Shadows of Kings (The Kin of Kings Book 3) Read online

  Cleve chanced a look behind him, going on his toes to see as far down the hall as he could. If Basen and Alabell were back there, Cleve couldn’t see them. The line of Krepps was so long that those in back couldn’t possibly hear anything. He hoped they weren’t preparing for battle.

  “Nebre’s here,” Javy said, “but what do you want with him?”

  “He son to me!” Rickik growled.

  A moment passed before Javy seemed to realize that this was the only answer he was going to get. He came forward, passing all his guards while motioning for them to lower their weapons. “Put your swords away. There’s no need.”

  Cleve told Rickik, “Tell your Krepps to put their swords in their sheaths.”

  As the guards of Tenred slid their weapons into the scabbards on their belts, so did the Krepps.

  “You came running in here dressed in armor!” Javy complained. “Bastial hell, Cleve, you’re lucky this didn’t end in battle.”

  “I didn’t know Rickik would run ahead.”

  “Where is Nebre!” the Krepp shouted, growing more impatient.

  “I’ll bring him to you soon.” Javy ignored Rickik, looking back at Cleve. “How did all of you even get into the castle?”

  “I’ll explain as soon as I can, but there’s little time. Kyrro is at war. We need support from Tenred, all the troops you can send.”

  Javy didn’t seem surprised or upset by this news, frowning apologetically.

  “You already knew? Why didn’t you send help!”

  “Let’s talk privately, Cleve. Come with me to the throne room. The Krepps will have to wait outside the castle. Nebre can meet them there.”

  Rickik let out a sound between a hiss and a growl. He muttered something in Kreppen with the word “human” after it, then spat. “We no move until you bring me Nebre.”

  A few other Krepps who knew common tongue shouted out for the human to give Nebre to Rickik.

  Cleve tried to explain. “Javy is from Kyrro, like me. He’s a friend of mine.” Though “friend” was an exaggeration. They’d only had a few encounters, none of them pleasant. Still, Cleve meant what he said next. “He can be trusted.”

  Cleve could see why Javy wanted these Krepps out of the castle. They were about as tame as a pack of stray dogs. Javy was most likely using Nebre as an excuse to get them where they could do the least amount of damage.

  More of the castle guards gathered farther down the hall. At the sight of them, Rickik and his Krepps once again drew their weapons, then began to hiss.

  Javy turned and gasped at the sight of more guards. “Stop,” he told them. “There will be no battle here.” He quickly turned back to face Rickik, tilting his head up to meet the Krepp’s eyes. “I will bring you Nebre, so long as he’s willing to come. You should know that he’s valued here, and he’s happy.”

  Cleve could not tell how this news affected Rickik as he stood like a statue. Javy gave a moment for the Krepp to respond, but Rickik said nothing.

  The steward of Tenred castle turned to one of his guards. “Go fetch Nebre.” But then he whispered something, more than just a few words. Cleve took this as a sign that he shouldn’t trust Javy any more than he had in the past.

  The guard nodded, then gave a grave look to the other men nearby and hurried back down the hall.

  “You Krepps will stay here,” Javy demanded. “More of the castle’s soldiers will come around behind your group to ensure you do not move, understand? Nebre will be brought to you soon.”

  “I understand,” Rickik grumbled.

  “Cleve, follow me so we can speak.”

  “I’d like to go as well,” Annah squeaked out.

  “Who are you?” Javy asked.

  “A first-year chemist from the Academy.”

  Cleve didn’t know why she was lying, but the dire look she gave him with the side of her eye stopped him from saying anything. Perhaps psyche had told her something she couldn’t say aloud.

  Cleve turned around and found Vithos a few rows behind him. “Will you stay with the Krepps?” And make sure they behave.

  The Elf nodded. “I will.”

  Javy led them through the guards, many of them in light armor like boiled leather, a few with chain mail. It was nothing compared to the steel chest plates worn by Rickik and most of his Krepps. But there were three, maybe four times as many humans, half of them equipped with a shield, a wand, or a bow. The Krepps, on the other hand, greatly favored swords.

  Cleve didn’t like the look of it, but what could he say? It wasn’t as if he could demand that Javy order the guards to let the Krepps go where they pleased. Even Cleve had trouble trusting the Krepps. It’s just a precaution, he told himself. Javy is an ally and wouldn’t hurt us.

  Then why did Cleve have to keep reminding himself of this?

  Soon they were clear of the ranks of men and it was just the three of them walking down empty halls of stone. There was no other sound to be heard, as if every inhabitant of the castle had fled as far as possible. Annah pulled on Cleve’s arm and looked to want to say something. He leaned down so she could whisper.

  “If he lies, I’ll touch my hands together.”

  What had she sensed from him so far to make him untrustworthy?

  Javy slowed to walk beside them, no doubt noticing them whispering. He forced a smile as if nothing was wrong. “It feels like it’s been ages since I’ve seen you, Cleve. So much has changed.”

  Cleve could think of no response, so he said nothing.

  Javy went on, “Tell me how you got into the castle with hundreds of Krepps without anyone seeing you coming.” He tried to sound entertained and curious, but Cleve knew Javy too well to believe it. The man never did anything lightheartedly. Every question he’d ever asked Cleve was as serious as a trial, often making Cleve feel as if Javy was accusing him of something.

  “First tell me why no help has come from Tenred.”

  Javy looked as if he smelled something foul. “You have a history of treating kings with disrespect.”

  You’re no king. You’re a puppet whose strings have now been severed.

  They arrived at the throne room. Cleve had never set foot in Tenred castle before, but none of the structure had seemed to have much personality until now. He could imagine the late king, Tegry Hiller, ordering that the throne sit upon three steps so as to be taller than anyone who stood before him, but Javy fidgeted when he sat there, as if unused to the unforgiving seat. Exorbitant wealth didn’t befit the puppet king. The statutes and banners around him made him seem more like a visitor playing a role. He owned nothing here and seemed well aware of it. So he puts effort into presenting himself more powerfully, Cleve observed as he watched Javy sit too straight and fuss with his hands as if he didn’t know where to put them.

  Cleve felt it necessary to remind Javy why he was here. “Kerr sent you to manage this castle because of your dedication to Kyrro. You’re in charge of the army until a more suitable leader for Tenred is chosen by their people, yet you decided not to send aid when Kerr fell. Why?”

  Javy folded his arms and stared at Cleve for a while, his hawkish eyes piercing. “There is no aid for Kyrro here.”

  Cleve glanced out of the corner of his eye at Annah’s hands. They didn’t move.

  How could this be true?

  As Cleve searched for the right words, Javy took on a rueful look and let out his breath. “I know it might be difficult to believe, but there’s nothing I can do for Kyrro.”

  “What about all the men and women who you’re supposed to have command over?”

  The whole purpose behind sending Javy to Tenred when the war was over was to keep Tenred’s army under control. A thousand of Kyrro’s soldiers had gone with him to ensure this. Cleve assumed they’d returned by now, for he noticed none of the guards here displaying Kyrro’s emblem on their armor or shields. But they wouldn’t have left Tenred until they were certain Javy had command of the territory.

  Cleve’s heart shot up into his thr
oat. Had Tenred’s troops rebelled, even under the threat of annihilation from Kyrro’s army? Or were the people of Tenred involved in an uprising, maybe against Javy? They could’ve wanted a new leader and he’d refused to step down.

  Javy was supposed to contact Kerr if even a hint of rebellion was detected, but Alabell would’ve said something if a message had been sent to her great-uncle.

  “Cleve,” Annah whispered, “I’m sensing many people behind us.”

  There were two entrances to the throne room, both behind them. Closed doors of thick wood were shut tight, giving Cleve no clues as to how many might be waiting on the other side.

  “What’s really happening?” Cleve demanded.

  Javy gave a sad sigh. “I wish I could tell you.”

  Annah’s hands didn’t move.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Basen felt as if the weight of the world was upon his shoulders. His knees shook, his heart thumped. He couldn’t seem to get enough air to breathe. Hundreds of Krepps had gone through after Cleve, Annah, and Vithos. Basen watched their images shrink as they jumped into the portal and then tumbled away from him.

  There were so many more to go.

  He was dimly aware of the rest of the village of Merejic watching him, Elves and Krepps, each sticking to their own groups, gawking in wonder and muttering to themselves. Alabell stood right next to him, telling him he could do it.

  She was wrong.

  At any moment, his mind would lose its grasp on the portal. It would collapse while a Krepp was going through. He didn’t know what would happen if half the Krepp’s body was through while the other half wasn’t, and he didn’t want to find out.

  As he raised his hand to halt the Krepps from going through, Alabell yelled for him to keep going.

  “Almost there,” she said as the Krepps ran in without realizing that Basen was about to let the portal collapse on itself. Alabell began to count down the seconds. “Ten, nine, eight…”

  Basen’s vision blurred. He stumbled, but Alabell grabbed hold of him. He let her take most of his weight, as just keeping himself up had become nearly impossible. Her voice strained from holding him. “Four…three…” God’s mercy, she was counting at half the speed now. “Two…one. Now us!”

  He stumbled forward, Alabell somehow carrying him most of the way. Their speed picked up until they were running with their heads out over their feet and soon fell into the portal.

  The world spun around him. Gasping for air, he felt himself go supple in Alabell’s arms with no strength to brace himself for impact.

  Pain struck his chest and shoulders, then his back and arms as they tumbled. Strong hands came upon him, picking him up onto his feet, but he didn’t have the energy to stand. The same gray hands caught him again and steadied him, holding him up like an unsteady pole. He blinked his bleary eyes and was startled at the sight of a Krepp towering over him. Besides the creature’s body shape, which resembled an enormous man, he was all lizard, with a forked tongue, sharp teeth, and yellow eyes.

  “All Krepps go in portal?” the Krepp asked.

  Basen could do nothing but suck in air, so Alabell answered for him. “Yes, they all got through. Where are the others?”

  Too uncomfortable with the coarse hands grasping his shoulders, Basen forced himself to stand on his own. “I’m fine.” But when the Krepp let go, he wavered violently and had to grab hold of a nearby shelf. It held an assortment of pots and pans that sprung into the air as Basen pulled down one end of it. Everything seemed to come down on top of him.

  The Krepp grunted out a laugh as he picked Basen up again.

  Glancing around, Basen saw they had made it to the lower level kitchen in Tenred castle after all, but Alabell was right to wonder where all the Krepps had gone. There were only about thirty of them in the room. Panic seized him. Could he have made the portal to somewhere else?

  “Others?” the Krepp asked in his rough accent, not seeming to understand the word.

  “Where are all the Krepps?” Alabell asked.

  “And the Elf and two humans with them,” Basen added.

  “We no know.” The Krepp moved one hand away from the other. “They follow Rickik, but we wait.”

  “Where did Rickik go?” Alabell pressed.

  “We no know. We look now. Follow.” Then the Krepp transitioned to his language, and his kin followed him out to empty the kitchen.

  Basen glanced at Alabell, who looked equally unsure what to do.

  “I suppose we have to follow them,” he said as they trudged forward.

  “Where could Rickik have gone with Cleve and the others?”

  “Cleve knew to wait for everyone,” Basen replied, “so Rickik must’ve gone against orders and Cleve chose to follow him.”

  The halls of the castle were empty, no doubt from the hundreds of Krepps who had passed through earlier and scared everyone off. Basen and Alabell hurried to get toward the front, as it seemed that the only Krepp who could speak common tongue was now leading this smaller group.

  When they were close to him, they heard him sniffing loudly, leaning down to get his long, wide head close to the ground like a dog following a scent.

  Abruptly, the Krepp stopped and scowled at Basen and Alabell. “Back. You smell.” He gave them both a shove.

  “We smell?” Basen asked incredulously. The creatures’ odor was as pungent as if none had bathed for days. From the dirt packed into their scaly skin, this seemed likely.

  “Go.” The Krepp shoved Basen harder, then transitioned to Kreppen. The rest of the Krepps started pushing him as well.

  Basen wasn’t sure if they chose force over words because they didn’t speak the same language or if the Krepps were generally more physical than humans. But they seemed ready to fight if he tried to resist, so he let them push him to the back again.

  They handled Alabell with no more care than they had him. “Stop touching me!” she demanded. “I’m going back. Enough! Stop!”

  She huffed as she made it to the end beside Basen. “So rude.”

  “They think of us as less than them. It should be better once we reach the Academy and there are more humans than Krepps.”

  “Everything will be better once we return.” Alabell cracked a smile. “Do you realize that we went from one side of Ovira all the way to the other? I’ve always wanted to travel.” She laughed bitterly. “I suppose I should at least appreciate that we saw Merejic. I just didn’t expect our trip to be like this.”

  “No one could’ve expected this.” He gestured at Krepps rushing through Tenred’s castle.

  Having grown up here, Basen knew his way around. He knew which route would get him from his quarters to the kitchen the fastest and which would get him there without being seen. He knew where the gold was stored and who possessed the three keys that would unlock the room. He knew every which way to get himself to the top of the castle, where he could see all of Ovira north of the Fjallejon Mountains. It was where he liked to take women he was courting, as he enjoyed seeing the view through their widened eyes.

  During the last war, there had been an explosion so great that it ripped open the ground and caused one corner of the castle to sink into the gaping earth. Boulders had shot out of the ground and felled the towers that provided the best view. Stonemasons had been rebuilding ever since, but the castle was not as it used to be. No one was allowed to set foot in the southeastern corner, where the ground sloped and might collapse under even the slightest weight. Several rooms were still inaccessible, their walls and ceilings lying in rubble and blocking the entrance.

  Many had died during the chaos caused by the explosion. Most were citizens east of the castle because when the world ripped open, the boulders that spewed out from beneath the ground destroyed hundreds of houses after crashing to the earth and tumbling down the long, sloping terrain, all the way to the massive stone wall at the base of the territory.

  Basen had wondered what could cause such an explosion, not wanting to believe his fa
ther or his uncle, who seemed convinced it was Kyrro’s doing. No one on Tegry Hiller’s staff could explain with certainty how it had happened, but that didn’t stop them from blaming their enemies for the destruction of so many innocent lives.

  Later, it came out that Kyrro’s king at the time had allowed one of his trusted councilmen to decide whether to cause the explosion. It was never confirmed, but it was rumored to have been Javy Rayvender—the same man who later came from Kyrro to rule over Tenred. He was supposed to be there just until Kyrro was ready to choose Tenred’s new king, but for all Basen knew, Javy was still in the castle. Now that Kyrro’s army was too distracted to protect Javy, he couldn’t possibly have any power left.

  Basen remembered all this as he followed the Krepps. They seemed confident enough using just their noses, never backtracking and keeping at a light jog. But then they took a turn that only led to one place, and Basen figured there was no way Rickik could’ve gone down there.

  “Stop. It’s not this way,” Basen informed them.

  He wasn’t sure if the Krepp heard him. He asked Alabell, “Do you know the Krepp’s name at the front?”

  She had spent more time than he had talking to the few Krepps who knew enough common tongue to hold a conversation.

  “I think he’s Crim, or maybe it’s Crin. I might even be mistaking him for a different Krepp.” She spoke quietly even though Basen doubted anyone nearby could understand them. “A lot of them look alike.”

  “Crim!” Basen tried, then, “Crin!”

  It was no use, so Basen picked up the pace to try to get to the front.

  The Krepps just shoved him back again.

  When he returned chagrined, Alabell flashed a comforting smile. “How do you know Rickik wouldn’t go this way?”

  “Because only the prison is ahead. They probably smell the stink and think it’s their Krepps.”

  The warden’s rooms were the last quarters before the prison. The warden came out to investigate the clamor, then stepped back inside and shut and bolted the door. The Krepps sniffed around it for a moment, then proceeded to the door at the end of the hall. It was already wide open, which surprised Basen.