All the King's Traitors

by Keylin Rivers

  Without missing a beat, she blasted the fireball at the nearest soldier. It landed squarely on his chest and sent him flying in the opposite direction.

  The soldiers hesitated for just a moment.

  “Attack!” The soldier in the front the pack pointed his sword in the air. Yells erupted from the group and they began to swoop in.

  Aurelia braced herself for the worst as she tried to conjure more fire, but she was already tired from her last wield.

  Then, behind the group of soldiers, a gigantic wave from the ocean below rose high above the cliff. A moment later, it came crashing down.

  Chapter 19

  Spearield, 11th Day of the Month of Warmth, 1114 A.F.F.

  Rohan paced across the room, looking from his wife back to his feet over and over.

  “No,” Elara finally said again as she sat on the edge of their bed.

  Rohan swung himself around one of the bedposts. The rickety bed shook under his weight. “It is our chance though.”

  “It’s not good enough,” Elara said, her voice cracking with emotion.

  “No time is going to be good enough!” He flung himself back the other way to face his wife. “Vallich is gone; he killed Erikah. The Elevenths have no leader, and there is news of a new Wielder from Zar who’s on the run!”

  “And what about Apollyon?” Elara said, placing her head in her hands.

  “He hasn’t gone to war himself in ages,” Rohan said as he took a seat next to her.

  “There will be an Ascension Trial.”

  “And we should take advantage of the chaos before it happens!”

  Elara leaned into her husband, gently placing her head upon his shoulder. Her cheek was warm, flushed full of with lust or anger he knew not, but still his shoulders dropped at her touch, the tension held in them melting away.

  “It still isn’t enough…”

  “Then when would it be enough?” Rohan said angrily, standing despite Elara’s delicately placed hear. “Because it wasn’t enough during the Battle of Burrath—”

  “We would have never won!”

  “They were our allies, they supplied us for years! I had to fight against them to keep my cover!” Rohan said, jumping to his feet again, “They needed us, and we weren’t there.”

  “And they lost. We would have been over!” Elara exclaimed, also rising from the bed. “Apollyon’s army has a few hundred Wielders and tens of thousands of soldiers who’ve been trained for war. You would ask me to pit our people against all of that?”

  “We don’t have to take them all at once.” Rohan placed his hands on his wife’s shoulders. She turned her gaze away. “We could sail south to Raknabrooke and recruit people to our cause. We’ll build up our armies.”

  Elara turned back to look straight at him, eyes ablaze. “Raknabrooke is a lawless land across a treacherous sea. Even if we got there, they would never help us—they kill our kind there!”

  “Then the Dozen Isles. The Vyvents have been at odds with the King for decades. They would surely aid our cause.”

  “And we’d have to go straight through the heart of Azanthea to get there,” Elara said, shaking her head softly.

  “Fine, we take Sable first, quietly, and free the Northern prisoners. They will fight for us—”

  “And Vallich?” Elara pleaded. “Where is he? What if he comes back? What if this is Apollyon’s plot to draw us out?”

  “It is a risk,” Rohan said sternly. “But we have to take it or we will never get off this island!”

  “And why must we take this great risk? We have peace here.”

  “I don’t have peace!” Rohan yelled. He fell back on the soft palm-leaf bed, covering his face with his hands. “I do not have peace,” he whispered again.

  Elara crept up beside him, crawling in between his arms and laying on his chest. “How is Libby?” she asked.

  Rohan groaned, this was the real source of his turmoil. “She’s grown so much,” Rohan said, “but they’ve done something to her. She is so intensely devout to the God-King. She hardly remembers me.”

  “I’m so sorry, my love,” Elara said, tracing her finger up and down Rohan’s arm.

  Tears pooled in the corner of his eyes. “We can save her.” A tear slid down a crease in Rohan’s face. Elara’s gentle fingers swiped it away and Rohan smiled at her touch.

  “Do you remember when you first came to us?” she asked.

  “Yes.” Rohan thought back to when they had caught a Northerner in Sable making his way to supply the island over ten years ago. As the head of the City of Sable’s security, he spent most of his time at the trade border wall. He had caught a Northerner trying to enter through the western gate.

  The day he caught the Northerner was exactly one year after Hectar had ordered the killing of Rohan’s lover, simply because they were both Wielders. Hectar had flipped a Zanthie to decide who would live and who would die. When the coin hit the ground and the Highwings side face upwards, Rohan’s life came crashing down. It was his love had to die, and because Hectar decided to be particularly cruel that day, he made Rohan do it. Rohan cringed as he remembered how she pleaded with him. But Hectar had captured his daughter as an assurance of sorts, even though she was not a product of that illicit relationship. And Rohan would do anything for his Libby, anything to keep her safe and alive. So he killed his lover.

  It haunted him to this day.

  That’s when he had become angry with all Azanthea. He had wanted revenge, so when the Northerner was captured at the gate, he turned a blind eye when they escaped. He followed him to see if the rumours of the Free-Wielders were true. That’s when he landed on this island—the Isle of Spearield—for the first time.

  “You believed in us,” Elara said quietly, still tracing Rohan’s arm. “You believed in the peace we have here.”

  “I still do,” Rohan croaked. “But the rest of the Azanthea—”

  “I will not risk our people for Azanthea,” Elara said bluntly. “I was voted in as our leader to protect us, and I have sworn to do that until the day I die.”

  “Your people want to do this!” Rohan exclaimed. “They’ve wanted to since the Battle of Burrath. They know we are the last hope for the world.”

  “My job is not to do what we want! It is to do what is best. To make the hard choices based on reason,” Elara said, pulling herself to lean over him. “You don’t think I want to go out there and help rid the world of the tyrant Apollyon? You don’t think I want to help you save your daughter? From the depths of my heart, I do, but that’s not my job. My job is to protect and provide for the people of Spearield.”

  “Please… we can help them. We can help everyone,” Rohan said, sitting up and forcing Elara off him. “We have the power to change things.”

  “These powers are not helpful. Anyone who believes the Historians’ tale about the forgiving skies and the First Fall is a fool.” Elara stood and positioned herself in front of Rohan. “These Godstones have created nothing but conflict and monsters like Vallich and Apollyon. People are scared, and they become vicious when they are scared. No human should have these powers. We are too flawed to handle them.”

  “But we do have them,” Rohan said his voice catching in his throat, “and we can use them to help.”

  “No,” Elara said sternly, pacing across the dirt floor. “I will not risk it.”

  “Please… for Libby. We’re her only hope,” he pleaded as tears streamed down his cheeks, the salt stinging his dry skin.

  Elara walked over to him, caressing his face in her hands and kneeling before him. “My love, you know better than anyone that even if we do this, we would not be able to save her. By the time we could get to her, they would have already ensured that any threat was eliminated,” Elara said, tears beginning to stream down her own cheeks. “That includes your daughter.”

  “Stop it!” he said, jumping to his feet. Through gritted teeth he continued. “Please, do this for me. I can’t keep going back…”

&nb
sp; “Then stay! Stop informing, stop watching the gates, and just come stay with us!” Elara said, crawling over to her husband, grabbing a hold of his pant leg. “Please stay with us, stay with me… I beg you.”

  “I can’t,” Rohan exclaimed, falling to his knees. He scooped Elara’s hands into his own and stared deeply into her tear-filled eyes. “Do this for me, do this for Libby. It is our time.”

  Elara sighed. “No. I can’t.”

  “Fine,” he said, shooting to his feet and walking to the door.

  “Where are you going?” Elara asked, pulling herself onto her knees.

  “Home.”

  “This is your home, your real home.”

  “No, my home is with my daughter,” Rohan said, looking over his shoulder. Elara leaned back onto her heels, disheveled from her tears.

  “Please,” Elara sobbed, “don’t go.”

  Rohan looked from Elara to the door. “I won’t betray you,” he said calmly, “but if there is no hope here, I won’t be back.”

  Elara started to reply, but Rohan was quick. He was already out the door, without even a look back.

  Chapter 20

  The Redcliffs, 11th Day of the Month of Warmth, 1114 A.F.F.

  Vallich had enough of watching the trio’s pathetic attempts at escape. They were cornered. He had been following them on the ledges below the cliffs, hidden between the gorges. He had originally planned to simply take their Godstones, but the information he overheard in the past day had proven to be most interesting. He had decided it would be much better to keep them around.

  “Attack!” Vallich heard one of the soldiers shout from above.

  He knew he had to act quickly. He reached into his leather pouch and pulled out a blue Godstone. He heard the roar of the ocean as he drew on its nearby power. This Godstone—this power—was new and unfamiliar to him. But Vallich was strong, having been conditioned to wield his entire life. The overwhelming power of a new Godstone barely fazed him anymore.

  As he felt the new connection building, the sounds of the nearby ocean overtook his mind. He could almost feel the Godstone resisting his command, as if it knew he was not its true Wielder.

  Vallich closed his eyes and reached his arm out, commanding a wave to rise. As he continued to lift his arm over his head, he could hear the wave rising on the other side of the cliff. When he opened his eyes, they were completely glossed over. He tilted his head upward. Through the opening of the gorge above, he could see the tip of the tidal wave hovering over the soldiers.

  In one swift motion, he clenched his fist above his head and brought his arm down like a hammer. Less than a second later, he heard cries and the clatter of water on metal. He smirked as his eyes faded back to their normal icy grey.

  “Run!” He heard the girl cry from atop the cliff as the soldiers were slammed under the water. Vallich scrambled on the ledges underneath, following the footsteps above. Water dripped into the gorges, making his climb to the surface difficult. He couldn’t let them get away.

  Vallich jumped from one of the ledges to another. His heart skipped a beat as he almost lost his footing on the slippery rock. He ran towards a narrow path that led to the surface. As he moved upward on the narrow path, he used his right arm to grip the side of the red rock, but his cloak kept getting in the way.

  He ripped off his dark cloak, letting it fall to the rocky depths below. His armour clanged on the rock as he climbed. The path narrowed, forcing him to shuffle sideways on his toes. He clenched the red rock tightly. He was moving as fast as he could, not wanting to let them get away.

  As he inched his way up the ledge, he finally felt his fingertips reach the top of the Redcliffs. He took a few more steps and reached his forearms on to the surface, then pushed off the small ledge and hoisted himself up.

  Vallich stood, looking towards the sea. Most of the soldiers were still down, a few were scrambling to their feet to pursue the rebels. He quickly scanned for the group and spotted them running north on the Redcliffs, back towards the forest in the distance.

  He looked from the three rebels to the soldiers. He couldn’t allow the three of them to make it to the forest—he would lose them again. No, he needed them to know who saved them. He turned back towards the injured soldiers.

  He placed his left hand over his water Godstone, calling upon its energy once again. He raised his right hand in front of him, the sea rising with it. This tidal wave grew to almost double the height of the cliff, and, with one swift motion of his arm, the wave came hurtling down. The crashing water forcing the metal to meet the rocks was even louder this time. Vallich watched with satisfaction as the few soldiers who had gotten up crumbled back to the ground.

  They were not getting up again anytime soon.

  Vallich turned his back on the soldiers to face the group heading towards the forest. They had stopped to look back. He stood still, careful not to alarm them.

  “I mean you no harm,” he yelled out, taking a couple of steps in their direction. They were fixated on him. He had them exactly where he wanted.

  “Who are you?” Aurelia asked, taking a step back from the approaching man.

  “A Wielder,” the young man replied with a smile as he approached them.

  “He’s wearing their uniform,” Ion whispered so quietly it wouldn’t have been audible to the stranger. Aurelia looked the man up and down. Ion was right, he was dressed in an army uniform.

  The man took a step closer. He was young—probably not much older that Aurelia. His dark hair was slicked back and he had hard features. Even from a distance, Aurelia could see his piercing eyes. Her stomach clenched; he seemed eerily familiar.

  “Stop right there,” Aurelia shouted. She clutched her Godstone in one hand, and motioned for Ion and Kuba to move back with the other.

  “I mean no harm.” The man launched his hands in the air to reveal that he had nothing in them. He flashed a broad smile. “I was nearby and heard a ruckus. I thought I would help.”

  “Why would a soldier help us?” Aurelia asked, clutching her Godstone even tighter now. She ushered Kuba and Ion behind her.

  “Oh, this?” He brought his hands down onto his armour and chuckled. “I escaped a faction of the army in the East. I was stationed at Frontguarde, just south of Granbek. When I wear this, people generally keep their distance.”

  Aurelia was still skeptical. Fronteguarde was very far away, but having done training there herself, she knew that it was where most new Elevenths were sent.

  “Where are you headed?” the man asked, breaking the silence.

  “The City of Sable,” Kuba chimed in without hesitation.

  Aurelia turned around and gave him a warning glare; the boy didn’t know when to keep his mouth shut.

  “What a coincidence, so am I,” he said with a casual smile. “I haven’t been able to get into the city on my own, though. I am afraid some of the soldiers may recognize me. Perhaps we can help each other? I have a plan that would work.”

  “What is your business in Sable?” Aurelia asked, completely disregarding his offer.

  “To visit a friend,” the man said, his face turning sombre. “They took my parents when I was drafted. He is the only person from my childhood left. I took to my hometown to find him, but I was told he had moved. Someone back home told me he was here. I have to try to find him.”

  “Where is home?” Aurelia asked. Perhaps she had known him in the North.

  “The mines of Míastrad,” he answered.

  “Hmm,” Aurelia replied.

  “Look, I mean you no harm. I was just trying to help out.”

  “Right. Well, thank you. We best be on our way.”

  The man looked slightly disappointed. “Sure, right.”

  Aurelia quickly turned around, moving away from the stranger and continuing north towards the forest. She grabbed Kuba by the shoulders and reeled him around. The boys immediately followed her.

  “We need help getting into the city, and he has an idea,” she wh
ispered as they walked away. She glanced over her shoulder to see the young man walking in the opposite direction. “What do you think?”

  “He saved us. I liked him!” Kuba said.

  “Shhh!” Aurelia hissed. Sometimes his back and forth between panic and excitement really threw her off. “Ion?”

  “I don’t trust him,” Ion said. “But I suppose I didn’t quite trust you.”

  “I don’t think it’s a matter of trust, but more of necessity,” Aurelia replied. She could never fully trust this man. Frankly, she didn’t even fully trust Ion and Kuba. And this person had even admitted to being part of the army. But if he truly was a deserter, Aurelia sympathized. “Should we see what he has to say?”

  Kuba bounced beside her, clearly engergized from the attack. “Yes!”

  “Fine,” Ion grumbled.

  “Alright.” Aurelia nodded. “If any of us notices something off about him, we will part ways immediately. Got it?”

  “Got it,” Kuba and Ion said simultaneously.

  “Hey!” Aurelia called out to the stranger. The young man turned around. She motioned for him to join them. They waited silently as he walked over.

  “What can I do for you?” the young man said politely.

  “You said you may have an plan that could get us into the city?”

  “I do.”

  “Well, we need one,” Aurelia replied, sticking out her hand.

  The stranger smiled, took it in his, and shook it firmly. “Wonderful, I’m Vincent,” he said with a gleaming smile, his icy stare piercing into her. “Nice to meet you.”

  Chapter 21

  Somewhere on the Outskirts of Sable, 11th Day of the Month of Warmth, 1114 A.F.F.

  “I wanted to say thank you for taking me in,” Vallich said with a feigned smile as he took the remnants of their meagre dinner over to his horse. Arion, who he had hidden in the nearby woods, quite enjoyed the mixture of greens they had gathered.