Chapter 43 #2
Once Fear suggested disobedience, there was a ripple through the audience. Clan members moved forward and conferred with their clan leaders. Whispers and murmurs seemed to fill the air, though I could not catch any one thread too clearly.
Then Colm muttered from behind Obsidian, “More of our people have died for your schemes than for her orders.”
The room shifted at Colm’s words.
But Fear was always smooth, and that did not change in the face of hecklers. “No one from Obsidian needed to die. The queen could’ve sent enough clans to fight the monsters and seal the rips rather than abandon Obsidian. The eastern wall has always been the work of at least three clans.”
“You’ve led a rebellion before, Fieran,” Deva said. “And yet our world looks no different than before, except for some lives no longer being lived within it.”
Fear inclined his head. “I live with the losses every day. I would never take the same risks that I took during my first rebellion now. I understand the costs were too much. But this is a different time. The queen has moved against Obsidian in an attempt to weaken and destroy the clan. How long will it be until she comes for your clan? If you stand by and watch Obsidian die, there will be no one to offer a hand when your own clan is drowning.”
“I’m not sure Obsidian needs any help from Clan Bismyth, given how much they’ve already had,” Noa, Garnet’s second, muttered.
Fear was losing the room. He showed no signs of the ground tilting under his feet.
They had not come out and said that we had brought this upon them by stealing the unmaking knife.
But worry was coiling in my stomach, afraid that it was about to reveal Bismyth had stolen from Obsidian and caused these losses.
Sooner or later, the truth would come out anyway.
Then what would Fear do to keep Obsidian?
They had to recognize how desperate their condition was.
They had to join the rebellion, and yet I was not convinced they would.
Isen still watched Fear intently. When she spoke, her voice was soft, but everyone quieted. “I think what intrigues many of us is the actual mechanism by which you are going to take the queen off her throne.”
“And even then, there’s the question of who replaces her. A shifter king might be more advantageous to the clans, but it still depends on who that is,” Colm said. “What if the next ruler of the kingdom does not care about our clan any more than the queen?”
“We all know who the next heir to the throne is,” Fear said.
“I am no more worthy to be king than any of our clan leaders. Any of you would make a fine ruler. But there is a force of magic in our land, and it decides the heir. We might as well address that directly. But I would be happy to take vows of magic to assure anyone of my good intent. When each clan is strong, our kingdom is strong.”
The room erupted before Fear even finished. Being shouted over was not the way of things for Fear, and as the clan leaders began to speak—each of them trying to wrest the attention of the room from the others—Fear leaned over to me.
His hand rested lightly on my shoulder, his lips so close to the shell of my ear that they brushed my skin. “I am not winning this room at the moment.”
I shook my head, just slightly.
“What do you see? Is there something that I am missing?”
They wanted a promise. They wanted a miracle. Just like the mortals. “I don’t know what else you can offer them.”
Without Lightbringer.
Sevran won the battle for the room’s voices. “It does not matter if Obsidian obeys the queen or if they rebel or if any of us do, unless there is a plan that would destroy the queen. And we are supposed to believe that you have such a plan, Fieran?”
“I do,” Fear promised.
“Tell me that it does not rest on the thin shoulders of some…” His gaze fell on me, and I dreaded whatever adjective and noun combination he was about to supply. “Hopeless mortal?”
If only Lightbringer would reveal herself. I’d ignited Lidi’s magic; I must be able to do it again. My throat was tight, but Fear’s hand fell to my shoulder. “There is nothing helpless about Clan Bismyth’s mortal.”
He had twisted the word. I saw why a second after. Hopeless was about whether or not I could embody Lightbringer; helpless was naming that I had other gifts. He had circled back to my speech in his own way.
“That is not the story that came out of the rebel encampment. I heard of mortals losing faith and abandoning the rebellion, and we all know how little they have to lose.” Deva of Garnet spoke, her voice barbed.
No one laughed, but I could feel the rise of amusement.
She went on, “Fear has gathered the enthusiasm of the mortals by making them believe that he can turn them into shifters themselves, and yet she remains the only one. And strangely, it does not seem she can shift. It suggests that the entire story is a lie.”
The room burst into fresh arguments. Fear paused, taking the moment while everyone was yelling to decide how to spin the story.
But this was not his story.
This was a mortal story.
I rose to my feet.
The ancient presence within me woke in alarm. I had a feeling mortal arguments had not been very intriguing to her. But whatever I was going to do next, whatever half-formed plan was floating through my mind, she was catching in wisps. My plan, such as it was, very much had her attention.
“It is true I have not yet shifted.” I spoke loudly but not louder than any of the shifters.
Still, those nearest me turned their attention my way, and the attention rippled through their neighbors.
Most of them hadn’t heard my beginning, so I tried again.
“It is true I have not shifted. But that is part of our plan.”
Fear’s face gave nothing away. He was the picture of rapt attention.
“We intend to keep the queen off balance by having her believe that I cannot shift so that I can get close to her. But my abilities, thanks to Lightbringer, will allow me to drain the queen’s magic.”
There had still been side conversations. Many of them had not been very interested in what a mortal had to say. But those faded. The room was so quiet one could’ve heard the scrape of a claw.
Everyone was curious what I would say next. No one more so than I.
Lightbringer roiled inside my mind, so furious that it was distracting. “How dare you, you arrogant, reckless child. I told you I will not fight on your side…”
“You did. So you will watch as I flounder through my war, and as Fear and I die,” I snapped back at her in my mind.
Then I raised my chin, trying to shake off the distraction of an angry dragon with a lashing tail and snarling thoughts. I’d wanted her to talk to me for so long; now she had something to say.
“You have my attention, mortal.” Deva leaned forward, intrigued.
“The queen has stolen mortal magic all these years. For a reason. She needs us.” I stared around at the room. “I can steal the queen’s magic from her and render her as mortal as those she has stolen from.”
“Then do it,” Noa challenged. “Let’s find some asshole Fae and strip him of his magic.”
“Yes, let’s tip our hand to the queen,” Fear said. “Brilliantly thought out as usual, Noa.”
“You cannot expect us to go into battle with this mortal leading our plans without proof,” Colm said.
Ander rose to his feet. “I believe in this mortal. Clan Amber will follow Cara.”
He looked calm and certain, but behind him, shock rippled through Clan Amber. I wondered what that shock would cost him. Could Fear or Ander lose their positions as leaders if the clan lost faith in their decisions?
“Following the little mortal means following her husband, does it not?” Sevran asked. “So you will follow Fieran?”
The question felt like a punch to the gut knowing what I did, but Ander had expected it; he absorbed it without even blinking. “I will follow Cara and Fieran of Clan Bismyth into battle against the queen.”
The room was tilting in Fear’s favor. He had never looked as if he were losing confidence, but now he smiled at me. His hand fell at the small of my back, the two of us standing together, united.
Leaders of Bismyth.
The future king and queen.
A pair of accomplished liars.
“I will not help you,” Lightbringer hissed into my mind.
I had no doubt that if someone demanded proof dropped some evil Fae lord at my feet, Lightbringer would happily leave me to be humiliated.
But face to face with the queen?
Lightbringer would reach through me and rip out the queen’s powers.
If she could. If we could.
There were so many questions, but for now, I kept smiling.
“Obsidian will not follow Fieran.” Seine, Obsidian’s first, rose to his feet. “He talks of the queen’s cruelty when he is the reason for it.”
Here we were.
Voices exploded, arguing, and I felt the room shift again around us. I looked at Fear, trying carefully to keep the desperation that I felt from my face.
“Obsidian’s losses are terrible,” Fieran said. “And we can make the queen pay.”
“You should pay!” Colm stepped forward, his cheeks flushed hot. “You’re the one who stole the knife! You’re the one who caused the queen to unleash this punishment!”
“Nothing you can do will change what you cost us,” one of the shifters in the back from Obsidian snarled.
“Nothing will bring back your dead, but you have the power to protect the rest of your clan,” Fear said calmly.
Whatever he was going to say next was not going to be enough. I could feel the room sliding away from us like shifting rubble beneath our feet.
Obsidian had burned their dead today, and yesterday, and the day before, because of us. The clans knew it. Fear was touched by death, earlier and now. They would not follow to their deaths.
Ander was already on his feet. “Clan Bismyth did not steal the knife.”
Fear’s fingers flexed against the small of my back, though that was the only surprise he allowed himself. His face was still, interested and handsome. He gave nothing away.
Ander was calm, resolute. “I have had control of the knife the entire time.”
“Then why are there these stories of the mortal cutting out enchantments?” someone demanded.
“Because I allowed Cara—who was part of Clan Amber and will always have a place with us—to wield the knife. Only a mortal can. I cannot wield it and neither can any of you.” He looked around the room. “But it is my knife. I am the one who controls its use.”
He drew it from his scabbard.
Obsidian was on their feet, every member of the clan straining forward toward him though they were not undisciplined enough to strike. “That is ours!”
“It is not,” Ander said coolly, replacing it in the sheath. “And bringing it to the queen now—even if you were able to take possession of it—would not change her punishment.”
“I’m willing to try,” Colm barked out.
“Then you are willing to die here and now and save the queen the trouble,” Ander promised them.
He made an enemy of Obsidian to protect us. He had done it brilliantly, without hesitation, and I was going to have to carry this moment along with my betrayal.
Fear had turned me into a good liar, just like him. Someone who could deceive Ander, who had only ever been kind and good, better than either of us, for the sake of the kingdom.
“There is no need for the clans to fight,” Fear said, and now, he could work the room as he always did.
Obsidian simmered with rage, but they did not leave. The conversation continued.
Not every clan agreed to fight on our side. Sevran rose without announcement and left. Vael was simply gone, which I had not noticed until he wasn’t there.
Sevran made it clear he was not going to fight on our side. I leaned in to Fear with a question, and he answered before I even asked. “Sevran will go to the queen. Vael likely will.”
The rest swore to fight together. Even Obsidian, hate fueled and angry though they might be, promised to fight.
The clan leaders gathered together to make their oaths, their dark rainbow of cloaks gathered together. Ander stood beside Seine, and Seine looked him over with grim dismissiveness before moving away.
When Ander returned to Amber’s ranks, they closed around him with muted questions, and he led them away. No doubt to a conversation that would not be easy.
Fear and I owed him much.
I wouldn’t allow Fear to forget.
It was not until Fear and I made it back to our quarters that I dared to speak openly. I closed the door and leaned on it as if to shut out the world. “Ander saved you today.”
“I’m aware.”
I sank into a chair to pull off my boots and resisted all temptations to chuck a boot at him. I was an exemplary wife after all. “You need to tell him about Tesa. Ander deserves to know.”
“Nothing has changed for Tesa.” He unlatched his cloak and draped it over a chair. “I will not make promises to you that I do not intend to keep.”
I was about to tell him that was a novelty when I pressed my lips together instead. He had tried to keep his promises. He had said I’d see Tay well and Lidi’s magic restored. He was untrustworthy, but not in his promises.
“Ander sacrificed for us. He trusted us. We owe him our trust in return. He’ll be good to Tesa.”
He stripped off his armor, dropping bracers and chest plate into a pile. I had no intention of letting him rest.
Then he moved toward the door.
“Where are you going?” I demanded.
He went out without answering me. Apparently he’d decided that, rather than lie, he would just not speak at all. The door clicked softly behind him.
Was he going to see Tesa anyway, having made me no promises? The possibility kept me from following him. I’d seen her face after I cut away the enchantment. She trusted Fear, not me, and she needed a friend.
Did Ander feel alone tonight after making a decision alone that might cost his clan?
Ander deserved friendship as well.
I put my boots back on.