Soul Relenter (Soul Saga #3) (39 page)

Aleco crouched behind the doorway, hiding his view in the bushes. The others stared at him
in silence. He looked Zyle. “Do you know where to go?” he asked.

Zyle nodded. “Yes,” he said. “And we know where Drake’s chambers and study are—we will stay away.
” Aleco nodded and opened the doorway, slipping inside the keep. Two servants were standing in the hallway, speaking to each other in hushed voices. Aleco grabbed them from behind and snapped both of their necks. They posed no threat to them but Aleco couldn’t take any chances. He grabbed their bodies and threw their corpses outside of the doorway, out of sight. Aleco walked down the dimly lit hallway and noticed all the drapes were closed. In his youth, the keep was open to the sunshine and brightness of the day at his mother’s insistence. Now it was dark and drab, looking more like a prison than a family estate. Aleco stopped when he reached the end of the hallway. He peered around the corner and looked into the wide room that housed the grand staircase. It was empty. Aleco walked into the room and stopped before the stairway. “This is where we part ways,” he said as he looked at them. “You know what to do—good luck.” Aleco turned to the Chief. “Go with them, Nolan. This is my task—you can’t help me.”

Nolan shook his head. “Stop wasting your time, Aleco. I will not let you do this alone.”

Aleco grabbed him by the arm and squeezed his skin. “You don’t know what you’re doing.”

The Chief
jerked his arm away. “Yes, I do, Aleco. I only wished I had realized it sooner. You and I should have done this a long time ago.  I’m sorry that I let you down.”

“You don’t have to do this.”

Nolan turned toward the stairs. “I know, Aleco.”

“You realize that you’
ll probably die if you do this?”

The Chief stopped and smiled at h
im. “There are worse things than dying. Betraying someone you love is one of them.” Nolan continued up to the second floor. Aleco nodded his goodbye to the others and followed Nolan to the top, silently grateful for the companionship. They reached the second story and heard the sound of voices approach down the hallway. Two soldiers walked down the walkway and didn’t notice Aleco and Nolan hidden in the shadows. Both men slit the throat of the two soldiers and shoved their bodies into a nearby closest.

They walked down the hallway silently and Aleco could feel his blood pump in his ears. He didn’t realize how frightened he was until this moment. His dread was mixed with a multitude of feelings. Anger, happiness, guilt, betrayal—all flooded his mind. He reached the doorway to the study and stopped before he opened it. He release
d his emotions with a sigh and an image formed in his mind; Accacia’s smiling face. He was doing this for her and no other reason. Aleco released the hate from his body. He turned to Nolan. “Stay out of sight until I need you. It will give us an edge.”

Voices were
heard down the stairs and in the grand entranceway. Aleco recognized the alarm in their words and knew they were searching for them. If not Aleco and the Chief, then they were looking for the others. The Chief heard the sound as well. “I’ll hold them back, Aleco. You take care of your brother.” Aleco nodded. Nolan dashed down the hallway with his sword gripped in his hand.  He turned the corner then he was gone.

Aleco
turned the knob of the study, knowing exactly who was behind the doorway, and walked inside.

Aleutian Keep

34

“Let’s check over here.” Zyle walked down the dark hallway and pulled on the knob of a locked door. He rattled it under his grip but it wouldn’t come loose. “This doorway is locked. Perhaps he has hidden it here.”

Laura approached him and grabbed the latch, trying to loosen it with her grip. “I doubt it. Accacia said he would hide them somewhere inaccessible. He is very jealous with his possessions.”

Roxian kicked open the door and startled both of them, walking past them and into the room. She held her b
lade aloft and searched the inside, and realized it was just an empty bedchamber. “You’re both wrong. Aleco said Roslyn Palace is a humongous fortress. We need to find a room large enough to hold all the Soul Binders.”

“Then they prob
ably aren’t even in the castle,” Zyle said as he watched Roxian examine the room.

Laura shook her
head. “Accacia is certain they are. He would want them nearby.”

Roxian walked back out of the room and Zyle let her pass. Zyle sheathed his blade when he walked back into the deserted hallway. It seemed that everyone was participating in the battle, abandoning their posts around the k
eep. He was surprised that the king would forsake guards for his own protection. The man was either very stupid or incredibly cocky. He hoped it was the latter. “Perhaps they are in his bedchamber.”

Roxian glared at him. “I just said he needs a room large enough to hold all of them. They are
n’t going to fit in an upstairs bedroom.”

Zyle felt the anger course through his body at Roxian’s attitude.
He let her words go unpunished. Now wasn’t the time to argue.

“This is why Accacia should have been here. She would know exactly where to look.” Laura walked down the hallway and looked into the next room. It was another empty bedroom. Roxian stared at her with a look of annoyance
, clearly irritated that they continued to search the hallway. Neither one of them were listening to her. Laura moved on to the next room. “She lived here for years and understands Drake better than anyone—even Aleco. We should have let her return here and explore the grounds before we attacked.”

Zyl
e would never have allowed that. He would rather die. He didn’t say anything in retaliation to Laura’s words. None of that mattered at the moment. Zyle needed to find these Soul Binders as soon as possible. He knew Aleco’s life was hanging in the balance. “Let’s keep looking.” He sighed.

“
Where
?” Roxian asked incredulously. “We’ve looked everywhere.”

The floorboards creaked down the
hallway and Zyle turned toward the sound instantly, holding his sword toward the intruder, prepared to strike. He saw a candle flicker down the walkway and come closer to them. Zyle felt his heart race at the approach. The sight was eerie. A man spoke. “Are you referring to Miss Accacia?”

Zyle gripped his sword. “Who are you?” he asked with a commanding voice. The authority and power rang in his words and made Roxian shiver at the sensation. “Reveal yourself.”

The man walked closer to them but his form was still disguised in the darkness. He stopped a few feet away and kneeled on the floor, placing his candle on the floorboard, and showed his hands in the air. The man was older with white hair and a wrinkled face. “My name is Aldo and I’m the chamberlain to King Aleutian. Please don’t kill me.”

“Why are you asking about Accacia?”

The man met Zyle’s gaze. “I just heard you discuss her. Is she alive?”

Zyle said nothing. He wouldn’t reveal anything further about his wife. “What do you want?” he asked.

“I wanted to know if Accacia was with you,” he said quietly. “I haven’t seen her since she escaped. I was hoping she would never return. The woman saved my life. Are you friends of hers?”

“I’
m her husband,” Zyle answered. “Stand up.” The elderly man rose to his feet with his hands still in the air. “I will not harm you unless you give me a reason to. You knew Accacia well?”

“I loved her—along with the rest of the staff—ever since she came here. When she escaped
, the king was more than displeased, but we were happy she made her escape. Her confinement was nothing but torture.”

“Why have you approached us? Was
it because you hoped to see her?”

Aldo lowered his hands, tired from holding them up for so long. “I know that
a battle is taking place in the province. I was hoping this day would come—the tyrant needs to die. I was hoping that Accacia was behind it.”

“I’m sorry—she isn’t with us.”

“So it’s true?” he asked sadly. “She is dead?”

“No,” Zyle corrected. “She is somewhere safe.”

Aldo nodded. “Good,” he said. “Drake was misinformed. He is under the impression that she passed on—he was told by the late Nature Priest of Orgoom Forest. Apparently, he had been lied to.”

Zyle said nothing. Father Giloth was like a father
to Accacia. He assumed he lied to save her—Zyle was moved by the effort. The priest had protected Accacia at the cost of his life. “So you wish to aid us?” Zyle said as he lowered his blade.

“Accacia
saved my life—I owe her mine in return. If you are her husband, then I will do whatever I can to help you. What can I do for you?”

Zyle looked Laura, asking her if he should reveal their
mission. Laura nodded her head in response. “We will kill him if he’s lying.” Zyle looked at Roxian and she nodded as well.

Zyle turned back to Laura. “He has no ill intent. I feel nothing of the sort.”

“Good,” she whispered.

Zyle sheathed his blade. “We are looking for Soul Binder
s—black, hard stones that were used to construct Roslyn Keep—do you know where the king has hidden them?”

Aldo thought for a moment. “He never mentioned the collection of these stones or their purpose, but he did have large shipments of packaged material moved to the back of the palace, in an abandoned dining hall that has been forgotten for years. The door is locked at all times and only he has the key. If
he was hiding anything of value, I would expect it to be hidden there.”

Zyle nodded in gratitude. The room he described sounded exactly like what they were looking for. “Thank you,” he said. “We appreciate your help.” Zyle and the women turned away and headed down the hallway to the described room.

“How do you plan to get inside?”

Zyle stopped and turned around. “We will break down the door.”

“It’s made of solid stone,” Aldo said. “The windows have been reconstructed with stones as well. I highly doubt you will be able to break through it—you need the key.”

“But you
just said only the king has it.”

Aldo nodded. “Yes, I did.”

“That’s not an option,” Zyle said. “We have to harvest the stones without the knowledge of the king. If we can’t kill Drake, we need to move the stones away—it’s more important.”

“I will retrieve tools from the armory upstairs. Perhaps we can chisel our way through if we work together.”

“Thank you,” Zyle said.

Aldo nodded and disappeared down the hallway. He returned
a moment later with pickaxes and carving tools. “This is all we have, I’m afraid. I hope it will be enough.”

The three of them grabbed the
materials and placed them in their belts. “Be careful,” Aldo warned. “Even though the door is always locked, it is still guarded by his best soldiers. And if he becomes aware of your presence, or the warriors escape, they will return in full force.

Zyle nodded. “Thank you for your help. I will tell my wife of your aid if I live long e
nough to see her.”

“Thank you,
” he said. “I would appreciate that.” He grabbed the pickaxe from the floor and held it in his shaky hand.

Zyle knew the
old man wouldn’t be much help. Zyle assumed the chamberlain had lived in the palace for years and probably knew Drake even when he was a small child. He would know Aleco as well. Zyle stepped closer to him. “Aleco lives,” he whispered.

Aldo opened his eyes in shock. The boy had been killed for a crime he hadn’t committed twenty year
s ago. It was impossible for him time to be alive. “That can’t be.”

Zyle
nodded. “It’s true. He just went to challenge Drake in his study—he plans to execute him.”

Aldo shook his head. “The man won’t survive,” he said with a desperate voice. “He is too powerful—too strong. Aleco never should have returned.”

“Well, it’s too late,” Zyle said. “He is already gone from our reach. We need to gather the Soul Binders before the fight is over. If Aleco fails, we need to be gone from here.” Zyle and Aldo suddenly flinched at the sound that shook the keep. The floor above them trembled with the weight of a heavy crash and the noise exploded all around them. Zyle ducked at the sound and so did Laura—the ceiling was crumbling.

“We need to get moving,” Zyle said as he advanced down the hallway and back to the room with the grand staircase. Roxian and Laura followed behind while the elderly chamberlain headed up the rear. They crossed to the other side of the palace and walked down an identical hallway that led back to the keep. They were about to round the hallway when Aldo grabb
ed Zyle by the arm. He held up his hand and nodded his head around the corner. Zyle understood his meaning. There were soldiers guarding the entrance. Zyle withdrew his blade and so did Roxian and Laura. Zyle held his hand up to the elderly man, telling him to wait in the hallway. Aldo nodded.

Zyle stepped around the corner first and saw the two men stand on either side of the door. They were both large soldiers, bigger than the ones they had encountered in the province, and they were adorned in heavy armor, blunt axes and gleaming
swords. Zyle felt the fear take its toll but he pushed it back. They may appear threatening, but the soldiers were outnumbered. Zyle rushed across the room and aimed his sword, but the guard withdrew his sword and sliced at Zyle, cutting him along the cheek. Zyle stepped back and ducked under the blade that was aimed at him. The soldier unsheathed another blade from his belt and attacked Zyle with both swords, lashing at him with the edge of his blades. Laura aided Zyle while Roxian advanced to the other guard, who cut her along the arm through his savage attack. The soldier grabbed Roxian by the throat and threw her against the wall, smashing her into the wood. Roxian fell to the floor and didn’t rise.