Heir of Pendel (A Pandoran Novel, #4) (28 page)

I flexed my fingers at my side. "You’re already making a mistake. Do you really believe the Arborenne will be safe from Eris? He's already brought the war through your borders, and I'm not referring to the few agents who followed us through the portal. Your woods are
dying
, Lord Dommelier. Even you can't deny that."

By the look on his face, I knew he'd agreed and he hadn't wanted to.

My anxiety to get back to Vera pressed me on. "I can't begin to understand what you went through during the Great War or the sacrifices you made, but it doesn't excuse your complacency now. You're the
lord
of the Arborenne—the king of this forest. Your people expect you to protect them, but you're using an event that happened a few hundred years ago to excuse the fact that you're hiding in the trees while the world burns to the ground."

A guard on the upper tier moved in my periphery, weapon ready, and a shadow passed over the Arborenne lord's beautiful and terrifying face. "Careful."

"With all due respect, my lord," I continued, "you have your opinion of my many-greats-grandfather. I accept that. But I am my own man. I may have inherited his blood, but I did not inherit his sins and I won't take ownership of them. I will only take ownership of
my
actions. The
only
reason I'm claiming his bloodline now is because of the title it gives me—a title that allows me to have a voice in a kingdom I don't have as an aegis, no matter how hard I've tried. Surely you understand that,
Lord
Dommelier."

The great hollow was silent. Lord Dommelier stared at me, shoulders tensed as he drummed furious fingertips on the arm of his chair. And then his chair creaked as he leaned forward. "All right." His tone was low and even. "Say I mend the sword. You truly believe the people will follow you, just because you carry it?"

"No," I admitted. "But I intend to use it to give them hope, starting with Alioth."

"Alioth is lost," he said.

I shook my head. "The people of Alioth may be afraid and scattered, but they are not lost. They're a hardy people, and all they need is someone to lead them. Someone to help them take back their lands. Lord Tosca can't help them do that right now—I'm not even certain he's still alive. I don't hold that kind of sway as an aegis, but I might as the descendant of royal blood. But that's not…becoming king is not why I'm doing this, my lord. That's not even something I want. What
I
want is to save this world from Eris and his evil, and I will use whatever gifts Gaia has given me in order to do that."

Lord Dommelier regarded me a long moment. "You look like him," he said at long last. "I'd always wondered if the Estroians had truly died that day, as everyone had claimed, and perhaps if your predecessors hadn't hidden themselves away in Pendel, I might have known the truth much sooner." He stood and stepped down the stairs of the dais, halting right before me. A ring of indigo rimmed his irises. "I still remember the very first time I saw you in Valdon, during one of the festivals. You were standing with your mother and father in the great hall during the opening ceremony, and I thought I'd seen a ghost. You were the spitting image of him. That was the day I knew." He paused, glancing down at the bundle in his hands. "I will mend this sword for you. But I will not help you fight this war."

16

DARIA

I
crept over to my door and listened. The hall was quiet, though I could feel the guards outside my door as if I were standing at the edge of a fire, feeling the pulse of its heat. There was no way I could get past all of them without alerting the staff, and if the staff found out, they'd tell the Pontefracts, and then I'd never escape.

I glanced over my shoulder at the balcony doors, the closed draperies taunting me with what lay beyond. No doubt Lord Pontefract would've stationed more guards on the grounds near my balcony (which magnified my wonder at how the brooch got there in the first place), and then an idea clicked into place.

I walked about my room, snuffing out the candles so they wouldn't illuminate my balcony. It would've been easier using magic to snuff them out, but I didn't want to waste any of my energy. I was still getting used to the costs of using magic, and I'd need all my strength to get out of here. I left the candle in my bathroom lit, because I thought it might look suspicious if all my lights were out, and maybe they'd think I'd gone to take a bath. Besides, the window of my bathroom was small and wouldn't cast too much light on my balcony.

With one last glance around my darkened room, I wrapped my fingers around the handle of the balcony door and pressed it down. It unlatched without sound, and I eased the door open a crack to listen. Frigid air slipped into my room, making me shiver, but the night was quiet except for the occasional howling gust of wind. I shut my eyes and let my senses drift, slipping through the balustrade, farther and farther down, searching for signs of life…

There. I felt three points of warmth, faint as breath, but they were stationed beneath my balcony. I crouched low and opened the door just enough to slip through, and then I shut the door behind me. I waited and listened. There were no voices and I couldn't sense any movement below. My shoulders relaxed with a breath, and I crept to the corner of the balcony opposite my glowing bathroom window. I snuck a peek through the squat stone columns of the railing. I couldn't see the three at the base of my balcony, but when I scanned the grounds farther out, I could make out two—no, three more human figures. It was too bad Lord Pontefract had made me move from the Garnet Suite; I could've used the cover from the hedge garden. Here, most of the trees were bare skeletons—not something I could hide behind. There were a few pines and shrubs, but they were sparse and intermittent, clinging against the outer walls as if huddled there for warmth with nothing but yards of space in between.

The snow fell harder, swollen and puffy like balls of cotton, blanketing my balcony fast. It also obscured the landscape and visibility and would definitely cover my tracks, and I threw up a silent thank-you to Gaia for stepping in to cover me—literally. I was about to set my plan into action when my senses brushed against something.

It was so subtle I doubted I would have noticed it if I hadn't stopped to thank Gaia. It was a good thing I noticed it, too, because as I investigated, I realized there was some kind of energy field running the perimeter of my balcony like an invisible fence. A magical motion sensor.

I smirked. Fortunately for me, but unfortunately for my dear Lord Pontefract, I'd had plenty of experience with motion detectors over the years. It didn't matter if the sensors were wired or magical, because they all had something in common: an anchor, or magical point of origination, in this case, and I just needed to find this one's and dismantle it without alerting the good lord himself.

My senses drifted along the edge of the energy field, slow and steady, probing here and there, but careful not to press too hard so I didn't set off alarms. I felt around for anything unstable or fuzzy, like touching the edge of frayed fabric. Back and forth I trailed, focusing so hard my jaw ached from clenching my teeth. Whoever had set this here was good—too good. I couldn't find the smallest speck to suggest—wait. There was a slight ripple, like a spot of low pressure, drawing my senses into it. Satisfied this was the anchor I'd been looking for, I sat back and shut my eyes, pressing against that spot, easing it wider and wider, moving slow so I wouldn't disrupt the rest of the field, until finally I'd opened a hole large enough for me to crawl through. If Lord Pontefract had known I'd had my magic, he never would've left me unattended in my room, and he most certainly would've had the foresight to use magic-binding cuffs on my wrists.

Who's overestimating himself now?
I thought.

I crouched against the balustrade, gripped the railing, and glanced down. My room was on the second story. Not too high to jump, but there'd be no silent landing from this height. The heavy snow might help muffle the sound, but I didn't want to risk it. I'd need a second or two to regain my footing after a jump like this. Plus, I had a better idea.

I took a deep breath and let my senses drift once more, farther and farther across the lawn, then let them wrap around a thin, brittle tree branch. On one end of the branch, I applied pressure in one direction while simultaneously applying opposite pressure on the other end. It was a lot harder than I'd anticipated, moving in two directions at once. Sort of like rubbing your head and stomach in opposite directions at the same time, but I eventually got it right and held it long enough, and the twig snapped with a crack. Snow fell and a crow cawed, startled, and fluttered out of the tree.

Curiosity pricked me from below. "Hear that?" a voice asked.

"Yeah, sounded like a crow," replied another. "I hate crows."

"I'm gonna check it out. Something must've startled it."

"Go right ahead. I'll wait here."

Great.

I was preparing myself to do it again when a bubble of frustration touched me from below.

"I'll come with you," said a new, irritated voice.

One figure emerged from beneath my balcony, headed in the direction of the sound, and another followed. The falling snow enveloped their shadows soon enough, leaving me with one guard. I could handle one guard.

I climbed over the railing, as quiet as possible, and then with a soft jump, I reached out and grabbed hold of one of the decorative gargoyles protruding from the wall while my feet found purchase on a cornerstone. I peered down at my solo guard, Crow Hater. His attention was still fixed in the direction of the other two, though there was no seeing them in this snow. Very carefully, I found another handhold in a rock, and then scaled the wall, maneuvering down the decorative stonework and masonry, until I was about four feet from the ground. A gust of wind ripped through and I jumped, landing, the thud of my boots lost in the howling wind. Crow Hater still had his back to me. I crept forward and at the last second I rose, and I was about to bring my palms down on the sides of his neck when I noticed the edge of a tattoo. Mortis worshippers? Here?

The guard sensed me behind me and started to turn. I slammed my hands down and his eyes went wide right before he collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

I cursed at myself. Every second counted, and that distraction could've ruined everything. Without wasting another moment, I grabbed him by his collar and dragged him back behind a tree, which was like dragging a sack of bricks. He was well over six feet tall and built like a boulder. Did people take steroids on Gaia? I didn't know, but he fit the bill. I picked two blades off his baldric, shoved them in my belt, and then I did a quick glance about me before hurrying off in the direction opposite the other two men.

Sticking close to the wall, I navigated through the shadows and shrubbery while letting my senses roam so I could keep tabs on the other guards. I knew the stables were at the back of the Pontefract estate, thanks to my evening ride with Danton. The only problem was the open land between the back wall of the estate and the doors to the stables. I thought about trying to use the wind to conceal me, as I'd done in Karth, but I was still tired from getting through the barrier on my balcony and dragging Crow Hater, the pile of bricks, to his current hiding place. The falling snow was thick enough now, so it should be able to do the job for me. I made another quick glance about the property, and then I sprinted.

My breath was too loud and the snow couldn't completely muffle the tread of my boots. I sprinted until I ran around to the back of the stables and out of immediate view, then pressed myself against the wall to catch my breath. It was dark back here, and quiet, and when I peered around the corner, it didn't look as if anyone had seen or followed me. So far, so good.

There was a small door at the rear wall of the stables, as well as a few windows, though their shutters were closed. I tugged on one of the shutters, but it was locked from the inside. I glanced behind me again to make sure no one had followed me, then crept along to the door. A solid chain had been threaded through the door handle and an iron ring bolted into the wall, and then looped back in on itself and fastened with a padlock. If only I had a pin, or something, I could pick the lock. I looked over myself, the ground, searching for anything I might be able to use…ah!

I yanked two pins from my hair, and a few coils of hair tumbled free. I had seriously underestimated the usefulness of these things. I bent the end of each pin to what I thought were the right angles, then inserted one hairpin in the lock and applied pressure while using the second to pick. One by one, I worked through the pins inside. The hairpin I used to pick snapped about halfway through, and I grabbed another hairpin from my head, unleashing another thick coil of hair. I bent the end of this hairpin and continued picking until I'd set all the pins in the padlock to their unlocked positions. I was no expert lock picker by any means, but Alex had shown me the basics years ago. He'd spent an entire afternoon showing me how, and I'd been so fascinated by learning the skill that I hadn't paid much attention to the question of how he'd learned to do it in the first place. I smiled at the memory and my understanding of him now, and I rotated my tension wrench pin and unlocked the padlock.

I shoved my gaudy lock picks into my cloak pocket, removed the padlock and chain, and pulled the door open a crack. The stables were dark inside, and the horses stood quietly in their stables, a few of them snorting. Not even the sconce near the front door burned, which surprised me. From that short trip with Danton, I knew the groomsman always left a light on for the horses because he'd said some were afraid of the dark. Normally, such a proclamation would make me roll my eyes, but this was Gaia and these were Gaian horses, and by definition that meant they had very human characteristics. They very well could be afraid of the dark.