Queen of Monsters and Madness Page 53

  “You have a barbed tongue, young one,” the king said.

  “The truth is painful.”

  The king chuckled, but it wasn’t happy. “Well spoken.” He held his arm out. “I’m sorry we cannot do more.”

  Sage inclined her head and clasped his forearm. “You say cannot. I say will not, but I thank you for listening. It was interesting meeting some of my kin.”

  “Kin?” Mer piped in.

  “Lilja is my aunt,” Sage said, stepping back from the king.

  The Sirenidae king’s attention snapped to Lilja. “Daughter?”

  “What she speaks is true. Sage is our kin.”

  The king frowned. “I am sorry. Truly, I am.”

  “So are we,” Tehl said, striding to Sage’s side. “Thank you for meeting with us. I hope you’ll reconsider your decision. This is a battle no one race can win. We have to stand together.”

  “I wish you both the best.”

  The king nodded to each of them and strolled to Lilja. He kissed her forehead. “You’re welcome to come home.”

  “My home is with my husband, family, and people. I will not abandon them and disappear into the sea. It’s without honor.”

  Tehl’s eyes widened at the jab.

  The king stared at his daughter silently then pulled off the robe and handed it back to Lilja. “Then we are at odds.”

  “It’s nothing new. Farewell, Father.”

  He sighed and turned away. He spared them one last glance before stepping onto the railing and diving off, disappearing into the black water below.

  Lareme stared at the dark water and then back to them. “My uncle is a wise man, but, sometimes, it takes time for him to think things over.”

  “Time is short,” Tehl said.

  The Sirenidae nodded and hugged Lilja. “I’ll do what I can,” he said, handing his robe over. He smiled at them and took off running, launching over the railing.

  “Show off,” Mer muttered. She slowly turned to Sage. “I’ll change his mind.”

  Sage smiled ruefully. “I don’t think there’s much that can change his mind.”

  Mer smiled, every bit of it devious. “If I can’t change his mind, I’ll lead the people myself.”

  “Mer,” Hayjen growled.

  She waved a hand at the burly man. “Someone has to do something if he will not.” Mer clasped Sage’s hands and then his. “It was wonderful to meet my extended family. Know that you’re not alone. Even if he won’t fight, my sword is with you.”

  She skipped over to Lilja and Hayjen, hugging each of them fiercely. “Love you both. Send for me if you need me.” She waved and disappeared off the side of the ship with a complex dive.

  “The little imp will be the death of me,” Hayjen grumped. “Why can’t she do anything the safe way?

  Lilja patted his cheek. “That was safe.”

  Tehl tuned them out to stare at the dark sea. Sam appeared on the other side of Sage and leaned heavily against the railing.

  “That could’ve gone better,” his brother said.

  “He’s blind to the danger,” Sage whispered.

  “Ruling is difficult,” Tehl began, “Every decision made could mean someone’s life. He’s ruled longer than we have lived, longer than our grandparents lived. I don’t agree with his decision, but I can understand it.”

  Sage peered up at him. “It doesn’t make it right.”

  “No, it doesn’t.”

  Tehl rubbed her back and tried to see if he could perceive anything in the deep water. It was a heavy blow for Aermia, but now he could only put his hope in Methi.

  War was on the horizon.

  Now they had to stand up and fight.

  Tehl

  “That makes three more strikes in the last ten days!” Jeren exclaimed. “We have to do something.”

  “Steps have already been taken. Soldiers have been sent out to defend the affected areas,” William said sharply. “But they’re too late each time. The Scythians attack and then disappear like smoke.”

  “Can you show me the areas that have been attacked?” Sage asked.

  Lelbiel and the gruff Noah rolled open the huge map of Aermia and pointed to the four towns that had been hit. Tehl took a closer look even though he knew it wouldn’t make much of a difference. He’d studied the map with his father and brother for most of the night prior. It didn’t make sense. There wasn’t a pattern.

  Sage rounded the table and pushed between Noah and Lelbiel, her eyes narrowing. “The attacks are scattered.”

  “Indeed, my lady,” Zachael answered.

  She placed her palms on the table and scanned the map again. “What has been taken in each place?”

  “Not much,” Sam said, leaning back in his chair. “They didn’t touch the weapons or gold. There have been abductions, but even that’s not consistent. They left most of the women during the last two attacks.”

  Most was the key word. Women were what the Scythians consistently stole. Unmarried woman. Sage flicked a look his way like she heard his thoughts.

  She glanced back to the map and pointed to the most recent attack. “What happened there?”

  “They burned the town to the ground. It’s the most populated area that they’ve attacked so far,” Garreth said.

  “They’re escalating,” the king commented while stroking his neat beard. “The question is, to what? We already know we’ll have war, but why the attacks? For misdirection?”

  “No,” Lilja said. “That’s too simple to him. This is one move of many. We need to look at these like they are chess pieces.”

  “So, he’s playing with us,” Rafe said.

  Tehl turned to Blaise, who stared intensely at the map. She’d stayed silent almost the entire time. “Blaise, what do you think?” he asked.

  Deep brown eyes snapped at him. “I think this is just the beginning. He’s testing you.”

  “To see how we’ll react?” Tehl concluded.

  The Scythian woman nodded. “He’s a master when it comes to planning. The warlord has lived long enough that he can usually predict an outcome. Your choice in how you approach these attacks will decide which move he makes next.”

  “So, he doesn’t know what he’s doing next?” Jeren asked, his face a mask of confusion. “You just said he plans everything.”

  Blaise chuckled. “Oh no, he knows what he’s doing. He never has just one plan, but many. So many, they’re like the strands of a spiderweb.”

  “So, we’re back to our original question. What do we do?” William said tiredly.

  “We could send an Elite team to track the Scythians,” Noah suggested.

  “No. It would be a death sentence. Those men wouldn’t come back alive. I’ve lost enough men to know that,” Sam said bitterly.

  “I agree with the spymaster,” Sage added. “I’ve run free through our forests all my life, but their jungle? It’s nothing like our forests. I would’ve died the first day if not for the warriors. The Elite wouldn’t survive.”

  “We can’t leave our people unprotected,” Garreth said, staring hard at the red dots on the map.

  “We’re not doing nothing.” Tehl pushed from his seat and circled the points of each attack. “The attack areas have no rhyme or reason.” He traced a path between the attack sites. “All of these villages have been near the Mort Wall. So, we evacuate our people nearest to the wall and bring our soldiers back.”

  “You’d leave our border vulnerable?” William demanded.

  “Our border is already vulnerable. We have our soldiers spread too thin and that’s why the Scythians are getting through undetected. We need to shrink our protection zone.”

  Zachael and William both leaned closer. The weapons master brushed a finger along the Aermian-Nagalian border.

  “The Scythians will not come through the deserts of Nagali. It would take too many resources and too much time. We can pull our men from that part of the border and station them along the Aermian-Scythian border and across the nor
th end of Aermia. That way there will be extra support in the fiefdoms of the north.”

  “That’s wise, but it still feels like we’re giving the Scythians ground,” Garreth said.

  “No, we’re protecting what’s most important. The north end is scarcely populated as it is,” the king commented. “I approve of this plan. Tehl?”

  “It’s a sound plan. Sage?”

  Sage nodded. “Tighten the noose. We can’t afford to let them sneak right through our boundaries.”

  Garreth stood and bowed, exiting the room with William, Zachael, and Sam in his wake. By the end of the day, they’d have everything in place.

  Tehl glared at the map. What was the warlord up to?

  Sage

  “This seems frivolous,” Sage called from the bathroom.

  “We have no choice.”

  She gathered up the slight train of the dress and bustled out of the bathing room. Tehl sat on the bed, his head in his hands.

  “Are you all right?” she asked while trying to adjust the pins stabbing her in the head.

  Some days, she longed to cut her hair off. It would be so freeing to not carry all the weight around. Her lips pulled down as she stared into the mirror above her vanity. She still hadn’t gotten used to the creature that looked back at her in the mirror. Lifting a hand up, she placed it on the mirror just to remind herself that she was indeed real. She wasn’t a specter, even though she felt like one.

  A soft hiss pulled her attention to the man also reflected in the mirror. He stared from the bed with unabashed male appreciation. Her body warmed as his gaze wandered down her body, so strong it was like a physical touch.

  “Sage,” he began, and then cleared his throat. “You look lovely.”

  That was one of the things she loved about Tehl. He was honest. She eyed the corseted, peachy silk dress and tugged at one of the straps that kept falling down her shoulders. “If only these straps would stay up,” she muttered.

  “I believe, love, they’re supposed to fall off the shoulders.”

  “And how would you know?”

  “I’m not blind. Many ladies wear dresses like that. Now, stop fussing with them.”

  She growled and let them slide off her shoulders. It wasn’t that revealing, but it felt exposing. Her hand clasped at the front of her throat as she realized the problem with a sickening lurch. Her neck looked too empty. A choker would’ve looked beautiful.

  “Sage?”

  “Will I ever be free of him?” she whispered, staring into the mirror in horror. She’d hated the collar the warlord had forced on her and yet… part of her felt comfortable with it on. It grounded her, because she knew what her place in the world was. Who she was.

  The foreign creature in the mirror didn’t know who she was.

  Tehl stepped behind her, and his hands slipped around her waist, pulling her into a hug. He rested his chin on her shoulder and stared at her in the mirror, his blue eyes fathomless.

  “He’s not here. He has no place here.”

  His breath brushed her ear as he spoke, his scent curling around, settling some of the fear in her gut. Sage pulled her hand from her throat and laced her fingers with his, drawing comfort from his touch.

  “I need a necklace.”

  It was such a simple statement. To anyone else, it wouldn’t have meant anything, but to Tehl, well…she knew he understood. Her ladies in waiting had tried to get her to wear necklaces since she’d arrived, but she’d turned them down, not able to think about having anything around her throat.

  His gaze dropped to her healed throat. There weren’t any scars, but she still felt the collar’s weight, the bite of pain, the warm metal heated by her skin.

  “There’s nothing more satisfying than to see my collar on your skin. Beautiful,” the warlord whispered.

  She sucked in a deep breath, focusing on their laced hands and the man behind her. She wasn’t there. She was here, in Tehl’s arms. Safe.

  “You don’t need jewelry to look beautiful.”

  “The dress needs it.” She needed it. To prove that she could. She wouldn’t let the warlord control her life.

  Tehl detangled himself from her without a word and strode into the wardrobe. She sagged against the vanity and closed her eyes, counting her breaths. It was just a necklace. That’s it.

  “What about this?” Tehl rounded the vanity and held a simple silver chain with a deep, blue gem for the pendant. “I thought you’d like this one. It’s simple.”

  It was simple. Any other woman might have been offended at the simple offering, but not her. It was exactly the type of thing she’d pick out for herself. Understated, but of high quality.

  He held it out further. “Go on, take it.”

  She didn’t want to take it, but with trembling fingers, she plucked the necklace from Tehl’s hand. The cool dainty chain slid through her fingers as she held it up.

  “Put it on,” he urged.

  Another simple action. But simple actions these days turned out to be some of the most difficult.

  Clumsily, she unclasped the necklace and lifted it to her throat. Her hands shook, but Tehl didn’t help her. He just smiled at her encouragingly.

  Her stomach lurched as she clasped the chain. She stared at the necklace, the sapphire nestled in the hollow of her throat.

  He grinned at her like she’d single-handedly slain an enemy. “The chain is lightweight, so if you can’t get the clasp, you can pull on it and it’ll break.”

  She swallowed hard. This man. Sometimes, he destroyed her. “Thank you.”

  “My pleasure.” He offered her his arm. “Are you ready?”

  “Ready to eat.” She placed her hand on her stomach. She’d hardly eaten anything all day.

  “Me too,” he grumbled. “I’m starving to death.”

  Sage eyed him and took his arm. “That I highly doubt.”

  Tehl made a face. “They fed me greens and fruit today.”

  Her mouth watered. “That sounds delicious.”

  He scowled. “A man needs meat.” A pause. “And gravy.”

  Spoken much like her brothers. Sage smiled and patted him on the arm. “Let’s find you some meat before you waste away.” Big baby.

  “I don’t appreciate your tone, wife.”

  Sage hid her smile. “I don’t know what you’re referring to.”

  He snorted. “Mmhmmm…you may be spending too much time with Jasmine.”

  Her fiery friend had a quick wit that made Sage laugh more often than not. Her smile dimmed. Jas had not been her normal self for the last few weeks.

  “I’m worried about her,” she found herself saying as they exited their bedroom.

  Tehl sobered and squeezed her arm. “She’ll heal. It takes time.”

  That was something she understood keenly. “The twins make her better.”

  Jade and Ethan were the light of Jasmine’s day. As soon as she was healthy, the twins had been taken to her. Sage choked up just thinking about the reunion. They’d not left Jasmine’s side since.

  “Children tend to do that. Speaking of which… Isa told me you were taking her riding.”

  Sage rolled her eyes. “I told her I’d take her to meet Peg.”

  “Well, you better say that to Gav. He’s kept her from the stables.”

  “Because of her mother.”

  “Yes.”

  Sage frowned. She could understand being afraid, but riding was a part of life he couldn’t keep Isa from or it would hobble her.

  “I’ll make sure to speak with him.”

  “The sooner the better or he’ll come looking for you. His temper is something fearsome.”

  Her lips pursed. She’d need to have a talk with Gav. He’d been standoffish since she’d gotten home, and it bothered her. A lot.

  She and Tehl descended the stairs, and she plastered her court smile onto her face. Thoughts for another time.

  What in the hell was happening?

  Sage tried to keep the horror a
nd embarrassment off her face. Not for herself but for Jas. Her friend was currently in a group of men, smiling coyly and flirting. It was worse than flirting. She didn’t even have a name for it.

  “She’s drawing attention,” Tehl muttered underneath his breath.

  Sage scanned the room and grimaced as Rose and her posse were giggling behind fans while watching the catastrophe. “I don’t know what’s gotten into her. Jasmine would never act like this.”

  “You’re sure you don’t know?” Tehl asked quietly while eyeing the spectacle.

  A retort was on the tip of her tongue, but she swallowed it. She didn’t really know. They survived something extraordinary together that had bonded them, but, other than that, Sage didn’t know much about her. But Jasmine didn’t strike her as a flighty, frivolous type of woman.

  She studied her friend and frowned when Jasmine ran her fan up the lapel of a young man with sandy-blond hair. The hair rose on Sage’s arms at the hungry look the man cast her and the secret smiles passed to his friends.

  “I need to stop this,” she whispered scooting back from the table.

  Tehl stood and held his arm out. “I’ll accompany you.”

  They descended the dais and strolled toward the group. Jasmine smiled widely at Sage and curtsied. The vultures surrounding her friend bowed and engaged Tehl in conversation almost immediately.

  Sage sidled up to Jasmine and wound her arm in her own. “Walk with me?”

  “Gladly,” Jas said, smiling at the sandy-haired fellow, and allowed Sage to moved her away.

  “You make friends quickly,” she said, smiling at those they passed.

  “They’re not really my friends. I amuse them. The wild girl from the village.”

  Startled, Sage stared at her. “Are they laughing at you?”

  “Stars above, no.” Jasmine waved a hand at her, her smile sharp and bitter. “They just want to bed me.”

  “You look stunning.” And she did. Earlier in the day, she’d taken a stormy blue, green dress to Jas for tonight. She had so many, and the color had reminded her of her friend. She was right. The color did make her eyes shine like jewels. Jasmine was slightly more endowed than she was, so the sweetheart cut showed more of her assets than Sage would’ve been comfortable with, but to each their own.