Harbinger

by Nicole Conway

  “Perhaps.” His tone was light with amusement. “You, on the other hand, are one of many princesses I have met. Would you like to know what I think?”

  I curled my lip. “I don’t care what you think.”

  He moved with startling speed, gripping one of my wrists and bringing my palm to his face. I squirmed, trying to wrench it free, but his hold was like a vise. “I think you have incredible potential—far more than your senile father would ever acknowledge. They tell me that women in your kingdom are not permitted to choose a soldier’s path. And yet here you are, making fools of my men and whetting my appetite to see what you might truly be capable of.” He studied my fingertips for a moment, then slowly panned his eyes up to meet mine. “Rumor has it a dragon chose you, that you are a true dragonrider who shares an unbreakable bond with one of those scaly beasts.”

  “What difference does that make? There are dozens of others who’ve been chosen.”

  “Ah, but you are different. You are a treasure far surpassing any gold or gems my armies might unearth in this soggy little patch of land you call Maldobar. Your spirit burns like star fire. I can see it.” He forced my hand to graze the side of his face and dragged my fingers across his lips. “I can taste it.”

  “Take your filthy hands off me,” I hissed.

  “What if I told you this war could end tonight?” he murmured. “Right now. Right this very second.”

  “W-What?”

  “You could end it, princess. You could save thousands of lives, bring this senseless war to an end, and take your rightful place in this world.” My pulse boomed in my ears and my blood boiled in my veins as he forced my thumb back and forth over his bottom lip so that I could feel every word he spoke vibrating off my fingertip. “Become my queen. Stand at my side and Maldobar will know prosperity forever, guarded by the power of my empire. You would become legendary. A queen for the ages. A goddess.”

  I sucked in a sharp, shallow breath. He was asking me to marry him? Why? He couldn’t possibly be interested in having me for a wife. There was something else, something more he wanted. There had to be. It couldn’t be that easy.

  I held still, studying and searching through his face. I let the dark pools of his sapphire eyes swallow me whole. I needed to see it—the monster behind the man.

  Argonox leaned in closer, his grip on my wrist loosening. “You hold me in suspense, princess.”

  I bent in toward him as well and slowly slipped my hand away to place it on his cheek. His gaze sharpened into a cold, satisfied smile. “My lord Argonox,” I whispered softly, “I would marry the south end of a sow before I ever gave you my hand in marriage.”

  Then I punched him across the jaw as hard as I could.

  The effort was almost too much. The pain in my side went white-hot and for a few seconds I couldn’t even breathe. I wheezed and slumped back against the chair, trying to blink away the stars in my vision.

  Not that it wasn’t worth it.

  Argonox stumbled back, catching himself on the edge of a large mahogany desk as he rubbed his face. Seeing that I’d split his lip was satisfying, but only for a moment.

  “Excellent.” He laughed wildly as he wiped the blood from his chin. “I knew you would be good for sport. It’s so much more fun this way, isn’t it? Let’s make it even more interesting.”

  He paced calmly across the room to the door that led back out into the hall and knocked on it three times. It immediately swung inward, and three armed guards clambered in, leading my brother by a chain around his neck as though he were a dog. Aubren’s face was so battered, one of his eyes had nearly swollen shut. There were heavy iron shackles around his wrists and ankles, and his clothes were torn to blood-spattered shreds.

  “Aubren!” I tried to stand, to go to him, but the fresh agony in my side only got worse the more I moved.

  His face went pale when he saw me. “Gods and Fates. Jenna, what are you doing here?”

  “Your sister and I were just discussing her future,” Argonox interrupted, striding casually between us. “I must say, having now met you both, I have to agree with your father. She is clearly the better choice for the throne. Especially now that you’ve proven yourself to be utterly useless in bringing me what I asked for.”

  I froze, trying to sort out what Argonox was talking about. What he’d asked for … ?

  “Oh, I see. You didn’t tell her, did you?” Argonox strolled over to my chair, combing his fingers through my hair as he passed. “Well, now’s your chance. Go on. Tell her what you promised to give me in exchange for giving you the throne of Maldobar.”

  “T-That wasn’t why!” Aubren lurched against his bonds, cursing and struggling for a moment. A quick gesture from Argonox and one of the guards smacked him over the head with the blunt end of a sword. Aubren stopped fighting then. He sagged against his bonds, blood dripping from a new cut across his brow.

  “We’re all waiting,” Argonox purred. “Either you tell her, or I will. I doubt my version will be as forgiving as yours.”

  Slowly, Aubren raised his head. His eyes were wide with desperation and his chest heaved with frantic breaths. “Jenna, please, just listen. I only wanted to stop this war before it destroyed everything we love. I thought I could save our people and put an end to the carnage … if I had something to offer that was more valuable than adding Maldobar to their empire.”

  “Aubren,” I rasped. “What are you saying?”

  His whole body shook as he sobbed. “I-I promised I would bring him Jaevid. I thought I could resurrect him—that he would keep his promise to us and come back to life. Then I could bring him back here and it would all be over. The Tibrans would take him and leave. We would be spared.”

  My mind went eerily quiet. I couldn’t think or even process that. The foul sting of bile singed the back of my throat. I bit down hard, suppressing the urge to gag. “You were going to betray Jaevid Broadfeather?”

  “Indeed.” Argonox was laughing again. “But it seems that legacy ended long ago. Whatever remains of your beloved hero now is useless to us both. As you so eloquently put it, ‘fairy tales are for children.’”

  Tears welled in my eyes, blurring my view of my treacherous older brother. I couldn’t even stand to look at him. Even if Jaevid was now nothing more than a memory, the very idea that Aubren would have done something like that was unfathomable.

  “You really think Jaevid would have ever agreed to fight for you?” I turned my glare to Argonox.

  He smirked down at me, blood still oozing from the split in his lip. “I didn’t intend on giving him a choice. You see, princess, in my many conquests I’ve traveled this world over time and again. I’ve unearthed ancient relics, divine artifacts, and powerful talismans the likes of which your people have never seen. They are of particular interest to me. After all that, I suppose you could say I’ve learned to pick out the scent of truth in every legend. Divine power has its own distinct stench.” Argonox moved around to plant his hands on the arms of my chair and put his face mere inches from mine. “Your people believe Jaevid Broadfeather was special. But based on everything I’ve seen and heard, he was nothing more than a shoddy sorcerer given a bit of magic by that artifact you call the god stone. When it was destroyed, so was his source of power, and he died like any other mortal man. Thus ends another fairy tale.”

  “T-That’s not … ” The words hung in my throat. I’d never been a believer like Aubren. I didn’t put as much faith in those old bedtime stories our father had spun. Overly embellished versions of the truth—that was what they were to me. Sure, Jaevid had been real. He had fought bravely and ended the Gray War. But did I honestly believe he was some sort of demigod?

  And if he was, then what did that make Reigh? A demon?

  “None of this really matters now, though, does it? Whatever Jaevid was, he’s obviously not going to fulfill that prophecy of a glorious return, toting the banners of justice and victory. Believe me. No one is more
disappointed in that than I am. I was looking forward to a proper challenge.” Argonox chuckled, grabbing my chin and forcing me to meet his gaze. Behind him, I heard Aubren struggling against his bonds again. “Which brings me to my next question: the scent of a fairy tale. Where is the boy who destroyed two legions of my soldiers at Barrowton? All accounts claim he was human, so clearly it wasn’t Jaevid. But they all agree it was a dragonrider—one of yours, I can only assume. Another sorcerer as well. A timely alternative, and one that absolutely reeks of divine power.”

  “Jenna, no! You can’t tell him anything!” Aubren shouted. The guards holding his chains silenced him with another crushing blow upside his head.

  “My men are calling him an angel of death,” Argonox whispered. “Whatever artifact or power he has will be mine, one way or another. This would be so much easier if you were to become my bride. Then we would all be on the same side, wouldn’t we? But you’ve put me in a very difficult position.”

  I took a sharp breath, holding it as he moved in closer until I could feel the heat of his breath against my mouth. I squeezed my eyes shut, gritting my teeth.

  “So, would you like to reconsider your answer?” he asked softly. “Or are you going to force me to rip the information I want out of your darling brother while you watch?”

  Delirium and pain were my only salvation as I lay in the gloom, trying to remember how I’d gotten here in the first place. All I could recall was sitting in that chair, listening to my brother’s garbled screams, and then nothing. It was all a blur. Had I told Argonox who Reigh was? Or where to find him? Gods, I hoped not. But for the life of me, I couldn’t be sure.

  Staring ahead, all I could see was the flickering light of torches in the hall outside my cell—a cell that had once served as a cramped room to house dragonriders in the tower. Now instead of a door, there was an iron grate barring the entrance. The stone floor was cold beneath me, and the glass of the narrow window on the far wall had been smashed out to let the bitter wind howl in. The Tibrans hadn’t given me anything more to wear, so all I could do to try to stay warm was curl into a ball against the floor. With my knees drawn to my chest and my arms curled in tight to cover my bare midriff, I shivered and watched the hallway. By dawn, I might be dead from hypothermia, although that sounded much better than having to face Argonox again.

  The sound of footsteps from outside my cell made my pulse race. My entire body shuddered with terror. I was paralyzed, too afraid to move, as the steps came closer. The dark shape of a man dressed in armor appeared outside my cell.

  “Princess?” a gentle voice called out to me.

  I recognized the shape of his nearly-bald head and long, pointed ears. It was the same soldier from before. A frantic sob made me shudder again. “P-Please … help me.”

  “I can’t open the door. Only Argonox himself has the key to your cell. He doesn’t trust anyone else with it, not even his own soldiers,” he whispered as he knelt down and reached through the bars toward me. “Come closer. Hurry, I can’t stay for long. Someone will notice.”

  It took every shred of my strength and will to get on my hands and knees. I crawled across the cold stone and seized his hand, clinging to its warmth desperately as I collapsed against the bars. Through the faint light from the torches burning along the corridor, I could see the lines of distress and worry on his face.

  “Princess, you’re freezing,” he murmured as he gripped my hand harder and brought his other palm to my cheek. “Here, take this.”

  I was reluctant to release him, but the elf slipped out of my grasp and began unbuckling the long red cloak from the shoulders of his armor. He passed it through the bars and tried wrapping it around me. I balled myself up in the thick wool fabric as best I could.

  “Your Highness, I wanted you to know that I—”

  I interrupted. “Jenna.”

  “What?”

  “Please, just call me ‘Jenna.’”

  He swallowed hard and started over. “Jenna, I didn’t want to turn you back over to them. I swear, if I knew some way to get you to freedom, I’d gladly die making sure you made it there.”

  Studying him—his wide, frightened eyes, straight, symmetrical face, and olive-toned skin—I wondered how on earth he had wound up here as a branded slave-soldier. The Tibran armor didn’t suit him at all. It was bulky and rounded, a stark contrast to his sharp elven features. But then, he didn’t have the look of a warrior or a killer, either. I wondered if he’d even been in real combat before.

  “What’s your name?”

  He bowed his head slightly and looked down. “Aedan.”

  I managed a small smile. “You speak the human language very well. You don’t even have an accent.”

  “I’m not from Luntharda. I mean, not really. My grandparents stayed in Maldobar after the end of the war and my family has been here ever since. I was born here. We live—er, well, lived—on the Farchase Plains.” His mouth pressed into an uncomfortable line and his jawline tensed. “That’s where I grew up. I’d never been anywhere else until the Tibrans came.”

  “And your family? Where are they now?”

  His tone grew stiff and I could see the flames of memory sparking in his eyes. “Gone. All of them. The Tibrans burned our farm just like all the others. There’s nothing left of it now.”

  The air seemed to grow colder as we sat there on opposite sides of my cell door. He didn’t say a word for nearly a minute. Then his strange, multicolored eyes met mine. “Argonox is mounting a force here unlike anything the world has ever seen. I don’t know why, for sure. Some do know, or suspect, but they won’t dare speak of it. More and more ships are landing on the eastern coast. Thousands of soldiers are coming through the tunnels.”

  “He’s looking for someone,” I replied. “A boy named Reigh. He may have killed my brother trying to find out where he is.”

  Aedan shook his head. “Prince Aubren is still alive. He’s not in good shape, but Argonox won’t let him die. Not yet.”

  I clenched my fists. “Of course. He still needs leverage to force my father into surrender.”

  “I’m so sorry, Miss Jenna.” He bowed his head again. “I came as soon as I heard. Orders were just passed down. Argonox has ordered for you to be sent to the experimentation division.”

  “The what?”

  “I’ve heard about it before. He’s curious about the bond between riders and dragons—particularly the ones who were chosen by their mounts.” His voice became so quiet, I could barely hear him. “He dissects them. He wants to find out what makes them different, why they are more desirable partners for the dragons. It’s despicable.”

  I swallowed against the raw, burning sensation in the back of my throat.

  “I’ll do what I can to delay it,” he insisted. “With any luck I can buy some time for the other dragonriders to rescue you.”

  No one was coming for me. I knew that. With Eirik grounded, that only left Haldor and Calem able to get to Northwatch in time—and I’d ordered them both to stay in Cernheist. I was alone now unless my father suddenly had a change of heart.

  “Aedan, what happened to the other human man? The one who was brought in with me? His name is Phillip and h-he’s my … ”

  “He’s still alive. They took him to the weaponry division.” He shifted, beginning to pull away as though he didn’t want to tell me more.

  I lunged at the bars, seizing the front of his breastplate and dragging him in again. “What are they doing to him?”

  Aedan’s mouth opened and closed, his eyes as round as two pale moons. “He, uh, he’s being fed switchbeast venom.”

  “What does that mean?” I snarled. “Explain it! Now!”

  “I-I don’t know for sure! I’m not allowed in there. I only know what I’ve heard the other soldiers talk about,” he stammered. “A switchbeast is a kind of monster, something the Tibrans brought here with them. Its venom does something to you. Makes you change. Honestly, I
don’t know anything more than that, I swear.”

  Slowly, I let my grip on his breastplate relax. My head drooped forward to rest against one of the cold iron bars. “This venom … is it painful?”

  “I, uh, I’m not—”

  “Tell me.”

  He let out a shaky breath. “Yes.”

  I closed my eyes. “They’re torturing him.”

  Aedan didn’t speak as he stood. I could sense his hesitation. I debated asking him to kill me and maybe Phillip and Aubren, too, if he could manage it. End our suffering. Take away all the leverage Argonox might use against Maldobar. That would be better, wouldn’t it?

  “Do you believe the stories about Jaevid?” I tried to speak through the sobs that strangled my voice. “Your people called him ‘lapiloque.’”

  “Yes,” he answered quietly.

  “Do you think he could hear us if we cried out to him? Even from so far away? Even from a place like this?”

  His warm hand touched the top of my head. “I don’t know, Miss Jenna. But if you want, I’ll stay a bit longer, and we can give it a try.”

  PART TWO

  REIGH

  TEN

  For the record, nothing about my current situation was going as planned. Shocking, I know. Usually my plans went off like clockwork.

  I’d gone to lapiloque’s sacred tree with a very short agenda—destroy the stupid tree, maybe yell a few curses while I stomped on the ashes, and then leave. Waking up the legendary, demigod war hero was not something I’d set out to do. And yet here we were, standing on the front steps of Mau Kakuri’s royal palace, while the king and queen of Luntharda continued to stare at us in dumbstruck awe.

  The look on Jaevid Broadfeather’s face wasn’t much different. His movements were jerking and abrupt, almost defensive, and he stared around at the celebrating crowds of villagers with his eyes wide and expression blank.