Of Whispers and Daggers ✓ [TLRQ #2]

Chapter 1.2 - Aster

Dedicated to Su Vida for her
hilarious, lovable, enthusiastic comments on the first book

I march Amarris down stone halls. Memory upon memory from these castle corridors swirl on the edges of my thoughts. Here, phantoms of me and my sister, Sela, as children run, dodging corners and tables. There, ghosts of me knock on walls and floors, looking for secret passages. Across the way, images of Agraund, my uncle and master, assign me tasks.

I blink the long-lost fantasies away. Things much realer and darker demand my attention.

The tunnel came out on the first floor of the castle, and after explaining myself to a couple guards, I wind my way through back halls and servant passages. I'd rather not be seen before I choose to be. Even these routes are more empty than usual, though. I came to terms with a few maids seeing and recognizing me, yet I cross no one. The siege imposes a deadness on the castle that chills me.

Finally, I reach the spiral stairs down into the dungeon antechamber. After yanking Amarris's blindfold off, I tug her down the steps. Inside, a low-rank telekinetic stands with her back to the large, heavy cell block door. A soldier no more than a few years my senior sits behind the receiving desk. I recognize him; he was part of the unit that accompanied me and Agraund on a three-day training excursion little more than half a year ago.

How so much has changed in such a small amount of time. My training is over.

The wizard's eyes go wide, and shock-faced, the soldier scrambles up, stuttering, "Prince Aster!"

"This woman needs locked in a blackwood cell until the Captain of the Court or the Queen calls for her," I tell him.

"How are you here?" He moves around the desk as the wizard watches with a face somewhere between worry and amazement. I wonder what my family told the castle about my disappearance.

"By Jacqueline's favor." I pass Amarris to him. He nods, throat bobbing, and takes her.

Brisk, I turn and prepare my mind for my next task—confronting Sela and my mother.

"Sire?"

I glance back. The kind worry in the soldier's eyes calms my impatience.

"We've been ordered to immediately inform the Captain if we have information on you. And they are going to want to know how you got in."

Father makes me sound like a wanted criminal. "Thank you. I'm going to him and the Queen now." I pause. "All will be well."

He nods and straightens. All the typical confidence of a Morineause soldier slides back onto him, and I give him a small smile. The wizard telekineses the dungeon door open, and the soldier takes Amarris down the hall.

I pull in a deep breath and slip back up the stairs. I want to speak to Sela before any of the others; out of the living, my sister is the most likely to listen to me. If I still know her at all, then she'll be in the middle of everything, coordinating whatever needs her attention. Mother always has been good about utilizing her assistance.

Though I'm trying to focus on planning, I can't tear my eyes from the familiar surroundings I've been absent from for so long. I didn't realize how much I missed home. Tapestries drape the walls; in them dance hunters and deer, queens and kings, mages and peasants. Side tables stretch along the halls; on them rest ornate tablecloths and candles, sand clocks and urns, paintings and mirrors. Windows reach from floor to ceiling; through them should cavort horses and stable keepers, courtiers and servants, wizards and soldiers, all going about their daily lives. Instead, the grounds are largely empty.

It's been too long.

I turn a corner and stutter to a stop. On the other end of the hall, my brother Ren stands, having just turned a corner himself. Silently, we evaluate each other, and startled disbelief hangs in his eyes.

He stands tall, his chain shirt resting easily over his broad shoulders. He looks as he always has, though wearing the circlet he rarely bothered to before. Light catches it, gleaming silver.

But Ren's circlet ought to be bronze. Silver is the color of Morineause leaders—a color the training princes are forbidden to wear upon their brow.

"Father is dead?" I ask, the wrenching of my heart leaking into my voice.

Ren marches forward. "Where have you been?"

Father has to be dead. There's no way Ren's circlet could be silver unless he has been named Captain of the Court.

"Aster." His sharp voice tears my gaze from his crown and to his face. His jaw is set, nostrils flaring.

Now is not the time to mourn. I straighten to answer him. "I made a mistake. But," I add before he can continue berating me, "I'm here now. And as I understand it, we have a war to win. Do we not?"

Silence hangs between us.

"In that case, I have a woman in our dungeon that has been coordinating with the Kadranians, was already wanted by our courts for treason and espionage, and held me prisoner in northern Draó."

Surprise etches his face. "How?"

"Because I've not simply been sitting idle for the past three months. Now, I need to talk to Sela. I assume she's dealing with some courtier or other?"

"Something like that. She's tending to Mother."

My eyes narrow. "Tending? What do you mean?"

"Mother is ill." His mouth screws to the left. "Antium itself must be against us for this to be happening right now. First you run off, then the Kadranians invade. Now some of our best soldiers are dead and mother's down beside? Any more bad luck and the Kadranians won't have to finish us."

Half an hour ago, it seemed like a foregone conclusion that we would drive them out. Now Agraund isn't the only one dead, and Mother... "How bad is she?"

"The physician said he would do everything he could."

"Does—" My voice catches, and I start over. "Does he think she'll make it?"

His gaze steels. "He said he'd do everything he could."

My jaw sets. His blasé tone grates on me; I'm no closer to her than he is, but I can't imagine the castle without her.

"I'm actually headed to them now. Why don't you come with me?" he challenges.

I have nothing to hide from him. He can think me under his command if he likes.

"Of course, brother." I let him lead me. Such a sacrifice is small for the sake of my country.