The Crimson Vault (The Traveler's Gate Trilogy) (39 page)

Leah had committed herself to doing everything she could to help the Kingdom as a Traveler and as an Heiress. After all, she would never attain a higher rank.

"You can name your own Successor freely," Leah all but whispered. "It need not be one of your own children."

"Do not bandy technicalities with me,” the King snapped. “No one exercises that right. The bloodline of Ragnarus must continue, and it must remain in power. Besides, who else has been trained for rule?"

"Adessa is still in full command of her faculties. She would make an able Queen."

King Zakareth strode up to her, towering over her even more than usual in his imposing crown. "You pretend to be a fool, but I know who you are. What are you afraid of?"

Leah looked him in his one human eye, looking for some trace of fatherly compassion, but she saw only blue ice. She met his red eye instead.

"You," she said honestly. "Us. This family. We use our power for the greater good, I know that, but I also know what that power does to me. I start to calculate and manipulate, treating people like pieces on a game board. I know what it does to you."

Because she was feeling reckless, she met him with complete honesty. At this point, what did she have to lose? "You are pitiless and cold. You provide for your citizens because that is your function, and you do not hesitate to make decisions that should, by rights, rob you of your sleep for years. It is like living in a country ruled by a clockwork machine."

There. She felt like she had cast herself off a cliff without checking to see if there was water beneath her.

But she couldn't say she regretted it.

Zakareth stared at her so long that she started to sweat. He would not execute her; as a Ragnarus Traveler, her blood was too valuable. He may need her to breed more Travelers someday, so he would lock her up in a foreign Territory, to be called upon when he found a suitable consort. The same fate he had in mind for Adessa.

The thought made her inexplicably angry. How long had she lived with that threat hanging over her head? Why should she tolerate it now?

The anger gave her the boldness to continue, though she reined her tone back a notch. There was no sense in pushing too far, after all.

"Let us go further in our discussion. Take the Valinhall Incarnation, for example. Look at what power has done to him. He has given into his ambition, and it has consumed him. Warped him. All the Incarnations, in fact, are nothing if not a Traveler's power gone rampant. Who would I be if—"

"I have made my decision," Zakareth said abruptly.

That caught Leah off guard. "What?"
 

Abruptly, she panicked. Had she landed in the water, or on solid rock?

"Not that there was much of a decision to make, really." He moved back to the marble shelves and pulled out the mace again, running his fingers along some of the engraving. "Talos sees only his own desires, not the needs of the nation. You are the only one."

He hefted the mace in one hand, testing its weight. "For years, I have evaluated your skills, your training, and your suitability. I have done so with all your brothers and sisters. But never have I tried to know you."

He met her eyes, and his expression was subtly different than usual. She couldn't quite place how.

"Will you forgive me?" he asked.

Leah almost lost her balance. Finally, she managed to compose herself enough to respond.
 

"I will," she said. The words still came out slightly breathless.

"Leah, daughter of Kelia, Heiress of Damasca, I hereby appoint you Successor to King Zakareth the Sixth. By all the power and authority I have inherited from my fathers, and in the presence of the Crimson Vault, I swear the rights and responsibilities of the Damascan throne to you upon my death or abdication. Do you accept this great weight that has been placed upon you?"

"I don't...I don't know..." Leah said. She rarely found herself at a loss for words, but she had not been expecting
this
when she Traveled to Ragnarus today.

"The correct response is, 'I accept.'" He sounded almost gentle.

"I accept this burden," Leah said, recovering herself. "I accept, and swear to fulfill the office to the best of my abilities."

The ruby on Zakareth's crown flared, and Leah felt her body constrict, as though her skin was suddenly two sizes too tight. Then it lifted, and she breathed easy again.

Ragnarus had, indeed, witnessed her oath.

King Zakareth let out a deep breath and nodded, pulling the crown from his head and setting it on the shelf. Undoubtedly, he did not intend the gesture to mean anything; the crown was hot and heavy, and he had likely only worn it in the first place because he intended to name her Successor, and now he was glad to be rid of its weight.

But it seemed far too symbolic for Leah's tastes.

"Um, thank you, father," she said. This whole experience seemed unreal, as though she would step back through her Gate and realize the whole thing had been some sort of hallucination.

"This decision is long overdue. I had reached the point when I could delay no longer."

"I see."

"The Grandmasters will undoubtedly try to strike at Cana while they think my attentions are directed at their city," the King said casually.

"Undoubtedly," Leah responded. The thought hadn't occurred to her.

"Therefore, I will be remaining in the capital, along with a defensive force of my choosing. They will not reach the Hanging Tree while I defend it. However, in my absence, someone must command the attacking force."

Leah's breath caught. "Me?"

"Not directly. I’ll leave the army’s day-to-day operations to someone with more campaign experience. You will both represent the royal family and…coordinate. You are an accomplished Lirial Traveler, after all. Observation and communication are among your specialties."

"I appreciate the trust, father," Leah said. "But you are taking too much of a risk on yourself. Let me stay behind instead, and you command the attacking force."

He would certainly be more use on a battlefield than she, and he knew it. Why had he come up with this ridiculous plan?
 

"Return to your duties, Successor," Zakareth responded, not unkindly. "I will have my secretaries draw up the official succession papers as soon as I am able. Until then, I hesitate to imagine what Talos has been up to in our absence."

Leah nodded and withdrew, leaving the Crimson Vault and her father behind.

Well,
she thought, just before she slipped through a Gate for home.
Won't my aunt be surprised?

C
HAPTER
S
IXTEEN
:

C
AREFUL
P
LANS

Alin stared at Talos, wishing he had some kind of power or summon that could detect whether a man was lying. The other Grandmasters did, though, and he had passed all those tests: birds, snakes, and mysterious crystals all said he was telling the truth.

That did not mean, though, that he was trustworthy.

"The Damascan army gathers outside your city," Talos said. "The Overlords have been building up weapons against you for years, and even more in the past few weeks. There are weapons arrayed against you in every approach through every possible Territory."

"You speak as though we have no eyes," Grandmaster Endross said contemptuously. "We can see the army from here."

Talos continued as though there had been no interruption. "I suspect that you have considered striking at Cana, while the army and all our most powerful Travelers are occupied here."

The Grandmasters' faces went suddenly blank, which was enough to confirm to Alin that what Talos was saying had some truth to it. Talos must have seen the same thing, because he smirked.

"It's not a bad plan," he said, "except that it is a trifle obvious. We have all the passes from here to Cana both warded and guarded."

"That is always true," Grandmaster Avernus said. She sat rigidly straight in her chair, and regarded him with the same flat gaze she used on everyone. "The difference now is only that many of your most powerful Travelers remain here, instead of guarding those approaches."

"And you’re confident you can punch a hole through, right?" Talos said. "In some Territory, somewhere, there has to be a route to Cana that's easier than the others." He nodded to Alin. "Elysia, perhaps. We cannot possibly have any defenses there."

Alin took that as an invitation to speak up, but he addressed the Grandmasters instead of the prisoner. "Why are we listening to this man?" he said. "If he knows anything of strategic value, we should question him and have it out of him, instead of negotiating. Anything he learns here can be used against us."

"And what do you know of 'questioning' someone, child?" Grandmaster Avernus asked sharply. Her tone took Alin aback; no one had addressed him with such an obvious lack of respect since he had come to Enosh in the first place.

He was just starting to get angry when Grandmaster Helgard spoke up.

"I agree with Eliadel," Helgard rumbled. "There is nothing to gain here. Turn him over to Asphodel, and he will speak soon enough."

Talos shrugged, which almost dislodged one of the crawling red serpents on his shoulder. It hissed angrily in his ear. "No need," he said. "I don't know about Elysia, but I do know one Territory that won't be guarded, and that has a direct route into the royal palace of Cana."

He looked from eye to eye, making sure that everyone was listening. "Ragnarus."

Grandmasters Avernus and Helgard glanced at one another, considering.
 

Endross was not so polite. He pulled one sword from its sheath and drove it into the wooden table, right next to Talos' own half-bared sword. "I do not trust you. I say, if Zakareth values the blood of Ragnarus Travelers so highly, let us sell it back to him in buckets."

For once, Alin found himself in complete agreement with Grandmaster Endross.

Talos looked at the Grandmaster's sword in distaste, but with no fear. "I want the Incarnations freed as much as you do," Talos said. "Even more than some of you, I'm sure. This balance that my father created is unhealthy and unnatural. We survived without human sacrifice before, hundreds of years ago, and we can certainly do so again."

"And if the emergence of the Incarnations happens to unseat your father's power..." Grandmaster Avernus began.

Talos smiled, and it was a disturbingly winning, earnest smile. "That would be a fortunate side effect, yes. But the fact remains that I believe the rulers of Damasca have done far more harm than good with their bloody Trees."

Grandmaster Endross snorted, dragging the tip of his blade across the table and closer to Talos. "I still don't trust you, sir prince."

Talos sighed. "Heir. I'm not a prince, I'm an Heir. What are you, a child? No one says 'prince' anymore."

Grandmaster Avernus laid a delicate hand on Endross’ arm before he tore his sword free and drew it across the prisoner's throat.

"Hold on a moment, Endross," she said. "I can vouch for him."

Grandmasters Endross and Helgard stared at her in disbelief.

"You can?" Helgard asked.

"I am familiar with Overlord Lysander," Grandmaster Avernus responded. "He has done a great deal for our cause in Damasca; more than most are aware, in fact. And he has given his allegiance to Talos."

Talos nodded. "That’s right. And you three have tested my veracity yourself. How could I have fooled all of your tests?"

A serpent flicked a tongue in his ear, and he jerked his head to the side, distaste evident on his face. "Speaking of which, can you please remove these now?"

Grandmaster Endross turned and nodded to someone Alin hadn’t noticed: a robed Naraka Traveler sitting in the corner of the room. She waved her red-marked hand, and the serpents evaporated.

“Much better,” Talos said. He raised his bound hands, as far as the rope tying him to the chair would allow. “Now how about these?”

“Don’t push your luck, Highness,” Grandmaster Helgard said. “Tell us your plan, and we will decide how best to work it into our strategy.”

Talos smiled broadly. “Simplicity itself. Once battle is joined, I will slip away to a prearranged location. You will meet me there, and I will open a Ragnarus Gate. It leads straight into the middle of the royal palace in Cana. You can be in front of the Hanging Tree in minutes.”

“We must come to you?” Grandmaster Endross said skeptically. “No, that’s too dangerous. You should come to us.”

Talos sighed, as though exasperated at having to deal with a particularly stubborn child. “I can’t. I am only a Traveler of Ragnarus, and that means I can only Travel back to Cana. And I certainly can’t
walk
across the battlefield to Enosh.”

“Have someone take you,” Alin put in. For someone who claimed to have all the answers, this Damascan Heir seemed to be making a lot of excuses.

“Lysander is the only one I would trust enough to take me on a trip across enemy lines,” Talos explained. “But he’s an Avernus Traveler. And you all know what it’s like to Travel through Avernus with any precision.”

Alin didn’t, but he nodded along with the Grandmasters.

“Your people, on the other hand, can Travel straight to my location. Once there, I’ll take everyone to the royal palace. Simple.”

“We could meet up in Avernus itself,” Grandmaster Avernus suggested. “It may take a little longer, and there are some risks involved, but then we should be able to avoid the battle entirely.”

“Ah,” Talos said. “I keep forgetting you people don’t have your own Ragnarus Travelers. A Gate to the Crimson Vault can only be opened in this world, not in any of the Territories. I could still summon my weapon into a Territory, though it would take longer, but I have to return here if I want to open a Gate.”

“Then why don’t you take us there now?” Grandmaster Helgard asked eagerly. “We could have an army inside Cana’s walls in minutes.”