SpellBreaker: First Ordinance, Book 4 (15 page)

"To you or someone else?" He pulled me onto his lap and wrapped me in the blanket from the foot of our bed.

"I don't know that either." I settled my forehead against his neck and shoulder while he ran a soothing hand down my back and feathers.

"Queen Lissa will be with you tomorrow, sweetheart," he whispered before planting a kiss on my hair. "She is quite powerful, although not everyone knows it."

"I know it." I settled into a more comfortable position in his arms.

"Father likes Zaria. Very much," he whispered against my hair. "If you wish to discuss her absence, he will be more than willing to listen."

"Because we both miss her?" I guessed.

"I think so."

"I wish she were here to go with us tomorrow," I said. "She'd know what to do."

I couldn't say why I'd said what I did; I merely felt it, somehow.

"She is elsewhere and needed there," Berel rumbled softly. His heartbeat soothed me and soon I fell asleep.

* * *

Karathia—Past

Zaria

"Dinner was exceptional. Mother will never say it, but she ate with good appetite." Wellend appeared in the kitchen, scaring Bekzi and me half to death by his unexpected arrival.

"Thank you, Prince Wellend." Bekzi and I bowed our heads to the current Crown Prince of Karathia.

"If Mother ever dismisses you for any reason, take this to my Father, the King," he handed Bekzi a small, gold token. "He will hire you for the palace kitchen with no question."

With that, Wellend disappeared, folding space to who knew where. Bekzi turned to me, then.
This—your father. Should have been
.
You look like. Dark hair, blue eyes. Should have been
.

My eyes widened in surprise. Had Bekzi recalled my past?

"I know some things always," he hmmphed and turned to inspect the cleaning job the kitchen assistants had performed earlier.

I love you
, I whispered into his mind.

I love you
, he replied and turned to me.
Gerrett—he not remember. He know he love you anyway
.

That's more than some people
. My shoulders sagged.

Not let that upset you. All will come
.
Time for bed
.

Yeah. We have an early morning and no days off in sight
, I agreed. Waving an arm, I turned off the spelled lights in the kitchen.

* * *

Ilya

Zaria?

Ilya?
Her reply sounded sleepy
.

Never mind. Sleep, my love. Tomorrow is another day
.

* * *

Jaledis

Quin

I hadn't ridden in ground transportation in moon-turns. The hovervan lurched along the narrow, winding path toward the research facility, while the occasional tree reached out to slap the windshield of our vehicle as it passed.

At times, the limbs would scrape and screech down the sides of the van, causing me to jump.

It's just the trees, nothing to worry about
, Lissa turned to me with a smile.

We sat directly behind our driver—Caylon Black in disguise. Behind us were boxes piled almost to the roof of the van, all filled with food and other necessities ordered by Ruther Kend and his staff.

That staff probably included either Deris or Daris Arden and an unknown Sirenali.

"Two more clicks," Caylon announced as another tree limb whacked the windscreen in front of his face. Ruther Kend had made it more than difficult for anyone to go in or out of the property located on the steep side of a mountain.

"You can see it now," Lissa pointed through the windshield.

The facility, painted white and green, rose above the trees on a higher stretch of the mountain. To me, it looked almost like a castle, complete with turrets. Perhaps Kend fancied himself some sort of king. If he had in the past, it no longer mattered. He was a hostage to evil, now.

We passed our first visible security camera, which followed our passage along the road. Somebody watched us from the facility; had probably watched us all along, but now we knew it for sure.

Two minutes
, Caylon informed us in mindspeech. Apparently, he'd detected voice receptors as well as camera-operated weaponry. We had to look and sound just like a delivery crew or we'd be targeted. If the Arden twins had become involved with the weaponry, they'd kill anything they found suspicious.

We're fine
, Lissa reassured me. The uneasiness in my belly increased.

* * *

Karathia—Past

Zaria

Two new servants walked into the kitchen for the Queen's breakfast tray early the following morning. Two young men; Norn and Gale. Gale was handsome and tall, with blond hair. Norn was shorter, not as handsome and had close-cropped dark hair. A shiver went through me as I studied them.

No, they weren't bad. They were good.

They were also employed by the Karathian King—as spies.

Warlend was spying on his wife and her household, including one of his sons, who stayed there most of the time.

I wasn't about to report them; they had a job to do. And, if I'd been Warlend, I'd have spied on Helsa, too.

I wondered if Helsa would ever know that it was due to the fact that Wellend had reported Helsa's treatment of her servants to his father, because he certainly had.

"Set the currant jam at her right hand, about three-quarters up the side of her plate," I instructed as Bekzi piled items on the tray to be taken to the Queen's suite. "Place the small spoon next to the jar and remove the lid. Make sure her toast is crisp when it arrives; if it isn't, send mindspeech and I'll have more brought."

"Of course," Norn bobbed his head.

I placed a heating spell on the eggs, small sausages and strips of bacon on the covered plate before Norn and Gale left the room. I sincerely hoped they knew how to serve royalty. I didn't want to see them mistreated and tossed out like garbage after only one meal.

Those are the King's spies
, I informed Bekzi as they rushed out the door with the tray.
He's looking into Helsa's mistreatment of his subjects—at Wellend's request
.

Plot thickens
, Bekzi wiped off the prep table behind the stove.

It sure does
, I agreed.

* * *

Jaledis

Quin

One minute
, Caylon informed us. I felt so ill by that time, I thought I might be sick. Caylon pulled to a stop in front of two employees, who wore what looked to be servant's uniforms for Kend Industries.

Caylon stepped out of the van to greet the two servants.

The Orb blinded Lissa and me when it appeared inside the van. I remember shrieking as it seared the wings from my back and flung me away from Jaledis.

Chapter 9

Jaledis

Lissa

Caylon understood what I'd done to keep everything from blowing up around us. I'd been forced to hold back; The Orb would have killed Quin if I hadn't. Instead, the foul thing had sent its threats against Quin if I failed to cooperate. Then, I was commanded by the Orb to step back while it muted her screams and seared the wings from her back.

I wept when I sent her black wings back to the compound before Kend's employees signaled others to come forward and unload the van.

We'd needed Quin's talent to identify those who'd come from Kend's facility, in order to transfer information as to what was going on inside it. The Orb had appeared and crippled her while I watched in helpless horror.

Yes, I was angry and intended to become mist and go through the facility myself, but that idea was short-lived. For whatever reason, those inside the facility got spooked. Kend Industry employees disappeared around us and the mountain facility behind them imploded with an ear-deafening roar.

I turned to mist, then, just to get Caylon and myself away from the destruction. The machine Kend built for the Arden twins had likely been ordered to destroy the facility. Whether it was planned or set in motion by our appearance, I didn't know.

A horrifying and terribly sad spectacle met us when Caylon and I arrived at the compound. Bel Erland couldn't move. Berel wept. Terrett wore the grimmest of expressions as he cradled Quin's severed wings in his arms.

Somehow, their link to Quin had been broken by the Orb. Whatever the Orb was, it had acted in a sentient manner to solve what it saw as a problem. It recognized me as a threat, so it threatened Quin in return. Because of her continued link to the Orb, I'd understood the threat was real.

As for removing Quin's wings, I only had one guess as to why it was done. Wherever the Orb had sent her, she had to appear humanoid. Therefore, her wings were gone.

I was more than furious, and I'd already sent mindspeech to Bree, along with mental images of what had happened.

"What in the most holy of bloody fucking hells and purgatories has happened?" Kaldill appeared, his anger barely held in check.

"The Orb," I said flatly. "It took our girl and cut her wings."

* * *

Quin

My back was still on fire as I was dumped outside a door. Wherever I was, wealth was involved. The rug I'd landed on was hand-woven and thick.

"Who's there?" Someone opened the door and found me attempting to lift myself off the rug. I blinked up at him.

His name was Dorgus, and he was Vardil Cayetes' trusted servant. He was also acting in Cayetes' stead at the Arden twins' orders. They'd disguised him to look like Vardil's current incarnation, but I could see easily through their spells.

You will serve him and his current masters until I say otherwise
, the Orb whispered in my mind. I knew better than to argue; the Orb had stripped the wings from my back without mercy and threatened to kill me so Lissa wouldn't attempt to intervene. Therefore, I was here so I could serve its calculated whims once more.

"I suppose I can't complain; at least they sent someone," Dorgus muttered above me. "Get in here. I need help with Master Vardil."

* * *

I didn't recognize my face in Vardil Cayetes' mirror. My dark hair had been close-cropped—at least it wasn't painful, like the removal of my wings. My features were irregular at best; it was the only way I could describe them.

I'd decided to be mute again; perhaps it was for the best that I never speak to anyone here. I'd learned in my past that they'd consider me incapable of carrying tales.

Vardil Cayetes' eyes barely focused on me as Dorgus and I removed him from his bath. Even with a healthy body, it looked as if his mind were wasting away.

Yes, I could probably heal him.

I wasn't going to, unless there were no other choice.

"Dinner will be brought," Dorgus waved a hand as he dressed Cayetes. "Then we'll put him to bed and you can amuse yourself in your room until the morning. His breakfast is at six bells; be up and ready by that time to help."

I could see in Dorgus what most people had likely never guessed—he was in love with Cayetes the criminal and would be loyal to him until the end.

Sadly, Vardil had only ever been partial to women, even in his current state. And, if he ever had a flash of true consciousness in my presence, I would know it. I had my own plans if that happened, and I was willing to accept the consequences when I acted.

* * *

Zaria

Milar, the Queen's chamberlain, appeared in the kitchen, clearing his throat while Bekzi and I prepared breakfast on our second morning. "Prince Wallend and Princess Valia are returning tomorrow. In two days, Princesses Palia and Titia will return from the King's Palace. In four days, the King and his second son, Wylend, will visit to celebrate the King's birthday. The Queen wishes to have special dishes prepared in honor of the King's visit."

Milar let out a breath, as if he'd saved it for the end of his announcement. I noticed that he'd made no mention of Wylend's mother, Queen Terez. Obviously, she wouldn't be visiting Helsa.

I didn't blame her.

"We will make sure the birthday meal is fit enough for a monarch," I dipped my head. "You may taste beforehand, if you wish."

"I do," he said. "And I will be quite judgmental if it is not to my liking."

"You like," Bekzi frowned. "We make best. You see."

"Is he slow?" Milar turned to me.

"Bekzi is swifter than you can ever imagine, Lord Chamberlain," I said. "He understands perfectly, and merely thinks many of the words the rest of us use are superfluous."

"Strange," Milar turned away from us. "One who uses less than plain speech, one who could speak at court, and both in the Queen's kitchen." He folded away.

"Get used to it," I muttered to the space Milar had occupied.

"Agree," Bekzi growled.

We see King before he die
, Bekzi sent.

Yeah
, my shoulders drooped. Warlend would have been my grandfather. What if he were someone I could love? Li'Neruh Rath had already said I couldn't interfere with the coup.

How could I deal with that? Knowing that someone I cared for would—
wait.

I'd already dealt with it before.

This time, I had to use better sense.

* * *

Vardil's Compound

Quin

"They're returning," Dorgus whispered as he and I settled a limp Vardil on an exercise machine and strapped him in. The machine would work his limbs while his body remained seated in a chair designed to fit his height and weight.

"I asked for a robotic walker, so he could carry himself about, but they wouldn't allow it," Dorgus grumbled. "Yet there they are, with the man who could enable my master to walk and use his hands, and they won't do anything."

I blinked, knowing he'd spoken of Ruther Kend. I wanted to point out that Ruther was busy making death machines for the Arden twins so his family might survive their kidnapping. I merely shook my head in feigned sympathy at Dorgus' words.