Plague of Death

by D. L. Armillei

  “No one’s here. Just us.”

  A heavy pause hung in the air.

  Ferox grinned. “I’ll turn my back.”

  Excitement mingled with fear as Van peeled off her tank with trembling fingers. She kicked off her boots, pulled down her cargo pants, and dashed to the edge of the spring wearing her panties and bra.

  Van was so nervous, she didn’t even feel the water’s temperature with her toe before hurtling her body into the spring—so fast, she slipped on the slick rock and crashed into the spring with a big, unflattering splash.

  She resurfaced gasping for air and brushing her wet hair out of her eyes.

  “I can turn around now, I take it?” Ferox said, obviously hearing her grand entrance.

  Van wiped the droplets off her face and patted down her hair, hoping she didn’t look completely terrible.

  “You okay?”

  “Yeah.” Van felt her face turn beet red. She bent her knees to make sure she stayed under the surface from her neck down. The water was jacuzzi-hot.

  “Nice, isn’t it?” Ferox smiled at Van.

  She wondered why he didn’t demand to know what made her interrupt his private bath. No matter, she was certain he kept the Coin and the fairy’s tear close to him, most likely in his discarded clothes.

  Ferox waded back to his spot against the wall of the spring, which happened be in front of his clothes.

  Van paddled closer to Ferox with what she hoped was a seductive smile, her nerves on end. “Very nice.” She tried not to twitch and to keep her voice steady, to conceal any telltale sign that she was up to no good.

  Ferox seemed entertained as Van moved closer to him.

  “It’s not here.” He grinned.

  Van pretended to look confused.

  “You’re after the Coin,” he said. “Perhaps even the tear. They’re not here. They’re safely hidden.”

  Van was stunned by Ferox’s perceptiveness. With her plan now dead in the water, she knew she should storm out of the spring and go back to her suite.

  But she didn’t.

  Her insides were pulled in two different directions—do the right thing by leaving, or stay and get closer to the enemy.

  “Stay,” Ferox said as if seeing the battle going on inside Van. “There is much we can learn from one another.”

  He had a point. If Van stayed and got to know Ferox, she could gather intel to use against him later, if necessary. She might even get him to say where he hid the Coin and the tear. Any good warrior would do the same. Plus, the heat and minerals in the spring water made her cuts from the kopidodens, now a healing pink, feel even better.

  “What’d you want to talk about?” Van settled into a nook on the edge of the spring close to Ferox, but not close enough for him to touch her. “I mean, we have nothing in common.”

  Ferox paused, as if in deep thought.

  “Tell me about my sister,” he said with a pained expression.

  Van took his words like a punch to the stomach. Again, Ferox wanted Van to explain why she had murdered his sister. Van figured he must be struggling with the justification of it and needed more details to keep him from drowning her on the spot.

  The spring suddenly felt even hotter.

  He must’ve noticed Van’s discomfort, and said, “We Balish see the death of my brother Devon as a bad omen. Death of a royal twin is believed to ‘split’ the royal bloodline. Then Solana also died. Death of both royal twins.” He cast his eyes downward. “Our Sanctus Novus mentions a ‘split bloodline’ preceding a great battle for power, where control of the lands will be at stake. The Balish Council is using my brother and sister’s deaths as a means to start a war with the Lodians.”

  “A preemptive takeover?” Van asked. “Before the Lodian’s Anchoress gets too strong?”

  Ferox turned to Van. “War is not what I want.”

  A moment of reflection passed, then Van said softly, “She wanted to be queen—your sister. To rule the Balish kingdom. She took out anyone in her way, including her twin brother.”

  “Devon,” Ferox said, pensively. “People talked about how he was born to rule. How being king was his destiny, and nothing could stand in his way. He had the fortitude and desire to rule our kingdom, but he was also ruthless.” Ferox grunted. “He had this air of superiority about him. That he had been blessed by the light of the sun. As I told you before, the Balish Council favored him.” Ferox turned to Van. “He would’ve taken charge and got the kingdom running in good order. Now that task is placed on me.” He made it sound like a burden.

  “Don’t you want to be king?”

  He shrugged. “Word is, the Balish Council and most of the Balish people don’t think I have what it takes to be a good king.”

  Van’s jaw dropped. “What? Why? Because you’re fair and nonjudgemental?”

  “They say I’ve got nothing other than being blessed with good looks—”

  Van snorted.

  Ferox grinned and raised his dripping palms in surrender. “Hey, I’m simply repeating what I’ve heard.”

  Van smiled back.

  He continued in a more serious tone, “I have charisma, but lack discipline.” He struggled to get out the rest. “They say Solana, a mere girl, had more grit than me.”

  “Oh, boy.” Van shook her head. “Are they confused?”

  Ferox seemed pleased with Van’s response. “I take the advice of the Council into consideration, but my word and my mind are my own. I do what I think is best for all. That’s what makes people say I’m too compassionate. It’s why the Council encouraged me to roam the countryside with my squadron. Toughen me up. A soft heart makes a poor king.” He snorted. “Well, I’ve got news for them.” He leaned closer and whispered. “I’m already king.”

  “What’d you mean?”

  “Everyone—our people, the Balish Council, the Balish Royal Court, all love my father, the ‘Great King Nequus.’ You’ve already heard me mention that my father’s a drunk. But the bigger secret—my father only goes through the motions of being king.”

  “I don’t understand,” Van said, interested and at the same time flabbergasted that Ferox shared such a private glimpse at the inner workings of his family with her.

  “He attends social events and parties and spends money. My mother had no problem covering for him. She loved running the kingdom, albeit from behind closed doors. Every now and then she’d catch my father being unfaithful and threaten to leave him. It was all for show. My mother would’ve never left, my father never cared about any of his mistresses. Until…”

  “Who?”

  Ferox said nothing.

  “Oh,” Van said, catching on. “Genie.”

  Ferox nodded. “That indiscretion, my mother couldn’t tolerate. My father had real feelings for Genie, that’s why my mother placed a kill order on her. I don’t blame your stepmother for running to Salus Valde and converting to Lodianism. It was the only way she could survive.”

  Ferox had validated what Van always sensed about her stepmother. “So Genie never loved my father.” Or me. “She was just being a demimondaine.”

  “It’s her nature, Van,” Ferox said, soft-eyed. “She got dealt the hand of being a master companion. Sold as a child by her parents. She didn’t have much choice. It’s all she knows, and she’s doing the best she can with it. You can’t fault her for that.” He inched closer to her. “I choose to believe there was real love between Genie and your father.”

  “Pfft.” Van became depressed by the whole situation. “Genie didn’t marry my father for love, she married him for security.” How could her father be so duped?

  Then she recalled Genie’s beauty and how her training included tricking men into falling in love with her, molding herself to suit her mark. Her father never stood a chance.

  It also explained why Genie didn’t have a mother’s bone in her body; motherhood classes weren’t included in demimondaine training.

  But Van was grateful for Ferox’s kind words. “I me
ant it when I said that your sister would’ve killed you too if she thought you were a threat to her ascension.”

  “The Balish Council would never have allowed a female to sit on the throne.”

  “I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” Van said. “Solana had the skills to get what she wanted.”

  “Her sorcery, you mean.”

  Van nodded. “She would’ve poisoned the entire Council if it came down to it. Or put them under a spell.”

  “Impossible,” Ferox said. “The palace wizard constantly monitors for unauthorized magic.”

  “She wanted to take over Salus Valde to prove her worth, so nobody, not you or your cousin Merloc, would challenge her.”

  “She would’ve had to marry said cousin to be queen,” Ferox said. “Except she wouldn’t have run the kingdom. He would have.”

  “Then she would’ve killed him too.”

  “You certainly have my sister doing a lot of killing,” he said with a lopsided grin. “Tell me how you really feel.”

  “Seriously, Ferox,” Van said. “She was bad news.”

  “Do you think I’m bad news?” Ferox asked, shifting to a sultry tone.

  His intensity made Van feel squirm. It felt like he was reaching into her soul and grabbing her heart. She turned away and said, “From what I’ve heard about your cousin, he’s someone you should be worried about. He might want the throne.”

  Ferox’s grin grew bigger. “So, you’re worried about me?”

  He leaned back against the wall of the spring, his tone turned somber. “Merloc can be dangerous, I know, but there’s a difference between force and strength.” He turned to face Van, again. “I’m sorry about your friend Daisy. As soon as I found out, I ordered Merloc to release her. That’s how Kopius got into Windermere Castle so easily.”

  Van tried to conceal how surprised she was by this news.

  “Merloc’s good at what he does. I give him a lot of control and autonomy, and that keeps him happy. He respects blood lineage and order. He has his sites set on taking over Salus Valde as did my brother. He wants to carry on in Devon’s name. I have him tempered, for now.”

  A dark thought crossed Van’s mind. “Why are you telling me this?” She became certain he planned to kill her.

  “You seem like someone I can talk to. You have similar obligations of a royal family placed on you too.”

  Van agreed with him. It felt good to talk to someone who understood the burden of family. The more Ferox opened up to her, the more she felt closer to him, like they connected on a deep level.

  He slid closer to her. “I wanted us to get to know each other. You know, because it’s good for our tribes.” He grinned.

  “Oh, uh, of course. Yeah.” Van flinched, flustered by his intensity. Then, she became disheartened when he pulled away.

  “I don’t want to make you uncomfortable,” he said by way of explanation.

  “You’re not. You won’t—aren’t,” Van sputtered, a bit too eagerly. She flushed, wishing Genie had taught her some moves from the demimondaine handbook.

  Ferox glided closer to Van. Desire shined in his amber-yellow eyes.

  This time Van didn’t flinch.

  Chapter 41

  Light from the candles caught the droplets on Ferox’s biceps and shoulders making his skin glisten.

  As he inched closer, Van’s lips tingled in anticipation. His unwavering stare made her feel like she was the only person in the world. Her stomach curled into a sailor’s knot.

  His lips touched hers, and a burst of delight flooded her insides. The Balish Council had it right, he was soft. But in good ways—his skin, his lips, his heart. Van’s hands glided over his chest. Her touch conformed to each ripple of muscle. Her fingertips slid over his hard nipples and up the sides of his neck, over his strong jaw, and into his damp, silky hair. Her body leaned into his.

  Van desired more of him. All of him…

  She pushed away and gasped.

  “What’s wrong?” Ferox looked concerned.

  “We can’t.”

  “We’re kissing, nothing more. I agree we should take it slow.”

  “We can’t…date,” Van said. “We can’t…like each other.”

  “Why not?”

  “We’re…different.”

  “You mean from different tribes,” Ferox said as if he understood Van’s concern. “I’m not bothered by it. Why are you?”

  “Your people want to kill me.”

  Ferox brushed his fingers along Van’s jaw. “I won’t let that happen.”

  “Don’t you know the story of our ancestors?” Van knew quite well that he did.

  Ferox leaned close to Van and whispered in her ear. “How Manik and Zurial fell in love and got married—a Balish King and a Lodian Princess. Hm, sound familiar?”

  Ferox’s sincerity about marriage made Van’s insides swirl.

  He laid butterfly kisses on her neck yet she still managed to ask, “And how did that turn out?”

  Ferox leaned back, grinning, ready for Van’s story. “Tell me.”

  “I want to hear your version of the story.” She needed to convince both Ferox and herself that no good would come from their being together.

  “Okay,” Ferox said, playing along. “Manik and his proposal of marriage to Zurial was a blessing and came with a plan to end the war and bring peace to the land. Both our tribes banded together to defeat the demons that had reached our world. But instead of stopping there, the war between the Balish and Lodians resumed.” Ferox shook his head in disgust. “But, Zurial and Manik arranged a truce with your queen’s approval.”

  “Queen Amaryl, the Anchoress at that time,” Van said. “She had a great incentive to end the war because her husband, Rowen was on the front line fighting. She agreed to the terms and was happy about the marriage. She believed that Manik was sincere because he let Zurial return to Salus Valde with the Cup of Life.”

  “He didn’t kill her and steal the Cup.” Ferox nodded in agreement. “The war was bloody and ferocious. No one wanted to lose more loved ones. Plus each side had two of the Items of Creation, a sign of balance.”

  “Amaryl thought the marriage was a good idea but had a nagging intuition that even though Manik could be trusted, the Balish couldn’t,” Van said challenging Ferox. To see if he agreed that he couldn’t be trusted. “But she had done what was best for her people and agreed to the terms of the wedding.”

  “The wedding went off without a hitch. It was a grand time, filled with love and joy. The end.” He moved in for another kiss.

  Van threw him a wary look.

  “I didn’t think that would work.” He grinned and settled back against the side of the spring.

  “Manik’s brother, Goustav,” Van said. “His infatuation with Amaryl led to his ultimate betrayal and the rebellion.”

  “Unfortunately, yes,” Ferox said, grimly. He apparently didn’t like this part of his ancestor’s past. “I’ve read the ancient scrolls in the Hall of Records. Many royal Lodians came to Balefire to celebrate the birth of Zurial and Manik’s baby. Their child would join the two tribes forever. But Goustav didn’t approve of their wedding or agree with the truce.”

  “He and his underground followers rose up and slaughtered every Lodian in sight right after Zurial gave birth to Mehal,” Van said. “Including Zurial.”

  Ferox gazed at Van and caressed her cheek with his fingers. “I am sorry. It was a terrible thing.”

  Van pulled away. She could almost feel the pain of the bloody event throbbing in her veins. Her eyes became glassy; she felt like crying.

  Ferox sensed her discomfort and changed the subject, somewhat. “I read there are six goblets. Five replica goblets, one given by Zurial to each of the guests at the wedding table. One went to Amaryl, which is rumored to be in the possession of Manikists—the underground network of people who oppose the current Balish rule.” Ferox grimaced. “They don’t understand that I want peace as much as they do. I believe in my ancestor M
anik’s truce.”

  Van knew the location of Amaryl’s replica goblet. It was being held by the owners of The Troll’s Foot Tavern in Araquiel, Noam and his son, Zane.

  “Manik’s goblet is with my uncle, King Mador, in East Alga,” Ferox continued. “King Halldor, Rowen, and Goustav’s replica goblets were destroyed in Goustav’s Bloody Rebellion. Zurial became obsessed with her goblet which was, of course, the Cup of Life.”

  Ferox turned to Van and said, softly, “Goustav didn’t kill Zurial. She suffered massive blood loss from childbirth.”

  “Oh,” Van said, not sure what to do with this newest insight, or if it even mattered.

  “I am sorry,” Ferox said, again, sincerely. “I understand your point. It was a horrible time. But that won’t happen again. We’ve learned from our ancestor’s mistakes. Together we can make our world better, we can find peace.”

  Despite Ferox’s positive outlook, rehashing the story of their ancestors made Van more determined than ever not to get the Cup. Doing so would give the Balish control of two of the Items of Creation. Then a repeat of what happened during the time of their ancestors would take place, another war between the Lodians and Balish.

  This terrifying thought jarred Van back to why she came to Ferox—to get the fairy tear and the Coin. Then she could ditch him and check the seal. Ferox claimed they were hidden somewhere else, and flirting with him was leading her down the wrong path.

  She pushed away from the side of the spring, ready to leave, then she remembered something and twisted around to face him. “Oh—I wanted to thank you for paying Madame Vang extra to search for a cure to the Anchoress curse.”

  He jolted upright. “Van, I didn’t pay Madame Vang for that—I will if you need me to, it’s not a problem—but I haven’t.”

  “Well, I mean you paid Madame Vang, and she sent one of her ladies to my room.”

  Ferox gripped her by the shoulders. “Did this woman give you anything? Did you eat or drink anything?”

  Van felt a chill run through her body despite the hotness of the spring.

  “No, no—I,” Van hesitated as she recalled her meeting with the demimondaine. “She gave me a basket of handmade soaps, from the madame. To make up for not finding a counter-curse. I thought nothing of it…why are you looking at me like that?”