Ascent

by Bethany Adams

  “The season of Morne is close to an end, heralding the start of Neren. Early winter, you’d say. We have a fair number of ice storms before the snow sets in, so many of the animals hibernate or move to warmer climes.” The healer waved toward the back of the tower. “I’ve hosted that camahr mother for several years now. She found the hole before I could have it repaired, so I had it reinforced instead. If I find favor, perhaps one of her kits will choose me as a companion.”

  Maddy’s lips twitched, but she held back her smile. The fierce, grumpy healer wanted a pet? “You mean the way humans adopt cats and dogs?”

  Lial chuckled. “Not exactly. It’s more them adopting you. They make their own choices.”

  “Sounds like a cat on Earth,” Cora muttered. “I haven’t seen anyone here with a pet, though.”

  “It takes much time to cultivate the relationship. Decades, perhaps. Warriors move too often, in general, so there are fewer animal companions on the estate. More in the village, I’d say.” The healer opened the door and waited expectantly until they followed him through. “Now, I suppose this is the time when Cora would introduce us, but we’ve already met. In a fashion. As our titles mean nothing to you, we can dispense with such formality.”

  “That would probably be good,” Maddy said, though she struggled to focus on him instead of studying his workroom. She couldn’t wait to examine the tools and equipment he used. “Just call me Maddy, Lord Lial. Or sir? Mister?”

  His eyebrow lifted. “I am certainly no lord, not since my youth. Lial will do.”

  Not since his youth, huh? Maddy bit back a smile at the haughty statement. If he’d been born to nobility, it explained the arrogance that surrounded him like air. “Okay, Lial.”

  “Excellent,” he said. “I will show you to your room. If that is well with you, Cora?”

  Cora frowned. “If she’s going to one of the guest towers, I can—”

  “No. There’s a chamber above mine where she can stay.”

  Maddy froze. She was supposed to sleep in the same tower as him, alone with someone she barely knew? That didn’t seem safe. “Here?”

  She half-expected the healer to scoff at her obvious worry, but he only considered her thoughtfully. “Forgive me, Maddy. I did not consider that your customs might be different. When possible, students stay close to their teachers for ease of shielding, especially at first. Learning to access and use your power brings it to the forefront, and that requires greater care. However, I assure you that the upper chamber has a door with a lock.”

  Maddy gripped the strap of her backpack as uncertainty overcame her. His words made sense, but the thought of being stuck at the top of a strange tower on another world wasn’t exactly restful. She gave his workroom a quick glance, hoping for an alternative. To the left, there was a long workbench covered with jars of herbs and potions, to the back, a strange stone table took up the space next to a narrow spiral staircase, and to the right, a bed had been situated beneath a window.

  “Could I sleep there?” she asked, gesturing toward the bed.

  He grimaced. “In theory, you could, but I’m sometimes disturbed in the middle of the night by patients. And if someone was injured enough to need watching, they would require the bed.”

  If face-palming wouldn’t have been as embarrassing as her request, she would have done it. Of course the bed was reserved for patients. Why the hell else would he have it? “Right. Sorry.”

  Cora caught Maddy’s gaze. “I’ll vouch for Lial. He’s Ralan’s cousin, you know, and I’ve never seen him act less than professional. Well, a grumpy professional. Besides, he’s in love with—”

  Lial’s lips thinned, and Cora’s face reddened at the words she hastily cut off. But surprisingly, he finished the sentence. “Lynia. Lyr’s mother. Not that the emotion is likely to be returned. In any case, if you prefer to stay somewhere else, I can find out if a nearby guest tower is available. There is no need for you to be uncomfortable.”

  Damn. After seeing the hastily stifled pain in the healer’s eyes at the mention of the woman he loved, she couldn’t help but feel sorry for him. Anyway, she was being silly. Hadn’t she arranged to come to Moranaia for the training he offered? It might be a little uncomfortable to stay in close quarters with a stranger, but he wasn’t causing the discomfort. It was more the oddness of it all.

  “I’ll stay upstairs,” Maddy said, straightening her shoulders.

  Lial studied her a moment before nodding. “Very well. I’ll show you to your room.”

  As the healer headed toward the staircase, Cora leaned close. “Are you sure?”

  “Yes,” Maddy answered at once. “But I trust you’ll singe his ass, too, if he steps out of line.”

  At Cora’s laugh, Lial glanced back over his shoulder. “Maddy?”

  She smiled at Cora and then started forward. She could do this.

  She absolutely would do this.

  Queen Ara closed the door of her office behind her with a soft click that in no way echoed her mood. What a wretched mess of a job, one she’d never wanted. She’d planned for Vek to be stuck with the crown after their father was deposed, while she finally found some semblance of peace.

  But no. Of course her brother hadn’t cooperated. When had he ever?

  Five hours. She’d spent five hours on that uncomfortable stone throne trying to sort through her peoples’ problems. There’d been the mundane, naturally. Minor disputes and questions of property ownership. She’d sat with her father through enough court sessions to know the most effective way to handle those, but it was annoying to be the one responsible for those decisions instead of merely observing.

  Then had come the darker, more pointed power plays. Ara was reasonably certain that she’d rid the court of the worst of her father’s supporters, but the purge had shifted alliances enough that the remaining courtiers fought for prominence. Not to mention the implications she’d heard whispered, though never directly stated—prove herself as queen or be dethroned. A fate she wouldn’t necessarily mind, except… She was one of the few who didn’t want the throne, and that was a valuable asset for the Unseelie. The last thing her people needed was another power-hungry ruler. That kind of struggle for control could destroy them.

  Rubbing at her lower back, Ara wandered over to her desk. Then she caught sight of the envelope propped casually on the surface, and she froze. It would appear innocuous to the average observer. The paper was plain, and the red wax seal had no insignia. But to her, that was its own tell, a sign she couldn’t ignore.

  Meren.

  Ara snatched the envelope from her desk and broke the seal with a sharp motion, heedless of the slight tear her haste caused. The note within was the important part. With trembling fingers, she jerked the paper free and unfolded it. Only a few lines of Meren’s elegant script filled the space. Lovely lettering from such a dark heart.

  You neglect your son. Wouldn’t it be terrible if your sacrifice was in vain?

  She crumpled the paper in her hand. That sremed would pay for his threat, for threat it had been. Ara understood the seemingly innocent note well enough. Meren was planning something against Fen. But what? Her sacrifice had been to leave Fen with his human father so the former king, her father, couldn’t use him or hurt him in his madness. She’d let everyone believe she wanted nothing to do with her own child, all to keep him safe. To keep him from being perverted to evil.

  That sacrifice had almost been in vain already, when he’d fallen in with Kien. But Fen was with Vek now, and though her brother was a difficult bastard, he had honor. He wouldn’t let Fen return to his misguided ways. Would he?

  Could Meren be warning her instead of threatening in an attempt to gain her favor now that she was queen? You neglect your son. If her trust in Vek was misplaced, Fen might be causing havoc on Earth even now. Unlikely, but she needed to check in on them both to ensure that all was well. If Meren was attempting to cause trouble, Vek and Fen needed to be warned, in any case.

  A
ra pressed a button hidden in the decorative stone carvings on the wall and slipped into the tiny corridor as soon as the secret door opened. She didn’t know how to get directly to the outpost, but she’d made it her business to find Vek’s Earth dwelling. It was a risk to leave the palace so soon into her reign, when her rule was barely established, but she couldn’t find it within herself to care. No matter her intentions, she’d failed Fen since he was born.

  She wouldn’t do so again.

  Anna wiped down her last table, pocketing the wad of bills her customers had left beneath the edge of the bread basket. Four dollars was a little low, but it wasn’t too bad. The couple hadn’t been much older than she was, and they’d told her their short, three-day jaunt to Chattanooga was the first vacation they’d been able to afford in three years. She couldn’t begrudge them their frugality.

  “You can go ahead and leave if you want,” Deanna said as she stopped on the other side of the table. “It’s only two, but I think we can handle the last hour since it’s slower than I thought it’d be.”

  “Leave now?” Anna glanced quickly toward the river on the other side of the glass, then away. “I guess I could check with the friend who was going to pick me up.”

  Deanna shrugged. “You can wait out here or back in the office if you wanna. Just doesn’t seem worth having an extra server on the clock.”

  So it was more cost than consideration. She could understand her manager’s need to save money with fewer tourists coming in, but it wasn’t great for Anna. Ah, well. She’d managed to resist the river for this long. What was an extra hour?

  “I’ll put my stuff away and clock out,” Anna said.

  “I appreciate you coming in today.” Deanna smiled. “Really. You need anything, you just let me know.”

  Despite the tension coiling within, Anna returned the smile. “Thanks, Deanna. I will.”

  Anna tucked her supplies into the utility closet and clocked out on the back computer. Then she gathered the money from her apron and stuck it in her wallet before untying the apron and hanging it on a hook on the wall. With a sigh, she tugged her phone from her purse and sent Fen a quick text. If he couldn’t get there early, she would call for a rideshare. It would be torture waiting out there by the water, but she’d managed before.

  This would be no different.

  Lyr’s mirror chimed again before he’d even had time to sit. With a sigh, he rubbed his tired eyes. The weather this time of year wasn’t as bad as the aptly named Season of Ice that preceded spring, but it was nonetheless unpleasant to deal with. Yesterday, patches of ice had formed overnight on the training field, and today, he’d had to send extra aid to the northern ridge to help a group of travelers stranded by the freezing storm.

  What now?

  But when he analyzed the energy signature from the incoming communication spell, his current aggravations shifted to the edges of his thoughts. Who would be contacting him from the Seelie royal court? Lyr had severed diplomatic relations with them after they’d sent an army through one of their colonies to slaughter those who had been overcome by energy poisoning, and he hadn’t bothered to reengage after Meren, who’d been their liaison, had been outed as a traitor. This couldn’t be good.

  Lyr touched the edge of the frame, completing the link. Thankfully, decades of training and months of dealing with the unexpected allowed him to hide his shock at the image of Queen Lera’s own form taking shape on the glass. For so long, the Seelie had pretended to seek Moranaian aid through Meren while preventing Lyr’s chosen diplomat, Kai, from having any meaningful dialogue with the queen. That she was contacting him personally was indeed a bad sign.

  “I bid you good evening, Queen Lera,” Lyr said, careful to keep his tone polite and neutral. “I hope all is well with family and court.”

  They both knew this was unusual, but the queen showed no overt reaction to the friendly greeting. “Good evening, Lord Lyrnis. I and my court are indeed well, thank you. I trust your home and hearth are likewise?”

  “We are.”

  Gods, he wanted to laugh at the ridiculousness of the situation. He’d last spoken to Lera over three hundred years ago during one of his visits to the king’s court, and that had been the only time they’d interacted before or since. They’d both been emissaries for their parents then. Ah, how time had changed things.

  “I hope you will forgive the presumptuous nature of my sudden, unexpected contact,” she said, more frankly than he’d expected. “However, I am given to understand that Meren caused great harm to the relationship between my court and Moranaia. I thought it best to entrust this task to no other.”

  This task, hmm? Lyr studied the queen’s coldly beautiful face, but she revealed no hint of her feelings or purpose. As third along the Callian branch, those whose strengths were combat and diplomacy, Lyr was in charge of most communications and treaties with other realms closely connected to Earth, although the king had the final word. Technically, there was nothing unusual about her contacting him first.

  Yet his instincts said that something was amiss.

  “I confess I do find some presumption in requesting our aid in any task,” Lyr replied.

  Her lips thinned the barest amount. “Please forgive my unclear statement. I meant that I did not wish to entrust this communication to another in my court, but I have no specific aid that I require from your people at this time. Rather, there is a point of some delicacy that must be discussed.”

  Lyr raised his eyebrow. “Have my people committed some offense against yours since your innocent slaughter of Neorans? Or perhaps you are distressed that we retrieved my daughter and her bonded from captivity in one of your noble’s homes? I can assure you that the latter was settled with the noble in question.”

  “It concerns neither of those things, although I feel it imperative to assure you that the former was in no way directed or sanctioned by the crown.” A hint of pink rushed into the queen’s cheeks. “In this case, I wish to speak to you about the outpost you have formed on Earth.”

  They’d all known it was a matter of time before the other fae found the outpost, and it came as no surprise that the Seelie were the first to broach the matter after Meren’s attack. Meren might be a traitor to the Seelie, but that didn’t mean his discovery hadn’t reached the ears of those who weren’t. It appeared life was about to get more frustrating for Dria.

  “In that case, I regret to inform you that I must pass this matter to Princess Dria. Her command of the outpost supersedes my authority in the matter.”

  Queen Lera drew back, surprise filtering across her face. “One so young?”

  Lyr chuckled. “If I might offer advice, it would be to avoid such words in her hearing.”

  “Yes, of course.” The queen reclaimed her reserved manner, though now Lyr could better see the cracks. “Then I must insist you connect us at your earliest opportunity.”

  Lyr replied to her demand with all of the polite evasions at his disposal—and he had a fair store of them. By the time they disconnected their link, he had no doubt that Queen Lera was cursing his name. He had no intention of flinging Dria into a pit of unreasonable demands without time to prepare. Since the queen had no link to Dria’s communication mirror, he had ample time to give the princess fair warning. They would not act at the Seelie court’s whim.

  Chapter 12

  A sharp pinging sound jerked Fen from sleep. Groaning, he rubbed at his eyes and then fumbled for the phone on the side table. For a moment, he forgot where he was, but when his hand met only air, he realized he’d been reaching for the wrong damned table in the wrong damned room. He wasn’t at Vek’s house. He’d fallen asleep at the outpost.

  Another chirp, and awareness hit.

  Anna’s text. How long had it been? Fen sat up—on the proper side of the bed this time—and snatched up his phone. Just after two o-fucking-clock. Sonofabitch. Why hadn’t Vek woken him up yet? Surely he hadn’t been talking to Aris for three hours. They’d never be able to reach
Anthony’s apartment in time for Fen to go pick Anna up from work at three.

  He swiped his finger across the screen as he stood, reading Anna’s text as he shoved his feet into his boots. Out of work early. Should I grab a rideshare?

  Fen muttered a litany of curses as he sprinted toward the door. He barely remembered to close it behind him before pushing into the sitting room next door. Dria, Vek, and Aris all looked up with varying expressions of concern, but he didn’t see the dragon. Whatever. He didn’t need a dragon’s skills for this.

  “I have to go,” Fen blurted as he skidded to a stop. “I need to get back to your house for my car. Now.”

  Vek’s brows lowered. “You were supposed to go with me to check on this energy poisoning.”

  “I don’t give a fuck about the energy poisoning or anything else. Anna needs my help.”

  “Did something happen?” Dria asked.

  “Not yet.” Fen’s heart raced, a sense of doom coiling inside. “She’s drawn to the water, remember? I’m supposed to pick her up, but I slept too long. I have to go. I’ll text you Anthony’s number, and you can figure out the rest.”

  Frowning, Vek studied him for a long moment. Too damned long. “She has resisted the water for a while now. Did she say there was danger?”

  Fen let out a frustrated sigh. “Not exactly. But she’s never reached out to me like this. It means something.”

  “Fen—”

  “I promised Maddy I would keep her safe, and as I recall, you did, too.” He tapped out a quick message to Anna—On my way—and hit send. “Help or don’t. I don’t care.”

  Dria shot to her feet. “Let’s go to the shielded portal room. I’ll make sure you get to the right place.”

  Fen and Dria were halfway to the door before Aris’s voice reached them. “I’ve taught you everything you need, Vek. Though I did forget to caution you about one thing. Make sure Dria has a very strong birth control enchantment if you’re not ready for children.”