Protector of Thristas: A Lisen of Solsta Novel

by D. Hart St. Martin

  They sat there, silent, for a moment; then, Lisen turned abruptly to Korin. “What in the name of the Creators did you go and kill her for?” she demanded.

  “What?” he asked.

  “She could have given us information. You didn’t even give me a chance to push her before you attacked.”

  “Give you a chance to…what?” He pulled away from her.

  “I could have pushed her away. I just hadn’t centered yet. Another second and I would have had her.”

  “My Liege.” Corday stepped into the fray. “Lisen. You’re alive. Your spouse saved your life.”

  “But we’ll never know who hired her now,” she snapped in reply.

  “Once we find out who she was,” Korin said, “we’ll connect her to her employer from there.”

  “How? You know that nobody’s going to admit to knowing her.”

  Korin could see she was tired. And angry. And, of a certainty, terrorized. “We’ll figure it out. I know who’s at the top of my list.”

  “Elor, yes,” she said, “but we don’t know that, now, do we? Or is there something I don’t know that you do?” Korin sighed and realized too late his reaction had only fueled her rage. “That…that woman in there…,” Lisen pointed in the direction of her office, “…she knew what we’ll never know for certain.”

  Corday reached out a hand to her. “My Liege,” he said softly, “the Guard will protect you while the investigation works its way to the identity of the woman’s employer.”

  She gasped and put her free hand out to Korin. “It couldn’t be Elor. How would he pay for it?” Her voice trailed off momentarily. “Have I released funds to him recently?” she mumbled, staring at the table. “No, but he asked for a large sum in preparation for…” She looked at her spouse, at Corday, then back down at the table and resumed her rambling. “Would someone take on the job with no money in advance? I wouldn’t. Too much risk to put payment off. Paid up front, you could set the money aside for a spouse or a child. I’d want payment first, then killing. Yes, I would.”

  “Lisen,” Korin whispered in her ear, looking up at Tanres who had just arrived. “The commander is here.”

  Lisen snapped her head up. She seemed distracted, almost to madness, and Korin grew concerned for her state of mind. But she managed to find her way back to them.

  “Yes, Commander?” she said.

  “My Liege,” Tanres replied, sitting down beside Corday. “We’ve moved the body to a cell in the dungeon for now. I’m going to start with the guards themselves to see if they remember seeing her skulking around.”

  Lisen nodded, her eyes wild, yet she maintained her concentration. “Excellent. Yes.”

  “Servants are scrubbing the floor in your office. I have one guard on each door upstairs in the family quarters with two more at the top and bottom of the stairs. Others are doing a thorough search throughout the Keep.”

  Lisen mumbled something Korin couldn’t hear, then she spoke up more clearly. “They have to check the secret passageways as well.”

  “Aye, my Liege,” Tanres replied. “That’s being taken care of. Are you able to answer questions tonight?”

  “Yes,” Lisen replied.

  “Are you sure?” Korin asked although he suspected that sleep immediately after the attack would elude her anyway.

  “Yes, I’m sure. Could someone get me something to drink?”

  “There’s some wine and goblets in the study off her office,” Corday suggested.

  Tanres turned and signaled to one of the two guards at the dining room door. The guard ran off, and the commander returned to Lisen.

  “Tell me what happened,” she said, “in as much detail as you can recall.”

  Korin listened as Lisen began with Corday’s departure and her return to her desk. As she spoke, she seemed to find it difficult to breathe and took a deep gulp of the wine when the guard brought it from the study. She described the attack, and when she reached the moment of Korin’s entrance into the story, she stopped.

  “Korin?” Tanres asked.

  “I was checking on the children before retiring when I sensed…well…something.” He touched the top of Lisen’s hand, then withdrew. It was embarrassing to admit he’d sensed this like some old hermit. “Don’t ask me what it was,” he continued. “I just knew something wasn’t right.” He continued, detailing his discovery of the assassin and concluding with, “I grabbed the sword from the guard at the door and jumped up onto the desk. Then I stabbed the assailant down the back of her neck into her chest at which point the assailant released both weapons and dropped to the floor as I pulled the sword out. The assailant appeared to be dead before hitting the floor.”

  This time, Lisen touched his hand, but left hers on top of his rather than withdrawing. Tanres looked about ready to ask more questions when they heard the slap-slap-slap of bare feet on the stone floor outside, and Korin’s heart ached when he realized it was their youngest. Insenlo stood at the door in her plain white nightshift, fresh from sleep but no longer sleepy.

  “Sen?” Lisen said.

  “What happened?” she asked in her still-childlike voice. “I heard a noise. Your office is full of people.” Lisen reached out a hand to her. She appeared headed towards Lisen but stepped around her to her father. There she stood, one arm over Korin’s shoulder. “There was blood.” Korin pulled her in closer.

  “It was an accident, Sen,” Korin said. “All those people are cleaning it up.”

  “Did somebody fall? It’s an awful lot of blood.” This time, a hint of a whimper gave away Insenlo’s youth.

  Ten years out, Korin thought. She’s too young for this.

  “Everything’s fine,” he tried to reassure her. “Let’s get you back up to bed.” Korin attempted to herd the girl back around behind Lisen, but Insenlo wouldn’t move.

  “Are you coming up?” she asked her mother.

  “Your mother has to finish talking to your Uncle Nalin and the commander,” Korin explained. “Let’s go.” And together he and his daughter headed out of the room and upstairs. So many questions to answer.

  After Korin and Insenlo had left the room, Lisen turned her unchecked fury on Tanres. “What in the names of the Creators were your people doing up there? How did she get out? How did she get into the office? She never should have gotten that far. And I want an immediate check on Elor.”

  The commander turned and signaled a guard who ran off, and then she faced Lisen. “Forgive me, my Liege. Your young heir probably slipped out while all the guards were hustling to get into place. All I can do is thank the Creators she’s safe. I assure you that I will institute procedures to keep it from happening again and look into it myself immediately.”

  “Yes, yes, go.” Lisen waved her hand in dismissal, her world disintegrating around her. Once Tanres had left, she turned to Nalin. “What am I going to do?”

  “About what, my Liege?”

  “About Elor.”

  “Well, you did say it would be difficult for him to hire someone without immediate funds.”

  “Creators, what have I done?” Sixteen years as Empir, and Lisen realized she’d slipped into complacency. This was how it was. It was how it had been and always would be. And in all the time since the One-Day War, the only thing she saw as a threat to her or her family was the possibility that someone might mess up the damn treaty with Thristas.

  “You’ve done nothing worthy of this,” Nalin replied, but she’d moved on past him.

  “I must ask Korin to examine the body, see if there’s anything to mark this woman as Thristan.” She shook her hands in front of her, and the fluttering in her heart barely allowed her to breathe. Yet, she couldn’t stop thinking and talking. “That must be it. The Thristans. But why not go straight for Rinli? No, I know. They want to rid the world of me. Then getting to Rinli would be so much easier. Yes, that’s it. That has to be it. It couldn’t be Elor—”

  “My Liege?” Nalin’s voice hinted on the periphery of awarenes
s, but she didn’t hear it, not really.

  “But then again, maybe it is Elor. Maybe Tazori Dors loaned him the money. In which case…oh, Nalin, you’re in danger.” She grabbed at his hand with both of hers. “You can’t stay in the old palace tonight. You won’t be safe.” She gazed into his eyes and found him staring at her like she was some sort of freak, and she finally heard herself—what she’d been saying—and stopped, putting her hand up to her mouth to silence herself. She hadn’t felt this lost and frightened since…since I returned home after being abducted and found Nalin without his… She gasped, breathed deeply, and all the while Nalin allowed her to find herself again. At last, he spoke.

  “Lisen. I’ll be fine. But I’m going to stay a couple of extra days until this matter is settled.”

  “But Bala…”

  “I’ll send her a letter, advise her to keep the children safe.”

  “And I’ll send two guards with that letter.”

  “No,” Nalin said, placing his other hand on top of hers. “You need them here.”

  “I can spare two. You write your note to Bala, and I’ll have the guards report to you in the morning to pick it up.” She could hear a calm settling into her voice and with a slow, deep breath, she knew they were safe. Everyone she loved was safe. She separated her hands from Nalin’s and stood up, pushing her chair away from the table as she did so. “I’ll get a servant to see to your sleeping arrangements.” She started for the door.

  “I’d prefer my own bed across the way,” he countered.

  She turned back to him. “Then a guard, at your door, not just the guard at the main entrance to the old palace.”

  “All right, all right.”

  “And don’t head out until the guard is with you.”

  He nodded, and she left him there.

  After assigning one of the guards in the hall the duty of attending to her Will, Lisen climbed the stairs to the family’s private quarters. Weariness clutched at her bones and muscles, making the ascent uncomfortable and tiring. When she reached the top, she saw Tanres talking to the guard in front of Elor’s room. Lisen paused. She didn’t want to eavesdrop and misinterpret anything that was said; she wanted to hear it all from the commander herself.

  When she was finished, Tanres turned, saw Lisen and with a quick nod, walked directly over to her.

  “It appears that there was a slight delay in the deployment of a full contingent of guards, my Liege,” she explained, “which allowed your daughter to get through the breach, but as you can see, they’re all in place now.”

  “And Elor?”

  “The Zanlot heir is in his bed, muttering to himself about the new restrictions on his life.”

  “Let him mutter.” Lisen brushed her hand across her mouth to hide her quick smile, then continued, her expression sober again. “Thank you, Commander. Holder Corday has chosen his own quarters tonight, and I’ve sent a sergeant with him. I’ll need two guards to ride to Seffa tomorrow. They’re to pick up a letter from the holder before they leave.”

  “Aye, my Liege, I’ll see to it.”

  “And have someone awaken me an hour after sunrise. That is, if Korin hasn’t already gotten me up.”

  “I should have a preliminary report ready by then for you, my Liege.”

  “Excellent. Thank you.” Lisen stepped to the door directly in front of her. The guard there snapped to attention as she let herself in, then closed the door behind her. She stopped, frozen. Nothing in the room to startle her, just Korin sitting in a chair calmly, looking up to her from a scroll he’d been reading. He smiled but said nothing, allowing her to take a moment to define her place in this sanctum of sanity.

  “Sen?” she asked, considering moving but not yet doing so.

  “Sleeping.”

  “Did you talk to her?”

  “I tried. She didn’t seem ready. But I’ll keep watch.”

  Lisen finally found the impetus to step forward into the room. “She’s a child. They’re all children.”

  “So were we all at some point.” He rose and moved to where she’d paused again. “You’re shaking.”

  “Am I?” She looked down at her hands and realized he was right. “All I want to do is crawl into that bed and let you protect me.” She moved deeper into the room, pulled her tunic off over her head and dropped it on the floor. Then her boots and then her leggings. By the time she turned around again, Korin had also finished undressing. “I’m cold.” She grabbed the clean nightshift that always magically appeared by the time she returned here at bedtime and slipped it on over her head. Then finally…finally…she sat down on the bed and sighed. “I want you to inspect the body in the morning. It’s possible this was a Thristan plot, and there may be things you can see that no Garlan would recognize.”

  “I know,” he said as he lay down and opened his arms to her. She settled in facing him, allowing him to hold her close. “I’ll check in with Tanres after breakfast.”

  “I’m glad you’re here,” she said as she felt her fear dissolve in his presence.

  In its place, as she lay there, self-judgment arose, and in the silence, Lisen recognized a truth—that years of reliance on the consistency of her guards had nearly left her dead tonight. And she vowed to the Creators that she would never allow the presence of a guard at every corner of the Keep to woo her into complacency that would hinder her reaction time ever again.

  CHAPTER NINE

  THE COMPLICATED DAY

  The last to arrive after a half hour spent examining the lifeless body of a woman who was without doubt not of the desert, Korin strode into the Empir’s office to report what he’d learned to his Empir, her Will and the commander of the Guard. After a difficult night of little sleep ruminating on the night’s events —not to mention Lisen’s tossing and turning—he’d risen quietly before sunrise, dressed and come down here so he could consider the scene in the early morning light on his own. And had learned…nothing. The room smelled of vinegar, and they’d covered the floor where the body had fallen with straw to soak up the wet and the stink and the blood.

  “Korin, good,” Commander Tanres said as Korin took his seat beside Lisen. “Did you see the body?”

  “Just now,” Korin replied and turned to Lisen, “and I saw no sign she was desert born or raised.”

  “Damn,” Lisen muttered under her breath, then looked up to the others. “That eliminates one suspect. Or hundreds of thousands.”

  “I didn’t say she wasn’t Thristan. Or, for that matter, hired by Thristans,” Korin countered. “We can’t eliminate them as suspects.”

  “So, I leave Thristas on the list,” Tanres commented tapping her stylus lightly on the table.

  “I say Elor,” Holder Corday stated. “With revenge, ambition or both as motives.”

  Lisen shook her head. “Too simple. But still, I’m having him brought down for questioning.” Korin agreed. The boy was too obvious a suspect and too smart to act so boldly. “So, while we’re waiting for him to come down, other thoughts?”

  “Councilor Meeken,” Corday suggested.

  “Oh, the one I censured last year for making a ruckus?” Lisen shook her head. “I doubt it.”

  “Everyone goes on the list, my Liege,” Tanres said as she added the councilor’s name. “You said so yourself.”

  Lisen nodded.

  “Akdor Ba?” Nalin said.

  “He would have had just enough time to put a plan into action,” Korin added.

  “He didn’t seem all that organized to me,” Lisen countered. “I mean, he jumped all over the place with his opening and closing statements. But, yes, put him on the list.”

  “What about Captain Bento?” Tanres asked. “Or excuse me, retired Captain Bento.”

  “She wasn’t happy about being passed over for Pass Garrison,” Korin added.

  “But that wasn’t my decision,” Lisen noted.

  “But you do have final approval of the new Under-commander,” Korin said.

  Lisen
sighed, and Korin brushed her knee. She trusted everyone until they proved otherwise, and he wanted her to know that he understood her difficulty in this list-making.

  “All right,” she conceded. “She’s on the list. Next?”

  “There’s Elder Kalal from Mesa Diri,” Korin offered.

  “Who?” Lisen asked.

  “She was the Elder in the treaty negotiations when the treaty got back to Thristas who insisted Rin stay in the desert permanently.”

  “Oh, I remember hearing about her objections,” Lisen said. “To more than that, if I remember correctly. A true credit to Thristan tenacity. But after all this time?”

  “You said everyone goes on the list,” Korin replied.

  “She’s still alive?”

  “Yes, my Liege,” Korin said.

  “Noted.” And Tanres wrote the Elder’s name down.

  “What about Tazori Dors?” Holder Corday suggested.

  “Why him?” Lisen asked.

  “Old wounds,” the holder explained. “He had feelings for Lorain.”

  “But wouldn’t that make him more likely to go after you than me?” At the holder’s sigh in response, she nodded. “On the list.”

  “My Liege,” Commander Tanres began, then paused for a breath before continuing. “I hesitate to say this but I believe we should include your daughter’s name.”

  “Rin?” Korin couldn’t believe what Tanres was suggesting.

  Lisen turned to face him. “She’s right. Rinli has much at stake.

  “But what changes for her if you’re dead?” Korin asked.

  “Nothing that I can see, but she’s young and confused and easily influenced.”

  “By anyone but you,” Korin retorted and immediately regretted his response. He wasn’t angry at his spouse but at the ease with which she’d added their daughter to the list. Lisen’s cold gaze caught him and held him, silencing even his apology.

  “We should add Madlen to the list,” Lisen said, her voice flat, her eyes still riveted on Korin. “Madlen Por, Rinli’s Thristan friend.” At last she turned away from Korin, and the breath he’d been holding blew out in a hushed sigh.