Chapter 8 #3
Only Brant held her loyalty, and he didn’t care what place they called home.
So, why was she doing this? To curry favor with a mother who barely spoke to her? It wasn’t like this would suddenly cause Meara to grow a conscience or motherly love.
Most likely, she wouldn’t even say thanks or good job.
Masakage shook his head. “You’ve stunned and confused her, brother.”
Xaydin couldn’t agree more. Her eyes betrayed her inner war.
Wanting to ease it, he turned toward her. “You are fearless. Brave. Intrepid. Throw off the chains Meara has used to cripple you. For once in your life, live.”
How simple he made it seem.
But was it that simple? The Thirteen Kingdoms were vast. She could easily hide, and she had the skills to make sure no one ever dragged her back to Thassalia.
How horrible that the thought of walking into an unknown future was more frightening than returning to the misery she knew awaited her at home.
Did everyone feel this way?
Xaydin gently lifted her chin until she stared into his dark eyes. “I have all faith in you. Change your destiny, Gisela. It’s not easy. But better for you to change it yourself than allow someone else to take control and force it upon you. Think about it. You could be free of Meara forever.”
He was right. And it was terrifying.
“Meara promised me my freedom if I protected him.”
“And you believe her? You really think once you return home she’ll just let you go?”
She wanted to say yes. But he was right.
Gisela knew her mother better than anyone. Meara wasn’t a creature anyone could trust. The only reason she hadn’t broken her alliance with Dash was because of this contract.
Even then, she’d actually tried. While Dash had been out, seeking his sister’s murderer, Meara had “invaded” his lands by saying he’d assisted the rebels who’d been trying to overthrow her. A technicality that she was lucky hadn’t already called down the wrath of an ataswere on her.
“Let’s see this ataswere, and then I’ll let you know my decision.” That was the best she could do at present.
Changing one’s destiny wasn’t an easy thing, and it shouldn’t be decided on a whim. And definitely not under pressure.
Xaydin inclined his head before he headed toward the cottage.
Stunned, she exchanged a panicked look with Masakage. “Is that it? We just walk right in?”
He shrugged. “It would appear so.”
Very well, then. Though to be honest, she would have expected something a little more incognito. ’Course, given the huge size of Xaydin, his sexy swagger, and the fact he had the chiseled features of an angel, she supposed incognito was impossible for him. He tended to leave a memorable mark.
“Has he always been like this?” she asked.
Masakage just nodded.
Sighing heavily, she trailed after him, hoping she could do something.
She had no idea what. It was futile. As skilled a warrior as she was, she knew she’d be no match for him.
Not physically. His reach was too great, and he was too massive in size.
While she might be quicker, he was much, much stronger.
Granted, she could fight in her alternate forms, but she wasn’t as skilled at that.
Nor as agile. Shape shifting took a lot of effort, and it wasn’t easy to fight in the skin of someone else.
If she were injured in another form, she’d immediately revert back and that could be even more dangerous for her.
Besides, there was only one form she was as adept at using as her human body.
The one that pissed off her mother to no end. That form was kept as buried as the secret of her father.
Gisela quickened her steps as Xaydin approached the cottage stoop.
Before he reached it, the door opened to show an ataswere who appeared around the same age as Fenrys.
“Are you here to see my father?”
By the expression on Xaydin’s face, she could tell he was as stunned at that question as she was.
“Saress?”
The ataswere nodded. “My father. Are you friends of his?”
Now they were all exchanging bemused stares. What was going on?
Xaydin was the first to recover from shock. “Not friends, per se. Why?”
“If you wish to say goodbye to him, there’s not much time. The doctor said he’ll be gone within the hour.” He opened the door to admit them into the modest dwelling.
Once inside the small cottage, Gisela pulled up short in the room she assumed was also the kitchen, given the size of the hearth and the large pot set over the fire. But instead of a table and chairs, they’d placed a bed there. One that looked out on the sea.
The kitchen chairs lined the walls where five other atasweres sat in tears. A female ataswere was at the side of the bed, holding the hand of a male who lay dying.
Tears filled her eyes at the sight of their grieving.
Granted she was a fierce warrior who normally suppressed her own emotions, but it made her vulnerable whenever she saw others feeling them.
It was one thing to kill someone quickly, it was another to watch them suffer.
That had never been her goal. She didn’t like pain.
Not her own and definitely not that of others.
The female looked up at Xaydin. “Welcome, friends. I’m glad you made it in time.”
Saress shook his head at her words. “They’re not friends, Asla. Do you not recognize him for who he is?”
She scowled as she looked at all three of them. “No.”
Saress laughed bitterly, then coughed and wheezed. Once he was able to breathe again, he jerked his chin toward Xaydin. “Behold the legendary Oathbreaker. I’m sure he’s here to collect my head.”
The five who were seated stood immediately, ready to fight.
“Hold,” Saress said in a weakened tone. “I don’t want my last memory to be the sight of my family bleeding or fighting for the likes of me. I’m done with this world. What difference does it make on how I leave it?”
Asla began weeping harder.
To her shock, Xaydin held up his hands. “Forgive me, my lord. I didn’t realize you were ill, and I mean no one in this room any harm.”
A bitter laugh rattled in Saress’s chest. “You vowed to see all atasweres dead. Are we really supposed to believe you’re here for any other reason?”
Xaydin flinched at that questions. Because he was right. He’d spent years tracking down atasweres. Taking pride in killing them and watching their contracts fade away with their lives.
But this was the first time he’d seen one of them surrounded by family, dying of natural causes. While he’d known they had families and lived similar lives to others, it was completely different when confronted by it.
And as much as he hated their species, he respected the ataswere’s right to pass peacefully today.
But he did have one question. “What’s wrong with you?” Because it was obvious that the ataswere wasn’t elderly. Just in a lot of pain.
“Ersi,” Asla said with a catch in her throat.
“What is that?” Gisela asked softly.
Asla drew a ragged breath. “It’s a horrible disease that afflicts us far too often.”
“Caused by taking on too many contracts.” Saress passed a meaningful look toward Xaydin. “The magic speeds up our internal aging. On the surface I might appear to be middle-aged, internally, I’m ancient.”
Xaydin scowled. “I’ve never heard of this.”
“We don’t talk about it,” his son said. “If word got out, some might think twice about using us for their deals.”
Saress took his son’s hand. “Although most of us pass the contracts on to our heirs before we go.”
“What do you mean?” Gisela looked at him. “They can do that? It’s not like what we saw earlier with the fake contracts?”
Xaydin sighed heavily. “No. They’re not the same. But I’ve heard of this. They can make binding copies of contracts appear on others, but those aren’t enforceable by the recipient until the original ataswere passes on.”
“Which is what makes your friend so deadly.” Saress gave her a wan smile. “Prince Xaydin is exceptionally talented at ensuring we don’t have time to make copies before he ends us.” He met Xaydin’s gaze. “Or if there are copies, that he finds them and ends them too.”
For reasons Xaydin couldn’t begin to fathom, he felt a vicious wave of guilt go through him.
“May I ask you, Prince, which of my contracts has brought you to my door?”
“The one for Queen Meara and King Cratus that King Dash inherited.”
“Good.”
“Good?” Masakage asked.
“I feared it would be one of the marriage contracts. I’d hate to think that one of the couples I helped unite hated one another enough to kill me for my part in their union.”
Xaydin shook his head. “I would never take a life for something of that nature.”
Asla scoffed. “What do you care? You’ve assassinated us without hesitation.”
“Not true, my lady. I don’t care about the lesser contracts as most will never break them. It’s the contracts forced on others that I execute with extreme bloodshed. Those that have caused another to be killed or sacrificed needlessly.”
Saress placed his hand over Asla’s. “Don’t be so harsh, my love. The prince’s father was executed over something that shouldn’t have been enforced. I understand his fury at us and so do you.”
“We’re not all honorable,” Asla finally confirmed. “Some of us can be bought off. I’m sorry you were hurt, Highness.”
And he was seriously regretting his decision to intrude on their last moments together. “I’ll leave your family in peace. Forgive our intrusion.”
As he started for the door, Saress called out to him.
Pausing, he turned back toward the ailing ataswere.
“Is it necessary to take my head to your king?”
“No. Dash will accept my word that the deed is done.”
“Thank you for that mercy.”
It wasn’t mercy. It was decency.
Xaydin led them outside, but before they could go far, Masakage pulled him to a stop.
“I can heal him.”
Xaydin was surprised by his brother’s words. “How so?”
“I have the means to spare his life, if you want.”
With a side glance to Gisela, he hoped he was wrong about his brother’s intentions. “We’d have to take a life to spare his.” That was the common price for such magic.