Chapter 26

26

Bogged down in the minutiae of living, we fail to see others designing our future.

~ “Sorrows of Men,” by the bard Nogorathi

“You’d have to turn yourself into a plant ?” Vlerion asked as Kaylina finished summing up her conversation with her father.

“I’m not sure exactly. It might be more of a tree. A walking tree maybe. He mentioned ambulation being important.”

Vlerion stared at her, his jaw slack. He’d folded his cloak across a damp boulder for them to sit on, and they perched shoulder-to-shoulder as they spoke. Now and then, Jankarr looked at them from the top of the crest, but he didn’t signal any danger approaching.

“From what I gathered,” Kaylina added, not sure if Vlerion was appalled, too stunned to speak, or some of both, “something like that is what he had in mind when he planted his seed in my mother.”

“His seed?”

“Got her pregnant. That was intentional. A mingling . He did it with other women too. He wanted to pass along his druid blood and hoped a half-human Daygarii would develop enough power to watch over the preserves—there are more than this one, I guess—until such time as their people return.” Kaylina didn’t mention the implication that humanity was expected to be extinct by then. It seemed grim. “I am the result of an experiment.”

She tried to keep her tone light but probably sounded bitter. Logically, it shouldn’t have mattered—it wasn’t as though the man she’d thought was her father had been a great guy who’d loved her mother either—but the truth stung. Feelings did not obey logic.

“That is something I understand completely,” Vlerion said wryly, waving at himself.

She opened her mouth to deny that he’d been an experiment , but he probably felt similarly. As they’d discussed before, he wasn’t a normal human either. And his mother’s marriage to his father had been arranged, nothing born out of love.

Vlerion wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “So, you were destined to be a tree, and I a beast. That’s why we’re drawn to each other.”

“Are those entities usually linked? I’ve read a lot of tales and don’t remember one called ‘The Beast and the Tree’.”

“We’re linked because…” He gazed gently at her. “Because.”

“Yeah.” Kaylina leaned against him, not having the words to articulate it better than he, but she did feel inextricably bound to him. By magic. Maybe even by fate. If the sentinel and the magic in her blood had played a role in her coming north, to the city next to the preserve, maybe she and Vlerion had been destined to be together.

“I trust it goes without saying that you can’t accept his… proposition, if that’s what you’d call it,” Vlerion said. “It doesn’t sound like he even knows if he can lift my curse.”

“He’s looking into it.”

“Even if he can…” Vlerion looked gravely into her eyes. “You’ve a future as a brilliant mead maker and irreverent but honorable ranger. You can’t give that up, certainly not for something I was born with.”

“Something it’s not your fault you were born with. Something you shouldn’t have to endure.”

“It is what it is. And everyone knows about it now. The first bounty hunter spoke before he attacked, saying he’d never hunted a beast. Like it was a sport, and he hoped I’d change so he could mount my head on his wall when he killed me.”

“Did you kill him?” Kaylina assumed, since Vlerion wasn’t looking over his shoulder, he’d thus far dealt with the bounty hunters who’d come after him.

“Yes. I didn’t give him the satisfaction of changing into the beast to do so, though I was tempted, if only to show him how great his folly had been in coming after me.”

“ Were you… tempted? Almost roused?” She knew he was much more likely to grow furious enough to turn into the beast on someone else’s behalf—usually on her behalf—than on his own.

“No. I didn’t even hum. I hope he was disappointed as my sword pierced his heart.”

“A lot of people are dying this week,” she said, thinking of the spymaster. She hadn’t shared that yet but needed to.

Vlerion closed his eyes, his face bleak. “I’m aware.”

She cursed herself, belatedly realizing her words would make him think of the mercenaries again. If Jankarr had spoken the truth and they were rooting for Vlerion’s death, she didn’t feel as bad about the loss of some of them as she had the day before. Though she supposed it was because they knew the beast had killed their comrades that they wanted the queen’s hunters to slay him.

“Did you go to one of the watchtowers yesterday?” Kaylina caught herself asking, even though she’d decided earlier not to bring it up. But she had to know. Had that vision been true? Had he almost jumped? And if so, what had stopped him?

Vlerion opened his eyes and looked at her again. Was that wariness in their blue depths?

“Yesterday, when Targon drew me aside, he asked me to check the watchtowers while I was on my way out of town, yes. He wanted to make sure nothing had happened to the rangers manning them. He said, with the way things had been going of late, he wouldn’t put it past the Kar’ruk or other enemies to take advantage of the chaos from the king’s death.”

“Ah.”

That was a lot more information than she’d asked for, and she sensed he’d used it to avoid answering the question she wanted to know. Maybe he sensed that she already knew. From the beginning, he’d not doubted that she had power. Even before she’d fully believed it, he’d known.

“Everything was… okay up there?” Kaylina wouldn’t ask, she decided again. Not if he’d had suicidal thoughts. If he wanted to admit that, she would listen, but she wouldn’t pry.

“The rangers were at their posts.” Vlerion looked toward the grass and the highway—away from her. “The trek to check on them gave me time to think.”

“Hopefully about how much better your life will be once your curse is lifted.” She smiled and patted his thigh.

He squinted at her. “Something that will not happen because I forbid you from letting yourself become a tree.”

“Don’t worry. I’m not interested in that. I do want to fulfill my destiny as a brilliant mead maker and an irreverent but honorable ranger.” She held the smile, since he was still squinting at her. Doubting her? Afraid she would make that sacrifice for him? “If my father comes back and says he’s able to remove the curse, I’ll bargain with him, or I’ll come up with some scheme that will appeal to him, to what he wants. At the least, I’ll promise to keep an eye on the preserve as my normal human—mostly human—self, as long as he lifts the curse.”

Vlerion politely did not point out that being half human didn’t make her mostly human. But she looked human, damn it. And she loved him the way a human woman would.

“I believe you will scheme,” he said after scrutinizing her a while longer.

“Yes. I’m good at it.”

Whether it would work on a Daygarii druid… that was another question. But she wouldn’t give up easily.

“So I’ve observed.”

Vlerion rested his hand on hers, and she grew aware of the heat of his thigh through his trousers. Maybe they shouldn’t have been this close, but with Jankarr nearby, she wasn’t tempted to climb into his lap and kiss him. Not that tempted, at least. Vlerion looked like he could use a kiss.

Up on the hill, Jankarr and his mount stirred, taking a few steps and looking in the direction of the city. It was too far for them to see, but trouble might be on the way. Crenoch and Levitke joined them on the hill and looked off to the west.

“What did you want to talk about?” Kaylina guessed they wouldn’t have much more quiet time together—if one could call the aftermath of battling bounty hunters quiet time .

“Choices to be made.”

“That involve me?”

“They shouldn’t, though you would be, at least tangentially, affected.” Vlerion regarded her. “As I said, I had time to think while riding. Under Targon’s advisement, I fully intended to lie low, as he put it. But that felt to me like… hiding.”

“When there are bounty hunters looking for you, hiding is an excellent idea.” Kaylina didn’t point out that he didn’t appear to be doing a good job of it.

“I prefer confronting conflict, not shying away from it.”

“By leaping in and roaring while swinging your sword?”

“Usually, only Crenoch roars. Unless…” Vlerion tilted his palm toward the sky.

Yeah, she’d heard the beast roar often.

“But hiding isn’t in my nature, and I don’t think my hiding is what the kingdom needs.” Vlerion looked toward the west, as the others were doing, though from their position, they couldn’t see down the highway. “Even if I were killed, I believe the prince and the queen might start a civil war, each vying for the crown. Petalira may not have a blood claim, but she’s made it clear that she doesn’t want to give up the power she’s enjoyed, and I know she has allies who’ve also come to enjoy their power in these past years.”

“There’s at least one less ally.” Kaylina used the opening to tell him about Milnor.

Vlerion didn’t look surprised. “He may have acted independently of the queen. Or she may have asked him to handle me, and he, like his predecessor, decided to go through you.”

“Yeah. I’m not sure why you think I’d only be tangentially involved in your life.”

“A naive statement, perhaps.”

“How are you going to confront the conflict that keeps finding you?” Kaylina thought it would be smarter for him to hide—to get entirely out of the province, maybe taking his mother with him—until matters were resolved, but she wasn’t surprised that he wouldn’t do it.

“By offering a third option for the people to rally behind.” He sounded grim but determined.

“You’re going to put yourself forward as a candidate for the throne?”

“Yes. I don’t know if the rangers will stand with me or not. They’ve no loyalty to Queen Petalira, except maybe Targon, but the prince is another matter. There are some who aren’t old enough to remember what a brat he was as a teenager—and, by all accounts, still is—and he’s been out of the capital for almost a decade. There are others who won’t want to fight the succession, what’s in Gavatorin’s will. But I have a case. I’ll have to make it quickly and talk to a number of the Kingdom Guard captains. They’ll be less likely to stand with me than the rangers, but if my comrades back me, some of them might. And I believe the Virts will fight for any change of regime that could benefit them.”

Kaylina nodded. “I agree with that.”

“Once it’s known that I’m back in the city, I’ll have a lot more than a few bounty hunters trying to kill me. Since I threaten both of their plans, Petalira and her son may work together to take me out.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to hide instead?”

He laughed shortly. “No.”

But his eyes said he was sure.

“Well, I can talk the sentinel into offering its protection. If the rangers won’t help you, Stillguard Castle will. And I will.”

Kaylina wouldn’t have been surprised if he scoffed and said there wasn’t anything she could do; despite her burgeoning druid powers, she doubted that thought was wrong. She didn’t have enough magic to sway an entire city.

But Vlerion nodded and met her eyes. “I know you will.”

He meant it. His faith that she could do something filled her with emotion.

“I love you,” she blurted impulsively.

She’d meant to say it aloud for a while, but it came out unexpectedly, and she blushed, as if she’d misspoken. But he was about to throw himself into danger— more danger. It was the right time.

Besides, he’d already presumed that she did; he’d even stated it, and she’d agreed. This wasn’t that much different. Yet speaking the words somehow felt more vulnerable.

Vlerion nodded at her again, and placed his hand on hers again. “I love you too.”

“Oh.” She swallowed. “Good.”

He drew her into a hug, which she returned, warmth for him spreading throughout her body.

“This isn’t dangerous, is it?” She doubted he’d taken any elixirs this morning.

“Not with Jankarr on the hill.”

“I didn’t know his presence was that inhibiting. We should have invited him to Stillguard Castle the other night.”

“I don’t care for company when I am with a woman,” Vlerion said. “Having that plant there was bad enough.”

“I barely noticed it.” She was positive the vines had been limp, though she admitted she’d been too busy enjoying herself to watch.

“Good.” He sounded smug.

She smacked his chest but couldn’t bring herself to draw back. “How can I help with your… quest for the crown?”

“It’s not that, not exactly. As I told you, I don’t want that job, nor do I believe myself qualified.”

She leaned back to look at his face. “But you’re going to try to oust the queen and the prince, right? You just said…”

“I worry for the kingdom if the prince takes the crown. Even if things remained as they have been… the Virts will be the first to tell you that hasn’t been ideal. It’s fine for the aristocrats maybe but not for the commoners, and there are a lot more of them than us.”

“We’re a prolific sort, we commoners.”

“Indeed. We were creeping toward war even before Gavatorin passed.”

“So, are you planning to… get rid of Petalira and her son?” Kaylina couldn’t muster a real objection to the idea, but she doubted Vlerion had assassinations in mind. Even if the queen deserved it after trying to have him killed.

“Round them up and force them into exile. There’s a historical precedent for that when it comes to coups. You can ask Frayvar about it.”

“You’re assuming I’m not well-read on such matters, huh?” She wasn’t but put on an indignant face.

“Were they covered in your pirate sex adventures?”

“Those were seafaring romantic adventure novels, thank you.”

“That covered historical events?”

“Sometimes. Would it really be a coup if your great-great-great grandfather was king? Coup implies an unlawful taking of power, doesn’t it?”

“Yes. Future historians can decide.”

“Okay, let’s assume you succeed. You don’t want to be king yourself. What, then?”

“I don’t want to think too far head, since the odds of this working are slim. You’ll note my current lack of an army.” Vlerion nodded toward the hilltop, where Jankarr and the three taybarri were still looking to the west. “But if it works, I’ll step into the king’s shoes, then call all the heads of aristocratic families in the various provinces to attend a meeting, and I’ll find an equal number of representatives of commoners, and we’ll discuss what kind of government would be best for Zaldor going forward.”

“Like… you’d dissolve the monarchy?” The idea daunted Kaylina. It was hard to imagine so many centuries of history, of the Zaldor Kingdom gone, just like that.

“I’ll take advice from people wiser than me on whether to do that. It would be a monumental undertaking, and there are many who wouldn’t desire that kind of change—indeed, who would fight it fang and claw.” Vlerion shrugged. “It may simply be that they will desire to keep the current system and will find someone else with a blood-tie to the throne to rule in my stead. I suspect the aristocrats will want that.”

“Which is why you’re inviting commoners to the meeting? And giving them an equal vote?”

“Yes. Remember, this is a hypothetical meeting that probably won’t ever come to fruition. I’ll more likely die before dawn tomorrow.”

“Don’t do that. If you die, I’ll be devastated, especially after you just spoke of your love for me. I’ll let my weirdo father turn me into a tree.”

“Perhaps I could be buried under your roots.”

“A future king should be more optimistic.”

What sounded like a soft bird whistle came from the hilltop. From Jankarr. When they looked at him, he pointed in the direction of the city, his expression grave.

“I feared we couldn’t linger long,” Vlerion said, rising.

Kaylina had no idea what Jankarr had seen but stood and handed Vlerion his cloak. They tramped through the grass to the highway and up to join the others. Levitke whuffed. In agitation? Crenoch and Zavron paced about.

As Kaylina had noted before, they couldn’t see the city from the hilltop, but they did see black smoke rising from its direction, wafting up to join the clouds.

“Port Jirador is burning again,” Jankarr said.