Page 2

Chapter

Two

“ A t last. That process was unnecessarily tedious.”

The disapproving voice of Lord Armand sounded in Cassius’s ears as they moved across the broad stone bridge that marked the border. Torrens was behind them now. They were in Siqual.

“It was only natural for the Torrenese crown to send representatives to accompany us across their land,” Cassius told the other man, impatient of his wary mutterings. They’d encountered no reason for suspicion in Torrens, in spite of rumors. “I would do the same were a royal delegation passing through my own kingdom.”

Lord Armand didn’t look convinced. “Be that as it may, I’m glad to be out of Torrens, Your Highness.” He glanced up at the darkening storm clouds above them. “I’m ready to reach our destination.”

“As am I,” Cassius agreed.

Well, ready might be a stretch. But how did a man prepare to greet a stranger to whom he was about to become betrothed?

“You must be eager to meet the princess,” Lord Armand added. He smiled at the prince in an indulgent way that Cassius found irritating. “I have heard she is very beautiful.”

Cassius just grunted. He didn’t object to his bride being beautiful, of course. He just hoped that Princess Miriam tended toward kindness as well. The alliance would be a bad bargain for him if he ended up with a shrewish wife. But it couldn’t be helped. The whole marriage alliance had been his idea, and he wasn’t going to back out of it based on the princess’s personality. Not with so much at stake.

Worry once again tugged at Cassius’s mind, adding urgency to the task ahead. It was imperative that they seal the agreement with the Siqualian delegation quickly, and get back to Carrack. He was uneasy about being away given his father’s current frame of mind.

As expected, they were greeted by guards on the Siqualian side of the border. The meeting point was a further half hour ride away, but the delay at the border crossing meant they wouldn’t make it before the storm broke. Rain was already pattering onto Cassius’s shoulders.

“Is extra protection necessary?” Lord Armand protested, as a small group of guards from the border mounted up to accompany them the rest of the way. “I understood that Their Majesties assured us of order on their roads.”

“Peace, Lord Armand,” Cassius said, weary of the nobleman’s argumentative presence. “We are all aware that Siqual has suffered the same increase in unrest as other kingdoms. It doesn’t hurt to take precautions.”

Lord Armand didn’t take the rebuke silently, but Cassius had little patience for his earnest attempt to convince the prince that the honor of their kingdom was at stake. If it had been up to him, Cassius would never have included Lord Armand on the delegation. The older man was notoriously easy to offend, with a tendency to overreact to perceived slights, especially against their crown or kingdom.

That passionate loyalty was no doubt why the king had sent him. But for his part, Cassius found it insulting that his father had thought it necessary. What grounds did the king have to think that his only son needed help to ensure Carrack was shown due respect? He felt all the pride Carrack deserved—their kingdom’s position on the Peninsula was enviable, and the alliance was to Siqual’s benefit.

But he hadn’t argued about the choice of delegation members, instead focusing on convincing his father that the marriage alliance was the king’s own idea.

Cassius watched out of the corner of his eye as Lord Armand twitched an eyebrow in concentration, and several buzzing flies were swept out of his face by an unseen force. He must have used the magic created by the insects’ own motion to fuel the wind that had driven them away.

That was the other reason the king had been eager to send Lord Armand with the group. He was incredibly skilled in magic craft. Generally members of the court didn’t train rigorously enough to excel in magic manipulation. It was seen as neither necessary nor dignified for the titled, no different from pursuing any other trade. But as the king’s liaison with the Craftsmen’s Guild, Lord Armand had more license. Cassius was fair enough to acknowledge that the nobleman had a strong natural aptitude. If they encountered conflict, Lord Armand would be useful in their defense.

As long as it wasn’t his over-readiness to fight that created the conflict.

“I think I see the Siqualian delegation ahead,” Cassius said, cutting off whatever the nobleman was saying.

The guard in charge of the delegation’s protection appeared at Cassius’s side.

“The turn off is here, Your Highness. But it looks as though the Siqualian delegation hasn’t yet taken it. They’re stopped ahead. I’ve sent someone to discover why.”

“No need,” said Cassius, spurring his horse forward. “We can ask them ourselves.”

His guards flanked him as he approached the clump of carriages pulled neatly off the road not far ahead. The reason for the halt soon became clear—one carriage was listing to the side with a broken wheel.

“Could it be a ploy?” Lord Armand mused from just behind him. “To gain the upper hand somehow?”

Cassius threw an incredulous look over his shoulder. “I see no benefit to them.”

The nobleman’s face was grim. “Perhaps it is an accident, as it appears. But if it is an attempt to outmaneuver us, we will stand ready to defend the honor of yourself and our kingdom.”

Cassius slowed his horse, his voice stern. “I appreciate your fervor for Carrack, My Lord. But I would remind you that our aim is not to antagonize Siqual but to ally ourselves with it. It is for me to handle the discussion, not you.”

“With respect, Your Highness, I have my instructions,” Lord Armand said. “His Majesty tasked me with ensuring Siqual doesn’t get away with any foul play.” He glanced upward, his eyes narrowed against the now-pounding rain. “I must say, this downpour is convenient.”

“What do you mean, convenient?” Cassius had to fight to hold back a scowl at the nobleman’s dismissive attitude toward the prince’s instructions. Even from afar, his father’s overstimulated pride was hampering his efforts. “It seems blasted inconvenient to me.”

“The movement,” Lord Armand explained patiently. “The movement of the rain is generating a substantial amount of power. I’m well versed in the manipulation of weather-formed power, Your Highness. If I need to craft an enchantment, I should have no difficulty accessing enough magic for a powerful one.”

“I trust that won’t be necessary,” Cassius said flatly.

They’d neared the damaged carriage, and Cassius could see that its occupants had alighted. They were attempting to shelter from the downpour under the branches of a copse of trees that stood on one side of the road. Cassius realized with a start that it must have been the princess’s own carriage that met with the accident. She was unmistakable in the midst of the group in a full, silken gown of a shade of magenta that was striking, if somewhat startling. Her hair was a deep brown, pulled back in a braid that still looked voluminous. Her brows were dark, perhaps a little heavy, but with her head lowered, Cassius couldn’t easily read her expression. She didn’t raise her eyes as Cassius dismounted and a man about his own age stepped forward to greet him.

“Prince Cassius.” The man inclined his head slightly, both his bearing and his attire proclaiming his affluence. “My apologies for the delay in reaching our intended meeting point. I’m Prince Theodore, and I’m delighted to welcome you to Siqual on behalf of my father the king.” He glanced to the side, where the princess was still regarding her own folded hands. “And to present to you my sister, Princess Miriam.”

She raised her eyes at last. Her features were beautiful, but the smile that crossed her face was strained. Cassius had sympathy for her. It was an awkward situation. But it was of his making, so he should do his best to reduce the discomfort.

“I am grateful for your welcome,” he said, trying to project both kindness and confidence. “And to meet Her Highness.”

With a hint of steeling herself, the princess moved forward. Another figure followed her movement, drawing Cassius’s gaze. The man, whom he hadn’t even noticed at first, was dressed in a uniform of silver and black, with a fitted hood that made it difficult to see his face. Cassius was familiar with the type of uniform—his own guards wore similar ones, designed to make them seem less like individual people and more like a role embodied. They weren’t supposed to attract notice, but Cassius couldn’t help staring at the one in front of him.

The man’s watchful demeanor and the way his every movement shadowed the princess seemed to confirm what Cassius had assumed from his attire—he was the princess’s personal bodyguard. But he was a strange choice. In Cassius’s experience, bodyguards were built like bears, tall and muscled with statures designed to intimidate. This man looked like a teenager. He moved with confidence, and his posture was one of readiness, but he was barely taller than the princess, and he was far too lithe to be described as muscled.

“You are very welcome, Prince Cassius.” Princess Miriam’s voice was soft but clear, even over the sound of the rain on the branches above. “We are glad to—”

It was the sudden movement of the bodyguard that cut off the princess’s words. Cassius didn’t even see what had prompted the man to move, he just saw him leap in front of the princess. Cassius blinked in confusion as what appeared to be a cloud of dust burst over the man as he raised a leather bracer before his face. Cassius’s eyes could barely follow quickly enough to catch the chunk of misshapen metal that thunked into the bracer before falling to the grass in front of him.

It was only as something whistled past his ear that he realized what had happened. The bodyguard had used magic to destroy an arrow mid-flight before it could strike the princess.

There was no time to be impressed by the man’s reflexes and magic manipulation skills. By the time Cassius understood what he was seeing, the guard had repeated the performance four times in rapid succession, disabling a fresh arrow each time. The moment the barrage stopped, he whipped a sling from his jacket and placed a small stone inside it.

Shouts from both parties showed that all the other guards—who clearly wouldn’t have identified the threat until too late—had at last grasped what was happening. Prince Theodore drew a blade, moving toward his sister as each party’s guards converged on their charges.

“Just as we feared!” Lord Armand cried from beside Cassius, seizing the prince’s arm and attempting to drag him behind the shelter of a tree. “Foul play!”

“Don’t be a fool!” Cassius snapped, yanking himself free. His guards had already formed a human shield around him, but he reached for his own blade nonetheless. “We’re not the target.”

The princess’s impressive bodyguard had taken no note of the bustle around him. By the time the other guards reached Princess Miriam, the bodyguard was swinging his sling expertly around his head. Deftly, and without even looking around, he shifted forward so the weapon didn’t catch any of the converging guards.

“There! In that tree!”

Prince Theodore had found the source of the attack, but Cassius didn’t follow his gesture, too fascinated by the smooth movement of the bodyguard’s sling. He’d assumed that the purpose of the weapon was to take out the archer, but the bodyguard didn’t release the stone. His posture was rigid with focus as he continued to whip the weapon around his head, his body still placed between the princess and the direction of the arrows.

“He’s generating more magic!” Lord Armand cried, realizing the purpose of the sling just as Cassius did.

Cassius ignored the scandalized observation. The bodyguard wasn’t a threat to them—a blind man could perceive that his whole focus was the princess and her protection. He still didn’t release the stone, instead watching as one of the Siqualian guards took aim with a bow of his own, squinting in the direction from which the arrows had come.

Cassius tried to dull his main senses and focus on the awareness of magic that had been part of his studies. The rapid motion of the bodyguard’s sling was creating a steady stream of magic. Cassius could tell that it was tethered to the bodyguard, meaning the man had taken hold of it, but he didn’t have the training to identify the exact shape the harnessed magic was taking. His best guess was that the man was using it to create a sort of shield around the princess.

Cassius pulled his attention back to his physical surroundings in time to see the archer guard let his arrow fly. A gurgling cry and a heavy thunk behind Cassius told him that the attacker had been neutralized. But the bodyguard didn’t relax, and it was a good instinct. Just as several of the guards swarmed toward the fallen archer, something flew out of the trees in the opposite direction.

Cassius’s warning cry died in his throat as the spear collided with an invisible wall of magic and fell, harmless, onto the grass. From his vantage point, he couldn’t see whoever had thrown the weapon. But the bodyguard apparently could. He spun his sling around a final time, releasing the stone at last. It disappeared into the branches, and a moment later, a much larger shape than a spear plummeted through the foliage and hit the ground with a sickening thud.

Like everyone else, Cassius froze, staring at the lifeless body of the second attacker, who had another spear clutched in his hand.

“Move into the field, away from the trees.”

The sharp voice of Prince Theodore broke through the silence. Cassius turned to see him ushering his sister and her bodyguard across the road toward open space. The Siqualian prince turned to his guards.

“Search the whole copse. Every tree, you understand?”

Half the guards spread out among the trees and, at a word from Cassius, most of his own guards joined them. The rest accompanied the royals from both kingdoms into the open space on the other side of the road. Cassius’s head was spinning, and dominant among his reactions was a vague feeling of uselessness, even shame. He wasn’t the only one whom the attack had taken by surprise, but that didn’t make him feel any better about his response to danger being put so thoroughly to shame by a teenager.

As he drew close to the Siqualians, he saw that Prince Theodore looked equally shaken. Over the driving rain, Cassius could barely hear his voice .

“Without a doubt, you saved her life,” the other prince was murmuring to the bodyguard. “I hope you know that.”

The bodyguard inclined his head, his youthful frame still stiff with tension as rain hammered down on the hood he wore. He looked like he was struggling to hold himself upright, and no wonder. The energy his defensive magic had required would have been immense. Princess Miriam herself looked pale, her eyes darting around the open, grassy space in search of further threats. She was sticking close to her bodyguard, the only one standing alongside the royals. The rest had formed a protective ring that fully encased them all, a stone’s throw from their position, ready to keep the fighting away from them if another attack came.

But why had the first attack come? None of it made sense. Cassius was still searching for words to voice his confusion when Lord Armand strode angrily into the protective circle. The nobleman was taut with fury, his face set in an expression of outrage that Cassius knew all too well.

“This is unacceptable!” Lord Armand raged as he neared the Siqualian royals. “Carrack will know how to answer such an affront!”

“Peace, Lord Armand,” Cassius attempted, but he doubted anyone even heard him over the curt words of Prince Theodore.

“Affront? To Carrack? It is Siqual’s princess— my sister —who was just attacked.”

“The attack could have killed any and all of us,” said Lord Armand, not mollified. “For you to invite Prince Cassius onto your lands, only to subject him to such danger without—”

“We did not subject him to anything,” Prince Theodore shot back. “If your bluster is intended to allay suspicion from yourselves, it will not save you.”

He clearly wasn’t finished, but Lord Armand’s theatrical gasp drowned out even the rain. “Allay suspicion? You mean to imply that Carrack orchestrated the barbaric attack on the princess?”

“Well, Siqual certainly didn’t orchestrate an attack on its own princess,” Prince Theodore snapped.

“Prince Theodore,” said Cassius, curbing his instinctive anger at the insinuation. He had to think clearly. “Princess Miriam. I swear to you, we have no knowledge of those men or their intentions.”

To his intense annoyance, Lord Armand jumped in before the other royals could reply.

“Perhaps you did not orchestrate it, but neither did you prevent it.”

“Then your own guards are no less culpable,” Princess Miriam pointed out angrily.

“With respect, Princess,” Lord Armand’s tone wasn’t in the least respectful, “we are not culpable. We are on your land. We were assured our party would have safe passage across Siqual. Instead, we were very nearly caught up in a fatal attack.” He pointed imperiously at the bodyguard. “In fact, that boy’s quick thinking and—to say fairly—exceptional grasp of magic craft is the only reason we didn’t just witness an assassination.”

The bodyguard showed no sign of being gratified. In fact, he showed no sign he was even listening to the argument. He remained on high alert, hovering by the princess as he continued to monitor their surroundings.

“I’m very well aware that I owe my life to my bodyguard,” Princess Miriam said, the slightest quaver in her voice. “But why that occasions criticism from you, I can’t imagine.”

“My criticism is of the rest of your guards, Your Highness,” said Lord Armand crisply. “And indeed, of the state of your country.”

“Peace, Lord Armand,” said Cassius sharply, for the second time. He was no more impressed with the events than the nobleman, but he was sensible enough to recognize that, given Princess Miriam had been the clear target, it was unlikely the Siqualian crown was behind the attacks. He could even acknowledge that it wasn’t unreasonable for the Siqualians to suspect foul play from Carrack. “Accusations will get us nowhere.”

“Your Highness.” One of the Siqualian guards had approached across the grass. His brows were drawn together as he addressed Prince Theodore. “The trees are clear. Both attackers are dead, and there is no sign of others.”

“Anything on them to indicate who they were or what their purpose was?” Prince Theodore asked, raising a hand in a futile attempt to shield his face from the rain.

“Nothing is immediately obvious, Your Highness,” the guard said. “Their bodies will be transported to the castle for examination. There does not appear to be any imminent danger.”

“So you claim,” Lord Armand scoffed. “It is very clear to me that lawlessness prevails in Siqual, and that not even the royal guards are capable of managing the risk of travel on your roads.”

“I beg your pardon, My Lord,” the head guard said in stiff tones, “but my men are perfectly capable of protecting—”

“They are not,” Lord Armand cut him off rudely, flicking moisture from his cloak. Pointlessly, since rain was still hammering down on it. “If it were left to your men , the princess would be dead right now, and quite possibly others of us may have followed.”

“The danger is past for the moment,” Cassius told Lord Armand firmly, not appreciating how the nobleman was speaking for their party. “Since it seems our meeting place was known, we will not continue toward it. I intend to set out back to Carrack immediately.”

“An excellent plan, Your Highness,” Lord Armand said. “And with additional protection.” He pointed at the young bodyguard. “I want that boy to join your guard detail.”

Instant protests arose from the two Siqualian royals. The bodyguard said nothing, but his head swiveled toward them, dispelling the illusion that he wasn’t listening to their conversation.

“Lord Armand,” Cassius said warningly. He didn’t voice the rest of his thought, which was that he didn’t need or want a stripling bodyguard to protect him, no matter how skilled the boy was with magic.

“It will be worth our while, Your Highness,” Lord Armand insisted. “He used the movement of an incoming weapon to fuel that weapon’s destruction. That is advanced defensive magic.”

“I stay with the princess.”

The bodyguard spoke for the first time. He sounded like he was trying to speak gruffly, but his voice came out strange, almost warbling.

“And the princess is not going anywhere with your party,” Prince Theodore said curtly. “Not after the insults you’ve seen fit to level against our kingdom, and certainly not after an attack on her life by an unknown enemy. We will return to Sindon immediately, and if you see fit to return to Carrack rather than accompanying us, we certainly won’t hinder you.”

“Then we will take the bodyguard,” Lord Armand insisted, the words muffled by the steady roar of the rain. “We will not tolerate being deserted to the anarchy of your roads while you return to your own castle with full protection.”

“Your demand is outrageous!” the Siqualian prince growled. “I have stood in support of your kingdom’s proposed alliance, but I am seriously reconsidering that position.”

Annoyance flared in Cassius at the slight. “We will also need to reconsider our—”

“It is not for Siqual to renege on an alliance!” Affronted, Lord Armand once again cut him off. Prince Theodore’s declaration seemed to have been the final straw for the volatile lord. “You have everything to gain from a connection with Carrack. I will not allow our safety to be so compromised or our honor to be so insulted. I see you must be forced to fulfill your obligations to us.”

“Lord Armand, that’s enough.” Cassius’s own temper was raised now, as much by the nobleman’s liberties as by the attack. His carefully laid plans to strengthen relationships were in tatters—if the intention of the attackers had been to prevent the alliance, it appeared they may well succeed, in spite of the princess being unscathed. “You will desist, and that is an order.”

“I must apologize, Your Highness,” the nobleman said coldly, “but I have my orders clear from His Majesty. And I intend to see you back to our kingdom with your safety and Carrack’s honor intact.”

“It is for me to decide what Carrack’s honor requires,” Cassius said sharply. “And I—what are you doing, Lord Armand?”

The nobleman’s face was contorting strangely, the expression of great concentration distracting Cassius from his anger at the nobleman’s defiance.

Someone else recognized what it meant, however.

“What are you doing?” the bodyguard cried, in the same falsely gruff voice. “Princess Miriam, he’s harnessing magic—he’s crafting the movement of the rain into an enchantment!”

“Lord Armand!”

Cassius shifted angrily toward the other man, his voice mingling with Prince Theodore’s as the Siqualian prince also called out a sharp warning.

“That’s enough! If you use magic against—”

Prince Theodore’s words were cut off by a gasp from the bodyguard. The sound probably masked from the others Lord Armand’s quietly spoken words.

“You are so bound.”