A Dagger of the Mind (The Imperial Metals) (25 page)

Chapter
46: Sibling Rivalry

Vye spent her first day awake remembering she had muscles. It took some doing, but she managed to walk across the room by the end of the day. And whenever she felt rested enough, she was able to spend a little, just a smidge, of her energy to heal herself. It was a double-edged sword, since healing her also wore her out. But her body was in much worse shape than her mind at the moment.

Luke had summoned three younger cousins from their Mother’s side, to stay with Vye and act as her nurses. He didn’t want the castle to know she was still alive, and he trusted the family members to keep their mouths shut.

Even now that she was awake, he was keeping it a secret. Duncan hadn’t known much about who attacked her, but he made it clear that they couldn’t know she was still alive. At least until she was ready to fight them again.

It was the youngest cousin, Camilla, who was helping Vye on the second morning of her recovery.

“Just take one more step towards me,” Camilla insisted.

“If I take one more step to you, it’ll be another step back to the bed,” Vye complained.

“I know,” Camilla rejoined. “And you’ll be stronger for it.”

“What if I stumble?”

“Then I’ll catch you.”

“What if I throttle you?”

“Then we’ll know you’ve made a full recovery.”

Vye grimaced and stepped forward. Her legs ached, her knee almost buckled, but she steadied herself and fought to stay upright.

“There, see?” Camilla said, “Wasn’t that hard, was it?”

“My fingers could use a workout,” Vye threatened.

Camilla took a step back.

“Fine,” she said. “Come here and throttle me.”

But then Luke showed up at the door.

“No throttling, thank you very much,” he insisted. “I promised Aunt Maristella that you’d be returned in full health.”

“You got lucky on this one,” Camilla said, taunting Vye.

“Can you wait outside, Cam?” Luke asked.

She nodded, curtsying to Vye out of habit, and hustled out of the room.

“How are you doing?” Luke asked.

“Peachy,” Vye answered. “Nothing like a fight with powerful mages followed by three weeks sleep to make you feel great.”

“Do you need help getting back to the bed?”

“I’ll manage,” she said. She started the arduous process of turning, one foot at a time, back to her cozy, if overused, bed. “Were you just checking in on me?”

Vye didn’t hear an answer from Luke. Instead, she heard the sound of metal running against metal. A blade being drawn from a sheath.

And then she felt a knife stab her in the back. Right at her heart. She stumbled forward, miraculously keeping her feet until she could support herself on the bed. She turned to face Luke...

And he approached her, malice in his eyes. Vye didn’t understand why, but she knew without any doubt that he wanted to murder her.

“Luke!” she called, “Snap out of it.”

She reached behind her, trying to grab the dagger that protruded from her back. It was like that itch you can’t quite scratch, except it was an eight inch metal blade digging into her heart.

Luke stepped up, ready to strike her. Vye instinctively stepped into the fight, elbowing him across the face. And even though she wasn’t leaning on the bed anymore, she was standing firm. She had been reunited with an old friend.

Adrenaline.

It coursed through her. The agent of desperation. The drug of defiance. The tonic of going one step further than you can.

She stretched her arm over her shoulder, yanking the blade out of her body. She pressed her hand against her own chest, closing the wound. Not completely. She wasn’t back to full health. She had to save some of her energy. But she wasn’t about to die, either.

Luke recovered from Vye’s hit, stalking back at her. He took a haymaker swing at her. Vye wasn’t in the mood to bob and weave. Her legs were still a little stiff, and she wasn’t sure she could move fast enough. So she just blocked his arm, locked it under her shoulder, and headbutted him.

Luke crumpled to the floor. Out for the count.

“Sorry, brother,” Vye said. “But you’re not yourself. Cam!”

Camilla scampered back at the sound of Vye’s shout. She gasped at Luke’s crumpled body.

“What happened?” she asked.

“He tried to throttle me,” Vye said.

“You know, if you just showed a little more patience...”

Vye pulled Luke’s eye open, staring into his vacant pupil. But Luke wasn’t the only one there. The body was unconscious. Luke was out for the count. But somebody else was hiding behind his eyes. Someone dangerous. Someone who had usurped Luke’s will.

“OK, listen to me,” Vye said, staggering to the bed. “I’m about to pass out for a few minutes. I need you to call the guards and have him locked up.”

“Listen, I know he’s your brother, and he pisses you off sometimes--”

“Just do it.”

Camilla nodded. Vye flopped back into the bed, falling into a deep slumber...

Book
6

Storms Weathered

Chapter
47: The Nightmare of the Turinheld

The return journey wasn’t very eventful. Duncan, Landora, and Nuria marched south, back to the docks of Aceley. There, Duncan spent what few coins they had brought to arrange passage on a merchant ship heading south. It would enter the Equinox River on the west side of the continent, where they could disembark and hike back to Sayil in the Turinheld.

They were silent for most of the journey. What was there to say? Four had gone north, three returned. It was nobody’s fault, really, except for a hungry bear, and nobody wanted to argue the point with it. Landora suggested, as they marched back across the tundra, that they could perhaps retrieve some part of Sir Noble’s body for a proper burial. But Duncan told her what she already knew: It was impractical. They would have a memorial for him when he returned to the Kingdom. Noble’s body belonged to the wild now.

The trio stayed below decks for most of the journey on the merchant ship. But during those few days, Landora and Nuria spent a lot of time together. Nuria had a lot of questions, and Landora had some of the answers. They compared and contrasted Landora’s teachings with Vye’s. Taught each other tricks. Nuria helped Landora learn a few things about the Rone language. And Nuria learned a few helpful phrases in the Turin tongue.

The ship arrived at the edge of the Turinheld woods in the morning, the trio began their march into the forest immediately. It was close to midday when they heard a commotion coming from along the river.

They took cover, letting the sound come to them. And then they noticed that it was a Turin army. A very large Turin army. But why were they marching west?

Landora stepped out of hiding, exchanging a few words with the mounted general of the unit. He would have respected her rank as a member of the Turin-Guarde, but he also seemed very willing to share his thoughts with Landora. She seemed upset when she returned to Duncan and Nuria, still hiding in the woods.

“What’s going on?” Duncan pressed her.

“The Kingdom of Rone has declared war on the Turinheld,” she reported.

“What?!” Duncan exclaimed. “I have to get back to Anuen immediately.”

“There’s more,” Landora insisted. “Apparently Regent Rajani murdered Queen Sarah. Stabbed her to death during the closing meal of the Festival.”

“OK, but...” Duncan was processing a million thoughts in his mind, “Why are they marching west? If the Rone are coming, they should go to the River.”

“They’ve been ordered to march to Mount Pyre,” she reported.

“What’s there?”

“Nothing. It’s just a volcano. Nobody lives there. No enemy would march past it to get to us. The General implied that the Regent had lost her mind. She’s sending every able-bodied soldier to that location.”

“We better find out what she has in mind,” Duncan said.

---

Landora disturbed the General once again to ask for horses. When a member of the Turin-Guarde asks for something, it isn’t technically an order. But someone would eventually ask you why you said no, and it was much easier to just oblige. The trio tired their horses out, racing back to Sayil. They approached the Regent’s Stronghold as the sun set over the treelined hills.

“Who goes there?” a Guard challenged them at the entrance.

“Landora, of the Turin-Guarde. We have urgent business with the Regent.”

“The Regent is not taking audience with anyone,” the Guard retorted, “You should leave. You and the girl should clear our borders as fast as you can.”

“The girl’s name is Nuria,” Nuria sighed.

“I don’t care if your name is Rone the Great,” the Guard retorted. “The Regent will not take kindly to the presence of foreigners at the Stronghold.”

“Come,” Landora said to her companions, “We’ll head to the Lunapera. Master Eric will be able to advise us.”

“You won’t find him at the Lunapera,” the Guard said. “He’s been at the Stronghold since our return from Anuen.”

“The Council?” Landora pressed.

“Also inside,” he said. “All of them have been sequestered at the highest level of the Stronghold since the Festival.”

“Something’s gone wrong,” Landora said aloud, feeling stupid for even having to give her thoughts voice.

“What’s wrong with the girl?” the Guard said.

“Don’t call her ‘the girl,’” Landora corrected him. “She doesn’t like that.”

But then she turned to see Nuria slipping off her saddle. Duncan caught her just before she plunged to the ground. Landora eased her to the ground. She had passed out. From the long ride? Maybe. But a moment later, her eyes fluttered open.

“Nuria, what happened?” Duncan asked.

“Vye...”

---

Nuria couldn’t remember exactly how it had happened.

She had been on her horse, next to Duncan, while Landora and the Guard spoke in hushed tones. She had heard a rustling sound, a breeze sifting through the branches behind her. Fearing some approaching danger, she had turned to look...

But only found herself alone. She was still in the Turinheld. Still in Sayil, at the entrance to the Regent’s Stronghold. But the others were gone. Her horse was gone. The forest was silent.

And then a figure stalked in through the trees. Nuria held her hands at the ready, hoping she wasn’t too tired to put up some kind of defense. But it was unnecessary. The figure was Countess Vye.

“Nuria,” she said. “Sorry to barge in on your mind.”

“On my what?”

“Sorry,” Vye said, “This is going to be a little confusing for you. You dozed off for a second. You’re dreaming right now. Don’t worry, I’ll put you back when I’m done. But I needed to tell you what I’ve learned. And I need to know what you’ve learned.”

The two strolled through the woods, exchanging everything either could remember. Nuria found it disorienting that no matter how far they seemed to walk, when she looked up, they were always in front of the Stronghold. But she reported what she could. About the temples. Their quest. The being of fire.

“Grimsor,” Vye said. “That’s the being of fire. A demon from The Abyss. He can invade our dreams and take control of us if we’re not careful.”

“That might explain our current problem. The Regent has ordered all the Turin troops to stand around an active volcano.”

“Grimsor is behind this. He must have taken command of the Regent.”

“And the Council. And Master Eric of the Turin-Guarde.”

“He took my brother as well. I’ve had to lock him up for safekeeping.”

“Can you come up here and help us out?”

“Not yet. I need more rest. I basically just woke up. Oh, thanks for the heartbeat, by the way.”

“I had plenty to spare.”

“Don’t try that shit again.”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

“OK, here’s what we’re going to have to do: Tonight, when you go to sleep, I need you to concentrate on Eric. He’s the key. With his help, we can free the others. You’re going to have to confront him in your dream, the same way I’m talking to you in yours. You’re going to have to undo the control Grimsor has over him.”

“I don’t understand half of what you just said.”

“That’s fine. I’m going to send help. You still need to do it yourself, but he can guide you through it.”

“Who are you sending?”

“You’ll know him when you see him.”

And a rustling wind swept through the trees...

---

Nuria felt her body slipping from her horse. Duncan caught her, and Landora eased her to the ground. She fought off some vertigo, opening her eyes again.

“Nuria, what happened?” Duncan asked.

“Vye...” was all she could manage, before she remembered where she was. “I have to... We have to go.”

“What?” Landora asked.

“It’s getting dark,” Nuria said. “We have to go somewhere safe.”

Duncan and Landora exchanged a look. Duncan was willing to listen to anything Nuria had to say, since the first word she had said was “Vye.”

“The Lunapera...” Landora suggested.

“I told you, Master Eric isn’t there,” the Guard chimed in.

“It doesn’t matter,” Landora said. “It’s the safest place I know.”

“Nuria, can you ride?” Duncan asked.

“Yeah, I’ll manage.”

Landora helped Nuria onto her saddle before mounting up herself. The trio rode off down the road, slowly climbing the slope up to the Lunapera.