Wolf's Head, Wolf's Heart (2 page)

Besides, there were things other than crowns among the crown jewels of Bright Bay, and Allister felt ice in his gut at the thought of finally seeing them.

"Open the door," he said, hiding his sudden fear with brusqueness.

"One moment, Your Majesty." Lord Ivory selected a smaller, rather utilitarian key from his bunch and used it to open a wooden cabinet tucked in an alcove along the hallway. "You will need light."

He drew out several triple-wicked candles set ready in a silver-gilt candelabrum. Lighting them from one of the wall sconces, he extended the candelabrum to the king.

"Give it to Shad," Allister said. "I'd like him to come with me."

"Only the monarch goes into the treasury." Lord Ivory protested.

"Someday Shad will be king," Allister said firmly. "I think I'll start a new tradition."

He glanced at the guards, longtime retainers from his own estate. As of yet, he didn't know who he could or could not trust from the castle guard. He didn't quite trust Valora not to leave behind some faithful retainer with orders to slip a knife between his ribs.

The captain of the guard, Whyte Steel gave Allister an almost imperceptible nod. He, too, was seeing assassins in every shadow.

Muttering protests, Lord Ivory unlocked the door. Thanking him, Allister stepped over the threshold. He could hear Shad behind him. The young man's breathing came quick and excited, but to any less proximate to him than his father, Shad probably seemed quite calm.

Lord Ivory shut the door behind them, but Allister was certain that with Whyte Steel on the other side it would open again. Then he turned his attention to the chamber.

It wasn't large, maybe five feet to a side, but there were six sides, each of equal length. As if to make up for its comparative smallness, the room was very high. The windows at the top of each wall were narrow slits. Set halfway up each wall was a pale block of stone carved with intricate patterns.

Allister had seen their like before, elsewhere in the castle. They were remnants of Old Country magic, enchantments that—if tales more than a hundred years old were to be believed—had once shed a soft, clean light all through the building. It was said that such routine magics had continued to function for years after the Plague, but had gradually failed because no one remained who knew how to renew their power.

Ever quiescent, the carved blocks inspired awe, but they could not hold Allister's attention long, not with the huge treasure cabinet that was built into half the room demanding his attention.

The cabinet was crafted from polished maple the reddish-gold of honey, and fit neatly into three angles of wall. Its doors were closed, but a silk ribbon braided in the sea green and gold of the royal house hung from the faceted crystal door pulls. Two keys depended from the ribbon: a silver one, twin to that which Lord Ivory had used to open the door to the treasure room, and a smaller, golden one set with emeralds.

"Well, I see that the king need not always bring the Keeper of the Keys whenever he wishes to change his hat," Allister said, trying to lighten his own mood. "How kind of Valora to leave these behind. Shall we see what is in the cabinet?"

Shad nodded.

As expected, the golden key opened the cabinet, revealing that the doors had been cleverly hinged so that they folded back into a neat packet that did not impede access to the interior, even in this small space. Good workmanship, perhaps from the days when the Old Country still ruled, but nothing that a competent carpenter could not do today.

Within, three sets of shelves were revealed. To the left, on the highest shelves, were the crowns worn by the previous Gustins. Allister recognized several as those worn by Valora's father. He guessed that the other set of masculine-styled crowns had belonged to Gustin I, also called Gustin Sailor. There were many of these, as if Gustin Sailor had enjoyed showing off his newly won privilege. That fit what Allister had heard of the man—his own great-grandfather.

Below the crowns there were a few scepters, but these had never been much used in Bright Bay. Allister recalled Prince Tavis saying that his own mother had said they were damned heavy to hold for long periods of time. She had preferred a gavel of solid oak with which to hammer for silence. The lower shelves on this side were empty, waiting for future monarchs to fill them. Allister felt a momentary surge of awe when he realized that he and Shad would be among those to hold that honor.

The right-side set of shelves held much more prosaic treasures: ornate boxes containing rings and bracelets, jeweled weapons, pendants, and other such pretties. These were personal property of the kings and queens of Bright Bay. Seeing slight scuffing on one empty section of shelf, Allister guessed that Valora had taken away her own boxes. He wondered if she had made free with anything belonging to, say, her father or grandmother.

Allister barely glanced at the jewelry, his attention claimed by a set of closed doors in the center of the central unit of shelves. Here again a key waited for him on a braided ribbon. It was also gold, its ring shaped like the fat body of a whale, the teeth worked cleverly into the whale's spout.

Allister doubted that a twin of
this
key rested on Lord Ivory's ring. Indeed, he had seen it before, dangling on a chain worn at the throat of his grandmother, Queen Gustin. She had never been without it.

Twisting the key in the lock, Allister opened the cabinet. Beside him, Shad turned from peeking into the various jeweled boxes, waiting to see what must be kept trebly locked away. Both of them suspected they already knew.

The center door creaked slightly when Allister opened it. Inside there was nothing but a roll of pale vellum tied with a bright blue ribbon. Impressions in the plush velvet showed that once there had been something else kept here, something that had left an indelible mark on the fabric.

Even before he unrolled the scroll, Allister knew that he had been betrayed. All that waited was to learn how severely.

"
My Royal Cousin
," began the missive in what he recognized as Valora's own hand. It continued:

Yes. This is where they were kept.

I wonder
—
how long after your arrival did you wait to seek the Royal Treasures? Did you run immediately to gloat over what you had won? Somehow, knowing you, even in my darkest moments I cannot believe that this was the case. Even if the treasures were on your mind, you would be too courteous, too polite to the claims of those who had awaited your arrival to simply order them away.

Knowing you, I suspect that you had to be reminded that there were treasures for you to claim. Did Pearl say that she needed a crown for her pretty head? Did some flunky hint gently that you were overlooking something important? Or did it take the Keeper of the Keys offering his fealty to suggest that you seek out this room?

I told old Ivory to remind you, you know. That much I've done for you. Actually, I've done a great deal more. My last gift to the people I was born to rule is taking from them the shadow of Old Country magic. Those three trinkets have been the excuse for war, not just recently, but from the days of our great-grandfather Gustin Sailor.

So I've taken them with me. Now, no one will have reason to fear Bright Bay. If they choose to fear me, isolated on my Isles, well, the ocean is my moat.

How will anyone know what I have done? I shall tell them. On the day of your coronation, letters will be delivered by hand to the rulers of Stonehold, Waterland, New Kelvin, and Hawk Haven.

Enjoy your reign, Cousin, long as it may last.

The letter was signed, "
Valora, Queen of the Isles
."

Allister had made no effort to hide the scroll and so Shad finished reading moments after he did.

"She's angry, isn't she, Father?" The young man tried to smile, but the expression failed to reach his eyes.

"She is," Allister agreed. He let the scroll roll shut. "Fortunately, for us, enough of the nobles of Bright Bay have remained loyal that she is unlikely to try to retake her throne by force. Even if she makes an alliance…"

He rubbed his free hand over his eyes, feeling a headache coming on. There were so many possibilities. Valora could ally herself with one of Bright Bay's rivals—Waterland came immediately to mind. Of course, she put herself at risk, then, unless she could keep them from taking over in the guise of giving aid. The threat of Old Country magic might be enough. Then again…

Once more Allister rubbed his eyes.

"Bring the candles closer, Shad. I want to see if we can guess what was here."

Shad obeyed and the warm yellow glow illuminated three distinct depressions in the velvet. The first was roughly rectangular, about as long as Allister's hand from the heel of his palm to his longest fingertip, but only as wide as three fingers. The second depression was the largest: a face-sized oval set upon a long handle. The third was quite small: a perfect circle blurred at one edge, as if whatever had been there was irregular in shape.

Father and son studied these ghost images for a long moment; then Shad ventured:

"I'd say the smallest impression is of a ring. I've seen the like in Mother's jewel box."

"A ring," Allister agreed, "with some sort of setting. Yes, that seems likely. What do you think of the other two?"

Shad shook his head. "I'm less certain, but the large one could be several things: a fixed fan, a hand mirror, even a mask on a stick."

"Good guesses," Allister said. "You have a sharp eye. The last one could be too many things—even a small box holding something else entirely. We must ask, especially among the older courtiers, and see if anyone has ever seen these treasures. Unhappily, Gustin Sailor kept them a secret, so it is possible that no one currently alive but Valora herself may have seen them."

"That seems likely," Shad agreed with a sudden grin. "You saw the expression of horror on Lord Ivory's face when you said you were bringing me in here with you. Clearly, you violated some antique precedent."

Allister stared at the rows of crowns, giving in for a moment to the very human impulse not to think about something too horrible to contemplate. Then he turned to his son.

"Let us continue violating precedent, then." He handed Shad the key to the Royal Treasury door. "Bring your mother here when she has time and ask her to select crowns for both of us. She has a good eye. Tell her to feel free to choose jewels to wear as well, but to remember that we do not wish to appear like gaudy conquerors, only to express proper respect for the dignity of the occasion."

Shad nodded. "I can do that." He paused, toying with the key. "But, Father, what are we going to do about
that
?"

A toss of his head indicated the empty cabinet where three ensorcelled items should have rested.

Allister took the whale key and relocked the cabinet.

"We certainly cannot send a fleet to chase Valora down and reclaim them. We don't even know for certain what we seek, and she is right: The ocean is now her moat."

The king considered further as he helped his son shut and relock the polished maple doors, then handed him the gold and emerald key.

"I will write King Tedric of Hawk Haven. As he is our ally, he deserves to know of this development from us, even if our letter cannot reach him before Valora's does. Doubtless hers is already in Eagle's Nest, awaiting the appropriate date for delivery. Then, we shall go ahead with the coronation and then begin plans for your wedding to Crown Princess Sapphire."

"Shall I tell her," Shad asked hesitantly, "what has happened?"

"Do," Allister replied decisively. "Sapphire is present as her kingdom's representative to our coronation. Make certain that she knows that you are informing her officially, at my request. Sapphire is a proud girl, quick to feel a slight."

"Proud, yes, but brave, too," Shad said, "to come here in advance of her people with just a small honor guard."

"I'm glad you appreciate her courage," Allister said, "since you will marry her before the moon turns full again."

Shad nodded. "I do. I only wish things were simpler."

King Allister squeezed his son's shoulder. "We've accepted—some would say usurped—a throne and a kingdom. Nothing will ever be simple for us again."

In the darkness of his bedchamber, King Allister tossed, unable to keep up the pretense of sleep any longer. Beside him, Pearl sighed and moved close to him.

"It will be all right, Allister," she said, with the same soft certainty that she had once used to banish their children's night fears.

"Will it?" he asked, and was surprised by the harshness in his own voice.

"It must be," she said. "We must make it so, whatever it takes."

"I feel a fool, trusting Valora." It wasn't the first time he'd said this, not even to her.

"We had no choice," Pearl said, accepting some of the guilt as her own, "as we saw it then. Maybe even Valora herself didn't know what she intended to do. Maybe the impulse to claim the treasures came to her only when the time came to relinquish her kingdom and her power."

But King Allister of the Pledge, remembering the angry fire in Valora's ocean-blue eyes when she finally agreed to surrender Bright Bay's throne and accept a lesser kingdom in its place, thought that Valora had known even then what she would do, and cursed himself once more for not anticipating her treachery.

D
espite the strong, chill wind blowing in from the bay, the young woman remained perched upon the castle parapet, her dark brown eyes gazing out over the waters of Silver Whale Cove. Perhaps for warmth, perhaps for companionship, her right arm was flung around the neck of the enormous grey wolf seated beside her, his elegant head higher than her own.

"So much water," she said at last. "Derian told me it would be like this, and that the ocean beyond this bay makes the bay itself seem a cattle pond by comparison."

"And Queen Valora is fled over that ocean," the wolf added, "taking with her these magical treasures we have heard so much about."