Sworn to Restoration

  Caemon didn’t beat around the bush. “It’s not really a question so much as a request.”

  “Go on,” said Sebastian patiently.

  “Great, well, before we head off on this insane mission that no one asked us about,” Caemon said with simmering resentment in his tone, “I want a new name.”

  “A new name?” Thanar asked while blinking slowly.

  “Yeah,” said Caemon defensively. “A new name. If I’m going to die for this…again…I want to go down in the history books with something rugged.”

  There was a bit of muffled laughter at that but Sebastian at least took his request very seriously.

  “What would you like to be called?” the emperor said courteously.

  “Renault, perhaps?” Thanar said in a tone that was just a bit too far gone into mockery.

  “Not me personally!” snapped Caemon.

  He waved his hands at the seated individuals around him, including the sulking former emperor.

  “Us,” supplied Terris helpfully.

  “Yes, us,” Caemon said while quickly grabbing on to her verbal lifeline.

  Ciardis raised an eyebrow in curiosity and looked over at her best friend. But whatever Terris was thinking when she agreed to support Caemon’s shenanigans, she was not inclined to share it with the woman known as Lady Companion Weathervane. In fact, if Ciardis didn’t know any better, she would say Terris was assiduously avoiding meeting her eyes.

  Oh, she is, said Thanar gleefully. And quite well too.

  On her side now, are you? Ciardis said wanly.

  No, you’ve known me long enough to judge that, Thanar said lightly. But you have to admit, it’s nice now that at least she isn’t throwing verbal barbs your way.

  “That is, if it’s all right with our benefactor,” Terris said in a poisonously sweet voice as she looked directly at Ciardis Weathervane.

  Too late, Ciardis deadpanned. She’s started back up again.

  Clearing her throat loudly, Ciardis said while meeting Terris’s eyes and not backing down, “I have no problem with your personal choices. Whatever it takes to get this done.”

  Sebastian nodded magnanimously. “Then please…choose a name and inform us as we head out.”

  “Is that all?” another person called out from the benches.

  Ciardis bit her lips as she looked at her friends, hoping for some sign of reconciliation and finding none.

  Forlornly she stepped forward. “That is all. You have your assignments. Attendants to minders. Minders to groups of sector mages. Now we just have to carry it all out.”

  With no further pronouncements, and more than a few formal bows which were tendered Sebastian’s way, the people dispersed.

  Ciardis took a left toward her rooms. Feeling hollow inside. She didn’t know what she had expected but hoped silly as they may have been that she would have been confronted. That they could have aired out all of the bad wounds and gotten everything out in the open.

  Instead she left the convening with a sense that the open wound between she and her friends, she and her family, was only festering more. It hadn’t been lanced and it hadn’t healed. Now they went to war with this over their heads as well as the fate of the empire.

  It’s not as if I pushed the matter, she grumbled while flinging herself into a chair. I practically cringed my whole way through the speech.

  Sighing, Ciardis thought it over and thought about what it was she’d committed them all to. Yes, it was Thanar’s plan, but it was her conviction that it would work that had brought them to this point.

  But now she just didn’t know. If it was worth it.

  She knew that it was no longer a judgment call.

  She also knew that it was no longer about adhering to a moral imperative.

  It was about saving thousands of lives in the face of the pain and discomfort of the ones she loved.

  But still Ciardis stared into the mirror in front of herself and she didn’t know who she was. She prepared to go out of her bedroom, to dinner, to walk around the gardens. Anything to clear her head before they rode out later that night.

  Straightening her clothes, she walked tall knowing one thing for certain: she wouldn’t go back on her word.

  She would connect the northeast ley point. She had to.

  She just couldn’t stop the black cloud of judgment that was threatening to come up her throat like the blackest of bile from making her physically sick in the process.

  As she put her hand on the crystal door knob of the sitting room, she had to give herself credit.

  “At least I didn’t puke,” Ciardis chuckled miserably to herself.

  “No you didn’t,” said a voice behind her.

  Ciardis startled, but in a way she wasn’t really surprised.

  She half-turned back and said to the voice that she knew belonged to Thanar, “What are you doing here?”

  He shrugged. “Well, I had plans to accompany Raisa as far out into the sea as I could, but I felt the tumult in your mind and I came.”

  “I didn’t call you,” she said in an almost defensive voice.

  “You didn’t have to,” he responded.

  She shook her head. “I’m not going to apologize.”

  “For?”

  “For having a heart. For not wanting to do this. For being miserable mentally and letting those emotions spill over to you,” she said with bite.

  Her voice held back barely vocalized anger, frustration, and pain. She wanted him to feel what she felt. To feel how wrong this was. To at least understand that went against her very personal belief system. To suffer as much as she suffered herself.

  "Didn't you want them back?" Thanar asked softly as she once more tried to turn and open the door that led to freedom. Anything to be outside and away from everything that was threatening to drown her. Even if it was one of the people she would have accepted comfort from.

  "Of course I wanted them back," Ciardis said angrily as she whipped around to turn back to Thanar with visible hurt on her face. "But at what price, Thanar? A few days of life? What's that?"

  His face closed off. "More than they had before."

  He took a single step back into the shadows along the wall. It looked like he was gone, but she knew better. She could still feel his presence in the room.

  “Why don’t you think about how the prince heir has reacted while I’m gone?” Thanar said with dark portent brewing in his voice. “You put all your recriminations on me, but perhaps it’s only to assuage the guilt about the man who you’ve molded into the emperor that he has become.”

  Ciardis looked in his direction—shocked at the accusation she could hear in his distant voice even if she couldn’t see his face.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” she yelled out fruitlessly to empty air. He was already gone.

  After he vanished as if he hadn't been standing there just a moment before, she just wanted peace.

  She looked at the empty space and she went back into her own bedroom.

  With a soft click, the door closed behind her and Ciardis leaned back against it with a thump of her head.

  21

  It was past midnight when they actually left the palace grounds. Sebastian had explained that it didn’t really matter if they waited until dawn since the mage lights they carried would make their way visible. Knowing that and remembering the deadline the goddess had set forth in the interest of making their confrontation a little more ‘fair,’ they had no time to lose.

  The sooner they were on the road, the better.

  In Sebastian’s words, ‘She may have given us a lead even she didn’t realize we could put to good use. Let’s take advantage of that.’

  She didn’t disagree. So she and along with many others had said their goodbyes to any loved ones left behind, gave the city garrison instructions for barricades, and prepared to leave on the journey that would save or doom an empire.

  As the five groups mounted up, the barnyard area had been silent. Cons
idering it was hundreds of people with their horses and their steeds, she expected more boisterousness. But everyone was quiet. From the young yawning stable boys to the grim guards surrounding Maradian’s padlocked carriage. Oh, the former emperor would travel in style, there was no doubt, but there was no need to alert the countryside of who he was until absolutely necessary.

  Looking at the simple-but-elegant carriage they had borrowed from a local earl, Ciardis thought it fit their needs perfectly.

  No windows to peer in or out of.

  A door with a lock hastily installed to prevent it from being pried open from the inside.

  And room for two guards to stand at the back between the wheels.

  She turned her horse to look away from Maradian’s conveyance and find some familiar faces. The ones she did find were closed off when they met her gaze. Others deliberately turned away. Ciardis’s hands tightened reflexively on the reins, but there wasn’t much she could do about that.

  So instead she stared straight ahead until a throat cleared beside her and a black horse’s head came into view. Looking to her side, she saw Meres guide his horse until they rode side-by-side with each other at a steady pace.

  “Think they’ll come around?” Ciardis asked miserably.

  “Do you want the honest answer?” Meres asked her back.

  “Always Lord KinSight,” she said while adjusting her seat to give her thighs a better grip.

  “Then I would say no,” he replied softly. “Even if they were inclined to, which they’re not, you have neither the time nor the attention to give to winning back the hearts of your friends.”

  “Not to mention the fact that I’m leading them to their second deaths,” Ciardis said as she spied a mile marker that told her exactly how much longer it would be before they cleared the long-range viewers’ abilities to see and discern mage use.

  “There’s that too,” Meres said.

  She sighed unhappily.

  In an effort perhaps to take her mind off things, Meres asked, “When do you think we’ll be ready to move toward our true destinations?”

  Ciardis knew what he was asking. She had been wondering the very same thing just before they left. Which was why she was keeping a very close eye on the road below them. Sebastian and the leader of the kith had set about an ingenious plan to evade any potential spies, mortal or not, as well as sowing confusion where they could. It was true that the goddess was brash about confronting them, but that didn’t mean all of her tactics would be aboveboard. They couldn’t afford to be ambushed before even setting their plans in motion, now could they?

  “Well?” asked Meres with a hopeful look.

  “Three more miles,” Ciardis said helpfully.

  “What’s that?” Meres asked.

  “The time it’ll take us to get out of view of the scouts that stand on the walls of outer Sandrin,” Ciardis replied. “Once we get past that three-mile marker the kith can go to work.”

  He fell back into silence after that, riding by her side all the while. For once, it was all Ciardis needed and wanted. Peace and companionship.

  When they reached the final mile marker needed before they could commence their true journey, she looked over the rump of her horse to find the kith leader coming up fast on all fours.

  The mage lights hovering all around them only enhanced the features of his foxlike face, throwing weird shadows toward her. But this was one face she was glad to see.

  “Ready?” she asked gratefully.

  “Of course,” he said with a smooth bow as he stood up right.

  “This way,” he said motioning with a paw to off-road countryside.

  Ciardis nudged her horse in the direction he asked as guards trotted ahead to clear the way and survey the ground for any bad terrain.

  When they’d all managed to make it to a suspiciously empty clearing, Ciardis looked to her sides and found the others pulling up their horses around as close as they could in concentric rings.

  It’s good that there’s no debris or trees to crowd this field, she thought to herself.

  Yes, what a coincidence, Thanar said sarcastically.

  She looked up to see him hovering casually in the air.

  You think they’ve used this area as a landing and launching point before? Ciardis asked, curious.

  I have no doubt that they have, he replied sanguinely as his feet met the soft ground beneath him. Just as I seriously doubt they have any intentions of using this spot or anywhere in the vicinity ever again. Their cover is blown.

  Ciardis stiffened as she said with reproach, We wouldn’t tell anyone.

  You wouldn’t, he replied softly. But what about the hundreds of other individuals present this night? Each loyalist has at least two-dozen officials in attendance on them, not to mention guards.

  Ciardis felt herself loosen up a bit. He was right.

  Besides which, Thanar said in an offhand manner, I don’t think anyone’s worried about them telling the location. They’re worried about being ambushed here and not seeing it coming.

  Ciardis felt herself go chill at the thought. It made sense.

  So she nodded and steadied her horse. It was comfortable being in the herd so to speak, but rows and rows of large beasts in a small clearing put no one’s horse at ease. These horses were bred for battle, to run the length of the field and go crashing into the opposition with fury in their eyes. But standing in what amount to a crowded paddock peacefully was not something they were known for. And for the ones that generally didn’t fear darkness, they still seemed to intensely dislike the individuals with claws and teeth that shared the grassy area with them.

  “With good reason,” Ciardis cooed at her horse to get it to settle down.

  Finally the kith started pairing off as best they could in the space allowed. Seventeen kith divided into groups of two with the leader and his two attendants overseeing it all with dexterity.

  “Seven groups,” Sebastian said quietly.

  “There’s only five ley line pairings,” Ciardis said with mild confusion.

  The emperor smiled. “Two of the others I believe will be decoys.”

  “That’s correct, my liege,” the kith leader said, “And we are ready to proceed with the transport if your people are ready.”

  “How would you like us?” said the emperor calmly.

  The kith looked around in quick assessment before he nodded.

  “We’ll take the Lady Vana and her minder, the Earl of Surrey, and Lord Meres with his minder, Lady Danforth,” he announced.

  Sebastian raised a hand over his shoulder and motioned for those indicated to move forward.

  There was some shuffling as those names, both minders and loyalists came forth, as well as the people who intended to go forth with them. Christian this time wasn’t by Vana’s side, but Ciardis didn’t expect him to be visible. Not yet. The guards and attendants however were substantial.

  As Ciardis watched the groups separate out into the first and second wave, she didn’t object. Selfishly, she wanted to be as close to her bondmates for as long as humanly possible and she knew that the moment her segment went in the next wave, the countdown would start.

  So Ciardis watched as Meres and Terris clasped each other tightly as husband and wife said their private goodbyes. Then calmly the kith duo assigned to each pair alongside their decoys called up sight and sound shields, and when they dropped that group was gone. One by one, the new saviors of Algardis disappeared into the night with their minders by their side.

  When it was just Ciardis and Terris, Sebastian and Maradian, and Thanar and Caemon as well as the all of the guards plus accompanying conclave members assigned to each of them, she felt her anxiety rise.

  The kith leader turned to them all then and spoke, “It’ll be one extra jump from here to a central point for all of you. Your ley lines are farther afield. Closer to where the main battles of the ancient Initiate Wars took place.”

  “Closer to the floodgates, you mean,” Tha
nar said with a brutish smile.

  The leader nodded. “That too.”

  Then he hesitated before turning back to his remaining people. “That won’t be a problem will it, Prince?”

  “Not at all,” Thanar said smoothly as he clamped a heavy hand on Maradian’s chained shoulder.

  Sebastian smiled as he too looked over at his charge. “In fact, we look forward to it.”

  Ciardis looked between her two males with a worried look, but whatever it was they’d agreed on, she couldn’t decipher it and they didn’t have time. Not anymore. But by the time it was their turn, an uncomfortable silence had passed over them all. For her part, Ciardis was wondering if this was a foolish venture. If she should have been fleeing Algardis on the fastest ship possible.

  The one I just gave away comes to mind, she thought with a flash of irony.

  She wanted to think she was better than that, but the uncomfortable thoughts were overwhelming her. Thoughts of turning back and fleeing. Thoughts of gripping Sebastian’s hand so tight that she wouldn’t let him go. Because they had no promises that this would work. An old ritual from an even older time. But the time they had together, that was promised to them.

  Two days, two hours, fifteen minutes, she chanted to herself quietly.

  Two whole days to tell them she loved them. To pick one. To choose one. To move on. To grieve and to love. When she stared at the kith silently though, she couldn’t do it. She watched those inhuman creatures, big and small, work their concerted magic to create a portal. To help her fight when surely they too felt like fleeing from here.

  As she watched him, Ciardis got worked up. Their faces were grimly determined and she couldn’t help but feel ashamed at being so uncertain.

  Then Thanar spoke to her and she had something more to think about.

  Have you ever thought that they’re fighting so hard…because they have nowhere else to go? he questioned her softly. This is their home. Their battlefield. This land. They’ve seen it go up in flames before. Maybe this time they’re not quite so willing to back down first.

  Ciardis stared over at him startled. She wanted to ask him what he meant, but she didn’t have time. The kith leader summoned her, summoned them all, at that moment and so with a sigh of relief she stepped forward. She was ready to get this over with.