“Let me put it this way.” Miranda leaned a little closer. “I was sent here on express orders to stop Eli before he did anything to ruin the reputation of wizards any more than he already has. But if it came down to bringing Renaud in to stand trial or catching Eli red-handed, I’d take Renaud in a heartbeat. I would be stripped of my spirits if I didn’t.”
The king eyed her suspiciously. “I’m still not convinced, but let’s just say I don’t find your story of Renaud’s betrayal all that unbelievable.”
Miranda bit her lip. “I understand it is difficult for you to hear these things of your brother—”
“Not so difficult as you might imagine.” The king sighed, plopping down in the dirt. “You forget, I grew up with the bastard. He was mother’s favorite, no question, and he knew it. Father had nothing to do with us before we were old enough to hunt, so Renaud ran things for most of my childhood. It’s safe to say I don’t find it hard to believe that he misuses his magic.”
Miranda’s eyes widened. “You knew he was a wizard?”
“Oh no, not in the beginning,” Henrith said, waving dismissively. “But when it came out, I wasn’t surprised. He was always going on about his birthright and his inheritance and the proper way of things, but he never seemed very interested in the business of being king. Father didn’t quite know what to do with him. Frankly, I think my brother scared him a little. It’s always been my suspicion that he was secretly relieved when Renaud turned out to be a wizard and gave him a chance to reorder the succession.” The king gave her a long wink. “I was always father’s favorite.”
Miranda suppressed the urge to roll her eyes.
“Anyway, I’m not surprised that he was so quick to come in and take command, either,” the king continued. “Ever since father died, I’ve been hearing rumors that Renaud was hiding somewhere in Allaze. It’s been my theory for years that he would appear the moment he saw a chance.”
“And Eli handed him that chance on a string,” Miranda said hotly. “You may be more right than you realize. Renaud was in the palace the day after you were taken. That’s suspiciously fast, even for an ambitious opportunist. I’ll bet Eli was in on this from the beginning.”
“No,” the king said, vehemently shaking his head. “Renaud and Monpress are not the kind who would work together.”
“But how can you know?”
“Believe me,” the king answered. “I spent twelve years as brother to one and a week as prisoner to the other. Both stints were plenty long enough for me to know that much at least.”
Miranda sighed. “If that’s true, then Eli’s actions are almost worse. If he was working for someone, that would at least show some forethought, but to just charge recklessly into a country and overturn the balance of power like this, with no attention to the consequences…” She shook her head. “He’s lucky Master Banage wants him alive, or I’d kill him myself.”
The king nodded approvingly at that sentiment. “Well, if you are on my side, what do we do now?”
Miranda tapped her fingers against her chin thoughtfully. “Let’s look at our situation. I saw Oban get out, so I think we can safely assume that everyone at the palace thinks you’re dead, and that I killed you. Your brother’s control of the castle depends on them continuing to think that. That screaming black cloud was his way of erasing the evidence, but I’d bet Eli’s bounty that he’s taken steps to make sure there’s a plausible story in place, just in case you did survive.”
“That’d be easy enough,” the king said. “All of Mellinor’s heard the same stories about wizards. They’d never believe I wasn’t a phantom you conjured if we tried to gather allies.”
“A phantom?” Miranda frowned. “Where did you get that idea?”
“It was in a book,” Henrith said. “It’s banned, but everyone’s read it. Morticime’s Travels or something.”
Miranda suddenly had a splitting headache. “Morticime Kant’s A Wizarde’s Travels?”
“Yes,” Henrith said, laughing, “that’s the one! Oban’s son and I used to sneak it around under our armor and read it when our tutors thought we were studying. I haven’t thought about it in years.”
Miranda didn’t have the energy for the rage she could feel building, so she put the whole affair out of her mind and focused instead on her spirits. Eril had come racing back the moment Renaud had opened his spirit, but he was curled up in his pearl in a deep sleep and traumatized beyond usefulness. Skarest had locked himself away, Durn was still recovering, and Kirik was little better than an ember. Her resources were looking grim indeed.