Aurelia Read online

The king led the way into a narrow tunnel under rows of raised seats. Light filtered through cracks, and water dripped halfheartedly from support beams. Wooden stairs creaked as three pairs of shoes climbed the boards. stepping into the private box, robert reached for the curtains.

  A scream shattered the calm as the fabric separated. Halfway across the arena, two horses flew side by side, less than a length apart. The golden colt chased Horizon, the stallion's scream still reverberating off the stone wall. robert didn't have to see the riders' faces to know who they belonged to: marcus gregory and Aurelia.

  Already here. Horror slid in sheets up robert's insides, clamping down on his throat. He was late, and there was no time for thought or reason or anything else because gregory had leaped forward and was trying to bring Aurelia down, down under the swirling hooves.

  robert forgot about his plan, about the king beside him and the cousin behind him. using a hand for leverage, he leaped over the high barrier separating the box from the racecourse. down, down he dropped, a six-foot fall. His bent knees absorbed the impact, and he held his footing.

  raising his head, he found Horizon. No time. He just ran, with all the speed he could manage toward his horse, toward Aurelia.

  but the course was designed for racehorses, not human beings. The distance stretched in threatening agony. He hurtled over the short barrier that divided the dirt ring from the inner field and began the marathon across the grass. His legs pumped over the level surface, unable to appreciate the smoothness. The distance taunted him like a mountain with a false top. And what can you do when you get there? An exhausted man on foot?

  He glanced up, and shock seared his spine. Horizon had turned around. The horse stood with front hooves upraised, still screaming. Then came down, heavily. desperate to see, robert ran on, closer and closer. The stallion reared again and came back down, pounding and pounding the object below.

  A shattered body in the dirt. Then another body, slipping off Horizon's back and tumbling to the ground. Aurelia.

  robert came over the barrier, crashing on his knees beside her. Her brown hair splayed down; her body bent forward, chest over her knees, hands on her head. Her torso heaved. Air rushed in gasps, of fear, or relief. Alive.

  He grabbed her shoulders and pulled her to him. Wrapping his arms around her back, he crushed her head to his chest. They didn't speak.

  For minutes. Then her dark eyes lifted, gazing at him through strands of tangled hair. "Where were you?" she managed, her voice trembling with emotion.

  His eyes closed in the face of that look. "I received your message to wait until eight o'clock. I didn't think you would be here yet."

  she pulled back, holding his upper arms for support, then cut him like a dagger with her words. "What message?"

  realization dawned through a haze. she had sent no message. There had been no delay. gregory had arrived at seven o'clock. The message had been a sham, designed to do exactly what it had done, keep robert from the arena.

  He untangled himself from Aurelia's arms, pulling back and rising to his feet. There must be many ways the deception could have been achieved, but only one presented itself now. Chris lied.

  As the thought blazed into consciousness, robert staggered, caught his balance, and turned to look at the men he had left behind. The king had made his way to the bottom of the public seats and collapsed. At his side stood Chris, a long arm wrapped around the older man's shoulders as if in comfort.

  Comments and events flooded back into robert's mind: Aurelia's statement during the picnic that she and Chris had never been close, Chris's failure to deliver the message robert had tried to send, Chris's failure to ever bring back information on marcus gregory or edward of Anthone. Chris had been with Aurelia the night of Carnival. He had disappeared before the attack. He had seen her disguise.

  No! robert wanted to lay a gray veil over it all. bury the memories below the surface, where they could once again be treated as harmless anecdotes, the actions of his well-meaning, irresponsible cousin. His cousin. didn't that stand for something?

  robert looked at the young woman crumpled on the ground beside him, then at the lifeless flesh and bone trampled into the dirt. Not in the face of this, he realized. There was no way to replace the veil after something like this.

  He took a step forward, then turned back to Aurelia. she remained on the ground, her head once again buried under her arms, sobs now echoing from her body. she needed an explanation, he knew, but she had been through enough for now. And the danger was not yet past, not with a traitor standing across the stadium, an arm resting on her father's shoulder.

  "Wait here for several minutes," robert said. "Then stand and leave through the gate as fast as you can. Find guards and send them here. do you understand?"

  Tearstains lined the dirt on her cheeks as she looked up in bewilderment. How could she understand anything after the horror she had been through? He repeated the directions.

  she nodded, looking as though she wanted to ask him something but had no words.

  He could not answer her anyway. He needed to return to the king. Now. From this distance, the king and Chris couldn't see the bodies on the ground or tell that Aurelia still breathed. They would assume the crown princess was dead, especially if robert returned at a slow walk.

  He traversed the field, the same painful thought repeating with each step. My cousin. My cousin. My cousin. Another step. Another. He neared the two figures at the base of the seating area.

  The king waited in serious distress. Collapsed upon the lowest row of seats, he stared into nothingness, a sickening gray shade tinting his face. His right hand shook disjointedly without purpose.

  Chris vaulted over the barrier and came forward, wrapping an arm around his cousin's right shoulder in a brief clasp. robert endured the embrace, then slid away, stepping toward the king as if to ease the older man's grief. Instead he positioned himself between the distraught man and Chris, then rotated rapidly on the ball of his foot.

  "you need not grieve, your majesty." robert faced his cousin but spoke to the king. "your daughter is alive."

  The sound of a loud sob broke, but robert had no time to direct his attention toward the king. For a split second, Chris's eyes flitted to the side before reining themselves in. "Thank Tyralt! robert, why didn't you tell us right away? And why didn't you return to us immediately? His majesty and I feared the worst."

  "There was no message."

  robert watched the words sink in, then continued: "An hour ago, you came to me with a message you claimed was from Aurelia, saying that marcus gregory had been delayed. If you had not shared this with me, the king and I would have been here in time to avoid gregory's attack. but gregory and Aurelia arrived at seven o'clock. And Aurelia never gave you a message."

  "rob, what are you saying?" said Chris. "I gave you the message as I was given it."

  "The message you were given from someone other than Aurelia, someone who wanted you to make sure I wasn't here on time. yes, I know because that is the only way you could have known about our meeting on the course today. I didn't tell you until after you gave me the message. Aurelia didn't tell you. Only the person planning to have Aurelia killed would have permitted her to set up a private race without any security. Aurelia planted the bait on purpose, you see."

  "you know who hired the assassin?" Chris said, his voice strangled.

  "yes," robert lied, "but I did not know until a few minutes ago that you were a traitor."

  Chris drew his sword with the rapid reflex of an expert. The sharp tip of the blade gleamed in the light. This was no practice sword.

  but neither was robert's. It also swished from its scabbard with startling ease.

  The gamble of the lie paid off. Chris spoke: "melony said you would never suspect her."

  Melony? The name sliced through the arena. Not the queen. Not edward. Melony. Chris had not been spending all his time flirting with melony's lady's maids and friends from court. He had been spending it
with the princess herself. "Why?" robert asked. "Why would you help her?"

  "I would have thought you of all people would understand, rob," Chris said. "you've fallen just as hard for her sister."

  beauty. beauty had always been Chris's weakness, and the blond princess was as beautiful as temptation. And as persuasive. "What did she promise you, Chris? A perfumed rejection letter if you helped murder her sister?"

  Chris's sword leaped to life, aiming for the heart. but robert had planted the barb, and he was prepared. He turned sharply to avoid the path of the blade. His sword flung the other away.

  With the change in position, he caught a glimpse of the king. The older man stood, the blank gaze and tremble gone. This was a man who could reason and understand what he heard.

  Chris moved to a neutral position, then flashed out in a feint off to the right.

  robert needled for information. "The night of Carnival, you were the one who told gregory how to find Aurelia?"

  "Of course, but you were the one who obtained the invitation." A wicked smile flashed across Chris's face. "she would never have invited me without you."

  "And the girl in the starling costume?" Tedasa, a friend of Melony's.

  "she was my ticket out of an unfortunate carriage accident."

  Again the swords came forward and clashed, then slid apart, scraping steel against steel. The sound echoed in robert's skull.

  How many times had he heard that sound while crossing practice swords with Chris? And how many times had they practiced together even before they had steel practice swords? Chris had always been the better swordsman, always quicker, always stronger.

  The two broke away, circling to the right. As they rotated, robert caught sight of a movement over Chris's right shoulder. Aurelia. robert wondered whether she had understood his directions through her shock and if she would follow them if she had.

  but he did not have time to watch because Chris had lunged forward again. parry. riposte. parry. slice. Chris moved up fast, whipping his sword in an arc, then pressing against robert's steel blade. They stood, locked in position for nearly ten seconds, muscles straining. robert changed his stance and thrust his cousin away.

  Chris backed off. "It wasn't my idea to send for uncle brian. It was my father's, and I had no way of knowing you would come instead. by the time you arrived, I'd already promised melony I'd help."

  Commit murder. "I hope she valued that promise." robert played for time, searching the background and breathing a little easier to see that Aurelia was indeed headed for the gate.

  "I never thought you'd find out much of anything."

  "Not with your help, you mean."

  Chris swept in for a series of quick jabs, all of which robert swept away. Waste of effort.

  Neither he nor his cousin had yet attacked in earnest. stalling, stalling, stalling. somewhere outside the arena were soldiers, soldiers trained to obey the crown princess if she could just get out. Again robert sought her with his eyes, and, sure enough, she was nearing the gate.

  Now the swords clashed again. Chris reached out to the left, to the right, slow at first, then picking up speed. He's testing me. He knows I've only been defending myself, and he wants to make sure I don't have any surprises in store before he starts his real offensive. They had not practiced together since the day after robert's return to the palace. Chris had never woken early enough until this morning.

  He had not planned to practice this morning either--the realization hit. "you were prepared to fight with me today," robert blurted.

  "I had no intention of a fight. I had hoped you wouldn't bring your sword to a horse race. my way would have been much quicker."

  robert reeled from the verbal blow, and the traitor chose that moment to begin a genuine attack. The sword flew forward in sharp slashes. Chris's style: quick slashes followed by a powerful blow and repeated without abatement until the opponent crumbled under the onslaught.

  robert dropped his defensive pose. He did not wish to die this day, even if it meant attacking his cousin. As a heavy blow landed, robert twisted to the right and slid his own weapon under his opponent's arm. The sword slid along Chris's side, but Chris also managed to glide away unharmed. A glare came robert's way, hot with anger.

  Now the swords flew. up and arcing, low and jabbing, slicing across and down and always joined by the agile movement of the body.

  Chris connected first, scratching below robert's collarbone out and across the right shoulder. A hair deeper and robert's sword arm might have fallen useless. As it was, robert ignored the blood and retaliated with a sharp slice, sending Chris retreating rapidly. robert pressed forward, refusing to allow his cousin the luxury of space.

  both fighters were now breathing hard and sweating. Hurry, Aurelia! robert screamed in his mind. Send someone. Please hurry!

  but even as he screamed, Chris's sword jabbed downward, this time at an angle. gripping the sword with both hands, Chris brought all the strength he could muster in one thrust, straight for robert's chest.

  robert rolled, hurling himself to the ground for the first time in the conflict. He brought his own sword up underneath the downward movement of the other and plunged his blade deep into the soft, unprotected flesh just below his cousin's rib cage. The sword slid upward at a sharp angle, through the liver . . .

  And the heart.

  Chapter Fourteen

  CONFRONTATION

  IN THE KING'S WAITING ROOM AGAIN, ROBERT'S tightly wrapped shoulder throbbed and his hands felt numb. He flexed his fingers, watching dull, pink nails flash in and out above the clean, beige linen of his shirtsleeves. Hot water and soap could not wash away the blood on his hands.

  Murderer. He had not planned; he had not schemed; he had not dreamed of killing anyone, but he had committed the act.

  Images from that morning scalded his vision: beneath him on the ground, the friend with whom he had teased and joked, trained and fought, cried and celebrated; Chris's chest struggling to heave up and down above the metal shaft; red liquid pooling on the churned earth; the blur of running guards in the distance; the guards' hands lifting the fragile shell of the man robert had killed, his cousin.

  "Come in," a deep voice echoed from within the king's official chamber.

  robert stepped into the square room. Another day his jaw might have dropped at the ancient banners hanging from the ceiling, the medieval spear beneath the glass case, the royal coat of arms displayed with prominence. Instead he felt only the tightness of the windowless walls around him, the harsh stare of the king's gaze from behind the long oak desk, and the shock at seeing Aurelia.

  she sat in a chair between him and the king, her back facing robert. An elegant auburn dress flowed down from her neck to her ankles, white feathers skirting the hem. A foreign image, irreconcilable with the one scrawled on his brain: her brown eyes accusing him of being late.

  He avoided those eyes as she twisted around. Why was she here? He had thought her father would protect her from reliving the morning's trauma. Then again, the last place robert wanted to be was alone--alone where the cloak of anger, guilt, and powerlessness could render him motionless. perhaps the same fear had chased her here.

  "your majesty, you wished to see me?" robert bowed, falling back on his childhood training to get through the moment.

  "Indeed." The king's voice pounded like a gavel. "I find myself reeling. A man I hired uncovers a plot within my family and yet does not deem to tell me the nature of his discoveries." Aurelia shifted as though to argue, but her father held up a hand. "I expect to hear everything before either of you leaves this room. young man, you may begin. be sure to include how my daughter, whom I asked not to be informed of this investigation, came to know more about it than I."

  robert felt the room closing in around him. He had been summoned to account for actions he could no longer justify.

  "Frankly, Father," Aurelia broke in, "I think you should begin. After all, you were the first of us aware of the plot."
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br />   The king pressed together the tips of his fingers, forming an arrow. For a moment robert felt at a loss, unsure whether to speak or wait for the older man to do so. Then the king ended the suspense, dropping his hands to the sharp edge of the desk. "The first attempt on your life came over two months ago," he said to his daughter, launching into a recitation of the first two assassination attempts.

  robert listened with new ears, wondering what details his cousin had left out. When the king reached the part about the injured groom, robert dared to interrupt. "Who had access to the damaged saddle?" he asked.

  "The grooms, the stable hands," said the king.

  "It is a beautiful saddle. melony gave it to me as a gift," Aurelia added, saying this last as if it were a cherished detail.

  She doesn't know. Why had the king not told her? Of what use were secrets now?

  robert struggled with his thoughts, unsure how to break the news as he took over the recitation. He shared the information about Chris's role in the Carnival-night accident but left out melony's involvement. "The day of the horse fair," he said to Aurelia. "you told me you saw Chris in your parlor. Who was with him?"

  "Tedasa," she answered.

  "And melony?"

  "Of course. Why else would they have been in our parlor?"

  pieces, pieces, all slipping into place, all missed before. The king remained unreadable, his face a still carving, his thumb spinning a gold band on his left ring finger.

  robert continued with his story. When he reached the part about his trip to midbury, Aurelia turned to her father. "Why did edward of Anthone bring an illegal horse into Tyralt?" she asked.

  "And what does he want from your majesty?" added robert, hoping to finally receive an answer to that nagging question.

  The king gave his daughter a stern look. "We will discuss king edward in private."

  Frustrated, robert went on. "After my trip to midbury, I tried to contact Aurelia. I must have left five messages with her lady's maid."

  "minuet, my new lady's maid?" Aurelia asked. "The one who used to work for melony?"