A Shadow's Tale (24 page)

Amarath just watched me, as if trying to convince herself that Merlas was right. I wound my fingers into the doe's mane. For a few moments, we simply stared at each other. Amarath shook her head.

‘Who am I to argue with Merlas about her bonded rider?' I stepped forwards to hug her tightly. After a moment's hesitation, she hugged me back. ‘Goddess, my sister's still alive!' The sisterly affection turned into a group hug as Vrael and Shaeman joined in. When we eventually let each other go, Shaeman gestured towards the house.

‘I guess you should meet the latest additions to the clan.' His eyes drifted over to the guard unit. Captain Nergal raised to hand to ward off the forthcoming question.

‘We will keep eyes on the perimeter.'

The house hadn't changed much. A few more painted-over scorch marks on the walls. A little more clutter. New teeth marks on the furniture. But it was still the same. I could still see old, familiar marks: patches of not-quite-concealed black from Vrael's experiments with electricity, a line of claw marks on the door from a frustrated babysitter, a slightly green ceiling from a failed attempt to teach Amarath how to brew a decent painkiller. I ducked as a hawk came swooping down the staircase, straining its wings to keep ahead of a determined looking dove. Amarath sighed, shaking her head before calling out to the two birds.

‘Keegal! Archangel! Fall in and leave each other alone for once!' The two birds stopped mid-flight, dropping back to solid ground and morphing back into their human forms. One young boy I didn't recognise, the other was my Archangel, who narrowed her eyes as she caught sight of me.

‘What's Wolf doing here? You banished her!'

Amarath glowered at the young part-demon. ‘If you want to argue with Merlas as well as an entire dimension of demons about your mother being reincarnated, be my guest.' To her credit, Archangel didn't look too happy about that prospect. I made a mental note to ask Merlas exactly how much she had terrorized the clan to make them that afraid of her reactions. Archangel gazed at me critically, as if trying to spot all the tiny indicators that I wasn't actually Shadow. After a few tense moments her gaze softened.

‘You really are Shadow, aren't you?'

I smiled a little, ruffling her hair in the way I distinctly remember her detesting, which was why I used to do it. It was hard not to get on each other's nerves when your family was basically comprised of your siblings.'I should hope so,' I replied. ‘Otherwise, these memories I have of giving birth to you are false.' I turned to look at the boy who she had been chasing through the air. ‘And who's this lad? Karthragan manage to spawn another kid before I put an end to that?'

Strangely, Amarath blushed deeply. ‘Keegal? Uh, he's your nephew.'

I stared at her. ‘Are you serious? Who're the parents?' I glanced at Archangel. She snorted, raising an eyebrow and putting her hands up in a surrendering gesture.

‘Don't look at me, I'm your daughter, despite the fact that we have the same dad, which is just
wrong.'

I turned my gaze back to Amarath, who was fidgeting with the hem of her cloak. I waited patiently for her to explain.

‘When I was back in Synairn, before the fight with the Redeemer, I fell in love with a captain of the city guard. He was a part demon as well, but one who had never developed the use of magic. A non-manifested part demon. He claimed he loved me back.' She gritted her teeth, anger flashing briefly across her face.

‘He lied?'

‘Yes, got me pregnant and left. I could have killed the…idiot.'

‘Mum usually uses words a lot ruder than that when she talks about Captain Dementius. She just tries not to say them in front of me or Draconiss,' Keegal added.

‘Dementius?' I clarified. Same last name as Teran as well as being a part demon. I made a mental note to look up the bloodlines when I got back to Aspheri. There might be some kind of connection.

Amarath looked at me a little strangely. ‘Yes, Marcus Dementius.' She shook her head a little. ‘In any case, that's over and done with. There are still three more new kids for you to meet.' She took one look at my expression of shock and laughed. ‘Keegal's twin and two more of Karthragan's offspring Shaeman and Vrael adopted, don't worry.'

Amarath called the other three demon children, each one standing next to their twin. I should have recognised Keegal and his twin as Amarath's children. They looked very much like her, especially Draconiss. The other two, Cika and Mairae, looked very uncomfortable, holding on to each other for support. They
didn't look like twins. Cika didn't even look like a part demon. I reasoned that it was possible that he was on his vulnerable period. The pair scarpered as soon as Amarath said they could, disappearing back up the stairs. I glanced at my sister for an explanation. She ran a hand though her short bob, sending her hair sticking up in all directions.

‘Cika's a non-manifested. He's finding it a little hard to adapt to being with us. Shaeman found him in a children's home trying to figure out what was different about him. We found his twin a couple of months later, a manifested demon dying of cancer in an alley. Vrael had to bite her to save her life, so she has to learn to deal with the whole vampire thing. They refuse to be separated.' She shrugged. ‘It's easier just to leave them alone. Anyway, was there a particular reason you came all this way to visit?'

I took a deep breath. ‘I came to mark you as my heir. I'm running into problems on Aspheri that made me realise that if I don't mark an heir now, should I die, the dimension would fall into hands would rather it didn't.' I met her gaze fully. ‘It means I have to give you a scar around your eye, if you decide to accept the position. Karthragan didn't give me a choice, but you do. You can choose to refuse or accept.'

Amarath watched me for a few moments before reaching up her sleeve and pulling out a dagger. She handed it to me, hilt first. ‘Do it. Give me the scar.'

I took the blade. Summoning up every scrap of courage, I raised it against my sister. I rested it against her skin, next to her eyebrow. Her eyes bored into mine. A bead of blood dripped from under the blade, testament to how sharp she kept it.

‘I'm really sorry,' I murmured, ‘but this is going to hurt.' With one quick swipe, the knife parted the flesh. Blood poured down Amarath's face as she jerked away. The dagger clattered to the ground. Vrael burst into the room, closely followed by Shaeman and my guards not far behind.

‘What the hell did you do to Amarath?' Shaeman thundered.

‘I told you we could not trust her!' Vrael muttered as he escorted my sister towards the treatment room. Shaeman stopped me from following, his throwing knives at the ready. The captain of my guard placed himself in front of me.

‘The princess has granted her sister a high honour by scarring her in such a way.'

‘Honour?' Shaeman spat, glaring at me. ‘What honour is there in blood or betrayal or pain?'

‘Honour because I marked her as the first in line for the throne!' I snapped back. How easy it was to change anyone's mind if they didn't know all the pieces to the puzzle. Shaeman stared at me as if I had announced to him that he had just turned into a fish.

‘Your heir?'

‘In order for Amarath to take over from me when I die, I had to give her the same scar Karthragan gave me all those years ago,' I touched the pale scar-tissue that proclaimed my rank. Even though it had been so long ago, it still pained me to feel it. To feel what my father had done to me, to remember everything he had taken from me.' Without it, she won't be recognised as my next-in-line. You have on good authority that I am still Shadow, the sibling you buried a long time ago. Think about that. Since when would I ever, willingly, raise a weapon against my sister unless there was a very, very good reason behind it?'

Shaeman's mouth flopped open for a brief moment before he managed to come to his senses and claw back some modicum of composure, stowing his knives away with a look of deep embarrassment.

‘Princess,' a guard stooped to murmur in my ear. ‘We should be returning to Aspheri. You have been absent long enough.'

I apologised once more to Amarath, explained myself to Vrael and made my farewells. I knew that they could easily find me if they needed me, and the clan had agreed to help Bart get to grips with his demonic side and powers. That was at least something
off my mind, and knowing that Amarath was going to take over from me instead of Teran was a relief in itself. Now, if only the Alena problem was as easy to solve. Tying my mask over my face, I let the captain teleport me back to Aspheri.

As soon as my feet touched the ground back in Aspheri, a tremor of ice flashed through my muscles. As predicted, my vulnerable period was starting. In the way that had been drilled into them over the years of practise, my guards surrounded me and escorted me to the safe room.

I don't normally mind the safe room. It was the Aspherin's way of trying to keep their ruler safe while I was unable to defend myself. As soon as they had found out that I was only half demon, and therefore had periods of time where I was forced into a form that was no stronger than a human and certainly magicless, they did what seemed to be the best option. They built a safe room. The black stone room was sparsely furnished: a bed, a table and two chairs, with a small alcove furnished as a bathroom, separated from the rest of the chamber by a curtain. There was a gun concealed within the masonry, a habit from my days on Earth that was hard to kick. The strongest spellweavers in the dimension had placed magic around the walls that prevented anyone, save myself and Aleth, using their powers. Aleth was only allowed to teleport in once a day to bring me food. No one was allowed in and I wasn't allowed out. Bolts both inside and outside of the door ensured that. The only way for me to get out was to teleport. If I could teleport, then there was no point in me being in there.

Someone had thoughtfully left a couple of books on the table, but I ignored them. They couldn't be dangerous. The guards would have inspected them thoroughly. Instead, I paced the length of the room. I was no further forward with the Alena situation. I rubbed my temples, my mask abandoned on the table. I still didn't know whether or not to go to war or to marry this
guy. It was a lose-lose situation for me. I couldn't risk a war. The dimension's army had largely been left to ruin under Karthragan's reign and was nowhere near ready to confront an army like Alena's. We wouldn't be ready for another few years by the time we managed to make all the weapons and train enough soldiers. On the other hand, I couldn't marry the prince. Being in the presence of such a powerful ice mage for the length of time required in a marriage would weaken me to the point of death. Fire and ice don't mix, and I couldn't leave Aspheri in Prince Melek's hands if I died. That would end in disaster. I sighed, turning on my heel and throwing myself into another frantic bout of pacing. I ran my hands through my hair, trying to think of a way out of the situation. I needed advice, but there was no one who had enough experience of being a ruler without having political ties to the dimension. I could have hit my head off a wall. It was staring myself in the face. Kaleb. Of course. The refugee king from another dimension. I stopped pacing, and tried to concentrate.

My powers as a Synari had never properly developed, mainly because of the demonic magic overtaking it and superseding it. I couldn't manipulate Synari magic the way they could. I couldn't even summon the stuff more than a spark, not even good enough to light a fire. Nor could I speak freely with my mind, nor determine the cause of emotions. All I could do was sense the emotions and touch another's mind to convey a vague idea. I prayed it would be enough, and that his magic was different enough to bypass the protective wards. I reached out with my mind as best I could, seeking his alien consciousness. Within a handful of heartbeats, he was standing in front of me.

‘My Lady, you have summoned me?'

‘Kaleb, yes, I did summon you,' I replied, turning back into the room and taking one of the two chairs. The very fact that I had turned my back on Kaleb meant not only that I trusted him
not to try to kill me, but also that my intentions were non violent. It was a point I considered rather important since I didn't know the extent of his powers. ‘Please, sit.'

‘I will stand, my Lady, it would appear you have been left unguarded. That was a relatively foolish decision. I offer you my protection, so you may be safe in these times.'

I nodded once to acknowledge Kaleb's decision to stand. ‘I am not completely unguarded, as I am not unlearned with sword. In usual times, no one may enter this room during the short time I am rendered no more than a normal mortal, but these are not usual times. I call you here on graver matters, and I am in need of advice from one who has no political ties to this dimension. It would seem that, using an Earthen expression, ‘we are caught between a rock and a hard place', and you were the first person that came to my mind who could give me such advice, as you are not blinded by the needs of nor by love for the people who reside here.

‘My father left this dimension's army in ruins and on the brink of a war with another warrior dimension known as Alena, a world of ice. An ambassador arrived in this dimension a not long ago, and he brought a choice with him from the ruler of his dimension. In shorter terms than the ambassador's speech, I must either endanger the lives of everyone in this dimension by entering a war, or I cede and bind this dimension with his by the joining of the rulers, which would also endanger the people and myself.'

‘I could kill him for you.'

As amused as I was by this, rather direct, statement, I shook my head. ‘I think that would be unwise from a diplomatic point of view.'

‘Then perhaps I could help you give the Prince a war he cannot win?' I tilted my head to once side, intrigued by his statement, inviting him to continue. ‘I can combine my army to yours. It will be a battle they will not forget in a hurry.'