by Ryan Muree
Her palms found the cool glass on the window. Ether swirled behind them, but the great height below their cabin window was still there and clear as ever.
She needed this. She needed him. Too long they’d gone without even a word, and this spoke volumes between them. They belonged together even worlds apart. They were meant for each other, destiny be damned.
Grier’s hands moved her against him, urging her to open up to him.
She bent forward against the glass just enough, taking in as much of himself as he’d give her.
He filled her, and she held him there, savoring the fullness of him. A satisfaction found nowhere else.
Never had she felt more loved than when she was in his grasp, and he in hers. Safe. Adored. Worshipped…
His hands worshipped her skin, her back, her hair as he gave himself to her, thrusting in a rhythm that made every nerve of her body beg for greater depth, greater force, greater need.
More. She needed more. “More,” she demanded. “More.”
He obeyed. Oh, Goddess did he obey.
She braced herself against the glass, moaning at the pleasure of him. She let him bring her to the brink of ecstasy until she was on her toes and calling out his name again.
He brought her there, and the burst of light and energy within caught fire on her skin. Wave after wave, it was a tsunami, a cyclone storm with turbulent currents, washing over her and tossing her out at sea. Her resolve had shattered with the glass, and she gave herself to him, losing herself with him and he with her. His own pulses matched hers, and it renewed her, knowing this had pleased him as much as he’d pleased her.
The ether went silent and still; her heart, not so much.
They’d stayed connected as one for several moments, heartbeats, breaths, and she leaned back against his chest.
His mouth was at her neck again and whispering, “Emeryss, I love you… Emeryss, I won’t let anything bad happen… Emeryss, I’ll never leave you…”
She turned and held his face to hers, kissing him over and over. “I love you. Be careful. Be safe. I’ll wait for you. I’ll find you.”
She wrapped her arms around him and held on until she let sleep steal her away.
Chapter 32
Yggrav’s hut — Stadhold
Grier groaned awake, his head foggy with new memories. His body ached in every way imaginable. His arms, his hands, even his chest and shoulders, but he was alive. He’d survived the extra sigils Yggrav had carved into his skin the night before.
“Sleep well?” she called out from the kitchen. “You’re the last one up.”
He was?
He felt like he’d slept well. Too well, actually.
Ether flooded his memory with its undulating patterns of colors. It was one of the most beautiful things he’d ever seen.
Usually, after the sigils were carved, he’d see the ethereal plane for blips of a moment, but not last night. Last night, he’d stayed as long as he’d dared and…
He hadn’t been alone.
Emeryss.
Her mouth, her hands, the feel of her body…
He’d met her there, and they’d…
Yes, he’d slept very well.
“Well,” Yggrav continued, breaking him from the dream. “If you’re awake, then you need to come see something.”
He cleared his dry throat, rubbed his eyes, and willed his muscles to stand himself up.
The old woman tightened a shawl around her shoulders and opened her front door. “Come on, now. Go. They’re waiting for you.”
He hadn’t even had time to put his shirt back on or find his armor, but when he poked his head out, he’d found both of his brothers, Garrison and Gage, in full armor and chatting with Kylah and a few other commanders. Behind them, a sea of Keepers was putting on armor and gathering supplies.
“What is this?” he asked.
“Hey, guess who’s up?” Garrison smiled.
Kylah gestured to a tall man with his hair in a bun beside her. “Commander Curt, this is Grier Rinnegan.”
Grier nodded at him.
Garrison jutted a finger over his shoulder. “Commander Isolde and Commander Arte.”
A middle-aged woman with blond hair and an older man with a shaved head and a few scars nodded to him.
Garrison pointed to their taller, older brother beside him. “And you already know this asshole.”
Aside from Gage’s quick trip home on Grier’s return from Ingini, Grier hadn’t really seen Gage in years. He’d been running scouting groups all over Revel, and their mother loved to brag about his work while simultaneously whining about her sons never choosing their marriage matches.
Gage smiled. “I’m not here because you told off our mother. I’m here because you’re right.”
Grier accepted it. “This means a lot to me, guys, thank you.”
“Don’t thank us yet,” Commander Isolde said. “We brought all we could, but we had to give them the option.”
Commander Arte nodded with her. “No more tradition. If they want to fight for their country, then they do it of their own free will.”
“They weren’t all willing to test extra sigils,” Commander Curt added. “But they’re willing to fight for Stadhold’s future—it’s real future.”
“And what about Jgenult?” he asked.
Gage took a sharp breath. “It was Jgenult who’d contacted me. She and Commander Simon agreed to act. You have her full support, and she helped round up as many as she could. But this was all we could get ready to leave on a moment’s notice.”
Grier stepped between them, looking out over the small army that had come to help. “How many?” he asked.
“About five hundred,” Commander Curt said. “It’s not a lot, but we can definitely make a dent.”
“We’ll make it work,” Kylah said. “Especially those of us with our new sigils.”
Garrison was smiling at Grier until he was forced to address him. “What? What is it?”
Garrison shrugged. “When do you want to leave, Little G?”
Grier looked at the others. “Well, what’s the plan?”
They all stared back at him.
“I think,” Yggrav said, “this is for you to plan.”
Aurelis aqueducts — Revel
Cayn wrangled an advisor by the arm and collar forcefully. “Get moving,” he ordered.
Their group was supposed to be taking over the advisor’s manor, but then they’d found this guy screaming at RCA in his front yard. Thankfully, his Ingini slaves were already running. So, Cayn decided to tie him up and take him in since he was easy pickings.
“I-I-’m not the enemy,” the man whimpered.
No, he was just part of this big, ugly scheme to destroy two countries for the sake of his wealth and power.
Cayn dragged him through the stairwells and around the tunnels they’d learned to navigate. He’d stuffed the man’s ears with some tiny foam things Revelians used for sleep and had covered his head with a pillowcase.
He rounded one of the final corners, and Mack and Clove shot up from their seats, rubbing their hands nervously on their pant legs.
What had they been talking about?
He’d known Mack always had a thing for Clove, and he’d suspected she’d always cared about him, too. Maybe it was becoming something more. But then, she shouldn’t be embarrassed about it. Especially with him. They’d probably feel better if they just screwed each other and moved on with it.
“Who is that?” Clove pointed to the guy he’d accosted.
“An advisor.” Cayn shook him out a little.
The man flinched and shrugged away.
Mack rubbed the back of his neck and sucked in. “You taking him to her?”
Cayn nodded and pushed the man forward.
Mack and Clove followed.
“Who?” the man asked. “Who are you taking me to?”
“Shut up,” Cayn barked at him, directing the man with one hand on his shoulder.
&n
bsp; “Can you take me to the REV?” he asked. “I think I can help them.”
“We’ll see about that.”
Several of the other members moved around in their makeshift camp. Some had taken to cooking food for the survivors or tending to wounds of citizens who needed a place to stay.
Adalai and Emeryss were kneeling on the ground, looking over a map Adalai had scratched into the stone floor. Their eyes found his immediately.
“What is this?” Adalai asked.
“I found this advisor outside of his house,” Cayn said. “We were supposed to be freeing his slaves, but he made it too easy to grab him, and his slaves were already running.”
Adalai squinted in the ether-lamp light and approached him. With one swipe of her hand, she pulled off the pillowcase.
The man blinked and jerked his head back.
“Unbelievable,” she muttered.
The man’s eyes widened. “Adalai! Adalai, you’re alive! Please, listen to me, I’m not—”
She punched him square across the jaw. A great swing by Cayn’s account.
The man cried out but lifted his head again.
“This isn’t an advisor,” Adalai said. “He’s Lieutenant Nendrik, a high-ranking official in the RCA, and I’ve been dying to do that to him for years now.”
“Adalai,” Nendrik managed through all of his blubbering. “You have to listen to me. I asked your friend here to take me to find the REV. I want to help.”
She scowled at him. “Why in the world would I ever want your help?”
Chapter 33
Aurelis aqueducts — Revel
Adalai would maul Nendrik if she could. The punch wasn’t enough.
Though her knuckles ached, it’d been worth it.
Nendrik’s gaze began to wander, to take in his surroundings, to learn where they’d taken him.
She snapped her fingers in front of his nose. “Want to get punched again?”
He glared at her. “Though I realize I’m at your disposal, to resort to physical aggression instead of casting really shows where your head’s at.”
Was he getting smug? Was he insulting her for punching him in the face? He wanted another one, right in the eye. That’s what he was saying.
She pulled back her fist.
“I-I-I’m… Let me start over! I can help you take down Orr.”
Adalai scoffed, then chuckled, then laughed… hard. “You seriously think I’m that much of an idiot?”
He swallowed.
“You really think I’m going to believe you have nothing to do with what’s going on up there in the palace, or Orr’s plan for all of this, or the king?”
“He killed him. I watched him do it.” Nendrik blinked several times. “He’d just gotten himself and the king out of the arena after the explosions, and as soon as the guards left, Orr killed him. I’d missed the tournament and had come into the office to see what had happened when he did it.”
Cayn shook his head. “Sounds like some convenient hol-shit.”
Adalai agreed.
Nendrik’s eyes widened. “No, I swear. He doesn’t know I saw. He’s put himself in the king’s office. He has his top guard around him at all times—”
“Why? He’s plenty capable,” Adalai said.
Nendrik shifted his weight repeatedly. Nervous? Lying? “I think he’s afraid someone’s coming for him,” he said.
“Who?”
“You.”
Chills moved through her. He was hiding in an office, surrounded by protection, anticipating her coming for him? Why was he that scared? It all seemed a little far-fetched, but if Nendrik was a plant to get her to trust him so that Orr could gain information on them, she wouldn’t let him get away with it.
“I’ve been coming for him since the beginning,” she bit. “The moment he took me in, my goal has been to take him down.”
“He’s always been a bit paranoid,” Nendrik said. “That’s certainly what he thinks.”
“Good.” She walked away from him and waved her hand at Cayn.
She wasn’t sure what she’d meant by it and hoped he’d interpret it as dumping Nendrik’s body in the aqueduct or strangling him or whatever it was Cayn was comfortable with. She wouldn’t get picky about the details.
In truth, her heart ached a little. Orr had always been paranoid of her? Afraid she’d betray him and stab him in the back? Is that all he saw in her? She’d… She’d almost—a very, very long time ago—had considered him to be like a father. But that was when she was younger. Much younger. And this whole time he was waiting for her to kill him? To stop him?
“You can’t walk in the front door,” Nendrik said hurriedly before Cayn could take him away.
She looked back at him. “Really, Nendrik? I can’t walk in the front door?” she mocked.
He truly thought she was an idiot.
“Not without me,” he clarified. She glared at him, and he lifted his chin. “He still trusts me. I can get you in.”
She looked over at a silent Emeryss and then back to him.
“The outer ring is swarming with RCA. You’ll never make it through. He has the outer perimeter of the palace grounds protected by four sound Casters at all times. But, he only has six fire and water Casters posted outside his office, and two energy Casters within the office,” Nendrik said.
Unfortunately, that added up. That was the precise number of officers he had in his first troop.
She crossed her arms. “Let’s say I believe you. What would your help change? How would you get me inside that office?”
“You be me.” Nendrik tried to wiggle his hands free as he spoke, but Cayn didn’t budge. “You Glamour yourself to look like me, and they’ll let you walk right inside. I just need to stay out of sight, so they don’t see two of us.”
It wasn’t a terrible idea actually, assuming he was telling the truth.
“He’s lying,” Cayn said. “Orr probably kicked him out, and he’s setting you up in a trap. Look at his eyes.”
She waved him off. “He always looks that creepy.”
Nendrik huffed. “That’s not—”
“But he’s got a point,” she said. “I can’t trust you’re in his good graces enough to risk it. Oddly enough, I’d only find out when I’m deep enough to be caught. Seems very convenient for you.”
“He told me to go home and kill my workers,” he blurted out. “He told me to get rid of them all—”
“Your slaves?” she corrected.
Nendrik paused for a moment. “I actually care about mine. I came home, and he’d sent RCA ahead of me. Those workers are my family—”
She scoffed, but that actually checked out, too. Everyone had joked about his eternal bachelordom. Still…
Cayn clicked his tongue. “He’s actually not lying about that part. We found him casting at the RCA, screaming at them. He wasn’t paying any attention to his slaves running.”
“I set them free,” he said. “I’m not the bad guy.”
That line was rich.
She gestured toward the other tunnel. “Lock him up in the empty storage room.”
Cayn gripped him by the arms and dragged him away.
“You’re running out of time!” Nendrik shouted. “The Ingini are already on their way!”
Cayn stopped, and Clove stepped forward.
“We received word today,” Nendrik explained quickly, “that the Ingini are on their way in. They’ve learned we’re vulnerable, that Orr has control, but it’ll be limited when his RCA have to focus on their own people. They’re coming to take us down. They’ve already breached the border.”
Shit.
“How would they know that?” Emeryss asked.
“It’s all over the Messengers,” Nendrik said.
“That would be true.” Clove looked at Mack and then to Cayn. “They’d broadcast things from here all the time. The Ingini reporters would talk about it for hours, but I’m sure they know everything. If it’s on your Messengers, it’s all across I
ngini.”
“See?” Nendrik added. “The king and Orr weren’t interested in working with the Ingini, but the rest of the advisors were pushing for at least a truce for trade. If you stop Orr in time, we can end the war. I promise, Adalai, I’m not lying—”
“Take him,” she commanded.
Cayn dragged him off, and she exhaled loudly.
As much as she hated Nendrik, as much as she wished the worst parasite in the world would crawl into his ear and make him crazy, she believed him. Everything he said rang true with what she knew, and apparently with what Clove and Cayn knew, too.
After a brief pause, Emeryss cleared her throat. “Do you still want to do this?”
Adalai chewed her lip. “We have to.”
“We’ve thought through every possible solution. If he’s being honest, and we can manage to avoid the outer ring somehow, it sounds like the best option.”
She agreed.
What else could they do? Otherwise, they would storm the palace, and it’d never be enough to take the whole thing by force. They couldn’t break through the outer walls, the gates, and the guards in the inner ring… Not by force.
“You and I,” Emeryss continued, “had already anticipated having to be sneaky about it.”
“What if he’s lying? What if it’s a trap? You heard him about his slaves. He said mine and workers. He thought he owned them, Emeryss—”
“It’s not perfect, but setting them free was a step in the right direction.” Emeryss shrugged a shoulder. “He saw them as human, which I agree shouldn’t be the bar we set, but it’s better than Orr. It’s better than half the RCA doing whatever they’re told like idiots. And I’m not sure Nendrik can afford to set you up in a trap. He knows he’s dead if he missteps here. I’m not sure what he has to gain by lying. Was he blindly loyal to Orr? Ever?”
No. They’d actually butted heads quite often when it came to financing armies, but he was so far up the king’s ass she’d thought he was the parasite in the king’s ear.