“And Bellabel, Kyra, Quistainn?”
“They left shortly after your father. They wanted to chase after you the moment you were taken, but with great effort I convinced them not to. For you were taken aboard a mighty griffon, and would have long been sentenced to the fate I imagined before they arrived. Finally, when Dren Klauser arrived and Wolf Rein became dangerous for them, I could hold them here no longer, nor was it wise for me to do so. They now travel through Ironrise, planning to meet with Quistainn’s brother priests, convinced that they might know of some way to release you from the Black Tear, or from the Dominion.”
“They go searching for help from the Thrawn Priesthood?”
“Yes, when word reached us that you had been taken aboard the Dominion, I told them you were beyond my help. For if you had been taken aboard a normal Imperial runner, I might have been able to interfere with its course through some water elemental, arranged for some kind of rescue perhaps. But a steel mountain like the Dominion, I would have to bend Zaahl goddess of the sea herself to my will to stop such a vessel.”
“Damn it. Can you get a message to them, with one of your spirits? One of your elementals? Tell them I am free and here in Wolf Rein.”
“It would be a difficult task, not only because the spirit I bind would have to find them as they travel, but also because I am watched.” At my confused look, his voice turned low and he nudged me by the shoulder to follow him. His robe trailed behind him as he led me to his window. He parted the curtains just enough that I could spy down the stairs leading to his home. There was the glint of armor and spear in the moonlight. Armored guards. Three at least.
“Dren Klauser doesn’t trust you,” I said as we stepped away from the window.
“No. He keeps watch on me at all times. Even has a wizard of his own who comes here daily to inspect my spellwork and ensure I am not conjuring something against Dren’s rule.”
“Dren Klauser is earning me as an enemy, and lately my enemies have not been faring well.” My shoulders swelled with tension.
“Perhaps I should not tell you this next then, for Fenrir’s have a taste for wrath.”
“Tell me, Dorgramu. Lives are at stake.”
He sighed. “Of course. You must know. Dren Klauser has not only declared himself Jarl with royal approval, but he has also taken Siv’s hand in marriage.”
For a moment my wrath turned to utter confusion. “He’s… her uncle.”
“Yes, but he is a man who is driven only by a relentless, merciless ambition, which he presents as unflinching duty. Perhaps in his mind they are the same somehow. And so he has invoked the ancient custom of Levy Marriage, whereby a brother takes his widowed wife as his own to ensure her well being and his deceased brother’s continued legacy through his children. Of course, in Dren’s warped mind this means marrying Siv, for that will ensure that the lineage of Bardawulf’s house as Jarls will be unbroken and unquestioned.”
“That’s madness!”
“In truth, I cannot tell whether it is Dren Klauser’s lust for power, for Siv, or truly a twisted sense of family honor that propels him to such action.”
“Siv must be horrified. But I know her. She will never go through with such a thing.”
“It is not in Dren’s nature to gently plead. He will force her to this, Rothan, by whatever means necessary. He has already begun.”
My jaw rattled as a growl rippled through me. “Where is she?”
He keeps her locked in her chamber, atop the Unicorn Tower at Stone Mantle, where daughters and wives of Jarls have dwelled for centuries.”
My cloak rustled as I hurried back to the window. “Get a message to my companions if you can, that I am well, that I will find them. I will deal with Dren first. I care not if word spreads of my escape from the Imperials.”
“Rothan, be careful. The same warped thinking that makes Dren a deviant, also makes him cunning, also makes him dangerous.”
I turned to the wizard, one metal greave already on the window ledge. “I have slayed Orc warlords, demons, demigod vampires. What is a mortal man to me?” Fur burst through my pores, my skull contorting, my tissues swelling with the strength of Fenris. “It is he who should fear what is coming for him.”
Alternate Cover
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For now, the fires must dim, but they’ll burn once more, and we will pick up the tale again!
-Marco Frazetta
Copyright © 2019 by Marco Frazetta
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, events are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner.
Wolf Blade: Chains of the Vampire Page 28
