The Lost Duke

by Kristen Gupton

  “If I think he’s over exerting himself, Corina, I’ll send him back,” Keiran replied.

  “As though he would turn back,” she said with a sigh, flicking a glance toward Thana.

  The young woman was the only one privy to Corina’s sentiments toward the older guard, and she gave a knowing nod but remained silent.

  Keiran narrowed his eyes at the two of them for just a moment before he stepped forward to hug Corina and kiss her cheek. “We’ll all be just fine.”

  “This journey will go much better if our king were to actually be coming along!” Kanan yelled from where he sat.

  After offering Thana and Corina one last smile, Keiran turned and mounted his horse. Breaking away from Thana proved harder for him than he’d anticipated. As he rode toward the gate, he found himself continually looking back at her as he went.

  * * *

  Jerris made his way to Keiran’s side as they moved down the road from the castle and toward Tordan Lea. His mood had improved greatly since their earlier conversation.

  “My father said we’ll be taking a ship upstream to Lodain,” Jerris said.

  “Aye, that’s the plan. Then we’ll ride into Ibia before starting west,” Keiran added, looking over at the redhead.

  “I hope the area is in better shape than when we last saw it,” Jerris replied quietly, shaking his head.

  “With the weather improved and the need to increase production from the mines, several families have migrated to the region, with reports of several more on their way. I think it will be dramatically different than the horrible scene we saw in winter.” Keiran looked over and offered a grin.

  “And it doesn’t make you even a bit nervous to be that close to the Sador Empire again?” Jerris asked.

  “Not at all. I think the trade negotiations with Emperor Betram have gone exceedingly well. He’s come through on his part of the bargain already. In fact, he sent us an extremely large financial gift in apology for what General Danier did.”

  “You didn’t tell me about that,” the redhead replied, glancing over.

  “You’ve been off with your lady friend, and I just haven’t had a chance to tell you. I’ve already dispatched those funds to Edinau and Lodain to help with their reconstruction. No amount of gold can make up for the loss of life, but it will surely help with building a better future there. I’m actually excited to see the town and the progress made,” Keiran said.

  “Reasonable. Too bad Thana didn’t want to come along, eh?”

  One of Keiran’s brows rose and he looked over at his friend. “I imagine you’re happier she didn’t.”

  “I am, because I know you and I haven’t had much time alone lately, but I know you’d be happier with her here.” Jerris gave him another sidelong look.

  “Well, it will be good for the two of us. I suppose recent months have seen us both involved in our own lives quite a bit,” he said.

  “Aye. How is Thana doing, really?” the guard asked. “She seems perfectly well adjusted despite what happened with the Sadoris, but you know her far better.”

  Keiran tipped his head back and looked up at the sky. “It left an impact, and while she has done remarkably well, yes, I know there has been a change in her. She’s more assertive, and she’s definitely afraid to go far from the castle. I can’t blame her, really. It was an awful introduction to the outside world. She got annoyed with me about pushing her to go on this trip with us.”

  “You’ve had a real knack for pissing people off lately,” Jerris said.

  Keiran looked over at him. “Other than you this morning and Thana yesterday, who have I upset?”

  “Everyone. The country is on the verge of revolt. You should never go back,” the young guard said seriously.

  “I doubt that. If they didn’t revolt under my father’s reign, I don’t see why they would now,” Keiran replied.

  “Actually, Keir,” he said, looking forward again, “down in town, people have been fairly pleased with you so far. There is a good deal more optimism around. The people seem to be relaxing after what they endured under your father.”

  The king couldn’t help but smile. “That’s very good to hear.”

  “If you ladies would like to get going a little faster and stop chatting, we can get down to the dock before the ship actually leaves,” Kanan said, pushing his horse up between Porter and Patrice.

  Keiran momentarily debated signaling Porter forward at full speed, knowing none of the others would be able to keep up with him, but he refrained from doing so. Still, he and Jerris silently picked up the pace, though they were well aware the ship wouldn’t leave without Keiran as he was to be the most valuable cargo onboard.

  * * *

  Athan had traveled to the edge of his nation where the mysterious storm had manifested and cut off their travel ability to the southern countries. His conference back at his castle a few days prior hadn’t gone to his liking.

  His generals had been frantic, trying to explain how strange beings had emerged from the blizzard and infiltrated the region, taking down all of the Talausian forces in the area. Athan fully suspected they were trying to make it seem far more incredible than it had actually been in an effort to save themselves.

  Now on scene, he stared out into the massive raging snowstorm, and he wondered if there had been more to his generals’ stories than hysteria.

  His part of the world occasionally saw blizzards well into late spring, but there was something legitimately unnatural happening with this one. While there was a good amount of wind where he stood, the sky above was clear. Ahead of him, however, stood a wall of blowing snow that looked like a white desert sandstorm. It towered impossibly high, a wall of boiling white stretching across the horizon. The sound from it even a mile away was a deafening, thunderous roar. Storms were never so localized, and this one had remained exactly in place for weeks.

  He knew there wasn’t a human alive capable of summoning up such a thing. The northern polar expanse above his country, however, was populated by beings who were definitely not human. They were called the Nahli, and given their millennia of isolation from the rest of the world, Athan had no way of knowing if they could cause such a thing.

  The Nahli rarely left the polar wastes. It was widely believed the temperatures further south were fatal to them, but this storm had put a frigid edge in the air, giving clear indication it was an arctic storm.

  If they had traveled south with the storm to cut off his land route into other parts of the known world, he couldn’t imagine why. There was nothing in their territory that even remotely interested Athan, and he’d left them very much alone. Conversely, he knew they didn’t need anything from his land to survive.

  What, then, could they be after in his territory if it would be useless to them when the warmer, summer weather ultimately made the region uninhabitable to them? Surely, they couldn’t keep a storm requiring this much energy raging indefinitely…he hoped.

  He’d ordered a group of men into the storm upon his arrival, wanting more information about what was happening along the trade road the storm bisected. Though Athan was fairly confident there couldn’t be anything hiding within the snowstorm that would be a real threat to him, he wasn’t willing to rush in just yet. He hadn’t lived for centuries by being careless.

  Out of the blowing snow, men on horseback began to appear. Athan could clearly feel their emotional and physical discomfort as they grew closer, and he began to actively pry into their minds before he was within speaking distance.

  He was immediately hit with complete and absolute terror from the five men approaching. Thoughts of impossible monsters poured out of them, and Athan had to exit their minds, driven out from the nonsensical nature of it.

  Once the men were close and the wind no longer carried their scents away from Athan, he was hit with the overpowering smell of blood in the air—both from the men and their horses. Ten men had been sent into the storm, but only half had returned. The vampire already knew the
fates of those missing.

  The senior officer slid from the saddle as his horse gave a final, pained scream and collapsed to its side. He staggered to find his balance before turning to Athan and giving a deep bow.

  “What, exactly, is going on in that damned storm?” Athan asked, his voice flat.

  The man did his best to halt his exaggerated shivering, brought on by both the cold and fear. His voice was harsh from screaming. “My Lord, whoever in the hell is in that storm is completely inhuman!”

  “Of course they are if they’re Nahli,” Athan replied, giving a slow blink.

  “No, Lord Vercilla, the Nahli…” he paused and looked back at his surviving men as they all struggled off their horses. His eyes turned back to the vampire, tears evident. “They aren’t mortal! That storm is filled with ghosts, slicing men in half without ever being seen, and there are bears!”

  Athan quirked a brow. “Bears?”

  “Ice bears, Lord Vercilla! Great and terrible, breaking horses’ necks with a single bite, ridden by the ghosts!” he replied, his voice wavering with emotion.

  The vampire kept his expression neutral as he drilled down into his officer’s mind. Visions of the whiteout conditions within the storm and of horses and men being torn apart around him swirled and coalesced within his brain. The man wasn’t lying or exaggerating.

  “I suppose I’m going to have to go in there and deal with this myself. It was simply too much to ask for you men to take care of this situation yourselves,” Athan said, stepping up closer to his officer.

  The man’s shoulders rounded, and he averted his eyes to the side, growing afraid of Athan. Like all those who worked for the vampire, he was aware what the price for failure generally was.

  Athan reached out with both hands and grabbed the front of the man’s coat, drawing him in close with a harsh jerk. The man’s eyes closed, and he braced for the inevitable bite, even going so far as to lull his head back and offer up his neck. He knew fighting Athan was futile, and he’d seen what happened to those who dared to try.

  The vampire smiled to himself at the submission the officer showed. “Ah, now, I’m not going to kill you today. I know what you saw in there, and you were being truthful. That does count for something.”

  The man staggered back and fell on his seat once Athan let him go. He looked up at the vampire, grateful for the reprieve. “Thank you for your mercy, Lord Vercilla.”

  Athan simply waved a hand at him, turning his eyes back toward the roiling storm. “I drank on the way here. I’ll take care of these damn Nahli. They aren’t ghosts, just beings with no idea who they have decided to toy with. Their tricks might work on mortals, but I think I’ll prove just a bit more difficult to impress.”

  * * *

  With winter over, the Tordan River had grown wide and easy to travel. The strong spring winds pushed their ship upstream at a good rate, so the journey to Lodain only took two days. Neither Keiran nor Jerris had ever traveled by ship, and they were amazed how quickly they arrived at the southern port after the struggle they’d had riding there during the previous winter.

  Once off the ship, Keiran toured the town to see how it was rebuilding after the Sadori invasion months before. While much of the damage to the town was still evident, the signs of new construction were everywhere. The coal storehouses were full once more, and multiple ships were moored and taking on coal—both Tordanian and Sadori.

  Keiran was extremely pleased to see the cooperation between his people and the Sadoris as they worked to get the ships loaded. It gave him hope that his agreement with Emperor Betram was going to be successful.

  The town was full of people, a far cry from the dismal state it had been in not long ago. The townsfolk hadn’t been informed of Keiran’s arrival before it happened, but they went out of their way to be accommodating.

  He held a meeting with many of the survivors of the invasion, trying to gauge how they were recovering and what they thought of the town’s reconstruction. While it was clear most of them were still hurting terribly from the losses suffered during the Sadori incursion, their overall sentiment was one of optimism.

  * * *

  Thana distracted herself from Keiran’s absence for the first several days by working alongside Corina throughout the castle. She’d adjusted to the loss of her right hand and she’d learned to compensate for it during many of the tasks she performed during the course of the day.

  Keiran had relented after they’d wed and finally moved from the room he’d always occupied into the suite formerly used by his father. It had taken Thana a good amount of convincing to get him to do so.

  After he’d been pulled off the room’s balcony by a demon months before, Keiran had developed a phobia of the space. She’d worked hard to get him over it. Still, Keiran hadn’t gone back onto the balcony since that event even though they slept in the suite.

  With the past several months spent sharing Keiran’s bed, sleeping alone was more difficult than she’d remembered. Thana lay on her back in the middle of the vast down-filled mattress, unable to sleep. A pleasant breeze filtered through the room from the opened balcony doors, and there was no reason for her insomnia other than Keiran’s absence.

  Giving up, she rose from the bed and pulled on a robe. She wasn’t entirely sure where she intended to go or why, but she thought walking for a few minutes might help relax her. She slipped from the room into the hallway before making her way down the stairs to the main floor.

  She stood and listened for a while before picking up the sounds of someone moving in the kitchen. Thana sighed and headed that direction, her stomach deciding to urge her onward. Though she’d eaten a decent amount at dinner, Thana had been compelled to snack quite a bit more during the previous weeks.

  Stepping into the dark kitchen, she spotted a lit candle resting on the counter and Corina sitting on a stool nearby.

  The old woman lifted her head when she saw someone nearing, her hackles rising. When she saw it was Thana, she gave out an audible sigh of relief.

  “You startled me,” Corina said, placing a hand over her heart. “I’m not accustomed to others moving around this late.”

  “Aye, I apologize.” Thana gave a shy smile before going closer and spotting a remaining loaf of bread sitting next to the candle. She brought over another stool opposite to Corina and sat. Once settled, she reached out to pull off a chunk of bread.

  Corina watched her before reaching out a hand to steady the loaf to make it easier for Thana to rip the bit she wanted off. She studied the younger woman, her eyes narrowing.

  It hadn’t gone by without Corina’s notice Thana was eating more. Perhaps it was related to her becoming queen and no longer feeling out of place eating more than she’d previously been given at meals.

  She’d also observed the way Thana’s dresses were tightening around her bust and waist. The girl was still very active, never having skipped a beat working, but Corina was experienced enough to know what she didn’t think Thana was aware of.

  “How have you been feeling lately?” Corina asked, leaning her elbows onto the counter.

  “Just restless with Keir gone,” she sighed before tearing off a bite of the dry bread.

  “No, I mean…” Corina waved a hand at her slowly. “You, physically, how do you feel?”

  A brow rose upward, and Thana hastily chewed up the bite she’d taken before replying. “I suppose I’m fine. Feeling a little slow, but I know it’s related to the fact I can’t stay out of the kitchen lately. I’m getting fat. I’ve become spoiled in short order.”

  Corina gave a quiet laugh and shook her head, meeting Thana’s gaze. “I think not. You’ve got a young one on the way.”

  Thana’s eyes went wide and she dropped the bread in her hand, quickly placing it over her lower stomach. “How can that be? Wouldn’t I feel something?”

  “Not until later. I’d imagine you and Keiran have done what nature has pushed you toward,” Corina said, trying to be as tactful about it
as she could manage.

  The young woman’s cheeks burned hot enough she was sure Corina could see it even in the dark. “It… well, we…”

  Corina smiled wide and gave a small snicker. “Aye, I know how it works, child. I’d be willing to bet this castle there is someone growing inside you.”

  Thana looked down at her stomach again, rubbing in a small circle with her hand. She thought back and realized her previous cycles had been abnormally light, and the last one had been far too long ago. “I didn’t even think about it. I mean, I supposed it would, but I thought I’d feel something when it happened.”

  The old woman got up from her seat and shuffled around the counter before putting her arms around Thana and kissing the top of her head. Part of her knew Sorna probably never talked about such things with Thana, and the girl’s understanding of her own body was lacking.

  “We must take very good care of you, now. I can’t wait to see Keiran’s reaction when he returns from his journey,” Corina whispered to her.

  The young woman returned the embrace and placed her hand over her stomach again when Corina stepped back. Her heart was pounding in her excitement and fear. “He’ll not know what to do. I don’t even know what to do! I must admit I’m feeling a good deal of fear about this.”

  “All first time mothers feel that,” Corina said gently.

  Corina went silent, thinking about what Athan had told her a while back about none of his female children surviving. She couldn’t help but wonder if Thana and Keiran would suffer the same difficultly. After all, she’d lost the child she’d conceived via Athan, though it had coincided with the Mother’s Plague.

  Thana picked up on the change in the air and looked over at Corina. “What is it?”

  She shook it off and let her smile return again. Corina knew Thana needed her support through this as her own mother had chosen to no longer participate in her life. “We just have so much to plan for. You and Keiran will have such beautiful children. I’m very excited for both of you.”