Broken Lords: Book Two of the Broken Mirrors Duology

by A. F. Dery

  “Feud? What feud?” Malachi looked to Thane. “Are we feuding, Eladria?”

  Thane shrugged one shoulder.

  The High Lord raised his eyebrows. “Surely you have not so soon forgotten your allegations against Lord Eladria, Edmund.”

  Malachi spread his hands in a helpless, what can you do sort of gesture. “I was mistaken, my Lord. I attempted to correct myself in a later missive, perhaps you did not receive it.”

  “Well, well. That is good to hear. But what of your allegations regarding Lord Malachi, Thane?”

  “I too was mistaken, my Lord,” Thane said. His voice was genuinely sad as his eyes met the High Lord’s. “As it turns out, the creature who abducted Kesara was not actually sent by Lord Malachi. I have recently learned that you sent him, my Lord.”

  Thane, not normally one to bluff, had to force himself not to hold his breath as he waited for the High Lord’s reply. That man grew very still, his face unreadable.

  “And how did you come by such supposed knowledge?” he asked in a perfectly normal tone. They could have been discussing a change in the weather.

  “I just want to know why, my Lord,” Thane continued, ignoring the question. He leaned forward slightly. “Why would you allow such a thing? Perhaps you truly believed she belonged to him in some way, but why would you not have told me so? I have been faithful in my service to Almryn and the Union my entire life, have I not earned your trust, my Lord?”

  The High Lord sighed and sat quietly for several moments, drumming his fingers lightly against the arms of his chair, apparently deep in though. At last he seemed to come to a decision. “Thane, you must believe I am very sorry about all of this. Perhaps you are right, and I should have sent a messenger to you before Graegun’s arrival, but I was unaware of how this would affect you. He came here with his dispute regarding some contract with the Mirror, and claimed to be able to track her. I had heard through my usual means that there was a woman matching her description beyond your borders, but I did not know she was serving you, or bonded to you. Truly I did not believe you would even recognize her for what she was, and if she really was in your country, she’d almost certainly be starving to death or worse. I failed to see how seeing her returned to Graegun would be a worse fate. Your people are not terribly hospitable to outsiders, as you are aware. So I saw no harm in sending him to accompany the Mirror for Lady Malachi, as she needed an escort anyhow and that was the same direction he needed to travel. This has all been quite the misunderstanding.”

  “A misunderstanding you did not seem willing to clear up until just now, perfectly content to allow Eladria to continue to blame me for his Mirror’s abduction,” Malachi pointed out coolly.

  “I was giving Thane the opportunity to air his grievance. I fully intended to explain my role in matters once it reached that point,” the High Lord replied without missing a beat.

  “So you knew of Kesara then,” Thane said. “You knew what she was. You had to know, since you sent a Mirror to Lady Malachi, and you knew that Graegun was seeking another Mirror.”

  The High Lord paused before answering. “Yes,” he said. “I knew what Mirrors are, of course.”

  “You said when I brought her here that she was a boon for the Union, but you would have seen her back in the hands of that pig? Forgive me, my Lord, but I don’t understand. Why would you not send for me to keep her, or to send her onto you? You must have known his intentions for her did not include having her serve the Union!”

  The High Lord tensed, saying nothing. I can’t believe this is happening. I trusted him implicitly for so long. Thane felt his heart break for the second time in a day.

  “Yes, this whole Mirror business does seem strange, I must say. That you just happened to have one sitting around when my Lady fell ill and was in dire need. Very kind of you to share her that way, with her being the only one you have and all,” Malachi said coolly. “I can’t say she was such a boon, though. It took Eladria’s Mirror to get my Lady through childbearing. Almost as if she were in some way superior to the one you had. But of course, you couldn’t have known that yours was sub-par, I suppose. Tell us, my Lord, how you found out about these Mirrors? They certainly are not native to this part of the world.”

  “My emissaries to the lands beyond came across a school of them in Ytar,” the High Lord said coldly. “I at once saw the advantage they could be to the Union and researched them accordingly. I obtained one for testing purposes, if you will, but when I saw your Lady had greater need of her, that of course took precedence. I must say your ingratitude is truly beyond the pale, Edmund. I feared for our relations when you refused to answer my many summonses, but I had no idea they had deteriorated quite so far. Tell me, do your people not appreciate the goods they receive from your allies in the Union? Or the protections?”

  “Protections? My Lord, I have been attacked by Raiders from Lyntara that somehow managed to pass miraculously unseen through the borders of those who are supposed to be my allies and who are supposed to assure such ‘protections,’” Malachi sputtered, nearly rising from his chair in indignation.

  Thane frowned, staring at him. “Raiders? What the hell, Malachi? Why didn’t you say something? You could have sent a messenger.”

  “Yes, and I’m sure he would have seen the same success as the diplomatic envoy I sent,” Malachi replied bitterly.

  “Diplomatic envoy? You do not have a diplomatic envoy. You’ve certainly never sent me one,” Thane stated firmly.

  The High Lord watched in growing bemusement, which seemed to remind Malachi of his true purpose.

  “And then I was attacked again by supposedly rogue militia from my dear ally Janice!” he went on.

  “Jana,” Thane corrected automatically.”

  “Whatever. That bitch in Ossian,” Malachi said with a dismissive wave of his hand. “So where is she? That little feud not quite so important? You know, it strikes me just now that there are a surprising number of rogues about all of a sudden. Lyntaran rogues, Ossian rogues. You have any of those, Eladria?”

  “None lately, Malachi.”

  “Figures,” he grunted.

  “You must be mistaken. It is not possible for Raiders to have made it to your country, you must see that. You are surrounded by allies, and no one else has complained.”

  Malachi pulled the armband of a Lyntaran Raider from the pouch at his belt and tossed it onto the High Lord’s table.

  “I saw them with my own eyes. One of them even tried to amputate my missing arm,” Malachi said, his voice hard. “Somehow they took over control of my creations. Somehow they knew how to do it.”

  “Who could possibly have known that to tell them, Edmund?” the High Lord asked, eminently reasonable. He seemed to very deliberately not look at Thane.

  Thane felt the blood drain from his face. “You are surely not suggesting-”

  “No, of course he isn’t suggesting, Eladria, don’t get your armor in a twist,” Malachi snapped. “He’s practically accusing you, because of course you know the basic control mechanisms, and of course you’re the only one I’d trust with such knowledge. Only, how would you communicate with Lyntara without anybody being able to find out about it? No one can leave Eladria in the winter, it’s on a bloody mountain. It’s only just been spring. Your borders were on lock-down when all this happened. And the day an Eladrian messenger can sneak any damn place without being seen in a country full of normal sized people is the day the world ends. Your barbarians are about as subtle as earthquakes. But you, my Lord, knew the mechanisms as well, from the prototype plans I gave you. I saw no reason not to trust you with that information. I have had to replace my army with meat, but be assured it has been replaced until I can make the necessary adaptations.”

  “Are you certain you wish to make such accusations against me?” the High Lord asked in a low voice, his eyes glinting dangerously. “You owe me much, Malachi.”

  “As you tried to murder my wife, you owe me much more, in my view,” Malac
hi hissed in return.

  “Why would I even do such a thing? The things you’re saying are absurd.” The High Lord’s eyes were wide, his handsome face a portrait of innocence.

  “To prevent us from having the conversation we had before we came in here. The one where we came to realize you foresaw trouble with Lyntara because you were desperately trying to fortify your defenses with Malachi’s inventions, and where we realized you meant to hide the trouble you’ve been having from the Union by utilizing my alchemical proficiency. But Malachi couldn’t get you what you needed in time, especially with his Lady ailing, and I too was not wholly successful in my assigned task.” Thane spoke slowly, carefully, his eyes never leaving the High Lord’s. “There’s no way to hide this, my Lord. You’re clearly in trouble, and we can’t help you if you won’t tell us what is going on.”

  “Help me?” the High Lord let out a humorless little laugh. “You have no evidence of any of this. It’s all speculation.”

  “The Lyntaran corpses outside your walls aren’t speculation. There are clear signs of trouble. Evidence of Raiders behind Malachi’s borders. Clear signs of an attempted invasion, in broad daylight, right here. The other Mirror could surely tell us who sent her, and who went with her to Malachi.”

  “The other Mirror, unfortunately, has passed. Her refrere became terribly ill, I’m afraid, and did not survive,” the High Lord said smoothly. “As to the rest, it can be explained without all of this inexplicable conspiracy. No one would believe the pair of you over me. I have led this Union with authority for my entire adult life, far longer than either of you have been rulers.”

  “So you do not deny it,” Thane said flatly. His heart sank. Part of him had still hoped there might be some reasonable explanation for all these things that did not include this horrible treachery.

  “I do not need to deny it.” The High Lord shrugged casually. “You’re right. I needed both of your help, but I did not wish to reveal my weakness. I did not trust that word would not get out that I was having difficulties, that I was in need of such unorthodox measures as enlisting the help that the two of you could bring. It would have undermined my authority and make it look as though I am no longer the power that I once was. Almryn is supposed to be what binds the Union together. If my authority diminishes, that bond weakens. I knew if the two of you reconciled, you would together know too much, figure out too much. Seeking Thane’s help would perhaps be understandable, given your unique talents, but Edmund’s as well? It reeks of desperation. It has been all I can do to keep word of our recent troubles with Lyntara from spreading beyond our borders and making sure anything that still leaked was seen as nothing more than unsubstantiated gossip. It’s been a terrible ordeal, I must say. The Beast across the border has grown bold and somehow managed to sow dissatisfaction among the peoples closest to their border, and it has spread like some insidious plague. They began to murmur against me, then Raiders came. This latest attack was no doubt deliberately calculated to further undermine me in full view of the conclave. That is why I can assure your safety, you see; it was meant to humiliate me, not overthrow me. Not yet. And not ever, once I have the weapon I need to drive them into submission once and for all.”

  Thane and Malachi sat in stunned silence.

  At last, Thane said through numb lips, “What weapon?”

  “Yes, what weapon?” Malachi echoed. “You must know, that prototype was nowhere near complete and intended far more for defense-”

  “This weapon is not an invention of yours, Malachi. Or of Thane’s.” The High Lord smiled beatifically. “It’s the Mirror, you see.”

  Thane was suddenly aware of two things. The first was that he was somehow on his feet, the chair clattering to the floor into pieces behind him. The second was that his ax was not where it was supposed to be. He had, of course, come unarmed, which left his hand grasping for open air.

  “I don’t understand,” Malachi said, looking up at Thane in alarm. “Mirrors surely aren’t weapons. They absorb pain, right? How is that a weapon?”

  “Thane knows,” the High Lord said, his voice betraying a mild note of surprise. He appeared to be wholly unconcerned with the large man towering over his desk with fury in his brown eyes. “His Mirror is, you might say, broken. But in the best possible way for my purposes. She can project every pain she’s even taken onto another person, any of her choosing. And this Mirror, well….she’s taken a lot of pain. The Triumvirate in Ytar claimed she is the most powerful Mirror they’ve seen in two hundred years, and they tested her nearly to her breaking point to make sure of it. Now projecting pain, this is considered a defect among Mirrors, and a dangerous one. It would be hard to control such a Mirror. Broken Mirrors are normally put to death as soon as they are discovered, but she managed to hide it from her teachers. Not from the students, though. Our dearly departed Elsbeth had a little too much to drink after her bonding to my emissary, and mentioned certain suspicions about her in a moment of jealousy that he of course relayed to me. A discreet question or two to the right person and I was able to recognize her true value at once and bid on her. I would have emptied out every coffer to obtain such a prize, and refilled them with Lyntaran gold. Can you imagine? Combined with my own army, she would be formidable. She could keep them fighting through even mortal wounds, and pick off any of the enemy who broke through with her warped talent.” The High Lord shook his head, chuckling ruefully. “But she fled before the bidding was complete. No one could find her, not even my own spies. The terrain was too treacherous between here and Ytar, particularly to one foreign to that part of the world, and we had no allies there to help.

  “Just the same, I would never have imagined that she’d end up in such a place as Eladria. When Graegun came to me, it seemed fortuitous to say the least. He was supposed to bring her to me when he’d finished fulfilling the terms of his…contract. He made it clear he did not intend to kill her, and I did not think I could retrieve her on my own. You would have asked too many questions, Thane, if you’d known of her, and I had no way of finding out whether you were aware of her without raising still more questions. I’m sure you can appreciate the difficult position I was in.”

  “She won’t help you,” Thane hissed through clenched teeth, hardly caring if the other man understood. His expression alone could have conveyed his meaning, he was sure. “And neither will I.”

  “Of course she will,” the High Lord said cheerfully. “She will help me to keep you alive. If you die, she dies. That’s how it works, is it not? I need only make certain that your life remains in my hands, and I hold her by the leash, as it were.

  “But obviously, that also means I can’t allow you to leave here. I assure you that my guards are at the door even as we speak, preparing to take you into custody for the attempted murder of Lady Malachi and the unfortunate betrayal of the concord.” He looked to Malachi with a smile. “You, on the other hand…you are no longer necessary at all. You don’t know it, but you were unfortunately killed in that rogue attack.”

  “People have seen me since then,” Malachi said coolly, rising to his feet. “Your own servants have seen me, and my wife.”

  “I have other servants. And you won’t have a wife for much longer. Complications from the birth, you understand.” The High Lord winked.

  Malachi lunged at him, only to stagger before he could reach the desk, an arrow jutting from his shoulder. He whirled around, eyes wide.

  A guard was in the now open doorway, quickly notching another arrow.

  Thane knocked him to the ground with a sweep of his arm and dropped to his own knees. The arrow whistled between them. In seconds, he was back on his feet and charging the door with a battle cry, snatching up a chair and bashing aside the guard in the doorway with it. It shattered like a child’s plaything against the man’s skull as he barreled past.

  But the moment he was in the corridor, he was swarmed by heavily armed men. They clearly had one objective only: to bind him hand and foot, no matter how many
of them he took down. He was utterly incapable of defeating them all, or even enough to simply escape the High Lord’s private rooms.

  All too quickly, he was bound and struck on the back of the head. He blacked out as they were dragging him away.

  Malachi grasped at his shoulder, pain radiating from the wound all the way down his good arm. He lurched to his feet as he saw Thane moving through the doorway.

  He glanced back at the High Lord, who still sat calmly behind his desk, watching with all the appearance of indifference.

  “There’s nowhere to run, you know, Edmund,” the High Lord said, sounding almost bored. “You can’t escape this place without abandoning your wife and child, they’re hardly in any condition to leave with you. Perhaps it would be best to just accept your fate. It’s too bad you couldn’t leave matters be. That automaton you were designing seemed most promising.” He gave a sad shake of his head. “I wonder if Thane ever had any idea of the sorcery you’ve been dabbling in. Somehow I think not. At least you can be sure now that you’ll take that dirty little secret to your grave. It’s a shame I didn’t have the opportunity to let that one slip before you met with him, things could have turned out so much differently.”

  Malachi scowled, biting back the retort hovering on the tip of his tongue as he hurried from the room, still clutching his shoulder. He had no time to trade barbs, not with Maggie and the babe in danger. Just outside the doorway, he saw the High Lord’s guards swarming en masse around what was obviously Thane, who was swatting them away like pesky insects.

  He had no time to stay and watch: for the moment, they seemed wholly absorbed in trying to subdue the large man. He edged his way around them as fast as he dared and took off running through the main corridor.

  A moment later, he heard another arrow whistle past his head, and the sound of pounding footfalls in pursuit. He threw open the door at the end of the corridor and burst out into the main hall, startling a servant who had just descended the adjoining stairway. He pushed past the woman and ran down another corridor that forked off from the landing, forsaking the obvious choice of the stairway, and ducked into the first room he saw, quietly closing the door behind him.