Page 1 of Oaths & Vengeance
Chapter 1
Aella
Tending my garden took a lot of time and patience, considering half my plants were sentient and temperamental. They couldn’t speak, but they expressed their feelings in other ways. The spittlestalk I focused on now was thankfully in a good mood. It rubbed its soft pink petals against my cheeks as I pulled weeds around it. A full flower was larger than a person’s head and contained toxic elements inside, so it was a little intimidating when it became affectionate—like being kissed by a venomous snake.
This particular species sprouted a few weeks ago at the start of spring and had grown to two feet tall already. While they usually died at the approach of summer, I could make the blooms last through early fall by strategically placing them in the shadier areas of the garden and keeping the soil moist. Also, they didn’t like competition with each other. I had to space each plant about ten feet apart to ensure they didn’t vie for the specific nutrients they required from the soil. They could get quite temperamental otherwise and cause trouble in the garden.
If anyone they didn’t know or like came close to the spittlestalks, they would spray a thick cloud of poisonous yellow pollen. For elves, they ended up with extreme stomach cramps and severe migraines for several days. A large dose could even kill them. For druids, they would suffer from blurred vision and vertigo. I had no idea why each race reacted differently, but since I was half of both, I got a milder form of all the side effects at once.
It only took an incident when I was seventeen—fifteen years ago—to learn my lesson. Over time, I’d become more adept at tending beautiful yetdangerous plants. There were many safer species that other fae preferred to cultivate, but I liked the challenge, and the garden was my sanctuary.
Creating an inhospitable environment kept visitors from entering my space uninvited. The twelve-foot-high ivory-colored stone walls surrounding it also helped. It was mostly peaceful at the rear end of the castle, aside from occasionally overhearing the kitchen servants on the north side if they were handling outdoor food preparation or grilling.
“Ow!” a male voice said.
I jerked my gaze toward the garden entryway with its high arch and fought a grin. My cousin, Tadeus, had only made it one step inside before two of my crunchertraps—one on each side of the stone path—began snapping at him. One had left a small cut on his hand because he had not retreated quickly. They could extend their stalks just enough to reach the entrance and frighten people away.
Under normal conditions, they only bloomed in the fall. Since it was mid-spring, they shouldn’t have been growing at all, but I’d worked out a regimen for the carnivorous plants to keep them thriving year-round. They were among the smartest species in all ofPaxia, our planet, and made excellent guards. If one earned their loyalty, they wouldn’t hesitate to defend them. I tended mine like they were my children.
Tadeus looked nervously at my sentries. He knew better than to come into the garden, but he must have had something important on his mind to make him forget. I noted his coppery-red hair, which he always kept a few inches long, wasn’t perfectly groomed like usual and appeared as if he’d raked his fingers through it many times. His ivory skin was flushed with a light sheen of sweat, and his pointed ears were tinged red. He was upset or nervous since either of those emotions would affect him that way.
Tension filled me when I noticed that my cousin wore his forest-green and brown battle garb, a black armor chest plate with a yellow hippogriff emblazoned on its surface, and a full complement of weapons strapped to his body. He was a tall, fit man who appeared even larger now. There was only one reason he’d have dressed that way and rushed to see me.
I rose stiffly to face him. “Is there an attack?”
“Yes.” He lifted his ocean blue eyes to mine, gaze softening. “Father demanded that I bring you immediately. We have little time to intercept if we hope to save Palbour.”
I exhaled a breath. For the last six months, peace had reigned. Not because the leaders worked out a treaty or because the king intervened. The conflict betweenTherressandVeronna—rival lands within our kingdom—had been ongoing for nearly five centuries since Therress rebelled and claimed independence from Veronna. We’d grown tired of either paying higher taxes or sending our soldiers to die in a war with the dark elves that didn’t affect us.
We had breaks now and then, such as recently, to recover and rebuild from losses, but this one hadn’t lasted as long as I’d hoped. The previous truce endured for almost two years. I should have known we wouldn’t make it that long before the greedy Veronnians came after us again. Why couldn’t they understand we wanted to be left alone?
“Okay, I’ll hurry and change.”
He shook his head. “No time. I’ve already ordered your mount readied, and I know you can protect yourself with your magic. That will be enough since Father always keeps you guarded and away from the fighting anyway.”
I supposed it didn’t matter if I showed up for a battle with dirt-encrusted fingernails and a loose brown tunic and pants—my standard gardening attire. Everyone else would be filthy soon enough. I only wished I could have had time to change into something with a bit more protection. The clashes had only reached me a couple of times over the years, but I’d thankfully worn the right wardrobe in those instances, or else I would have been severely injured.
Giving the spittlestalk’s pink petals a last caress, I rushed from the garden. We moved away from Ivory Castle toward the portal ring near the western wall. The castle received its name more than a thousand years ago when my ancestors built it, along with the rest of the keep, using stones of that light, creamy color from a nearby quarry. Tadeus led me past the training area and barracks at a near run. He was the only male cousin I liked, and he was always kind to me. His older brother was vicious, much like his father, and he enjoyed finding ways to demean me.
Finally, we arrived at a large, open field used for public events and mustering troops. Armed fae and war horses filled most of the trampled space where grass didn’t stand a chance to grow. Shock filled me since we only had two hundred stationed here full-time, which meant my uncle must have requisitioned more from Tradain, where we housed the main army.
Tadeus and I worked our way toward the portal gate—also known as a faery ring by outsiders—past rows and rows of elves on their mounts, along with fae of various races on foot. The centaurs in the middle, with their long spears and swishing tails, stood out the most. Everyone wore matching green and black uniforms, dark plate armor with the hippogriff crest, and a complement of weapons and shields strapped to their bodies. All eyes were on me as I passed by them with anxious anticipation filling the air, along with an eye-watering amount of sweat and fresh horse dung.
I hated being the center of attention, but it couldn’t be helped. It seemed they’d waited until the last moment to call for me. Why was I not surprised? I was always an afterthought until it was time to leave, and no one else in the keep could channel a portal to a border village and maintain it long enough for several hundred troops to pass.
Tadeus led me to the side of the gate where my bay mare, Astra, waited. He handed me a small pouch of the holmium I needed to work my magic, and I clutched the precious mineral tightly. Through the thin, black cloth, I could feel its hum of energy. Few fae could use the finely ground ore for their magic, but it was a necessity for opening portals.
I mounted my horse, wanting to be ready to leave directly after the regiment. Carefully, I poured a third of the powder onto my palm before pocketing the bag. Drawing a deep breath, I began chanting and extended my hand toward the dark silver ring that stood twice as high as me on my mare. Ivory-colored support stones held it upright. Seventeen dark gray algodonite stones about the size of my palm were evenly spaced around the circle, each displaying a different symbol carved into their flat surface.
Directing my magic with a stream of golden light, the soft beam touched the five relevant ones in a sequence that would initiate a link to Palbour. Within my palm, the powder dissolved as I began to channel and form aconnection. If I measured it right, only a few grains would remain to brush away once I finished.
When I started using my gift as an adolescent, it took me several minutes to open a portal to border villages two hundred or more miles away. Now, it only took me ten seconds. My power had grown considerably since it first developed nearly twenty years ago. It also helped that I had a lot of practice and had become the best in the realm at doing it. Only a few people I trusted knew exactly how good I’d become. I kept that a secret, or else my family would use me in ways that would stain my soul.
The air popped as the massive ring filled with a shimmering blue light. The width was twenty feet at the center, allowing four to five mounted soldiers to pass through at a time. My uncle Morgunn, the Lord of Therress, sat atop his smoky black stallion and began shouting orders for the lead troops to depart. His eldest son, Ulmar, sat mounted next to him with a calculating look on his face. That was his most common expression and didn’t necessarily mean anything.
As soon as the first riders—all elves—entered the ring, they disappeared. The next group went through a few seconds later. Everyone else followed, departing in a steady progression with satyrs and then foot soldiers at the end. The last section consisted of multiple races, so there were quite a few height variances and different musculatures among them. The shortest ones—dwarves—formed the rear line, primarily used for defense and evacuating the wounded.
The spell drained me but at a slow trickle. For this one, at the distance I bridged, I could keep it open far longer than it would take for three hundred and twenty soldiers and horses to pass.
