Interlude – Lord Leyv Riis, Lord of Tongues, House of the Ice Spider
Interlude
LORD LEYV RIIS, LORD OF TONGUES, HOUSE OF THE ICE SPIDER
The spymaster gestured to the inn’s door. “Go inside. Get two rooms next to each other and a table by the fire, if you can.”
The princess huddled against the cold and rushed indoors. Lord Riis watched her go, a sigh on his lips.
He understood Inga entrusting her only daughter to him, but did he like the responsibility? No, and not because he disliked the princess.
In truth, he found Saga delightful, and much like her mother when they were younger. However, the spymaster knew Saga was King Magnus’s favored child—his only trueborn child—and that put a target on Leyv’s back. His sons’ backs too, and that worried him greatly.
The spymaster handed the reins to the stablefae and tipped them before grabbing both his bag and Saga’s and followed the princess into the inn.
Although the princess did not travel in the bright gowns she favored, and Saga had continued to wear the wig supplied by one of his employees, the princess was easy to spot in the busting tavern portion of the inn. She stood out in a crowd.
As did one other soul in the tavern that night.
Arie, the spymaster’s son, sat in a distant corner, a horn in his hands and a hood raised to cover most of his face. Arie made to stand, but Lord Riis waved him back. His son caught on as Saga joined Leyv the next second, a smile on her exhausted face.
“We got the last two rooms.” She jangled keys on her finger. “Ones at the end of the hall too, so they’ll be quieter, thank the stars. That last inn was far too loud. I barely slept at all.”
She was used to castles with thick stone walls, not noisy and bustling taverns made of wood.
“I also ordered you wine and stew to be delivered to the table,” Saga added, lifting a horn of her own.
He noted the cracks at the top of the horn, an indication of the quality they might have to look forward to in their bedrooms. “It’s all they have.
They’re even out of bread. A bad sign, isn’t it? ”
Many of the smaller inns had seemed to be short on food. Lord Riis wasn’t sure why that was. A war might be brewing, but it hadn’t begun to interrupt greenhouse workings. Perhaps the cold had kept traders at home. Or slowed them down.
“Stew and wine will do for our supper tonight,” he said. “I’ll go set our bags upstairs. Why don’t you find a seat.” He nodded to the fire, glad to see that Arie had repositioned himself so that his back was to them—a smart lad.
The princess handed over the keys to the rooms and went in search of a table by the fire. The Lord of Tongues made his way to the staircase leading to their chambers. He trusted Arie would follow after an appropriate length of time.
Doing as he’d said, he stowed Saga’s bag in her room, the one farthest from the noise. When he exited the hall to put away his own bag, he found Arie waiting for him.
But he wasn’t alone. Three fae stood behind him, their stances tight.
“Father,” Arie said softly. “Why are you here with her?”
Her. The people with him did not recognize Saga, and if Arie was not naming the princess, then Lord Riis guessed they might not like her either. Leyv’s stomach twisted. Who were the fae with his son?
“Her mother asked a favor of me I could not refuse.”
Arie swallowed. “We saw you on the map, and I’m here to intercept you. It’s not smart to speak of it here, in the corridor.”
“Inside,” Leyv said, opening his door. “Only you, son.”
The other three glowered, but Arie held up a reassuring hand, and they allowed father and son privacy in the small, battered, but clean, single room. Once the door was closed, Arie began.
“You told us to go to the Golden House, but when we found Vale and Neve, things changed. We’re staying with the rebels now.”
Lord Riis’s mouth fell open, a rare reaction indeed for a spymaster who often knew other’s secrets before they did themselves. “Rebels? Were you caught?”
“At first, yes,” Arie said. “But then they released us, and we’ve been staying with them. Willingly.” He cleared his throat. “One is Neve’s twin.”
“Thyra,” the high lord whispered.
There’d been rumors that she’d lived. None that he’d ever been able to substantiate and eventually, he’d stopped trying. He figured if the youngling had survived, then she’d earned a life safe from Magnus’s reach.
Never in all his turns had he imagined that Thyra Falk would be a rallying point for rebel forces.
But then why not? His lack of belief in the previous dynasty’s progeny seemed shortsighted when presented with the likes of Neve. The female had grit and grace and a quick mind.
“They’re nothing alike, Father, but they are warming to one another.”
“You said you’re staying with the rebels,” Lord Riis said. “What have you been doing while with them?”
“We went on heists with them to find the Fr?r Crown.” Arie’s chest puffed up.
“I went with Thyra Falk. We didn’t find the Fr?r Crown in the vaults, but Neve and Vale did.
Luccan was with them. Than with me.” At the mention of his younger brother’s name, Arie looked away.
The spymaster recognized that tell. Something had happened with Thantrel.
“Are your brothers well?”
“Luccan is. Than is . . . Doing his best.”
What in the stars did that mean? He studied his son and could not reason out an answer, but as Thantrel was alive, and Arie did not seem too concerned, he decided it was best to move on. They mustn’t be up here long. Saga would begin asking questions.
“You said vaults? As in, you robbed a coinary?” He had to work hard not to raise his voice. The rebels were outside, and the spymaster wanted as much time with his son as they’d grant him.
“We did. One in Avaldenn and the one in Bitra.” For the first time, Arie’s face flushed. “Foolish, I know, but it worked.”
“Odan, give me strength.” Lord Riis rubbed at his temples. “You’re lucky to be alive, Arie. You all are. Leprechauns are vicious towards thieves.”
“Forgive us for our stupidity?”
Lord Riis wasn’t sure that his son was repentant. He seemed far too pleased with himself, and part of the spymaster thought Arie had a right to be. The spymaster half expected this behavior from Thantrel. Luccan and Vale too, if the right circumstances presented themselves.
Arie was the levelheaded one. But to go on a heist for a fae he believed in was not only foolish—it was also brave. The spymaster could not fault him for that.
“There is nothing to forgive. You helped a friend, and that is what I’d expect of my sons. Now, moving on to Saga . . .” The spymaster cleared his throat. “Perhaps I should continue to House Balik with her and then rejoin you?”
“I fear if you arrive with the princess in Myrr, you may be detained to get back to us.”
“The Baliks have left court. I don’t think they’re loyal to Magnus, though you’re correct that they are rather law abiding. If the leprechauns—”
“Who are you?” a sharp feminine voice cut him off. “Why are you outside my room!?”
“Hide,” Lord Riis said, but before his son could so much as try and shove himself under the bed, the door flew open.
Lord Riis sucked in a breath. The rebels were blue. Frozen in place. Saga had used magic on them.
“Arie?” Saga asked, her face morphing from furious to curious as she took in his son, poised to shimmy under the bed. “What are you doing here?”
“I—uh. You should sit down, Princess.”
Saga’s lips parted, as if realizing that she was supposed to be in disguise, and she’d given herself away.
“He knows you too well for a wig to fool him, Saga.” Lord Riis said as she shut the door behind her.
“Well, that’s true. Who’s outside your door? They look shifty, but you do not seem bothered.”
“They’re with Arie.” Lord Riis looked at his son. The truth was about to come out, and he thought it was best if Arie told it.
“I’ll tell you, but unfreeze them first?” Arie asked. “I’d rather they not die.”
“Everything but their feet and ankles.” With a wave of her hand, Saga did as she said, and Arie began telling Saga what he’d told Lord Riis. The princess’s expression grew more incredulous by the second.
“Where are Vale, Neve, and the others now?” Saga asked.
“Valrun Castle,” Arie replied.
The spymaster’s stomach dropped. “But it’s cursed.”
“What better place for rebels to hide?” Arie shrugged. “The castle is rundown, but they have all that they need. Shelter. The lake isn’t far away. Towns within a day’s ride for food, and some game in the area. It’s ideal.”
The spymaster supposed he was right. Valrun had such a poor reputation that even he did not have spiders there to tell him what was afoot. For a hidden rebellion, it was an ideal headquarters.
“I want to go there,” Saga said stoutly. “Mother said I needed to find Vale.”
She had, though that was when Inga, like Lord Riis, had believed Vale was making his way to House Balik’s castle. Behind stone and wards that Lord Riis felt sure Valrun could not match. He was about to say as much when Arie spoke.
“We can stay the night here, and I’ll take you. It’s not too far.” Arie cleared his throat. “You may have a bit of trouble at first, but if Vale and Neve vouch for you—Saga . . . are you well?”
The princess’s eyes had clouded and widened. For a long minute she said nothing, though her body stiffened, her hands balled into fists so tight her hands turned white. Then, a scream cut through the room and Lord Riis scrambled.
He slammed a hand over Saga’s mouth, muffling the sound. “Shhh, Saga, you’re safe. You’re safe. You’re safe. It’s a vision.”
The princess continued to scream; her body as tight as a bowstring ready to launch. Briefly, the spymaster considered using his magic, the power to negate another’s magic, to stop the vision, but would it hurt her? He did not know, so he opted for a more common course. “Arie, get water.”
His son scrambled to pour water from a pitcher on the side table. With shaking hands, he returned.
“Pour it on her head.” Lord Riis had no idea if this would work. Seers were rare and the ways they entered and left visions were numerous. He’d seen this happen once, and the family had jolted their seer out of it.
Arie hesitated. “She’s the princess, Father. I—”
Saga gasped. Her body slumped over, and the spymaster released his hand over her mouth only to help hold her up.
“What did you see?” From the look on her face, he would guess it had not been pleasant.
“Vale. Neve. Thantrel and Luccan and others were there too.” Saga let out a cry. “They were screaming and surrounded by something hard and white.”
“Hard and white?” Arie shook his head. “An avalanche?”
“Fates! It could be!” The princess wrung her hands. “I’m still not in complete control over my seer powers, and this one came and left so fast that I can’t be certain but that makes much sense. We have to warn them!”
“They’re not in the mountains, not anywhere near them, but at Valrun Castle, Princess Saga.
They’re safe. See?” Arie pulled out the map his father had given Luccan, and his older brother had passed to him so that Arie could find their father with ease.
“They—wait a second, Vale is moving west . . . Than and Luccan too—just as the princess said.” His eyebrows drew together.
“They’re moving quite fast, not walking or riding. ”
Lord Riis shook his head. “They cannot fly for more than a few minutes in these conditions.”
Arie’s face turned red. He’d not told all of their story. Bleeding skies, what else had his sons and those with them gotten up to?
“When we, um, traveled to Bitra.” Arie cast Saga a glance, and the spymaster nodded. She might learn about the heists, but for the time being they weren’t important. “Thantrel suggested we take the gryphons from our castle. The pegasi too.”
Annoyance flared in the high lord. “You mean my prize racing gryphons and my pegasi?”
Those beasts had cost him a small fortune. The Lord of Tongues valued them for they reminded him of how far he’d risen in life.
“Thantrel was trying to impress a female.”
The spymaster pinched the bridge of his nose.
Of course that was what Thantrel had been up to.
As a youngling, just like now, Thantrel had loved attention.
That desire continued as he grew and became an adult.
Thantrel was as fluid as the sea in his tastes for bedmates, and he’d often done absurd things to win them over. Grand gestures abounded.
Lord Riis had often thought that maybe his son took after him in that manner. He had, after all, kept Inga’s power a secret. That was far more dangerous than stealing a few gryphons and pegasi from an estate.
“If they continue at this pace, and the weather doesn’t deteriorate through the night, they may well hit the Red Mist Range by late morning,” Arie added thoughtfully.
Lord Riis looked down at the map. “What’s there that would draw them?”
“I don’t know. Everything was quiet when I left. Fae were ready to ride out the cold at the castle.”
The spymaster swallowed. “Then we must make haste and travel to Valrun tonight to find out.”