Page 218 of The War and Deceit Series omnibus

Fury radiates in my chest, and it takes me a second to work out that it belongs to Vaeril. Glancing at the elf, I see he’s narrowing his eyes at the painted chief, his upper lip pulled back in a snarl, but he’s not moved from his position. He knows how important this meeting is, and any wrong move could ruinany potential alliance with the magicians. So although he wants to jump forward and tear into Ragnar for disrespecting me and obviously not caring about any risk to the elves, he reins it in. Reaching for the bond, I send him soothing thoughts, and I know it’s worked when I see him straighten, his fury abating. Pulling my eyes from Vaeril, I flick them over to the painted chief.

“Are you saying you would sacrifice the elves for numbers?” He stays silent as I stalk towards him. “They came to me. They put their trust inme.” Putting emphasis on the word, I tap my chest. “I’m the one who has to carry the responsibility of their safety, which is something I take seriously.” I glance over and see Speaker Hawthorn and Beck observing me with solemn expressions. As I meet their gazes, they dip their heads in a sign of respect. The action shakes me a little, but I can’t let that show while so many people are watching. Taking a deep breath, I turn back to Chief Ragnar. “Without me, they wouldn’t be here, remember that.” I know I brought the war to their door, but we both know the queen wouldn’t spare them in all this. Once the elves fell, they would be next, sooner or later, so they are better off with me on their side, and he knows that.

“She’s right, Ragnar,” my aunt interjects, stepping forward and placing a restraining hand on the painted chief’s shoulder. “The elves are hers to protect, we don’t get a say in their safety.” Relief fills me at her support, but I’m sure I’ll hear from her later about making decisions that involve the tribe without checking with her first.

“Clarissa, my men can be trusted,” Merrin assures me, calling out now that Ragnar has returned to his place amongst the chiefs.

“If you could show some of your power to the magicians, that would help. They are all completely loyal to the Mother,”Ellis suggests, a haunted look flashing through his eyes, and I remember how we first met.

Ellis has the ability to push his will into his power. Grayson brought in the other high mages to rescue me from Arhaven, but when they arrived at the forge where Vaeril and I were being kept, they thought the elf was harming me. Ellis attacked, pushing his will to kill into the magic. I threw myself into the path of the magic, absorbing the blow. My body had unwritten the spell, but not before Ellis thought he killed me.

The idea of parading around in front of a group of mages and proving myself doesn’t sit well, but if that’s what I need to do, then I will. Judging by his stormy expression and the anger rolling down our connection, Grayson doesn’t like the idea either, but Merrin is looking at him with sympathy.

“I know you are not keen on the idea, Grayson, but you have to admit that if they could see the Great Mother working through Clarissa as we have, it would help to foster better relations with the elves,” Merrin proposes gently.

“If their faith is as strong as you claim, they shouldn’t need to see Clarissa’s gifts. It is not faith if you need to have proof,” Vaeril argues, and I have to bite my tongue to stop myself from groaning aloud. Not because I disagree, but because he chose now to speak up.

I can tell Grayson agrees from the jolt of surprise and annoyance down the bond. Not that he would ever let the elf know, but I get the impression Grayson has been saying something similar to his fellow high mages. However, hearing it from an elf only seems to make the tension in the clearing ramp up.

“How dare you?” Pierre shouts, marching back to his position with the other mages, but I cut him off before things can escalate.

“I will meet with them,” I agree, holding up my hand to try and calm the situation. I can’t guarantee what will actually happen when I meet the magicians—that will be up to the Mother.

We need to try and wrap things up while they are still relatively peaceful. Glancing over at Vida, I decide now is probably the best time to introduce her. I gesture for her to come forward, and she joins me at my side, dipping her head in a gesture of respect.

“High Mages, this is Vida. She is a keeper of the sacred stones for the tribespeople and one of their religious experts,” I announce, and notice they watch her with interest, particularly Ellis. “We asked her to attend so she can explain some of our shared history to you, if you are prepared to hear it?”

The four mages seem surprised, and although suspicion appears on Pierre’s face, the others seem willing. “We are interested to hear what you have to tell us,” Merrin answers with a small smile, and I see Vida’s shoulders relax a little, put at ease by the older magician.

“Thank you, beloved.” She nods at me before turning her gaze back to the mages. “Greetings. I am going to tell you the story of the gods and goddesses that ruled over us all, although it might be different than how you have heard it,” she begins with a wry smile as Merrin raises his eyebrow. Grayson struggles to hide a grin as he folds his arms over his chest. “There were seven gods and goddesses, brothers and sisters who created Morrowmer—Holume, Macca, Jos, Nathius, Tia, Sabine, and Shea,” she begins, and I remember someone mentioning Shea before and now realise who they were referring to. “Shea was the youngest and had many names, you know her as the Great Mother, the elves know her asMenishea, and she is also known as Mother Nature.”

Vida continues to tell the story of how humans and elves were created, but war broke out and Tia convinced the Great Mother to team up with her against the other gods. Sacrificing a huge part of her power, she created the magicians to even the fight between the powerful elves and the weak humans. Eventually, Tia was killed, but they spared their youngest sister, seeing only good in her and knowing she was led astray. The gods became bored with the humans and elves, so they left Morrowmer and their creations behind. Except, the youngest goddess stayed. The Great Mother was weak after creating the mages, so she had to withdraw, only able to watch as the world fell into chaos. She would rebuild her strength, and one day, she would return to unite her creations.

“So, you see, we all worship the same goddess, we just know her under different names,” Vida concludes, gesturing around the clearing. “Are we really all that different?”

Pierre snorts and scowls, striding forward and leering down at Vida with such menace that I step back. Vida, however, only narrows her eyes and stands her ground. “I’ve never heard such a load of—”

“Enough,” Merrin barks, sharply cutting him off, and it’s a good thing he does, because Vida’s fellow tribespeople don’t react well to one of their keepers being threatened, their hands hovering over their weapons. Pierre backs off, skulking to his original spot with many narrowed eyes following him as he goes.

“I have read mentions of some of these other gods before in the old texts, and we all know that the Mother goes by different names. Why else would she be directing us here to work with the elves?” Merrin questions his colleagues, excitement brightening his eyes. Ellis nods, wearing a thoughtful expression on his face as he continues to watch Vida closely. “Try to look past your hatred, my friend.” This last comment is aimed solely at Pierre, who has adopted a carefully blank expression. That worries memore than anything. I’m used to seeing scorn and hatred on his face, I don’t like not being able to tell what he’s thinking. “I would need to do some more research, but thank you for sharing that with us. Absolutely fascinating.” Merrin mutters the last part to himself, and I can see the researcher in him. I’m sure he and Master Ardeth would get on well and would be able to see past each other’s race. “Would you mind if, at a later date, I ask you more questions?” he asks Vida, and I can’t hide my smile, knowing he’s dying to learn more but realises it’s not the right time or place.

“That would be fine,” Vida replies with a tight smile, recognising the same thing about the magician but still on edge from his colleague’s verbal attack.

Ellis clears his throat, and when I glance over, I notice he’s looking at me with a determined expression on his face. “We still need to talk about the king.”

I’d been dreading this, and so far, we managed to get through the whole meeting without this coming up, and I hoped that they would discuss it with me in private. My hope was short-lived. I know I have to appear strong in front of everyone, so I try to keep as still as possible so as not to give away my true feelings. Vaeril must feel my distress through the bond, though, as he appears at my side, placing his hand on the small of my back in a show of support. Glancing over at Grayson, I can see him gritting his teeth. He wants to be the one supporting me, not standing apart as his fellow mages upset me.

“He gave us a message to give to you,” Ellis continues, unaware of my internal struggle.

“I know about the message.” The words come out sharper than I intended, and from Ellis’ arched eyebrow, he hadn’t expected my ire. Blowing out a frustrated breath, I try to soften my tone. “How did he get it to you?”

This is something that had been bothering me since Grayson told me the king had given them a message. They split from the king while we were still travelling to the mountains, before we joined with the tribes, which was some time ago now. So how was it that the king has only recently given them a message for me? Unless they had the message for some time?

“He somehow knew we would be coming to you,” Merrin informs me, realising the story would probably sound better coming from him. “He sent a messenger to the guild. We were already on the way here, but we have a mage who can communicate mind to mind, whom we left at the guild for such purposes. He immediately contacted me and informed us of the message.”

I raise my eyebrows. Being able to communicate mind to mind is a useful skill. Even with my mates, I can’t have conversations via our bonds, we can only sense each other’s emotions, so I’m amazed by this revelation. “Can you trust the mage?”

“What did the message say?” one of the chiefs, Erik, asks at the same time. I glance over at him, and we share a small nod. I don’t blame him for wanting to know. As soon as I broke the news to the chiefs last night that the king had a message for me, they had been trying to guess what he wanted. I’m surprised they had managed to wait this long before asking.

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