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Chapter 28
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Gaden Ahreld pressed himself back into shadow, breath catching in his throat. He willed the uniformed men to go on and not glance his way. He’d only just gotten close to town, coming in on foot after landing far enough afield that the transport wouldn’t be seen by port landing or anyone else.
Booted feet crunched off through the snow, receding into the night. Gaden decided it was time to get off the main street. The closer he came to the center of town, the more guards there were. Fortunately, he didn’t have much farther to go.
The house he looked for sat just off a quiet side street. All the streets were quiet, he thought, glancing back as the guards turned down another road. The entire damn town was brooding. Gaden’s memories of Rianamar were quite different and certainly happier than the somber tone that seemed to permeate the air.
He shivered against the cold, rubbing his gloved hands together. He looked both ways, then moved from his hiding place carefully. At the street corner, he turned right. While this street was usually full of people coming and going at this hour, no one was out tonight. Halfway down the block, he crossed over, then turned left down the next road. Here the houses were less compact, with snow-covered lawns.
The Gwendarel house was set back off the road. An iron fence defined the yard. The gate stood slightly ajar, creaking back and forth in the icy wind.
Gaden stood outside for a moment, looking at the home of a young girl he hadn’t seen in a long time. He wondered if Talia Gwendarel would remember him, if she still lived here at all. He remembered meeting her at one of the Governor’s Youth Balls. Gaden only wanted to have someone to dance with on occasion. They became friends. When he wasn’t catering to Shalis Telaerin’s every whim and desire, he spent many hours with Talia. He remembered her as being a sweet girl, and fun, but a little silly.
“You there.”
Gaden jumped, turning sharply, restraining the urge to draw his sword, which he had strapped to his back under his cloak to keep it hidden. He tried looking relaxed, but didn’t feel it.
“State your business.”
“I’m on my way to visit an acquaintance, sir.”
“You aren’t supposed to be on the streets this late. What’s your name?”
“My transport was late getting in. Look, that’s the house right there. Lord and Lady Gwendarel. I’m visiting their daughter, Talia.”
The guard hesitated, glancing at the house, then up and down the empty street. “All right. Go on in then.”
“Thanks, I’ll do that.” Gaden smiled as he moved through the gate, forcing an easy pace toward the house. When he knocked, he glanced back and saw the guard still watched. He hoped who ever opened the door would let him in.
“Good evening. May I help you?” The door opened slightly and a stern serving man stood inside.
“I’d like to call on Lady Talia.”
The man looked briefly puzzled, but then saw the guard waiting at the gate. Gaden thought for a paralyzing moment that the servant would shut the door in his face. “Please come in,” the man said. “I’ll inform Lady Talia of your presence. Whom may I say is calling?”
“I haven’t seen her in a long time and I’d like to surprise her. I’m an old friend. My name is Gaden Ahreld.”
The man paused in the act of closing the door, but only nodded. Gaden wondered what he thought. “May I take your cloak, my Lord?”
“Yes, thank you.”
The servant hesitated again when he saw his sword, but went to tell Talia of her guest. Gaden heard her voice questioning the man and then he saw her. She had light brown hair and brown eyes. She was a vision, standing there in a pale green gown, a woman, and not the young girl he remembered. She came into the hallway from a corridor off to the left, looking at him. There wasn’t even a hint of recognition in her eyes and he thought again he’d be asked to leave.
“No, Olmic, that won’t be necessary,” she said and approached. As she did, her expression suddenly changed, shocked surprise crossing her face. “Gaden? Is that really you?”
“Yes, Talia. How are you?”
“I can’t believe it,” she said, taking both his hands. “I didn’t think I’d ever see you again.”
Gaden watched as that thought stopped her, obviously bringing others. If he remembered her being silly, she wasn’t acting it now. He could almost see the thought entering her mind. Her eyes widened, brows drawing down, and she started to speak, but stopped herself twice. She knew he was with Dynan.
“How did you ever get through the city at this hour?” she asked instead of stating the obvious.
“It wasn’t easy, but not impossible. Look, Talia, I haven’t that much time. I need your help.”
“I don’t know what—”
“Really just information. I haven’t been here in a long time. I don’t know who to trust.”
“You shouldn’t trust anyone, Gaden Ahreld,” a voice he didn’t immediately recognize came from down the hall, but when Ben Morlin rounded the corner, Gaden knew him. “Except me, of course. You can trust me explicitly.”
Gaden laughed, not surprised that Ben was here. He and Talia had always gone around together. Ben was the family approved escort for Talia. Gaden wondered if more had developed over the years. “I should have expected to find you here, Ben,” Gaden said, smiling as he greeted him. “You look well.”
“Thank you.” Ben studied him. “You look like you’re ready for a fight.” He nodded at the sword. “If the City Guard catches you with that on, you’ll find yourself making a one-way trip to the Palace.”
“I don’t doubt it,” Gaden said, trying to judge if he could trust these two old acquaintances.
“I was there myself this afternoon,” Ben said as Talia led them back down the hall to a drawing room. Gaden glanced at him sharply. “You said you needed information. I could wonder about what and why, but the answer seems fairly obvious. I think if I were to guess, my guesses would be close.”
“You can ask me what and why, Ben,” Gaden said easily, still not sure of him. Talia closed the door behind them.
“We’re on your side, Gaden,” she said.
Ben winced. “Careful Talia.”
“Oh don’t be ridiculous. You know as well as I who he left Cobalt with.”
“Yes I do, but that was a long time ago, and we were children then.”
“Ben is right, Talia. You should be careful,” Gaden said. “But fortunately, you’re right as well. If you’re willing, Ben, I’d be interested to hear what happened at the Palace. That’s why I’m here. I need to find out as much as I can.”
Ben hesitated, then paced for a moment. “These are untrusting times, Gaden. Having an opinion at all is dangerous, much less sharing it with someone else. You could just as easily be trying to trick me into giving away something I shouldn’t.”
“I understand, but that isn’t the case, and I’m hoping it isn’t with you either.”
“It isn’t,” Talia answered, frowning at Ben. “I know who you left with and I know who I want you to return with. The situation in Rianamar is horrible, Gaden. It’s all so different, you won’t recognize it. And all the people here have slowly grown immune to the changes, or refuse to recognize that it’s even happening.”
Ben shook his head. “There are reasons for that. Too many people are afraid to do anything. I’ve lost many of my friends. Whether they left on their own or by force, I may never learn. There are some of us though, who know others we can trust.”
“We’ve been hearing about this very thing,” Gaden said, “Kamien taking prisoners to keep his troops loyal. Women and children even.”
“The only reason I’ve been spared is because my father has behaved completely loyal from the start,” Ben said.
“Is he?” he asked, remembering who Ben’s father was.
“Only to the System, Gaden. He’s been told too many different stories of what happened here when you left. He serves for the good of the System, waiting to see for himself whose story is true.”
“He may have the opportunity to learn that soon,” he said. “As I said to Talia, I don’t have much time. You were at the Palace today?”
“Yes. It was odd too,” Ben said. “Very quiet. I noticed there were hardly any guards. Only a few days ago the Palace was packed with them. Now, it’s all but empty. Maralt Adaeryn’s men give orders to the few guards left on duty. I saw him. He doesn’t usually come out in the open. There are always rumors of him being around, so it was odd that he was there, walking down the main hall like he owned the place. My father mentioned that he hasn’t seen Kamien all day and seemed concerned about it. Now to top all the oddities off, I’ve run into you.”
“Any indications of where the guard might have gone? Do you know how many there were before?”
“At least five hundred, just in and around the Palace. Rianamar is crawling with them. I’d say in the thousands. As for where the Palace guard might be...” Ben shrugged. “I have no idea.”
“Moved into Rianamar perhaps?”
Ben shook his head. “I don’t think so. I would have noticed. I’ve been keeping fairly close watch on the city.”
Gaden rose, pacing. “They’re probably being kept out of sight on purpose to fool us into thinking they don’t exist. Have you had any contact with Governor Taldic?”
“No,” Ben said glancing at Talia briefly. “Not personally. He’s being watched. It’s widely believed that Prince Dynan will try contacting him before he attacks.”
“Could you contact him?”
Before Ben could answer, they were interrupted by the sound of voices and footsteps in the hall. They weren’t quiet, but raised and rushed. While Ben and Talia only looked confused, Gaden became increasingly alarmed, reaching his hand to his sword. When the door opened, he had the weapon drawn in a flash.
The man who entered the room stopped at seeing him and held a hand up to those behind him. Gaden thought he looked vaguely familiar. He was tall and fit, with a shock of sand colored hair that was closely trimmed. He wore a beard of the same color, but his eyes were dark. “Who is this, Ben?”
“Gaden, by the Gods, relax. Put up your sword. This is Governor Taldic’s son, Ildin.” Ben stepped between them. “He’s one of Prince Dynan’s men, Gaden Ahreld.”
Ildin Taldic looked at Gaden closely. “Yes, I can see it. You’re Allie’s brother.” He turned back to Ben. “There’s something happening at the Palace and my home was just attacked.”
He motioned behind him. The First Governor of Cobalt, Gemern Taldic was brought in the room, held up by two men. Gemern was an older version of his son, but without most of the hair. He had the same dark eyes, but he was rounder with age. They set him in a chair and Talia went to him. “He’ll be all right. It’s just a solid bump,” Ildin said.
“What do you mean, something is going on at the Palace?” Gaden asked, now beyond alarmed.
“If you don’t know, then I certainly don’t. It appears to be under attack.”
“What? By who?” Gaden asked.
“Again, I thought you might be able to tell us,” Ildin said evenly.
“If it’s Dynan then he’s early. Tell me what you saw.”
“A large midrange and four troop carriers. The midrange appeared to be the XR-30. Now that I see you, I’m certain of it.” Ildin frowned. “The ship and one of the troop carriers appeared to be landing on the balcony.”
Gaden groaned and though he didn’t understand why the XR-30 would seem to be landing on the Palace balcony, he knew the number of ships. “That’s us all right. Something must have happened.”
“You mean Prince Dynan is here?” Talia asked.
Gaden didn’t answer, his hand going to his ear, then to his jacket sleeve. “Allie? Yes, I’m here. What? Where are you? I can hardly—”
Gaden listened, straining to hear. At the same time, Ildin spoke to Ben, who nodded a couple times, then left the room in a rush. Ildin turned to Talia. “Where’s your father?”
“He’s away,” she said. “Mother is resting, but she wouldn’t know what to make of all this, my Lord.”
“Governor Taldic is with me now, Allie,” Gaden said, drawing Ildin’s attention. Gaden listened a moment longer. “All right. Be careful.” He nodded to Ildin. “Where did Ben go?” he asked.
The future Governor of Rianamar looked at him, questioning his tone, but Gaden didn’t care. “He’s gone to get help.”
“What kind of help?”
“The kind Prince Dynan will need if he plans on succeeding in this battle. You mentioned my father in your conversation. May I ask why?”
“I’m to stay here and guard him,” Gaden said, shaking his head.
“You don’t seem very happy with that assignment.”
Gaden turned away. “I’m not. Meaning no disrespect of course, but my brother is up in the Palace now.”
“You said the Prince attacked before you expected” Ildin said. “You thought something had happened. I might be of better service if I knew what his plans were.”
“First, tell me what you can do?”
“I know of a thousand men at least, armed and willing, who only wait for some signal that their help is needed. I’ve organized them, arranging a complicated communications network. Of course by now, most of them are already waiting.”
Gaden hesitated. He wasn’t supposed to trust anyone. Carryn had been explicit in that order. He didn’t want to divulge what he knew of Dynan’s plans, but Ildin would need to know something of them if he were to be of any help. If it had been anyone else but Taldic’s son, Gaden would have refused.
“Gaden, we must move quickly. Already the city guard is gathering to march against the Palace. Four troop carriers don’t hold that many men. Will there be more?”
“No.”
“Then I need to move now.”
“All right,” Gaden said, then explained what Dynan’s plans were.
Ildin seemed genuinely disturbed. “What prompted him to attack so far in advance of his main body of strength? It makes no sense. He couldn’t possibly believe he could win against Kamien with four hundred men.”
“I can’t give you all the details, Ildin, just what is. Those four hundred men are the best soldiers you’ll ever see. They can handle five hundred Palace guards.”
“But perhaps not two thousand.” Ildin paced. “I think it might be best to let Rianamar empty itself, then attack them from behind. In the mean time, we might be able to lessen their numbers before they can even form up.”
He turned to the two men who stood guard by the door and only nodded to them. They returned the gesture and left.
“Where are they going?” Gaden asked, hoping against hope he’d made the right decision in trusting them. He was countermanding a direct order from Allie, Carryn, and Dynan.
“To begin,” Ildin said easily. He shook his head. “I wish there had been a way to forewarn us of this, but I suppose what we have now is better than nothing at all.”
“We didn’t think there was any help available from this end.”
“When Carryn showed up on our doorstep, my father and I decided it was time to do something. We’ve been sitting here for years, inactive, watching Kamien and Maralt destroy this System. And our own lives. In all that time, most of us did nothing, except the Guilds. They’ve resisted where they could, but suffered the brunt of Kamien’s animosity.” Ildin paced restlessly. “I wish I knew what was happening up there. Can you communicate with them again?”
“No. Allie is afraid the signal will be traced. He said he’d let me know when he has control of the comterms.” Gaden felt restless himself, wondering again what could have happened to so drastically change their plans. He felt helpless just standing there.
