Regrets of The Fallen (Victis Honor Book 1) (30 page)

Freya folded her arms and looked away. “Yeah… Me too.”

Bella blinked, leaning forward to peek around her. “Freya, are you… crying?”

“Pff.” Freya waved her hand. “I don’t cry. Jus’ saltwater
stingin’ my eyes, alright? Gets t’ ya sometimes.”

Bella smiled softly and hugged her. “Thank you.”

Freya sighed. “Jus’ go get ready or somethin’. We’ll make port in an hour or so.”

“Alright.” Bella slid off the rail and walked away as Freya remained in her spot, thinking. The
Black Wake
came back down into the water as it neared the port town they would be stopping at, as Freya explained that people would understandably get jumpy if she rode in on a storm cloud. The hour passed far too quickly and soon the ship was pulling into the port town of Tower, so-named for the ancient stone tower the town was built around. Tower was about business, not tourism, and so trade ships were visible everywhere. The
Black Wake
was very well-known and was given no trouble because of that, despite being a known pirate vessel. Isabella stood with Haruka, Able and Freya, asking about that out of curiosity.

“It’s ‘cause I do it right,” Freya explained, gesturing to the many merchant ships surrounding them. “I don’t kill unless I ‘ave to an’ I keep
th’ other pirates in line. I’m a stabilizin’ element in these waters. They know that if I weren’t ‘ere it’d be more chaotic an’ deadly. It’s kinda like how y’ sometimes go light on organized crime in a city ‘cause it keeps things within certain boundaries.”

“The legends probably help some, too,” Haruka added.

Freya grinned. “Aye, that they do. Th’
Black Wake
‘as all sortsa legends, Bella,” she said, noting the woman’s curious look. “Some say it’s a ghost ship, or that we’re all actually skeletons under th’ moonlight. Others say those who touch th’
Wake
are doomed t’ join its damned crew.”

“And you encourage these, I’m guessing?” the knight asked with a look of amusement.

“Well why not? Anythin’ that keeps ‘em off our backs is good for me.” She gave orders to her crew to dock and then turned to the three. “I’m goin’ with you t’ my nephew’s, who should be a short ways south. Th’
Wake
needs a rest anyways.”

Bella blinked, tilting her head. “You talk like the ship’s alive.”

Freya winked at her. “I ain’t tellin’ nothin’, lass. Maybe it’s jus’ the words I chose. Now let’s get goin’!”

Bella turned back as the others left, pausing for a moment on the ramp before patting the ship’s railing. “Thank you,” she whispered before following the others. They made their way through the town with Freya stopping once to ask about her nephew before leading them out of the town to the south. Freya said the trip would probably be uneventful and boring; Bella didn’t believe her.

IXH

Areya was in a bad state and worsening by the year. After the departure of The Golden Butcher twenty years earlier, the land had fractured back into the numerous small kingdoms that had once been conquered by Lord Faust through her strength. War had weakened all of them and, as always, the people suffered for it. But in Rainhold, Faust’s former capital, the current young king was paying attention to none of it, for his goals were elsewhere.

The young man’s white hair, ashen skin and haggard appearance combined to make him seem far older than his twenty-one years of age. He moved slowly and oddly, sometimes with jerky movements, and he was usually quiet and often found staring at nothing. It seemed difficult for him to focus on things and he rarely made any decisions, leaving the daily run of the now-small kingdom to his advisors. But recently he had grown more animated and this had those in the keep talking.

Today, as his advisors gathered in a room, he burst in to the shock of all of them, slamming his hands down on the table. “We are sending men to Vaelin.”

His head advisor, Malus - a wizened man with brown hair and a thick beard - shared a look of confusion with the others, speaking carefully. “The… Imperial Province, my lord? That is a long way away and has little to do with us-“

“We are
sending
,” the young man cut him off, fixing him with a piercing glare from maroon eyes, “men to Vaelin.”

“Lord Reis, we have too many problems in our own lands… What is worth such effort?” another one asked, attempting to reason with the young king no one trusted.

“She has been found,” he said softly, raising his head to meet each of their eyes. “Isabella of Two Faces has been found.”

“The Butcher…?” Malus took a seat, as did several others. “You wish to… reacquire her?”

“I wish no such thing,” he spat venomously, lifting his hands from the table and beginning to pace in his odd gait. “She killed my father and she will
suffer
for her betrayal. Do we not still have an army?”

“Our army is required to protect our lands. Without it we will surely be overtaken.”

Reis moved away, facing the wall for a moment. These men didn’t hunger for vengeance; they would need a reward that would personally benefit them. He turned back, smiling darkly. “Then we shall get her back on our side. With her power we can regain our former glory.” He could see the greed begin to form in their eyes, and he fed it. “We would rule Areya once more, the dominant force. Your decisions would guide the entirety of the land, and their tributes would be yours. Surely such a reward is worth the risk.”

The others seemed willing, but Malus still appeared suspicious. “The Butcher slaughtered her men, killed our king and abandoned us. What makes you think she will change her mind back now?”

“That will not be a problem,” he said with a chuckle as black flames faded into view, licking over his body. “I have spells that will guide her mind.” They all knew of his strange magic, but none of them knew the limits or exactly what he could do. They had no choice but to believe him, and so they did. Excitement began to spark in the advisors as they spoke of a return to glory and power. Reis left the room as they began planning who to send to capture Isabella and how to do it. He would deal with the details later, they could plot for now. Their plans for what to do when she was returned, however, were very, very different from his.

Her body would be quite useful.

IXH

Aranea smiled as she stroked the large white spider on her hand, ignoring the anger of the man beside her. Kazuki was in one of his ‘moods’ and she had tried to outrun it, walking through the monastery in every direction and eventually ending up in the garden, but he had followed her, pestering her about how things were going and how nothing had been done. She sat on a stone
bench and played with her children as he jabbered on, continuing to pay little attention to his words.

Finally she saw a moment to interject and looked at him with a smile that she knew would only anger him more. “Dear Kazuki, you worry far too much. Your impatience betrays you. Didn’t I tell you to let me do my work my way?”

He practically seethed, but he knew better than to make a move against her, and she knew it. He folded his arms, glaring stolidly at her. “Have you even made any progress?”

“I had to test things first.” She set the spider on her lap, smiling as she watched it crawl around before finally giving him some attention. She knew treating him like a toddler would infuriate him, but then, that was the reason she did it; she found it enjoyable. “Their relationship is strong. I showed them weakness from each other’s past, but it simply brought them closer. Quite admirable, actually.”

“You’re
helping
them?!”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” she said dismissively. “As I said, it was a test. I had to know if I could play them against each other. If I simply attempted it without information, they would catch on and any further actions would be fruitless. I now know that such a tactic will not work, so we will have to be more direct. I did, however, learn some very interesting things about her companion.”

“The knight?” Kazuki seemed interested now, his anger dissipating for the moment. “Who is she? What did you learn?”

“Isabella Enyo, She of Two Faces. She’s from Areya, so do not be surprised you haven’t heard of her. She was quite famous there, however. She also has a dangerous enemy who remains in Areya.” Aranea stood up as her white spider moved to her shoulder. She began to stroll through the garden as she spoke, knowing she had successfully calmed Kazuki’s rage. “I have contacted him and he is
very
interested in getting her back. If we work with him then we should have no trouble splitting the two apart. He can have Isabella, and we will get Haruka.”

Kazuki rubbed his chin. “I dislike your making an alliance without my consent, but this is the appropriate course of action. Can this man be trusted not to kill my daughter?”

“No. We will need to be careful about that and watch the situation. I can aid with that, however. I will be going myself.”

The man raised an eyebrow; Aranea Lith rarely did anything personally, preferring to work through agents or long-distance magic. “You’re acting in person?”

Aranea smiled, enjoying putting him off-balance. “I am interested in this situation; it has the potential to be very exciting. Besides, I may take a trip to Areya afterwards and see what fun I could have there.”

Kazuki narrowed his eyes. “You intend to leave?”

The white-haired witch put a hand on her hip, her attractive face darkening into an intimidating visage. “I
work
with you, Kazuki; I do not
belong
to you. I may leave at any time I wish to leave. You can find another witch if you like. But do not attempt to stop me forcefully if I choose to leave; it will not end well for you.”

The two powerful figures stared each other down for a long moment before Kazuki lifted a hand to point at her. “So long as you do not attempt to betray us, you may do as you like. But try to turn on us and none of your spells will protect you.”

As he walked away Aranea smiled to herself, believing she’d won the confrontation. She did so love power-plays and political games. It was a shame there were so few politics here at this monastery. It was a good position, to be sure; she was provided with whatever she needed and she had no fear of enemies and an endless supply of missions that served as entertaining diversions. Still, she wanted more, and she thought Areya might have it. A fractured land sounded like a place where she could weave such a magnificent web.

As of now, however, other things required her attention. She smiled at the spider on her shoulder, cooing softly. “We have some prey to play with, Sicarius. Let’s start weaving… I know just what to start with.”

IXH

“Haruka, come on!”

The monk remained looking behind her, feeling on edge for some reason. The forest they were in was thick and the trees were massive, giving them no visibility in any direction. Perhaps it was just making her a bit paranoid, but then, was it actually paranoia when people were out to kill you?

Isabella came back to stand beside her. “What is it? You seem really distracted.”

“Nothing, I guess… Just nervous.” Haruka sighed, turning back to see Freya and Able waiting for her. “Let’s keep going.”

As they resumed walking, none of them noticed the massive form that moved silently through the trees behind them.

“I suppose you’re right.” Bella fidgeted with the edge of her cape, looking up at her. “I just don’t want more to feel guilty about.”

“Then don’t. Focus on how you’re helping.” Haruka reached up to brush a few strands of hair from Bella’s face. “You helped me to get away from my father. Your strength is what keeps us all going.”

Watch was boring. Able was having a difficult time thinking of something
less
interesting as he leaned against a tree and stared through the redwood forest at nothing but more trees and darkness. He had half a night of this to get through which meant another two hours of staring at nothing. He glanced across the small camp site at his watch companion, Haruka, who didn’t seem bored at all, somehow. Every so often she’d glance at her sleeping girlfriend and smile, and that seemed enough to keep her happy as they sat in silence. Able didn’t know what it was like to have someone inspire those kinds of feelings in you, but he knew she was lucky.

Their rotation made sense. Isabella couldn’t keep watch, she needed all the rest she could get – she was already slowing their movement down during the day. Haruka kept watch the
entire
night because she could go for weeks without sleeping and suffer no ill effects, and besides that she didn’t seem to mind at all. So Able joined her for the first half of the night, then he would wake Freya for the second half and get a little sleep himself. Going without some sleep didn’t bother him at all; it was the endless boredom during the watch that got to him. Add to that, Haruka wasn’t the most talkative companion. Able wasn’t a big conversationalist himself, but Haruka was nearly a mute, even when there was absolutely nothing else to do.