The Fourth Realm (Realms Gate)

by Juliet Anderson

  “Put it this way, if we were back home she’d have a transfusion.”

  “That much?”

  Arianna nodded. “Kat is strong so we’re hopeful she’ll pull through. Although she won’t be doing anything more strenuous than lifting a cup of coffee for a while.”

  “How did this happen?” Erin took hold of Kat’s other hand.

  “We were providing back-up for Dad. Not that he originally knew it. But we smelled a very large rat. Kat knew Sigfried’s brother is trying to get his hands on the throne so went ahead of them to eliminate any threats.” She picked at the corner of the cover. “We were fine until Kat made the mistake of following an assailant down a narrow corridor. Damon killed the man before he could finish Kat off.”

  “I shall forever be grateful to him.” She kissed the top of her daughter’s head.

  “Much as it pains me to say, I too will forever be in his debt for it.”

  “You two have been on quite an adventure the past week. One day, when your sister has recovered, you must tell me all about it.”

  Arianna gave a small laugh. “Yes, us McLomards find it hard to keep out of trouble. From what Birdie and Jasper tell me, you were no different.”

  “It’s a family curse, I’m afraid. We never have the brains to back away when we should.”

  “Yeah, I know. I hear you used to taunt Damon’s father plenty.”

  Erin gave an enigmatic smile. “Yes. Those days seem so very long ago.”

  They both stayed quiet for a while, watching Kat; her breathing was incredible shallow. Arianna squeezed her lifeless hand. “When will she start coming around?”

  “I imagine her body needs time to heal, it will be very weak after all the blood she has lost.”

  They both turned as the door to the bedroom opened; it was Wilhelm.

  “I take it there has been no change?” His voice was incredibly heavy. He might be a Viking king but he was still a father.

  “No.” Erin went to him. It was obvious from the way she buried her face in his chest that she was crying. Arianna rushed over as her father’s arms wrapped around her too.

  “She will come around; she is not only Viking but a daughter of the First Realm. They are too stubborn to let something like a little blood loss to take them down.”

  “I wish we were back in Lokranor, Lodraill would be able to treat her.” Erin wiped her eyes.

  “Then we will take her there. I have to return to the city shortly, so I see no reason why we cannot take our daughter.”

  “How?” Arianna stared up at her father. “You cannot take her on your horse. At least not without risking opening her wound.”

  “Damon informs me there is a horse and cart outside that the housekeeper uses to bring provisions to the lodge. We will make it suitable to transport Katya.”

  “We must hurry then,” Erin rushed around. “Any delay could damage her chance of recovery.”

  Wilhelm grabbed hold of his wife. “Calm down, my dear. As soon as the cart is brought around, I will have Damon and Arianna fill it with furs so Katya is not only warm and comfortable, but held in tight.”

  “Yes. Yes, that is a good plan,” Erin sighed.

  Arianna thought it seemed to take forever to get her sister settled in the cart. The journey would be slow, so they sent Wilhelm and Damon on ahead. A huge wave of relief washed over Arianna as Lokranor finally came into sight. Her sister’s face was barely visible under the pile of furs so it was difficult to see how she was handling the journey.

  Her father was waiting at the side entrance to the castle and carried his still unconscious daughter up to the Royal Quarters. Erin and Arianna followed duly behind. Lodraill was in Kat’s bedroom, armed with her books and potions.

  “On the bed, quickly,” she hurried Wilhelm along, earning her one of his best scowl. Touching Kat’s forehead she frowned. “Her temperature is too low for my liking. With her sun stone her core body temperature should be elevated.”

  “I did have to freeze her wound otherwise she would have bled to death.” Arianna found her voice.

  Lodraill smiled briefly. “Quick thinking. But that would not explain why she is so cold.”

  Erin helped her mother fix a potion before they gently spooned it into Kat’s mouth. It was an arduous process getting liquid inside an unconscious person without the benefit of an intravenous drip.

  “This is harder than trying to give Balthazar his medication,” Erin groaned as she tried to get the liquid inside her daughter.

  “That should improve her colour,” Lodraill sighed. “Now I need to see the wound.” She ran her hands over the injury, touching, prodding and doing what Arianna could only describe as weird stuff. Her grandmother was a High Priestess and with that came some powers. Being raised totally in a Viking Realm, Lodraill had learnt the art of healing. Right now, Arianna was very glad of that.

  Eventually Lodraill stepped away from the bed. “That is all I can do for Katya at the moment. Hopefully that should heal her but I suggest we all offer up a prayer to Odin. Whilst all Vikings want to be granted passage to Valhalla, I’m sure my granddaughter would prefer to remain to stay here a while longer.”

  “It might sound a stupid question; can her sun stone do anything?” Arianna knew she was clutching at straws but as her sister’s life hung in the balance she was willing to give anything a go.

  Lodraill smiled at Arianna. “You might be right. Erin, arrange for it to be brought here. The stone chose her so it might give her the power she needs to repair herself.”

  Erin left the room to have a private word with her mother, Arianna flopped down beside her sister on the bed. There was no way she was going to leave her side. She did not want her to wake up alone. And she was going to wake up.

  Opening a sleepy eye, Arianna realised she had fallen asleep. It was dark outside, the room was lit with a myriad of candles. She really had been out cold. Taking hold of Kat’s limp hand, she was surprised that it was much warmer than before. Perhaps this was a good sign.

  Lodraill was sitting in a chair by the bed watching the two of them. “You were right about the sun stone.” She indicated to what was resting in Kat’s left hand. “The stone is already restoring her temperature and colouring.” She stood up and stretched. “Now you’re awake, you can watch your sister whilst I grab something to eat.”

  Arianna stared at her sister’s sleeping form; the rise and fall of her chest was much more pronounced now. She was definitely appearing to be on the mend.

  “You know, sister dear, you really are milking this,” Arianna murmured.

  “I hate milk.”

  It took Arianna a few seconds to realise Kat had spoken. She squeezed her hand. “Kat? Open your eyes.”

  “Go away and torture someone else.”

  “I need you to wake up.” Arianna put on a stern voice.

  “Why? I’m so sleepy.”

  “You’ve been asleep for almost two days.”

  Kat’s eyes fluttered open. “What?”

  “Well, not really asleep but unconscious.”

  “Did I get in a fight?”

  “Do you not remember being in the tunnel at the Mallenvaar-Vasmaar gateway?”

  She watched her sister’s face, her hand suddenly flew to her shoulder. “Erland?”

  “Is dead. You might have to do some major grovelling to Damon.”

  Kat went to move her right arm and squealed. “Shit that hurt.”

  “Erland’s blade went deep. You’re going to need some extensive recuperation.”

  “Without wanting to sound too twenty-first century, I’ve got school in two weeks’ time.”

  “That’s a conversation you’ll need to have with our parents.”

  Kat tried to sit up and winced. “Can you give me a hand up?”

  Arianna obliged and plumped up her pillows. “Better?”

  “Yeah, thanks.” Kat ran her eyes around her room. “How did I get back here?”

  “We took you to Damon’s h
unting lodge. When it became clear how badly injured you were, we brought you back here so Lodraill could work her magic.”

  “Am I grateful we have a grandmother who dabbles in a different type of magic.” Kat glanced down at her chest. “This dressing seems to run for miles. Am I hideously scarred?”

  “Scars are like medals to a Viking,” Arianna smiled.

  “I’m half First Realmers and we don’t like scars.”

  Arianna touched her forearm. “Ulrik will still be madly in love with you, scars or not.”

  “Ulrik,” Kat gasped. “Is he alright?”

  “Yes. I’ve not seen him, I know he had much to settle in Mallenvaar.”

  Kat lifted her left arm and studied the stone in her hand. “Thank you for this.”

  “What makes you think it was me?”

  “You have to own a stone to know what their power is capable of.”

  “I had the nerve-wracking task of freezing your wound to stop you bleeding to death. Now there was a tense moment.”

  “I can imagine,” Kat let out a faint chuckle. “People would never have believed you turned your sister into a human popsicle by accident.”

  “You gave us all a scare,” Arianna passed her sister some water.

  “Sorry, I don’t know what possessed me to follow Erland down that tunnel.” Kat closed her eyes for a moment. “In fact I remember very little.”

  “Perhaps it wasn’t you acting. Remember Erland got into my head too.”

  “But I’m not as fluffy-headed as you,” Kat’s grinned.

  “If you weren’t quite so badly injured, I’d slap you for that.”

  “I think I’ll really milk the injury, it could certainly work in my favour.”

  “Just try, sister.” Arianna looked towards the door. “I should tell Mum and Dad you’re awake. It is kind of amusing watching a Viking King trying not to show emotion. For the record, Dad failed.” Arianna rolled off the bed and flung the door open. “It lives,” she shouted.

  “So complimentary,” Kat sighed.

  CHAPTER 21

  Ulrik sat beside his father in the Great Hall. He was in no mood to pander to any member of the Council. He was still outraged about the attack on his father and Wilhelm. It had been cleverly orchestrated so there was no direct proof that Lief had been involved. His father had refused to accept his brother had been involved as the only evidence had been Lief’s lack of action when they came under attack. Now members of the Council wanted the gateway shut.

  “Our two Realms are joined for the first time in millennia and all I am hearing is whining. We finally have a chance to expand our horizons, welcome our new neighbour and open new trade routes. Do you really want to be stuck in the past forever?” He could not keep the irritation out of his voice.

  “Prince Ulrik, we must tread slowly. The last thing we want is the sorcerer from Vasmaar here.”

  “Damon does not embrace the dark arts of old. Besides, his eyes are firmly fixed on the throne of Lokranor.”

  “We should not welcome anyone that powerful into our realm.”

  “You welcomed Queen Erin,” he retorted.

  “She is a Queen.”

  “And has more power as Damon of Vasmaar. She even instructed him.”

  Sigfried raised his hand to silence the Council. “With a likely alliance between the House of Lokranor and Mallenvaar, we will forever be intertwined and Lokranor is a good neighbour to have ties with.”

  Ulrik let his mind drift briefly to Kat. He had been making a concerted effort not to think about her but it had been near impossible. There had been no message from Lokranor. Every time he sent a messenger, they came back with the same response. Kat was still not conscious. She had to wake soon, he could not bear the thought of losing her. She was everything he wanted in a Viking queen and then some.

  “The gateway will remain open,” Sigfried announced.

  A good job really, Ulrik thought, as they had no true means of closing it.

  “We will regulate the number of citizens passing through so we can manage the trade route effectively. We don’t want to flood Vasmaar and Lokranor, nor in turn do we want to be inundated with traders ourselves. The gateway will be heavily guarded at all times, on both sides, so there will be no trouble.”

  “We need to safeguard our way of life.”

  “What we need to do is move forward. Since when has a Viking been afraid to experience new adventures. The opening of the gateway is the start to giving our Realm new purpose. Even our soldiers will have new opportunities. The gateway has given us a chance to really look to the future. We want to go forwards not back.” Sigfried was also starting to lose patience with the Council.

  “What if Lokranor has designs on our Realm?”

  “Had they wanted to conquer us, they would have done so already.”

  “You say the Queen has blue energy?”

  Ulrik resisted the urge to smile. If the citizens knew how powerful Erin, and indeed Damon, was they really would be worried.

  “The Queen was the one who brought peace to the Second Realm. After millennia of turbulence they have no plans to drag their Realm into an unnecessary war.” Sigfried attempted to placate another member of the Council.

  “But….”

  “Enough,” Ulrik stood up. “We do not consider our neighbour a threat, however I will have our army ready to act should trouble erupt.”

  “And who is going to lead the army?” Oskar appeared in the Hall.

  “I will of course.” Ulrik stared his cousin down. “As heir, it is my duty to lead our Realm’s soldiers.”

  “With your relationship with the Princess of Lokranor, are you not conflicted?”

  “Not in the least. I will defend my Realm with my life.”

  “How very noble,” Oskar sneered and stalked off.

  Sigfried retreated to his chambers along with Ulrik. They still had much to discuss.

  “How are our defences at the gateway?”

  “Good, Father.” Ulrik paced up and down. “We have soldiers camped outside Arranfest Falls. It is to our advantage that, excluding Katya and Arianna, no-one from Lokranor or Vasmaar know the exit to the gateway.”

  “Talking of Katya, have you heard how she is?” Sigfried rested his hand on Ulrik’s shoulder.

  “No.” His shoulders slumped. “I fear it is not good news. She was bleeding heavily.” He moved to the window to stare out on the city before him. “I believe Odin has taken her to Valhalla.”

  “You would have received a message had she gone.”

  Ulrik shook his head. “If I died by an assassin’s blade, would your first thought be to notify Katya? I imagine the family are grieving for their lost daughter and sister. I am very far from their minds.”

  “If that is the case, I am truly sorry, Son. She would have made an excellent addition to our family.”

  Yes, she would have done, he thought to himself. He had fallen heavily for those copper curls and green eyes; and now he had a lifetime of regret to look forward to. How could anyone else compare to the woman he had lost? He could not imagine ever wanting anyone else. Not after Kat.

  A knock at the door broke his thoughts.

  A guard entered. “We have a messenger from Lokranor.”

  “Bid him enter,” Sigfried announced.

  “What news do you bring?” Ulrik rushed forward, almost startling the poor man.

  “Queen Erin asked me to inform you that Katya is awake. Her injuries are extensive so her recovery will be a long process. I believe the plan is to move her to Muirhead shortly where she can recuperate better.”

  “Are you returning there now?”

  “Yes.”

  “Will you wait a moment. I have a gift for Katya.”

  Ulrik rushed off to his quarters. Rifling through a chest he eventually found what he was looking for. Placing it in an ornate container, he returned to his father’s quarters where the messenger was. “Please see that the Princess gets this.”

&nbs
p; “I will,” he bowed.

  “Does that put your mind at ease?” Sigfried asked.

  “About Katya, yes. But we do have to discuss the safety of our Realm further.”

  “What in particular?”

  “You know what I mean, Father. I don’t want to get into a long and heated argument but I am convinced Lief is plotting to have you terminated. Erland said as much, and although he did try and kill us, I am inclined to believe him. Every time there has been trouble the one person who has not lifted a finger to defend themselves is Lief. Either he has an unerring faith in us to terminate all trouble or he is the instigator.”