Chapter 6

6

Don't trust those with too great an interest in your passions.

~ Grandma Korbian

The last couple of blocks to Stillguard Castle, Kaylina walked slowly as night deepened around her and the mist turned into a fog that blanketed the river. Ghara's accusations repeated in her mind.

Kaylina hadn't intended to fall for a nobleman—certainly not a haughty ranger lord—so she hadn't considered that outsiders would think she was after Vlerion for his family's wealth. She doubted it mattered what Ghara thought, but what about his mother? Or his cousin ? She had been the one to tattle to Lady Isla about Kaylina and Vlerion standing close and possibly being romantically involved before they'd ever shared a kiss.

Vlerion's mother, Kaylina felt certain, worried more about his interest causing him to turn into the beast and hurting people—a valid concern. Isla hadn't come across as someone who would worry about a girl's status or the family she came from, but Kaylina didn't know her that well.

Movement near the gatehouse at the back of Stillguard Castle distracted her from her thoughts, and she immediately suspected Jana Bloomlong of having sent spies. Or people worse than spies.

Lanterns burned on either side of the closed gate, illuminating four cloaked men lurking outside. Her instincts shouted danger , and she tensed, about to sprint toward the front gate, hoping she could dart through and lock it before they caught her.

But the men only glanced at her, then whispered and pointed at the menu Frayvar had secured to the wall under one of the lanterns. There was also a sandwich board facing the trail that listed the meads and their tasting notes. The men appeared to be absorbed in reading both.

Maybe her instincts had overreacted. That thought didn't keep Kaylina from stepping toward the side street that connected the trail to the boulevard out front. In the danger-cloaked capital, avoiding groups of people at night was wise.

One man lifted a hand toward her. "Are you the owner of this establishment?" He had a friendly voice. "We heard a southern woman was in charge."

Kaylina paused. "Yes."

"We're thinking of coming to your grand opening this week, but my friend is allergic to a few foods and has questions about the menu." The speaker pointed to another man in the group.

"Oh." Kaylina approached the group. Since her brother had multiple food allergies, she was sympathetic toward anyone with such issues, and these sounded more like potential customers than troublemakers. None of them were holding weapons, but she stopped several feet away. The cloaks could easily hide maces and daggers if not swords. "I helped my brother—he's the chef—shop for ingredients and can probably answer your questions."

"It's about the lamb dish." The speaker stepped toward her, though he pointed at the menu as he moved. "It says it's a cherry mint glaze. Is that right?"

"Yeah, Frayvar says the mint?—"

The man lunged, reaching for her as he swept his cloak aside to reveal a cudgel.

Cursing, Kaylina leaped back to avoid his grasping hand. She snatched her sling from her belt, but he kept coming, so there wasn't time to load it.

With longer legs, he caught up to her and raised the cudgel. Kaylina darted sideways to avoid a blow to her head, yanked her knife out, and slashed to keep him back.

"Frayvar!" she called as the other three men surged toward her.

She spun to run for the front gate—what she should have done from the beginning—but the cudgel wielder yelped in surprise.

A glance back revealed something catching his leg and tugging him off balance. He tilted sideways, crashing into one of the other men who was rushing after Kaylina. They both pitched to the ground, making an obstacle for the other two assailants.

Not questioning her luck, Kaylina put her knife in her mouth and loaded her sling, firing without hesitation. While chasing her, the group had moved far enough from the lanterns that she couldn't see their features well, but she could tell her lead round struck one solidly in the forehead as he sprang over the downed men.

He flinched but swore and kept coming. As she hurried to load another round, something detached from the courtyard wall and snapped around the man's waist.

A vine. Her cursed castle was helping her.

"Thank you," she whispered, aiming at one of the men who hadn't yet been impeded.

He also carried a cudgel, and the thought crossed her mind that these people probably hadn't come to kill her, just pummel her. Not that the notion was that comforting.

He sprang for her, but she caught him in the bridge of the nose with her round. He yelled and dropped the weapon to clasp a hand to his face.

The iron gate creaked open. Frayvar ran outside with a cast-iron pan raised like a club.

One of the men on the ground rolled to his feet. Snarling, he sprang for Kaylina.

There hadn't been time to load another round, so she dropped her sling and took the knife from her mouth. In the heat of the moment, her thoughts scattered, and she couldn't remember the fighting moves she'd practiced with Zhani. She reacted only on instinct, putting her back to the wall as the man swept his cudgel at her.

She ducked, the weapon whistling over her head and clipping the wall, then lunged in with the blade. She stabbed it toward his abdomen, but he twisted, jerking his arm protectively down, and swept the cudgel toward her again. She sliced through clothes and clipped his arm but had to dive to escape being clubbed. She hit the ground, managing to roll and come up on her feet.

A hand snatched her ankle—one of the men on the ground, a vine keeping him from rising. She barely kept from pitching to the ground herself.

There were foes everywhere, damn it. She should have run.

Loosing an anemic battle cry, Frayvar struck someone with his pan. The thud was impressively loud in the misty night.

Relieved that she had help, Kaylina stabbed downward. Her blade sank into the man's wrist, and he screamed and released her ankle.

She leaped back, turning toward the man who'd swung at her with a cudgel, expecting him to be on her. But another vine had snaked out of the courtyard wall. Did it have him by the neck?

"The cursed castle is attacking!" someone cried.

"By all the moon gods, this isn't worth it."

A splash sounded, one of the men jumping into the river. The attacker that Frayvar had clubbed followed, staggering and grabbing his head before half-leaping and half-falling into the water.

The man on the ground, hand bleeding, cudgel lost, tried to roll away from the vine that had him. But it tightened its grip as another tendril grew from the mortar and lashed toward his face—toward his neck.

Kaylina grabbed her sling and backed away from the ensnared men. Gagging sounds came from both as they thrashed and tried to escape the vines.

The plant would choke them to death.

"Don't kill them, please," she said in the castle's direction, though she didn't know if the plant could hear her. She assumed it was behind the attacks and that the vines themselves weren't sentient, but who knew? "I want to question them."

Even more, she didn't want a pile of bodies that she would have to explain. Lady Ghara had just complained about the carnage the castle had been responsible for during the invasion. Dead humans would be even worse than dead Kar'ruk.

The gagging sounds grew feebler. Kaylina rushed toward the man trapped against the wall, intending to grab the vine and use her newfound power to convince it to release him. But when she gripped the tendril, a buzz of electricity zapped her. She stumbled back, her palms burning and her arms numb.

"Let them go," she ordered, trying to will the brand to do something.

No hint of warmth or suggestion of magic emanated from the spot on her hand. A snap came from the man on the ground, and his thrashing stopped. Had the vine broken his neck?

Kaylina gripped her knife, turning toward the remaining man against the wall. She was tempted to hack at the vine choking him, but she'd tried before to cut the rubbery tendrils and failed. Even using a sword, she wasn't strong enough. If her power wouldn't do anything to affect the vines, she was helpless against them.

Unless… What had the word been that she'd used in the preserve?

" Sywretha! " she called into the night.

The vine that wrapped around the dead man released, sliding back across the ground toward the wall. But the other finished its task, remaining tight around the man's neck until the fight—the life —drained out of him.

Kaylina shook her head grimly.

"I've only got an illusion of power," she murmured, eyeing her hand.

"Are you okay?" Giving the body on the ground a wide berth, Frayvar joined her, his frying pan at his side.

"No, but they didn't hurt me. Thanks for coming out to help." Though numb from the vine's magic—and watching the castle kill two men in front of her—Kaylina made herself nod at him. "That was timely. I didn't realize you had it in you to leap out with a weapon, like a warrior." She waved at the frying pan.

"That wasn't my intent. I heard someone asking about the cherry-mint reduction and doubted you were sufficiently familiar with the recipe to answer questions."

"You would have been deeply offended if I told them you muddle the mint instead of cutting it up?"

" Deeply ." Frayvar looked toward the river, but the men who'd jumped in had disappeared, swimming downstream to who knew where. "Who are—were—these guys?"

"I don't know." Kaylina thought of Targon saying Sabor might be a problem, but if he wanted to use her power, would he order her clubbed? "I've irked a few people since we got here."

"I've noticed. You should try to help people instead of irritating them."

"You think if I'd offered to organize their medicine cabinets, they wouldn't want to club me?"

"It's possible. Uhm, what should we do about…?" Frayvar pointed his pan at the dead men. Both vines had receded now, disappearing as if they'd never existed. "Not to sound callous, but we don't want them here for opening night."

"Not the kind of ambiance a restaurant should provide, huh?"

"No."

"I'll ask the rangers to come take a look in the morning." Kaylina was far more inclined to go to Vlerion for help than wander up to one of the Kingdom Guard outposts in the city. The rangers could figure out who these people were, who had sent them, and what their goal had been.

A brightening of the ambient light made Kaylina look toward the front of the castle. Though the plant's tower window faced the boulevard, the purple glow was strong enough to see from behind. As they watched, it throbbed three times before lessening again.

"I guess it's good that the plant is watching out for you." Frayvar's tone was dubious. He wasn't sure if it was good.

Kaylina wasn't either.

"It might just be watching out for its own interests," she murmured.