War (Guardians of The Realm Book 3)

by Amanda Fleet

  I thanked Olf again and checked whether the healer still needed our assistance. She didn’t, so Lady Morgan and I returned to the other barn. The demons growled and snapped at us from their cuffs. The point of Faran’s sword rested against the throat of one of them, and he had a dagger in his other hand.

  “Faran. A word, please. Outside.”

  Faran followed me, his face flushed. We walked a short distance until we were out of earshot of the barn.

  “My lady—”

  I held my hand up. “Lord Cerewen and Lady Morgan – I can understand them not doing as they were told. You? You of all people? You wouldn’t even breathe if you were told it was suddenly forbidden.”

  He stood tall, his back rigid. “I wasn’t thinking straight. After yesterday… I thought I’d lose you. I’d forgotten you were wearing the talisman. I thought Aegyir would kill you if you tried to capture him.”

  “Did all your training leave you? You left the barn before you and Morgan had the other demon secured.”

  He dipped his head, miserable. “I know…”

  I jammed my fists on my hips. “You stopped me from capturing Aegyir, you risked Lady Morgan’s life and we could have lost one, if not both, of the demons we’d captured. But more than that, I needed to capture Aegyir – to avenge that little boy’s death, avenge Finn’s death.” I stopped, breathing hard, trying to put a lid back on my temper. “But more than all the reasons why I wanted him caught, if we had him, we would protect The Realm. We could destroy him forever and get him out of my head and then maybe people would stop seeing me as such a traitor, and you could become Elected Successor again.”

  I ground to a halt for a moment, but I wasn’t really done. “You’re the best warrior The Realm has, and you acted like Mallan! Christ, Faran, I can barely remember my training, but even I know that rule one is secure the fucking enemy!”

  Faran said nothing, letting my words hit him like blows.

  I closed my eyes for a moment, calming myself. “Perhaps I should ask Lord Sondan not to pair you with me again.”

  He stared at me for a moment, his shoulders slumped, then nodded. “I’m sorry.”

  I folded my arms and stared at his boots. “Yeah, I know you are.”

  “I know you need to report me.”

  I closed my eyes with a slight shake of my head. “We’ll see. In all honesty, I’m not sure I could have apprehended Aegyir on my own, even if I could outrun him. But next time I yell at you, do as you’re told.”

  He smiled ruefully and scrubbed a hand through his hair. “Your temper can be short, but I’ve never seen it blow quite so spectacularly.”

  “Come on. Let’s get these demons back to the city.” I hauled in a deep breath and tapped my new communications button. “Lord Sondan.”

  “Lady Aeron.”

  “We have two demons. They still have physical form. We saw Aegyir but weren’t able to capture him. Um.” My voice faltered, and I paused. “He killed Lord Cerewen. I need transport back to the city if you want me to bring both demons and Lord Cerewen’s body back.”

  “Cerewen’s dead?” There was a long silence on the other end of the line. “Any other injuries?”

  “In the Guardians? Not really. Some scrapes and bruises. Several dead in the village, including the village leader. The new village leader, Olf, swears fealty.”

  “Good. I’ll send transport. Come back to the Torsk gate. The demons will need to go to a containment facility with the technicians.”

  More experimentation. Though perhaps it would result in the technicians finding a way to destroy the demons. “Understood.”

  “Any problems during the mission? Insubordination?”

  Faran caught my eye, and I shook my head. “No, Lord Sondan. No problems.”

  I closed the line.

  “Lady Morgan will tell everyone what actually happened.” Faran tilted his head towards me.

  “She’s not writing the official report. We’re taking two demons back, which takes your tally to four so far – more than anyone else apart from me. And at risk of sounding really callous, you’ve also lost a rival.”

  Faran’s eyes widened, and he looked as if he’d just been slapped. “Aeron, that is callous.”

  I shrugged. “Lord Cerewen swung a sword at my head, trying to decapitate me. I’m not going to pretend I liked the guy… But okay, I accept it’s pretty callous of me.” We reached the barn. “Right. Options for how we’re transporting these bastards back to the city?”

  In the end, we lashed them together, back to back, and tied their ankles. It meant that Faran had to lift them bodily on to the cart when it arrived, but they weren’t going to go anywhere. Technicians would meet us at the Torsk gate to transport them to the labs. Faran lifted Lord Cerewen’s body on to the cart and swung up to sit beside me. I glanced across to Lady Morgan. She stared at Lord Cerewen’s body, her eyes shiny.

  “Unless anyone has anything important to say, can we maintain a respectful silence please?” I said.

  In truth, I had little respect for Lord Cerewen, I just wanted some peace and quiet, but both Faran and Lady Morgan nodded. Partway home, Faran slipped his hand into mine and squeezed my fingers gently. I leaned some of my weight against him, making Lady Morgan scowl.

  We’d been so close… Could I have taken Aegyir on my own? Probably not, but I’d have had a damn good go. Would we get another chance? I hoped so. If I destroyed Aegyir, would it assuage my guilt for all the people who had died?

  No.

  ***

  At the Torsk gate, the technicians took the demons away in what looked like a glass box, and an undertaker came to fetch Lord Cerewen’s body. Lady Morgan strode off, leaving me and Faran to head back to our rooms on our own. The rain that had threatened all day now drummed on the glass above us.

  “I could almost feel sorry for Morgan,” I said as we walked through the corridors. “She keeps trying to inveigle her way into becoming the wife of the next Elected Successor. Then, first of all, their wife reappears unexpectedly, and then the next one dies. Who’s next on her list? Lord Sondan?”

  “She’ll try. But I know who he’s actually bedding.”

  “Who?” My attention had been too taken up by other things to check out all the women on the Council yet.

  Faran turned to me, eyes alight. “You don’t know her. In fact, you don’t know either of them.”

  “Either of them! Oh, come on, tell me?”

  He smiled but declined to spill the beans. “Neither of them is suitable for him as a wife. One’s already married.”

  I caught my breath. Despite marriages being arranged rather than because the couple loved each other, infidelity really was frowned on here. As indeed was sex outside of marriage.

  “Do I know the husband?”

  We’d reached our rooms, and Faran turned as he opened the door. “Yes. Which is why I can’t tell you any more. Come. You need to write your report.”

  “Tell me who it is and I won’t write about your insubordination,” I said, jokingly.

  He pushed the door shut behind us and shrugged his jacket off. “I can’t tell you. Is there another way I can persuade you not to include my insubordination?” Mischief glinted in his eyes.

  I laughed. “Yeah. Do as you’re bloody told! I need to get this report done.”

  Faran caught my fingers, twining them in his. “Has your temper cooled?”

  “Mm. But it may flare again, writing the report,” I warned.

  He tugged me towards him. “Train with me afterwards? I’d rather you hit me when I’m wearing protection.”

  “Sure. But don’t forget I nearly died yesterday. Go easy on me.”

  I sat at the desk in the public room of our suite and wrote a summary of what had happened that wasn’t entirely inaccurate, but which glossed over why I’d not managed to chase Aegyir down. In the end, I kept it sparse. Faran read it over my shoulder, while his fingers worked on knots of tension in my neck.

  “That
’s not strictly true, my lady.”

  “Aegyir attacked and killed Lord Cerewen while shape-shifted to resemble the village leader. He fled the barn. Lady Aeron took chase but was unable to apprehend Aegyir. Lady Morgan and Faran secured the second demon in the barn. Which bit isn’t true?”

  “Why aren’t you reporting me?”

  I signed the bottom of the page. “You know why. There’s no point jeopardising your potential return to being Elected Successor by putting your screw-up in an official report.”

  “Had it been Lord Cerewen, you’d have reported him.”

  I blotted the ink. “Yeah, but at risk of speaking ill of the dead, he’d have made a terrible Elected Successor, and my life wouldn’t have been safe if he’d got the position. If you get voted in, my life will be safer from goons like him who want me dead. Pass me my seal? You think there’s any chance of some food?”

  Although I wasn’t especially hungry, Faran probably was.

  “We’ve still time to make second bell. You can get a messenger to take that to Sondan.”

  “No. I need to see him in person. I wasn’t joking about not wanting to be paired with you again. We’d both put each other ahead of any mission. I’d have left the barn to go after you, had the roles been reversed. But at least I’d have had a better reason! You’re not protected. Let’s eat, then I’ll get this to Lord Sondan, and we can hit the training rooms.”

  I had something else I needed to run past Lord Sondan, and I knew Faran would blow his top when he found out what I was about to suggest.

  19

  I knocked on Lord Sondan’s door, wondering if Faran and I would ever move back here. Lord Sondan swung the door open.

  “Lady Aeron. Come in.” He took my report from me. “Congratulations on bringing back two more demons, and with form.”

  I nibbled the inside of my bottom lip. “Does that offset the fact that I lost Lord Cerewen to Aegyir in the process? I’m not sure his friends and family will see it that way. And I failed to bring Aegyir back.” I ground to a halt. I might not have liked Lord Cerewen, but the fact that Aegyir was now strong enough to take a good Guardian and we currently had only one talisman and one charm protecting everyone terrified me.

  “They understand the risks of battle. No one blames you.”

  I wasn’t sure that was entirely true. Had Faran led the mission, no one would have blamed him, but it had been me in charge.

  Lord Sondan tilted his head towards one of the tub chairs, indicating for me to sit. The furniture was laid out exactly as it had been when Faran and I had these rooms: the sofa facing the door, with the two tub chairs flanking it, and the desk and chair against the wall, just inside the door.

  “And is that how you feel about Cenan?” I said, taking a seat. I’d been in charge then, too.

  Lord Sondan sat on the sofa. He pressed his lips together, his face tight. “I don’t blame you for that. Or Faran.”

  I looked away. “Then you’re a better person than me. How is he?”

  Lord Sondan closed his eyes briefly. “He’s still in the infirmary.”

  “Healing?”

  He shook his head. “No.”

  The finality of his tone told me he didn’t want to talk about it any more, and I hunted for another topic.

  “Have the technicians found out if any of the stones will spot when non-Guardians have been affected?” I asked.

  “No. But they’re hopeful one of the stones will act in the same way the charm you wear does.”

  Not quite what I’d hoped for, but still good. We needed a lot more warning of the presence of demons.

  I sucked in a deep breath, perching on the edge of the seat. “Lord Sondan, I need to speak to you about two other things.”

  He stretched his arms along the back of the sofa, eyeing me. “You look very serious, Lady Aeron.”

  “I’d like to request that I’m not paired with Faran on patrol.”

  His brow rose. “What happened?”

  “Nothing. I’m just concerned our feelings for each other could cloud our judgement. If Faran had run after Aegyir, I would have gone after him, leaving Lady Morgan vulnerable. I might manage to persuade you and Lord Eredan that I did so because Faran is a more valuable asset than Lady Morgan, but—”

  “But that wouldn’t have been the reason. I understand.”

  “Thank you.”

  “And the second matter?”

  I traced my fingernail along the arm of the chair. I was fairly sure that Lord Sondan and Lord Eredan would agree to what I was about to suggest, but Faran would go ballistic.

  “We need to know where Aegyir is,” I said. “He’s strong enough to attack Guardians, and we don’t have any warning. If he could take Lord Cerewen, how many other Guardians are at risk? I can guess at what his long-term goal will be, but we don’t know for certain, and we don’t know where he is. He can shape-shift. It will take time for the technicians to make enough charm-bracelets for all the Guardians, even if some of the stones can detect demons. We need to know what he’s thinking and where he is because if we can lose Lord Cerewen, we could lose a lot more.”

  “What do you suggest?”

  I rubbed the back of my neck. “He’s in my head, Lord Sondan. He’s silenced for now, but he’s in my head. Perhaps if he wasn’t silenced, I could be in his.”

  Lord Sondan stared at me. “Are you suggesting what I think you are?”

  “That you cuff me, chain me up and remove the talisman? Yes.”

  He shook his head. “You’re too valuable. You’ve been in charge of teams that have secured four demons, so far. I need you back out on patrol, securing more.”

  I clicked my tongue. “With respect, I disagree. The Guardians are at risk from Aegyir. If he kills all the Guardians, who kills him?”

  “You think that’s his aim?”

  My breath whistled as I sighed. “If you were him, wouldn’t it be yours? The only thing that stops him is us. He has a ready source of energy in the people and has the Guardians and the people at loggerheads, leaving everyone vulnerable. Once all the Guardians are dead or enslaved, who stands in his way? We need to stop him, and in order to stop him, we need to know where he is.”

  Lord Sondan sucked his teeth, making his mouth pucker. “You need to discuss this with Faran. He’s the only one who can remove the talisman.”

  “Faran will follow orders. But not necessarily mine. Not on this. He won’t disobey his father, though.”

  Lord Sondan sighed heavily. “I’ll discuss it with Lord Eredan. But I suggest you talk to Faran. He will not appreciate it coming as a surprise.”

  ***

  “No. Categorically, no.” Faran’s arms made a solid barrier across his chest.

  We’d been arguing for five minutes now, Faran standing in the middle of the outer room of our suite, his shoulders taut, his eyes hard. His stubborn refusal to even entertain the idea had thinned my patience to vanishing.

  “Okay. Tell me your plan for how we find Aegyir,” I said, facing him.

  “He’ll need to steal energy. He’ll be near the people. We’ll find him.”

  I planted my hands on my hips. “One, I’m not prepared to keep sacrificing the people like that, and two, the provinces stretch for miles. Hoping to be in the right village at the right time would be like trying to find a needle in a haystack.”

  “You wanted to train.” Faran’s posture was still rigid.

  “Don’t change the subject.”

  He sighed. “Tell me the point of continuing this one? Your temper’s about to blow. Mine’s certainly about to blow… let’s take it to the training rooms.”

  I eyeballed him. “Given our moods, we’d both better wear a lot of protection.” He turned away, and I caught his arm. “Faran, just think about it.”

  He shrugged me off. “Just think about you being cuffed while Aegyir rages in your head?”

  “At least let me try? Put the talisman back on me if you don’t think it’s working, and we ca
n go with your plan of following the trail of dead people.”

  He picked his jacket up. “I don’t understand how we’re going to know whether it’s you speaking or Aegyir. If you tell us he’s in Barsdal, how do we know he hasn’t said that either to take us away from where he really is or to lead us into a trap?”

  I pressed my palm against his face and stroked my thumb over his high cheekbone. “I know, but I really am hoping I can see inside his head, listen to what he’s thinking and then you can put the talisman back on, and I’ll tell you what I heard.”

  Faran’s brows quirked in the middle. His scepticism didn’t surprise me – I had tried to kill him when the talisman had been removed a few days ago, Aegyir’s rage completely overwhelming any self-control I had.

  “Well, your father may agree with you,” I said.

  Faran’s eyes flashed. “You’ve already spoken to my father about this? Before me?”

  “No. But I discussed it with Lord Sondan. He was going to talk to your father.” The expression on Faran’s face made my mouth go dry. “Lord Sondan is my commanding officer.”

  “I know.” Faran’s voice was barely above a whisper, his body taut as a bowstring.

  I closed my eyes, pulling air deep into my lungs. “It’s just an option.”

  Fuck, I’d managed to push all of Faran’s buttons – his wife being a traitor, his fall from grace, his friend’s authority now taking precedence over his. I opened my eyes to see him still glowering, about to erupt. “Let’s take this to the training rooms.”

  ***

  We found a free room and raided the cupboards for protective clothing. I pulled on a padded jacket as well as a head-guard, surprised to see Faran do the same. I didn’t think any punches I might land on him would have any effect. He found a box to wear, and we squared up in the middle of the room.

  “Are we aiming for a specific goal like get the other one pinned down on the floor, or are we just going to kick the shit out of each other until we’ve burned off our tempers?” I said.

  Faran snorted. “Either option works for me, but let’s try to get the other pinned down.”