Treason: Book Two of the Grimoire Saga (a Young Adult Fantasy series)

by S. M. Boyce

  Kara’s mother blew her a kiss and smiled. With a hiss, the blue light dissolved into the windless sky.

  “Do you remember asking the Grimoire if you could bring back the dead?” Death asked.

  Kara’s jaw tightened. This was a trap. She didn’t answer.

  He continued. “You must know by now that you cannot do such a thing. I will come again for you someday, just as I have come for every living creature since the dawn of time. Today is not your day to die. You may return, but use your second chance at life well. Few ever have this opportunity.”

  Death offered her a giant, red hand. Kara reached for it but hesitated, examining the crevices in his palm. There were folds, wrinkles, even fingerprints. Death looked so…mortal.

  Kara drew her hand back. “Can I ask you a question first?”

  “If you wish.”

  “Deirdre and Niccoli are crazy. Evil, even. Why did you let them go back when they turned?”

  “I judged only on how much they valued being alive. Goodness has nothing to do with it.”

  He offered his hand again, and she took it. White light consumed everything. The cliff disappeared from beneath her. She floated, unable to see even herself in the brilliance of Death’s touch.

  A sharp kick in her chest knocked the air from her lungs, and she awoke to the sound of crickets chirping. Darkness clouded her vision, even when she opened her eyes. A soft breeze rolled over her face, tickling her skin with the loose curls on her neck.

  Kara took a deep breath, and it was the sweetest feeling she had ever known:

  Life.

  Chapter 27

  Order

  No one spoke as Braeden stared at each of the Bloods in turn. They watched him, wary but quiet, as if no one wanted to go first and explain themselves.

  Bloods, afraid to speak? The world had gone mad after all. Braeden leaned back in his chair and sighed.

  “At least it wasn’t a complete loss,” Gavin finally said.

  “Carden lost a good deal of his army,” Ithone agreed.

  “A fifth of what he brought,” Braeden corrected.

  The room went silent again.

  “A fifth, and we have you back,” Gavin said with a small nod.

  “Much to your disgust, I’m sure. Kara told me about all of you. Especially you,” he added with a glare toward Gavin.

  The Hillsidian looked out the window.

  Aislynn leaned forward, eyes wide. “You saw her? Where?”

  Braeden didn’t even look over. “You are never to speak to me again, Aislynn, unless it involves diplomacy. And you are never to ask anyone of Kara.”

  In his peripheral vision, the queen’s eyes narrowed. She didn’t respond.

  He sighed. “You all fed me false information. You expected me to succumb. It’s obvious none of you expected me to escape the Stele with my free will intact. Are you disappointed?”

  “I think the word is ‘surprised,’” Frine admitted.

  “No, we did not expect to see you again,” Aislynn said evenly.

  Braeden wanted to fling a chair at her. All these years, he’d thought of her as a friend. He should never have told her they’d found drenowith at all. He had exposed this side of her. This ugly, evil side of the woman his mother had sacrificed herself to save. Aislynn was unworthy of such an honor.

  He glanced out the window, unable to look at her anymore.

  Ithone grumbled. “I’ll say this if no one else will. You have a dark nature, child, and an evil family. You cannot judge us for fearing you will not overcome it forever.”

  “Don’t call me a child, old man, and don’t chastise me for judging you when you have done nothing but judge me.”

  Ithone glared over the bridge of his nose.

  Braeden grinned. “And I hardly deny what I am. I spent years lying about it and being ashamed, but no more. I embrace it. I am a Stelian.”

  Ithone stood. The Bloods reached for weapons. Voices bubbled over each other, creating a wall of noise. Braeden just laughed and debated changing into his Stelian form, but ultimately decided against it. Looking like the enemy would only hurt his cause. Still, they needed to learn not to trifle with him.

  Braeden was no longer the politically inept brother of a future king. Braeden was an Heir, a royal himself, and their equal.

  He cleared his throat. They hushed.

  “I won’t turn on you all, however much each of you deserves it. You all showed me it does no good to lie. Sooner or later, the truth comes out. The longer you wait, the worse the consequences become.”

  The skin on the back of Braeden’s neck itched. He could sense Gavin watching him.

  “And you, Gavin,” he continued without looking over, “I trained and fought beside you or over a decade, yet you still can’t give me more than a judgmental glare.”

  He let himself look and caught Gavin doing just that. The Hillsidian Blood let out a frustrated sigh and turned his stare out the window.

  Braeden leaned back in his chair. “I can accept what I am, now. But my focus isn’t on killing you. I don’t care about any of you. I still don’t think you’re capable of peace, but I don’t care about that anymore, either. I have only two goals in this war, and you will help me achieve both of them. In exchange, I will help you win.”

  Ithone grimaced. “Pray tell us these goals of yours.”

  “I want Carden dead and Kara safe. If any of you interfere, I will end you. If you help me, I will give you the full layout of the Stelian castle, including secret entrances. We will take the war to him, and we will end it.”

  The Bloods shot sidelong glances to each other. Braeden turned to Gavin and stared even after the Hillsidian looked to the floor.

  “You concern me most of all. I know what you asked Kara to do,” Braeden said under his breath, so quietly that he doubted anyone but Gavin could hear.

  Gavin glanced up and held his gaze this time. “It was my last means of protecting her.”

  Braeden shook his head. “It was your last means of getting what you wanted.”

  Frine cleared his throat. “We betrayed you, Braeden, several times now. You must despise us. How do we know you won’t get your final revenge once we enter the Stele? Once we’re in your home?”

  “All you have is my word,” Braeden answered.

  “Then why—”

  “I told you why. We want the same thing. You want Carden dead, but you can’t kill him without the element of surprise. I want Carden dead because I want to be free from him forever, but I can’t do that without your numbers.”

  “And when he dies? What will you do once you are Blood?” Ithone asked.

  “Stay as far away from the lot of you as I possibly can,” Braeden admitted.

  “Everyone wins,” Gavin said with a dry laugh.

  Braeden stole a glance out the window without looking at anything. How shameful to think he’d once called that man a brother.

  “All in favor?” Aislynn asked.

  “Yes,” Gavin said.

  “Blood Ithone?” Aislynn asked.

  “I will keep an eye on you, boy,” Ithone said.

  “I would expect nothing less, old man,” Braeden answered.

  Aislynn interrupted. “I will take that as a yes, then. And you, Blood Frine?”

  “Yes. And you?”

  “Yes,” she said.

  “Shall we begin?” Gavin asked.

  “I have another matter to attend to first,” Braeden answered.

  Frine laughed. “And tell us, where did you stow the Vagabond?”

  “Far away from Ayavel.”

  “ENOUGH!” Aislynn’s voice ricocheted off of the walls and windows, echoing many times over in the small room.

  Everyone went silent and looked over to her.

  She took a deep breath and caught Braeden’s eye. “I apologize for jeopardizing Kara’s safety. I did what I thought must be done. We all did.”

  Braeden leaned in. “What made you think attacking a drenowith wo
uld help you win a war? You’re insane if you really think that was a good idea. It only gives you another enemy. A terrifying one. Garrett is no minor threat. If Adele survived, she will be after you as well. If not, Garrett will be out for blood. He loves her.”

  “You have more experience with these drenowith than we thought,” Frine said, his eyebrow lifting in surprise.

  “I trained with them. Adele was my tutor, but Garrett also critiqued me. The way he followed the sparring matches…”

  That drenowith was not to be trifled with.

  Aislynn arched her back, but she would only ever look like a broken child to him. “We had a reliable source—”

  Braeden laughed. “I’m fairly certain your source was Deirdre. She played all of you!”

  “How could you possibly—?”

  “Deirdre found me while Carden was, uh”—Braeden shuddered at a sudden memory of the horrific pain—“While he was interrogating me. She told me you used Kara as bait to capture a drenowith and laughed at how stupid you were to do it.”

  Aislynn’s quiet voice broke the tense air. “You’re wrong, Braeden. My most trusted general told me he found an ancient book that described the table. He even showed me.”

  “And when was the last time you saw this general?” Braeden asked.

  “This morning.”

  Braeden leaned back, still unconvinced. Deirdre could be keeping up the façade, continuing in the general’s everyday life to use him at some later time. Or, the general could be fine and truly have found something. He would have to find the general and see for himself to be sure, but it didn’t seem like Aislynn would even entertain that idea.

  Braeden sighed. Isen made everything so complicated.

  Aislynn reached a hand toward him on the table, but didn’t come close enough to touch. “Even if Deirdre had overtaken my general, what would she have to gain from it?”

  “We can’t know for certain unless we ask her, but I have my theories. It could have been a plot to divide you all further when it backfired, or make Kara vulnerable, or…”

  Braeden’s lungs deflated. He forgot the rest of what he’d meant to say. Kara was alone. Without her Grimoire, she was absolutely vulnerable. His attempt to keep her safe had probably only put her deeper into harm’s way.

  He was an idiot.

  “I have to go,” he said. The chair grated against the stone as he pushed away from the table and stood.

  “Where to, Prince?” Frine asked.

  But Braeden didn’t answer. He tore from the room and down the hall. He ran until he found Iyra. She’d been isolated in a field far from the rest of the mounts, left to lay in the shade and stare holes into the barn wall as she waited for him.

  He jumped the fence. Iyra turned her giant head to him. She stood and trotted over, but he climbed on without a moment’s hesitation.

  “To Scotland, Iyra,” he said.

  She nodded. He could have sworn he saw a grin twitch at the edges of the beast’s mouth before she tore through the field and jumped the fence with ease.

  To her, this must have been an escape into action. She would run as fast as she could just to feel alive again after being crammed into a field, waiting for him to grow as bored as her and leave.

  Braeden’s heart raced for another reason. His life had become very simple: kill the man he hated, and protect the woman he loved. The panic bubbling in his gut told him he had failed at the latter.

  It took concentrated effort on Braeden’s part to not break open the bed and breakfast’s door when he arrived a few hours later. He’d left Iyra safely hidden beyond the lichgate he’d used to re-enter the human world.

  The inn’s door was locked, and no one answered at first. He checked for signs of forced entry. No broken windows. The door seemed intact. None of that really mattered to an isen, though. They could snake their way into any building.

  He was about to smash in the front door when he heard a familiar Scottish voice behind him.

  “Ah, good to have you back!”

  Braeden turned to see Lori standing on the sidewalk. She had a plastic grocery bag in one hand and a smile on her face.

  “Is K—er, Anne here?” he asked breathlessly.

  “Well, no, actually. She should be back soon, though. She went into Glasgow to spend time with one of the local girls. I suspect she felt a bit lonely, what with you gone—”

  “How long ago did they leave?” he asked.

  “A few days ago. I left a voicemail the other day and was just about to call again to check in. Is everything all right? You’re pale.”

  Braeden’s head swam. He wanted to vomit.

  “Don’t worry. Let’s just give Bonnie a call right now. She’ll be with your girlfriend, and you two can hash out whatever’s really going on here.”

  Lori left the door ajar. Braeden pushed through after her. He turned for the stairs and took them three at a time.

  “You want some tea?” Lori asked.

  “No, thanks. I’ll be right down.”

  He needed a moment.

  Glasgow? He wanted to scream. So much for Kara lying low. But could he really expect that of her? No, that wouldn’t be fair. So she’d gone into the city. He wanted to think she would be fine, that no one would find her. The human world was a big place, and even isen couldn’t find her in just a few days.

  Right?

  He opened the door to Kara’s room. His jaw tensed as he confirmed that it was, in fact, empty. Daylight streamed through the bay window. The room glowed with a serene brightness that he wanted to absorb. Only, the panic in his stomach boiled with a new fervor. It wouldn’t stop until he saw Kara.

  But the light also illuminated an envelope placed on the pillow. He walked slowly closer. His pulse raced when he saw his name written on the front in handwriting he didn’t recognize. He ripped open the envelope.

  Dearest little Braeden—

  You should keep better track of your toys.

  —Deirdre

  Braeden crumpled the note and threw it on the bed. He ran from the room and barreled down the stairs. He heard Lori say something, but he didn’t care.

  Something had happened. Something bad.

  He ran across the street, over the bridge, and through the forest to the castle ruins. He gave a half-hearted look around to make sure no one watched him and ran into the ruins’ old keep. Blue light flared around him as he walked through a long-forgotten lichgate.

  It was only natural for Kara to figure he’d take her far from Ourea, so he’d put her close to an ancient lichgate no one remembered. That way, she would be unlikely to look for it, and he could get back to her quickly. But had that been how she was found?

  He cursed to himself and jumped onto Iyra’s back. He had only one option left: find Stone.

  Stone was an isen. Even though Braeden hated to trust an isen with something so crucial as finding Kara, he was out of better ideas.

  Braeden couldn’t lose her. He’d do whatever it took to get her back.

  Chapter 28

  A New Guild

  Kara’s head rested on a pillow. Crickets chirped in some distant place, their chorus carried on a breeze that covered her skin in goose bumps. She opened her eyes, but couldn’t see anything at all.

  “I told you she’d make it,” a man said.

  “I knew she would, but I’m not any less furious with you.” This second voice, she recognized.

  Her voice scratched in her throat. “Is that you, Vagabond?”

  “Yes, Kara. I’m here.”

  “Where am I?”

  Light blurred into her vision, and the room slowly came into focus. She lay in a canopy bed, its sheer white curtains pulled back to reveal a series of circular windows along the far stone wall. The windows were gaping holes, without any glass to cover them, and they let in the night air. A full moon hung low on the horizon, illuminating the dark forests below. She seemed to be high in the air, as if in a mountain.

  A creature flew
low over the forest, just far enough away that Kara could only see its long body and jagged wings. It dove into the trees, its dive followed by a blood curdling screech. The thing broke back through the canopy carrying a carcass in its claws.

  Kara was definitely not in the human world anymore.

  “How are you feeling?” the Vagabond asked.

  Kara turned to see his ghostly outline standing beside her bed. Stone sat in a chair next to him.

  She seethed at the isen. “You.”

  “It’s good to see you as—”

  Kara didn’t give him the chance to say anything else. She lunged at him with a strength she had never experienced before in her life. It was as if her muscles had only grown stronger while she slept.

  She shoved Stone into the wall, pinning his neck with her left arm. In her right hand, she summoned the first spell she could think of: the red sparks she’d never been able to master.

  “Kara, don’t!” the Vagabond yelled.

  “I’ll kill you, Stone. I didn’t want to be an isen! You never gave me a choice!” Kara screamed.

  “The power is delightful, isn’t it?” Stone asked, his voice calm. He sounded more like she’d made a comment about the weather, rather than threatened to end him.

  The red sparks fizzled in her palm. They had been effortless to summon, as if she hadn’t been struggling for ages without any sign of progress. Even as her hatred for Stone cooled to a simmering anger, the sparks pulsed in her hand. They took nothing to create or maintain.

  “You were powerful before, but now you’re unstoppable,” Stone said.

  Kara released him and backed away, the red flashes still vibrating between her fingertips.

  “Why?” Kara asked.

  “When I awoke you, it built you to your full potential, both physically and magically. Next to the drenowith, isen are the strongest creatures on Earth, Kara. And you can tame the drenowith.”

  “That’s enough, Stone!” the Vagabond shouted.

  “I merely said it is possible, not that she should.”

  A dull pain pulled on Kara’s right wrist. The wrist guard Deirdre had pulled from the old wooden box still bit into her arm. Kara reached down to rip the vile thing off, but Stone grabbed her hand. She twisted in his grip, but couldn’t shake him.