Fate Rides Wicked: Volume I of the Lerilon Trilogy (51 page)

“I have explained our customs to him. He is a wizard
and free from all allegiance to any kingdom’s laws. We
could do it any way you choose.”

“Do you really wish this, my granddaughter? You will
live fifteen to twenty times longer than him. Possibly ten
since he is a wizard and can extend his life a little.”

“I want it very much. One hundred years of happiness
may be all we can hope for together, but it will be worth
it.”

“Well, you have my blessing if your mother, father and
older brothers approve it. I want you and Nandel to discuss
it more also.”

Cert threw her arms around Corl and hugged him tight.
“Thank you,” was all she said. Oaktree had only a smile
for her as she attempted to resume practice.

Both Greentree and Morg almost gagged on their food.
Greentree’s entire body shook with rage. She stood up
roughly and leaned on the table. Her amber eyes turned to
Corl. “And you approved of this, Corl?”

“On the condition that both of you and both her
brothers approved. Nandel is a very exceptional human.
He might even have some daril in him from the first
mixings. I would suggest you approve, though they should
wait a year from this Feast of Growth.”

The queen of the endarils sat down. “I will think about
it only because you recommend it, Corl. Morg and I will
discuss it, Certusafel.” Cert realized her chances had just
slimmed by this use of her full name.

They ate the rest of the meal in silence. As the family
of seven walked out of the dining hall, Claft and Rander,
the two royal babies, giggled at their sister. Claft, Cert’s
sister, would soon be twenty six and was beginning to look
like her magical elder. Cert’s six year old brother had his
mother’s eyes and uncommon, but not unheard of, blond
hair. Both young ones raced to greet their brother, though,
when Tych and Nandel rounded a corner, Cort just behind.

Greentree stood up straighter than normal and
examined the human as Cert kissed Tych and looked at
Nandel. As soon as the greeting ended, the queen
addressed her son. “I would assume this is Nandel.”

“Yes it is, mother. Introduce yourself.”

“I am Nandel of Li, My Lady. I love your daughter and
desire her hand in marriage.”

“The issue will be considered, sir. Do you have
anything to say, Tych?” Greentree frowned.

“He is an excellent wizard and a trusted advisor. I’m
very happy for them.”

“And you, Cort?”

“I also support the marriage, or bonding.”

“All three of you stay the night. Nandel can stay in
your front room, Tych. Cort, Corl, Tych and Oaktree come
with Morg and me to the council chambers. We will decide
tonight.”

A guard greeted Nandel and Cert as they returned from
a tour of the kingdom. Nandel had never seen it before,
and he was only the second human to do so. Cert looked at
the guard. “What is it, Captain?”

“Your parents request both of you to appear before
them in the council room, My Lady. They have made their
decision.”

Cert and Nandel smiled at each other. “Thank you,
Captain.” They entered the dual-doored gate and ran all the
way to the chamber. They paused, gripped each other’s
hand and entered.

All of the endarils wore royal robes. Cert smiled but
Nandel looked puzzled. All smiled except Greentree, but
she did not frown. Corl waved them forward and they went
around the table to stand before the five relatives of Cert.
“Cert, has Nandel told you his secret?”

“I assume I know all his secrets.”

“You have acted in a manner we find wise, Nandel.
For Cert to love you even under the assumption your life
will be short, shows the love is true. To let her fall in love
with you this way shows your genuine desire to have the
love be real, and not based on anything but who you appear
to be.” Corl stepped out and looked Cert right in the eye.
“Nandel will outlive you.”

“What?” The magician looked confused.

Nandel turned to his lover. “When I first asked Tych
for advice about you, he told me the past didn’t matter, and
that because of your violent history, the love of the moment
must be real, for the future might not be there. I was born
three thousand years ago, under the last alignment of the
moons hift and nuvi. I will not die for another seven
thousand. Your brother told me you do not dream of the
future to fall in love and how dangerous a game it was to
do so.”

“I did fall in love with you for the present, and I still
love you knowing we have a long future.”

“And I love you, My Princess.”

Morg opened his mouth for one of his rare moments of
speech. “Your unification will be announced at the
wedding of Their Royal Highnesses, King Daubert and
Queen Olera. We all approve of your decision.”

Cert looked at Greentree, who nodded slowly. She ran
and hugged her mother, then the rest of her family. Then
she embraced Nandel.

Greentree covered the few feet between them. “I have
placed only one restriction on this. You may see each other
only once a month, but not within two weeks of the Feast
of Growth and not again after that until the war is over.
Then you may take my daughter, Nandel, my new son.”

Nandel raised his eyebrows. “I did not realize the
ceremony would be so short. Is this what Tych and Lendril
meant by marriage?”

“We would not equivocate it with marriage. They
called each other ‘husband’ and ‘wife’ to travel among
humans.” Corl rested his hand on Nandel’s shoulder.
“Endarilan tradition is very different from human. You
must learn our customs. Visit us to learn our ways every
now and then. You will find it necessary in order to travel
among us, even with Cert.”

Morg’s tone was very serious. “There are many secrets
among us which only endarils know. You will learn Cert’s
full name, for instance. Only her subjects know it. We
allow this only because Tych told us of your lifespan and
responsibility and trust he has given you. It goes without
saying that you are expected to keep that trust.”

“I will, My Lord.”

Greentree said, “Good. You two are free to go.
Remember my limitations. You are not to have Cert near
the Field of Scars or the Andarins. No more than one two
day visit a month until after the war. I have allowed Tych
to offer his cabin for a one-week traditional human
honeymoon, which he will take you to tomorrow.

“One final thing, Nandel of Li. Remember she is
twenty-four years short of being a woman, as we endarils
count it. Therefore, you’re taking her away from us early.
She is our eldest daughter and one hundred years older than
her sister. Take good care of her.”

They shared tearful goodbyes as Nandel and Cert
prepared to retire to her suite. Greentree buried her face in
Morg’s shoulder and cried as soon as the human left. The
rulers checked on their two other children and retired to the
comfort of sleep in each other’s arms.

A snowflake landed on Arif’s cheek and woke her. She
didn’t move. They had left the window closed because of
the storm. Somebody moved next to her, between the beds,
and the blanket slowly pulled away from her naked body.
The intruder took it below her knees before catching both
of her feet in the side of his head. As Glass Spider rolled to
the floor, she yelled, “Lioness, Zebra and Flashpoint, wake
up!”

Arif hit the floor as the thief slammed against the wall.
The noise woke the other three. Arif’s victim slid to the
floor as Ofeldar’s sword came out, lighting the room with
its magic glow. The light revealed the other intruder,
sliding along the wall toward the window. The white face
told them the names of whom they had chosen to rob put
fear in his heart. A dagger appeared in the hand of the
white-leather clad thief and he faced off against Flashpoint.
Lazol wore nothing and held no weapon, but he took a
wrestling stance anyway.

Ofeldar and Aquendar watched as Arif tied up the first
thief and Flashpoint circled with the second. Lazol ducked
a slice and they continued to circle. The thief lunged the
dagger towards the ex-assassin’s left side. Keeping his feet
planted, he rocked his hips right and pinned the man’s
forearm with his arm as he passed by. Jerking the thief
towards him, Lazol struck him in the crotch with his knee,
lifting him off the ground. Flashpoint released his
opponent’s arm. As the thief stumbled back, Lazol took
two quick steps and jumped into a roundhouse kick which
ended with the outside of his right foot to his opponent’s
head. The intruder lifted off the ground again and flew
sideways, landing halfway on one of the beds. The wood
post caught him in the stomach, but he didn’t feel it since
he was already unconscious. Flashpoint landed where he
left the ground.

Aquendar came around his bed and picked the intruder
up off of the end of Arif and Lazol’s bed. He roughly
tossed the thief on the bed face down and tied his hands.
As he finished he said, “Shall we kill them?”

Ofeldar climbed over the bed to help Arif lift the first
one onto the bed. “No, we’ll gag them and leave them in
the corner.” Flashpoint closed the window. “The
Murlanakian thieves are getting bold.”

Arif laughed. “This one was trying to get a look at me
in the dark.” The two men carried the thieves to opposite
corners of the room. Ofeldar sheathed her sword and they
went back to sleep.

The next morning they dressed and woke the still
sleeping thieves. They could see the fear in their eyes as
the intruders stood. Crossbows encouraged them out the
door and down the hall. They walked double file, the
prisoners in front, then the men, and then the women.

At the bottom of the stairs they walked past the startled
innkeeper and his guests. They walked out into the snow
covered street, the cold stuff reaching halfway to their
knees. Two city guards came around the corner as they
walked towards the city garrison and ran to meet them.
One of the guards stood tall, with a beard and blond hair.
The shorter one wore no beard, but a thick neck evidenced
great strength. Both drew swords at the sight of the
thieves.

Ofeldar stepped between her companions as the taller
soldier said, “What happened with these two? They’ve
been in the dungeon a few times.”

“They fooled with the Lioness. Now get them out of
here and forget you saw us.” The scout crossed her arms
and gave them a look to encourage them to do as she said.

The wide-eyed guards gestured the thieves to join them
as they walked away. Both intruders trudged through the
snow with a sword point in their backs, on their way to the
dungeon. The four spies reentered the inn and sat down to
a very large breakfast, always wary that other patrons
would challenge them now that they knew what the Lioness
looked like. After they ate, they went up to the room to
plan for nightfall.

They wore white leather armor and white leather hoods.
They carried foot long dirks in white scabbards and their
crossbows slung over their shoulders under white
wrappings. The snowstorm raged like it had the night
before, but that only gave them an advantage. Each had
fifty feet of rope coiled with their bows. Their boots bore
one-inch spikes and metal points studded their gloves at
each knuckle.

Aquendar tossed up his rope with a claw on it and led
the way out into the bright darkness. In a few minutes, all
four stood on the roof, totally invisible to the human eye.
Zebra brought up the rope and coiled it again. He put it
away as they moved from roof to roof, using intelligence
picked up in the market to find their target.

A half hour later they reached their destination atop a
warehouse. The snow stopped and they dropped prone in
two feet of it. Across the street stood an abandoned thief’s
guild headquarters, empty, uncovered windows giving it
the appearance of vacancy. They removed their crossbows
and loaded them, fighting back the numbing cold of the
snow. They waited patiently for some sign of activity.

A few hours later, as they prepared to give up on the
lead and seek warmth, a man in brown leather armor came
down the street towards them, glancing up at the rooftops
for danger. A hand crossbow slowly appeared in one of the
windows and trained on the man as he approached. Upon
reaching the front door he turned and came towards them.
Stopping in the middle of the street, he faced the guild and
let out a shrill whistle. In a few moments a devil came out
with a parchment.

Ofeldar trained her crossbow on the human as he left
with the paper. As soon as the hand crossbow disappeared
and the other devil closed the door, she fired. The bolt hit
the man in the head and he fell, screaming silently. Lioness
then quickly whispered her plan to her companions.

Aquendar and Lazol slipped across the street in the
light snow and took positions on either side of the door into
the devils’ lair. Ofeldar and Arif watched from the roof
across the street, one on each side of the guild, crossbows
loaded and ready. Both men drew their swords and turned
to the door. They kicked it, sending it flying into the room
and pivoted out of the line of fire. Two missiles flew by
and they spun back into the building, diving behind two
tables.

A strange voice said, “To blades men. We can finish
these two.”

Aquendar jumped up and charged the nearest man,
quickly driving the thief’s sword down and spearing him in
the chest. Five more remained and Lazol killed one with
his fist while his sword blocked a blow. Spotting the stairs,
Flashpoint jumped on to a table, did a flip over an attacking
thief and landed at their base. He sprinted up before they
could recover and broke a flask of oil behind him. Two
chased him but turned back as flame roared up in front of
them from a torch tossed from above.