Her father said nothing, his face a frozen mask.
"The fact that he led the search party showed me a lot about his character. He wants to gain my love, and I should give him a chance."
Nadia retained a contrite expression, one she'd practiced in the mirror many times, anticipating an occasion like this. She didn't like that she had to lie to her father, but she'd been telling lies for years. What was one more?
"I don't expect you to forgive me," she said. "And I understand that I deserve to be punished for what I did and the hurt I caused you. But I'm hoping we can both see this as an opportunity to repair our relationship. We've been through the worst of things, and we've survived. These are the kind of moments that can serve as turning points."
She'd run out of things to say, and prayed her father wouldn't see through her lies. Had she been convincing enough?
"Thank you, Nadia," he said, louder this time. "I'm not sure you believe everything you just said, but I'm glad you said it." He ran a hand through his curly brown hair. "I also have a few things to admit. Though I hate to say it, I was wrong."
She tried to keep her expression neutral.
"As much as I don't care for what you did," he said, "I have to take some of the blame. For all these years, I let you do whatever you wanted. I suspected that you were going to Order meetings, but I didn't stop it. If I'd moved to prepare you for your future as high lady sooner, you wouldn't have been at that meeting. Varek and Len, good men despite their faults, wouldn't have died, and you wouldn't have been so distraught yesterday.
"I also should have recognized how much their deaths and your close call affected you, but I was too caught up in what I wanted, and I didn't think of your emotional state. I should have waited with Tylen." He chewed on his lower lip. "I'm sorry, Nadia."
She tried to keep her mouth from hanging open. "Thank you."
"That doesn't mean that I'll accept what you did, but I can at least understand it. I won't confine you to your room, though there will be major changes. I'm giving you my trust even though you haven't earned it. Don't expect me to forgive you if you break that trust."
Dread twisted her stomach. "What changes?"
"No more Order meetings, but you knew that already. You will also stop your archery and swordplay, at least for now. You may see Kara, but I forbid any contact with Lord Ander. I also expect you to spend time with Avia, learning the duties of a woman—an area in which your skills are sadly lacking. I will have the guards record everything you read in the library. If you gain my trust, I may remove some of these restrictions, but only then."
She nodded, though she felt sick again. "I understand, Father."
How would she accomplish any of her goals with all these restrictions?
* * * * *
In the throne room of the Golden Palace, high atop Mount Imperia, Darien tapped his fingers on the golden arm of his throne. The glow of magical torches filled the room. Once lit, they kept glowing until he decided to put them out, like electrical lamps from the Old World.
Unlike most, he was old enough to remember many of the tales of the Old World, of the great sciences that had ruled that world, and of how those sciences destroyed it. In the new world, they had replaced science with magic. The powerful were the people like him, people who could control the elements, and he would have the world.
One day.
For the moment, the large throne room was empty, as he liked it. Even in his youth, he had never taken well to the company of others. He had managed social situations with skill, though, like he managed everything. Life was simply easier without too much reliance on others.
A door opened off to his right, and in strode High Commander Iven Adams, a man Darien trusted above all others.
Darien kept his tone patient. "Have you assembled the war party?"
"Yes, Your Majesty. I have chosen the men I trust most."
"Good," Darien said. "I have to have men I can trust not to fight me. Destroying Crayden will undoubtedly go against some of their beliefs. Hell, it goes against mine. But it has to be done. Our future demands it."
"I understand, Your Majesty. Sacrifices must be made."
"Yes, they must. The attack will commence in one day."
"Yes, Your Majesty." The high commander strode out of the throne room, leaving Darien alone with his thoughts. He had known for more than a century now that he'd have to destroy Crayden, killing the people he'd sworn to protect.
And he did protect them, even if they didn't know it.
Now that the event was so near, he hated it. He considered himself a manipulator of the future, but at times it felt like it was manipulating him in return, as though some evil entity lurked in the Webs of Fate, forcing him down paths that made him feel sick.
These thoughts were foolish. No one controlled the future, not even him. But there were times when it felt like some warning rang out in his subconscious. Times he had to remind himself that he was only feeling the pain of doubt. His opponents painted him as some kind of uncaring monster. They didn't understand him at all.
All through his life, people had seen darkness where they should have seen light, seen apathy where they should have seen caring. They blamed him for all the deaths on his orders, yet they ignored the deaths that resulted from their own inaction.
What did it matter to a bunch of sorcerers in Luminia if countless peasants were dying all over the world because they had no protection? These sorcerers were too wrapped up in their own powers and ambitions, their own conflicts, and they failed to see the bigger picture. If the world continued on its current path, it would suffer like the old one. Maybe even end.
But all these people saw was Darien's evil.
Chapter 24: The Attack
Nadia spent the next day bored to tears as Avia taught her how to sew. Too often, Nadia messed up the stitching and had to start all over again. She wanted to throw the clothes on the floor.
"You're doing perfectly fine," Avia said. "You just need some practice."
"But I don't want to sew. It's so boring, so normal." Nadia shook her head sadly, feeling the warm breeze through her open window. Maybe she sounded childish, but she didn't care.
"Well, you need to learn these things."
"I suppose you're right."
A knock sounded on the door. Nadia rose from her red-cushioned chair and opened the door. Kara stood in the doorway, frowning.
"Is everything all right?" Nadia asked.
Kara stepped into the room and took a seat on the edge of Nadia's bed as Avia watched from a chair across the room.
"I have some bad news," Kara said. "Your hero Markus is in prison."
"What? How did that happen?"
"He refused to become an Imperial Guard, and instead of killing him, they locked him in the lowest level of the Crayden prison. Indefinitely."
"How did you find out?" Nadia asked.
"As it happens, I'm good friends with a young man named Tomas, who's a friend of Markus and Rik. Rik told Tomas, and Tomas told me."
Nadia felt sick. "I have to see him."
"That's not all you want to do."
"Your father won't allow it," Avia said.
"Then I'll just have to convince him," Nadia said, wondering how she could do that. Her father seemed in a better mood, but how much freedom would he permit her? Then again, he had taken a liking to Markus. Maybe that would convince him.
Maybe she could even get him to intercede with the Imperial Guards.
"We need to go and see my father," she said. "Tell him what's happening."
Avia gave Nadia a tired look. With Kara at her side, Nadia filed out of her room, past the guard at the door—Jasin, the sloppy, bearded one who sympathized with Warrick's regime.
Soon she stepped into her father's study and knocked on the open door. He sat at the side of the room, hunched over paperwork on his desk. "Yes, Nadia, what is it?"
"Remember Markus, the young man who saved me?"
He nodded.
"Well, Kara found out that Imperial Guards have imprisoned him. We have to do something about it. We can't just let him die in there."
His stern gaze settled on Kara, who stood at the door. Then he looked back at Nadia, his expression grave. "There's nothing we can do. I have a lot of power, but Imperial Guards always have the final say."
Nadia held back tears. "But isn't there something you can do?"
"Did they imprison him for killing that Imperial Guard?"
"No," Nadia said. "There was some kind of deal. He was supposed to become an Imperial Guard on his eighteenth birthday, and he refused. Doesn't that seem to you like an odd reason to imprison somebody? Don't you think we should do something about it?"
"That's the way our world works. What I think doesn't matter. Better not to get involved."
"I don't care how our world works. We owe Markus a great debt."
He massaged his temples. "I agree with you, Nadia. I really do. But we have to be smart. When your mother was executed, Warrick almost ordered my execution too, so it's not only your life you're risking."
Nadia had figured as much, but it was good to hear her father admit his reasons. That didn't make his actions right, but they weren't wrong either.
Just not what she would have done in his place.
"Maybe we don't have to do anything that can be traced to us," she said. "If you let me talk to the Order, I can get them to free him. No one will know we were involved."
Her father's gaze became stern again. "Nice try, Nadia, but it won't work. Yes, I'm grateful for what Markus did, but that doesn't mean I'm going to cut back on your restrictions. You need to learn your lesson, Nadia. There are consequences for your actions."
"How can you be so heartless? Markus saved my life!"
"It's out of my hands, Nadia. I'm sorry."
"At least let me see him again," she said. "I won't try to free him myself. Kara can get help from the Order."
"She does have a point," Kara said from the doorway.
Nadia's father leaned forward in his chair, his expression pensive. In the past, she'd been able to predict his reactions, but not now.
"You may try to see him," he said. "Two guards will accompany you, you will bring no weapons, and if I catch even a hint of you trying to free him, you will lose all the freedoms I've let you keep."
Nadia resented her father's protectiveness, but she understood his reasons. Still, she could take care of herself. How hard could it be to free Markus?
"All right, I won't try anything," she lied, burning with guilt. "I promise."
"I'm placing my trust in you even though you don't deserve it. Don't make me regret my choice." His gaze became icy.
"I understand, Father."
About fifteen minutes later, she left the castle with Kara and two guards, Jasin from her door and David, who had let her leave the castle grounds the other night. She wished Jasin weren't there. He wouldn't let her do anything questionable.
Kara wanted to stop by her family's inn. Jasin resisted, but David overruled him. Kara's inn stood toward the middle of town, just west of the poorer sections in an area with cobblestone streets. They stepped into the well-kept but empty common room. The smell of beef stew hung in the air as they approached Kara's father, who stood behind the counter.
"Why the guards?" he asked.
"My father doesn't trust me," Nadia said.
"Well, he's probably right there."
Kara stepped into a room off to the side, then returned shortly with her sword. Jasin wrinkled his brow "That weapon makes it look like you're planning something."
"I don't like being unarmed and unprepared," Kara said.
A sentiment Nadia shared. She felt naked without her sword and bow.
Aric and Ander showed up a few moments later, coming from another room. Nadia felt a twinge of panic, knowing she wasn't supposed to see Ander anymore. But how could she have known that Ander would be there? To her right, Jasin narrowed his eyes.
"What brings you by, Nadia?" Aric asked. "I'm surprised your father let you out."
"He wasn't happy about it," she said, and told the whole story.
"Getting him out won't be easy," Ander said, afterward. "There's a lot of security there, and chances are they won't even let you see him. They get a little paranoid where Imperial Guards are concerned. With time, though, we might come up with a plan to get him out."
"For all we know, they haven't given him any food or water," Nadia said. "How long can he survive like that?
"Don't worry. He's doing all right." Rik stepped out of the hallway, his axe strapped to his back. "Not great, but he'll live."
"I didn't know you'd be here," Nadia said.
"I've been staying in town the last couple of days, waiting for a chance to get Markus outta there. Still don't know how we're gonna do it. Markus's uncle's been talking to the Imperial Guard commander, trying to work something out."
Jasin glared at them. "You shouldn't be discussing this."
"Oh, shut up already!" Nadia said.
"Your father will hear of this. I can't let you discuss acts bordering on treason without informing someone."
Nadia was about to respond, but then a scream sounded outside.
* * * * *
Theo found the Imperial Guard garrison empty. Strange. What could lead them to abandon their garrison? He hadn't seen them patrolling the city either.
He strode out of the building, onto streets that looked as they always did. People passed by, not even stopping to glance at him. Thieves lurked in alleys, sizing up the people around them, deciding he wasn't an easy target
Anger burned within him. He could understand why Markus didn't like his future, but this wasn't a world for idealists. Idealists ended up dead.
But maybe Markus had made the right choice. Theo could still remember every person he'd ever killed. His commanders had told him not to let the deaths linger on his conscience, but how could any decent person do that?
Maybe that was why he lived with so many regrets. Would it have been better to die on that mountain all those years ago? Should he tell Markus the whole truth? Markus deserved to know what had happened to his parents, but Theo could never bring himself to break Warrick's command.
Lost in thought, Theo barely noticed the first scream. When another sounded, he unsheathed his sword and started toward the sound.
* * * * *
Dressed in a fine red suit, Tylen took a carriage from his manor to the castle. He wanted to make sure the high lord had no second thoughts about the marriage. At Tylen's command, the driver kept the horses at a fast pace. People hastened to get out of the carriage's way.
When they arrived at the castle, he disembarked and stepped through the open gate. The guards greeted him warmly and directed him to the high lord's study. Tylen knocked.
"Come in."
"Good afternoon, my lord," Tylen said as he entered.
The high lord turned, greeting Tylen with a smile. "Ah, Tylen, what brings you by?"
"I was hoping to make arrangements for dinner with you and Lady Nadia, either tonight or another night. I hope to improve her opinion of me."
"I don't think she hates you as much as you think."
"Really? That's surprising." Tylen had seen the hatred in her eyes back in the forest. A haunting look he could never forget. Some part of him did want her to be happy.
"She told me she hadn't given you enough of a chance," the high lord said. "I think she regrets her actions. It was a tough day for her. Don't judge her too harshly."
Had she told her father the truth? That seemed unlikely.
"I hope she's telling the truth," Tylen said. "I would hate to force her into a marriage she hates. Not that I expect everything to be smooth with such a spirited young lady."
The high lord smiled. "Yes, Nadia can be quite stubborn. Why do you think I chose you as the next high lord? Not only are you well-suited to the position itself, but I think you can help shape my daughter
into a more suitable high lady. Even better if you grow to love each other."
"I believe I will love her," Tylen said. "It might sound strange, but I like her spirit."
"You will find her worth your love if you're patient with her. After all, I was lucky enough to fall in love with the woman I married."
"So when might I dine with you?" Tylen asked, growing tired of this conversation.
"Tonight would be perfect. Nadia should be back by then."
"Are you sure it was wise to let her leave? She did just try to run away a couple of days ago."
"She is with some guards. They will keep her under control."
Tylen doubted that, but it was not yet his place to question the high lord. In time, Tylen would rule. Until then, he had to defer to the man.
Raised voices sounded outside the study, and Tylen didn't like the sound of them. The high lord rose from his desk. "What could that possibly be?"
"Let me investigate. It's probably nothing." Tylen stepped out of the study and peered toward the open castle gate, the place from which the voices came. The guards were arguing with some Imperial Guards. Tylen felt a jolt of fear and ducked behind a pillar, where he could watch but not be seen.
"Allow us to pass," said an Imperial Guard. "The high lord must die. His family has played a dangerous game for too long. It's time he paid with his life."
Tylen's stomach twisted into knots. When he turned, he saw the high lord behind him.
"Did you hear that?" Tylen whispered.
The high lord nodded. "You should hide yourself, Tylen."
"What about you?" You're my ticket to power, Tylen added silently.
"They've come for me, not you. You're safer away from me."
"Why are they doing this?" Tylen asked quietly, tuning out the conversation at the gate. "It's Nadia's fault, isn't it?"
The high lord looked forlorn. "Most likely, yes. They must have discovered her involvement in the Order. They gave me a second chance, and I failed." He shook his head wearily, as though he'd always expected this. "Please, Tylen, hide yourself."
World in Chains- The Complete Series Page 19
