Malediction (Scars of the Sundering Book 1) (42 page)

"What
are they doing?"

Pancras
glanced down at the drak twins. "They're coming with me."

Lady Milena
shook her head. "I do not see how their presence will improve the
situation."

Delilah
poked her in the stomach. The armor Lady Milena wore under her tabard didn't
budge. "Hey, my brother and I stick with Pancras, no matter what. It's
Kale's fault we're even in this mess."

"Hey!"

It wasn't
strictly true, but Delilah wasn't about to be left behind if she had any say in
the matter.

"If
things get out of hand and there is violence, I cannot protect them if they get
involved."

Pancras
knelt down and took the drak twins by the shoulders. "Like I said, let me
do the talking. I want you there for support, but you are not to interfere in
anything, no matter how bad things seem. Everything is taken care of. We have a
plan. Lady Milena, the princess, and I will handle everything."

Delilah
grunted and smacked Pancras's hand away. "We know how to behave
ourselves." She wasn't about to make a promise to stand by and do nothing
if these humans decided they wanted Pancras's head.

Lady Milena
threw up her hands. "Fine. Act only out of self-defense, or I can make no
guarantees. We need to leave. Now."

* * *

Pancras
followed Milena into the throne room. He motioned for Kale and Delilah to
follow behind him, but not too closely. He knew this confrontation would not be
pleasant, and he hoped the presence of the draks would help keep things from
spiraling out of control.
Assuming they don't lose control themselves.
Pancras trusted in Kale's ability to hold back his sister but not in Delilah's
ability to control her temper.

Prince
Gavril sat with one leg draped over the arm of his gilded chair. Princess
Valene slouched in the chair next to him, glancing at her husband with a
mixture of disgust and disdain. Guards leaning on spears flanked the throne
dais.

"Ah,
so, Minotaur, you have news for me?" Prince Gavril stood and approached
Pancras, his hands outstretched. "Shall we convene in my antechamber? No
need for the rest of the court to hear our business."

"That's
unnecessary, Your Highness. My news concerns Princess Valene, as well."
Pancras hoped a public confrontation would temper Prince Gavril's reaction to
bad news.

"Does
it?" Princes Gavril clenched his jaw. His left eye lid twitched as he
glared at Pancras.

Pancras
shook his head and glanced past Gavril to the princess. She sat up straight
now, watching them, her face unreadable. "I am disinclined to fulfill your
request. I find the idea of it vile and reprehensible: to commission me to
curse the princess?"

Prince
Gavril's teeth clenched, and his face turned bright crimson. "You
dare—"

Pancras
nodded and watched the princess, to see how she reacted. "I can compensate
you for your hospitality, but I will not curse her. I will not make her
barren."

"Lies!
Slander! Kill him!" Gavril snarled and backed away, looking at his guards,
then at Milena. "Lady Milena, slay this treacherous beast!"

"Gavril!"
Princess Valene stood and then cleared her throat. "Dear Husband, is this
minotaur's accusation true?"

"Lies!"
Gavril pointed at Pancras, ignoring the princess's question. "Lady Milena,
I order you to do your duty. Obey me! Kill him!"

Milena's
hand dropped to the hilt of her sword and she stepped in front of Pancras.
"No. I will not. He has done no wrong. Killing him does not serve the
realm."

"You.
Are. Relieved." Prince Gavril spoke the words through clenched teeth. He
held out his hand. "Give me your sword. You are a disgrace to the Royal
Guard."

Milena drew
her sword and held it before her. She dropped it on the ground. Prince Gavril
spun around and snatched one of the guard's spears.

"Pancras—"
Delilah stepped toward him, but Pancras silenced her with a wave of his hand.
He couldn't see Kale, but as Gavril approached him with the spear, he didn't
have time to worry about Delilah's brother.

As Prince
Gavril prepared to drive the blade into the minotaur’s gut, Pancras stepped
backward. He grabbed the rod in his belt. “
Skia veema
.”

The spear
passed through the space where Pancras no longer stood. The minotaur stepped
out from behind Gavril's throne. Princess Valene gasped as the guards near her
leveled their weapons.

Prince
Gavril spun around, his face red with fury. “Your foul tricks will not save
you!”

“It’s over,
Your Highness. There is no need to continue this.” Pancras grabbed the nearest
halberd leveled at him, pulled it out of the guard’s hands, and then smacked
the man across the belly with the haft. The guard fell back, coughing.

The
necromancer held his rod before him as he descended the dais. Prince Gavril
lunged at him once more as a blast of azure energy intercepted the guard
advancing on Pancras from his right. He heard Lady Milena shouting at Kale and
Delilah as he dodged a thrust from the Prince. The tip of the spear thudded
against the stone steps of the dais.

Pancras
kicked the haft of the spear out of his way and pointed his rod at Prince
Gavril.
I need to put a stop to this before it goes too far.
“
Angigma
tou tafou!”

A sickly
green ray shot from Pancras’s focus, striking Prince Gavril and enveloping the
monarch in a layer of frost. The color drained from his face, and he gritted
his teeth as he fought to move. Wispy, decaying hands grasped at his legs,
slowing his approach.

The minotaur
took hold of the haft of the Prince’s spear and held it tight as he circled the
prince. “Your plans are laid bare. Stop this madness!”

“Gavril!”
Princess Valene’s voice echoed in the throne room. “Guards! Stand down!”

Pancras’s
knee exploded with pain as a halberd slashed into it from behind. He cried out
and fell to one knee. The Prince wrenched his spear away from the minotaur’s
grasp.

Lady Milena
struggled with Delilah, wrestling with her staff to keep the drak sorceress
from unleashing her fury upon the guards. He heard a human voice cry out as
Kale bounded past him, twin daggers flashing in the light.

Prince
Gavril threw his spear toward Pancras.

“
Aspida
tou ravematos!
” The shield of energy appeared in front of Pancras as the
spear reached his chest, arresting its momentum and snapping it in half.

* * *

Delilah
leveled her staff, blue wisps swirling around her body as she prepared to
unleash the full force of her magic on the humans. Milena grabbed Delilah's
staff, redirecting it toward the ceiling.

"No! I
cannot protect you if you destroy half the throne room!"

Kale slashed
at the guard who attempted to grab him. He saw a flash of emerald energy from
Pancras, and the Prince now weaponless scrambled backward, away from the
minotaur. "Stop this! I command you!" Princess Valene's voice again
echoed throughout the throne room. With unwavering purpose, she stepped down
off the dais toward her husband. Milena held Delilah at bay as the princess
directed the guards to resume their posts near the thrones.

“You have
betrayed me!” The Prince pointed a shaking finger at his wife. “This is a coup!
You conspired with these beasts to overthrow me!”

Princess
Valene slapped her husband, snapping his head back. He clutched at his cheek as
he fell to his knees.

“Silence! I
know about Baroness Moravec. Think of this as a transition of power.”

Kale watched
as the Prince opened and closed his mouth in silent protest. Princess Valene
held the badge of office he wore around his neck as an amulet. She looked at it
as she rubbed her thumb over its design.

“It is you
who has disgraced your office. All your schemes, your conniving… you wanted
this marriage, Gavril. You and my father.” She yanked it from his neck,
snapping the chain.

“Arrest
him.” Princess Valene ascended her throne. After taking her seat, she gestured
toward Pancras, still kneeling, his hands staunching the flow of blood from his
wounded knee. “See to the minotaur's wounds, Lady Milena, and escort the draks
back to their chamber.”

Kale wiped
his daggers on his cloak and returned to his sister’s side. Delilah squirmed out
of Lady Milena’s grasp. “We’re not leaving Pancras.”

The minotaur
winced and stood, holding his hand to the back of his knee. He shuffled around
to face Princess Valene and bowed. “I can see myself out, Your Highness, with
your leave.”

“Bind your
wound, Pancras. We will discuss the ramifications of this debacle later.”

Prince
Gavril grunted as the guards locked shackles around his wrists. He lashed out
at one of them, catching the man below the chin. The other guard bashed him in
the back of the head with his cudgel. He doubled over and glared up at Pancras.

“There will
be a reckoning for this, minotaur. Make no mistake.”

Kale pulled
Pancras away before he could retort. He determined from the minotaur’s
expression that limping took all of his energy, and as the stain spread across
Pancras’s robes, that the wound was not as minor as his friend let on.

They
returned to their suite, ignoring the murmurs and furtive glances from the
various palace servants loitering in the hallways and courtiers who came to see
what the commotion was about. Kale took heart from Pancras’s apparent lack of
concern for the princess, and although he was confused about who were truly
their allies in all this, he felt confident Pancras knew.

“I’ll send
for a healer.” Lady Milena helped Pancras through the doors into their suite
and into one of the armchairs in front of the hearth. Edric and Kali looked up
from their game.

“Can’t you
go to a meeting without getting cut up?” Edric snorted and threw his dice.

Kali hopped
down from her chair and ran over to Kale. “What happened? Are you all right?”

Kale nodded
and hugged her. “Fine, I’m fine. Pancras was injured, and the prince was
arrested.”

Delilah
pushed past them and climbed into the chair next to Pancras. “I’m fine, too,
thanks.”

“I’ll post a
guard for your safety. Permit no one entry until I return.” Lady Milena closed
the doors behind her.

Kale ran
over and locked them. He looked at his sister and Pancras. “What now?”

* * *

Pancras
pulled up his robes to inspect his wound. It burned like fire and oozed dark
blood. The gash on the back of his leg missed his knee by no more than a
finger-width. A bit lower and the halberd might have sheared off his lower leg.
He clasped his hand over the wound.

“Kale,
I have strips of cloth in my room. In a box on the table, I think. Could you
bring them here?” Pancras needed time to think without Kale pestering him for
their next move. He expected Prince Gavril to react poorly, but not violently.

“What
happened?” Kali rested her hand on the arm of Delilah’s chair.

“Are
you in or out, Kali?” Edric rattled the dice for emphasis.

“Dolios
curse your dice, Edric!”

Pancras
cocked his eyebrow and glanced over his shoulder at the dwarf. Edric shrugged
and poured himself more ale. The minotaur chuckled.
Some things never
change.
“The prince reacted… poorly when confronted with his own treachery.
He attacked us.”

Kale
returned with Pancras’s bandages. “They’re not going to throw us in jail again,
are they?”

“I
don’t trust these humans, Pancras. We need to leave.” Delilah took the bandages
from her brother and hopped down to bind the minotaur’s leg. “Now.”

Pancras
shook his head. “We should wait until we hear from the princess. We don’t need
a mob of Gavril supporters hounding our steps.”

Delilah
mumbled something under her breath, which Pancras thought might be a threat to
destroy the entire city. He was certain she couldn’t actually do that but put a
hand on her shoulder to calm her.

“It
will be all right, Delilah. We must trust the princess.”

Kali
cleared her throat. “He has a point. Princess Valene has been sympathetic
toward non-humans in the city in the past. If she’s helping you, she’s a damn
sight more trustworthy than the prince.”

“Nobody
asked you, Kali.”

Kali
huffed and stood. Kale led her away. Pancras rubbed his forehead as Delilah
bandaged his leg. A log popped and crackled in the fire. He stared at the
dancing flames, losing himself for a moment until Delilah tightened the
bandage, sending a wave of pain shooting through his thigh.

“Sorry.”

“Delilah
may be right.” Pancras winced as he stood. He patted Delilah on the shoulder
and offered the drak a smile of thanks. Hobbling toward the tapestry depicting
the Battle of Badon Hill, his thoughts turned to the shadow demon.