Page 30 of Veil of Vasara (Fate of the Five #1)

CHAPTER 30- HESTAN

I had managed, just before we had been forcibly planted in place, to grab Dyna’s hand. I could sense, as soon as these Vessels had entered the hall, her instant overwhelming fear, and although we could not move, she was still trembling in my grip.

Unlike the large majority of guests, I saw no use in trying to break the sorcery this Acciperean had cast. He was obviously a Telepath, and so any attempts would only be in vain. I could only plan what I might do once it was lifted, and even that was proving difficult. There was a chance, I knew, we may not live to act at all. The other Vessel’s shackles were still firmly planted around her wrists, but there was no saying whether or not this man had the ability to remove them, or what her abilities might be.

My own death here, I could accept if absolutely necessary, but Dyna’s, she was just a child. Dunlan’s niece, I could not.

My eyes followed the path of the young man as he approached the King, each step closer, each step louder. His eyes were full of rage, of chaos. I doubted he had planned his actions thoroughly at all, but his intentions were clear.

I opened my mouth, but no, it did not surprise me, I could not speak.

But the King could.

His eyes were cold as he regarded the incoming guest. He appeared utterly unafraid, as if he were glancing at a child.

“What do you hope this will achieve? I can assure it will not be the result you hoped for.”

It seemed his main hope was the King’s death, so I couldn’t help but disagree.

“It certainly won’t be the one you did, Your Majesty. ”

“You are powerful, but you are not powerful enough to end the lives of everyone here.”

The King spoke this as if it were fact, rather than a bluff. It wouldn’t surprise me if he were that knowledgeable, but on the topic of sorcery…that was surprising.

“Therefore, there will be at least one hundred people who have seen your face before you flee. You won’t get far,” the King warned.

The man laughed. “It doesn’t matter. It doesn't matter if I live. All that matters is that you don’t.”

“And what about her?” The King’s eyes moved to the woman the man had dragged in. “Do you not care for her welfare?”

The man was now close enough to raise the blade to the King’s neck. “Don’t you dare speak of her welfare, you, who placed chains around her hands and feet.”

“You know I speak the truth, kill me now and you condemn her to death.” He had spoken to them before, I realised. He had spoken to these Vessels. He knew this man, and he knew who this woman was to him.

Whatever the subject of their conversation had been, it had clearly not been something the young man had appreciated.

“You speak as if she is ALIVE,” he screamed in his face, moving in so close they could embrace now. The yell of this one man was so stark against the induced silence of an entire crowd.

“What life is this for her? What life is this for us? It’s not a life at all. Death would be a release for her.” The man was speaking through heaving breaths, his voice was shaking, cracking with every word.

The young woman squirmed under the man’s grip, physically showing her disagreement with the statement. The King noticed too.

“It doesn’t seem… that she agrees with you.”

“She is not in her right mind. And it’s no wonder, after what you’ve done to her.”

The woman continued to struggle, glancing wearily at the man.

The King persisted. “She is frightened of you.”

The man looked down at the woman, confirming the King’s statement. He gritted his teeth. “She’s not well.”

“Then allow our doctors to see her.”

“That’s fucking ENOUGH.”

The King lost his ability to speak.

He strained to talk and as he did, blood began to escape his lips. He sank to the floor on his knees.

At his own Coronation, the King was kneeling before another man. The blood dripped from his lip, the only sound in the room, like hailstones smacking against the marble white floor.

The man placed the blade above the King's neck, as if he were about to behead him. The King couldn’t move, he remained fixed in place, his eyes locked onto the man who was standing at his side.

She shrieked. The pitch was so high it tore at the air. The auburn-haired woman ripped away from the man, wailing, falling onto her elbows, and backing away.

“Orlis,” he said gently.

Orlis was sobbing, dragging herself across the floor.

The young man grabbed her hand, she had barely moved away from him at all. His blade was still at the King’s neckline.

“Let me go,” she said, whimpering.

The young man’s face fell.

For the briefest second, I felt it. Dyna’s hand squeezed mine tighter, ever so slightly. I had barely been able to perceive the feeling, I had barely been able to notice that for a fraction of a moment, a slither of time, the sorcery had lifted.

Nobody had. The moment had come and gone in the same tiny fragment.

Nobody but him.

His hand remained outstretched, now frozen in the air. His palm faced the ceiling, his fingers were slightly curled, his index finger was pointing forwards.

Audra’s Prince was smiling.

We had been stripped of all our weapons. Unlike the other events we had attended, this one was highly public, and not even the Courting Season’s escorts had been permitted to bring any weapons into the Ceremony, to avoid any accusations of bias. Only Vasara’s King's guard, currently immobilised around the space, had been allowed to hold them.

We had been checked thrice over before we had been permitted to enter this hall and yet…

A dagger was now lodged in the young man’s throat.

Within that miniscule piece of time, Audra’s Prince had withdrawn the weapon from its hiding place and aimed with enough precision to avoid injuring the King and to strike a lethal point on the Vessel’s body.

The Bird of Death. His alias was not an exaggeration. It was a perfect analogy.

Slowly, little by little the sorcery lifted from our bodies. As the life was drained from the young man, so too was his hold on our minds. Within minutes, he no longer had the energy to maintain it.

Orlis was screaming now. The young man had sunk to the floor, kneeling in a near identical position to the King. Her hands slipped across the slick blood trailing down his neck and onto his upper chest. The young man was choking on his own blood, staring at Orlis wide eyed.

Audra’s Prince leapt up the stairs in a few movements and reached his target. He stood there for a moment observing the scene. Orlis turned around and threw herself at him, weakly trying to scratch his face, his throat. Audra’s Prince easily lifted her off himself and shoved her to the side.

The King’s guard who had finally become free of the sorcery stepped in to apprehend the woman. A panic seized the crowd, waves of cries and hollers mingling to form the indescribable sound of fear. People were rushing to leave. The King’s men and his guards were trying their best to allow for an orderly exit, but it was nearly impossible.

I squeezed Dyna’s hand and approached the altar.

Audra’s Prince strode over to the young man.

“I need that back.” He pulled the dagger out from the man’s neck, after which he fell on his back to the floor.

I stepped in beside him. We both watched as the man’s blood spread across the blanket of white ground as if searching for something to hold onto.

“Unfortunately for you, the King’s guards do a thoroughly unthorough job at searching for weapons,” Audra’s Prince put to the half alive man.

“It had nothing to do with the weapon,” I mumbled under my breath, loud enough for Audra’s Prince to hear.

“It’s hardly as if I could have cut him open with the air, is it, Captain?” He smiled at me knowingly.

“It’s hardly possible anyone could have done that at all.”

“Is this your way of saying thank you…I—"

The King who had now stood, approached us. “You have my thanks, Your Highness.” He bowed to Audra's Prince. B owed to him.

The Prince and I glanced at one another in surprise.

“I was only doing my duty. After all, saving the King’s life is a great honour.” He gave a restrained smile.

“Was it his life you were saving?” I found myself mumbling.

The King glanced at me confusedly, as if he was surprised I had spoken. As he did, he used his thumb to wipe errant blood away from his mouth. It was still smeared slightly across his pale lips and chin.

Audra’s Prince, however, laughed. “Don’t be jealous, Captain. But you are right, I had my neck in a terribly awkward position when he froze us all in place.” He pointed back at the young man, who was now dead. “It was horrendous having to wait for the moment I could end his life and stretch it out.”

I wasn’t sure if anything he was saying bore any actual truth.

I was inclined to believe not.

“Do not diminish your deed. I owe you a great deal,” the King stated.

“It’s nothing. Besides, I broke your rule of no weapons in the hall, so if you can let that go, then I can promise to seek no reward.”

“Very well,” the King replied.

Audra’s Princess approached us. The King glanced at her in surprise. A woman coming so close to the sight of a dead body and this much blood wasn’t customary or common, particularly in Vasara.

“Your Majesty, are you…unharmed?”

The King’s face softened slightly. “I am, thank you Princess. Do not trouble yourself.”

“It is no trouble,” the Princess replied confidently. “I am only sorry that you had to face such an ordeal.”

“The fault does not lie with you.”

“But still, your life was in danger. I am glad you are safe.”

“You need not be concerned for her, Your Majesty ,” Audra’s Prince made sure to emphasis his new title. “The sight of blood isn’t enough to make her faint.”

“Still. It is not a pleasant sight,” the King responded.

“Seeing the dead body of someone who wished you dead just moments before is hardly an unpleasant sight, is it?” Audra’s Prince argued.

I let out a small sigh at his statement and looked to the ground. Why was he so insistent on making these comments?

“He had his reasons to despise me,” the King said, his gaze resting on the dead body.

We were all stunned by that statement. Even Audra’s Prince was silent for a moment before he said, “If everyone who had their reasons to hate me was afforded the same level of sympathy, you’d be dead now…Your Majesty.”

“It is not sympathy. Only understanding.”

Something only the King could understand, what had transpired, between him and this man, now lifeless on the ground.

“You will make a great King, Your Majesty,” I found myself saying. It was no fabrication. I believed it to be true.

“I hope you are right, Captain.”

The King’s Cousin approached him and pulled him to one side, leaving me standing with the Albarsans.

“So, Captain, will I be getting my thanks anytime soon? Or should I wait for a grander gesture from you at a later date?”

The Princess looked impatiently at her brother.

“Apologies Captain, he speaks too freely.” She smiled.

“And too often,” I added coolly.

The Prince laughed. “You might be one of the only people I’ve met who’s not terrified of me, Captain. No…perhaps the only person.”

I looked him in the eye. “Who says I’m not, Your Highness?”

It wasn’t fear I felt for the Prince however, only wariness.

The Prince almost looked disappointed as he placed his dagger back within a deep fold in the clothing at his ribs.

It was as if the Vessel had come back to life, and I was frozen in place once more.

There was no mistaking it. The dagger was Noxstone. That explained why a throw from such a far distance was able to penetrate this man’s flesh with ease and tear through most of the arteries in his neck. It was jagged, small, its hilt was fashioned into the shape of a bird’s wing.

And there was no mistaking the fact I had seen that dagger before.

I had seen that dagger years ago.

In my older brother's back.