Accorded Nobility Read online

  “I wanted to go back there to check something, anyway,” Sean said. “It’s around back.”

  When they rounded the corner, Sean slowed. Nola wrapped Lilly in her coils and squeezed. Lilly gasped, then slapped Nola three times.

  “You’re too fast!” Lilly wheezed.

  “Sean was one of the few who could match me one-on-one,” Nola said.

  “Good to know,” Sean said.

  “Husband!” Chastity beamed, rushing to hug him. “Oh, and Saret?”

  “Just checking in so she can help me understand the changes,” Sean said. “You two need to be careful. If you’re pregnant, you’ll need to stop sparring.”

  “Ah...” Saret said a little unhappily. “I hate to say it, but they can’t be pregnant. Not here.”

  Both Lilly and Chastity looked devastated.

  “Sorry, but higher planes aren’t for birthing children. If the worst happens, one can come here, but they can’t be born here,” Saret said gently, moving to hold them. “I know that feeling. I had it once, ages in the past.”

  Both Chastity and Lilly hugged her back. “It’s alright...” Lilly sniffled. “We knew it was a long shot.”

  “We’d just hoped...” Chastity added.

  Saret looked into the distance. “I know.”

  “Madam Somnia, it is a pleasure to see you,” Nola said.

  Saret blinked, pulled from memory. “Nola, you… believed in Sean?”

  “It was a short belief, but yes,” Nola replied.

  “Interesting... and it explains the buildings,” Saret nodded. “That must be why the changes occurred. Someone who believed, but not strongly.”

  “We’re going to the bog, then leaving,” Sean said, gently pulling Lilly and Chastity to him so he could kiss each in turn. “Might be a while before we come back again.”

  “We understand,” Lilly sighed. “Let them know for us, please, about the children?”

  “I will.”

  “Oh, Sean,” Rosa said, coming out of her home.

  “Is everything okay, Rosa?”

  “Yes. There are so many flowers I don’t know. It’s exciting to be here.”

  “I’m glad you’re happy,” Sean said. He was still torn over her death himself, but Rosa was beaming happily. “Have a good day. Saret and I need to go.”

  He got another couple of kisses before leading Saret to the back gate to the bog.

  Chapter Six

  Saret nodded when they appeared at the bog. “Separated, but connected. A good call to keep them like that. Now, what did you want to check?”

  “People,” Sean said, closing his eyes and focusing on who was in the bog. A sudden influx of knowledge hit his brain— a list of everyone and where they were.

  “People?” Saret asked.

  “Follow me,” Sean said as he walked around the outside ring.

  “Are we going out onto the peat? I failed last time.”

  “Yes. If I approve of you, you’ll be able to… maybe,” Sean said.

  Saret snickered. “I’ll trust you not to make me a dirty girl, Sean.”

  Rolling his eyes, Sean kept walking. When he was almost all the way around, he looked at Saret and his eyes flared with black-white flame. “Today, you have my permission, mom.”

  Saret inhaled sharply as sparks of flame engulfed her, sinking into her core. “Warn a woman first, Sean.” Exhaling slowly, she nodded. “Yes... I feel the connection, now.”

  Sean walked out onto the peat, but he looked back to watch Saret. She took a hesitant step, then followed with more confidence when she didn’t sink.

  Reaching the right spot, Sean willed Zachary Shadowstep back up to the surface. Saret watched with interest as the vine-wrapped head was pushed into the open. Zachary gasped as his face was uncovered.

  “Hello, Zach,” Sean said as he crouched down. “You cost me two of my wives, and Myna wants you tortured for all the torment you heaped on her.”

  Zachary was on the verge of panic as he stared up at Sean. “I didn’t kill anyone! She killed me on the field!”

  “True, true,” Sean nodded. “You personally didn’t. That’s perfectly correct. You killed two of my friends and my mother-in-law, though, didn’t you?” Sean asked it amiably, like someone would ask about the weather.

  “The bathhouse? Yes, I did,” Zachary said quickly. “I was ordered to.”

  “No one ordered you to rape them!” Sean snarled, flames burning in his eyes.

  Zachary went silent, fear locking his mouth up.

  “I’ll give you a chance to stop the torture later, but my wife asked me to have you know the torment you gave her. This is all your fault,” Sean said softly as the vines wrapped Zachary tightly, pulling him back under.

  “How will he be tortured?” Saret asked.

  “The vines will tighten bit by bit, amputating his fingers and toes, then his arms and legs. Once he’s healed again, they’ll begin again. It’ll take a tenday for each cycle.”

  Saret nodded. “I see. Myna asked for this?”

  “Not specifically, but yes.”

  “You really love your wives.”

  “There are a couple of others for me to see,” Sean said as he started walking away.

  Saret followed, surprised to see this side of Sean. He was always the calm, caring husband to her daughter and their wives, but here, he was cold, vicious, and willing to deal punishment to his enemies. A smile came to her lips— she felt better knowing he could be like this when needed.

  The next person they stopped at blanched upon seeing him. “MacDougal…” Velin Dykstra whispered in terror.

  “Velin, you brought men with you, the men who killed my wives,” Sean said, his anger tightly leashed. “Why shouldn’t I let you feel what the bog does to those who truly upset me?”

  Velin swallowed a few times, her eyes darting frantically, hoping for help. “I was following orders… that’s all.”

  “Oakwood?” Sean growled the question.

  “Truestrike! He wanted Darragh dead... he needed the axe. I don’t know why! That was a secret, even from me!” Velin blurted, terrified of being pulled under the peat, or worse.

  “You wanted my wives dead,” Sean said simply. “You were gloating happily when we had to fight.”

  “I… yes,” Velin went for the truth, having heard Sean say he could hear truthfulness before. “If you died and we could find Dark Cutter, Truestrike would have adopted me into his family... raised me up into the nobility.”

  “For power,” Sean said grimly. “My friends; Darragh, Misa, Cian, Tamaya, Bryne, Rylee, Taavi, Enna, Walden, Felicia, Ward, Lenna, Eagon, Riana... all of them are dead because of your ambition.” The words were cold, icy in the frigidity of his anger.

  “Truestrike’s… and mine.” The last two words were a whisper as if she thought that, if she barely said them, he wouldn’t hear them.

  “I won’t have the bog cut you apart like Zachary, but penance must be paid. Paid for each of their lives lost. You will be here far longer than others. In time, maybe I’ll have a way for you to reduce the time, but for now… down you go.”

  Velin started to cry out, but she was cut off by the vines, then dragged down into the peat.

  “Hmm... she would know things about Truestrike that she couldn’t say when she was alive,” Saret said slowly.

  “Yes. And she will, when I ask her,” Sean said flatly as he stood again. “A couple more.”

  Saret followed. Her smile was firmly in place as she watched a good man do things he hated. She knew her daughter would help him, and that made her smile wider.

  The sneer was firmly in place on the man’s lips when Sean smiled down at him. “Evan, I see your head healed up nicely,” Sean said.

  “I’ll find a way out of this, MacDougal!” Evan snarled.

  “No, you won’t,” Sean said. “I only wish your pawns could be here, too. Alas, you get the majority of my anger, instead. Did you hear what I said that Zach was going to feel?”

/>   Evan’s eyes shifted, and fear filled his heart.

  “That’ll be mild compared to you,” Sean hissed as he crouched down. “You see, this place is mine wholly. The vines can be as small as I want. Do you know what it’s like to have a hundred thousand threads slowly push into you before ripping you apart?”

  Fear climbed in Evan’s eyes as Sean spoke.

  “You will,” Sean said before Evan was pulled under, his head not wrapped at all.

  “Brutal...” Saret murmured.

  “Chastity and Lilly died because of him!” Sean snarled, his hands shaking as he clenched them into fists.

  “Felora will help,” Saret said softly. “Maybe we should stop.”

  “No...!” Sean choked. “I need to see one more.”

  Saret stayed quiet, following Sean as he moved away.

  The person Sean came up to was crying in fear, snot flowing freely with his tears.

  “Hello, Klein,” Sean said, crouching down again. “Your father was looking for you.”

  Klein’s eyes bulged. “Father… he’s here?”

  Sean looked to the side, and Denmur was pushed to the surface. “Look, Denmur, I found your son, after all. He was just delayed getting here.”

  “Klein!” Denmur gasped.

  “You!” Klein yelled. Hatred— raw hatred— was clear in his voice. “You fool! Why did you oppose him?! If you’d just made friends, all our wishes would have been realized!”

  Denmur’s head rocked back the scant inch it could move, as if the words were a physical blow. “But—!”

  “No! You condemned us to this!”

  “Silence,” Sean said softly, and both men found their mouths wrapped tightly. “Denmur, I said I’d let you find your son. It looks like we both get what we want. You found him, he hates you, and now, I can keep you here far longer.”

  Both men looked panicked as Sean stood up.

  “Take them down far enough that their eyes are uncovered,” Sean told the bog. “This way, they can stare at each other.”

  The men thrashed, but the plants were far too strong for them. Both were pulled down to under their eyes, just covering their noses, unless they strained to tilt back enough.

  Sean turned to Saret, his face blank. “I’m done now, Saret.”

  “For now,” Saret whispered. “You’ll need to speak to a few of them later for information.”

  “Yes, but that’s later. Now, we go home.”

  Saret touched his arm gently. “You need Felora as soon as we get back. I can see the cracks forming around you, Sean.”

  “Yes...” Sean choked out the word. Then, they were gone, and the bog began to fill with terrified cries.

  Chapter Seven

  “Welcome, Mother, Father, Brother,” Ida smiled as she greeted her family.

  “It was very kind of you to send Arliat for us,” Sam said. “That bus is a marvel.”

  “Thank you,” Sean said as he came down the stairs. “We have something for you. While it’s not a car, Ida asked they be made for you.”

  “Oh?” Brendis, Ida’s father, asked.

  Ida held out two belt pouches. “I need you both to hold them and push your energy into them. Sean will do the rest.”

  Sean grinned as he watched their confusion, but they held the pouches in their hands, waiting for him. “Just imagine your energy suffusing them,” he said, pushing his own energy out to encapsulate them and the pouch.

  Brendis and Sam frowned when they felt his energy over theirs, but neither moved.

  “All done,” Sean grinned.

  “Shaped?” Brendis asked. He inspected the pouch, which had his initials Shaped into it.

  “Ida did it,” Sean said.

  “Why did we try to put energy into it?” Sam asked. “It’s not enchanted… is it?”

  Sean grinned at her. “Maybe.”

  Ida snickered. “Husband, that’s terrible. Mother, Father, those pouches can contain more than their size allows. Each could hold a full suit of armor.”

  Both of them gaped, then looked at Sean, who just shrugged.

  Sam rubbed at her face. “You’re a blight on what is, Sean... but you’re our son-in-law, and we treasure you. We accept.”

  Brendis blinked, then coughed. “Why?”

  “I asked him to,” Ida said softly. “We’ll be leaving soon. It’ll be years before we see each other again. You can use this every day and, hopefully, you’ll think of us every time you do.”

  “We’d think of you every day as it is,” Sam said. She hugged her daughter, then Sean. “Thank you.”

  Brendis hugged Ida, then shook hands with Sean. “It’s very generous. You’ve done so much for us already, and then you heap more on... How can we ever repay what you do?”

  “Your happiness makes Ida happy, and I value that highly,” Sean said. “There’s nothing to repay in my mind, as you’ve already done it.”

  “Oh, you are a blight,” Sam laughed.

  Ida’s little brother, Brendan, looked on with a frown.

  “Brendan,” Sean smiled, taking a knee, “I have something for you.”

  The frown vanished from the young boy’s face. “What is it?”

  Sean pulled the figurine out of his pouch, holding it out to him.

  Brendan’s eyes lit up as he accepted the small statue. “It’s my family!”

  “Yes, with Ang and a Fairy,” Sean smiled.

  With gentle fingers, Brendan traced the bronze figures. It depicted Brendan, Sam, Ida, and Brendis together. Their cuon, Ang, was with them, with a Messenger Fairy riding him.

  “I remember how much you liked the one of just you and your dad.”

  Brendan looked up at his parents. “It’s okay?”

  “Yes, son,” Sam smiled, touching his head.

  Ida smiled broadly. “Dinner should be ready shortly. Let’s go eat.”

  ~*~*~

  Dinner was a happy meal. Sam and Mizuki talked a lot about their daughters, getting blushes from the pair, and laughter from the others. Sean drank in the happiness— it helped balance what he had done earlier in the day. Felora watched Sean, glad that she’d been able to help stabilize his internal conflict over what he’d done.

  With the meal done, Sean was taking his extended family home before going to the Oaken Glen. Sam and Brendan were talking softly about his new statue, and Brendis shifted over to speak with Sean easier.

  “How dangerous do you think it’ll be in Accord?” Brendis asked softly.

  “I can’t guess,” Sean said. “Truestrike knows who I am, and he’ll be upset that he lost his pawns, but I hope to get dug in a little before the fight begins. Ida will be as safe as I can make her, though.”

  “Which is very safe,” Brendis sighed. “I just worry.”

  “So do I, Dad... so do I. I’m hoping we don’t end up in a bloody conflict like before. I’m going to try to destabilize his base and reduce his power before anything more happens.”

  “I hope it works,” Brendis sighed again.

  The bus slowed, and Sean looked out the windows to see the Bronzeshield home just ahead of them. “I’ll do everything in my power to keep all of my family safe.”

  “I know, and that helps,” Brendis said, getting up when the bus stopped. “If you can’t do it, then even the Queens would fail.” Taking a deep breath, he extended his regrown hand. “Thank you for making my little girl happy.”

  Sean shook his hand, then stood up and patted Brendis’ back. “Thank you for accepting me as your son.”

  Sam kissed her husband and son, seeing them off before Arliat got them rolling toward the inn. “I don’t fear, Sean,” Sam said. “Even if the worst happens, she’ll be on your plane, right?”

  “Along with the others,” Sean nodded.

  “That eases my mind. She won’t be gone... just removed, is all.”

  “If you believe, you’ll be there, too,” Sean said. “I’m going to explain what’s changed on the plane to the others. There’s a place for those w
ho show up.”

  Sam sat there, stunned, for a moment. “So when we die… I can still see her again?”

  “Yeah. Nola is there now, as are a half-dozen cuons.”