CHAPTER 43
Keenan
Keenan reached over his head and grabbed the rope for the hundredth time before dragging it back down to his waist. Oliver should be nearly at the top, and then it would be Princess Sakura’s turn.
He peeked over at her. The corners of her mouth were tipped down, but otherwise she looked the same as usual with her hands folded neatly at her waist. Something was different, though. She had been subdued when she rejoined them after the illusion ended.
Not that he was feeling very talkative himself with the magical creatures standing off to the side and his breath consumed in working the pulley system.
Oliver called for him to stop. The resistance on the rope disappeared, and Keenan waited a minute before feeding the rope back up.
The harness crept down from the ceiling. Releasing the rope, Keenan grabbed the pair of stirrups and added his weight to bring it down faster. As soon as it was low enough for her to reach, the princess joined him, wobbling a little when the pile shifted.
“Careful; we don’t need a real injury,” he joked half-heartedly, grabbing her arm to steady her. “Stitches aren’t as fun as they look.”
She shuddered. “Needlepoint can be engaging in the correct circumstances. But I have no wish for my skin to provide the surface for it.”
He lifted his hand, preparing to comment on scars and imperfections while appreciating her skin’s perfect smoothness, but he redirected it to the pulling rope and kept his mouth shut.
Once he crawled out of the tree and back into the real world, he would need to figure out what to do about…
everything. The princess’s black eyes, Ryunic law.
Liesl’s uncertain situation, a powerful enchanted object intended for a king.
His hand came up empty; Oliver had drawn up the rope.
After the princess disappeared into the shaft, Keenan pulled the sphinx from his pocket with a sigh and leaned against the wall to examine it. He was just a weapon-smith from Daraigh; how had he ended up in this mess?
“At least I shouldn’t have to go up against a knife while unarmed again,” he muttered, huffing a laugh. “Assuming one of them is close enough to help.”
“You should learn to conceal that so it will not be apparent what you have.”
He jumped at the grumbling voice next to his ear. Smoke from Mamoru’s nostrils rolled through the air in front of him as he stuffed the sphinx back in his pocket. “You’re right. Sorry.”
The large blue dragon shook her head. “It was not a censure. I refer to the illusion of the tinderbox they expect.” She nudged his arm with her nose. “Bring it back out, and I’ll teach you to cast it.”
The concealing word was from Old Ryunic. Keenan struggled with the pronunciation, but Mamoru worked with him until the harness returned to the bottom of the shaft, just as she had with her name so he could end the illusion.
“Churippu will help you as you travel,” Mamoru said as he stepped away. “For now, it is hidden. But it will reveal itself when you use it, so you must learn the concealing word before then.”
Keenan grabbed the ropes and set his foot in the stirrups. “I’ll work on it,” he promised. “But it shouldn’t be an issue; I have no plans to use it.”
“If life always conformed to our plans, Kyaputen, there would never have been a need to find the sphinx a new holder,” she replied seriously.
“But I will not dwell on possible misfortune. Farewell, Keenan Kyaputen. May the fire in your heart and the wind under your wings carry you safely to your journey’s end. ”
“Thank you, Mamoru.” Then the ropes grew taut under his hand, and he began to slowly ascend the shaft.
He was more than ready to feel the warm rays of the real sun when he crawled out of the hole in the old tree. It wasn’t that different from the sun in the illusory Hartford. But the fresh spring grass under his hands had never smelled so good.
Pushing himself to his feet, he brushed his hands off on his trousers and looked around. The grove was just as they had left it: a field of blue crocuses under a canopy of pink cherry blossoms. But their horses were gone, and he didn’t see either Mori or Kasumi.
“You should have given me the rope,” Keenan told the guard standing nearby. “It would have let you keep watch.”
Oliver shrugged. “Churippu is on patrol. She promised to let me know if anyone approached.”
“Putting the baby dragon on guard detail. Why not?” Keenan muttered.
Oliver’s eyebrow twitched up as he began dismantling the princess’s pulley system. “It was the princess’s idea.”
“Cherry may be a dragon, but she is not as flighty as you suppose.” Princess Sakura raised a challenging eyebrow.
Keenan’s eyebrows pulled together for a moment before he chuckled. “I suppose you’re right, Princess.” Kneeling, he gathered up the stirrups that Oliver had freed. “What’s the plan now?”
She turned away. “This is your quest. Is that not your decision?”
He restrained the urge to growl. Why couldn’t someone else decide? Safeguarding the unbelievable magic of the sphinx and worrying about the fact that he was starting over with finding Liesl was quite enough already.
“We need to return you to the winter castle.” He glanced around the trees again. “Any idea where the rest of our party might be?”
“They took the horses to the farm where Kagemori secured the rope,” the princess replied, turning to look at him again. “Kasumi wished to stay there while we ventured underground, so perhaps they returned when they were unable to follow.”
It was as good an idea as any. And it would certainly be easier to find them than if they had bolted.
Oliver finished coiling the rope and stepped away from the tree.
Immediately, the ground began to rumble again.
The princess staggered sideways, and Keenan grabbed her arm to steady her.
When she stumbled the other way, he pulled her into his arms and stepped backward to stabilize himself against a tree.
All in the interest of her safety, of course.
He wasn’t so selfish as to rob Ryuni of its future queen just because he had a weakness for mechanically minded princesses with a dry wit.
There was no prophecy. And since that was the case, he shouldn’t indulge himself in moments like this.
Especially now that they would soon be leaving the secluded daydream of his quest.
Princess Sakura leaned into him, pressing her forehead to his chest until the shaking stopped. Then before he could release her, she wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned back, ensnaring him with her pretty black eyes.
“My name means ‘cherry blossoms’ in Old Ryunic,” she said softly. “I’ve always loved my namesake; they’re so beautiful, and the cherry blossom festival is my favorite part of spring.”
Keenan felt his mouth pulling down in a frown. “If that’s so, then why did you—”
“Refuse the ones you offered me?” she interrupted with a pained laugh. “Because you’re not from Ryuni. You didn’t know what you were offering.”
“…pretty flowers?” How did his nationality change that?
She shook her head with a fond smile and opened her mouth – to explain, he assumed – but a flash of green dropped through the trees.
Their little dragon swooped toward them, then cut a tight circle back toward Oliver.
“Someone’s coming! Lots of someones with swords and armor and horses, and they’re in a hurry. ”
Keenan shoved the princess away and drew his weapons while Oliver did the same. It was possible that Mori and Kasumi had gone to find help instead of retreating to the farmer’s home. But it seemed a little quick for reinforcements to be arriving. And he needed to be ready if it was an enemy.
The tinderbox in his pack whispered to him, but if Ryunic guards witnessed him using it, convincing Queen Arisa that she didn’t want the worthless tinderbox he’d found would be impossible.
“Cherry, stay back,” he ordered.
The little dragon circled over his head before the leaves rustled, suggesting she’d found a perch in one of the trees. And not a moment too soon – he could hear the dull thump of the horses’ hooves on the soft ground and the jingling of their bridles.
Princess Sakura relaxed when the first of the riders became visible through the trees. Keenan kept his own guard up a little longer. Uniforms could be faked.
The leader raised a hand, signaling a stop. “It is a relief to see you safe and well, Your Highness,” he greeted, pulling his horse to a stop in front of them. He bowed in the saddle. “I was most distressed to hear of your disappearance, as was His Majesty.”
The princess inclined her head stiffly. Looking at her, Keenan noticed that her perfect-princess posture had returned.
“Thank you, Captain,” she said regally. “As you can see, I am perfectly fine. Once you escort me to my horse and the rest of my companions, I will dismiss you to your regular duties. I assume my maid and the young guard with whom I was traveling informed you of my uncertain circumstances?”
He nodded. “They are at a nearby farmhouse. We’ll collect them and then escort you to the capital.”
“The capital?” She stiffened further. “I am bound for the winter castle. And no escort will be necessary.”
“I’m sorry, Your Highness.” The guard did look regretful. “But His Majesty’s letter was clear. You are to return to Kurowan under my protection, and I’m to bring the foreigners who endangered your life after luring you from the winter castle.”
At a gesture from him, two guards dismounted and began walking toward them. Keenan threw a quick glance at Oliver, but the guardsman gave a slight shake of his head and sheathed his sword.