The Armies of Heaven (4 page)

“We don’t know,” Sarael admitted. “So far, all that’s been presented is the proof of his claim and not the boy himself. Helga is still in hiding. But she intends to rule as his regent. There was no mention made of the fact that his father, who is technically principality of the Firmament, is still alive.”

I looked at Kae, still standing before his chair. What showed of his face was still white as gypsum and he’d broken out in a cold sweat. Vasily lunged forward across the table as Kae began to fall, catching him with a fist in the collar of his coat. The servants who’d escorted Kae rushed into the room and took hold of him before Vasily lost his grip.

Sarael rose. “Take His Supernal Highness to the Pearl Room to lie down. He’s had a shock.”

I followed, feeling vaguely that I must do something, with Ola’s plea to be kind to him repeating in my head. I stood inside the door as they laid him on the bed and removed his coat. Kae stirred and struggled for a moment in vague, disoriented motions, and then lay back as he seemed to come to himself, letting them drape a thin blanket over him.

One of the servants nodded to me as they went out. “We’ll bring His Supernal Highness something to eat.” I sat beside my cousin, not knowing what to say.

With his eye still closed, Kae spoke weakly. “I guess you have your answer.” His mouth twisted with emotion. “After the atrocities I’ve committed, you’d think I couldn’t be offended by those of another. I have no right to my outrage, but there it is.”

I couldn’t disagree, but I found myself glad he felt it, just the same. He’d still loved Ola, despite the madness that had taken him. He hadn’t casually tormented her to no purpose other than vicious cruelty as I’d imagined. It was small comfort, but it was comfort.

I smoothed my skirt in my lap. “If this is true, Helga chose to do what she did. Consciously chose to violate Ola. No spell clouded her mind.”

Kae opened his eye with a guarded expression.

“Of course I recognize you were not yourself.” I answered his unspoken question tersely. “It doesn’t change anything.” I paused. “Does this change anything for you? Knowing my claim to the throne challenges…your son’s?” It was difficult to say, and nearly inconceivable.

“My son’s?” Clearly it was equally inconceivable to Kae. He hesitated only a moment. “No. No, of course not. You’re the heir to the throne. If this is true, Helga’s only using the boy as a pawn.”

“He might have a greater claim. Ola was firstborn and second in line after Azel. Any son of hers would eventually have sat on the throne.”

“Not like this. No. I’m committed to your campaign. And I have no right to think of the boy as anything to me. I am nothing but his mother’s murderer.”

“If he’s my sister’s son, he is something to me. When we’ve defeated Helga, I’ll have to consider which of us has the right to rule Heaven.”

I dreamt once more of my daughter that night, the fire this time surrounding her as she cried, while a boy stood silently behind the flames. Just before I woke at the cusp of dawn, I heard her calling for me. I rolled over, weeping, and reached for Vasily, but the arms I found weren’t his. He hadn’t crawled into bed with me in the night. Instead, Kae sat beside me and I’d thrown my arms about him.

Disoriented, I gazed up at him—strangely beautiful in the pearly blue light of Pyr Amaravati despite his disfigurement.

Kae let go of my shoulders and pulled me gently away. “You were crying out in your sleep. I was trying to wake you.”

For a moment, I’d forgotten I was supposed to hate him.

Dawn crept along the banks of the Gihon, painting cerulean light across the empty expanse of the Empyrean beyond it through the pale blue glass, as if Pyr Amaravati itself colored the day. I pulled my knees up under the covers and wrapped my arms around them, drawing a heavy sigh. “So it begins. Do you think your men are ready?”

“I think they’ll certainly give Aeval a surprise. They are not the same men who fought with honor at Gehenna. Perhaps it will be enough.”

I studied the leather mask that hid his unblemished face, wondering if he would always see nothing but ugliness when he looked upon his countenance. Would I? Despite the pain and misery between us, I missed my friend. On a morning like this—a thousand years ago, it seemed—we might have talked and laughed over anything and nothing at all.

I pressed the heels of my hands to my eyes to dispel the ghosts of what could no longer be. “How many troops can we spare for the march on Elysium? I’d hoped to go after Helga before having to deal with Aeval, but that’s out of our hands now. Do we have enough to mount an attack on the demon army at the same time as we occupy the city?”

Kae thought for a moment, and even in his one clouded eye, I could see the cold calculation for which I’d engaged him. “The flooding from the Gihon is still high at the Aravoth Pass. We should be able to hold the queen’s forces at the bottleneck at Gihon Falls long enough to give you time to reach Elysium. With any luck, she’ll never set foot on Aravothan soil, in which case, the bulk of our forces can be concentrated on Elysium instead of Aravoth.”

“And without luck?”

“Without luck, we haven’t enough men to fight her anyway, so it’s luck or nothing.”

As I had countless times, I mourned the fact that the Grigori chieftain had withdrawn the promise of his forces. Fallen from the Order of Powers, the Grigori would have been more than a match for the queen’s army, while their Nephilim cousins, descended of angels and Men, were superior soldiers in any sphere. Though I could hardly blame Dmitri for revoking his support after losing his lover to a battle he hadn’t belonged in, the absence of the Exiles was a devastating blow.

I’d hoped Margarita’s choice to stay on might have encouraged other Nephilim to pledge their support independent of the Grigori, but the Nephilim relied heavily on the approval of their angelic cousins. After the
Angliski
Nephilim had gone against the will of the Grigori in joining the celestial revolution, their clan had been forever cut off from the protection and companionship of the greater clan. Margarita hadn’t exactly disobeyed Dmitri’s wishes, but I supposed even the fear of the appearance of disloyalty was enough to keep the rest in line.

With none but the Virtues on our side, our only hope in winning against Aeval lay in first defeating Helga. If we could turn her army to our cause—and it seemed logical most would prefer me to Aeval’s oppressive rule—we might have a fair chance against Aeval’s Powers and the enlisted hordes of the Fourth Choir.

“I don’t intend to rely on luck,” I said. “That’s why Lively is coming with me.”

I gathered everyone in the atrium before breakfast to announce my orders for battle. In addition to Lively, I informed them, Vasily and Belphagor would accompany me.

Belphagor whispered something to Vasily beside him on the stone bench.

I cleared my throat. “Does that not suit you, Belphagor?”

He raised a dark eyebrow at my tone, the metal bar piercing his brow catching the light. “If it pleases Your Supernal Highness,” he said with dramatic formality, “I would like to request that the remaining Virtues of Sar Haniel’s platoon accompany us.”

The survivors of Kae’s wrath had been devoted to Belphagor since their imprisonment at Gehenna. Love and I referred to them as “Beli’s Boys”—out of his presence, of course. That Vasily’s intimate name for him had somehow become part of Ola’s vocabulary amused us to no end, and we applied it wherever we could.

“I’d be glad to have them. Though I’m not sure how I feel about Loquel being in combat.” Particularly devoted to Belphagor, the fragile-looking Virtue seemed barely more than a boy, though Virtues, more than any other order of angels, had a perpetually youthful look, and I knew he was actually several years my senior. I looked to Kae, to whom I deferred all strategic decisions.

He considered only a moment. “Virtuous soldiers are fiercely loyal to their platoons. And in the case of these particular soldiers, I believe splitting them up is unwise. Loquel will do more good with you than he will here, separated from his comrades.”

I nodded. “All right, then. Sar Haniel’s Virtues ride with us. Thank you, Kae.” I knew speaking of Loquel was uncomfortable for him after how he’d abused the young angel at Gehenna. I rose and signaled dismissal. “We leave at dusk.”

Love followed me, looking anxious. “May I have a word with you, Nazkia?”

“Of course.” I pressed her hand. “What is it?”

“I know I asked to stay at Pyr Amaravati when you wanted me to return to Arkhangel’sk.” She lowered her gaze. “But I think…I’d like to go home.”

I resisted the tears that prickled behind my eyes and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. “I can’t blame you, Love. If we fail, it will be dangerous for you and Kirill here.”

“Yes. Kirill.” She sounded more certain. “This place isn’t good for him. Not Pyr Amaravati, I mean. Sarael and his staff have been wonderful—and
bozhe moi
, how I’ll miss the baths! But a Heaven without a God… I don’t think Kirill can bear it. I need to take him home.”

“Of course. But I’m going to miss you terribly.” I’d been shy around Love for a long time, feeling inadequate as Ola’s mother next to her natural instincts, but she’d become like one of the sisters I’d lost.

“It’s not that I’ve given up on finding Ola.” She looked stricken at the thought. “I want you to know that. I know she’ll come home to you soon.”

I clasped her hands in reassurance. “Of course. As soon as things are settled—afterward—we’ll come visit.”

Love hugged me tightly, unable to say anything more, and again I fought tears, knowing what I’d just said was a lie, and she must know it. If I became the queen of Heaven, I would no longer be able to fall to the world of Man as I pleased. Even if I could have, it would be too risky for Ola. And if I didn’t succeed, it would mean both our heads.

Through the colonnade of the atrium, I noticed Margarita waiting. “This isn’t good-bye yet.” I stepped out of Love’s embrace. “The safest way for you to get home is by traveling with us to Elysium and then heading to the portals in Raqia from outside the city. Can you and Kirill be ready to go by dusk?”

Love wiped her eyes and nodded, looking relieved. She moved aside as Margarita took her opportunity and approached.

“Your Supernal Highness.” She bowed respectfully, but as she straightened, I couldn’t help noticing her fidget with the ring that marked her loyalty to the Grigori. It was one all Nephilim wore. “I hope it’s not out of line for me to say, but I think you need me with you. If you’re going to engage the enemy yourself, I’d like to serve as your personal guard. The Fallen will be armed, and if you’ll forgive my saying so, sword work is not your strong suit.”

I sighed, both relieved she hadn’t come to say she was withdrawing her support, and irritated with myself for having been such a poor student. “I know, Margarita. You’ve been very patient with me. And Heaven knows I could use you by my side. But I’m worried about leaving Kae on his own.”

“You think he’ll desert?”

“No, not exactly. But Aeval called his blood once and controlled him completely. I think he’s beyond her influence now, but I can’t be sure. She was fully capable of controlling the Seraphim’s element from a distance.”

“Well, I have to be honest,” said Margarita, as if being blunt and forthright were ever difficult for her. “That woman gave me the chills. I don’t think I’d be much help in stopping her. But if you want my opinion, those Virtues will turn against your cousin faster than he can blink that lame eye if he so much as looks like he’s being swayed to her side. I think he’s done what he needed to do, and it’s up to them now to follow through.”

“I suppose you’re right.” I nodded. “All right. Be ready by dusk.”

Margarita pressed my arm with her firm grip and headed off to make her preparations.

Love fell into step with me once more as I headed toward our wing. “You know that isn’t why she wants to go with you.”

“What do you mean?”

Her voice fell to a whisper. “Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed it. She’s hot over Lively.”

I pushed her slightly in disbelief, as if she were one of my sisters and we were gossiping over a visiting duchess. “No, she is
not
. Really?” I gazed after Margarita as she disappeared down the corridor, her red ponytail swinging confidently, and glanced back at Love with my eyes wide.

“Your angelic innocence is really cute.” Love gave me a wink and headed off to her room.

There was one more person I needed to talk to before we departed, and he’d already left the manor. I steeled myself to deal with Kae’s moods and went down to the stables. Sitting on the bunk provided by Sarael’s staff after he’d refused to enter Pyr Amaravati, Kae looked up from making notes in a little leather-bound book.

I wasted no time on pleasantries. “I want to go over the plan once more before I leave. How many troops do we have all together?”

“Seven thousand,” he answered without hesitation, setting his book aside. “And Aeval has nearly four times that. I presume she’ll bring the bulk of it to bear on Aravoth, not because she needs them, but because she’s furious. Even so, as I said, I think we can hold them off at the Falls because of the terrain and the river conditions. With that in mind, I’m sending four thousand with you.”

“Four thousand?” I frowned. “You’ll be outnumbered almost ten to one.”

“And yet all we need to do is keep those ten from getting through a space meant for one.”

“A lot of angels are going to die.”

I knew his answer before he gave it. “Such is war, Cousin.”

From the road Kae and I had taken yesterday, our troops would head up into the mountains instead of following it straight on to Aravoth City. It was the same path by which I’d entered Aravoth six months ago fleeing the queen’s men, but there had only been three of us then, not a brigade of four thousand.

Rather than turning west toward the Summer Palace and the Queen’s Highway when we neared the base of the mountains, we would head east and descend near Lake Superna some seven leagues farther to connect with the old highway. Before the Firmament had annexed the Princedom of Raqia, this road had led all the way from Aravoth City to Aden in the southernmost tip of the Princedom of Vilon.