7. Chapter 7
Milo
Raina was so nice. She spoke with the genuine kindness Rowan did and had the same sarcastic humor as Ruben.
She’d immediately set to teasing Rowan, which was both lighthearted and entertaining as hell.
Milo liked her within the first five minutes.
He especially liked it when she included him in the teasing—a temporary alliance against Rowan—which made his lover give this deep exasperated sigh, as if he was absolutely done with both of them.
His resigned expression had sent them both cackling.
They had fresh seafood with a hearty vegetable medley for lunch, which Milo had several servings of and raved about.
He was used to fresh seafood, as Goldguard was right on the western coast, but they had a different variety up here and it was lovely.
Raina looked happy about his enthusiasm, Rowan made sure he ate enough between all of the talking, and Ruben enjoyed the show but didn’t stay long before excusing himself.
After a divine lunch, Rowan had gotten sucked into captain duties—apparently something needed his attention—but he had hesitated. It had taken Milo a second to realize his boyfriend wasn’t sure if Milo was comfortable being left with a woman he’d barely known an hour. Milo had shooed him on.
If this woman was going to take issue with him, he wanted to know now. She was more likely to speak candidly with Rowan out of earshot.
They were walking the battlements now so he could get a bird’s-eye view of the area.
It was vast, to start with. The fortress didn’t sit on the edge of the cliff, but it wasn’t far away, and he spied the sea from here.
Could feel the breeze coming in off the water, hear the seagulls, smell the brine.
Milo sucked in a lungful and exhaled with a smile.
Wow, fresh air was heavenly. To the east, he could see the small town butting up against the fortress, smoke rising from chimneys, and if he turned in a circle, he could point out all eight watchtowers encircling the fortress.
They weren’t connected to the fortress, but it looked like each could be reached within a few minutes’ walk, making those communication sigils all the more necessary during an emergency.
The fortress itself was huge, too. It felt like he was walking around a small town, and he basically was, come to think of it. The fortress had to hold all the servants, the guards, and their families, and in an emergency, everyone who lived in the town outside of the walls. Made sense it was vast.
The size did pose a slight problem though.
Milo paused at the corner, directly above one of the bastions as he peered down.
He wasn’t looking at the ground so much as the ward.
It was anchored to this corner, or part of it was, but it was so thin he could barely make out its design.
Fuck, this wasn’t good. The ward should be thick and opaque, like milk glass, not so transparent it resembled tracing paper.
There was no way in hell he could re-ward this entire fortress in a day.
Raina stood at his elbow, looking him over carefully. She had one hand caging her long red hair so it didn’t creep into her mouth. The wind was strong enough to make this a hassle. “How is it?”
“Honestly? I have no idea how this ward is still functioning. I’ve seen thicker paper.” Milo scrubbed a hand roughly over the back of his head, already stressing. “Raina—oh, should I be calling you Lady Raina?”
“Not while you’re dating my brother,” she answered bluntly, then grinned.
Awww, he really did like her. “Thanks. Anyway, I’m really worried about this. I could tell Rowan was stressing about this ward all the way up here, and I promised him I’d do the job properly. Like, not just try and patch it, but take it completely down and rebuild it.”
Raina visibly switched to serious mode, shoulders straightening. “Oh. It can’t be patched?”
“Rather, you’re in this situation because people keep patching it.
But wards need to be completely overhauled every twenty years or so.
They’re not designed to withstand long periods of time.
They’d need a never-ending power source that could renew itself and, heh, if you ever figure out what that is, please do tell me. I’d love to know.”
Raina frowned as she looked around her. “It’s been decades, so my memory is fuzzy on how long it took to strip down and rebuild it last time. How long would it take to fix the ward in its current state?”
“More than a day. Probably looking at a week, honestly. And that’s where I start stressing out. Rowan told me we’re at the beginning of breeding season, and he explained how you get constant raids from the Drachifel during this period.”
“Really, from spring until early fall, we do. Drachifel are carnivorous and, unfortunately for us, they view humans as part of the food chain.”
“Ouch. No thanks.”
“I very much agree.”
“What do these things even look like? They’ve all but been forgotten in the south.”
“It’s because we’re here that you’ve never seen one,” Raina drawled with a sassy wink.
“Since they rely on saltwater cave systems, the Drachifel have never been able to expand their territory enough to go farther south. They are territorial, you see, so they only expand their current territory, not leave it. Not unless something goes drastically wrong. As for how they look, they’re sort of humanoid in shape, very slender, and their skin is similar to a dolphin’s—slick and gray.
But Milo, taking the ward down for a full week is… hard. On everyone.”
“Which is why I really don’t like doing it, but this ward is about as effective as cheesecloth right now. It’ll fail shortly, too. It’s just not sturdy enough to hold itself upright. This should have been overhauled a good five years ago, by my estimate.”
She winced. “We had a mage in residence for decades, but Uncle Harold passed seven years ago. We haven’t had any luck getting a decent mage up here since.”
Rowan had mentioned the previous in-residence mage, who’d been like a pseudouncle to them, and his heart ached for their loss.
And while he hated to be the bearer of bad news after a string of incompetent mages, the ward had to come down.
Milo saw the immediate pitfalls, though, and he didn’t want his lover stressed out more, or even worse, hurt because the ward was down.
Thinking hard and fast, he asked, “Do you have really bad storms during this season?”
“No, not typically, why?”
“Here’s my thought: What if I set up a barrier?
It won’t repel weather—they’re not designed to do that—but the barrier will absolutely protect against the Drachifel.
I can set it up so it’ll last two weeks, and if the ward fights me, I’ve got time to problem solve and get it all squared up. Sound good?”
Raina’s shoulders visibly dropped from her ears. “I love your idea. A barrier will hold them back?”
“It absolutely will. I’d still suggest constant patrols, though.
” Milo gestured toward the ward. “There’s a reason why barriers aren’t up in these situations.
One, barriers can only defend against physical attacks, they’re not complex enough to handle more than that.
Also, they can be gotten around. Digging under it, for instance, or if you can somehow get over it without touching.
There’s weaknesses if you know how to exploit them.
Wards are chosen to protect buildings because they don’t have those weaknesses. ”
“Makes perfect sense to me. I’ll let you and Rowan hash out the particulars, but I approve of the barrier. How long will it take to set up?”
“Hmm… Depends on how much prep work I’ll need?” Milo turned again, peering through the afternoon sunlight to a stone tower standing proud in the distance. “Those are the watchtowers, I take it?”
“Right.”
Milo had intended to fix the ward first thing, but since he had to put a barrier up anyway, why not tackle the other problem?
“Okay, random thought, and tell me if I’m way off, but I can use the towers to anchor the barrier.
Less prep on my part. I can renew the sigils while I’m at it.
I’m already over there, it won’t take more than an hour per sigil, and that way the towers can also help us keep watch while I work on the ward. ”
“I agree, that seems the smartest approach.”
“Great! We have a plan, then. I’ll start tomorrow morning. Barrier should be up by end of day, which will give us all some peace of mind, at least.”
Raina led the way back down the stairs of the battlement. “I’m glad you came up. Professionally speaking, we needed a mage of your caliber to redo the ward. The temp mages before you have been…lacking.”
A diplomatic way of putting it. “Yeah, I can’t argue there. Anyone less trained or skilled than me would have really struggled.”
Raina switched back to big sister mode, smile teasing once more. “Personally, though, I’m delighted to meet you. Rowan’s clearly attached to you already.”
“Oh, that goes both ways. I adore him to bits. Really hoping we work out in the long run.”
“So do I. We’re a family that teases, Milo, but don’t take any of it to heart. We tease to show we love each other.”
“I’m perfectly okay with teasing. Ruben was giving it to me all the way up here from Bearfell, really. I think Rowan was worried about it, but then he saw me dish it right back out, and now he enjoys the show.”
“I’m glad you can handle it. Well, let me show you where Rowan’s room is. Since that’ll apparently be your room too.”