by Amanda Fleet
Ten minutes later, neither of us had succeeded in getting the other to the floor, but several meaty thumps had landed, on both sides. Still far from being back to a hundred per cent, I was running out of steam. Only sheer bloody-mindedness kept me on my feet.
Faran flipped me to the floor. He was pulling one arm painfully up my back when there was a knock on the door. Lord Sondan. Who chuckled as he came in.
“I thought I’d find you here, punching each other with intent.”
Faran released me, and I clambered to my feet, rubbing my shoulder. If Faran’s temper had been starting to burn out, the arrival of Lord Sondan had just thrown fuel on the flames.
Lord Sondan passed us both cups of water. “Faran, your father wishes to discuss something with you.”
Faran shot me a look but nodded and flicked a towel down from one of the cupboards to mop his face. “Perhaps you want to continue training with Aeron?”
“Work off her temper for you?” Lord Sondan smirked.
“Sondan, the mood she’s in, she’ll kick your arse. Wear protection, especially in your trousers.”
Lord Sondan laughed. “Thank you for the warning.”
Faran peeled off his padded clothing and hung it up. Lord Sondan rummaged in a cupboard for some fresh protection, turning his back to shove a box into his trousers.
“Good luck. Try to pin her down,” said Faran as he turned to leave.
I caught his arm. “Hey. Keep your cool. Bottle it and bring it back here if you have to.”
A flicker of a smile crossed his face. “Mm. Try not to hurt Sondan. He is your commanding officer.”
We waited until he’d gone, then Lord Sondan and I faced each other. I had dim memories of fighting him from my past, but we hadn’t sparred since my return. Before I’d been banished, he’d barely been able to land a blow on me. I wondered if he’d improved in my absence.
“Try to pin you down?” he said.
“First to the floor loses.”
Lord Sondan made the mistake of pulling his punches. Almost by accident, he nearly got me to the floor, but I wasn’t holding back and my boot clattered off his head, leaving him reeling away from me.
“Faran wasn’t joking about you!” He tightened the fastening on his head-guard, and we squared up again.
A minute later, he was face down on the mats, his arm twisted behind him, my knee on his spine. He tried to buck me off his back, but I was going nowhere. I wrenched his arm a little further, and he slapped the mat twice in submission.
“I see why you and Faran are the ones successfully capturing demons,” he said as he got up, rubbing his arm.
“What does Lord Eredan think of my plan? I’m assuming he’s considering it and that’s why he’s summoned Faran.”
“Correct. I take it Faran is not entirely in agreement with you over it.”
“Yeah. Try zero agreement. But he’ll follow orders. I think.”
Lord Sondan blew his cheeks out. “Maybe. He’s disobeyed his father over you before.”
I’d managed to get Lord Sondan down twice more and was in the process of kicking him in the back of the knee when Faran returned. The storms cleared from his face, but only for a moment. I swallowed. Even seeing me winning hands down against Lord Sondan wasn’t lifting his mood.
“How many times did you get Aeron on the mat?” Faran asked.
“None.”
“Uh, huh. And how many times did she get you down?”
“Three,” said Lord Sondan, through gritted teeth, pissed off.
“I did warn you.” He held out a hand to help Sondan up.
“Mm. Your wife is extremely adept at kicking people in the head.”
Faran snorted mirthlessly. “Yes. She is.”
Sondan eased the padded jacket off. “Did your father discuss things with you?”
The clouds settled on Faran again. “He did. I told him my views.”
“Which are?”
“That it’s a mind-blowingly stupid idea.” Faran pulled his protective jacket back on.
“And what did your father say?”
Faran’s gaze shifted to me and then back. “That I had my orders. And that only the four of us are to know about the plan.”
“When?” I asked. It might be our best chance at finding out where Aegyir was, but the thought of him inside my head again scared me.
Faran fastened the head-guard, his eyes dark. “This evening, after dinner. In the cells.”
***
Back in our rooms after burning off our tempers, Faran caught my eye. “Where are you hurt?”
I pushed the door closed behind us. “Nowhere really. You?”
“Nowhere major.” He stuck his tongue into his cheek. “Sondan didn’t seem very happy at you beating him so comprehensively.”
I grinned. “Yeah, well, he’ll live.” I paused in the middle of the room. “Faran?”
He glanced up, brows raised.
“I’m not happy about taking the talisman off. I’m scared.” I said. “That feeling of not being in control is terrifying. If you’d been much less of a warrior, I’d have knifed you the other night. I understand why you’re unhappy. Can you understand how hard it is for me to do this?”
Faran scraped his palm over his jaw. “Then don’t do it.”
I tipped my head to one side, giving him a look, and he nodded, catching my hand.
“I do understand,” he murmured. “I’m just not happy.”
He hugged me to him, then shifted to peer over my shoulder. He pulled free and walked over to the desk where deliveries were left for us, to pick up a small box. “It came!”
“What?”
He handed me a small wooden box, smiling finally. I opened it. Inside was a felted wool cushion, holding a gold ring. I eased the ring out of its felt nest and turned it so that the light caught the inside. It was inscribed with our names, just like Faran’s wedding ring. I grinned. “You know, you can be adorable. Sometimes.”
“I promised I’d get you another ring.” He held his hand out for it, and I passed it to him. “Here.” He picked up my left hand and threaded the ring on to my middle finger. “Try not to lose this one.”
I tilted my left hand, studying the ring, deep happiness warming me. “It’s not entirely my fault that I lost the last one! You try keeping hold of a ring while you’re reincarnated several times!”
He slipped his arms around me and kissed me gently.
“Thank you,” I said as he drew back. “It’s beautiful.”
I eased free and shucked out of my jacket, draping it over the edge of one of the tub chairs. “Did Lord Sondan tell you about Cenan?”
The lightness ebbed from his face. “Mm. He’s just been discharged from the infirmary.”
He sat next to me, and I leaned on him. “What will happen to him?”
He coiled an arm around me. “He’s unlikely to see battle again, or marry. He’ll live with an aunt and uncle. It was too long before he saw a healer, and his brain is damaged permanently.” His shoulders slumped. “He was too junior. I should never have suggested he come.”
A hollowness settled in my stomach. Cenan was such fun and had always been so curious about Outside. “It’s not your fault. I don’t know if anyone else would have fared any better.”
I wondered what role he could have as a Guardian who couldn’t fight. Faran must have read my mind.
“He’ll work in the armoury, maintaining weapons, keeping an inventory. He won’t need to be well co-ordinated or fast to do that.”
I squeezed him, wishing I could make him feel better. “Then he’ll be happy and useful.”
Faran screwed his mouth up. “Well, he’ll be useful. But his goal as a Guardian would not have been to work in the armoury and live with an aunt and uncle.”
“Is there no chance he could marry?” I already knew the answer, but had to ask.
Faran’s arm tightened around me. “No. He’d have to marry a Guardian. He could have expected a good marri
age, but not now.”
“You told me to marry him if you died.”
Faran exhaled sharply. “Not now. You’re far too senior.” He eyed me carefully. “If I died, you’d probably be matched with Sondan if he was still single.”
“Well, you’d better not die then, because that’s not a match that would work well. Come on. We should shower and get ready for dinner.”
***
We sat with Lord Eredan and Lord Sondan in a secluded corner of the Great Hall where we couldn’t be overheard. Faran’s mother, Lady Alix came to join us, but Lord Eredan waved her away. If she wasn’t always such a cow to me, I might have felt sorry that she wasn’t deemed worthy enough to hear our plans. Lady Alix seemed resigned to it, joining a group a few tables away.
“Mother is not included in the discussion?” Faran eyeballed his father.
“No. Lady Aeron, are you sure that you want to do this?”
“Yes. Faran and I talked about it, and neither of us are sure that what I say while I’m not wearing the talisman will be worth anything – it could be false information being fed to you by Aegyir. But put the talisman back on me after a while and I’ll tell you if I gleaned something useful. Has Orian said anything?”
“No. He occasionally tells me how much he hates me and that my days are numbered,” said Lord Eredan. “But nothing useful. Most of the time he’s silent.”
I turned to Faran. “You’re going to have to cuff me tightly.”
“Trust me. You’ll be very tightly cuffed and there’ll be no weapons anywhere near you.”
“Good.”
A muscle still ticked in his jaw, and I changed the topic. “What’s the death toll in the people?”
“Over two hundred,” said Lord Sondan.
I looked across to Lord Eredan. “Is that high enough to cause a problem? Too many in the city relying on too few in the provinces?”
Lord Eredan pinched his lips together. “Not yet. And the fact that your team captured two demons in a village that was not rebelling has helped to persuade a few to work with the Guardians, rather than against them. Sondan and I will talk to some of the village leaders tomorrow.”
“The Council needs to have plans for how The Realm will work once this conflict is over,” I said, trying to ignore both Faran’s kicks and Lord Eredan’s scowls. “If you have more in the city than can easily be supported by the provinces, there’ll be continued civil unrest. Ow!”
I kicked Faran back, hard, making both Lord Sondan and Lord Eredan laugh and Faran grit his teeth.
“You raise important points,” said Lord Eredan. “But let’s concentrate on ending the conflict, first.”
I finished the remains of my meat stew. Some of the villages were still sending what they could, but stocks had to be getting low. Unless we could broker a deal with the villages soon, the food would run out in the city in a few days. What if the provinces still held the city to ransom after all the demons had been dealt with? What bargaining chip would we have then? Faran’s foot almost ground mine into the floor, and I scowled. He shot me a warning look in return. As soon as he’d cleared his plate, I suggested that we go back to our rooms so that I could prepare.
“I’ll arrange for Hesta to join us,” said Lord Eredan.
I swallowed. My turn to be experimented on by the Senior Technician.
20
We all met in the cell next to the one where Orian was being held, though the walls were solid stone and he would have no inkling we were there. Like all the other cells, it had a cold stone floor and rough stone walls. A solid metal ring was embedded in the middle of the wall opposite the door. Lord Eredan closed the heavy door and stood next to Lord Sondan just inside the cell. I sat on the floor, my arms behind my back. Faran clicked a pair of cuffs on me and chained me to the ring in the wall, his posture all hard angles. A second pair of restraints immobilised my legs. If Aegyir took over my head, my movement was restricted enough that I couldn’t hurt anyone.
“Take the dagger out of your belt,” I murmured to Faran. “And any other weapons on you.”
He passed a dagger across to Lord Sondan. “Turn?” Faran said, and I faced the wall, feeling his fingers at the nape of my neck. “Ready?”
I wasn’t but didn’t think I ever would be. “Yes.”
The fastening made a soft noise as it opened and the stone dropped away from my skin. Faran stepped back smartly as I rotated to face him. Aegyir filled my head – a combination of anger and hatred, but with a hint of curiosity. I tried to concentrate on letting him in enough that I might be able to read his mind, but not so much that all of me was lost to him, but he was strong. My thoughts were shredded and scattered; his were solid. However hard I scrabbled to keep even a tiny chunk of my brain mine, I couldn’t. The only true emotion that wasn’t Aegyir’s, was the feeling of impotence.
“Stupid girl!” Aegyir’s voice rang in my head, drowning out my other thoughts. “You are too weak to resist.”
So much for trying to read his mind. I couldn’t even keep a guard on mine.
“Lord Eredan. Lord Sondan. Faran.” My voice was silky, playful. Aegyir’s. “Some of my least favourite Guardians, all in the same room. In fact, all of my least favourite Guardians, since the delightful Lady Aeron is here too. Now then, why have you freed her from the collar?” I canted my head, smiling. “Ah. Because you want to know my plans. Surely they are not hard to fathom. I want to live. Just as you all do. I want to have form and substance.”
“You were not destined to have those things,” said Lord Eredan.
My head turned slowly until my gaze levelled on him. “Says who? The Elders who made me? Where are they now? Dust.”
“We say it,” said Lord Sondan, still just out of my reach.
I sniggered. “Oh, and who are you, Lord Sondan? You are a nobody. You have a station above your ability and birth, all because Lord Eredan felt he needed to rule with such an iron fist he sacked his son. You are nothing, Sondan. Please refrain from speaking to me.”
Lord Sondan’s face darkened, and I laughed.
“So, you want to live?” asked Faran.
“Yes. Not so hard to understand, is it? But you keep putting me back in a jar and burying me. Who are you to decide that I cannot live, but you can?”
My fingers itched to gouge chunks out of his flesh. I raised my head proudly, not bothering to strain against the cuffs. These men would die at my hands, but not today.
“Someone who doesn’t need to kill people in order to live,” said Faran, his eyes steady.
I flexed my fingers. “Say the Guardians who are not guarding the people, but leaving them to be consumed by me and my kind. You are killing them, make no mistake. You think the people in the provinces enjoy their lives? Serving you. They have begun to imagine what their lives might be like without the Guardians telling them what to do all day. And I must say, I am more than happy to encourage them in this thinking. Imagine what my life would be like if there were no Guardians. No one to put me back in a jar and thwart me.” I raised my chin, a lecherous gaze sliding over Faran. “Though I would like your spirit before you died. I almost had it once. It was delicious.”
Faran’s jaw tightened, his colour rising. “Let’s play along, Aegyir. You kill all of the Guardians. Eventually, you’ll run out of people to feed off and your energy will go. You can’t host the spirit, only transport it. It leaks away and you must take another. What will you do when you’ve taken them all? The spirit will seep away, and you’ll be a wraith again.”
I clicked my tongue. “Faran, you really should go Outside more often. Aeron wants you to go there. There are billions of people Outside. And they keep reproducing. I would leave The Realm and live Outside. It’s overpopulated as it is. I would be doing it a favour. My demands would never outstrip the supply Outside. I could live forever.”
“Is that what the other demons want, too?” said Faran.
I pouted. “One, I do wish you would stop calling us demons. It makes
us sound so evil. Two, I have no idea what the others want, other than that they did not want to be trapped in a bottle or forced to fetch and carry, any more than I did. You would have to ask them what they want. I am not their spokesperson.”
There was a knock on the door, and I turned my attention to it. Hesta peered in through the grille, her eyes wide.
Lord Eredan opened the door. “What stones do you have?”
“All of them.” Her voice trembled, and the box with the stones in rattled in her hands.
My gaze swung to Faran. “Are you going to let her experiment on your darling wife?”
“Just the stone we think is the same as the talisman,” said Faran, softly.
Hesta eyed my cuffs and chains and handed a necklace to Faran. I snapped my teeth at her, and she scurried backwards.
“Wise move, little technician. I would eat you in a heartbeat.”
Faran crouched next to me. “Don’t make me hurt you.”
I glowered, yearning to kill him. Faran reached around me, fastening the new stone around my neck. My head cleared instantly. My shoulders sagged with relief at getting Aegyir out of my head.
“Aeron?”
“Mm. I’m back.”
“How do I know?”
“Well, I’d say test my leathers but you’re too sensible to bring a knife too close to me. Or you should be.”
He chuckled. “You certainly sound more like Aeron.” He sat back and untucked a knife from the back of his trousers, using it to slice at my leg. I sat still. The leather held.
“You still had that in your belt?” I nodded to the dagger.
“I’m not foolish enough to be completely unarmed near you,” said Faran, arching a brow.
I turned to Hesta. “Have you got more talisman stones you want to check?”
She handed the box of necklaces over to Faran, pale-faced and staring. He tucked the knife at the small of his back again and systematically went through the box of stones, putting each one on me in turn, and then testing my leathers. The whole box kept me free from Aegyir, but the constant flipping of my brain left me drained and with a screaming headache. As the last one settled around my neck, I held up my hands.