Chapter 15

15

For those who don't know where to look, there is no water in the desert.

~ Sandsteader proverb

It was dark and drizzling by the time Kaylina, Jankarr—and the Kar'ruk prisoner bound and draped over his taybarri—rode toward one of the eastern city gates. Kaylina had her cloak on again, her hood pulled low to hide her face, but she considered slipping off Levitke and running into the countryside. She didn't want to endure an interrogation at ranger headquarters any more than she wanted to be arrested for the poisoning attempt of the queen. Even if she wasn't bound, she felt as much a prisoner as the Kar'ruk.

"Halt, ranger." A city guard and a man in ranger blacks stepped out of the gatehouse. "What is your— Is that a Kar'ruk ?"

"A prisoner I'm taking for questioning, yes," Jankarr said.

Both the guard and ranger swore in surprise.

Kaylina assumed Targon hadn't yet put the word out that Kar'ruk had crossed the border and infiltrated the preserve. Maybe he hoped to never do that since it meant the invaders had gotten past the rangers in the watchtowers.

"What about him?" The ranger pointed at Kaylina, the wan light from the lanterns not enough to illuminate the lack of beard stubble on her jaw.

"That's the person who assisted me in capturing the Kar'ruk."

"Jankarr, you know we need the identities of everyone entering the gate after dark. And during daylight right now, as well." The ranger waved in the direction of the royal castle on its cliff overlooking the harbor and the city.

"Come, then." Jankarr crooked a finger to beckon him closer, then bent and whispered in the ranger's ear.

The guard folded his arms over his chest while glowering suspiciously.

"Ah. Go ahead through, Jankarr." The ranger looked at the guard. "That is a trainee who has not yet earned the right to be called a ranger, but my colleague vouches for him."

"The rangers are vouching for a lot lately," the guard grumbled, but he stepped back.

What did that mean? Something to do with the murders? The stories in the newspaper?

Not responding to that, Jankarr led the way toward headquarters. The paces of both taybarri picked up. Maybe they knew they would get food once they arrived.

Though their route took them down the far side of the river from Stillguard Castle, Kaylina glimpsed the dark towers as they passed over an arched bridge. She sucked in a breath. A purple glow emanated from the plant's window.

"It changed back," she whispered. "It does like the honey water."

Jankarr looked at the tower, then at her, again giving her the you-have-turned-into-something-strange look.

He probably wouldn't ask her again for a massage. Which was fine. She hadn't even massaged Vlerion , but she worried about what Jankarr would tell Targon, Targon who already had far too much of an interest in her.

When they entered ranger headquarters, men in the courtyard spotted the Kar'ruk and rushed over to help Jankarr haul him off. Kaylina dismounted at the stable, thanking Levitke for the ride.

Momentarily left alone, she was tempted to sneak out through the still-open gate before Targon returned. And before anyone thought to lock her in a room—or a cell.

Then her brother poked his head out a window in the stone infirmary building where Doctor Penderbrock worked.

"Fray?" Kaylina gave Levitke a final pat and jogged across the courtyard toward the window. "Are you all right? Did you get hurt again?"

"No, but researching in dusty basement archives made me wheezy. The doctor stirred up a concoction that I've been faithfully breathing while I read. He's been letting me work in the office of his infirmary. I'll show you what I have so far."

"That's good of him to let you loiter." Kaylina noticed Levitke trailing her across the courtyard, despite the parting pat. Was she supposed to feed the taybarri? She made a shooing motion and whispered, "Tell Jankarr I said you should get extra food."

"I haven't been loitering. I've been working assiduously on the requested research. I also helped him organize the medicines in his cabinets. They weren't alphabetized or filed by category or anything . They were all shoved haphazardly in there. Some were upside down. Two were leaking . An apothecary shop struck by a meteor couldn't have been in more disarray." Frayvar clasped an aggrieved hand to his chest. "I don't know how he found anything."

"Sometimes, you seem closer to eighty than eighteen."

"A need for organization has nothing to do with one's age."

"Oh, I'm not sure about that." As Kaylina opened the door to join him inside, she added, "Did the doctor want you to help tidy his medicines?"

"Not at first, but he's seen the benefits of having them grouped by treatment category and, within each grouping, alphabetized. Once we've cleared your name, I'm planning to make a ledger for him so he can keep a record of everything and know when to re-order. It'll also help him track medicines that go missing a lot. He's had a problem with that. Apparently, rangers slip in and help themselves to painkillers, mood enhancers, and a stimulant they take to keep them awake on long patrols."

Kaylina yawned and wished she had some of that. On the way back, she'd dozed, but napping while riding a taybarri wasn't the same as sleeping in a comfortable—and stationary—bed.

The doctor wasn't inside, but Frayvar led her to a small office beyond the cots, as if he'd made the infirmary his second home. Since the cabinet doors were closed, Kaylina couldn't see evidence of her brother's organizing, but the whole place had been dusted and cleaned since she'd last visited. Frayvar might have been responsible for that.

"I was only gone a day," she murmured.

"I like to earn my keep and pay people back for favors." Frayvar touched his side, indicating the ribs that had been broken in the fire. They didn't seem to be slowing him down—he could wheeze even without a chest injury. "But don't worry. I've prioritized doing the research Targon requested as well as working on our problem."

"My problem."

"Considering the latest wanted poster also has my face on it and lists me as an accomplice, it's our problem. Trust me."

Kaylina winced. "That's awful."

"The drawing was, yes. It made me look like a frail, spindly hunchback." Frayvar stopped in front of the office desk.

"You don't hunch that much unless you're organizing spices on the bottom shelves of the pantry."

"I'll refrain from observing that you didn't object to the two adjectives preceding that noun."

"Smart. Is that a map?" Kaylina pointed at a large parchment on the desk, the corners pinned down by books, an inkwell, and forceps—a natural paperweight found in a doctor's office.

"Of the city, yes. Here's Nakeron Inn, Jana Bloomlong's establishment. I was tempted to visit today until a ranger showed me that wanted poster. What do you think about going by tonight to take a look?"

"We could." If Kaylina was allowed to leave… "Vlerion already visited Jana's inn and searched the drawers there though."

"Oh? Well, I've also marked the various apothecaries in town." Frayvar pointed to pebbles on the map—no, those were taybarri protein pellets. No wonder Levitke was lurking nearby. "And a ranger mentioned someone who makes and sells paint by day and is known to dabble in poisons by night. Apparently, the paint business isn't very lucrative."

"But making poisons is?"

"You can sell them by the ounce—or less—for a much higher amount than paint. It's not illegal to make them, the ranger said, just to use them on people. He also said Lord Vlerion already visited the paint shop, but the owner wasn't there."

Kaylina touched the pocket holding the vials, including the one Vlerion had given her, touched by how much he'd poked around to try to help her. She withdrew them and set them on the map, pointing to the tiny maker's marks on the bottoms.

"Vlerion thought the glassmaker who made these might know who bought his vials," she said.

"Probably a lot of people." Frayvar sounded dismissive, like he didn't think that would turn into a lead, but he did look at the empty vial, then pointed at a market square on the map. "All the glassworkers have shops in this area. We can check during their open hours tomorrow."

"All right. I need to visit Stillguard Castle too and look at the plant again." Kaylina eyed the brand on her hand, wondering if she was crazy to go back, but its magic had helped her in the preserve. "I have a new type of honey that I want to fertilize it with."

"Plant fertilization should be low on our priority list. Besides, the Kingdom Guard might be watching the castle in case we return there."

"I know, but I want to solve the problem of the curse, both for our future and for… other reasons."

"Let's solve the problem of you being wanted dead as a criminal first. The curse doesn't matter until we're free to walk around town and open our business without being thrown in jail—or worse."

Not wanting to argue with him—she never won arguments with her oh-so-logical brother, anyway—Kaylina nodded. "Okay."

After visiting poison makers and glassworkers, she would sneak into the castle.

A roar that didn't sound human or animal came from one of the buildings across the courtyard. Was that the Kar'ruk? The noise had come from the direction Jankarr and the other rangers had taken their prisoner.

Kaylina suspected the questioning would be violent, unless the rangers could force kafdari root down the Kar'ruk's throat, but she wished she could hear his answers. Even though she had her own problems, it was hard not to worry about how many horned invaders might be about. Especially since Vlerion was out there hunting them.

Another roar wafted out, followed by a defiant string of clipped Kar'ruk words. The questioning might not be going well.

"Did you get a chance to research the newspaper?" Kaylina opened a window to peer across the courtyard, but the interrogation was taking place indoors. A few taybarri near the stable looked at each other and swished their tails, perhaps in agitation. They might be uneasy about the roars or the presence of a Kar'ruk in general.

"I read all the issues that have been printed and asked around, but nobody knows where they're coming from."

"Do they know to search outside the city for their origins?" she asked.

"Probably not. Maybe we should have climbed out the back of that wagon and subdued and questioned the person driving."

"Have you subdued anyone in your life?" Kaylina didn't bring up his spindly frailness.

"No, but you could have pummeled him with sling rounds until he answered our questions."

"Or drew a sword and kicked our asses. I'm not any more of a fighter than you are."

"Not even with your ranger training?"

"The one day of training I had didn't teach me that much." Kaylina scratched her jaw. "What if we lie in wait in the dark of night on the highway near the river to see if another wagon carrying newspapers comes through? I think Vlerion said it's been delivered daily lately."

"We? Kay, we have a more important mission." Frayvar pointed at her chest, then his. "We need to focus on that. Tonight ."

The courtyard gate opened, several rangers on taybarri riding in, and she didn't respond. Was that the party that Targon had led into the preserve?

Yes, she spotted the captain in the lead, but where was Vlerion? Sent off on another mission? Not injured, she hoped.

A ranger ran up to Targon, reporting something to him. About the Kar'ruk prisoner? Yes, he pointed at the building that held him.

After ordering a subordinate to care for the taybarri, Targon dismounted and jogged inside with the ranger.

"Kaylina." Frayvar poked her.

"Sorry. I heard you. I know our mission is important, and I do want to clear my name. Trust me." Maybe it was foolish, but she worried more about Vlerion. As long as she could avoid the Kingdom Guard, she ought to be okay, but he would be in grave trouble if the Virts spread the word about his link to the beast—and roused the entire populace against him. There wouldn't be anywhere for him to hide to escape the ire of an entire city.

"I wonder," Frayvar muttered.

"I'm just tired. Did you get any sleep today?"

"You're so tired that your brain is scheming on a different topic every two minutes." He waved at one of the cots. "I napped in between organizing, researching, and worrying about you."

"So, no sleep."

"No long sleep."

"We should both rest."

"And then we'll visit Nakeron Inn and the paint shop?" Frayvar waved at the map while holding her gaze intently.

"Like I said, Vlerion already checked the inn. That's where he got the vial. I don't know what else we'd find."

"I'm an expert researcher. I might find things a simple pugilist missed. Such as drawers full of incriminating evidence."

"I doubt Jana is keeping drawers of her written plans for my demise, and Vlerion is a lot more than a pugilist."

Frayvar waved dismissively at that, saying only, "We might find something he missed."

"All right." Kaylina yawned and rubbed her gritty eyes, too tired to anticipate a search, especially one her brother wanted to start that night. "Tomorrow, we'll?—"

The door to the infirmary opened, and Targon walked in, looking straight toward the office. One of his men must have told him Kaylina and Frayvar were inside.

Targon ignored him and squinted at her. Suspiciously?

Kaylina hadn't done anything that should irk him. She'd even helped Jankarr. Of course, Targon might still be irked that she'd been entwined with Vlerion when he and his rangers had shown up in the preserve…

"Is everything okay, Captain?" Kaylina wanted to ask if Vlerion was okay, especially since he hadn't come back with the rangers, but she didn't bring him up in case their relationship was the reason for Targon's squinty eyes. She would prefer to distract the captain from whatever dark thoughts he was having about them together.

"Little has been okay of late." Targon looked at Frayvar, then back to her. "Come to my office, Korbian. We need to talk."

"All right."

His squint deepened.

"My lord," Kaylina made herself add.

He grunted and walked out.

"Does this mean we're not visiting the inn tonight?" Frayvar asked.

Kaylina only shook her head. As she followed the dour Captain Targon across the courtyard, she worried she was about to lose any semblance of freedom she'd had.