VELZA
Most of the militiamen and constables had to walk back from the meeting with the dragons, but the king and his guards and shapecasters were mounted. Velza and Latsar shared a horse provided by a junior shapecaster who was now walking.
‘You are not forgiven,’ said Velza as they rode.
‘You tricked me, you lied to me –’
‘I never lied to you, I just didn’t tell the whole truth,’ retorted Latsar.
‘Well, what now? Do I get put in chains and locked in a dungeon?’
‘I think both of us will be put in baths, given clean clothes and fed dinner – probably with the king.’
‘Just for fooling a dragon?’ Velza snorted.
‘No, for saving the king, five thousand of his men, and probably the entire city from being flamed down to the bedrock. You and I are heroes, try to remember that.’
‘So what do I say when the king talks to me? He thinks I’m the Iron Claw, a secret agent.’
‘So?’ Latsar said, eyebrows raised. ‘That’s what the other officers called you behind your back aboard the Invincible.’
‘I suppose you did too.’
‘It’s a great name.’
‘And I’m not a secret agent.’
‘Yes you are. You’re a Dravinian officer, doing things secretly in a Savarian city. I do admit that nobody appointed you, but who else needs to know that?’
‘If you have all the answers, tell me what I should say to the king.’
‘Tell him that your father is up to something bad, and that we need the freedom of the city to hunt him down.’
‘Why should he listen to us?’
‘See those dragons up there, circling the city?’
‘Yes.’
‘The king wants them to go away. He also thinks that you might be able to help.’
The ladies in waiting who were assigned to Velza were surprised when she took off her armour and revealed herself to be a girl. When she took off her tunic they had an even bigger surprise.
‘You have muscles!’ exclaimed Lady Marial.
‘What girl has muscles?’
‘I’m a shapecaster soldier,’ replied Velza. ‘The muscles help when I need to kill people.’
‘But ladies should have champions to do that sort of thing.’
‘Sorry, I like to catch and kill my own.’
‘Ladies should at least use poison if they have to kill,’ said Lady Dienair.
‘Poison is no use on the battlefield, because the enemy is not eating dinner. Speaking of fighting, I twisted my ankle in the fighting yesterday. Can you find a physician to bind it up properly after I have my bath?’
Velza was again dressed as a mercenary when she was escorted into the king’s presence. Latsar, also dressed as a mercenary, was already there. They are on suspiciously familiar terms, thought Velza, as she approached a table covered with food and jugs of wine. Two overweight hunting hounds looked up at her, decided that she was no threat, and turned their attention back to the table.
‘Your limp has almost vanished,’ said Lavarran as Velza took her seat.
‘Your physician was very skilled, your Majesty, thank you,’ she replied.
‘You stride like a soldier, that’s good. Most women dressed up as men still move like ladies and so betray themselves.’
‘I can be a lady if I have to.’
‘Just the sort of talent a spy needs – but you are not eating. Please, take whatever you fancy.’
Lavarran and Latsar chatted while the famished Velza ate five chicken legs and a bowl of salad, then drank some watered ale.
‘You eat plain fare,’ said Lavarran.
‘Assassins expect nobles to eat the best, so they poison the best.’
‘Quite so, that’s why my hounds get what the royal kitchen prepares for me. The servants think that the hounds get what you and I eat.’
‘Wise of you, your Majesty.’
‘I’m young for a king, don’t you think?’
‘Reigning well is more important than a monarch’s age, your Majesty,’ said Velza.
‘Well put. I like to think I am a good ruler. My oldest brother had Father murdered because he was living too long. He was impatient to be King, you see. Then my sister poisoned him on the night of the coronation. She ruled as Regent for a while, because I was still too young to be crowned. When I turned fourteen, and was old enough to take the throne, she decided that she liked being Regent, so she tried to poison me as well.’
‘You’re still alive,’ observed Velza.
‘I suspected that someone had bad intentions for me, so I added a harmless philter to my own orange juice. Drink it, and it was as safe as drinking rainwater from the sky. Add a poison like spiderbane to it, and it bubbles up as if a red- hot horseshoe were dropped in. My sister was smiling as she bent over the jug and added the spiderbane powder from her trick ring. When the mixture frothed up, some got into her mouth.’
‘And she poisoned herself,’ added Latsar.
‘You are in my position, Lady Velza,’ said Lavarran. ‘Someone may be family, but they must still prove themselves worthy of trust. That was true of my older brother and my sister, and it is true of your father.’
‘Your father is dabbling in the four magics,’ said Latsar. ‘If he were to put them back together, he would become a Dark Hand, a warlock as powerful as a dragon. He has been to Teliz before, and he persuaded King Lavarran that the Dravinians were plotting to do precisely that. He then returned and convinced the Dravinian emperor that the Savarians were doing the same thing.’
‘That makes no sense!’ exclaimed Velza.
‘Nobody would gain anything.’
‘Calbaras would,’ said Lavarran. ‘The finest shapecasters on the Centralian Sea would be sent into the fighting, and would die. Then who would there be to stop Calbaras?’
‘The dragons, of course,’ said Velza.
‘We think he has some scheme to defeat the dragons as well,’ said Latsar.
‘But I was one of the shapecasters on the fleet,’ said Velza.
‘Remember, even family must prove themselves worthy of trust,’ replied Lavarran. ‘Latsar and I learned that at a very early age.’
‘Latsar’s your brother?’ cried Velza, rising to her feet and waving a chicken leg at the young officer.
Latsar put a hand over his eyes. Lavarran drummed his fingers on the table. Several guards rushed into the dining chamber, but Lavarran waved them out.
‘I thought you knew,’ said the king once Velza had sat down again.
‘No!’ exclaimed Velza, who was now recalling the whole of her time with Latsar. ‘He swore to serve loyally in my squad, he fought the dragon beside me, then he got me demoted, yet he saved me from my own father . . . But all the while he was a cunning, devious enemy spy. Just whose side is he on?’
‘Spies do have to be secretive,’ said Lavarran.
‘He even held my hand!’
‘Did he really? And here was I thinking that young Lady Elvina had won his heart – and I gather that not a few Dravinian ladies fancied him as well.’
‘Well I am one Dravinian lady who is not in the queue,’ said Velza.
‘Could we return to discussing your father?’ said Latsar. ‘After all, he is in this city, and has truly evil intentions.’
‘I’d rather rot in a dungeon as an enemy spy than help you. Why don’t you ask the king for a medal for exposing such a dangerous person as me, the Iron Claw?’
‘Consider that the king is sitting in front of you,’ warned Latsar.
‘My apologies,’ said Velza.
‘No offence taken,’ said Lavarran.
‘Getting back to your father,’ began Latsar.
‘If you’re such a good spy, then you find him!’ snapped Velza.
‘I’m afraid I must insist that you two cooperate,’ said Lavarran. ‘Of all the people loyal to me in the city, you two know Calbaras best. Please, for the sake of stopping this silly war with your own people and saving us all from the dragons, just find this rogue warlock and hand him over to my guards.’
Velza pushed back from the table and frowned in thought for a few moments.
‘My brother Dantar, the son of the Warlock Calbaras, is somewhere in the city. Father was doing something odd with Dantar. At first I thought that it was just to help him develop shapecasting powers, but now I am not so sure. Find Dantar and eventually Calbaras will come for him.’
‘But if Dantar is still alive he will be in hiding too,’ said Latsar. ‘He is an enemy officer, you know.’
‘Well, you’re the spy prince. You find him.’
‘Gentlefolk, please, you do need to work together,’ said Lavarran, who then held up his hand and snapped his fingers.
A servant entered with a small box on a red cushion with gold tassels. The young king took the box, but did not open it until the servant had left.
‘Now then, Lady Velza, you really are an enemy spy, even though your intentions seem far from evil. I cannot grant you rewards or titles without risking discontent among my subjects, but I would like to give you this little token of my appreciation.’
‘Your Majesty, thank you,’ said Velza, taking the box from him and opening it.
Within was a ring with the Savarian royal crest, a half-Moonlet on a half-Moon. It fitted perfectly on the little finger of Velza’s left hand.
‘Just a small trifle that I had my jeweller run up while you bathed and ate. The physician who attended you also measured your finger for the fit. Now press the Moonlet shape.’
Velza did so, then gasped with surprise as a little metal claw sprang free. It clicked back into place when she pressed it from behind.
‘An iron claw for the Iron Claw,’ said Lavarran.
‘It may even be useful if you are ever in need of a small but wickedly sharp blade. Thank you for saving my life and my city, Lady Velza.’