Vanish (ONC Finalist)

23. Skyber Hold

Ronin paced around the ramparts, hands behind his back and a grim expression on his face. Six days had passed since they'd left Angarth and as yet there was no sign of their quarry. Had he made a mistake? Had Dax and his companions gone elsewhere? Gone into hiding perhaps, waiting for the storm to be over? Or had an accident befallen them, were they lost or injured beneath Angarth castle? Had he been wrong to stop Pars and his men searching the tunnels?

"Milord?" Wylla, one of Liviana's guards, interrupted his thoughts. She was breathing hard, having run up the stairs. "Captain Pars asked me to tell you there are three riders approaching."

"Three?" queried Ronin, with a frown. "Do you know who they are?"

"Guard Captain Lupei, Ser Marius and... one other."

"Is it Dax?"

Wylla looked apologetic. "I'm sorry, milord, I don't know."

"Well, we'd better go and find out," muttered Ronin, striding along the ramparts toward the stairs. What trick was Dax trying to pull now? Was he hiding out somewhere? Or was he the one now entering the courtyard, intending to bluff his way through the debacle?

By the time Ronin reached the courtyard, the riders had dismounted. The three of them stood in a group, silently waiting for him to approach, holding themselves aloof from the angry guards who surrounded them. A cluster of the Hold's own guards looked on uneasily from a distance.

"Lord Ronin," Marius acknowledged him with a brisk nod. "I understand you are here on Lady Liviana's behalf. Can I suggest we talk inside?"

Ronin scarcely heard, he was too busy studying the man who might, or might not, be Lord Dale'l'Xandro. His face looked like Dax but his hair was much darker than he remembered and the strange uniform he was wearing emphasised a more muscular build. This man looked harder, less pampered, but he supposed six days in the wilderness might have had some effect.

"Lord Ronin?" repeated Marius. "I can give you an explanation, if you are prepared to listen."

Ronin tore his gaze away from Dax, or not-Dax. Much as he wanted to clap all three of them in irons and personally beat Dax to a pulp, he felt obliged to at least show a semblance of impartiality. Though he had no idea what explanation Marius thought could possibly justify their behaviour.

He nodded curtly. "Captain Pars? Have three of your men accompany us to the solar. I will hear what Ser Marius has to say."

Marius led the way to the solar, a more intimate room than the great hall, where they could talk without interruption. Aled and Lupei followed close on his heels with Ronin and his guards bringing up the rear. When everyone was inside the solar, Pars closed the door and stationed a guard to either side.

Although there was a small table with six chairs around it, no-one sat down. The atmosphere in the room was too tense for niceties. Lupei hung back while Marius and Aled moved to stand in front of Ronin. His arms were folded across his chest and his expression was closed and forbidding.

"Right then, let's hear it."

Aled spoke first, his voice clear and decisive. "Lord Ronin, my name is Aled Rhys and despite appearances, I am not related to either Dax or Marius. This is the first time in my life that I've been in this part of Thera. Some of the story you were told before is true, but not all of it."

Ronin snorted, but didn't interrupt.

"I was in the middle of what Marius calls the dry country, near a tall granite outcrop when I found Marius wandering with his eyes sewn shut. He had been left to die in the caves under Angarth... by his brother, Dax."

Shocked, Ronin stared at Marius for confirmation, and saw the grim nod.

"I was able to remove the stitches and we made our way back underground to the castle as fast as we could. Marius was determined to stop the wedding, to save Lady Liviana from marrying Dax. I pretended to be him and the rest you saw."

"But how-"

Marius broke in before Ronin could finish. "I was sorry to cause Lady Liviana such distress but I felt it was crucial to stop the wedding at any cost. Dax lied to her from the beginning. He had no love or respect for her, he only wanted to be High Lord. A marriage between them would have been a disaster."

Ronin found himself nodding without realising it. They'd get no argument from him.

"Guard Captain Lupei, is this true?"

"It's true to the best of my knowledge, milord. It's certainly true that Dax has always been malesexual and in my opinion, he shouldn't have offered marriage in the first place. It's also true that I saw the marks left by the stitches on Marius' eyes, myself, and this man here, is not Dax."

"So where is Lord Dale'l'Xandro now?" asked Ronin, looking from one to the other.

"We left him in the middle of the dry country," said Marius, but an odd expression crossed his face and Ronin felt his suspicions returning.

Was it possible they had killed Dax? Or...

"An interesting story, but how can I be absolutely sure you aren't Dax?" he demanded of Aled. "You certainly look enough like him."

"Show him, Aled," Marius nodded.

Aled took off his jacket and then his shirt, standing bare-chested in front of them. He pointed to a small scar on the right side of his stomach. "This is where the... the projectile went in..." he turned around, "And that is where it came out."

Ronin sucked in his breath. The ugly scar was huge, bigger than his hand. And healed over, several years ago if he was any judge.

"You can ask anyone here in the Hold," said Lupei. "Dax never had a wound like that in his life."