Airron was torn. He had to find Beck. Nothing was more important than saving the life of the man who had been like a brother to him his entire life. Yet, now, there was a missing girl. As a shifter of the island, he had a duty to serve and protect. It was what defined him. It was the essence of the magic that flowed through his veins.
Melania addressed the men. “My husband is an incomparable bodyshifter as well as a Gladewatcher and Savitar. He will find the missing girl.”
Airron looked at her with raised eyebrows. This woman really did know him. She understood that he would be unable to turn away from the duty before him.
The men dismounted and approached Airron to shake his hand. “Savitar? Thank the Highworld you are here! Do you really think you can find her?”
Airron nodded. “I can find her.” But, his instincts were already screaming at him that it would be too late. When a body disappears in the path of an evil bodyshifter, there is only one conclusion that can be made.
Hang on, Beck. I am coming for you. On that you can depend, my friend.
The carriage bounced roughly along the uneven terrain of the marketplace outside of Nysa’s front gates. Normally, the small metropolis that operated outside of the city would be bustling with activity even at this late hour, but now it was vacant. There was little money to be made from a city besieged by civil war.
Kiernan gritted her teeth as every turn of the wheels rattled her bones. Across the seat from her Kirby Nash sat utterly composed. She did not know how the Saber could be so calm.
“What do you think our chances are of pulling this off, Captain?” she asked him.
“Twenty percent.”
“That’s it? Only a twenty percent chance that we will be able to free my father?”
He shook his head. “Only a twenty percent chance that we will make it through the front gates.”
She raised her eyebrows at him. “Did you not think this was an opinion you should have shared with me before now?”
“I did, Your Grace, but you did not wish to listen.”
He was right, of course. She did not listen to any of her advisors, including some pretty irate sorceresses who insisted that this gambit was foolhardy and dangerous. But, they did not understand her duties as a Princess or her blood oath. Danger and percentages of success did not factor into her decision making.
She guessed she was just hoping that Kirby had a little more confidence that their plan would succeed. Certainly, the fact that seven of the Sabers were able to enter the city under various pretexts without difficulty should account for something. There seemed to be a substantial lapse in security from Etin’s allied legionnaires.
“Halt!”
The cry came from outside, and the carriage rumbled to a stop. Kiernan tried to control her nerves as she pulled the hood of her cloak closer around her head. This was the riskiest part of their plans. Once admitted into the city, they could disappear within the mass of people and soldiers, but if found out now, it would be over.
Kirby’s blonde curls, dyed black, bounced around his face as he shifted to peer out of the window of the carriage. He was wearing a well-tailored, plain black tunic and leggings, a complement to her stylish, lightweight linen cloak. Her distinctive, long blonde hair was pulled back into a severe chignon. The ruse was to appear prosperous enough to afford a carriage, yet not among the noble born which would precipitate a discussion regarding House affiliation.
“Are you an idiot?” the soldier at the gate questioned harshly. “The city is under siege!”
The Saber disguised as their driver answered. “Yes, sir, I am aware, but the Lady Downey of York is with child and is seeking permission to enter the city to visit her midwife.”
Kiernan let out a wail. “Ahh!”
Angry footsteps strode to the door of the carriage and it was yanked open. “What is the matter with you, woman?”
Kiernan gasped and kept her head averted as she held her belly. “It is time! Please, sir! I must be allowed into the city!”
Kirby held her hand and played the concerned husband perfectly.
“You will have to come back. We have a wedding tomorrow and no one…”
“Ahh!”
“What is going on, Fasso?” It was one of the archers who lined the top of the outer wall.
Fasso poked his head back out of the carriage. “A woman with child who wishes to see her midwife,” he shouted up to the wall. Then, a little softer, “She is pretty big, Lieutenant.”
There was a pause as the soldiers discussed what to do.
“All right, send her through, Fasso.”
The heavy iron gates of Nysa groaned as they slowly began to open.
The soldier called Fasso leaned in once more. “You may enter.” He put his hand on the carriage door to close it and then hesitated.
“Wait.”
Kiernan cursed under her breath. Looking over at Kirby, she saw him reach down and remove a dagger from his leather boot, slipping it into his palm.
“Let me see your face,” Fasso ordered.
Kiernan held the cloak tight around her face and glanced at the soldier with her eyes lowered, hoping he had never seen her close up.
“Let me see your eyes.”
Kiernan let out a breath and brought her gaze up to the soldier.
Kirby’s left fist drove into the temple of the soldier like a hammer. Kiernan immediately reached out and grabbed the man before he fell, and Kirby dragged him into the carriage, the open door blocking the view of the legionnaires on the wall. “Quickly!” he said. “Help me take off his cloak! That is all we have time for, so it will have to do.”
Kiernan unlaced the cord at the man’s neck and Kirby swung the cloak around his shoulders and placed the helm with the Wolf sigil blazoned on the front on his own head. Agile as a cat, he jumped from the carriage and closed the door, pounding the side with his open hand. “Get moving!” he shouted up to the Saber driving.
The carriage lurched and the unconscious soldier rolled onto Kiernan’s feet on the floor. He was too heavy for her to lift by herself but she was able to squeeze her feet from underneath him and curl them under her body on the cushioned seat. While Kiernan held her breath, the carriage rumbled through the gates and onto Dannery Row.
She leaned her head back with a sigh of relief, but knew that she could not let her guard down for one moment. Not all of the legionnaires would be as easy to fool as the sentries at the gates. Darkness was their ally now, but tomorrow it would be more difficult to hide her identity.
Prestigious noble estates lined the boulevard on both sides of the road and then gave way to the commercial district where the more prosperous merchants plied their wares. She hoped Kirby was able to slip away from the guards. She comforted herself with the fact that an alarm had not been raised and would have by now if Kirby had been discovered.
The carriage took several turns and finally turned down Penny Place, a neighborhood of modest homes and businesses, and pulled up in front of an inn called the Draca Den. Anxious to leave the confines of the carriage, Kiernan waited impatiently for the Saber to open the door, indicating that all was clear.
It swung open a moment later and she quickly alighted, instructing her Saber driver to dispose of the soldier in the carriage in whatever way he deemed reasonable—short of killing him—that ensured he did not cause trouble for them before tomorrow night.
The streets and walkways were crowded with boisterous legionnaires, and terrified citizens hurried along their way with heads hung low as they tried to avoid notice.
“Hear ye! Hear ye!”
Kiernan turned to the town crier dressed in a bright red coat, white breeches and tricorne hat as he rang his hand bell to get the attention of an audience.
“Hear ye! Let it be known by one and all! The King has fled Nysa! The monarch of this great land has abandoned the people in their bleakest hour! Hear ye! Hear ye! King Maximus is gone!”
Another crier further down the block toute
d the fact that Lord Davad Etin had assumed administrative control of the city and would not forsake the people, as had their King.
Livid at the brash dissemination of outright lies, Kiernan pushed through the throng to the front door of the Draca Den and entered. Unlike most taverns and inns, this particular establishment was not packed wall to wall with legionnaires. Instead, families sat quietly eating their meals in the illumination of a blazing fireplace that provided a warm and inviting atmosphere lacking elsewhere in the beset city.
She knew this innkeeper personally, and he would never tolerate loud and drunken behavior in front of his clientele. The legionnaires must have quickly realized this and looked elsewhere for their fun leaving the Draca Den a safe haven in the turmoil for the citizenry.
She caught the eye of the innkeeper who was wiping down the bar with a white towel. He nodded very slightly and she walked the perimeter of the room and took the stairs on the south side of the building up to the second level.
He was behind her a few moments later, unlocking one of the room doors and ushering her inside.
He quickly lowered his bulk to one knee. “Your Grace.”
“It is so good to see you, Jase.” Kiernan met the innkeeper years ago when he had managed the Lantern Inn in the town of Janis. Since then, he had married and relocated to Nysa to open the Draca Den with his new wife. He was also one of the largest men she had ever seen in her life.
In spite of her anger, she could not help but smile fondly at the man who had become a friend to her. “Please rise.”
He stood and shook his head. “Terrible times, Your Grace, just terrible.”
She removed her cloak and hung it on the single peg on the back of the door. “I just heard the town criers’ drivel.”
He waved his hand in the air. “Bah! Nobody believes that nonsense. We are not as stupid as the nobles like to think.” He shook his head in regret. “I just cannot imagine what has come over these soldiers. They are Iserlohn men and I am ashamed to admit it!”
“Poor discipline and an insane leader, that is what has happened, Jase. But, I promise you, as your Princess, I will do whatever I can to rid the city of this infestation. You have my word on that.”
“Of that I have no doubt, but do you think I can talk you out of it, Your Grace?” he asked with a nod at her burgeoning stomach. “You can leave the riffraff to me. I have a mind to go out there and strap a few over my knee anyway.”
She laughed. “And, I have no doubt, that you would do just that. But, please, do not bring trouble on your head. Leave this to the Sabers.”
His large face turned pink. “No offense, Your Grace, but that feels like the cowardly way to me. This is my city now. I played the coward in Janis and will not do so again.”
“A mindshifter had been involved in the events with Cara,” she reminded him. “You were no coward, Jase. In fact, you were the only one to stand up to her husband.”
“No excuse, but enough of this. You need your rest, so I will leave you to it.”
She reached out to grab one of his big, beefy hands in hers. “Thank you, Jase, for everything. You are very brave to put yourself at risk to help me.”
He smiled down at her from his enormous height. “Flattery, my Princess, will get you the affections of an innkeeper for life.”
With a promise to send Kirby to the room as soon as he arrived, the big man said a final goodbye and shut the door behind him.
Kiernan went to the small window to look down on the streets while she cradled the swell of her unborn son. Was Helenite right that she was in the early stages of labor? She hoped to the Highworld not. She could not have this baby now.
Not when a battle loomed.
Not without Beck.
I cannot just stay here, Baya. Kenley paced back and forth restlessly in her bedroom, and the Draca Cat’s green eyes tracked her movements.
What do you propose?
She stopped and peered into the outer room. Miss Belle was still asleep in the armchair. My Maman needs me. I have to go to her, Baya! But, how am I to get a horse saddled? Anybody I ask for help will just send me back here to my room if they know what I am planning. She paused in thought. Kirby would help me if he was here.
Kirby? This is not about Captain Nash again, is it?
Kenley stopped pacing. What do you mean?
You still think you are going to marry him one day.
I am going to marry him! You just wait and see.
I thought humans usually choose mates closer to their own age?
Not me! I am going to marry Captain Kirby Nash some day. Mark my words, Baya. Right now, though, I must save him and Maman. But, how?
I will take you.
She looked at her friend in puzzlement. You?
Yes, you can ride on my back.
Kenley shook her head. That is a crazy idea, Baya.
No, it is not. If you stand on a stool, you can easily reach my back to put a saddle on me, and I will take you to Nysa.
But, you are my friend! I could never ride you!
Does your Maman need our help?
Yes! Of course, but how can I ask that of you?
You have not asked, I have offered.
She took her lower lip between her teeth and looked once more in the outer room at her sleeping caretaker. It might work, Baya.
I will keep you safe, little one. I promise.
She made up her mind and nodded. Let’s do it.
Keep in mind, Princess, that my gait is much different from a horse. You will need to hang on very tightly.
I will. She approached the Draca and hugged her around her snowy neck. Thank you, my friend. I love you.
And, I you. Baya tilted her head in thought. You know, Princess, they say that long ago, my ancestors, the Draca Cats, were used in battle. Are we going to battle now?
I think so. From what I overheard, Nysa is in trouble.
Baya’s green eyes took on a dangerous glint. Then, we ride for Nysa!
Maximus gazed into the low-burning fire lost in thought. The rest of his companions, Belle, Larkin, Eden, Bo, and Saber Ryan were asleep, but he was finding it hard to do so this night.
Tomorrow would be the seventh day of his self-imposed sequester and probably one of his last. The food supplies that Miss Belle and Larkin had so meticulously transferred to his chambers had inexplicably gone bad, so they no longer had any food to eat. Today, the water supply that was kept in a lined wooden barrel tipped over.
He knew that Gage Gregaros would be planning a rescue attempt, but when?
He granted a Lordship to the former Royal Guard Captain for the man’s valor in the Demon War. The stories were legendary now. Without the slightest concern for his own life, the former Saber threw himself at the enemy with loyal abandon. Most certainly, Maximus would not be alive today if not for Gage Gregaros.
But, he would not be alive much longer without food or water. If his liege Lord did not arrive soon and win back the city, Maximus would be forced to come out of his chambers.
He snorted softly. Starvation or hanging? Were those really his only choices?
He wondered if Kiernan was back in Bardot. If she was, he hoped that she stayed right there. It would be her best chance of survival for herself and her children. But, what did Davad mean with his comment about Beck not returning any time soon? It was all just so frustrating to be sitting inside this room instead of confronting his nemesis. Subjects had expectations that their King will keep them safe and sheltered from harm and, right now, he could do neither. Furthermore, the situation would only get worse before it had a chance to get better. When Gage did arrive, there would be loss of life—on both sides—as that was the unfortunate, but inevitable, fact of war.
Damn Etin and his greedy ambitions!
A shadow passed over the fire, and he turned. “Ah, Eden, please sit down and join me.”
The brown-haired sorceress walked around and sat in the armchair next to him. She was wearing a salmon-colored gow
n and her hair was pulled back in the plait favored by the sorceresses.
“You are up late, Your Grace,” she observed.
“Yes, my mind refuses to let me rest I am afraid.”
“It will be over soon,” she commented unemotionally.
“Yes, it appears so.”
They remained quiet for a few moments, and then he turned his head to study her profile. “Tell me, Eden, what did he promise you?”
She turned to him. “He?”
“Yes, Lord Etin. I know what you have been up to.”
The sorceress turned back to the fire and did not respond.
“It was you who dumped our water supply.”
“I was only attempting to move the barrel from underneath the window,” she tried to insist.
“With your foot?
Her face hardened.
“Your sandal imprint is on the wood.”
Eden sighed and remained quiet for several long moments as if deciding what to say. Maximus was just thinking she was not going to reply when she said, “Not he. She.”
“Who?”
“Avalon Ravener.”
He cursed loudly into the silent room.
“She made all of the usual promises, Your Grace. Money, power, status. All of the things I could never have hoped to achieve on my own.” She looked at him, but then rolled her eyes and turned her head. “What would you know, King Maximus? You cannot possibly know what it is like to grow up as a poor farmer’s daughter and then whisked off to live with strangers at the age of sixteen because of a magical ability you neither understand nor want. You cannot possibly know what it is like to see your family struggle to survive. To see your sister’s eyes sunken into her head from lack of nourishment.” She shook her head. “You cannot possibly know.”
No, he did not know and the admission hurt more than her betrayal. The poverty and misery of the people of his country lay at his feet and his alone. He could not even blame Lord Etin. The suffering of Eden’s family had occurred on his watch.
“So, why have you not killed me already, Eden? What are you waiting for?”
Island Shifters: Book 02 - An Oath of the Mage Page 13
