Victory and Defeat: Book Five of the Restoration Series (14 page)

Still smiling, Darion broke the wax seal and unfolded the letter. His eyes quickly scanned the words and the smile disappeared. His jaws clenched and unclenched several times, and then his eyes reread the note more slowly. Finally, he sucked in a deep breath of air, looking like he might explode at any moment. He crushed the letter in his fist and muttered, “That ignorant whelp of a man!” His words were directed to no one in particular. His jaw clenched one more time
, and then he stomped off down the hall away from his chambers.

The k
ing’s movement caught Ronald by surprise, but he was saved by the guard on his right side. The man grabbed Ronald’s arm and jerked him to the side. The king barely noticed as he strode past, still muttering obscenities under his breath.

The members of the
king’s guard were also caught by surprise, and they sprinted after the king.

In a matter of moments, Ronald was alone. He swallowed hard as he realized where the
king was headed. He was marching straight to Prince Danal’s quarters. Judging by the look on the king’s face, the prince was in for a rough night.

King Darion marched along at such a furious pace that his guards were forced into a half-run, half-walk just to keep up with him. It didn’t take long before they turned a corner and approached the door to Prince Danal’s quarters.

Lieutenant Redick made to move around the king, open the door, and enter the room first. He never got the chance.

“Get back!” the king snapped.

Surprised, both at the
king’s tone and the command he had given, Redick obeyed. “Shouldn’t I check the rooms, my king?”

“No! Obey your orders and wait out here.”

Redick bowed his head. “As you command.” Even as he spoke the words, a small knot of worry formed in his stomach. He watched carefully as Darion opened the door and stepped into the prince’s sitting room. It was a fairly small room and Redick immediately recognized that the room was empty. The king slammed the door shut and disappeared from the lieutenant’s view. Sighing, Redick nodded for the guards to take up position on either side of the prince’s door.

King Darion marched across the sitting room and threw open the door to Danal’s bedroom. The prince stood before his bed, his eyes on the floor while he fidgeted. The king swept across the room and backhanded the prince across the face. “Pregnant? You got her pregnant?”

The force of the blow staggered Danal
, and he sat down on the edge of his bed. His eyes were watering from the blow, and he reached a hand up to rub the left side of his face.

“Look at me when I talk to you!” Darion shouted.

Danal stood to his feet and looked his father in the eyes.

“How could you get that wench pregnant?” the
king demanded, still breathing hard.

No longer fidgeting, Danal refused to lower his eyes. “I didn’t,” he spat. “They wanted to talk to you.” He waved his hand in the direction behind the
king.

Confused, King Darion looked over his shoulder and felt his insides go cold. A group of people stood facing him, and he recognized quite a few of them.

Chapter
14

King Darion stared in silence at the group that had been hidden in his son’s room. Dagan and Cassandra had been his advisors not too long ago, and he also recognized Atock as one of the outlaw Guardians. In addition there was a dwarf and two men he didn’t recognize and, of all things, a bound and gagged man.

After appearing to be struck speechless, King Darion finally found his voice. “Guards! Come quickly!” he shouted out at the top of his voice.

The group of people watching him didn’t move, didn’t even tense up, and Darion’s first thought was that they had somehow compromised his guard, but that seemed unlikely. Then another explanation occurred to him. He took a deep breath and looked at Dagan. “You’ve warded the room. Haven’t you?”

Dagan shook his head. “Not exactly.
” He pointed to one of the two men that Darion didn’t recognize. “He actually warded the room.”

Darion studied the man for a moment and decided that he had never seen him before in his life. Regardless, he now knew the man for a sorcerer.

Darion nodded and looked back at his son. “You helped them?”

Danal,
still rubbing the side of his face, and nodded.

“The girl’s not pregnant?” Darion asked of his son.

In answer, the boy only shook his head. The anger was still visible in Prince Danal’s eyes, and Darion thought the boy would have gladly stabbed him right then. The king studied his son for a moment. The boy had always been so shy and meek, but there was no mistaking the fact that the boy was changing. He hadn’t really noticed it before now. He turned his back to Danal and looked to Dagan; he assumed the sorcerer would be the leader. “How did you get into the castle?”

Dagan smiled and motioned over to the couches. “Why don’t we sit down? We have a very long story to tell you.”

Darion looked to the couches off to the left. In a way, he was relieved. For a moment he had thought they were here to kill him. It was a silly thought; he had known Dagan and Cassandra for years, and he really couldn’t believe they would hurt him. Then again, he had branded them as outlaws.

Dagan and Cassandra led the way over to the couches; everyone but Atock followed. As the king watched, the Guardian moved over and leaned against the wall, right beside the door. The bound
-and-gagged man was left lying on the floor near the door that led to Danal’s closets.

Sighing, the king joined the rest of the group on the couches. They sat in silence for several moments
, and then Dagan spoke, “I’m not even really sure where I should start.”

“Why not start with introductions?” King Darion asked.

“Of course,” Dagan said, looking slightly abashed. “I forget that you don’t know my companions. This is Agminion. He’s the sorcerer to the King of Aramonia.”

A bit surprised, Darion nodded.

Dagan pointed to the dwarf. “This is Holgar, cousin to the king of the dwarven nation of Az’ha’rill’hadell.”

Darion’s surprise was evident in his rapid blinking at that. He remained silent.

“This is Warren, crown prince of the Faerum.”

At that, King Darion’s surprise diminished and was replaced by disbelief. Still, he held his tongue.

Dagan pointed back over toward the closet door. “The man on the floor is a priest in the Church of Adel. He’s a member of a very special and secret order. They are called the Order of the Intercessor. They are excellent swordsmen, and they know both magic and sorcery.”

“You
expect me to believe that the church has taught its monks to use magic and sorcery?”

“Only a few,” Dagan answered, “and we’re here to tell you a lot more than that.” With that, Dagan began telling his story.

King Darion listened in silence as Dagan recounted their recent adventures. He listened as Dagan explained what they knew about Kelcer, as well as the three other signs that Kelcer mentioned
— the Helmet of Ashteroth, Nerandall, and Ocklamoor. Dagan told him about their recent trip to Saprasia, of meeting Warren and fighting goblins, of Flare’s sudden arrival, and of his summoning demons. Darion grew visibly pale at this point, but he held his tongue. Dagan finished by telling about the monks and the church’s deceit. He also mentioned that Flare was seeking the shield called Ocklamoor in Elem. The king leaned his head back against the top of the couch and sighed deeply.

After Dagan finished his tale, there was a moment of silence and the Dagan said, “I know that it’s quite an unbelievable story, but I swear it’s the truth.”

Darion opened his eyes, but did not raise his head. “So my son can summon demons and is determined to restore the Dragon Order.”

“Better him than Zalustus,” Cassandra said quietly. It was the first thing she had.

“Perhaps,” Darion said, “and then again, perhaps you’ve all been deceived.”

“But we brought you the priest
—” Dagan began, but he cut off as Darion spoke over him.

“You’ve brought me a bound and gagged man. Go ahead and remove his gag and then hold a knife to his throat so that he’ll say whatever you want him to. What does that prove? Nothing.” Darion shook his head.

“You think that I would lie to you?” Dagan asked. He was scowling and it made him even more unpleasant than normal.

“Of course I believe that you’d lie to me,” Darion snapped right back. “In fact, I know that you have lied to me in the past.”

Dagan didn’t seem to have an answer to that and sat there fuming.

“And me?” Cassandra asked. “Do you think that I’d lie to you?”

Darion turned to regard the magician. “I do not know, but as all magicians are schemers, it wouldn’t surprise me much.”

Cassandra didn’t reply either, but she seemed to biting her tongue in anger.

“Flare gave us a message for you,” Warren said quietly. “He said war is coming and you have to prepare if Telur is to survive.”

Darion turned to regard the prince of the Fae now. “And the prince of the long-dead Faerum speaks.” He studied
Warren for several moments. “Can you prove you are who you say you are?”

Warren
smiled in answer. “No, nor will I try.”

Silence settled down around them. They continued to stare at each other
, but no one seemed interested in speaking. Finally, a curious look replaced Dagan’s scowl. “You are not a fool. So why are you trying so hard to make us think you one?”

Now it was the
king’s turn to look angry and he climbed to his feet. “How dare you?” He took a step toward the door but stopped when Cassandra and Warren both climbed to their feet. He watched them for a moment. “So what will happen if I insist on marching through that door?”

Cassandra smiled
. “I don’t know, but you know how all magicians are schemers.”

“Stop it! Both of you,” Dagan said, and he too belatedly climbed to his feet. He pointed his finger at the king, “And you are not as good an actor as you pretend. You trusted us in the past
, and we might be the only ones you can trust now.”

Darion did not reply immediately, but after a moment, he returned to his seat, but he still looked disgruntled.

After a brief pause, the others returned to their seats as well. They sat down and waited for the king to speak.

“I believe that Flare is trying to restore the Dragon Order, but I don’t believe him a monster. I believe that the
church lies for its own purposes, but I am,” he paused as if searching for the right word, “
dubious
about your sorcerous monk. Lastly, I believe that a war is coming and there is precious little I can do about it.”

“Precious little,” Dagan repeated
, and he looked incredulous. “How about calling up your bondsmen, provisioning the castles and keeps, and maybe even warning the other kingdoms?”

Darion looked grim. He sighed and shook his head. “Unfortunately, I can do none of those things.”

Dagan looked ready to explode, but Cassandra put a calming hand on his arm and asked, “Why not?”

“Beca
use I’m afraid the church will not allow it.” That effectively stole away Dagan’s anger, stole it away and replaced it with confusion.

“The
church?”

“Yes.”
Darion took a deep breath and then dropped his eyes to the floor. “You see, the Church has a bit more power than I would prefer.” He leaned back and folded his hands in his lap. “They initially gave their approval of sending Flare to retrieve Ossendar, but I do not believe they expected him to succeed. When he brought the sword back, that bastard Dalin Olliston threatened to brand him and me a heretic. He also threatened to start a civil war by having the four largest houses declare their independence. I had no choice but to agree to take the sword from Flare, and we all know how that went.”

“So why not move against the
church?” Warren asked. The question drew shocked gazes from most of those in the room, except Holgar, who was nodding his head in agreement.

“There have been several reasons that direct confrontation with the
church was not possible. For one thing, they had spies throughout my castle. Any such planning on my part would have been discovered, and the fight would have begun before I was ready.”

Dagan tilted his head and studied the king
. “I assume you have begun removing those spies?”

Darion nodded. “Of course. Some I have taken great pains to reassign. A few have had an unfortunate accident, but I have to be careful
— too many accidents might start the battle before I am ready. I have allowed a few to remain in place so that I can control the information that Olliston receives.”

“Then you are getting ready?” Cassandra asked. A relieved smile played across her face.

“Of course. I would not leave the church in control of my kingdom,” Darion said looking angry. “I would rather it burned than that happen.”

“Go on,” Dagan prompted.

“I sent some messengers that I trust to the heads of the four great houses.”

“You did?” Agminion blurted out. “I thought you didn’t trust those houses.”

“Yes and no,” Darion answered. “I absolutely trust them to act in their best interest and they’re no fools. The church’s mistake was in offering to remove me from the throne and put one of them on it. You see, he made the same offer to all four houses,” he stopped speaking and leaned back on the couch, grinning.

Dagan also grinned. “And since each house has spies in the other houses
. . . ”

“They al
l became aware of the game the church was playing, but there’s more to it than that. None of them wanted the crown given to them by the church. If the church can take it from me and give it to them, then it can also take it from them and give it to someone else.”

“So, they’re supporting you?” Agminion asked.

“Tentatively,” Darion answered, “although they will undoubtedly go back to their plotting soon enough.”

“And you trust them?”
Warren asked, looking perplexed.

“Once again, I trust them to act in their best interest. And to that end, I have been working with the four houses in secret to discover the
church’s spies and remove them, but also to prepare for the coming war.”

“How so?” Dagan asked.

Darion sighed deeply. “The blacksmiths of the kingdom cannot suddenly beginning producing massive numbers of armaments, so the four houses have been secretly importing weapons and armor. They have also been,” here he paused and nodded his head in Dagan’s direction, “stocking the castles and keeps.”

Cassandra was smiling broadly now
. “That reminds me of the Darion I know.”

Dagan was not smiling. “But when the
church discovers what you’ve been doing, they will brand you a heretic and you will still face a possible uprising. Surely you understand what kind of power the church wields among the people.”

“I do indeed realize what will happen, and I have been working on a plan to control the
church,” he stopped and exhaled deeply, “but so far, we have not been able to act on our plan.”

“What is your plan?” Cassandra asked.

“Olliston normally takes frequent trips to foreign cities. I have men that I trust watching the exits of the city. The next time he leaves, I intend to attack his caravan and take the man prisoner. I want that old bastard dancing to my tune for a change.”

There were a few gasps at these words
. The thought of the King of Telur ordering an attack against the church was difficult for many of them. After several moments, Agminion broke the silence.

“Why exactly are you telling us all of this? I mean
, if word of this gets out — ”

“True,” Darion agreed
, and then he smiled, but it wasn’t a pleasant smile. “Your arrival might just be what I need to get my plan started.”

“How is that?” Agminion asked.

Darion shrugged. “Perhaps I can tell Aldon that you have been captured. I’m sure that Countess Lells would get that information out of him rather quickly. Olliston would demand that you be turned over to him, but I could delay. Perhaps it might even make the old bastard come to see me.”