Chapter 68


    To be a Shield


    As Femira made her way through the cypress-lined streets towards the Pillar, she thought about how much Epilas had begun to feel like home to her. She’d spent most of her time in the barracks on the hill, aside from the occasional times that Jaz would drag her and Aden down into the city. She found herself missing the pair. Jaz with his charming, overconfident aura and Aden so introverted by contrast. They were unusual friends, and now that she thought about it, she had never even asked how the two had even met.


    She wondered if Aden had been sent to Rubane as well. She didn’t know much about the place—other than it snowed a lot. The women in the bloodshedders didn’t have much respect for Rubanians and she gathered they were yet another backwards patriarchy like her own homeland. Reldon was definitely different in that regard. It was likely inherent to their culture considering their founding monarch had been a woman. But then again, their current leader was a man—King Abhran and his successor, his son, Prince Lukane. Landryn’s sister, Princess Allyn had spoken about having the right to challenge him as the female heir. Femira had learned that it was written into Reldoni law that the eldest daughter could challenge the eldest son to the right to rule.


    She wondered how many times that law had been enforced over the centuries. Beyond Queen Elyina herself, all of the notable Reldoni monarchies had been men. Now that she thought about it, almost all of the Generals in the War Council were too. Perhaps Reldon isn’t the pinnacle of gender equality as much as they think it is. While there were still women in positions of authority in the military—Misandrei’s position as one of the few Bloodshedder Captains as an example—there did seem to be a general lack of this across the board. There was definitely not an even split of men and women in the military. The general ranks were seemingly dominated by men. It was primarily in the ranks of runewielders where the numbers started to become equal. She would need to ask Misandrei about that when the woman returned from Rubane.


    She arrived at the steps to the Pillar and was cleared for entry by the guards manning the gate. From there it was a long climb of steps up to the lower levels of the Palace, and then even further up to where Garld would meet her. No wonder most of the Reldoni highborn are in good shape. Life in the Palace was a constant workout with these steps. Almost a year of training with the bloodshedders—and then climbing and running around on rooftops for years before that—had strengthened her body so that the hundreds of steps only left her only a little out of breath when she reached the higher levels.


    The Reldoni Palace was a thief’s nightmare. The Palace proper was built around and inside the giant natural stone pillar that rose up. The only access to it was via the guarded stairways. Even with her eradite runestone, Femira would’ve had trouble sneaking into this place. The pillar itself was said to be nine-hundred feet tall; she guessed that the Palace balconies started at maybe four hundred feet. It would be a tough climb.


    To date, the highest climb she’d achieved was the cliff that the Alterean palace had sat atop. That was at least half this height. But she was also an infinitely more efficient runewielder now. She toyed with the idea of trying to sneak into the Palace sometime as a test for her new skills. Being soulforged, she could now dissolve and reform entire walls in seconds, that kind of skill was like cheating for most break-ins. The Palace would make for a good challenge.


    She passed by the fountain where she and Landryn had had their first conversations. As it had that night, the waters flowed up into the air and curled in defiance of gravity in complex circular patterns. She understood that there were intricately sophisticated devices that made this work, it involved the use of waterstone gems and rune patterns but she’d never had much interest in understanding how they work. She much preferred using a runestone personally than sticking it into a device.


    She thought about how awkward he’d been with her that first night. Landryn had been tiptoeing around her because he thought she resented him for killing her husband. Which was all bullshit, of course. She wasn’t the one that was married. That realisation was a surprise, and she could admit to herself that it stung. He’d never alluded to anything romantic with her. Besides, he was a prince and she was… well, less than a year ago she’d been stealing food just to survive.


    It’s not as though she’d wanted to marry Landryn. But she couldn’t deny that she hadn’t thought of getting to know him a little more intimately hadn’t crossed her mind. None of this changed the fact that she wanted to be part of what he was planning. Pushing aside any feelings she might’ve had for him in that way, she still wanted to be part of his team fighting the Fomori.


    “Ah, the fomori slayer returns,” a familiar accented voice came from behind her, pulling her attention from the fountain.


    “Vestyr,” Femira turned in surprise, she hadn’t sensed his edir at his approach. He has superior control of it than even the bloodshedders.


    “The Palace is whirring with two notable topics today,” he smiled indulgently. The adult expression looked alien on his child-like face, “the first and most concerning that Prince Landryn has learned of his brother’s demise. The King and many of the Highborn lords in the city have known this for days but how Landryn will react is stirring some disquiet within the Palace.” Can’t you all just leave the man to grieve in peace?


    “The second,” Vestyr continued without skipping a beat, “is Annali Jahar. I don’t know how you’ve managed to stay out of the attention of the noble houses these past few months but people are rapt by your actions of late. Many of them believed you were simply a coerced hostage taken from Altarea, but now that you’ve risen so swiftly through the ranks of the bloodshedders and fighting fomori alongside our valiant Prince Landryn… well, you’ve garnered their attention.”


    “I don’t want their attention,” she brushed past him.


    “You’ve got it whether you want it or not.”


    “It’s worthless to me.”


    “I doubt that, but regardless, some of the factions in the Palace will seek to sway you to their causes.”


    “Is that what you’re doing right now?” She turned back to him, “you want to bring me into whatever you and Allyn are planning?”


    “I wouldn’t be so forward,” Vestyr chuckled, holding up his hands in a disarming gesture, “I have no doubts as to your loyalties to Garld… or Prince Landryn for that matter.”


    “So what do you want?”


    “To take you up on that offer you made before leaving for the Tidewall,” he grinned, “to train with the fomori slayer herself.” She’d forgotten about that and she couldn’t deny that she was still very intrigued by the Aeth boy’s abilities. He was undeniably soulforged but yet seemed ignorant of the bloodshedders methods.


    Despite her attempts at it, she still hadn’t managed to trap anyone in the ground as efficiently as Vestyr had done. That was only a little over three months ago. The realisation of this hitting her by surprise. Since becoming soulforged her skills had so quickly ascended beyond what she—and most runewielders—believed to be possible. But Vestyr was not most runewielders.


    “Ok,” she said with a measure of consideration, “I can’t right now but I’ll let you know when suits me.”


    “Excellent,” he beamed, “I have a permanent residence in the city but more often I stay in the guest levels of the Palace. You should be familiar with it, your cousin Daurond quarters are there too and as I understand it, you two are very close,” he flashed her a wicked grin and winked before turning to leave. What did he mean by that? She’d not visited her fake cousin once since arriving. In fact, she’d only ever spoken with him that night Honorsword Karas had attacked her. Could Vestyr have been alluding that he was aware of Femira’s lie? She wanted to shrug it off as nothing but she felt a knot of apprehension at the thought. Would Garld still want to keep her employ if her cover was blown? Did he have use for Femira as she was, or did he still only see the value in Annali?


    All members of the War Council had a personal office in the Palace. Being a General in the army meant that Garld had a seat at the War Council and—as such—an office. Femira had never visited his office in the Palace and was taken aback at the opulence of it compared to the  pragmatic office he kept in the barracks.


    Seeing Garld now in that office standing by the window overlooking the city, there was a lot she still didn’t know about him. There was so much that he was still hiding from her. Landryn seemed to trust Garld as much as she did—more so even—yet Garld had hidden the truth about Daegan’s death from him. He had asked Femira specifically to keep Landryn from discovering it. She wanted to understand why. She also wanted know what he was keeping from her. Landryn wanted to use the bloodshedders to fight against the Fomori, the Prince had told her that it was the leading reason for founding the order in the first place. Did Garld have the same aspirations for them?


    “Vreth,” he smiled warmly as she approached, “you did well. Both in your tasks with Landryn and the Fomori.”


    “Did you know about them? The kraglings?” She could feel an element of accusation in her own words.


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    “Ah,” he gave her a pained look, “truthfully… no, I did not.”


    “Landryn said that you and he started the bloodshedders to fight them. If that’s true, then you did know that they existed.”


    “Yes,” he agreed, “I was aware of their existence. But I never believed that we would find any in our own borders. The Fomori have been sighted in the Simirwood—yes. And along the Athlin border but never this close to Epilas. I thought we would have years before it became an issue for us.”


    “Why didn’t you tell us?” Femira shot, she was surprised with her own anger, “why keep this from us?”


    “There are many reasons,” he replied, calmly, “but the first thing to remember is that you are soldiers. Your role is not to question the authority of your senior officers. We kept this from the bloodshedders because we didn’t feel it was the time to tell you.” She didn’t like that one bit. It sounded too much like what Lichtin used to say. I’ll tell you only what you need to know. And almost always it was the more dangerous parts of the job he kept from them. Was that it?


    “Are you worried they’ll be afraid… that they won’t fight?”


    “Of course not,” Garld shook his head, “I have faith in the bloodshedders—No, the reason we have kept this secret is far more complex than that.”


    “Then tell me! Landryn told me everything; about the dead Fomori you found, about Elyina’s journals and why you invaded Altarea. Why have you been hiding all of this? Do you not trust us? We’re the ones fighting out there. Selyn and Drad died fighting that thing…” Femira trailed off. This was why she was angry. She wasn’t mad at Garld at all. Femira felt a wash of regret flow over her, dispelling her anger. Remorse. She deflated realising that she was just looking for someone to blame for her own recklessness.


    “It’s alright, Vreth,” Garld walked around the desk and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder.


    “I thought I could kill it,” she broke.


    “You did,” he held her gaze, “you did kill it, Vreth.” She’d never told him her real name. Did a small part of her always hold back from trusting him entirely? She’d told Misandrei once, on the cliffs at Innish Head. I thought she would’ve told Garld. But maybe not. Maybe they weren’t so concerned with what her name was. She was Annali—and she was Vreth.


    “Why did you want me to hide Daegan’s death from Landryn?” she asked, the memory of Landryn’s impassive face when receiving the news drifted across her mind. The cracks of his grief that she could feel through his edir.


    “Landryn is an exceptional runewielder,” Garld replied, taking a seat at his desk and indicating for her to do the same. “He is a good tactician and knows when to heed the advice of his elders. A thing you must understand is that Landryn has been raised and moulded to be a military leader from birth… His upbringing was more difficult than you would think for a person of his position. He did not face the same struggles that you must have… his hardships were of a different breed. As a result of this, Landryn’s greatest ability is to mask and suppress his emotions. This is a valuable asset in a Commander who needs to think rationally and make pragmatic decisions with people''s lives… However, with Daegan, he has acted… rashly, in the past. Landryn cared deeply for his brother. I worry that he will make some poor and hasty decisions in these revelations.”


    “You think he will seek revenge?” She can’t deny that she hadn’t desired the same when her own brothers had been killed.


    “Ladnryn’s blade will find vengeance, I have no doubt on that. But where that is directed will have consequences for us all.”


    “Do you know who killed Daegan Tredain?” Femira probed. He didn’t answer at first, instead his gaze drifted. Garld definitely knows more about this. “Yes,” he replied eventually, “I know who killed Daegan and I know why.” Femira leaned forward expectantly.


    “He was killed by one of our own,” Garld admitted, a troubled look crossing his face, “a soulforged bloodshedder named Ferath Vitares.”


    Ferath? Had she heard that name before?


    “Did I train with him?” she asked.


    “No,” Garld replied, “he was sent to Rubane not long after you first arrived in Epilas. Landryn had placed him as the Captain of Daegan’s guard. I’d argued against it at the time, Ferath was one of the first soulforged and I wanted to keep him close but Landryn insisted.”


    “He and Landryn were friends,” Femira nodded in remembrance, “he’s Kendrick’s cousin, right?”


    “You are always a lot keener than I give you credit,” Garld surmised, smiling at her, “indeed… Ferath trained with both Landryn and Daegan when they were boys. Ferath was one of my finest students when I was swordsmaster, here in this Palace. It was one of the reasons I’d chosen him to be among the first soulforged.”


    “So then why?” Femira shook her head, “why would he betray Landryn like that?”


    “I believe that Ferath and Daegan are both pawns in a larger game,” Garld intoned, “someone wishes to sow discord amongst the Reldoni military leadership, they want to turn Landryn and the Royal Family against the bloodshedders… I believe that it is the Duke’s of Rubane that have orchestrated this. They have long been growing apprehensive with Reldon’s growing military strength… We have already reclaimed Altarea and I believe they fear we will target Athlin and Rubane next with the ultimate goal of restoring Reldon’s former glory.” From what Femira had heard of King Abhran that wasn’t an unrealistic judgement to make.


    “So they turn the Commander of the army against his own elites,” Femira speculated.


    “Along with the rest of the Royal family,” Garld nodded. “It is a widely known truth that King Abhran had little love for Daegan, but he will not stand the insult of his own blood being murdered. Abhran’s retribution will be swift and brutal on those responsible.” Femira felt a knot of worry grow in her stomach.


    “And the King thinks we had something to do with this?”


    “That is the story the Archduke of Rubane is attempting to perpetrate. I do not believe that Ferath turned against his own people. Every man has his price but Ferath is loyal to a fault.”


    “Misandrei and the others,” Femira guessed, “their mission to Rubane… they’re looking for Ferath Vitares,” she concluded.


    “Indeed,” Garld nodded, “Our first priority is to find Ferath and to apprehend the true assassin and question him. Archduke Edmund claims that Ferath escaped in the aftermath of the assination. His statement claims that Ferath demonstrated ‘inhuman’ runewielding ability, he even goes as far to label him as a potential Fomori! It appears that they are as ignorant of soulforging as we were until recently… I believe the Dukes’ have attempted to frame Ferath and seek to place the blame on us as means to undercut the Royal family’s trust in us. Their full plans ultimately foiled by Ferath’s superior runewielding.” As always, Femira was encouraged to see Garld’s passion in his trust and confidence in the bloodshedders. Even now he trusts that Ferath didn’t betray them. She wondered if everyone who had been soulforged by Garld had shared the same sense of compassion from him during the ritual as she did.


    “Does the team have a lead?” She asked.


    “I have agents in the city of Rubastre, contacts that I can rely on,” Garld said vaguely, “and I have received word from Ferath directly and understand that he is attempting to lie low and avoid capture from the Rubanians. They expected him to attempt to flee to Reldon, which I am glad that he did not. The last correspondence I received from him was that he had instructed Misandrei’s team to meet him at a town beyond the Iron Hills called Urundock. This is where he believes Daegan’s murderer was last seen.”


    “So we find Daegan’s killer, and then we figure out who orchestrated all of this.”


    “Precisely.”


    “And you’ve told Landryn this?”


    “Of course. Like me—Landryn has difficulty believing that Ferath would turn against us so easily. Ferath served Landryn directly for many years. But Landryn’s judgement at this time is irrational, we must not let him make make reckless decisions in his grief.”


    “How is he doing?” Femira asked, concerned.


    “He is… in shock, I believe. But we must use these events to our advantage. Vreth, I need you to sneak into Landryn’s office and recover Elyina’s journals along with anything that might give us insight into what Landryn intends to do.”


    “You want me to spy on him?” She asked, incredulous. She’d have had no qualms about the request before. Sure, he was their commander, but when had she ever let authority stop her. But it felt distasteful to her now. Now that she and Landryn were… friends? Are we? He’d hidden the fact that he was married from her. That wasn’t something friends did.


    “For his own protection, you see,” Garld concluded, “we must shield him from his own grief, do you understand?” She felt her reluctance falter. She opened her mouth to respond but then thought for a moment. Maybe Garld was right? Femira herself had made a lot of poor decisions in the wake of her brothers’ deaths. Being taken in by Lichtin’s lies had been the biggest one.


    “What will I be looking for?” She asked tentatively.


    “Anything that indicates Landryn suspects the bloodshedders’ involvement with Daegan’s murder. He will likely have many letters of condolences from the Highlords, along with their subtle and not-so-subtle advice on what he should do. Read through them, and note which ones seek to paint the bloodshedders in poor light. Averstock in particular.” Highlord Averstock. He was Rhianne’s father. How does he play into all of this?


    “What would Averstock have to gain from that?”


    “Averstock is far more cunning than he would seem. Make no mistake, Rhianne is a representative of the Highlords and they do not like how much power the bloodshedders are gaining. They want our ranks dispersed and integrated with their own armies. And she is undoubtedly swaying Landryn towards their way of thinking.”


    They want their own soulforged soldiers. The Reldoni army was nuanced, large divisions reported into Generals. The Generals then reported to the Highlords of their region. The bloodshedders sat outside of this with General Garld was their leader who reported directly to Landryn and by extension the Tredain family. This meant that the Tredains now had the most elite runewielders.


    “If they play him against the bloodshedders,” Femira guessed, “they’ll undercut his trust in us and the bloodshedders will be absorbed into their armies. They’re trying to make it seem like they’re protecting him but in truth, they’re working against him.”


    “You see it,” Garld nodded, “we must be the ones to ensure that he is protected.”