Heir of Pendel (A Pandoran Novel, #4) (29 page)

I slipped inside and shut the door behind me. I took two steps forward when something sharp dug into my back.

"Not another move, princess," Isla said.

17

ALEXANDER

T
he walk back to the Venias' was quiet. Even though I was glad Lord Dommelier had agreed to reforge the sword, I hadn't realized how much I'd hoped for his help in this war until he'd refused it.

We were almost at his father's front door when Ehren said, "Alexander…I'm sorry my uncle refused to help."

"It's not your fault," I said. "You're already doing more for us than I could hope."

Ehren pushed the door in and led me inside. The front room was cozy and warm, and a fire burned off to one side, equipped with a cooking spit, where Lif Venia, Ehren's father, was setting a kettle upon a hot stone. I didn't see Vera or Thaddeus anywhere.

Hearing us, Lif looked up. "Ah, there you are. I wondered how long my brother would keep you." Lif set his hot pads on a small table.

"Father, you remember Aegis Alexander Del Conte?" Ehren asked.

Lif looked over at me. At first glance, it wasn't obvious the two were related. Where Lif was bent with humility, Ehren was as strong and sharp as a well-honed blade. I wondered if it bothered Lif that his only son had chosen the path of a warrior over being Imbdell's healer, as he was. No doubt Ehren had been influenced by his uncle, being that his uncle didn't have a son of his own.

"Of course, I remember Aegis Del Conte," Lif said, "though it's been quite a few years, and apparently quite a few inches." He extended his hand.

I accepted it. "Thank you so much for taking us into your home."

He dipped his head in a bow. "It is my pleasure, though I am sorry for the circumstances."

"How is she doing?" I asked, anxious.

His gaze slid past me and settled on a closed door near the hearth. "There was a lot of poison in her body. You're lucky Ehren found you when he did, but even so…" He looked back at me. "If she makes it through the night, she'll be all right."

My thoughts screeched to a sudden halt.
If she made it through the night?

Lif's gaze intensified in solemn confirmation of my unasked question.

I raked a hand through my hair. I'd assumed Vera would be stable, now that she was in Lif's capable hands. Vera was always so strong—so indomitable—I hadn't
truly
believed her wound could be fatal.

"May I see her?" I asked.

"She's just through there." Lif waved a hand at the closed door. "Thaddeus is in there with her. He hasn't left her side."

"I'll wait out here," Ehren said.

I walked to the door and paused to listen, but the room beyond was silent. I placed my hand on the door, eased it open a crack, and peered inside. A waft of lemon and cedar touched my nose. Thaddeus sat in a chair beside the bed where Vera lay. He was sitting in it backwards, straddling it with his arms folded over the chair's back, chin resting on his hands, just looking at her, deep in thought. This rare display of solemnity ran in stark contrast to his usual sarcastic self. Sensing me, he glanced over his shoulder. He sat up straight, unfolded his arms, and waved me inside. I slipped into the room and closed the door behind me.

It was a small space, but not too small. Just enough for a bed, a chair, and a table covered with a few linens, a poultice jar, and some other unidentifiable medicinal items and herbs. Vera lay in the bed, sound asleep, but she didn't look like the Vera I knew.

This Vera was weak and fragile, skin whiter than the sheets she lay in and eyes sunken in dark caves. The hair around her head was wet with perspiration and her lips were still tinged blue. Her wounded leg lay wrapped on top of the sheets, and there was a dark stain of blood in the linen wrappings. She lay there like a corpse, and I had to watch her chest for a few moments to make sure she really was breathing.

All because she'd insisted on helping me with this suicidal mission.

My guilt expanded with my next breath. "How is she?" I whispered.

"Not good," Thaddeus answered. "Lif's given her a heavy dose of analgesics and a hypnotic, so she shouldn't be uncomfortable, at least. He did some crazy hocus pocus over the wound I've never seen before. He said he removed all the poison, but it was in her body for so long that…that some of her organs started shutting down…" His voice trembled as he spoke. "He said they're all working now, but she's so weak…he's done all he can, and now its up to her."

We were both quiet. The little flame in the lantern on the table flickered. I wanted to tell him it would be okay—that she would make it because she was a fighter. I wanted to tell him because I wanted to hear it too, but the truth was I didn't know. Not by looking at her right then. Actually, looking at her made me think she would not be okay.

Vera turned her head and whimpered. It was such a sad sound, full of so much pain and misery, it made my insides knot together. Thaddeus placed a hand on her forehead, scowled, then snatched a linen from the table, dipped it in the poultice jar and lay it across her forehead. Vera whimpered again.

"Shh," Thaddeus whispered, brushing the sticky hair back from her face. "It's all right, just try to relax."

She moaned again, and then her body convulsed. It convulsed again, more strongly this time.

Thaddeus cursed. "Alex!"

I was already at his side, helping him untangle her from the sheets, while she jerked and twitched and thrashed as if possessed by some demon. A tremor moved through her wounded leg, then spread through her body. Thaddeus and I watched, helpless, while her back arched away from the mattress and she ground her teeth as if she was bent in unbearable pain. As quickly as the seizure had set, it stopped, and her body sagged back onto the mattress. Her head rolled to the side, and fresh beads of sweat glistened across her brow. Thaddeus put his cheek to her face, his brow knit together.

"Breathing?" I asked.

He glanced up at me. "Weakly."

"I'll take over from here," Lif said from behind me. I hadn't even heard him enter the room.

His face was impassive as he studied his patient. I didn't know if he was usually so inscrutable while working, or if he was doing it strictly for our benefit. I hoped it was the former.

"She just had a seizure," Thaddeus said, looking darkly at Lif.

"I saw," Lif replied. "And she'd be better served if you left the room for a while."

"
Better served
?" Thaddeus looked murderous. "Clearly, your potions are upsetting her balance!"

"No,
you
are upsetting her balance," Lif replied calmly, then glanced over at me with begging eyes.

"Thaddeus," I said.

"No." Thaddeus shook his head with the swing of a pendulum. "I'm not leaving this room. Whatever you've given her is too strong."

"Whatever I've given her is necessary for her survival," Lif said, taking a seat in the chair Thaddeus had occupied.

"She's stronger than you think!" Thaddeus said.

"On the outside, perhaps."

Thaddeus scowled. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Thaddeus,
please
," I urged.

He looked at me like a rabid dog. "He's going to kill her!"

"No, he's trying to
help
her."

Thaddeus opened his mouth to argue when Vera whimpered again. His shoulders sagged as he looked over at her. "Fine," he relented. "But if anything happens to her, I'm holding you responsible. Got it, Hocus Pocus?" He pointed at Lif with a very straight index finger.

Lif didn't notice, nor did he look much like he cared. He was too busy mixing ingredients in the crucible on the nightstand.

I pushed Thaddeus out of the room and closed the door behind us. Ehren glanced up from the table, where he ate from a bowl, looked between Thaddeus and me, and gestured to a pair of double doors in back of the room. I nodded gratefully at Ehren and led Thaddeus through the doors and out onto an open and covered veranda equipped with a few chairs. Thaddeus walked straight to the railing and leaned against it with his back to the house, while I sat down in one of the chairs.

"Why don't you sit down," I suggested.

He didn't respond. He was coiled like a spring, glaring at the forest beyond. I'd never seen him like this before, and then I remembered he'd called me by my first name back in Vera's room. He'd never called me by my first name before. Ever.

"Do you think she's going to make it?"

He'd spoken so quietly it took me a moment to figure out what he'd said. I swallowed and said, "I don't know."

He fisted his hands on the railing, clenched his jaw, and looked away from me, and he didn't say another word. We stayed like that for a long time, him leaning against the railing while I sat there making sure he didn't do something drastic, like jump off. At some point he growled, startling me, and plopped down in the chair opposite me. He pinched the bridge of his nose as if he had a massive headache.

"Please, distract me," he moaned. "I can't take this anymore. Why don't you tell me about your conversation with Lord Frosty?"

I sighed and leaned back in the chair. "It's not good news, either."

"I don't care."

"All right." I crossed my ankle over my knee. "Well…he's fixing the sword."

"And?"

"And…that's it."

Thaddeus removed his hand from his face and looked over at me. "What do you mean, that's it?"

"That's it. He won't help us fight the shadowguard."

A pause. "You're kidding."

"Do I look like I’m kidding?"

Another pause. "That egotistical, narcissistic, smug son-of-a sprite. Who does he think he is?"

"Mm, the Lord of the Arborenne?"

"Does he actually think he's going to be safe in the trees? He's going to need a lot more than bark and fairy dust to protect him from my pops."

"He doesn't seem to think so," I said.

Thaddeus folded his arms over his chest with an exaggerated harrumph. "Then he's an idiot."

"Careful." I peeked over my shoulder. "His people are very loyal to him."

"So, what now?" he asked. "That's why you came here, isn't it? To get Lord Dommelier to follow you into battle? Because whatever that sword represents, it's not going to bring you victory just because you're holding it, and if you think it will, you're about as bright as a new moon. You need an army behind you."

"I know that," I said. "This…getting Lord Dommelier's help was only a small piece of my plan."

Thaddeus glared at me, waiting.

"Once…" I hesitated. "Once Vera recovers, I'm going to Alioth."

Thaddeus leaned forward with his elbows on his knees. "What the blazes is this '
I'
crap?"

"You know how strong Vera is, Thaddeus, and look what this is doing to her."

His jaw clenched and his gaze fell to his hands.

"This is too close," I said. "I can't let either of you die for me—for this. From this point on, I go alone."

Thaddeus picked up a bronze coaster off the end table and chucked it at me.

I barely caught it before it hit me square in my temple. "Hey!"

"That's for being a bloody idiot. You're not doing this alone, Del Can't."

"Yes." I leveled my eyes on him. "I am."

"No, you're not." He leveled his right back. "Why do you always act like it's your fault when someone gets hurt?"

"I'm not acting. It
is
my fault."

"Right, so does this mean you also take all the credit when we win?"

"No…?"

"Then why do you always take all the blame when we lose?"

I opened my mouth and closed it again. I couldn't believe it: Thaddeus actually had a good point.

"What happened to V…she'll pull through. She has to." He hesitated, wringing his hands together. "But…it was her choice. Just as it's our choice to keep going with you."

"What about
my
choice to go alone?"

He grumbled. "When your choice doesn't involve certain death, then maybe I'll agree. Until then, consider this intervention, and if I hear you say the word 'I' again, I'll punch you in the face. So. Back to what
we
are doing once V recovers. Did I hear you say Alioth?"

I sighed and rested my elbows on my knees and folded my hands together. "Yes."

He tilted his head, puzzled. "As in the territory my pop's shadowguard just decimated?"

"The very one."

"You been smoking callaberry root, Del Can't? Which part of decimated don't you understand? It's the 'mated' part, isn't it? I know…it throws me off too."

"Thaddeus, there's no way Eris destroyed
all
of Alioth in the short amount of time he passed through. Those lands are broad—deceptively so—and the people are scattered. I know. I've spent a lot of time there, and I've got family there, remember?"

His eyes and mouth flat-lined.

"I need to see if they made it—if they're all right. There
have
to be survivors. The people of Alioth are like spores—living so far north has made them that way. They've got a nearly indestructible outer layer that helps them survive even the deadliest conditions. I'm betting your father underestimated the people of Alioth, just like he's underestimated Daria, and the people of Gesh, and…
you
." I leaned forward. "I'm betting on your father's arrogance."

Thaddeus chewed on his bottom lip, thoughtful. "Well, I'm not so sure about everything else you just said, but that last bit about my pop's arrogance is a safe bet. So." He leaned back in his chair, stretched his legs, and crossed his ankles. "Let me get this straight: You intend to march into Alioth under the Morts' noses, meet up with your family, round up men from the surviving villages and reconstruct a new army while simultaneously defeating the one that's there?"

I mulled over his summary. "That sounds about right."

Thaddeus stared at me a long moment. "You know, Del Can't, I've always admired your tenacity, but
are you mad
? Maybe I
should
punch you in the face. Consider it preventative maintenance that hopefully knocks some sense into you. You can't just march in there like that! Not even you, and you know I'd bet on you any day. My pops left about a thousand men in Alioth—most of them Morts. Del Can't…" His chair creaked as he leaned toward me, his gaze intent and earnest. "You should be running in the other direction."