Chapter 18
Chapter
Eighteen
EVIE
“ A re you–are you sure about this?” Leesa called out after me, barely audible through Zorin’s gallops in the small glade.
My mighty nazdran’s beautiful mane whipped back, cocooning my chest in its silky embrace. With Madrya gone to war with him and Zorin still refusing to stay in Phoenix Peak, he had a lot of pent up energy, obvious in every tense muscle shifting under me.
The soles of my feet were still killing me, but I could still ride. I needed to feel some semblance of freedom right now. Zorin had been uncharacteristically cautious since the whole kidnapping incident. Now he always sniffed me when we crossed paths, making sure I wasn’t my clone, slowly turning to ash somewhere in Phoenix Peak.
“As sure as the river carves the stone,” I said, loving the breeze through my hair. The river might dry out one year and overflow the next, but it always–always–left its mark.
Nature was stubborn like that, and I loved it.
Adara reclined against a tree trunk on the outskirts of the clearing. She’d insisted on joining us–not only for protection this time, I suspected. Anya, bless her little heart, had become obsessed with Adara ever since she and Owyn had moved into my house.
Whenever Anya saw the former general, she rained question after question. None of Adara’s razor-sharp looks and grumbled, monosyllabic replies deterred the girl. She was stubborn, too.
“It’s my duty to inform you this is dangerous.” Adara sighed. “And you will, of course, ignore my warning.”
“You know me well,” I called from up ahead.
Dangerous or not, I had no other choice.
The advisors had struck harder and faster than I’d imagined.
Whether I wanted it or not, this was my home now. Returning to Aquila, under Silas’ rule, was insane.
But I was still Protectorate–and I was about to make a feast out of the crumbs I’d been left with.
The guards were a big problem.
They were contained to Phoenix Peak–for now–but hundreds of them, well-armed and well-trained, could descend on the Capital if Banu and Valuta gave the order.
Or Kaya, I supposed. But even through my fury and disappointment, I doubted she was cruel enough to get involved in her parents’ machinations.
Then again, I hadn’t suspected she would betray me.
Even so, to put it mildly…Kaya didn’t have the necessary abilities. Even if she hid a merciless heart underneath that naive facade, she still would have to excel at something other than breathing.
I clenched my jaw. That was an unkind thought. It also wasn’t true.
Kaya wasn’t completely useless.
She was just weak.
A bitter laugh passed my lips. The Blood Brotherhood was changing me.
Torching Owyn’s house reeked of Banu and Valuta’s careless disregard for anyone other than themselves and their position in the grand hierarchy of the Clan.
It was obvious their greediness hadn’t been subdued by the crown on their pretty daughter’s head.
I didn’t know if they’d wanted to kill Owyn as a message or suspected I’d run to his aid and hoped to kill me.
Either way, they’d miscalculated–and it was my turn to strike.
Zorin huffed toward the empty spot in the stable where Madrya usually slept. He missed her, and I understood. I would’ve missed him , too, if the bastard hadn’t shattered my heart.
But I had more important things to focus on than feelings .
Through the bond, I knew he was alive and scheming.
If he was still standing, we had a fighting chance. This fierce land couldn’t fall to the Serpents.
I gave Zorin’s mane a pat as we trotted back to Leesa and Adara.
“If you really want to learn political strategy…” Leesa took a deep breath. “I’ve seen a lot of things during my training in the Fair Isles. That realm is a viper’s den.”
“Because Phoenix Peak is just a dove’s nest,” I said.
“The politics in the Fair Isles are lawless,” Leesa said. “Coin rules supreme and traditions change each time the port winds shift. I’ve seen people poisoned for a better seat at a table.”
“You almost saw a man and his daughter killed to prove a point,” I said.
“Our Clan was built on rules.”
“And the advisors have thrived on breaking them when no one is looking,” Adara said.
Or no one bothered to look. Gods above, Zavoya and Eldryan must have been under a heavy spell to allow Banu and Valuta to do whatever their miserable souls pleased.
“This isn’t a fair fight,” I said. “So we won’t fight it fairly. I want to know every underhanded scheme, every riling speech, every damning letter that changed the tides of the world.”
Adara frowned. “Why?”
“Because I’m going to shake the advisors’ rotten foundation, pebble by pebble.” My lips twisted into that unfamiliar grin from the night of the fire. “So let’s find our first pebble. What can you tell me about the esteemed Sages?”
I hadn’t forgotten their hostile stares underneath stiff, spiky coifs.
Adara shook her head. “At least you’re ambitious in your deranged plans.”
Leesa bit her lower lip. “Funny you should ask…”
“Why?” I frowned.
Leesa and Adara exchanged a quick glance.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“The Sages have a lot to say about you.” Adara nodded at Leesa, who took out a crisp folded piece of paper, with a red and gold circle on one side, and handed it to me without meeting my gaze.
The Protectorate Lost Daughter Makes a Spectacle of Herself While The Capital Burns
A widower and his young daughter almost lost their lives in a fire last night. As their house burned to the ground, the Protectorate Lost Daughter, the second wife of His Highness, the Crown Prince, used his absence to show off her powers in a show of blue light.
While the display was indeed intimidating–and dangerous–one would think she’d be more preoccupied with the children starving in the wake of the war–
The paper shook in my hand. “What in Xamor’s name is this?”
A spectacle ? I was the only one who ran into that building to save the widower and his daughter.
“Officially?” Leesa said. “An anonymous gossip pamphlet. It just shows up on people’s doorsteps in the morning after something big happens.”
“Unofficially, it always seems to appear when the advisors need to sway the civilians.” Adara licked her lips. “There were plenty of them going around after the wedding, but…you weren’t in the best state to read more lies.”
“I would have still liked the option. Maybe I would have enjoyed burning them.” I narrowed my eyes at her, even though I knew she was right. “Anything else I need to know?”
Adara raised her palms. “Nothing, I swear.”
“What’s this about starving children?” I stared at the crimson letters, the echo of my own childhood hunger still painful.
“Rations have been introduced in the Capital, to make sure we have enough resources to send to the army,” Adara said. “Nobody’s starving, but the shop shelves aren’t as filled as usual. With the evacuations, there are more civilians in the city than ever. People are scared.”
“The Blood Brotherhood army has marched to battle before,” I said. “Didn’t you use rations then?”
Hungry, defenseless warriors didn’t win battles.
They needed not only food, but weapons, bandages, leather for their armors.
“Of course we did,” Adara said. “But now Banu and Valuta can pin this problem on you.”
“They’re the advisors. They manage the supplies!”
“The civilians don’t know that. All they care about is to have as much food on their tables as they want. If this war goes on too long, they will feel the strain–and you’ll be the scapegoat. They’re already making you out to be some kind of self-absorbed, attention-seeking kept woman.” Adara shook her head. “Banu and Valuta know what they’re doing. They do control the resources–they can create a shortage if they want to.”
My power burst out of my palm, the blue tendrils incinerating the pamphlet. I rubbed the ash between my fingers, trying to keep my anger in check.
“Where do these pamphlets come from?” I asked, tone eerily calm.
“Nobody knows,” Leesa said. “Officially.”
“It’s Beryn.” Adara licked her bared teeth. “The slimy git’s the custodian of the printing press and one of the Sages. He used to call me The Overlord, said I had too much power over the army and was leading our warriors to death.”
“What else?” I asked.
Knowing the enemy was the most powerful weapon.
“He’s over ninety, can barely see or hear, but he’s still as mean and devoted to the advisors as ever.” She spit on the ground. “He could always have an accident. Old people are frail, they tend to fall when you least expect it.”
“No killing. You should meet my cousins, you’d get along great.”
“I told you, I don’t trust them.”
“Does Beryn have any vices?” I asked.
“No. He’s renowned for his strict diet and goes out on a walk every day at noon. He’s outlived all his family except his niece,” Leesa said. “She wants to take over the printing press, but Lord Beryn won’t let her.”
“Interesting.” I kept rubbing my fingers, a plan forming through the flecks of ash. “When they’re not trying to tear me down, losing negotiations with the Clan Council, and being wrong about storms, what do the Sages actually do?”
“They should give council to the advisors and vote objectively on matters concerning Phoenix Peak and the Capital,” Leesa said. “But everyone knows they do what Banu and Valuta want.”
“Let’s change that, shall we?”
Adara frowned. “How?”
I had no clue–but I could find one. “How does one get a seat on the Senate of Sages?”
“Great contributions to the Clan,” Leesa said. “In the past, the Senate was formed by old warriors, mighty magic wielders, great scholars, well-known merchants. But the warriors had too much of an appetite for battle and were better suited for war rooms. Blood Brotherhood magic is a fickle thing, I understand, and fewer people can wield it. The number of scholars dwindled as Banu and Valuta tightened the Academy ranks, and, well…”
“Educated people are a danger to them. They’d ask dangerous questions.” I gritted my teeth. “So the traders are all that’s left.”
“Well…they all come from very powerful families, at least.”
“Then the Senate also runs on coin and status.”
Finally, a sly smile appeared on Leesa’s face; it looked so out of place with her doll features. Like she’d been taken over by an evil spirit. “Like the Fair Isles.”
“Exactly. I had five good years with Grandpa Constantine.” It was about damn time I used all the lessons he’d tried so hard to instill in me, as if he’d known he wouldn’t be here when I needed his advice the most. “He used to say corruption is the same everywhere you went. Greedy and soulless.”
Nature had precise rules and needs. A stinging breeze foretold a storm, the ladybugs tucked underneath desiccated tree barks once the temperatures dropped, and the wolves prowled farther and faster when their bellies rumbled.
In the mountains, you either paid attention or you died.
Society and humans were the same, just with different rules and terrible needs.
I’d survived in the wild.
I’d do it again in Clan life–or die trying.
I jerked my chin at Adara. “Who’s the most powerful Sage?”
“The greediest and most dangerous one, of course,” she said. “Loryn Girderall, the Port Master. He controls all the ships.”
The same ships which transported the army supplies. He was dangerous.
“Girderall,” I mouthed, a seed of a memory trying to sprout in my mind. “That sounds familiar.”
“His ancestors built the Bone Bridge,” Adara said.
Of course.
My shoulders slackened as I remembered those cold days rifling through my portal book and discovering the Hope in a Haunted History.
“The cursed Girderall twins,” I muttered as my thoughts whispered more details. The prophecy–and the punishment–for creating a bridge only the gods should have been able to. “That’s a legend.”
“Legend or not,” Leesa began. “The brother who built the Bridge died heirless–”
“ He squandered the seed ,” I recited the ancient ode from the book.
“And the other squandered the surname. His many heirs spread out over the continent, leaving a trail of murders, thefts, and adultery all over Malhaven for centuries. Some joined the Borderline Bands, others died on the end of nooses–”
“And one became rich off of smuggling dragon dung,” Adara said. “Now he’s the Port Master.”
My brows rose. “How in Xamor’s name does a lowly smuggler end up controlling the Capital’s ports?”
“The same way a pirate can become a confidant to kings…my queen.” A hissed, deep laughter spread through the clearing.
My hands ignited blue at the same moment Adara’s daggers flashed into her hands. Even Leesa picked up one of my crutches and raised it like she wielded a mighty mace.
Our eyes darted around the meadow.
Nothing.
I might’ve been plagued by weird dreams, but all three of us couldn’t have heard the same thing–
Zorin’s head whipped to the left, his nazdran senses not bowing to our human ones.
Right at the edge of the forest, thick mist seeped into the clearing. A wicked smile appeared from it, chilling me to the bone.