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KAIROS DESPISED RIDING a horse and his lack of grace dismounting proved it. He attributed his clumsiness to his height.
“When I swing my leg over, I box the poor horse in the ear,” he explained to Rhea as he wobbled to the ground, legs like rubber under him. “And then my hip is temporarily dislocated. It takes a day to recover.”
“I’ll get Ferguson and give him the king’s orders.” Stormy jumped off his mount with a grin on his face.
Kairos thought to stop him, and to suggest waiting until the sun came up, but already first light cast a blue streak in the sky, heralding dawn.
“I’m getting old, Rhea,” he complained to her as Stormy bounded away. “Too old.”
“No, you’re not,” she said as she kissed him on the cheek.
“Stormy jumps on and off a horse as if it were his footstool.”
“Stormy was raised on a horse. You never liked riding and when I first began courting you, you were afraid of them. Come, let’s get some refreshments.” Rhea walked him inside the castle.
“Ah yes, food.” He let her shoulder him, enjoying the smell of her hair and the softness of her body. “How did you know I was home?”
“I heard horses galloping. I knew someone was coming.” She opened the doors and Kairos collapsed on the Devan in the common room. He closed his eyes while Rhea called for a servant. She sat next to him and put her hand on his knee.
“Do tell me what’s happening. Why did you and Stormy come home alone and so soon?”
Kairos kept his eyes closed, hoping the headache would subside—oh how he hated long and involved trips! The worry, the trauma!
“Soon? We’ve been riding for a month!” he mumbled.
“You haven’t been gone a month, Kairos. It only takes a day and a half to ride to Tellwater.”
He opened his eyes. “Oh. Is that where I’ve been? I swear I’ve ridden to Hades and back.”
“Stop complaining, Kairos, a grown man like you.” She laughed and brushed his hair out of his face. He took her hand and kissed it.
“I’m not fit for this work. I thought marrying you would free me of such horrendous responsibility.”
“No, dear. You’re still Kairos, the King’s Wizard. My brother needs you.”
“That’s me. Still the unfortunate soul who, whenever the word magic comes up in a conversation, is summoned. The All-Faithful King’s Wizard who must discover an antidote to any magic spell wielded against the kingdom. And if he doesn’t have one already, he must make one up.”
“Well?” Rhea said, sitting upright. “You have the power and authority. You were born with it.”
“Barin should know elemental magic is not my forte. I have no power against wind, rain, or fire.”
“And that’s what’s happening? You’ve found the enemy and know that they stole the Cho Nisi power?”
“It seems obvious. At least Barin believes it to be so. We’ve no proof aside from the sorceress Barin came across in the Neverworld is in on it. Somehow. Don’t ask me if that proves anything. The Cho Nisi magic is gone. Strange storms appear in the mountains. Anna is kidnapped by foreigners and sorcerers...That’s all that we have to go by.”
“Yes, Erika wrote me while you were away. It’s gone.”
“You see? And now it’s up to me.”
“To do what?”
“I’m not sure.”
“Why did you come back?” she asked and nestled closer to him. “Not that I mind.”
Kairos raised a finger and his brow in unison while meeting her eyes. “That’s the crux of it. I accomplished my task in this. I may not be able to do another useful thing, but at least I did this.”
“What?”
“I convinced Barin to use his ceremonial sword. And it’s my duty to go and get it and meet him with it in three days.”
“The king’s magic sword?” Rhea gaped at him.
“None other than that.”
“So you’re going back to Tellwater?”
He shook his head and gave her a sympathetic frown. “No. I’m going to Cho Nisi.”
Her shoulders sank.
“I know, I know you hate for me to be away, and I hate to be gone. Rhea, if I could get out of this operation, I would.”
“What about your apprentices? Can’t they do it?”
Kairos shook his head. Oh, how he wished Barin would just replace him with one of those young men or women he’d been training.
“Evidently Barin doesn’t believe they’re ready. No. It’s good old Kairos off to the battlefront. Again!”
“I’ll come with you.”
He thought about that. Barin hadn’t told him not to bring Rhea. And the woman had come into her own these last few years. Ever since her little sister Erika proved her worth as a soldier, Rhea had also displayed an arm for the sword and a mind for battle strategy. He smiled at her, comforted that she wanted to stand by his side.
“All right,” he said. “Pack us some clothing. Ferguson is preparing ships to go north. Stormy and I are to fetch Arell and Erika and the elders. Stormy plans on leaving tonight. Timing is of the essence. We should get there when the fleet does, especially if I have Barin’s sword. I wouldn’t want him to barge into a trap without it.”
“A trap?”
“These renegades are asking for a ransom.”
“A ransom for what?”
“Lady Anna.” He looked at her, a grimace on his face.
“Anna?” the shock in her voice made him sit up. “Oh goodness, no. Not Anna! Kairos, doesn’t Barin know?”
“The man’s a fool who loves a woman.” He touched her cheek.
“She’s no good for him,” Rhea said, folding her arms across her chest. “She’ll ruin him or get him killed.”
“She might not be part of a conspiracy. Those who named her said she’d been out riding looking for her father’s horses when she was captured. That could be. Rumor from Kolada says the poor girl is next to homeless and depending on the good will of a blacksmith.”
“Homelessness can cause a person to find what they need through mendacious methods.”
“I don’t know what to believe. Still, I cannot persuade him. He wouldn’t even listen to Neal, and you know how he reveres Neal’s advice. He’s king, Rhea. There’s a certain foolishness that kings are allowed, it seems.”
“And he’s my brother,” she returned. “I’ll talk sense into him. Get the sword. I will pack.” She waved him off the couch. When he rose, she stormed out the door and hurried down the hall as Kairos adjusted his robe and headed outside.
The gatehouse was a good walk from the palace and Kairos needed the fresh air to recover from the horseback ride. He took the time to contemplate what his part might be in this undertaking.
He had vials aplenty. Each with its own powers. Enough to kill skura and mountain giants alike. But those creatures no longer roamed the earth, gone with the death of Skotádi. He hadn’t any time to come up with a concoction that might destroy a coven of witches. Humans were never a target of his. He hadn’t been trained to kill people, and even if he had, he’d always been hesitant to take a human life. When Barin called on him to join the assembly, Kairos knew he’d have to stretch his talents, and possibly his standards.
The sword was the only thing he could come up with that might spare someone’s life, for it wasn’t the sort of weapon a man used to kill another. If anything, the sword shielded its owners, sparing people by targeting only the evil that dwelled in them. One had to know how it worked. As far as Kairos was aware, King Barin was the only one who could wield it.
It had worked against sorcery in the Neverworld and against Anna’s father. The Keeper taught the king how to exert its power. At least that was Barin’s story.
So where is the Keeper? And why didn’t anyone call on the dragon to settle this? Why is it always me that has to be a miracle worker?
When Kairos came to the gatehouse, he was surprised that the stone barricade was dismantled and under construction. A guard stood by what was once the gate. Piles of stone, sheared logs, and iron bars lay on the ground in front of it. A barrel of wet adobe had been covered with a tarp.
“What’s happening here?” he asked the sentry as he inspected the materials.
“Sir, we’re rebuilding the gate.”
“I don’t remember the king saying anything about rebuilding the gate,” he replied.
“Ferguson ordered it,” the man said.
“Why? What happened?” Kairos asked.
“We’re not sure. This morning when we began our drills, we came here and found it well...” he glanced at what was left of the entry. “Destroyed, sir.”
“How? What? Were there prisoners inside?”
“No, sir, there haven’t been prisoners in this prison for almost a year.”
“Odd,” Kairos remarked, scratching his chin. “I will have to ask Ferguson about this.”
“Sir?”
“Never mind.”
What happened? As Kairos made his way into the dungeon, a heavy burden pressed on him. Only the hallways with barricades had been destroyed, not the cells that stemmed off the halls. Fortunately, the soldiers who had inspected the prison had already made a fair number of repairs. Still, it puzzled him. Who would break into an empty dungeon? Was it someone who thought there were prisoners here?
Absurd! They would have been highly misinformed. King Barin seldom confined criminals to the dungeon. He believed in a quick and fair trial and made his detainees as comfortable as he could. What would anyone gain by breaking into this facility? He took the first step down the stairwell.
Unless...
“No!” He exclaimed as the revelation hit him like a lead axe-head. There was only one item in this vault that would be of service to anyone. If it was in the wrong hands, the kingdom would perish. Kairos flew down the dungeon staircase, spiraling ever downward through the encroaching walls. Ducking so as not to hit his head, he grabbed a torch that someone had left burning in the hallway. The flame flickered from lack of air. The breeze Kairos made on his flight down the stairs almost snuffed it out. It was a long haul to the bottom. Round and down, all the time his heart raced so fast he thought he might pass out. No other cells along the way had been broken into, which fed his fears even more. Stolen magic from Cho Nisi? Stolen magic from the king? What defense would they have? He stumbled into the last dark chamber, the bottommost pit, the abyss of all dismal chasms. He held the flame high in the room. His heart sunk as a cold sweat dampened his clothes from inside out.
It was gone. The king’s sword was gone. The only power they had against the enemy.
Gone.