Green Rider (67 page)

"Master Gray One," he said, "I see you have brought me yet another gift. I should have liked to have heard my brother's screams as he died, but you have done well."

The Gray One held out the basket and a hush fell over the throne room. Lady Estora groaned beside Stevic. "All hope is truly lost."

Mirwell laughed.

Amilton snapped his head at him. "What is it?"

"Go ahead," Mirwell said. "Look in the basket. The Gray One carried it all this way for you."

Amilton smiled tentatively. He unclasped the basket's fastener and opened the lid. He reached inside.

Lady Estora pressed her face into Stevic's shoulder. "I can't bear to look. I just can't."

Stevic could not either.
It gets worse and worse
, he thought. But he caught an amused gleam in the Mirwellian officer's eye as she exchanged glances with the soldier behind her, and such a curious expression crossed Amilton's face, that Stevic found he could not avert his gaze.

Amilton drew out a round bloody mass. "What jest is this?" he hissed. A headless chicken still dripping blood dangled from his hand.

Mirwell laughed again and Amilton turned his fiery gaze on the old man. The chicken hit the floor with a soft, wet sound. "Tell me why you laugh, Mirwell."

"Where is my chair?" he demanded.

Amilton blinked, not comprehending.

What in the name of Aeryc is going on
? Stevic wondered.

"Imbecile." Mirwell's eyes were dark. "I ask you, where is my chair? The guard you sent after it… where is he?"

Amilton glanced about wildly. "Guard!" he cried, but the man did not reappear. The remaining guards shifted nervously.

"There are those who are not what they seem," Mirwell said. "You think you have won the game, but your opponent has deceived you with his strategy."

Understanding dawned slowly on Amilton's features. A muscle spasmed in his cheek.

Everything fell to stillness again; the air did not stir, and the light did not flicker. Those who watched held their breaths in the uncertain atmosphere, waiting to see what Amilton would do next. Stevic felt caught in the clutches of some spell and thought he must burst, his inaction gnawing at him with new ferocity.

Amilton broke the spell. He faced the Gray One squarely. His cheek twitched again. With a trembling hand, he reached out and threw back the Gray One's hood.

"Captain Mapstone!" Stevic said in surprise.

The Green Rider folded her arms and grinned.

Amilton's face took on a deathly pallor and he staggered back as if struck. A confused babble broke out among the nobles.

Amilton's lower lip quivered. "Guards!" he shouted, but only half of them appeared, looking just as bewildered as he by the turn of events. "Jen-Jendara!" She did not answer. She had vanished completely, and she had done so with such stealth that no one had seen her go.

Amilton groped at his black stone, and it seemed to calm him. Color slowly crept back into his cheeks. His guards stood uneasily about him, their swords drawn.

A tapestry not far from the throne fluttered aside, and two black-clad Weapons, followed by a very much alive King Zachary, entered. The king looked exhausted beyond measure and as if his bound and splinted arm pained him.

"Aeryc and Aeryon preserve us," Lady Estora said.

"Breyan's gold!" The darkness that had pressed down on Stevic dissipated and was replaced by a lightness of heart. "I never believed in miracles…"

The clack and whiz of a crossbow broke the stunned silence. The bolt hit its mark with a loud
thwack
and King Zachary staggered backward, but did not fall. He glanced down in disbelief at the bolt stuck in his splint. By the time everyone looked to see who had fired it, the soldier lay dead on the floor with his throat slashed open, and a third Weapon stepped out of the shadows.

King Zachary wrenched the bolt out of his splint, and a cheer went up among the nobles. The king waved everyone to silence and faced his brother. "You are unfit to rule. Give up."

"Hear, hear!" cried the nobles. A convivial mood took them and their courage swelled with the king's presence and brave words.

Zachary motioned them to silence again, and fixed his attention on his brother. "My soldiers and Weapons stand ready to retake the castle."

"Your soldiers are being held prisoner, or are dead."

"Others are seeing to their release."

"Then if you want the crown, take it off my head."

Amilton's voice was a low growl, like that of a cornered wolf. His eyes were half slits. He stroked his stone and it glowed with a black aura. He swept his hand out.

Slam! Slam! Slam
! The lights dimmed and flickered with the onrush of air as the great oak doors of the entrance, followed by the secret door Zachary had come through, shut in quick succession.

Amilton closed his eyes and took a deep breath. The stone flared with power, and he flung his arms wide as if to embrace it. Moments later, the power slowly ebbed away to a glimmer. He dropped his arms to his sides. When he opened his eyes, gasps issued from those who stood before him. His eyes were no longer brown, but light blue.

"Now," he said, "no one can enter or leave." His facial muscles relaxed and the fire burning within him cooled. Each movement he made was controlled, steady; more like a wild predator stalking its choice of prey.

Stevic had seen Amilton demonstrate his power several times already this night, but it still raised the hairs on his arms. And why were his eyes blue? That had never happened before.

The nobles, who had begun to see a return of sanity with King Zachary's miraculous arrival, now spoke nervously among themselves, their feet shuffling on the stone floor. Captain Mapstone, Stevic noted, was looking less certain.

Two of the Weapons approached Amilton with their hands on the hilts of their swords.

Black energy pulsated to life about Amilton's hands. The Weapons drew their swords. Amilton flung his hands out, and strands of black energy surged off his fingertips. The ropy tendrils of magic twisted up their sword blades and forked into their faces. It knocked them senseless to the floor.

The third Weapon hesitated, and when Amilton cast his gaze his way, he stopped his advance altogether.

"Fools." Two voices in unison, issued from Amilton's mouth. One of his own biting tenor, the other was lighter and melodious.

Amilton's blue eyes rested on King Zachary. With a flick of his hand, Zachary fell hard to his knees. Captain Mapstone started forward to aid him, but he shook his head. "Stay put, Laren," he said. Of Amilton he asked, "What has happened to you, brother?"

Amilton held his hands up before him, letting the magic weave between his fingers. "We have learned much," he said with the strange double voice. "Together we combine our strengths."

We
? Stevic wondered.
Our
?

Zachary attempted to stand, but Amilton's hand swept down, and the king fell to his knees again.

"You must observe proper obeisance," Amilton said.

"You are not a king," Zachary replied.

The Amilton of old would have exploded with fury, but now he simply gazed down at his brother with cold, alien eyes. "You may capitulate now and save yourself pain. Or you may make life not worth living for you and your minions." He turned his attention to Captain Mapstone. Stretching out his hand, he clenched it into a fist.

Captain Mapstone's eyes bulged, and she clasped her throat, gasping for air. Her breaths were raspy and ineffective. She sank to her knees.

"Stop!" Zachary said.

Amilton dropped his hand, and the captain fell the rest of the way to the floor, panting and gagging. Stevic thrust

Lady Estora into Sevano's arms and stepped over to her, his heart hammering against his chest.

"Are you all right?" he whispered.

She was white around the lips, but she looked up at him with wide hazel eyes. A strand of gold hair had escaped her braid and fallen across her pale face. For the first time since he had met her, she looked truly frightened. She opened her mouth to speak, but could only choke. He helped her to sit up.

"Does this mean you capitulate?" Amilton asked.

"Your argument is with me," Zachary said. "Leave my people out of it."

Amilton's eyebrows bobbed up in mock surprise. "We think not, not after your spies and messengers have hurt us. One nearly destroyed us. They must all be punished, but it is up to you how severely."

King Zachary's gaze roved over the worried nobles, his injured Weapons, Captain Mapstone, and the woman who assumed the role of the Mirwellian officer. His brown eyes even settled on Stevic and held him for a fleeting moment. It was enough time for Stevic to sense the grave consideration in the king's eyes and to mark how his features were carved by grief.

It was enough to break Stevic down to despair, but the king held himself with such unbending dignity, though he was forced to his knees at the tyrant's feet like a common dog, that Stevic felt strangely uplifted.

"I have loved this land from birth," King Zachary said. His voice was calm and firm. "The rugged seacoast, the heart of the Green Cloak, and the mountains. The land shapes the people, and the descendants of the Sacor Clans are strong." He looked up at his brother. "You should know that. Whatever evil you are in league with will not take Sacoridia so easily."

King Zachary turned his gaze back to his people. Now his expression was fierce. "The people who defend me and stand with me serve Sacoridia first—always first. We serve out of love. Therefore, for the sake of Sacoridia, though it means I may sacrifice myself and a few others, I dare not capitulate."

"Well said, Sire," the Mirwellian officer said.

Others murmured their agreement and Stevic found himself adding his voice to theirs. There was no better man to be king, he thought, than this man who knelt humbly when all others should be on their knees before him.

"And
we
," Amilton said, "are not displeased."

One by one, lamps along the west wall blinked out, throwing the room into half shadows. Stevic wondered what new, terrible torment was about to come upon them, but Amilton appeared just as surprised as everyone else. His eyes searched the wall as if he were trying to see something. For once, he was not the source of strange happenings.

Captain Mapstone grabbed handfuls of Stevic's cloak and drew him close to her. She tried to speak, but could only choke and wheeze. Finally, she mouthed one word:
Karigan
.

Stevic's heart leaped and he looked wildly about. He saw no one, but more lamps blinked out. And King Zachary vanished.

Karigan placed her hand on the king's shoulder, and he started at the unexpected touch.

"
Shhh
," she whispered to him.

Karigan absorbed him into the gray world, and he became a filmy ghost in her vision. She bent and whispered into his ear, "You are invisible."

His shoulder flexed and jerked beneath her hand. He looked up at her… through her… with startled eyes. "Karigan! I cannot see you."