Chapter Nineteen #2
Var decided that it really didn’t. He made himself nod at Sir Rinil, took a deep breath, and concentrated on bringing down his shield—and only his shield—so that he could bolster his family’s protection.
In retrospect, he should have concentrated a little more on what the removal of the shield would mean for him. He was not adequately prepared to be swamped in cold water as it rushed into the void left by his shield’s absence.
Var coughed, choked, and would probably have drowned—and wouldn’t that have been an absurd way to go after all of this—except that Rinil managed to hook an arm around him and swim him up.
When Var’s head broke the surface, he was still coughing and choking, but he was breathing free air once more.
More hands reached down and hoisted Var out of the water, and then someone was pounding him on the back to help him expel the water that he’d inadvertently swallowed. He just lay there for several long moments, gasping for breath and trying to marshal his thoughts.
His mind finally refocused, and he reached out frantically for his family. In the terrible moments of near-drowning, his panicked brain had forgotten about everything else. Had he maintained the other shields?
No, no, no! It didn’t feel like it took the same amount of magic that it had taken before. In fact, it felt like it took a lot less, and he had a sudden, heart-stopping fear that this meant he’d missed someone, that in his moment of inattention, one of his family members had died.
“My family—”
His voice was hoarse, and his attempt to rise didn’t work. His limbs felt like jelly.
“It’s all right,” Rinil said soothingly. He was kneeling in front of Var. “Take another minute. Get your legs under you. Another group has gone after your family so that they’d be protected whether you could keep the shields up or not.”
“They were under constant attack,” Var protested. “Who can shield against something like that?”
Sir Rinil hesitated for a moment, but then he said, to Var’s complete surprise, “King Stronex is with them.”
Var blinked at him, stunned. Stronex was with them? Oh.
“He came for Ada,” Var realized.
And slowly, the world started to reshape itself into one he understood.
People had realized that there was a problem, and they’d come to his and his family’s rescue.
Because there was Lady Nawila, and was that…
Prince Pelun? He had a bow in his hand with an arrow that glowed like it had been mantled. Had King Stronex done that? How clever.
Var managed to sit up properly, with Sir Rinil’s assistance. He peered around the room. There were two more people Var didn’t recognize, garbed as guards. It made sense if Stronex had brought backup.
“Nawila told you what I was doing?” Var asked as he continued to piece the puzzle together.
She’d gone directly against his orders, but he certainly wasn’t going to quibble about that, given the results.
Sir Rinil nodded. “And we guessed about the Fealty once we heard about Tor and Cala. Then it was a matter of working out who stood to benefit, and that was actually quite a short list. We went to King Stronex to see if Princess Adexa was there.”
Var had been so lamentably behind, twisted up in Yomil’s lies and not seeking the truth for himself.
“Yomil was in on it,” Var said tiredly.
Rin nodded. “We found his body.” He gestured farther into the darkness. “Also King Forex’s.”
Var’s eyes rose to the person that he was pretty sure was Prince Pelun. His face was a tight mask, but he inclined his head at Var, because he appeared to be polite no matter what was happening, even when Var was throwing his brother in the dungeon or being rescued from a traitor.
A traitor who still needed to be stopped. Probably.
“I don’t suppose Nostex was amongst the people you took down just now?”
Sir Rinil shook his head. “We think he’s with your family. That’s why we sent the other group to protect them.”
“I need to get up,” Var said firmly.
He might have been rescued, but until he saw his family for himself, he had to assume they were still in trouble.
Sir Rinil didn’t protest this time but simply helped him to his feet and then held him while he swayed and got used to the idea of being upright.
“Let’s go,” Var said, like he was in charge.
Nobody argued with him, which probably had more to do with the fact that he’d been tortured in this room than with the fact that he was High King. Sir Rinil and Lady Nawila each had a hold of an arm, making sure he stayed on his feet.
There was a stone walkway around the pool that he’d been submerged in. It was difficult to see, because most of the torches in the brackets on the walls were out.
It was incredibly creepy, and he imagined he was going to have nightmares about it for the rest of his life.
Once they reached the door to the room, Prince Pelun went first, bow at the ready, then Var with his supports, and finally Stronex’s two guards.
“I need to get to my family,” Var told them.
Sir Rinil just nodded, looking like he wanted to protest but wouldn’t. They didn’t know what was happening, and while Var certainly hoped the group led by Stronex was having as much success as this team was, he couldn’t count on it.
He needed to be up there.