Instead, his brother had spoken about honour and duty. Stracker gave a choked sound of anger as he stared out towards the forest fringe. Loethar had become so naturalised as a Denovian that not only did he no longer look like he was Steppes-born, he didn’t even seem to think like a tribesman any more. His brother had become more and more a stranger to him until now their intentions, their whole outlooks, seemed to be on opposite ends.
Once again Stracker wished he had been able to wheedle out of his mother which of the tribal lords had fathered Loether. Stracker had tried many times but it was one subject she had been entirely closed to. Being her first born he would have thought she’d one day share this detail with him but she took that secret to her death. He wondered if Loethar knew.
But where was he now? he screamed in his mind. And who was protecting him? He had never seen who hurled the stone that struck his temple. He touched the spot now and felt the tenderness, pain shooting across his head. It made him livid to think that anyone would dare take a shot at him. He would find that person and tear him limb from limb with his bare hands.
A knock at the door interrupted his angry thoughts.
‘What?’ he roared.
The door opened slowly, tentatively, and a young messenger peered in.
‘You’d want to have some news to risk interrupting me,’ Stracker snarled.
The young man cleared his throat. He didn’t step inside any further and he didn’t close the door behind him. ‘General Stracker, you asked me to find out if there was any news regarding Kirin Felt. General, Master Felt arrived today.’
‘What?’ Stracker roared and took a pace forward.
The youngster quailed, instantly fell into Steppes language in his fear, and began to gabble. ‘He is in Brighthelmstone. According to the men at the gates, he has a new wife. They… they arrived during the last bell, not that long before you did.’
‘Find them! I wish to speak with them immediately.’
‘I thought you would say that, general, and I have already organised an escort. I sensed this man is important to you.’
Stracker was surprised. The boy showed intuition. The useful kind. ‘Very good. What is your name?’
‘Leak, general.’
‘I will remember you, Leak. Go fetch Kirin Felt and bring his wife also. Do not brook any argument,’ he said, returning to the Denovian language that Loethar had always insisted upon. ‘And one more thing: I want you to fetch someone else for me, too.’
As soon as he was inside the deceptively large chamber, Kirin appeared to crumple in on himself. All the bravado and courage deserted him and he sat on the bed staring at the straw on the floor.
Lily waited, unsure at first. Then she sat alongside him and took his hand. Cradling it between her palms, she rubbed it softly. ‘I’m so sorry about Freath,’ she began gently.
He shook his head. ‘How can it be? I should have stayed with him. Perhaps I could have —’
‘Kirin,’ she cut in, determined to stop the wave of recrimination that she sensed was coming, ‘no amount of blaming yourself can convince me that Freath didn’t know he was living on borrowed time.’
He turned to stare at her with damp eyes. ‘What do you mean?’
Lily raised his hand and kissed it softly, briefly. ‘From everything you’ve told me about courageous Freath, he has been risking his life since before you even came to the palace. He hadcommitted himself to his double life, knew the risks, accepted the consequences. In a way, he’d already given his life to the Valisars.’
Kirin looked broken. ‘He often said that. He would tell me that death was not something he feared because death walked alongside him each day.’
Lily nodded. ‘He truly was a brave and loyal man. Leonel owes him so much.’
‘He was on his way to meet with the king. I just don’t see how things could have gone wrong.’
‘I imagine we’ll hear the details soon enough. For now you must accept that nothing you do can bring him back. You have to concentrate on protecting your life… and mine.’
He gazed at her for a moment, unblinking, and then nodded. ‘You’re right. We haven’t time to spare for grieving. We have to get away from here. That’s the main task.’
‘What are you planning? Where shall we go?’
‘Where we go is the least of our problems. Right now we just need to get as far from General Stracker as possible. The man is mad and has always hated us Vested. With Freath I enjoyed a certain amount of protection simply because he was so close to Loethar. But his death will signal a change, especially with the emperor not even in the palace. Loethar might have tolerated Freath’s association with me but I doubt very much if he’ll lose any sleep over hearing that I met with an accidental death on the end of one of Stracker’s swords.’ He gave a grim smile. ‘And even if he doesn’t kill me he’s almost certainly going to pack me off to wherever the hell they were taking all those other Vested.’
‘Right,’ Lily said, nodding, desperate to be optimistic in her trust of Kirin. ‘What can I do?’
He began opening drawers. ‘Pack whatever you think we might need. Keep it light. There’s some medicines in that cabinet over there,’ he said, pointing.
Lily made a scoffing sound. ‘We don’t need those. I am a walking medicine cabinet, please trust that.’
He nodded. ‘Fine. Help me with this floorboard then.’ Quickly he inserted a thin letter opener into a crack between two boards, raising one of them slightly.
She squatted opposite him. ‘Is this where you keep your money?’
‘I’m afraid so. Not very creative, am I?’
She smiled and pulled on the lifted board. It sighed and then with a soft creak gave way. Beneath it was a sack. Kirin lifted it out and opened it for her to look inside.
Lily raised a shocked gaze to him. ‘Kirin, that’s a small fortune in coin.’
He shrugged. ‘I’ve never had need for money but Freath insisted on my receiving a stipend from the Crown. I’m not sure whether Loethar or Stracker even knew about it. We’ll split it up between us, just in case we get separated or robbed. It’s too noisy for one person to carry anyway.’
Lily nodded, still amazed at the amount of money before her. They busied themselves stashing the coin in pockets and little pouches that Kirin produced, stringing the pouches around each of their necks and two each from their waists.
‘There,’ Kirin said at last, satisfied. ‘Whatever we now need we can buy.’
‘Then let’s go. What’s the plan?’
He bit his lip. ‘It’s too risky to try and organise horses. We’ll have to leave on foot and worry about transport later. We can leave by one of the side gates. I think it’s best if we head down to the chapel. It’s probably the quietest area of the palace complex and at this time will likely be deserted. There’s —’
A loud banging on the door interrupted him. Both Lily and Kirin froze. ‘Master Kirin?’ a voice enquired.
Lily melted into his side as Kirin put a protective arm around her. He nodded encouragement when she stared at him, terrified, and then called out, ‘Who is it?’
‘It’s Leak, Master Kirin, General Stracker’s messenger.’
She