In the Ruins (Crown of Stars 6)

“Anna,” he said, making music of her name. “Carry the princess. We must make haste.”

“If I won’t, Your Grace? If I refuse to go?”

“Then a more faithful servant will carry her,” he said in the most kindly voice imaginable, and it chilled her to hear it, because he did not raise his voice or look angry. He was no Bulkezu, to howl and rage. He did not look like a man who had just cut the throat of a defenseless young woman. “And you will wake later, hoping she is well cared for but never knowing if she will be.”

Weeping, she gathered up Blessing, although the girl had grown enough to weigh heavily in her arms. It took all her courage to look at him again, and all her courage to speak words he might not want to hear. “There are some things we need, Your Grace—”

“There is nothing you shall need that has not already been prepared. We have taken everything from this town that we want. Brother Petrus, let us go swiftly, as you advise.”

“Yes, Lord Hugh.”

So they went, leaving the chamber and the dead girl and her sleeping companions behind. Below, four soldiers waited; they also wore amulets. Lord Jonas and Odei sprawled on the floor among a scattering of dice. Brother Heribert followed like a dog, hesitant, twitchy, but determined.

“Unchain the Eagle,” said Lord Hugh to two of the soldiers. “Make sure there is blood on his hands, and the knife in his possession. Then meet us at the appointed place.”

In the barracks below soldiers slept, draped over benches or snoring on pallets. Two sat on either side of the door, slumped against the stone wall. One had his mouth open, and the way drool trickled out scared her.

Their feet crunched on gravel as they crossed along a wing of the palace, moving swiftly. Guards slept on benches and on paving stones. One had an arm slung somewhat around a pillar as though embracing it. In the courtyard facing the great hall a dozen servants had dropped platters of food and flagons of drink. A pair of dogs had fallen down asleep in the act of filching a fine haunch of beef intended for the queen’s table. From the hall itself, glimpsed through open doors, came only silence. One of the soldiers grabbed a pair of plump roasted chickens and tied them up into a handkerchief which he fastened to his belt. The scent of all that good, warm food made Anna’s stomach grumble, and she hated herself for feeling a hunger that Lady Elene would never again know. Blessing stirred, whimpering, but did not wake.

Five more soldiers waited by the barracks, holding the reins of fourteen horses, four of them laden with packs. Every wakeful creature there wore an amulet around its neck like to the one Anna wore. By the horses, Lord Hugh nodded at Brother Petrus.

“All the rest is done as I commanded?”

“It is all arranged, Lord Hugh. All will be done as you have ordered. Yet I am not sure, my lord. Was there some other fate that you intend for Lord Berthold? Villam’s son is tainted with Villam’s treachery in plotting against Emperor Henry, may he rest at peace in the Chamber of Light.”

“Villam’s son means nothing, although there is, I think, some mystery regarding his disappearance and reappearance. Leave him as he is. Find out his secret, if you can. He may trust you if you befriend him after we are gone.”

Petrus hesitated.

“Go on, Brother. You must not fear to speak freely to me.”

“Why the young lady, Your Grace? She was beautiful. Proud, it’s true, but lovely. It’s like trampling a flower in bloom.”

“Some flowers will be trampled when an army marches to lift a siege, Brother. No one rejoices in destruction, yet at times it is the only way. Her grandmother taught her things she must not be allowed to use. We cannot take the chance. I will do penance for the deed.”

“Yes, Your Grace. Still … if you think her a risk, why leave alive the old man?”

“He is too weak and ignorant to threaten us. He’ll serve us by diverting suspicion. No doubt her death was more merciful than his will be.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

“Do not douse the sleeping fire until the lights on the hill have vanished. Do as you have been instructed. Let no one chance upon you in the tombs. All depends on timing and where you place the decoy.”

“I will not fail you, Lord Hugh.”

“I trust not. Afterward, await my return.”

“Yes, Lord Hugh. God go with you, Lord Hugh.”

The angel’s smile had something of irony in it. “So we may hope.”

He beckoned. A soldier took Blessing out of Anna’s arms and lifted her up to one of his companions, already mounted. Another took Anna up behind him. The rest made ready, and they rode out of the palace by the spies’ gate, a triple-guarded gate set into the palace’s outer wall that led to an escarpment and a steep trail carved into the northeastern face of the hill on which the town of Novomo had been built. Shale littered the hillside. They picked their way down. None spoke; only the rattle of rock broke the silence.

How far did the spell extend? Had he cast his web of sorcery across the entire town?

How could any person be so beautiful and so wicked?

At the base of the hill they stopped beside a vineyard, which lay quiet under the late afternoon sky. Nothing stirred except a single honeybee, searching for nectar.