Aeron Returns (Guardians of The Realm Book 2)

by Amanda Fleet

  He stared at me, his lip still curled, his eyes back to brown again.

  “That is where you are quite wrong,” he said, tilting his head to one side.

  As a distracted, middle-aged woman passed, he reached out a hand and caught her shoulder.

  “So sorry,” he said as she stumbled, her body sagging. She recovered her composure swiftly, but my heart sank. He would take her energy over the next few days, just the way he had hundreds of others.

  Aegyir turned back to me. “I am not the one without a choice, Aeron. You are.”

  With that, he strode across the market square, making contact with everyone he passed. I reached into my bag and grabbed a knife, then set off after him.

  He stopped in the middle of the most crowded part of the market, and I skidded to a halt next to him, knife in hand. He looked at it, a light smile on his lips.

  “I wouldn’t do that, Aeron.” He rotated on the spot. “So many people here. So much energy flowing through them all.” He faced me again. “Go back to The Realm. Prepare for war. I’m going to kill everyone.”

  “Why don’t you come back with me?”

  I palmed the knife, aware that we were drawing attention. Aegyir folded his arms, still resembling the young man.

  “What was your plan, Guardian? Force me back to The Realm? Invite me back?” He leaned forwards and sniffed. “I can smell your husband all over you, so you’re not banished. Are you?”

  He turned on his heel before I could react, his hand brushing against everyone he passed as he zigzagged through the crowds. I dashed after him, but he shape-shifted every few seconds, and in the bustle, I couldn’t keep track of him. I stared frantically at my charm-bracelet, desperate to see a flicker of blue light, but it stayed resolutely opalescent.

  I balled my fists, grinding my teeth. I’d lost him.

  ***

  Ten minutes later, I sat on the bench at the side of the market again. Two things were clear – I’d lost any element of surprise, and I wasn’t likely to get Aegyir back to The Realm on my own. Not without a fight. Even with the talisman, I didn’t think I would win. It was now about four hours since I’d left The Realm – four minutes there. I needed more Guardians out here, but if I went back to The Realm to get them, there was a good chance I’d be in the cells for treason. Again. I rubbed my brow, my shoulders sagging. I’d done exactly what Orian had wanted me to: abandon my husband, disobey direct orders, reinforce my position as a traitor, and leave the way clear for him to depose Faran and sweep to power with Lady Morgan by his side. He’d never been concerned about Lilja’s visions.

  My mouth desiccated.

  Was Lilja lying to me too?

  I shook the thought away. No, she wouldn’t. Maybe Faran would come out to find me. Should I wait until he was Outside? The two of us could probably deal with Aegyir. I scratched the side of my nose. What if Lord Eredan forbade him? Faran’s readiness to break any rules wasn’t exactly his most dominant feature.

  I jiggled my legs, restless. If I set off now, I could be back in The Realm in under half an hour if I jogged, but then what? Could I get a message to them without actually going in? I couldn’t see how. But I could write a message, go in, drop it and immediately leave, before anyone had time to react. I could wait a few minutes’ walk away from the portal and see who came out. If Faran wasn’t in the group, I could leg it. Hide out here; go south to Paul; start again… If Faran was in the group, would I be safe enough?

  I gathered myself together and set my shoulders. Leave a note and run away. Not the most noble plan for a Guardian, but needs must. I made my way to a nearby shop and begged a piece of paper and a pen from them. I scribbled a note, remembering just in time to write it in runes. “Aegyir is very strong. He’s in the town nearest the portal. Send three Guardians.”

  I gave the biro back to the shop assistant and set off towards the portal, cutting through to the path that avoided my old cottage. I wasn’t feeling up to seeing it, and anyway, there was a high risk of encountering my old neighbours who would want to know where I’d been for eight months.

  As I jogged, I kept a close eye on my charm-bracelet, but it remained pale. The closer I got towards the portal, the more agitated I became. I had screwed this all up so badly.

  Though, on the plus side, Aegyir hadn’t made me his slave.

  I turned off the path, on to a muddy public footpath that circled away from my old cottage before it joined the track up to the portal. Stomping down towards me was a six-foot-eight man, dressed in black leather trousers and a long black leather coat. Two swords stuck out from under the coat and he clutched a hand-drawn map in his hand. He raised his head and locked eyes with me.

  I swallowed, my heart rate going into triple-time. Faran was livid.

  But he was also another Guardian out here.

  “Hey.” I smiled as brightly as I could.

  He didn’t answer. Nor did he smile. He strode towards me and beneath his open coat, a belt full of knives poked out. His left fist clenched as he walked.

  “Were you responsible for sending me on a fool’s errand?” he demanded when he reached me.

  I took a step back, out of his reach. “No. Orian was.”

  He flung his head skywards. “That is not a better answer! But it does explain why he wasn’t surprised you had left.”

  A cold wind ruffled his hair. Under other circumstances, it would have been attractive, but his eyes spat out sparks and his temper was held by the thinnest of threads.

  “He’d said he would let me out of Traitor’s Gate, but I didn’t trust him,” I said. “I came via the Hidden Gate. If Orian knows you’ve left, and why, so does your father.”

  “Tell me something I don’t know!”

  I gritted my teeth. “I didn’t leave to make things difficult for you! I came to get intelligence on Aegyir. To help you.”

  “You were specifically forbidden to do so.”

  “By someone who’s possibly plotting to have me killed.”

  He glared, moving forwards until he was merely inches from me. His voice dropped to the same low tone his father had when he was furious. “You have undermined me. You have proved yourself a traitor and that my judgement isn’t sound; that I was misguided to allow you to return to The Realm as my wife. If you return, you will be hanged and there will be a vote of no confidence in me as Elected Successor. I will lose that vote and my wife in the same day.” The fire suddenly died in him and he drew in a shuddering breath. “I thought you loved me. Or was saying that part of the ruse?”

  “I do love you. That’s why I’m here.” I eyed his clenched fist. “Don’t hit me.”

  He sighed, stepping back again. “I am not going to hit you. Tell me what you’ve found out. How strong is Aegyir? Does he have an army? Where is he based?”

  I glanced behind him. A man in cord trousers and wellies, walking a black Labrador, was making his way towards us. I caught the edge of Faran’s coat, tugging him towards me and adjusting the lower half of the coat. Faran frowned.

  “Someone’s coming,” I murmured. “I need to hide the swords.”

  The man drew level, giving Faran a stern look. “Everything okay here? I heard him shouting at you.”

  I smiled, moving in closer to Faran and using my body to shield the swords from view. “Yeah, everything’s fine. Thank you.” I pinched Faran’s waist, keeping my expression light, and switched back to the language of The Realm. “For God’s sake, look a bit happier! The man thinks we’re fighting and is concerned for me. At least look like you’re not about to punch me.”

  Belatedly, Faran smiled and put his arm around my middle. The man studied him.

  “Not from round here, are you?”

  “No,” I answered. “He’s Bulgarian. His English isn’t great.”

  I don’t really know why I picked Bulgarian, but the man accepted it. He looked Faran up and down but moved on, clicking his tongue at his dog. I stayed close to Faran, waiting until the man had moved out of sigh
t. Faran’s arm tightened around me and I looked up, the closeness between us making my head spin.

  I cleared my throat and pulled free. “Aegyir. He’s based in the town where I used to live. I don’t think he has an army, but he’s strong.”

  “You think? You don’t know?”

  “Give me a chance! I’ve only been here a few hours.”

  Any closeness we’d shared a moment ago had vanished. He scowled at me. “And did you think you would just walk back into The Realm, find Father and tell him your great news? He’ll have you arrested the second you cross the portal and hanged before you can draw breath.” He turned away from me, shaking his head.

  “I was bringing you a note.”

  He whipped back to me. “A note?”

  “Yeah. Because I knew I couldn’t go back to The Realm. Not without consequences. So I was going to cross the portal, drop the note and leave again.”

  Faran scraped a hand through his hair. “You are unbelievable.”

  I folded my arms. “Anyway, why are you here?” I said. “Because you don’t have permission to come alone, either, and I don’t see Cerewen or Lord Sondan behind you.”

  He stared at me, his cheekbones like knife-blades. “Because I swore to protect you when I married you. Though I’m not sure I can protect you from yourself. You seem determined to throw everything I offer you back at me. I would hang you myself if I thought it would give me any lasting peace!” He breathed deeply, extending all of his fingers.

  I did quick maths. He must have left the Realm only a few minutes after I did. “When did you realise I’d gone?”

  “The moment my mother said she hadn’t asked to see me. I went back to our rooms and saw you’d taken your things. I came as soon as I could.”

  “How did you get the coat?” I asked.

  “When you weren’t in our rooms, I went to the Great Hall. Hesta was already there with the new clothes, waiting for the second sitting of breakfast to finish.”

  Yet another witness to Faran leaving without permission.

  Time to break the good news. “Aegyir’s in the town just down there. I met him this morning.”

  “What? What happened?”

  I told him.

  He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Perhaps if we can take Aegyir to The Realm, I can stop you getting hanged.”

  I fiddled with the stone at the hollow of my throat. “Faran, he’s strong. The talisman is protecting me. What’s protecting you?”

  He arched a brow. “My fists. This sword. These knives.”

  Would that be enough?

  “How many people will he have needed to kill before he can take your spirit?”

  He shrugged. “I don’t know.”

  “Will your father send out Cerewen and Lord Sondan?”

  Faran shook his head. “No. As soon as my father knew we were Outside, he would have sealed the portals. He’ll expect you to invite Aegyir in after you’ve given me to him. Aegyir would have my strength and your invite. All portals to The Realm will be heavily guarded.”

  “Will we be able to get back in if we manage to capture Aegyir?”

  “Yes. But no one will come out. My father will assume I’m dead.”

  I nodded at his hip. “Is one of those swords mine?”

  “Yes. I thought you would need it.”

  “Okay. Let’s head back into town and see if we can find him. How fast can you run?”

  He eyed me. “Why?”

  “Because if Aegyir starts killing people in the middle of town, we’re going to have to stop him. Weapons aren’t allowed Outside. Our only option is to disable him, then run back to The Realm with him before we’re arrested. Oh, and hope that when we get there, your father’s distracted by the fact we have Aegyir in captivity.”

  He sighed. “That’s our best option?”

  “If you’ve got a better one, please share.”

  He shook his head, his lips thin.

  “Okay. I need to sort your coat out.”

  I stood in front of him, adjusting the swords so they ran down his leg. We were so close, I could feel his breath on me. It felt too intimate. Too familiar. I fiddled with the swords, trying to make them lie flat against his thigh, rather than sticking out, aware that his breathing had quickened.

  I stepped back. “Button the coat? Let’s see if that’s worked.”

  He fastened the coat, his eyes on me, his pupils dilated. I nodded, still feeling awkward.

  “Yeah. That’ll do well enough. Come on. It’s a fair hike to the town.”

  His brow creased. “Why are you walking everywhere? Did you lose your horse while you were away?”

  I creased up laughing. “A horse? Oh jeez, you’d better stick close. It’s not going to be what you expect.”

  We made our way back down the thin muddy track towards town. What would Faran make of Outside? Judging from what he and the others had said over dinner, he was going to hit a massive culture-shock. I peered up at him.

  “Faran, just stay close and don’t speak to anyone unless it’s absolutely unavoidable.”

  The walk would have been glorious under different circumstances. The mizzle had stopped, and it was cold and crisp, with birds chirruping all around us. I glanced up at Faran. His lips were blue at the edges.

  “Are you warm enough?” I asked as we joined the track that led to the town. He’d left before the gloves were ready.

  He scowled. “No. This is why I live in the city and don’t go to the countryside unless I have to.”

  I laughed. “Grumpy!”

  We turned on to the first street and his strides faltered. I looked back at him. He was rooted to the spot, staring at everything, his mouth falling slightly open at a woman chatting on the phone as she got into her car.

  “This is not how it was described in school,” he said. “What are these things?” He flapped his hand at the traffic.

  “The metal boxes on wheels? Cars. They’re used for transport. Come on. Our best option is to walk up and down trying to find Aegyir until we’re both so cold we have to go and find shelter.”

  A lorry rattled past, leaving him startled and breathing hard.

  “A car for transporting goods?” he asked, unsure.

  “Er. Yeah. Kind of. It’s called a lorry. And that’s a bus. It transports a lot of people.”

  He frowned. “Where is everyone going? Why do you need so many things for transport?”

  “Because here, people don’t always work near their homes.”

  We headed along a residential street with terraced houses and neat front gardens.

  “What are these buildings?” he asked.

  “Houses. Where people live.”

  He nodded. I slipped my arm into his, wondering what he would make of the high street and the market.

  He was transfixed, peering into every shop window, asking a thousand questions, genuinely trying to understand my world. My old world. I steered him through the town centre, keeping an eye on my charm-bracelet. There was no sign of Aegyir so far.

  “What are these?” Faran tugged on my arm and nodded at a stall covered with boxes of tinsel and other Christmas decorations.

  “Oh. Um. It’s hard to explain. There’s a big festival coming up and people decorate their houses with this stuff.”

  His crumpled brow told me what he thought of that.

  “And these?” He gestured to a stall selling jewellery.

  I pointed to the holes in my ears and nose. “They go in these. The chains are for around the neck or wrist.”

  I forbore from revealing that more than ears and noses could be pierced Outside. He was shell-shocked enough as it was.

  Some of the stalls were giving away samples of food. I took him around all of those, realising just how hungry I was. Cubes of cheese, slivers of pizza, bits of cooked meats and samples of cake weren’t going to feed either of us, but I was glad to be able to show him food could be more than stew and stodgy pudding. He even tried a thimbleful of a spi
cy, fruity liqueur, but I don’t think he liked it as much as I did. He did like the free beer though.

  We did a full circuit of the town, hoping to get a sign of Aegyir. Faran got a crash-course in what the town hall was for, what a museum was, why it was so noisy Outside, what the small bits of metal that people held up to their ear and talked into or stared at as they were walking were, what churches were… He was a greedy learner, full of questions, keen to understand every nuance and detail. By the time we reached the outskirts of the town on the far side from the fell, he’d exhausted me.

  “If there is a library, why do people buy books?” he asked.

  I threw my hands up. “Enough! I can’t possibly explain the whole of Outside to you in one day.”

  “Forgive me.” He chewed his lip. “It’s very different here. Our lessons in school were wholly inaccurate. You were right. I don’t think Sondan, Cerewen or I would have been able to make any sense of this place.”

  “Well, given how many times I’ve stopped you walking into traffic, you’d probably all have been run over within minutes.” I glanced up at the darkening sky. “Okay. We’ve been round town and there’s no sign of him. There’s no way he’ll be hanging out here alone at night. It gets pretty empty in the town the later it gets. We should get some rest. Try again tomorrow.”

  Faran paused. “Where can we shelter?”

  I thought for a moment. “There’s a bothy of the far side of the fell – an empty house. It’s a bit of a hike, but it used to be a habitable cottage. It has a stove in it and some pots and pans. Chances are it’ll be empty.”

  He crossed his arms, staring up the road before looking back to me. “You don’t think we’ll find him tonight if we keep looking?”

  “I don’t know. I do know that there’s no lighting on the path to the bothy, so if we’re staying there, I’d rather we go before it gets pitch black. And whatever we’re doing, we need to buy food.”

  His jaw clenched. I might not feel like I’d remembered everything about my life with him, but I knew him well enough to know how frustrated he was.

  I touched his arm. “We’re on our own out here. We might, might manage to locate Aegyir tonight, but we might not. I don’t want to end up fighting him after we’ve had no sleep.”