“Maralt killed your father,” she said, stopping to look out at the grey and falling snow. “I think Kamien may have known.”
Everyone stopped and the silence of a tomb settled over the long hall.
“How?” Dain asked, looking to Xavier as well, who also seemed to know. “Dr. Elger never found anything.”
“He wouldn’t find this,” Carryn said. “Maralt is a telepath, like you and I. He’s been trained most of his life how to control this ability, and how to enhance it. There came a time, I believe, when he realized he had other talents. He chose to explore those areas, a thing that goes against every tenet we hold close, and finally, for reasons I don’t yet understand, used the power of his mind to take your father’s life.”
“How?” Dain asked again. “How is it possible that he could enter his mind? Did he somehow make him think he was dying? That’s what you mean, right? Telepaths can’t communicate with non-telepaths.”
“We can,” Carryn said. “But we aren’t supposed to.”
She pulled them to a sitting area arranged along the wall, drawing them to sit before her on a couch of cream and tan. The hallway was completely devoid of other inhabitants. Other than Ralion and Sheed, there weren’t any guards.
“If you were to try to communicate with anyone other than Dynan, say with Ralion or Sheed, for instance, it could cause them tremendous pain, even if you didn’t intend for it to happen. You could inadvertently cause them irreparable harm. It isn’t something you should ever attempt.”
“Except I’ve tried, and nothing happened,” Dain said. “I wasn’t able to get inside anyone else’s head, and I still can’t.”
“You won’t without training,” Carryn said, “but you shouldn’t try.”
“Maralt saved my life,” Dynan interrupted as the alley flashed into view, and he saw him, making Logue Riztrin think his hands were on fire as clearly as if he was standing there again.
“No, he didn’t,” Carryn said quickly, taking his hand. “Dynan, don’t go back there, please. Maralt didn’t save your life that night. In fact, I’m certain, he’s the one who stabbed you.”
“What? Why would he?” Dain asked.
“I don’t know why,” she said, looking at the floor again, still holding Dynan’s hand. “I don’t know that it matters why, except that it’s part of what brought us here. Something happened to him. Maybe that very night. Something changed him. I noticed it, and didn’t want to believe what was happening. He took the dreams you were having. I know you don’t remember them. You can’t because he erased your memory of them. He did the same thing to Dain. He took the dreams and he changed again. He was harder, more cynical, despairing maybe. I don’t know. I didn’t want to see the changes happening that he embraced, and...He was my brother.”
“He still is,” Dain said.
Carryn looked up at that and for once there wasn’t a veil covering what she really felt. For a moment, before she pulled it all back inside, they felt her anguish and a profound sense of betrayal.
“He still is,” Dain repeated, “just as much as Kamien is mine. You know him better than anyone and you know what he can do. We can’t afford to have your loyalties divided, Carryn.”
“They aren’t,” she said.
“You can’t save him,” Dain said.
“I’m not trying to.”
Dain couldn’t meet her gaze for more than a moment. Dynan had an immediate sense of the betrayal she felt, except the scale of what she was dealing with exceeded his own feelings of betrayal by a lot. Beside him, Dain stood.
“You think? Like there’s any comparison at all,” he said silently.
“There isn’t,” Dynan said to him, and went after him to the next window, standing with him and looking out a moment. “Imagine how you’d feel in her place. Yes, Maralt is her brother. Do we not trust her because of him?”
“Can we?”
“She didn’t have anything to do with what happened. She isn’t Maralt, or like him in any way. Can’t you tell?”
Dain paused to think about it, examining what the facts were, and how he felt about each one. He didn’t hide the thought process, glancing at Dynan when he arrived at the same conclusion. “Maybe.”
“Is maybe good enough? Our lives are dependent on other people now. If we don’t trust them...”
Dain took another moment to mull it over and finally nodded. “You’re right.”
Dynan had to laugh at that. Dain almost never said he was right about anything. Dynan could count on one hand the number of times it had happened. “I’m going to put her in charge of us.”
“No.”
“Yes, I am.”
“Xavier—”
“This isn’t his fight. Look at him. Do you think Xavier wants anything to do with killing someone he looks on as a son? It’s killing him just thinking about it. And we’re fighting Maralt too, someone with a kind of power everyone else is helpless against. Carryn knows Maralt and she’ll know how to defeat him. We have to trust her.”
Dain didn’t like the idea of anyone else being in charge of anything, but Dynan saw and heard the moment of acquiescence. Dain started swearing. “I hate this!”
“I know,” Dynan said. For the first time since he opened his eyes onto this new life he had he felt like it might all work out. He went back to Carryn, holding out a hand to her. “You were going to show us something.”
She nodded to that and gestured down the hall. The entrance to the Royal Quarters was guarded, but they were granted access without pause, climbing a set of interior stairs that emptied into the large main hall of Drake’s private rooms. A set of massive doors that rose to the ceiling stood closed at one end. Three equally large windows looked out over Ilthain. It was snowing too hard to see even four kem.
Standing at the window were four men and one boy Dynan recognized. In a flash of memory that shook through him, he saw Gaden Ahreld leaning over Dain, trying to hold onto him during the shuddering ascent from Cobalt. Gaden was fourteen, and had been a friend to Shalis, or maybe more than a friend. He kept trying to ease out of sight behind his brother, Allie.
“He kissed her, didn’t he?” Dain asked of Gaden.
“She kissed him,” Dynan said.
Dain grimaced at the thought. “Right. He looks kind of scared.”
“Kind of? He probably thinks you’re going to do something to him.”
“Not anymore,” Dain said.
“At least she got to kiss a boy. Maybe she liked him.”
The other four were Allie Ahreld, Trevan Golyin who designed and built the XR-30 and Lycon Tylam, his counterpart in the same aeronautical field. Another Palace Guard stood with them, Frazier Cordon. Dynan remembered them all, places and times he’d seen them before coming back into focus. Ralion, Sheed, Boral and Xavier joined them with Carryn. There were ten of them.
“These are your men,” Carryn said. “They’re here to help any way they can. You know them all. They just need to know what you want of them.”
It felt strange to Dynan to stand before anyone and expect he could tell them what they ought to do. They were all looking to him to do just that. Xavier smiled at him, and nodded him on.
“I want us all to live,” he said, though he was suddenly afraid they all wouldn’t. “I want us all to make it through what’s happened, and everything that’s yet to happen, and make it back home. I don’t have any idea how we’re going to get there, but I know that we have to. I’m going to need your help, and I appreciate more than I can say that you’re here, willing to risk your lives for me, for us.”
Dynan stopped talking, a little stunned he got all that out. He felt like there should be more, and thought of what his father would do. He went to Frazier who stood at the head of the line, reaching to shake his hand.
“Thank you. I’m glad you made it here.”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” the guard said. “I’m honored to serve you.”
They all said the same thing, one
after the other and meant it, except for Gaden, who didn’t look up. Dynan realized by the haunted look he wore that he blamed himself for what happened.
“You’re lucky to have gotten out alive yourself,” Dain said. “We all are. You have a sword? You know how to use it? You’re going to learn how to be better at it, Gaden, from me. We’re going to go back together and take care of the men who hurt her. They aren’t going to survive it. I promise you, they won’t.”
“She’s the first girl I ever kissed.”
Allie nudged his brother, shaking his head. “Don’t tell him that,” he whispered even though Dain was standing right in front of them.
“I’m really hoping you’re the only boy she ever kissed back,” Dain said, but when Gaden looked likely to disagree, he held up a hand. “Listen to your brother, would you? Please? Not too bright, is he?” Dain asked of Allie.
“He was kissing your sister. Seems pretty smart to me.”
“I think that’s going to depend on your definition and mine being different.”
Allie nodded. “He helped me figure out it was Logue getting into the com system.”
“Okay, smart in some areas,” Dain said, and put a chokehold on Gaden for a moment until he finally smiled. “You all right? Okay then. Can we get on with this?”
“What’s next?” Dynan turned to Carryn, but Boral had the answer to that. He nodded to Frazier who went over to the wall and retrieved a package draped in fabric and tied with a couple leather strips. Dynan recognized the shape of them before they were all the way unwrapped. Dain did too and they heard the soft clink of metal against metal.
“How did you get them?” Dain asked as the two swords, one sapphire, one emerald slipped free of the cloth. The matching sheaths were missing, but Boral had found suitable replacements.
He grinned as he presented them, hilts first. “I lived in the Palace most of my life and know the majority of its secret passageways. I got into your rooms, took them off the wall, and got out without raising so much as a whisper of an alarm.”
It couldn’t have been quite that easy, and they were both grateful to have the weapons back, not so much because the blades were honed to laser sharpness, balanced perfectly or even for the ancient history of each. They were a gift from their father.
Dain surprised him when he wrapped both arms around him, and kissed his cheek. He nodded to Xavier. “And you got him out too. One day, you’ll have to tell us how. Thank you, Boral.”
They turned to Carryn again for her thoughts on what they needed to accomplish. “We need to meet with King Drake,” she said. “It’s a fact of our new existence that we are dependent on his good will to survive. We need to find out the extent of his willingness to help.”
“What do you mean?”
Dain was nodding. “Our being here puts him in danger.”
“That depends on what Kamien will do to eliminate you as a threat,” Xavier said. “He may feel removing you from the Cobalt System is enough.”
“He isn’t going to think that,” Dain said. “Maralt isn’t going to think it. They want us dead, Xavier. All of us.”
“Do they know we’re here?” Dynan asked.
“Communications between the two Systems are cut off,” Xavier said, with a glance toward Allie Ahreld.
Dynan looked to him too. “Can we get information anyway?”
“There are risks in attempting to breach the com system from here,” Allie said. “If they don’t know where we are, we could inadvertently tell them. I’m one of the few techs with the skill to break through all the security levels. That skill is almost like a palm scan. Certain people will know it’s me. Logue for one. He could then back trace the breach to Trea.”
“And then we have a treaty violation,” Dynan said, “that puts Drake in more jeopardy. We can’t give them any excuse to come here in force.”
“Do they need an excuse?” Dain asked. “They accuse us of killing Shalis, of trying to kill Kamien, of attempting to usurp the Throne. Are they really going to care about any existing treaties?”
“Yes, probably,” Xavier said. “Cobalt can’t afford to alienate Trea. There’s too much commerce between the two Systems. A breach of that magnitude would cause immediate and very public difficulties. Drake and Ambrose were close. Kamien won’t want it known that you’ve received the assistance of a devoted friend and ally. It’ll make people question why Drake would help you and thereby question the truth of these accusations. There is likely a lot of that as it is. Attacking Trea can’t be done without force and therefore, can’t be done in secret. Cobalt’s state of upheaval will work to our advantage.”
Dain was shaking his head, but only enough to let Dynan know he didn’t agree, which he then explained silently. “He could easily send a Spef unit, penetrate the defenses here – since there aren’t any – and reach us without the big fuss Xavier thinks will happen. What is Trea going to do about it? Attack Cobalt? Kamien could crush this System without trying hard.”
“But then he risks involving the other four Systems,” Dynan said. “The non-interference laws protect us from that kind of aggression.”
“He can pick them off, one by one, no problem,” Dain said. “He’ll start here.”
“Boys,” Xavier quietly interrupted the silent conversation. “The same rules apply here about your particular abilities as they did at home—”
“Dain is worried Kamien will send a small Special Forces unit here.”
“He’s right,” Ralion said immediately.
Boral agreed. “There’s almost no security here, Xavier. We’re out in the hallways, out in the open where Dynan and Dain can be seen. Word will get out. It probably already has.”
“I’ll talk to the King,” Xavier said.
“I want everyone armed,” Ralion said. “Including the kid.”
“Anyone who plans to stay within 20 kem of Dynan and Dain better know how to use a sword. You’ll all be issued a shield and if you want incentive to keep it in working order, come see me.” Sheed glanced around at the nods this produced. Everyone knew about the use of laser weapons in the attempt to keep them from escaping the Telaerin Palace, and the flight down the cliff passage.
“We’ll get to specifics on responsibilities soon,” Ralion said, “but you all need to wrap your brain around the idea now. We are the first and last line of defense.”
Dynan hated the thought, the new reality that a man like Lycon Tylam, an Engineer by trade, a creator and builder, was now in a position to risk his life for them.
“We’re not going to be able to stay here,” Dain said silently.
Xavier held up a hand. “I should go see the King, and you should return to your rooms. Boral is right. You need to stay out of sight as much as possible. We’ll increase the number of guards on the doors.” Xavier pointed a finger at Dain. “No sneaking off, Dain Ardin.”
“Do you think he knows about all the girls?” Dynan asked silently.
“Shut up,” he answered, but smiled at Xavier. “I wouldn’t dream of sneaking anywhere.”
“Don’t,” Dynan reiterated in his head.
“I’m not planning on it.”
“You never do,” Dynan said.
“Seriously, we are not having this conversation. The more you bring it up, the more I think about it, the more likely you are to get the exact opposite of what you’re asking.”
“Not asking,” Dynan said. “I can’t afford to lose you, Dain, especially not over something as stupid as you going off to get laid.”
“You wouldn’t call it stupid if—”
“Boys!” Xavier said, thoroughly exasperated with them.
Boral came up behind them, grabbing them both at the back of the neck by a handful of shirt, and yanked them around a bit as a warning. It took them back to countless other identical moments at home and had the desired effect of making everyone laugh and lightening the mood.
Dain glanced around Boral, a crooked grin across his face. “What I’m here
for.”
***
Drake Mardon paced the conference room, moving along a line of tall windows while Dynan sat and watched him from the big table with Xavier and Carryn. The others had been sent off to enhance their security situation. Dain had gone with them, feeling a sense of confinement that was generally intolerable for him and usually meant he wouldn’t stay that way long. Boral suggested he test everyone’s level of skill with a blade down in the Palace training room, and Dain jumped at the chance. He also took both swords with him, to sharpen and polish them.
Drake wasn’t an especially imposing man, but the authority he carried on his shoulders filled the room. They waited for the King to finish the thought process. He finally did, coming to a halt at the table.
“The other Systems are going to hear about this. I’ve already been contacted because of the break down of communication with Cobalt. It’s certain they have spies, perhaps some in the Palace itself. What do you want me to say to them when they ask me about Dynan and Dain?” he asked of Xavier.
“We’ll be gone by the time they start asking,” Dynan said. “Well, hopefully, so you’ll be able to say you don’t know.”
“Where will you go?” Drake asked. “If it is as you think, no place will be safe for you. Dynan, your father supported me in every way possible, even before he was King, in dealing with Dionin in the later years of his life, and assisting Trea through some difficult times. We were friends. I can’t just let you leave without any assurance of your safety. In good conscience, I can’t do it.”
“We need a base of operations,” Carryn said. “This isn’t going to be a short term situation, Your Majesty. We won’t be able to go home without the use of force to do it.”
“You mean attack Cobalt?” Dynan said. “With what?”
“We’ll have to come up with a force large enough,” Carryn said, and Dynan would have laughed except she was serious.
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