The Vacant Throne: The Legend Of Kairu Vol 3 (13 page)

She sighed and turned to face me.
“These emotions suck.”

I laughed. “Yes they
do, but if it is any help, it’s not you and me against the world
this time. We will have an entire nation at our back to
help.”

She looked up the stairs. “That’s a bit
of an uphill battle too.”

“
More like a bump in
the road?” I suggested.

She looked back at me and smiled. “I’m
glad you are still holding it together.”

I chuckled. “Not really. With the
tables turned and you needing my help to deal with new situations,
it has given me something to focus on. I can keep things in
perspective and not run away screaming.”

She giggled, wrapping her arms around
me awkwardly. “Thanks. But running and screaming sound like fun.” I
gave her a weird look and she looked worried. “Am I doing this
right? It doesn’t feel right.”

I chuckled and adjusted her into a
better position so her armour wasn’t digging into my skin. We
hugged briefly and disengaged. “Ready to continue up the hill?” I
asked.

“
If I don’t think
about it, it seems better,” she responded.

“
That’s the spirit,”
I said with over exaggerated cheer.

She chuckled and
shook her head as she marched up the stairs. It was amusing to see
Cathy’s confidence shaken. She had always been the wild one, but
quick with the answers in tight situations. Once she fell into the
groove of things, all those doubts and insecurities would vanish,
but for brief moments, it was interesting to see her act
Human.

The White Castle loomed overhead as we
finished climbing the stairs. The towers stretched towards the sky
and the wall reflected the sunlight outwards over the land. On
bright enough days, the reflection of the castle could be seen as
far as Riverside. I was shocked to see that it had remained
untouched by the battle, much like the stairs. Either they were the
first to be fixed or Desroche didn’t want to damage them for when
he returned.

How nice of
him.

Of all the guards in
the courtyard, only one broke away from his patrol to approach
Cathy. He was wearing the armour of the Riverside guard. “Welcome
back, my Lady,” he said, bowing slightly.

Cathy hesitated a second before smiling
politely. “Thank you, Captain Brown. Has Lord Michaels arrived
yet?”

“
He hasn’t left,”
Captain Brown answered. “He’s been working nonstop to get Balendar
on its feet. Where is Ser Wilson?”

Cathy grew sad. “He died defending our
escape. That is why we are here. There is trouble brewing in the
west.”

“
Then I will take you
to the war room,” Captain Brown said, turning to me. “What of
your...escort?”

“
He is an advisor and
can better explain what we are dealing with,” Cathy answered
without skipping a beat.

“
Very well,” he bowed
slightly. “Follow me.”

Captain Brown turned on his toes and
marched towards the front door. We followed closely behind and
passed through the front door into the Grand Hall.

Even after a couple of years the grand
architecture still intimidated me. This was the home of royalty and
anything less wasn’t welcome here. The ceilings towered over us
with large white banners showing a dragon sitting on a mountain,
the symbol of the Balendar Kingdom, running down columns.

The castle was alive with energy as
guards patrolled in every direction. All that remained of
Balendar’s leadership was in this castle and they didn’t want to
risk losing them. Captain Brown took us down a corridor to a large
meeting room where said leadership were bickering or doing
politician like things.

“
We need to move our
troops to the southwest,” a middle aged man with a thick moustache
and fading brown hair said. “We are too vulnerable and Nesqa could
attack at any moment.”

“
The Nesqians still
honour our alliance,” an old man with slicked back grey hair and a
neatly trimmed beard replied. “Moving our troops will look like an
act of war.”

“
Gentlemen, it
appears we have guests,” a clean shaven, black haired man
said.

Everyone in the room
turned to face us and Captain Brown bowed. “Sorry to interrupt, my
Lords, but Lady Middleton has returned.”

“
I can see that,” the
moustached Lord said, looking a little annoyed.

“
Lord Michaels,”
Cathy said, matching the Lord’s tone. She turned to the old man. “I
see I haven’t missed much.”

“
You’ve missed
plenty, my dear,” he replied. “Were you able to recapture
Davenport?”

“
No and that is why I
am here,’ she answered, joining the others at the large table.
“First, a quick introduction.” She motioned for me to join her.
“This is Kairu, he will better explain it than I. Kairu, this is
Lord Peter Cook of Malkia with his son, Ser Kyle Cook.” She pointed
to the old man and a younger guy in plate mail behind him. “Next is
Lord Gregory Kent of Rooksbend and Lord Randy Michaels of
Riverside.” She pointed to the black haired guy and the moustache
guy. “Kairu will take it from here.”

She sat down in a chair and I chuckled
softly to myself. She was either still too nervous to explain or,
more likely, she had put the pressure on me in some sort of fun. I
made a note to get her back either way.

“
Unfortunately, the
Mage you know as Davenport is someone much more sinister,” I
started. “He is Desroche, a Tower Mage who was put in charge of the
Evenawks before I helped overthrow him.” Lord Cook’s eyebrows shot
up in surprise. “We made it to Scert’chak, the capital of Ghanlar,
and discovered that Desroche had activated a machine designed to
brainwash the entire population of Evenawks. He plans on marching
on Thurlborn Peak and finishing what he started.”

“
Are you certain?”
Lord Cook asked.

I nodded. “We barely escaped with our
lives.”

Lord Cook leaned back
in his chair to think things over and Lord Kent turned to Lord
Michaels. Lord Michaels’ face was unchanged as he studied
me.

“
What proof do you
bring?” he asked.

“
My word as Lady of
Davalin,” Cathy answered, rising to her feet.

“
Your word doesn’t
carry any weight, young Middleton,” Lord Michaels said. “You have
been in a frenzy for Davenport’s blood since he escaped. This could
easily be a ploy to get access to our armies and burn down half the
countryside to find him. There is also the matter of the Mage. We
will not make the mistake of trusting another one; even one that
has helped Balendar in the past.”

“
I take it you’ve
heard of me too?” I responded.

“
I haven’t received
any reports since the Tower’s destruction, but yes, you match the
descriptions,” Lord Michaels replied.

“
Then you know why I
am with him,” Cathy countered. “He is the only ally we can trust in
a war against a Mage.”

“
IF such a war
exists,” he said. “I still require proof.”

“
Does my word not
carry any weight?” I asked. “I have helped Balendar and Nesqa
achieve peace and helped the Evenawks overthrow the Mages to create
a free society. Is that not enough to have even a small amount of
trust?”

I had tried to make
it sound convincing, but I didn’t believe it. If my actions were
indeed good enough to have earned some trust, I wouldn’t have had
to live on the run for two cycles.

“
Your deeds are
impressive but you followed your own agenda,” Lord Michaels stated.
“You didn’t do these out of the kindness of your heart. You did
them to achieve a goal. Judging by your knowledge of Davenport, it
is fair to say you stand to gain from this and Balendar will not be
pulled into a Mage’s agenda while its people suffer. However, Lady
Middleton does inherit her father’s position on the council so it
is worth discussing. Lord Kent.”

“
Thank you,” Lord
Kent said, rising to his feet. “I agree with Lord Michaels in this
matter. We simply can’t chase this matter without proof and your
presence with a Mage is highly suspect, Lady Middleton. This matter
is closed.”

Lord Kent sat back down and Cathy
leaned closer to me. “Not looking good,” she whispered.

“
No proof and the
Mage aside,” Lord Cook started, “we simply can’t ignore any threat
at this point. Mobilising the full army would be useless, but there
is a chance to kill two birds with one stone. The farm lands have
been dealing with animal trouble out of Archanion. If we send a
couple of divisions out there to hold off the animal attacks, we
can also scout to see if Ghanlar shows any signs of
aggression.”

“
You may have
something there, Pete,” Lord Kent said.

“
Would that be
sufficient, Lady Middleton?” Lord Michaels asked.

“
Until I get the
proof you need, yes,” Cathy answered.

“
We will take care of
the investigation,” Lord Michaels said. “You are to be placed in
your quarters for the next few days.”

“
What!” Cathy
exclaimed.

“
Did you forget that
you stormed out of here against our wishes to begin with?” Lord
Michaels asked. “We let you go once because it was the best course,
but we can’t allow you storm around the countryside again causing
problems.”

“
He’s right, my
dear,” Lord Cook said, looking at Cathy with pleading eyes. “You
need a couple of days to get your head back on straight and grieve
properly. We’ll take care of you.”

Cathy looked like she
was going to argue, but stopped and nodded. “What about Kairu? Can
he stay with me?”

“
In separate rooms
and if he promises to wear binds with Red Jacket honey on it,” Lord
Cook said looking at Lord Michaels.

Lord Michaels nodded. “I’d still prefer
to have him removed from Thurlborn Peak but you may be right, Cook.
It would be better to have him here where we can watch and control
him. Captain Brown.”

The Captain bowed and
exited the room to retrieve the binds with Red Jacket honey on it.
It wasn’t the most favourable of positions, but things could have
gone worse. When Cathy and I could get some time alone, we would
figure out how to get out. If it was proof they wanted, we would
have to find it somehow.

*****

The meeting ended shortly after Captain
Brown returned with the binds, or iron shackles if you had a
different definition of ‘binds’. I handed him my short sword and
awaited the shackles. With my arms secured to ensure there were no
magical shenanigans, we were led to the upper level where Lady
Middleton’s visiting room waited.

The room was far
larger than our little house in the forest. It was hard to imagine
what one person, even a high standing official, would do with such
a large room, but judging by the look on Cathy’s face, she was
going to go a little crazy tonight.

Cathy requested that I stay with her
for dinner and Captain Brown nodded before leaving. In his eyes I
was safe and docile because of my binds. Not that there was much
reason to fight in the middle of the castle.

My hands grew itchy as the Red Jacket
honey worked its weird powers. How could something that helps speed
up healing and protect against infection stop the use of magic in
Mages? It was beyond my understanding and I just attributed it to
one of life’s cruel little jokes.

“
It’s a shame I’m not
in you,” Cathy said, emerging from the dressing room in a silk
dress. “I could help you break free of those.”

“
A necessary evil in
the name of peace,” I said, sitting down at a large dining
table.

“
Well at least we are
going to get a decent meal out of this,” she said, sitting next to
me.

“
Decent as long as we
don’t think about our task,” I said, scratching my palms again.
“Finding proof of Desroche’s plan? That’s a tough one.”

Cathy chuckled. “Yeah, if only we could
kill Michaels and intimidate the others into joining us.”

I chuckled and lowered my voice. “Don’t
say that too loudly. I can’t help you if everyone comes up here to
kill you.”

“
You have to admit,”
Cathy smiled. “It would be easier.”

“
Yeah, but nothing is
that easy,” I countered.

“
Sadly,” she sighed.
“Shall we start dinner then? I am excited to eat my first meal
since...” She stopped and thought. “A long time ago.”

“
Go for it,” I said,
scratching my palm again.

She stood up and crossed the room to a
rope hanging off the wall. She gave it a couple of pulls and
returned to the table.

“
It signals a bell in
the kitchen,” she explained.

“
Lady Sandra’s
memories have been serving you well,” I said. “I didn’t think you
could absorb that many.”

“
Just from the past
couple of months,” she answered. “A cup of water from the ocean, if
you will. She spent some time here before the whole Desroche
mess.”

I nodded in reply as
the door knocked. Cathy crossed the room and opened the door for
two servants. They brought in a couple of huge trays of food and
placed them on the dining table in front on me. The aroma of fresh
vegetables and grilled meat was unbelievable.

“
For you, my Lady,”
one servant said to Cathy.