Sea of Sighs (Empath Book 2) (19 page)

“Do you know how many people have been to
see Sammah, since he was sent down here?”

“No, your highness.” Eden hesitated before
he answered, because he was pretty sure he knew what the answer
would be.

“Just the one, Eden, just the one. And of
course, you know who that is don’t you?”

“Yes, your highness.”

“Why did you go to see Sammah, Eden?”

“I had to, highness, I couldn’t help myself.
The way he treated me, the way he deceived my father, and then he
just…disappeared down there? Part of me was hoping he’d been killed
in the middle of the night, and I was a little sad to see him still
alive.”

“You don’t mean that,
do
you?
”

“The sadness? No. I can’t really mean that,
because if I did, we would already be in an outright war.”

“Good, you do realise what’s at stake here
than. I was beginning to think I’d accidentally put a dunce in the
position of chamberlain. I’m not a fool Eden, and I don’t think you
believe that Sammah completely deceived your father. Make no
mistake, they will both stand trial. Shiver and Sammah are
complicit in this treason, and if there is any suggestion that
you’ve taken sides, you cannot take part.”

“How am I not meant to take sides? No matter
what he’s done, my father is a loyal man to Everfell, and someone
who I respect. Shiver might be thirsty for war, but he’s not a
fool. There must be a reason why Sammah got to him; some sort of
blackmail or malice. There is no reason why Shiver would just want
to overthrow you sire, especially not with a Sha’sekian. We know
that my father wanted your throne, but he also spilled a lot of
blood to keep the Sha’sekians away from it. Sammah, however, has
got plenty of reasons, and he deftly collected people around him to
achieve what he wanted. He schemed for years in front of all of us.
He, more than my father, is the guilty party.”

“You see blackmail as a good thing? For
Sammah to have been able to hold your father’s loyalty like that,
Shiver must have done something wrong that he wanted to hide. So,
either he was already betraying me, and Sammah had him where he
wanted him, or Shiver knew exactly what he was doing, fully aware
of his motives and the consequences. Which of those treasons sound
better in court?”

Eden immediately worked to reverse the
damage his words had just wrought. “I can’t begin to question my
father’s motives, but I do know that every day, he worked with the
best interests of Everfell at heart.”

“The best interests of Everfell,” Vance
snorted, “or the best interests of Sevenspells? I may have you on
my side, but I don’t have Rowan. And now the Lady Rhi has arrived
at my court, leaving who in charge of Sevenspells? None of the
other lords involve their wives in court affairs; I do wonder how
much the Lady Rhi knows.”

“We’ll find out at the trial,
won’
t we?
”

“I suppose we will. Remember, Eden, I can’t
use you if you can’t be trusted. Keep away from Sammah, unless I
instruct you to see him. Is that clear?”

Eden didn’t like the threatening edge to the
king’s voice, and nodded his agreement.

“
Good. We
’re going
to see him now.”

* * *

The musty cells were just as Eden
remembered, and he wanted to leave them as soon as he set foot in
the claustrophobic corridors. Vance almost skipped along, evidently
looking forward to a clash with the baron. Eden didn’t want to
accompany him. He only wanted to see Sammah on his own terms, and
preferably that would be never again. But, Eden claimed to be the
king’s man now, and he had to follow instructions. Perhaps he could
just hang behind Vance, keep out of view and just let the king do
whatever he wanted to do and get out of there. Perhaps Sammah
wouldn’t even notice him. That was wishful thinking though, and
Eden’s heart sank at the thought of having to confront the baron in
front of his king.

“
Sammah! You look
wonderful
. How is life in
your new apartment?”

Eden’s hatred for Vance grew. The man acted
like a child, petulant, jealous of others and clumsily
overprotective about things he considered to be his. Yes, Sammah
was guilty of treason. He’d been placed behind a solid door, with
no chance of escape, and facing certain death. Vance was poking fun
at him like he was a bear stuck in a cage.
If Sammah ever does
escape,
Eden thought
I wouldn’t want to be in Vance’s
position
.

“The world sits with me fine, your highness.
The food is below average but the room is warm. I do wish my hay
had fewer animals crawling in it, but I don’t suppose prisoners can
be choosers.”

“You are correct, they can’t. Are you
looking forward to your trial?”

Eden didn’t need to see Sammah to realise
what the king was doing. It was obvious this wasn’t the first time
that Vance had visited Sammah, and probably not the first time the
king had poked fun at his captive.

“You use the word
trial
as if there’s
going to be some kind of fair judgement going on, your highness. We
both know that I’m dead already, so why bother with the
charade?”

“The trial will be just and done correctly,
as my chamberlain has pointed out to me. Things will be done the
proper way.”

Eden tried to shrink into the wall at the
mention of his title, but couldn’t. At the mention of his name,
Sammah appeared at the bars in the door, his greasy face pushing up
against the iron to see into corridor.

“Eden!
So
lovely to see you
again.”

Eden could see from the hope in Sammah’s
eyes, that the baron wanted Eden to
keep
his visit to the cells a secret. Apparently it was impossible to
keep secrets from the king, however, so Sammah’s disappointment was
plain when Vance carried on, chirping away. “Ah yes, of course my
chamberlain is going to come and see you when you’re down here.
Looking after prisoners is part of his remit, of course, until
you’re found guilty and I hang you from the parapets. I just wanted
to find out what you thought about that?”

“What I think about that, your highness, is
that you haven’t got the balls to hang me. If you execute me, there
will be a war, and I know you couldn’t stomach that. A war plays
straight into Shiver’s hands, and treason or not, you’ll need to
free him to help defend your precious lands.”

“You seem sure of yourself. You overstepped
the mark in your position as emissary, as a citizen of
my
court. You really believe you’re above my laws? Give your brother
and the council more credit. Or have they been planning a war all
along, and this is just going to be the excuse. Is that what you
are Sammah, a sacrifice? Does your brother think so little of you,
that he’d just send you here to die?”

“My brother thinks of me as irrelevant, but
he knows I would be willing to do everything to help the lives of
the Sha’sek people. Everfell doesn’t deserve these lands, and we’ve
been exiled, to what kind of life in the islands? You don’t
understand what it’s like to live out there, and you never will.
Look at all the lands you have here, all the space. These lands can
be shared, though I know you never would. Everyone in Sha’sek knows
it. The greed of you and your nobles is the only reason war is
needed.”

“Is that the will of the council? Does
everyone else agree with your view? Or are you a lonely, angry,
bitter man, acting out his fantasies of war because you’ll never be
of any importance in the lands you came from?”

“You can ask Eden what the fantasies of the
youngest son are like, if you want that kind of opinion.”

“So you’re saying the council
does
share your opinion that war is coming?”

“No, I never said that. But you can
interpret it whichever way you like.”

Vance lashed his hand through the bars and
Sammah stepped back smoothly without flinching. The baron laughed,
throwing his head back and taunting the king. “You’re toothless,
Vance, admit it. I’m sitting behind bars, and still running rings
around you. I’m going to enjoy watching you shrivel into nothing
with the full force of the council thrown against you. Shiver
almost overthrew you on his own, without my help. You were only
made king because Sha’sek wanted peace, and so did your own. When
it comes to people wanting war, who do you think they’ll put on the
throne?”

“Shiver will never have this throne. You
will never have this throne, and neither will anyone else in
Sha’sek. This is mine, my land! No one can take it from me.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure, your highness,
there’s quite the queue.”

“I should have you killed now for your
insolence alone.”

“Then do it, your highness! Guarantee the
war that everyone wants. Go on!”

Vance said nothing, and Sammah smirked.
“See, I told you. You don’t have the balls.”

The king roared, a yell of pure fury that
had Eden flinching, and Sammah stepping back away from the
door.

“
Be ready for a war
. Do you honestly
think I’ve spent my entire reign ignorant of what’s going on around
me? You say it as if it’s not something I’ve been anticipating, but
it seems bloodshed is all everyone else thinks about. Yes, I’ve
been preparing for it. I’m aware I have treacherous lords still
sitting in my court. They will be found, and then the bloodletting
begins.”

“Before you get there,
sire
, you’ve
got to make me stand trial. I haven’t just spent my time here
plotting against you; I’ve studied your laws, too. I’m allowed to
demand witnesses to my actions. So, before you put me to trial, I
demand that Quinn is brought to testify to my crimes.”

“You’ve already confessed!”

“And what if
she
is the one that
forced
me
to do everything? She is an empath, after
all.”

“
You can
’t do
that! Quinn isn’t guilty of anything. You forced her to do
everything.”

“There is no proof of that, and that’s why I
want her at my trial. She was old enough to say no to me when she
was older, and who is there to say I wouldn’t have let her alone
but for the asking?”

“Of course you wouldn’t have left her, she
was essential for you. She was trapped, and had to do everything
you said! What about the others? Lord Alec? Sirah? Would Quinn have
joined them in death, once you were done with her?”

“Quinn was my daughter. I would have never
placed her in harm’s way.”

“And you wanted to make her your wife? You
disgust me.”

“I didn’t want to marry Quinn, I just needed
to breed her. That’s a conversation we can keep for the trial,
though. A trial I won’t stand at without Quinn being here. Collect
your lawmakers and consult them if you want, and they’ll tell you
I’m well within my rights. I’m sorry highness, you might think
you’re in control here; you’
re just not. You
can
’t control me, nor can you keep control of those lords
that claim to be loyal. Your grip on the throne is failing, Vance.
One of these days, you’ll have to let it go.”

“You will die, Baron Sammah, and preferably
by my bare hands,” Vance hissed through the bars.

“Oh please, for the first time in your life,
get your hands dirty. Be a man. Give me a satisfactory way to leave
this world.”

With another growl, Vance stalked away, back
to his chambers. That left Eden alone again with Sammah, and this
time there were no guards in the vicinity to overhear their
conversation.

“
I don
’t need
Quinn back here, Eden, but you must admit, the wait will be handy.
Gives me a bit more time to line up the final overlooked pieces of
my plan, before this entire kingdom collapses. You’re close to
Vance now. You must see, like I did, that he can’t rule. At best he
is indecisive, and impulsive. Better that your father was in
charge, better than any other the lord was in charge, surely you
must see that?”

“Any of the lords? Not you?”

“Me perhaps, but then think how many people
I would have to fight to keep the throne. If had a puppet in
charge, that would be more effective. I could deal with that. I
just need to be the other side of the door. My time will still
come.”

“
I don
’t believe
anyone, any more. I can’t believe what comes out of Vance’s mouth,
nor what comes out of yours. I can’t even trust my own family.”

“Welcome to adulthood, Eden.”

The guardsmen hadn’t
brought any spare horses with them, so Quinn had been mounted in
front on
Evander
’s saddle, but Maertn and
Ross been forced to walk. Quinn hadn’t wanted to speak to the man,
so instead she spent her time taking in her surroundings, finally
getting her first look at the capital city of one of Sha’sek city
states. Farn seemed imposing from a distance, and close-up it was
awe-inspiring. If she had been in a talkative mood, Quinn would
have been dumbstruck once they got to the wall. She thought
Everfell’s walls were high, but they were dwarfed by comparison to
this. The walls vaulting into the sky were grey stone, cleanly hewn
and flat, not like the roughly chopped brickwork that made up the
castle of Everfell. Even mounted on a horse next to the wall, Quinn
had to squint to see men at the top of it. There were guardsmen all
along those walls, though she didn’t see any way an attacking force
could scale that sheer face.

Evander assured her that there was more than
one entrance to the city, and all of these were just as securely
guarded. They were coming to the main entrance, which led straight
to the centre of the city. Much like Everfell, it was a wide
archway with a lifted portcullis, with armed guards standing either
side monitoring those who entered and left the city. The walls were
thick, and the tunnel murky with guttering shadows thrown by the
torches hung at sparse intervals. Quinn would hate to walk through
this in the dead of night.