Chapter Thirteen

Something was wrong. Axxon’s shoulder had become much more solid and less welcoming. And the ground we’d picked for our sleeping spot appeared to be moving. I tried to sit up to discover what was happening, but my eyelids were glued together, while my limbs appeared made of over-boiled cabbage. It was too much effort to move.

Voices spoke overhead. I couldn’t make out their words, but their voices didn’t belong to any of the kings. Concern spiked through me.

I tried to crack my eyes open and groaned at the impossible effort. The voices cut off abruptly. I wanted to try again, but it was all too much effort. I let myself sink back into sleep.

When I next woke, I opened my eyes to dim light. My mouth was desperately dry, and my head ached as though it had been pounded with rocks. I struggled to sit upright. The scene around me went darker, and a waterskin was pressed to my lips. I drank greedily until it was removed.

With my most immediate need taken care of, my brain began to work. I was still moving. I was surrounded by fabric, and there was the most unholy smell, like a herd of … I had no idea what. “What’s going—”

The hands that had offered me water covered my nose and mouth with a cloth and the animal smell was overtaken when a bitter scent invaded my nostrils. I tried to push them away, but my arms wouldn’t cooperate, flopping to my sides. I didn’t want sleep, but sleep wanted me. I fell into the dark embrace.

When I woke for a third time, my head was clearer. I blinked and opened my eyes, trying to take in as much as I could before moving. Moving had the effect of bringing sleep and I’d had enough of that. Something had clearly gone badly wrong, and I needed to know what it was.

The floor shifted, and a wave of nausea gripped me. I breathed deeply and tried to focus. I was on an undulating, rounded floor. There was a rug between me and it, and fabric walls surrounded me, held up by a wooden frame. And we were moving. A pair of boots filled my vision when I twisted my head cautiously. They were of a fashion I didn’t recognise. But I did recognise the colourful hem of the cloak the boots’ owner was also wearing.

I was … goddess protect me, I was on top of his elephant with the envoy of the Shah of Torval! And I appeared to have been drugged, from the pounding in my head.

I shifted cautiously. If he saw I was awake, the envoy was sure to drug me again. But he was sleeping, sprawled on cushions, his mouth slightly open. And that inattention gave me the chance to act. I focused on my magic, relieved to see the blue twist around my arms. I commanded air to wrap his precious cloak around him so tightly he couldn’t move.

The sudden restriction roused him from sleep as I focused on the element of earth, prompting the wood at the corners of our support to sprout roots that drove into the ground and brought us to a stop. A cry sounded outside, probably a servant, followed by a strange, trumpeting call.

Wide-eyed, the envoy muttered a few words that were probably rude in his language. He struggled, trying unsuccessfully to get his arms free.

“What in the name of the goddess do you mean by stealing me away?” I demanded coldly. A glance through the window showed rocks, snow-capped peaks, and blue sky beyond. We were in the Ullapeak mountains. My brains might still be addled, but it was clear to me that I was being kidnapped, with my destination the court of Torval and its Shah.

The envoy ignored me, continuing to struggle. I used magic to tighten the cloak further. “I will have an answer.”

“Forgive me, Lady Kyann,” he muttered, “You weren’t supposed to wake up yet.”

“That’s clear. What doesn’t seem to have been clear enough is that I turned down the Shah’s offer of marriage. You will command this … creature turned around and return me to my own country.”

“I regret, that will not be possible.”

“I will go no farther.” I’d get out and walk if I had to, but I’d prefer not to. I had no idea how far we’d come, and a headache still clouded my senses.

“I was told not to return without you. The Shah will kill me for failure.”

“And if you hadn’t abducted me, I might have been sympathetic to that plight. Right now, I care little what fate you face.”

“I’m sorry, gracious lady.” He sounded torn between misery and fear.

I frowned. “Surely the Shah will not really kill you just because you bring a ‘no’ from Charnrosa rather than a ‘yes’?” What sort of a tyrant was the man?

“My task was quite clear, as were the consequences of failure. His Glorious Majesty would pay any price to possess you.”

“Possess me?” As though I had any doubt that I should have refused the Shah’s offer! “No man will possess me, that’s not how marriage works – or not in Charnrosa.” I ached for the kings. I should have kept them awake half the night telling them that I wanted them all. Maybe this wouldn’t have happened if I had.

Cold gripped me. “What did you do with the four kings?” My head pounded, pain returning with the thought that they might have been harmed, because they wouldn’t just have stood aside and allowed this man to steal me away. The envoy looked uncomfortable, and terror spiked through me. “What have you done with them? How did you get me away?” He still didn’t answer and fury burned inside me, combined with fear, and fire was the easiest element to get hold of.

The envoy squawked in alarm as his fine cloak burst into flames. He shifted awkwardly and patted the ends to douse the flames. The poor elephant beneath us shifted and I took a deep breath to control myself. “What did you do to the kings?” I demanded.

“A little medicine, that is all.” Fire out, he turned to me once more, although he didn’t face me, I noticed. He stared at my knees.

“Magic doesn’t need eye contact,” I told him coldly. “I won’t enchant you. What medicine did you use?” I knew enough from Essa to be aware that medicines could be used for good or ill.

“A sleeping draught, like the one we used on you. We used quite a lot, though; they are big men.”

So they might still be sleeping. I hoped they hadn’t been harmed. “You will return me to the kings and I will allow you to leave in peace.”

“I cannot let you return to Charnrosa. You will like Torval. You will be treated with all honour once you are married.”

I snorted. I didn’t much like Torval honour.

“I swear it. The Shah would not mistreat you. You are precious.”

“A fact he has ignored so far.” You didn’t treat precious things like this. My heart ached again.

“He needs your magic.”

That surprised me. “What for?”

The envoy shifted. I took pity and allowed his bindings to loosen slightly. “No one can command magic in Torval. We have never been able to do so. You will change that. With a marriage to you, his Glorious Majesty the Shah will possess magic, and your children will ensure his descendants can conjure magical wonders.”

“I am not having children with Shah Pa’rat.” My brain caught up with all the other things he’d said. “Wait. The Shah chose me for a bride because no one in Torval can use magic, and I can?”

“That is right. Our inability to wield magic is a weakness his Supreme Majesty seeks to alleviate.”

“He doesn’t want me, just my magic?”

“Can he get one without the other?” The envoy’s tone sharpened with hope.

“He can’t have my magic, that’s intrinsic to me, but he could be taught to use his own magic. Magic flows through everything. You don’t need to be special to use it.”

“It is special to us.”

I shook my head, trying to understand this man and his strange master. “If he was interested in Charnrosa’s magic, why didn’t you just ask for our help instead of suggesting a marriage?”

“He didn’t want to offer you disrespect.”

“He didn’t want to offer me disrespect, and so he had me kidnapped? I don’t think I want to know the form his insults take.” I wasn’t sure whether sarcasm would survive translation, so I glared at the envoy for good measure.

“His Supreme Majesty discussed matters with his advisors. We agreed that marriage was a fair exchange for the magic you possess.”

“Maybe you should have included me in that decision-making process.”

“I apologise, Lady Kyann. I assure you, you will be treated with all honours for the remainder of your journey.”

“Remainder?” I stood up, discovering the unwelcome news that my legs were as weak as those of a new-born foal, especially on a floor formed by the back of an elephant. I set a hand around one of the supports. “Did you not hear what I said? Your Shah has got matters entirely wrong. I’m not compounding matters by going any farther. I’m going home.”

“I cannot let you go. I dare not.”

Emotion robbed my breath. I needed the kings; I was incomplete without them. “You might have drugged the kings, but when they wake they’ll come after me. And they’ll be furious when they find me stolen away. You have just started a war between Torval and Charnrosa. Do you realise that?”

“They cannot win. Our army is unrivalled,” the envoy said, oddly unconcerned.

“But you don’t have magic. The kings do. They will shake Torval to its foundations before your army has strapped on its swords.”

The envoy swallowed, fear showing in his eyes for the first time.

“I have no wish to marry your Shah. The four kings, with my help, will destroy your country if you try to force me. I suggest we find a way to avoid war.”

He swallowed again and nodded vehemently. “What do you advise, gracious lady?”

I considered him as he took his seat, releasing my magic so he could sit in comfort. I was confident I’d be able to overpower him if he tried to drug me again.

“You must be a smart man,” I told him. “To have reached the position you have in the Shah’s court.”

He straightened, preening at my compliments. “I hope I have always given his Supreme Majesty satisfaction.” His tone fell. “Until now, that is.”

“Right, so I’m sure between the two of us, we can find a solution that will suit all parties.”

~

When the four kings reached us, the envoy and I were sitting in a clearing by the path, a small fire burning. We were sipping tea and discussing the finer points of our plan while the elephant fed itself grass that it wrenched from the ground by curling its trunk around the stems.

I stood as Vashri, Axxon, Rey and Fon burst upon us, murderous expressions on each face. My heart surged, filled with love just looking at them. I held up my hands to hold them back from whatever chaos they planned to unleash on my abductor. “Peace, it was a misunderstanding.”

“A misunderstanding?” Fon stepped forward, glaring at the envoy. The fire flared suddenly higher and the envoy jumped in alarm, pressing a hand to his heart and muttering a prayer to whatever deity he worshipped. Fon smiled grimly.

“Yes.” I stood so I was between the kings and the envoy. “Vizier Grandemann here didn’t quite have sufficient command of our language to express that what his Majesty the Shah really wanted was an insight into magic. We have agreed that the Vizier’s son will be among the first to enrol at the academy. When he graduates, he will be able to return to his home country with knowledge to share with the Shah and all his people.”

The kings stood side-by-side, arms crossed over each chest. I didn’t need any sort of connection with them to read the contempt in their attitudes. “You were abducted because he wanted to send his son to our magical academy?” Fon demanded, lip curling.

“That’s right.”

“He couldn’t simply ask?” Vashri’s brows raised in disbelief.

“As I said, it was a regrettable miscommunication.” Behind me, I sensed the envoy moving. I glanced back to see he was offering the kings an elaborate bow, not diminished in the least by the ragged state of his cloak.

“Ro’at!” The envoy called to his cavalcade. A minute later, a boy of thirteen or fourteen ran to his side. The envoy clapped a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “My son, Ro’at. He will study hard and bring honour on his family.”

My lips twitched. That sounded as much like a threat as a promise.

The envoy led the boy aside, talking to him in their own language.

The kings surrounded me. I sank into their hugs, grateful beyond measure that they were all there, and suffering no ill-effects from the envoy’s drugs.

“This wasn’t a misunderstanding,” Axxon growled.

“No, but it’s cleared up now.” I looked from one beloved face to the next. “I don’t want to start a war with Torval—”

“He hurt you?” Fon demanded.

“No! I will tell you the whole story, but not here.”

Ro’at came back into sight, his father beside him and someone else leading a mule. “I am ready to study, gracious lady,” he told me, giving me an extravagant bow he’d clearly learned from his father.

“Good.” I glanced at the kings. “Let’s head back to the Silent Castle. I’ve got much to discuss with you.”

They’d brought Windspeed. The six of us started back down the road that would lead us to Charnrosa. I’d been ready to tell the kings my decision, and now it would have to wait.

It wasn’t a discussion to have with an audience.