Page 52

Chapter 52

Thevin

The cleverly named map room was indeed a room of maps. One enormous one lay across a wide table, providing the topographical elements of the entire isle. More maps were rolled up and shoved into baskets along the walls, sharing shelves of books about Hyrithia’s history.

The Blight hadn’t touched a few rooms in the castle, this one included, though that didn’t save it from the ravaged dishevelment of becoming a council room in a time of war.

I heaved a sigh, waiting for the council to begin the meeting which would provide us higher ranking officers with our next tasks before the Dimming .

Saelyn spoke quietly with the Handless King —who turned out to be her damned uncle —next to the tall fireplace. My parents had left out that little detail, including that they had trained with him when they were channelers in Felgren .

Everyone important to the cause was here, myself likely the least important one of all. Lanna conversed with Madame Zoreyah and a beautiful woman with the same umber skin and the same tattoos. I assumed it must be her first daughter and heir.

There were a few more faces of commanders I recognized. One woman I did not know spoke with Clairannia , stealing glances at Baron Karus who stood near the topographical map, chewing on her bottom lip relentlessly.

The Baron’s black eyes rose from the illustrated trees of Felgren Forest , and she caught my stare. Tucking her hands into the pockets of her skirts, she stepped around the table, joining me in the shadowed corner.

“ Thevin ,” she greeted kindly. Though we rarely interacted, she’d always been pleasant to me and welcoming in my arrival at her forest every summer to steal her daughter away on adventures.

I inclined my head, straightening my posture and forcing my own hands into my pockets. “ Good afternoon, Baron Karus .”

“ I am happy to see you unharmed from this morning.”

“ You as well,” I responded, squeezing my scarred hand in my pocket and stealing a glance at her daughter.

The Baron didn’t miss it and turned her head to Saelyn as well, saying, “ I didn’t thank you…for staying with Saelyn after I told her about her father.”

I cleared my throat and said, “ She’s my best friend. I would do anything for her.”

The tiniest glint of humor crossed her face before disappearing altogether, and she continued. “ I know you would. It’s why I need to ask something of you.”

“ As a Runner under your command, I follow your orders.”

She shifted on her feet in unease. Taking a deep breath she met my stare, softly replying, “ I do not ask you as Baron , I ask you as Saelyn’s mother.”

I frowned. I didn’t like where our conversation had led, and I stole another glance at Sae . She laughed at something the King had said, and he chuckled along with her. “ What do you ask of me, then?” I questioned, looking back into her eyes, black as an abyss.

“ It has been…difficult to relay the dangers Saelyn will face with us in the Dimming . I will push during this meeting to allow her the choice of if she wants to join us after what she’s seen, but,”—she grabbed my forearm—“promise me you will protect her, even if I cannot. Even if every last one of us is down, you will not let the Blightress take her.”

Once again I focused on Saelyn , the harsh desperation from her mother’s request sending ice through my veins. Sae caught my stare, smiling and giving me a short wave. She pinched her nose closed and raised a brow toward me.

I wanted to laugh, but couldn’t seem to, resigning to just a slight nod instead, confirming that I had in fact bathed and cleaned up from the battle. She must have noticed the fear I could not hide on my face and said something to excuse herself, walking toward us across the room.

The Baron’s grip tightened, and I covered her hand with my own, now sharing a scar with her daughter. “ I will defend her until my last breath, and even then, I’m sure Death allows compromises.”

She gave me a tight smile and nod, letting her hand slip from my arm as Saelyn joined us.

“ Hello , Mother . Thevin ,” she started, her grin bright and beautiful. “ This room is lovely, isn’t it?” She glanced around and spoke to her mother, “ I was just speaking to my uncle about how charming it is, and he had quite the story to tell of the time the both of you stole some of these maps and trekked northward to establish a new city.”

The Baron hummed a laugh and replied, “ I believe we were about seven at the time, so it certainly was not a successful journey.”

I watched the Baron speak to her daughter as if she had not just warned me of what may come to pass. As if she had not just told me that she expected I could be her daughter’s last hope against the torrent of wrath that was the Blightress .

“ It looks like we’re all here,” the Baron started. “ Whatever is asked of you in this room, Saelyn , you are the one who will decide your future. That future may come with risks, and we would understand if?—”

“ It’s alright, Mother .” Sae brushed a hand down her arm. “ I know the risks, but I am done hiding from them.” She smiled at me, once again stealing a piece of my heart.

The Baron took a deep breath and nodded, stepping into the middle of the room.

Sae leaned in, sniffing at my clean white shirt. “ Much better.”

Her mother’s words still haunted me, and instead of my usual flirtatious reply, I gripped Sae’s hand in mine, regardless of the room we were in or what our roles were to be in this war.

She squeezed my fingers. “ What is it?”

“ Something doesn’t feel right here,” I responded, studying the faces in the room, especially the ones I had not seen before.

“ I admit, I don’t know how this is going to go, but I’ll stay here beside you.” The corners of her mouth turned upward, and I bit down hard, feeling the solid strength of my teeth, wanting to pull her away from all this discussion of the Dimming and the Blightress and just run through the fields of Felgren to kiss her in long grass blooming in yellow flowers.

“ Where did you go just now?” she asked, leaning into my shoulder.

The deep blue of her eyes pierced my soul, solidifying that there was only her. There was only everything I wished we could share together, despite the fact that from her existence alone, death and souls siphoned for power haunted the isle since we were mere babes in our mothers’ arms. “ Just …” I started, reaching out to brush the sharp line of her jaw with the back of my fingers, “a place I wish we could be.”

She caught my hand and didn’t let go, her eyes flashing to my mouth.

“ I call to order the council of the Four and the commanders of the Wieldwryns and Runners .” The Baron’s voice, slightly amplified, silenced the room. All eyes of the most important people on the isle turned to her, and she addressed them with her stout bluntness. “ The Blightress has attempted to steal my daughter once already since we left Felgren . She arrived at the Spire last night to massacre the guests of the party and take Saelyn to her lands, where she would poison her mind over decades and all hope for this isle would be lost to a new, darker future.”

I quickly glanced around the room, looking for shock and acceptance. I was met with mostly tired eyes and folded arms.

The Baron’s jaw ticked and she swallowed, hesitating on her next words. “ Baron Revich is alive.”

The gasps in the room changed the mood, several commanders turning to each other, several more with deep frowns across their mouths.

“ I have held this secret for seventeen years. A final request from her father before he left to weaken the Blightress’s heart. He has been there all this time, stifling her power, allowing us to grow our army until the day we would be ready to embark on her lands and silence her forever.”

A young man stepped forward, one I didn’t recognize with bright red curls and freckles across his wide nose. “ We could have used Baron Revich these past years, and yet you let him face her lands alone? Why couldn’t we send help? Why does his presence there diminish her power?”

The Baron turned to him, her face softening, “ Ashton …it is good to see you again.”

He spoke through his teeth, “ Why ? Because I remind you of my father? If it’s him you’re wishing to see, I’ll point you to his grave.”

Sae looked at me and then back at her mother. I leaned into her ear to whisper, “ Commander Geyrand was killed a year ago at a northern battle. His son has taken up his duties along with his daughter.” I paused as the Baron said something softly to the man. “ Your mother had history with Commander Geyrand . Before she met your father.”

Sae squeezed my hand and nodded, focusing back on her mother.

“ Regardless of what you think, Ashton , I cared for your father. I care for your family and this fight is for them.” She waved a hand around her. “ This fight is for all of us. The Dimming comes due and we need your soldiers in the north for this final push.”

“ And Baron Revich ?”

The question came from the back of the room. A woman stepped forward, her dark skin complemented by the golden iumenta conduit clothes she wore. Her long hair was swept back in dozens of intricate braids, golden beads patterned into each one. I recognized her as the woman speaking with Clairannia earlier, but did not know her name.

“ What state will we find him in when we arrive in her lands? What horrors have you left him to face alone?”

Her words stung. Even I could feel them as the air in the room grew taut. Baron Karus’s chin trembled the slightest before she gave her answer. “ I do not know, Figuerah ,” she murmured softly, flexing her fingers at her side. “ I have tried once before to get to him, but he has shielded the cavern where her heart beats. I cannot see him. I cannot get to him.”

Figuerah stepped closer, her face full of anguish. “ And what does Adaynth have to say? What does the source of the power of Baron have to tell you about where one Baron fights alone for seventeen years?”

Lanna stepped forward, hands on her hips. “ Baron Adaynth ? The first Baron of Felgren ?”

Figuerah nodded. “ Karus has not been forthcoming in her power’s source. Not only does she hold the power of Felgren and some of the Blightress , her power as Baron comes directly from the first Baron in history.” She took a deep breath, adding, “ And that Baron lives inside hers and Baron Revich’s minds. He can speak to them both, so I ask again, what does Adaynth have to say about Revich’s fight?”

More whispers filtered through the room at the second secret brought to light. I watched Sae as she frowned at her mother and Figuerah . I could only imagine what she felt from hearing hostility towards her mother.

Baron Karus murmured something low and Figuerah’s lips pursed in response.

“ What does she say?” Lanna asked.

A swirl of green tendrils, bright and solid, wrapped around the Baron’s fists at her side as she broke her calm demeanor, her rage spilling forth in a wind that swept through the room. “ He does not speak to me!” she stormed. “ I have begged, offered my own power back to him, done everything I could think of to get Adaynth to speak to me! He is still there, in the dark corners of my mind and will not tell me how my companion survives in the Blightress’s lands!”

She took a step toward Figuerah , who stood her ground, though Clairannia rushed to their sides. “ Do not ask me what I have done for Revich because I have done everything but give my own life!” Her power broke from her hands, wrapping around the three in a swirling mist. “ And the only reason I have not done that is because Rev wanted his daughter to live safe and happy in our home. I would have given my life a thousand times over to save him.” Her voice broke and Figuerah reached for her hand, tears running down her smooth cheeks. “ I would have given up everything but our daughter to bring him back, for that is the one thing I cannot do. So I have waited . Seventeen years I have loved and raised our daughter the best I could with my heart bleeding in my chest every moment he is there alone without his family, without the two he loves most, and I will bring him home, Figuerah , because I am done waiting. He has given enough for this fight.” She gestured around the room. “ He has given years of his life for all of us to hope. To defy that dark, and it is my turn to save him.” She paused, taking a deep breath. “ I will save him.”

The silence was cold. It filled the room in an uncomfortable stillness. The only sound was the crackle of fire at the hearth, the only movement was the swirling green mist around the three powerful women, trapping them in unspoken words, years of the weight they held hanging heavily between them.

At the Baron’s words, my throat tightened, and I saw I was not the only one in the room who struggled to keep their tears in check.

Before I could pull her back, Sae took three steps forward. “ Use me as bait,” she offered, loud and clear. “ The Blightress can feel when I use a vast amount of my power, so use me as bait and get to my father. Plant your army around me so that when she arrives to steal me away, your forces can attack and hold her.”

“ No ,” I hummed low.

I knew she heard me, but ignored me anyway, continuing, “ I am the cause of this war, and I offer myself to be the end of it.”

The King stepped forward. “ The Blightress knows when you use your power?”

“ Yes . It is how she knew where I was outside of Felgren . I … I used some of my power impulsively while I was there.”

“ And how did you escape her? Baron Karus hasn’t explained how that didn’t end in a slaughter.” King Philius glanced to the Baron , who now held the hands of both Figuerah and Clairannia , her power easing into a single glowing circle around them.

Sae lifted her chin and her knuckles whitened. “ I knew the Blightress was coming and warned my mother so that she could erect her shield and protect us all.”

“ You can track the Blightress’s movements?” He uncrossed his arms, his flaming hands falling at his sides.

“ Maybe … I - I don’t know for sure how I knew she was coming.”

Lie .

The King addressed his sister. “ With Saelyn using her power to attract the Blightress and Sae’s ability to know if she’s coming, we have a chance to implement the Dimming . I have one hundred Wieldwryns practicing the sleeping spell on each other every day. They’re ready.”

Lanna added, “ And with the aid of Commander Ashton’s northern Runners , I have four hundred soldiers to fight through to the cave where Baron Revich waits.”

The Baron nodded, stepping out of the glowing mist. “ Saelyn , this is your choice alone. We can find another way if you?—”

“ I am tired of fearing to make a choice, Mother . I want to train with you and play my role in the Dimming .” She turned her head, smiling at me coyly over her shoulder as she finished. “ I choose this risk. I choose this future.”

My chest would cave from the beauty of it—watching her offer all of herself and everything she had to end this war. And I’d stay by her side through all of it. Just as I had pledged to her mother, I would fight for her to my last breath and beyond.

“ Are we in agreement as the Four to pursue this new plan for the Dimming ?” Baron Karus looked around the room at Madame Zoreyah in the corner, slowly petting the head of her muri while her daughter bit her fingernails in agitation. She nodded once, then everyone looked to the King who sighed, murmuring his agreement.

She turned to Lanna , who had nervously run her fingers through her hair so much during the council, her pale waves were almost completely unbound from the braid around her head.

“ If Saelyn agrees, then I agree. But if she changes her mind at any moment, we do not force anything upon her. Baron Revich would not want that for his daughter.”

The Baron nodded, holding her palm out to Saelyn . “ As Baron of Felgren , this is my Offering to train you in the magic of the Forest that flows through your veins from the roots of the trees to the new leaves in spring. Do you accept?”

Sae reached out her hand, placing it in the palm of her mother’s. “ I accept this Offering , Baron Karus .”

At their touch, her clothes transformed.

I’d never actually seen the customary acceptance of an Offering , but I’d heard of the conduit in training being given a conduit ring and formal clothing they would subconsciously choose.

Instantly , Sae became taller, her feet wrapped in high-heeled shoes similar to those she wore the previous night. They were a pine green, the top wrapping around her delicate ankles, trimmed in what looked like rhyzolms.

The sheer forest green length of her gown hinted at all of the shape of her legs, flowing downward from her waist where she wore a velvet bodysuit that ended high along her hips to show off her creamy skin. Her sleeves billowed in the same shimmery sheer material, ending at her wrists in cuffs of gold lace.

I could only imagine what the front of her gown looked like if this was the back, and I shifted uncomfortably against the wall.

“ Runners ,” Lanna called, “you’re with me to the eastern gates. We will inform the rest there and prepare a timeline to invade. Move out.”

I swept a hand through my hair, following orders like a good soldier instead of pulling Sae into my arms to dance to the music I heard when I looked at her. Lanna caught my eye and my hesitation as if she expected it and jerked her head to the door.

I didn’t look back as I left.

I was a Runner in the Four’s army on the front lines.

I didn’t get to dance.

I felt the clap of Lanna’s hand across my back. “ I did what I could to make sure she always has a choice.”

“ Thank you,” I muttered, heading down the blood-red carpeted stairs, now stained with veins of black. “ I will follow orders.” I stopped her on the last step as the other commanders left us, hustling to the eastern wall. “ I will follow orders until I can’t. I go where she goes.”

She chuckled and jostled my shoulder. “ Then I think she has a real chance to do this right.”