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He gave her that lop-sided grin again. “Because you are the best at what you do. You’re able to get into anything, avoid traps like no one else can.”
“Not always apparently,” Daemona said, as she glanced at the guardsmen and their crossbows.
“Just to speak face to face with you took more effort than you can imagine. I had to bribe your man, Marcenko, an awful lot.”
“That weasel! I’ll string him up by his thumbs!”
“Let it go. This is important.”
She cocked her head. “What are you talking about?”
Harlin stood up and motioned for his guardsmen. “You will come with me. You will be civil and courteous.” He guided her down the curling steps of the tower. “You will listen, and you will accept the proposition if you don’t want to rot in a dungeon. It’s more than a fair bargain.”
“Where are we going?” She looked behind her at the looming guardsmen. They all looked like they would be more than happy to use their weapons on her.
“Trust me,” said Harlin, as he put a black cloth sack over her head. “This is so you don’t teleport away. I need you to listen to everything.”
“You slimy—”
“Easy, Daemona, this will all make sense soon enough.” He put his hand on the back of her neck to guide her from the chamber.
“Watch the horns,” she said.
***
Daemona was marched by her captors for what seemed a terribly long time. Down the steps, out to a courtyard, into a swift and bumpy carriage that almost seemed ready to tumble around corners. Then out of the carriage, down a long, silent hallway, up more stairs, past a fragrant garden, through another hall filled with murmuring voices, and finally into a large chamber that echoed the sound of her own footsteps.Where am I?
Harlin pulled the cloth from her head and Daemona blinked at the light that blasted her eyes.
“Welcome, Daemona Dardaniels,” boomed a powerful, yet jovial voice.
Daemona shielded her eyes, asking, “How do you know my family name?”
“I know lots of things,” said the seated figure before her. His features came into view as her eyes adjusted to the light. “But for what I do not know: That is why you are here.”
It was King Graymont!
Daemona turned to look at Harlin and gave him a mocking look ofhow could you. She was unsure of how to address the monarch. She couldn’t curtsey in her thieving garb and she wasn’t about to kneel, so she just gave a low bow, never taking her eyes off him.
“You have courage, just as Harlin told me. I like that. You’ll need all you can muster for this mission.”
“Mission? Your Highness? I think Harlin has misinformed you. I’m not one to take part in any side. I look out for myself. Any prophecy or world-shaking events are far out of my hands.”
He nodded and gave her a smile that clearly hid pain behind it. “Soon enough, everyone will need to take a side.”
Daemona cocked a curious eyebrow. She then noticed a man standing to her left. He looked fearsome, with a wild look in his eye and unkempt auburn hair held back by a ring of silver over his brow. A whip hung ready at his belt, but what really caught her eye was the flask of potions he wore too. He must be a jack of all trades, she mused.
King Graymont continued, “The forces of evil are marshaling against us and we must meet them head on. In addition to arranging our meeting with you, Harlin has established a mission to find my daughter, Princess Sykaryn, who has gone missing searching for Princess Tamar.”
“How many daughters have you lost?” Daemona blurted.
Harlin snarled, and Daemona pulled away from him, but Graymont raised a hand silencing them both. “No one has lost more sleep over these things than I. What is done is done and we live with the consequences of both our actions and inaction. Sykaryn is strong-willed and forceful; she is very opinionated and headstrong. She was convinced that the vampire, Count Ghul Tark, was involved with Tamar’s kidnapping. She put together an expedition and went to the Acheronian Swamp to find her sister.” Graymont paused a moment to dry his eyes.
Daemona looked to Harlin, who simply raised a finger for keeping silent.
King Graymont continued, “Unfortunately, whatever clues led her there were but a trap. Dark forces lay in wait and ambushed Sykaryn’s party.”
“What happened?”
