by Frank Morin
Before her father could answer, the door banged open and Mattias swept inside, hair wet from melted snow, clothing disheveled from his fall, and with a noticeable limp on his left side. His right hand dropped to his sword and he glared at Connor.
“You owe me a duel.”
Verena’s father looked pleased by the idea, although her mother looked shocked by the interruption.
Vincenz jumped to his feet, his expression amused. He intercepted Mattias with an outstretched hand. “Mattias, is this any way to greet us after so long?”
Mattias seemed to realize where he was and who he was with for the first time. He dropped his hand from his sword and tried to compose himself, but got distracted when Connor waved.
“We don’t have another chair, but if you want to wait until we’re done, you can use my spot,” Connor offered.
Verena slapped him lightly on the shoulder. “Stop teasing, Connor. Most people don’t fall out windows as often as you. It’s hard on them.”
She rose and went to Mattias, taking his hands in hers. “Please stop fighting. I don’t want to see either of you hurt.”
His anger deflated as he stared at her, but Connor saw more bitterness than anything. He had to wonder if Mattias was thinking only about the loss of political connection and the imagined slight on his honor for having lost her to an Obrioner commoner.
Lord Heilwig rose and greeted Mattias like a long-lost son. “I’m glad you’re not hurt from that fall, my boy. Come, join us. We’ll send for another chair.”
He was laying on the favoritism pretty thick. Connor wondered if he really did love Mattias so much, or if he was testing Connor. More likely, he was testing Verena’s resolve.
The door opened again and Connor was startled to see Hamish and Aifric burst into the room, followed closely by Kilian. They all wore winter travel apparel, and looked windblown, as if they had only just landed.
Verena’s family focused on Kilian, bowing or curtsying to him. Then Ludmilla noticed Hamish. She gasped with wide-eyed wonder, as if she’d seen the Tallan himself return from legend.
“Verena!” Hamish swept her off her feet in an enthusiastic hug and they laughed together. When Hamish set her back down he said, “About time you woke up. I was starting to think you were waiting until all the rebuilding was finished, lazy bones.”
She grinned even wider. “How is it going?”
“Faster than anyone imagined possible. With Jean at the helm, New Schwinkendorf is going to be amazing.”
Mattias frowned at the mention of Jean’s name, and his frown only deepened at what Hamish said about all the progress made in rebuilding the town.
Lord Heilwig frowned too. “Mattias, what happened to your plans to move the Builder township to your estate near Edderitz?”
Mattias grimaced and glanced guiltily at Verena, who rounded on him and demanded, “What are you talking about?”
“I thought you might prefer living closer to your family,” he said a bit lamely.
Connor wasn’t about to let him get away with lying to Verena, but he hesitated. Would calling out Mattias further damage his already-rocky start with her father?
Hamish didn’t have any of those concerns. He barked a humorless laugh. “He meant to say he tried to illegally order the entire town moved to his estate so he could control it all and force you to live under his thumb.”
Mattias’s hand moved back to his sword, but he turned his guilty gaze toward Lord Heilwig, who stared at him like he was seeing him for the first time.
“You would do such a dishonorable thing?” the old man asked, sounding crushed.
Mattias stammered, glancing from Lord Heilwig, to Verena, then to Connor. His anger returned, but before he could make another stupid accusation, Kilian placed a restraining hand on his shoulder and shook his head slowly.
“No fighting. Not today. Today we celebrate Verena’s return.” Kilian then pushed Hamish aside and hugged Verena, grinning like a proud uncle. “I’m so happy to see you awake.”
Hamish waved to Connor as he grabbed half a ham and began chewing on it. Glancing around the table, he started to grin. With a mouth full of food, the affect was a little disturbing.
He swallowed a huge mouthful and pointed the ham at Christel. “Verena told me she looked like her mother. She didn’t tell me her mother looked like her twin sister.”
Christel blushed, then rounded the table and gave him a hug. “Hamish. I feel like I know you already. Verena told us so much about you.”
“All of the good stuff was me. I blame Dierk for everything else.”
He actually made a little bow to Lord Heilwig. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. It’s a rare thing for a father to trust his daughter so much and encourage her to push the limits and embrace her passion. Connor, have you met Verena’s father?”
“We were in the process,” he said, smiling at his friend who had so utterly interrupted the meal.
“He’s a good man. Always supports Verena, no matter what.”
Lord Heilwig was looking decidedly uncomfortable by the praise. Connor loved it.
Vincenz greeted Hamish like an old friend and introduced himself. Hamish laughed and pumped his hand. “Have you beaten Connor up yet?”
“Haven’t had time to schedule it.”
“Can’t wait. Connor, Vincenz is the bash fighting champion of Edderitz. Trained under Erich himself.”
No wonder Connor liked Vincenz so much.
Hamish turned to Ludmilla, who was staring at him with a look of adoration. He took her hand and said, “And you’re the lovely Ludmilla. Verena talks about you all the time. Have you conquered every heart in Edderitz yet?”
She stammered, switching to Grandurian probably without realizing it. Connor couldn’t make out what she said, her face flushing bright red. Her air of haughty, superior nobility was gone, leaving her simply as an early teen struggling to figure out what to say to someone she clearly regarded as a hero. Maybe she’d turn out all right after all.
Hamish seemed oblivious to Ludmilla’s discomfort, pumped her hand again and replied in Grandurian. Her blush deepened and she looked awed that he spoke her language.
Hamish patted her shoulder with his greasy fingers and said, “I hope you visit us at New Schwinkendorf when it’s finished. Get out of stuffy old Edderitz for a while.”
“I will,” she promised, glancing at her mother, who looked eager to join her for the visit.
Verena broke away from Aifric, who she was hugging enthusiastically. She looked vibrant with joy. “You all just landed? Did you fly in just to come say hello?”
Hamish shook his head. “Glad you’re awake, but unfortunately that wasn’t the only reason we came. There’s an army headed for Merkland, moving against Rory. We need Connor.”
Connor winked at Verena’s father. “Sorry for the interruption. Guess I’ve got to jump into another round of international warfare.”
68
Old Secrets. New Secrets. Stone Secrets. Blue Secrets.
Verena surprised Connor by saying, “I’ll need a little time to pack.”
“You can’t be going,” Lady Christel exclaimed.
“I have to.”
Connor felt immensely proud of her, but what was she thinking? She’d just broken out of a coma. She needed a little time.
Lord Heilwig declared, “You are not going to risk your life defending Obrioner barbarians. I forbid it.”
Connor grimaced. Didn’t he know forbidding Verena from doing something was the best way to guarantee she did it anyway? He’d hoped to convince her to stay behind, but her family was making his job ten times harder.
Lady Christel implored, “Verena, think about what you’re saying. You can’t rush off to battle so soon. You’re not ready.”
“Mother, you always encouraged me. Father, you’ve never interfered with my work before. You commissioned my armor, by the Tallan’s mercy!”
“I never imagined you’d ever actually use it. Your work
is supposed to be inventing, not fighting. You’re no warrior, Verena. Leave the fighting to the professionals.”
Connor didn’t want Verena anywhere near Harley, but he could not bear to hear them criticize her. “Verena’s more a warrior than anyone I know. Have you ever seen how she fights? How amazing she looks in that armor?”
Maybe he should have left out that last bit.
Lord Heilwig glared at him. “You stay out of it, young man. You are not part of this family, and at this rate I cannot see how you could ever persuade me to bless such a ridiculous union.”
Verena’s initial surprise at their reactions was quickly turning to anger. “Connor risked his life many times for me. He’s the only reason I was able to wake up. Don’t you dare insult him.”
Her father sighed. “Perhaps I was a little ungrateful, my dear. I’m sure the boy has offered valuable service to you and to our nation, but you must see that this silly infatuation would prove a disadvantageous match.”
Mattias nodded enthusiastically, standing a bit straighter. Connor would applaud his tenacity in any other situation.
“No, I don’t. I’m not looking for a political union, father.” She stepped to Connor and took his hand, eliciting a simultaneous scowl from her father and Mattias. Connor figured he might as well get used to that look. “Connor and I have built something special, and I won’t abandon it.”
Connor said, “I love you, Verena, but maybe your father is right about not coming to Merkland.”
“What? You doubt me now too?” She looked so hurt, he promised to beat himself with a stick later.
“Of course not, but you’ve just woken from a long coma. You’re still a bit shaky. You said so yourself.” He added softly, “I couldn’t bear to see you hurt again because you pushed your limits too soon. Please wait until you’ve recovered your strength.”
She hesitated and her mother spoke. “Listen to Connor, dear. Once this emergency is resolved, we’ll have time to discuss your future more calmly.”
Verena looked from her to Connor, and the anguish on her face tore at his heart. “I just escaped the prison of my own mind. I’m not about to accept a new one so soon.”
Kilian spoke for the first time. “Perhaps there’s a way to avoid that. Verena, come with us to Faulenrost.”
Her parents both started to protest, but Kilian continued over them. “There will be no fighting there. She can visit with Dierk and with Jean and see the amazing progress they’ve made in rebuilding. There is much work that needs to be done there that has nothing to do with the fighting at Merkland. Frankly, they need Verena. She’s my lead researcher and she’s been sorely missed. She’ll be safe, but productive. I think she’ll recover faster there than anywhere.”
That was a good idea. Connor should have thought of it. Verena’s father looked like he disapproved so that pretty much guaranteed it was the right choice.
He started to protest again, but Lady Christel actually interrupted him. “It’s all right, dear. I think Kilian is right.”
The entire family looked thunderstruck, as if she’d never expressed a contrary opinion in front of them. Verena’s father looked so shocked that he couldn’t seem to find the words.
Connor took that as agreement. “Great. We’ll head for Faulenrost tomorrow.”
“I appreciate your flexibility and your support of Verena’s Builder work,” Kilian told her parents. That seemed to ease Lord Heilwig’s grumpiness, and he stood a bit taller. It looked like getting a compliment from Kilian carried a lot of weight even in high social circles. “We’ll need to discuss our plans tonight in my tower.”
That sparked another round of protests from the entire family. They’d just barely seen Verena. So the group ended up lingering for another half hour of tense smalltalk. Connor felt relieved when he and Verena finally joined Hamish, Aifric, and Kilian in Kilian’s tower and sat around the fire in his cozy sitting room.
“What happened to you two in Merkland?” Connor asked.
“Merkland was the fun part. It was Donleavy that nearly killed us,” Hamish said with a grimace.
“Donleavy? What were you thinking going there?” Connor demanded.
Aifric said calmly, “Trying to kill the queen, of course.”
He listened in growing dismay as they described the incredible, but ultimately failed attempt on the queen’s life. Verena rushed to hug Aifric and comfort her when she heard about the death of Student Eighteen’s father.
As Hamish described their harrowing escape from the city, Connor exclaimed, “Pumice? That’s an affinity stone?”
Aifric hissed, “Keep your voice down. It’s a jealously guarded secret. Student Eighteen is trying to reconcile with her people, so we can’t blab their secrets to the world.”
“We’re alone in Kilian’s suite,” Verena said.
Hamish said, “Just humor her. She’s had a difficult week.”
Connor had been impressed by how well Aifric seemed to be handling the tragedy, but Mister Two wasn’t her father. Connor wondered if Student Eighteen was a hidden wreck, with a dozen or more other personalities all gathered around as she wept. Given their profession, the Mhortair probably had to deal with a lot of untimely death, but she’d lost her father.
He leaned back in his chair, considering the startling secret. “But we use pumice in quarrying.”
Kilian looked equally shocked, and that reinforced Connor’s sense of amazement. “Pumice was never used for anything until after the Tallan wars. I knew my mother kept many secrets, but hadn’t expected this one.”
That’s where he got his habit of holding back information. At least he hadn’t adopted her psycho world domination problem.
Connor thought back to Alasdair and how often he’d handled pumice. He even hid in that barrel of pumice before starting his journey downriver and crashing into his first adventure.
“That’s why you didn’t find us in the river,” he exclaimed to Kilian. “I had worried I’d somehow broken my curse. It felt wrong, somehow, but that’s because I was using pumice, not granite!”
Verena said, “You were Agor first with pumice and never knew it?”
Kilian nodded thoughtfully. “That would explain it. I wondered how you slipped past.”
“We were right in the river, not twenty feet away from you at one point.”
“I thought I heard a cough, but I sensed nothing in the water.”
“We submerged and that’s when my curse was acting so weird.”
“That would explain why I didn’t sense you, but I should have sensed Shona.”
“She ran out of air and I seemed to have a lot more than I should have. I shared some with her.”
That was the first time he’d kissed Shona. Even though it hadn’t really been much of a kiss, he’d touched lips to the high lord’s beautiful daughter. He’d cherished that memory for a long time until he’d realized the truth about Shona.
Verena jabbed savagely at the fire with the iron poker, looking disgusted. He didn’t really think she’d use the poker on him, but he watched her carefully anyway.
Hamish said, “So breathing in that pumice-enhanced breath somehow shielded her too?”
“It must have,” Connor said. That breath had linked them for a moment. “We’ll have to test it.”
Verena raised one eyebrow. “You think I’m going to jump in the river and kiss you underwater, Connor?” Her voice made it clear what she thought about that at the moment.
“I’d never kiss anyone else, so it would have to be you.”
That softened her frown into an almost smile.
“Kiss in the river next summer,” Kilian said. Then he slapped his knee. “That’s how he did it.”
“Who?” Connor and Hamish asked together.
“Old Mhortair, of course.”
Aifric’s face shuddered slightly and her voice changed pitch, assuming the intensity of Student Eighteen. “You knew Mhortair, the First and Great One?”
Kilian chuckl
ed. “He added those titles after he abandoned Stornoway in the waning days of the war, after my mother disappeared.”
“What was he doing in the capital?” Student Eighteen asked with a frown. “Our great mission is the destruction of the house of Dreokt and removal of any direct relations and those with the Tallan’s own curse.”
“That wasn’t his mission originally. He was my mother’s personal bodyguard and devoted servant”
Student Eighteen gaped, her shock changing quickly to outrage. One hand dropped to the hilt of her dagger and her voice grew deadly soft. “Watch your words, Kilian. Any other Mhortair would have slit your throat already for such an insult.”
Kilian held her with a steady gaze. “Calm yourself. I spoke no insult, only the truth. Mhortair was as deadly as your legends claim, but he was one of my mother’s first supporters and came with her from whatever lands they haled from. Despite his powers, he never achieved the same status as Harley and some of the other first generation Petralists. I think he resented that.”
“How is it possible?” Student Eighteen asked, her voice shaky as Kilian calmly undermined the entire foundation of her life.
“I don’t know why he chose to dedicate his life to the exact opposite of his previous purpose. I suspect he feared the return of the Blood of the Tallan might reunite Obrion, which could threaten his new-found freedom.”
Student Eighteen whispered, “‘Tainted blood to purge, evil hearts to pierce’ is the heart of the Mhortair creed. I don’t think anyone else will believe what you say.”
“I don’t need them to believe me. I need them to help us fight my mother.”
“I guarantee the full might of the Mhortair will embrace that mission. Our ultimate purpose is to prevent the return of the Matron of Evil.”
That was such a good title. Connor wondered if they had one for him yet. Maybe it was better if they didn’t, but he still had to wonder what it might be.
Hamish chuckled. “If she’s the Matron of Evil, does that make you Mister Evil, Kilian?”
Verena threw a pillow at him. “Not funny, Hamish.”
Actually, it wasn’t bad.
Still grinning, Hamish asked, “So what were you saying about Mhortair?”
