Page 54 of Oath of Betrayal
‘Slightly?!The window is destroyed, the entire room is ruined, and it will take several days to repair the damage. Where will you sleep, my lady?’ she asked with righteous indignation, and I could only roll my eyes.
‘There’s plenty of space in the castle, and if I can’t find an empty bed, I can always sleep in Vahin’s lair. I’m sure he won’t object,’ I said, gathering my things and, like a coward, running away from her accusing glare. ‘I’ll be with Katja if anyone needs me. Stop worrying so much, Agnes. I’ve slept in worse conditions.’
I grabbed a shawl that had somehow survived the onslaught and rushed out the door before my bossy maid could berate me further.
1.Tie her!
As soon as I left Ihrain at the capital, I had told Vahin to take us to my family’s residence. Now I was waiting patiently in my brother’s war room for Reynard to return from the court, wondering why the hell he’d called me this time.
I’d wanted to spend some time with Ani just to reassure myself she was settling in. But between the patrols, managing the fortress, and flying between the capital and the other two dragon rider strongholds, I’d barely had time for this.
That the burning need to see her now distracted me from my duties was disconcerting.Why does it even matter? She’s not for me. The Dagome court’s betrayal of our people stripped me of what little choice I had.
I looked at the map in front of me. The Dagome Kingdom was the closest to the Barren Lands and would likely take the brunt of any attack. Even with Care’etavos and Lumivitae—the dark fae empire and light fae kingdom, respectively—supporting us, most of the fight would happen on our soil, and that was alwaysdisastrous for the innocent.
Still, I had Annika; and if she could use Alaric’s necromancy in a similar way to her use of Vahin’s fire … Even if it was an untested theory, the possibilities it opened up made the decision to pursue my own desires feel not only selfish but borderline treasonous.
If I could only move the fight to the Barren Lands, no one except the Lich King’s forces would suffer.I thought, but it was easier said than done.
The dragons could fly at will, and with Annika on Vahin’s back, we could go much further than skimming the borders. Once we gained a foothold, we could set up a permanent camp to secure the ground forces’ arrival; and if other commanders could do the same or join ours, we could encircle Katrass and possibly even take the Lich King’s capital. I moved the pins that represented my dragon squadron into the Barren Lands territory before realising the problem. We had three fortresses and only one conduit mage bound to a dragon.
‘Vahin? How likely is it for a dragon to bond with a conduit mage if we find more?’I didn’t need to wait long for an answer.
‘I can tell you it is nearly impossible. The danger of dying if the bond is not accepted is not a small one. How many mages and dragons do you know who would accept such a risk?’
‘Why did you accept her?’
‘Do you remember when we rescued her from the avalanche? I didn’t have to search the rockfall; the inferno of her soul called out to me. The way dragons see aether … there are no human words to describe it. My race was born from the primal power that shaped this world, and when I saw her spirit—so similar, so bright and pure—I wanted to have it. I craved for it to be mine.’
There was so much possessiveness in his voice that a grain of uncertainty made me ask,‘Vahin, what did you do?’
‘Nothing except help her live, hoping that one day she would find me. You can’t own someone’s soul unless they gift it to you. That’s why I’m almost certain no other conduit mage will Anchor a dragon, at least not during your lifetime.’
While that spelled the death of another plan, I couldn’t give up on the idea of taking the battle to the Lich King. If we could coordinate the attack with Vahin and Ani in the central position and join our forces, it might work. I have never heard of a dragon using thoughtspeech with a person other than their bonded rider, but Vahin could easily converse with Annika in his thoughts.
‘Can you talk to ordinary men? Or maybe other riders? I could use—’
‘No.’
I cursed silently. Our inability to attack from different directions meant I would have to concentrate my forces in one area unless I was willing to lose men and riders to the spectrae. Another issue with my strategy was figuring out how to move our ground forces across the mountains. After the war, the combined mage forces had destroyed every road leading to the former Ozar Kingdom; now, there was no known safe passage through the mountains.
‘We’ll have to widen the Rift's chasm to let the entire army pass; meanwhile, the undead bastard can simply flood us with monsters far more agile in mountain terrain than fully armed humans,’ I muttered to myself.
‘Are you trying to win a war that hasn’t even started yet?’
I turned around and nodded to my brother. ‘I prefer to be prepared. Why did you call me? Is anything new in court? Did the king rethink his decision, or did the chancellor convince him to drop this idiocy?’
‘Nothing so helpful, I’m afraid. Since you are planning on winning the war, you can have my title of Lord Marshal if youwant, along with what’s left of the army.’ Although his words were meant to be lighthearted, I heard the bitterness in his voice.
‘What’s left …?’
‘Yes, as it’s clearly no longer needed since the king has maintained his position on the trade deal with the Lich King. It didn’t matter that I and several other noble families objected. And the chancellor was as quiet as the grave. So now there are other things to talk about, brother.’
Reynard looked tired. I knew he’d never wanted the title of Lord Marshal of the army, but he was as diligent in his duties as I was in mine.
‘You’re going to rebel, aren’t you?’ I asked, and he nodded.
‘What choice do I have? I don’t care who sits on the throne, but the people … Orm, we were given power, given an army to protect them. You sacrificed your life and your family to guard the borders, and now our hands are bound.’ He said it with such vehemence I felt the need to ease the tension.
