“Who are these insurrectionists?”
“Mostly it’s just people who didn’t leave their homes when they were told to. When they didn’t leave, the Lancers came in and cut off trade, so they turned to banditry to feed their families. The government points to the crime happening in the area as justification for the sequestration that caused the banditry in the first place.”
“So this province isn’t the first to be starved out?”
“No, this is the third,” Hod said. “It all started when Phane woke. The king decreed that all taxes would double to pay for the defense of Andalia against the pretender. The people living in the plains didn’t have much choice, but those of us living in more rugged areas mostly ignored the order. Lancers were sent to collect the taxes, but a lot of them never returned. The government responded by stirring up the people in the cities, telling them that the bandits were stealing children and other nonsense. When the people didn’t believe them, children started to actually go missing. It wasn’t long after that, that the people started demanding emergency measures to deal with the threat.
“That’s when the first sequestration started. Thousands starved, more were killed or sold into slavery, but the people in the cities didn’t hear about that. What they hear are reports of children disappearing, whispers that the bandits are eating them.” He paused for a moment, staring straight ahead. “It scares me the things people will believe, and without even thinking about it for a moment.”
“I know what you mean,” Alexander whispered, closing his eyes and wishing he could turn off the nightmare swirling around in his mind.
Days passed without event. Each night, Lancer patrols returned with more slaves captured in the forest. A few tried to escape; none succeeded. After a week of waiting, a wagon train arrived, each wagon fitted with a cage capable of transporting eight people.
One by one, the Lancer commanders herded the prisoners into the staging area, lining them up in orderly rows for inspection. A Lancer general walked the ranks, inspecting each prisoner. Behind him, an aide tallied the number of slaves captured by each commander and assigned every slave an estimated value.
As the general approached, Alexander assessed him. His colors were muddy and dark, devoid of humanity, absent of conscience. He might as well have been inspecting bushels of corn.
The general accepted nearly all of the slaves, touching his ring to their collar. The few he deemed to be of too-little value to warrant a place in his caravan were killed on the spot. Once the value of the slaves had been calculated, he paid the commanders and supervised the loading of his purchases into the wagons.
As the Andalians herded the slaves into the wagons, Alexander watched for Anja. She’d been loaded into a wagon with seven other young women. Alexander met her eyes as he passed, mouthing the only thing that really mattered, “I love you.”
Chapter 5
Isabel woke slowly, lingering in that place between sleep and wakefulness, unaware of where she was until she opened her eyes and found herself lying on a cold stone floor, dull pain hammering in her head. She pushed herself up to her hands and knees, clenching her eyes against the explosion in her head caused by such sudden movement. She took a moment to breathe, willing her mind to clear and trying to focus.
Very deliberately, she got to her feet and assessed her surroundings. She was in a circular room. Magic circles were etched into both the floor and ceiling. A single window cut through three feet of stone and barred at the midway point provided the only source of light. Opposite the window was a heavy door without a keyhole or latch.
Details began to work their way through the fog of pain in her head. She’d stabbed Phane … but he’d survived. He’d subdued her with poison—a possibility that had never entered her mind. He was an arch mage, yet he’d made preparations to defend himself without magic.
She sat down, the realization settling on her that she’d failed because she had underestimated him. Alexander had warned her, but she hadn’t listened.
Then it hit her.
Her hand went to the Goiri bone under her tunic. It was still there. The pain in her head faded, replaced by all of the possibilities racing through her mind. Since she still had the cursed bone, it stood to reason that Phane wasn’t aware of it. Surely he’d have taken it from her.
A thrill of fear ran up her spine, quickly spiking into terror so powerful that Isabel found herself cowering on the floor, searching the empty walls for a threat she couldn’t name. After a few minutes she regained some sense of awareness beyond the unexplainable fear gripping her soul. The experience had been so intense and so unexpected that she forgot momentarily why she was afraid in the first place. It took a moment of searching her mind before she remembered.
The box.
It was sealed by magic. If Phane got the bone, he could open the box without Lacy—he would have the final keystone he needed to open the Nether Gate.
Isabel surged to her feet, ripping the Goiri bone from around her neck and dropping it to the floor, stomping on it, grinding it into the flagstone with the heel of her boot until it was nothing but powder. Then she carefully scooped up the dust and blew it out the window.
As the remains of the cursed bone swirled away on the breeze, Isabel was thrown across the room as the magic circle reasserted itself in the absence of the null magic field. All vestiges of the fear she’d been feeling faded away in an instant. Then she hit the ground hard and the darkness of the Wraith Queen gripped her psyche once again. She would have screamed if she could have spared the effort, but she knew that any distraction, any slip of focus could lead to ruin, allowing Azugorath into her mind and heart where the demon would take up permanent residence.
Isabel wasn’t sure how long she lay on the floor, curled into a ball, fighting to remain in control of her own free will … it seemed like hours. Moment by moment, she fended off the demonic invasion threatening to take everything from her until the will of the Wraith Queen broke and her push for dominion receded.
Isabel sat up, trying to steady herself, allowing the flutter in her stomach and the energy coursing through her veins to dissipate. With a smile, she tipped her head back and linked her mind with Slyder. He was a long way away, and he was lonely. She could feel his excitement as he took to wing, flying toward her. She knew exactly how he felt. It had been a long time since she’d been able to use her magic, a long time since she’d been able to link with her familiar.
The sound of boots on stone brought her mind back to the circle cell. When the door opened, she remained sitting in the middle of the floor, smiling slightly as Phane stopped at the threshold. Two very large guards stood behind him.
“Hello, Isabel,” Phane said, a boyish smile of unabashed joy spreading across his face. “I trust the accommodations are to your liking.”
She stood and gingerly pressed against the barrier created by the magic circle. “It’s a little too confining for my tastes,” she said, meeting his eyes. “I was hoping you’d bled out.”
“Charming as ever. The truth is, no one has ever stabbed me before. In fact, no one has ever come so close to killing me before, not even remotely. Quite impressive, really, especially when you consider the magical protections surrounding me. I’m so very eager to learn how you managed to penetrate those defenses.”
“I’ll bet,” Isabel said.
Phane chuckled, not with derision or malice, but with genuine joy. “That’s one of the many reasons I like you, Isabel. You are so very defiant … even in the face of utter defeat, you stand your ground. Such tenacity is to be admired, though not overly so. As you can see, you’re all out of moves. I’ve won. Things will go much better for you once you accept that.”
“So, is this where you threaten to torture me?”
Phane actually looked shocked, and even a bit hurt. “Dear Isabel, I wouldn’t dream of such a thing. I don’t want to hurt you. I want to make you my queen, my Lady Reishi. I can show you how to tap the darkness within you, command it, w
ield it. I can show you how to bend the netherworld to your will. Kings will kneel before you and tremble.”
Isabel started laughing. At first it was slightly forced, but within a few moments, it transformed into a genuine belly laugh that she couldn’t stop. Phane’s expression morphed from the pure joy of imagining his fantasy to sudden rage, his features contorted and ugly.
With a gesture, he dismissed the magic circle and surged forward, taking Isabel by the throat and lifting her off the ground at arm’s length. Still, she laughed past her choking. She watched the struggle play out in his eyes; he wanted to kill her and yet he didn’t. Then the rage passed, replaced by cold calculation, and he set her down gently.
“You shouldn’t laugh at me, Isabel. It’s disrespectful.”
She started laughing again.
He clenched his jaw, fury building in his golden eyes, but he retained his composure, glaring at her until her mirth subsided.
“Are you quite finished?”
“For now,” Isabel said, focusing her thoughts on the coming moment. He’d already demonstrated that he was unwilling to kill her, a powerful advantage in any fight, especially since her goal in life at this moment was to end his.
“I believe I have a way to persuade you, though I don’t expect it to arrive for several days, so we’ll resume this conversation then. In the meantime, I’ll see about more suitable quarters. You are Lady Reishi, after all, and that must be respected.”
“I’m Lady Reishi because I’m married to Alexander, and yet you insist that he’s a pretender. How does that make any sense?”
“Simple, Alexander is Lord Reishi. He’s bound to the Sovereign Stone, and by long tradition of the Reishi family, that fact makes him Lord Reishi, but admitting that to others wouldn’t help me, so I’ve labeled him the pretender.” Phane shrugged. “Once he’s dead, it won’t matter.”
“So it’s just one more lie then.”
“Deception is often more powerful than magic,” Phane said, flashing his boyish smile.
When he turned, Isabel started casting her spell. Just before he reached the threshold, her light-lance fired, but it was refracted into a brilliant burst of light before it reached the back of Phane’s head, diffusing its power in a thousand directions.
He didn’t even turn around, chuckling. “I told you I was well protected.” The door closed on his last word.
***
Several hours later, the door opened again. Isabel was sitting cross-legged in the middle of the room staring at the door. She stood when she saw it wasn’t Phane, but several other people instead.
The first was an elderly man dressed in simple brown robes. He had sharp features, flat grey eyes, and long silvery white hair but his face was clean-shaven. With a word, he dismissed the magic circle and smiled insincerely at Isabel before bowing formally. “Lady Reishi, welcome to the Reishi Army Regency headquarters fortress. I am Wizard Enu. Prince Phane has assigned me to complete your education in the arcane arts.”
A rather severe-looking woman stepped up beside him. She was middle-aged and slender, her hair was pulled back into a tight braid and she wore the drab clothing of a maidservant. “Lady Reishi, I am Headmistress Dierdra. Prince Phane has assigned me to manage your house staff.”
“I have a house staff?”
“Yes, Prince Phane has expressed his desire that you should be afforded every comfort. You currently have twelve servants assigned to provide for your needs.”
“You’ve got to be kidding,” Isabel said, looking from face to face, searching for some hint of what was really going on.
“I assure you that I am not,” Dierdra said, completely unfazed.
Isabel looked past her to the three men standing in the hall. Two were big battle-scarred soldiers wearing armor and carrying spears. The third was slight of build and wore no armor, yet he carried himself with disdain for those around him as though none were his equal. When Isabel saw the ornate black dagger on his belt, she understood—he was wraithkin.
Wizard Enu gestured toward the two soldiers. “A company of the finest Regency soldiers has been assigned to provide you with security. They’ve already taken up their posts around your chambers. Additionally, Prince Phane has assigned Wraithkin Issa to be your personal bodyguard.”
Isabel smiled without any humor and nodded to herself before walking confidently past the wizard and headmistress, stopping in front of the two soldiers and meeting the eyes of the ranking man.
“Take me to my quarters.”
“Yes, My Lady,” he said with crisp, detached professionalism, before bowing slightly and turning on his heel. Isabel followed without a word, her new and very much unwelcome retinue following behind.
Her quarters were quite some distance from the cell where she’d awoken. The soldier led her out of the building into the afternoon sun. It wasn’t a warm day but the air was still and the sky was clear. She breathed deeply, relieved to be out of the confined space of her cell.
The Regency headquarters fortress was really a small city surrounded by an immense stone wall measuring a hundred feet high by a hundred feet thick. Within, the city was laid out on a grid of roads with most blocks occupied by a single building, those on the outskirts constructed in very utilitarian fashion, while those nearer the center were taller and more ornate.
In the very center rose a black tower, two hundred feet on a side and well over two thousand feet tall. It was completely unadorned, the only break in the smooth stone walls being the few windows scattered in seemingly random fashion.
The soldiers led her toward the black tower, but then turned when they reached the base of it, instead taking her to a pyramid occupying the next block over. It rose two hundred feet into the air in five-foot steps toward a large flat top filled with a manicured garden surrounding a beautiful house. Steep staircases ran from the street level to the top on each of the four sides. Soldiers stood guard along the base of the pyramid as well as around the wall surrounding the estate at the top.
Soldiers manning the gate opened it without a word when Isabel approached, bowing deferentially and averting their eyes. The gardens were beautiful yet somehow cold, as if the meticulous grooming made them unnatural and inaccessible. It only served to remind Isabel of how much she missed the Great Forest and all of its wild and untamed beauty.
The house was lavish, gaudy even, filled with works of art from all over the Seven Isles, no doubt looted in ages past. The place was altogether too much. Isabel would have never chosen a house like this. She shook her head, stopping in the foyer to marvel at the ostentatious nature of the whole place. It looked like it was built to display wealth rather than to be lived in.
“Is this not to your liking?” Dierdra asked.
“Doesn’t this seem like a little much to you?” Isabel said, motioning to the clutter of mismatched artwork covering the foyer walls.
“You are Lady Reishi. Prince Phane insisted that you be given the most lavish estate in the city.”
“I’m surprised he doesn’t live here,” she muttered to herself.
“Prince Phane resides in the tower,” Wizard Enu said, stepping up alongside her. “It is his wish that you be made as comfortable as possible. You are, of course, free to make any changes to the décor that you see fit.”
Isabel snorted, shaking her head. “Honestly, I really don’t care. What I would like is a bath and a meal.”
“I will see to it at once, Lady Reishi,” Dierdra said, bustling off into the expansive house.
“Your quarters are this way,” Wizard Enu said. “Once you’ve had a chance to settle in, I would like to discuss your training … at your convenience, of course.”
Chapter 6
By the following day, Isabel was about ready to pull her hair out, except she was quite certain that if she tried to, one of her servants would materialize nearby and offer to do it for her. The entire staff assigned to her seemed terrified that she might have to lift a finger on her own behalf. When her maid
servant tried to cut a slice of ham on her breakfast plate, Isabel lost her temper, standing so quickly that her chair tipped over backwards.
“Stop it! I am not an invalid. Nor am I a child. Stop hovering over me …” When she saw the expectant look on Wraithkin Issa’s face, she stopped abruptly. He was watching her like he thought she might lash out at one of the servants, as if he hoped she would.
The young woman waiting on her stood stock-still, her face white as a sheet, trembling as she fought back tears.
Isabel released her frustration with a deep breath before putting a slice of ham on a piece of bread, scooping scrambled eggs on top of it and finishing it with another slice of bread. She walked out onto the balcony with her sandwich and leaned against the railing while she ate in peace.
The house was absurd by her standards, but the view was beautiful once she looked past the walls of the fortress. The jungle beyond was lush and green, spreading out to the horizon. As hostile as she knew the jungle to be, she would have gladly traded it for this over-decorated prison cell.
Slyder landed on the railing, cocking his head at her. It had been quite a while since she’d seen him and she wanted more than anything to rub him under the chin, but she couldn’t risk Phane and his people discovering her most loyal ally within the fortress walls. With a touch of sadness, she linked her mind to his and told him to fly. He obeyed, but reluctantly.
Not long after breakfast, Wizard Enu arrived, bowing formally before he entered her dining hall.
“Lady Reishi, perhaps we can begin your instruction today.”
Isabel schooled her expression and quieted her mind. While the wraithkin posing as her bodyguard was the most overtly dangerous person in the room, Wizard Enu and his intention to teach her to use dark magic was by far the greatest threat to her free will and personal sovereignty. She knew without doubt that touching the netherworld, willfully opening that door within her mind, would expose her to the influence of the Wraith Queen in a way she probably wouldn’t be able to resist. Azugorath’s presence within her mind had become a constant, gently pushing against her resistance, searching for a weakness, a crack in her resolve. It was in those moments that Azugorath would exert her will, attempting to pry her way into Isabel’s mind and assert control.
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