Aeron Returns (Guardians of The Realm Book 2)

by Amanda Fleet

  Tucked at the very back was a what I would swear was a riding crop – a long piece of stiff leather, with a handle at one end and a wider, flatter part at the other. Whatever it actually was, it didn’t seem to be in much use, given how far back in the drawer it was. I pushed it behind all the papers and closed the drawer.

  I sat on the sofa, trying to make sense of things. I wished the last few weeks had never happened. Even if I escaped and could make it back to Finn’s, it was a month since I’d been there, according to what Faran had said. The pills I’d laid out to take after the funeral would have been thrown away by now, and someone else could be living in our cottage. All of our things could be gone. All my pictures of Finn. All his clothes. His motorbike. Everything. And Aegyir would torture me. I shuddered as I remembered Mathas’s description.

  A month. Would people think I was dead? Would they have searched for me? Would Paul be going out of his mind with worry? Which was worse – fearing someone you loved was dead, or knowing they were and that you’d never see them again?

  I needed to do something to keep the grief at bay, so I drew. Within seconds, I realised quite how much I’d used my little finger to balance my hand to draw, and could have screamed. I struggled on, finding a way to cushion my hand better, and sketched all the faces I could remember from the Council, adding names where I knew them. Once I’d emptied my mind of all the faces, I made a plan of the building. The little I’d seen, along with what I’d remembered from my dreams, made me think that the building stretched for miles and that the rooms and hallways were clustered around gardens. No room I’d been in yet had an exterior wall and therefore no windows but this was compensated for by them having a glass ceiling allowing natural light in. Finally, at the back of the book I drew pictures of Finn from memory – his lopsided smile, his eyes. Him.

  “Hey, Munchkin. I wish I was with you. Wherever you are.”

  I drew my knees up, rested my forehead on them and wept.

  But however miserable I was, I couldn't sit here and cry all night and I had no idea how long Faran might be. I scrubbed the tears off my face and picked up the book where I’d started drawing my map of The Realm.

  Time to explore.

  7

  I squared my shoulders and drew the main door of our rooms open to peer into the hallway. No one was around. I checked up and down the hallway, referring to the map I’d drawn. To the right was the Great Hall and the route to the gardens we’d walked in. Close to the Great Hall was the passageway to the portal. Should I just go home? According to Faran, I’d have been missing for a month Outside. Could I claim amnesia over where I’d been and return to my old life?

  I paused. Aegyir was dispersed but would reform. And then find me and torture me. He’d already killed the man I loved and threatened to kill everyone else close to me. I didn’t much care if he killed me, but I wanted revenge for Finn. I couldn’t defeat Aegyir on my own though. The only way to defeat him was to stay here and let the Guardians kill him. I closed my eyes, sighing.

  Okay, so what lay to the left?

  The sky above had faded to the blue of twilight and as I started down the hall, lamps on the walls sprang to life. I stopped to study one. No naked flame that I could see, so not a gas light, but it didn’t appear to be a lightbulb either. The glass globe was about a handspan in width and glowed bright white, illuminating the passageway. I couldn’t see any wiring – the light was held on a slim metal bracket that emerged from the wall. Perhaps there was wiring inside the bracket?

  I started down the corridor, scouring my surroundings for some way to distinguish one hallway from another, but they all looked the same. The panelling that ran to waist-height was deeply carved, with more of the entwined animals, ravens and runes that were on the doors. I stopped and studied them, but there were no obvious differences from one set of panelling to another. Above waist-height, the plaster was painted white. My eyes travelled upwards. There was nothing at the junction between the walls and the glass ceiling – the plaster ended and the glass began. The doors I passed had variations of the same carvings on them, but I couldn’t spot a pattern to the variation.

  I made notes as I walked, logging the junctions and turns. Few people were around – a few dark-haired Guardians passed the end of a hallway off to my left and some other people in lighter jackets with fairer hair turned into the hallway I was in, bowing politely as they passed.

  After a few more turns appeared to lead only to further residential areas, I decided to go back and explore the areas around the Great Hall. Within minutes, I realised I must have taken a wrong turn somewhere. A junction I’d expected to see, hadn’t materialised. I frantically scoured the walls and doors, trying to see if anything was familiar, panic fluttering in my chest. How could I have got lost? I studied the map I’d made. Could I work back to where I thought I’d been?

  Falteringly, I turned back and tried to retrace my steps, ending up at a junction I knew for certain I’d never been at before – it was wider and busier than any I’d crossed so far. Sweat prickled my skin, and I tried to breathe steadily.

  To no avail. I was lost, with no idea how to get back to Faran’s rooms, the Great Hall… anywhere.

  I eyed the silver communication button on my jacket. Just tap it and say the name of the person you wanted to speak to, apparently. I wasn’t about to call Faran and tell him I’d got lost. Or his father or brother. Lilja?

  I glanced around, unwilling to try out the button to an audience. No one was near enough to hear me, so I tapped the button.

  “Lilja?”

  What now? Did I just wait?

  The button crackled. “Yes?”

  “Hi. It’s Rea… Aeron.”

  “Aeron! Where are you? Your rooms?”

  I stared at the junction. “Um…” I paused. “I’m lost. I came out of the rooms for a walk and I thought I was keeping track, but now I don’t know where I am.”

  Her laugh was bright, like a fountain. “Which sector?”

  “I don’t know. I just told you. I’m lost!”

  She sniggered. “Check the runes, you idiot.”

  My brow creased. “What?”

  She sighed. “Look at the panelling. Just below the plaster are repeating runes.”

  I peered at the carved panels. Right enough, all along the boundary with the plaster, were repeating runes, hidden in the twining animals. “Um. I can see RGM and 15.”

  “And which side of the walls are the ravens on?”

  I scoured the walls. Stylised ravens appeared periodically on the walls on my right but not on my left and I told her.

  “Okay. You’re in residential sector 15 for the married Guardians. If you walk down the hallway, keeping the ravens on the right, you’ll come to a four-way junction. One of the halls from that junction leads to the Seers quarter, but wait for me there and I’ll come and find you. Oh, Aeron, I’m so glad you’re here.”

  A couple of women in pastel leather jackets walked through the junction where I was, hurrying past me as if I had the plague.

  “Lilja, can you stay on the line until I find the right place?”

  “Of course!”

  I made my way down the corridor. There were turns to the right and the left, but no four-way junction to be found.

  “Are you sure you know where I am?” I said.

  “Check the runes.” I could almost see her rolling her eyes as she said it. “They should say RGM 10 or so by now. At least tell me the numbers are going down?”

  I screwed my eyes up, peering at them. “Er. I think so.”

  She laughed. “If you’re in RGM 10, you’re two turns away from the cross-path. I’ll see you in a few minutes.”

  I kept walking. Ahead of me, a group of three Guardians entered the hallway. At least, I assumed they were Guardians from the black hair, leather clothes and attitude. I recognised one from the Council, but I didn’t know his name. They swaggered towards me, then surrounded me, blocking my route. All of them were a simila
r age to me and around the same height – six foot, give or take a bit. The hairs on the back of my neck prickled. The way they looked at me, this wasn’t a friendly chat.

  “Lady Aeron.” It was the youngest-looking of them, who was also the most dishevelled, with untidy hair and a jacket that seemed to have been made-to-measure when he was slimmer. “Out for a stroll? I’m surprised Faran’s not giving you a hiding for daring to come back. If you were my traitorous wife, back without permission, I’m not sure you’d be able to walk after the thrashing I’d given you.”

  I kept my mouth shut. A slightly older man with a cleft chin, lounged against the wall, his gaze travelling over me in a way that made my skin crawl.

  “So, what are you doing, creeping about?” He reached down, snatched the book out of my hand and opened it. He held it up, open at the page I’d just been writing on. “What’s this?”

  “It’s a map.”

  He shoved me hard against the wall, knocking the breath out of me. “I can see it’s a map, you traitorous slut. Who for? Aegyir?”

  “No. It’s for me.” I held my hand out for the book, wondering how foolhardy it would be to knee him in the nuts.

  He tore the map out and tossed the spoiled book on the floor, then leaned in, his face close to mine. He slipped the dagger out of his belt. “No one wants you back here. You need to watch your step. You wouldn’t want Lord Eredan to know you’d been spying for Aegyir, would you?”

  He trailed the dagger over my chest, his eyes glittering, until the point rested on my sternum. Very deliberately, he moved it to the left and my heart pounded. The woollen top I wore was no protection against a blade.

  “Aeron?” Lilja’s bright voice sounded right behind the three guys and they straightened.

  The man who’d stolen my map, pressed the point of the dagger in, hard enough to scratch but no more. “Be careful, Lady Aeron.”

  The three grouped together and swaggered off in the direction I’d come from. Sweat dampened my armpits and my breathing shuddered. I crouched down and picked up the torn book.

  “Lilja,” I said, smiling as I straightened.

  She grinned, tapping the button on her chest to close the line and nodding for me to follow suit.

  Lilja appeared just the same as she had in my dreams – shoulder-length, light brown hair, creamy skin and mischievous eyes. She wore a pale-rose jacket that suited her, over dark grey trousers. For the first time since I’d arrived in The Realm, I felt happy.

  She hugged me hard. “Did they hurt you?”

  I shook my head. “Not really. Who are they?”

  She wrinkled her nose. “Three of the less savoury Guardians. Come on. My rooms are closer than yours.”

  She tucked her arm into mine and led me down the hall in the direction she’d come from.

  “Thank you for explaining the carvings,” I said as we walked.

  She smiled, her cheek dimpling. “I can imagine how you’d get lost if you didn’t know the code.”

  We reached the place where four paths crossed and turned to the right. She paused, pointing out how the runes in the carvings had changed to SRM to signify this was the married Seers’ residential quarter.

  “The ravens are on your right if you’re heading towards the centre of the city,” she said, showing me. “If there are no ravens at all, you’d be on a lateral path and there would be serpents on both sides, their heads pointing towards the sunset.”

  We took another turn, and I felt hopelessly lost again. Lilja smiled reassuringly. “The city is laid out in sectors. The area nearest the Great Hall is the Guardians’ area – the Great Hall, the State Rooms, the library, the training areas. Us mere Seers have a long walk before we get to read anything.”

  We stopped at a doorway and Lilja outlined the marks on the door.

  “Seers’ quarters have carvings of birds and plants. Guardians have the battle creatures – the dragons and cats and bears. Check it out when you get back to your rooms.” She pushed the door open. “Come in and meet Signar.”

  I followed her in. The room was laid out almost identically to Faran’s – a dark leather sofa and two tub chairs, a low table, a desk and chair to the side of the room – and likewise, there were no pictures or any decorations in the room, yet somehow, Lilja’s rooms felt warm and welcoming. I couldn’t put my finger on it. The plasterwork was still white, the floors still sanded wood… maybe the carvings felt less threatening somehow, but at a distance, I couldn’t tell what creatures or plants made the twisting patterns that corkscrewed over the wood.

  I sat in the tub chair and smiled at the fair-haired man on the sofa – Signar. I didn’t remember him, though I did remember that he wasn’t Lilja’s first choice for a husband. She’d been in love with a man called Penna but he was a Guardian, and here in The Realm, Seers married Seers and Guardians married Guardians. The creases on Signar’s face indicated that he was happier frowning than laughing. He was certainly frowning now.

  “Signar, you remember Lady Aeron?” said Lilja, her voice wary.

  An expression of distaste flickered across his face, replaced by a fake smile. “Of course. Lady Aeron.”

  Lilja sat next to her husband, and the air thickened. Lilja fiddled with her fingers.

  “Does Faran know you’re here?” said Signar, his hazel eyes hard.

  “Er, no. He’s talking to his father, and I came out for a walk.”

  Signar smirked, and I realised he must have heard everything I’d said to Lilja – the communications buttons weren’t exactly conducive to a private conversation.

  “Perhaps you’d better tell him where you are,” he said. “He won’t be pleased if he returns to his rooms and finds you missing.”

  I shot a glance at Lilja and she shrugged. “He might wonder where you are.”

  I tapped my button, hoping I was using it properly and not missing some finer points. “Faran?”

  “Yes.” He didn’t sound happy at being called.

  “Hey. It’s me. I’m at Lilja’s.”

  There was a long pause. “Okay. I’m surprised you remembered the way.”

  I caught Lilja’s eye, and she winked, making me smile.

  “Hm. Anyway, just thought I’d let you know where I was.”

  “Okay. I’ve almost finished here. Can you remember your way back or should I call at Lilja and Signar’s?”

  Lilja’s smile stretched to a grin, her eyes sparkling.

  “Maybe better if you come and get me,” I said, feeling a blush creep over my cheeks.

  He snorted and closed the line.

  Signar rubbed his chin, still frowning. “I’ll leave you two to catch up. Steen said he wanted to talk to me.”

  He made the most cursory of bows to me and left. Lilja waved her hand at the closing door. “Sorry about that.”

  “He’s not a fan?”

  “No.”

  Lilja patted the space next to her on the sofa and I changed seats. She grasped both of my hands, her face shining. “I’m so glad you returned. I saw you in such battles. Oh, it’s good to see you.”

  “I didn’t win the battles, and I didn’t choose to return,” I said, feeling bitter. “Was it you who left everything for me? The book, the bracelet…?”

  “Yes. I’m sorry they came so sporadically. But to help you was treason.”

  My heart lifted at the realisation I had at least one good friend here – one who’d risked everything for me. “I know. I won’t say anything. But why didn’t you tell me there needed to be three Guardians to kill Aegyir?”

  Her face fell. “I thought you’d remember that, and would come back to The Realm. I was begging you to return and not to fight Aegyir, but you wouldn’t leave your man.”

  I swallowed the lump in my throat, my gaze spinning out to the walls. “Aegyir killed him. It was his funeral this morning.”

  “I know.”

  Tears filled my eyes, and I turned my head away. “I thought I would kill Aegyir to protect everyone Outside,
and then I was going to kill myself so I could be with Finn. And instead, I didn’t kill Aegyir, and he’s probably killed the last few people I love Outside by now. And I’m here. Am I actually Aeron?”

  She smiled, squeezing my hands. “Yes. Even with your hair so short and with a broken nose, there’s no mistaking you. Do you remember Faran?”

  I shook my head, looking back. “Not really. I’ve dreamed about him all my life, but a dream and reality aren’t the same, are they? What does it matter? I think he hates me. When he first met me, he hit me. Hard. And I don’t know if I can ever forgive him for that.”

  She nibbled her lower lip, frowning. “He hit you? In the training room?”

  “No. I was in the cells… Does he hit me a lot?”

  She leaned forward, peering up at me, puzzled. “No… I mean, the two of you can fight hard in training, but… I’m guessing he hasn’t given you a hiding over returning?”

  My eyes widened. “What?”

  She closed her eyes. “You don’t remember? Fathers, or husbands, are responsible for discipline in the household.”

  “And who disciplines the fathers and husbands?” My temper prickled.

  She opened her eyes. “The Council. Or the village leaders out in the provinces. But Faran’s never hit you. Well, until today.”

  I chewed over the information, aching to go home to Finn. Another thought made my guts curdle. What was awaiting me when I got back to Faran’s rooms tonight? What other rights did husbands have?

  Lilja rubbed my hands, distracting me. “It’s difficult for Faran. He loved you deeply. You loved him. You’re both hot-tempered and you used to argue so fiercely, but everyone knew you loved each other passionately. When I first told him that you’d return in his lifetime, he was livid. He never wanted to see you again. He’s still very hurt.”