The King's Sons (The Herezoth Trilogy) (33 page)

Wilhem
said, “We’ll need all the aid we can get. We….”

He
stopped talking when his uncle sent him a warning glare. Zacry then said,
“Jane, Lottie, we should get to work on that spell. Now.”

“Go
to the library,” said Vane. “There’s ink there, and enough paper for what
you’re attempting, as long as you’re careful not to waste any. Gratton, Bruan,”
—the balding, scarred general looked to the duke— “all my plans of
the manor are there too. In the desk, the cabinet on the left-hand side. In the
Giver’s name, start putting some kind of defensive plan together.

“Remember,
Linstrom and his men can only enter through doors and windows. They can’t
penetrate my walls, and I’m sure I can find spells to reinforce every window in
the manor. Consider panes unbreakable, from either side.”

The
general remarked, in his gruff way, “I’ll concentrate on doors, then.”

“Doors,”
Vane agreed. “Linstrom can’t bring the fence down, but he can transport inside
it. As for your soldiers positioned here: I know cloaking spells. I can prevent
detection magic betraying us, so we won’t scare Linstrom off to attack
somewhere else. I’ll join you as soon as I can.”

The
elder sorcerers and the soldiers filed out the parlor. The twins and Rexy,
Kora’s sons, Hune: they all looked stunned. Not one of them seemed to notice
people exiting. Vane recalled them to the moment while the king watched on.

“Wilhem,
Walt, you trained with your uncle. You’ll know spells and strategies Jane’s
students don’t, and vice-versa. Compare your knowledge. Share everything you
can with each other. Understand?” They all nodded. “Hune, can I entrust the
removal of my servants to you? They must be gone before the sun sinks, all of
them. Make them understand they can’t return tonight, without alarming them. We
can’t have word spreading through the city we’re preparing for an attack.”

“Consider
it done,” Hune told the duke. “That’ll free your time to handle other things.”

Vane
hadn’t hired just anyone to work for him. Every maid, cook, secretary, and
butler at Oakdowns he had chosen with caution. They were Rexson’s old tried and
true servants, or family to people who had known and loved Vane’s parents, who
owed debts of gratitude to them. He need not fear betrayal from that quarter,
as long as his staff understood the need for silence.

Hune
asked Vane, “Before I start with the servants, is there a private place I can
speak with my father?”

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Leaving
Oakdowns

Hune
took Rexson to an empty guest bedroom. He left his hounds with the young
sorcerers, for the dogs had taken to Rexy and to Kansten’s brothers. He hoped
to give the animals time to bond with the group, and with the young woman above
anyone else. He planned to convince her to keep one with her during the battle
to come, any but Adage. The good-natured, brown-spotted beagle that was
nonetheless a vicious attacker would have to stay with Hune. He would never
leave the prince in a hunt situation.

As
the door shut behind Rexson, Hune’s thoughts turned to the unpleasant
conversation ahead: his father would want to send him home before Linstrom’s
men arrived, and then the news about Gracia…. Rexson wouldn’t take that well.

Despite
ample seating on the room’s settee and in armchairs, even on the bed, both men
stood as for a confrontation. The king wasted no time in asking his son, “What
in the Giver’s name have you…?”

“Mother’s
gone.”

That
cut off Rexson’s tirade.

“She
left,” Hune repeated. “For Partsvale, soon after you did this morning. Had a
note delivered to me afterward, else I would have stopped her. She must have
been planning this since yesterday, since Vane brought word of that fire on the
high street. She wanted to see the damage for herself, to let the people there
know they’re not forsaken. She knows she’s responsible for what happened, so
she….”

“Tell
me she at least took guards.”

“Her
personal guard, of course she did. Every one of them, though I doubt she’ll
need their protection. She’ll need a fortnight, at least, to reach Partsvale,
and Linstrom, well, he’ll be no threat to her by then.” Hune paused. “He’ll be
dead this evening.”

“She
had no way of knowing that, Hune. No understanding of what we’re planning here.
The woman has lost her mind.”

“She’s
plagued with guilt,” Hune protested. “Nothing more than that. You know how many
souls have pilgrimaged to Partsvale. To the Giver’s Shrine. She shouldn’t have
left how she did, with Linstrom still such a threat, but….”

“She’s
endangering every man with her, as far as she knows. Every one of them.”

“She’s
doing penance. That journey to Partsvale isn’t comfortable. The road’s a rough
one, and they’re going by horse. No carriage for her. She doesn’t want the
attention the royal carriage would bring, doesn’t feel she deserves a
comfortable vehicle. Anyway, what’s done is done, isn’t it? We can’t sacrifice
a sorcerer to go after her and bring her back. I just thought you should know
what she’s doing.”

“And
you?” the king demanded. “What do you think
you’re
doing, barging into the parlor like that?”

Hune’s
voice remained respectful in tone. “I wouldn’t have had to, had you brought me
to begin with.”

“There’s
a reason I didn’t.”

“That
you’d rather keep me safe is no excuse. With all due respect, it’s not. You
heard every word Lottie said, as plain as I. You saw her demonstration. My bow
and my hounds are needed here. When the bow’s no longer useful, I’m trained to
use a blade. You know we must stand behind Vane in this, in every way we can, as
publicly as possible.”

Rexson
agreed with that sentiment. He said, “That’s why I’ll be fighting to defend his
home.”

The
king shouldn’t, Hune thought. He shouldn’t risk himself, no matter his
experience with the Crimson League. No matter his skill with a sword, which was
formidable. Still, the decision was his father’s, and Hune made no comment upon
it. He simply appended the king’s statement.

“As
will I,” said the prince. “As will I. You wouldn’t judge me for, wouldn’t
prevent me acting the same way as you? With the same motives?”

Hune’s
father never shied from directness, but the prince had rarely heard him speak
on private occasions with his regal tone. The one that dripped an expectation
to be obeyed with every syllable. “As long as I live, I’m not only the man who
gave you life, I’m your king, and if I tell you to return to the Palace to aid
your brothers, you will do so. Valkin needs you alive. This kingdom needs
you….”

“This
kingdom needs you breathing far more than it does me. Don’t you dare deny that.
Valkin needs your guidance, your example, more than any help I could give him.
Yes, you could order me to Valkin’s side, and I’d obey. Yes, you are my king,
and always will be. But force me to leave this place while you remain, and
you’re not the man I’ve always thought you were.”

That
last blow hit home. The king clenched a fist, and his eyes hardened as he
searched for a way to refute his son’s statement. He had nothing: at least, he
said nothing.

“Valkin
could use my help, but he doesn’t require it. He has Neslan, and Neslan’s more
than capable. Vane and August
need
me
at Oakdowns. August protected my brothers and me; she sheltered us the entire
time her sister held us captive, and Vane, he rescued us. I finally find myself
in a position to pay that debt. My brothers would be doing the same if they
could. Their duties are the only thing keeping them at the Palace, and you know
it. Their hearts are here, and in a way, I represent us all. Would you truly
send me home?”

The
king, albeit with a visible reluctance, shook his head. “I should never have
left word with Valkin of what brought me to Oakdowns this morning.”

“He
had to know, Father. There’s no point regretting what had to be done and can’t
be changed. You of all people should know that, with the things you’ve lived
through.”

Rexson
told his son, “I want you nowhere near this place.”

“That
makes two of us.” Hune quailed to remember Lottie’s scarlet eyes, the way they
had glowed as she overpowered Gratton as easily as she could have the princess
with her scant eleven years. Sweet, talkative Melinda, always eager to explore
new rooms in the Palace, new corners of the gardens…. Hune tried not to think
he might not see her again. He’d made sure to take leave of her, with a kiss on
the cheek and a pat on her soft blonde head. He’d directed her to listen to her
nurse, to do whatever Neslan or Valkin might ask of her. She had no concept of
the danger threatening the kingdom.

“Father,
we both heard in that parlor what Vane’s facing. Even saw a part of it. I won’t
desert him to confront that without me, not unless I must.”

Rexson
placed a hand on his son’s shoulder. “I know you too well to suspect you ever
could. It hasn’t been easy for you, living in your brothers’ shadows. You do
know you mean no less to me than they? That I’m no less proud to call you my
son?”

Hune
nodded, surprised beyond belief. The king had never told him that before.
Rexson proved the sentiments in his dealings with the prince, to the point that
Hune had never doubted them, but to hear them given voice….

“I
was ignored and overlooked at your age, in favor of my brother. He’d be honored
to know you bear his name. The frustrations I grew up with, the same ones you
must wrestle: you tackle them with a grace and forbearance that was never mine.
I admire that about you, and with no small share of envy. Your mother,” the
king said, “she never understood your devotion to your hounds. Your horse. She
once tried to limit your time with them. I wouldn’t let her. You never let your
animals interfere with your duties, and I understood how you needed that
escape, how you longed for something in life to control as you would. I was the
same with my music. My piano. Luckily for all of us, your hobby’s proven more
practical. You were right to bring those dogs with you.” The king paused. “As
long as you’re prepared to lose some of them, if not all.”

Hune’s
voice cracked as it issued forth. “Better them than a soldier. Better Adage or
Chancy than Vane, or that Rexy woman. If those hounds lose their lives, it won’t
be for nothing, and death will take them in the midst of the hunt. They’d
prefer to go that way, I’d think.”

Rexson’s
voice was curt. “As long as their master follows them not.”

“I’ve
no intention of it,” Hune assured his father. Just the thought of being killed
made a finger twitch. Slashed across the side, left to bleed out by someone
with those damned red pupils; disemboweled by a spell; his neck snapped with
magic…. He hoped for that last, if die he must, but doubted he would find
himself so lucky.

His
fear must have shown on his face, for the king advised, “Keep busy. Don’t let
your mind wander. That was always most effective for me, in the old days.
Didn’t you tell Vane you’d see his servants removed without a fuss?”

Hune
gulped, and asked the king, “Does that mean you won’t order me back to Valkin?”

“You
have my word, I won’t. You’d best get moving, if you hope to keep your word to
Oakdowns’s master.”

* * *

To
Kansten’s surprise, Hune found her that morning. He explained the coming attack
and enlisted her aid in creating an evacuation schedule. Vane’s household was
not as large as it could have been, but with servants for the kitchens, the
stables, and the gardens, the butlers and maids, and the children’s governess,
they had to remove some thirty individuals from the building as quietly as
possible. Thanks to Kora, they knew Linstrom had set no one to watch the manor,
but they still hoped not to alarm Podrar with a mass exodus from Vane’s estate.

They
decided to stagger the exits, in various small groups. Kansten worked without
complaint, though she felt insulted no one else had revealed the danger that
threatened Oakdowns. She had spent that morning with her mother, who used her
chain the whole time and gave Kansten no updates about why she had sent for
Vane so urgently before dawn.

The
sorceress had left Linstrom and turned invisible when Hune came to the door.
She’d eventually revealed herself, and Kansten’s heart had pounded until Hune
left her mother, moving Kansten to a parlor much smaller than the one where the
portrait of Vane’s parents used to hang. The girl worried Kora might sense
something between the prince and her, something that had no right to exist.
Well, exist it did, and Kansten could do nothing about that, not now. Not after
the parting kiss of the day before.

When
Hune included Kansten in the last group set to leave Vane’s property, along
with two stable hands and some of the kitchen staff, the aspiring architect
clenched her jaw. Never, never in her life had she so longed for magic. Without
it, she would have to flee Oakdowns. The only way she could protect those she
loved was to remove herself from the battle. She mustn’t allow them to fear for
poor, broken Kansten.

The
thought shattered her heart. She almost scowled, to prevent herself feeling the
full pain of her realization, but dared not, not before Hune. She sighed
instead. At least Hune would be leaving with her.

“You
have a coin or a ring, no? With my crest on it? Something that gave you access
to my father at the Palace yesterday?”

Kansten
nodded, and Hune said, “Go back to the Palace, then. Gain admittance, and go to
Neslan. Valkin’s too busy, but Neslan will see you to a room, or, er, have a
servant do that. My brothers know what’s happening here, so there’s no need to explain.”

Kansten’s
cheeks turned red. “You’re staying, aren’t you? You’re fighting.”

“I’m
trained to use multiple weapons. And my dogs….”

“How
can you stay? You know who you are. Your father….”

“I
know I’m my father’s son. That’s precisely the reason I’ve got to fight.”

This
hurt was too much. All fear for Hune aside, he was as magicless as she. He had
no right to defend Oakdowns, none, when they were sending her away like a
helpless baby. She must have concealed her insult poorly, because after a brief
pause Hune made excuses.

“I’m
an excellent archer. And a decent swordsman. Those dogs I’ve trained will
protect more people than me, Kansten. I brought my entire pack here, and
they’re with your brothers as we speak. I’m hoping one of the hounds will take
to them, will defend them when the time comes. I can’t promise anything, but….”

Kansten
threw her arms around Hune’s shoulders, hugged him tight in her gratitude.
Tears of thanks as well as bitterness stung her eyes. She should be protecting
Walt and Wilhem, not a dog. Those hounds, though, they would prove useful. She
was glad her brothers had them.

Hune
stroked her long, unbound hair, which was the perfect thing for him to do. His
touch said her magic might be broken, but she as a person was not. He made no
attempt to loosen her hold on him. After some indeterminate time she stopped
crying and let him go, squeezing his hand, then dropping it in a rush as the
door opened.

Vane
came in. If he noticed the drop of hands or Kansten’s red and puffy eyes, he
had the grace not to mention anything, but Kansten doubted he held the
slightest suspicions of a budding romance. He looked as distracted and
heartbroken as she felt.

Hune
told the duke, “I’ve got a schedule worked out. For your household. They’ll be
gone well before dark.”