She raised her hand, starting an incantation, and Ruethwyn dove to the side, trying to take cover. Sinera’s hand followed Ruethwyn perfectly though, and Ruethwyn braced herself as bolts of inky darkness took form in her hand and lanced out in magic she’d never seen Sinera use before.
A flash of violet fire split the air, and Ruethwyn gaped as Essryl appeared from nowhere, that glowing sword from before still in her hands, and the Illisyr cut the bolts of darkness from the air, destroying them instantly.
“That was a clever, clever trap, Ruethwyn. I’ve never seen a device like that one before, and severing the connection to other planes inside it was an inspired touch,” Essryl said, her voice pleasant, and she smiled. “I see that Sinera isn’t quite what I made of her, either. I won’t have you killing Ruethwyn, though.”
“Essryl. Get out of my way,” Sinera said, her voice cold as she stared at the Illisyr.
“No,” Essryl replied, tilting her head and smiling as Sinera blinked. “What, you thought I’d serve you? My oath was to serve Resvarygrath until his death… and I do believe that’s his corpse right there. My service to him is at an end.”
“Then why are you protecting Ruethwyn?” Sinera asked, her eyes narrowing still more. “I would think you’d already have left, as elves aren’t worth the time of your kind.”
“Ah, but that’s where you’re wrong. I’ve been watching Ruethwyn, remember? She’s skilled and has potential… and I’m not going to let you cut that short,” Essryl replied, a smile playing across her lips. “You might be a challenge, if you weren’t wrestling with the spirit of an angry dragon as we speak.”
“What?” Ruethwyn asked, almost freezing in place as she climbed to her feet. Neither woman responded, staring at one another steadily. Sinera was glaring at Essryl, and Essryl was staring at her with an equally firm gaze.
“You seem rather confident,” Sinera said, her voice almost conversational.
“I bear a blade blessed by the Dowager, into which I’ve imbued my mana daily for a century and a half. If anything can cut down someone whose soul was supposed to pass on, it will,” Essryl said, smiling thinly as she shifted the blade. “I wouldn’t be afraid of you even without it, and even if you weren’t struggling to keep Resvarygrath contained, but this makes it easier.”
“Yet you were trapped by an apprentice mage?” Sinera asked, sneering in response.
Essryl shrugged, smiling even more as she replied. “She surprised me. The young are like that, more flexible than most of us who’re set in our ways. She really is a clever student, and I refuse to let you hurt her.”
For a moment, there was silence, and Ruethwyn stood, stunned by how things were going. The idea of Essryl defending her from Sinera was… it boggled her mind, and she wasn’t sure what she should do.
“What do you want?” Sinera asked flatly.
“You can have the castle. You can have the entire Dominion. I’m going to take any of the girls who Ruethwyn didn’t free and my things, and you’ll let me and her companions leave the country. Give us, oh… three days grace,” Essryl replied, her voice almost playful. “After that, I don’t care what you do.”
“Fine. Go, then, you have your three days,” Sinera agreed, her nostrils flaring. “If I find you after that, though…”
“You won’t,” Essryl said, smiling thinly. Then she gestured to Ruethwyn. “Come on, Ruethwyn, it’s time to go.”
With a whisper from Essryl, the door Ruethwyn had come in through creaked open again, and she started toward it hesitantly. She was halfway to the door when Sinera spoke again, prompting Ruethwyn to pause.
“Ruethwyn.” Sinera’s voice was calm now, and Ruethwyn looked back to see her eyes, so familiar, yet so alien at the same time. Sinera met her gaze, then continued. “If you change your mind, come back. I never taught you half of what I know about atavism.”
Looking at her, Ruethwyn considered, then replied as calmly as she could. “I’ll keep that in mind. Goodbye, teacher. Or what’s left of her.”
She darted through the door and paused as Essryl followed. Ruethwyn blinked as the Illisyr raised the sword toward her throat and it transformed into a glittering pendant, a disk of gold set with an emerald, diamond, sapphire, and ruby. Looking at the disk, Ruethwyn looked up at Essryl, her mouth opening.
“No one ever thinks that a holy symbol might also be a weapon, at least not that it might be able to transform into one,” Essryl replied to Ruethwyn’s unspoken question, smiling. “Come on, we need to get Leticia and get moving. How are your ribs?”
“They hurt, but the stress kind of made me forget them for a minute,” Ruethwyn said, wincing at the reminder and the throbbing pain in her side. “Why did you help me?”
“Remind me to heal them once we’re out of here. I broke them, I may as well fix them. As to why, I told you why. I like you, Ruethwyn. I wasn’t going to let her kill you,” Essryl said, grinning again. “That was an amazing use of my habits earlier, I really am impressed.”
Ruethwyn flushed, looking away from the dark elf, feeling flustered. After a moment, she asked, “Why are we hurrying? I think we have some time.”
“Three reasons, Ruethwyn. I don’t trust Sinera, not after watching her attitude slowly shift for the last few weeks, and after what she did to Resvarygrath. We also need to keep your friends from coming back for you, because I know they will. You’re a tight-knit group,” Essryl said, turning into the west wing, and she grinned brightly as she added, “Last… I promised to let her have the castle and the Dominion. I didn’t say anything about letting her have his hoard.”
Ruethwyn almost choked at that, but Essryl picked up the pace, and she saved her breath. Her questions could wait.
Chapter 42
“Rue!” Korima exclaimed, lunging toward her.
Ruethwyn yelped, dodging to the side so that the kitsune missed, exclaiming, “No, Korima! I’ve got some broken ribs.”
“But, but… I wasn’t sure you’d make it out!” Korima protested, her eyes red from tears.
“She almost didn’t and thank you for the reminder. I do need to fix those ribs,” Essryl said, and Ruethwyn saw everyone stiffen as Alaran’s blade cleared its sheath almost instantly.
“What are you doing here?” Alaran snarled.
“Ah, ah,” Essryl said chidingly, raising a finger. “Ruethwyn would be dead if it weren’t for me, thank you. I got her out after her old teacher killed Resvarygrath and decided that if Ruethwyn wasn’t going to join her, she needed to die.”
“What?” Tadrick exclaimed, his eyes going huge.
The group of escapees was in a group of caves where Alaran had said that the teleportation device was hidden, and Ruethwyn was relieved to see all of them there. She’d heard some of them making plans to come back for her if Ruethwyn hadn’t shown up soon, though, and she was relieved that they’d gotten out when they did. She was also shocked at the light weight of the pouch on her belt, considering the frankly absurd amount of gold and jewels that had been swept into it. Behind her, Leticia carefully followed them into the cave, her footsteps unsteady on the uneven ground.
“She’s telling the truth. I don’t want to go into the details now, but Sinera went… I’d say mad, but that isn’t accurate,” Ruethwyn said, running her fingers through her hair. “I was about to get killed by Resvarygrath when she stepped in, but what he did to her… she’s likely to turn into a new tyrant here. If Essryl hadn’t stepped in, she’d have killed me when I refused to join her.”
“Gods above…” Anara’s voice was soft, her hand raised to cover her mouth.
Essryl stepped close and calmly cast a spell, weaving it effortlessly and creating a soft green glow around her hand as she touched Ruethwyn. A few seconds later, the pain from the injury eased, then vanished.
“Thank you, Essryl,” Ruethwyn said, and she saw Alaran hesitate, then slowly sheathe the sword again, obviously reluctant to do so.
“That does sound bad, Rue. Is she going to come af
ter us?” Sella asked, eying Essryl in askance.
“Essryl bought us three days grace, but we don’t quite trust Sinera. We’d better get out of here quickly,” Ruethwyn explained, then turned and bowed her head. “Speaking of which, thank you again, Essryl. I’m grateful that you were willing to help me get here.”
“I told you that it was fine. I’m not letting you get yourself killed,” Essryl said, her tone mild. “A little danger is alright, but that’s it.”
“Ah, Mistress Essryl? It sounds like… are you coming with us?” Anara asked, looking a little hesitant.
“Of course I am,” Essryl said calmly, and Ruethwyn’s head whipped around to stare at her. “You girls are my responsibility, and I need to ensure you can survive life outside the palace before letting you go entirely. Besides, even if Ruethwyn tricked me, she did defeat me.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Korima asked cautiously.
Essryl smiled broadly and glanced at Ruethwyn, then spoke, her tone teasing. “It means that I’m going to have to ensure she lives up to my expectations. I can’t have her destroying my reputation.”
Ruethwyn choked.
“I think we’d better go, if we’re going to. It’s going to be a half hour before we reach the node, and I don’t want those soldiers catching up with us,” Alaran said, nodding back toward the castle. Ruethwyn could see lights moving through the woods.
“How did you throw them off your trail? The escape passage should’ve been easy for them to follow,” Essryl asked curiously.
“Um, Rue gave us some devices to turn a large area of stone or dirt to mud. We used it in the passage as we retreated,” Tadrick explained cautiously.
“Ah, a useful way to do it,” Essryl said, then smiled at Ruethwyn. “Enough turning purple, hm? We have a ways to go.”
Ruethwyn, seeing how everyone was staring at her, suddenly half-wished she had died in the hall. It’d almost be easier than the embarrassment.
Chapter 43
Ruethwyn stared at the manor, stunned.
A week and a half had passed since they’d escaped the Obsidian Palace. Alaran’s item had successfully teleported them to near Ovara’s border, and they’d been greeted with enthusiasm once the guards had gotten over their disbelief. It’d taken another day before they’d been allowed to start through the pass back to Selwyn, but all the former captives had come with them. A few of the human women still had family, but they’d chosen to stay with the others for a little while.
Essryl’s presence had been the hardest thing to explain, but her complete disregard for any reason she shouldn’t be present had flustered every soldier or guard she’d encountered, and her intimidating glare had dealt with those who might have tried to arrest her. Ruethwyn wasn’t sure what to do about her, as Essryl was a shadowy presence who followed her everywhere.
When they reached Tyrness, though, everything changed. Tadrick’s family had all but abducted him, and Alaran had returned to the palace. Almost immediately, he’d been knighted again, and then Ruethwyn had been summoned for a meeting with the queen herself.
The meeting had been terrifying, as Ruethwyn hadn’t known what was going to happen. It was fortunate that it was a private meeting, and Queen Averia Selwyn had been kind, if coolly distant. The queen looked a lot like Anara, exemplifying the appearance of clan Sylvan, and Ruethwyn had felt horribly awkward in her presence. On the other hand, Ruethwyn’s nervousness had turned to terror when she’d been offered the title of a baroness for her deeds, something which Ruethwyn had rejected quickly, so quickly and forthrightly that she’d been chided by the steward for breaking protocol.
Fortunately, Queen Averia seemed more amused by Ruethwyn’s reaction than insulted and had instead chosen to title Ruethwyn a simple Lady with no lands to her name. She’d also outright gifted the vacant manor formerly owned by Lord Elisir to Ruethwyn and dismissed her. The official ceremony for the title was still a week in the future, but Ruethwyn couldn’t help being dazed by how things had changed.
The manor ahead of her bustled with activity. Ruethwyn hadn’t known what to do with it, but oddly enough, it was Essryl who’d given the suggestion which had helped the most. In front of her, she could see all the former captives helping air out the building, sweeping, and making it presentable. Fortunately, she knew that the basement had been thoroughly cleansed, so they weren’t going to run into remnants from Lord Elisir’s time, but it was strange.
“You seem out of sorts, Ruethwyn.” Essryl’s voice was soft, and this time Ruethwyn didn’t jump, instead looking over into the shadows of the gate where the Illisyr was standing.
“I’m dazed. Do you have any idea how my life has changed?” Ruethwyn demanded. Gesturing toward the manor, she added, “That’s as big as my entire village back home! All the buildings put together, I mean.”
“It is. That’s no reason to lose track of your surroundings, though,” Essryl chided gently. “With the bounty Ovara and Selwyn had on Resvarygrath’s head, plus the portion of his hoard you received, you could build a manor like this a dozen times over.”
Ruethwyn glowered at Essryl for a long moment, then sighed. “That’s a huge part of the problem, Essryl. I’m not used to being looked at like this. I’m just… not comfortable with the attention.”
There was the sound of hooves behind her, and Ruethwyn heard a carriage as well. Essryl smiled and nodded. “Oh? Well, you’d best get used to it. I do believe that’s one of your old classmates.”
“What?” Ruethwyn asked, blinking in surprise.
Turning around, she almost gaped as she saw a quartet of white horses, and the white and teal carriage which bore the coat of arms of the Duchy of Azure. It rolled to a stop in front of the gates, and Ruethwyn blinked as a coachman opened the door and Madeline stepped out, beautiful in her deep blue gown.
“Ah, Lady Ruethwyn! I hoped I’d catch you, and here you are at the gates,” Madeline said smoothly, smiling broadly. Ruethwyn blinked in surprise at the warmth in her voice, then her mind caught up with Madeline’s initial comment.
“Um, my apologies, Madeline, but I’m not a lady yet. The ceremony isn’t until next week,” Ruethwyn replied quickly, giving a belated curtsey.
“Mere formalities, from what I’ve heard. Why, if you didn’t become a noble after all you achieved, I’d be shocked. I’m more surprised that you didn’t receive lands as well as a more renowned title,” Madeline said, gesturing one of the servants over from the carriage, who brought her two boxes and an envelope.
“An offer was made, but I’m not comfortable with such things. This much I could accept,” Ruethwyn explained, growing a bit more puzzled. She glanced back at the manor, then added, “I’d invite you in, but I’m afraid that the manor needs a good number of renovations first. It was unoccupied for long enough to make that necessary.”
“I do understand, Ruethwyn. I’m simply here to offer a few gifts and an invitation,” Madeline assured her with a warm smile.
“Gifts? I—” Ruethwyn began, but Madeline interrupted.
“The Lightweaver Enclave is officially under the protection of the Duchy of Azure, and you helped protect it from outsiders. This is a minor gesture of thanks for your actions,” Madeline explained gently, taking the stack of boxes. “Also, there is a gift of congratulations from me for your new station and of respect for your deeds, and last is an invitation to tea for the day after tomorrow. I do hope for a favorable reply.”
“Oh, well… I’ll have to see about things. Thank you,” Ruethwyn replied, taking the boxes when they were offered to her, feeling a little numb. She looked at the envelope before adding, “I’ll see what my schedule looks like and let you know. I don’t think anything will interfere, but it’s been a stressful few days, and I may have forgotten something.”
“Of course. I look forward to hearing from you, Ruethwyn,” Madeline said, giving an elegant nod.
“Thank you. Have a good day,” Ruethwyn said in confusion, and watched the noble g
et into her carriage.
The carriage pulled away a few moments later, then Ruethwyn asked, “What was that all about?”
“Welcome to politics, Ruethwyn. Your actions have introduced you to a whole new world of vipers and poisons,” Essryl replied dryly.
“Lovely. I suppose I’d better take these inside,” Ruethwyn said, sighing as she looked at the boxes, then headed for the building. She was also dragging her feet because she knew Anara, Korima, Lissa, Sella, and Tadrick were waiting for her.
Essryl didn’t reply, instead simply following Ruethwyn as they approached the manor. Ruethwyn had barely taken a step onto the porch when Leticia opened the front door, nodding to Ruethwyn as she held it for her, speaking calmly. “Your guests are presently being entertained in the front sitting room, Lady Sylaris.”
“Um, thank you? You really don’t need to call me lady, though. You aren’t in the palace anymore,” Ruethwyn replied, still taken aback by the woman’s attitude.
“Of course not, Lady Sylaris,” Leticia replied, her gaze unwavering. Behind Ruethwyn, Essryl laughed.
Ruethwyn sighed and stepped inside. The sound of rhythmic clapping was coming from one of the front rooms, guiding her to where her friends were. She came around the corner just in time to see Korima finishing a complex dance, with Anara clapping steadily beside her. Anara stopped as Korima came to a halt, the kitsune grinning as her tail swished.
“There you have it, one of the Corvallian waltzes we were taught. You’re a fast learner,” Anara said, smiling wryly. “It took me three tries to get it, but you got it down quick.”
“Ah, but you were trying to get it perfect, Anara. Korima isn’t nearly as polished as you are,” Essryl said, smiling as she looked into the room.
Korima spun around, grinning as she exclaimed. “Rue, you’re here! I thought you were going to be gone for hours more!”
The Obsidian Palace (Through the Fire Book 3) Page 37
