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Two guards arrived to escort Katrina to her second audience with the so-called King. Brie had helped her to dress, making sure her clothes were appropriate for entrance into the castle. Katrina wished there was some way to repay the woman’s kindness.
The guard on her left kept trying to grab her arm, but Katrina refused to be manhandled and jerked loose from his grasp. He raised his hand as if to backhand her, then stopped himself. Had Darnel left orders that she wasn’t to be harmed? He’d been so gracious when they’d dined together. Almost humble, in a way she didn’t expect. Was it an act to win her over for some strange reason?
Darsiderus would have to try much harder if he hoped to gain her favor.
They met another guard at the garden gate. This one had a black eye and swollen lip.
“What happened to you?” She asked without thinking.
The grabby guard laughed and gave the smaller man a shove. “That’s what happens to lollygags, even if they’re a lieutenant, isn’t that right? Thinks he can show up for work when he feels like it.” He gave a boisterous laugh. “But he held his own, he did. Little scrapper.” Grabby unlocked the gate. “Still, he’ll be sure to show up for his duty on time now, won’t you?”
The smaller man gave a nod as he looked directly at Katrina. She almost gasped but stopped herself. She’d seen him before. Impossible. Before she could ask, the guards whisked her through the gate, and they left the beaten guard behind.
Where might she have met the man with such bright brown eyes? They almost reminded her of dear... Alyra? Katrina stopped in her tracks. That was truly impossible. The guard couldn’t possibly be Ethan, Alyra’s brother. After months of helping his sister through miles of travel to Drakensburg, along with feeding Alyra’s brother information about the drakes, Katrina had felt Ethan was part of their little group. Tarek often said Ethan was a good man and knew as long as Alyra was with him, she’d be safe.
How in all of Alburnium could the Messenger be here?
“M’lady, we need to hurry,” said the other guard who’d kept his hands to himself. He seemed much more reserved and sullen than his companion who tried once more to take hold of her arm.
“They just need to be prodded, Geoff.”
Katrina pulled against him, but he tightened his grip. “Let me go, this instant, you troll!”
His eyes momentarily widened before narrowing angrily on her. “What you call me? Who you think—”`
“Back off, Malk. Master told us to bring her unharmed. She’ll come along on her own, won’t you, sweetheart?”
Malk growled, “But she called me a—”
“So what? Not anything the rest of us haven’t called you, you over-sized bear-man. Now release her before we both get into trouble.”
Malk did as Geoff directed. The younger man motioned for her to continue. “We’ll be going up the stairs, M’lady, then turning right. His Majesty wishes to speak to you in his study. It’s at the top of the observation tower.”
With a quick nod, Katrina strolled toward the stairs, liking the younger man. For now. Was it possible there might be some kindhearted people in this place? She couldn’t let her guard down. Not to anyone. Even if they seemed familiar. Even if they showed her kindness. A person could turn in a moment with the right motivation.
After three levels, they finally arrived at a set of dark polished carved doors. The Racan mark was emblazoned in the center and surrounded by intricate designs and figures.
Malk knocked on the door. A voice within beckoned them inside. He pushed the door open. Geoff entered first. Malk motioned for her to follow before he trailed behind her.
“Ah, finally. I’ve so looked forward to our meeting today, Katerina. Please come, and make yourself comfortable my dear.” He turned to the guards and told them to wait outside. Once they left, Darnel directed her to an ornately decorated desk sitting beside a floor-to-ceiling window. A blank book lay open with a full pot of ink and an unused quill.
Katrina sat in a cushy chair at the desk and opened the book about Darsiderus to the first page. As she filled the quill, a shadow fell across her workspace, and she looked up to find him standing beside her chair, brows pinched and hands clasped in front of him.
“Sir?”
His smile seemed strained. “I ordered us a nice lunch, my dear. My simple way to thank you for your help. I’m sure it’ll be better than the gruel Ben will offer when you return.”
Katrina gave a nod but said nothing in response. His hovering was making her nervous. Then to make matters worse, he grabbed a straight-back chair and pulled it up beside hers.
Resting his elbow on the desk, he leaned in closer and spoke in a whispered voice, “I’d like for us to be friends, Katerina. Are we not of the same bloodline, even if mine is tainted?”
“Why do you think you are tainted?” She hadn’t expected him to use such a word to describe himself.
He picked at a bit of dirt embedded under his thumbnail. “Why else would the Curians cast me aside? I wasn’t pure like them. Like you. Which probably makes my request sound completely ridiculous. Why would someone like you lower themselves to my level?” He straightened in the chair and folded his arms across his chest. “You probably agree with them, that I’m not worthy of stepping one foot into their sacred halls.” His icy blue eyes darkened to a gray like a summer storm.
“I...” She didn’t know what she thought. The book called him a half-breed. The tone of the writer of this biography sounded disdainful of its subject. She couldn’t deny that, but she wasn’t sure if the disdain came from his birth-line, or his choice to turn from Shaydon.
“Even the Logorians shunned me. Did that book mention how I spent a year attending the Academy?”
Katrina’s eyes widened. The book hadn’t mentioned that. Was he lying?
“You don’t believe me, do you, Katerina? I have no reason to lie to you, my dear. I’d come of age, and my foster family sent me to Aloblase. I’ve stood before...him—, that king. He tried to fit me into his little puzzle, to give me a place in his kingdom. I went along with it for a while. He called me a leader. Said I would be very persuasive over others and that people would follow my lead.”
Katrina turned in her seat. “And that seems true, sir. You’ve led many people against King Shayd—”
“Do not speak that name!” Darnel shouted, bringing his fist down on the desktop. “Not here. Never to me.” He quickly stood and walked away, leaving Katrina stunned and at a loss for words. She’d heard of Darnel’s temper. She’d experienced a bit of his power when their Imagi-scopes locked on each other.
Her heart raced, and for a moment her head spun with her fear. A drop of ink splattered on the polished desktop. She used the fabric on her sleeve to quickly dab it up before it left a stain. Better to get this job done soon as possible and return to her jail cell. Katrina felt completely out of her element. She knew books, not people. She wasn’t sure how to relate to this turbulent man.
Darnel returned to the seat beside her, his face downcast. “My apologies, dear Katerina. I know he is the king you serve. But I... simply can’t stand hearing his name. Please indulge me in this one favor.”
“One?” She faced him, her irritation building and giving her a sense of daring. “You’ve asked several, sir. If you wish for my help, I’ll ask you to curb your temper. I am not some child you can intimidate into bending to your will.”
Of course, he did frighten her, but she needed to stand firm and not let him see her fear.
He offered a nod as if agreeing as he lightly patted her shoulder. “You are correct, my dear. You are no child. I will admit, that I need you much more than you need me. Please forgive my outburst. I will attempt to offer you the same amount of tolerance you’ve offered me.”
Then he left her again to transcribe the book for him. She’d managed to get through two chapters of his early life, which held no mention of his time in Aloblase before a knock sounded at the door.
“Ah, there is our lunch. You may stop now my dedicated scribe.” Darnel’s smile returned. Rubbing his hands together as the servants carried in two silver trays, he directed them to a small table set out on the balcony. Though the sun was shrouded in hazy clouds, Darnel declared it a perfect day to sit outside and enjoy the view of his land.
Katrina hesitated at the doorway. She’d seen this very place a few times from her all-seeing telescope. Had her people found it yet? They had to be settling in the Halls by now, repairing the damage from the latest attack. At least, her breaking of Darnel’s portal maker stopped the battle. She was sure the Halls had to have been preserved and the remaining enemy disposed of.
What if someone was using that scope at this very moment and checking to see what Darnel was up to? What would they think of her being in such close proximity to him? Would her people consider her a traitor for dining with the enemy? Why had she agreed to help him in the first place?
He adjusted a bouquet in the center of the table, then removed the lids from their plates. The smells of roasted fish trailed toward her nostrils and stirred her hungry stomach. Whatever anger he displayed earlier was completely gone and replaced with a happy grin.
Pulling out a chair, he motioned her to join him. “Right here, my dear. You’ll have the best view of the city and surrounding mountains. The view, I must say, is staggering. Come along now, before our meal grows cold.”
Well, if they were looking, they’d at least know she was alive. Strange being on the other end of the scope, feeling her skin crawl with the thought that someone might be watching her every move. No wonder Lotari ranted at her about using the scope.
Another glance at Darnel’s eager face reminded her why she’d agreed to help him. Maybe, just maybe, she could make a difference. So he couldn’t stand hearing Shaydon’s name? Well, she could still talk about her King and his kindness. She could dig deeper to find out what turned him away from his birthland. He could have done such great things, being deemed a leader. Why had he rebelled? The book offered no conclusions about motive, only stating the facts of his deeds and history.
With her chin lifted, she moved onto the balcony. Her gaze traveled along the horizon and she gasped. From this vantage point, the view truly was spectacular. Below on the distance plateau lay a town of thatched roofs and stone buildings. There was no color to the town, as in Denovo, and people moved like ants to and from the town to their various tasks. At the base of the southern ridge spread out a flat, sparse land where she thought they might keep livestock. There, the majority of movement came from, but she couldn’t make out exactly what she was seeing. Hadn’t Stitch said that Darnel kept the creatures he’d enslaved from Wilderland outside of his mountain city? To the east lay miles and miles of desert lands. To the west lay fog and more mountainous land.
When she looked downward, her head spun. The tower was carved from the mountain peak. Nothing but cliffs and a narrow gorge lay directly below. She took a step backward.
Darnel held her chair while she sat, then took his seat, placing the book she’d been writing in beside his plate. “This looks delicious. Well deserved after all we’ve accomplished this morning.”
We? Katrina had been so caught up in her work, she hadn’t paid much attention to what he’d been doing.
“Sir, I can’t make out that flat area south of here. Is that farmland? Or livestock?”
He glanced up from his meal to see where she pointed. The book was open to the first page. “Some of my stock, you could say. And my military, or part of it. I have several units placed at strategic locations to hinder trespassers or unwarranted attacks.” He returned to reading.
Katrina took a few bites of the crispy fish. The vegetables tasted as if they’d been cooked over an open fire with a mixture of herbs. “I see no farmlands. Where do you get your produce?”
He looked up once again with a tight smile. “The mountains are no place for growing. There are a few gardens in the servant’s compound. They pay a portion to me for being allowed to use my land. The same rule applies to my subjects. Everyone pays a tithe for using my land. Including the towns in the vicinity that I offer protection to. With that, we get by fairly well.” He returned his attention to the book.
Darnel had been taking from Denovo. What other towns did he still control? Her gaze roamed the horizon again. Alyra had said people were living west of the castle. A wild, unruly people, from what she’d been told. Darnel had sought to control them. Had he managed to snag them in his web of half-truths and false promises? Were they the people he built his army with?
He had more fighting power than she first anticipated. Especially if they were spread out across the mountains. How would Issah’s army get past the gates? She’d studied Racah enough to know the mountains were practically insurmountable. The gates were impossible to sneak past. Did Darnel know of the secret passage Tarek had managed to learn about from the dwarfs?
Closing the book Darnel pushed it aside, his brows furrowed in consternation. “Why didn’t they tell me?” He said more to himself than to her, Katrina thought.
For the life of her, she couldn’t figure out what he was talking about. “Tell you what, sir?”
He leaned back in his chair, pressing his hand to his chest. “My parents, they must have truly been in love with each other. But their positions kept them apart, it seems. The Curian elders deemed me unsuitable to remain in their midst and sought to send me away. Perhaps if my parents had been unhindered, they would have remained together, despite their differences.”
Katrina shook her head. She didn’t recall writing any of that. Thinking harder, she tried to go over the words she’d written. The book read like one of the many dry historical accounts of various towns or the factual account of certain rulers. What he said sounded right. Perhaps she’d been too preoccupied before with her thoughts to read the deeper meaning that he’d unsurfaced. And too immersed in writing to remember the exact words she’d penned.
In a way, she felt sorry for him, knowing what it was like to not be raised by your parents, not knowing why they left you with strangers. It had left a hole in her heart, all those years of wondering about her true roots.
The empathy fled when she focused on his face again and knew he was the reason she hadn’t known her parents. His forces killed them. But perhaps, if her people hadn’t cast him out in the first place?
She quickly turned away, unsure of what to think about all this. Irritation ate away at her until she slammed her fists on the table and shouted, “Why are you doing this?”
His eyes widened momentarily before his expression returned to the stony indifference he normally wore. “What do you mean, my dear? Why am I asking you to transcribe a book about me?”
She watched him without answering.
He explained the obvious, “That is so I will know what it truly says. Not your interpretation of it. I want the truth for a change.” He leaned slightly forward, his annoyance marred his handsome features.
Her heart warred with her mind, begging her to not overstep. No. She’d not back down now, even if she risked angering him. “I could do that down in my cell. Why are you trying so hard to...to...?”
She gestured at the fancy table spread with her hand. “This. Why does it seem like you’re trying to impress me? Why would you even want to? Why do you care? You’ll not get any information from me, sir. I’ll not be easily swayed into sharing my knowledge with you or anyone from here.”
He laughed out loud, surprising her. “You believe I need you to gain information? Please, my dear, that is not why I’ve spared your life.” He pushed his plate away and stood.
“I honestly enjoy talking to you. I feel we have a connection and now that I know for sure about my bloodline, I understand that connection more. As I said before, we are more similar than you’ll ever care to admit. But that is all right, Katerina. Perhaps eventually, you’ll see I’m not the monster everyone has deemed me to be.”
Katrina also stood. Once again, she’d lost her appetite. If someone did manage to see her here, she deserved whatever scorn they would have for her. What was she doing dining with the enemy?
“Wait,” His tone took on a pleading note. “I see your doubts. Of course, you have every reason to distrust me. I have done some terrible things, but I had no idea...” he grabbed the book and shook it at her, “about this. I need to know the truth. You promised.”
When she continued to watch him with hesitation, he added, “At least finish this one book. I can’t tell you what the little bit you wrote today has done for me.” He hugged the book to his chest. “All along I thought I was some kind of abomination. A monster who had to be thrown away. But, there’s hope now that this isn’t true.”
He seemed sincere. Was this the one chance anyone would ever have of perhaps turning him around? Of stopping his cruelty? Maybe, just maybe, she could save him from himself.
He moved until he stood directly in front of her. Today he didn’t wear any kind of kingly adornments. Only his blue silk shirt with silver trim and matching jacket. His dark, curly hair was tousled and hung over his eyes. He almost seemed like a regular man, except for his fair features, more like a Logorian than a Curian.
“Katerina,” He grasped her hand with his free one. “I know... he... is coming. I’ve gathered a military force I feel can equally match his. But I cannot match his power, despite how hard I’ve tried. I know this. My actions, and my choices, have come from my misunderstandings of who I truly am. Where I came from. I suspected, but nobody has ever told me the truth.” He squeezed her hand. “Until now.”
Didn’t everyone deserve a chance to know the truth? She blew out a long breath, her gaze traveling past Darnel to the town and people below. If he changed, and this was a big if... wouldn’t it, in turn, change their lives? Maybe for the better? Maybe once Issah arrived, he wouldn’t need to fight.
Dare she hope?
“Very well, give me the book, and I will continue transcribing your history.” She yanked her hand from his grasp and held it out for the journal. The least she could do was try. While she was stuck here anyway.
