Page 28 of A War of Embers

“I thought you were already part of the guard?”

“We’re an outer entity,” Deena explains. “We work primarily in the cities, but do not get to work with the higher ranking guards who work the estates of individual Lords and Ladies. Some of us are lucky enough to guard the outer perimeter when Lords and Ladies decide to travel. Occasionally I pick up one of those jobs.”

“We govern Blood City and when we get tired of being here, some of us venture to Bone City by the mountains,” Meredith adds. “I alternate my time between here and Bone City.”

Deena leans over conspicuously. “She’s trying to enter a certain Lord’s guard who lives there, but she secretly wants to bed him.”

“If my body didn’t feel like one giant bruise, I’d put you through the wringer,” Meredith sighs. “Who taught you to fight like that anyways, Keres?”

My shoulders lift carelessly. “I train, but the skills come from the souls. After a while it becomes muscle memory and I can use it across the board regardless of who is in charge of my body.”

“Damn, that must be nice,” Deena happily says. When she sees the dower look on my face, she quickly retreats. “I mean, it’s not fun having souls inside of you that were put there without permission, but the strength and abilities are nice.”

If you want to call it that. “I suppose it’s helpful in some situations.”

“I think we need to revisit the fact you’ve personally met Lord Rowan,” Meredith announces. Several people moving around the room pause to glance in my direction. “What does he look like?”

Like a villain I want to bed. “A brute.”

“Is he nice?” Deena asks.

Meredith scoffs. “He’s a Lord of Aïdes, he doesn’t need to be nice. He’s a warlord, a dictator, and Lady Cirilla is trying desperately to pin him down.”

“Because she wants babes.” Deena wrinkles her nose. “She wants whatever power he’s got to transfer into her bloodline to make it stronger, not him. Lord Rowan deserves to be happy.”

“I don’t think he’s the type of man to ever know happiness,” I mutter. Neither of them appear to hear me. Raising my voice, I ask, “How does Lady Cirilla fit in with accompanying Lord Rowan to the Haze?”

“Well, for one, she’s a Lady and what she wishes to do within her realm is her right,” Meredith evenly replies. Though she isn’t glaring at me, more so glancing around at the training women with an air of boredom.

I lift an eyebrow at her. I often forget about how mortals praise their Lords and Ladies by treating them reverently. Carefully, to not dismiss Meredith and Deena’s claims to their guardianship, I clarify, “I’m not trying to be rude. We don’t have anything called a Haze across the sea, so I’m unsure of the dynamics. Is that how she hopes to get a babe?” I can't decide if her trying to lure Lord Rowan into a courtship is laughable or may somehow aid my plan.

Meredith relaxes her position, looking back to me. “No, Lord Rowan will be too busy dealing with protective details and squabbles. She’ll mostly try to seduce him when he comes back to rest or for meals, but it’ll be a pointless quest on her part seeing as he has no wish to mate or reproduce with anyone. He’s made it very clear where his priorities lay to all who end up trying to seduce him.”

“Then when it doesn’t work, the women come back and complain,” Deena tacks on. “Lady Cirilla is polite to us, but has a singular focus when it comes to obtaining her desires. From my understanding she’s always held a flame for Lord Rowan after he saved her from an attack during the Province Wars. She’ll regale anyone who’ll listen about his heroic act during such dark times.”

Meredith glances at me. “Do the people of Tellus still look back on their time during the Province Wars as well?”

Considering how much information is withheld from the general populace in Tellus, it’s amazing to think they can even function appropriately. “No.” I adjust my seating position by crossing my legs to get more comfortable. “An old friend mentioned them prior to my coming here. I hadn’t heard about the war in my lifetime. It seems as though the Lords and Ladies running the Districts chose to eradicate most knowledge from that time period. I doubt there’s many immortals or mortals left alive who know about it in Tellus.”

“Is it odd to you how different our realms are?” Meredith asks.

A ghost of a smile crosses my face. “Most days.”

Deena chuckles at my answer. “It’s forbidden to travel beyond the veil. We have few maps from that side of the sea, so we don’t really know what it’s like over there. Some days I long to travel, but Tellus is a dilapidated land full of violence and mongrels. Far too unsafe for us. We’ve also been warned the people of Tellus are not very forward in their thinking.”

I blink several times at her, trying to gauge the sarcasm in her voice but there is none. Cautiously I point out, “While Tellus is violent, it’s not full of mongrels nor is it in a dilapidated state.” Decaying in some areas, sure, but I wouldn’t go as far to say dilapidated. I’d argue that this place is backwards in thinking, but I decide against it. There’s no sense in offending anyone when I’m trying to gain their trust. “The Lords and Ladies running their Districts are strict in their rules and punishments. They’re also shallow beings,” I allow. “It’s forbidden for us to enter the Blood Sea, but some dare to choose it to end their lives or find hope beyond what is offered in Tellus.”

“And you longed for more?” Deena asks.

“I was rendered a machine, a tool to be used at whim for Lady Gwenyth,” I answer. “My humanity was slipping away. Until I got here, I feared my emotional range had been depleted entirely. Possibly erased from existence. I needed an outlet for my depression and I chose what I thought would end my suffering.”

“It seems the difference between our realms is where yours ruled with an iron fist and little input from those under their command, we have Lord Rowan who listens to us and makes hard decisions on our behalf,” Meredith says.

That’s definitely one way of looking at it. “What about Lady Cirilla? What does she do? She’s the only Lady I’ve seen roaming around besides Lord Rowan.” Any time she’s been to the estate, I’ve been kept far away from her. Either Lord Rowan is debating on what lengths I’ll go to or they’re afraid I’ll offend her.

“They act as governesses or governors,” Deena explains. “They deal with minor squabbles. Mostly they’re merely admired for their powerful magic and strength.”

“They’re martyr’s who saved us from being chained and sold as slaves in Tellus,” Meredith scoffs. “Perhaps Tellus is different now, but the way it was during the Province Wars would have murdered most mortals for the sake of being pro-integrated. We have books written about the horrors seen in the wars.”

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