Call Of The Flame (Book 1) (12 page)

They recognized Kyric from the archery tournament.  The
girls wanted to know if he had been at the reception too.  The guys pushed
goblets of wine at him and proposed toasts for everything they could think of,
and he found himself not declining.

He was a little surprised when Jela’s friend Sercey
suggested that he ask her to dance.  When he told her he didn’t know how she
pulled him aside and spent some time showing him the basic steps before
dragging him to the open pavement.  The music here ran lighter and more lively,
the dance steps more loose, and all the young men swung their young ladies by
the arm.

It reminded him of a summer dance in the village when he was
younger.  Mother Nistra had allowed, nay,
made
him go to it.  The one
dirt street had been crossed with strings of paper lanterns like the ones they
carried here, and all the young folk of the village had danced and flirted and
sipped lemonade and had played games like blind pony and sleeping bandit. 
Kyric had stood the whole evening in a deep shadow where no one could see him
and watched it all.

Sercey counted time at first, to get him going, and then
suddenly he was dancing, and it wasn’t so hard.  Sercey was pleasant to dance
with, but he felt his own clumsiness held her back.  He couldn’t swing her as
smoothly as the others did, but it was fun anyway.

He was surprised again to find Jela waiting for him when his
dance with Sercey ended.  As he took her hand and waited for the next song to
begin she said, “This is what it’s like to dance with someone who knows how.”

It was true.  Rather than he lead and she follow, it was as
if they both led and followed at the same time.  He spun like a wheel and she
floated like a feather.  He didn’t know that two people could move together
like this.  Perhaps this was what Aiyan had felt with Aerlyn.  New horizons
began to open to him.  The fellows at the table had liked him.  They didn’t
mind that he had little to say.  And it hadn’t been so hard to talk to Sercey
or the other girls either.

He looked into Jela’s eyes and saw an unexpected future
there.  This business with Aiyan would be over in a few days.  Kyric could sell
his silver arrow and find a place to live.  With this nice suit he now had, he
could get the work as a teacher that Aiyan had mentioned.  He knew that Jela felt
something for him, and he realized that she was the best thing that had ever
happened to him.  He would court her.  He would have friends and a sweetheart
and a normal life.  All he had to do was keep placing one foot in front of the
other.  Yes, it was possible.  He could see it clearly as he spun deeper into
the night and the stars sped away from the coming dawn.

The clopping beat of the horse’s hooves echoed in the
deserted streets.  It was already midmorning, the sun high and hot, and they
drove through a city that had been abandoned to shards of paper and straw.  Aiyan
had had the cabbie raise the leather hood, supposedly for shade, but he sat low
and kept his head back so not to be seen.  Out in the harbor, dozens of ships
fled their anchorages, raising sail and making for the open sea.

They passed the Palace of the Old Kings and turned onto the
avenue fronting the royal residence.  The bleary-eyed guards officer at the
gate mirrored Kyric’s pale complexion and wobbly stride.

Kyric had drunk too much wine with Jela and her friends, but
after they left New Market Square, Jazul insisted on treating the four of them
to an early breakfast at the Hotel Abalone.  That had probably saved him from
the worst of it.

When it became clear that Jazul intended to take them all
the way to Jela’s door in his hired carriage, Aiyan had tried to decline the
offer.  But Jela spoke over him saying, “Jazul has a room on Coopers Street,
behind The Peacock’s Tale — so he can be close to Bruli — my house is right on
the way.”  Aiyan said nothing more, but Kyric could tell that he was not
comfortable with anyone knowing where they slept.  They had stumbled into the
house about an hour before first light.

“Her Highness welcomes you,” the officer said with little
inflection upon checking his list.  After they were admitted it was still a bit
of a drive to the main house.

“I don’t like this,” Aiyan said looking around, taking in
the grounds of the estate.  “There’s too much ground, too many trees.  In the
dark of night you could sneak right up to the house.”

Kyric saw that he was right.  The grounds extended a quarter
mile from the house in every direction, with three wooded parks and plenty of
sculpted hedges and flowering plants.  He never imagined that an in-town house would
rest on so much land.  He looked at Aiyan.  “The wall around the place is
twelve feet tall.”

“It wouldn’t stop me,” Aiyan said.

As they approached the house Kyric saw that it was the sort
built in the Long Winter, with over a dozen chimneys and rows of large glass
windows to let the warmth of the sun in.  Those windows had long ago been set
on hinges, and now stood open to the breeze.

They were directed to the stables, and Princess Aerlyn was
waiting there with Eren, Kaelyn, three beautiful horses, and two good-sized
ponies.  Aiyan and Aerlyn chatted about the horses and tack for a moment and
then they all mounted, Aerlyn wearing a riding suit that was much like a man’s,
with pants and boots.  Aiyan had been able to wear Sedlik’s old brown sporting
suit, but Kyric wore his everyday clothes with a sash for hidden pistols and
ended up looking like one of the stable hands.

“I can’t wait for the society pages to come out tomorrow,”
Aerlyn said to Aiyan.  “I can see it now:  
Her Highness was seen dancing
with the mysterious cavalier, Sir Aiyan Dubern —
”  She imitated the wavering,
piccolo voice of a lady Kyric had met at the reception.  “—
whom she
afterward engaged in a secluded tête-a-tête
.

“If we are seen together in public again it will be quite
the scandal.”  She smiled in a way that said she couldn’t care less if they
were seen together.

But Aiyan couldn’t return her smile.  “I must apologize,
Princess.  I never meant to impune your reputation.  I don’t even know why I
asked you to dance.”

She gave him a level gaze.  “I know why.  And I am glad.  That
was the first time I have danced since my husband’s death.  And even though we
have only just met, we are already past this sort of conversation, Aiyan.”  The
knowing smile returned.  “And if in private you do not call me by my name, I
shall have to address you as Sir Knight.”

“As you wish, Aerlyn.”

The two of them rode in front, and Kyric stayed behind,
flanked by the children on either side.  “Your seat isn’t very good,” Prince
Eren said to him.

“Pardon?”

“You need to lean forward a little and place more weight on
your stirrups.  It makes it easier on the horse.”

“I see.”

Eren was terribly serious for a nine year old.  “That’s what
a good rider does.  He makes it as easy for the horse as possible, even at the
expense of his own comfort.”

“You must have a very good riding master to teach you such
things.”

‘My father taught me how to ride.  He died when I was five. 
He said the same rule applies to leaders and the led.”

“He must have been a wise prince.”

“He was, as I shall be when it is my time.”

Kyric tried to hold back a laugh.  “Eren, are you sure
you’re only nine?”

“Nine and a half.”

They skirted a patch of woods, finding some shade on the
other side, and Aerlyn said to Aiyan, “I looked in the Book of Heraldry this
morning and found the coat of arms of your order.  I thought it was beautiful
in its simplicity — a flaming sword held between two firebirds.  I hope you
don’t think ill of me for saying this, but I was relieved to find it.”

“I’m relieved as well.”

“So I sent word to the Royal Library for any history of the
Knights of the Flaming Blade that could be found, and I received a tome simply
titled The Book of Spring, but naturally I haven’t had time to read much of
it.”

“It details the last year of the Long Winter,” Aiyan said.

“Yes,” she said.  “I did read one part.  It mentioned that
your order defended the house of Quytis on this very spot when the forces of
the warlord Fernoc broke the west gate and overran the city.  It says that they
fought with swords that caught fire — a misquoted reference to the heraldry I
suppose, or something lost in the translation.”

Aiyan bowed to her in the saddle.  “Perhaps,” he said.  “But
I’m surprised they did not send you The Book of Autumn as well.”

“What would I find in that?”

“Stories from the last year before the Long Winter, some that
you might find hard to believe.”

She cocked an eyebrow.  “Then I shall send for it with all
haste.”

They rode in silence for a time, listening to the chirping
of birds and the creaking leather of their saddles.  At length Aerlyn said, “I
have decided to attend the Senate and vote against the formation of the Spice
Island Company.  If this is something that could invite war with the Baskillian
Empire then another year of consideration is not too long.”

Aiyan nodded.  “I must admit that I’m glad to hear that.  But
it might be a good idea if no one else hears of it until the day of the vote.”

“I can tell them today that I haven’t yet decided, but a
clever politician will know that it only means I have decided against him.”

“Anything that gives Lekon and Morae the slightest
hesitation works to your advantage, Aerlyn.”

“You never said which nation Morae served.  The Kingdom of
Jakavia is the only one that really makes sense.  King Orstiano would be very
pleased to see the Aessian and Syrolian states weakened by a war with
Baskillia.”  She looked to him for confirmation.

“Let us say,” he replied, “that there is a faction within
the Baskillian Empire which is shut out of the spice trade.  Even if they
possessed charts of the lost spice islands, they could not use them without the
established spice clans calling down the Imperial wrath.  But if they allied
themselves with the military clan, then a war with Aeva and the western states
would serve them well.  They would have already established themselves in
military politics and would exert considerable influence, and should the lost
islands be wrested away from the interloping Aessians they would no doubt
become the military governors of the newly conquered territories.”

“And Morae is an agent of this new faction?”

“It is what I believe, based on the words of my fellow
knights who have traveled in the empire.  I know for a certainty he is not what
he seems and that Lekon is his loyal servant.”

Kaelyn guided her pony closer to Kyric.  “Did you throw
straw into the fire at midnight?” she said to him.

“I was busy at midnight, but I threw some in later.  Did you
have a straw man last night?”

“I fell asleep, and no one woke me up.”  She made a face at
Eren.  “Now I have to keep my bad luck.”

“No you don’t,” Kyric said with a grin.  He took out the
wooden coin he had saved and gave it to her.  “There.  Now you have all the
good luck you need.”

She held it up for Eren to see.  “
Good
luck,” she
said to him, throwing her head back in defiance.

They rode a winding course across the estate, and when they
came to a meadow Aiyan and Aerlyn broke away in an impromptu race, returning at
the trot smiling and arguing about who had won.  At the end of the morning,
back at the stables, after the grooms had taken their horses and the children
had run down to a nearby pond, Aiyan spoke quietly to Aerlyn.

“You must know that by following my advice you place
yourself at risk.”

“So I’ve been told,” she said.

Aiyan’s gaze turned hard.  “I’m not speaking of business
threats.  These men are willing to do anything.”

“Certainly I’m safe here,” she said.  “A troop of royal
guardsmen are assigned to me at all times.”

“Most likely they would try to arrange an accident on your
way to the Senate, and if you don’t mind I would like to accompany you there on
Wineday morning.  In the meantime I would have the guards captain increase the
watch if possible.”

“You’re serious,” she said.

“I am.  And I am sorry, Aerlyn.  I never should have come
into your life.”

“Don’t say that.”

Aiyan smiled sadly.  “I never should have butted into your
politics then.”

“If I believe what you say is true, then I must be grateful
and act according to my conscience.  Simply because the royal family no longer
holds any authority doesn’t mean I cannot act for the good of my people.  If I
were to succumb to cowardice, how could I face them, who would I be?”

When Aiyan said nothing, she asked him, “If I do feel
threatened in my home, how would I reach you?”

“For the safety of all I must
keep that a secret.  But I tell you this, Aerlyn:  If your need for me is
great, I will know.”

After the cabriolet passed out the gate and had turned onto
a public street, a shadow crossed Aiyan’s brow.  He brooded as they clopped
past the Palace of the Old Kings.  The sea breeze raised the detritus of four
days of games and twirled it in eddies at the street corners.

“I tell myself,” Aiyan said, “that she would be in greater
danger had I not come near her.  But is that so?  Their threats may have
frightened her into abstaining from politics.”

Kyric turned to him, sitting upright.  “And she may have
decided to vote against them on her own.  She would have been in more danger
without you then.”

“I should have asked if I could dine with her tonight.  She
surely would have said yes.”

“Why didn’t you?”

“I could not bear it if she ever felt I was forcing my attention
on her.”  He shook his head to drive away the thought.  “But I would liked to
have seen the inside and met her staff and servants, particularly the captain
of her guard.  It’s so easy for them to get hold of a maid or footman and force
them to take the blood.”

“As I well know,” Kyric said.  He wondered if the memory of
that taste would ever fade.

They headed south along the Way of Kings, the statues of
sword-wielding angels looking down upon them.  All the theatres and cabarets
had signs hanging on their doors that read ‘Closed Tonight.’  Aiyan had the
cabbie drop them at Candles Street so they could take the back alleys and
arrive at Sedlik’s house unseen.  As they stepped down from the cab they could see
past the old docks and into the harbor.

Suddenly, Aiyan broke into a broad grin, pointing to a small
sloop-rigged boat approaching from the southwest.  “That’s
Swordfish
,
one of the boats we use for traveling between Esaiya and the mainland.”  He let
out a huge breath.  “At last.  Let’s go down there and see who it is.”

The wind was from the southeast, and the boat was coming in
on a starboard jibe.  A catboat had left the docks, heading to pass
Swordfish
on the port side.  They were set to pass fairly close, no more than a few dozen
yards. 
Swordfish
was busy lowering its headsail, seeming not to notice
when the catboat suddenly tacked and steered an intercept course.  There was a
puff of smoke from the catboat, and the figure of a man leaped headlong over
the rudder, swimming away furiously.

Aiyan grabbed Kyric’s sleeve.  “They don’t see it,” he said. 
“They don’t see it.”

It took less than a ten count, but the wait was agonizing. 
Swordfish
tried to turn away at the last moment, but it was too late.  The catboat hit
and began to scrape along the hull.  Then it exploded in a ball of fire and
splintered wood.  A roaring thunder echoed across the harbor.  Half of
Swordfish
shattered, the other half a flaming mass that tilted over and sank at once.

Aiyan broke into a run.  “I saw someone jump from
Swordfish
. 
There could be survivors.”

They ran down the boulevard all the way to the old docks.  A
few small craft circled the wreckage on the water, apparently finding nothing.

Aiyan climbed onto the base of the statue in the harbor
square while Kyric caught his breath.  He scanned the water and looked up and
down the shoreline.  “That could be him,” he said, jumping down.

They went down to where the fallen tower met the sea, and
there, hauling himself onto the land, was a broad-shouldered man with shaggy
blonde hair.  He stood there, fully dressed, letting rivulets of water run from
his clothing.