Aegyir Rises (Guardians of The Realm Book 1)

by Amanda Fleet

  What had happened to Aegyir? Had someone stopped him? Or was he still out there, ripping the energy out of people and then walking around as some kind of evil doppelgänger?

  I massaged my temples and turned to the next section of the book.

  The Realm

  Many Outside were dead or dying and they could not stop what was happening. There were too few people Outside to tend to the farms. Harvests remained ungathered; animals were not fed. Men starved. Those that remained, feared that they would be annihilated. The people blamed a plague for the deaths but even if they had known it was the Guides, they could have done nothing. No one Outside was strong enough to take the vitality from the Guides and force them to become wraiths again.

  Within The Realm, the Scouts brought news of the deaths. The Council was convened to determine if the Guardians should intervene. The Guardians were strong enough to free the vitality from the rogue Guides and trap them, but to do so was not without risk. There was debate, long into the night. The Realm and Outside had been separate for many years. Only the Scouts entered Outside. No one from Outside could enter The Realm. The Guides could not cross into The Realm and the lives of those inside The Realm were not in danger. Some on the Council believed it was The Realm’s duty to help those Outside who were too weak to help themselves. However, many on the Council followed the stance of the First Lord, Eredan, and believed that The Realm should remain separate from Outside; that the affairs of men were of no importance to The Realm. The Seers warned of war within The Realm and urged caution.

  I broke off, fuming. Thousands of people were dying and these guys in The Realm, wherever that was, didn’t want to get involved. Sure, there was some risk to them, but their moral duty was to help, wasn’t it? My mind ran over the various wars raging across the world, and realised that maybe it was our moral duty in the here and now to help, but that little was done.

  Was Outside the Earth? The Black Death that had swept across Europe in the middle of the fourteenth century had killed millions. There’d also been Spanish flu after the First World War. I remembered that there’d been major changes to the social structure in England after the loss of so many people. During the Black Death, there hadn’t been enough people to bring in the harvest or tend to animals and so as well as the deaths from the plague, there had been starvation. Was this book describing what had happened almost seven hundred years ago? Or the problems after the war?

  I shook myself. The Black Death was caused by a bacterium wasn’t it? Or a virus or something. Flu was a virus. It wasn’t caused by some supernatural beings going rogue and ripping the life out of people. Even if it did relate to the middle of the fourteenth century or the beginning of the twentieth, it was merely a story, made up to explain why lots of people died.

  I studied the picture again. It was the man who had sent me to be hanged in my nightmare – First Lord Eredan. He seemed a thoroughly horrible piece of work all round. He wasn’t prepared to help defeat the rogue Guides who were decimating the population and had hit me and wanted me hanged in my dreams. Reading over this section again raised more questions than it answered – what or where was The Realm? What were Scouts and Seers and Guardians? Who was the Council? Why did only Scouts go Outside and why could no one from Outside go to the Realm?

  My eyes were squiffy from focusing on the strange letters in the book and my head pounded. Maybe I should call it a day and do some more tomorrow. My gaze danced over the pictures of me and my ‘husband’, piquing my curiosity. What was their role in all this? Perhaps if I knew that, it would explain why First Lord Eredan wanted me to be hanged. Because clearly, my dreams were related to the place in the book.

  I stretched my back, flexed my shoulders and read the next few lines, my heart racing.

  One Seer saw the war more clearly. Lilja was a minor Seer of the family Keriell but she said that she could see the coming war.

  I stopped, my mouth suddenly like the Sahara. Lilja. In my dreams there was someone called Lilja. We’d talked about her forthcoming marriage. She was the one warning me of blue for danger. I read on.

  Lilja said that she could see Aegyir in The Realm. The Council was reconvened. No one knew if Aegyir would be able to force his way into The Realm if he gained enough strength. The Elders had always told us that only those from The Realm could cross. Anyone from Outside had to be invited in, before they were able to cross the portal. But who from The Realm would invite in Aegyir?

  The Council was split. Some believed that Aegyir would be able to cross if he gained enough vitality. Others thought that The Realm would remain impregnable. As time in The Realm passed and the arguments flowed from one side to the other, many died Outside.

  Aeron, wife of Faran, was distressed at the rising death toll Outside and the threat to The Realm. She petitioned her husband to speak to the Council and urge them to help the Outsiders to defeat Aegyir and the other rogue Guides. Faran spoke passionately to the Council about the plight of those Outside. He also warned that if Aegyir and the other Guides became strong enough to force their way into The Realm, they might be too strong to be defeated by the Guardians, and that Realm lives could be lost. The Council was split and voted. The majority of the Council chose not to intervene in the affairs of Outside.

  Aeron – me. Faran – my husband in The Realm, and also for years in my dreams. I fingered the pictures of them. I’d heard the names before, in my dreams, but I’d also heard the name Aeron being whispered somewhere else. I wracked my brain, trying to place where, then I remembered. When I’d been out running with Finn, by the beech hedges. “Aeron, you must return.”

  I closed the book abruptly. My headache had settled in for the morning and none of this made any sense. Here were people from my dreams, appearing in what read like historical tales, but my dreams weren’t memories. I hadn’t lived this.

  I hesitated, a thought clanging loudly. Perhaps I had lived this. Didn’t some people claim they could remember past lives? Perhaps I dreamed of mine.

  I shook my head. I was always about the same age in my dreams as I was now in reality and had been throughout all my dreams, even when I was a child. Maybe I just didn’t remember any other parts of that life.

  I gave up. Reading the book gave me an unholy headache and didn’t solve any of my questions. I needed to clear my head before meeting Lena. I packed everything away and rinsed out my mug and bowl.

  Finn was right. I should see my GP; go back to counselling. Concentrate on the interview.

  Leave all of this alone.

  Except I knew I wouldn’t.

  ***

  Just after eleven, Lena banged on the door and tried to walk in, just as she always did. The door jammed on the chain. I hurried through to open it.

  “Sorry. After yesterday…”

  She swept me into a hug. “Polly told me! God, are you okay?”

  “I’m fine.” I extricated myself. “Finn and I were at work when it happened. Mike called the police. Polly was out.”

  I closed the door behind her and debated putting the chain back on. In the end, I just dropped the snib on the Yale lock.

  “Polly said Mike hadn’t seen who it was.” She shot me a look. “Useless twat!”

  I laughed.

  Lena was wearing a long, sage-green skirt and knee-high lace-up brown leather boots. Bangles clanked at her wrists and a multitude of long necklaces hung around her neck, cascading over a frilled shirt. She’d put her white-blonde hair up in a messy bun but strands made their bids for freedom from every angle. I smiled to myself. Her personal style was a world away from the dark skirt-suits and crisp shirts she wore for her job as an accountant.

  She and her partner Ösk had moved into the first cottage in our row of three a few months ago. Ösk had joined the gym and knew Finn pretty well.

  “Kettle’s just boiled. Want a coffee?” I ushered her down the hall to the kitchen.

  She grinned. “Go on then. You on your own?”

  “Mm. Finn’s at work
. He’ll be back soon.”

  An odd expression flitted across her face. I was never entirely sure how Lena felt about Finn. Sometimes I got a vibe from her that she fancied him; other times I wondered if she disapproved of him for some reason.

  She followed me to the kitchen and sat at the table while I started to make coffees.

  “So, what are you planning on wearing tomorrow?” she asked.

  Had we been closer in size, I’d have been tempted to ask if I could borrow something, but Lena stood a good six inches shorter than me and was at least a size skinnier. There was barely a scrap of fat on her, but then, there was barely any muscle, either.

  “Some black trousers I have and a white shirt, and a jacket I got from Oxfam.” I didn’t own many professional clothes and couldn’t afford to buy any new ones.

  She wrinkled her nose. Lena most certainly didn’t buy her clothes from Oxfam. “What’s the jacket like?”

  “Kind of a soft grey. It’s nice!”

  “Okay. Go put it all on. I’ll finish the coffees.”

  Two minutes later, I was back in the kitchen and Lena was scrutinising my outfit.

  “I don’t like the white shirt. The trousers are good and you’re right, the jacket’s lovely. Good find! But the top… I can lend you a shirt that would be perfect.”

  “It wouldn’t fit me. The sleeves would barely make it past my elbows! Ösk’s shirts would fit me better!”

  “True. Never mind then. It’ll be fine. I’ll lend you some bling though.” She caught my expression. “Work bling. Not stuff like this.” She jangled her necklaces, then paused, fidgety. I waited. “Who was it outside, the other night? Polly said that there was someone staring into your cottage. Was it Stephen?”

  I sat down at the table, opposite her. “Mm. I called Helen and his dad came and took him away. He was drunk. Stephen, not his dad.”

  “And Finn was okay about it?”

  I snorted. “Finn was Finn. He was mad as a hornet’s nest but saw enough sense to wait for John to come and take Stephen away.”

  “Do you ever get worried that Finn will totally lose it and end up in trouble?”

  I laughed. “Every day.”

  Lena bit her lips together, her gaze flitting over the mugs on the table. Eventually, she took a deep breath. “Ösk said he saw Finn squaring up to someone on Thursday night. Was that your brother too?”

  “Stephen’s not my brother. He’s the son of the man my adopted mother married. I don’t even know if there’s an actual term for that. But yes, he and Finn had words on Thursday. Why?”

  She scratched her ear. “I don’t know how to say this.”

  I eyed her, wondering what this was all about. “Just say it.”

  She took a long breath before answering. “You don’t ever worry that Finn will hit you, do you?”

  I burst out laughing. “Christ, no! The last person on this earth to hit me would be Finn. Where’s this coming from? Polly?”

  Lena tipped her head in acknowledgement. “Mm.”

  “Well, Polly should know better! She lived next door when Stephen almost killed me. No, Finn’s never the one I have to worry about.”

  I tried to blank the image of the door smashed to smithereens only yesterday.

  “Okay. It’s just with Finn’s reputation—”

  “His reputation? What reputation?”

  She shuffled in her seat, her fingernail picking at a scratch in the table’s surface. “I’m not sure you’d want to meet him in a dark alleyway.”

  My temper made my skin prickle. She may only have known us for a few months, but she surely didn’t think that of him. “Finn? Trust me, you’d be safer than houses with Finn in a dark alleyway. Is this what Polly’s been saying?”

  “Mm.”

  That figured. I breathed steadily, trying not to snap at her. “Lena, you know me and Finn better than Polly and Mike do, even though they’ve been our neighbours for years. Neither of them can see past the tattoos and the motorbike. Yeah, Finn has a temper, but it would never be directed against me. Or any other woman. His dad, or Stephen… well, that might be a different matter, but only because they’ve hurt people he loves, not because Finn’s any kind of thug!”

  Her posture softened. “That’s what I hoped, but Polly was pretty certain he wasn’t such a nice guy. And he’s chunky… If he lost it…”

  “You think I’d stay with a guy for seven years if I thought even for a moment he’d hit me?”

  As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I thought of Alison Cullen who’d stayed with a man who hit her for well over twenty-five years now.

  Before Lena could answer, the front door banged and the man in question arrived home.

  “Hi, Lena. How are you?” He tossed his kit-bag into the corner of the kitchen and leaned over to kiss the top of my head.

  “Fine thanks. How are you?”

  She blushed. Guilt at having just accused him of potentially hitting me? Or did she fancy him?

  “Oh, I’m grand thanks. We’re going to the Farmers’ Market this afternoon. You and Ösk coming?”

  “Maybe.”

  “Is that your outfit?” Finn nodded at me.

  “Mm. Lena’s not sure about the shirt. She offered me one of hers but I don’t think it would fit.”

  “What don’t you like? The fact it’s all black and white and grey? No, I’m not sure about that either. I think your green one would be better. Bring out the colour of your eyes.” He touched the side of the kettle and flicked it back on.

  “Since when have you been a fashion guru?” I said.

  “Since about a minute ago.” He grinned at me, getting a mug out and spooning coffee into it.

  “Actually, I agree with him,” said Lena. “Green’s good on you. And you need a splash of colour.”

  I held my hands up. “Fine. Stop ganging up on me. I’ll wear the green top!”

  Lena stood, squeezing out from behind the table and shimmying past Finn. “I should go. Good to see you both. Maybe see you at the market?”

  Finn showed her out while I scooted upstairs to change out of my interview outfit and hang it up. I put a bottle-green green top with it and stood back to look at it at it. Yeah, they were right about it needing a splash of colour.

  Finn joined me in the bedroom to change out of his work clothes and into jeans and a t-shirt. I debated telling him about what Polly had been saying to Lena, but decided against it. Finn would be hurt that she’d even considered it.

  “No sign of Stephen?” Finn pulled a dark sweatshirt on over his t-shirt.

  “No sign.”

  “Good.”

  I hoped we wouldn’t come across Stephen at the market. I needed a normal, stress-free day for once.

  ***

  The Farmers’ Market was held once a month in the centre of town and Finn and I strolled down to it after lunch. There were usually about twenty stalls, with offerings from a local micro-brewery alongside a number of food producers selling meats, jams, bread and cakes, and cheese. Down one aisle, away from the generators, were stalls selling hand-made crafts – pyrography, turned wood bowls, and leather work. I wasn’t entirely sure if any of the stall-holders were actually farmers, but there was always something to look at and usually small samples of the food to nibble on.

  Rick was waiting where we’d arranged to meet him and the three of us pottered around the stalls, happily trying out small cubes of cheese, pieces of bread, slices of sausage on cocktail sticks, and bits of cake. Finn and Rick were impressed with the micro-brewery’s offerings but both of them were far too distinctive to be able to get more than one free sample, however many times they walked past.

  Just before three, I caught sight of Alison across the other side of the market square and leaned against Finn to get his attention. He waved to his mum and the three of us moved towards her. Finn dragged his feet.

  “Um. Would you mind if I had coffee with Mum on my own?”

  Presumably, he needed to talk to h
er about me. Or about us. Neither option made me all that happy but I nodded.

  “Sure. I was going to ask her about what I’m wearing tomorrow, but Lena saw it and anyway, Rick can give me his ideas.”

  “Me? What do I know about women’s clothes?” said Rick, surprised.

  “As much as I do,” said Finn, peeling away from me. “Catch you in about an hour?”

  Once he was out of earshot, I glanced across at Rick. “What’s that about? Finn trying to get ideas for my birthday?”

  “Maybe.”

  I hoped it was all it was, but after Finn saying he was worried about me this morning, maybe it wasn’t.

  “Did you want to grab a coffee?” I said.

  “What, at the next table, so you can listen in?”

  I laughed. “No. Different place. We’ve been round all the stalls and if we leave it a while, the brewery might forget that you’ve already had a sample of each of their beers.”

  As we made our way towards a small cafe at the corner of the square, I felt there were more people than normal gawping at me. That said, people did stare at me quite a lot. Several heads swivelled to me as I passed, their expressions making me shiver. I strode into the cafe with relief, only to realise that the sole free table was next to the window. As we sat down, I noted that four or five people in the square marched purposefully towards the cafe, glared in at me and continued past. None of them stood out as the kind of person to have a beef about me – just a middle-aged couple, one woman with a toddler in tow, and a man about my age. But all of them walked straight towards the cafe, staring at me through the window all the way, then veered off when they were about two metres from the glass.