‘Daemon!’ Kaira spat, raising her weapon and advancing on him. But as she glared with hate at the man she suddenly slowed. Caught in those green eyes of his, Kaira no longer wanted to do him harm. In fact she found herself feeling better disposed to him with every passing breath.
‘Not quite a daemon,’ said Dravos. ‘But I do have certain talents. Talents that have allowed me to break your young queen’s spirit. I would have preferred to persuade her the old-fashioned way. I find coercion so much less stressful to my faculties, but it appears she is strong willed. Though, not quite strong willed enough. She is with child, you know. And out of wedlock.’ He shook his head admonishingly. ‘I imagine that would normally cause all kinds of problems, but I have a solution to that particular quandary don’t I, my dear.’
He patted Janessa affectionately on the head. For such an insult Kaira should have run the bastard through, but instead she lowered her sword to her side.
This was witchcraft, pure and simple. This man was a sorcerer of some considerable power and he now had her under his spell as well as the queen. There was little Kaira could do.
Or was there? Could she dig deep for the strength to resist him? Could she call on powers that were greater than his?
‘You will never get away with this,’ Kaira said.
For I am the spear hand of Vorena.
Dravos only smiled. ‘Oh, but I already have. You see she is quite under my spell. As are you. But don’t feel bad. You won’t suffer for long.’
She is my courage in the darkness. A bright flame. A beacon for the lost.
Kaira felt her hand loosen on the blade until finally she let it fall, clattering to the floor. Dravos walked forward, staring all the while with those green eyes. She was forced to return the gaze, no longer in control of her body, but there was some part of her mind still free.
In her service I am resolute of thought and purpose.
From his robes, Dravos pulled a wickedly curved dagger. ‘It seems such a waste,’ he said holding it up. ‘But it will cost me dearly to keep your queen in check. I can hardly go about controlling the both of you. It’s a very complicated business, but I won’t bore you with the details.’
A defender of the weak, an instrument of righteousness honed and tempered in battle, ready to strike down the enemies of my gods and my king.
Dravos ran the blade down her cheek, and Kaira was powerless to stop it. She could feel a trickle of blood run down to her chin, dripping onto her gorget.
In that moment she knew her death was imminent, and she summoned up the will for one last defiant act.
‘Vorena is strength,’ she spat.
Azai Dravos raised his eyebrows, then burst out laughing.
And for the briefest of moments his eyes blinked.
Kaira’s fist snapped out, hitting him square in the face and bursting his nose. He fell onto his back and she didn’t hesitate, stooping to pick up the fallen sword and raising it for a killing blow. As it swept down to cut Dravos in two he mumbled something beneath his breath. In a burst of green dust he was gone, just as her blade struck the empty floor.
The sword was still ringing in her grip as Kaira stared, unable to believe what she had just seen. Then something struck her from behind. It was a swift blow, quick but not deep, as Dravos’ dagger found a gap in her armour between breastplate and tasset. Though the cut in her hip wasn’t deep, the shock of it made Kaira cry out. She swung her sword around, but Dravos had disappeared once more, green dust the only thing to signify he had been there.
On her guard now, Kaira waited for him to reappear. This was devilry of the most heinous kind. Dravos had to be destroyed and at the first sign of him she would strike.
A figure flashed green in front of her, but before she could react Kaira felt a cut between vambrace and gauntlet. This time it was deep, striking across the back of her wrist and causing her to drop her blade once more. Before she could stoop to pick it up, Dravos appeared once more, to slice his curved blade across the back of her knee.
Kaira growled in pain, falling to the ground. This time Dravos did not disappear in a cloud of green smoke but stood staring down at her. She tried to move, tried to grab him, but with her wrist slashed and her leg wounded she could not even stand.
‘Brave indeed,’ said Dravos. ‘But futile.’
Holding her once more with that green gaze, he stepped forward brandishing his dagger.
‘Your death will be swift,’ he said, reaching towards her throat with his dagger. ‘I will allow you that mercy. And who knows, perhaps one day they will build a statue in your hon-’
A foot of steel burst from Dravos’ chest. The green light in his eyes paled and a look of confusion crossed his face.
At once the glamour was broken, and Kaira could see someone standing behind him. Someone brandishing the sacred sword — the Helsbayn.
In a single swift move, Janessa pulled the blade from Dravos’ back and swung hard, slicing his head from his shoulders with ease. Body and head toppled to the ground.
For a long moment the queen stared down at the sorcerer, hate in her eyes, then she spat on his body.
Her shoulders suddenly sagged, and Janessa fell to her knees beside Kaira.
‘I’m sorry,’ she said. ‘I’m sorry.’
It pained Kaira to hear the words.
‘No,’ she replied. ‘This is my fault. Majesty, forgive me.’
Somewhere in the background, Durket managed to heave himself to his feet and scramble off as fast as his girth would allow.
‘What he said was true,’ sobbed Janessa. ‘I am with child. I am lost.’
Janessa’s tears were coming fast now, her sobs heavy and yet she still clung to the hilt of the Helsbayn.
Kaira gently took the sword from her grip. There should have been some propriety, some boundary of respect, but Kaira saw only a girl now, not a queen. A child whose life had been threatened, and not for the first time. A young woman who not only carried the weight of a kingdom, but also an unborn child, and with no mother, father or husband to help her carry her burden.
Despite the pain in her wrist, her face, her knee, Kaira put her arms around Janessa and held her close.
‘You are not lost, child. I am here.’
She held Janessa there until Odaka eventually came rushing into the reliquary, accompanied by a dozen Sentinels. He surveyed the corpses within the chamber for the briefest of moments, then knelt beside the queen.
‘Majesty, Chancellor Durket told me what happened. I am truly sorry; I should have predicted something like this. I should have been here.’
Janessa wiped her eyes then climbed to her feet. ‘No, Odaka. The blame is mine.’
Kaira struggled to her feet too, helped by two of her brother Sentinels. ‘I apologise, Odaka. I should have been by her Majesty’s side. The blame for this is entirely mine.’
Odaka regarded the corpses of Dravos and his men. ‘It seems you were here just in time. Your wounds require attention. I will see that this mess is cleared up.’
As the Sentinels helped her from the reliquary, Kaira cast one last look at Statton and Waldin, lying silent and still on the ground. They had been serving here because of her dereliction of duty, and the burden of that suddenly stung as deeply as the cuts to her flesh.
Back at the barracks the palace surgeon tended her wounds. Kaira said nothing as her wrist, knee and thigh were bound and the cut to her face was cleaned. None of the wounds was particularly deep, though she would be useless with a sword for a few days, and could well be limping a while longer. Nonetheless, she was desperate to fulfil her duties.
She had let down Queen Janessa. Whilst trying to save Merrick from himself.
Well, no more. Kaira had risked enough pandering to the man’s moods and remorse. She had failed miserably in her duty to others. From now on Merrick Ryder could look after himself.