Chapter XLVIII

“The whole castle has been searched?”

“Yes, your majesty.”

“And Aryn's not been found anywhere?”

“No, your majesty.”

Mahla curled her nose in disgust. “We had the castle surrounded. How could she possibly have escaped?”

“I have no idea,” Lila said.

The two of them stood in the ruined throne room with the rug torn and the blood of the castle guards staining the floor. Mahla cleaned the blade of her sword with the ripped tunic of one of the castle servants she'd slain. She had no intention of killing the staff, but the servant had pulled a knife on her, so what was she to do?

“In any case,” Lila continued, “The people have declared that Aryn has abdicated the throne, since she fled. By default you are the Queen of Arx now.”

“What about King Gianni, from the city of Uvino?” Mahla asked. “I heard he was here to get revenge.”

“Killed in the battle.”

“We still have Marquise Nerissa and the army from Sabura to deal with,” Mahla said.

“Actually, no. Well...they probably won't be attacking the capital, anyway. Marquise Nerissa and the Saburan Queen with her fled back to Muri. Rumor has it they plan to declare their independence from Arx.”

“Then we can take some time to rebuild, and then go and reclaim Muri,” Mahla said. She looked over the scene of all the carnage throughout the throne room, remembered the carnage throughout the castle and the capital at large. This was the price of her power, power which should have never been denied to her in the first place.”

“What do we do with the Arch-Bishop?” Lila asked. “She sided with Aryn, and says she refuses to recognize your right to rule.”

“The Agalmite Church clearly doesn't speak for God anymore,” Mahla said. “If it ever did. Have Livana executed immediately.”

“And what of the Inquisition?”

“They backed my claim for the throne, and are capable of calling upon armies of angels at will. They can have the Grand Cathedral, and so long as they continue to back my right to rule they may preach their religion throughout the kingdom.” Mahla licked her lips and cleared her throat. “Now, send out the word, we're to have a coronation ceremony as soon as possible.”

. . .

“You think anyone's going to follow us?” Aryn asked, looking back in the direction of the capital. Milo had persuaded some local fishermen along the river to give them some of their spare changes of clothes, and now he, Aryn, and Shamira were all dressed in raggedy tunics.

“No. Few people know about the secret exit out of the castle,” Milo said.

“I certainly didn't,” said Shamira.

“If everyone knew it wouldn't be a secret, now would it?”

“So where do we go?” Aryn asked.

“Well, we have several options. We can go to Caelum Academy, meet your mother there, but that might be too obvious. We can go east to Muri, where your aunt Nerissa is and she'll take us in. Sure, that's fairly obvious too, but at least we'd be well-protected.”

“What about back to your father's...I mean...my grandpa's home?” Aryn asked. She'd spent so many summers in that village thinking it was just so that she could learn how peasants lived. She'd had no idea she was actually visiting a relative every summer.

“Also fairly obvious,” said Milo. “And hardly protected at all. I'd hate to put Pa in that kind of danger.”

“We could leave Arx altogether,” said Shamira. “Maybe go to Sabura, Shadia, or one of the cities in the West.”

“I'm not sure how much I really care where we go,” Aryn said. “Or even if we get caught. I just want us all to stick together. Together until our last days.”

. . .

Tamas sat alone in his cell in the dungeon. His crime hadn't been explained to the new dungeon guards. He wasn't about to tell them, but they were likely going to keep him there for the time being. He needed to come up with a convincing lie, maybe tell them he was locked up because he opposed Queen Aryn or something. That might get them to let him out. Still, none of them had questioned him yet, and he knew if he tried to start the conversation they'd just hit him and tell him to be quiet.

Instead there was someone else he needed to speak with. He closed his eyes and focused his thoughts, going into a trance-like state in hopes of reaching his twin brother. “Elykos! You there?” Tamas waited a moment, not hearing a word back in response. “Elykos! Answer me!”

“Yes, Tamas, what is it? I'm busy?”

“We had a deal, you know.”

“Yes, what of it?”

“You think I don't recognize your fingerprints all over everything? From what I've heard Mahla constantly knew exactly what to do to win every battle she fought, as if someone were feeding her answers. Marquis Husam heard the voice of God telling him to enslave children from Sabura to dig in the deep mines. Countess Yael went completely nuts and murdered innocent children, even though all character witnesses said she'd never do such a thing. Wild conspiracy theories running amok throughout the land, the secret of Aryn's birth coming out...I didn’t want to believe it at first, but…you started this war, didn't you? You engineered the whole thing!”

“An astute observation, Tamas.”

“Why, Ely? We were supposed to bring an age of peace! Paolo was my in with the Arxian monarchy. You were supposed to keep him thinking he heard the voice of God in his head, lead people to believe he was a prophet, and then lead the Agalmites to grant Nihilus its independence again! We were supposed to create a revival of the Nihilite faith, spread the gospel to the far reaches of the world, end the constant holy wars between Arx and Nihilus, between the daemons and Saklas, with peace!”

“As the older twin I'm the one in charge, and I saw fit to alter the plan.”

“This many people weren't supposed to die!”

“I don't care. I have restored myself to my birthright. I have done what Father couldn't do, destroyed the kingdom of Arx and the Agalmite Church. Everything has gone as I planned. I didn't tell you of my true plan because you're too soft.”

“Damn you, Elykos!” Tamas shifted in his cell. “Why make sure Mahla wins, though?”

“Mother said that through her I can take over Arx, be the king of both Arx and Nihilus. Remember Tyson, the mercenary in our mother's coven whom mother sent on some mission she wouldn't explain to us? He's the one who raised Mahla, prepared her for this role.”

“You used me! Just like you used everyone else! From now on, Elykos, I will do everything in my power to stop you!”

“You're sitting in the dungeon of Queen Mahla's castle, chained to the wall and wearing a vest that will kill you if you try to escape in any way. You have no power to stop me.”

“Duke Sahar?” a voice woke Elykos from his trance. He shook his head and let his eyes focus on the servant in front of him. “Excellency, a letter has just arrived for you.”

“Thank you,” Elykos said, taking the letter.

He'd always been fond of his alias, “Sahar.” He'd been told that the name means “Moon,” a meaning that he greatly enjoyed, because like the full moon he was constantly driving people crazy.

As he broke the seal on the letter he thought back on all the schemes he'd put together to get himself to this point; becoming Duke Jachai's squire had put him close to the heir to the greatest military in Arx. Making Jachai believe his wife had been unfaithful to him had allowed Sahar to become Jachai's sole heir. Sahar already knew what the letter said, of course. He'd led Jachai to his death in the fight against Milo, fueled the flames of hatred Jachai already had for the paladin, all so that this letter would be in Sahar's hands now.

“Your Excellency Duke Sahar,

“We regret to inform you that Grand Duke Jachai has been killed in action in the capital city. As you were his sole heir, his entire estate passes to you. Please come to Arx to receive your inheritance, and take command of the military as Grand Duke Sahar. Queen Mahla herself will be there to bestow the title upon you.

“Best Regards,

“Lila”

All the manipulation, the plotting, and the lies had paid off. Through Sahar's leadership the Nihilite rebels had taken back several major cities, and those who even thought of abandoning the cause had been killed. Moreover, by having Ardal try to kill him and fail he'd made sure to deflect all suspicions from himself that any of the Arxian soldiers in his castle may have had. He'd played Bishop Galia well too. Now nearly all of the Agalmite priests and priestesses in Nihilus would walk into a trap on their way to his castle.

He'd successfully started a war between the Western city-states, meaning that soon they would be plunged into chaos. Queen Haldis, the ruler of Shadia, would want to see her son avenged after Mahla killed him the way she did, and soon the Shadians would march down to Arx. The Queen of Tajiri, the richest city in Sabura, was now in Arx, meaning that Tajiri's enemies would soon attack the city in envy of its wealth as well. All the world would soon be at war. Sahar, Elykos, had succeeded where every other Nihilite had failed. With so much war surely this would be the end of the prison world Saklas had created.