Haven (War of the Princes)

by A. R. Ivanovich

  The muscular equine did not regard us, but walked away toward a Dragoon entering the hall with a bridle.

  I tried to calm down but couldn’t tear my eyes away from the thing until we had turned a corner.

  Was I dreaming? Perhaps I was hallucinating from shock. I had always believed myself to be as levelheaded as anyone else, seeking logical and scientific explanations for all I encountered in life. My discovery of Abilities was the first thing to pop that bubble, but this… this was just over the top. I felt a sort of giddy hysteria enter my mind as I admitted to myself that it explained why none of the standard black Dragoon warhorses were stabled outside with Florian. I had wondered where they kept so many horses, but I never expected the answer to be remotely close to what I had seen.

  That horse was a skeleton before the shadow made it look normal. Were they dead? Were Rune and the other Dragoons riding dead horses? A shiver of disgust tickled up and down my spine, but with it rose a morbid curiosity that I quickly tried to subdue.

  Why hadn’t Dylan told me about this? I wished I could ask him. I wished that I were still with him at Breakwater Keep. His spoiled arrogance had irritated me from time to time, true, but he could also be kind and charismatic, and now I was surrounded by monsters. I did overhear him saying he was trying to gain my trust to get information from me, but he also repeatedly put himself on the line to help and protect me, even at the price of infuriating Lord Brendon. It was very possible he said what he did to avoid Brendon’s wrath.

  It troubled me that he wouldn’t let me leave, that he wouldn’t help me go home… but how much more could I ask from someone of his station with his responsibilities? I hadn’t stopped to think what would happen to him if I did get away. He would take the blame for his escaped prisoner. Not to mention, if I’d have listened to him, if I hadn’t tried to escape, I might not have run directly into the returning Dragoons and their Commanders. I might still be at Breakwater Keep.

  “I’m sorry, Dylan,” I whispered under my breath, letting my head hang as the Senior Commander unlocked a door. My throat still ached. Stakes’ words stabbed at my memory like barbs. He had threatened Dylan and it frightened me. I wished I could see him again. I wanted to warn him. I wanted to tell him I appreciated the comforts he had given me. Comfort didn’t exist at the Installment.

  When the double doors swung inward I wasn’t expecting to see a room full of Dragoons and high-ranking militia. At their center stood a very stern Lord Brendon, muscular arms folded over his broad chest.

  Dylan stood beside him.

  Chapter 25: The Final Test

  Be careful what you wish for.

  I got what I wanted, without any of the specifics. It figured.

  I had wished to see Dylan and there he was. Unfortunately, he shared the room with his brother and thirty or so militants, not to mention the two Commanders and a handful of Dragoons that followed me inside. What good was seeing him if I couldn’t talk to him?

  The room was oval and my audience was standing on tiered steps that surrounded a sunken landing. A single chair was bolted to the floor in the center of the room. I didn’t like how it looked. Metal clamps hung from its arms.

  Everyone was looking at me, as usual. I tried to imagine that my body was just a protective shell and that this shell was all that they could really see. When I thought about it that way, I felt more confident and was able to raise my chin to their scrutiny.

  I met Dylan’s eyes and his expression was that of sympathetic uncertainty. If only I could tell him everything I was afraid of. I wanted to warn him of Stakes’ threat. My first reaction was to wish that we could communicate without speaking. With my luck it would work miraculously, only for him to forget everything I said the very next instant.

  “More proof every moment, Lord Brendon,” Senior Commander Fallux said in a tone that rang out in the otherwise quiet room. “More proof that this girl is a Lodestone from a place that eludes us, than a spy from the North. You, yourself were witness to her Ability in isolation. She is a keen user of The Pull.”

  “People in the North have Abilities as well as we have here, Senior Commander, or do your many distractions keep you from remembering such simple facts?” Lord Brendon Axton rebutted. I knew he was a regular man, devoid of Abilities, or at least any powerful ones, but I had to admit that the man had courage to stubbornly and openly go head to head with Commander Fallux.

  “On the contrary, no simple fact escapes me and nothing I invest my energies in is a distraction. Both of which will be proven momentarily and rewarded greatly by our Margrave and the Prince,” Fallux replied with a smirk, twisted by the metal on one side of his face.

  The Senior Commander ushered me toward the ugly chair. I looked desperately at the faces watching me. Dylan averted his gaze. I didn’t know why. Did he know what was going to happen to me? Should I expect something terrible? My hands began to tremble again.

  I scanned the faces of the Dragoons. Rune was in the room too. Even from a distance I could never mistake the angle of his broad shoulders, his low brows, or a hundred other nuances of his other features. He stood among his comrades like a statue and for a single heartbeat, his presence felt so strong to me that everyone else in the room may as well have melted out of existence. I still couldn’t be certain how I felt about him, but for good or ill, he was undeniably important to me.

  Unlike Dylan, he didn’t look away from me. His blue eyes locked with mine and I even thought I could perceive the faintest of nods. It was the smallest expression of reassurance I had ever received, but in that moment it meant the world to me. It told me that I would be safe to sit in the chair.

  I squeezed my hands into fists, squared my shoulders and sat primly, as though it were of my own accord, in the frightening chair to await my fate.

  I should have been scared out of my wits, and maybe under all the stress and shock, I was, but an infusion of courage rejuvenated me. I felt like myself again and would not be silently mistreated.

  “I am Katelyn Kestrel,” I announced to the room. Where it was mostly quiet but a moment ago, it went dead silent as I spoke. Dylan looked up, his face matching the surprise of the crowd. “It’s true I’m not from Breakwater. It’s true I’m not from anywhere near. I came here knowing nothing about the ways of these lands. I may have shared with you the location of my home, I may have told you about our country, but we are a people of peace, and you… you are hostages of war and death. I am under the impression that you will hurt me, and if you do, you will hurt my people too. All I’ve ever wanted from any of you is to let me go home. Whatever your arguments about me are, and whatever you are going to do to me… never forget that I’m just a girl who got lost. I am Katelyn Kestrel: a human being.”

  The room remained silent and I cleared my throat, feeling uncomfortable. My fingers fidgeted in my lap. Dylan looked away again. Guilt tinged his face. Brendon’s brow was furrowed and he stared at me searchingly. This time he looked like the one who wished he could communicate without speaking. My courage was waning fast and I couldn’t face the Lord of Breakwater for long. I looked back at Rune and found his expression far more difficult to read.

  “Ahh, sentimental,” Fallux said clapping his hands together. “I’m afraid there are two problems with your heartwarming little speech. Firstly, I believe in fate: it was no accident you came here. Secondly, you have The Pull. You of all people cannot get lost. You chose to come here and here you are. Whatever your reason for leaving your precious home and traveling to Breakwater was, it is meaningless now. Anything that steps foot in this region belongs to my Margrave, my Prince, and me. Stakes, her wrists.”

  “With pleasure,” Stakes grinned wolfishly. He stood in front of my chair, snatched my hands, forcing them atop the arms of the chair and winked at me. To my horror the metal clasps came to life, taking the shape of bestial faces and moving of their own to snap over my wrists. A second pair snaked over my legs. In a few second’s time I was bound. As Stakes stepped away, the
metal ceased moving.

  That was Stakes’ Ability. He could manipulate metal. I reminded myself what March had told me. It was always advantageous to keep one’s Ability a surprise. I hoped that by knowing his Ability, I could use it against him. Still, I had not been prepared to see iron move itself.

  “That would be The Steel, pet,” Stakes informed me with a chuckle as he returned to his position beside Fallux.

  Without any regard for me, Commander Fallux stepped forward. “I bring you here today to witness the existence of a second Ability. Once it has been assessed, there will be no further cause for insisting rights of custody concerning this girl. In addition to that, everyone in this room will know that I was right in searching for, locating and keeping the very first Lodestone in hundreds of years.”

  “Are you going to continue preening yourself, Commander, or do you have something to show us?” Lord Brendon demanded impatiently. Even I could see the subtle signs that his words had put everyone on edge.

  “Such fire. My Margrave and Prince have spoiled you with too many entitlements. Don’t forget who your betters are, Common-Lord. I could use the water in your own body to drown you where you stand and suffer no reprimand.”

  Tension in the room boiled to a fever pitch. The militia present shifted uneasily, the Dragoons tensed and Dylan gritted his teeth. Again, Lord Brendon’s gall shocked me.

  “Yes, but there would be so much bothersome paperwork,” came his defusing response. My respect for him was growing rapidly.

  Senior Commander Fallux shot him a twisted smile and the spell on the room was broken. “Don’t you and I both know?” It came as a statement, rather than a question.

  Fallux had a water Ability. He had just admitted as much. Now I knew the powers of my two greatest enemies. I hoped that knowledge was worth something.

  “One way to learn the nature of a subject’s Ability is to attempt to harm them with each of the elements. We could burn some part of her, freeze her, drown her, whatever the elemental equivalent would be. If she had an elemental ability she would be resistant to that type of damage. If she did not have an elemental Ability, it would yield no result, aside from general entertainment of course, but either way, it would be a waste of time. I want results now. What we do now will force her Ability to emerge without harming her. Dull, I realize, but quick and effective.”

  I had been sitting, rigid with fear, until he said that I would not be harmed. My relief was only slight.

  “I can see by your faces that you’re all wild with curiosity, so I’ll indulge you,” Fallux said seeming amused. He was enjoying this little show of his. “As you know, Commanders can, well, command the physical actions of others for a short time.”

  Fallux turned on his heel pointing to four Dragoons, one by one, while saying, “Kneel, kneel, kneel, kneel.” Down they each went, some trying not to look surprised, others wincing as they dropped unceremoniously to kneel on the stone floor. “Kneel,” he said to one of Lord Brendon’s men, and down he went like the rest, though he cried out in protest.

  Lord Brendon looked slowly from his man back to Fallux. I saw a very well tamed bitterness on Brendon’s face. “I appreciate your desire for illustration, but we’re all aware of your Ability to Command.”

  I wasn’t. Dylan had told me that Commanders grew more powerful each time they drained someone. They were tougher, their lifespan extended, and the metal that grew out of their skin was a side effect. The more people they drained, the more monstrous they’d become. He said that a Dragoon couldn’t take on a Commander in a fight and win, but he hadn’t told me that it was because a Commander could control the physical actions of the Dragoon. I wondered how far that kind of Ability could extend.

  Now it made perfect sense how difficult it would be for anyone, even a Dragoon, to disobey a Commander. My eyes met Rune’s. I wondered how much of him was a slave to this system, and how much of him was a villain: brainwashed like the rest to follow orders and live in utter isolation as a pawn.

  I saw no weakness in Rune’s face.

  And then I couldn’t breathe. It was just for a moment, but for the life of me I couldn’t get my lungs to work. Fear was upon me like a hot flash. Panic jolted through me… and then I could breathe again. I looked around to see if anyone else had noticed the brief anomaly, but none had. I glanced at Stakes and he winked at me. A tempest of anger and fright spun within me. He had Commanded me not to breathe, just for a second… just long enough to get my attention.

  “There is another level of Command,” Fallux went on, unaware of Stakes’ cruel prank on me. “We can command an Ability forward, dredge it up from within a person. If it’s a physical Ability, it will show itself. If it is invisible, such as The Luck or The Soothe, the Commander will be able to sense it.”

  His words didn’t register to me. I was afraid, not only for myself, but for Dylan. He stood there, just shorter than the imposing figure of his brother. His beautiful face was so open. Innocent wouldn’t have been the right word, he was smart and far from naive, but he lacked many of the burdens that others suffered. He was friendly, quick to laugh, and I realized what made him seem so different. He felt safe: Safe enough to joke, to make light of life, to push or pull to get what he wanted. In that way, he was like all of my friends back home. He was like me before I left Haven.

  But Dylan Axton wasn’t safe. I knew it as surely as I knew that Stakes had Commanded me to stop breathing. If he could do that to me, he could do it to Dylan. Stakes knew I’d realize it. That’s why he winked.

  “Your friends will bleed and you’ll know it was me,” I remembered him say.

  I was snapped away from my unpleasant thoughts when Fallux grabbed the back of my chair. My body jumped in reaction and I sucked in a breath at the contact.

  “Stakes, if you would,” Fallux said sounding energized.

  This time it was Stakes’ turn to look surprised.

  “But sir, the Cost!” Stakes protested quietly, sounding genuinely displeased.

  I didn’t know what the Cost was, but if it bothered Stakes, I was glad it existed.

  “The Cost is precisely why you will be the one to command forward her next strongest Ability. Try and avoid The Pull,” Fallux said releasing the back of my undesired seat.

  “Sir,” Stakes grimaced but bowed his head.

  I didn’t like this.

  He rounded on my chair to face me.

  I didn’t like this one bit.

  He simply stood there. His eyes peered out from under heavy brows and flicked up to mine. Chills slithered up and down my spine as his face warmed with a sadistic smile.

  My bottom lip trembled as I inhaled a breath, pressing myself as far back into the chair as I could be. Pulling back on my clamped wrists, I curled my fingers and even my toes just to be millimeters farther away from him.

  Stakes closed his eyes. As he tilted his head down, light from the bright white lamps on the walls glinted over the silver that jutted out of his brow and split his cheek. His face was gruesome, but I didn’t dare look away.

  At first I thought nothing was happening. I felt normal and he was just standing still, a few paces away.

  Then I felt it, uneasiness; it was different than anything I’d ever felt. At first, my mind dismissed it as fear or stress. But the feeling persisted, swirling and growing until it seemed there was an abyss within me, a great darkness, like the fathomless ocean beyond Breakwater. As soon as I recognized it, the sensation surged in, gusting and churning, to overwhelm me. Spots clouded my vision, white noise roared in my ears, and unbearable pressure built up with the force of it all, squeezing tears from my eyes.

  I screamed, suffering from something far deeper than pain.

  There was a pop… more like a boom, and everything went white.

  I saw the white tree in the storm. It was the one that Rune had painted, and then… there was nothing.

  I thought I died. I thought he’d killed me.

  He hadn’t, of course. A hi
gh-pitched whistle rang in my ears. I blinked my unfocused eyes, my head lolling to the side. Sweat made my skin cold and clammy but on the inside, I felt feverishly hot.

  I could hear muffled sounds of awe and argument. I couldn’t understand the words. Blurry images bled together and finally began to sharpen.

  “Wha- what,” I stammered weakly in delirium, forgetting what I was about to ask.

  The room had gone very, very dark. There was only a bit of light, lending an eerie glow to the stunned men and women in the room. I couldn’t focus on their faces yet, but their hair was blowing as if there was an indoor wind. They were shouting at each other and staring at me with wide eyes.

  Dazed, I tried to stand and forgot why I could not. I could feel something pressing against my wrists and legs. I wanted to see what was holding me. My head tipped downward, feeling too heavy to hold up. I became quickly distracted when my vision snapped into focus.

  Stakes was on the ground, struggling to get up and failing. I wondered why, and then it all came back to me. He had set out to command my second Ability forward to prove I was a Lodestone.

  I sucked in a breath, pulling myself out of my slump and looked down at my arms. The eerie light was coming from me. There was a soft glow radiating from me, but more than that… thin tendrils of electricity flicked to life and scurried just over the top of my skin. There were hundreds of them, and when they connected, they roped along on a stronger path before disappearing. It tingled. My eyes dilated and contracted when they flitted over my face.

  My jaw was agape in wonder, but I wasn’t afraid. I couldn’t be… I could feel somehow that this had come from within me, as impossible as that was.

  I wondered what had happened when everything went white. The room was dark because all the bulbs in the once bright wall-lamps had shattered. The room, though meagerly furnished before, was in shambles and whatever event had occurred reflected upon the faces of my audience.