Broken World Book Four - The Staff of Law (5 page)

Talsy woke
with bile crawling up her throat and rolled over to vomit into a
basin beside her bed. The retching went on long after her stomach
was empty, leaving her gasping and weak, cold sweat on her brow. A
maid came in and removed the basin, then returned with a clean one
and a damp cloth to cool her brow. Talsy enjoyed the pampering,
almost glad that Chanter had delivered them into Ronos’ hands, for
now she was far too ill to travel. She was a little better by the
time Merina came to visit her, and the maid left at a glance from
the Princess.

Merina sat on
the bed. “How do you feel?”

“
Not too good.”

The Princess
smiled. “It will pass. It’s only morning sickness. Most women get
it.”

Talsy forced a
wan smile. “That’s nice to know.”

“
You do seem a little sicker than most, though. Mine was not
nearly as bad, thank goodness.”

“
You’ve had a child?”

Merina nodded.
“I am married.”

“
Tyrander’s child. Of course.”

“
Does it bother you?”

Talsy shook
her head. “Why should it?”

“
Well, they would be half siblings, and, since he’s still
married to me, yours will be illegitimate.”

Talsy snorted,
then remembered that Merina thought she carried Kieran’s child.
“They’ll be cousins. Although, since Tyrander was Kieran’s twin,
they would almost be half-brothers.”

A look of deep
sadness crossed Merina’s face. “You really believe his lies, don’t
you?”

“
They’re not lies.”

Merina patted
her hand. “Let’s not talk about him. I don’t wish to upset
you.”

“
You’re not upsetting me. It’s just so silly.”

“
I know you must think so, but be glad we caught him before he
did to you what he did to me.”

A knock came
from the door, and a maid poked her head in. “Excuse me, Highness,
Prince Orland asks if Princess Talsy can meet the King.”

Merina glanced
at Talsy, who shook her head. “I’m not feeling that well.”

The Princess
turned to the maid. “Tell Orland that Princess Talsy is unwell at
the moment.”

The maid
curtsied and left, but returned a minute later. “The Prince asks if
he may enter and speak to Princess Talsy. The matter is
urgent.”

Merina shot
Talsy a curious look and helped her to arrange the bedclothes and
frilly nightgown before nodding to the maid.

Orland
entered, looking embarrassed and shy, his eyes clinging to the toes
of his boots. “I’m sorry to worry you, Talsy. This morning a black
army came to the city gates and demanded entry. Naturally we denied
them, whereupon they demanded that we hand over your entire party,
Tyrander, and a stone they claim you have.”

“
What did you tell them?”

“
That we would discuss it.”

“
If you hand us over, they’ll kill us.”

“
The King wishes to know why they’re pursuing you, and what
this stone is.”

Talsy thought
quickly before replying, “The stone is sacred to my people. Queen
Larina stole it, and we took it back. They have no right to it, or
to us.”

Orland glanced
at her and nodded. “My father said they were probably Larina’s
bunch. We’re not friends of Queen Larina, and fear not, you will
not be given to them. But the King is quite taken with the idea of
giving them Tyrander.”

“
No!” Talsy sat up in horror, forgetting the bedclothes. “You
cannot! Kieran is not what they really want. They want the stone
more than him, but they’ll kill him.” Orland glanced at Merina, and
Talsy realised that it was the Princess’ decision. She grabbed
Merina’s hands. “Don’t! At least give him the chance to prove that
he’s not Tyrander.”

Merina looked
undecided, then shook her head at Orland, who grimaced.

Talsy slumped
with relief as he left. “What will happen now?”

Merina
shrugged. “They’ll probably go back to Larina.”

“
What if they don’t? What if they lay siege?”

“
To Malatar?” Merina laughed. “They’d lose.”

“
They’re undying.”

“
They’d still lose. My father has one of the mightiest armies
in all the kingdoms. Black armies may be hard to beat, but burning
oil works well on them, I’ve heard, as do great rocks thrown down
on their heads. On the field they’re invincible, but under a city
wall, they can be crushed.”

“
Oil?” Talsy raised her brows in surprise. “Your streets are
not paved with tar, but if you have oil, how have you survived the
war with the land?”

“
Not the black oil. We’ve never used that. My father will not
allow it in the city. We use oil extracted from certain trees,
without harming them. My father claims that to injure the land is
wrong, and the black oil carries a curse to all who use it. We
heard tales of other towns that were destroyed because they used
it. In fact, Queen Larina was forced to tar her streets after she
imported the black oil.

“
When the land started swallowing people around her city,
smaller towns nearby bought tar to pave their streets too. Our
people were frightened that it would happen here, and begged my
father to buy tar for the roads. He refused, saying that as long as
we didn’t use it, we’d be safe, and we were. No one was attacked in
or near Malatar.”

“
Your father’s a wise man. But...” Talsy frowned. “How do you
know how to fight Larina’s black army? Have you fought them
before?”

Merina smiled.
“No, our walls are too high and strong for them, but she has
attacked other cities, some of which survived by using burning oil
and rocks thrown down from their walls.”

“
I see. What if they cut us off and starve us?”

“
That would take many moons. They’d starve before we
did.”

Talsy nodded,
remembering what Chanter had said about the Riders needing the
sustenance of blood and souls to survive. “Thank you for not giving
Kieran to them.”

“
I haven’t decided his fate yet.” Merina rose. “Rest now, I’ll
come and see you again later.”

Talsy closed
her eyes as the door shut, another wave of sickness making her
empty stomach twist.

Merina went to
her father’s cosy, book-lined study, where she found him seated
behind his polished oak desk, bent over a pile of scrolls. The
heavy green velvet curtains were closed to keep out the chill, but
a fire crackled in the hearth, imparting its warmth and light to
the atmosphere, and Ronos’ favourite wolfhound snored on the
sheepskin rug in front of it. He smiled and invited her to sit in
the padded leather chair in front of his desk.

“
How’s Talsy?”

“
Not too well. She has bad morning sickness, it seems to last
all day.”

“
Poor lass; and soon her child will be fatherless, like
yours.”

“
It worries me, Father. She obviously loves Tyrander. The shock
of his execution could harm her.”

Ronos raised a
brow. “Are you sure it’s not you who’s unwilling to punish
him?”

“
No, although he seems changed.”

“
That does not excuse his crimes.”

“
No.” She looked down at her clasped hands. “But it seems
unfair to make Talsy suffer.”

The King’s
expression softened. “You always were a kind lass. Perhaps you
should tell her what he’s really like, then she won’t mourn his
passing.”

“
That won’t help. She’s convinced that he’s not Tyrander, so
nothing I tell her will make any difference to the way she
feels.”

“
Then we must prove to her that he is Tyrander.”

“
How? She claims to have met him, yet somehow he has fooled
her.”

Ronos pondered
this. “The dye didn’t wash out?”

“
No.”

“
Then it will grow out.”

The Princess
nodded. “That means waiting until it does.”

“
Are you in a hurry?”

“
No, the longer he suffers at the thought of his impending
execution, the better.”

Ronos leant on
his desk and steepled his fingers. “Then we wait.”

Orland
wandered in and flopped down in a chair, smiling at them. “Well,
the black army didn’t much like our reply to their demands.”

“
What are they doing?” Ronos asked.

“
Milling around, trying to decide what to do next, I suppose.
The leader threatened to tear down our city, stone by stone, so I
told it to try. They’ll be gone by the morning, I’d
say.”

The King
frowned. “They must want that stone pretty bad.”

“
They claim that our guests stole it from Larina.”

Ronos
shrugged. “It’s a moot point, but I wouldn’t give those
abominations the time of day. I don’t understand why they’re making
so much fuss about a piece of stone.”

“
Talsy says it’s sacred to her people,” Merina
offered.

“
Well, I’d rather she had it than that witch Larina.” Ronos
looked at his son. “Keep an eye on them; you never know what
mischief they may be planning. I don’t like having a black army on
my doorstep. If they don’t leave, I’ll send a courier to Larina. I
know she doesn’t want to start a war with me.”

Kieran sat on
the hard bed and rubbed his head, which ached from the rough
scrubbing the guards had subjected it to, trying to wash out the
non-existent dye. By the time they had given up, Kieran was sure
most of his hair had been torn out by the roots. He gazed morosely
out of the window, through which a portion of darkening sky was
visible. He looked around as the key grated in the lock, and the
door creaked inwards. A willowy female figure stood silhouetted in
it, then entered, leading a small child by the hand. Kieran raised
his gaze to Merina’s fearful, defiant face.

“
Before you die, I want you to meet your son.”

Kieran
groaned. “My nephew, Princess.”

“
Don’t you think you’ve lied enough?”

Kieran studied
the child, who appeared to be about five years old, and possessed
his dark brown hair and black eyes set in a delicate face. The boy
regarded him warily, his thumb plugged into his mouth.

Kieran smiled
at him. “What’s your name, lad?”

The boy hid
behind his mother’s skirts, and she replied, “Urlik, after my
grandfather.”

“
A fine name.”

Merina pulled
the child forward. “Urlik, this is your father.”

“
I’m not!” Kieran protested. “I’m his uncle!”

“
You’d lie to your own son? I thought perhaps you would admit
the truth when confronted with him.”

Kieran gave a
low growl and lay back, stretched out one leg and bent the other,
staring up at the roof. “If you won’t believe me, Princess, kindly
leave me alone. You can wait until doomsday for that lock of white
hair to sprout, because it won’t.”

“
We’ll see about that.”

Kieran looked
up at her. “How’s Talsy?”

“
She has the morning sickness badly, but she’ll be all
right.”

“
There’s a bottle of tonic I bought for her in one of the bags,
will you see that she takes it? I was trying to pluck up the
courage to give it to her, but I was afraid she’d try to beat me to
death with it.”

Merina’s brows
rose. “You bought her a tonic?”

“
Is that so strange?”

“
From you, yes.”

A bitter smile
curled his lips. “I couldn’t imagine Tyrander buying tonic for his
wife, I suppose.”

“
And you couldn’t pluck up the courage? It sounds as though
you’re afraid of her.”

“
I am. Talsy doesn’t like being told what to do.” Kieran’s
smile widened and Merina stared at him in patent astonishment,
which puzzled him until he remembered that Tyrander had had yellow,
decayed teeth while his were white and even.

“
I suppose you’d have me believe that she’s hit
you.”

“
Hit me?” He chuckled. “She’s given me a black eye, maybe two,
I can’t remember.”

“
You’re lying! You beat me!”

Kieran rolled
onto his side. “Ask her then. I didn’t beat you, Princess, I only
met you yesterday. I’ve never lifted a hand to a woman; my father
taught me better than that. And I don’t pick on anyone smaller than
me.”

“
That must be hard,” Merina retorted. “There aren’t many bigger
than you.”

“
Well, they don’t have to be bigger, just not a foot shorter
and less than half my weight.”

“
That didn’t stop you before!” Her eyes glittered, her fierce
expression at odds with her gentle features.

Kieran rolled
onto his back again and covered his face with his hands, driven to
distraction with frustration at the unending disbelief. “Aargh! Go
and talk to Talsy, Princess, maybe she can remember how many black
eyes she’s given me.”

“
I’m sure you’ve coached her well.”

“
Oh, god.” Kieran lowered his hands and stared at the roof.
“Don’t condemn me for my brother’s sins, please. It’s bad enough
that he tried to kill Talsy and me. Don’t let his curse live on
after his death. Wouldn’t it be ironic that you might do the very
thing he wanted to, because he hated me for being the brother he
never knew? I think he was so twisted because he knew he had a
twin, but never met me, while I was ignorant of that. It’s as if
his hand is reaching from the grave to try to drag me in there with
him.”