Chapter 6
KORMAC
Valance had been left with no choice. If he didn’t kill those hellpissers, they’d have taken us back to Summer Palace, and the quest would be over.
Thank the gods he acted. Our swords alone weren’t enough against those seelie soldiers. His magic was something else. Terrifying.
And him? Those tears. Once again, he showed a heart did beat somewhere inside him. That he really did have the capacity to care about things.
Completely removed from my image of him.
But he was still him. He’d still done what’d he’d done. No matter how much shit got flung his way, he still… he still deserved it.
No, he doesn’t.
Sorry…
Was that even the soul bond talking?
Yes! What else would it be?
I took point again, returning to the path and following it all the way to the village.
The trees gave way to chalk and grass and lots of white, one-level houses. Slowly, I followed the new path through those buildings, meeting too many dead bodies.
Gods…
The thatched roofs of the buildings reminded me of the homes of my village.
Even the stone chimneys, though Riverleaf’s were gray, not white.
In fact, most of this place reminded me of Riverleaf, save for the chalk and the heat and lack of river.
But the smallness, the homes close together, the air of community—they were all what made a village.
But this community was dead. So many bodies, so much blood glistening in the sun. Men and women and even children. All dead, all cut down going about their daily lives.
“Fuck,” I breathed.
Valance walked past me, stopping just ahead. “They really did this. And to children.”
“You…” I swallowed. “You wouldn’t hurt a child when ransacking a village?”
“Never intentionally,” he said. “Children are not to be harmed.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Really. Do you not agree?”
“Of course. But what if that child was unseelie and grew up to come after you one day?” I asked.
“Then he or she dies as an adult.” He shook his head. “I may be many things, but a killer of children I am not.” His features took on deep seriousness. “I punish child killers the most severely.”
I’m glad, I thought, shivering at his tone.
Children died in this war all the time, but to know the prince wouldn’t go out of his way to hurt one? Good. Really good. At least he had some solid morals under that dark shell.
Valance crouched before the body of a woman, a split bag of apples beside her, red and green fruit scattered everywhere.
“I’m so sorry,” the prince said, taking her bloody hand. “I’m so very sorry.”
“Valance…”
He stood, his eyes narrowing as he drank in the scene. He turned his back on me and walked on, following the direction of a wooden sign reading: ‘Waste Stairs’. He stepped over corpses and fallen goods, completely closed off.
“Valance,” I tried again. “Stop.”
He ignored me.
I grabbed his arm. He yanked it free. “Don’t touch me.”
“I—”
“Don’t ever fucking touch me again!” he yelled.
“Fine by me, you… Sorry.”
“I’m sorry, too.” A sigh, his shoulders slumping. “I mean that. Truly. A real sorry.”
“Me… me too.”
“I just can’t believe what I’m seeing here.”
“I know.”
“It makes no sense.”
“I know.”
“How can there be a sudden shift in loyalty so quickly? Are Lasair and Florent in charge now?”
“I don’t know,” I replied. “But iron has changed everything.”
Gods, the thought of iron as a weapon. It turned my stomach.
“This is so fast,” he said. “Is loyalty so fragile?”
“I think it is. At least in this case.”
“That’s terrible.”
“That’s called being afraid.”
He shook his head. “But to kill these people before they had a chance to… change.” He snarled. “Change their loyalty.”
“We don’t know what the orders were for those soldiers.”
He glowered at me. “Are you defending them?” His features softened. “Sorry.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“This matters, Kormac.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
He cast his gaze at the murder scene again. “They were left with no choice, no say in the matter. Yield or die.”
“Isn’t that war? Isn’t that what you’ve been doing yourself? At least your armies?”
“What?”
My hands shook from this dip into unstable waters. “I’ve seen many villages and towns destroyed by your soldiers. Humans killed for not bending the knee to the seelie court and forsaking unseelie. Fae cut down, homes destroyed.”
“That’s different. That’s war.”
“This is war.”
“It’s not the same.”
“Yes, it’s the same. No different.” The soul bond spiked but didn’t tug out an apology. Only a flood of sympathy for him.
He’s suffering from a terrible betrayal…
“The unseelie court is a corruption upon Faerie,” he said.
“Exactly what my side says about yours.”
More glowering. “I don’t understand you humans. Why would you choose the wrong side?”
“For me, unseelie is the right side.”
“Even after this?” He gestured to the carnage.
“As I said, I’ve seen your side do the same.”
He did not look happy. “So you’re condoning this?”
I shook my head. “Never. It’s always the little people who pay for war.”
His anger faded, his features softening.
The prince looked around again at the bloodied ground and buildings, the hoofprints. “They paid a terrible price.”
Oh, so now your head comes out of your ass? “They have been for years. There’s no good in this.”
“I don’t want to talk anymore.”
“Fine by me.”
Accident…
Say there was an accident…
Clementine’s words echoed in my head.
Don’t listen…
Do…
Don’t…
“Look,” I spoke up, “I’m not lecturing you. I’m just saying this is the reality of war.”
“A war you believe in,” he replied. “After all, you wanted me dead.”
That hurt to hear. “I know. I’m not making excuses for myself. But if you think one part is glory and the other this shocking mess, then you’re wrong. It’s all a shocking mess, Valance. And this is new to me, this Lasair and Florent plot.”
“I know.” He crouched down to a dead man, touching his chest. “We’re all the same.”
Surprising to hear from him.
“The same blood, the same pain.”
“Yes…” I whispered. You’re only figuring that out now?
He said nothing else, getting up again.
Maybe I should’ve left it alone, dropped the condescending lecture.
Still, it annoyed me to hear him talk about these things.
He lived in privilege. What did he know about any of this stuff other than his seelie principles?
The same could be said of me and my beliefs, true.
Up until now, I held onto those beliefs in unseelie policies.
More forward-thinking, less antiquated than the current seelie hellpiss.
Believed that a Fomorian monarch would bring change. That Lasair was perfect for the job.
Now she wanted to share power with a Gentry because of iron.
Those beliefs of mine were now on rocky ground. Because suddenly I had sympathy for seelie villagers who’d be more than happy to see me dead.
Would they, though? Being powerless, how much did they care about me and the war and more about feeding their families?
I mean, in the taverns things would get loud like they did in Riverleaf.
Political beliefs flowed wild like ale. Anger spilled like a heavy-handed barmaid overfilling a glass.
But in the day to day of village life, all anyone wanted was to survive and keep their families safe.
Damn this conscience, this soul bond.
An accident…
A sweet accident…
“Sorry,” I said.
“What?”
Hellpiss! I’d meant to think that.
“Nothing.”
“You were thinking badly of me again.”
“Yes. I’m sorry.”
“I don’t care.” He licked his luscious lips. “I do care.” A snarl and no more.
Luscious?
I bit my tongue for the rest of the walk toward the chalk stairs.
I followed him through a gap between two houses, a man hanging out of the doorway of one with his throat slashed.
A cat meowed, stepping onto his back. The black and white feline looked at me, then proceeded to nuzzle its dead owner as if willing him to jump back up.
Poor thing.
At the end of the gap, we came to a cliff edge on which the village sat atop. Before my eyes were the White Wastes. In the flesh, so to speak. Huge and terrifying and very, very white.
We’d had snow a few times in Autumn when the chilly days turned colder in the late part of the year. Nothing like the snow that fell on the mountains bordering Autumn and Winter, and certainly nothing like the tales of the harsh snowstorms of Winter.
This white was different to any snow. This was dry white, my mouth already craving water because of the parched air.
“The stairs,” Valance said, pointing to a staircase cut into the cliff edge. Steep. No handles.
A wheezing cough, a gentle sob.
I turned to see a woman slumped against a building, clutching her stomach. Human. Blood seeped through the dark skin of her fingers, oozed from the sides of her mouth.
Her eyes squinted up at me. “Sir… I…”
I came down to her level. “What can I do?”
“There is… nothing. I’m dying.” Her orange dress was grubby and bloody and torn. “Soldiers got me in the guts…” She coughed again. “No helping… No helping me now.”
Valance moved to stand beside me.
She looked up at him. “Danu… You’re… You’re the prince.”
“It’s me, yes.” He came down to join us, placed his hand on her leg. “I’m so sorry this happened to you.”
“They were… They were from the palace. Seelie. Weren’t they?” More coughing, blood spraying from her mouth. “I must… I must be mistaken. They wouldn’t be seelie. That can’t… That can’t be right.” She sucked in air between her teeth, moaned in pain. “They wouldn’t say those things.”
“What things?” the prince asked.
“Forsaking you,” she answered.
Valance didn’t respond.
“I can’t… I can’t move…” the woman said. “By Danu. I thought today was going to be a lovely day. I woke up feeling so… good.”
“I’m so sorry,” Valance repeated. “I’m so, so sorry.”
She smiled at him, revealing broken teeth. “You’re… You’re very handsome, Your Highness.”
I watched him give her leg a gentle squeeze. “Is there anything I can do to help?”
More smiles for her prince, then sadness spread across her expression. “I’m sorry… I’m sorry about your father. Sad news… I don’t… I don’t understand.”
Valance held off from telling her anything. “Try not to speak if it hurts.”
“It does…”
“Then please stop,” he said gently. “Let me help you. There must be something I can give you for the pain. Some herbs, some medicine.”
She shook her head slowly. “They’re all dead…”
“Don’t speak.”
“They’re all gone… My friends, the man I… I wanted… I wanted to tell him I loved him today…” She closed her eyes. “The most beautiful man in the world… No offense.” She laughed, which hurt her. “Danu… This pain.”
“Please,” Valance said, “let me find you something.”
“Too late…” A raspy rattle in her breath. “Too late for me, for me… and him. I loved him. Now he… Now he is dead…” With one final breath, the woman slumped to the side, her eyes still closed.
“Hello?” The prince gently shook her leg.
“She’s gone,” I confirmed, holding her wrist.
“She’s dead,” he said.
“Yes.”
The prince stood up. “Another victim.” He looked around. “We should gather supplies.”
“Are you sure?”
“Do you not think it is wise?”
“I do. I wanted to make sure you were okay with it.”
He didn’t answer but moved back down the gap between the buildings.
Being the good companion, I followed and took things from the houses.
Found some bags and filled them with food and water, some medicines from a chemist with two dead men inside.
I fixed a bag to me, Valance to himself—the bags having straps to be worn around the body.
There were also hats designed to protect against the sun—white with hard rims. We took those, too.
Once we were done, we returned to the steps.
“Are you ready?” I asked after an age of staring out at the whiteness.
“Give me a moment,” he replied.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. I just need a moment.” He sighed.
“You’re tired.”
He rubbed at his temples. “The magic. It took a lot out of me.”
“Then let’s rest.”
“I don’t want to rest. I’ll be fine in a few moments.”
“Whatever you want.”