Chapter 21
Twenty-One
Avalon
Despite Vox’s adamant protests that we stay where it was safe in Hamor, both Lierick and I joined the party heading to Fortaare for the Conclave.
We were dressed as Third Line guards, because that worked so well, and I hoped that no one looked at us too hard.
Lierick wanted to attend as Heir, but if there was a double cross, it would be up to Lierick to lead the Second Line army, so he was forced to play dress-up with me.
Though if Hayle didn’t keep it together, he was the one who’d blow our cover. His eyes kept straying to me, and Braxus was trying his best to seem uninterested, while basically nipping at my heels.
The plan was that while Feodore Vylan and his cronies were caught up in the Conclave, Lierick and I would try sneaking beneath the Hall of Ebrus and find the tal. From there, I’d destroy it. Hopefully, it wasn’t made of diamond or something.
“At least we won’t stink of shit this time,” Lierick muttered to me beneath his breath, and I curled my lips so I didn’t laugh. This really wasn’t a laughing matter. Everyone was on edge. Even the citizens of Fortaare seemed to be furtive, glancing at our entourage with suspicion and fear.
What information had the Baron of the First Line been feeding these people?
We all moved as a single unit, fanned around Baron Taeme and Hayle. Hayle wasn’t hiding. He was walking among the people of Fortaare with his chin raised, daring them to try and make good on the reward. Vox walked beside him, and maybe it was his presence keeping people back.
Maybe they were too beaten down to even try for the chance of a better life.
Zier was coming in with Baron Hanovan separately, with their own contingent of guards. It was strategically better if we weren’t all clumped together, in an easily murderable bunch. This all felt like a trap, but what was the alternative? Not show up and let Baron Vylan do whatever he wanted?
The only way Hayle was keeping it together at all was because he’d insisted that Lucio be in the entourage too. Honestly, if Lucio got any closer, I was either going to trip on his feet or over Braxus.
“You two need to take a step back. You’re about as subtle as a brick through a window right now.”
Lucio huffed an annoyed sound, but he did take a step back. “You know what a brick will go through, if I let you get hurt? My skull.”
“That’s not true. Hayle wouldn’t blame you.”
“Agree to disagree,” Lucio muttered. “Come on.”
The Hall of Ebrus wasn’t really part of the First Line Barony. It was meant to be a neutral space, kind of a safe zone for all Lines. However, it was hard to overlook the fact that it was literally attached to the First Line’s palace.
As we made it inside the large double doors of the Hall, there were dozens of guards milling around.
Apparently, no one felt particularly safe and had brought extra precautions.
The colors of the Eleventh and Twelfth Lines were there, as well as the Sixth.
I couldn’t see anyone from the Fifth Line, and wondered if Baron Ingmire had more pressing problems at the moment.
Goddess, I hoped so. I hoped he was getting exactly what he deserved.
The Tenth Line were present, and they looked spooked. I’d felt bad that I’d kind of abandoned them to their fate at Boellium, but what could I have done?
There was a loud murmur through the room as Arthur Hanovan and Zier turned up with a large contingent of Second Line soldiers. They weren’t taking any chances, and for that, I was thankful.
It was only made worse when Feodore Vylan appeared moments later. I dropped my eyes to the floor, turning away a little so I wouldn’t be visible. I doubted that Feodore Vylan knew what I looked like, but I would err on the safe side.
I was too far away to hear what was being said, but soon enough, just the Barons and the Heirs walked into the room used for Conclaves. The rest of the soldiers were left to stand aimlessly on guard out here—waiting for a double-cross, I guess.
Lierick touched my arm. “Let’s go.”
I slipped away from Lucio and shook my head at Braxus, so he didn’t follow.
He was too recognizable. We slipped behind the other soldiers, who were all milling about and muttering to themselves at the appearance of the Hanovans, eyeing the Second Line soldiers like they were suddenly going to grow a second head.
All of that was good, because it meant they weren’t watching us as we slipped out the back of the room.
Without Vox here to guide us, we had a basic idea to get below the Hall.
According to Ivan Vylan’s journals, there was a small, dug-out level in the sublevels, like they’d been considering building one more subterranean floor, but decided against it at the last minute. That was apparently where the tal was.
Moving unhurriedly down the open hallway, our footsteps disconcertingly loud, I breathed a sigh of relief as we found the stairs that led down. Down past the cellars and the dungeon, down to the level where the water was pooled and the sewage ran out. Our last entrance into the Hall.
There was no Librarian this time, however.
“There has to be another doorway, or stairs, or something around here,” Lierick muttered, and we moved along the walls, searching for something.
“What if there’s a different entrance? It’s been a really long time since that journal was written. Maybe they’ve done renovations?” I asked Lierick, and he shrugged.
“Then we go back and try to find references to where. We have time.”
We didn’t. It was a reassuring lie.
Walking around the rough walls, I paused over the large water reserve. It was huge and dark, and I wondered just how far it went down into the earth. It was almost completely still and calm, but something about it seemed… off.
“Lierick?” I called softly, and he appeared at my side. “What do you think?”
Lierick stared down into the shadowy abyss of the water. “I mean, it’s an element the First Line controls. It would make sense.”
“Not an element we can control, though.” I wasn’t sure how we could check my hypothesis, other than to dive right in, so I stripped out of my boots and shirt. We still had to walk out of here at the end.
“Avie,” Lierick started, but I pinned him with a look.
If his next words were going to be about letting him go instead, I might actually kick him in the shins.
He must have read the direction of my thoughts on my face, because he just grimaced.
“It’s lucky we’re both such good swimmers, I guess.
We go down, see if we can find the bottom, and then if it’s no use, we come back to the surface. You swim beside me at all times, okay?”
I nodded. Last thing I wanted was to be lost in a dark well, with no idea which way was up. But I knew we were right, that the tal was somehow below this water. I could feel it in my chest.
Lierick shucked off his own shirt and boots, and fuck, he was handsome. So much beautiful, golden skin that flexed with his easy movements. I wanted more time, so I could trace every hard ridge and line of his body personally. With my tongue.
“Stop looking at me like that,” he chuckled softly, “or I’m going to prop you on the edge of this well and fuck you, mission be damned.”
Tempting, but this was too important and more than a little precarious. “Later. Promise?”
“Cross my heart.” He leaned forward to seal it with a kiss. His lips were warm and familiar, and tasted like happiness. He boosted me up onto the side of the reservoir, climbing up after me. Reaching out, he twined his fingers in mine. “Three.. Two… One…”
We fell into the water with a splash. I expected to sink for a long time. The darkness of the water hinted at hidden depths, but we weren’t even immersed in water for a second before we were dumped unceremoniously onto rough stone.
Soaking wet, I climbed to my feet. I couldn’t believe it; I’d been right. We’d been right.
The cavern we were in was small, but there, lodged in a shrine on the rough stone wall was a statue of Ebretha.
She hummed with a power so thick, it coated me in an almost tangible residue.
I could feel the magic pulsing around the room, pouring through my veins, making every hair on my body stand on end.
But at the same time as the heady power coursed through me, I could feel how wrong it was. It was an unnatural thing; the statue was no more than two feet tall, but channeled the magic of generations.
Lierick moved toward it, his eyes wide. An insidious feeling unfurled in my chest. I looked around the room, and it seemed wrong too. A chair sat in the corner, covered in dust, but a plate discarded on the rough stone floor on the other side of the room was clear and empty.
I walked closer to the plate. Tucked tightly against the stone walls were shackles. A candle nearby had pooled into used wax, but it had no dust on the surface. Someone had been down here, and recently.
I strode back to the statue of Ebretha. “We need to go. The First Line knows about this place,” I hissed at Lierick, reaching toward the statue. “Let’s destroy it now and get back upstairs.” I grabbed the heavy base of the statue, which felt warm.
A hand reached out and gripped my wrist. Looking over at Lierick, I could see he was sweating. His eyes were wide, and his pupils so blown, I could hardly see his pretty gold irises at all.
“Maybe we should just take it with us. Study it.”
His voice sounded off, strained, and he groaned. I stared down at where his hand still held my wrist tightly. As his gaze dropped to his hand too, he wrenched it off, like my skin was on fire. Lifting both hands to his eyes, he pressed the balls of his palms tightly into the sockets.
“Fuck, Avie, it calls to me. To my magic. The power… Can’t you feel the power?” Breathing through his nose, he dropped his hands, his face filled with a desperate kind of fear. “The magic wants to be protected, and it’s calling on me to save it. You have to go. Avie, you have to run.”
No fucking way was I leaving him down here with that. “I have to destroy it first,” I said evenly, grabbing the statue in my hands. I was going to smash it to smithereens, and if that didn’t work, then I’d try something else.
“No!” Lierick launched himself at me, but stopped at the last minute, throwing himself back. “Avie, you have to go! Fuck!” He clawed at his face, and it was like he was changing in front of my eyes.
Someone chuckled softly from behind us. “Fortunately, no one is going anywhere.”
Whipping around, I saw Stanlus standing on the other side of the room, a wicked-looking gun pointed at us with one hand and an evil grin curling his lips.
“Ah, the Second Line Heir and Vox’s little whore. This is perfect.”