Heir of Pendel (A Pandoran Novel, #4) (54 page)

I turned back to Nexus. "We have to go. Today. We need to—"

And do what, my little petulant one?

The voice cracked through my skull, and I winced. Apparently I'd reached my daily ESP limit. "I don't know." The headache pulsed then faded. "Something. We can't stay here and wait for Lord Pontefract to hand over the stone. I'm surprised Eris hasn't just taken it already."

It's not as if he's needed it yet. He's done plenty of damage without it, and right now, I imagine he's more preoccupied with ridding of one last threat before setting his sights on Earth.

"Gesh?" I asked.

No, not Gesh. Gesh has already been headed off by shadowguard, and by the time they reach Valdon—if they reach Valdon—they won't have the strength to prove very effective.

Mercedes was coming. I needed to believe she'd come through alive. "Then who?" I asked. "Who's even left?"

Another beat.
I believe you are well acquainted with him.

Nexus sounded smug, and I felt suddenly wary. "Nexus, who are you talking about?"

Nexus yawned, and all I could see through the cave entrance was his wide-open jaws and rows of pointed teeth.
The young prince, the last of the Estroians and the rightful heir of Pendel: Alexander Del Conte.

35

ALEXANDER

"S
pirits, it's freezing out there!" Thaddeus plopped down opposite me, raked a hand through his hair, and little flakes of snow showered all over the table.

I raised my brow. He lifted one edge of cloth from the basket of rolls, stole one, and took a huge bite.

"Help yourself," I said.

He smiled, showing his teeth and quite a few bits of bread.

I sighed and grabbed a roll.

"How's it going with the hatchet man?" Thaddeus asked, mouth full of food.

Thaddeus had nicknamed Abel, the smithy, "Hatchet Man" once Abel had kicked Thaddeus out of his shop. In Abel's defense, Thaddeus had ruined a handful of swords after pouring some concoction into the furnace to make the flames hotter.

I eyed Thaddeus as I took a bite. "Fine. Any new recruits today?"

Since we'd taken the city of Astor almost two weeks ago, we'd sent ravens to the other territories, instructing the people of Gaia to prepare should they need to flee to the portals. We'd also sent ravens to the villages throughout Alioth, informing the people as to what had happened and asking for any able-bodied men and women to assemble in Astor as soon as possible. As soon as possible ended up not being very soon at all, because a blizzard hit.

Thaddeus shoved the rest of the roll in his mouth and grabbed my scotch to wash it down. "Yep." He wiped his mouth. "Two dozen—all from Durstang. V was showing them to their temporary quarters when I left."

"I'm surprised you left her alone with that many Nordic men."

He snorted. "Come on. It's V. They'd have better luck making a pass at a gargon. Probably better chance of survival, too."

The waitress set down my plate of mutton, which Thaddeus promptly dragged to his side of the table and started eating.

"I was going to eat that, you know," I said.

The door opened and Vera stepped inside, covered in snow like Thaddeus had been. Vera saw us and walked over, and Thaddeus scooted over to let her sit beside him. She did.

She eyed the half-empty plate of mutton, then whacked Thaddeus on the back of the head.

"Hey!" he exclaimed. "What was that for?"

"Your complete absence of manners," she snapped.

"But I
was
going to offer you some!" He rubbed his head as if it actually hurt.

The waitress appeared. "Can I get you anything, miss?"

Vera leaned back in her seat and marginally shook her head.

"What about you?" the waitress asked Thaddeus.

He shook his head, shoving another forkful in his mouth. The waitress looked at me, and her cheeks completely filled with blood. Thaddeus kicked me beneath the table. I didn't look at him.

"May I have another plate?" I asked.

She smiled and blinked a little more than necessary. "Of course. Anything else?"

"No, that's all. Thank you," I said. She left, and I turned back to Thaddeus and Vera. "So have we finally heard back from all the villages?"

Thaddeus washed down his bite with another swig of
my
scotch. "Think so. We still haven't heard back from Kurst, but being that they're on the way to Valdon, Lord Tosca doesn't seem too concerned. The only thing left is for this bloody storm to move on."

I was anxious to head for Valdon, although we'd needed every second of our time here to prepare for war while healing our injured—including Lord Tosca. We also needed to give Gesh and Pendel time to arrive at our rallying point: Rex Cross. I'd sent word to both Lady Mercedes and Sir Torren via Ravenshelm's ravens, but I worried about Sir Torren. I remembered what Mistress Astaire Dothrai had said back in Yosemite, about how Campagna would be waiting for Sir Torren and his men on their shores. I prayed to the spirits Sir Torren made it through.

But I was also anxious because of Daria. Ever since I'd taken Nightshade from Lord Cethin, I'd been anxious. It'd been hard enough knowing Daria was with Danton, but at least I'd known she was safe in Bristol, Orindor's capital. The fact that Lord Cethin had taken her blade meant Denn's words had been true: Daria
had
fled Orindor. I carried that knowledge with me every second of every day. Yes, she'd displayed a great deal of power in Karth, and yes, I'd completely underestimated her, but she didn't know the layout of this world, and the idea of her wandering through it, alone, terrified me.

"Hey." It was Thaddeus. His voice had gone quiet, and when I looked back at him, his face was serious. "We'll find her. I'm sure of it."

"He's right, you know," Vera said. "You need to have a little more faith in her."

I rubbed my thumbs together. "I have all the faith in the world in her. That doesn't mean I don't fear for her. That doesn't mean I don't want to be there for her."

Vera stared at me a long moment. "Actually, I think you've always needed
her
to be there for
you
."

"Which is why I'm clearly the better man, here." Thaddeus looked at Vera, all smugness. "I've always known how much I've needed you." He shoved a huge bite of mutton in his smiling mouth.

Vera whacked him on the head again, but this time she hit him so hard, he choked on his food.

He coughed, pounding a fist against his chest, and then swallowed his bite down. "Bloody hell, V, would you knock it off…?"

"When you stop being an idiot. So probably never."

The waitress brought a new plate of mutton, this one practically overflowing. And she set down a full glass of scotch beside me.

"May I get you three anything else?" Though the question was addressed to "you three," she looked only at me.

"No, thanks." I gave her a tight smile. Vera kicked me under the table. The waitress left, and I made a face at Vera. "Remind me never to sit across from you two again. For some reason, both of your legs are spring-loaded."

"Don't encourage her," Vera hissed.

"I'm not encouraging her," I said, cutting into the hot slab of mutton. "I'm being polite."

"Why?"

I looked up at Vera. "Why what?"

"Why be polite? You don’t really give a Nord's hide about her, so why pretend you do?"

"You already know you and I have very different philosophies on the subject of humanity." I took a bite.

Thaddeus yawned and stretched, then slid his arm slowly across the bench's back and behind Vera's head.

"And I still think you're ridiculous," Vera said, folding her arms and leaning back. "It's a waste of your energy. It's not like you're going to be seeing her again after we leave this frozen hell."

Thaddeus glanced sideways at her, bemused. "Frozen. Hell." A pause. "Huh."

She glared at him. She didn't say anything about his arm, though.

"
Anyway
," I said. "I'd like to leave for Rex Cross tomorrow."

"But what about the storm?" Thaddeus asked.

"What about the storm?" I shoved another bite in my mouth.

Thaddeus removed his arm from behind Vera's head and rested both forearms on the table as he leaned forward. "We can't possibly travel in this."

"Who says?" I asked.

"I says. We'll all freeze to death."

"
You
might." I swallowed my bite. "These are Nords. They're used to this weather. It might slow them down a bit, but they can handle it. They're healthy enough by now, and our supplies are ready. Besides, the storm would be excellent cover, and if we meet any shadowguard along the way, we'd clearly have the advantage of surprise."

Thaddeus opened his mouth to say something, probably argue, but closed it. The wood creaked as he leaned back in the booth.

"You said yourself we've already heard back from all of Alioth's viable resources," I reminded him.

Thaddeus drummed his fingers on the table. "Yeah. So?"

"
So
, it does us no good to sit here and wait. In fact, I would argue our odds grow infinitely worse the longer we do."

"But you haven't heard back from Mercedes or Sir Torren," he said.

"I heard back from Mercedes."

He looked offended. "And when were you going to tell me?"

"Mm, about now, actually."

His eyes narrowed in irritation. "And…?"

I had Vera's complete attention. "
And
it was a short confirmation. Gesh will meet us at Rex Cross."

"She didn't say her current position?"

"Of course not, you dolt," Vera said with a tone that made me think she might whack him on the head again.

He folded his arms. "What about Sir Torren?"

"Nothing yet."

"And this doesn't concern you?"

"A little, but at some point we have to get moving," I said. Truth was, I was very concerned by Sir Torren's silence. I'd sent word to both him and Mercedes over a week ago, and I should've heard from him by now. But we really couldn't afford to give Eris any more time. Once he got that stone, assuming he didn't have it already, our chances of overcoming him were almost impossible.

"Have you talked this over with Lord Tosca?" Thaddeus asked.

"I'm planning to, right after I finish up here."

"Think he'll agree?"

"I couldn't agree more," Lord Roderik Tosca said before I'd even finished explaining. "And who knows how long this confounded storm will last. We could be waiting until summer."

"That was my thought as well," I said, looking over at Thaddeus, who made a face and rolled his eyes. "But what I wanted to know is if
you
are feeling up to it," I continued. "I don't want to put you at any more risk than necessary." Which was true, but I also needed Lord Tosca to be all right—we needed him. His magic as a lord would be invaluable and essential in this fight.

"You're certain Gesh and Pendel are willing to fight?"

"Yes, my lord," I said. "Lady Mercedes Bellona was assimilating her warriors last I saw of her in Mosaque, and I received confirmation two days ago saying she'll join us in Rex Cross. I haven't heard from Sir Torren of Pendel yet, but he was readying his ships as we left. Optimally, I'd like a confirmation from him as well, but I'm afraid the longer we wait here, the stronger Eris grows. Especially since we don't know what Lord Pontefract intends to do with the unity stone."

He thought this over. "And Alioth's survivors have all responded?"

At this question, I looked pointedly at Thaddeus. Thaddeus sighed and took a step forward, entering the conversation against his will. "Yes, my lord. We have about a thousand in total, and we just received two dozen men from Durstang. All that's left is Kurst."

Lord Tosca waved his hand as if that detail was irrelevant. He wasn't wearing his jewels anymore. "We'll pass them along the way, anyhow. I'm sure Sir Mannick is waiting for us." Lord Tosca eyed Thaddeus up and down, then looked at me. "And you trust him?" He was referring to Thaddeus.

Somehow, in some way, Lord Tosca must have learned of Thaddeus's heritage. I hesitated, then looked over at Thaddeus, who looked genuinely—if not a little apprehensively—interested in my answer. "Yes." I looked back at Lord Tosca. "I do."

Lord Tosca nodded once and stared back out the window. He was the ghost of his former self. Healers had done wonders to his physical person, but he suffered from wounds that ran much deeper.

"Then we will do as you say," Lord Tosca said. "We will set out tomorrow at dusk. I may rely upon you to continue overseeing the preparations?"

"Yes, my lord," I said.

He looked at me over his shoulder. "Roderik."

I looked at him in question.

"You took great risk to yourself in coming here, Alexander, to do for my people what I could not. You've acted more their lord than I ever have, and I will never forget that. And Alexander…"

I waited.

"I won't be going."

We were frozen to the bone, sitting and huddled together at our camp for the night, when Thaddeus said, "I mean, what am I? Chopped liver?"

"Do you really want me to answer that?" Vera asked.

Thaddeus
harrumphed
. "It's not exactly like you came alone."

"Tell me about it," I murmured.

Thaddeus ignored my slight. "We've been with you every step of the way, but
nooooooo
.
You're
the one everyone respects and admires."

"There's a reason for that, you know," Vera said.

"I'm not asking for much," Thaddeus said. "Just a little pat on the back would be nice. Is that so much to ask?"

Vera rolled her eyes but grinned.

"In all seriousness, though, I hope you know I
am
thankful you came," I said, looking between them. "Both of you. I couldn't have done any of this without your help."

Thaddeus looked at me. I expected him to smart-off, so it surprised me when he nodded and said, "You're welcome." A thoughtful pause. "But I
would
like a statue erected in my honor—if we get through this."