Second Guard (32 page)

“He will not have the chance,” Jaden said, resting the icy tip of his blade upon her neck.

T
ali put a hand to her throat and swallowed slowly at the memory of Jaden’s final words to her. “You and your two friends are dismissed
from the Alcazar immediately. I expect you long gone by first light, lest you stay and face punishment for trespass and treason,” he’d said, his words as chilling as the sword on her
neck.

She had run directly to Chey and Zarif’s room, where she now paced inside the cramped quarters. “We cannot just slink away into the night!” she cried. “We must see
Telendor!”

Chey and Zarif exchanged a look, then continued to pack quietly. Tali walked over to Zarif’s cot, where he was stuffing books and clothes into a large leather satchel. She snatched the
satchel from his cot, forcing him to face her. “Zarif, stop! You must come with me to speak with Telendor.”

“What we must do is leave, Tali,” Zarif said. “You nearly got yourself killed just now.”

“By a traitor!” Tali said. “We need to warn Telendor that his son is working against the realm. Once he knows the truth, surely we’ll be reinstated.”

“Do you honestly think he’s going to believe three pledges against the word of his own son, Tali?” Chey said, his meager belongings already packed in two small bundles.

“He must!” Tali cried. “He believed my word against Drayvon’s, remember? And I told you about the quarrel at the hot springs. He knows Jaden is up to no good, he said so
himself. He’ll believe me, I know it!”

Zarif shook his head firmly. “This is different, Tali. You’re lucky to be alive. Jaden could have killed you on the spot for insubordination. We’ll go to Porto Sol and figure
out our next course of action,” he said, pulling down the few remaining items from his bookshelf.

Already the boys’ room looked stark and bare. They’ve given up, Tali thought. Do they not realize what’s at stake? The Diosa’s strange words in the salt mines came back
to her then, words she had not understood at the time, but now seemed more than clear:
Sometimes disobeying orders is the only way to follow them.
“We swore an oath to serve and
protect our Queen, not to hide in Porto Sol,” Tali said, her voice harsher and louder than she expected.

“The Queen is in no immediate danger,” Zarif said, his voice even and calm, “unless you have found evidence otherwise that you haven’t disclosed to us.”

“I showed you Saavedra’s notes. Jaden is smuggling gold to another realm! And anyone who gets in his way suffers dearly. That would explain the dead pledge, the burned tradeboat,
Paulo, Saavedra, the bluejackets, the missing miners…all of it!”

“No doubt you’re right,” Chey agreed, “which is why we need to leave immediately, before Jaden makes good on his threat. You cannot serve the Queen from a funeral pyre,
Tali.”

It was the best argument she’d heard. And for a breath, she considered it. Her friends had made up their minds and would not budge. Nor would she push them any further. In all honesty, she
was amazed they were still talking to her. She should have left Saavedra’s cottage when they had. Instead, not only did she get caught for trespassing, she had implicated her friends as well.
Now they were all being sent home in disgrace. Because of
her
. She could not let it happen.

“You must let it go for now,” Zarif said, reaching for a bag under the bed.

“Tali,” Chey said, putting his arm around her shoulders, “we promise to plan our next move once we’re safe in Porto Sol.”

“Pack. Get some sleep,” Zarif said. “We’ll meet in the stables an hour before dawn.”

Tali bit her lip and nodded. “I’ll go,” she said.

“To bed?” Chey asked, head tilted to look at her with one eye. He looked like a young mother scolding a child. Tali would have laughed any other night.

“Yes, to bed,” she answered, closing the door behind her.
After I see Telendor.

Tali slipped out of the men’s tower and crossed the inner courtyard of the Alcazar, keeping close to the fortress walls for cover.
Intiq, God of light and warmth, show me my path.
She said the prayer over and over again, like the links of a chain. She must see Telendor and explain somehow. She should never have challenged Jaden or revealed what she knew. How could she think
he would not retaliate?

Her father’s voice drifted into her mind: “A fool hands his anger a sword.” She sighed heavily at her own foolishness.

As always, two well-armed sentries stood at attention outside Telendor’s tower. Tali hesitated to approach, but could see no alternative. She lifted her head and marched to the door.

“State your business.”

“I am Tali Sanchez of the Magda River Traders—”

The taller of the two guards interrupted her. “You are a pledge of the Second Guard and should identify yourself as such,” he said, his reprimand not unkind.

Not anymore, she thought. But she had no time to waste on explanations. “Excuse me, sir. I am Talimendra Sanchez, Second Guard pledge. I wish to see Commander Telendor, please.”

“The commander is too busy tonight for pledges and their squabbles,” the smaller guard said.

Tali swallowed her irritation.
Are you his secretary or his sentry?
she wanted to ask, but kept herself in check this time. “The matter is urgent. I bring information of vital
importance for the realm.”

“For the
realm
, you say?” the shorter guard asked with a smirk. “Is that so?” He raised his eyebrows in jest at his partner, but the taller guard scrutinized
Tali with a more thoughtful gaze.

“I swear it by the Oath of Guilds,” Tali said, raising her right hand to make the sign.

The tall sentry hesitated no more. He pushed open the heavy door behind him and gestured for Tali to enter.

Once again Tali found herself climbing the circular stone staircase with a feeling of dread in her stomach.
It ended well last time,
she told herself.
Be brave and tell the
truth.
A candle flickered inside the glass globe outside of Telendor’s office. She counted to three, then tapped on his half-closed door. “Commander?”

“Enter.”

Tali walked into the dark quarters. Telendor sat behind his large desk, a pile of paper and a flagon of wine in front of him. Though she had been in the round room once before, it now felt
cavernous and cold with just the two of them inside.

“Talimendra,” he said, looking up from his work.

Tali swallowed, unsure whether to feel honored or ashamed by his recognition. What if Jaden had already spoken to him?

“I hope you are not here to report further problems with Drayvon,” the commander said, straightening the papers on his desk.

“No, sir,” Tali said quickly, then forced herself to take a breath.
Jaden hasn’t been here. He doesn’t know.

“Have a seat.”

“I prefer to stand, sir, if it is fine with you.”

He gave a curt nod.

“Sir, there is no easy way to say this. I believe your son Jaden has been smuggling gold out of Tequende. Manuel de Saavedra also believed this to be true, and that is why he was found
dead three days ago.”

Telendor stiffened and narrowed his eyes. “These are serious charges you bring before me. Are you certain they are not borne of grief? Saavedra died from handling sick pigeons, according
to the doctor.”

“It was made to appear so, but I believe he was poisoned. I found his notes while packing his room. Saavedra believed that gold—gold found in Tequende’s salt mines—was
being smuggled to New Castille or Oest Andoria.” Tali hesitated to go on. Telendor was no longer looking at her, but staring at a point beyond her. I am accusing his only child of treason,
Tali thought. It must be difficult to learn that your own son could be capable of such treachery. Tali pushed the sympathy from her mind to continue. “I must admit something else as well, my
commander.”

He clasped his hands together on his desk and nodded for her to continue.

“I overheard your conversation with Jaden on the last night of the Clash.”

Telendor’s eyebrows shot up, his eyes now burning through her.

“I did not mean to, sir. I…I was bathing in the springs. I heard what you said to him. You know that your son is endangering the realm. And now he has dismissed my friends and me
from the Alcazar, because we found out. I beg you, sir, you must at least reinstate Zarif and Chey. They—
we
are pledged to serve the realm and have only acted according to our
oath.”

“I see,” Telendor said quietly.

“You will not send us away, then?”

“I would not dream of it.”

Tali breathed a sigh of relief. Thank the Gods, she thought. I knew he would see reason.

“Guards!” Telendor called. Two men appeared from an adjoining door that Tali had not noticed before. “Escort this pledge to the dungeon, then see that her friends Zarif and
Chey join her there.”

“The dungeon?” Tali said, her heart beating in alarm. “But I thought—”

“It is the only place I can guarantee your safety for now.” Telendor came around from behind the enormous desk and placed his hands on her shoulders. “Trust me to do my
duty.”

“Yes, sir,” she said, her voice barely more than a whisper.

The stark dungeon held no one save the three pledges. A single jailer had been stationed to bring them food and escort them when necessary to a nearby water chamber to relieve
themselves. Though the food was no worse than the simple fare fed to pledges, the grass-filled sleeping mats crawled with fleas. Tali chewed her nails to the quick so she could scratch without
ripping her skin to shreds. Besides, it gave her something to do when she wasn’t cursing herself.

She had been duped, of course. Telendor had thrown her in the dungeon to silence her, not save her. He was obviously trying to protect Jaden and undo the damage before it was too late. How
foolish she had been! And now her dearest friends were locked up with her, powerless to do or change anything. They had tried to tell her.
Why didn’t I listen?
Tali dropped her head
into her hands again and tried to think of a way out. Although it had only been two days, Tali felt as if the damp dungeon walls had held her for weeks.

Chey ripped a small hole in one of the mats and pulled out a few strands of grass, weaving them together. At least he no longer paces, Tali thought. He looked miserable, crouched in his corner
of the dungeon, though he had not complained, not even once. Zarif had somehow convinced the jailer to let him bring a book with him, which he kept carefully wrapped in cloth to protect it from the
damp. He sat reading next to the iron bars of their cell, where a slant of light from a torch barely illuminated the pages in front of him. Both boys had spoken little, but Tali felt their anger,
their disappointment. She did not blame them.

Her own thoughts had turned as dark as their cell, and what little hope she’d first clung to had by now scurried off to find light somewhere else. Bitterness had become her companion
instead, an invisible prisoner locked up beside her. Tali stood and kicked an iron bar. “How could he do it?” she yelled, tired of the silence.

“Telendor or Jaden?” Chey finally asked, wrapping the braided grass around his fingers.

“Telendor. Jaden wanted gold; I understand his motive,” Tali said, pinching a flea between her grubby fingers. “I don’t like greed, but at least I understand
it.”

Zarif looked up from his reading. “Telendor’s motive was loyalty,” he said, closing the book in his hands. “Misplaced, of course, for his son instead of his realm, but
loyalty leads him.”

“Loyalty should not change hands so easily,” Tali said, gripping the iron bars of the cell to channel her anger.