Chapter 15
Fifteen
Lierick
Iwasn’t normally prone to panic, but as we walked through the heavy stone arch that led to the courtyard of Hayle’s home, panic started to crawl along my skin.
Avalon held my hand tightly, the warmth of her anchoring me from my anxiety, even though I knew she was anxious too. I could feel it through our connection.
The only person who seemed excited was Hayle.
He seemed a hundred percent certain that his parents were just going to accept this little polycule he had with open arms. I loved his confidence.
If I’d learned anything about Hayle in the last few months, it was that he didn’t borrow trouble before it landed on his doorstep.
He hugged all the Third Line guards on the way down the echoing halls, smiling and laughing, and the hounds raced ahead of us, like they too were meeting with old friends. Like they could finally relax.
They were home.
A woman met us in the hall, and I didn’t even need to ask who she was. The resemblance between her and her sons was uncanny. The same wild brown hair, the same green eyes. She was Hayle’s mother, Ora Taeme.
She smiled warmly at her son, opening her arms wide. “Hayle,” she breathed. “You’re home.” It was a mother’s relief. She’d sent Hayle off to the relative safety of Boellium, and I’d dragged him into a revolution.
“Hey, Mom.” Hayle hugged her back, though he must have been at least a foot taller than her. “I’ve missed you too.”
It made me homesick for Ozryn. For my own family, and people.
Hayle reached back and grabbed Avalon. “Mom, this is my Soul Tie, Avalon. She’s the most beautiful and brave woman in all of Ebrus.
” he said, his voice smiling as much as his face.
“And this is Vox Vylan, Avie’s other boyfriend and my friend.
” Finally, he turned to me, his grin widening even more.
“And this is Lierick, Vox and Avie’s boyfriend and Heir to the Second Line. ”
To her credit, Ora Taeme didn’t drop into a dead faint. “It’s lovely to meet… you all. I might need you to explain all that to me again later. Right now, there seems to be a rather important meeting waiting for your group.”
Lucio cleared his throat. “Hayle forgot to mention Shay Vylan and Iker Hanovan. Probably because he hasn’t seen them naked.”
“Lucio!” Shay chastized, and Avalon flushed so red, I was a little worried about her blood pressure. Hayle punched his cousin in the arm, but Lucio just grinned, completely unrepentant.
Ora pinched the bridge of her nose. “Really, Lucio? I swear, your mother dropped you on your head as a child.” She smiled politely at Iker and Shay. “It’s very nice to meet you both. Come inside, they’re waiting.”
I sucked a deep breath and straightened my shoulders. Brushing my hand against Vox’s, I wrapped my pinky finger around his. As my heart pounded inside my chest, I wondered if my father could hear my racing thoughts already. I locked down my mental shields, just in case.
Iker patted my back reassuringly. “It will be okay.”
I wasn’t sure it would be. What I felt was a betrayal of my Line, but I couldn’t help it.
As soon as I stepped over the threshold, my father’s face was the first one I saw. He was stoic, as always, but I could see the subtle strain in the lines around his eyes. The true scope of my failures were reflected there, though he would never lay the blame at my feet.
I’d outed us to the rest of Ebrus too early, to save the life of an Eighth Line Baron.
I hadn’t managed to garner the support of any of the Barons myself. Instead, it had been Vox and Hayle who’d secured the support of the Fifth and Sixth Lines, and Avalon who’d garnered the loyalty of the Baron of the Eighth Line.
I’d fallen in love with the enemy.
Fuck.
I looked around at the large table that took up the woodpaneled room.
There was the Baron of the Third Line, of course, as well as Hayle’s brothers.
There was my father and his second-in-command, Harry.
He was my uncle—not Iker’s father, but my aunt’s husband.
He commanded the armies, along with my father.
Zier Tarrin was there, his face impassive, though his eyes were fixed on Avalon, like he hadn’t just seen her less than an hour ago.
Maybe he could sense her anxiety; it was written in every muscle of her body, and in her thoughts, if you were Second Line.
And probably her scent, if you were Third Line.
Viktor Taeme broke the silence. “Son, it’s good to see you safe and whole. I hear you had quite the adventure this morning in Fortaare.”
My eyes flicked back to Zier. You could still see the bruises around his throat. Calling his near death an adventure seemed a little grotesque.
Hayle shrugged. “It was fine. Foul in some places, and a little tight in a few spots, but we made it out with Zier’s life.”
Viktor grunted. “So you did. Reckless as it was, the results speak for themselves. Baron Hanovan, this is my son, Hayle, and his Soul Tie, Avalon Halhed.”
Avalon wriggled her fingers in a wave, and I could see the moment she thought better of it, bowing instead.
My father stood, coming to stand opposite her. “No Halhed bows to a Hanovan.” He bent at the waist. “Avalon, my family owes yours a great debt.”
She looked at me, her eyes wide. I almost laughed when she reached out and patted his shoulder. “Uh, no need.”
I smiled, and Iker choked back a laugh. She’d patted a Baron, like he was an errant child.
My father’s eyes were dancing with mirth, though he kept his own laughter in check. He sat back down, and we all took our seats too.
“She isn’t wrong, Father. The Baron of the Ninth Line needs a dagger to the eye more than the Second Line’s regard,” I said, and Hayle actually growled.
Father raised an eyebrow. “We’ll get to that. Who are the rest of your… friends?” He already knew, of course. We all knew the names and faces of the important people in the First Line.
Steeling my spine, I stared down my father, because Vox didn’t deserve what was about to happen. “This is Vox Vylan, Heir to the First Line, and his trusted confidante, Shay.” My tone was firm. I laid myself proverbially between my father and Vox.
“I see the reason you haven’t been getting the support of the Barons, if you are walking around with the eyes and ears of Feodore Vylan at your side.”
Placing both palms on the table, I met my father’s eyes.
“I trust Vox with my life, and much more. He is not his father, nor his father’s father.
He has more compelling reasons than an ancestral blood feud to want to see the downfall of Feodore Vylan.
I will not accept you casting doubt on his loyalty. ”
My father reared back. “Ancestral blood feud? You disregard the murder of our ancestors so cavalierly?”
I sucked in air. “You know I don’t. I just want you to be wary of falling down the same slope our enemies did. It will not be a genocide for a genocide.” My father’s jaw tensed, and I knew he was angry at me.
Iker cleared his throat. “I also vouch for the trustworthiness of these two Vylans. There are good people there, and the same boot that is on our necks is on theirs too.”
Father waved a hand, the cutting gesture dismissing the whole topic.
Hayle rose a little in his own seat. “Let me be clear also, Baron Hanovan. My support, as well as Avie’s, is reliant on Vox. He is ours,” he said with bared teeth. “We will not take any disrespect, of Vox or of Shay.”
No wonder she loved him, that loyal fucker. He would stand between a whole coup and Vox.
Viktor cleared his throat. “I also have no doubts of Vox’s loyalty. Can we move along to the more pressing matter of Feodore Vylan’s message now?”
My eyes whipped to the Baron of the Third Line. “He’s replied already?”
He inclined his head. He read it aloud to the table, and it was exactly what I’d expected.
“It’s mostly threats, the flailing of a man who knows he’s about to meet his maker and knows she will not be impressed.
Your little mind speech has definitely riled some of the citizens of Fortaare, and split the Dawn Army. ”
“Will they fight against themselves?” I asked. If we had the numbers of half the Dawn Army, this war could be ours. If we had the whole Dawn Army, it could be over before it even began.
Viktor shrugged. “Our informants tell us that the regular rank and file haven’t been approving of some of the ways they’ve been used lately, especially when it came to the sinking of the supply ships to the West. Having the army turn on itself would be the best case scenario for you achieving your coup bloodlessly. ”
Vox leaned back in his chair. “We have Fortaare practically surrounded. The Sixth have pledged their support, and after a few more pieces fall, we should have the Fifth.”
“Ingmire is going to cede to his son?” Zier asked incredulously.
Vox raised a brow. “I don’t believe he will have a choice.”
I gave a quick rundown of what had transpired with the Ingmire Heir, though I carefully left out the Underground. There was no need to out Moran Ingmire as Boot just yet.
We went through all the assets, the plan, the pitfalls, and possible outcomes, and how we’d counter any negative consequences.
It was nice to offload this burden onto more shoulders; my father might have been slow to act, but he burned with the need for vengeance.
At least this way, he was reined in by the cooler heads of the other Barons.
Finally, we had the approximation of a plan, which mostly just relied on closing the trap around Feodore Vylan until he was caught in the noose of his own making.
He had inspired fear and not loyalty in most of the First Line, so if we could offer protection and the chance of a better life, most of the citizens of the First Line would abandon ship like rats.
A slow, steady siege of Fortaare was what the Second Line needed.
What I needed was to be pressed between Vox and Avalon and to block out the world. I didn’t know how it would work once this was all over, but we’d figure it out later.
As we all stood to leave, I wasn’t surprised when my father called out to me. “Lierick, if I could have a moment?”
Avalon gave me a worried look, but I sent her a reassuring half-smile. She had a violent parent in her history, whereas my father might disapprove—maybe even disown me—but he’d never raise a hand to me.
Partly because he knew I would be able to beat him, both physically and magically, but mostly because he loved me, even when I was a disappointment.
“How are our people? Stellen told me that we’d settled some of them back in North’s Edge.”
Father nodded, leaning back against the table.
“Most of the foot soldiers are stationed there until they’re needed.
Some of the support workers. I didn’t want to bring the civilians down from Ozryn until I could assure myself of their safety.
” He paused, and I held my breath. “What is your position with the First Line Heir?”
I sucked in a deep breath. Rip it off like a scab, just as Hayle had said. “We’re lovers.”
My father looked like I’d punched him. “You’d spit on the graves of our dead so easily?”
Grinding my back teeth together, I lifted my chin. “He is not my enemy, Father.”
“He is a direct descendant of Ivan Vylan. Tainted blood runs through his very veins, and you are fucking him.”
“It’s none of your business,” I growled, spinning to leave, but his hand stopped me.
“It’s entirely my business when you turn traitor,” he spat out, then flinched at his own words. He didn’t mean them, I knew, but it still hurt.
Someone cleared their throat. “Please remove your hand,” Vox said from the doorway. Behind him was Avalon’s small, worried face.
“This is a family matter,” my father replied coldly.
Avalon pushed beneath Vox’s arm. “He’s our family too. Everything that happens to Lierick is our business.” She came to stand beside me, her hand reaching out to peel back my father’s fingers, completely uncaring of the power difference.
I loved her so much.
“We love your son,” Avalon said softly. “And I know you do too. Don’t say things in anger that you won’t be able to take back.”
Vox put a gentle hand on her shoulder, pulling her back slightly, so he was just in front of her.
Those cold blue eyes watched my father dispassionately.
“There is nothing that your son wants more than to return his Line back to where it belongs. For your Line to be happy and whole. Goddess knows, they have suffered and sacrificed enough.” He met my father’s eyes easily.
“Do not make him sacrifice his own happiness for theirs.” With that, he squeezed my arm and walked out, leaving me, Avalon, and my father.
“Not even an hour ago, you told me the Second Line owed my family a great debt. I don’t believe you do, but if you wish to balance the scales, here is what we would ask.” Avalon laced her fingers through mine. “You don’t break your son’s heart for no greater reason than prejudice.”
She turned toward the door, her hand still in mine, but loosening. She was giving me a choice: I could walk out with her, or I could stay here and continue to argue a man’s worth with my father.
I met his eyes one more time, then turned and walked out behind the woman who held my heart in her hands, and the man who had infected my soul.