Sacred Knight of the Veil (35 page)

She murmured, "You could disguise yourself, and there are many servants loyal to Kerrion, who would help me. His chief advisor, Jadar -"

"The palace is rife with princes, and any of them would jump at a chance to help Trelath and win his favour. Any disguise I donned would be useless, since they would dispense with me no matter who they thought I was. To a Cotti prince, murder is just a tool. Kerra would be a double boon, as you know."

"If Kerrion is there -"

"But he may not be. It is too great a risk.

"We could find out in the city and hide there until he returns."

Blade inclined his head. "Perhaps, but Jadaya is full of spies, most of whom work for the princes. It is too risky."

"There may be spies in the town that we hide in, too."

"Not as many as in the capital, and I will find a quiet place where our presence will not be noted. I know what I am doing."

"I suppose you are right. I did appoint you as my advisor, my lord. I have not forgotten. As soon as we find a town, I will send a message to Kerrion, and he will come for us."

Blade shook his head. "That is dangerous. Most Cotti dislike the fact that Kerrion married a Jashimari woman. You will be betrayed."

She sighed and leant back against the wall, closing her eyes. "You think of everything, my lord. But I do not think I have the strength to walk to your camp in the desert."

"No need. Send Shista. She can follow my trail and give Kerra a message." He rose to his feet. "Come, we will go back to the keep and find something to eat, and write a message."

The Queen rose, tottering a little, and clung to his arm when he offered it. They made their way back towards the keep, Shista walking beside her friend to offer her support. Blade's arm throbbed, and shock made him light-headed as he scanned the ruins for the soldier. They reached the castle safely, and he took Minna to the supply room, where she sank down on a pile of blankets. He rummaged around until he found paper and a quill, but no ink.

Resorting to the old assassin's trick, he used his blood to pen a brief message to Kerra. Minna instructed Shista to follow Blade's trail out of the oasis and give it to the girl she found at the end of it. The cat left with the missive in her jaws, and Blade settled down to light a fire and cook a meal. He sweated in the leather clothes, but could not remove his jacket with the bolt in his arm. He unlaced it and pulled his good arm from the sleeve, which helped a little.

Chapter Eighteen

Kerra sat on the baking sand, holding her jelabah over her head in an effort to stay cool. The temperature had risen until she was sure her brains were boiling. She stared at the distant oasis, wondering at the wisdom of her earlier decision. A horse had provided her with shade earlier, but now it was noon, and she dared not sit under its belly, for it stamped to chase away flies. She waved the annoying insects away from her face, slapping at them when they landed to suck blood.

One of the horses raised its head and pricked its ears, gazing towards the oasis. Soon the other two did the same, swinging around to face in the same direction, their nostrils flared as they scented the breeze. Kerra peered into the shimmering heat haze, wondering what had caused their disquiet. Unable to see anything at first, she squinted and raised a hand to shade her eyes.

A glimpse of movement riveted her gaze, and she focussed on the anomaly, waiting for it to become clearer. A horse snorted, sounding an alarm that the other two echoed. Kerra glanced at them, wondering if they would bolt. Worried that they might, she rose and went over to soothe them, stroking their velvet noses as she gazed at the moving, ghostly shape.

The object of their concern revealed itself to be a sand cat trotting towards the camp, ears pricked. A pang of fear went through the young queen, and she glanced at the bags where Blade's crossbow was stowed, then back at the approaching cat. It was strange that the beast headed so boldly towards the camp, apparently coming from the oasis. As it drew closer, she made out what looked like a piece of paper gripped in its jaws, and relaxed.

It had to be the familiar Myasha had seen with the woman in the oasis, and was therefore harmless. The horses also seemed to sense that it was not a threat, for they calmed, starting to stamp and swat flies again. The cat slowed to a walk several paces from the camp, then stopped and sat down.

After a brief hesitation, Kerra approached the female feline and took the piece of paper from her jaws. She rose to sniff the girl's legs, her tail twitching. With one eye on the prowling cat, Kerra read the missive, delighted to find that it was from Blade, but written in blood, and terse. It told her to follow the cat and bring the horses.

Filled with a mixture of concern and relief, Kerra saddled the animals and loaded the supplies onto the packhorse, then mounted her beast. The cat watched her, licking her paws, and set off back to the oasis as soon as Kerra was aboard her horse. Kerra wondered why she needed to follow the cat when the oasis was in plain sight, but the sleek feline did not slow her, bounding ahead as if she had springs on her feet.

When they reached the oasis, Kerra tethered the horses in the shade and followed the cat into the keep. A short way along the corridor, the cat turned into a room, and Kerra strode after her, stopping in the doorway as she took in the strange tableau. Blade sat on a pile of blankets, poking strips of bacon that sizzled in a pan over a fire.

On the other side of the fire, a delicate woman lounged on an even larger pile of blankets, dressed in a ragged cloth that had once been a rich velvet sheet. She reminded Kerra of the portraits of her mother that hung in the palace in Jondar. Her tangled raven hair looked as if it had been hacked off on one side, and spilt in a silken skein over ivory shoulders, framing a face of unsurpassed beauty, even though smudged with dirt. The woman's flame blue eyes raked Kerra with a bold glance that made blood rush to her cheeks, and she raised her chin. The cat flopped down beside the woman, purring, and she stroked it. Kerra looked at Blade, who glanced up from his chore, then turned back to it as she stepped into the room.

"Are you all right, Blade?"

The woman shot him a smile. "Such concern. I am touched, are you not, my lord?"

Blade poked the bacon, not looking at either of them. "Not particularly."

The woman's highborn speech surprised Kerra. Even she had never mastered the art of speaking so precisely, as was expected of noble Jashimari.

Blade gestured to the wine skins lying next to the wall. "Bring me one of those."

The woman studied Kerra again as the girl obeyed. "Such obedience, too. I am surprised, I must say."

Blade muttered, "She vowed to obey me before we left Jondar. It was a condition of my help."

The woman smiled at Kerra as the girl pulled up some blankets and settled beside the fire. "You look like your father, my dear."

Kerra frowned. "If you know who I am, then you should refer to me as 'my Queen'."

Blade chuckled, shooting the woman an amused look, but she merely smiled, as if Kerra's response pleased her. "Of course. And does Lord Conash call you this?"

"No." Kerra's mouth twisted in a wry smile. "He says he will only do that when I learn to act like a queen."

"Indeed?" The woman raised her brows at Blade. "How very rude of you, my lord." She glanced at Kerra again. "But then, do you call him 'my lord'?"

"He told me not to."

"Ah."

Kerra gazed at the purring cat stretched out beside the woman, a germ of realisation taking root in her mind. "My mother had a cat like that. Her name was Shista."

The cat pricked her ears and glanced at Kerra. The woman smiled. "Do you know much about your mother, Kerra?"

"I know that she is dead. Who are you? Why has Blade not introduced us?"

"I asked him not to."

"Why?"

"I wanted you to work it out for yourself. I thought it would be less of a shock that way. My familiar's name is Shista, and I am not dead."

"Blade?" Kerra turned pleading eyes upon the assassin.

He glanced up from the bacon pan, first at the woman, then at Kerra. "Kerra, this is your mother, Queen Minna-Satu."

Kerra gazed at Minna-Satu, struck speechless.

Minna lifted a hand to pat her tangled hair. "I apologise for my appearance. I am certain that I do not look like a queen at this moment. I would have preferred that we met under more auspicious circumstances, but unfortunately fate did not allow it. At least Trelath allowed me to bathe a few days ago, or I would have been in an even sorrier state."

Blade handed Minna several rashers of bacon wrapped in fat-soaked journey bread, and she nibbled it. Kerra accepted a similar sandwich in a dazed manner. Her mind had gone blank, as she tried to come to terms with this astonishing revelation. Minna glanced at Blade, who chewed his repast, washing it down with long draughts of wine.

"You took the Queen's Cup," Kerra mumbled.

"Yes, I did, but your father saved me. That was a terrible day, one that I have tried to forget, but cannot. I fully intended to go through with my plan, but Kerrion went to Shamsara and obtained the antidote. He saved Blade too, that day."

"Blade?" Kerra glanced at the assassin, who ignored her.

Minna replied, "Blade shared the Cup with me, at his own request. Kerrion needed him to slay his treacherous brothers, who plotted to kill me. Blade assassinated Ronan and two others at my behest. I forget their names."

"Targan and Rigal," Blade supplied.

"Yes, that is right. Blade and Rigal had the most awful fight when Rigal came to kill me. He saved my life."

"Does Chiana know you're alive?" Kerra demanded.

"No, of course not. Poor Chiana. She would not have been able to keep it a secret from you."

"But Blade did." Kerra shot the assassin an accusing glare.

"From Chiana's letters to Kerrion, I gathered that Blade has not been at the palace these past fifteen years."

"No, but I've been with him for almost an entire moon now."

Minna frowned. "Mend your speech, Kerra. You and Lord Conash speak like Cotti."

"We have been disguised as Cotti, my queen. It was necessary," Blade said.

"Well, we are all Jashimari here."

"Soon we will have to hide amongst the Cotti again. I trust that you will not speak to anyone?"

"Certainly not." Minna glanced at her daughter and smiled. "It is good to finally meet you. I have often wondered about you over the years, and I am not disappointed."

"You abandoned me," Kerra growled.

"I had no choice. I had to end the war that was tearing Jashimari apart, and would have resulted in our defeat once Contara attacked us. I had no wish to die, I assure you. When Kerrion saved me, I could not reveal my existence, or my people would have demanded my return, and the Cotti nobility would have forced Kerrion back into the war."

"Did you plan on telling me the truth?"

"Yes. Kerrion and I had decided to bring you to Cotti for a visit when you were eighteen, and then you would have met me. I had to be sure you were old enough to keep the secret, for even now, revealing my continued existence would stir up a great deal of trouble in Jashimari. I also wanted you to meet your brothers."

"I have brothers?"

"Yes, two. Shantar and Ashton. Shantar is the older, fourteen, and Ashton is twelve."

Blade finished his sandwich and doused the fire, then gathered provisions and stuffed them into a bag he found, while the women talked. When he had all that they would need, he returned to his pile of blankets and considered the bolt protruding from his arm once more. The pain had ebbed to a dull throbbing, and the prospect of renewing it held little attraction. The bolt had to be extracted, however, and it could be put off no longer. He touched the end of it, and winced as a hot spike of agony shot from it, turning his sweat cold. Noticing a lull in the women's conversation, he glanced up to find them watching him, Kerra with horror in her eyes.

"You need help with that, my lord," Minna stated. "I shall pull it out for you."

Blade's brows rose. "You, my Queen?"

"Why not? I am not afraid of blood. I have birthed three children, and had my share of pain."

"You are not strong, Minna. It must be jerked out swiftly, or it will be painful. I dislike pain."

"Minna?" Kerra stared at him in astonishment. "You call a Jashimari queen by her given name?"

"As I do you."

"But you said I was a child..."

Minna smiled. "I gave Blade permission to use my given name, Kerra. It was in the chamber where I took the Queen's Cup, as I lay dying."

"I see." Kerra studied the assassin, her eyes lingering on the protruding quarrel. "I shall remove the bolt."

Blade shook his head. "I think I should do it myself. At least I know what I am doing."

"Indeed?" Minna demanded. "And how many crossbow bolts have you removed, my lord?"

"None, but I have pulled out a lot of daggers."

"Out of dead people."

"Not always."

Kerra grimaced. "Must we discuss this? I think it will be easier for me, but let him try if he wishes. When he passes out from the pain, I will do it."

"Let her do it, Blade," Minna said.

He glanced from one to the other, a mocking smile curling his lips. "How flattering, to have two queens vying for the privilege of aiding me."

Kerra gasped and opened her mouth to refute this, but Minna smiled and murmured, "We must have you whole and hearty, my lord. Our future is in your hands."

Kerra hesitated, then nodded. "Indeed. We cannot risk you falling ill."

Disgruntled that Minna had foiled his attempt to tease the girl, the assassin shrugged. "Very well. Perhaps a little more wine will help to ease the pain."

"No." Minna shook her head. "We need you clear headed, for that soldier may well try to stop us from leaving."

He jumped up. "The horses."

Blade headed for the door, and Kerra trotted after him down the short stretch of corridor that led to the courtyard. When he reached the doorway, he stopped to gaze at the three animals standing in the shade outside, then turned to Kerra as she trotted up to him.