Sovereign Stone (43 page)

“Master sends new instructions,” Kludge said in his raspy and simpering voice. “Do not harm the pretender. Send him on his way. Master has other plans.”

Landon looked suddenly alarmed, almost on the verge of panic. “But I’ve already given the order. He may already be dead.”

Kludge wrung his clawed little hands and smiled with malice. “If he dies, you will die slowly. Call off the attack and let him leave unharmed. Master commands it.”

Landon’s eyes grew wide and he bolted for the door, shouting for his administrator. Alexander snapped back to his body and called for Chloe to return to him. A moment later she spun into existence in a ball of scintillating light right next to him.

Alexander burst from the bathing room with his sword in hand. “Assassin,” he shouted. Anatoly was on his feet with his axe in hand scanning for danger in an instant. A moment later everyone else was up and looking for the threat.

Alexander scrutinized the large sitting room at the center of the guest chambers, looking for the telltale colors of a living aura. He was a fraction of a second too late. His warning had forced the enemy’s hand. A small slot opened in the wall and the tip of an arrow showed through.

Isabel heard the sound of the slot opening and whirled to see the enemy. She dove just as the arrow was released. It was a clean shot. It would have caught Alexander full in the chest. Without his armor, it would probably have killed him. Instead, Isabel took the arrow in her left shoulder, the glass arrowhead filled with poison shattering into the wound. She screamed as it hit her and then toppled to the floor. Anatoly tossed a knife at the slot in the wall but the assassin was gone.

Alexander raced to Isabel’s side. She was shock white and shivering. “I’m so sorry, Isabel. Please hold on. Lucky will save you.” He hastily wiped tears from his cheek. “I love you.”

Isabel forced a smile. “I love you too, Alexander,” she said through the pain. “Now let Lucky work on me and go find that assassin.” She put her hand on his cheek and wiped away fresh tears.

Lucky was there a moment later. “Stand aside, Alexander. I need room to work.” Alexander stood up with a building feeling of panic growing in his chest.

Anatoly grabbed him by the arm and pulled him away from Isabel. “Turn it to anger. We’re still in danger. Lucky will do everything that can be done for her.” Before Anatoly could say more, there was an urgent knock at the door.

Jack looked over to Abigail who nodded while nocking an arrow. Jack opened the door to find Regent Landon standing in the hall with a terrified look on his face.

“Lord Alexander, I’ve just learned of a plot against you,” he said in a rush, then he saw Isabel and realized he was too late. “Oh, Dear Maker, I’ll send for my personal physician at once,” he said entering the room with his aid and two guards.

Alexander turned his glittering gaze on the Regent. Landon froze in midstep. When his two guards saw the murderous look in Alexander’s eyes, they both drew their swords and tried to place themselves between Alexander and the Regent. Landon and his aid turned and ran. The first guard fell from Abigail’s arrow, which drove through his throat and into the wall behind him. Jack slipped up behind the second soldier, put a knife to his throat and pulled him out of the way as Alexander bolted through the door with Anatoly on his heels.

He looked down the hall to see the Regent and his aid fleeing just as Kevin and three Rangers turned the corner. At first glance, Kevin smiled when he saw Alexander, then he saw the Thinblade drawn and the Regent running away and he drew his sword.

“Stop them!” Alexander commanded.

Without hesitation, the four Rangers fanned out across the wide hall, blocking the Regent’s escape. He came to a cautious stop and looked around in a panic like a trapped rat. As Alexander approached, the aid tried to place himself between Alexander and the Regent, brandishing a knife in warning. Alexander cut the man’s hand off with a flick of the Thinblade and then drove the blade straight through Regent Landon’s shoulder with the flat of the blade horizontal. Landon screamed. Alexander grabbed him by the collar to keep him from falling and bore into him with the glittering fury of his golden-flecked eyes.

“What’s happened, Lord Alexander?” Kevin asked.

Without looking at his brother-in-law, Alexander answered, “An assassin just shot Isabel with an arrow.” Both Kevin’s and Landon’s faces went white. “Regent Landon here sent the assassin to kill me by Phane’s order, but Isabel threw herself in the arrow’s path. She saved my life.” Landon started to tremble from the pain and fear as Alexander held him up with the blade of his sword.

Kevin turned and gave one of the Rangers a nod. He bolted down the hall at the silent command. Alexander ignored everything around him except the man on his blade.

“How long have you been in league with Phane?” Alexander asked. When Landon hesitated, he turned the blade slightly and the man screamed. “I’ll know if you lie to me,” Alexander growled.

“Please, don’t! Phane said he’d make me King of Ruatha if I helped him. I’ve been working for him since you came to Southport just a few days after he woke. I didn’t want to, but he threatened me. I’m afraid of him,” Landon said, breaking down into tears. Alexander saw fear in his colors but no remorse. The man was as self-serving as he was dishonest, even under stress.

“Why did Phane change his orders?”

Landon’s eyes registered surprise. “How . . .” Alexander turned the blade of his sword again and Landon screamed.

“Answer me!”

“I don’t know. Please, you have to believe me. I don’t know. He doesn’t tell me his plans. He just sends orders and threatens me if I fail. Please don’t kill me. I don’t want to die.” Even through the pain and fear, Landon was trying to play on Alexander’s reputation for simple decency. It took a special kind of criminal to keep up his calm calculation under such duress.

Alexander withdrew his sword without cutting him further. The Regent slumped to the floor just as a dozen Southport city guard rounded the corner. They drew weapons the moment they saw the Regent on the ground and Alexander standing over him with his sword. Alexander kicked the man over on his side while fixing the guard force with his fury. He strode forward past Kevin and the Rangers who fanned out behind him, weapons drawn and ready.

Alexander stopped ten paces from the soldiers and pointed the Thinblade at them. “Landon is in league with Phane. He’s a traitor to Ruatha and an enemy of the Old Law. Surrender your weapons now.”

The sergeant of the guard hesitated for a moment before Regent Landon shouted at them, “Attack, you fools!”

Without looking over his shoulder, Alexander said, “Anatoly, kill him.” He heard the sickening thump of the axe fall across the Regent’s neck a moment later even as he met the charge of the Southport guard.

The sergeant reached him first. Alexander slipped to the side of his thrust and drove the Thinblade into the center of the man’s chest, then sliced laterally out his shoulder, bringing the blade across and extending his reach just enough to slice the next man’s throat. He reminded himself that he wasn’t wearing his armor as he lopped the tip off a spear with the flick of his wrist. The Thinblade moved with lightning speed back across the soldier and sliced a gash across his chest four inches deep. Alexander whirled into the mass of them and sliced in a broad arc, cutting three men in half with one stroke. The rich carpet soaked up the blood.

Anatoly, Kevin, and the two Rangers stepped into the fray and only moments later the dozen soldiers were nothing but scattered carnage. The fight ended as abruptly as it had started. Alexander was splattered with crimson across his bare chest and face. He looked like the fury of death itself.

He turned when he heard boots running toward them and was relieved to see a platoon of thirty Rangers thundering up the hall.

He headed back to the room where Isabel lay injured by an arrow meant for him. He shoved his worry aside and focused his thoughts on the precarious situation they were in. “Kevin, secure this hall and send orders to your forces to take Southport in my name immediately.” Alexander didn’t break stride or even look over at Kevin as he issued his orders. “Also send word to the commanders of the Southport legions that the Regent has been executed for treason. Any who wish to stand against me will suffer the same fate.”

Kevin issued orders to his men and two of them broke away from the cordon surrounding Alexander and set off at a dead run. Alexander walked into the room past the soldier who was now disarmed and sitting in a chair looking at Abigail and her bow. He started trembling when he saw the blood splattered across Alexander’s chest and face.

Alexander knelt beside Isabel. Kevin was there a moment later. She was still and her face was pale. She looked so peaceful. If he couldn’t have seen her colors, he would have thought she was dead. Lucky had dressed her wound and given her some healing draught.

“Is she dead?” Kevin asked with a hint of panic.

“No, she’s alive,” Lucky said, “but she’s been poisoned.” He turned Alexander by the shoulders to look him directly in the eye. His fear spiked into sickening panic when he saw the look of despair in Lucky’s eyes.

“My boy, I’ve given her something to slow the poison but I have nothing that can stop it. Eventually it will kill her.” A tear slipped down Lucky’s cheek.

Alexander sat down hard, staring in disbelief at his old mentor.

“She can’t die,” Kevin said, “she’s my little sister. This can’t be happening. You have to save her,” he said urgently, taking Lucky by the robe and starting to shake him as if that would change the reality of the situation.

He stopped when he heard Isabel’s voice. “Kevin? Is that you?” she mumbled.

He released Lucky and went to her side. She smiled up at her brother. “It’s good to see you,” she said, taking his hand.

“I’m here, Isabel,” Kevin said, his eyes watery and his voice cracking.

She smiled up at him. “Alexander and I are married. The Fairy Queen presided over our wedding. It was so beautiful, Kevin. I wish you could have been there.”

“Me too, Little Sister,” Kevin said. “Mom and Dad will be so happy.” His voice broke a bit in anguish.

Lucky put his hand on Kevin’s shoulder. “She needs to rest.”

Kevin looked over and nodded, sniffing back more tears. “I’ll be here when you wake, Isabel,” he said. She was unconscious before he finished speaking.

Alexander sat staring in disbelief. He knew Lucky was very good at his craft and he would never have made such a pronouncement unless he was certain. Alexander just couldn’t make himself accept the reality of the situation. They had just gotten married. He loved her with his whole heart; he knew that losing her would break his spirit.

“Lucky,” he croaked, “There has to be a way to save her.” His statement was the embodiment of misery. The look on Lucky’s face reflected his own suffering and only served to confirm the diagnosis.

“I’m sorry, I wish there was more I could do.”

Chapter 38

 “How long does she have?” Alexander asked.

“A few days, maybe a week,” Lucky said quietly. The pronouncement was so final and so immediate that Alexander had a hard time accepting the truth of it. He knew Lucky would never mislead him about something so important, but he wanted to believe his old mentor was just plain wrong. He struggled to face the truth of the sentence, but every time he looked directly at it, he couldn’t help but reject it. It felt like his sanity was unraveling.

Chloe buzzed up to him. “Do you still have the fairy dust?”

He could feel her worry for him. He nodded numbly. She buzzed over to Lucky. “I will guide you. With fairy dust you can make a much more potent healing draught. It may not save her, but it will give her more time.”

Alexander shot to his feet at the sound of hope and rushed to his pack. He tore through it until he found his coin purse and held it out to Lucky like it was the most important thing in the world. Lucky looked skeptical but he took it with care and opened it to reveal the iridescent white powder. He smiled at the sight. “Alexander, this is worth a king’s ransom. Fairy dust is very powerful. If anything can save her, this can.”

A Ranger entered in a rush. “The commanders of the legions from Southport and Highlands Reach are here,” he announced. “General Fabian of Southport is demanding an explanation. He’s seen the body of the Regent and his guards and he’s furious.”

“Send them in,” Alexander commanded, then turned to Lucky. “What do you need to make this potion?”

“A lab with glassware and some time,” Lucky said. “I have all of the ingredients I need.” He patted his bag.

Alexander strode over to the terrified, one-handed aid. The Rangers had collected him from the hall and brought him into the room. He was sitting on the floor in pain and fear. “Where can we find a laboratory with glassware?” he asked urgently and in a tone that would not accept anything less than an honest answer.

The aid looked up and stammered, “Three floors down. The court wizard has a workshop.”

“Where is the wizard and what’s his name?”