Page 9 of Oaths & Vengeance
She patted my back. “Exactly.”
I mulled the idea over. “How will I even find him in time?”
Briauna smiled. “I checked into that today, and if you go to Siggaya tonight at nine o’clock, he’ll be in the back room of this tavern.” She handed me a paper with the name of the place. “It is well known that this is his favorite place to visit when he’s in town.”
I had the rune sequence for the trading city. It was in the northeast corner of Veronna, close to the Sobaryan Mountains that divided our continent and just across the border from Raumandia, Juvarn, and the royal court of Porrine.
They’d placed it near as many other lands as possible so that it was easier to access, and they allowed sales of items in the city that most others would prohibit. As a result, it attracted all sorts of seedy types and had a rougher edge to it. While I’d never dared go there, I’d heard many rumors. On a bright note, the city was neutral. Technically, a citizen from Therress could visit, but that didn’t mean it wouldn’t be dangerous or I’d be welcome.
What did I care at this point, though? I was about to be married to the worst possible man, and my cousin would die if I didn’t go.
“I’ll do it,” I said, rising to my feet. “That will be late enough that no one will notice me missing, and I can easily return in a few hours.”
She nodded, grim-faced. “Find me before you go, and I’ll show you a map to guide your way.”
“Thank you. That would be helpful.”
Chapter 5
Aella
Ichecked myself over, making certain I wasn’t missing anything. For this excursion, I’d chosen my outfit carefully. I wore form-fitting black pants with a belt that had two sheathed daggers, one on either side of my waist. My midnight blue tunic had tight sleeves, buttoned at the front, and flared at the hips to cover my butt and conceal my weapons. The top had four-inch slits on the sides, though, so I could easily reach my blades.
I probably wouldn’t need them. My wind magic usually did the trick when I needed to repel attackers, which I’d done a few times during my travels when it turned out my destination wasn’t as welcoming as I’d hoped.
Satisfied I’d prepared as best I could, I moved to the side of the fireplace and stretched upward to push an ivory brick about a foot above my head. A slight grating noise sounded as a small opening appeared on the bottom right. It was only two feet high and two feet wide, leaving just enough space for a person to fit.
When I moved into this room eighteen years ago, the secret opening hadn’t been there, but the tunnels behind the walls had been in place. I’d only learned about them because my cousin Tadeus had shown me how to sneak from the second-floor library to the downstairs kitchen if I wanted a late-night snack. That was after I’d gotten caught sneaking around the main corridors of the castle by Parzival and punished severely. It took me the better part of four months, working at night, to create the secret openings I wanted.
Most of the tunnel pathways had fallen into disuse, but my uncle and his family regularly used a couple of sections. Thankfully, they never strayednear my end of the castle. I’d mapped the whole place out and crafted a way to enter my garden through the system. Since my room overlooked it, I only had to follow a very narrow set of stairs down, take a hard turn around, and walk ten steps. It took about one minute.
My only light source came from a glow stone I’d activated when I entered. I found a little handle near the floor and pulled. Another opening appeared about the same size as the one to my room. I quickly crawled through it to get outside and shut the stone door behind me.
One of the most significant advantages of my garden being so closed off was that no one could see it except when standing at the archway or my bedroom window. I maintained an open section in the back, obscured by a strategically placed trellis and creeping vines.
The ground in that part was covered in plain, flat stones, but a small zaphiriam-metal circle with the necessary algodonite stones embedded within it was also part of the pattern, creating a perfect loop. Acquiring all I’d needed to install that had taken most of the earnings from a side job in Alavaar I did long ago, but it was my greatest investment. I made the addition a few years after the tunnel alterations, once I’d had a chance to research how to design it.
I could technically channel a portal from anywhere if I had the right supplies and space, but the endpoint had to be at one of the permanent circles, so returning without being caught would have been impossible. Temporary setups couldn’t be receiving points.
My uncle had the ring inside the Ivory Castle keep constantly guarded. It made it hard to return without his lackeys instantly reporting me. Also, my room was too small to channel one from there, so I learned to get creative if I wanted to come and go without anyone knowing.
Almost fifteen years ago, I began researching how to make my own. It meant sacrificing time with my sister so I could travel to the Court of Porrine while my uncle believed I was in Alavaar, but it was the only way. The king’s court and territory encompassed a large city surrounded by farmland and forests, teeming with animals to feed the two hundred thousand fae who lived there.
It also boasted an extensive library on one end of the palace. I researched everything I could on how to build a portal and became romantically involved for a while with one of the young apprentices who worked there. He surprised me one day by letting me look at a tome from the private section, where I had no access. I was able to copy all the rune sequences of the realm listed on the pages, which were considerable.
He’d been a nice man of lowborn status who at least knew how to please me, but we eventually got bored with each other. As soon as fae reached maturity, we craved carnal pleasure. It was part of our nature. Going more than a couple of months without it was like torture, so most of us kept at least one regular partner until marriage.
After that, it was up to the husband and wife if they wanted exclusiveness or to be open once they produced the necessary heirs. Some fae could be extremely possessive of their partners, while others didn’t mind sharing at all. The rare true mates never strayed once they were intimate together, and a link formed. My parents had been like that.
My copied list from the library came in handy now as I pulled out my secret stash of holmium. I held out my hand and began pulling power into me. My fingers trembled as I sent a soft golden beam toward the appropriate runes, using the sequence I’d memorized from my cheat sheet.
They’d warded the receiving circle against anyone from Therress despite the trading city being open to almost everyone else. I pushed more magic, bypassing some of their spells and unraveling others. By the time I finished, I’d nearly drained myself. It would take almost two hours before I could regenerate enough to return home. Hopefully, I could survive that long in enemy territory.
Grateful channeling hardly made any noise to draw attention, I stepped into the swimming blue circle. This trip was much farther than when we’d gone to battle, so it took about ten seconds of traversing the whirling tunnel of light before I reached my endpoint.
Darkness enveloped me as I stepped onto solid ground. An upright receiving ring didn’t affect anything, and the portal adjusted a traveler’s body position accordingly. No one was standing around the courtyard encircled by trees and benches where I’d landed, which didn’t surprise me.
Professional portal channelers only opened them at set times of day and seldom this late at night. They wouldn’t be expecting anyone now. I’d waited until nearly ten o’clock to leave my chambers so Darrow could imbibe a few drinks before I arrived. Hopefully, that would make him more amenable and less likely to murder me at first sight. I was trying hard to be optimistic.
