The Love of the Wielder (The Wielders Book Two)

The Trackers were back and with more people that time. They set up a barricade blocking the military. The military could send for reinforcements, but for the moment they were trapped.

Maren listened as attentively as she could to the soldier’s report. They had gathered in the parlor for bandages and brandy while the military removed the bodies of the dead from the house. In addition to the butler and the Tracker Maren killed, seven other Trackers were killed. A few soldiers were wounded, but none died.

If they were skeptical about either the amount of blood or the fused lock, they did not comment on it. Everyone was too distracted by the presence of the new princess.

Maren sat in the parlor while a soldier bandaged her and tried to look regal. She was so tired, she felt like she might collapse. Adrenaline had been the only thing keeping her conscious after healing Alec, and it was fading rapidly.

Alec was getting a bandage on his forehead but kept glancing back at her. She knew he was worried, but all she needed was sleep.

There was one thing she had to do first.

“Your Grace,” she called, once her arm was done. “A word.”

“Yes, Your Highness,” Jonathan said and came to bend his ear towards her.

“How long does it take to get here from the Capitol if you drive straight through?” she asked quietly.

“About eighteen hours,” he said. He was looking at her a bit strangely, possibly because they had discussed that multiple times over the last week.

She looked him dead in the eyes.

“Then that’s how long we have to get out of here before Kieran comes.”

He nodded.

“Jonathan, I’m no match for him,” she said. She held his gaze, desperate for him to understand the severity of the situation.

“I understand. We’ll get out. But it will take time. You must sleep,” he said.

She nodded. “I will not argue with you on that.”

He rose and barked an order, “I want four men to escort the Princess to her room and stand guard there.”

He offered a hand to help her up and she took it.

Her mother also rose to walk with her.

When Maren gave her a questioning look, she said, “You’ll need help getting cleaned up, and I know you won’t want to trouble the staff.”

Maren gave her mother a small and tired smile. “Thank you, Mother.”

She really did need help. She was so tired she could barely sit up long enough to let her mother clean the blood off her once she reached her room.

Her mother was brushing her hair when she said, “I didn’t know you could do all that.”

“Mmm? Do what?”

“Your…ah…powers.”

“Oh, well, I know you don’t like to talk about it,” Maren said.

“I think maybe that’s been a mistake.”

Maren was surprised but too tired to say more than, “Thank you, Mama.”

Her mother helped her change into a clean nightgown and get into bed. Maren was asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

Alec felt like his head had barely touched the pillow when there was an urgent knock on his bedroom door.

“My lord, you’re needed in the infirmary. There’s been an injury,” a woman called through the door.

Alec bolted up immediately and threw on his dressing gown.

“One moment,” he called.

He grabbed his medical kit and slippers and was into the hall in less than a minute. Mrs. Bennet was there. She looked tired and frazzled, but otherwise all right. She walked with Alec and gave him what information she had.

“It’s one of the soldiers. He’s in the infirmary. The medics are with him, but they say it’s beyond them. It’s a terrible burn, they said.”

Alec kept walking, but his heart seemed to stop. A terrible burn. He didn’t know that Maren had been involved, but he knew he would have no peace of mind until he confirmed she was all right.

“I’ll go to the infirmary, please go to Lady—no, Princess Maren’s room and see that she’s there. Don’t take anyone’s word for it, see her yourself. Please,” Alec said.

Mrs. Bennet nodded and went off in the other direction, while Alec continued to the infirmary.

It was a small room with only two beds and a large counter and cabinets to provide a workspace and storage area. Alec’s father didn’t employ a physician or nurse, but it was still a good idea to have a treatment area in case one was sent for from the town. Or if Alec was home.

The hall was very crowded. Soldiers seemed to be everywhere inside and outside the infirmary.

“If you aren’t injured or a medic, you need to leave this area right now,” Alec shouted. Fortunately, enough of the crowd dispersed, so he could get into the infirmary.

That’s when he heard the yelling.

“Argh! Frigging bitch! Gods damn her, that hurts!”

Inside the infirmary, Alec found Colonel Flynn on a bed with the two of the medics nearby.

“What happened?” he asked the medics.

“That bitch burned me! Frigging witch!”

Then Alec knew something terrible had happened to Maren.

But he also knew his first duty was to his patient. Other people would have to handle the rest.

“Quiet,” Alec snapped at Flynn.

His bedside manner was usually much better, but he would rather not hear Flynn curse about Maren. Instead, he motioned for the medics to explain.

“Severe, ah, severe burn on left forearm. It’s…well…we covered it and gave him some morphine, but I have no idea what to do with it,” one of the medics said.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” the other said.

Both medics looked rather shocked.

Flynn groaned in pain.

“Give him a bit more, but don’t knock him out,” Alec said.

He knew there would be questions for him.

Alec washed his hands in the sink and went around to the left side of the bed and delicately lifted the gauze over the man’s forearm.

It was a shocking injury. It wasn’t so much a burn, but a circular crater spanning the width of his forearm, about an inch deep. The bones that should have run through the area were completely gone. The edges were blackened, and the wound wasn’t bleeding much, as though it had been cauterized. The rest of the arm below the wound seemed to barely be attached.

“See what she did to me! S’good she’s getting hanged,” Flynn spat.

Alec had to shove aside his rage, which was difficult and made even harder when Mrs. Bennet came in looking grim.

She just shook her head.

Alec had already known Maren would be gone but seeing the confirmation was still awful.

“What did you do with her?” Alec asked Flynn sharply.

“Gave her to the Trackers. Good thing too. My men are not gonna fight for some witch,” Flynn snarled.

Alec resisted the urge to strangle Flynn and looked to Mrs. Bennet.

“Go and tell my father. Quickly,” he said to her, and she left.

“His Grace will be pleased I got rid of her,” Flynn said. “Princess or no, he won’t want a witch under his roof.”

Alec did not respond. He couldn’t. He looked at the man’s arm instead, trying to decide what, if anything, he could do.

Alec didn’t think he could do anything. The wound was stable, and the man wasn’t losing blood, but the damage was so extensive that Alec was not sure the arm could be saved. Even if it could, short of a magical cure, he would probably never have the use of his hand.

Alec was disturbed to find just how unsympathetic he felt. Usually, he was bothered by these sorts of catastrophic injuries, but he knew Maren would not have done it if she had a choice. He thought it likely Flynn deserved it.

“Will he be alright?”

Alec looked up and saw Seb—no, Captain Carstairs. He could only think of him in a professional context at that moment.

“He’ll need to go to the hospital. The one in town will do for now, but they may need to send him to the Capital. There’s very little I can do here,” Alec said, recovering the wound with gauze.

Flynn groaned again. Even with a lot of morphine, he still seemed to be in pain. That was fine.

“You’re in charge, Captain. At least until you hear otherwise,” Flynn said.

“Yes, sir,” Carstairs replied.

He looked at the medics. “Take the Colonel to the hospital. Report back when you’re able.”

“Not until I have my questions answered,” Alec’s father said, storming into the infirmary.

His eyes were blazing and his father was angrier than Alec had ever seen.

“What did you do?” his father snarled at Flynn.

“I got rid of the witch for you, Your Grace. I figured it out between the lock and the dead Tracker in your dining room. I know she must’ve enchanted you. So, I dismissed everyone from the drive and let the Trackers in, so they could take her. I took her from her room and brought her out. She burned me trying to escape,” Flynn said.

“You dared to take one of my guests out of my house and turn her over to the people who invaded my house the same day? Nothing gives you that right!” Alec’s father shouted.

“But, sir, she was a witch! She burned me!”

Flynn clearly expected congratulations and sympathy, not fury, and was shocked.

“You took a sleeping woman, the wife of the Crown Prince, no less, from her bed, and you’re upset that she tried to protect herself from you! She acted in self-defense!” Alec’s father shouted.

“You must still be enchanted, sir. She’s a witch. She deserves to hang,” Flynn spat.

Alec’s father narrowed his eyes. It was the first time Alec had ever seen loathing on his father’s face.

“You are a fool. A Light Wielder cannot enchant people. What you have done is take a woman who had never harmed anyone and condemned her to a fate worse than death. I doubt you care, but I will leave you with this knowledge: a Light Wielder can use her powers to heal people. You have taken the only person who can save your arm and given her over to the people who would execute her. Well done.”

His father turned to the medics and snarled, “Get him out of my house.”

Then his father turned to Captain Carstairs. “I want every man assembled in the drive in the next five minutes.”

Alec looked at Carstairs for the first time in several minutes. He looked stunned but said, “Yes, Your Grace.”

“Alec,” his father said, and then motioned that he should come with him.

Alec did not hesitate. He couldn’t do anything for Colonel Flynn anyway.

They went down the hall, away from the infirmary, so they could speak in something like privacy.

“Do you think they’re taking her to the Capitol?” his father asked.

He couldn’t imagine where else they would take her.

Alec nodded. “Kieran will want her brought directly to him.”

His father nodded. “I thought so, too. We’ll go after them. We’re behind, but we may be able to catch up. Either way, it seems Kieran is doing something nefarious in the Capitol and I need to be there,” his father said.

Alec nodded.

“I’m going to cull the men. We’re only taking the ones who won’t be bothered by Maren. We cannot trust the others,” his father said.

Alec didn’t disagree, he just didn’t know how many men would be left.

“Mrs. Bennet is with her parents. We’ll leave as soon as we can,” his father said.

Alec nodded again.

His father checked his watch. “I’m waiting until they’re all out there before I go.”

That made sense. It would be a more imposing entrance for him. Not that he needed help; even in a dressing gown, Jonathan Drake was very imposing.

“How did you know he’d lose the arm?” Alec asked.

“Will he? I didn’t know. I just wanted to terrify him,” his father said.

Alec was slightly shocked. It was the only time he could ever think of his father doing something cruel. Alec did not blame him, though.

“Probably. Even if he doesn’t, I doubt he’ll ever use his hand again,” Alec said.

“Good.”

When Maren woke up, she found herself in the back of a speeder with a Tracker beside her. She tried very hard not to move.

She was in a great deal of pain, but she couldn’t remember why until she turned her head and felt something tug at her neck.

A collar.

Then she remembered. She burned the Colonel and tried to run, but ran straight into a group of Trackers. She tried to fire Light at the two holding her arms, but she was still too tired from healing Alec and burning the Colonel, so she didn’t manage much of anything.

Then one of them fastened something around her neck that turned everything into agony.

She screamed when they put it on her; her throat still felt sore. The collar made It felt like her bones were on fire. She attempted to use her powers, but nothing happened. Instead, she just felt more pain.

The collar seemed to prevent her from being able to touch the Light within her. Instead, there was only pain and a chasm of emptiness. She tried not to think about it.

“Shame we can’t have her entertain us on the drive,” the Tracker beside her said.

“Prince said not to touch her. Reckon he wants her to himself,” one in the front said.

“He’ll kill you if he finds out you did. Come to think of it, he’ll probably kill all three of us, so you better leave her alone,” the driver said.

“Pretty, though, for a witch,” the one next to her said.

He must’ve looked at her and noticed her eyes were open because he said, “She’s awake. Get me a syringe.”

Maren didn’t move. There was some shuffling amongst the men, and then a needle stabbed into her upper arm. Whatever they injected her with burned badly but seemed to be putting her back to sleep.

She welcomed the darkness when it came.

There were almost fifty soldiers assembled in neat rows in the drive when Alec went out with his father. Carstairs was at the front of the men. Alec tried not to look at him.

“Your commanding officer abducted the Princess and turned her over to the Trackers. He thought he was justified in his actions because Princess Maren is a Light Wielder.”

Alec was slightly stunned to hear his father so casually out Maren, but he supposed at this point, it mattered very little. He did not think Colonel Flynn would keep the secret. He tried not to think about what might happen to her once they got her out of Kieran’s hands.

“Captain Carstairs, do you agree with Colonel Flynn’s actions?”

Alec had to look at Carstairs then. His face was steely, and Alec thought he knew what Carstairs would do.

“Yes, Your Grace,” Carstairs said.

He glanced toward Alec, and Alec glared, disgusted and more heartbroken than he wanted to admit. He and Seb had cared about each other, but it didn’t matter anymore. Anyone who would see Maren hang was dead to Alec.

“Very well, Captain. Go and stand over there,” his father said, gesturing to the other side of the drive.

Carstairs looked confused, but did it anyway.

“The rest of you, I am going to ask you a question and I expect your honesty. No one will be punished for their opinion, but I cannot have people I cannot trust with me. If you agree with Colonel Flynn, go and stand behind Carstairs,” Alec’s father ordered.

Alec tried not to hold his breath. He was worried none of them would stay. In the shuffle of men, he couldn’t tell how many were staying behind, but a lot of them were going to stand with Carstairs.

Alec was shocked when the shuffle ended and fifteen men were still standing before them.

Alec’s father approached the remaining men and gestured for them to break formation and come closer.

“I take it you lot, like me, are not bothered by the prospect of a Wielder Princess?” his father asked. He spoke more quietly than he had before, probably so the other men could not hear him well.

The men nodded.

“I would like to save the Princess, but I will not order you to come. If you come, I expect you to follow my every order and any orders from the Crown Prince. So, if anyone is not willing to volunteer for this mission or is not willing to swear to do whatever is necessary to save the princess, leave now,” Alec’s father said.

None of the men moved.

Alec’s father nodded. “Thank you.”

“Captain Carstairs, you and the men behind you are dismissed. Return to the fort. Now,” his father ordered.

Carstairs looked like he wanted to protest, but did not. He looked at Alec, eyes pleading understanding, but Alec gave a slight shake of his head and continued to glare at the man who had been his friend, a lover, and very nearly something more. Alec would never forgive him.

After Carstairs shouted orders and the men went to some of the speeders, Alec’s father turned to the men who stayed behind.

“Who’s in charge amongst you?”

They all checked their insignia to see. They were mostly enlisted men, but there was one officer.

“I believe that’s me, Your Grace. Lieutenant Jeffers.”

“Congratulations, Lieutenant. I hereby grant you a field promotion to Captain,” Alec’s father said. “Organize everyone and figure out who we have and what equipment we need. I want to leave as soon as possible, but I need to send a telegram. Are any of you a communications specialist?”

One man raised his hand.

“Thank the gods, it takes me forever to send one word. Come with me. Alec, go and tell Maren’s parents what we’re doing, then get ready. Everyone should be in the drive as quickly as possible. No more than half an hour.”

Donovan and his mother spent a very unpleasant night trapped in the sitting room. At one point, Donovan tried breaking through the wooden wall into another room, only to discover that Kieran had wrapped that in a wall of Darkness too.

It showed astounding power. Donovan could not put up a barrier that large and then walk away and have it still standing hours later. Kieran could, though.

The one thing that both horrified and comforted him was that if Kieran had Maren, he wouldn’t kill her right away. He’d want to play with her. The thought made him want to vomit, but he also knew that it would give him time to rescue her. He hoped.

He tried not to think about her or the baby or anything but how to get out of the room.

At one point, his mother curled up on one of the sofas and went to sleep. He dozed off periodically in his chair. He hoped that at some point the wall of Darkness would weaken, and he could break through it.

Donovan tried to plan where he should go once he got free. Donovan knew it was early morning based on the time, but no light shone through the windows. The Darkness was too thick. What he wanted to do was get in a speeder and drive non-stop until he reached Maren, but he knew that was not a wise decision. He thought instead what would be wiser was to go to the military base outside the Capitol. He’d be able to get help there, he thought. And hopefully get a telegram to the Duke.

He wondered if anyone in the palace would notice that he and his parents were missing. He thought he might be missed sometime later that day, probably not until the afternoon. But he wasn’t sure about his parents. His mother said she thought Kieran killed their residential staff, and they would be the ones to report a problem if there was one. The King and Queen were certainly allowed to miss official meetings and whatnot if they wanted to. So, he thought it might be at least a day or more before someone got suspicious.

He thought he might doze off again when he sensed a subtle shift in the barrier. It was still there, but Donovan thought it might be breaking down, at least in part of it. Perhaps Kieran had lost focus or gone too far away? He wasn’t sure, but he needed to find the weak spot if there was one.

He found it in front of the doors where the barrier crossed into the room. It was very subtle, something like a crack in the barrier. Donovan still could not dispel it, but he thought perhaps he might weaken it further at that point.

He built a mass of Darkness in his hands and thrust it at the particular spot in Kieran’s barrier. The force of the impact seemed to reverberate in his bones, but as his mother did not stir, he surmised it must be only a magical sensation and not a physical one.

He checked the crack in Kieran’s barrier. It was difficult to tell, but he thought it might have been slightly bigger.

He tried again, this time shaping the Darkness into something like a wedge with a pointed end.

That had been more effective. The chip seemed to have turned into a crack. So, he did it again and again and again.

By the time the crack widened into a gap he could see through, he was sweating from the exertion. His mother had woken up and was watching him.

“Nearly there, I think,” he said.

He shaped the Darkness into something like a crowbar and forced it into the gap. He tried to envision he was using a crowbar and pushed on it.

The gap widened, so he kept pushing. The barrier seemed to offer a great deal of resistance, as though it didn’t want to be pulled apart. Donovan was getting tired.

And then he allowed himself to think about Maren and the baby and give a final shove with all his strength.

Somehow, it worked. He wasn’t sure if the barrier had dissipated or shattered, but either way it was gone.

He took one moment to breathe before turning to his mother.

“We have to go,” he said.

She looked uncertain. She glanced towards his father’s body.

His heart hurt for her, but they had to press on.

“He’s gone, Mother. Kieran may be back anytime. We need to get out of here,” he said.

He saw her nod and physically pull herself together before rising. He felt better to see her at least looking like the Queen.

The guards outside the apartment tried to stop them—Donovan realized that they must be Kieran’s men—but they were no match for Donovan and his powers. Even though he was tired, he was now fueled by rage and a burning determination to save Maren. He sent bolts of Darkness slamming into the men’s sculls. Either they were knocked unconscious or they were dead. He didn’t really care either way.

He rushed with his mother through the halls. It was still early enough in the day that they saw no one in their path. They made it to the garage with the fleet of palace speeders quickly. There were a few sleepy and baffled-looking drivers who looked up when they rushed in, but none of them asked any questions.

Donovan ushered his mother into the nearest speeder, and he got in the driver’s seat. The keys were where he knew they were supposed to be, tucked into a compartment in front of the passenger’s side.

He drove away from the garage, tires squealing, racing to the fort. He hoped he would be there in time.

—

Donovan parked the speeder carelessly in front of the entrance of the fort. A guard tried to stop him but decided against it when he saw who was in the speeder.

Donovan burst out of the speeder and shouted at the guard, “I need to see the Commandant immediately.”

The guard looked very startled but nodded and used his radio to communicate that Prince Donovan and the Queen had arrived and wanted to see the Commandant.

Donovan nodded to the guard and then stormed into the fort, leaving his mother to follow as she would.

The Commandant was rushing into the courtyard with an entourage of staff when Donovan passed through the gate at the entrance. Donovan knew him, an officer named Graves, as he had visited the fort several times.

“Your Highness, we thought you were dead!”

Donovan’s eyes went wide and he clenched his teeth. This was Kieran’s doing.

He tried very hard not to take out his rage on the man but found that very difficult.

“Obviously not, Commandant. Where did you hear that?” he growled.

“We received a telegram from Tracker headquarters saying that you and the King had been killed by a witch and that Prince Kieran was now king.”

Donovan wanted very much to throw things and scream and shout. But he was also about to insist to these men that he was the king, and he knew behaving childishly would do him no favors. He contented himself to drawing small strands of Darkness to his clenched fists.

“That is a lie. Prince Kieran killed the King and is trying to seize the throne for himself. The Queen —“ he looked around for his mother to see she had come to stand beside him “—also witnessed the murder.”

To her immense credit, his mother was standing tall, and her eyes were very sharp. She nodded in agreement with Donovan and glared at Graves, daring him to contradict her.

He didn’t. He nodded and said, “If King Tynan is indeed dead, then you are the rightful king, Your Majesty.”

Donovan’s stomach turned at the address, but he couldn’t show it. He just nodded in response.

One of the soldiers in Graves’ entourage handed him a sheet of paper. Graves nodded and said, “You’ll want to see this telegram, Your Majesty.”

Donovan knew it was bad news just by the look on Graves’ face. He wasn’t wrong.

TO: CAPITOL FORT

FROM: WORTHINGHAM

FOR PRINCE D: WIFE KIDNAPPED BY TRACKERS. IN PURSUIT BUT SEVERAL HOURS BEHIND. WILL MEET AT CAPITOL FORT.

Donovan just stared at the telegram for a few moments, trying not to tremble.

“We weren’t sure what to make of it. We didn’t know you had a wife, Your Majesty,” Graves said delicately.

“It’s very recent,” he said mechanically, not really paying attention to the conversation.

“Then the Trackers have the Queen? The…ah…new Queen.”

Donovan nodded curtly.

“They’ll be coming from the west. She was at Worthingham. Set up a roadblock immediately.”

Graves nodded, “Yes, Your Majesty.”

Donovan’s mother surprised him by speaking very sharply to Graves. “This is an obvious power play and not an arrest. The Queen is pregnant. Her safety is of the utmost importance.”

Graves looked surprised but nodded.

Donovan continued, “I will need an escort to the roadblock. Queen Andrea will remain here under your protection.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. Come, please wait in my office until we’re ready to depart.”

As they walked to Graves’ office, his mother said quietly, “I thank you for not referring to me as the Dowager Queen.”

He almost had, but he really couldn’t bear to describe his mother as a widow just yet.

“I wouldn’t dream of it, Mother.”

They were seen to Graves’ office and Donovan tried to wait patiently. But it was very difficult.

There was only one road from the Capitol to the West Coast, where the Duke of Worthingham resided. It was Donovan’s hope that the roadblock would be established in time to catch whoever had Maren before reaching Kieran in the Capitol. But based on when the Duke had sent the telegram, it was likely they would not reach the roadblock until sometime late that night.

But it was only late morning, and a great number of things could happen in the intervening hours.

“He knows you’re more popular than he is,” his mother said.

Donovan had no idea what she was talking about. His mind was so focused on Maren, he could think of little else.

“Who?”

“Kieran. That’s why he told everyone you’re dead. Because too many powerful people would not be happy to have him as king if you’re still alive.”

Donovan shrugged. “Possibly. I think he meant to kill me; he just wanted to torture me a bit first. He knows the best way to do that is with Maren. I also don’t think he thought we would be able to escape, so in his mind, I was as good as dead.”

His mother nodded. “Pride will be his downfall.”

Donovan shuddered to hear his mother quote his father’s last words, but he thought they were both right.

“I just hope that happens sooner rather than later,” he said.

He realized that might be an insensitive thing to say to his mother but considering she had recently witnessed her son murder her husband, Donovan wasn’t sure she'd disagree.

And as though she’s been reading his mind, she said, “You can love someone and still want them to be held accountable for their crimes. I won’t relish whatever happens to Kieran, but I recognize it’s what needs to happen.”

She looked up at him with a sad smile and said, “You’ll understand when your child is born, you can’t ever stop loving them. Even if maybe you should.”

Donovan didn’t understand. He had no love for Kieran before he murdered their father. He only had something much darker now. But he supposed his mother was right and there was something he could not understand since he was not a parent.

“Mother, there’s no way for this to end with him in a prison cell. He’s too powerful for that,” he said. “The only way this ends is with his death.”

He was not at all sure he had the power to kill Kieran, but he thought it was best to set his Mother’s expectations.

She looked displeased but nodded. He thought she understood.

He sighed and sat down, settling in to continue waiting until he could help Maren.