Cadence patted her hand, then jogged across the room and opened the door. “Lieutenant? I didn’t think to find you here.”
Valoria perked up. It had to be Nathaniel.
“I’m sorry to intrude. Will Valoria see me?”
Relief filled her with joy at the sound of his voice. Nathaniel was alive.
Cadence paused. “She’s still very weak.”
“Allow him in.” Valoria called in the most authoritative voice she could muster. “This instant.”
“Very well.” Cadence gave her a wary look, then opened the door further.
Nathaniel rushed in, his handsome face full of worry. He bowed his head. “My lady.”
Valoria tapped the chair where Cadence had sat. “Please, sit down.” She glanced at Cadence. “Leave us.”
“My lady? Are you certain that’s appropriate?”
“For Lyric’s sake, he is checking on my health on behalf of his brother.”
Cadence bowed her head. When she glanced up again, she gave Nathaniel a suspicious look. “I’ll be a shout away.”
After Cadence disappeared into her room, Nathaniel took the seat beside Valoria.
Valoria touched his hand. “I am most sorry to hear of the king.”
Nathaniel blinked as if staunching tears. “He died in battle saving those he loved. For a warrior, there is no better way to go.”
They sat in silence. Valoria could think of nothing appropriate to say after such loss. She realized she was still holding his hand but she didn’t let go. “I’m sorry I couldn’t save him.”
Nathaniel turned to her with eagerness flashing in his face. “Did you really save the rest of us?”
Valoria held her breath. She’d said too much already. “I did what I had to.”
Nathaniel wouldn’t allow her to look away. He locked his gaze with hers. His tone was questioning. “I did not hear a minstrel’s song.”
“I did not sing one.”
He shook his head. “I do not understand.”
Valoria sighed. It was too late to hide the truth. Besides, he’d only ever been truthful with her, and she couldn’t bring herself to speak a lie between them. “I tapped into the dark necromancer’s magic, but in doing so I exposed myself.”
Shock and horror passed his face. “Horred’s grave. Are you all right?”
She shrugged. “Only time will tell. We’re told not to expand our powers beyond simple songs. I’ve broken the minstrel’s code of conduct.” She squeezed his hand. The thought of him renouncing her made her sick. “You must know I had no other choice.”
“I understand.” A strange suspicion crossed his face. “Had you ever used this type of power before?”
Valoria’s skin chilled. It was time she told someone, time she owned up to the consequences of her actions. “Only once in the battle where we met. I called down the mist from the hills to blind the raiders so the minstrels would have a fighting chance. It was then I sensed the evil in the mountains and asked it to do my bidding.” She wiped her hand over her face. “In doing so, I woke Sill. I am to blame for the attack. All the dead are on my conscience.” For that she would never forgive herself.
Nathaniel held her hand to his chest. “No. To believe that is folly. Sill has been festering for years. The swamp has slowly spread from the valley to the city walls. You did not awaken Sill, my dear. You saved us all from a fate in the making these many years.”
Valoria gasped in relief as tears rolled down her cheeks. His words had lifted a burden from her shoulders. “You are certain?”
“I am. But…” He paused as if considering whether or not to speak of what was on his mind.
Valoria nodded eagerly. “Go on.”
“Have you used this power on me?”
What a ridiculous thought. She laughed, relieved. “Not the evil power. Just a song to encourage you to lend aid to Echo, my music teacher. I hope you do not mind.”
“No.” He sighed. “Not at all. But, there is nothing else you’ve cast?”
Valoria crinkled her brow, thinking of every song she’d sung these past few days. “I’ve been singing to calm my nerves, to give the minstrels strength in their journey home, and for the people of Ebonvale to have open minds, but I cannot think of any such song directed at you. Why?”
“You would tell me, would you not?”
He was acting very strange. “Nathaniel, I just told you my darkest secret since arriving here at the castle. If there was anything else, you would know. I’m not sure why, but I trust you more than any other warrior here.”
Nathaniel turned away, and Valoria wondered if she’d said too much. She hadn’t mentioned Brax. But, she’d spoken the truth. She trusted Brax as much as she trusted a bull not to kick her.
“I must take my leave.” Nathaniel stood, avoiding eye contact. He bowed. “I wish you well in your recovery.”
A heartbeat later, he’d disappeared out the door. Valoria covered her chest with her hand as embarrassment set in. She was the biggest fool in all of Ebonvale. She’d practically told him she preferred him to Brax at a time when her union to Brax was the most crucial move she could make. For a noble man to hear of such betrayal must have been poison to his ears. She’d driven him away.
Would he report to Brax?
Valoria tried to calm herself. Surely not. It wasn’t like she’d said anything too criminal, and Nathaniel was no gossip. But, she couldn’t be seen with the lieutenant any longer. She’d gone too far, and she had to take a few steps back to remedy the situation. If only doing so didn’t break her heart to pieces.
Cadence opened the door and peeked in. “Oh, I didn’t know you were alone. Where’d he run off to so suddenly?”
Valoria wiped her eyes and stifled a sob. “I have no idea.”
Cadence locked the door and shook her head. “Coming to visit you is most forward, indeed. Especially for a man who is not your intended.”
Valoria swallowed a lump in her throat. “Do not worry. I do not think he’ll be coming back.”
Cadence admired her with wide eyes. “You sent him away? I am so proud of you. Braxten Thoridian should be the only man in this room. It’s his grief keeping him away, my lady. I’m sure of it. Just you wait and see. When he’s better, he’ll come calling and you’ll be glad the lieutenant is not in the way.”
If only the world were as simple as Cadence saw it to be. Did her handmaiden feel the hatred against the minstrels? Did she not miss her home? “Have you had any trouble adjusting?”
“No, my lady. I like it here.” Cadence folded a blanket and stashed it in the chest at the foot of the bed.
“Do you ever miss the House of Song?”
“I never fit in there.” Cadence walked over to the windowsill and dusted it a little too immaculately. “I struggled with every instrument there was before I decided to be a handmaiden. To tell you the truth, I feel more at home with these warriors.”
“Oh, I did not know.” Valoria hadn’t asked much about Cadence’s past, and now she wished she had.
“Of course you didn’t. My parents were not proud of my lack of talent, so they tried to hide it any way they could. I am certain they did not mention it for my appointment to be your handmaid.” She squinted out the window. “Looks as though a storm is coming.”
“From where?” Valoria stiffened. Energy charged the air. She rose from the bed and peered over Cadence’s shoulder to the dark mountains of Sill. Gray clouds churned and lightning struck. Seconds later, a deep grumble rumbled in her stomach.
Valoria closed her eyes. She stood on a mountain ridge as rain pelted the air and lightning struck the ground below. In the muck of the valley below, bodies writhed. Men and women stood on the cliff’s edge as undead pushed them into the dark waters. They screamed as they fell, and then disappeared into the mud. Seconds later, they emerged moving in jolts, their skin blotched purple and black as they were reborn.
Glass shattered and V
aloria opened her eyes. The shards of a vase lay scattered on the floor as Cadence shouted her name.
“My lady, you disappeared. You blinked away, and then came back in a puff of black smoke.”
Horror and disbelief rattled Valoria until her hands shook. “I saw through the necromancer’s eyes.”
“What did you see?”
“Get my evening dress. I must see Echo.”
Cadence took her arm and pulled her back to the bed. “You must rest. You’ve been through a lot.”
“There is no time for rest.” Valoria snapped, and then she shook her head apologetically as she searched for a clean dress. “The necromancer is planning another attack.”
* * * *
Nathaniel walked in the Wild Boar like a traveler after a long trip on an unforgiving road. The tavern was quiet this early in the day. A barmaid swept the floor in the back, while a young man tended to the fire. An older couple sipped stew by the fire, and an old man slept on the other side of the bar.
“Here to interrogate another of our barmaids?” The bartender gave him a defensive stare. He wore the same overcoat with the missing button, but today he had a clean black scarf around his neck.
“No, I’m here for a drink.” Nathaniel took a seat. “That’s if you’ll serve me.”
“We’ll serve anyone with the gold to pay.” The man came over and his face softened. “What’ll it be?”
“Hot cider.” Nathaniel took a seat. After his conversation with Valoria, he had to give himself some distance from the castle. She hadn’t cast any spell on him. His irrational feelings for her were his own doing.
His last words to the king were a promise to take care of Brax and Ebonvale. Any further conversation with Valoria would only break his word.
If only it wasn’t so hard to leave.
“Here you go.” The bartender slid a mug of cider over. “Although it looks as though you could use something a little stronger.”
“I do not drink on duty.”
The man nodded as if he understood and touched the scarf. “We all mourn the loss of our king.”
As if Nathaniel needed any reminder of that horrible night. “He fought bravely and will go down in history along King Artemis Rubystone, and Helena and Horred.”
“Aye.” The bartender filled his own mug and lifted it. “To Bronford Thoridian.”
Nathaniel raised his mug.
The bartender added, “May Braxten Thoridian’s rule be one of peace.”
He drank to that, even though he didn’t think they’d seen the last of the undead.
The bartender wiped his chin. “Ever catch that lad who ran away the other night?”
“No.” Although Nathaniel wondered if the young man’s corpse was among those undead piled up by what remained of the back gate. He’d looked for him that morning, but could not find one familiar face in the horde.
Thank the gods for that.
The bartender wiped a rag over the countertop. “What will they do about the gate?”
“A mason is already at work closing the hole with giant stones.”
“Stones, eh?” He knocked his fist on the counter. “Much better than wood.”
“We hope. I cannot help but feel we are ignoring the real problem. How does one rid himself of an ever-spreading swamp?”
“You pack up and find another place to live, in my opinion.”
“Move the castle? Abandon the steps of the holy temple?” Nathaniel shook his head. “Somehow I think if we do move, the swamp will continue to spread. It will catch up to us one way or another.”
The bartender pursed his lips. “As does all evil.”
“Only if you let it.” Nathaniel placed a gold coin on the counter and stood.
But, the bartender wasn’t finished with his commentary. He threw his rag into a bucket on the floor. “Heard the minstrel princess turned the tide of battle last night.”
“’Tis true.” Nathaniel glanced away, fearing his fondness for her played clear on his face. “Thank you for the cider.”
The bartender nodded, pocketing the gold. “Maybe we misjudged them after all.”
“I’m as guilty of that as the rest of us.” Without looking back, Nathaniel pushed open the oak door.
Chapter 13
Blue Fire
Valoria counted the doors past the fourteenth painting of Braxten Thoridian wielding his mighty sword. She’d followed the servant’s directions, yet it seemed as though they’d put her old music teacher in the darkest, narrowest corridor of the entire castle.
Might as well put him with the horses in the stalls.
She knocked on the door and waited, trying not to gawk at Braxten Thoridian’s muscly arms. You’d think he would have smiled for at least one of the fourteen paintings, but every face he made was arduous, as if he looked upon the world and found it lacking.
Echo called from inside in his lyrical voice. “Come in, come in.”
Valoria opened the door. The room was small but cozy with a single window looking out over the chicken coops, a small cot, washbasin, and dresser.
“Valoria, I thought you were another medic. They’ve been coming every hour with more potions and herbal tinctures. I told them I was healing well, but I think my songs had a little too much effect. Have a seat.” He gestured to a stool in the corner. “’Tis the best I can do considering.”
“You’d think in this entire castle they could find a bigger room.”
Echo waved her concern away. “They weren’t expecting me to stay. Now what’s this I hear of you commanding the army of the undead?”
Valoria choked. Echo was never one to follow the chicken around the hen coop. “You told me I had to do everything I could. I had no other choice.”
Echo’s face slackened. “Then, the rumors are true? You used dark magic to beat the necromancer at his own game?”
“I did. And it’s not the first time, either. Back in the meadow, when the raiders attacked, I drew the mist from the mountains of Sill.”
“I thought you might have.” Echo ran his hand through his graying hair. “Oh, Valoria, my dear. I did not want this for you.”
“I had to. Soldiers were dying. Braxten and the queen were in trouble. There was no other way.”
“I see.” Echo collapsed onto his cot and rubbed his head.
Valoria felt like she’d stolen biscuits from the baker. Shame weighed heavily on her chest. She could not bear Echo’s disappointment in her. “I’m sorry. I thought it was the only way.”
“It may have been.” Echo wiped his face. “’Tis my fault. I knew you were powerful, that you’d surpassed my teachings, but I did not know how strong you’d grown, that you were capable of controlling nature, of tapping into evil.” Echo glanced down at his hands as if he were the one who’d called upon the dark forces.
“Why is it so bad to use dark power if it is for good?”
“’Tis a slippery slope.” Echo reached out and took her hand. “Many minstrels have tried. The few who were successful were consumed by it in the end.”
The black eye sockets of the necromancer flashed through her mind. If she’d forced herself to look closer, she would have noticed the shape of his robes. “You mean the necromancers were once minstrels?”
Echo nodded sadly. “Aye.”
“Why does no one speak of this?”
Echo raised his eyebrows, and the wrinkles in his forehead made him look so much older and more helpless than ever before. “The people of Ebonvale already despise us. What would they think if they knew the truth?”
Valoria sat in stunned silence. He was right.
Panic slowly edged its way in. “What am I supposed to do? The undead will attack again. I’ve seen it through the necromancer’s eyes. But, I cannot keep fighting him with his own magic. Every time I do, I lose a little of myself.”
“Calm down.” Echo reached out and took her hand. “We will think of something. How much
time do you think we have?”
Even though Valoria shuddered to revisit her memories, she thought back to that horrible moment when she lived in the necromancer’s head. His thoughts had been so clear. He needed time to rebuild the army, along with the strength of the next full moon. “A fortnight, maybe more.”
Echo nodded and pursed his lips. “We’ll need to gather an army unlike any other. Minstrels, warriors, and maybe even raiders if we can get them to join our cause.”
“But, we cannot see the undead coming in the swamp. We have to take the battle away from Ebonvale’s walls.”
“The swamp.” Echo drummed his fingertips over his knees. “I’ve heard it’s been spreading for as long as people can remember.”
“Lieutenant—someone mentioned that to me, yes.” Valoria glanced away.
“There is an old song I learned as a boy…something about fighting fire with fire…”
“But there is no fire in a swamp.” Valoria frowned. Had Echo finally lost his mind?
Echo ignored her, still singing the song to himself. “And water with the mermaids’ breath. That’s it!” He slapped his knee. “Blue fire.”
Valoria studied him with concern. All this talk of her using dark magic had overtaxed his senses. “Maybe you need to rest.”
Echo batted her away. “I’m fine, as I’ve already stated to the medics. But you, my girl, are to pack your things.”
“Whatever for?” Were they going back to the House of Song? As much as it would fill her heart with joy, Valoria knew that wasn’t the right path. Retreating home would solve nothing.
Echo looked her up and down as if she’d just won her first music competition. “You’re journeying on a quest.”
* * * *
“I advise you not to bother him. He’s been stabbing that scarecrow all morning.” A young soldier approached Valoria as she walked across the muddied training field behind the weapons hall.
“He will have to listen to me.” Valoria pushed by him, walking in her traveling boots hidden underneath her black, mourning gown. “He owes me a favor.”
Brax shouted as he whirled around and sliced the arm off a man made from hay hanging from a training pole. The arm flew through the air and landed by Valoria’s feet. Hay spilled around her boots. She had to re-convince herself she was making the right decision to ask for his aid.
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