Broken Enchantment (Unbreakable Force Book 3)
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Authors: Kara Jaynes
Broken Enchantment
~ Unbreakable Force Series Book 3~
by Kara Jaynes
To my sister Jamie. Thanks for everything.
In Sen Altare, Aaric and Adaryn have discovered the whereabouts of the sky jewel, but claiming it will be much more difficult than they’d anticipated, with traitors and brigands on every side. Aaric and Adaryn’s courage, strength, and love will be pushed to the edge of their endurance.
Table of Contents
Adaryn
“
A
protest?” Aaric suggested. “Outside the castle, perhaps?”
Bran, Aaric, and I were seated around a small table in my room at the Scholar’s Guild, trying to come up with a way to dethrone Matias. He was the scoundrel behind all the brigand attacks on the travelers, merchants, and commoners, as well as the holder of a sky jewel, which we needed to take in order for Aaric to be accepted into our clan.
I shook my head in response to his suggestion. “Too peaceful. Matias won’t care.”
“The people do need to know what he’s been up to,” Bran said. “I suggest we start with telling them what’s been going on. He’ll have a hard time forcing a tax when they realize he’s cheating them out of their money.”
I nodded. It would be a good start. No one liked increased taxes, especially when the money was being used to support brigands hired by the king to steal from everyone.
Aaric rubbed his chin, thinking. “I suppose if you make the commoners angry enough, we won’t need to come up with a strategy to bring him down. They’ll do it for us.”
“But then we risk losing the sky jewel,” I pointed out.
“True that.” Aaric slumped in his seat. We had been going over ideas for well over an hour and had gotten nowhere.
A soft knock sounded on the door. Standing, I walked over and opened it. Grace stood in the doorway, holding a large tray with a pitcher and glasses. “Aunt Luna said you might like a drink.” She smiled at Aaric and Bran. Pushing past me, she glided over to the table, setting the tray down.
“If I had known it was you,” I said sourly, “I wouldn’t have let you in.”
“Stop being so dramatic.” The woman sniffed dismissively. “Here, come have some lemonade. It’s very refreshing.”
I eyed the drink warily. Bran and Aaric didn’t seem to distrust her, tipping their heads back and glugging their drinks, so I took a small sip. Cool and tart, with ice. I wanted to ask her where she got ice in the middle of summer, but she didn’t give me a chance to speak.
“What’s your plan?” Grace asked, settling herself in my chair. I glared at her but she paid me no mind, tossing her blonde curls over her shoulders and batting her lashes—fake, I was sure—at the two men.
“Plan?” Aaric repeated blankly.
“The plan to overthrow the king, of course.”
We all stared at her and she shifted uncomfortably. “What?” she asked. “Is my hat out of place?” She readjusted her small hat, feathers sticking out of it jauntily.
“Who told you about Matias?” I demanded.
“I hear things.” She gave a secretive smile.
“You tell us right now, or get out!” I spat, pointing to the door.
She rolled her eyes. “Calm down, girl. My aunt told me about it. This may surprise you, but I’m a member of the Scholar’s Guild too.”
I held back a sigh. Trust Grace to get mixed up in our business.
“Well if you three haven’t come up with a plan,” she said excitedly, “I have. First, I’ll dress up and have Aaric present me as a gift to the king. The king will accept, of course, since I’m so beautiful, and put me in his harem. Once he—”
“His harem?” I choked on my lemonade. “He doesn’t have a harem!”
Grace sneered. “You spent all that time with him and you never knew? It’s common knowledge, Adaryn.” She eyed me, a smug smile on her lips.
Well. I’d be sure to question Matias about it the next time we met. Did he invite me over to learn magic when what he really wanted was to add me to his collection? The very idea made my blood boil.
Grace continued. “Anyway, as I was saying—”
Aaric spoke up, interrupting her. “No harems, Miss Grace.” He stood, guiding her to the door. “I won’t place you or any other woman in that kind of situation. Now, if you’ll excuse us.” Shutting the door in the face of an indignant Grace, he looked back at Bran and I. “We need to come up with a real plan.”
Bran grinned. “Well, at least we know Grace has a backup in the event ours doesn’t work.”
Aaric grinned back at him. Warmth fluttered through me, seeing that smile.
A thought came to me. “What about your fire device?” I asked.
The smile fell from his face as he shook his head. “My explosive invention is not a weapon. I created it strictly to assist with useful matters, such as mining and to demolish old buildings.” Pausing, his expression brightened and excitement lit his voice. “Perhaps it could be used to excavate the Tyrko Ruins! The history we would find there would be absolutely fascinating.” His brow creased in thought. “Though I suppose that has the potential to destroy priceless historical arti—”
“Aaric,” I said, gently bringing him back to the original discussion. “We’re trying to find a way to overthrow Matias and get the sky jewel.”
Another knock at the door sounded. I whirled to face it. “Go away, Grace!” I yelled.
The door opened slightly, and a freckle-faced boy stuck his head through. “Uh, Aaric, sir? Mr. Archer asks that you join him in his meeting with some of the other Guild members. If you’ll come with me?”
Aaric looked at Bran and I, mirroring the confusion in our faces. He pushed back his chair and stood. “Very well. Lead the way, Thomas.”
After Aaric left, Bran and I sat in silence for several minutes, lost in our private thoughts. My mind recalled everything Aaric and I had been through. We’d met when he’d captured and enslaved me, ripping me from my forest home. He’d freed me, after realizing that what he’d did was wrong, and we had traveled to Sen Altare, hoping to find a sky jewel that Aaric could give to the clan leader, proving that he was no longer a Oppressor. He’d be adopted into the clan and we would marry. We’d found the sky jewel, but retrieving it would be difficult.
Bran broke the stillness. “What I don’t understand is how Fyrsil the brigand became Matias the king.”
I hadn’t given it any thought, but now that Bran mentioned it, I wondered. It didn’t really add up. “Me neither.” Fyrsil was a brigand leader from several years ago, leading raids against the people of Sen Altare. No one had put the two of them together, and it’d been lucky chance that I’d eavesdropped on a discussion Matias had with one of his men, and learned that Fyrsil and Matias were one and the same.
Bran snorted. “Grace really wouldn’t be out of place in a king’s harem, you know. Maybe if we don’t come up with an idea that works we can give hers a try.”
I rolled my eyes. “I can’t imagine Matias has a harem. He never mentioned it to me.”
“Maybe he thought you were ugly.” Bran grinned and dodged when I tried to swat him. “He probably just didn’t want to scare you off. And Grace is right that he has one. The topic was brought up a couple of times when I was at the taverns.”
I glared at the tabletop. That was a custom I had never heard of outside of stories. There were Oppressors in Ruis who would take slaves and use them for their own perverted needs, but nothing like a harem. I briefly thought of Kingsley and shuddered.
“Well, daylight’s burning.” Bran stood up. “Time for me to start throwing dirt on King Fyrsil’s name.”
“Do you want me to come with you?” I asked. I hadn’t spent nearly as much time running around Sen Altare as Bran had. It might be fun.
“No,” he replied. “It’d be best if you stayed here. Once the rumors start spreading, Sen Altare will be anything but safe.”
I sighed, sitting back in my seat. He was right. Idly wondering what sort of meeting Aaric was invited to, I glanced around the room. It was a good deal larger than the room at the inn we’d stayed in, but it was still confining. I would be much happier once we were on the road again.
Aaric
A
aric stifled a yawn, listening to Sirius Archer speak. He hadn’t gotten much sleep the past few nights. Sirius and several of the Guild members were discussing king Matias’ betrayal of the city and what to do about it. Aaric wasn’t sure why he had been invited, but listened politely in case he came up with an idea listening to the rest of them.
“—can’t rush in there,” Mrs. Faulkner was saying. “If the king saw the female rover like she told you, then he may be expecting her to try something. We need to be extra careful.”
‘Rover,’ huh? Aaric thought idly. He’d been sure that the stigma against nomads had only been in the north, but apparently it went further than that. How did the rumors about nomads start, anyway? he wondered. He knew that nomads would steal and cheat, and he had heard that they were prone to kidnapping little children. Adaryn insisted that they didn’t steal any more than ordinary folks—she pointedly ignored the stolen horse she currently had in her possession—and that they never kidnapped children. “Foolish old wives tales,” she’d said determinedly.
“I think Mr. Wright has an idea you would all like to hear,” Sirius said, looking pointedly at him. “Why don’t we listen to what he has to say?”
Aaric stared at him. What in blazes was he talking about? “I do?” he asked, then felt his eyes widen as it hit him. “You want to use the explosion devices I created.”
Sirius smiled. “It’s an act of providence that you’ve been brought here to us, I am certain of it. Why the rest of us never thought of an invention so clever, I don’t know.”
Aaric shook his head hastily. “No, it’s not meant to be used as a weapon. I created it for—”
Sirius interrupted him, speaking to the rest seated around the table. “We’ll infiltrate the castle grounds and taking the devices, detonate them around the barracks, effectively reducing his defense in a matter of moments. While the surviving guards are running around, trying to figure out what has happened—” he chuckled, “—we’ll lead a charge directly to the king and take him prisoner.”
“No.” Aaric frowned at Sirius, irritated that the man was riding over his objections, and disturbed that he wanted to use the devices in such a violent manner. “My invention is not to be used as a weapon.”
“Sacrifices must be made, Mr. Wright.” Sirius’ voice was mild but his eyes glinted with steely determination. “Matias must be defeated at all costs.”
“I won’t kill men who may be innocent,” Aaric replied.
“Innocent?” Sirius laughed humorlessly. “Do you really believe Matias’ soldiers to be innocent? They’ve plundered and murdered, Aaric. Think about that for a moment.”
Aaric did remember. The memory of the attack on him, Adaryn, and Bran by Matias’ brigands was as clear as if it’d happened yesterday. The one man they’d almost managed to capture had killed himself, rather than tell them who he worked for. Aaric hesitated. That definitely pointed toward loyalty, but . . . “We don’t know that they have any choice,” he countered. “What if the king forces them to serve him?”
“Then they should die with what scraps of honor are left to them,” Sirius said dryly, smoothing his gray mustache. “But I think you’d be very surprised by how loyal they are.”
“I won’t allow it.” Aaric realized he was standing, his hands balled into fists. “I’ll dismantle the devices first.” He ignored the shocked murmurs around him, staring Sirius down.
Sirius Archer leapt to his feet, glaring in turn. Aaric grimaced inwardly. Sirius was nearly a head taller. That hardly mattered, but it still bothered him.
“I won’t allow that, Mr. Wright.” Sirius’ mustache practically bristled. “You created those devices using our money and our facilities. They are ours as much as they are yours.”
Aaric’s jaw clenched with frustration. He’d forgotten that.
Sirius continued to watch him, eyes narrowed. “What motive do you have, Aaric, for taking Matias out of power? You’re practically a stranger to Sen Altare. You have no family here, and as far as I can tell, no prospects outside of the Guild.”
“I . . .” He had to think fast. Luna knew Matias had the sky jewel but as far as Aaric knew, hadn’t told anyone else. Now that Sirius was showing him this side of his character, he didn’t want him to know about it. “I was hoping for a better life, here in Sen Altare . . .” he trailed off, shoulders slumping.
Sirius smiled coldly. “Well, you’d better get used to taking orders like a proper Guild member then, or I can guarantee that your life in Sen Altare won’t be any better than up north.”
Mr. Goldstein, another Guild member, raised his hand. Sirius turned to him. “Even with the explosives, we need to remember that King Matias is a magic user. It’s not a matter of simply walking in and taking him prisoner. He’ll probably kill anyone who tries.”
A young man farther down the table spoke up. “I was there when he murdered Gerald in the royal gardens—with his bare hands, no less. Guards or no guards, he won’t be easy to defeat, especially if he uses his magic.”
Sirius snorted in dismissal. “We’ll make sure we have enough men that it won’t matter. We’ll overwhelm him.”
Aaric sighed, sitting back in his seat. He knew that Sirius wouldn’t change his mind. “I will go. You’ll need someone to place the explosives without harming themselves. Since I’m the one who created them, I’ll know where and how to place them without setting them off prematurely.” He didn’t mention it, but with Bran’s help, he’d probably be able to figure out where to place the explosives to cause an uproar while reducing the amount of lives taken.
Sirius nodded curtly. “That would be excellent.” He turned to the others. “You are all excused. If you, Mr. Goldstein, and you, Mr. Wright, will stay, we’ll discuss the finer details of our strategy.”
As the rest of the attending Guild members filed out, Aaric bit his lip, thinking. Placing the explosives would be easy enough. Convincing Adaryn to wait for him in the safety of the Guild was another matter entirely.
