Amidst The Rising Shadows (Book 3) (12 page)

Nolan glanced between them, noting their troubled looks, “Is he okay?”

Sarah felt her bottom lip quiver for a moment before she clamped down on her emotions, focusing herself upon the task at hand. She calmly met the captain’s gaze and shook her head, but before he could speak she said, “I need for you to make contact with the other members of the Resistance. We need to pass the word that we’re working on a way to get them out of the city as soon as possible. Are you still able to gather in any of the meeting places?”

“Of course, my Lady. I will send word at once. There are still some places that we can meet, but you must understand most will only come if it means leaving the city. I don’t have much to offer in way of hospitality, but I do have a place where you can wait.”

“I appreciate that, Captain, but I’m not staying. I’m going to the palace,” Sarah replied.

Braden pulled a comms device out from his cloak and handed it to Nolan.

“I know you’ve seen this before, so we’ll be in contact,” Braden said.

Sarah leveled her eyes at the captain, “Do you intend to leave with the rest of the Resistance?”

Nolan looked back at her for a few moments, “To be honest, I’m not sure, my Lady. The people in my district need protection. What little that I can afford to give, but my family...”

Sarah laid her hand upon his arm, “I understand, Captain.”

“Not that way,” Nolan said as they went to open the door to leave his office. “There is another way out of the building,” he said and rose from his seat.
 

Nolan opened the only other door in the room that Sarah had assumed was a closet.
 

“It might be a tight fit for you, Braden, but it will take you out through the back,” Nolan said and stepped inside. The side wall opened up to a small passageway.

Braden leaned into the closet and glanced doubtfully at the passageway. The man was huge and his ‘muscles had muscles’ as Verona would say.

“He’ll be fine,” Sarah said with a smirk.
He did insist on coming.
 

Braden groaned and ducked his head, going into the passage first. The passage wasn’t all that long, and Sarah could appreciate its uses for a district captain. They emerged outside near the rear of the building, and Sarah drew up her hood. The rain had stopped, but the cadence of dripping water sounded off throughout the area. There wasn’t enough rain to wash the filth that was her father’s rule out of the city. She was a princess, but without any real power here. True, she had the Resistance, but her father commanded the armies and the Elitesmen. But the Elitesmen were beginning to fracture, and she wondered if that was a weakness there she could exploit.

Sarah drew in the energy around them and leaped to the top of the building next to them. She heard Braden grumble from below and begin to climb up. She looked toward the palace, with its many gray towers and the walls that separated it from the city proper. Khamearra was old, and each ruling family had added to the palace, contributing to the grandness that it was today. Normally she looked at the walls and towers with a sense of pride, but now they were washed in blood. The people were crying out for the return of the Faergrace. She needed to find a way to protect her people, but with all the looming threats upon the horizon it seemed more like an impossible task. If not from her father, then it was the threat of the invading army from Hytharia.

Braden crested the top of the building, slightly out of breath, but he didn’t complain.

Sarah held out her hand, “I’ve got an idea,” she said, bringing out the travel crystal.

Braden took her hand, and she used the crystal to take them into a private chamber near her rooms in the palace. They left, and Sarah led them, taking the least used pathways through the palace. More than once they had seen Elitesmen walking the grounds. No doubt Aaron’s last visit to Khamearra had set the security of the palace to an all-time high. Something tugged along the edges of her senses. They were passing one of the training areas that her brothers had often used. She wasn’t sure who was in the room, but they were certainly channeling a lot of the energy. She cracked the door and peeked inside. Rordan was there, shirtless with his body dripping with sweat. Sarah threw open the door the rest of the way and walked inside.
 

Rordan turned at her entry, his mouth falling open for a moment, and then he chuckled. “You’ve returned,” he said.

Braden closed the door behind them.

Sarah studied her half-brother for a moment. Last she saw him had been at Shandara, when they had tried to capture them. The spoiled innocence of privileged youth was no longer on his face. He looked older and more dangerous.
 

“Now this won’t do for Father’s plans at all,” Rordan said. “How is the man you’ve betrayed us for?”

Sarah ignored the question. “How could you let the city come to this state, Rordan? They are killing people in droves. Not even I thought you were this cruel.”
 

Rordan swallowed, “That is not my doing. That was Father’s solution to those foolish enough to openly rebel against him. This all started because Aaron was here.”

“I know,” Sarah said.

“And now he is gone, but you return...
alone
. What a fortuitous turn of events. I’ll have Father disband the armies since you’re now here safe and sound,” Rordan said with a smile that left his face appearing unhinged.

“What do you mean disband the armies because I’m here? Who would believe that?” Sarah asked.

Rordan turned away from her, “Truths created to fill a need, but it’s not all you. The actions of the Alenzar’seth here in the city help put this into motion. Have you seen the Citadel?”

“We can’t afford to go to war with each other now. There is another threat to this world; you must help me make Father see reason. The killings must stop,” Sarah said.

Rordan looked back at her, narrowing his gaze, “He and I spoke, you know. This Aaron Jace. He told me that we didn’t have to be enemies. That I could be better than Father.” He looked away from her, his eyes growing distant.

Sarah’s heart beamed in her chest. Aaron had reached out to his enemies to unite them all toward a common goal. He had done it for her, and it sent her heart both bursting and tearing at the thought.

“He also spoke of a threat to this world as if war with Father was some inconsequential thing,” Rordan continued.

“And what will you do?” Sarah asked.

“Do? What could I do? No one can defy Father. At least not for very long. The Alenzar’seth will learn this soon enough,” Rordan said.

“How long will you hide in Father’s shadow?” she sneered.

“For as long as he is in power, which will be for some time. No kingdom is safe. There are none beyond our reach now,” Rordan said.

Sarah studied him for a moment. He looked as if he almost meant the words, but something in his eyes gave her pause.

“You sound as if you believe that, more or less,” Sarah said.

“And how long do you intend to skulk about the palace before going to see Father?”

“How long will you go about pretending that you don’t live in fear every moment of every day of your life?”

Rordan stepped toward her, his hands clenched, and Sarah had her sword out and at his throat before he could blink an eye. She could have taken his life then and there, but she wouldn’t. Rordan simply stood there with her blade resting upon the side of his neck.

“The next time you raise your hands against me my blade will cut you, brother or not.”

Rordan took a step back with his hands slightly raised from his sides. “I’ll send Father your regards, Sister.”

“No need. I’m heading there now,” Sarah said and left the room.
 

Braden quietly followed. “There is something wrong with him,” he said after a few moments.

“I agree, but what do you mean?” Sarah asked.

“Couldn’t you sense it? I’ve been around all manner of men from murderers to those believing themselves to be heroes, but there is definitely something off about your brother.”

“Half-brother,” Sarah said quickly and cursed her vanity in trying to separate herself from the likes of Rordan.

“Perhaps it’s the voices or the whisperings. You know when you tap into the energy and you hear the whispers of the soul from ages past?”

Sarah’s brows furrowed in thought, “You do have a point. I just couldn’t see it.”
 

“Not surprising, my Lady. Most have a blind spot when they have family in their sights.”

“Thank you, Braden.”

“For what?”

“For coming with me.”

“It’s what Aaron would have wanted."

“I know, but still I appreciate it,” Sarah said.

Braden's lips lifted in a half smile, “And you're one of us now. We have to look out for one another. Are we really going to see the High King? I’m here to help protect you, but I have no wish to be captured by the Elitesmen.”

Sarah looked away, staring at nothing, but her eyes taking in everything, “I have to.”

They walked along in silence down the deserted hallway.

“Eric saved my life by throwing me out a window. In a split second, when the Elitesmen had attacked the inn, his first thought was to get me to safety. He rightly assumed that I wouldn’t leave his side and would have fought and died there. He took the decision from me, and I can’t forgive him for that. Not now at least and maybe not ever. So I’m not going to stand in your way and keep you from making a last stand against the High King. However, I think you should consider whether your actions honor the sacrifice that brought you here,” Braden said.

Honor...Sacrifice...Duty
, Sarah whispered in the depths of her mind.

“I have no intentions of throwing my life away or yours for that matter. If I don’t do something to help these people then I wouldn’t be honoring anyone’s sacrifice,” Sarah said, looking out of the windows to the grand expanse of Khamearra. “We need to get them out. All of them.”

“Who?”

“The Resistance, they need to quit the city if they wish to live,” Sarah said.

A door swung open from down the hallway, and an older man with long gray hair that spilled onto his leather duster beckoned to them.

“Elitesman,” Braden said, “we thought you were--”

“Dead?” Isaac asked, “Not yet. Come inside.”

Sarah had a throwing knife in her hand and quickly sheathed the blade, following Braden through the door. The dark and dusty room was little more than an attic, filled with mismatched furniture.

“What happened to you?” Braden asked.

The old Elitesman took in the sight of Sarah as if making sure she was real. Sarah met his gaze. This was the Elitesman that had helped rescue Verona and the others when they were captured by the Elitesmen. He was like Beck, the old Elitesman who came to the manor where she grew up and trained her.
 

Isaac went down to one knee, “Your Grace, I’m glad the Alenzar’seth was successful. He wouldn’t say exactly what had happened to you, just that he needed travel crystals.”

Sarah’s mind snapped into the hazy memories of using the crystals to help reset the Nanites. It was Aaron's last-ditch effort to save her.
 

“It’s time for you and your brethren to come out of the shadows. The Resistance needs you, and so do I,” Sarah said.

Isaac returned to his feet, “Beck always spoke highly of you, your Grace. We’ve been helping the Resistance where we can. Gerric has the Elitesmen everywhere. They are wise to our presence here in the city.”

“We need to get the Resistance out of the city and rescue as many as we can,” Sarah said.

Isaac divided his bushy-browed gaze between her and Braden, “Where can they go?”

“Shandara,” Sarah answered.

“No one can get to Shandara. The place is in ruins, and if that weren’t enough, the Ryakuls would feast upon any who would go there,” Isaac said.

“No more. The Ryakuls are gone. The darkness that sickened the land is gone,” Sarah said.

“And the Heir of Shandara?”

Sarah unclenched her jaw, “He’s...gone.”

“He’s dead?”

“No,” Sarah and Braden said at the same instant.

“Then where is he?” Isaac asked.

“He’s trapped in another realm, and we’re trying to get him back,” Braden said.

“We got word from Nicholas that the Resistance was in trouble, which is why we’re here,” Sarah said.

Isaac frowned, “I sense that you’re not telling me everything, which is fine. Nicholas’s message was putting it mildly. The High King and Elitesmen are culling the inhabitants of Khamearra, murdering anyone who has ties or shows any signs of defiance. So much so that the cracks are beginning to show in the foundation of the Order of the Elite.”

Sarah’s eyes widened at the implication, “Do you think some would break away?”

Isaac nodded slowly, “We were trying to get the younger initiates out, before they could be corrupted any further, but they are as likely to turn you in as want to escape. The older ones… some may, but fear keeps them inline. It’s hard to tell who to trust.”