Shadows Book 1 in the World of Shadows (27 page)

I stared at him. “Even after the attempted
mutiny?”

He nodded. “You would be surprised. We come
from a society where leaders are obeyed without question. It’s not
often that a leader has to defend him or herself to the death
against those underneath. We want to thank you for your bravery and
let you know if you are ever in trouble, you can turn to any of us
for help.”

He gestured to the man who had spoken first.
“This is Lieutenant Jeromo, Dem, and I'm Jash. If there's anything
you need, don't hesitate to ask any of us.”

He rose and held out a hand and I took it,
still in shock. He nodded to his companions and they stood and
saluted me before leaving the room. I stared after them with a
mixture of wonder and surprise. A throat cleared and I looked at
the galley men. They stood by the now clean counter and saluted me
with gray rags in their hands. I saluted back, then fled the
room.

“
What’s gotten into this
ship?” I asked Axon when he awoke the next morning.

“
What? Finding the men to
be a little more amiable than usual?” he teased.

He had already anticipated it; I swept a
strand of hair out of my eyes in annoyance. “Everyone’s saluting
me. I can’t get used to it. Everywhere I turn, there they are,
saluting.”

He laughed. “You’d better get used to it if
you plan on sticking around with me for much longer.”

I glanced at him sideways. “What do you
mean?”

He had just pulled on a pair of brown
leather boots and turned his attention to polishing a scuff that
wasn’t there. “Well, if you decide to marry me and become my
queen.”

My heart slowed and I stared at him. He met
my eyes, his own bright with a blush of color across his gray
cheeks. “Are you proposing?” I stammered.

He stood and took my hands in his. “It’s not
going to be easy, Nexa. Especially for us. But I love you and I
can’t imagine living life without you.” He grinned sarcastically.
“You’ve saved my life so many times you practically own me anyway,
so why not make it official.”

I opened my mouth, then closed it again and
threw my arms around his neck. He laughed and spun me in a circle.
“Is that a yes?”

“
Yes,” I replied, laughing
and crying at the same time. “A million times, yes.”

He set me down and looked deep in my eyes.
“You’ll be the Queen, you know, when my parents pass on the crown.
You’re more than capable of handling it, and I know you can do it;
I just want to make sure you know what you’re getting into.”

My heart pounded and I took a calming
breath. “If you believe in me, I can do it.”

He nodded and pulled me close to whisper in
my ear, “I believe in you, and I love you so much every second
apart feels like a million deaths. Never leave my side again. I
don't ever want to worry that someone is hurting you or mistreating
you. Promise me.”

“
I promise,” I whispered
back.

He kissed me with the passion of a thousand
kisses I had never had. Any doubt in my mind washed away with his
love and his trust, and I lost myself in the touch of his lips.

Chapter 30

We arrived at Lysus to find the streets
empty and two damaged ships in the harbor. We didn’t dare leave our
own boats at anchor, so we left skeleton crews in charge of the
ships and took the rowboats to shore further down the coast. When
everyone had landed, we formed battalions and marched through the
empty town. Two of the skittish black and red foths ran past, but
they were the only evidence of life along the streets.

Signs of a struggle met us at the castle
gates. The Nathos castle sat as a pile of crumbled ash and fallen
stone; heat radiated from the debris and smoke drifted slowly
skyward. Bodies of Luminos, Nathos, Duskies, and Sathen told of a
fierce battle. The twisted bodies of lamaks lay torn and impaled on
the spikes that lined the metal gate. It looked as though the
Sathen had stampeded the gigantic beasts toward the castle in an
effort to break down the wall. The force of the lamaks had bent the
iron inward so that the Sathen merely had to walk over the fallen
bodies to reach the other side.

A chill ran up my spine at the thought that
the Sathen were calculating enough to make such a thing happen. The
attack showed a uniformity and enormity of Sathen unlike anything I
had ever seen. The massive metal gates hung crooked on their hinges
and Nathos, Luminos, and Duskie bodies had been impaled on the
spikes that fronted them. We shoved the gates aside and filed
cautiously through.

Bodies littered the courtyard; my heart
slowed to see that most of them were Duskies. Days' old blood and
carnage attracted flies and sent out a smell so strong I had to
fight to keep my lunch from coming back up. We went to the massive
metal castle doors and pounded with our weapons until our hands
ached. Finally, a voice called from the parapets. “Who goes there?”
The voice was so soft and fearful we barely heard it.

“
Soldiers from Lumini,”
Axon shouted back. “Open the doors.”

We could make out voices speaking behind the
wall, then the doors opened with a groan of gears. Axon, Commander
Jashen, and several captains went ahead, then Jashen motioned for
the rest of us. We stepped into the inner courtyard to find women
and children hurrying to meet us. Soldiers in bandages and splints
limped forward, hope shining on disheveled faces.

“
Do you have food?” one
woman with an infant on her hip asked with a hesitant
smile.

Axon immediately turned and sent several men
back to the ships for supplies. Hearing the promise of food, the
citizens of Lysus led us eagerly to the inner doors and through the
castle.

“
King Raden was injured,
and his family tends to him in his chambers. They opened the castle
to us after it was clear the first wave wasn’t going to stop,” a
man wearing Lysus colors and a dirty bandage around his forehead
explained as he led us forward.

We followed him down several flights of
stairs to the King’s chambers. My heart slowed at the memory of
walking the halls not long ago, when the woven carpets were bright
and clean, not stained with dirt and blood. A memory of laughter
echoed in the halls where now only quiet moans from the doors we
passed haunted our footsteps.

A steward stood in front of the door to the
King’s chambers and blocked our way.

“
Let us pass,” Axon
demanded. “We need to speak to the King.”

The steward paled when he realized who Axon
was; he opened the door quickly and stepped inside. Several
heartbeats later, the door opened again and we were allowed to
enter.

We passed through several finely decorated,
elegant rooms to the King’s personal chambers. King Raden was
propped up by several pillows on a bed big enough to rest ten men
his size. Bandages covered his chest and torso, and his gray skin
looked pale and sickly. The Queen sat at his side without touching
him, her lips pursed and hands folded in her lap. Princess Tiseria
rose from her seat near her father’s feet and ran to Axon.

“
Prince Axon, you’ve come
to save us!” she cried, throwing her arms around him.

Axon glanced at me, his eyes wide, and I had
to stifle a laugh. He patted her head and met the King’s eyes.

King Raden quelled under force of Axon’s
anger and dropped his gaze. Axon's voice came out in a growl, “You
attacked my empire while keeping me here under false pretense.” He
took a step forward and Princess Tiseria had no other choice but to
step aside.

“
I did what I had to do,”
the King said; the weakness in his voice told of his dire
condition.

“
To what, kill my people
and steal our land?” Axon accused more softly with the realization
that he was talking to a dying man.

Raden shook his head. “To save us from the
Sathen. It’s no longer safe here. Their attacks have become
stronger and more organized. They’re united like they’ve never been
before, and they are merciless. I knew eventually the only way to
defeat them was to flee.”

“
And you couldn’t just tell
us of your troubles?” Axon asked. His jaw tightened with the effort
of controlling his emotions.

King Raden smiled sadly. “That’s not our
way. You know your father is the same.”

“
It shouldn’t be that way,”
Axon said quietly.

Raden attempted to push himself up
straighter on the bed, but his arms shook and he gave up. Tiseria
rushed over and helped prop him up with more cushions. The King
spoke to her quietly and kissed her on the cheek. She hugged him
gently, then motioned for her mother to follow her from the
room.

“
My place is at my
husband’s side,” the Queen replied, though it was obvious her
interest was more in what was being said than in her husband’s
health.

“
Listen to him on his
deathbed like you never would in life, Mother, and give him some
peace,” Tiseria said with a spark of willfulness that surprised
me.

It must have caught the Queen off-guard too,
because she stared at her daughter like she had never seen her
before. After a few heartbeats, she glanced at us, rose gracefully,
and exited the room without looking back. Tiseria shut the door
behind them and left us with the King.

King Raden coughed and then groaned. Axon
hurried to his side. “Is there anything I can get you?”

The King shook his head and dabbed weakly at
his lips with a white cloth. It came away red. “I’m dying and we
both know it. There’s no need to beat around the bush.”

Axon pulled up the chair the Queen had
vacated and sat close to the King. “Whatever you wish.”

A smile pulled at the corners of the King’s
lips. “What I wish is to be uninjured and on my way to conquer your
empire.”

Axon’s eyebrows rose. “You call that
conquering? Your people didn’t stand a chance against our
soldiers.”
The King glanced at me. “And I suppose she’s the wench I have to
thank for that?”

I bristled at his tone, but Axon grabbed my
hand and pulled me closer. “It’s my fiancé you have to thank for
that.”

Raden’s eyes showed true surprise and he
stared at me for a second, then a chuckle escaped his lips and he
started to laugh so hard he couldn’t stop until blood again colored
the handkerchief. “Wait’ll I tell Tylitha our daughter lost the
throne to a Duskie!” he gasped out.

Axon waited for him to finish laughing, his
expression surprisingly patient even though I itched to get out of
the dark room and figure out what to do about the Sathen.

King Raden guessed my thoughts. “Well,
little Duskie. Do you have any plans that might rid us of this
plague?”

I glanced at Axon and spoke the thought that
had been bothering me. “Most of the bodies in the town and
courtyard were Duskie. Where are the other soldiers?”

His eyes creased thoughtfully. “The other
soldiers have been ready to fight, but the Sathen concentrate their
greatest attacks at dusk and dawn.”

I bit my lip and could see the same surprise
on Axon’s face. “They’ve learned our weakness,” Axon said, dread
coloring his voice.

I stared at the floor, thinking. “Well, then
let’s make our greatest weakness our biggest strength.”

Axon and King Raden both looked at me. “What
do you mean?” Axon asked.

I spoke as I thought it out. “They’ve
learned to attack when the Duskies are the only ones able to defend
against them, so let’s give them a Duskie army fit for battle.”

Axon shook his head. “We didn’t bring enough
Duskies to stand up against the number of Sathen who left the
carnage out there. You would be slaughtered.”

“
Not if we did the
attacking or led them to a place where all of them couldn’t attack
at the same time.”

Axon seemed to follow my thoughts. “But
where could we find a place like that?”

My heart skipped a beat when the answered
occurred to me. “Firen Caves. It’s perfect. There are only a few
small entrances and I know them all. If we could lead the Sathen
there, we could either defeat them a few at a time-“

“
Or trap them in the Caves
so they couldn’t harm anyone,” Axon hazarded.

I nodded and ignored the pit in my stomach
that formed at the thought of returning to the Caves.

The King’s eyes tightened. “The last we
heard from the Caves, they'd been hit pretty heavily by the Sathen
as well. Most of their Duskies were killed and they didn’t know how
long they could last without them.”

“
Great time to realize what
an asset we are,” I mumbled bitterly.

Axon squeezed my hand. “When was the last
time you heard from them?”

Raden shut his eyes. “A few days ago, but
I’m not sure exactly. Time has flowed together here. A runner made
it through, but he’s been killed since then.” He lifted a shaky
hand to his forehead. “The Nathos castle was attacked yesterday by
a full force of Sathen. They hit during the day as if they knew the
Nathos were sleeping and we didn’t have enough men to defend both
castles.” He gave Axon a sad look. “We saved what Nathos we could,
but it wasn’t many. I wish you better luck at the Caves.”

Axon rose and bowed. “Thank you, King Raden.
We will do what we can to save your city.”

The King caught his arm before he could turn
away. When Axon looked back at him, tears glistened in King Raden’s
eyes. “Thank you for trying to save my people. It was wrong what we
did to you and you deserve a queen worthy of your gallantry.” He
nodded at me, his gaze admiring and kind. “I’m glad to see that you
found her.”

I touched the King’s hand, but a reply
escaped me so I leaned down and kissed his cheek. He smiled and
gestured for us to leave. “Take care, children. Our empires are in
your hands.”