Chapter 45 A Sweet Surrender
Here, Have Some Help
It hadn’t taken long.
A full-blown battle was about to take place on the lawn, near where the castle had disappeared. All hell had broken loose in short order.
First, the king and queen had found themselves in a shouting match; the other courtiers had joined in almost immediately. Then more courtiers and serving staff had appeared, and it was revealed that the princes had chosen to stay at their uncle’s side.
Things descended further into chaos, but by the next day it was even worse.
A whole slew of witches arrived.
Apparently, a number of witches Tam who had sent into the void had
reappeared. Some were still recovering from malnourishment, but it soon became clear that their return to the tangible world had occurred because Tam had strained himself moving the castle and courtiers into the void.
The first witch was nowhere in sight.
Ancient beasts had started trickling in. As a result, Tak, the golem that guarded Daxaria, had moved to stand in the harbor, unnerving the citizens of Austice, who were already concerned about the hostile air.
Through it all, one thing was clear to the people and courtiers.
Tamlin Ashowan was the devil, and he had stolen away the castle in an effort to escape. The rumors had been saying as much, and now they had the proof.
By the end of the first week, the king and queen were not on speaking terms except when missives from the princes magically appeared, along with Tam’s own messages informing them of Eli’s condition.
As of the middle of the second week, a rebellion was brewing and demanding Tam’s head.
The only ones who stood in the way…
Were the Ashowans.
Kat sat across from her parents with a cold firepit between them.
The cloudy, drizzly sky above them marked the first official day of autumn, and while it usually was the queen’s favorite time of year, it only felt like another day of misery and stress.
A quick study of her parents showed Kat that the uncertainty and worry for their son and his children had not been kind to them; both looked pale and gaunt.
It was only a matter of time before the castle would reappear and the fighting would start, and that knowledge weighed heavily on them.
“So we agree? Da, you put your shield up, I’ll handle as many people as I can. Mum, you try to get Tam and the kids out of the castle to somewhere safe,” the queen said in low tones.
Nearby, Henrietta the chicken witch collected sticks for a fire. The first day everything had transpired, she had quietly informed them that she wanted to help however she could.
“We have a few witches and civilians who want to help,” Fin announced wearily. “I don’t want to ask them to make that kind of sacrifice, though.”
“I know… I can take care of a lot of attackers, but to be perfectly honest, I don’t know that I’m going to be lending my ruling position any favors by harming my people,” Kat pointed out, her elbows resting on her knees that were braced apart. “And I don’t really want to hurt them, either.”
The duchess cleared her throat and shifted in her seat. “It is wise to think like that. I’m afraid I, too, don’t know how we can avoid a confrontation at this point without drastic measures.”
“Well. We’re doomed. Even Mum can’t manage to think of some scheme to get us out of this.” Kat dragged her eyes across the lawn, where she watched the crowd of people mill about the tents. “Why the hell did it get like this?”
“The coven’s rebellion is the main cause. I’m sorry that it has gotten between you and Eric,” Fin added.
Kat clenched her teeth. “I’m pissed off at him, but at the same time, things got to this point because we couldn’t talk for weeks.
Eric would’ve thought about that decision for a long time.
He was trying to stop this”—she swept her arm over the brewing calamity—“from happening. I get it. He’s always distrusted Tam and Mum because of their slightly illegal dealings, and this just pushed him over the edge. ”
A pause rested over the trio.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen when this ends,” Kat confessed.
“I don’t know that our family is coming out of this without something happening.
Tam is going to be arrested. If we help him escape, we’re going to be arrested.
I’ll most likely be deposed…” She trailed off and dropped her head. “It’s bad.”
It took a while, but eventually Annika responded. “It is. We may need to disappear for a while. Unfortunately, I don’t know where we can go that we will be safe for long.”
A low growl sounded in Fin’s throat. “I will find a place and make it safe. You have my word.”
Annika reached over and touched her husband’s arm.
Looking at his wife, Fin spared a softened smile.
“I know you will, love,” Annika murmured warmly before turning back to her daughter. “What do you want to do about the boys?”
Kat grimaced. “Is giving them a choice fair in that kind of circumstance? They should be kept in the home they know, protected and taken care of, but… At the same time, I don’t know that they will be looked upon kindly anymore.”
Neither one of her parents offered a comment.
“I hope Tam’s managing alright,” Annika said, her eyes falling to the dead air where the castle should have been.
Fin reached out and grasped Annika’s hand. “In the last missive, it said Eli’s coloring was returning—and she still had not lost the child, so that was something. I feel better knowing Hannah, Captain Taylor, and Harris are in there with him.”
“As soon as those traitors from the coven showed up, I sent Tam a bit of power, so hopefully that’s helping him recover some magic so he isn’t completely defenseless once the castle reappears,” Kat said.
Both Fin and Annika nodded, then all three of them turned to look at the empty space, wondering how in the world they could possibly survive what was to come.
“Your Majesty!”
Kat turned as one of the witches who sided with her and her father rushed forward with a scroll in his hand. There seemed to be some kind of discontent waving through her husband’s camp; several people meandered closer to the top of the hill.
All three of the Ashowans rose to their feet.
When the young man reached Kat, he threw himself into a bow and thrust the missive at her.
Unfurling the scroll with a curious frown, Kat’s eyes darted across the page, and then her jaw dropped.
Both Annika and Fin edged closer.
A smile of disbelief climbed her face.
“What is it?” Annika asked hopefully.
Kat lifted her gaze to stare out toward the Alcide Sea.
“It would seem the new empress of Zinfera has taken it upon herself to send support to the queen of Daxaria.”
“Deoh Rin? She sent help?” Annika didn’t hide her surprise.
Kat chuckled. “Right. Things have been so busy I don’t think I got to tell you… Did you maybe notice how Pina wasn’t with me when I returned?”
Both Fin’s and Annika’s expressions fell flat.
“I was all set to leave with her in the carriage when we got to the docks and she took off. I knew better than to try and stop her from doing something but, well… It seems she’s been busy.”
“Are you seriously telling me…” Fin’s voice was choked. “Pina is the new empress of Zinfera?”
Kat grinned. “Yep. It’s a good thing Kraken is in the castle with Tam, Da. I don’t think he’d be handling the news all that well.”
★ ★ ★
Tam sat in the same chair he’d spent most of his time in for the past two weeks. At least it felt like most of his time.
He sat in the back corner of Eli’s room as the physician performed another checkup and informed him with no small amount of surprise how well she was healing.
Tam managed a smile and thanked the physician. After becoming aware of the situation, and of the fact that sadly his fellow physician would not be able to come help him, the man was still rightfully quite nervous around Tam.
“Shall I allow Luca and Penelope to come say hello?” the physician asked while rolling down his tunic sleeves.
“Sure.” Tam closed the book in his lap. It was one of the tomes he had taken from the Isle of Wittica. Sadly, it was not proving helpful to him in any way. “Thank you again for your care.”
The physician eyed the void outside the window with a tight smile then gave a quick nod to Tam in acknowledgment.
Once he had left, Tam had a moment of quiet to reach up and rub the back of his neck. His initial panic for Eli was gradually lightening as each day she showed improvement, and their child seemed to be just as strong as her mother, clinging to life persistently.
For the most part, Eli had not been coherent when awake, so Tam kept Penelope and Luca from being around during those times.
However, just that morning she had asked for some food and even called Tam’s name—though it seemed to be more from a sleeping state than a wakeful one.
It was still better than the random bouts of rambling about puffer fish she had succumbed to initially.
“Dad?”
Tam looked over to see Luca poking his head into the room. Penelope did the same shortly after, and then the three princes followed.
“Boys! What brings you by?” Tam pushed himself to stand as he stepped over to the group of children, who had thankfully seemed to have formed an alliance of kinds during their time in the voided castle.
“What’s for dinner?” Asher asked.
Tam chuckled. He had taken over cooking for everyone shortly after his sister had sent him enough magic to recover a good deal of power.
“We’re through most of the fresh food. How about something like… potato pancakes? I still have some leftover gravy from the roast.”
Asher started jumping up and down.
Meanwhile Luca and Penelope went over to Eli and stared down at her.
“She’s almost ready to wake up,” Tam called. “She’s pulling through.”
Both Luca and Penelope turned excitedly at the same time.
“Really?” Luca asked, with a nervous smile.
Tam nodded. “Really.”
Luca whirled back around and grabbed Eli’s hand, which lay across her middle, giving it a squeeze. Meanwhile, Penelope leaned down and whispered something to Eli that Tam couldn’t hear. She had done that every day since Eli had been unconscious.
Someone knocked on the open door. Tam turned around to see Harris joining the crowd in the small room, which was starting to run out of standing space.
“Just heard the good news from the physician! My niece is going to be up and at ’em soon, I can feel it! Also, love the beard, Tam!” Harris said with his usual grin.
The man had been in rather good spirits since he had realized he was trapped in the castle with his dear wife—though he worried about their numerous children, who had been left in the care of Mackenzie’s younger sister back home in Sorlia.
Tam scratched at the aforementioned beard. “Thanks. I haven’t had a chance to talk to Kasim yet, but did you let him know I’d be coming?”
Thanks to Kat’s magical support, Tam hadn’t felt a pressing need to go speak to the earth witch—not when Eli’s condition was so precarious. However, with things calming down, he wondered about picking Kasim’s mind about the situation awaiting them in the real world with the first witch.
“I did indeed! He’s actually standing in the void, outside the door to the kitchen.”
Tam’s eyebrows rose. “Really? Everyone else is terrified of leaving.”
“And can you blame them, Tam? You told them that if they wandered off, they could get stuck in the void forever.”
Tam shrugged. “I wasn’t going to let them skip off without knowing the truth.”
Harris sighed.
“Are you alright staying with the kids? I’ll go talk to Kasim and work on dinner.”
Harris nodded and patted Tam on the shoulder as he passed.
It was a short walk to the kitchen from Eli’s room, a fact that Tam greatly appreciated when he had to be away from her for long periods of time to cook.
Pushing open the kitchen door, Tam entered the familiar space, the smell of garlic and fresh bread heavy in the air. The only difference was Kasim Jelani, standing outside the open door that once led to the gardens with his hands clasped behind his back.
Closing the castle door behind himself, Tam approached the cooking table and tied an apron on. He knew the earth witch would come in to talk when he was ready. He retrieved the leftover mashed potatoes from lunch and added garlic powder, salt, pepper, flour, and eggs before molding patties.
“It’s like watching your father.”
Tam didn’t look up from the food as he sensed Kasim seat himself at the table.
“In this case, I’d say that’s a compliment.”
Kasim chuckled. “It is indeed.”
“So… Harris told you everything?”
“He told me all he knows. But I suspect there is a good deal more to this entire situation that only you know, Tamlin Ashowan.”
At last Tam looked up to see the Lobahlan man, with his ebony skin, long white locs, and white goatee. Kasim stared at him with the same amount of mysterious wisdom he always had in his dark eyes.
“I have a hunch that you might have been gradually taking on a fate that was not the one you were born with.”
Tam felt himself still.
The Lobahlan leaned back and folded his arms over his chest. “How about you tell me the whole story, Tam. And let’s see what we can figure out, hm?”