18. Chapter 18
I stared at the report on my desk as if I could erase the words by sheer strength of will.
The mine was a bust. I’d need to clear the Vel from its depths or send a request to the other leaders of the Lowland Kingdoms to see if they had a crystal in their vaults. That would mean working behind my own king’s back, which wouldn’t end well—if at all—as my brother told me the king had called a meeting with the foreign ambassadors, reassuring them that the situation with the Barrier was under control.
My word against the king’s. What were the odds?
‘Fuck it all,’ I growled at my thoughts as I hammered my fist on the desk, sighing when my knuckle left blood on the hard oak wood. I needed my control back; even my usually pristine and organised office was a mess now, with letters and orders cluttering every flat surface.
I felt like I was fighting this battle alone—well, almost alone. My brother was helping, and Alaric … but my friend hadn’t been himself lately. I knew he had nightmares and that they’d worsened. The only thing that seemed to make him smile these days was his time with Ani, and despite my own need to see her, I pulled away to give him the time he needed with her in his workshop or the library.
She was the only one who could make him smile. In her company, he became relaxed, and the mischievous, deadly man showed his gentler side. Still, we needed to talk, as the soldiers refused to train with him any longer. He fought so ferociously that they were being wounded far too often.
The problem was that I hadn’t had a spare moment free to do it.
The other commanders reported that the Vel were raiding the villages closest to the Barrier. They called for a war meeting despite having no authorisation from the Crown, and I had to agree with them.
Even here, the attacks were growing more frequent, especially by the strigae and wind demons amassing near the roads. They were making travel in the region close to impossible without a heavy escort. I’d had to reorganise the entire patrol schedule, leaving soldiers to guard the roads and riders to assist them from above to deal with any casualties.
With everything going on, there weren’t enough hours in the day to spend with Annika, and the nights … the dreams that made me wake up hard as a rock wondering what she’d do if I knocked on her door … Would she let me in? The image of her body wrapped in that damned white nightdress assaulted my senses, and I had to close my eyes, exhaling slowly, willing it to go away. I should go to the brothel before I lose my last semblance of control .
No, I wanted Ani, not just some temporary relief.
A knock on my door interrupted my turbulent thoughts, and I nodded to Alaric when he walked in. ‘The envoy from the royal mage has arrived. He should be here shortly. I asked the officer to bring him via the more scenic route through the town so that we could talk.’
‘Where’s Ani?’
‘I saw her in Katja’s workshop furiously mashing some herbs. You should offer that herbalist woman a permanent position here. She is excellent at making tinctures and remedies. More importantly, she is a good friend to Annika, and your Nivale needs female company.’
A strange emotion flitted across his features as he rubbed his chest again, a habit that was growing more noticeable with each passing day. ‘I will,’ I answered. Another knock announced the arrival of the envoy, and Alaric positioned himself beside me so that we could both face the visitor.
The man who followed my officer was dressed as a battle mage. His robes, however, were black, showing his status as both fully trained and a member of the royal household. He bowed his head respectfully towards me, but when his gaze slid towards Alaric, his only response was a raised eyebrow and pursed lips.
‘Commander, I’m here to discuss your plans for tackling the recent Vel attacks. I have been given full authority by the chancellor to carry out an inspection of your preparations and disposition of your troops,’ he declared arrogantly. I felt my fists tighten as I bit back my indignant response.
‘I’m sure you already know my name but let me formally introduce myself. I’m Lord Ormond Erenhart. You may call me “Commander” or “Sir,” as you choose.’ I enjoyed seeing the mage rear backwards, his nostrils flaring. I gestured to my left. ‘I believe you’ve already met our fortress mage, Alaric’va Shen’ra. Now … who might you be?’ I asked calmly while Ari looked down his nose at the envoy.
‘I am Ihrain Zak, battle mage of the High Order and apprentice to the royal mage.’ His gaze slid to Ari with open disdain. ‘You are a fool if you employ a dark fae as your mage. They cannot be trusted.’
‘You’re right. We can’t be trusted. Yet no one from the capital dares to come work at the fortress, so perhaps we can be trusted a little more than the commoners of the Lowland Kingdoms.’
I couldn’t help but smile. This was Ari at his keenest. Within moments, he’d identified the envoy’s weakness and eviscerated him. The envoy’s surname was that of a family of ennobled peasants. That he’d thought to use the royal mage’s authority as his own … well, that told us everything we needed to know about his character. While I’d intended to use the knowledge as leverage later on, Alaric had decided to put the coward in his place from the start.
‘You foul creature …’
‘Enough.’ I slammed my hand onto my desk, and the envoy startled, falling silent mid-sentence. ‘You will inspect the fortress if and when I allow it. Did your master brief you on the situation here?’ I asked, and something akin to understanding flashed in Ihrain’s eyes.
‘You mean your intention to replace the keystone? That was a ridiculous idea from the start. If your mage had bothered to communicate with the university, he would have learned that the entire Barrier is failing, not just a keystone in the Lost Ridge. It is no longer about singular Vel passing through the Rift. All four fortresses have now notified us of an increase in attacks. Some have even sighted spectrae on this side of the Barrier.’
‘Sighted? Lucky them, we fought a damn swarm of them. What is the king planning on doing?’
‘His Majesty recognises the problem but decided that instead of war, we will try … a different approach. Our mages were able to communicate with Katrass through a portal and received confirmation that messengers were welcome, so the king has sent our best diplomats to the Lich King’s domain. Why fight the monsters when we can have peace with the man who controls them? The Necromancer’s War was five hundred years ago. Times have changed, and it’s time for us to change as well. The Barren Lands were once a thriving merchant hub with access to the Northern Sea, and it can become so again.’
‘The empress tried that when Cahyon was still human. Have you learned nothing from her mistakes?’ Alaric’s voice was grim, but I had to agree with him. I wish I understood what was going on at court these days.
‘Is that the reason all my requests for aid are being refused? Or why my army is now half-full of criminals instead of proper soldiers?’ I hissed. The smirk on the mage’s face was my only answer.
The king didn’t care if the Barrier was restored. It explained the years of neglect and lack of response to my requests. Did he want it to fall? That could be the reason for the reassurances given to the foreign courts. Though one thing remained a mystery … Why had I been given Annika’s geas?
The meeting during which the royal mage had given me the parchment had been secretive to say the least, but I’d assumed it was because he couldn’t admit to losing track of her for so long. Now it looked more like something else was afoot. Could Ani’s disappearance have been orchestrated, or at least aided, by the royal mage? Was that secretive old bastard plotting against the king?
‘You are getting the men you need, so what’s the fuss? Political decisions are not for the likes of you to question, Commander,’ he sneered, and I began questioning why the chancellor would send someone so stupid here. Before I could answer, the door burst open, and Annika strode inside in a cloud of herbal scent wearing a determined expression.
‘If you think you can push me aside again, you are sorel … ohhh.’ Her tirade petered out when she saw the black embroidered robes of a battle mage and the man himself standing between us. She paled, swaying slightly, and I rushed to her side, but Alaric was there first.
‘Annika? But you’re dead!’ The battle mage gasped out in disbelief, and I swore under my breath.
‘Good morning, Ihrain,’ Ani answered, now entirely under control. ‘I’m sorry for disturbing your meeting. I will return later.’ Her tone trembled a little towards the end, and she turned to leave, only to stop in her tracks as the battle mage snarled.
‘Stop and explain yourself, creature.’ The crackling sound of aetheric power being manipulated had everyone turning, ready to fight—none faster than Alaric, who’d already leapt forward, dagger drawn and thrusting.
‘Creature?’ she hissed, flames spitting from the ends of her fingers.
‘You will speak to my lady with respect or not at all, boy. Choose your next words wisely. I would see you pay in blood for your insolence,’ Ari threatened, pressing the point of his dagger to Ihrain’s neck.
‘Your lady? Can’t you see, you fool?!’ he spat. ‘This is a doppelg?nger, a latawica 1 pretending to be Annika Diavellar. Annika died ten years ago when she lost control of her magic after her Anchors died. She was promised to me , so I would know if she was still alive.’ Alaric only pressed harder, drawing blood, and Ihrain finally paled. ‘You’re defending this demon?’
‘Oh, cut it out, both of you. I didn’t die, and I wasn’t promised to you. I never gave my consent, and I ran away before anyone got any stupid ideas about using my geas. You idiots in the capital are so gullible.’
She approached the pair and took hold of Alaric’s hand to ease the dagger from Ihrain’s neck. ‘They were bound to find out, eventually. I’m not exactly hiding anymore, am I? Ihrain will behave, or I will repeat our little tête-à-tête from school. Do you still wet yourself at the sight of fire, little Ihry?’
‘You bitch ! So it is you? Wait until the king learns of your survival. Who is your Anchor? You wouldn’t have managed without one,’ Ihrain demanded as he moved towards her.
‘I am her Anchor,’ Alaric said. Annika frowned briefly as she glanced towards him but didn’t contradict his lie.
‘A dark fae? Why am I not surprised?’ Ihrain’s gaze jumped between Alaric’s and Ani’s before his hatred focused on her. ‘You took this foul mage when you could have Anchored the best in the country? The king is old and has no heirs, and I have the support of the chancellor. With your power, we could have taken control of the court. Who do you think will rule when he is gone?’
‘Certainly not you. How you even become the royal mage’s apprentice is beyond me. The old man didn’t strike me as a person who suffers fools. As for your proposal? You tried to drag me into bed and force our bond. Consider yourself lucky that all I did was singe your little soldier for that crime.’
At Annika’s revelation, both Ari and I pushed forward, but we stopped when she took Ari’s hand and pressed it to her chest over her Anchor’s mark. ‘Dare insult my Anchor again, and I shall open up his access to the aether; then we’ll see what happens to those who hurt the ones I love.’
Ani couldn’t see it, but Alaric went ghostly pale, his eyes a swirling crimson as they stared at the woman who held his hand as if he were her lover. I cleared my throat to gain the battle mage’s attention.
‘Those higher than you already know about Annika, so dispense with your subterfuge. You are free to inform the king that Lady Annika is safely Anchored and will remain at Varta Fortress with her bonded mate. You’ll be shown to your quarters now, and tomorrow you will travel back to the capital,’ I said as calmly as I could manage, trying not to look at Alaric, who’d moved closer to Ani, embracing her as he pressed his forehead to hers, inhaling deeply.
‘But the inspection—’
‘Your inspection is concluded. You offended my hospitality, my mage, and my guest; therefore, you are no longer welcome in this fortress. If you try to resist, I have a squadron of dragons that would be happy to deal with you.’ A mighty roar shook the windows, accenting my words. Vahin had eavesdropped on the conversation while linked to my mind, and he was more than eager to back me up.
Like most bullies, Ihrain was also a coward, and the sound of a dragon’s roar shattered the rest of his confidence, so he followed my adjutant out of the office without further argument. As soon as we were alone, Annika turned to Alaric with a big grin on her face. ‘You were really convincing, but you can let me go now.’ Although Ari did as she asked, his movements were hesitant. I could see he wanted to hold on longer.
‘Let’s hope it’ll be enough. We have another problem, though,’ I argued, and Ani looked at me with a frown. ‘The king doesn’t care if the Barrier fails. His compliance with my plans was a smokescreen for court politics. In his infinite wisdom, he’s decided that opening the old trade routes through the Barren Lands will bring prosperity to the kingdom.’
‘W-what?’ Ani stuttered, taken aback. ‘There is nothing left to open, and the monsters and pestilence make travelling through there pointless.’ The disdain in Alaric’s answering grunt was impressive.
‘What he wants is eternal life. He’s old and without an heir—you heard that buffoon’s words. He may mask his desire as trade, but I’ve seen it all before. He’s not ready to die, and he thinks the Lich King can help him cheat death just as my father helped Cahyon Abrasan.’ Raw emotion roughened his voice.
‘How can you be so sure?’
I could see Annika’s distress, but I had to agree with Alaric. The king had withdrawn most of the mages from every fortress alongside the Barrier the year I took command and had spread misinformation about the state of the spell. Now the most qualified of the ones left were little more than hedge witches. Maybe if they’d had decent magical support, we’d have known about the entire Barrier failing sooner.
‘I’m sure, Ani. People never change. The human hunger for eternal life knows no bounds, and the older you get, the easier it is to convince yourself that the price is worth it. The Lich King didn’t start off as a monster. He was a powerful and skilled mage, and many envied him. But he wanted more—more fame, more riches, more life, and in the end, that was his downfall.’
‘Then someone has to stop this madness. We can’t let it happen.’ I had learned enough of Ani’s character to expect her words, but I shook my head.
‘We can’t stop the Barrier from fading, and opposing the king will only cause turmoil,’ I answered, moving closer to them both. ‘The only solution would be to kill the source of the problem, but no one can even get close to him. There is an army of monsters between the Lich King and us, not to mention his own immense power.’
‘And that brings us back to the discussion we had a few months ago. The circumstances have changed, and … I told you there is always a way,’ Alaric muttered to me.
‘No! Don’t even think about it. We will do what we planned to do. I will find a bloody crystal even if I have to bribe, threaten, or steal the damn thing—and you will repair the Barrier, even if it only lasts another decade. That would give us enough time to train a decent army, at least. In the meantime, I’ll talk to my family. They can rally the nobles to stop the king.’
‘Orm, I’m sorry, I can’t repair the Barrier—’ Alaric started, but before he could say more, Annika interrupted. ‘Why are you wasting your time? If there’s a way to end the Lich King, we should do it.’ Ani paced before stopping in front of Alaric. ‘You’ve had an idea, haven’t you? Tell me, I’ll help.’
‘No, all Alaric has planned was to sneak through the Barrier. He intended to free his sister and likely kill himself while trying to end the Lich King. The idea was insane when he first brought it up, and it sounds even worse now. We are not discussing it. I’m not losing a friend … or you, to a suicide mission.’
‘What if I find a spell to dismantle the Lich King’s life? There must be a way to undo whatever is keeping him alive. Nothing is truly immortal. If sneaking in and doing the deed is the only way, I will do what’s needed, Orm. That’s why I’m here,’ Ani offered quietly, and I slammed my fist, adding more blood to the desk’s surface.
‘ No. The odds are so against us it’s not even worth thinking about. Leave the strategy to me. We will wait, and when the Barrier fails, whatever we decide here won’t matter. If it comes to that, Alaric and I will ride Vahin to fight. If we succeed, we will come back to you.’
‘So you will take my Anchor and the man I consider a friend, but you’d make me stay here … For what purpose? You brought me here to be a weapon, so let me be one,’ she argued, and even knowing she was right, I couldn’t stomach seeing her in danger.
‘You will still be a weapon. You and Vahin’s fire are our last line of defence, and I’m not letting our last hope fall into the hands of the enemy. I have to think like a soldier. There is no place for emotions or heroes in war, too many people could pay the price for reckless bravery. Unless the situation changes, you will stay in the fortress, and that’s the end of it.’
I saw Ani’s eyes narrow, and I braced myself when she tightened her fists, but nothing happened. Instead, she shook her head and turned to leave. ‘We will see about that, Lord Ormond; and I’m not a fucking hero,’ she huffed before slamming the door.
1. Latawica(f)/latawiec(m) — shapeshifting wind demons that fly in currents. Their physical bodies are similar to large birds with sharp claws and colourful feathers, with human heads. They can shift into any human to tempt their victim with their song; and when they sing, those who hear it claw their bodies, ripping the flesh as an offering for the ravenous demons.