Chapter 15 #2
“You felt her presence,” Lesya said, raising her glass to him.
“Yes. And thus my faith is rewarded,” he said, raising his glass at her.
“Thank you, Lesya. It is not I who is at the center of this thing, but you. You, upon whose shoulder the responsibility lies of recovering what is lost, restoring the Old Religion. I am a mere humble servant of Aeterna. I hope she notices my efforts.”
“My lord,” Cassian said. “The thing that we talked about.”
“Oh, yes, Cass. Of course,” Viktor said, dabbing his face with his napkin and coughing to clear his throat.
“I know that Cassian, in his capacity as a member of the Solignis Covenant, is bound by certain oaths and cannot tell you what he wishes to tell you. But I know what he knows, and before we do anything else, I would like to clear up any confusions you might have.”
“Confusions?” Lesya said, growing hot behind the ears. “My partner’s been lying to me all this time, hiding this entire side of his life. I am having trouble seeing him as the same man as the one I knew yesterday.”
Cassian’s face flushed red and he looked away out of embarrassment.
“He’s not to blame here,” Viktor said, reclining and drinking more wine. “It’s that insufferable ass, Eldric. He’s like a crossroads demon. Binding people in webs of contracts. That’s the person you should be mad at. I’d be surprised if he hasn’t threatened you in some capacity or other.”
Lesya recounted how Eldric had violated her dreams and had found out that she was getting visions from Aeterna. How he’d used that to pressure her into signing a contract and undertaking an oath.
“That’s exactly what I mean! Do you think it was easy for Cassian? You’re being too harsh on him,” Viktor said.
A Deathless came into the room hurriedly and whispered something in Viktor’s ear.
Viktor chuckled.
“Our people have noticed Eldric’s grandson prodding about the Hamlet,” he said, nodding at Edda. “Clive Bane and another fellow are holed up in a wine shop, apparently sleeping it off.”
“Are they in danger?” Lesya asked.
“The only danger they’re in is the one they pose themselves,” Mortandagh said, placing his goblet back on the table.
“I’m not going to kill them. That’s not the kind of man I am, and I’m not a hypocrite, Lesya.
I know that word of my announcement in Lynsfeld has spread far and wide.
The foreign officials who died in that explosion weren’t exactly faultless.
Neither was Crenshaw or his family. As for everyone else who died in that pub attack…
I had my reasons. Together, these people smote us.
These specific people. They hunted my Deathless, tortured them, imprisoned them.
Aladrian government took generous endowments from other governments to fund this war.
I announced my return, and in doing so, warned foreign governments from intervening as I restore Aladria to its former glory.
A land where speech was free, everyone was allowed to pursue the religion of their choice, and knowledge was boundless.
A place where magic thrived, and people came from all over the world to admire it. ”
“You killed his wife and children,” Lesya said.
“Did you know that Vincent Crenshaw found where my wife and my child were hiding after my defeat, and he…he raped my wife before he murdered her and mutilated her body, ensuring that no one could bring her back from the dead. He murdered my son and threw his corpse to the dogs!” Viktor said, slamming his fist into the table.
“There are no bodies in their graves. I am not some effete man who will not have his vengeance. See, I don’t believe that an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.
It makes the whole world one-eyed. I’m fine with that.
I merely killed his family. I did not violate his wife like he did mine.
There are actions that I deem far too evil to carry out.
At least she died with her honor intact. ”
“I didn’t know,” Lesya said. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
“No one’s supposed to. Anyone who works with Eldric is made to take an oath preventing them from saying anything about the tyranny of the Vanguard and the Covenant.
That is just one of the many things that Crenshaw did.
If I were to detail every single one, it’d take us months,” Viktor said, standing up and heading to the mirror once more. He stared into his own reflection.
“Do you know why they follow me, my Deathless? Why Cassian pledged his allegiance to me? I show them the truth, for I am blessed with it. There’s going to be a revolution soon enough, Lesya Rosefield. Which side will you be on?”
* * *
The conversation went on for another hour, during which Viktor Mortandagh explained more of the secrets that Cassian had been forced to keep. By the end of that conversation, Lesya could not feel the same animosity for her boyfriend that she once did.
As for Eldric and the Covenant…if everything that Mortandagh had said was true, then she’d lived her entire life believing a lie.
The Aladrian government, Solignis priesthood, the Solignis Covenant, all of them called themselves the guardians of Aladrian civilization, but with their invisible hand they decided what the people worshipped, what version of history was remembered, villainized other religions and belief systems, sanctioned which magic was practicable and which was not.
They had made obedience to their dogmas and governance virtuous and dissent a crime.
Viktor had then inspected Freya, and had done a few spells to check if she was wholly bought back to life. When he was satisfied that it was true Aeternumancy, he asked Cassian to make her go to sleep. Freya fell asleep in one of the guest rooms of the town hall.
Viktor began giving Lesya a tour of the town hall.
“Come, Lesya. We must be quick. Evening draws near, and if you’re to head back to the Covenant without raising any alarm, we have to account for each minute. My scouts tell me that the other three who came with you have mobilized. The last thing I need is the Vanguard attacking this place again.”
“Again?”
“Oh, yes. Their propaganda had worked on the people who still called this place home. When we came here, the people attacked us violently. There were Vanguard soldiers among them as well. I granted them swift, painless deaths, and resurrected them to serve my cause. Understand this about me, Lesya. I attack no one unprompted. And if I am attacked, me and my Deathless are fully capable of retaliation. Soon enough, we will have popular support of the masses. But until then, this war wages on.”
He headed toward the main hall, leaving Cassian and Lesya alone for a moment.
“I’m sorry, Cass,” Lesya said. “I’m still confused, and uncertain… But I was wrong about you.”
“You think I’d join forces with an evil necromancer? That low of an opinion about your lover, eh, Rosefield?” Cassian chuckled.
“I was woefully unequipped with the right knowledge,” Lesya said, chuckling.
“Come here,” Cassian said, pulling her close and giving her a kiss. “I am glad I don’t have to hide anything from you now.”
She kissed him back, her hands in his hair, her lips brushing against his lips. How wrong she had been about him. How mistaken. She shouldn’t have doubted him.
A series of explosions rang through the air. Lesya shot a look at the main hall and saw hundreds of Deathless running out of various rooms, heading out to face the threat.
“That’ll be your friend, I presume.” Mortandagh laughed, standing in the hall beside the shelves.
“He’s no friend. He tried to kill me,” Lesya said bitterly.
“I am moved by your capacity for forgiveness,” Viktor said. “Sadly, it is a trait I lack. Forgive enough, and people think you’re a pushover. Or worse, that you lack power.”
“We have to go,” Cassian said, holding Lesya’s arm.
“I’m afraid that your situation has been expedited, and the choice that Lesya has to make, she has to make now,” Mortandagh said.
“If you should choose to stay, both of you, I can do everything in my capacity to break the oaths that Eldric uses to bind you. I will be honest, I am not entirely sure how to do that just yet.”
“What do you say?” Lesya asked. There were more explosions coming from the north district.
“I will not force you, but I have a better chance of protecting you if you’re with me,” Cassian said, holding her hand in his own, looking at her with deep affection.
“I’ll stay, Cassian,” she said, looking back into his eyes and finding nothing but honesty, love, care. He could not steer her wrong.
They were standing in the doorway of the hallway.
“You won’t regret this, my love,” Cassian said. “The time for deciding our allegiance is here. And I believe?—”
He never got to utter the end of his sentence.
He grunted as a spell hit him from the other end of the hallway.
Elias Solwyn stood with his spellblade pointed at Cassian.
Cassian gave Lesya a painful parting glance as he collapsed on his knees.
“There you are, you fucking bitch!” Elias sneered, rushing toward her. “Traitor!”
“Viktor!” Lesya said, falling beside Cassian, trying to feel his pulse. It was not too late. She could bring him back to life. She just needed to do what she’d done with Freya.
Viktor raced up to her, his staff at the ready.
“No, Cassian!” he said, looking at Cassian’s corpse. “Lesya!” he shouted, running forward to save her from the narrow hallway and the attacker crossing the distance.
Lesya, petrified by fear and indecision, could not gather her faculties. Elias raced down the hallway, the homing beacon in his hand.
Mortandagh cast a spell at him. Elias ducked and jumped, grabbing Lesya.
“No!” Mortandagh yelled as Lesya and Elias disappeared into thin air, leaving Cassian’s corpse behind.
* * *
“Cassian!” Lesya yelled, thrashing her arms against the man who held her.
She was in the grand hall of the manor, Eldric Solwyn standing in front of her while Elias panted, holding onto Lesya.