Felling Kingdoms (Book 5) (17 page)

“Shaun, amplifier-pattern and follow me.” He strode slowly out into the study with the three of them following in his wake, all still in a state of shock. Gabriel could hardly believe it himself.

Shaun matched his quickening stride and held the amplifier-pattern to his lips. They marched through the oddly-quiet anteroom where Lael should have been.

Gabriel held Shaun’s wrist steady. “Castle Jaden,” he announced, hearing his voice ringing through the buildings. “This is your Head Mage speaking.” He smiled and chuckled, hearing the lightness in his voice. It echoed around him which made him all the more giddy. “I’ve broken out of the Castrofax. Thank you for maintaining your calm in this difficult time. Your strength is a testament to our race. Infirmary, I’m coming to you.”

He released Shaun’s arm and continued to beam as people emerged from their rooms with shocked faces. They ran to the balcony to catch of glimpse of white. He could hear cheers and shouts of excitement as he descended the stairs. The infirmary was not too many buildings removed from the Lodge, and he wasted no time nor paused to shorten his stride. His legs felt even longer after Afton worked on them.

He was free.
‘Stars, I never thought I’d see it.’
Exuberant joy flowed in every fiber while rapture beat through his veins. He felt invincible.

“We need to get food in you,” Mikelle said behind him.

“Later.”

“No, now. You’re wasting the more you walk, and you have many people to heal. I’ll meet you in the infirmary.” She peeled off at the next set of stairs as if she never took a crippling wound.

He burst through the doors of the infirmary to the surprise of the yellow-clad healers. They pushed out of his way in shock and delight. Afton rushed up to walk beside him.

“My father first.”

With a nod she took a pinch of his shirt and pulled him down an adjoining hall into a small room lit with a single candle. A man sat beside him reading a book. He stood swiftly as Gabriel walked in.

“I don’t believe my eyes,” the man whispered.

Cordis laid with his eyes closed, his breath shallow and his eyes hollow. Gabriel wondered how terrible
he
looked after suffering the same fate. He stepped up beside Cordis and delved to feel for a heartbeat. It was shallow.

“He’s been comatose for a while. How will you wake him?” Afton asked quietly as she came to stand by his feet.

Gabriel soundly slapped Cordis’s cheek. The smack echoed in the room. “Father,” Gabriel commanded. He delved the back of his neck to feel horribly torn nerves within, completely severing the connections in between two vertebrae. Afton had healed the muscle and the bone, but nerves, especially spinal nerves, were utterly complicated.

Cordis’s eyes cracked open.

“Wake up,” Gabriel commanded again, and Cordis widened his lids in slow surprise. “Hello, father.”

“Gabriel?” he whispered. “What sick dream is this?”

“Don’t move that,” Gabriel said and put a hand on his forehead. “Tell me when you feel your hands.”

“What?” Cordis breathed, still in shock as Gabriel began laid complex white strings into his neck. He fueled the pattern and felt the drain of his energy, and he realized that moment how weak he truly was. His body had consumed all the energy it had left to keep him alive.

“I feel them,” Cordis said excitedly, raising his arms from under the blankets.

“Easy, easy,” Gabriel said and aligned the tiny nerves.

“How is this possible? How are you free? Oh, stars,” he breathed and wiggled his feet. “I can feel! I can feel everything.”

Gabriel straightened and felt the blood leave his head. Afton bodily pushed him into a chair and held his head between his knees with surprising strength.

“He broke t’ Castrofax, Councilman.”

“How?” Cordis pushed himself up.

“Please remain prone. Mikelle should be here any minute.”

“Let me see Lael next.”

“No life here was in danger but your father’s. You can go to Robyn before it is too late.”

“What’s wrong with Robyn?” Cordis asked.

“She’s marrying Virgil today,” Gabriel muttered and pushed himself up. “I will see Lael first. Forgive me, father, I wish I could stay.”

“Go, lad.”

Afton looked perturbed, but she released his neck and he stood, feeling renewed. He followed her out to a similar room.

Lael’s arm was in a sling across his stomach. His face was pale and his lips cracked open. Gabriel took a seat beside the bed and delved for the problems. He put his hand on Lael’s good shoulder and shook.

“Lael,” he called softly. Lael made no response, so Gabriel adjusted his delve to the brain. It was oxygen deprived as he suspected. “How much blood did he lose?”

“At least half.”

“So that means,” he looked up as he calculated, “he should have regained all his blood by now.”

He posed both hands over Lael’s head, elbows balanced on his knees as he bowed and closed his eyes. The brain was an amazing connection of a thousand-thousand nerves. All fired simultaneously for purposes he could never dream to understand. But he knew just enough to make him helpful.

He heard Mikelle’s soft step in the hall. “I brought food.”

Gabriel remained bowed as she and Afton discussed what his body could handle after a week of starvation. He inflated, renewed, and stitched Lael’s brain back to health slowly. The brain tingled under his touch, beginning to fire as connections were made. Gabriel finally opened his eyes and shook Lael’s shoulder again. “Lael.”

Lael’s eyes flew open, and he drew in a deep breath as his narrow blue eyes searched the room. He looked to Gabriel’s face. “Oh, stars, am I dead?”

“You are very much alive, my friend,” Gabriel said gently.

“What—what are you—how?”

Gabriel chuckled and steadied him. “Can you feel your hand?”

Lael raised his right and looked alarmed at his left one.

Gabriel smiled and seized Void. He pulled back the sheets and laid the reveal-pattern to see the wound Lael had taken stitched back together with Spirit. A wide V-shaped slash of white appeared from the middle of his collar bone to his nipple.

“Afton did a beautiful job putting you back together.” He looked over at the Gaelsin. “You regrew bone and flesh and muscle? I am impressed.”

“T’ank you, Head Mage.” She smiled.

He sank a delve to pinpoint the proper nerves and laced them up like he would a boot, watching Lael’s face for discomfort or new sensations. The Secondhand finally smiled and wiggled the fingers of his left hand.

Mikelle handed Gabriel a warm jug of broth. He downed it, never thinking food could taste so good.

“Dagan, Galloway, and Markus can wait. Go to Robyn,” Mikelle said. “Shaun and I will accompany you.”

“Wait, what happened?” Lael asked and grabbed Gabriel’s wrist. As much as Gabriel expected the sudden compression of his wrist to make him panic, he was surprisingly calm. It helped that he knew he held all the Castrofax in his possession.

“Robyn seems to be under the influence of Prince Virgil, and I think I know how. But when I heard all the news, I broke the Castrofax.”

Lael’s heartbroken face smiled. “I knew it could not hold you.”

“I’m glad someone did.” He stood slowly, food in his stomach making it hurt a little. “Rest. I can handle this from here. Oh, and we have Shaun to thank for keeping the castle from falling apart in our absence.”

Lael looked to the door. Shaun stood behind Mikelle giving quiet instructions to a man. “I will see he is given it.”

“Forgive me for not staying.” He turned and made for the hall, Mikelle and Shaun in his wake. Bending both elbows, his companions grabbed them as he shifted them towards Robyn.

Chapter 22

Robyn stood on the dais of the ballroom holding Virgil’s hands with a content smile on her face. All the while she screamed internal obscenities at the Prince who was about to become King.

Commander Thorne Ravenscroft read through the binding words with a steady deep voice. He looked back and forth between them with a curious expression. The few dignitaries that had been wrangled up last minute stood with oblivious smiles. They were just happy to be a part of the ceremony.

“…by the joining of your hands to join two lives, two hearts, and two kingdoms. As long as you live, it will be your greatest duty to keep—”

“HALT!” A voice rang through the ballroom. Robyn snapped her head towards the sound. Gabriel, Shaun, and Mikelle marched towards her.

‘Gabriel? Oh, my stars.’
Her face showed irritation, but her heart leapt within her chest.

Virgil released her hands with a horrified expression, grabbing for the sword on his hip.

“Shaun,” Gabriel said quietly, and the Gaelsin flicked his hands. The sword flew from Virgil’s hand, and the Prince suddenly seized up and did not move from the shoulders down.

Robyn faced Gabriel as he pushed through the small surprised crowd and took the stairs slowly. He looked so drawn, so much thinner, but his shoulders and chest were broader, if that was possible. Her heart thudded in her chest.

“Your Grace,” he said gently and extended his hand. She put her right hand in his, and with a smile he clamped his fist around it. He snapped his other hand up, grabbing her left hand with a knowing gaze. She had been given strict orders not to let anyone near the ring, so her face instantly contorted in anger as she tried to pull the left hand back.

“Shaun,” Gabriel called as Robyn took a step back. “Dearest, I do not have the strength to fight even you today.” Her body unexpectedly stopped its backward retreat as she felt something solid wrap around her legs.

“Stop this immediately!” she shouted. Thorne looked for Virgil’s sword, but Gabriel stopped him with a single glare. The people behind him seemed frightened and curious but did not flee or aid her. No one stood up to the Head Mage.

Gabriel held her left palm tightly in his thick hand and began to slide her rings off. She screamed and wrenched back, striking him with her right hand, but it froze inches from his face. He never paused to blink, pulling slender bands off her thumb and index finger, grasping the offending black contraption.

She was free as soon as it broke connection with her skin, and she burst into tears with a cry of relief. Her body came free from the unseen pattern, and she threw her arms around his neck, sobbing into his shoulder. For a moment it was just the two of them, the liberation palpable as he clutched her tightly.

Oh, how she missed him. She thought she would never see him alive again, yet here he stood.

“How?” she breathed as she released his neck. “How did you know?”

“I’ve had a lot of time to mull things over,” he replied, and turned to Virgil. He was pale-faced, his head hung.

“Let me handle this,” she cut in before Gabriel could, and she slowly approached the Prince. Virgil looked up and searched her face for mercy.

She had no words for him and certainly no mercy. Instead of upbraiding him eloquently, she drove her fist into his face. It hit with a solid crack, and she shook her hand loose as it smarted. The pain was worth it.

“Head Mage, this man captured me with a ring Arch Mage Maxine Flint gave him, a ring designed to prevent my will from usurping his. I have been under his control since we left Arconia. He also took my hinge ring and bound you in the Castrofax.” She looked vehemently at Virgil. He bled from his nose. “Did I miss anything?”

Virgil knew there was no escaping, and he did not try. “No, Your Grace.”

Gabriel looked at the man for a long time and quirked his head. “I saved your life, Prince. Robyn signed a peace treaty to protect your kingdom. Why would you do this to us?”

“I…I wanted what you had, and this was the way.”

“Because of your cowardice I have lost three Council Members to an attack. One of them was my own mother! By my incarceration in the Castrofax and my inability to move, I was unable to prevent this. Explain to me how this was a good idea.”

“I wanted her!” Virgil shouted. “I love her, and she would not have me.”

Gabriel gritted his jaw and turned to the crowd still gathered. “Leave us.” He took slow steps to Virgil, sending Thorne to the back of the dais with a glance. “Did you violate her?” he hissed quietly.

“No.”

He looked to Robyn. “Does he speak the truth?”

“He does.”

“Then I will end you painlessly.”

Virgil looked at Robyn, remorse painting his face. “Please forgive me,” he whispered.

She parted her lips to further damn him when Gabriel looked away and rubbed his eyes. Blinking rapidly in alarm, his lips pulled back over his teeth.

“Maxine!” Gabriel suddenly shouted.

Virgil vanished.

Gabriel closed the gap and grabbed Robyn’s hand. He seized Void, turning her view of the world an afterimage of reality. With a motion of his free hand, Shaun and Mikelle rushed to connect with his shoulders. Both flicked their fingers together. A shimmering shield rose around them as an uncurling laugh filled the ballroom.

A strikingly stunning woman suddenly appeared before him. Her hand gripped Virgil’s elbow. She dressed in a skin-tight gown with a neckline that plunged halfway to her navel, displaying her ample bosom. She stood with a seductive tilt to her hips and smiled with painted lips. A network of curls tossed about her shoulders.

‘This is Maxine?’
Robyn thought,
‘Stars above, how did Gabriel resist her?’

“Gabriel,” she smiled, fixing cool blue eyes on him. “I thought you were busy on your back.”

“You know a lot about that.”

Shaun looked at Gabriel with wide eyes. “No, not her,” Gabriel whispered.

“Your loss, mate.”

“Turn him over, Maxine.”

The shapely woman tittered beautifully. “This one belongs to me now. I did him more than just a favor, and he performed satisfactorily. He’s under my protection.” Virgil did not even bother retorting, defeated.

“No one can protect him from
me
,” Gabriel countered.

She smiled, and her body gave a shiver. “I have so missed you, Gabriel. We never did finish that night in your room.”

The world blurred as Gabriel shot them out of the palace before Maxine could continue. Shaun slowly looked at Gabriel with a grin he tried to restrain. “Care to eplain?”

“She had something I needed.”

“She has somet’in’ we all need, mate.”

Mikelle wacked the back of his head. “Not like that.”

“As you say,” Shaun grinned.

They arrived in Gabriel’s study a minute later, holding tight to Robyn’s hand still.

“You need more food,” Mikelle announced. “What sounds appetizing?”

“Bacon,” Robyn answered for him.

“You can have soup without bacon.”

“Soup sounds wonderful,” Gabriel replied and drew Robyn to a chair as he sank into it. Mikelle dragged Shaun out of the room, and Gabriel pulled Robyn onto his lap. Wrapping his arms around her waist, he laid his head on her breast.

He sat in silence for a long while. “You look beautiful today,” he whispered after a while. She ran her fingers through his raven locks, breaking his curls and creating her own. She breathed him in with her eyes closed, still in a state of shock.

“How did you do it?”

He looked up, his deep blue eyes drawing her in. “You were getting married. I had to stop it.”

“You snapped the Castrofax?” she breathed.

“Into a thousand pieces.”

She stroked his cheek. “For me?”

He nodded solemnly.

She gripped his jaw and brought his lips to hers, losing herself to him. His hands released her waist and found her face and hair, twining them even closer. It was only a matter of time before she pushed him to the floor tangled up in his limbs, but she refused to surrender his lips to him just yet.

She hardly heard Mikelle walk in to set down the tray with a giggle and leave.

He was parched and gasping by the time she released him. “Stars, I missed you,” he breathed, staring at the ceiling. One leg still propped up on the chair.

She pushed herself up, one hand on his chest. “How is it you got broader despite confined to a bed?”

“Afton. She ripped and restored the muscles to keep me from wasting away. It seemed everyone knew I would break out but me.”

She poked him. “I like this.”

He pushed himself up as she climbed off him, but he remained seated on the floor looking pale, so she fetched the cooling soup for him. “You are still weak.”

He took the bowl and nodded, leaning against the side of the desk. “And I have the rest of the Council to heal before sundown.” He quietly sipped the soup and stared at the wall as she sat in the chair beside him. “Virgil,” he muttered, chewing on a chuck of potato. “I never thought I’d add him to my list.”

“It was very surprising.”

“How did it happen?”

“He gave me the ring and asked me to wear it. I refused, but he attacked me and stuck it on.”

“Did you suspect beforehand?”

“
Right
before, yes. We went for a ride the day before and were ambushed. He was wounded and not able to ride that night. I was so flustered I was blind to his true intentions.”

Gabriel had paused, a full spoon halfway to his parted lips. “Was not able to ride? What kind of wound?”

“To the hip.”

He lowered the bowl. “Where?” he asked in an exasperated tone.

She stooped to point to his hip.

“So you slept in the tundra? Why did you not summon me?”

“I did! You were busy.”

He ran a palm down his face. “So he was ambushed, wounded, and spent the night sleeping next to you.”

She cringed. “It sounds worse when you say it out loud.”

“No,” he held a hand up to halt her rising voice. “I’m not mad at you. It sounds like a suspicious ambush.”

Robyn leaned back. “You don’t think….”

“Often, and certainly at this time.”

“You think he
arranged
his own attack?”

“To get you to stitch him in a precarious place and have no means of escape that night? I’ve seen soldiers ride with busted limbs and gashes the size of your hands. He could have ridden.”

She put a hand on her head. “I…feared that was the case, but I was flustered at the time and not thinking straight.”

“Are you always flus—”

“Don’t say it!” she jabbed her toe in his thigh. He grinned and went back to his soup, drifting off into his thoughts. “I so am sorry about Aisling.”

He nodded and swallowed. “I am going to kill them. As soon as I’m stronger, I’m going after Challis. I’m bringing Arch Mage heads back with me. I’ve dallied too long, and it cost three people their lives.” He finished the last bite of the soup and set it above him on the desk. “For now, I need to put the Council back together.”

He slowly climbed to his feet and strode to the tray Mikelle brought, downing the flask of water. “Water never tasted so sweet.”

“You starved yourself, didn’t you?”

He shrugged as he turned. “Would you want to live like that? I couldn’t…. I want to keep you here for a while. Aisling had your hinge ring, yes? I’ll get it back.” He leaned down to give her a kiss. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For still being mine.”