“Yes.” Hallow’s expression darkened as he backed Penn up into the cart shafts. Penn usually objected to such demeaning work as pulling a cart, but he had clearly been bored by his enforced inactivity and suffered himself to be harnessed. “He’s reforming the Starborn army.”
“That’s a good thing, isn’t it?” I wondered about the little frown between Hallow’s brows.
He hesitated, absently stroking Penn’s neck. “Under normal circumstances, yes, it would be good.”
“What’s not normal?” I asked, confused. “You weren’t happy when he let the army of Starborn—an army that you, yourself, rounded up and organized—scatter to the winds earlier this year. So why are you frowning now?”
His gaze held mine, the shiny blue of his eyes now pale, just as if they were frosted over. “Thorn says the army he’s building isn’t in service of the Starborn, or of the queen. It’s his own army. He’s declared the queen dead, and himself king in her place.”
Chapter 2
Hallow was worried.
“I don’t see that we have much to fear,” Allegria said, climbing into the cart. “Darius is weak. He can declare himself king of all of Alba, but that doesn’t mean he actually is king. After all, he couldn’t even keep the army of Starborn from disbanding.”
Hallow checked that the supplies were secured in the back of the cart, avoided Buttercup’s attempt to snap off his arm, and moved around the captain of the guard when the latter suddenly materialized in front of him. “Perhaps not, but Thorn said that Darius had help from a magister who seemed to have much more backbone.”
“Going somewhere?” the captain asked, popping up in front of him again as he double-checked the harness. Penn hated drawing a cart, but it was easier than finding another horse to do the same.
He gave Penn a consolatory pat on the neck before answering the captain. “Yes. We go to Aryia. I am placing you in charge of Kelos while we’re gone.”
The captain pursed his lips. “All the way across the sea? Isn’t that a little premature?”
“No. Two of the three moonstones are there.” Hallow tried not to allow his irritation with the ghostly captain to show. Although they’d worked out a mostly peaceful relationship since Hallow had taken over as head of the arcanists—and Master of Kelos—the captain seemed to delight in challenging him at every opportunity, throwing obstacles in his path whenever possible.
“But what of the third?” the captain asked in what Hallow would have deemed a coy voice had it been anyone else.
“A magister?” Allegria asked at the same time, clearly chewing over the idea of Darius’s treachery. “What is a Fireborn doing helping the steward of the Starborn?”
“Undoubtedly claiming some power.” Hallow turned to get into the cart, but once again the captain stood in his way.
“You do not answer me?” the captain demanded, now looking insulted. “Do I no longer matter to your grandiose plans now that you are Master?”
Hallow only just managed to keep from rolling his eyes, reminding himself that patience was his most valuable tool when dealing with the deceased. “I don’t know where the third stone is, but there are twelve arcanists besides me hunting for it, so I’m sure we’ll find it. Now if you don’t mind, we would like to get underway before Kiriah sends the moon into the sky.”
The captain pursed his lips and cast a pointed glance at Allegria. She didn’t see it, frowning as she stared at nothing, obviously thinking about Darius. Hallow got into the cart next to her, and started Penn moving forward.
The captain disappeared, then materialized directly in front of Penn. The horse was used to the spirits of Kelos by now, and simply swished his tail in irritation as he marched through the translucent figure.
Hallow had a glimpse of outrage on the captain’s face before his insubstantial form dissolved.
“I don’t see what benefit this magister hopes to gain from helping Darius. For one, magisters fall under the domain of Lord Israel, and we both know that the lord of the Fireborn isn’t going to take kindly to one of his own defecting to Darius. Especially since the latter let us all down when it came to clearing out the Harborym last year.” Allegria’s face always gave Hallow pleasure, but now, with her abstracted expression, he had an almost overwhelming urge to take her into his arms and kiss every inch of her lightly freckled skin. He particularly liked to kiss the circlet of black dots that crossed her forehead, a relic of her time as a Bane of Eris.
“Lord Israel is more than a little unhappy with Darius since he has refused to attend any of the councils of the four armies, but I don’t know that he would be overly upset by a magister working with the Starborn. It might very well be that the man is there on his orders,” he pointed out.
The captain of the guard’s form shimmered into view again in front of Penn. This time, he held out one hand, commanding, “Halt!”
Both Hallow and Penn ignored him as his form was dispersed again. Hallow’s thoughts were turned toward the arguments he would lay before the guardians of the two moonstones he and his arcanists had located, which left him little time to worry about placating the irate captain.
“A spy, you mean?” Allegria asked. “I suppose he could be acting in that role, although wouldn’t Darius be suspicious of him, and suspect that he might be working for Lord Israel?”
“You give Darius more credit than perhaps he deserves,” Hallow said judiciously. His own opinion of Darius was that the man was weak-minded, and weaker still of spirit, taking the easy path whenever it was presented to him rather than considering what was best for his fellow Starborn. He seemed to have little regard for anything but his own comfort, leaving the restructuring of Starborn society to individuals who weren’t equipped for such responsibilities.
“Oh, I have no doubt that the man is an idiot,” Allegria said with a disgusted snort that delighted Hallow. “He wanted Deo and me killed, after all. Only someone lacking in even the most basic levels of common sense would want to eliminate the very people who saved his wretched hide.”
The captain appeared in the road again, this time with his sword in hand, striding toward them with a purposeful look on his face. Penn, sensing that this time the captain had donned a corporeal form, stopped, and tossed his head in warning.
“For the love of Bellias, you will not treat me as if I am a mere lackey, one who is unimportant in the functioning of Kelos and Genora!” The captain’s voice echoed off the broken buildings, stirring little swirls of the grey dust that covered everything around them. “You will heed me!”
Hallow pulled his thoughts from the concerns that plagued him and turned his attention to the irate spirit. “What is it you want? I left you in charge—you can have no complaint that I have usurped your position by placing another spirit, perhaps one who doesn’t wave his sword in my horse’s face, in charge of Kelos.”
“Ask the priest!” the captain said, crossing his arms despite the fact that he still held his sword. “She swore she would tell you after I allowed her access to the crypt so she
