The Destroyer Book 2 (25 page)

Like the one they were currently building.

I crossed paths with various smaller groups of men and women training. If they had spare breath or energy, they would nod to me as I passed. But I didn't think they actually knew who I was. It was dark enough on the perimeter of the camp to obscure most of my features. I wasn't recognized for anything more than a terrible suit of armor and unequaled combat prowess. There were rumors about my appearance, but they varied so much that most did not really know what I looked like without the skull helmet.

Malek's area was organized in neat rows of even tents that were perfectly spaced from each other. It reminded me of the crop fields outside of the camp that his group was responsible for growing. I snaked my way through the dwellings until I made it to his large pavilion in the center. There were no guards around his tent, and I momentarily grew worried. I had demanded that they never go unguarded. They resisted the order and accused me of paranoia, but I knew if I were planning to dismantle an army, my first step would be to assassinate the generals.

I carried no weapon, but it didn't matter, I could easily kill a handful of Elven soldiers without a blade or my mace. Malek's tent was forty yards from its closest companion, and almost one hundred yards away from the nearest campfire, where I observed his troops taking a meal and talking. I crouched down low and crept through the dead grass and gravel toward the pavilion. They must have dispatched the guards and then pulled their bodies inside to hide them. As I grew closer to the tent, I noticed a faint light that lazily pushed out of the seams of the canvas, two figures cast shadows against the stretched cloth.

I realized that Malek was probably just meeting with one of his lieutenants and had dismissed his guards to have a private conversation. I wanted to ensure his safety, so I continued my silent approach.

"What did he say?" The words were muffled through the canvas and the twenty yards of space, but it was Shlara, speaking in a volume below a whisper.

"You know, the same. Why do you torture me with this?" Malek said. I concentrated on making my breath as long and deep as possible so I wouldn't be heard.

“The way you feel about me? I feel the same for him . . .”

"Why the games? Why don't you just tell him? I feel like I am lying to him." Malek sounded agitated.

"I have told him. When he came to see me about you I almost convinced him."

“Shlara, have some pride. He has refused you so many times. Let him go. You know I can make you happy. I will spend the rest of my life trying.”

"I have to try one more time."

"No! This has gone on for too long. I don't want him to know that I had any part of this. He'll believe I have betrayed him."

"Why would he think that? You are only aiding me. And you are helping Kaiyer too. He just doesn't realize it yet." Shlara's voice was confident and I could feel my anger rising. What was the woman orchestrating without my knowledge?

"There are dark things in his past. He doesn't want to revisit them."

"I will help him. He needs me. He needs my love."

“I need your love. I think of nothing else. Since the moment we met, I have been unable to love anyone else,” Malek’s voice echoed, sad and lost. I felt my heart wrench when I thought about what Shlara and I had almost done. It would have devastated him.

"I love Kaiyer as much as you love me. How hard would it be for you to give up your pursuit?"

"Impossible." Malek's voice was full of defeat.

"I've told you that you should move on and try to find someone else."

"And Kaiyer says the same to you." I winced at the bitterness in his voice.

"I will return to my warriors now,” she said flatly.

I crept backward on all fours until I was a safe distance from the tent. Then I stood and walked back to my own dwelling. The night sky was filled with thousands of stars that slowly spun through the emptiness of nothing, watching over us from the distance, removed and above our petty trials and problems. Entas once told me that the stars were suns, with worlds dancing around them. He had also said there was a star for each person, and that they knew each other like we know our own friends and enemies. The relationship between Malek, Shlara, and I was quickly spinning out of control. If I didn't find a solution, it could cause irreparable damage to the army.

I thought about the stars in hopes that a solution would come to me. I tried to remove my own emotions from this situation and look at it objectively, hoping detachment would help.

It didn't.

“He’s been asleep for most of the day,” A voice whispered from the other side of the dark room.

“I thought he was dead. The fucking wurm knocked him off of the bridge three days ago. He must have fallen hundreds of feet." It was Greykin’s voice. I fought away the cobwebs of the memory from my mind and smiled. I had advised the duke that Greykin and his men were roaming the castle attempting to rescue Nanos and the queen. He sent servants to find them and it appeared that they had been successful.

“Did he tell you about Jessmei?” I recognized it as Nadea’s father’s voice.

“Let’s go into the other room.” Footsteps lightly tread across the tile floor and wool rug. A thick door opened from the other side of the room, more footsteps, and then the door closed. They continued their conversation, it carried through the stone wall and door to my sensitive ears. It was the dead of night and the castle slept like a drunken man who had almost died in a bar fight.

“He said she was in Merrium, a tiny cattle village to the north. He halted her kidnappers and rescued her. Did he tell you the same?” the duke said.

“Aye. I sent a scout there to investigate, but he won’t report back for a week at the earliest.” Greykin’s voice sounded deep and rumbled like an earthquake, even when he whispered.

“Was that wise? What if the man is caught and gives up information?”

“It was the best I could do. I have no reason to doubt Kaiyer, but the story seemed impossible. They were on horseback and he ran after them on foot.”

“He also killed three Ancients barehanded, was tossed fifty yards by an explosion of fire, and caused the empress to adjust her plans just to have him eliminated. My daughter thought he was the O’Baarni, and I need little more proof.” I opened my eyes at the duke’s words and stopped myself from sighing. Saving Jessmei meant I let everything else fall apart.

“The princess is practically my own child. I had to know for sure. How about here? Have you found out anything? Is Nadea alive?” Greykin asked with unmasked concern.

“I have discovered nothing.” The duke’s voice was flat and empty.

“No body? Surely someone would have seen her be killed or dragged into the funeral mound.”

“No one saw her after the last meeting.”

“I guarded her, Paug, Nanos, and the king to the Royal Safe Room. Five of the Losher bastards caught up and I held them off while the rest of them fled. We were only a few hundred feet from the combination door.” The Old Bear’s voice was spiced with remorse and failure.

“Nanos is under constant Losher and Ancient guard. I have contemplated slipping him a note or communicating with him.”

“How did you avoid the Losher attack?” Greykin said to change the subject. My ears perked up since the duke had declined to answer this question when I had asked him earlier in the day.

“It isn’t that exceptional of a story: I killed a few when they attacked, but they seemed to be almost everywhere at once. It was definitely the work of a mole; they knew intimate details of the castle. I tried to retreat to our main meeting room, but the way had been blocked. I rallied a few dozen soldiers with Maerc, but it was clear that we would be overrun. We fell back to the perimeter of the garden and we were separated. I then ran into the castle to escape a trio of Losher guards that realized I was someone of importance.” The duke paused as another pair of footsteps entered the room.

“We just received a late dinner request from the princ--er, King Nanos. He is alone in the study. You asked me to report to you when he wasn’t under guard.” It sounded like a young boy.

“Excellent. Thank you,” Beltor said with relief. The footsteps retreated out the same door before Nadea’s father continued.

“This is perfect. I need to have this letter delivered.” I heard a pair of lightly-shod feet take a few steps, and then a drawer opened.

“What does it say?” Greykin asked.

“It asks Nanos to meet an ‘Esteemed Friend’ at the southwestern terrace. There is a concealed spot nearby where I can observe him. I’ll place another letter there asking him where Nadea is. I will then be able to observe how he reacts to the letter and see if he is being followed.” The duke’s voice picked up tempo, it was clear he was nervous.

“Aren’t you afraid of being found out now? You are in the den of the enemy here!” Greykin’s voice grew a bit loud and the duke hushed him.

“No. Only a few of the servants ever saw me. And they can only identify someone with long fine hair, no beard, wearing robes and a crown. The quartermaster knows that I am here. He assigned me to this management position and the other servants just follow my orders because I understand how to run the house. Of course, I’d be a fool to think that some of the older servants don’t know who I am, but I believe that they respect me enough not to give me away.”

“So you have command of the place?” Greykin said in disbelief.

“Yes. In a limited fashion. The Ancients and Losher soldiers would never believe that I was here.”

I realized that I would not fall back asleep, so I leveraged my thin body out of the makeshift cot the duke had dragged into the storage room for me. I performed a long stretch of my back, legs, and hamstrings while the two men continued to speak on the other side of the wall.

“Methinks that we might be better off rescuing Nanos and the queen as soon as possible and retreating to Brilla. I understand your search for Nadea, but should the letter to Nanos include a rough plan to extract them?” Greykin’s voice dipped to a low whisper and I had to struggle to hear him over my stretching.

“I am worried about the situation in the castle if the prince is removed. He is obviously a puppet here, but I wonder if the Loshers would create more disturbances in the city if he was not around to negotiate with the Ancients.”

Greykin grunted in agreement and they were both silent for a few moments. I took this opportunity to enter.

“Glad to see ya, Skinny!” Greykin said with a huge smile. He got up from the stool and embraced me warmly. “I thought the wurm had killed you good.”

“I’m pretty hard to kill.” I grinned and pried myself from the big man’s embrace. His display of emotion caught me off guard. Sudden memories of Thayer, Gorbanni, Malek, Alexia, and Shlara hit my chest like a punch to the short ribs.

“Greykin told me of your fall off the bridge, but you left it out of the story you told me yesterday. What happened?” the duke inquired. The man had an impeccable memory and I had skipped over various parts of how the Old Bear and his men had separated from me.

“It wasn’t really worth mentioning.” I looked at them both and shrugged. “There was another stairway wrapping around the column adjacent to the bridge. I only fell a short way and was able to grab onto the rocks. My swords were lost in the confusion,” I said as I motioned toward the empty leather belt on my waist. I had tossed the sheaths in the other room; they were rather useless without the blades.

Greykin looked at the duke and back to me.

"That was three days ago, Skinny." He frowned.

"Perhaps I got lost." I shrugged and forced a smile. I must have been unconscious for longer than I guessed.

“Did you hear any of our conversation?” Beltor asked with an eyebrow raised. He suspected that I did, so I nodded and smiled.

“I need to get information about Nadea. I’ll slip the note to Nanos and then we can wait for him to read it. You both shall come with me.” The duke was used to being in charge and he phrased the request in a way that made it seem as though it was not an order, though it was. The technique was familiar, and I found myself nodding in tandem with Greykin.

“How will you deliver the message to Nanos?” I said with concern. I didn’t want a servant to be captured and have an Elven trace the job back to Beltor.

“We’ll send food to him and have the note concealed with the napkin that wraps the flatware. It isn’t perfect, but I believe he will see it and come tonight.” The duke looked back to the door. It was the only exit out of his office. “I’ll get the request going. You both wait here for a few minutes.” The Old Bear and I nodded again and Beltor rushed out of the room. His drab servant clothing did nothing to mask his authority.

“Where are Danor and the rest of your men?” I asked Greykin

“There are hidden in some empty servant’s quarters. They are foaming at the mouth to get the prince out, but they will have to wait.”

“I missed the story of how the duke alerted you to his presence.”

“We killed a few guards in the dungeon and took their clothes,” the Old Bear began.