The Black Fortress

by E. G. Foley

  “Hmm,” said the dwarves, stroking their beards.

  Jake saw his uncle send him a discreet nod of approval. Why, the diplomat looked quite impressed.

  Encouraged, Jake looked around sincerely at the dwarves. “I’m not the expert that you are, sirs, but, to me, it seems most economical to take precautions now instead of waiting for a crisis.”

  “The lad speaks sense,” Ufudd declared, nodding at Jake.

  “Very well, Lord Griffon,” the mayor said begrudgingly. “How would you suggest that we proceed?”

  “Um…” Jake floundered for a moment. He knew that as Red’s owner, the dwarves gave him extra respect.

  His large, feathered pet looked at him expectantly.

  Better think of something quick.

  Aunt Claire arched a brow in amusement, waiting to hear his response.

  “Well,” he ventured, “perhaps you all could work in shifts. Half of your usual crew continuing with your mining output, as planned, while the other half sees to the defenses. I would have them check armaments, make sure you’re well supplied, survey the walls for any weakened sections that might be vulnerable to attack. I’m sure you’d want to set a watchman over the water entrances, as well—the underground rivers and such.”

  The dwarf leaders looked at each other, then began murmuring among themselves.

  “If we could keep production going, then maybe we wouldn’t fall too badly behind…”

  “Doesn’t sound too terribly impractical…”

  “Warlocks aside, I have noticed a few spots were the walls could use some shoring up. Maintenance…”

  Uncle Richard sent Jake a proud wink as the dwarves convinced themselves of the wisdom of his plan and came out acting like the whole thing had been their own idea from the beginning.

  Jake hid his grin, happy to be of help. He might never be chosen for a Lightrider, but maybe, just maybe, if he followed in his aunt and uncle’s footsteps, he could be a half-decent diplomat someday.

  Later that evening, when he shared that possibility with Dani, she gave him a playful shove. “That’s fantastic! I can be your Lightrider and you can be my Princess Pansy!”

  He scowled at her. “Princess Pansy, eh?”

  “Hurry, they’re coming!” she teased.

  In reply, Jake levitated her off the ground, hardly for the first time.

  “Put me down!” She screeched and kicked her feet, to no avail, giggling indignantly—until he floated her out over the little subterranean river where Emrys and Ufudd had once taken them on a boat ride.

  “No, Jake, no!” Her pleas turned genuinely panicked. “The Bud of Life! I can’t get it wet! Put me back!”

  “Oops, sorry. Forgot.” He quickly returned her to dry ground, whereupon she whacked him in the arm.

  “Ow.” He rubbed his biceps. “Guess I deserved that.”

  “Yes, you did!” she declared.

  Later that night, she sat beside him again as the dwarves treated them to another concert, but the kids had already been given the order that the diplomatic party would be moving on in the morning. Now that the dwarves had made their defense plan, the leaders of Waterfall Village were eager for their guests to leave, for there was much work to be done.

  You wouldn’t know it by their fine hospitality, though. The second night’s kingly feast was even more delicious than the first, and a different group sang to entertain them—a large, all-ages choir.

  Their music was simply beautiful, powerful, swirling harmonies deep with emotion. An orchestra accompanied them, and as their poignant melodies resonated through the soaring stone cavern, the Illuminium sparkled overhead.

  They finished a wistful song, and the whole audience held its breath for a moment, still enraptured—and it was then, during that brief pause, that Jake heard a small sob to his right.

  As thunderous applause erupted, he looked over and saw Izzy rise and hurry out, brushing away a tear.

  Good Lord! The poor girl was bawling from the music. The heartfelt songs of the dwarves must have stirred her sensitive emotions, forcing her to leave in embarrassment so she could regain her composure in private.

  Poor thing, Jake thought. He knew she had been tightly wound of late. All the darkness gathering in the world was really starting to get to her.

  When she quietly slipped out of the concert hall by herself, Janos glanced after her, then sent Jake an annoyed frown.

  “I’ll keep an eye on her,” the vampire whispered, then rose and left without a sound.

  Maddox scowled as Janos followed Isabelle.

  “Oh, relax,” Jake chided under his breath. “He’s on security detail.”

  Maddox gave Jake a dubious look, but resisted the urge to go after them and remained in his chair.

  Jake would’ve stopped his friend from following them, anyway, because Janos and Izzy still hadn’t made up. They were both clearly suffering, and it was obvious they really needed to talk.

  Maybe once those two cleared the air, then the dark cloud the whole group seemed to be traveling under would finally abate. Their hosts’ hospitality was flawless, but feasting and song could only fix so much.

  He hoped the pair managed to make peace. He hated seeing people he cared about in pain, and those two usually made each other so happy.

  CHAPTER 51

  Discovery by Moonlight

  Isabelle wiped away the tears flowing hotly down her cheeks as the dwarves’ gorgeous song faded behind her. She didn’t really know why she was crying, could not put it into words. The music had stirred some deep well of feeling in her heart and she couldn’t seem to help it.

  God, it was embarrassing to be so oversensitive.

  She knew she ought to toughen up somehow. But who else could she be than who she was?

  And who she was right now could not stand being underground one moment longer. She needed to see the sky, smell the breeze…

  Having walked out blindly through an iron-reinforced side door of the mine, she welcomed the cool night air on her face. It soothed her.

  Silver moonlight danced on the meadow before her, beyond which lay the unicorn forest.

  Finally quieting her sobs, Izzy dabbed at her nose and decided to go and check on the herd that lived on this additional family property.

  Jake owned a few thousand acres here as part of his charming woodland estate called Plass-y-Fforest. While the dwarves inhabited the underground spaces, the woods had been set aside as another safe unicorn preserve, like Bradford Park.

  The herd here had been doing well last time they’d visited, she recalled. It seemed a lifetime ago.

  Taking a deep breath to try to shake off her emotional outburst, she began walking out across the wildflower field, through the tall grass, savoring the night breeze.

  When she reached the middle of the meadow, she paused and tilted her head, gazing up at the starry skies.

  She just stood that way for a long moment, counting constellations, marveling at the moon, and then, gradually, although she’d heard nothing, she sensed Janos from some distance behind her.

  Stealthy vampire, she had not even heard him come out.

  She turned around and saw him standing back by the iron door. Watching over her from a distance with those keen eyes of his.

  Izzy stared at him, wondering why he even bothered, since it was clear that he despised her now for whatever reason. With that thought, she suddenly wondered if she was quite safe. If he really hated her, perhaps he might hurt her.

  He must’ve read that fleeting worry in her mind, for he snorted aloud.

  “You shouldn’t be out here by yourself,” he said. “Come back inside.”

  She bristled. “Don’t tell me what to do.”

  He let out a weary sigh at her retort. But Isabelle did not know what to say to him, so she just turned away and started walking through the tall grass toward the woods.

  In a heartbeat, he whooshed across the field in a puff of smoke to rematerialize beside her, and the nex
t thing she knew, he was strolling along by her side as though nothing had changed between them.

  She huffed at his intrusion, looking askance at him. “What are you doing?”

  “What does it look like? I’m guarding you. I’m a Guardian, remember?”

  “Is that what you are?” she said under her breath.

  “Isabelle.” His tone was cajoling.

  “What?” she retorted, turning to him with a mutinous stare and folding her arms across her chest.

  Janos stopped as well, gazing at her with a mix of sadness and frustration. “Isabelle…I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. Surely you know that. I was hurt. Badly.”

  “Of course you were, and of course I know that. But why did you—”

  “Fine. Do you really want to know?” he interrupted, looking vexed to have to answer for his actions.

  “Yes! Why were you so mean to me?” She gazed up at him imploringly. The moonlight glimmered on his chiseled face, dancing across his high cheekbones and smooth, pale forehead. He looked away.

  “I dunno… I guess I wanted someone else to feel the pain too.” He looked back at her, a flicker of shame in his eyes. “It was more than I could carry on my own at just that moment, but— Oh, never mind! Excuses won’t do. I was wrong. I was rude. And I am sorry.”

  She stared at him, still confused.

  He tilted his head. “What?”

  “I don’t understand you,” she whispered. “You reached into my mind; you placed your own thoughts there, and did I not respond as you desired? I immediately helped you. You knew I would. And then you turned around and cut me to the quick. It makes no sense. What did I do that was so wrong?”

  “Nothing!” He gripped her shoulders and searched her eyes. “Izzy, I promise, you did nothing wrong. Nothing at all. It was all me.” He released his hold on her too quickly and dropped his gaze. “As I’ve told you, I’m a bad person. Everybody knows that.”

  She did not know what to say to that. Many believed so. He clearly did. It did not feel true to her.

  “Would you stop reading me?” he said in exasperation.

  “Stop reading me!” she cried, blushing that he’d caught her.

  Janos shook his head, staring deep into her eyes. “You see too much, little one.”

  “So do you,” she replied. Then—she hardly knew why—she inwardly opened her heart and mind and gazed at him, devoid of defenses.

  She had nothing to hide. And since he could read her mind, he probably knew by now how much her feelings toward him had changed.

  His green eyes flickered, but he shook his head slowly. “You are too young, sweet.”

  “But I will catch up to you someday,” she whispered. “You don’t age; I do. It won’t be long now.”

  He turned away and swallowed hard. “You mustn’t say such things,” he said in a hollow voice. “It’s foolishness.”

  “Then why can’t I forget you?” She trembled a little as the words tumbled out. “This is terrible. It hurts all the time.”

  “Isabelle, it’s delusion. You know that. It’s probably just some stupid glamour that comes with the fangs, one I can’t even control—”

  “I don’t believe that! All your flirting with me…”

  “I wish I’d never done it. I was joking!” He turned back to her.

  “No, you weren’t,” she said. “I’m an empath, Janos. I know. You need me.” Her heart pounded as she trapped him in his lies. “You love me,” she added slowly, shocked at her own boldness. “You don’t want to; I realize that. All the same, I am glad.”

  Janos shut his eyes.

  As her gaze traveled down his strong shoulders and chest, Izzy almost dared to reach out and touch him, but thought better of it.

  “Fine,” he said in a low, rather tormented voice. “You want to know why I blamed you? Because I did it for you. The things that got my family killed.”

  He stared at her with fierce intensity. “I’m no hero, Isabelle. Left to my own devices, I’d have been quite content to go on living in the gray zone between good and evil, only looking out for myself. But then he had to go and threaten you. Wyvern.”

  The way he said the warlock’s name sent a shiver down her spine.

  “I couldn’t let him hurt you. So I went with him to the Black Fortress. He made me choose, and I chose you. Just once, I wanted to do what was right. But I never expected the cost to be quite so high. He killed my children.”

  Her heart clenched. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered.

  Tilting his head with a sad smile, Janos lifted his hand and cupped her cheek in his palm. His touch was cool and smooth.

  “You have nothing to apologize for. When I came back that night, it wasn’t you I was angry at, but at him. And, most of all, myself.”

  It was just like Jake had theorized, she thought. But she wanted to hear it from Janos. “Why were you angry at yourself? For not being able to protect them?”

  “No. Not in the main.” Dropping his hand back down to his side, he let out a great sigh. He was silent for a long moment. “It was because when they died, a part of me was glad.” He shook his head. “I really am a monster.”

  “No, you’re not.”

  He gazed at the trees, clearly wrestling with himself. “They were mine and I loved them in my way, but they never should have existed… The fruit of all my sins.” He looked at her grimly again, very much a Guardian once more, stoic and blunt. “The hard truth is, the world is better off without them. Just as it would be better off without me.”

  “No! Janos, don’t say that.” She clutched his forearm.

  “Why not? It’s true.”

  “I wouldn’t be better off! Janos—sometimes I feel as though you’re the only one who really understands me.”

  His lips quirked with a careworn smile. Likewise, he admitted telepathically, as if he dared not say it out loud.

  She stepped closer. “Janos, I really think—”

  “Isabelle, no.” He shook his head, set her back gently at arm’s length, and gave her a pained look. “You are as dear to me as the memory of dawn. But that is all it can ever be.”

  He sounded very sure.

  She drew back, wounded. “But why?”

  “You know perfectly well why, Isabelle,” he said, forcing his usual sardonic cheer.

  “Because you’re a vampire.”

  “Obviously.”

  “But I cannot leave you alone forever in the darkness!” she cried.

  He arched a brow, then chuckled at her dramatic announcement. “Eh, I’ll be fine,” he said with a wave, making light of his own damnation.

  “But Janos—”

  “No, Isabelle,” he said firmly, though his gaze was tender. “I’ll never drag you down with me.”

  “But I already know I will love you forever!”

  “Oh, God,” he muttered, rolling his eyes. “Listen to me.” With an indulgent smile, he gathered both of her hands in his and held them as lightly as if they were baby birds with the most delicate bones. “Here’s what you must do.”

  “Yes?” she asked eagerly, ready to promise him anything.

  “Go have a Season or two or three. Dance with a hundred suitors. Break a few hearts. Grow up for a while, yes? If you still remember me at that point, then maybe we’ll talk.”

  “Janos!”

  “It’s too soon, love. You’re too young. And, besides, to be perfectly frank, I have no real plans of surviving this war.”

  “What?”

  He ignored her horrified question and rambled on blithely, as if he had said nothing earth-shattering. “After you’ve had your fun as a Society belle for a few years and, if you can’t find some other fool to marry you, don’t worry, if all else fails, I won’t leave you a wallflower. Poor, homely thing.” He chucked her under the chin. “On that, you can rely.”

  She yanked her other hand out of his light, chilly hold. “Stop treating me like a child and tell me what you meant by that. Not surviving the war?”<
br />
  Janos just looked at her.

  She was reminded of the young gentlemen who had crowded around her at the harvest ball. All of their boasts about winning the war amounted to nothing compared to this one’s lethal silence.

  They could brag; he could actually do it.

  “Why would you say such a thing?” she demanded.

  He rested his hands on his hips and shrugged. “Well, you know, dear, people do die in wars. So I’ve heard.”

  “You’re immortal.”

  “Not entirely.”

  “Do you want to die, Janos?”

  “Oh, I dunno.” He lifted his head and gazed up at the stars. “It’s more a matter of duty. Besides, I really have nothing to live for.”

  Her eyes widened. “Nothing at all? Not even me?”

  “You’re what I fight for, Isabelle. What I’d die for,” he said quietly. “It’s different.”

  Izzy was so upset by his words that she turned and walked away, reeling. But I don’t want that.

  I’m sorry, he answered, uninvited. It changes nothing. It’s just who I am.

  She whirled around, infuriated. “Stay out of my head! You obviously don’t care about me at all if you actually hope to die in some battle, you vainglorious fool! Don’t you have any idea what that would do to me?”

  “Hmm.” He lowered his head and finally stopped looking so maddeningly self-assured. “Hadn’t thought of that.”

  “Of course you didn’t. Males never do.” Isabelle pivoted and continued marching on across the field. Stupid suicidal vampire.

  He laughed at her silent rant. “Isabelle, where are you going?”

  “To see the unicorns! I am their Keeper, after all.”

  At once, Izzy sensed him getting nervous to hear this.

  “Uh, I don’t think that’s such a good idea!”

  “Why not?” she drawled, turning back, her hand on her hip. “Worried they’ll impale you, prince? Maybe you deserve it.”

  “Really? A stake-through-the-heart joke? Not funny!” he called after her as she marched on, but the humor in his tone was hard to resist.