The Forgotten

by Marly Mathews

  “I’m not afraid of death, Sir Lucan. I’m afraid that my bumbling incompetence will somehow get someone else killed. I’ve done it before. I’ve mucked everything up in a most royal way, and I’ve dealt death to those I love the most. That’s why I asked for this assignment far from where I was born, far from those I love and lost.

  As for the cloaking spell, I shan’t need it. I can be discreet when I want to be. They shan’t see hide nor hair of me if I do not desire them to. It’s another little ancestral gift bestowed upon me through the sprite blood in me. However, I don’t think I can do it—I’m deathly afraid I’ll do something to endanger, Neri. I couldn’t possibly bear it if I was responsible for her getting hurt.”

  Her shocking confession gave him pause.

  Could he really trust her with Neri’s fate?

  He had always believed that everyone deserved a second chance, he just didn’t know if he wanted to give that second chance to her when it concerned someone so important to him.

  “Your task before you is simple. All you must do is free Neri. Once she’s freed she can take over, and you can slip back into obscurity just the way you like it.”

  “Do you promise?” Mother Spratt asked.

  He rolled his eyes. “Yes, I promise. You can hide away in your Temple and never worry about hurting another person for the rest of your life.”

  Her relieved sigh made his insides clench. How could he put Neri’s fate in her hands?

  Truthfully, if he was completely honest with himself he had no other options. Bianca and Christi wouldn’t be much help in battle against their father or his men. Bianca’s scars were more than skin deep, and he wagered that Christi was just as marked as her sister was.

  No, they would have to stay back at the Tavern out of harm’s way.

  The only other person he could count on was Mother Spratt…he could ask Brett and his mother to help and yet he didn’t want to endanger them either.

  No matter how nervous she looked, she was a Celestial Mage. She had training that the others in the village lacked. Even if her magic was mundayne she could still cast a few harmless enchantments that could aid in getting her in and out of the Castle Grounds. He knew there was more than met the eye to Mother Spratt. He would bet his life that she didn’t just wield mundayne magic. She could probably use combative magic just as well as he could.

  She drew in a fortifying breath. The furtive gleam in her eye told him she knew what he suspected about her. “I mustn’t tarry. I’ll free her no matter what obstacles are in my way, Sir Lucan. What do you intend to do?”

  “I intend to charge the castle grounds and reclaim what is rightfully mine. Which means I’m going to have to kill Ulwyn.”

  “Killing is always the last resort, Sir Lucan,” she said, reaching out to touch his arm. “Give him mercy if possible. I know he has a blackened soul but you mustn’t damn your soul by taking his life, unless you have no other choice.”

  “I’ve killed rotten men before, Mother Spratt. I am a Knight Mage, we have taken an oath to protect the innocent. That means I do not kill those who do not deserve it. Killing sort of comes along with the job. No innocent shall feel the brunt of my magic or my blade, but rest assured that those who are evil shall feel it in all of its stunning glory.”

  “May the deities above bless us today, Sir Lucan! I am off now, to free your lady love.”

  In a blink, she was gone. She hadn’t been kidding when she’d said she’d inherited the fleet of foot ability from her grandmother. One minute she was there, and the next second she was gone. It was rather a useful gift.

  Now, it was time for him to kill Lord Ulwyn.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Neri’s heart hadn’t stopped racing since Ulwyn’s lackey had thrown her into the darkly enchanted sack. She clawed at the bag attempting to rip her way out of it. She’d attempted changing back into her human form to be met with soul searing pain.

  The lives that she’d lived kept playing through her mind. For whatever reason, she couldn’t get the picture of Ryn out of her head. He kept appearing to her, and then as he faded away in her mind’s eye she saw Lucan. And under it all, Rhiannon’s sweet image haunted her. How much would she give to see her daughter one more time before death finally stole her from this world and ushered her into the next?

  She would pay a fortune and more, she knew that.

  “We’re going to drown you little kitty. The water of the Motte will be your eternal prison. You won’t cause Ulwyn anymore problems. He’ll finally be rid of you, you little bitch.”

  “Why is it that pieces of filth like you never seem to be in short supply?”

  Her heart froze in her chest. The cocky male voice was so familiar, but it couldn’t be, it just couldn’t be!

  Tears gathered in her eyes. She couldn’t be witnessing what she knew was happening. Ryn had somehow returned from the dead. The arrogant edge to his voice was clear as a bell to her.

  Neri screamed, as she felt the bag soaring through the air. The little shit holding her tossed her so she would land in the dark water of the Motte. This was it. She was going to be drowned in a sack protected by evil magic. Her limited immortality would not resurrect her this time—fire and water were two elements that could steal all of her lives.

  She hit the water with a splash and then instead of sinking, she floated.

  “No, wait. You aren’t real. Ghosts are not real,” the man condemning her to her watery prison sounded scared witless.

  “Oh, I’m real enough, you little shit. Boo,” Ryn said, causing the man to scream out in terror.

  A loud splash followed the man’s crazed scream and the bag she was in, moved as the rippling effect of the man jumping into the water hit her.

  “By the Gods and Goddesses, what are you?” Mother Spratt’s voice filled the cavernous silence that had echoed around her after Ryn stopped speaking.

  “Good day to you, Mother Spratt. I am what you would call a spirit sent back to partially atone for the sins I committed in my life. I was a real bastard to my wife, and now I’ve been given the opportunity to save her life.”

  An invisible force grabbed hold of the sack she was being held in, and lifted her out of the water.

  “The bag is protected by a dark and terrible magic,” Mother Spratt said, her voice filled with fear. “I don’t think I have the strength to break through it. I’m not that magically talented.”

  “Fuck that dark magic. I’ve seen things that would make the darkness surrounding this sack look like a candy laced spell. No, it’s nothing compared to what I’ve been empowered to do.”

  Cool air hit her face as Ryn opened the sack. The mid-morning air felt like heaven caressing her fur. She looked up into Ryn’s smiling visage. He didn’t look completely real, as she knew he wasn’t.

  She’d seen him die. She’d felt his spirit pass from his body.

  “Hello, sweet one. Time for you to change back, now.” White mist rolled around them. She did as Ryn asked and changed back to her human form. “Damn, you look good, Neri. Your beauty hasn’t faded at all—in fact, I think you are more beautiful than you were when we were together. I guess that’s what a good life brings out in you.”

  Her heart started beating once more. Heat radiated throughout her body. Should she be angered or relieved to see Ryn? Her heart couldn’t decide its next course of emotional action.

  “I know you should want to see me damned to the Dark Underworld, Neri. I was a son of a bitch to you. I was a right and proper bastard…”

  “Yes, yes, you were, Ryn. You abandoned me when I needed you the most.”

  Her voice shook with emotion. She’d often wondered what she’d say to him if she’d ever seen him again, and now, there were too many things for her to say so she chose the simpler option and remained silent.

  “Might I suggest that we retreat to the village? This isn’t exactly the safest place to be having a row,” Mother Spratt’s gentle voice filled the air and yet Neri could bar
ely register what she said.

  “You can hate me for a thousand years, Neri, and I wouldn’t hold it against you. As it is, you’re stuck with me until the sun sets. I’ve been given that precious amount of time to attempt to right the wrongs of my past. Incidentally, if it matters to you, I was killed because I had second thoughts about leaving you to be executed. I wanted you set free. Alas, your family didn’t. I did manage to pay that guard off that ultimately freed you and I sent word to your old Nanny. I am so happy I set the plans in motion to have you freed before I was killed.”

  She staggered backward as if he’d punched her in the face. Out of all that he’d said, she only heard the bit about her family wanting her dead no matter what. They really had felt no love for her.

  “My family?” her voice was hoarse.

  “Your father to be precise. That damn asshole sent an assassin after me, and he knew just how to sneak her in as well. I never should have been so bloody weak when it came to the opposite sex, hell, even a good looking male could twist my insides.”

  “My father,” her voice was low. “My father, not your father…” She couldn’t quite wrap her head around it.

  “I’m sorry, Nerienda,” Ryn’s voice was soft and his eyes were filled with pain—not for himself but for her. In death, he had done a total turnaround. He had lost his selfishness.

  She’d always known that her father hadn’t favoured her. No, he’d loved her brother and sister more than he’d loved her, and yet to know that he’d gone to those lengths to ensure her doom. She felt like she was going to be sick.

  “Mother Spratt is right, we really shouldn’t hang about here. Lord Ulwyn will send someone down shortly to see if the foul deed is done. I rather feel like following the easy route.”

  “Follow me,” Mother Spratt said, disappearing in a sheen of light.

  Neri sighed. The woman didn’t know how fast she was!

  Casting Ryn an annoyed glance, she quickly followed Mother Spratt. Her feet were bare, and sunk into the moist ground, the wetness squished around and between her toes. As they walked, he started speaking again.

  “Our daughter at this moment, hurries to your aid, Neri. She’s quite the spitfire, born with all of our talents. She’s been blessed by the Goddess Rhiannon, you know. It’s good that you named her for her. Her power exceeds both mine and yours. She will do well with the great future that awaits her.”

  Neri looked ahead attempting not to pay any attention to her dead husband. This day had just gotten worse. She wondered now, if she’d rather be at the bottom of the Motte over listening to him. He made her heart ache in a way she’d never fathomed.

  “Had you never betrayed me, Ryn, we would have had our happiness. You would have had what you the rest of your blasted family desperately craved—you would have had your heir! And I would have had both of my babies live to grow into adulthood.” Her voice was bitter, she could hear the underlying anger in it.

  “We might have done. It wouldn’t have lasted, Neri. I would have ruined it, just as I ruined everything good that we shared. I was a horrible monstrous devil when it came to dealing with you. Besides, you have a new future to look forward to, one that will be much brighter than the one you could have had with me.”

  “Don’t you think I’d give this life up if I knew I could go back and have the life we were robbed of? I’d do anything to make our family whole again!”

  “That would mean you’d never have Lucan. Would you give him up to have what we used to share? I daresay you’d be getting the short end of the stick. I never could see how much I loved you until it was too late.”

  Her stomach sunk as if he’d punched her right in the gut. She loved Lucan and yet… She couldn’t deny that a piece of her heart had always remained with Ryn. Through all of the pain and all of the betrayal, she’d kept loving him.

  How could she fight the temptation of wanting him again? Lucan deserved so much better, and she wasn’t certain she could give him all that he needed out of life.

  “Besides, we can’t alter fate, Neri. We can never go back—we can only move forward. And I’m here to make sure that you and Rhiannon have the ability to move forward. When our daughter went to the Royal Court of Shardizar to seek out Ava’s help, she opened herself to outside forces that seek to destroy our family. She has been betrayed. Not by the King or by Ava or Grifon but by a courtier who wanted my brother’s gold. My brother now knows about Rhiannon, and he shall be coming for her.”

  Fear stabbed her heart like an arrowhead and nearly crippled here in its intensity. “If he wants to harm her, I will kill him,” she said, fury blackening her tone. “I’m a lot tougher than I was when I was your wife, Ryn. I have nothing left to lose and I will gladly sacrifice myself for Rhiannon.”

  “My brother isn’t that vicious or cold hearted, Neri. He has a big heart, and a gentle nature. You have it all wrong when it comes to my family—well, granted, my father and mother were a bit too old fashioned for my taste, but my brother—no, he’s a good one—his heart is true when it comes to Rhiannon, Neri. He wouldn’t dream of hurting her. He doesn’t care for anything that happened in the past. All he cares about is seeing his line continue. He can’t have children—it seems I wasn’t the only one with low fertility. My sister is long dead, and she died without issue. As for the rest of those in our line well, they have met with unfortunate ends. They are all dead, Neri and the other royal houses have their beady little eyes on the Dreykohnis seat of power. They want to see our House die out. I don’t want to see it, I wouldn’t have wanted to see it in life—and I still don’t want to see it in death. They covet our power and they wouldn’t rule Avonry the way that those in the Royal House of Dreykohnis have done.”

  “They can have it. Our daughter has no life in Avonry, her life is here, where I can keep her safe. Besides, do you think I’d want her to return to the place that condemned me? And it condemned her as well, Ryn. They were willing to execute me while I still carried Rhiannon and her brother.”

  “I’m telling you, my brother would never hurt Rhiannon. He didn’t even want them to kill you when they sentenced you—he loved you from afar the way I should have done from up close. As you know he wasn’t in the position to save you since I wasn’t even on your side. Think rationally about it. Would you rather your father claim the throne for his own? That old bastard still lives. He’s an ancient son of a bitch but if he’s not stopped, he will be High King, mark my words.”

  “He can’t claim the high throne of Avonry. He has no royal blood.”

  “But your mother does,” Ryn said softly.

  She snorted. “My mother has an older brother…you forget Ryn, women can’t inherit titles in Avonry, only lands and wealth. Women in Avonry live in a sexist world.”

  “You’ve been away from Avonry for far too long. My brother has just gotten his way. He’s overturned the ancient law prohibiting females from inheriting titles. My brother always did know how to throw his weight around. I knew once he actually had power that he’d be an enlightened King. It’s the dawn of a new age in our Kingdom and it will be a glorious time for Avonry—what’s more, my brother will be a great ally for Ava and Grifon. He will throw his weight behind the upcoming war with the Domnonee. Shardizar is not ready to fight that war alone. Grifon’s father has done irreparable harm by killing off most of the Hunters. He literally doomed his kingdom. The only reason it now has hope is because it has Grifon and Ava. They will save Shardizar, but they will need Avonry and possibly Tamar to do it. If they don’t have those friends with them during the time of war, Shardizar will burn.”

  “Our Kingdom sentenced me to burn. Besides, Uncle Fior will be the head of the Royal House of Silverpaw now, my father has no hope to gain power. As for your predictions concerning Shardizar I don’t believe it,” she said stubbornly.

  “Your dear Uncle is dead. Your father had his throat cut. He had no children. That leaves your mother the heir to the Royal House of Silverpaw and with enough political
maneuvering, she just might be the next High Queen and she will make your father her Consort. They share a sick and twisted relationship, Neri, she’s more devoted to him than she was to you, a child of her own body.”

  “So basically, you’re telling me she is more devoted to her spouse than you were to me?”

  Pain haunted Ryn’s eyes. She almost felt bad for saying it—she almost wanted to take it back—almost. She sighed heavily. “This is why I took on my great-great-great grandmother’s maiden name of Kyneswyth—and distanced myself from the Houses of Panthera and Silverpaw. None of them cared about Briar Kyneswyth, so I knew I could easily hide with that surname. My mother didn’t care enough to even know Briar’s maiden name as she tried to ignore the fact that we had foreign blood in us.

  I was the one that was interested in our family history and researched all of the tomes containing all of the information pertaining to Briar. I don’t care about any of it, Ryn. I don’t care if my father rules alongside my mother. He can’t live forever anyway—he’s used up most of his lives. After my mother dies, it will go to my brother, as he is my mother’s eldest child. I have no wish to dredge up old memories by confronting my past in Avonry, Ryn. You need to leave well enough alone and spare me the misery. Please, if you ever loved me, if you ever felt anything good for me, you will let it die.”

  “Actually, you distanced yourself from the House of Dreykohnis, since you became a member of our House when you married me. Nonetheless, if my brother knows about Rhiannon so will your father. And he will send assassins after her just as he sent them for me. He might have a harder time getting to her than he had getting to me, but if he comes to power, our daughter will die, surely as the sun will set and rise. Can you honestly say you want that? You don’t have the resources to keep her safe alone, Neri.”

  Ice flowed through her veins at those words. She stopped and stared at him.