The Hope of Vitality, page 9
“I wish to meet with this agent.”
“Of course, Your Majesty. It would be prudent to set up a meeting well away from prying eyes.”
“Make it happen.”
* * *
The night was well advanced when the king was led toward a dark alley not far from the royal castle. Clad in a hooded cloak, he could have been just another wealthy merchant protecting himself from the evening chill.
A dozen guards led by Lord Karevis spread out protectively around the king as they went. All of them had been personally selected by Karevis, and by his orders they were cloaked and hooded like the king. The Varasan army commander was leaving nothing to chance.
Reaching the narrow alley, the group stretched out along it until they came to a broad common located almost directly below the castle. Delmar was familiar with the site. At most times during daylight hours it was frequented by townsfolk who strolled among the many trees that dotted the expanse or relaxed on the lush green turf.
After dark the setting could only be described as eerie. Bathed with thin light from a pale moon and devoid of any sign of life, the park was the perfect location for a clandestine meeting. The guards seemed on edge, and Delmar understood completely.
A man stepped out of the shadows behind the trunk of a large poplar, bowing to the king and whispering a previously agreed watchword. The king managed to recognize the voice of the agent who had met with him earlier.
Pointing to a small cluster of trees nearby, the agent murmured, “Over there, Your Majesty.”
With a tight nod the king followed the agent into the trees, several guards shadowing them watchfully. Guards positioned themselves just inside the tree line. The agent stepped deeper into the trees, the king at his side.
A new figure appeared suddenly in front of them. Startled, Delmar reached for the hilt of his sword. Then the agent quietly greeted the newcomer, and the king willed himself to relax.
Delmar had not anticipated someone slight in build, and he stared at the new agent curiously, trying without success in the dim light to get a glimpse of the hooded face.
“Your Majesty, I am honored.”
The soft voice caught him entirely by surprise. He hadn’t been expecting to meet a woman.
“Who am I speaking to?” he asked.
The woman chuckled—a melodious sound that seemed out of character for an agent. “Who would you like to be speaking to?”
Unsure how to respond, he said nothing.
“I mean no disrespect, Your Majesty,” she offered. “I use different names, depending on the circumstances.”
Her speech suggested she was noble by birth, but he couldn’t place her accent. It must have been either Castelan or Arvenian.
Abruptly, her posture changed. “I be just a wee farmer’s lass, ya see.” She changed again. “Fresh mussels, Y’Worship? Octopus? Whateva y’r ’ungry for, I got it!” Her wheedling voice was coarse and guttural.
He gaped in astonishment at the transformation.
Without missing a beat she spoke a sentence in what he knew to be fluent Rogandan, before switching effortlessly to a language he didn’t recognize at all.
“Were you just speaking Ahran?” he asked.
“I was, Your Majesty,” she replied calmly, once again in the tones of a woman of noble birth. Her accent now clearly placed her as a native of Varas.
“I suddenly understand why you hesitated to supply a name!” he told her.
She laughed lightly, a cheerful sound in that dark place. “You may call me Maive.”
“Very well, Maive.” He hesitated. “Why are you doing this? Why become an agent?”
“My story would make a long and sorry tale, Your Majesty. It is enough to say that I have reason to do anything in my power to thwart the purposes of the man who clearly has designs on Varas and the kingdoms around it.”
Unable in the darkness to catch the tiniest glimpse of Maive’s face behind her hood, Delmar had no way of reading her. But he trusted Maran implicitly. She appeared capable of presenting herself as whoever she wanted to be, but his senior agent was not easily taken in. Before recommending her, he would have thoroughly investigated her character, her history, and her motivations. He would never have allowed her to meet with the king if any doubt remained about her reliability.
“Thank you, Maive. We are profoundly grateful that you have made your skills available in support of the well-being of Varas. Please be careful! Take no unnecessary risks. It will serve no one but our enemies if you come to any harm.”
“I am grateful for your consideration, Your Majesty.” She bowed. “Until next time.”
Then she was gone.
She hadn’t waited to be dismissed, but he was not offended. How could an agent thrive when constricted by convention?
As he headed back to the palace, it occurred to him that he applied a different standard to Maran and his other agents. Maive was different though.
He acknowledged wryly that she managed to be both mysterious and beguiling at the same time.
Delmar stood with Maran on a castle balcony overlooking the city of Varacellan. To all appearances, nothing had changed. People were going about their business as always. Yet Delmar sensed that his kingdom was poised on the brink of a precipice.
However vigorously his agents rooted out Ahran infiltrators, others arrived to replace them. Most insidious of all, they came with gold—a seemingly unending supply of it. His own coffers had received a welcome boost from the small hoards seized already by his agents.
Gold shone with a sparkle all of its own, and there was no way of knowing how many of his subjects had been seduced by its glitter, agreeing to turn against their own people for the right price.
Seeking a more cheerful topic for rumination, Delmar’s thoughts drifted in a different direction. The new agent had thoroughly roused his curiosity. The fact that he had never seen her face must surely be contributing to her mystique. He sometimes wondered if a single glance at her in the daylight might be enough to extinguish his fascination entirely.
He released a quiet sigh, at a loss to account for his own foolishness. Nevertheless, curiosity could not be denied. “How has your new agent been acquitting herself?” He hoped he didn’t sound too interested.
“Her involvement has been invaluable, Your Majesty. We are preparing to take down what we believe to be the Ahran headquarters. Thanks to her we have considerable insight into their activities.”
“What have they been doing?”
“They have been working hard at recruiting informants—and turning them into collaborators whenever they can. We have identified a number of people they have compromised. We’ll be moving on them soon.”
Delmar had the feeling something else was on Maran’s mind. “Is there more?” he prodded.
The agent’s brows drew together in frustration. “They seem to have an overriding goal, but we haven’t been able to find out what it is. None of them speak of it directly.”
“Keep me informed if you learn any more.”
Maran bowed. “I will notify you the moment we uncover anything of significance.”
The hour before sunset saw King Delmar threading his way through the streets of Varacellan. A modest contingent of guards accompanied him, Lord Karevis among them.
Market day was drawing to a close; the sale of most wares had ended, and people were flocking around the ever-popular food stalls.
The king welcomed opportunities to mingle with his subjects, and people had learned to expect a brief visit from him at that time of the week. He had long since concluded there was no better time or place to quickly assess the mood of the populace.
“Your Majesty! Will you try one of my special fish cakes? Everyone agrees it’s food worthy of a king!”
Delmar smiled, enjoying the vendor’s enthusiasm. “Thank you, but I’ve eaten already. Perhaps next time.”
“Over here, Your Majesty! I have a bracelet guaranteed to win the heart of any fair maiden.”
The king smiled and waved, moving on without further acknowledgment. The vendor had touched on a delicate topic. Delmar would not produce an heir until he found himself a queen. It hadn’t escaped him that the issue was a topic of animated conversation among his subjects.
As the light began to fail a sudden commotion shattered his musings. A runaway horse, with cart attached, was careering out of control, knocking over stalls and scattering vendors and customers in every direction. Delmar stood directly in its path.
Seeing the folly of any attempt at heroics, he threw himself aside with a shouted order to his men. “Stop that horse!”
Several guards grabbed at the traces as the horse passed, but all were thrown to the ground. None succeeded even in slowing the animal.
Sudden cries of alarm rang out from his scattered guards. Struggling to his feet he saw men with drawn swords setting upon his guards. None of those felled by the horse proved able to defend themselves. The rest were soon fighting for their lives.
He gaped in disbelief, unable to credit such a brazen attack in his own capital. Then five of the attackers broke away from the fight, heading straight for him.
Karevis, sword in hand, leaped into their path, furiously engaging two of them at once. The others ignored him, their full attention on Delmar.
“Run!” shouted Karevis.
With the attackers almost upon him, Delmar took the commander’s advice and sprinted away. He’d been trained to fight from his boyhood, and he had no reason to doubt his capabilities. But he also possessed a cool head. Taking on three men with unknown fighting skills was risky at best.
Speedy and fit, he decided that running was a good strategy. Varacellan was routinely patrolled by his own soldiers. Provided he lived long enough he would stumble upon them eventually.
Turning the first corner that presented itself, he raced away from the market. The street bent away before intersecting with another broader street that led toward another heavily trafficked part of the city. Delmar didn’t hesitate, dashing around the corner and flying down the middle of the broad avenue. A glance behind showed him gaining ground on his pursuers, but they were not giving up.
Townsfolk gaped open-mouthed as he sped past alone. Turning a corner, then another, he burst out onto a busy street. Frustratingly, no soldiers were anywhere to be seen.
As he glanced around, he realized that he would soon be recognized. Someone was sure to give him away by drawing attention to him with no awareness of the consequences. Accordingly he moved quickly to the side of a building that protruded into the street, hiding himself in the deepening shadows on the far side. Panting from his exertion, he peered out cautiously from his hiding place, waiting for the Ahrans to appear.
He had barely recovered his breath when a figure appeared before him, hemming him in. Reaching for his knife, he was startled by an urgent command.
“Take off your cloak! Quickly!”
The speaker was a woman. Although he couldn’t place her, he removed his cloak, acting on instinct.
She grabbed it from him, tossing it aside into a pile of trash. Then she whisked off her own cloak—a thin garment colored a bold blue—and threw it across his shoulders. As Delmar’s pursuers rounded the corner, she pulled him into an intimate embrace.
Choosing the same direction as Delmar, his pursuers headed toward the king. The men had sheathed their swords and hidden them below their cloaks, but all of them had their hands on the hilts. As they drew closer, he bent low, burying his face in her neck.
One of the passing Ahrans aimed a probing glance at them both, and she rounded on him, snarling. “Find a woman of your own!” Then, taking Delmar’s head in her hands, she drew him close and kissed him on the lips.
Too startled to know how else to respond, he kissed her back.
His rescuer paid no attention to the Ahrans as they hurried past in search of their quarry. Even when they were surely long gone, she did not pull away. Nor did he.
Later, he was never sure precisely when it dawned on him who she was. Nor could he identify the exact moment when a clever diversion became a tender kiss. He only knew that something had shifted inside him.
He drew back at last, impatient to gaze upon the face of Maive.
She stared back at him uncertainly, her cheeks faintly flushed.
After a charged silence, she seemed to recover her poise. “Why were you alone, Your Majesty? And with Ahrans at your heels!”
“I hardly understand how it happened myself,” he replied. He gazed at her in wonder. “How did you find me?”
“I noticed you when you hid. Then I saw the Ahrans. We’ve been watching them, so I knew who they were. When I realized they were searching for you, I decided to improvise.”
“To great effect! Thank you for rescuing me!”
She looked up at him uncertainly. “Please pardon my forwardness. I’m sure you don’t need me to say that the kiss meant nothing.”
He tried to ignore the sinking feeling in his gut. “Of course! It’s all in the line of duty. No doubt you often find yourself doing such things.”
“Far from it, Your Majesty.” Her tone was unexpectedly sharp. “There are lines I refuse to cross, even in the service of your kingdom.”
“I didn’t mean to suggest…” he stammered awkwardly. He took a breath. “What I meant was…”
Struggling to find the right words, he spotted Karevis, searching anxiously. The commander was trailed by one of the guards, other soldiers close behind them.
With a groan of frustration, he stepped into the open, reluctantly accepting that this conversation would need to wait.
Karevis spotted him at once. “Your Majesty!”
The relief on the commander’s face was unmistakable. “I barely recognized you! What happened to the Ahrans?”
“They got away. I didn’t need to defend myself though, thanks to my rescuer.” He turned back to Maive with a grateful smile.
She was gone.
By the time he returned his attention to Karevis, the commander had retrieved his discarded cloak. “That’s an impressive disguise,” he said admiringly, pointing to Maive’s blue substitute.
Delmar could find nothing to say.
It belatedly occurred to him that Maive might not have been the only one who recognized him. Had other townspeople seen him kissing her? He decided he didn’t care.
Failing to notice his discomposure, Karevis surrounded him with soldiers and bustled him back toward the palace. The king went meekly, trying desperately to set his thoughts and emotions in order.
King Delmar sat in a small palace reception room with Maran and Karevis.
“How could such an attack happen?” he asked. “Right here, in the heart of my capital!”
Maran hung his head. “We were ready to move on the Ahrans. Clearly we waited too long. And they had considerably more men here than we realized.”
“Were they responsible for the runaway horse?” asked the king. “Or were they simply taking advantage of it?”
The senior agent exchanged a glance with Karevis. “We can’t be certain, but we think it was carefully planned.”
The king raised an eyebrow inquiringly.
“You would have noticed they wasted no time in setting off after you,” Karevis observed.
“We suspect that you were always the target,” confirmed Maran. “You arrived as the markets were closing—as you almost always do—so they put their plan into action.”
“Were they hoping to capture me? Or kill me?”
“We don’t know.”
The king met his commander’s eyes. “What happened with the two men you were fighting?”
“I brought one of them down,” Karevis replied. “One of your guards helped me deal with the other one.”
“So the guards fought off the other Ahrans who attacked us?”
“Eventually. Three of the Ahrans left to chase you. That evened the odds. Even so, only one guard was still capable of fighting when it was over. It didn’t matter. By then the place was swarming with soldiers alerted by the disturbance. I took a few of them and the remaining guard and we went looking for you. It was a while before we found you.”
“Fortunately Maive reached you first,” Maran observed.
“Yes, it was thanks to her that I escaped. How did she come to be there?”
“It was pure luck that she was there at all. And that she spotted you when she did,” Maran replied.
Delmar couldn’t help himself. “Where is she now?”
“She’s left the kingdom.”
“Why?” He couldn’t hide his shock.
“It’s possible that one of the missing Ahrans might put the pieces together. We couldn’t take that chance—she’s too valuable. We needed to get her away from Varacellan. She learned of a high risk mission outside the kingdom and had no hesitation in volunteering for it.” Maran sighed. “I won’t deny that she’ll be a big loss.”
Delmar opened his mouth to berate Maran for sending her away without consulting him first. He barely checked himself in time. He reminded himself that Maran didn’t need his permission, and he was only seeking the best outcome both for Maive and for the kingdom.
All the same, it was frustrating. None of this would have happened if she hadn’t needed to rescue him. It belatedly occurred to him that there might be more to her departure. Was it possible she was fleeing from him? He wasn’t willing even to consider such a possibility.
He wanted to ask for details about her mission, but he knew it wasn’t appropriate. Nevertheless, he wasn’t going to give up. He would find a way to reach her.
The days passed, and Delmar could not get Maive out of his mind.
He knew almost nothing of substance about her. He didn’t even know her real name.
At least he’d finally seen her face. She was no classic beauty, although there was something beguiling about her eyes as she gazed up at him. He longed to see her again, to properly appreciate and remember her. It occurred to him that he’d never seen her smile, never shared a lighthearted moment with her.
