“Evrial?” Phynis asked, turning her attention to the next woman.
“Damn it… I don’t know!” Evrial clenched her hands on the table, taking a deep, ragged breath. “Farris was my friend! And they killed her when she was trying to help them! But the man who did it is dead, and as much as I want to hurt them in turn… no, just do what you need to. I can’t… can’t involve myself in this.”
“I… I agree with Desa. Just let them go. I don’t want to have to deal with them, and I don’t want to kill them either,” Helia spoke up, her voice trembling as tears began to form in her eyes again.
“Alissa? Skylark?” Phynis asked, curious what the last two guards thought. She’d been leaning toward letting the captives go herself, and was relieved that out of three people, two had agreed thus far. Skylark was the first to speak, while Alissa frowned in thought.
“I hate letting them go. While I’d prefer to kill them, killing prisoners just isn’t part of our code,” the guard spoke slowly, then sighed. “What about offering them the choice of servitude to Sistina, or release under parole?”
“That is… possible. Is it, Sistina?” Phynis asked the dryad, who nodded slightly.
“While it may be possible, it’s also possible that such is safer for them in the end,” Alissa spoke calmly, frowning deeply. “Being part of the group that had the Adjudicator of their western territories with them, and him dying with them nearby… that could lead to censure of them. It could also get them killed, depending on which of their authorities were in charge. And if the people in charge are those who gave the command that Jared was under, they might want to eliminate loose ends.”
Phynis and the others stared at her, though Sistina’s gaze looked more curious than anything else, and Alissa flushed slightly, asking, “What? What did I say?”
“I’m a little surprised at that kind of analysis out of you. You’ve never said anything like that before,” Phynis told her, frowning internally. Something about the way that Alissa had said that bothered her. She wasn’t certain what it was, but it made her slightly suspicious.
“We’ve all worked at the palace for more than a year in the Royal Guard. Politics happens all the time, as do discussions of what Kelvanis does. Most of us guards are regarded as little more than furniture, and ignored,” Alissa replied, blushing more. “I’ve picked some things up.”
“I suppose so. And you have a point,” Phynis admitted. “I’m thinking that Skylark’s idea is the best. I was going to simply let them go, but sending them to potential death is something that I’m not comfortable with. We’ll give them the option, and then let them leave if they wish. Sistina, is that acceptable to you?”
Sistina nodded, smiling as she replied softly. “Yes. Your decision.”
Desa nodded and straightened in her chair. “Right, well, who wants to break the news to them?”
“…So if you want to leave, you can. We have no idea what Kelvanis might decide to do with you, and honestly I don’t much care, after what happened to Farris,” Desa told the captives harshly, looking between them. “If you decide to stay, you’re going to be effectively branded, like you did to captives. The difference is, Sistina is a far more benevolent individual than you are, at least in most ways.”
“Why are you letting us go? You haven’t even questioned us, more than a few conversations, anyway,” one of the men asked, prompting glares from several other soldiers.
“A fair question,” Desa agreed, then smiled thinly. “Quite honestly, the only one who we might have actually wanted to question was the Adjudicator, and he just killed himself. The rest of you are taking space, and we have no need for prisoners. The choices were to free you, enslave you, or kill you. While my own first instinct was the last option, more merciful voices prevailed. Besides which, I suspect Kelvanis will be much less forgiving of your failure to keep him alive.”
Most of the captives looked doubtful of her words, and more cheerful about the idea of getting out of the dungeon alive. There were three that looked a little more concerned about her comment, but no one else spoke up. Looking around again, Desa spoke again. “You have until tomorrow morning to make a decision as to which choice to make. After that, you’ll be removed from the dungeon one way or another.”
“Uh, one more question?” a man spoke up, one of the ones who looked more concerned.
“Yes?” Desa prompted, looking at him.
“What would we be doing if we stayed in the dungeon?” he asked, looking nervous.
Desa shrugged and answered honestly. “I have absolutely no idea.”
Phynis cuddled into Sistina’s arms, sighing happily as the dryad held her, stroking her hair gently and kissing the crown of Phynis’ head. She could feel Sistina’s gentle affection and happiness, which helped calm her down after the pain and grief of the day.
They were once again sitting under Sistina’s tree, and the calm strength of Sistina’s domain was almost palpable to Phynis, pulsing all around her and making her feel so very much safer. It took a few minutes more before Phynis finally spoke, her voice soft. “Why did you have me make the decision, Sistina? This entire realm is yours, and yet you decided to pass it to me.”
Sistina didn’t reply initially, and Phynis could feel that the dryad’s own thoughts were complex, as she tried to work out how to reply. The actual response was relatively short and contained a depth of meanings. “Farris yours. Your justice.”
“That isn’t all of it, Sistina. I can sense your emotions somewhat, and I know when you’re dancing around the point,” Phynis scolded gently, pulling away to look the dryad in the eyes with a smile. “Please, tell me?”
Pausing a moment, Sistina let out a soft sigh of her own before returning the smile with one of her own, brushing Phynis’ cheek with a hand. Her voice was just as quiet, as she gently touched Phynis’ forehead with one finger. “Ruler. Born thus. Trained, devoted self. Stolen away. You need. I help you. Give domain.”
“What?” Phynis blinked in shock as Sistina pulled her finger away. Warmth flooded her at the realization that Sistina had made the decision she had for Phynis, but she protested anyway. “But that doesn’t… you don’t need to do that, Sistina! I’m fine just being here with you!”
“No.” Sistina paused, a hint of mischief filling her thoughts as she grinned. “All need purpose. You are ruler.”
“Ruling what, a kingdom of ten others?” Phynis asked skeptically, her eyebrows rising. “Or are we including all the animals and insects? It isn’t much of a kingdom.”
“Amethyst. Diamond. Emerald. Opal. Ruby. Sapphire. Topaz. Other priestesses,” Sistina countered, naming each of the other women carefully, smiling. “A start.”
“You have something planned, don’t you?” Phynis’ eyes narrowed, and she poked the dryad in the side firmly. “What are you doing, Sistina?”
Sistina grinned, pinning the hand and smirking as she murmured, “Surprise. Not telling.”
All of Phynis’ objections vanished for the moment as the dryad suddenly began to tickle her mercilessly, and her giggles, laughter, and pleading for mercy filled the air around the tree.
Chapter 16
Ulvian woke with a start as he felt something heavy drop onto him, and almost instinctively began to cast a spell. He hadn’t gotten more than a word out when he was interrupted by a deep, passionate kiss that had so much heat to it that his toes all but curled. It went on and on, and as it did he fully woke.
He was in his bedroom, a wonderfully appointed chamber in the middle of the palace of Kelvanath. Ulvian hadn’t had any company when he came to bed, but as his senses came almost painfully alive, he realized that the shadowy figure above him was most assuredly female, and the heat that came from her body was positively unnatural.
The kiss finally broke off, leaving him breathless as he slumped backward, and the woman laughed, her voice sultry. “There we are… no casting spells like that, hmm? Not when I’m here on Our Lady’s behalf.”
“W
hat?” Ulvian took a deep breath, catching his breath and shivering at the unnatural desire flooding his body. It took a moment to gain his poise, as much as he could with what he had to assume was a demon straddling his hips, but finally he spoke again. “May I at least have a light with which to see you by?”
There was a soft giggle, and two deep crimson flames ignited on either side of the bed, illuminating his night-time visitor. The woman on top of Ulvian had deep crimson skin and an exaggerated hourglass figure, and she was grinning in a way that showed two sharp incisor teeth between her purple lips. She had a beautiful face and long black hair, and he could just barely see the tail swaying behind the demoness, along with the long, sharp-looking black nails on either hand. He swallowed hard as he realized she was sheathed in armor of some kind of black bone, making her smile even wider.
“Does that satisfy your curiosity? Or would you like to have a closer look?” she purred, licking her lips as he stared into her golden eyes.
“No… no, that is quite sufficient. I presume there is a reason for your midnight visit?” Ulvian took a moment to gather his thoughts, trying to quell his lust as he stared at the visitor above him.
“I suppose… you are a tasty-looking little mortal.” The woman took a deep breath, smiling as she grinned again, running a hand down his chest. “Heady with the smell of black magic and corruption. Ooh… I could eat you right up. Too bad you’re all business.”
“Perhaps later? You rather have me at a disadvantage,” Ulvian temporized, his heart beginning to pound still more rapidly at her words. “May I ask why you are here?”
“I am most often called Reyviss. My Lady Irethiel sent me as a courier. The information from the mortal soul, Jared Falgrave, is in a package on your desk,” the woman purred. “I am also here to retrieve the armor and weapon of the sleeping goddess, that they may be remade into a more suitable form for her new role.”
“Ah! That is good news. Her equipment is resting in a storage locker down in my laboratory. I was uncertain what to do with it,” Ulvian replied, a little relief flooding through him. A part of him had feared that Irethiel was angry about something and had decided to dispose of him. “I suspect that means that you are in a hurry. I can grab the key for you if you would like.”
“Mm… I wasn’t given that much of a time limit. I have some time for… recreation,” Reyviss spoke softly, smiling at him. “Tell me, Ulvian Sorvos, would you like that?”
Ulvian stared at her for a moment, then smiled himself, sitting up slightly as he reached out, sliding his hands over her sides. “If that is the case, Lady Reyviss, I would be delighted.”
The demoness giggled, leaning forward to kiss him, deeply and passionately. The vigor with which she embraced him took his breath away. When she broke the kiss, her voice was throaty as she whispered into his ear, “I’m hardly a lady.”
Justicar Hall stood at attention in front of the mirror, wondering just what had prompted Ulvian to contact him. It was quite unexpected, and that was concerning to Hall. A moment later, the mirror flickered to life and Ulvian appeared. The Archon’s appearance nearly made Hall do a double-take, but he managed to suppress the impulse.
Ulvian’s hair was slightly rumpled, there were shadows under his eyes, and it looked as though one of his ears had been bitten. The sight was shocking, especially when Hall considered how particular the Archon was about his appearance. After a moment, Hall spoke, his voice gruff. “Lord Sorvos. You are looking somewhat under the weather.”
“Indeed. I had a visitation by a messenger of our patron last night. It was… unexpected,” the Archon replied, wincing as he reached up to touch his ear. “She was more aggressive than most. I was surprised. However, that isn’t why I contacted you. I was more concerned by the information that was supplied to us.”
“I see,” Hall replied calmly. And he did see. The majority of their patron’s servants were rather aggressive to begin with, and personally Hall did what he could to avoid them because of it. It was Ulvian’s own fault that he was in that condition. But after a moment, Hall asked. “Yes?”
“Oh, sorry Ivan. My mind is a bit fuzzy,” Ulvian apologized, shaking his head and smiling. “First, do not send any important slaves to Granite Point. You can use less important slaves, and don’t be obvious about it, but don’t send any slaves with important information there. Somehow, the dryad in the dungeon can take control of the brands, removing them from our patron’s sphere of influence. I don’t want us potentially losing valuable slaves to them.”
“I see. That is a disturbing revelation.” Hall frowned at the information, trying to decide how to deal with the problem. After a moment, he decided it would be easy enough to deal with, as the town wasn’t someplace heavily traveled yet. “I can do that. While unusual, I don’t see that it will be much threat to us. Neither dryads nor dungeons can travel far.”
“No, but the possibility is worrying. Which is why I want to amend your orders for Yisara. If you take possession of any of the royal family, do not brand them. Just send them to me,” Ulvian ordered, his eyes gleaming.
“Lord Sorvos? That seems a rather radical departure from what you informed me of before,” Hall asked, frowning deeply. “I believed that the plan was to auction them off to neighboring nations.”
“Plans change. Elissa arrives tomorrow, and I’m going to leave any royals in her lovely hands, as well as indoctrinating them in the same manner as the Enforcers,” Ulvian explained, smiling more broadly. “Next year they will be helping us take Yisara… assuming you manage to get your hands on them.”
“I intend to do my best, Lord Sorvos,” Hall replied reprovingly, frowning more at his old friend. “I will do as you ask, however. Is there anything else?”
“No, Ivan. Do your best out there!” Ulvian smiled broadly, and then the mirror went dark again, showing Hall’s face instead.
“Love-struck idiot,” Hall muttered, then turned back to his documents, pondering how to change his plans yet again.
The next morning, Ulvian reached up and touched his ear again, wincing at the injury. He hadn’t expected Reyviss to actually bite him. Worse, the venom in the woman’s fangs meant that while the injury healed quickly, it couldn’t be magically healed. Because of that, he’d focused on staying inside the palace until he was fully recovered, not wanting to deal with any questions.
Looking over the reports, he frowned as he saw one about the relationship between Sirshif and Yisara improving. The serpentfolk of Sirshif were one of his larger markets for slaves, but the clan lords of their desert were also pragmatic, which meant that he couldn’t count on them permanently staying out of Kelvanis’ way. The only saving grace for all their neighbors was that the serpentfolk were cold-blooded, and Sirshif was about as far north from the sea as they could comfortably live. Still, perhaps there were a few ways he could convince them to keep to the current set of arrangements.
About the time that Ulvian was finishing up the document, there was a knock on his door and one of the servants opened the door a crack, speaking respectfully. “Archon, there is a woman asking to speak with you. She says her name is Elissa of Silence?”
“Indeed? Well, escort her here! I’ve been expecting her!” Ulvian replied, a smile lighting up his face as his mood improved. While Elissa had claimed she’d be coming, he’d long since learned that she was much less likely to keep promises than most of the people he knew.
“Of course, Lord Archon,” the servant acknowledged with a bow, closing the door.
Taking a minute to finish up, Ulvian set aside the paperwork in anticipation of meeting his old friend. When the door opened, he blinked in surprise.
The Elissa that Ulvian knew stood about five and a half feet tall, had short black hair, and was an attractive woman, if middle-aged and vain. The woman in the doorway had shimmering black hair that fell to the middle of her back and looked like she was no more than twenty-five years old, if that. She was gorgeous, with porcelain features and skin that
was almost unnaturally pale. But she was the same height and possessed the same, almost lightning-blue eyes as she smiled at him broadly.
“Ulvian! How are you?” the woman asked, smiling broadly as she swept forward, her crimson dress swirling around her.
“Elissa? You look different than I expected,” Ulvian said, standing up and looking at the woman in shock. The door closed behind Elissa, and he smiled slowly, spreading his arms as he stepped forward to give her a hug. “Am I right in suspecting that you found that phoenix egg you were looking for?”
“Ah, you always were a smart man!” Elissa giggled, hugging Ulvian and grinning, though it dimmed slightly as she added, “Yes, but don’t think I’ve forgiven you for dragging all of us into your little journey to the abyssal realms. I didn’t appreciate being branded by your demonic crush one bit.”
“Yes, well, I did apologize about that. I had no idea that she’d react that way. Besides, it was an emergency.” Ulvian coughed, looking guiltily to the side as the hug broke off. “She’s kept her word, hasn’t she, in not commanding you since I’m keeping my side of the bargain?”
“She has. Though I’m still not happy about it,” Elissa spoke with narrowed eyes. “You may have saved our lives, but it wasn’t fair to do without asking.”
“Good. On her following through, I mean,” Ulvian hastily corrected himself, then took a deep breath, sitting again as he changed the subject, asking, “Out of curiosity, where did you find a phoenix egg, anyway?”
“King Corin’s treasury. He wanted a phoenix mount, and was waiting for it to hatch. I knew he’d never tame a phoenix, so took it for my own use,” the mage replied, seeming quite satisfied with herself as she settled into the chair across from Ulvian. “Of course, I’m going to have to avoid Halstad until he’s deposed, but that shouldn’t be difficult.”
Spells of Old (Ancient Dreams Book 2) Page 12
