Talon the Black (Dragonwall Series # 1)

Chapter 40 - Taming the Beast

Reyr's skin crawled. "You do not mean to say..."

"I mean to say that a message was carried from the king's tower to the dungeons. Claire is to be moved." Verath stared into his goblet as he spoke.

"Moved? Moved where?"

"Not out of the dungeons, I can promise you of that."

Koldis jumped to his feet. "We've got to do something. He cannot move her to the Screamers."

"What?!" Jovari sputtered. The Screamers was a common nickname invented by the guards for the torture chambers. These were the rooms that only the lowest traitors were taken. "Those rooms have gone unused for ten years. He would not dare!" Jovari looked back and forth between them. "I thought we decided earlier that it was unlikely such an event would occur. Did we not, Reyr?"

"You can fix this, Reyr, can you not?" Bedelth looked at him. Koldis had abandoned his drink and set about pacing between the table and fireplace.

He growled. "I have tried talking to him. He has closed his mind to me."

"Then you must go to him," Bedelth insisted. "You are his favorite."

"I think you mistake me for Cyrus."

"Well Cyrus is no longer here to fix things, is he?" Koldis was nearly shouting now, his temper back to where it was after the trial.

"I wish he were here—I wish Cyrus were here. We would not be in this mess otherwise." Jovari pulled at his hair.

"Cyrus would be here," Verath said, giving Reyr a knowing glance, "had he heeded Reyr's council."

There was a pause. "What council?" Koldis asked.

"You did not tell them?" Verath arched a curious eyebrow at him.

He shook his head. Perhaps he should have said something. "This is my fault. I should have done more."

"More?" Verath grunted. "Gods above, Reyr. I already told you. What more could you have done?" Verath alone had been aware of what transpired before Cyrus departed for Esterpine.

"I should have demanded that he stay," he said. "I should have forced him."

"You advised him to stay?" Koldis looked stunned. "You did not...I thought we were in agreement with the king's plan?"

Verath shook his head. "No, not all of us. Not Reyr."

"Then why did Cyrus go?" Koldis's brows pulled together. Perhaps now he understood the same hurt Reyr felt. When Cyrus left in spite of his council, it was a heavy blow.

Verath answered for him. "Cyrus left because he disagreed with Reyr's advice. Reyr failed to mention it to you because of his unnecessary guilt." Verath looked him dead in the eye. "It was the king's mission to give, Reyr, not yours. Place your blame with him if you must."

Jovari pulled his head from his hands, his brow scrunched with concern. "You knew it was folly even then? You knew his mission was doomed?"

"He knew, even when the rest of us failed to see the danger. For that, he is wiser than I." Verath said. He was older than all of them. Still, he openly acknowledged Reyr's wisdom in the matter. "Reyr, you are our best hope. Go to the king. Insist that he see reason. Remind him of what happened the last time your council went unheeded. You alone can fix this."

"And if he refuses to see me, as he has already done for all of us?"

"Tear down the doors if you must."

He sighed. Verath was right. He knew what he needed to do. He placed his hands atop his thighs and leaned back against the sofa, letting his head fall against it. The others grew silent. Behind the darkness of his lids, he prepared his mind for confrontation. He played through the conversation he would have with the king, thinking of all the best words to use. But each argument seemed as hopeless as the next. How could he convince his crazed king of anything?