Page 55 of Oath of Betrayal
‘Maybe we are both mistaken?’ I said, not believing my own words.
‘How? Don’t tell me you believe in this talk of … “peace?” Monsters don’t change. They may mask their intentions and soften their voices, but it is all to lure you into a trap. So I will rebel if I must. I wish I’d noticed the rot spreading through the court before things got this far.’
‘Who do you think is behind it?’
‘I don’t know, and therein lies the problem. All these ridiculous notions are pushed forward by the king, but … where or how did he come up with them? He dances like someone’s puppet, and I don’t know who’s pulling the strings. It was his notion to cut army spending yet again. The chancellor protested, albeit weakly, but both he and I were outvoted. I will have to dip into our family’s reserve to pay the veterans. The rest can seek their luck elsewhere. I know what kind of soldiers you’vereceived; if you can believe it, I sent you the best of those I was assigned. Untrainable dimwits or criminals …’
He poured himself a generous measure of wine before continuing. ‘Gods … Orm, I believe that someone is dismantling our kingdom from within, and the war has already begun.’
‘I will follow your lead, brother. If you want us to rebel, you have my support. I trust you. But as straightforward as it is to raise an army against a senile king with no heir, it’s a different matter if someone is manipulating the situation from the shadows,’ I said, suddenly uncertain about it all. It was so much easier to believe the Lich King was just a mindless monster throwing his spawn at us. The realisation that we might be doomed before any major blood was spilt was a heavy burden to bear.
‘I have spies in the court and have reached out to the noble families that have voiced their discontent, but there are few of us. Anyway, leave it to me. Just make sure you monitor the border—especially the Rift—as it is the only viable ground passage to the Barren Lands right now.’ He nodded, passing me a goblet, and while I favoured mead over the dishwater so popular at the noble tables, I accepted it. ‘I will send you a missive when the next messenger from Katrass is expected. Try to intercept him if you can.’
‘Of course, but I can do more. I can go even further into the Barren Lands with Annika shielding my dragons from the spectrae. I was waiting until she settled in at the fortress, but I can start patrols with her as soon as I return home.’
‘Annika … Yes, your precious conduit mage. About that …’ The tone of his voice instantly raised my proverbial hackles.
‘Yes …?’
‘After you asked me to retrieve the register of conduit mages, I thought it might be worth trying to recruit some of them. So I kept tabs on them, checking their whereabouts every now andagain,’ Reynard said, and I willed myself to remain calm, but I needed him to get to the point.
‘And?’
‘And I found that of the four conduit mages that were registered as “alive” in our kingdom, three have died due to illness or injury in the last few months, and one—a young female—is currently missing. Your Annika is the only conduit mage left, and likely only because no one knew she was still alive.’
‘Fuck.’
‘Yes, you drew the same conclusions I did. Of the three males, two were old, so their deaths weren’t even looked into, and the other took his own life when his Anchors were killed in a tavern brawl.’
‘Fuck! Ihrain—he knows she’s alive.’ I choked on my words, hammering my fist on the table. I couldn’t say anything else, couldn’t even move, my anger consuming all thought.
Fucking Ihrain. I should’ve killed him on the spot. If Ani’s safety was compromised because that smarmy bastard blabbed, I’d never forgive myself. Everybody would know that not only was she alive, but her exact location … I looked at the map and crafted my plan.
Could I still take her on patrols? Would she be safe in the stronghold? Or with the ground forces?Taking her with me on Vahin would be safer, I supposed, but a stray arrow or poison dart could easily find its target in the heat of battle.
‘The royal mage’s apprentice? Well, that is inconvenient, but we can use it to our advantage. The easiest way to lure potential enemies is to offer them a juicy target … Don’t look at me like that, Ormond. I don’t want her to get hurt, but if we know about the attack, then you can intercept the culprit and you or Alaric can interrogate them … or their corpse. Then we will find out who gave the order.’
Reynard kept talking, blissfully unaware that I was internally fighting a losing battle.
When he approached me, placing a hand on my shoulder as if we’d come to an agreement, I lost it. ‘What thefuckare you suggesting? How dare you propose using my woma—my mage as bait!’ I roared in his face, stuttering at the end as the unfiltered words slipped from my lips.
‘Your woman? You never mentioned … Ormond, please tell me you are not falling for her. She’s our weapon, not your—’
‘I saidmy mage—stop trying to deflect the question. If Annika is the last conduit we have left, she must be protected at all costs—not paraded under the enemy’s nose. What if something goes wrong and I lose her?’ I snapped, trying to cover my slip of the tongue.
Reynard looked at me with a compassion I’d rarely seen. ‘I didn’t think I would live to see the day someone melted the ice shard you had turned your heart into. I wish there were a different path for those with wild magic in their blood. The loneliness you must have faced since the moment our parents left you in the dragon’s cave … I can’t even fathom it.’
‘I told you, she is not my woman, I can’t … All you need to know is that she is a mage with enormous power. Even if the possibility of replacing the crystal is gone, she should still Anchor Alaric to reach her full potential … or someone else of her choosing.’
‘And you will accept it, whoever she chooses?’
‘What say do I have in it? It is Ani’s choice. I hope it will be Alaric. He is a powerful mage and a good man. He would never hurt her, and … she likes him. He makes her laugh, and I enjoy seeing her happy. How could I not? She saved my men, my life, so I can’t let you use her as bait. Ask me for anything else and I’ll do it, but not her.’
I hated seeing the understanding in his eyes. I shouldn’t have said anything, but somehow, saying it out loud made the pain easier to bear. If she must choose a mage to fully stabilise her magic, let it be Alaric.
Reynard walked around to face me. ‘I’m sorry, Orm, I didn’t know. If you don’t mind me giving you some advice … If your woman—I mean,mage—chooses the dark fae, what’s stopping you from becoming her lover? She had two male Anchors in the past, and I don’t think they were particularly chaste. We both know about the dark fae customs, of the lady of the house taking more than one partner. If they both accept it, why can’t you carve out a little happiness of your own? I certainly wouldn’t judge, brother.’
I looked at Reynard, feeling his hand on my shoulder. He wasn’t much older than me, but sometimes he seemed wise beyond his years.
