Shanon pointed at him. “What did I tell you about dismissing everyone else’s plan before hearing it out?”
Hatan set his jaw and smiled. “Very well.” He inclined his head toward her. “Proceed.”
“King Rikaydian’s legitimacy is in question due to his actions against the queen. I don’t think anyone doubts the efficacy of killing her to prevent a devastating assault from the Bayvana Tribe, but the law is clear regarding actions against the monarch.”
“Aren’t Vitori’s actions against King Rikaydian as easily refutable? He imprisoned the king’s regent. Is that not traitorous as well? I should think that dismisses the Kesten family from their own claim to legitimacy.”
Shanon shook her head. “It’s a real argument, but where it falls flat is that the claim against the king is that he wasn’t supposed to be the king in the first place, especially as new evidence arose only after his ascension.”
“What evidence? A testimony from a soldier who survived Migo’s slaughter in the throne room? They trust the testimony of one soldier over that of the king himself?”
“Not his alone. There were other soldiers under Tarahan’s command who deliberately left the keys to Katsi’s cage unprotected, then watched from hiding as the king went and grabbed them. It maintains the consistency of the survivor’s story. It’s also well known that Tarahan was infatuated with the late queen. Many people found it difficult to believe that he would be involved in a coup against her.”
Hatan let out a long breath. “Alright. I guess there were a few flaws with Migo’s idea.”
“Which brings us back to Sinteya’s plan. Technically, as Queen Rikaydian’s nephew, you are the only other blood relative, making you the next in line for the throne anyway. There’s no evidence placing you as complicit in the king’s plan to kill his mother, so you’d still have a legitimate claim.”
“So if I become king, what happens when Migo returns?”
Shanon shrugged. “I think that’s up to you, but right now, we need to get situated for the council. The noble houses will be gathering at first mark in the entry hall of Rikaydian Palace. It will be heavily guarded.”
Hatan rose to his feet. “Of course it will. It wouldn’t be worth it if we didn’t struggle along the way, right?”
“I’d be fine with less struggle.”
A sudden sadness gripped Hatan’s heart. “That’s what we’re working towards, Shanon.” He gripped her arm. “To the end.”
She nodded, blinking her watering eyes. “To the end.”
They made a quick change of clothes before leaving, Hatan returning Shanon’s cloak and veil. He instead wore some of Kyel’s old clothes. He stood there for a moment, pained by the idea of wearing the clothes of a man who’d died trying to save him. But he embraced it. He’d let it serve as a reminder that what he was doing was worth fighting for.
Shanon handed him a shortsword as he emerged from the building. “Here, in case you need it. It’s the only other weapon I’ve got. Might serve you better than that knife.”
“Thank you.”
“How are your injuries?”
“Never been better,” Hatan said, strapping the sword to his belt beneath his cloak, pointedly trying to walk more confidently on his still-healing leg.
She watched his stride. “You lie.”
“No.” He chuckled. “I killed two guards, crawled through a cave, and ran across the Scorched Waste. It’s the best escape Rikaydian Palace has ever seen, and now I’m about to secure the throne from a conniving villain. I’d say I’m doing well.”
Shanon shook her head, but Hatan increased his pace to a light jog. Walking fast actually made his shin hurt, but jogging didn’t have that problem. They steered through the streets, crossing through the main thoroughfare before making it to the road that crossed the north end of Rikaydian Palace.
“What about the rest of the team?” Hatan asked, slowing to a walk. “Where are they situated?”
“They have their places.”
He could sense her smile even beneath her veil.
“It must be killing you not to have put this whole plan together yourself,” she said.
Hatan laughed. “As long as it works, I don’t care who orchestrated it.” They reached the wall of the palace where thick, leafy vines spread down from above. It was the same place Hatan had often had his secret meetings with Kyel when issuing orders to the spy network. The street was, as usual, empty. He held his hands out. Shanon stepped on them, and he launched her over the wall. He waited, hands folded until a dull knock came from the other side. It was unlocked.
He pushed aside the vines and shoved against the wall behind, opening the hidden door. He slipped inside and closed the door behind him. That was the easy part. Things got tricky from here, especially if they didn’t want to be seen the whole way to the main entry hall. That was on the other side of the palace.
“We must be silent from this point on,” Hatan whispered.
Shanon nodded and followed Hatan’s lead. Instead of climbing down the flip window into the hidden closet, Hatan went straight to the side of the palace. A small tree grew next to it, and he started climbing that until he got as high as he could, then turned toward the palace and leaned out across it, slapping his palms against the rim of a second floor window. He heaved himself up until his feet were able to reach a decorative obtrusion of different colored stones. He crouched down on the tip of his toes and took a few careful breaths before launching himself upward, grabbing the top rip of the window. That was the hard jump. The second one was easier since it had better footing. He jumped one more time, fingers barely catching a grip of the roof of the second floor. He pulled himself up again, shimmying the wall with his toes until he got his elbows over the edge of the flat roof. Getting the rest of the way up was easy from there, and he had no doubt that Shanon would be able to follow him with ease.
He rolled onto his back and heaved a few gasping breaths, listening for Shanon. When he caught his breath, he turned to see if he could help her, but she was already there, stepping over him with an eyebrow raised. Her body language alone said, “Come on, old man.” He popped back to his feet and led the way down the parapet to an exterior walkway as thunder crashed around them.
Dark clouds loomed around the Frozen Waste, and the wind from the Scorched Waste felt even hotter. He ran quickly around the next corner. One of the first things he’d done as regent was to downsize the staff, including the military presence. He wondered if Vitori had gone through the efforts of reinstating any of that or if he even had support from any of the captains or lieutenants. Military loyalty was not easily obtained, especially where Vitori’s family had no formal military service, excepting Emil and Rivar, both of whom abandoned their own father in favor of serving under Captain Falshon. If anything, that probably diminished the general military opinion.
That meant little, however, if enough money was involved. How much wealth did it take to buy off a few lieutenants? Especially if some of them had already lost men or been dismissed by Hatan? And sands, everyone probably knew by now that House Rikaydian was practically broke.
If it came down to a battle of loyalty, only time would tell. He just wished that whatever happened, it didn’t result in bloodshed. Not too much, anyway. At least Vitori and Avidazj deserved to have their heads on spikes.
They were nearing the other side of the palace. Hatan crouched lower. The front gate of Rikaydian Palace would certainly be manned, and they’d be able to see him and Shanon from down there. The main entry hall was two stories, and the walkway they were using came up just behind it. As long as nothing had changed in the last couple weeks, all of the standard doors into the palace would be barred off.
The worst part about needing to sneak into the palace was that Hatan and Falshon had overseen locking it down in the first place. All the doors and secret entrances had been sealed by himself on purpose. On the positive side, he also knew of a window where the stormlock was extremely difficult to get in place due to debris that had built up around the locking mechanism. It needed to be replaced, but probably hadn’t.
Hopefully.
They looped around to the other side of the palace. Getting to the window would be the difficult part.
He stopped and looked over the side of the parapet, trying to locate the window that would be somewhere below them. But this part of the palace was exposed to the entire south side of Jehubal. If anybody were watching, it would be easy to spot someone trying to swing down through a window. But that was for people outside the palace walls. A risk he was willing to take. He found the spot and nodded to Shanon, pointing down.
