Sacred Knight of the Veil (7 page)

"I wanted to die." He glared at her, his face taut with anger. "Shamsara had no right to save me. It was my choice, not his."

"But you saved me, even as you lay dying, and no one paid you to do that."

"Any excuse to kill a Cotti prince. Are you offering me another chance to do that?"

"Perhaps."

He shook her off and turned to pick up his goblet. "I am retired."

"She is Minna-Satu's daughter, and I know you loved the Queen. You cannot allow Kerra to suffer."

"I have loved no one since my family died. She will not be killed."

"She is just a child, and she is your Queen. Endor will humiliate and beat her, perhaps make her his concubine and ravish her. Will you stand by and allow the future that Minna-Satu died for to be destroyed?"

Blade whirled with a growl of rage and flung the goblet across the room in a spray of blood-red wine. It skittered along the floor with a shrill clatter of silver on stone, coming to rest against the far wall. Closing the gap between them in a stride, he took hold of her shoulders so hard that she yelped, thrusting his face close to hers.

"Why me?" he shouted. "Have I not done enough? Must you ever drive me to do your will with my hatred of the Cotti?"

The apartment's doors flew open with a bang, making him release her and spin around as her guards burst in, spears lowered. Blade growled a foul curse, and Chiana swung to intercept the guards with an imperious gesture.

"Leave us!"

"My lady -"

"I said leave us, now!"

With a snarl, Blade scooped up the wine bottle and hurled it at the men. It bounced off one, spraying wine over them, and smashed on the floor. "Get out!" he bellowed. "Can I have a decent damned argument with my wife without being interrupted, just once?"

The guards stared at him, stunned. Then one bowed, while the other mopped wine from his eyes, his mouth open.

"My Lord... We were concerned for the Regent."

"I may kill her yet, but the likes of you will not stop me! Out!"

The men retreated, and Blade paced in a circle, his hands clenched, as if he longed for more ammunition to throw. Chiana glanced at an expensive vase on a table near the window, hoping it did not catch his eye. He strode up to her, making her step back in trepidation. His hands flashed out and gripped the front of her dress, as if she was the next object to be flung. Instead he yanked her closer, until they were nose to nose.

"You are trying to use me." His voice was low and filled with anger. "Minna did it, damn her, but you are not she! If Shamsara thinks I can save Jashimari again, let him seek me out and tell me himself. She was my Queen, but you are not!"

"But Kerra is," Chiana murmured, reaching up to clasp his hands, her breath catching at his proximity and her heart pounding from the fright he had just given her. Being around Blade was always electrifying. He filled a room with his strange, bittersweet charisma that was exciting, frightening and perversely comforting.

He thrust her away and turned his back on her. "Minna-Satu paid an assassin to kill her enemies. She rewarded me with gold, lands and titles. Now there is nothing more I want, and I am no longer an assassin for hire."

"I am not asking you to kill anyone, only to protect your Queen for a short time, perhaps only a few days. How long will it take a king to find his wife?"

"In the desert?" Blade turned and snorted. "Perhaps moons. You should be helping him to search, instead of hiding Kerra."

"Endor will be here in a few days."

Blade swung away, and Chiana looked down at her twisting hands, praying that he considered her request. The silence stretched unbearably, and she forced herself to break it, lest he leave because she seemed to have nothing more to say.

"You are the Lord Protector of Jashimari, Blade. Minna-Satu trusted you above all others when she appointed you to that position. One that had been vacant for generations. It is the highest office in the land, other than the Queen herself or her Regent, and it bestows upon you tremendous powers and responsibilities.

"You are able to do whatever is necessary to protect Jashimari, even to overrule the Queen in a crisis. For this reason, the post has been conferred upon only a select few over the years. As a sacred Knight of the Veil, you are also a priest of Tinsharon, and charged with the protection of the church. Endor will replace our priestesses with priests and defile the temples with their domination."

Blade had turned to face her during her monologue, his brows lowered over blazing eyes. She knew how he disliked being reminded of his titles, but persevered, determined not to let his furious expression cow her.

"The Lord Protector is the only one who can control our young Queen and overrule her without being guilty of treason. That is why I need you to hide her, not just because you are a former assassin and the Queen's Blade, or because of Shamsara's prediction. I cannot force you to do this, but I beg you, Conash. Jashimari needs you."

"And you think any of that means anything to me?"

She bowed her head in despair. "I had hoped."

"Then you are mistaken."

Chiana covered her face and rubbed her aching eyes, the weight of intense fatigue and anguish bowing her shoulders. She longed to lie down and sleep, to forget all the kingdom's troubles that were piled upon her like great rocks, crushing her spirit and making her ill with worry. When she looked up, Blade was gone, and she allowed herself the luxury of venting her pent-up emotions in a storm of weeping, as she had not done since he had left her fifteen years ago.

Chapter Five

The next morning, Chiana woke tired and puffy-eyed. Her maids toiled for a time-glass to hide the signs of strain on their mistress' face, which had grown worse every day. When they were finished, she was pale, powdered and frail looking, but they had hidden most of the damage from her bout of weeping. She picked at her breakfast, her stomach a tense knot now that Blade had refused to help. Only now did she realise how much she had been counting on him, and with his refusal came a whole host of fresh worries.

After breakfast, she made her way to her study to face a new batch of reports and requests from far-flung officials. She sank down behind her desk and stared at the pile, a part of her wishing that last night's encounter had only been a dream, and Blade would appear to spirit the Queen away and solve her problems. Her imagination conjured him vividly, his lips curved in one of his soft, entrancing smiles, his silver eyes filled with pity.

That, she had glimpsed in them only once, and she could not imagine any softer emotion thawing their frigid depths. She recalled the ball that had celebrated Kerra's birth, and the brief moment of near tenderness she had shared with him then. It was one of the memories she treasured, and often summoned up on lonely nights to fill her dreams with his presence. Over the years, he had grown far warmer in her dreams, and experiencing anew the cutting lash of his bitter tongue had thrown icy water over her fantasies.

A thunderous pounding on the door jerked her from her reverie, and she looked at the shuddering portal with a twinge of despair. How was she to deal with Kerra now? The thought of drugging the girl distressed her. With a tired wave of her hand, she signalled to the handmaiden who stood beside the door to open it, bracing herself for Kerra's tempestuous entry.

The Queen swept in, her face flushed with youthful ire, her eyes glinting and curls bouncing. Faced with such boundless energy and blossoming beauty, Chiana felt about a hundred years old and deathly tired. Kerra wasted no time on niceties, but launched into a shrill tirade about some problem with one of her maids, a trivial dispute that made Chiana's hackles rise. The Queen paced in a circle, punctuating her complaints with broad gestures of her be-ringed hands, and the Regent rose and signalled to the maiden to leave. As the girl closed the door behind her, Chiana banged the desk to get the Queen's attention. Kerra whirled in surprise, her mouth open.

"Kerra." Chiana fought the urge to shout. "I have no time to deal with your petty problems now. Dismiss the girl if she displeases you, I do not care. I have far more pressing problems to deal with at the moment. I must devote myself to them."

"Oh, Endor?" Kerra was instantly distracted, confirming Chiana's suspicions that her original gripe had been an excuse to get attention. "I've heard that he's marvellously handsome, and he wishes to visit me. Is this true?"

"Mend your speech," Chiana rebuked her, her heart sinking into her shoes. "Who told you this?"

Kerra shrugged. "My maids were gossiping about it."

"And you were eavesdropping." Chiana sank back into her chair.

"Is it true?"

"It is a ruse. I told you, your father suspects that Endor plans to take you hostage."

"Father is mistaken," Kerra stated with youthful wisdom. "Endor wishes to become my consort, I am certain. It is so romantic! He is a prince from the desert, one of my father's people. Who could be a better consort for me?"

"He intends to use you. That is why you are being sent away. He has kidnapped your stepmother, and he is blackmailing Kerrion."

"That he is willing to go to such great lengths to win my hand only shows that he is probably already in love with me. He must have seen my portrait or heard of my beauty. It is just like a fairy tale. And if I accept him, father will have his wife back."

"He has not done all this merely to become your consort! He will imprison you, then make himself ruler of Jashimari. I will be sent to the gallows. Is that what you want?"

Kerra pouted. "Oh, Chiana, you have no idea of romance. He will not hurt me, and I will not allow him to harm you, never fear."

Chiana rubbed her brow. This was worse than she had feared. "He has never seen a portrait of you. He wants to rule Jashimari, and threatening you will let him."

"You do not know that. It is just father's suspicion, or his way of preventing me from accepting Endor by making me fearful, but I am not. I am not a fool, Chiana. Endor has said that he wishes to visit me, which can only mean he means to court me. And even if I choose to wed him, he cannot rule my kingdom unless I let him, which I will not."

The Regent eyed her charge, longing to jump up and run from the room, escape the palace and all its responsibilities and return home to her merchant father. Faced with Kerra's rebellion, she was running out of ways to stay on top of the situation. She could sense it slipping away from her, becoming completely unmanageable. All she could do now was order the Queen drugged and removed to a safe place, if such a place existed, but Kerra would be furious when she revived. Her last hope was Kerrion, and she sifted through the piles of documents on her desk for his letter. Finding it, she held it out to the young Queen.

"This is your father's letter. I am following his advice by sending you away. You cannot defy him."

Kerra scanned the missive with a frown. "But this is silly. If I marry Endor, he will have his wife back, and everyone will be happy."

"No, if you do not flee, you will be a hostage, Kerra! Your father knows his brothers better than you, and if he thinks Endor intends to imprison you, then I, for one, believe him, and you should too. Endor wants to rule Jashimari, and we will not be ruled by a Cotti prince. We fought for seven hundred years to prevent it. We will not allow it to happen now."

"Father is wrong! He wishes to be my consort, that is all."

Chiana opened her mouth to refute this, when a soft male voice spoke, making her jump.

"It would seem that your young charge knows little of the barbarous Cotti."

Chiana stared past the Queen, stunned, and Kerra swung around as Blade emerged from the adjoining room. He paused just inside the doorway and glanced around before approaching Chiana's desk.

Kerra's mouth snapped closed, and her brows drew together in a thunderous scowl. "Who are you, and what are you doing in the Regent's private study? Chiana, call the guards and have them arrest this imposter. How does a commoner get into the palace? Chiana?"

"She also seems to have inherited her father's trait of asking far too many questions," the former assassin commented.

The Regent jumped up as Kerra gasped in outrage and stepped towards Blade, her hand raised to slap him for his presumption.

"Kerra!"

The Queen swung around, flinging Chiana a furious, puzzled look.

Chiana frowned at Blade. "That is no way to speak to the Queen."

Kerra's face reddened with fury. "How dare he? Why do you stop me, Chiana? He should be flogged for his temerity!"

Blade stepped closer to the girl. "Hit me then."

Kerra turned to face him again, her eyes raking him in a scathing glance. Chiana dreaded a violent reaction from the girl, who was known for slapping anyone she deemed to be impertinent. Blade would not harm her, but he would also not allow her to slap him, which would only enrage Kerra further.

The air crackled with tension, but Kerra's ire did nothing to thaw Blade's haughty manner. He stood with his hands clasped behind his back, and Kerra retreated a step when she met his frigid glance, clearly sensing the aura of danger that hung about him. Chiana struggled to quell a smile, her eyes darting between them. Kerra looked a little uncertain now. It seemed that even the arrogant, tempestuous young Queen was not able to stand up to Blade's chilling glance.

Kerra shot the Regent a glare. "Why do you do nothing, Chiana? Who is he?"

Chiana smiled. "Kerra, allow me to introduce the Lord Protector of Jashimari, a sacred Knight of the Veil, and my husband, Lord Conash."

Kerra's eyes widened. "The Queen's Blade."

"Yes, that is one of his many titles." Chiana turned to the former assassin. "My Lord, allow me to present Queen Kerra-Manu, daughter of Minna-Satu and Kerrion, heir to the Jashimari throne."

Blade snorted, his eyes raking the girl, who blushed. "I see no Queen before me, only a spoilt, ignorant child dressed up far beyond her years."

"Blade!" Chiana gaped at him, astonished.