  Bary did as the duke suggested, gratefully taking the chair opposite the desk. He coughed again into his bloodstained kerchief and then focused his attention on his visitor, who frowned at the sound of his rattling chest.

  'I see your daughter was not exaggerating the seriousness of your condition,' Stellan remarked, studying him closely.

  'She was able to gain an audience with you then?' Bary said. 'I'm assuming that's why you're here?'

  Stellan nodded and took a seat in the Warden's big worn leather chair. 'To call it an audience would be a kindness. If you must know, she pushed her way past all the people I have in place to prevent precisely that eventuality, burst in on me in high dudgeon and began berating me soundly for allowing you to spend a single minute longer than you had to, here in prison, all for the crime of being nothing more than a great humanitarian.'

  Bary wished Stellan's neutral tone gave away some sort of hint about what he was feeling. Arkady's interference might have doomed him, rather than helped him.

  'I'm sorry, your grace. She wouldn't have intended to offend you ...'

  Stellan was smiling. He held up his hand to stop Bary's apology. 'It's all right, Dr Morel. I was happy to hear her petition on your behalf. Once I realised who she was, of course. I didn't recognise your daughter at first. She's grown into a stunning young woman. You must be very proud of her.'

  Bary nodded, his eyes misting at the thought of what she'd done to protect him. Bursting in on the Duke of Lebec and demanding his release was the least of it. 'She is a very good daughter,' he agreed, wiping his eyes. 'You have no idea.'

  'She demanded I pardon you.'

  Bary smiled wanly. 'She's optimistic, too.'

  'And very eloquent. She tells me she's studying to be a historian.'

  Bary nodded. 'She wanted to be a physician but they wouldn't consider her application at the university because she's female.'

  'I'm sure the powers that be have a good reason for their stance.'

  Not one that will ever convince Arkady they're nothing more than misogynist fools. He shrugged, not

  sure what his daughter's academic aspirations had to do with anything. 'Well, unless you know the reason and can defend it soundly, your grace, I suggest you don't bring up the subject with my daughter.'

  Stellan smiled even wider. 'Yes, I learned that the hard way.'

  'It was kind of you to spare the time to hear her out, your grace. And to take the time to visit me.'

  Stellan's smile faded. 'I have to admit, Dr Morel, I'm not here just to pass the time of day, or look up an old family servant, if your infrequent trips to the palace even qualify you as that.'

  Bary's heart skipped a beat. That didn't sound very encouraging. Tides, what did she say to the man?'Then why have you come here, your grace?'

  'Because I believe we can do each other a favour, Dr Morel,' the duke announced. 'We both have something the other wants.'

  Bary couldn't help but smile at that remark. 'Well, you certainly have it in your power to grant me what I want, your grace,' he said. 'But I cannot, for the life of me, imagine what I can offer you.'

  'I could give you a pardon,' Stellan agreed, leaning back in the Warden's chair. 'But not without causing considerable comment. You were caught red-handed, my friend, helping an escaped slave evade capture. Even worse, the main witness who testified against you is a very prominent member of Lebec university's faculty. I can't just dismiss Fillion Rybank's testimony out of hand because I happen to like you more than him.'

  At the mention of Rybank's name, Bary could feel his ire rising. What that man had done to his daughter was beyond unconscionable and it made him sick just thinking about it. Arkady didn't know her father knew about what went on, of course. As far as she was concerned, he was still ignorant of the whole affair. It was with bitter irony that he recalled worrying about her a few years ago, when he came to the realisation

  that his daughter probably wasn't as innocent as he would have liked. He'd thought she was sleeping with the Hawkes boy at the time. He was a decent enough lad, it turned out, for all that he was a bit of a rabble- rouser. They'd been inseparable, after all, for most of her formative years.

  Bary wished now that his daughter had been sleeping with young Hawkes. That, at least, he could have dealt with like any father. But the truth — the bitter knowledge that his daughter had given herself to a man like Fillion Rybank for years to buy his silence, believing she was saving her father from being
arrested — was almost more than he could bear to think about.

  Arkady worried about him now because she thought he was sick with consumption. She had no idea that his physical illness was nothing compared to how nauseous with guilt her sacrifice had made him.

  'That man is the criminal,' Bary said, clenching his fists. 'He blackmailed an innocent child for sexual favours and yet he walks free, while I am in prison for the crime of helping a wounded Crash.'

  'Your wounded Crasii was an escaped slave, doctor,' Stellan reminded him. 'And while I'd love to do something about Fillion Rybank for what he did, neither you — and certainly not your daughter — is willing to testify in an open court to what he did. That does rather tie my hands in the matter, don't you think?'

  'Then you've come here today for what reason? To tell me you're sorry you can't help?'

  Stellan shook his head. 'On the contrary. I can help you. A great deal. I'm prepared to give you a pardon. You could be out of here by the end of next week.'

  'But there is a condition,' Bary said warily, not fool enough to think there were no strings attached to such a generous offer.

  'Just a small one,' Stellan said. 'I want to marry your daughter.'

  Bary stared at the duke. 'You what?'

  'I need a wife, doctor. More to the point, I need a wife who'll not ... make certain demands on me — demands I'm not in a position to fulfil. Arkady fits the bill perfectly. She is astute, intelligent, articulate, glorious to look at, and has a very good reason to broker a deal with me that suits us both. So everybody will be happy. You'll get your freedom, I'll get my heir — and, incidentally, get the king off my back about me getting married, which is an added bonus.'

  Bary looked at him, dumbfounded. For a moment, the offer made no sense.

  'Why?' This was a wealthy, handsome duke, who was third in line for the throne. What possible reason could he have for turning down every eligible highborn woman in Glaeba, to take the penniless daughter of a convicted felon as his wife? 'You can't possibly be in love with my daughter.'

  'No, of course not,' the duke said. 'Nor is she in love with me. But she has agreed to this.'

  Tides, what is that girl thinking?

  And then it came to him. His late-night visit to the palace several years ago, to attend a young man suffering the effects of eating a meal of bad oysters. He'd not thought much about it at the time, but his patient hadn't just been visiting the Lebec Palace. He'd been in the duke's bed.

  'You need more than a wife, I think, your grace. You need an alibi.'

  Stellan didn't answer immediately, but when he did, he didn't try to deny the accusation. 'She will have wealth. Position in society. Tides, I'll even endow the university so they have to keep her on there, if I must. I will make no demands of her other than she is discreet and conducts herself in a manner befitting a duchess. And I give you my word I will never force myself on her the way Rybank did. I will see to it your daughter never wants for anything, doctor, ever again.'

  'Except a chance to be happy, perhaps?' 'What do you mean by that?'

  'My daughter is in love with another man, your grace. You can't tell me she's doing this willingly.'

  Stellan shook his head. 'She tells me her young man has left Lebec to take up a position in Herino with the King's Spymaster, as his apprentice. Declan Hawkes has apparently chosen a career with Daly Bridgeman over your daughter. Hardly the actions of a lovesick young man wishing to take a wife. Anyway, Arkady assures me he is merely a good friend and not a consideration.'

  You foolish girl. You can't throw away your happiness for me. Not again.

  Bary shook his head. 'I'm sorry, your grace. I know you mean well, but I can't allow this.'

  Stellan stared at him in confusion. 'I beg your pardon?'

  'I can't allow it. I refuse you my daughter's hand.'

  The duke looked stunned. 'Are you mad? I'm offering you a pardon, you fool. Your daughter will be one of the wealthiest women in Glaeba. She will have a life you can never give her. A life you cannot imagine.'

  'Unfortunately, your grace, I can imagine it. All your wealth, all the pretty baubles in the world, will mean nothing if my daughter is dying a little bit on the inside every day of her life.' He shook his head and rose to his feet. 'No. I cannot allow Arkady to give her body to yet another man to save me, no matter how well meaning that man is.' Bary turned for the door and then stopped and glanced back at Stellan, hoping his smile would ease the duke's disappointment. 'I know you're a good man, your grace. And I know you'd never deliberately hurt Arkady. But she's done enough for me. I won't allow her to throw her life away in another misguided attempt to ease my suffering.'

  'I think you underestimate how important this is to me,' Stellan said, in a voice that Bary hadn't heard him

  use before. 'And that you're suffering from the mistaken belief that I'm here asking your permission,' he added, rising to his feet also. 'I came today as a courtesy, doctor, to inform you that I will be marrying your daughter, and offering you a pardon as a wedding present to her, which nobody will think unusual or even unreasonable. I have already secured the king's permission for the marriage. You can't stop this happening, so you might as well accept it.'

  Bary glared at the duke, surprised at how determined he seemed. He'd always struck Bary as such an affable young man. The doctor shook his head stubbornly. 'If you do this, your grace, I will go straight to the king. I will tell him what I know of you.'

  'You don't know anything, doctor.'

  'I know I treated a young man in your bed in the dead of night several years ago — a night when your own physician was available. You dispensed with his services not long after that, as I recall.'

  'That proves nothing,' Stellan said.

  'You had no need to call me that night, your grace, but your friend was sick and couldn't be moved and you couldn't risk him being discovered in your bed. So, I may not know anything for certain, but I can tell the king what I saw and let him draw his own conclusions.'

  Stellan considered this dilemma for a moment before he replied. 'You do realise I have the power to lock you away and make sure you never see the light of day again?'

  'Aye,' Bary said. 'But I also believe you're a good man, Stellan Desean, like your father.'

  Stellan barely hesitated before he shook his head. He looked rueful, but unrelenting. 'Then I'm afraid you're a very poor judge of character, doctor. I am nothing like my father. And unless I have your word you will give this wedding your blessing and accept my

  pardon with your continued silence, the messenger I send to Lebec Prison with your pardon next week won't be bringing you back to attend the wedding reception at the palace; he'll be returning with the tragic news of your demise.'

  Bary shook his head. 'I don't think you'll do that, your grace. I think you'll see the injustice of this and let my daughter out of this dreadful arrangement before anybody gets hurt.'

  Just exactly how wrong he was Bary discovered a few days later when they came for him, not to release him, but to throw him in a cell in the very bowels of Lebec Prison where, as Stellan Desean had threatened, he was unlikely to ever see the light of day again.

  PART 1

  HIGH TIDE

  Deep into that darkness peering, long I

  stood there, wondering, fearing,

  doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal

  ever dared to dream before.

  'The Raven' — Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849)

  CHAPTER 1

  It seemed incomprehensible to Arkady that her father was still alive. Even more incomprehensible that Stellan had known about it all this time; that he'd lied to her so blatantly and so shamelessly.

  She didn't believe it at first. It took hours after they threw her into the freezing cell in the tower of Lebec Prison before she would approach the bars dividing her cell from her father's in order to confirm the impossible truth. And when she was finally able to bring herself to confront him, she discovered she wasn't happy or re
lieved to see her father. She was angry. Blindingly, unreasonably angry.

  How dare her father do this to her? How dare he let her believe all this time that he was dead? Arkady had grieved for her father. She had shed a river of tears for his loss. And all this time he was here, right under her nose, sitting in Lebec Prison. Kept here, not because of his crimes, but his misguided sense of nobility.

  All he'd had to do was say nothing. His pardon was signed, sealed and only needed to be delivered. All Bary Morel had to do to save his own life was stand back and let his daughter marry a man who promised to give her wealth, a title and everything she could ever ask for. That her husband's fall from grace had brought her to this pass wasn't the point. That Stellan's troubles with the new king had taken her down with him, was unimportant. What gnawed at Arkady's gut was the stupidity of it. Her father's noble, and utterly

  futile, sacrifice. And her husband's mercilessness and willing complicity in the deception.

  And then there was Declan Hawkes. Had he known of this and lied to her, too? Could the Duke of Lebec keep a prisoner confined for more than seven years without due process and the King's Spymaster know nothing about it?

  Arkady couldn't believe Declan was a willing party to this. But then, she'd never have thought Stellan so ruthless, either. Or her father so stubborn.

  'Are you planning to stay mad at me forever?'

  Arkady glanced up from her bunk, shivering against the cold, her knees drawn up under her chin. 'Yes.'

  'You must understand, Arkady ...'

  'Understand what?' she said. 'That you'd rather have me think you dead? That your noble refusal to accept the opportunity to be free and well cared for, in perpetuity, not to mention a ducal pardon for your crimes, was for my own good?'

  Her father was standing at the bars, holding them as if touching them somehow brought them closer together. He looked old now, in a way he'd never appeared in the past. His stubbled head was grey, his skin pallid and wrinkled.