Chapter 9

9

Many doors may be opened by a kind word and a bottle of alcohol.

~ Sandsteader proverb

Fortunately, the plant didn’t knock Kaylina unconscious after their conversation, so she was awake when a woman called her name from the stairs. At first, she thought it was Sevarli, but that sounded more like…

“Sergeant Zhani?”

“Yes, where are you? There’s a—” Zhani swore as something clanged on stone. Her sword against the wall?

Kaylina also swore and swung down from the plant’s room, almost knocking over the chair as she landed. Why had Zhani come into the castle?

“Are you okay?” Kaylina called as she ran down the narrow hall and swung into the wider one that led to the first floor.

“Yes, just questioning my life choices,” came a call from the stairs. It sounded like Zhani was backing down them. Quickly. “Especially the one made thirty seconds ago.”

“Go outside.” Kaylina spotted a vine waving menacingly from the stair railing. She hadn’t known the sentinel could grow them out of wood as well as the stone walls. “I’ll come out to see you.”

She was about to attempt to use her power to shoo the vine back into the ether and tell the plant Zhani was a friend, ranger uniform or not, but the sergeant spoke again.

“Vlerion’s in trouble.”

“Milnor?” Kaylina guessed, worry clenching her gut.

Damn it, she’d been afraid of that. If not for the sentinel’s pushy pulse of magic, she would have gone straight to ranger headquarters.

“Yes,” Zhani called.

She’d backed into the courtyard and waited with her sword in hand. Her taybarri, Bludashar, stood shoulder to shoulder with Levitke at the gate. They’d been wise enough to stay outside. When Kaylina didn’t see Frayvar or Sevarli in the kitchen, she understood why Zhani had come up. There hadn’t been anyone to send to get her.

“What happened?” Kaylina grabbed her sword from the kitchen and joined Zhani in the courtyard. “Is Vlerion okay?”

“Spymaster Milnor came to ranger headquarters and demanded that Lord Vlerion be locked up in the castle dungeon until his investigation has been completed. Milnor said his preliminary evidence indicates Vlerion was responsible for Sabor’s death.”

“Well, of course. Vlerion stepped forward and took the blame for that.”

Zhani nodded without surprise. She’d heard the story. “Milnor also said he might be responsible for the king’s death.”

“No way. Vlerion is loyal to the crown—even though the royals don’t deserve him. Besides, he was with me last night.”

“I guess that’s part of the problem, that he wasn’t on his estate when people went looking for him.”

Kaylina bent forward and gripped her knees, almost dropping the sword.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen,” Zhani continued, “but I heard Targon say something about… He thinks Milnor might make Vlerion disappear. The law would protect an aristocrat from a lot of crimes, and in some cases, they’re considered above suspicion, but royal spies have ways of skirting the law and not getting in trouble.”

“I’ll bet.”

“Targon looked like he might attack Milnor, but Vlerion waved him down and went along with the spymaster. Targon fumed a bit, then stalked out of headquarters, saying he was going to talk to the queen. I don’t know what good that will do. Petalira married the king and bore him his son, but her heritage doesn’t give her a right to rule on her own. She’s not in charge after his passing. And the prince hasn’t arrived yet.”

Kaylina knew about Targon’s relationship with Queen Petalira but had no idea if it involved favors beyond him entertaining her in bed. Even if it did, Kaylina wouldn’t count on Targon being able to talk the queen into helping. Kaylina hadn’t gotten the impression that the woman liked Vlerion. And, given his lineage, Petalira might consider him a threat to her son’s right to rule.

“I have to go to him,” Kaylina said. “Vlerion is so damn noble that he might let them— his superiors , I’m sure he would call those toads—lock him up. Or worse.”

Would Vlerion let the spymaster or queen execute him? He wasn’t that loyal, was he? He would fight. The beast would come out. Right there in the middle of the castle. And they would get what they deserved.

Kaylina clenched her jaw and shook her head, afraid Vlerion wouldn’t let the beast come out. He would do anything to protect her, but would he disobey orders to save himself?

“I don’t know,” she muttered.

Of course, if she were there and threatened by the new spymaster…

“What?” Zhani asked.

“I don’t know how I can help him, but I have to.” Kaylina straightened and pointed in the direction of the royal castle on its plateau. “I need to join him up there and ensure he… makes the right choice.”

“If only you knew someone with an invitation to the royal castle,” came Frayvar’s voice through the kitchen window as he returned from whatever errand he’d been on to eavesdrop.

Kaylina scratched her jaw. She’d forgotten about the letter. “You think they want you to show up this very day with mead samples?”

“Of course, ” Frayvar said.

“When the king is likely being prepared for people to pay their last respects before the funeral?”

“What better time for a delicious but appropriately somber and respectful mead?” Frayvar asked. “The blackberry would be perfect. Or the lavender -blackberry mead. No, no. That’s sweeter. They’ll want a rich and dark melomel, ideal for grieving.”

“Just what I was thinking when I made it.”

“You… have a plan to get in?” Zhani asked Kaylina.

“I think so.”

“What will you do once you’re in the castle?”

“Get everyone drunk on mead so I can walk Vlerion out without people noticing,” Kaylina said.

“I am skeptical that plan will work.”

“Well, we can at least get everyone in the kitchen smashed. And from there… we’ll see.”

Zhani gripped the hilt of her sheathed sword and gazed thoughtfully toward the distant castle and then toward the two taybarri watching them. “Do you want me to come with you?”

She wore the expression of someone who knew she would get in trouble for helping but was offering to do so anyway.

“Targon didn’t ask you to assist me, did he?” Kaylina couldn’t imagine that Targon had even thought about her since returning to the city.

“No. He didn’t tell me to come here at all. I’m supposed to be in the armory with my squad, helping Sergeant Nandari clean weapons and making sure the cannons mounted on the walls of ranger headquarters are supplied and ready in case the city erupts in chaos.”

“You’d better return to do that then. Thanks for offering to help though. You’re a good trainer. Much better than the men at ranger headquarters that I’ve worked with.” Except Vlerion, she thought, smiling sadly—and with worry for him. He’d done a wonderful job training her. He’d been calm and respectful. He was a good man. Why were those idiots in the royal castle all gunning for him?

“Because of my superior ability to demonstrate and explain concepts?” Zhani asked. “Or because I never ogled your chest?”

“ Both of those things.” Kaylina ran inside, grabbed a bottle of the lavender-blackberry—since they wouldn’t need that for the royal tasting—and brought it outside. “Here. In case you need to drink to our memories.”

Zhani started to reach for it, but she paused as the words registered. “You’re not planning to get yourself killed, are you? What are you going to do?”

“Get Vlerion out of there. Whatever it takes.”

“I shouldn’t allow this.” Zhani accepted the bottle of mead but looked like she was considering clubbing Kaylina over the head with it to knock her unconscious.

“But you will because you’re a kind and supportive mentor. Besides, those vines over there will strangle you if you attack me.” Kaylina waved toward one of the walls where a couple of green tendrils that had sprouted from the mortar pointed toward them. Watching them.

“Blighted orchards,” Zhani blurted when she noticed them. “I thought I was safe when I came outside.”

“The sentinel has orchestrated many attacks on enemies in the courtyard.” Kaylina rested a hand on Zhani’s back to show the vine minions that she was a friend—and also to guide her mentor to the gate. “Will you take Levitke back to headquarters with Blu? Frayvar and I had better rent a horse or mule, something innocuous.”

Kaylina had a feeling the royal kitchen staff had sent out the invitation independent of the Castle Guard or anyone higher up, and she didn’t want to draw attention by arriving on a ranger mount. With luck, whoever was at the gate wouldn’t remember her, especially if Frayvar did the talking.

Levitke’s head came up with an indignant snort. Mule!

The word rang in Kaylina’s mind even though she hadn’t been attempting to use her power to understand the taybarri.

“You’re too noble, fearsome, and linked to the rangers.” Kaylina patted Levitke. “Will you please return to headquarters with Sergeant Zhaniyan?”

Levitke gave her a grave you’re-making-a-mistake look.

“If Vlerion and I aren’t out of the castle by tomorrow, you can bring the entire taybarri herd up there, rip open the portcullis—again—and batter down the doors to charge inside and retrieve us.”

One of Levitke’s floppy ears twitched with interest.

“You can even leave droppings on the marble floors that some future spymaster can complain about it.” Kaylina smiled slightly, remembering Sabor’s snark on the subject.

“If they try to kill Lord Vlerion, I might come leave droppings too,” Zhani said, her face sour.

“That’s a strange battle tactic for a human, isn’t it?”

“I suppose. This whole situation is frustrating though. We can’t attack our own people.” Zhani swung onto her taybarri’s back. “Oh, I almost forgot.” She delved into a pocket and pulled out a leather-wrapped packet. “These are for you.”

“What are they?” When Kaylina accepted the packet, glass clinked inside.

“Four vials of an elixir made from altered zeatora berry.”

“This isn’t another contraceptive, is it? I haven’t had any time for situations that would have led me to need the other ones.”

Not that she wouldn’t have loved to join Vlerion in the woods the night before…

“No. I found the apothecary who made Spymaster Sabor’s elixirs. He’s the official apothecary to the royal castle, so it wasn’t hard. He said altered zeatora berry elixir is the calming agent that was in the vial you gave me. He remembered selling it to Sabor recently. These elixirs are the right blue color, so I believed him, but he did give me a blank look when I asked about the liquid’s effects on magic. I suspect Sabor was the one to learn about that.”

“Oh, that’s great to know what it is, but I don’t need…” Kaylina trailed off, gazing down at the packet.

Wasn’t it possible that she would need the elixir? The next time the beast reared up at an inconvenient moment, one of the vials might work to halt the change.

“They could be helpful.” Zhani lifted a hand, refusing to take them back.

“Yeah, I might be able to use them. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, but there’s one more thing you need to know. The calming agent, even if magic doesn’t come into play in any way, has side effects. Swallowing it would be deadly. It’s usually turned into a vapor.”

Kaylina nodded. She’d assumed that from the broken vial Sabor had thrown to the ground.

“Also, if the dose isn’t measured correctly, if the recipient gets too much… it could stop the heart.”

“Uh.” Kaylina held the packet out at arm’s length. She couldn’t risk using something like that on Vlerion. No matter what.

“It’s unlikely that would happen,” Zhani hurried to say, “since it’s quite pungent, and your target will pull back instead of breathing it in deeply, but I didn’t want you to be surprised. Just in case.”

“I don’t think...” Kaylina tried to give back the packet.

But Zhani leaned away and shook her head.

“Keep it,” she repeated, “Just in case.”

Kaylina eyed the packet bleakly, tempted to throw it in the river, but Vlerion wasn’t the only person out there who possessed magic. If her guess was right, Sabor had been carrying the elixir around to deal with the sage assassins and their powers.

“All right.” Kaylina forced a smile. “I hope I won’t need it, but thanks for finding it for me.”

“You’re welcome. Be careful at the royal castle. It’s as dangerous as this one.” Zhani eyed the vines before nudging her mount to get him pointed toward the river trail. “Let’s go, Blu. We have weapons to clean.”

Levitke and Blu huffed out breaths that sounded more like sighs than their usual whuffs.

Kaylina closed the gate, hoping she hadn’t made a mistake in sending Zhani away. She also hoped there wouldn’t be a need for Levitke to charge up to the castle with the whole herd. That might start the city chaos that she’d been worrying about earlier, even if it had nothing to do with the king’s passing.

“All right, Fray,” Kaylina said, joining her brother in the kitchen. “I’ll pick a few meads and find a mule. Hopefully, I’ll be back in time for the evening meal.”

“You don’t want me to come along? My name is on the invitation.”

“Don’t you need to start preparing for the dinner service soon? Especially since you haven’t hired an assistant chef yet.”

“Sevarli helped me cut onions, carrots, and celery yesterday.”

“So you’re ready to leave her in charge of creating your signature dishes?”

“No.”

“I’ll be fine by myself.” Kaylina hoped that was true and tried not to second-guess her choice to go alone.

“You rarely are. You need people.”

“I know. Once I hook up with Vlerion, I’ll have him.” She caught herself before patting her brother on the shoulder, lest he complain about unnecessary touching. “Keep the eating house running, Fray. We’re off to a good start. We can’t let a little regime change upset the apple cart.”