Orphan's Blade (12 page)

“You’d think in this entire castle they could find a bigger room.”

Echo waved her concern away. “They weren’t expecting me to stay. Now what’s this I hear of you commanding the army of the undead?”

Valoria choked. Echo was never one to follow the chicken around the hen coop. “You told me I had to do everything I could. I had no other choice.”

Echo’s face slackened. “Then, the rumors are true? You used dark magic to beat the necromancer at his own game?”

“I did. And it’s not the first time, either. Back in the meadow, when the raiders attacked, I drew the mist from the mountains of Sill.”

“I thought you might have.” Echo ran his hand through his graying hair. “Oh, Valoria, my dear. I did not want this for you.”

“I had to. Soldiers were dying. Braxten and the queen were in trouble. There was no other way.”

“I see.” Echo collapsed onto his cot and rubbed his head.

Valoria felt like she’d stolen biscuits from the baker. Shame weighed heavily on her chest. She could not bear Echo’s disappointment in her. “I’m sorry. I thought it was the only way.”

“It may have been.” Echo wiped his face. “’Tis my fault. I knew you were powerful, that you’d surpassed my teachings, but I did not know how strong you’d grown, that you were capable of controlling nature, of tapping into evil.” Echo glanced down at his hands as if he were the one who’d called upon the dark forces.

“Why is it so bad to use dark power if it is for good?”

“’Tis a slippery slope.” Echo reached out and took her hand. “Many minstrels have tried. The few who were successful were consumed by it in the end.”

The black eye sockets of the necromancer flashed through her mind. If she’d forced herself to look closer, she would have noticed the shape of his robes. “You mean the necromancers were once minstrels?”

Echo nodded sadly. “Aye.”

“Why does no one speak of this?”

Echo raised his eyebrows, and the wrinkles in his forehead made him look so much older and more helpless than ever before. “The people of Ebonvale already despise us. What would they think if they knew the truth?”

Valoria sat in stunned silence. He was right.

Panic slowly edged its way in. “What am I supposed to do? The undead will attack again. I’ve seen it through the necromancer’s eyes. But, I cannot keep fighting him with his own magic. Every time I do, I lose a little of myself.”

“Calm down.” Echo reached out and took her hand. “We will think of something. How much time do you think we have?”

Even though Valoria shuddered to revisit her memories, she thought back to that horrible moment when she lived in the necromancer’s head. His thoughts had been so clear. He needed time to rebuild the army, along with the strength of the next full moon. “A fortnight, maybe more.”

Echo nodded and pursed his lips. “We’ll need to gather an army unlike any other. Minstrels, warriors, and maybe even raiders if we can get them to join our cause.”

“But, we cannot see the undead coming in the swamp. We have to take the battle away from Ebonvale’s walls.”

“The swamp.” Echo drummed his fingertips over his knees. “I’ve heard it’s been spreading for as long as people can remember.”

“Lieutenant—someone mentioned that to me, yes.” Valoria glanced away.

“There is an old song I learned as a boy…something about fighting fire with fire…”

“But there is no fire in a swamp.” Valoria frowned. Had Echo finally lost his mind?

Echo ignored her, still singing the song to himself. “And water with the mermaids’ breath. That’s it!” He slapped his knee. “Blue fire.”

Valoria studied him with concern. All this talk of her using dark magic had overtaxed his senses. “Maybe you need to rest.”

Echo batted her away. “I’m fine, as I’ve already stated to the medics. But you, my girl, are to pack your things.”

“Whatever for?” Were they going back to the House of Song? As much as it would fill her heart with joy, Valoria knew that wasn’t the right path. Retreating home would solve nothing.

Echo looked her up and down as if she’d just won her first music competition. “You’re journeying on a quest.”

* * * *

“I advise you not to bother him. He’s been stabbing that scarecrow all morning.” A young soldier approached Valoria as she walked across the muddied training field behind the weapons hall.

“He will have to listen to me.” Valoria pushed by him, walking in her traveling boots hidden underneath her black, mourning gown. “He owes me a favor.”

Brax shouted as he whirled around and sliced the arm off a man made from hay hanging from a training pole. The arm flew through the air and landed by Valoria’s feet. Hay spilled around her boots. She had to re-convince herself she was making the right decision to ask for his aid.

Today, Brax wore a simple leather tunic stretched across his broad chest. Sweat slickened his tan face and arms. A flash of surprise, and then a hint of annoyance crossed his blunt features as he recognized her. “Women are not allowed on the training grounds.”

“Tell that to the queen.” Valoria stepped toward him.

He still held his sword in the air as if he’d slash her down. “Women warriors are the only exception.”

“I must speak with you.” Valoria held his gaze with the fiercest expression she could muster. “About the secret to saving your kingdom.”

He lowered his sword. For the first time, she saw the hurt in his eyes. He grieved for his father the only way he knew how, by training with his sword. “Is it true your song stilled the undead?”

She nodded. “But, I fear it will not work next time. We need a means to end the spread of swamp, to burn the dead waters away and unite the people of this land to fight together.”

He looked her up and down as if he’d appraised her unjustly before. Did admiration spark in his eyes or had she imagined it? “And you have this answer.”

Valoria used the most commanding voice she had. “I do. But, I will need a warrior’s help and you owe me a favor.”

Brax wiped his brow as he considered it. It was a far cry from dismissing her at the dinner.

“I see. And what does this favor entail?”

“A journey to an island off the eastern coast, and something valuable enough to trade.”

He shook his head. “I cannot leave my duties here. Not at a time like this.”

“The next attack will come in a fortnight. I know this because I saw through the eyes of the necromancer when I stole his song. Their army will be vaster, and they will not stop until we are all dead. We must regain the ground between the walls of Ebonvale and the valley of Sill. We must burn away the swamps.”

Winning the battle had done more than save Ebonvale, it had given her credence in his eyes. At least enough for him to consider her thoughts. “And you know how?”

Valoria nodded. “Blue fire.”

Brax narrowed his dark, beady eyes. “I have not heard of such a thing.”

Valoria wanted to tell him there were a lot of things he probably hadn’t heard of, but she needed his help, and she wouldn’t win him over with snide remarks. “It is made by the mermaids of the Sapphire Isles.”

He snorted. “’Tis a myth.”

Valoria stepped so close, she could have touched his chest with her finger if she’d cared to poke him. “’Tis the truth. Only the eldest minstrels know of it. The mermaid’s potion is strong enough to burn away the swamp and give you the battleground you need.”

He studied her as if seeing her for the first time. This close to him, she noticed green flecks in his dark eyes, a trait of his mother’s. Not all of him came from the stout-hearted late king.

“I will go whether you come with me or not. But the question is, do you wish to place the quest for the one thing that will win this battle in the hands of another?”

Brax crossed his arms over his chest. A small smile curled the corners of his mouth. “You are cleverer than I thought.”

Valoria narrowed her eyes. She’d see if he was cleverer than she thought as well. “So you will come with me?”

“On one condition. We must take the one person I know who can negotiate an honest trade, someone who has history with the fishermen who navigate those waters. Someone I trust with my life.”

Did such a man exist? He sounded like Horred himself. “Who is this man of whom you speak?”

Brax’s face softened, and for the first time, he looked noble and kind, almost handsome. “My brother.”

Brothers in Arms

Nathaniel pressed his palm against the solid granite chunk as three mules heaved it into place underneath the arch where the gate had once stood. Would it be enough to hold the undead back?

Flames licked the sky behind him, warming his back as soldiers seared the corpses. The air stunk of rot and burnt flesh. As a boy, he’d never thought anything would smell worse than a dead wyvern, but he’d been wrong.

As dangerous as the wyverns were, they never pierced your soul the way seeing an undead woman or man did. The wyverns fought for their right to survive, whereas the undead took all life away. If Nathaniel had to choose a greater foe, he would have chosen the one he faced now.

Better now as an adult when he could do something about it.

“Nothing will move that stone. Not even I.” Brax surprised him from behind as he came up to tap his sword on the chunk of granite.

“I thought you were training.” Nathaniel clapped him on the shoulder. Losing the king last night had only strengthened the bond between them. Nathaniel knew what it was like to lose a father. Now he’d lost one twice. But, this time his adopted brother lived to share the burden.

“I was, but a princess convinced me otherwise.” Brax lifted his eyebrows as if a pig had taken off in flight.

“You mean Valo—I mean Princess Valoria?” Only hours ago, she’d seemed more inclined to go to him than Brax. What had changed?

Brax gestured toward an area where the workers wouldn’t overhear their conversation. “She has come to me with a way to win the next battle with the undead.”

Nathaniel followed him. “The next battle?”

“Did you not suspect they’d return?”

He sighed. “I did. I only hoped they wouldn’t.”

Brax nodded. “So did we all. But the princess claims she has seen through the enemy’s eyes. She knows what he is planning.”

A current of jealousy spiraled through Nathaniel, and he stifled it. Why hadn’t she mentioned this to him? Because he’d left in a hurry? Had he not given her a chance?

“And what is her plan?”

“She knows of a potion which will burn the swamp away. It would give us a level playing field and bring the battle away from Ebonvale’s walls.”

“What is this potion?”

“Blue fire. She says it comes from the mermaids in the Sapphire Isles.”

As ridiculous as it sounded, the idea held a kernel of truth. “Ah yes, as a kid I heard of such a tale. But, I thought it was only a story told by imaginative sailors and fisherman to while away the hours on their boats.”

“So did I.” Brax shook his head as if the world were stooping to foolishness.

“You trust her enough to leave our kingdom and search for this blue fire?” Didn’t the princess and Brax have trouble getting along?

“To tell you the truth, I wouldn’t have when I first met her. I thought her a spoiled, naïve princess who embroidered pillows and plucked trivial melodies on her harp. But after seeing what happened last night, I realize I’ve underestimated her. She controlled the undead as if they were her own. If she says she knows what the necromancer has planned, I believe her. If her idea to burn the swamp has any credence, than I would be a fool not to follow it. What I want to know is will you travel with us?”

Shock took his breath away. To accompany Brax would place himself in front of the one person he wished to avoid. “Go with you and the princess? To the Sapphire Isles?”

Brax put a hand on his shoulder. “I need someone with knowledge of the fishermen’s ways and experience in trading. You grew up in Shaletown, did you not?”

“Aye.”

“And you negotiated the metal trade with the albinos as a young boy?”

“I did.” Nathaniel had trading in his blood. His father had made deals as far as the continent stretched to get the precious metals he needed for his blacksmith work.

“Then, why do you hesitate?”

How could he speak the truth? He chose his words carefully. “This journey is the perfect chance for you to acquaint yourself with the princess. I would stand in the way.”

“Nonsense. I cannot put my personal concerns in front of the kingdom’s.” Brax did not look concerned in the least. In fact, was he avoiding a lone journey with her? Would Nathaniel have to mediate between the two of them the entire way?

Brax smiled. “We both know you are the best man for the task.”

The best man for the task, maybe. The most appropriate travel companion? No. “Who will stay to make sure the queen recovers from her grief?”

“My mother is a strong woman. Give her some time and she’ll have this kingdom back on its feet. She needs the distraction.”

“I do not think she will ever completely recover.” She’d lost the love of her life, the man she’d bent the law to marry.

Sorrow tinged Brax’s face. “Perhaps not. But, you forget, she led Ebonvale for years by herself after her father died. She can handle it now.”

“Even if she could, she won’t ever agree to both of us going.”

Brax polished the hilt of his sword with a handkerchief as a self-satisfied grin stretched across his face. “She already has.”

* * * *

“I cannot believe you are leaving.” Cadence watched helplessly as Valoria stuffed her traveling bag. “And not taking a single dinner dress, no less.”

“This isn’t a quest for looking pretty.” Valoria wished she had more practical clothes. How was she ever supposed to pass for a farmer’s daughter in her silk evening gowns? She glanced at Cadence’s simple skirt and apron.

“My lady, you look as though you would swallow me whole.”

Valoria smiled. “Fancy doing a trade?”

“A trade?”

“My clothes for yours. You can have whatever suits your fancy.”

A spark of excitement flashed in the handmaiden’s features before her good sense won her over. “I cannot possibly walk around the kingdom wearing your gowns.”