Chapter 16
Bressen
Jasper sat across from me at the meeting table in my study that evening, looking the way Aidan had looked not so long ago when Jasper himself had been taken by Sandrian.
The Lord Consort was dazed, his skin off-colored and clammy as he sat staring vacantly past me.
I checked his chest to be sure he was still breathing and saw it rise shallowly.
Cyra sat beside him with her hand wrapped in his while Maziren stood behind him, also looking much like she had that night weeks ago when she’d come here with Aidan.
Cyra had filled me in on the details of their conversation this morning when Jasper had told Cyra and Raina of his concerns over Aidan.
Jasper had probably suspected a masque or even compulsion magic from another mind wraith, but I was certain he hadn’t suspected there was another person entirely – and a sadistic sociopath at that – inside his husband.
He’d been living and sleeping with another man for weeks, and one that had apparently been treating him and the servants at Seatherny like shit.
Gods damn fucking Morland.
“How did this happen?” Jasper asked.
He seemed to be speaking to himself. I wasn’t entirely sure he knew there was anyone else in the room with him.
He’d gotten away from the palace by telling Aidan – or Morland, gods this was confusing – that he was going into the city market. He’d taken Maziren with him for protection, and the two had sent me a message leaf as soon as they were in a place Cyra could draw them a portal.
Morland hadn’t questioned them going at all. He’d seemed eager for them to go, in fact, and they’d come straight here.
Of course, this left Morland alone in Seatherny unsupervised to do the-gods-only-knew-what.
“I’m so sorry, Jasper,” Cyra said as she squeezed his hand tighter. She looked at me, and I saw the guilt in her face. “This is my fault. I thought my lightning killed Morland, but I must’ve moved him into Aidan.”
Jasper didn’t seem to hear her, but Maziren did, and the captain scowled. I shot her a warning look not to say anything to Cyra.
“What do we do?” Maziren asked instead.
Cyra and I looked at each other.
“Well, to start, you and Jasper need to watch Ai-…Morland as closely as possible,” I said. “Between attacking the servants, trying to sabotage our preparations for war, and just creating havoc in general, he can’t be left alone for long. But we also can’t let on that we’re watching him.”
“Can’t we just imprison him?” Maziren asked.
Jasper flinched at the suggestion but didn’t say anything.
“Your only proof that he’s not really Aidan is me,” I said. “Think how that would look. One Triumvirate lord calling for the imprisonment of another without any clear indication of wrongdoing.”
“Lady Cyra could corroborate the claim,” Maziren suggested.
“My wife?” I said, giving her a dubious look.
Maziren waved a hand. “Fine. Forget I mentioned it.”
“We can get Morland out of Aidan’s body, right?” Jasper said, speaking up finally. He looked hopefully between the three of us. “If Cyra put him in there, she can get him out again, can’t she?”
We all looked at Cyra. It was a valid question.
“I…I’m not sure,” she said. “In theory I could, but where would we put Morland? I’d have to transfer his mind into something, and I don’t think we’ll get any volunteers to let Morland share space in their head.”
“Does it matter?” Jasper said urgently. “Just get him out of Aidan.”
“It does matter,” I said. “Morland is extremely dangerous, and as much of an issue as it is to have him inside Aidan, at least we know where he is and can keep an eye on him. If Cyra tries to pull him out without any clear place to put him, we risk losing track of him. Or worse, he could get into Cyra’s mind, and then we’d have a psychotic bastard with access to syphon powers on our hands. ”
I’d also die before I put Cyra in a position where I might lose her to Morland the way we’d lost Aidan. I wouldn’t survive without her.
My eyes met Jasper’s, and I was sure he saw what I was thinking because he looked away.
“We don’t have an immediate solution,” I said, “but I promise we’re not going to give up looking for one. We’ll do everything we possibly can to get Aidan back.”
Jasper nodded absently. He looked down at the hand Cyra held and pulled it away from her.
I felt the hurt and guilt spike through Cyra at the gesture.
I wanted to yell at Jasper for making her feel that way, but I held my tongue.
Jasper was in pain, and he needed someone to blame.
Like it or not, Cyra was the easiest target, and I would’ve done the same thing if the situation were reversed.
Don’t let it upset you, I said into Cyra’s mind. It was an accident, and we’ll find a way to fix it.
She didn’t answer back.
“What do we do if things get…bad?” Maziren asked.
“In some ways that’s almost better for us,” I said.
“If Morland does anything overt to endanger Derridan or the Triumvirate, the High Council and I can step in. Thasia isn’t a monarchy where the king or queen can act with impunity.
The Triumvirate is designed to provide these kinds of checks and balances. ”
“You’d remove him from power?” Jasper asked.
I nodded. “At least temporarily. I’m not sure how far Morland will push things, though. He’s already done enough to cast suspicion on himself, but whether he’ll be bold enough to cross a line into something actionable is another story.”
We were interrupted by a loud, urgent knock on the door, and I let my mind reach out to find Surgeon and Serise on the other side.
“Come in,” I said, confused as to why they were back. I’d sent them out to look for Samhail, but as far as I could tell, he wasn’t with them.
The two gargoyles entered the room and came to stand before me.
“Did you fulfill your mission?” I asked, pointedly looking at the empty space behind them.
The twins looked at Jasper and Maziren, then back at me in question.
“Speak freely,” I told them. At this point, there was no reason to hide what was going on.
“We found Samhail and the assassin,” Serise said.
“But there were complications bringing them back,” Surgeon added.
He held up his left hand while Serise held up her right. They each had a bloody bandage wrapped around the palm.
“Assassin?” Maziren and Jasper asked together.
“What happened?” Cyra asked, standing and coming over to them. She took Serise’s hand and examined it with her healer magic.
“We found ourselves on the wrong side of the assassin’s blades,” Surgeon said wryly.
“She stabbed you?” Cyra asked incredulously.
“Lord Bressen, exactly what assassin are they talking about?” Maziren asked, stepping forward. Her hand rested on the hilt of her sword as it did when even the idea of danger was mentioned.
I leaned back in my chair and entwined my fingers. “Sandrian hired The Raptor of Avril to spy on me and Cyra, and a few days ago he gave her the go-ahead to kill us. Luckily Cyra picked up warding just in time.”
“What?” Jasper asked, shooting forward in his chair. He looked at Cyra in concern. She gave him a weak smile and went back to working on Serise’s hand.
“And what does Samhail have to do with this?” Maziren asked.
“The assassin escaped, and I sent Samhail and the twins after her,” I said. “Samhail found her, but he apparently decided he had a better plan than bringing her back here to face judgement, so I sent Surgeon and Serise after them both.”
I looked at the twins. “Did you at least find out what he’s planning?”
“The assassin offered to turn Sandrian over to Samhail,” Serise said. “Sandrian has a bounty on my dear brother’s head, so they plan to contact him, and the assassin will pretend to turn Samhail over.”
“What? No!” Cyra cried. She’d just finished healing Serise’s hand, and she let go of it. “You need to go back and stop him!”
“My lady,” Serise said, “we did try, and we got daggers in our hands for the effort. We’re good fighters, but Samhail is…” She sighed, looking as if the next words tasted bitter. “Admittedly he’s better than us, and with the assassin by his side, there wasn’t much we could do.”
I exhaled deeply. “Where did you find them?”
“In the village of Hallendale,” Surgeon said. “Samhail took the rest of my message leaves and told us we’d have to fly to the Priory in Callanus to get back here. He directed us to a priest named Phaedrus who let us out in front of the manor a few minutes ago.”
I groaned inwardly. This was why I’d let Phaedrus keep his secret about being able to portal for so long, because once it became known he could do it, he was called upon continuously to move people about. It was bad enough I’d used him as often as I did before Cyra learned to portal.
I added ‘misuse of Phaedrus’ to the list of things I needed to discuss with Samhail when I finally caught up to him.
“Is he at least planning to send me a message if he took all your leaves?” I asked.
The twins hesitated.
“That was his claim,” Surgeon said as Cyra began to work on his hand.
I rubbed my temple. I really didn’t need this aggravation on top of the Aidan-Morland situation. What good was being the Nemesis Incarnate if my own best friend defied me? Maybe I needed to start living up to my reputation.
“Is there anything else I should know?” I asked, looking at the twins.
They glanced at each other.
“Speak,” I said, my patience long gone.
“There seems to be something between Samhail and the assassin,” Serise said.
“What kind of ‘something?’” I asked, although I could guess.
“Currently, only tension,” Serise said. “Of the carnal variety. But I have a feeling our dear brother will end up between her legs soon.”
I raised a brow. “You don’t think he already has?” I glanced at Cyra to see what she made of this news, but her expression was unreadable, and I didn’t sense anything in her mind. She seemed to be concentrating on healing Surgeon’s hand.
“Serise has an uncanny sense about these things,” Surgeon offered, “and she believes the little assassin is still keeping Samhail…unsatisfied.”
“I see,” I said.