by L. J. Stock
The answer was taken out of my hands long before I could make it. A blunt knock at the door had both Damon and I jumping apart like a couple of teenagers getting caught going to second base. The fact that I was quickly approaching my late twenties was an irony that wasn't lost on me, though.
“Come in,” I shouted, making sure there was a respectable distance between Damon and I. In hindsight, I realized that this was not our natural position. People were used to seeing us holding hands or sitting close together, but it's not something you really think about when you're caught doing something most people thought you weren't supposed to do.
Rasmus entered the room quickly with his long, purposeful strides. He looked between us apologetically, but I could see the worry there.
“We have a problem.”
My mind immediately went to Grigori in the dungeons with his father, but Rasmus continued, oblivious to my internal babbling.
“Sentarka has a link to some of his guard. He must have sent out some kind of beacon because there are already latros on the north ridge of the crater. They're not attacking, but we can't be sure how long that will stand.”
“Dammit,” Damon snapped, the lust and hunger gone from his voice. He stood and made his way to one of the windows that I guessed must have faced north. “They weren't supposed to find us that quickly. So much for a couple months of peace. We should have killed Sentarka.”
“I'm not so sure,” Ras answered before I could even open my mouth. “Cass’s plan seems to be working. Grigori is acting like a bear with a sore head and refuses to talk to Sentarka.”
“What good does that do?” Damon bellowed, his eyes turning away from what I assumed were silhouettes against the midnight blue sky. “He's supposed to be gaining intel, not pissing the guy off further.”
This time I was the one who answered first. I knew what Grigori was doing, because I’d taken the time to get to know his background. I knew how much he'd hated his father his whole life. He’d not only ripped Grigori’s mother from him, but he’d also tried to kill his only connection to her, Shannon. Grigori may have used his connection with him to scare Harker, but other than that, he simply took orders from him.
“Grigori hates his father, Damon. If he acts companionable, it will give it up immediately. He may have been a prisoner, but that doesn't mean that their relationship was going to be a happy one once Sentarka was captured. He's playing it smart. You know he is.”
Damon turned his body away from the window. I might not have been up to par as a strategist war planner, but I knew about relationships and being captured. I knew how it would mess with the mind. I also knew that Grigori would draw from his experiences.
“Do we engage?” Rasmus asked. He looked exhausted but alert. I could only imagine the rest of the guard would be much the same after the fight they'd had in the last palace. I would hate to think of them going out there tired, but it seemed we were out of choices. They would need to be with the king’s army.
“We should reconvene with the king,” Damon responded. He moved to one of my dressers and opened a couple of drawers, pulling out another sword and a few daggers. “Cass, change into something more comfortable. It's going to be a long night.”
I did as he suggested, moving into the bath chamber as I pulled on jeans and a sweater. I had nowhere to put a broadsword, but I pulled on a belt that had been designed to hold several daggers in case it was needed. We hurried through the halls to the residence of my father, which I had forgotten was so close. He had a war council already in place in his large study, and barely blinked as we entered.
“They won't move if there's a risk of us killing him. From what the scout has said, they've set up camp but there are no motions to send in troops. Unless they're going to swim to the island, they have no choice but to wait, Your Majesty.”
We'd walked in in the middle of Alec's speech, but the gist of it was something I'd already considered. There was only one way on and off the island, it was a well-lit, stone bridge that stretched across the water and was heavily guarded on our part. I'd seen it when we'd translocated. It would have been suicide for them to attempt to get to us in any other way.
“Weaponry?” the king asked, shuffling papers on the desk in front of him. When no one answered, he looked up. “Well? What did the scout see?”
There was a murmur of voices among the men. I wasn't sure if they were nervous or felt incompetent at not having the answer.
“Your Highness, they have a trebuchet and a ballista.”
So it was nervous energy after all. I wasn't exactly sure what a trebuchet was, but from the grumbles through the room, I gathered it was not a good thing, and the word was it would destroy some of our walls.
“They're on the northern ridge. That's almost four miles away. They don't have the range,” one of the advisors shouted in outrage.
“Whether or not they're in range now is irrelevant, you pompous ass,” my father growled, his knuckles white where his body weight was balanced against the table. “They can move to a closer range with little effort and meet very little resistance. Not to mention the fact that the altitude will give them an advantage. Brush up on your physics, man.”
The nobleman flushed scarlet and withdrew into the crowd that was gathered around the table. My father very rarely admonished his courtiers and advisors, but he also wasn't known for his etiquette in war meetings. It was why he preferred me to stay away.
“Here's what we're going to do. We know that the veneficus do not negotiate, so the fact that we have one of the heirs to their throne means they're in a bind. Do you think they want to go to Thánatos and explain why his son is missing? We're going to triple the guard in the dungeon, but no one is to interfere with communication between Sentarka and Grigori unless they start talking escape. We need to give Grigori time to work, but they both need to be treated as prisoners.
“The princess is to have triple the guard at all times. Her lady will be in her room with her while she sleeps, as will Alexa. They will sleep on a shift-based system until this is taken care of. Damon,” the king said apologetically, “will have double the guard stationed inside his room. I want guards on all of the rooms in the third wing. Staff will be protected and armed, but only the heads will be given escape routes. We don't want the intel to be released and used in reverse. Infantry A will be stationed at the arc with three vis liberi to report back. Zander, you're to guard Acantha at all times. Shannon will stay in her room with her while she sleeps. The rest of the guard will alternate sleep and patrolling through the palace.”
“What about you?” I asked, stepping forward. “Your guard needs to be tripled also.”
“We don't have the resources.”
“Then double mine and double yours—a split detail to protect us both. You're more important than I am.”
“Cassandra...” He sighed, sounding exhausted.
“Begging your pardon, Your Majesty, but she's right. You will be a target if they decide to attack.”
“Fine, but I want two more vis liberi stationed to protect her. I will not have our hope diminished because she's too noble for her own good.”
If Damon and I got married right now, my detail would be quadrupled, but I wasn't going to suggest that in a room this full of war council personnel and Regius Custos. I could just imagine the looks I would receive with that suggestion. As it was, we weren't going to have privacy as long as the threat loomed over us.
“You have your orders. I want reports on the hour. Do not hesitate to disturb me should something more transpire. Alec, you'll be with me in my chambers.”
“Your Highness,” he said simply, bowing low. He didn't question my father’s requests, even though I could see he believed he would be of more use out in the field. This whole thing had turned out to be a disaster. They'd caught us off guard and now we were making hasty decisions in the heat of the moment. I understood we didn't have much choice, but at the same time they had us in a corner and I hated that it had
left us floundering.
I waited as the room cleared, lingering by the door as people filed out. All too soon the only people left were my father, Damon and me, and our guards of course.
“I'm sorry. I didn't know,” I finally said, stepping forward. “I didn't know he'd put out a beacon of where he was when I suggested keeping him alive.”
“Cass, that's not...” I stopped Damon, waving at him with my hand as I kept my eyes on my dad. I knew that wasn't how he'd intended it to sound when he'd spoken to Ras, but he was right. If Sentarka was dead, they would never have found us.
“Cass, there's no way of telling when he sent that beacon. It could have been when he hitched a ride with the vis liberi. At least for now we have leverage. I'm sure Thánatos has no qualms about losing his son, but while troops under Sentarka's reign don't know that, we have something to work with.”
He swept by me and dropped a kiss on my forehead as he passed. I closed my eyes and bowed my head in respect as the prior thought of marriage still banged around in my head. There were still too many people in the room to say this out loud, but it wasn't as though I had a choice now we had guards constantly surrounding us.
“Dad,” I said, knowing that appealing to him as his daughter may give me a little more room to work with. “I had an idea earlier, but I'm not certain you'd like it.”
He gave me a laconic smile. “At this point, we need all the ideas we can get.”
“If you married Damon and I, he and I would have too many guard for one unit...”
“No.” I recoiled as though I'd been slapped, and he amended his tone and continued. “Cass, the union between the two of you is something to be celebrated. It will give hope to everyone in our kingdom. We're not going to rush into this because we have some weight on our shoulders. Once we get rid of this contingent, we'll have space to push back the borders to stop this from happening again.”
His tone rang of finality, and I wasn't going to argue my point with him. He'd made his thoughts clear, and he was the king. I nodded and turned to leave the room, not uttering another word to him as my four guards and Alexa followed.
“Nice try, slick.” Ras chuckled, elbowing me lightly as he stepped to my side.
I shot him a look that had him biting back his laughter. Regardless of the situation he'd found Damon and I in earlier, that hadn't been what I'd been getting at. Even I knew that the king would be one of the main targets should the latros and veneficus get through the lines of defense we'd put in place. Even giving him some of my guard didn't feel like enough. It seemed redundant to spread our resources so thin when we could eliminate some of the men needed to guard us.
If there was any other thought in my mind, it was simply that we could all move on without the added stress of a wedding and trying to keep these parasites away from us. Sex hadn't been a motivating factor in the question. Yes, I wanted to marry Damon, and yes, I would love to close that last gap between us. The thought of a big wedding, surprisingly, excited me, but I was wondering if it was worth tempting fate a third time.
I knew Rasmus was teasing me, but after the day I'd had, I was neither in the mood nor could my pride take yet another hit.
“I'm going to bed,” I announced as I reached my door. I gave Damon a fleeting kiss and flung the heavy wood out of my way, marching into my chambers with fury wrapped around me. Alexa slid past the group with Melody, whom one of the other guards had seemingly retrieved from her room. She gave me a winning smile as I pushed the door closed behind me, locking out Damon, Rasmus and the other five guards pressed against the walls to protect me.
“I should have killed him,” I said to no one in particular. “This is stupid. We're all in danger because I thought we could get more information. I'm an idiot.”
“Oh, don't be so melodramatic.” Alexa laughed, wrapping her arms around me. “You did a smart thing. No one else could have thought that quickly on their feet in a fight with one of the highest ranking guards of the veneficus.”
“You're just trying to make me feel better,” I accused, staring down at the floor of my room scowling.
“Is it working?”
I laughed and shook my head, glancing up at her. It was obvious I was lying, and she jabbed my chin playfully with her index finger, her features lighting up at my elevated mood. Maybe this extra staff situation wouldn't be so bad after all. At least I was stuck with two people I got along with. There was no telling who they'd assigned to Damon.
I wandered toward the window and looked up and over the north ridge of the crater. There wasn't much to be seen with the four-mile distance, but silhouettes moved like a swarm of ants in the distance. The clear sky offered little in the way of visuals with the moon now hiding behind a cloud.
“How many do you think there are?”
Alexa joined me at the window, leaning against the stone on the opposite side. Her eyes roamed over the shadows, as mine had not a minute before.
“No telling, but they'd be stupid to attack, especially at night when they don't know the terrain. The infantry the king situated at the arc have been protecting the place since the building was started.”
“Really? Where'd you hear that?”
Alexa looked back at Melody who was grinning at the two of us. I shook my head in awe of the woman sitting in the chaise sewing happily. There was no male on staff she couldn't extract some truth or rumor from, and a little flirting was all it needed. She never had to go any further than that and she never did. She was an asset, especially when it came to being prepared for what was coming.
“Oh don't look at me like that.” She blushed. “I was in the kitchens making sure they got your breakfast right and he was delivering a message from the troop leader. We talked while we waited.” Her face turned a little graver than it had been only seconds before. “Anyway, it's too soon for anything like that.”
“I know it is.” I sighed. “Thanks for the breakfast thing, though.”
“It's what I'm here for. If you two want to get some sleep, I'm well rested and need to get this finished. I can take the first shift.”
I gave a nod and pulled out something to sleep in before disappearing into the bathroom. It was sad to think how much Melody had been forced to grow up in the time I'd known her. When we'd first met, she had been a young girl who’d giggled and blushed. As the time passed, it was obvious that the naïvety and childish nature had begun to be replaced with a matron like nature. She was too young for that kind of life, and I swore to myself that I wouldn't let her stay there.
As I crawled into my huge bed, I watched her sew for a while. She was lost in her own world of silk and taffeta, and I envied her that. Even my solitude had been taken from me in this mess. This was the only place I had, a world filled with brutal truths and harsh realities. Everything we did had consequences, and it was a lesson I was constantly learning the hard way.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Grigori didn't utter the code to be released from his cell even as the days passed us by and turned, inevitably, into weeks. He always stayed within the confines of his dingy hole, enduring his incarceration without a word of complain, all while dealing with the torture enforced questioning alongside his father. Neither man had said a word, and the guards weren't even sure they were communicating amongst themselves at all. There had been very little conversation between the two men. Of that I had been assured.
I had been banned from the dungeons since that first day, and every guard and soldier knew it. Damon had been concerned about how Grigori would handle his father throwing insults at me, when it was almost instinctual for him to protect me. I, of course, called him ridiculous even when I knew he was right, but that didn't mean he was going to change his mind, so I was forced to let him win that battle. Instead of dwelling on that defeat, I turned my focus to the latros on the ridge of the crater surrounding us.
Every day at the same time, they would release a war cry that filtered through the windows and every crevice of the palace to try to
rile us up. They still swarmed along the ridge like ants, their numbers stable and even on occasion growing. They still held their position, playing with us like a cat would play with a mouse, because they knew we wouldn't risk not reacting to their taunts. The day we didn't would give them an excuse to storm the palace.
Trying to kill time became impossible. If it hadn't been for Damon, I was certain I would have lost my mind slowly and painfully. Just knowing the enemy were watching and waiting was killing me. Their presence felt like they were trying to stop the inevitable. In fact, Acantha was certain they were trying to stop my wedding from proceeding. I wasn't sure I believed that, however. I was more inclined to think they were waiting for their leader to be released, that they somehow believed this pressure would force us to let him go, simply to get rid of him. They had to know we had Sentarka. How else would they have found us so quickly? He was the son of Thánatos and I could only imagine the tricks he was capable of.
“Cass, come away from the window,” my mother said gently. She had my infant nephew, Sebastian, in her arms, while Oliver played with a set of toy soldiers I'd brought back for him from the other dimension on the floor by her chair. “Watching them won't make them go away.”
“I feel better knowing they haven't moved when they let off their little siren.”
“They've been doing it for weeks and haven't moved.”
“Which is exactly why we can't afford to be complacent about it. They're testing us, waiting for us to not react even once so they can hit us with the element of surprise.”
“You're being paranoid.”
“No, Mom, she's being smart. The latros are conniving. This isn't a game to them or us. It’s not just some tit for tat. You seem to forget that many lives depend on this, including ours. They're there for a reason,” Steven said, looking exasperated.
Mom huffed out her contempt at being ganged up on and turned her attention back to Sebastian, her smile genuine as she cooed down at him. I, however, was beginning to get more restless by the hour, and Steven knew it. It was the reason he'd jumped in and backed me up. Over the duration of a week he'd seen our mom and me bicker more than he'd cared to. Him jumping to the defense of one of us meant nipping our disagreement in the bud before the situation escalated. He understood my frustrations. He also understood how hard it was for me to stay away from the dungeons and wait for reports from the guards and Damon.