“Oh, that is a bold thought,” Maisie said softly, as though she had read his mind. Rising, she moved to stand alongside him, following his gaze to the distant camp. “But do you have the guts to pull it off, Adonis?”
24
The Queen
Sitting in the parlour of her former chambers, Erika struggled to piece together the warring revelations of the past few days—and the insane political situation she had found in Mildeth. She had arrived in the city expecting a battle, to lead her people in an uprising against the tyrannical Queen Amina, to take back what had been stolen from them.
Instead, she had found someone had beaten her to the punch, that the city had already been conquered—and by no less than the once-incompetent Perfugian recruit she had thought long dead long.
No, not just him, she reminded herself.
There was the Tangata as well, the creature that had partnered with the man, who shared with him the title of Sovereign. Erika clenched her fists, heart racing just at the memory of her unveiling. She should have seen it sooner, likely would have, if not for the sheer shock of seeing the Perfugian recruits alive. Or…perhaps not. Even after learning of the creatures’ intelligence, who would have expected to see one garbed in the fine silks of a Sovereign?
When Darien had shouted his warning, Erika had thought for sure they’d stumbled into a trap, that somehow Maya and her Tangata had infiltrated the city and her followers were about to come swarming from the shadows. The truth, if anything, had been stranger still…
…it seemed not all of the Tangata followed the Old One. Lukys’s…friends might be few enough, but their presence threw fresh complications into the war between their species. Sophia claimed many amongst the Tangata had only ever wanted peace with humanity. Only her own father’s invasion of their land had changed things, forcing them to defend themselves, to fight back.
A shiver ran down Erika’s spine. Could it be true? Could her father have led a genocide? He had called for war in response to raids along the Tangatan frontier, to the slaughter of Calafe innocents. But if Sophia was to be believed, the Tangata had not been responsible for those attacks.
It wasn’t difficult for Erika guess who might have been.
Recalling Amina’s words on the ship, her resolve to prepare humanity for war against the false-gods, Erika felt the truth in her very bones.
Amina was behind it all.
But the Sovereigns were not the only ones who carried grave news. It had saddened Erika to tell Lukys and the other Perfugians of Romaine’s death, to see their pain as they heard how their mentor had fallen, protecting Cara from the queen’s assassin.
But the Romaine’s death still paled in comparison to what else Erika had discovered, the truth about the Anahera, how they had worked together with the Tangata long ago to bring about the Fall of humanity. She had told only Nguyen and the Sovereigns, though she still struggled to think of Lukys as anything but an inexperienced recruit—and the Tangata as anything but the monsters that had stolen her kingdom.
Erika had left them to contemplate her news—and to ponder their revelations herself. Now she could only shake her head as she considered the past, the secrets upon secrets their ancestors had kept from the world.
With a sigh, Erika forced her mind back to the present. The past would have to wait—she was an Archivist no longer, and had responsibilities of her own now, people that looked to her for answers. Glancing across the room, she noticed Cara slumped on the velvet sofa, her wings drawn around herself in a feathery shroud.
Erika’s frown deepened, sensing the change in the young Goddess. The Anahera had been delighted at the sight of Lukys and his little band of Perfugians, but her mood had darkened since. Rising from her armchair, Erika crossed the room and sank onto the couch with the Goddess. Another shiver raised the feathers on Cara’s wings and she gave a muffled sob.
“Cara?” Erika murmured. “What’s wrong?”
The Goddess slowly lowered her wings to reveal her face, flicking Erika a glance. “Nothing…” she muttered, her eyes drifting sideways, taking on a distant look. “I just…I never thought…” The words faded, leaving Erika no closer to deciphering their meaning.
Hesitantly, she reached out and ran her hand down Cara’s wing. “What’s the matter?” she tried again. “Clearly something has you upset.”
Tears shone in Cara’s eyes when she looked at Erika again, and abruptly she rose. Stalking to the window, her wings snapped open, and it seemed she would hurl herself into the sky. But the Goddess paused at the windowsill, and finally her auburn feathers drooped.
Stumbling back to the sofa, she slumped to the floor alongside it and drew her knees up to her chest. “It’s stupid,” she muttered.
Erika smiled. “We humans are always dealing with stupid things,” she replied. “You might say it’s our specialty.”
A sigh slipped from the Anahera and she looked up from the floor. “One of the Perfugians,” she said quietly. “Travis. I…liked him, once.” She snorted. “Like I said, it’s stupid, I…there was too much happening…I thought he was dead, and with Romaine and Maya and all your crap…with my long-lost sister…”
Cara’s voice cracked. Sliding onto the floor alongside her friend, Erika hugged the Goddess to her chest. She stroked the young Anahera’s hair as another shudder shook Cara, cooing softly beneath her breath the way her mother had once, when Erika had still been innocent. Those days seemed a hundred years ago now.
“I thought…” Cara said, then began to truly sob, the tears coming hot and fast. “I thought…for just a second…when I saw him still alive, even after all this time, after everything we’ve been through, I thought maybe…”
She gave a violent shake of her head, and Erika sensed the girl’s anger—not at this Travis or Lukys or anyone else, but at herself.
“I’m so stupid,” she croaked, looking up from Erika’s shoulder, eyes shot with red. “Of course he found someone else.” She hiccupped, then swallowed them down and went on. “I don’t know why I was surprised. The Tangatan lady…seems nice. I’m happy for him…really, happy he’s alive, but…” she trailed off.
Erika nodded as fresh tears welled in the Goddess’s eyes. There were no words for this kind of thing, nothing either of them could say to make it better. So she hugged the young Anahera tighter, letting her sob and cry and curse the world, safe in the knowledge someone was there, that Erika would not let her go, that she would be there until Cara found the strength to face the world again.
Or until the world came looking for them.
As one, the pair flinched as a distant horn sounded from outside the window. It was followed by another, then another, as others picked up the call. The hairs on the back of Erika’s neck stood on end as she recognised the pattern, the message the watchers on the wall were conveying.
One was the signal for an enemy sighted, for the arrival of the Tangata in the valley of Mildeth.
The second was a greeting.
Queen Amina was at the gates.
25
The Sovereign
Standing atop the walls of Mildeth, Lukys looked out across the valley and wondered what madness had brought him to this place. Sophia and their guard stood with him, and Erika and Cara were nearby too, Nguyen and Zayaan too. But in that moment, looking down upon the vast army gathered beneath the walls of Mildeth, Lukys had never felt so alone.
I am here, Lukys.
He smiled as Sophia joined her mind with his, but not even her presence could relieve his terror, the sense of inadequacy he felt. Below, a woman sat alone on her horse, garbed all in steel armour, a helm marked by a crown upon her brow.
The rightful Queen of Flumeer had come to claim her city.
Amina sat in silence, without advisors or generals or guards to protect her. She knew her enemies were too noble to strike her down unprovoked. She did not even seem overly concerned to find her city held by enemies.
Beyond the queen, the sprawling mass of he
r army filled half the valley. Lukys’s heart was split at the sight. Her forces appeared mostly intact. After the rumours that had spread ahead of her arrival, they had feared little would be left of the Flumeeren army. It meant they might stand a chance against Maya’s forces, that humanity might yet survive.
But only if they could avoid a battle between the forces of humanity.
Most of those Amina led were mounted, and Lukys wondered what had become of the others, the soldiers that had manned the forts along the Illmoor River, who for years had guarded the kingdom from Tangatan invasion. Judging from the coldness of Amina’s face, Lukys suspected this woman would not have hesitated to leave them behind if it meant her own survival.
“Well, well, well,” her voice carried up to them, surprisingly powerful despite the distance, “it seems the mice came out to play while the cat was away.”
Lukys shivered as he felt an echo in his mind, the reflection of the Amina’s inner Voice. So it was true. Erika had told them about the queen’s heritage, but it was one thing to hear of it, another altogether to witness it for himself.
And it meant Erika’s other revelations must be true as well. Lukys swallowed as a lump rose in his throat, memories of Romaine rising to swamp his thoughts. Somehow, a piece of him had known the great warrior had fallen. Otherwise, there would have been word of him somewhere, rumours of his presence. The Calafe warrior wasn’t one to run from a fight.
Even so, to learn the truth, to think of his mentor lying alone in the cold Mountains of the Gods…
Amina’s heritage might have greater import for the fate of humanity, but somehow, it was Romaine who lingered on Lukys’s mind.
Shaking himself, he focused on the queen. Despite her ability, she didn’t seem to be using her Voice in a deliberate manner. He prayed that meant she was unschooled in her powers. The last thing they needed was another Melder influencing the battle. And it might prove an advantage they could exploit.
“Amina!” he called finally, shaking himself from his silence. “We have co—”
“My, my, is that Nguyen I see up there?” the queen interrupted. “And do my eyes betray me, my Archivist has come to greet me as well. I might have guessed you would have survived the inferno, though…you should have left your pet to burn.”
A growl came from nearby and Lukys glanced at Cara, but Erika had already raised an arm to bid the Anahera wait. The two seemed to have grown close in their absence.
“Oh dear, and Zayaan, they turned you as well? I had thought you at least would remain loyal to my father’s cause,” she tisked softly, and Lukys leapt at the opportunity.
“Amina!” he bellowed, adding his Voice to his words. “Your treachery has been laid bare. Will you submit yourself to the judgement of the Sovereigns?”
Below, the queen’s eyebrows lifted in surprise. “So it’s true then?” she said softly, though the words still carried to those above. “The Sovereigns have finally left the safety of their island. I did not think you had the courage.” Then her eyes narrowed, her lips thinning into a cruel smile. “But no, I see the truth, even from here. The eyes betray you, Tangata. It seems I find monsters everywhere I turn, these days.” She looked again at Nguyen. “I am disappointed, brother king. I did not think you so cowardly as to ally with the enemy.”
“The only enemy I see here waits outside these walls, Amina,” Nguyen’s reply came from Lukys’s right.
“Oh?” Amina asked wryly. “And where was the bold king of Gemaho when Calafe begged—”
“Don’t you dare speak about my people as though you care,” Erika snarled, stepping up on the crenulations. Light appeared in her hand as she ignited the gauntlet, though Amina must be far behind its range. “It was you who betrayed my father, who provoked him to attack the Tangata. You have been behind every death, every pain and loss my people have suffered this past decade.”
“Oh, they’re your people now are they, my good Archivist? And where were you while the Calafe suffered? While they fought desperately for their survival? When everyone else fled, whose soldiers fought alongside them? Who gave them shelter when their kingdom fell? Where were you, Archivist?”
Erika lowered her head, but she did not back down. “I failed the Calafe once,” she said softly, then looked up to meet the queen’s gaze again. “I will not do so again. I am an Archivist no longer—the Calafe have elected me their queen, at least until this war is done.”
“Queen is it?” Amina’s eyes narrowed as she appraised the group atop the walls again. “Bold claims you all make, but I see the truth. You are all little better than common thieves. Treachery will do you no good against my armies.”
“Your people stand with us now, Amina,” Lukys said, and Sophia stepped up beside him, granting him her strength.
“And her people are behind me,” the queen snapped. Lips drawing back in a sneer, she gestured to Erika and Nguyen. “Truly you must be desperate, to ally yourselves with such creatures. Is your hatred for me so great that you would see us all destroyed?
Nguyen stirred at that. “Everything I have done was for the survival of Gemaho.”
“And everything I have done is for the survival of our species!” Amina snarled. “But your treachery threatens to destroy everything I have worked towards, the union I have built.”
“Your union was built on lies and treachery,” Lukys said, and now Sophia spoke with him in unison, as the Sovereigns of old had done. There they hesitated, and Lukys glanced at his partner, knowing what they said next could tear their fragile alliance asunder. But there was no other choice, and looking again at the Flumeeren Queen, they continued: “Yet it is not too late to negotiate a true union.”
“What?”
Lukys did not look around as the cry came from Erika, instead keeping his gaze fixed on the queen. Amina’s eyes had narrowed at his words, but for the moment she said nothing. Erika, on the other hand, roiled with a burning rage.
Lukys could hardly blame her after everything the woman had done to the Calafe. But the crimes of the past could not change one, immutable fact.
Queen Amina commanded half the forces of humanity. Without her on their side, Maya and the Tangata would crush their piddling army without breaking a sweat.
“And who are you to speak of these matters, Sovereign?” Amina called from below, her gaze flickering to Nguyen. “Nguyen I can imagine, perhaps seeing reason, but the Archivist…” she trailed off as her eyes settled on Erika, and Lukys knew without turning what she saw. He could sense the rage bubbling from the former Archivist, a burning, scorching thing.
“No, the self-styled Queen of Calafe clearly does not consent to your idea,” Amina continued, eyes returning to the Sovereigns. “Who are any of you to think you could lead such an alliance? Not my dear Erika, who until yesterday fled all hint of responsibility. Surely not Nguyen, who abandoned the last alliance between our peoples, surrendering an entire kingdom to the enemy.” Her eyes settled on Lukys and Sophia. “And surely not the Sovereigns of Perfugia, who have hidden on their island for generations, who shirked their duties to the last alliance, no less than the coward king.”
She shook her head, as though to dismiss them all. “None of you are worthy. There is only one who has fought for all our peoples, only one who saw the threat that lurked in our mountains, who did what was necessary to unite humanity against the coming threat.”
Lukys gritted his teeth at the woman’s words. “Do not seek to present yourself as the saviour of humanity, Flumeeren Queen,” he growled. “You have never cared for the lives of those beneath you.” He shook his head. “And my predecessors might have shirked their responsibilities, but I have not. It wasn’t long ago that I served beneath your own general, fought in a war that you started, against a people that wanted only peace.”
“Monsters,” Amina replied coldly, her gaze flickering to Sophia before returning to Lukys. “Creatures from the dark, ruled by base emotion. They possess no civilisation, no civility. Just like our so-cal
led-gods, they would have betrayed us in the end. There can be no peace with such creatures.”
A growl came from alongside Lukys as Sophia stirred. “Yet in the end, it was not my people who broke the peace,” she called back. “It was not the Tangata who sought bloodshed, who oversaw the slaughter of innocents on both sides, was it, Queen of Blood?”
Amina raised her eyebrows at Sophia’s speech. “So you taught the beast a trick.” She snorted, then glanced behind her, in the direction of the distant hills. “But it matters not if one can speak. Make no mistake, her kind are the enemy, along with our cursed false gods. When the battle is joined, only one species will emerge as victors.”
“The Tangata and Anahera are controlled by another,” Lukys struggled to explain, to fight back against her attacks. “An Old One by the name of Maya. She seeks only destruction—for humanity, for the Anahera, for the Tangata even. All so she might one day restore her own kind to life.”
Amina chuckled at that, before abruptly turning her horse, presenting them her back. “Very well.” Her voice carried on the breeze. “Then I will make my last stand here. At least my death might give courage to the faithful of Mildeth, that they might cast off your tyranny.”
“Amina!” Lukys cried, suddenly panicked, that she might truly lead her army in a suicidal charge against the Tangata.
Below, the queen glanced back, one eyebrow raised.
Lukys swallowed, glancing sidelong at Sophia. He could sense her anger, a reflection of the others, of his own, but there was no choice.
“As I said,” he continued, clearing his throat. “We came to negotiate. Humanity cannot stand divided against this threat. Whatever the cost, we must work together, or face annihilation alone.”
Dreams of Fury: Descendants of the Fall Book IV Page 16