The Chaos Crystal (30 page)

'She wasn't on the platform,' Declan stated flatly.

'How do you know that?'

'Chikita told me.'

'Chikita?'

'That feline you won in a bear-baiting when Mathu first came to Lebec,' Declan said. 'She was one of ours.'

'Ours?' he asked, thoroughly confused.

'A Scard. Working for the Cabal.'

Stellan stared at him blankly for a moment. He knew what the Cabal of the Tarot was, of course, but he had no idea they'd been watching him so closely, even long before he discovered the truth about the immortals.

Declan seemed unapologetic for sending spies into his household. 'We needed to get her into your service to keep an eye on Jaxyn.'

Stellan sighed heavily, shaking his head. 'By we, I assume you mean the Cabal, and not agents of the king?'

Declan nodded, although his attention was still on Mathu's corpse.

Stellan remembered the incident well, but he was aghast to think he been so easily manipulated. 'How could you possibly know I'd make an offer on her?'

'We didn't,' Declan said, bending over the body as he studied it intently. 'We had a plan which turned out to be unnecessary when you rather nobly — and very conveniently — made a wager for her. You don't
...
at least, you
didn't
...
usually buy slaves on the open market; you tended to stick with the ones you bred yourself. And Jaxyn was your Kennel-Master by then, remember. We had to find a way to get her into your kennels. We figured he was rather fond of fighting felines, so he'd make an offer on her if she managed to defeat the bear.'

'She could have been killed, Declan.'

'But she wasn't.' Declan poked Mathu's flaccid corpse with interest. 'Do you think the water killed him, or did one of the immortals do him in beforehand?'

'What?' Stellan asked, the sudden change of subject confusing him.

'Mathu. What do you think killed him?'

'Either the cold water or he drowned,' Stellan answered, a little bemused. 'There don't seem to be any other wounds. I still don't see how Chikita could know that Arkady didn't drown when the ice broke, Declan. Or how she'd be in a position to tell you about it. Or, for that matter, what you're even doing here in Cycrane telling
me
about it.'

'Been here most of the day,' Declan replied, straightening up. He looked around the room curiously. 'Nice trick with the oil, by the way. Do you reckon there's anything to drink around here?'

Stellan stared at the former spymaster, his mind swirling with possibilities of what his appearance meant.

'How did you even manage to find Chikita? It's chaos out there.'

'It took me hours,' Declan admitted. 'But then I knew what I was looking for. That's how I found Mathu, too.'

'You
found him?'

Declan nodded. 'I ordered the Crasii to put him in here, away from prying eyes, and have you summoned. I figured you'd want to be the first to know that he didn't make it.'

'Well
...
yes
...
of course,' Stellan said. 'But why?'

'Why what?'

'Why did you want me to know before anybody else?'

'The king is dead,' Declan Hawkes said pointing at Mathu's corpse, his expression unintentionally sinister in the candlelight. 'Long live the king.'

Stellan wasn't sure he was ready to deal with that just yet. And he was more than a little concerned — not to mention curious — about what had brought Declan to Cycrane in the first place. 'Did
you
break the ice?'

Hawkes smiled, spying a decanter on the sideboard. 'Hardly. No single immortal could have done that. Not with the Tide only two-thirds of the way up.' He pulled out the stopper, sniffed the contents warily and then lined up two shot glasses on the grubby linen runner that — Stellan assumed — was supposed to add to the 'classy' feeling of the establishment. 'Care to join me?'

'How do you know the Tide is only two-thirds of the way up?'

'I don't. Not for certain. The others seem to think it is.'

'The others? You've made contact with some of the other immortals then?'

Declan nodded and poured Stellan a drink, even though he'd not indicated he wanted one. 'Hence the reason I am here in Cycrane.' He handed Stellan a glass and raised his own. 'Bottoms up.'

Declan downed the contents of his glass in a gulp and then turned to fill it again. 'Tides, do you have any idea how hard it is to get drunk when you're immortal?'

Stellan didn't know, or particularly care. 'What happened out on the ice? Why did it break like that? Tryan said it was somebody using Tide magic'

'Some bodies,'
Declan corrected, downing the second glass. 'Cayal, Kentravyon and Elyssa, to be exact. I declined to aid them in their endeavours. Haven't been immortal long enough for tens of thousands of incidental casualties not to bother me just yet. But give me time; I'm sure I'll get there eventually.'

'Cayal is here?' Stellan asked, concerned by Declan's bitterness. He didn't know what the spymaster had seen or done since leaving Maralyce's mine all those months ago in search of Arkady, but he clearly wasn't liking what he had become.

'Oh, yes. Cayal is here.'

'Who is Kentravyon?'

'Another Tide Lord. Interesting chap. Makes Cayal seem sane and well-adjusted.'

'Have you any news of Jaxyn? Or Diala?'

'Well,' Declan said. 'I'm pretty sure they're not dead.'

'That's not what I was asking, Declan.'

The former spymaster shook his head and shrugged. 'Truth is, I haven't heard a word on their fate. And we're not likely to, either. Even Chikita doesn't know what happened to them and she was right beside them when the ice gave way.'

'They'll have felt the others breaking the ice, won't they?' Stellan asked, remembering how Tryan had

known what was happening because he could feel it on the Tide.

'And they'll know they're outnumbered,' Declan agreed. 'The consensus seems to be that Jaxyn and his minions will slink away in the confusion and either regroup for a counterattack or find some other unsuspecting country — preferably on the other side of Amyrantha — to take over. One that's less work to take and hold and doesn't have the Empress of the Five Realms and her merry band of irritating offspring living next door.'

Stellan stared at him with concern. 'You sound just like one of them, Declan.'

'Apparently I am
just one
of
them,''
he said, putting the glass down on the sideboard. 'Do you have the seal?'

'What?'

'The royal seal. Mathu's ring. Can't claim the throne of Glaeba without it, you know, and if you don't get back to the palace soon, your future majesty, it won't be yours to claim.'

'Urn
...
of course
...
yes
...
I have it. What are you talking about?'

Declan threw his hands up. 'Tides, Desean, how dense can one man be? While you've been down here earning the undying gratitude of a vast number of Crash who would gut you in a heartbeat, should an immortal command them to, Tryan is up at the palace, as we speak, doing a deal with Cayal and Kentravyon to enlist their help to secure Glaeba's throne. Something he's got a good chance of getting away with, what with their king dead and the bulk of their army floating face down in the Lower Oran. I suggest you get up there before the deal is done.'

Declan's news seemed to make little sense. 'Why would any other Tide Lords agree to help Elyssa take the throne of Glaeba?'

'She has something they want,' Declan told him. 'They're prepared to do quite a bit to aid her if it will enlist her cooperation.'

'Then the throne is lost.'

'Maybe it is. But as you're the rightful claimant at the moment, you won't know what they're planning unless you get back to the palace and invite yourself into the discussions, will you?'

'Of course,' Stellan said, as Declan's warnings finally began to sink in. 'I should go back. I think things are under control here now
...'

'Go, Desean,' Declan said. 'I'll see to things down here.'

'But you're a stranger. Nobody in Caelum is going to listen to a word you
...'
Stellan hesitated as he realised Declan had an advantage that outweighed his nationality. 'Ah
...
you're immortal now. The Crasii will do whatever you command.'

'So it seems.'

'Are you not interested in their negotiations at the palace?'

'Only in so far as I think you ought to be there to represent Glaeba's interests.' Hawkes folded his arms across his chest and stared at Stellan in a rather disconcerting way. 'You're her king now, Desean. I'm just a former employee of the crown.'

Hawkes was right. It was time to see this dangerous course of action he'd embarked upon when he brought Princess Nyah back to Caelum, through to its logical conclusion.

Stellan nodded. 'Then I'll take your advice and return to the palace.' He looked down at the body of his king; he was still numb, his mind already filling with the things he'd need to establish, concessions he would have to demand.
Tides, does it never end?
'Will you see Mathu remains
...
undisturbed?'

'If you really want me to.'

'I do.' Stellan took a deep breath and turned for the door, realising as he did so that Declan had warned him what was happening up at the palace, but had neatly avoided answering any other questions about how he came to be here.

He hesitated, his hand on the latch. 'You say you spoke to Chikita. She's not a Crash, she's a Scard. I believe they hate your kind. What was her reaction when she realised you were immortal?'

'She tried to lay me open with her claws.'

'But you healed instantly?'

'One of the perks of immortality. Along with flying carpets.'

That comment made no sense to Stellan but he wasn't sure he wanted an explanation. 'Did Chikita give you any hint as to what direction Arkady was headed when she fled the battle?'

Declan shook his head. 'She had no idea.'

'If she headed back toward Glaeba
...'
Stellan began, almost afraid to give voice to the thought.

'Then she would still have been on the ice when it broke,' Declan finished for him. 'I know that.'

'What do you think happened?'

'I think Arkady would be smart enough to head for the nearest shore.'

'Then she might still be alive?'

'Maybe,' Declan agreed with a non-committal shrug. 'Maybe not.'

'Will you keep looking for her?'

'What do you think I was doing when I found Chikita?'

Stellan should have known better than to ask. He nodded. 'I should get back to the palace. Will I see you again, or are you leaving now the battle is done?'

Declan shrugged. 'I'm not sure. Now I've spoken to Chikita, I doubt it'll take long for word to get back to the Cabal that I'm still alive. And one of the enemy.'

'Are
you the enemy now, Declan?'

He shrugged. 'I guess that remains to be seen.'

'What do you think the Cabal will do when they get word of your fate?'

'That also remains to be seen and is much of the reason,' Declan said, 'that I wish I was still capable of getting drunk.'

CHAPTER 29

Warlock hadn't stayed to hear the rest of the conversation between Elyssa and the new Tide Lords. He slipped away into the woods, found his horse cropping a clump of tenacious dried grass that had somehow managed to push through the snow, and led him quietly away from the oil seep and back toward the workers' camp.

'My lady said you are to finish dismantling the camp and head back to Cycrane,' he told the foreman without dismounting. 'I have urgent and secret dispatches she has ordered me to deliver. You must return to the city immediately the camp is packed and tell no one you have seen me pass by.'

The foreman, a motley canine with a grey muzzle, nodded and turned to give the orders without questioning Warlock's authority to deliver them. Although they resented his favoured position with their mistress, they were used to Warlock conveying orders on her behalf, and the orders made enough sense that nobody would think them odd.

Without waiting for the foreman to engage in any further conversation, Warlock urged his horse into a canter, found the road toward Cycrane and gave the horse its head. He had only one thought in mind — to find his family. Boots and the pups were hiding in a ruin north of the city, he knew that much, but he didn't know the exact location. All he knew was that the ruins were near the lake; rarely visited — particularly at this time of the year — but not that hard to locate if one knew where to look.

His first notion was to skirt the city, wending his way through the foothills until he emerged in the north, after which he could head back toward the lake where the ruins should be. His plan did little but highlight the fact he was still thinking like a Glaeban. Cycrane was built into the Caterpillar Ranges. There was no way to go around it, particularly not at this time of year when even the most navigable passes were blocked with snow. Even in the most clement weather, all the trade that took place up and down Caelum took place on the lake. If he wanted to go north, Warlock was going to have to go through the city or cross the ice — an idea he was forced to revise dramatically just on sunset when the ice shattered.