XIII

Despite being wearied to his bones, they had just made love and Mariel was nestled under his arm. He was nearly drifting when she said, “I can’t wait until this ends.”

He made a sound of acknowledgement and caressed her bare stomach.

“If Prince Kandrion wins the choosing, what do you think Balthazar will do?”

That was a worrying thought. He had a lot of support within the kingdom as well as the support of the Grand Mage, but not the majority of support from the Council of High Magic. At least some of the mages there were honest—hadn’t been paid off or bribed with promises of lofty positions should Balthazar win.

Breathing in deeply, he cast his eyes toward the tall window. The curtains were closed, but a thin crack of moonlight broke though, casting a beam through their bedchamber.

“We can only take things one day at a time,” he said. “And most of the army supports Kandrion. I think things would be all right, if he wins.”

She turned and propped herself up on her elbow. Her face was framed in red waves of glossy hair. Gods, she was beautiful. He smiled.

But Mariel didn’t smile back.

“And what if Balthazar wins the choosing?”

“Do you mean if he cheats?”

That pit in his stomach stirred. It never went away—not completely. If Prince Balthazar won the choosing, he would grant lord Schuar his wish—to perform that evil rite he had gone on about at length. He had made it sound so lofty and ambitious in his writings, how a new age of magic would sweep forth to enrich Aevalin and all her peoples.

Necromancy was a curse, and so were the black magicks. But so far he had fooled many. Arlian knew better. The history of their great kingdom told another story. One of monsters and vile sorcerers.

He didn’t want to tell Mariel what would happen should the Grand Mage enact his plan—though she knew as well as he did. She was an intelligent woman, and they were of a similar mind on this matter.

“Maybe… maybe the other mages would refuse to go along with it,” he said, knowing she knew exactly what he was talking about.

She nodded. “He can just find other magickers to do his bidding. Or maybe Balthazar would command them to support the ritual.”

Arlian swallowed.

“If it happens, my love. We should leave Aevalin.”

“Does it matter where we go?” he said. “The dark magicks will cover the face of our world if they make a tear is large as the Grand Mage wants.”

She breathed in deeply, put a gentle hand over his cheek. “But surely the center of the earthquake is always the strongest, do you not agree, husband?”

Thinking about that, he decided it made sense, and nodded. Though he was a lord, he was the Commander of the City Watch. He hadn’t sworn fealty to Kandrion or Balthazar. When the king passed, he would be free to quit his position and leave the city.

“I agree, he said. “Perhaps we should pack provisions.”

“I’ve been collecting items for just such a thing.”

Smiling, he leaned in and kissed her. “Now let us sleep, love.”

She smirked. “I had half a mind to deny you any rest tonight.”

He chuckled.

Together, they fell asleep.

It couldn’t have been very long, perhaps half to sunrise when Arlian Blinked awake.

“What is that?” Mariel said.

Someone was pounding on the door. Marial got up off of his chest and he jumped out of bed. Arlian put on his night shirt and then went straight for his sword. Unsheathing the blade, he stalked out of the bedroom to the front door.

“Who goes there?” he called.

“Commander, it’s me, Captain Orvyn.”

Gods be good. What was he doing here at this hour? Something inside Arlian made that knot stir. He opened the door. “Captain?”

“I’m sorry to wake you, Commander, but it’s bad. It’s really bad!”

“Not so loud.” Then more quietly he added, “Come inside.”

They went to the sitting room, Captain Orvyn stepped about like he might accidentally break something. He had never been to Arlian’s house before, much less so late in the night.

His movements were nervous and fidgety. “Commander,” Orvyn said, glancing about as if he didn’t to wake anyone in the house. “It’s the council woman. Lady Jorrissiana.”

“She’s dead?’

He shook his head.

“Then out with it, man.”

“She’s missing. There’s no trace of her. It’s the guards—the Watchmen we stationed at her residence. “All dead.”

“What?!”

“All but one man. They were attacked by a large group of malcontents. There were no reported Schuarists in the area.”

“You mean no visibly discernible Schuarists! This was an attack!”

“Arlian?” Mariel said from the entrance of the sitting room. “What’s happening?”

He turned to his wife. “It’s Jorrissiana. Kidnapped.”

“We don’t know that, Commander.”

“Come on, Polisius,” Arlian said, calling the man by his given name. “They kidnapped her to force her to recant her vote for Prince Kandrion!”

Glancing to Mariel, she nodded in affirmation of what he said.

“Gods,” the captain said. “Do you really think so? I mean… isn’t it obvious what they’re doing?”

“Well,” Arlian shrugged. He felt incredibly sarcastic right now. “Can we prove they kidnapped her? She could appear at any time, recant her vote before His Majesty dies, and if she’s too afraid to come forward about her reasons, we have nothing.” He sighed deeply, rubbed his face. “I need to see the council woman’s residence.”

Mariel tightened the silken robes about herself and went off toward the bedroom.

“Absolutely, Commander. That’s why I came. I knew you would want to see.”

“This is far too coincidental, Captain. First the council woman is attacked by mercenaries in concert with a large group of Schuarists, and now her second residence is attacked by malcontents?

Malcontents! They knew she was there and were so eager to take her away they killed ten armed guards of the watch?”

There was another pause, then Arlian finally added. “This is no coincidence.”

Captain Orvyn nodded. “I think you’re right, Commander. I just didn’t see it. Perhaps… I didn’t want to. But I think you’re right.”

Arlian could see the worry on the man’s face.

“So,” he continued. “We should investigate and find out where they took the council woman.”

“We can investigate, but until she reappears to recast her vote, I don’t think we will see her again, Captain.”

Mariel came into the room. She had Arlian’s clothes folded in her arms. She gave them to him, and Captain Orvyn stepped out to wait for him.

Quickly, he got dressed, put on his armor with Mariel’s help and turned to her. “I want you to stay at Watch Headquarters. If they’re willing to attack the council woman, then they can attack anyone. And they’ve already tried to kill me once.”

She nodded, moved off toward the bedroom.

She was ready to leave after just a few minutes and together they stepped outside to meet Captain Orvyn, who had a small team of Watchmen with him. Arlian followed the captain, while several of his men accompanied Mariel back to headquarters.

If anything happened to her…

“Are you okay, Commander?”

He was distracted. “I’m fine. Let’s go to lady Jorrissiana’s residence.”

Nodding, Captain Orvyn lead the way. It wasn’t particularly far from her manor house in the High City, but this area on the west end was particularly quiet where the riots and malcontents were concerned.

That she was attacked and taken away here, was even more of a proof to Arlian that this was no random occurrence by angry rioters.

The whole house and the surrounding properties was cordoned off. People watched from inside their residences, their bedrooms and sitting rooms alight as they no doubt recoiled in fear, wondering why a group of malcontents attacked ten armed men, leaving them all dead.

Watchmen were there, speaking to them, trying to keep them calm. Many formal complaints against the Watch would probably be levied forth.

“They had weapons?”

“All of them, Commander. The men were overwhelmed.”

It was a nice neighborhood, with a wall and a gate, but that had been smashed in with a battering ram, a makeshift thing they had fashioned with a log. Crude, but very effective.

The guards there who would regularly patrol the neighborhood were also killed. Arlian saw their bodies on the way in. A horrible mess. It looked as though one of them had died under the fallen gate, trampled by a hundred men with a purpose.

The neighborhood consisted of thin walkways of flagstones, well-manicured grass, and many small to medium sized houses spread about between the trees and gardens. There were also pools with glow stones. A lovely place.

A place that would be forever scarred by what had happened here tonight.

Arlian didn’t spend a lot of time with the bodies. It was clear what had happened to them. Cut to pieces, bludgeoned, and filled with shafts. Skillful killing.

“Not the work of an angry mob,” he muttered.

“I noticed that right away, my lord.” Besides the cordon, there were some mages present and other investigators from the Watch.

Orvyn lead Arlian to the lead man. “Sir Derris,” he said. “The commander is here.”

He nodded. “My lord.”

“How did they get into the house?”

He shook his head. “Rammed the door off the hinges, Commander. They really knew what they wanted.”

“And they got it,” Arlian said, glancing about the grounds of the house. There were ornamental shrubs surrounding the property and arched lattices with vine flowers. In the back yard was a pool and a fountain. A truly beautiful property.

How had he been such a fool? Lady Jorrissiana should have been taken to the watch headquarters, or brought to a secret safe house.

But he had underestimated the lengths at which the Schuarists would go, and now nine of his men were dead and the council woman missing!

In the grass were three of the dead watchmen and seven dead attackers. For the most part, they were dressed as ordinary folk, but a few had mail and some partial plate, swords and crossbows.

“By your reckoning, Sir Derris. What happened here?”

The man didn’t even seem to need to think on the subject. “This was a planned attack, Commander. Make no mistake.”

“Do we know who it was?”

An inane question, as it was obvious, but he had asked out of rote.

He shook his head. “Survivors all fled. No wounded left. Murdered, most like, along with our men—if any were still alive in the house after the attack. It’s a miracle of the gods Nes got out alive. But he was a coward, Commander—that’s why he’s still alive.”

Normally that could bring consequences, but in this situation, it seemed Nes had left the assault very late into the fighting.

“Nes? Isn’t he about ten and six?”

The man nodded.

“We need to talk to him.”

“The boy is quite shocked, my lord,” Orvyn said. “I had words with him already. He says he didn’t see anything. At least nothing that could help us. Men came in, everyone was killed. He didn’t even see the council woman taken away.”

There was a long pause, as Arlian was trying to figure out what to do, but it seemed these attackers didn’t leave good clues behind. No prisoners to question. The only thing they had now was a dead mercenary with a potential curse. But Arlian had to wait for Erruna to make that call.

“So it seems Prince Balthazar has won,” Captain Orvyn said.

Arlian looked at him, said nothing.

“History does repeat itself, it seems.”

The man was strangely calm about it. Resigned?

“Last time Aevalin was nearly destroyed,” Arlian said. “The last time the Council of High magic only managed to scratch through to the other plain.”

At least, that was what was written. But lately those histories had been disputed at every turn. A rewriting if Arlian knew any better, to cover up the dangers lord Schuar was risking on everyone.

Arlian narrowed his eyes, his face feeling hot. “A narrow”—he made a pinching motion with his fingers—“crack, that resulted in an era of dark magic and monsters, Captain.”

The man looked down at the ground, almost like he was guilty of not being fiery enough about their current situation.

When his eyes came back, he said, “I suggest you get your wife out of Aevalin, my lord.”

The statement made Arlian’s face go blank. The sheer force of the unreal situation dawning on him—the danger.

The end.

“I’ve already sent Nyra to Haven to be with her parents,” Derris said.

I’m doing the same tomorrow,” Captain Orvyn added.

They all knew what was happening. It wasn’t just him.

Gods… I—

He turned and wretched on the ground.

“Easy, Commander,” he heard Derris say.

Arlian breathed heavily, took in a gasp of air. “We—“ He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “We can’t—we can’t let this happen!”