“What vault?” Olivia repeated. “We scanned the entire palace and found nothing.”
Orla barged her way into the great hall. “You heard my son. Find the vault. It’s not going to be lying around; it’ll be sealed by magic.” She moved to Urien’s side. “Start looking for it. Now, get out, all of you.”
Both the guards and the Gliss left without so much as a glance his way.
His fists clenched. “Who let you out?” he growled. “Don’t order my people around like that. They answer to me now.”
“Just as well I’m here. Look at you,” she sneered. “You’ll never convince anyone you’re the archdruid. You’re barely in control.”
“Maybe you should’ve done your job and found my real body. Then I wouldn’t be in this mess.” Urien rocked back and forth.
Murderous bitch, Xander said. She won’t help you, brother. She has her own agenda planned. You’ll never find Papa’s vault either, because it doesn’t exist.
“What makes you think I trust you?” Urien snapped, still clutching at his head and grabbing fistfuls of his hair. No—not his hair. Xander’s hair. Everything about this body felt wrong, alien to him. “This is my body. You’re nothing more than memory.”
Orla clutched his arm. “Stop listening to him. Drink the potion I made for you; it will help to silence him.”
“I can’t. He’s always inside my mind.”
“We’ll find your body soon enough. Rhiannon won’t leave her precious Xander to suffer.” She gripped his shoulder. “You need allies, not just anyone. Time to reach out to the races that live beyond the mists. Remind them who the archdruid is.”
Urien settled back on Darius’s throne as Xander’s voice fell silent for a moment. “I tried contacting the other elders. We need true power. I need allies if I’m to win over the five lands. They won’t answer me, Mama.” He rested his chin on his hand, sighing.
“I know. I fell out of favour with them because Darius died, but your siblings escaped. Our deal with them was for all the Valerans to die.”
“How did Father know?” Urien asked. “He was prepared. That’s why he cast that damned spell to protect me and my siblings from death. The bastard did it to stop me from killing them.”
“Someone must’ve warned him. Probably that seer who told Rhiannon about the house of Valeran falling.”
Urien remembered Ann coming to him. Telling him how a strange seer had predicted their family’s demise. He’d kept her distracted by having a rogue sorcerer and ogres attack her. He’d hired an assassin to attack Darius as well, to make it look convincing. The man had failed. But it had been enough to keep everyone distracted whilst Orla and their people snuck into the palace on the night of the revolution.
Even Ann had seemed to believe the threat was over.
“Our goal is not to just gain allies, but to get the elders back on our side.” Orla patted his shoulder. “Prove to everyone you’re the archdruid and break through the mists. You have already taken Trin; the border mists are only a matter of time.”
Urien picked up his goblet and gulped down the brew. The liquid burned the back of his throat. “Mama, this potion you made to repress Xander’s spirit isn’t working. You need to find a way to rid me of him.” If he had to remain stuck in Xander’s body, he would at least be the only occupant in it. The potion dulled his senses but did little to mute Xander’s annoying voice.
“When you find the vault, we’ll have a way of solving all our problems, son.” Orla smiled.
The doors to the great hall burst open as Constance stumbled in. Water dripped down her hair and face. Grass and dirt covered her leather bodysuit.
Urien rose. “What are you doing back here?” he demanded. “I told you to take control and stay on Trin until—”
“It’s gone. The island is gone.” Connie wiped her sopping wet hair off her face.
His eyes narrowed. “Gone? What do you mean?”
“Rhiannon and her rogues came. She sank the island and killed everyone stationed there,” Connie said. “The island sank beneath the sea. She used her magic to do it. I escaped and used your transportation potion to get back here.”
Urien’s hands tightened into fists.
Xander laughed. See, told you Ann’s stronger than you.
Quiet.
“An entire island can’t just sink,” Orla scoffed. “Even Rhiannon isn’t that powerful.”
“Rhiannon could do it. She’s connected to Erthea, to nature as the archdruid.” Urien gritted his teeth. “What about Ceara?”
“I left her to drown.” Connie’s lip curled. “No more than that traitorous bitch deserved.”
Urien rose from his throne and took several strides across the hall. He grabbed the Gliss by the throat and lightning flared in his other hand. “Where is she? I told you to break her.”
Connie’s eyes widened in shock. “She…she…they saved her. One of them—the beast—tried to kill her. Rhiannon stopped him.” Connie gasped. “They took her with them.”
Urien pulled out one of the shock rods and pressed it to her throat. He channelled his own magic through it. Connie sank to her knees as volts of electricity shot through the cold metal of the rod. She screamed as the static rolled over her body.
Urien drew back. “Next time I give you an order, you’d better carry it out. I wanted Ceara alive.” He kicked her in the stomach, then kicked her in the head. “Take her to the cells. I want her punished for her failure.” He motioned for the guards outside to take away.
Urien stormed off to his private chamber. The room had once been Darius’s office. It had a high vaulted ceiling, a huge fireplace, and empty shelves. Maps and a tapestry of Trin had once lined the barren grey stone walls. They’d all been stripped down after the revolution. Urien was determined to make this room his own.
All the books and maps were gone, but he’d already begun replacing them. A new map of the five lands hung over the fireplace. Caselhelm appeared in the most detail. Parts of Asral had been sealed off, and most of Lulrien had been lost to the toxic mists over the centuries. So mapmakers had been using the same images of the lost land for years to fill in the blanks.
Urien ran a finger over Trin. The druid isle looked like a tiny speck compared to Caselhelm, Asral, Gumorya, and Vala.
“Fuck you, Rhiannon. Took one of the jewels in my crown, didn’t you?” It didn’t matter. Trin had been a small part of a much bigger puzzle he’d been building since his return.
It would take time to control all five lands as he intended. There were dozens of races and territories for him to conquer. Darius had controlled Caselhelm, the northernmost land, along with the icy mountains of Gumorya and the desert land of Vala. Asral, the largest and most central land, had fallen in part to the former archdruid.
After two hundred years of rule, Darius had what Urien wanted. What he’d been promised when he made a deal with the elders.
Urien smiled. Even the beings of old despised his father as much as he had. Now, when he needed them most, they wouldn’t come to him.
“Where were you going, sister? Most races won’t help you because of the way former archdruids helped to enslave them,” Urien said. “You can’t leave Caselhelm for long. Gumorya is close, but its mountains are long and harsh. They fear you there too. Asral, then? There are many leaders there. You might even find an ally.” He ran his fingers over the map. “Vala? No, the desert tribes never had much love for us Northerners either.” He drew back from the map. “I don’t have to find out. I have a spy in your midst.”
He moved around his desk and picked up a scrying mirror. “Taispeáin dom Ceara.” Urien despised the ancient druid tongue, but the magic in him still responded to it.
The black glass shimmered, rippling over it like water in a pool as colour flooded through it.
The face of his sister stared back at him. Her long wavy blonde hair peeked out from the hood of her coat. Urien didn’t understand why she wore something so similar to the old Black’s
uniform. With her pale blue eyes and pale skin, she still looked as lovely as ever. Not beautiful in a traditional sense, but striking. She looked so much like their bastard father. More than Urien or Xander ever had. Urien guessed that was why Darius had favoured her most.
“We need to get you to a healer,” Ann said.
So, Ceara is injured. Urien smile widened. Good, that should slow them down enough for my men to track them.
“I don’t need a healer,” Ceara insisted. “Where are we going?”
Ann rubbed something over Ceara’s skin, no doubt to heal her wounds.
See. She saved Ceara, Xander remarked.
Fool, I wanted Ceara alive. The bitch has a tracking spell burned into her flesh. I wonder how long our dear sister will take to find it. Shut up.
“Somewhere safe,” Ann replied.
Ed appeared. “We couldn’t find a healer in the village,” he told her, peeking into the tent.
Ah, my sister’s ever faithful lapdog. Now, where are they headed?
“Did you even try to find one?” Ann rose to her feet.
“Yes. Jax told an apothecary we had a Gliss with us, so I doubt we’ll find much help.” Ed clutched the hilt of his sword. “We need to get moving. If we leave some supplies—”
“We’re not leaving her. She’s in no fit state to take care of herself,” Ann snapped.
“I’m not an invalid.” Ceara scowled at them.
“Get dressed. We’ve got a long journey ahead of us.” Ann moved outside the tent.
Urien raised his hand to activate the spell he’d placed on Ceara. The skin on Ceara’s neck flared with light and a spot on the map appeared above the fireplace.
Coleridge. Close to Trin. Or where Trin had once been.
So, my sister trusts you, Ceara, but not enough to tell you where they are going. No need, I can find you no matter where you go.
“Send out my sorcerers,” Urien told the guard outside the door. “Tell them to follow my sister but not to get too close.”
One way or another, he’d find that vault, and one by one, the lands would bow to him.
Chapter 5
Ann wasn’t surprised when she heard the news a healer wouldn’t help them. She did feel annoyed Ed and Jax had told someone about travelling with a Gliss. She applied ointments to Ceara’s wounds instead. She doubted they would do much good; Ceara still needed a real healer to treat any possible internal injuries.
She conjured one of their tents and got to work on checking over Ceara’s injuries. Jagged burn marks covered her skin in different places where the magic from the shock rods had touched her. It made Ann shudder to think of the kind of torture Xander must have endured during his imprisonment before Orla had managed to put Urien’s soul inside his body. The spirits only knew what he’d be enduring now at Urien’s hand.
Ann cast a couple of healing spells anyway. Even if they only had limited effect, they might do some good. Too bad Gliss had a natural resistance to magic.
“I meant what I said,” Ceara told her, wincing as Ann rubbed more ointment over her shoulders. “I want to help you in the fight against Urien. No matter what the others think. You helped me; I always repay my debts.”
“You don’t owe me anything,” Ann replied. “And if we don’t get you to a healer soon, you might not be fighting against Urien for very long.”
Ceara snorted. “Are you joking? You were right about Urien. The bastard cast me aside for his new favourite, Constance. I stayed true to him all these years,” she said. “You’re the only one who can stop him.” She flinched as Ann applied some healing balm to a wound on her forehead. “And I don’t need a healer, I’ll be fine. That stuff you’re putting over me feels pretty good.”
“It only numbs the pain and reduces the risk of infection. You need a healer to check you over. Your bruising could be masking internal injuries.” Ann started reapplying the lids to the different jars. She had spent some time working in healing houses a few years earlier, when her mother was alive. Ann had never been trained as formal healer and only knew the basics of healing care. “Is that the only reason why you want to help us?” Ann shoved the vials back into her pack. “To get back at Urien?” She understood why the others were so distrustful of Ceara. But the Gliss had proved useful when she’d helped Ann escape from Urien’s grasp.
Plus, Xander had asked her to help the Gliss, and she’d honour her brother’s wishes.
Ceara shook her head. “No, Gliss are meant to serve the most powerful person—that’s you,” she said. “I’m tired of Orla’s regime. I’ve been helping the resistance in secret for years. I wondered about what my life would be like if I hadn’t chosen Urien, now I’ll find out.” She winced as she sat up. “I’m still a Gliss—nothing will change that, but I swear fealty to you, Archdruid Rhiannon Valeran.”
Ann’s eyes widened. She hadn’t expected that. An oath of fealty was binding. Like the vows the Black had made to her father. “I accept, but you need some new clothes. You can’t travel in those things. I have—”
“I need my leather bodysuit,” Ceara insisted. “They took it from me. No doubt you have one somewhere in that bag of yours. I know you’ve pretended to be a Gliss before; you broke into one of our temples.”
“Maybe I do, but dressing as a Gliss will only make people warier of you.” Ceara would stick out too much if she dressed like a Gliss. Ann, Ed, Jax, and Sage all had glamour spells disguising their true appearances. It made it much easier for them to blend in. They couldn’t afford to stick out whenever they went anywhere. They needed to blend, to look like ordinary travellers without arousing any suspicions.
“I’m not ashamed of what I am. Now, unless you want me to walk around half-naked, give me the suit.”
Ann fumbled inside her bag. She yanked out the brown leather suit and handed it to Ceara. “I’ll be outside. Do you think you can walk? Do you need help dressing?”
“I’m sure wolfy could carry me, which would be more fun. But I’ll manage.”
Ann headed outside, where Sage rounded on her. “Have you lost your mind?” she hissed. “We can’t have her with us. It’s like giving Urien a beacon to follow us with.”
“I’ll use her to learn everything I can about Urien. She knows things about him that I don’t,” Ann said. “She can stay with us for now. If she tries anything, I’ll deal with it.”
Sage threw up her hands in exasperation. “Rhiannon, be reasonable. The Gliss are our enemies. She’ll kill us the first chance she gets. You shouldn’t be blinded out of some sense of childhood loyalty to her. She betrayed everyone when she had an affair and chose Urien. You seem to have forgotten about that. She fought on the enemy’s side the night your parents were murdered.”
Ann winced at the mention of her parents’ murder. “I haven’t forgotten about that. Just give Ceara the chance to prove she is different now. Let’s get moving.” She turned away from the other druid.
Ceara emerged from the tent dressed from head to toe in brown leather. The suit covered her from the leather corset that covered her torso down to her black leather boots and gloved hands. She still looked every inch a Gliss.
“Well, at least she looks the part now,” Jax remarked, gripping his staff a little tighter.
“Ann —” Ed began.
She held up a hand to silence him. “You’ve already told me how you feel about her. Let’s get moving. We’ve got a long way to go on foot,” she said. “We’ll see if we can get new horses along the way.”
They’d lost their other horses during their escape from the palace in Larenth and hadn’t had a chance to purchase any more yet. Moving around so much, they had to be careful how much coin they spent. Ann, Ed and Xander had taken on jobs when they could in the past. Most of the time it was easier and cheaper just to walk or transport themselves to different places. Whatever horses they did manage to buy never seemed to last very long. Either the poor creatures suffered during their incessant battles or they just had to leave them behind.
“Where are we going?” Ceara asked, brushing her long black hair off her face. The only good thing the suit did was to cover up most of her extensive bruising and burns.
“That’s not your concern,” Ed retorted. “You’re also not have any weapons while you’re with us, is that clear?”
Ann saw the former guard and protector in him shining through. “He’s right,” she agreed. If it kept the others at ease, she wouldn’t allow Ceara to be armed. Even injured, Ann suspected Ceara could still take care of herself without the use of any weapons.
Ceara frowned. “How am I supposed to defend myself?” She put her hands on her hips.
“I’m sure you can kill people with your bare hands.” Sage shuddered, giving the Gliss another glare. “Let’s go.”
Ed and Jax went to the village and got five new horses from there—since Sage couldn’t continue on foot and Ceara still had injuries—two black stallions and three mares. One mare was grey, the other two were a mix of black and white. Ed tied Ceara’s horse to Jax’s and told him to kill Ceara if she made any wrong moves—despite Ann’s orders.
That annoyed Ann, but she knew it would take a while for both men to trust their foster sister again. She only hoped they could learn to. Travelling with them and Ceara bickering all the time wasn’t going to be a very pleasant experience.
They made their way across the planes. Expanses of open grassland stretched out before them, where land and sky seemed to meet in the middle. It felt good to be away from any crowded villages or being stuck in one place. But being so out in the open with barely more than a few trees and a scattering of cows in the distance made Ann uneasy. Out here, they were visible to any potential attacks.
“What has Urien been up to since his return?” Ann asked Ceara and detached Ceara’s mare from Jax’s stallion.
“I have been imprisoned, remember?” Ceara remarked. “I haven’t learned much of anything over the past month. Urien kept me locked up and the other Gliss tried to break me.”
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