The Dawn of the End (The Rising Book 3)

by Kristen Ashley

  “He wishes you to bring his clothes and assist him if he needs help.”

  “Me?” Her voice was a squeak.

  He heard a truncated guffaw, a couple of amused grunts and an odd high noise he knew was Farah’s, though it also was amused.

  “Yes, you,” True confirmed.

  Slowly, her gaze moved to True’s wife.

  Not missing a beat, Farah pulled the folded clothing from Wallace’s hands and shoved it Bronagh’s way.

  Tentatively, the nurse took it and trudged down the hallway to Alfie’s door as if she was heading to the gallows.

  “Do you have a royal counsellor, amore?” Farah asked.

  He looked to his side and down into her beautiful eyes.

  And he smiled.

  “This will not be tolerated!” G’Aron fairly shouted, slamming the side of his fist to the table.

  “You need to calm yourself,” Apollo warned.

  “You are not from this place. You don’t understand,” Aron snapped.

  “I understand you need to calm yourself,” Apollo retorted.

  “These are our acolytes,” Aron hissed. “They have our protection.”

  Needless to say, when the Go’Doan shared they were again ready to sit the table, they did not share this with the intention to discuss matters of import to anyone but them.

  Apollo looked to True. “I’m sorry, did I miss something? It was my understanding that Mars brought these Go’Ella in solely for questioning.”

  They had heard word of the bent Mars had taken in his realm in an attempt to gather information.

  And the Go’Doan had heard it too.

  “This was my understanding as well,” True confirmed.

  “That is not to be abided,” Aron decreed.

  “Explain why,” Apollo ordered.

  “It is not to be abided,” Aron repeated.

  “Bloody explain why,” Apollo shot back.

  “I would like to know this as well,” Alfie remarked calmly.

  “If you need to speak to an acolyte, you talk through her priest,” Aron declared.

  “Why?” Apollo asked.

  “It is the way,” Aron answered.

  “That’s all you have?” Apollo inquired when Aron said no more.

  “They’re terrified one, or more, of the Go’Ella speaking with King Mars will share they’re being, or have been, mistreated,” G’Ry stated, and all eyes turned to him.

  Only when he had everyone’s attention did he finish.

  “That being mistreated by Go’Doan not only of this Rising.”

  “Ry,” Aron spat. “You’d do well to be quiet.”

  Ry slowly shifted his attention to Aron.

  “I have not known a time like this. A time of trouble and sorrow. A time of danger and aggression. A time like this at all when it is the least good to be quiet,” Ry returned. “There are things we can share, Aron. There are ways we can help. I have been adamant that this should be our stance, as you know. And right now, I find I can no longer carry on being a part of a strategy I find fundamentally flawed when the stakes are this high.”

  “You will be sanctioned,” Aron warned.

  “I have no doubt,” Ry said.

  “You will be cast out,” Aron threatened.

  An expression of deep concern moved over the older man’s face before he controlled it, and on a release of breath, said, “With what is at stake, I cannot allow myself to care.”

  Aron rose from his seat. “I will not be a party to this.”

  “Luther, Florian,” True called to his men standing flanking the door. “Escort Aron to his chambers and then arrange for a military escort for him and his Go’Ella direct to the Dome City.”

  “You will regret this when you need our healers, when you wish your citizens to enter the Go’Da,” Aron cautioned True.

  “We have very good universities here,” True replied.

  Aron looked to Ry. “You do this, you are a sacrilege.”

  “I do not think Go’Bedi, Go’Vicee and especially Go’Chas would agree.”

  “It is not yours to think for the gods,” Aron rejoined.

  “It is not yours either, my brother. And yet it is. As it is mine. We have no choice but to follow our hearts to where we feel our gods are guiding us,” Ry said quietly.

  Aron apparently had no retort for he stormed from the room, slamming the door behind him.

  “You make the right choice,” True told Ry.

  “You do,” Alfie added, his two words far outweighing True’s.

  Ry took in Alfie.

  “I find you astonishing. If you were not here, so soon after what befell you…” Ry trailed off but shortly again picked up that trail. “I do not know if I’d have had the courage.”

  Alfie looked to True.

  True did not make his friend communicate it, even through an expression.

  That “it” being that True had been correct.

  There was much to live for, much he could contribute, even in ways he could not imagine until they happened.

  He gave his attention to Ry.

  “What do you have to tell us?” he asked.

  “I can give you names. However, I hasten to note that these names I will give are only those I have heard in whispers of priests that are in Wodell, Airen and Firenze who might, might have ties to this Rising,” Ry said.

  “We will proceed with that caution in mind,” True replied.

  Ry nodded.

  “I will tell you, though, I did know of the three you already…er, dispatched,” Ry shared and when True made no comment, he carried on, “And that there were murmurings of their ties to these agitators. And the ones that have been reported since, some of them, not all, I had heard their names too,” Ry shared.

  True nodded, pleased to know they were on the right track.

  Ry continued, “With this Rising, it will not negate the mistakes we have made, but I will share also there is a good deal of discord amongst priests in the Dome City in how to deal with it. Including many who wish to take a much more aggressive route to banish these followers from our ranks. And alongside this, there is a swell of support for an initiative to change the status of the Go’Ella. It is important you know all of that.”

  “This is noted,” True said. “Have you heard aught of a treasury?”

  Ry shook his head.

  True drew breath into his nostrils and sat back.

  “I do not share what I shared with you for this reason,” Ry went on. “However, it is important enough to me to bring it to this table at this time. A small number of Go’Ella have gone missing.”

  True’s gaze moved to Alfie before hitting Apollo and then he turned it to Farah.

  She was leaned forward into her elbows on the table, intent on Ry.

  True looked back to Ry.

  “It began with Marian. A very bright woman. I am old, but I could still see she was attractive. She is from here,” Ry told them. “Wodell, that is. Originally. She did not share, but I suspect she had some …troubles with an earlier priest to whom she was assigned. But she seemed content in our little family.”

  “Family?” Farah asked softly.

  Ry shrugged. “It is better than what they had before they came to us, and I would hope, at least with mine, they found peace after lives lived that did not offer such.”

  “You elude to not a small amount of issues that might be disturbing as pertains to the Go’Ella,” Alfie remarked.

  “Indeed,” Ry replied on a sigh. “And after this Rising is quelled, regardless of what befalls me, in dealings with the Dome City, I would make it one of your priorities to research a new ideology that is quite sweeping our own that our handling of Go’Ella change rather drastically and that priests can marry and take only one spouse. And I would hope, once you research this, that you would throw your strong support behind it.”

  This was news, and not his business, but he would most definitely be looking into it.

  Eventually.
r />   “I will have this researched,” True promised him.

  “You have much to concern yourself with,” Ry stated the obvious. “However, I fear the coincidence of Marian’s disappearance, some others of my Go’Ella after her, and a small amount more vanishing as well, this happening during these times…” He drew in a deep breath. “Well, Your Grace, it makes me uneasy.”

  “And you wish to find her,” Farah said.

  Ry nodded. “I worry for her. Her mother was ill. She would go often to care for her. But once, she left and did not come back. Aron was not wrong. In the purest sense of our religion, it is the priests’ responsibility to protect our Go’Ella. I can assure you that many take this much to heart. I am one of those many. But as happens, this concept has become bastardized over time. I am just gladdened to understand there are hearty discussions about it. For the time is nigh.”

  When all at the table simply regarded him, Ry took his cue and stood.

  “I will find parchment and pen. And then I must be away home, if they will take me.”

  “Your accent, you were Airenzian before you pledged to the Go’Doan?” True asked.

  Ry nodded.

  “Regardless, you can make your home here if aught befalls you on your return,” True offered and felt Farah’s gaze warming his profile with her approval.

  “Thank you, Your Grace,” Ry said on a bow of his head. He lifted it and murmured, “I’m to a parchment.”

  And with that, he left the room.

  When the doors closed behind him, Alfie inquired, “Has Mars learned aught yet from the Go’Ella?”

  “Not that I’ve heard. But if he does, he will share,” True answered.

  “Serena? Tor?” Alfie asked.

  “We have, as of two days ago, one man planted in The Rising. I would wish more, and any information he might procure will take time, and I fear the quest for it is most dangerous. But they carry on.”

  “News from Mar-el?” Alfie continued.

  “There is some issue with the pirates,” True shared. “Aramus is calling a summit.”

  Alfie nodded and pressed on. “Airen?”

  Yes, his counsellor had accepted his new role.

  Wholeheartedly.

  True did not shout his gladness at this.

  He looked to Farah, who he’d already told the news he was about to share, before he returned to Alfie.

  “Gallienus has been arrested for the rape of one of his wives. He awaits tribunal.”

  “By the gods,” Alfie muttered, this before he started chuckling.

  True felt Farah’s fingers curl around his knee and squeeze deeply, such was her joy at seeing Alfie chuckle.

  “They very much wish Farah and I, Silence and Mars and Aramus and Ha-Lah at their nuptials and are keen to press forward with them, something they intend to do quickly after the trial. Farah and I might be able to get away, it is but days on a ship, Ha-Lah as well. But I fear they will not have…” He trailed off, not wishing to bring up something that might dampen the goodness of this day.

  But Alfie steadfastly picked up the thread. “The pomp of your own.”

  “Alfie,” True murmured.

  “They should elope,” Alfie suggested, taking them right around the subject.

  And the day was not dampened.

  “It would be wise,” True replied. “And at least that will be done, the alliances made official that will defeat the Beast.”

  At this, Apollo cleared his throat and stood, saying, “I will seek Ry and get those names.”

  True nodded to him.

  After Apollo left, Farah again squeezed his knee.

  “Progress,” she said.

  He smiled at her. “Progress.”

  “I have concerns about this Go’Ella business,” she shared.

  “As do I, my sweet, but it will have to wait.”

  She looked contemplative before she said, “I also have concerns about this Marian.”

  It was peculiar she would focus on that one Go’Ella, and True wished to quiz her on that, but he did not when Alfie spoke.

  “As happy as I am to be out of that bloody room, True, I must ask to get back to it. I have sticks to practice with.”

  Ah, yes.

  Progress.

  And hope.

  “Then let us see to that, shall we?” True replied.

  Alfie looked to Wally and Bram who were already moving his way.

  True did not watch this.

  He looked to his love.

  “A good day,” he said and watched her eyes again shine with happiness.

  “Finally,” she agreed.

  104

  The Realization

  Queen Silence

  Parlor of Guard of the Trusted, Fire City

  FIRENZE

  I drew deeply at the scent of the dark fluff on the baby’s head, a baby I held tight to me.

  And I closed my eyes.

  “They smell beautiful, do they not?” Nyx asked.

  I opened my eyes, looked to my friend and smiled.

  “No other scent is as beautiful,” I replied.

  Though that was not true.

  One was.

  The spice of my husband’s cologne.

  However, I had not smelled much of that lately.

  Indeed, none a’tall.

  “Is everything all right, my queen?” Zosime asked from where she was lounging back on the bright cushions of a daybed, appearing to glow more than she did when she was expecting.

  However, she glowed through also appearing worried, her gaze kind on me.

  I drew in the smell of dark baby fluff again to give me fortification in order to lie, “All is quite well. And please, do not address me as your queen. We are friends.”

  “I quite like addressing you as my queen,” Zosime returned on a jaunty grin. “Though my husband is most cross with you.”

  I blinked in concern. “For goodness sakes, why?”

  “I have told him I need an entire new wardrobe,” she answered, dipping her chin to my gown.

  “I dare to say husbands and fathers all over Fire City, indeed all of Firenze are cursing you, Silence,” Nyx put in. “But the merchants are not. There has been rather a run on silks since your wedding, not to mention all the finery you’ve been displaying since your return.”

  That would be my contribution to the state of Firenze.

  Women wanting new frocks and the men in their lives cursing me because they did.

  “Perhaps I should try a jeweled brassiere,” I mumbled, wondering if I could manage to pull one off without expiring of mortification.

  “No, just be as you are because you are lovely,” Zosime said.

  No, she was for saying as such.

  “I hear Elpis returns,” Nyx changed the subject as I suspected she sensed the other was not entirely comfortable for me.

  Which made her lovely.

  Or lovelier than she already was.

  “She does,” I confirmed. “Mars sent for her.”

  This I had learned from Elpis’s secretary, not my husband.

  “But I received a letter from her just yesterday,” I told them. “And in it was lovely news. For she shared that she and Farah had a reconciliation.”

  Zosime murmured marvelous in Firenzii while Nyx smiled happily at me.

  As for me, I was as delighted about this as I was that Elpis would return, even if I did not allow my mind to consider why Mars had sent for her.

  They were close. There was great affection there.

  This was all I told myself it was.

  It felt selfish, being glad she was returning. Farah needed a motherly presence much more than I (and True did too).

  But I was drowning in clans and tribes and invitations and there was some Firenz celebration upcoming that I knew naught about, but Elpis’s secretary repeatedly shared I should be planning something in regards to it at the palace.

  And I could not ask my husband.

  I also could not ask Nyx and Zos
ime, as they might wonder why I did not inquire after this from my husband.

  So I had no idea what to do.

  What I should not do was go yet again to Zosime to smell her daughter’s head and waste time I did not have for I should be at my desk or ordering flowers to be arranged (or some such).

  But here I was, yet again, at Zosime’s, smelling her daughter’s head and being with my friends even if it did not make me feel better as I’d hoped it would.

  One could say I needed a mother’s presence too, as, for all intents and purposes, I had lost mine as well.

  I pushed that to the back of my mind, but when I did, all the rest I should be thinking came forward.

  “I hate to say this, but I must go,” I announced. “There are things to do with Miet. Would you like to hold her?” I asked Nyx, bouncing the baby in my arms. “Or shall I give her back to her mama?”

  “Me.” Nyx reached both hands out my way.

  I rose and moved to her, feeling bereft as I transferred the precious bundle to Nyx, and watching Nyx coddle the baby, hoping my friend and her husband would start their family soon too.

  After I did this, I turned to Zosime and queried, “Have you named her?”

  Zosime smiled a secret smile and said, “We have decided to perform her naming ceremony the day before Miet.”

  Naming ceremony?

  “This means yes, she just isn’t going to tell us,” Nyx put in.

  Zosime’s gaze dropped to her daughter and gentled. “She is for Guard and myself, for now.”

  There was something beautiful to that, as Zosime entertained a variety of company, all falling in love with her daughter, so she and Guard had to share.

  But they were able to hold that, something so vital as a child’s name, to themselves until they deemed fit to offer it to others.

  I would wish to do that with Mars, if I ever spoke to him again.

  Or if he spoke to me.

  I lingered over my farewells (foolishly), then met Kyril at the door and allowed him to help me astride my horse.

  We were on our way back to the palace with my extravagant guard of four in formation in front of us and ten behind us when he began, “My queen—”

  “I don’t want to talk about it,” I interrupted him to say, doing it smiling at a little girl on the red cobbles waving at me while her mother curtsied.