Fireborn Read online

  He looked to Israel. “Do you wish to tell them, or should I explain?”

  “Neither,” Israel snapped. “You defied the mandates of the council by consorting with the priest. To bring her here was nothing short of treason; to suggest she can do anything to help those of her own kind is ludicrous in the extreme. The council will mete out punishment worthy of your crime once the invaders are dealt with.”

  “Really?” Idril asked, tipping her head to the side so that her shining silver hair slid like a curtain of silk. One rose-tipped expressive hand gestured at the room. “I see three members here, and I, for one, would like to hear Hallow out before deciding if he is to be lauded or damned for bringing the priest with him.” Her copper-colored eyes turned to me, making me feel even more itchy than before. I fought the urge to brush the wrinkles out of my tunic, instead holding her gaze with a look that told her I was a warrior no matter if Kiriah had turned her back on me.

  I went so far as to give her a little nod that acknowledged her hesitation in judging me, but all it did was elicit a slightly raised eyebrow before she turned back to her husband.

  How could Deo have ever fallen in love with a woman apparently made of the ice so common in her native High Lands?

  “You will leave my presence,” Israel told me. “You will leave my town. If it was possible to banish you from Aryia itself, I would, but I swore to Lady Sandorillan that she shall have the care of you. As for you.” He turned to Hallow. “You may think, because Exodius made you the Master of Kelos, that you have an influence on the path the council takes, but you are sorely mistaken. I lead the council as I do all things. You would do best to remember that I and I alone allowed your master to raise you to this exalted position, and I can just as easily snatch it from you.”

  Anger roared to life in me, and with it, a slight burning sensation along the skin of my back and arms, as if I’d been out in the sun too long. “I’d call you an insufferable ass, but that would be doing a disservice to Buttercup and her descendants,” I said acidly, my hands fisted.

  Hallow, to my complete surprise, didn’t look in the least bit outraged. He simply sighed and said under his breath, “Doing it too much,” before adding in a louder voice, “If you will not tell them, then I must.”

  “I will not have my authority flouted in such a manner!” Israel bellowed. “Guards! Guards!”

  No one entered the room. I cocked an eyebrow at him, and sadly, a little smirk curled my lips even though I knew it was unworthy of me to be pleased at his frustration.

  “Blast them to Genora and back!” Lord Israel stormed to the doors and threw them open, shouting for the guards as he did so. “I’ll teach them to leave their posts—”

  Softly, the door closed behind him when he raged his way down the hall looking for the guards.

  “Looks like you’d better tell us whatever it is he doesn’t want us to know quickly,” I said to Hallow, nodding toward Idril. “Before he comes back to throw me out of the city.”

  “Evidently,” he said with a wry twist of his lips before taking my hand and kissing my knuckles. I fought the brief spurt of warmth the gesture brought, oddly pleased that he had shown such affection in front of Idril. Her man might have treated her as coolly as she treated him, but mine wasn’t afraid to kiss my hand no matter what the company.

  “You asked me back at the temple why we were in such a hurry. The more time we delay, the more likely it is the Harborym will begin deploying their battalions through the rifts. The soul takers are easily overcome if dealt with quickly, but if they aren’t dealt with immediately, they will turn our people into Shades just as they did the Starborn.”

  “Soul takers?” I frowned. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard of them. Wasn’t it the Harborym taking the life force from the Starborn that enslaved them?”

  “No. They used the Shades as servants, but it was the soul takers who turned the population.” He must have noticed the confusion on both Idril’s face and mine, because he added quickly, “They are monstrosities, resembling a cross between an insect and a giant dog. The Harborym have sent them through the rift ahead of their battalions, no doubt to enslave as many people as they could.”

  “They must be stopped,” Idril said, brushing a speck of nothing from her lovely pale green and gold gown.

  “They are, but more continue to come. We are wasting time—we should leave now before Lord Israel runs out of patience. We have little time to get to Enoch and back, and we must do so as quickly as possible.”

  “Enoch?” I asked, puzzling out why we would be going there when the battle was on this continent. “Why would we want to go to the island where Deo was banished? Did you send the banesmen you saved there? You said there are only three of them left. Three is not enough to fight even a single battalion of Harborym, let alone however many might come through the rifts.”

  “I agree, and so I wrote to the council before I left Kelos.”

  “We have become weak since the dawning of the Fourth Age,” Idril said, sitting gracefully in the nearest chair. She moved one of the papers on the table to examine the map beneath. “Peace has reigned in Alba since the closing of the rift, and that does not ensure an army is kept in top form. My beloved father’s force had returned to their holdings and families before these three rifts opened, with only a small group remaining for the protection of the borderlands.”

  “We should go—” Hallow said, shooing me toward the door.

  I dug in my heels. “I’m not stepping foot out of this room until I know what’s going on. You forget that I’ve been out of communication with literally everyone but Sandor for the last eleven months, and I’m not going to commit myself to anything until I know where we stand.”

  Hallow sighed heavily, but said, “Very well. You are owed that much, at least. I can only tell you what I know myself, however. The Starborn army barely existed before the fall of the Harborym. I tried to help them re-form and organize, but they lost their focus when Darius allowed the highborn to worry about rebuilding their society, and training the remaining Shades as servants, rather than maintaining any level of an army.” His fingers gently stroked mine, causing little shivers to run down my back. How I had missed his touch, and how I wanted to topple him onto the nearest bed and reacquaint myself with that wonderful chest.

  “And your people?” I asked in an attempt to distract myself from smutty thoughts. “What of them?”

  “The arcanists were by design scattered by the invasion, helping out as best as they could, wherever they could, but their organization under Master Exodius was lacking at best. I’ve tried to draw them together, but even now, they mostly go their own way, and are slow to respond to my attempts to bring structure to the arcanists’ guild. That is why there is only one hope of defeating the Harborym before they can bring forces too great to be overcome—the banesmen have to be restored.”

  “Restored how?” I asked, feeling hopeless. Why was he so focused on the power I no longer had? “They’re dead, all but three, and you said you lost touch with them.”

  He was silent for a moment, his eyes steady but with a wary look that left me wondering what he was leading to. “We need Deo.”

  “Deo,” Idril said softly, her gaze on the fingers that gently touched the map. “Deo is no more.”

  I gave a short bark of laughter at Hallow’s words. “No wonder Lord Israel was so angry with you if you said that to him. I would love for him to realize now just how much he needed the son he killed.”

  “I did say it. He was not pleased, but not for the reason you believe.”

  The mocking smile left my lips at the moment a suspicion crawled into the back of my mind. “Why are we going to Enoch, Hallow?”

  “We’re going to find Deo.” He took a deep breath. “I will not defend Lord Israel’s actions because for the most part, I don’t agree with them, but in two cases I did. The first was the queen, and the second was Deo.”

  Emotion burned in me a second time, grow
ing until it spilled out to my limbs, leaving me flushed and hot with anger. I shot a quick glance at Idril, but she said nothing, her eyes on the table. “You agree with killing Deo? It’s a wonder you wanted anything to do with me given that monstrous attitude.”

  “Deo isn’t dead, my heart.”

  I stared at him for the count of thirty. “He is. Do you forget that I was there? We all were, all three of us. I saw what happened, Hallow. I saw Lord Israel encase him and the others in crystal. I heard him tell the guards to bury them deep where no one would find them.”

  “Nonetheless, Deo is not dead. Think, Allegria. If Lord Israel wanted Deo dead, he could have lopped his head off. Deo wasn’t expecting an attack from his father, and was off his guard, not to mention being near the end of his strength after the battle with the Harborym. It would have been easy to kill him. Jalas and Darius both would have applauded Deo’s slaughter, but instead of that, Lord Israel had Exodius use the moonstones to remove Deo and his men in a way that made the rest of the council believe they were dead and gone and no longer a threat to anyone in Alba.”

  “This is so,” murmured Idril. “My beloved father would not have been happy with anything less than Deo’s demise. His power was just too great to risk leaving him alive.”

  “Only Exodius knew the truth of what the moonstones would do, and he was very much devoted to Queen Dasa. He only revealed the truth to me when he made me Master of Kelos because I had half guessed that the moonstones somehow teleported the men rather than trapped them in a crystal prison. They were intended to save the queen, but Lord Israel used them on his son, instead.”

  “But we saw Deo and the others trapped. We saw them encased in crystal.”

  “You saw their likeness only. I haven’t seen the moonstones—Exodius hid them somewhere, saying they were too dangerous for anyone to use—but since that time, I’ve read of them, and I think that they hold the image of the being that is teleported.”

  “So when Lord Israel had them buried ...”

  “He buried nothing but a hollow image of his son, while the real thing was safe on Enoch.”

  “He’s alive? On Enoch?” I asked slowly, trying to readjust many ideas. Could Lord Israel really have saved Deo when I thought he’d destroyed him? It made sense that a father would wish to help his son, and yet, he was so violently against the banesmen. ...

  “Yes to both.”

  “And the others? What happened to them?”

  “I don’t know. I haven’t been able to find them. Lord Israel must know, but he refuses to speak on the subject.” Hallow dropped my hand to rub a thumb over my cheek. “Now you see why it was so important that we come here. And why you are the only one left who can convince Deo to rejoin the people he believes betrayed him.”

  I shook my head at the idea I could convince Deo of anything. “Even if that’s true, he wouldn’t listen to me. He never liked to take any counsel but his own, and I can’t imagine that has changed in the last year.”

  “Then you will just have to convince him with magic.” Hallow looked determined despite my resistance. “Normally I’m opposed to such forms of persuasion, but although I knew Deo only for a short time, I can’t imagine he would back down from a battle.”

  “Nor can I,” I said, thinking on the subject. If there was a way I could convince him ... but I couldn’t. “I just don’t see how I can do anything when my abilities have abandoned me.”

  Hallow took my hand again, a little smile making his eye crinkles pop into life. He lifted my hand higher until I stared with wonder at my fingertips.

  They glowed with a pale golden light.

  “Your time in the shadows is over, my heart. Now we need all your strength, for we have hard battles ahead of us.”

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  “This might have been a pleasant voyage if not for two things,” I told Hallow a few days later, as the ship navigated the great fingers of granite stabbing up from the sea in the best approach to the Isle of Enoch. It wasn’t so much a portage as a lessening of craggy, ship-destroying rocks. We stood together at the railing of the ship, watching as the captain piloted past them. Above us, the sky was a pale gray washed with the faintest hints of blue, a dull brightness indicating where Kiriah struggled to burn through the high cloud cover. Seabirds wheeled and called over our heads, and the now-familiar tang of salt had me breathing deeply.

  “I assume the company is one objection,” Hallow answered, sliding a hand around my waist and pulling me against him.

  “I can imagine people I’d rather spend time with than Idril and her gaggle of handmaidens, if that’s what you mean.” I tried to keep my voice neutral, but I feared a little bit of my true feelings snuck in.

  “She does lead the Tribe of Jalas since her father has fallen ill,” Hallow said, a smile in his voice despite his face presenting its usual serene expression. “She has every right to come with us when it concerns the council, and releasing Deo very much does that.”

  “That’s not why she’s here, and you know it,” I said. “You are aware that Deo wanted to marry her, but she married his father instead? And that when Deo was angry about the betrayal of his beloved and his father, Lord Israel banished him to this very same island? She clearly wants to be here to torment Deo. That or seduce him, assuming she can rouse passion in her icy veins.”

  “I have heard those same stories, yes,” he said placidly, ignoring my slur. “But one thing that time with Master Nix taught me is never to believe something without first ascertaining whether it is true or not.”

  “And I agree with that principle in general, but if you think I’m going to march up to Lord Israel and ask him if it’s true he stole his son’s betrothed and got rid of him so he could enjoy his lustful urges on her, you are quite, quite mad. Lord Israel wants me dead as it is—I don’t think questioning him about his wife is going to do anything but ensure he adds torturing me to the list.”

  Hallow laughed. “No, that would most definitely not be wise. However, you might wish to talk to Lady Idril before you damn her entirely.”

  I snorted softly to myself. The last thing I wanted to do was have a heart-to-heart conversation with the woman who made me feel awkward, unkempt, and unfeminine.

  “And as for Lord Israel wanting you dead ... I suppose I should tell you, lest you accuse me of keeping things from you, that if he had wished you dead, you would not be standing here now.”

  “Pfft,” I objected, turning to face him, the tendrils of my hair whipping around my head like deranged snakes. “The only reason he didn’t kill me is because I closed the rift.”

  “And yet according to your beliefs, he was willing to kill his son for helping close the rift and defeat the Harborym?”

  “But your point is that Deo isn’t dead,” I said, sidestepping the question.

  “He’s not.” Hallow waited expectantly.

  I puzzled over what he said. It didn’t make sense. “You think Lord Israel doesn’t want me dead, yet he banished me from his city and told you that he didn’t want my magic-less self helping to take down the rifts.”

  “He said that, yes. And then what did he do?”

  “Had a fit? Stormed out of the room calling for guards to do Kiriah knew what to me.”

  “Rather convenient, that, don’t you think?”

  “Convenient how?” I thought hard, a faint pattern starting to form in my mind. “You think ... do you mean that he left so that we could escape unharmed?”

  “In all of his bluster and talk of beheadings, has he harmed you?”

  “No,” I admitted.

  “And Deo? Did Lord Israel not save him from harm by preserving him the only way he could?”

  “Well ...”

  “As he assumedly did the same for the other banesmen, as well.”

  “You don’t know where they are, though.”

  “No, but given the evidence, I don’t think they were killed.” Hallow gazed out at the cold, dark gray water. “I suspect that gi
ven enough time, with the right spells, I will be able to find them.”

  “Alive?”

  “And well, if as isolated as Deo is. As you were.”

  “So Lord Israel isn’t working against us?” I asked, trying the fit the puzzle pieces together. “Are you sure, Hallow? He certainly didn’t sound like a man who was overjoyed to see me.”

  “He wasn’t, because he knows you pose a threat. No, my heart, don’t get your hackles up—I meant that you were a threat because now he must ensure your protection when others might wish you destroyed.” He cast a look toward where Idril emerged from a cabin. “Although with Jalas confined to his bed, it appears a more prudent head now rules the tribe.”

  I was still trying to wrap my mind around the idea that Israel Langton wasn’t the villain I had believed him to be. “But ... he banished Deo in order to steal his beloved.”

  “I was there that night, you know.”

  I gazed at him in surprise. “I didn’t know.”

  Hallow nodded. “I can assure you that the only reason Deo was sent to Enoch was to protect himself, and others who might be affected by the chaos power he’d consumed. He didn’t have control of it at that point. He truly was a danger to others, and I assume if you ask him, he will admit that the exile on an uninhabited island gave him the time and space he needed to perfect his control.”

  I mused over that for a bit, willing to agree it sounded reasonable. “You said he had the moonstones for the queen, but why did use them against his son, instead?”

  “Why should he not? He’d just learned that the queen was beyond the stones’ reach, and he quickly realized they provided the only way he could save Deo and the other banesmen.”

  “All because we did what he couldn’t?” I asked, angry on behalf of Deo and the others. “And the council didn’t like that fact?”

  “No, because you and Deo were ... You will forgive me if I use this word, but there is none other that suits. You were berserk. I can only imagine what the chaos power did to you, and how much strength you had to use to contain it, but the sight that the council witnessed of you and Deo obliterating the Harborym could not help but inspire fear in them. If you could wield that sort of power, what threat would you pose should you ever turn against the council?”