Honor's Price (30 page)

How had he missed seeing them? More important,
why hadn't the army commander said anything? As soon as the prisoner made it to the altar, the rest of the people disappeared behind a shimmer of power again. The same spell that prevented Kane from entering the chamber must also mask the presence of anyone behind it. Did that mean that the mage hadn't detected Kane's arrival?

He retreated to where the others waited for him. “Lady Theda has not yet been sacrificed, but he has others waiting to die. We've got to stop him, but there's a barrier between the tunnel and the chamber itself I couldn't break through.”

Duncan frowned. “Lavinia, it sounds like the ward that you set in the abbey library. The one that made the books beyond disappear or made people forget that they'd even seen them.”

She agreed. “It must be similar. If we can get close enough for me to test it, I should be able to counter it.”

The four men formed up around her and moved out with swords drawn, their avatars providing rear guard. As they reached the end of the tunnel, Lavinia's mage light winked out, leaving only the dim glow from the chamber itself.

Kane stood next to Lavinia, speaking softly. “Will your earth magic counter his spell, or do you need me to try since my magic is closer in nature to his? It has been centuries since I wielded such magic. If I ever knew the right spell, I don't remember it now.”

“Let me attempt it first. If that doesn't work, I will explain how you should try.” She stepped in front of the four men and closed her eyes. “For now, when I nod, try the ward and see if you can push through it.”

As she chanted, Kane listened carefully to the words. They came from one of the old tongues, one Kane had grown up speaking. If her attempt failed, he should be able to repeat the spell.

When she nodded, he stepped past her and slammed right into the same power that had stopped him before. She chanted faster, her voice growing in volume. The
second time she nodded, Kane was able to push forward several more steps than before, but then the ward held again.

This time, Kane joined her, his deep voice playing counterpoint to hers. The power of their words increased until it stung his skin as they continued to call on the gods to break through the dark magic. Duncan and Sigil both pushed against the barrier, but it refused to give.

Sigil put his hand on Lavinia's shoulder and motioned for Duncan to do the same to Kane. As soon as they did, the wall of power flamed bright and shattered. The four men once again drew their weapons and stalked forward into the chamber.

*   *   *

So intent on her brother-in-law's atrocities, Theda didn't immediately notice they were no longer alone. It wasn't until the monster spun away from where it had been hovering over Ifre's shoulder that she spotted the newcomers.

“Kane!”

As soon as she said his name, she wished she'd controlled her tongue. Ifre threw up his hands, trying to cast the spell that would ensnare Kane and his friends in the same sticky mire that held all of the other prisoners in his thrall.

To her amazement, a striking woman stepped forward, her own hands glowing brightly. Then she tossed two balls of light, one at Ifre and one at the cloud. The effect was minimal at best. When Kane growled a series of words that sounded jagged and sharp to Theda's ear, the results were far more spectacular.

A burst of dark light burst over Ifre's head, sending sparks fluttering around him, temporarily freezing him in position. As soon as that happened, the prisoners broke free of the duke's control, including Theda herself. Ifre had been so confident in his magic, that he'd only loosely tied her wrists. Ignoring the pain, she jerked her hands free and bolted from the chair to help shepherd
the prisoners from the room. She sent them pelting back down the passageway toward the door to the great hall, following just far enough to make sure they found their way.

This time Ifre hadn't limited his predations to the servants; several were nobles. She caught one by the arm. “Lord Kai, do what you can to get the army to stand down. I swear upon my late husband's honor that those at the gate are there to overthrow the duke, not to harm the people of Agathia. Tell them that I'm not asking them to surrender the city, only to delay any further attacks.”

He glanced back toward Ifre. “I will do my best, my lady. They may not listen to me. Perhaps if you spoke to them yourself.”

Torn between her love of Kane and her duty to her people, she made the only decision she could live with. “I must help them defeat Ifre. I will follow when I can.”

When she returned to the chambers, it was a scene out of her darkest nightmares. Keirthan had broken free of Kane's attack. Right now the cloud was pulsing again, its color changing once more, growing blacker, with several spots of light flickering at its center. By the gods, Ifre was going to unleash his weapon here!

Once again, the woman mage moved up to stand beside Kane. She recognized Averel when he stepped into sight. The third man's eyes marked him as another of the Damned. It was the fourth man who had her crying out. “Terrick!”

Ifre recognized him at the same time. “Traitor! You bastard! You weren't defeated by my enemies! You joined them.”

He barked a word at the cloud, which immediately shot another of its bolts straight at Terrick. Her stepson threw up his hands, easily deflecting the light, sending it arrowing straight back at its creator. Ifre staggered back a step, but continued to target his five opponents with bolt after bolt of sizzling power.

Between Kane, the woman, and Terrick, they blocked
the attacks, but they'd also retreated several steps as Ifre pushed more and more of his power into the bolts. That's when she noticed the cloud had circled around behind them, and he was driving them straight toward it. A few more steps, they would stumble right into the trap.

She shouted his name. “Terrick, behind you!”

When he didn't respond, she tried again. “Averel! Kane! Behind you!”

The warning came in time to save the two of them, but not Terrick. The darkness engulfed him, his screams ripping at her heart. Desperate to do something—anything—to save him, she charged up on the dais straight across to shove Ifre, hoping to break his concentration. As he tumbled over the edge of the dais, he caught her hand and dragged her down with him.

The impact knocked the breath out of her, but Ifre came up screaming like a madman. He pulled her up to stand in front of him, using her to block any more attacks as he resumed firing those bolts of light.

Averel and Kane faced off against him while the woman and the third warrior were focusing on Ifre's creation. Kane shouted at it in that harsh language. It shuddered and released Terrick. He fell to the floor and scrambled back toward his friends. Once again, the cloud had faded, its color now more white than gray. It was impossible to know whether the spells being cast by the woman and Kane were responsible or if Ifre himself had weakened it with all the power he'd been burning. She didn't care as long as it left Terrick alone.

While the woman watched the cloud, Kane turned his attention back in Ifre's direction. He stared past her at her brother-in-law. Did Ifre see his own death written in Kane's pale gaze?

“Release her.”

Her brother-in-law laughed. “And what? You'll let me go?”

Kane sneered. “No. I'll kill you, but I'll make it quick. That's more than you deserve, and a better offer than
what you'll get from your creation. Do you really think Damijan will continue to serve you? Already you are bending to its will.”

Keirthan's answering laughter sounded shrill. “It remains mine to command, Kane. Surrender to my creation, and I will release Theda to your friends.”

Then he splayed his fingers across her forehead. It felt as if he were jamming shards of broken glass into her skull. She refused to beg or give in to the pain, but she couldn't control the tears that streamed down her face.

“You or her, Kane. Your choice.”

She could barely whisper, but she knew Kane would hear her. The question was whether he would listen. “Don't do this. He has sworn to kill me anyway. You know he can't let any of us live.”

But Kane was already laying down his weapons and backing toward the cloud. When his friends tried to block his way, he shook them off. “I promised to make this world safe for Theda. I can't do that if he kills her. Trust me when I say that this is the only way.”

Then he stared into Theda's worried eyes. “Have faith, Theda. I have lived all these centuries for this one moment.”

The cloud was already floating nearer, its maw open and ready to attack Kane. For the moment, he held out his hand as if to hold it off with a small amount of his own power.

“Release her now, Keirthan, and I'll give you what you wanted from me in the first place: my magic for your pet.”

It didn't take Ifre long to make up his mind. He shoved Theda aside. She stumbled slightly, but then quickly retreated to the relative safety of the far side of the room to circle around to reach Kane. She couldn't risk getting caught between Ifre and the others, not again.

Before she could reach him, Kane smiled at his companions before looking up into the cloud that settled over him. His body shivered and then went stiff. All she could hear was the sound of her own sobs.

T
he battle at the gates had been going well until Keirthan unleashed a barrage of magical attacks on their forces. One of the bolts had missed them altogether, but two had hit right in the midst of the fighting. Gideon had lost a fair number of men, but just as many of the duke's own men had been among the fallen.

He and Murdoch had ordered their men to fall back and regroup. The Agathian forces had closed ranks and prepared to face the next charge. Before Gideon could give the order, a voice rang out from atop of the city gate.

“This is your commander speaking. Withdraw to the gate and stand your ground. Do not, I repeat, do not attack unless they attack you first.”

What was going on? Gideon signaled for his own men to do the same. An uneasy stillness settled over the battlefield, the silence broken only by the moans of the wounded and the dying. There was one order he would give.

“Bring the wounded to Lady Merewen. Take any of their men who are willing to accept our help as well.”

Then he slowly rode forward until he was within easy shouting distance of the gate.

“Know that I have offered your wounded the chance to be taken to our healer along with our own.”

“Do I have your promise that they will come to no further harm?”

Gideon didn't hesitate. “My battle is with Ifre
Keirthan for crimes against the people of Agathia. I have been sent here by the gods to end his evil.”

He paused to draw another breath. “May I know your name?”

To his surprise, the gate to the city swung open far enough for a single man to ride through. He urged his mount into a fast trot, leaving his forces behind to approach Gideon alone. In a show of good faith, Gideon mirrored his action, stopping less than ten feet from his opponent.

“I am Bojan, commander of the army. I would know who you are to claim to speak for the gods.”

Gideon urged Kestrel forward another few steps, close enough to enable Bojan to see the color of his eyes. “I am Gideon, captain of the Warriors of the Mist. We have served the Lord and Lady of the River, who have called us to end the evil that has taken root in your land.”

Bojan stared hard at Gideon. “Your eyes are the same as Kane's, the mage-marked warrior who served as captain of the duke's personal guard.”

“Lord Kane is one of us. He joined the guard to learn of the duke's strengths and weaknesses.”

“And the troubadour with the dogs? I hear that he was similarly marked.”

The man had obviously been gathering information. “Again, one of my men.”

Commander Bojan moved on to another subject. “Lady Theda sent Lord Kai to ask us to stand down until she comes to speak to me herself. It would appear that Duke Keirthan had intended to kill not just Lady Theda herself, but several of the nobles in his court.”

Gideon offered Bojan a grim smile. “He is guilty of killing many others. All of the nobles who have allied themselves with our cause have suffered such losses at Keirthan's hands.”

Bojan didn't look surprised. “I will listen to what Lady Theda has to say. Know that I can and will defend my
city, but I meant what I said to my men. We will not attack unless provoked. Agreed?”

For the first time all day, Gideon felt the stirrings of hope. His friends were still at risk, but perhaps the corner had been turned.

“Agreed, Commander. Other than to aid the wounded, my men will remain where they are. We will also allow your men to retrieve your own wounded as well as your dead. I regret their loss.”

Without waiting for a reply, he rode back to where Murdoch waited on the hillside. Together they would hold vigil until they learned the fate of their four brothers-in-arms.

*   *   *

The cloud and Kane both remained motionless, neither one making a sound. It was as if both of them had been frozen in time. Theda prayed that meant that it wasn't too late to save Kane from grievous harm.

Meanwhile, Theda reached out to Terrick and helped him to his feet. An enormous wolf appeared at his other side. Any other time, she would have been afraid of such a large animal, but the only monsters in the room were Ifre and his creation. She and the wolf supported Terrick as they approached Averel and the others. The woman immediately threw up a ward to shield Kane from any more attacks from Keirthan, while the third warrior added a second line of protection around all of them.

“Sigil, come here.”

Terrick broke free of Theda's grasp to approach the other woman, who persisted in calling him by that strange name. “Who are you?”

The woman shot Theda a hard look. “I am Lavinia, your late husband's half sister. Like Armel, I inherited a full measure of our father's ability as a mage but mixed with the magic from my mother's bloodline. I will do my best to ensure Lord Kane comes to no lasting harm.”

“I thank you for that. Is there naught I can do to help?”

“Keep an eye on Ifre for us. I'm going to need Sigil's help to counter Ifre's magic.”

Again that strange name. “His name isn't Sigil, Lady Lavinia. It's Terrick.”

Now all of Kane's friends looked confused, especially her stepson. He stared at her in shock. “You truly know who I am?”

What was going on? “Yes, of course. You are Captain Terrick, my late husband's son by his first marriage. How could you not know that?”

Duncan interrupted the conversation. “Now is not the time for lengthy explanations. Lavinia, can you help Kane?”

“At best, I can only weaken the hold Ifre's monster has on him. If I were to destroy it, the spell could very well kill Kane, too.”

Without waiting for anyone to react, she went to work. “Sigil, stand by me with your hand on my shoulder so I can draw on your power if I need it.”

When the younger man did as she requested, she turned to Duncan. “You maintain the wards. Whatever you do, don't let them fail.”

Finally, she glanced one last time at Theda. “If Ifre looks as if he's going to break through to us, let me know. Otherwise don't interrupt. The spell I'm going to attempt is delicate. Understand?”

“I do.”

The woman immediately began chanting, blue light sparkling in the air around her. When at last she sent it streaming out to touch the cloud, it flinched, the first reaction it had shown since it had encompassed Kane.

As the blue light completed a circle around the cloud, it was as if that had been the signal Kane had been waiting for. From inside the cloud, he shouted words of power that rang throughout the chamber. The cloud immediately shot upward, leaving Kane behind, alive and unchanged.

Theda started for him, but then he held out a hand.
The gesture froze her where she stood. When he looked at her, she gasped. She'd been wrong about Kane being unaffected. His eyes glowed red and the mark on his cheek pulsed and writhed, now written in the same dark crimson.

“Stand back.” His voice had deepened, his words grating to the ear.

As they all looked on in horror, he reached up to the cloud, caressing it as if it were a favored pet. Hob howled in misery, joined by two enormous dogs and the wolf, their cries echoing eerily around them.

Only Theda was willing to approach him. She ignored his warning and stepped closer. “Kane, what's happening to you?”

When he looked at her this time, she hardly recognized him. “At long last, you are seeing my true heritage. I had to do this to strip Ifre of his control over Damijan. To stop him from turning it on you. Listen when I say come closer at your own risk.”

The cloud twirled happily over his head, its eyes now the same exact shade as Kane's. Across the room, Keirthan wailed in protest. “Give it back! I created it. It belongs to me.”

Kane's laughter was dark and ugly. “Then you shall have it, Keirthan. I hope you enjoy the reunion.”

The dark warrior pointed toward the duke. “Feed well, my pet.”

When Ifre realized what Kane meant, he scrambled backward, but he ran into the altar before he'd gone more than a few steps. The cloud soared straight through the wards created by Lavinia and Duncan as if they weren't even there. Theda looked on in horror as the cloud flashed black just before it engulfed Ifre.

His screams soon turned to whimpers. Theda hated him and everything he stood for, but no one deserved to die like that. She ran to Kane, evading Duncan's and Averel's attempts to stop her.

Throwing her arms around his waist, she squeezed
hard. “Kane, stop it. Kill Ifre because he deserves it, but don't let him destroy you at the same time.”

*   *   *

Kane heard Theda's words as if she were speaking from the depths of a well, but her touch was immediate and warm. He remembered how her hands felt upon his skin and the way their bodies had come together in joy. There was the taste of her kisses and the way her love soothed him. He fought against the darkness and the cold that had taken hold of his soul, pushing them back, pushing them out.

Hob bumped against the back of his legs, adding his own strength to Kane's. Then a pair of familiar hands came down on his shoulders as Duncan and Averel joined in. Lavinia was there, and Sigil, too.

If the others spoke, he didn't hear them. Only Theda's soft voice filled his head. “Come back to me, my love. I need you.”

At that, the last of the darkness shattered, leaving nothing but the light of Theda's love and that of his friends in Kane's heart. He breathed deeply, bolstering his resolve with the support of those around him.

“I have to finish this.”

One by one, they each stepped back, until at last it was just him and Theda.

He smiled down at her. “I came here to rescue you, yet once again it is you who has saved me.”

Drawing his sword, he marched toward the dais. He barked a command in that same harsh language. The cloud lifted off Ifre with obvious reluctance.

Its eyes flashed brightly as it spoke. “Dark warrior, you have proven yourself to be weak. I will finish him and then I will feast upon you.”

Kane smiled at it. “Damijan, it has been centuries since your kind last walked freely upon the earth. You have forgotten that it was my bloodline that bound you to the netherworld where you belong. We did it then, and I do so now.”

He called out the words of binding, calling on the Lord and Lady to add the weight of their power to his spell. The cloud shrieked in defiance even as it began shrinking in on itself, fading to gray, then white, until all that was left were the two eyes. Even they paled, becoming smaller and smaller.

Kane called out the spell once again and then a third time. As the last word died away, there was a small pop and the last vestige of the cloud disappeared. Exhausted by his efforts, Kane staggered back. Theda and Averel caught him, supporting him when his own legs wouldn't.

Duncan looked down at Keirthan in disgust. “What should we do about him?”

Theda pointed at Sigil. “You should have inherited your father's title upon his death. It is your decision.”

Sigil still looked doubtful. “Then as the rightful Duke of Agathia, this man's fate is my responsibility. He murdered my father and nearly killed me as well. He fed off my magic, stole my heritage, and even my name from me.”

Kane stared hard at Sigil. “You've remembered?”

The warrior nodded. “Bits and pieces. Not everything, but I am Terrick, son of Armel, the late Duke of Agathia. In his name, as his sole son and heir, I claim the throne of this realm.”

He moved past the three warriors to stare down at his uncle. “Ifre Keirthan, you are guilty of high crimes against our family and our people. For that, your life is forfeit.”

Kane covered Theda's eyes, and Duncan did the same for Lavinia, as the man they'd known as Sigil personally carried out his first act as the new ruler of Agathia.