by James Wisher
Her mother emerged from the back room and swept into the living room. She had on a simple cream dress without jewelry or decoration and somehow she made it seem elegant. Karrie didn’t know how she managed it.
“How’d your visit with Damien go, dear?”
Karrie slogged over to the couch and collapsed into it. “I think we’re calling off the engagement.”
Her mother rushed over and sat beside her. “Have you lost your mind? After everything you went through to convince him to agree, you decide to let him go after only six weeks. What happened?”
Karrie told her and when she finished her mother shook her head. “You really are a child. Love has nothing to do with marriage when nobles are involved. It’s about power. I don’t care if Damien sleeps with every woman in the kingdom except you, at least after you conceive an heir or two. As far as his bizarre fascination with that sword, who cares? The spirit in the sword is no different than any other fantasy woman a man might have. As far as the world is concerned it’s just a weapon.”
“But—”
“No buts. I don’t care what you need to do, what you promise him, just get Damien to go through with the marriage. After that all you need to do is coax him into bed enough times to get a kid or two out of him. Once that’s done you can be married in name only for all the difference it makes. If you don’t see this through there’s no telling who you’ll end up with. Most likely a manipulative schemer who will undercut you at every opportunity or a bully that will try to force you to do what he wants, like Sig tried to.”
Karrie sighed. Mom made it sound so simple. Maybe it was. Damien said it was up to her. If she explained the situation to him just like Mom did for her, he’d probably do it as a favor. “A manipulative schemer, huh? Sounds like that sort of person would be a good match for me.”
Her mother grabbed Karrie by the shoulders and shook her. “You need to let go of these childish ideas. There can only be one schemer in a marriage and since you’re not a warlord or a sorcerer it needs to be you. Go now, before he gets too used to the idea that he’s free to do whatever he wants.”
“He’s heading out on a mission. I doubt I’ll catch him before he leaves.”
Her mother stood, dragging Karrie to her feet. “Try.”
Chapter 14
Damien strode through the slowly recovering city, the sounds of hammers and saws mingling with the crash of buildings being demolished. The piney scent of sawdust lay over everything. Three new lumber camps had opened up only a few miles from the city to try and keep up with demand from the builders.
After inquiring of several warlords on duty Damien learned his sister commanded a cleanup crew in the northeast quadrant of the city near the slaughterhouses. From the sound of it the crews were still pulling bodies out of the rubble.
Damien shuddered. Every day it seemed the body count rose by ten or twelve. He didn’t envy whoever had to keep track of that list.
Everywhere he went smiles and waves greeted Damien. He returned the greetings and kept moving, not entirely comfortable with all the attention. He couldn’t avoid it, after all he had received the Medal of Valor and later Uncle Andy announced him as the princess’s fiancé. Maybe if she gave up on the wedding he could go back to being anonymous. Damien laughed at himself. It wasn’t like anyone would forget him just because he wasn’t marrying Karrie anymore.
As he walked Damien kept his eyes peeled for an intact shop where he might pick up a large flask of steel or silver. Ten blocks from the castle he finally found a general store that was open and appeared well stocked. Five minutes of searching the shelves turned up a quart flask in etched silver. It was far fancier than what he needed and Damien feared the etching might weaken the sides, but that was nothing he couldn’t fix with a little shaping. He almost balked at the two-royal price, but he didn’t feel like searching the rest of the day so he paid up.
It seemed prices on everything had gone up since the quake, though not as much as they might have. After a gouging merchant had been horsewhipped by an angry mob none of his compatriots had dared charge too much, especially for necessities. Damien eyed the silver flask with its ivy etching. Apparently the merchants were trying to make their extra profits off luxury buyers. Probably a good idea. No one pitied rich people.
I’m not sure how much I’ll be able to help you. I’ve never been very good at precise targeting of soul force.
“Don’t worry, once we get it in the flask, I can handle the rest.”
Now that he had his flask secured in his belt pouch Damien focused on the remnant of his soul force living in Jen’s sword and flew the rest of the way to join her. His sister’s crew surrounded a badly damaged tenement. Jen was standing well back and barking orders to the six men and two women yanking on ropes to try and coax the back wall of the building to land where they wanted.
She noticed him approaching. “Everyone take a break.”
The workers sighed and trudged over to sit in the shade of a nearby slaughterhouse. Jen stared at him with her arms crossed. “Well?”
“They agreed to let me keep Lizzy and she knows where we can find the demon.”
Jen offered a predatory grin and thrust a fist in the air. “When do we leave?”
“It’s a little late in the day. I say first thing in the morning. The last thing we want to do is face a smoke demon at night.”
“Smoke demon?”
Damien nodded. “That’s what killed Dad. They’re immune to physical attacks so no matter how fast he cut he couldn’t hurt it.”
“Then how am I going to kill it?”
“You’re not.” Damien showed her the flask. “I’m going to trap it in here and break the bonds connecting the demon spirit to the smoke particles. Once that’s done the demon won’t be able to exist in this world and its energy will return to hell.”
Jen frowned. “That doesn’t sound very satisfying.”
“What can I tell you? That’s the only way I’ve seen to destroy one of these creatures. If there were some way to let you hack it up I’d be only too glad to oblige.”
“At least I’ll be there to see it captured.” Jen glared at him. “You weren’t thinking of trying to talk me out of going, were you?”
He’d been thinking exactly that. “It never crossed my mind. This is as much your revenge as mine.”
“Good. We’ve got a few more hours of daylight. I might as well finish up here.”
Damien glanced at the wobbling walls. “Want me to pull it down for you? It’d be good practice for Lizzy and me.”
It certainly will be. It took your father and I months to fully sync our powers.
“Knock yourself out. I’m sure the others won’t mind.”
Damien frowned. How best to safely pull down those walls? He conjured a pair of hollow claws with his soul force then filled them with Lizzy’s power. When they grabbed the walls the wood shattered under the pressure.
Gently, Damien. Your power’s been doubled. You have to be careful.
Damien winced, both at his failure and Lizzy’s admonition. He’d only used a fraction of their potential power. How much gentler could he be? This reminded him of when he first started to learn how to use his soul force. It seemed everything he tried he ended up using too much strength. After several more crumbling efforts he brought the walls down with the equivalent of a butterfly kiss.
The workers all cheered and Jen shook her head. It wasn’t his most impressive effort, but at least the walls were down and no one had gotten hurt.
Well done.
Lizzy’s praise meant more to him than all the cheering in the world.
Chapter 15
Karrie wandered the halls in a daze. Several passing servants gave her confused looks, but no one approached her. She didn’t feel angry, not even upset, just lost. Mom thought it didn’t matter that Damien didn’t love her and probably never would. The odds of her finding someone that both loved her and was an appropriate match were so slim they hardly bore t
hinking about.
In that case Mom’s point about simply selecting the strongest acceptable match that would let her do as she pleased made sense. And there was no one in the kingdom whose power even came close to Damien’s, especially now that he had the demon sword.
She sighed. And there was the problem. Lizzy, the demon sword, his one true love. Strange that the notion of him loving the spirit hadn’t bothered her so much when it was hundreds of miles away in his father’s possession. Now that they were together and would be all the time it made it seem like they were a real couple, perhaps the strangest in history, but a couple nonetheless.
Could she really reconcile the practical considerations her mother thought so important with the fact that just thinking about Damien and Lizzy together all the time made her heart ache? She simply didn’t know.
Her wandering brought Karrie to a window on the second floor that looked out over the city. Everywhere she looked new construction jutted up, freshly hewn beams gleaming pale in the bright sun. Everyone was out there working hard while she moped about, trudging around like a zombie. She needed to find something to do, something useful, to take her mind off Damien. If she didn’t think about it so much maybe a solution would appear like magic.
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
Karrie turned to find Salem standing in the entry of the hall. She had on a bloodstained apron over a gray dress and was holding a plate filled with meat, potatoes, and rolls. Seeing the food made Karrie’s stomach rumble. She must have been wandering longer than she thought.
“I didn’t mean to intrude.” Salem turned to leave.
“Wait. Please join me.” Karrie waved her in. “I was just looking out over the city, thinking.”
Salem tiptoed closer, looking like she expected Karrie to turn and bite any moment. Considering their first meeting she couldn’t blame the woman. Salem brought the food closer prompting Karrie’s stomach to rumble again.
Salem smiled. “Would you like to join me? I took too much anyway.”
“Thank you. I believe I will.”
A small table and two chairs appeared in the hall and Salem set the plate in the middle. Karrie sat first and Salem joined her. Salem grabbed a roll off the plate, took a bite, and sighed. “These really are delightful. Damien got me hooked. He says your cook makes the finest rolls in the kingdom and I don’t doubt it for a minute.”
Karrie nibbled a piece of ham. “Do you see much of Damien? I know the two of you are very busy.”
“From time to time. When he’s not on a mission Damien checks in on me now and then to make sure I’m settling in okay and that I have everything I need. He’s very sweet.”
Karrie finished her meat and managed a smile of her own. “He is, isn’t he.”
“And you two are engaged now.” Salem finished the roll and moved on to the potatoes. “I haven’t had a chance to offer my congratulations. I had a little crush on him myself you know.”
“Really?” Karrie raised an eyebrow.
“Not that he ever did anything to encourage it,” Salem hastened to add. “He was so strong, but also kind and gentle.” Her smile turned wistful. “Anyway, I’m sure I’m not telling you anything you don’t know.”
“No.” Karrie stood up from the conjured table. She wouldn’t force him to do something she knew he really didn’t want to do. Damien was too good a person to take advantage of like that. Besides, even if they weren’t married she had no doubt he’d support her any way she needed him to. “Thank you for the snack.”
“You’re leaving already? I didn’t mean to chase you off.”
Karrie shook her head. “You didn’t. In fact I have to thank you. You helped me sort out something that had been troubling me.”
“I did?” Salem stared at her, clearly not understanding.
Karrie waved and walked back toward the royal apartment. Her mother wouldn’t like it, but she was going to call off the engagement.
Chapter 16
Karrie paused in front of the apartment door and gathered herself. She’d never gone against her mother’s wishes before, but in this case she felt she had no choice. It wasn’t right to coerce Damien into doing something he didn’t really want to. Karrie realized that now, and after talking to Salem she realized she didn’t have to.
Damien would support her even if they weren’t married. True, she still had to find a husband within the next two years, but that was plenty of time to find someone she could live with and who wouldn’t try and force her to do what he wanted. Perhaps the son of a minor noble house that would be so happy for the increase in status he wouldn’t dare try and question her decisions.
She nodded once and pushed the door open. Her parents sat at the dining room table together sharing a lunch of cold meat and salad. Perfect. Her timing couldn’t have been any better.
Her father smiled when she entered. “Hello, sweetheart. Will you join us?”
She crossed the entryway and sat beside her father. Not because he was closer, but because she wanted a little space between her and her mother. She took a piece of bread, a slice of roast beef, and made a small sandwich. When she’d eaten half of it she said, “I’ve decided to call off the wedding with Damien.”
Her mother took a sip of wine and frowned. “I thought we discussed this.”
“We did, but I thought about it some more and I simply can’t get over the fact that it’s a mistake. I love Damien and I realized forcing him into something this important is wrong. It’s selfish. What sort of queen will I be if I give in to my petty desires? How will I be able to do the right thing when it really matters? I have to do what’s right, and now’s a good time to start.”
“You foolish girl,” the queen said. It wasn’t her mother that was looking at Karrie through eyes as hard as gems. “Tell her, Andrew. Tell her she’s being a willful child.”
Her father smiled and patted Karrie’s head. “I’d say this is the most grownup thing she’s ever done and I couldn’t be more proud. Putting someone else’s happiness before your own, that’s exactly the sort of thing a good ruler has to do. When the time comes, hopefully many years from now, you’ll make a fine queen.”
Karrie’s heart lurched and tears ran down her cheeks. He understood. Not only did her father understand, he approved and was proud of her. She dropped her sandwich on the table and hugged him.
“Thanks, Daddy,” she whispered.
“Two noble fools.” Her mother stood up, leaving her plate still half full. “I find I’ve lost my appetite.”
She stalked off to her sewing room. Her father sighed. “Don’t worry, she’ll calm down in a day or two. Have you spoken to Damien yet?”
“Not yet. I thought I’d wait until he finished his mission.”
“That’s fine. I really am proud of you, sweetheart.” He kissed her cheek.
“I love you, Daddy.” Karrie sat beside him and finished eating, her heart lighter than it had been in months.
Chapter 17
The next morning found Jen and Damien flying over the forest on a soul force disk toward where Lizzy said the demon lived. A pack of supplies sat between them. Damien wouldn’t be able to fly them home until after he finished destroying the demon. He said he’d spent a few hours the night before using sorcery to reinforce the flask to the point he felt confident it would hold the demon long enough for him to banish it. Jen didn’t understand the process, but he seemed satisfied it would work and that was enough for her.
Heaven’s mercy, she wanted badly to slice that monster up for what it had done to her father. Jen leaned forward over the rail, her hands clenching and relaxing. “How much further?”
Another hour or so. We need to walk part of the way since there’s no place to land right next to the cave.
A shiver ran through Jen. How did Damien stand having that voice in his head? Not that it sounded unpleasant, sort of smoky and sultry. Maybe if you were a man it held more appeal, but as for Jen it sent a chill up her spine.
“You o
kay?” Damien asked. He’d been glancing at her off and on since they left the castle at dawn.
“I’m fine, little brother, just worry about dealing with the demon.”
He nodded and looked away, his frown not lessened in the least. She appreciated that he didn’t call her on the obvious lie she’d just told. Jen hadn’t been okay since they first got word of Dad’s death. She couldn’t concentrate. She wavered from furious to borderline sobbing one minute to the next. Her one slim hope was that putting an end to the creature that killed him would grant her some sort of peace.
In truth she held little faith it would make any difference.
It’s down there.
The demon sword’s voice brought Jen out of her depressed musings. “Where?”
She studied the forest and hills below them, but nothing stood out even to her enhanced senses. Beside her Damien’s gaze locked on one of the hills. “There’s a cave.” He pointed at the base of the hill.
Jen followed his finger and finally saw it, little more than a shadow on the face of the steep hill. The cave didn’t look like much. In fact she could hardly imagine a less remarkable place for such a remarkable man to die. “Is it in there?”
Damien nodded, his face a little pale. “It’s there and it’s way stronger than I expected. Even after Lizzy warned me…Wow. It makes the one we fought look like an angry puppy beside a mastiff.”
Damien brought the platform down in a flat meadow halfway between the tree line and the cave. The transport vanished and Jen started straight for the cave. She hadn’t taken more than a couple steps when Damien’s hand fell on her shoulder.
