by Alana Serra
“Can I borrow your bedroll again, Karak? I just want to rest my eyes for a little bit.”
“Of course,” he said, quick to retrieve it and lay it out for her.
She needed to speak to all three of them. Some things needed to be said about what she expected and what she absolutely wasn’t going to tolerate. If they truly were here to serve her—and not Aeredus—then they could help her achieve her goal, and she in turn could help them.
And if they were more loyal to the Dark God than her? She could send them away. Magically bar them from ever entering Ebonhold. Somehow, the thought didn’t bring her much comfort. As she drifted off to sleep, she was comforted by the presence of all three of them. Knowing they were near, knowing they’d protect her.
It was a potent drug, and one Rhia needed to be careful of indulging in, lest she lose her wits entirely.
It was dark by the time she woke, though that was practically the only thing that had changed.
Wesley, Liam, and Karak were hovering nearby, the three of them having taken up post in the main room. Judging from the dust and dirt that caked their skin and clothing, they’d done as they said. Further confirmation followed as Rhia looked around, her bleary gaze focusing on the entryway she’d passed out in. Goddess, had she really just fallen asleep here, in front of three men she barely knew, in a strange castle that was falling apart around her?
Apparently so, and she didn’t feel especially bad about it. She trusted that these men wouldn’t harm her and that they’d wake her if the walls really were going to collapse. Now that she got a better look at the place, though, it felt like they’d minimized most of the hazards she’d hazily noted upon entering. There were no more piles of rubble, the wall had been patched somehow, and the floor was swept clean of debris. Even the ceiling looked as if it was sporting far fewer precarious, half-broken stones, though she had no idea how that could be.
Unless she’d slept for much longer than she intended.
“How long was I out?” she asked, her voice still raspy from sleep.
“Only a few hours,” Karak answered. “I was on watch when you began to rouse, so I called the others back in.”
“You talk in your sleep,” Liam added in a way that was as confrontational as everything else he said.
Rhia just closed her eyes and drew in a breath through her nose. It might not be a new day, but she was a bit more rested now. She could ignore him and not rise to the bait he seemed so eager to throw her way.
“How did you manage to accomplish all of this in just a few hours?” she asked, pushing herself to her feet, her body letting her know it didn’t appreciate sleeping on hard, cold stones.
“I told you we should have brought her to the Lady’s chambers,” she heard Liam mutter to Wesley.
A flush stole across her skin as she imagined being carried in his arms. She quickly banished the thought and turned her attention to Karak and Wesley, pretending Liam didn’t even exist.
“We’re all fairly efficient, when we aren’t running our mouths,” Karak said with a grin. “Though Wesley did much of the work.”
She turned to look at him, unable to control the way her brows shot up straight to her hairline. It was unfair to say Wesley was skinny. His body was toned and lean, his form more than formidable. She guessed the long coat he was dressed in covered up some of his best assets, as well. But compared to the other two, he was certainly the more scholarly of the group.
“My imps,” he said with a sheepish grin.
Wesley snapped his fingers, and those creatures from earlier appeared at his feet, their bellies looking rounder than before. They stumbled and staggered as if drunk, and Rhia bit her lip to stifle a laugh.
“They eat rock, I’ve learned,” Wesley said. “Rock, wood, metal… actually, I’m not sure there’s any inorganic substance they won’t eat.”
“That’s handy,” she said, crouching down to get a better look at them. “But why would such a creature exist?”
She could see now that while there was an inherent cuteness about them with their round forms, long ears, and curled tails, they also had mouths full of sharp, gnashing teeth that could obviously cut through solid stone. She could only imagine what they could do to flesh and bone, and she wasn’t eager to find out. Thankfully, their lethargy meant they barely even acknowledged her interest.
“For exactly this reason.” When he snapped his fingers again, the imps disappeared in a puff of red-black smoke. “People who summon imps are… often in need of a fortress, and they help carve it out from caves or pre-existing structures.”
“And why would those people be in need of a fortress, I wonder?” Liam asked, arms folded across his chest as he looked at Wesley.
“Do you really want to have this conversation? When we’re standing in a fortress?”
Right. She remembered now. Their cleanup was so effective that it just looked like the inner receiving room of a castle—as if Rhia had seen many of those. But before she’d been overcome by exhaustion, she’d thought the whole thing was… evil, for lack of a better word. Ebonhold was a fortress where evil thrived. Or it had been. It wasn’t going to be any longer, if Rhia had anything to say about it.
And that started with letting her guardians know her intent. She’d have to be strong, because she wasn’t going to accept half-measures on this. There was no “situationally evil.” Either they did good deeds, or they acted in Aeredus’ interests. There was no in between, despite the niggling thoughts her brain wanted to interject about the justice Karak’s people sought from the village.
“Is there a… Great Hall or a planning room of some kind that’s clear?” she asked, looking toward the long halls that stretched outward from this open space.
“The Great Hall has been cleared,” Karak said. “We can take you there now, if you wish?”
She nodded, and the three men headed down the right hall, taking a hard left at a junction to reach what Rhia guessed was the central point of Ebonhold. It made sense, of course. The Great Hall needed to be protected while still being accessible from multiple wings. She couldn’t say she liked the fact that it was so easy to enter right now, but if she installed guards it would be a bit more of a chore for people to just wander in.
Then again, why would she need guards? She didn’t intend on doing anything to draw attention to herself.
That strange jumble of thoughts meandered through her mind as she followed the guardians. She was so consumed by them that at first she didn’t notice just how gaudy the Great Hall was, but it only took one glance to snap her out of it. It was the stained glass windows on the ceiling that caught her attention first, painting shafts of purple light onto the floor which itself was decorated with a long, blood-red rug. How a window was giving off light in the dead of night was anyone’s guess, but once she noticed that detail, it was impossible not to notice everything else.
The room was large, with wrought iron candelabras lining both sides, framing several alcoves. Magical purple flames flickered in them, casting a matching glow over a room that seemed to produce its own darkness. It was coming from the throne, she realized—a ghastly thing of charred metal that looked as uncomfortable to sit in as it was to behold. The back of it was almost woven, worked into gnarled patterns that were supposed to be menacing, but just seemed uncomfortable to Rhia. It sat atop a dais that was covered in the same blood-red rug, with smaller thrones flanking it on either side, their make of a lighter metal that appeared no less unpleasant to sit on.
“All of these have to go,” she said, feeling a headache coming on already. “Who designed this place? Honestly, even if I felt like being the most vile creature in the land, I couldn’t imagine sitting on that.”
She heard a snort and found a smirk twitching into Liam’s features. Karak laughed openly, and Wesley smiled in a way that was more guarded than anything else. Their reactions boded well, but it was time to just come out with it. She’d delayed long enough.
“You’ve help
ed me so far, and you’ve all said you’re interested in serving me and my wishes, not Aeredus,” she began, walking toward the dais before she stopped.
No, she definitely wasn’t getting anywhere near that throne, even for the sake of being heard more clearly.
“That’s correct, Lady. Whatever you wish of us, we are charged to do. Even without the pact,” Karak said, his arm braced across his middle as he bent in a bow.
Rhia tried not to think of the pact, or the fact that each of them must have made some kind of deal with Aeredus to end up here. They didn’t seem like bloodthirsty murderers who were just evil for fun, so there had to be some other explanation. Maybe she’d find out eventually. Or maybe she was wrong, and all three of them would balk at her demands.
Now was the time to find out.
“I want to be upfront with you about my plans. I know I’ve been charged with taking down the guild, but frankly, I don’t intend to do that.”
Saying it out loud, she felt emboldened. That same defiance that had gotten her through her youth carried her onward, even as all eyes turned rapt attention upon her.
“I didn’t choose to be in this situation,” she began, ignoring the thread of nervousness she felt, “and I’m not going to obey a corrupt god who tricked me into being where I am now. In fact, I plan to undermine him at every turn.”
“That’s… a dangerous game to play,” Wesley said, his face pale.
“It’s not a game at all. If this is going to be my life, I’m going to treat it that way, and I don’t intend to spend my life hurting others so that some Dark God can get his sick enjoyment watching the chaos.”
She expected some snide, sarcastic quip from Liam, but he was silent, his intense gaze fixed on her. Karak was smiling, to her surprise, and Wesley still looked a bit ill. None of them had openly challenged her or tried to kill her yet, so she pressed on.
“I intend to use my powers to help people—to protect them from those who follow Aeredus in good faith. If that’s not something you’re interested in doing, if you can’t handle serving someone who isn’t evil, then I’ll thank you to show yourself out now.”
She was firm, her jaw held rigid, her gaze passing over each of them in turn. Liam was just as unreadable as ever, his eyes boring into her. Wesley wouldn’t meet her gaze for the longest time, and when he finally did, she found that same resolve she wore staring right back at her. Karak, though…
He wasn’t smiling any longer. His brows were drawn together and he looked genuinely upset about something. Was she really going to lose him, of all people? He’d seemed the kindest, the most level-headed. But maybe orcs—even half-orcs—weren’t able to honor contracts of this nature.
“What exactly is it that you think of us, Lady?” he asked, his voice conveying his hurt.
She opened her mouth to speak, unsure what she might even say. She knew the answer she’d had upon first meeting them. Was it the same now?
“She told you what she thinks of us,” Liam said, his own voice strained. “She thinks we’re all evil incarnate, and if we can’t temper our wicked ways, we’re to be… what? Executed in the name of Good? Do I have that right?”
“That’s not what I said, and you know it,” Rhia grated out.
“But you do think we’re evil. We’ve all followed Aeredus in one way or another, so we must be evil,” Karak said, his own voice hardening the way Liam’s had.
What was happening? She’d assumed this would be a simple matter. None of them had acted in ways that painted them as evil, so they must not be aligned with Aeredus’ darker forces. It’d been a matter of clarity to even say this. She hadn’t expected anyone to fuss over the way she phrased it or pick apart what she meant.
“I don’t—”
“I can’t speak for the other two, but I’ve never harmed an innocent in my life, and I don’t like you looking at me as if I’d run off and murder infants without your guidance,” Karak said, his amber eyes blazing.
He’d been so gentle, so soft-spoken before that she never would have expected this of him. It caught her off guard and made her want to sink into a defensive posture. But… he was right, wasn’t he? She’d assumed these men must have evil intent if they were meant to be bound to the Dark Lady. The sorceress who served Aeredus was the epitome of evil, and it made sense that her guardians would be, too.
“I’m sorry, I just assumed—”
“You assumed wrong,” Wesley said, the first time he’d spoken up since she’d given what sounded in her head like a ridiculous speech now.
She had assumed wrong, and she needed to make it right. The tension that bristled in the air wasn’t going to help any of them, and Rhia had the sudden, desperate thought that she couldn’t end up alone in this place. She couldn’t handle yet another rejection, and that meant she needed to eat a large helping of humble pie.
“You’re right,” she said, starting with the obvious. “I can’t excuse it, when the three of you have done nothing but help me. It’s… probably going to take time for me to unlearn everything I was taught, but let’s start with me not giving some order from on high.”
Goddess, had she really thought that was the right thing to do? That it was in any way appropriate? She’d been the Dark Lady for only a few days and already the power was going to her head, making her think she should treat people as pieces on a chess board to be moved around and discarded at her whims.
“I know I’m not the only one who’s suffered because of Aeredus’ one-sided deals. I know my people aren’t the only ones who’ve been caught up in his machinations and paid with their lives for no reason whatsoever. And I know I can’t single-handedly undo everything he’s done, but I want to… leave this place better than I found it, I guess. I want to fight. To stand up to him and never let his powers warp my idea of what’s right. And when I’ve done all I can do, when I’ve pushed him to the point of retaliation, I intend to break this pact.”
Wesley’s eyes widened and Liam let out a soft snort. Karak—who’d looked very close to walking out moments before—seemed to calm, his gaze warmer as he looked upon her. She had no idea if she was doing right by them, but this was what she intended and they needed to know.
“Anyone who wants to help me with that goal—for whatever reason—is welcome to stay. Anyone who doesn’t… I’m not going to apologize for dismissing you. If you came here to serve someone who’s similar to the Dark Lady that razed my city and nearly killed my best friend, then you’re in the wrong place, and I don’t want you here.”
She wasn’t willing to compromise on that. She held firm, knowing she might have a fight on her hands. She kept her arms loose at her sides, ready to defend herself if need be, unable to shake the idea that—despite what Karak had said—she was going to meet resistance. If not from one of these men, then from Aeredus himself.
She hadn’t expected it to come from Karak, though.
He pulled his axe from his back, and she saw Liam tense in her periphery. Rhia’s own fingers curled tightly into her palm as she counted down in her mind, waiting to see if he would come any closer before she cast a spell that would propel him backward. But he didn’t come any closer. He bent, carefully setting the axe on the ground, two fingers touching the center of its haft as he bowed his head.
“Everything I can offer is yours, Lady,” he said in his deep, rumbling voice.
“That’s very dramatic,” Liam said, the tension falling away, his sword hand easing.
“But appreciated,” Rhia said, purposefully looking away from Liam, her attention focused on Karak. “There’s no need to bow, though. Or to call me ‘Lady,’ as we’ve talked about.”
“I can accept not being evil, but I can’t accept being told not to address you by your title when it’s warranted.” For a moment she thought he was serious. Then his gaze lifted to hers and she saw a glint in his eyes. “Lady.”
That look sent a flutter of warmth through her chest, the sensation making its way up her neck to her face. Blu
shing wasn’t something she should do as Dark Lady, but she supposed she was going to defy yet another expectation.
“I’ll help in whatever way I can,” Wesley said, drawing her attention, “though I hope you’ll be willing to help us, too.”
It was hard not to wonder what was so important to him that he openly asked about it in front of the other two. Perhaps they all had some matter only she could help with. They’d mentioned the relationship between the Dark Lady and her guardians was mutually beneficial. Maybe that’s what he meant.
“If it’s in my power and doesn’t hurt anyone, you have my word.”
A bold claim to make, but Rhia felt confident in extending that offer. Wesley’s expression was mostly unreadable, though, a smile on his lips that didn’t reach his eyes. He dipped his head in what was half a mark of respect and half a bow, and Rhia made note of the exchange. She’d ask him about it later. For now, there was still one more guardian.
When her gaze turned toward Liam, she was instantly snared by the intensity in his bright green eyes. He seemed to have the uncanny ability to look through her, as though he could see straight to her soul. What would he find there, now that she’d made this deal with Aeredus? Was it blackened? Stained by the very forces she was trying to fight against?
An ex-paladin would certainly know. Maybe that was why he seemed so reluctant to treat her with anything resembling respect.
“I’m not going to beg you,” she told him, not flinching away from his unwavering gaze. “Either you see value in what I’m doing, or you don’t. If it’s the latter, I’d rather you leave now than spend this time deriding me and the others.”
“Do you think any of us can really leave?” he asked, his voice taking on a dark, bitter note she didn’t care for at all. “You’re not the only one who’s shackled, Lady. He sent us here to serve you, and none of us are foolish enough to take him on.” He tilted his head to the side. “Except you, apparently.”
