by Amanda Fleet
We had no option but to spring the trap.
***
“Start counting time,” I said to Faran.
He swung me up into his arms, able to move faster carrying me than helping me. The rock face shimmered in front of us and he strode forward. His steps didn’t falter, even as we crossed the portal. The peculiar feeling of being stretched made every injury feel a thousand times worse, before we were out the other side and back on Realm soil. Faran’s boots rang on the floor as he marched towards the Great Hall. Four guards blocked our way, a pair of Guardians behind them, swords drawn. Behind them, the second bell of breakfast was just finishing, the last few Guardians milling around.
“Battle stations. Move!” he barked at the sentry.
They took one look at him and jumped to it. A klaxon yammered. The kitchen staff clearing the hall fled.
Faran put me down and slapped his communications button. “Lilja.”
With a jolt, I remembered that she’d taken her communications button off, to avoid detection. Just as I had. There was no answer. Faran hit the button again. “Lilja!”
Still no answer. He stared wildly at me. Our already flimsy plan had failed the first hurdle.
Faran clicked the button again. “Lord Eredan.”
Panic raced through me, making my heart hammer. “What? Why are you calling him?” He was the last person I needed here right now.
“We need the triad. Me, you, Father. In case Aegyir attacks immediately.” His communications button connected. “Father, it’s Faran. Aegyir is about to attack.”
“Where are you?”
“Great Hall. Bring everything that’s needed.”
My mouth dried. “Faran, what the hell are you doing? He’ll have me hanged.”
“He won’t have time. Two minutes.”
Two hours had already passed Outside. All the Guardians of The Realm emerged to take up positions. Faran faced them and they stood to attention, swords drawn.
“Aegyir is about to attack.” He turned away and tried Lilja again. Still no reply. “Come on, Lilja,” he muttered. He caught my eye. “You’re still a true Guardian while you wear the talisman. Let Father try to cut you.”
That was his plan for keeping me alive?
Lilja arrived, flushed and breathless.
“I heard the alarm,” she said, leaning on her knees, catching her breath.
“Get the talisman off her,” snapped Faran. “Aegyir’s about to attack.”
“It’s protecting her. If I take it off—”
“Do it!” he bellowed.
“Time?” I asked, getting to my feet. So much for me getting to heal in the cells.
“Four hours Outside.” He turned to Lilja. “I won’t ask you again: get the talisman off her and give it to me.”
“Why? Why do you need it?” she asked.
Lord Eredan strode into the Great Hall. “How do you know Aegyir is about to attack?” he demanded.
“I don’t have time to brief you Father. Aeron and I have been Outside.”
“I know. Get her in the cells! She’s leading Aegyir here.”
The gazes of the massed Guardians swivelled towards me, radiating a wall of hostility.
“Not yet,” snapped Faran. “Lilja! Talisman!”
Lilja stood stock still, and I thought Faran would murder her. His hand shot out and grabbed the front of her jacket, yanking her towards him. “Get. It. Off. Her.”
“Why?” said Lord Eredan.
Orian sauntered up behind his father, a smug expression in his eyes. “I would guess that Aegyir has corrupted her and made contact with Faran, and he needs the protection.”
“Get her in the cells!” yelled Lord Eredan.
“We will,” said Faran. “As soon as Lilja gets the talisman off her!”
Lilja reached around the back of my neck and unhooked the leather thong. Instantly, Aegyir’s laugh cackled in my head. Sweat slicked my skin, and I focused on Faran, trying to drive Aegyir out of my skull.
“Oh, Aeron, Aeron,” said Aegyir in my head. “You can’t win.”
I stared at Faran, trying to force myself to remember that I loved him. My hands twitched. I wanted a knife. I wanted him dead.
“Here.” Lilja passed the stone to Faran. “But this leaves Aeron unprotected.”
“And in The Realm,” added Orian, unhelpfully.
“Eight hours,” said Faran to me, putting the talisman on. “Where is he?”
Aegyir’s fury swamped me. My eyes drifted to Lord Eredan, then I peered behind Faran’s shoulder.
A slow smile inched across my face. “Right behind you.”
27
I came to, lying on the bed in mine and Faran’s rooms, my head splitting with pain. I felt down my body. I’d been stripped to my underwear and the quilt drawn up over me. Other than my head, the rest of me didn’t hurt.
Lilja loomed into view, her wavy hair escaping from its pinning, as ever. She grinned. “You’re awake!”
“What happened? And why am I undressed?”
The last thing I could recall was all hell breaking loose in the hallway leading to the portal. Aegyir had been screaming in my head but his voice had now been replaced by a dull ringing.
“You needed to heal,” said Lilja. “Faran got one of the guards to carry you here and asked me to put salve on you.”
She handed me my clothes. Before I took them, my fingers explored my neck, closing on a cold, unevenly shaped stone.
“Did they make the triad?” I asked. “Is Aegyir trapped?”
She bit her lips. “No.”
I scrambled up, dragging my clothes back on. “Faran, you bloody idiot! This was not the plan!”
My head swam and my legs went from under me. I touched the back of my head, my other hand demanding the salve. I couldn’t remember getting hit on my head by any of Aegyir’s men. Not there.
Alarm bells filled the hallway, along with the sound of metal blade on metal blade. Or flesh. I dragged myself up again.
Lilja planted a hand on my chest, pushing me back on to the bed. “Sort your head out, before you go charging off!”
I slathered salve over the lump on my head, glowering. “Why hasn’t Faran got the talisman on?”
“You needed it more. And he put it back on you, so there’s no point glaring at me about it.”
I clenched my fists, head bowed. “Come on… Come on!”
“You can’t hurry the healing,” said Lilja mildly.
I scowled at her. “I thought Faran wanted to throttle you in the Great Hall. I’m beginning to share that desire.”
I needed to get out into the battle. I cast around me for any kind of weapon, finding nothing. The waves of pain had barely finished before I was up and heading for the door.
“Stay here!” I barked at Lilja. “Jam a chair under the door.”
She rolled her eyes, but I knew she wouldn’t join the battle.
“Faran, I am going to fucking kill you myself, you stupid bastard!”
Chaos billowed from the Great Hall. I turned towards it, almost instantly meeting a sword. I held my hands up, scouring my brain for faces and names as the young Guardian pulled out of the attack.
“Ballan. Give me your sword? I need to help Faran,” I said, holding my hand out. It was worth a try.
“Lady Aeron?”
I snapped my fingers, acting the way Faran would. Ballan, a very junior Guardian, handed me the sword without hesitation. I thanked him as the hilt settled in my palm. The weapon was too heavy for me, but it was better than nothing.
“Get re-armed, then go to the Great Hall. Protect Lord Eredan and Faran above everyone,” I said.
Ballan scampered away. I made a mental note to recommend him to Faran, assuming the bloody idiot made it out of this carnage.
I had a sword, but I needed daggers before I met Aegyir. With a heavy heart, I turned away from the Great Hall and towards the armoury. The hallway was quiet – all the fighting was taking place in the Great H
all and its surroundings – and I ran. As I skittered around the corner, I slammed into a solidly built Guardian.
Orian.
“Lady Aeron. I was expecting you sooner than this,” he said silkily. From his unruffled demeanour, he hadn’t been up close and personal with any of the battle.
“Why aren’t you in the Great Hall?”
He stood in my way, guarding the entrance to the armoury.
“I need to get the daggers, to kill Aegyir,” I said.
He smiled and shook his head. “I don’t think so.”
I swung at him with Ballan’s sword, the weight of it making me clumsy and unco-ordinated. Orian blocked me easily.
“Orian, I need to get the daggers!” I said.
He squared his stance, a self-satisfied smile tickling his lips. I ground my teeth. I was going to have to fight this one out with him, and every second that ticked past was another second that Faran was in danger.
I plunged forwards, trying to balance the heavy sword and praying my skills wouldn’t desert me just as I needed them. Orian slashed down, surprise flashing across his face as my leathers held. Would his, given how he suddenly seemed to be supporting Aegyir?
Orian launched himself at me, and I ducked and dived, furiously blocking punches. The narrow hallway was too confined for a decent roundhouse kick – I’d take my foot off in the follow-through – so I resorted to throwing punches of my own. In desperation, I lunged forward, losing my footing in the process. My sword sliced through his jacket as I stumbled, the blade skittering over his bones but not cutting deep enough to damage anything vital. He stared down at the red stain creeping across his front before crumpling into a heap.
“Not a true Guardian, huh?” I said. “When did you take his blood?”
“I haven’t,” Orian wheezed, trying to get up, only for his feet to slide from under him.
“Really? Let’s see how that one runs at trial.”
I kicked him out of the way so that I could get into the armoury. I filled my belt with daggers before assessing the swords to find a better match for me. As armed as I could be, I sprinted towards the Great Hall.
Just as I was about to join the melee, I saw a tall, chunky man, a couple of years older than me, clad in a dark grey hoodie and wielding a baseball bat. Stephen. My feet skidded to a halt.
“Hello, sister.” His eyes drifted over my body in a way that made my mouth fill with bile. “Not just the wrong family. The wrong Realm.”
I wanted to hack his head off, maim him, leave him unable to father children. Instead, I was rooted to the spot, memories of the beating he’d once given me paralysing me.
“Nothing to say to me, sister?”
He trailed the tip of the baseball bat over my chest. I needed to move. Now.
“Stephen.” I kept my eye on the bat and raised my sword, regretting the loss of my finger and with it, most of my grip. “How unsurprising that you’ve hitched your wagon to Aegyir. You know he’ll kill you?”
“I was so sorry to hear about Finn.” He grinned.
That’s when I lost it. The next few seconds were a blur of a whirling blade, a crashing bat, and cries of pain – mostly Stephen’s. I punched hard, my fist splitting his lip and sending him spinning backwards. A second blow landed squarely in his solar plexus. He retched, gasping for breath. I slammed my fist into his nose, feeling a satisfying crunch under my knuckles. A spray of blood hit the pale plaster above the carved wall-panels.
Stephen roared, reaching out to me with both hands, trying to strangle me. My blade whirled, slicing cleanly through his left thumb. He howled, clasping his free hand around the stump. I brought the sword down across his shoulder and his left arm went limp.
Bellowing, he lashed out with the bat. I tried to dodge backwards, but my shoulders collided with the wall. My collarbone cracked, and I yelled, then kicked the bat out of his grasp. He staggered, crashing to the floor. I picked up the bat and brought it down on his crotch. Then for good measures, I did it again.
But time was ticking, and I had other things to deal with.
Aegyir’s slaves filled the hallways around the Great Hall, battling it out with Guardians. I joined in, my eyes peeled for Faran or Aegyir. Too many of the slaves were falling, and I roared my lungs out. “Just maim them! If you kill them, they make Aegyir stronger!”
I didn’t have time to see if anyone was heeding what I said, as something hit the back of my shoulder, hard. I reeled. I turned and blocked a second blow with my arm, but a third blow smashed into my thigh, and I hit the ground. In the corner of my eye I could see Faran in the midst of the thickest fighting in the Great Hall. My attacker took aim again, then shrieked, before falling to the floor, gurgling, blood bubbling from his mouth as he tried to breathe. I looked up, bracing myself for further attack. Lord Sondan held a hand out to me, a dripping dagger in his other hand.
“Thank you,” I gasped, hauling myself up.
He smiled at me for the first time in years, then turned back to the battle.
I limped towards Faran, terrified I’d reach him too late and find him dead and Aegyir invincible. My hands shook, my palms slick with sweat and blood.
Don’t let him be dead. Don’t let Aegyir win.
I reached the last place I’d seen Faran, but he wasn’t there any more. Panicked, I scoured the room for him or Aegyir, hoping against hope that Faran was still alive amidst all this blood and death and horror.
And then I saw him.
Near the centre of the hall, Faran wrestled with a burly man. I fought my way to his side, my shoulder, arm and leg screaming at me.
“Aeron!” He turned to me, chopping at the man with his sword.
I watched him fight for a second. He was covered in blood. “Are you injured?”
“No.”
I frowned.
“You’re not injured?” I asked again.
He shook his head.
I plunged my sword deep into his chest and twisted it.
28
Faran lurched, his eyes on the sword in his chest and, for a second, I wondered if I had made a terrible, terrible mistake.
Someone roared behind me and I turned, just in time to dodge a punch aimed at my head. Lord Eredan looked as if he was about to murder me with enormous relish. Faran flickered as he sank to the floor, then stopped shape-shifting. Gone were Faran’s handsome features and his bulk. Instead, leathery skin stretched tightly over a skeletal body, his eyes burning with rage. I yanked my sword out. Aegyir had forgotten that Faran was a South Paw by nature.
“Where’s Faran?” I screamed desperately at Lord Eredan.
His eyes widened as he registered the corpse-like form on the floor was Aegyir. “I don’t know.”
“Faran!” I bellowed.
Aegyir smiled as he hauled himself up from his knees. “Where’s your triad, Aeron?”
I yanked a dagger from my belt and drove it into his side. Aegyir was right. The room was full of guards and vassals of Aegyir murdering one another and the bodies of several slain or wounded Guardians, but I couldn’t get eyes on Faran. Aegyir swayed at my side, glowing as he gained the strength of even more dying recruits.
“Ah. Lord Eredan,” Aegyir said, his voice silky. Lord Eredan was bleeding profusely from a neck wound and Aegyir was dangerously close to him. “No triad. She has a bauble. What do you have?”
I slashed at Aegyir, lopping off his whole hand, the second before it reached Lord Eredan’s chest. Smoke streamed from the stump.
“Two fucking hands. Which is one more than you,” I snapped. I drove a second dagger into his body and he slumped, black smoke pouring from the wound.
Where the hell was Faran? The situation was slipping away from us. If we didn’t dispatch Aegyir soon, there’d be no Faran, no Lord Eredan. No Realm.
“Faran, I will fucking kill you for this. Where the hell are you?”
“Here, my lady. I was fetching the vessel.”
Faran stood by my side. I didn’t know wheth
er to rejoice at the sight of him or kick his sorry ass around the room. It looked horribly like someone had already done that though.
“About time!” I said, but I couldn’t be angry. Aegyir was finally surrounded by three true Guardians.
Aegyir laughed, a sarcastic, amused cackle that made ice run in my veins.
“Aeron, really? This is your triad? You do remember that the triad has to be made of the top three Guardians of The Realm to kill me? But what have you got? A man whose strength will imminently be mine, a man on the point of death and you, an apology of a Guardian.” Aegyir clapped slowly, one hand slapping against the stump at the end of his other arm. “These are your best three Guardians?”
My heart sank like a stone, and I wanted to scream. I drove the final dagger in, and his body began to dissolve into smoke.
“Top three by birth.” Faran wheezed, leaning on his sword. “Just like last time. Since you killed Aeron’s father.”
Aegyir’s smile faded. Mine widened. I would have my vengeance at last.
I spun my shoulders, the bones of my collarbone grinding against each other, making me gasp. My sword sliced cleanly through Aegyir’s neck.
In the same moment, Faran hit the floor with a heart-rending thud, the vessel tumbling from his grasp.
“Faran!”
Before I could do anything to help Faran, Aegyir turned into a ball of black smoke. I grabbed the vessel, holding it out in the centre of the triad. The smoke poured into it. As the last tendril entered the jar, Lord Eredan reached in and closed the lid. Immediately, the container and its cap sealed to make a single unit. The same kind of knotwork that was on the jars of salve covered the sides of the vessel, and it swirled in the light, writhing as if it was alive.
I crouched next to Faran, my hands trembling. He was out for the count. As were all of Aegyir’s vassals. An eerie silence fell, but I broke it, yelling, “We need healers! Fast!”
I felt at Faran’s neck, my heart lifting as I found a strong, steady pulse. I rolled him into the recovery position, grunting from the effort and whipped around to Lord Eredan, who sat next to his son, his hand clamped against his neck, blood seeping out between his fingers. Around us, all the Guardians left in the Great Hall started sorting through the carnage, finding those alive, separating the dead into Realm and Outside.