“That it might be,” Marin said.
“How far do you think it went?” Kelvin asked. “Do you think it only traveled this way, or did it go off into the east?”
“You mean, do I think your brother might have seen it?”
The future king of Argos sat in the windowsill, peering into the city. As he coerced his power to return to him, he looked farther and farther, spotting great stone towers beyond the walls of the place he called home. Farther than that, the trees of the eastern woods covered all.
“Do you think that someday, if my powers grow strong enough, I’ll be able to see all the way to Icarus’ cabin?”
She shook her head. “By that time, it won’t matter, my good-hearted student. Helios will only be under the elf’s tutelage for as long as you are under mine. Those years will pass faster than you believe, and then your twin will be back within the walls of this castle. He’ll have the skills to protect you, and you’ll have the wisdom to know when to protect him in return.”
“Who do you think is progressing faster?” Kelvin asked. He wore a mischievous grin as he contemplated that question.
Marin arched her eyebrow. “I don’t think your brother knows the two of you are racing. But, from what I know of Icarus and the elves, they lack ambition. Perhaps his patience in training Helios is giving us the time to catch up to them. He’s been training far longer, but who is to say who the better teacher is?”
“I feel like you’re fishing for a confirmation,” the prince said.
She flashed a toothy grin. “You’ll be a wise king indeed.”
He heard a resonating echo in the city then, like an oversized gong, and noticed a plume of smoke and dust rising from near the center of Argos.
“What’s going on out there?” she asked.
“Some kind of commotion,” Kelvin replied. “I can’t tell what the problem is.”
“Not even with your enhanced vision?”
He scowled at that thought. “I can’t see through buildings. It’s too dense where all the smoke is.”
Marin labored to her feet and hobbled to his side at the window. True to his word, there were too many buildings around that construction site for her to identify what was transpiring. When a scream rang out, though, that was all she needed to hear. She turned on her heel and began toward the door.
“What are you doing?” her pupil asked.
“I don’t know if you know this, but I’m the Silver Serpent,” she stated.
“Not today you’re not,” he protested. “You can barely walk. What exactly do you plan on doing out there?”
“Someone’s got to help against whatever madness is going on out there. If it’s the Brotherhood, I’d like to get my vengeance.”
“Weren’t you talking about that wisdom earlier?”
“Yours, not mine,” she challenged.
“Well, as your future king, I’m telling you to remain here.” He passed her and reached the door first.
“Where are you going?” she asked.
“You said someone needed to do something.”
“I didn’t mean you!” Marin shouted. “I do not permit you to leave. We still have a lesson to finish!”
“What are you going to do?” he teased. “Chase me down?”
He didn’t hesitate further, disappearing into the corridor. She listened as his steps echoed down the stairwell. Exasperated, she fell back upon his bed, saying a silent prayer he would be safe.
*****
The room was frigid, and he could see his breath producing steam that raced for the ceiling. That chamber was no larger than a jail cell, and he noted the blue and green hues. It was as if someone dropped him in a metal box in the middle of the ocean, and somehow the colors of the sea radiated into the place.
Gerard realized, then, that he had no recollection of how he had arrived there. When he looked about, he furrowed his brow at the sight of the room.
There were no doors.
Only one piece of furniture—a table—was in the room, and a body was lying atop it. A closer inspection proved his assumption: it was Esme who lay there.
Somehow, in that dark and cold room, she looked even more graceful than she did when he had seen her prior. Perhaps the coroner had touched her up as a part of his investigation.
The constable found himself reaching down to the woman, placing his hand upon her face. It was cool to the touch, but it felt full of life, as if the woman had survived the horrible fate that befell her. Those contusions were not as apparent either, her skin a much more even tone of blue than he remembered.
Gerard moved his hand down her cheek, until it landed on her shoulder. A cover was atop her body, but he was sure the examiner had removed her clothing underneath in order to continue his perusal of the body. Out of curiosity, the constable moved his hand down toward that privacy wrapping, his fingers slipping just beneath it, between Esme’s breasts.
His body tensed when two firm hands grasped his. Blue skin encompassed his own tan fingers, caressing him before he could go farther. When he looked down, he saw Esme’s eyes open.
Gerard sprung up with a gasp. It took several moments for him to collect his breath, and when he did, he was surprised by the sunlight that radiated into his bedroom. Wiping his wrist across his brow, he understood he was startled awake in a cold sweat as well.
His pulse thrummed faster than he could ever recall, then. The constable grumbled to himself. He had never felt such trepidation before—not when he fought pirates, not when the threat of monsters from the depths loomed around his ship. It hadn’t been that frightening of a dream, and yet, it felt as if at any moment his heart might leap out of his chest.
It was just one more reason to abscond from those duties. Playing noble was not for him. Though his days sailing with the King’s navy may have been over, there were plenty of other opportunities to find his way back to the sea. Perhaps a merchant captain would have use of his talents, either as a navigator or as a trusted sword.
He waved that thought away. Gerard Purdell was not about to let his name be tarnished by one uncomfortable set of killings. If he still felt he could no longer perform the duties assigned to him after bringing Esme’s killer to justice, he would revisit those thoughts of resigning.
Instead, he put on a new shirt and fresh slacks and made his way to the front door of his home. Perhaps the coroner had new details he could share about the poor drowning victim.
Gerard didn’t make it five steps away from his home when he saw the commotion nearby. Frightened children ran up the streets, and he narrowly missed his opportunity to stop one.
“What’s going on, boy?” he asked. “What’s everyone running from?”
Gasping for air, the lad shivered and looked over his shoulder. “It’s the lady in the water. They say that if she spots you, she’ll come after you at night and pull you into the fountain with her.” He wrenched his arm away from the constable then and continued along his escape route.
Curious, he made his way down that road. When he saw older folk following in the frightened children’s footsteps, he couldn’t keep to himself. “What is happening down that way?”
“There’s a body in the fountain in Alliant Square,” one woman informed.
His brow furrowed as he considered that revelation. “You mean the one near the shops, in the middle of the day?”
They didn’t say anything further before they raced on.
Gerard considered the bravado of anyone who would dare to leave a body in that public place. With that thought looming over him, he struck out toward the site of the latest victim.
*****
The man charged forth, running around corners of buildings and ascending steps where he could. Every gasp felt as if it would rip open his throat, and he had forgotten what it felt like to catch a cool, deep breath of air. Every time he thought he had earned some respite, he heard that terrible monster of a man behind him. Carts were thrown aside, buildings were wrought to rubble, and sc
reams erupted everywhere that man went.
Ralek knew he could not linger. The Titan would punish him for the crimes he had inflicted on the people of Argos.
Marcus shouted his name, and the foreman surged forward again. Every step made him dizzy, and he wondered just how long he could keep up his exodus. The eastern exit of the city was still so far away, and his pursuer seemed to have stamina that matched his uncanny strength.
As Ralek made his way through the bazaar in that district, he looked everywhere for a solution. With his lungs ready to burst, he picked a place among those shops that offered some sort of sanctuary.
As the hulking fellow made his way up those stairs, he set his eyes upon the market. Several of the patrons there took just one look at him and knew he was the one responsible for the screams nearby. The bazaar cleared out quicker than he expected, but he stomped forward nonetheless.
Several brave merchants still hovered beyond their goods, but one in particular caught his eye. The woman there couldn’t refrain from sending a nervous glance beneath her table. A gorgeous drape hung from the front to give her shop table an air of nobility. It was the only one on that side of the bazaar, Marcus realized. Those long strides took him over to that shop, and the merchant woman fled from her stand. That didn’t deter the hulking fellow, though.
Marcus brought his hands over his head and slammed them down upon the table. It split in two, and a sharp cry rang out. Ralek crawled from his hiding spot and rolled over onto his back. As his pursuer stomped forward, he brought up his hand to placate the man.
“Please, I’ll do whatever you want,” he begged.
“You know what I want,” Marcus snarled. “And you can’t give them back to me.” He hoisted the nearest merchant’s table off the ground and brought it overhead.
Ralek brought his arm to his eyes, choosing not to see the inevitable fate before him.
A bright flash illuminated the area. A grunt rang out, and the frightened foreman looked up to see Marcus waving his hands in front of his face, the table discarded behind him. Wisps of smoke rose off the ground between the two men, and a splotch of black powder remained beneath them.
Ralek looked to his side where a stranger in odd garb stood sentinel. That fellow in green drew a bow over his shoulder and aimed it at the hulking man. “I’d get out of here if I were you,” he warned the foreman cowering on the ground.
“Don’t stand against him,” Ralek bade as he clambered to his feet. “He can’t be reasoned with anymore. He’s naught but a mad Titan.”
Kelvin remained where he was as the man he saved fled from his pursuer. The Silver Serpent never ran, and neither would he.
Marcus finally batted away his blindness, and when he could see with only minor discomfort, his eyes landed upon the blond lad with the green outfit.
“So,” Kelvin said. “The Titan, eh? Not so bad, as far as names go.”
“Who are you?” Marcus spat.
“I’ve got a catchy name myself. They call me the Emerald Adder.” The disguised prince stood taller as he announced himself.
Marcus turned to his side, kicking the discarded table aside as if it was a child’s plaything. The young lad who thwarted him flinched and took a step back but steadied when the Titan did not advance on him. Instead, Marcus walked to the closest tavern, a building held up by sturdy wooden beams.
“You do realize what you’ve done, don’t you?” the big man asked.
Kelvin was caught off guard by how well-spoken the criminal was. As rampant as he was and as fueled by rage as he had been, he half-expected him to speak only in growls and snarls.
“I just saved a man from being squashed like a bug.”
Marcus’ brow furrowed, and he tugged the closest support beam out from under the tavern. A chunk of that stone collapsed without the load-bearing support keeping it up, and a cry from inside rang out. The Titan lifted the beam and balanced it on his shoulder.
“You gave me one more bug to squash.”
*****
Guilt wore on her like a heavy weight, making every step down that corridor sting that much worse. The journey down the stairs didn’t help much either, especially along that secluded staircase in the back of the castle the guards had long before forgotten about.
It was just as well, she supposed. If the guards couldn’t be bothered to recall it was there, nobody else would notice it either.
Except that someone did, and it could not be mere happenstance.
The tunnel the staircase annexed was nondescript. Simple stone ran on for nearly a hundred yards and then stopped. It looked like an unfinished operation, perhaps intended to serve as an escape tunnel or lead to another room that could be used to store dry goods.
Marin knew the truth, though. In fact, she was one of only a select few that knew about its secrets. Passed down from generation to generation, even some of the kings of Argos were not privy to the all-important protection the castle offered.
About halfway down that dark, damp tunnel, Marin stopped and leaned against the wall. She hesitated there, enjoying the brief respite of that sturdy stone. Blowing out a sigh, she hobbled forward, knocking on each rock with her knuckles. Finally, a hollow sound rang out, inviting a smile.
She leaned down, stepping off her injured leg, and pulled on a stone near the bottom of the wall. At once, the barrier gave way, swinging open like a crude door. A dark void was before Marin, but she strode forward, a renewed vigor in her gait. As she drew forth, she spotted the rudimentary table at that next corner. A sconce was on the other side of the corridor, a torch positioned in it. Her attention was drawn to the table, though, and the two items placed upon it.
The woman picked them up, familiar with what they were, and stepped over to that sconce. Lifting the two items high, she scraped them together until they served their purpose.
The torch roared to life, illuminating the room enough for her to see all the items that had been amassed beneath the castle in the years since its construction. Pedestals held ancient relics of years long passed. Some were ornate, important facets of history. Others were worthy of their seclusion.
Argos Castle, of course, had a treasury that held money and jewels. The hidden one Marin was in held things much more important. When she recalled how she had helped to gather some of those antiquities, she typically stood taller with pride. But in that moment, when a pedestal near the center of the room was barren at its top, she could only scowl.
“It seems you and I had the same idea,” she heard. Marin nearly jumped from her body, but she steadied herself and kept hold of the torch. Instead, she turned, and a familiar face came toward the light. “I had worried it was you who had taken it when I saw the aurora this morning.”
“Did you wait for me to come down here?” Marin growled.
Selene let a playful smile stretch her lips. “It pains me to admit it, but I’d forgotten how far into the tunnel this hidden pathway was. I knew you would find it faster than I would, so I waited until you made your move.”
The torch flickered, illuminating the furrowed brow of the secret hero. “I’m glad I could play my part for you. Wait…did you really think I would use the Arcanax Compendium? What purposes would I have to unleash power like that?”
The queen lifted her hands to placate her old friend. “I didn’t mean to imply you had unjust intentions. I thought, for a moment, you might have needed it as your alter ego. Perhaps there was a wizard who grew too powerful and needed to be stopped, I considered. But seeing you here, without the item in your possession, assures me my original thought must be true: it wasn’t you who took it.”
“It wasn’t. But I have a sense of who it was.”
“And does it have anything to do with your injury?”
“In a way.” She groaned and let her head bow. “It was the Brotherhood. They set a trap for me last night, but I think it was meant to be a distraction.”
“So someone else had to come into the castle.”
“And
know where they were going. Which of your guards knows about this secret treasury?” Marin asked.
“Nobody,” Selene informed. “It was only you and I who knew about it. Not even Nathaniel knows of its presence here.”
Marin arched her eyebrow. “What about Trachis, that guard who used to patrol when the items first started collecting here?”
“Trachis was a good man,” the queen insisted. “Was. He passed away about three years ago, but…”
“What is it?”
Selene shook her head and waved the notion away. “Here’s an interesting question: On your injured leg, this must have been quite a journey to make. Tell me, in all the time you’ve spent getting down here, where has the prince been?”
Marin blanched at the question, and the hairs on the back of her neck stood up.
*****
Every step down that sloping street felt like it would be his last steady one. The prince could not recall a time in his life when he ever ran so fast. But when one man charged through the city like a crash of rhinos, he knew his life was on the line.
At least that other fellow is safe, he thought.
That thought invigorated him. He wouldn’t be able to outpace the Titan’s wrath—Marcus was always just behind him. And with that great strength, it seemed, came great stamina. Though Kelvin was young, there was no certainty he wouldn’t succumb to fatigue before the big man.
No, the prince reasoned, there had to be another way.
His eyes glowed as he considered that downward path. Carts and partitions were strewn here and there. That road to the northern harbor was a popular one for merchants, but the commotion in town had sent most of them scurrying to their homes, leaving their goods behind. Kelvin didn’t like the plan going through his head, but it was the only way to buy the time needed to develop a greater strategy.
No longer did the disguised prince remain in the center of that sloping road. As he went forth, he leaned to one side. The Emerald Adder rolled under a cart of goods, climbing to his feet at once when he had cleared the obstacle. It took a moment to gain his bearings, but he managed to right himself and aim toward his next target.
Silver Serpent Page 6