“Don't you see? That's why they took Adrina. They
Damin's shoulders relaxed a little. R'shiel breathed a sigh of relief. He was quietly murderous, but not beyond reason.
“You don't know that for certain.”
“No, but they've been rather obvious about it, don't you think? I mean, leaving the rope hanging from her balcony where you can find it? They might as well have hung out a sign. It's a trap, Damin. Cyrus wants you out of the city. Worse than that, he wants you on his territory.”
“Then I plan to see that he gets what he wants,” Damin growled.
R'shiel sighed with frustration, wishing she could make him see what was so obvious to her. “Even if you took every man you have here in Greenharbour, and Narvell's and Rogan's with them, you've got less than a thousand men. How many has Cyrus got waiting for you?”
“It won't matter.”
“The hell it won't!” she scoffed. “I don't mean to dent your precious male pride, Damin, but even
“If you don't plan to help me, R'shiel, then get out of my way.”
“I'll help you to rescue Adrina, Damin. I'm not going to help you commit suicide.”
“What are you talking about?”
“If you attack Dregian Province, you will be invading Cyrus' province, whatever the provocation. Cyrus will defeat you, and hang your head on his walls
Damin sank down in the chair behind him as the logic of what she was saying finally began to sink in.
Marla looked at R'shiel in surprise. “You have an excellent grasp of politics, demon child.”
“I had very good teachers, Your Highness.”
“The benefit of an education by the Sisterhood,” Damin remarked sourly. “You see treachery where others think only of honour. So, demon child, what do you suggest? That I leave Adrina to the mercy of my enemies?”
“Certainly not! We'll go and get her back. But we won't do it with an army at our heels.”
Damin met her eye for a moment and then nodded in understanding. “I'll organise a ship. It'll take three days by land to reach Dregian Province, and the gods know what he'll have done to her by then.”
“Then we won't go by land, or by sea, for that matter. But don't worry about Adrina being hurt. Cyrus won't harm her and she's worth nothing to him dead.” She turned to Marla. “Your Highness, can you keep up the illusion that Damin is in the palace?”
“To what purpose?”
“Cyrus undoubtedly has spies everywhere. They'll be waiting for him to move. Narvell, I suggest you and Rogan continue to muster your troops, but take your time about it. While Cyrus thinks Damin is still in Greenharbour preparing to fight, he won't be on his guard.”
“How many men should we take?” Damin asked.
“Two. You and me.”
“You can't attack Dregian Castle single-handed,” Narvell declared, aghast at her suggestion.
“I'm not going to. We shall retrieve Adrina, by stealth rather than force, before Cyrus Eaglespike knows anything about it. We shall then wait for Tejay Lionsclaw to arrive and hold the Convocation as planned.”
“And when Cyrus tries to play his hand, he will find it has slipped through his fingers,” Marla added, with undisguised admiration. “Damin, you should have married
Damin frowned at his mother but did not bother to answer her. Instead he turned to R'shiel. “How do we get out of the palace without being seen?”
“You leave that to me.”
“You worry me when you say things like that.”
She shrugged. “When shall we leave?”
Damin smiled savagely, his mood improving noticeably with the prospect of doing something useful. “Now is as good a time as any. Unless you have something better to do.” He jumped to his feet, wearing the same stupid grin he always wore when he was about to fight. It was a male thing, R'shiel reasoned. Tarja did the same thing. “Narvell, keep an eye on things while I'm gone. And don't let mother bully you.”
Marla looked as if she might protest, but Damin and R'shiel did not wait around to find out.
CHAPTER 26
“Can we get to the roof?” R'shiel asked as she stepped into the hall. Damin closed the door behind them and looked at the dagger embedded in the door. He jerked the blade free and hurled it to the floor angrily.
“Why do you want to go up on the roof?”
“Because we want to sneak out of the palace Damin, and it might be a little bit obvious if I summon a dragon in the middle of the main courtyard.”
“A dragon? You are going to summon a dragon?”
“If Dranymire agrees to it.”
“I don't know about the roof in this part of the palace, but there is a roof garden attached to the guest quarters in the west wing. Will that do?”
“I suppose.”
She followed Damin as he hurried through the debris of the attack. They were still clearing out the bodies of the guards who had died defending the palace. As they climbed the sweeping marble staircase that led to the guest apartments, they met two Raiders carrying a stretcher between them, coming down the stairs. A sheet covered the body on the stretcher, but it did not conceal the blue skirts and bloodstained slippers underneath.
“Damin!”
He glanced at the stretcher and ordered the men to halt. With some trepidation, he peeled back the cover. R'shiel let out a small cry of anguish as she saw who lay beneath it.
“Gods,” Damin muttered. “Tamylan never deserved such a fate.”
“Tam was Adrina's best friend.”
“She was just a slave, R'shiel,” Damin corrected, gently replacing the sheet and waving the men on.
“She was still Adrina's best friend.”
Damin nodded grimly. “Come. We have another reason now to deal with Lord Eaglespike.”
When they reached the second landing, R'shiel discovered Mikel sitting on the stairs, tears streaming down his face. R'shiel knelt down beside him, ignoring Damin's impatient sigh.
“Mikel? Are you hurt?”
He shook his head. “I'm sorry, my Lady...”
“Sorry? For what? This wasn't your fault.”
“We heard them... me and Tamylan... we were bringing the Princess her dinner. We saw the men in the hall and Tamylan ran at them. She told me to hide. So I did.”
“Then you've nothing to be ashamed of, Mikel.”
“But Tamylan's dead and all I did was hide!” he wailed. “Now all these people are dead... and I don't where Jaymes is...”
R'shiel glanced up at Damin helplessly. She had no idea what to say to the child.
Although she could tell Damin was consumed with impatience, he squatted down beside the boy. “Mikel! Look at me!”
Unable to ignore Damin's commanding tone, Mikel wiped his eyes and turned to the Warlord. “Every man under my command knows how to follow orders, even when they don't like them. I don't expect to find them sitting about crying over it afterwards, either.”
