Island Shifters: Book 02 - An Oath of the Mage (15 page)

“Your problems are no concern of mine,” he squeaked haughtily.

Rogan was about to respond when Vinni stuck out his tongue and moved to stick him with his spear.

Janin was faster.

The scrape of metal grated in the air when she lunged forward and used her short sword to swipe at the offending weapon before it reached him. Her action caused the Halfie tribe to murmur in discontent and stomp their spears to the ground in a show of aggression.

Demons breath! This woman never listens to me!
He had a heartbeat to wonder if Beck or Airron found marriage this difficult, when the Halfies advanced, encircling the two of them with inimitable hostility in their eyes.

Back-to-back!” shouted Rogan, and for once, his wife did not hesitate. “Be careful! They will try to slice the tendons in your hamstring if they can get close enough.”

Several warriors thrust their spears at them, but Janin blocked every one, turning his body with hers in tandem to defend from all sides.

“Vinni! I am
Savitar,
and you know what I am capable of. Stop now before someone gets hurt.”

“Only you will get hurt in this, rude Dwarf,” Vinni cackled.

Rogan growled in pain when one of the spears slipped through Janin’s defenses and pierced his thigh.

“Summon your fire, Rogan!” Janin demanded.

But, Rogan shook his head. He had to try again to end this without violence. “Vinni, it is not for me that I ask your help! It is for Beck and Kiernan. They need you.”

The Tribe Leader stopped and held his hand up to halt the menacing Halfies. “Ill fortune has befallen the nice
Savitars
?” he asked in the sudden silence. “You lie, rude Dwarf. I have seen nothing in the clouds.”

“I speak the truth.
Savitar
Beck is missing and
Savitar
Kiernan fights for the lives of her people in Iserlohn.”

“A fight?” An excited buzz rippled through the Halfie tribe. “Why did you not say so in the first place, rude Dwarf!” Vinni’s red-cheeked face gleaned with excitement. “A Halfie
never
backs down from a fight.”

And, with that, Rogan outlined his plans to harry the rogue Iserlohn army.

Kiernan expected the Aquatainian village of Barbary to be deserted at this time of night, but the town was ablaze in light. It looked like the entire village was up and either walking the sandy beaches or gathered in small groups of animated conversation, their nude androgynous bodies glistening in the glow of their lanterns.

When Digby guided the boat to the village dock, several people pointed out their arrival nervously. Kiernan peered down at the watershifter in the lagoon. “What is happening, Digby? The villagers look anxious.”

Digby put both hands on the flat end of the rear of the boat and hoisted himself onto the deck. “They are worried because word has spread that war is imminent, Your Grace. I will go talk to them now to see if anything else has occurred while we were gone.”

He jumped off the front of the boat, and Seana, Kenley and Baya appeared from the lower deck with their bags in hand.

Kiernan smiled at Kenley, grateful that the voyage home allowed her time alone with her daughter to discuss in terms that she could understand, what had befallen Beck. She told her that the lady she saw with her father had placed him under a spell and that was the only reason that he had spoken to her so harshly and left her alone at the celebration. Her face lit up when Kiernan told her that Uncle Airron was tracking him and would do his very best to bring her father back home to them very soon. Thankfully, Kenley seemed to cope very well with the explanations. It seemed as though once she had a reason for Beck’s treatment of her, it put her mind at ease.

“If I had known the lady was bad, I would have done something to help Daddy,” Kenley whispered as they lay side by side in the bunk of their cabin that first night. It startled Kiernan at first because she had almost forgotten that her daughter’s powers had developed. She wondered just how strong her magic was.

“What could you have done, sweetheart?” she asked.

“Well, sometimes my magic is hard to handle…,” Baya interrupted with a coughing snort and her daughter glared at the cat, but continued, “…but I could have swept her up into a wind funnel.”

The unemotional way Kenley described an act of violence told her that sooner rather than later, they would need to find a way to help Kenley harness her powers so that she did not pose a danger to herself or others.

Oh, how much easier it would be if she had Beck to discuss this with, but wishful thinking was not going to bring him back, so she swallowed back her concerns and forced a smile on her face for her daughter.

“All packed, Maman.”

Kiernan nodded proudly, and took her by the hand to disembark on the shore of Barbary. The ceiling was not as high here in this newest village of Aquataine and, not for the first time, it felt to Kiernan as if she was stepping into the jaws of a huge beast with the stalagmites on the ground and stalactites on the roof threatening to clamp down on her at any moment.

Digby joined them again. “Your Grace! Word has it that Nysa has been seized by an uprising of some of the nobles, and the King has been imprisoned. The watershifters here in Barbary are very loyal to you and your family and are concerned for your safety.”

Kiernan was stunned. It had to be Abram Winslow and Ava Conry. She had known for months now that they were in league with Davad Etin, but up until now their tactics to undermine the rule of House Everard had always been more circuitous in nature. This open and treasonous declaration of war against a rightful King was unexpected. Obviously, they were in league with the army marching from Iserport, and Kiernan had clearly underestimated the extent and magnitude of the scheming.

Believing there would be time to prepare the defenses of the city before the army descended, she now knew that was impossible. The enemy had already arrived and was holding her father and her people hostage.

The knowledge enraged her.

“Let’s go, Digby.” They still had another raft to board that would take them into the smaller cavern beyond where the Bardot grate was located and where the larger boat could not travel.

“Over here,” he said and led them down the beach.

The villagers knelt as they passed, and she stopped before one of the larger congregations to address them. “Please rise.” She raised her voice so that most could hear her. “Digby informed me of your worries, and I am touched and grateful for your concern and loyalty. But, know this! I will not rest until my father and the people of Nysa are free from these aggressors! A Princess is entrusted with the welfare of her people. I will not misplace that trust! Mark my words! I
will
take back the city!”

The watershifters lifted their hands in the air and shouted their approval.

“May the Highworld be with you, Princess Kiernan!”

“Barbary stands with the Princess!”

The shouts continued while they boarded the raft and did not let up until they disappeared around a bend in the waterway. As Digby navigated the raft, Kiernan leaned over the rail to speak to him. “You have not seen your wife in days. Go to her now, but be ready. I am not sure what I will find in the Surface World and may need your services again very soon.”

“As you command, Your Grace, so it shall be,” Digby said with obvious pride.

She nodded gratefully and as soon as he pulled up to the small dock, she followed the others off the raft and toward the stairs.

Halfway into the climb, she noticed that the exertion winded her more than it should have, and she wondered if everything was all right with the baby. Just as she had the thought, a sharp pain laced through her abdomen and she had to lean against the cave wall to catch her breath.

Seana looked back and saw that she had stopped. She hurried down the few stairs to her side. “Are you all right, Your Grace?” she asked and put a hand to her elbow.

“Yes, thank you, Seana, I will be fine.”

“The Sect Leaders are in Bardot. I think you should see Helenite as soon as you can. She will be able to give you something to ease your discomfort.”

She nodded. “I think I will do that.”

When the pain subsided, she pushed away from the wall, climbed the remaining stairs, and went through the open grate.

Kiernan blinked in surprise.

Her sleepy, quaint city was bustling with activity. Most of the commotion was coming from the multitude of soldiers swarming the city streets. Beyond the streets and into the plains east of the city was a sea of tents and campfires for as far as the eye could see.

Sabers, Lions, and Tigers.

What in the Highworld was going on? Why were the arms of House Everard and House Gregaros here in Bardot instead of in the besieged Nysa? It may be that Gage was unaware as of yet but, no, that would not explain why so many soldiers were in Bardot.

The two Sabers guarding the entrance immediately knelt upon seeing her, left fists on the ground. “Please rise,” she told them.

“Come this way, Your Grace. Captain Nash has asked that you be escorted to him upon your arrival.”

She nodded and as they moved toward the city square, she noticed a knot of Sabers standing around a newly constructed wooden structure. One of the Sabers was Kirby Nash and as soon as he saw her, he hurried toward her and knelt. “Your Grace.”

“Please rise. Kirby, what is going on here?” She took Kenley by the hand and continued toward the square, the Saber walking beside her.

“The Houses of Etin, Winslow, and Conry are attempting a coup. Etin’s legionnaires are on the march toward Nysa, and Winslow’s Wolves and Conry’s Badgers hold the city gates. Hamilton and Knapp are locked in their estates, and their soldiers and the Lions caught up in the trap are imprisoned in the grain warehouses, stripped of clothing and weaponry and under very heavy guard with orders to shoot to kill any escapees. There is no way to get in or out of Nysa.”

“My father?”

“Barricaded in his suite of rooms. Fortunately, one of the Gems was there with him when they confined the King to his chambers, and she magically sealed the doors.”

“If there is no way in or out, Captain, how is it that you have all of this information?”

They had arrived at the square, and Kiernan saw now that a man was bound to the structure, his hands pulled tight above his head and secured to the overhead truss of the contraption.

She quickly blocked her daughter’s view. “Seana, would you please bring Kenley to the palace? I will be along shortly.”

“Of course, Your Grace.” Seana immediately took Kenley’s hand and directed her away from the offending sight.

Kirby pointed to the man and answered her question. “That’s how. It is one of Winslow’s men sent here on a reconnaissance mission. According to the traitorous Wolf, Lord Etin is trying to figure out where Gregaros is. It was actually Prince Beck that tipped us off about the influx of soldiers. King Maximus and Gage already had an idea that an uprising was imminent, but after Beck’s timely observation, ordered many of the soldiers of House Everard and House Gregaros here to Bardot before the seizure of the city. Unfortunately, it is Hugo Bassus who leads Etin’s army and he brought over almost all of the Lions stationed in Iserport to House Etin.”

Kiernan shook her head in disgust. Captain Bassus was her father’s man in Iserport. He was second in command to Bo Franck and had been serving the Everard family for thirty years or more. It was obvious now that Etin and Bassus had been collaborating against the Crown for some time now and directing a flow of erroneous information into the royal city.

“Why do you have him on public display?”

“As a warning of what will happen to other spies who attempt to come into Bardot with the intention of gathering information for Etin.”

Kiernan nodded. She did not like it, but knew that sometimes in war these tactics were necessary. “Do not kill him.”

He bowed his head. “As you command, Your Grace.”

“Have you seen Diamond?”

He shook his head. “After Gemini’s murder, all of the Gem Sect Leaders arrived and have been meeting behind closed doors ever since.”

She had assumed as much. The sorceresses would be enraged at the loss of their High Priestess and friend. “Find Lord Gregaros and meet me at the palace. We must decide how we go about prying my father and the citizens of Nysa from Etin’s greedy fingers.”