The Broken Kingdoms of Osvolta (Kingdoms of Osvolta #1)

38. Under Storm Covered Darkness

Chapter thirty-eight

Under Storm Covered Darkness

W inds ripped at ancient stonework. Icy rain battered against shutters as a ferocious tempest blew in from the Eastern Ocean. Only the flames of the strongest pyromancers kept Marrelin City from plunging into unearthly darkness, whilst the storm roiled, an insatiable, mythical beast.

Citizens took refuge in their ramshackle homes, many still not shored up for the coming winter. Desperately trying to prevent their dwellings from flooding. Those who lived close to the riverbanks wouldn’t sleep that night.

Yet through the howling wind and sheeting rain, a lone figure raced across the rooftops. The storm afforded them more cover than they would normally have from darkness alone. When they reached their target, they tore a pair of shutters open, and two smaller figures crawled out of the compact frame, escaping into the night with the taller one. They raced through barren city streets, their footsteps sloshing through the already ankle- deep water. The wind at their backs pushing them along. None spoke, not even as they reached the city wall, and a fourth figure emerged from the shadows. They took a swift route up the wall, pulling the smaller ones with them, cresting over the top and disappearing into the long black night.

It would be morning before anyone realised anything was amiss.

Prince Emmerich stood by the rattling shutters. The hinges groaning as they tried to hold on to the wall that the wind was determined to rip them from. A blue fire crackled in the hearth behind him as he listened to the storm ravage the unsuspecting city below. Nursing a crystal glass filled with whiskey that burned his throat, chasing away the chill in his heart and bones.

They were waiting for dinner to be brought up before they would settle in for a long night. Studying the book Solveig had been reading and the notes she had hurriedly made. Wrenn sat across the room as close to the fire as she could get. In a plush armchair nursing an ice-cold glass of ale, the glass weeping with condensation.

They were used to storms like this. As the clouds had darkened over the city, they had seen many elementals racing out into the streets. Watching as they aimed their magic toward the sky, trying to halt it in its tracks. Though their efforts only angered the storm further. In Elithiend, they left storms to build and pass as nature saw fit. Their homes and palaces built to withstand them; ships moored tight in the harbour to prevent extensive damage. They saw storms as nature’s way of resetting.

A knock rapped against the door. Wrenn jumped to her feet when a familiar face entered the room, a trolley laden with food in tow.

Teris.

“What are you doing here?” Wrenn exclaimed, tears shining in her eyes as she ran across the room. Wrapping Teris in a tight embrace, she buried her face in the warm crook of her neck as the prince watched on from the window.

“I’m a servant in the castle,” Teris whispered, holding Wrenn, stroking her hair softly, inhaling in her scent that she had missed more than anything. “My mistress is not in residence for the evening. As such, I’ve been deployed elsewhere.” She placed a kiss atop the commander’s deep brown hair, eyes squeezing tight, as the weight of their time apart crashed down around them.

But the prince came alive at her words as he demanded, “where is she?”

Teris’s head shot up as she rested her chin on Wrenn’s hair. “She’s a princess, Your Highness. She doesn’t need to tell anyone of her comings and goings, especially not her servant.”

Emmerich slammed a hand against the cold stone wall. He was a fool, a damned fool. Whilst he had been trying to woo her to see his side; she had been plotting a way to escape. Wrenn, the stupid, impulsive fucker, had given the princess exactly the opening she had needed to keep them away.

“This is on you!” Emmerich shouted, as he drained the rest of his whiskey, making to exit the room.

“Your Highness, if I may,” Teris called, trying to go after him, but Wrenn kept a tight grip on her.

“No! Teris,” the prince fired back, “you chose to come here, and my family pays you handsomely to watch them and report back whenever you can. And yet here you stand, telling me that the princess is somewhere out there in that beastly storm doing gods know what.”

“Is it concern for her, or for what she may do that has you worried?” Wrenn said flatly, finally raising her face from Teris’s neck.

“Excuse me?”

“I saw you two today, in the library, gazing into each other’s eyes. I never would have told you to get closer to her had I known how close you already were.”

“Watch your tone, Commander. You allowed your assumptions to cloud your judgment when we’re still no closer to figuring out what’s going on here,” Emmerich shouted, taking a step closer. Wrenn moved to stand in front of Teris, blocking her from the prince’s view.

“Sit your arse in that chair Anders, you’re gonna eat some food, and together.” She gestured between the three of them. “We’re going to go over these notes and see what Princess Pain unwittingly left behind for us.”

“I can’t stay,” Teris said, leaning around Wrenn, gripping her hand tight with a sad smile. Wrenn twisted, taking her face in their hands. “I haven’t laid eyes on you in two years, and by chance I get to accompany this self-righteous idiot into enemy lands and even then, all I get is crumbs.”

“I volunteered for this Wrenn,” Teris whispered, leaning her forehead against the commanders, “I knew what I was getting myself into.”

“I want you home.”

“And I will return when the work is done.”

“Lady Teris,” the prince whispered, “your sacrifice does not go unnoticed, believe me, but you must understand the importance of your work. We cannot afford to slacken now. Is there anything else you haven’t told us?”

Teris’s eyes flew to the ground as she turned to face the prince, guilt warring in her heart and mind as she worried her bottom lip. Wrenn’s hand, never leaving hers, squeezed in silent comfort.

“What is it?”

“It’s not my place, nor my story to tell,” she whispered.

“You’re keeping secrets for her now?” Emmerich exclaimed in disbelief.

“It’s not like that,” Teris fired back. “I know she’s done terrible things, but this is different. Please understand, my prince.”

“Don’t force me to question where your loyalties lie.”

“Her loyalties are with us, as they have always been,” Wrenn declared, pulling Teris closer to her.

“I should go,” Teris whispered, but Wrenn’s arms banded around her as she buried her face in her neck once more.

“I miss you,” she whispered, pressing a kiss to the fluttering beat of her heart in her neck, her words whispered across her skin.

“My love.” Teris exhaled, pulling her face to the commanders, “no matter where I am, or where you go, I tied my heart to yours. It will stay that way until the end of my days.”

“I need you safe.” Wrenn pressed a kiss to Teris’s mouth, feather light at first, before she groaned, the commander’s hands spreading across her back. Teris’s twisting in her hair as they deepened the kiss, tongues tangling and teeth clashing.

When they pulled apart, they didn’t go far. Foreheads touching. Breaths mingling. Gazes wrapped tight as Wrenn whispered, “my place or yours, I don’t care which. The moment you step foot back in Vhallakyr, we aren’t spending another second apart.”

“Deal.” Teris whispered, tears threatening, as a hopeful smile spread on her face. She pressed one last kiss to her swollen lips as she detangled herself from Wrenn’s grip and hurried to exit the room. Her cheeks flushed as she passed the prince, who was making a grand show of looking anywhere but at the two lovers.

Teris paused as she reached for the doorknob, her head hitting the etched wood. “She was to head out to Luxenal Mine in the morning, likely guess is she left early. If you leave at daybreak, you might catch her.”

“Thank you, Teris,” the prince implored.

“You didn’t hear it from me,” she said firmly. “If the princess finds out we talked, you’ll jeopardise my position here.”

“You have my word.”

“And, Prince?”

“Yes?”

“The clothes you wore at the manifestation ceremony?” She swallowed, debating whether to continue, “they’ve been gathering dust in the princess’s closet for four years and that is all I will say on the matter.” She exited the room swiftly, the door slamming shut behind her.