‘You heartless dragon,’ cried Jazana. ‘I’ve beaten you!’
At last she had beaten him. At last she had shown him what a daughter could do. Her broken heart pounded in her chest. She shook her head to stop the sobs but could not still them. In her hands she felt the poisoned earth of Haverthorn. She opened her fingers and let the wind take it from her palms. She remained on her knees for long moments, fighting to compose herself as Rodrik looked on helplessly. It had been so long since she’d known tears, and now they flooded her. The great hatred she had carried for decades was still inside her. She could feel it, gnawing at her bones. But it was different now. She was different now.
‘I’m queen,’ she sniffed. ‘Hear me, Father? Queen!’
The castle gave no answer. It just stood there, broken. Had she expected an answer? To feel differently? Jazana didn’t know. At last she felt a hand on her shoulder. Over her stood Rodrik Varl. She looked up and saw his eyes filled with pity.
‘My lady,’ he said softly. ‘Let’s go now.’
Jazana put her hand on his and nodded. ‘Let’s go home.’
The bodyguard smiled. ‘To Hanging Man.’
With a great effort Jazana Carr lifted herself to her feet. Smoothing down her garments, she walked as regally as she could back to her waiting horse. ‘Yes,’ she said, ‘to Hanging Man. And then to Liiria.’
At the fence she turned and saw Rodrik staring at her. There was still pity on his face, but now there was disbelief as well.
‘I have only beaten one man, Rodrik,’ she explained. ‘There are others I must prove myself to, a whole world of them.’
When Rodrik said nothing Jazana turned away and saw Den and Gace in the distance, staring at her. She straightened herself, mounted her horse, and rode toward them, preparing herself for Hanging Man, the only real home she had ever known.
10
Upon hearing the news of the Seekers from Liiria, Baron Glass wanted to see them at once. But Minikin had only just returned to Grimhold, and was unwilling to make the trip back to Jador so quickly. Because Baron Glass could not easily travel alone, he was forced to be patient and wait for the little woman to get her fill of her Inhumans and her strange home while he plied Lukien with questions about the Liirians, questions the Bronze Knight was reluctant to answer. Thorin quickly learned that Lukien had deliberately spent little time with his former countrymen and was unable — or unwilling — to talk about them. So Thorin, already eager to see Gilwyn and put some distance between himself and Meriel, could barely wait to leave for Jador.
But wait he did. For two days he refused to push Minikin on the subject. She was a woman of few words and never argued — she simply told things as they were. What she told Baron Glass was that they would return to Jador within a week. Blessedly, it was far less than a week. After three days, Minikin told Baron Glass to prepare for the journey. They left for Jador at dawn the next morning.
Unfortunately for Thorin, they set out by kreel. Although he could still ride a horse with only one arm, he could do so only slowly and carefully, and so had never made the desert journey on his own. Rather, he shared one of the giant lizards with a Jadori warrior, a slight to his pride he had never gotten used to. Like every day in the desert, this one started off cool but quickly turned blistering. In his long year in Grimhold, Thorin had only once seen the sky give rain and had almost forgotten what clouds looked like. Today the sky was impossibly blue. The flatlands shimmered with mirages. The distant hills seemed to grow no closer. Thorin knew the kreels would have them in Jador after sunset, and so he tried to relax during the journey, but his mind raced with questions he would pose to the Liirians. There were only five of them making the journey this time, and Lukien was not among them. For a reason Thorin couldn’t guess, Lukien had lapsed into another of his silences shortly after returning home, and showed no interest in returning to Jador right away.
‘Gilwyn will have you to protect him,’ the Bronze Knight had told Thorin. It was his way of making the old Baron feel useful. Thorin made no effort to convince his friend to join them. Lukien had shouldered more than his share of duties lately and needed the rest.
Besides himself, Minikin, and her bodyguard Trog, the others making the journey were all Jadori warriors. As such, they spoke very little during the crossing. Thorin had learned early that the desert folk expended precious little energy on words. They were never disrespectful or unfriendly; they were simply quiet. Like Trog, they said almost nothing at all. Minikin herself was quiet, too. Though she spoke from time to time with her bodyguard, she seldom turned to see how Thorin was doing, and even when they rested her conversation was curt. Baron Glass knew Minikin was worried. He did not need her vaunted mind powers to know what she was thinking — she didn’t want him speaking to the Seekers. She had warned him that they would only tell him things he could do nothing to change. But she had relented in the end, because she knew how important Liiria was to him and because there was simply nothing she could do to stop him.
Baron Glass had never grown close to Minikin, though he did respect her. She had a million problems plaguing her these days and handled them all with steel and grace. But she had never come to him for counsel the way she had Lukien, and that bothered Baron Glass, fuelling his feelings of uselessness. He would be grateful when they reached Jador, he decided. Then he would see Gilwyn and have some friendly talk.
As expected, they reached the city well after nightfall. The place was awash in moonlight, looking splendid and white. They came through the western gate of the city, which had always been unguarded until Akeela’s army had come. Now, because of Prince Aztar’s raiders, there were still Jadori warriors patrolling the wall. When they saw Ela-daz they opened the gate immediately, giving her entrance to the city. Minikin greeted them warmly, and a pair of the dark-skinned men stepped forward at once, volunteering to escort her to the palace, which was easily seen in the clear night, towering above the rest of Jador, its minarets reflecting moonlight like cut gems. They were all exhausted from the trip, but the thought of seeing Gilwyn buoyed them, particularly Thorin. It had been weeks since he had seen the young man.
Because it was not yet late, Jador’s streets remained full of people. As always, the Jadori welcomed Ela-daz with waves and calls of adoration, offering smiles to Baron Glass as well. Thorin nodded and waved, acknowledging their praise even as it embarrassed him. He was not such a hero as Lukien, whom the Jadori seemed to worship, but he could feel that their respect for him was genuine. The group did not dismount, however, or spend much time with the people. Instead they pressed on to the palace, where they were sure Gilwyn would be waiting for them.
Indeed, the young regent did not disappoint them. It was always impossible to keep news of Minikin’s arrival contained, and so Gilwyn greeted them in the palace’s ornate garden with a huge smile on his face. He looked weary but undeniably happy to see them, and when their kreels sauntered into the garden he rushed forward.