Chapter 23
Carrik
Leaving Lindsey the day before had been hard, but I swore to give her the space and time she asked for.
It is the least I can do after causing her the hurt I did.
The rest of my evening had been spent sequestered in my room in the barracks.
It was best if I avoided the other guards and the questions they would have undoubtedly asked if word had somehow gotten out that there were now two House of Deqan brothers in the city.
Except, there’s no avoiding them this morning as I make my way to the palace.
Based on the number of other pedestrians ambling in the streets and the fact that I am met with questioning glances and whispered conversations behind hands, it is clear the information is out.
Especially as Bannik’s and my own name are lobbed around with frequency.
A new guard is stationed at the bottom of the lift that will take me to the palace grounds.
He steps aside for me to enter the lift, and within moments, I reach the palace level and make my way across the grounds and courtyard, where two more guards wait.
One of them is Tarrik. He breaks away from his colleague and meets me a short distance from the main entrance.
“I will lead you to the throne room.”
With Tarrik two steps in front of me, I keep my gaze straight ahead, although I maintain full awareness of my surroundings.
We arrive at the throne room without incident.
Unlike the last time he guided me here, he doesn’t attempt to converse with me.
There is no mention of Ryvik or that he will be seeking an audience with me some time in the near future.
Tarrik knocks on the door, and a voice calls out to enter.
I have visited this room more often in the last seven days than I have in the last seven anums. Like yesterday, the others present are Janik, Horek, and Bannik. The queen and Mak are the only ones absent. My brother glares, and it is clear nothing has changed since we saw each other last.
“Rumors are swirling around the barracks already,” Horek says, breaking the heavy silence.
“Such as?” It could be many things.
“It is as you suspected,” the commander announces.
“That Carrik is here to attempt to reconcile with Bannik. That it wasn’t just Bannik who had been a rebel spy, but that you two were working together, and Carrik is here because Bannik exposed him.
My favorite is that one of you is a clone sent by the Kovarians to infiltrate us and destroy us from within. ”
The Kovarians were in the middle of a trade agreement with the Bohnari when Mohneek alleged that King Danik had been under the influence of the mating fever and took her by force.
Considering he was on Kovari at the time—personally seeing to the trade negotiations—it’s impossible he was the perpetrator of that crime.
It became obvious during my time in the rebel camp that whatever happened to the female is the cause of her madness. I believe someone did violate her, but it could not have been our king. My father had been on Kovari at the same time the king was there, so I know it’s not possible.
“There will always be stories.” They are often more believable than the truth.
“Have you been approached by anyone?” Horek asks.
“No. After I spoke with Lindsey, I returned to my room at the barracks and didn’t leave. I requested my meals be delivered. However, when I entered the building, I crossed paths with Senior Officer Arvik, who treated me with the usual amount of hatred he directs my way.”
Bannik glances at me. “I don’t blame him. His father and sister were two of the crew members manning the transport shuttle to Santeeka who were killed during the rebel attack.”
I jolt. “How do you know that?”
My brother scoffs. “Because despite Arvik being one of my senior officers, he and I were somewhat friends. He had discussed with me his worries about his family and how often the rebels targeted the transport shuttles with sabotage. I knew they had been scheduled to work that day.”
No wonder Arvik hated Bannik—in turn, me—for being a rebel spy.
Not only did he assume my brother betrayed the crown, but he also betrayed their friendship.
Even though Bannik was not the spy in question, I suspect his superior officer can’t separate the fact that we’re brothers, no matter that Bannik hates me as well.
“I am sorry he blames you for my actions.”
Bannik sneers. “I do not want your apologies. Our whole lives, you have done nothing but betray me time and time again. Don’t waste your words. They mean nothing to me.”
As if my brother’s disdain doesn’t bother me, I turn to Janik and Horek.
“If we are going to get Ryvik to make contact again, then he needs to know for sure it was the person he knew as Bannik he was telling our family secrets to. It needs to be made perfectly clear that I was truly part of the rebellion. That perhaps my ‘loyalty’ to the crown can be swayed once more in Mohneek’s direction. ”
“You’re working on the assumption Ryvik is still following her and Orvak,” Horek states.
“The mocking way he spoke of loyalty leads me to believe his loyalty continues to lie with them, yes.”
Janik clasps his wrist at the base of his spine and crosses the room to stare out one of the many windows onto the city below.
“If we are moving forward with your plan where you still play Bannik and he plays you, what comes next? We still do not know where Ryvik is. How will you get him not only to approach you, but to draw you into whatever scheme he has planned? Especially if he is working with Mohneek and Orvak still?” Horek asks.
“Tarrik. He’ll relay my message to Ryvik that I’m ready for whatever it is he didn’t think I was ready for at our last meeting.”
Bannik cocks his head. “Tarrik knows him? Why would another of the prince’s guards know someone associated with the rebel forces?”
“That’s what I plan on finding out.”
Janik and Horek share a glance before the commander shifts his focus my way. “After you approach Tarrik and give him a message for Ryvik to meet, then what?”
“It depends on how the meeting goes. Since I don’t know what his motivation or goal is, I can’t choose how to proceed until I’m armed with that knowledge.”
The prince laughs. “So you’re going in blind and coming up with a plan on the spot, without clearing it through me first?”
I cant my head. “No offense, Your Highness, but I’ve been a spy for longer than you’ve been both a rebel and a prince. Alik trusted me to handle things my own way without input from him. I know what I’m doing.”
To my surprise, Horek chuckles. “He has you there.”
Janik sends his cousin a rude gesture that is definitely something he learned from his human heart’s fire.
“So the plan is for everyone to go about their own business and wait for Ryvik to decide whether he’ll take Carrik’s bait?” Bannik questions.
“Yes—”
“No,” Janik says at the same time as me.
My eyes lock on the prince’s. “With all due respect, we have the same amount of intel regarding Mohneek, Orvak, or Ryvik at this moment as we did yesterday, which is none. The only difference is that Bannik is here now to take on the role of his greedy, wastrel brother. While I am still the guard—and former rebel—who has just recently discovered a new, but not yet publicized, reason to hate his brother the spy and the royal family. Which is what we need. A reason for Ryvik to believe that I’m open to whatever it is he has planned. ”
“What if he doesn’t take your bait?” Janik asks.
“He will.”
The prince’s eyes widen. “What if he doesn’t?”
“Then I will figure something else out.”
Horek steps toward me and stops when he claps his hand on my shoulder. “You do not have to do this alone any longer, you know? We can come up with another way to draw out Ryvik.”
My jaw tightens at the unexpected kindness of the commander. Not that he’s cruel in any way, but he’s also not known for being softer with his emotions. It would seem as though his heart’s fire has brought out this new part of him.
“Thank you, Commander.”
Horek drops his arm to his side, moves back, and clears his throat like he’s uncomfortable with the unusual display of camaraderie. Janik merely sighs.
“I suppose that’s everything, then?” he asks.
“I understand how difficult it might be with what appears to be inaction and having the patience for it, but it truly is the best course of action.” Patience has been ingrained in me for anums.
The prince and commander both laugh, but it is Janik who speaks. “You were part of the rebel forces I led, so you know that being patient is not always easy for me. It is something I must work hard at.”
“Vaguely, I can recall such a thing.” I grin.
Janik nods slowly. “Since you are the person with the most experience in subterfuge and espionage, I will leave the expertise of how to proceed with you then, I suppose. That does not mean I want to be left in the dark. I want any and all updates, even if there is nothing more to say than that there are no updates. Is that understood?”
“Yes, Your Highness.” I glance between the three of them, pausing only briefly on Bannik, before bowing. “If there is nothing else?”
Janik waves me off. “Go. Pass along your message to Tarrik.”
With a brief chin dip, I leave the throne room and make my way back to the palace entrance where I hope he remains on guard duty.
I’m in luck, because he stands at attention next to the other guard.
I catch his gaze, making sure to display the bitter rage I’m supposed to be feeling, and dart a glance toward the closest room off the entryway.
I veer off and slip through the door before the second guard notices my presence. Several ticks pass before finally there’s the sound of approaching footsteps and Tarrik enters, closing the door behind him.
Before the guard can get a word out, I beat him to it. “I have a message for Ryvik that I wish for you to deliver.”
He arches a brow. “What would that be?”
“Tell him I’m ready.”
The guard smirks, and it sets me on edge, the same way I’d been when Ryvik first approached me in that darkened alley. It’s like they both know something I don’t. “What makes you think he’ll believe that?”
“Because he was right about Carrik. I confronted him and the prince with my knowledge of who my brother really is, and neither denied it. Didn’t even try to.”
Tarrik laughs. “You act surprised.”
“I thought they would at least attempt to lie or feed me some other kind of cover story. Not only that, but it was my brother who told the queen I’d been part of the rebel camp.
He’s betrayed me one time too many. Tell Ryvik to meet me outside the gates nearest the rain forest where the rebel forces made camp, two nights from tonight.
Whatever he needs from me is his. I want to punish Carrik and soon. ”
“I’m not sure I can get a message to him that quickly,” Tarrik says.
“I am sure you’ll figure out a way.” Without waiting for a response, I swiftly exit the room and make my way out the main palace entrance and across the grounds to the lift.
When I reach street level, I walk without direction.
I’m vaguely aware of my surroundings, a fact my father would severely reprimand me for.
In my role, vigilance is what has kept me alive in some instances.
Too many things are spinning around in my head, though.
I need to find a small amount of peace, and the only place besides with my heart’s fire that I know I’ll find it is the botanical garden.
With determined steps, I make my way through the city.