Gods of Shadow and Flame

by M. H. Johnson

  Jess flushed at that, hugging her prince back fiercely. When she gazed up at his tender expression again, she smiled. “No distracting me, beautiful man. Show me the picture.”

  And solemnly unrolling the painstakingly inscribed parchment, he did just that.

  Jess gasped and lurched.

  “Jessica! Are you all right?”

  Shaking, she nodded, forcing herself to take a closer look. She was not mistaken. It was the rendering of a body that had been spiked at wrists and ankles. A man who had been crucified. His cause of death was not immediately evident from the sketching, though his face was forever locked in a rictus of horror upon the parchment.

  Yet what chilled her to the bone were the symbols seared into his flesh. Symbols that according to the rendering, still glowed a luminous blue.

  Jess swallowed, ears ringing, heart lurching in her chest.

  “Jess?”

  She could understand what they were saying.

  “The serpents shall be slain. He who taints the garden shall be flung free of its shores, to know mercy nevermore.”

  Joshua gazed at her, blinking in surprise. “What did you say?”

  Jess flushed and repeated her words, this time in the tongue of Erovering. “It's what those symbols mean.”

  Joshua gave an approving nod. "I knew you were just the person to ask. We thought they were some kind of arcane sigil. Some dark curse. No classically trained wizard or healer that we trust can make heads or tails of these sigils. Yet Ulric and I are both well aware of your gifts at understanding the inexplicable, for all that the elementalist tradition does not harmonize well with your own talents." He offered a sympathetic smile. "So we were hoping that perhaps you could glean something from this."

  Jess shuddered and nodded. “I can.”

  Joshua gazed intently at her.

  “Whoever is at the heart of this is playing for keeps. This isn't just about Erovering politics anymore, Joshua. Powers are now in play.”

  Joshua gazed at her, speechless.

  “Let me ask you this, Joshua. Was this body hidden, or in plain sight?”

  His gaze turned hard. “I think you already know the answer, Jess.”

  She nodded, her smile turning grim. “His crucified body visible at first light before a building of major political import, I bet. An example for all those hiding in the shadows to see. A warning, a threat, a declaration of war.”

  Joshua grimaced and shook his head, cursing under his breath.

  Jess turned to him, heart racing, suddenly terrified she knew the source of the victim's horror.

  “Joshua? I have to ask. Were any children... any victims found? Alive? Terrified of something they had seen or heard?”

  Joshua tilted his head. "Tell me true, Jessica de Calenbry. What exactly do you know? I have heard a number of strange things of late. Dark wolves of flame and spirit draining the souls of men, whispers of slavers cut down by Delvers in Barlton, hushed stories of an inquisitor, one of the men thought to be one of these dark conspirators, being devoured body and soul upon the highroad just miles from the capital. What light can you shed on these occurrences? For this is not the first man crucified with sigils burned into his flesh, Jessica, though it is the first to start a wildfire of speculation before we managed to remove all traces of the act."

  Jess nodded. "And each of these... victims, are suspected diabolists, I bet."

  Joshua tilted his head. “What do you know, Jess?”

  Jess took a deep, thoughtful breath. "I think someone, somehow, scented down a dark ritual, and lashed out at the player or players he caught. Only when he or she could see before their gaze the true horror of the rituals performed, only then would he feel justified in doing what he did to those men."

  Joshua sighed. “Save for wounds to wrist and ankles, the sheer horror of being on that cross, they were hardly mutilated. To be honest, we don't know their cause of death.”

  “I do.” Soft words, little more than a whisper.

  “Jess?”

  "He ripped free their souls, like an avenging angel. Cast them straight into the Abyss."

  Joshua paled. “Jessica!”

  Sad eyes locked upon his own. “Those sigils are an angel's judgment, Joshua. An angel of retribution. Which is a horrible thing, since they are supposed to be about mercy. About reconciliation. Redemption. Not this. Never this.”

  Joshua's gaze locked upon her own. “Dearest Jess, I know how unfair it is for me even to ask, but how could you possibly know this?”

  Jess flushed and lowered her gaze. “I am sorry, Joshua. I honestly don't know. But once you showed me that picture, it just, well, it came to me in a flash.”

  Joshua gazed at her solemnly for some moments before slowly nodding his head. “Fair enough, my Jess. Ulric and I had hoped you could tell us something, far be it for me to question your insights when not a single mage or scholar we dared take into our confidence could make heads or tails of this rendering, for all that more than one shuddered and looked away.”

  “It's all about context, my queen.”

  Jess turned about, startled to hear her familiar's words. “Twilight!”

  Her cat gazed quietly up at her, paw having snapped down with blinding speed upon a venturous mouse tail... before letting it go to scamper amongst the flowers once more. “I wouldn't worry about it, my queen. What is done is done. And I have no doubt that if it was intended as a warning, it most definitely served its purpose. For all the major players within the capital seem to have fled, according to Joshua's report.”

  Joshua did not look happy. "So now we have rogue Powers, divine or infernal, acting out their own macabre brand of justice within my capital. The rats have fled, and they may or may not be alive and well, with every intention of returning, now that the witnesses are dead, once they feel the worst has passed."

  Jess swallowed. Chilled. "The lieutenants were executed?"

  Joshua shook his head. "No, Jess. I did not execute them. I had, after all, given my word. One was to be given a purse of silver, the other allowed to flee with the clothes on his back. Both to suffer no injury save the burden of exile, once we were done questioning them, once they had borne witness in formal trial. And the other two I would have left to the courts. But the shadowy players we suspect of pulling so many strings appear to have fled. Those we haven't found crucified, at any rate. And our witnesses? Poisoned. We found them, twisted and broken, as if their muscles had torn free of their very bones. They had blackened tongues, hands around their own throats. Whoever had killed them had not been kind."

  Jess closed her eyes and cursed. “So we still have enemies in play. Even if the most prominent ones have retreated, and with enough diabolical sense to disguise the murder as a poisoning, even to suggest it was a botched interrogation, to point their fingers at me.”

  Joshua flashed a bleak smile. “My brother and I both called for the healers at once, to see what they could infer about the poisons used, to assure that it was not the herbs you had used to interrogate them. And as we had known would be the case, it was an entirely different concoction. No doubt haste was chosen over elegance, our enemies not having the luxury to scheme and conspire as much as they normally would, perhaps. That our enemies have learned so much so quickly, not only the role our witnesses were to play in providing testimony, but where they were being held and how best to strike at them, troubles me greatly. It suggests that we may still have rats here at the academy and most likely in the royal palace as well.”

  Jess turned to Joshua, intent expression fixed firmly in place, refusing to melt even as he bent down, caressing her soft lips with his own. “Joshua!”

  “I couldn't resist,” he teased. “Your brow is furrowed with such deliberation. Utterly adorable.”

  Jess squeezed his hand. "More important than my comfort, or my safety, is that we help make sure that every member of your palace staff is safe. And to think of all the bureaucrats who wind and weave within your palace. Honestly, if I
could, I would want to speak to them all." She gave a rueful little chuckle. "And yet, I know how dangerous the capital can be. I also know that for all intents and purposes I have been exiled to my garden, and Mother is horrified of Apple going to the capital in any case." She gazed affectionately into Joshua's eyes. "And I accept that. If my acquiescing gently to royal desires means that I can see you when time permits, then I am more than happy to surrender myself to the will of the Crown."

  Joshua smiled. “Yes.”

  Jess blinked. “Yes?”

  He nodded. "My brother and I would love for you to attend us at the palace. Nothing would please me more than for you to make use of your exceptional talents in helping us to smell out any rats in our den, and assure the loyalty and safety of our men."

  Jess blinked, heart racing with dread and excitement in equal measure, even as Joshua smiled. “Your sentence has been commuted. For all that we love the garden and would wish it to stand strong and hale, assuming you do not fear its death to winter with your absence, we would love for you to spend the rest of the season by our side."

  Gentle fingertips brushed across her trembling cheeks.

  “Come back to the capital with me, Jessica de Calenbry. I think it's time the world knew what you meant to me.”

  “But I thought... Ulric...”

  "Ulric is grateful to you beyond words. You have helped him find true love, after all, and for all that I fear that he is affected by a fey sort of... impulse... earlier aggression has transformed to a far purer passion. He used to dabble with lute and horn. Not a bad musician, to the extent he could pursue his hobby in peaceful moments, but now? A virtuoso. His music touches the soul. More than one bard said it was almost a pity he would be king, for they were losing the best they had heard in a generation."

  Jess nodded in satisfaction. “Good. I'm glad he found his inspiration. His solace. The awakening of his gift.”

  “So...what do you say, Jess? We must arrange things with your family, with the college here, of course, but when it is time for me to return, will you come with me?”

  Her laughter a mixture of relief and desire, Jess squeezing him tight, holding him close. "Yes, my prince. That which I once feared so terribly, I now hunger for. Let another generation of adventurers grace the sagas with their tales. I, dearest Joshua, would love nothing more than to spend the rest of my days with you by my side."

  Squeezing his hand, feeling as if she were floating on clouds of happiness, Jess led her prince to her family suite, where she knew her mother and sister would greet Joshua with open arms.

  50

  "Oh Jessie, this is so wonderful! I just know Joshua is speaking to Mother about a formal consortship, and you and Joshua look so beautiful together!"

  Jess flushed and smiled, but didn't deny it. As much as the idea of not being able to marry her one true love had once troubled her to no end, she understood all too well that with Erovering's future aspirations, Joshua was too valuable a piece to be taken completely off the board. If the price of their being together was the understanding that Joshua would ever be available for a future marriage alliance, it was a price she was determined to accept.

  It would allow her to be with the man who had touched her heart, whose smile set her soul at ease. Nothing was promised, not even the next breath. Best she hold on to happiness while she could. And if it was not sealed with the sanctity of marriage, consortship was accepted in all circles of power, and would allow her and Joshua to be together. And really, what right did she have to tempt cruel fate and ask for more than that?

  Even her beautiful sister, with her exquisite features, gentle smile, brilliant gaze and tender heart had been born under potentially calamitous circumstances. But her family had bravely, lovingly, cast aside the bitter and kept only the sweet, and were rewarded with one of the most wonderful people Jess had ever known. It did not matter that the king had had his way with their mother. What was done was done. Agda had given birth to a beautiful little angel whom they had loved and accepted with all their heart, and they were all the more blessed for her arrival.

  What could have turned into the most grievous of tragedies and wounds, and led to eternal bitterness, the destruction of their House, even insurrection, had instead been forgiven, seen as the blessing that it was, and their family had prospered as a result, beyond what any of them had a right to hope or expect.

  “I am grateful to have him in my life, Apple, however I can.”

  Apple's eyes widened into a grin. “Jess!”

  "Well, it's true," she confided. "It's well and good for a girl to dream of some things, but you and I have both seen how cruel and wicked life can be. Happiness is best held on to, however one can find it."

  Apple gave her sister a fierce hug. “I'm so happy for you, Jess! Consort, wife, or beloved, it matters not the name, but the feelings behind it.” She laughed softly, gaze far off and sad. “I can only hope that I can find that same joy, one day.”

  Jess gently kissed her sister's cheek, still finding it strange to see that they were of identical height, appearing more like twins than older and younger sisters, so much time had Jess lost, trapped in Delver's dreams that had lasted seasons after every expedition into the deepest bowels of Shadow. So much precious time lost. Yet perhaps now, free of hungers that had once compelled her, she could learn to savor each day beside the man who loved her.

  “So what did the dean say?”

  Jess grinned. “He gave Joshua and I his warmest blessing in his own way, commending him for bringing a full score of loyal soldiers answerable only to Captain Alben, with express orders to protect my family from all threats including foul rumors, saying that Joshua had a prize well worth protecting.”

  Apple laughed throatily at that, even as Jess gently clasped her sister's hand, gazing at her intently. “Apple?”

  “Yes Jess?”

  “I wanted to prepare you. Don't be alarmed, but I think Joshua wants us to return to the capital with him.”

  Apple blinked, looking suddenly nervous. “But um, Jess, doesn't the garden need you here?”

  Jess smiled and shook her head. “No, Apple. The connection I have to this garden, the connection this garden has to a very sacred tree, is such that I suspect it will always be an oasis of tranquility and bounty, even if, years from now, it hides itself from the awareness of man, such that only those most worthy, or in dire need, would be able to find this place.”

  Apple shook her head. “Druid indeed.”

  Jess grinned at that. “Just a knack with plants, Apple. Now enough on my garden. I remember how keen you were, once upon a time, to visit the capital. To go shopping for the finest clothes, to audit the finest schools in the kingdom, to see it in all its wonder and splendor and perhaps meet the man of your dreams.”

  Apple sighed and nodded. "Yes, true enough, I suppose. Though that was before I found out, well..." She trembled, Jess holding her close.

  "I think Franken fed us both a lot of venom and bile," Jess soothed. "Best we spit it out, and not let his poison taint our view, the happiness we could have there."

  Apple gazed intently at Jess. “But what if what he said was true? What if Joshua's mother, well, what if she wants me... gone?”

  Jessica's eyes flashed. “That won't happen, Apple. I won't allow it.”

  Apple gave a sad shake of her head. “That's what I mean, Jess. There is only so much you can do now, and even if you still had Malek's unnatural power, what can you do that won't cause far more harm than good?”

  “We could always overthrow the Truehearts and take the throne for ourselves. And just to show that there are no hard feelings, you could condescend to let Joshua be your consort.”

  “You are not helping, Twilight.”

  Her cat just grinned, happily feasting upon a bowl of freshly prepared whitefish, lightly seasoned, just the way he liked it.

  Jess turned to her still worried looking sister. "Worst case scenario. If the queen gives the slightest inkling of...
unhappiness, Joshua will send you and mother back to the garden with a full score of men, men he trusts implicitly. Then the college will be guarded by forty of his best, and I shall come as well, taking steps to assure that no one who has not already been granted welcome can enter this garden."

  Her gaze had turned hard and cold and Apple shivered, before Jess lightened the mood with a smile once more. "Besides, Apple, if things go the way I hope they will, you will be, for all intents and purposes, a sister by consortship, and all can respect that. Then you can finally be treated with the care you deserve, with no one feeling slighted, no one losing face."

  Her sister flashed a weak smile. “I do hope you are right, Jess.” Her look turned sly. “Mother and Joshua are taking an awful long time. I wonder if he already had formal papers drafted for Mother's perusal? I do think he is serious about you.”

  Jess felt her cheeks flush even as she grinned. "That reminds me, I have to go change."

  Her sister lifted a brow “Whatever for? Except for some mussing I can touch up in a minute, your makeup and dress still look gorgeous.”

  “No worries there, sister. It is the art of war, not enticement that Joshua and I shall be practicing this afternoon.”

  Apple frowned. "Seriously, Jess? You mean even after winning his heart, you still aim to best him with your blade?"

  Jess shrugged. "Only if I can. Perhaps it will be best out of three."

  Void and thrust, strike and counter. They danced about the training grounds, the field entire their plaything as they both laughed with the sheer joy of their contest. Joshua's two-handed longsword style against Jess's own odd merging of sword and buckler, combining Eloquin's lessons with half-remembered styles from antiquity, glimmerings of ancient dreams that nonetheless served her surprisingly well when she let her body react instinctively, naturally, foiling Joshua's lightning fast blows with expertly timed counters at unexpected angles, trapping his blade in ways he did not expect, then following through with powerful lunge or snapping strike.