The Red Knight (29 page)

He really is deluded.
She had to laugh. “You don’t know much about Tamalaks, do you? They dislike half-breeds more than you Antians do.”

“Fuck them, then! You will rule by my side. I love you, ‘Lyda.”

She waited for him to laugh, but he didn’t. This new sincerity was almost as disturbing as his treachery. Was it possible that he meant it? She was still alive; perhaps in his own twisted way he really did think he was in love with her. If nothing else, it was an opening and she would seize it. She had to turn his weakness to her advantage before the Guthani arrived. The very thought of feigning disloyalty disgusted her, but for Talin’s sake—possibly the entire kingdom’s, she had to try.

“I can’t believe you tricked the King,” she said, wincing at her clumsy attempt to appeal to his ego.

Corvinius didn’t notice and rewarded her efforts with a smug grin. “It was embarrassingly easy; these things are when you’re dealing with people as arrogant as Daris. The fool ordered me to take messages to you and Vorsten, and like a good little Rusty, I did.”

“Only you changed them.” It was hard keeping the contempt she felt for him out of her voice.

He sketched an extravagant bow. “I know it sounds like I’m bragging, but I am rather pleased with my forgery skills. I pocketed the King’s seal for long enough to make a copy and nobody noticed a thing. You know, I think I may have missed my calling.” He laughed alone. “So, with Daris’s messages destroyed, and mine sent in their place, I watched our glorious King and heroic Commander ride off to Cathlan, straight into a trap.” He smiled coldly. “It would have been remiss of me not to inform Jerim that Daris was on his way. I’m afraid the surprise attack probably wasn’t much of a surprise.”

“You’ve thought of everything,” she said, unable to look at him in case he saw the hate in her eyes.

Oblivious, he continued with his tale. “Starting the rumour that there’d been an outbreak of swamp fever in the city was a stroke of genius. I even arranged for a few bodies to be found looking like they’d died of the disease. People are easy to control when they’re scared, so when I ordered a curfew, not many objected. Those who did… were dealt with.”

“You killed people just to give credence to a lie?” His callousness shocked her.

He shook his head. “No, not just for that. I killed some of my knights who were too stupid to join me and weren’t worth keeping alive to ransom. I also dealt with some unlucky fools who were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Oh, and the Queen’s favourite dog; just for the fun of it. You always said I didn’t pay attention to detail. Well, I did this time. Aren’t you proud of me? I ordered the curfew, dealt with the
issues
in the Company, and when I had the Arth locked down I took the Queen and threw the court leeches in the dungeons. Checkmate, I believe.”

“Only when you trap the King. Someone will warn Daris.”

“Who? The only ones who were inclined to that are either dead or in the dungeon and as you’ve seen, I have the city sealed. There are over two hundred mercenaries plus the majority of the Fifth controlling who leaves and who enters. Nothing is going to get by me. I only have to keep the city under curfew until the Guthani arrive tomorrow, then they’ll take dear old Thea and her sons and leave me an enormous sack of gold.” He looked at her expectantly. “You’re surprised, I understand. You’re not the only one who’s underestimated me. That bastard Trease won’t live long enough to regret passing me over so many times. Sweet Asha! I wish I could be there when they kill him. I’ve asked that they take their time, make him suffer… and tell him why.” He folded his arms.

I can’t do this.
There was no way she could phrase a lie plausible enough to convince him she was as faithless as he was. The very thought made her want to vomit.
Come on Ali, say something damn you!
“There’s too much to take in. I…I need some time…” she mumbled.

“There isn’t any time, you’re either with me or—”

“Don’t make me decide now. Not if you love me as you say you do.” She was close to failing. She couldn’t bring herself to say she’d join him; sure the lie would choke her.

“Teril!” Corvinius barked at the knight who had her sword. He shuffled forward. “See if you can take Captain Stenna to my quarters without fucking it up, and make sure she can’t get up to any mischief. That
doesn’t
mean kill her.” He turned to Alyda. “I’ll give you an hour, ‘Lyda. Please, don’t disappoint me.”

“Is what he’s offered you worth it, Teril?” she asked the knight as they walked through the ransacked halls. He answered her with a dig in the back with her own blade.

Corvinius’s quarters were as much of a sty as the rest of the Arth, if not worse.
Only a sick animal lives in its own filth.
Corvinius certainly fit that description.

“Take off the armour, Captain, and don’t try anything,” said Teril.

“Don’t worry, I won’t. I’ve seen how eager you are to kill me. When I’m crowned Queen of Tamalan you will not be invited to the ceremony.” She unbuckled her armour and tossed each piece on the rumpled bed. “Did you kill your comrades, Teril? Or did you let the mercenaries do it?”

His face reddened and he drew back her sword as if to strike.

“Shut up!” he shouted. “They should have surrendered, just…just shut up.”

For all his threats, his hands were shaking. Teril was a traitor
and
a coward. If she could goad him a little more, make him come closer…

Before she had chance to try, the door flew open and another Rusty barged in, crossbow at the ready.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, eyeing Alyda from behind a fringe of black hair. “I heard you shouting, d’you need a hand?”

“No, I mean…yes,” he mumbled. “Tie her up, would you? She’s to wait here for the Captain.” Teril fled the room.

The Rusty pointed to a chair with the bow. “Take a seat, Captain Stenna.”

“You know my name, who the fuck are you?” Alyda asked.

“None of your damn business. Put your hands behind your back, nice and slowly or I’ll stick you like a pig.”

When she’d finished tying Alyda’s hands to the spindles of the chair, she came around in front of her. The crossbow hovered inches from Alyda’s face. She didn’t flinch; she wasn’t going to be intimidated by a Rusty.

“I’ll wager you aren’t feeling cocky now, are you, Captain Stenna?” The crossbow drifted closer, the tip of the bolt a finger width from her eye. “I could kill you, and say you were trying to escape. Who’s to say otherwise?”

Alyda tried to focus on the bolt. “Do I know you? I haven’t killed a friend of yours have I?”

“No, although thanks to darling Rufus, I feel like I know you. He’s called out your name more than once when we’ve been fucking.”

“Ah. It sounds like your issue is with Corvinius. Why don’t you do both of us a favour and put a bolt through his eye?”

The knight laughed, but the bow stayed where it was. “Maybe one day, when he’s of no further use. You know, if I thought for one minute that you were going to join him, I
would
finish you, and damn the consequences, but you’re not going to, are you?”

Alyda didn’t answer.

The Rusty smiled and put up the bow. “My name’s Karla Lystrom, for what it’s worth. We’ve never met, but I’ve seen you and the Hammer many times. I could never decide if you were the great warriors everyone said you were or just a bunch of big-headed, swaggering thugs.”

Alyda allowed herself a slight smile. “A little of both, but I’ll tell you this; any one of us would gladly lay down our lives to defend any member of the Guards, no matter what we thought of them.”

Lystrom’s smile faded. “Then you’re fools,” she said, and left the room.

Alyda waited until she heard the key turn before trying the ropes. They were tightly bound around her wrists, but the spindles were long and slender. She took hold of the dowels and pulled. The wood bent and was about to snap when she heard footsteps outside, and the key turn. She froze. The door opened.

Much to her surprise a librarian walked in. He cast a furtive glance down the hall before closing and locking the door behind him. As he turned, she saw that he had a blade in his hand.

So Corvinius has taken the coward’s way out and sent someone else to do his dirty work.
She wasn’t going to sit there and wait to have her throat cut. She heaved on the spindles. One snapped, but the other stubbornly refused to break. She jumped up, her right wrist still tied to the chair. She swung it at the would-be assassin. He leapt back and caught the improvised weapon. Before she had chance to wrench the chair from his grasp and beat him to death with it, he cut the rope, freeing her wrist.

“Captain Stenna,” he whispered urgently. “My name’s Garian Tain. I work for Lord Hyram.”

While the knight searched for weapons, Garian explained what had happened, carefully omitting that neither he nor his master had suspected the Captain of the 5th of anything more daring than an affair with Princess Matia. It was a mistake that had cost them dearly, and one he would much rather keep to himself. Stenna listened to his tale, while she ransacked Corvinius’s room. After enough cursing to make a sailor blush, all she’d managed to find was an old hunting knife.

“Where’s your master?” she demanded.

He’s in the dungeons with those they thought worth keeping to ransom.”

There had been nothing he could do when the Rusties came for Hyram, but it didn’t stop him feeling guilty that he was free and his master was a prisoner.

“They didn’t kill him?” She sounded surprised.

“I don’t think Corvinius has the guts to kill the King’s cousin. The Queen and her sons are being kept under guard in her apartments. I think they’re still trying to pretend it’s for her safety, not that there’s anyone left to convince.”

“I don’t suppose you’ve got a sword hidden under those robes, have you?”

“I’m afraid not. I’ve got a spare knife if that’s any use?”

The knight snorted. “Knives are for eating with. I’ll make do with Corvinius’ pig-sticker for now.” She flipped the blade in her hand. “What I’d give for a decent sword and twenty knights. Liberating all the prisoners isn’t going to be easy with just the two of us.”

Her arrogance didn’t surprise him. Garian hadn’t expected her to thank him for the rescue; the Captain of the Hammer wasn’t renowned for her good manners, but he was irritated that she seemed to think she was in charge.

“Corvinius didn’t consider us lowly servants worth rounding up,” he said. “There are about half a dozen of the King’s agents at large in the Arth. But we have to focus our efforts on rescuing the Queen and her sons. Everyone else is expendable.”

Stenna raised an eyebrow. “Says who? We must free the other prisoners, as well as the Queen and the Princes. I won’t leave them to the mercy of the Guthani. Trust me, with a few good people we can get them all out. The Rusties can’t fight for shit.”

“We can’t risk it.”

“I won’t leave those people to be butchered, Master Tain. Don’t look so grim, I know a way we can do this. I did a stint of training with the Rusties when I first joined the Guards. I learnt nothing of tactics, but I did learn the lay of this Arth. There’s a tunnel under the dungeon.”

“Aye, I know the one. It leads to the sewers.”

“That’s right. When the guards have been dealt with, you need to open the gate and get the prisoners down there. Once you’re in the city sewers they’ll never be able to track you.”

“They’re a maze right enough…So who did you say was going to deal with the guards in the dungeon?”

She winked at him.

“Just like that, eh?”

“It should be fairly straightforward for a resourceful fellow like you.”

“One thing; how do we get into the sewer when the gates are all warded shut? Nothing can open them except the King or Corvinius.”

“The rightful King, the Captain of the Watch
and
the heir to the throne. Prince Talin can open them.”

As much as he hated to admit it, the knight’s confidence was infectious, perhaps dangerously so. Nevertheless, he felt like his burden had lessened since he’d rescued her. Hyram wouldn’t agree; he could hear the old man now, ordering him to leave everyone except the Queen. If he knew what they were planning, he’d explode.

“If me and my people are going to try and rescue everyone in the dungeon, does that mean you’re going after the Queen and the Princes alone?”

She didn’t even pause to think about it before she answered. “Aye. Now listen; I need you to get a message to Master Armourer Bainley. He should be at his forge here in the Arth, if he isn’t in the dungeons or dead. D’you know him?”

“Not personally, but if he’s here I’ll find him. Why do you need him?”

“Horses. Tell him we need four and that he’s to take them west, to the wood on the edge of the water meadow, down by the rotten oaks. Tell him to wait for me there and tell him to hurry.”

“He won’t be able to get horses out of the city.”