Page 16 of The Sundered Blade

“Dangerous words,” she replied at length. “And while I take your meaning, that does not mean I am willing to trust your motives. I will ask yet again, what are you doing in my kingdom?”

Allera would not be swayed by flowery speeches, so he might as well give her the plain, unvarnished truth. Again, not one of his best talents, but he was more than capable when the occasion called for it.

“Attempting to save it.”

“Why? Is it not enough that you are now your father’s heir? Or do you require the accolades of a savior in addition to your title?”

Vaniell grimaced. “Perhaps I am the only heir at hand, but we both know the King of Garimore is not my father. Even if you were committed to the initial pretense for the sake of my mother’s dignity, please do us both the honor of abandoning it now.”

Allera watched him for a few more moments before nodding stiffly. “Yes, I do know the truth. Both that Melger was not your father, and that the man wearing Garimore’s crown is no longer Melger. But despite all this, you are still the only heir Garimore has left, so why would you attempt to save us from his dreams of empire? And perhaps more to the point, how? You have no experience with governance or war.”

Vaniell shared a glance with Kyrion, wondering which of them was the best bearer of such news. When Kyrion merely shrugged as if to disavow responsibility, Vaniell sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Then he immediately thought better of it. The grease… the dirt… the tangles… He shuddered. Hopefully, the sooner he relayed his news, the sooner he could have a bath.

“As to the why…” He cleared his throat before plunging ahead. “You already know the present King of Garimore is a mirror mage, but we have only just learned who he truly is—a prince of the Zulleri Empire.”

Caro made a strangled sound, and Allera’s eyes widened as her hands clenched on the arms of her chair.

“A preposterous claim,” she snapped. “Unless you have proof.”

“What proof would make you willing to accept my word?” Vaniell raised one eyebrow in challenge. “I cannot force you to believe me, but we also know that his goal is to unite the Five Thrones of Abreia and present them as a gift to his mother, The Empress of Zulle, in hopes that she will consider him a fitting heir to her name and her throne.”

Allera blinked at him owlishly. Yes, it seemed he had finally managed to shock her fully.

“And… how have you obtained this information?”

Somehow, he kept his voice level. “I had to do something while I wastraipsing, didn’t I?”

For the first time, Allera’s dark eyes held something akin to respect. “There’s more,” she said. “Isn’t there?”

“Unfortunately, yes,” he admitted. “We have learned that no fewer than three imperial heirs now reside on Abreian lands. If the empress learns of their whereabouts—and it seems likely that she will—she may decide to come after them. Should she do so,” he added softly, “I doubt very much that she will care what is damaged in the course of their retrieval.”

“Then”—Caro’s face had gone bone white—“Melger was not wrong. The Empireiscoming.”

Allera slumped where she sat, looking old and pale as chalk. It was suddenly quite evident that she was not nearly so well-recovered as she pretended.

The princess immediately dropped to one knee beside her mother, pressing her hand and gazing anxiously into her face. “Mother, let me take you back to bed.”

“No.” Allera forced the word between her lips, glaring up at Vaniell fiercely. “Is it true, then?”

“Very likely, yes,” Vaniell agreed soberly. “That is why we are here.”

“To warn us about the Empire?”

“Yes, and also no.” Vaniell glanced at Kyrion once more, but the night elf merely gave him a nod, as if confirming that he ought to continue. “We had just one small window of time in which to act, and we have done so.”

Caro jerked to her feet, fury in her eyes as her mother drew herself up in her chair.

“What”—Allera ground out fiercely—“have you done?”

Vaniell refused to cringe or back down. They had made the best choice they could with the information at hand, and he would not allow anyone to make light of Karreya and Leisa’s sacrifices.

“We sent a small group of our allies directly to Hanselm. The imposter does not yet seem to know that he has failed here, in Farhall, and in Iria. Evaraine lives, and Prince Torevan will soon take the throne. While the King of Garimore is still gathering his troops and basking in his success, he will be confronted by someone who knows the truth of who he is. Someone who can expose him as an imperial mage. We are hoping that the shock of it will force him to act quickly, before he is ready.”

The expression on Allera’s face was rather terrible. “You are hoping toencouragehim to attack us?”

“We believe he will act first to take Farhall,” Vaniell pointed out. “He is convinced that Iria will fall into his hands without a fight, and that my brother is a weak king, disliked by his people. If he can conquer Farhall swiftly, while the people are at odds over who will rule, he can then crush Eddris between them like cracking a nut.”

Allera stared blindly into the crackling fire for a moment, while Vaniell resisted the urge to shift his feet impatiently.

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