Asha's Power (Soul Merge Saga Book 4)

by M. P. A. Hanson

  Her parents came over straight away and hugged her, telling her how much of a beautiful job she had done. Her eye caught on her uncles, all of whom were staring at the murals then flicking their eyes over to her, and then staring back at the glass again. Endis eventually looked over at her and nodded once.

  At least Grandma Kate’s guesses were better than her foresight.

  There was a moment as everyone arranged themselves around part of the table, her mother’s dragon king familiars taking up most of the space behind them.

  Then, almost as if they had timed it, the Dark Coven sauntered in.

  Silver was at the head of the group, her wytch queens leading behind them everyone from Asha’s glowing cousins Issart’e and Dukran to Riven and Azusa. With each ally getting more controversial than the last it was no surprise that at the rear Masozi sauntered in.

  She was wearing a crown.

  “Masozi?” Asha asked quietly along their link.

  “Your aunt arranged a meeting with my mother.” Her friend sounded shaken. “After a test to prove my ice powers had developed late, there was a debate and with a promise of an alliance as a bribe your aunt ensured I was reinstated as a Princess of the Winter Court.” A shimmer of hope shone through in the words. “Mother appointed me ambassador to the wytches.”

  Asha sighed sorrowfully, inwardly cursing the other fey. That her best friend still somehow based her self-worth on their approval flummoxed her. Masozi’s mother had demoted her own daughter to clanless, then shaved her head and cast her into the ocean, yet still her friend clamoured for the queen’s attention. Even now that she was a queen in her own right.

  Yet again, as Asha glanced between the two women who had raised her she realised that perhaps a mother’s influence never truly faded. And sometimes the woman who brought you into the world wasn’t the only one you grew to think of as your mother.

  While she thought this she became acutely aware of Silver’s gaze and the fury of spiking demonic energy around her. Closer inspection revealed the object of her anger was most likely Asha herself.

  Grandma Kate had been wrong; Silver was going to ask about the window. But she’d do it after this meeting, and the punishment would be severe.

  *

  Silver didn’t quite know what Asha had thought she was doing as she ascended the fully repaired steps of the citadel. Faint traces of Asha’s magic lingered in the air, combined in part with Kate’s.

  Of course that meddling Ancient would have something to do with it.

  “What’s wrong?” Keenan asked. “I would have thought you would be happy.”

  Ordinarily, Keenan would have been right. This place had been the one place where she had been happy during her childhood. But it held a number of very powerful secrets, the likes of which Asha ought not to meddle with.

  The mere thought had her walking faster.

  When she opened the great doors to the war room at the centre of the citadel, her eyes zoomed directly to the mural and she drew in an outraged breath. Her scowl shot straight to Asha’s distracted form, drawing a panicked stare from her niece.

  Only the presence of her allies kept her from smiting the girl then and there.

  She walked on, pasting a smirk on her face as she went. Her eyes scanned the crowds of loosely banded allies for threats; seeing none, she allowed her stare to wander to the mural, reading the lines once more.

  She dimly remembered seeing the mural for the first time as a child. Her mother had sent her to the citadel to join her brothers, after her father had stabilized from his first bout of madness. The warriors had orders to train her in self-defence, nothing more. When she’d begged her mother to let her become battle-trained, Hira had taken her deeper into the citadel to watch her brothers, all repeating sword drills over and over. Her mother had informed her that her brothers would see to any fighting, because a queen should be fair, merciful, gentle and compassionate but never violent.

  A hypocritical statement considering the violence Hira had committed during her reign. The untraceable poisonings among dissenters had been the stamp of her political cowardice throughout her reign.

  The warriors had agreed with Silver, or at least, they had after the first year of exposure to her enchanted face.

  The mural was different somehow, she realised as she mused on the past. What had Asha done? She felt more traces of Kate’s magic.

  The prophecy.

  The last line had been erased.

  Relief coursed through her as she reached the head of the table next to her niece and half-sister.

  She would still be talking with Asha later, but the girl had saved herself from the worst of Silver’s ire.

  There was a little shuffling as people struggled to fit around the huge table. Everyone was behaving so far, though the glances between the dwarves, dragons and gryphons were less than friendly. Masozi’s fey also seemed to turn their noses up slightly at the sight of Riven.

  Like Silver cared. They were all pawns anyway.

  Everyone here with an ounce of intelligence knew that the real battle would be waged by the wytches.

  The rest were just cannon fodder.

  Chapter Forty-Three

  CASUAL DAGGER

  Asha’s head pounded as the negotiations got underway. The lack of co-operation between factions shouldn’t have come as a shock, but somehow she’d expected everyone to be united in their desire to defeat the emotionless Ancients. As it was, several factions were already trying to bargain with the wytches, promising their numbers only if they received riches or favours in return.

  Silver was having absolutely none of it. The moment that the dwarven ambassador spoke was probably the one he would regret most for the rest of his life.

  “My king wishes to know if his house will be compensated for its losses.” Ambassador Tyr spoke, the third man in the room to ask about ‘compensation’ in an hour, Silver’s displeasure was palpable even as she remained engaged in conversation with Romana about strategy.

  When Silver’s glare finally turned his way, the ambassador – already a nervous and quite elderly man – lost his dignity as he promptly lost control of his bladder, leaving him standing in a puddle of his own urine.

  “Does anyone else want to ask any further stupid questions?” Silver asked, twirling a dagger point-first into the table, making it clear that embarrassment should be the least of such a person’s worries. “The next person to ask about compensation for defending their home world will be dead before he can finish the sentence.”

  With that tone of finality echoing over their heads, the other races suddenly found that they could contribute more troops than they had originally thought.

  Perception really is everything, Asha thought silently.

  “Ellamae’s execution will be performed after the battle is won.” Romana looked up at Asha almost involuntarily, and she could practically feel her mother’s pain at sending her to kill another person so publicly. “Seeing the destruction of her home planet should serve to give her reason to feel, and hopefully see her join our side. If not, she must die.”

  One glance at Silver and Asha knew the only reason her aunt had agreed to this was because she was certain the Ancient wouldn’t join them. Silver had had her sights on her for too long to just walk away because she showed remorse.

  “Our reports show that her people live mostly in one large compound. As befits what we know of her, she created a race that was highly logical and organised, and all of the buildings are created in uniform functionality. There are no landmarks beside the statue of Ellamae so distributing copies of your maps could save your peoples’ lives.” Romana continued with the battle plan.

  “It’s a big risk to invade another world in this manner, however, while the bulk of the army fights, the wytches and a small elite task force comprised of the other races will circle behind the fighting and capture Ellamae herself.” Silver explained.

  “Are there any indications of what the army will be facing
?” Endis asked.

  It was Asha’s turn to answer. “We’re assuming that once attacked, Ellamae will call for aid from her allies. Therefore it is reasonable to assume that the army will be attacked by multiple races, with varying levels of military strength. The only thing we can say for certain is that it will not be easy. Once Ellamae is captured, it is likely that her army will be left in disarray. Without leadership, despite any advantage they may have, it is likely we will be able to swiftly disarm them. If not, we are counting on Ellamae’s execution to shock them into submission.”

  “You risk creating a martyr.” Masozi observed.

  “Once the battle is over, we will leave Ellamae’s world, it matters little if she is venerated after her death, as long as that death comes to pass. Her people will not know how to traverse the worlds to seek vengeance.” Marten replied.

  Debate struck up amongst them all about the best stratagems to use against an unknown force, and Asha slowly tuned out. Her eyes kept straying back to the mural, to the image of Aunt Silver’s family before war ravaged them completely, and then to the siblings as they stood in the room now.

  “You’re not paying attention.” Keir nudged her in the gryphon language, and she noticed Riven and Azusa turn slightly in their direction.

  “It’s boring,” She replied in the same tongue. “We won’t be with the army, so why does it matter?”

  “Your aunt would say you should pay attention to war meetings in case you need to lead one in the future.”

  Asha sighed. “I never want to lead one. I never want there to be another one… Is it wrong to crave peace, knowing that the nature of the races means it will never happen?”

  “It is foolish, but no, it is never wrong to wish for peace.”

  Asha closed her eyes and breathed out. “I’ll be back in a second; I just need a moment away from this.” She gestured, and Keir nodded to show his understanding, before placing his talons up on the table and lifting his upper body so that he could see across the table and pay attention to the rest of the proceedings.

  She strode quietly away from the room, her footsteps muffled by the loud discussion around the table. If anyone noticed her leave, they didn’t say anything. Using her memories of Silver’s past it was easy to find a smaller, out of the way, room in which she could collect her thoughts.

  The tiny room was windowless and more a closet than a room, with the same plain stone walls as the rest of the fortress. A few chairs made a valiant attempt at surrounding the felt lined table that was too big to really fit. Asha remembered Silver learning to gamble here, the warriors teaching her their crude games of dice under the influence of her enchanting face.

  She closed the door quietly and flopped into a chair, her eyes sliding closed. The meeting was draining, but her mother and aunt had both told her it was more about consolidating troops under trustworthy, capable leaders than anything else. Her father had assured her that with Silver at the table, scaring all the ambassadors into submission, very little real negotiation would be needed.

  What was worse was Riven’s presence. Despite her earlier assurances to her family that she could handle him with the plan she had concocted, his revelations about his sister meant that was no longer the case.

  More and more she was finding that she didn’t want to punish him, even if he was a spy. But she couldn’t let him continue sending information back to his Elders, even if what he sent was unimportant. Or at least, she assumed the information didn’t mean he was breaking his vow, she hadn’t actually caught him sending it back home. Her rational mind cautioned that this was a sign of his skill, and to be wary. But how he was continuing to find ways around her finely planned surveillance was eluding her.

  Her musing was interrupted by the slam of the door. Her head snapped up as she rose and turned in a single motion, assuming a battle stance.

  Silver entered the room, tossing a causal dagger at Asha in a half-hearted attempt to catch her off-guard. Asha dodged… barely.

  “You are supposed to be in the meeting.” Silver reprimanded her angrily. “You are supposed to be in a heavily guarded, safe, war meeting in a ruined citadel.”

  “It was meant to be a surprise.” Asha tried feebly to explain, “I didn’t realise-”

  Never finish that sentence girl. Not if you want to live.” Silver cautioned. “There are secrets buried in this place. Powerful secrets you have unwittingly dragged up for anyone with a sense of curiosity to find.”

  “Then keep it sealed off. Command your brother to warn people away. He would owe it to you, after all.”

  Silver growled. “Get back to that war meeting girl, before I forget my oath to your mother.”

  “Why are you so afraid of this?”

  Silver’s icy glare only intensified. “I do not fear this. I am a warrior, a queen of demons.”

  “And a queen of elves,” Asha muttered.

  She was pinned against the wall by her throat before she could blink. The violent bang preceded the slightest of shuffling movement behind the door.

  Silver noticed and Asha was scraped along the wall towards the door at unfathomable speed. The wooden portal was thrust open, and a blade of demon fire shoved through.

  At first, Asha expected Silver to withdraw the sword quickly, leaving a pile of ashes in the doorframe. But her aunt twisted the blade in mid-air with a flick of her wrist, using it like a hook to yank the unfortunate eavesdropper into the room.

  Riven appeared, his hands palm-up in surrender.

  Silver’s fury only increased as she stuck a foot out to trip Riven, leaving him sprawled on the floor. She put the sword away even as she slammed the door closed and dropped Asha next to Riven.

  “I am tired of waiting for you to do something about this spy.” Silver grated out. “It’s inconvenient to have him running around unchecked.”

  “I was just waiting-”

  “Silence!” Silver yelled. “I’m tired of excuses. I’m even more tired of him sneaking around my demons to send messages home. The only reason you’re alive, spy, is so you can tell me how you have been circumventing the watch I put on you to send your messages home.”

  Riven looked into Silver’s angry face and visibly paled. Asha could see from his expression that he was weighing up the chances of beating her in a fight. She caught his eye and shook her head, cautioning him.

  Slowly, he reached under his armour and pulled out a rough piece of twine, with things hanging from it that swung slightly with the movement. Asha paled as she identified the objects as three fingers, chopped off at the second knuckle.

  “The reason you never caught me sending messages to my elders…” He took a deep breath, “is because I never sent one. In response, I receive pieces of my sister with every hawk they send me.”

  Silver’s eyes widened marginally, but the movement was miniscule and Asha wasn’t certain she really saw it before it was gone. She was certain her own eyes were round as dinner plates.

  Silver gave a curt nod. “You may leave.”

  Riven took a look at Asha, and she could see the indecision there. Was he worried about her?

  She gave a subtle nod, and he stood, leaving the room quietly.

  “I did not realise your plan was to make him fall in love with you.” Silver snorted. “I suppose it was effective.”

  Asha gave her aunt a scornful look.

  “He thinks of me as an irksome brat, nothing more.”

  “Yes that’s exactly why he asks your permission to leave a room, and why he follows you around like a lost puppy.”

  “It’s just to spy on me.”

  Silver’s eyebrows rose. “Yes, because the excellent spying he is doing is clear from the fingers he keeps hung around his neck.”

  Asha fumed.

  “Not that his crush matters, as a princess you will doubtless end up with some perfect match that serves to strengthen alliances. I hear my youngest brother’s children are around your physical age. When the war is over they doubtless w
ill be awarded significant military rank along with their status as heirs of the Elven Kingdom, they are your father’s likely choice for your betrothal.”

  Asha’s mind blanked with shock and rage. “My father would never consider-”

  “He damn well would, girl, and don’t delude yourself otherwise. As a royal woman your primary value is as a breeding vessel to continue your esteemed lineage.”

  Asha blanched at the thought. “But I’m a wytch queen now. Surely…”

  “As a wytch you have the right to sever familial ties with your parents. Have you? No. Will you? No. Therefore your father and your kingdom will continue to consider you a princess first and foremost.”

  Had she not already been on her knees, Asha was pretty sure she would have fallen at the thought.

  “But you aren’t…”

  “Because I’m an insane warrior queen and my people hate me. You have the misfortune of being almost universally loved by the commoners.”

  Asha tried to picture the life Silver had painted, marrying some elven prince she’d met only once before. She physically couldn’t, and the idea of it made her want to retch. But she knew if her father asked it of her, if he reminded her of her duty, she would do it anyway.

  “I’ll abdicate; I’ll leave the throne to Aunt Arianne.” She named her father’s half-sister, a precocious yet oddly kind woman, albeit prone to bouts of ill health.

  “You know that won’t excuse a marriage. You’ll still be royal by blood, it only lessens your power overall. Just marry the boy and kill him on your wedding night, it works for most noblewomen.”

  Asha was despairing as she gazed up at her aunt in a daze. “Save me.”

  “Not yet.” Silver replied, “It will be a few more years before your father decides, we have a war to concentrate on first.”