“I can create something that isn’t really there,” she said. “I can make only one person see it or I can make the whole room see it. I can also hide things so people can’t see what is really there.”
Understanding dawned on Will and he said, “It was you.”
“Pardon?” Maya asked.
“You protected me. Twice,” Will said. “I was certain your father had discovered me, but when he looked at me, he didn’t react. He didn’t call for my head. I was confused then, but it all makes sense now.”
Maya nodded. “I dimmed your soul to appear like all the others, and covered up that sliver of black you had inside you, which I see is missing now.”
“You can see that right now?” Will asked.
Maya’s eyes turned red. Will’s mouth dropped open. He’d seen that before. In the entrance hall and at dinner, he should have picked up on it sooner.
“You stay in the Soul Sight all the time and just cover it up?” Will asked.
“Not all the time, but any time I’m talking to people,” Maya explained. “Nothing tells a person’s intent like their current emotional state.” She smiled and shrugged. “That’s small stuff. I can’t do everything, though. The bigger the illusion, the more people involved, the harder it is for me to concentrate and the more taxing it is.”
“This is fascinating and all, my queen, but we have more important things we need to discuss,” Khal said.
“Why do you keep referring to her as ‘my queen’?” Will asked.
“Because,” Khal stated. “I stopped viewing Drygo as the true ruler of this kingdom the moment my sister died and his tyranny began. Since then, Maya has been, and will always be, my queen.”
“And as the leader of the Revenant,” Maya said, “I’ll either be dead or queen by the time this night is out. Uncle Khal is right, we have more important matters to discuss.”
“Khal?” Strike asked. “That’s your real name?”
Khal cleared his throat. “I guess there’s no more need for secrecy. You can all use your real names if you’d like.”
“That’ll be easy,” the woman Will didn’t know said. “Jade is my name.”
“What about you, Strike?” Robert asked. “You know mine now, too.”
“Uh, I’ll stick with Strike, thanks,” he said.
“Come on, don’t do that to me,” Robert said.
“It’s Herman,” Khal said.
Strike groaned. Robert laughed.
“Now come on. It’s all going down tonight,” Khal said. “We need to develop our attack plan. Someone get Trout and Scout.”
Jade nodded and ran to find them.
Khal and Maya led them up the stairs to their strategy room. Khal rolled out a map of Shadowhold across the table in the center of the room. When Jade returned with the others, they filled them in about Will and Maya, then Maya began.
“My father has locked down the palace,” she said, pointing at the main gates to the palace grounds at the eastern side of the map. “He knows about Khal’s involvement with the Revenant. On top of that, he wants Will and knows he’s with us.”
“What of Callum and Shaw?” Will asked.
“My other uncle is beset with grief that my father ordered the death of his son,” Maya said. “He doesn’t believe that Luka is already gone. He disappeared. I don’t know where he’s gone. Shaw is dead. Callum killed him for even attempting to kill you.”
Will felt sorry for Callum. He’d taken the life of his son. No parent should have to live through the death of their child. He realized he felt no such remorse for Shaw, though.
“Before I left,” Maya continued, “my father had already begun organizing an attack force to retaliate against us. He doesn’t know where we are, but he will find us eventually. Our best course of action is to attack first while they’re still disorganized.”
“We’ll need to find a way back inside,” Khal said.
“Can’t we go back the way got here?” Will asked.
“We blew the passage, remember?” Khal said.
“How’d she get in?” Will asked, pointing to Maya.
“There’s another passage, but I sealed it off at the entrance in my room,” Maya said. “It was our emergency plans in case anything like this happened.”
“What if I could open the gates?” Will asked. “I could sneak in, steal a guard’s body, and let everyone inside.”
Maya was shaking her head as she said, “Even if you could steal a guard’s body—”
“I can,” Will said with a smirk.
“Even if you could,” Maya said, glaring at him. “You can’t open the gates by yourself, and no one else will defy a direct order from my father. They know what happens when you do.”
“Then we blow the door,” Robert said. “Or the whole wall. We’ve got enough pyridis to do it.”
“That would attract too much attention,” Strike said.
“That could be a good thing if planned right,” Robert added.
“Okay,” Jade said, waving her hands. “Suppose we figure out how to get inside. That still doesn’t help us get close to the king. There’s a whole barracks full of guards between him and us and we have, what? Forty of us at best?”
“I think I can help with that,” Trout said. “The harbor has been in a tizzy since that stunt you pulled.” He nodded at Will. “Rumor mill says that Shadowhold’s organized crime is on edge because of a potential witch hunt. I think they could be persuaded that a preemptive strike is in their best interests as well.”
“You would have us fight alongside thieves and slave traders?” Riley asked, clearly disapproving.
“The enemy of my enemy…” Trout said, shrugging.
“Not to beat a dead horse,” Strike said. “But all of this is moot if we can’t get in the gates.”
I’ve got an idea, Lotess said.
You’ve been quiet, Will replied, tuning out the conversation around him to talk to her.
You were acting irrationally, she said. I can’t help you if you won’t help yourself.
Point taken, Will said. You know how to get us in the gate?
No, she said. Well, yes, I’ve got an idea for that too, but this is about dealing with the king.
What’s the plan? Will asked.
I need to talk to Merva, she said. Can you ask Maya to communicate for her?
“—never work,” Khal said.
“This is going to sound really weird,” Will said. “But Lotess would like to speak with Merva.”
“Come again?” Strike asked. “Did you just say a dead goddess wants to speak to another dead goddess?”
“Oh they aren’t dead,” Will said. “At least not entirely. Our souls have merged. Lotess is part of me.”
A woman appeared beside Maya with skin the color of chocolate. She had long, flowing brown hair adorned with flowers. She wore a red dress that accented her skin complexion and put a sparkle in her eyes.
“Whoa!” Strike yelled. Everyone in the room recoiled except Maya.
“Hello,” the woman said. “I am Merva.”
“Is this for real?” Robert asked, forcing an uncomfortable smile.
Can you do that? Appear beside me? Will asked.
No, Lotess said.
“Merva is in my thoughts,” Maya said, as if guessing his question. “But I’m using our power to project an image of her. There will be a slight delay as she responds.”
“Unfortunately, Lotess can’t do that,” Will said. “So I’ll be speaking for her.”
“Merva. It’s been too long,” Lotess said through Will.
“And too soon,” Merva replied, “since it means the stones are being gathered and the end is near.”
“We must stop Iket,” Lotess said. “This has gone on too long.”
“Agreed,” Merva said. “But how do we do it without killing the king?”
“So what if the king dies?” Jade said, crossing her arms.
“He’s my father,” Maya snapped. “Despite
all the terrible things he’s done, if I can save him I will.”
“But what if he can’t be saved?” Will asked Maya. “Are you willing to do what is necessary to end his tyranny?”
“He can be saved,” Maya said.
“You can’t know that,” Will said.
“Lotess, can you separate the king’s soul from Iket’s?” Merva asked.
“In theory, yes,” Lotess said. “But not while the king has his anchor. I’ll need it anyway, in order to place Iket back in the stone.”
“There’s a slight problem,” Maya said. “I don’t know why, but my father’s stone still has life in it.”
“That’s impossible,” Merva said, shaking her head. “If he has Iket’s power, then the stone should be dull, unless…”
“Unless what?” Ocken asked.
“Unless he placed someone else’s soul inside,” Lotess finished for her.
“Whoa, wait a minute. The king has someone captive in his stone?” Will asked.
Ocken’s eyes went wide. “Not captive. Protected.”
“What do you know?” Khal asked.
“It was so many years ago,” Ocken said, shaking his head. “Ah, how could we have been so stupid not to have seen it?”
“What?” Maya pressed.
“The night your mother died, the king tried to save her with the power of the Soul Siphon,” Ocken said.
Merva scoffed. “Save someone? With Iket’s power? It’s not possible.”
“What if he transferred her soul to the stone?” Ocken suggested.
“Wait,” Maya said. “Are you telling me that my mother might still be alive?”
“Evie’s alive?” Khal asked, hope in his voice.
“Why not get her out once he’d found a suitable host?” Will asked, thinking about his own dilemmas with body swapping.
“He tried,” Ocken said. “I remember him asking for one of the maids. He specifically wanted a young one. To make a suitable body for the queen, I believe. But it didn’t work. And ever since he’s been hunting for the Soul Render and seeking for a way to unlock its powers.”
“I would have never chosen to give my power to anyone under Iket’s influence,” Lotess said. “His efforts were in vain.”
“How do you plan on getting the stone?” Maya asked. “My father never lets it out of his sight.”
“Merva, can you mask the power his stone emits?” Lotess asked.
“I should be able to, though I have not tried,” she said. “What did you have in mind?”
33
Will Sumner was about to commit high treason for the second time in his life. He guessed he should be grateful. Many men did not have the opportunity to defy the crown twice and live to tell about it. By all accounts, he shouldn’t have either.
But there he was, outside the gates of another city, planning to break into another fortress. Robert crouched to his left, just like old times. Will looked to the right, but there was no John. Only Scout. Will couldn’t help but feel responsible for Scout, as if he stood in John’s place on that night.
“Are you sure this is going to work?” Maya asked him.
“It has to,” Will said. “We don’t have any other options.”
Will sat down in the alley and leaned against a wall.
“Dispose of the body when I’m gone,” Will said. “I won’t be coming back to this one.”
“Wait!” Robert said. “Before you go. I want you to know, I don’t blame you…for what happened—”
Will smiled, the warmth of forgiveness filling him. “Not now,” he said. “There’ll be time for that after. It’s not like this is goodbye, though it may feel like it.”
Robert steeled himself and nodded.
Will turned to Maya. “Wait for my signal. You know what to do.” Then he stepped out of his skin leaving Luka Callum behind for the last time. A flitter of sorrow passed over him. More for Maya than for any remorse over the lost princeling. But Will couldn’t dwell on that now. He had to keep his head straight. If they were successful, there would be time to mourn after they finished rejoicing.
Leaving the alley in his soul form, Will walked through the closed gates of the palace grounds as if they were wide open. He stood still and took a deep breath.
Here we go, Will thought.
Keep your focus, Lotess told him. And remember, I am with you. Use my strength when you feel at your weakest.
Will nodded and began his attack. He ran to the wall and ascended the stairs leading to the top. Two gatehouses sat on the rampart, one at the north end of the gate and the other to the south. Each contained a crank that would raise the gate.
A dozen guards marched along the wall, bows in hand, wary of intruders. It didn’t give him a lot of time to take control without being noticed. He would have to do this quick and silent.
Will entered the south gatehouse. A guard stood as a stone sentinel in front of the open window, watching the streets beyond. Another guard stepped into the gatehouse. Will counted the seconds. The moment the guard was out of sight, Will pounced on the sentinel.
Will caught him unawares and, in one mighty shove, evicted the man’s soul, pulverizing it in the process. A noxious odor washed over him and Will retched. The man mustn’t have washed his uniform in a month and his breath stank.
His new host had a large potbelly. No wonder he only stood as lookout. Perhaps if he had been assigned to patrols he would be in more shape. Will was thankful he was not long for this body.
Walking over to the opposite wall, Will grabbed a torch from off the sconce and tossed it out the window.
“Oi!” someone called from atop the wall. A balding guard walked into the gatehouse and looked at Will. “What’d you do that for? Are you a blithering idiot?”
“Sorry,” Will apologized, looking sheepish. “I thought I saw something and I slipped. It fell out of my hand. Better it than me.”
Baldy said, “It might as well have been you if the king finds out. He’d—”
“Open the gates!” a voice called from outside the gatehouse.
Will and Baldy exited the gatehouse.
“Sorry, no one gets through these gates,” Baldy said. “On the king’s ord—”
The king, Callum, and half a dozen men sat astride horses in front of the gate.
“Your Majesty!” Baldy called out. “Uh, r-right away, sire. Open the gates!”
Will ran back into the gatehouse and started to crank the wheel. It was a lot heavier than he expected and he struggled to turn it. The gate ground its gears as the guard in the north tower raised his side faster than Will.
“Out of the way,” Baldy said, shoving Will aside.
The man began cranking and the gate steadily rose into the air. After it was high enough to admit the king on his horse, the guards in both towers locked the gate into place.
As soon as Baldy finished, Will pounced. He grabbed Baldy and smashed his face into the giant gear in the center of the room. Blood poured from the man’s face. Will leapt from Potbelly to Baldy and tore out his soul in a flash, taking the man’s body.
Will had a splitting headache and blood ran into his eyes.
Not the brightest idea, Lotess said.
I needed to break his resolve, Will said, mentally shrugging. The man was too stern to take otherwise.
He wiped the blood away and marched from the gatehouse. Two guards stood between him and the north tower, but they weren’t his priority. He needed to prevent the gate from closing.
He pulled up Baldy’s bow, knocked an arrow, and let fly. It sailed past the two guards, causing their heads to spin as it whooshed by them. The arrow hit home, sinking into the chest of the guard who had raised the gate.
“Traitor!” the guard nearest him called out. “Get him!”
Will knocked another arrow and drilled it into the guard’s throat.
By then, the other guards were drawing their bows. He let fly two more arrows and two more guards went down.
Behind
you! Lotess yelled, but it was too late. A guard grabbed him and held him in a chokehold. Will tried to wrench free but couldn’t.
“What would you have us do with him, Your Majesty?” the man shouted, calling down to the yard below.
The king, Callum, and all the riders vanished.
The man started. “What the—”
Will couldn’t have asked for a better opening. He reached out with his power, grabbed his captor’s soul, and swapped bodies with him. Now it was Will who held Baldy in the chokehold. Will turned and tossed him over the rampart. The man screamed as he fell to his death.
Will didn’t have much time. He’d killed six of them, but half a dozen more remained. Leaping from his body, Will went on the prowl.
Robert peered out at the gates from the alley. A man was tossed over the side. One by one the men atop the wall collapsed. The last two, seeing their comrades die, but not knowing what caused it, turned and fled.
Will was tearing them apart. Robert didn’t know how to handle this revelation. He’d lived the last three months thinking Will was dead. And then yesterday, Maya tells him Will’s alive? It was too much to handle. He hadn’t yet come to terms with it. He and Will needed to have a long talk if they made it out of this alive.
When the walls were clear, Khal signaled for them to get ready. Their forces were split in two. Robert, Maya, Scout, and Jade were with Khal and a handful of the Revenant forces, ready to storm through the gates. Will’s friends, Riley and Ocken, were with Strike, Trout, and the rabble he gathered from the harbor district.
“This is so exciting!” Scout said, bubbling with energy.
“It won’t be what you think it is. Not once the fighting starts,” Robert told him. “You keep your head down in there, all right?”
“I can handle myself,” Scout said. “I grew up on the streets, remember?”
A distant explosion rocked the ground, a ball of fire soaring upward to Robert’s right at the south end of the palace. The wall buckled and fell in toward the barracks. They had no idea if that would kill any of them, but it will make a loud bang and draw attention off the main gates.
“Now!” Khal shouted. Their group of about a dozen people stormed the front gates of the palace.
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