Chapter 29

29

The only choice is honor.

~ Ranger Saruk

Dripping water, Kaylina slumped against the piling while taking deep breaths and second-guessing herself. She worried she'd made a mistake in sending the beast after Sabor.

What if, exhausted from the battle with the assassins and pirates, Vlerion changed back and fell unconscious at the spymaster's feet? He would be vulnerable to a dangerous man who was far from an ally.

In addition to endangering Vlerion, Kaylina realized she'd been presumptuous. She didn't have a right to order him around. Yes, she'd been afraid and grasping for something she could say to get the beast to release her, but she'd made a promise that she didn't plan on following through with. She wanted to lift the curse and make him disappear forever, not mate with him.

"Kaylina?" came a soft call from the fog. Lady Isla. "Are you all right? Where did Vlerion go?"

Kaylina pushed herself away from the piling, willing strength into legs that trembled after the chaotic adventure. Slowly, she walked down the dock toward Vlerion's mother.

"I'm okay. I asked the beast to go after Sabor. I… shouldn't have done it, but he was, uhm. After he fights and protects me, the beast tends to want to… mate."

Isla grew visible in the fog, standing at the foot of the dock. She didn't respond as she digested that.

"I'm sorry," Kaylina said, worried Isla would be upset with her for sending her son into danger again. She would have a right to be. "I was scared and furious with Sabor—you won't believe what he's planning—but it might have been a mistake. Vlerion could change back."

"We'll look for him. If we can find the carriage…" Isla peered into the fog along the waterfront, and Kaylina winced as she remembered that two of her men had been killed. "Now that I know Sabor hired those assassins," Isla added, "I hope someone does find and kill him, but I worry there will be repercussions if it's Vlerion. Sabor is an important person and at least partially in charge, with the king no longer able to function fully in his role. Sabor has powerful allies."

"He wants to run the kingdom completely. I wouldn't be surprised if he's egging on the Virts to try to get them to assassinate the king and queen and get them out of his way." Kaylina hadn't considered that before, but after listening to Sabor babble about creating beast babies—a future army of beasts—she believed it might be true.

As she reached the foot of the dock and joined Isla, voices came from farther up the waterfront.

Kaylina tensed, wishing her sling weren't wet, that all of her weren't wet. She pushed damp hair out of her eyes and debated if they should run. There were bodies everywhere on that ship and floating in the harbor—probably with sharks feasting upon them. The Kingdom Guard might arrest anyone caught near the scene. Isla might not be held in suspicion, but Kaylina?

"We should go," she whispered, touching Isla's arm and nodding across the street to the buildings—and alleys—facing the harbor.

"Fan out," a gruff male voice said. "Check the ships."

Wait, was that Captain Targon?

"Help has arrived." Isla slumped with relief.

Kaylina did not. Targon, who knew all too well about her fledgling druid powers, might blame her for this. At the least, he would be exasperated that she'd been at the heart of it. She was still tempted to run, but Isla remained rooted.

"The rangers can help us find Vlerion," she said as men riding taybarri came into view through the fog.

Targon led the herd with Jankarr mounted beside him.

"You are quite late, Captain Targon," Isla said firmly—and tartly. She was bedraggled from their adventure but drew herself up regally, her chin in the air. "The bodies of the assassins and pirates who attempted to kidnap us are on that ship." Isla pointed down the dock and didn't mention that she'd been attempting a kidnapping herself.

As long as she was done doing that, Kaylina would keep her secret.

"We would have arrived sooner, my lady," Targon said, more dry than polite and respectful, "if you'd alerted us to your intention to seek trouble at the docks."

He halted his mount in front of her and looked at Kaylina, his lips pressing together. With disapproval, no doubt, as he wondered how she was involved.

Not my fault, Kaylina wanted to say, but she looked toward the city, more concerned about Vlerion.

Isla didn't respond to Targon's dry words, only waving to include the waterfront. "The assassins killed two of my men as well. You'll find their bodies nearby, as well as my carriage. Further, my son was here, and I need help locating him."

Isla looked at the rangers coming to a stop behind Targon, well within earshot. Jankarr's mount came forward and sniffed at seaweed draping Kaylina's shoulder.

"I must speak with you alone," Isla added to the captain.

Targon sighed and dismounted. "I figured."

"Are you all right, Kaylina?" Jankarr asked from atop his mount. He looked at her more with concern than the wariness he'd shown her since she'd successfully commanded the vines in the preserve to release him.

She would have been encouraged by that, but it might have only meant that she appeared extra bedraggled and pathetic. "Yes, thank you."

Crenoch, riderless but with the herd, came forward, joining the other taybarri who was sniffing Kaylina. Its large blue-furred snout had shifted from her shoulder to her pockets.

"Sorry. I don't have any food right now." Kaylina turned to Crenoch as Isla drew Targon aside to explain things to him. Impatient, she whispered, "Can you track Vlerion? He came out of the harbor near here." Thanks to the fog, she hadn't seen where Sabor or the beast got out, but she waved toward the waterfront near the dock. She whispered, "He was not himself," aware of Jankarr nearby.

Crenoch whuffed, as if he'd already known, then trotted toward the dock and started sniffing along the waterfront. Kaylina followed him, looking for puddles on the cobblestones that might indicate Vlerion or Sabor had climbed out.

Targon and Isla spoke tersely and quietly, but she caught Sabor's name often. Kaylina hoped Isla completely and thoroughly ratted out the spymaster. Whatever Isla didn't know, Kaylina would fill Targon in about later. Like his dastardly plan to start a beast army.

She trailed Crenoch along the waterfront as he sniffed and soon spotted a blocky shape in the fog. Isla's carriage. The horses had been unhitched and were nowhere to be seen.

Remembering the invaluable sword left inside, Kaylina jogged for the door. The assassins—or an opportunistic thief—might have taken it, but she hoped she would get lucky.

The lanterns had gone out, so she had to pat around to look for the scabbard. Disappointment swept through her when she didn't find it on either seat. She crawled in to search more thoroughly, and her knee bumped something. Ah! It had fallen to the floor.

Crenoch whuffed softly.

After grabbing the sword, Kaylina returned to his side. He looked at her, whuffed again, then veered toward a street perpendicular to the waterfront. He sniffed the air a few times, then lowered to his belly, pointing his snout at his back.

"You want to give me a ride?" Kaylina glanced at the rest of the herd, the fog shrouding them. Levitke hadn't arrived with them, and Kaylina hoped she was enjoying a well-deserved rest back in headquarters.

Crenoch whuffed again.

With their boss talking, the rangers hadn't dispersed, as Targon had originally ordered. Kaylina thought about calling for some of them to follow her, but if Vlerion was still in his beast form… bringing along men with weapons would be a mistake.

"Let's slip away," Kaylina whispered, gripping Crenoch's fur and swinging up.

The sword made the movement awkward, but she wouldn't leave it. She might yet need it tonight.

Crenoch rose and trotted off. Thanks to the poor visibility, the rangers didn't notice. Either that, or they weren't worried about a trainee riding off with Vlerion's taybarri.

Kaylina wanted to urge Crenoch to go faster, thinking they might be able to catch up, since Sabor had been on foot, but frequent sniffing sounds promised the taybarri was tracking as he went, following the scent of the beast.

He turned often. Sabor must have been hoping to lose the beast, but Kaylina suspected he could track his prey without trouble.

Crenoch paused to sniff at a dark damp spot on a corner. Blood.

Sabor's? Vlerion's? Crenoch continued, and the situation reminded Kaylina of the hunt that had led them to the bathhouse.

They'd gone more than a half mile before Crenoch paused again. Kaylina recognized the neighborhood. A market square lay ahead, the vendor carts closed or gone for the night, and she spotted the back and one side of Nakeron Inn, lights burning in the windows as people stayed late in the bar and enjoyed their food and drink.

Would Sabor have gone there to hide? Or maybe he'd headed toward that nursery across the street. If it had a catacombs entrance, as Vlerion had said, the spymaster might have hoped to escape into the maze of tunnels.

A meow came from a nearby rooftop. Some stray drawn by the approaching anrokk. Unfortunately, a cat couldn't help Kaylina the way the sharks and whales had. Even so, Kaylina sent a thought in its direction, silently telling the feline she would have milk for it at Stillguard Castle if it helped her find Vlerion.

The answering meow sounded more saucy than accommodating.

"Cats," she muttered as Crenoch took them around the back of the inn and toward the alley where they'd fought the assassins.

Distant voices came from the street they'd come up. The rangers following them? Someone else?

"Hurry," Kaylina urged.

Crenoch turned down the alley but stopped after a step.

Two lanterns mounted on the outside of the inn provided enough light to see a man in dark clothing standing over another man, a naked man with short auburn hair. Vlerion. He'd turned back into his human form. As Kaylina had feared, he lay unconscious and vulnerable.

Enough shadows lingered that she couldn't make out the face of the man standing over him, gripping his ribs as he looked down, but she had no doubt it was Spymaster Sabor.

Fear blasted into Kaylina. He held something in his free hand, and when he turned it slightly, she caught the glint of a dagger reflecting the yellow lamplight.

Sabor hadn't yet noticed Crenoch and nudged Vlerion's side with his boot. Vlerion didn't move. He must have caught up with Sabor and attacked, wounding him, but the beast magic had faded before he'd finished, and he'd collapsed.

"Too much trouble." Sabor lifted the dagger.

Kaylina flung herself from Crenoch's back, drawing the sword before her feet touched the ground. Whether or not Sabor meant to slit Vlerion's throat, she didn't know, but she couldn't take the chance.

Perhaps busy debating Vlerion's fate, Sabor didn't turn until she stepped on shards of ceramic or glass indiscernible in the dark.

He whirled to face her, crouching and raising the dagger. Blood darkened his knuckles as well as the shirt under his cloak, and his clothing was ripped. The beast had landed at least one blow before he collapsed.

"Stay away from him," Kaylina snarled.

With the sword, she swung for the dagger, intending to knock it aside. But, even injured, Sabor glided to the side, easily avoiding her.

She knew he was a skilled fighter but didn't care. She advanced, launching chains of feints and attacks, as Sergeant Zhani had taught her.

Though he had only the dagger and grunted in pain with his movements, Sabor didn't fall for the feints as he parried the attacks.

" You're too much trouble too," he said, knocking her sword out wide so he could lunge for her with his weapon.

She leaped back, whipping the sword back across her body, barely clipping his blade and deflecting it. He was faster than she, and she reluctantly admitted she was outmatched. His injuries didn't slow him enough.

Milk for some help , Kaylina thought toward the rooftop, though she had no idea if the cat remained up there.

"If I didn't need you, I'd find a potion that took your power too."

A potion?

His knife swept under her guard, slicing through her wet shirt and finding flesh, and she didn't have time to ponder. A streak of fiery pain lit up her side, and she scrambled away.

"You stay back, or I'll finish off your rider." That was for Crenoch, not Kaylina, and Sabor threw something at the ground in front of the approaching taybarri.

It wasn't an explosive, but it shattered when it struck the cobblestones, and something spattered Crenoch. He drew back, bellowing in pain.

At least that would draw the other rangers. If Kaylina could keep Sabor busy for a moment, they would arrive, and then… then what? Sabor would say she'd attacked him for no reason. And he was their superior officer. If he ordered her killed or arrested, they would obey, even Targon.

Frustrated, Kaylina lunged for Sabor, launching another series of attacks, willing whatever power flowed through her veins to guide her limbs, to make her fast enough to slip past his defenses.

"Stay back, girl. You'll make me forget my plans to keep you around."

She snarled and attacked faster, hardly caring that her fury made her movements frenzied instead of calculated.

Sabor curled a lip as he parried, not giving any ground. "You're every bit as irreverent and disobedient as Targon said."

A feline screech came from right behind Sabor. That startled him into flinching, his grip fumbling.

Though it startled Kaylina too, she didn't hesitate to take advantage. She sprang, giving up on feints and slashing with all her strength for Sabor's neck.

He almost recovered and got his blade up in time to parry. But almost wasn't sufficient. As the cat weaved between Sabor's legs, bumping him and further upsetting his balance, Kaylina slashed the beautiful bejeweled sword of Vlerion's deceased brother into Sabor's throat.

His dagger struck the cobblestones, clattering as he grabbed his neck, trying to stop the bleeding. But she'd struck an artery, and his life flowed out between his fingers.

Kaylina stepped back, relief mingling with horror as she watched a man die before her eyes. She'd never killed anyone before. Despite the ranger training, a part of her hadn't believed she ever would.

Sabor crumpled to the ground, dead.

The ramifications of her choice sank in, the realization that she'd killed an important man in the government, a powerful man with a lot of friends. The king and queen might order her executed when they found out. No, they would order her executed. She was common riffraff who wasn't even from this part of the kingdom. There would be no lenience for this crime. She couldn't even honestly say that she'd killed him in self-defense, only that it had been in Vlerion's defense. And to stop Sabor from executing his awful vision.

Crenoch had backed out of the ally, pained grunts almost like sneezes announcing that he remained nearby. Later, she would check on him, and, later, she would worry more about her predicament, but she had to make sure Vlerion was all right.

As she'd noted before, he lay naked on his back, his clothes not ripped, as they usually were during a change, but gone entirely. Maybe he'd lost them in the swim after the battle. Or maybe he'd known he would shift and had prepared ahead of time, stripping before letting his emotions swarm him.

Burn marks and gashes marred his flesh, wounds that had been hidden by fur when he'd been the beast. They were worse than she'd realized, so bad that Kaylina again regretted sending him after Sabor. Her own gash stung but was insignificant in comparison.

When she knelt beside Vlerion, the sword clinking on the cobblestones as she dropped it, he didn't stir. What if he… hadn't survived? What if he'd given everything to battle the assassins and the pirates? What if it had been with the last of his life force that he'd obeyed her order to chase after Sabor? And then the spymaster had thrown some potion at him. Or some poison .

She spotted a broken vial near Vlerion's head and gingerly picked it up. A blue liquid lingered in the bottom of the glass tube. She tucked it into a pocket for someone to research later, then touched Vlerion's bare shoulder.

"Are you awake, Vlerion?"

Are you alive?

She didn't voice the question but shifted her touch to his neck to check for a pulse. It thumped strongly beneath her fingers.

"Thank all the moon gods," she whispered. "Vlerion?"

The voices in the street were closer now. The speakers had passed the alley and continued into the market square, but it wouldn't take them long to figure out where Kaylina and Vlerion were. She didn't know if he would stir before they arrived. After turning into the beast, he always fell unconscious, his body drained by the magic and his battles, but the duration was different each time, and she didn't know what Sabor had done to him.

One of the voices in the square grew distinct. "Which way? There's his taybarri."

That was Targon.

Crenoch responded with a whuff-sneeze. Some of that acid, or whatever Sabor had thrown at him, must have landed in his unprotected nostrils.

"If you could wake up now, that would be handy." Kaylina patted Vlerion on the chest. "I think the rest of the rangers are coming. Maybe the Guard and whoever else they've rounded up too. And we…" She glanced at the body, groping for a way that she could explain Sabor's death. " I have a problem."

She supposed the Guard wouldn't believe that she'd found Sabor with his throat cut? And Vlerion unconscious? At least he was in his human form. Explaining the beast would have been even more difficult.

Vlerion stirred at her words and her touch, his lids opening and his blue eyes focusing on her. Pain made him wince, but he hid it quickly and breathed her name.

"Kaylina." He grasped her arm. "You're well." Relief and even delight entered his eyes as he smiled.

His feelings warmed her, especially when he'd once been so aloof with her, but there wasn't time to bask in them.

"Yeah, but that might not last long." She looked toward Sabor's body as voices drifted to them again. It sounded like everyone was in front of the inn. Any second, Targon and who knew how many rangers—how many witnesses —would find them in the alley.

"Spymaster Sabor is dead?" Vlerion pushed himself onto one elbow. "I…" His eyes slid upward as he groped for elusive memories of what had happened. "The beast didn't do that," he said with certainty. "I remember him… He threw some vial, and I lost all my energy."

"I know. I got here and…" Kaylina waved to the sword on the ground beside her. "I don't regret it, Vlerion. I can't. You have no idea what his plans for us were. And I wasn't sure if he was going to kill you. I thought maybe he was so pissed that he would. I had to…" She gulped for air that was no longer sufficient for her body's needs. "I'm screwed."

A mounted ranger appeared in the mouth of the alley, gazing in their direction. Captain Targon.

More men on taybarri rode up behind him, and men on horseback as well. The Kingdom Guard.

Vlerion picked up the sword and pushed himself to his feet, turning his face away so Kaylina wouldn't see him wince in pain. But she could see in his body how much he hurt, how badly he'd been battered by all the night's foes.

It wasn't until he stepped in front of Kaylina, as if to shield her from view—from suspicion —that she realized what he meant to do. Take the blame for Sabor's death. Accept whatever repercussions came for it.

"Vlerion, don't?—"

He stopped her with a raised hand and by stepping closer to Sabor's body. He lifted his chin and held up the sword as he met Targon's eyes.

"Captain, I have a report for you."

Targon was looking at Sabor but shifted his gaze to Vlerion, his face masked. "Does it involve an explanation as to why you're naked?"

"No."

One of the guards snorted. "This looks like a lover's quarrel gone awry."

"Sabor is rumored to prefer men."

"Didn't know Vlerion's tastes ran that way."

Ignoring the guards, Targon said, "Meet me back at ranger headquarters, Lord Vlerion." He looked at Kaylina, his eyes narrowed, as if he was positive she'd had something to do with Sabor's death.

With her mouth dry, she couldn't have spoken if she wanted to. She vowed to tell Targon the truth, but it would be better not to admit anything in front of the guards.

"You too, Trainee Korbian." Targon glanced at the sword in Vlerion's hand—did he know Vlerion had given the blade to her?—before looking him in the eye again. "I'll take your report there."

In private , he didn't say, but it was implied.

"Yes, Captain."

Crenoch trotted past the group at the head of the alley. His eyes and snout watered, but he came close so Kaylina and Vlerion could mount.

Vlerion pulled himself up first, then, despite his injuries, offered her a hand up. Ignoring her own stinging wound, she scrambled up on her own, not wanting to burden him. She wrapped her arms around him from behind, half hugging him, half slumping against him with weariness.

She wished they could share a real embrace, that everything would be all right. He patted her hand, perhaps thinking the same.

"My mother was with you," Vlerion murmured as Crenoch passed the rangers and guards, all watching them curiously. "Is she…"

"She's okay." Kaylina didn't want him to worry about Isla and tried to make her tone light as she added, "She didn't even get chewed on by a shark."

He squinted over his shoulder at her. "I'm going to ask you for details on that later."

"I'll tell you everything."

"Go with them, Sergeant Jankarr," Targon said. "The streets are dangerous tonight. Even rangers need an escort."

Bleakness swept through Kaylina as Jankarr said, "Yes, my lord," and nudged his taybarri to follow Crenoch.

She knew Targon wasn't worried about street dangers. He wanted to make sure Kaylina and Vlerion did indeed return to ranger headquarters for that briefing. As much as Targon trusted Vlerion, he probably worried they might both flee from the city and the law, afraid of the ramifications of Sabor's death.

Had Kaylina been alone, she might have, but she knew Vlerion never would. With tears of concern leaking from her eyes, she pressed her cheek against his back.

A part of her wished he wasn't so noble and that they could flee together, even if it meant abandoning her business and starting over somewhere far from here—maybe Sergeant Zhani could advise them on opening a meadery in Sandsteader lands. Another part of her loved Vlerion for the man he was, even if his honor and nobility might land him in the gallows.

When she looked back, Targon had dismounted and was checking Sabor's body. Kaylina noticed the second-story inn windows that overlooked the alley, and more dread crept into her. She'd forgotten about those. She hoped all the patrons were on the main floor, eating and drinking rather than in their rooms.

But she glimpsed the curtain pushed back and a woman's face in a window right above a lantern. Was that Jana Bloomlong? The shadows made it hard to tell, but something told Kaylina it was. How long had she been there? What if she'd seen the beast battling Spymaster Sabor and then Kaylina killing him? What if she'd seen everything?