by Todd, E. L.
She kissed him on the cheek and wrapped her arms around his neck. He kissed her in return. Sadie stared at the people sitting in front of them then turned back to Aleco. “Who are they, Aleco? Have they come to play?”
Aleco smiled at her. “Yes, you could say that, but they want to play adult games.”
Sadie pouted. “But those are boring.”
Aleco laughed. “I know they are.”
“Come play with us.”
“I will when we’re done.” He saw her face fall at the idea of having to wait. “I promise we will as soon as I’m finished.”
Accacia felt the tears bubble underneath her eyes at the interaction. She recognized the child immediately. She was the child Lydia was caring for in Morkarh. Sadie was as beautiful as she remembered and just as adorable. Aleco’s affections tugged at her heart and she felt her throat constrict. Aleco always attested that he had hated children, but that clearly wasn’t true. He loved them like they were his own.
Another woman walked into the room. She was thin and tall, with long locks of brown hair that stretched to her shoulders. She carried an infant in her arms. “I’m so sorry, Father,” she apologized. “I told her she had to wait.”
“No apology is necessary, Penny.” Aleco turned back to Sadie. “Go with Penny.” Sadie pouted but did as he commanded. Vance walked through the door, oblivious to the gathering of people in the room, and held his small dagger out.
Penelope sighed. “Now another one slipped through.”
Vance walked over to Aleco and embraced him. “I’ve been practicing,” he said as he sliced the knife through the air. “I’m getting really good.”
“I’m sure you are.”
Penelope grabbed Vance by the hand and pulled him away. “Aleco will visit with us when he’s done, Vance.”
“I don’t want to wait,” he said.
“Vance—come.”
Aleco rose from his seat and kneeled before the boy. “I’ll teach you the sword when I’m done.”
Vance’s eyes lit up like bonfires. “You think I’m ready?”
“Yes,” Aleco answered. “But I need to finish this meeting first. We will play as soon as I’m done. Run along now.” Vance nodded and left the room. Aleco returned to his feet and looked at Penelope.
Accacia recognized Vance as well and her heart swelled at the sight. Aleco was acting as a father to both of the children and Accacia worried if something harmful had befallen Devry. Her heart ached when she saw Vance leave the room. She had wondered about having children with Aleco, but she assumed he wouldn’t have wanted any. She had been wrong about that.
“I am so sorry, Father.”
Aleco held up his hand. “Please don’t apologize. You aren’t bothering me.”
She walked closer to him and held out the infant to him. “Rhonian has been fussy all day. I’ve noticed these rashes on his neck.” Aleco examined the discoloration and nodded. “This reaction is common in babies. Ask the Naturalists for Freten Weed. It will clear the patches within a day.”
“Thank you so much, Father Rhonian.” She smiled. She walked back to the door and looked at the king, queen, and ambassadors in their seats. Her sight lingered on Accacia’s longer than the others and she glanced at Accacia and Zyle’s joined hands. “I apologize for disturbing your meeting.” She closed the door behind her.
Aleco returned to his seat. “I apologize for the interruption.”
“Was that your family?” Roxian asked with interest.
“Yes—not my biological family, but yes, I would say so.”
“Your wife is beautiful.”
Aleco shifted his weight in his seat, uncomfortable by the association. He assumed that Accacia told all her advisors who he was to her. Apparently, she hadn’t. “No, she isn’t. Penelope is the wife of my close friend. I am looking after her for the time being. I assisted in giving birth to her son a few weeks ago.”
Roxian nodded, clearly pleased by the revelation.
“Nolan and I have conjured an elaborate plan to infiltrate the guarded city of Paso Robles and release the slaves of the realm.”
“Is this where the king is?” Mikah asked.
“No,” Aleco answered. “It is a realm that Drake has overtaken, shipping thousands of citizens as slaves within the walls to produce goods for the Continent. The woman and the children you just saw were enslaved there.”
“How did they escape?” Mikah asked.
Aleco was quiet for a moment. “I rescued them.”
“I think any slave should be given their freedom,” Zyle said. “But I don’t understand why the province needs to be infiltrated now. We can release the prisoners after the king is overthrown.”
The Chief looked at Zyle. “I thought the same thing.”
Aleco spoke. “We are rescuing the prisoners because we need the men—we don’t have enough people without them.”
“Do they know how to fight?”
“I doubt most of them do.”
“And how do you know they will even agree?”
Aleco stared at Zyle. “The citizens will want revenge for what the king did—believe me. I have no doubt of their commitment. Besides, they have nowhere to go. Their homes and possessions were stripped from them. They have nothing—only anger.”
Zyle nodded. “After we infiltrate the province, the king will know what has befallen his realm and he will move against you.”
“Yes,” Aleco answered. “That is the point. Some of his troops will be in Paso Robles but we’ll be gone by then. He won’t have all of his soldiers under his command when we march on his doorstep and we will be able to overrun the city.”
Mikah leaned forward in his chair. “How do you propose we seize the city?”
Aleco leaned back in his chair and drank from his tea. Accacia was surprised it wasn’t a bottle of poison. “We will enter the province under the cover of nightfall, with soldiers packed into carts. When they open the gates and allow us to enter, we will spring forth from our wagons and kill the soldiers then carry the slaves back to the forest.” Mikah nodded at his plan and Zyle nodded as well. It sounded plausible to both of them. “I do not expect any of the Asquithians to participate in this part of the plan. Your presence needs to be kept a secret at all costs. If we fail you can return to your lands and he will never know you were ever on our shores.”
Accacia shook her head. “The Asquithians are bequeathed with the gift of night sight. We can see in the darkness with clarity. I suggest the Asquithians aid in this mission because of that ability alone.”
Aleco looked at her. “That decision is yours, Your Highness.”
“I agree with my queen,” Zyle said. “We would benefit your odds much better. Our warriors are trained to kill in the darkness.”
Accacia tapped her warrior blade. “Yes, we will bring most of the warriors in the undertaking. Zyle and I will lead them.”
Aleco’s charismatic attitude disappeared and his smile faded. He leaned forward over his desk and stared at Accacia. “No,” he said. “You aren’t coming, Accacia.”
She looked like she had been slapped. Her face reddened at his command, embarrassed that he would speak to her in such a way in front of her subjects. “Excuse me?”
“I said you aren’t coming, Your Majesty. Zyle’s presence is enough.” The light in his eyes burned as he stared at her. “You need one leader to remain behind in the event the other doesn’t return. And I prefer Zyle to fight alongside me.”
Accacia stared at him in shock. There were so many things she wanted to say but she didn’t want to speak them aloud. Her ambassadors were sitting right next to her and she didn’t want to fight Aleco in front of them. She leaned back in her seat and said nothing, reserving her fury for a later time when they were alone.
They conversed for hours about the plan in detail, covering the number of men that would be needed and the leading commanders of the undertaking. Everything had to be planned perfectly before they moved against the king
because it would take place immediately afterwards. Then they discussed the housing arrangements of the Asquithian guests, and Aleco offered to erect tents at the edge of the forest if they wished to sleep on land. Zyle said he would leave the option to his subjects. He knew some would prefer to occupy the ship.
Aleco stood behind his desk. “We have been discussing this at length for many hours. I suggest we retire for the afternoon and reconvene tomorrow. As you know, I have other obligations.” Some of the ambassadors laughed at his words, recalling the two children who had visited the Nature Priest earlier. They stood from their seats and left through the doorway. Zyle grabbed Accacia’s hand and led her from the room. After they entered the forest, Accacia realized all the ambassadors were present besides Roxian. She voiced her concern to Zyle, but shrugged it off. “She’s Aleco’s problem now.”
Aleutian Keep, Letumian Province
15
“We found this in the storage room, Your Highness. Would you like us to put it in the keep?” Aldo held the painting out to him, which had been made years ago. It was a depiction of Drake’s parents, the Lord and Lady of the Keep. The painting had been completed on the terrace that faced the garden. His mother smiled brightly in the picture and his father stared straight ahead, displaying his formidable countenance. “Perhaps in the dining hall?”
“No,” Drake said as he sipped his wine. “Burn it.”
“Burn it?” Aldo repeated.
The king bored him a look a hate, daring him to challenge his command. He had no problem with killing the servant where he stood. The fire in his study would burn his cold corpse to ash. “Yes,” he answered. “Don’t make me repeat myself. I promise you will regret it.”
“Of course, m’lord.” Aldo walked away with the painting held in his arms. Drake thought of his despicable guardians. He wished he had burned them alive. The thought brought him to a memory of his past, one that still angered him to this day.
“No, Drake. You aren’t coming,” his father said from his seat at the table. “Aleco and I will go on this mission alone. You are still being punished for the crimes you committed. Your mother and I are more than disappointed in you—we are ashamed.”
The anger coursed through his body and snapped his blood vessels. He gripped his dagger under the table, wanting to stab his own father through both eyes, but he held back his fury, knowing it would just get him deeper into trouble. “That was months ago,” he snapped. “Let’s move on.”
“Absolutely not,” his father yelled. “It is obvious that you still haven’t learned your lesson. Your final punishment will be to remain behind while your brother and I do the patrol of the realm. You will stay with your mother.” Drake rolled his eyes at his father, horrified of being stuck with his mother, who could barely look at him every day. “What was that?” Drake stiffened at the anger in his father’s voice. He was furious that his son had disrespected him in such an obvious way, having no reservation about mocking his father. His father rose from his seat and walked to Drake across the table, who immediately tried to move out of the way. The hand that gripped his neck almost made him unconscious under the strength of the grasp and he felt the panic race through his body. His father slapped him across the face as hard as he could, bubbling up the blood directly under the surface of the skin. It was red from the irritation of the collision of his father’s palm against his face. His father slapped him hard again and the sting brought tears to his eyes. “I will treat you like a child because you continue to behave this way.” His feather released his grip. “I have never punished Aleco once—ever. Perhaps you could learn something from him.”
Drake sat back in his chair and rubbed the skin of his face, blinking back the tears. The humiliation of the act made him even angrier, and then the comparison to his perfect brother made the fury explode. He pushed his chair back and left the terrace, heading to the weapons room where they wouldn’t find him. Drake sat in the chair and rubbed his face, hoping the redness of his cheeks had disappeared.
Aleco entered the weapons room and began to gather his supplies for the journey they were taking through the realm. Swords and daggers stuffed into his belt and he placed a long bow behind his back. His obvious ignorance of Drake’s presence made the anger rise to the surface. The betrayal of his brother was still fresh on his mind and he couldn’t believe his own brother had turned him in, confiding everything to their parents. Drake was certain his parents hated him. He knew it was true.
The room was filled with swords and battle axes along the walls, and Drake rose from his chair and grabbed the first blade he saw. He spun it around his wrist and approached his brother from behind, wanting to slice his head from his shoulders with a clean blow. Aleco didn’t turn around when he spoke.
“It was nothing personal, brother,” Aleco said as he stuffed his pack with a few extra arrows. “What you did was wrong and unacceptable. I couldn’t let it go.”
“I’m your damn brother, Aleco!”
“It doesn’t matter,” he said. “It better not happen again.”
“I just won’t get caught again.”
Aleco finally turned around. “I sincerely hope that was a joke, Drake. I have no problem telling mother and father about that as well.”
“If you’re alive to tell them,” he threatened.
Aleco shook his head. “And you don’t understand why they favor me? Take another look, Drake. You’re a monster. I don’t know what happened to you, but you just get worse and worse. You wonder why no one loves you.”
Drake slammed his sword into Aleco’s shoulder, but Aleco stopped the blade from connecting with his skin with his own sword. Aleco pushed him back. “What’s wrong with you? You’re sick!”
Drake engaged him again and Aleco blocked the assaults. They were fighting directly in the center of the weapons room, striking at each other savagely. Aleco pulled away and held up his hand. “Stop this now! We are brothers.”
His sword swiped at his neck, but Aleco stepped out of the way. Talking with this brother was futile. He was too far gone. Aleco aimed his sword for his brother and danced his blade around in a flash, trying to catch his brother off guard. The room spun around them as they attacked each other, aiming to wound but not to kill. At least Aleco wasn’t. The servants and the guards were unaware of the battle that was taking place in the upstairs room, and the two brothers continued to engage each other until the other one surrendered, or died, in Drake’s case.
Exhaustion was creeping in Drake’s arm and he knew he couldn’t continue this fight much longer. He knew Aleco was the better fighter, having more practice with the blade and more experience in battle, and he knew the fight wouldn’t be in his favor. Drake spun his blade in a dance as he reached for his dagger in his pocket, which Aleco didn’t notice because he was distracted by Drake’s moving sword. The dagger was thin and long, deadly enough to kill someone with a single penetration, and Drake stepped to the side so Aleco’s torso would be exposed. He wanted to stab him in the stomach, the most painful way to die.
The dagger slid deep into the body but Drake immediately realized he hadn’t stabbed Aleco. He had impaled someone else. He felt the hair under his hand and the savage bite on his hand that had held the dagger. Drake was pushed back with the force of a heavy beast and he felt his hand burn in agony as Rufio bit down into the flesh with his teeth.
“Stop, Rufio!” Aleco commanded. The wolf immediately stopped the attack and returned to his master. Aleco appraised the wolf and saw the dagger deep in his flesh. “No!” he said as he took the blade out. The dog groaned as the knife was pulled from his skin. Drake looked over and saw Aleco’s face covered in tears and they dripped down his cheeks. His brother removed his shirt and placed it over the bleeding wound. “It’s going to be okay, Rufio. Stay with me,” he said. “Please don’t go.” The tears fell from his cheeks onto the fur of the dog, who lied down beside Aleco and rested his head in his lap. The intense grief was obvious and it made Drake smile. It was bet
ter than killing his own brother.
His father walked into the room and saw Aleco holding the dog in his arms. Drake was certain the beast was already dead. His father examined the wolf and realized it was too late. The beast was gone. Aleco sobbed as he held Rufio to his chest. His father patted him on the shoulder.
“What happened here?” he asked as he spotted the bloody dagger on the floor. Aleco said nothing for a moment and his father shook his arm. “Are you hurt?”
“No,” he said through his tears. He looked over at Drake, who still had a smile on his face. “He killed Rufio,” he cried. “He tried to stab me but—Rufio—protected me. He gave his life to save mine.” The tears dripped down his cheeks but then they stopped falling. Aleco stared at Drake with a look of hate. “He did it because he loved me. Do you even know what that is, Drake? Love? No one cares about you. Don’t you understand that? Not a single person! No one would ever risk their life for you—no one would die for you. You will leave this world forsaken and alone—and I hope that comes soon.” Drake listened to his brother’s words and felt his heart squeeze in pain. Deep inside he suspected that his brother was right; no one loved him. Suzie had always preferred his brother over him, and their parents favored Aleco since the day they were born. The dog had hated him to begin with. He was destined to be alone.
“That’s enough, Aleco,” his father said. “Stop.”
Aleco shook his head. “I feel sorry for you, Drake. I pity you. Your life is a pathetic excuse of existence and I hope the void takes you.”
“I said that’s enough, Aleco!”
Aleco finally fell silent. His father grabbed the dog and carried it within his arms. The wolf was huge but his father was large and strong, and he carried the beast with ease. “Let’s bury him, son.” Aleco wiped the tears away and nodded. He followed his father out of the room but Drake remained behind. Aleco stopped and stared at him before he left the room, wanting to say something to express is anger and ferocity, but nothing strong enough came to mind. Drake met his gaze with a smile. Aleco turned and walked away.
