Page 193 of The War and Deceit Series omnibus

Fires of War

The War and Deceit Series Book Four

This one is for my family.

Galandell - The Elf Queen

After the attack

“You will not take him!”

Pulling my consciousness back into my body with all of my will, I’m greeted by screams, both my own and those of the snivelling body at my feet.

No, that won’t do.

Immediately, I grit my teeth and stop screaming, no matter how agonising the pain in my head is. Weakness is not something tolerated here. Spasms rack my body, and I can feel something wet on my lips, so I’m sure my nose is bleeding again. Crossing into the consciousness of the forsaken is always painful, especially when I’m controlling an army of them, but to be in the mind of one when it’s being wrenched away from me…when that bitch Clarissa is trying to take him from me…

Icy rage floods my system, and just when I think it’s going to overwhelm me, to take over and break the calm mask I’ve built,that familiar, inky blackness throbs in the back of my mind, sweeping through my body. I sigh in pleasure as it wipes away all of my insecurities, doubts, and pain, leaving only blissful numbness and a crystal clear path of what I need to do.

Opening my eyes, I look down at the screaming creature my hands are currently wrist deep in. With a single thought, the creature stops making that goddess-awful noise as the body goes still and begins to decompose. Pulling my hands from its corpse, I sneer down at it with distaste. At some point, it was an elf, one of my subjects. It served its purpose, but right now, it’s rotting on my new dress.

I can feel the pleasure of the darkness in my mind at my callousness, and at some point, that would have bothered me. When did I stop caring about my subjects?

Movement at my side catches my attention, and I turn to see my ladies-in-waiting with bowls of water and towels. With a nod, I allow them to approach, and they begin the process of cleaning me. The body at my feet is removed, but I’m too busy thinking about the little witchwho nearly ruined my plans.

How did she do it? How did a little nobody half-elf slut manage to break my spell? No, no. She didn’t break the spell, but she was close. When she touched the forsaken Kaelir, I felt my control over him begin to slip. Well, I wasn’t going to let her have him, so I immediately severed our connection, but it cost me a lot, if my shaking limbs are anything to go by.

She’s destroyed my army. It’s taken me decades to learn to create and control the forsaken, and in the span of hours, she destroyed them. She’s turned my people against me, they all seem to love her. Why? Why don’t they loveme?

Patience, my queen, the darkness purrs in my mind.We will rebuild the army, bigger and better than before, then no one will stand against you. When they see your power, they will flock to you. They will worship you.The words incite pleasurein me that no male has been able to achieve in decades, and it brings a smile to my face at the image it produces.And then we go after the girl.

It’s right. Clarissa is just a scared little girl compared to me. She may have won the first battle, but she won’t win the war. And when I do finally get her, I’m going to destroy her.

“You should smile. Today is a happy day,” the woman behind me insists as she pulls at my hair, her actions as gruff as her words as she attempts to style it into something suitable for the occasion. Once again, I find myself in front of a mirror, being poked, prodded, and made up, my hair fashioned until I hardly recognise the woman before me.

For years, my hair and I have had a love-hate relationship, something I could shield myself behind and use to hide my face. But in a land where the people were blessed with tan skin and blond locks, my dark hair made me stand out, and as a slave, standing out was the last thing you wanted. The thought of cutting it off would often cross my mind, but when it came down to it, I could never do it. Something just felt so inherently wrong about it. So I kept my dark hair, and I endured the extra beatings, knowing I was different for a reason, and I had made peace with the fact that I would never know the reason why. Except, now I do.

“Yes, you’re right,” I reply absentmindedly, glancing down at the new tribal tattoo wrapped around my right forearm, the skin still red and inflamed. She is right—it is a happy occasion. Then why am I filled with trepidation?Nerves are normal, that’s all this is. Nerves,I reassure myself, looking down at my arm once again. The movement pulls my hair from Vida’s hands, and she makes a loud, frustrated huffing sound as my hair falls around my shoulders, ruining the careful braiding she had been in the middle of. “I’m sorry.” I immediately sit forward, moving to turn in my seat and apologise, but her hand lands on my shoulder and squeezes firmly, stilling my movements. Her booted footsteps sound behind me, and soon enough, she appears by my side and leans against the table in front of me.

She’s silent as she runs her eyes over me, her arms crossed, her expression serious. Under her gaze, I feel stripped bare, but I hold her stare, letting her see me for who I am.

“Are you sure you’re ready for this?” the tribeswoman asks as she observes me, but she surprises me when I don’t hear any judgement in her tone. “It’s been a rough couple of weeks for you.” Laughing at her understatement, I lean back in my chair as I think over her question.Am I really ready for this?I ask myself. The same doubts have plagued my mind ever since my aunt questioned me the night after the attack. Except the same reasoning keeps coming back to me, and as I look down, instead of my tattooed right arm, my gaze falls on my goddess marked left arm. Well, it’s too late to back out now.

“I’m ready,” I lie, lifting my head, my smile tight as I try to keep my breathing even. She gazes at me with that same dubious expression, raising a single eyebrow when I don’t back down. For a second, I think she’s going to say something, to challenge me, but then her eyes flick to my wrist where she sees my slave marks. Revna, my aunt and the High Chief of the Mountain Tribes, said I shouldn’t hide them any longer, that I havenothing to be ashamed of. I agree, but it’s a hard habit to break, and I have to fight to hold my ground, a bead of sweat rolling down my spine as her eyes linger on my marks. The seconds tick by, and when she finally looks back up at me, something that resembles respect flickers in her gaze.

“Okay.” She shrugs before pushing away from the table and making her way behind me, her hands returning to my hair. Surprise makes me silent, and I’m sure my confusion shows on my face, because her low chuckle rolls over me. “You may be tiny, and you may not know how to fight, but you survived what many of us would not have.” My body stills as she speaks, her low, slightly accented voice calming me as her gentle tugs pull at my hair. “I saw you with the forsaken the day of the fight.”

Her pause is heavy, her hands stilling for a second, and I know we are both remembering the battle with the forsaken, how no matter how hard you hit them, their broken bodies wouldn’t stay down. The only way to destroy them was to cut off their heads and burn the bodies. A chill runs down my spine, and my mouth is suddenly dry at the change of topic. “I spoke with Tor afterwards. He told me he got into trouble. That you saved him,” Vida continues, her fingers weaving a golden ribbon through the braids she painstakingly put in place. “You deserve that tattoo on your arm. You are one of us.” My chest constricts at her words, and although I don’t know her well, I hadn’t realised how much I needed to hear this.

Vida was one of the tribespeople who had been here on the day the forsaken attacked us. She was with one of the smaller groups who were supposed to lead part of the assailants away from us, but they had been ambushed before they could get into position. Eventually, they had managed to get away and assist us, so she was there to see the aftermath. I hadn’t expected anyone to notice me at the fight, but I suppose that’s a naïve thought, as all eyes are on me now.

It’s only been ten days since the confrontation, and the high chief has called all of the tribes together to recoup, with the last of them arriving today. As there will be a party, there’s going to be a ceremony, which Revna has asked me to take part in.

You don’t attack the mountain tribes and not expect them to retaliate. Even though the attack was aimed at me, the tribespeople want revenge. The elf queen knew what she was doing when she attacked the tribespeople in their sacred meeting place. Throughout the continent of Morrowmer, they are known for their strength and brutality in battle. They’re hardy people, living a simple life in small, travelling clans in the mountains, where they spend their time training and fighting, bringing glory to their tribes. While each tribe lives separately and has their own chief, they also have an elected high chief who rules over them as a whole and maintains their sacred stones in the meeting place.

So for the attack to have happened here was a very calculated and deliberate plot. We had only just arrived, and it had taken us days to travel to the meeting place. Somehow, the forsaken had managed to get here in armour, almost silently, from Galandell, which was double the distance we had travelled. The tribes are on edge and want answers, the atmosphere thick and tense. When Revna told me about the party, I agreed. Everyone needs something to look forward to, even if it makes my gut clench with anticipation.

We’ve fallen into an easy silence, which is something I like about the woman. She doesn’t feel the need to fill gaps in conversation with pointless chatter. A trait which seems to be normal for the tribes from what little time I’ve spent with them. I watch Vida through the mirror as she continues to work on my hair. Tor explained she had grown up in the same tribe as him, but the Eternal Brothers Tribe has more of a backwards view when it comes to women in positions of power. As such,Vida never fit in there, so when the opportunity came to train as a guardian of the stones at the meeting place, she took it. She’s been here ever since and is an expert on their religion and beliefs, so the fact she offered to help me get ready for the ceremony today is a great honour.

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