A/N: I'm back! Final exams are over, which means that I can move on to more important thing, like writing fanfiction. Huge thanks to everyone who reviewed, and apologies for the wait.
Some of you expressed confusion over Cassiel being married. I decided not to write about his courtship with his wife because I thought it unnecessary – I wanted to focus on the main characters and plot rather than constantly bring in new ones as they arise.
So yes, quite some time has passed, and Cassiel grew up without you knowing! Chapters 19 to 22 take place when Cassiel is 14 years old (circa Cassiel's Bells), then there are three years between chapters 22 and 23, and another six years between chapters 25 and 26. So let's see… that makes Cassiel about 23 years old right now.
In every chapter I try to put in little references to age, so that the truly dedicated (and insane) can actually track out the passage of time and the age of each character. For all those who are not insane, I will put up a complete explanation of the passage of time and character ages at the end of the story.
You'll find out who would have died if Alocas hadn't been sent back to the Freemen in… let's see…three chapters.
The Lesser Stone
Dantalion lowered the parchment with a shaking hand. It had arrived at the palace minutes ago, sealed in blue wax and stamped with a key symbol. An identical scroll had come for his father and, the Prince assumed, similar messages had been sent to Ghidreth at the Wall and Tirelle at the Clayr's glacier. "Prince Dantalion," his message read, "I have grave tidings…" Dantalion buried his face in his hand, surprised at the amount of grief that he felt.
"Papa?" He looked up to see his youngest, Princess Sitri, standing in the doorway. Her large eyes flicked to the message and back to his face. "What happened?"
Dantalion knew that he couldn't fool his daughter; she was just too perceptive. He patted his knee and she obediently perched on it, looking up at him with her head cocked to the side like a bird's.
"Do you remember Lord Abhorsen?" he asked.
The girl's face lit up with laughter. "The man in blue who told all those funny stories?"
Dantalion nodded. "Yes. This letter is from his son. You see, something happened to Lord Abhorsen last night, and…"
"Is he dead?" asked Sitri abruptly.
"Yes."
"Oh." The little girl was silent for a moment, then said, "That's all right, then."
The girl's father was puzzled at her words, and asked her to explain.
"Uncle Abhorsen told me that one day he would die," she said matter-of-factly. "And he said not to worry, because he knew Death so well that he wouldn't get lost or anything."
Dantalion was still looking at his daughter in wonder, when a servant rapped smartly on the door. "Pardon me, your Majesty," she said. "But the Wallmakers are ready for you now."
The Prince nodded, and Sitri slid from his knee. The servant took her kindly by the hand as Dantalion walked through the palace towards the gates. A contingent of the Royal Guard surrounded him, and he set off through the city streets.
It did not take long until they had reached their destination. It was a relatively small square, but Royal guards had temporarily blocked off all street entrances. Other than the soldiers keeping the curious crowds at bay, there were three Wallmakers waiting in the square. They were Felio and Nehima, the two middle-aged Masters, and a younger Wallmaker was with them.
Felio shook the Prince's hand politely. "How's ruling the Kingdom going?"
The Prince raised an eyebrow. His father had gone into semi-retirement, leaving the running of the Kingdom in Dantalion's hands. Berillan still retained the title of King, and was always available to advise him, but the brunt of responsibility still fell on Dantalion's shoulders. "It's perfectly fine," he lied, and Felio gave him a knowing smile.
Nehima crushed the Prince's hand in her iron grip, and pointed at their young companion. "This is Craftsman Joderan," she said brightly, "but we call him Joddy. He volunteered for this job."
Joddy pumped the Prince's arm enthusiastically. Dantalion noted that the younger man's leather vest had recently been cleaned, down to the embroidered yellow trowel. He hoped that the Craftsman hadn't done all that just because he was meeting the Prince.
"We're going to try something different this time," Felio explained as they walked towards the centre of the square. They were all doing quite a good job of ignoring the curious citizens of Belisaere who were peering around the soldiers blocking the roads. "As you know," said Felio casually, "most of the Lesser Stones have been set up in towns and villages across the Kingdom to be sources for the Charter, and serve as protection from Free Magic."
Dantalion nodded in understanding.
"Well," said Nehima, picking up where Felio left off, "We've been experimenting lately with more specialized Stones, and have been quite successful. This particular one will contain spells of bounty and fruitfulness and such."
The Prince looked at the plain grey stone standing amidst three withered young lemon trees. He wondered what sort of idiot would try to plant lemon trees this far north. "What do I need to do?" he asked the Wallmakers, rolling up his sleeves.
"The usual," Felio answered, drawing his knife. Dantalion thought it interesting that he had helped with so many Lesser Stones, that cutting open his hand was now something habitual.
Dantalion took the knife and sliced his palm, smearing the blood on the surface of the stone. With his other hand he took Joddy's, who in turn placed his free hand on the stone as well to complete the circle. The Prince reached easily into the Charter, blocking out all other distractions so that it felt as though he were floating in a sea of golden marks. He felt the power of the Charter well up within him, and pour out of his hands into the Stone and into the Wallmaker beside him. Joddy, meanwhile, was working spells as fast as he could cast them, and after only perhaps an hour, the flow stopped. Dantalion withdrew from the Charter and opened his eyes, to see Felio and Nehima supporting a weak-kneed Joddy between them.
Examining the Stone, Dantalion could indeed make out spells for fruitfulness, fertility, and bountitude. "It looks like it's working," he muttered. Indeed, the leaves of the lemon trees were already a little greener, and a blossom or two had opened on each branch.
"That's wonderful!" said Nehima, and as a compliment from her was virtually unattainable, Dantalion nearly blushed.
Joddy threw out his chest with pride. This nearly caused him to overbalance, as he was still being held up by the two other Wallmakers. He nodded happily as he gazed at the stone. "Those spells won't start fading for years," he said rapturously.
"Centuries," corrected Nehima.
"Millennia," chimed Felio.
They walked back to the palace – surrounded by guards, of course – with Joddy being tended to by a couple of good-natured soldiers. Along the way, Dantalion quietly informed the two Wallmaker Masters of the terrible news he had received that morning. Nehima gasped in shock, and Felio looked subdued. "So he was our first Charter casualty," he muttered.
"I never thought it would be him," said the blonde woman quietly.
Felio nodded his sober agreement. "He always seemed invincible," he said. "If there was anyone I thought who could conquer death… And to be killed in such a way…"
"How could this have happened?" the woman wondered aloud. "How could Lord Abhorsen have been killed by a stinking Freeman?"
Nobody had any answers, and they continued the journey in silence. As the three of them walked through the palace, each lost in their own gloomy thoughts, Dantalion's sharp eyes caught a bit of movement down one of the corridors. Someone was slinking furtively along the hall. He stopped, and Nehima nearly ran into him.
"Hey!" he called. "You there!"
The man turned, and Dantalion stared at who it was. Suddenly everything seemed to click into place.
The Prince did not make a sound. He just walked right up to the other man, grabbed him by the neck of his shirt, and slammed him against a pillar.
"My lord!" Felio said, sounding rather alarmed. "What's going on?"
Dantalion glared at the man whose throat he was squeezing, and replied, "This is the one responsible for Abhorsen's death."
"It's that spy rat," Nehima confirmed grimly. The expression on her face was thunderous. But Felio was still staring at the Prince as though he had lost his mind. Granted, this behaviour was quite out of character for Dantalion, and he knew it. He did not usually corner people in hallways and try to throttle them. But this spy, this Alocas, seemed to have found a way to shatter his composure every single time they met.
The young man's eyes bugged out, and he made a gagging sound as he tried to speak. Felio laid a hand gently on Dantalion's shoulder. "My lord, please," the Wallmaker said beseechingly.
The Prince relaxed his grip just enough to let the spy choke out, "Didn't – kill – not – fault – argh!"
"You cannot murder a man right here in the hall," Felio was saying quietly. "Let's at least find out what he has to say."
Dantalion frowned, but shifted his grip from the man's neck to the front of his shirt, pinning him to the pillar. "All right," he growled at the young spy. "Last night a necromancer killed Lord Abhorsen, and we had received no word of this plot. Why did you not tell us of it?"
Alocas shook his fair head. "I didn't know–"
"You didn't know?" Dantalion roared, losing control completely. He shook the other man in anger. "You've been our spy for eight years! How could you not know?"
The Prince, through his fury, noticed that the other man was flinching at the rough treatment. He had a sudden idea, and forcibly pulled up Alocas' tunic, baring the young man's back. As he expected, it was criss-crossed with old scars and fresh welts – marks undoubtedly made by a whip.
"Charter preserve us," Felio murmured.
Nehima, however, was more explicit. "You beast!" she shrieked at the spy, who was struggling to pull his ragged tunic down to hide the marks. The blonde Wallmaker attacked him like a cat, spitting and hissing with nails bared. Dantalion half-expected her long braid to lash like a tail, and it was with some difficulty that Felio dragged the small woman back.
"So," said Dantalion, forcing himself to speak calmly. "You were tortured by the other side into confessing everything, and they asked you to turn double agent. Right? And then you helped them get to Abhorsen." He could feel his fists clenching, and struggled to calm down. He hardly ever lost his temper, but when he did he lost every vestige of control.
Alocas was leaning weakly against the pillar, gazing up at him in fear. "I confessed nothing," he rasped, massaging his bruised throat. "I do not deny that they tortured me. But I confessed nothing."
The Prince let out a snort of bitter laughter. "Right," he said scathingly. "I saw you on the rack, remember? You lasted only a couple of minutes."
A shadow passed over the spy's face. "I was a lot younger then," he replied evenly. "But I swear to you that I knew nothing of a new plot to kill Lord Abhorsen. I did not even know until now that he was dead."
"Why are you here, then?" Nehima demanded. She appeared calm, but her blue eyes were flashing fire. "Your instructions were to remain with the Free Magic faction and send us encoded messages. Why did you desert your post, if not to spy on us?"
Alocas looked around at the unforgiving faces, and licked his lips nervously. "B– because," he stammered, "I have some urgent news that was too dangerous to send in writing, encoded or not. I had to tell you in person."
Dantalion crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Then tell it."
A/N: Whoa, I think Dantalion's berserker blood is beginning to kick in! He better watch that temper.
Well, I don't know about you but I sure can't wait to get to the next chapter! It has to be written first, of course…