He shook his head, his eyes glittering with anger. “You push the boundaries of propriety, Belladonna. Do not make the same mistake Lark did and think you can force me to do as you wish! Your mother was the last who will ever control me!” The last was said with a roar. River cringed against her mother, but Bella . . . I had to give her credit. She didn’t back down from her father. She drew herself up, never once looking away from him.
“I am the only one you have left as an heir. You wouldn’t dare banish me.”
My feet slowed of their own accord. That was a deadly thing to say to him in his current state. But even as his face purpled with rage, I could see she was right.
He had no choice but Belladonna now. Keeda was mindless. Briar was a weak-willed child who had no head for politics or power. Raven had disappeared, and the oldest boy, Vetch, had been killed by Lark.
I looked at my king, no longer seeing the great man he once was, but the broken-minded leader we now had to deal with. Again, because of Cassava. Her manipulation of Spirit had kept my king from the greatness he could have given the world. She’d forced him to keep Lark away as if she meant nothing to him.
So for the man he could have been, I would give Basileus one last chance to make things right.
“My King,” I stepped up behind Belladonna, just to her left side, “your oldest daughter is wise beyond her years. I beg you to listen to her, and let her help you lead our people. Bring Lark back, show them that you are merciful as well as wise. That you can recognize when a mistake is made, and you are not so full of pride to admit it.”
The king’s eyes shot to mine, flashing with anger and power which made my skin twitch. The Spiral rumbled under my feet, echoing his displeasure. “An Ender thinks to advise the king? Since when do you think you could possibly understand what it is to lead?”
I tucked my hands behind my back and gave a small nod as if I agreed. “I see your children dying off one by one, and I realize that if we are going to keep our family alive and well, we need to protect those who are left. Belladonna. Larkspur. Briar. One of your three daughters will lead us next. As I see it, Belladonna is the obvious choice, seeing as you just banished Larkspur,” not to mention she’d turned down the crown when offered it, “and Briar is a child yet, unsuitable to lead.”
Briar gave a soft gasp as if I’d slapped her. But I ignored her. She was not of my concern.
His jaw ticked. “Of course, Belladonna is the obvious choice. I know that. But she is not the queen, and if she keeps on this path, she will never see the crown on her head.” But I could see he didn’t understand things as they were, not really. There was confusion mixed with the anger and frustration in his dark green eyes. The emotions warred with one another, all but humming through the air. From what I understood, his mind was broken, pulled apart and manipulated too many times by both Cassava and Raven.
Was there enough of the man I’d known when I’d first become an Ender?
The king’s next words showed my point even clearer than I would have liked. He took a step back and his eyes swept the room. I wondered what it was he looked for. Perhaps Cassava? Or maybe Lark’s mother, Ulani?
“Belladonna,” the king pointed at her but didn’t look to her, “you are the heir to the throne. But you have a half-breed child, and it is obvious to me that half-breeds cannot be trusted. Until my death and your rise to the throne, you will not live in the Spiral.” He turned his back and Bella gasped. I stepped up beside her and kept my eyes trained on the king’s back. I had to try, one more time.
“Basileus. I beg of you again to reconsider your punishment of Larkspur. She saved us. Lift her banishment and bring her home.”
Hope shattered as he spun and pointed a shaking finger at me. “You . . . one more word and I will have you sent to the dungeons. You helped Lark in her traitorous ways when you should have been stopping her from breaking the laws I have set forth.”
My jaw ticked. He really had lost it. It had not been me with Lark on her last journey, but Cactus; and he’d already been banished.
The laws of our world were not the king’s; the mother goddess had made them and then placed us, elementals, as the wards of those laws. That the king could no longer see that he was off the path was the final blow to my hope.
I held a hand out to Bella. “Let’s get you and River out of here.”
Bella nodded, bent and scooped her daughter into her arms, then took my offered hand. “Thank you.”
As soon as I could, I took my hand from hers and then led the way out of the throne room. We were silent until the doors thundered shut behind us, blocking us from the king’s sight.
“Where will I go?” Bella’s eyes were narrowed with anger and a good dose of fear. She’d never been an outcast as she’d always been the favored one of both her parents. I struggled not to recoil from her. Between us was an ugly past, one that had been orchestrated by her mother, Cassava.
The queen had used Belladonna to . . . distract . . . me, forcing me to bed her while Cassava killed Lark’s baby brother, Bramley, and mother Ulani. They were my charges, and I had failed them in the worst way possible.
I had not forgotten that day, nor the revulsion I had for Bella’s part in it. While she was as used as I by her mother, it was difficult for me to get past what had happened. I doubted that Bella had forgotten either. So it was with a stiff air between us that we walked.
“I’ll escort you to Lark’s home,” I said. “It’s far enough from the Spiral to give you the space you need, and it’s not like Lark will be using it.” The words came out harder than I intended.
I slowed so we walked side by side as we strode through the halls of the Spiral.
“You should not provoke him. Lark needs you to stay alive and keep from being banished,” Bella said as I walked with her out of the Spiral and down the main thoroughfare of the Rim. Other elementals walked here and there, going about their daily activities as if nothing was wrong.
As if they hadn’t just seen their only hope banished to the desert, sent away by a half-mad king. Their faces were drawn, their eyes downcast. There was not the laughter and easygoing banter that should have been there. So perhaps they were not so oblivious as I thought.
“I cannot stand by and watch him throw our family, and Lark, away without doing something any more than you can,” I said.
Our world was going to suffer for this day. I felt it under my skin like an itch I could not reach in the center of my back.
“Ash, do you think Lark is coming back?” Bella hitched River a little higher on her hip, holding her child tightly. River laid her head on her mother’s shoulder, clinging to her.
I looked away from her and shook my head. “I don’t know, but I’m not going to wait on her finding her own way back.”
“We need her,” Bella said softly. “Without her, I don’t think our world is going to survive.”
I didn’t like that she echoed my own thoughts so closely.
I hurried my pace. “Come, let’s get you settled into Lark’s place. Then we can discuss what we’re going to do.”
Bella grabbed my arm with her free hand, spinning me toward her. “What do you mean?”
I raised both eyebrows. “You don’t think I’m going to sit here and do nothing, do you?”
She frowned. “Just what are you planning?”
“Settle River into Lark’s place,” I said. “Then meet me at the barracks as soon as you can.”
Bella nodded, but I could see she was not convinced and that worried me. Would she fight at my side, or fight against me?
There was only one way to find out.
CHAPTER 2
stood in the center of the barracks training room. Weapons lined the walls, ready to be pulled and used to defend the Rim at a moment’s notice. From swords to axes, bow and arrow to spears, there was no shortage of weaponry.
I tallied the numbers of the Enders and Rim guards.
Ten Enders, most of them new to the calling
.
Twenty Rim guards.
We’d not use up even half of the weapons on the walls around us. There was a time when the blacksmiths’ fires had burned hot all day as they tried to keep up with the need for new blades and arrowheads as they were constantly being broken in the training of new Enders and Rim guards.
The numbers of the protectors of the Rim were . . . low at best. While I’d been searching for Lark the last two years, the trainers I’d left in charge were supposed to be building those numbers up. I looked to my two replacement trainers, Elk and Dreg. “What in the seven hells have you been doing the last two years?” I snapped as I paced the room.
Elk didn’t slump, but Dreg did. “You don’t understand, being an Ender takes more than—”
“I damn well know what it takes to be an Ender. I’ve been training them for years,” I growled. I rolled my shoulders. Any of the other elemental families would have at least triple those numbers at a minimum.
“What really happened?” I spun and pinned Elk with a stare. He held my gaze, but barely, as the pulse in his throat jumped and bobbed.
“The king commanded that we stop actively recruiting. We tried to work around him, Ash. But he threatened us with banishment. The best we could do was train up those we already had in the program and hope that nothing ever came our way where we would need to truly defend our family.”
I ran a hand over my face as a soft footstep turned me around. Bella stood in the doorway wearing a deep red dress the color of blood. Suitable for the situation . . . had she guessed what I was about? Her hair was pulled up in a tight bun so not a single strand escaped it, and her eyes were lined with a pure black that only highlighted how very dark her own eyes could be in certain lights.
“Did I hear that correctly? My father has actively denied the recruitment of guards and Enders?” She stepped farther into the room, her skirts swishing along the floor, stirring up the hard packed dirt.
Elk nodded and inclined his head to her. “Yes, Princess. That is true.”
I clenched my jaw. That was all there was to it. Now was the time to act, and try to bring things in line once more.
“All of you, listen up. Our king is ill. Sick in the mind as a result of Cassava’s tampering. This sickness will be the death of our family if we allow it to continue.”
The group nodded, and I locked eyes with each guard and Ender one at a time, seeing in them all the understanding of what I was putting forth. “We are the protectors of our family, against all threats. Both from outside the Rim and from within.”
One by one they went to a knee until I was ringed by the best fighters in our realm. By the last fighters in our realm.
I looked at Belladonna. “Bella . . . I do not want you to be culpable in this on the chance that something goes wrong, but you do need to know it is coming.”
Her eyes widened. “You are planning a coup.” Not a question, a statement. I nodded once.
“Yes. You are the heir to the throne. This needs to be done, and done fast before he finds out what we plan. Once you are queen, you can lift the banishment on Lark and bring her home.”
Bella drew a deep breath. “Ash, this is dangerous. If you fail, you will be executed. Or worse, banished.”
I went to the wall of weapons and began to pull them down, handing them to the guards and Enders as they approached. “I know, but this is my job. To protect my family.”
The weapons were dispersed quickly, efficiently. I checked my own swords strapped to my sides. “I do not want to kill him, Bella. But please understand that if he forces my hand, I will. I will do what I must to protect you all.” And to bring Lark home. There was no cost too great in my eyes.
Her dark brown eyes fluttered shut and tears squeezed out from under the lashes. “I understand, Ender.”
I had to make sure those with me truly understood just how serious this was. I faced Bella and went to one knee and began to speak the Ender’s vow taken when a new king or queen rose to the throne, or when an Ender emerged from their final trial. Within seconds, the rest, even the Rim guards, followed suit. Their words wrapped with mine into a swell of resolve and strength that made me proud, and more than that, hopeful.
“I swear to put your life above mine, my Queen. I swear to protect our family, the Rim, the world of elementals even unto death and on penalty of the mother goddess denying me the last embrace of her arms. I do this willingly, and with all my heart and soul.” I stood slowly and then bowed at the waist. “My Queen.”
The Enders and Rim guards did the same, solemn in their actions. She touched me on the shoulder as I passed, stopping me. She said nothing, but her eyes spoke volumes. To wish us luck would condemn her, yet there was hope in her that we would succeed. That we could help her take the throne and end this madness her father had foisted on his people.
I led the way past Bella, leaving her in the barracks. I glanced back once to see her touch the shoulder of each guard or Ender. She would make a good queen. Perhaps not as good as Lark would have, but a good queen nonetheless, and a far, far better leader than her father.
“Tactics?” Elk moved up to stride next to me as he adjusted a whip on his belt.
“Circle the prey. Cut it off from help and hamstring it,” I said. “Drive it to the ground and we will collar it swiftly.”
In other words, knock the king out and get him into the dungeons as fast as possible.
I had helped to put together the various tactics that an Ender could take when facing a variety of situations. It had been part of my job as second-in-command to Granite all those years.
The dungeons would block the king from his ability, and that would give Bella time to take the throne and bring Lark back. Then perhaps, together, they could figure out what to do with their father. Perhaps they could find a healer, though that thought flickered into the air like dust motes. Healing was a false hope, and even I knew it.
Whatever damage had been done to his mind was too great. I had a bad feeling banishment wouldn’t work on him. Nor would he permanently step down from the throne if we let him out of the dungeons—his pride was too much for him do that. I suspected the only way to deal with him would be death. But I would not go that route unless I had to.
Keeping our pace steady, I could feel the energy shift in the warriors around me. The call to battle was upon us and it rushed through our veins as if we were one beast. I loosened my weapons and listened as they followed my lead, the sound of metal and leather shifting around me.
Into the Spiral we strode, three abreast in a line of ten. Thirty warriors to take down a single mad king.
The door to the throne room was still shut, locked against outsiders. I put a hand to it, feeling the power of the earth running through the layers of the wood. I called up my own connection to the earth and threaded it through the door. I’d seen Lark do what I was about to attempt, only once.
I pulled the door apart, fiber by fiber, sending splinters of wood flying into the throne room.
“Impressive” came a voice I knew all too well. “I should say you’ve been learning naughty things from Lark.” He laughed. “But we all knew that already, didn’t we?”
Raven sat next to his father on the throne. His blue eyes flashed with irritation. I wasn’t sure if it was because we were there, or because I’d been in Lark’s bed and he had not. Raven had no issue with bedding family, as his twisted relationship with his mother proved.
My blood ran cold. “Circle,” I breathed out, and my men and women rushed into the throne room, keeping to the edges. Thirty to two.
The odds were not in our favor with Raven standing with his father.
“Raven, we have no quarrel with you,” I said. “The king, on the other hand, must answer for his crimes against this family.”
Basileus didn’t move from his spot. His eyes were vacant and he sat slumped, as though drugged. But drugged I doubted. Raven laughed. “Oh, he won’t be waking up anytime soon, Ash.” He patted his father on the
face and stepped down from the throne. “You, though, are going to be a thorn in my side, aren’t you?”
Tight-lipped, I motioned to him with the tip of my right sword. The Enders and guards around the room adjusted their stances and we circled Raven. He grinned. “Oh, so that’s how it is? What will my father say when he awakens and you are attacking me?”
“Thank you,” I said.
Raven laughed and raised both his hands above his head. “Oh, you have such a sense of humor, Ash. Are you sure you do not wish to fight on my side? I think you will find we are actually already there, you just can’t see it.” Something in his tone tugged at me and I realized he was weaving Spirit through my mind.
I began to close the distance between us, both swords held up and ready to strike. He pointed a finger at me, but I didn’t slow.
“Brave, so very brave. I can see why Lark likes you so much.” He winked. “I have to ask, is she any good in bed? With those long legs, I can imagine the fantastic positions she could get into, and all that long hair to grab hold of. Just . . . lovely.”
I didn’t flinch, nor did any of the other Enders, though several of the guards did. This was a classic tactic of distraction Raven was using—try and shock those who were coming at you and force them to make a mistake.
I didn’t make mistakes like that. “Arrows ready,” I said.
The three that had bows had their weapons up in a flash. I held a hand up. “Hold.”
Raven went still, his eyebrows arched high. “Damn, I underestimated you. You really would kill me?”
“In a heartbeat, but I am not here for you today.” I stopped moving. He was playing with us. But as much as I would like to take him out, I needed to collar the king. “Elk, take the king to the barracks as we discussed.”
Elk jogged to the king and, with ease, pulled him up and over his shoulder. This was going too smoothly, and I knew it. There was no way Raven was going to just let us make this coup happen. I could feel it under my skin, the tension of something on the horizon, that same tension that had started when I made the decision to try for a coup in the first place.
Ash (The Elemental Series, Book 6) Page 2
