49. Rohak
Chapter 49
Rohak
T he walk from Faylinn’s rooms on the second floor to Alois’ study on the first was quick and uneventful, though I could already feel the exhaustion from the trip and the last few weeks catching up to me. It was like my body knew it was home and safe and was ready to collapse on my bed and not wake for a few days, at the earliest.
I huffed a grunt at that thought, knowing that I really had no time to rest, and I’d be lucky to get a few hours of sleep tonight, if any at all. Between the dreams, the mounting neglected paperwork, training Faylinn, and performing my daily tasks as both Alois’ second-in-command and the General of his armies . . . I had so much to do and not enough hours in the day to see it done. So, sleep was sacrificed.
I knocked twice on Alois’ door before swinging it open, he was expecting me, and I wanted to waste as little time as possible.
“Rohak! You’re a sight for sore eyes, my friend,” Alois exclaimed as he stood from the leather wingback chair near the fireplace. His ever-present glass of whiskey was in hand, another poured for me sat waiting on the small table, and he wrapped me in a one-armed hug. At first, my body was stiff, neither expecting the affection nor truly knowing what to do with it. Alois and I were closer than brothers, but we weren’t often affectionate.
He didn’t relent, however, and I gradually wound my arms around his body. He was fleshier than I remembered, his muscles softening from disuse and the excessive drinking he seemed more prone to. Alois pulled back and regarded me with his sharp gaze.
“What?” I barked, frustration from the last few weeks bleeding into my tone. Alois raised an eyebrow at me and I huffed, relaxing my body as I did so. “You’ve heard already. Of course you’ve heard already.”
“It is my home, Rohak. Did you really think you’d be able to put someone else in the guest rooms, a stranger no less, without me knowing?” He wasn’t angry, but his voice was laced with skepticism. Our friendship was most likely the only thing holding him back from caustic anger—our home was a sacred space, and I had intentionally violated that with no warning.
“We should sit for this conversation,” I said, “everything ties together. And yes, I will tell you about the strange woman first.”
He slapped my shoulder and gestured to the chairs by the fire. I took my seat and snatched the whiskey, throwing it back in two long gulps. It burned going down but left notes of honey on my tongue.
The cask from Hestin. I rarely drank, especially with what was inevitably going to happen tonight, but I needed something to take the edge off, and gods was that whiskey good.
Alois simply chuckled and poured me another two fingers before gesturing to me. “Speak.”
I sipped lightly on my second glass, content with the warmth burning in my stomach from the first.
“She’s a Rune Master,” I said, and Alois’ eyebrows hit his hairline. “And a damn good one. The best I’ve ever seen, Alois.”
“She could be a fraud, Rohak. Do you know how many ‘Rune Masters’”—he air quoted the word with his fingers, one hand still clasping his glass of whiskey—“we’ve had apply for this position since you left?” I shook my head because, obviously, I didn’t. Alois scoffed. “Too many to count. They just show up and start drawing random images without any fucking clue what they’re doing or playing with. They pour some blood on it and mumble a bunch of words. I’ve started having some of the acolytes vet them beforehand. Only a dozen have made it through to me, and that was because they could perform the basic Bonding Runes. It’s pitiful, really. ”
“Can’t you just ask them if they’re a Rune Master?” The answer seemed obvious to me, especially with Alois’ power.
“You would think,” he ground out. “The problem is that they all truly believe that they’re Rune Masters.” He barked a laugh and ran his hands over his eyes. And I took a moment to look at my friend, truly look at him. Alois was tired, though we all were, but the bags under his eyes were heavy and looked almost black.
Was he not sleeping? What was plaguing my best friend and why did I not know about it?
I turned the tumbler between my fingers as I regarded him.
“What makes you think this one is different, Rohak? And why is she living in our house?” he sighed, eyes still closed.
“I saw her work,” I whispered, “she saved Sol and created some sort of link between her and Thandi. It was . . . incredible. Truly something. She also constructed wards the likes of which I’d never seen. She’d be terrifying if she weren’t so quirky.” Alois was suddenly silent; he dropped his hand from his brow and regarded me with a hunger in his eyes.
“Wards, you said? She saved Sol?” he breathed, and I nodded.
“I swear by all the gods, it’s true. She’s the real thing, Alois.”
Alois reared his head back at my confession. “You never swear by the gods,” he said, and I shrugged my shoulders.
“I believe in her,” I admitted.
Alois leaned his head against his tumbler and regarded me with his shrewd gaze. “You like her.”
I laughed. “Not in the way you think, Alois. I respect her and admire her mind and power. That is all.”
Liar .
Alois barked a true laugh before throwing back the rest of his whiskey and setting the empty tumbler down on the table. “I think that is the first time in nearly four decades you’ve lied to me, Rohak.” I scratched at my beard, suddenly uncomfortable with his line of questioning. “What’s her name? I want to meet her and vet her before the night is through.”
I nodded, expecting as much. “Fay,” I said. I never called her that, but for some reason, it rolled off my tongue instantly.
He can have Fay, but Faylinn is mine . I shook my head to clear those possessive thoughts .
Alois leaned back in his chair, his hands tapping lightly on the armrests. “What else. Tell me everything that happened.”
And I did. It took three hours and another glass of whiskey apiece, but I debriefed Alois on all that happened over the previous weeks. He interjected every so often to ask a clarifying or probing question, but he took all the information I fed him and filed it away for later. He was unsurprised when I admitted there was a Keeper hiding in the village—we both speculated that’s what initially drew the rebels to the area, especially because she could sense their souls.
“I do have a slight treat for you, however.” I grinned, the whiskey loosening my muscles and creating a heady sensation.
“A surprise?”
“A rebel Earth Mage. Big fucker. He’s currently sedated and in a cell in the Academy, guarded by a few of my best. Lex kept him sedated with Pleasure Magic the entire way home, but he should be rousing soon for us to have some . . . fun.”
Alois’ smile was positively maniacal.
“That’s the best news you’ve given me all day, Rohak.”
“Even better than a Rune Master, the key to your book?” I nodded toward the hidden door in his office. He licked his lips at the thought.
“Perhaps. We’ll see what . . . information we can gather from this Mage, first.” Alois rose from his chair and waited for me to do the same. He strode to the hidden door in his study and knocked twice, one of his own personal Mage guards appearing moments later.
“Sir?” He stood at attention, eyes trained on the back wall.
Damn, I trained him well . And I couldn’t help the slight feeling of pride as I regarded one of the thousands of men I trained.
“Find Lex and his Vessels. Tell them their presence is required in the Academy cells. It’s a nonnegotiable request from me. He can have his time off later.” His orders were clipped, all the familiarity and looseness from the last few hours with me was gone. In its place stood the leader of the Northern Alliance, and while I respected this version of Lord d’Refan, I couldn’t help but feel a pang of sadness over what we’d had to do—what we’d had to give up—to get here.
As Alois adjusted the collar of his shirt, I donned my own armor, slowly shedding the person only Alois got to see anymore and embodying the persona of General d’Alvey. My blank mask slid into place, and I strode to the door of the study.
“Ready to play, General?” Alois grinned, showing all of his teeth and I jerked a nod, lightly touching the crystals in my pocket. I still had three from the last week and was hoping to not use any more for a while.
Looks like that’s shot to shit .
I grasped them tight once before releasing them and swinging open the door.
“First we play, then I meet that Rune Master of yours.”
I sighed. It was going to be a long fucking night.