Icefire, part 6
Lynn stood in front of the throne room, mentally reviewing the story he had prepared, and then entered. Queen Jade, sitting on her throne, looked up.
“Ah. And who are you?” she asked in a bored tone. Lynn knew that the queen must be tired from the constant flow of people who had come in and out, petitioning her for different things, but there was only one day a week in Sothil where the common folk were allowed inside the throne room to see their ruler over petty grievances, and Lynn wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to see the queen in an unsuspicious manner.
He knelt by the dais. “My name is Lynn,” he said. “And I come from Tjaele.”
“I can see that,” she said impatiently. “What is it that you are wanting to ask?”
“Your Majesty, as you know, there was a robbery here. A Fiamalan is suspected.”
“Yes, of course, I will be attending to that once the time is up.”
“Your Highness, I believe that she was after something extremely valuable.”
“But the jewel she stole was not worth much.”
“I am aware of that fact,” Lynn replied. “But perhaps she was after something else, and she mistook the jewel for it.”
“But what could it have been?” Queen Jade asked, frowning.
“Your Highness…perhaps the Gem?”
Queen Jade’s frown deepened. “But that is just a myth,” she said.
Lynn kept his composure and his impassive face registered nothing. “But there have been several legends reputing the fact that the Gem is what controls the planet’s core.”
The queen laughed. “I’m afraid that those are just legends,” she said condescendingly. “Stories. Tales. Call them what you wish, they are nothing more than that.”
Lynn tilted his head and bowed. “Of course, Your Highness,” he said with a stiff smile. “I shall not bother you anymore.”
The queen waved him away. “I would appreciate that,” she said sincerely, and Lynn left.
As he walked out into the bustling streets, he glanced back, squinting up at the castle keep with a frown. The queen was obviously no help; she was either bluffing or sincere in her assumption that the Gem was a myth, and Lynn had a feeling that she truly did not know. Vergal had trained him to read the subtle unconscious clues he could use to determine whether someone was lying, and she hadn’t given any of those signs. Lynn sighed to himself, then started as Peter suddenly appeared next to him.
“Hullo,” the boy said cheerfully. “What have you been doing?”
“I was asking the queen about something,” Lynn replied, wondering just how the other boy always found him so easily. It was unnerving, really.
“About the robbery?” Peter asked, and Lynn nodded. “What did she say?”
“Well, I told her my theory that perhaps the thief was after something of more value.”
“Like…?”
Lynn hesitated, looking at the boy’s clear, eager gray eyes. “Like the Gem,” he finally said.
Peter’s eyes widened. “You know what? I was thinking the exact same thing!” He beamed excitedly at Lynn, who couldn’t help but grin back. But his grin rapidly faded as Peter suddenly exclaimed, “But wait! Why were you asking her about that?”
Lynn, taken by surprise, only had time to open his mouth with a feeble, “Well,” before Peter continued.
“I just told you about that this morning, and now you’re coming up with some ‘theory’ for the queen? And another thing, why does it matter so much to you? You’re just visiting Sothil, right? You’re too young to be traveling to another place without anyone else, you can’t be much older than me. And what business are you working on? I haven’t seen you do anything or meet with anyone since you’ve been here.”
“Well maybe that’s because every single time I go out, I’m barraged by some pest who can’t leave me alone!” Lynn snapped. The boys stood still for a minute, glaring at each other, and then Peter whirled around and left without a word. Lynn angrily watched him go, then turned and started to wander aimlessly down the streets, fuming to himself.
He found, to his surprise, that he actually felt some compunction for getting upset at Peter. He shook his head, frustrated at himself. He wasn’t here to make friends; he had a mission that needed to be completed. But a part of him knew that he had grown closer with the other boy than he had originally intended or even expected.
He moodily kicked a stone and watched it skip along the street, coming to rest underneath the booted feet of a cloaked person, who by her figure Lynn assumed was a girl. She glanced down at the stone and kicked it away, then looked up just as an elderly woman suddenly collided into her with a large basket full of wares.
“Oh, I’m so sorry,” the woman cried.
“Don’t worry about it,” the girl said in a raspy voice that Lynn instantly recognized with a shock.
What’s she doing here? he wondered, and began to follow the Fiamalan girl as she made her way through the crowd.
~~~~~
Amber walked along at a casual, relaxed pace, although she wanted to run. She had obtained a gray cloak from a stand and had pulled the hood well over her face. Her reddish-gold hair was tied back and to all outward appearances, she looked like one of the older adolescents of Sothil, entirely apathetic to her surroundings and world around her. She continued on and came to a spot where the crowd began to thin, and she paused, frowning to herself. Amber suddenly whipped around, but there was nothing behind her. Shaking off the uneasy feeling that she was being watched, she wended her way through back alleys and bare, empty streets.
“Watch it!” a boy suddenly cried as she slammed into him around a corner.
Amber quickly assessed the situation and grabbed him by the shoulders, pushing him so that he was behind a building and out of sight. “Listen to me,” she hissed. The boy’s red-rimmed eyes grew wide, and Amber wondered briefly if he had been crying. He looked to be about her age, she mused, then ignored the thought, not really caring, and said, “What’s your name?”
“Peter,” he replied, trying to pull away. Amber squeezed his arm tighter, pinching his arm muscles. He stopped with a gasp of pain.
“Peter,” she repeated. “Now listen to me carefully. You are going to tell the queen of Sothil that there’s an army of Fiamalans coming this way, led by Queen Saron herself, and if she doesn’t do anything then this land will be nothing but rubble by the time Saron’s done. Now go!”
Peter nodded and ran away as she released him. Amber watched him go, satisfied, but then a hand was over her mouth and something cold was pressed against her neck.
“Why did you do that?” a voice hissed by her ear.
Amber twisted to get a look at her assailant, but the pressure of the thing, which she assumed was a dagger, on her neck made her stop. The voice nagged at her mind; it sounded familiar, and as Amber thought she suddenly remembered.
“You’re the Tjaelean boy!” she exclaimed, her voice muffled by his hand, which he slowly removed. “Let me go!”
There was no reply; instead she felt the dagger being moved from her neck for a split second while her hood was suddenly pulled off before she could stop it. She twisted her head around and found herself staring at the Tjaelean boy. He was frowning at her with a cold glare.
“Why did you do that?” he repeated, making sure the dagger was still at her throat.
“Do what?” she asked.
“Tell him about an attack. Is this just some ploy to fool the Sothilians?”
Amber jerked sharply in his arms, to no avail. “Let go of me and then I can talk,” she snapped.
“Why should I trust you?” the boy asked.
“Because I let you live before,” Amber replied. There was silence, and she bit her lip as she waited. The boy’s grip around her loosened somewhat reluctantly, and she stepped away and turned around so that she was facing him. Her eyes quickly took in the boy, and her hand strayed unconsciously to her hip where a firedart was nestled in her belt.
The boy was a head taller than her, with very pale, light blond hair that hung over his eyes, which were a keen blue. Something flickered briefly in them that Amber couldn’t place, although it didn’t seem hostile, as she would expect. Drawing herself up with as much dignity as she could muster, she said archly, “I’m not fooling you. Queen Saron truly is going to launch an attack on Sothil.”
The boy frowned. “And why are you telling us?”
Amber paused. “Why not?” she retorted, buying herself as much time as she could. Truth be told, she didn’t know just why she had done it. She had been angry with the queen at the time, and in a spiteful mood she had decided to foil the queen’s plan. Now that she thought about it, it was a ridiculous thing to do. The trouble she would be in when she got back…she brushed away the unpleasant idea of an irate Queen Saron.
The boy frowned again. “You’re our enemy,” he said, taking a step forward. “You’re for the queen Saron.”
“Who says?” Amber said quickly, tossing her head proudly. “I chose to warn the Sothilians. It doesn’t matter to you anyways. You’re from Tjaele.”
“Another thing,” the boy said, crossing his arms. “Why did you let me live? I would think you would try to eliminate an enemy.”
Amber pursed her lips, thinking. “I just don’t see the point in spilling blood unnecessarily.”
The boy nodded slowly, a flicker of pain or regret flashing momentarily across his face. “So what are you going to do now?”
Amber shrugged. “I should go home.”
“Will you be able to do that?”
“Of course,” Amber said indignantly. “I can take care of myself—”
“No,” the boy said quickly. “I mean will you get in trouble for coming? Will they know that you’ve been gone?”
“I don’t know,” Amber said quietly.
“Lynn!” a voice called, and the boy whirled around.
Lynn. So that was the boy’s name, Amber thought to herself.
“Peter?” Lynn asked. “What are you doing here?”
“What are you doing here?” Peter asked. “You know there was an Fiamalan girl here just a little bit ago.”
“I know, and I was talking with her,” Lynn replied, turning around to nothing.
Amber smiled to herself from atop the building as she saw Lynn’s baffled expression. She figured enough people had seen her for the day, and she contented herself with simply waiting to see what transpired between the two boys. After all, a few minutes weren’t much, and she could always make it up by galloping back on Flame. So she crouched in the shadows of the rooftop and listened.
For now I'll go only till the POV change.
