Island Shifters: Book 02 - An Oath of the Mage (17 page)

When the Cymans reported no sign of pursuit, she had not bothered to hide their trail. Even though the stone road they traveled left no mark of their passage, surely their scents would be traceable, and the Elf was an expert bodyshifter. Her face bore the truth to that fact.

The growing certainty built in the pit of her stomach. He would be tracking his earthshifter friend, and his animal forms would allow him to do so very easily. There could be no doubt. In fact, he could be upon them at any time.

“Cyrus!” she shouted to the Cyman in the lead of their party. She looked back at Beck stumbling behind her horse with his hands tied at the wrists and the rope pulling him attached to her saddle.

Cyrus immediately ran to her side. “Yes, Mistress?”

Vanity caused her to pull her hood close around her face. “We are being tracked, so we will need to pick up the pace. We will not be safe until we are back home at Farout.”

He looked confused but did not question the validity of her statement.

Beck suddenly tumbled to the ground behind her, but she did not stop, and his body dragged along the stone road.

“We must continue pushing ahead until dark. Scout ahead and find us cave well off the road to spend the night. Once there, I will cast a spell of invisibility over our party while we sleep for a few hours and then we will need to move out again. We must shake our pursuer, Cyrus, at least until we reach Farout Falls. If he manages to find us at that point, I will be only too glad to settle the score with that one.”

Cyrus nodded as he walked beside her horse, and then glanced back uneasily at Beck.

She saw the look and grunted in frustration. Adrian had been right, the Cymans were much too soft. She looked back. The earthshifter probably did need water, as she could not recall the last time she had given him any.

Not that he deserved one single drop, she abruptly realized! This was all Beck Atlan’s fault.

She stopped her horse and dismounted.

The earthshifter was lying on the ground, bloodied from scrapes and abrasions. He was no longer under the glamour spell, but in no condition to fight her either. She walked over to his prone body and kicked him in the ribs. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

He lifted his head groggily. “Water,” he said faintly. “I need…water.”

She reached down and grabbed a fistful of hair lifting his head. “You will get water when you answer my question. Why did you not tell me that the bodyshifter was trailing us?”

He shook his head dazedly. “Bodyshifter?”

“Your friend, you idiot! You must have known that he would come after you. Why didn’t you warn me?”

One side of his mouth lifted in a small smile. “Maybe because I…want him to catch up…and kill you.”

She smiled, too, as she balled up her fist and hit him in the jaw.

He worked his mouth around woozily and then said hoarsely. “I have had worse. Do you remember…Citrine? Now, that woman… could punch. Well… before you murdered her anyway.”

Avalon tensed her body and then began pummeling the earthshifter with blow after blow, stopping only when he fell unconscious.

Smoothing her dress and pulling the hood of her cloak back into place, she turned to Cyrus. “Wake him up and give him some water. I don’t want him to die before I have the chance to kill him.”

The sight of Etin’s Eagles looting the city of Nysa caused Maximus to seethe in loathing. The cowardly bastards stalked the streets like arrogant thugs, taking by force the hard-earned coin of any innocent who stumbled in their path. The legionnaires must have been promised the spoils of victory, but at such a cost? How could the renegade nobles not realize the damage they were causing both to the city and in the hearts of the people? Even through his closed window on the third floor of the palace, he could hear the sound of breaking windows and the screams of citizens followed by the laughter of the vandals.

He imagined it was much like this in Iserport. These soldiers, with their mob mentality, had been without discipline or structure for a long time now it seemed. The corruption was so extensive that the young men of Etin’s army had lost sight of their humanity and their morals and were taking extreme delight in defacing the beauty of the royal seat of Nysa, the highest symbol of authority and power in Iserlohn.

He felt helpless stranded behind a locked door, but knew that in order to have a hope of saving the city, he had to bide his time until his allies could intervene. He just hoped that his careful planning would lead to triumph. Not for him, but for his people. He would give up his life right this instant if it meant that the citizens of Nysa would be spared, but if he made such an offer to Davad Etin, he would be trading his life for naught. The devious Lord was insane.

The mayhem allowed to run amok outside as well as his actions over the past few months proved that much. If he was not exorcised from Nysa very soon, the havoc would have a lasting, demoralizing effect on the families he had sworn to protect.

Unfortunately, he had been unable to protect Darin Morel and now a second Saber Captain had given up his life in defense of him. He had thought the death of Colbie Nash too much to bear during the Demon War and now he had to deal with the pain of losing Darin.

And, Gemini.

It was still impossible to understand how someone had managed to penetrate the High Priestess’ formidable defenses. It was even more difficult to imagine a life without her. He had thought often over the years of asking Gemini to marry him. Him! Marrying a sorceress! Had she said yes, she actually would have been the second woman he married with the gift of magic. His Gracie, Kiernan’s mother, had been a shifter although he had always pretended not to know.

He regretted now that he never acted on his desire to marry Gemini. He had grown to love her very much over the years and so did Kiernan, Beck and Kenley. Now, it was too late. It broke his heart to know that he would never see those twinkling blue eyes of hers or hear that infectious laughter ever again.

“Your Grace, can I get you anything?”

He turned from the window. It was Eden, the young sorceress who had been unfortunate enough to end up on the wrong side of the door with him. She had come to Nysa to inform him of Gemini’s death when the combatant soldiers descended on his chambers.

“No thank you, Eden.”

“Miss Belle and Larkin have taken an inventory of the supplies you asked them to stock and there is no need to worry. We have enough food and water for many days yet.”

He nodded.

His suite of rooms included a sitting room, bedroom and small library and, although they did not know the reason at the time, he had ordered Larkin and Belle to stockpile foodstuffs in his chambers for days before the attack.

“Captain Franck and Saber Ryan have also just finished constructing a privy and wash room out of your library,” she reported with an embarrassed look.

“Very good. Maybe it will get more use now than that stuffy old library ever did,” he teased. “I am sorry that you have been caught up in this mess, Eden. I promise to do all in my power to keep you safe.”

The young brunette smiled. “And, I promise to do all in my power to keep you safe, Your Grace.”

He grinned. “Yes, it seems we may have to depend on each other for a little while yet. Tell me. What are you studying at the Academy, Eden?”

“Fireshifting, but I must confess that I have not had much luck as of yet.” She snapped her fingers and a small yellow flame danced above her hand. “That is it, I am afraid. Although, I can still cast quite the spell when I need to.”

“About that, Eden. I thank you for using your sorcery to remove a threat from my presence, but it is prohibited to do more than that. You do understand that, don’t you, Eden?”

There was no trace of a smile on her face this time. “Now that is a promise I cannot make, Your Grace.”

Make it happen,” demanded Ava Conry angrily.

“Be reasonable, Ava,” Davad Etin implored. “We can be married immediately after I am crowned King. I promise you.” They were lying in his bed in one of the spare rooms in the royal palace. It was acceptable for now, but soon he would be living in more lavish accommodations. Now, he was the Lord from the south fighting for justice. Soon, he would be the King of Iserlohn.

He leaned over and kissed Ava’s forehead, while tracing the nipple of her right breast with his thumb.

She pushed his hand away and stepped out of the bed, padding naked to the night cloak she had thrown over the back of one of the chairs in his room.

He traced her movements critically. She was a little plump for his taste, but he could certainly suffer that much, and more, to achieve his goals.

She turned back to him once the cloak was in place. “When, Davad? You have been stringing me along far too long for my liking. If you think you can pull this off without the support of House Conry and the Badgers, just say the word. Maybe the loss of two thousand men will not make a difference to you?” she challenged. “My Captain has implored me to have a change of heart and abandon this attempt to topple Maximus, and I should probably listen to him.”

He panicked and jumped out of the bed to cross the room to her. “Your men at arms mean nothing to me, Ava, if I do not have you in my life. That is all that matters to me.” Nestling his face into the crook of her neck, he whispered, “I cannot do this without you.” He took her in his arms and felt her soften, felt the effect his words were having on her.

“Three days,” was all she said.

“Three days? But, Ava…”

“All right, make it four, Davad! We will be married in four days or I will take my forces and join with Gregaros. Do I make myself clear?”

He wanted to punch her in her fat face. “If that is what you wish, my darling, then I will make it so.”

She nodded. “Fine. I must go now to inform the Captain of my army that we will not be leaving Nysa after all.”

He kept the smile in place as she dressed and left his chambers. As soon as the door closed, he slammed his fist into the wall and then grabbed the sides of his head.

The voices!

They were telling him to dispose of Ava, but deep down, in the place where reason still existed, he knew he could not. He still needed her and her soldiers. If she left him now for Gregaros, he would lose everything.

Stumbling over to the wash basin, he almost sent it toppling when he grasped the rim and dunked his head into the warm water. Coming up for breath almost a full minute later, the voices were still there, but he felt somewhat better. Picking up the towel hanging on the side of the basin to dry his face, he walked back to his bed and laid down. He began to hum. Humming helped to rid the incessant buzzing of the voices in his head.

Sounds of the soldiers ransacking the city echoed through the air outside. He knew he should probably stop what they were doing. This was going to be his city soon, and he did not wish to see it destroyed.

Where was Abram? He might be able to help.

And, where was Ava?

He shook his head.
Yes, yes, Ava just left, didn’t she?

In a brief moment of clarity, he also wondered what had become of the spy they sent to Bardot. He had not yet returned, and Davad was anxious for news of Gregaros. Fortunately, wherever the former Saber was, it seemed as though he had no intention of entering the fight.