The Shadow Of What Was Lost (59 page)

"It was...
complicated," said Caeden, the words stumbling off his tongue. He
grimaced, knowing how evasive and vague the answer sounded. 

Karaliene frowned a little, but
still looked more perplexed than angry. "Then you should probably do your
best to explain it," she said quietly.

Caeden hesitated but eventually
sighed, nodding. He could see from the princess' expression that anything short
of the whole truth would probably land him in the dungeons.

He took a deep breath, and told
her everything he could about his meeting with Alaris.

His throat was hoarse by the time
he was done. Karaliene watched him for a long few seconds, her expression
unreadable. Then she rose, crossing to the basin and pouring a glass of water.
She sat back down opposite Caeden, offering him the drink silently.

He gave her an appreciative nod,
taking a long swig, using the moment to brace himself for whatever was about to
come.

"They were Blind, weren't
they," said Karaliene, her voice soft.

Caeden blinked in surprise at her
gentle tone, but nodded his confirmation. “I think so.”

“And you killed them all?"
Karaliene watched him closely. "The Administrators found the bodies last
night - it’s supposed to be a secret, but the entire palace has been talking of
nothing else this morning.”

Caeden nodded again, a little
awkwardly this time. “I had to,” he admitted. He didn’t mention that he had
left Havran Das alive. If the man had information about who Caeden really was,
then Caeden needed to find him before anyone else.

Karaliene bit her lip. “My uncle
has ordered Dras Lothlar to examine their armour. Is that what made them so
quick? When they caught me, it was like… I was stuck in glue. Every time I
tried to hit them, one of them would catch my wrist before I could swing.” She
shivered. “And they were
strong
. Stronger than they should have been,
I’m sure. That wasn’t my imagination, was it?”

Caeden shook his head. “No,” he
said quietly.

Karaliene looked at him in
silence for a while. Gone were the hard, disapproving glares from their earlier
meetings. Now she just seemed... curious. “I saw you,” she said eventually. “I
saw you move towards them. You were so fast. And graceful, like….” She shook her
head at the memory. “You were almost a blur, even compared to them.” She raised
a questioning eyebrow at him.

Caeden shrugged. “It's the same
as what happened with the Shackle. I have these... other abilities, when I need
them. I can’t control them, though. That's one of the reasons Taeris wants me
to get my memory back - so I can understand those abilities, use them against
the Blind.” He hesitated. “He thinks I may be an Augur.”

Karaliene nodded. “That sounds
about right,” she murmured, almost to herself. She bit her lip. "So what
do you want?"

Caeden stared at her blankly.
"Want?"

Karaliene made an impatient
gesture. "For saving me. We both know you didn't have to do it."

Caeden frowned. "Of course I
had to do it. Those men would have killed you." Taeris had said much the
same thing, but he couldn't understand it - leaving Karaliene to the Blind had
never been an option, and the idea that anyone thought it had been was vaguely
offensive. "It wasn't for some sort of reward."

There was a long silence as Karaliene
continued to stare at him like a puzzle in need of solving, until Caeden began
to grow uncomfortable.

Finally the princess leaned
forward. “So you knew that being caught outside the palace could end in your
being thrown in prison. You knew I’d followed you. Despite that, you fought off
five men, then carried me back here – not just to the palace, but to my own
rooms." Her eyes narrowed. "And you want nothing for this?” Her face
was impassive, not giving away even a hint of what she thought of that particular
scenario.

Caeden hesitated. "Not being
thrown in prison would be nice," he said cautiously.

There was another long silence,
then Karaliene gave an abrupt, disbelieving laugh.

"You're serious." She
gave a rueful shake of her head, eyes shining for a moment as she looked at
Caeden.

He smiled back, a little dazed.
“So... you’re not angry?”

Karaliene stared at him, a
half-smile on her lips. “No." She brushed a stray strand of blond hair
back behind her ear. "It seems I have misjudged you,” she added, sounding
like she rarely made such admissions. She glanced towards the door. “Have you
seen much of the palace?”

Caeden shook his head.

The princess stood. “Then perhaps
I should show you around.”

Caeden stood too, noting the
still-dark sky outside the window. "At this hour, Your Highness?"

Karaliene gave him an amused
look. "I would like to continue this conversation," she said, still
smiling, " but I'm not sure that the two men outside your door would
believe that was what was happening in here if we stayed much longer. They
don't need to accompany us, but they will certainly be more comfortable if
we're not locked away together."

Caeden gave a nervous laugh,
trying not to look flustered. "Then lead the way, Your Highness. I'd be
honoured."

Karaliene snorted. “And no need
for the formalities, Caeden. You saved my life. In private, you can call me
Kara.”

Caeden ducked his head, still a
little bemused at the turn of events. “I will.”

They walked to the door.
Karaliene opened it and immediately she was cold and formal once again; to
Caeden’s eyes she grew six inches, somehow seeming to tower over the muscular
bodyguards waiting outside.

“You may leave us,” she said in a
peremptory tone. “I am going to show Caeden around the grounds. Your presence
is no longer required.”

The shorter of the men gave her a
nervous look. “Highness, if I may suggest -”

“No.” Karaliene cut him off with
a slicing gesture. “No discussion. I know my father and uncle worry about me,
but I’m old enough to make my own decisions.”

The guard opened his mouth to
protest, but one look from Karaliene silenced him as effectively as a slap to
the face. Caeden tried to hide his amusement, but he still got a dirty stare
from both men as they wandered off, their expressions sullen.

Once the men were out of sight,
Karaliene relaxed again, and they began walking – not aimlessly, exactly, but
at a companionable stroll, chatting about small things as they went.

Caeden's nervousness soon faded
away. The princess was easy to talk to, even charming now that she had dropped
her formal facade, and Caeden found himself enjoying the conversation. At
certain points, though, he had to remind himself of their respective positions.
There was a warmth to Karaliene's expression now when she looked at him, and she
certainly showed no signs of wanting to be elsewhere... but she was still the
princess. He knew that this newfound friendliness was nothing more than her
expressing her gratitude.

Even so, time passed faster than
Caeden would have credited, and it seemed only a few minutes later that they
came to a balcony overlooking a wide-open courtyard, the now mid-morning sun
bright in the sky. A squad of soldiers trained below, their swords flashing
sporadically in the light. Caeden and Karaliene just watched for a while, the
pleasant mood of the conversation lost as the reality of what was coming set
in. The men below wore grim expressions; no-one laughed or joked as they
worked.

“I wish I could understand why
these men have been acting so carelessly,” said Karaliene softly.

Caeden glanced at her. “What do
you mean?”

Karaliene sighed. “General
Parathe has been reporting to my father that they have started to just… take
days off. Drinking and carousing, presumably. One day they fail to report for
duty; the next day they just turn up and act like nothing is wrong. Parathe
disciplined them at the start, but the problem is so widespread now that he
cannot afford to. If General Jash'tar cannot stop the Blind, we will need every
man we can get.”

"Let's hope it doesn't come
to that," said Caeden.

Karaliene turned to him; he felt
his heart skip at how close she was standing. "That's what everyone else
is saying, though - and that's why I'm worried," she said in a low tone.
"My father, the Houses - they're so confident that our advantage in
numbers is all that matters. And until last night, I might have agreed with
them, but now...." She shivered, shaking her head. "I know Laiman
Kardai and my uncle have been preparing the city for a siege since the first
day they heard about the Blind, so I suppose we at least have that. But aside
from those two, everyone else just seems to think that this invasion is a
chance to play politics."

Caeden glanced across at her;
Karaliene's tone was bitter. “How so?”

Karaliene hesitated, then grimaced.
“Thanks to my father's... instability, I've heard rumour of at least two of the
Great Houses planning for the possibility of ruling. Not planning to rule, of
course; that would be treason. But making sure that if there is an empty throne
in the near future, they would be nearby to sit in it.” She shrugged. “And I’m
a complication to those sort of plans, as you can imagine.”

Caeden looked at her in
disbelief. “Surely they wouldn't risk making things even more unstable. Not
now.”

“You really haven’t spent much
time around men of power, have you,” Karaliene said with wry amusement. “Take
last night. In your place, half of the nobility would have demanded a heavy
reward for saving me, and the other half would have just let me die.” She
smiled, though with a hint of sadness.

Caeden looked at her with horror.
“I’m sorry,” he said sincerely. “That must be hard.”

“Don’t misunderstand, Caeden. I’m
a princess; there are plenty of benefits too. I don’t have to face many of the
everyday trials that most people go through.” Karaliene's smile faded. “But at
times like this? Yes, it can be hard.”

They watched the soldiers for a
while longer, then Karaliene said, “Who do you think they are?” She made a
vague gesture to the north.

Caeden paused to think. “I
believe what Taeris believes,” he said after a moment. “That these men have
been sent by Aarkein Devaed.”

The princess nodded. “There was
something…
wrong
about that armour last night. It made me feel sick just
being in contact with it.”

“Then you believe too?”

The princess shook her head
slowly. “I don’t know. It all still seems so surreal. A bedtime story brought
to life.” She looked at him, expression curious. “Why do you believe?”  

Caeden shrugged. “I just know,”
he said quietly. “Somehow, I know that he’s not just a myth. When I think of
him, I think of someone to be feared.” He sighed. “I seem to know a lot of
things that no-one else does, though.”

Karaliene considered. “Perhaps
that’s why your memories were removed,” she suggested. “Perhaps you found out
too much about Aarkein Devaed?”

Caeden rubbed his forehead.
“Maybe.” It was similar to Taeris' suggestion – it could certainly explain why
the invaders seemed to be after him – yet he didn’t think it was correct. But
then, he couldn’t even give a reason as to why he thought that. It was all very
confusing.

Karaliene saw his disconsolate
expression and hesitantly reached a hand out, laying it on his forearm.
“Whatever it is, I'm sure you will get to the bottom of it.”

Caeden’s breath caught and he
froze, as if Karaliene were a bird he could accidentally scare off with a
sudden movement. The princess didn't remove her hand straight away and for a
long moment they just stood there, watching the soldiers.

Then there were footsteps behind
them and Karaliene turned smoothly, letting her hand slip to her side again.

Caeden turned as well, cringing
to see Aelric striding towards them. With the possible exception of the king or
the Northwarden, Aelric was the last person he’d wanted to see him with the
princess. He’d heard the young swordsman talk of her often enough over the past
month or so to know that he was hopelessly in love with her. The black
expression on his face as he looked at Caeden did nothing to dispel that
notion.

“Your Highness,” said Aelric
stiffly, bowing to Karaliene. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you. Your uncle
was most upset when he discovered you had dismissed your guards - especially to
wander off in the early hours of the morning with a servant.” He shot an
accusatory glare at Caeden. “I thought it best to find you before he did, lest
he start taking too close an interest in who it is you’re with.”

Karaliene hesitated, for a moment
looking like she was going to protest. Then she gave an exasperated sigh. “Very
well.” She turned to Caeden. “I’m sorry, but I really should go.”

Caeden smiled. “I have no doubt
you have more important things to do, Your Highness. I’m honoured to have
received as much time as I have.”

Karaliene smiled at him warmly.
“I hope we can talk again,” she said. “Soon.” With a final, irritable glare at
Aelric, she walked back towards the palace.