Table of Contents
Four
Book Details
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Epilogue
About the Author
Four
THE REPUBLIC BOOK 2
ARCHER KAY LEAH
On the outside, Mayr seems to have it all: a successful career as Head of the Guard for a prominent politician, family and friends who adore him, and the attention of beautiful women. But appearances are a good way to bury secrets, including the fact that while Mayr is a romantic at heart, searching for the one person to share his life with, his lovers keep leaving him.
When his last girlfriend takes him back and suggests an intimate night with Tash, one of her lovers, Mayr reluctantly agrees. The last thing he expects is to fall hard for Tash, who is nothing like Mayr's previous lovers—and about to undertake the Uldana Trials. If Tash fails, he'll likely die. If he succeeds, he must give up Mayr, and become the latest to leave Mayr standing alone with a broken heart.
Four
The Republic 2
By Archer Kay Leah
Published by Less Than Three Press LLC
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner without written permission of the publisher, except for the purpose of reviews.
Edited by Michelle Kelley
Cover designed by Natasha Snow
This book is a work of fiction and all names, characters, places, and incidents are fictional or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual people, places, or events is coincidental.
First Edition September 2016
Copyright © 2016 by Archer Kay Leah
Printed in the United States of America
Digital ISBN 9781620048474
Print ISBN 9781620048481
To Victoria. Thanks for being a cheerleader, beta, reader, fan, and all that good stuff. You're amazing and help keep me going! But thanks most for being a friend.
Also to Jaymes, aka Spawn. Without you, the Eseldeer seeing stones wouldn't have been a thing. One comment from you in a meeting with the grove filled in the all those details I was stuck on. Thanks, kid, and keep up that wise thinking. It's a true joy to know you!
Chapter One
This time, it would work out. This time, he would not let Sarene slip from his life. Even if it meant destroying what remained of his fractured pride.
Not that it's anything new. Mayr tossed his worn, brown leather saddle onto the chair in the corner of his horse's cleaned stall, staring at the fresh hay covering the floor. Some people get wealth and family and everything they could possibly want. And the luckiest get a life they truly need. I'm just lucky enough to be one of the cursed idiots who gets to watch everyone else be happy. Thank you, oh, Reverent Goddesses, for your soured kindness. You didn't have anything better to do the day I was born, did you?
Grumbling, he swept dirt off his black pants and turned up the sleeves of his black tunic. In the corridor behind him, Hetlan scraped the dark wood floor with one hoof. Mayr spun around to grasp the reins hanging loosely from Hetlan's bridle.
"More like I lost a bet," Mayr crooned, pulling Hetlan's black nose to his. The thick scent of horse overpowered all other smells of the stable.
Hetlan stomped the floorboards. His large, black body shifted backwards a half step.
"What? That's something that'd happen to me. You can't honestly tell me it wouldn't." When Hetlan lowered his head with a subtle shake, Mayr frowned. "Yeah, of course you'd say that. Thanks for having my back, friend. Next time I gamble and lose, I won't be looking for sympathy from you. And you can forget the extra helpings of ferat berries. I'm keeping them."
Hetlan raised his head to sniff Mayr's black hair, his chin jerking the long strands.
"Yeah, now you go for the sympathy." Mayr held Hetlan's head still. "Nice try. You just keep thinking like that, traitor." He caressed Hetlan's forehead. "Don't think I don't know you've been goosing Lira into feeding you sweets. She'll spoil you rotten more than you already are, you pretentious mongrel."
Whinnying, Hetlan stepped back and waited as Mayr picked up the brush from the bench beside the stall. Around them, the other horses made quiet noises, waiting for the stablehands to return and release them into the grassy field behind the Dahe estate.
Lost in the soothing motions of grooming Hetlan, Mayr thought of Sarene. The way she styled her blonde hair fashionably as though she were a prim heiress of one of the Grand Families instead of a woodcutter's daughter. The bright light in her dark green eyes whenever she found an object she desired, sharing her infectious delight with others. The unpredictable times she would launch into a fit of giggles without a care about how ridiculous she sounded to passersby, combating ridicule with confidence.
The selfish way she had broken his emotionally-battered heart and kicked him aside.
The presumptuous attitude as she approached him twenty days later, saying she wanted him back.
The pathetic manner in which he had told her "yes," betraying the fact he had not yet finished pining for her.
This won't end well. Mayr sighed and brushed the dip in Hetlan's back. But she says we can work it out. Try it again. Maybe find what we were missing the first time 'round. That's worth something, right? The fact she came back and admitted she was wrong—that's a good thing, isn't it? She hates saying she was wrong about anything. It has to mean something.
"I hope," he whispered, trying to forget the odd gleam in her eye when she had ended their relationship six weeks before. After being with him for eight months, Sarene had announced they were finished, citing vague reasons. Mostly that she was not getting what she needed and he deserved a different kind of woman.
Whatever that really means. Mayr snorted. More than one woman had claimed similar excuses before leaving him. The pattern was enough to make him think the words were code for a truth he could never know. Sarene was no different.
Except she had come back. No one else had. Her return meant a second chance. A second chance meant hope. Hope meant he could patch up the holes drilled into his life by loneliness.
Whoa, there, a voice nagged from behind his thoughts, resembling his father's scolding tone. Before you start dancing naked through the streets and throwing flowers to the Goddesses, think about Sarene's proposal. She's come back, sure, but for what? Don't you think her plan to fix things is a little much?
Mayr studied the brush, resting his other hand on Hetlan's side. His doubts had a fair point. Three days after he had agreed to take her back, Sarene suggested they spend a night together with another man. A man she had slept with while separated from Mayr. "It'll be good for us, you'll see," Sarene had said. "It'll be exciting! Something new. We'll have so much fun, and we'll be doing it together, you and me. Isn't that romantic? Not everyone can, you know. It'll be special, just like us. And he's a real sweetheart. Don't you worry about a thing."
But he did worry. It was never a good sign when the proposed solution to fix a shattered relationship and wounded trust was another man. Especially if it was the same man Sarene had left him for.
"Why am I so stupid?" Mayr asked Hetlan. "I mean completely, walk-into-a-wall-until-it-kills-me stupid? You'd think after the third time, I'd have smartened up."
Hetlan did not respond, staring out the open doors of the stable.
"Great, you've got nothing, either." Mayr brushed Hetlan's mane. "I still haven't given her an answer. It's ridiculous how no and yes are equally excruciating to say. I choke
every time I go to tell her my decision. Do you know how frustrating that is? And for a Head Guard, no less?"
Eye on Mayr, Hetlan turned his head.
"Yeah, guess that's a stupid question, for more than one reason." Mayr flicked his dark hair over his shoulder and tightened the thin tie holding it back. "We can stick you with a dozen mares for half a day and you'd have mated with most of them by sunset without arguments or fits. They just gravitate to you; even the ones I think will kick you. That's it. Next life, I'm a horse."
"Good idea, since you're always talking to Hesalfemmer there like you expect him to talk back," a woman's voice teased from the other end of the corridor.
Mayr whirled toward Aeley Dahe, smiling as she sauntered up to him. Her dark blonde hair cascaded over her shoulders and embroidered green tunic in a lightly tangled mass. "He listens better than most people I know. The fact you still can't remember his name's Hetlan says it all."
Aeley punched Mayr's arm, her slender nose and pink, glossy lips scrunched. "I know his name, halfwit. You're not the only one with a sense of humour."
"Oh, is that what that was? And here I thought Lira was the funny one." Mayr tilted his head, his grey eyes narrowed. "Wait, did you two attempt to switch personalities and fail horribly?"
"Funny."
"I try." Mayr sighed loudly, drawing it out. "You don't know how many nights I stay up pondering witty, hilarious things to say just so you can—"
Aeley punched his arm again.
"—do that. Exactly. Didn't sleep well, I take it?"
"Slept fine. It's the messenger I could kill." Aeley flexed her fists inside the crooks of her elbows, annoyance in her brown eyes. "Nothing like finding out the rest of the Derossa family is showing up at the Feast of Eleia. It's just the way I wanted to end the summer."
"Ah. That'd do it." Mayr placed the brush on the bench without a clever retort. He shared Aeley's disappointment about Lira Derossa's family, one of the influential Grand Families in the Republic of Kattal's aristocracy. After Lira's brothers had attacked innocent villagers, then kidnapped and tried to force Aeley into marriage two years before, Mayr's tolerance for the family was low to the point of nonexistent. He could be gracious with forgiveness, but some things were unforgivable. The fact Lira's family treated her as though she was a diseased criminal did nothing to woo his respect. Scribe or not, Lira deserved more than sneers and coercion. She was like another sister, even if Aeley had not fallen in love with her. He would protect Lira from her father and mother as much as he protected Aeley from the dangers of being Tract Steward for their region. They were the best friends he had.
"There's still time before the feast comes up," he offered softly. "Maybe they'll change their mind. Everything can change in a day, remember, and there are several left."
"Yes, but it's highly unlikely." Aeley shuffled her feet, staring at her dirty, knee-high boots. "I think they're coming to use us like they did the last time. After what Emon and Ryler did to me and everyone else, their family's even worse off than they used to be. They couldn't be more socially deprived. The sons finally outdid the greed of the father and destroyed their reputations completely. Even the entire High Council refuses to step foot in their estate—and there are twelve Councilmen. Twelve. No one wants anything to do with the Derossas. They're too afraid of what comes next. Asha tried to obliterate my father; his sons took revenge out on innocent villagers just to make me do whatever they want. What comes next? Etalynn poisoning a Councilman and blaming another, throwing Kattal into disarray?"
She huffed, her nose crinkled in disgust. "Even if they really were coming to check up on us like they said, I don't appreciate it. Lira's the only one who matters and they can go drown themselves. I want nothing from them. Not their money, not their support, not their anything."
Mayr grunted. "Not at all what you said during that marriage contract disaster."
"That was then; this is now. I've been Steward for a couple of years. Got my footing. I've shown the villagers, the Grands, and the High Council I can govern. And that's without having my father hold my hand from the other side of death. So what if Asha and Etalynn Derossa withhold their love? Lira and I have more than enough supporters."
"What does she say about it?"
"She's as impressed as I am, so their funeral will be during dessert."
Caught on a dry laugh, Mayr coughed. "Whole Guard's invited?"
"Of course. I'm expecting you to bring the roasting forks."
Eyes watering, Mayr cleared his throat. "Great. I'll pass the assignments around to the guards and tell them to savour each morsel like they won't eat ever again. I'll starve them for days beforehand just to make it a glorious feast." He brushed back Aeley's hair. "Though seriously, I'll increase guard presence that night. Make sure it's clear beyond clarity that no one will start anything. If I hear even a whisper of a fight, I can't promise I'll be my usual charming self. And if Etalynn threatens to go off on Lira again, I might just forget all manners and pitch the nuisance into an abandoned well."
Aeley kissed his cheek. "And I'd probably let you, you sweet, sweet man."
So sweet I run off every girl I've ever been with. Why is it you're the only one who's ever stood by me?
Mayr forced a sly smile. "Sweet man's just one of my names. Extraordinary lover. A being too sexy and perfect to actually exist. Shame you keep forgetting those." They were not the words he wanted to say and far from what he needed, but they made Aeley laugh, just as she did whenever he spoke highly of himself. Cocky words she took as a joke and overabundant confidence.
Words that were nothing but lies, hiding a painful truth she could never know.
Nor could he reveal what gnawed on his conscience. If there was anyone he should have been able to talk to, it was Aeley, his best friend since childhood. Despite being raised in a Grand Family with a politically-important father, Aeley had not overlooked Mayr like others would have. Rather she sought him out, befriending him when they were eleven years old. Even during the turbulent times of adolescence, rife with ego-wounding scraps, awkward scenarios, and questionable predicaments, she had stood by him. Together they had played innocent games, trained with her father's soldiers, and gone to battle. He had bandaged her bloody wounds and broken limbs, and allowed her to patch his invisible injuries, ones that could not bleed. For her alone, he would remain Head of the Guard for the Dahe estate.
But as much as he wanted to tell Aeley about Sarene and ask for her opinion, he needed to remain silent about his love life. He trusted Aeley with his family, his livelihood, and his life, but never with his lovers.
She'll just call me an absolute idiot for carrying on with Sarene. And yeah, I am, but I don't need to hear it. I'm beating myself up enough without some obnoxious comment about my taste in women. I don't need the lecture. Or to have something arranged with some friend of hers. Last time that happened, I was left standing in the rain with wilted flowers, believing said friend when she said I wasn't good enough. I still haven't thanked you for that help, Ae.
Even then, it was not the main reason he kept quiet about Sarene.
The things Aeley could do to her worried him more.
Bitter memories surfaced from where he had crammed them, taunting him as his heartbeat stuttered. Try as he may, he would never forget Betta; his wife in all ways but one and mother to a child who haunted him with regret.
What Aeley had done to Betta over that regret could never be repeated with anyone else.
Aeley could inflict substantial damage with her military training. His girlfriends, however, were not trained, making them vulnerable. Not telling Aeley about his broken heart kept everyone safe. Violence needed to be saved for criminals and those who maliciously harmed others, not the women who rejected him.
Although, knowing Aeley, they're the same thing.
Mayr grinned and retrieved his sword from the bench, strapping it on as he spoke. "If it makes you feel any better, there's one good thing about the Feast we know
for certain."
One of Aeley's golden brows lifted. "Which is?"
"Emon, Ryler, and that shameful thing we call your brother won't be there. At all. If they were, they'd have to be executed on the spot."
"True," Aeley agreed. "Warden Rea assures me the three of them are being worked to the full extent the quarry can offer."
"It's funny how life goes after you get stuck in a prison for the rest of your life," a soft voice added from the open doors behind Mayr. Lira stepped into the stable, the loose curls of her dark brown hair swept back on one side and held by a jeweled comb. Her light blue gown covered most of her pale body except for the gradual dip in her neckline. "Not that I'm complaining. Meeting Allon Dahe once was one time too many. And growing up with Emon and Ryler… I honestly don't mind the rest of the world having them."
Aeley's face brightened as Lira stopped by her side. Without a word, Aeley's lips took to Lira's. Both women surrendered to the full kiss that ripped at Mayr's heart like a dagger.
Watching them killed him more each time.
"Afternoon, you," Mayr greeted. "Come to plot your parents' demise? Have a suggestion for what drink pairs best with a funeral rite?"
Lira rolled her eyes. "Why waste a beautiful day on that?" She curled her arm around Aeley's, flashing her ink-stained fingers and the green and white jewels set in a gold band that served as her marriage ring. The ring matched Aeley's, though the pattern of the stones in Aeley's was reversed. "I just came to bring her back to the house. Vant is waiting on us. Again."
Mayr snickered. "You keep making your solicitor wait, Ae, and he's going to start thinking you don't like him. Or he'll die of frustration. Old age is already threatening to get him. And then who would we get to keep you out of legal troubles?"
"If our law processes weren't boring and long-winded, maybe I'd enjoy them." Aeley held up her hands. "If they ended in 'jab the pointy end here,' I'd be on it."
"But they don't, and Vant's patience is wearing thin. He also has an appointment with the High Council afterwards, as do I. So let's go." Lira pulled Aeley toward the doors, stroking Hetlan's side as she passed. "We'll see you at dinner, Mayr, assuming we don't get held up."
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