by Caris Roane
Delia’s strong voice brought him back sharply. “Stone? You okay?”
“It’s Charborne.”
“Oh, right. I forgot,” she said. “Sorry.”
He ground his teeth. “Can’t be helped.” He turned toward the monitors and called to the man in charge. “Alex, I need the current feed from Charborne. We may have a problem out there.”
“Got it,” Alex called back.
Stone crossed his arms over his chest, his gaze glued to the monitor directly above Alex. He’d built the center that now linked to thousands of cameras around his realm. Every main thoroughfare of every village had three cameras, more if the lane curved. The cities had hundreds and his crew checked the feeds constantly.
Behind him, he could hear operators talking softly to realm-folk who called the Invictus-sighting hotline he’d set up. Sure, they got more crank calls than he’d like, but his people had become one of his best weapons in alerting the Tannisford Vampire Guard and the Shifter Brigade to Invictus activity across the realm.
He waited as Alex’s keyboard clacked softly. More than once the feed of Charborne came up then flickered away. “What’s the problem, Alex?”
“Not sure. Could be the cameras.”
Stone didn’t like it. He had a missing troll and a wonky feed.
He turned slightly in Harris’s direction. “Let’s get a team out there to see if anything’s going on.” He could feel Delia’s sudden tension beside him.
“Will do,” Harris said. “But there’s something else. I got a call from Merhaine that the Vampire Guard hasn’t been able to locate Mastyr Gerrod for the past couple of hours. It’s probably nothing, but about five minutes ago, I got a similar call from one of Mastyr Ethan’s lieutenants.”
“And you tried reaching them both?”
“I tried my cell and telepathy. Couldn’t make contact with either of them. Of course, there could be lots of reasons, but it seemed odd.”
“It does seem odd. Stay on that situation, would you? And if in the next hour or so, you still can’t firm up a connection, let me know.”
Harris nodded. “Also, did you see the latest analysis sheet on several of the western villages? Charborne was one of them.”
“It was next on my list.” For the past several months, the ruling mastyrs had hired several data analysts to compile numbers from as far back as each realm had written information on hand. Some of the realms had records from eight centuries ago.
Harris added, “In Tannisford, Charborne is one of the places that’s had higher-than-usual Invictus sightings century after century.”
Delia set her hands on her keyboard. “Let me pull it up.” She tapped on her computer and quickly scrolled through her files. It wasn’t lost on Stone that her fingers trembled. Yet, she kept on working.
When she found the document, she levitated to Stone’s shoulder height and passed her laptop to him.
He scanned the list and there it was. Charborne had one of the highest recurrence rates in Tannisford and ranked tenth in all Nine Realms. He handed her laptop back. “That settles it. We need to get out there. Harris, take several squads. As soon as you have confirmation of even one wraith-pair, let me know.”
Harris nodded, then headed toward the door. Stone could hear him talking quietly into his shoulder com and issuing orders.
So much had changed throughout the Nine Realms over the past few years. All the mastyrs had upgraded to more efficient methods of communication. Not every realm-person could communicate through telepathy and even those that could were often limited by distance.
As for the gold mine, he remembered a small operation that started up about two-hundred-and-fifty-years ago.
Delia said, “Sorry that it had to be Charborne.”
He avoided meeting Delia’s gaze. “It’s okay. All that matters is that we get this sorted, the sooner the better, and bring Elias home.”
“So, do you know where the mine is?” She settled her laptop back on her desk.
Stone frowned at the screen. “Pull up a topographical map of the area and I can show you exactly what we’re looking at. The good news here is that I think the mine is at the edge of a densely wooded area. If there was an attack in the vicinity, Elias was in the right location to secure a hiding place.”
Delia did her magic and a few seconds later, Stone had the laptop once more in hand. He scrolled again, then put his finger on the spot. There was even a pick-axe graphic, typical of maps showing mine locations. “The mine is about five hundred yards north of Charbeetle Creek. I’ll let Harris know.”
“Thank you.” Delia buried her face in her hands. He could see by the movements of her shoulders she’d lost it. But he’d been with her a long time. She was a woman with grit and would come around soon enough. In the meantime, he settled his hand on her shoulder and kept it there.
There was nothing to do now except wait.
His thoughts, as usual, turned to Aralynn. If a heavy Invictus attack was going on out at Charborne, he suspected it wouldn’t be long before Aralynn contacted him. Though she was predominantly wolf-shifter, her powerful fae abilities had more than once clued him in on a dangerous situation in Tannisford, things that his Guard patrols or village-mounted cameras weren’t catching. But why her fae visions hadn’t picked up on this situation before, he didn’t know.
Unless, of course, Margetta herself had her hands in it. She had enough power to render the camera feeds useless and to disguise the area from outsiders. The more he thought about it, his own vampire instincts began to curl and writhe inside him.
The Ancient Fae had to be involved.
But where was Aralynn?
~ ~ ~
Rosamunde paced her private living room situated at the less formal west end of the castle. She could feel the sacred elf-lord power rumbling at a distance, which meant something was afoot in Tannisford and Stone would need her soon. She’d learned from experience to let the visions come when they wanted, not to force them.
But she was in deep trouble with Stone because if he ever learned the truth about her, that she was both Rosamunde and Aralynn, he’d never forgive her. The man had a hard head and a stubborn streak a mile wide.
A moan left her throat and she actually wrung her hands. Somewhere in the middle of partnering with Stone, the worst had happened: She was pretty sure she’d fallen in love with the intractable mastyr of Tannisford.
Goddess help her!
She had more secrets locked away as well, each of which could set an impenetrable block wall between herself and Stone. Because of it, she’d become a ridiculous tangle of nerves.
She’d tried to tell Stone the truth more than once, especially when he’d almost kissed her the night before while she’d been in her Aralynn form. But the words had gotten stuck in her throat as though they’d grown claws and held on for good.
She was in so much trouble especially because Stone didn’t respect her as Rosamunde. He thought her lazy, uncaring and cowardly.
“Did you summon me?”
The woman’s voice startled her. She whirled around and there was Vojalie, the tall elegant fae who had served as her counselor for centuries.
She threw her hands wide. “Yes. Vojalie, I can’t do this anymore.”
“Can’t do what?”
“Keep being Aralynn when I’m with Stone when he doesn’t know that I’m Rosamunde as well. I want to quit.”
“But I thought you were enjoying your missions with Stone. You begged for years to be allowed to participate in the war in a substantial way and now you are.” There was an amused light in Vojalie’s eye.
“Are you laughing at me?”
“A little, but what did you expect? You’ve always had a thing for Stone, even at a distance.”
Rosamunde dropped onto an ottoman, shoulders slumped. “You’re right and I’ve become this ridiculous, weak-kneed female that I hardly recognize.” She shifted her gaze to Vojalie’s. “He only has to look at me with those beautiful mossy-
green eyes of his and I swear I starting melting into a puddle. Have you ever experienced anything like that in your life?”
Rosamunde didn’t miss the soft light that entered Vojalie’s eyes. “Oh, yes. With Davido. All the time. Still.”
Rosamunde found it very hard to believe. Davido was the ugliest troll she’d ever seen. How could Vojalie have what was obviously a full-on lust for the man?
On the other hand, Davido’s charisma was pretty much off the charts, so perhaps that was the reason he’d wooed and won the most beautiful fae in the Nine Realms.
Vojalie gave herself a shake and drew close. She even settled her hand on Rosamunde’s shoulder. “Stone has a severe bark and a quick temper. We both know that. Tell him the truth, tell him who you are. He’ll understand. Eventually.”
“He’ll take my head off. You know how much he despises this woman.” She waved a hand to encompass her long silk gown and the intricate braids she wore.
Vojalie’s lips quirked once more and her eyes danced. “That he does. But I must say, it’s only because you’ve done a very poor job at helping him to understand that you’ve single-handedly protected the entire Nine Realms against Margetta all these years.”
“He scoffed when I told him, I mean when ‘Aralynn’ told him. He basically said that ‘Rosamunde’ was indolent. Maybe I was … am … I don’t know. I’m very confused.”
“You’re halfway in love with him, is all. And sometimes it makes it hard to find the right words.”
At that, Rosamunde grew very still. “I’ve tried to tell him that ‘Rosamunde’ found it difficult to leave Ferrenden Peace because supporting the mist was that important. And it is, I know it is. I remember when I went to heal Lorelei in Walvashorr, I was so afraid Margetta would realize Ferrenden Peace was unguarded. I’m still afraid, even now, when I leave my kingdom to run missions with Stone.”
“You’re afraid, even though Davido and I are helping to support the mist?”
“Yes. Even then. But only because I know what Margetta is capable of.” She rose slowly to her feet and met Vojalie eye-to-eye. They were both tall women. “I love our land so much and our people. I haven’t begrudged the sacrifice of service I’ve had to endure, not even a little.”
“Or the loneliness?” Vojalie brushed her fingers over Rosamunde’s cheek. “Davido and I both have felt for your plight and we value so much what you’ve done for our world. Would you like me to talk to Stone? Ease the way?”
“Oh, no, please, no never. I must figure this out. I just don’t have your confidence that he’ll understand.”
Vojalie moved to sit down on the sofa. “So, did he kiss you last night?”
Rosamunde gasped, a long, odd sound. She even squeezed her eyes shut at the memory. “He wanted to and I wanted him to. We came so close, but I couldn’t go through with it.”
Vojalie giggled. “I feel very guilty about this because I’m enjoying your experience like a schoolgirl sharing secrets. So, do you think you’ll let him tonight?”
“No. I can’t. It would be very bad. He needs to know that Aralynn is Rosamunde.” She put a hand to her chest.
“Well, if you want my advice—”
“Always.”
Vojalie’s lips curved. “Personally, I think you’re being overly fastidious. Why not let the relationship with Stone, as Aralynn, take its course. I believe somewhere in there the situation will resolve itself in a very natural way. He’ll come to see you as the brave wolf with whom he runs dangerous missions and the woman who has for centuries kept Margetta away from the elf-lord power that resides in Ferrenden Peace.”
Rosamunde forced herself to relax and to consider Vojalie’s counsel. The truth was, she craved a physical relationship with Stone. At times, when she was near him in her wild wolf form, she didn’t know how she kept from jumping him.
What she really feared was that if he ever did kiss her, she wouldn’t be able to hold back, which was why, last night, she’d panicked. She was still embarrassed that she’d teleported away from him just before his lips touched hers.
Once again, the familiar power of her kingdom, built on elf-lord power, began to rumble. It was a sacred vibration she’d known for the past thousand years. This power, which Davido had once explained to her as the same source that gave rise to the infamous elf-lords, was what helped all three of them sustain the mist veil around Ferrenden Peace.
While both Davido and Vojalie seemed unaffected by using the power, the moment it touched Rosamunde, searing pain drove through her body. She simply didn’t have enough natural ability to bear the vibrations easily, not like her mother, Evelyn, when she’d been the queen.
Rosamunde had lived with this pain every night of her thousand years and there was nothing she could do about it, but let it flow. Until recent weeks, the elf-lord power had served a sole purpose in renewing her strength nightly to sustain the mist. Now, however, that she ran missions with Stone, the pulsing energy also delivered up the visions that allowed her to see where the Invictus wraith-pairs were harming realm-folk.
As she opened herself up, the power surged and every muscle in both legs cramped until the only way she could remain upright was to levitate. She focused her energy in her arms and shoulders in order to remain in a standing position.
She breathed through the pain until she could let the power flow. As soon as it did, she began quickly to rebuild the veil of mist, a process she repeated every night.
What she couldn’t get Stone to understand or perhaps to believe was that Vojalie was right; Rosamunde had been the sole reason Margetta had so far failed to conquer the Nine Realms. If the Ancient Fae, as Margetta was known, had once accessed the elf-lord power that originated in Ferrenden Peace and which caused Rosamunde so much nightly pain, Margetta would have funneled that power into her war machine. A thousand years of her savage rule would have come to every citizen of the Nine Realms.
She felt the veil of mist grow stronger and as it did, the pain dissipated.
She’d never told anyone about her suffering except Vojalie and Davido. The powerful fae had tried to work with her to help her channel the power better but it had come down to something very simple: Rosamunde did not have the proper physical structure for the process.
As the stream of energy receded, Rosamunde dropped from her levitating state to the woven carpet on her stone living room floor.
Vojalie was with her immediately. “I’m so sorry you’ve had to endure this.”
“Actually, I’m not.” And she wasn’t. If she’d obeyed her mother as a child, Evelyn would still be alive. A thousand years of pain seemed like a small punishment for being the cause of her own mother’s death.
She took a couple of deep breaths, grateful the pain was gone. “Thank you for coming to me tonight and lending your counsel. I don’t easily go-with-the-flow, but I will try to where Stone is concerned. As for the mist, I’ve repaired it fully so you and Davido shouldn’t have any problems. Will you both be at Joseph’s for the evening?”
Vojalie snickered. “That forest gremlin should be shot. Have you seen his lair lately? I vow he has enough stolen goods in there to support a small nation.”
“He’s hopeless, yet somehow I adore him.” She’d met Joseph a few decades ago when he’d been trying to steal a birdbath from her private castle garden. She’d never met a forest gremlin before. In fact, realm-folk rarely ever saw them. Yet, Joseph had stood there, then commented that she was as pretty as a sunset, what with her red hair and violet eyes.
He’d become an occasional confidante, though she reminded herself that self-interest would always define a forest gremlin and Joseph no less so. He’d left the garden without taking the birdbath, but by the next evening, the small stone edifice was gone. She hadn’t been able to figure out how he’d managed it until he invited her to take tea in his underground dwelling. When she saw his intricate system of pulleys and rolling carts, she understood how the eighteen-inch tall creature had managed the theft.
Rosamunde shrugged. “He’s a good man, he loves his wife, and he does everything he can to keep impressing her with his thieving abilities. The truth is, I hold him in great affection, though there are times I want to kill him.”
“Same here.” When Vojalie laughed, Rosamunde joined her. After a moment, Vojalie continued, “Davido is with him now and will be there through the night.”
“But not you?”
“Not this time. Bernice has been cutting molars and is miserable without me, so I’ll be returning to Merhaine to care for her. Don’t worry, though. Davido can support the mist by himself.”
“I’m sure he can.” The old troll had more power than any realm-person she knew.
But there was a sudden odd light in Vojalie’s eye, one of serious concern. Yet, she remained silent.
Rosamunde watched her for a moment. “What are you not telling me?”
Vojalie caught both her hands and squeezed them hard. “You’ll need to be strong tonight, Rosamunde, stronger than you’ve ever been. And for the next few nights, as well. My instincts tell me we’re fast reaching a crisis with the Ancient Fae. But that’s all I can tell you. I can’t even give you a direction for my concern.”
Rosamunde squeezed her hands back. “Thank you for the warning and please don’t worry about it. I’ve been feeling something similar.” Looking into the future was a difficult and not always advisable undertaking. Sometimes it was better not to know too much.
Rosamunde felt a new soft vibration in the air, very fae. She also felt the elf-lord power ramping up again.
Vojalie looked around and lifted her arms. “I can feel that Stone needs you, or rather Aralynn. I’m getting something about Charborne, the village where Stone grew up.”
“Me, too. And a vision is coming.”
“I’ll stay with you.”
“Thank you.”
Rosamunde closed her eyes and accepted the terrible pain all over again. Because it was the second wave of the evening, she bore it better than the first.
