Chapter Twenty-Six: In Prison
In which Xian finally reveals his trials and Ian looks for a way to save his friend.
The Esparan guard led Ursula and Ian through a maze of corridors and up multiple short flights of stairs until they finally ascended above ground. Ian’s head whirled in panic. Xian scheduled for execution? What could he have done to anger someone so much? And how would Seamus’ dagger have stopped it? He shook his head.
Ursula noticed. She touched his elbow. “You worry for your friend?”
He glanced at the back of the guard’s head and lowered his voice to a whisper. “I can’t imagine what he did to anger Lord d’Tarjian so much. He’s a diplomat, not a killer or a thief.”
She squeezed his arm. “Sometimes, d’Tarjian doesn’t follow through on his executions. He’s been known to offer pardons in exchange for something he wants or needs. Perhaps we’ll find a way to free your friend.”
Ian’s mouth tightened. “I think the way to free him was stolen by a veil girl in the city.”
They stopped at a thick door, and the guard unlocked it and gestured them in. He took a torch from the wall and gave it to Ursula. “Not too long, saya.”
“Of course.” She took the torch and led Ian into the room.
Xian sat on a thin pallet against a wall. He still wore the same silks he’d been wearing at Helene’s villa. His headdress was gone, and his beard had grown into a thin covering over his jaw. He gave a small smile. “Your highness. Did you enjoy Helene’s villa?”
Ian folded his arms. “Tell me what this is about.”
“Debts.” Xian shrugged. “It’s the oldest story, yes? I had debts. Many of them. To the wrong people.”
“Debts for what?”
“Gambling, mostly. And living too far beyond myself.” He licked his lips and took a deep breath. “I thought Eirya would be far enough, but d’Tarjian found me there. I thought—” He stopped. “It doesn’t matter now.”
Ian crouched before his friend. “So this is why you were going home? You were never recalled—you just wanted to go back to get the money to pay your debts?”
Xian nodded. “I hoped my parents would help, and then when we saw Helene, I hoped she would help. But they’ve finally tired of my vices.”
Something occurred to Ian then. “Did my sister know? Did you ask her to pay your debts?”
Xian’s eyes flicked up to meet Ian’s in a steady, honest gaze. “No,” he said. “Never. You must believe, Ian—I loved her. I still do. She knew I hid things from her, but I never asked her to pay my debts. I hoped that, perhaps, if I could clear my debts and change, perhaps I could write to her—perhaps there might be a chance, still, that she would take me as her husband.” He shrugged. “I suppose there’s little chance of that now.”
Ian nodded. “So that’s why you wanted the dagger? To sell it and pay your debts?”
Xian sat up, his eyes wide and alert. “You have it? The boy—is he here? Did he get it off the ship?”
Ian held up a hand. “He got the dagger off the ship, but it was stolen.”
Xian slumped back against the wall and closed his eyes. “Then that’s it.” He sighed. “I thank you for coming, my friend.”
Ian stood again and thought for a moment. “Why would he want the dagger?”
“My lord?” Ursula said.
“This dagger—it’s just a rusty old dagger from Eirya that only really has any meaning to Eiryans. It’s an artifact from a time in our history when things were very different. Why would an Esparan lord care about it? It’s not worth anything unless you know what it is.”
“There is value in such things,” Xian said. “Lord d’Tarjian is a collector of items like that. I’d hoped it would clear my debts.”
“And did he promise that? That delivering the dagger would clear your debts?”
Xian shrugged. “I believed it would buy me some time, at a minimum.”
Ian frowned. “This still doesn’t make sense.” He turned to Ursula. “Do you know of any way to postpone his execution?”
She tilted her head and blinked her dark eyes. “It would have to be religious. He would have to request someone to pray with or ask for a rite of some kind.”
Ian nodded. “Can you stall them? Both of you?”
“Of course,” Ursula said. “But why?”
Ian squared his shoulders. “I need to see Captain Graeme.”
Xian finally stood. “Why Graeme? He knows nothing.”
Ian shook his head. “He knows more about this dagger than he’s admitting, and it has something to do with Seamus. I want to find out why everyone wants this dagger when it’s not even important to the royal family.”
Xian nodded. “I will ask for every rite I can think of, my friend.”
Ian nodded and went to the door. Ursula took his elbow and stopped him. “Your friend called you ‘Ian.’ And ‘highness.’ You are the Eiryan prince?”
He looked down and grinned. “One of them. Forgive me. The ruse was necessary. The guard, Melik—he still believes I’m just a wool merchant.”
She inclined her head and squeezed his arm. “Whatever you are, be careful, yes?”
He took her hand and lifted it to his lips. “As my lady wishes.”
A faint hint of color rose on her dark cheeks, and she stepped back and gave a perfunctory curtsy. “Go, your highness.”
Ian knocked on the door, and the guard opened it to let him out. “The saya has unfinished business with the prisoner,” Ian said.
The warden nodded. “Wait here a moment. I’ll find someone to escort you back to the sayada.”
Ian paced before the door and thought while he waited. When the guard returned and escorted him back to the sayada, he retraced his steps until he found the room he had shared with Seamus and Melik. Seamus slept on a small mat near a far wall, but Melik was gone.
Ian prodded Seamus with one foot, and the boy sat up and rubbed his eyes. “Your highness?” he mumbled.
“Ethan Cardig,” Ian reminded him. He tossed Seamus a tunic. “Get up. We’re going back to the ship.”