Kingdom's Reign (16 page)

“Ah … Ben is paranoid, Cedric,” he said with a laugh. “All is well in the north. There is an occasional ruckus with the youngsters now and then, but nothing to be alarmed about.”

“How about the other city leaders—any problems there?” Talea asked.

“Jaret and Treven have
always
been a problem, but it is nothing out of the ordinary,” he said a little more seriously. “Listen, if anything strange is going on, I will certainly let you know. Fair enough?”

“Fair enough,” I responded.

That night my sleep was fitful. I was awakened in my bedchamber by Talea.

“Wake up, Cedric!”

“What is it?” It did not take me long to become alert, for my sleep had not been deep. She lit a candle as I sat up in bed. I noticed that she was fully dressed and ready for the day … including her sword.

She sat on the bed next to me. “Did you notice Delton at supper tonight?”

“Yes, but he …”

“I watched, and he left the manor just a short time ago,” she said, looking concerned.

“In the middle of the night?” I asked.

“Yes, in the middle of the night. I think something serious is stirring within him,” she said, visibly alarmed.

“Listen, Talea, you missed normal adolescence. I knew of many boys who did the same thing. It was never for any good, you can be assured, but I can only remember one time when they tried to overthrow the kingdom.” I said, teasing her.

She looked at me again.

“You never know when I'm teasing you, do you?” I asked, amazed. “You are so discerning … How is it that you cannot read me?”

Her shoulders drooped slightly, and she looked away.

“Are there others you cannot read?” I asked.

“You are the only one.” Then she returned to the subject. “Gunther suspects something, but he doesn't know how to describe it, so he denies it. Lady Raleb adores Gunther, dotes
on Ava, and wants to redecorate their manor. She has given up on Delton. Ava blushes when you talk to her because she thinks you're handsome. Delton is rebelling against his parents and …”

“And what?” I pressed.

“… and he is involved in something very dark—adolescence or no adolescence.” She stood and walked to the open window of my chamber. Then she turned and faced me.

“And I can't read you because—”

Talea's words were cut short by a brief whoosh of air. Her eyes opened wide with a look of horror, and then she fell to her knees. I burst out of bed and grabbed her. Only then did I feel the deadly arrow protruding from her back.

A REBELLION BORN

“Talea!” I screamed as she collapsed in my arms. I yelled for Gunther. My hand quickly turned red from the blood spilling down her back.

“Cedric!” she whispered and grabbed my arm.

“Gunther!” I screamed again as I gently lay Talea on her side.

“Talea … be strong. I will take care of you … be strong!” I pleaded as all of my long-held feelings for her surfaced.

Gunther burst into the room with a lamp and stood shocked for a moment as his mind adjusted to the truth of this disaster. Lady Raleb entered and screamed.

“Help me!” I exclaimed, which broke them from their paralysis.

Within minutes the manor was full of frenzied activity as we tried to tend to Talea and discover what had happened. Gunther ordered his knights to search the surrounding area. Talea was tough, but the pain must have been excruciating. I removed the
arrow, and she fell into unconsciousness. The wound was deep, and I was worried. I applied a generous amount of the Life Spice salve to her injury before bandaging it. The blood quickly soaked through.

Please don't die, Talea … please!

I was torn between staying with Talea and searching for the wretch that had done this. Suddenly it dawned on me that the arrow had been meant for me, not Talea.

Lady Raleb left the room and returned with a sickened look on her face, leading Sir Dalphry. “Gunther—Delton is gone!”

Gunther's face turned red with rage.

“Where would he go?” I asked sternly.

“I don't know, Cedric, but I can't believe he would have anything to do with this!”

“What about his friends. Would they know?” I asked.

“Possibly. Sir Dalphry, bring the boy Carlyle here immediately,” Gunther ordered.

“Yes, sir.”

I continued to apply bandages to Talea's wound until the blood quit soaking through. She moaned and looked pale.

There was more activity in the foyer of the manor. Gunther went to see to it. I briefly left Talea under the care of Lady Raleb so I could hear the end of Gunther's conversation with one of the knights.

“… I don't know how he escaped, but two of the guards are dead!” the knight exclaimed.

I joined them, and Gunther looked angry and embarrassed. “What has happened?” I asked.

“Our prisoner has escaped,” reported the knight.

“Prisoner?” I was becoming even more agitated.

Gunther tried to explain. “We arrested a large fellow a few days ago when he was caught stealing from a shop in the city.” Gunther's tone was laced with excuse.

“Why didn't you tell me, Sir Gunther?” I asked.

“This fellow has frequented our city many times and never gave us any trouble until now,” he explained. “We were going to transport him to Chessington during the next trip, but …”

“What did he look like?” I asked

“Big fellow—he seemed harmless enough, although he had a nasty scar across his left cheek. He was a vagrant. He begged for food usually.” Gunther stopped. “This is the first day in nine years that we've had any trouble like this, Cedric. Who would have known?”

I contemplated what I'd heard and was interrupted by the entrance of a young lad and his father. The boy was visibly shaken, almost petrified with fear. Gunther appeared to be feeling the crush of circumstance gone awry.

“Where is Delton, Carlyle?” Gunther asked.

“He … he … is dead.” The boy broke down. His words were almost inaudible, but there was no mistake about it.

“What?” Gunther asked, obviously not wanting to believe what he'd just heard. “How?”

The lad was too disturbed to respond quickly enough for Gunther, so he grabbed the boy and shook him. “What happened?”

I pulled Gunther away and sat the boy down on a bench.

“What happened, Carlyle?” I asked as calmly as possible. The boy took a deep breath and exhaled.

“Delton wanted to meet me tonight. He told me he had something important to show me. He said something about Sutak being the ‘Keeper of the Map' and that he had to set him free.” The boy paused for another breath.

I looked at Gunther. “Sutak?” I asked. Gunther bit his lip and turned away.

“Sutak was the name of the prisoner,” replied the knight who had earlier reported him missing.

The boy continued. “Delton stole your key to the prison, Sir Gunther. I was supposed to meet him in an alley by the stables, but when I got there …”

“What? What did you find?” I asked.

“There were six … maybe seven huge men, and Delton was with them. I hid between two buildings because I was scared. They would have killed me too!” he blurted, and tears streamed down his face.

“Delton said that Mr. Jaret would help him.” The boy's story was disjointed, but every passing moment painted a picture that reeked of evil.

“Take us there, Carlyle,” I said. “There is much at stake.”

I ran back to my bedchamber to check on Talea and did not dare tell Lady Raleb the news of her son. I quickly donned my breastplate, sword, and boots. I leaned close to Talea and felt her shallow breath on my cheek. I brushed the hair from her face and kissed her forehead.

“Please take care of her for me, Lady Raleb,” I said.

“I will, Cedric.”

We followed Carlyle to the alley and found Delton on the ground beside the wall of a brick building. Gunther knelt down and cradled his son in his arms, and tears welled up in his eyes. I held the lamp close to see Delton's wound and saw not only the wound but also the weapon that had made it. Delton's hands were wrapped around the hilt of a long and wicked knife. I opened his fingers and saw what I did not want to see—the mark of the Dark Knight. This was the dagger of a Shadow Warrior. Delton took a shallow breath and coughed—he was still alive!

“Delton!” Gunther exclaimed.

“Father …” Delton's faint speech was barely perceptible.

“Who did this to you?” Gunther asked.

“He said he would make me a great leader …” The boy coughed, and blood trickled down his chin. “I freed Sutak and they … lied …”

“Why did they want Sutak?” I asked.

Delton was fading quickly. “He was … the Keeper of the Map …” His entire body spasmed in pain.

“The map to what, Delton? To what?” I asked.

He gasped for one last breath. “The … Wasteland …” His eyes rolled back in his head, and his body went limp. Gunther held Delton tightly. His large shoulders shook as he was overcome with grief.

All of us froze. We dared not believe what we'd just heard. If these men were indeed Shadow Warriors and they knew the location of the Wasteland, all of Arrethtrae was in jeopardy.

How many Shadow Warriors are loose?
I wondered.
How can this be?

Everyone was too stunned to move, and yet I knew that I must get to Chessington as fast as possible.
Do I dare leave Talea? What if she dies?
I felt plagued by more questions than answers.

I pulled the Shadow Warrior's blade from Delton for proof of this evil plot and stood up.

“I must leave, Gunther. The Prince must know as soon as possible,” I said. The urgency of the situation began to build within me, but the sound of many approaching men thwarted my intentions. I drew my sword, as did my fellow knights. Within moments we were surrounded by hundreds of ill-intentioned men.

“Jaret!” exclaimed Gunther. “It had to be you.”

The man named Jaret smiled a vengeful smile.

“Why, Jaret? Why are you doing this?” Gunther asked.

“For the same reason men all over the kingdom are doing it, Gunther.” He sneered. “Power! We are tired of following the Prince and His ridiculous Code. Histen has promised us power … something we will never have under the Prince.”

“And you really believe Histen will honor his promise?” I asked incredulously. “Look what his men have already done to Delton. You will be next!”

Jaret glanced down at Delton. “They killed him because he was the son of Gunther … We have not sworn our allegiance to the King, and we never will.”

He pointed at us. “Take them to the prison cells!” Jaret ordered.