AllFreeNovel
Share Us
8
Lord Prentis
“Icannot believe this,” Lady Axlya fumed. “The audacity of General Slaugh, to come into my territory and attack my people so brazenly!”
Prentis watched his aunt as she paced back and forth in her sitting room, her pale face stark with rage. Her aura pulsed with frenetic energy, lifting her unbound hair from her shoulders so that it writhed through the air like a living creature. Prentis knew that if he looked outside right now, the garden pond would be frothing. The water features in Usciete were linked to Axlya’s emotional states, and while she was usually in control, she was furious enough to raise a hurricane right now.
“We knew this might happen when Lord Oren declared he was leaving the Edirian alliance,” Prentis reminded her. “We should have taken the opportunity to form a new alliance with House Ithir, and launch a joint attack on the Gaoth Aire instead.”
“Yes,” Lady Axlya agreed tersely. She stopped pacing for a minute to stare into the crackling fire. Outside, a chill wind rattled the panes—the first true sign of winter. “But tempers were high, and none of us were feeling particularly friendly at the time. Besides, we would have had to wait until springtime to attack the air fae. It would be suicide to attack the Gaoth Aire during blizzard season.”
“True,” Prentis relented. As water fae, they might be able to mitigate the actual snowstorms, but there was little they could do against the terrifyingly high winds the air fae used to shut down their mountain passes.
“Do you not have anything to add?” Lady Axlya demanded, rounding on Cascada. His cousin was sitting by the window, a wan expression on her haunted face. Prentis’s gut clenched at the sight of her—she’d been found unconscious in the cellars, outside the secret entrance Adara and Einar had used to make their escape. When she’d woken, she claimed that she’d tried to stop them from escaping, but some dark entity had taken over her mind, and she had no memory of what had occurred after that.
Cascada shrugged. “I don’t know why you think I’d have anything of value to add,” she said. “I’ve been a pawn for the last twenty years, and I’m not foolish enough to think anything has changed now that I’ve returned home.”
Lady Axlya clenched her jaw. Prentis knew she was struggling to control her temper—Cascada was her youngest and only remaining child, and aside from the fact that she’d been through quite a lot, Lady Axlya had always had a soft spot for her. But Axlya was not the type to tolerate insolence from anyone—she might be a water fae, outwardly fluid and serene, but beneath that she was driven by an iron-clad compulsion to maintain control by any means necessary.
“I will let your attitude slide for now, given that you are still recovering from your ordeal,” Axlya finally said in a cool voice. “But you are my heir, and you need to start acting like it.”
Cascada said nothing, merely turning her head to stare out the window. Ignoring her petulance, Axlya rounded on Prentis again. “Has there been any news from the Bala Oighr?” she demanded. “Have they responded to our request for aid?”
“No,” Prentis replied. “They have sealed their borders completely, and are refusing to answer our missives. My spies report that Adara and her friends are no longer there, and that the ice fae are mourning Lady Tamil’s death.”
Lady Axlya shook her head. “Foolish male. General Slaugh is responsible for his daughter’s death, and his response is to cower behind his ice wall rather than make the earth fae pay for their crimes. I should have him stripped of his title.”
“Perhaps Lord Tor will reconsider once this initial wave of grief passes,” Prentis suggested. It was too bad the ice fae were determined to remain neutral—they could really use the additional twenty-thousand troops the Bala Oighr would have supplied. “But then again, his refusal to support us likely has more to do with our treatment of Adara than anything else.”
“Yes, I’m sure the ice fae were hoping that Adara would grant them their independence once she was on the throne,” Axlya said. She rested her hand on the back of the armchair near the fire, a pensive expression on her angular face. “The truth is, I’m glad we are no longer backing Adara as the heir to the throne. I’ve never felt at ease about that decision.”
“Really?” Cascada turned away from the window, suddenly interested in the discussion. “Why is that?”
“Because.” Lady Axlya pursed her lips. “The ease with which she wields her fire magic reminds me too much of the fire fae.”
“The fire fae?” Prentis frowned. “What do they have to do with all this?”
Axlya sighed, taking a seat in the chair. “You are both too young to know this, but before the dragons came, there was a war raging between the fire fae and our realm. The fire fae believed we weren’t paying a high enough tithe in exchange for the primal stones they supplied us, so they cut us off, which influenced our ability to trade with the earth and air realms. My grandfather told me we were in talks with the air fae about forming an alliance against them, but the dragons arrived and wiped them out before we could, solving the problem.”
Prentis stared at his aunt as though seeing her for the first time. “Are you telling me that our war against the dragons had nothing to do with avenging the fire fae?”
Axlya laughed. “Of course not,” she said. “The other Houses were thrilled the dragons had solved the problem! Unfortunately, my grandfather was a little too greedy, and he convinced the others to launch a full-scale attack on the dragons and wipe them out so we could take over the primal stone mines ourselves. By the time we realized dragon hide is immune to fae magic, it was too late to make peace.”
“So the entire dragon-fae war was based on a lie,” Cascada said flatly. She shook her head, her lower lip curling in disgust. “No wonder Ediria is in this state. The spirits are punishing us for our sins.”
Axlya scowled. “The dragons have committed plenty of sins against us as well, child,” she pointed out. “And anyway, they are gone now, except for that pesky Einar, so this situation is not about that.” She got up from her chair and began to pace again. “We cannot let General Slaugh’s attack go unanswered. If we intend to maintain our position, we must rally our own forces and beat the earth fae into submission before the winter season finishes. Once we have their forces under our control, it should be child’s play to conquer the Gaoth Aire and bring Ediria under one banner again.”
Cascada’s face darkened, but she said nothing as she turned back to the window. Prentis remained silent for a long moment as he mulled this over, trying to find the most tactful way to express his opinion on the matter.
“My Lady Aunt,” he finally said. “I am grateful for your support, and I very much want to be the next king of Ediria. I recognize we must unite the Houses in order for that to happen, but I don’t think killing thousands of earth and air fae is the answer. We cannot conquer Domhain and the Gaoth Aire without sustaining losses of our own, and given that they will not submit easily, our reign will be unstable and difficult to hold. It would be far better if we could work out a truce with Lord Oren and suggest a compromise with Lady Mossi.”
Prentis thought Lady Axlya would argue, but to his surprise, she nodded. “A truce would be ideal,” she admitted. “Perhaps if you agree to marry an eligible female from House Reatha, Lord Oren will be more amenable to continue the alliance. And if the two of us unite, it will be that much easier to convince Lady Mossi to stand down. But,” she warned, her expression darkening, “if they reject my proposal, we must prepare for war. I will not allow General Slaugh to march across my territory unchecked.”
“Agreed,” Prentis said. “I will order the border patrols to be strengthened.”
“Yes, and you will also prepare our troops for battle.” Lady Axlya’s eyes gleamed as she stared off into the distance, and something about that look made Prentis’s stomach clench. “Make sure to choose a terrain where we can use our strongest weapons.”
“Strongest weapons?” Cascada narrowed her eyes on her mother. “Surely you’re not considering the poison rain.”
