Treason: Book Two of the Grimoire Saga (a Young Adult Fantasy series)

by S. M. Boyce

  She shrugged. “You can’t suppress instinct. I’m not going to pretend you haven’t been trained to kill isen”—she swallowed hard—“like me.”

  “No, not like you. I kill the isen who steal souls. You’ll never steal a soul, right?”

  She smiled. “No.”

  “Then you’re set,” he teased, pulling her in tighter.

  The night went on, and they barely slept. They stayed up talking and listening to the forest, pretending the whole time that they wouldn’t have to leave each other the next day. It was the happiest night Braeden had ever known in his life.

  Daybreak came too soon.

  The morning blurred by: Braeden awoke to Kara snuggled next to him; he nudged her awake; her lips pressed against his again and again; she leaned against the cave and watched him as he mounted Iyra and ran off into the forest.

  He fought the unyielding urge to turn around and go back to her for the entire trip to Ayavel. The hours flew by like minutes as he thought of her.

  It wasn’t until he started down the row of cherry blossom trees toward the Ayavelian court that he even acknowledged his surroundings. The world seemed to get worse each time he walked down this road.

  Braeden crossed through the Ayavelian gates and onto the empty streets. He was beginning to wonder if the Ayavelian people ever left their homes, or if the empty streets were their way of welcoming him.

  Once at the palace, he dismounted and let Iyra jog off toward the stables. She would find a patch of shade and wait for him. When she disappeared around a building, he ran up the stairs and into the castle. A few soldiers at their posts followed his movement as if he would start killing everyone at any second, but he didn’t even glance over to them.

  Let them look.

  After a few minutes of walking, he stepped into the throne room and paused. No one sat in the thrones lined along the platform at the far end of the hall. A thin Ayavelian woman stood in front of Aislynn’s throne, her eyes out of focus as she eyed the empty seat. She turned at the creak of the doors opening.

  Braeden locked eyes with Evelyn, but turned to leave after a moment. He wouldn’t bow or pretend he liked her. He didn’t have to anymore.

  “Wait,” she said.

  He paused.

  “Please come in. I was hoping you would come back.”

  “You were?” he asked, unable to mask his surprise.

  “Yes.” She sat on the stairs and patted the space beside her.

  He walked closer, suddenly alert. There couldn’t be all that much for them to talk about. He stopped at the foot of the stairs, now eye-level with her.

  “Where is Aislynn?” he asked.

  “She left to run an errand. She does that a lot, lately,” Evelyn said without hesitation. Her eyes would not lift from the floor.

  “Evelyn, what did—”

  “I’m not ready for this, Braeden. To rule. I’m afraid I made a mistake in accepting.”

  He took a deep breath and sat beside her. “I don’t think any of us are ready. We just have to do the best with what we have.”

  “Is that what you’re doing?”

  He didn’t respond.

  She shrugged. “You and I might never be friends. I knew something was off about you the moment I met you, but Aislynn would never let me voice my concerns to anyone. Even Gavin wouldn’t listen. He truly loved you as a brother.”

  Braeden looked away. “No, he didn’t. If he did, what I am wouldn’t have mattered.”

  “I suppose. But you still saved his life in the ambush. Even if I cannot love him, I do care for him. I cannot thank you enough for doing that.”

  “You were there?”

  “No, I heard of it later. The Heirs remained here in case…”

  “In case one or more of the Bloods didn’t survive.”

  “We tried to convince Gavin not to go since he has no Heir, but he wouldn’t hear of it. It was good of you to save him. No one expected you to do that.”

  “No one expects much of me, but I don’t care anymore. I just do what lets me sleep at night, Evelyn. I suggest you do the same.”

  “I had little choice in the matter of imprisoning your love interest,” she said.

  “It’s funny you bring that up.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I didn’t,” he said, glaring at her.

  Evelyn caught his eye and sat up straight in defiance, but he didn’t let her speak. He stood and headed for the door.

  “Tell Aislynn I’d like to speak with her when she returns,” he said without looking back.

  And good luck sleeping at night, he thought.

  As Braeden reached the door, someone else opened it from the other side. Gavin stood in the hall, fingers on the handle.

  “Oh,” he managed.

  “Gavin,” Braeden said with an annoyed nod.

  “I meant to find you, actually,” the king said with a look into the throne room.

  Braeden turned to see Evelyn stand and walk toward a side door, head held high.

  He and Gavin waited in silence until Evelyn left. The door shut, and the sound thundered through the massive room. Neither of them spoke until the echo dissolved into the tense air.

  “You didn’t really come to find me,” Braeden said.

  “Of course not, but it is convenient. I need to show you to your study.”

  Braeden followed Gavin from the throne room and kept track of their path as they went. They walked in silence through the hallways and stairwells.

  “How much time do you need, Braeden?” Gavin eventually asked.

  “To do what exactly?”

  “Plan this little coup.”

  “As much time as possible, though we don’t have much. A few months at most.”

  Gavin nodded and opened a nearby door. The room had a wall of windows similar to the Vagabond’s study. It reminded Braeden of the last peaceful moment he’d had with Kara before the Gala.

  He caught Gavin watching him in his peripheral vision. Once, he’d envied the man, but Gavin had since lost everything: his family, his innocence, his lover, his power over the yakona council. There was nothing left to envy. A new emotion replaced it: pity.

  “I already set what maps I have on your desk,” Gavin said.

  “Liar. They’re copies. You’d never give me everything you had.”

  “That was omission of some of the truth, not a lie.”

  Braeden shook his head and walked to the desk. He confirmed that these were all of the maps he’d seen in the Queen’s—now Gavin’s—study over the years. Stacks of empty paper also lined a second table nearby.

  “Thank you,” Braeden said with a nod to the door.

  Gavin forced a smile and turned to leave.

  “No one is allowed in here without my permission,” Braeden added.

  Gavin paused. “We’ll discuss that at Council tonight. You’re invited, of course.”

  “It wasn’t a request.”

  Gavin tensed his jaw, and Braeden marveled at his own audacity. Here he was, barely a year from thinking that ‘all going right’ meant Gavin would forever be his superior, yet Braeden dared command him.

  “I wouldn’t have hurt Kara,” Gavin said after a moment.

  Braeden sat down. “I don’t believe that at all.”

  “I just needed her help. I wouldn’t have made her unhappy, but it’s not like I’m in love with her.”

  “No, you love Evelyn.”

  Gavin cringed and looked at the floor. “Never mind.”

  “Don’t let Evelyn go if you still love her,” Braeden said. He didn’t exactly like the princess, but she somehow made Gavin happy.

  “She won’t have me, so I’m afraid there’s little choice left in the matter,” Gavin said softly.

  Gavin never looked up. He hesitated for a moment, but ultimately left and shut the door behind him. Braeden leaned his elbows on the desk and sighed.

  That had been a moment of hope, if an unanswered one: hope for the way thi
ngs were, hope for an old friendship to rekindle. Hope that, someday, Braeden might get his brother back.

  Braeden stared at the maps, but his mind wandered. He turned in his chair and looked out the window without really looking at the view. He should have hated everyone—the yakona were barely united, their loyalties hanging by a thread; Gavin despised him for what he was, despite over a decade of brotherhood; Kara, the only love he’d ever known in his life, was an isen of all things.

  But Braeden smiled. Despite the misfortune he had suffered in his life, he could only feel gratitude for all that had happened. Hard as it was to endure, it had finally brought him freedom.

  Chapter 30

  The Village

  It took two weeks of meditation and Stone smacking her hard on the wrist before Kara could keep the barb in her right hand from moving without her telling it to. It was only a start—there was so much more for her to learn about being an isen—but thoughts of either Twin or Braeden filled her every waking moment. She couldn’t stay in the cave any longer.

  Kara and Stone left for the village the moment the older isen agreed that she could control the barb. Stone walked, which meant Kara had to as well—how annoying.

  He knew the way without the Grimoire’s guidance, but Kara should have figured as much. It seemed as though the first Vagabond still had secrets, and she suppressed her growing resentment for that. She would never fix Ourea without all the facts.

  She sighed.

  Since she spent most of the trip lost in thought, the time flew by. In what felt like mere moments, she stood in front of the Amber Temple. A low-hanging moon rose from behind the auburn curves of the temple’s dome. A buzzing sound made her blink out of her thoughts.

  “What’s wrong with her?” someone asked. The speaker sounded as if his mouth was full.

  She knew that voice.

  The lyth curled up in front of the doors, blocking their way up the steps. It cocked its head back to her and grinned. “Have you gone deaf, little one?”

  “No. Pensive.”

  It chuckled. “Ah, big words. You seem different. A new perfume, perhaps?”

  “Can it!” Her sharp tone startled even her.

  The lyth raised its furry eyebrows and mumbled something. It turned without another word and stalked off into the night.

  “You should never aggravate a lyth, you know. It’s kind of stupid,” Stone said.

  “I’m an isen. It didn’t need to be dragged out like that.”

  “A little defensive, aren’t you?”

  “I didn’t want this, Stone.”

  “It was the most logical decision.”

  “Then logical isn’t always the best choice.”

  He sighed. “Logical is the best choice, always. I will never understand your emotions.”

  They walked through the doors and into the temple. Their footsteps echoed through the rows of empty pillars. So much had happened since she last walked through the temple, yet the world hadn’t gotten any better.

  The lichgate arched across the wall behind the amber pedestal. Light poured from it and onto the hourglass, where the grains of sand holding the temple’s guardians at bay ticked in a slow stream to its bottom chamber. In a room as still as the temple’s main hall, the motion hypnotized her.

  Stone led the way through the lichgate. The familiar kick to Kara’s stomach made her flinch. Blue light flickered across her vision. Seconds later, the forest on the other side snapped into its full color.

  Kara’s boots crunched on leaves along the trail as she and Stone ambled through the twittering forest. Birds hopped from limb to limb and occasionally flitted out in front of them. The trees swayed, their leaves clapping together in a hushed chorus of wind and branches.

  “Will you tell them?” Stone asked.

  “Tell the vagabonds that I’m an isen?”

  “Yes.”

  “Of course.”

  “Some will leave.”

  “I would rather they leave than feel betrayed later.”

  “Wise. You must still be prepared. Some may even try to kill you.”

  “They won’t get far.”

  Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Stone smirk. “You’re right.”

  The trail stretched on forever, and Kara wondered if they would ever find the village. But as the worry flared in her gut, warmth seeped through her. She slowed and eventually stopped. The landscape blurred, and a kaleidoscope of color danced along her vision.

  A field bled into view. Trees farther off came into focus. Kara turned around, only to see the lichgate beneath the Vagabond’s tomb. A shooting star whizzed across a night sky.

  “Wicked,” she said under her breath.

  Stone headed off around the tomb, and she ran to catch up to him.

  Kara grinned as they rounded the building. The entire village bustled with activity. Yakona ducked in and out of cottages, bags or piles of maps in their hands. Some waved to others and shouted for them to slow down. It wasn’t just Hillsidians running about the town, either. A Kirelm walked toward a house next to a Lossian. An Ayavelian helped a Hillsidian pick up a few dropped books. Everyone spoke with each other, and each of them wore a silver clover pendant around their necks.

  “Kara!”

  Twin bounded around the corner of the tomb. Kara braced herself for the full-speed hug she knew would come next. She wrapped Twin in her arms and sighed with relief, but still focused most of her energy on keeping the barb retracted in her palm.

  “I did it, Kara! All but seven of the Grimoires are taken, and I have names for each of them. It’s just a matter of getting to those yakona safely.”

  Kara wrapped Twin in another hug. “You’re amazing! How did you do it?”

  “I—”

  “Kara! Good to see you safe and sound,” someone else said.

  Captain Demnug walked over and wrapped Kara in a hug that lifted her off the ground. It knocked Kara’s breath from her body.

  “Oh! Um, good to see you, Demnug. I wasn’t expecting—”

  He set her down. “I didn’t ever want to be in the position where I’d have to kill a friend, especially not Braeden. He may be a Stelian, but he’s a great fighter and an even better man.”

  Kara grinned. She’d been about to say that she wasn’t expecting a hug from him, which seemed so informal for the captain. She wasn’t surprised in the least by his presence.

  Instead of correcting him, she said, “I’m glad to have you, then.”

  Twin poked her side. “So what’s been going on? You’ve been gone for months! We’ve gotten bits of news here and there, but not—”

  Demnug’s smile faded. His hand reached for his sword. “Kara, you smell—uh—different.”

  “I have a lot to tell you both,” she admitted.

  Demnug glared. “How do we know you’re really Kara?”

  “What are you talking about?” Twin asked.

  “She’s an isen,” he said.

  Twin screamed and took a step back. “What…Kara! No!”

  Kara suppressed a sigh. “No one stole my soul. It’s me. Like I said, I have a lot to tell you.”

  “Get Remy!” Demnug yelled over his shoulder.

  “Remy?” Kara asked.

  Demnug nodded. “He’s an isen hunter, even better than Braeden. He said he discovered a way to show an isen’s true form. That way, we’ll know for sure.”

  “Bloody hell,” Stone muttered.

  A Kirelm with thick black wings—this must have been Remy—walked over, eyeing Kara and Stone all the way. His hand rested on a sheathed sword. He sniffed the air.

  “They’re definitely isen,” Remy said in a deep voice.

  “Can you see if this is their natural form?” Demnug asked.

  “If they behave,” Remy said.

  Kara rubbed her eyes. “What do I need to do?”

  “Just don’t move,” he answered.

  She straightened her back and watched him, making an effort to contain the ba
rb in her palm. If she could have her way, she’d rip the thing out.

  Remy set his hands on either side of her face. She suppressed a shudder. The last thing she remembered was looking up at him with raised eyebrows, waiting for something to happen.

  The next thing she knew, she was on the ground, retching. Pain racked every inch of her body, burning down to her bones as she coiled around herself.

  “What the—” She tried speaking, but retched again instead.

  “That is truly the Vagabond,” Remy said over her.

  Soft hands wrapped around Kara’s shoulders. Someone pulled her upright and swept away the hair from her face.

  “Shh,” Twin said in her ear.

  Kara opened her eyes, but everything blurred. It took several minutes of blinking away the water in them before Kara could regain any sense of composure.

  “What the hell did you do to me?” she asked.

  “It’s the only way I know of to force an isen into its—sorry, his or her—original form. I subjected you to an intense wave of pain by separating your muscles from your bones in a way that is then instantly healed to—”

  “Never mind. I don’t want to know right now,” Kara said, waving him away.

  “Very well. You’re next,” Remy said with a nod to Stone.

  Stone grumbled a string of curses. “Look, if I have to do this, I want Kara to see what happens if the isen is not in his original form. I’m going to change form, and none of you are permitted to lose your minds over it. Are we clear?”

  Demnug and Remy nodded.

  Stone stood up straight. The skin on his face peeled and cracked, dripping away like wax to reveal the young man he’d become in the Glasgow club the night Kara discovered she was an isen.

  Twin and Demnug gasped, but Remy didn’t move. If he really was as good an isen hunter as Braeden, this was nothing new to him.

  Remy placed both of his hands on either side of Stone’s now-disguised face. Stone took a deep breath, but he didn’t do it fast enough.

  The skin on his face split. He screamed and grabbed Remy’s hands, but the isen hunter didn’t let go. Stone’s borrowed face splintered, breaking apart with the crack of shattering glass.

  Remy released him. Stone fell to the ground, retching. He curled his arms over his head until his breathing returned to normal. No one went to comfort him, but Kara figured he’d swat her away if she tried.