A Guardian of Shadows (Revenant Wyrd Book 4) (17 page)

“Working with your wyrd should be like working any other muscle. You don't have to think about standing in order to walk to the bathroom, you just do it. The same should be true with your wyrd.

“Now, I think your sister is on her way here with an entourage to invite you all to dinner.”

No sooner had Pharoh vanished from the high-backed chair she sat in than they heard the footsteps of several people coming down the hall. When they arrived it was a circle of guards in black and red livery, surrounding their sister in the center.

A short heavy set man stepped forward.

“The Realm Guardian—”

“Oh, for Goddess’ sake, I can do it myself.” Joya pushed through the crowd of guards. “These are members of my family,” Joya told servants behind the circle of guards. “They will not be treated like outcasts. Get them into proper rooms, and maybe put some of the less agreeable senators on this floor. Angelica and Jovian's rooms should be on
my
floor.”

The servants bowed away into Jovian and Angelica's rooms, taking their possessions off to wherever Joya's floor was.

“Now that I have a free minute, would you two please join me for a
private
dinner?” Joya shot a glare over her shoulder.

W
hen Joya answered their knock on the door Angelica barely recognized her. After so long on the road, it was strange to see Joya in her normal trappings. Her hair had been washed and styled, and hung loosely down to her waste in wavy locks. Her normal riding dress had been traded for a simple plum-colored dress that hung about her, hugging her curves down to her hips, where it spilled to the floor in folds. The top of the dress was largely open, making Jovian blush and avert his eyes from his sister's cleavage.

“You look…well,” Jovian said.

“Apparently they don't like their Realm Guardian looking disheveled and smelling of road sweat,” Joya answered.

“Go figure,” Angelica said.

“I arranged for us to eat in my sitting room; at least the guards feel comfortable allowing me to be in my own suite alone.”

“Of course, there are enough of them lining the halls,” Jovian commented. He sank into one of the chairs Joya showed him. The table was small, but large enough that they weren't cramped.

Joya sat down into her chair at the small table. Everything seemed like a chore for their sister. Angelica knew that Joya could be fiery when needed, but she had never exactly seen her be nasty with people. But that's what it had taken for Joya to assure they had time together without being interrupted.

Joya rubbed her head.

“They are giving me the worst headache I've ever had,” Joya complained.

Angelica was about to ask what had been going on with their sister since they had seen her last, but just as she took a breath to speak, the doors pushed open. She saw her sister tense, about to rant at whoever disturbed them, but pasted on a smile when she saw it was the servants with their meal.

They pulled in a cart and started setting items on the table. Angelica was thankful that there was nothing alien to their eating customs. Long-stem glasses were set before all of them, and from an amber decanter a servant with hair braided past her waist started pouring a glowing white wine into the cups.

“Sunflower wine,” she reported in that strange, proper accent they had heard the ooslebed use. “It is the finest wine we have, but I'm sorry, it’s such a concentration of sunflowers it might keep you awake all night.”

Angelica didn't think that was likely.

Silver trays with silver covers were set before them, and once the rest of the utensils were on the table, the servants saw themselves out.

“Do you think this will make our lips glow?” Jovian asked with a wink.

“Yes, but probably not as much as the governor from Darkglenn. I swear she
bathes
in sunflowers. She glows brightly enough that we could hang
her
in the sky and have a sun all of our own.”

Angelica laughed and took a tentative sip of the wine. It was warm, and sweet, with a slight burn after she swallowed. She loved it and took a deep drink. The sunflowers themselves worked on her instantly, making her feel dizzy in a way no normal wine ever had.

“Wow, this is good,” Angelica said. “I think I've found my dinner.” She pulled the decanter closer.

“Oh, dear Goddess, you might want to drink the rest of the bottle before you lift the lid of your tray.” Jovian looked sick as he stared at his plate.

“Seriously, what
is
this?” Joya asked, setting her lid aside. “It looks like a snake! How will I ever get used to this place? These people?”

“Oh no, is there anything else?” Angelica peeked around Jovian to where the cart sat. Not seeing anything else, she inspected Joya's tray again. “Maybe it’s a round length of roast?” She suggested. Angelica didn't even believe that. The meat was long, coiled on the plate and covered in a kind of purple gravy.

The wine made her a little more adventurous, so she took the lid off her tray and was delighted by the aroma.

“It smells good,” she told them. Angelica set her wine down, sliced a chunk of the meat and took a bite. The meat was soft enough it nearly fell apart in her mouth, and it was flavored like sausage.

“Oh my, you will love it,” she told them. “I think the purple goop is a pepper sauce.”

Jovian nibbled at a little bit of meat on the tip of his fork before slicing off a larger section and eating it.

“Oh, you’re right!” Joya said. Only when they’d finished their dinners did they push the trays away, bellies full and even more tired than they had been before.

“So what have you been doing since we last saw you?” Angelica asked.

“Oh, gosh, everything? Where do I even start?” Joya poured herself more of the wine and leaned back in her chair. At least the furniture here was much more comfortable than in the rest of the Spire. Angelica thought maybe the past Guardian didn't like visitors to stick around, but seeing how busy it was, maybe people lived here permanently.

“I really don't even know how they managed for twelve years without a Guardian; they don't seem to be able to take care of anything themselves. I really don't want to bore you with specifics, but budgets, disputes, rivalries, appointing new governors, getting rid of ones that weren't doing a good job. See, pretty much everything. When I'm not dealing with that, they have me gazing into this orb that kind of implants the details of the history of the realm into my head. Very strange.” Joya drained her glass.

“Wow,” was all Angelica could say.

“But don't you have all of that knowledge in there already from the previous Guardian?” Jovian asked.

Joya shrugged. “When I see the histories, it sparks memories and I can remember it in better detail through different eyes. It's really strange, and pretty creepy to be honest.”

“So what happened to the last Realm Guardian?” Angelica asked.

“Yeah, how does one lose their head when they’re the head of state?” Jovian wanted to know.

Joya shrugged as she took another drink. “I can't really get any details from my memories of exactly how she died. I guess that might be too private for her to plunge into my head? Anyway, the Frement Uprising was a pretty bloody thing. That's when the last Guardian, Beatrice, lost her head.”

“And what happened to the frement?” Angelica asked.

“Well, they’re still around. I don't think they are bad — the other Guardian might not agree with me, but I think the frement had a good reason to rebel. They were being restricted in where they could live, being pushed further and further back by the humans. Similar to what the elves and dwarves worried would happen in the Holy Realm.”

“And they’re nomads?” Angelica asked.

“Yes, and apparently really crafty when it comes to machinery. They do have a central city, but not many stay there willingly. They’re a smart engineering race. Can you imagine how prosperous the Shadow Realm would be if everyone just worked together on this technology business?”

Jovian shook his head in disbelief.

“Where has Uthia gone?” Angelica wondered. Jovian frowned. He had forgotten about the dryad since she had taken to guarding Joya so much, but now that Angelica mentioned it, he hadn’t seen her at all recently.

“She asked if she had my permission to go to her sisters in the Haunted Graveyard, see if she could talk them into helping with the chaos dwarf issues in the north,” Joya said. “I’m not sure how long that will take her, or when she’ll be back.”

“What have you been up to?” Joya asked them.

“Besides being shunned by everyone we come in contact with?” Angelica asked.

“I'm sorry about that,” Joya said.

“Do they even know you’re from the Holy Realm?” Jovian asked.

“Yes. In fact, one of the first things I made sure of was that people from the Holy Realm would not be killed on sight when they crossed our borders. I’ve also sent a message to the Guardian of the Holy Realm to make sure she would work toward the same goal with people from the Shadow Realm. Who knows, maybe one day we will have peace.” Joya didn't sound like she believed that hope.

“Maybe, if the two realms can stop blaming one another for the splitting of the world,” Angelica said.

“Right? I think it’s a long shot as well.” Joya nodded.

“So, we've been talking with Aunt Pharoh,” Jovian said.

“Oh, your training! I completely forgot!” Joya moaned and slumped her head into her hands.

“Don't worry about it!” Angelica said. “You've had more than enough to deal with.”

“What did she say?” Joya asked.

“No one knows what we are. We have wyrd of a kind, but have to draw it from energy sources around us.” Jovian toyed with the stem of his glass.

“But she did teach us to tap into it. We even controlled the fire!” Angelica was having a hard time suppressing her excitement.

“That's awesome! So much progress for your first time. Of course, I guess it's not really your first time, since you've done so many other workings already. Oh, I wish I had been there,” Joya said.

“So, that brings us to another question,” Jovian sat up straighter, but just as he opened his mouth to ask if she would be coming along with them, a great commotion started up outside. The ground began rumbling, though being so high up in the tower they barely felt it. And there was a mechanical sound much like the sound of the train from earlier, but louder, and coming from multiple sources.

“What in the realms?” Angelica asked.

Joya went to the window, threw back the heavy curtains, and looked outside. She leaned against the pane and turned from left to right.

“I don't see anything,” she shrugged.

“Wait,” Jovian tilted his head to listen better. “It's coming from behind us, near the train station.”

“Guardian.” The door opened and a red and black clad woman stepped in, her hand on the pommel of her sword. “The frement have arrived.”

“Perfect timing,” Jovian said.

“Hang on to something,” Joya said. She went to the window and pulled a lever. Jovian wasn't exactly sure what he was supposed to grab on to, but he quickly found something as the spire began to turn.

“What the Otherworld?” Angelica said, stumbling into the wall, where she grabbed hold of a wardrobe. The movement wasn't enough that they would fall without holding on to something, but in a building that was supposed to remain still, it was unsettling.