Page 50 of Oath of Betrayal
‘Youbitch! So it is you? Wait until the king learns of your survival. Who is your Anchor? You wouldn’t have managed without one,’ Ihrain demanded as he moved towards her.
‘I am her Anchor,’ Alaric said. Annika frowned briefly as she glanced towards him but didn’t contradict his lie.
‘A dark fae? Why am I not surprised?’ Ihrain’s gaze jumped between Alaric’s and Ani’s before his hatred focused on her. ‘You took this foul mage when you could have Anchored the best in the country? The king is old and has no heirs, and I have the support of the chancellor. With your power, we could have taken control of the court. Who do you think will rule when he is gone?’
‘Certainly not you. How you even become the royal mage’s apprentice is beyond me. The old man didn’t strike me as a person who suffers fools. As for your proposal? You tried to drag me into bed and force our bond. Consider yourself lucky that all I did was singe your little soldier for that crime.’
At Annika’s revelation, both Ari and I pushed forward, but we stopped when she took Ari’s hand and pressed it to her chest over her Anchor’s mark. ‘Dare insult my Anchor again, and I shall open up his access to the aether;thenwe’ll see what happens to those who hurt the ones I love.’
Ani couldn’t see it, but Alaric went ghostly pale, his eyes a swirling crimson as they stared at the woman who held his hand as if he were her lover. I cleared my throat to gain the battle mage’s attention.
‘Those higher than you already know about Annika, so dispense with your subterfuge. You are free to inform the king that Lady Annika is safely Anchored and will remain at Varta Fortress with her bonded mate. You’ll be shown to your quarters now, and tomorrow you will travel back to the capital,’ I saidas calmly as I could manage, trying not to look at Alaric, who’d moved closer to Ani, embracing her as he pressed his forehead to hers, inhaling deeply.
‘But the inspection—’
‘Your inspection is concluded. You offended my hospitality, my mage, and my guest; therefore, you are no longer welcome in this fortress. If you try to resist, I have a squadron of dragons that would be happy to deal with you.’ A mighty roar shook the windows, accenting my words. Vahin had eavesdropped on the conversation while linked to my mind, and he was more than eager to back me up.
Like most bullies, Ihrain was also a coward, and the sound of a dragon’s roar shattered the rest of his confidence, so he followed my adjutant out of the office without further argument. As soon as we were alone, Annika turned to Alaric with a big grin on her face. ‘You were really convincing, but you can let me go now.’ Although Ari did as she asked, his movements were hesitant. I could see he wanted to hold on longer.
‘Let’s hope it’ll be enough. We have another problem, though,’ I argued, and Ani looked at me with a frown. ‘The king doesn’t care if the Barrier fails. His compliance with my plans was a smokescreen for court politics. In his infinite wisdom, he’s decided that opening the old trade routes through the Barren Lands will bring prosperity to the kingdom.’
‘W-what?’ Ani stuttered, taken aback. ‘There is nothing left to open, and the monsters and pestilence make travelling through there pointless.’ The disdain in Alaric’s answering grunt was impressive.
‘What he wants is eternal life. He’s old and without an heir—you heard that buffoon’s words. He may mask his desire as trade, but I’ve seen it all before. He’s not ready to die, and he thinks the Lich King can help him cheat death just as my father helped Cahyon Abrasan.’ Raw emotion roughened his voice.
‘How can you be so sure?’
I could see Annika’s distress, but I had to agree with Alaric. The king had withdrawn most of the mages from every fortress alongside the Barrier the year I took command and had spread misinformation about the state of the spell. Now the most qualified of the ones left were little more than hedge witches. Maybe if they’d had decent magical support, we’d have known about the entire Barrier failing sooner.
‘I’m sure, Ani. People never change. The human hunger for eternal life knows no bounds, and the older you get, the easier it is to convince yourself that the price is worth it. The Lich King didn’t start off as a monster. He was a powerful and skilled mage, and many envied him. But he wanted more—more fame, more riches, more life, and in the end, that was his downfall.’
‘Then someone has to stop this madness. We can’t let it happen.’ I had learned enough of Ani’s character to expect her words, but I shook my head.
‘We can’t stop the Barrier from fading, and opposing the king will only cause turmoil,’ I answered, moving closer to them both. ‘The only solution would be to kill the source of the problem, but no one can even get close to him. There is an army of monsters between the Lich King and us, not to mention his own immense power.’
‘And that brings us back to the discussion we had a few months ago. The circumstances have changed, and … I told you there is always a way,’ Alaric muttered to me.
‘No! Don’t even think about it. We will do what we planned to do. I will find a bloody crystal even if I have to bribe, threaten, or steal the damn thing—and you will repair the Barrier, even if it only lasts another decade. That would give us enough time to train a decent army, at least. In the meantime, I’ll talk to my family. They can rally the nobles to stop the king.’
‘Orm, I’m sorry, I can’t repair the Barrier—’ Alaric started, but before he could say more, Annika interrupted. ‘Why are you wasting your time? If there’s a way to end the Lich King, we should do it.’ Ani paced before stopping in front of Alaric. ‘You’ve had an idea, haven’t you? Tell me, I’ll help.’
‘No, all Alaric has planned was to sneak through the Barrier. He intended to free his sister and likely kill himself while trying to end the Lich King. The idea was insane when he first brought it up, and it sounds even worse now. We are not discussing it. I’m not losing a friend … or you, to a suicide mission.’
‘What if I find a spell to dismantle the Lich King’s life? There must be a way to undo whatever is keeping him alive. Nothing is truly immortal. If sneaking in and doing the deed is the only way, I will do what’s needed, Orm. That’s why I’m here,’ Ani offered quietly, and I slammed my fist, adding more blood to the desk’s surface.
‘No.The odds are so against us it’s not even worth thinking about. Leave the strategy to me. We will wait, and when the Barrier fails, whatever we decide here won’t matter. If it comes to that, Alaric and I will ride Vahin to fight. If we succeed, we will come back to you.’
‘So you will take my Anchor and the man I consider a friend, but you’d make me stay here … For what purpose? You brought me here to be a weapon, so let me be one,’ she argued, and even knowing she was right, I couldn’t stomach seeing her in danger.
‘You will still be a weapon. You and Vahin’s fire are our last line of defence, and I’m not letting our last hope fall into the hands of the enemy. I have to think like a soldier. There is no place for emotions or heroes in war, too many people could pay the price for reckless bravery. Unless the situation changes, you will stay in the fortress, and that’s the end of it.’
I saw Ani’s eyes narrow, and I braced myself when she tightened her fists, but nothing happened. Instead, she shookher head and turned to leave. ‘We will see about that, Lord Ormond; and I’m not a fucking hero,’ she huffed before slamming the door.
1.Latawica(f)/latawiec(m) —shapeshifting wind demons that fly in currents. Their physical bodies are similar to large birds with sharp claws and colourful feathers, with human heads. They can shift into any human to tempt their victim with their song; and when they sing, those who hear it claw their bodies, ripping the flesh as an offering for the ravenous demons.
Icouldn’t sleep. Maybe it was the wind rattling the windows or the fact that nothing made sense. My argument with Orm kept replaying in my head. What did he want from me? What did both of them want? What did I want from them? My feelings towards Orm and Ari were beyond complicated.
To make matters worse, I’d encountered my university nemesis and found out that the reason I was at the fortress in the first place had become obsolete. Ihrain was an ambitious idiot who’d made my life hell after I’d rejected his offer to get together, but if he was right … Gods, if he was right, we were doomed.
