Page 43

“Thank you.” The princess eyed Galbraith, who was sitting with his head in his hands, apparently dazed enough that he did not react to this. Perhaps he had not heard or understood it at all.

Kaerius waved to get her attention.I will join the search, if you trust these men.He indicated the soldiers with her. Brighton had seemed to trust them.

“You want to go look for him?” Marin nodded, her face pale. “Yes, please.”

Kaerius bowed deeply and set off through the corridors. Soon he was back outside on the moonlit street. The night was still cold, and the wind cut through his jacket to chill the sweat upon his skin.

He strode carefully through the darkness, his senses as alert as they had been when he had first approached the Lord of the Deep. He smelled no blood, but there was an odd sense that he was not alone.

The Mer prince stopped and sniffed, ignoring the salt and kelp, the fish and urchin and gull. He listened for breaths beneath the sound of the wind, and at last, he looked toward a shadow some distance away. It was a little nook in front of one of the palace doors, with a roof and walls to protect those awaiting entrance from the worst of the wind.

There, in the deepest shadow, he found Brighton sprawled upon the stones, barely breathing.

Chapter 16

Kaerius dropped to his knees and sniffed at his friend’s face and neck. The guard smelled of the salt wind in his hair and the soap his wife used to wash their clothes, the smoke of the lanterns and the almost imperceptible memory of herbs used in the meal he had watched the princess and her guests eat.

Ralph’s hands had been all over Brighton’s jacket; Ralph had gripped his collar, under his arm, on his shoulder, and upon the front, where a fist-sized piece had been ripped off. No, at least some of it had been cut, though the edges had been frayed to look as if it had been ripped. A human hand would struggle to rip cloth this sturdy.

What Kaerius couldnotsense was any hint that Brighton had touched Lord Galbraith. There was no scent of Galbraith upon Brighton’s clothes or on his hands.

Kaerius hissed between his teeth, looking over his shoulder. Ralph had not been in the little crowd that had gathered before he had left the princess, but he did not want to leave her without protection. But he could not leave Brighton here, either, and he was not sure how badly his friend was injured.

Kaerius pounded on the door several times, but at last concluded that no one could hear him. He could run back tothe other door and get help, but it might be best to hear what Brighton could say when he woke without the added complication of an audience, some of whom might not be trustworthy.

He patted Brighton on the cheek gently, unwilling to move him until he knew that Brighton’s back or neck were not broken.

The guard did not wake for several minutes, and Kaerius shivered in the icy wind. Nevertheless he did not push Brighton to wake before he was able.

At last the guard mumbled something, and Kaerius patted his cheek again to let him know he was not alone.

“Kai?”

Kaerius clicked his teeth, though he hoped the sound conveyed reassurance rather than threat.

For several more minutes, Brighton seemed to be drifting in and out of consciousness. He turned on his side but made no effort to get up. Finally he vomited, and the sound made Kaerius feel a little sick himself. At last, when he attempted to rise, Kaerius helped him up with careful hands, moving slowly so that Brighton could let him know of any injury. At last Brighton managed to sit slumped against the wall, leaning heavily on Kaerius.

“The princess,” he said at last.

Kaerius nodded.

“Help me up,” the guard said thickly, and then he heaved again, though his stomach was empty.

For another few minutes, Kaerius sat beside the guard, his arms keeping his friend mostly upright. Brighton’s head sagged against him, and the guard’s dark curls were in his face, smelling of soap and the salt breeze and the slightest hint of blood.

When Brighton mumbled, “Help me up,” again, Kaerius did so. He wrapped one arm around the larger man’s waist and took Brighton’s weight as the guard listed to one side.

He helped Brighton up the hill to the door he had entered before and found to his dismay that it was locked again. He pounded his fist on the heavy wood. Brighton flinched at the noise, but he made no complaint.

At long last, the door was opened, and a confusion of guards and servants received them with exclamations of dismay and horror.

“Where is the princess?” croaked Brighton.

“She is in the meeting hall with Lord Galbraith,” said one of the guards. “What happened?”

“I need to see her,” Brighton said.

One of the young guards joined Kaerius in supporting the guard, and together they made their way up three flights of stairs and down the many long hallways to the meeting room.