by Melle Amade
“If it has power, I don’t know what it is,” Agi said. “And if it was so important, I can’t imagine Willem would have just passed it off to me.”
“Go away out of that.” Davin’s brogue was heavy with laughter. “That is exactly why he would have given it to you.”
“The man’s in love with you.” I nodded.
Agi caught her head in her hands. “I know.” Her muffled words ached with her sorrow.
Davin and I glanced at each other. Agi would make a fine leader. I had seen her at the hunt and at the Matching. She would just have to sort out her heart a bit. I pressed my lips together, calculating my next move. This decision could make or break us, but I didn’t really have any choice. I had to earn Agi’s trust and if what Davin said was true, and she really wanted an alliance between our people, she might as well know who she was dealing with.
“Come on,” I said standing up and pushing open the tiny door. “I’ve got a better place than this to speak of these things.”
“Is it safe?” Davin asked.
I rolled my eyes towards her. “Seriously?”
“Well, your last ‘safe house’ was kinda crap if you want to know the truth of it.” She grinned at me as she stood up.
“You afraid of getting into a bit of a scrap?” I smiled back.
“Never.” Her eyes gleamed with excitement. “We’ll just need to keep this one between us. I’m guessing she’s rather shite with a blade.”
9
I was rarely nervous in my life, but as we approached the outskirts of the old town and the 17th century manor house where I had spent most of my time in Amsterdam, I could feel every muscle in my body tense. This wasn’t just letting them into my world. Bringing them here was letting them in on my darkest secret, laying my soul bare. I gripped the hilt of Surya. If something went horribly wrong and they didn’t like what they found, well, they wouldn’t be the first shifters I had killed.
But that wasn’t what I wanted. Really truly it wasn’t what I wanted at all.
Davin had painted a future I had never dreamed possible. My vision had ended with El Oso dying and the Order breaking apart. The Ravensgaard heir had suggested something even better, though. A unity of like-minded individuals who wanted to modernize the ways of the Order and bring them into the twentieth century. Clans led by women, fostered in friendship and built on love and trust.
If that were going to happen, they would need to know this about me.
The Dutch buildings other than the churches were all quite similar, really. Red brick northern houses built to protect agains the cold and to not particularly stand out from your neighbors. Most house fronts were unassuming brick walls with the tall narrow windows and perhaps a bit of ornate curvature around the rooftop. This is exactly the type of home we came to now. Except it took up the entire block.
Without looking back to gauge Agi’s or Davin’s opinion, I walked up the front steps and slammed the brass lion knocker three times loudly. The sound echoed up the quiet tree-lined street.
“Your family keep a house here?” Davin asked curiously, and I could feel the tension rife in her body, even from here.
“No,” Agi answered for me. “If they kept something this large, my family would know.”
The white wooden door swung open and a butler stood there in his black suit, white collar perched high around his neck. “Lady Anin,” he said with a bow.
“Jaan,” I nodded.
He looked over my shoulder at my guests and I could see the slight distaste in his lips as they curled up. But he was too well mannered to speak his mind.
“Is the Marquis in?” I asked.
“The Marquis,” Agi whispered behind me, a tremor of horror running through her tone.
“Indeed,” Jaan said.
“We will see him,” I insisted, stepping over the threshold without waiting for an invitation. I did not need one here. My palm pressed against the door. “My friends will join me.”
“Very well, my lady,” Jaan bowed again, submitting and opening the door wide.
I stole a glance at Agi and Davin as they stepped into the ornate entry way of the Marquis’ palace. Davin was frowning and Agi had one had pressed against the iron cage that hung at her chest.
“He is this way,” Jaan motioned down the hall for us to follow. “In the study.”
I waved him away. If this was going to get messy, the last thing I needed was him in the room. “I know the way,” I said.
It was with a sigh of relief Jaan left. That guy hated shifters almost more than the group he served.
All pretense of Dutch modesty was gone once you were inside the brick walls of the large house. In any other country this would be called a palace, but the Dutch insisted on trying to keep things simple, no matter how complicated they got.
The floor of the hallway was marble with a long, plush red runner down the center of it. Our feet sank softly as we made our way towards the study. Massive paintings hung down the length of our walk. All seafaring images of ships battling storms. It always felt a bit unsettling walking down this hallway, as if lightning would crack and thunder would boom at any moment.
The rug was so thick, I couldn’t even be sure Davin and Agi were still following me, but now it didn’t matter. My heart was racing ahead of me, eager to see the man who made my world complete. I pushed open the door of the study without even knocking. The Marquis sat in his high back black leather chair, his pale white hair and skin shining out in stark contrast.
“I don’t need anything, Jaan,” he said without looking up from the ancient book that engulfed his lap. His finger moved across the page slowly as if he were soaking up the individual meaning of each word before moving on to see how it related to the next one.
I stayed at the door, Davin and Agi flanking me.
“Marquis DePonte,” Agi said, her hand reaching backwards for the door handle.
At the woman’s voice DePonte glanced up, his finger stilling on the page. “Anin!” His voice rang out in the room as he lept to his feet. The book that a moment ago was a sacred text was now a forgotten shred of paper as he crossed the distance between us and pulled me into his strong arms and swept me in a circle around the room. I couldn’t stop the joyful laughter that bubbled from me as he placed me back on the ground and kissed me solidly on the mouth. “My love. My love,” he murmured against my lips.
“You’re fucking a Hunter?” Davin growled, blades drawn, legs spread in a fighting stance.
“I’m in love with DePonte,” I said, my voice quiet as if soothing a beast.
“Do you know how many Ravensgaard he has killed?” Davin said, not giving an inch.
DePonte stepped away from me, letting go of my hand. “I know how many Hunters you killed,” he said. “I have heard the reports from Dublin.”
Davin scowled. “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t just kill you here.”
DePonte stepped backwards, his arms open. “I will give you two. One, I am unarmed, and two, I stepped down from leadership of the Righteous Humanity a long, long time ago.”
Agi stepped forward, staring at him, her head cocked to the side. “But you are practically mythical,” she said. “You, you started the Hunters centuries ago.”
“I did it wrongfully,” DePonte said.
“What, now you are some sort of pacifist,” Davin glared at him, not easing her stance one bit.
“No.” DePonte shook his head. “I fight when it is required of me. “But I watched the Wars of Attrition-”
“You were alive…” Agi marveled.
“And I saw that Shifters were more capable of destroying themselves than the Hunters ever would be. I lost my taste for it.”
“Then why do Hunters still hunt us,” Davin asked.
“Stop,” I interrupted. “You want to ally with me? Then you must trust me.”
“I trusted you until now.” Davin spat.
“I’m not your enemy, Ravensgaard.” DePointe said. “The Hunters t
ook on a life of their own. These things change with generations and many times things are out of our control.”
“They are,” Agi nodded in agreement.
“Don’t tell me you agree with this shite, too,” Davin growled.
“I don’t kill strangers just to kill them,” Agi said. “Especially one who is a few centuries old.”
“I’m not afraid of an old man,” Davin said. “But I do fight fair.” She dropped her blades to the wooden floor in a clash of distraction and lept up on the side of the wall, using it to push off and throw herself furiously at DePonte.
“Davin!” I cried, but Agi gripped my arm.
“Let her get it out of her system,” she said.
DePonte, surprised by the attack, caught her feet in his chest and went sprawling backwards across the room. Davin was on him in a split second, straddling him and punching him in thd face.
“Stop!” I tried to pull free from Agi, but she had a surprisingly strong grip.
DePonte shielded his face with one hand, gripping Davin’s wrist with another and pinning her hand behind her back as he through his body over. She elbowed him in the face, and the crack of his nose breaking rippled through the room.
“Ouch,” Agi said, her hand tightening on my wrist. “If he’s the Marquis, he can take care of himself.”
She had a point, but it was brutally painful watching him bleed, the red drops falling on Davin’s face as he leaned in closer. The next elbow, he aimed at his face, he blocked, but she swung her legs around, contorting and bringing one of her legs up, catching his neck and using his body weight to through him off balance so he tumbled to the ground and she was able to wrap her arm around his neck.
“Whoa,” Agi said.
“That was pretty impressive,” I nodded in admiration. If we made it through this, I was going to need her to show me that move. Her legs wrapped around his waist and her arm around his neck, she braced herself to choke him.
“His face is turning blue,” Agi said. “He’s going to pass out.”
“Davin,” I called out, hoping she’d hear my voice through her adrenaline rage. “He has spies at Muiderslot.”
Agi looked at me, “Really?”
I nodded. “And he can provide us a safe haven and training for this one. If you want an alliance, maybe don’t kill the man I love. Just a thought.”
Davin, panting from the exertion looks up at me, her grip not loosening. “Hunters killed my family,” she said.
“And shifters killed each other.” Agi pointed out. “You want an alliance? We have to do something new. You were the one who said that’s what you wanted.”
“Or we can just keep all killing each other.”
Davin glared at me as I watched DePonte’s lips turn blue. If this didn’t end soon, he was seriously going to pass out.
“Davin.” I tried to get through to her.
She released her grip and pushed him away. He sagged to the ground, gasping for air. “I’m a bit out of practice apparently,” he said in between taking in massive gulps of oxygen.
“A bit?” Davin said, bouncing up to her feet. “I think my grandmother can fight better than you and she’s probably older.”
“The Ravensgaard Queen.” DePonte nodded, pulling a handkerchief out of his pocked and mopping up the blood around his nose.
“You know my family?” Davin asked.
DePonte nodded. “When I saw the way the shifters treated each other, I figured they didn’t need one more enemy.”
“Well, the three of us seem to haven them everywhere.” I shrugged
“So, your attempt failed?” He asked, his voice nasal as he tilted his head back and pinched his nose to stem the bleeding.
“Would I be here if it hadn’t?” I asked. The words tore at my heart, but it was always our understanding that I would stay until I killed El Oso and then I would to Java.
“Sadly, no,” DePonte said.
“What news do you have from Muiderslot?” Agi asked.
That girl had it bad, but I also understood she had left her father in a precarious position.
“Willem has openly declared his love for you, my lady,” DePonte smiled. “He has told his father, your father and El Oso and refused the betrothal to your sister.
“He did what?” Agi looked horrified and a little pleased all at once. It made her face twist like a worried clouth.
“He’s challenging the authority of El Oso and the rigors of the Order. He and Riordan have joined forces. They believe Agi and Davin were kidnapped by Lady Anin and need to be saved,” DePonte explained.
Davin rolls her eyes. “Men to the rescue.”
Agi’s cheeks are flushed though. I glance at her. She doesn’t need rescuing, but clearly shes smitten with Willem.
“Are you going to marry this Hunter?” Davin scowled.
My blush deepened. “My people will not allow it. I will inherit the High Seat from my father. I must marry a Javanese leopard.” I couldn’t look athe DePont as I said that words. We’d had tis discussing too many times and it always ended in pain and arguments. He wanted to step into new ways. I was required to uphold our ancient traditions.
“You might find the two of you have more in common that you thought. Right now, we have a mission. We need to find the gildend chaing and the sacred chalice,” I point out.
“I think I can help you with one of those items,” Agi smiled.
“Fine,” Davin said. “I’m in. But keep that shifter killer the fuck away from me.
I’m at your service, m ear,” DePonte smile with a solemn nod.
The End
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Dutch born, Matilde, the estranged niece of Lord Van Arend, barters with her scheming mother to spend the summer with the only friends she’s ever had, the Ravensgaard at Castle Brannach. The only problem is what she has offered her mother is information; information that will break her friends’ trust and begin the downfall of the regime that governs them all.
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October 2019
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Since I was eight, I have been writing stories that capture the adventures in my head and the characters strong enough and flawed enough to have them. When I look at an empty field, I see a formidable citadel. When I meet a vulnerable old man, I greet an emeritus warrior. When I walk through city streets, I feel dimensions hiding around every turn. It has been my lifelong passion to explore these worlds that reveal the pain of loneliness, the joy or self-actualization, and the hope of magic.
I grew up in a place called Potter Valley where the Milky Way is held aloft by a circle of mountains and the central business district consists of a bait store and a saloon. At 19 I moved alone to London and spent the next ten years exploring the world, even becoming an Australian citizen, before I returned to California and found a new home in Los Angeles. My world revolves around my two wee children, storytelling, and my love of travel.
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GILDED CHAIN
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