My head started to pound. There was so much I didn’t know or understand. “And if we don’t succeed?”
“Then Nelebek and all its people are doomed.”
A flock of black birds flew past the window.
“Kaia, are you okay?” Vidar stood and came up behind me, placing his hands on my shoulders.
“I don’t know how to lead this kingdom,” I admitted. Vidar should be the one reigning over it, not me.
“I think you’ll do a great job.”
“I wasn’t raised to do this. Put me in a fight, and I can take care of myself. Give me a kingdom, and I think I’m going to be sick.” When the curse was broken, I planned to abdicate and give the kingdom to Vidar.
He chuckled. “I’ll help you and you don’t even have to marry me.”
“I’m sure the people would rather have you leading them than me. You are the rightful heir.”
“I’m also the brother of the monster currently ruling. You are a fresh start. It will be fine.”
I turned around and looked at his beautiful blue eyes. “But what about you? What do you want?” Could he just step away from the position of king? He’d been planning on ruling for a hundred years. And here I was, ruining everything.
He leaned his forehead against mine. “For the first time since I can remember, I don’t know what the future holds. And guess what? It’s liberating. We’ll take it one day at a time. Don’t worry, I will be here to help you. All you need to concern yourself with is ending the curse. Troops are being sent to the borders so no matter what happens, Nelebek can defend itself from the first wave of attacks.”
I shivered with the idea that the worst was yet to come. That the battle with Morlet might be the beginning of something far more deadly and sinister. “I still need to save Anders.”
“I know.”
“You’re not going to tell me the curse comes first and maybe we should sacrifice Anders for the good of the kingdom?”
Vidar wrapped his arms around me, hugging me. “No, I’m not. Because when this is all said and done, we have to live with ourselves. Anders is my best friend. I don’t want to be responsible for him being stuck in that state. And you—you’ve given so much of yourself. If you want this one thing, I think you should have it.”
I let him hold me, taking comfort in his strength. He kissed my forehead, and said, “You can use your power again. Why don’t you force your way into the dungeon?”
I nodded, knowing I could get in there and at least see him. But I wanted Morlet to wake him up. I wanted to see Anders’s eyes, talk to him, and hold him.
“I need to go,” Vidar said. “I have to speak with the Krigers. When do you want us here?”
Here for the final battle. The end was nearing. It seemed unfathomable. “Tomorrow. At dawn’s first light.” I’d convince Morlet to wake Anders tonight. Then, in the morning, I’d face Morlet with my fellow Krigers. One way or another, this would finally end.
“Until tomorrow.” He turned to leave.
“Wait.” I grabbed his arm, stopping him. “Thank you.”
He smiled that half-grin of his. “You’re welcome.” He kissed my cheek and left.
I knocked on Morlet’s door. Without waiting for him to answer, I pushed it open and stepped inside. He was standing in the middle of the room. His hair stuck out in all directions, his shirt was wrinkled and untucked.
“What’s the matter?” Had he exhausted himself healing Damaris?
His head slowly turned toward me. His eyes were red, his skin pasty. “Nothing,” he answered, his voice raspy.
I closed the door and came to stand before him.
“I’d like to be alone right now,” he said.
I wanted to comfort him, to say something, anything, but I didn’t know what. My heart felt like it was in my throat. “Before I go, I want to tell you something.” I didn’t want or need to ask his permission. Yet, I felt as if I should tell him ahead of time. Fidgeting with my shirtsleeve, I said, “I’m going to see Anders in the dungeon.”
Anger flashed in his eyes, cold and unyielding. “Can’t it wait until after you’ve killed me?” His fingers curled into fists.
“What if you kill me? What if I don’t make it? I’d like to say goodbye.”
He cocked an eyebrow. “You are asking your husband’s permission to say farewell to your lover?”
“No. I’m telling my husband that I am going to say goodbye to a friend who won’t even be able to see or hear me since he is stuck in a magical sleep. I am going to thank him for his friendship and for helping me train as a Kriger.” Without waiting for him to respond, I turned and swept out of the room, not looking back. I expected him to call out after me or to follow. I’d hoped he’d offer to wake Anders.
When I stepped into the hallway, I instructed the soldats to take me to the dungeon. They didn’t hesitate to follow my order.
The dungeon was stifling hot and smelled of mold. The soldats stopped before a cell halfway down the long corridor lit only by one torch ten feet away.
“Leave me,” I instructed them. I would have preferred for them to unlock the door to Anders’s cell before they left so I could be closer to Anders; however, there was no way they would breach protocol.
Once they were out of earshot, I stepped closer to the metal bars, wrapping my fingers around them. Anders was lying in the middle of the empty cell. Morlet should have at least placed Anders on a cot.
He looked so peaceful. I wished I could touch his face and hear his voice one last time. “I’m so sorry,” I said. I honestly thought Morlet would have woken Anders when I said I was coming down here. I thought there was enough of Espen inside of him to do this one last small deed.
“Kaia?” a gruff voice asked. Anders opened his eyes and sat up.
Shock rolled through me. “You’re awake?” I said, dumbfounded.
He stood and came over to me. The side of his face had a fading bruise, but other than that, no injuries were visible.
“Don’t cry,” he said. “I’m fine.”
“How long have you been awake?” I asked.
“I just woke up now.” He rubbed his eyes.
“No, I mean from the magical sleep Morlet had you in.”
“Oh.” He clutched the bars, just above my hands. “The king woke me up shortly after I arrived. At least, that’s what he said.” Anders’s eyes dissected every inch of my face, making me feel oddly exposed before him.
I swallowed. “And you’re okay?” Had they been torturing him? Had Norill been to see him?
“Yes. They haven’t been feeding me much,” he said. “But I’m used to these conditions.”
“You’ve spent time in prison?” There was still so much about him that I didn’t know. I slid my hands up the bars closer to his.
“The master assassin who raised me, Berek, kept me in a room similar to this one until I proved my worth.”
It felt as if I’d been slapped across the face. “Berek treated you worse than an animal.” My power flared with a desire to destroy Berek.
Anders shrugged. “I was a mere human to him. An investment. I think you know enough of Morlet and the evil magic that rules inside of him to understand what a Skog Heks is like. Berek is a Skog Heks. Pure evil.”
Anders had been through so much. He didn’t deserve this. When the curse ended and he started aging again, I wanted him to find peace. “Did you ever try to run away?” I asked.
“No. Never. To do so would have meant certain death.”
“Wouldn’t death have been better?”
“Not at the hands of Berek. He would have made sure to drag it out days, or even months. No, with him, it was best to do as he said. To stifle the person I was and become the thing he wanted me to be.”
“Will you tell me more about your life? Growing up?” As painful as it was to hear the details, I wanted to know everything about this man standing before me.
His fingers covered mine, sending a jolt of warmth through me. “
Yes, but not here. Not now.”
I nodded.
“Why are you here?” he asked.
“The Krigers and I are going to face Morlet tomorrow morning.” I had to see him one last time before we did so. Just in case I died.
“There are things you must know before you face Morlet,” Anders said. His voice turned frantic and his eyes had a wild gleam to them I’d never seen before.
“What is it?” I asked.
“Once the curse is broken, Berek will come for me. He won’t kill me—that would be too easy. He will find out who my friends are, what I care about, who I love, and he will take it all away.” He squeezed my hands.
“It has been a hundred years. He must think you’re dead. No human can live that long.”
Anders closed his eyes, resting his forehead against the bars above our hands. When he opened his eyes, he whispered, “He knows I’m still alive. Things are a little more complicated than you realize.”
Suddenly I wasn’t sure I really wanted to know what he had to say.
He glanced both ways down the corridor. We were still alone except for whoever languished in the nearby cells. Anders whispered, “Berek is bound by the treaty. That is why I was sent into Nelebek.”
“What’s to prevent him from sending another person to kill me?” This had been my concern all along. And Vidar had repeatedly dismissed it.
“Killing the royal family was never Berek’s intention. He knew if he sent someone to kill them, the treaty would prevent such a thing from happening. He knew he’d lose his magic for something so foolish.”
“Then why were you in Nelebek?”
“To find the pieces of the sapphire.”
“If that’s why you came here, why did you kill Vidar’s parents?”
“Skog Heks told me to do it.”
“Why didn’t you tell her no?” Could he have prevented the nightmare we were living?
“She claimed they had physical possession of the sapphire. She told me they’d violated the treaty and it was no longer in effect in Nelebek. She said that if I killed them, I could have the sapphire.”
“So you killed them for the sapphire.”
“Yes. Only, when Skog Heks tried to control Espen, her magic left her and went to him. Grei Heks cast the curse, binding me to Vidar. And everything changed.”
Why hadn’t he told me any of this sooner? I tried pulling my hands away, but he held onto them. “When this is over, where will you go?” If he’d been awake for the past few days, why hadn’t he broken out of the dungeon? Why was he still in here?
“It depends.”
On who won. “We destroyed the sapphire,” I said. “Even if Berek comes and searches for it, he won’t find anything.”
Anders nodded. “There was a major jordskjelv. Berek already knows something happened. He’ll come here and torture me until I tell him what he wants to know. Once he discovers that you destroyed the sapphire, he will be livid and seek retribution. My only consolation is that he can’t lay a finger on you since you’re protected under the treaty. However, he will go after everyone and everything you care about.”
There were so many things that needed to be dealt with. I had mistakenly thought killing Morlet was the end. Now I understood it was only the beginning.
“You will need to conceal your feelings for others,” Anders said. “You must appear strong, in control, and as if nothing affects you.”
A soldat approached. “Your Highness,” he said. “It’s time to go.”
“Two minutes.”
He nodded and left.
“By this time tomorrow, the curse will be broken,” I said. Everything would change. Including me. I would have to become someone else—someone strong and unemotional—in order to protect the people I loved and cared about.
“I wish I could be there with you and the other Krigers to end this.” Anders brushed my cheek with his hand. “I love you.”
Tears filled my eyes.
The soldat came back into the hallway. “Your Highness.”
“I have to go,” I whispered.
“I know,” Anders said, his voice ragged. “Good luck.”
I turned and left, forcing myself to not look back. I had a kingdom to save.
28
It seemed only fitting to spend my last night with Morlet. I went to his room and found him standing before the hearth, staring at the flames.
“Want some company?” I asked.
His shoulders rose and fell. “Not if you’re going to talk about Anders.”
“I’m not. I’m here for you.” I stepped into the room, closing the door behind me. Going over to the sofa, I sat and curled my legs next to me. “This is our last night.” Tomorrow, one of us would die.
“And?” he asked, still not looking at me.
“I can’t sleep. I thought we could talk and keep one another company.”
“You don’t want to spend tonight with your fellow Krigers?”
While I wanted to be with my friends preparing for the coming battle, I needed to be here with this man. “Sit with me.”
He finally sat on the sofa next to me. Instead of talking, he wrapped his arms around me, resting his head atop mine. We stayed that way until the fire nearly burned out. We didn’t talk. But somehow we didn’t need to. Being there with him, silent, feeling his heartbeat, was all I needed.
“It’s almost time,” Morlet murmured. “There’s about an hour until dawn’s first light.”
I opened my eyes and found myself in the same position. Neither of us had moved all night. “Unless you want to wait another day,” I said. It felt too soon, too rushed. I’d been so eager for this day to arrive. Now that it had, I wasn’t ready.
“No.” His hands slid down my arms. “We end this today.”
These were our last moments together. I wanted to make sure he knew that I loved him. I twisted my body so I faced him. Resting my hands on Morlet’s shoulders, I gazed into his eyes. “I love you.” My lips brushed his. I tried to convey all the emotions I couldn’t articulate with words.
A hard knock sounded on the door. “Your Highness!” a male voice called out. “The Krigers have arrived.”
Morlet’s arms tightened around me. “I thought we’d have more time.”
“Me too.” I kissed his cheek and stood. “I need to go and get dressed.”
He rubbed his face. “One last kiss before you go.”
I leaned down and kissed his lips, trying to savor the feel, memorize the smell, and sear this into my mind. After all, he was the father of my child. “I’ll see you in the Tower Room.”
After dressing in my pants and tunic, I felt more like myself. Not off balance and jittery as I’d been leaving Morlet’s room.
I shivered. How was I going to face him with my fellow Krigers? How would I kill him? Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath. I’d made my choice. By killing him I would free Nelebek. I could do this.
There was a soft knock on my door and then Damaris entered. “Everyone is waiting for you. Are you ready?”
I descended the stairs to the great hall where the Krigers and Vidar stood speaking to one another. Each Kriger wore pants and a dark brown leather vest over a white shirt. Everyone was holding their weapons.
Henrik glanced up and saw me approaching. He grabbed Stein’s arm and the two of them came over and met me at the bottom of the stairs. “Are you ready?” Henrik asked, resting his ax on his shoulder.
“Yes.” I forced a smile.
“Then let’s get on with this. We have a lying, murderous king to kill.”
We joined the other Krigers. Standing in a circle facing one another, my bo staff hummed, responding to the nearness of my fellow Krigers’ weapons. I looked at each of them: Einar with his longsword and its marking control, Geir and his crossbow marked with perseverance, Harald and his dagger etched with the mark strength, Jorgen and his javelin marked with knowledge, Marius and his deadly looking misericorde marked with leadership, Gunner and his p
ike marked with unity, Reidar holding his spear marked with direction, Oddvar with his broadsword marked with endurance, Tor with his seax marked with precision, Henrik with his throwing ax marked with power, Stein with his short bow marked with speed, and then there was me—the only woman—holding my bo staff etched with the marking choice.
We had to link our powers together in order to fight Morlet. Then, somehow, our markings would play a factor in the battle. Ultimately, I had to be the one to make the killing blow.
“When we enter the Tower Room,” Marius said, “find your mark. Once you’re standing on it, we’ll link our powers together like we practiced.”
Vidar handed me a brown leather vest similar to everyone else’s. “Not that it will protect against Heks magic,” he said, “but I wanted you to look the part.”
“Will you be going in with us?” I asked him.
“No. I can’t cross the threshold. I will be waiting with Damaris just outside the room.” He stepped into the circle and turned around slowly. “I want each and every one of you to know that I’m proud to be standing here with you today. Not all of you will survive this. The fact that you’re all willing to face Morlet shows that each of you is exemplary. I am proud to call you my friends.”
Damaris approached. “Morlet is ready. Dawn’s first light is rapidly approaching.”
“Then let’s get on with it,” Vidar said. “Follow me.”
Outside the Tower Room, Vidar grabbed my arm, holding me back. “I want you to enter last.”
“Why?”
“Because you are with child.” I was about to argue when he held up his hand and continued, “Kaia, that child is the future. If we are to live peacefully with Heks, this child must survive.”
I clutched my bo staff, releasing my anxiety and nervousness. The weapon begged to be used.
“Once you’re in there, linked together, everything will be set in motion. Morlet can kill any of the Krigers permanently—and a new one will not be reborn. If you fail to kill Morlet, we’re finished. Humans, Heks, we’ll all be doomed. It’s up to you to save us. Be safe,” he whispered, kissing my forehead.
Conquering Fate Page 20
