by A Lonergan
Copyright © 2020 by A. Lonergan
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Assassin’s Liege
Tales from the Mirror Realm book 2
A. Lonergan
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Acknowledgments
Also by A. Lonergan
About the Author
Chapter One
Willow
There were so many things that could go wrong. I was terrified to even think of them all. "There has to be another way." I said to Cal Coliver, the King of Rosalia. The King that had, at one point, stolen my heart. Then somehow he lost it, but that was a story for another time.
We were at a crossroads. We had to either remove Ifrīt's eyes or try to destroy her. After our little run-in down the hallway a week ago, and she hadn't exactly been herself. Meaning Prince Viridian, from the Elven Kingdom, had possessed her, using her magic twin Marîd and came after me. There were threats made, and general hysteria on my part, but Cal had managed to free her from the spell temporarily. Because of this temporary thing, it left us in an odd spot, because this kind of thing would definitely happen again. And if it did, we wouldn't be able to stop her.
Djinn were some of the most powerful beings in the realm, right next to dragons. But dragons had been extinct for nearly a decade. I didn't know of any other creature that ranked above them. Witches were powerful but I didn't know of any to surpass that of a genie. That would have been talked about, I was sure of it.
Cal had a blindfold on Ifrīt as we led her down the damp stairs to the dungeon. It smelled like mildew, and the genie would know where we were headed. The only thing that worried me was bringing the genie so close to Armia, Cal's pregnant sister. I couldn't voice my thoughts on the matter in front of the genie, but it was a pretty big concern.
"Ifrīt, I don't know if I can do this." Cal snapped his fingers and the smell of rot and stagnant water went away.
Ifrīt stopped walking. "I will walk you through it."
Cal nodded his head. The lighting was minimal down here, but I could still see the fear on his face. I knew he had been bred for war, and I knew he had had to do some pretty bad things at some point, like I did, but doing something like this to someone you were trying to protect was pretty intense.
I opened the cell door and Cal led the genie in. He removed her blindfold, not that it mattered. I didn't know why he had insisted on the silly thing to begin with, but maybe he needed to feel safe in some way even if it was insignificant. Ifrīt blinked up at him. "You brought what I asked?"
The velvet bag felt treacherous in my hands. It wasn't the same one Armia had used on us, but it still felt wrong, like I was siding with evil. The tools inside it clanked together as I surrendered the bag.
"Can't we use magic? Wouldn't this be easier? You specialize in healing magic." I whispered.
Cal shook his head. "No, it's not a good idea. Magic can be reversed sometimes. It's better this way." He pulled out a long spoon looking device.
I swallowed hard. "Is that used to take eyeballs out when torturing?"
Cal didn't say anything. He just turned his back on me and faced my friend. "I can't guarantee this won't hurt. But I promise to heal you immediately afterward."
Ifrīt shook her head. "No, don't. Magic can be reversed, remember?"
Her screams would haunt me for the rest of my life. They started out as whimpers then slowly grew until they could curdle keffer's milk. When both eyes were successfully extracted, Ifrīt got up from where she had been sitting, found the corner and curled into a ball. She continued to whimper until Cal finally spoke.
"What do I do?"
Ifrīt's voice shook. "Willow brought the jar, right?" I held it up even though she couldn't confirm it. Cal took it from me and placed the eyes in it. I had done a lot of things, a lot of terrible things under my past Emperor's command, but taking someone's eyeballs wasn't on that list. My stomach lurched and I had to leave the cell. Ifrīt continued, “you’ll be able to put them back. Eventually, when all of this is over.”
Something occurred to me. “How is this possible? Don’t they have your lamps?”
“Marîd sacrificed herself for me. It’s one lamp, remember? Lamp sisters. There are a lot of loopholes. She told me to tell you our names, our birth names. But I’m not ready yet. Take the eyes and hide them, defeat Armia, bring my sister home. Please.”
Her voice broke me. I pressed my back into the iron bars and tried to keep my sobs under control. All of these people had managed to wiggle their way into my heart and soul. It was overbearing and new.
I grasped the bars between my hands to keep me upright. “Ifrīt, we will do exactly that.”
I didn’t look up as I raced from the dungeons. My feet slapped the wet floor and the sounds echoed around me, but I didn’t care. I wasn’t looking for stealth. I was trying to get out of there as quickly as possible. I was determined. Nothing was going to stop me from making this right. We had to prepare the troops. We had to get out of this rutting castle and do something. Anything. I couldn’t sit here and let the djinn suffer any longer. It wasn’t an option.
I threw my body into my mother’s chambers. She was sitting in front of her fireplace with a large book between her hands. She smiled at me until she saw my horrified expression. “Are you all right?”
Sobs wracked my chest. Snot dribbled from my nose and my head shook as I crumbled to the floor. I had never experienced so much emotion. I had never needed to experience things so strongly before. It had always been in check and hidden if I felt like I was going to break. This time, I was really broken. Terribly broken.
Mother closed the book and unfolded herself from her chair. Her long hair was unbound today, she brushed it over her shoulder before she made her way to me. “There’s no need for all of that.”
She sunk to the floor in front of me and pulled me into her arms. I didn’t move. I couldn’t as she wrapped her arms around mine and held me. She had never been able to do that before. It hasn’t been permitted. I couldn’t remember a single instance that she had ever comforted me or showed me affection. She ran her hands down my hair and picked my face up. “Is this about Ifrīt?”
My head moved on its own accord. Up and down in a jerky
movement that resembled a nod. She smelled like spring, like when all the flowers were blooming. It helped me feel a little better, but not as much as I hoped it would.
"I have never experienced interactions with others like this before. I don't know how I should feel." It felt like a weight was crushing my chest. I hiccuped.
"It will get easier, it means you aren't broken. It means that you know how to feel properly and honestly. That's the biggest relief because I was always afraid you would be like all the other soldiers. Mindless." Mother pulled us up off of the floor and smoothed the stupid dress she had talked me into wearing. She brushed the loose strands of my hair from my face and kissed my forehead. "It will get easier. Grief is a part of the process."
Chapter Two
Willow
I shot upright in bed. Not because Nico, one of the King's Guard, was waking me up entirely too early, but because I could hear him and other men marching down the hall. My heart was thundering in my chest, and my breathing picked up.
For a moment, I had a brief flash of panic. The panic I would have had if I had still been in the servant quarters pretending to be someone I wasn't. But that was no longer the case. I was still very much welcome here, or I had been. Last I had checked nothing had changed. The only thing that had changed was the sexual tension between the King and I.
I leaned against the headboard and tried to calm myself. There was no need in getting myself worked up now. My eyes flicked the windows. It was still dark out, which meant I had plenty of time to get some more sleep.
Except, I didn't. A knock on the door confirmed it. "Come in."
I crossed my arms over my bare chest and tried to keep a straight face as Nico noticed I wasn't dressed and his eyes searched the room, like he was looking for Cal.
"I find it easier to sleep in the nude. The clothes don't hinder me in case I need to fight. Modesty was different in Arinal." It was different but Nico's reaction was amusing me far too much. I kept my chest covered with one arm, while I pulled the blankets up with the other. "Good thing you didn't try to surprise me again this morning or you would have gotten a show, and a quick death."
Nico rolled his eyes and tried to remain stoic, even though his face was stained pink. "We need to leave. I hope you are packed. If not, you have only a few moments to do so. The King has requested your appearance immediately. We can't delay."
My heart rate skyrocketed again. This was it. "We are heading into the mountains?"
Nico gave me a solemn nod. "I think so. There have been recent developments from the scouts. We can no longer delay."
I nodded my head. "All I need to do is get my bag, and speak to my mother."
Nico went to close the door behind him. "She's waiting with Cal."
"Thank you." All I needed was my leathers and a bandeau. It was better for fighting in and the rest of my clothes were in my leather bag. Per my mother's request, there was a gown and a night shift. I hated both of them, but I would oblige. I was the only woman marching into battle with all of these men. I could understand her fears of my joy in sleeping naked or my tight clothing, but she didn't know of all of my conquests, either. I had gutted many men for touching me or thinking I was their property. I could set a man straight quickly and efficiently. Her fears would do nothing but cloud judgment. Though they were understandable.
My pack was heavy against my back, but it was also comforting. It gave me nostalgia for all the times I had packed it to go after my bounties. Though I hadn't enjoyed the killing, the adventures had given me many fond memories.
The throne room was packed, and I had almost wished I had dressed a little better. Judging by the expression on my mother's face, she had wished it, too. She took in my tight pants, and my uncovered torso and scowled. Her lips pressed together in a thin line and she turned away from me. Cal's eyes remained on my face, and my feelings were almost hurt. I could feel the eyes of the men and their families as I held my head high. There wasn't one single person in that room that frightened me. Nico stood by my side as Cal addressed his men.
"It is terribly late into the night, and for that, I am truly sorry. The time has come for us to march forward into battle. Please, take a few moments to tell your families goodbye. We will be gone for many months, possibly longer. This journey will be treacherous, and some of us will not return." Cal cleared his throat. His eyebrows were drawn together in anguish, and I knew he didn't want to deliver this speech. I knew more than anyone else how much this pained him. "We have a duty to Rosalia, we must protect her with everything we have. We can't let these walls fall to Armia's men. We cannot let her treachery back into our homeland. I will not allow it. Stand with me and defend this kingdom."
Shouts rang out in the hall as the army agreed with their king and pledged their loyalty.
"Go home, kiss your loved ones. We will meet at the city gates at dawn."
Carriages were overflowing as they left the castle. Madam Colver had her checklist ready as they rolled past her. She huffed and puffed as she moved around the large contraptions.
I crossed my arms over my chest while I watched her. "Something is bothering you."
Madam Colver was worked up about something. She didn't stop her inspections. "Stop trying to distract me."
"I'm not trying to distract you, I'm trying to talk to you." I slammed the carriage door closed and came face to face with her. Her skin was bright pink and her eyes that changed colors flitted anywhere but me.
"I don't like this mission."
“What’s wrong with it?” I asked, even though I knew everything that was wrong with the mission. I knew what we were facing marching into a battle like this. I knew every single thing that could and would go wrong.
"You are marching into uncharted territory, and you are bringing more supplies than even you know what to do with. You are all going into this with crap in your pants, and your knees shaking."
I looked down at myself and smirked. "Last I checked, I wasn't scared of much. There is no shaking, or rutting crap going on here."
"Regardless, this is a suicide mission, and all of you know that. Including the King. Do you know how many have marched through the mountains and haven't come back?" Madam Colver threw her booklet. "Stupid. It matters not on the supplies you have. They will not last out there."
"How many?"
"It doesn't matter." my mother said behind me. "You will have something that none of those scouts had."
I turned around surprised. "What?"
My mother gave me a grim look. "When we fled Arinal there weren't many things I took with me in my haste. I should have thought out my escape plan more thoroughly before. I grabbed the first thing I knew would help us if we needed it." She held out her shaking hands. Inside of her tan hands lay a journal. There was no way it could be helpful. It looked brand new. "It was your father's."
I tried my hardest to keep myself upright, but I had to grab the door on the carriage to keep me standing. I swallowed hard. There was no way. It was in pristine condition. My father had been gone for years. How had it managed to stay like this?
My mother continued, while Madam Colver picked her papers off of the cobblestones under our feet. "It was his field journal while he traveled through the Mystic Mountains."
"There's no way," I whispered.
"He wanted you to have it, but as much as I knew you needed it too, I couldn't part with it. I also knew that it couldn't get in the wrong hands. Every mission had me on the edge. I knew you needed it, but if it had been captured, all this information would have been lost. It's more important for you to have now."
I bent over and dug into my boot. I felt the crisp edge of the picture and pulled it free from the material around my ankle. "I was going to bring this with me, but if I need his words, then you need his spirit."
My mother clutched the picture to her chest and tears spilled down her cheeks. "Follow the journal, and it will see you safely through. I know the mountains are different around Arinal, but they are ful
l of magic and will twist and turn like a labyrinth. There will be things in there that will haunt your nightmares, and there will be people in there too."
"I said there are creatures in there. There are witches that are more powerful than the djinn you seek to protect. Befriend the ones you can, and leave the others be. I can promise you the elves have been making things hard on the ones that live there." She grabbed my arms and pulled me in for a hug. Her hand ran down my neck, and her body shook as she pulled away. "Madam Colver is right, these provisions will not last in the extreme conditions you are about to encounter."
Chapter Three
Cal
I was ready. Battle thrummed through my veins. I sheathed my sword and the sound of metal on metal had me going. Chills lit up my arms, and my body hummed with ecstasy. This is what I was born for, not running a kingdom and parading around like some pretty boy.
Nothing could bring me down from this feeling-
"What do you mean? You can’t bring the horses out there with us!" Willow shouted.
I stood corrected. She could bring me down from my battle cry, but usually it wasn't in annoyance. I closed my eyes, buckled my sword to my waist, and turned around just as Willow threw a book at Nico's face. He didn't move out of the way as the leather-bound booklet, no bigger than one of Willow's daggers, bounced off of his forehead. He blinked at the stunning woman before he bent over and retrieved the book she had chucked at him. Willow snatched it from his fingers and marched away.
