She nodded gratefully and as soon as he pulled up to the small dock, she followed the others off the raft and toward the stairs.
Halfway into the climb, she noticed that the exertion winded her more than it should have, and she wondered if everything was all right with the baby. Just as she had the thought, a sharp pain laced through her abdomen and she had to lean against the cave wall to catch her breath.
Seana looked back and saw that she had stopped. She hurried down the few stairs to her side. “Are you all right, Your Grace?” she asked and put a hand to her elbow.
“Yes, thank you, Seana, I will be fine.”
“The Sect Leaders are in Bardot. I think you should see Helenite as soon as you can. She will be able to give you something to ease your discomfort.”
She nodded. “I think I will do that.”
When the pain subsided, she pushed away from the wall, climbed the remaining stairs, and went through the open grate.
Kiernan blinked in surprise.
Her sleepy, quaint city was bustling with activity. Most of the commotion was coming from the multitude of soldiers swarming the city streets. Beyond the streets and into the plains east of the city was a sea of tents and campfires for as far as the eye could see.
Sabers, Lions, and Tigers.
What in the Highworld was going on? Why were the arms of House Everard and House Gregaros here in Bardot instead of in the besieged Nysa? It may be that Gage was unaware as of yet but, no, that would not explain why so many soldiers were in Bardot.
The two Sabers guarding the entrance immediately knelt upon seeing her, left fists on the ground. “Please rise,” she told them.
“Come this way, Your Grace. Captain Nash has asked that you be escorted to him upon your arrival.”
She nodded and as they moved toward the city square, she noticed a knot of Sabers standing around a newly constructed wooden structure. One of the Sabers was Kirby Nash and as soon as he saw her, he hurried toward her and knelt. “Your Grace.”
“Please rise. Kirby, what is going on here?” She took Kenley by the hand and continued toward the square, the Saber walking beside her.
“The Houses of Etin, Winslow, and Conry are attempting a coup. Etin’s legionnaires are on the march toward Nysa, and Winslow’s Wolves and Conry’s Badgers hold the city gates. Hamilton and Knapp are locked in their estates, and their soldiers and the Lions caught up in the trap are imprisoned in the grain warehouses, stripped of clothing and weaponry and under very heavy guard with orders to shoot to kill any escapees. There is no way to get in or out of Nysa.”
“My father?”
“Barricaded in his suite of rooms. Fortunately, one of the Gems was there with him when they confined the King to his chambers, and she magically sealed the doors.”
“If there is no way in or out, Captain, how is it that you have all of this information?”
They had arrived at the square, and Kiernan saw now that a man was bound to the structure, his hands pulled tight above his head and secured to the overhead truss of the contraption.
She quickly blocked her daughter’s view. “Seana, would you please bring Kenley to the palace? I will be along shortly.”
“Of course, Your Grace.” Seana immediately took Kenley’s hand and directed her away from the offending sight.
Kirby pointed to the man and answered her question. “That’s how. It is one of Winslow’s men sent here on a reconnaissance mission. According to the traitorous Wolf, Lord Etin is trying to figure out where Gregaros is. It was actually Prince Beck that tipped us off about the influx of soldiers. King Maximus and Gage already had an idea that an uprising was imminent, but after Beck’s timely observation, ordered many of the soldiers of House Everard and House Gregaros here to Bardot before the seizure of the city. Unfortunately, it is Hugo Bassus who leads Etin’s army and he brought over almost all of the Lions stationed in Iserport to House Etin.”
Kiernan shook her head in disgust. Captain Bassus was her father’s man in Iserport. He was second in command to Bo Franck and had been serving the Everard family for thirty years or more. It was obvious now that Etin and Bassus had been collaborating against the Crown for some time now and directing a flow of erroneous information into the royal city.
“Why do you have him on public display?”
“As a warning of what will happen to other spies who attempt to come into Bardot with the intention of gathering information for Etin.”
Kiernan nodded. She did not like it, but knew that sometimes in war these tactics were necessary. “Do not kill him.”
He bowed his head. “As you command, Your Grace.”
“Have you seen Diamond?”
He shook his head. “After Gemini’s murder, all of the Gem Sect Leaders arrived and have been meeting behind closed doors ever since.”
She had assumed as much. The sorceresses would be enraged at the loss of their High Priestess and friend. “Find Lord Gregaros and meet me at the palace. We must decide how we go about prying my father and the citizens of Nysa from Etin’s greedy fingers.”
Kirby looked around as if he had just noticed something. “Where is Prince Beck, Your Grace?”
“Gone,” she said simply and walked away. If she stopped to explain further, it would be the end of her.
CHAPTER 10
Changes
Airron stood on the sandstone butte and stared out at the landscape before him. A sudden strong westerly wind swept his silver hair out behind him and whipped his clothes around his body, but he hardly noticed.
He had found Beck.
After days of traveling through the harsh landscape that was Deepstone, the trail ended here. His narrowed violet eyes scanned the one cave among the hundreds that he now knew held his friend. It had a distinctive swirling of red and tan color right above the black opening. There was no movement coming from the cave and he wondered if Avalon had armed support. Was she capable of capturing and holding Beck on her own? He doubted it and knew he had to be prepared for a fight.
A flash of green caught his eye below and he watched Melania walk toward the inviting water source they found earlier that day in between the boulders. A fresh waterfall splashed down from the crevice between two rocks and formed a small, but deep turquoise pool of liquid.
Melania had been much more reserved and less demanding since his uncouth comment a few days ago. She awoke at sunrise and performed her daily prayers by herself away from their camp.
He would apologize when the time was right, but decided to let her stew for a little while longer. She had to realize sooner or later that he was a person with his own ideas and desires and she could not mold him into someone he was not. Yes, he would agree to pick up after himself. He would even wear the gaudy tunic she was sure to choose for him. But, he would not live in a loveless marriage. He wanted what Beck and Kiernan had. What Rogan and Janin now had.
Melania bent to the pool of water and began to fill their two water bags. It was obvious that she did not know that he was standing on the rock far above her.
Gathering a cup full of water in the palm of her hand, she splashed it on the back of her neck. Suddenly, her head picked up, she looked furtively around at her surroundings, and then graceful as a dancer, she stood. Airron’s breath caught in his throat and an ache of desire pounded through his body when she reached back to the clasp of her high-necked, halter dress.
He really should turn away, he knew. It is what a decent person would do. But, he found that he could not take his eyes from the vision before him.
His wife.
She looked around once more and then unfastened the dress, letting it fall to her waist. She quickly unbuckled her knife belt and the dress came the rest of the way off. She stepped out of the emerald silk piled around her feet and slipped into the cool pool of water.
At this point, Airron did step back out of sight, and finally let out the breath he had not realized he had been holding to try to dispel his stimulated thoughts. He had e
njoyed many women in his life, but could not remember one affecting him this intensely.
Silently, he made his way off the butte and back to their small camp.
While he waited for his wife to return, he busied himself caring for the horses while he mentally prepared himself for the confrontation with Avalon just ahead. He was securing his pack to the saddle of the Haventi when Melania, fully dressed now but silver hair hanging damply down her back, appeared around the rock formation.
She looked at him suspiciously. “Where were you?”
“I needed to get a good view of the cave with human eyes before I left.” He decided not to lie. “From above.”
Her face turned pink, and she bent to gather her belongings. “I hope you found what you were looking for.”
“Oh, I did. The view is really quite stunning from that angle. Quite frankly, I have never seen anything like it.”
She stood up in a flash of anger. “Airron Falewir…”
He held up his hand with a smirk. “I did not know that you would be there, but I do offer you my sincere apologies. If that is not good enough, can we please argue about it later? Beck needs my help.”
She held her chin high, but her eyes still blazed. “Fine, but discuss it we most certainly will.”
“Be ready to go at a moment’s notice. I don’t know what I will find or who will be after me when I find it.”
“Be careful,” she offered softly, but made no move to turn away.
He looked at her questioningly.
“What is it?” she asked.
“I need to bodyshift now.”
She waved her arm. “Go ahead. I am used to it by now.”
He cleared his throat. “Then, you should also be aware that I must disrobe first.”
“Oh, right!” she said, averting her gaze and dropping into a squat to rummage through her pack. Although, what she could possibly be looking for, Airron had no clue.
“Unless, of course, you would like to even the score?” he asked.
“Airron Falewir!” she screamed.
With a laugh, he immediately shed his clothes and bodyshifted before she could throw something at him.
The Gangi took off down the road at a sprint. He was small, but his legs were lithe and powerful. It was very easy for him to locate the trail that he had already found earlier that day. And, just as soon, the unfamiliar scent that surrounded the one he sought bemused him. The caustic smell assailed his nose, and he shook his muzzle in disgust.
Continuing along the road, it was not long before the cave with the distinctive swirl came into sight. There is where he would find the human he tracked.
It was also where he would most likely find a fight to the death.
The air flickered briefly and the Gangi shifted into a mouse and scrambled up the boulders to the cave entrance. Taking care to remain out of sight of any humans, he peered cautiously into the gloom. Even from the low vantage point, he could clearly confirm the devastating truth.
It was empty.
Airron sprouted up from the mouse form and examined the area. Beck had been here, of that he had no doubt, but he was gone now. He slowly walked around the cave, the bright sunshine from outside lending him plenty of light from which to see.
A stone table and several seating areas were carved directly from the cavern walls. Avalon had created this hideaway well before
Rogan’s wedding it seemed. Again, he thought, why Beck? He could understand if she kidnapped him to gain revenge for their altercation years ago or Kiernan for ransom, but why was it Beck that she chose? The strongest man on the island? He had something that she wanted obviously. But, what?
He walked to the back of the cave and noticed that there was another exit. The trail did not end here as he had assumed, but continued on by way of another road.
He resumed his perusal, but there was not much else to see. He was just turning to leave when a flicker of white caught his eye, and he turned back to the stone table. There, underneath the protrusion was a folded piece of parchment.
He picked it up and opened it.
It was a map. A map of the southern portion of Deepstone, and a location was marked southwest of the Koda River. Was this Avalon’s or a discard of some other person? It could take him well out of his way if he simply followed it blindly, but unfortunately, his choices were few and far between.
His best friend was still in the hands of a monster.
Avalon rode behind her Cyman guard with one thought plaguing her mind. She needed a female human form.
By this time tomorrow, they would reach the Koda River and there, in the river settlements, she would be able to find one. She knew from previous visits that the mining community where they were now headed was made up of several families from Iserlohn, including women and children.
It was a well-known fact that the southern portion of Deepstone was a veritable payload of precious gems, marble and granite—the primary sources of exported income for the Dwarves. Prior to the war, no Dwarf in existence would have dreamed of parting with their closely guarded mining expertise, but in a show of fostering island collaboration, King Erik allowed a limited number of men and Elves into the country each year to learn extraction techniques from the Dwarves so they could improve the engineering of ore in their own lands.
Several of these expeditions were taking place now and the miners were camped at the Koda.
Reaching into the small leather purse around her waist, Avalon retrieved a small mirror she kept there. She almost cried aloud in horrified disbelief. The visible signs of desiccation to her face were far more pronounced than they had been when she left her home in Farout Falls a few weeks ago.
Other changes were taking place as well. Her speech was becoming more slurred and guttural sounding, and she was finding it difficult to talk at times, especially when she was tired. The other disturbing transformation was the appearance of two bony protrusions on her back just under her shoulder blades. They were extremely painful to the touch and throbbed incessantly.
When all of her attempts to create the LifeFire Tonic through traditional incantations and formulas failed, she turned to the dark sorcery she learned from her brother, Adrian, and the effects were devastating.
The unthinkable was happening.
She was changing into something less than human.
Yes, she needed a female body very soon. She already acquired several male forms over the years and would have Beck Atlan’s very soon, but required the body of a female for tasks only a woman could carry out. She could have taken Gemini’s likeness after she killed her, but it never would have worked. The High Priestess was too well known and thus of no use to her. Discretion was, and always had been, her greatest ally.
She wondered if the sorceress she had recruited from the Bardot Academy had achieved the goals Avalon set for her. The girl was in Bardot to study fireshifting, but the lure of power and wealth turned her to Avalon’s cause. Truth be told, it was never very difficult to find accomplices for her plans. She could always depend on the inherent greed of people, their covetous hands forever reaching for further possessions and status.
Unfortunately, the little twit did happen to retain at least of modicum of decency and refused to kill Gemini, which meant that she had to travel to Bardot and commit the act herself. It was a very risky undertaking, but she was now satisfied that she had been forced to do so. It was only right that she be the one to end that witch’s life when Gemini’s brother, Galen, had been the one to take her brother from her.
That one was for you, Adrian.
Afterward, she had traveled to Kondor right on the heels of the royal Savitars. Fortunately for her, the watershifters’ prerequisite for traveling their waterways was shifting ability, not good intentions.
Thinking of the Savitars, she reached up to touch the scars on her face, a habit of hers over the years. Whenever she touched them, she remembered the foe that put them there. In her entire existence, he was the only one of her in
tended victims that had ever escaped her alive.
Her breath caught in her throat when a disturbing thought came to her. That despicable Elf that gave her these scars was at the wedding of the Dwarf!
When the Cymans reported no sign of pursuit, she had not bothered to hide their trail. Even though the stone road they traveled left no mark of their passage, surely their scents would be traceable, and the Elf was an expert bodyshifter. Her face bore the truth to that fact.
The growing certainty built in the pit of her stomach. He would be tracking his earthshifter friend, and his animal forms would allow him to do so very easily. There could be no doubt. In fact, he could be upon them at any time.
“Cyrus!” she shouted to the Cyman in the lead of their party. She looked back at Beck stumbling behind her horse with his hands tied at the wrists and the rope pulling him attached to her saddle.
Cyrus immediately ran to her side. “Yes, Mistress?”
Vanity caused her to pull her hood close around her face. “We are being tracked, so we will need to pick up the pace. We will not be safe until we are back home at Farout.”
He looked confused but did not question the validity of her statement.
Beck suddenly tumbled to the ground behind her, but she did not stop, and his body dragged along the stone road.
“We must continue pushing ahead until dark. Scout ahead and find us cave well off the road to spend the night. Once there, I will cast a spell of invisibility over our party while we sleep for a few hours and then we will need to move out again. We must shake our pursuer, Cyrus, at least until we reach Farout Falls. If he manages to find us at that point, I will be only too glad to settle the score with that one.”
Cyrus nodded as he walked beside her horse, and then glanced back uneasily at Beck.
She saw the look and grunted in frustration. Adrian had been right, the Cymans were much too soft. She looked back. The earthshifter probably did need water, as she could not recall the last time she had given him any.
Not that he deserved one single drop, she abruptly realized! This was all Beck Atlan’s fault.
Island Shifters: Book 02 - An Oath of the Mage Page 10
