The door to the room opened. It had been unlocked the entire time, but Riley hadn’t attempted to leave. Rendal came in.
“Hello, Riley,” the dark mage said. “I see you survived the spell I hit you with.”
Riley didn’t look away from the window. “I’ve survived everything you’ve thrown at me, Rendal. I’m beginning to think you’re not all that powerful.”
“Ah, yes. You’ve survived, but you haven’t really thrived, have you? Your kingdom is mine. Your friends are all imprisoned, and tonight you’re going to decide if they die or not.”
“I’d like to see Mason,” Riley said.
“Mason, Mason, Mason,” Rendal mocked. “Do you enjoy being his lapdog?”
Riley ignored him. “If you want anything out of me, you’re going to have to show me that he’s safe.”
“Walk with me for a bit first, then I’ll let you see the man who holds your leash.”
Riley stood, although she didn’t turn around. “Where are you staying?”
“Where the Prefect always stays, of course. I’m in my chambers.”
“You mean you’re in Goland Ire’s chambers?”
“Riley...” Rendal sounded as if he was exasperated and talking to a small child. “Many things have changed here, one of them being your old Prefect’s place. He’s now a prisoner, nothing more. He will remain a prisoner until he dies, which might be soon, depending on how you act. Now, come with me, or we can go ahead and finish this. I’m done playing games with you.”
Riley understood the message.
She would either do as he bid or they would fight to the death.
Riley turned, the path becoming clearer as she did. The way to end it all. She went over to Rendal. “Where are we going?”
Rendal smiled. “I want to show you the plans I have for this kingdom.”
He led her out of the room, and the two made their way down the tower to the bottom floor. Neither spoke. Riley walked behind him on the staircase; she could have attacked, but she didn’t. She still wore her necklace, which shut off her magical ability, but it wouldn’t have been hard to launch herself at him.
Yet, she didn’t.
Once outside the castle, Rendal finally spoke.
“Over there, to your left.” He gestured with his hand. “You see the construction?”
A wooded area had been cleared, one Riley had known since she was a child. In its place were cinderblocks and men building walls.
“That’s the basis for what’s going to be our magic school. I’ll need to find a better name, of course, but that’s what’s coming. I put it right next to the castle for a reason. Those who practice magic will be second only to royalty.”
Riley watched in silence for a few minutes.
“I used to play hide and seek there when I was a kid,” she finally whispered.
“I told you that things have changed. It’s only been a short time, but already I’m making the kingdom over in my image. Come, there is more to see.”
The two continued walking and Rendal kept talking as they did, like some kind of twisted tour guide. “You see, not everything is going to change. Much of New Perth will remain the same—physically, at least.”
The two were in one of the business districts. The people on the streets were doing their best not to gawk at the Right Hand striding along next to the mad sorcerer. Most kept their heads down, although they furtively glanced up from time to time.
Riley saw two boys across the street who were simply unable to look away. It wasn’t just shock on their faces, but disappointment. Crushing disappointment, because their savior was now walking shoulder to shoulder with their conqueror.
“Of course, there will be certain physical parameters that I have to change,” Rendal explained. “Yet, it’s the underlying structure that’s most important. The soul of New Perth. That’s what I’m here to make different.”
As they wound their way through the streets, Riley saw that Rendal wasn’t lying. There was no grand construction, and no destruction either. There’d been no war. No fight.
That’s because Goland and Mason were expecting you to return in triumph. Instead, you were brought in like a broken horse.
“Here.” Rendal came to a stop. “Now, this will be different. As you can see, I’m already starting to rearrange certain elements.”
They’d made their way to Kingdom Square. A large area had been roped off in the middle, and more cinder blocks were filling it in, although not to build walls. The platform that was already there was being extended.
“What is it?” she asked.
“From time to time, we’re going to have fights. A long, long time ago—if I understand correctly—humans used to do this. They called the participants ‘gladiators.’ We’re going to do the same, only with magic. On this platform, we’ll have mages fight. Maybe to the death, maybe only to victory, I haven’t decided yet. This is part of changing the soul, though. Little boys and girls will grow up wanting to be great warrior mages. They’ll desire it almost from birth.”
Rendal looked from the square to Riley.
“I’m going to create a kingdom of conquerors. This is only the beginning.”
Riley didn’t look at him as he spoke, just stared at the laborers slowly reconstructing her kingdom.
“I’m ready to see Mason,” she finally said.
“There’s more for us to discuss, but I wanted you to understand that there’s no going back. I’ve already begun recruitment for the first class of mages. They’re eager, Riley. True, many of the citizenry distrust me, but not the young ones. They want to use their magic.”
Rendal’s eyes were alight with desire.
“This kingdom is already changing, and you will either join or die. There will be no more battles. No more chases. No more strategy. Join me, or I will take away everything you love, and then I will take your life.”
Riley looked down at her feet. “I grow tired of your pronouncements, mage. Show me Mason, and then you and I can deal with the rest of this.”
Mason and Goland remained behind bars as they watched Riley walk in.
The first thing Mason recognized was the necklace that hung from her neck. A guard escorted her in but stopped just through the door.
“When you’re done, knock. I’ll come open it.”
Riley didn’t turn around to answer him. Rather, she kept her eyes on Mason.
The guard left, shutting the door behind him.
“Rendal is just leaving you in here alone with us?” Mason asked.
Riley shrugged. “Alone is a strong word.” She looked around the room for a second. “There. One of those exploding devices.”
Mason’s eyes narrowed as he peered into the dark corner of the room and there it was, up at the top. Either he and Goland had missed it the entire time, or Rendal had only recently had it placed in here.
“Basically, if I try anything, he’ll bring down the whole structure on our heads,” Riley said as she turned back around.
Goland stepped up, walking past Mason to the bars. “How’s William? Is he alive?”
Riley knelt. “Your Grace.”
“Oh, stand up. Stand up!” Goland commanded. “I’m an old man behind bars. Does it look like I have any grace? I’ve been pissing in front of my son for the past week, so I think we can do away with the rituals. William, how is he?”
“He’s alive. Beat the hell out of Belarus on the way here. Do you know him?”
Mason groaned. “Unfortunately. Did he kill him? I doubt we’re that lucky.”
“Ha, no, Harold stopped it, but the man won’t be eating solid food for a while. His jaw is broken.”
“William is good for something, then,” Goland quipped. “Just not getting us out of here. Now, tell me, do you like what I’ve done with the place? I’ve added a new dictator, and we’re doing some new construction as well. I’ve also found myself a new home, as you can see. It lacks the…decor we had before, but it does get really cold at night,
and the bugs only come when the lights go off—which is mostly never.”
Riley smiled as she stood. “You’ve really done a masterful job, Your Grace. Though I must say, you could have had the walls painted.”
Goland grinned. “Yeah, I keep telling these guards the room needs a bit more flavor, but for some reason, they’re not listening to me anymore.”
Mason watched the two of them going back and forth, loving every moment of it.
Eventually, though, his father’s face grew solemn. “What is your plan, Right Hand? Do you have one?”
“I do,” Riley answered.
“Are we being listened to now?” Mason asked.
“Probably. I imagine anything any of us says is being heard by Rendal or will make its way back to him.” Riley searched Mason’s eyes. “Do you remember my sworn oath?”
“Of course,” Mason answered.
“Will you repeat it to me please, Assistant Prefect?”
“To protect my father. To protect me. To protect the kingdom. To protect the kingdom’s people.”
“I need you to trust that whatever happens, I haven’t forgotten my oath. I need you to remember that.”
“What are you saying, Riley?” Mason asked. He didn’t like the sound of this at all. He didn’t need to remember anything. He knew Riley like the back of his own hand. He knew both of their sworn oaths.
“I’m saying that I must do what is best to allow me to keep my oath, even if it doesn’t look like it.”
“You’re not…” Goland whispered, but his sentence trailed off.
Mason knew what he was going to say.
“You’re not going to join him. Tell me you’re not.”
“I’m going to keep my oath, Assistant Prefect. I’m going to protect your father, you, the kingdom, and its people.”
“Not if you join him,” Goland snapped. “If you join that monster, then you’re no better than him. You will have forsaken your oath and everything that you hold dear. Do not think otherwise even for a second.”
Riley looked down at her feet, and Mason’s anxiety turned to depression.
“I ask only that you remember my oath, Prefect Ire. I ask that you both remember it in the days to come.”
Chapter Eighteen
Rendal watched as Harold and Riley entered the Court. He was sitting on the throne, trying to decide if he wanted to keep this or get something new. He knew that Goland liked to say some nonsense that a throne should be uncomfortable to remind the Prefect of how hard of a job he had, which was bullshit. The hard part had been getting here. The rest would be smooth sailing.
The tapping of Harold’s and Riley’s heels echoed off the high ceiling as they walked.
“Your Grace,” his second in command said.
He knelt on one knee, while Riley remained standing.
“You’ve seen Mason.” Rendal looked down at her from his throne. “Now I’d like you to see something else.”
His eyes glowed red, and he flicked his hand at the ceiling. Tiny bright explosions went off above, and as they did, the ceiling disappeared, revealing the sky.
It was only an illusion, but she would get the point.
Orbs appeared in that sky, just as they were placed in reality—hanging above the kingdom.
“Your Prefect and Assistant Prefect are in jail. Your fellow Right Hand is also imprisoned. Your friends are either dead or in hiding, and overlooking them all are my creations—explosives that will decimate this place at my whim. There is nowhere for you to run. There is nothing you can do. So, Right Hand, what is your choice? You will join me, or you will die right here and now.”
The woman stared at the ceiling, seeing the orbs as they would look if the building did not exist.
Rendal’s eyes still blazed red.
“I’ll serve you, Rendal,” Riley said, her voice strong. “On one condition, though. Those I love will go free. Mason, his father, my friends…they all get to live in peace.”
Rendal laughed. “Do you think you are in a position to bargain?”
“I think I’m giving you what you want.” Riley looked at him. “I’m giving you me. I met your mentor, and you can tell that my power has grown. You can tell that after only a very brief time, I’m nearly as great a sorcerer as you, and I still haven’t reached my potential. I’m asking for something simple. Let them live.”
Rendal glanced at Harold. “Rise, rise.” He gestured quickly with his hand. “What is this, Harold? Does she sound mad, or is it just me? Her friends and loved ones, do they not smell like gutter trash?”
Harold smiled. “Never in life have there been such foul odors emanating from people.”
Rendal grinned back, knowing what he’d do, but enjoying fucking with Riley. “Yet she’s asking me to allow people giving off such a stench to walk freely around this kingdom? Around my kingdom?”
“She must truly think your kindness knows no bounds.”
Rendal chuckled and glanced at the Right Hand. She wore no smile.
“I’ll let them live, but not here. They can go into exile, perhaps up there with Linda in that dead city she calls home. None of them will stay here, though, and there will be no debating that.”
Riley nodded. “Okay.”
“Annnnnd,” Rendal said playfully, “I require one other thing, since we’re making deals.”
“What is it?”
“You will tell William here, in front of me, what you’re going to do.”
Rendal enjoyed the shock on Riley’s face.
“Did you think I would make it easy on you, given how hard you’ve made it for me?”
“Why?” she asked.
“Oh, you know why, Riley. Because while you may bend when you see no other option, he won’t. He’ll fight you tooth and nail, and I’m going to need a little more than your word that you’re joining me. Sure, all your friends and loved ones can leave, except William isn’t going to willingly do that. When he knows you’ve joined me, you’ll have to prove your loyalty.”
The Right Hand looked at her feet. Rendal could see her gritting her teeth from where he sat.
“What’s it going to be, Riley? There’s nowhere else to go. Your friends live, and you tell William whose side you’re on, or everyone dies.”
Finally, Riley nodded and looked up. “I’ll do it.”
Rendal grinned and turned to Harold. “That is good news, is it not?”
“Yes, Your Grace. It certainly is.”
“We’ll do this in public, then. I think it’ll be good for the kingdom to see that we are joining forces, and it will also be good for them to see you prove your loyalty. It’ll give your friends who are on the run a chance to get out of here, too. What do you say?”
Riley held his gaze. “If that’s how you want it.”
“You’ll take a loyalty oath in front of everyone?”
“If that’s how you want it,” she repeated.
“It is, Right Hand. It is exactly how I want it.”
“It… It can’t be true.”
Erin looked around the room in disbelief.
There were tears in Lucie’s eyes, and Kris and Brighten stared listlessly.
Mac stood in the middle of the lobby. He held the sheet of paper in his hand.
That in and of itself showed how true it was, because to print such a thing on paper was unheard of. Paper wasn’t the most valuable commodity in the kingdom, but one certainly didn’t print rumors on it.
“No,” Erin said, shaking her head. “No, I don’t believe it.”
The paper was a simple thing, thin and ready to tear. The words on it were just a simple: Riley Trident, Right Hand, joins Prefect Rendal Hemmons in loyalty pledge. Kingdom Square, tomorrow at noon.
“All of this…what was it for? Why did we do it?” Brighten asked, though who he queried, no one could say.
Erin turned to Mac. “Where did you get that?”
“They’re posted all over. The biggest use of paper I’ve ever seen in my life.”<
br />
“Did you talk to anyone about it?” she asked.
“Just Lionel. He works at the grocery. Said the whole place is gossipin’ about it, that Trident done decided to join up with the mage.”
Erin sat down in the first chair she saw, feeling like her legs might buckle if she didn’t.
No one moved. No one spoke.
Finally, Lucie blinked. A tear fell down her face, and she didn’t try to wipe it away. “Naw, I don’t believe it.”
“The hell you mean you don’t believe it, Lucie?” Mac asked. “It’s right there in black ’n white for you to read.”
“Oh, Mac, don’t tell me shit ‘bout readin’. I know you had to have Lionel read it for ya anyway. Hell, when ya put that sign up outside, I had to tell ya how to spell lodge, ain’t I?”
“Hush, Lucie. That was years ago!” Mac’s face flushed red.
“I don’t believe it.” Lucie seemed to be speaking only to herself. “I mean, I can read it. I know what it’s tellin’ me, but I’ve known Riley a lot longer than I’ve known that damned sheet of paper, and I ain’t ‘bout to believe it over the woman. She ain’t joinin’ up.”
Erin gazed at the older lady. “Then why post this?”
“I don’t know Rendal’s motives. Misdirection? Maybe some kind of grand gesture in which he vests power in himself—an illusion, even—but I know Riley ain’t simply saddlin’ up with the likes of him after everything we’ve been through.”
“Maybe she is,” Brighten muttered. “Look at what he’s done. He’s taken the kingdom. He’s taken her leader. What can she do?”
“I’ll have to see it with my own eyes,” Erin responded. “Otherwise, I’m not going to believe it. We’re going to have to go.”
“Watch her?” Kris asked. “Watch her betray us?”
“She’s not trading,” Lucie said. “Something else is happening, but she’s not switching sides.”
Erin ignored Lucie and responded to Kris. “Yes, I’m going. You should all come too. We’ve gone this far. If this is really happening, we need to see it.”
“I’ll go,” Lucie replied, although she stared off at an empty part of the room.
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