CHAPTER 47
Keenan
The doors were twice his height. Fanciful carvings of the many peoples from his dream covered the grand doors, many inlaid with gold and silver.
A proud sphinx stood with extended wings on the circle formed by the handles.
Its yellow-diamond eyes studied him as he waited for admittance to the throne room beyond.
Despite the late hour, King Banri clearly viewed this hearing quite seriously. No relaxed, informal setting to decide whether two foreigners had endangered his daughter.
Mori had transformed into a model guardsman about the time the princess excused herself to inform her father of their arrival. He stood stiffly at attention, eyes straight ahead and not a hint of his eager smile in sight.
“Have they given you any trouble?” an older soldier asked, eyeing them suspiciously.
Mori gave a single shake of his head. “No, sir. They came along quietly.”
The man’s eyes wandered to Cherry, who was perched on a wad of clothing tied to Oliver’s shoulder to protect his skin from her sharp claws.
Her head pivoted from side to side and around to the back as she peered curiously at their surroundings, but she looked as innocent and harmless as a baby dragon possibly could.
Oliver had spent most of their wait convincing her to stay silent and not talk about roasting people until they’d gained their freedom.
She’d been greatly disappointed, but she had finally admitted the wisdom of appearing non-threatening.
One of the doors slid quietly open. “Their Majesties will see the accused one at a time,” the attendant on the other side said. He nodded to Keenan. “The young weapon-smith first.”
Oliver gave him a tiny nod, and Keenan straightened his shoulders and strode forward. Time to convince the king of his innocence and hope the fake tinderbox would satisfy the queen.
The throne room was as opulently decorated as the doors themselves.
The height of the ceiling made it seem larger, but it was smaller than he had expected.
Tall, thin windows along the left side overlooked the dark world outside.
Large white banners embroidered with yellow sphinxes hung at intervals across the ceiling.
And at the far end of the room, four steps led up to a dais with two large thrones filled by Queen Arisa and a tall, broad man with a surprisingly simple gold circlet on his head.
Next to the queen, Sakura stood with her hands folded at her waist and her perfect princess non-expression on her face. A young man about Mori’s age stood beside the king with a friendly smile.
King Banri focused on Keenan. “Name?” he demanded sternly.
Bowing as low as he could, Keenan replied, “Keenan, Your Majesty. I hail from Hartford, where I work as a smith.”
“And how do you come to be in my kingdom?”
Keenan took a deep breath. “A young woman in need, Your Majesty. Prince Axel’s sister-in-law was determined to find a missing Ralnoran nobleman. As she had no escort, I volunteered to accompany her to protect her from whoever—”
Wait. King Phillip might wish to keep his daughter’s predicament from the other kingdoms.
Unfortunately, now that Keenan had begun, it might look suspicious if he didn’t finish. And he was already in a tight spot.
“Kidnapped Princess Anne,” he winced. “Word of her loss reached Hartford shortly before Miss Liesl came to me for information about her friend.”
“And why would she come to you?”
“Because Lord Tobias bought weapons from me for his foray into Ryuni,” Keenan explained. “He didn’t tell anyone what he was doing, and my smithy was his last stop before he left.”
The king’s eyes narrowed. “So, a Daric princess is missing. About the time word was received, a Ralnoran nobleman disappeared after speaking with you. You led his prince’s sister-in-law into Ryuni to search for him, and now she is—where?”
Keenan’s heart sank. “I don’t know, Your Majesty. We were separated during a bandit attack in the mountains. I’ve been looking for her ever since.”
“And so you lured my daughter out into those same mountains?”
“That is not what happened, Father.” The princess’s voice was quiet and respectful, but firm nonetheless.
“Mother promised to find the young woman if Keenan completed a quest for her. I made my own choice to bring him the pea so he could reach his destination despite the unhelpful map Mother had given him, and she heartily approved of my departure.”
Keenan breathed a little easier as the king turned to his wife. “What precisely have you been doing at the winter castle, Arisa? I was under the impression you went there to keep Sakura safe. And instead, I find you are sending her into the wilderness with strange men?”
“He is hardly a stranger,” the queen replied, eyes gleaming as she turned to Keenan. “It may be years since we last saw him, but I am sure you would trust him just as you trust his older brother.”
“Then who is he?” the king grunted. “I don’t recognize him.”
She beckoned to Keenan. “I sent you for proof. You did retrieve it, did you not?”
Watching the family’s faces was an interesting study.
Sakura’s brother looked curious, while she herself wore a tight expression.
The king was skeptical and perhaps a bit annoyed, but the queen leaned forward eagerly.
And Keenan had the dubious privilege of being the subject of all of their attention.
Slowly removing his pack, he knelt and made a show of digging through his belongings. Then he pulled out Mori’s tinderbox and offered it to the queen.
“And what is that?” the king asked, unimpressed.
“Something very special, Banri,” the queen assured with a wide smile. “Sakura dear, will you bring it here, please?”
Sakura slowly descended the steps. Since he was standing in front of her parents, Keenan hoped his eyes telegraphed less than hers did as she gazed up at him.
“It’s all right, Princess,” he murmured. Or it would be, as long as the queen didn’t attempt a demonstration. “Take it.”
She hesitated, then set her hand over the tinderbox, letting her fingers brush over his as she picked it up.
“Keenan, do you give me this tinderbox to use as I wish?” Queen Arisa asked as Sakura returned to her side. “You relinquish all control to me?”
The king looked as if he thought she’d lost her mind, but Keenan bowed. “Of course, Your Majesty.”
She knew what she’d sent him after. She didn’t want to risk it not working for her.
“Excellent.” Beaming, she gestured for Sakura to set it on a small table beside the throne.
The gesture was careless, as if she didn’t care what happened to the “special” item she’d forced him to retrieve, but her eyes lingered on it before she turned back to Keenan.
“As promised, you shall marry my daughter as soon as the wedding can be arranged. Congratulations.”
“But that’s not what you promised me!” He took a quick step forward, then gave a hasty bow when the king glowered. “I agreed to the quest because you said you knew where Miss Liesl was and that you would only tell me if I brought you the tinderbox.”
“Is this true, Arisa?” The king frowned at his wife. “Did you make the boy search for a trinket while a prince’s sister-in-law waited for her rescue?”
She stroked the tinderbox fondly. “The girl is only a miller’s daughter. And this is hardly a trinket.”
“Her father may be a miller, but her sister is now a princess!” the king growled. “You cannot simply disregard her for your own schemes.”
“Sakura’s fox tracked her to the Pass of Kakureta.” Queen Arisa delivered the news carelessly, but the other three royals stared at her in horror. “So there was no point in sending the boy after her when he could do something useful for me instead.”
Keenan watched them uneasily. “What’s the Pass of Kakureta?”
“It’s a path through the mountains that leads to the Valley of Kakureta,” the prince said quietly, speaking for the first time. His eyes flicked over to his sister. “It has been ruled by an ogre since before I was born. No one who has entered the pass in that time has ever returned.”
A jolt shot through Keenan’s chest. So much for the queen taking care of her leverage. But then, it had already been too late when she sent him out, hadn’t it?
“Father promised my hand in marriage to the man who slew it,” Sakura said a bit acerbically, glaring at the king. Then she turned her eyes to Keenan. “I’m sorry about your friend.”
“And I promised your hand to Keenan if he completed my quest,” Queen Arisa cut in. “Your father will have to find some other incentive to rid us of that hornets’ nest.”
“I promised to make the victor a prince!” the king growled. “Slaying the ogre and returning the princedom of Kakureta to our control would have been worthy of the title. I cannot make a foreign weapon-smith a prince for finding an old tinderbox!”
“Then I’ll go to Kakureta,” Keenan said quickly. It was the perfect excuse to get out of the castle. And if Liesl was somehow still alive…maybe he could still fulfill his promise to protect her.
“You’ve already gone on one fool’s errand; you are not taking on another.” The princess’s voice was sharp. “I will not see you lost to the ogre.”
“You don’t have to worry about the prophecy anymore,” he argued. “If this will—”
King Banri leaned forward in his throne. “What was that about the prophecy?”
Keenan turned his attention to the king. “I don’t know the reason for it, but it’s a hoax. I have it on good authority that prophecies don’t exist.”
“Whose authority?”
Gesturing toward the massive doors, he said, “Both a dragon and my companion. He’s—” Breaking off, he looked up at the princess, but she gave him a tiny shrug. “Knowledgeable about such things.”
“Is this the same companion who weaseled his way into my daughter’s company through deception?” the queen asked frostily.
“What was that?”
She turned to her husband. “It was my intention to send Sakura into the mountains with one of our guards,” she said stiffly. “Imagine my shock when I learned that a Daric guard, whom I believed to be lost somewhere in the mountains, had accompanied her instead.”
The way she presented it sounded bad, but Keenan didn’t know how to say it more clearly. Oliver had disguised himself with his magic so he could join Sakura. And unless Keenan revealed Oliver’s abilities, he couldn’t explain why the guard hadn’t been as lost and helpless as the queen had expected.
“I believe you said he is in the royal guard, did you not?” she continued, raising a questioning eyebrow at him. “Responsible for the crown prince’s care?”
Keenan nodded slowly. He didn’t know where she was heading, but it wouldn’t help either of them for him to lie.
“Well-positioned to make a young princess disappear, then. Or a nobleman staying at the castle,” she said, her eyes fixed on Keenan as if daring him to argue with her.
Her gaze shifted to the closed doors. “He vanished from the bandit camp before my men could rescue him. And instead of seeking assistance, he appeared at the winter castle shortly after they did. Just in time to join Sakura when she left.” Her eyes narrowed.
“Almost as if he’d never truly been a captive at all. ”
“What exactly are you implying, Mother?” Sakura asked, her own voice a little chilly. “Oliver has been a trustworthy and beneficial companion during my travels.”
Keeping her eyes on Keenan, the queen replied, “I am saying, Sakura dear, that your trustworthy companion arranged for the bandits which attacked his party. He fled before my men could rescue and question him, then took advantage of the opportunity to ensnare another well-connected person.”
“But I came to no harm in his company!” the princess protested.
“Not at the point at which you were rescued, no,” her mother agreed.
“Perhaps he believed he’d found something better.
” Her eyes once again turned longingly to the tinderbox.
“After all, who could resist the allure of such a prize? He surely planned to make our dear prince his next victim, with the tinderbox as a bonus.”
Keenan squeezed his eyes shut. She seemed to be daring him to disprove her story.
Did she hope the king would decide Keenan was an accomplice if he defended his friend? It would be a tidy way to keep him from marrying Sakura.
But Keenan had to stay out of the dungeons. Even if that meant letting Oliver appear guilty.
Pulling his eyebrows together in what he hoped looked like distress, he said, “I’m not a prince, and Oliver knows it. I trusted him, but…” He shook his head. “If you’re correct about this, he isn’t who I thought he was.”
The queen smiled sympathetically, but Keenan didn’t like the gleam in her eyes. She waved a lazy hand at him. “Go call him in to present his feeble excuses, would you?”
Keenan clenched his jaw. “Of course.”
Spinning on his heel, he marched back to the door.
He pulled it open and met Oliver’s eyes, then flicked his gaze to Cherry.
“The queen demands your presence next,” he said harshly.
“She wishes an answer for your crimes of kidnapping Princess Anne, Lord Tobias, and Miss Liesl, as well as your attempted kidnapping of Princess Sakura and myself.”