Chapter 17

17

Nothing is so fascinating as listening to others ponder your fate.

~ Grandma Korbian

Kaylina should have carefully descended the dark stairs, finding her way out of ranger headquarters while she remembered Targon's instructions on how to do so, but a fist pounded on his door scant seconds after he closed her in. She couldn't help but lean her ear against the bookcase.

Not a true wall, it wasn't soundproof. She could hear Targon grumbling to himself and then the fist pounding again. Without respect. Maybe the owner didn't know Targon was a noble—or half-noble—and insisted on my lords and proper reverence.

Footsteps sounded—Targon walking to the door.

"Spymaster Sabor," he stated. "You're not who I expected."

Spymaster? Kaylina remembered Vlerion teasing Targon about fancying himself a spymaster, but she hadn't realized it was an actual position in the kingdom.

"Were the queen here to sate her needs," a man with a low wry voice said, "she would have gone to your quarters instead of your office. Or so I presume. Your desk looks sturdy enough, I suppose, but royalty generally prefers mattresses."

"I had no idea you spent time musing on the queen's sex life."

"I'm letting you know I'm aware of the role you recently played in it."

"As the spymaster, aren't you paid to be aware of everything?"

"Yes, and you'd best not forget it. Where's the girl?"

A chill went through Kaylina. As much as she would like for there to be some other girl, she had little doubt that the man meant her. She might have been foolish not to dart immediately down the stairs and leave. If the spymaster knew about the secret door, he would check it. But, aside from their conversation, it was quiet in the building, and she worried that if she left now, the stairs would creak, and they would hear her.

"Not here," Targon said.

"No? A recent report says otherwise. As you can see, I've got men checking the compound—they started with your barracks room."

Targon's grunt didn't sound that concerned. If nothing else, he knew Kaylina wasn't there. "Nice to know I've got spies among my rangers who report to you."

"I wouldn't be much of a spymaster if I didn't have eyes all over the capital, as well as in the kingdom at large."

"We're on the same side, Sabor. You don't need to spy on the rangers."

"One would hope. The girl?"

"The girl helped save the king and queen. She didn't poison anyone."

Kaylina hadn't expected Targon to stand up for her. She refused to reassess her opinion of him—he was still a dick—but she was relieved he had believed Vlerion. Targon might have seen her help out at the castle, but he couldn't have directly witnessed anything to make him certain she hadn't delivered poisoned mead.

"That's what you believe?" the spymaster asked after a pause.

"I was there and saw the role she played with my own eyes. She hit the suborned guard who was feigning the castle gate wouldn't open—pounded him with a lead round between the eyes—so my men could get in."

"You have taybarri. They couldn't flash through the gate?"

"They can't pass through solid objects. You ought to be aware of that, all-knowing spymaster."

"My knowledge is in the political sphere, not animal husbandry."

"Go call one of the taybarri an animal, and we'll see how the rest of your search goes."

"No need to be testy, Captain. But as to the poisoning and the girl helping the royals… you know she's allied with the Virts, right?"

Kaylina scowled at the bookcase. Why did the guy think that?

"What makes you believe so?" Targon asked.

"They're claiming it. Oh, they haven't printed it in that subversive rag yet, nor have they spoken the words aloud to any of our people, but they're praising her attempt to poison the queen. A girl named Mitzy says they have a deal with Korbian and that they'll retaliate if she's struck down. My spies have seen the Virts out looking for her, to take her in and protect her."

Kaylina shook her head. Why were the Virts trying to claim her? Or make her look worse? She couldn't guess their motivations.

"They tried to burn her castle down and almost killed her brother," Targon said. "I don't know what their angle is, unless they've figured out she's an anrokk and think they can use that, but she's not working for them."

That was true, though Kaylina was surprised Targon was that confident about it.

"Is that the brother you've been sheltering since before the assassination attempt? My men are looking for him in your compound too."

"Not in my quarters, I hope. My tastes don't run toward boys."

"Mine trend that way more often than yours, but he's on the scrawny side. I prefer your fit young rangers."

"You're welcome to proposition them. Just be prepared for a no."

"Is my lack of height the problem? Or my bastard heritage? I wouldn't think you or they would condemn me for that."

"This conversation is giving me a headache. Take your men and go, Sabor."

"Not until the search is complete. If you'd like to produce the girl so I can deliver her to the queen, I'll be pleased to leave straight afterward."

"I don't have her, and she's more than the queen could handle anyway."

" I can handle her for the queen."

"We questioned her with kafdari when she first arrived in the city. She's not a Virt sympathizer. She's a tourist starting a meadery."

"Oh, of course. In the middle of a civil war in which the first arrows have already been loosed."

"You know what versions of the newspapers they get across the provinces. You've a hand in it. If it's anyone's fault that ignorant tourists think it's a good time to sail up here, it's yours."

"I do what I do for the security of the kingdom."

"Why don't you squelch that illegal newspaper then?"

The spymaster snorted. "Are you upset that it's printing truths about the rangers?"

"It hasn't printed a truth yet."

"No? Vlerion screwed up in the dungeon."

Kaylina stopped breathing. The spymaster knew Vlerion's secret.

Had he always? Or had he learned about it because of the dungeon? Vlerion had said the king and maybe the prince knew as well as some rangers, but…

"Even if finding all those clawed-up, mauled bodies hadn't set the staff to talking," Sabor continued, "he changed into a beast right in front of a bunch of Virts. Dozens of witnesses. Oh, he killed a lot of them, and you and the rangers helped the guards kill or round up more, but not all of them died that day. And the living have tongues. I'm surprised his name hasn't come out in that paper yet. Maybe they're waiting until they have a bigger readership."

"Maybe you should put them out of business before that happens," Targon growled.

"I've got men scouring the city for their press. Its location won't remain secret for long."

Except the Virts weren't printing the newspapers in the city. Kaylina wished she'd thought to peek out of the back of that wagon and get a look at the guard who'd lied to the ranger, ensuring nobody reported the arrival of the cargo.

"I'm more concerned about the Kar'ruk I've just heard about," Sabor said. "Through my spies , mind you. You haven't sent a report over to the castle."

"I was waiting to hear what my sergeant learns from questioning the one we captured. Who are your spies among my men, Sabor?"

"If I told you, you would punish them. Relax, Targon. We're all on the same side here."

"Uh-huh. If the Kar'ruk have got you concerned, why are you here for a clueless tourist? Even if Korbian were guilty, the poison didn't hurt anyone. She can't be a priority for you."

"Except that she's more than a tourist, isn't she?" Sabor asked softly. "I'm sure her looks aren't the only reason you're interested in her."

"She's an anrokk. You know how rare they are."

"She's more than that." The words were so soft now that Kaylina strained to hear them. Further, the men seemed to have their backs to her. Were they standing side by side and looking out the window?

"Like what?" Targon asked.

Kaylina caught herself pressing her hand against the bookcase. It moved slightly but fortunately soundlessly. A tiny vertical gap of light entered her hidden nook.

"What more than that is there?" Targon added.

She pressed her eye to the gap. The narrow view allowed her to see Targon's shoulder and the side of a shorter graying man with a mustache and a lean build.

"You tell me," Sabor said. "She used druid magic to save the life of one of your men."

Kaylina drew back. How could he know that? Only Jankarr knew that. Was Jankarr his spy?

But, no. Jankarr might have been the only one there besides the Kar'ruk warrior, but he would have reported everything that happened to his superiors and however many rangers had been around to hear it. Kaylina rubbed the back of her neck, wishing she and Jankarr had never noticed the Kar'ruk trapped in the undergrowth, that they'd gone right past those ruins.

"Jankarr isn't sure what she did," Targon said after a long moment. He probably hadn't expected the spymaster to gather that information so quickly.

Kaylina didn't appreciate that the whole city seemed to know about her now.

"I'm sure she doesn't have any access to magic ," Targon added. "She's human, like you and me."

"She's not like you and me, and you know that."

"Have you met her? She's mouthy and disrespectful. She's not anything special."

Had she not been so disturbed to be the subject of their conversation, Kaylina would have stuck her tongue out at the bookcase. At them .

"You don't believe that," Sabor said, "or you wouldn't be protecting her. You want to use her power."

"She doesn't have any power beyond getting herds of taybarri to show up at her door."

"And that's not a power? Where is she, Targon? I won't ask again."

"Are you trying to find her because you believe she poisoned that mead? Or because you want her for your own plans?"

"If she does have access to druid power, she could be useful. Just as Vlerion has been useful, however accidentally. It's not wise to cast aside valuable tools, especially in uncertain times. If there are a handful of Kar'ruk near our city, there could be thousands more poised on the border, ready to take advantage of our distraction with the Virts."

"Then why don't you get out of my compound and leave me to do my job?"

A knock sounded at the door, and the men moved out of Kaylina's view.

"My lord Spymaster? We've searched the compound and didn't find the brother or the sister. We questioned a few rangers, but they were tightlipped. One started to talk—one who's friendly to you, I think—but a taybarri stepped on his boot, and he changed his mind."

"Those furry mounts are smarter than they look, aren't they?" Sabor grumbled.

"They're very smart, yes," Targon said.

"When you see her next, send the girl to me, Targon," Sabor said. "I won't let her be put to death. We'll find a use for her. Better us than the Virts."

"I won't argue that."

"But you don't believe she's loyal to them?"

"No," Targon said. "She's loyal to Vlerion."

A long silence followed, making Kaylina wonder if they'd stepped out of the office to finish the conversation.

Then the spymaster snorted. "Does it go both ways? Is that why the beast has been seen so much lately?"

"He's only been seen in the dungeon. Whatever is happening to dead Virts that the newspapers are reporting on doesn't have anything to do with Vlerion."

"Are you sure? Have you seen the bodies? They're not that dissimilarly mauled to the ones in the dungeon."

"Lots of big animals with claws could have been responsible. The Virts threw a yekizar at us a few weeks ago."

Yes, Kaylina had witnessed that battle. Vlerion had prevailed, but it had been a ferocious creature. Few other lone humans would have come out on top in a fight with it.

"I understand that he's your subordinate and probably your friend, Targon, but defending him if he's been killing citizens…"

"He hasn't been. Had the beast come out in the city, it wouldn't be a single body found here or there. When he changes… You know what happens when he changes."

"I've not seen what Vlerion has done, other than in that dungeon—I'll admit that was terrifying in and of itself—but I remember the aftermath of some of his father's meltdowns. It's a shame we can't harness that power, call on it to defend the kingdom while ensuring Vlerion doesn't hurt anyone on his own side."

"That's not how the druids wanted the curse to work. They wanted the kingdom punished."

"I'm aware of the lore." Sabor paused, rapping his knuckles thoughtfully against something wooden. "Do you think she can control him?"

"Korbian?" Targon grunted. "So far, she mostly pisses him off when she isn't getting him hard."

Kaylina's fingers fisted at the crude words used to describe her relationship with Vlerion.

"That answers my question less than you'd think," Sabor said dryly.

"She's not controlling him in any way. Trust me. Vlerion isn't dumb or easily manipulated."

"Ah, but it's not Vlerion that I meant. Can the girl control the beast ?"

Targon hesitated, not as quick to dismiss that thought.

Kaylina shook her head again, memories of crawling under those rocks to escape the beast springing to mind. There was no way she controlled Vlerion in that form. In any form. So far, all she'd managed was to keep him from killing her. Or… mating with her. She admitted that seemed more where the beast's interests lay when it came to her.

"You mean because she's an anrokk ," Targon said.

"That's exactly what I mean. She may be the only one who has a shot at controlling him."

"Don't forget my ranger, Jastadar."

"Your bald sergeant? I doubt he's going to win the beast's loyalty."

"If it's about drawing the affection of animals, he might."

"Uh-huh. I want the girl, Targon."

"A lot of people do."

"Send her my way. Send Vlerion too. We'll do some experiments."

"People do love being experimented on."

"For the good of the kingdom, Targon. I know that matters to you, the same as me. Good night."