Bloodleaf (Bloodleaf 1)

“Anyone who ever lived in his horrible tenements!” shouted a voice.

“Anyone he ever cheated out of fair wages!” shouted another.

“I will.” The voice was clear and calm, and it cut across the cacophony like the tone of a bell. Nathaniel, head high, climbed the steps to the stage. I grasped Zan’s arm.

“What is that?” the king asked, sneering at the baby in Nathaniel’s arms. “Get rid of that.”

Beth was descending the stairs, and Nathaniel handed Ella to her before taking his place to testify.

“State your name,” the king said.

“You know me, Majesty.”

“I said, state your name.”

He turned to the crowd and spoke louder. “My name is Nathaniel Gardner. I was born into humble circumstances, but my wife was not. Her name, before marrying me, was Katherine Morais, daughter of Baron Morais, and she was originally betrothed to Dedrick Corvalis. She died as the result of his treachery two days ago, but that is not why I’m here to testify.” He looked down at his hands, as if in shame. “I worked for Dedrick Corvalis for years before I

met Katherine. I moved up the ranks in his hired guard, until I became one of his most trusted employees. Such a title was no honor, though, sir, because I had to do terrible things to achieve such a position. Corvalis was always very good at convincing people he was the perfect lord: polite, dedicated, with excellent sense in trade. But it was all for show. In truth, he was cruel and conniving. If he wanted a piece of land, he’d have me jump the man who owned it, break his legs so he couldn’t work it anymore, and then he’d buy up the property when the owner could no longer afford to keep it.”

“That doesn’t sound like murder, Mr. Gardner,” the king said. “That sounds like you committed assault—?a punishable offense—?and are now using it as a way to frame your dead wife’s former fiancé.”

“There’s more. Dedrick Corvalis wanted to expand his trading operations to Renalt. He wanted to have already established the trade routes before Renalt and Achleva became official allies. He went there several times, meeting with those he saw as having the most power in Renalt: magistrates of the Tribunal. I was never allowed into those meetings, nor did I ever see the men of the Tribunal he spoke to, but it was not long before the Corvalis coffers were overflowing with Renaltan gold—?far more than could have been gained through any trade deals alone.”

The king was radiating animosity now, and Nathaniel seemed to be sweating from the heat of it. He swallowed. “His father, Francis Corvalis, found out about his son’s activities. He did not approve and ordered him to stop. Days later Francis Corvalis died under mysterious circumstances.”

“You’re saying Dedrick Corvalis killed his father?”

“I’m saying,” Nathaniel said, “that my employer asked me to gather several sprigs of bloodleaf from the forest—?he was very specific about it; he did not want it purchased from an apothecary who might keep a record of it—?and less than a day later, his father was dead. I never told my wife.” Nathaniel wrung his hands. “I didn’t want her to know about what I’d done in Corvalis’s service. I was a coward, and now I’ve lost her because of it.”

“But no personal witness?” King Domhnall said. “More hearsay.” He stood up. “Can anyone out there give me a firsthand account of this man’s supposed crimes?”

The mob was chanting Guilty! Guilty! Guilty!

“Why are none of the king’s guards speaking up? They saw what happened this morning! Where are they? Zan?” I looked around, finding myself alone in the throng. “Zan!”

“Well, then,” the king was saying, “with no real evidence to discuss and no firsthand witnesses of quality to testify against you, Baron Dedrick Corvalis, the crown has no choice but to—?”

“I will speak against him.” Zan appeared on the stairs, climbing each with a carefully measured slowness to, I knew, control his heart rate and his breathing. He kept his head high as he addressed the king. “Would you like me to state my name for the crowd, Father?”

Realization struck me like a thunderclap. Every nerve revolted; I was numb.

King Domhnall’s jaw tightened. “It is required by royal court for all witnesses to state their name.”

Zan placed a hand on Nathaniel’s shoulder and gave him a slight nod. Then he turned. “My name,” he declared to the now-silent mass, “is Prince Valentin Alexander de Achlev. I am the one who had this man arrested and imprisoned.” He was standing erect, but I could see his hands shaking.

All around me, I heard whispers. The prince? The prince. The prince. The prince.

“I do not bring hypotheticals or suppositions or presumptions to place before this court today, but a firsthand witness. This morning, this very morning, I went to question Dedrick Corvalis in his cell and found him there, covered head to toe in blood that was not his. He had with him the body of a healer by the name of Sahlma Salazar. A woman who has long rendered assistance unto the people of this city. He called her to examine him, as per his rights by your decree, and when she came to his cell to do her duty, he attacked her. He cut her throat. He shed her blood”—?he lifted Dedrick’s hands—?“blood you can still see under his fingernails! And the earth shook because, with her death, the three seals of Forest Gate were undone. He’s been working against you all this time, Father. Against Achleva itself. The proof of that is all around us. Collapsed roofs. Fallen houses. Damage to structures nearly as old as the wall itself.”

Zan is the prince, I thought. I asked myself, How could I not know?

And then I asked, Didn’t I?

I closed my eyes, only opening them when I heard him speak again. His voice. Zan’s voice. The prince’s voice.

“Corvalis murdered Sahlma Salazar in cold blood as part of an effort to destroy the wall, the structure that has guaranteed our city’s survival and prosperity for centuries. There are others who would stand with me in this assertion, but there should be no need, my dear Lord King. For I am the prince of this realm, and my word, under testimony this day, is irrefutable.”

The smile in Dedrick’s eyes was gone. In its place, hatred. Raw, burning hatred.