Island Shifters: Book 02 - An Oath of the Mage (29 page)

But, she did look, and her body trembled with an emotional ecstasy that only a mother could understand.

Twin sets of pudgy little fingers wiggled in the air as her two sons cooed contentedly.

Men were running into the hall now. She heard Captain Bo Franck’s voice above the victorious shouts.

“It is yours, Your Grace! The city is yours!”

C
HAPTER
18

Loose Ends

Five days after the defeat of the uprising from the Houses of Etin, Conry and Winslow, Beck and Airron rode through the gates of Nysa. While all agreed it was a triumphant military campaign, the city did not walk away unscathed from the revolt. Fifty Scarlet Sabers were dead and at least that same number of citizens.

Instead of the somber tone Beck was expecting from a city just back from the brink of war, the opposite was true. Jubilant Nysians had taken to the streets in celebratory glee. Dannery Row teemed with drinking and dancing citizens grateful to be rid of the marauding soldiers who had caused such turmoil in their peaceful lives.

Few recognized Beck as he passed by, unaccustomed to seeing the Prince of Iserlohn without an entourage by his side.

He glanced at Airron. His usually garrulous friend was unusually quiet. They had not had much of an opportunity to speak on the journey from Elloree, choosing instead the privacy of their bunks to recover from their mutual ordeals. He suspected it had something to do with the departure of his wife. Beck let him be. His friend would talk about what was bothering him when he was ready.

When they finally managed to pick their way through the congested throng to the royal palace, Rogan was waiting for them.

Beck dismounted and the two friends embraced tightly.

“The watershifters sent word that you were on your way,” Rogan said, patting Beck on the back. “I can’t tell you how good it is to know you are safe.”

Beck pulled back and looked at his friend warmly. “I hear you have your own tale to tell?”

“I do, but first things first.” The Dwarf held his hand out to Airron still sitting atop his horse. “Pay up, Elf.”

Airron feigned indignation, but then smirked and reached into the purse at his waist.

“What’s this?” Beck asked.

“Oh, our overconfident friend here made a wager with me that he would be the first to return to Nysa.”

“I will give this one to you, fireball,” Airron conceded. “But,” he said boastfully. “I did manage to kill Avalon Ravener. Can you top that, my friend?”

Beck cleared his throat. “Technically, since this is an official bet and all, your wife killed Avalon, not you.”

“Aha! I knew it! You are trying to cheat!” Rogan growled. “Not only did I make it back here first, but
I
defeated Etin’s army and saved the people of Nysa!”

Airron shook his head. “Technically, Lord Gage Gregaros and the Halfies routed the army. We heard all about it.”

“Well, I was there, and I still won our bet.”

Airron tossed a silver tenet down toward the Dwarf. “Yes you did, and you know what they say. An Elf always pays his debts.”

“I thought the saying was…”

“Never mind, you two,” growled Beck. “I want to see my family.”

Rogan cleared his throat loudly.

“What is it?” Beck questioned. “Is everything all right?”

Rogan nodded. “Yes, everything is well, but you may want to wait before visiting your wife. She is busy at the moment entertaining a few men in her room.”

“What? Speak sense, man!” He shook his head. “No, never mind, I will find out for myself.” Beck threw Chasin’s reins to Rogan and ran up the palace steps. The movement caused the lash marks on his body to throb painfully, but he ignored it.

Two men? What could Rogan possibly be talking about
?

A Saber passing by looked at him in surprise when he entered the palace and, seeing that he was alone, quickly fell into step behind him.

Anxious now to see his wife and daughter, Beck sprinted across the foyer and took the stairs two at a time until he reached the third floor.

Entertaining two men?

He raced down the corridor until he came to his chamber suite. Two Sabers, neither one Roman or Kirby, were standing in front of the door. Both knelt when they saw him.

“None of that nonsense!” he snapped. “Open the door!”

The Sabers jumped to their feet. “Congratulations, Your Grace.”

His head was spinning now with the mixed messages he was receiving, and he burst through the doors like a madman and stormed into the bedroom he shared with his wife.

The sight of Kiernan, laying on the canopied bed, with Kenley on one side and a bundled baby in her arms collapsed him to the ground.

His son had arrived.

There were so many hours over the past days with Avalon Ravener that he never thought to see his family again. And, now, here they were right in front of him and with the newest member of their household.

“Come here, my love,” Kiernan said, and he looked up to see her hand reaching for his.

He staggered to his feet and went to the bed. He took Kenley into his arms and held her tight to him, breathing in the clean scent of her dark curls.

“Hi Daddy. I missed you so much!”

“Me too, Ken, me too,” he croaked out.

Kiernan smiled at him. “You were wrong, Beck, you do not have a son.”

His grin widened as he looked at the little baby swaddled in white. “Another daughter, then. One who will help her sister spoil me in my old age, I hope.” Kenley giggled when he tickled her under the chin. He set her back down on the bed and reached for the baby. “Can I hold her?”

Kiernan shook her head. “You do not understand. You do not have
a
son. You have
two
.” She looked down and drew his eyes to another bundle lying on the other side of the bed.

“Twins?” he asked incredulously.

She nodded. “I would like to introduce you to Kellan Jaimes and Kane Maximus. I hope you do not mind that I named them already.”

They had never discussed names before, and he was touched that she would name one of his sons after his father. He leaned down and kissed her forehead. “The names are perfect. Just like you.”

Sitting on the edge of the bed, he picked up one of the twins, and the stories unfolded regarding Roman’s betrayal, and Kenley saving her mother and siblings with her airshifting power. Next, Kiernan described how she had delivered their sons in the middle of the nightmare, single-handedly.

He smiled and said all the right things in all the right places, and told his girls how proud he was of them, but the remarkable bravery of his family only underscored what he had been feeling for days.

He had failed in his duty to his family and in his royal obligations to the people of Iserlohn.

He had let them all down when they needed him the most.

Smokey filaments undulated through the tavern as though alive, obscuring all they touched in gray shadows. The gloom suited his needs just fine. Relieved to have made it out of Nysa alive, he traveled directly south to his home town of Janis, but had no desire to engage in idle conversation. The silky screen provided a convenient barrier in keeping the other patrons at bay.

Before becoming a Saber, Roman had spent many a long, enjoyable night in this bar called The Wild Boar with his father. He still would be enjoying them if not for Kiernan Atlan.

How could all of their carefully laid plans have collapsed into such ruin? Admittedly, he never met a plan that fell into place exactly as intended, but this was a disaster.

Mr. Black was dead.

Mr. Blue was dead.

And, Kiernan Atlan was still alive.

According to a watershifter he talked to that morning, so was Beck Atlan. What did it take to kill these people?

A young serving girl approached his table. “Hi,” she said shyly. “What happened to your face?”

His hand involuntarily rose to the cuts on this face from his dive out of Grace Hall. He shook his head. “Nothing.”

“There is a woman at the bar who wishes to know if you would like company.”

Instantly alert, he asked, “Who?” “The attractive, dark-haired lady at the bar.”

Roman looked around the serving girl. He immediately spotted the woman, she was the only female there, but did not recognize her. “What did she say?”

“Only that you were the best looking man in The Boar tonight and that she could really use some company. And, coin, if you get my meaning.”

He did. If he decided to accept the woman’s invitation, she would not be the first whore he had taken to his bed. He shrugged his shoulders. What else was he going to do tonight? A little relaxation to take his mind off the impossible events of the past few days would be a welcome distraction.

“You can have me for free,” the serving girl offered. Her prospects in the small community of Janis limited, she was probably hoping that the act would lead to marriage so she could leave the drudgery of The Boar and start a family.

He thought about the proposal while he again looked at the dark-haired woman at the bar. If you could call her a woman. She appeared extremely young. Still, a spasm of desire rushed through him when he studied her profile. There was a mystery about her that was just begging for him to unravel. “No, thanks,” he said to the serving girl. She threw him a disappointed look and turned to leave. He grabbed her arm. “Tell the woman I am staying at The Lantern, second floor, first door on the right.”

She nodded reluctantly and walked toward the bar to deliver his message.

Roman picked up his mug, drained the rest of the ale and walked out into the night. He did not have far to go, The Lantern Inn was directly across the street.

With the exception of The Wild Boar, the conservative town was closed up for the night, most people long abed at this hour. The public turned a blind eye at their men folk enjoying a drink or two in the local tavern, but that is where they drew the line, and those same men would be the first through the doors to church on Sunday morning. It was a little incestuous for his taste, and that is why he left. The serving girl would do well to follow his example and get out while she still could.

When he stepped off the wooden platform that surrounded the business district, he remembered that it was on this very street that the shifters first came to Janis and humiliated his father in front of the whole town. Later that evening, the man had been pursued out of the gates like a wild animal and murdered in cold blood.

He had lost both parents that night. He was never able to forgive his mother for the killing with the aid of Kiernan Atlan. The Princess might not have been the one to deliver the final blow, but she had been the catalyst that started events in motion, whispering dark insinuations into his mother’s ear. He knew his mother, and she never would have committed this act on her own. Before Kiernan Atlan came to town, she was a gentle, caring soul who knew her place in this world. To his way of thinking, whatever his father may have done to his mother in the past, he did not deserve to pay for those actions with his life.

With a snarl of satisfaction, he took comfort in the fact that he was still alive, and that meant that there would be plenty of time to see justice carried out. Now, though, another form of comfort filled his mind.