The Faerie Blade: Chapter 48

 

 

 

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Author's Note: Here's chapter 48 of The Faerie Blade. I should have had it posted yesterday, but I was working on a new chapter for patreon, tired, and still getting over a cold. Further chapters are available on my Patreon page. ~Amethyst.
 

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Chapter 48: Kaelyn and the Royals

Over the next couple of hours, I told Arinelle and the royal pair everything that Sharai and I knew about Demons and the Church of One while the two children were immersed in their playing. I started by having Sharai recount what had happened, and what she discovered, from the time she found her village massacred until we met. When I took up my part of the story from there though, a small bit of editing was needed.

Much as I liked and trusted Vergun and Isa, we had made a decision when Arinelle (or Arinade at the time) had discovered that Voyagers were actually the lost Changeling race. It was important to keep the Voyagers’ true nature and abilities secret from all but other Fae and for us to continue to pretend to be merely strange human travelers from faraway lands. With this in mind, my story had to undergo some alterations.

So my story became such: My twin and I had been travelling with the troupe for some time now and while they were looking into the disappearance of several bards, including one from their own troupe (my mother, though I did not mention that detail), Selice and I had split up to search the forest for a Fae village that had not been heard from for quite some time. It was while I was searching for Sharai’s former village that I encountered and saved her, at least so that she could die in peace with a kinsman by her side and pass Neva’kul on to me.

As for my own story of the murder of my parents and the growing influence of the Church of One in Greendell, that became the account of a young girl I had found dying in the forest. Then I went into the investigation in the capital of Evalis and reuniting with my sister and the troupe, and what we had discovered there. Vergun was not happy to find out, in no uncertain terms, that the Demons already had the King of Evalis under their sway.

Then I went into our escape from Evalis, our encounter with the Demons and Evalis soldiers near the border, the death of Lorai, and finished up with the assistance we had given Thaeria Village. I did touch briefly on our trip eastward through Kalidar as well, highlighting that Vesha and I had gone to a dark zone to search for something, my discovery that faerie fire could be used to purify Tainted and Darklings, and our encounter with the ruined Menagerie caravan. However, I did not go into great detail about those events, only giving the most important information.

Following that, I told them of the most commonly used tactics of Demons, the possible dangers of them using Tainted or Darklings by caging them and pointing them in the right direction, and the dark rituals that would have to be disrupted to avoid the creation of more dark zones and increasing the Demons’ power. I also passed on the suggestions that Sharai had made earlier regarding security and defense.

While neither Isa nor Vergun were happy at the thought of a looming war, they agreed that it would be for the best to start preparing for it now. Vergun sighed, a grim expression on his face as he said, “I will be increasing recruitment and training for our army and sending regular patrols along our border with Evalis. If they start building up a military presence near the border, I want to know about it.”

“Aye, my love,” Isa agreed. “Perhaps we should have the Huntmaster send some of his shrikes over the borders on aerial scouting forays as well. Doran’s ability to see through the eyes of animals he has bonded with could be invaluable in that regard. And he is half-Fae, he might see something others would miss.”

The King nodded, his face still grim. “Good idea, Isa. I will reach out to the leaders of the four other countries sharing land borders with Evalis to warn them and share this information with them. I will advise that they take similar measures along their borders as well if they can.”

“I shall contact the Fae Council in Tarin’dol and see if they can send a contingent of Faeries, Elves, and other Fae that can summon faerie fire. We need to prepare our own forces for the coming conflict, but even a small delegation would be enough to send one Fae out with every border patrol and keep a few stationed here in the capital. They will be needed if your men encounter Demon activity,” Arinelle offered sagely.

“Thank you, Arinelle,” Vergun replied with a tired-looking smile. “I supposed that all we can do, for the moment, is to prepare for the worst and hope for the best. Now, on the subject of my brother, I must thank you both for unveiling his treachery.” The last was said with a weary sigh as he turned his gaze upon me and Selice.

“I take it that you were able to interrogate him this morning then?” Selice inquired.

An expression of betrayal and deep hurt briefly settled upon the King’s face before he schooled his expression and replied, “Aye, and with the help of an artifact that Arinelle created that he could tell no lies. I tested the artifact on myself even, to be sure of its veracity. He was indeed working with the Demon, and well aware of what it was.”

With that, he began to share with us what little he had learned during the interrogation, though very little of it affected Selice and me personally. The only thing that truly affected us was that the former Duke had been using us to ensure his brother’s presence at the party. He also never intended to pay us the other half of what he owed us. Once he had the throne, he planned on driving the Fae and other non-humans out of the kingdom, as he had agreed with the Demons that had approached him in exchange for their backing.

Vergun’s brother had hidden his ambition and duplicity well. He had wanted the throne for himself since Vergun had inherited it, but he had not been brave enough to go through with any of his plans until the Demons approached him and offered their backing. The entire party had been planned in order to draw Vergun and Isa there so the Demon could kill them before Vergun passed the law that would allow his daughter to inherit. Then an accident would have befallen the princess not long after her uncle took the throne.

The duke had been planning to kill and usurp him eventually, but the news of the new law had hurried his hand. The truly sad thing was that Vergun never intended his daughter to inherit in his brother’s place, and the wording of the proposed law reflected that. It was only ever a measure to allow the royal bloodline to continue should something happen to both of the brothers and Saera was the only heir.

I found it difficult to sympathize with a man who was willingly planning fratricide and regicide, not to mention one who had used me and Selice and who had no intention of keeping to our deal. My Fae instincts were demanding vengeance and the thought of him planning an ‘accident’ for the sweet little girl who was playing with Kalara was enough that it was difficult to keep my anger in check. Vergun and his family had been the ones most wronged here though, they deserved to dictate his punishment.

It would seem that Selice felt similarly as she asked, “What will you do with the traitor then?”

“The punishment for attempted regicide is death,” Vergun replied with a weary sigh. “He will face the Axeman at dawn tomorrow. I already have the Criers announcing the news throughout the city.”

It did not feel like enough to me, but it was better to be rid of the man I suppose. He was being punished, and it fit the worst of his crimes, so it was nothing to lose my head over. The traitor would already be losing his, and that should be good enough.

The sound of something heavy and clinking being placed on the small table between the royal couple and me and Selice brought my attention back to the world around me and out of my thoughts. “Consider this as payment of what my brother owes you, as well as a small token of my appreciation for your services and the honor you both showed last night,” Vergun said as his hands pulled away from the pouches he had left on the table in front of me and my apparent twin.

Curious, I glanced at Selice, who shrugged, before we both reached forward to take the pouches in front of us. The pouch was heavy in my hands and my eyes widened in surprise as I opened the drawstring to peek inside. It was full of gold coins, there was at least thirty gold in there, probably closer to fifty. That was a lot more than the seven gold that the duke owed me and Selice together, especially if her bulging bag was similarly filled.

“Fifty gold apiece,” Vergun stated, confirming my suspicions.

“This… this is far too much. We…” I began to protest.

“You saved our lives and kingdom from a betrayal that I did not see coming and asked nothing in return,” Vergun said seriously. His arms were crossed and the way that he was carrying himself told me that he was not going to take no for an answer. “I owed you a debt, and this is your payment. Please, take it, and let me show you the honor that my brother lacked.”

Poor Selice looked like her head was spinning at the sight of so much gold and I felt much the same. We had been hoping for a small nest egg to set aside for slimmer times when we took that job from the former duke, but this went far beyond that. This was a fortune for mere performers of modest means. I was thinking about all the things we could do with this money, even if we set most of it aside for the future. I could get a nice, new harp and lute when we got to Derevik and not even put a sizable dent in this fortune.

“I would also ask that you stay for dinner tonight,” Isa added, the words breaking through my distracted thoughts. “It is getting close to that time, and I asked the chef to prepare a banquet in your honor tonight.”

Since we were in no position to refuse either the reward or the dinner invitation, Selice and I accepted both with our most humble thanks. After that talk drifted to lighter topics until it was time to go to the great hall for dinner. One of those topics was the enchanted glass bottles that Arinelle had gifted the royal couple and where we could get a set large enough to serve the needs of our troupe.

The other Fae Ambassador offered to take us to her glassmaker acquaintance on Sundries Street, in her Arinade persona, tomorrow and to place the enchantments for us on any bottles we got at a discounted rate. Given the fortune that we had just stumbled into, both Selice and I felt that we could afford the luxury, and it would be nice to be able to share it with the rest of our troupe. At Isa’s request, the Enchanter had another task ahead of her as well.

The Queen had tasked Arinelle to make a pair of mirrors that would allow us to contact one another should the need arise. It was for more than just emergencies or to share information from a distance though. Saera and Kalara were getting along famously, far better than I had hoped, and had practically forgotten the rest of us existed while playing together. Seeing that, Isa had the idea that the pair could use the mirrors for playdates of sorts once our troupe was on the road again.

The food at the banquet Isa had organized put that at the former duke’s party to shame. The company was far better as well since we spent much of the time talking with Arinelle, Vergun, and Isa. I was a little concerned that Selice and I might be underdressed for the affair, but it was a small gathering and most of the people there seemed to be close friends of the royals and were used to these less-than-formal affairs. They also seemed to be acquainted with Arinelle and held the Fae in high regard.

Kalara was on her best behavior the entire time as well, much to my relief. Princess Saera was very well-behaved at the dinner table and had very good manners, something that my daughter seemed to be trying to emulate. She was not used to using proper silverware, but when the princess showed her how to do something, she did her best to copy it.

Overall, the dinner went far better than I anticipated. They even had blueberry tarts among the varied and plentiful desserts that came on the heels of our evening meal. They were far superior to the ones I had got in the marketplace and Kalara was in bliss as I allowed her two of the sweet treats. When we finally left the palace in the carriage that would take us back to the troupe’s camp, I found myself very pleased with how the day had gone.

Over the next few days, we tried to keep to our usual schedule of training, lessons, and busking as much as possible. Selice and I were both sitting on a hefty nest egg now, but that was no excuse to get lazy. That being said, there were a few exceptions, such as the day after our visit to the palace when Arinelle, or rather Arinade since she was wearing her glamour, took Selice and me to a little glassmaker’s shop on Sundries Street as promised.

On the way, she informed us of the former duke’s execution that morning. He deserved to die and as long as I knew that he had met that end, I was more interested in where we were going than dedicating any of my mental energy to the man’s memory. It had been a simple and quick affair; a quiet, ignoble, and quick end to a man who deserved to be lost and forgotten in the flow of history.

The shop that Arinade took us to was owned by a Kobold woman named Glia who was truly a master of her craft. Some of the goblets and other glassware she made were truly breathtaking, but Selice and I felt that such splendor would be wasted on common Voyagers such as us, regardless of our recently acquired small fortune. Fortunately, she also had a lot of apprentices underneath her, all of whom were constantly working on projects as they practiced their craft, hoping to one day be half the master that Glia was.

Some of those apprentice projects were warped or not useful to us at all, but the ones that had passed Glia’s inspection were being sold for mere coppers apiece. Goblets, pitchers, and bottles of varying sizes and colors were spread out on tables in the apprentice area and thankfully we had rented a large cart for the afternoon because we purchased enough bottles of various sizes to fill that cart, easily a dozen smaller bottles, three larger ones, and half a dozen wide-mouthed jars for each wagon in our troupe. Each bottle had proper corks, and the jars had glass lids that were fitted and rubbed with wax to properly seal them. Overall, we only spent about twenty silver pieces all together on the bevy of bottles and jars, and half of that was the cost of renting the wagon to haul them back to camp, where Arinelle would enchant the lot of them.

As for the enchantment of the glassware, Arinelle agreed to do the lot for four gold pieces, of which both Selice and I each paid two. It was a small price to pay for so many pretty bottles that wouldn’t break, would keep their contents cold and fresh, and would self-clean on command once emptied. Both Selice and I were very pleased with our purchases and so were the rest of the members of our troupe once they found out about the enchantments. This would make keeping supplies so much easier and was well worth carefully loading the cart and using blankets for padding so nothing would break.

Arinelle completed the enchantments in batches over that afternoon and evening while Selice and I had gone to join our fellow performers to make some coin. She was finished by the time that we returned for dinner, and she stayed to have dinner with the troupe, where she explained what she had done for the other members of the troupe and told us the keyword for the self-cleaning portion of the enchantments. We invited her to stay and share stories and company around the fire that night, but she had other projects that she needed to work on, such as the pair of mirrors that Isa had requested.

Surprisingly, that was finished by the next morning, but it wasn’t the only surprise we got that day. Queen Isante and Princess Saera had accompanied Arinade by carriage to drop off the mirror and spend an afternoon outside of the palace. Both Queen and Princess were disguised with glamours, as were the pair of royal guards who had driven the carriage.

They had arrived while we were still finishing our midday meal and, after Selice slipped away to quietly become my twin again, the three of us sat with a few of the other women of the troupe to watch the children play while I fed Zaiya and showed the owlet some love. It was funny seeing the little princess playing games with Kalara and the other children of the troupe, especially Mark Tag. Watching her try to steal purses from the bigger kids or keep their attention off her teammates was amusing, especially since Isa did not bat an eye toward the types of games Voyager children played. In fact, she also seemed very amused from watching Saera play.

It turned out that Isa herself was common-born, she and Vergun had met by chance in the city while he was in disguise, fallen for one another, and he decided to marry for love rather than going through with an arranged marriage with a woman he did not know from the upper nobility. She liked to get out in the city whenever she could manage it, to hear and see the problems that the people faced as one of them. I liked Isa, she and Vergun were genuinely good people who cared for their subjects and didn’t judge others by race or status. I thought that I might miss them, and this place, when it was time to leave.

It was three days after our visit to the palace that we got a notice from one of the King’s messengers that the road east toward Nalean had been cleared of debris and was once again fit to travel. We spent much of that day getting resupplied from the marketplace, though I did stop by Arinade’s shop to say farewell to her and ask that she pass on our well-wishes to Their Majesties as well. The very next morning, our troupe was back on the road and heading eastward once again.