Kingdom's Fall

Chapter 10, Part 1

King Varion leaned forward on his throne and frowned at the man who knelt, his arms tied behind him, at the foot of the dais. “He doesn’t look much like a saboteur.” the king said. “Are you sure about this?”

“I’m sure, your majesty,” Gray said. When they had returned to the palace, they had found the building in an uproar. The stable-master had spread the word about the tainted lamp oil, and it had been discovered in lamps throughout the building. It was little wonder the men Gray and Cuan had discovered had so much of it stocked at the widow’s house, and the spread of it through the palace went some way to explaining Varion’s distracted, listless mood. Every door in the building had been opened to help clear the air, and new, clean oil found. Barely a day had passed and yet the difference was noticeable. Varion sat up straight, full of colour and vigour, and Gray wondered how much of a toll the latter was taking on him. “We found the drug that they had been spiking the lamps with.”

“And proof of my daughter’s abduction?”

Gray shook his head. “No trace of her. But I believe he is involved.”

The king sat back. ”What did you find?”

“This.” Gray stooped to a box at his feet, flicking back the hasp that held it shut. As he did so, the bound man shuffled sideways, trying to move away from it. On the man’s left side, Cuan laid a restraining hand on his shoulder to let him know he was going nowhere. As Gray straightened up, he held out the bottle they had found in the late widow’s house. Nothing in his expression betrayed that he heard or was affected by the insistent, whispering voice that came from within. “Hold this, your majesty, but take great care not to drop or open it.”

The king stretched out his hands to accept the bottle, and as it passed into his grip his expression went from curiosity, through wonder, and finally settled on concern, his great brows coming together at a sharp angle as whatever it was that had been captured inside made its entreaties heard. “What is this, Commander? Some sort of trick?”

“That was the same thought I had, your majesty,” Gray said. “However, our friend here seemed most concerned about how we handled it. Cuan slipped and almost dropped it on the way here, and we had to put a bucket of water over him in the stable yard to get the smell off.”

“He’s scared of it?”

“He’s more afraid of it than he is of me. I tried to get him to tell me why, but he wouldn’t give an inch.” The man was even smaller than Cuan, and slighter, with sallow skin and high cheekbones that gave him a pinched look. He looked mild, but there was steel underneath it. Gray had slung him into one of the stalls and laid into him, aware that he had to keep the man presentable to drag up in front of the king. Varion disapproved of torture in general, on the basis that anyone could force a confession by pulling out fingernails, but he wasn’t above turning a blind eye when required. Gray met the flat glare of reproach that Varion gave him with a shrug. “Couldn’t even get a name out of him.”

“His name is Vanek,” Cuan said. Gray and the king both turned to look at him, and the boy shifted uncomfortably. “Your majesty,” he added.      

“How did you find that out?”

“He told me. When I brought him clean clothes to wear.”

Gray stared at Cuan for a moment, finding himself at a loss for words. “You went and got him clothes?”

“His trousers were soaked, and they stank. He couldn’t put them back on.”

Varion barked out a laugh, making Cuan jump. “And gained a small measure of his confidence by it. What else did he tell you?” Cuan looked at Gray, unsure of himself now that he had the king’s attention. Gray nodded for him to continue.