Ties of Magic (Curse of the Crown Book 2) Page 3

  "It'll be done as you wish, Your Majesty. When do you want us to leave?"

  "As soon as everything can be organised and the men are ready. Take your time selecting them. They should be volunteers, so there's good pay in it. For yourself... I have a particular reward beside the coin. I... At Extraneo, we had a conversation... I'd like to give you leave to go home. Not on duty leave, but for good. If you wish it. You'd always be welcome back, should you wish to return, but..." This was harder than Akoni had anticipated. He was loath to lose Kieron, especially given the circumstances, but it was the right thing to do. That didn't make it easier, though.

  "Your Majesty, I...don't know what to say."

  Akoni gave him a small smile. "I'll be sad to see you go, but you deserve it considering all your years of loyal service."

  "Thank you, Your Majesty. Truly."

  The smile on Kieron's face, his genuine happiness, was worth it, Akoni decided.

  Chapter 3

  "Mother, what a surprise." Akoni rose from his desk and went to hug her, placing a kiss on her cheek. "Are you well?"

  "As well as ever. Tell me how you are?" she replied, concern lacing her voice.

  Akoni shrugged. "As well as can be expected. Ignacio is keeping me busy. There's always something I need to read or sign or do something with."

  "You look different." She took his hand and led him to a couch, drawing him onto it.

  "Shadows under my eyes, is it?" He laughed. "I don't sleep nearly as much as I'd like now."

  "Darling, there's no need to pretend with me. I've seen your father suffering during his own ascension. I know what you must be going through. Does it pain you much?"

  Akoni's shoulders slumped. Hiding behind a mask was something he'd been doing for years now, but his mother had always been able to see past it. She was stroking the back of his hand, a gentle and reassuring touch. He nodded. He could feel his magic nearly all the time now. Sometimes it was an itch or a burn, sometimes it seemed to scrape his insides with scalding irons. "It seems to be getting worse. It's subtle, and I don't always notice it right away. Did father ever talk to you about it?"

  "We were closer then and shared more...still, I don't know much. A time came when I was the only one he could be close to. That you can still bear my touch is a good sign."

  Akoni returned her smile, though it didn't come easy. "How did he manage?"

  "I think you know he didn't. In the end, he drew your grandfather's magic, all of it. It was too much, too fast, and you know how he became." They were silent a moment, both following their own thoughts. "Have you spoken to Paavo?"

  "What could he possibly do?" Akoni sneered. His opinion of the royal physician had never been good.

  "I know you don't like him, but he's been your father's and grandfather's physician. He knows things. They keep records relating to the magic. Please talk to him, Akoni. He can't come to you without being called."

  "I'll think about it."

  "Tell me about your guard."

  "What guard?" Akoni asked, perplexed.

  "The one you're missing." She gave him a knowing smile. "The one you're telling everyone you sent away on some secret mission. What happened between the two of you?"

  "Nothing happened." Akoni sighed.

  "He helped you start your ascension. You need him by your side in this. You'd not have sent him away willingly."

  "How do you know?"

  "I was there when your father began his ascension. The magic has rules, laws it follows. It's a cycle that repeats. The way your father needed me, you need someone by your side, and I think it's your guard. I've seen the way you were when he was nearby. He made you better than even you knew you could be."

  "He also infuriated me a lot," Akoni said with indulgent humour.

  "Where is he?"

  Akoni shrugged. "I don't know. He disappeared."

  "What do you mean?" she asked, her brow creasing.

  "I mean he disappeared. Walked away and vanished. I'm told he probably took a train out of the city, somewhere to the south."

  "He abandoned you? Did you not tell him?" she asked, outraged.

  "Our relationship was complicated at the best of times. I tried... He insisted he could not be more than my guard."

  "Akoni...you need to find this man."

  Akoni laughed humourlessly. "Don't think I've not tried. He's good at not being found; he has years of practise with it."

  She gave him a questioning look.

  Akoni shook his head. It wasn't his secret to tell, not now.

  "There are things you need to learn about your magic. You must talk to Paavo. Or...talk to your father."

  His father, the man who had tormented him for years. She must know what she asked to be impossible for Akoni. It had only been a couple of weeks since he'd been able to overcome his father's magic and only because of Jeffrey's help. He'd not seen his father since, finding excuses not to visit him. The moment Akoni's ascension had begun, his father's health had deteriorated. Within a matter of days, he'd been unable to leave the bed for more than a few minutes at a time, his body no longer strong enough to carry him. Akoni had been told it was normal, something that had happened to every previous king. If it meant he didn't have to see the man, he didn't mind too much. "You seem to be asking ever more impossible things of me, Mother." He pinned her with a hard stare which she returned.

  "The ascension has the potential to kill you, Akoni."

  "Maybe it'd be a good thing. I don't have an heir to whom the magic can pass. If it dies out, at least it won't hurt anyone else."

  "Think about your people. What will happen to them without a king?"

  Akoni knew well what would happen; it was already starting, after all. The nobles would squabble among themselves and tear the land apart in their struggle for power. Sycania would die. "Fine, I'll talk to Paavo. He better have something useful for me."

  "I'm certain he will. Thank you, darling."

  Akoni hummed but was prevented from saying more by a knock on the door.

  The queen withdrew her hand. She'd always kept intimacies to private moments.

  "Best get it over with." Akoni kissed his mother on the cheek before bidding the person to enter.

  Ignacio came into the room and bowed to them. "Your Majesties, I apologies for the interruption."

  "Whatever it is, it'll need to wait, Nace. It appears there's someone I need to go talk to," Akoni said and got to his feet. "Come and stop me doing something undignified."

  Ignacio opened his mouth, but no words came out. He inclined his head, and together, they left.

  "Why is it the royal physicians keep their lair in an obscure part of the palace? Surely they should be close in case there's an emergency," Akoni muttered as they rounded another corner and the hall continued ever onwards.

  "Hundreds of years of something being a certain way, people stop asking questions about it."

  "Well, I'm asking."

  "I've no answers for this," Ignacio replied and shrugged.

  "You, no answers? Must be a first." Akoni smirked.

  "Let's not make it a habit. Why do you want to see him anyway? You don't even like him."

  "You'll see soon enough. Is that it?"

  They had reached a set of unremarkable double doors.

  "I believe so," Ignacio said and opened the door, holding it for Akoni.

  They entered an enormous chamber lying mostly in darkness, a single lamp above them unable to provide enough light for the entire space. Shelves lined the walls and a section of the room, the other was taken up by tables brimming with papers and random objects.

  "Paavo?" Ignacio called.

  There was no response.

  "This is disturbing," Akoni said, staring at a shelf filled with jars which held various body parts floating in a clear liquid. A hand, a tongue, a set of eyes, intestines and more. "And macabre."

  "I can think of a lot of questions I probably don't want answers to. So please don't ask them."

/>   "No, I don't think I will." Akoni turned away from the shelves. His gaze paused on the tables, but he decided against a closer look. A half open door on the far side caught his eye. The next room was also lined with shelves, these ones holding books. "I didn't know we had a second library."

  Ignacio followed him.

  "Praeceptor? You've returned early," a disembodied voice said.

  "Hmm, ghosts, too?" Akoni wondered.

  A boy appeared from between some shelves, holding a lantern. "Your Majesty. I'm sorry, I didn't realise..." The boy broke off and dropped to his knees, his head down.

  "If you're calling Paavo praeceptor, you must be his apprentice."

  "Yes, Your Majesty."

  "Rise and tell me where he is."

  The boy got to his feet with slow movements, his head still lowered. "He's gone into the city, Your Majesty. I don't expect him for a few hours yet."

  "What's your name?"

  "Toby."

  "How long have you been in training, Toby?"

  "Nearly ten years, Your Majesty."

  "That sounds like it's long enough for you to have a good grasp of things. What do you know of my family's magic?"

  "I... Your Majesty, I don't think I understand the question."

  "Are you trained only in matters of the body or have you been taught anything relating to my magic?"

  "My training has centred around the body and healing it of ailments, but I know of magic. Praeceptor Paavo has many old books on your ancestors, Your Majesty. I've only begun learning the code to be able to read them."

  "Books on my family? Show me."

  "Your Majesty... I don't think you'll be able to read them. They aren't in any known language. But..." Toby shrugged and, lantern in hand, headed farther into the room, beckoning them to follow.

  Akoni and Ignacio shared a look and followed the boy. They came to a corner with two large desks, an armchair, and a couch, surrounded by candelabras holding dozens of lit candles.

  "Please take a seat, Your Majesty, and I'll bring you one of the books."

  "Is it me, or does it seem idiotic to have so many candles arounds these old books?"

  "It's not just you," Ignacio replied. "I guess without windows there's no natural light by which they can read. But I wonder why there are no power lines here to provide light."

  "Bet you it's too modern for Paavo," Akoni whispered. "I'm feeling affirmed in my dislike."

  The boy returned and handed a massive tome to Akoni. "This is the most recent one. It covers both your father and grandfather, Your Majesty."

  Akoni opened the book on the first page. The inscription was unlike anything he'd seen before. He turned to catch Ignacio's eye. A shake of the head told him his advisor knew no more than him. He leafed through the pages but could make out nothing. "And you can read this?"

  "Well... I'm getting better at it. Praeceptor Paavo can read it well, though."

  "He's the only one?"

  The boy nodded.

  "How many of these books are there? And what's in them?"

  "I believe they started in the time of Adriano or shortly thereafter. But the oldest books are so frail they often break at a touch. They record whatever the king's physician thought relevant. Some are like a history book, detailing achievements, actions, decisions. Others are about the king's person...his frame of mind, if you like. They do all mention your family's magic in some way or other."

  "Why'd they keep these records?"

  "I guess as a way to pass knowledge down the lines."

  "And why is it in this strange language?"

  "To prevent people reading it who shouldn't. I believe some of the books contain details which probably shouldn't be known outside the royal family."

  "I'm lost for words," Akoni admitted, still leafing through the book. There were drawings on some of the pages. He'd already found sketches of both his father and grandfather as well as his mother. But there were other drawings, too, strange lines that seemed to mean nothing.

  "I apologise, Your Majesty. My training is far from complete... I'm sure when the praeceptor returns he can answer your questions better than I can."

  "No, Toby, that's not what I mean. You've told me more than I expected to learn here today. Thank you."

  "Toby, all these books here, they're not all about our kings and their ancestors?" Ignacio asked, a frown wrinkling his brow.

  "No, my lord. Many of them are books of healing. Studies on illnesses, details on herbs, all kinds of things related to treating the injured and ailing."

  "But there are a great many on the royal line?"

  "Yes, many dozens. I don't know exactly how many."

  "You said you made a start reading them. Tell us what you learned."

  "My lord..." Toby scratched the back of his head. "You're asking because of your recent ascension, aren't you?" He turned to look at Akoni, who nodded. "From what I read, your father's magic is transferring to you. A little each day until there's nothing left. It starts when the son proves himself stronger than the father. Every previous king has gone through it."

  Akoni nodded. "There's some who didn't survive the ascension, I'm told."

  "Hmm... I think I may have read of one. He had a son already so when he didn't survive, his son, the king's grandson, ascended. I don't recall all the details, I'm afraid, Your Majesty."

  "What else do you know?"

  "Not much really." He shrugged as if in apology. "It's supposed to be a painful process. There's little known about making it easier."

  "So endure to live."

  A thud rang out, a door closing.

  "Toby?"

  Toby winced. "I apologise, Your Majesty. That'd be my sister."

  Before Toby could explain further, his sister arrived and started at the sight of the gathered men. She froze, dropping an armful of flowers that scattered to the floor. Toby hurried to her, helping her gather them up again.

  "Bring her here, Toby," Akoni said, still staring at the book in his lap.

  Toby deposited the flowers on an empty desk and brought his sister closer. "Your Majesty, this is Ivy."

  "Ivy...are you also studying to be a physician?"

  "Ha, I wish." She cringed and fell to her knees. "I'm sorry, Your Majesty."

  "It's all right..." Akoni gave an amused smirk. "Stand up."

  She trembled but didn't move, still muttering apologies.

  "Toby?"

  "I'm sorry, Your Majesty. She's awestruck. I don't think you'll get much out of her now." Toby gave a helpless gesture, his face scrunched up.

  "Will she be all right?"

  Toby nodded. "In a while. Maybe a long while."

  "Does this happen a lot?"

  "No. She just fancies-- Ow!"

  Ivy hit her brother in the shin, scrambled to her feet, and ran out of the room.

  Akoni caught Ignacio's eyes, reading the same amusement in his friend that he experienced himself. "What does your sister do around here?"

  "She's very talented at drawing, Your Majesty. She helps praeceptor with the books. Copying them, drawing likenesses of flowers. Sometimes he lets her help preparing medicine, cutting or crushing herbs and so forth."

  "She wants to be a physician?"

  "Yes, Your Majesty. But women aren't accepted."

  "A common issue in our society. She helps copy the books you said?"

  "Yes, Your Majesty."

  "Why not use a printing press?"

  "That'd require funds to purchase one, I believe."

  Akoni laughed. "You know, I like you, Toby. We'll get along splendidly. If I need a physician in future, I want it to be you."

  "Your Majesty, I... I'm honoured but I'm not trained."

  "No matter, you can always talk to Paavo if you need to, but I'll only be dealing with you from now on. I want you to spend as much of your time as possible reading these old books to learn from them. Anything relating to my magic which might help me with my ascension, I need to know about. I think your siste
r should also learn this code; you'll get more done between the two of you."

  "Akoni," Ignacio started but was silenced by a shake of Akoni's head.

  "You, my friend, will make sure Paavo understands."

  "Of course." Ignacio sighed.

  Chapter 4

  "Your Majesty, I have Lady--"

  "Kendra Trevino," Akoni said, interrupting Ignacio.

  "Your Majesty." She curtsied, keeping her head bowed. "Thank you for agreeing to see me."

  Akoni caught Ignacio's eye and raised an eyebrow. The suppressed wince told him enough. He stood, leaving his desk in favour of the more comfortable couches on the other side of the room. He gestured for her to follow. So did Ignacio.

  "You made quite the impression at my court," he said as he poured tea for each of them.

  "Your Majesty, I was not trying to stir trouble. My family is in a challenging situation, and I'm doing the best I can." She took the cup with a nod of thanks, sipping it carefully.

  "You seem to be doing well with it."

  "Not half as well as I'd like." She frowned.

  Akoni smiled. The mannerisms were similar enough. She spoke with confidence and determination. Her eyes had the same colour: sea green. The look in them was different, less haunted but still defensive. Even the way she sat on the edge of her seat was familiar. "Is this why you wanted to see me?"

  "Rumours have it you are more open-minded than most. That you are already working to change many things."

  "Flattery always works," he said and laughed. "You're a woman leading a noble house, a young woman who has never been married at that. The other lords don't like it, and they have shown this clearly. Why do you continue to oppose them?"

  "Because I refuse to marry just to have someone, who may decide at their own discretion, whether to ensure my family's estate continues to run at its best and our staff can continue to get paid. And if you truly thought me in the wrong, then you could have shown it at your ascension ceremony. That you didn't tells me you have at least some sympathy."

  She was passionate and determined, and Akoni marvelled at the similarity again.