The doom of Kings

CHAPTER SIX

The arrival of a maid in her bed-chamber broke Ashi’s restless sleep. She raised her head and glared at the woman who stood, frozen, in the doorway. “What is it?”

The maid swallowed. “Lady Seneschal Vounn wants to see you, Lady Ashi. She says for you to wash, dress, and come to her immediately.” She moved to put down the tray she was carrying.

The anger that had kept Ashi tossing since she and Vounn had returned to Sentinel Tower and Vounn had ordered her to her rooms-with a guard posted outside the door to be sure she stayed there-came back with fresh heat. She sat up and growled, “Take a message back. Tell Vounn I’m not going anywhere on her say so.”

The maid frozen once again, tray hovering a handspan above a chest. “Lady Ashi-?”

“You heard what I said.” Ashi flung back the bed clothes and stood. Her hands clenched into fists. “Now get out!”

The tray dropped with a clatter and the maid dashed from the chamber. A moment later, the outer door of Ashi’s sitting room opened, then slammed shut. Ashi straightened her shift and stomped over to the tray. Hot water from a tall pitcher had splashed out, soaking towels and leaving a basket of breakfast rolls sitting in a puddle. Ashi plucked out one of the rolls and tore into it with her teeth.

She’d followed Ekhaas’s advice, apologized to Vounn, and what had it gained her? Maybe a shorter lecture at the watch station. The carriage ride back to Sentinel Tower had been utterly silent. Not a word had passed between her and her mentor. If Vounn wanted to cut into her now over the previous night’s misadventure, Ashi wasn’t going to give her the satisfaction of going meekly before her. Vounn’s apartments were close. She could come deliver her lectures in person. Soon enough, she heard the outer door open and close again. Ashi turned to face Vounn as the lady seneschal advanced across the sitting room, her face like a storm cloud.

“What are you doing?” she demanded. “Get dressed!”

“I don’t think I will.” Ashi ripped a chunk from another roll. “Come out with it, Vounn. Tell me what you want to say about last night. I know there’s something.”

Vounn’s cheeks turned red. “Oh, there is,” she said, “but this isn’t the time for it. Tariic has asked for an early meeting. We can only keep him waiting so long.” She went to Ashi’s wardrobe and flung it open.

Ashi whirled and slammed it shut again. “Get out of there! I don’t care if Tariic wants an early meeting. Stop treating me like a child.”

“I’ll stop treating you like a child when you stop acting like one!” Vounn glared, so close that Ashi could feel the hot breath of her words. “You’re not a savage living in a swamp anymore. You have responsibilities now, and you are going to have to accept them.”

“I had responsibilities in the Bonetree,” Ashi growled back at her. “I was a hunter. I brought food to the clan. I defended my people.”

“And now you’re an heir of Deneith. You’ll bring wealth to the House and defend our honor with your behavior. Get dressed or I’ll call the House guards and drag you with me in your shift.” Vounn stepped back, crossing her arms. “You wouldn’t be leaving this room for a fortnight if Tariic hadn’t asked that you come with me this morning.”

Ashi had almost been ready to tackle Vounn and drag her down to the floor for a beating that would have earned cheers among the Bonetree, but the other woman’s final words made her stop. “He what?” she asked, a faint hint of curiosity filtering through the red haze that clouded her mind.

Vounn raised an eyebrow. “When I said we can only keep Tariic waiting so long, I meant it. Tariic requested a meeting with both me and you.” She looked down her nose. “Trust me, I wouldn’t be taking you if I didn’t think I had to.”

“Why would he want to see both of us?”

“I don’t know, but I imagine it has something to do with last night. Are you going to get dressed, or do you want to try strangling me first?”

Ashi looked down at her hands. Her fingers were curled and tensed. She would happily have strangled Vounn, but now she also wanted to know what Tariic wanted with her. She forced her hands to relax and reached instead for the pitcher of warm water the maid had brought.

“Don’t think this is over,” she told Vounn.

“Don’t worry,” said the lady seneschal.

A short time later, they were walking down one of the corridors that led from the inner halls of Sentinel Tower to its middle zone. Ashi’s face and hair were still damp, and the motion of their swift passage was cool on her skin.

“This is what I expect will happen,” Vounn said as they walked. “Tariic will thank us for coming and apologize for requesting a meeting at such an early hour and outside of the usual agenda. I’ll accept, of course. We’ll exchange the usual pleasantries, then Tariic will get to the reason for the meeting: a further apology for last night. It was one of his people who actually started the chain of events, so it’s on him to make amends.”

Vounn sounded exceptionally pleased with herself. “He gave us words last night, so if he wants to make a greater gesture today, he’ll need to raise the stakes. We’ll be in an excellent position to put more of what we want in front of him. A better price per head for Darguul mercenaries. More elite fighters, I think-a few units of tiger cavalry would find high demand. Tariic might even agree to put us in touch with the Silent Clans-”

Ashi felt as though she wasn’t even there. “The what?” she said, forcing her way into Vounn’s conversation with herself.

The lady seneschal looked back at her as if the question had emerged from a block of particularly dense stone. “Goblin clans with lineages extending back into antiquity. There are two of them- the shaarat’khesh, the Silent Blades, and the taarka’khesh, the Silent Wolves. They’re scouts and shadow fighters, bred to stealth. Haruuc is on good terms with them, but they don’t align themselves with any faction in Darguun and will work for any clan willing to hire them. They have a lot in common with Deneith, actually. We could broker their services to Khorvaire at large.”

“They sound like assassins,” said Ashi.

“Remember your lessons,” Vounn said, her mouth tightening. “House Deneith doesn’t hire out assassins. The Silent Clans are scouts and shadow fighters.”

Ashi lifted one eyebrow. “Ah.” she said. “Scouts and shadow fighters. So what do you expect I’ll be doing in this meeting with Tariic?”

“I expect that you will be standing still and speaking only when spoken to. Even better, you’ll speak only when I give you leave to speak. We have Tariic in a corner. I don’t want to give him any excuse to slip out.”

Ashi raised her other eyebrow. “When you put an animal in a corner, it gets angry and dangerous.”

“That’s why once Tariic has made his offer, I’ll give him this as a token of good faith.”

Vounn unfolded one hand from the long, loose sleeve that had covered it and held up the gold and iron reliquary of Duural Rhuvet. Both of Ashi’s eyebrows went up together. “Rond betch! Do you-”

“Language, Ashi!”

Ashi bit into her words, then said through her teeth, “Do you know what that is, Vounn?”

“No,” the older woman admitted, “but does it matter? Clearly it’s something the Darguuls want. Thief and merchant both take your money, but a merchant gives you change and invites you to come back.”

They approached a door with House guards standing to each side, and Vounn slipped the reliquary back into her sleeve. “Remember,” she said, “speak when spoken to, and behave yourself.” She looked Ashi up and down. “Do this right and you might be forgiven-after all, if it wasn’t for your foolishness, we might not have this opportunity.”

“I’m so pleased I could help.”

One of the guards opened the door. Vounn and Ashi stepped through, and the door closed behind them.

The room on the other side was plain by the standards of House Deneith: dark-paneled walls with only a few trophies hung on them, a simple fireplace with only a few pieces of silver plate positioned on the mantle, and an ordinary heavy table with only a light pattern of fine Eldeen carvings twining up the legs. Four chairs had been drawn up to the table. In one of them sat Tariic. In the other, to Ashi’s surprise, sat Ekhaas. The duur’kala caught her eye, gave the slightest of nods, then looked away.

There were no guards-Deneith or Darguul-in the room. Tariic rose like a gentleman and held out one of the chairs for Vounn. “Thank you for agreeing to meet with me on such short notice, Lady Vounn,” he said as she seated herself. “I’m sorry for taking up your time outside the schedule of our official visit. I hope you’re well this morning.”

Vounn’s expression was gracious, but Ashi knew that on the inside she wore an expression as smug as a well-fed cat. “The schedule of an official visit seldom survives intact after the first meeting,” she said. “Please call me Vounn, Tariic. There’s no need for titles here. We’re not on parade.”

The hobgoblin smiled and returned to the other side of the table. “As you say.” He turned his smile on Ashi as she took the last chair. “Ashi,” he said by way of greeting.

It was only a single word, just her name, but there was something in the way that Tariic said it, something in the way his expressive ears stood up as he spoke, that roused Ashi’s instincts. She might have felt the same way during a hunt if a lone bird had flown up from a stand of still reeds or if sudden silence had fallen over stretch of marshland. Her skin prickling, she glanced at

Ekhaas and found her friend watching her out of the corner of her eye. Ashi sat back in her chair. “Tariic,” she said, but he had already turned back to Vounn.

“I’d like to apologize again for Ekhaas’s actions last night. Attempting to steal from your memorial is inexcusable, but as they say, a stone can hide a treasure.” Tariic put his hands flat on the table. “After last night, Vounn, I find I have a respect for you that might otherwise have come only after days of meetings. You act with a particular honor that is rare among humans.”

Ashi saw some of the unease that she felt register in Vounn’s eyes. This didn’t, she realized, sound like the humble apology the lady seneschal had predicted. Vounn’s voice, however, remained steady and unconcerned. “Thank you, Tariic. I’m flattered.”

He shook his head. “It’s not flattery, only the truth. And because of it, there is something I want to discuss with you now that I wouldn’t otherwise have raised until the end of my time here.” He reached inside the doublet he wore and produced a small, tightly wound scroll that had been sealed with black wax. “By the wish of my uncle, Lhesh Haruuc Shaarat’kor, I invite you to attend his court as a permanent ambassador of House Deneith. My soldiers and I are to be your escort to Rhukaan Draal.”

Ashi started in surprise at the offer. Vounn, for a long moment, sat very still and very silent. Anyone else might have missed it, but Ashi knew there was turmoil behind that frozen mask. Vounn had worked long and hard to bring the Darguuls into negotiations with Deneith, and now Haruuc was inviting her to his court as an ambassador. It was everything Vounn could have dreamed of, a chance to advance both her status with House Deneith and the cause of Deneith with the Darguuls.

And, Ashi realized abruptly, it was everything she could have hoped for as well. Surely Vounn wouldn’t take her to Darguul. She’d be free of her mentor! But Vounn’s silence stretched out until Ashi couldn’t stand it anymore. She leaned toward her and whispered “Vounn…”

The lady seneschal’s eyes flickered with flame. “Sit back, Ashi,” she ordered under her breath, then looked at Tariic. “There’s already a representative of Deneith in Darguun,” she said as clearly and confidently as if she were discussing the purchase of a horse. “Viceroy Redek d’Deneith.”

“Redek is based at the Gathering Stone fortress two days ride outside Rhukaan Draal,” said Tariic. “Deneith’s outpost in the crown city is little more than a recruiting center. Haruuc wishes to draw the ties between Deneith and Darguun closer. He wants an ambassador from his greatest ally to be part of his court-a councilor and not just a trader in mercenaries.” He held out the scroll.

Vounn considered the spooled paper but didn’t accept it. Instead, she asked, “Why? And why now? The representatives of dragonmarked houses aren’t usually granted ambassador status- that’s a title for the representatives of other nations.”

Tariic flicked his ears and shrugged. “Call it something else if your prefer. These are my uncle’s words, though: Darguun has done well by House Deneith. Even when we turned on them, Deneith was the first to make peace with us and the first to support Darguun as a new nation. They are a true friend, and their voice deserves to be heard.” He gestured with the scroll. “I believe that’s repeated on here.”

“It doesn’t answer the question of why now,” said Vounn. “I’ve been dealing with your uncle’s court for years, Tariic. This is the first hint that I’ve heard of a wish to give Deneith a bigger voice, and it comes strangely on the heels of the very sudden and unexpected decision to send you here.” She sat forward. “True friends deserve to know everything that’s going on. What’s really going through Haruuc’s mind?”

Tariic bared his teeth at her blunt confrontation. His ears bent back and his grip on the sealed scroll shifted. If it had been a weapon, Ashi would have said he was ready to strike with it. She tensed, ready to defend herself and-reluctantly-Vounn. Her mentor, however, didn’t flinch. She just kept her eyes on Tariic, and after a moment, his snarling lips stretched back into a hard grin. “You’ll do well in Rhukaan Draal, Vounn.”

“I haven’t agreed to go yet,” she told him. “Why does Haruuc really want an ambassador from Deneith at his court?”

“He’s getting old,” Tariic said simply. He set the scroll down on the table and sat back in his chair. “He was a young warrior when he led the uprising that created Darguun, but that was thirty years ago. He’s not going to be on the throne forever and he knows it. He’s going to have to name a successor soon, and when he does, he wants to be sure that Deneith’s relationship with his successor is as strong as it is with him. Darguun needs Deneith. Our trade with other nations is still developing-practically the only thing we export is mercenaries.”

“And why me?” asked Vounn. “Redek is already in Darguun, and as you say, he’s a fine trader in mercenaries.”

Tariic’s dark skin darkened even further. “You cut hard, Vounn. Ban, Redek is a good businessman, but he’s hardly known outside of Darguun. Haruuc wants you because people-powerful people-across Khorvaire know your name. The friendship of Deneith has given Darguun legitimacy. If you know and can speak for Haruuc’s chosen successor, it will give him legitimacy in the eyes of the rulers of Khorvaire as well.” He bent his head. “Haruuc wants Deneith’s public support. Does that answer your questions?”

Vounn sat silent for a long moment, then she bent her head in return. “Admirably.” Her face was still neutral, but Ashi could read the triumph in her movements as she reached out and took the scroll from the table. Ashi’s heart rose as well and she fought to keep the joy she felt inside as Vounn continued. “The matter will need to go before the patriarch for his blessing, but surely-”

Ekhaas, who had sat silent through the entire conversation, cleared her throat. “There is one other thing.”

Vounn stopped and looked at her, but Tariic was the one who added an explanation. “Haruuc would very much like for you to bring Ashi along. He has heard of your training of her and would like to meet the bearer of the Siberys Mark of Sentinel.”

Ashi’s joy sputtered like a candle’s flame, then leaped even higher. The idea of being out from under Vounn’s thumb was one thing, but the possibility of traveling again, of leaving Karrlakton to see Darguun and meet Lhesh Haruuc was something else. She looked to Vounn-

— just as her mentor slowly shook her head. “I’m sorry. That isn’t possible. Ashi can’t be allowed to leave Sentinel Tower until her training is complete.”

“Vounn!”

The word burst from her in a cry of fury and anguish, but Vounn didn’t even acknowledge it. Ekhaas and Tariic both looked at her sharply, however, before Tariic turned back to Vounn. “I understand Ashi’s value to your House. I can assure you that she’ll be safe. I guarantee it. My uncle will guarantee it.”

“I don’t doubt it,” Vounn said. “But the fact is that Ashi can’t be trusted to go. You saw how she acted last night.”

Ekhaas’s ears rose. “I know how she acted last night. I also know how she acted before she came to House Deneith. You’ve tried to make a lady out of a savage, Vounn d’Deneith, but you’ve only made a girl out of a woman.”

Vounn looked at her again, her eyes hard. “Who are you?” she demanded.

“Ekhaas!” said Tariic sharply. Ekhaas didn’t sit back, but she closed her mouth and said nothing more.

Understanding grew in Vounn’s eyes, however. “The hobgoblin from Ashi’s adventures,” she said. “I should have realized. Did Haruuc send you as a companion for Ashi?”

“Ekhaas’s role in my delegation is my concern alone.” Tariic spoke with steel in his voice. “You know how exceptional this invitation is, Vounn. Haruuc wouldn’t withdraw it. He can’t withdraw it without being shamed. He wouldn’t, however, look kindly on having a simple request denied. Is that how you want your tenure in his court to begin?” His voice softened. “She doesn’t have to stay. Haruuc only wants to meet her. A time of change is coming for Darguun, Vounn. Don’t you want to have an honored place at the center of that change?”

Once again, Vounn was still and silent. This time, Ashi didn’t say anything. Neither did Tariic or Ekhaas. After a time, Vounn lifted her head and looked Tariic in the eye.

“I’m pleased to accept Lhesh Haruuc’s invitation to join his court,” she said coolly, “provided that Baron Breven d’Deneith grants me permission to go. The patriarch will also need to give his permission for Ashi d’Deneith to accompany me.” Vounn rose, then paused. “In exchange for the favor that Lhesh Haruuc has shown me, I present a token of my esteem for him.”

She set the reliquary on the table. Ashi thought Ekhaas’s eyes might roll right out of her head. Vounn, however, didn’t stop to appreciate the triumph of her gesture. She turned and marched to the door. “Ashi!”

Her heart racing with excitement, Ashi flashed Ekhaas a quick smile and went after her mentor.

“Vounn,” she murmured as they swept past the guards and along the hall back to the inner zone of Sentinel Tower, “thank you.”

“Tell no one what happened in that room,” said Vounn without looking at her. “Don’t thank me again. And don’t go against me before we go or I’ll find a way to leave you here if it means crippling you.”

“Yes, Vounn.” Ashi bent her head so that the lady seneschal wouldn’t see her smile. Now she understood why Ekhaas had urged her to apologize to Vounn at the watch station the night before.

Then she almost stumbled over her feet as she realized something else from her conversation with the duur’kala. She froze in the corridor, thinking it through.

“Ashi!” snapped Vounn from ahead.

“Coming,” Ashi said and hurried to catch up. Her mind was still working though. Ekhaas hadn’t known until last night that Vounn was her mentor-she hadn’t known that Ashi was in Karrlakton at all. If she hadn’t known, how had Haruuc? Or did he know?

Ekhaas and Tariic had just lied to them.