Vortex Chronicles: The Complete Series

by Kova, Elise

  “What the—” Jayme was now awake, but Vi’s attention was on the man wrenching off the blanket she’d thrown at him.

  Vi held out her hand. “Mysst soto—” She froze, the chant stalled, magic dissipating with nowhere to go, as she locked eyes with Fallor.

  Chapter Twenty

  Fallor was like a mountain in the small room. His clothes were sun-bleached and windswept. A thick, ruddy beard clung to his cheeks and accentuated the white of his teeth, exposed by a mad grin.

  He looked like he was about to rip her to pieces with those giant hands of his.

  Vi held out her hand, readying her magic again. But before she could even start the chant, Jayme lunged.

  She plunged her hand into his gut. Vi didn’t expect the man to even feel it, but Fallor let out a large exhale of air. If he was stunned, it was only briefly. He lifted his hands, balled them together, and brought them down over Jayme’s head.

  But Jayme was too fast; she spun behind him and grabbed her sword from the table. Vi heard the blade ring against the sheathe, startling her back into motion as Fallor’s attention was split between them.

  “Mysst soto larrk.” Vi held out her hand, closing her fingers around the sword that formed there. Her practice with Jayme had made the magic faster, more confident, and the blade feel even firmer in her hand.

  “It really is true, then.” Fallor laughed.

  “Haven’t I heard that before?” Vi growled back. “I think from the last assassin who tried to kill me.”

  “I’m not an assassin and I certainly don’t want to kill you. You’re worth far more alive. You’ve no idea the bounty they have on your head.” He took a step forward.

  “Take one more step and I put this blade through the back of your skull.” Jayme said from behind him. From her vantage on the bed, Vi could see the woman had her blade on the back of the man’s neck. Fallor only grinned wider at the threat.

  “You think you have this under control?”

  “I think you shouldn’t underestimate us,” Jayme answered for them both.

  “We’ll see!” Fallor doubled over, pushing himself back and into Jayme. Her sword went over his head before she was pinned against the table on the opposite wall.

  Vi took her chance, lunging for him. Every combat tutor she’d ever worked with told her the same thing: when an opening presented itself, the living took it, and the dead never had the opportunity to learn better.

  She was mid-air as Fallor straightened. His hand came out of nowhere, clasping around her wrist and pulling the blade over his shoulder. She hung, struggling against his grasp, but his muscles were like iron. He took a step away from Jayme; Vi heard wheezing at the same moment Fallor tightened his grip, a pulse of foreign magic rippling through Vi’s body.

  The sword vanished.

  “Little Lightspinner, you think your magic is a threat to me?”

  “Who are you working for?” Vi demanded, looking in his pale eyes. Whatever that magic was, it wasn’t anything she knew. Which meant… Fallor wasn’t from the Solaris Empire.

  “The pirate queen herself.” Fallor beamed from ear to ear as Vi’s blood turned to ice.

  “Adela,” she whispered.

  “Don’t you touch her!” Jayme had recovered and charged full force into Fallor’s back.

  The man let out a roar and released her. Vi fell, stumbling slightly, hitting the bed and collapsing onto it. The point of Jayme’s sword protruded from Fallor’s side. She stared at it with a dark fascination as blood pooled, dripping down his shirt and staining it crimson.

  “You upstart bitch.” The words were as harsh as his guttural tone. But Fallor had a wild grin and a crazed look to his eye as he turned from Vi to Jayme when she withdrew her sword. “Fine…” He looked back to Vi.

  Vi readied herself with another sword, but Fallor didn’t go for her.

  Instead, he lunged for the door, yanking at it. Wood splintered and cracked as he pulled it open without even turning the knob. He ran from the room, racing down the hall to the stair.

  Vi was on her feet.

  “You stay here,” Jayme ordered, already halfway out the door.

  “But—”

  “I know you’re safe here if I don’t let him from my sight! Stay put!”

  Vi would’ve fought more, but Jayme was already gone.

  She didn’t want to be left behind. She didn’t want to leave Jayme to do the dirty work on her behalf. Vi pushed away from the bed, starting for the door. Then decided better of it.

  She’d give her friend five minutes… five minutes and then she’d go help.

  Vi strained her hearing, listening for any sounds of a struggle. She heard them bounding down the stairs and then out the main door. But then, silence.

  Quickly, Vi repacked their things, shoving sundries into their respective packs. She stood, slinging both over her shoulder. One slow count to ten, and then she was after Jayme. Vi set to pacing, trying to push the visions of her friend dying a horrible death as far from her mind as possible with every step.

  “That’s it,” she declared, reaching ten, and started for the door.

  A single set of footsteps—light and nimble—bounded up the stairs. Jayme’s hair was wild. Dark bruises puffed around her right eye, and she held herself a little crooked. But she was alive, and Vi didn’t see any mortal wounds.

  “Did he—”

  “I killed him. I wasn’t about to let him run to whatever pirate scum he had hiding.” Jayme crossed over, grabbing her pack from Vi before starting down the stairs once more, leaving Vi little other option but to follow hastily behind. “Old man’s waking up. We need to get out of here before they find the body.”

  “But we didn’t do anything wrong.”

  “Even if that’s true, do you want to be held up long enough to try to prove it?” Jayme hissed.

  “No…” Vi paused at the front desk, fishing through her pack. She put one heavy gold coin on the counter for the damage to the door as the man stumbled from his back room.

  “What’s the—” he muttered.

  “Sorry for the door, thanks for letting us stay!” Vi shouted over her shoulder as she hastily followed Jayme into the night.

  She searched around the inn for signs of the scuffle. The blood trail led around the corner of the building, footprints in the sand surrounding the drops. But it passed out of Vi’s field of vision.

  “Jayme, is the body—”

  “Yes.” Jayme glanced over her shoulder, three steps ahead and not slowing. “A town like this? They’ll leave it to the animals. It’s not worth their trouble to pursue us. We’re outsiders, he was an outsider, they won’t care for any of us and they’re not going to mourn him. He’ll be food for the wolves by tomorrow night.”

  “He was masquerading as a soldier. Do you think the army will send a search party after him?” Vi stumbled on the wheel ruts in the road she’d been so careful to avoid earlier.

  “If the army hasn’t sent a search party this far after you, they’re certainly not going to send one after him.” Jayme reached out a hand, helping Vi catch her balance. They stilled for just a second, catching their breath. Her friend seemed so calm, so stable, even now. “And you heard him, he was working for Adela… Or at least some kind of pirate claiming to be the infamous pirate queen. He may not have been on any kind of soldier roster at all. Maybe that’s why so few people knew anything about him—he was pretending the whole time to get to you.”

  A shiver ran down Vi’s spine that had nothing to do with the desert’s icy chill at night. She could handle assassins lurking around corners—those were the devils she knew. But assassins lurking under the guise of people she should be able to trust? Vi didn’t know if she could handle that notion.

  “Then—” Vi swallowed, trying to find her words and make them sound stronger than she felt. “—Perhaps it’s a good thing I got away from the army. Maybe I’m safer incognito.”

  “As long as you stay that way,” Jayme agreed.
“Now, come on, we’ll get some distance between us and Inton and set up camp. Try to get a few hours of sleep before we continue on to Norin.”

  Vi didn’t know if she would manage to sleep at all after the incident. But if anything would help, it would be further exhausting herself. She fell into step behind Jayme, focusing on the road while worrying the wooden bead on the bracelet Ellene had given her.

  It didn’t matter if the Adela Fallor worked for was real or not. He’d said there was a bounty on her head… and that meant more than just the elfin’ra were likely to be after her now.

  As long as she was Vi Solaris, Yargen’s Champion, nowhere was going to be safe.

  * * *

  Three days later, and without any other incident, the great city of Norin came into view.

  Vi couldn’t imagine a more perfect time to see the city than in the early hours. Towering walls of raw stone rose up and out, curved to sheer away dangerous sandstorms from the city proper. Even taller than those were the looming buildings that rose to meet the castle at its center.

  The many glittering lights of lamps and houses sparkled on a shadowed background, the city cast in a dark outline by the first pastel rays of sunrise bleeding across the horizon from the east. It was as if someone had painted it with a starry brush—a beauty that took Vi’s breath away.

  Much like when she had left the Crossroads, the majority of the city slumbered. Houses were quiet and storefronts were occupied by only a few lone workers. Residential alleyways were still, windows just opening to let in the early breezes of dawn.

  Also like the Crossroads, the architecture of the buildings mirrored that of the traditional West—squat, flat-roofed, structural beams poking out at the corners and edges here and there. But the construction here was, on the whole, even older. Which said something, given that the Crossroads had served as a central market of the Main Continent for centuries.

  Norin was the ancient bastion of Mhashan—its original capital, the origin of the religion of the Mother. And it showed. The rich areas were steeped in old money, and the poor areas had a coat of grime that was just as ancient.

  The streets were more full than she expected as they plodded along. There were other travelers and merchants, and men and women going to work for the day. None of them made any effort to stop or bother her and Jayme, though there were a few looks here and there—mostly at the soldier.

  Where the Crossroads saw travelers of all types regularly, Norin was almost exclusively populated by those of the West. Jayme’s fairer Eastern skin stood out here. Vi only slightly blended in, thanks to her father’s bloodline. But overall, even she looked pale by comparison.

  Vi’s focus mostly stayed on the structure dominating the sky before her.

  The castle had grown by the hour and now it was almost impossible to look anywhere without seeing some part of it. The edifice was imposing, rigid, and done in mostly black stone—a stark contrast to the sandstone she’d seen across the majority of the West. But she didn’t know if the stone’s coloration came from the stone itself, or centuries of exposure to the nearby sea.

  “It’s truly a marvel,” Jayme murmured from her side.

  “It is.” Vi hadn’t realized that they’d both come to a stop, admiring the structure. “How does it stack up to the Imperial Castle?”

  “It’s hard to say… They’re both incredible. The castle in the South has more height.”

  “More than this?” Vi said, shocked.

  “Well, it’s built into a mountain... So it cheats. They’re both impressive in different ways.”

  Vi gave a small nod.

  “Were you planning on going to Norin’s castle?” Jayme asked, shifting to face her. “After you managed to run away?”

  “What? Oh no.” Vi realized Jayme misunderstood her fascination. “I had thought it would be years until I laid eyes on it. But now… here I am.”

  “So, what is your plan?”

  She knew Jayme likely wasn’t intending to be accusatory, but her tone bordered on it. It’s not like Vi could blame her. She’d dragged her through the desert on a mission that appeared to be half-baked to begin with.

  “Well…” Vi started slowly, allowing the plan to solidify in her mind as she spoke. “I planned on going down to the docks, asking around, seeing if I could find work on a ship or stow away that could get me to at least the barrier islands, then…”

  “Then… what? You just hope a ferry stops by to take you the rest of the way to the Crescent Continent?” Jayme put her hand on her hip, shifting her weight, and giving a small, frustratingly satisfied grin. It was the kind of grin she reserved for when she knew she was already right.

  “Okay, you have a better plan?”

  “I think I do.” Jayme’s body language shifted. For a brief moment she looked conflicted. But before Vi could ask why, she continued. “Do you know where the Le’Dan manor is?”

  “The Le’Dan Estate is just outside of the Crossroads.”

  “Their main one is,” Jayme agreed. “But they have another out here.”

  Vi was reminded of Andru’s words once more. “Why do you know so much about the Le’Dans?”

  “You’ll find out.” Jayme sighed. “Just lead the way to the estate, my cartographically-inclined friend.”

  Vi didn’t even have to reach for the journal in her pack; the maps of Norin, with its off-center crescent shape wrapped around the greatest port in the world, filled her mind. There, diagonal from that point, was the castle. Making a triangle with the two was the main gate, where the East-West Way ended. Vertically toward the sea from the gate—though frustratingly without a direct access route—was the northwest ridge. It was the wealthy area of town with homes that dominated the same space as three or more smaller ones in the city on Vi’s to-scale maps.

  “It’ll be this way.” Vi opened her eyes and pointed. “But I really don’t want to go to Lord Le’Dan.”

  “Why?” Jayme adjusted her pack and began walking, despite Vi’s uncertainty. “He has ships, and he’s an old friend of your family.”

  “He’s a Le’Dan. He only does what benefits him.”

  “And you don’t think helping the crown—helping you,” Jayme hastily corrected before any passerby could hear. “Would be of benefit to him?”

  “I don’t want to reveal who I am.” The road began to incline as they wove through the buildings of a city waking. “What if I do and he refuses to help? What if he keeps me under lock and key until Elecia returns, then hands me back over?” Vi’s voice had dropped to a worried whisper.

  “So don’t tell him who you are until he agrees to help you.”

  “And we’re back to why would he agree to help a no one? He’s a Le’Dan.”

  The Le’Dans were splashed throughout history, thriving at every turn, even when they lost by traditional measures. The family had once vied against Vi’s own lineage—the Ci’Dans—for control of the West. In the end, the Ci’Dans claimed the crown and the military, and the Le’Dans claimed the purse strings. Rivals became begrudging partners, then willing allies, and finally friends as the years progressed.

  “Vi… trust me, just this once.” Jayme sighed heavily.

  “I always trust you.” Vi glanced at her from the corners of her eyes. “Are you all right?”

  “I’ll be fine. I’m not looking forward to this either, honestly. And I don’t want to argue about it any more.”

  With that, the conversation died.

  They turned and began walking along a street aptly named “Golden Row.” Every building was more ornate than the last. They had intricately carved doors and windows of delicate iron scrollwork and colored glass that undoubtedly cost more than some families made in a year. Most seemed to cater to fashion-based industries. There were cobblers, milliners, jewelers, and more tailors than she could count.

  Based solely on appearances, her and Jayme were wildly out of place, and getting more than one questioning look from those who passed. Even though there h
ad been no gates or guards, it felt as if they had trespassed on grounds where they weren’t supposed to be. They were the “poor folk,” the “lesser,” and should thusly stay in their respective section of town. Every glare from the affluent citizenry seemed to try to convey the thought.

  Vi was certainly unbothered by it, however. If anything, she found it amusing. To think that the men and women who turned up their noses at her were actually sniffing at the Crown Princess Solaris. It was almost enough to make her laugh aloud.

  “We shouldn’t be far now… up that way.” Vi pointed to a narrow stair between two buildings.

  “How do you remember your maps so well?” Jayme huffed softly up the steep stone steps. “Down to street names?”

  “I can’t explain it,” Vi confessed. “Perhaps not being able to travel forced me to cement it, because I always thought of it. Walking here now… almost feels like I’ve done this before. I’ve gone over it in my mind so many times.”

  They were both breathing hard as they finally reached the top of the third set of stairs, grabbing their knees and thanking the Mother above for the fact that they had finally reached what seemed like the summit of the northwest ridge. For such a large piece of land, there were only a few homes. Every one was guarded with a tall wall and gatehouse to ward away all who didn’t have express business.

  “This certainly looks like the place.” Jayme straightened and looked around.

  “Yes.” Vi stood taller as well, catching her wind. “Look, there.”

  She pointed toward a manor five down the row, distinctly larger than the rest. It towered two floors above the other tallest house on the row and seemed to have dominated the most prime piece of real estate. In fact, Vi wouldn’t be surprised if the whole ridge had once been a singular estate, parsed out over the years for gifts, or strategy, or coin. It waved a large flag from its tallest rooftop bearing the Le’Dan crest.

  “Well, we’ve come this far… Let’s do this.” Jayme marched forward, as though she was going off to war.