The King's bastard

Piro ran after the queen, catching her arm. 'Mother.'

'Yes?' But she was watching the men leave.

'It's Lence who has cut himself off from Byren, not the other way around.'

'I worked that out.'

'Don't let Cobalt advise Father.'

Her mother gave a short, bitter laugh. 'I fear it is too late. I will be lucky if they let me join them. I must go, Piro.'

She hurried after the others, leaving Piro alone with Florin in the great hall. All the servants had run off to spread the terrible news.

'Do you want me to follow Byren?' Florin offered. 'Look after him?'

Yes, she did. But it wasn't fair on Florin and Byren wouldn't thank her. 'No. You've done so much already.' Piro tried to think straight. 'Are you hungry or tired?'

'Both, but I can't stay. Da reckons Narrowneck is in the path of the Merofynian army. With our palisade falling down and no defenders, we can't stand against them. He's going to take Leif into the Divide. I'm to meet him there.'

Piro nodded. 'Then let's go to the kitchen and make sure you have enough to eat. Do you want to borrow a horse?'

She grinned. 'Eh, me on a king's horse, now that'd be a sight!'

Piro smiled, but her heart was cold.

Byren looked up as Captain Temor slipped into his chamber.

'There you are, lad.' His earnest eyes held Byren's. 'You know the canals better than our enemies. Go as far as Narrowneck tradepost with Orrade and Garzik, then separate.'

It was a decision he had come to, but the grizzled captain wasn't really here to advise him. He was here because he believed Byren.

'Thanks.' His voice caught and he could not go on.

The old warrior nodded. 'Good luck, lad.'

Temor left as Garzik and Orrade arrived with food for the journey.

'What did Captain Temor want?' Orrade asked.

Byren shook his head, unable to speak. He should be grateful to Cobalt. Now he knew who his true friends were.

Early the next morning, Piro waited by the door to her father's private chamber. Her stomach rumbled, demanding breakfast, but she was determined to catch him alone. He hadn't let her mother into the war table room yesterday, and all evening he had been surrounded by his advisors. The day her father trusted Cobalt ahead of her mother was a black day for Rolencia.

A muffled noise made her stiffen. Her father was awake at last. Giving a soft knock she entered, marshalling her arguments.

'Piro? What are you doing here?' The king drained a goblet, hands shaking as he returned it to the manservant.

'Are you all right, father?' she asked, shocked to see him so fragile. With his back to her, he stood naked on the far side of the bed. Surely his body hadn't been so wasted? She remembered great slabs of muscle on his shoulders.

'No, I'm not all right. Valens hasn't worked on me yet, that's all.' He moved like an old, old man as he lowered himself onto the bed, belly down. 'I'll be fine soon. This winter has been hard on my old injuries, Piro. Some days, if it weren't for Valens, I wouldn't be able to get out of bed.'

Piro glanced to the manservant, who waited with his jars of unguents. When he did not meet Piro's eyes, she decided she did not like him. His black hair was pulled back in a severe plait, his only concession to Rolencian custom.

'Now, what is so important that you must barge into my chamber before I've dressed?' her father asked, sounding more resigned than annoyed.

'I'll come back later.'

'I'm riding out to check on Rolenton's defences as soon as I'm dressed. So speak now. And… a little privacy, if you don't mind!'

She turned away to face the door. This was not the way she had foreseen holding this conversation. If the manservant was Cobalt's own, likely everything she said would make its way back to him.

'Well?' her father prodded. His voice was muffled, his face in the bed clothes.

'You're breaking Mother's heart. How can you refuse to see her?'

'I haven't refused to see her.'

'You shut the war table door on her.'

She heard the king sigh and then the gentle slap, slap as Valens worked on him. A strange smell, the cream Valens rubbed into her father's sore joints, filled the air. It made Piro's head buzz. She could hear the manservant muttering something softly under his breath as he worked. It reminded her of the sing-song ward that Fyn had taught her to keep out untamed Affinity.

The back of her neck tingled uncomfortably.

She turned around, slipping easily into Unseen sight. Energy vibrated from Valens hands, moving over her father's body. She bit back a gasp. The taste of untamed Affinity sat sharp and bitter on her tongue. At first she thought it was sinking into her father, then she realised Valens was drawing it out of her father. But the king didn't have Affinity, so what was Valens stealing?

Fyn's warning came back to her. Never let a renegade Power-worker touch you.

'You wouldn't understand why I had to shut your mother out,' King Rolen told her in a weary voice. 'These things are too complex for you, little Piro.'

But she did understand, only too well.

Cobalt had planted a renegade Power-worker on her father and, since midwinter, Valens had been working on the king to weaken his body and will.

'I… I'm sorry.' She hardly knew what she was saying. 'I was just worried.'

'Let me do the worrying.'

'Yes, Father.' All she wanted to do was get out of there before the Power-worker realised she knew what he was. 'I hope you're feeling better soon.'

The king made some muffled reply as she fled.

She ran straight to her mother's private solarium, where she found the queen bent over her writing desk.

'There you are, Mother, I — '

'Quiet, Piro,' Seela said. 'Your mother's writing to Rolencia's ambassador to Merofynia. He'll know what King Merofyn is doing.'

'But it will take too — '

'Quiet!'

Piro hopped from foot to foot as her mother finished the letter, sealed it with wax and pressed her foenix sigil into the red blob as it set. She handed it to Seela, who bustled towards the door. The message would be sent on the next ship to Merofynia, but it would be too late to help them now.

'Don't go, Seela, this is important,' Piro warned.

The queen looked over to her. 'What's so important?'

'Father's new servant, the Ostronite Valens, is a renegade Power-worker!'

'A healer, with new ideas from Ostron Isle?' Her mother frowned. 'That would explain why Rolen prefers him over our abbey healers. I wonder if they suspect he has Affinity? He's been able to do more for Rolen than they — '

'If Valens was a healer Cobalt would have said so. Have you seen Father before Valens works on him? He looks like an old man. He can hardly move!'

The queen blanched. 'Rolen hasn't let me into his private chamber since midwinter. He's been acting so strangely I can't get near him — '

'We must expose Valens,' Seela decided. 'Send for the warders, Myrella.'

'What will I tell them?' she countered. 'They'll want to know why I suspect him of Affinity.'

'Tell them that I noticed Valens' Affinity,' Piro said. 'I'm going to have to confess my Affinity to them by spring cusp anyway.'

'You're right, Piro. I've crippled myself by hiding my true abilities for so long that I'm not thinking straight,' her mother admitted.

'You did what you had to do, Myrella.' Seela told her firmly, mouth grim. 'I'll send this message to Merofynia. Piro, you tell the warders what we suspect and send them to this chamber. Then you can fetch Valens. When he gets here Autumnwind and Springdawn will be waiting for him.'

The queen nodded. 'I fear he won't go quietly.'

'If it comes to it, we'll have to kill him,' Seela agreed, without a qualm. Piro blinked. Seela noticed and added, 'We're justified. According to the King's Law no renegade — '