by B. T. Narro
“But there are many in the city who will fight for you!” I said, unable to hold my tongue. “They will be slaughtered, along with Jennava’s people—”
“Enough!”
I couldn’t stop though, now standing. “I’m just saying they are people like me, sire, who are eager, no desperate, to fight against the same bastards who almost started a war with the krepps. Many of these allies will die if we don’t stop the group from Rohaer today.”
“Troops are ready for whatever may happen, but I am not sending them blindly into Curdith Forest! Neither of you seem like you will understand, so there is no point in discussing this further. It’s over.”
Leon stormed out, but not before slamming his fist into the wall. I got up and left after him before I said something I would regret. There was no changing the king’s mind. I could only hurt myself by trying.
I was red-faced pissed off as I exited the room. Jennava and her people might die this very evening.
I caught up to Leon as he was going down the stairs. “Wait.”
“There’s nothing to discuss, Jon.”
“You can’t be serious.”
He spun around to face me in the middle of the stone stairway as I stood two steps above. “Going against the king is treason.” He spoke in a hushed tone through gritted teeth. “You will not be reminded of this after you come to a plan, do you understand? It’s either nothing or treason. There’s no discussion to be had with me or anyone else.”
He stomped down the rest of the stairs as I stood there. Was there anything I could do without committing treason? Should I try to ride to Koluk and find Jennava’s group as they left the city? No, it was too late already.
A different idea came to me. At first it felt just like a foolish and desperate attempt to get everything I wanted, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized it might actually work.
I stayed on the stairs between the second and third floor for quite some time as I thought through my plan. Yes, it should work. Nykal would have to send his army into the forest. He wouldn’t have a choice.
If the king had become furious with me just for me speaking against him, this would surely lead to my hanging if it went awry. Even if it all went according to plan, I would probably be punished severely. I didn’t think it would be considered treason, but I could still be thrown out of the castle.
I had to hold back tears at the very real chance of being forced to leave. I had grown to think of this place as my home, partially because I had been treated so well and had made good friends, but also because I had nowhere else to go.
I knew in my heart what had to be done, though. With dragging footsteps, I walked back up to the third floor. The only reason I thought I might get away with it was because I knew Nykal to be a caring leader. If the lives of his people had been spared, he would forgive any crime that transgressed leading up to it. It was the same reason I knew to trust Jennava. I had seen in her eyes that she had the same good in her as the king. It was something that couldn’t be explained, only felt. Nykal would realize the same when he finally met her. I just hoped I was alive and not in the dungeons when it happened.
I walked around the third floor of the keep until I found the room I was looking for. The door to Callie’s room was open with one guard outside. I was glad to see she was alone. She looked to be working on her studies, writing as she leaned over a desk, and yet she still wore an elegant green dress.
“Princess,” I called from the doorway, her guard eyeing me.
She perked up at seeing me. “Jon, please come in.”
I stepped inside. “I would like to speak to you about something in private if you don’t mind.”
She rushed over and threw the door closed, a spark of joy in her eyes. “What is it?”
“It’s of a serious nature, unfortunately.”
Her brow furrowed. “Is there something wrong?”
“Yes, and I think it can only be resolved with your help, but some explanation is required first.” I gestured at the large cushioned chairs nearby. We took a seat facing each other, Callie leaning forward.
I told her everything I wasn’t supposed to tell her, starting with the attack last night—Rohaer’s plan to start the war against the krepps. I then mentioned my trip to Koluk and Jennava’s desperation for help. I concluded with her father’s refusal to give that help, and Leon’s resulting fury, as well as my own. I laid out all the options her father had and why the one he’d chosen would result in the death of many innocent people. I was honest and upfront.
She listened with a determined look in her eyes, and I thought by the time I was done that coming to her would not be a mistake.
“My father’s only explanation when I asked him what I heard last night was that it was a disturbance among the guards,” she said coldly. “I don’t know why he keeps these things from me.” She squeezed my hand. “I do appreciate you telling me. He doesn’t have to know you did. But did you kill these men who tried to kill Grufaeragar, Jon? I want to know they are dead.”
I was somewhat surprised to hear the princess speak like this, but perhaps this was another sign that I had come to right person.
“Two of them died, but one escaped.” I gently pulled my hand out of her grasp. “Unfortunately, I didn’t come here just to tell you about what’s going on.”
“That’s right, you asked for my help. But what can I do? My father would never listen to me over you or Leon.”
“I have something else in mind,” I said in a dark tone.
She tilted her head. “Something dangerous?”
“Only for me.”
She thought for a moment. “Tell me what it is.”
“First, let me warn you that your father is going to be furious at both of us if you agree.”
“I have made him angry before, not on purpose.”
“Not this angry, princess.”
She leaned back as she pondered it for a moment. Then she leaned forward again.
“Tell me your plan.”
I laid it out for her. She didn’t smile as I explained it, but she didn’t frown, either. She merely listened with no reaction until I was finished. The plan was actually quite simple, as most good plans were.
“Are you sure it’s the right thing to do?” she asked.
“I am as sure as I can be in a situation like this one.”
“What happens if we go through with it and you were wrong?”
“Nothing will happen to you.”
“I know it won’t!” she replied with anger. “I’m talking about you!”
The truth was I would probably be hung, but that was only if I let them catch me after this failed. I would hope to flee and live in the forest. I could continue to fight for good from there, perhaps even convince Eslenda to teach me about sorcery. I imagined she would do a better job than Leon, but I would miss the castle dearly and my peers even more.
I wasn’t about to tell this to the princess, though, who might not help me if she knew. But she wasn’t going to believe the lie that nothing would happen to me, either. Even if this went as planned, I would probably be punished. She had to realize this.
“Just say it, Jon,” she whispered roughly. “You would be hung.”
I nodded.
“And you still want to do this?”
“It’s that important.”
She was shaking her head. “I don’t know if I’ve ever met someone as brave as you.”
“Let’s hope it’s bravery.”
She looked confused. “What else could it be?”
“Stupidity, princess.”
She shook her head. “No, this should work. I know my father. It is bravery after all.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
I rode toward the forest, alone. It was the middle of the afternoon. Once I reached the forest, I wouldn’t have much time to find the small army from Rohaer, but I had done everything to get here as fast I could.
I had the callring and the tracker ring
, but I only needed one of them for this to work. Many lives depended on me, and I had put much of that responsibility on the young princess.
I trusted her. I knew this was not a mistake. It was a good plan, but it might not be enough. A flawed plan could only succeed with luck, but a good one could still fail spectacularly without some.
Many experiences from last night were still appearing in my mind without my choice. One of the more pleasant memories was Charlie jumping onto the back of the axman who was about to kill Grufaeragar, and the ax head melting off the wooden handle right as the man struck the krepp. I had wanted to ask Charlie from what range he could use mtalia on metal, because it seemed that he had to be quite close, but there was no doubt that he could melt the metal quickly. I had not realized until then just how valuable his skill was. I wished it was something I could learn one day, along with many other spells.
I was still at a loss as to how I should focus my training if I lived after this. Even if I was expelled from the castle, I would never stop fighting against corruption. I had seen what the enemies of Lycast were like. They needed to be stopped whether I was being paid to do so or not.
I wished there were more spells known about dvinia. From what Kataleya had told me about Water and Ice, it seemed like varying the notes of dvinia could create a plethora of different spells. But also from what Kataleya had told me, it could be dangerous for me to experiment without more knowledge about mana.
I would hate to leave the castle after such a short time. I still hadn’t gotten a chance to explore the books and scrolls in the library. Maybe there was something useful for me in there, considering my wide range of mana.
I reached the forest and stayed on course. I didn’t know exactly where my enemies were, but I remembered what Jennava had said. They wouldn’t be too close to the perimeter or too deep in the forest. There was about a two-mile radius of their possible route.
Much of my plan was based on a single assumption. I figured these were also enemies of Eslenda, and her chances of finding me were a lot higher than of me finding her or my enemies.
Eventually, I had ridden deep enough into the forest that it was time to turn north and begin my search. My horse had to keep a quick pace. I couldn’t afford to slow until I found them, or Nykal’s men might catch me first.
I had followed Callie out of the castle in a route where we were seen by as few people as possible. After we’d snuck around the courtyard and gotten past the portcullis, she had convinced the stable hand to release two horses for us. She knew the man well. Callie had predicted accurately that he would ask where she was going without the protection of guards.
She’d played innocent, implying I had convinced her to join me on a romantic ride out of the castle. I would protect her from danger, so she didn’t need guards.
“Don’t tell my father,” she’d added before we’d sped out of the castle, a retinue of guards watching us go with confused expressions.
There was not a single person in Newhaven who didn’t stop what they were doing to look at the princess as we rode out of the city. It might not have been obvious she was a princess, but her wealth was clear from her expensive dress. Any enemy of Lycast would be happy to use her for ransom, even if they didn’t recognize her, and her father had to assume this would be the case as he pictured me taking her through the forest on false pretenses of a romantic date.
Callie never actually left the city. She’d split off from me and visited a friend’s mansion where she would hide out until nightfall. It was a friend she visited often, she’d told me. Her friend’s guardians wouldn’t think that Callie had come to hide from her father and the many men he would send after her. They wouldn’t think it necessary to message the king.
Hopefully, Nykal’s men were after me. They had probably been ordered to catch up to us before I took the princess deep into the forest and possibly encountered trouble.
The only way they wouldn’t be was if Nykal had figured out that Callie was part of the plan, and I had not kidnapped her under false pretenses of romance. But even then, he still would likely send men into the forest just in case he was wrong. This should work so long as I found our enemies before Nykal’s men found me. Then there would be no reason for all of us to turn back until we fought.
My pulse increased with each quarter of an hour that I rode through the forest without sight of our enemies. I eventually started to worry that they might be behind me, to the south, but I couldn’t turn around without running into the soldiers the king had surely sent after me and his “endangered” daughter.
It would be evening soon. Jennava’s brigade was to attack by then. Hopefully, she would wait for us to engage first and back off if we never did, but I couldn’t be sure any of that would happen.
I looked through the spyglass Callie had given me. My gaze swept over the forest from one direction to another, a mist settling down between the trees.
Eventually, I thought I could make out movement far ahead. Were those the silhouettes of men?
I screamed and nearly fell off my horse as a giant face suddenly appeared in my spyglass.
“Relax, easy. Easy.” Eslenda had her hands up not ten yards away from me, her accented voice sharp and clear.
Her sudden appearance had startled my horse as well, the animal grunting and rearing up. But Eslenda approached and said something in what sounded to be Elvish, and the animal quickly calmed.
“You have come alone?” Eslenda asked in confusion.
“Allies should be coming behind me. Can you sense anyone?”
She stepped away from my horse and squinted south. “No,” she said.
I cursed.
“I don’t understand how it is you are unsure.” The wind blew her rosy white hair away from her pointed ears. “You should know if allies are behind you or not.”
“What are you doing here?” I countered as I tried to figure out what to do now.
“Following my enemies, of course.”
“The dark mages from Rohaer.”
“They are not only dark mages.”
I looked ahead with the spyglass. I was certain that I saw men now. The army wasn’t too far ahead, the mist turning their bodies into shadows.
“Who else is with them?”
“You will explain yourself first—wait, now I sense men coming. Many of them.”
I hopped down off my horse. Thank god.
“Tell me what’s happening,” Eslenda demanded.
I looked her over briefly, wondering how much I could trust her, or if I really had a choice. She was dressed in a brown robe. There was no telling what she might have concealed underneath. Even without a weapon, though, she could kill me quite easily. I could only hope my faith in her was right.
“Allies are ready to advance from the north. We are to attack from the south. The king didn’t agree to this plan at first, so I had to trick him.”
“Trick him? Your own king?”
I nodded. “He thinks I have lied to his daughter and brought her out here on pretenses of romance. He thinks I am purposefully putting her in danger to force him into sending troops to protect us. She is safe, though, still in the capital. She helped me with the plan and will hide from her father and the guards until this is over.”
“Oh, he must be furious, Jon.”
“Yes, I know. Are you with us in this fight?”
“Of course. These are bad men from Rohaer. They have come to spread dteria and destroy everyone who opposes them.”
I looked behind me but still couldn’t see my allies. “How far are Nykal’s troops?”
“Not far.”
I wondered something. “How can you sense them yet you didn’t sense us when we stumbled across you the last time?”
Her eyes narrowed as if insulted. “I had never been disturbed during a bath until then, Jon. There has been no reason to sense for nosy human gazes.”
“I do apologize about that.”
She hummed as she gave me an icy look
.
“I need to ask you something completely inappropriate and wrong.”
“More inappropriate than reminding me that you spied on me?”
“Yes.”
“You test my patience. What, Jon?”
“Would you help me improve my sorcery if I stayed in the forest after this was over?”
She looked surprised at first, but then she seemed to understand as she took a breath. “Because you don’t plan to return to the castle.”
“Not if there’s a chance I will be hung.”
“I understand. Let me see.” She stepped close and moved her head around my face.
“Are you sensing for magical ability?”
“Quiet.” She moved around me for a while longer. “Your mana is strong, but I am not a teacher, Jon. I—”
“Everyone can be a teacher with knowledge and patience,” I interrupted.
“But I have little patience for you.”
“That will change when you see how fast I learn,” I replied quickly.
“Perhaps, or perhaps I will grow tired of teaching and taking care of you, as I’m sure I must if you stay here. It is not a relationship I wish for. They are close now.” She stepped away from me. “It’s time for the confrontation. You may speak of me, but I’m not going to show myself.”
At that, she disappeared. Looking closer, I could see the blurred outline of her body, the forest fuzzy when I looked through her. Then she moved, and soon I lost track of her.
I sighed. She hadn’t exactly said she wouldn’t help me, but her lack of enthusiasm was clear. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do. It depended on what happened.
I could hear horses coming from the southeast. I turned to face the men Nykal had sent as they thundered through the trees. Leon was at the front of the group. There had to be fifty troops on horseback behind him. Kataleya was the only other person I recognized who’d come with Leon. I wondered if Reuben had chosen not to come or if he was still recovering from his blood loss. My other friends didn’t know how to ride a horse.