Winter of the Wolf (The Desolate Empire Book 4)

by Christina Ochs

  Gwynneth sat up a little straighter. “I’ll leave the children here, with all of the guards. They’ll be safe enough. On my own, on horseback I can travel as quickly as any of your people.”

  Braeden sighed. “You can’t leave the children behind. As little as Stella is, she got away on her own, and Devyn’s a lot older than she is, and smarter than any of the guards. Tomescu might not be out there, but it’s still not safe for children to roam around on their own.”

  Gwynneth buried her face in her hands, then looked up, even more defeated than before. “You’re right. I already don’t know how I’ll keep Devyn here when you leave.”

  “Assign guards to him individually, and to Stella too. Back-ups for when they give them the slip, which they will.”

  “What did I do to deserve such disobedient, willful children? Stubborn as I was, I would never have dreamed of defying my parents the way those two do.”

  “They’ve grown up wilder than you did,” Braeden said gently. “Running around military camps, on the move all the time. Harder for you to manage maybe, but they’ll be able to take good care of themselves long before they’re grown. But they still need you.”

  “You’re right, though I wish you weren’t, and I’m too tired to argue. Go then, and find Kendryk, tell him we’re all right. But on one condition.”

  “All right.”

  “Promise me as soon as you’ve found Kendryk, you’ll return here, with or without him and get us out of here if Natalya still hasn’t returned.”

  “I can do that. I swear to you, I’ll find him as quickly as I can, and send you a message when I do. That ought to make the waiting easier to bear.”

  “A little.” She smiled weakly. “Now hurry. I won’t tell Devyn you’ve gone until I have to. That ought to give you a good head start.”

  So they took the road into Aquianus. All was peaceful here, at least on the western edge. Farmers gathered hay in the fields and tended crops ready for harvest. On the first night, Braeden stopped at a large crossroads tavern hoping to learn where Lennart was.

  “Already in Lantura,” the serving girl informed him. “He will no doubt take Atlona before winter.”

  Braeden swore under his breath. Lantura was a long way off and if he’d guessed wrong, it would be a good several weeks’ travel to get back to Terragand.

  “Have you heard if Prince Kendryk is with him?”

  She’d grabbed his empty trencher and stopped short before turning away. “Prince Kendryk is in Isenwald. A Galladian officer heading home said that he arrived in Kronfels less than a week ago.”

  “Are you sure? What’s he doing there?” It made sense that Kendryk would pass through Isenwald on his way south, though Braeden couldn’t think why he’d stop there for any length of time.

  Princess Viviane wasn’t the most enthusiastic ally, but Braeden had watched her sign an agreement pledging her support to Kendryk and Lennart. There shouldn’t be any further problems.

  The girl shrugged. “No doubt being wined and dined, the way nobles like to.”

  “Maybe,” Braeden said to her retreating back. He wondered if he should just head south and meet Kendryk when he caught up to Lennart, but something gave him pause.

  Braeden couldn’t say what it was, except that he wouldn’t rest easy until he saw Kendryk again and told him his family was safe. He’d make for Kronfels right away, and hope to catch Kendryk before he left.

  Elektra

  The footman bearing the letter found Elektra in the little gazebo.

  “Who’s it from?” Raysa got up from the table where they’d been playing a game to sit next to Elektra. “Wait for us in the garden,” she said to her ladies, who disappeared.

  “Not my mother, I hope.” Elektra opened the pouch, stained with water and something darker. It looked like this message had been on the road for some time. Still, it was nice to get one. Raysa received almost daily letters from Lennart, and Elektra wondered if anyone would ever care enough about her to write that often.

  She cut the wax seal on the oilcloth inside the leather, and saw with relief that the paper inside was dry and undamaged. To her surprise, it bore no official seal. Not from her mother then.

  She opened it and gasped. “It’s from Prince Aksel.” She looked for the date. “He wrote this months ago. I wonder what happened?”

  “Why don’t you read it and find out.” Raysa’s face was eager and smiling. She was like a sister and best friend wrapped into one. Once Elektra left here, she hoped they could write to each other all the time.

  Elektra read it once, couldn’t believe what she was seeing, then read it again, more slowly this time.

  “Unbelievable,” she said, placing the letter on the table. “My mother has really done it this time.”

  “Tell me.” Raysa took her by the hand. “Is it awful?”

  “It is.” Elektra was surprised to find a lump in her throat. “She’s forced Prince Aksel to convert back to the old faith by threatening one of his friends.”

  “How dreadful. So he converted, but doesn’t mean it.”

  “That’s why he wrote. He says I should expect another letter from him telling of his conversion, and that I should return to Atlona so we can be married now. But that letter was dictated by my mother, and he only wrote it because she threatened to turn his friend over to temple interrogators.”

  Raysa’s eyes were wide. “She’s much worse than my father. No wonder he hates her. Poor Prince Aksel. I wonder how he got this letter out without your mother noticing?”

  “It says here he knew someone who’d smuggle this out of the city for him. I wonder who that could be?” Elektra thought of Countess Biaram, though she supposed there might be others sympathetic to the prince’s plight. And it seemed she might expect another letter soon, along with one from her mother.

  “How very exciting. What will you do?”

  Elektra stood. Now that the first shock of hearing from Aksel had worn off, anger welled up.

  “I will write to my mother,” she said. “And tell her I will never, ever return to her and never, ever marry Prince Aksel. In other words, she can rot.”

  Raysa jumped up and joined Elektra as she left the gazebo. “You don’t want to marry Prince Aksel? I thought you liked him.” Elektra had confided in Raysa just a little.

  Elektra stopped. “I like him, but I don’t want to marry him if it’s part of my mother’s plan. She would turn both of us into puppets who rule Norovaea in her name.”

  “Norovaea? It would be nearly impossible for Aksel to ever be king there.”

  “It ought to be, but my mother makes many impossible things possible.”

  “She’d have to murder many people.”

  “Oh, she doesn’t mind that at all. In fact, I think she enjoys getting the opportunity to do so.”

  Elektra walked up to a fountain and sank down on the stone edge. “Maybe I need to give up. Maybe those who say Inferrara blood is bad are right, and there’s no help for me. If I become empress, perhaps I’ll turn into a monster just like our parents.”

  Raysa sat down next to her. “Don’t say that. I’ve got as much Inferrara blood as you do, remember? And neither one of us is bad. At least not very.” She smiled at Elektra until she got a small one in return.

  “I want to be better, but I worry. What if the only way to be a good empress is to frighten everyone by killing a lot of people?”

  “That is not the only way.” Raysa’s voice was firm. “You remember Aryadna the Good from your history lessons, don’t you?”

  “Yes, but she was the only one. And that was a long time ago.”

  “She’s our great-great-great-great-grandmother and her blood runs in both our veins. Who’s to say you won’t be more like her than like your mother?”

  “If I ever become empress.” Elektra looked down, kicking at a pebble on the path.

  “You will. I’m sure Lennart will make it possible.” Raysa took Elektra by the arm and pulled her up. “Come, w
e must get out of the sun before we both turn bright red.”

  It felt good to reach the shade of the palace. Elektra paused just inside the door and looked around. Although the walls were of marble and the floor of stone, it wasn’t forbidding in here.

  Elektra put a hand on the wall. It felt cool and inviting. Perhaps the whole structure had absorbed Edric’s pleasant nature.

  “Oh gods,” Elektra said suddenly.

  “Are you all right?”

  Elektra nodded. “I must speak to the Maximus. I’ll come to your quarters later if that’s all right.”

  “Of course.” Raysa looked at her searchingly, but then turned down the next corridor, her ladies at her heels.

  Elektra leaned against the wall, trembling. It was all so obvious now. Her mother, Livilla and the old faith on one side, Edric, Raysa, Aksel and the Quadrenes on the other. She loved Livilla, but one good person wasn’t enough to cancel out the evil her mother brought forth. And besides, Livilla had never tried to stop her, had she?

  Elektra wanted to give in to the anger, but instead, made for Edric’s study at a run. She hoped he was there, needed him to be there right now.

  Only one guard stood at the door, and Elektra knew him well by now. “I must see the Maximus.” She waved Aksel’s letter, still clutched in one hand. “I have urgent news.”

  “All right.” The guard grinned at her and opened the door.

  Edric’s head was bent over his desk but he looked up as Elektra came in. “Is everything all right, Your Grace?”

  Elektra nodded, tears coming to her eyes. “I wish to convert,” she said, before sobs kept her from saying any more.

  Anton

  Anton hadn’t expected Lennart to move so fast with the big army he had. Anton’s experience with big armies had been that they crawled like snails across the landscape, devouring everything in their path.

  Getting them to do anything quickly was impossible; with so many different units, so many layers of officers, it might take days for orders to come down and be executed. The only time anything happened in a hurry was when they were under attack.

  So when he reached Isenwald, he was surprised to hear Lennart hadn’t even gone there. When he got to Oltena, he heard Lennart hadn’t come through there either, going to Podoska instead, then south.

  “He didn’t even bother to pay us a visit, not even Prince Kendryk’s old aunt, Princess Galena.” Anton sat in a tavern, listening to a veteran on his way to a muster near the princess’s seat at Delsenhof.

  “He sent a general of his to talk to Princess Galena and got her to raise more troops. I’m glad of it; I need the work.”

  “Who did you fight with before?” Anton asked.

  “Mattila, then Ensden. But I was wounded at Kaltental and when I tried to get back in with Mattila, she’d already gone south.”

  “Will she join with Lennart?” Anton hoped she would. That would make Lennart unbeatable, and they’d defeat Teodora quickly.

  The man shrugged. “Who knows? Every other fellow has a different opinion on the matter. Seems as likely she might join up with Teodora again.”

  “That would be stupid,” Anton said. Who in their right mind would want to work for the empress with an impressive person like Lennart nearby?

  “Not really.” The soldier got that look on his face that Anton hated. It appeared when an adult was about to explain something to him as if he were an ignorant little boy.

  “Lennart’s done well, but he’s not the emperor and not in a position to give out rewards. And everyone knows Mattila wants to rule Brandana. The empress is the only person who can make that happen.”

  “I know,” Anton said. Everyone knew that. “But why not just defeat Teodora and take Brandana by force?”

  “If only it were that easy.” The soldier clapped Anton on the shoulder. “But I see why you feel that way if you’re going to join up with Lennart.”

  “I work for Prince Kendryk.” Pride swelled in Anton’s heart the way it always did when he thought about it. “I’m bringing a message to the king.”

  He almost said he knew the king personally, but that was too much like bragging. “Though I might have to return to Terragand after that.”

  “And miss out on a big battle?” The man’s eyes crinkled at Anton. “You don’t look like the sort who’d want to do that.”

  “I’m not. But I must follow the king’s orders.” Anton hoped with all his heart that Lennart would allow him to stay and send someone else to Terragand. It was all right with Kendryk if Anton stayed with Lennart, but he worried that Lennart would be angry about them disobeying orders and send him right back.

  “Let’s drink to the king seeing sense, and your good fortune.” The man raised his tankard.

  Anton raised his. “And yours. If your commander hurries, you can join Lennart before winter and we’ll all fight Teodora together.”

  “Wouldn’t that be something.” The soldier took a long swig.

  Anton sipped at his. He had been trying to cut back again. Now he was an officer with real responsibilities, he couldn’t be drunk or hung over all the time.

  “Will you mind fighting the empress?”

  The man shook his head. “Don’t much care whose side I’m on as long as I get paid. Have a wife and family in Lerania, and it’s hard to get by without my pay. My wife takes in washing and sewing, but she can barely manage when the littlest is only five.”

  “It sounds nice.” Anton worried his eyes were getting watery. He thought about Susanna and a few little children in a cozy house in a town like Lerania, a place where he could spend time between campaigns. Since he was an officer, she wouldn’t have had to take in washing, either.

  The man chuckled. “Nicer when you have money. And since I was home a while after getting hurt, she’s pregnant again and we need to find a bigger place. Fortunately, Princess Galena is paying well since Lennart gave her money. I’ve already sent most of the first bit back home.”

  “Then here’s to Lennart’s money, and your little ones.” Anton raised his tankard. He drank quickly to cover the rush of emotion. Another good reason to cut back on drinking. It made him so sad.

  From Oltena, he rode south at speed. From soldiers he met on the road, Anton learned that Lennart was likely already in Lantura, getting ready to move on Tirilis. The hope was that Prince Herryk, wavering between Lennart and Teodora, would see the enormous force advancing on him and throw himself on Lennart’s mercy.

  But when Anton reached Lantura, Lennart was already gone.

  “Better hurry,” the innkeeper he’d asked, said. “Word is there will be a big action at Richenbruck. Lennart plans to attack a fortress that’s never been taken before.”

  “Oh gods.” Anton leapt from his seat. He’d planned to spend the night here, but decided his company could make at least ten more leagues before nightfall. “I don’t want to miss out on that.”

  He shouted at his sergeant, starting a card game at the next table. “Change in plans. We keep going tonight.” He hoped he wouldn’t be too late.

  Elektra

  “I was sure I’d feel different,” Elektra told Raysa as they relaxed in the queen’s quarters after a long, hot day.

  Elektra’s conversion had been cause for a discreet celebration, and Edric had thrown a little party in the garden. There’d been so many toasts drunk to the new convert that Elektra felt tipsy, rather than newly devout.

  Raysa frowned and put a hand to her forehead. “That wine gives me the most dreadful headaches. You’re probably like me. Both of us spent so long learning about the Quadrene faith and even practicing it in small ways, our lives don’t change so much after conversion.”

  “Mine’s about to, I’m sure.”

  Lennart would be pleased, and Elektra hoped he had a plan for her as soon as he received the news. Raysa had written to him at once while Edric followed with something more official.

  “It will.” Raysa smiled as she sipped at a cup of water, brought b
y a maid. “I’ll miss you, but I’m sure Lennart will want you to come with him. When the time is right, he’ll make it all public, and you will be an official ally and the true empress.”

  “I still can’t believe it’ll be that easy.” Elektra wanted it to be, but so far, none of her plans had ever worked out the way she’d hoped.

  Even with Lennart in charge, she refused to expect too much. Still, it was nice that this change not only made her feel better, it paved the way for the fulfillment of her ambitions even while opposing her mother.

  “Likely not, but some things ought to be easier. For one, you might never have to see your mother again.”

  “I hardly dare to dream that,” Elektra said with a laugh.

  As soon as Elektra arose the next morning, Edric called her to his study. Of late she had taken to breakfasting with Raysa so she seldom saw him until luncheon.

  She opened the door with a smile, but that faded the moment she saw his face.

  “Oh gods, what’s happened Your Holiness?”

  “Your mother is what’s happened.” Edric spat the words out. “Sit.”

  Elektra sat, her mouth dry. “What awful thing has she done now?”

  “Something far worse than any of her previous atrocities.” Edric’s eyes were red-rimmed, and Elektra wondered how long ago he’d received the message.

  He flung a sheet of paper at Elektra and she started reading.

  “It can’t be true,” she finally said, though she remained unconvinced. “Daciana Tomescu is dead. Everyone knows that.”

  “Read it again,” Edric ground out between gritted teeth. “The part right before it explains how that monster murdered the princess and her children.”

  Elektra looked back down even though her eyes swam with tears. She hadn’t known the princess, but she’d done nothing wrong besides marrying Prince Kendryk. And the children, all five of them so young and innocent.

  If she ever saw her mother again, it would be to kill her.

  She forced herself to read the passage about something Livilla had done, which she had skimmed over before.