Page 80 of A Baron of Bonds
The guard opened the door and I thanked him. Karus stepped inside while I stayed in the hallway. The guard was as tall as me with brown and gray hair pulled back at the nape of his neck. His beard was trimmed short and the lines that creased at his brown eyes implied he laughed often. With my hand outstretched, I asked, “What is your name?”
“Mychael, Baron.”
“Thank you for your help, Mychael. What guardship position do you hold here?”
“The Prince, Sir. I am one of Prince Philius’s guards.”
I nodded, the slightest pull of channeler power coming from my rhyzolm as I shook his hand. Its faintness was enough to tell me it was possible he did not know he had it.
“It’s good to meet you, Mychael. I’ll leave you to your duties.”
He let go of my hand and straightened his shoulders. “They are here, Baron. The Prince will also attend this meeting.” Henodded to the inside of the room where I saw Prince Philius embracing Karus so tightly, he was crushing the flowers on her gown.
I’d never seen him sober in my time here, and as I stepped into the room, Mychael behind me, I recognized the relief and pain on the Prince’s face.
To give them space, I instead turned my attentions to the Lady of the Spire. “Lady Lamoral, it’s a pleasure to see you again.” I crossed the open room, my eyes quickly darting to the expansive table in the middle which held a topographical map of the isle.
“Baron Revich, you are looking well these days.” Her sultry grin crossed her face as she rose from her seat to give me her hand. I kissed it lightly. “And I see why. It seems that you have been telling little lies and keeping this lovely creature,”—she nodded toward Karus—“all to yourself in that great big forest of yours.”
I nodded, narrowing my gaze. I had met her twice before, traveling to the Spire to look for new channelers to train. Renn and Rell had come from her city, and she had been accommodating to my task.
She’d also offered herself up on a silver platter.
She leaned in close, looking up at me with sparkling blue eyes. Her golden hair had been slowly turning gray, and the lines of her face suggested she laughed often. She was beautiful, regal, and putting her efforts into a lost cause. She had been for years.
“The offer still stands, you know,” she whispered at my neck. “You can always bring your lovely companion along if you’d like.”
I stepped back. “You’re better off, My Lady, seeking someone else to warm your bed. I am a one-woman Baron.”
“Oh, that saddens me to hear. Your predecessor was not so. I do not see why you cannot follow in his footsteps.”
“My predecessor was also a murderer,” I retorted.
“It’s not like they go hand-in-hand, Baron Revich.” She smiled wide, her hand patting my chest. “This is a night of celebration! It’s been decades since all of the leaders of Arcaynen were together in one room. And your companion ceremony!” She took a glass from the table and raised it high, before swallowing all of its fizzing contents in one gulp. “Come, I’ve brought my daughter with me. Do you remember little Lanna?”
I looked back to Karus who was now speaking urgently to the Prince, her brows furrowed as she gestured with her hands. The Queen also watched them from the back of the room where she stood with her captain and Geyrand.
“Lady Lanna, you remember Baron Revich, don’t you?” Lady Lamoral leaned back to me and whispered, “Of course, she does. She talks about Felgren constantly.”
I grinned and bent down to the girl’s eye-line. When I had last seen her, she’d still been in her toddlerhood, running from her mother’s throne room in ruffled skirts, battling with a wooden sword at one of her guards. Now, she stood taller, her chubby cheeks thinning out into that gangly look young children are known for.
“How are you, Lady Lanna? I see you did not bring your sword this time?”
She smiled and dimples formed on her cheeks. “My mother would not let me, Baron Revich. She said this is not a meeting of swords.”
I laughed and nodded. “Well, your mother is quite right. I didn’t bring a sword either and would hate to be underdressed.”
“But you have magic!” She delighted, showing a mouth of two missing bottom teeth. “You don’t need a sword! Can you show me some?”
“Lady Lanna, it is not polite to ask—” her mother began, but I was already on my knees and pointing to the floor before her.
“It is said that there are great fae warriors in Felgren Forest.” My magic left my hands, forming wisps of wings and limbs, emulating a fae creature with a long pointed sword who thrust and cut through the air. “These creatures have great strength and cunning, once battling the monsters of Felgren and forcing them into hiding, dwindling their numbers greatly.”
She laughed and clapped at my display of magic as I displayed a mock battle scene with the blue tendrils.
“Have you ever seen one in real life?” she asked, reaching out to touch the wisps of magic, her little fingers falling through the wings of the fae.
“I have not. In all my years as Baron, I have never seen such creatures.”
