Chapter Twenty
The following weeks saw me busier than I’d ever been.
I had to visit Gorias often to confer with Darragh, who had consolidated Murian control over the Gorian army and was doing a good job of keeping me updated on everything that was going on.
In fact, I was just returning from such a visit today and would be back in Murias soon.
Lord Ehlbert had returned to Goriana along with his son, Tadgh, and I was keeping a close eye on that situation.
So far, things were fine, and Tadgh was working with my own officers.
I had charged Ehlbert, meanwhile, with a badly needed remodeling of the castle, and each day, Darragh informed me, the place rang with the sound of tools and the chorus of men hard at work.
Darragh and his men had been working on fortifying the outer walls surrounding the city, as well, shoring up any breaches with new timber and adding good, sturdy stonework to the most vulnerable walls.
I had sent scouting parties to Falias, with a twofold objective: to ward off any sabotage or spying efforts directed at us, and to establish a better rapport with the Falian people.
As with the Gorians and the Finians before them, we distributed food and supplies, perhaps particularly with the Falians, who had lost a great deal during the siege by the ogres and the subsequent fires.
Murias was by far the most prosperous kingdom in all of the Aos Sídhe territory, from the time of my great-grandfather up until now.
And since I hoped to one day rule all four of the kingdoms, I thought it was a good idea to spread as much goodwill as I could.
So far, my efforts appeared to be successful.
Most of the time, I’d had to leave Braden home alone, and I found it disagreeable, which annoyed me to no end.
I didn’t like to sleep without him, and I missed him prattling on for hours about nothing much in particular.
It soothed me and helped me to relax. I hated how much I needed him with me all the time.
Most of all, I missed seeing him and his exquisite face and body.
I’d even had a painter do a small portrait of him so I could carry it in my pocket.
That’s how bad things had gotten. I’d told him he was sitting for a state portrait, strictly routine for all consorts, so he still didn’t know the real reason.
I did plan a large portrait soon. But for now, he had too many people praising his beauty as it was.
Besides, I’d told him often enough how much I admired his looks.
I’d been away from home for over a week this time, and I was anxious to get back to him.
We had just come within hearing distance of the palace when I heard the city bells ringing a strident alarm over and over.
We charged forward as fast as we could and covered the distance in good time, my heart beating way too fast. I couldn’t see anything wrong, no one at the gates, no plumes of smoke, though there seemed to be a lot of people running around in a panic on the top of the wall.
The gates were thrown open wide as soon as the guards saw us approaching, and we rushed through.
Immediately, I saw a group of soldiers in the center of the courtyard, some wringing their hands and a few openly weeping. When I saw that it was the group that usually surrounded Braden, my heart almost stopped, because Braden was nowhere to be seen.
“Where is he?” I cried, even as I flung myself from my horse and surged over to the captain, seizing his shirtfront in my two hands. “Where’s Braden?”
“He was taken, Your Grace!” He cried out, falling to his knees in front of me. “We were ambushed in the woods—there must have been fifty or more of them. They came out of nowhere and surrounded us!”
“Who did this? Who dared to touch him?” I shouted down into his white face.
“Ogres!” He said and shrank even farther away from me. “Led by human men! I’ve never seen that before, sire. It was the men who were directing things, and the ogres were listening to them! They must have been mercenaries.”
It was well known that ogres would serve anyone in that capacity as long as someone had enough gold to pay them and didn’t mind their stink and their savagery.
I dropped my hands from the captain’s chest and reeled backward.
The idea of Braden in their filthy hands was almost more than I could take.
I could feel the rage building inside me until I thought I’d explode. “What humans? Who were they?”
“I don’t know, sire. I’d never seen them before, though the consort seemed to know them.”
“What? What do you mean?”
“With the ogre hoard there was a man that the consort seemed to recognize. Older than him, but Bryden called out to the man when he saw him at first, almost like he was glad to see him.”
“What name did he call him?”
“Leofric, sire.”
“Leofric! But that’s what he calls his uncle! But what on earth would that man be doing here in Otherworld? And riding with ogres? Are you sure he said Leofric?”
“Yes, Your Grace. I’m positive. The Consort seemed shocked to see him too.
And there was another man too. Dark and sinister looking.
They both rode straight for the Consort and took the reins of the little black horse he rides.
The ogres shouted to us that they’d kill Consort Braden if we tried to follow them. ”
“Take me there! Now.”
He ran back toward his horse and jumping on its back, he wheeled it around and headed out the gate.
My men and I were right behind him., along with the rest of the hastily assembled guard.
He took us on the trail that Braden usually took while riding each day.
I had often gone with him, so I knew it well.
He’d been riding Crow, giving him his daily exercise, my captain told me in a shouted exchange as we rode toward the scene of the attack.
It was only a short distance from the castle walls—about three miles before we reached the scene of the attack.
Immediately, I dispatched my lieutenants to examine the ground and find a trail that we could follow.
I could plainly see the torn-up ground where the horses and men had fought earlier—and with fifteen or more bodies still strewn around the scene, it wasn’t difficult to locate the exact scene of the attack.
“They came from the woods, there,” the captain of the guard told me, pointing to the left of the trail.
“Most of them were ogres, the ugly bastards, and there must have been about thirty of them. My men fought valiantly, sire, but we were badly outnumbered and there lies three of them where they fell.”
“Ride back to the palace and send some help out here to get those bodies of the guards back to the city. Take a torch to the fucking ogre bodies.”
One of my lieutenants rode up fast beside me and jumped off his horse to bow to me. “Your Grace, we’ve found the trail. And we found the consort’s horse. What are your orders?”
“We follow them. Captain, marshal my troops and send them after me as fast as you can. When I secure my consort, I’ll kill these bastards to the last man.”
He stretched out his arm and pointed to a body lying nearby. “There’s one of the human ones there, sire.”
I spurred my horse to ride over to him and saw him still twitching on the ground. I leaped down and turned him roughly over, staring down into a face I’d seen not that long ago.
“Demon!” I shouted, rearing back in disgust and horror. It was the same creature I’d faced not long ago, when I’d gone through the portal to Hell to find my mate.
“Speak, Demon!” I said, pulling him up by the front of his hauberk and growled down into his ruined face.
One of my soldiers had used their dagger to gouge out what was left of his eye, and he had a gruesome, bloody wound.
Though he was trying to come back from it, he was still struggling.
If I didn’t finish him off soon, he’d succeed.
Many of these lesser demons had the power to recover from almost anything other than fire or cutting off their heads.
“Tell me who you are, damn you and why you came after Braden.”
He lifted his head long enough to snarl at me through bloody teeth. “Fuck off, Faery. I’ll tell you nothing!”
“Give me your name, demon!”
He sneered up at me mockingly. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”
You could gain power over a demon or a Faery for that matter by knowing his true name, A name acted like a cosmic key or a handle and holding it would allow the questioner to force an answer or issue direct commands
“How unfortunate for you that I think I already know your name…Zaguel.”
The creature squealed like an enraged wild hog.
He kept on trying to scrabble away from me until I slapped his face with all my strength, nearly dislocating his jaw and ordered him to shut up, using his demonic name to force him to comply.
He looked up at me with pure hatred in his one good eye and spit out the words.
“What the fuck do you want, Faery?”
“Tell me where you took Braden, damn you, or I’ll rip off your head and stick it up your ass.”
“I believe you might try to, but my friends will be coming back for me soon.”
“Liar. Tell me where they took Braden.”
“Very well, I’ll tell you, but you’ll be hearing from Leofric soon enough anyway. He wants gold for his return. Probably jewels too. You’re rich enough. Give him what he asks and Braden will be released.”
“What’s your stake in this, Zaguel?”
“Me? I was only trying to help my son.”
I snorted. “Your son? Who the fuck is your son?”
“Leofric, of course. He summoned me and asked me for my help. We struck a deal. He made me an offer, and I agreed to help.”
“You’re lying, demon. How can Leofric be your son? Braden’s grandmother told him she stopped you from coming to her after his mother was born. The priests gave her holy objects and taught her chants to stop you from preying on her.”