Secrets & Swords

by R A Lewis

  “Lady Sara, what are you doing here?” Roguelyn realized she recognized the man from Rhohesia’s many parties. “I’m sorry, your Majesty,” the man said, getting a hold of himself. He bowed low again and continued. “I just didn’t expect to see one of our own nobles in your court.”

  “That is quite alright.” The king’s tone was indulgent. “The woman you called Lady Sara is in fact, Lady Roguelyn Ashdown. A noble of our court who was on a mission to save her father while in your court.” The man Roguelyn knew as Duke Jathan, stared at her and then her father for a few moments, mastering his own emotions. Then he smiled rather woodenly and turned back to the king.

  “Your Majesty, my name is Duke Jathan Arringly. I have come on behalf of Queen Rohesia of Gadel.” Jathan bowed low and continued. “The queen would like to propose a treaty to end the war.”

  “We heartily accept the queen’s proposal to end the war. And may we suggest the exchange of ambassadors in order to help maintain communication and peace between our countries?”

  “Yes, your Majesty, this was also the queen’s hope. She would like to hold a peace council between our two countries. She suggests the border between Wresley and Hoatam. She will be there herself as soon as the snows melt.” Jathan continued to shoot sideways glances at Roguelyn as he spoke.

  “We will be there once the snows melt.” The king stood and came down from his throne. He stood before Jathan. “Would you and your men care to rest before going back to your kingdom? I’m sure it was a long cold journey in the snow.”

  “Yes, your Majesty, thank you.” Jathan bowed again as King Fairburn’s soldiers escorted him and his men out of the throne room.

  “That was a better outcome than we could have hoped for,” the king said, turning back to the small group awaiting him.

  “Yes, your Majesty. Now at least we can begin calling our men back from the borders. Maybe we’ll finally have enough men in the fields this spring to plant and we will no longer be in a food shortage.” The king nodded at the Duke’s words.

  “Come spring, we will negotiate a treaty and bring our people peace.” He reached for his queen’s hand, bringing it to his mouth in a kiss. The queen smiled. “Now, we will retire for the evening. Goodnight gentlemen, Lady.” The king nodded to them each in turn and they bowed and curtsied. Roguelyn’s father put a hand on her shoulder as the king and queen left through a small side door.

  “I think we are mostly in the clear now,” he said, but his voice was still concerned. “You spent time with the queen of Gadel, what was your read on her?” Roguelyn tilted her head to think.

  “Queen Rohesia has a good head on her shoulders. She is kind and independent, and I don’t think she’ll be interested in restarting the war. I never saw much of her ability to govern or lead a county.” Her father nodded. “I suspect she will be a strong leader though.”

  “We will have to see what she does then.” He led her from the hall. As they walked out, they practically ran into someone who seemed to be lurking outside the throne room.

  “Is the king still inside?” Liam asked, a bit embarrassed at being found lurking, but also at almost running in to Roguelyn.

  “He is not. Was there something you needed?” Gaillart had placed a hand on Liam’s shoulder, but Liam shook his head.

  “No, your Grace. Thank you.” Liam turned to leave and so did Gaillart. Roguelyn looked back and forth between the two men before making up her mind.

  “Liam, wait. May we speak?” She took a few long steps to catch up to him. He didn’t even slow.

  “What is there to talk about?” Roguelyn looked back and waved her father on as she followed Liam out into the cold of the castle grounds. She wrapped her arms around herself as she followed his quick stride through the snow. Her silk red dress was not nearly enough to keep her warm in the frigid air.

  “Please, stop and talk to me, Liam.” He stopped abruptly so that Roguelyn bumped into his back. He huffed a sigh and turned to face her as she put her hands out to balance in the slippery snow. He put a hand on her waist, steadying her so she wouldn’t fall. His hand lingered on her side and she looked up into his blue eyes, so vivid in the chill winter daylight.

  “I want to know what is wrong. How can I fix this between us?” she stated as he began to walk, keeping his hand on her waist. They now stood almost under the eaves of the stable.

  “Nothing is wrong.” He was trying to look nonchalant but Roguelyn wasn’t buying it.

  “Of course there is. Before you found out who I was, you treated me as a friend, with the possibility of being more than a friend. And now, I never know where I stand with you.” She stopped talking abruptly. She wasn’t sure how far to press him, but she couldn’t help herself and continued. “I know I lied to you, but you have to understand, if I’d told you the truth, who I was, you would have sent me back home. We never would have ended the war or saved my father.” Liam’s lips twitched up, before falling.

  “You shouldn’t have been there in the first place, and you shouldn’t have lied. You don’t know what I would have done, you never gave me the chance to help you. You lied and I felt obligated to help. That’s all.” He turned to leave, and Roguelyn felt her heart clench in her chest at his words.

  “Is that all I was to you? An obligation?” Her voice broke on the last word. His accusation hurt in her chest. Liam paused, and partially turned back towards her. He didn’t answer for a moment.

  “No.” And with that one word, Liam walked away from her. Roguelyn stood there, stunned. He had as much as admitted he’d had feelings for her. But he was giving them up, all because she had betrayed his trust. She wished desperately that she knew how to repair that trust but all she felt was the hollow pit in her stomach threatening to swallow her up.

  Chapter 31

  The next day a massive storm blew in and stayed for the next few weeks. It covered the sword practice yard with two feet of snow, and Roguelyn was forced to remain inside, abandoning her usual morning exercises. She began spending her time in the library. She had hoped to run into Liam but he seemed to be avoiding her, so she chose instead to spend the majority of her time in the library, reading about the politics of her own country, but also that of Gadel, filling in the gaps in her education.

  If she was going to be spy master and help the king, she would need to begin her formal education on her own country. Her own education had been lacking as a child as she’d been taught how to run their estate and lands rather than a country. She spent much of the winter out in the capitol, getting to know the people, forging alliances and making friends. Now, besides Henndo, with whom she corresponded weekly about the goings on he observed in the kingdom, she had juicy pieces of gossip from certain influential merchants, about the other influential people in the city. She received regular letters from her network of informants, and it was growing daily through her own leg work and that of her network of spies.

  Roguelyn went into the city most afternoons, wearing her most conservative dresses and making herself visible. She found a local tavern and made friends with the owner and many of the regulars. It helped her get to know the city and its inner workings. She soon knew who was having an affair with whom, and when women and children went missing. When she had heard this news she had dug deeper, finding out that the cult was, in fact behind it. This information she took to her spies. Roguelyn was working towards gaining contacts within the cult and she was planning on infiltrating it as soon as possible.

  She was also reading up on codes and ciphers. Daily correspondence came across her desk that was too easy to read, and she wanted a better way of communicating with her spies across the kingdom. Roguelyn felt a little in over her head, but she was pleased to be working on something meaningful and important rather than staying home to throw parties and sew like her mother. Isa had not been happy about Roguelyn’s placement, but she had accepted that her daughter was never going to be what she’d imagined. Gaillart couldn’t have been prouder of his daughter, and
enjoyed watching her grow into a competent young woman.

  While the storm was brewing outside, the king had called a meeting of his council, including all his current spy network. Roguelyn had been meeting these men and women over the course of the winter and had established a small rapport with them all. Liam was present in the corridor outside the throne room as Roguelyn approached. Her heart pounded at the sight of him. He studiously ignored her, a determined look on his face. Roguelyn eyed him, wondering what he was so determined about. They hadn’t spoken much since their talk outside the stables, and her heart hurt every time she saw him.

  Soon, a small crowd was gathered outside the closed doors to the council room, and Roguelyn was beginning to pace. The doors suddenly opened, and her father Gaillart stood there, ushering the spies inside. Each moved to take a seat at the large oak table, the King already seated at the far end. The duke took his place beside the king and they waited for the others to be seated. Finally, the duke cleared his throat.

  “Thank you for being here today. We have a growing threat in our capitol, as many of you know. This cult, The Eternal Ministry is causing no end of grief in our city. Roguelyn, would you like to give us an update?” Roguelyn stood, nerves running through her. She had never enjoyed being the center of attention, let alone public speaking. She cleared her throat a few times, her eyes darting at the others around the table, alighting on Liam who looked frustrated, his eyes darting to the king.

  “Thank you, Father. Well, most of you know I have spent the last few weeks trying to gain contacts within the cult itself, attempting to infiltrate it.” Heads around the room nodded. Everyone’s eyes were on her and no one was smiling. She went on. “I have a contact who works in direct connection with the cult and may even be in the cult himself. He has told me a bit about their customs and ways and their imitations.” She cringed at her own words. The process was brutal and she pitied anyone who chose to join their ranks.

  “So,” the king’s voiced boomed out across the room. “What we need is to infiltrate the cult, and take down its leader here in the capitol. The leader is called The Excellent Magistrate. We believe it was King Hargrave when he was alive but since his death our sources tell us the power transferred to someone here. We need to find out who he is, and how to bring them down.” All eyes were on the king, and as he said this, murmurs erupted around the table. “Who will volunteer for this task?” The king looked each of them in the face one by one.

  “I will, your Majesty.” Liam pushed to his feet as he spoke. Roguelyn’s heart sank at the sight. Liam was only trying to prove himself, prove he was still a good spy that could be trusted to carry out a mission.

  “No, you won’t, Liam,” the king’s voice was stern. Liam’s eyes went to the table and he sat. “You failed your last mission. I need someone more responsible, more capable of an in-depth mission.” The king looked around the table. Roguelyn spoke up.

  “Your Majesty, Liam would be a good choice. He knows about the cult from his time in Gadel and he’s a capable spy.” The king eyed her for a moment before responding.

  “No. Liam will have to find a way to prove himself other than this mission.” Finally, a man with dark skin and long curling black hair stood up.

  “I will, your Majesty.” The king nodded at the man.

  “Thank you, Captain Alden. Your service is greatly appreciated.” It was decided and the group began to speak of other matters happening in the country. The king discussed who would be sent as spies to parse information from Gadel about the queen and their upcoming peace treaty meeting in the spring. When the group began to break up, Captain Alden looked to Roguelyn.

  “May we meet to discuss the plan?” Roguelyn nodded her assent, and as he began to walk towards the door with her in tow, she looked back over her shoulder at Liam who stood from the table slowly. She felt bad for him, but one look at his face, which was set with anger and determination told her something bad was about to happen. She hurried to catch up with Captain Alden to discuss a plan, but as soon as she was done, she knew she had to find Liam and talk him out of whatever it was he was so clearly planning to do.

  It was evening before she had a chance to leave Captain Alden to his preparations and go to find Liam. He wasn’t in his apartments, and she couldn’t find him in the dining hall or anywhere within the castle. She raced back to her rooms to throw on riding pants and a shirt, and strap on her sword. She threw a cape around her shoulders, and ran down the front steps of the castle, out into the snow storm that raged, and out to the stables. She scurried inside, the warmth of the stables and the smells of hay and horses assaulted her nose. She paused and breathed in deeply, relishing the comfort of it. She spotted a stable hand half way down mucking out a stall. She quickened her pace as she walked towards him.

  “Jym, have you seen Liam?” she said breathlessly as she approached. Jym paused, leaning on his pitch fork.

  “Yes, m’lady. I saw him not an hour ago crossing the stable yard and heading for the gates.” Roguelyn breathed out in a huff.

  “An hour ago?” Jym nodded. Roguelyn turned on her heel and hurried from the stables and out into the storm once again. She made her way to the gates of the castle proper and slipped out a small door in the wall. The guards there also confirmed for her that Liam had passed that way an hour before. She made her way into the city, making for the merchant’s shop she knew was the center for the cult. She suspected that Liam was going to try to do something stupid, to assassinate the Excellent Magistrate, and in the process she was sure he’d get himself killed if he didn’t go about it the right way. She had seen the desperation growing in his eyes in the previous weeks. She had run into him multiple times lurking outside the king’s throne room, hoping for an audience with him. He was going to try to prove himself, and he was being reckless. She needed to save him from himself.

  Fear grew in Roguelyn’s chest as she hurried through the snow-covered streets. The light from inside shops spilled out onto the white snow that was still softly falling, the dark spaces in between the lit shops were bright with fresh fallen snow. Despite the cloud cover above, the snow reflected even the tiniest bit of light, helping Roguelyn move through the streets without much difficulty. She passed a few taverns, bright with light and noise. As she passed by one, the door suddenly swung open, and two men stumbled out into the snow, singing a bawdy song with their arms thrown around one another. The sudden light and sound startled Roguelyn and she almost lost her footing on the slippery cobblestones. But she hurried on, grateful for her thick cloak and boots.

  Finally, she rounded a corner and saw the merchant’s shop half way down the street. The street was quiet and deserted but the light was still on in the shop. This shop sold religious relics, candles, and talismans for protection. They sold decorative knives, as well as objects said to help with fertility, or to ward off illness. They did a surprising business, but with a decades long war, the people of both Gadel and now Rayaven were desperate. Food was always in short supply, the men often gone at war and returning maimed or not returning at all. And life was generally more stressful, allowing fanatics like this cult to take root. Roguelyn paused in a patch of darkness alongside a building with an overhang. No clean bright snow accumulated here, instead only drifts of soot blackened snow had settled under the eaves. As Roguelyn watched, two men came out of the merchant’s shop. They stood with their heads together for a moment, speaking too softly for Roguelyn to hear. Then they said their good nights and went separate directions down the street.

  The one that moved towards Roguelyn was wearing a long bulky cape, and he had the hood pulled up so she could not see his face. As he passed her hiding place, Roguelyn caught a glimpse of movement in an alley a few dozen feet behind the man and across the street from where she stood. It was Liam. He stood up from a crouched position and came out into the street, his eyes fixed on the man, his face set. Roguelyn quickly stepped forward and spoke, calling out to Liam.

  “Ahoy there, young man
, can you tell me how to get to the castle?” Liam stopped dead, his eyes flicking back and forth between her and the man he was trying to follow, the man turned and looked at them briefly before continuing on. Roguelyn motioned for Liam to join her. He finally sighed and followed her under the eaves of the house.

  “What do you think you are trying to do? Get yourself killed?” she hissed at him, grabbing his arm. He glared at her.

  “You might have just ruined my only chance at questioning that man about the cult!” Liam was clearly furious. But Roguelyn was having none of it.

  “I already have a man on the inside, you idiot. I’ve spent my entire winter gaining contacts. I was going to hook Captain Alden up with my contact to get him easy entrance.” His face was still set.

  “Look,” Roguelyn relented, “you should just leave this to Captain Alden and myself.” His eyes were stony as he looked at her. “But, since you clearly seem determined, please, let me help you.” He began to shake his head but she stopped him, placing both hands on either side of his face. “This is more dangerous than you know, Liam. I’ve done the research. I know how to get us inside and I think we have a better chance of doing this together.” He didn’t pull away. “Besides, despite your anger at me, we make a pretty good team.” She smiled at him, and he finally relented, nodding.

  “Fine. What’s your plan?” She grinned at him now.

  “Let’s go talk.”