Fireblade: An Epic Fantasy Adventure Romance (A Dance of Fire and Shadow Book 3)

Fireblade: Chapter 11



“ARIEL STOP!”

Deris’ command cuts through the maelstrom of bitter confusion but his Elven-gift has no hold over me now. Nishan training has shifted something in my mind, made me more resistant to this kind of subtle yet powerful command. The only thing restraining me from instant murder is the force of his strong hands grabbing the arrow and the last whisper of memory cutting through the red haze of anger in my mind. A memory of the deep friendship and the loyalty of Eldrin comrades in arms. I don’t want to burn his hands by releasing the arrow so I slowly loosen the bowstring and let him deflect my aim.

“Ariel, please don’t fight me. Just listen for a moment.” He draws me back to sit leaning against the wall, out of sight and sound of the elaborate ceremony continuing unhindered in the hall below. I struggle to find words, gasping out the one thought that overwhelms me.

“How could Marin do this!”

I can barely see the Fae warrior’s face for the tears flooding my eyes. Until I feel Lupine’s warm tongue licking them away.

So that’s how Deris found me. Nishan training didn’t include how to avoid wolves’ sensitive noses.

Deris waits patiently for a few moments until the trumpets have finished their harsh braying.

“It’s not what you think, Ariel.”

“Looks to me exactly what it is.”

“Except it isn’t. The name on the sealed handfasting scroll of commitment is yours. Alina is standing in for you at this wedding because you were not here and time is running out. Although…” He hesitates. “When you learn what is being planned you may wish your name had never been written there.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Samarian law mandates that the crown prince must marry before becoming King and taking the throne. It saves a lot of argument and controversy about producing an heir of the appropriate lineage, alliance and so forth. Following that law is what Marin is doing now. He will be crowned King tomorrow at sunrise.”

“So even after all that study of the Maratic archives, Jantian felt there was no choice but to issue the very command he was trying to avoid? Marin has to break his solemn oath to the Eldrin? Bring the Order into disgrace by reclaiming his birthright, turning himself into a tyrannical royal warlord? Why couldn’t they wait for my return?”

I can hear the bitter edge to my words even as I recall my fleeting glimpse of Marin as he walked into the hall. The hollow-eyed, haunted look I saw in the Blade’s mirror has gone from his face and that can only mean one thing. He has given in to the gift of the adept and its painful demands. He has started taking more power from Maratic than the Eldrin code permits. Everything I have worked so hard to avoid has already been set in motion.

Deris lets out a long sigh. “Ariel, if we wait any longer to fight back, there will be no Samaran left to save. The Usurper seems determined to strip out every granary, forge, and slave his thugs can find south of the Frostgrim, no matter the long-term cost to the country. So many of our soldiers and captains saw the incredible way you fought in the Northlands, it was clear that even if Marin takes the lead as King and war commander, it won’t be enough to inspire the nobles to bring up their reserves and join him in this final battle. This last confrontation is going to be hard-fought with no certain outcome. Even when he takes power as King, Marin will need everyone in the Samarian hierarchy to see you at his side.”

On the face of it, I can see it makes sense. Assuming our peril is judged severe enough that deceiving our allies doesn’t matter.

“So he lied to me when he said he couldn’t rescue Alina from the Rose Mansion. As soon as he needed her for his military recruitment plans, he went straight in and helped her escape!”

Even before he speaks, the pain that flits across Deris’ face tells me it wasn’t as simple as that.

“Please don’t say that to Marin. His conscience is tormenting him enough already. Shan’domir’s promise to you that his people would assassinate the clients of the Palace of Thorns… it turned into a disaster. None of his Nishan agents had ever been in that place so they could not know that it was customary for those disgusting sadists to stay on there for hours, getting drunk and bragging to each other about all the horrible things they had inflicted on their victims. They all knew each other.”

“So… even though the Nishan were spreading their attacks over several days, it became obvious that the apparent robberies were linked to the Palace of Thorns?”

“Yes. I can see why Alina was so desperate to put an end to that place, but the gossip about her persistent questions resurfaced and it became clear that her life was in danger.”

“And now Marin is stuck in his usual soul-searching, wondering if his decision to stage the rescue came from his desire to please me? And if the recruitment strategy thing was no more than his attempt to justify the whole operation?”

Deris looks away. “You know what he’s like. It would not have affected him so badly if we hadn’t lost so many in the fight. Ten Eldrin and most of the other girls. We knew we couldn’t leave any of the captives behind or they would have been publicly tortured for days as a warning against further attacks. So we tried to get all of them out when we went into the Rose Mansion to rescue Alina.”

My anger shifts and changes in a strange metamorphosis, transforming into awkward feelings of guilt for my part in setting off this chain of events. It isn’t a comfortable halfway place to be, still too confusing to let me work out what has to happen next in this desperate plan. The sequence of it is playing out in more ways than we anticipated.

“Can I go and visit my sister?”

“Not yet. We can’t risk anyone seeing the two of you, either together or even in different parts of the Manor. Alina has a busy day ahead of her, launching the seventh day of her charm offensive on the nobility, getting the last few cowards fired up about joining the rebellion.”

At last, a thread of something to feel good about.

“She will be far better at that task than I ever would.”

He almost smiles. “I can’t even start to imagine you getting dressed up in brocade and jewels and spending hours saying all the right things to a collection of recalcitrant aristocrats. You had a lucky escape from that particular mission.”

“Does Marin know I’m back?”

“No. As soon as Lupine alerted me to your presence I came straight up here.” He gives a despondent shrug, the lightening of his mood fading once more. “I didn’t know how badly you would react to the wedding.”

His words and the bleak disappointment on his face have the same effect as a bucket of ice-water over my head. Those furious few seconds replay in a flash of remembered anger. I make a focused effort to suppress the fire trying to break out from my hands.

“Deris, I’m sorry. I swear, I’m usually more in control than that.”

He doesn’t look convinced. I try again.

“I’ll… explain all the details later. The short version is that I made a new connection with the Annubian Elemental. We worked together to defeat the Rapathians before their army had a chance to wipe out what was left of the Annubian military force in the borderlands, but… well, I’m having to learn to deal with a whole new wave of power tearing through me and I haven’t really gained control over it yet.”

Deris gives a wry smile and squeezes my hand.

“I might have guessed you had spent your time away from here by getting yourself into a whole new pile of trouble.”

Maybe his experience of coping with his own unpredictable Shadowblade power has helped him understand the difficulty I’m having in trying to stay in control of it.

He pulls me to my feet. “Come. Lupine has already run off to take the news to Marin as soon as he is finished with getting married. But you will have to meet outside, well away from curious eyes. Whatever happens, don’t forget that Alina is meant to be you until we can make the switch just before the battle.”

I hesitate. “What would you have done if I hadn’t made it back from Annubia in time?”

“Alina would ride out to war with Marin and the army and then Nem was detailed to quietly take her away somewhere safe and leave Marin to do the fighting.”

I breathe a little more easily. At least my return means that when the time comes, my sister doesn’t have to go anywhere near this final battle, even for a short time. Her skill with handling arrogant and selfish aristocrats does not translate into any kind of ability with swords or arrows.

Deris keeps a firm grip on my arm as he leads me down the back stairs and into a corner of the garden maze. The high hedges should keep me hidden and my conversation with Marin a secret, but it feels strange to think that the only chance we have left for Samaran’s survival is based on a lie. There are so many levels of the laws and vows that Marin and his friends have had to break already, just to persuade this last bunch of cowardly nobles to support the war effort instead of hiding on their estates and hoping to avoid the Usurper’s raids. And I can tell that this dangerous plan has already progressed further than basic war-recruitment.

The change in Deris is tangible. I can feel the steely strength surging through him, just from the tingling of his hand against my arm.

“You’ve been taking more power from Maratic, haven’t you? Breaking the Eldrin code, just as Marin has?”

Deris halts by a leafy alcove cut into the hedge and pushes me onto a carved wooden seat tucked in its concealing shadow.

“Wait here. I’ll keep watch with Lupine outside the maze, make sure you’re not disturbed. And the answer to your question is yes. I have. No choice. Jantian’s orders. He is helping both of us keep it under control until we need it to fight this battle. After that it won’t matter.” He disappears into the green pathways of the maze, leaving me to wait in an agony of uncertainty.

Why won’t it matter once the battle is over?

There is one obvious answer but I don’t want to believe this is the best solution they can find. Keep all the crime limited to a few volunteers who will give up their lives so the rest of the Eldrin can keep their integrity? Just because sacrifice is the legendary example of the Five Warriors, back in the depths of history, it doesn’t mean this is the only way to solve the current threats to our country.

Does it?

It can only be a few minutes before Marin arrives with Lupine, although it feels more like an hour. I watch him go through the familiar hand signals as he orders the wolf to go help Deris on lookout, but it only makes my confusion worse. Every muscle and movement is so familiar and yet he seems so different now. He looks like…

Like he is a King already, and not just because of the purple robes and the gold circlet banding his forehead. The mysterious assurance and strength of leadership he has always manifested has fallen into place now he has stepped into the role he was born to. King Tieran. As if he had never renounced it. Beneath it all, I can feel the frisson of Maratic’s power emanating from him, even from here. Dangerous, like a great storm held barely under control.

He straightens his back and turns to me. Then he hesitates. Just a little. He must see something written on my face or maybe he senses the stinging threads of my anger still running beneath the surface.

I try to say something bland and conciliatory, something that can mend the empty space of my absence and the way it has forced him into this new and deadly path.

It doesn’t work. The pain and bitterness provoked by that image of him with Alina… it simply takes over and my effort at reconciliation fails completely.

“So. Your GraceAm I supposed to bow or kneel to you now?”


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