[Fairytale 02] - Asleep (2013)

by Elizabeth Darcy

  “What is it?” he asked, sounding alarmed. Jess felt faint.

  “It’s Dev’s ring, the one I gave him. The girl said he told her to give it to me,” she whispered, holding it out to Tanvir, who took it from her. He turned it in his fingers, slumping in relief.

  “He’s alive,” he breathed. “My brother is alive!” A huge smile split his face.

  Tears streamed down Jess’s cheeks. She was so relieved her legs couldn’t support her, and she fell into a chair, her body boneless. “Yes, but it’s also a warning,” she cautioned, smearing the tears with the side of her hand.

  “A warning?” He took a closer look at the ring, turning it to read the inscription. “’Look before you leap.’”

  Jess wiped the rest of her tears away. She hadn’t wanted to think that they might be too late to help Dev, had done her best to beat back the doubts that had plagued her. Now that she knew he was still alive, her fear lessened, morphing into a new determination. Ellaria had taken Dev from her once. Jess wouldn’t let it happen again.

  “We need to keep our eye out for a sign from Dev. He’ll help us however he can,” she said.

  “Maybe this servant girl will help him again. We now know that at least one person in that tower isn’t happy with the thought of Ellaria ruling.”

  “Let’s hope she’s not the only one.”

  Chapter 37

  Song woke him, and Dev turned his head, confused. Was it part of his dream? He blinked a few times, clearing his vision, but the singing didn’t stop, and a mix of excitement and hope shot through him, made him scramble from his bed and climb up on his chair to peer out his window. The sight outside was so staggering Dev felt as though he had run full tilt into a stone wall. He bit back a triumphant cry, lest his guard hear him. Scrambling down from the chair, he almost toppled from his perch, and he had to sit down for a moment so he could catch his breath and wait for the tightness in his chest to ease. He’d known she would come for him, had never doubted it, but to see the army arrayed below the tower, to hear Lyranian voices raised in song, seemed like a dream, and he couldn’t quite believe it was real. Calm again, he climbed back up on the chair and took another look.

  He was much too high and the army was much too far away for him to be able to see faces. The people below looked like ants. But he could see the colors of their banners, and his heart leapt at the sight of the familiar silver and midnight blue pennants. A wide grin spread over his face and it was all he could do to prevent himself from emitting a whoop of triumph.

  “For once it’s nice to see you, little brother,” he murmured. But the words were a gross understatement. He’d trusted Tanvir to help Jess, and it overwhelmed him to see that his brother had repaid his trust in spades. When he got out of the tower, he would spend the rest of his life saying to Tanvir the things he should have been saying for years. They had their differences, but when it counted, Tanvir had always been willing to put himself on the line for his older brother—despite his older brother’s having the bad grace not to show his gratitude. He owed Tanvir a great debt.

  Squinting, Dev tried to count their numbers, and his best estimate was somewhere around five thousand.

  Five thousand, he thought, wanting to laugh aloud with glee. Five thousand against fifty!

  But he knew it wasn’t that easy. Had this been a normal siege, there would have been no question that Jess’s and his brother’s forces would have triumphed. It would have been a simple matter of starving out those in the tower, and they could easily have done so without losing a single soldier. However, because Dev was there, the problem was far more complex. He didn’t know if Jess had an inkling of the numbers in the tower, but even if she did, she was still at an enormous disadvantage. There was no way of knowing what Ellaria had planned. Jess’s aim was to free him, not to take the tower, which meant that she had everything to lose while Ellaria stood to lose very little. Even the deaths of fifty troops wouldn’t have much of an impact on her.

  He had always known that Ellaria would set a trap using him as bait, and now he gripped the bars of his cell, his mind racing. If the Lyranian and Estorian forces rushed the tower, they would lose troops, but taking the stronghold would be easy enough. However, if they were to do such a thing, Ellaria had probably left orders for him to be killed. Sneaking someone into the tower would be all but impossible, and even if Tanvir and Jess did somehow manage to get inside, there was still the possibility that Dev would be dead before they could get to him, or that they would be discovered and slain.

  A chill went through him as he thought of another possibility: maybe Ellaria had simply meant to delay them. By drawing them out to the tower, she and her army could strike unexpected, slaughtering Jess’s and Tanvir’s troops. Everything he’d overheard the guards saying, along with what Tansy had said, pointed at Ellaria’s being in Ygres, but could he trust that information? And even if Ellaria was in Ygres, it would only be a matter of a few days’ hard ride to get back here in time to attack Jess and Tanvir, who wouldn’t leave without Dev. What was to stop Ellaria from doing so? Perhaps the attack on Ygres had just been a decoy.

  The thought made him sick to his stomach, and he sat down on his chair, breathing deeply for a few moments. He’d counted five thousand troops, give or take, and he quieted his fears enough to realize that five thousand was far too few to represent the entire armies of Lyrane and Estoria. The rest of the troops must be elsewhere, probably heading for Ygres in the hopes of taking Ellaria by surprise. Since Jess and Tanvir were both here, he imagined Farah would be the one to lead the armies to Ygres, and he had faith in her abilities. But what if Ellaria had laid a trap for the queen as well?

  You have to stop. These thoughts will get you nowhere. You can’t see what Ellaria’s plan is, so all you can do is act intelligently with the information you have at hand.

  Forcing himself to push away his dire thoughts, he ran through his options again. Tansy had ignored him ever since he had given her his ring, and he didn’t know if she was trying to keep a low profile or if she had decided that the price for helping him would prove too dear. He couldn’t count on her having given Jess his ring. For now, he would need to assume he was in this alone.

  Taking another look out his window, he spent some time studying the lines of troops, absorbing how small they looked and trying to judge how far away they were. He could just make out a strange outline in the distance and he strained, trying hard to make sense of what he saw. After a moment he realized they were siege weapons, and he smiled again. That was information he could work with. Assuming Jess and Tanvir didn’t want to draw fire from the tower’s archers, the siege weapons must be around three hundred yards away. If Ellaria’s archers were any good, they might be able to shoot something at that distance, but not with great accuracy. From where he stood, Dev could see only one siege weapon under construction, but his brother would never rely on just one. If Dev had planned the assault, he would have wanted at least three, and he would have surrounded the tower with them. If that’s what Tanvir and Jess were doing, those manning the siege weapons would be reasonably safe due to both the distance and the fact that, given the number of guards manning the tower, there wouldn’t be archers enough to attack all of the siege weapons at the same time. Dev couldn’t say he relished the idea of being trapped in a tower that his brother intended to pound with projectiles, but he knew Tanvir would be careful not to do too much damage.

  Chewing his lip, Dev thought about his straw men. They had seemed large, but now that he had a feel for how difficult it was to see anything at such a distance, his confidence waned. He would need to make them larger, which meant a greater risk that someone in the tower might notice them, but there was nothing for that. All he could do was hope that there weren’t any windows or arrow slits directly below his window, and if there were, that they weren’t manned.

  When night fell at last, he pulled his straw men from his mattress and rummaged through the remaining stuffing, trying to find the l
ongest and sturdiest pieces possible. The mattress was infested with vermin, and Dev gritted his teeth and ignored them as best he could. He worked for hours, until his eyes burned with exhaustion and he could fight sleep off no longer. Leaving the stack of straw heaped against the wall was risky, but he couldn’t afford to pull that much straw out during the day, and he prayed none of his guards would enter his cell tomorrow and catch him in the act of making the straw men bigger.

  He dreamed that night of the day he’d proposed to Jess, a dream so beautiful and vivid he felt as if he had fallen through time, allowing him to relieve the moment.

  They’d lingered in the forest for a few hours after their lovemaking, until admitting with a great deal of reluctance that they had best return before their parents sent out search parties. Though they tried to seem casual, to look as though they’d simply been riding or hunting, Dev caught his mother looking at him with a blade-sharp gaze during dinner. He tried his best not to let her uncanny stare make him squirm. He was confident she’d approve of a match between him and Jess, but he didn’t want to talk to her about it or have her talking to anyone else about it until he’d had a chance to ask Jess to be his wife.

  Dawn’s light gave the sky a pearly gray glow when he rose the next morning and stole off into the gardens, where he’d asked Jess to meet him. His hands were sweating, his stomach churning as he paced the gardens and waited for her. It was ridiculous, he knew. After all, Jess had talked to him of leaving Lyrane, so he didn’t think she would reject him, but he was nervous just the same. He had never before wanted anything with such fervor, had never before had anything that was so precious, so dear to him as her love.

  “Dev,” she sighed as she hurried to him. She wore a flowing gown of rose silk and her shining, unbound hair tumbled down her back. “I didn’t want to wake any of my ladies,” she explained when she noticed him looking at her.

  “I feel like we’ve been apart for years instead of hours,” he confessed as he opened his arms. She threw herself into them, clinging to him. “Gods, you’re beautiful. You’re so beautiful.” He cupped her face in his hands and studied it, unwilling to tear his eyes from the love he saw in her gaze.

  “Morning couldn’t come soon enough,” she agreed, her voice tender as she caressed his cheek. “I’d have taken you back to my chambers with me, if I hadn’t thought it would create an incident.”

  He laughed, pulling her closer. “We wouldn’t want to send my lady mother into fits now, would we?” he agreed. Thinking of spending the night with her filled him with a fierce longing. He had barely slept the night before, he had so missed feeling her body against his, the softness of her skin under his fingertips.

  “We should tell them,” she said, a slight line appearing between her brows. He wondered if she was worried about telling them or if she feared he might balk.

  “Yes, we should.” He took her hand and brought it to his lips for a kiss. “But not before I do this.” As he knelt before her, the morning sun gilded her features. The grass was saturated with morning dew that soaked the knee of his breeches, but he couldn’t have cared less. He wished he could have a portrait painted of her at that moment, her eyes aglow with love, her cheeks flushed, a soft smile on her lips.

  “For many years, you have been my heart’s desire. I could never love anyone as much as I love you. I’m the most imperfect man in the Realms, yet you see something in me, something worthy of your attention, and I’m eager to live up to the belief you have in me. I want to rule with you by my side, want to spend my every day and night with you. Your love is a rare gift, one I will spend my every waking moment cherishing, and I promise to be a good husband to you, to love you every day of our lives. Jessmyn, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”

  “Yes! Oh, gods, yes!” she cried, flinging herself into his arms, causing him to fall back with her sprawled on top of him. They both laughed to find themselves such a helpless tangle, their clothing wet with dew.

  “This is most undignified,” Dev teased, smiling up into Jess’s face.

  “I don’t care a fig for dignity,” Jess said with a great deal of vehemence. The smile on her face looked as if it would never dim. “I care only about you. I care only about being your wife.”

  He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her down for a passionate kiss, one that was full of promises for the future they would share.

  Chapter 38

  A week of surveying the forest availed Jess of nothing, and the servant girl did not make another appearance, no matter how much Jess hoped or prayed she would.

  Tanvir’s siege of the stronghold hadn’t been any more successful. He’d done some minor structural damage to the tower, but couldn’t afford to do any more without compromising the tower’s integrity. Response from the tower had been minimal. Occasionally archers amassed on one side and fired on the troops manning the siege engines, but they never attacked more than one at a time. Whenever the archers attacked, Tanvir simply ordered his troops to withdraw until the archers ceased their bombardment. The half-hearted attacks did give Jess and Tanvir some indication of the numbers inside the tower, and they were both relieved to find them lower than they had feared.

  Even so, the lack of progress was frustrating. The siege hadn’t persuaded anyone to surrender, nor had the enemy made any attempt to meet them on the field. After a few days of firing at the siege engines, the attacks ceased entirely, and both Jess and Tanvir suspected the archers were running low on ammunition. Jess knew she and Tanvir could take the tower if they really wanted, but neither of them was willing to risk Dev’s life, leaving them at a stalemate.

  When Jess searched the forest, she kept one eye on her surroundings and another on the tower, hoping to find something that might point her toward Dev’s cell, but she hadn’t seen a thing. She wore his ring on a chain around her neck, tucked into her leathers so that it stayed close to her heart at all times. The more time passed, the more her impatience grew, and she was grateful to him for having sent the ring. Every time she touched it, it reminded her that she had to be cautious, that she had to use her head and not her fists.

  You were always better at that than me, Dev.

  The thought made her smile, and it also brought her some comfort. She had no idea how Dev was faring, but if he had enough wits about him to send her a message that was not only clear but also just what she needed to hear, he must be all right. She prayed he’d stay that way long enough for her to rescue him.

  After another day of fruitless searching, Jess strode into Tanvir’s tent for the nightly war council. Her eyes burned from the strain of searching the dense forest, and her temples pounded from being jolted about in her saddle while trying to avoid having her head taken off by a tree limb. Lady Rahman was already in the tent, but Lords Talmar and Weymarth hadn’t yet arrived, and Jess sank wearily into a chair, calling for a servant to bring her some wine.

  “How fare you, Your Highness?” Lady Rahman asked, looking at the princess with a sympathetic expression.

  “I’m heartily sick of the color green,” Jess said with a wry twist to her lips.

  Lady Rahman gave her a small smile. “And I’m heartily sick of Moritan’s weather.”

  “What about the odor of sheep?” Lord Talmar asked as he entered the tent. He screwed his face up in distaste. “Being here has ruined me for mutton forever.”

  “Mutton should ruin you for mutton forever,” Tanvir muttered. He looked tired, and Jess knew he was having as hard a time as she was of keeping his spirits up, so it reassured her to hear him make a joke.

  A servant placed a goblet of wine before Jess, and she closed her eyes as she took a long drink. Calling up a mental map of the forest, Jess thought about the area she’d scoured that day, as well as the area her second party had scoured. They had conducted a minute search of almost every part of the forest within two leagues of the tower, and the thought of going back over the same ground exhausted Jess.

  How was it that I was able to r
oust phantasms from the Carpesian Forest but I can’t manage to find a single entrance to Skyhold?

  “Forgive me for my lateness, Your Highnesses,” Lord Weymarth said. The animation in his voice made Jess open her eyes and sit up. “I was just about to join you when a messenger rode in and gave me this.” He handed the parchment over to Tanvir, who scanned it. He broke into a wide smile and looked at Jess.

  “Ellaria Reykstend’s army is all but routed. Queen Farah will leave King Mallaric to quell the last remaining troops, and set forth for Skyhold immediately.”

  It was good news, but Jess felt as if something had burrowed into the pit of her stomach. “And what of Ellaria? Have they taken her captive, or has she been killed?”

  “Unfortunately, no,” Tanvir said, returning his gaze to the scroll. “It says here that she remains with her army, trying her best to rally them in one last fruitless assault on Ygres.”

  Rising from her seat, Jess began to pace. “How long ago was this message written?” she asked Lord Weymarth.

  “Four days ago, Your Highness.”

  “Then we cannot know for certain Ellaria is still in Ygres.”

  Tanvir looked startled. “You think she would make her way back here? But she wouldn’t be able to get away before King Mallaric’s army destroyed her forces.”

  “I don’t think she’ll bring her forces,” Jess said, tensing. “Prince Devaran is the last card she holds. I doubt she intends to let him go without a fight.”

  Alarm spread over Tanvir’s face. “You mean she intends to come back here and kill my brother.”

  Jess shrugged, the sense of helplessness weighing her down. “Perhaps. Or perhaps she will use him to try to bargain for her own life. But do you want to stake his life on that hope?”

  “No,” Tanvir said, his expression hardening.

  “Your Highness,” Lord Talmar broke in. “We’ve determined that we cannot afford to bombard the tower for much longer. We should split our forces, keep a perimeter around the tower and continue to harass its defenders, but the rest of our forces can join Princess Jessmyn in searching the forest.”