"I am aware that I am untested and young. Do we not all start out that way? I realize I will need wise council, as any Ruler does, to navigate the tempests of government. Finally, I am aware that I have less than eighteen years and that Cancordia is legally in need of a Regent, or Regents until I reach my majority." She took a deep breath.
"But Lord Raptor? Is Cancordia to be at the mercy of a traitor who gives false reports to his Queen? To be at the mercy of a traitor who dispatches the militia on a wild Gundi chase so he can move in his own private army?" Her voice had risen; her fists clenched. "To be at the mercy of a traitor who murdered his Queen?"
Now everybody began talking at once. The volume rose as each tried to make himself heard. The Council members sat frozen as if struck by glacier light.
The sound of the gong rang once again at the same time as Lord Raptor bellowed, "Silence!" Whether responding to the gong or Lord Raptor, people stopped talking. Princess Lil'Li still stood, but Lord Raptor took possession of the limelight.
He began by applauding the Princess with slow deliberation. Then he bowed low and mockingly to her. Finally, he turned to the crowd.
"Once again, we are presented with the Princess's hysterical, impulsive and I regret to say, dishonest behavior that we are all familiar with. The child will say anything to get her way. Her wild accusations are simply… wild accusations. Where is her proof? There is none, of course, because none of this is true. Imagine being ruled by a Queen who does not hesitate to accuse me, one of Cancordia's leading nobles, of treason. Who among you will be safe?"
There was an agreeing mummer among the crowd.
Lord Raptor listened to the crowds' tone and nodded to himself. He was on a roll and he knew it.
Why doesn't the Princess offer some proof, thought Ja'Nil?
The councilman on Princess Lil'Li's right stood up and spoke in a cold, angry voice to Lord Raptor. "You imprisoned Her Royal Highness, Princess Lil'Li, the Queen Presumptive; an act of treason."
"Did I? Who says so? The Princess? Anyone else? Why not ask her companion, Lady Bel'Dor? And if the Princess was imprisoned, how did she manage to issue orders to Captain Y'Nota? How, in fact, did she get here? Where are her chains, her guards? Please tell us, Your Highness, how did you escape from your supposéd cell?"
The Princess glared at him as the skin on her cheekbones darkened with anger and embarrassment.
He waited a moment for her to respond and when she said nothing, he continued. "I am accused of treason and murder. How am I to prove my innocence against these wild accusations? Anyone can accuse anyone of anything. What if I were to say Queen Ten'Aj died at the hands of - he looked deliberately at the Princess - well, it could be anyone, couldn't it?
Princess Lil'Li stood up. "You wish proof?" she asked.
"What I wish is to prove myself innocent," he replied. "But one cannot prove a negative."
To Ja'Nil's amazement, Princess Lil'Li started to wring her hands. "If only Lady Fayre-"
"Lord Raptor cut her off. "I agree, if only Lady Fayre with her Thread of Truth were here," he said to the whole room. "I would eagerly submit myself to her judgment and prove my innocence."
So that's why Lord Raptor crumbled Lady Fayre's ring, Ja'Nil realized. He knew about the Thread. He wasn't looking for a message. He was looking for the wire that shaped the ring.
That big, ugly parchê ring, casually handed over at the last minute, had been the whole point of Lady Fayre sending Ja'Nil to Cordia. For a moment she felt rage at the gracious Lady for using her so callously.
What would have happened if I lied while wearing the ring?
But her anger was quickly replaced by worry. Is the wire still viable? It had gotten wet, something Lady Fayre had warned her against.
Hesitantly, Ja'Nil raised her hand. No one seemed to notice.
"Ah," said Ja'Nil. No one seemed to notice.
"Therefore," continued Lord Raptor, "I propose —."
"I have the Thread of Truth," said Ja'Nil, in a very small voice. Again, most people did not seem to notice… but some did.
"What did you say?" asked a man standing near her.
"I have the Thread of Truth," said Ja'Nil, still in a small voice. "Lady Fayre gave it to me to deliver to the Queen." Her voice was growing stronger. All around her, people were quieting down to listen to what she was saying.
"Why would she do that?" someone asked.
"The Lady knew there was a traitor here in Cordia," she replied.
"And that's why he killed my mother," Princess Lil'Li cut in. "To prevent being exposed."
"Another liar," said Lord Raptor, pointing to Ja'Nil. "She no more has the Thread of Truth than-"
"Then I can fly?" Ja'Nil asked. To her amazement, he actually looked frightened. Did he really believe she could fly!
The Earth Person Councilwoman stood up. "Show us," she ordered Ja'Nil.
This could all blow up in her face. Still, it felt good not to be Raptor's victim. It felt good to be the one doing the stalking.
Slowly, and rather dramatically, Ja'Nil uncoiled the wire from around her wrist. She unstrung the beads Ee'Rick had given her, and placed them carefully in her tunic pocket. Finally, she straightened out the wire and held it high above her head.
"The Thread of Truth," she said in a voice that didn't tremble at all.
"You bitch," yelled Lord Raptor, and to everyone's surprise, especially Ja'Nil's, he drew his ceremonial knife and lunged at her.
Ja'Nil froze. Up close, the knife looked very strong and very sharp, and not the least bit ceremonial. It was aimed straight at her heart.
It missed.
It missed, because powerful jaws with large, sharp teeth closed around Lord Raptor's forearm and snapped it like a twig. He screamed in pain and fell to the floor.
Instead of going into her heart, the knifepoint slashed the right side of Ja'Nil's face. Her blood flowed freely down her face, dripping onto the floor.
All around her people screamed in fear, not of Lord Raptor, but of the giant wolf that had appeared out of nowhere, a wolf that had disarmed Lord Raptor, broke his arm, ripped his flesh, muscle and tendons, and now stood snarling over the downed man, saliva dripping from its blood-smeared mouth.
Before anyone could recover and react, the wolf leaped through one of the openings between the pillars and disappeared. It took a while for people to realize the animal was gone. Captain Y'Nota was the first to recover his wits.
"Alert security," he snapped to his orderly. "There's a dangerous wild animal loose in the park. Evacuate the people and hunt the animal down."
"Rescind," said Princess Lil'Li calmly.
The orderly, on his way out, stopped and looked uncertainly from the Princess to his captain.
"That animal is not dangerous to the innocent, Captain," Princess Lil'Li assured him. For a moment, soldier and Princess eyed each other, and then Captain Y'Nota gave a sharp nod to the Princess and told his orderly to stand down..
A healer stepped out of the crowd and took Ja'Nil by her arm, moving her to one side of the room. He placed an oval shaped stone over the knife wound and held it firmly in place.
"Ouch!"
"Stay still," he ordered. Ja'Nil stood still; the bleeding stopped almost immediately.
I'm not leaving without a healer for our village.
Nobody paid much attention to Lord Raptor, who sat on the floor clutching his broken arm, cursing and moaning, until Princess Lil'Li came out from behind the Council Table and walked over and looked down at him.
"I suspect he killed his wife, too," she announced.
"She's insane," roared Lord Raptor, suddenly sitting up straight and forgetting to moan. "The truth is she killed her own mother. The bitch, excuse me, the Princess Bitch is consumed by ambition and her lust for power."
Princess Lil'Li looked around, saw Ja'Nil with the healer at the side of the room, and gestured her forward.
The Princess grabbed hold of the Thread of Truth that Ja'Nil stil
l clutched in her hand. The Princess lifted it up so all could see that both her hands were on the wire, and said in a ringing voice, "I swear to the Lord of the Circle and to all the citizens of Cancordia, I have not killed anyone, most especially Queen Ten'Aj, my beloved mother. I also do swear that I will always put my country and its citizens first in my heart. I vow to be the best Ruler and servant of Cancordia I can be."
Her hands did not burn down to stumps; there was no change in the wire's color, no fireworks of any kind. Princess Lil'Li handed the wire back to Ja'Nil and looked at Lord Raptor.
"Your turn," she said, and gestured for Ja'Nil to bring the Thread of Truth to Lord Raptor.
Feeling absolutely no sympathy for the man, Ja'Nil, holding the wire in both hands, approached Lord Raptor. He scrambled to his feet carefully, supporting his broken arm with his left hand. He looked around wildly, but he was hemmed in on all sides.
"Bitch," he hissed at Ja'Nil, sounding like a Purueean snake. "I'll get you."
Injured, unarmed, and surrounded, Lord Raptor still terrified her.
"Put the Thread around his neck," said Captain Y'Nota.
"Stay away from me," snarled Lord Raptor.
Captain Y'Nota signaled, and suddenly soldiers surrounded Raptor. Y'Nota took the wire from Ja'Nil and fastened it around the thrashing Raptor's throat.
Ja'Nil, well knowing the Thread had gotten wet, was horrified. What if Raptor took a chance and lied? Would the Thread work? Probably not. Would he be vindicated because she had let the ring get wet?
Princess Lil'Li moved to stand in front of him. "Now tell us, Lord Raptor, did you kill Ten'Aj, Queen of all Cancordia?"
Raptor tried to twist free of the soldiers holding him. "My arm," he whined.
"Answer the question. Did you kill the Queen?" There was a long moment when the Princess and the prisoner glared at each other. "Refusing to answer is the same as a guilty plea. You're a lucky man; at least you have a choice as to how you'll die; hanging or decapitation."
Lord Raptor looked around at all the people staring, waiting to see him die.
"Do something!" he yelled out over the heads of the crowd. Ja'Nil turned to see to whom he was speaking, but of all the people watching the action, no one in particular stood out.
"Answer the question, scum," said Y'Nota.
Lord Raptor seemed to go mad. "Yes. Yes. Yes. Of course, I killed that slut of a Queen. Poisoned her, and laughed while she was dying." He gave a high-pitched laugh. "Killed my wife, too. Kissed her," he laughed again, "and snapped her neck. Didn't need her anymore. I rule Cancordia!" He was screaming now. This was the crazy Lord Raptor, Ja'Nil had met in the torture room.
"You'll rule only in the Seven Hells," Captain Y'Nota told him. He gestured to his soldiers who tightened their grip on him.
"My arm," he screamed.
"Don't worry, Lord Raptor." said Princess Lil'Li. "A healer will be called before you are hanged."
Suddenly sane, he looked at her and smiled a terrible smile. "I will live to see you on your knees begging me for death."
The soldiers took him away.
CHAPTER 34
They put him in a cell, and took off all his fancy clothes, cutting away the sleeve that covered his broken arm.
He cursed them all the while, and when one of them accidentally knocked into his damaged arm, he accused them of deliberately torturing him.
"Ah, shut up," said one of the exasperated guards.
Lord Raptor went back to cursing and threatening them.
They ignored him.
"Do you know what's going to happen to you?" Lord Raptor looked around at the circle of guards, who all stared back at him with stony faces. "You will die for this," he promised them. "All of you."
"Right you are, Your Lordship. We'll die, all right. But not before we see you kicking in the wind, hanging with a rope around your throat."
Lord Raptor grew paler, and was quiet when one of the guards, pretending to have a rope around his own neck, made all sorts of grisly noises, as if he was choking to death. Lord Raptor looked away. The others laughed.
Just then, a healer, tall and thin, with a shining bald head, arrived. "I'm to attend his broken arm," he announced.
The guards stopped laughing and became very professional.
Lord Raptor, now dressed in a washed-out, orange-colored, shapeless robe that barely covered his shins, sat on the bunk, while the healer pulled up a stool near him and began taking objects from his bag.
"You can leave now," he told the guards.
"Don't think so, Healer Sir," said the oldest guard. "The prisoner's to have double guard all the way to the gallows, he is."
The healer shrugged and applied himself to cleaning and splinting Lord Raptor's wounded arm.
"Does this hurt?" asked the healer.
"Yes."
"What about now?"
"Of course it hurts."
"And this?"
"What?" Lord Raptor leaned closer to see what the healer was doing.
"I have a message for you," said the healer in a soft voice.
"What? Ow! That hurt."
One of the guards chuckled.
"Keep your voice down," said the healer, busy with the wounded arm.
"What message?" asked Lord Raptor.
"A man will come with the password, "travel gate."
"And?"
"He will deal with the guards and unlock your cell. Go with him. He will take you to safety."
"When? When will he come?"
"Within hours."
Lord Raptor leaned back and rested his head against the flaky, white washed wall. He knew it! Of course, he would be rescued. A man such as he was had many supporters. A man such as he did not die at the hands of scum. And when he returned in triumph… ah, what he would do when he returned.
The healer finished his work and stood up. "I'm finished here," he said to the bored guards. "I've given the prisoner something for the pain. He'll probably sleep the next few hours."
As one of the guards opened the cell door to let the healer out, he said, "I've been getting this rash lately."
The healer smiled, reached into his bag, and handed over a small jar of ointment. "Put this on the rash at least twice a day."
"Well, thankee, I'll do that."
The healer closed his bag and left without a backward look. Lord Raptor watched him go, and then lay down on the bunk and became very quiet.
***
Two hours later a man dressed in a blue guard's uniform entered the cell block, a naked sword hidden under his cloak. He stopped in front of the guards, who were playing a desultory game of cards. One of them looked up in surprise.
"We ain't due for relief for another two hours. Who the hell are you?"
The newcomer leaned forward, and with one quick swipe, cut the guard's throat. The other guard leaped to his feet, while at the same time reaching for his sword. But he'd made the mistake of sitting with his sword arm against the wall. As he stood, his chair fell over. He tried backing up to give himself room to draw, but the fallen chair impeded his movements.
The assassin had plenty of time to thrust his own sword deep into the man's chest. For a moment, killer and killed looked into each other's eyes. The assassin smiled, and withdrew his sword as his victim slid to the floor, lifeblood dribbling out of his mouth.
The killer carefully wiped both his sword and his knife on the tunics of his victims.
Lord Raptor was standing at the cell door, both hands gripping the bars. "Good," he said. "Good. Scum, that's what they are."
"Were," said the killer, as he bent over one of the guards and lifted the keys attached the dead man's belt.
Lord Raptor watched the man warily as he unlocked the cell door. But the killer made no attempt to enter the cell or threaten him.
"Travel gate," said the assassin reassuringly, then, "come with me," and started down the hallway without even a glance at Lord Raptor.
"Where are we going?"
> The man didn't answer.
Lord Raptor stopped. "I said where are we going?"
The killer stopped and walked back.
"You have an admirer," he said.
"I have many admirers," replied Lord Raptor.
"Yes? Well, this one is helping you escape."
"Who?"
"He'll meet you at the gate. He's hoping to be able to work with you."
Lord Raptor hesitated for a moment, but really, what choice did he have? As long as he was in the palace, it was only a matter of time until he was recaptured. If he could get to Raptors' Keep, the power would be his. And maybe he could use this admirer of his. Lord Raptor had a pretty good idea who the man was. Together they would be unstoppable.
"Lead on," he said.
***
The man led Lord Raptor down hallways, up stairways, into tunnels and through deserted gardens that Lord Raptor, with all his familiarity with the Palace, had never known existed. They met no one until they arrived at the Queens' Audience Gate.
Lord Raptor's admirer waited at the gate. Instinctively Raptor stopped at the sight of the hooded shape. Then he realized who it was, and smiled confidently.
"I thought it would be you," Lord Raptor said to the shrouded figure.
"Did you, my Lord?"
"I am in your debt," said Lord Raptor, giving the person a short jerky bow. "I will not forget this when once I claim the throne."
"That is still your plan?"
"Absolutely."
"I admire your determination."
Lord Raptor's savior turned to the assassin. "Thank you, Le'Rod. As usual, you performed with great competence." The man just grunted. "I assume transportation is awaiting Lord Raptor?" The voice was light, pleasant, almost musical.
The assassin nodded and turned to Lord Raptor. "Go through the gate into the square," he instructed. "To the left is Rocking Lane. The stable is halfway down, on the right. A blood horse and five outriders are waiting for you."
"I can't appear in the square dressed in prisoners' clothes," Lord Raptor protested.
"Of course not." He handed Lord Raptor a hooded robe.
"Good luck, my friend," said the hooded figure.
"Thank you, L -."
"Ah, No names." The figure held up a warning hand.