Vision of Light [The Renegades 1]
Page 27
Sorsverein Penderby paced his secret chamber where he had spent the past ten days regenerating from the forbidden practice of divining the Oracle.
For fifteen years, the Witch had haunted his dreams—his sorsvasus, the flaxen-haired Narisse, who had stolen the Sacred Scroll and disappeared without a trace. About two years ago, Penderby started dreaming about the coming of the second witch. Somewhere along the way, Narisse would take an apprentice, another witch with the same light hair. The second witch would decipher the coded Scroll and use it to destroy the Sorcery Circle. The Oracle had warned him of this.
However, Penderby could not trace the whereabouts of either witch. Like Narisse, the second witch could not be detected by anyone. She only appeared in Penderby's dreams a few times, standing in a mist, but even then, he could see her face. Penderby had sketched her image and sent two of his sorsvasus, Nadan and Daman, to search for her and to bring her back, dead or alive. It had taken them nearly two years before Daman discovered that the woman turned out to be Hayton Temple's well-hidden wife, Lady Aislan.
As fate would have it, Templeton Castle had been under surveillance for the past year because of Hayton Temple's treasonous activities. Instead of having the Royal Guard fetch Temple and bring him back to Court to execute him publicly, Penderby had made a political move. He planned Temple's secret assassination in order to infiltrate Templeton Castle with a shape-shifter, who would carry on with the activities and weed out the rest of the traitors.
Last month, during his reconnaissance of Templeton, Daman had discovered more than a dozen portraits of Hayton's wife in his private library. Those portraits depicted the pale-haired witch from the time she was a little girl and throughout her growing years until she had grown into womanhood. Recognizing her immediately, Daman had stolen a small portrait to bring back to Penderby.
Capturing Aislan Temple and bringing her back to court would be risky because Penderby would not be able to prove how she was tied to Hayton Temple's activities. The Church's disapproval with everything associated with the Circle and the general discontent the populace harbored for the sorcerers forced the Circle to be cautious with their behavior and activities. Executing a woman based on Penderby's unsubstantiated recommendations would place the Circle under further censure. Because Penderby could not expose how he came to know about Lady Aislan's future disruption of the Circle, he made plans to get rid of her at the same time as her husband.
Of course, all had not gone exactly as planned.
It turned out that his greatest hope, Lucien—Penderby's son—had thwarted everyone.
The courtesan Helena had loved Penderby, but he had not cared for her. When Penderby rejected her, Helena jabbed a knife several times at her stomach in front of Penderby. Penderby had to heal her scratched womb, and doing so, he sensed the unborn babe was a sorcerer and could possibly be his. Helena went through a tortuous pregnancy, and when the child was born, he named the boy Lucien. The Oracle had predicted that Lucien was Penderby's greatest hope to save the Sorcery Circle.
When Helena gave her six-year-old to the king, Penderby had watched after Lucien, and then taken him as apprentice a year later. Penderby had been appalled when his light of hope turned out to be a painfully shy little boy who cringed at the sight of blood and violence, easily overcome by weak emotions. Penderby was proud how he had forcibly reshaped his son and removed almost all traces of weaknesses. He admired Lucien's resiliency, even as a young boy, who recovered quickly no matter how severe Penderby's punishments.
The topmost positions in the Sorcery Circle required a resolute disposition when it came to necessary killings, and Penderby followed tradition by molding Lucien into a royal assassin. It was fitting because it was the only path that could make a man out of his highly emotional son.
In his latest divination of the Oracle, Penderby discovered that Lucien would be the one to find both witches. That had come true, although not in the way Penderby had intended. Penderby had not expected Lucien to be taken with the witch and decided to champion her instead.
Nevertheless, Narisse and Aislan would come together, and Lucien would lead Penderby to them both. He would help Penderby kill the two witches to save the Circle and future generations of sorcerers from extinction.
The secret chamber where only Penderby had entered in the past forty years lay deep beneath the Circle. Penderby left, making his way down the long, cold stonewalled hall leading back up to the palatial Circle aboveground. He walked through several halls until he arrived at the sorsvasus quarters, where he opened one of the doors and entered. A huge sarcophagus-like structure rested near one corner of the room. Walking next to it, Penderby stood looking at his sorsvasus Daman reclining there.
The four shape-shifter sorsvasus had returned a sennight ago. The first few days in the forest, the other three had tried to heal Daman, and apparently, they had succeeded. This was the second time in Penderby's life that he had seen a survivor with a hole in the head. Lucien's sword had partially pierced Daman's skull but somehow must have bypassed brain matter completely. His son's half-hearted attempts, not only in this matter but also in combat, had landed him in heaps of trouble before. This time, Lucien dealt a lucky stroke that spared Daman's life.
Penderby had taken care of the matter immediately. Going on instincts, he had placed Daman in a deep sleep. The brain was a tricky area, and Daman lay at Penderby's mercy while the Healers threw up their hands and assumed Daman had finally succumbed to his injuries, hovering near death. But not quite.
The time would come soon for Penderby to decide whether to allow Daman to live or not based on Lucien's making the right choice.
Penderby had no doubt that, in the end, Lucien would come through for him, especially once he discovered that Penderby was his father. His deep attachments would work to Penderby's advantage.
Lucien might consider Penderby to be a harsh sorcery master, brutal in discipline, but he would also recognize the full attention and underlying love Penderby gave him every day for most of his life. Penderby singled out Lucien for both punishments and rewards. He had always been there for his son, raising him and protecting him, making sure Lucien wanted for nothing, bailing him out of trouble, the latest of which was sending Jaden to South Sharland to retrieve him. Penderby had remained hidden in the background, hooded, intervening only at the last moment. Lucien, still appallingly overwrought over his whore mother, had been uncooperative and nearly got Jaden killed. Penderby, infuriated, had to step in and waylay the guards.
Soon, Penderby would summon his son to return to the Circle, and Lucien would have to make a choice. If he made the wrong one, Penderby would present Daman's corpse to the courts and charge Lucien with murder.
Penderby would not tolerate disloyalty against the Circle, especially from his own son whom he had carefully groomed to become the future Sorsverein.
* * * *
For several days, Lucien put Aislan through some basic regimens with Archangel's Fire. Though awkward at first because of the heaviness of both the weapon and its casing, she could now sheathe and unsheathe the dagger quickly. Once she had better control of the weapon, he showed her how to deflect projectiles. Holding the dagger in one hand and the scabbard in the other, she learned to bat either one at whatever he tossed at her. Initially, he used clumps of dirt. When her reflexes had improved, he picked the stones along the bank of the spring and flicked them her way. Based on his last-minute calling, she quickly turned either the blade to deflect or the edge to split the tiny pebbles he aimed her way. His training rigorous and intensive, Aislan sensed Lucien's urgency to arm her with as much skills as he could cram into every moment. He lived as if something could happen tomorrow, and he would not be there for her. His fatalistic demeanor alarmed Aislan, but she adjusted to his timeframe without a question. He loved her and only wanted to protect her, and she would do whatever it took to ensure their future together.
When night came, they spent it passionately in each other's arms. Desp
ite what the law and society ascribed, Aislan felt nothing wrong in her relationship with Lucien. It was difficult for her to care whether the Church approved or disapproved, and she had no affinity for the Circle. She only cared about being with Lucien. He did not talk about this, being a touchy subject, but he no longer resisted her. They had passed the point of no return. They loved each other, and they consummated their love freely, no matter what the future held.
Traver visited to administer the metamorphic potion on Lucien. On Aislan's part, Traver confirmed his initial assessment. She was a Stealth, but aside from this, Traver could not analyze anything else about her. She appeared mortal to all sorcerers. Perhaps that was why she had been safe all these years.
They now had to wait for Lucien's third dosage. Once he acquired anonymity, they both would be free to leave Calvan in a few days.
There remained a few major issues unresolved. Aislan did not know how she could convince Lucien to take her with him wherever he intended to go after leaving Calvacade. Aislan could not bear to be apart from him. Frightened by her visions of Lucien missing in her future and of Narisse waiting in the wing for her, she saw only risks if they separated.
After another day of training in the water, Lucien carried her to a soft, grassy area and placed her on top of the cloak, where he took off her wet shift and then wrapped her in a towel to keep her warm.
"I know how much you love being in Danier.” He smoothed her hair from her face. “I'll take you to see the Contender Tournament, my darling. ‘Tis the most wonderful event of the entire year. You will love it."
"That should be very exciting.” Aislan hugged him. They lay down and held each other. During the past few days, Lucien had been quite taciturn. He told her he loved her many times, but he held back from total commitment. Perhaps she demanded too much. She should settle for only what he could give her.
"Aislan, why do you look so sad now? Tell me what bothers you."
Aislan shook her head. She could not demand anything from him. Lucien loved her enough to let her grow. Even as she felt the strength of his arms around her, his hold did not suffocate her. He stood ready to let her go for as long as needed to keep her safe, to ensure their future. How could she give him anything less? With that realization, Aislan finally understood.
"If you have to leave without me, I'll stay here.” Ardently, she pressed several kisses against his lips. “I'll wait for you to come back for me, but please, darling, please try to come back quickly."
"Aislan.” The relief on his face made her want to weep because of her lack of consideration all this time. “I'll come back for you. As soon as ‘tis possible to do so, we will wed, darling,” he said, but she heard uncertainty in his voice.
"We do not have to.” Because he had acknowledged his true intentions, Aislan did not want to press him anymore. She had to give him time. She had to give him a little space to move.
"I want you for my wife, but we need to wait, my love, until I come back. A fortnight. No more than that.” He smoothed her hair, his silvery eyes warm with his affection and love for her. “Also, marriage has respectability associated to it and may deflect censure. Darling, I'll always try to do right with you. I'll make sure we come out of this alive, to the best of my ability, anyhow. Hopefully, I'll be hard to kill, and we can be with each other for many years ahead."
"I hope so.” Aislan lifted her face for more kisses. “I expect you to be with me the rest of my life."
* * * *
Jaden Calvacade stopped and watched Lucien and Aislan beside the stream, wrapped in each other's arms, in the throes of passion. Leaning more towards being an exhibitionist and not a voyeur, nevertheless, Jaden watched the two as they thrashed about, their passionate moans uninhibited and loud.
His gaze rested on the blonde-haired woman, her beautiful face enraptured as she writhed and bucked while her lover rode her receptive body. She was a lovely sight, made to Jaden's order, but unfortunately, his cousin would not be sharing this one. No, Lucien had fallen head over heels in love with the marked-for-death Aislan.
Of course, personally, Jaden would not hurt Aislan. She was a woman, and it went against his beliefs to cause harm to one, but Jaden's loyalty ran deep. His king and his country always came first.
Once again, Jaden wondered what gave Sorsverein Penderby the confidence to declare to the king that, despite his infatuation, Lucien would take Aislan's life in the end.
Glancing at the couple one more time, Jaden walked away.
VISION OF LIGHT
The Renegades
END OF PART 1
WWW.AMANDAHILTON.COM
COMING SOON
The Renegades
PART 2
26. Another Dawn
27. Return to Templeton Castle
28. The Contender Tournament
29. The Lion Boy
30. The Crown Prince
31. Aislan and the Duchess
32. Victania
33. Aislan and Narisse
34. The Sacred Scroll
35. A Promise to Keep
36. Penderby's Revenge
37. The Trap
38. Aislan's Revenge
39. The King's Court
40. The Dungeon
41. The Execution
42. A Mother's Love
43. The Lords of the Realms
44. Lucien's Father
45. The Pursuit
46. The Fulfillment
47. The Renegades
48. Jaden's Love
49. Vying for Aislan
50. The Journey
Epilogue: Lucien and Aislan
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