“Until it no longer served his purpose to move Lanier out of his favored spot,” Cedric bit back. “My skills had nothing to do with it beyond an ability to be able to command Sebastian's Dragons, and I refuse to do that any longer. Ever again.”
“I'm sorry to hear that.” King Bennjan's bass voice broke the tension as he entered the room through a door at the other end. He approached the head of the table, and behind him, well-dressed men whom Kinna recognized as the Ongalian nobility she had seen earlier flooded the room behind him, crowding around the table.
Lord Fellowes was the last one in. He approached Kinna, Cedric, and Ashleen and bowed shortly when he reached them. “Welcome back,” he said quietly. “Please approach the King.” His scarred face seemed tight, and Kinna wondered what he would say if he were alone with them.
As they approached, King Bennjan's gray eyes were hooded and dark. His fist rested on the wood planks of the table, his other fist pressed against his waist. He'd tossed back his robe, and he cut a masterful figure. “I understand you visited the Valley of the Dragons, Kinna Andrachen,” he said.
Kinna nodded. “Aye, I did. The creatures have agreed to join The Rebellion in battle.” She took a deep breath and glanced at Cedric. “And now my brother Cedric and I ask that you keep your promise and ally your nobility with our efforts to overthrow Sebastian from the Lismarian throne and free his people from a tyrannical despot.”
King Bennjan nodded slowly before sinking down into the large, ornate cherry wood chair against the wall, his robe spreading across the floor behind his boots. “I see.” He stared thoughtfully at Kinna for a long while before switching his gaze to Cedric, and his brows contracted even farther. “I am a man of my word, Kinna Andrachen, but you say you wish to rid Lismaria—and by extension, West Ashwynd—from a tyrannical and despotic ruler. How do I know that you and your brother will not be equally as harsh in your rule? How do I know you will not yourselves focus your attentions on the Lismarian-Ongalian border and seek to use our weaknesses against us?”
Kinna felt the heat build in her cheeks as anger flushed through her. “King Bennjan, I had hoped that you, of all people, would understand the connection between our countries. Our own mother was your daughter. We would never—”
“Andrachen familial loyalty has been called into question quite often in the last few years if memory serves,” King Bennjan interrupted. “Or did you forget a palace coup wherein your uncle killed your own father, and later where your uncle sought to end the lives of the Andrachen twins before your escape to West Ashwynd?”
Before Kinna could retort, Cedric stepped forward and sketched a bow. “King Bennjan, surely you see the common thread that runs amid your claims? Sebastian, while an Andrachen, was the cause of the original coup. So, too, Sebastian gave the order for our deaths. Sebastian took Olivia to wed against her will after he killed his older brother, and Sebastian is the one who seeks unfettered power against other nations. Kinna simply seeks to rule justly, but with mercy. She hopes for fairness. Her vision for West Ashwynd, and indeed, for Lismaria, is one where creatures have equal rights. The people know her and have begun to trust the Andrachen name again, as long as it applies to Kinna. Such a beginning has drastically strengthened our rebellion, Your Grace. But—it is not strong enough yet... not without the additional military might we need to be able to overcome Sebastian's forces.”
Cedric stepped back, his face flushed with his passionate plea. He glanced at Kinna, and she recognized his reluctance to make his own claim to the throne. He had purposely put the attention on Kinna, and while she still hoped to persuade him to ascend his throne and heritage, she feared his mind was made up to recuse himself and disappear from the history records.
“Well spoken, young Cedric,” King Bennjan said. “However, I have no proof. And until you are willing to prove yourselves brave, until you can show Ongalia that you have what it takes to defeat Sebastian, to stand up and bare your mettle to him... I have no nobles to give you.”
A breath of frustration escaped Kinna's lips, but before she could say anything in response, Lord Fellowes stepped forward. “They have my men, Your Grace.” The proud man stood straight, his gaze riveted to the King's face. “I will order my men south to fight with the Andrachen twins, even if the rest of Ongalia remains exempt from the fight. I will follow through.”
King Bennjan's eyebrows arched. “You would sacrifice your entire province to Sebastian's much stronger might?”
“Nay, but I would support the children of our Ongalian Princess, and lend them my aid honestly sought.”
Surprised etched the King's face before his expression slammed shut. “So be it. Their deaths be on your head, Lord Fellowes.”
Soft murmurs disturbed the gathering of nobles, some dissenting noises among others who rallied behind Lord Fellowes.
Kinna turned to Lord Fellowes and bowed deeply. “We thank you, Lord Fellowes, and we will not betray your trust.”
As she rose, the man's eyes were misted over. He blinked, took her hand, and raised it to his lips. “My trust was placed in your mother many years ago. She never betrayed it then, and her daughter could not betray it now. May the Stars bless you, my child.”
Kinna did not follow Cedric and Ashleen to Lord Fellowes's house after the meeting with the Ongalian King and his nobles, instead going back to the apothecary and checking on Lincoln and Marigold.
As she made her way through the rich, wood halls of the palace, Marigold's voice stopped her before she could enter the room.
“I wish you had never come.” The poor girl was in tears, her voice shaking with sobs. “I was happy. Or at least settled, content. I was an apothecary's apprentice in the court of Nicholas Erlane. Do you know how many in ClarenVale's lower city would have given their last possession to be in my place? And then, you had to come back into my life, introducing me to weeks in Sebastian's black dungeons.”
Taut silence stretched, and Kinna debated leaving them alone before Lincoln spoke.
“I'm sorry, Mari. If I could rewrite history, I would.”
“Would you?” Marigold sniffed. “You were always a servant to the Andrachen line; you could not be any different. It was not the way of the guardians.”
Kinna heard Lincoln shift, uttering a deep sigh that seemed to issue from the soles of his feet. “Kinna and Cedric are of age; the rules aren't the same now. Yes, I am quite attached to them, particularly to Kinna. But she could never replace you as my daughter, Marigold.”
“And yet, she did.” Marigold's tears had subsided, and an ugly, stilted silence fell. Kinna grimaced as she leaned her forehead against the wall, guilt stabbing her. She had not known about Lincoln's family until the battle at ClarenVale. Had she known, would she have been unselfish enough to let Lincoln go, to allow him to mend relations with his own daughter? She hoped she would have, but she was terrified that she would have selfishly allowed him to remain with her at the slightest insistence.
At last, Lincoln spoke again. “I cannot promise to make up for it, Marigold. I know nothing I could do would come close to easing your pain or repairing the past. But I can promise a fresh start.”
“So when Kinna comes to you and asks you to follow her back to West Ashwynd—if we do not all die in this battle—you will stand up to her and tell her no?”
A long pause. Then, “Aye. I will refuse her. Gently, and with the greatest respect and love that I have for her. But I will tell her my place is with you now.”
Another sniffle from Marigold, and then, “It is a start.”
Lincoln breathed a relieved sigh. “Aye. A start.”
Kinna suddenly realized she had been standing in the hallway for a long space of time, eavesdropping on a very private conversation. More guilt speared her. Straightening, she strode into the room, pasting a smile on her face. “Did they feed you both? Are you feeling stronger?” she asked.
Both Lincoln and Marigold gave a guilty start, and Lincoln nodded. “Aye, it was passable. Alt
hough Ongalians will never be known for their food.” His attempt at light wit fell a little flat, but Kinna laughed anyway, much too heartily.
“I shall never hire an Ongalian chef, then,” she said, and realized to her horror that the other two could see right through her, could see that she had overheard their conversation. She couldn't think what to say next before footsteps sounded in the hall, and Lord Fellowes entered.
“Kinna.” He bowed, taking her hand and kissing the back of it.
Kinna raised her eyebrows. “What did you need, my lord?”
“You wish to head south into Lismaria, do you not? To set up your battleground and prepare for war against Sebastian?”
Kinna nodded uncertainly. “That is what I plan to do, but I am not certain without my Commander, Lanier, to advise me. Cedric and I had considered returning to West Ashwynd to put up a defensive front against Sebastian, but despite Sebastian's having grown up in Lismaria, as a king and a military leader, he is far more familiar with West Ashwynd than he is the eastern reaches of Lismaria, or so Lanier has informed me. We have only a skeleton navy, and would be unable to stop his advance into West Ashwynd. We had hoped to set up battle in eastern Lismaria where the ground is less familiar to him. Lanier grew up there. Though he has been many years from home, he once roved the Midland Ridges and knew them quite well. It is still not ideal having to move what soldiers and creatures we have over a circuitous route, but Sebastian does not know the land well, and it would put us on a level field.”
Lord Fellowes nodded slowly. “Should you like to see a map, Your Grace?”
Kinna's brows bunched. “If you have one readily available. I should like to see the topography.”
“Aye, come with me.” His glance included all of them.
He stepped out the door, and Kinna, along with Lincoln and Marigold, moved after him, down the hallway, and into King Bennjan's Council chamber, which was unoccupied. Along the wall, a large map of Ongalia, Lismaria, Sanlia, and West Ashwynd took up most of the space.
Lord Fellowes brushed a finger down a mountain range that ran through portions of Ongalia and clear through the center of Lismaria. “These are the Midland Ridges,” he said. “East of them, you'll find the Marshlands of Cayne, so no matter which way the battle goes, it will be hard to push far into the marshlands; they are treacherous swamplands which are difficult to navigate. This will contain the battle in one location.”
Kinna nodded as she eyed the map.
Lincoln squinted at the markings on the wall. “How exact is the map?” he asked. “It looks here as though two mountain ranges run side by side, with a valley dissecting the middle between?”
“Aye, it's a fairly accurate description. There is a river that cuts between the mountain ranges. The valley is not wide, but it is there. Sebastian, if he meets you on the ranges, will have to break up his forces, as the passes are narrow, difficult, and cliff-strewn. A large army could not march abreast across those ranges.”
Kinna's eyes lit up. “That's good. Our main disadvantage is Sebastian's larger numbers. If we can break them up...”
“We'll have a chance, Your Grace.”
“Kinna,” she murmured, smiling at the lord. She liked him very much, and a passing wish floated through her mind that he had been her mother's husband. If he had, she and Cedric would never have been embroiled in the Andrachen lineage. They would not have existed at all. But Olivia would have lived happily, rather than dying a tragic death in a Lismarian castle, the victim of her brother-in-law's rape and cruelty.
Lord Fellowes's eyes crinkled at the corners as he returned her smile. He bowed. “Kinna,” he said. “You must head south directly, then. I will send some of my men along, too, to help guide you and Cedric.”
“You will not come?” Kinna asked, disappointed.
“I will come. But I am not done pleading with the other nobles on your behalf. I believe I can still convince some of them.”
“Against the King's wishes?” Kinna asked.
Lord Fellowes smiled. “In Ongalia, the King rules, but the nobles still maintain the right to do what they think is best for their own province. It is nearly unheard of for a noble to go against the King's wishes—we do not bite the hand that feeds us, you see—but in this instance, when our country is at stake, I believe I can make the voice of reason heard.”
“And you will bring the Dragons?”
“They will come when they are ready, Kinna,” he said. “Until then, it is wise not to rile up an entire valley of fire-breathing reptiles.”
“But they have agreed?” Marigold whispered from where she stood behind Lincoln.
Kinna turned, smiling at her. “They have agreed.”
“Then,” Lord Fellowes said, “to war we go.”
Chapter Fourteen
Ayden
Ayden sank lower by the fire, turning the squirrel he'd killed and skinned an hour earlier. It would be only a bite, but enough to keep him for the day. Luasa snorted grumpily behind him. She'd eaten a roving deer she'd hunted in the woods, but it hadn't filled her.
Ayden glanced up. She eyed him pitifully.
“A squirrel, Luasa. It's all I've got.”
She didn't blink.
Ayden sighed and tossed her a leg. It was only a taste, but she snapped it up as Ayden stared at the tiny bit of meat left on the fire. “If I starve to death, you have yourself to blame,” he muttered, and her amused huff covered him in smoke. He waved it away.
A deep indigo sky had lightened to gray by the time Ayden had felt it was safe to light a fire, and now the full morning was dawning upon them. Two weeks had passed since Kinna had left with the others, but Ayden's thoughts were never far from her. He waited now for Kayeck; he'd watched her from afar as she wound down the mountain slopes, entering ClarenVale each day to “teach” Sebastian to control his Touches. He'd been ready to go to her, but she had sensed his presence and sent him a message via the trees: We will meet when it is done.
Her message had come the night before: It is finished. Come. So now he waited, thinking, as always, of Kinna and of his forthcoming destruction of the Amulet.
Per his agreement with Luasa, he hadn't told Kinna, or even hinted to her, what he'd learned in the Seer Fey chambers atop the Marron Mountains—that it would take more than just a mere sample of his blood to destroy the Amulet. If he did tell her, he knew she would forbid him to continue with their plan, and the Amulet's destruction didn't affect only him, or only Kinna. It affected three races—Man, Dragon, and Seer Fey—for generations. He couldn't leave it undone, no matter the cost.
It didn't make him love Kinna less that she would try to save him above anything else; if anything, it increased the depths of his feelings for her. But it was also a blind move; she would rescue him no matter the consequences, and such a thing could not happen.
The Amulet must end. And soon.
He felt Kayeck's presence before he saw her. “You're quiet,” he murmured, glancing up at the trees surrounding them.
“Aye.” The Seer Fey gave a rusty laugh as she stepped out from behind an oak. “My survival has depended upon it many times.”
Ayden pulled the squirrel from the fire and dusted off his hands before picking it up, nearly burning his lips on the sizzling meat. “How did it go?” he asked as he glanced up at the purple-haired Seer Fey.
“With Sebastian?” Kayeck sighed. “As expected. Every time he came close to grasping the Touches, he pulled back, because he wasn't quite prepared to face his inner demons. He did grasp the Fire-Touch rather quickly. He struggled more with the Ash-Touch and the Healing-Touch.”
Ayden popped the last bit of meat into his mouth and tossed the remaining bones to Luasa, who opened her mouth and crunched with obvious enjoyment. He wiped his fingers on his tunic. “It doesn't surprise me. The person who should be most frightened by what Sebastian has become would be Sebastian himself. He's never faced his problems, instead turning to power and wrath, burying and destroying everything that
has gotten in his path: his brother Liam, Nicholas Erlane, Erlane's niece Lianna, Lanier... the list goes on and on.”
Kayeck sank onto a fallen tree that had rotted beneath a layer of bracken and fungus, staring at the fire. “It is done, though, and that is what we wanted.”
Ayden nodded. “Aye, but I admit, I'm more afraid of Sebastian with control of the Touches. He will wreak havoc unless we destroy the Amulet quickly.”
Kayeck sagged where she sat, uncharacteristically despondent. “Aye.” She paused. “I fear we've unleashed a monster, Ayden. Yes, he had to master all four Touches in order for the Amulet to be destroyed, but unless that blessed event happens soon, there won't be much of a world left to survive beneath his total and absolute thirst for power.”
Ayden rose to his feet. “What do you mean?”
“He already engulfed half of the lower city of ClarenVale in flames with a flick of his wrist, because the rabble were noisily protesting the presence of Dragons out of their dens—leftovers from Kinna's arrival two weeks ago. The creatures refused to re-enter their dens even with the Dimns' help, and no amount of morning-stars or maces made a difference. Sebastian is creating great swaths in his armies with people he deems to be untrustworthy; ten of his ranking soldiers, he melted into ash last night after our sessions. He's gone absolutely mad, Ayden.”
Ayden stared at the castle of ClarenVale, tiny in the distance, where he could indeed see a trail of smoke from the lower city rising high into the sky. He fisted his hand around his too-long hair. “So be it. Kinna and Cedric have successfully gained the agreement of the Dragons from the Ongalian Valley to meet Sebastian in war, and they have begged King Bennjan's assistance as well. He has not relented, but Kinna did gain the help of Lord Fellowes and his men, not an insignificant amount of manpower. She and Cedric have since headed south to the Midland Ridges of Lismaria, Lanier's boyhood home, where The Rebellion prepares in secret for battle.” His last message from the Dryads had been urgent, and he felt the need to return to Kinna, and soon. She and Cedric would need his help. “We have gained some assistance, and we have reason to hope that if we meet Sebastian in battle, this time, he may be overcome.”
Unleash the Inferno (Heart of a Dragon Book 3) Page 25