The High Priest smiled proudly and looked down at the kneeling Princess. "Let this crown be a symbol of your bond with the nation. Surrender it to another only if you believe they can rule the nation more beneficially than you are able to do. In the names of Shudath and Aroshnaravaparta, we proclaim you heir to the throne of Hamis."
At the same moment they placed her new crown on her head, I twisted the old one entirely out of shape. I dropped it to the floor and it rang out the child Zaria's death knell. King Tirrell stood and strode boldly to his daughter's side. He guided her to her feet; then they turned and faced the gathered guests. "I give you my daughter and heir, Princess Zaria."
* * *
As odd and unimportant as it might sound, I spent the three hours between our triumphant procession back to the Castel and the masquerade in serious contemplation of what I would wear that night. Allen had included a highwayman's costume for me in my trunk, and it was a good choice. It fit well with the background I'd built up for myself, and certainly would create a stir, but it didn't feel right. I toyed with the idea of adapting it into a Tingis Lurker costume. In their confusion a plotter might confide something to me that he shouldn't but, I conceded, what that costume would do is attract undue attention to me and might mark me for elimination when the nekkeht struck at midnight. I even considered attending dressed as Morai, but only Selia and I would ever know how close to the real thing I got.
Throughout the afternoon one idea kept putting itself forward, and my arguments against it got weaker and weaker as the masquerade drew closer. In a technical sense the costume was utterly inappropriate because I'd not be an evil creature, but I'd certainly make people feel uneasy. In addition the costume fit well with my cover story, and seemed the unorthodox sort of thing I'd be expected to do. In the final analysis, though, one factor tipped the scales in favor of this new disguise: it would annoy Captain Herman terribly.
I wore my Justice uniform to the masquerade.
I salvaged a black domino mask from the disguise Allen had intended I wear that evening. I got my sleeveless leather tunic and leather breeches from a false panel in the bottom of my clothes chest. I boldly wore the Princess's present on my left forearm. With my boots, tsincaat, and ryqril on, I felt I presented a close picture of what a true Justice might well look like. Only my bare right palm decried me as an impostor.
My entrance caused quite a stir. Halsted, who had learned from Adric what I was supposed to wear, was visibly shaken until I smiled and lifted up the mask to peek at him. "I am supposed to be in costume, not the clothes I might wear every day, am I not?"
He swallowed visibly and smiled. "Yes, sir, though I fear Her Highness will not like your choice."
I lowered the mask into place and shook my head confidently. "She gave me the idea, Halsted, when she lent me the Lancer shield yesterday. Why, between her efforts and those of Captain Herman, they practically turned me into a Talion."
The absurdity of Lord Nolan the Darkesh bandit and bastard nobleman appearing as a Justice finally seeped through to Halsted and he smiled more easily. "Then, if you are ready, I will announce you."
I stood at the doorway and Halsted nodded to a trumpeter at my right. The servant blasted out a fanfare and everyone turned toward the doorway. "Presenting the Princess's Champion, Lord Nolan ra Yotan ra Hamis!"
Dead silence spread through the room. The assembled company of ghouls, goblins, Lurkers, jelkoms, and pirates stood in stupefied quiet. Content to lampoon monsters and legends with their costumes, none of them had the audacity to consider doing what I did. No one could believe my choice, and the momentary self-evaluation I'd seen so many times before in utterly innocent people swept across all the faces I could see.
Then one woman worked her way through the crowd. People parted to let her past, then dropped to one knee when they saw who she was. Princess Zaria stopped in front of me and, instead of the rage I feared I might find in her eyes, I saw boundless mirth. She threw her head back and laughed aloud to shatter the fog of tension strangling the room.
"Come with me, my roguish Champion, I wish to see how your Talion training serves you in the dance." She took my offered left hand and led me through the chuckling crowd of nobles.
Slow and graceful music paced me through a simple yet elegant dance step. Princess Zaria and I moved as one around the floor. I held her close and smelled the perfume in her hair, but we said nothing to each other. Somehow, even though I knew scheming plotters and treasonous nobles surrounded us and that a monster waited to slay the King, I felt at peace.
I sensed the return of emotions I'd hidden when Marana changed, and had forgotten when Marana died, but I forced them away. Princess Zaria attracted me very strongly and I already found myself mourning her loss to Duke Vidor. But therein lay the first steps on the road to madness, because I could never claim her. I was a Talion and that made even the most whimsical dream of winning and marrying her utter foolishness.
Nobles throughout the Shattered Empire tolerated His Excellency's covert manipulations. Some of them never noticed what he did, while others understood and appreciated his skill, but no one protested because he acted so subtly. In return for this acceptance, the Talions stayed out of overtly political situations, and no Talion could hold political office. A blooded Talion on a throne, many felt certain, was only a short leap away from the reestablishment of the Empire.
The Princess sensed my withdrawal and frowned as the dance ended and we split apart. She voiced no question, but I forced a smile to reassure her that I was fine. She returned my smile; then a noble dressed as a pirate came and spun her off into another dance.
I worked my way through the crowd back toward the doorway. I smiled and thanked the nobles, who now understood the irony of my costume and congratulated me on it. As quickly as I could I found Halsted and pulled him aside.
"Halsted, I have a friend in town who may try to visit me here tonight. Adric knows him by sight. Could you have Adric wait by the front gate and bring him directly to me?" The servant frowned, but I squeezed his arm reassuringly and pressed him. "Please, it is of vital importance that I speak with him the moment he arrives."
Halsted read the urgency in my words and bearing. Though he agreed reluctantly, I knew the second Moral arrived he'd be escorted to me. I thanked the servant and returned to the masquerade. I found an open space near a table stacked with wine goblets and rounds of cheese.
Captain Herman, dressed in his uniform, materialized at my shoulder. "I see you chose to reveal yourself."
I'd anticipated him. I smiled broadly and then frowned at my right palm. "Captain Herman, you must tell me how the Justices get that skull to remain on their palms." I shook my head. "I tried ink and some paint, but both sweated right off. How do your Justices do it?"
The Lancer stared at me and narrowed his eyes. "That is an authentic Justice uniform. Where did you get it?"
I smiled. "It was a most curious thing. I went out to buy a costume and a man, about my height with blond hair and blue eyes, suggested I attend as a Justice. He said he had an uncle who had been a Justice, and just happened to have his uniform available." I laughed and shook my head ever so slightly. "Of course, I did not believe his story, but the uniform looked good and fit, so I bought it."
Captain Herman fought to contain his anxiety. "Did he have a mark on his palm?"
I stopped and looked down for a moment. "Why, that is curious." I frowned and looked into Herman's brown eyes, "He wore gloves the whole time!"
The Lancer's eyes glazed over for a second; then he started and stared at me. "You will excuse me, my lord."
"Certainly."
The shifting crowd swallowed all traces of the Lancer's line of retreat. For an instant I regretted sending Captain Herman off on a fool's quest for a phantom Justice, but I decided it was just as well that he and his men were out searching the city. If they were present when the nekkeht attacked, they would defend the Princess valiantly and could do nothing but die in the e
ffort.
No, the nekkeht was my responsibility, and I had to find a way to stop it without killing anyone else in the process.
I set the goblet down and drifted out into the garden. I stopped at the sculpted granite railing and stared down the valley toward the sea. Both moons splashed silver crescent-caps on the swells undulating in the darkness below. Strains of music from behind me matched the lights' rise and fall.
Thunderheads hovered on the northeastern horizon as if loath to spoil the celebration. Instead, lightning flared through them and sprayed them with shades of yellow and red from the inside. They hung just beyond reach like the paper lanterns bobbing on strings throughout the city below me, and promised everything would be soaking wet by morning.
I felt a light hand touch my shoulder. I turned, expecting to find Morai standing behind me, and instead stood facing the Princess. She offered me a goblet of wine and I obligingly accepted it.
She lifted the twin to my goblet. "I propose a toast to you, Lord Nolan." She smiled. "To my Champion; I will regret the day you leave me."
We touched cups, but, as is the custom, I did not drink to a toast in my own honor. When her cup again fell from her lips I raised my cup. "Not a toast, my Princess, but a promise: I will do whatever I must to safeguard your nation." I drank.
Princess Zaria sighed and turned to stare out at the sea as I had. "Lord Nolan," she began quietly, "something will happen this evening."
A deep sensation of dread and loss stole my voice. I'd not allowed myself to feel this way about any woman since Marana, the real Marana, had changed. Marana had needed me, and I could never betray her that way. Even now, dead and reduced to ashes, I still felt something toward the person she had been. I realized that was a waste, but I grasped onto those fading feelings for the old Marana because, no matter what, love between the future Queen of Hamis and a Justice would never be tolerated by my masters, and had been ruled out by Shudath's prophecy.
"Something very special will happen to me tonight, Lord Nolan."
I smiled. "I know." I visualized Duke Vidor hugging and kissing her when she accepted his proposal.
Surprise and puzzlement flashed through her eyes. "You do?"
I nodded confidently. "I've watched the signs and I've figured it out." In my mind's eye King Tirrell hugged both of them to his chest and pronounced his blessing over the union.
Her lower lip trembled. "I am a bit frightened by the responsibility, and I have drawn much from your strength over the past couple of days, whether you realize it or not." She shrugged. "All I remember of last night's vigil is feeling secure because you warded me."
I smiled and laid my left hand on her shoulder. "You did very well, rest assured of that, Princess Zaria."
She tilted her head and squeezed my hand between it and her shoulder. She straightened up and watched the wine swirl in her cup. "I want you to be there tonight, at midnight. Will you?"
I closed my eyes and nodded because I could not speak. In my mind I saw the nekkeht charge at Vidor and the Princess. I stood between them and it. It grabbed me and lifted me from the ground in a bear hug that made Rolf's grip feel like a loose belt. As I drew the souls from its body, it crushed my insides and burst my heart.
The sound of Halsted's steady tread across the crushed stone garden pathway brought me back. He bowed apologetically to the Princess. "Excuse me, Your Highness." Then he turned to me and handed me a folded and sealed note. "The messenger said it was urgent. As you requested, I brought it immediately."
I turned it over in my hand and swore. It was from Morai.
Chapter Twenty
Justice: The Price
A Services clerk appeared at my door to carry off the Ritual clothing I'd worn less than a quarter of an hour earlier. "Lord Hansur would like to see you immediately."
My heart pounded. A novice who completes his Ritual is a full-fledged Talion, but no other Justices consider him a full Justice until he returns successful from his first assignment. I'd not expected to be given a mission so quickly, and I regretted not being able to celebrate my Ritual with Marana or Jevin, both of whom had arrived in Talianna the previous week.
I strapped on my tsincaat and ryqril, then hurried to Lord Hansur's chambers. I had to fight to keep a smile off my face, and I calmed myself so I would not appear to be a novice running through the hallways.
I stopped in the doorway and had bowed to Lord Hansur before I noticed he was not alone. Jevin filled the chair I'd sat in just hours before, and Marana sat in a smaller chair with her back to a wall lined with shelves containing dark rows of musty, leather-bound histories. "You sent for me, Lord Hansur?"
Lord Hansur nodded, returned my bow, and waved me to the chair next to Marana. "I will begin before His Excellency gets here to outline your mission. Nolan, I know you are aware of the tradition concerning a Justice's first mission. Usually he is sent out on his own. I would apologize for breaking that rule with you, but you spent the last twelve months alone. I trust you will not mind working with your friends." He nodded toward Jevin and Marana.
I smiled and shook my head. "I welcome them and will be more than happy to work with them."
"Good." He seemed genuinely pleased I did not mind company on my first assignment. "This job would be difficult for one person alone, and the three of you have trained together, so uniting you into a team should work well." I was too happy to have complained about anything. Besides, I was a Justice and he was my lord. I did what he told me to do.
Behind us, His Excellency walked through the doorway and shut it after himself. We rose and bowed to him. He returned our bows with a curt, preoccupied, nod of his head, then waved us back to our seats. He wedged himself into a chair and cleared his throat. "Three days ago, in Temur, a group of West tribe warriors, dissatisfied with an ajudicated settlement of war claims, kidnapped one of the Emir of Betil's wives. The woman they took was his favorite, and he is not pleased. She is young and from the South tribe. The kidnappers left Temur and were last reported in Zandria."
I noticed Marana's interest pick up when His Excellency mentioned Temur and the South tribe. I recalled that her researches suggested she might be from that tribe, and this could be her chance to learn a little more about where she might have come from.
His Excellency continued. "The Emir, at the urging of the local Elite Colonel, decided to let us handle the kidnappers.
He knows he cannot send troops into Zandria without igniting a border war. The Colonel, with the Emir's blessings and support, sent an Elite requesting our help in the matter. We have decided to grant him that help."
Sweat poured from my palms in excitement. The critical time factor meant we'd have to fly Hawks after the kidnappers. Since they had a hostage we'd need to be very careful and stealthy in our approach, and had to insure the woman's safety and freedom before we worried about ourselves. But first we had to find them, and I frowned because the Temur-Zandria border stretched for many miles and hilly woodlands covered the whole area.
As if he'd read my mind, His Excellency produced a woman's ring from his robes. "The Emir sent this along. It is one of his wife Bethany's rings." He handed it to Marana. "Our Wizards enchanted it especially for you. While you wear it you will know in which direction the woman lies. As you get closer to her you will get more specific directions, and might even establish some sort of telepathic link with her."
Marana slipped the simple gold band set with a ruby on her right ring finger. "It fits perfectly!"
His Excellency raised one eyebrow. "Indeed, how fortunate."
Marana's face blanked for a moment, then she nodded. She pointed her right hand off toward the south-southwest. "I feel a faint pull in that direction." She smiled. "It works. We will find her."
Lord Hansur narrowed his eyes, looked at His Excellency for something, then, when His Excellency made no reply, he stood. "Six kidnappers took her from the palace, but later reports have suggested nearly that many more individuals, including three women,
have reinforced them." He walked from behind his desk and pointed to a map hanging on the wall over beside Jevin. "We think they are heading to Ell, but we cannot be sure. You will take Hawks and fly southwest, following Marana's directions. Once you locate Bethany your job is to get her out safely."
His Excellency cleared his voice again. "The Emir would like the kidnappers, but will understand if you take no captives. We do not care what happens to them."
Lord Hansur wished us luck and dismissed us with a wave of his right hand. All three of us wore broad grins as we left his study. The rescue mission was important, and could make a major difference in the world. If we did our job correctly, we would prevent a war! We knew we could not fail, and smiled proudly because we knew we would return victorious.
That mission was the last time I heard Marana laugh happily.
Marana lead us on a south-southwest course from the time we took off until we camped that first night in Wara at a point very close to the Daar border. We stooped the Hawks at a herd of antelope and I, flying Erlan's Valiant, got a buck. Marana and Jevin broke off their attacks because we needed no more than one animal to feed us and our birds.
We set up three watches so no one or nothing would sneak up on us during the night, though out there in the wilderness, that was unlikely. I got up a bit earlier than I needed to spell Marana, and we talked for a couple of hours before I urged her to get some sleep.
Our talk gladdened me because I'd not seen much of Marana in the past year and a half. Between being separated for our Journeys and my injury, we'd had virtually no time together. I'd been afraid that would force us away from each other. After losing my family and alienating Lothar, I did not want to lose her, too.
But talking that night it seemed as though we'd not been apart at all. She still knew my thoughts, hopes, and fears, and had been afraid that my feelings toward her had changed during our time apart. We both laughed at that and, with a forbidding urgency, tried to tell each other how we'd grown and changed since the month we spent together as Sixteens.