The Blood Knight - J. Gregory Keyes [76]
Consequently, he wouldn’t have been surprised if the face revealed had been the chimera mask of the queen of the phay, the pitying features of Saint Anemlen, or the fanged visage of an ogre come to devour him. The moment seemed absolutely pregnant with the impossible.
That the dropped cowl revealed the face of a young woman with sky-jewel eyes was thus unexpected but not surprising.
It did shift his perspective, however. She was slight and shorter than Leoff by more than a head. Her chestnut hair was pulled back, the line of her jaw soft. He doubted if she was yet twenty years old. She also looked familiar; he was certain he had seen her at court.
“I haven’t come to kill you,” she said. “In the name of Queen Muriele, I’ve come to set you free.”
“To free me,” he said slowly. Suddenly her face refocused, as if seen at twenty kingsyards, just next to the face of Muriele, the queen. That was where he had seen her; at the performance of his singspell.
“How did you do that? Make yourself invisible?”
“I am saint-blessed,” she replied. “It’s a coven secret. That’s all I can tell you. Now, if you’ll just follow me—”
“Wait,” Leoff said. “How did you get in here?”
“With great difficulty and at considerable risk to myself,” she said. “Now please, stop asking questions.”
“But who are you?”
“My name is Alis, Alis Berrye, and I have the queen’s confidence. She sent me. You understand? Now, please…”
“Lady Berrye, I am Leovigild Ackenzal. How is the queen?”
Alis blinked in what seemed to be incomprehension.
“She is passing well,” she said, “for the moment.”
“Why did she send you to free me?”
“That explanation would be lengthy, and we do not have much time. So please—”
“Humor me, my lady.”
She sighed. “Very well. In brief, the queen is imprisoned in the Wolfcoat Tower. She has learned of your imprisonment, and also of the great affection in which the people of this city and Newland hold you. She believes that if you are free, it may improve her situation.”
“How?”
“She believes the usurper might be overthrown.”
“Really. All because of me. How very strange. And how did you get in here?”
“There are ways, secret ways that my—” She stopped, then started again. “That I know of. You will have to trust me. Trust also that if we do not move very soon, we will not leave this place alive.”
Leoff nodded and closed his eyes. He thought about blue skies and warm winds from the south, the touch of rain on his face.
“I can’t go.” He sighed.
“What?”
“There are others held captive here: Mery Gramme and Areana Wistbirm. If I escape, they will suffer, and I can’t have that. Free them, and prove to me they are free, and I will go with you.”
“I don’t know where the Gramme girl is being held. The young Wistbirm woman is beyond my reach, I fear, else I would certainly liberate her as well.”
“Then I cannot go with you,” Leoff said.
“Listen to me, Cavaor Ackenzal,” Alis said urgently. “You need to understand your worth. There are people who will die—and see others die—to free you. What you did at Broogh is not forgotten, but your music at the Candlegrove unleashed a spirit that has not diminished. In fact, it has only continued to grow.
“Songs from your lustspell are sung throughout the country. The people are ready to come for the villain, the usurper, but they fear what he would do to you. If you were free, nothing would encumber them.” Her voice dropped lower. “They say that a proper heir has returned to the kingdom: Princess Anne, daughter of William and Muriele. They will put her on the throne, but they fight for you. You are the most important man in the kingdom, Cavaor.”
Leoff laughed at that. He couldn’t help it; it seemed too ridiculous.
“I won’t go with you,” he said. “Not until Mery and Areana are safe.”
“No, no, no, no, no,” Alis said. “Do you understand what I went through to reach you? It was nearly impossible—a miracle sufficient to qualify me for sainthood. Now you say