The Shadow's heir

Yes. You prayed for help, and help came.

Her mouth curled into a smile. “I see it now, Gryphus. I prayed, an’ I was answered.”

Then I have your faith?

“What do yeh want me to do, anyway?” said Laela.

The meadow seemed to vanish. All she saw now was him, filling her whole world, his voice booming in her ears. The Dark Lord must die, he said. He must be destroyed, so that our people may take back the land they own by rights. The Night God’s people are not fit to live upon this beautiful land of Cymria. They must be driven from it and cast back into the darkness from whence they came. You, Laela, are in a place where you may do this. Where my chosen warrior failed, you may succeed.

“But how?” said Laela.

You must find his heart. It is his only weakness. Laela, there is something you must know. He killed-And then, without warning, she woke up.

She turned over in bed. “What?”

“Laela. Are you awake?”

She realised the room was full of light, and sat up hastily. “Who’s there?”

“Calm down,” said a voice. “It’s just the Dark Lord.”

Laela woke up very quickly, but not before she’d got out of bed in a hurry. “Sire. .?”

Arenadd was standing over her bed, holding a lantern, which he put down on a table. “I didn’t mean to wake you up,” he said. “I just wanted to talk to you.”

Laela grabbed a cloak and put it on over her night-gown. “It’s fine, Sire,” she babbled. “I can always. . What’s up?”

“I wanted to talk to you,” the King mumbled. He was swaying slightly.

“What about?” said Laela.

Arenadd gestured at the hearth, where a fire was still burning. “We can. . can sit down if you want.”

Laela took a chair and watched in alarm as he staggered over and half-collapsed into a second one.

“What’s goin’ on, Sire?”

Arenadd waved a hand, a little wildly. “Oh, it’s nothing. . nothing, just wanted someone to talk to, really.”

“Well. . all right, Sire. Talk about whatever yeh like.”

He looked unsteadily at her. “D’you know, it was my birthday not long ago.”

Laela stifled a yawn. “Really?”

“Yeah.” He sighed. “Forty years old. I look good for my age, don’t I?”

“I didn’t know it was yeh birthday, Sire,” said Laela.

“Almost no-one does,” said Arenadd. “I don’t celebrate it any more. Why bother? I died. . a long time ago. You don’t celebrate a dead man’s birthday.”

Laela watched him sadly. “Everyone should celebrate his birthday, Sire.”

Arenadd slumped in his chair. “I’d only celebrate mine if I had someone to celebrate it with. If she were here. . maybe. Skandar cares, but he’s a griffin, and griffins don’t care about birthdays. She would have. .” He shivered. “She cared about me. She always did.”

“Did she?” said Laela, wondering who he was talking about. One of his mistresses, perhaps?

Arenadd nodded. “Always. You see, I never realised until it was too late. I didn’t see that she was the only one who cared about me. Skandar cares about me because I’m his human, and I give him what he wants. But she. . she. . loved me.”

“She did?” said Laela. She was being polite, but inside she was deeply curious, and surprised as well.

Another nod. “Oh, she did. She loved me so much, and I loved her. I could talk to her about anything. She would have cared that it was my birthday. Nobody else does, you know. Not Saeddryn, that’s for sure. She hates me.”

“Who loved yeh, Sire?” said Laela. “What was her name?”

His gaze was distant. “Skade,” he said softly. “My sweet Skade. Oh, gods, how I wish she was here. .”

Laela had already caught the stench of wine on his breath. “Where is she, Sire?”

To her surprise, his response was to jerk out of his chair. “You want. . want to see her, do you?”

“Sure,” said Laela, still playing along.

“Well.” He dragged himself out of his chair. “Well, come with me, then. I’ll show you.”

Laela stood, too. “All right, Sire.”

Bleary-eyed, barefoot, and not a little frightened, she followed him out of the room, and then on a long journey through the Eyrie. Arenadd walked a few paces ahead, weaving slightly but apparently confident about where he was going.

Where he was going, Laela quickly saw, was down.

They followed the corridor that lined the tower, down and down, only pausing once when Arenadd stopped to rest. But he quickly recovered and went on until they had passed all the parts of the tower Laela had seen. She kept close to her companion, though not too close, sometimes wondering if she should try and support him or suggest that he stop.

Finally, they reached a point where the passageway became dark and cold, and a door opened onto a narrow flight of stone stairs. Arenadd started down them without hesitation, clutching a torch taken from the wall.

Laela followed, but reluctantly. She had already realised they were going underground.

The staircase was horribly cramped, and she began to feel the first hints of irrational panic before they had gone very far. But it ended soon enough, and as she hesitated at the bottom, Arenadd went ahead into the room it led to and lit the torches.

When the place had been lit up, Laela saw a large, stone space with a low ceiling. The air was still and smelt of earth.

Ahead, two large, stone blocks had been placed side by side, the gap between them just large enough for someone to walk through. Arenadd had already gone to the nearest of them and was standing over it, unmoving.

Moving as quietly as she could, Laela went to stand by him, and her heart fluttered when she realised what she was seeing.

It was a tomb.

The stone block-actually a hollow box intended to hold a body-had a lid decorated with a highly detailed, life- sized statue of a woman lying on her back. The woman wore a long gown, and her hair flowed over her shoulders. She had sharp, hard features, and her mouth was set into a stern line. Laela thought she looked strange and unfriendly.

Arenadd, shoulders hunched and heaving slightly, caressed the cold stone face. “This is Skade.”

Laela looked at the face again. The eyes were open but without pupils, and stared blankly at the ceiling.

“Who was she, Sire?” she ventured.

Arenadd lurched suddenly, and almost collapsed over the tomb. “She was. . someone very special,” he mumbled. “She was a. . she was the most beautiful woman I ever met. The most wonderful.”

Laela blinked. “She looks fierce.”

He laughed softly. “She was. Fiercer than Saeddryn. Fierce as a griffin. Gods, how I loved her.”

Those simple few words had an incredible effect on Laela. For a moment she felt faint. She looked at the Dark Lord, his eyes now fixed on the statue’s face, and felt as if her heart had swelled inside her.

Arenadd didn’t seem to notice her any more. “She was the only one who knew me. The only one I could talk to. She knew all my secrets. She had my heart, Skade did. My poor, dead heart. Such a worthless thing, but she wanted it, she did, and she protected it. .” He looked at her suddenly. “You see, I always knew that when I drove the Southerners out, I would rule Malvern. My followers would demand it, and the Night God had promised it. I wanted that.” He breathed in shakily. “I wanted the power. And I always planned that when I was King, I would make her my Queen. Only she could rule with me. And on the last day, when we came here, she and I, and Skandar. . I told her. And she said she would. We could have been so happy, I know we would have, I. . I could have loved being King, with her there beside me.”

Without even realising what she was doing, Laela moved closer to him. “Who was she, Sire?”