Liberate

by Krista D. Ball

  Jovan

  Bethany looked about the room of her friends and, in the case of the elderly men, advisors. All of their faces were grim, with the addition of tears in Lendra’s eyes. She knew them well enough to know they would want to discuss and mull over any plan of action, and aim to talk her out of anything direct. Rayner would want to send a small delegation. Stanley would want to write flowery letters with veiled threats. Arrago would want to sleep on it for a week.

  “I’m leaving for Castle Gree in the morning. From there, I plan to take a merchant ship south.”

  “Oh no, you’re not,” Arrago blurted.

  She turned her head, very, very slowly to give him a hard look. Married or not, Arrago didn’t get to talk like that to her. No one got to talk to her like that. “I’m going in the morning. Feel free to come, or not.”

  “Majesty, I must point out that you cannot go. There are traditions and proprieties that must be adhered...” Rayner began.

  “If you’re going, I’m going,” Kiner said. “They’re my friends, too.”

  Brennus shrugged and said, “I have no immediate plans, as I’ve been pretending Jud’s orders demanding I return home haven’t actually arrived. So I’ll come, too.”

  “Well, I’m going,” Arrago said.

  “Oh, no you’re not!” Rayner blurted. He cleared his throat and said, “Majesty.”

  “Rayner, how is it that you managed to survive this long in any king’s service?” Bethany asked.

  The old man glared at her, but it was filled more with petulance than anger. “I have not had a king be this disagreeable before.”

  “That stings, Rayner,” Arrago said.

  “I apologize, Majesty,” Rayner said and it sounded to Bethany like he meant it. “I am tired.”

  “We’re all tired,” Bethany said. “Look, there are plenty of details to work out, but most importantly we need to figure out how to get into Orchard Park, and then the temple, without being seen.”

  “Lady Bethany,” Lord Stanley interrupted her. “It is not possible for you to enter anywhere in stealth.”

  She didn’t want to pick a fight with the old man, especially since she had dragged him from his sleep. She honestly didn’t know much about elderly humans or that apparently they struggled with sleep. Elves slept more the older they became. Guilt already tugged at her for waking two of them and dragging them all the way to the Rose Room for her to then disagree with and dismiss their opinions.

  She cleared her throat and tried for her most diplomatic tone. It was a struggle. “Lord Stanley, listen...”

  “No, you listen, Lady Bethany, Majesty,” he snapped. He stared at Arrago and said, “Majesty, you shall take the royal fleet that is anchored at Castle Gree. Your servants and attendants will all accompany you as fit a king. You will sail to Orchard Park as part of a secret diplomatic mission to the elves, a sign of good faith after the war. Lady Bethany and several of the lesser known knights will form part of your honour guard, where they will be clad appropriately to hide their identities. Servants will be sent to find Lord Jovan. From there, stealth and subterfuge will allow you access to this lower prison while the king will entertain this Jud scoundrel. Lord Erem will be removed to the ship under the cloak of night, and the rest of you will retreat to safety. Then, if we are all very, very lucky, none of you will start another war.”

  Bethany stared at the old man, who sipped casually at his wine. She looked around the room and found great comfort in everyone else looking as stunned as she felt.

  “I admit that is a much better plan than what I was going to suggest,” Bethany said. “Lord Stanley, is there anything about your background we should know?”

  “I would think there are a great many things, Majesty. None of which I plan to tell you anytime soon.”

  Bethany barked out a laugh and said, “Fair enough.”

  Rayner, who always looked on the verge of a stroke whenever Bethany planned anything remotely dangerous, sputtered, “My lady, you cannot simply go gallivanting about the continent as though you don’t have responsibilities here. It’s...oh, what’s the point? Neither of you will listen to good sense, and Stanley is over there encouraging this. We will have to sell the silverware to pay for this little adventure.”

  “Finances are not that dire, Rayner,” Lord Stanley said.

  “We only had ten dishes at table yesterday,” Rayner muttered.

  “That was per course,” Arrago said defensively. “There were three courses.”

  “Thirty dishes at the king’s table,” Rayner shot back. “Might as well have asked the nobility to bring their own supper.”

  “Dinner last night was more than fine,” Bethany said, knowing the conversation was veering off-topic, but they might as well get the money fight out of the way.

  “Maybe for your standards,” Rayner mumbled. When she lifted an eyebrow at him, he amended, “Majesty.”

  “It will take us several days to prepare for your launch,” Stanley said.

  “I want to go as soon as possible,” Bethany said. “This message is weeks old by now. I have no idea the situation Jovan is in and every day I wait, Erem suffers.”

  “I agree,” Stanley said. “However, you must do this right. We need access to the royal armoury, to find the ceremonial steel.”

  “There’s a royal armoury?” Arrago asked. “Why doesn’t anyone tell me these things?”

  “This is what I’ve been trying to tell you, Majesty,” Rayner said with a harsh clip in his voice. “There are still many things you need to know.”

  “Okay, okay, I get it. You’re all upset because Bethany woke you up and most of my reign has been either a war or us cleaning up from the war. I get it,” Arrago said. “Please, though, please. I don’t want to argue tonight.”

  Rayner frowned at his wine. “It is I who must apologize. Being old is sometimes a burden.”

  “I’m sorry, Rayner,” Bethany said. She meant it. “I didn’t know sleep was difficult for you. I am sorry.”

  He let out a dramatic sigh, signalling that there were no hard feelings. “I’m awake now, so we might as well get this over with.”

  “And I’m going,” Lendra said, which was met with a collective absolutely not. She squared her shoulders and said, “Erem is...special to me and I want to help.”

  Bethany gathered up her strength to manage a compassionate, but authoritative tone. “You will help by staying here and not getting arrested in Orchard Park.”

  Lendra scoffed at her sister. “They wouldn’t dare arrest me! I’m the elven ambassador!”

  Bethany managed to keep the tone together, but it was slipping. She was as tired as Rayner. “You were sent because Arrago didn’t give them a choice. They don’t like you, and they certainly don’t like me. There is no telling what they would do if you went back. Besides, some of you need to stay behind to look after things. We can’t all go.”

  “What do you need us to do?” Amber asked.

  The us referred to Edmund more than herself, as Bethany knew. Edmund couldn’t come with them, of that she was certain. Never mind his physical condition made it difficult for him to hold a weapon or defend himself – at least, not until he got significantly more practice – but he wasn’t ready. She knew it, but she couldn’t also just tell him he wasn’t needed.

  Bethany had seen it before plenty of times. Edmund wasn’t adjusting well to his new circumstances. She didn’t push, and she’d planned to lecture Arrago hard about it after Kiner told her there was some serious pampering and pity happening. Bethany firmly believed treating Edmund like a child would do no one any good and would only fester the bitterness too many soldiers developed. It could even fester into the most dangerous corners of the mind.

  “Amber, can you keep an eye on Henry while we’re away? See if you can invite the Dowager,” Arrago said with a smile. “She’s always a good help around the house.”

  Amber chuckled. “If I tell her it was your suggestion, she’ll show up with a hun
dred of her closest acquaintances, families, and all of their servants.”

  Arrago’s groan made Bethany smile. “Cook is going to murder me.”

  “It is a capital crime to murder the king outside of the battlefield,” Rayner said gravely.

  “Then I will clarify. Cook is going to declare war on me and then kill me in righteous combat.”

  “Much better, Majesty,” Rayner said. He motioned for more wine and Kiner got up to fill the old man’s glass.

  “Do you actually need my help?” Edmund asked, too glumly in Bethany’s opinion.

  “Yes. Can you get me a map and circle all of Arrago’s properties on it? I can’t find one at all.”

  The glumness moved to Edmund’s expression. “That’s it?”

  “No. I need a detailed list of the staff at each, supplies, size of the grounds, and strategic merits. If I am to train a royal guard, they will need housing. I think it’ll be easier to use royal estates than to build new facilities.”

  Marrying Arrago meant far more than simply marrying a human. That alone was complicated for the long-lived. No, she was marrying a king, newly arrived on the throne. She wanted to prove her worth and, what’s more, she wanted to help Taftlin rebuild from the war. She wanted to help Arrago be the best monarch in their history.

  And she knew, if they were found out at all, the elves would be back. Only this time, they wouldn’t be back to help liberate Taftlin from a Magic-loving tyrant. No, they’d be coming to burn the country to ash.

  “I appreciate you looking at the future, Majesty,” Rayner said. He hated calling her Lady Bethany, and she hated being called Majesty. “However, we have very little in the way of funds for grand plans.”

  She nodded in agreement. “I have no illusions for grand spending, Lord Rayner. In fact, my hope is to economize as much as possible, and to perhaps bring in additional funds in the process. If Arrago and the crown possessed all of these properties, then we should use them to defend ourselves.”

  “I have most of that work already done,” Edmund said. “I’ve been working on inventory lists in case we...needed emergency funds.”

  “That’s good news,” Bethany said. “Then, add all of that to the map as best you can. Oh, and perhaps draw out any fortifications still standing from the war.”

  “You destroyed most of them,” Arrago said with a smirk.

  “Only in the south,” Bethany said defensively. “And Daniel did far more damage than either of us ever did.”

  Daniel, for Bethany refused to call him king, was the former wastrel that Arrago rebelled against and eventually defeated in battle. Daniel would have lead them all into Magic addiction and chaos if it wasn’t for Arrago’s rebellion. And Bethany’s elven forces invading Taftlin, obviously. Teamwork was the foundation of any marriage, was it not?

  “All right, so if we do Stanley’s plan, which is uncomfortably good, it might take me a couple of days to prepare everything. We need to get as many experienced soldiers and guards as we can bring, but ones that aren’t well known to Jud and his inner circle. I don’t want to cause any problems with people he’s going to shit all over. If we’re going to pull off a ruse like this, we’ll need a show of strength.”

  “That means Brennus and Kiner are staying behind,” Arrago said.

  Bethany nodded. “Darien, for sure. I can probably get away with bringing Myra, if we pass her off as a servant. Jud strikes me as the type to ignore the servants.”

  Brennus nodded confidently. “He is.”

  “Do you think Jud will fall for any of this?” Amber asked.

  Bethany shook her head. “That’s why we need the extra guards and only those we trust completely, and those whose identity will be hidden long enough from Jud for Arrago to do his job. Stanley’s right. Get Arrago in his crown and all regal and the elves will put on the show. It’ll make Jud keep his mouth shut for a little while, which is almost as good as him falling for it. We just need a little time.”

  “Of course, Stanley is right,” Lord Rayner muttered darkly. He cleared his throat and spoke for the benefit of more than just his wine goblet. “Majesties, I must be frank with you. Taftlin cannot afford another war. I must insist upon caution.”

  “I have no interest in starting a war, Lord Rayner, but I’m also not going to let them torture my friend. I’m going.”

  Rayner frowned some more before asking, “What information is this fellow Jud trying to extract from Lord Erem anyway? Erem never even stepped foot in the palace. He spent all his time in Castle Gree, as did most of the elves who came here during the war at some point. What information could be possibly offer up to be worth a year of torture?” At the room of silence, Rayner asked, “Well? What is it?”

  A knot formed in Bethany’s guts. She glanced over at the buffet table, where several maids fussed about. “Leave us.”

  The maids all curtsied and hurried off, the last one out ensuring the double doors closed behind her. She let out a long, weary breath, and began to spin yet another quasi-lie. She’d gotten used to that over the past year, so she took a moment to reorganize the lies in their proper order and opened her mouth.

  Arrago interrupted her. “After Bethany killed Sarissa, Apexia appeared to us.”

  “Gracious Goddess,” Rayner whispered. “What did she want?”

  “It’s time they know, Bethany” Arrago said.

  Bethany closed her eyes to avoid the inquisitive gazes of her friends. She wasn’t ready to tell the story. She wasn’t even over the events of that day. She still saw the dagger across her sister’s throat. She still saw her sword piercing her mother’s guts. She could still remember the ringing in her ears, louder than it had ever been. Even now, it was still there, in the background, reminding her how the world had changed forever.

  She wasn’t ready.

  “This affects more than just you, Arrago.”

  “It’s okay, Bethany,” Kiner said. “We can’t hide forever.”

  “What’s going on?” Brennus asked.

  “I’d like to know that myself,” Rayner said.

  “Oh, Bethany,” Amber said, in that tone announcing she’d already know. “The world is not ready.”

  “Ready for what?” Stanley demanded. “What is going on? Majesty, please, I cannot advise you properly if you do not tell us the entirety of the truth.”

  “I can’t,” Bethany whispered.

  ARRAGO PUT HIS WINE goblet down on the small table adjacent to him and stood. He walked over to Bethany, who had her eyes closed and was looking away from the questioning expressions about her. He walked behind her chair and put a hand on her shoulder. She flinched at the touch and show of compassion, but didn’t pull away.

  “Me, Bethany, Jovan, Erem, and Kiner were the ones to go into the castle to meet with Sarissa,” Arrago began.

  “We know that,” Stanley said. “Lady Bethany killed her sister to stop the war.”

  Bethany tensed. She still struggled with it. She didn’t talk about it, but he knew her well enough.

  “After Sarissa’s end, Apexia appeared to us. She and Bethany argued, and Apexia admitted that she was the anchor for Magic. For it to end, she had to die.”

  “Then she threw herself on Bethany’s sword,” Kiner added, his voice somber.

  Edmund looked very unhappy, but he’d been unhappy about it since Arrago had told him. Amber appeared resolute. He didn’t know if Edmund had told her, or if her innate ability to read minds had helped her piece together the true events. Brennus was staring at Kiner, who wouldn’t meet anyone’s eyes. Rayner held his hand to his heart, while tears welled up in Stanley’s eyes.

  When Stanley asked, “She died?” his voice cracked with grief.

  “Yes,” Bethany whispered. Her own voice cracked, but she cleared her throat. Stronger, she said, “She died. I tried to pull her back, but she wouldn’t let me. However...”

  “However,” Arrago continued, “her Power did not die. Remember the bright flash of light everyone talks about?
How Bethany and I said it was the release of Sarissa’s Magic? That was a lie.”

  “What was it?” Stanley demanded.

  “That was Apexia’s power draining from her body...and into us.”

  “Oh. Just that.” Rayner drained his goblet and passed it to Edmund. “Boy, I need another.” Edmund dutifully took the glass and stood up to fetch the old man a drink, turning down Amber’s silent offer to get it herself.

  Stanley asked, “Edmund, did you know about this?”

  Edmund poured half wine and half water into the glass before answering. “Yes, Arrago told me a few days ago.”

  “Of course he did,” Stanley muttered. “We’re only his closest advisors to ensure his head stays on his shoulders. Why would we need to know that he’s a god?”

  “I’m not a god,” Arrago snapped. He sucked in a breath to calm himself and said, through clenched teeth, “I am still the same man.”

  “You are carrying the soul of the Gentle Goddess herself,” Rayner said. He accepted the new glass of wine and took a long pull until he coughed. “What else are you, if not a god?”

  “I’m just Arrago.”

  “Majesty, it’s been a long time since you were just anything,” Stanley said. “And now you are not even human.”

  Rayner pressed a hand to his chest. “You are all sent to kill me. This is a cruel joke.”

  “Ray, calm yourself before you have a stroke,” Stanley insisted.

  “I cannot be calm,” Rayner said. Gone was the terror and grief. “I am in the presence of my goddess’ heirs.”

  Bethany cleared her throat. “I have always been Apexia’s daughter. That has not changed.”

  “If I think of you as an elf, it is easier for me,” Rayner said. “But I cannot do that if my goddess is dead and you are all her replacements.”

  “Lord Rayner,” Bethany said, in a gentle tone she so rarely used, “none of us can or will replace my mother.”

  “This is...so much...the Gentle Goddess...gone,” Stanley whispered. “Gone.”

  “I know, Lord Stanley, I know,” Arrago said. “I wish it was different. Truly, I do.”