Raging Sea and Trembling Earth: Disciples of the Horned One Volume Two (Soul Force Saga Book 2) (16 page)

D
amien lay
on his soft mattress and stared at the ceiling. Tired as he was he found he couldn’t sleep. To say Karrie’s request to meet Lizzy had surprised him would be an understatement. He hoped the princess didn’t do something stupid, like demand Lizzy give him up so he could marry her. He didn’t think Lizzy would hurt her, but in the psychic world Lizzy was queen. He’d try his best to keep the peace.

At least he’d gotten Salem settled in. Dale had found her a room four doors down from Damien so if she had any troubles or questions he was only a short walk away. After dinner she’d pleaded exhaustion and turned in for the night.

A creak sounded outside and a moment later Damien was floating in the night sky with Lizzy. They wasted no words, but rushed together and shared a kiss. When they came up for air Lizzy had covered herself in black silks. Damien just looked at her, reveling in the fact that they were together again. Heaven’s mercy, it had been too long.

“Far too long,” Lizzy said, reading his mind as was her habit. “I wish there was something to be done about that.”

“You and me both. I have a favor to ask.”

“Anything, you know that.”

“Karrie wants to meet you. She’s gotten it in her head that she loves me and she’s hoping you can teach her how to get me to love her back. At least that’s the impression I got. Maybe she just wants to check out the competition. I’ve tried telling her every way I can think of that there’s no competition. I love you and no one else. I’m hoping if we both tell her maybe she’ll listen.”

Lizzy tapped her chin with a black lacquered talon. “I haven’t brought a woman here in many years. I don’t suppose it could hurt. The last royal I spoke to was back in the Old Empire about five hundred years ago. It should be interesting to see what a modern princess is like. When will she be here?”

“We said nine, but I have no idea what time it is.”

“Another ten minutes. We could play for a while.” Her silks vanished, her wings lashed, and she flew through the endless night. Damien followed right behind.

Lizzy stopped in mid-flight only minutes later, a little frown creasing her features. “She’s early.”

Damien sighed and found himself back in his physical body. Probably just as well Karrie arrived when she did. If Lizzy had let him catch her Damien would have lost all interest in dealing with the princess. He heaved himself out of bed just as her knock sounded.

Damien opened the door and found Karrie standing there, her fist raised for another blow. She’d changed out of her frilly dress and into a thin, loose-fitting top and billowy pants. “Pajamas?”

“What? This is sort of like a sleepover, right?”

Damien massaged the bridge of his nose and stepped aside to let her in. She brushed past him and sat on the bed, feet tucked up under her legs. “Do your parents know you’re here?”

She nodded. “They both think us being a couple is a good idea. Anything that advances that cause is okay with them.”

Damien did her the courtesy of not checking to see whether she’d lied. It wasn’t worth the argument. “I doubt this will take long, but you might as well get comfortable.”

She slid across the bed and lay on her side facing him, smiling. “Just think, you could end every day like this if you played your cards right.”

He lay on his back beside her, arms crossed. “Ready?”

She put an arm across his chest and rested her head on his shoulder. “Ready.”

Damien closed his eyes and opened them in Lizzy’s world. She floated five feet away from Damien and Karrie, wings flared wide open and naked as was her preference. Beside him Karrie gaped. He knew how she felt, Lizzy still filled him with awe. The princess was so stunned she hadn’t even noticed they were standing in midair.

Damien found himself shifted fifteen feet away from Karrie. The princess squeaked in surprise then fell silent as Lizzy flew closer and circled her. When she’d finished her survey Lizzy turned to Damien. “Not bad looking for a mortal. Does she not tempt you?”

Damien grinned. “I’m seventeen. All women tempt me, but I only love one.”

Lizzy smiled his favorite smile, the one that made him want to get rid of Karrie right that second. Lizzy turned her attention back to the princess. “And you? You claim to love my sweet Damien.”

Karrie brought her chin up, every inch the proud princess. “I do love him. I’ve loved him since we were little. I can do things for him you can’t. I can take care of him when he’s sick, give him a family. I think we’d be a good match.”

“Perhaps. I can’t disagree with the family part of your argument though if he were sick I could heal him with my power. I’ve told him often enough that he can’t stay with me in this world. It’s not good for mortals long term.”

“Would you give us your blessing?” Karrie sounded hopeful.

Damien tried to understand what Lizzy was doing. He thought the plan was to tell Karrie to forget about him not get her hopes up.

Lizzy flew over behind him and wrapped her wings around him. “Unfortunately I’m not willing to give him up.”

Damien slumped with relief.

“You don’t have to. I’m not greedy. We can share him.”

Now it was Damien’s turn to stare. What was she thinking?

Lizzy laughed and flew back to Karrie. She got so close their faces were only inches apart. “Hmmm. Now that’s something I haven’t done in centuries.” She traced the princess’s cheek with a long fingernail. “It might be fun. I suspect Damien would enjoy it.”

Karrie hurried to put some distance between her and Lizzy. “No, no, not what I meant. You can have Damien here whenever you want, I won’t complain. After all, you only see him when Fredric’s here or Damien visits The Citadel. In the real world he agrees to marry me, saving me from having to deal with a bunch of greedy noble boys that are only interested in getting at the throne.”

Lizzy tapped her finger against her chin. “That’s not a terrible idea. I’m not the jealous type and it might be good for Damien to have a flesh-and-blood woman in his life.”

Damien had heard enough. “Is anyone interested in what I think?”

“We both know what you think.” Lizzy turned her attention to Karrie. “Excuse us a moment, dear.”

Karrie vanished, leaving Damien and Lizzy alone. Lizzy flew over and touched his cheek. “She makes a good point. The princess is terrified she’ll end up married to someone that will take advantage of her. I don’t know if she actually loves you or if she just trusts you to treat her kindly and with respect. Her thoughts on the matter are all jumbled up.”

“What do you want me to do?” Damien asked.

“The same thing I always want you to do, whatever will make you happy. You have this adorable notion that I’ll be offended if you enjoy any of the many women in your life. What I told the princess is the truth. I don’t get jealous. I’ve lived for millennia, done things you couldn’t even begin to imagine, many of them so horrific if I told you it would sicken you. I can’t and won’t judge your choices. There’s nothing you could do that would shock me or make me stop loving you. Live your life to the fullest. It’s so terribly short.”

K
arrie blinked and sat up
. She was a little stiff though they hadn’t been very long. Having met Lizzy, Karrie now understood what interested Damien about the demon sprit. The whole experience had seemed so real. And when she’d stroked Karrie’s cheek. She shivered. Down that path lay nothing good.

Damien sat up beside her. When he looked at her she saw something new in his eyes, sadness maybe. What brought that on?

“So what did you think of her?” Damien asked.

“Stunning is the first word that comes to mind. It’s like someone took every feminine quality, combined them, and amplified them by ten. I suspect if you surveyed every man in the kingdom and turned the results into a person she’d look like Lizzy.”

“I suspect you’re right. You should have seen the look on your face when she touched your cheek. That alone made the visit worthwhile.”

Karrie touched her cheek. “It felt real.”

“It was real. Out here everything you experience is filtered through your five senses to your brain. In her world the senses are bypassed and your mind is stimulated directly. In a lot of ways it’s a more intense experience. Sometimes when I return after a visit, the real world feels sort of flat and washed out. I think that’s why she doesn’t want me to spend too much time with her.”

“I meant what I said, about sharing you. I doubt you’ll get a better offer.”

“This isn’t an auction, and I’m not for sale.” Damien sighed and swung his legs off the bed. “Are you really that scared of marrying one of the nobles’ sons?”

“Scared? Who said I was scared?” Her denial didn’t even sound believable in her own ears.

“Lizzy. She can read the minds of anyone in her psychic range and if you enter her world your thoughts are an open book. She said you may have mixed up loving me with fearing them.”

Karrie hopped off the bed and stalked around the little room. She spun to face Damien. “My feelings for you are real. I won’t deny being with you would solve my other problems, but that’s a bonus. There are a lot of things I’d like from you, but one thing I won’t accept is your pity.”

He smiled a sort of sad half-smile. “Fair enough. Do you want me to walk you to your room?”

Damien rolled off the bed and they walked to the door of his room. He opened it and she turned toward him. “Think about what I said. We’d be good together, I know it. I think Lizzy agrees with me. Daddy wants you to come to dinner tomorrow.”

“I—”

She pressed her finger to his lips. “Don’t say anything now. Think about it. We’ll talk again after dinner.”

W
hen Mikhail entered
the library carrying one of the urns Connor allowed himself a brief smile. At last something had gone right. It was a pleasant surprise to see Mikhail succeed for a change. Perhaps the fault for his earlier failures lay more on Connor for believing he could trust the unhinged young man with a complex task. On simple, brute-force jobs, Mikhail served as an outstanding sledgehammer to bludgeon Connor’s enemies.

His armor creaked as he took a knee in front of the black chair and held up the urn. “Success, Master.”

Connor accepted the urn and patted Mikhail on his armored shoulder. The power in the artifact made his fingers tingle. This was the first time he’d seen an urn of binding in person. Its power didn’t disappoint.

“Well done, Mikhail. This success goes a long way toward making up for your earlier mistakes. You had no trouble?”

“None, Master. The two weaklings protecting it were hardly worth my time.”

“You killed them then?”

The helmed head looked away. “No, Master. They hurled the urn in one direction then fled in the other. I allowed the cowards to escape rather than lose the prize.”

Surprised and pleased, Connor let his smile grow. “You’re finally showing a bit of good judgment. Killing two sorcerers is meaningless compared to claiming this artifact. What about the other two?”

Mikhail rose to his feet. “I received no message from the others. Perhaps the remaining urns slipped through their fingers.”

“Perhaps. My spies will let me know eventually.”

Eventually came sooner than Connor expected. A black crystal bird flew into the library, a message clutched in its beak. It appeared his spy in the capital had news. That didn’t bode well. He unrolled the tiny scroll and read the brief message. David was a prisoner and scheduled to undergo questioning within the hour. The urn was locked in the royal vault. Both were under heavy guard. His spy couldn’t get access to either and escape.

Connor snarled and a burst of hellfire incinerated the message. So much for his good mood. David knew far too much to be allowed to talk and the second urn, at least, must be recovered. Two out of three would be sufficient if not ideal.

“Master?”

Connor shook his head. “Problems, Mikhail, always problems.”

Connor gestured and a green crystal bird flew off one of his shelves and landed on the arm of his chair. A second motion brought two scrolls, a quill and ink. He jotted two short notes, gave one to each bird, and sent them on their way. He hated to burn his best spies, but the situation demanded it. He just had to hope Eleck did his part.

D
amien paced in his room
. Dinner would be served in the royal apartment soon, but he couldn’t get the previous night’s conversation with Karrie out of his head. He’d talked about it some more with Lizzy after the princess left, but she’d only say that whatever he decided was fine with her. He really wanted her to have a stronger opinion on the matter. He saw Lizzy’s point of view, though. Whatever they felt for each other, Damien’s life was just a moment in her eternal existence.

He barely restrained himself from punching the wall. What should he do? Part of him wanted to help Karrie out of her predicament. Another part couldn’t imagine being married with kids, living in the castle, ruling the kingdom together. It was too much, too big to wrap his head around.

Another problem was David. Damien had spoken to his master that morning and the sorcerer still hadn’t broken. Damien hadn’t thought he had that much willpower. Connor must really terrify him. The questioners were still working and would continue to do so until he broke. According to the archmage it was always when, not if.

Screw it. Thinking wasn’t getting Damien anywhere. After dinner he’d just follow his instincts. His guess was they’d lead him away from Karrie, but who knew for certain. He left his room and made the short walk to the royal apartment. Nothing like an expertly cooked meal to take your mind off your problems. He knocked on the closed door.

“Come in,” Uncle Andy said.

Damien pushed the door open.

“Surprise!” Jen, Dad, Uncle Andy, Queen Audra, John and Karrie yelled together.

Damien grinned. “What’s all this?”

“A late name day party.” Jen hugged him. “We haven’t had a real party for you in four years. I think you earned this one.”

“He certainly did.” Uncle Andy came over and shook his hand. “You’ve done more for the kingdom in a year than some people do in a lifetime. And I’m not just saying that because you saved my life.”

“Thanks,” Damien said.

John was next in line. They bumped fists. “Karrie planned everything. She was very determined.”

Damien glanced at the princess and raised an eyebrow.

“It was John’s idea and he helped with the details. Were you surprised?”

“Yeah. Any more surprised and I might have blasted everyone.” She stared and he grinned. “I’m just kidding. I would have sensed if there was any real threat.”

She slapped his shoulder. “That’s not funny.”

The queen came over, kissed his cheek, and whispered, “Did you and my daughter come to an understanding last night? It would be nice to make an announcement at her name day celebration next month.”

So the queen was in on this as well. He couldn’t say that surprised him. “Nothing definite.”

She frowned a little. “Decide quickly. The sooner the matter is settled the better for continuity purposes.”

Queen Audra smiled and passed him off to the last person in line, his father. They shook hands. “I’m glad you came. All quiet back home?”

“As quiet as it’s possible for a fortress full of young warlords to be. I’ve read the reports on your missions. You’ve down well, son.”

Fredric pursed his lips and looked away. Damien had never seen his father so uncertain. “What is it?”

“I’m proud of you and I love you. I probably should have told you that long before now.”

Damien’s lip trembled. He hugged his father for the first time in seven years. “I love you too, Dad.”

When they parted everyone was watching. Damien cleared his throat. “Isn’t there supposed to be food and perhaps gifts?”

That brought a round of awkward laughter. “Dinner won’t be ready for a little while,” Karrie said. “So let’s do gifts. Me first.”

Karrie handed him a small box and Damien said a silent prayer that it didn’t contain a ring. Inside was a gold coin, an old one, marked with a scepter on one side and a sword on the other.

“It’s an Old Empire coin, to commemorate your adventure on the whalers’ ship,” Karrie said.

Damien smiled and pocketed it. “It’s great, thanks.”

Next came a flask from John filled with a healing potion he brewed himself. Uncle Andy and Queen Audra gave him a gold ring with the royal seal engraved on it. The moment he touched it Damien felt remnants of soul force stir in the depths of the metal. Someone had soul forged the ring.

“Amazing, isn’t it? The third ruler of the kingdom was a sorcerer. He left a bit of his power in that ring so no one could counterfeit it. Anyone who sees it will know you speak with my full authority. I can’t think of anyone, except your father, that I would rather trust as my agent.”

Damien’s mind reeled. With that ring Damien could command nobles, generals, even his master. Well, maybe not his master, but still it was a grave responsibility and one he didn’t take lightly. He’d have to weigh everything he said lest someone think he spoke in the king’s name. In fact it might be best to cover it with a glove except when absolutely necessary. One thing was certain, he’d never take it off. If someone got ahold of it they could cause a lot of trouble.

“I’m honored by your trust. I won’t let you down.”

Uncle Andy clapped him on the back. “I know you won’t. If I had any doubts I wouldn’t have given it to you.”

Dad came next with a harness of exquisitely tooled back leather. It had two loops, one for his sword and one for his dagger. “I know you’re a sorcerer, but sometimes steel is still best. It’s always better to have a blade than not.”

Damien smiled. That was such a typical Dad thing to say. “It’s perfect, thanks Dad.”

Last came Jen. She approached with empty hands and a sheepish look. “I couldn’t think of anything as great as the sword you made me and anything less seemed like an insult. I thought about it so long I ran out of time and now I don’t have anything for you.”

Damien hugged her. “I’m just glad you’re here. Best. Present. Ever.”