Chapter 15 – Vale
VALE
Istood outside the walls of Myrr with Lord Balik, his sons, and their guard, and watched the dragon’s approach.
Early yesterday, Arla had delivered the note telling those at Valrun that it was safe to journey south. Most would arrive in the coming days, but those who were injured, ill, or simply could not make such a long journey were arriving today, on dragonback.
“It’s been a very long time since I’ve seen a dragon shifter.” Lord Balik shielded his eyes as he took in the sight.
“She’s half fae,” I corrected him. “Prefers to be called dragon-fae.”
“Whatever she likes to be called, she’s a dragon where it matters.”
Rynni thought differently. The fae of Vitvik hadn’t accepted her, and according to the healer, the dragons of the Flame Court would have been even less welcoming because she was a small dragon with little firepower.
The dragon was a minute from the gate when I stepped forward and waved my arms in the air. A roar indicated that she’d seen me, so I moved back into place, standing with the lords and their guards.
Lighter than one would think, Rynni landed and lowered her massive body as close to the ground as possible. Two fae slid off, the only able-bodied riders to make the journey in case something happened during the flight. With Sian and Filip, I rushed forward to assist.
“Good flight, I hope?” I asked one of the fae rebels, as he urged Ratha, the ancient whisperer, down Rynni’s front leg.
The second rebel was assisting a young mother with a fresh babe wrapped against her chest. The other new mother and youngling were present too, her little one making faint crying noises from his swaddle.
“Uneventful, which was the best we could hope for,” the rebel answered.
“And the rest of the rebels?”
“They left town a bell before us. All are on their way.”
“Thank the Fates.”
Ratha slid down the crux of the dragon’s wing and foreleg. Her wings, black as my own and hinting at her relation to my mother, fluttered to control her speed. She winced only slightly as her feet hit the ground. The rebels helped her up and motioned for the next to follow.
“Prince,” Ratha said, her voice hoarse from disuse. “How’s the Jewel of the Southlands? As idyllic as they all say?”
She wasn’t asking about the city, I knew, but about how Bac and Aleksander, the only rebels who had journeyed here, were being treated.
“We have safety and space.” I wasn’t about to report anything negative with Lord Balik behind me.
“How diplomatic.” Ratha muttered, and Filip, ever the gentlefae, went to her and offered his arm.
“Might I show you to the gate office? They have chairs waiting for those who need them.”
Ratha’s eyebrows arched. “Hmm, perhaps my worries were for naught. Show me to a comfortable chair, lad.”
The pair made their way to the small pass-through office city gate guards used.
Brynhild was next, looking weary and happy to be on land. One by one, twelve fae dismounted the dragon. Those who had been the most grievously injured and two very ill rebels looked far better than when I’d last seen them at Valrun. Rynni had been working tirelessly to care for her patients.
The dragon-fae shifted, her blackish-purple scales disappearing as her form shrank into the red-haired, pale female with faint scales framing her ears.
“Are you ready for a long rest?”
“That I am,” she agreed. “The others set out just before we did.”
“Good timing.” Had the rebels remained at Valrun for much longer, the chances of the King of Winter finding them would have increased. I smiled and gestured toward the rulers of the south. “Rynni, I’d like to introduce you to the Lord of Myrr and two of his sons.”
She joined me, and I performed the proper introductions.
Each Balik treated the healer with a degree of deference that seemed to surprise her, but not me.
Outside the White Tower, healers were the most revered in the rugged southlands where monsters roamed the nearby mountains and often inflicted grave injuries.
“My sons and Prince Vale, along with my guard,” Lord Balik gestured back to the armed fae around us, “will show you to where you’re staying. I, however, must return to the castle. I have a meeting with the Falk princesses.”
The dragon-fae’s eyebrows pinched together. Because we’d used Arla and prewritten notes to let them know they should come south, the rebels had not been told that they’d be staying outside the walls of Ramshold.
“We thank you for your hospitality, my lord,” Rynni replied, though the look she shot at me screamed that she had questions.
Lord Balik slipped through the passage, into Myrr’s bustling streets. Sian and Filip went to the rebels, gathering them and doing what they could to ease any nerves.
“Isolde asked after the new babies?” I started when I was alone with the healer. “Are they well?”
Rynni’s face softened. “Perfect in every way. Their mothers are healthy too. Healing still, but healthy.”
My heart lifted. It was still too soon to tell, but my mate’s theory of the blight might prove true.
“So,” Rynni said. “Where are we staying, then?”
“In a building with many family units, large enough to house all of the rebels. There are three such buildings we’ve been given, all next to each other, so it’s convenient.
” I did my best to hide my disdain for the choice.
As much as I didn’t like the arrangement it was still fair.
“There will be soldiers in the area. For the rebels’ safety. ”
“And the peace of mind of those in Myrr,” Rynni muttered. I wasn’t fooling her. “I assume we aren’t close to the castle either?”
“Correct, but it was the best we could do. These apartments are new, and no one else is inhabiting them, which is how Lord Balik secured the buildings so easily. There are exceptions, of course, for those who need the castle healers. Are there any you’d say need more care right now?”
“Not unless they hurt themselves on the journey here.”
“Brynhild and you may stay at the castle. As part of our court.”
Rynni wrinkled her nose. “We’ll see.”
I shrugged a shoulder and waved her towards the wall. “Let’s show everyone to their new home”
I led the rebels into Myrr, and in the direction of the building they’d live in. When we arrived, the owner of the first building waited outside, as Lord Balik had requested.
The landlord didn’t look too pleased to be housing rebels, but softened at the sight of Sian and Filip.
We showed each rebel, save for Brynhild, who opted to return to the castle with us, inside an apartment.
Each small home had been furnished with simple but quality items, and the building was far nicer than where the rebels stayed at Valrun.
The floors were even heated, a feature that many wanted but few possessed the coin to afford.
And yet, many of the rebels were not happy.
“Thyra won’t like being far from us.” Ratha lowered herself into a chair that I offered.
“She doesn’t,” I agreed. “But it was this or her people remained in Valrun. She made a choice to compromise.”
“That won’t be the last time she does so.” Ratha sighed as she leaned back. “Fates bless that dragon. Without her, I’d have had to ride a horse for days. Still, her scaly hide is not comfortable.”
I laughed. “Need anything else?”
“Only that you ask Thyra to visit when she can.”
“She will.”
Both Thyra and Isolde had wanted to welcome the rebels today, but had also recognized they had limited time to practice shadow magic before Lord Balik swore his allegiance to them. They were presently making the most of their hours to train their new powers—which included keeping them contained.
I left Ratha and had barely shut the door to her apartment when Filip appeared at my side.
“I wish to talk to you. In private.” He glanced over his shoulder, to where Sian was talking to Rynni in the room she’d claimed.
“Is everyone situated?” I checked.
“Yes. If the rebels require anything, they need only ask the guards waiting outside, and they will see that they have it.”
“Right,” I said, certain that the rebels would ask for no more favors.
As long as food and water was delivered, which I’d been assured they would be, the rebels would make do with as little as possible to avoid feeling like they owed too much.
“Come on then, Filip.”
We exited the building, and I told Brynhild, who waited by the front, that I’d be right back. As we walked down the street, Filip glanced around before leaning in close.
“I worry about Prince Rhistel.”
“Ah.” My chest deflated. I’d suspected he’d eventually want to speak about my brother. “He’s far away.”
“Yes, but his powers can extend far.” Filip swallowed. “Whisperers are dangerous, Prince Vale. There’s a reason they’re forbidden.”
Even with all my twin and my mother had done to deserve ire from me and others, I hated to think of them as gone. Death was so final.
“Will King Magnus use your brother’s magic in the war?” Filip asked.
What to say? Filip didn’t know that my mother held Rhistel in her grasp.
“It’s possible,” I answered.
“Shouldn’t we first out Prince Rhistel? Such information might turn the tides of the war before it even truly begins.”
He had no idea that once we began releasing secrets, the other side would follow in kind. Then Isolde and Thyra would also be distrusted, though for very different reasons. They had to master their magic first and even the field as best they could.
“We might.”
Filip’s eyebrows slanted together.
I was not usually so noncommittal. “I can’t say what we’re going to do. This needs to be discussed with Isolde and Thyra.”
“Thyra knows?”
“She does.” I paused but figured now was as good a time as any. “However, there is something else I want to talk about.”
“Yes?”
“Is there someone that House Balik can hire to help my mother flee Avaldenn?”
Filip’s spine straightened. “Why would she want to do that? Isn’t she safe there?”
“She is, but . . .” I trailed off.
“Does she still love Lord Riis?”
“She does, and she’d rather be with him than the king.” A straightforward answer. And not a lie.
“I’ll ask my father.”
“Please.”
“And you’ll put some real consideration into how to deal with your brother.”
It wasn’t a question. I sought out Filip, and found not my impressionable squire, but the next head of House Balik, staring back at me.
I clapped the lordling on the shoulder, proud of the fae he was becoming. “I will. Now, let’s turn around and collect Brynhild and Sian so we can get back to Ramshold. My mate is waiting.”