Chapter 27 Galwell
Galwell
Galwell stared at his own face rendered in harsh charcoal. The likeness was impressive, even flattering. His heroic features
were remade into rugged savvy under the cunning charcoal strokes. His long hair, ashen instead of auburn, looked windswept,
like the portrait caught him in the midst of some daring escape.
What he found unwelcome were the words in heavy lettering underneath.
WANTED
GALWELL THE GRUESOME
His stomach knotted harder with every moment he studied his own wanted posters. Wanted posters! For him!
He remembered his discomfort with the statutes of Galwell the Great in Mythria, commemorating his heroism. If only he’d known
how much worse matters would get. Mere weeks in Vestriya, and he’d exchanged songs celebrating his exploits and reverent depictions
of his questing for wanted posters!
Yet despite Galwell’s displeasure, someone else was enjoying his notoriety greatly.
Mona clapped her hands with glee, then passed Vestriyan sterling to the criminal who’d ripped down the poster from the walls of the capital city. The crook—the twenty-seventh man who’d conducted this particular deal with Mona in the past hour—nodded on his way out of Mona’s club.
Presumably to collect more posters, Galwell reckoned glumly.
When they’d returned to the city from the Evriel Mountains and noticed the first poster, Mona, ignoring the minor existential
episode the poster provoked in Galwell, delightedly put the request out in the underworld. Payment in exchange for every poster delivered of Galwell the Gruesome.
While they hid out in Mona’s club, ever more posters were delivered. Mona was spending a small fortune on them, depositing
each delivery—like the one they’d just received—onto an expanding pile next to the dance-floor dais where she was holding
court.
“You can cease this, you know,” Galwell grumbled. “You can’t possibly purchase them all.”
“Can’t I?” Mona returned coyly.
“Everyone has already seen them,” he complained. “What’s the point?”
The darkness he heard in his voice echoed something resentful rattling within him. What’s the point? What was the point? In Mythria, he was a pointless hero for a realm already saved. In Vestriya, a villain for a realm empty of honor.
“The point,” she said, “is that these are exceptionally impressive. I mean, never in my many years of crime has Mona the Merciless gotten
such a grand wanted poster. And for your criminal debut, no less.” She shook her head. “Honestly, G, you’re a natural.”
“Hm,” Galwell responded.
“Besides.” Mona’s voice went poison sweet. “I’m not stopping until I can wallpaper my entire bedroom in them.” She winked.
Now this coaxed a small smile from Galwell. The insinuation she wanted his face near her while she slept . . . He supposed wanted posters were not the worst punishment in the realm. Indeed, where Mona was concerned, wanted was very much his hope.
“Galwell the Gruesome and Mona the Merciless make quite the pair,” he conceded, warming up.
Mona elbowed him. “They do, at that.”
He was forced to recognize that while her endorsement did not cure the pain of his disrepute, Mona had managed to ease the
sting. Even if no one here considered him a hero—even if he did not know what he was these days, in these changeable lands—Mona seemed to like him. Which was something.
And Ghosts, he liked her. Quite a lot.
Her cheeks flushed. Undoubtedly hearing his thoughts, Mona opened her mouth like she intended to interrogate his devotion.
Galwell was ready to meet her like a soldier of kindness on the field of her heart. What of it? he thought loudly, with his customary reckless generosity. Why should Mona the Merciless have all the fun?
Neither of them got the chance.
On the precipice of their clash, everyone Galwell yearned to see piled into the club. River trailing after Celine, Hugh near
Thessia like he could not help himself. Mona had invited them here for their clandestine reunion.
Galwell sprung from his seat, rushing to greet them. He clasped Celine and River in a huge hug—Celine emitted a squeak, for
Galwell had only half remembered to repress his magical strength—then clapped the grinning Hugh heartily on the back.
Lastly, he took Thessia’s hands in his. “You doing okay?” he asked her softly.
Thessia squeezed his combat-calloused fingers, smiling with tears in her eyes.
“I’m glad to see you again,” she whispered. “I’ve had quite enough of you disappearing on me for a lifetime.”
In reply, Galwell swept her into an embrace.
When he released Thessia, he regarded his friends, feeling incomparable gratitude. “It is wonderful to see you all again,”
he said. “I cannot thank you enough for standing by my side at this time.”
“I knew you’d never have done it,” Hugh replied.
“Anyone who knows you knows that, Galwell,” Celine agreed.
Galwell nodded, surprised to feel a lump in his throat. It was peculiar comfort, he supposed, the reassurance his friends
did not suspect him of being a deadly assassin.
“You’re a questing party I certainly don’t deserve,” he said. “How is Ario? Is he well?”
“Aside from hiding from assassination attempts by his parents? He’s great. He and Benjamin,” Thessia said. “We need to find
a way to expose his parents’ crimes and help him claim his throne. But first—Galwell, you aren’t safe until we marry. We should
make arrangements as swiftly as possible,” she declared.
“No.”
Galwell hardly recognized the immediate denial he heard pass his own lips. Feeling everyone’s aghast stares on him—except
Mona’s—he cleared his throat, abashed. He did not wish to continue, not with Thessia eyeing him in open surprise. Especially
when she was all queenlike in her focused leadership.
Yet continue he did.
“Thessia, I should have said this when we were betrothed ten years ago. I love you, but . . . not in that way,” he explained.
Heroism was hard, yes. Sometimes, he suspected, knowing oneself was harder. He muscled onward. “Maybe I could have learned
to, once, but now . . .”
His eyes strayed to Mona. In her clear gaze, he found everything he himself was feeling.
“I do not think it’s possible,” he finished quietly.
Her surprise wearing off, Thessia did not look insulted. Indeed, Galwell found, she looked—comforted. She smiled, bittersweet. Like she was . . . proud of him for drawing into the light what had once hidden in sad shadows. Like she was proud of herself for understanding.
“What in the realms do you mean?”
This exclamation came from Hugh, startling everyone. Hugh straightened, eyeing Galwell with something like indignation.
“How could you not love Thessia? Look at her!” he protested, flinging out a hand toward the queen. “She’s . . . wondrous.”
Thessia’s eyebrows flew up. Her mouth fell open a little. Everyone else—once more, except Mona—assumed the delight of those
in the presence of secrets shared.
Seeming to remember himself, Hugh flattened the confrontation out of his expression. “I just mean anyone would be lucky to
marry her,” he managed. “It’s not a burden.”
Galwell smiled. He did not need Elowen’s magic to sense his friend’s feelings. It only made him more confident in his decision
not to wed Thessia.
“Isn’t love unpredictable?” he asked Hugh. “I’ve learned that recently. I’ve also learned that virtue without honesty is no
virtue at all. Sometimes we have to own the selfish sides of ourselves. Even if it’s unheroic of me to admit it, I selfishly
don’t wish to marry Thessia. And I suspect she feels the same.”
Thessia’s eyes held only the same calm strength Galwell felt in his own heart. She nodded her confirmation.
“Wonderful!” Mona clapped her hands. “So no wedding. Besides,” she went on cheerfully, looking to Hugh, “it appears you consummated
your marriage after all, and divorce really is so tedious . . .”
The royal couple flushed deep pink. Hugh coughed. Celine gasped something that sounded rather like Thugh.
With the scribe’s exclamation, Mona rounded on her in delight. “Looks like double congratulations are in order. Everyone has had very erotic weekends, it seems.”
It was River’s turn to humph, toeing her boot into the club’s floor, while Celine averted her eyes. There would be no escaping Mona the Mind Reader.
“How wonderful,” Mona rattled on. “We’ll just resolve Galwell’s ‘wanted’ status another way—by helping Ario expose his parents,
yes?”
No one spoke.
Galwell wondered whether they now regretted flouting his commandment of no romance in the questing party. “Don’t be embarrassed,”
he encouraged his sexually active companions. “The physical side of love is extraordinary.”
“Okay, then,” River responded loudly while Mona laughed. “If we must protect Galwell by helping to remove the king and queen
of Vestriya, then we need to give Ario a platform to speak to his people and reveal that he isn’t hurt. He can expose his
parents’ corruption, completing the work Prince Ezio intended.”
“It needs to be public,” Celine elaborated, following River’s intuition effortlessly. “Not subject to the propaganda his parents
control.”
“Vestriya Now,” Thessia said, her cheeks still flushed pink.
Mona frowned. “The . . . talent contest?” she clarified. “You want to launch a coup at a talent contest?”
Thessia nodded vigorously, her eyes sharpening. “Yes,” she replied. “I was asked to present the contestants alongside Nevo
Yrillis. The whole realm attends. I can bring Ario onstage, and he can expose the corruption in front of his people.”
Galwell was struck, watching her step more and more effortlessly into the role not only of a queen, but of a leader. He’d
always recognized Thessia’s intelligence, selflessness, and vivacity. This was different. His heart swelled, observing in
her the commander their party needed, and the ruler Mythria did.
Yes, he did love this woman, in many, many ways. He was truly grateful his resurrection allowed them to be friends, allowed him the chance not to be the leader of this quest—but to follow her.
“The setting is perfect, of course,” Hugh remarked, and under his soldierly strategizing, Galwell heard love of other kinds,
and fear and devotion. “But I do note how odd it is for the king and queen to have allowed you the honor of hosting their
realm’s event while relations are so strained.”
“I must agree with Hugh,” Celine said. “They tried to kill Ario to cover up that they assassinated Ezio. We know they’re working
with the guild. But what is the guild’s aim in all this? Why frame Galwell after trying to kill him?”
Galwell looked to Mona. “While in the Evriel Mountains, Mona and I met with the man who ordered my assassination. It was Cheswick
Chestlewitt—”
“The playwright?” Thessia asked in surprise.
“Yes. Long story,” Galwell replied.
“Without a happy ending,” Mona said, pouting.
“Hm, yes.” Galwell hastened on. “Chestlewitt said the guild has fallen under new nefarious directives in order to ensure villainy
spreads in the realm, thus providing them good business for the assassination of evildoers. Ruining my reputation and aiding
the king and queen of Vestriya was only part of the plan. The rest . . .” He hesitated. “Involves killing Thessia and taking
over Mythria.”
Thessia snorted.
“If I had a farthing every time I heard that one, I could buy this whole club drinks,” she said.
“While your bravery is impressive, you should not ignore this warning,” River replied. She was pale, a drawn, almost weary
look on her face. “When I was held captive by Dougal, it was in a guild lair built in the ancient city. I heard the Brethren
rehearsing.”
“They’re opening for Vestriya Now,” Celine said.
Galwell nodded. Everything fit. “The guild plots to enact their plans there. We cannot doubt it. Knowing the guild is already
conspiring with the king and queen, we must conclude that inviting you to host the event is a trap.”
He had watched the queen’s forces face down the Fraternal Order, men and women venturing onto fields of war from which they
would never return. He had led his friends into realm-changing danger. He could recognize fear. He had known fear.
He saw none in Queen Thessia of Mythria.
“Then we shall enact our plots as well,” she declared. “Galwell and Ario need us. What’s more, Mythria and Vestriya need us.
If they have planned a trap, we will just have to evade it while we save the realms.”
She looked to her compatriots, each of them in turn. Galwell felt himself quietly surprised—it was just, he was usually the
one making the speeches.
He did not resent someone else doing it, though. Just this once.
“I have faith in us. In all of us,” Thessia promised them. “We will not fail in our quest.”
Deep in his heart, Galwell knew she was right. He looked to his companions—his questmates. His friends. Most of them didn’t
even know one another weeks ago. Now . . . They were perhaps not a conventional group of heroes, but they were a group of
heroes nonetheless. “I will do all I can,” he said. “You have my strength, Thessia.”
“You have my loyalty,” Hugh vowed. “Forever, Thess,” he said more quietly. His eyes locked with hers.
“I will stand for what the guild has abandoned,” River joined in. “You have my blade.”
“I offer something more powerful than the fire in my veins. My quill,” Celine said.
Then—quiet.
Everyone looked to Mona. With guarded eyes, she returned their stares, and with no head magic of his own, Galwell suddenly,
piercingly, felt he could hear everything she was thinking. Every defense she put up, every shadow she withdrew into. Every
lie she lived within, every promise she repeated to herself. That she was no good. That she wasn’t worth holding on to, or
comforting, or cherishing, or believing in.
So Galwell the Great thought the loudest he’d ever thought.
We need you, Mona the Magnificent.
I need you.
Mona rolled her eyes, her smile unconquerable.
She stepped forward. “I’m not sure I have anything to contribute, unless you’d like a small mercenary army of criminals to
pull a coup. We could install a dictatorship within the hour,” she offered. “No? Not interested?”
When no one replied, Vestriya’s princess of crime sighed.
“Very well, then. I suppose I can only offer myself,” she conceded. “My magic and, of course, my exceptionally good looks.”
Galwell nodded. “These are much appreciated. They will be useful in our heroic quest.”
Yes, he supposed. Hero or villain, queen or criminal. Vestriyan or Mythrian. I can only offer myself.
He could not have said it better.