Frey Saga Book II: Pieces of Eight (24 page)

"You'll not have
her," Chevelle warned, unexpectedly stirring the entire room back
to readiness.

Asher laughed
again. "You'll not stop me."

He raised his
staff a fraction of an inch and the whole room ceased movement.
Everyone.

I had no idea
what he was doing, but I couldn't take my eyes off the human behind
him. Her eyes were on me, too, wide and terrified, and I saw that
they were nearly the same soft brown as her hair, which could be
seen beneath the large hood of her cloak. Her skin was pale and she
was unquestionably weary but there was something else, something
that didn't seem right, I just couldn't place exactly what. Humans
were so odd, but this one seemed... wrong.

I felt Asher's
eyes on me and I glanced up to see that he was still smiling as the
room remained motionless, and it was as if, for once, the world was
working at the same pace as my mind. I was trying to understand
what was happening around me, how this would turn out, what I
should do, if I would scream when they burned me - and then my eyes
were back on the human. The woman. She was clutching her stomach,
holding herself protectively, the mass beneath her cloak. She was
swollen with child.

Flames flew from
my hands before I could stop them, my eyes bored into Asher's,
focused on my strike, and he remained smiling a confident,
unpleasant smile.

The fire I'd
thrown at him might have been the strongest I'd ever produced, but
it fell short. He had barely twitched to deflect it and I could
already feel the drain it had caused me. The anger waned and I
suddenly understood the graveness of the situation. I understood
everything as it fell together perfectly, horribly,
absolutely.

I knew why
Fannie's body lay on the ground before us. She'd been the animal
that had mutilated the bodies of the human and the elf they had
named Deimos. He'd been Asher's guard and he'd been minding the
human. A broodmare, just as the unfortunate woman who was now
cowering behind Asher was. Her eyes were still on me, beseeching,
as I bathed in the knowledge. Asher had killed his own daughter for
slaughtering his children, his half-bred offspring that she'd
thought a perversion. I couldn't place my feelings for Fannie now.
She’d had a cruel life and, though she'd been instrumental in my
mother's death, I couldn't say it was her fault. She'd tried then
to prevent the horror she knew was coming, and this time, she'd
stood alone against her father to end what all of us abhorred. Now
she was gone, at his hand.

And I knew that
he'd planned it, the slaughter of council by my guard. He'd wanted
it not merely because they intended to stop him, he'd had another
agenda, and now I understood. I could see him there at the battle,
the spellcaster whispering chants at the edge of notice until
Junnie pursued him. I recognized why Ruby had owned a book on
magic, remembered how she had spoke of stealing one's power by
taking their life, releasing their energy to use as your own. All
of this in his quest for power.

But that wasn't
all, and I knew that, too. I recalled Grey's words and it sickened
me further, that they had all known. They had known there would
only be one outcome, they had known that every move they made would
bring us all here, to this one moment, that I would never be
released without meeting this eventuality.
Merely one more to release my bonds
. It was Asher. He was the final remaining captor of
my mind, and he had no intention of freeing me.

Maybe it was the
anticipation of battle that had sharpened my mind, maybe it was
Asher's presence, maybe I'd been so blind to it all along because I
didn't want to face it, but it was all there now. I felt defeated,
not just at the information or the ties that held a share of my
magic and mind, but because we
were
defeated. My guard
stood frozen because they, too, knew that they could not defeat
Asher. He was too powerful for any of us, possibly too powerful
for
all
of us, and his guard stood before him.

I glanced at each
of them again
. Separately they
could be overcome. Their confidence came not from an assurance that
they could top any of us, but that they didn't need to. As
illustrated by the brief encounter outside, my guard was not easily
conquered. If not for Asher, they would overwhelm this impressive
group nearly as quickly. But there
was
Asher, and he watched me
as I considered, knowing he had me, knowing I'd find no way
out.

He'd take me in,
use me to regain his rule. He would succeed. Many of the council
were already dead, and he would finish it. I could feel the
memories tugging at me and I knew he would be a cruel leader. He
would exploit my ability, continue to make new offspring in hopes
of gaining a more unique power. He would slowly steal those that
were dear to me. Chevelle. Ruby. All of them.

He was quicker
and more powerful than any of us. A move against him would be
instant death, I knew that. We all did. And yet my guard stood with
me, as if there were a chance. It was so sad. Did they have so much
faith in me? What was I but a pawn in Asher's game, what could I do
but-

I stopped cold. I
felt the smile crawl from one side of my lips to the other. I had
the pleasure of seeing confusion cross Asher's face before I closed
my eyes and sank, deep and swiftly into the mind of the small,
brown-eyed girl at his feet. He had protected himself from us, but
not from her.
Not from the
piteous human
. Her hand sped
neatly to the sheath at his waist and in one shrewd move plunged
the dagger into his heart.

The woman's
scream threw me back to my own mind and my eyes flicked open in
time to see chaos. I was standing in the middle of a war, staring
at Asher's body, which had landed in the trembling, bloodied hands
of the fragile woman. She stared at him, her mouth still open but
silent. I gazed into his eyes and knew that he was proud. Somehow,
he was in awe of me, that I had defeated him. He'd been foolish to
forget the human, he'd thought her insignificant, and he hadn't
protected himself from her. He smiled at me and then his mouth
moved in a silent chant.

As the life
slipped from his body, I felt sudden, intense pain in my own. It
became excruciating and I nearly lost the capacity to breathe, but
it crested and then I felt the icy heat of power rush through me.
It wasn't solely my energy coursing through me. I could feel Asher,
the strength of his line, the depth of his magic, the power that
allowed his rule. I was overwhelmed, a torrent of violence and
pleasure swept through me, almost knocking me from my feet. A
deluge of memories, thoughts, and emotions followed, flowing
together and joining with the agony and bliss.

And then the
storm was over. I had my mind back. And, though the conflict
remained, it was not the painful tumult it had been, it was two
sets of ideas, as if I were merely undecided. I looked around,
disoriented.

I saw bodies
strewn on the ground around me. Actually, not
around
me. There
was a circle of clear floor where I stood, it seemed to be the only
area not destroyed. The downed bodies were my guard. No, Asher's
guard. The blank, dead stare of Eris stared back at me from the
ground as blood leaked slowly from the corner of his mouth. I had
liked Eris. A few feet beside him, in what might be two separate
pieces, was Domnal. Three of the bodies were burned beyond
identification. Near the back wall, I saw Cleve, his form intact
but lifeless nonetheless. I wondered if Dunn was among them, and
Aren.

And then I saw
Anvil, kneeling in what I feared was injury. It was not. He was
saluting me silently. I found a smile for him. I continued scanning
the room and bristled for a moment when I saw a fairy, but it was
Ruby.
My Ruby
. She seemed to be smoldering, I nearly shook my
head in disbelief but resisted. Rhys and Rider watched me from
behind her, their robes in tatters, and I nodded my respect.
Sitting proud in front of them were my old friends, Finn and
Keaton. I smiled at their knowing eyes, trimmed in a beautiful
silver fur. And there was the handsome Steed, clearly staggered as
he stared back at me. I gave him a quick wink before I searched for
who else had been left standing.
Grey
. Yes, he was undamaged.
And beside me, though a few paces back, I found Chevelle's eyes
scrutinizing me.

Chevelle
. I knew him in both
sets of memories. And now I was tied to him.

I quickly looked
away and found Asher, still lying in the arms of the human. I took
a step forward and she gave a little whimper as she jerked a hand
over to protect her stomach. I sighed. All the time I had spent
wishing to get my memory back, I had known. Somewhere, in the mess
of my mind, I'd understood that acquiring the magic and memories
would not automatically release me from the difficulties of my
life. That was the third thing I’d been certain of.

But I wasn't
Freya anymore. I was Elfreda, Lord of the North.

###

Please look for
more in the Frey Saga by
Melissa Wright
:

The Frey Saga:
Molly (a novella)

The Frey Saga Book
III: Rise of the Seven