Lord Protector (24 page)

"How did he do it, do you know?"

"He scaled a fifty-foot wall."

"Perhaps he will escape."

Chiana bowed her head, biting her lip. "Kerra... He is not a magician. I imprisoned him in these dungeons, and he could not escape. He is just a man."

Kerra rose and approached the Regent, her expression forlorn. "Is there no hope at all?"

"No. Please, I wish to be alone."

The young Queen hesitated, then swung away and left. Chiana turned to the windows again, her eyes blind to the dying leaves and withered grass. Instead, she recalled the moment she had met a certain proud, aloof assassin with frigid, bitter eyes. She remembered his sweet smile and gentle touch, and her tears overflowed once more.

Queen Minna-Satu stared at her husband as the colour drained from her cheeks. She glanced down at her embroidery, then put it aside before looking at him again.

"What will you do?"

Kerrion sat on a cushion beside her and took her hand. "I have already ordered Jovan to send him here. If he does not -"

"Dravis is behind this, and he will not send Blade here, no matter what you promise Jovan."

"I know. I am mustering the army. I leave for Ashmarad within the next day or two. I will find Dravis, and -"

"Does Chiana know?"

Kerrion nodded. "I have sent a message to her, and told her to do nothing. I will deal with Jovan and Dravis. If they have Blade, I shall take him from them and arrange his escape."

"You did not, when he was condemned to be executed here."

"I could not. You know that. It will be a simple matter to arrange it in Contara. I will save him, I promise."

She shook her head. "If you go there with an army, they will kill him. If you go there with a company, they will kill you too."

"I shall do my utmost."

"Yes, you will try, and so will Chiana. Do not be surprised to discover that Jashimari has invaded Contara by the time you get there."

"I am expecting that. But I promise you, I will make that little bastard pay for this. Scorpions are easily stepped on, and there is no law against killing familiars. If nothing else, Dravis will spend the rest of his days not only in prison, but also Bereft."

"You cannot save him, Kerrion." Minna gripped his hand. "Not even you and Chiana together can save him. Even if you conquer Contara utterly between you, and lay it to waste. No one can save him. Dravis will kill him."

The King sighed and stared into space. "How ironic, that he should start a war."

"He ended the last one."

"And now he starts a new one."

"Give Dravis to Chiana."

Kerrion shot her a surprised glance. "Why?"

"Because she will execute him. You cannot, according to Cotti law, even now. But she can. She has just cause if he has slain a Jashimari nobleman, especially the Lord Protector."

He gazed at her, then nodded. "Very well."

"Promise me something."

"Anything."

"Find his body. Do not let him rot in a gutter. He must be returned to Jashimari for burial."

Kerrion raised her hand and kissed it. "I swear it."

"Chiana will see to it that he has a proper funeral." She paused, her eyes distant. "Did you know that there have only been two other Lord Protectors?"

"No, I did not know that."

She nodded. "Only two, in all of Jashimari history. There was Dramar, Lord Protector in Queen Lyra-Neru's day, and Ferrus, in Queen Jilla-Katta's reign. There is a tomb for them, in the royal burial chambers. Blade must be laid to rest there."

"He will be, if he dies. Do not give up hope."

"There is no hope. You know it as well as I."

Kerrion glanced around with a frown as the door opened, and Jadar entered, looking apologetic as he straightened from his bow.

"What is it, Jadar? I ordered the guards to let no one in here."

"I apologise, Sire. An urgent message from the Jashimari Regent has arrived. I thought you should be informed immediately. It is important."

"What is it?"

"Regent Chiana has sent a battalion of troops into Contara to search for her husband and arrest Prince Dravis."

Kerrion's brows rose. "Only a battalion? I am surprised."

"What are your orders, Sire?"

"Wish her luck."

"Sire?"

Kerrion frowned. "Do you have a hearing problem, Jadar? Send a message to Chiana, and in it, wish her good luck with her search."

"Sire, Contara is Cotti soil."

"And my idiot half-brothers have imprisoned the Regent's husband. Do you think I will defend them from her wrath?"

Jadar hesitated, glancing at Minna. "According to Regent Chiana's message, her husband is dead, Sire."

"Thank you. Leave us."

As the door closed behind the advisor, Kerrion turned to Minna-Satu, who stared across the room, her expression desolate. He pulled her into his arms and stroked her hair.

"Weep for him, if you want. We are quite alone. There is no need to hide your grief from me. I know you loved him."

"I want that bastard brother of yours to pay," she whispered.

"I will hand him over to Chiana."

Chiana gazed down at her husband's body, her heart filled with misery. Tears ran down her face as she leant closer to place a hand upon his brow. His face looked as if it was carved from alabaster, the light of the bier room's many torches gilding its fine features. He lay upon the marble plinth where Queen Minna-Satu had died, his hands folded on his chest. A dagger lay under them, glinting in the flickering light. Flowing silver designs ran down the sleeves of his black velvet jacket and thighs of his matching trousers.

Blade's icy brow chilled her palm, and her breath caught as her fingers traced his face's frozen lines. His hair had been freed from its thong, and spread across the white satin pillow. Her hand brushed against his throat and lingered on the tattoo at the base of it. Her fingers came to rest on his chest, where no heartbeat. Clasping his hand, she lifted it and pressed her lips to the scarred skin as her weeping redoubled.

Chiana stroked his hair where it grew from his brow, etching his visage forever in her memory as it was now, at peace at last. His long lashes lay against his pale skin, and she traced the faint scar that ran along his cheekbone. Chiana bent and pressed her lips to his, the frigid touch of his dead flesh making her shiver. Her tears fell upon his skin and ran down his cheeks as if he wept too, and she wiped them away.

"How did you die?" Her whisper echoed around the room.

Blade's eyes opened, staring through her like pits of ice, and she recoiled with a gasp. Gripping his hand, she turned to shout at whoever was behind her.

"He is alive! Bring a healer! He is alive."

When Chiana turned back to him, his eyes were closed again. She searched his face for some sign that he lived, clinging to desperate hope. His features remained cold and still, his hand limp in hers. She clasped it and wept, calling his name over and over again, as if to summon him back from beyond death's dark door.

Chiana sat up in a tangle of damp sheets, her breath catching in a ragged sob. She was alone in her bed chamber, her heart fluttering in the aftermath of the harrowing dream. Wiping her eyes with trembling hands, she lay down again. The image of Blade's dead face filled her mind when she closed her eyes, and she opened them to banish it. The nightmare of Inka's death had been usurped, it seemed, by Blade's.

Rising, she lighted the lamp and carried it into the sitting room, where she poured a cup of wine and went out onto the balcony. The night air made her shiver, just as the touch of Blade's lips had done in her dream. Sipping the wine, she gazed at the city spires visible over the palace wall. How she wished she could be out there, searching for him. Or his body. She leant on the railing and looked down at the flagstones far below, recalling the fateful day when she had tried to leap to her death.

Blade's grip on her wrist had been painful, and the bruises he inflicted had remained for a tenday. She was still amazed that he had been strong enough to hold onto her for so long, and then pull her to safety. He did not look that strong. She recalled the look in his eyes when he had spoken the words that had made her decide to live. Anguish had filled them, mixed with rage. His words still brought her joy whenever she remembered them.

Prince Dravis stormed into his brother's study, a crumpled letter in his fist, and thumped it on the Contara Governor's desk, glaring at him.

"This is your doing!"

Jovan shook his head. "I beg to differ. You are the one who captured that bloody assassin, and then informed his damned wife. What did you think would happen?"

"But I am not the one who told Kerrion about it!"

"Did you think he would not find out? How far did you think this through, exactly?"

Dravis straightened and ran a hand through his hair. "Kerrion was supposed to come to your defence, not join forces with that damned harpy!"

"According to his message, he is coming here to find you, although I have denied that you are here. He knows you are behind this. The whole mess stinks of your plotting, and he is not a fool, as you said yourself."

"He was not supposed to bring the entire bloody army!" Dravis shouted. "He should have had a company with him, no more. The army should have been sent to the border to stop the Jashimari battalion. Contara is Cotti territory, yet he is behaving as if he is invading it!"

"How does that hamper you? Allow him to capture you, and let your familiar do the rest. You have bragged many times that -"

"There are no sand scorpions in Contara, you blithering idiot!"

Jovan's brows rose. "Then how were you planning to murder him?"

"I... Perhaps it will still work."

"What?"

Dravis shook his head. "The less you know, the better."

"For your sake, I hope your plan is fool proof. Now he has accused me of treason too, for harbouring you. Make sure he does not find you. I will disown you if he does. I will claim I knew nothing of your presence here. Do not expect me to share your fate. Already I have been banished for freeing you, and you have brought this on yourself."

Dravis sneered, "Truly, brother, your loyalty is heartening. How long do you suppose it will take him to get the truth out of your advisors, servants and lords? Many of them know about me. They may be loyal to you, but they will not withstand Kerrion's torturers. Do not be concerned though, you are already banished. He cannot do anything more to punish you."

Jovan glowered at him, and Dravis suspected that he now regretted helping his younger brother to escape. That did not concern Dravis though, he only wished that there were not so many older brothers, and countless nephews, between him and the crown. Still, Jovan was easily manipulated, so Dravis would rule by proxy. He did not regret capturing the Jashimari assassin. That had been a stroke of good fortune and sheer genius, combined with incredible stupidity on the part of the Queen's Blade, to be alone in a Jashimari village.

"The only mystery," he murmured, "is why Jashimari is not invading Contara, but merely sending a battalion to arrest me, apparently. Weak women. And yet, I thought she would have more spine than that. I trust you have ordered the border guards to prevent them from entering?"

"That would start a war, and Kerrion will not defend Contara now. He has made his intentions clear. No, I have done enough for you. I will let them enter, so you had best find a good place to hide."

"You are a spineless worm, Jovan."

Chapter Seventeen

Kerrion arrived in Ashmarad tired and dusty from the three-tenday ride across the desert, his temper frayed by the hardships he had been forced to endure. His spies had informed him that the Jashimari battalion had entered Contara three days before. Ashmarad was almost an equal distance from Jondar and Jadaya, perhaps a little further from the Cotti capital, and the Jashimari battalion did not have to negotiate the mountain pass to reach it. He had lost a dozen men to scorpion stings and snakebite, and he intended to ensure that Jovan paid for that.

The Contara army had not impeded his march to Ashmarad, but then, he had not expected it to. Jovan knew that pitting himself against the desert army's might would be a futile endeavour, and only compound his crimes. The desolation in Minna's eyes when she had learnt of Blade's death had cut Kerrion to the core, and he intended to ensure that Jovan and Dravis paid for that, too. If he had doubted the depths his wife's love for the assassin before, he was certain of it now. Perhaps, as Minna claimed, it was a sisterly love, but somehow he doubted it. A small, jealous part of him was relieved that the assassin was dead, but a far larger part mourned his loss keenly.

Kerrion glanced back at Prethos, considering the young prince before gazing ahead at the Contara fortress once more. Appointing such a youthful brother as the new Contaran Governor was dangerous. Prethos had few friends and no powerful lords in his retinue. Kerrion would have to leave his most trusted friend and staunchest ally, Lord Batian, here to help and protect Prethos. The young Prince, however, would make a good governor, and, with Batian's help, rule Contara with fairness and compassion.

Prethos had expressed a wish to visit Contara several times, to paint its verdant landscapes and learn its varied and colourful culture and music. His appointment had pleased him, and he gazed around now with rapt interest. Prethos would be a grave liability for Batian, and Kerrion hoped his friend would be able to keep him safe. The Prince would doubtless wish to mingle with the Contaran nobility and explore the countryside, exploits that the governor of a conquered land would be well advised to avoid. Then again, Prethos, with his winsome ways and shy demeanour, may prove to be a popular ruler. At least he was a willing one.

Jovan, on the other hand, had hardly stopped whining since he had been banished to Contara. Now he would have even more to whine about, for his exile would continue, but his rule would end, compounding his punishment. Appointing a younger prince over him would also be humiliating, and Kerrion wondered if Jovan would become as scheming as Dravis in his anger. That was another danger of appointing Prethos. Kerrion sighed. Everything he did was fraught with pitfalls. Perhaps he should give Jovan to Chiana as well.