“There isn’t anywhere appropriate for a king to stay in the city,” Andrews interjected and gave Jud a hard look. “The south tower would be the safest, since it’s a mix of clergy and knights. We could clear out one of the wings to house the king’s staff.”
“Excellent,” Lady Kia said.
Jud looked between them and said, “Actually, I think the king staying in the city would be the best for him.”
“Actually,” Andrews said with some heat, “there isn’t anywhere safe for His Majesty in the city.”
“I’m sure we could find somewhere,” Jud insisted.
“No, we couldn’t,” Andrews said, all but growling at this stage.
“I like your aide’s plan,” Arrago said. “What is your name again?”
“Andrews, Majesty.” He bowed low from the waist. “I served with the elven force in Taftlin. I went with the original army, with Her Majesty.”
“Apprentice Knight Bethany,” Jud said. He gave Arrago a fake smile. “As she would have been known then, of course.”
“Actually, she was known as Lady Champion Bethany, but perhaps you didn’t know that, having not fought in the war,” Arrago said sharply.
Andrews’ eyes widened and he shook his head at Lady Kia, trying to signal her to step in and stop an argument. Bethany had told him that Jud would have been very touchy about not having fought in the war. Arrago didn’t realize how touchy he was about Jud’s insults about her.
Lady Kia cleared her throat. “Andrews, you look familiar. How long did you serve at Castle Gree? Perhaps we crossed paths.”
Jud shot Andrews a hard look that seemed to ask for him to shut his mouth, but Andrews answered anyway. “Only for a short time. I was at the battle of Kershaw, when His Majesty and Her Majesty killed King Daniel. I was posted at Castle Gree after that, but was moved south to protect the trade border with Cul. I mostly fought paperwork down there.”
“All of Taftlin appreciates the elves who stayed at the border. That route kept us from starving to death that first winter. That was a harsh snow that came,” Arrago said. “Thank you for your battle against the paperwork. Many of my people are alive because of it.”
“Yes, yes. There are many ways to serve Apexia,” Jud said loudly.
“And some are more meaningful than others,” Arrago said, granting him another sneer from Jud.
Jud fell silent after that, allowing Arrago to get his temper back under control. He had been practicing court speak with Rayner and Stanley, but he’d exhausted about as much as he knew. Lady Kia and Andrews, however, were experts at it and chatted about the war, weather, and even Arrago’s wedding like they were old friends.
Arrago noticed the cobblestones that had been torn up during the battle with Sarissa had all been replaced, nearly put back into place one by one. The remaining towers were scrubbed clean, so that the burn and soot marks were barely visible. The only hints there had ever been a battle here was the wooden scaffolding and the massive mounds of white stone piled into the sea.
As they drew near the temple, Jud asked, “Would you mind if Andrews here showed you around while I cleared my schedule?”
“Not at all. It’s been a while since I’ve been at the temple myself,” Arrago said. “I would be very interested in the tower repairs. I left a month after the battle, so I’m curious to see how much has changed.”
“I’ll assure you that improvements are ahead of schedule,” Jud snapped.
“I’m glad to hear it,” Arrago said. He hadn’t meant anything challenging in his idle comment. He truly wanted to see the temple improvements. “Is there someone who can show my guard and servants to ours rooms?”
“Andrews can see to that. Your Majesty,” Jud said, purposely getting the honorific wrong. With that, Jud walked off with his trail of little knights.
Andrews let out a long, weary sigh. “Majesty, I must apologize for Lord Jud’s behavior. He is...he is...”
“Jud’s an asshole. You’re allowed to say that to me,” Arrago said. He gave the aide a genuine smile. “Shall you lead the way?”
IT TOOK NEARLY AN HOUR for Andrews to find somewhere appropriate to house a king and his guard. In the end, he ordered a class of initiates out of their barracks to sleep outdoors. The room was sparse, filled with bunk beds and only one window that was still missing its glass. It had an ill-fitting screen shoved into place to keep the bugs out, but it was shoddy.
“I must apologize for the accommodations,” Andrews said. “I do not have the authority to...um...This is all I can do.”
Bethany watched Arrago and Andrews exchange pleasantries about the room and the temple repairs. The place was a shit-sty. The outside was spit-polished, sure, but the towers were crumbling inside. The staircase they took to this floor still had the original cracks in it and two entire floors were being supported by wooden beams, the cracked stones still not replaced or repaired.
Bethany took the destruction of the temple personally. She knew this and she knew it was irrational. Still, it was how she felt and she didn’t see it changing anytime soon. So, it came as no surprise to her when she took the lack of repairs personally, too. They had all worked so hard to make the temple livable, but what had Jud done? Scrub the cobblestones so they looked pretty. The rain would have eventually done that for him. Most of the structural work had been what they’d done during Allric’s tenure. Jud had made very little progress since then.
She walked over to the window and looked down at the courtyard. He had made one significant piece of progress, she supposed. He’d turned the Silver Knights into a very shiny military force. They all carried swords in the courtyard, and all wore armour. The property itself belonged to the Apexian Faith, and not the elven military, but that hadn’t seemed to stop Jud. Aneese and Torius wouldn’t have ever allowed that to happen, but the new Holy Father was always an elves-for-elves kind of asshole.
She pulled the curtains across the window, blocking out a lot of the light. Then she pulled off her helmet.
“Hello, Andrews.”
“Oh, shit,” Andrews whispered. “Lady Bethany, Majesty, put that helmet back on your head this instant! If Jud finds you here, he’s going to hang you in the courtyard. The actual courtyard!”
“You’re not joking, are you?”
“He’s done it before and more than once.” Andrews pointed at two of the guard. “You two. Go outside and guard the door. Don’t let anyone in without knocking first. Sweet Apexia, Jud is going to murder me in my bed if he finds out you were here.”
“I take it Jud had poisoned everyone against me?”
“It’s worse than that,” Andrews said. “Lady Bethany, Majesty, it is not safe here. Jud had poisoned everyone against anyone associated with you or the war north. I was demoted three times for nothing more than having talked about being in the war. It’s why I’m Lord Jud’s secretary now and not in Ellentop as a trade negotiator.”
“That’s disappointing. I was hoping I could enlist some help,” Bethany said.
“Unless they are a personal and intimate friend, trust no one,” Andrews said.
Bethany quirked a smile. “Does that include you?”
“I can only lie so much,” Andrews said. Then he looked down at his boots. “But you saved our lives at Kershaw. I need to repay that.”
“This is ridiculous,” Arrago said. “Is this really just about jealousy?”
“It’s more than that, Majesty,” Andrews said. “He believes Bethany, Kiner, Jovan...all of them did something. There is a rumor that they, including you, Majesty, took up Magic and killed Apexia in the process.”
“That’s nonsense,” Arrago blurted.
“Is it? Lady Bethany lied during her deposition. They had a mind-reading Rygent there. We all know. That Rygent said Bethany lied to the Elven Council. Then, he said Jovan, Lendra, and Erem all lied, too. Anyone who was with your army knows something happened when Sarissa was killed. It is not a secret. The only secret is the truth.” Andrews sighed. “
We know what Lady Bethany said isn’t what actually happened. Jud and the Council will not rest until they know.”
Bethany’s insides twisted into knots. She knew the world wasn’t ready to learn of Apexia’s death. She also knew the world would eventually find out. She was not ready to become Apexia’s replacement. What’s more, she knew the others weren’t ready.
They were all still learning how their abilities would manifest. Even Bethany wasn’t completely sure, and she’d been born like this. Occasionally, strange things did happen around them when they were all together. In particular, arrows were blocked from hitting them during the assault on the ballroom, when elven and Rutherford’s spies together tried to burn them all alive in the palace. Bethany knew it wasn’t her doing, which meant it was one of the others, but even they didn’t know.
Bethany rubbed the bridge of her nose. She could feel the crooked bone that caused her nose to bulge. She never used to snore until that last time she’d broken it. Now, she was always stuffed up and snoring. Maybe she should have asked Apexia to fix it before she wrecked all of their lives.
“I have to report back to Jud. What do you need me to say?”
“Tell him we’re here to formalize the peace, establish old trade routes, and underscore our desire to rebuild,” Arrago said. It was verbatim what Stanley has told him over and over to say.
“He brought mostly human guards,” Bethany said. “Anyone you’d recognize is posing as a servant onboard the ship. You can do this, Andrews.”
“I am not the best liar,” Andrews said.
“Then say you recognize some faces from the war. Shrug off as much as you can,” Bethany said. “It was a big war. There are bound to be familiar faces.”
Andrews sighed and muttered to himself in elvish, but agreed. “Fine. I’m serious, though. Lady Bethany can’t be see about the temple. He will kill her.”
“I’d like to see him try,” Bethany said with a laugh.
“I mean this with all sincerity. He’ll turn the entire Silver Knights after you. The only thing stopping him from invading the North and salting the earth is the Elven Council not wanting to get into another war. If you upset Jud, I cannot guarantee he will even listen to them.”
“What the fuck is his problem?” Bethany blurted.
“Keep your voice down. People will recognize it,” Andrews ordered. He gulped and said, “He thinks he is doing Apexia’s true will.”
“That’s bullshit, Andrews.”
“Yes, well. I know that and you know that. But there is a whole lot of baby recruits out there who don’t. You keep that in mind.”
Andrews headed toward the door. He stopped and then turned back to her. “I’m going to regret this. There are eighteen guards between here and...your target. Two hours after last prayers is your best chance to get in and get him out. Entrance to the lower dungeon is now on the far stairs, wooden door in the stone.”
“He’s alive then?” Bethany asked.
“As far as I know,” Andrews said. “Though, as I hear it, he wishes he weren’t. Get him out and then get yourselves out of here.”
Chapter 11
JUD TOOK THE STEPS to his office two at the time. He rushed in past his waiting sentries and called his under-aide into his office. This particular man was a young, nervous half-breed whose name he couldn’t remember, nor did he care. He was a tainted mixture that was ruining his people. The Elven Council repeatedly rejected Jud’s pleas to remove all half-breeds from the service.
Lord Jud, they’d said in their letter, we must bring these poor individuals under our wing as much as possible. They are as much of ours as humanity’s.
He didn’t believe that for one tick of his study’s clock gears. He knew they believed as he did: elves for elves. The taint of humanity and Rygents would eventually dilute their way of life. Apexia’s grace, it had already begun. They had been serving fish in the dining hall. Fish! What elf in their right mind would dare lower themselves to eat of flesh, except in the rarest of circumstances, where one’s own life hung in the balance? He’d heard tales of elves sneaking off to Orchard Park’s human districts to eat...
He shivered at the horror of his own kind eating lambs cooked into pies. The stench alone was sickening. How could they stand it?
Thankfully, the Council had not explicitly ordered him to stop demoting them or assigning work too demeaning for one of the pure to handle. He looked at his rat-faced mutt of a helper. This particular abomination had once been a field commander in the war up north. Now, he made notes about chamberpots. The best place for him, really.
“Close the door,” Jud ordered. The aide did so and bowed nervously. He held the mobile desk he liked to carry: thin wooden tablet, paper, pencil, all easily carried by a leather strap about his neck. It was a handy invention. Elven made, of course. “Arrago is here.”
The aide dropped his quill. He scrambled to pick it up, rubbing his sleeve into the rug to remove any ink splatters. “King Arrago? From Taftlin?”
“What other Arrago do you think I mean? The human dog just arrived. He must know about Erem. Why else would he be here? Double all efforts to find Jovan. I know he is in the city somewhere. They must not make contact with him, or all of you will be taking Erem’s place? Do you hear me?”
“Yes, Lord Jud,” the aide stammered. “Any recommendations who to send?”
“Send two hundred into the city. Full armour, weapons, all of it. Search every Elorian house, if necessary. I want Jovan found.”
“Do you believe they are hiding him?” the aide asked.
“Well, I know it’s not one of my people,” Jud snapped. “Now do it. Wait. No, I must think. First, fetch me Holy Father Roc, Lord Champion Axton, and Lord Protector Haddon. I’ll have them meet Arrago. That should throw him off. I need to delay his plan to rescue Erem. That must be his plan. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Lord Jud,” the aide said. “Is there anything else?”
Jud picked at the dirt under his fingernails. Even being around Arrago had made them dirty. His mind raced with options and schemes. These were uncultured, nigh feral creatures. Apprentice Knight Bethany had been raised by elves, but the influence of the dogs of the north had changed her back into what he knew she’d always become: just another rutting animal.
“Have someone sent to announce they have to be relocated back to their ship. Say there is a security concern and he needs to be aboard.”
The rat stared at him. “You are refusing hospitality?”
“Hospitality is an elven courtesy. Do I look like I care about insulting some fish lord human?” When the aide lowered his gaze, Jud said, “I didn’t think so. Now, you have your assignment. Go.”
The aide bowed and ran off to do his chores. Jud couldn’t believe how far downhill the temple had gone under Allric’s mismanagement. Half-elves in positions of power. Full-blooded humans without even a hint of proper blood in their veins were climbing the ranks above elves. This is what the world had come to while he secured Wyllow’s borders: chaos.
Well, no more. He would capture Jovan, too. He confessed to the Elven Council to having been there the moment Sarissa died. If he were to believe any of what Erem had told him, that was when Bethany killed her mother. That would mean Jovan also had stolen Apexia’s Power, along with the others. Jovan was one of the murderers of Apexia, just like the others. He, too, would pay the price for his treason.
Arrago had, of course, never stood before the Elven Council like the others, but Jud was confident he’d also been part of plot to end of the Gentle Goddess. With her gone, someone had to become her defender. Jud was the Lord Defender. He would live up to his title and become Apexia’s defender. He would find those who’d harmed her and who sought to benefit from her Power. She might have been born a dirty human, but she’d grown to become elven. She was elven in his eyes by the end, and she had abandoned the humans to come live with them. Why, she’d placed her own children with elves and not humans. It was clear that she did not
trust her own kind. So he, too, would not trust them.
Jud picked his decorative helmet off of his desk, the blue plume loudly pronouncing his status as Lord Defender. It was the only part of his armour he didn’t wear daily. He put it on, and headed outside. He would lead the hunt for Jovan himself. It was time to go to the field and show this rabble how it was done.
JOVAN RAN. WORD WAS Arrago had arrived for a surprise diplomatic meeting with Jud. Word also arrived that Jud himself was leading a massive search through the streets of Orchard Park trying to find a “renegade” former knight. So Jovan ran.
His goal was to steal one of the row boats from the dock, get to Arrago’s ship and climb up the rigging if he had to. The backup plan was to run along the shore. Apexia’s tits, he’d swim if he had to. The tide was coming in, so at least he wouldn’t be swept out to sea.
However, both of those plans were proving difficult with a dozen cavalry charging after him through the narrow city streets. There was no subtly left. He just ran and hoped his footing would remain firm.
He heard the clumping of shoes against the cobblestone street and he ducked inside a shop. He looked around and said, “Back door?”
Three Elorian faces stared back at him.
“Please,” Jovan begged, looking over his shoulder.
The oldest of the three pointed toward the back and Jovan slammed a coin down on the counter and rushed behind the dividing curtain. A woman and a gaggle of small children shrieked, but he kept going. He emerged into the alleyway behind their little shop and continued running down the narrow divide between the rows of housing that weren’t destroyed in the fire.
He skidded to a halt at the end of the alley, then shrugged out of his cloak. He tugged his knitted cap down low over his ears and forehead, hunched down to make himself shorter, and shuffled along like he was one of the vagrants who weren’t supposed to be in the merchant quarter, but always ended up here.
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