by Radu Aldea
“So let’s burn down the villa with him inside. I think I can do that.”
“Maybe you can, maybe you can’t. What I’m sure of is that you will attract every senator and soldier within a twenty mile radius. I actually want to get out of here.”
“So your plan is to just knock on his door, hope he will let you in and kill him?”
Kara wished it was that simple. She knew she could get Lucian to let her in. They didn’t part as enemies. In fact, she had had the cleverness to hide what she suspected about him. She had waited a few days after the incident and blamed their split on a request from her father. Rufus was the head of the family, she had to obey an order from him. And she looked devastated about it. Lucian thought he could always tell when she was lying. He hadn’t that day, she had no doubt she would’ve lost her life otherwise. No, Kara didn’t think she would have any problem convincing him that she needed help. She had been attacked by an unknown enemy and her father was now dead. Who else was she going to ask for help? “He will let us in. The rest is not that simple. It is vital I get some information from him.”
Kara expected his reaction. She would’ve been disappointed if it had not come. “All this based on the assumption that he wants to bed you one last time more than he wants to kill you. It is rather presumptuous to assume a senator of his power can’t control his desires especially when they are so self-destructive. How do you plan to get the information?”
“I know what you are thinking, but I would never betray you. I will never again bed him. I wouldn’t do that to you. You have to trust me blindly one last time, trust that I can get the information and that it is very important and you’ll have your proof. Trust one more time that I know what I’m doing. So, are you going to come with me or will I have to go alone?”
“If you are going to him alone, he will kill you, you know that.”
Lucian would try. Kara was already working on a plan to deal with him if Michael left. It would be a blow and it would make things harder, not impossible. Michael didn’t leave her, but wasn’t happy either. They walked in silence until he suddenly stopped. Something was wrong.
“There are two sorceresses in that villa, besides that very powerful senator, and they are not weak. If we go any closer they will sense us. We can’t take them by surprise.”
Kara knew what he was thinking. The soldiers who attacked her came from Essland, were led by a sorceress and now they had two sorceresses with Lucian. She still wasn’t sure, but was well aware that most of the times the simplest explanation was correct. “How powerful are they. Do you think they are immune to senators?”
“They are as powerful as I’ve ever seen, so they might be. There is something different about them, but I’m not sure. I have nothing to compare them to. The sisters I’ve met before were far weaker than this. The memories of my mother are too vague to trust.”
She remembered he told her about his parents. Michael’s father, a wizard had died in the war, his mother, a powerful sorceress with immunity, a few years later. By that time, she already left him with Serratus, where he would be safer. She had hidden the birth from the rest of the Conclave and she couldn’t take him to their island. The treaty was clear; the sorceresses couldn’t harbor any wizards. And his mother didn’t trust her sisters with that knowledge, but couldn’t refuse the order to return from the Reverend Mother. The Conclave wouldn’t allow a rogue sister and they would’ve hunted her, probably ask for help from the Order too. With a broken heart she gave him to Serratus. Later, he found out she had died.
“Will you have a problem killing them?” Kara knew her question had a double meaning. Was he powerful enough to kill them? Could he kill a sorceress considering his mother had been one? If he couldn’t, it would ruin her plans and they would have to turn back.
“Yes! If they try to harm you I have no problem killing them. The senator, however, is an entirely different matter. He can take over me at any moment and you wouldn’t know it.”
“I’ll handle Lucian as long as you deal with the sorceresses.”
“So we’re still going there. They could tell him what I am.”
“That is not a problem. If the sorceresses are as powerful as you say, they are important and might’ve come from Veneguard. I want to ask them some questions.”
“You know something. I think I have some questions for them too.”
She didn’t ask what he wanted to know because the same was true for her. “Remember, when we are inside you must act as if you are under my control. Even if we are alone, the walls have ears in there, unless you create another silence bubble. You don’t talk unless I tell you, you don’t answer any questions unless they are from me and basically don’t react in any way. You will hate me because I’m going to become an insufferable bitch, but that will be necessary.”
“Am I allowed to breathe while I’m in the villa?”
Kara kissed him. “Only if I tell you!”
Chapter thirty-six
The splitting headache was killing her. She wasn’t sick, that would’ve been a blessing. It was all the people who wanted something from her. And today that was everybody, hence the headache. Usually, she could’ve dealt with all of them, but right now she lacked the patience.
Julia Mettela closed her eyes trying to block the outside world for a moment. No such luck. Four senators of her family and two of the Arvillii were in that room and all except one weren’t pleased with her. Everyone seemed to have something to complain about. The one who wasn’t complaining, and it was the person Julia expected to be the most trouble, not the least, wasn’t exactly an ally. For some reason that eluded her, Reyna Levilla decided to be quiet and listen. She hoped that was good news, but, most likely, that one was planning something.
“We should strike at Lucian now, before reinforcements arrive,” one of them offered his opinion. She had over three thousand horse ready to strike, but they would be of little to no use in a siege, which undoubtedly any attack would turn into as long as Lucian was not caught outside his villa. All her scouts had reported the same thing. There was no sighting of him in Ornulf’s gap and the area around his villa was heavily patrolled.
“No, we should conquer the fortresses in the Gap faster. There still isn’t an opposing force there capable of stopping us. It’s ridiculous. We are mounting sieges on fortresses manned by free humans. We could send a pleb there and he could take them.” All true, but the senator giving her this advice would not volunteer for this mission. He hadn’t been there trying to take fortresses under a hail of arrows. She had personally taken part in the conquest of two and it hadn’t been pretty. One belonged to a human lord, one to a senator and both had been difficult. Julia had made sure she had been seen, hoping Lucian would come out of his hole and face her or at least send more troops. Scouts were spotted at places where she’d been, which led her to believe Lucian would try to assassinate her rather than join the battle.
Right now her forces had control of seven fortresses, with another five under siege and had encountered minimal opposition. She had been careful not to start any confrontation with senators. Even when she had taken the castle from one, he was nowhere to be found. He had left the soldiers to defend it and fled. Yet, if she continued, a clash would be inevitable. Cuttland and Essland were on the other side of the Gap taking over fortresses as fast as they could. Lack of troops was their only limitation, but if every side continued with the takeover things would come to a head.
“This entire campaign has been an incredibly bad idea. Soon enough Essland and Cuttland will join up and bloody us. I told your father this from the start. I don’t know why he isn’t here and you are leading our forces.” That was Vergil, one of her most powerful clients, thinking he had the right to question her. She saw Reyna smiling. The bitch was enjoying herself waiting for her to explode. And she should. Instead she took a deep breath. Seeing that Julia was not saying anything he continued. “This is becoming an epic failure.”
Epic failure,
that was harsh. “Exactly where have I failed?”
Vergil searched for an answer and it was not an easy task. They had taken some fortresses, hadn’t lost a battle and nobody had shown a sufficient interest in challenging them. “We haven’t found out who killed Rufus and Kara and instead of focusing our resources on learning that we have embarked in this futile enterprise. Cuttland and Essland have shown their willingness to help, but we can’t count on that anymore.”
“Don’t be a fool, Vergil. They had shown that’s what they think us, not any desire to help. Did you receive any reliable information from them, or any information for that matter? No! You know why? Because they did it! And now they are pretending to look and after enough time has passed they will tell us they found nothing, thinking we’ll just forget about it. They need to know that if they aren’t doing anything we will come and do it ourselves.” Reyna’s support surprised her. Kara’s aunt was right of course. Nobody seemed to know anything, so they needed a little push. Ten thousand soldiers on their lands were one hell of a motivation.
“You can’t possibly think this will end well,” Vergil spoke to Reyna.
“It will end how it will end, but until it does you can’t categorize something as an epic failure. So far I have seen nothing that would justify such a conclusion,” Reyna defended her.
“I know she is powerful and brilliant at war-games, but this is war not a game.”
“There is a reason why David sent her and we agreed to her command. I have complete confidence in her abilities. Now, let’s put this behind us and wait and see what happens.”
“What will happen is that the Casti and Sabini will come together and then they will attack us. We are all aware of the message we were sent that Lena Casta is with Lucian.”
“We don’t have any idea who sent that message and it is most likely disinformation.” Reyna smiled when she said that and almost everyone agreed with her. As an attempt to mislead it was pretty pathetic. An alliance between Lucian and Lena made a lot of sense and it was bound to happen. Was Lena Circle as the message suggested? Very likely. Lucian liked them powerful, that’s for sure. He also liked them beautiful, which the Casti girl was not.
“I know Lucian a whole of a lot better than he does me. Lena Casta is a mystery. Is she there with Lucian? I don’t know. If she decided to hitch her wagon to his, I guess we will learn what she’s capable of. I just hope for her sake she is better than him.”
Let them stew on that. Julia was confident enough to deal with both of them as long as Aaron didn’t join. He was Circle, but it was his sister she was most worried about. Dana knew her too well. Being friendly with the siblings had had its advantages, but there was a price to be paid. Dana might actually be capable of guessing what her objectives were, both short-term and long-term. Cuttland and Essland were in a frenzy to occupy as many castles in the Gap as possible and blocking her advance that way. They didn’t realize that by garrisoning them they were giving up the initiative. While she was mobile, they were stationary.
And then they were interrupted. Most people in this room were aware Dana wanted to meet her and Julia had agreed. She had been planning for this, but Dana came looking for her sooner than expected. It was going to be a difficult negotiation. After it was over she was going to vacate this fortress on the Essland side of the Serelians. If her enemies knew her location she would become an easier target. That’s why she moved constantly, not staying in any one place for long. This way, even spies would become ineffective, because none of them would manage to get the information to their employer in time.
Julia didn’t want many witnesses to her conversation with Dana. Her visitor felt the same way so she ordered all her senators to leave the room. When Dana Honorya walked in Julia was waiting alone. Her guest was five years older, of medium height, had long chestnut hair and big brown eyes. Julia knew men thought Dana a beauty, it was the same with Kara, but only thought of her as very pretty. She didn’t mind it one bit. The beauty didn’t blind her to the danger the woman in front of her posed. Dana might not be Circle, but like Christian and Sarah she was very close, she just didn’t make the jump.
“It’s nice to see you again, Julia. It has been so long since you visited Essland, but did you have to bring ten thousand of your closest friends with you. I don’t want to be a bad host but they are rather difficult to accommodate,” Dana started the negotiation.
“Don’t be so sarcastic, Dana! You know damn well why I am here.”
“I know why you say you are here. That’s not necessarily the truth, is it?”
The reason she had given was that they had tracked the three hundred soldiers to the Gap. Since their requests for help had fallen on deaf ears, both in Cuttland and Essland, they had no choice but to find the soldiers themselves. Of course, Dana had guessed the truth. They hadn’t tracked the soldiers and she had ulterior motives for the invasion.
“Well, had you been more open to sharing information and your requests more precise, perhaps I would’ve had enough time to help you. Why did you send the messages so late?”
“Marcia has sent word that we are looking for three hundred soldiers to everyone.”
“That’s horse manure, Julia, and you know it. You sent word that you are looking for three hundred soldiers and you wasted my time. For more than a week I kept searching for them like a fool. Then came the other message, the right one, that you are looking for missing soldiers. Exactly when did Marcia figure out they were dead, because I think it was immediately.”
Yes, it had been. In all fairness Julia was not to blame for the delayed message. Aleyna came up with the new search strategy only later and Marcia had decided to concentrate their efforts on Cuttland, which was where the evidence led. Only when she found out about what happened did Julia include Essland in their search. “What are you saying?”
“Is anyone listening to us?”
“You know how it is, Dana. The walls have ears so I can’t be sure.”
“Do these ears belong to senators from Western Suttland?”
Dana knew something, but was reluctant to part with the information. “They might.”
“Why was I sent the message with the real information and request so late?”
She told Dana what she knew. That the Arvillii had known almost from the start, the change in strategy suggested by Aleyna – it was at this moment Dana showed her disbelief they knew so little even though there was a survivor – and of her involvement.
“When they changed the search strategy, who decided to send word only to Cuttland?”
“I am not sure. It made sense. At that moment the evidence pointed to Cuttland.”
“And then you find new evidence that pointed to Ornulf’s Gap. That’s a lie and we both know it. You decided to invade the Gap and you have no evidence that ties the attack to anyone or anyplace. You didn’t have time to find new evidence. It takes that long to move troops from the west to the east of Suttland. You just got lucky. If I were you I would look very closely at whoever decided to send that second message only to Cuttland.”
It was clear what Dana was insinuating. The decision had been made by Reyna or Marcia, no one else had that power. But they had investigated each other and were cleared. Julia didn’t check herself because those two would never work together. But perhaps she had been wrong. And even if they weren’t working together they had only been cleared for Rufus. They hadn’t been anywhere near the villa. But they could still be responsible for the attack on Kara. One thousand soldiers did get near her redhead friend. Since Reyna wasn’t responsible for the area that only left Marcia. She would have to be working with someone from the outside, but it was not inconceivable. Julia couldn’t believe Marcia had fooled her. The older senator had seemed so honest in her desire to find those responsible.
“You know something. What is it?”
“Are you still interested in the truth or you just want to take control of the Gap?”
“Don’t be coy! This is not th
e time to play games with me. I have no desire to take over the Gap, but I do want to find the people responsible for killing my friend.” Julia was sure Dana was assessing if she was telling the truth. She was. It just wasn’t the whole truth.
“A few days ago the manor of a human count was burned down. Everyone inside died. I thought nothing of it, even though it did look like senators were responsible for it. At first, I just thought he crossed somebody local and there was no connection to Kara. He didn’t live in the Gap, but he was close enough. You don’t have any proof, you just got lucky!”
Julia didn’t bother denying it. “That’s not enough to connect him to Kara.”
“You know I’m more thorough than that. But if you had told me who you were really looking for I could’ve gotten to him in time before whoever was pulling his strings killed him to get rid of a loose end. The three hundred soldiers didn’t disappear suddenly from one place. I mean, they did, but not at once. I’ve become suspicious when I learned that this count had a larger turnover of soldiers than the rest of the barons. So I investigated and found that some of the soldiers who left simply disappeared. At first, I thought they were dead, that he was killing them. Then I observed that all the missing soldiers shared a trait. They had no living families. I thought I was dealing with a predator killing people who wouldn’t be missed. Now I’m thinking someone was building an army of humans who had nothing to lose.”
Dana had no definitive proof, but there was a lot of circumstantial evidence and it was a pretty good case. For the first time they had a lead and it was just so frustrating because they were too late. She understood why Dana was so suspicious of Western Suttland senators. By not sending the second message to Essland, someone gained the time he needed for covering his tracks. Marcia was still the most likely suspect. Something still bothered her though. Why would someone wait so long to get rid of the count? It was the first thing she would’ve done. Sure, it was possible this puppet-master still had use for this human and only acted when they got too close, which meant there might be other soldiers out there waiting to attack senators.