Longinus peered out the window at the constellation. They were a series of three bright stars in line with one another. Rather plain for Longinus’s taste. “You’ve never told me that. What makes them so special?”
Randolph sighed. “Let’s just say they remind me of Tamzin and Rhea.”
He hardly ever mentions their names. Especially his daughter’s. Longinus knew he loved his daughter, even though she’d not been his own by blood. Her aunt had been with another man who’d left as soon as he’d learned of the pregnancy. Eternal Mother, I’m older than Rhea ever grew to be. Her cousin had been thirteen years old when the massacre happened. Six years older than Longinus at the time. And now she was six years older than Rhea.
“You don’t often talk about them.”
“I don’t,” her uncle responded after a short moment. “Sometimes I worry that I may slip up and ruin our story. You understand, of course, why I’ve had to change your identity, yes?” He didn’t wait for her to respond. “Ænæria is very much a man’s country. Even before Xander ruled, the Northern Kingdoms didn’t give women many rights. They were meant to take care of the house and children while the men tended the farm or marched off to battle. After our village was sold out by your father and our family slaughtered, I saw it as my duty to raise you in a direction that would absolve your father’s sins. And the only way for you to find any success in this world was to act as a man.”
Longinus swallowed hard. It wasn’t like her uncle to explain himself. After twelve years, she had to learn not to question him. She’d learned that disobeying her uncle led to terrible consequences—punishments from the Eternal Mother. Like when she fought in the arena with the gladiators and lost her hand to Limmetrad. She’d known it was forbidden, and yet she did it anyway. Her rebellious behavior had significantly decreased since then. Her night drinking in towns had gone away, too, since she’d became a legate. Surely it was the Sun’s hand at work, guiding Longinus along the correct path.
“My father sold out Sun Reach,” Longinus replied. “He was a traitor, working for the Miners Guild. And I’m to undo his actions. I understand, sir.” It was a lie she told with great frequency. The principle made sense to her, but it never felt right. It never felt fair.
“Precisely. I believed at the time that a man would have the greatest chance of that. Ænæria wasn’t ready to have a woman with such power. But it seems we live in a time of great change.”
There was a thump in her chest. “What are you saying, sir?”
“I placed the Vänalleatian girl as a legate as a sort of experiment to determine how the people will react. She’s nothing but a pawn—a disposable piece of a much larger game. If the people reject her, then so be it, I can find a replacement. If she’s accepted by her people, then even better. It seems the latter is the case. She’s doing a marvelous job in Vestinia. It seems my little bargain with her was more than I could have hoped for.”
Longinus frowned. She knew very well about the pagan girl’s success. The she-legate adopted Ænærian ways rather quickly. A worthy successor to Fenwin to be sure. “If she’s doing well, then what’s the problem?”
The king stepped from the windowsill, though his eyes seemed to linger on the constellation as if tethered to them by some invisible force. He took a seat across Longinus. His boots rested at the dining table’s edge, and he leaned back in his chair.
“You see”—he started, waving his face with his hat—“it seems Ænæria has grown rather accepting of women leaders. Perhaps it’s an unintended consequence of the Vänalleatian’s position, or our people are simply becoming more cultured and progressive. Nevertheless, it seems there is a call to replace me with Xander’s daughter. People all over the realm are calling for a Queen of Ænæria.”
“I don’t see how I can help with that. She’s Xander’s own blood. Killing her would be a sin worse than my father’s betrayal. In her short time in Ænæria, the people grew to love her. We would only make her into a martyr.”
“Now, now, let’s not be hasty. I don’t want her dead. I have other plans for the girl. No, my concern is a civil war on top of our war with the southerners. The Bacchusans have been dealt with, but I don’t need another insurgency under my nose. We need to crush the Penteric Alliance for good and remove any possibility of rebellion or further war from our people’s minds. My sources tell me they’ll be marching on Ænæria soon. Trapping them in our lands may not be as useful as I stated in Ignistad if they make allies with rebels. We may have to speed up our counter.”
“What is there for me to do? I’m just one legate, and my army is far from the largest. Are the mainland provinces not enough to destroy the enemy?”
Randolph threw up his hands. “I don’t know. We have the numbers and the weapons, whereas they’ve got spies and moles. Add that to the possibility of turncoats fighting for Queen Rose, and they may stand a chance. I’d rather avoid that altogether. That’s why I think it’s time you visited one of the Vaults.”
10
Ben
Mashariq, Penteric Alliance
Of all the settlements in the Penteric Alliance, Mashariq was probably Ben’s favorite. It was a town of scattered wooden cabins and boat homes on the edge of a bay that was fed by the Gjoll and itself let out channels that eventually flowed into the ocean. Its people were fishers, sailors, and boat makers who spent more time on the water than land.
Ben had only been to Mashariq a handful of times in the past, for celebrations like Ymbolg during the Storm Moon. Lydia had begrudgingly brought him along as a child to entertain Rose. Ben was eleven years old the last time he visited, and he recalled being taught how to sail by an older Mashariqan. That was when Ben developed his affinity for the water and began to dream of seeing the ocean. He finally saw it for the first time, a few moons ago when he’d woken up on Julius’s airship. Since then, Ben had seen the ocean from the sky plenty of times, but something about simply being on the water still called to him. Seeing it from the sky just didn’t soothe that craving.
Unfortunately, Ben knew he wouldn’t be able to sail anytime soon. The stay in Mashariq would only be temporary while he waited for Darius. Ben had told both Rose and Darius about the message Mimir received from the Vault in Ney, asking for them to travel east. Rose declined the offer, stating she had to go through with this whole ‘Queen of Ænæria’ business, which included being unable to lend him any of the airships—including the one he’d just flown into Mashariq on.
There were few others Ben trusted enough to go on this mission with him. It would be different if he could’ve flown there. He would have traded trust for the speed of flying with an airship crew. Since he was going to have to ride there, the trip would take substantially longer. All that extra time would only provide more opportunities for secrets to get out—about his powers and his destination. He couldn’t give the Ænærians the chance to get that information. That left the number of people he was willing to travel with rather slim. He’d used Hüginn and Müninn’s connection to ask Kristos, Zechariah, and Trinity to come with him. Kristos was busy leading the sentinels, and Zechariah claimed to be otherwise occupied in making sure his twin didn’t make a messy job of it. As for Trinity, she told Ben rather bluntly that she wasn’t up for any more adventures with Darius.
One of these days, Ben would figure out what the deal was between those two.
That left Ben with only Mandi and Darius to travel with. Fewer people riding toward east would be faster, and he was glad that, if it had to be any two people, it was them. Still, he couldn’t help being disappointed that he and Rose couldn’t journey together.
With any luck, Ben and Mandi would be arriving in Mashariq within a day of Darius since the flight from Svaldway and ride from Freztad both took roughly the same amount of time. The airship arrived just before dusk, the warm red sun sinking below the lake and squawks of drifting mallards filling his ears from every direction. They landed by the port located on a small island in the bay. Ben and Mandi w
alked side by side from the airship port toward the docks. For the most part, water channels acted in place of streets in Mashariq, and people traveled to shops and houses in small rowboats around the lake’s scattered islands. The main town was located on the bay’s western shore where townspeople could trade with outsiders and travel by road.
An older man with a patchy gray beard ferried Ben and Mandi across the water to the main shoreline from the small island they’d arrived on. He didn’t speak and seemed rather uncomfortable, though Ben figured that was due to Sierra’s imposing presence taking up over half the boat.
By the time they made it to the shore and onto the docks, Sierra strolled off in the opposite direction toward the woods. Ben sighed, already missing his companion but resolved it was for the best. Can’t have her terrifying the townsfolk. Most people in the Penteric Alliance knew about the one-eyed man and large wolf that accompanied him—though that didn’t mean they were any less afraid when they saw the pair. Meanwhile, Hüginn soared over the water on his own to look for Darius and report back to Ben. On their way to the shore, Ben saw the raven dive into the water and swoop back up with a trout between its beak. Apparently, Sierra and the ravens actually required food, as they were not powered by solar energy like the Ænærian’s technology, but rather by chemical energy obtained via digestion. Somehow, Ben’s father and Mimir were able to recreate that process in the synthetic animals.
At the shore’s docks, Ben and Mandi passed a handful of sentinels and guild members trading supplies with locals. They unloaded cargo from the north, ore and coal mined on the nearly uninhabited islands surrounding Svaldway. The islands had a fair share of iron and copper, and those were always in demand, even though Talamdor was rich in the metals. It was the gold found in Svaldway that intrigued the people the most because it was something rarely seen in the Penteric Alliance. It would likely become the cornerstone of a new currency now that ordinary seeds were no longer as rare or precious.
Along with the metals and coal being delivered from the docks, Ben noticed large barges rocking against the wooden docks being loaded with metal poles, leather tarps, and warped wooden planks; the disassembled pieces to the longboats that would be shipped to the settlements on the Gjoll to create a navy of vessels small enough to voyage through even the smallest of Ænæria’s network of rivers and wetlands.
They continued to walk down the docks together, making their way towards a pier. The sun was viciously bright, a bright red centerpiece on a canvas. Mandi picked up a rock from the shoreline and threw it across the water. It skipped four times.
“Why send the boats dissembled rather than finish them here and sail them into Ænæria when they’re finished?”
Mandi tossed another stone. “Many of its streams and swamps are far too narrow for a full fleet to sail without being destroyed the instant they’re spotted. Once Parvidom and Plutonua are taken, we’ll have access to enough of the small rivers to blockade Ignistad from southern provinces. Combining that with the capture of Parvidom will really cripple their trade.”
Ben was stunned. He didn’t realize so much of the war’s logistics had been planned out already. He also didn’t like how aggressive the tactics sounded. “Why does it sound like we’re trying to take over Ænæria? That’s not what our aim should be—it should be about freeing our people and making a deal with them to fight off the Enochians.”
Mandi picked up another rock and handed it to Ben before finding another and bouncing over the water. “I know you hate the idea of war, Ben, but you need to face reality. Ænæria has gotten too powerful. You even said it yourself when you returned to Freztad for the first time: Randolph is a threat—as are the rest of his legates. They need to be taken out before we can fight these Enochians you’re so worried about.”
Ben threw the rock Mandi gave him, but it didn’t skip at all. Losing his eye had really messed with his depth perception and ruined his accuracy. Not that he needed it as much with his powers and the Voidsweeper, but he certainly missed being able to shoot his bow, which he last left with Arynn; they were both missing. As time had gone on, Ben found himself less concerned with his feelings for Arynn and more so with the mysterious circumstances by which she had disappeared. He had stopped worrying about what could have happened between the two of them, but he still thought about her safety and whether she was even alive. In fact, he had now known Mandi longer than Arynn and probably spent more time with her, too. Though he didn’t bear any of those feelings for Mandi. Preparing to face the Enochians needed to be his focus. Ben needed to close off his feelings for now. After all, that was the best way to keep his powers under control, according to Mimir. Unchecked, his emotions could unleash his ultimate potential as a Nephilim, but the frenzy could cause Ben to destroy everything, and everyone, around him. He couldn’t let that happen, but only knowing about his powers for a few moons worried him. Especially since his training had been cut so severely short. He really hoped it had been enough and that he wasn’t overreacting to the signal Mimir received.
“As long as we don’t lose sight of what really matters,” Ben answered. “We don’t want to get caught up in politics and suddenly find that we’ve dug ourselves into a hole deeper than we can climb out.”
“It may be a little late for that,” a voice said from behind the pair. Ben turned around and saw Darius, and for a second it looked like he cracked some semblance of a smile. “It’s been a while.”
They clasped their forearms together and clapped each other on the back. “It has,” Ben replied. “Did it take you long to get here?”
Darius smirked. “Not at all. I got in a few days ago, actually.”
“How’s that possible?” Ben asked. “It takes four or five days to get here. And that’s with the fastest horses!”
Darius smirked. “Why don’t I show you my new toy? You can explain what the blazes we’re doing on the road.”
As it turned out, quite a few perks came along with Rose being the queen. Though she couldn’t get them an airship, she was able to pull a few strings and get her hands on a sun-carriage. According to Darius, she never even asked permission from the war council as she had with the airship. All Rose had to do tell the soldiers guarding the sun-carriages in Freztad that Darius was taking it for a mission. It wasn’t even a lie. She just didn’t give them the whole truth. After all, it was easier for someone to go unnoticed with a sun-carriage than an airship, and it wasn’t nearly as vital to the war.
They didn’t spend much time in Mashariq after Darius brought them to the four-wheeled black and orange vehicle. It had more than enough space for the three of them, plus Sierra and their supplies in the back. Easily faster than a horse, the carriage moved with such speed that it seemed the rest of the world blurred past them.
Ben started off by explaining everything to Darius about the alert Mimir had received about a Vault being opened in Ney. Mandi had already heard most of it in Svaldway. When Ben finished, Darius turned from the driver’s seat to Mandi, sitting in the back of the carriage.
“Tell me about Ney,” he said.
“Why do you think I know anything?” she asked, pressing her hand against her chest as if wounded.
“Because your mother knows pretty much everything. If anyone knows anything about Ney it’s her. I’m sure she’d have shared a thing or two with you.”
Mandi crossed her arms. “She doesn’t know everything.”
“Does she know anything about Ney or not?” Ben asked.
Mandi blew a ringlet of hair away from her eyes. “Nothing particularly useful. They’re exceptionally private and seldom leave their homeland.”
Ben and Darius exchanged a look.
“What?” Mandi asked.
“We met two of them outside of Parvidom,” Darius said.
Mandi’s eyes lit up. “No way! What were they like? Do they speak our language? What do they look like?”
Ben thought back on his experience with the two Orks. They were certainly an odd pair
, though compared to all else he’d seen these past moons, few things truly felt odd.
“They were two brothers. Both had facial tattoos of skulls. One of them was over seven feet tall. The other…well, I’m not sure about him because he was mostly on all fours. He also had sharpened nails and teeth. Skalle—the big one—spoke normally, but Gal didn’t. There was something very off about him.”
“Fascinating!” Mandi said. “Did they say anything to you about Ney?”
“Only that its far east of here, but, thanks to Mimir, I’ve got an exact location.”
“And the fang,” Darius added.
“Fang?”
“Oh yeah,” Ben said. “Gal gave me one of his teeth. He told me it would grant me entry into Ney. Basically made me an honorary Ork.”
Mandi could hardly hide the excitement; her eyes were wide and jaw wider. “Wow! We’ll have no problem getting in! Do you realize how big this is?”
Ben and Darius looked at her dubiously.
“This is groundbreaking! No one in the recorded history of the Northern Realm or the Penteric Alliance has ever been to Ney. No one knows what it’s like. They’re so reclusive. Since Ben has an open invitation, we’ll be the first of our people to be granted access.”
Ben snorted softly, appreciating Mandi’s endearing enthusiasm. Few things excited her more than new endeavors. Now he understood why she’d been so excited to join him on this journey in the first place. “We’ll have a lot to learn when we get there. Just keep in mind that our first priority is the Vault. We need to find out who, or what, opened it and where.”
Darius said what they all had to be thinking. “Could it be an Enochian?” Despite the hot wasteland air, cool gooseflesh bubbled over his body. From the look on Mandi’s face, he’d clearly ruined her sense of excitement.
The Heir of Ænæria Page 11
