‘Bah!’ exclaimed Kargrin. He threw up his hands and continued, ‘Where was I?’
‘Kilp making me Queen,’ muttered Clariel.
‘Yes. We think that Kilp plans to put you on the throne, with Aronzo as your consort, but Kilp will rule.’
‘So I would be trapped in Belisaere for good,’ whispered Clariel. Her face twisted in distaste. ‘And married to the slimy Aronzo …’
‘It’s an educated guess,’ continued Kargrin. He scratched one of his massive eyebrows as he returned to his ruminations about the nature of the connection between Kilp and the suspected Free Magic creature. ‘I just cannot think what the motive is … I mean for the creature; it is not so unusual for such as Kilp to seek greater power. But Free Magic entities usually flee concentrations of Charter Magic, and there are none greater than here. Kilp is not himself a sorcerer, nor can we identify one in his service. So the creature is not bound, and I cannot think why it would want to just help Kilp make himself the effective ruler of the Kingdom. Other than hatred of the royal line, I suppose …’
‘I don’t care why they’re doing anything,’ protested Clariel, ‘as long as I can avoid it. I particularly don’t want to marry Aronzo, or be Queen!’
‘There is some doubt whether you would in fact be recognised as Queen by the Charter,’ mused Kargrin. His manner was very much a teacher’s, considering some long-ago historical matter, not something of supreme importance right now to Clariel. ‘Even if King Orrikan is dead and Kilp installs you in the Palace, the Great Charter Stones might reject you, because Princess Tathiel is presumably still alive somewhere. Also, your mother does have a higher claim, and there are the cousins on the other side who might have a better right …’
Clariel groaned and rested her head in her hands.
‘I don’t care about the Charter! I just want to live in the Great Forest, be a Borderer, and be left alone!’
‘And you may be able to, one day,’ said Kargrin. ‘We might also be wrong. Up until yesterday I was sure it was your mother that Kilp wanted to put on the throne as his puppet, and her invitation to the High Guild of Goldsmiths was simply a pretext to get her to the city. But on investigation she is highly esteemed in the guild, and her … ah … lack of interest in politics and so forth is well attested. Then we learned of your intended marriage to Aronzo and all became clear.’
‘Not that clear. Roban told me he suspected Kilp was afraid my mother would displace him as Guildmaster, and she would become Queen of her own doing,’ said Clariel. ‘So maybe you’re wrong as well.’
‘Roban, like all of us, is trying to make sense of what is happening, and what might happen,’ said Kargrin. ‘But he did not then know what we know now.’
‘Who is “we”?’ asked Clariel.
‘An informal society,’ said Kargrin. ‘Intent on the preservation of the Kingdom. We were all formerly employed by the King, either in the Guard or some other capacity. I myself was once Castellan of the Palace.’
‘Why aren’t you still?’ asked Clariel. ‘I just don’t understand why the King got rid of everybody.’
‘The King is … ill,’ said Kargrin. ‘A darkness is on his mind, and he sees no joy in anything, and no relief. It is a consequence of a long life bearing the great burden of kingship, until the weight of it grew too heavy. He wished to pass that burden on, but his daughters were dead, and his grandchild lost to him, so he simply set it aside, refusing to make decisions. Part of that was a belief that if he did so, Tathiel would return and take the throne. But that has not happened yet. For want of any other authority, the Guilds – under Kilp’s leadership – have usurped much of what was the royal prerogative and power.’
‘Why does he think Tathiel will return?’ asked Clariel. She had always been interested in the story of the missing princess, though there was no definitive version of the tale. Some said she had deliberately run away, others that she had died in an accident, or even that she was imprisoned beneath the Palace. The only thing the various stories agreed on was that Tathiel had not been seen for almost a decade.
‘The Clayr have Seen her, back in Belisaere, upon the Palace walls, in enough visions to make it very likely it will happen,’ said Kargrin. ‘She is clad as if for war. But as is common, they do not know when, save that she looks to be of an age somewhere between twenty and thirty-five. That is to say, anytime from now up to the next ten or fifteen years. Or more probably twenty, given the difficulty of determining any woman’s age, let alone one wearing a helmet. They could also have mistaken someone who merely looks like Tathiel.’
‘I’m supposed to be seeing the King the day after tomorrow,’ said Clariel. ‘To give him a kin-gift. If I can find a bright fish on the Islet, that is.’
‘Yes … Roban mentioned you would be going to the Islet. This is also of interest to us.’
‘What? Why?’
‘There is a man called Marral in Kilp’s service, who has come to our attention these past few months. Indeed, it is he who first led us to suspect that there is a Free Magic creature within the city.’
‘How?’
‘We have numerous friends in Kilp’s service. One noticed that this man Marral had become a new favourite, often closeted with the Governor on secret business. So we had him followed, and quickly learned that he goes to and from the Islet, but much more significantly, goes a very particular way that avoids all Charter Stones. Once we heard that, I cast various spells on his footprints, places he had passed and so forth, and by this means discovered he is tainted with Free Magic. As is Kilp’s house, at least those parts I can easily investigate. I suspect that the creature either inhabits Marral, as some such things can wriggle within a mortal body, or he is transporting it in some container that keeps its true nature and force hidden, so leaving few signs. A casket of lead or gold, perhaps a bottle of green glass … in any case, Marral went to the Islet yesterday and has not yet returned. It seems likely that he has taken the creature to its lair or holt upon the Islet. If you go there, it will be unable to resist the temptation to reveal itself to you –’
‘Like a dog taking the scent of a fox,’ said Clariel. ‘Perhaps with similar results for the quarry. I have no desire to confront any Free Magic creature. Nor do I want to be involved in any politicking or anything that might stop me getting out of the city and back where I belong!’
Kargrin’s eyes narrowed.
‘It is your duty,’ he said. ‘You are of both the Abhorsen and the royal blood.’
‘My blood is of no consequence,’ said Clariel. ‘I simply want to be a hunter, a Borderer in time.’
‘Your heritage is of great consequence, whether you wish it to be or not,’ said Kargrin. ‘And we do need your help. The creature hides most cunningly and we have not been able to draw it out. Who knows what its plans are, underlying Kilp’s own treason?’
‘It is not my affair!’ protested Clariel. ‘As soon as I can, I am going back to Estwael and the Great Forest!’
‘Hmmm,’ said Kargrin, fixing her with his piercing gaze. ‘You say you came to the city in obedience to your parents. Yet now you say you will leave. If this is so, why did you come and what holds you back?’
‘I suppose I have the habit of doing what they ask and … I didn’t realise how much I would hate …’
Clariel threw her hands up as she tried to find the right words, as if she might somehow pick meaning from the air. ‘Hate it here. The city oppresses me, the noise, the closeness of everything, the … the torrents of people in the streets. I have no money of my own …’
She stood up, ignoring the wave of dizziness, bunched her fists together and brought them down on the table.
‘But I am going to get out of Belisaere, no matter what I have to do to escape!’
Clariel had finally decided. She would steal from her parents after all, take a few bags of coin from the strongbox, a gold bar from the stock waiting to be worked, some of the lesser jewels that were waiting to be set …
?
??You need money,’ agreed Kargrin. ‘But you will also need help to leave the city, to evade Kilp’s people here and on the roads.’
‘Kilp’s people?’ Clariel asked. She’d thought of her parents sending someone after her, but hadn’t considered anybody else would. If Governor Kilp ordered her arrest, then there would be all manner of guards and agents and Guild people after her, in every town on the way, and the major roads. ‘I didn’t think anyone would bother …’
‘Perhaps we can help each other,’ said Kargrin. ‘We can provide you with money and a Charter spell to change your countenance, clothes and weapons, a horse … In return you will help us lure the Free Magic creature into revealing itself.’
‘I need two hundred and fifty gold bezants,’ said Clariel, mindful of the amount Mistress Ader had said would be required for her first five years. It seemed an enormous sum. Considering Ader was calculating on Belisaere rates, she’d probably need a lot less in Estwael. But as in all bargaining Clariel thought she might as well start high, and be prepared to settle for whatever she could get.
As she said the amount, Clariel felt like she had finally stepped over a threshold where she had been dallying for weeks, neither turning back nor going ahead. Whatever sum of money they arrived at, or even if she still had to steal from her parents, the decision was made. She would leave Belisaere. Leave her family. Start the new life she had always wanted.
The only thing was, now that it seemed likely to be possible, she was not as sure she wanted it.
‘Done!’ boomed Kargrin.