He woke to a sound and realised he had groaned aloud.
‘Think of an ice-water bath,’ Arjuro mocked from where he sat. ‘It always kills any desire in me.’
Early next morning they heard the sound of shuffling along the path outside the cave.
Arjuro made a strange bird-like sound and Froi could have sworn that there was excitement on the Priestling’s face.
‘You haven’t spoken to him for eighteen years and you still share a whistle?’ Froi whispered.
‘Nothing wrong with a whistle.’
Froi chuckled. ‘You would like Finnikin of Lumatere. He has a passion for whistles. One for his wife. One for his hound. One for his daughter. One for his father. And then there’s the one for when he’s merely enjoying the day.’
A moment later they heard the birdsong return.
Froi crawled out of the cave. Gargarin was sitting low behind a rock ahead of them, as though trying to avoid being seen by someone further down. Gargarin turned, held a finger to his lips and beckoned Froi over, not even questioning what he was doing there. Gargarin pointed down into the gully. Froi saw the cave where he had hidden his weapons, marked by the image of the fan bird. But further down, where the stream passed Gargarin’s cave, he saw horses.
Froi pointed up and quietly climbed to a higher rock. From there he saw the palace riders instantly. At least ten of them had set up camp downstream from Gargarin’s cave.
‘Not good,’ he said when he climbed down. ‘They’re here for something and I don’t think it’s us.’
‘Have you seen Lirah and the girl?’ Arjuro asked, joining them.
Gargarin shook his head. ‘But I saw two men watch our cave for some time.’
Gargarin said the ‘our’ unconsciously. ‘Then your man arrived, Froi.’
‘My man?’ Froi asked, confused.
‘That whining idiot, Zabat.’
‘With palace riders? Bestiano’s? You’re wrong.’
‘Not wrong at all,’ Gargarin retorted, as though he was never wrong. ‘First Dorcas entered with two riders. Then another rider arrived with Zabat. Zabat entered and I’ve not seen the three inside since.’
‘Zabat,’ Froi whispered again, trying to understand what Rafuel’s messenger was up to. ‘With Bestiano’s men?’
He thought a moment. He needed to get his short sword and daggers and then he would work out a way to speak to Zabat. ‘Follow me.’
Ensuring that the path was safe, they moved quickly down towards the rock marked with the fan bird. Froi lay on his stomach and squeezed his way to the rim of the cave. He felt around in the darkness, but there was nothing there.
‘My weapons,’ he called out to them, softly. ‘Someone’s taken them!’
He searched again, his hands patting every nook and cranny. Frustrated, he began to worm his way out.
‘Well at least you have the sword the keeper of the caves gave you,’ Arjuro said.
When he was out of the cave, Froi looked up at Arjuro with annoyance.
‘This?’ Froi snapped, clutching at the scabbard. ‘This is just a … a stick with a blade. Not a sword. Perri had my short sword and daggers made for me. With Froi engraved on them all.’
‘Well it’s a good thing they’re lost because Froi’s not exactly a name,’ Gargarin said. ‘It’s just a sound those imbeciles came up with.’
‘Yes, you’d think the Sarnaks would be able to say a word with more than one beat by now,’ Arjuro mused.
‘This coming from the idiot who named me Nothing,’ Froi snapped, jumping to his feet. ‘My weapons are missing,’ he hissed.
‘We heard you the first time,’ Gargarin said. ‘And that stick with a blade is going to have to do for the time being, because I doubt very much that Zabat and Bestiano’s men are meeting in our cave for an Arjuro/De Lancey inspired dalliance.’
‘You can’t be sure Lirah and the girl are in there,’ Arjuro said.
Gargarin didn’t respond, but his brow was creased as if trying to work out a riddle. After a moment Arjuro asked, ‘What?’
‘Why would Bestiano kill the King now of all times? What does he want from the Princess?’
‘What he’s always wanted from her,’ Froi said bitterly. ‘He believes she’s the vessel. She produces the heir and he can walk straight back into the palace with power.’
‘Then why didn’t he take her with him when he left the palace? If he planned to kill the King, why didn’t he plan to take the one he believed to be the vessel when she was right there in front of him?’
Froi shrugged and Arjuro waited for Gargarin’s explanation.
‘I think he was taken by surprise,’ Gargarin said. ‘I think someone else killed the King and Quintana was a witness to it all. Locked in that strange mad head is the truth.’
‘But how did Bestiano know she would be here?’ Froi asked.
‘The same way he knew where to find Tariq. He has spies,’ Gargarin said, a pained expression crossing his face, and Froi knew he was thinking of the slain heir. Perhaps Tariq was the son Gargarin always wanted.
‘Let’s presume that his men are secretly watching the flow of people coming over that bridge and there she is with Lirah. Not recognisable to the rest of Charyn, but certainly to the King’s riders who saw her every day. So they follow her down here.’
Froi went to crawl back into the rock to search for his weapons a third time. If he was to release Quintana and Lirah he would need them. Gargarin grabbed him by the scruff of his neck.
‘The weapons aren’t there!’ Gargarin snapped. ‘Do you think they’ll appear like magic?’
‘Then I’ll have to go in and speak to the riders unarmed. They won’t kill me –’
‘Of course they will.’
‘They won’t,’ Froi argued. ‘I’m Lumateran. The last thing they want is for the Lumaterans to invade.’
Arjuro made a scoffing sound. ‘You think Lumatere will invade because of you? Are you that important?’
Froi looked away. ‘Isaboe would invade if you kidnapped a servant, let alone a friend.’
‘Isaboe? We’re on first-name terms with the Queen of Lumatere, are we?’ Gargarin asked.
Froi found himself bristling. ‘What? Do you think I’m some cutthroat for hire who they found hanging around the palace walls with the words “I want to kill a Charynite King” tattooed on my arse?’
‘No, but I didn’t expect you to live in the palace guardhouse.’
‘I don’t. I live in the Flatlands with a family that has given me a home these past three years. Lord Augie is a –’
‘August of the Flatlands?’ Gargarin stared with disbelief. ‘The Ambassador to Belegonia?’
‘So he knows the Queen and he lives with nobility,’ Arjuro said, bored. ‘Should we be impressed?’
‘And I’m presuming you were taught to speak Charyn by the holy man?’ Gargarin continued the interrogation.
Arjuro stared. Suddenly he seemed to care. ‘The Priestking? As in the blessed Barakah of Lumatere?’
‘He doesn’t enjoy titles these days,’ Froi said quietly. Suddenly the brothers seemed strange and slightly defensive. Gargarin closed his eyes for a moment and Froi couldn’t tell what he was thinking.
‘Go. Home,’ Gargarin said tiredly. ‘Just go. You don’t belong here. You belong there. You can play with nobility in the Flatlands and continue your lessons with the holy man. But don’t stay here and waste your life.’
‘I want my weapons back,’ Froi lied, ‘and I know Zabat is the one who took them. I’m going to ask for them politely.’
‘How can you possibly think that’s a sound idea?’ Gargarin asked with frustration.
‘I’m a foreigner, Gargarin. Zabat and Dorcas know that. The last thing they or Bestiano want is to instigate a war against Lumatere.’