Chapter 41
The People
Eloise
Everyone sleeps in Stygarde Castle that night.
Everyone who can fit. Damien insists. His only caveat is that we get the bed in his old chambers.
No one denies us. The room has been locked off and is exactly as we left it.
Our warriors fill every room, every spot on the floor, most of them so tired they simply lie down wherever they stop moving.
Maeve has no choice but to stay with us. Until I resurrect Phantom, I can’t draw the sigil to send her home. I’m much too drained to do either tonight. Besides, she can barely keep her eyes open from her overuse of power, and she falls asleep on the settee in Damien’s seating area.
Damien and I do manage a fast and very unsexy bath to remove the layers of blood and sweat that cake our bodies and hair.
I clean out the wounds that are slow to heal on his side and forehead, the burn along the outside of one elbow and one leg.
It’s a short, efficient affair that results in a true heaven—climbing between clean sheets in clean pajamas.
We are asleep in seconds, the snores of the other soldiers on the floor of our room a gentle lullaby.
We do not wake until the moon has set and risen again.
I open my eyes to Maeve leaning over me, dressed in clean clothing that I recognize as my old riding gear, and adjusting her glasses on her nose.
“I hope this is okay.” She gestures to the breeches and tunic that once were Damien’s.
“I needed a bath, and it was all I could find.
“Of course. Goddess, anything, Maeve. I owe you my life.”
“How about a cup of coffee and a Danish?” She places her hand on her stomach.
I smile up at her. “I think I can find a suitable equivalent.” I glance over my shoulder and see that Damien is still sleeping.
At least it looks as if the cuts and abrasions I noticed before seem to have healed.
I crawl out of bed and step around the soldiers still sleeping on the floor to get to my wardrobe.
I dress quickly in one of Ariadne’s originals.
Instinctively, I move for my daggers, then remember I don’t need them anymore and come out from behind my dressing screen without them.
“Wow,” Maeve says, taking in my emerald outfit.
“It’s the style. I can dig out a dress for you if you’d like.”
She laughs. “Unless you have something in that wardrobe in black with skulls, no thank you.”
I shake my head. “Come on. Let’s find the kitchen. You aren’t the only one who’s going to be hungry.”
For once, I’m thankful for Nevina and Brahm’s greed because I find their stores perfectly adequate to feed an army.
I prepare a hot beverage for Maeve that is as close to coffee as we have on Tenebris and feed her red wheat rolls with plenty of butter and jam, alongside strips of cooked stag.
I drink my fill of stag’s blood, which grosses her out but invigorates me.
And then I get to work. I push the table in the dining room against one wall, and one of the previous servants, Roslyn, volunteers to help set up another table in an L shape.
As we work, she tells me of how Damien freed her in the last moments of the war and explains how most had escaped after their enchantment was broken.
I make sure she’s eaten her fill, and then, together, we set out a buffet of simply prepared blood, meat, bread, cheese, and fruit.
As the soldiers wake, we serve them. It’s an honor to feed the men and women who fought for Stygarde. An honor to be in their company. I learn each of their names and listen to their stories. I thank them for their service.
At some point, Nyxadora sees what we are doing and edges behind the table to help. Not to be outdone, Jaqual crowds in, following my example and thanking each man, woman, and child for their help.
“Already campaigning, I see,” he whispers to me between dishing plates.
I snort. “I’m just feeding the men Damien and I are responsible for. I don’t have ulterior motives.”
“Goddess, you are annoyingly trustworthy, Eloise. When I’m voted in as leader of Stygarde, I’d love to hire you as my chief adviser.”
“What advice could I possibly give the Rivertoad king? You already know everything.”
“True,” he says with haughty swagger. “But it’s boring always being right. I enjoy the occasional challenge.”
Laughing, I turn away from him when Nyxadora’s hand lands on my arm. “Have you seen Karyl?”
“As far as I know, she never left Aendor. Tempest put her to work in the infirmary after we’d secured the area.” Nyx releases a deep breath and nods as if relieved.
“You were right. About everything, Eloise. And thank you for lending me your dagger. It came in quite useful.”
“So Damien told me.”
I attempt to scoop some meat onto a plate and am confused when the plate is jerked away so fast I almost dump the food on the table.
I look up to give the soldier a piece of my mind and see Warbill.
Quickly, I return the serving back to the pan and round the table to pull him into a tight, tear-filled embrace.
I don’t know what to say to him. Thank you doesn’t seem enough.
“Come, my queen. If Damien sees the way you are hugging me, he might have my head,” he whispers tearfully into my ear.
Reluctantly, I let him go, only to be pulled into another hug when Cassius enters the room. This time, my happy tears fall like rain. “Thank the goddess!”
“It does feel like a blessing to see the moon rise today.”
“I’m so sorry for the loss of your men… And George’s.” I place a hand over my heart. “How many?” My voice cracks, but I need to know the truth.
“We lost about a quarter,” he says gravely.
I wipe a stray tear from my eye. His hand comes to rest on my arm with a steadying grip.
“Eloise, everyone knew what they were in for. Every one of those vampires consented to come and fight, and Sabrina and Tobias understood I would not be returning with the same number of men I brought through the portal. The vampires who fought for you were warriors who died with honor. Their families will be well compensated. Do not take this guilt upon yourself. All is forgiven.”
A familiar-looking couple chooses that moment to arrive behind him. “Allow me to introduce you to my parents, Jozius and Faurine.”
“We joined the fight after the shield dropped in the Borderlands,” Jozius says. “It’s a gift to have this time with Cassius before he must return to Earth.”
When I see the pure joy on the family’s faces, I focus on that and not on our losses. No matter what happens next, the survivors here can go home. They can rebuild. And their children are safe now.
I’m still chatting with Cassius when warm arms wrap around my shoulders. Damien. He kisses me on the side of the head, his eyes roving to the banquet table, saying everything without saying a word. He pours himself a pint of stag’s blood and drinks it down before motioning to Jaqual.
They exchange a quick conversation. With the Rivertoad king at his side, Damien steps up to stand on the table. A hush comes over the packed room.
“Spread the word among your people. An election is in progress in the throne room, and a decision regarding who will lead this kingdom will occur in three days’ time, based on your vote.
You may cast your vote for any citizen of Tenebris who you believe should lead it into the future,” Damien announces.
“Male or female?” someone shouts from the gathering crowd.
Damien glances toward his mother. “Yes,” he answers. “You should know that my father chose my sister Karyl as his successor when he believed me to be dead.”
Whispers ripple through the crowd. Roslyn clears her throat, wiping her hands on her servant’s uniform before stepping forward. “From any class, sir?”
“From any class, Roslyn.”
She blushes when he uses her name.
Jaqual stands up straighter. “Any class, any region, any people,” he clarifies.
Now the murmurs grow deafening.
“I have set up a locked box in the throne room. It will be guarded around the clock. Write a name on the parchment provided and drop it in the box. Everyone gets one vote. Use it wisely, for the future of Stygarde and all the regions within its borders is now in your hands.”
Damien leaps down from the table, and I take his hands in mine. The tattoos on his forearms fade and then disappear. I roll up my sleeve, and mine is gone too. “So, we’ll know in three days,” I whisper.
“Three days.”
“You have my vote.”
He smiles down at me. “I’m not against the cabin on Mount Perilon.”
I shrug. “Neither am I.”
Maeve appears beside us with a raised hand. “I hate to interrupt, but if we are going to resurrect Phantom so you can send me home today…or tonight…whatever you call this time when the moon is up, we need to get started.”
Damien reaches out and pulls Maeve into a hug, which leaves her bug-eyed and clearly weirded out. “Thank you, Ms. Gowdie, for helping us.”
“Yeah, yeah.” She pulls away and dusts herself off like he’s given her the cooties. “I guess it’s the least I could do after my family held you prisoner for a few hundred years. Can we call it even?”
He nods and offers her a half smile, his eyes drifting to me. I know what he’s thinking. If not for the Gowdies, we would have never met, and neither of us would be standing here right now. “Even,” he declares.
“Now that that’s settled, let’s go. I’m sure Ren is worried sick.” And I need a break. I walk with her through the crowds toward the front of the castle, through the chattering voices. “We can take a rabble beast to where Phantom fell.”
“A rabble what?”
“Trust me,” I say, heading for the stable.
“So, after all that, he’s really going to let someone else lead Stygarde?” Maeve asks.
I nod. “It was never about being king for Damien. If his brother had been a just ruler, he would have happily supported him. All he wanted was justice.”
“And you? What do you want?”
I snort. “I want us to wake up in that castle a week from now, knowing we’re the reason this world is a better place.
Damien is the only one with the vision to lead Stygarde into the future—and the kindness and empathy to do it with a gentle hand.
I think the people can see that, and I think he’ll win. ”
She gives me a reassuring nod, and we go about the business of sending her home.