Night of the Shadow Moon

by A. E. Rayne

  Unlike his brothers.

  Berard came to join him, scowling.

  ‘Why are you so angry?’ Haegen wondered. ‘That’s not like you. Aren’t you happy to be leaving? Becoming a lord?’

  ‘Are you?’ Karsten snorted as he paced back and forth in front of them. He had no intention of sitting. He wanted to stretch out his knee. He wanted to get stronger. Tougher. Back to himself again. ‘You’re going to keep smiling, are you? As though what father is doing is perfectly normal?’

  Haegen did smile. ‘I think that he’s making an interesting choice,’ he admitted. ‘But it will be good for us. That we can become lords? Get experience ruling? I like the idea. And Vastera’s no shithole, so even Irenna’s looking forward to it.’

  Karsten stared at Haegen as though he’d gone mad. ‘And you?’ he growled at Berard, hoping to find someone who still possessed some sense.

  Berard blinked. ‘I... I can see Father’s reasoning,’ he said diplomatically. He was starting to become nervous, realising that he would have no wife to take with him. No wife, no children, and now, not even a servant.

  He would be going to Solt alone, leaving Meena behind with Jaeger, which, he supposed, was what she wanted. But still, it didn’t feel right.

  ‘His reasoning?’ Karsten laughed bitterly, adjusting his eye patch as he finally sat down. He glanced around the empty, muddy ring. There were other training grounds dotted around the city but this one, tucked down a road next to the castle, was reserved for the royal family. Slaves stood around the edges of the ring, cloths draped over one arm, holding jugs of ale and cups, waiting to attend to whatever needs the royal princes might have. ‘His reasoning makes no sense. He’s keeping Jaeger here when it’s Jaeger who’s responsible for everything that’s gone wrong! It’s Jaeger who’s the biggest threat to him!’

  Haegen looked surprised. ‘Calm down, you idiot!’ he grumbled. ‘It wasn’t all Jaeger’s fault. Why would you say that? What could you have done in his place against that sea-fire?’

  ‘Always so reasonable, Brother!’ Karsten spat. ‘But you’ll see. You’ll see how he destroys everything. How he destroys every one of us, piece by piece. I heard Varna tell Father that once. That if he wasn’t careful, the Bear would destroy us all!’

  Edela didn’t appear to have the energy to say anything else. She blinked at Biddy, then closed her eyes again.

  ‘It’s how we broke Eadmund from Evaine’s binding spell,’ Biddy explained as they stood around Edela’s bed. ‘Your grandmother remembered a symbol from that book. Entorp carved it into Evaine’s floor, under a rug. She must have found it, though, and destroyed it as poor Eadmund is trapped again.’

  Jael remembered how it had been in Hest. How Eadmund had come back to her so briefly, before he was gone again. She sighed, watching Edela try to nod her head. ‘But there must be another way to break Evaine’s spell? A different symbol? She says that she’s bound Eadmund to her soul now. That if she dies, he will still be bound to her.’

  Edela’s eyes popped open. She had never heard of such a thing. ‘Eydis,’ she said hoarsely. ‘Eydis can see the book.’ And she closed her eyes, her head sinking heavily into the pillow, exhausted.

  She would try and find that book too.

  It was time for her to have a dream that wasn’t about that evil cave.

  ‘Oh!’ Meena exclaimed as she smacked into Berard, who was hurrying around the corner towards his chamber.

  Berard leaned forward, reaching out to set Meena right. ‘I’m so sorry! I wasn’t looking where I was going,’ he muttered, his tongue tangling as he glanced at his boots; mud-covered, much like the rest of him after Karsten and Haegen had cheered themselves up at his expense.

  Meena looked just as awkward as they stood before each other. ‘You are... going back to your chamber?’ she asked, looking up and down the empty corridor. Not being able to find Egil, Jaeger had sent her to search for Morana. He was irate, desperate for her to come and look at the book again.

  Meena was reluctant to even go back. She had thought of escaping, but with her aunt’s ability to dream even without the Book of Darkness, she realised that there was no point.

  ‘Yes, I have no appetite tonight.’

  ‘Oh?’

  ‘There is much to do, I suppose, and not many days left to do it,’ he said thoughtfully, realising the truth in that statement. ‘I have a lot on my mind.’

  Meena felt an urge to offer her help, but she didn’t dare open her mouth. She tapped her head instead.

  ‘Meena!’

  Meena jumped, dropping her eyes to the floor.

  Jaeger strode down the torchlit corridor towards them. ‘Meena!’ he growled. ‘Where have you been?’ He gripped her arm, yanking her hand away from her head, turning her towards him in annoyance. ‘And where is Morana?’ He didn’t even acknowledge Berard.

  Meena grimaced in discomfort.

  ‘You shouldn’t grab her like that,’ Berard mumbled nervously, trying to meet his brother’s eyes, hidden in the shadows as they were.

  ‘What did you say?’ Jaeger’s head snapped towards Berard. ‘She is not your servant anymore. Go find yourself another, and leave mine alone.’ And gripping Meena even harder, he pulled her down the corridor.

  Meena’s head shook as she hurried after him on her tiptoes.

  Berard watched them go, digging his feet into his boots. He felt incensed, worried for Meena, and completely helpless, all at the same time.

  Haaron edged his chair closer to Morana, wanting to see her eyes. ‘Perhaps I am being too generous to my wife?’ he mused. ‘Letting Jaeger stay? Perhaps it is better that he goes? I can keep one of the others instead. Berard is useless, no threat to me, I’m sure. But Jaeger...’ he shook his head. ‘I was half asleep when Bayla pounced on me.’

  Morana narrowed her eyes. ‘You want my approval?’ Her lips twisted into a sneer. ‘Do what you want with your sons. I do not know them.’

  Haaron peered at her, confused. ‘But you suggested that they were a threat to my throne.’

  ‘And they are. Every king’s sons are a threat to their throne, especially ambitious ones.’ Morana cracked her neck and slid forward on the stool. ‘But you must ask yourself what you care about more? Your throne or your wife?’ She turned her head, fixing one eye on him. ‘I see your wife. She loves you still. But if you change your mind and send away her favourite child?’ Morana shrugged. ‘It is your choice to make, and you know her better than I...’ She hunched back and sighed, certain that Jaeger would be stalking the corridors, looking for her again.

  Haaron studied the dreamer closely. ‘He is no threat to me, then? Not yet, at least?’

  ‘He is a threat to everyone, that one,’ she said slowly. ‘But when I see him, I see a broken, little boy. He hides in his chamber, shunning his brothers, plotting ways to kill the Furycks. If you are that worried about what he might do, why not just kill him?’

  Haaron was shocked that she would be so bold. Her haggard face didn’t even move as she spoke. Her eyes were lifeless.

  ‘But of course, if you do kill him, your wife will hate you until her very last breath.’

  Her words were no more than Haaron already knew, but it left him cold to hear them delivered so starkly. It was a choice that only he could make.

  Bayla or the Bear?

  Ayla couldn’t walk easily, so Bram had helped her to a table by the fire, and Isaura had brought her a cup of wine and a plate of food. She smiled gratefully at them both, wishing that Bruno was sitting with them. He was still very weak, and it was too early to tell if his body would ever recover from the torturous conditions he had endured as Ivaar’s prisoner.

  Bram grinned at her. ‘I’d eat up if I were you. I imagine that’ll be the last you see of food like that for a while, what with Ivaar coming for us soon!’

  Isaura shivered as she scanned the hall, looking for her children. They had already eaten and were trying to befriend two cats, or rather, they were chasing the po
or cats under the tables, snatching at their tails. She turned to Ayla. ‘But why isn’t he here yet? They were right behind us. Where did they go?’

  Ayla ignored her plate of food, which did look appetising, but she was too troubled to eat. ‘He will come,’ she said with certainty.

  ‘You saw this?’ Bram leaned forward, ale dripping from his enormous beard. ‘In a dream?’

  Ayla nodded. ‘But it was different than before. I see more ships coming now.’

  Bram frowned, motioning Eadmund and Thorgils over. ‘You still see those brothers with Ivaar? The Arnessons?’

  ‘I don’t know their names,’ Ayla said quietly. ‘But I see more than brothers. I see a whole family. Ships in a great line.’

  ‘When, Ayla, when?’ Isaura reached out and gripped Ayla’s hand.

  ‘They are... preparing,’ Ayla said dreamily. ‘I see them making plans.’ She closed her eyes, searching back into her dream. ‘They killed a lord. Slit his throat.’

  Eadmund’s eyes widened. ‘What? Who?’

  Ayla shrugged. ‘He was old, but his wife was not. She was happy when he died.’

  ‘Frits,’ Eadmund and Thorgils said at the same time.

  ‘There must be something we can do?’ Isaura pleaded. ‘We can’t just sit here and wait for them to come for us!’

  Thorgils put his arm around Isaura’s shoulders. ‘We’re prepared, don’t worry. They can come, but we’re prepared. This old fort has withstood greater forces than Ivaar can muster, isn’t that right?’ He looked at Eadmund who did not appear as certain as he was trying to sound.

  Eadmund swallowed, clearing his throat. ‘Thorgils is right. It’s much easier to hold a fort than break into one. They’re going to have to work very hard to come even close. Don’t worry. We can hold them out.’

  But one look at Ayla’s terrified face told him what trouble they were in.

  ‘You have to give me the stone,’ Jael said, sensing that everyone would soon return to the house for supper.

  Biddy turned the stone over, running her fingers around the twirling symbol. It was similar to the one Entorp had carved into Evaine’s floor. ‘Why don’t we ask Entorp to make more? He has brought all number of things in his sea chest. Not just salves! We could collect more stones, and he could paint the symbols onto them?’

  Jael shook her head, feeling foolish. ‘Well, of course. That’s the obvious thing to do! Give me the stone, and I’ll go and find him.’

  Biddy smiled as she stood. ‘I have no idea where he is. He’s been all over the fort today, helping the injured, checking on the horses. I don’t imagine that he’ll have anything left in his little jars soon!’

  ‘Well, perhaps we should put him to work making some more. It would be good to start preparing ourselves for what might lie ahead.’

  Biddy held out her stone to Jael, then gripped it tightly, her eyes darting about anxiously. ‘What about Aleksander? He could come, couldn’t he? Help us get out of here?’

  Jael opened her mouth to answer but stopped herself, suddenly certain that Aleksander was already coming.

  Another chorus of squawking chickens in the catacombs.

  Morana could barely contain her annoyance as she shook her wild hair. If Yorik was the leader of The Following, why was there always so much debate about everything? How could anyone rule when they cared about other people’s opinions?

  Morana glowered at the cloaked figures as they stood in a circle around her and Yorik, calling out to him, demanding to be heard. Occasionally, they would look at her, both irritated and curious. She was a stranger to most of them, and not one of them liked her, she knew.

  But she was the only one able to get near the book, so what they thought didn’t matter in the slightest. ‘We must not lose sight of our one true goal!’ Morana bellowed, out of patience at last. ‘To bring Raemus back! We are closer than we have ever been, but I still need some time to translate the ritual. The spell... its texts are... complex.’

  ‘Varna could have translated it!’

  Morana spun, her eyes twitching, peering at the woman who spoke. ‘Varna? Varna did not want to bring Raemus back. She wanted the book for herself! She would have given it to Haaron Dragos! Used it to help him conquer Osterland!’ she yelled. ‘Varna was not your friend!’

  Her voice careened around the walls, echoing sharply, and the Followers shrunk back beneath their hoods, looking for Yorik to step in.

  He did.

  ‘Morana is right,’ Yorik said calmly. ‘We need Jaeger to bring Raemus back. He is captivated by the book. Lost to it. Desperate to feel its power again. We must cast another spell to keep him happy, especially after what happened with the ravens. He needs to trust us.’

  ‘But this other book,’ a man spoke up. ‘If Gerod has not located it, then they can simply stop us again.’

  Morana smiled and turned to Yorik. ‘Not if we cast our spell on someone who doesn’t have the book.’

  Eadmund and Thorgils had left the hall to check how things stood from the ramparts.

  Thorgils squinted at the harbour entrance, wondering who was lurking out past the stone spires. He wanted to drink until he couldn’t feel the pain in his heart, but he had stopped himself because the pain in his heart would be even greater if Ivaar came for Isaura and her children. As strange as it all felt, as difficult as the road ahead appeared, he didn’t want to lose the hope that was here on Oss.

  Not after so many years alone.

  ‘We need Jael,’ Eadmund murmured, rubbing his forehead. ‘And Axl. Bringing Brekka’s fleet with them. I should have sent for her.’

  It was too dark for Thorgils to see Eadmund’s face. He didn’t know whether he missed his wife, or felt love for her anymore. But he could hear very plainly that Eadmund wanted Jael to come.

  But could she?

  Would she?

  ‘Jael would come if she could,’ Thorgils decided, at last, listening to the moody howl of another approaching storm. ‘Nothing would stop her.’ He turned to Eadmund. ‘But I’m not sure there’s time to send for her help. Not anymore. Ivaar must come soon.’

  Eadmund ran a hand through his beard, knowing that his friend was right; imagining his father’s disappointment in him. King for barely a moment and he had already put his people in jeopardy by making the wrong decision.

  Kormac and Branwyn were loud snorers.

  Jael wondered how anyone had managed to fall asleep at all. She supposed that Entorp and Fyn weren’t having much more fun with Kayla and Aedan’s daughter, whose first teeth were coming through.

  Apparently, that was not a good thing.

  Jael frowned, trying to make out the rafters in the darkness; listening to the wind wailing around the house; certain there was a flea in the bed. It wasn’t Oss. And it wasn’t her house. And she wasn’t sleeping next to her husband. And he was no doubt sleeping with another woman.

  But Evaine Gallas was not the Queen of Oss.

  Not yet.

  She kept seeing the ravens. Those birds had been turned into weapons. And they were all but helpless against them.

  What would Morana try next?

  Jael yawned and closed her eyes, reaching down to place a tentative hand on her belly, before quickly moving it away.

  28

  Irenna stood in the entranceway, dressed and ready to head to the markets before breakfast. She had been unable to sleep. The thought of moving her family to Vastera was both exciting and unsettling.

  Mainly unsettling, though.

  Haegen had taken it in his stride. He was the opposite of Karsten and Jaeger, and she was grateful for it. Her head was a jumble of things to remember, and his steady support was a welcome bolster.

  Nicolene looked surprised as she came down the stairs. ‘Where are you going so early? Off to meet your lover?’

  Irenna frowned, glancing around, but Haegen and Karsten were already in the hall, eating with their parents. ‘What are you talking about, Nicolene? I’m just going to the markets.’
As much as Irenna had tried to forge a friendship with her sister-in-law, none had eventuated, and she would not miss her when she left.

  Nicolene laughed at the shock on Irenna’s face. ‘Who goes to the markets before breakfast?’

  Irenna was already feeling flustered and had no inclination to stand around enduring Nicolene’s insinuations. She pulled her basket to her chest and glanced at the doors. ‘There is a lot to do before we leave. I can’t imagine that I’ll find much linen or silk in Vastera. And you’ll have even less on offer in Kroll, it being so far from the coast. Then there are furs for winter. And I want some candles, honey, wine...’

  Nicolene sighed, not wanting the reminder of how Karsten had been given the worst of the lordships. Lord of Kroll: a landlocked dungheap, by all reports. ‘Well, perhaps I’ll join you then? Wait here while I get my things.’

  Irenna’s mouth was open, readying a stream of protests but Nicolene was already running back up the stairs, heading to her chamber.

  ‘How’s the eye this morning?’ Kormac wondered, joining Jael at the training ring.

  ‘What eye?’ Jael asked, winking the one eye that was open. The other was swollen, closed up, covered in a purplish yellow hue, but Biddy had assured her that it already appeared to be improving.

  Kormac nodded towards the ring as the Osslanders trained, battering each other enthusiastically with wooden swords and shields. He shook his head. ‘I still can’t understand what happened yesterday. Why Baccus would do that?’ Glancing around, Kormac lowered his voice. ‘I’ve had a lot of dealings with him over the years. He was always a bastard, but not a murderer. That wasn’t the man I remember at all. But I suppose I could say that about many people around here now.’

  Jael had set Entorp to work making more stones. Hopefully, he would have enough to give to everyone soon but until then... she shrugged. ‘People change. Places change. I barely recognise Tuura now, which, for me is a good thing I suppose.’