The Dragonprince's Heir (33 page)

I sighed and lowered my weapon.

He grinned and lowered his. "But if you'll come along quietly, I'll reunite you with your mother and Sir Drake. No guts involved at all."

"And Father?"

The captain pursed his lips. "That is a matter far above my rank. Far, far, far above."

I sought another way, but I found none. Everything I wanted was inside the palace. I sighed. "Very well, Captain Tanner. I entrust myself to your care. I will go with you."

Seriphenes grumbled in complaint, then disappeared as easily as the Justice had. The captain looked for some objection to our arrangement among the city guards arrayed behind him, but none spoke up. I saw no sign of rank or authority among them. These were the men Seriphenes and the Grand Marshall had managed to rouse in their rush to apprehend my father, and now with their commanders gone, these nameless guards all seemed quite content to yield their responsibility to the outsider.

Tanner turned back to me, unsurprised. "Let's go. And put that thing away before you get it stolen." He slapped an empty leather scabbard against my chest. It looked remarkably like the one I'd left with all my baggage back in Gath.

Before I could ask about that he left at a fast walk, and I had to hurry to keep up. We passed through the gate and into a rundown, shady slums. The captain kept to the very center of the street, never slowing and never glancing down the narrow alleys that watched us as we passed.

Then we turned a corner and the ramshackle buildings were replaced with soaring marble. The rough cobbles with broad, smooth paving stones. The captain slowed at last, the tension left his shoulders, and there across a moonlit courtyard glowed the golden palace gates.

A contingent of Green Eagles stood on guard outside the gates, but they didn't bar our way as we approached. They didn't take my sword. They barely looked my way—though Captain Tanner received a nod that was very nearly a salute. We found the same treatment at the doors of the palace proper, and just inside, I stopped in my tracks.

"I've...I've been here," I breathed.

The captain turned to me, and a little smile touched his lips. "The palace in Tirah is almost a duplicate. The old duke had...ambitions."

I nodded slowly, staring at the closed doors to the cavernous throne room. King Timmon wouldn't be there now, not in these early hours. Everyone would be asleep...except Seriphenes. Except the Grand Marshall. I shuddered and turned to the captain. "You said you'd take me to my mother."

"I very nearly have. She keeps an apartment upstairs, but I can't tell you more than that."

"Captain Tanner, I did not come here to be a prisoner."

"You're not. The Grand Marshall requested it, but His Majesty refused. You have apartments of your own upstairs. If you will let me show you—"

"I would prefer to see my mother first."

The captain only grinned. "We've had this argument before. Last time you won, and it landed you in chains."

"Very well. Show me to my rooms, and I'll send word to her."

"Just as I'd recommend. Now follow me."

He led me to an interior room on the second floor, with just one door and no windows. But it was spacious and well-appointed. A little stand beside the bed held a ceramic basin with steaming water. And spread on the bed was a change of clothes. My own clothes.

For a long moment I just stood staring. Then I spun on the captain. "How?"

He smiled, lips tight. "The Grand Marshall's wizard...collected your uncle before coming here. He brought along your bags. Your mother was able to secure them, but only after the wizard had searched them. Thoroughly."

I ground my teeth in frustration. "He wanted the sword."

"He did. Everyone is asking after it. You should expect a visit soon. Or...several visits, really. Choose carefully whom you'll surrender it to."

I raised my brows. "You don't intend to ask it of me? Surely it would earn you some reward."

"In times like this, I much prefer to be forgotten." He hesitated in the doorway as though he meant to say something more. But then he shook his head and left.

So. I was not a prisoner in the king's palace. Two soldiers from the king's personal guard were stationed in my room and another handful out in the hall, but it was not so harsh a confinement. If I could visit Mother, even with an escort, or bring her here to me, we could find some way to resolve this matter now. I was sure of it.

With that plan in mind, I turned a more grateful eye to the clothes spread on the bed. Under the Green Eagles' careful gaze, I washed my face and hands. I traded worn-out travel clothes for a suit more fitting the court. I had barely finished buttoning my coat when someone knocked at the door.

A Green Eagle twice my age with scars like whiskers looked to me for permission, and I almost laughed. I nodded once, and he opened the door to reveal my knights waiting nervously in the hall.

It had only been days since I'd seen them last, perhaps a week, but they looked much changed by the interval. Toman was taller and broader, but stern-faced Jen looked...wilted. She met my eyes across the gap, and before any of the guards could object, she threw herself at me.

She crossed four paces in a heartbeat and wrapped me up in a crushing embrace. It was as out of place as if Caleb had done it. Or perhaps the Grand Marshall. I gasped as much at the shock as at the tightness of her grip.

And yet...it was not unpleasant. She was strong and soft and warm. Her short hair tickled soft against my cheek. She smelled of woodsmoke and cinnamon.

Heat burned in my cheeks while unexpected emotions clamored in my head. I almost didn't hear her breathy whisper in my ear. "I need the sword."

I blinked at that. "What?"

Louder, now, she gave a nervous little giggle. "Oh, Taryn! My dear, sweet Taryn! Oh, I was so worried!"

She sounded like some rattled farm wife, and far too loud at that. Then behind me, Toman carefully cleared his throat and asked the guards, "Come now, gentlemen! Where would he go? Those walls are made of stone!"

Jen responded with a flurry of little kisses on my face and neck. I was too dazed yet to react, but one of the Green Eagles spat, "Southerners!" with unconcealed contempt. To my surprise, I heard the door behind me open and close. One glance showed me that Jen and I had the room all to ourselves.

Then Jen was two paces away, acting herself again. The rapid change left me unsteady and I sank back onto the bed for support. Jen raised an eyebrow and shook her head. "Don't get carried away, huh?"

"Haven's name! What's going on?"

In answer, she started fumbling at her belt. She turned her back to me and said, "Come over here. Lift up my shirt."

"Jen!"

She threw a withering look over her shoulder. "Now is not the time for this! I need your sword."

As she said it, she grabbed the corner of her shirt and raised its hem enough to show the throat of an empty scabbard she had concealed beneath her clothes.

"You want
the sword
?"

She frowned at me for saying it so loud, and I directed an embarrassed glance at the door. It remained closed.

Jen came to confront me, hands on her hips and fire in her eyes. A week ago, that stance might have left me quaking, but after that greeting at the door, after the flurry of little kisses, I saw more than the fearsome guard in her.

I swallowed hard and met her eyes. "You can't have it."

"Taryn, we don't have time to discuss it. Caleb ordered me to get that blade from you before Othin or Seriphenes could."

I shook my head. "No. No. Even if Caleb tried to take it himself—"

"Caleb is in chains. Since the moment Seriphenes arrived."

"Why?"

"The wizard said you'd found your father. Said you'd bring him here. He said if we wanted any chance at all, we should bury Caleb and your mother beneath the king's cathedral and deny she'd ever been here."

I shuddered, suddenly cold, and something softened in Jen's expression. "They didn't touch your mother. The king wouldn't allow it. But Othin convinced him Caleb was a threat."

"And Caleb asked you to get my sword?"

"He didn't
ask
. He said if Daven showed up here, I had to get that sword to him, or we'd wish the king had taken Seriphenes's advice. I don't know why."

I collapsed back on the bed. "I think I do. Haven's name, Jen! Did everyone know but me and Mother?"

"Know what?"

"That Father might come back. Or...something worse than my father but walking in his skin."

Jen frowned at me.

I took up the sword but made no move to hand it over. "This is no ordinary blade," I said. "He made it with one purpose in mind. To kill him."

"Oh."

I nodded. "And Caleb doesn't think I'm strong enough."

"Or he just wants to keep it from the hands of the king. Or the wizards."

I shook my head. "No. They would scarce be able to use it. It has to be me. Or Mother. She doesn't need dragon's blood to protect her. But Caleb might succeed. I doubt my father would strike at Caleb."

"Taryn, Caleb doesn't want to kill your father!"

"But what if Father ordered it?" I thought about Laelia's warning.
Don't let him see your mother in the king's peril
. Had Caleb heard that warning, too? Had he worked it out himself? I shuddered. "What if it would save my mother? What if Father would have wanted it?"

She met my eyes for a long moment. The only sound in the room was my pounding heart. Then Jen stepped closer. "Then what? Would Caleb be wrong?"

I looked away to hide my tears. "No, but it is not his to do."

She touched the back of my hand. Her fingertips were surprisingly soft. "Do you really want that burden? Let Caleb handle it. Let him make the call."

"No. Because Father chose me."

"Not for this," she hissed. "Not now! Not so young."

I squeezed my eyes tight shut. "I am not a child. I am the Dragonprince's heir. This is what that really means."

"Taryn—"

"No. Your master cannot have the sword."

She met my eyes levelly and tried to put some teasing in her tone. "I could take it from you."

I didn't smile at all. "You couldn't. Not anymore. Everything has changed."

She opened her mouth. She shut it. After a moment she said, "I have my orders."

"No. You have his orders."

She frowned. "Yes?"

"Yes," I said. "You have his, and you'll have mine."

"Oh?"

"Bring my mother here," I said.

She raised her chin. "Send one of the king's servants on that errand. I should report back to Caleb."

I sat forward, elbows on my knees, and looked up at her, entreating. "I don't trust the king's servants, Jen. I trust you."

"But Caleb needs to know what's happening."

I shook my head. "Caleb is in chains. Whatever is going to happen right now, it is up to us."

She tried to object again, but I spoke over her. "Whose knight are you, Jen? I asked you once before, and if the answer's still the same then I have no use for you at all. Caleb trained you, but who do you intend to serve?"

She didn't hesitate. She didn't look away. She just said, "You."

Something soft and warm began to glow behind my breastbone. I held her gaze. "What changed?"

For another timeless moment she stared into my eyes. Then she smiled. "You."

I didn't cry. I cleared my throat and spoke with quiet dignity. "This is my order, then. Bring my mother here. For all our sakes, as quickly as you can."

She touched her temple in salute and left the room.

I sat on the bed's edge, the fateful sword across my knees, and wished I hadn't won that argument. It would be so much easier to hand this burden to the hardened warrior. But I had won a salute from Jen. I had won my knight's respect. No matter what came of this conflict, that was something.

And she had kissed me. I fought to hide the smile and the blush as my wardens filed back in. I fought to block the memory, to bend my mind toward more important things.

It didn't work. I thought of frantic kisses and tender touches, even given as a ruse, and it warmed my blood. I thought of how she'd looked into my eyes, how she'd touched my hand. While all around me kings and dreadful powers waged their desperate battles, I thought of my fearsome bodyguard and smiled.

17. The Lord of the Sarianne

The moment couldn't last. Seriphenes came to question me and eventually left throwing curses over his shoulder. The Grand Marshall came next with a far more stable humor. His threats were quiet and certain and far more terrifying. But he left empty-handed, too.

The king's guards had not stripped me of my weapons when I first entered the gates, and now I leaned on that fact as my defense. I wouldn't yield my father's blade until they stole it by force and, for now at least, they wouldn't go that far. But the Grand Marshall and the wizard both said, "The king will come and take it from you. Then you'll wish you'd given it to me."

It wasn't just the sword they wanted, it was information. Secrets. Hints what to expect. But I guarded those weapons just as jealously as the strange blond blade. The king could try his worst, but this was a family affair.

When at last my mother came, my heart leaped. She ducked her head to the guards, and they bowed in answer. Jen was with her, too, but Jen and Toman waited by the door. They caught the guards in conversation so Mother and I could speak in something close to privacy.

Mother. My heart ached to see her again after all this time. She came to me and took my hands and stared deep into my eyes. She didn't smile. She worried. She waited for the dreadful news she had to know was coming. And that was her whole life, since the day my father disappeared. I tried to find a smile for her sake.

"King Timmon says you've been to Tirah," she said.

"And Gath as well," I said, trying to keep my voice light. "And somewhere in Terrailles."

"Sachaerrich?" she guessed.

I nodded, and she flinched as though I'd hit her.

I swallowed hard. "It's true. I don't know how much Uncle Themmichus told you—"