23. Chapter 21 Jarrah
Chapter twenty-three
Chapter 21: Jarrah
W e land just on the outskirts of Krean. We still have about five hours until sunset which gives us plenty of time to talk to everyone in town before meeting with the Sentinel. There aren't many fae left in the village. Most of the residents of Krean are still staying within the castle. After Arden was taken, they didn't feel safe returning. Word traveled quickly that she was under the protection of keepers when she was abducted. Whatever confidence the people of Feldorn had in us was stolen right along with her.
We enter the nearly deserted town and head toward the local tavern. We've nearly reached the door when a feminine voice comes from behind us. My eyes land on the source of the voice. Ruby–a wolf shifter from the village.
"So the Cruel Prince finally shows his face."
"Ruby..." I warn.
"Don't Ruby me. What the fuck are you lot doing here."
"We're looking for Livarius' mate." Zorvan chimes in.
“The girl from the exchange,” Livarius clarifies.
"Your...mate?" Ruby's eyes go wide.
"Yes we need to find her. Have you seen a human?" Zorvan asks
"You're out here looking for her , when you haven't lifted a fucking finger to find those bloody Sentinels?"
"I am not in the mood for this," Zorvan says, pinching the bridge of his nose. "The thing about Arden is that she looks human, but she isn't, and we need to find her. Now tell me what you know and stop wasting my time!"
Ruby goes pale. "They have her?"
"Yes," Livarius says, "please. Do you know anything?"
"Only rumors," Ruby says quietly. She glances around the street, then mutters, "Let's go someplace a little less out in the open. My home is this way."
We follow her down the street. I used to know Ruby fairly well. Before Nuvian disappeared and I took his place as keeper of the War Court, I lived in Krean. My father was on Zorvan's council, but he didn't want me spending all of my time around the royals. He had worked his way up and wanted me to live a more normal life.
So I split my time. I did my studies and training at the castle, then spent the majority of my down time in Krean. It was hard. I was always very close with the other Keepers and with Zorvan, so being away from them was hard.
Ruby is only a few years younger than me and her parents both were on the staff within the castle. That meant she was an obvious choice for a companion. She had expressed more romantic feelings toward me once, but I was never interested in her like that.
We step over the threshold of her small hut, and take up seats around the room. "Would you like any tea or anything?" Ruby asks as we all sit down.
"No. Just information, thank you," Zorvan says.
"What has you so scared about The Sentinels?" I ask. "You're not one to frighten easily."
"The fact that you don't know any of this is infuriating," Ruby says. "You five are meant to be keeping the people of Feldorn safe."
"Don't know any of what?" Zorvan asks, growing more impatient with every word.
"Well, certainly you know that The Sentinels have been taking women and children from the villages?" She asks. When we nod, she continues. “One of the women managed to escape. I don't know how. But she's in a different village. Word has it that they were using the women they kidnapped as breeding stock."
"What?" I ask in horror. "Why wouldn't the hostages we saved mention any of that?"
"They must have had their memories modified," Emyth mutters.
"But Airen-"
"Wouldn't be able to remove the block if she didn't know what to look for. And a powerful enough mage would be able to hide it well enough that she couldn't locate it even if she tried."
"Fuck," Tavin whispers.
"What about the children?" Emyth asks.
"Raised among theirs until they hit maturity to breed within their ranks if they were strong enough."
"And if they weren't?" I ask.
Ruby gives us a solemn look. "Disposed of, or enslaved."
We all exchange angry and concerned looks. This fucker we’re meeting better have some good information or we'll torture him before we kill him. We’ll probably do that regardless. Slavery had always been assumed, but this? This is abhorrent.
"Why?" I ask. "And why didn't we know about this?"
"The one woman who escaped didn't know why they were doing it, so I have no idea. What I do know is that this information definitely made it back to your guards."
Zorvan says, "No one told us. You're sure they knew? Beyond a shadow of a doubt?"
"That's the thing, the people who told the guards suddenly didn't want to talk about it anymore. They would say they didn't know what we were talking about if we brought it up. So I assumed they were instructed not to talk about it in the open."
"Did anyone ever interrogate the guards after Iona?" I ask.
"No. Things went south so fast after we got back, that it took a back seat to everything else," Emyth says.
"Fuck," Zorvan says, " FUCK !" He slams his fist down on the table causing it to splinter. "We knew the mole was somewhere within our ranks."
"Do you think it's Walden?" Lysander asks.
"It has to be. He's the only one on the guard with decent memory modification abilities. As soon as we contact this Sentinel fucker, we have to get back to the castle. Ruby, you're coming with us. It's not safe to leave you here. People saw you with us."
"What Sentinel? What are you talking about? And I don't want to be in the castle." Ruby says. "I want to be here, in my town. It's not well protected now that most of the people are living within the grounds."
"We made contact with a Sentinel who is willing to exchange information. We'll be deciding after we talk to him, what the next plan of action is for him. But you need to come with us at least until we handle Walden."
"How long is that going to take?!" She asks indignantly. I understand her wanting to stay behind and help, but she's no use to us if she can't remember this conversation.
"Hopefully no more than a couple of days. I plan to take Walden into custody immediately. Once he's secured and given suppressants, I'll feel a little bit better," Zorvan says.
"Fine," Ruby rolls her eyes. "And you better give me a shot at that Sentinel. I have friends who were taken. Gineva was a good friend of mine."
"I'm sorry that she's gone," Livarius says quietly. His softness is always surprising to me considering who his father is.
"Me too," Ruby says sadly.
"Zorvan, Walden is going to feel this guy breach the barrier. Maybe we should meet him just outside of town."
"That's a good call. Ruby, pack whatever you'll need for around three days."
She isn't happy about it but she does as she's told while we wait in the streets and discuss our plan.
"I'll find Walden the second we're within the grounds," I say. I'm the largest of the six of us, and the strongest. My mental shields aren't as good as the rest of them, but they're still stronger than the average fae. I should be fine to go against Walden on my own.
"No, Tavin and I will go after Walden. We may need to fight fire with fire, so to speak."
"I was just going to knock him out," I say with a smirk.
"Why did you all agree to put a member of the Lunar Court in charge of the guard anyway? Why didn't you pick someone from the War Court?" Livarius asks.
"Because mind control to force compliance is often more beneficial than brute force. We don't have to get injured, and we can make sure that we don't kill anyone we need to interrogate," I explain. "I'm in charge of the War Court, and of creating the strategy that Walden then carries out."
"Huh. That makes a surprising amount of sense," he says, and I chuckle.
"We're not a bunch of idiots," I say with a smile. "We had to do a lot of work to earn our place as keepers."
An embarrassed blush creeps up Livarius' cheeks. Over the last couple of weeks I've started to understand what Arden–and now Tavin–see in him.
Ruby steps out into the fading sunshine. I ruffle Livarius' hair and say, "C'mon kid. Let's go catch a Sentinel." The action earns me a scowl, and then a smile.
On the other side of Krean, we stand just before the invisible border that separates the more heavily warded area, from the wilds of Feldorn. The bulk of our villages are within the bounds of the wards, but there are still many peppered throughout the forest and the mountains.
There's a huge piece of the Beldar Forest that is neutral territory. It's not warded. Very few people travel there except a few hermits who would rather exchange the protection of the kingdoms for their freedom.
For me on the other hand, you could not pay me to live in the wilderness of Sangaris. I enjoy traveling through it. Especially in my shifted form, but I prefer the comforts of the castle.
The snap of a branch breaking in the woods puts me on high alert. I prepare myself to shift in case this is some sort of set up, but after two dreadfully long minutes, the leader of the Sentinels reveals himself.
"I thought we were meeting in the village?" he says. He's not angry. Just confused.
"We have reason to believe that it's not safe to do so," I say, walking to meet him at the border. "Stay on that side of the wards for now. We need to come up with a plan."
I'm only about five feet away from him, and at this distance I realize that even though most of the Sentinels have been vampires, this one is a shifter. The realization causes my mouth to pop open in surprise. Why would a shifter be working for Solardin?
I don't comment on it, instead I say, "I think we need to have half of our men return, and neutralize a threat. Then you, Livarius and myself can walk back." I want at least one other member of our group with me. At the same time, I'm worried about the others taking on Walden if I ask any of the other Keepers to stay. This will be a good test of Livarius' ability if anything goes south.
"We could fly," the newcomer says.
"Well, I can fly. Livarius can't, and I'm assuming you can't."
"Oh no. I can," he says with a smirk. "I don't mind if the kid rides on my back."
"Can everyone stop calling me 'kid'?" Livarius groans, earning a chuckle from myself and the Sentinel.
"You've got him then?" Zorvan asks me.
"Yeah we're good. You go back with them. Secure Walden. We'll be there in a bit."
Zorvan gives me a nod, and glares in the direction of our new compatriot before he and the rest of them are teleporting back to the castle grounds.
The blonde man and I glance at each other and begin stripping. Livarius just stands awkwardly as we shove our clothing into my bag. I shift into my manticore form and shake out my fur.
The Sentinel begins shifting and within seconds a beautiful white pegasus is standing before us. He's massive for a pegasus. Most horse shifters are only about the size of a quarter horse, but he's easily the size of a clydesdale, or possibly a shire horse.
His wings, mane, and tail are are tinted purple and his eyes are a stunning violet color. There's something about him that sparks familiarity, but I can't place a finger on it. Livarius struggles to mount the horse and if I could laugh in this form, I would. It's a shame that vampire fae don't turn into bats like the human myths claim.
Soon we take to the air, and fly to the castle to catch up with the others.