Senrid

  Voices echoed up the court after a time, same as the day before. She wondered if she’d be there until she froze—either from the weather or from boredom.

  The day dragged on, broken only when she crawled over to drink from the water jug, and at sunset she heard the expected footsteps.

  But this time when the door opened the guards came inside, and one of them pulled her to her feet. The gut twist of fear made her wish for the boredom again. They couldn’t have come for her for any good reason, not if Marlovens were fetching her.

  Back into the castle, which was at least somewhat warmer. She was marched down the hall to the old grand reception rooms, unused since the bad old days with Kitty’s mother. All the candles were lit, and once Kitty saw a familiar shadow in a doorway—Llhei! But she dared not turn her head to see for sure.

  Straight to the old throne room, which held so many bad memories. Nothing had changed, that was what was strangest. It felt as if the year with Leander had been only a bright dream.

  “Kyale Marlonen.” That was Tdanerend.

  Kitty gulped, and stopped when the guard holding her stopped.

  “Where is my daughter?”

  Kitty’s thoughts careened wildly, and she remembered then how they’d found Ndand, and CJ had impersonated her—

  “She ran away,” Kitty stated triumphantly.

  “And my nephew?”

  Kitty gawked. “I thought you killed that stinkard!”

  “Is that the rumor going around?” Tdanerend asked.

  Kitty felt her sympathies veer Senrid’s way. But she knew better than to let Tdanerend know. “Well, that was what we hoped,” she stated. “But we certainly haven’t seen that slime-crawler for ages—and good riddance.”

  “What exactly happened?” Tdanerend asked.

  “You mean, when you came stenching into our home—”

  Tdanerend waved a hand, and someone spun Kitty around and slapped her face. Stars danced redly across her vision. Pain lanced through her cheek, then it felt weirdly numb.

  She put her hand up to it.

  “Answer the question,” Tdanerend said, smiling nastily. It was clear that he would really, really enjoy more chances for bullying.

  Kitty had to swallow twice before she could trust her voice. Even so, it came out trembling. “A foreigner pulled us out by magic. Senrid found us. He tried to transfer us back to your disgusting castle, but the magic got all tangled, and we all got thrown off-world.”

  “And?” Tdanerend prompted. “You seem to have returned. What about Senrid?”

  “I told you, I don’t know! Leander and I got sent back here, and that’s all I know. Or care.”

  “What was this other world?”

  “A water place.”

  “Were there magicians present?”

  “Yes.”

  “And did my nephew interact with them?”

  “Interact? I don’t know what you mean by that, but we had to get rid of some spell or other, and we met some interesting people, some green humans and some beings like squids. There were some fish people, too, but we didn’t really see them but once.”

  “I see. And did my nephew stay?”

  “How should I—” Kitty saw Tdanerend glance up behind her, and she flinched and said hastily, “No. None of us did. We were all together when somebody did this giant spell—I don’t know who—and Leander and I landed here, and I didn’t see any of the others. Including your rotten globule of a nephew. So there!”

  “Who were these others? Faline Sherwood was one, I take it? And 713?”

  “Yes, and a couple of their friends who got accidentally pulled in.” Kitty had learned what Marlovens did to those who messed with their plans. She was not about to mention CJ’s part if she could possibly help it. She’d never understood who Autumn was or how she’d gotten mixed in, but one thing for sure: Autumn was nice, and Kitty wasn’t even going to tell this monster her name.

  Tdanerend drummed his fingers on the arm of the black throne, then he said, “You are utterly worthless to anyone as you are. I could kill you now and no one in the world would blink an eye. So we are where we were when we met last: I want your cooperation, so that I may find some use for you.”

  “I won’t consent to a traitor spell,” Kitty yelled, her voice shrill and desperate. “I won’t.”

  “Well, we’ll see. I’ve received word from the last of my detachments. Your country is now mine. All of it. Less than one day. A reprehensible record, even for you fools. You’re about to witness a little ceremony.”

  “Oh no I won’t.”

  “Oh yes you will—and it’ll be the last thing you’ll see for a while,” Tdanerend said, and laughed.

  His laugh was as nasty as his expression.

  Kyale was jerked around and marched out, down the hall, and into the garrison court again. This time another group came out, and Kitty was stunned and sickened when she recognized the tattered, bruised figure being held upright in their midst: Leander.

  One side of his face was too bruised and swollen to look at, but he tried to smile. Terror wrung down her in waves, but she did her best to hide it, for Leander was hiding it, he was trying to encourage her with his quirked brow—she knew it, even though his puffy jaw and purple eye distorted his expression.

  “Hi,” she squeaked.

  “Hi yourself,” he responded, his voice more like the croak of a frog.

  Then they were pulled apart.

  Kitty looked around—in time to see the sky blue banner of Vasande Leror pulled from the highest tower, and in its place the Marlovens put the one she’d seen in Senrid’s castle: a screaming eagle of gold, edged with blue, against a black background.

  She shut her eyes, and refused to look.

  “Don’t want to see it, eh, brat?”

  Tdanerend’s voice, shockingly near, made her jump.

  “No!” she snarled.

  “Kitty—” Leander’s voice came, strained, warning, then a door slammed.

  Kitty whirled around, scarcely aware of Tdanerend’s droning voice, but she couldn’t see the other side of the court. Where was Leander, and when had the darkness gotten so thick?

  She couldn’t see the court, or the Marlovens, or Tdanerend—or even her own feet.

  Tdanerend chortled, endlessly entertained.

  She couldn’t help crying out, or staggering as the darkness closed in.

  She was blind.

  SEVEN

  A sudden flurry of noise—footsteps, distant shouts, the ringing scrape of swords being drawn—sounded to Kitty’s left. Instinctively she forced herself not to react, standing as still as she could, despite her trembling.

  She picked out Tdanerend’s voice—yelling orders, and cursing—from among the others. He was now at some distance, and rapidly moving away.

  A hand touched her arm. She started, and covered her face with her hands, as though hiding her face would protect her.

  “It’s I,” Llhei whispered. “Come along. Something’s happened elsewhere, something he doesn’t like, and maybe he’ll forget about you for a time.”

  “I can’t see, Llhei,” Kitty whimpered. “Don’t’t-tell anyone—”

  “Shhh, child. I’m taking you to your room. You’ll soon be snug in your own bed.”

  And so it was.

  Warm and clean at last, Kitty scarcely had the energy to eat the fresh bread-and-cheese that Llhei brought, but eat it she did. She drank down some warm steeped listerblossom, feeling the last of her headache fade, and then burrowed under her quilt and slept deeply.

  When she woke, there was noise at the door. She sat up, looked around, saw only darkness and once again smacked her hands over her eyes.

  Llhei said quickly, “It’s I. With something to eat. And as much news as you can bear.”

  “Leander?”

  Llhei sighed. “He might be visiting in a bit. We shall see.”

  Llhei had not answered the question directly. Kitty’s stomached churned. But Llhei insisted
she dress, and eat, before they talked.

  When Kitty was full, and warm, Llhei said, “They think I am a cleaning servant, so I have a measure of freedom. I suspect Tdanerend was not happy to discover how few of us there are, and his warriors do not like being pressed into kitchen and cleaning duty.” She chuckled. “So we are safe, because he needs us. Alaxandar, Arel, and some of the others managed to get away. They have been doing their best to make trouble.”

  “Some of the others?”

  “Portan was killed,” Llhei murmured. “As well as the others who were with him in the stables. They attempted to defend the front gates and would not surrender.”

  Kitty felt sick. She hadn’t really liked any of those people, but she’d known them, and to think she’d never see Portan saddling horses again… She winced, and shook her head.

  “The good news is that since yesterday someone has been making things very difficult for Tdanerend. A messenger was waylaid. Tdanerend’s commands have been countermanded. Some strange magical interference as well, the latest one I overheard being that the wards Tdanerend has been putting round our borders are gone. He was furious!”

  “I didn’t know Alaxandar or Arel knew magic!”

  “I didn’t either, but maybe your brother managed to set something up. Anyway, Tdanerend intended to have you and Leander either enchanted or killed by tomorrow—we’ve been desperately trying to make plans for getting the two of you free—”

  A quick tap at the door caused Llhei’s breath to hiss in.

  Kitty clenched her hands together. She heard the door open, and footsteps. “One turn,” said a Marloven voice, in accented Leroran, and Kitty heard the click of the small glass being set on the mantel.

  The door closed.

  A sigh—Leander’s sigh! A sigh of relief?

  “Leander?” Kitty asked.

  “He said he had a surprise. I thought—I thought it was worse than it was,” he said.

  The strain in his voice made Kitty’s eyes burn.

  “Oh, Leander, I didn’t want to tell you, but I can’t see.”

  “But it was done with magic,” Leander said. He did sound relieved!

  For a moment Kitty was angry—until she realized what he’d feared, and again her stomach squinched up at the vivid mental picture of the way that Tdanerend could have done it. She started talking then, describing every horrible moment from the time she’d woken to the sound of growling felines, ending up with what had just happened. “Why?” she wailed at the end. “Why?”

  “He wants you whole and healthy,” Leander said, ignoring a question he couldn’t answer. The sand had nearly run out, so he talked fast. “In default of me. I don’t think he’s thought of using you against me—not until now. If he does,” he whispered. “If he does, Kitty, will you forgive me if I give in?”

  “Leander! It’s not your fault!”

  The door rattled.

  Kitty said quickly, “Llhei says that Alaxandar and the others are causing Tdanerend awful trouble.”

  Leander sighed again. She was glad that she couldn’t see him. She was afraid of what had happened to him to make him sound like that.

  The door opened and a jumble of footsteps came in and left again. The door closed.

  Llhei said, “Good girl. Tdanerend expected you to whine and cry and make things worse for Leander. That’s the only reason why you were permitted the visit.”

  “What can I do?” Kitty whimpered, thoroughly terrified.

  “Try to bear what you can. If Tdanerend does…” Her voice faded, and she sounded tired and old. “If you can, try not to beg Leander for help or aid, if the two of you are brought in together. You will be safer if Tdanerend thinks you don’t really care for one another.”

  “Like him and Ndand?”

  “Exactly.”

  “What’s wrong with Leander? What did they do to him?”

  “You don’t want to know, child. But—as yet—it hasn’t gotten worse because Tdanerend has hopes yet of using magic to make him a puppet. I am so glad Leander put that language spell on us all! That dreadful man doesn’t know we can understand him, and Nelyas overheard some talk in the stairwell. He doesn’t want to be here, he’s anxious to get back home. I am afraid it will get worse before it gets better, unless we get some help. Do you want the window open, child? It’s beginning to snow out there.”

  “First Snow,” Kitty said in a small voice. “And I’m missing it.” She bit her lip, thinking about how it had looked in the past. She told herself, use your imagination. Use your memory. Llhei’s right. Don’t whine. Don’t make it all worse.

  The touch of cold air on her cheek kept her from feeling closed in. The room did not stay really warm, but the trade was worth it.

  “Open a crack. I need the air,” Kitty said. “Or I feel like I’m in a box.”

  “Then bundle up and rest. When he gets back, I’m afraid you both are in for more nastiness.”

  And so it was.

  Kitty woke up abruptly with Llhei’s hand on her shoulder. “They’re here. Want you below,” she whispered. “Remember what I told you.”

  Kitty had slept in her dress. She groped with her hands, caught at Llhei’s fingers, and slipped out of bed.

  At the door, unfamiliar smells swirled in—or rather, smells she was not used to smelling at home. Steel, horse, wet wool. It smelled like the Marloven dungeon in Choreid Dhelerei, not like her own home. All that was missing was the odor of old stone and unchanged air.

  Fingers grabbed at her arms. The pace was much too rapid? and she stumbled until the grip on her arms tightened. At least she didn’t fall down.

  The room they hustled her to was big, from the sound, and cold, and she was fairly sure it was again the throne room.

  “Now we’ll see some sport.”

  The hated voice made Kitty’s insides tighten with anger and apprehension.

  “We’ll try a game that our academy boys often play. No blindfold needed! Let’s see how well our mouthy little princess does.”

  The hands let go of Kitty. She stood for a moment, her feet cold on marble, listening to the scrapes of boots around her, the sounds of breathing. A lot of people were in the room. All Marlovens?

  A sudden slap on her cheek caused her to gasp.

  “Run,” a voice said.

  “If you get through the perimeter, you’re free,” Tdanerend called, his tone derisive. “You have to learn to listen. Something I don’t think you were ever taught.”

  Kitty stumbled in one direction, heard the clunk of boots on the marble. They were close—and Sting! another slap.

  She whirled about and ran, stumbling over her hem and falling, then getting up. She waved her hands before her, but they were smacked away. Again and again the footsteps, the cuffs, and all the while that single voice laughing, harshly, in the background. Tdanerend seemed to find every single slap, every fall, inordinately entertaining.

  No one else laughed, none of the people around her. They were silent, except for the sounds of breathing.

  “Harder,” Tdanerend called, though Kitty felt that the slaps were painful enough.

  Another smack caught her on the side of her face, so hard it took her breath with it, and her arms windmilled before she fell full length.

  Tdanerend laughed so hard he wheezed. Then he said, “Aren’t you enjoying it? Or would you like to take her place?”

  Kitty’s head was ringing now, but she could still hear.

  Leander’s voice came from the right, drawling with fake boredom, “I’d do it, but I can’t seem to walk.” It was fake boredom because Kitty could hear the tremble of rage underneath the drawl.

  She remembered what Llhei had said, and yelled, “This is all your fault, Leander!”

  And Leander snapped back, “You’re the authority, of course, Kyale.” It was so nasty a tone, so false, that she knew instantly that he was faking it as hard as she was.

  Slap. Smash. She hit her elbow, felt splinters of pain shoot up her arm,
and she decided she’d had enough. So she crouched down in a ball and wouldn’t move. A few slaps—none of them very hard—and then silence.

  Not silence. One set of new footsteps, quick ones. The rattle of paper. A messenger, then?

  Tdanerend cursed in Marloven, then, again in his own tongue, “Get them out of here.” And, his fast step and his voice diminishing, “Why haven’t you fools caught those raiders? Every strike is getting bolder! These Lerorans are nothing but rabbits. Do I have to flog the back off of every commander until I see my orders carried out…”

  Fingers gripped Kitty’s arms again, and out she went.

  Back in her room, Kitty held in her tears until Llhei had bathed her face, and then she buried her face in her pillow and yelled and screamed.

  She was sitting up in bed, her fingers following the stitching on the quilting and the embroidery over it, when the vines outside her window rustled.

  “Hoped you were here,” came a whisper. “Ready for a rescue?”

  “Who’s there?” Kitty whispered back.

  “There are no guards close by? Or servants?”

  “Llhei’s asleep, and those disgusting Marlovens only come in here when Tdanerend sends them. Who are you?”

  She heard footsteps in her room.

  “Um, it isn’t safe to say.” The whisper was completely voiceless. “But I’m against Tdanerend being here as much as you are.”

  “Oh! Then you must be a raider!”

  “Raider? Oh. Yes. That’s right.” A breathy laugh. “So are you coming, or do you want to sit here and wait until Tdanerend comes up for a visit?”

  “An escape?” Kitty flung back her covers and slid her feet, still in their bed-socks, into her mocs, which had been waiting at her bedside. Then she hesitated. The raider couldn’t know she had been blinded, or maybe she’d be left behind.

  So she crossed toward her windows, fairly certain that the dimensions of her own room were familiar enough not to trip her up.

  Step, step, step, and—she reached. Yes! There was a windowsill. To the left, then, would be her wardrobe, and inside, on its hook, her cape. She risked the attempt, and her outstretched fingers groped once before closing on the familiar wool.