WRATH (Rise Book 2)

by J. M. Kearl

  Enden shoots Peter a glare. Why can’t his men ever keep their mouths shut?

  “You’re soldiers from the castle then?” Baldy asks.

  The three soldiers look to Enden. “We are. Part of the King’s guard.”

  The man grins, missing half of his teeth. “It’s an honor to have you, gentlemen. Enjoy, and good luck on the battlefront.”

  “Thank you.”

  They finish eating and stay awhile to drink and enjoy each other’s conversation. Hesstor cracks a joke and Enden’s eyes water he’s laughing so hard, but through his hazy vision a familiar looking woman walks past catching his eye. He gets to his feet. “I’ll be back in a moment.”

  The men’s eyes follow the back of the woman as she moves out the door and they laugh all over again. “She must be pretty,” Peter says.

  Enden rolls his eyes and follows the dark haired woman out the side door. The beautiful face is what first caught his attention but then he recognized it, she just has the wrong color of hair, but he must see if it’s her.

  The woman whips around when the door squeaks open behind her and shuts. Enden and she stare at each other unblinking. Madison. He has no doubt it’s her even with the dark hair, but he thought she’d died. She was stabbed through the stomach, a wound he thought no one could survive.

  He steps toward her, his heart pounding. He wants to wring her neck, and ask about her daughter all at the same time. A small part of him still cares about Daelyn, and he hates that.

  She holds up her hand and blue sparks bounce between her fingertips. “Don’t come any closer, Enden.”

  His instincts tell him to go for his sword but he knows with magic she’ll get him first. His hand freezes just above the hilt of the weapon. It was stupid for him to follow her out here. “How did you survive?” Enden hopes if he can stall her, one of his guards will come out here, and they can get the jump on her.

  Her hand stays straight out in front of her. “How do you think?”

  “I thought you’d be in Delhoon by now.”

  Her lavender eyes are vibrant, even in the darkness of night. “I was.”

  Why isn’t she running away? They are alone in a dark alley, and then it crosses his mind it’s because she isn’t afraid of him. Not in the least. Many other women would be, but Delhoon women aren’t like Hesstian women.

  “Why did Boaden kill my brother and leave me alive?”

  Madison’s arm lowers to her waist. “We didn’t have orders to kill you.”

  “Do you now?” He asks, his heart hammering. He still wants to go for his sword, perhaps his dagger, he could toss it quickly and even if it only skims her, the kirune will poison her long enough that he’ll have the advantage.

  “I don’t think anyone would be upset if I did.”

  Enden isn’t sure what the end game of Delhoon is supposed to be, but their plan didn’t work out, did it? They were caught. It would have been better to kill both Enden and Rolland and leave Hesstia in disarray. The next person in line for the throne is someone not well liked by the court, but Enden admits his cousin is more ruthless. Does Delhoon see Enden as weak?

  “Why was I so in love with Daelyn?”

  Half of Madison’s mouth curls up. “You tell me.”

  Enden isn’t sure if he still has feelings for her but he wants answers. “You did something, didn’t you?” His mind flashes back to a night at a brothel. The dark haired woman who’d leaned over him to pour him a drink. Now that he thinks about it he thought she touched his head. “I saw you.”

  “You’ll have to be a little more specific, King Enden.”

  “At the brothel, weeks before I even met you and Daelyn at the apparel shop.”

  Madison giggles quietly. “Good memory for being drunk.”

  “Was it magic?” Enden asks. He has to know why he couldn’t stop thinking about Daelyn, why he was obsessed, willing to do anything for her. “She consumed my every thought. I still think about her.”

  Madison twists her mouth. “That spell was broken when she married Boaden and they had sex. So if you still have feelings for her it isn’t magic.”

  Enden’s face burns at the news of Boaden and Daelyn. He should have seen something between them sooner, but he’d been thrown off that trail when he saw Boaden kiss Madison and go into her room. That was a ruse, and he was a fool. “I don’t have feelings for her anymore. That fog has lifted.”

  “Has it? You chased me out here, alone, in the dark to ask about Daelyn knowing that I might kill you.”

  Enden’s mouth goes dry. That’s not why I came out here, he reassures himself of that. He came for answers, and to get revenge for his kingdom. Enden snarls his lip, not liking her threat, and pulls his sword. “If you’re going to try to kill me, at least be fair about it, forgo your magic. You’ve cheated enough, I think.”

  Madison arches an eyebrow and slowly pulls out a sword from each hip. The light from the moon glints off the blades. She lets out a long breath that is seen in the cold night air. “I wouldn’t call it cheating-- superior being is more correct, but I’m happy to indulge your request, Enden. If you think it’s fair.”

  Enden ignores her dig; he’ll show her who is superior. “You’d fight me with no magic? A woman.”

  Madison cackles in a sort of evil way that he wouldn’t expect from her. All he’d ever known of her was the sweet, agreeable sister of his lovely betrothed. He saw a fraction of this side of her before she was about to be executed, but given the circumstances…

  “Silly king.” She flips her right sword handle over end and catches it again to stand in a fighting position. “You have no idea who I really am.”

  Enden’s stomach turns but he readies his weapon and steps forward. I’ve trained for combat my entire life, he reminds himself. She is but a woman, who can’t match my strength.

  She crosses her swords in front of her and gives them a quick tap against each other, then she smiles as if she’s going to enjoy this. The door swings open before they reach one another and his three guards stand on the other side.

  “Sire!” Peter rushes for Madison pulling the ax from his back.

  Madison smirks and then is suddenly gone, disappears as if she was never there in the first place. Peter skids to a halt where she once was and looks around. All of them bewildered at her vanishing.

  “How is that possible?” Dean asks from beside Enden.

  Enden grumbles. He wouldn’t ever admit it aloud but a part of him wishes he’d been magic-born in Delhoon. To do a spell like that would be amazing. “Magic.”

  “Who was that?” Dean steps into the alleyway.

  “Madison.”

  Peter tilts his head, pinching his face in confusion. “Daelyn’s sister—or mother, whatever she is? Why would you go after her alone? What if she had killed you?”

  Enden swallows, wetting his dry throat. Now that he thinks back on it, had she wanted to she probably could have killed him, with her magic at least. Why had she spared him? It would be to Delhoon’s benefit to kill him, wouldn’t it? He can’t wrap his mind around the fact that she didn’t even attempt it, and she didn’t seem at all afraid. “Well, she didn’t. Pay the owner for our meal, and let’s get back to camp.” He must send a letter to King Faustus because if Madison is here, she will report on Enden’s movements and Filda will be ready for them. It’s time to show them fear in the form of dragons.

  52. Madison

  The door to her room creaks open as she pushes inside. She can hardly believe she’d run into King Enden in this small town in the Outlands. What are the chances that he’d see her, that they’d meet? It’s good for her plan with Midlan but she’s wracking her mind as to why she didn’t kill him. She could have, with the twist of her wrist, snapped his neck. The king was right there, merely feet away, alone and with no way to stop her magic, and she let him go. When he pulled his sword and called out for a fight, instincts to defend herself kicked in, but something deep down told her it was not his time to die. She c
an’t find the reason why, it was the perfect chance to end him.

  Jordane’s head is slumped to the side and his breath moves steadily as he sleeps. Food, that’s what she’d gone to Finn’s for and she comes back empty handed. The papers sitting on the table catch her eye. She could send Midlan a note, entice him to come now. She’d told him to find her in this town, that she’d be waiting for him but he has no idea she knows who he is with and that he is here. Sending a note now could make him suspicious.

  Just as Madison sits at the end of the bed to rest, a note emerges from the fireplace. Unfolding the letter her heart skips at the recognition of Midlan’s handwriting.

  My dearest Madison,

  I couldn’t get a letter to you until now. There is much we need to discuss. There are two sides to this story. I know you say Jordane is no longer the same man, which I entirely believe, but how do I know I can trust you? I am in Rennarda where you asked to meet. I long to see you but you understand my hesitation.

  All my love,

  ~Midlan

  Madison’s cheeks burn; she begins to crumble the paper but stops. Of course he would question her after all that had happened. The desire for revenge clouded her mind. Her eyes travel to the sleeping Jordane. Waking him is the right thing to do but part of her wants to end this on her own. Deep down she doesn’t think Jordane has the gall to do what needs to be done.

  Madison’s palm glides over top a blank piece of paper and she imagines the words that need to be there and writes:

  Midlan,

  It’s not simply that Jordane isn’t the same man. My heart has always been torn between the two of you. He is the sun, you are the moon, both lovely in their own way. The truth is, I don’t know if I can ever forgive you for what you’ve done, the betrayal, the deception … but I can’t believe that you would do this to Jordane, your best friend, without provocation. What did he do? I would hear your side in person.

  ~Madison

  Madison knows why he did what he did. Jordane’s only mistake was loving Madison because Midlan loved her, too. Thinking back on it she even encouraged Midlan in their youth. Giving him false hope by allowing him to flirt with her. Part of her liked the attention though her heart always beat for Jordane. Maybe part of this is my fault.

  The note is sent just as Jordane’s eyes slowly open. He blinks a few times and stretches his arms overhead. “I didn’t even know I fell asleep. Did you get food?”

  Madison shakes her head and tells him about her encounter with Enden.

  “That means Midlan is here.”

  Madison nods, debating on telling him about the note Midlan sent. She should, he deserves to know as much as she does. They are in on this revenge together, but the words don’t pass her lips.

  “We’ll see if he finds me before—”

  Jordane practically jumps to his feet. “No, they will leave in the morning. This is our chance. We need to find him tonight.”

  “And slit his throat while he sleeps? That is too good for him.”

  Jordane gives her that look, the one that says she is immoral. That she should not want for such a thing as to make the man suffer. But this man made them suffer, shattered her heart into a thousand pieces, shards that could never be put back together because over time they got lost. The day Midlan told her Jordane was dead her legs gave out, crumpling her to the floor, air couldn’t get into her lungs, her mind went into a fog so thick she didn’t know if she’d ever see again. For weeks she laid in bed staring at the wall in a daze. Even when her body ached from being sedentary, she ignored the pain. Nothing else mattered at that moment; not her daughter, not Midlan, not her duty to Delhoon. She couldn’t get herself to even eat. She occasionally drank water but just enough to wet her dry mouth. Midlan brought her bread that went stale, berries that molded as he begged for her to eat, to get out of bed but she couldn’t do it. Her world had all but ended and he couldn’t see that.

  Then one night Midlan had dropped to his knees at the side of her bed, his body wracked with sobs, she finally truly noticed him for the first time in weeks. She’d never seen a grown man cry like that, as if he’d lost everything in the world. Madison sat up shaking from lack of food, and took his head onto her lap and stroked his hair. At the time, she thought he was sad for losing his friend but now she knows it’s because the guilt and weight of what he’d done had hit him.

  What sickens her most is that Midlan helped her through that hard time, they cried together, told stories about Jordane and how much they loved him, all the while Midlan knew he was in prison because he was the one who put him there. He helped mend her heart, as much as it could be mended, by loving her. She loved him too, and even now nausea wells up inside, thinking of the feelings she once had for Midlan. She still can’t understand how for years she didn’t know Jordane was alive, how she missed the betrayal. Maybe she can’t understand it because that would mean admitting she didn’t want to face her suspicions about Midlan’s story, and dealing with what she feels now.

  Jordane suffered in prison and facing who knows what horrors, knowing of the betrayal all along, but he hadn’t given his body and mind to the person who’d done it, like she had.

  “You can look at me like I am a horrible person but it won’t change what I’m going to do.” Madison stares Jordane in his blue eyes, not at all ashamed.

  “And what will you do, Madison? Torture him? You are better than that, even if Midlan is not.”

  “Am I better, Jordane?” Madison shakes her head. “No, that is not true even if you wish it was. The difference between Midlan and me is I am not a coward. The difference between you and me is I’m not bothered with the morals of what needs to be done.”

  Jordane’s face hardens. “It won’t make you feel better.”

  Madison’s eyes flick to the smoldering fire. The embers glow orange underneath the blackened wood. “Maybe it won’t.” Madison licks her dry lips. “But maybe it will.”

  A note comes out of the fire and both Madison and Jordane glance at each other. Madison catches it and rips it open.

  “It's from Midlan. He wants to meet me at Finn’s.”

  Finn’s is the only public place open this late; he wouldn’t want to meet in a place with no witnesses but if he thinks that will stop her, he’s sorely mistaken.

  “I don’t want you to go in alone.” Jordane folds his arms.

  “If he sees you walk in with me, he’ll run.”

  Jordane lets out a huff. “Nebba and I will wait outside the back door.”

  ∞∞∞

  Madison stands before the entrance to Finn’s and takes a deep breath, calming the rage boiling inside. It’s going to take all her strength not to kill him on sight. She pushes the door open and her eyes fall to his dark head.

  He doesn’t dare smile at her but stands and waits. Madison briefly wonders how he got away from Enden’s guards and who sent the note but that isn’t a pressing issue at the moment.

  Her steps are audible in the silence of the mostly empty room as she saunters toward Midlan. His eyes have trouble finding hers as she approaches and pulls out a chair. They sit across from each other and she stares at him.

  His lips part and he glances down at the plate in front of him. “I know you’re angry.”

  “I don’t know if there is a word to describe the way I feel but angry doesn’t do it justice.”

  Midlan’s gray eyes flick up to hers. “I promise you that I didn’t betray Jordane even if that’s what he believes. He was caught using magic while we played cards.”

  “If that were true you wouldn’t have lied.”

  “He was as good as dead in Lanloc. I knew if you thought he was there you’d die trying to get him out, and I couldn’t lose you too.” His hands move across the table towards hers. “I love you, in the very depths of my soul. I always have.”

  Madison lets him take her hands and clenches her teeth together forcing back the urge to punch him in the nose. She has to play this right or he won’t tr
ust her enough to go out the back door. “I know you do but it doesn’t excuse that you lied to me for years, even if he was caught using magic.”

  “I’m sorry. I honestly thought he died. When I found out he was alive, I had him transferred to the castle. I was going to tell you when you completed your mission with Daelyn and help with the escape.”

  How does this sound like he’s telling the truth? Would Jordane lie about being caught using magic and then blame Midlan? she thinks. “You know how hard this is for me. I love Jordane, and you and I spent so many years together, I-- love you too.” She almost can’t bring herself to say the words but they must be said. “Jordane is… he’s not the man we once knew. Prison changed him. He’s sullen and quiet. He can barely look at anyone in the eyes anymore let alone love me.”

  “He must have suffered greatly,” Midlan says. “I wish I could have done something sooner.”

  Madison can hardly believe the genuineness in his voice. “I know you would have done something if you could.” Madison begins to question everything. She can’t imagine Jordane lying about the way he was caught and sent to prison but it is so hard to believe that Midlan would betray Jordane the way he did. It comes down to whether or not she trusts her husband or not.

  He cracks a smile and waves at the woman standing behind the bar top. “Shall we eat something?”

  “I’m not hungry.” Food is the last thing on her mind. She’s torn and wishes at this moment she had Boaden’s talent to discern feelings of truthfulness.

  “Drinks then?”

  Madison wants to rush him outside to really question him, and maybe she could by luring him with a chance at sex but it might be too soon. So they drink red wine. After Midlan has had four glasses, his eyes begin to gloss over, and he’s talking more openly like they were just two lovers with no qualms, as if none of this had ever happened.

  Madison swirls the red liquid around in her first glass and watches him, thinking of ways she can make him suffer. He must take her gazing at him for something else because he smiles at her. “So when Jordane got caught using his magic at cards, someone turned him in? What did they see?” Madison asks.