Soul Relenter (Soul Saga #3) (16 page)

Accacia tapped her warrior blade. “Yes, we will bring most of the warriors in the undertaking. Zyle and I will lead them.”

Aleco’s charismatic attitude disappeared and his smile faded. He leaned forward over his desk and stared at Accacia. “No,” he said. “You aren’t coming, Accacia.”

She looked like she had been slapped. Her face reddened at his command, embarrassed that he would speak to her in such a way in front of her subjects. “Excuse me?”

“I said you aren’t coming, Your Majesty. Zyle’s presence is enough.” The light in his eyes burned as he stared at her. “You need one leader to remain behind in the event the other doesn’t return. And I prefer Zyle to fight alongside me.”

Accacia stared at him in shock. There were so many things she wanted to say but she didn’t want
to speak them aloud. Her ambassadors were sitting right next to her and she didn’t want to fight Aleco in front of them. She leaned back in her seat and said nothing, reserving her fury for a later time when they were alone.

They conversed for hours about the plan in detail, covering the number of men that would be needed and the leading commanders of the undertaking. Everything had to
be planned perfectly before they moved against the king because it would take place immediately afterwards. Then they discussed the housing arrangements of the Asquithian guests, and Aleco offered to erect tents at the edge of the forest if they wished to sleep on land. Zyle said he would leave the option to his subjects. He knew some would prefer to occupy the ship.

Aleco stood behind his desk. “We have been discussing this at length for many hours. I suggest we retire for the afternoon and reconvene tomorrow. As you
know, I have other obligations.” Some of the ambassadors laughed at his words, recalling the two children who had visited the Nature Priest earlier. They stood from their seats and left through the doorway. Zyle grabbed Accacia’s hand and led her from the room. After they entered the forest, Accacia realized all the ambassadors were present besides Roxian. She voiced her concern to Zyle, but shrugged it off. “She’s Aleco’s problem now.”

15

“We found this in the storage
room, Your Highness. Would you like us to put it in the keep?” Aldo held the painting out to him, which had been made years ago. It was a depiction of Drake’s parents, the Lord and Lady of the Keep. The painting had been completed on the terrace that faced the garden. His mother smiled brightly in the picture and his father stared straight ahead, displaying his formidable countenance. “Perhaps in the dining hall?”

“No,” Drake said as he sipped his wine. “Burn it.”

“
Burn
it?” Aldo repeated.

The k
ing bored him a look a hate, daring him to challenge his command. He had no problem with killing the servant where he stood. The fire in his study would burn his cold corpse to ash. “Yes,” he answered. “Don’t make me repeat myself. I promise you will regret it.”

“Of course, m’lord.” Aldo walked away with the painting held in his arms. Drake thought of his despicable guardians. He wished he had burned them alive. The thought brou
ght him to a memory of his past, one that still angered him to this day.

“No, Drake
. You aren’t coming,” his father said from his seat at the table. “Aleco and I will go on this mission alone. You are still being punished for the crimes you committed. Your mother and I are more than disappointed in you—we are ashamed.”

The anger coursed through his body and snapped his blood vessels. He gripped his dagger under the table, wanting to stab his own father through both eyes, but he held back his fury, knowing it would just get him deeper into trouble. “That was months ago,” he snapped. “Let’s move on.”

“Absolutely not,” his father yelled. “It is obvious that you still haven’t learned your lesson. Your final punishment will be to remain behind while your brother and I do the patrol of the realm. You will stay with your mother.” Drake rolled his eyes at his father, horrified of being stuck with his mother, who could barely look at him every day. “What was that?” Drake stiffened at the anger in his father’s voice. He was furious that his son had disrespected him in such an obvious way, having no reservation about mocking his father. His father rose from his seat and walked to Drake across the table, who immediately tried to move out of the way. The hand that gripped his neck almost made him unconscious under the strength of the grasp and he felt the panic race through his body. His father slapped him across the face as hard as he could, bubbling up the blood directly under the surface of the skin. It was red from the irritation of the collision of his father’s palm against his face. His father slapped him hard again and the sting brought tears to his eyes. “I will treat you like a child because you continue to behave this way.” His feather released his grip. “I have never punished Aleco once—ever. Perhaps you could learn something from him.”

Drake sat back in his chair and rubbed the skin of his face, blinking back the tears. The humiliation of
the act made him even angrier, and then the comparison to his perfect brother made the fury explode. He pushed his chair back and left the terrace, heading to the weapons room where they wouldn’t find him. Drake sat in the chair and rubbed his face, hoping the redness of his cheeks had disappeared.

Aleco entered the weapons room and began to gather his supplies for the journey they were taking through the realm. Swo
rds and daggers stuffed into his belt and he placed a long bow behind his back. His obvious ignorance of Drake’s presence made the anger rise to the surface. The betrayal of his brother was still fresh on his mind and he couldn’t believe his own brother had turned him in, confiding everything to their parents. Drake was certain his parents hated him. He knew it was true.

The room was filled with swords and battle axes along the walls
, and Drake rose from his chair and grabbed the first blade he saw. He spun it around his wrist and approached his brother from behind, wanting to slice his head from his shoulders with a clean blow. Aleco didn’t turn around when he spoke.

“It wa
s nothing personal, brother,” Aleco said as he stuffed his pack with a few extra arrows. “What you did was wrong and unacceptable. I couldn’t let it go.”

“I’m your damn brother, Aleco!”

“It doesn’t matter,” he said. “It better not happen again.”

“I just won’t get caught again.”

Aleco finally turned around. “I sincerely hope that was a joke, Drake. I have no problem telling mother and father about that as well.”

“If you’
re alive to tell them,” he threatened.

Aleco shook his head. “And you don’t understand why they favor me? Take another look, Drake. You’re a monster. I don’t know what happened to you, but you just get worse and worse. You wonder why no one loves you.”

Drake slammed his sword into Aleco’s shoulder, but Aleco stopped the blade from connecting with his skin with his own sword. Aleco pushed him back. “What’s wrong with you? You’re sick!”

Drake engaged him again and Aleco blocked the assaults. They were fighting directly in the center of the weapons room, striking at each other savagely. Aleco pulled away and held up his hand. “Stop this now! We are brothers.”

His sword swiped at his neck, but Aleco stepped out of the way. Talking with this brother was futile. He was too far gone. Aleco aimed his sword for his brother and danced his blade around in a flash, trying to catch his brother off guard. The room spun around them as they attacked each other, aiming to wound but not to kill. At least Aleco wasn’t. The servants and the guards were unaware of the battle that was taking place in the upstairs room, and the two brothers continued to engage each other until the other one surrendered, or died, in Drake’s case.

Exhaustion was creeping in Drake’s arm and he knew he couldn’t continue this fight much longer. He knew Aleco was the better fighter, having more practice with the blade and more experience i
n battle, and he knew the fight wouldn’t be in his favor. Drake spun his blade in a dance as he reached for his dagger in his pocket, which Aleco didn’t notice because he was distracted by Drake’s moving sword. The dagger was thin and long, deadly enough to kill someone with a single penetration, and Drake stepped to the side so Aleco’s torso would be exposed. He wanted to stab him in the stomach, the most painful way to die.

The dagger slid deep into the body but Drake immediately r
ealized he hadn’t stabbed Aleco. He had impaled someone else. He felt the hair under his hand and the savage bite on his hand that had held the dagger. Drake was pushed back with the force of a heavy beast and he felt his hand burn in agony as Rufio bit down into the flesh with his teeth.

“Stop, Rufio!” Aleco commanded. The wolf immediately stopped the attack and returned to his master. Aleco appraised the wolf and saw the dagger deep in his flesh. “No!” he said as he took the blade out. The dog groaned as the knife was pulled from his skin. Drake looked over and saw Aleco’s face covered in tear
s and they dripped down his cheeks. His brother removed his shirt and placed it over the bleeding wound. “It’s going to be okay, Rufio. Stay with me,” he said. “Please don’t go.” The tears fell from his cheeks onto the fur of the dog, who lied down beside Aleco and rested his head in his lap. The intense grief was obvious and it made Drake smile. It was better than killing his own brother.

His father walked into the room and saw Aleco holding the dog in his arms. Drake was certain the beast was already dead.
His father examined the wolf and realized it was too late. The beast was gone. Aleco sobbed as he held Rufio to his chest. His father patted him on the shoulder.

“Wh
at happened here?” he asked as he spotted the bloody dagger on the floor. Aleco said nothing for a moment and his father shook his arm. “Are you hurt?”

“No,” he said through his tears. He looked over at Drake, who still had a smile on his face. “He killed Rufio,” he cried. “He tried to stab me but—Rufio—protected me. He gave his life to save mine.” The tears dripped down his cheeks but then they stopped falling. Aleco stared at Drake with a look of hate. “He did it because he loved me. Do you even know
what that is, Drake? Love? No one cares about you. Don’t you understand that? Not a single person! No one would ever risk their life for you—no one would die for you. You will leave this world forsaken and alone—and I hope that comes soon.” Drake listened to his brother’s words and felt his heart squeeze in pain. Deep inside he suspected that his brother was right; no one loved him. Suzie had always preferred his brother over him, and their parents favored Aleco since the day they were born. The dog had hated him to begin with. He was destined to be alone.

“That’s enough, Aleco,” his father said. “Stop.”

Aleco shook his head. “I feel sorry for you, Drake. I pity you. Your life is a pathetic excuse of existence and I hope the void takes you.”

“I said that’
s enough, Aleco!”

Aleco finally fell silent. His father grabbed the dog and carried it within his arms. The wolf was huge but his father was large and strong, and he carried the beast with ease. “Let’s bury him, son.” Aleco wiped the tears away and nodded. He followed his father out of the room but Drake remained behind. Aleco stopped and stared at him before he left the room, wanting to say something to express is anger and ferocity, but nothing strong enough came to mind. Drake met his gaze with a smile
. Aleco turned and walked away.

Asylinth House

16

Aleco turned around and saw Roxian before his desk. Accacia, Zyle, and the other ambassadors had left the room but she had remained behind. “Is there something I can do for you, Roxian?” He walked around his desk and stood before her. He didn’t know what she wanted.

She stared at
him with the same emerald eyes that Accacia possessed and he couldn’t help but think of her. Roxian’s remaining features were completely different than hers, however. Aleco looked at the strands of golden hair that stretched to her waist. It had a slight curl to it and it was lustrous in volume, curving around her face perfectly. Illanya was beautiful as well but the woman before him was exceptional. “I just wanted to speak to you in private.” She stepped closer to him and Aleco tried to step away but he couldn’t. The desk was blocking his escape. Aleco flinched at her proximity. She was so close to him, Aleco could smell the scent of her hair and the aroma of her skin. She smiled at him and Aleco felt his heart quicken. “I don’t know how society functions here on the Continent, but in Suaden, we express our intent bluntly, with little room for misinterpretation.”

“I’ve noticed.”

She rested her hand on his chest and he wanted to brush it away, thinking of Accacia, but then he reminded himself that he was no longer committed to her. She was probably making love to her husband at this very moment. The thought brought a cloud of melancholy over him and he swallowed the lump in his throat. “I’m very attracted to you,” she said. “And I know you feel the same way.”

Aleco met her gaze. The woman was taller, only a fe
w inches shorter than Aleco, and he couldn’t deny the obvious beauty of her features. He wished he could reject her accusation but he couldn’t because it would be a lie.