The Last Falcon: Book 1 of the Cael Stone

CHAPTER 12

  Despite the short notice, the surprise attack by Krystalix, and all of the efforts afterward to put out the fire, the banquet went ahead without any further problems and seemed to be a success. Or at least that's what Erynn picked up from Mirella and the gossip around the kitchen as her own work kept her so far away from the great hall that she didn't know what was going on. But she didn't mind and barely noticed, too busy thinking about Holden's request and Adena's worry that the Galians had come for her. A growing sense of unease had also been building inside of her, ever since coming face-to-face with Lord Caden, and she wasn't looking forward to working in the kitchen alone.

  Erynn hoped Adena might be sent to the kitchen to help out again, but she saw no sign of her, and eventually it grew late and the number of servants still working began to dwindle. She waited for the king to send for his tea, wanting to tell him about Holden's request and find out if he approved, but the hours passed without word and she started to wonder if maybe he really was upset with her. And then finally she was alone.

  Erynn worked as fast as she ever had before, eager to finish up the dishes and leave. Occasionally she heard noises coming from the great hall, but no one came to bother her or request more food or drink, and she saw no sign of Marik or Lord Caden. When she was finally finished and had put everything away, she started for the door, but noticed a basket of onions under one of the tables and stopped. She knew Mirella would likely blame her for leaving it out if she saw it in the morning, so she picked it up and headed for the pantry.

  Only a few candles remained lit in the rear hallway, leaving the corner by the stairs draped in shadows. Erynn went to the pantry door and stepped inside. Two candles still burned low on a nearby shelf, but the others were out. Baskets filled with vegetables from the castle garden were stacked along the side wall and she set the onions down next to them and left the room.

  She had just turned for the rear door when a figure stepped out of the shadows by the stairs and grabbed her arm.

  Erynn gasped. It was the king.

  He forced her back into the pantry with a strength that surprised her and quickly closed the door.

  "What did Lord Caden say to you?" he asked, his grip tight on her arm.

  Erynn was so stunned that at first she couldn't speak. "N – Nothing, Your Grace. He thanked Adena for saving his horse."

  "Did he recognize you?"

  Erynn remembered the look in Lord Caden's eyes. "I – I think so."

  "What about Holden? What did he say?"

  Erynn didn't understand what was going on, and the grave look on his face was scaring her. How long had he been waiting by the stairs? "Your Grace?"

  The king squeezed her arm tighter. "Erynn, what did Holden say to you?"

  "He asked me what I thought of Adena. What she did."

  "Is that all?"

  Erynn hesitated. Something in the way he was looking at her had just set off a cold gnawing in the pit of her stomach. "He asked us to come to the hall for breakfast in the morning. He said he wants to send a letter to Queen Naedra and King Krone and that he wants me to write it. He told me to bring a quill and some parchment."

  The king's eyes grew dark and he finally stepped back and released her arm. "Then it is as I feared. I am such a fool!"

  Erynn didn't understand. "Did I do something wrong, Your Grace?"

  The king shook his head, his anger suddenly seeming to have lessened. "No. You did nothing wrong, Erynn. I did. I suspected, yet did nothing. I thought Holden would have acted sooner if he knew, and then when you went to the village I assumed I was wrong. But perhaps he just wanted to avoid talk at the banquet. To wait until the very last second. When it would be too late for me to help you."

  The gnawing in her stomach grew stronger. "Your Grace?"

  The king took a deep breath. "Erynn, I have something I must tell you. Something that will no doubt trouble you to hear, but hear you must. I regret not telling you sooner and only hope it is not too late. You are in great danger."

  Erynn stepped back. Danger? She opened her mouth to speak, but voices passed by in the corridor outside and he raised his hand. He waited until they were gone before speaking again.

  "You were not adopted from an orphanage in Brye," he said. "And your real parents did not die in a fire. A friend of mine brought you here as an infant and asked me to take care of you. I agreed and, with Lord Brison's help, we found two people we trusted to raise you. They did a tremendous job, but unfortunately life was not so kind in return. I brought you to the castle after your father died so I could continue to watch over you. To fulfill my promise."

  It was like the wind had been knocked right out of her, and for several long moments Erynn could barely breathe let alone speak. "Are – Are you saying they're still alive? My real parents are still alive?"

  "Possibly, although I do not know who they are or where they are. All I know is your mother was being hunted by Naedra, and her fear for you was so great that she felt she must part with you to keep you safe. I was told she would come for you — or send someone in her place — when she felt the time was right."

  Erynn couldn't believe she was actually hearing this. And then suddenly it hit her — so hard it almost knocked her off her feet. She was the one the Galians had come for! Not Lianne. Not Adena. That was why Holden had asked her to come to the hall in the morning. Not because he wanted her to write some stupid letter! And that had to be why Marik kept following her around. And why he had never actually demanded she give him the letter. The letter was an excuse!

  "I – I don't understand," she said, voice trembling now. "Why was Naedra hunting my mother? And why do they want me?"

  The king tried to smile, but his eyes were tired and full of concern. "You are a Daughter of Maegan, Erynn. As is your mother and her mother before her. Naedra's been after the Daughters for years. Not much is spoken of it, but many know."

  Erynn could hardly believe what she was hearing. A Daughter of Maegan? An image flashed in her mind of a dark-haired young woman standing next to Krystalix amid a ring of tall stones. And then all of a sudden she understood why the dragon had been acting so strange lately. Why he had attacked the Galians and the castle. And why the king had always been so secretive about that history book. "I'm the reason Krystalix attacked the Galians. And the castle. Why he's been following them."

  The king sighed. "I have never understood the relationship between dragons and Daughters — or with Maegan for that matter — but I do know there is one. Krystalix must be aware they have come for you and is trying to protect you. Just like he did the day your father died. Although it does seem odd that Lord Caden has somehow played a part in both events."

  Erynn felt dizzy, her legs weak, but there was nowhere to sit down. And then another image popped into her mind — one she had not thought of in a long, long time. An image of a woman she had encountered in the woods behind their house when she was young, back when they still lived in the south. A woman with fair skin and golden hair, riding a dapple-grey horse. Fair skin and golden hair very much like her own. She no longer remembered what the woman said, or even if she said her name, but she had always remembered the warmth and compassion in her eyes and the feeling that she knew the woman somehow. She shivered. Could that have been her mother? Erynn raised a hand to her head. "But I still don't understand. I thought Naedra was a Daughter of Maegan? Why would she be hunting her own kin?"

  "You are aware of the Prophecy? The last words Maegan spoke to her three advisors before she was arrested?"

  Erynn nodded. Her father had told her the story when she was young. "She promised that a daughter of hers would one day return with the stone to Hale, and bring peace to Valentia."

  "Yes, Maegan's stone. The one reportedly given to her by the king of the dragons himself — Cael. Naedra's been after that stone most of her life. From what I have heard, she seems to think she is the Promised Daughter and that she is destined to bring peace to Valentia — under her rule, of course
. And raising those dragons only seems to have fueled that belief. That is why she invaded Ridan. She thinks the stone is there. And that is why she hunts the Daughters. She wants to prevent anyone else — even one of her own kin — from getting their hands on it first."

  "But I don't care about the stone. Or being the Promised Daughter. I —"

  The king raised a hand, silencing her. "There is another reason Naedra is after you, Erynn. A much more personal reason. She believes you mean to destroy her."

  "Destroy her? I don't even know her. Why would she believe that?"

  "I do not know exactly. Only that she has apparently had some vision of this and believes it."

  "But why me?"

  "That I do not know."

  Erynn couldn't believe this was happening. Now she really needed to sit down. "So she wants to kill me?"

  "Yes."

  "What – What are you going to do?"

  The king sighed. "Erynn, if Holden has made some agreement with her for you, which I now suspect he has, I will be powerless to stop it. Most of the men are loyal to him now — or fear Marik. You must leave the castle — and Alyria — right away."

  "Leave?" Erynn said. "But, Your Grace, can't you do something?"

  "If I knew of someone in this castle I could trust, I would gladly send them with you. But there is no one and I am mostly to blame for that. I had hoped Lord Brison would come to the banquet, so he might help, but then I heard he was ill and was not sure Jeth was up to the responsibility. I looked for him at the banquet, after I saw you with Lord Caden and decided I had no other choice. But I saw no sign of him. I fear he may have gone home."

  Erynn remembered Adena's comment out in the courtyard. "I heard he almost got into a fight with Marik in the stables."

  The king seemed troubled by this news at first, but then he sighed. "Yes, I would say he most likely went home."

  Erynn couldn't believe that after telling her that Queen Naedra wanted to kill her, and that he wished he had said something sooner, he was now telling her there was nothing he could do. And no one who could help. She wondered what would have happened if she had told him the truth about the falconry — and about what she learned in the study. If he would have told her sooner. She thought of mentioning it now, but as angry and hurt and terrified as she was, she could see the guilt and disappointment in his eyes and couldn't bring herself to hurt him. If he couldn't help her now, there was nothing he could do to help Gareth, either, and maybe it was better he didn't know. "Where am I supposed to go?"

  "You must find a man named Paddon Morell. He is the one who brought you here. He was close to your mother and should know where she is. Hopefully she and her friends can protect you."

  "Her friends?"

  "The Order of the Cael. They are dedicated to protecting the bloodline of Maegan."

  Erynn had heard the name before, but other than some association to the Daughters of Maegan, she didn't know anything about them. "I don't understand. If the Order is dedicated to protecting the bloodline of Maegan, how did I end up here? Why couldn't they protect me?"

  "A question I asked Paddon myself when he brought you here," the king replied. "But, unfortunately, he would not say. Only that he needed my help." The king looked away. "And I could not refuse."

  "Where do I find him?"

  When the king turned to her again, Erynn was surprised to see tears in his eyes. "It has been some time since I heard from him, but you can most likely find him in Highcastle. His family has lived there for generations."

  Erynn's jaw just about hit the floor. Highcastle? That was in southern Brye! He expected her to go all that way on her own? By foot?

  The king pulled a red velvet pouch from the pocket of his robes and handed it to her. It was tied shut but clearly full of gold coins. "This should help you get there. It was all I could manage without drawing Holden's attention. Perhaps you can buy a horse in one of the towns. And some food, of course."

  Erynn glanced down at the pouch, realizing that she was holding more gold than she'd ever seen in her life, and yet that somehow only made her feel even worse.

  The king pulled a silver chain from around his neck and slipped it over his head. On the end dangled a small silver key. He handed it to her. "I have no idea what this is for, but Paddon said it was very valuable and not to lose it. And that it was to be given to you when you were ready."

  Erynn stared at the key, too stunned by everything she had learned to even be curious what it might open. Somehow she got it over her head and safely tucked out of sight under her dress.

  "Leave the second the gate is up," the king said. "Do not wait any longer. And if anyone asks, just tell them I have sent you to the market."

  "Yes, Your Grace."

  "And I would not advise telling anyone who you are or where you are going. The road can be dangerous, as you well know, and Naedra will no doubt pay highly for you. You must not trust anyone, Erynn."

  Erynn thought of Marik and how she'd seen him at the gate. Was he there because he was watching for her? Or was it just a coincidence? If he did follow her to the village, he must have noticed her leave. What if he was there again tomorrow? "Yes, Your Grace."

  "And I would take the bridge at South Crossing. It is not as closely guarded or as busy as the one at North Falls."

  "Yes, Your Grace."

  The king hesitated, as if he wanted to say something more but couldn't find the words. Then he turned for the door. "We best go. My guards think I have gone to my study but may come looking for me if I am not back soon. And it would not surprise me if everything I do eventually gets reported to Marik."

  "Do you know how Naedra found out, Your Grace? About me being here?"

  The king paused. "If Holden does know who you are, which I am now certain he does, he did not hear it from me. I can only assume Naedra found out somehow and contacted him."

  Holden knew, of that Erynn was sure. She could see it now in the way he had looked at her in the study the day the Galians arrived. And then she remembered something else. The way another prince of Alyria had once looked at her, that one and only time they had ever met. "Does Prince Gareth know?"

  "Yes, it was necessary to tell him in case something happened to me. Davy and Jenna did, too. I needed them aware of the possible dangers."

  Tears rose to Erynn's eyes. Her parents knew? And never said a word?

  A look of concern passed over the king's face, and he reached out a hand and gently squeezed her shoulder. "You have done well, Erynn. If your birth parents are still alive, I am sure you will find them."

  Her throat went tight. She had a feeling this might be the last time she ever saw the king, but somehow couldn't think of a single thing to say. Thank you for taking care of me all these years? For keeping your promise? It had all been a lie. "I'll try, Your Grace."

  He tried to smile, but soon turned away. "Wait a few seconds before you leave. It is best no one sees us together."

  And then he was gone.