by Andi Van
“Entourage?” That sounded intimidating, and Jorget had sudden visions of the slender elf showing up with a bunch of massive bodyguards. Which he supposed would make sense, actually.
“Kelwin will go with him, I’m certain. As will his sister. And K’yerin.”
“The cat,” Jorget said in a flat voice. The priest had clearly lost his mind.
“The cat who happens to be Tasis’s familiar,” Denekk ground out. “What did I tell you about opening your mind? If you continue to pass judgment like you’ve been doing today, you’re going to drive off people who are willing to be your friends and allies. Do you want that?”
Jorget took a deep breath and sighed. “I’m sorry,” he said, meaning it. “I don’t understand how a cat could be that important.”
“Sometimes the smallest details are the most important of all,” Denekk said cryptically. Jorget was used to that. He was fairly certain Denekk knew everything but had too much fun watching everyone around him flounder about to say anything specific that might actually be helpful. “You’ll understand when you meet him. Try to remember that he understands every word you say. Otherwise you’ll find yourself regretting it.”
Jorget nodded and stood. “If you say so. I’ll go back to my room, then.” His brow wrinkled, and he gave Denekk a confused look. “Do Reikos and Tasis’s sister know each other? He said something about his sister sending her regards.”
Denekk grinned then, and he suddenly looked about ten years younger. “They’ve met,” he acknowledged. “When Tasis was captured, she and Kelwin made quite a ruckus when they were trying to rescue him. Reikos and Zaree have developed rather a crush on each other, but they pretend it’s not there. It’ll be interesting to see what happens.”
“Ah,” Jorget answered, not understanding why Denekk was so gleeful about the whole thing. There was nothing against guards falling in love and having families. In fact, several of them had families with them in the palace. But Denekk was a little strange that way. “I’ll be going, then,” he said and headed for the door.
“Jorget?”
Jorget paused, hand on the latch. “Yes, sir?”
“Don’t try the levitation spell again.”
Chapter 2
THE MOMENT the mirror cleared, Tasis let loose a string of profanities that probably would have shocked most people. Luckily for him, Kelwin was not most people, and he merely waited patiently for Tasis to run out of breath. When Tasis finally had to pause to fill his lungs, Kelwin cocked his head. “So, what are we going to do?”
Tasis took a deep breath, held it for a moment, then let it out slowly. After a moment of calm, he stood from the seat he’d been perched in over the course of his conversation. “I need to go down to the cavern and talk to Triv. Maybe she knows what it is the king thinks he’s found.” Without so much as a smile in Kelwin’s direction, he headed for the door, stomping the whole way.
Kelwin watched him go, trying not to sigh as he did. Tasis hadn’t been in the best shape for a few days already, and both Kelwin and Zaree had worried the guild’s new leader was coming down with something. The newest announcement from Denekk was going to make things worse. Tasis would spend days insisting he wasn’t tired and would resist sleep in an effort to make everything right.
We should join him.
Kelwin looked down to see K’yerin sitting at his feet, staring up at him with eyes that held a level of worry he hadn’t expected from the cat, even knowing how much Rin loved Tasis. “Yeah,” Kelwin said, finally letting loose the sigh he’d been keeping at bay. “Rin, I’m worried about him.”
He’s not well. He barely touched his dinner, and I could practically see him turn green when Firea asked him if he wanted dessert. I think Triv may have thrown too heavy a load on his shoulders all at once, and he’s feeling pressured to do as well or better than she did in the position he holds now.
“Sounds like him,” Kelwin agreed as he looked across the room to discover the wolf that had adopted him snoring loudly, his tongue hanging nearly to the floor. “Daro, come on, wake up.”
The wolf continued to snore.
Oh for the love of…. Wake up, mutt!
Daro’s head jerked up, and he let out a sound that was more grumble than growl and was definitely aimed at Rin.
“Come on,” Kelwin repeated. “Tas needs us.”
The wolf was on his feet almost immediately, his posture alert. When Kelwin followed after K’yerin, Daro fell in step at his side, and Kelwin rested a grateful hand on the wolf’s head. Daro might have been an ordinary—if scarily intelligent—wolf and unable to speak like Rin did, but his actions spoke louder to Kelwin than any words would have. He appreciated the comfort. He had a feeling he was going to need it.
Kelwin caught up to Tasis at the head of the stairs leading down to the massive cavern that housed both ships and merfolk. Before his redheaded lover could begin the descent, Kelwin pulled him into his arms and held him close. “It’ll be okay.”
“But what if it won’t?” Tasis asked, his words muffled against the fabric of Kelwin’s tunic. “I don’t want another massacre here. Worse, I’m terrified because I don’t want to die. I’m too much of a coward to sacrifice myself the way Triv did.”
Kelwin rested a cheek against the top of Tasis’s head, closing his eyes and breathing in Tasis’s scent. “I don’t think you’re a coward,” he said after considering his words carefully. “No one wants to die. But Triv… I don’t know. I realize she still had Aria and Josephina, but I think maybe after Corrin was killed, she felt she’d lost everything. I’d feel that way if I lost you, even if I had loved ones still here. I’d want to follow you to the Maker’s side. So we’re going to work toward a solution to prevent that, okay? We have warning. Triv had none.”
“But did she?” Tasis asked. “Was there something she missed? In turn, does that mean there’s something I’m missing?”
You need to stop comparing yourself to her, Rin said, matter-of-fact about the whole issue. You’re you and Triv is Triv. A lot has changed in a thousand years. But to answer your question, Kelwin is correct. There was no warning that the king had gone mad. Our relationship with him had always been, at the worst, civil. At the best… well, he did send us his daughter when she was found to be a magic user.
“He what?” Tasis and Kelwin asked as one.
He sent his daughter to us, the cat repeated. She had rather a bit of hero worship toward Triv, as I recall. She left before the king attacked, but we never did hear what happened to her. She may have gone to her brother’s side after the king was dead, but those who recorded history outside of the guild in those days had a nasty tendency to erase women from events if they could. It was unseemly for a woman to stand out.
“That’s disgusting,” Tasis said, his lip curling with revulsion. “If I could send Zaree back to that time for a week, I’d love to let her at them.”
Kelwin snorted. “If you did that, there’d be nobody left when our time came around,” he said. “Why did she leave?”
I’m not certain, Rin said, sounding horribly embarrassed at the admission. Triv wouldn’t talk about it when it happened, and I’d grown rather lazy and complacent at that point, so I spent most of my days sleeping in the library. There’s this rather nice spot….
“On the second floor, near the books on alchemical usage in magic, where the sun hits just right,” Tasis finished for him. “I know, I’ve heard you snoring in that very spot. Who do you think left a pillow there for you?”
K’yerin began to purr loudly, and turned an affectionate gaze at Tasis. You’re so good to me.
“Yeah, well. It’s mutual.”
The cat rubbed against Tasis’s legs, and the elf picked him up. Rin bumped his forehead against Tasis’s, then continued. Anyway, I hadn’t given her any thought since then. But perhaps we should try to look into what happened to her.
“Right,” Kelwin said. “But before then….”
“Before then, we need to talk to Triv
,” Tasis said with a sigh. He gave K’yerin a squeeze and rubbed his face against the cat’s furry side before gently setting him back on the ground. “Come on.” He offered a hand to Kelwin, and Kelwin took it gladly, clasping it tight as their small party made its way down the long staircase.
When they reached the bottom and opened the door, Kelwin was not surprised to find Josephina sitting on the edge of the wooden platform that extended out above the water, her feet dangling into the water. Triv and Corrin were at the end of the platform with her, their softly spoken words nearly inaudible. Josephina spent a lot of time there, with the loved ones she’d thought had been lost to her forever. When they stepped onto the platform, Josephina looked over her shoulder and gave them a small smile. The smile froze and then slipped off when she saw Tasis’s expression. “What is it?”
Tasis shook his head and sighed, silently making his way to Josephina’s side. He rolled up his trousers and took a seat next to her, sticking his bare feet in the water as she had. “Denekk contacted me,” he said. “And the news wasn’t good.”
Kelwin made himself as comfortable as he could on the hard wood as Tasis recounted the conversation. Daro immediately curled up against him, resting his head on one of Kelwin’s knees and looking up at him with that distinct look all canines seemed to get when they wanted someone to pet them. Kelwin smiled a bit and rubbed the wolf between the ears.
“What on earth could be on that mountain that Archai thinks he’s going to find?” Josephina asked once Tasis wound down his story. “And if there was some ancient, unholy weapon in the mountain, why didn’t we know about it?”
“Why didn’t I know the Isle existed?” Tasis asked. “Things are lost as time passes. Would Vashk know?”
“I’d guess not,” Corrin said with a sigh. “Most of his information centers around the Western Sea. But it wouldn’t hurt to ask, I suppose.” Without waiting for a response, he dove under the water, his tail sending a shower of droplets overhead.
“I swear he does that on purpose,” Josephina said as she wiped the salt water from her wrinkled face.
“Of course he does,” Triv said with a laugh. “You know he’s always loved to cause trouble. Why should a thousand years change that?”
“A thousand years is a long time,” Josephina pointed out. “You and I both know that. Things change.”
“You didn’t,” Triv replied, leaning back to flip her tail overhead, causing another shower of seawater.
“I will drag you out of there by your tail if you do that again,” Josephina growled as she wiped her face. It didn’t do much good, as water kept dripping from her white hair. “Don’t make me go in there after you.”
Triv grinned, her face full of mischief as she grabbed the end of the platform and hoisted herself up enough to lean close. “I dare you,” she said slowly before flipping herself back into the water in such a way as to splash every one of them.
Josephina sighed, her now-sodden hair hanging in her face. “Yeah,” she said, the word half exasperation and half affection. “You haven’t changed either.”
Before Triv could keep the friendly ribbing going, the sea seemed to simmer from the cave’s entrance. Kelwin wouldn’t have called it boiling, but there was a definite bubbling from far beneath the surface. The disturbance neared, then stopped, the bubbling growing fiercer until Vashk’s enormous draconic head broke the surface. Corrin appeared next to him, took one look at the soaked group, and began to laugh.
“Oh shut up,” Josephina said good-naturedly.
“Vashk,” Tasis said with a respectful nod of his head. The dragon was casual enough, but all of them had agreed that he’d more than earned their respect. “Did Corrin tell you what happened?”
“Enough to know it’s serious,” Vashk rumbled, his deep voice rolling across the water like whale song. “He says you have a question.”
“Do you know anything about a supposed weapon in the mountains?” Tasis asked, not bothering to mince words. “The king seems to think there’s one there, from what Denekk tells us.”
Vashk sank low enough that he blew bubbles in the water when he sighed heavily. “I wish I had better news for you,” he said. “The only connection I had with different regions was through… well, other sources. And they vanished a long time ago. It’s the first I’m hearing of it, if that helps. Though that doesn’t necessarily mean anything.”
“No,” Kelwin agreed. “As we were discussing earlier, things change all the time. It seems that we’ll be going into this blind.”
“Not necessarily,” Tasis countered with a shake of his head. “We have other resources as well. We can ask around.”
Vashk nodded, making the water around them ripple. Then he looked at Kelwin, his jewellike gaze serious. “You need to go up the mountain. It has to be you.”
“But why?” Kelwin asked, his brow drawing in confusion. “Beyond the fact that I’m better equipped to climb a mountain than Tasis.”
“Hey,” Tasis said, indignant.
“Sorry, but it’s true,” Kelwin said apologetically, earning himself a roll of the eyes from his lover.
His lover.
There were days when he still couldn’t believe he’d been lucky enough to have Tasis stumble into his life. But there were also days when he reminded himself there were things in life that seemed to be planned out in advance. If meeting Tasis was kismet, he wouldn’t complain. The slight, redheaded elf with the captivating blue eyes was his to love and adore.
And to anger, if the metaphorical storm cloud in Tasis’s expression was anything to go by. He’d been touchy lately, another thing Kelwin attributed to stress. He reached out and took Tasis’s hand, and the other elf relaxed at the gentle squeeze.
“I’m honestly not sure,” Vashk said, wrinkling his snout in such a way that it made his scales gleam. “It’s only a gut feeling. You need to be there.” He turned to Tasis then, his eyes serious. “You shouldn’t go. It’s too dangerous for you, and I’m not sure why. I simply know that it’s better for you to stay on the ground instead of climbing mountains.”
“Oh, I’m going, and you’re out of your mind if you think I’m not.” Tasis paused then, tilting his head as his brow creased in thought. “But if you’re that serious about it being dangerous for me, we’ll figure out some kind of compromise. I may have my pride, but I don’t want to endanger anyone, especially not myself. I’m kind of selfish that way.”
I fail to see how protecting yourself is selfish, K’yerin said from his spot next to Tasis. It’s only natural. It doesn’t mean you care about anyone any less.
“He’s right,” Kelwin said with a smile. “It’s not selfish. I appreciate you looking out for yourself so I don’t have to worry.”
“I suppose this means I’ll need to get ahold of Zaree’s brother,” Tasis noted with a frown. “I’d rather not deal with him right now. Zaree’s finally at a point where she’s feeling comfortable with herself.”
Well, it’s not like we have much of a choice, Rin replied. I don’t know that I trust anyone else to get us across the ocean, even if he is a jackass. Zaree’s a big girl, and she’ll understand that. Besides, I rather think she’ll put up with anything once she finds out that Reikos is involved.
Josephina chuckled at that, nodding as she did. “She’s rather taken with him, isn’t she?”
“She is,” Kelwin agreed with a fond smile. “It’s quite a thing to witness. I hope she doesn’t get hurt in the process.”
Triv flicked her tail into the air, sending a fresh stream of droplets onto them. “If she gets hurt in the process, I’m more concerned that we’re going to have to keep her locked up here so that the rest of the guards don’t get ahold of her after she’s done beating the crap out of that poor kid.”
Speaking of the strong woman made Kelwin think of their earlier conversation, and he turned to look at Triv. “What happened with the king’s daughter?”
Triv stilled, the water around her rippling only slightly.
“Why do you ask?”
“Well, Rin happened to mention while we were on our way here that the king had sent over his daughter when she was found to have magical abilities. So, then, he wasn’t always mad?”
Triv sighed heavily, looking toward her husband as if for guidance. Corrin reached out and took her hand before addressing the others. “She had vastly different ideas on how Triv should handle a particular situation,” he explained. “She was a friend, and it left Triv gutted when she departed the isle after announcing we were unlikely to see her again. But to answer your question, you’re correct, he wasn’t always mad. At the time he sent her to us, he was still the crown prince. His father’s health was failing, but he had not yet passed. If I remember correctly, his daughter left us two years before the first attack, and his coronation was the year after. Why?”
Kelwin gave a slight shake of his head in response. “It’s nothing,” he assured Corrin. “Only a random thought. I guess I wanted to make sure that her being here was not the source of the madness. If she left so long before, though, I don’t see how that could be the case. Do we have any idea when exactly the king did go mad? Do we know when his heir went mad?”
“I don’t think we know for certain,” Josephina said, looking to Triv for confirmation. “He’d been here to visit his daughter only a few months before she left, and he seemed fine then. After she left we didn’t hear from him again until he showed up on our shores to slaughter everyone. I’m not certain where he picked up that nonsense, but he was willing to gamble with Qelmar’s rule in order to get it. Maybe she said something to him, I don’t know. All I know is that at one point, he was a good man, and it still saddens me to think about what he became.”