Chapter 18
As Lenore followed Sir Droy and Parr, she felt her footsteps were louder than usual against the flagstones. It was an illusion, of course, but nonetheless it made her heart pound as she watched them disappear behind the massive oak doors that led to the academy library. Lenore rushed forward at the last moment and stopped the door from closing quite completely so she could hear the voices from within.
“Well? What was so important that you had to drag me away from my affairs?” Droy demanded irritably.
“I didn’t know who else to talk to.” Parrel’s voice wavered. Lenore wished she could see his face. “Lord Hauser has asked something of me, and I’m not sure how or if I should give it to him.”
“When in doubt, say ‘no.’ I always do. Anything else?”
“Sir, I thought perhaps you could warn King Illian.”
“About what? Speak properly if you’re going to bother me,” Droy snapped.
Lenore heard Parr take a deep breath before saying, “Lord Hauser seems to be looking for something he can use against the King.”
“This is foolish. Why would I care? Illian and I are no longer friends.”
Lenore twisted slightly so she could see through the tiny crack. As her vision continued to clear from the blinding opals, she could vaguely see Droy wave an irreverent hand. “In fact, I hope Hauser does find something he can use against him.”
“You can’t mean that.”
“Why not?”
“Because, he’s the king,” Parr said incredulously. “If Hauser-”
“Hauser can’t hurt him, boy. I don’t know what you think Hauser could possibly find, but Illian will bury it, and likely Lord Hauser as well before he’s through.”
Lenore heard the sharp “thump” of the cane as Droy, apparently deciding the interview was over, moved towards the door. She hastily pulled away and missed Parr’s next words. But she heard Droy’s reaction.
“What?!” He sounded agitated, worried even. Lenore felt uneasy.
Parr said, “That’s why I spoke to you, sir. After all, it doesn’t just concern the King.”
There was a moment of silence as Droy seemed to be searching for a reply. At last he said, “You were right to come to me. Don’t speak to anyone else about this if you value your life. That includes Hauser. Understood?”
“Y-yes, but what do I do about Lord Hauser then?”
“Stall him,” Droy said shortly. “If he tries to do anything against Illian, like I said, he’ll regret it. Getting yourself involved will bring the sky down on your head. Tell me if he contacts you again or seems to have any further information that he might use.”
Lenore ducked away from the door as Droy strode toward it, then she dashed down the hall, light-footed, her mind spinning. She wished she could have heard that one sentence she missed. What was it that they knew about her brother? And what might it mean for Trista?
Parr was frustrated. Telling Sir Droy had been pointless; the man wasn’t helpful at all, and only ended up suggesting that he effectively become a double agent between Droy and Hauser.
“How am I supposed to manage that?” he muttered angrily as he headed to his next class. Hauser would see through him, and Parr wasn’t sure just how far the man might go to get what he wanted. Parr was still trapped, which meant he’d also have to keep lying to Lenore. This bothered him perhaps most of all.
Parr kept his head down in class, his mind focused entirely on trying to think of a way out of his problem. He could approach Illian directly, but after Droy’s words, he was starting to feel more scared of Illian than Hauser. The odd thing was, Droy had seemed quite disinterested until Parr said Hauser had mentioned David Amana.
“Parrel Hart!”
Parr looked up quickly, and some of the other students laughed at his startled, embarrassed face. The instructor glared at him. “Would you like to join us?”
“Yes, sir. Sorry, sir.”
Parr tried to focus, but throughout the rest of his classes, fear kept nagging at the back of his mind. How was he going to get himself out of this situation?
At the royal palace, Trista was eating breakfast with Illian again when she surprised him by asking to go out riding with him. She half-expected him to refuse, but after a moment’s thought, he nodded. “All right,” he said calmly. “We should keep up appearances, after all.”
“This is about more than keeping up appearances. You need to relax,” Trista said firmly. “You’ve been too stressed lately, and your headaches are getting worse.”
“How do you know that?” Illian suddenly had a dangerous look in his eyes.
Trista waved away his anger. “I overheard you complaining. If you wanted to keep it a secret, you shouldn’t always rub your head and tell people to leave you because you have a headache, should you now?”
He grimaced and shrugged slightly. “Fine,” he said. “Let’s say I need to ‘relax.’ How do you suggest I go about it when there’s so much work to be done? The miners are still contemplating a strike if the treaty with Navinor goes through, and Gregory’s demands get more irritating every time I see him. Then of course there’s that frustrating little bug in Tephraya.”
“King Tarik,” Trista said knowingly.
He smirked slightly. “Yes. He’s not the most cooperative individual, and ever since we rescinded the Desert Crossing Treaty, he’s been refusing to allow any of our traders into his country. Not that I mind, but now the border towns are sending petitions and complaining that they won’t be able to support themselves apart from trade with Tephraya.”
“You should let me help you. I may not be as clever as Kathryn, Illian, but I could at least talk to the miners.”
“What do you know about mining?” Illian asked gently. “Have you seen the lives they lead, toiling away in the darkness for decades until their bodies give out? Do you know that during the war the Navinorians stole all the work they had done and destroyed thousands of opals because they couldn’t figure out how to use them properly? Then they murdered the miners so they couldn’t get any more. The miners that still live are old men, women, and children. What would you tell them, Trista?”
“I would ask them if they are tired of war,” Trista said softly. “I would tell them I’ve lost a great deal to Navinor as well. I would tell them it’s time for peace.”
She lowered her utensils and fixed her earnest brown eyes on his face. “Illian, tell me something. Are you going to start a war against Tephraya?”
“Whatever made you think that?” he replied shortly.
“Well, you did revoke the treaty.”
“We cannot continue to support slavery. That doesn’t mean we’ll invade, as much as I might want to. We simply don’t have the mages or the supplies.” He stood up. “If you want to go for a ride, we should do it now.”
She noticed that he didn’t actually answer her question.
The weather was beautiful outside, and Trista had grown to love the dappled gray mare Illian had gifted her for her birthday. She called it Feather, because she felt as free as a bird when riding it. Feather was a very cooperative horse, but not very fast. Illian slowed down his powerful battle horse to allow Trista to keep up.
He remarked, “Maybe I should have gotten you something a little stronger.”
“Feather is good enough for me,” Trista said firmly. “Besides, she loves me now. It wouldn’t do to replace her.” Feather whinnied and tossed her head as though agreeing emphatically.
The grassy hills around the palace weren’t exactly exciting to ride over, Trista reflected. But Illian wouldn’t allow them to ride through the forests. He said there was too much risk of an ambush.
As it was, they saw the two riders approaching from several hundred yards away. Illian held out his arm to stop Trista and called sharply, “That’s far enough!”
His men-at-arms raised their crossbows, but the riders raised their hands in the air.
One of them called, “Is that any way to treat an old friend, your majesty?”
Illian looked annoyed as he realized it was Sir Leonard Droy.
Trista, however, immediately urged her horse forward to greet Droy. The men-at-arms lowered their crossbows as she held out her hand to him, saying, “Sir Leonard! How are you?”
“Trista,” he said, sounding surprised and squinting his nearly-blind eyes to try to make out her face. “I didn’t realize you would be riding with the King today.”
“And here I thought you came to see me,” she replied with a smile.
“Not you this time I’m afraid, dear,” he said easily. He’d had a close relationship with her brother David, and he always treated her kindly whenever their paths crossed. He’d even looked in on her once or twice after she took over her household.
Illian brought his horse up to be level with hers. “Then why are you here?” he said quietly.
Leonard gave him a grim smile. “I have some information I thought you should be aware of.”
“Then say it.”
“Lady Trista, would you excuse us for a moment?”
Illian frowned and put a hand on Trista’s arm before she could turn away. “She’s my fiance,” he said quietly. “Surely you can say it in front of her.”
“You don’t want that. Just trust me this time.” Leonard’s tone became slightly sardonic, and Illian looked uneasy. He took his hand away from Trista’s arm and nodded at her. She headed back towards the house with two of the men-at-arms escorting her.
“What is it?” Illian asked irritably, feeling uneasy. “I don’t understand why Trista had to leave.”
“Your secrets are coming back to bite you.” Leonard tilted his head slightly and a smirk flitted across his pale, unshaven face. “Well, to bite both of us, really.”
Illian whitened and glared at the man-at-arms who remained nearby. “Go out of earshot,” he said in a dangerous, low voice. The man hastily obeyed, as did Leonard’s servant who had accompanied him.
“Now you understand the gravity of the situation. If Trista finds out about David, I’m not the only one who will go down, am I, Illian?” Leonard said smugly.
“Why do you think it would come out? If you’re saying you plan to tell her-”
“I wouldn’t do that to her. And as much as she probably deserves to know, I’m too much of a coward. But someone is going to tell her sooner or later, and you know it.”
Illian studied Leonard’s face, and his hands tightened on the reins. “Not just ‘someone.’ You know who it is.”
“I don’t know all the details. But I was told Lord Hauser has you in his sights, and he mentioned David.”
“How much does he know?” Illian asked sharply.
“I don’t know. I doubt he guesses the full truth, but he has to be suspicious.”
Illian chewed his bottom lip until it bled. “Who would have told him? No one knew.”
“I can think of twenty or so who might have been able to find out, and so can you,” Leonard said dryly. “Just be careful. I know you don’t want anything to damage your little fairytale romance with Trista.”
“You’d love that, wouldn’t you?” Illian sneered.
Leonard shrugged. “I certainly wouldn’t hate it. But I wouldn’t get out of that unscathed either. Now, what are you going to do?”
“I can keep Hauser under control.”
“Can you? Well, then, I suppose there was nothing to worry about.” Leonard turned to his attendant. “Let’s go, Ryan.”
“Is that it?” Illian demanded.
“I don’t know what more you want me to say, your majesty.”
“How did you find out about this? Did Hauser speak to you directly?”
Leonard rolled his eyes. “What do you think?”
“Then where did you hear that he knew something?”
“Someone who was concerned for you told me.”
“Was it Parrel Hart?”
Leonard raised an eyebrow. “What makes you think that?” he said.
“Hauser is his sponsor. And I’ve heard you’ve been spending a great deal of time at the Royal Academy.” Illian was pleased to see a flicker of doubt cross Leonard’s face. That’s right, the king thought grimly. You may think you’re in control, but I’m still several steps ahead of you.
“Parrel Hart has nothing to do with this,” Leonard said.
Illian was sure of himself as he saw Leonard’s hand twitch on the reins. “Leonard, if he knows, then others will know eventually.”
“He doesn’t know anything. I didn’t tell you about this so you could go after a mere child.”
“Then why did you?”
“Because there’s a part of me that still wants to protect David’s little sister. And no matter how it comes out, she will be hurt.” Leonard pulled his horse around. “Leave Hart alone, your majesty,” he said over his shoulder.”
Illian said coldly, “Or what?”
“I may not want this secret to get out, but I will change my mind if the cost of keeping it becomes too high. He’s a good boy. Leave well enough alone.” Leonard raised his hand in farewell and left with his attendant while Illian sat there with a grim expression on his face.
Trista had gone back to the palace, and Illian didn’t feel like seeing her again that day. He went to his room instead and sat by the window until long after the sun had set and the stars came out. The moon shown on his cold face with a bluish light, and he tapped his fingers on the stone windowsill.
Parrel Hart and Lord Hauser. Inconveniences, to be sure. But only one of those two was close to his sister and had a direct line of communication with Trista. “I’ll have to keep an eye on him,” he muttered. There was too much at stake to allow rumors to run rampant.
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