A Soul For Chaos (The Soulbearer Trilogy) (10 page)

As primitive as the dwelling looked on the outside, the inside rivaled the royal palace in Trivinus. An intricately carved wooden screen separated the kitchen space from the large, solid wood dining table. The same vine and flower motif flowed up the banister to the second floor, and everything gleamed under the glow of the lamps hanging from the ceiling. The scent of lemon oil mixed with the spicy peppers that seasoned whatever dish the cook was preparing.

The woman who greeted them had hair as red as a sunset and pale blue eyes. Although she wore the same flowing skirt made of lightweight material as the woman in the city, her top was a bit more modest, exposing only the tops of her shoulders rather than her stomach. Her gaze lingered on Kell, her mouth curling up in an inviting smile.

Arden’s muscles tensed from the barmaid’s silent flirtation. She laced her fingers through Kell’s, making it very clear to the other woman that he’d already been claimed.

Loku snickered. “Jealous?”

“Hardly. Just making sure she knows her place.”

That amused the chaos god even more. “You’ve come a long way from the lowly barmaid you were when I met you.”

His comment rattled her more than she cared to admit. Had she changed so much in such a short time?

Dinner was coming from the kitchen by the time they’d settled into their chairs. Dev and Kell sat on either side of her, leaving Fane across the table. As they ate, she studied him. With his cloak gone, she finally saw the heavy golden amulet hanging from his neck. A hand, palm up, was engraved in the center of it. “What does that mean?”

To his credit, he didn’t seem offended from her question. “It’s the hand of the law.”

“A symbol of Nelos,” Loku finished.

She inhaled and let the air mill around in her lungs while she figured out what to say next. “As a follower of Nelos, I take it you don’t like me.”

Dev’s spoon paused halfway to his mouth, but Fane continued eating. “What makes you think that?”

“Because I’m the Soulbearer for the god of chaos, the enemy of everything Nelos stands for.”

Fane chewed slowly. “I cannot blame you for your current circumstances. Loku was forced upon you, much like your predecessors. If you perform your duty and keep Loku confined, then you are a blessing to our world. If you are swayed by him into bringing more chaos into the world, then I may have to interfere.”

“She was a source of chaos before she met Loku.” Dev’s spoon remained in his bowl, untouched now. “Or was there another reason why they called you Trouble?”

“Are you trying to convince him to kill me?” Arden’s pulse throbbed in her temples, her emotions wavering from anger to fear as she glanced between Dev and Fane.

Fane laughed, his bright blue eyes lighting up with merriment that helped ease her worries. “Do not worry about me, Soulbearer. There are some followers of Nelos that are considered zealots, wanting to rid the world of chaos, but I am not one of them. I believe there is a delicate balance between order and chaos that we need to strive for. Law and order create beauty out of the chaos and give us a world where we feel safe and secure, but life would be rather dull without chaos. It gives life a vitality, a complexity that helps us learn more about ourselves and others. I’d like to think that Loku and Nelos are more like partners engaged in an intricate dance rather than enemies locked in eternal battle.”

“Shows how little he knows. Nelos won’t rest until I’m completely destroyed.”

But Fane’s words lingered longer than Loku’s. “I’m glad to hear you feel that way.”

She picked up her spoon and sampled the creamy orange colored stew in front of her. A mixture of spices tripped along her tongue, from salty to sweet, all culminating in a spicy heat that had her reaching for her glass.

Dev snickered beside her as she doused the burning on her tongue with a long drink of the chilled wine. “Perhaps I should have warned you about the cooking here.”

“It would’ve been appreciated,” she said as she signaled for the server to refill her glass. “Some protector you’re turning out to be.”

***

Dev’s gaze lingered on the staircase, watching Arden walk up the stairs with Kell’s arm around her waist, their faces inclined toward each other. An ache formed in his chest that he wished he could blame on their meal.

“So that’s how things are?” Fane said after the door closed behind them. He pulled out a pipe and packed it, his back to the stairs.

“Yes. He only came along because of her.”

“That’s not what I was talking about, and you know it.” Fane dipped a piece of straw into the fire and used it to light his pipe. A cloud of smoke billowed around him. “I’d wager you’re a bit fonder of this Soulbearer than you were of the previous ones.”

Dev bristled at the accusation. “You know my duty comes before everything else.”

“Things sometimes change. I never thought your duty to protect the Soulbearer extended to inquiring about the Milorian family.”

Dev finally pulled his attention away from the stairs, relieved his friend didn’t pursue his “fondness” for Arden. “Now that you’ve seen her, tell me what you think.”

“I admit I almost mistook her for the Empress from a distance.”

“Then you need your vision examined.” Arden was far prettier than the Empress, in his opinion. Her features were less pinched, her mouth fuller. All gifts that must have come from her mother. “But she has the Milorian look.”

Fane nodded and chewed on the pipe stem. “Agreed. The eyes, the coloring, the build.”

“And then there’s her mother’s necklace. How did a Ranellian come to have a pendant with the Milorian rose on one side and an Elvish inscription on the other?”

“I’m not arguing with you. But if you’re correct and she has Milorian blood, then you have bigger problems than this mage that’s trying to kill her.”

“And what if that mage is a member of the Milorian family?”

Fane pulled the pipe out from between his lips and leaned forward. “That is a very heavy accusation.”

“Think about it, though. She’s a half-blood, a blemish on the bloodlines Caz di Miloria’s worked so hard to culture. What if she’s his offspring, and he doesn’t want anyone to know about his dalliance?”

Fane shook his head. “You’ve been away from the court too long. Even if Caz decided to lower himself to share a bed with a Ranellian maid, he would have taken precautions not to sire a child through the affair. And even if by some chance an accident happened, he would be more inclined to claim her now that she’s the Soulbearer. She’s one more figure in his arsenal of power.”

Dev took a deep breath and rubbed his eyes. He didn’t relish the idea of Caz using Arden as a weapon. As the head of the Milorian family, Caz had spent decades ensuring members of his family infiltrated every aspect of Gravarian society, all the way up to the Empress herself. “And based on the loving inscription, I doubt he’d be her father anyway.”

Fane nodded and resumed puffing on his pipe. “That leaves his younger brother, Varrik, as the most likely candidate for her sire.”

Somehow, that prospect comforted him a little. Varrik was part of the diplomatic envoy to Ranello years ago, so he would have been present to possibly play the part of Arden’s father. He was quiet, far more interested in books than politics, but as far as he knew, Varrik had never shown any interest in any woman. “I’ll have to ask my father if he noticed anything unusual about him.”

“Good idea. Better to have a solid case before confronting the poor man.”

“Or letting Arden know. She bears quite a hatred for a man she’s never met.”

They sat in silence for a few minutes while Fane finished his pipe. The serving girl went through the room, turning down the oil lamps and bathing the room in long shadows.

At last, Fane said, “I was thinking about the attacks you mentioned. She accused me of wanting her dead, and that made me wonder if a servant of Nelos is actually behind them.”

“Any ideas who?”

“None strong enough to cast the spells you’ve described.” He tapped the ashes out of the bowl of his pipe. “But you should be aware that she already has many enemies because of what she did in Ranello.”

Dev toyed with the blade concealed up his sleeve. “But as you can see, she’s still quite sane.”

“So it appears, but I’m just a simple knight. The real tests will come before the Empress and the Mage Primus.”

His fingers curled into fists. “I doubt they’ll find anything I’ve missed. I would hope after all my years as the Soulbearer’s Protector, I’d be able to notice those subtle signs.”

“Ah, but this one is a bit different from the others, isn’t she?” Fane tucked away his pipe and stood. “Sometimes we’re blind to certain things because we don’t want to see them.”

Fane went upstairs to one of the rooms, but Dev remained at the table, watching the fire die down to embers. Fane was right—Arden was different from the others in her ability to resist Loku so far, but it was only a matter of time before she would succumb to him. His stomach rolled. If she began showing signs of the same madness that inflicted her predecessors, would he be able to do what needed to be done?

Chapter 11

Kell shook the water from his clothes. The dense forest had given way to a vast rolling plain two days ago, and heavy rain had plagued them since then, soaking him to the bone. A cold wind added to their misery all afternoon, its strong gusts whipping their cloaks into their faces. The light was dying from behind the clouds when they finally came to a small town’s inn.

He held the door open for Arden and took her cloak. “Go sit by the fire and warm yourself.”

She surveyed the crowded room and shook her head. Her pale face made the dark circles under her eyes even more apparent. “I just want to go to sleep.”

Fane came up to them. “The inn is full due to the weather, but I managed to secure a room for her.” He turned to Kell to wordlessly add that it was for him, too, and beckoned them to follow him up the two flights of stairs.

The room was tiny compared to the accommodations they’d had so far, the bed leaving only a narrow walkway around it. The wooden shutters rattled in the wind but seemed to keep most of the rain out. And although there was no fireplace, the piles of feather quilts looked warm and inviting.

Arden kicked off her boots and collapsed on the bed.

Kell lifted her up and began unlacing her overtunic. “You’re going to get the bed wet.”

“I’m too tired to care.”

He chuckled and pressed his lips to her forehead, noting how icy her skin felt. “You’ll sleep better once you get out of these wet clothes. I’ll take them downstairs to dry.”

She let him undress her, her eyes half-closed throughout it. Her shivering grew stronger with each layer he removed, and he longed to take her in his arms until she warmed up. Instead, he retrieved a dry shirt from his bag and pulled it over her head. She scrambled under the quilts when he finished and was out before he closed the door behind him.

As soon as he entered the main room, he felt Dev’s glare on him. “That was fast,” he said, pointing to her clothes.

“I’ve gotten used to removing her clothes.” Kell hung them up by the fireplace, enjoying the small thrill he got every time he caught a glimpse of Dev’s jealousy. He’d been patient, waited for Arden to come around, and she was his now. Or almost as good as his. He knew she loved him, even if she still hadn’t said it yet. Why else would she be sharing his bed every night?

Fane had already procured food and a strong ale by the time he sat across from the other two men at one of the long tables that stretched the length of the room. He dug into the hearty meal of roasted meat and potatoes, noticing that both Dev and Fane hadn’t touched their food. “This isn’t your usual stopping point, is it?”

Fane replied with a barely perceptible shake of his head. “That is about another hour’s journey away, but the storm grew too strong for us to carry on.”

Both of them seemed to be watching everyone else crammed into the main room, their shoulders tense.

“Are you expecting any trouble?” Kell asked.

Dev leveled his gaze with him. “That remains to be seen.”

“What Dev means to say is that with other places, I knew the owners only allowed certain parties to stay with them.” Fane cast one more glance around the room before reaching for a hunk of bread. “Here, I have no guarantee.”

“You’d do best to act inconspicuous,” Dev added before following Fane’s lead.

Kell looked up from his meal and noticed several men staring at him. His mouth dried up, the food inside it becoming difficult to swallow. He lowered his eyes and focused on eating. “Do I stand out that much?”

“You’re a Ranellian, and they know it.” Fane then shrugged. “But don’t worry. Dev and I will look out for you.”

The way the corner of Dev’s mouth rose told Kell exactly how much he’d love seeing him get into trouble. He tossed a piece of meat on the floor for Cinder and rubbed the wolf’s head when it plopped up on the table looking for more. “Go upstairs and protect Trouble,” he ordered before giving the wolf a large joint of meat.

The wolf grabbed it and carried up the stairs like a trophy, the red of the firelight shimmering along his coat.

Kell played with the potatoes on his plate. He should’ve been the one concerned about Arden’s safety.

“Take your time eating, Kell.” Dev waited until he finished chewing before adding, “I’d like to see the man that tries to mess with Cinder.”

Kell knew all too well what a good watchdog the wolf could be. Cinder had bared his teeth more than once at him when he was first pursuing Arden.

He resumed eating and almost didn’t hear Fane when he said, “What made you want to re-establish ties with Gravaria?”

“I think it’s time we put our old feuds behind us and work together.”

Dev peered over his mug. “What he means to say is that he didn’t want to let Arden out of his sight.”

The meat seemed tougher than before. Dev knew him better than he thought, but he also needed to make sure the Empress wasn’t biased against him before he even had a chance to meet with her. “I won’t lie—Arden did play a part in my decision, mainly because I saw what good magic could do for my kingdom.”