Immortal

by Nicole Conway

  While Jace and I were staring up at the tree, scratching our heads, she whirled around and drew back her bow, hissing a few angry words in her native language.

  Too late, I realized we were completely surrounded.

  The Maldobarian infantry had us pinned on every side. They stood all around the perimeter of the temple grounds, swords drawn and shields raised. The worst part was … they had my father. Prax had been forced to his knees with the sharp edge of a blade held to his throat.

  The pressure in the air was palpable. The soldiers seemed rattled and anxious. I spotted more than one pair of wide, frightened eyes fixed upon the tree that had just spontaneously popped out of the ground. Not something you saw everyday in Maldobar. No doubt these guys had already fought through all manner of jungle hell to get here in the first place. Looking through their ranks to take a quick inventory, I saw a few gray elf hostages who must have made it much easier to find us—in fact, there was one gray elf warrior in particular that I happened to know.

  When he saw me staring at him, Kiran gave an annoyed eye roll and shrug. Typical. Even with a dagger at his back and his hands in shackles, he still had an attitude.

  “Drop your weapons immediately!” A soldier with a general’s insignia stitched in gold onto the breast and shoulders of his uniform stepped forward. He sounded confident, but I saw fear written all over his face. “Where is the traitor? The one called Jaevid Broadfeather? Produce him at once!”

  “Sorry. Can’t do that,” I called back, keeping my sword drawn and firmly in hand. He could have it when he pried it from my cold, dead fingers.

  “Soldier, I strongly suggest you take inventory of your army here. We have you outnumbered and surrounded. You cannot escape. You cannot win this,” the general threatened. “You’re guilty of high treason, and murder as well. But if you give up peacefully, I’ll see that you are treated well on your way back to answer for your crimes.”

  “Jaevid Broadfeather is dead.”

  You could have heard an ant sneeze.

  Kiran’s face went completely pale.

  “He sacrificed himself to put the stone out of our reach—yours and mine. No one else can have it now. It’s gone for good,” I continued. “He did it to break the curse that has been spreading across our lands, making the animals turn on us. He did it to break the hold our real enemy had on you. He gave up everything so that we could live. He set us free.”

  A few of the soldiers were lowering their weapons. They were listening to me, so I kept talking. Charm? Pfft. This was downright insanity. All I had to go on was Jae’s confidence that I could do this, and his warning that the people of Maldobar would be in a vulnerable state now that Hovrid’s hold on them was broken.

  “I know you can feel it, just as I can—the peace that’s here now. Think about it. Do you even remember coming here?”

  They glanced at one another, looking bewildered and rubbing their eyes like they were waking up from a dream.

  “I know you must be confused. You must feel lost, like you’ve just come out of a nightmare,” I said, and more and more of the soldiers began lowering their arms. The one holding a blade to my father’s neck let him go, and Prax immediately got to his feet.

  “Over two decades of war and bloodshed have brought us here. We’ve all done things—terrible things that we’ll have to live with. No one is blameless because every single one of us was deceived by a man we believed we could trust; a man who called himself our king. I’m asking you to see him for what he truly was—a liar and a murderer.”

  The general narrowed his eyes at me dangerously. “Who are you to levy such an accusation?”

  “I am Duke Felix Farrow, high noble and the only rightful heir to the throne of Maldobar,” I declared. “And it is by that authority that I command you to stand down, lower your weapons, and release your captives.”

  “What happens now?” Princess Araxie was sitting across from me, the light of the small fire pit between us making her eyes shimmer like opals.

  Sitting beside her, King Erandur still looked haunted by the news that both Jaevid and the god stone were gone. His eyes were wide and fixed on the crackling flames, as though he were lost in his own mind.

  “We start over.” I sighed, rubbing my fingers around the things in my pocket—Jaevid’s things. “He said he’s coming back. And I, for one, believe him. So all we can do now is wipe the slate clean and rebuild. Neither of our kingdoms are in a good state, as it stands.”

  That was putting it lightly—extremely lightly. But I knew everyone sitting around that fire pit was acutely aware of how tense things were outside. Jace, Kiran, Araxie, and I were resting inside the treetop hut reserved for the king and his guests. But outside, it was a different story. The remains of the gray elf forces were housing the riders and infantry from Northwatch who had come here to kill them. Evil imposter king aside, there was a lot of bad blood in the air. A lot of distrust. A lot of anger. Tensions were high and it wouldn’t take much to fan the flames. I’d dispatched my father to keep an eye on thing, walk the grounds, and make sure no one put a toe out of line at least for the rest of the night.

  We all deserved at least one quiet night.

  “Perhaps, then, what we need is a gesture of good faith.” Erandur spoke up suddenly.

  Araxie looked stunned, like she hadn’t expected her father to be so accommodating.

  “Your man Jace wishes to stay here in my kingdom. He’s already expressed that desire to me, and I have granted it. If you were to appoint him as an ambassador, I could make him an official member of my court. He would become a presence here representing your efforts to work toward peace,” the king continued.

  I nodded. “A good idea.”

  “We should send an ambassador of our own to Maldobar, as well,” Araxie suggested.

  “Kiran,” I said suddenly.

  He looked at me out of the corner of his weird, color changing eyes.

  “If he’s an acceptable candidate to you, that is. I’ve gotten to know him well enough to trust him. Jaevid had a lot of faith in him, too. He speaks our language and has firsthand knowledge of our customs. I think he’d be a good fit.”

  Araxie was rubbing her chin thoughtfully. She looked at Kiran hard—studied him from head to toe like she was searching him for some hidden flaw. It even made me a little nervous. She definitely had a steely way about her, like a she-wolf who wasn’t going to tolerate any members of her pack embarrassing her.

  “True. But he is young and impulsive. It took him two years to pass his trials and become a scout. Are you up to this task?” she asked him outright.

  Kiran straightened. His expression was determined. “I can do it.”

  “Then you will have your chance. Serve your kingdom well, young warrior,” Erandur decreed and put a hand on Kiran’s shoulder. It made the young gray elf blush.

  We ate a meal of grilled meat and dried fruit in silence. Not that there wasn’t anything to talk about. But if any of the others felt the way I did, then they were too overwhelmed by the task before us to even try talking about it. Right about now, the small company of riders I’d sent back to Northwatch would be arriving bearing the news that the war was over … and that Maldobar had a new king. It wouldn’t take long for that news to spread. Maybe there would be riots. Maybe they’d burn the royal castle to the ground in rebellion.

  But then again, maybe not.

  Regardless, there wasn’t a single thing I could do about it from here. And honestly, I wasn’t worried about riots and castle burnings. I was worried about the only thing that mattered: what was Julianna doing right this second?

  After dinner, Erandur and Araxie retired to their private quarters. Jace tagged along at the princess’s heels like a faithful guard dog. As much as I would have liked to give him a hard time about that, I had a shadow on my heels as well.

  Kiran followed me as I wandered out of the hut onto a balcony overlooking the jungle. I leane
d against the railing and let the cool night air blow over me. The lights from other tree huts shone like floating orbs all around us. There were fragrant, floral smells on the wind and the musical calls of birds echoing in the night. It was strange, but beautiful. Once again, this place wasn’t anything at all like I’d thought it would be.

  Far below, I could hear the commotion of the camp. I wanted to be down there, amongst the other riders, drinking ale and having a good awkward laugh with our new pointy-eared friends. But here I was, having responsibilities. Geez, when had that happened?

  “You seem troubled.” Kiran came to stand next to me.

  I rubbed the back of my neck. “You would be, too, if you had the eyes of two kingdoms looking to you to fix two decades worth of damage.”

  He gave me a challenging smirk. “Do you think you can peacefully unite our kingdoms?”

  “I don’t know,” I admitted. “But I think I can try. You think you can convince your kinsmen who were sent to prison camps to die that they can trust me?”

  His sarcastic expression started to fade.

  I patted him on the back. “Relax. We’ve both got our work cut out for us. So we’ll just have to take it one miracle at a time. But I’ll make a deal with you, Kiran. I need someone working for me I know I can trust. So you stay with me, watch my back, and help me make sure this peace lasts, and I promise that together we will do whatever we can to make this right for your people.”

  I held a hand out to him.

  Kiran drew back for a moment, as though he were unsure of the gesture. He studied me, my hand, and finally reached out to grasp it firmly. “A deal.”

  “You mean ‘deal’ right?”

  “Yes. A deal.”

  “No, no. You just say ‘deal’ and then we shake.”

  He narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

  I laughed and shook on it. “Don’t worry about it. It’s a deal.”

  It wasn’t at all what I expected. Not just any tackmaster lived here. Ulric Broadfeather was held in the highest esteem by Blybrig Academy as the very best money could buy. He should have been able to afford a much nicer place. But as Sile, Roland, and I rode up to the front drive on horseback, I got the feeling we weren’t going to be welcomed in with open arms.

  The house looked nearly abandoned and the message painted on the front door read “TRESSPASSERS BEWARE.” The gardens were overgrown and wild looking. The roof was in bad need of repair and the front door was sagging on the hinges. If not for the smoke rising from the chimney, I would have just assumed it had been left to rot.

  After months of searching, I’d finally managed track Ulric down. Not that he was in hiding, per say, but every time anyone mentioned his name there was an awkward pause and sudden reluctance for anyone to say anything about him. His crime was common knowledge now. And so was his insanity. Both had probably driven him out of business. No one wanted anything to do with him now.

  I looked to Sile to make the first move. This whole errand had been his idea. It was some kind of personal vendetta, I figured. Roland and I were just here to bear witness in case things got ugly. Roland had even suggested to me that he wasn’t sure if Ulric would even agree to see Sile at all.

  The woman who answered the door was as thin as a broomstick. Her hair was frayed and her apron was stained and tattered. She cracked the door just wide enough to peek at all of us. When she saw Sile, she went pale and I thought she might faint.

  “No! Go away! He doesn’t want any visitors!” She screamed and tried to slam the door.

  Sile jammed the toe of his boot into the doorway before she could close it. “Let me in, Serah,” he growled deeply. “I’m standing here with your son and the King of Maldobar. I suggest you don’t turn us away.”

  Slowly, the trembling woman moved away from the door. But when Sile pushed the door open, she darted away into the dark, disheveled parlor like a frightened mouse. Roland and I followed him inside.

  Hiding in the dark corners of the house, I spotted the pale, frightened faces of two young girls cowering behind the woman. These must have been the twin sisters I’d heard Jaevid mention once or twice. They were as gaunt and wild-looking as their mother.

  There was an odd, musty smell like sour laundry. I wasn’t sure what to make of it until we found Ulric. He was sitting on the dirt floor of the cellar, wrapped up in old blankets that reeked like they hadn’t been washed for months. The mattress on the floor was in the same state, and there was a waste bucket that was nearly full to the top of … some pretty nasty stuff.

  I’d seen Jaevid’s father before, once or twice, at the academy. But the man we found crouched on his knees, scratching at the walls with his fingernails hardly looked like anything more than a haggard shell of a human being. His beard was long and as filthy as the rest of him. His eyes were bloodshot and glazed. He looked thin and fragile, as though he were slowly wasting away to nothing but bones and skin. He didn’t even look up when we came down the steps.

  “Ulric,” Sile said as he ventured closer.

  But if Ulric was even aware of our presence, he never let on. He was scrambling around on his knees, muttering under his breath. He kept repeating something over and over, although I couldn’t quite make out what it was.

  “Ulric, I came here to tell you something.” Sile touched him on the shoulder.

  Instantly, Ulric bounded to his feet with alarming speed and started screeching at the top of his lungs, “Soon! It’s coming! I know it! I can see it. I can smell it in the air.”

  Next to me, I saw Roland’s jaw tense and he looked away.

  Ulric was pacing back and forth and rubbing his hands together. That’s when I noticed the marks he’d been making—there were hundreds of them covering every square inch of the stone walls of the cellar from floor to ceiling. They looked like symbols in some language I didn’t recognize, but they looked far too precise to be nothing at all.

  Suddenly, Sile caught him by the arm and forced him to stop, all but pinning him up against the wall. “Listen to me now. I came to tell you your son is dead. Do you understand me? Jaevid, your son, paid for your crime with his blood.”

  Ulric was shaking like a leaf. He looked at Sile, Roland, then at me. “Son? What son? I have no son.”

  Sile’s eyes flickered dangerously. “I have kept my word and it’s cost me much more than I can say our friendship has been worth. We are finished now. Roland is taking those women from here. You can die here in this hole, if you choose, but you won’t take anyone else with you.”

  “Finished … finished.” Ulric was whispering again.

  With a curse under his breath, Sile let him go and nodded to Roland. It was time to go. Whoever this person was, the god stone had addled his brain until there wasn’t much left.

  Sile and Roland started for the stairs. As I turned to follow, I heard Ulric scramble back over to the wall and begin etching and scratching with his nails again. He was still muttering, laughing, and taking in frantic crackling breaths.

  “Nothing is finished. It’s coming soon. I can see it. I can feel it. The legacy of the God Bane … the harbinger comes!”

  “Master—er—I mean Your Majesty! It’s nearly time, you should be inside getting ready!” Miss Harriet came hurdling across the yard with all her skirts in her arms. Her puffy face was flushed and her hair was flying everywhere. She looked like she’d just weathered a hurricane.

  Behind her was my new bride, following along and covering her mouth to hide her smirk. Julianna waited until Miss Harriet finished giving me grief over my appearance before she hurried away to make sure all my attire for the coronation was still in order—though she’d only just left it. We were preparing to leave my estate and head to the royal city of Halfax. Rumor had it there was a golden crown on a red, velvet pillow waiting there with my name on it.

  Everyone was waiting for us to arrive. Supposedly, the whole city was in an uproar, ready to welcome their new king and queen. Prax
had sent me several letters describing how the entire castle had been redecorated. It was as though the people of Maldobar were desperate to purge every trace of Hovrid from their land.

  “Harriet’s dreadfully proud of you.” Julianna said, giving me a coy smile as she wandered over to drape her arms around my neck. “As am I, Your Majesty.”

  “Hm. You know, it’s significantly less annoying when you call me that for some reason.” I grinned and looped an arm around her waist to reel her in closer.

  She giggled and blushed.

  I enjoyed kissing her now even more than before. Something about her having my last name made her taste even sweeter. It didn’t take long for her gaze to wander away from me, though, and over to the three statues that loomed before us.

  One was older than the rest. It was the one I’d commissioned in Jaevid’s honor. On his right side was a much newer one that had only been put in place a week or so before. It was carved into the shape of a young woman with long, braided hair, wearing the armor of a dragonrider and standing proudly with a bow in one hand and a sword in the other. It seemed only fitting to put her there, at his side. I was sure that was what she would have wanted.

  Next to her was one last structure, a large granite box with a single dragon scale set into the top. That was where I had ordered Nova’s ashes to be placed. It just felt right to keep her with me, here, on the same cliffs and breathing the same air as her wild kin.

  “I know Jae would be very proud of you too, Felix.” Julianna added in a quiet, cautious voice, afraid of upsetting me.

  I smiled. “Maybe so.”

  “You’ve already seen to it that all captives of war on both sides be freed, including the gray elf slaves. So many families will be reunited.” She was smiling, too. “Yes. I believe that would make him extremely happy.”

  “Tearing down all the gray elf ghettos has made a lot of other people unhappy, however,” I sighed at the thought. There was a lot to fix, a lot that had to be changed if we were ever going to move forward and heal. Jaevid had sacrificed everything for this chance, though. I wasn’t about to waste it.