Broken Crown

by Drae Box

  After rummaging through the king’s daughter’s clothes drawers and finding Aldora a few spares she could borrow, Raneth headed back downstairs and into the mission room hidden behind the staircase. He noticed that everything in the room – both the Giften magic technology and the Southern Kingdom electrical technology – was powered down. He eased past the large chair in the centre of the room that was used to mind- or body-meld in missions of the highest danger – missions which the king oversaw instead of letting royal officials work on their own or with a partner. The cupboard Raneth was interested in was in the corner of the room, locked, so he made quick work of it with the lockpicks and pulled it open. A small line of the latest version of grebunars sat nestled on a black velvet cloth on one of the shelves, so he pulled his sleeve to cover his hand and plucked one out.

  “Ruddy MIR,” he mumbled, referring to his allergy to younger magic, which was caused by his having two gifts as well as his inherited blood-gift. “At least Aldora can use this if we get separated.”

  He headed back to the kitchen but jerked to a stop in the doorway of the king’s armoury. Directly opposite the door, a large section of the wall was empty. Where in Giften’s soil is the Kingdom’s Shield? Cray’d better not be dead! A relic of Giften’s earliest days, the Kingdom’s Shield was an heirloom of the royal family and they could only surrender or give away the kingdom to another family if they handed it over. If somebody snuck in here and took it... His stomach clenched at the thought. The royal palace only guarded the lives of the royals, not their things. If a thief had somehow snuck in, perhaps through a window, and taken the Shield, they’d own Giften. They’d be the ruler. Raneth shook his head. I can’t do anything about that yet. I’d better check on Aldora and Pedibastet. He went to the kitchen.

  “What did you find?” he asked Aldora.

  She hesitated, her hands full of small rectangles wrapped in black packaging. Ah, bummer. She found royal official rations.

  “RO ration bars and some water bottles,” replied Aldora triumphantly with a smile. “Was there any hint upstairs of what happened?”

  Raneth put the new grebunar on the island counter, noticing Aldora had emptied her bag’s contents there so she could easily add her findings. “No, but I didn’t think to look for their journals. If they had left them behind, I doubt they would have had time to write what happened before they left.”

  “If they truly fled, they would have taken those with them,” stated Pedibastet, who sat on the island counter. He sniffed at the grebunar as Raneth pulled his old one out and tapped it gently against the new one.

  That’s true, noted Raneth, nodding in agreement and returning his grebunar to his belt pouch. “Pass us some of those?” he asked Aldora, holding his hands out for the rations. They divvied up the rations and water bottles between his new bag and her old one from their assignment in the Newer Kingdom.

  “So now what do we do?” asked Aldora.

  Raneth fiddled with his sword’s positioning on his belt. “The Kingdom’s Shield is gone,” he stated.

  “What?” shrieked Pedibastet. “Cray would never surrender Giften! He’s my human! He isn’t stupid!”

  “Someone has it,” stated Raneth. He shrugged. “Maybe Cray took it with him to keep it safe.” He hoped that was the case.

  Aldora shoved a ration bar into her bag more roughly than she had the others. “That can’t be good news. Even if Cray has it, that suggests somebody wanted to try and take it.”

  Raneth nodded. “Next nearest settlement other than yours is Wisner City,” he stated, as he shrugged his bag onto his back and secured the straps. “We should head there and see if we can find out what happened.” He nodded at the grebunar. “That’s for you. Have you heard about grebunars?”

  Aldora nodded. “They’re a really old piece of Giften tech that we still make. I heard they cost the same as a house. Is this yours?”

  “Technically it belongs to the mission room,” admitted Raneth. “But Cray loans these out to royal officials if he’s overseeing their assignments from there, so the tech can channel through them with an upgrade patch to turn it into a mission grebunar instead of a regular one. I want you to carry this so we can communicate if we get separated. I’ve linked it up to mine.”

  “But your MIR…”

  “My one’s been in the Bayre family for three or four hundred years. It doesn’t affect me, just like the Dagger and the Shotput don’t because they’re more than two hundred years older than me.” He looked at the Shotput of Power. The silver sphere was nestled against one of Aldora’s top on the counter’s surface. I might need that and Aldora has the Dagger. Technically, he still had to present it to Cray, if they could find him. He slipped the Shotput of Power into his bag. “To use your grebunar, squeeze it in your hand and think of me, then let go. It’ll float near you and show an image of my face and we’ll be able to hear each other.”

  Aldora smiled and gently took the grebunar. “This is a good idea,” she stated, slipping it into her trouser pocket and then frowning at Raneth. “You said you were getting me some fresh clothes from Lady Lemuela’s room?”

  “Yeah, here...” Raneth dipped a hand into his bag and withdrew his findings from his cousin’s room. “Here you go. I’ll turn my back or you can pick another room to change in if you like.”

  “You’ve seen all of my body now, Raneth,” said Aldora with a small laugh. “But whatever’s comfortable for you.”

  Raneth turned his back.

  Chapter Two

  Aldora

  They had never walked for this long in silence. Aldora glanced up at Raneth as they continued towards Wisner City; they had passed her village’s ruins a while ago. She was holding onto Raneth’s scarred hand, refusing to let go, though he didn’t seem to mind. The last time the village had come under attack, Wisner had been the first place she had gone after the palace in search of the just-stolen Dagger of Protection. I had just days then to save my dad. Now I don’t know if I have any time to save him, or where he even is. Her family had grown since then too, to include her half-sister, Alika, her partner Drigoe and Alika’s newborn, Nathaniel.

  “Raneth?”

  He looked at her with his gorgeous blue eyes and gave her a smile, the previous night’s black stubble still peppering his jawline and chin. “Yeah?” he asked, his voice matching the soft tone of hers. Aldora watched as the cold breeze tussled his short black hair.

  “I… Raneth, I’m really grateful that you’re here with me. I don’t know what I’d do if you weren’t.”

  She spotted as Raneth flushed slightly before he smiled and nodded. “I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else but by your side,” he said.

  “What about me?” asked Prince Pedibastet, walking by her side.

  “You too, Pedi,” she assured him.

  The cat rubbed his cheek against the outside of her leg, then paused and stared ahead. “There are people outside Wisner’s city gates, but I don’t recognise their uniforms,” he warned.

  “What do you mean?” asked Aldora. “They’re not royal officials or legionaries?”

  “No. It’s no Giften or army uniform that I recognise. You’ll see as we draw close. Be careful. I can run faster than you two, but that does not mean I want you two falling behind whilst I escape.”

  “I wouldn’t dream of it,” murmured Raneth, a small smile twitching at the left side of his mouth. “Let’s get closer and see what we can find out.”

  Sounds like a plan, decided Aldora as she gave a nod and strode forwards again. A soft pressure from Raneth’s hand told her he was worried too. But is his stomach rolling over like mine? What if this is all my fault? What if whoever attacked the village used it somehow to get Cray to give the kingdom over, and I wasn’t there to stop them? If I’ve gotten my whole village killed, I’ll never be able to live with myself. She squinted as the shapes of four individuals at the city’s gates started to become more visible to her in the day’s light. Black, knee-length jackets? She
glanced at Raneth.

  “I don’t recognise what they’re wearing either,” he stated.

  Aldora eyed the three men and one woman in their black jackets, noticing as she drew close that their buttons were gold, as were the rims of their sleeves and collars. They each wore trousers of different styles and colours, suggesting that only the jacket signified they were together. One of the men pointed at Aldora. Oh-oh. She looked up at Raneth.

  “Relax,” he uttered at her look. “It might not mean anything just yet.” But he stiffened when he was pointed at next.

  Easy to say, not easy to do, she thought, giving his hand a quick squeeze of comfort.

  “Hi,” she said to the four outside the large, metal city gates.

  “Identify yourselves,” ordered the woman, taking a step closer to Aldora, Raneth and Pedibastet. She had her arms down at her sides, reminding Aldora of Raneth when he was preparing for a fight, especially as her fingers were twitching.

  “Aldora Leoma,” she replied as calmly as she could. Her heart was racing as she watched the four come nearer and glare at her, their eyes running up and down her body before looking at Raneth.

  “And him?” asked the woman, nodding towards Raneth.

  “Royal Official Raneth Bayre,” supplied Raneth with a small smile. “May we enter Wisner, please?”

  “Dagger Bearer, it’s a huge honour to meet you,” stated the woman, grabbing Aldora’s hand from Raneth’s and shaking it with both of hers.

  “Uh, thanks,” uttered Aldora, feeling her blush warming the sides of her neck and her ears. I really wish I could stop going red every time someone thinks well of me because of the Quest. It’s so embarrassing.

  “Did the royal official kidnap you, Miss Leoma?” asked one of the men.

  Aldora frowned at Raneth, then back at the four standing between them and Wisner City. “No. He’s my boyfriend.”

  “Your boyfriend has been charged with kidnapping you,” stated the woman. “And he’s a known murderer.” The woman looked at the three men flanking her. “Grab him.”

  Raneth drew his sword. “Keep back,” he growled. “I never kidnapped Aldora and I only ever kill in self-defence or as part of my duties to the Three Ks. Convicted murderers and the like.”

  Aldora stepped between Raneth’s sword and the men. Each of the black jackets hesitated at her move. “Nobody is grabbing Raneth,” she stated firmly. “I confirm everything he’s just said. Who charged him?”

  “The Kingdom’s Guardian. All royal officials have been sentenced to death without trial for the murder of Giften citizens under the rule of Cray Apocolettio.”

  Kingdom’s Guardian? That’s not a title I’ve ever heard. Aldora frowned as a thought occurred to her. It better not be that tribune Jovian. Nosy little snot rag!

  “Nobody is taking Raneth away from me,” she snarled. “No matter who wants to. Raneth has been in the Newer Kingdom with me. Now, we’re going inside, so back off!”

  She drew the Dagger of Protection and thought of lightning crackling around the blade. The jagged edges of the split blade lit up as the lightning did exactly as she wanted, curling around the gold blade but not striking her opponents, yet. She jabbed the blade towards them, but still didn’t let the lightning strike as she eased slowly around the black jackets. She could feel Raneth and Pedibastet behind her, trusting in her to use the Dagger to protect them. Though I bet he could knock them all to the ground if I wasn’t in the way, she thought with a wry smile. But I’d rather do it this way and make it clear that I don’t feel kidnapped at all. They stepped backwards into Wisner City, moving past the inner gate and feeling the cobbled path under their feet.

  “We should run,” muttered Raneth, just low enough that Aldora caught his words.

  “Yeah. To my right?” she asked, keeping her eyes on the four hostiles.

  “Yeah.”

  Aldora watched the black jackets carefully. Can they tell what we just decided? The woman in the black jacket was observing Aldora just as carefully, a small frown in place, but the other three were glancing at her, waiting for a signal of what they should do. We just have to get into the crowds here, decided Aldora. It’s always busy on the streets by this entrance because of the market stalls. If we can hide from them for long enough, they’ll stop looking. It’s not like they’re Thane Frey and it’s their way of life to chase us.

  Aldora glanced to her right, checking that they had room to run. There were people there: a mother with two children holding her hands, and three men from the Barbaric East with their hair styled and coloured to display their kill count. Enough space but not enough people. She jerked to the right, keeping the Dagger drawn as she ran. She sped past the mother and children and dodged the Eastern Barbarians. At her side, Raneth sprinted with ease as Pedibastet rushed ahead of them and took the first side turning on the right.

  Aldora followed the Prince of the Cats, grateful when she noticed that the street here was much busier, heaving with the amount of foot traffic trickling through. She squeezed past two men in suits talking as they walked side by side, and she saw Raneth swerve past a dog. Raneth rejoined her side and took her free hand in his.

  “In there,” he ordered, pointing ahead at an alleyway.

  Aldora glanced over her shoulder, looking for the black jackets, but she couldn’t see them. Why aren’t they following us? Or did we lose them that quickly? She rushed into the alleyway and rested her side against the brick wall on the left, gasping for breath as Raneth stood at the alleyway’s mouth, peering out into the street and looking for uniformed individuals.

  “Do you see them?” asked Aldora. She looked down at their feet and spotted Pedibastet sitting by her, licking his back leg clean.

  “No,” admitted Raneth. He turned his back on the street and took Aldora’s hand. “But we shouldn’t stay here. We need to keep moving.”

  Pedibastet strolled towards the other end of the alleyway, where it would spit them out onto another street which was so stuffed with people that they would have to move slowly to avoid bumping into others.

  “There’s a corner shop near here,” said the cat. “We should get a copy of The Giften Daily and find out what’s going on. Clearly Cray messed up whilst we three were gone.”

  Aldora looked back the way they had come and frowned. “I don’t get why they’re not following us.”

  “They must have more people who will recognise us inside the city,” said Raneth softly.

  Aldora looked up at him. Though his chest was rising and lowering a little quicker than normal, he was showing no signs of being as out of breath as she was. She really needed to work on her stamina in the future. If she and Raneth were to get married, the last thing he needed was Thane killing her because she couldn’t run for long without tiring. She gobbled in a little more air before she asked, “What about the disused sewers here? The ones you’ve tracked criminals into before? Maybe we can hide out there until we get our bearings.”

  “That’s a good idea,” agreed Raneth. He smiled at her. “If we’re lucky, the criminals down there won’t tell on us and might trade some other clothes for me to wear. If those guys at the gates do tell their buddies we’re here, and they work anything like the law enforcement system we recognise, they’ll give clothing descriptions too.”

  Aldora sheathed the Dagger of Protection. “Maybe the criminals can point us to a few other royal officials too,” she said with a smile.

  “Better we don’t link up with other royal officials if we can avoid it,” he stated, peering into the busy street.

  Aldora noticed that Pedibastet was sitting at her feet and looking up at her with his green eyes. She picked him up and rested him against her chest, letting him rest his back legs on her forearm as her other arm went around him to keep him close. He rested his brown cheek with the black tear track against her right cheek.

  “Why?” she asked.

  “The more of us there are, the harder it is to hide from people looking for us,” expl
ained Raneth, before squeezing into the flow of foot traffic. Aldora followed. They ambled to the right, wedged between a couple speaking a fast language Aldora didn’t recognise, and a group of teenagers behind them.

  Pedibastet looked over his white shoulders to see where they were going. “Next door down on the right,” he instructed, before nestling his head back against Aldora’s.

  Aldora let Raneth tug her into the corner shop. She waited for her eyes to adjust to the darker confines of the shop; very little light came in from the large window beside the door due to the displays of tinned food and newspapers there. Further back in the shop, the shopkeeper stood behind his counter. He hadn’t noticed them yet. He was counting reels of black thread. She kept hold of Pedibastet as she followed Raneth to the stack of copies of The Giften Daily on one of the shelves, and huddled close to his side so she could read the front page with him.

  “‘Dagger Bearer Still Missing’?” uttered Aldora.

  “This explains the kidnapping charge,” murmured Raneth, pointing at a line in the article.

  Aldora shook her head, disliking the clear lie that had been quoted from a Newer Kingdom citizen who served on the Giften–Newer boundary wall. “For the record, Raneth, you never dragged me over the border.”

  “I know.” Raneth fell silent as they both continued to read the article. “‘Denzel Leoma, the Kingdom’s Guardian, promises a reward to anyone who gives Broken Crown information on the whereabouts of Dagger Bearer Aldora Leoma and licensed murderer Raneth Bayre.’”