“Don’t do this, Ursula,” he warned, reflexively taking a defensive posture. Around us, interested parties gathered, keeping a safe distance.
“Afraid?” I taunted him. “Not surprising for a coward, spy, and manipulator.”
“What do you accuse me of?” he demanded. “Sheath your blades and let’s discuss this.”
“Draw yours and let’s finish this here and now.” We would have to do without the Vervaldr. So be it. Better to begin that purging immediately.
“I won’t draw on you.” He deliberately relaxed, showing me his open palms. “I promised that and I meant it.”
“Yes, because you have a greater prize in mind, don’t you? Can’t have me dead or incapacitated. That would ruin all of your meticulous plans.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” His eternal patience frayed at the edges and he stepped toward me, reaching out. “Calm down and—”
I struck without thinking, fresh from the forms, liquid rage fueling me. Slashing up, I caught him across the forearm, a shallow slice, but one that bled profusely. I managed to stop the continuation that would bring the blade across his throat, though he’d already turned to deflect it, trapping my arm, and we held there, a long, frozen moment, gazes locked. Slowly, he took a step back, then pressed his fingers to his forehead in the Elskastholrr, bright-red blood running down his arm.
“Ursula!” came Ami’s voice from somewhere behind me. “What in Glorianna’s name is going on?”
I became aware that Rayfe and Ash flanked me now, each with a hand on my arm.
“Easy, Your Highness,” Ash murmured, the low tone making his voice scratch.
“Ask him,” I spat. “Prince Harlan Konyngrr.”
For a moment, Harlan looked genuinely confused. Enough that I almost could believe he was sincere. If I was a terrible liar, he was a masterful one.
“What are you talking about?” Andi, just to the side.
“He’s a fucking prince of Dasnaria. Seventh in line for the throne. You put the pieces together.”
Gradually Harlan’s face cleared, then hardened. “Eleventh, at least. Three of my elder brothers have had sons, and that was years ago, so there’s likely more. They take precedence.”
“All the more reason for you to go seeking a throne elsewhere.”
“Is that what you think? That all of this has been an elaborate seduction to gain access to the High Throne of the Twelve?”
“Why else keep it a secret, then? You never said a Danu-cursed word about your royal blood.” A prince. Yet another power seeker. Nothing to do with me, only my rank, as always. I had wondered why he wanted me, and all the time the answer stared me in the face.
“I myself directed you to look at the Dasnarian dynasties—if you had kept reading, you would have found me eventually. As you clearly did. Why would I have pointed you there if I meant to keep my parentage secret?”
“You still never said who you really are.”
“Because this is who I really am. This man who stands before you. A man you know well.” His voice had gone deep and quiet. “It means less than nothing to me, who and what I came from. It should mean nothing to you. I’ve told you everything you asked to know, Ursula. I’ve given you my loyalty. The kind you value because it cannot be bought, because it is beyond price. But you deny me yours. You don’t care enough to ask me to explain. Instead you pass judgment and sentence upon me. Who does that remind you of, Your Highness?”
“I want you gone.” Ice coated my heart. “You and your mercenaries. I want you clear of the Twelve Kingdoms. On pain of death.”
Coldly, he inclined his head. “You can command me to leave your kingdom, Your Highness, but that changes nothing for me. You know that.”
“Keep your loyalty, mercenary.”
“I will. Ever in my heart.” He turned and walked away.
For the rest of the day, everyone steered clear of me except when necessary, which suited me fine. Ami tried to talk to me once but quickly abandoned the field when I snarled at her. There were plenty of conversations to have, reports to receive, and instructions to give. It felt good to get back in rhythm with my Hawks. As the day went on, I felt more my usual self and less like whoever I’d become in Annfwn.
I had never been the kind of woman to wear flimsy dresses and cavort with her lover on the beach. The more time passed, the more it felt like a dream. Or like it had happened to someone else. By the time I caught my first sight of Ordnung’s towers, I had the entire episode relegated to foolishness. Andi and Ami had practically said so. The sister I left behind never would have . . . Silly in love . . .
We camped within an hour’s ride of the walls that night. In the dark before dawn, we’d finish discreetly encircling the castle, hopefully penetrating the walls before Erich’s scouts caught wind of us. Uorsin might yet open the gates to us, his three daughters, if we asked entrance, as he wouldn’t for others. No sense escalating a conflict that might be avoided. If, however, we were refused or encountered no response, we’d be in position to tighten the net and attack.
My eyes burned from not sleeping the night before, hardly an unusual occurrence for me. At least in the past. A missed night or two had never made much difference for me before, but I’d grown soft that way also. Accustomed to the indulgences Harlan had lulled me into. The gritty surreality brought on by that, by my outburst of the morning—had I ever been so boilingly angry? Not hurt. He was wrong. I wouldn’t let it be that—and worry over what the next day would hold, all of it combined to keep me on edge. With all the planning done, I had nothing to do but check my weapons and gear, to sharpen my already keen-edged blades. My neck tight as steel, I rolled my head on my shoulders to loosen it and accidentally caught Harlan’s implacable gaze from across the campfire.
Oddly enough, he sat with Ash, and they seemed to be deep in conversation. It mattered not to me.
“Come walk with me.” Andi, standing beside me, held out her hand. On the other side of the fire, Rayfe went to join Ash and Harlan, passing a flask of something, and the men, all three, burst into laughter at some joke. It put my teeth on edge.
“I don’t think—”
“It wasn’t a request, Ursula.”
With a hiss of exasperation, I stood and followed her into the dark. The waxing moon rose over the valley below, Moranu’s perfect crescent, gilding Andi’s profile with a silver glow. Danu’s stars above glittered with cold fire, brittle and sharp in comparison.
“I think I know you as well as anyone,” she began and glanced at me with a smile, though it had a sad tilt. “An unhappy thought, as I feel I don’t know you as well as I might. You’ve been very alone—much more than I ever realized. I never really thought about what it was like for you, when Salena died. How it would have hit you the worst. That you felt betrayed by her death.”
“She hardly betrayed me by dying, Andi.”
“But she did. She abandoned you to him with her death. Leaving you unprotected for him to mold and abuse. Ami and I had you, but who took care of you? No one, I think.”
It hurt to think about it. “I took care of myself. And it doesn’t matter. All ancient history.”
“It’s not.” She faced me. “Don’t you see, Ursula? You look for everyone to betray you, to leave you, to fail to love you. Our father has you thinking that everything is about the High Throne, that this power is all that matters. That he—maybe even you—are somehow not people at the core. That you’re not driven by love and insecurity and fear like everyone else is.”
“Did the mercenary ask you to speak with me?”
She laughed, a huff of angry air. “No. Harlan has spoken to no one all day until now that I can see, and then only because Ash and Rayfe feel for him, having their own experiences with Salena’s daughters. He’s quietly bleeding to death inside. Just as you are. I swear to Moranu I’d like to knock your hard heads together.”
“I can’t ignore the evidence, Andi.”
“Then think a
bout your thrice-damned evidence! Does he behave like a man hungry for power? Because you and I know very well what that looks like. If that’s Harlan’s long-term plan, he picked a much more indirect route than he could have. I have seen nothing about him that indicates he’s anything other than completely straightforward. As far as I can tell, he goes after what he wants with declared and open intent.”
And had from the moment I met him. Still. “I have a responsibility to the High Throne, to keeping the peace of the Twelve. I might point out that this is not something you’ve ever understood, much as I tried to get you to take your responsibilities seriously.”
“Don’t try to pick a fight with me, too. Nothing will stop any of us from being at your side tomorrow, no matter how you might attempt to shield us or push us away. Try to keep in mind that we’re all on your side. There is an enemy and it’s not any of the people here tonight.”
“Is that witchy wisdom?” I sneered, then realized she’d already gone.
The deployment went with perfect dispatch and well-oiled silence, Rayfe, Harlan, and I each coordinating our arm of our combined forces. We sent them ahead, then moved at a brisk pace down to the high road. As the sky pinkened with dawn, we stayed out of sight of the main gates, waiting for sunrise to make our grand entrance.
Andi, Ami, and Rayfe had all donned garments worthy of a state visit. Andi and Rayfe were elegant in glossy Tala black, both with their long hair loose and wild, while Ash wore dark fighting leathers, managing to look quite lethal, guarding Ami’s back. She was in an amazing gown of the purple and gold of Avonlidgh, embroidered with Glorianna’s pink roses.
“How in the Twelve did you have that thing packed?” I muttered at her, and she gave me a sweet smile. Someone had trimmed up her hair and it fell in glossy, perfect ringlets.
“Andi had it whipped up for me. The Tala have such artistry in these things. Presentation is important.”
I glanced down at my own battered leathers, much the worse for the wear of the last weeks. “Alas for that.”
“No worries there.” She looked me over. “You’ve never needed fine clothes to outshine us all. You make an impression just by being.” Her gaze flicked past me. “Ah,” she breathed. “And here’s your perfect accessory.”
Harlan, in full Vervaldr regalia, mounted on his impressive battle stallion, pulled up behind me with a nod.
“Captain Harlan.” I spoke through my teeth. “Why are you here?”
He gazed back at me, his face set in granite lines, showing no emotion. “It’s where I belong.”
I opened my mouth to say something about the contract, but the dangerous glint in his eye changed my mind. Instead, I deliberately raised a shoulder and let it fall, then turned my back on him.
The sun edged a fiery golden curve over the valley, and the Temple of Glorianna rang bells, the dawn hymn going up, though thinly, as if too few voices supported it. Ami drew Glorianna’s circle in the air. Then once again added Moranu’s crescent and bisected them with Danu’s blade, invoking all three goddesses and asking their protection and benediction. Finished, she nodded to me.
The same sun would set at the other side of what almost certainly would be a pivotal day in history. I wondered if I’d survive to see it.
Taking a deep breath, I straightened my spine.
And led them to the gates of Ordnung.
40
My skin crawled at the sight.
One hundred times worse than the unease with which I’d viewed Ordnung upon my return from Windroven. The walls, as reported, were densely populated with unmoving guards. With weapons trained upon us, they presented a formidable defense.
The corpse-rot gray of their faces instilled a deeper fear.
I resisted glancing back at Harlan, though I guessed at his growing anger, for a number of the dead guard indeed wore Vervaldr colors. Victors from a few skirmishes reported the dead could be incapacitated by losing heads or limbs but that they seemed to live on regardless. It would be a question for later, how to give them true death.
For now I wanted them off my walls, this smear on the face of what should be the Twelve’s shining glory.
I reined up, Andi and Ami flanking me, half a horse length behind, Rayfe and Ash similarly arrayed just beside them. Harlan rode at my back.
It’s where I belong.
At least I could trust in his investment to keep me alive. Shaking it off, I called out. “All hail, High King Uorsin! His daughters have returned, to pay him fealty.”
Rayfe made a disparaging snort at that, but I ignored him.
“As Princesses of the Realm, along with our consorts, we request entry into Ordnung.”
None of the dead guard moved. Nothing moved anywhere, except Glorianna’s rays angling to dance on the still white towers, no pennants flying. Superstitiously, with a pang of irrational dread, I imagined everyone inside Ordnung like this. Gray and rotten with deyrr.
Then, slowly and without sound, the gates opened. No other notice was given. They simply swung wide, a maw gaping into a silent, empty outer courtyard.
Keeping my head high, I rode forward.
No one spoke, though Rayfe growled under his breath, the sound of a cornered wolf. A feeling I understood on a visceral level. We rode through the courtyard, the only sound the clopping of the horses’ hooves, the creak of our tack. Foreboding crawled along my spine, and for a wild, desperate moment, I imagined turning tail and running, back to the tranquil beach at Annfwn, to the delight of Harlan’s arms and the delicious pleasure he’d given me.
Despite myself, I looked back at him, and rather than the rigidly carved lines of emotionless fury, instead I glimpsed what might have been compassion.
Andi caught my eye as I faced forward again, storm-gray eyes glittering with silver, the thunderstorm of magic gathering around her, a potent charge poised to strike. She shielded us with a light version of the Annfwn barrier, lest the mind magic make us forget what we came to do. She dipped her chin and squared her own shoulders. On my other side, Ami rode wreathed in Glorianna’s rays, gloriously lovely, radiant in her determination. She smiled at me, beauty and steel both in her visage.
The Star blazed scorching hot against my palm and I began to hope that we might yet triumph.
Tempting as it was to ride directly into court, we dismounted at the inner doors. With no one to hand our mounts off to, we left them standing in place, reins tied off and ready. Except for Rayfe’s steed, who transformed into a sleek wolfhound, waist high and pacing at his heel.
We entered the castle itself, the urns of flowers dead and wilted, untended. Autumn leaves blew through the halls and no servants followed after to sweep them away. The place reeked of death, of deyrr, perhaps.
I should never have left.
The doors to the throne room stood open, and there, at least, some semblance of normality greeted us. Packed with people as it should be, the room stayed strangely silent, but for the rustling of the courtiers turning their heads to take us in. Their gazes grabbed at me with desperation. None said a word, but they silently pleaded for help. But in the way a mortally wounded warrior begs for swift death, not to be saved. Because he already knows there’s no possibility to hope otherwise.
The reason was obvious. At the end of the center aisle, Illyria, banked-coal eyes dead in her face, draped herself over the High Throne, fouling it with her presence. She wore Salena’s rubies and my Heir’s Circlet around her brow. Wearing a collar like a dog and chained to the dais, Derodotur crouched at her feet, not even raising his head to look at us. Ranks of undead guard stood around and behind her, a grating despair in their faces, despite the menace of their drawn weapons.
We walked toward her, Andi and Ami close beside me, their sun and moon magic like a bolstering force that kept me upright.
“Illyria.” I made her name an accusation. No dancing around this. “Where is High King Uorsin?”
“He is . . . meditating.” Her reply slithered out between lush lips curved
in a triumphant smile. “What could possibly have brought you back, Princess? Or, I should say, Princesses. There is nothing for you here any longer.”
“On the contrary, there is nothing for you here,” I answered. “Remove your foul self from the High Throne or we shall take you from it.”
She laughed, genuinely amused. “For your impertinence, I’ll have tribute. The Star of Annfwn blazes at your side. So unpleasant of you to have stolen it from me. So accommodating of you to walk into my trap. Salena’s line ends here.”
My turn to laugh. “Your arrogance is a disease, Illyria. A blindness that keeps you from seeing that you’ve already lost. Step down, admit your defeat.”
She pretended to sneer, but she didn’t quite manage to keep her indolent pose. “And what army do you bring against me—you, your sisters, a cripple, a wild man, and a hire-sword?”
“More than you know. Even now you’ve been surrounded with my forces, the Hawks along with the consolidated outposts of Mohraya.”
“Avonlidgh’s elite guard,” Ami added.
“And the might of the Tala,” Rayfe snarled. “Who’ve taken Ordnung before and can again.”
“The Vervaldr also stand with Her Highness, rightful heir to the High Throne.” Harlan spoke behind me, and her eyes flicked to him in irritation.
“Harlan Konyngrr, the temple’s gold shines as bright as any here. Name your price.”
“It’s one you cannot reach. I have taken the Elskastholrr.”
If anything could spark in her dead eyes, the astonishment nearly did so. “You’ll join the ranks of my undead guard, then, after you watch your beloved die.”
“Step down, Illyria,” I commanded her. “I shall not tell you a third time.”
“No, you won’t.” She smiled, not a pleasant one, and lifted a hand, twisted it.
My heart cramped and my vision went dark at the edges. Someone in the court broke into hysterical sobbing, and I found I couldn’t move. My sword would not come to hand, and I nearly fell. But Ami took my arm, warm light streaming into me, and Andi’s thundercloud thickened, coalesced. A bolt of blue lightning forked from above, stabbing Illyria and knocking her back in the throne.
The Twelve Kingdoms Page 39