Guardians of the Keep: Book Two of the Bridge of D'Arnath (31 page)

destroy that woman’s evil husband and demon child. When the captain arrives, I’ll tell him about her

sneaking in here with your papa not even cold in the ground. He’ll see she’s taken away.”

I had never liked Captain Darzid. He was always putting his arm around my shoulders, asking what I

was doing or what I was studying or who were my friends, and all the time watching me. If I was

practicing in the fencing yard, he would lean on the wall and watch, or if I was reading in the library, he

would read over my shoulder. Lots of times he would give me a particular sneaking smile as if we were

special friends. I was glad when he moved away from Comigor after Papa died.

If Darzid was coming, and Lady Verally was going to set him looking for sorcery, I had to be ready

to bolt. It was no use wishing I was older or bigger or better at sword fighting, so that I could protect

Mama or the baby from Seri and the sorcerers. I would be doing good to protect myself. I planned to

run so far away that no one would ever find me. I spent the rest of that day getting some things together

in a pack: a knife that someone had lost in the fencing yard, some cold buns that I saved from breakfast,

some cheese that was set out on the sideboard for dinner, a warm shirt and gloves, and five silver coins

that Papa had given me the last time we went to Montevial. I argued with myself about it, but finally went

to the locked case in the library and took out the green silk bag with the Comigor signet ring in it. It

belonged to me now, and I might have need of it someday. I hid my pack in the cellar.

I would have gone that very afternoon, but the next day was Covenant Day, and no matter what, I

had to be there. Papa would expect it of me. Some things you just have to do, even if you hate them in

the worst way. I would have to sit with Seri all day, and she would pretend that she didn’t have friends

that were sorcerers, and that she hadn’t brought them to Comigor to kill us all. I stayed awake all that

night so they couldn’t sneak up on me.

I didn’t see how anyone could do things as right as Seri could, and yet be so wicked underneath. She

tried hard to take care of the tenants in the right way, just like Papa always said we had to do, showing

them how they were important and respected. By the end of the day, I was tired and confused again. But

then Seri made a mistake. I was ready to drink a glass of wine with her, but she started talking about

Papa and how he would be proud of me. That made me think of him and how he wouldn’t ever be there

for Covenant Day again because of her and her sorcerer prince. It made me angry to know she’d

brought Papa’s murderer to our house. I wondered if maybe the wine was poisoned, so I threw it at her

and ran away. I felt like a coward.

When I left the great hall, I made a quick trip to my room to grab my cloak and down to the cellar to

get my pack. I was ready to go except for one thing. I couldn’t leave without saying goodbye to Lucy. I

hoped to slip in and out of her room without anyone seeing me, but the servants’ quarters were as busy

as an anthill, what with Covenant Day and the baby being born and all. I had to hide in an empty room

until everything quieted down. Hours passed. I could have bitten a brick in half by the time Tocano went

around turning down all the lamps. Even then I gave it a bit more time just to be sure. I wished I could

make myself invisible.

When I finally got to Lucy’s room, light shone out from underneath the door. Lucy never seemed to

sleep very much. Whenever I came to her, she would be rocking in her chair, facing the doorway and

smiling, as if she were just waiting for me to walk in. That night though, when I scratched on the door, I

didn’t hear her chair creaking, or her tapping that would tell me to come in, or any other sound. I almost

didn’t go in for fear of waking her. But I had to leave and I had to tell her, so I pushed open the door.

I’d never seen a dead person before, but even if there hadn’t been all the blood, I would have known

Lucy wasn’t there any more. Her room had always been friendly, full of the things we played with and

things we made, but on that night it just seemed dirty and cluttered. I sat beside her chair for a long time,

too stupid to do anything but cry. Then I finally told myself that she wasn’t coming back, and that the

ones who killed her were probably looking for me. That made me angry again, and I guess I went crazy

for a while.

Seri and her friends had killed Lucy. Seri had told the old man how there was only one old woman

who gave her cause to worry, and how she could “take care of her.” I wanted to hurt Seri for what she’d

done. I could think of only one way to do it, because Seri only cared about one thing—Comigor. I

wanted to burn the place down, but I couldn’t do it. I was the lord, so I was responsible for the house

and all the people on its lands. Nothing else seemed big enough. But then I thought of a small thing that

Seri would hate.

From the kitchen I stole a bag and a flint and steel. I took the bag to the library and filled it with the

lead soldiers—those beastly things that had started the bad part of my life. Then, I hauled the bag up to

Seri’s favorite place on the secret tower so I could burn them. Lead melts easily.

It was cold and windy on the roof. My fingers were already freezing and shaking when I untied the

bag. I felt doubly stupid when I remembered that there wasn’t any wood up there either. And someone

was sure to notice if I started hauling wood up the stairs. But I knew how to make things hot without any

wood or oil or flint. I didn’t care if it was dangerous or evil, because there were people about who were

a lot more evil than me. So I dumped the bag of soldiers in the firepit and thought about making the

soldiers hot so Seri couldn’t have them anymore. The colors started turning to black, and then the arms

and legs and faces melted. Pretty soon all the bodies and horses and ships and wagons sagged together.

It was a silly thing to do, but it made me feel a lot better.

One more thing I had to do before I left the castle. Mama always said that noble ladies should have

flowers for every special occasion, that they loved flowers more than about anything. Lucy was finer than

any noble lady I ever knew, so I slipped down into the garden and made one of the lilies bloom for her. I

had already done one wicked thing that night. Another probably couldn’t make me any worse. I didn’t

care any more.

My boots echoed through the passageways when I sneaked back into the castle. The whole place

was dark and quiet like the Comigor tombs on Desfier, so that I wondered if Seri and the sorcerers had

killed everyone in the place. I didn’t dare look in any other room for fear someone would be lying there

dead. I just hurried back to Lucy as fast as I could. I dragged her to her pallet and straightened her out

so she would rest more peaceful, then I knelt down beside her, smeared some of her blood on my hand,

and said, “I swear I’ll remember you forever, and when I’m a man, I’ll find the ones who did this to you

and make them pay for it. On your blood and the honor of the House of Comigor, I swear it.” Then I laid

the flower on her.

“And do you know who’s responsible for this reprehensible deed, Your Grace?”

I almost fell down onto Lucy I was so surprised. Captain Darzid was standing in the corner right

behind me.

“What are you doing here?” I asked, trying not to sound scared.

“I’ve come to see your mother, but as she’s indisposed, I thought to look in on you. You’re not easy

to find. So what’s happened to this sad person?”

“This is my old nurse, Lucy. She was . . . feebleminded. I don’t know why anyone would hurt her.”

“Lucy?” Darzid knelt down beside me and looked at Lucy. “Your name for the nurse ... of course.

The poor woman must have been terrified to see your aunt return to this house. Probably expected this to

happen every day since. Sometimes the past will not leave us alone.” He acted like he wasn’t even

surprised.

“But Lucy never did anything to anyone.”

“You know about your Aunt Seri? That she was married to a sorcerer.”

I didn’t look at him. “Yes. King Evard burned him. And I know that Papa killed her baby so another

wicked sorcerer wouldn’t live in the world.”

“Yes . . . well. You know a great deal, it seems. Have you become friendly with your aunt since she’s

come to Comigor? Gotten to know her well?”

“No. She is wicked and condemned. She doesn’t belong here. Papa wouldn’t wish it. I don’t speak

with her.”

Darzid smiled at me in that way I hated, like he was my friend and no one else was. “Of course, very

wise. Well, there was a time during all of that unpleasantness about her husband, when it was necessary

that your aunt be confined to the palace in Montevial. She was very well treated. Your father saw to that,

for he hoped she would come to see the terrible evils she had done—allowing sorcery to exist in this

world where it had no place—mortal men taking the power that belongs to the gods alone. During those

months your aunt was given a serving sister to wait on her—”

“Lucy!”

“Yes. This very same woman. I saw her there several times.”

“No wonder Lucy said—”

“Said? Was not the woman a mute?” The captain drew his forehead up so tight he looked like he had

only one eyebrow.

“She could talk with signs and pictures. She couldn’t read or write, but she could draw really fine. I

could always understand her.”

“I’m sure you could. And what did she tell you about your aunt?”

“She didn’t want to talk about Seri, and she wouldn’t leave her room any more after Seri came, so I

just thought she must be afraid of her.”

“Your aunt holds a great hatred for those who called her to account for her crimes, including

everyone who was involved in her captivity. Ask her about me and you’ll see it. I don’t think she

distinguishes between those like your father and me who were in authority, carrying out our

responsibilities to the king and the law, and those, like Lucy here, who were caught up in the situation

unwittingly.”

“Lucy was the best person in the world.”

“No doubt. You must watch yourself carefully when your aunt is about. In fact . . . seeing this, I’m

inclined to stay with you through this night. After tomorrow she’ll have no way to harm you. I’ve brought

exciting news that will ensure your future and place you under King Evard’s special protection.”

“Can you take Seri away now? Can you have the king punish her for killing Lucy?”

“Unfortunately not. She’s managed to cloud the eyes of the king in some way, and I don’t think he’ll

deal with her unless we can prove her crime. He won’t believe she’s done murder.”

“What if she had someone else do it?”

Captain Darzid raised his black eyebrows. “What do you mean?”

“I saw her with two strangers yesterday, sneaking about the garden. I wondered if they could have

helped her.”

“What were they like, these two?”

“One was short and wild-looking and had a strong voice. He wore a robe like a priest, only it was

white. The other one was taller and younger, and—”

Darzid gripped my arm really hard, and said, “This is very important, boy. The names. Did you hear

any names?”

Names. That had been very odd. Seri and the old man had called the younger man several names. “I

didn’t hear the old one’s name. But the other one . . . They called him Dinatheel or something like that,

and—”

“D’Natheil? Is that what it was?”

“Yes, but I’m not exactly sure that was his name, because they called him something else, too.”

“Which was?”

“Karon.”

“Karon!”

It isn’t often that you can tell a grown-up something he never expected to hear, but that’s what I had

done with Captain Darzid. He jumped up like he had a wasp in his shirt.

“You’re sure of that?”

“They called the man both names, so I didn’t know which one was right. The old man said he was the

one who killed Papa.”

“Oh, yes. That’s most certainly true, but the names . . . if true . . . Dassine, the wily bastard, kept

D’Natheil hidden for so long. What could he have done?” The captain was only halfway talking to me.

“What else was said? Did they know you were listening?”

“I was hiding. They said a lot of things I didn’t understand.”

“I’ve no doubt of that. The possibilities are intriguing . .. most intriguing . . . and very dangerous.

Everything could be changed.” He looked at me in a very different way than before. “I believe you are in

grave circumstance here, Your Grace. I think perhaps we should get you away immediately.”

“What about Mama and the baby?”

“D’Natheil will not care about them. It’s you he’ll want.”

“For revenge? For Seri’s revenge?”

“Yes, certainly ... for Seri’s revenge. It’s very complicated. Those two are not ordinary men, even for

sorcerers.” He pulled me over beside him and put his arm around my shoulders. “You must come with

me. I can take you somewhere where you’ll be safe. Then you can tell me everything they said, and I can

explain a few things to you. We wouldn’t want these murderers to get away with such foul deeds as this,

would we?”

I didn’t like Darzid. I didn’t want to be around him when he was thinking about sorcery. He knew

about Seri’s friends and what they were. But the night was about gone, and I had to get away. He could