Kinshield's Redemption (Book 4) (33 page)

Kaoque eyed him suspiciously. “Is a queen not permitted to roam free in the palace?”

“Yes, normally she is, but like I said, she’s been ill.”

“Well enough to escape your watchful eye. What is the nature of her illness?”

There was a very good chance Feanna would try to find her way here to see what Kaoque’s message was. It was up to Edan to see that she didn’t. “She was poisoned, and the poison has affected her mind. Every antidote we’ve tried has failed to reverse the damage. She’s gone quite mad, I’m afraid.”

Kaoque flinched, turning his head slightly to the left. “Yes, I see. We will depart tomorrow morning for Cyprindia. If I have not been allowed to deliver the Lord Ruler’s message by then, he will learn of this upon my return.”

“But won’t he declare war if he gets no response?” Edan asked.

Kaoque answered with silence.

Damn it. There was only one thing to do. He had to find Feanna. With a smile of forced confidence, he promised to find the queen and present her by that evening. “The palace isn’t so large. She can’t hide forever.”

He bid Kaoque and Tokpah good morning and left. He encountered Taria in the hallway and instructed her to stay with Kaoque and intercept Feanna should she seek him out. If Edan found Feanna first, he could persuade her to behave properly in exchange for something she wanted.

It occurred to him that Kaoque wouldn’t know the true Feanna from an imposter. Liera would substitute nicely. She wasn’t much shorter than Feanna, and though she was stockier and with redder hair, their guest wouldn’t know the difference. Liera knew Feanna well enough to play her convincingly to a stranger, but he’d already told Kaoque that Feanna was mad. Could Liera act the part? It was a shame he hadn’t thought of this subterfuge earlier, though it bothered him to be so deceitful. Given the circumstances, it was the best option he had. Should she succeed in convincing him, Edan would know the content of the message the Lord Ruler had for Gavin and could prepare for what was to come.

He found her in the family room, talking to Keturah. When he entered, they both looked up at him with the guilty faces of conspirators. Edan wondered if GJ had let the chickens out of the coop.

“Good morning, Lord Edan,” Liera said, smiling. “Keturah and I were having a chat about her papa.”

“That’s where you got your beautiful eyes,” Edan said to the girl. “Liera, I need a moment of your time, if I may intrude.”

She patted Keturah’s leg. “We’ll talk more later.” Keturah stood, curtsied to them both, and scampered away. “What’s going on? I see everyone running this way and that. Is Gavin home?”

“If only he were,” Edan said, taking a seat. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “Feanna has managed to escape her room through the servants’ passages. Everyone is frantically searching for her.”

“Oh, dear. Should I gather the children?”

He nodded. “I don’t believe she would try to harm any of them, but she might say hurtful things.”

“My son is proof of that.”

Edan took a deep, steadying breath. “First, I have a favor to ask. Our Cyprindian visitors know she’s here, in the palace. I tried to explain that she fell ill, and that was why I can’t allow them an audience with her, but Kaoque was deeply offended.” Walking in on his bath hadn’t helped that situation any.

“Why can’t he understand that the queen isn’t up to conducting official business?”

“He seems to have an expectation that his presence here trumps all other matters, including the queen’s own well-being.” He shook his head dismissively. “It’s neither here nor there. Now that he knows she’s here, he insists on delivering his message to her.”

“To Feanna? You didn’t tell him about... you know. Her mental state?”

“I did, but still he insisted. His mission is to deliver the message and return home straight away. I suppose he has a point—her condition is our problem, not his. He has a duty to perform, and perhaps he doesn’t have the authority to make judgment calls regarding its execution. I tried to explain that Gavin will be home soon, but he plans to leave at tomorrow’s first light, whether he’s delivered his message or not. The problem is that if he fails, the Cyprindians might declare war, and we don’t even have an army yet.”

“And you have no idea where Feanna is? Do you think she made it past the guards and left the island?”

He told her about the food tray Eriska had left and how the meal had been eaten by the time he got there. He suspected Feanna had been nearby, hiding perhaps and watching them run around in a panic, trying to find her. “It had to have been her who ate the food. No one else would’ve had the nerve to do such a thing.”

“I’ll help you look for her,” Liera said. “She used to love the rear garden. I’ll start there.”

“Actually,” Edan said, “that’s not what I’ve come to ask. I want to introduce you to the Cyprindians as Queen Feanna.”

Her eyes flew open. “You can’t be serious!”

“You know her better than any of us. You know her mannerisms, her humor, everything about her. Dressed in a pretty gown with perhaps a few pieces of her jewelry, you could absolutely pass as Queen Feanna.”

She shook her head. “Oh, Edan, no. That would be treason!”

“Not when the queen has been stripped of her authority by the king himself. We’re only acting in the best interest of Thendylath. Taking steps to avert a war with our oldest and greatest enemy is worth a stern look and wagging finger from Gavin. I’ll take full responsibility for the scheme. You needn’t worry about bearing his wrath for this.” He reached over and took one of her hands. “All you have to do is walk in, let me introduce you, and say a few words of greeting. I’ll do most of the talking. You need only listen to the message, tell him you’ll take the matter under consideration, and discuss it with King Gavin when he returns.”

“What if he meets the real Feanna?”

“I’ve assigned Taria to stay with him, in case she finds her way to his room. Once he meets you as Queen Feanna and delivers his message, it won’t matter. He’ll go back to Cyprindia with his assignment fulfilled.”

She chewed her lip for a moment while her gaze held his own. “I only need to say a few words to him?”

“I’ll be there to guide you every step of the way.”

With a deep breath, she nodded. “All right. I’ll do it.”

Chapter 43

The ride from Ambryce was long enough, but it seemed even longer with Hennah, mile after mile, hurling insults, reminding Gavin of his wife’s infidelity, speculating about his son’s true parentage, and suggesting he get even by bedding her. Daia wanted to gag her, and after the first day of his prisoner’s ceaseless verbal onslaught, Gavin relented. As they neared Acorn Lake, he grew first eager and then impatient. They would soon find out whether his idea for a cure would work.

“Shouldn’t we be turning off the road soon?” Daia asked.

“Yeh,” he said. “Guardians, how far away is Rarga’s village now?”

They faded into view, floating alongside Golam. “You should ride north now, Emtor, through the forest. It’ll be another three and three-quarters hours’ ride.”

When at last they reached the place the Guardians had described, Gavin asked once more for direction. “It is here, Emtor. In this very spot. If we may offer advice?”

“O’course,” he said.

“Ride fifty yards to the east before you travel to the midrealm. Should you appear suddenly in the middle of the village, the kho-bent Elyle might react violently, thinking it an invasion.”

He nodded and led the way to a spot where the horses ate while they waited. “This should be fine,” he said as everyone dismounted. “Daia, you stay with Hennah. Cirang’s coming with me.”

Cirang, helping Hennah from her horse, looked up in surprise. “Me?”

“What?” Daia said. “No. Absolutely not. She’s not your champion; I am. It’s my duty—”

“I know, but I need her carving skill, and I can’t take both o’you or our prisoner’ll run off.”

“Fine.” Daia stomped over to Hennah and grabbed her roughly by the arm, then proceeded to tie her to a tree. Once she had the prisoner secured, she removed the gag and held a waterskin for her to drink, not seeming to care that most of the water went down the front of Hennah’s shirt.

“Hold it still, wench,” Hennah said. “If I wanted a bath, I’d go to the lake.”

Gavin pulled the two runes from his knapsack and dropped the summoning rune into his coin purse, keeping the rune of time in his palm. He ran a thumb over the dark symbol etched into its otherwise smooth surface. “How far back do I go to find Rarga?” he asked the Guardians.

“She lived a very long life, and even counselled your last king. You can find her as few as two hundred eight years ago or as many as three hundred eighty-six years ago.”

“Ready?” he asked Cirang. She nodded, and he put his free hand on her shoulder. With Daia’s gift fueling his magic, he found the vortex immediately and even willed it to stop on green, the color of the midrealm. It was getting easier, a blessing during a time when it seemed everything else was going wrong. “Taendat,” he whispered, and together he and Cirang took a step.

“Whoa,” she said, reaching for something to hold onto. She stumbled, and he gripped her arm to steady her. He was growing used to the vertigo of changing realms. Though it still threw off his balance, he recovered more quickly than he had at first.

“It’ll take some getting used to. Let’s go.” He led the way through the woods back towards Acorn Lake. The sounds of Elyle whistles and clicks reached his ears. “Set it down here,” one said. “We’ll bring the rest of it once we’ve had a chance to drink our fill of water.”

The buildings were made of brick and stone, and the walkways were paved with what appeared to be mats of woven grass. He and Cirang drew the attention of two Elyle on the outer edges of a village. They froze, their eyes bright yellow with alarm.

“Good day,” he said, lifting one hand in a friendly wave. “I’m the Wayfarer, and this is my companion.”

“Wayfarer?” one said. “Arek is Wayfarer.”

“That one has slain Arek!” the other cried. “Flee! He means to slay us too.”

“No,” Gavin said quickly. “I’m from a time in the future. I came back using a Rune of the Past, see?” He held it out to them with the rune’s symbol facing outward. “I need to speak to Rarga, and I heard she lives in this village.”

“Ohhhh, you want to see Rarga,” the first Elyle said, bobbing his head. His eyes turned from yellow to blue.

“Rarga,” echoed the other, doing the same. They looked like a pair of birds in a mating dance. “My complement saw her walking towards the stream to the south. Perhaps you’ll find her there, Emtor.”

“My thanks.” He bowed to them and started off, leaving them marveling to each other about the rune of the past.

Cirang followed closely behind. “It’s amazing that you can understand those squeaks and clicks and whistles. They sound like birds but look like cats.”

Not far away, he heard the sound of trickling water and hoped Rarga was still nearby. Through the trees, he caught a glimpse of something yellow among the green. It was a head, he saw as they neared, an Elyle paler than he’d ever seen, like the blond hair he’d had as a boy. It looked up at their approach, its eyes changing from blue to green and then to yellow. The Elyle stood like it was ready to flee.

“Are you Rarga?” Gavin asked, stopping. He didn’t want to frighten her.

“Are you the one called Sevae? You have slain Arek?”

“No, no. I’m Gavin Kinshield. I’ve back-traveled to see you.” He held up the rune for her to see. “I’m the Wayfarer two hundred years in the future.”

The Elyle’s eyes flew wide. “Colors be!” She splashed through the stream, seemingly unconcerned with getting her boots wet, and trotted up to them, her eyes now a brilliant shade of blue.

On her approach, Cirang reached for her sword. “My king?”

With a touch on her wrist, he stopped her. “It’s awright. She’s curious, not dangerous.”

The Elyle reached tentatively and poked Gavin’s chest with one finger. “It works! The rune works. You’re the first one to use it. Well, the first I’ve learned about. I’m sure not the first from your perspective. Two hundred years, you said?” She rose up on her tiptoes and looked closely into his eyes, and then looked into Cirang’s. “How do you feel? Are you dizzy? Disoriented? Have you a feeling in your mouth like raw cotton?”

Gavin chuckled. “No more than usual when I travel to another realm. I take it you’re Rarga?”

“Yes, I am. What did you say your name was?”

He smiled. “Gavin Kinshield.”

“Yes, I should have seen it. Arek’s champion.”

“Uh, not that Kinshield,” he said. Though she had the right of it, it was a more complicated matter than he wanted to go into. “He’s a distant ancestor of mine, though.”

Rarga’s lips peeled back, revealing straight, flat teeth. “I’m not as ignorant as you think I am. You’re he, perhaps older, perhaps in a different shell, but you’re Arek’s champion. What can I help you with today, Gavin Kinshield?”

He felt his face redden, glad Cirang didn’t understand her. No one from his own time knew his secret, and he preferred to keep it that way. “I’m in a bit of a bind. I’ve got a summoning rune—”