Heirs of the Enemy (26 page)

“Alright,” agreed Morro, “but you didn’t need me to make that decision. Why am I here?”

“You hold the ability for me to get in to see Emperor Jaar,” stated Clint. “Only he can tell me where his family is supposed to be.”

“I do,” frowned the elven thief. “Are you asking me what I think you are?”

Clint nodded. “I understand that you are hesitant to let the hourglass out of your hands, but it is the only way I can think of to get past the guards that Kyrga has surrounding the emperor.”

Morro said nothing. He stared at the floor, and Clint knew that he was asking a great deal of his friend.

“I will be gone less than two hours,” Clint pleaded. “You can wait right here while I am gone. Please, Morro. I think we need to solve this puzzle if there is any chance that it might forestall the deaths of thousands.”

Morro inhaled deeply and then sighed. Slowly, he nodded in agreement.

“You do realize that when you use the hourglass, the emperor will suspect that you have magical powers,” Morro pointed out. “Is that wise in your current position?”

“I already have that part figured out,” grinned the Ranger. “He will not suspect magic.”

Morro handed over the hourglass and explained exactly how to use it. A few minutes later, General Forshire walked out of the room and returned to the Imperial Palace. He went directly to his suite and picked up a grappling hook that he had smuggled in earlier. The hook had an extremely short length of rope attached to it, so even if it was discovered, no one would think that he was using it to gain access to any of the palace windows. In fact, he could claim to have it solely for the purpose of practicing knots with it. He shoved the hook into his pack and slid out of his suite.

General Forshire moved silently through the servant corridors until he came to the emperor’s office. He peaked around the corner to see if Kyrga’s guards were still in place before triggering the hourglass. With only a moment’s hesitation, Clint boldly walked up to the door and opened it. He glanced briefly at the two frozen guards and shook his head in amazement as he entered the emperor’s office and closed the door. The office was dark and Clint moved slowly across the room. He did not want to accidentally disturb anything in the room that might indicate to the emperor that someone had visited while he slept.

Clint passed through the sitting room of the emperor’s suite and entered the sleeping chamber, closing the door behind him. He moved quickly to the balcony door and opened it before stepping through. He walked to the railing and stared downward. Far below were two patrols, one heading in each direction. Although the soldiers were not moving because of the hourglass, Clint shuddered slightly when he saw them. He quickly retrieved the hook from his pack and carefully placed it on the railing of the balcony as if it had been thrown from below. He arranged the short stub of rope so it hung down on the outside of the railing. Only when everything looked perfect, did he turn and reenter the emperor’s sleeping quarters. He left the door to the balcony wide open and moved to the side of the emperor’s bed to wait for the sands to run down. Suddenly, the emperor’s snore sounded loudly in the room. Clint started when he heard it. He sighed and chided himself for being nervous. He reached down and gently shook the emperor awake. The emperor rolled over and opened his eyes. He immediately sat up in bed with a look of fear in his eyes.

“And I thought I was a good judge of character,” scowled the emperor. “Tell me what you want then, dog of Kyrga.”

For a moment, Clint was confused by his reception, but he quickly understood the emperor’s confusion. “Kyrga does not know that I am here,” he said softly. “I came to discuss your note.”

The emperor’s eyes widened with hope, but confusion was still evident on his face. “How did you get in without alerting Kyrga’s guards?”

Clint merely smiled and moved to one side. The emperor’s attention was drawn to the open balcony door and he saw the shine of metal draped over the rail of the balcony.

“That is impossible,” balked the emperor. “There are always two patrols down there, and the climb alone would break most men. You can’t be serious?”

“Emperor,” Clint replied in a measured tone to gain control of the situation, “I have little time if I am to visit you and escape unnoticed. Your note?”

Emperor Jaar nodded and tore his eyes away from the balcony. “I did not know who else I could trust. You must tell no one about the note. Should Kyrga find out, I will never get another chance to communicate with anyone.”

“Understood,” agreed Clint. “There are two things I need to know. Where is your family supposed to be, and why aren’t you dead?”

Emperor Jaar emitted a weak laugh and shook his head. “Direct to the point, Forshire. I am not sure why I am still alive. I have been pondering that question every day. What I can tell you is that Kyrga is not the man behind all of this. He is not capable of pulling it off. I can also tell you that you were correct about the priest. He stole secrets from my mind. I should have listened to you, but your talk of demonkin sounded like a tale to frighten children. I am sorry.”

The emperor turned and walked to a small bookshelf in the corner of the room. There were only a few volumes on the shelf as most of his books were in his office. Without the need for light, the emperor reached up to the shelf and took down a book. He opened the book and extracted a piece of paper and then put the book back on the shelf. He walked to Clint and handed him the paper.

“This will show you how to get to my secret estate. While it is possible they are still holding my family on the estate, it is unlikely. I suspect you will merely find one-hundred bodies, but count them. If the number is off, there might be survivors who can give you information.”

Clint nodded. “Do you have any idea who is behind all of this and what they are after?”

“It could be a number of people,” sighed the emperor. “The key to taking control is the emperor’s family, and there is no shortage of ambitious nobles in Barouk. Get my family back, Forshire. I will give you anything you want.”

“That will be hard,” frowned Clint. “My meager army is still up near Olansk. I only have a single squad of men with me. Is there anyone at all that I can trust in the palace?”

“No,” the emperor replied strongly, “and do not tell your men where they are going. Trust no one.”

“I will do what I can,” vowed Clint. “It is highly unlikely that I will be able to enter your suite when I return. How can I tell you if I do find your family?”

“Just find them and put them someplace safe,” urged the emperor. “When that is accomplished, fight your way in here to free me. I will handle the rest.”

“Finding them and rescuing them may be two different things,” cautioned Clint. “I will start off with the search. If I find them, I will need to send for my army to rescue them.”

“Be swift, General.”

“I will,” sighed Clint as he moved towards the balcony door. “Get back in bed so you will appear asleep if I am caught leaving.”

Clint walked onto the balcony and turned to close the balcony door. When Jaar got into bed and took his eyes off Clint, the Ranger triggered the hourglass. He retrieved his hook and stowed it before retracing his steps to his suite.

The mood in the Council Chamber in the Royal Palace of Tagaret was grim. King Arik, Queen Tanya, General Gregor, and Prince Oscar sat listening to Colonel David Jaynes give his report.

“Every single building was searched thoroughly. If there was a mage on one of the rooftops, and I have no doubt that there was, he must have used some magical means of escape.”

“Or she,” frowned the queen. “Was the woman that the fairies lost in Danver Shores ever found?”

“No,” answered Prince Oscar. “We are short on fairies because most of them are off shadowing the colonels from Zara. Do you want me to bring them in to search for the woman?”

“No,” sighed the queen. “If the woman is a demonkin, she might have an ability to evade the fairies, and we need to know every step those colonels make. Using the fairies to find her will have to wait.”

“I do not know how to apologize for my failure,” Colonel Jaynes said, his unsteady voice revealing the stress he was under. “All I can do is offer my resignation. I am truly sorry.”

King Arik waved his hand dismissively and shook his head. “The fault is not yours, David. It is mine. I should have given you time to prepare properly instead of demanding to go immediately like some impetuous child. I can’t imagine how Niki is surviving this. Fredrik and she were devoted to each other more than any couple I’ve known. The loss must be devastating for her. How is she coping?”

“I took her to her room and put her asleep,” the queen said softly. “She couldn’t stop crying, and I didn’t know what else to do.”

“Did she say anything at all?” asked the king. “Did she see the assassin?”

“She did not see the assassin,” answered Queen Tanya. “She said that Fredrik’s shield glowed for an instant. Fredrik said something about someone pricking his shield and then they were both thrown from the carriage. If what she said is accurate, the assassin is very clever indeed.”

“Why do you say that?” asked Prince Oscar.

“If the assassin had merely attacked,” explained the queen, “Fredrik’s shields would have foiled the attack, and the Red Swords would have been alerted to trouble. Instead, she merely poked the shields with a tiny projectile. This accomplished two things. It allowed her to see what the shields protected, and who was holding them. It also had the benefit of only alerting Fredrik, and even he was probably not aware of the impending attack. Once the limits of the shields were known, all she had to do was cast a spell outside the limits that would affect the carriage. In this case it was under the shields and into the street below.”

“And once Fredrik fell, we were left with no shields,” remarked the king.

“Exactly.” The queen nodded. “That tells me two things about our opponent. She is extremely powerful, and she is very clever.”

“You sound as if you are certain that the assassin is female,” commented General Gregor.

“I am not sure of anything,” replied Queen Tanya. “I guess my form of speech is a subconscious suspicion that the missing woman is a demonkin and was responsible for the attack, but I have no valid reason for thinking so. What I do know is that we are not yet through with the threat of demonkin. They will strike again when we least expect it, so we had better be prepared at all times.”

“What about the funeral for Fredrik?” asked Prince Oscar. “There is a lot going on right now, especially the impending visit from the Zaran colonels. Will the funeral be public or private?”

The room fell silent for a moment as the king opened his mouth to speak, but Arik seemed to be having trouble finding the words. When he finally did speak, his voice was soft and filled with sorrow.

“Fredrik has been with us since the very beginning. I can’t imagine a life without him around. He has always been here.”

The king choked up as he dwelled on the past. He remembered the day Tedi and he had met Fredrik, Niki, and Tanya. They were all young and naïve at the time and had no idea of what was waiting for them beyond the small villages of Sordoa. He smiled slightly as he remembered Fredrik playing the part of the Lord of the Manor, first in Melbin when they had to rescue Niki, and again later when he became a councilor in Tagaret during the Contest of Power. The king’s face grew more grim as he remembered the three times that Fredrik had nearly died. The sorcerer’s hair had been turned shock-white during the Battle of Tagaret when a magical lightning bolt had hit him. Everyone thought he was dead, but Zalaharic managed to save him.

Fredrik almost died again during the attack on Sarac’s castle on Mount Kalas. Sarac had blasted Fredrik off the mountain, but a dragon had plucked his falling body out of the air, thinking it would make a tasty treat. The most recent brush with death had been at the Temple of Balmak in Trekum during the raid to slay K’san. Fredrik had purposely dropped his own shield to save Arik’s life. Once again Zalaharic brought him back from the brink of death, but not this time. This time Fredrik was gone forever.

“Arik?” Queen Tanya interrupted softly.

“I am sorry,” the king replied as he wiped a tear that was forming in his eye. “Fredrik is, was a Knight of Alcea and the Royal Sorcerer. He shall be accorded a funeral deserving of his high status. All of Alcea will mourn his passing.”

“Are you sure that is wise?” cautioned Prince Oscar. “The Zaran colonels will surely hear of such a public display, and the demonkin are still roaming about. If you put on such a public event, all of the Knights of Alcea will be obligated to attend. That would be too much of a temptation for our enemies to resist.”

“I do not think Niki would hold up well, either,” added the queen. “It will be hard enough on her to get through a private funeral. Drawing out the funeral for a public mourning might just be too much for her to handle.”

Suddenly, shouts sounded in the corridors outside the Council Chamber. Everyone turned towards the door expecting something to happen. Nothing did.

“See what that is about, Colonel,” General Gregor said to David Jaynes.

The Commander of the Red Swords nodded and exited the room. He returned moments later.

“The palace is in turmoil,” reported the colonel. “It started in the stables with the horses trying to get free, but it quickly spread to other creatures. All of the birds fled the Royal Gardens and took to the sky. They are circling the palace and diving down at it. Snakes and spiders left their concealment and began moving about, but it was the rats that caused the shouting. Thousands of them are swarming through the corridors.”

“Niki!” the queen said urgently as she leaped to her feet and raced out the door.

The king stared blankly at her empty seat for a moment until he understood the queen’s concern. He also rose and headed for Niki’s chambers. The others followed. When they arrived at Niki’s chamber, they found the queen staring into the room. Niki was asleep in her bed, but the entire room was packed with squirming rats. They covered the entire floor and bed, and dozens of them were on top of the redhead’s body. The king drew his sword and tried to make his way into the room, but the queen held up her hand to stop him.