40. The Master of Spies
The Master of Spies
Kaiden
For a man used to living in the shadows, Varinis’s halls were basked in the light of a thousand candles.
They lined the hallways and adorned the windows.
His room was warm and surprisingly inviting.
A sliding ladder connected oak bookshelves which covered an entire wall.
Lavish carpets laid over stone floors. The intricate designs and shapes reminded him of the blue decor Zenobia was known for.
A massive desk was placed in front of a roaring fireplace.
Kaiden’s attention snagged on a painting of Varinis seated on a plush throne with two wolves on either side.
His black hair curled around his ears. The deep crimson of his sleeveless suit showed blue tattoos inked across his yellowed skin from shoulder to fingertips.
If his home was no indication, the painting screamed the truth.
They were in his domain. His monolid brown eyes gave away his Zenobian heritage, but here in Randale he was a king of his own making.
“Humble,” Jasper eyed the room with clear disdain.
Kaiden tossed him a warning but he couldn’t agree more.
“It seems you’ve made quite a commotion by being here, highness,” Varinis’s voice was smooth. Factitious boredom sharpened his chiseled face even as his gaze disarmed them in seconds. He stood behind his chair. The fire behind him casting his tall shadow into the room.
With years of spying and living in secrecy, he had no doubt Varinis had plenty of tricks up his sleeve. Jasper would have been a perfect pupil for him with his shadows swirling about his fingers and wrapping up his forearm.
“Not by our means. The Silver Paradox had different intentions. They were after us the moment we stepped through the gates.”
Varinis smiled. “Not you.”
Kaiden forced his breath to ease as he inhaled deeply. “Aradia.”
“Ah, yes. The girl.” Varinis hummed his words as if his thoughts had been filled with Aradia.
Kaiden squeezed his hand into a fist, wanting nothing but to flatten Varinis’s hooked nose. A wave of protection set his teeth grinding.
“How do you know of her?” he asked instead.
“That is my concern,” Varinis said as he poured a dark liquid into a crystal glass.
Kaiden stepped forward, closing the distance between them. He felt Jasper’s presence behind him, at the ready.
“When it comes to her, everything is my concern,” he growled.
Varinis sipped his drink, never losing eye contact.
“My, my, my.” He cocked an eyebrow. “As always, the Arkan Prince takes what is not his to take.” His brown eyes held mischief.
The urge to beat the grin off Varinis’s face grew.
“Tell me,” — a wicked smile pulled at the corner of his lips — “does Aradia prefer her men to be possessive? I always imagined a girl so innocent to be sweet …” He pursed his lips in pretend thought. “Pure.”
Kaiden jerked forward at the underlying words.
Jasper gripped his shoulder, holding him back from destroying a chuckling waste of space. There had to be a better person they could come to. If Varinis got close to Aradia —
“The reason why we’re here.” Jasper cleared his throat, stepping in front of Kaiden, and forcing space between the three of them. “Is because of Aradia. She’s in danger.”
“If she’s with you, then yes, she is.”
Jasper sighed. “Our whole realm is in danger and we’re looking for answers.”
Varinis moved quietly around the desk and sat down. He drank deeply from his glass, slowly draining it and licking his lips with a sigh. After a moment of annoying silence he answered. “I’m listening.”
Jasper looked at Kaiden. He nodded for him to take the lead. There was no way he was talking to this bastard without losing his temper.
Jasper rolled his eyes and filled Varinis in on the information they had learned.
He left out key factors of their rebellion against the king.
Varinis had given no indication who he sided with.
A man like him always sided with whoever would benefit him the most and right now Kaiden was drastically outmanned and outmagicked.
“It’s all very well and dandy but nothing can ever be done when working for your father.” Varinis leveled Kaiden with a questioning gaze.
Where did Kaiden stand? Save the realm and take his father down or watch it burn in flames of his own making.
“We no longer stand with the King of Arkan.”
Varinis went deathly still, features darkening at the declaration. A distant toll sounded from above the underground fortress, alerting them midnight was nearing. If all went well, everyone should be gathering together.
Varinis raised a hand, pointing to the two large chairs placed in front of his desk. “In that case,” he poured two more glasses of the amber liquid, refilling his own. “You may sit.”
Kaiden glanced at Jasper who shrugged, waiting for Kaiden to make the first move. Kaiden stepped forward and sunk into the chair. He picked up the glass, drained it in one swig, and set it down with a steady thunk.
Varinis tossed a fox’s smile at them both.
“Just to let you know now, you were not my first option as an ally.”
Varinis’s smile never faltered. “Likewise.”
“Let's keep our discussion on how this alliance will benefit all of us,” Jasper said.
Kaiden and Varinis stared at each other before nodding in agreement.
“It’s no secret you have an army of your own at your disposal.”
Varinis sucked air through his teeth slowly. “What of it?”
“If this alliance is to work we would need the manpower to at least back us up.”
“You know as well as I do every army in Peraynia pales against the great hordes of Arkan,” Varinis sneered.
“Yes,” Kaiden agreed. “But even Arkan would think twice if every kingdom united against them.”
Amusement lit Varinis’s face. “I heard all about your little speech in Vidrena.”
Kaiden’s face flushed but he remained silent.
“You’ve finally had enough of daddy dearest then?” Varinis drained his drink.
His degrading accusation felt like hot coals against Kaiden’s lips.
“Yes.” Jasper answered for him. “Will you help us?”
Varinis leaned back in his chair, swiveling from left and right in thought. “What’s in it for me?”
Kaiden looked around at the priceless items surrounding them.
There were multiple trinkets from all parts of Peraynia.
Antique vases from Zenobia, thick handwoven rugs from Gail, jewels and crystal glass sets from Arkan, paintings which somehow had been reported as missing from the city hall of Vidrena, were placed throughout the room.
“What could you possibly want?” Kaiden asked.
Varinis smiled and Kaiden immediately regretted his open-ended question.
“When this is all over, Randale’s council must be dissolved, and when you,” — he pointed to Kaiden — “take your place as King of Arkan, you will secure my reign as supreme ruler of the city.”
Jasper stiffened in his chair and Kaiden bit out a laugh.
“I’m not sure someone like you would be a good fit to rule a kingdom,” Kaiden said.
Varinis’s eyes crinkled in the corner. “Someone like me?”
“You’ve always been known for your shifty ways, hence why you’ve become the Master of Spies. You’ve built your empire through deceit and violence. The exact opposite of what it takes to rule a kingdom. What makes you think you’d be able to handle it?” Kaiden scoffed, gripping the arm of his chair.
“I could ask you the very same question. The only difference between us is you have a crown and an entire kingdom to hide behind. I show my true face. What you see, is what you get.”
Kaiden ground his teeth in frustration. Of course Varinis was right, which only made his comment even more stinging.
If they were going to work together, he would have to put away his pride and accept their situation as it was.
He needed Varinis more than Varinis needed him.
A man of his patience could wait out the storm and simply force the council down or execute them all.
But he would never earn the loyalty of his kingdom in that way. Only through royal appointment would the people fully accept Varinis as supreme ruler.
“You’re right,” Kaiden said.
Varinis raised a sarcastic brow as he already, no doubt, knew he was. “Am I?”
“I won’t repeat it.”
Varinis smiled and held out his hand. “Do we have an accord?”
Kaiden glanced at Jasper who nodded ever so slightly. It was the only way. He reached out and shook Varinis’s hand.
“We do.”
The ground shook and the glass rattled on the tables.
Varinis shot to his feet, gripping the candelabrum.
Kaiden ran to catch the paintings knocking against the walls.
Jasper’s shadows caught the vases and trinkets on the shelves.
Books slid from their placements with a thunk onto the carpeted stone floors.
The window beyond cracked and shouts filled the hallways.
“What the fuck is going on?” Varinis shouted.
“Looks like Fintan and Rhydar were successful,” Jasper called over his shoulder as he twisted his body to grab a glass sphere of Peraynia before it shattered on the floor.
“This is your doing?” Varinis seethed, casting a death glare to Kaiden.
“Not quite.”
Where the depths did they get explosives from?
The window crack grew as the ground continued to shake. Kaiden turned his head from the glass. Varinis’s gaze was sharp as daggers and Kaiden grimaced, wishing the cracked glass would take him out first.
“I think it’s over,” Jasper said.
The booms from underneath the mountain could still be heard but the rattling had stopped. Varinis’s items remained in place.
Kaiden heaved a sigh of relief. His body spun as unfamiliar hands gripped his arm and a blade as long as his forearm pressed tightly against his throat.
Jasper’s shadows darkened at the speed Varinis used to reach Kaiden. A blade of pure midnight and wisps of dark magic formed in his hand as Jasper stepped behind, angling his sword toward the back of Varinis’s heart.
“Drop the blade,” Jasper’s warning was as dark as his shadows.