by Amanda Fleet
“Lord Eredan?” I didn’t even have a handkerchief to give him to help.
“I thought you’d murdered my son.” He met my eye, his expression hard.
Which one? flashed through my brain. Oh! He meant when I stabbed Aegyir.
“Faran’s left-handed. And his leathers would have held. Where are you injured?”
Lord Eredan levelled his gaze at me. Was that a flicker of acceptance I finally saw?
“I need a healer,” was all he said.
Several began to appear. I sat back on my heels, my eyes never leaving Faran while the healer assessed him. Faran’s eyes flickered open, and he sat, groggily.
“You okay?” I asked.
He nodded, but the amount of blood on him alarmed me. The healer turned his attention to Lord Eredan and arranged for him to be stretchered away. Faran dismissed another healer, a grimace on his face.
“I’m fine. It is not my blood,” he snapped.
I helped him to his feet. “Is the link broken?”
“Mm.”
“You were unprotected!” I yelled, unable to keep my temper any longer. “You could have died, Faran, and Aegyir would have been impossible to defeat! The whole Realm could have been absolutely fucked!”
Faran held his hands up, palms out, but I hadn’t finished. Not by a long chalk.
“Why did I end up coming to in our rooms, wearing the talisman? It was supposed to be protecting you. You were supposed to be safe. You were not supposed to leave me in our rooms!”
The bustle of the Great Hall stopped briefly before everyone went back to clearing bodies. Faran’s eyes flashed. “In private.”
I was still white hot. “When I got here, you were nowhere to be seen and Lord Eredan was bleeding to death! He used almost the last of his strength to try to kill me.”
“He had just watched you plunge a sword into his son,” said Lord Sondan mildly.
I whipped round, surprised to see him. Blood smeared his face and stained the white flash in the front of his hair, but under all the gore, he grinned.
“Well, I can tell him from a shape-shifting demon, even if he can’t.”
I glared at him, sending ‘go away’ vibes. This was between me and Faran.
A smile tickled Lord Sondan’s lips, and he clapped Faran on the shoulder. “Good luck there, friend.”
He backed away. Faran’s gaze flicked around the room. We were fighting very publicly.
“You could have died!” I said.
“I didn’t have time to get you to the cells, and I was needed to protect The Realm. The Realm was safer with the talisman on you, even if I wasn’t.”
Maybe he was right. If I’d been fighting on Aegyir’s side, I could have done a lot of damage.
“How come I was unconscious?” I pressed my lips together.
“You fell.”
“I fell?” My burned-out temper reignited.
“Mm. You fell and banged your head.”
“Oh, really?” I rolled my eyes.
“No. But I’m not telling you here.” His eyes scanned the room. The rubberneckers scurried back to their duties. He looked back at me. “Have you finished cursing me?”
I breathed deeply, taking my time. “Yes. Sorry.”
He tilted his head towards me. “What was that last bit again? I didn’t quite hear it, my lady.”
I scowled at him. “I said, I’m sorry.”
He grinned.
I assessed the room. “We need to get the bodies out of here – and anyone who’s still alive from Outside. I’ve no idea what the police will make of it. There must be at least a dozen dead and twice as many injured.” I jutted my chin at the vessel. “What are we doing with that?”
“The Council has to decide.”
“Who’s left from it?” More bodies were being moved to one end of the Great Hall.
“I don’t know.”
My eyes travelled over the blood on Faran. “Do you really not need a healer?”
“No. Seriously, the blood isn’t mine. And a healer can’t do anything about Aegyir’s raid on my vitality. Only time can sort that. Relax.”
“Okay, well, I need a healer. And a bone-setter. Can we call them to our rooms? We should talk there instead.” Ears were still flapping.
Concern flashed across his face. “Where are you hurt?”
I needed to hold my left elbow to support the weight of my arm, though in truth, my right arm was probably broken too. “A variety of places. Bring that?” I jerked my chin at the vessel.
He picked the container up and we made our way through blood-stained hallways to our rooms. Inside, I closed the door firmly.
“I fell?”
“No. You were about to kill my father. It was too risky to leave you connected to Aegyir with him in The Realm, so I tripped you, pretended to catch you and hit you as you went down. I put the talisman back on you, one of the guards carried you back here, and Lilja should have put salve on your injuries.”
“She did. What’s our plan of action?”
Faran shrugged out of the long coat and grabbed one of his combat-jackets from the closet. “Remove the Outsiders, alive or dead. Where’s the best place to take them?”
I sucked my teeth. “If they remember anything about The Realm, will it be a problem?”
“No. They can’t cross the portal, even if they remember where it is. Anyway, that’s the Outsiders’ problem. We have our own dead and injured to worry about.”
“How very insular of The Realm,” I muttered, though he had a point. “Okay. Let’s take the dead Outsiders to the quarry. Those still alive can be left at the portal. One of them is bound to have a phone. I’ll tell whoever’s taking them Outside how to call a number to summon help. What happens if we’ve lost Council members?”
“The most senior man or woman remaining in their house takes their place on the Council. If there’s any doubt over who’s the more senior, the eldest takes the seat until elections can be held.”
“Okay.” The elections were a problem for another day. “What are we doing with that?” I nodded at the vessel.
Faran scratched his ear. “The best thing would be to put him in the vault here. Trapping him deep underground Outside evidently wasn’t a lasting solution.”
I wasn’t at all sure that I wanted Aegyir anywhere near The Realm, given that it was what he wanted to destroy in its entirety, but I struggled to think of an alternative. “Okay. Where’s the vault? Who has access to it?”
“Beneath the Great Hall. The Council has to vote and there must be a majority of two to one in favour of it being opened. The key is kept in the State Rooms.”
“You said there wasn’t space for him last time, because all the other demons are in there.”
Faran shrugged. “We have to make space.”
I remembered Aegyir’s words. “I want to free my people.” Were we about to make a huge mistake putting him with the others?
There was a brisk knock on the door and Faran turned. “Enter.”
A healer and a bone-setter bowed. Faran stood back to let them come to me, and all discussions about Aegyir ceased. Faran caught his breath when he saw the extent of my injuries. Before he could make any comment, my broken collarbone was re-set, making me bellow with pain. As soon as I recovered, the bone-setter fixed my arm and stepped back to let the healer loose on the rest of me. Before long, I was covered from top to toe in various versions of salve, waiting for the healing-pain to subside.
Faran crouched beside me, holding my hand. He turned to the healer. “How’s my father?”
The healer looked grave. “Weak, but I think he’ll survive.”
Faran sucked his cheeks in. “And my brother? Has he been found?”
“He was found unconscious near the armoury. Someone had stabbed him. He’s expected to recover fully.”
Faran opened his mouth as if to say something, then closed it again.
“I’ll ask a messenger to bring you a full list of those injured o
r dead,” said the healer. “Faran, I also need to give you this.” He handed Faran a sealed scroll. “Your father isn’t able to lead The Realm at present. You are Acting First Lord.”
Faran cracked the wax seal and read as I uncurled slowly next to him. He glanced across. “You’re healed? Good. We have work to do.”
The bone-setter and the healer withdrew.
“Priorities?” Faran said, swaying slightly. He needed to rest, but there was little chance he’d be able to in the near future.
“Before we get to that, I should tell you that it was me who attacked your brother.”
His gaze settled on me. “Was he out of his leathers?”
So that’s what he’d been about to say when the healer was with us. “No.”
Faran rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Not a true Guardian, then.” He closed his eyes. “I need to go and see my father.”
***
Our first task was to secure Aegyir, at least temporarily. We locked the vessel in a safe in the State Rooms. Not a perfect solution, but the best we came up with. Faran ordered the State Rooms to be barred and guarded. As we left, a messenger ran up to us, brandishing a piece of paper at us. A list of The Realm fatalities. Faran read the list of names, his jaw bunched.
“Bad?” I asked, but he didn’t reply.
I rubbed his back, trying to offer some comfort. I didn’t need to see the list to know it was long. There had been too many bodies in the Great Hall. He gave me a weak smile, his face etched with pain.
We made our way to the hallway outside the Great Hall. Faran ordered all the living Outsiders to be taken to the portal. The dead could be taken to the quarry when time and resources permitted. I blanched as Stephen’s body was added to a pile of corpses. He’d been alive when I left him. A clear hole ran through his top, right over his heart and he’d bled to death. I stared. I thought I’d be happy to see the bastard dead, but I felt empty. No, I felt cheated. He was my enemy.
I looked up into Faran’s face. “You?”
He turned away, but I’d seen the answer in his eyes. I said nothing. We could discuss it later.
The Realm had significant losses. It would take time to see how the political landscape might shift as a consequence, but one thing was already evident: the battle with Aegyir had done little to unite The Realm. Lord Eredan was gravely ill. If he died, Faran became First Lord, which left a gaping hole in the position of Elected Successor, and everyone was already watching each other like hawks. It wouldn’t be long before the jockeying for position began and the lines of allegiance were drawn.
Faran beckoned to me as the last of the bodies was gathered. I followed him, unsurprised to find him making a bee-line for the Labyrinth Garden. We leaned on the fountain at the centre, and Faran peered at the list in his hand.
“What’s the new Council looking like?” I asked.
He raised tired eyes to me. “Tricky. Unpredictable. Lord Balwen is dead. Cerewen will take his place.”
“What will happen with Aegyir?”
He turned to rest his back against the edge of the fountain. “I hope the argument to keep Aegyir in the vault will garner enough support, but there will be some who think he should be trapped Outside, as he was last time.”
“Yeah, because that worked so well.”
“Is there anywhere we can put him Outside? In case the vote goes that way.”
I moved to stand in his arms, racking my brain. “I don’t know.”
He rested his chin on my head, holding the piece of paper behind my shoulder. “The Council may end up stacked in Cerewen’s favour. If that’s the case, I suspect I’ll be counting the days before they call for a vote of no-confidence in me.”
“Why?”
“Because I left The Realm to go after my untrustworthy traitor of a wife.” He leaned back and caught my eye. There was no twinkle in his. “You remember how Orian spun things last time.”
I slipped my hands under the back of his jacket. “Are you angry with me? For leaving?”
He sighed, his breath ruffling my hair. “No. Having been Outside, I understand why you were adamant the team would need you there too. But no one else has been Outside. To everyone else, you’ll be seen as a disobedient Guardian, not one who was trying to save The Realm.”
I digested that for a moment. I’d helped to trap Aegyir and defended The Realm, yet I could still be considered a traitor?
“How worried should we be that Orian’s leathers didn’t hold?” I asked.
“Very. How we reveal we know that without also revealing that you tried to kill him is tricky.”
I leaned into him, soaking up his warmth. “In fairness, he tried to kill me first. Anyway, the healer will have seen the hole in his jacket. He must have his suspicions.”
“True.” He kissed my hair.
“Do you think Aegyir got to him today? Or do you think he enslaved him before today?”
“I don’t know. But with Aegyir trapped, Orian should be released. As should you.”
“Unless Orian was plotting against The Realm and still is. Maybe his leathers failing have nothing to do with Aegyir getting to him, and all to do with Orian’s long-term career plans.”
He grunted. “I’ll talk to him later. Right now, I need to see my father and call an emergency meeting of the Council.”
***
At Lord Eredan’s quarters, Lady Alix sat at her husband’s bedside and Orian stood stiffly by the door. Faran pushed me ahead of him into the room, but I clung to the periphery. No one wanted me here except him. He joined his mother at the bedside. She peered past his shoulder to glare at me, then turned to speak softly to him. Several healers ringed the bed, all grim-faced.
Orian turned to me. “Your ambition to be First Lady may come sooner than you anticipated.”
I didn’t grace him with a reply, keeping my eyes fixed dead ahead. Orian moved to stand by his mother. Faran murmured to her, rubbing his brow. He pulled a chair up next to the bed and leaned in to talk to his father. I was too far away to hear anything.
After what felt like an eternity, Faran scraped his chair back. He scowled at his brother as he passed, caught my hand and marched out of the room, stiff-backed.
“What did he say?” I asked.
Faran strode along the hallway, his boots ringing. “He gave me advice about the Council meeting. And about you.”
“Uh, huh? Care to share?”
“The Council politics are entirely as you’d expect, and my father’s advice concerning you is also entirely as you would expect. I shall heed the former and ignore the latter.” He smiled briefly. “I have no intention of hanging you!”
We reached the hallway outside the Great Hall. In there, people were still clearing up and, as we stood watching, the senior cook came up to Faran, bobbing into a quick curtsy. “Acting First Lord. Er… The cooks have not been able to prepare any food in time for first bell.”
Faran shot a look at the clock. First bell should have rung several minutes ago.
“There’s about to be a Council meeting.” It looked as if exhaustion could take him at any moment. This was one more thing he didn’t need on his plate. And Faran knew as much about catering as I knew about nuclear physics.
I stepped forwards, catching the anxious expression on the cook’s face. “Can anything be prepared quickly and parcelled up for people to eat in their rooms? The Great Hall won’t be available for either sitting of lunch, so it would be better to prepare pies or cold cuts in time for the second bell. The Guardians can collect them from here and take them away. The serving staff can collect dishes afterwards.”
The cook’s relief was palpable. “Of course, Lady Aeron. We can prepare exactly what you suggest.”
“Thank you.” I smiled warmly.
Faran rolled his head towards me. “Thank you. That is why you’re the perfect woman to be by my side.” Dark shadows gathered under his eyes, and he was paler than ever.
“Faran, you’re dead on your feet.”
“I know. But I need to call a Council meeting.”
***
I wasn’t allowed in the Great Hall while the Council met, but I could hear the arguments as they filtered through the door. The Acting First Lord sounded as though he was getting his way, though there was a lot of shouting en route. Orian strolled up and lounged against the wall next to me.
“I haven’t forgotten that you stabbed me,” he said.
“I haven’t forgotten that your leathers implied you weren’t a true Guardian,” I replied smoothly.
His eyes narrowed. “Nor have I forgotten that Aegyir’s blood is in you. What are they discussing? Hanging you as a traitor?”
“You’ll have to ask the Acting First Lord once he’s free.” I couldn’t help emphasising Faran’s title.
Orian levered himself away from the wall, scowling, and strode off down the hall.
Before I could worry any further about what mischief Orian was planning, Cerewen’s voice filtered through the open door. Lord Cerewen, now that his father was dead.
“She should be hanged. Immediately.”
My heart missed a beat at his words, and I burned at the injustices. How much more did I have to give them? I’d lost so much and yet I’d still defended The Realm and helped to kill Aegyir. For what? For them to throw it back at me, and just hang me anyway?
“On what grounds?” Faran’s voice was clipped.
“On the grounds of treason and disobedience.”
So, Lord Cerewen wanted to string me up for doing something that probably saved his life? I ground my teeth, my fists balling.
“No trial?” said Faran, his tone hard.
“Hold a trial if you must, but at least put her in the cells. Now.”
I inched closer to the door, desperate to hear Faran’s reply.
“Lord Cerewen, I’m sure you’ll agree that The Realm has other concerns at the moment,” Faran said. “Once we have secured Aegyir, we can discuss other matters. Council is dismissed.”