The King's Sons (The Herezoth Trilogy) (15 page)

“I
was able to save her, but yes.”

“Why
the hell are you only now coming here?”

“I’ve
been with her. She’s understandably…. I couldn’t leave her alone, Zac.”

The
doctor and his student had given Francie some brew to encourage her to sleep,
so Vane had found her resting when he’d returned to Partsvale from the Palace
the night before. The medical professionals, they foresaw a full recovery but
wanted her in bed for at least three days after the amount of blood Vane
claimed she’d lost. They could not for the life of them understand how she
still lived. Vane, who could say nothing of the Lifestone, had attributed the
miracle to his quick use of magic and dismissed the doctors.

Through
it all, Francie had slept. Vane had lain open-eyed beside the bed for what
remained of the night, anticipating an early morning rendezvous with Linstrom.
He was alert to comfort Francie at dawn when she woke after a nightmare. Even
in slumber, she relived her ordeal.

Vane’s
attention returned to Zacry when he threw his feet to the floor and jolted his
desk in a temper, though he kept to his seat. “These animals will pay,” he
swore.

“We
plan to make them,” said Vane. “But we’ll need your help.”

“And
mine,” came Kora’s soft voice. Both men glanced at her.

“Impossible,”
they said together. She threw her bandana to the floor, exposing the ruby on
her forehead.

“I’m
the Marked One,” she protested. “The bloody Marked One, as this gem proclaims.
That chain of red gold I used against Zalski, the chain enchanted solely for my
use…. Rexson has it in the Palace. I’m sure he does.”

Vane
knew that story. Rexson had explained it once, years ago: how he and Kora had
tramped across the kingdom to fight Petroc, Linstrom’s father, in the Hall of
Sorcery for a chain of red gold destined to aid the Marked One of legend in her
quest to save Herezoth. They had left victorious, and Kora had used the
necklace as a spying tool. Its ancient magic allowed her, and her alone, to
hear the thoughts and attend to the whereabouts of any one person.

Zacry
said, “You don’t know Rexson has your chain.”

“I
knew Zalski. That chain fell in his possession, and he’d never have destroyed
it. He’d have kept it for study, and Rexson, well….” Kora blushed. “He’s
sentimental in some ways. He’d have kept it too, when he found it among
Zalski’s things. That horrid necklace is at the Palace.”

Vane
said, “What if it is? You’re exiled. Under penalty of death. That’s not news to
you. There’s a reason the king didn’t send me for you at the start of this.”

“Listen,
both of you: I’m the Marked One. Destined to lead Herezoth to recover from its
darkest hour. We’ve always assumed I accomplished that with Zalski’s death.
What if Zalski’s not what the legend refers to? What if this
is the moment, this Linstrom? Vane, if
he launches even a failed assault, people will panic. The hatred, the violence,
it’ll all flare again, perhaps to levels never seen. I can’t sit by while
Herezoth destroys itself. While Rexson’s reign collapses. That place is my
home, will always be. I don’t care the circumstances I left in.”

Kora’s
brother said, “Your husband….”

“Parker
knows what I am. He’ll understand I have to aid the king, just as your wife
will support you doing that. I’m not proposing to announce myself with a
trumpet blast. I can hole up with the necklace in Oakdowns.”

Vane
said, “I have servants.”

“And
they’ll give my daughter’s chamber its privacy if August tells them to. I’ll
put up a sound barrier. I survived over a year with an army on my tail, Vane.
Your mother lasted four times that, and she taught me well. I won’t reveal my
presence.”

Close
to Kora, a disembodied voice, male and unsure of itself, said, “We’re going
too, Mom,” and Walten Cason appeared as he cancelled an invisibility spell, his
face pale above his beginnings of a beard.

“Blast
it, Walt!” Walten’s younger brother, beside him, appeared as well. Wilhem’s
thin nose sliced the air as he turned to slap Walt on the back of the head;
Walt lacked his brother’s thick curls to cushion the blow.

The
older occupants of the room clutched their chests, and Kora swore at her
brother. “You taught them to turn invisible? I asked you to wait!”

Walten
said, “We learned last week. Mom, we saw Vane’s face when he showed up at home
this morning. He looked like someone died. When he took you here, we
transported too. We’ve heard everything, and we’re going to Herezoth.”

Kora
told her sons, “You’ll do no such thing.”

Wilhem
said, “We’re both of age. I know I’m barely, but I am. Listen, the king needs us.
I can’t say I know much about Herezoth, but Vane and Uncle Zac do. They’re
going to fight, and they’ll need more people with strong magic. That Linstrom
man has twenty sorcerers. Vane said that. Twenty.”

Kora
protested, “You don’t have enough training. You have no idea….”

Walten
said, “We know more than you think. We’re going, Mom. Uncle Zac and Vane,
they’re not trying to stop this madman by themselves. They’ll be killed.”

Kora
ran a hand down her face. “You’ll all be killed. Every one of you. Good Giver,
I….”

Zacry
rose to put an arm around his sister’s back. “We’ll be fine. And Kora, I won’t
pretend I’m not relieved as hell that Foden’s only ten.” Foden. Zacry’s son. “I
understand these are your boys. They’re my nephews, and the thought of them….
I’ve taught them, myself, and they’ve paid attention. They’re capable casters.”

Kora
stared at her brother. “Are you saying they should come with us?”

Zacry
told her, “They’re of age. You know they are.”

Throwing
off her brother’s touch, Kora blustered, “There’s next to nothing I wouldn’t
give for that kingdom. I risked my own life for Herezoth, and I’d do so again.
I sacrificed my home there. I spat Zalski’s offer of security, of a post in his
government, back in his face. I even killed, Zacry. I killed men in the Crimson
League.” That was the name of Rexson Phinnean’s resistance group, when Vane’s
uncle had dispossessed him. “I gave Herezoth my innocence. It will not take my
sons.”

Walten
crossed his arms. “So I guess the fact that I’m eighteen means nothing?”

“You’re
my child, Walt. I’ve had every person dear to me in my life torn away but a
child. I will not lose you.”

“I’m
your son,” he consented. “And I’ve always been proud to say that when occasion
arose. Mother, I’m not a child now. This is my decision. Uncle Zac needs my
help. Vane needs me, and he’ll have me at his back.”

Wilhem
said, “And me. If I can be useful, I’m going to Herezoth.”

Kora
grabbed her sons, one in each arm. She held them tight. “You’re going nowhere,
either one of you.”

Zacry
asked his sister, “How old were you when you took up with the Crimson League?”

Anger
twisted Kora’s face, but rapidly turned to an intense sorrow. “Seventeen.”

“And
Mother wanted you to do that? I was with Mother, Kora. You broke her heart.
Shattered it. You had no choice in the matter.”

“I
didn’t,” Kora agreed. She pulled Walten and Wilhem closer. “They do.”

“I
know their magic,” said Zacry. “They’re prepared for this, and they wouldn’t be
your sons if they chose not to join Vane and me.”

Silence
for thirty seconds, a silence that pounded in Vane’s brain. He would never have
considered risking Kora’s children, but this was a family matter. Vane had no
place to comment. If the boys’ parents let them join the king’s forces, the
duke wouldn’t stop them. He would see they survived any battles, though.

Finally,
Kora whispered in her brother’s direction, “You’re right. You’re right for
once, damn you. They wouldn’t be sons of mine if they….” She kissed Walten and
Wilhem on the cheek. “I love you,” she said. “And I wish you’d stay in
Traigland, but I’m proud of you, as your father will be. You’ll obey any order
from your uncle, the king, or Vane, you understand me? They’ve handled crisis
before. You will not know better than they do where you’re needed.”

Wilhem
swore, “Their words are orders,” and Vane pressed a hand to the boy’s shoulder
in approbation.

“I’ve
got to return to Herezoth,” said the duke. “You four can’t leave just yet.”
They had spouses and parents to inform of their plans. “Zacry can transport you
to Oakdowns, when you’re ready. Zac, can you get Kora’s necklace from the
Palace?”

Zacry
nodded, and Vane said, “Good. Things are coming together. I’ve already spoken
to Jane, at the school.”

Zacry
would approve of that. He had supported Jane Trand’s hire as sorcery instructor
at the Carphead Academy, and at her mention he relaxed his posture, noting, “I
wouldn’t want that woman with a grudge against me. We’re lucky to have her.
What’s she doing?”

“She’s
gone for some of her students,” said Vane. “The older ones. Graduated ones. I
need to get back to Francie now, I….”

Vane
stumbled to Zacry’s unoccupied chair before he could collapse on the ground.
All the stress, and the transporting, the lack of sleep: he was feeling their
effects. He hadn’t eaten since…. He couldn’t remember the last time he ate.

“You
need to rest,” said Kora. “Francie’s been tended to, by doctors. She has your fellow
spy to look after her, you said.”

“Kora,
all I need’s a simple energy spell. I don’t think I could make it to Herezoth
without one. Then I’ll rest.”

Kora
insisted, “You’re not leaving here until you sleep. You cast an energy spell,
you return to Partsvale, and you’ll be at it again. Have you eaten today?” Vane
shook his head. “Get him something from the kitchen, Zac.”

Zacry
left, and Vane’s eyes swept his mentor’s study. The shelves of familiar books,
the desk with that gouge in its side, the thin curtains Vane had helped Zacry
hang: hardly anything had changed since Vane had lived in this house. Those
days before a duchy and the council, they were some of the happiest of Vane’s
life. He had spared no thought for the future, had simply studied. Learned
magic. Eventually, when he had mastered enough spells, he’d grown anxious to
return to Herezoth. He wished he could counsel his sixteen-year-old self not to
mistake peace for dullness. He wished he had been more cautious about setting
foot once again in Podrar.

Then
he thought, perhaps ignorance had been best. He doubted he’d have found the
gumption to claim his father’s title, had he known what the act would entail.
Had he the slightest suspicion that path would lead to a place where he stood
by while he watched a man slice his oldest friend’s neck open.

Sure,
Vane had saved Francie’s life in the end. Every time he thought of her, though,
he saw her tied to that post. He felt like a heartless, gutless….

I went to the Hall on
the crown’s behalf. For the king. I had a responsibility to him and the people
of Partsvale, one just as strong as to Francie. I did what I must to balance
the two, that’s all. To keep both her and Howar breathing.

So
why did Vane feel as though he had murdered the woman?

“I’m
sorry,” he apologized to Kora. “I have to get back. I’ll eat there and I’ll
rest, I will.
Energa Crez
.” A sudden,
magical energy pulsed through Vane, bringing him to his feet. “
Despareska
,” he said, and turned
invisible. Then he transported to Herezoth’s coast. A minute after that, he
stood in Howar’s rooms in Partsvale.

The
transports depleted Vane’s artificial energy, leaving him more famished and
exhausted than before. Since he had promised Kora to eat, he found a loaf of
bread in the kitchen and ripped off a small portion. He ate it in three bites,
though it was stale, and it calmed the ache in his stomach. Then he went to
speak with Francie, after pouring them each a cup of water and making himself
visible to the world.

He
found her as he’d left her, in Howar’s bed, attempting to sleep and unable. She
opened her eyes when he approached. The slight smile on her face wasn’t
natural, and Vane suspected more than her bruises were responsible for that.

“Have
you eaten since you left home?” Vane asked. His euphemism couldn’t prevent her
wincing, and her voice sounded scratchy, duller than normal.

“I
ate something this morning. A slice of toast. Boiled egg.”

“Are
you hungry at all?”

Francie
shook her head. Vane’s next question was stark, and made the woman’s face fall.

“How
can you not loathe the sight of me?”

“Vane,
what are you talking about?”

“I
told you yesterday, I was at the Hall. The entire time. That’s how I sent the
Lifestone to you. I was there, in disguise, and I didn’t try to stop….”

“You
couldn’t have helped me beyond what you did. As it is, they put me in that
enchanted sleep. I didn’t feel anything when they opened my neck like you
described.”

“If
Rexson hadn’t commanded I take the Lifestone?” Vane insisted. “If they’d kept
you conscious? If they’d decided to have some fun with you? I wouldn’t have
stopped them.”