Stormseer (Storms in Amethir Book 3) (36 page)

Chapter 26

Razem was learning that kings could not afford to be late risers. He'd been up since dawn and was on his third cup of coffee, and he was trying valiantly to ignore his desire to crawl back into the feathery softness of his bed. There was too much to be done, and too little time in which to do it.

He and Kho had compiled a list of offenses they could prove against the Tamnese nobleman who plotted against the throne. Despite Razem's unhappiness over the situation, he had also compiled a list of reasons it was likely Arisanat. Ysdra's watchers had reported on a dinner hosted at Arisanat's home; Talt, Belnat, and Birona had been in attendance, along with the head of the merchant guild. She was an offshoot of the Daix family, which deepened Razem's unhappiness. Was Daix involved in the plot? He could find no other connection, but that unfortunately didn't prove anything.

Kho shoved his chair back from the table and turned to face Razem directly. "Majesty, I do not think we can wait any longer. We must apprehend at least Lord Burojan. He must be the ringleader of the insurrection. If we bring him to the palace under our control, perhaps we can still forestall an all-out civil war."

Razem rubbed his forehead. What would his father have done in this situation? More than ever, he missed his father's level temper and sound advice. "Soon," he promised.

"We've finished going through Tanvel's documents," Kho argued. "We won't be able to prove that it's Burojan until we arrest him and seize his own records. Not unless you wish to send someone into the house secretly to gather that information."

"No," Razem said sharply. "I will not become King Harkai, cringing at the center of a web of informants and backstabbers. We are not like that."

Kho opened his mouth, but before he could speak, someone tapped on the door and Gendo looked in. "Majesty, you have a visitor. Lady Tarra Talt is here to see you, and she begs an audience."

Razem raised an eyebrow. Tarra Talt—who had not been in attendance with her mother and sister at Marsede's funeral. Why would Tarra be coming to see him? Under any other circumstances, he might have cringed, but the situation being what it was, it intrigued him. "Show her in, Gendo. And bring more coffee."

"Majesty, this interruption—"

"Might be important, Emran. You said Talt was at Aris' dinner. Perhaps Tarra can shed some light on that." He leaned back in his seat and watched the door expectantly.

Tarra was wearing a dress of muted purple-brown. It didn't flatter her coloring, but she had a quiet self-possession that made it unimportant. Her hair was pulled into a simple hairstyle and the only jewelry she wore was a necklace of twisted gold. The moment she was inside the room, she sank into a deep curtsy and held it.

"Good morning, Lady Tarra," Razem said. "You may approach."

She rose and walked sedately to him, pausing before sinking into a curtsy once more. "Majesty. I thank you for taking the time to see me."

"His majesty is very busy," Kho began, but Tarra cut him off with a glance.

"I am aware of how many demands there are on your time," she said directly to Razem. "My king, I am here alone, in defiance of my mother and the man I have been betrothed to. I am here to tell you of a threat and to beg you for mercy."

"In that case, you'd better stand up," Razem said. "Join us at the table and explain yourself."

She hesitated before choosing a seat equidistant from Razem and Kho. "My mother is not an evil woman, but she is ambitious and desperate. You cannot be unaware of her attempts to secure husbands for my sister and me. Last week she promised me to Arisanat Burojan, in exchange for her support." She folded her hands on the table and met Razem's eyes. "Your cousin plots your overthrow, King Razem. My mother has agreed to provide troops and loyalty if he agrees to make me his queen."

The coffee Razem had already drunk gurgled in his stomach. He straightened. "You have proof of this?"

"I witnessed it myself. Arisanat invited us to dinner with his co-conspirators. Lord Birona and Lord Belnat are chief among them. He also has the support of the merchants guild and the city guard."

"The city guard?" Razem repeated. Gods save them, Arisanat was shrewder than he'd expected. The rivalry between palace and city guard was long-running. Usually it was a friendly one, but there had been moments when it had spilled into more than posturing and boasts.

Kho was at attention in his seat. "Lady Tarra, we will need all the details."

Razem listened in rising horror as Tarra outlined what she knew of Arisanat's plot to take the throne. When she had finished, Razem swallowed and looked at Kho.

"We were too slow," the general said. He was staring at the tabletop, shaking his head.

"No," Razem said. Kho couldn't give up on him. Razem wouldn't make it through this without Kho. "There's still time, and thanks to Lady Tarra, we know enough to strike now." He licked his lips. "We can prevent this, if we act quickly."

"Emran. Send Captain Ysdra to arrest Arisanat, Belnat, Birona, and Talt.
Quietly.
We cannot have any gossip. Bring them to the palace, where we will deal with them accordingly. After they have been brought to me, have Guild Leader Lissa Daix arrested. Once that is done, and only then, issue an invitation for City Guard Commander Urval to join us here. I will be most interested in hearing what he has to say to these allegations."

"Majesty," Tarra began.

"You have done us a great service, Lady Tarra. I suggest you stay here so we may protect you."

She straightened in her seat. "Am I a prisoner?" she asked stiffly.

Razem made his expression softer. He probably should make her his prisoner. She had been involved in the plotting. But she had chosen to stop it, at great personal expense. "No," he said. "But do you honestly believe you will be safe anywhere else? Where would you go? Home? How will your mother react when she learns you came to me?"

Tarra was silent. She folded her hands in her lap and bowed her head.

"No one will hinder you if you choose to leave. But I will have rooms prepared for you, in the event you should choose to accept our hospitality." Razem stood. "Kho, send Ysdra now. Have him report back as quickly as possible."

Kho bowed and went. Razem looked at Tarra. He hoped she would stay. "Lady Tarra, you have shown great courage in coming to me. You have my thanks."

"Tezira and I always knew you had no desire to marry either of us," she said softly. "But you were always polite to us and kind to Mother. It is a kindness I wished to repay somehow."

He swallowed. Gods, he'd thought—he'd hoped—he had been more subtle than that. Before Azmei left, he'd always sent his sister to cut them off before Talt could flaunt her daughters before him. "It is not a matter of desire, my lady, but of...necessity. I never expected to have any choice in the matter of my marriage, and so I have tried to avoid any...complications." He hadn't wanted to fall in love at all. Harmless flirtations were one thing, but his father's marriage had been made purely for love, and while it had been a happy marriage, it had not strengthened Tamnen's standing with other nations. Razem had always expected to be married in a treaty, much as Azmei had.

Tarra smiled. "As you say," she said. Razem had a feeling she could see right through him.

There was a tap at the door and Kho reappeared. "Ysdra has gone," he said. "I instructed him to be subtle."

"Let us hope he will return swiftly," Razem said. Then all that was left was for them to wait.

***

Arisanat was eating breakfast when they came to arrest him. He'd always had a weakness for sweet pastries, and he was enjoying the cinnamon and sugar crust while reading a cryptic note from the commander of the City Guard. He had managed to pick out the fact that Urval would be ready to attack tomorrow at dawn. Arisanat had just indulged in the thought that, since Razem was such a late riser, the revolution could probably wait until the eighth hour, when his chamberlain flung open the door and scrambled into the room without warning, shoving it closed behind him.

"My Lord Arisanat, I apologize—I couldn't stop—" The door slammed open again, shoving into the chamberlain. He stumbled aside with a cry. Captain Ysdra stepped inside, his thin, solemn face drawn into lines of terrible resolve.

"Captain Ysdra," Arisanat said, injecting surprise into his voice while he fumbled for any explanation but the most obvious for the interruption. "Have you discovered who attacked me?"

Ysdra ignored the question. "Lord Arisanat Burojan, Head of the First Family, you are under arrest for treason, for conspiracy against His Majesty King Razem, for committing murder upon His Majesty King Marsede, for attempting murder on Her Highness Princess Azmei, and for attempting the overthrow of the gods-ordained throne."

Arisanat took another bite of pastry and washed it down with a sip of coffee.
Be calm,
he told himself.
Do not give yourself away.
"That is an impressive list of charges," he said mildly, "but the only thing I am currently engaged in is breakfast. Perhaps you will sit and join me."

Who had betrayed him? Or had he betrayed himself somehow? What had Ysdra meant, "attempting murder" on Azmei? The princess had been mourned and memorialized. His informants from the Amethirian court had reported that Prince Vistaren went into mourning himself for six months. He was so close! How could this all unravel now?

"Surrender peacefully, Lord Burojan," Ysdra said. "The king may yet be inclined to clemency." He approached the table, drawing his sword.

"Clemency?" Arisanat repeated, slipping one hand down to the knife at his belt. He curled his fingers around the knife and his fingernails dug into his palm. "
Clemency?
The king did not show clemency when he refused to pay the Strid back for their murder of my brother." He gathered his legs under him, tensing his muscles to spring. "The king showed more clemency to the
Deranged Duke
than he showed his own people. I am not interested in the king's
clemency
."

He jumped to his feet, shoving the chair over with a crash. Ysdra was expecting it. He raised his blade to fend off Arisanat's attack, but the chamberlain leapt on his back, locking his arms around the captain's shoulders and pinning his arms. Ysdra shouted, thrashing enough to break the chamberlain's hold. Arisanat swung his knife again and Ysdra blocked it again.

Several crown soldiers burst through the door, spreading out on either side of the table. The chamberlain hooked his foot around Ysdra's ankle, yanking him off balance. Even then, Ysdra seemed reluctant to hurt the unarmed servant. He shoved him back with an elbow in his stomach, but it had succeeded in distracting him. Arisanat lunged, thrusting his knife deep into Ysdra's gut.

The captain groaned and fell back. He managed to slice Arisanat's forearm as he fell. One of the crown soldiers leapt forward.

"Guards!" Arisanat shouted. "To me! Protect your lord!" The door behind him opened and his guards, belatedly alerted to the threat, boiled into the room behind him.

Arisanat slashed at the next soldier in line, who automatically blocked the attack. It opened the soldier to a cut from one of Arisanat's guards, and the soldier's sword clattered to the ground, hand still gripping the hilt. The soldier screamed and bashed his shield at the guard, but Arisanat didn't stay to watch the rest of the fight. He gripped his chamberlain's arm and yanked him out of the dining hall, slamming the door behind him.

The chamberlain was disheveled, hair askew across his forehead, but his gaze was alert on Arisanat's face. "You're unhurt?"

Arisanat nodded. "And you?"

"That doesn't matter, my lord."

It did, but there was nothing Arisanat could do either way. "Send word to Urval. We can't wait until dawn. We must attack. Get word to Urval first, then get word to our allies. We attack
now
."

Chapter 27

Yarro woke suddenly and completely. He was propped up against something soft. It was almost all dark around him, except for the glow of embers off to his left. Behind him he could hear the breathing of horses. One of them shifted its feet.

He rolled to his knees and looked around, squinting through the dimness. Azmei was lying down, rolled into her cloak. Hawk was sitting up, but the way his head had drooped to one said he was asleep too. Besides the horses, Yarro couldn't hear anything. What had woken him?

LITTLE BROTHER. YOU ARE HERE.

Oh. Yarro's face didn't know whether to frown or smile. He peered through the darkness.
Here? In this cave?

IN OUR VALLEY.

His mind was seized with a vision of huge golden eyes staring down at him from the darkness. Somehow he knew it wasn't real, but he could feel the tug in his gut.

COME, LITTLE BROTHER.

The golden eyes turned from him and the darkness fell away like panes of glass. The sun was shining down on him, baking his shoulders, heating his head. He was standing in front of a massive stone structure, half palace and half cave. It had a huge, arching entry that made him feel like an ant. The stone hall was massive and ancient, the weight of untold years bearing down on those stone arches.

I CALL YOU, LITTLE BROTHER. COME. I, DARIXU, CALL YOU. COME. BE OUR VOICE. SPEAK FOR US. COME.

Yarro stood. He could no more disobey that call than he could fly. His heart thudded in his chest, making his breath come faster. He picked his way over to the horses, where he found Firefoot by touch. The horse breathed on him but made no noise as Yarro leaned against him. He didn't know where they were going, but he knew they had to.

Side by side, Yarro and Firefoot walked away from the embers, deeper into the cave. Firefoot's hooves rang against the stone floor.

Behind him, Yarro heard someone move.

He wound his fingers in Firefoot's mane and swung up onto his back. They would try to stop him, but he couldn't allow that. He had to follow the Voices.

"Yarro?" It was Hawk's sleepy voice. One of the horses nickered and Yarro heard cloth rustle. "Yarro, where are you going?" Hawk's voice was sharper. He was alert now.

COME, LITTLE BROTHER.

Yarro looked over his shoulder as the fire flared back to life behind him. He smiled. "I am Called," he said, and urged Firefoot into motion.

Behind him, he heard Azmei and Hawk calling after him, but their words no longer mattered. He was going to his Voices. He had been Called.

YOU ARE JUST AS WE HAVE SEEN YOU, Darixu told him. COURAGEOUS AND STRONG, UNSTOPPABLE AND UNKNOWABLE. YOU ARE OUR LITTLE BROTHER. YOU ARE OUR VOICE.

I'm coming,
Yar said in his mind.
I can hear you so much clearer now.

YOU HAVE DONE WELL, LITTLE BROTHER. YARRAX, OUR VOICE. COME. YOUR COMPANIONS WILL FOLLOW.

They'll be safe, won't they?
he asked, suddenly anxious, but the booming laughter of Darixu reassured him.

THEY HAVE GUIDED AND PROTECTED YOU. WE WOULD NEVER HARM THEM.

And you won't eat Firefoot.
The horse was carrying him trustingly through the darkness. Perhaps he saw better than Yar did, or perhaps he was just placing one foot in front of the next, knowing Yar needed to go. Either way, Yar didn't want his horse ending up as a meal. He squeezed his eyes shut.

BUT SUCH HEART, whispered the Slithery Voice. THERE WOULD BE SUCH FIRE IN HIS BLOOD. HE WOULD MAKE A MEAL FOR KINGS.

XELLAX! There was a reproving note in Darixu's Voice. YOU MAY TEASE OUR LITTLE BROTHER, BUT YOU MUST NEVER THREATEN HIM.

Yar felt Xellax's sigh as a gust of breeze against his face. He flinched, then laughed. Was he that close? Somehow he wasn't even afraid of Xellax anymore. He had finally arrived.

Firefoot stopped moving and whinnied, the sound shrill and interested. Yar opened his eyes and lifted a hand to block the sudden glare of light. He squinted his eyes almost closed as they teared up. There had been no warning, no gradual lightening of the tunnel. It was completely dark and then it simply...was light.

Yar sat up straight, ignoring the tears on his cheeks as he stared around him. They were standing on a hillside in bright sunshine. There was no storm. When he looked behind him, there was no tunnel. His heart thumped once in his chest and then he turned to look forward again. The tunnel had been there. It would be there again, if he needed it.

Firefoot was on high alert, his ears pricked forward, nostrils flared, but he was not afraid. He lifted onto his back feet slightly, then dropped to all fours and snorted, shaking his mane. Yarro laughed.

"It's beautiful!" he said aloud.

Behind him was an impenetrably high wall of mountain. Spreading out around him was a lush green vale filled with date palms. A sparkling river ran along the lowest point of the valley, tributaries wandering down the slopes to join with it. A herd of deer grazed about a hundred yards from where he and Firefoot stood. They were unconcerned with his presence. A bird darted past him, spiraling past. Yar followed its flight, smiling at its joyful abandon...

...and gasped.

Far up, deep in the sky, other shapes swooped and swirled. They, too, flew with joyful abandon, but they were larger forms, huge and graceful. Blue and red, golden and white, they rode air currents and threw their leathery wings wide to catch the wind. They dove and danced, singing all the while.

Dragons.

COME, LITTLE BROTHER! called a chorus of Voices. COME TO US!

When he lowered his gaze to the land again, he saw that some of the crags at the far end of the valley were occupied by dragons, perched and watching him.

At last he understood. No wonder they could call to him from so far away. They were magnificent. They were powerful. And they were isolated here. They had called to him from their loneliness, from their need. They could speak to him, and he could speak to others.

COME, YARRAX! JOIN US!

Whooping with excitement, Yar nudged Firefoot into a gallop.

***

Hawk swore and punched his thigh. He could kick himself for nodding off while on watch. What had possessed Yarro to go running off? And more importantly, where had he gone? Hawk had explored the cave thoroughly after they took shelter from the storm. It hadn't been a deep cave, and there had been no surprises.

"Don't blame yourself," Azmei said. She had prodded the fire into life and was kneeling next to it, trying to light a torch. "Yar is following a call that's stronger than anything we have. It took hold of him while we were running from the storm."

Hawk sighed and rubbed at his thigh. That was going to bruise. "I shouldn't have fallen asleep," he muttered.

"No, but you did. Maybe these Voices are strong enough to put us to sleep against our will. Maybe you were just too tired to stay awake." She gave him a crooked smile. "Does it matter? What matters is finding Yarro."

He scowled at her. "You think they'll let us?"

"Let's see what's at the back of the cave." She held out a torch. Hawk took it, trying to ignore the way the graceful brush of her fingers against his sent a flame up his arm that had nothing to do with the torch.

"Nothing," he told her, clinging to his temper. "There's nothing there. I checked it myself."

"I know. But Yar went that way, and he's gone. So something's changed."

"That's not even possible."

"A lot of things that aren't considered possible are happening to us. Including someone hearing things that aren't there." Azmei's smile taunted him. He looked away. She was strong and beautiful, and she was a princess, so far above him he shouldn't even gaze on her.

You told her brother you'd never been in love,
whispered a voice.
Don't make an idiot of yourself now.

He shoved aside the voice and the longings and stormed away from the fire, ducking to keep from hitting his head on the cavern roof...

...that abruptly wasn't there.

"What—" He broke off, staring. The roof of the cavern was suddenly at least two armspans above his head, and the walls were too far apart for him to touch. When he had checked it before, the cavern tapered to an end that was barely big enough for a cat to have denned in.

"There's a tunnel," Azmei said, her voice strange.

Hawk looked again, and there it was—a tunnel wide enough for two horses to walk abreast, and tall enough for the humans to ride. "By all the gods," he whispered. "What power are we dealing with?"

Azmei cast a glance at him. "We're going to find out. I'll put the fire out while you saddle the horses."

Five minutes later they were in the tunnel, their horses walking as placidly as if they were in the open desert once again. Hawk watched the walls and ceiling, trying to spot anything that would explain how this had happened. All he got out of it was a lightheaded feeling and the vague sense that someone was laughing at him. It didn't do anything for his mood.

"Are you all right?" Azmei was watching him instead of their surroundings. He wanted to snap that of course he wasn't all right, but he just gave a curt nod. "I know you've seen a lot of horrible things," she said softly. "I know war is terrible. But there was never any magic in the war with Strid, was there?"

Hawk shook his head. No magic, but a lot of suffering.

"I've seen some things in my life that I can't explain," she said. "I've met one of the Amethirian stormwitches and talked to someone who's seen the great stormsingers who taught humans magic. I've survived wounds that should have killed me, thanks to the peace god's followers, who have healing skills we can't imagine in Tamnen. I won't pretend to understand what's happening, but I'm not going to reject it just because I don't understand it." She was silent for a moment. Hawk glanced over at her, only to find her smiling hopefully at him. "Hawk, can you trust me long enough for us to find Yar?"

Damn it. Hawk pressed his lips together and met her gaze. She must have realized it was an affirmative, because her smile widened. "Thank you."

He didn't think that required a response. They rode in silence for several minutes, the ring of hoof beats against stone gradually changing in tone. When he looked down, he realized they were riding on packed earth now, rather than stone. He lifted his gaze to the tunnel ahead and the world changed all over again.

The horses stopped walking. They were standing in a broad valley, green grass fluttering against the horses' hocks. The sun gleamed against Azmei's dark curls. She squinted, lifting one hand to shade her eyes. Hawk tore his gaze away from her and looked out over the vast sea of grass.

Walls of craggy gray stone rose around them, shutting them into a private world without closing them away from the sun. He glanced over his shoulder; the tunnel was gone. The sunshine was warm on his shoulders. Hawk loosened Talon in its scabbard.

"Where is this?" he muttered.

Azmei turned and looked soberly at him. "I think perhaps we know why nobody ever goes to the Shrouded Vale," she said.

He turned his horse in a slow circle, taking in the craggy walls of this natural fortress, the river rushing and tumbling downhill to spread out lazily in the middle of the valley. He had almost completed his circle when Azmei screamed. He whipped around to look at her. She was throwing herself towards him, off her horse's back. She dragged at his elbow, throwing him off balance. A shadow fell across them and he looked up, and then he screamed, too.

Huge leathery wings snapped open above them with a noise like thunder. Gleaming talons, spread wide for catching, snapped closed overhead. A great wind rushed over them, whipping Hawk's clothes around and making him choke as his cloak swirled out away from him. The ground shook as a ponderous weight dropped in front of them. Then someone laughed, clear and high, and Yarro tumbled from the dragon's back to the ground in front of them.

Azmei lunged forward and hugged him, while he squirmed to get away from her. Hawk bared Talon and moved to stand between the two of them and the dragon, his heart pounding against his chest so hard he thought it would push its way through.

"Leggo." Yar sounded like any other teenaged boy who was being hugged against his will. He half laughed as he spoke, but he didn't relax until he managed to extricate himself from the princess' arms. "What are you doing?"

"I thought we'd lost you," Azmei said. "Why did you run off?"

"I was Called."

Booming laughter rolled over them with the force of a great hand pushing them down. It echoed against the mountains and rumbled back to them. To Hawk it sounded like thunder building, ready to avalanche down on them.

Yarro laughed too. "Darixu greets you," he said. "This is the Shrouded Vale. The Valley of Dragons."

Hawk saw Azmei tear her gaze away from the boy. She stared up at the great golden dragon looming over them. It met her gaze, expression ineffable. Azmei twitched and then dropped into a deep curtsy. Hawk wondered if he should bow, but opted against it. He would rather be disrespectful than let the dragon bite off her head without a fight.