by EF Joyce
"You lied to me! Again!" she shouted, whirling on him. Her emotions were insane, stupid. She was furious Stellan didn't trust her when she was betraying him at every turn. Anaka almost laughed aloud at the irony. "You promised there would be no more secrets between us, and then I find out about Darvaza? These sorcerers? I knew Sundry was hiding something, I could fucking feel it! And then you lie straight to my face," she glared up at his beautiful face and wanted to slap the hell out of him.
If he didn't trust her, she would misinform Alaric. And if that happened, she'd be denied asylum in Dalga. Even if Stellan never discovered she was the traitor her daughter would become queen, doomed to a half-life as a slave to the Sphere and her own father. Tears burned in the Handmaiden's eyes and she pushed them down, furious. Damn it, don't cry, don't be weak.
"I'm sorry, Annie, I really am. But technically I sent those sorcerers before I made that promise–"
"Stellan! Are you fucking serious? I thought we were partners! You convinced me to trust you. To love you. Don't do this now," a few tears slipped down her cheeks unbidden and she quickly wiped them away. She had come so far, she would not fail now. No matter what the cost. She would save her daughter.
"We are partners. You're right. I wasn't being fair. I just wanted to protect you," he stepped close to her, resting his hands on her shoulders again. This time she didn't push him away.
"Protect me from what? I'm the Handmaiden. I'm an assassin for Yeraz' sake. Why would I need protection?" Stellan took her arm and led her toward the sitting room, seating her down on the sofa before silently preparing her some gras. She knew that look on his face, his features locked into stone, his refusal to speak until she was comfortable. Whatever he said next would be a terrible truth – one she wouldn't be prepared for. Her lover handed her a hot cup and sat down next to her, his black eyes swirling with secrets.
"Do you remember when I told you about my past, before my immortality? The Three Kingdom's War? Do you remember Darian Nicromante?" Anaka nodded, recalling the tragic tale of Stellan's past. Betrayed by his closest friend and his lover both. Almost as if history would dare to repeat itself. Stellan had given Darian immortality, but then Darian had betrayed Stellan, murdering his father. In return Stellan had locked him in a metal chest and tossed him into the Haddesh Sea. The Handmaiden knew all of this, and like an idiot she still worked against him, this man capable of the worst imaginable cruelties against those who'd wronged him.
"When Elixa couldn't enter Dalga using the Sphere, I began to wonder. At first I rationalized, made up excuses. There was no way Darian could have escaped. There was no way he had come back to power. Her failed dreams were simply flukes, bursts of irregularities in the Sphere's power. But as the months wore on and I realized she could still dream, of anywhere but Dalga, I began to think that my worst fear has come to pass. Darian has escaped, somehow. Alaric is his son. There is no other explanation for any magic that matches Elixa's in strength to exist in this world."
"But how would he stop her from dreaming of Dalga?" Anaka wondered. "I thought he would need her name?"
"He wouldn't know Elixa's true surname, as Darian never learned mine, but her given name would be enough to accomplish his purpose."
"That's why you've kept your name a secret all this time?" Anaka asked. He'd never told her why he'd lied to Yeraz about his name, why he'd sworn her to secrecy when he'd given it to her. For millennia he'd been preparing for Darian's return.
"Yes," he admitted, looking at her with his deep, enigmatic eyes. "You're the only person I've given it to in three-thousand-years. I hope that's proof enough of my trust in you," he said with a grim little smile. "With half a name, a mind mage can plant thoughts and ideas," he continued. "With a full name, they can take absolute control of you." A shiver ran up Anaka's spine; he had handed her the greatest tool to his own destruction. His true name.
"If Darian had one son, he could have more. He could be using Alaric to test us. Whatever the case, we have to conquer Dalga and end Alaric before he gets too powerful. I've been careful. I have only one daughter at a time, I always bind her to the Sphere. Daughters, women, they are less ambitious than sons. Less power-hungry and destructive. A great cost is paid by the world when too many magi inhabit it. I watched magic nearly destroy the world before and I won't let it happen again."
"Why didn't you tell me all this sooner?" she pressed. "How is not knowing this information protection?" Stellan signed and set his untouched gras on the tea table, rubbing his tired eyes with long white fingers.
"I was being stupid. It was never more than a suspicion, and I felt as if saying the words out loud meant Darian had truly returned, and that's a possibility I just didn't want to face. I'm still not certain, but it's the only plausible explanation for why Elixa can't use the Sphere's magic against Dalga. Elixa is powerful. She should be able to face Alaric and beat him. But what if Darian has more children? More trained magi? What then? I'm afraid, Annie."
Anaka looked at him, his drawn expression, the hopelessness in his eyes, and knew he was telling the truth. The great Ilahi was afraid, and he'd confided that weakness to her. The question now was what would she do with it? She took his hand, intertwining her fingers with his.
"What would that mean for Yeraz, if he did have more children?" Anaka asked. Alaric had never mentioned siblings, but then again he'd never uttered a word regarding his father either. Dalga's king wasn't exactly forthcoming, not to her at least.
"At best, it would mean a terrible war. I defeated him once, but that was me against him. His children will be powerful and I will not be able to stop them. Elixa is strong, but against how many? The Sphere's magic is not limitless. I know Darian. He's careful, he's a planner. I was always the impetuous one. He'll have sent Alaric ahead on purpose, to feel us out and weaken us before sending the remainder of his children to fight. It's been over three-thousand-years. I cannot guess at when he escaped, but I can guarantee he'll have a plan. An unshakable, meticulous plan."
"So what will he do?" Anaka asked, imagining Alaric in his tower, giving orders to soldiers half way across the world with his mind. That's what he'd been doing, she knew for certain now.
"I can only guess. I believe Darian will leave Alaric alone for now. He has already decided to sacrifice him by placing him here, unassisted. Alaric will press us as hard as he can, and that's why I didn't want to sign the treaty. The peace would have been a sham, allowing him to walk right into our capitol and take it. This war will play out, and either Alaric will win or we will, and the whole time he will be feeding information directly to Darian.
"If we manage to conquer Dalga and kill Alaric, Darian will send the rest of his magi to finish the job, only now we will have been weakened by the war and he will possess a significant amount of information regarding our operations, our strengths and weaknesses. Winning this war will buy us time. Until then, we will need to figure out some way to defeat him, and I just don't know what that is yet. So there it is; everything I've been keeping from you. You have all my secrets now, Annie," he added with a sad smile.
"We will figure all this out, Stellan. Together," she said, leaning against him as he put his arms around her. But how would they, even if she hadn't been planning to leave him? The situation was impossible – more so than she had dared to imagine. Clearly she had chosen the right side. Yeraz would have been doomed with or without her. Alaric swore he wouldn't bring her to Dalga until he stood in Elixa's palace, sat on her throne and ruled over her people, but Anaka was running out of time.
Perhaps the southern king would change his mind if she gave him something worth even more than battle strategies and council arguments. A secret that had been kept for over three-thousand-years.
The double oak doors to her sitting room, replaced the year previous and already warping with rot – the decaying presence that lurked in every corner of the palace – jumped suddenly as someone on the other side pounded their fists against it.
"Open up! E
mergency message from the Council Head!" What could Grayna want at this hour? Stellan whipped open the door, revealing a young man with light hair and green eyes, just like Ronan's, flushed from running to her rooms. The very thought of him made her stomach clench. They hadn't spoken since she'd killed Balkin's body guard in the lower levels.
"An emergency council meeting has been called," he said, eyes flickering nervously between the immortal and the assassin. She recognized him now as Grayna's nephew – someone he would trust to deliver messages while also spying on the recipients. "Maurice Sundry's body has been found at the bottom of the Sehrli Tower," he reported, carefully watching them, judging their reactions. None of them needed to say it aloud to understand the importance. Only the highest level sorcerers and the council members themselves had access to the top. With the sorcerers all deployed in the war against Dalga, Sundry's corpse only had one thing to tell them.
There was a traitor in the council and they all knew it.
Chapter 16
I
Elixa fidgeted nervously in her metal throne, glancing at the shadows cast by the wall lanterns and the darkness outside. The plainest room in the Queen's Tower, it contained only her throne, a long, narrow, violet carpet and a wall lantern in between each of the six floor-to-ceiling windows. The weather was cloudy and raining, as usual.
Hours before sunrise, she'd been dragged out of bed by her maidservant, frantically whispering that Grand General Grayna needed to meet with her right this very moment. The queen had too much to ponder and the last thing she needed was another emergency. She'd barely even begun to think about how she would tackle Alaric's father and siblings, plus the all powerful Nameless, if she was even real. Who knew. At least he had shipped the food, as promised – one less thing to worry over. She hadn't yet warned her father about Alaric's siblings, Darian's army and the supposed return of his ancient nemesis. As soon as he learned of it, he would only fight harder.
The double doors thundered open and Grayna entered, his eyes shadowed with exhaustion, his face pale and skin pallid. Elixa sat up straighter in her chair, holding her mounting terror deep within herself. She could see in his face that something had gone horribly wrong. Had her father discovered their plans? Had he realized her involvement?
"My queen," he greeted, bowing deeply. "I've come to warn you. Your father's men are on their way here this very moment to arrest me for high treason. There is a traitor in the council and Sebastian has had the audacity to pin it on me! Me! He suspects us, my queen. He knows the army will follow me, not him, and is using this as an excuse to be rid of me. I would run but nothing would make me look guiltier. I must go through with this sham of a trial. I hope I can count on your support."
"You, arrested for treason?" her heart raced and she forced herself to breathe. She could not lose her greatest ally, not now, not after discovering just how completely Alaric's father could decimate her empire. "My father will not get away with this."
The queen listened as the Grand General explained how the Head Sorcerer, Maurice Sundry's body had been found below the Sehrli Tower. That they had a traitor in the council and an emergency meeting had been held only hours before. So Alaric had been spying on her, and with a councilman's help! She'd known better than to trust him. Yet the food supplies had been steadily rolling in and what other choice did she have? And now this? She needed to remove her father from power, and fast. But when? How? Who could she trust? They'd barely begun removing his allies from the palace. The queen couldn't do it without Grayna, which meant they had to go along with this for now.
"We must allow them to arrest you and throw you in the dungeons, so my father believes he has you. You are right that Sebastian will insist on a trial. You have too many allies for him to risk having you murdered. Everything will have to be legitimized. We will see how the trial plays out first and hope luck is on your side. But if you're convicted, I will not let you be executed. I will free you myself if I have to." His brow furrowed in confusion.
"You mean to dream your way inside?" he asked.
"Yes, I do. No one can stand against me in a dream. I'll get you out, Grayna, count on it, but then I'll need you more than ever," Elixa said.
"One more thing, my queen," Grayna muttered, speaking as fast as possible. "Sebastian has 350 sorcerers planted within Darvaza, preparing to attack. I have told General Balkin of your alliance with Eide. He can be trusted to help you, but if you do not stop those sorcerers this will be the end of our peace agreement," he said, seconds before noticing the sound of pounding footsteps in the corridors outside. They were coming for him. The doors thundered open and half the council poured in, the younger and stronger ones, her father among them.
"Grand General Earl Vericiphis Grayna, you are under arrest for high treason and conspiracy against the great Empire of Yeraz and its Queen," her father announced, followed by Sundry's son, who produced a metal bar that he quickly magicked into cuffs. "Your trial will follow in one fortnight, and until then you will wait in the dungeons."
"And you deserve nothing more for killing my father!" Sundry snapped, shoving Grayna forward.
"Remember what I said, your majesty!" Grayna called out to her as the men dragged him away. The doors closed behind the group, leaving Elixa alone in the sudden silence. A traitor amongst the council was certainly news to her – as the queen why did she always learn these things last? How could Alaric have gotten an ally so high in her ranks? And who could the traitor be?
There were seven men on the queen's council. She could eliminate Grayna, her father and the younger Sundry, who had made his stance in Sebastian's favor clear. Also, she highly doubted he would have murdered his own father and besides, when Sundry the older had been alive his son would not yet have possessed a key to the Sehrli Tower. That left the strategist Mills, Listhman, her treasury master, Johans, her spy master, and Nemiah, her head administrator. Outside of Sundry the younger, each of those men had been on the council before her birth, during the rule of her sister, Ciara.
They had all served loyally and had proven that time and time again. The queen would need more time to examine their private affairs and dig up possible reasons why they would betray Yeraz to Dalga. With the Grand General inaccessible she needed Anaka, her best spy, her star assassin. There was nothing Anaka couldn't or wouldn't do for her empire. Two years prior, at Elixa's request, she had even wiped out her mother's own village on the Wakati isles, slaughtering over two-hundred men, women and children single-handedly and earning her title Black Hand. The queen could have done it in a dream, it had needing doing – at least her father had convinced her it did – but she was a coward, a failure to her culture. She hadn't killed since Atam, and she never would again.
Yes, Anaka was perfect. But in her condition she was hardly fit to be flitting around the city under cover of darkness. Though she had an apprentice, didn't she? The old Black Hand's son, what was his name? No matter, she would summon Anaka who would pass the message on for her. Once she had the information required, the queen would surely be able to sniff out the traitor. Alliance with Alaric or not, the queen would not suffer an informant in her midst.
And Alaric's siblings headed straight for Yeraz? The Nameless? If her father learned what she knew, would he stand with her and Alaric or fight to the last breath? Should she tell him or not? He could help, or he could make things much, much worse. He and Alaric had told two different tales – one where her father was a villain and one where he was the hero. Which was the truth?
Elixa rose from the throne, opened the door and demanded that the two guards outside summon her Handmaiden. First, Anaka. Then Sebastian.
II
"You summoned me, your Majesty?" Anaka said an hour later, tipping her head slightly in deference. In Yeraz the depth of a bow revealed status. Anaka was high ranking. A peasant would be prostrate on the floor before his queen, if ever allowed the chance. She met Elixa's gaze, her oversized stomach stretching against the silk fabric of her black tunic. O
nly a couple months remained before her child was born – Elixa's little half-sister.
With Sebastian locked away and Yeraz possibly united with Dalga, what would become of the child? She would possess strong magic, just as Elixa had. Grayna had suggested a courtesan to raise her, but how would that explain her magic? Perhaps she could lie and pretend to be her mother. Then she could say the child had inherited her magic and she'd never need to know about her real parents, though she wished there were an alternative to locking up her dear friend and separating her from her daughter.
"Yes, my friend," Elixa replied, emphasizing the word. Anaka had been her friend once, nearly like a sister. And now she plotted to lock her up forever. Maybe she could just let her go. Make her promise never to return to Yeraz. Why did you have to fall for my father?
"I need you to look into some things for me. As you are well aware, there is a traitor in the council. I know that you have done your part in condemning Grand General Grayna for this crime, but I have reason to believe this is not true. In fact, I know for certain he is innocent."
"I agree, my queen," the Handmaiden said.
"You agree? Then why, please explain, would you assist in condemning him?"
"He is dangerous. He may not have betrayed our empire, but he turned the military against St – Sebastian. I don't know what he's waiting for, but he will make a move. I saw an opportunity to remove him and I took it," she answered, remorseless.
"And if I report this conversation? Your words to me, your queen could have just set the Grand General free," Elixa snapped. She needed Grayna, he was her only true ally.
"You would set Grayna free, knowing that he plots against your father? All his opinions, his speeches, what he's been feeding the military, it's out in the open now. You could free him on your authority, yes, but in the eyes of the council and the military that declaration is as good as taking up arms against Sebastian, and you know it. Winter is coming. Our empire is on the brink of starvation. Everything rests on our final attack against Dalga. Would you throw us into civil war, now?" Anaka glared at her with those dark, slanted eyes, knowing she was right, daring the queen to challenge her.