Michael Stackpole - When Dragons Rage

He winced as he shifted more fully onto his left hip. “Not concerning my hunger. As it was, they decided I had some sort of key in my clothes, so they took them. Then they decided I needed a lesson.”

“I’ll make sure they get you some clothes. I’m freezing myself down here, and I’ve got a quilted gambeson on under this mail.” She rubbed her gloved hands over her arms. “You won’t have to endure the cold tonight.”

He shrugged. “I’ve been in far colder climes and survived, but your kindness is appreciated, Highness.”

“Crow, you should call me Alyx.”

“Highness, we have been through this before.”

“Times are different, Crow. Before you didn’t want any familiarity because you said our causes would someday force us apart. You didn’t want to be a liability. I didn’t know what you were talking about then, but now that I do, it doesn’t matter.”

Crow snapped the manacle back around his right wrist. “Highness, I wasn’t thinking about who I had been when I said that. And I must apologize for misleading you. I would have gladly shared with you all I knew of your father. I didn’t know him long or well, but I respected him. That I could not act to save his life is the single greatest regret of my life.”

“Crow, I said none of that mattered.” Alexia sank forward onto her knees and pressed her palms to her thighs. “Yes, I do want to hear from you about my father, but we have a more pressing problem. Mably’s intention is to take you to Meredo, where you will be executed.”

Crow nodded slowly, then rested his head against the corner. “He’s taken pains to let me know my fate. In great detail, in fact. I gather he’s hoping to ride one of the horses they use to tear me apart.”

“Crow, I’m not going to let that happen.”

“Princess, there is nothing you can do to stop it. We are in Oriosa. Scrainwood has hated me for a very long time, and he has cause to do so. I knew, coming back here, that I risked my life. The simple fact of it was, though, I had to. I had to get Will to safety, return Ryhope, and get whatever it was the Draconis Baron wanted gone from the fortress away.”

The scrabbling of a rat in the straw caught her attention for a moment, then she looked back at him. “You’re wrong that I can’t do anything to save you.”

“Highness, I have no doubt you could save me.” He laughed lightly. “You could toss me over your shoulder as if I were some lace-laden damsel in a bard’s song and cut your way out of here, but then what? It’s not that you can’t save me, it is that you should not . Remember, you’re here to convince the crowned heads to commit to fighting Chytrine. Allying yourself with me will not help you.

“Scrainwood hates me because I know he’s a coward. Twenty-five years ago I told the crowned heads that they were cowards. I told them Chytrine had vowed to return. For them to follow the plans of anyone associated with me will make people question their leadership and judgment.”

“If they were that foolish or cowardly, it should be called into question.”

He shook his head. “I won’t debate that point. You have to remember that if you are going to lead forces to oppose Chytrine, you need forces to lead. If you make rulers choose between you and the appearance of competence, what choice do you think they will make?”

“That doesn’t hold for all of them, Crow. Queen Carus of Jerana is fairly new to her throne. She’s not bound by her father’s judgment. What’s been done to you is an injustice.”

“Yes, but an injustice that has endured for over two decades. The men who beat me weren’t even born when I was stripped of my mask, but they believe every single thing they’ve been taught about me since they were children. Even if you and King Augustus and Queen Carus stand up and say it was a mistake, they won’t believe you.

“But, Highness, you are right. Queen Carus can claim she was deceived about me. You have to take a lesson from her and claim that, too. You have to walk away from me. You have to claim that I fooled you, and you have to be angry about it. Don’t let my efforts here be wasted. You’ll gain by renouncing me, and your gain will be Chytrine’s discomfort.”

Alexia shook her head so adamantly that her thick blonde braid lashed past her shoulder and almost whipped his cheek. “No, I’m not going to do that. I’ve thought about this. A lot. You’re a friend. You saved my life. I care about you, and I don’t abandon people who matter.”

“Princess, I won’t drag you down with me.”

“You won’t drag me down. As you said before, I am strong enough to carry you, Crow.” She stood and looked down at him. “I have a plan. It will save your life, and it is frightfully simple. I’m going to marry you.”

Crow knelt there, his mouth open, then slowly began to chuckle. His shoulders shifted, then he sagged back into the corner. “Oh, very good, Princess. Cruel to joke with me like that, but very good.”

“It’s not a joke, Crow.”

His head came up, his right eye a crescent slit full of fear. “It had better be a joke.”

“No. It works perfectly. I marry you and you become my Prince Consort. This raises you to such a level of nobility that Scrainwood cannot carry out a summary execution. You will get another trial, since a trial in absentia is not recognized as binding in any treaty between Okrannel and Oriosa. Moreover, you were tried on charges of treason, and since you will become a citizen of Okrannel when we marry, the charges will no longer apply. The best they could do would be espionage and that would fail because you would have to be tried before your peers, and no royal would want that sort of precedent set. Scrainwood could demand personal satisfaction for any insult you gave him, but we both know he won’t do that.“

“Forgive me, Highness, but are you insane? Your plan might be clever, but it is wasted. You will burn a lot of political capital and for no good reason.”

“I hardly think you are ‘no good reason.’”

“Highness, listen to me, please.” Crow’s hands curled into pale fists. “Your loyalty to me… I can’t tell you what that means, but it is misplaced. You have to make sure Will can oppose Chytrine. You have to see that Kerrigan fulfills his potential. You have to raise an army to destroy Chytrine. You can’t let yourself be distracted by my fate.”

Alexia stepped toward him and crouched again, her shadow spilling across his scarred flesh. “What I see clearly is that your fate is tied up with mine, Will’s, Kerrigan’s, Vorquellyn, and Chytrine. If I let you die, I’m letting the world die.” She reached out and stroked her right hand over the left side of his face, keeping her thumb from touching his black eye. “I’m not letting either die. We’ll get a priest in here and have him marry us this afternoon.”

“No.” Crow shook his head. “Even if we did marry, no one would believe it. It would be assumed to be a trick, which it would be.”

“They would have to believe it. We would have witnesses.”

“They would say they lied.”

She snorted. “They would not dare say I lied.”

“They would, just not to your face. Before you they would say that I tricked you into it. No, Highness, abandon this plan.”

“Crow, it will save your life.”

“And ruin yours.” He reached up and took her hand in his. “Princess.” His voice dropped to a whisper. “Alexia, promise me you won’t do this. I won’t agree, so the effort will be wasted. Don’t. Please.”

She squeezed his fingers. “You will resist, won’t you?”

He nodded.

“Then I will have to find another plan.” She stood slowly, then leaned over and picked up the lantern again. “I am not letting you die.”