Rowena Daniells - The uncrowned King

'What news of the kingson at the abbey?' the overlord demanded.

'The bodies were carefully searched. There were many youths of the right age, but none of them wore the royal emblem.'

Palatyne frowned, while Piro cheered inside. Fyn could still be alive.

'It is most curious,' the mystic said softly, 'for no small boys were found, only old men and lads nearly old enough to be monks.'

'They're hiding.'

'Obviously.'

As the mystic's odd pink eyes skimmed past Palatyne, Piro realised the mystic was blind, at least blind to the Seen world. Her Affinity would give her Unseen sight. Piro instinctively reinforced the walls she had used to hide her Affinity from the castle's nuns and monks.

'We sealed the abbey and checked every chamber, but we found no sign of them. There was not a single sorbt stone in the mystics master's inner sanctum and we did not find the way into Halcyon's Sacred Heart with its recurring seep.'

'Perhaps it is a myth?' Dunstany suggested.

Blind, pink eyes moved towards the sound of his voice. 'Our spies report otherwise. Such a treasure would be well hidden. I suspect that's where the small boys are, along with the missing sorbt stones. Someone was quick enough to warn them and I suspect this missing kingson is hidden in some deep secret chamber under Mount Halcyon.'

Palatyne smiled. 'Well, they'll have to come out sooner or later, or starve. You.' He pointed to one of the mystic's escort. 'Go back. Tell Mulcibar's mystic not to leave the abbey until he finds them.'

The man nodded and remained where he was.

'Now!' Palatyne roared and the man ran out. 'As for you,' he turned to Cyena's mystic. 'You can come up to the castle and try your luck at locating Byren Kingson.'

'I'd be happy to.' The Cyena mystic reached into the folds of her long white robe. 'Meanwhile, I do have something for you.' She held out a drawstring bag.

Palatyne snapped his fingers at Piro. 'Bring it to me.'

She swallowed. The thought of approaching the albino mystic made her uneasy. But she went over and retrieved the bag, passing it to Palatyne. At least she was braver than him!

He tugged the strings open, tipping the contents into his palm. 'A foenix emblem? I thought you said — '

'No, we couldn't find the priestly kingson's body. This one belongs to the other kingson,' the mystic said. 'About midday, on the day after we took the abbey, a man entered the courtyard and marched into the stables waving the royal emblem around and demanding to see the abbot.

'The men realised he must be the missing kingson. They tell me he went as white as me when he found Merofynian warriors inside the abbey!' The mystic allowed herself a reptilian smile. 'They tried to grab him but he fought his way out, grabbed a horse and rode off. They managed to get the emblem. And they injured him. Badly. We sent the men after him. They followed his blood trail until they lost him. That night we heard an ulfr pack on the hunt. Then his trail disappeared along with his body.'

Sickened, Piro turned away. She could not see the pastries for the tears. To think Byren had reached the abbey, as he had promised to do, only to find Merofynians had laid claim to it.

'There was just one of him and dozens of my warriors. They should have killed him!' the overlord snapped.

'He's dead. The ulfr pack finished him off.'

'You don't know that for sure. I want his body. I need proof that he's dead or the Rolencians will spread rumours about him leading an uprising,' Palatyne growled at the mystic, who looked uncomfortable.

Palatyne gestured with frustration, snapping his fingers at another of her escort. 'Chase after that other fool. Let it be known through Rolencia that I'm doubling the reward for Byren Kingson's head and that of the priestly kingson.'

Piro nursed a flicker of hope. If Palatyne feared her brothers' survival enough to double the reward they still stood a chance. She would not give up.

The man left and Palatyne dismissed Cyena's mystic. When she had gone, he turned to Dunstany. 'See, Dunstany, I help myself. A man can trust a blade to do what it's told. This Affinity of yours twists and turns so much you never give me a straight answer.' He took a step closer, glaring at the old Power-worker. 'I know where your loyalties lie, noble scholar. But you forget, King Merofyn is a sick old man. He has promised me a dukedom if I conquer Rolencia in his name.' Palatyne laughed. 'But why should I settle for a dukedom when I could have a kingdom? I'll marry his daughter and — '

'She is already betrothed.'

'Lence Kingsheir is dead.'

'The second son, Byren, is the uncrowned king of Rolencia now and honour-bound to marry Isolt.'

'If he lives. If he can escape my men. If he can raise the warlords against me. If he can retake Rolencia.' Palatyne dismissed this possibility with a sharp movement of his hand. 'No, I am here and I am the conqueror of Merofynia's ancestral enemy. In three hundred years no one has managed to crush the Rolencian royal line. No one but me.' Palatyne tossed back the last of his mulled wine. 'I'll make King Merofyn an offer for his daughter that he can't refuse.' Palatyne's eyes narrowed. 'And if you want a place in the court of Emperor Palatyne the First, ruler of Merofynia and Rolencia, then you must prove your loyalty!'

Dunstany spread his hands. 'I am at your command, overlord.'

Palatyne's eyes narrowed. 'We will see.'

He thrust his goblet aside and strode out.

Piro sagged, dizzy with relief. Dunstany met her eyes across the room. They heard the overlord's boots on the apothecary's shop floor and the slam of the front door.

'Mark my words, Seela,' Dunstany said in Rolencian. 'Palatyne is a very dangerous man. He cannot be trusted, because he trusts no one. If he wins the throne, there will be no peace for Merofynia or anyone else. So where do you think Byren Kingsheir is?'

Piro went very still as she tried to remember what she was supposed to know. They'd spoken Merofynian so she wouldn't have understood anything but the names. She decided it was best to claim ignorance. 'A serving girl like me knows nothing of kingsons.'

'No, a serving girl wouldn't,' Dunstany agreed, watching her thoughtfully.

Piro felt decidedly uncomfortable. Maybe she should forget about poisoning Palatyne and run away before the noble scholar pierced her disguise.

Dunstany seemed lost in reverie. After a moment he took a deep breath and rang the bell for Soterro, who was so quick to arrive he must have been listening at the door.

If Dunstany suspected this, he did not betray it by so much of a twist of his lips. 'Soterro, tell Cook to pack. We leave tomorrow for Port Marchand, where we sail for Merofynia. King Merofyn is going to need my advice. And before you start packing, Soterro, lock Seela in the attic.'

Piro cursed silently. No more chances to poison Palatyne. Somehow, in the rush to leave tomorrow, she must escape.

Fyn's skates slowed as dawn's silvery light streamed across Rolencia's valley, illuminating first the highest peaks of the Dividing Mountains then the distant pinnacle where Rolenhold stood, making the castle's towers and domes gleam as if they were coated in electrum.

His heart swelled to fill his chest. Home, seat of his family, source of three hundred years of history.

He blinked away tears, focusing on the flags that hung from the towers. The high cold air was incredibly clear but the distance was too great for detail. It would take him half the day to get across the lake. However, he did not need to see the deep red foenix on its black background. He saw it in his heart.

In the still air a pall of smoke hung low over Rolenton and the docks were almost empty of ships. The wharves were always the weakest point of any fortified port yet he could see no encroaching army laying siege to the town. That had been his secret fear, that he would be too late and find the castle and town under siege. Luckily, he'd come in time to bring his father the bad news.