Page 10 of Oath of Betrayal
Even if my reason for living here was a lie, the fortress had become my home. I had no place in my own court. As for the human kingdoms, I was a dark fae, a necromancer with foul, tainted magic. Not here, though. Here, I was who I wanted to be—a scholar and healer who held the esteemed position of fortress mage despite the human prejudice against my race.
‘My workshop’s been somewhat stifling lately,’ I replied, shrugging to disguise my feelings. ‘How was your correspondence with the chancellor?’
‘Same old bollocks, of course. He says the king’s too ill to make decisions. I feel we’d have more success writing to your empress,’ Orm responded, joining me and dropping onto the weatherworn rock of the fortress wall to dangle his feet carelessly over the long drop.
I turned back to the panorama before me. The mountains created a ridge—a natural grey barrier that divided the Northern Lands from the Lowland Kingdoms. I could still remember the fortress as a trading post, built by the dwarves to protect travelling merchants and shelter their caravans from the unpredictable mountain weather. Those times were long gone, and what had once been a smallholding had become a military outpost and then a thriving town.
‘He wouldn’t be the first who enjoyed the position a little too much, forgetting that he was chosen to serve,’ I said, and Orm nodded.
‘What’s bothering you? Are you thinking about the mage again?’ my friend asked, moving closer. I felt his hand rest on my shoulder. Others rarely touched me. Most humans treated my kind like we carried the plague, but not Orm … and I appreciated that. He’d probably never know how much.
‘No, I was thinking about my sister, my old life,’ I answered truthfully, and his eyes narrowed. ‘She always looked so human, even though she is stronger in the dark arts than most of our kind. The Shen’ra line has always been deceptive.’
I rarely spoke about my family, but after last night’s nightmare, I was struggling to picture my sister’s face, to not forget her. All I could remember was our mother’s golden hair surrounding Rowena’s pale complexion. Then there was her magic, a combination of dreamwalking and necromancy that alarmed even me.
‘Don’t ask me to try that stunt again,’ Orm cut into my thoughts. ‘You almost died the last time I crossed the Barrier with you. The Rift might be growing, but the magic is still too strong for someone with as much power as you to cross.’
‘No, I don’t want to try again. Not on a dragon, at least,’ I laughed bitterly, remembering the agonising pain of my attempt to cross on Vahin. The Barrier’s magic had rebuffed me, rippingme from Vahin’s back. Only the dragon’s agility had allowed for my mostly safe retrieval before I became an ugly smear on the ground below, but the grip of his claws had left me bedridden for a month.
The Barrier knew the truth. My soul was filled with the foul magic and power of a necromancer, and that construct of humans considered me to be the same as their—asmy— enemy. And there was nothing I could do about it.
‘You still miss her?’ Orm asked, frowning when he saw me rub my chest. He knew some of the truth. A sad family story about a dead mother, a lost sister, and the traitor who had triggered the rise of the Lich King.
The story was too well-known throughout the kingdom to hide it. That was all I’d told him when I had secured his help in my failed attempt to cross the Barrier. The rest I couldn’t share, even with my chosen brother.
‘Yes, in a way. I’ve been restless since meeting the conduit. Have you made any progress in finding her? Is there any news from the capital?’
‘Progress?’ he smirked. ‘I not only found out her name and that she was the mage that defeated that wlok and caused the damage to the keystone ten years ago, but was handed the key to her geas directly by the royal mage,’ Orm said in such a matter-of-fact manner, though his hunched shoulders and lack of emotion told a different story.
The geas was a magical shackle that forced the loyalty of the most powerful mages, involuntarily making them loyal servants to the kingdom and compelling them to execute the orders of whoever held the key. I knew that Orm, with his code of honour, wouldn’t have taken it if the stakes weren’t so high.
At least he had control of the one thing our little mage could never argue against. I hoped he didn’t have to use it, but I needed her here. I needed her power.
‘I’ll have to bond with her to be able to use her magic,’ I said, and he frowned, looking at me sharply. After a pause he ventured, ‘If that’s what’s needed, then that’s what we’ll do. Just … let’s wait until we have a viable crystal before using the geas. She may even choose to bond willingly.’ He squinted out at the mountains. ‘I won’t force her for anything less than restoring the Barrier.’
‘What if I could offer another, more permanent solution? Replacing the keystone should temporarily leave an opening … I could cross it, Orm. Depending on the synergy between the conduit and me, I would not only have the chance to kill my father and avenge my sister, but end the Lich King as well.’
‘What makes you think you’ll succeed where every other has failed?’
‘They didn’t have a conduit mage bonded to them. You saw what she did to the mountain when the wlok attacked,’ I said, and he sighed.
‘I know she’s powerful, and maybe you and shecouldput an end to the monster, but there’s an army between that bastard and anyone that wants to harm him. I don’t want to lose a friend on the slimmest of chances,’ he whispered. His voice sounded raw, and his hand on my shoulder tightened in a rare display of emotion.
‘You knew my stay here was always going to be temporary. Orm … I need to find out whether my sister is still alive. If she is, the only way to rescue her would be to destroy the Lich King.’
‘I can come with you,helpyou, if you let me. If Rowena is alive, you will need speed to escape, and nothing is faster than Vahin.’
‘Dark Mother, I almost wish she was dead. If she’s been alive this whole time, while she’s been held captive by those monsters … Orm, the only way to rescue her would be to sneak in, and as a necromancer in the land of the undead, I would be perfectly safe. You and Vahin would only be a burden.’
I knew how cruel it sounded, but I was trying to protect the man who was like a brother to me. He mumbled something I couldn’t hear and pulled away. From his tight lips, I knew I had hurt his feelings, but it seemed he’d accepted my explanation.
Orm was a strategist, taught to examine a problem from many angles and weigh each decision with logical precision. As a dragon rider, he was trained to keep his emotions on a tight leash. The wild magic that ran through riders’ blood would turn them into berserkers without that training, so I used his iron control and analytic thinking against him.
‘The life of one woman for the life of many, that’s the dark price that needs to be paid. Give me the mage, and I’ll do my best to fix the Barrier—but if you help me Anchor her, perhaps there’ll be no need for the Barrier at all.’
‘I see two problems with your plan. First, what if she doesn’t follow you? Second, you’re planning on taking the ultimate weapon right to the Lich King’s doorstep and hoping she survives. It is not about the price, Alaric. It is about the likelihood of winning, so unless the odds change, I can’t risk her in the Barren Lands.’
‘She will follow me because conduit mages are loyal to their Anchors. I promise I’ll try not to use her geas. I don’t like it any more than you do. I’m planning to become her friend or seduce her if all else fails,’ I said, matching his tone. ‘As for the rest, I will ask again once she settles here. Even if I abandon my quest, I may yet need to Anchor her to restore the keystone.’
