Rise of the Seven (9 page)

I glanced at the others, and saw something
like guilt on a few faces. I stepped forward, narrowing my gaze on
Chevelle.

“
We did not think it an
issue.”

I waited.

“
The girl, Molly. It was
clear she wouldn’t survive to term.”

I stood stock-still, certain if I moved at
all, it would be to keel over and dispel the contents of my
stomach. I remembered Molly, the days she’d spent with us. She had
irritated me inexplicably, though now I could see that it was
likely because of my childhood, that constant conviction of my
people that humans were detestable. And that we were the same, she
and I, as alike as equally as I was to the elves who surrounded me.
She hadn’t appeared with child to me. But she had been a human
girl, and we had found her with the head of Asher’s guard.

“
You knew?”

Chevelle shook his head. “Ruby. The girl had
gotten exceedingly ill.”

I glanced at Ruby. She looked a little
sheepish. I was finding it hard to breathe, my vest was too
tight.

“
No one expected her to make
it,” Chevelle continued, “and when Junnie showed up...”

“
You didn’t want us to kill
her,” Steed said.

“
Junnie took the girl
without request,” Chevelle put in, not sparing a glance for Steed.
“But it did seem like an acceptable outcome.” He shook his head. “I
never thought she’d allow this.”

“
It was the child,” Anvil
said. “She said he chose this one. She will not destroy one who can
connect with beasts. She will wait and see.”

So Junnie thought the child might carry our
ability. And those of the light were morally against destroying it.
But there was no way to know, she was risking it merely because
Asher had believed this one special.

No
.

My stomach twisted at the thought. “She said
above all others.”

An image of the small bloodied hands came
unbidden. The hands of a human girl. The ruined bodies of her and
the guard in Asher’s secret grotto near the castle.

“
We believed them all
destroyed,” Chevelle assured me.

No one moved, and I had a sudden flash of
memory from when I’d been bound, when they’d all thought at any
moment I could lose it.

“
How many?” I
asked.

“
It is not known. Council,
Junnie, your guard have each dealt with their own.” His voice was
gentle, and the “your guard” held a quiet assurance.

I didn’t stop to ponder the details, to
wonder if he and Steed had found more when searching for Asher’s
guard. There was something else more pressing.

“
How long has he been doing
this?” I searched the faces of my guard, but I had my own answer.
He had taken Vita, had created Fannie and my mother, had stolen
me.

“
They’re his.” My voice met
stony silence. “The others, the attacks. They are his.”

“
They are children,” Anvil
said. “They are not working alone.”

He was right. But who put them up to it?

We rode straight through the night, and
barely rested the remainder of the journey. When we finally reached
the castle, I fell into bed exhausted, but sleep still wouldn’t
come.

The attacks had been too odd, silver and ice.
Though we’d not seen the source of the ice to be certain it wasn’t
fey, we had seen the boy. His features were too light, his eyes too
dull. He had pulled silver from the air. He might have been old
enough, might have believed he could defeat me, but why? What would
he gain from it? It was easier to believe that boy didn’t hate me
enough to want to kill me, but that he’d been after the throne.

Maybe he’d been abandoned. Maybe Asher had
made promises and never returned. Maybe he’d merely come for
revenge, or because he had nothing left. And maybe not. The more
likely scenario was that someone was still out there, pushing the
attempts. Someone had told him he was the rightful heir. Someone
had told him that I’d killed Asher, that all he needed to do was
kill me.

Was it Junnie? Could she do this to me? Of
course she could, she’d turned against council, slaughtered how
many of them. She’d had years of experience in underground
maneuvers. By all accounts, she had plans to create a new council,
she had followers. But would she?

I found it hard to believe. I wanted to think
it was true, that it wasn’t emotion driving the conviction. But I
had to look at the facts. Council had nearly destroyed the north.
They had used my mother as a pretense in their bid for control.
They’d been losing to Asher and they dealt with him. Junnie might
have split from council, but she still aimed for control. She might
have preferred me on the throne to Asher, but there was no
guarantee she didn’t want to rule all. Junnie was a match for me in
power, but now I had gained Asher’s as well. It was my only edge,
aside from my guard. But she could amass a council larger than any
of my forces.

And then there was the child. Was Junnie
truly keeping Asher’s daughter because she felt it was wrong to do
otherwise, or because it would be her ally, her key to the
north?

I rolled over, kicking the bed sheets away.
It could be the rogues. It could be the fey. It could be anyone.
But I really didn’t want it to be Junnie.

My thoughts turned to Fannie then, betrayed
by her own father. He had essentially disowned her, choosing my
mother over her as his second, and then me after he’d all but
driven her insane. Fannie had turned to council to protect them, a
birthright, their kin, and council had betrayed them as well. When
her bonds began to break, she thought Junnie and council had
entrapped her, and she went for revenge. It had cost her life.

My thoughts floated in and out of those
images, of Fannie razing the village that had been our prison, of
the fires that burned my mother. It was hard to say when they
morphed into dreams, but I could see my mother in a gown of azure
and lilac, leaning forward to whisper secrets.

“
It was the bond,” she said
softly, “that was why my mother couldn’t leave him.”

“
But–” I started, and her
finger came up to silence me.

“
It isn’t right, my Freya. I
cannot let him destroy her family so he might lay claim to more
land.”

And then she was burning.
The flames licked at her white gown, beaded and lacy. Screams
surrounded us, but I could hear her whispering, “Others will come.
Others will come.” The flames engulfed her and I was suddenly under
water, struggling for air.
Others will
come
.

I jerked awake, damp with
sweat and panting. I lay staring at the ceiling, one thought
circling through my mind like a bird over prey.
Others will come
.

Damn Asher. The bastard had made an army of
them, and they were going to come for me. One by one.

Chapter Eleven

Decision

Eventually, I accepted the fact that sleep
would not be returning anytime soon, and dragged myself out of bed.
I took a long bath before getting dressed, and let myself wince as
I laced a corset around my ribcage. It was getting better, though,
and I was able to take a few deep breaths before heading down to
find the others.

I stepped into the hall and found Anvil
leaning against the wall beside my room. I raised a brow.

“
Only until we are certain,”
he answered.

I nodded. “It won’t be long, I assure
you.”

He smiled a fiendish grin and I reached up to
clap him on the back as we made our way down the corridor.

We found Ruby, Steed, and Grey in the dining
area. When we sat to join them, I realized they were eating lunch,
and wondered exactly how long I’d slept.

After two servings of braised elk and
cornmeal, I decided I could face what I was going to have to do.
“Find Rhys and Rider, we’ll have a meeting as soon as everyone is
gathered.”

I excused myself and headed for Chevelle’s
study. He was standing near the back wall, staring out the window.
The silver dagger lay on his desk.

He turned and saw my focus.

“
It is an alloy.”

I lost all awareness of my intention.
“Alloy?”

He nodded grimly. “Yes.”

“
So...”

“
So we have no idea the kind
of threats we’ll be dealing with. This and the ice–” he stopped
when a note of anger slipped into his voice. Waited. And then, “We
will be fighting blind.”

If I’d had any notion he’d forgiven Asher in
his demise, it was gone. I was beginning to build on my own
resentments as well. Even in death, I wasn’t free from him.

Chevelle stared at me for a long moment. And
then I realized I’d forgotten my purpose. “Oh. I’ve called a
meeting.”

He nodded and began to walk toward the door,
but as he neared me, he saw there was more.

“
I wanted to see you first,”
I explained.

His gaze fell to the hand fisted at my side,
lingered, and then returned to meet mine.

“
You trust me.”

It wasn’t a question, so he didn’t answer. He
simply waited for me to go on.

I didn’t.

He came closer, reached down to take my fist
in his hand, and loosened the fingers. I understood the gesture was
meant to ease me, to let me know I could relax and just tell him,
but it didn’t have that effect. I fought the flush but forgot to
mask my expression.

He moved even closer and released my hand so
nothing stood between us but a few inches of air. I dropped all
emotion from my face.

Chevelle’s jaw tightened in response. “Do you
know the one thing I enjoyed?” he asked, his hand reaching up to
cup my cheek.

I could only manage a quiet, “What?”

His thumb brushed my lip and the flush
returned, despite my best efforts. “You couldn’t hide it,” he
whispered.

I took a deep breath, reining it in as the
memories rolled over me. Every look, every touch. “Well,” I said,
working for a steady tone, “you weren’t doing so well
yourself.”

A sexy smile took over his face. “Still, it
was…” his eyes fell to my lips, slowly tracing their line,
“...satisfying.”

That was it. I’d finally made a good decision
and I was going to cave after one touch from him. One word.

Ruby cleared her throat from the doorway.

I turned to her, stepping away from Chevelle,
and couldn’t decide whether to be angry or relieved at the
interruption.

She looked a bit concerned for her safety.
“The others.” She pointed vaguely in the direction of Anvil’s
study.

Chevelle walked past me and from the room
without another word, but Ruby jumped aside as he neared the door.
I raised a brow.

She leaned out the door to peer after him,
only looking back to me when he’d cleared the corridor.

I smirked before joining her to go.

“
What?” she answered. “I
thought he was going to pluck my ears off.”

We entered the study and Ruby took her place
among the others, purposefully walking wide of Chevelle.

I really should have discussed this with him
first.

“
Call to order another
gathering,” I said. “No pomp, this will be a congress.” I glanced
at Anvil. “Bring in the clan leaders singly. And anyone else of
note.” My eyes traveled down the circle. “Steed, you and Grey flank
Ruby all evening. Rhys and Rider, post by the south entrance. All
others will be sealed.” I didn’t look at Chevelle or Anvil when I
directed them. “Anvil at my left. Chevelle at the opposite end of
the long table, I want you in my line of sight at all times.” This
brought a few peculiar stares, but I kept on.
“Tomorrow.”

They had their orders and they knew it was
serious. Now came the part I’d been dreading. Chevelle and Anvil
would understand. If not my choice, then at least my reasoning. It
was why Asher had wanted me. It had been a constant battle to stay
on the throne. He had needed a powerful second to rule without
challenge.

I would have to do the same. It was my only
option.

The others deserved to know my motivations, I
would have to make them understand. I opened my mouth to speak, but
they all froze. They’d heard something I hadn’t... or maybe
something I’d ignored. The pat of boots against stone grew
louder.

My guard were on their feet. Grey was at the
door first. At the sight of him, the watchman yelled, “Rogues,
south gate.”

I gritted my teeth and ran. I wasn’t as fast
as the others, but I’d been running these corridors since I was a
child.

We burst from the castle as one, and the
seven formed up around me as if they’d been doing it for years. The
yard was bloody, the rogues had worked fast. There were twenty of
them, a ragtag band of thugs with greased hair and spiked armor. I
scanned the faces and found Vandrell, son of Stryder.

He was huge, fists as large as my head, and
he was ugly. His jaw misshapen and scarred from fighting, his
cheeks stained with animal blood. War paint. They used it when
raiding the villages. His hair was tied back, too high on his head,
and the front of it stood in pointy tufts.

He was staring at Ruby.

“
Reform,” I yelled, and they
followed without question. They had seen.

Now Steed and Grey stood before Ruby, Rhys
and Rider at her sides. Anvil and Chevelle had stayed in position,
but I stepped through them to the front of the line.

The rogues came to rest, waiting for my
reaction. They were enjoying their little outing, they wanted to
drag it out, revel in their triumph. They were fools. I let my eyes
roam the line, falling on each of them. Their leather was worn
black, their armor dented from battle. A few wore mail. All carried
hammers.