The Soulstoy Inheritance (Beatrice Harrow Series Book 2)

by Jane Washington

  “Enough,” I grumbled, half expecting them to pay me no heed and continue arguing. They fell silent.

  “First thing is first.” I sat beside Ashen. “You are looking at your new Council, minus Harbringer, who has remained behind in Red Ridge. I expect that your positions will remain the same, but for a few small changes. I will no longer have a personal guard. You three,” I leveled Teddy, Quick and Sweet with a glare, “will command a division each of my army, dedicated to separate skill sets. We will discuss that in a little more depth later. Harbringer will be the new Ambassador—“

  “You replaced me?” Ashen interrupted.

  “It makes sense,” Isolde said calmly. “The Power Thief is intimate with both kingdoms.”

  “I need you to be my advisor, Ashen.” I caught the look in his eye, indicating that he was about to object, but I cut over him. “People are expecting me to kick you out, to properly end the reign of the Soulstoys, but you are invaluable to both this kingdom and to me. I will need you in the coming year, to keep us strong.”

  I stood and moved back to the glass, my fingers tracing the outlines of chimney smoke curling from the fireplaces of houses littered across Castle Nest.

  “The war draws closer every day, every second. We need to prepare our people, and moreover…” I turned and faced them all, “we need to protect those who aren’t our people, because this next fight stretches beyond us, beyond the synfees, beyond the humans and the other races. This is a fight for our homeland, for the Noveland.”

  They remained quiet, seating themselves in contemplative silence, their faces taking on a pallor that I had grown used to encountering whenever I spoke of the upcoming war with the Valens.

  “Very well.” Ashen was stroking his chin. “You have won me over with another impassioned, Queenly outburst. I will advise you.”

  “I will stand with you, also.” Isolde nodded, punctuating her words, her expression holding an unfamiliar determination.

  “Yes.” Dain seemed to be considering his options. “Well, I suppose there is no other choice, is there?”

  “No,” I told him, my voice hard. “There is no other choice.”

  “Very well,” Teddy interjected before we could start fighting. “We will do as you say, Lady Queen.”

  They didn’t look entirely happy with the decision, which made me more amused than anything. After a few more hours with the Council, I bid them all goodnight and retreated to my old chamber, which I had decided I would remain in.

  The next day, I flew through the kitchen on my way to the stables, using a clumsily-aimed gust of wind to propel a loaf of bread the size of my forearm into my waiting hand. A woman cried out in agitation, until she saw who I was, and then she dropped into a deep, red-faced curtsey.

  “Sorry!” I called out, realising I had knocked over her entire stack of rolls, but unable to go back and help her pick them up, as I was already running dangerously close to encountering someone in the early morning hours who would delay my trip to the human kingdom.

  I made it safely to the stables and even managed to saddle my horse before my plan crumpled before my eyes. I turned my mount toward the exit, ready to ride out of the stables, and found Ashen leaning in the doorway, casually throwing an apple into the air.

  “You upset Gertrude,” he announced, cocking a brow at me. “Are you in a rush or something?”

  “I was on my way to the border.”

  “Fleeing your own kingdom?” He feigned horror. “Sweetheart, how could you?”

  “Gretal informed me that Hazen was digging a new road through the forest, I wanted to see it for myself.”

  “Gretal is your new Spymaster, aye?” He chuckled, moving into the stables and reaching for a saddle before disappearing into one of the stalls. “Don’t you go riding off anywhere without your advisor now, Lady Queen.”

  I huffed out my indignation. “You’re my new pseudo-personal guard, posing as an advisor. I should have guessed.”

  He laughed and appeared moments later, urging me to leave the stables and head toward the boundary.

  “I didn’t realise we were so transparent, or I might have sent Dain.”

  I shuddered. “No, I don’t think that will be necessary.”

  We broke into a gallop when we passed into the forest, only slowing when we reached the construction of the new road, already reaching halfway between the new kingdoms.

  “Impressive,” Ashen remarked. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say King Hazen was missing you.”

  I quelled him with an expression that was anything but regal, and in the time it took us to reach the Northern Tiered City, my heart had become impossibly light. Ashen refrained from commenting on my sudden giddiness as we approached the castle, but a chuckle finally escape his lips as the castle doors bust open. Hazen had sensed me coming, evidently, as he stood there now, dark gaze fixed on my approach. I entered the gates and jumped from my horse, running into his arms.

  He caught me on the stairs, somehow managing to stay upright despite me throwing myself at him, and his laughter merged with Ashen’s.

  “I missed you.” His hand caught the back of my head, his gaze flashing to my lips, but I was determined not to lose my head and make a scene this time.

  I quickly disentangled myself from him, and caught sight of Rose, standing in the doorway. Her gaze had softened as she looked on, taking on a kind of reminiscent happiness, a soft hope that I knew would soon fade. I bounded up the steps and caught her in my arms, burying my face in her neck.

  “I also missed you.” She held onto me as tightly as I did to her. “Maybe not like Hazen, but…”

  I made a disapproving sound and released her, but was elated to find her smiling.

  “Mother has been confined to the bed for weeks now,” Hazen said over my shoulder. “Everything has proved too much for her, but it might help her to see you again.”

  I nodded, allowing him to take my hand and lead me from the others. We ascended the staircases slowly, both wanting to prolong our time alone, unwilling to face the melancholy task ahead of us. I worried for Miriam, but I didn’t want to see what the battle had done to her, it would only serve to show me how the future was doomed to fail her.

  Hazen hesitated before the last set of stairs, his eyes moving upwards. “She is up there,” he said simply.

  I squeezed his hand and he looked at me, hesitating before pulling me away from the stairs, through a doorway behind us. I barely managed to register an impression of curtained windows and dusty furniture before my back was against the door and his lips were on mine. I melted against him, threading my hands into his hair to combat my fear that the sudden weakness in my knees might lead to a loss of balance. His hips anchored against mine, his breath catching, his hands reaching for mine, easing my fingers from their grip and restraining them against the wood on either side of my head.

  “Easy…” he muttered against my mouth.

  “Are you talking to yourself, or to me?” The words sounded husky to my own ears.

  He chuckled, slowly backing off me. “I don’t know.” He flashed me a smile. “I’m sorry, I couldn’t help myself.”

  I clucked my tongue at him. “How ungentlemanly of you. Maybe I should find myself a new husband.”

  His smile widened, almost knocking me back with its brilliance. It was like glimpsing sunlight atop a harrowed moor—a brief, beautiful mirage on the horizon.

  “You don’t have time,” he admitted. “I’m not allowing you to leave until you marry me. We can fetch someone to draw up the contract as soon as you agree. How long will you be staying?”

  I couldn’t help the answering smile from seizing me, projecting the happiness that was quickly blossoming into an all-consuming need to please the man before me, to make him smile like that again.

  “I can do it tomorrow morning. I need to be back to supervise the new army divisions. We will need to expand into the wood on the other side of the castle to set up separate training camps, and
advise a recruitment schedule.”

  He nodded. “I’ll lend you a few of my regiment leaders. You needn’t mirror our military structure, but I’m sure they can give you invaluable advice.”

  I took a step toward him, tilting my head to the side and tracing a finger up his chest. “My wedding present?”

  He chuckled, catching my finger. “No, you will get a proper wedding present. Call this a bribe to stay for the wedding itself. Now stop teasing me, or we will never leave this room.”

  When we finally managed to drag ourselves to Miriam’s chamber, I found her state to be worse than I had anticipated. She seemed to have aged, her hair lacking its usual luster, sporting grey strands that I had never noticed before. I caught her hand, and she smiled weakly at me.

  “Bea? Is that really you?”

  I leant closer to her, brushing the strands of hair from her face.

  “I’m here,” I assured her. “How are you feeling?”

  “I feel fine.” She sighed, her eyes fluttering closed for a moment. “Will you be a dear and fetch Cale for me?”

  I froze, her touch suddenly feeling cold, and looked to Hazen for help.

  “Mother,” he muttered, taking her hand from me. “Cale isn’t here. We told you this yesterday. He’s dead.”

  “I see.” Miriam seemed to deflate before my eyes. “I see,” she repeated. “Well, just send for Fenrel then, we must make arrangements for the funeral.”

  Pain flashed across Hazen’s face. “He has passed, mother. It’s just us here now.”

  She began to weep then, and before long, fell into a fretful sleep. Hazen ushered me from the room, closing the door softly behind him.

  “She’s weak.” He sounded apologetic, but I couldn’t find the words to reassure him. “She wasn’t built to withstand everything that has happened.”

  I felt the tears welling in my eyes, and quickly slipped my hands around his waist, burying my face in his chest so that he couldn’t see them. His fingers ran in soothing patterns down the length of my back, and we stayed like that until the corridor began to darken.

  “Come,” he finally said, “we must continue.”

  Epilogue

  We waited on our horses in the middle of what had once existed as the central Renegade camp, a stretch of land the size of Castle Nest, now flattened and cleared to accommodate the heart of the two armies gathered within its belly. The rest of us were scattered throughout the untamed no-mans-land on either side. Hazen was beside me, his eyes hard on the horizon. Ashen was to my left, with Dain and Harbringer flanking him, while I could feel keenly the presence of my commanders, not far behind me. It was their undying support and unending, exhaustive efforts that had finally brought us to where we perched today, on the brink of the war that would decide the fate of the Noveland. Rose had risen through the ranks of Hazen’s army, despite her brother’s half-hearted objections, and now waited beside him. Her hair had been cut and now curled about her ears. Beside her was the new commander of the Black Guard, a position that my father had once boasted.

  This man was without the death ability that had earned my father his rank, but he possessed a wicked knowledge of the art of killing, which everyone seemed to be too uneasy to question further. He was young, but burly, every scarred line on his face screamed of the dangerous talents lurking beneath his skin. His eyes softened whenever Rose crossed his path, and I no longer worried about her; I knew that the man would die to protect her, even if he refused to admit it.

  “It’s almost time.” Hazen’s voice was low, but it carried in the silence of so many bated breaths. “You need to go back now, Bea.”

  My hand flattened against my stomach, against the new life that had just begun to grow within.

  “As my husband commands.” I threw him a mock salute, which had someone behind us covering a laugh with a sudden cough.

  I reigned in my horse, but not before I caught the look on his face.

  “You’re enjoying this!” I accused.

  He wiped the smile off his face, rolling his shoulders. “You accuse wrongly, love. I enjoy seeing you wading into battle more than anyone here, but we have another little warrior to consider now.”

  Rose was laughing now, and Ashen appeared to be shaking his head. I patted my stomach, which was barely beginning to show, and whispered, “Don’t worry, we’ll do our fair share from above.”

  Even still, I glanced back at Hazen before I was lost in the sea of soldiers, and caught the lingering look he sent me, treasuring it close to my heart as I moved to the middle of our procession and looked up at the monstrous structure we had been building over the course of the last six months. It cut into the skyline, jagged wooden spikes circling the podium at the top, a wooden skeleton supporting the long spiral steps that I knew were within. A muted silver exoskeleton wove—almost interspersed with the wooden structure beneath—to the top. The material had not been easy to work with, but would block any magic used against the tower.

  The human-sized cage, which served as the only way to the top of the tower, appeared in front of me, and I pulled the metal grates aside, shutting myself in as the cables groaned and the lift jolted. There were several men and women at the top, all intermediate Force users, as most of the experienced Force fighters were now dead.

  “If war is what they want,” I addressed my small, tower-bound contingent, “why not bring it to them?” I grinned at the few answering chuckles. “We are ready.”

  The End

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