Chapter 45
Dylan woke in the dawning twilight to the sound of hushed whispers and saw Carina and Johnny making their way through the trees.
His voice was gruff with sleep. “Gabe. Get up and dressed. It’s almost time.” He rushed, slipping back into his clothes from the previous night, and tried to intercept them before they caught Gabriel naked.
Johnny smirked and looked as if he were about to laugh. “We brought you two coffee.” He glanced over Dylan’s shoulder. “You looked like you had a good night when we walked by ten minutes ago.”
Dylan felt his cheeks burn, but took the thermos from him and drank half the contents in one long sip without a word. When Gabriel joined a few minutes later, he handed the thermos over to him before turning to Carina. “Are they ready?”
She nodded. “Yes. And they know what they are supposed to do. We went over it again on the way out here.”
Dylan nodded, and they made their way to the gate. His mother, aunt, and grandmother were seated at the table as they passed. No one spoke a word, and Dylan hoped they didn’t have the same doubts he had running through his mind. Carina and Johnny stayed with his family as he walked to the gate. Gabriel walked beside him, but part of him wished he had also stayed behind in case this didn’t go as they had planned.
“Are you ready?”
Dylan inhaled sharply. “Yeah. Ready as I’ll ever be. Remember. Stay back, and if this goes sideways, make yourself scarce.”
Gabriel nodded, but the sarcastic snarl on his face told Dylan he wouldn’t stick to that.
The rising sun crested over the trees, and as the first light of the day touched the gate, Dylan placed his hand on it. The earth trembled as archaic symbols glowed to life along its stone face. Starting in the center and then stretching down to the ground. Concentric circles of light shone upward, leading out from the stone. Dylan kneeled down and touched the ground, touching the wards. Deactivating them. He could feel Gabriel’s eyes boring into him as he placed both hands on the gate. When he spoke, it sounded like someone else. His voice boomed, echoing through the hills, and if Carina was right, through all worlds. “The Tiresian queen has invoked Adan and demands Vurdalan king’s answer. All gates are open. Let him come forth to answer.”
The earth stilled. Time seemed to stop in a silence that seemed to stretch forever. Above them, birds took to the air, fleeing, and the gate came to life. swirling light that reminded Dylan of the rifts Gabriel could open, but more stable, a deep vortex swirling and shifting through every color imaginable, and then it was a window. He motioned for Gabriel to stay back and prayed he did. Dylan could see countless worlds, each different in its own way. He wondered if it was the same for everyone, or if having the blood and magic of those who guarded the gates for ages gave him a different view. A large man, if he could be called a man, stepped forward toward a gate and stepped through. He towered over Dylan.
“Who are you, runt?” The man’s voice was like a low rumbling growl.
Dylan mustered all of his courage, and met the man’s glare, and he knew it had to be the father of their prisoner. “I am Dylan Coates.”
The man laughed, and he heard nothing but cruelty behind it. “And I thought the Coates were all dead. Tell me, boy, how many generations have hidden here?”
Dylan’s jaw clenched. “I am merely the guardian of the gate in Adan. The Tiresian delegation is waiting.”
The Vurdalan king huffed and followed the path, which Dylan now saw illuminated by the same lights in the ground. He struggled to keep pace, just behind the king, glancing back to make sure Gabriel was behind him.
As they approached the table, the first thing he noticed was Tinah and his mother seated on either side of his mamaw. The next was that Carina and Johnny were nowhere in sight. The Vurdalan sniffed the air. “I smell two others. Who are they?”
His mamaw spoke with a strength to her voice he hadn’t heard since he was a child. “Attendants. They do not matter. You know the rules of Adan as well as I, sit and let us discuss ending this war.”
The Vurdalan laughed, and while it was meant to be menacing, Dylan’s family sat stoically. To everyone’s surprise, he sat across from them.
“The Tiresians started the war by trying to become rulers over everyone. I was just defending my people from their tyranny.”
Merrin’s stoic expression broke for a moment, and her eyes narrowed. His mamaw placed a hand on her arm. “The royal houses of every other realm asked us to help them. Should we have denied their requests?”
The Vurdalan scoffed. “I made no such request. Coates. Summon the other rulers. Let us see what they say about her claim.”
Dylan was not prepared for this, but his mother nodded, and so he returned to the gate, and summoned the rulers of all worlds. His stomach trembled and was unsure what was going to happen. As people flooded through the gates and headed down the path, one familiar person glanced at Gabriel with a knowing smile. When the procession halted, Dylan stood back as the table seemed to have grown inexplicably larger, with everyone seated around it with his family and the Vurdalan still at opposing sides. The one that had smiled at Gabriel was seated next to the Vurdalan. To Dylan’s surprise, he spoke first.
“As the king of what remains of the Liminans, I beg to speak first.”
A hushed murmur fell over the gathered dignitaries. “When we were invaded and our people enslaved, the Tiresians fled into exile. Should we trust them now?”
Chaos erupted, hundreds of people talking at once, shouting over each other. Dylan couldn’t keep up with what was happening when his mamaw raised her hand, and a hushed silence fell over the group.
“My ancestors did what they thought was right. I cannot speak to their accuracy, but I know that war, death, and destruction solve nothing.” She squeezed Merrin’s arm. “But the war is not the only piece of business here today. If we could table the final decision on the future for now, there is a matter of the past to attend to.”
The Vurdalan’s nostrils flared. “What matter of the past are you going to dredge up? A pup that pissed on your rose garden?”
Uneasy laughter rose between the two parties. Carina emerged from the forest with the Vurdalan prince bound and led by two chains stretched to keep him from getting too close. Johnny held the second chain. The Vurdalan king roared his outrage.
“Release my son this instant! This is not appropriate behavior for a diplomatic meeting on Adan! What sorcery did you use to capture him?”
“No sorcery was involved, your grace.” Dylan wondered if the sarcastic tone she used was lost on the dignitaries, as it was born of her being raised in the South.
“Father! They took me prisoner because I killed the Coates bastard’s father. This is war. They can’t do that.”
A murmur started and raised through the crowd.
“It was the last time the gates opened. I followed him through and…”
Merrin roared louder than any beast Dylan had ever heard. “You murdered my husband and his cousin in this sacred space. You have desecrated the holy laws of Adan while acting as an agent of your father.”
The crowd fell silent. Even the Vurdalan king was wide-eyed as he glared at his son, fangs filling his mouth. “You what? ”
The prince, oblivious to the tone, repeated his confession. “I killed two of the Coates after following them through the gate. I can still remember the exact spot over there.”
Tinah spoke with a practiced stiff authority that almost made Dylan chuckle. “It would seem that Adan has been separated from magic for so long that at the time of the murder, the Judgement of Adan was not invoked by the crime itself.”
The earth trembled beneath their feet. Dylan could feel magic pulsing through the earth. He stood ready to do whatever he needed to do.
His mother’s eyes glowed as she growled. “You murdered my husband in cold blood. I demand the Judgement of Adan.”
Dylan felt fire crawling along his skin, but took a deep breath, struggling to stifle it.
The Liminan king stood. “It would seem that the Vurdalans have committed treason against Adan.” He placed his hand on the table, and the stone glowed under it. “I trust Adan to provide true justice.”
Other dignitaries followed suit, their words turning into a jumbled murmuration, soon lost in the hum that swelled with the glow that quickly became too bright to look into.
Carina stepped forward. “King of Vurdala. You do not trust Adan to know the truth?”
He snarled and placed his hand on the table. The earth shook again.
Dylan felt an unknown peace. An unseen force compelled him to step forward. He placed his hand on the table and another gate opened. At its center, a swirling maelstrom of darkness.
The Vurdalan King roared. “Adan cannot wipe out the entire royal family.”
A voice came through the portal. “You and your progeny have desecrated land made sacred by the blood of your ancestors. You have unjustly murdered and enslaved countless people across the realms. There is only one remaining in your line who is innocent of this evil. He will rule and will restore your people to honor.” The darkness swirled faster. A force that seemed magnetic drew the king and prince onto the table. Claws dragged across the stone, catching for the briefest of moments.
The gate closed, and the Vurdalan king and prince were gone. The silence was deafening. Dylan pulled his hand back from the table, shaking. Gabriel came to him and embraced him as the crowd murmured questions and disbelief.