War (Guardians of The Realm Book 3)

by Amanda Fleet

  “She knew that she would become one of Aegyir’s slaves and left anyway.”

  “She wears the talisman. She knew she would not become one of Aegyir’s slaves whilst wearing it.” Lord Sondan pinched the bridge of his nose. “Lord Eredan, I see a disobedient Guardian, true. But I see one who fought bravely, at risk of her own life, for you, for The Realm, for the other Guardians… I do not see a traitor.”

  My heart lifted a little. Even some of the Council members seemed to have thawed.

  “And where is Aegyir now?” said Lord Eredan, softly. “Faran and Lady Aeron took him from the Great Hall. They allege they put him in the safe, but the vessel in the safe is not the one we trapped him in. So where is he? And if they did indeed put him in the safe, who freed him?”

  A murmur ran around the Great Hall. I wondered how long it would take the Chief Locksmith to open the vault. Soon, hopefully.

  “Faran. Lady Aeron. Do you have any witnesses to you securing Aegyir in the safe in the State Rooms?” asked Lord Eredan, his face hard.

  We didn’t.

  “The guards on the State Rooms were attacked during curfew. Where were you both at that time?” Lord Eredan pursued.

  “Helping with the door-to-door search for the lost key to the vault. With plenty of witnesses,” I said.

  Lord Sondan coughed, drawing attention back to him. He scratched the back of his neck, his other hand on his hip. “Lord Eredan, I still see no evidence of treason against either Lady Aeron or Faran. There are no witnesses who say they saw them near the State Rooms, and I see no reason to doubt either of them. Perhaps we should vote? If Aegyir is indeed free, we have other matters of far greater concern.” He stared at Lord Eredan, a challenge in his eyes. “Do we need to hear the cases against Faran? Is there any more to them other than he left The Realm against your orders? I think the charge of treason against him has even less evidence than the one against Lady Aeron.”

  Lord Eredan scowled at his son. “Did you deliberately leave The Realm, against my orders?”

  “Yes.” Faran’s voice was clipped.

  “Why?”

  “To find Lady Aeron.”

  “You put the life of your wife above your duties to The Realm?”

  Faran glared, and made his cuffs clink again. “No. Lady Aeron would have been needed to form the triad. If Aegyir stormed The Realm, we couldn’t have formed the triad with another Guardian while she was still alive. I went to find out if she’d been killed.”

  That checked Lord Eredan for a moment.

  “And you swear, under oath, that you locked Aegyir in the safe and have not released him.” Lord Eredan was scrabbling for reasons now, his words snapping out like gunfire.

  “Yes.” Faran met his father’s eye, brows straight, posture defiant.

  Lord Eredan flicked his hand as if swatting a fly. “Fine. Vote.”

  I held my breath, wondering if Lord Sondan’s arguments had been strong enough. As the hands went up, I counted rapidly, then let my breath go, my shoulders losing some of their tension. Both Faran and I were found guilty of disobedience, but not guilty of treason. We waited for the sentences. Lord Eredan alone was responsible for deciding them. I gripped the bar in front of me, my heart thumping. Was Lord Eredan about to take his temper out on us? Even Faran’s knuckles showed white.

  Lord Eredan eyeballed us. “The penalty for disobedience is flogging. Faran, you’re sentenced to fifteen lashes with thirty minutes before healing. Lady Aeron, you’re sentenced to the same.”

  The room began to tilt. Faran dipped his head towards mine. “Sh. It’s okay.”

  A guard uncuffed us, and Faran squeezed my hand. The seating for the Council began to be cleared, though Faran and I remained standing where we were. I gripped Faran’s hand, dizziness spinning my head. “What’s happening?”

  He turned to shield me from the eyes of those members of Council still milling around. “I’m about to be flogged.”

  “And me?” I wondered if my legs were going to go from under me.

  “You get your flogging in private. It’s not seemly for you to be flogged in public.”

  “By who? Where?” Nausea billowed through me.

  “Sh. By me. In our rooms.” His eyes pleaded with me not to ask any more.

  I bit my lip. Lilja had told me that fathers, and then husbands, were responsible for discipline within the family. Was Faran actually going to whip me? I searched my memories, coming up blank. It was unlikely I’d never done something wrong before. Maybe he’d only pretended to flog me. Though he was such a stickler for the rules, I wasn’t sure I could believe that.

  Someone ushered us to the side of the room, and a whipping post was erected in the centre of the hall. Around us, the Great Hall filled with all of the Guardians, not just the Council. While we waited, a messenger hurried to Lord Eredan and Lord Sondan, carrying a sealed letter. Lord Eredan opened it, read it, and handed it to Lord Sondan. Both of them glanced up at me and Faran, their faces grave. News that the vault was empty?

  Lord Eredan signalled to Faran. With storms chasing across his face, he stepped forwards, taking off his leather jacket and handing it to a small, terrified lad. He stripped his fine woollen top off, also handing it to the lad, who then scurried over to me. Faran widened his stance and held his arms out to make a Y-shape with his body. A guard lashed his wrists to the cross-beam of the post, and Faran glared straight ahead. It wasn’t the whipping he was furious about, it was the public nature of the punishment.

  Lord Eredan stepped forwards with a whip. Faran flexed his back, his gaze unwavering. I gulped, eyes wide, guilt bowling through me. I’d gone Outside to save him, and now he was getting whipped for coming to find me.

  Fifteen lashes struck his back, each one leaving a scarlet welt. Each time, he flinched, before returning to staring ahead, his face flushed with rage, his jaw so tight, the muscles bulged. After the last strike, Lord Eredan walked around to face his son and said something to him too quietly for anyone else to hear. If Faran hadn’t been tied, I think he might have punched his father, given the look on his face.

  “Thirty minutes.” Lord Eredan strode away.

  Faran stayed stock-still for the thirty minutes while the Guardians drifted back out of the Great Hall. I didn’t know what to do. Go and talk to him? Leave him be? The guards didn’t look as if they’d let anyone near him. They stood tall, their hands on their swords, glaring out at everyone.

  Once the thirty minutes were up, a guard stepped forwards and freed Faran. He took his top and jacket back from the young lad but didn’t put them on – blood and angry welts striped his back.

  He cocked his head at me. “Your turn.”

  2

  Our rooms had been those of the Elected Successor. Faran’s demotion meant we were now housed much further from the Great Hall. Faran marched down the halls to them, his fury rising with every step. When we finally reached our new suite, he shoved the door open and stomped in. Had it not been for the long walk to get here, I’d swear we were in our old place. Same three rooms: an outer, public lounge, a bedroom, and a bathroom. The furniture in the lounge – a leather sofa, two tub chairs, a low table, and a side-desk and chair – were identical to our old rooms. No huge surprise since The Realm provided everything, and individuality was a novel concept. Even the carved panels decorating the lower half of the walls appeared to be the same.

  I followed Faran to the bedroom. He hurled his jacket and his balled top on to the bed and tossed me a pot of salve. I hoped his anger might have faded by the time he was due to dish out my punishment.

  He sat on the bed, and I fetched a wet cloth from the bathroom to clean his back. His breath hissed as I dabbed the welts.

  “You don’t need to wear a brave face with me, Faran. This looks like it hurts like hell. Why the thirty minutes in the hall?”

  “To shame me. And for me to learn the pain associated with disobedience.”

  He thrummed with anger. I dipped my finger in the pot of
salve and gently applied it to the first stripe. He flinched, yelling.

  “I know. I’m being as gentle as I can.”

  I worked my way steadily over his back. Slowly, the magic ointment made his skin heal and the redness go, but not without enormous pain. Worse than the normal healing-pain because of the long delay.

  “Okay. All done.” I dropped a kiss on his shoulder but he batted me away. “Hey! Don’t lose your temper with me! I didn’t do this to you!”

  He swivelled, his eyes flashing. “You went Outside when you were expressly forbidden from doing so! If you’d stayed where you were supposed to, I wouldn’t have had to find you.”

  I rolled my eyes. When was he going to let this go?

  He looked ready to explode. I eyed him apprehensively but held my nerve.

  “Faran, is that really what you’re so angry about?”

  He glared, his fists flexing on the covers of the bed. “No.”

  “Then why don’t you tell me what is?”

  “You.”

  “Me.” I nodded. “Well, it wouldn’t take a genius to have worked that out, so did you want to give me a bit more?”

  Faran filled the room. Not just his physical size, but his fury. “I have just risked, and lost, everything. My role, my respect… my rooms. For what? For a woman who doesn’t even love me.”

  I blinked. “I do love you.”

  He snorted. “Not as much as you love a man who’s dead.”

  I caught my breath. That was a low blow. It was only a week since I’d buried Finn, the man I’d loved Outside with all my heart. And yes, I still grieved him – how could I not? – but that wasn’t the only reason things were difficult between me and Faran. To Faran, I was his beloved wife. To me, Faran felt like someone I was still learning to love.

  “Don’t you dare.” My voice dropped with a mix of anger and pain. “Don’t you dare bring Finn into this. This—” I drew a circle in the air “—is entirely us.”

  His dark green eyes shot sparks. “You should have trusted me. Told me what you were going to do.”

  I counted to ten. Both of us losing our tempers wasn’t going to make this any better. “You’re right. I didn’t trust you enough to tell you I was going Outside. You’d have told your father, and he’d have stopped me, and then you’d have died. And if me wanting to protect your life isn’t good enough for you at the moment, I don’t know what is.”

  Okay, so much for counting to ten.

  “I’m sorry you lost your job,” I said, trying to soften my tone. “But funnily enough, I rank having a demoted but alive husband higher than having a dead one.”

  I reached out to rub his shoulder but he swatted me away.

  “If I’d died, you’d be free to go and live Outside,” he snapped. “That’s what you really want, isn’t it? That world.”

  How to answer? He was right. I did want my old world back. But ‘I want’ doesn’t get.

  He bowed his head, his hands on the bed next to his hips, the light from above highlighting his bare muscles. “What do you want, Aeron? Seriously. Are we even on the same page?”

  “I don’t know,” I said honestly. “What do you want?”

  “I want The Realm safe again. And I want my marriage back. I want to know that you’re there for me; that you love me.”

  I peeled his arms from his sides and tucked them around me. “I am here for you. I do love you. We’ll get there. And we’ll kill Aegyir and the others – make The Realm safe again. Come here.” I drew him closer and kissed him. “I’m sorry. About everything.”

  I kissed him again, eliciting a ghost of a smile from him.

  “Recapturing Aegyir – and the others, if they’re free – will take everything we’ve got,” he said. “I need you. As a warrior, but also as a wife. I need your head in The Realm, not pining for a world that’s gone.”

  “I know. I really am trying. On all fronts.”

  He hugged me, then groaned. “I’ve still to flog you. Come. Let’s get it over with.”

  I leaned back. “You’re not actually going to do this, are you?”

  “Don’t tempt me. I am not in a good mood.” His face softened. “Of course I’m not. But both of us will need to be able to swear that I have.”

  He pulled his top back on and made his way to the outer room, returning with what looked like a riding crop. He beckoned to me, and I stood warily, eyes wide. He reached over and grabbed the waistband of my trousers, yanking me towards him then unbuttoning my trousers. I squirmed and he sighed.

  “Aeron, just trust me for once.”

  He turned me sideways and delivered fifteen feather-light blows to my bare backside. Finished, he turned me back to him and tugged my trousers up, shaking his head. “If I thought corporal punishment would have any impression on your attitude or behaviour, I’d have put you across my knee and given you a good hiding long ago.”

  “Yeah? I’d like to see you try.”

  I should have known. Within two seconds, Faran had grabbed me by the scruff of my neck, put one foot up on the bed, and bent me over his knee.

  I punched him in the nuts.

  My blow was hard enough to make my point but gentle enough to only elicit a sharp intake of breath. He let me up, and I glared.

  “If you ever do that to me again, I won’t pull my punch.”

  Faran tilted his head, pinching his lips together. “You think I would actually hit you?”

  I gave him a look. He’d hit me the first day I’d returned to The Realm, and I wasn’t sure I would ever forget, even if I forgave him.

  He blinked sheepishly, slipped his arms around me and drew me towards him. “You’re supposed to be suffering in agony for half an hour before I allow you any salve.”

  “Mm. And I can see from the look in your eye how you want to fill that time, but it’s not going to happen, Mr Incandescently Angry Only a Few Minutes Ago.”

  “No?” He raised a brow, giving me his sexiest half smile.

  I pinched the small of his back. Hard. “No. We can work on marriage goals later. Talk to me about how we capture Aegyir. I think the message your father got was that the vault is empty. What do we do now?”

  He tipped his head back. “Technically, we do what Lord Father tells us to.” He gave me a barbed look. “Neither of us have any role beyond being a Guardian and following orders.”

  “Okay.” Like there was any chance that was going to happen, given it was me we were talking about. “What else?”

  Before he could answer, there was a knock at the outer door. Faran hugged me. “Stay here. Pretend to be sore.”

  He kissed the end of my nose and went to see who it was.

  ***

  Faran left the bedroom door open a crack so I could find out who’d arrived and listen in. I squinted out and saw the solid build and conker-brown leathers of Lord Sondan. I wondered how their friendship would be affected by the fact Lord Sondan was now Acting Successor.

  “Faran, may I disturb you? Have you, er, punished Lady Aeron?”

  I heard the outer door to the hallway close. Furniture creaked as one of them sat. It must have been Lord Sondan sitting on the sofa because I glimpsed Faran’s leg as he sat on one of the two chairs.

  “Yes. You’ll forgive her absence.” Faran’s rich baritone held traces of embarrassment.

  “How is she?”

  Lord Sondan sounded genuinely concerned, surprising me. Whereas Faran had always known he could rely on Lord Sondan’s support, I hadn’t.

  “Well, it was fifteen lashes,” said Faran, sounding discomfited.

  “Your father was especially harsh on her. And you.”

  Faran cleared his throat. “We were disobedient. It was his prerogative. Can I get you some water?”

  “No, thank you.”

  There was a pause before Faran spoke again. “We must thank you for your support during the trial.”

  Lord Sondan snorted. “Both you and Lady Aeron fought hard for The Realm. It was a travesty th
at your father accused you of treason. And anyway, I’ve been Outside and believe I know a little more of what you faced, whereas your father has never left The Realm.”

  I held my breath, hoping Faran would ask the questions I wanted to. He did. “You’ve been Outside? When?”

  I sidled towards the door, taking care not to make a sound. Friend or not, it might not be judicious to reveal to the new Acting Successor that Faran hadn’t actually punished me as instructed.

  “Early this afternoon,” said Lord Sondan. “Before you were arrested. I tell you this in confidence.”

  “Of course. What did you encounter?”

  I did the maths. Faran and I had left Outside at about ten in the morning there, in late November. When we returned to The Realm, it was mid-morning. Time ran differently Outside. An hour in The Realm was two and a half days Outside. Lord Sondan would have ended up Outside just over a week after we’d left.

  “It was pitch dark and freezing cold,” said Lord Sondan. “Your wife was right when she said we should wait for gloves to be made for us. I could barely feel my hands within minutes. There was ice on the ground.”

  “How long did you stay?”

  “A day there. When it grew dark again, I returned. It wasn’t light for long.”

  He’d have been gone from The Realm only a matter of minutes. No wonder no one had realised.

  I settled my back against the wall. I could still only see the edge of Faran’s leg and although I was itching to see more, I couldn’t without being detected. Why had Lord Sondan gone Outside? Just to see it for himself?

  “It was very different from here,” said Lord Sondan, sounding awestruck. “Despite Lady Aeron trying to teach us some English, I couldn’t understand the people who spoke to me. It’s also very noisy Outside.”

  “Mm. In the town. Aeron and I took shelter in the countryside and it was quieter, but the urban noise was overwhelming. And the metal boxes that transport people… Aeron stopped me from being hit by them a number of times.” Faran chuckled lightly. “Even with Aeron with me, I found it disorientating.”