The Ascension (12 page)

“Oh, so you’re a warrior, and somewhere in line to the throne,
a n d
you do intel igence work.” Gem didn’t have to feign the impressed note in her voice. “Of course, you haven’t said why you watched
me
.”

She got a polite smile in response.

“Perhaps I thought you were worth watching.” They were back to the games, it seemed.

Gem didn’t mind.

“Of course,” she pointed out, “if you have been watching me, then you wil know that I could kil you with a word.”

“You could,” Devon agreed. “I am ful y aware of how you became Anachronia’s ruler. Tales of your bravery and beauty has traveled far. I’m sure if you wanted to kil me, you would have. It makes me wonder what use you have planned for me. I assume there is something
pragmatic
about this?” Gem ignored that.

“If you try to hurt me, or hurt Rio, I wil .” Gem saw Devon look round to where Rio stil trudged along, guarded by his men.

“Ah, the werewolf.” He sounded like he had only just remembered Rio’s presence. Gem wasn’t sure if that was a good sign. “I am sorry that he cannot be unchained. I trust to your
probity
, but not to his. I wil not risk the safety of my warriors.”

“And yet you’re talking about “battles to come”,” Gem said. “Won’t there be casualties in those, on both sides? Wouldn’t
temperance
be a better option?”

“I believe I told you before that I was not a king.”

“What does that mean?” Gem demanded, sharply enough that the horse skittered sideways for a step. Devon soothed it with expert skil , before returning his attention to her.

“It means that to disobey the orders of my aunt would be treason.”

“Even for you.”

“You think that queens do not kil their families?”

Gem knew the answer to that one. In the middle ages of her own world, royalty had often barely hesitated.

“This war could see your men kil ed,” she pointed out. “It could see you kil ed.”

“I do have
some
prowess
with a blade.” Devon scanned her face careful y. “Besides, why would you care? You have only just met us, milady, would you care? You have only just met us, milady, and I suspect that wishing one’s captors wel is not a common thing. Surely you would want to see me kil ed.”

Gem shook her head. She would never want that. She
abhorred
just the thought of al the kil ing that a war would bring.

“I would rather that the war did not happen, and that no one got kil ed. After al , your men have family who wil grieve if they die, don’t they? People who
cherish
them?”

Devon’s eyes widened a little. Gem suspected that he stil did not believe that she could care about whether his men died or not. He shook his head, though.

“No. I chose those who march with me precisely because they have no one, as I have no one. We are knights. Hard men to whom our skil s mean almost as much as our loyalty. The
cloying
touch of love would weaken us.”

“Do you truly believe that?” Gem asked. She knew something of knights by now, and what Devon said was largely true in practice. Even so, most of them liked to think that they fol owed a more romantic ideal, the sort of thing that had eventual y come to be included in the various codes of chivalry.

Gem tried to marshal her thoughts into some sort of
cogent
argument. “If you do believe it, then I am surprised. A knight like you should be strengthened by the thoughts of those he fights for, not weakened by them. Do knights here not carry tokens of ladies to fuel their passion for the fray?”

Devon was silent for a while as the group kept marching. He seemed to be considering something. Or at least, he seemed to be considering Gem.

“Some do,” he final y admitted. He smiled a surprisingly
winsome
smile. “Though since I am of royal blood, I must admit I find it hard to find women of suitable status.”

“Like a queen, perhaps?” Gem said softly.

“Exactly. Of course, it might solve one or two of your problems too, milady. I have watched you, and though your advisors might not have mentioned it, sooner or later you wil need to pick one of the men around you to marry. You are of an age to do so.”

Technical y, maybe, Gem thought, but no. No Technical y, maybe, Gem thought, but no. No way.

“Hang on a minute,” she said. “A minute ago you were saying that you didn’t need anyone, and now you want to
yoke
us together in marriage? And I’m your prisoner. It’s cal ed capturing people, not speed-dating.”

The last term seemed to puzzle Devon, but he shook his head.

“Nothing like that, I assure you, milady. I have admired you long enough from afar that I am content to do so now.”

Though it didn’t feel quite so afar to Gem, given that he was pressed up behind her on the horse.

“You wil be my lady?” Devon asked quietly.

“Play this game of courtly love where it leads? Al ow me to admire you?”

Gem doubted that she could stop him.

Besides, wasn’t it more or less what she had wanted? She supposed that the difference was between cynical y manipulating her captor, and doing the same to a man who actual y seemed quite nice, in a
quaint
sort of way. Stil , she couldn’t help feeling that the admiration of this fairy noble would be a good thing to have. Not least because of his simple
pulchritude
.

“Al right. You can admire me.”

That seemed to delight Devon. He swept up Gem’s hand to kiss the palm with delicate courtliness.

“I wil keep you safe, milady. I promise that. I wil make it my
vocation
, so that you wil be as safe with me as you would be in your own castle.” Gem briefly found herself thinking of the occasional perils of having a Dragon around the place, which tended to include bursts of flame at unexpected moments if it happened to hiccough.

“Um… actual y, I was sort of hoping to be a little safer than that.”

They were close enough to make out the Winter Queen’s castle now, and Devon suppressed a sigh at the sight of it in the distance, with its icy turrets glinting harshly in the sunlight. He had promised Gem that he would keep her safe, but just the sight of the place was a reminder that it would hardly be an easy task. Not if his aunt wished her harm. The
hierarchy
of things was clear in that castle, and Devon was far from at its peak.

For now though, they fol owed the edge of one of the streams that fed the lake around the castle, bubbling with fragments of broken ice and the occasional
hardy
fish. Trees appeared intermittently along the bank as they rode, bare of leaves for the most part and looking on the verge of death. The Winter was not kind to them. Devon could see Gem gazing at them with sadness, and found his arm slipping around her waist without thinking.

“Not everything in the Winter Court is like that,” Devon promised. “Parts of it are
rife
with living things. Frankly, there are places you can hardly move without tripping over a penguin.” That got a
transient
smile from her, which was more than Devon could have hoped for. It was part of why he had spent so long watching her over the last months. There wasn’t much ice to use in Manhattan in the summer, but he had found it where he could, in ice cubes, in refrigerators, anywhere that would let him see that expression.

“If I could have,” he whispered, “I would have courted you truly, not taken you as a prisoner. For the
vicissitudes
of war, I must apologize, milady.” Devon thought that she might reply, but the moment was interrupted by a low growl. It came from the muzzled werewolf boy, and dropped in pitch even as Devon listened. His anger was bringing him closer to changing, it seemed. Gem obviously noticed it too, because as he began to draw his sword, Gem clamped her hand firmly over his.

“Devon, you can’t let this happen.”

“How can I stop it?” As far as Devon could see, what was to happen was inevitable. The werewolf would change, and, despite his chains, attempt to lash out. “Al I can do is to kil him before he tries to kil us.”

“Are you real y so ready to engage in
wanton
slaughter?”

Devon had been prepared for
vitriolic
comments, but not for the simple disappointment that he heard in Gem’s tone.

“How can I stop it?” he repeated. “What would you have me do, milady?”

Gem was quiet for a moment, and al Devon could think about was her closeness…pressed against him on the horse. He shouldn’t be thinking that way. Not when there was a threat to be countered. Had he lost his wits? What was it about her that was so
prepossessing
to him?

Her voice, when it came, was low.

“You could let Rio go.”

“My aunt would execute me, Gem. That or turn me into one of her sculptures. Is that what you want?

Was everything you said before just an act to make me more
pliable
when it came to this?” Hurt flowed through Devon just at the thought of it.

“No. I swear that, Devon. But Rio is going to hurt you, your men, or himself. I cannot al ow that. I cannot. If you won’t help him, then I wil have to.”

“You would not succeed, milady Gem. Please do not be
rash
.”

Even as he said it though, Devon knew that he would not be able to fight against her, if it came to it, and fights were uncertain things. It was even possible that with her ruler words, Gem might be strong enough to overcome the others. Gently, she ran her fingers over his knuckles.

“There is another way out of this, Devon. Help me, and I wil go with you wil ingly. No one has to get hurt.” Gem looked away from him. “You said you wanted to be considered as one of my suitors when the time came. Are you going to be the sort of man that I might consider seriously, or not? Did you mean it when you said that I was your lady?” That was enough for Devon, regardless of how serious the
reproach
would be from his aunt.

Even spending days as an ice statue might be worth it. He sighed.

“Command me to do this, milady, and I wil do it. It seems to me though that, if you wil do al this for yo ur
friend
, you must have already made your choice.”

“Not yet.”

Devon didn’t entirely believe it, but he made to give the order anyway, waiting only for the most
propitious
moment. Gem stopped him with a shake of her head.

“Rio has to be freed,” she said. “He is too wild to stay chained up like that. It doesn’t mean that there has to be trouble for you, though.” So she wanted the best of al possible worlds.

Devon felt like laughing at the
quixotic
nature of her demands, but he didn’t. Gem’s expression was too serious for that.

“What did you have in mind?”

“I wil let Rio go,” she said. “That way, it wil look like an escape. If I do it, it doesn’t matter what your aunt has
prescribed
about your behavior.”

“And you wil not escape?” Devon asked.

“You have my word as a queen. I just need you to give me the opportunity.”

Devon knew he could do that much. He cal ed to the rest of his men, ordering a rest for them. One of them looked up at him in puzzlement.

“But my lord, we wil soon reach the castle.”

“And do you think that my aunt wil give us time to rest before she throws us into battle?” Devon demanded. The Queen’s
parsimony
with kindness was wel known. The man looked away. “No, I thought not. In any case, things wil be hard enough for the prisoners when they arrive. We should give them at least this much comfort.”

That seemed to
placate
them. Drawing to a halt, Devon dismounted, helping Gem to do the same. By the time they had done that, one of his men had already chained the young werewolf to one of the withered trees. Devon fished a flask of fairy juice from his belt, passing it to Gem.

“Here, this should help revive your friend.”

“Trust me,” Gem said, taking the juice and stealing a sip of it, “after what happened last time he had this stuff, the last thing Rio needs right now is juice.”

Stil , he let Gem go over to the boy. Devon found himself drifting closer too, on an
oblique
angle to the tree that hopeful y would not be too obvious. He did not trust that this would end wel .

Gem looked over to him.

“My lord knight,” her voice was cool y formal and just a little too loud, fal ing into an act for the benefit of the others. “I wil need you to un-muzzle my friend if I am to give him juice.”

friend if I am to give him juice.”

To Devon, it seemed a little too obvious, and he found himself thinking of how
lenient
his aunt would be when she found out. Stil , he moved forward, removing the device.
Covertly
, while his back

shielded

the

movement,

Devon

also

unfastened the very end of the chain. Hopeful y, Gem would be able to get the rest.

Devon moved several steps back then, ostensibly to chat to one of his knights about the latest sled races from around the castle. It would hopeful y dispel any thought of his
collusion
in the escape to come. The position kept him just close enough to hear what the other two said, if he strained. He just hoped that the others would not do the same.