Chapter 27 #2
Soturi filled the streets—not surprising since nearly every man in Korteria became a soturion.
There were hardly any mages in the country—which was partially because they didn’t respect them.
But also because of their geographical position.
They were landlocked with both of the southern Afeyan countries.
Their western border was shared with the human lands, and their northern and eastern borders were up against three other Lumerian countries.
It was the water of the Lumerian Ocean that strengthened our magic, that let it work.
And while they weren’t the only ones on the western front, they certainly seemed to have embraced their fate the most—not even attempting to bring more magic into their daily life.
The construction of waterways bringing in ocean water would have easily solved the problem.
But they hadn’t even done that, they’d chosen to fight instead.
Looking more closely, I could see the mentality extended to nearly every aspect of their life. Two women walked briskly carrying two large buckets of water.
And in a nearby open stall, another woman sat weaving cloth.
No use of magic at all. Even the buildings were constructed far more roughly than any I’d seen at home or in the other cities and countries I’d visited.
The homes were shorter, the walls sometimes uneven, and lacking any sort of finessed design.
Magic hadn’t been used to build them, but actual physical labor. And if I were to bet, I was sure that we wouldn’t find any mages inside the town.
It made the Emperor’s recitation of the law to me after my Revelation Ceremony all the more infuriating.
Because he’d claimed I needed magic to be part of our society according to his twisted interpretation of the law.
Of course, the purpose was to punish me and my Ka.
But still, seeing the lack of magic now was infuriating.
Auriel dismounted and came to the side of my ashvan, taking my hand and helping me down. My hand tingled where we’d touched, and I quickly brushed my palm against my cloak, peering ahead.
We crept toward the edge of the trees, and Auriel frowned, looking me over.
“You should keep your hood down,” he said. “With your hair like this, you blend in. It will invite less of them to look at you.”
“I hope,” I said. “Ka Kormac isn’t exactly known for sending women into their soturi.”
But I retrieved my stave, and pointed it at Auriel’s armor, then mine before training it on my hair.
The spell I’d used before had faded quickly since I wasn’t trying to hold it.
But now, it would need to remain undisturbed for as long as we were in public.
I tried to focus on the Valalumir at my back, touching it again to let it fuel and strengthen my spell.
“Too bad Aiden isn’t here,” I said wistfully. I was pretty damned proud that I’d managed to change our armor believably, and my hair. But I didn’t think I could do much more. If I could have made myself a man, that would have been better.
“You’re doing a good job,” Auriel said. He peered back out through the trees. “Let’s go to a pub. We both need food, and it will be dark in there. People will be drinking. It’s a perfect place to disappear unnoticed. And listen.”
We did just that, sitting inside for about an hour, tucked into a wood table pushed into a shadowy corner.
We’d both ordered several beers, just to blend in, but neither of us were drinking.
We were more focused on the food—which wasn’t great.
The stew was bland, and the bread stale.
Most of the cuisine I was familiar with back home wasn’t available.
But we were both starving, and anything was better than nothing.
Especially when anything was what kept me strong, kept me ready to fight.
The evening set in, the sky changing color through the window beside us. Outside soturi were coming and going— most seemed to be off-duty, meeting friends for drinks.
A few were out with their families, walking into restaurants for an early dinner. In the nearby square, bets were being placed on fights inside a tiny make-shift arena. We watched several battles end, money being passed back and forth, all while trying to listen for any talk of akadim.
Another soturion entered the fight, but was knocked out almost instantly.
“What if it’s too late?” I asked quietly, my nerves jumping. I’d heard endless inane conversations, but nothing even related to akadim. Was that possible? Would the Queen have sent me on the mission to end Rhyan’s akadim state if it was already over?
Auriel shook his head. “No. It’s not.”
“How do you know?”
His jaw tensed. “Remember how I told you I could feel the void of where my soul once was. Feel the absence of it.”
I nodded nervously. “At your tomb.”
“I … I think I have that feeling again. But for him. For Rhyan.”
“His body,” I said. As an akadim it would be void of his soul. “You sense it?”
“I do. It’s not strong, but it’s the most I’ve felt since I— since I arrived. He’s not gone. In fact, I think we might be close. Or … closer than we were. Enough I can sense this much.”
“Do you think he’s in Korteria?”
Auriel frowned. “I don’t know. Let’s listen.
We’ll track what we can—but this,” he placed a hand on his heart, “might help lead us to him.” His eyes swept down the table at my mostly finished plate of food, and empty drink glass, before sweeping over my hair.
“The color’s fading,” he said quietly. “I’m going to get you dessert. See if you can add more glamour.”
Auriel headed to the bar, keeping his eyes trained on me as he waited for the server. I pulled my cloak over my lap, concealing my stave. Sweat beaded my brow. Keeping the glamour up was taking more energy than I realized, but a second later, the silver across my armor and Auriel’s was refreshed.
A sudden burst of applause exploded from the arena. But before I could see what had happened, the pub doors burst open, and a dozen soturi poured inside.
Auriel quickly grabbed the plate from the bar and rushed back to me. It was a slice of chocolate cake. My appetite was gone though as we watched the soturi swarm the room, lining up at the bar, slamming down glasses of beer, and occupying the remaining tables.
“Lady Lyriana,” said a soturion. I stilled, my stomach flipping. “She’s dead,” he continued. “She died on the beach a month ago. I don’t know why they’re wasting their time with these searches.”
Auriel’s eyes widened. I leaned across the table, meeting his gaze.
“She’s vanished before,” another soturion said. “Turned up later. She’s sneaky.”
“Maybe. But it’s been a fucking month now. And not one sighting. No girl’s smart enough to hide that long and not get caught. I don’t see the point. Who cares where she is now?”
“She ordered that soturion to murder the Emperor. Killed the Blade. You should care about that.”
The bartender placed two pitchers on the counter.
“They were old. Dying anyway.”
“She let the vorakh out. Killed a bunch of men at the stripping,” came a darker voice. “My cousin was one of them. If she’s alive and I find her—I’ll rip her fucking throat out.”
“I mean, sure—if she’s alive,” said the first soturion. “But personally, I’d rather join the raids. There’s more money there.”
I raised my eyebrows at Auriel. “Raids?” I mouthed.
He shrugged, and tilted his head, so he was still facing me, but watching the men in his peripheral vision.
“You know Bannan?” the first soturion went on. “He went on one. Picked up three vorakh. Made enough gold to take a year off.”
“A year?” asked a companion.
“How’d he know that’s what they were?” asked another.
The first soturion shrugged. “He just grabbed some mages and accused them. No one asked questions, just took his word. They didn’t let him join up with the task force—the ones really looking and testing.”
Testing? For vorakh? They couldn’t be doing that.
“Ugh,” said another. “I wouldn’t want to do it. Those snakes give me the damn creeps.”
My stomach dropped. Nahashim. They were testing innocent people with nahashim. Like they’d done to me. Gods.
“No,” said the first soturion, “you don’t need to mess with the snakes. They’re mainly for the higher-ups anyway. The rich ones, and the unfortunates who come across the check points. We don’t handle the beasts. Don’t need to.”
“No?” asked another.
“No. You just need an accusation. And if the accused bastard can’t afford the snake test, it’s your lucky day. You get paid.”
“I heard you get paid either way,” someone chuckled.
“Well now that’s tempting. I saw them snakes everywhere last week,” another soturion chimed in. “You ever see an exam done? The snake goes right inside you. Under your skin. Disgusting.”
The men burst into laughter.
My stomach turned. What the hell had happened in the last month? Since when was this a standard practice?
“The best is accusing a woman. You get to see her all naked and thrashing.”
My hands clenched into fists.
“Well they might be opening ranks on the task force soon,” said a new voice. “The testing’s disgusting, but Lord Tristan has it under control.”
They had Tristan leading this?
The first soturion barked. “Emperor’s dog always coming through loyal.”
“Actually,” a new soturion piped up, as he slammed a mug on the counter, several drops of beer spilling out. “I hear what they really need are guards for the prisons, people to build some more, too. They’re running out of space to hold the criminals.”
“Where are they building?” Yet another soturion had been drawn into the conversation, his hand on the hilt of his dagger, his black eyes eager.
“Bamaria. I mean, what used to be Bamaria anyway.”
Used to be? My stomach roiled. What the fuck did that mean?
“New prisons are popping up by the water in Ba–I mean, in southern New Korteria—nowhere to escape. They can build them fast there, they use magic with the labor. Hot as fuck—but I hear there’s a nice bonus for new recruits—the ones that get accepted.”
“I could use some extra money. A bonus sounds nice,” a new voice had joined. “I could definitely round some people up.”
All their auras were flaring, their pettiness, hatred, and greed felt tangible enough to make my stomach turn.
“Let me check where Lord Tristan is now—he’s scheduled to start traveling with the Bastardmaker soon, setting up new prisons and check-points in each country. But that’s the fastest way to join.”
Auriel’s eyebrows knit together with concern, watching me. “Stay calm,” he mouthed. But my heart was racing.
They’d just called Bamaria southern New Korteria.
“I don’t know,” drawled a soturion. It was one who’d spoken before. “Something about this don’t seem right.”
“What do you care?” asked his friend.
“I don’t. I just think we ought to focus on real problems. I know they say they’re killers, that the vorakh sends them out of their minds, all farther than Lethea and shit, but we’ve got real enemies in front of us. That bitch Lyriana is a fucking murderer and she’s going to pay for my cousin.”
I stilled. Had he been at the stripping? Would he know my face? I was blonde now, and it had been a month. But still … If he looked too closely, it was over. His aura was rank and moving through the pub in quick, powerful bursts. I could feel his violence shifting toward me.
We needed to get out of there—without starting a scene. For all the hours we’d been here, I’d been the only woman. I’d noticed it, and so had Auriel, but only now that a dozen soturi were at the bar, drinking heavily, did I clearly feel it.
“Well, I hope you find her, brother.” A soturion stood and clapped the angry soldier on the back.
“I hope so, too,” he said darkly. “I got a gut feeling. She’s not dead. Probably still hiding in southern New Korteria. That’s my guess. She couldn’t go far. She’s just a girl, an evil one, but a weak one. She has no power.”
I almost rolled my eyes. Right. I had no power, but I’d killed the Emperor, killed the Blade, and his cousin. These fucking men. And it was fucking Bamaria! New Korteria didn’t exist!
“You should get assigned down south,” another said. “They’re taking recruits for next month,” he continued.
“Need another half legion down there.”
“Just to find that bitch?”
“No. The whole fucking Empire’s looking for her. It’s because the Bamarians are protesting. Not happy with the Emperor’s new policies. Fucking vorakh lovers.”
“Wait—” one held up a hand, “they like vorakh?”
“No, no one likes them. They’re just mad because all the prisons they’re building need to be manned. By us. They think we’re outnumbering them.”
“We are!” someone shouted.
“Prisoners need prisons. And we need homes. So we’ve been taking theirs. Taking their women, too.” The soturion laughed.
“And the best part? Our Emperor made Arianna Batavia the Imperator to shut them all up. She lets us do whatever the fuck we want.” He turned in his chair, licking his lips, his eyes on me.
“Speaking of fucking …” He stood, taking a step toward me, before pausing, and sizing up Auriel.
“Hey. You share?” He raised his eyebrows. “I can buy you a drink in exchange.”
Auriel’s hand was already on the hilt of the sword, his other hand moving to the one strapped to his back.
I started calculating. Twelve soturi at the bar.
One bartender. Six more patrons at tables.
Twelve were our enemy, best case scenario.
Six for me, six for Auriel. Worst case, we’d have to take on all nineteen.
We had the corner, a wall at our backs so no one could come from behind, and a window if we truly needed to escape.
But then a scream came from outside. A blood-curdling yell full of fear.
They’d said one word. And one word only. “Akadim!”