The Twelve Kingdoms (40 page)

Oddly enough, he sat with Ash, and they seemed to be deep in conversation. It mattered not to me.

“Come walk with me.” Andi, standing beside me, held out her hand. On the other side of the fire, Rayfe went to join Ash and Harlan, passing a flask of something, and the men, all three, burst into laughter at some joke. It put my teeth on edge.

“I don't think—”

“It wasn't a request, Ursula.”

With a hiss of exasperation, I stood and followed her into the dark. The waxing moon rose over the valley below, Moranu's perfect crescent, gilding Andi's profile with a silver glow. Danu's stars above glittered with cold fire, brittle and sharp in comparison.

“I think I know you as well as anyone,” she began and glanced at me with a smile, though it had a sad tilt. “An unhappy thought, as I feel I don't know you as well as I might. You've been very alone—much more than I ever realized. I never really thought about what it was like for you, when Salena died. How it would have hit you the worst. That you felt betrayed by her death.”

“She hardly betrayed me by dying, Andi.”

“But she did. She abandoned you to him with her death. Leaving you unprotected for him to mold and abuse. Ami and I had you, but who took care of you? No one, I think.”

It hurt to think about it. “I took care of myself. And it doesn't matter. All ancient history.”

“It's not.” She faced me. “Don't you see, Ursula? You look for everyone to betray you, to leave you, to fail to love you. Our father has you thinking that everything is about the High Throne, that this power is all that matters. That he—maybe even you—are somehow not people at the core. That you're not driven by love and insecurity and fear like everyone else is.”

“Did the mercenary ask you to speak with me?”

She laughed, a huff of angry air. “No. Harlan has spoken to no one all day until now that I can see, and then only because Ash and Rayfe feel for him, having their own experiences with Salena's daughters. He's quietly bleeding to death inside. Just as you are. I swear to Moranu I'd like to knock your hard heads together.”

“I can't ignore the evidence, Andi.”

“Then think about your thrice-damned evidence! Does he behave like a man hungry for power? Because you and I know very well what that looks like. If that's Harlan's long-term plan, he picked a much more indirect route than he could have. I have seen nothing about him that indicates he's anything other than completely straightforward. As far as I can tell, he goes after what he wants with declared and open intent.”

And had from the moment I met him. Still. “I have a responsibility to the High Throne, to keeping the peace of the Twelve. I might point out that this is not something you've ever understood, much as I tried to get you to take your responsibilities seriously.”

“Don't try to pick a fight with me, too. Nothing will stop any of us from being at your side tomorrow, no matter how you might attempt to shield us or push us away. Try to keep in mind that we're all on your side. There is an enemy and it's not any of the people here tonight.”

“Is that witchy wisdom?” I sneered, then realized she'd already gone.

The deployment went with perfect dispatch and well-oiled silence, Rayfe, Harlan, and I each coordinating our arm of our combined forces. We sent them ahead, then moved at a brisk pace down to the high road. As the sky pinkened with dawn, we stayed out of sight of the main gates, waiting for sunrise to make our grand entrance.

Andi, Ami, and Rayfe had all donned garments worthy of a state visit. Andi and Rayfe were elegant in glossy Tala black, both with their long hair loose and wild, while Ash wore dark fighting leathers, managing to look quite lethal, guarding Ami's back. She was in an amazing gown of the purple and gold of Avonlidgh, embroidered with Glorianna's pink roses.

“How in the Twelve did you have that thing packed?” I muttered at her, and she gave me a sweet smile. Someone had trimmed up her hair and it fell in glossy, perfect ringlets.

“Andi had it whipped up for me. The Tala have such artistry in these things. Presentation is important.”

I glanced down at my own battered leathers, much the worse for the wear of the last weeks. “Alas for that.”

“No worries there.” She looked me over. “You've never needed fine clothes to outshine us all. You make an impression just by being.” Her gaze flicked past me. “Ah,” she breathed. “And here's your perfect accessory.”

Harlan, in full Vervaldr regalia, mounted on his impressive battle stallion, pulled up behind me with a nod.

“Captain Harlan.” I spoke through my teeth. “Why are you here?”

He gazed back at me, his face set in granite lines, showing no emotion. “It's where I belong.”

I opened my mouth to say something about the contract, but the dangerous glint in his eye changed my mind. Instead, I deliberately raised a shoulder and let it fall, then turned my back on him.

The sun edged a fiery golden curve over the valley, and the Temple of Glorianna rang bells, the dawn hymn going up, though thinly, as if too few voices supported it. Ami drew Glorianna's circle in the air. Then once again added Moranu's crescent and bisected them with Danu's blade, invoking all three goddesses and asking their protection and benediction. Finished, she nodded to me.

The same sun would set at the other side of what almost certainly would be a pivotal day in history. I wondered if I'd survive to see it.

Taking a deep breath, I straightened my spine.

And led them to the gates of Ordnung.

M
y skin crawled at the sight.

One hundred times worse than the unease with which I'd viewed Ordnung upon my return from Windroven. The walls, as reported, were densely populated with unmoving guards. With weapons trained upon us, they presented a formidable defense.

The corpse-rot gray of their faces instilled a deeper fear.

I resisted glancing back at Harlan, though I guessed at his growing anger, for a number of the dead guard indeed wore Vervaldr colors. Victors from a few skirmishes reported the dead could be incapacitated by losing heads or limbs but that they seemed to live on regardless. It would be a question for later, how to give them true death.

For now I wanted them off my walls, this smear on the face of what should be the Twelve's shining glory.

I reined up, Andi and Ami flanking me, half a horse length behind, Rayfe and Ash similarly arrayed just beside them. Harlan rode at my back.

At least I could trust in his investment to keep me alive. Shaking it off, I called out. “All hail, High King Uorsin! His daughters have returned, to pay him fealty.”

Rayfe made a disparaging snort at that, but I ignored him.

“As Princesses of the Realm, along with our consorts, we request entry into Ordnung.”

None of the dead guard moved. Nothing moved anywhere, except Glorianna's rays angling to dance on the still white towers, no pennants flying. Superstitiously, with a pang of irrational dread, I imagined everyone inside Ordnung like this. Gray and rotten with
deyrr
.

Then, slowly and without sound, the gates opened. No other notice was given. They simply swung wide, a maw gaping into a silent, empty outer courtyard.

Keeping my head high, I rode forward.

No one spoke, though Rayfe growled under his breath, the sound of a cornered wolf. A feeling I understood on a visceral level. We rode through the courtyard, the only sound the clopping of the horses' hooves, the creak of our tack. Foreboding crawled along my spine, and for a wild, desperate moment, I imagined turning tail and running, back to the tranquil beach at Annfwn, to the delight of Harlan's arms and the delicious pleasure he'd given me.

Despite myself, I looked back at him, and rather than the rigidly carved lines of emotionless fury, instead I glimpsed what might have been compassion.

Andi caught my eye as I faced forward again, storm-gray eyes glittering with silver, the thunderstorm of magic gathering around her, a potent charge poised to strike. She shielded us with a light version of the Annfwn barrier, lest the mind magic make us forget what we came to do. She dipped her chin and squared her own shoulders. On my other side, Ami rode wreathed in Glorianna's rays, gloriously lovely, radiant in her determination. She smiled at me, beauty and steel both in her visage.

The Star blazed scorching hot against my palm and I began to hope that we might yet triumph.

Tempting as it was to ride directly into court, we dismounted at the inner doors. With no one to hand our mounts off to, we left them standing in place, reins tied off and ready. Except for Rayfe's steed, who transformed into a sleek wolfhound, waist high and pacing at his heel.

We entered the castle itself, the urns of flowers dead and wilted, untended. Autumn leaves blew through the halls and no servants followed after to sweep them away. The place reeked of death, of
deyrr
, perhaps.

I should never have left.

The doors to the throne room stood open, and there, at least, some semblance of normality greeted us. Packed with people as it should be, the room stayed strangely silent, but for the rustling of the courtiers turning their heads to take us in. Their gazes grabbed at me with desperation. None said a word, but they silently pleaded for help. But in the way a mortally wounded warrior begs for swift death, not to be saved. Because he already knows there's no possibility to hope otherwise.

The reason was obvious. At the end of the center aisle, Illyria, banked-coal eyes dead in her face, draped herself over the High Throne, fouling it with her presence. She wore Salena's rubies and my Heir's Circlet around her brow. Wearing a collar like a dog and chained to the dais, Derodotur crouched at her feet, not even raising his head to look at us. Ranks of undead guard stood around and behind her, a grating despair in their faces, despite the menace of their drawn weapons.

We walked toward her, Andi and Ami close beside me, their sun and moon magic like a bolstering force that kept me upright.

“Illyria.” I made her name an accusation. No dancing around this. “Where is High King Uorsin?”

“He is . . . meditating.” Her reply slithered out between lush lips curved in a triumphant smile. “What could possibly have brought you back, Princess? Or, I should say, Princesses. There is nothing for you here any longer.”

“On the contrary, there is nothing for you here,” I answered. “Remove your foul self from the High Throne or we shall take you from it.”

She laughed, genuinely amused. “For your impertinence, I'll have tribute. The Star of Annfwn blazes at your side. So unpleasant of you to have stolen it from me. So accommodating of you to walk into my trap. Salena's line ends here.”

My turn to laugh. “Your arrogance is a disease, Illyria. A blindness that keeps you from seeing that you've already lost. Step down, admit your defeat.”

She pretended to sneer, but she didn't quite manage to keep her indolent pose. “And what army do you bring against me—you, your sisters, a cripple, a wild man, and a hire-sword?”

“More than you know. Even now you've been surrounded with my forces, the Hawks along with the consolidated outposts of Mohraya.”

“Avonlidgh's elite guard,” Ami added.

“And the might of the Tala,” Rayfe snarled. “Who've taken Ordnung before and can again.”

“The Vervaldr also stand with Her Highness, rightful heir to the High Throne.” Harlan spoke behind me, and her eyes flicked to him in irritation.

“Harlan Konyngrr, the temple's gold shines as bright as any here. Name your price.”

“It's one you cannot reach. I have taken the
Elskastholrr
.”

If anything could spark in her dead eyes, the astonishment nearly did so. “You'll join the ranks of my undead guard, then, after you watch your beloved die.”

“Step down, Illyria,” I commanded her. “I shall not tell you a third time.”

“No, you won't.” She smiled, not a pleasant one, and lifted a hand, twisted it.

My heart cramped and my vision went dark at the edges. Someone in the court broke into hysterical sobbing, and I found I couldn't move. My sword would not come to hand, and I nearly fell. But Ami took my arm, warm light streaming into me, and Andi's thundercloud thickened, coalesced. A bolt of blue lightning forked from above, stabbing Illyria and knocking her back in the throne.

The fist on my heart released even as Illyria's dead guard lurched forward. Rayfe and Ash drew swords, laying into them. Concentrating, as we'd discussed, on disarming and delimbing them. They came apart in a hideous way, corrupt blood spraying.

Glorianna's rose window shattered and giant black raptors poured in, swooping down to rake talons over the dead guards' eyes. Disable would be the name of the game. Rayfe tossed me a wicked grin over his shoulder, insufferably pleased with himself to have broken that window twice. To my surprise, I found myself grinning back.

We'd have words later. I focused in on Illyria, who stared at Andi. “What are you?” she demanded.

“I am Salena's daughter,” Andi answered. “With the might of Moranu behind me.”

I stepped up to the throne, hit a wall like Annfwn's invisible barrier. “Andi?”

Illyria regained some confidence. “So much for Moranu's might. You cannot reach me. Mind your backs.”

A wail of horrified screaming went up as the dead poured in the doors behind us. With a roar, Harlan swung his broadsword, cleaving through two, three at a time. “Take her out, now!” he shouted at me.

Blue lightning stabbed at the invisible wall with no effect and I threw myself against it to no avail. Behind it, Illyria wrapped a bejeweled hand around Derodotur's throat and squeezed. Rather than resisting, he sat passively, mindless. Already dead. I gathered myself to try again and Ami set a slim hand on my arm.

“I am also Salena's daughter,” she said, in a voice like temple bells, “and Glorianna's avatar. You deprive the dead of the surcease of her arms.” She reached up to run her lovely fingers down the surface of the barrier and it became visible. Rotten with death magic and dripping blood. Under her light touch, it pinkened, going from blood red to rose, then shattered into thousands of rose petals, falling into a scented heap.

Moving my fastest, I leapt over them and ran my blade straight into Illyria's black heart.

With no effect.

She smiled and blew me a little kiss. “You can't kill me, Salena's daughter. Uorsin's daughter. Daughter of failure. For I am beyond death.”

“I am Salena's daughter,” I sneered at her and, with my left hand, stabbed a dagger through the arm that held Derodotur. He fell, collapsing without a sound. “I wield Danu's blade. Amelia? Andromeda?” They stepped up and laid hands over the sword hilt. The Star of Annfwn blazed. “I don't need to kill you. In Mohraya we burn our dead.”

Illyria screamed as the blade heated, the skin around it scorching and peeling back black and dissolving into ash. The gaping wound grew, widening, and I followed it with the sword, carving away at her as her blood-curdling screams vaporized with the loss of her lungs, cleaving up to demolish her throat and into her twisted brain. Beside me, Ami gagged, but she kept her hand on mine. A silver-blue light shimmered from Andi, clearing the ash and stench of corruption away. Until nothing remained of Illyria except for her twitching arm, still pinned to the throne, and a tumble of limbs and jewels tangled in her sparkling skirts.

“Glorianna take and keep her.” Amelia finally released her death grip on my hand and drew the circle of Glorianna in the air. “Though even the goddess of love will be hard-pressed to embrace this one.”

Andi wrapped her cloak around her hand and pulled the Heir's circlet from the ashes, wiping it clean. Then held it out. “It's cool enough.”

I hesitated. Uorsin had taken it from me. It wasn't for me to decide.

With a huff of impatience, Amelia took it from her and fitted it over my brow. “Glorianna wills it,” she said in a fierce tone. “She told me so.”

The hall was in chaos. With a nod to me, Andi changed form into a big cat, joining Rayfe to methodically slice the mindless masses into harmless pieces. Harlan and Ash fought side by side, a mound of dismembered undead piling high around them.

It appeared the plan had worked, with some of the winged Tala shifting back to open the gates. Hawks, Vervaldr, Mohrayans, and even people of the township, armed with whatever they could lay hands on, all fought down the undead guard. Even Ambassador Laurenne had taken up a long kitchen knife, using it to grim effect.

There was no triumph in this victory. We slaughtered our own people to win this battle. It made me sick at heart. Made me wish I could dispatch Illyria again. A hideous demise for each of these.

“They were dead before we got here,” Ami said to me, her eyes dark with horror. “That's all the comfort I can take. We'll have so many to mourn, to send to the bower of Glorianna's arms. How could Uorsin let this happen?”

I didn't know. Perhaps he, too, would be one of her animated dead. In the furious beat of my heart, I found the wish that he would be. The alternative was too terrible to face.

And yet, it fell to me to do it.

I left Ami on the dais, as well protected there as anywhere. Uorsin would be in his rooms, most likely. Locked or barricaded in. Signaling to a few of my Hawks, including Marskal and Jepp, I jogged back down the center aisle, dodging severed limbs that crawled and grabbed disconcertingly.

Taking a moment, I found Lise. “Start a bonfire. Go to the Temple and get the priests from wherever they're hiding and have them begin funeral rites.”

She nodded, gulping down the sickness I also felt. I turned and found Harlan beside me. “Stay here,” I ordered him.

“No. I go with you.”

“I don't want you with me.”

“You've made that clear,” he returned, emotionless but for that enduring gleam of injury in his eyes and under it that slow burn of anger. “As I have made my position clear. You will not confront your father alone.”

I gestured at my team of lean, lethal Hawks, poised to follow me. “I'm not alone.”