Obsidian Ridge (10 page)

King Korox Morkann of Erlkazar,

Underestimate my power at your folly. Further resistance or acts of aggression will not be tolerated.

On the moon’s rise in four days time, deliver to me your eldest daughter, Princess Mariko.

Sacrifice the princess, or you shall forfeit the lives of everyone in your kingdom.

Arch Magus Xeries

++++

Quinn caught the king under the arm, holding him up as his knees went weak.

In all the time he had been serving Korox Morkann, the Warrior King as many called him, he had never seen the man falter as he did now.

The king grabbed Quinn’s shoulder with his other hand, steadying himself. “Where is my daughter?” he asked.

When no one answered, he repeated himself, this time more forcefully. “Where is my daughter?”

Captain Kaden echoed the king’s concern. “Has anyone seen the princess?” He pointed to the closest palace guard. “You there. You were on duty this morning. When was the last time you saw the princess?”

The guard shook his head. “Not today.”

“How about you?” shouted Kaden at one of his Magistrates. “Have you seen the princess?”

“No,” replied the soldier. “Not since the black fortress arrived.”

Quinn could tell the king was growing more and more alarmed. His eyes were beginning to narrow, and the edges of his lips were curled down, a sign that his initial shock was now turning to anger.

Straightening, King Korox took his weight off of Quinn. “Well, someone find my daughter. Right now!”

Every palace guard within earshot took off in a different direction. The crowd of gawking courtiers scattered—some helping to search for Princess Mariko, others just simply trying to get out of the way.

Captain Kaden lowered his head in a bow to the king. “With all due respect my lord, you don’t plan to turn the princess over to that… that beast, do you?”

King Korox’s voice boomed as he replied. “This is my daughter we’re talking about here, son. I’d just as soon give up my own life than hers.”

“Then what do you plan to do?” asked Senator Divian.

The senator always stood too close to the king for Quinn’s comfort. She gripped his arm now, a look of stern disapproval on her face.

“You must be careful what you decide, Korox,” she continued. “It is not just your daughter who is in danger. The lives of every man, woman, and child in Erlkazar are at stake here.”

The king looked at her hand on his arm. The anger on his face had clearly not yet subsided. “This is neither the time nor the place for this discussion.”

He raised his gaze to meet the senator’s, his eyes narrowing as he did.

Quinn gripped the hilt of his sword, unnerved by the mounting tension between the king and his advisor.

Senator Divian relented, letting go of the king and nodding her understanding.

Korox turned to the head of the Magistrates. “Captain—”

Kaden cut him off before he could finish. “I’ll find her, my lord.” Then he took off into the palace at a full run.

Taking one last look at the stone obelisk, the king marched back into the great hall, leaving the senator by herself at the end of the drawbridge. Quinn followed behind.

The moment his foot touched the inside of the palace, King Korox began shouting.

“Mariko!” His words boomed as he stormed through the halls. “Mariko where are you?” No one else spoke. His unanswered calls echoed off the stone walls, making Klarsamryn seem cold and empty. “Mariko!”

“Perhaps we should split up, my lord,” said Quinn.

Korox continued his march through the palace—a man obsessed, not slowing his pace.

“There are plenty of Magistrates here,” continued Quinn. “I’m sure you will be safe while we search, and we can cover more ground if we’re looking in separate places.”

The king came to a stop. At the end of the hall, the man with the pointy beard and curled moustache had appeared— the man the king had called Vasser.

“No,” replied the king, obviously preoccupied by the presence of the bearded stranger. “For now I need you by my side. Wait right here.”

Korox left Quinn behind as he met with the mysterious messenger.

Vasser gave Quinn a wide smile, then he leaned in and whispered something into the king’s ear. He talked for some time then pulled a piece of vellum from his pocket, unfolded it, and began pointing at several different points.

Torches behind Vasser and the king partially illuminated the vellum. Every time the shadow of Vasser’s head lifted away, Quinn could see right through it. From what he could tell, it looked to be a map of the five baronies—Llorbauth in the center.

Vasser pointed to the docks, then to the south—maybe Duhlnarim? Then back again at Llorbauth. Whatever he had said caught the king by surprise, and Korox took a huge, unbalanced step back, his eyes wide with fear. Looking like a

toy soldier, his legs wooden and stiff, the king spun around on his heels, turned, and continued his march down the hall.

“Quinn!” he shouted over his shoulder, resuming his earlier pace. “With me!”

The king’s bodyguard rushed to catch up, running past Vasser as he did. The man nodded and gave a small bow, his face the very picture of concern. This man was trouble, but Quinn had no time to deal with him now. Letting him go for the time being, he caught up with the king as he turned the corner.

It was obvious to Quinn that they were headed for Princess Mariko’s chamber. Surely by now they had already been checked by the palace guard, but perhaps the king just needed to see for himself.

Barging through the door, the king stepped, into his daughter’s room. On any other day, he would have knocked and announced himself, always very respectful of Mariko’s privacy. But today was like no other day.

Inside, as Quinn had suspected, the princess’s bed chamber was filled with palace guards and court functionaries.

“Where’s Genevie?” shouted the king.

Everyone in the room came to a halt. The sudden appearance of a shouting king flustered them, and they tried with only varying degrees of success to follow courtly protocol. Several bowed. One man stumbled over a stool, seemingly blown backward by the sheer force of the king’s words. But none of them answered his question.

“The princess’s handmaiden!” shouted the king. “Have any of you seen her?”

Silence.

“Does anyone in this palace still have a tongue?” The king was growing more and more furious, his cheeks and forehead turning bright red. “Answer me.” He took a menacing step toward the nearest palace guard.

“I… I haven’t seen her, my lord.” The guard dropped his eyes to the ground, cringing as if he might be struck.

“Has anyone seen her? Where is she?”

Everyone in the room shook their heads. No one knew.

The king flew back out into the hall to Genevie’s bed chamber. Not bothering to stop, King Korox kicked the door in with the heel of his boot, drawing his sword as he crossed the threshold.

Quinn had never seen Korox pull his blade inside the palace. His heart pounding in his chest, the king’s bodyguard quickly drew his own sword and bolted through the ruined door.

Unlike the princess’s chamber, this room had no windows. There were no torches or candles lit, and the only light came in from the hallway. Leaping over a table, Quinn landed on the floor in front of the king, his blade out, ready for whatever it was that had caused the king to pull his sword.

But there was nothing. Genevie was not there, and the room appeared to have been unused for some time.

+

A full day had gone by, and no sign of the princess or her handmaiden. The king was beside himself. Mariko had never been missing for this long. She had spied on many of Erlkazar’s most dangerous criminals, and the king knew of the potential danger when he sent her out. He worried about her each and every time he did so, but she was cautious, and every time before she had come back.

This time, however, he feared his daughter had been betrayed. The news from Vasser had been inconclusive, but with Mariko missing, he had nothing else to go on. For now there was little more he could do. He had teams scouring Llorbauth for his daughter. He had sent missives to his brother-in-law, Lord Purdun, and to each of the other barons, asking for their help in locating the missing princess and the handmaiden. He had even tripled the patrols around the palace. Outside of going to search for her himself, all he could do was wait for news.

In the meantime, he still had the Obsidian Ridge and a potential evacuation of Llorbauth to deal with.

“Lady Herrin to see King Korox Morkann,” announced Whitman.

“As if I needed a reminder,” he said under his breath. Lady Herrin, her clothing adorned with hundreds of tiny golden coins, jingled as she entered the audience chamber.

Her bodyguards, more heavily armed than Quinn, clanked along behind her.

Approaching the dais, she took one look at Whitman, smirked, then bowed to the king.

“Lady Herrin,” said the king, “to what do we owe today’s visit?

“My lord,” replied the merchant, “I came as soon as I got word of your daughter’s disappearance. Have you found her? Is she safely back in the palace?”

The king was caught off guard by the old woman’s concern for his family. “That is very kind of you to ask, Lady Herrin.” He smiled at her, feeling a sudden new warmth for someone who before today had been nothing but a pain in his side. “But I’m afraid the princess is still missing. I cannot tell you how difficult it has been for me—”

“Well what are you going to do about that black fortress floating over Llorbauth? Everyone is afraid to leave their homes. And all this talk of evacuating the city to Five Spears Hold is killing my business. If you cannot find your daughter, then how will you turn her over to this Magus Xeries?”

The king was stunned silent.

“Well?” the old merchant bellowed. “I expect an answer. You can’t just sit here while the rest of us go broke. You have a responsibility—”

Lifting himself slowly to his feet, the king reached his full height before speaking. “Get out of my chambers, before I have you thrown in the dungeon!” He pointed to the doors, speaking this last word through gritted teeth. He came down two steps, drawing closer to Lady Herrin. “Your words and actions are a thinly veiled attempt to undermine me—and I will not tolerate it.” He took another step, coming up to the merchant’s face, looking her right in the eye. “I am the King of Erlkazar, and you will respect my authority, or you will face the consequences. Have I made myself clear?”

Lady Herrin stumbled back a step, and her bodyguards pulled their swords.

The entire room erupted in the sound of metal grinding on metal as Quinn and forty Magistrates drew steel and converged on the armed men. In moments Lady Herrin’s men had been disarmed and slammed to the floor, held to the ground by their necks, surrounded by the points of more than three dozen blades.

King Korox continued, seemingly unfazed by the commotion. “How dare you come into my house and make demands of me during this time of crisis. How dare you weigh the loss of your profits on the same scale as the life of my daughter.”

Lady Herrin stood before the king with a look of offended horror on her face. Korox scowled back at her.

“Get out,” spat Korox, “or you will have much more than floating citadels and slumping sales to worry about.” ,

With that, the king turned, walked up the dais, and sat down on his throne.

“Good day, Lady Herrin.” He nodded at Quinn. “Let them up.”

Quinn pulled back and ordered the other men to step away from the downed bodyguards. The Magistrates gave the merchant and her entourage a wide berth, but they kept their swords drawn.

Lady Herrin, her lip curled up in disgust, continued to glare at the king. “You will not get away with speaking to me like that, Korox. This is not over. You will be sorry.”

“Confiscate their weapons and escort them to the gate,” ordered the king. “Inform the guards that they are not allowed back into the palace without a personal summons from me or Senator Divian.” The king paused. “And be quick about it. We have real business to attend to.”

Jingling as she spun, the old merchant and her bodyguards were physically removed from the audience chamber by a host of Magistrates.

Quinn placed his sword back in its scabbard and approached the throne.

“Are you all right, my lord?”

King Korox put his head in his hands and let out a large sigh. “No, Quinn,” he said. “I do not think I am.”

“Well, for what it’s worth, the men have had a bet going for some time.”

The king looked up. “A bet? What does that have to do with anything?”

Quinn smiled. “They’ve been wagering how long it would take you to have that old bag hauled out of here.”

The king chuckled. “Who won?”

“No one,” replied the bodyguard, his smile growing wider. “We all thought you’d have done it ages ago.”

Just then the doors to the throne room burst open again, and Captain Kaden came marching in.

The king stood, unable to contain himself. “Captain, what news of the princess?”

Kaden approached the throne, dropped to one knee, and bowed his head. “I’m sorry, my king, I have not been able to locate her.”

The king slumped back down. His wife had died only a few tendays after he had taken the throne. He would never get used to his life without her. The only comfort he had been able to find was that he still had his daughter. Mariko was all he had left, and now she too had been taken from him.

It wasn’t fair. He was the king. There were so many things he could control. But the disease that had taken his wife was not one of them. And now the princess was missing, and he didn’t know where to look or even for sure who to blame. What good was being the Warrior King if he didn’t have an enemy to fight?

“I am truly sorry, my lord,” continued Kaden. “The effort is in full force. I have my best men out looking for her right now. And I pledge to you that I will continue my personal search tirelessly until we find her. Do not lose hope. I will bring Princess Mariko home safely.”

The king nodded. “Yes, Captain, I’m sure you will.”