Secrets at the Keep (Kingdom of Denall Book 2) (28 page)

Trae smiled at the older man and the group who stood behind him. It wasn’t the most ideal looking group of soldiers, but they were willing volunteers, and it was their country just as much as it was anyone else’s. Jurden reached out and grasped the older man’s hand. “Welcome to the king’s army!”

“You are the worst servant in this entire keep!” Kire announced loudly as he woke Kaz in the morning. “Your boots on the floor, my breakfast not served, and now I find you asleep on the couch.” Seeing that Kaz was roused from his sleep, Kire winked and handed him the end of a piece of string. Kaz took the string with a yawn.

“What was that all about?” Kaz asked, still feeling mentally foggy from being woken up so rudely. “And why am I holding this string?” He was about to drop the string when Kire made an urgent motion indicating that he needed to keep holding it.

“This is part of what was in the bag from Dune. It is magically enhanced string. It blocks out any listeners from eavesdropping on our conversation.” The rope didn't look like anything special, but he saw no reason to drop it, so he continued to hold the end of the rope as Kire spoke. “From your description, I think that I met your friend P last night. She goes by Lady Pentra, proud daughter of the baron.”

Kaz abruptly sat up and almost lost his grip on the rope. Pentra being alive was more than he had hoped for. “What was she doing? Does Omer have her working as a servant?”

Kire shook his head. “It is much worse than that; she was dressed in fine clothing and mingling with all the guests, speaking nothing but good words about her father.”

“That doesn't make any sense,” Kaz began. “She hates her father. She came all the way back here so she could kill him.”

“Kaz, I wish we had time for me to let you figure this out on your own, but we are under a very tight time constraint,” Kire said looking down at him. Kaz had gotten used to Kire’s to the point way of speaking, but it still bothered him to have his inferior reasoning skills pointed out so blatantly.

“Why? What’s going on?” Kaz asked, looking at the door as if guards were going to burst in at any moment.

“We’re in Omer’s Keep,” Kire answered calmly. “We are trying to overthrow Omer. We’re not safe here. We need to act quickly if we are going to replace him, undo the evil he’s done in the area, save Pentra, and hopefully do it without alerting the handful of people who would actually notice or care if he was gone.”

“Wait, wait, wait!” Kaz said raising his hands to his head to stop the room from spinning. “Did you say replace Omer?”

“Yes of course,” Kire said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Someone needs to take over and help the people of this realm. That part is going to be a little tricky, but I have someone in mind for the job.”

Kaz nodded. “I’ll do it,” he said, sitting up straight on the chair.

Kire placed a hand on Kaz’s shoulder, a smile on his lips. “I appreciate your willingness to help, but the chances of you successfully running this keep in place of Omer and not being noticed is about thirty percent. We need someone who is familiar to the servants and soldiers and knowledgeable about the workings of the keep,” he explained.

“Pentra,” Kaz blurted out. “She could do it.” He cringed slightly, then looked at Kire, “But she’d hate to be cooped up here.”

“She would definitely have a better chance of success than you,” Kire said in a mater-of-fact way. “But, I think we’ll let her decide after we free them.”

“Them?” Kaz asked quickly, then he remembered, “Bendar,” he answered his own question.

“And the people of Hess,” Kire added. He stood up and had a more than usually serious face. “Kaz, there is a lot riding on us succeeding. More than just freeing Pentra and the slaves. It might prove to be instrumental in saving all of Denall, and there is one factor I cannot predict.”

“Just one? That’s not too bad,” Kaz concluded.

“One thing that doesn’t work could bring everything crashing down,” Kire corrected.

“What is it?” Kaz asked. He was worried that there was something Kire couldn’t figure out, but he also was excited that it seemed everything else was going to work.

“I saw Bendar last night,” Kire announced. Kaz wanted to ask a thousand questions about his friend, and he felt his heart leap with excitement. But before he could say anything Kire kept talking. “He was Omer’s decoy. His disguise was quite good, but he speaks far too much like an intellect,” Kire said with a smile.

“He’s being kept against his will, just like Pentra,” Kaz said quickly without any doubt in his mind.

Kire shook his head. “I’m not certain of that. Pentra had no signs of wearing the Hearing Stone, which means he has it again. Her heart rate increased every time she spoke glowingly about Omer, and her facial expressions gave away that she loathes him. Bendar actually looked like he was enjoying himself. He easily bragged about the things that were going well in the keep.”

“Of course he’s excited,” Kaz countered. “He’s from Dungan. This is a fascinating place.”

“You said he acted as Omer’s advisor when you attacked the keep, now he is Omer’s decoy. I don’t know anyone else who has risen so quickly into Omer’s circle.”

“That’s because he looks like Omer,” Kaz interrupted. “He would never side with that evil man!”

“I understand that he is your friend,” Kire said with a calming gesture, “but it is impossible for me to know with certainty that he is going to side with us.”

“It has nothing to do with calculations or percentages,” Kaz said in an annoyed tone. “He’s my friend and I know him.”

After a long look at Kaz, Kire nodded his head. “I have a meeting with Omer this afternoon, while I’m gone, I’ll need you to go talk with Bendar.”

*****

The room where Kire and Kaz were staying was on the east side of the keep. It was a nice, small room, but nothing compared to the lavish apartments Kaz passed as he approached the upper levels of the keep. The wall hangings increased in size, and on the highest floor of the keep the stone floor had been covered with a soft, red carpet. This helped to dull any sound Kaz was making as he moved down the hall, but he guessed that was not the purpose of this extravagant furnishing.

The highest level was eerie and quiet. There were no sounds of other servants rushing about, and no nobles or tradesmen were in sight. Kaz continued down the corridor in the direction Kire had told him he should go to find Omer's dressing room. He tried to look confident, as a servant on an errand should look, but he nearly jumped when a door swung open unexpectedly.

“Where are you going?” Kaz turned and saw a man emerging from the open door. He was wearing full armor and had Omer's seal on his breastplate. The voice of authority and full plate armor let Kaz know that this man was one of Omer's military leaders, perhaps a top commander in his castle defenses.

“I am going to Omer's changing quarters,” Kaz said as confidently as he could. Due to the large number of doubles for Omer, Kaz felt that this response would avoid unnecessary questions or distractions. It was also the truth and Kaz was not very good at lying.

The man looked down at Kaz and paused for a long moment. “He sure is picking young decoys these days. You best get a move on, the luncheon is starting soon.” Kaz knew that he should go right away to the changing room, but instead he paused outside the open door. “Do you need something else?” The man seemed rushed to get somewhere.

“Do you think I look anything like him?” He needed at some point to find out how many people in the keep could identify Omer.

Much to his delight, the man looked down at Kaz and gruffly replied, “How should I know, kid? Now get out of here!” Kaz quickly moved down the hall, breathing a sigh of relief. When he arrived at the door of the changing room, he pushed the door open and came face to face with Bendar, getting prepared to act as Omer in the upcoming meeting.

Bendar looked at Kaz. In an instant, his face changed from surprise, to recognition, then back into character as Omer. Kaz was probably the last person Bendar thought he would see in Omer's dressing room. Staying in character, Bendar waved for his other servants to clear the room while he called for Kaz to help him put on his shoes. When the room was clear he asked, “What are you doing here?”

Kaz handed Bendar the end of a piece of string, which Bendar took with a look of apprehension. “I'm here to get you out of this place,” Kaz replied quickly. Then dropping all pretenses he grabbed his friend in a long embrace. Kaz was surprised that Bendar did not return the hug, but instead stood stock-still. When Kaz pulled back from the hug we was surprised to see a look of deep contemplation on Bendar’s face instead of happiness.

When he spoke his words were intense, on the fringe of anger. “I risked my life to get you as far away from here as possible. I gave up everything for you. Why didn't you just stay away? Do you not care at all for the sacrifices I have made?”

Hurt and a little surprised, Kaz retorted, “I'm here to save you. Do you understand the risk I've taken to come here?”

Bendar waved him to silence. “The risk you took! I was starved in their dungeon for a week just to convince Omer that I was telling the truth about that stone being stolen. Now I do not sleep, I barely eat, and I am sworn to spend every waking hour searching for those wretched Stones of Power. He has threatened to kill my family.”

At this declaration Kaz began to understand the true risk he was taking in trusting Bendar to be a part of their plans. Bendar was his friend, but no matter how strong a friendship, he understood that Bendar could not agree to help them when it meant risking the lives of his parents. Kaz became acutely aware of the stone he felt against his skin.

“You're right. I should probably go,” Kaz said, realizing that he needed to get out of the keep, regroup with Kire and make a better plan -- one that did not depend on Bendar.

As soon as Kaz suggested leaving, Bendar's eyes narrowed. Kaz had spoken too soon and given away his desire to be out of the keep.

“You have the stone with you right now do you not?” Bendar said, looking Kaz over. Kaz backed up against the wall as Bendar advanced. “You really should not have come back.”

Kire was surprised at the luncheon when he was seated with some nobles, but Omer did not come. He ate the food and talked with several potential customers about the medicinal benefits of his creams and lotions. He did his best to hide the feeling that something was going terribly wrong. While their plan was not complicated, he had not felt entirely confident that Kaz was ready to complete his part. He was a good man with a solid head on his shoulders, but an impulsive head. He also had some strong reservations about Bendar.

When the final course was cleared, Kire stood and was preparing to retire to his quarters when he was delivered a note. Thanking the servant who delivered the message, Kire moved to a secluded place in the dining room and read the short summons to meet with Omer.

On the outside, Kire was as calm and level as always, but on the inside he was in a complete panic. This was not a social call to discuss the next shipment of ointment. The note was written in short, fast cursive – the handwriting of an angry man capable of anything. Kire was not concerned for himself; he had gotten out of tighter fixes than this before, but he was deathly scared for his young companion. What had Kaz done to attract such attention?

Sitting outside in the waiting room was a familiar face. “Hello Lady Pentra,” Kire said with an incline of his head.

As a noble she did not need to acknowledge the greeting of a tradesman, but she did turn to face him and returned a polite salutation.

“Hello Kire.” Kire looked at Pentra quizzically as if to ask how she knew his name. In response to his look she added, “My
friends
call me P.”

“P it is then.” A large bodyguard who was standing near Pentra cleared his throat meaningfully, and Pentra was quick to turn herself away from Kire, closing off any further opportunity of conversation. He did not know what he was going to witness when he walked through the large doors that loomed in front of him, but he did know now that he had an ally. A potentially unstable, revenge seeking ally, but all the same, he was not going in alone.

The doors opened and Pentra and Kire were escorted into the room by her bodyguard. The room was much more crowded than normal as Pentra’s bodyguard took up position on one side of Kire and Pentra and another moved forward to stand on their other side. Two more guards stood on either side of Omer’s desk. In the corner the scribe was sitting taking careful notes, and behind the desk Omer was sitting next to a young man Kire quickly identified as Bendar.

“Hello, Lord Omer,” Kire said with a respectful bow. “What an honor it is to be invited to your audience chamber.”

“Dispense with the pleasantries, Kire. What are you doing here?” Omer was clearly upset.

“I'm here to trade for your wonderful honey,” Kire began with a friendly smile.

“Trinac,” Omer said as though bored. Kire saw a shadow move on the wall, and he knew the bodyguard behind him was moving to strike. He could have dodged the blow and started a fist fight, but he needed more information from Omer. He moved slightly to lessen the impact as the guard kicked him in the back of the knee. Kire fell to the ground and remained there looking frail and injured.

While he was getting up, Pentra interceded. “What are you doing, Father? What is the meaning of this?” She reached down and gave a hand to Kire to help him to his feet.

Omer surprised Kire with his next move. He lifted a small, polished stone in his left hand and placed it on the desk in front of him. A small door on the far side of the room opened and a guard led Kaz into the chamber, bound and blindfolded. He had a large, purplish bruise that had already formed on his left cheek, and his face and shirt were heavily streaked with blood. The guard roughly pushed Kaz into the room, causing him to stumble and fall to the ground near where the scribe was sitting, not recording what happened in this meeting.

Kaz started to struggle to his feet as Bendar gracefully rose to his. “I grew up with this boy. I know what he is capable of.” He looked at Kire with a penetrating stare. “When he came to the dressing room and told me of his plan to kill Omer I relieved him of this.” Holding out a polished stone of his own, he dropped it on the table and then continued. “As promised Omer, I have delivered the stone.” Kire looked at Kaz and then over at Bendar. Something wasn’t quite adding up with this situation.

Omer picked up the stone, placed his hand under his large, marble desk and strained his muscles to heft the desk into the air. The desk did not move. Anger filled his face and he flushed red. “It's not the Strength Stone!” Then he regained some calm and continued, “However it is still one less out in the wild; one I can give to my master when he arrives.”

Bendar, still standing, made a bow to Omer. “I am sorry that this is not what you were seeking, but it is delivered, as promised, and we now have all the traitors gathered.” Bendar’s voice was slightly trembling and he looked up to the left.
He was lying, but why? What did he have to hide? Who was he lying to?
Then Bendar turned to Pentra and Kire and made steady eye contact with each in turn as he addressed them. “To make sure you do not get any ideas, I have summoned
all
of Omer's personal guards.”

Pentra made an imperceptible shift in her weight as if preparing to lunge at Omer, but Kire reached out and softly touched her arm. Kire looked around the room. The men who were gathered were not the same guards that had flanked Bendar the previous night; these were Omer’s personal guards.

Bendar continued to address Kire. “Kaz told me everything. He told me how he planned to replace Omer, and how he thought that you could just pick someone new to take over at this keep. The only thing he needed from me was to play along in this traitorous scheme. Perhaps you thought I would be the one to replace Omer.” Bendar looked over at Omer and then he looked back at Kire. “You have no idea what it takes to maintain safety in a dangerous realm -- it takes loyalty and
friends
.” Bendar inclined his head slightly as he finished his small speech.

When Bendar finished speaking, Kire felt he had almost everything figured out that was happening in the room. He was about to release his grip on Pentra’s arm and start the fight for the keep when Omer stood up. He angrily slammed his hands down on the large desk. “Did you honestly think you could replace me? Nobody can replace me! You don't even have the slightest idea of the plans that are in place, plans to ensure our safety for generations.” Omer stood, waiting for a response, and Kire took a step forward. When he moved, none of the guards closed in. As he predicted, they foolishly thought he was no threat. That would work to his advantage.

“I think I have a pretty good idea of your plans,” Kire said in a calm tone. He did not need to raise his voice as Omer did to get people to listen; when he spoke, people listened because he had a presence that demanded respect. He wanted to slow things down a bit so he could have time to assess the threats in the room.

“You simple-minded fool!” Omer interrupted loudly. “You just make healing balms! What could you possibly know or understand about what happens here?”

Omer stood waiting for a response, but Kire was looking around the room at the gathered soldiers. They were all strongarms, probably ones that had been used in the experimentations Dune had told him about. They would have exceptional strength. After making a quick look around the room, he directed his attention back to Omer. “So you're done with your rant, are you?” Kire asked rhetorically. “Good, then I will begin; correct me if I'm wrong on any points. Though you typically order two or three jars of each ointment and balm which I produce, this year I received an order for an entire wagonload of supplies, with an emphasis on the ointments meant to treat open wounds. This was the first clue that you were doing something here other than business as usual. This amount is sufficient to sustain a small army. But how could you raise an army? Despite your heavy recruiting this previous season, there could not have been more than a hundred or so available men of fighting age in a demographic that would be interested in the pay rate you offer for hired muscle.” Kire paused for a moment to note Omer’s surprised and unsettled look. Before allowing Omer to recover from his stunned silence, he continued. “However, a batch of naïve new recruits could easily be sent with a few hundred slaves from Hess to deliver supplies to feed an invading force that will be landing shortly. Have I missed anything yet?” Kire was staring Omer directly in the eye and his penetrating look demanded silence. “The main body of men has left already with wagons and some supplies, there are more slaves awaiting marching orders, and your extra carts and wagons are arriving to transport the remaining supplies within days.”

Pentra's breath caught as Kire said these words. “He is sending more men out to be killed for their gifts?” Her question was directed to Kire.

“Practically all of them I would wager,” he said, looking at Omer. “His lust for power is so great and his value for life is so little that he would sacrifice every one of them for the chance of raising an army that would allow him to seize control of the whole country.”

“Stop this at once!” Omer said, turning beet red and jumping to his feet as he slammed his fist on the table again. “If you think you have it all figured out, then answer this, herb trader, why would I ever want to support Mordyar's army? My entire life is Denall.” After this question, he sat in his chair to resume the proceedings. “Now as punishment for your crimes…”

Continuing in a steady tone despite the personal danger, Kire addressed Omer. “I’m not finished yet, you imbecile.” Then Kire turned to the guards. “Indeed, why would you ever align yourself with Mordyar? What would you have to gain from the destruction of the kingdom? You have more wealth and power than anyone – except the king.” Omer’s face flushed at this statement. Kire leaned forward and placed his hands down on Omer’s desk and glared at the baron. “You think you can double cross Mordyar? Allow him to weaken Denall, remove the king, and then what? You will swoop in to save the kingdom, using your army of super soldiers to take down the most powerful sorcerer the world has ever known? You are a fool. And the worst part is, you could have done such good,” Kire concluded with a sad look on his face, “but you would rather be a ruler over a broken country, than a hero who helped save it.”

Omer looked shocked and surprised that Kire had outlined almost every part of a plan that he had thought was completely secret. He recovered quickly though and laughed out loud. “Save Denall? Do you really think we can stand against Mordyar? He has crushed nations with twice our military power.”

Kire shook his head in despair. “He is weak,” he said, looking at the two foreign guards in the room. “Just look at these men. They needed to take someone else’s gift just to stand against Denallian men. Mordyar needed your supplies and support for his invading army, did he not? Don’t you see? The reason other nations have fallen is because they were not united. It’s because of men like you.” He pointed his finger accusingly at Omer. “And that is why we’re taking you down!”

As if on cue, Kaz swung his arms in an arc toward the nearest guard. The guard noticed Kaz's movement a moment too late and the shackles that held his hands together caught the guard in the face, breaking his nose and bringing immediate tears to his eyes. Kaz used this moment of surprise to strike the scribe. The scribe had a fraction of a second warning to prepare a defense, but it was a weak one. He saw Kaz swinging with full force at his head and he placed both hands in front of his face bracing himself for the impact of the metal connecting with his strong hands. Unfortunately, the scribe had covered his line of sight and at the last moment, Kaz changed the direction of his swing and without losing any speed or force he hit the man right in the groin. Kaz then turned to deliver a powerful kick to the head of the guard who was recovering his sight and a knee to the face of the scribe, who was bent in half, holding his injured manhood.

Although shocked at first, either by Kaz's miraculous recovery to full vitality, or by the fact that he was attacking guards while blindfolded, the others in the room were quick to join the action. Omer drew his sword and swung it at Kire. The older man ducked nimbly under the swing and struck out with a kick to the knee of the guard closest to him. He rolled to the side to avoid a downward swing from the second guard, and came up on his feet behind a guard. He dodged to the side as the guard threw a wild punch and then he quickly shot his arm out poking the guard in the eyes. The massive man reached for his face and dropped to the ground and Kire knocked his head off the solid desk leaving him unconscious on the floor.

After missing Kire, Omer leapt across the table and straight toward Pentra with rage in his eyes. The four remaining guards rallied around Omer and surrounded Pentra. While they were wise to recognize the danger that Pentra was to them, they were also colossally foolish to ignore Kire and the blindfolded and shackled Kaz. Kire turned and grabbed the foreign guard on his left, pressing his thumb into a pressure point on the guard’s wrist that made him scream out in pain. The large guard turned around to deliver a spinning backhand to Kire, but Kire dodged the massive fist, and stomped down hard on the man’s foot, then drove his elbow into the man’s gut. He shifted his weight to his left leg and kicked backward with his right hitting the man in the knee. There was a loud cracking sound, and the guard fell to the ground clutching his leg.

Across the room, Kaz moved quickly to intercept the other foreign guard on the left side of the desk. This guard had been standing closest to Omer and was the largest of the guards in the room. Despite his size, he moved very quickly. Kaz swung his shackled hands toward the large man, but the guard ducked the swing and made a quick jab as a counter attack. Though still blindfolded, Kaz was able to dodge the incoming fist and counter by landing a quick kick to the guard's ribs. As Kaz connected with the ribs, Kire heard a sharp popping sound, and the guard let out an agonized scream. Then the guard lunged forward with lightning speed, with both hands out, catching Kaz around the middle. The initial hit knocked Kaz off balance, and as the two men fell to the floor, Kaz swung wildly, hitting the man again and again in the head with his chains while the man squeezed Kaz's middle. The two fell in a heap, Kaz’s face turning bright red as the guard was quickly crushing the air and life out of him.