Noble Lies

by Lyneal Jenkins

  ‘You wish for me to lose?’ His dark eyes scrutinised me as he waited for my answer.

  I tried to get a read on what he felt but could detect nothing more than determination for the task at hand, whether for honour or to protect our child, I couldn’t decide. I shook my head. ‘Of course not.’ I glanced at Gabriel. His lip curled into a sneer, and he turned his back on me. ‘I don’t want you to kill him.’ My chin trembled and moisture-filled my eyes. ‘A beating is fine, but death… death is so final.’

  His shoulders dropped and, for a moment, I saw history play across his face; every laugh and heartache, every battle they had fought together, every moment that created the tapestry of their friendship. ‘I know. Believe me, if I had a choice, I would prevent it.’

  It wouldn’t matter how much I pleaded with him, he wouldn’t stop, he would do what he perceived as right in this situation, he would follow their archaic rules in the name of honour regardless of history. ‘Fine! Maybe I can talk some sense into Gabriel.’

  He smiled yet his eyes remained haunted. ‘You can try.’

  I glared at him. ‘You’re so pig-headed!’ I stomped over to Gabriel. He wouldn’t listen, but I had to try.

  ‘Leave me.’ He ran his finger along the sword, caressing the flat edge.

  ‘You need to stop this. Adam is your best friend, and what happened wasn’t even his fault.’

  He laughed, a bitter sound that made my heart ache. ‘You made him do it, did you?’

  I stretched onto tiptoes and glared at him. I wouldn’t feel sorry for him, not after everything he had done. ‘As a matter of fact, yes!’

  He laughed again. The dark sound caused my insides to shrivel up. I could find no sign of the man I’d once loved. ‘I find that hard to believe.’

  ‘You need to believe it. I am not the same as I was when we were together. I can do things now. Things I wish I couldn’t, but still, certain gifts that likely contributed to the situation.’

  ‘Is that so? Then tell me, Ana, what makes you so desirable that Adam would break our laws?’

  I swallowed deeply, not wanting to say the words needed. ‘I am like the Fae.’

  He rolled his eyes. ‘Don’t be ridiculous.’

  ‘I'm not.’ I almost snarled at him. ‘I can push my emotions onto people. I managed to calm my niece Ava when she was having an outburst.’

  ‘She is human. Such tricks would not work on Adam.’

  ‘I also calmed a Siis priestess. Well, she wasn’t a priestess as such, she had bonded with a priest, and it sent her crazy.’

  He snarled at me, and I stumbled back with my hands up, protecting my face. ‘You lie!’

  ‘I’m not.’ My initial reaction of fear fled, and I clenched my fists, resisting the urge to whack him over the head. I needed him to see reason. ‘I promise you, Gabriel. It worked so well that the priest gave me his dagger.’

  He sneered with disbelief. ‘You received a debt off a priest?’

  ‘I don’t know about that.’ Be calm. Just stay calm. I continued my internal mantra while I took a deep breath and continued. ‘I only know that he knelt down and presented it to me.’

  Gabriel continued to look at me as if I were crap on his shoe. ‘And what was the symbol on the dagger he supposedly gave you?’

  The blade had long gone, buried in the cavern somewhere. I wracked my brains trying to remember. ‘It was a triangle overlapping a circle with some sort of creature holding a sword. That’s all I can remember.’

  He snorted, real amusement flitting across his face. ‘You expect me to believe that you are owed a debt by the priest Cortell?’

  I shrugged, determined to ignore his attitude. Losing my temper with him would make things worse. ‘He never gave his name.’

  He sneered at me again, and once again, I resisted the urge to strike him. ‘I never believed you to be a liar, Ana, but there is no way that this story is true.’

  ‘It is,’ Eris said from behind me.

  I faced her, cringing. She was never meant to find out about the priest I had helped.

  She grinned. ‘Did you think I believed that you killed a priestess on your own?’

  I shrugged, trying to pull of nonchalance, badly. ‘I have no idea what you mean.’

  She rolled her eyes. ‘There is no point being coy when you are trying to convince Gabriel that you speak the truth. Though, I have to say, a debt off Cortell is an impressive feat.’

  ‘So, you work with the Others now?’ Gabriel demanded of me.

  ‘I didn’t work with him. I just helped him out a little.’

  Gabriel laughed, a dark, chilling sound that sent shivers down my spine. ‘You speak ill of my daughter for bonding with an Other, yet you spend your time helping them? I should have known you would stoop to such levels.’ He glared at Eris. ‘I am not surprised to learn that you knew about it. Are you switching sides, Eris? Finally taking Vakros up on his offer to join him?’

  Eris grinned. ‘You would love that. I'm sure you would relish reporting me to the council. You would probably go as far as rubbing your hands together in glee as they sentenced me.’

  He sneered at her. ‘An enemy of Malachi is an enemy of mine.’

  I struck him across the face and stared at my stinging hand, unsure what had happened. My temper had sneaked out with no control, surprising me. Gabriel blinked at me in astonishment with a perfect red handprint forming on his cheek.

  Eris chuckled. ‘Okay, maybe I do like you a little bit, Ana. Especially when you entertain me so well.’

  Gabriel's jaw clenched and his eyes blazed as he gripped his sword harder, likely imagining my severed head hitting the dirt.

  ‘Don’t you glare at me.’ I glowered at him, wishing I’d struck him with something harder than my hand. ‘I owe you that one.’

  ‘Be grateful that you are human.’

  ‘Be grateful? Are you insane? You should owe me a debt for all you have put me through.’

  ‘I owe you nothing.’ He leant towards me. ‘Were you doing it while we shared a house?’

  ‘What?’

  ‘Were you servicing him in the day under the pretence of training and servicing me at night?’

  The conversation turn left my head reeling. ‘Don’t be stupid!’

  ‘Did you both deceive me for months? You must have laughed together about how stupid I was not to see it.’

  My hands shook with boiling rage as I stared at him. I pulled my dagger from its sheath, slid it across my hand, and wiped the blood on his cheek. ‘I challenge you to Ta Mar!’

  Eris laughed. ‘Ta Mar is the challenge, Ana. You call Ta Mar, not issue a challenge for it.’

  ‘Shut up! He knows what I mean.’

  Gabriel turned from me. ‘I will not kill a pregnant human. I have some pride.’

  I grabbed his arm. ‘Are you a coward? I said that I call Ta Mar. From what you said to Adam, to refuse is to be a coward, which we both know you are.’

  He whirled on me. ‘Be careful, Ana. You challenge my honour.’

  Eris laughed and clapped like an excited child. ‘As much as this is entertaining, you can’t challenge him, Ana. You are not Siis.’

  ‘So? If that is the case, Gabriel can't challenge Adam over sleeping with me, then. This is all because Adam went against the code of bonding, but I am not Siis, so how can it be a true bonding?’

  Eris considered this for a moment. ‘She has a point there.’

  ‘No, she doesn’t!’ Gabriel towered over me, his need for revenge all-consuming.

  ‘Then accept my challenge.’ I wouldn’t back down to his threat. If he wanted revenge, he could have it. I had enough reasons to want to hurt him. ‘Or admit that you have no case against Adam.’

  ‘No!’ He glared at me before his features relaxed into a smug expression. ‘If you wish to invoke Ta Mar, you can approach the council.’

  I looked at Eris in question, wondering what he was up to. A disquiet stone formed in the pit of my stomach.

&nbs
p; ‘That’s the procedure when a challenge is ignored,’ she said.

  He really was a coward. I glared at him. ‘You know I can't do that.’

  Gabriel sneered. ‘Then you waste my time.’ He looked up through the trees. ‘The sun is setting.’ He stalked to the middle of the clearing with his sword.

  Ass!

  ‘It was a nice try,’ Eris said. ‘But he wants this too much.’

  I watched her warily, waiting for her anger. I doubted she would take my deception well. ‘You knew about the priest?’

  She laughed. ‘Not until you told him. You really are a blabbermouth.’

  If only she knew the half of it. She wouldn't laugh when she found out I’d slipped up about the Kipsu. I pushed that thought to the side. Another problem for another time. I already had enough on my plate for now.

  The remaining Damiq formed a large circle edging the clearing. They murmured amongst themselves as they waited.

  ‘Cortell is a powerful priest,’ Eris said. ‘He is placed high in Vakros’s ranks. It’s a good debt to be owed. I'm sure we can find some use for it.’

  Gabriel dug his sword into the ground and stretched his arms above his head. His eyes narrowed as he saw me watching. He lifted the sword and sliced it through the air.

  ‘Don’t bother thinking like that.’ I kept my eyes on Gabriel. Could Adam bring himself to kill him? I doubted it. ‘If he does owe me a debt, then it is mine, not yours to exploit.’

  She shook her head in exasperation. ‘You have no idea what you have. Such a debt is wasted on you.’

  Adam walked into the clearing and faced Gabriel. He didn’t stretch or move in any way. An air of determination came from him and his expression remained stony, only the shadow of his eyes betraying his reluctance.

  ‘Please stop them,’ I said. ‘If you do, you can have the debt.’

  Eris laughed. If she continued to find the situation so amusing, Gabriel wouldn’t be the only one I struck today. ‘It’s almost worth it, but it’s too late.’

  A hushed silence fell over the clearing as the two men faced each other.

  ‘This is your last chance,’ Adam said, his voice a mixture of warning and pleading. ‘Walk away. Only those present know of the challenge. They will not speak of it nor judge you.’

  Gabriel sneered as he glanced at the nearest Damiq, a girl physically stuck at seven years old, yet had lived for over two hundred years if I recalled rightly. ‘You think I care what your Damiq abominations think?’ Acid dripped from Gabriel's words, and anger swelled through the Damiq like a wave. Parker drew his weapon first as angry murmurs rippled through the crowd. Adam had just gained a few supporters. Gabriel ignored the angry remarks and insults. ‘This is between us, Santea. This is for what you stole from me.’

  I tried to rush forward, to shout He did not steal me. I needed them to understand how ridiculous the whole thing was.

  Eris gripped my arm, dragging me to her side. ‘Be quiet! Else I will seal your mouth closed.’

  The men circled each other with their swords held up, ready to strike. Gabriel looked uncomfortable with the weapon, whereas Adam moved with confident ease as he practised every chance he got.

  ‘I stole nothing,’ Adam said, the pleading gone, leaving his voice hard with threat. ‘Last chance, Gabriel. I have no wish to harm you.’

  Gabriel struck with the blade. Adam twisted his blade, blocking him. The clang of metal shattered through the small clearing setting my nerves on edge.

  ‘You have to stop them!’ I screamed as their swords slashed through the air. Everyone ignored me as if I hadn’t spoken, not able to drag their eyes away from the fight.

  Gabriel charged forward, hunched down with the sword out before him. Adam stepped to the side and, with the hilt of the sword, struck him between the shoulders. Gabriel sprawled on the ground. The sword slipped from his hand and fell into a patch of long grass. He rolled, scooped it up, and sprang to his feet.

  Adam continued to circle Gabriel, looking for his weak point. ‘You cannot beat me.’ His flat tone held no pleasure.

  Gabriel drew in a heavy breath. ‘You are out of practice, Santea, and you have no fight left. You haven’t since Clara and Hayren were killed for your crimes.’

  Several people gasped. They didn’t know who the people named were, but they understood the look of despair followed by red-hot rage that twisted Adam’s face into a snarl.

  Adam snarled with a hatred I had never witnessed before. ‘Not as unpractised as you, Porcreé. How long has it been since your last battle? Was it not the war we lost Deonti in?’

  Gabriel growled through clenched teeth. 'Do not speak her name, traitor.’ He charged at Adam, his sword held high. Even I saw the mistake in his technique, the way he held his body wide open to attack.

  Adam kicked, and Gabriel landed on his back once more. ‘Yield, Porcreé. I have no wish to take your life.’

  Gabriel rushed at him again. Their swords clashed under the darkening sky, the sound a dull clank, yet terrifying in the power behind it.

  They moved fast. Adam ducked low under Gabriel’s sweeping blade and kicked, knocking Gabriel’s legs from under him. Gabriel struck his leg out, hitting Adam’s knee. Adam stumbled back but kept his footing. He twisted around, cutting the air with his blade, he twisted the hilt in his hands. Gripping it with both hands, he brought it down on Gabriel, piercing his shoulder.

  Pain seared through me. I screamed as I fell to my knees. I heard their swords striking, metal on metal, but I could see nothing other than my pulsing shi, bright in the dwindling light. I tried to tell them to stop, but no words passed my lips. My shi dragged as if trying to escape me, the pain like blistering flames that leapt from my shoulder, devouring me as it moved through my body.

  ‘Stop!’ someone shouted. Bill? Maybe Nicolai. Definitely male.

  The swords continued to strike, and fresh pain exploded in my arm. My teeth slammed shut and blood filled my mouth. I screamed again, the sound nothing more than a gurgled groan.

  ‘Stop!’ Eris shouted.

  People rushed around me. Small hands tried to help me up. I couldn’t stand. The pain consumed my mind. Someone yelled for them to move back. Hands reached under my arms, preventing me from collapsing onto my face. Bill’s hands.

  Adam had the point of his sword pressed to Gabriel’s neck. Eris stood before Gabriel, her words urgent as she held him back with her power. His sword lay on the ground out of reach. Blood streamed from his shoulder and arm. The injuries I felt through our connection. Adam lowered his weapon and nodded. He and Eris turned to me, both frowning with concern.

  Gabriel moved, reaching to his leg, grasping a concealed dagger. He moved fast, almost flying towards Adam. Everyone watched me and my shi which pulsed like a painful heartbeat. They didn’t see him move. They didn’t see the triumphant look on his face. He planned to stab Adam in the back like the coward he protested he wasn’t. I tried to scream a warning, but my parched throat emitted no sound.

  I pulled. Not on the arms that gripped me, but on the light that connected us, Gabriel’s shi. Adrenalin surged through me, masking the pain. His shi pulsed and he staggered forwards, dropping his dagger. He tried to reach for it. A wasted action as his weapon served no purpose in this battle. Unlike Seraphine, he had no defence. He wasn’t the same as us.

  I pulled harder, dragging his shi towards me, claiming it as my own. Someone screamed. A young voice. A Damiq. My control fractured as I drew the shi from everyone. I had to stop. I couldn’t rob them again. I couldn’t see the fear in their eyes. Fear of me.

  I stopped dragging on Gabriel, focused on his fear-filled eyes, and pushed. Gabriel flew back and hit the tree with a crunch. He dropped to the ground, unconscious. Agony ripped through my back and I sagged in Bill’s arms, unable to stand, unable to do anything except ride the pain that twisted each muscle into a knot.

  Adam knelt and looked me over, trying to assert whether I’d been harmed. ‘Heal him!’ he shouted at Eris.


  She shook her head in amazement as she looked from me to Gabriel and back to me.

  ‘Heal Gabriel,’ Adam ordered. ‘Eris! If you want the baby to survive, heal him.’

  Eris shook her head and crossed her arms. ‘I want to see what Ana does here.’

  ‘Eris!’ he growled.

  ‘We need to know.’

  The tendrils of shi no longer reached for me, yet my shi continued to pulse, mirroring the pain that cascaded through me. I couldn’t think about that. I had stolen more shi, making it harder to hide in my body. My mind clouded over and my vision closed in, becoming a tunnel with only one thing at the end: Eris watching me with narrow eyes. My bond with Gabriel had strengthened and Eris now knew what I could do. Just bloody marvellous.

  Harvey stood next to Eris, his arms crossed over his chest. She’s going to kill you.’

  I focused on Gabriel slumped against the tree, his eyes closed. He had tried to kill Adam. Not in a fair fight, but with a dagger in the back.

  I pulled on Bill’s arm, and he helped me to my feet. Adam reached out to steady me, but I pushed him away, my mind consumed with one thought: reaching Gabriel.

  I made my way to Gabriel's fallen weapon. I stumbled and Bill gripped my arm, steadying me. I pushed him off and retrieved the long, thin sword. I held it up but dropped it straight down again, the weight more than I expected. I approached Gabriel, dragging the sword behind. His eyes fluttered and he groaned, yet the pain remained, crashing through my body in splintering waves. I lifted the sword. Needing to use both hands, I pressed the point to his chest. ‘You yellow-bellied coward.’

  He stared at the sword already slicing through his clothes, his eyes wide with fear. Good! ‘It was a fight.’ He pouted, his chin held high with no hint of shame. The supposedly evolved man was a spoilt child. How had I never seen it?

  I battled with the urge to plunge the sword into him. ‘That was a cowardly act, and you know it.’

  He glanced at Adam. ‘You would kill me for him? For the man who you once claimed to hate?’

  ‘He is the father of my child!’

  He glared at me, his face contorted with bitterness. ‘A bastard child!’