by Tenaya Jayne
Netriet looked at Merick helplessly. He moved around the back of the cage, put his dagger through a link in the chain, and pried it open. She cradled her arm against her body and whimpered as she rubbed her shoulder. She wrapped the fur snugly around her body. Merick reached into the cage for her, and this time, she fell into his arms. He held her against him and sat down on the floor.
"Thank you," she whispered, her head resting on his shoulder.
For a moment, he couldn't speak. All he could do was hold her and breathe. He had her, and he would never let go of her again, not ever. He wouldn't fail again, no matter what. He would fulfill his promise. He would save her.
"I did what I had to, to find you. I hope one day you will forgive me."
"What do you mean?"
"I gave you up to Forest. I had to. I told her you killed Zefyre. I'm sorry. Maybe there was a better way, but I couldn't see it. I knew you were in trouble. I was desperate."
She touched his cheek gently, shaking her head, tragedy in her eyes. "I understand. It's all right. I trust that Forest will be fair with me. I have to answer for my actions. I forgive you, Merick… Now let's get out of here."
Emerging into the main room, they found Forest and Merhl arguing over what to do with Baal.
"I know how to hold him," Netriet said. "Give me the collar."
"Do you know how to use it?" Merick handed it to her.
She laughed bitterly. "Trust me, there is no one in all of Regia who knows how to work that accursed thing as well as I do."
Forest wasn't comfortable with the situation as the four of them left the cave. Nothing would have made her comfortable except Baal's death. But legally, she couldn't just kill Baal. It was only because he was a Rune-dy that she feared he might figure out a way to escape. Her only hope that justice would be done was that Rahaxeris would return soon, and she could turn Baal over to him.
They left Baal the way they had found Netriet. Naked, chained, caged, and collared. And Merhl tacked on the added security of encasing the entire room in a portal that went nowhere.
****
Back in her office, Forest took Netriet's full confession while Merick waited in the waiting room where Ena worked. Forest wrote down Netriet's words exactly as she said them. Every time Netriet broke down, Forest forced herself to remain still, stoic. Since becoming Hailemarris, she had yet to imprison someone she wanted to break the rules for like she did for Netriet. But she wouldn't abuse her power. Upholding the law today was breaking her heart.
Netriet signed the bottom of the parchment and slid it back across the desk to Forest.
"I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to lock you up."
"I know…" Netriet's shoulders hunched, and she looked down. "I'm sorry I ran away from your house…when you took me in. I couldn't stay there. My mind was too feral. I wanted to hurt you… But I want to thank you for what you did. I can't tell you what it meant to me. And I want to thank you now. For rescuing me today… I know you'll be fair when you sentence me."
Forest's heart trembled. She swallowed and again forced herself to be stoic. She strode over to Netriet and grabbed her gently by the arm, urging her to her feet. Her borrowed clothes fit poorly. Forest adjusted her skewed lapel for her, since her hands were bound together.
She touched Netriet's strange new hand. "What does it feel like? Does it hurt?"
"No. There's no pain. It feels natural, as though it has always been mine."
"Did Baal say where it came from?"
"No. He didn't tell me the name of the world. He said it's a place of living machines."
Forest pursed her lips as she touched the black skin. "I don't know yet if it is illegal or not. The surgery certainly was, but that isn't your guilt. I'll try my best to let you keep it."
"Thank you."
"Let's go. I'm going to put you downstairs, where you won't be bothered by any of my other detainees."
Merick jumped up from his seat as they came out. "Where are you taking her?"
Forest's heart jerked in response to the look in his eyes as he beheld Netriet, bound and marching to her fate.
"Netriet is now in the custody of Fortress. She will remain in a cell until her trial."
"Then so will I."
"What?" Forest asked.
"Lock me up, too. I'm staying with her."
Forest shook her head. "Against protocol."
"So arrest me."
"For what?"
"Uh…" He looked around quickly, his eyes settling on a tall vase on a stand in the corner. He looked back at Forest, his eyebrows raised in question.
Forest almost laughed. She shook her head. "Breaking Fortress' property won't really be enough to land you in a cell."
"How about assault?"
Ena, who had been quietly watching the exchange from her desk, stood up, her eyes wide. Merick shook his head at her. "I don't strike women."
As if on cue, Kindel came through the door, looking down at the file in his hands. Merick rushed at him and sucker punched him in the face. The papers in the file flew into the air as Kindel fell backward. He roared in pain and alarm as he scrambled back to his feet.
Merick backed away, his hands in the air. "I'm sorry, thought you were someone else. Too bad there are witnesses. Now, I'm sure I'll be in trouble."
Kindel wiped the trickle of blood coming from his nose, more rattled than hurt, an expression of total discombobulation on his face.
"Kindel, are you going to press charges?" Forest asked mildly.
"I…I don't know…"
"Oh, please press charges, Kindel! Do it for love." Ena gushed, causing his confused expression to quirk further.
"What the hell is going on here?" he demanded.
Forest and Netriet laughed.
"All right, Merick. You're under arrest for assaulting a member of Fortress' council. Come with me."
Forest didn't bother binding Merick's hands. He walked by Netriet's side, his hand protectively on the small of her back. Forest took them to the lowest floor, where she knew it would be quiet. The other subfloors were filled with the current inmates. She closed the iron door behind them and locked it. Then she gestured for Netriet to come close. She reached through the bars with a small knife and cut her hands free.
After returning her knife to her boot, she leaned her forearms on the bars and considered the two people behind them. "I will keep your case on the top of my list, Netriet. I've already decided your trial will be private, due to your unusual circumstances."
"Thank you, Forest."
The well of gratitude in Netriet's voice pushed again at Forest's resolution to be stoic. She took a long look in Netriet's eyes, remembering what she had said about the shadow within her when Forest had taken her in, and what she understood about how it got there. Forest remembered her words so clearly, because they had incriminated Shi. Netriet was a puzzle. A puzzle she must solve if justice was to be brought about.
"Are you okay?"
Netriet nodded as she took Merick's hand.
"I'll check on you tomorrow." Forest turned and left.
She took a deep breath as she climbed the stairs. Stress wove through her chest like a needle and thread. Every step she took upward seemed to have a name. Step, Netriet, step, Copernicus, step, Zefyre, step, the Rune-dy, step, the public's opinion of her, step, Redge going rogue, step, making sure she didn't neglect her relationship with Syrus, step, how long before Baal broke out? Step, step, step… She was making a difference, but was it the one she wanted? Was it enough?
She sat back down at her desk and put her head in her hands. The stress was not dissipating. She couldn't sit still. She needed some physical activity.
Kindel knocked and poked his head around the door "Hey, are you still going to question our captive insurgent today?"
Forest huffed and got to her feet. "Tomorrow." She handed Kindel Netriet's confession. "Put this with Zefyre's murder file. Make a separate file for Lush and list Baal as the main murder suspect."
Kindel opened his mouth, but Forest held up her hand. "He's restrained, for the moment. If Rahaxeris doesn't get back soon, I'm going to be forced to deal with Menjel to bring Baal to justice." Forest shuddered at the thought.
Kindel frowned as he looked at her. "I don't envy your job… We're not behind on any deadlines. Go walk it off, Forest. You look like you're on the edge."
She nodded and strapped her sword on.
"Hold up, just a second," Kindel said. "Can I see it again?"
Forest smiled and pulled her new sword from its carved scabbard.
Kindel gazed at the blade, the same star-struck look on his face as the first time he'd seen it. "Amazing," he murmured.
****
Forest was killing two birds with one stone. That's what she told herself as her feet hit the ground in the Wolf's Wood. She was here to let off some steam, and she was going to find out exactly what Shi had done to Netriet. Her portal dumped her just inside the boundary, and the stench of death filled her nostrils. Forest drew her sword and followed her nose, her mind switching into autopilot. She walked silently through the overgrowth. She was just about to duck out of the Wood when Shi's voice entered her head.
"Forest, you might not want to go any farther."
Fear pooled like acid in her stomach. Not the fear of danger or death to herself, but the fear of pain. Shi warned her not to go forward. She didn't need an explanation, not when she could smell death in the air. Her eyes burned, and her muscles locked down as the fear matured. Her heart beat like a living stone, hard, devastated, and determined. She moved forward, compelled to see what she already knew would hurt her. The pain was already there, waiting in the background to pounce. Just how hard would it hit?
"Careful," Shi warned, as a mother does their child. "I'm sorry."
Forest crossed the line of where Shi couldn't follow. The trees cleared, the afternoon sunlight struck her eyes. She followed the smell toward the shifter colony she grew up in. Her feet moved her forward on the path she'd used countless times as a child. Her mind was caught on a loop, no, no, no, please, no.
She jumped and held her sword at the ready as a portal opened next to her. She dropped her guard as Syrus walked out. Their eyes locking, their hearts locking and reading each other. She sheathed her sword and sank into his arms.
"Why are you here?"
"Because you needed me. I could feel it… What's going on?"
She pointed in the direction of the colony. "Do you smell that?"
Syrus looked around, realization of where they were dawning on his face. "Oh no," he breathed. He rubbed her arms bracingly. "I'm here, Forest. We'll do this together."
She nodded, exhaling, and squared her shoulders. They walked to the pain. She held Syrus' hand as though her life depended on it. His hand laced with hers was a tether to her heart. The feel of his pulse in her palm grounded her heart, a steady reminder she was still alive and had a reason to continue to live.
The colony came into view. Forest stopped walking. The pain in the background jumped on her, wrapping its monstrous hands around her lungs. She couldn't breathe. They were dead, all of them, and left out in the open like carrion for birds.
She turned her face into Syrus' chest. For one moment, only one, she let it defeat her. He held her tightly as she cried. Her tears were few. Tears wouldn't avenge.
She wiped her face and continued forward. Their homes had been burned. Her eyes moved over the dead, seeing the struggle in the aftermath, schooling her brain to see the evidence and not their identities, though she knew them all. She hadn't seen them in many years, but they were the makeshift family and friends of her youth. The colony was gone, the people and the place now lived only in her memory. The fact that her mother had died long before this crime gave Forest only a sliver of comfort. Violence flexed through her hands. Tears wouldn't avenge. She would.
"Too much… Too far, Syrus. If Copernicus wanted to push my buttons, he's succeeded." Forest shook with rage. "I will not tolerate one more thing. The insurgents will die. All of them, one by one. They have taken too much from Regia, too much from me. I will have my vengeance. And I will empower Regia to have its vengeance as well. Blood will be paid for with blood."
Forest and Syrus surveyed the whole colony, looking for clues and information in the wreckage. The sun began to set over the tops of the trees, throwing them into shadow and cold.
"It's time to go," Syrus said. "You can send a team back in the morning to finish this."
"I can't go yet." Forest's crazy day had exhausted her. "I came here to talk to Shi… It's important. You can head home."
"No. I leave when you do."
As soon as they crossed the boundary into the Wood, Forest found a fallen tree and sat down on the trunk.
Shi materialized in front of them. "You should go home, Forest," she said gently. "You need to rest."
"Tell me what I want to know. What did you do to Netriet?"
Shi heaved a great sigh, not from annoyance, but from the weight of the answer she had to give. "I saved her life. Perhaps I shouldn't have. I meant her no harm. I swear it. I wasn't trying to hurt her, even though she is a vampire. No offense," she added to Syrus. "I didn't think it out before I did it… She was almost dead, broken all on the inside from the fall she took off the mountain. I wanted to save her. She reminded me of you, Forest. Such inner strength, defiant. So, I rebuilt her with the flames of the Heart. Only after I was finished, and she was almost all the way healed, did I consider the issue of the state of the Heart."
"I don't understand," Forest confessed.
"The Heart is dark. I don't think the result of what I did is anything one would wish for… Have you seen her? How is she faring?"
"I arrested her today for murder."
"Oh…" Shi groaned.
"She's half crazy. She told me once there was something inside her that took hold and played her like a puppet… I have to sentence her. How am I supposed to do that? She's as guilty as she is innocent. Is there anything you can do for her, Shi? Can you remove it?"
Shi began pacing. "Maybe… It's worth a try… Yes, I really think I could."
"All right, good. I'll bring her as soon as I can."
Shi moved forward, concern lining her face. She reached out her hand and placed it over Forest's heart. "I'm so sorry for your loss, and that I could do nothing to save the colony, or that I can do nothing to ease the pain you feel now. You really must go and rest for a while."
Forest sagged against Syrus. "Okay, I'll just click my heels together three times." She turned her ring around into her palm and thought of home.
As the portal opened behind them, Shi gave Syrus a hard, meaningful look. "Please, protect her. The threat grows."
When they were gone, Shi continued to pace. She didn't tell Forest about Copernicus, and what he said to her, or that he'd killed Maxcarion, or what everyone believed about the wizards may or may not be true. Shi hoped the information would keep until the next time. Forest couldn't shoulder all of that on top of everything else right now.
Chapter Fourteen
Copernicus rubbed his chin slowly, over and over, as he contemplated the map on the table. Was the strategy good? Good enough? Or utter folly? He was running out of time to make his move. He glanced at Shreve on the other side of the table. "How did it go today?"
"Everyone's ready. I'm waiting for your orders so I can move them around to their target locations before they strike."
"We need most of our vampires at the Onyx Castle, so the shadow sand isn't an issue. Send three fourths of them to Halussis in the morning, but they are to stay out of the castle until the strike."
"Yes, Father. Am I to go with them?"
"No. It needs to look as though the Onyx Castle is our main target. Chaos and terror must be achieved in Halussis and Paradigm to draw the real players out. Our hit on Fortress must be small and look sloppy. None of our good fighters should be sent there, only the stupid and expendable."
> "What about the Lair, Father?"
"Leave it. It doesn't even factor into the strike."
"So, the main goal is Kyhael?" Shreve asked.
Copernicus laughed. "No! Of course not."
"But I thought you wanted the Rune-dy more than anything."
"I want Rahaxeris more than anything. But I want him alive. Our main target in the strike is here." He pointed on the map, to the Fair. "This is how we get Forest. If I have Forest, I will have Rahaxeris dancing to my tune."
"But what about her mate?" Shreve asked.
Copernicus smiled approvingly. "Yes, indeed. The Obsidian Mountain must be neutralized, with little sister's mage inside it, if we have any hope of snatching her. We'll send every Ogre we have. How many are there?"
"Not many, perhaps half a dozen. They didn't sympathize with our propaganda."
Copernicus backhanded Shreve. "Don't call our message propaganda, boy!"
Shreve wiped the blood from his lip. "Sorry, Father."
"Have you located the wizard Devonte?"
"He's still at Fortress, but since Forest has taken charge, he's been stripped of his titles. He only conforms because she has the backing of the Rune-dy. And he's quite old and fading like Maxcarion was."
"We need him. His power coupled with our Ogres should be enough to lock down the Obsidian Mountain."
Copernicus turned from the map and strode outside. The night air was thick. He looked from his new hideout out over the Crystalline Sea. The sharp waves sliced the moonlight into fragments. He took a deep breath, feeling his power through his whole body. "Are we ready for the sea, Shreve?"
"Everything is in place. Am I to go as well?"
"I would prefer you to stay here, but there will be plenty of improvisation when the dust settles from the strike. So, we'll see."
"There's a new recruit I wanted to discus with you. I think he's a spy."
Copernicus raised his eyebrows and smiled. "Really? A spy for whom?"
Shreve hesitated. "I'm not totally sure. He's got military background, despite how he tries to hide it. You should give him a slave mark as soon as possible, Father."
