“Can we get to the roof?” R'shiel asked as she stepped into the hall. Damin closed the door behind them and looked at the dagger embedded in the door. He jerked the blade free and hurled it to the floor angrily.
“Why do you want to go up on the roof?”
“Because we want to sneak out of the palace Damin, and it might be a little bit obvious if I summon a dragon in the middle of the main courtyard.”
“A dragon? You are going to summon a dragon?”
“If Dranymire agrees to it.”
“I don't know about the roof in this part of the palace, but there is a roof garden attached to the guest quarters in the west wing. Will that do?”
“I suppose.”
She followed Damin as he hurried through the debris of the attack. They were still clearing out the bodies of the guards who had died defending the palace. As they climbed the sweeping marble staircase that led to the guest apartments, they met two Raiders carrying a stretcher between them, coming down the stairs. A sheet covered the body on the stretcher, but it did not conceal the blue skirts and bloodstained slippers underneath.
“Damin!”
He glanced at the stretcher and ordered the men to halt. With some trepidation, he peeled back the cover. R'shiel let out a small cry of anguish as she saw who lay beneath it.
“Gods,” Damin muttered. “Tamylan never deserved such a fate.”
“Tam was Adrina's best friend.”
“She was just a slave, R'shiel,” Damin corrected, gently replacing the sheet and waving the men on.
“She was still Adrina's best friend.”
Damin nodded grimly. “Come. We have another reason now to deal with Lord Eaglespike.”
When they reached the second landing, R'shiel discovered Mikel sitting on the stairs, tears streaming down his face. R'shiel knelt down beside him, ignoring Damin's impatient sigh.
“Mikel? Are you hurt?”
He shook his head. “I'm sorry, my Lady...”
“Sorry? For what? This wasn't your fault.”
“We heard them... me and Tamylan... we were bringing the Princess her dinner. We saw the men in the hall and Tamylan ran at them. She told me to hide. So I did.”
“Then you've nothing to be ashamed of, Mikel.”
“But Tamylan's dead and all I did was hide!” he wailed. “Now all these people are dead... and I don't where Jaymes is...”
R'shiel glanced up at Damin helplessly. She had no idea what to say to the child.
Although she could tell Damin was consumed with impatience, he squatted down beside the boy. “Mikel! Look at me!”
Unable to ignore Damin's commanding tone, Mikel wiped his eyes and turned to the Warlord. “Every man under my command knows how to follow orders, even when they don't like them. I don't expect to find them sitting about crying over it afterwards, either.”
“No, sir,” Mikel replied weakly.
“As for your brother, he's alive and well. He was with the party I took to meet Lady Lionsclaw.”
Mikel brightened considerably at the news. “He was?”
“Yes, he was. Now, pull yourself together, lad, and get your arse down to Captain Almodavar and tell him I said to find you something useful to do. We need every man we've got at the moment and I don't have time for you to sit here bawling like a baby.”
“No, sir.” Mikel squared his shoulders and smiled tentatively at Damin. “Are you going to rescue the Princess, my Lord?”
“If I don't keep getting distracted,” he agreed, with an impatient glance at R'shiel.
She smiled at Mikel, then on impulse she summoned the little demon who seemed so fond of getting Mikel into trouble. He started as the creature popped into existence beside him.
“The demon will stay with you, Mikel, until we get back. But you mustn't tell anybody that we've gone.”
Mikel stared at it for a moment then turned to R'shiel. The demon chittered at him unhappily, sensing the child's misery. “What's his name?”
“She doesn't have a name yet. Maybe you can help her think of one.”
He nodded and sniffed back the last of his tears.
“Off you go, boy,” Damin ordered. He was chafing at the delay.
Mikel fled without another word, the little grey demon tumbling down the stairs in his wake. R'shiel watched them go and then turned to Damin with a smile.
“You handled him very well.”
“You gave him a pet demon.”
She shrugged. “It'll keep him company.”
He stared at her for a moment and then shook his head. “Come on. And I don't care what we find on the next landing, we're not stopping.”
The roof garden was a riot of greenery, intricately laid out paths and fountains that filled the night with their musical splashing. Damin led her to the paved clearing in the centre of the garden and glanced up at the starlit sky.
“Another few weeks and the rains will start.”
“A pity they aren't here now. We could do with a bit of cloud cover.”
“Can't you make us invisible?”
“I'm not even sure how to ride a dragon, Damin.”
“But you said —”
“I know what I said. I wish Brak were here.”
Damin glanced at her for a moment then shook his head. “You really are a bit of a fraud, aren't you?”
“I'm the biggest fraud in the whole world. I have no idea what I'm doing and only the vaguest idea of what I'm supposed to be doing. I just have to hope that if I keep pretending long enough, I'll figure out what's going on.” She frowned then, turning to look at him. “I have to leave soon, Damin. You don't need me to take your throne for you. You have Adrina. She's actually a lot better at politics than I am.”
“You seem to get by,” he noted with a faint grin.
“I've Joyhinia to thank for that.”
Damin wasn't sure how to answer that, so he turned and looked up at the sky again. “Summon your demons, demon child. I'm sure the gods will watch over us.”
She frowned, wondering if she should mention that his assurance gave her little comfort. Then another thought occurred to her - something that should have been dealt with, long before this.
“Damin, there's something you should probably know. About Adrina.”
“What about her?”
“She's pregnant.”
“I know.”
“You know? Who told you? Marla?”
He smiled smugly. “I am neither blind nor stupid R'shiel. And I can count.”
“Why didn't you say something?”
“It was more fun watching Adrina trying to work up the courage to tell me herself.”
“You can be a real bastard, Damin Wolfblade. You don't deserve her.”
He sighed, suddenly serious. “No, I think we actually deserve each other.”
“Then you admit you feel something for her?”
“When I heard she'd been kidnapped, I thought I would die, R'shiel,” he admitted, albeit with some reluctance. “I've never felt that way about anyone before.”
“Not even your horse?” she asked.
“My horse?”
“It's something Adrina said once. That the only thing you truly cared about was your horse.”
Damin thought for a moment and then smiled. “No, I think I actually care about her more.”
“Well make sure you tell her when we get her back. I'm sick to death of you two. Everyone's life would be considerably easier if you devoted all that effort to making peace instead of war.”
Dranymire responded almost instantly to her summons, although he seemed unimpressed when she explained what she wanted of him.
“Riding a dragon is a skill that takes a great deal of time to learn, R'shiel,” he warned in his deep voice. “You can't just hop on and hope for the best.”