Victory and Defeat: Book Five of the Restoration Series (8 page)

Danal looked from Cassandra to Dagan to
the man standing behind them. Dagan and Cassandra he recognized, but not the man at the other end of the aisle; he was pretty sure he had never seen the man before. He turned back to Dagan. “Why are you here, Dagan?”

Dagan grinned in a most unpleasant way. “My dear prince
, we need your help to save the kingdom.”

Some time later, Danal leaned against the bookshelf and rubbed his eyes. His eyes ached, and he could tell that a massive headache was coming on. He had been talking to Dagan and Cassandra for nearly an hour now, but he was still as confused as when they started, perhaps even a bit more so.

He looked up and met Dagan’s gaze. “So, Flare is trying to restore the Dragon Order, but he’s not the only one.”
In response to this, Dagan only nodded slowly. “There are two such people, and Flare’s the better option than the other?” Once again, Dagan nodded. “And the church has taught some of its own to use magic and sorcery, while at the same time wielding a sword?”

Dagan sucked in a deep breath and nodded
yet again. “That’s all true, and you can see why we need to inform your father.”

Danal shook his head, not sure what to believe. “I think my father wouldn’t listen for a moment. He’d have you arrested and you’d be telling this insanity to the interrogators.”

“I doubt that,” Cassandra replied. “If word of our arrival got out, then that fool Angaria would make sure the high priest knew. Once that happened, we’d be turned over for the church to question.”

“Perhaps,” Danal conceded, “but you’d still be questioned by interrogators, wouldn’t you?”

There was a bit of heat in Danal’s tone and it surprised Dagan. The prince he had remembered was meek and shy, but this prince was a bit more challenging.  “You’ve changed.”

Both Cassandra and Danal looked to the old sorcerer. “I had to,” Danal said after a moment
. “This last year has been a bit trying.”

Dagan nodded but didn’t reply right
away. His eyes flicked to Julia, who stood just behind Danal, almost appearing to hide in his shadow. The girl looked frightened and it was hard to blame her; the mere mention of Kelcer was enough to frighten both young children and old soldiers. They hadn’t just mentioned Kelcer, but said the church was full of rubbish in its interpretation of the old prophecy; the girl had a right to be afraid.

Danal noticed Dagan observing Julia and the prince stepped to his left, helping to hide the girl a bit more.

The boy has changed,
Dagan thought and then he tilted his head to the side as he considered something else.
The girl is more than just a plaything to him.
That thought made something else occur to him.

“Why are you two meeting here?” Dagan asked suddenly. “Why aren’t you in your
chambers?” Danal looked confused first, then slightly embarrassed. “Why aren’t you carrying on in the luxury of a prince’s chamber?” Dagan persisted.

There was no mistaking it now; Danal looked angry
, and there was something else too, perhaps embarrassment. Julia’s eyes just dropped to the floor again.

“Does your father not approve of his son taking an interest in a commoner?” Cassandra asked bluntly.

Danal’s chin rose and he glowered at the magic user. “No, he did not approve.”

“That’s strange,” Dagan replied
. “I personally know that the king has had his share of dalliances with the palace staff. Why would he object to you doing the same?”

Danal didn’t answer, but Cassandra had already worked out the answer. “You think you’re in love, don’t you?” she asked, trying hard to hide the grin and failing.

“You sound just like my father,” Danal answered. “He called me a foolish child and said royal marriages are for the good of the kingdom and not for one’s happiness.”

“Marriage!” Dagan said rather loudly. “Now I understand why you two are meeting like this. If you mentioned marriage to your father, I can only imagine he forbade you from seeing this young lady again.”

“And what if he has?” Danal asked angrily. “I don’t see how it much matters to you.”

Dagan turned red and sucked in air. There was a scowl on his face and he looked like he was about to give Danal a tongue lashing. Luckily Cassandra spoke first.

“Perhaps we can use this to our advantage.”

Her words caught both Dagan and Danal by surprise; Dagan even seemed
to deflate. He shook his head and asked, “What are you talking about?”

“It seems straightforward to me,” she said, smiling sweetly at Danal. “We have Prince Danal send a message to the king that he has gotten young Julia here pregnant.
I’m quite sure that will bring the king at a run.”

Danal paled at her suggestion
, but Dagan smiled wickedly. “I love it,” he said.

“Wait!” Danal interjected.
“Why would I do that? Why would I help you?”

“We’ve already told you the reasons,” Dagan said slowly, “but there’s more to it than that. There’s something
wrong in Telur. I cannot believe that Darion has been this deceived by the church; there has to be more to it.”

Danal opened his mouth to deny Dagan’s charge, but he paused. His thoughts went back to Barrett being named Crown Prince. It
hadn’t made any sense at the time and it still didn’t; he had wondered about it on several occasions. He had also been suspicious of the hunting accident that had taken the life of his older brother and the rightful heir, Prince Darius. He closed his mouth with a snap; not daring to say anything.

Dagan didn’t say anything either, instead he grinned knowingly at the Prince.

After a moment Danal recovered some and he looked from Dagan to Cassandra; he looked near to panic and he suddenly resembled the old prince that Dagan remembered. “You want me to tell him that tonight?”

Suppressing a chuckle, Cassandra shook her head. “No, we’re not ready
.”

“And I don’t think we should meet him here,” Dagan said, waving his hands around at the library. “I think perhaps we should invite him tomorrow and we’ll be waiting in your quarters.”

Danal looked like he might be sick at any moment.

“Oh come now, Danal,” Cassandra said, “if we knew you were secretly meeting here, then surely the
king knew.”

This didn’t seem to help Danal’
s queasiness. He shook his head. “Absolutely not! If he knew we were still …” he paused and waved his hand at the blankets on the floor, “he would have put a stop to it.” He leaned back against the bookshelf and dropped his eyes to the floor.

“No,” Dagan answered, “what he did was scare you and put a stop to any talk of marriage. I’m quite sure he doesn’t mind you and her having a bit of fun.” He tilted his head to one side and smiled wickedly at Danal, “But I’m also sure he will not appreciate
that his first known grandson is a bastard.”

Cassandra was only half-listening to Dagan taunt the prince
; she had a more worrisome question on her mind. “Will you help us, Danal?”

The prince looked up from the floor and some of the earlier fire was back. “And your plan is to talk to him, to show him this priest? Is that all?”

“You have our word that we will not hurt your father,” Cassandra said; she spoke slowly, putting emphasis on each word. “If the king wants to arrest us after hearing us, we won’t resist.” She absolutely meant the part about not hurting the king, but the second part, the part about not resisting, well, they would have to wait and see.

If Danal suspected that Cassandra wasn’t being completely honest with him, he didn’t show it. After a moment he
said, “All right, but we have some planning to do.”

Dagan nodded and sighed. He hadn’t realized just how much depended on the prince
, and he had no idea what they would have done if Danal had refused to help.

Chapter
9

Keenan walked slowly up the hill toward the abbey’s gates. He was nervous about entering the abbey. Though no one at the abbey should have any reason to recognize him, he was traveling with Kara. He glanced over at the former cleric of the Church of Adel, but she took no notice of him; her eyes were focused on the abbey at the top of the hill.

In truth
, Keenan had been surprised that his partner in this pilgrimage was Kara. He had expected Leela to go with him. There had been a quiet but very tense discussion about the plan last night; Leela was fine going or staying, but Kara had been insistent that she go with Keenan. It was the most fire the woman had shown in some time. As a former member of the clergy, she would undoubtedly be able to spot things that Keenan and the others wouldn’t even notice. The problem was that since she was a former member of the clergy, it might be easier for the guards to recognize her as one of the outlaw Guardians.

Derek’s main objection was that she was too easy to recognize, and since the abbey guarded one of the four Kelcer signs, the guards would be alert. Kara wouldn’t listen to reason, and so they had turned to Enstorion. As usual, the mage had
been listening to their discussions but not actually involved in them. Kara had asked if he could help alter her appearance, and his answer had been a nod and a cruel smile.

At the time, Keenan had not understood the elf’s smile
, but as he cast a quick glance at Kara again, he understood it perfectly now.

Kara did not look like herself anymore. She walked
slightly bent over, and her back looked deformed and had a small hump. Her blond hair had gone half-white. Her skin resembled that of a seventy-year-old woman;  the skin was wrinkly and loose around her neck. Numerous lines and wrinkles covered her face, as did several ugly swollen boils.

Enstorion had spent the entire night working on several potions; potions which had done this to Kara. The poor girl had cried when she had seen her reflection in a mirror, but the
mage had said it would wear off — eventually.

Initially, Keenan had thought her horrible appearance would draw the eye and
attract unwanted attention. He knew better now; the path to the abbey was crowded, and while not everyone looked like Kara, there were quite a few who did.

He had to admit that not only had the elf given Kara an unbelievable disguise, but he had also given th
em the perfect reason for traveling to the abbey.

“Quit staring at me,” Kara said.

Keenan started, just now realizing that she had finally pulled her eyes from the abbey and was watching him as he watched her. “My apologies,” he said.

He looked back to their destination, the Abbey of Enlightenment.
The abbey sat atop a small hill, just to the north of the Elem. A twelve-foot wall formed a rectangular enclosure around the abbey and ran east to west for nearly a quarter of a mile; the portion of the wall that ran north to south was slightly shorter. The wall was not built to withstand a determined siege, but more to keep out unwanted visitors. A small structure was built at each of the four corners of the wall, rather like a small tower, and it was intended as a guard’s station. Directly in front of them, at the end of the path, was an enormous two-door gate. The doors swung outward and were made of wood banded by iron straps. Both doors currently stood open. The gate was not centered in the wall, but instead was near the southeast corner.

There was a steady stream of people going
in and out through the gates of the abbey. Many were going in for the temple services; there would be many such services throughout the week. He and Kara did not plan on attending a service, but instead they planned on taking a quick look at the interior arrangement of the abbey and then they would be on their way.

Keenan glanced off to the left of the path; this part of the hill was sloped and covered in thick grass that came halfway to the knee. Most of the grass was trampled now, as many of the pilgrims had slept on the hillside. A very precious few had stretched a covering over poles to give themselves a sort of tent, but most just slept under the stars.
Fools,
Keenan thought. They were sure to get wet as it rained just about every afternoon. Some of the pilgrims had remained with their precious belongings, letting their travel companions enter the abbey first.
The world is full of thieves,
Keenan thought,
even among pilgrims.

As they got closer to the gates, the cries of merchants could be heard
, and Keenan’s lip curled in disgust. While it was true that the visitors to the abbey would need to buy supplies, he found it disgusting that some would hawk food and other wares directly in front of a temple.

At last it was their turn to pass through the gates. Keenan felt his stomach tighten as they passed through the abbey walls and into the abbey proper. He took a calming breath and looked around at the
abbey’s layout. Directly across the courtyard was a low building with a sloped roof that ran along the entire length of the northern wall and appeared to be storehouses. To his left, which would be west, sat the temple. It wasn’t grand in the least, being just a two-story building with an attached bell tower. To the north, south, and west of the temple were numerous small buildings that had to be the living quarters for the priests and guards. These priests, it would appear, were indeed living an ascetic life; there were precious few pleasures available here. There were also a few nicer-looking buildings against the southern wall, and Keenan guessed these were guest apartments for when the abbey had important visitors.

In the middle of the large courtyard was an ornate stone fountain. The fountain basin was a good ten yards across and nearly overflowing with water. Directly in the middle of the basin stood a stone statue of Adel
— his arms were thrown wide and his head pulled back. A constant stream of water shot from the statue’s mouth in an arc that ended in the basin. A priest stood near the edge of the basin and was scooping up water with a wooden cup; if a pilgrim threw an offering into the fountain, the priest would bless the water and dump it on the pilgrim’s head. There was a line waiting for the blessing.

“Move along,” a deep voice called out.

With a start, Keenan realized he had stopped just inside the gate to stare and the gate guards were watching him. He smiled and dipped his head. He started forward again and caught up with Kara; she hadn’t been fool enough to stop and gawk.

They
started off westerly, toward the temple. The courtyard was full of milling pilgrims, but most were gathered around the fountain or near the temple.

Keenan scanned the buildings again as they walked. He cast a quick glance around
, and then whispered, “Do you think maybe it’s in one of the storerooms?”

K
ara looked to her right, toward the northern wall; after a moment she shook her head. “No, that’s too obvious.”

Keenan looked
at the living quarters that were on past the temple, but he couldn’t imagine the shield being hid in any of them. That left only two options: either the shield was in an underground hidden room, or it was in the temple.

Without speaking, they turned their steps toward the temple.
They were approaching it from the southeast and they stopped at the base of the steps that led to the doors. It wasn’t much to look at. On the eastern side, a double door allowed access to the temple proper, and a single window was placed high up on the wall. From their vantage point, they could also see the southern wall, and it didn’t look promising. There were no doors or low windows; the only window was well out of reach in the middle of the wall.

He sighed deeply, wo
ndering if he had made the right decision to help Derek and the other Guardians. Deep down inside he felt it was the right decision; it gave his people a chance to come out of hiding, but only if Flaranthlas restored the Dragon Order. If Zalustus won the race, then Keenan had only won enslavement and death for his people.

Ever since the destruction of the
kingdom of Tizen some two thousand years ago, his family had always followed the orders of the King of Golteranth, but they had never had any other choice. Zalustus and his family were monsters, and Keenan was stained with the blood of the atrocities that he had been forced to commit. Now he had hope, not much, but a little. Flare had Ossendar, and that gave him the advantage, or at least Keenan hoped it did. He couldn’t imagine a world where Zalustus ruled.

Just then
, the bell in the tower started ringing. There a single moment of absolute silence, and then the pilgrims rushed toward the temple. Keenan and Kara were near the temple steps and were swept along with the others.

Keenan grabbed Kara’s arm and held it tight so they wouldn’t be separated, but he couldn’t change the direction they were headed
— right into the temple doors. The temple only held so many for each service, and they had been swept up in the rush to attend.

Off to the south of the temple entrance, out of the flow of the pilgrim’s mad rush, a woman stood. She was slender and nearly completely covered by a long, brown cloak; the only thing visible was the end of her white, blonde hair, which poked out the bottom of her cowl.

Under more normal circumstances, the cowl would have brought attention to her, but not now. Many of the pilgrims were deformed and scar
red, and they hid their deformities even as they came here hoping for a cure.

She watched as the fools rushed toward the temple, each trying to get a seat for the service. She had seen something else, too; Keenan and
what appeared to be an old crone of a woman being forced through the doors.

Inside the shadows of her cowl she smiled, the day had just gotten so much better.

She didn’t know who the woman was, although she had her suspicions, but she certainly recognized Keenan, the Crown Prince of Tizen. She would never forget his face. Once they had been comrades, but not anymore. His betrayal of the Lord Zalustus had sealed his fate once and for all.

Keenan’s imminent death really didn’t bother her all that much. She had liked him well enough, but only in that he was an excellent fighter and he was capable of following
orders. So many soldiers were simply unable to do as they were told. His betrayal meant there was one less person vying for Zalustus’s approval.

Thinking of Zalustus made
Jasmine smile again; he would be so pleased that she had found Keenan. She knew that Zalustus so looked forward to his reunion with the Prince of Tizen.

Keenan groaned as he and Kara were carried along into the temple. They had planned to avoid the services today, but there wasn’t any way to get out of it now, and besides, forcing their way back through the packed temple would be awfully suspicious.

They passed through the temple doors
, and he craned his head to see over the crowds. The interior of the temple was very underwhelming. It was a long, narrow, single-room building with two rows of benches separated by a central aisle. At the far end of the room was a slightly elevated perch from where the priest would conduct the service. A waist-high wooden wall separated the first five rows of benches from the rest. Those rows appeared reserved; they were currently empty. The walls were covered with white stucco, which helped lighten the interior as there were only four windows placed rather high up in the walls. The ceiling was solid wood and a good twenty feet over their heads.

Kara grabbed Keenan’s hand and gave a good yank.

He had been looking around the temple and once again had become rooted to one spot. He tensed up for a moment but then relaxed when he saw what was bothering Kara. The seats were filling up fast, and she didn’t want to stand for the hour or two that the service would last. In that sentiment, he completely agreed with her.

They rushed forward and took two of the last seats
at the rear of the temple, and in the process drew some rather nasty looks from several other members of the congregation. Keenan scowled at them and they remained silent.

Taking the seat next to Kara, Keenan leaned in close and whispered, “How long is this going to last?”

Kara shrugged. “Maybe an hour.”

There was a look about her
, humor mixed with expectation. “What?” Keenan asked.

In answer, Kara pointed skyward.

Keenan looked upwards, for the briefest of moments he thought she was pointing at the ceiling, and then he saw what she meant. Shields of all types hung in an unbroken line all around the top of the walls.

“How many shields?” Derek asked, looking incredulous.

“Hundreds,” Keenan said, taking off his cloak and throwing it across the end of the bed. “Damn thing could be any of them. How are we supposed to figure out which one it is?”

Kara stepped around the prince and sat down on the edge of Derek’s bed. Derek was sitting beside her, Trestus sat on the opposite bed, Enstorion and Leela sat in the two chairs, and Keenan stood in the middle of the room looking displeased.

“We came on this damn foolish mission because we had a chance to grab one of the signs that no one knew about,” Keenan continued angrily
, his voice rising. “And now we’re here and there’s no chance of getting the shield.” He was breathing fast and deep, and his agitation was obvious to all.