Chapter 9
The Sonora grounds were unkempt but otherwise much as Harald had seen them last. By the angels, when had that been? As he jogged lightly down the broad driveway, he tried to remember. After Gorkin’s attack, wasn’t it? And that had been—three weeks ago? More?
Spending too much time in the dungeon warped one’s sense of reality.
But Harald put such thoughts out of mind.
He scanned the bushes, the stands of trees along the high perimeter walls, the manor windows, the closed front door.
Anna had lost all her staff, even her mad gate guard and majordomo.
She’d returned alone to this empty home, and over the past few weeks—what?
Begun the process of rehiring new servants and guards?
Damn it. Harald resisted the urge to curse. If only he could have accompanied her back. Helped her get grounded. Provided counsel and muscle. Now she was inside, trapped, and—
“Slow down,” called Nessa, tone terse. “Harald. Wait.”
He’d almost broken into an all-out run, and her command grated. But he forced himself to slow, then stop. The other three had done the same a dozen paces behind him. “What?”
“I saw movement along the top,” said Nessa, eyes narrowed as she studied the manor’s roof. “Subtle. But let’s not be idiots and just rush in.”
Harald flushed. “Fine. We go round?”
A new voice cut in from above as a rangy figure rose into view. “Glad to see you’ve all learned something about basic survival. I was starting to despair, watching you run right at me.”
The man was as imposing as he was gaunt, his black hair graying and pulled back into a ponytail, and he wore a Nihtscuan wolf mantle thick about his shoulders.
Face angular and harsh, skin burnished by long years weathering the elements, he had prominent brows, hollow cheeks, and eyes that were lost in shadow.
Relief washed over Harald. “Eadwolf!”
“The very same. You’ve come a long way since last we spoke, Harald.
” Eadwolf placed one hand on the retaining wall and vaulted over, to drop some twenty yards and land neatly in a crouch to one side of the main entrance.
Without showing any signs of discomfort at the precipitous drop, he rose smoothly to his feet and approached. “What brings you back?”
“Are you the Gold-ranked raider the idiots outside told us of?” asked Nessa, also relaxing a fraction.
“Gold-ranked?” Eadwolf cocked his head to one side. “Possibly. But I wager they’re talking about Lady Hammerfell. She arrived a few days ago. It’s she that’s keeping the hounds at bay.”
“Lady Hammerfell is here?” Harald’s delight was immediate. “And protecting Countess Sonora? Thank the Fallen Angel.”
“Aye,” said Eadwolf, eyeing him warily. “These past few weeks haven’t been easy on Flutic. I came when the first riots began, and have remained, seeing as the countess is defenseless. I kept the pups at bay, but it was close work for a while. Everyone seemed intent on making her their prisoner.”
“Thank you, Eadwolf.” Harald sketched a half-bow. “Thank you. She’s inside?”
Eadwolf tongued the inside of his cheek as he nodded slowly. “She’ll be pleased to see you. I’ll resume my watch.”
They hurried up the entrance steps, under the portico, and then Harald opened the door to allow them inside. The familiar entry hall greeted his eyes, washed clean of blood and emptied of ruined furniture, so that it now appeared stark and unadorned.
Distinct footsteps sounded on the marble, the click, click, click of heels, and then a statuesque figure clad in crimson and gray ducked under an archway to step into view, her long curls of burgundy hair falling past her pauldrons, her expression melting from cold disdain into immediate warmth at the sight of them.
“Harald! You’re back. Welcome, all of you. I had thought you mere interlopers.”
“Lady Hammerfell.” Harald bowed again, more deeply this time, and couldn’t restrain a smile. “They told me outside that a Gold-ranker had taken the countess prisoner a few hours ago. I guess that was their attempt at a cunning ploy.”
“Indeed. It’s amusing how long they’re willing to lurk about the entranceway, sniffing and grumbling to each other. I’ve a mind to clear them out, but…” She shrugged one massive shoulder. “That’s liable only to draw more unwanted attention. This detente suits the countess for now.”
“She’s well? Anna?” Harald moved forward.
Lady Hammerfell hesitated. “Ye-es,” she allowed. “As well as anybody can be during these times. You’ve just returned from the dungeon?”
“Half a bell ago. What’s going on?”
“Nothing good, I fear. Come. The countess will be delighted to see you.”
Lady Hammerfell led their small group to Anna’s private library and pushed the door open with comfortable familiarity to reveal a blazing hearth, and Anna rising to her feet, clad in a modest dress but with a blade buckled at her hip.
“Harald?” Then she was rushing forward, her relief painfully obvious, to hug him tightly.
Harald hesitated—always Anna had been ineffably elegant and poised, and this sudden hug only deepened his concern over the situation.
He embraced her for a moment, then stepped back to study her.
“You’re not hurt? I’m so sorry I couldn’t come back before—”
“It’s good that you stayed away,” cut in Anna, composing her freckled face into a dignified expression as she mastered herself, her vivid hazel green eyes moving to encompass the other three in her words. “But it’s good to see you regardless. Come, all of you, please. Sit.”
Lady Hammerfell remained just inside the door, her head brushing the ceiling, her arms crossed over her dark gray armor, a fond smile tugging at the corners of her lips. The others claimed armchairs.
“What’s going on?” asked Sam. “The raiders at your gate, Lady Hammerfell and Eadwolf here to protect you—the streets in the Angelic Quarter are practically deserted.”
“After you left,” began Anna, sitting with natural poise, hands in her lap, “I sent word to Master Eadwolf the Gray beseeching him to enter my service, and retreated to my manor. Those first few nights…”
“Violent,” said Lady Hammerfell. “A lot of people died. Gold-ranked, Silver-ranked raiders amongst them. It was as if a dam had burst, and decades of hatred and pent-up rage were unleashed.”
“The city went mad,” agreed Anna. “And each noble manor house became a fortress besieged. Not only that, but hundreds of ruffians came boiling out of the Tangles, maybe thousands, a private army that fought for Lord Drakenhart of all people. The city convulsed, arson was the crime of the hour, and smoke choked the skies.”
“The Twilight Crown was claimed, lost, then claimed again. Then all knowledge of its location disappeared.” Lady Hammerfell might have been discussing the weather.
“The Houses suffered tremendous losses, with alliances being forged and broken nightly. The rest of the city battened down to weather the storm as best they could, and for a week to walk the streets was to court death.”
“Master Eadwolf…” Anna shook her head slowly in wonder.
“He guarded the manor night and day. Groups came to fetch me, and he repulsed them, one after another. They wanted to interrogate me, to force me to reveal potential secrets that they fancied would sway the course of the civil war. To use me as a bargaining piece, to… I don’t even know.
But he couldn’t fight forever, and I was preparing to deliver myself to House Veridian as a willing captive when Lady Hammerfell arrived. ”
“I hadn’t thought myself still capable of disillusion,” smiled the gigantic woman.
“I knew Lord Drakenhart to have shady dealings, but then, all the Houses do. But what I learned, what he asked me to countenance… well.” She shook her head, causing her burgundy locks to shake back and forth.
“Suffice it to say my loyalty broke when he sought to coerce me, and my position at House Drakenhart ended when I cut his head from his shoulders.”
Sam blanched. “You killed him?”
“You might call it self-defense. If you were in a charitable frame of mind.” Lady Hammerfell’s smile slowly faded.
“Not that it mattered. His son has taken up the mantle and is twice as bloodthirsty and half as intelligent. No improvement there. Regardless. Knowing that he intended to seize Countess Sonora to trade her to House Silvershield who then intended to use her against you, Harald, in the dungeon, I came here as swiftly as I could. And just in time.”
“It was incredible.” Anna gazed at Lady Hammerfell in awe. “She didn’t even use her blade. Just walked through the forces trying to batter down Eadwolf and then turned and crossed her arms. They all fled.”
“There is yet some wisdom amongst even those fools,” allowed Lady Hammerfell. “But whatever. That’s the least of it.”
“The least of it?” Harald leaned forward. “What do you mean?”
“Vic has returned,” said Anna soberly. “But not alone.”
“Vic?” Nessa’s voice was sharp. “He’s here? In Flutic?”
It was Lady Hammerfell who told the tale.
“He appeared a week ago with a contingent of demons. Yes. Actual demons. Powerful enough to go toe-to-toe with any Gold-ranker, but nothing like you’d find in the very depths of the dungeon.
I wager those can’t be spared. He set himself up in the Cathedral of Our Fallen Lady and spent the first few days repulsing the Inquisitors and holy knights who sought to destroy him.
For reasons I don’t yet understand, the forces of the church abruptly stopped attacking him.
Which is when he sent forth word that he was in possession of the Twilight Crown and was going to coronate himself in the Council Basilica.
All heads of Houses were invited to attend, as long as they swore to bend knee.
Those who failed to appear would be hunted down by his demons and slain. ”
Harald felt the blood rushing to his head and sank back into his chair. “You’re kidding.”
Lady Hammerfell’s expression was grim and apologetic both.