The King's Bastard - By Rowena Cory Daniells Page 0,142

he told her to take the canal. Then he deliberately directed you towards the horse trail. I think that -'

'If he planned to kill me he was taking a gamble on the manticores doing the job for him,' Byren snapped.

'True. But his plan had one advantage. No blame would ever find its way back to him.'

'Lence is not that devious.'

'Cobalt is.'

'We're arguing in circles,' Byren muttered, frustrated. 'Even Cobalt could not lure a whole pride of manticores to this camp site. Horse trail... canal... who says it wasn't a slip of the tongue on Lence's part? I can't believe my own twin would send me into danger. Back at midwinter he saved my life!'

Orrade said nothing.

The old seer's words replayed in Byren's head. She had been right so far, yet he had done everything he could to prove her wrong. He was not going to let things get to the stage where he had to kill Lence to save his own life. 'Before Cobalt -'

'Lence has always wanted Elina -'

'Yes, but before Illien came back, he was resigned to marrying the Merofynian kingsdaughter.' Byren debated telling Orrade about Lence's claim that the Merofynian throne should have been his. How many kingdoms did one man need? 'If I could just get rid of Cobalt -'

'What are you suggesting?' Orrade asked. 'Do you mean to take insult at something and force a duel on him?'

'No.' Though that wasn't a bad idea. 'I'm thinking of suggesting that he become Rolencia's ambassador to Ostron Isle.'

'But Rolencia already has an ambassador on Ostron Isle.'

'He's one of father's old honour guard. I think he's become a bit of a recluse. He didn't even tell us that Cobalt was marrying into the elector's family. Father could invite him back for Lence's wedding and Cobalt could be sent in his place.' Then Orrade would not get a chance to live where he would be accepted, but it would get rid of Cobalt. 'He knows the elector. He would be ideal.' If he actually had Rolencia's best interests at heart, that is. Byren suspected that Cobalt only had one person's best interests at heart and it wasn't Lence's. His twin was in for a nasty shock.

And he wasn't the only one. Back at midwinter his father had been certain Lence's betrothal was for the best. More recently, the king had begun to doubt his own judgement. What clever insinuations was Cobalt planting to undermine the king's confidence?

As for his mother, why couldn't she see what Cobalt was? She was usually such a good judge of character, almost as if she could look into a person's heart. Maybe, if he went to her before Lence returned home, told her of Lence's accusation and...

'Byren?' Orrade whispered. 'We can check around the camp site tomorrow, see if there are signs of one or more men, who might have lured the pride down here.'

'Manticores are intelligent god-touched beasts with wills of their own.'

'I know. But if Piro can control the unistag, then someone with Affinity could -'

'Are you suggesting Cobalt has Affinity?' Byren's heart rate picked up. That would explain much.

He heard Orrade shrug. 'We don't know why Cobalt fought with his father all those years ago or why he left Rolencia.'

Byren smiled. 'I could ask the castle's Affinity warders to test Cobalt.'

If he had Affinity he'd have to join the abbey or leave Rolencia. A load lifted from Byren. He would get rid of Illien of Cobalt, then warn his mother before Lence accused him. She would help handle his father.

Relieved, Byren tried to get more comfortable on the tree's broad branch. He was in for a long night.

Piro did her best to keep up, but her legs were not as long as those of the men, and the snowdrifts were deep. Every step became an effort, making her breath burn in her chest. Plus she hadn't had much sleep last night. Byren's casual question about Cobalt and Lence had made her wonder if Cobalt had gone on ahead to lead the manticores to their camp. She'd come to the conclusion that only someone with Affinity could have lured the pride into the camp's vicinity and even then it would be a dangerous thing to attempt.

That time she'd touched Cobalt, she had thought he felt no emotion. What if he was walled? What if her mother was right and Affinity ran in their blood through King Byren the Fourth?

She would tell her mother and the queen would make the Affinity warders test