The Lost Duke Read online

  * * *

  Several days of travel passed for Keiran and the others without incident. The weather held out for them, the heat and humidity as they crossed Ibia unfamiliar to most in the group. Ibia’s vast grain fields stretched to the horizon in all directions, making it feel as though they weren’t progressing.

  A week into the trip, they found themselves between towns for the night, and tents were set up off the road. As usual, Jerris remained with Keiran. The young guard had spent the day hounding Keiran about how much further they had to go. Finally settled in for the night, Keiran produced a map and placed it out on the floor of their tent between them.

  “If we’re here,” Jerris said, poking at their current location, “and the border to Aleria is here, that means we’re almost there.”

  Keiran shook his head, dragging a finger along the road they still needed to travel. “While we will cross into Aleria tomorrow, we still have another week to go. Their capital is in the center of the country.”

  The redhead narrowed his eyes and frowned. “Their country is too big. This is absurd.”

  “Aleria is huge by our standards,” Keiran laughed before rolling the map back up. “Tordania is actually small compared to many of our neighbors.”

  Jerris shifted around to lie on his side. “I feel like I’m being smothered all the time. The heaviness in the air makes me sweat constantly. I don’t know how people live like this. I thought the humidity down here was bad when we were going to the Sador Empire last winter, but this is ridiculous.”

  The vampire shrugged before flopping down onto his back. “I don’t know, but there are those that think the same about our rain back home.”

  There was a brief silence between them before Jerris propped himself up on an elbow and looked over at his friend. “If Athan was so adamant about you never learning about your mother, why hasn’t he shown up to intervene? You said he can simply appear anywhere he wants to be.”

  Keiran thought for a moment. “He told me he could do so, and to be honest, I’ve expected him to show up every step of the way. While he showed up multiple times in the weeks following my coronation and our brief war with the Sadoris, he’s been missing for quite a while now. Not that I’m sad about that.”

  “I don’t like it, Keir,” Jerris said. “Something about this just isn’t sitting right with me. The closer we get to Aleria, the worse my feeling gets. Perhaps it’s some fear I have about Athan, perhaps it’s not. Aren’t you picking up anything strange? I know you can feel quite a bit more than I can.”

  That prompted Keiran to sit up again and turn toward his companion. “Honestly, I can’t feel much at all. Without any good drinks for a while, I’m feeling utterly closed off from the rest of the world. All I can think about is how tired I am right now.”

  Jerris considered him for a while and drew a long breath. He’d been aware of Keiran’s decline since they’d started traveling, and the vampire had been unable to get blood. Not having Keiran’s senses running at full capacity didn’t please the guard. Jerris, on the other hand, didn’t have any extraordinary abilities in that regard, so the fact he was being troubled by something undefined upset him.

  Keiran watched Jerris’ expression twist up for before he asked, “What is it you think you feel? What’s troubling you about this?”

  “Well, a few things, I suppose.” Jerris’ eyes panned up to the ceiling of the tent before closing. “The Alerians who’ve come with us are very strange.”

  “I’m sure we seem strange enough to them,” Keiran replied.

  “No, I mean, aye, but…” The guard sat up. “It’s more than that. They eat off alone, they ride ahead of us, they even set their tent up far away from ours. I don’t think they’ve said more than five words to any of the rest of us since we left Tordania. For escorts, they are awfully distant.”

  “I hate to say it, but that might just be a result of them fearing what I am if they know what I am,” Keiran said.

  “Possible, but it’s not sitting well with me. How would they be aware of what you are? I don’t really know how they would, given how there’s been no communication between Aleria and Tordania for God knows how long,” Jerris replied.

  “Aye, but rumors spread, and they did have to travel through Tordania to get to the castle. Who can say what they heard on the way through?”

  The guard shook his head. “You honestly think they would have spoken to anyone on their way through Tordania? They aren’t even talking with the guards in our party who they’ve been traveling with for a week.”

  “All right, they are being somewhat socially unacceptable,” Keiran agreed. “They are from a completely different culture and country, though. Perhaps that’s just how they are.”

  Jerris met his eyes. “I don’t like it.”

  The vampire stared back at his friend. While he was usually the voice of reason between them, Jerris had been right about a few things in the past, and he seemed serious. Keiran knew Jerris was the more socially capable between the two of them, and probably better at reading people from a completely outward perspective than he was.

  “All right, then. What do we do about it?” Keiran asked. “Do we turn around and head back? Do we confront them about the way they’re acting?”

  “I think we should talk to them at the very least,” Jerris said. “Perhaps all Alerians are just socially backward. That would explain you to some degree, given your pedigree.”

  “That’s not particularly nice.”

  Jerris wasn’t apologetic. “I’ll talk to them in the morning and discuss it with my father.”

  “I don’t want to turn back. I really do need to see this aunt of mine. I have to know more about my mother, it’s very important to me,” Keiran replied.

  “I’m not asking you to. I know you’ve wanted to learn about these things for years. I’m just hoping that Athan isn’t involved in this.” Jerris looked to the side. “It brings me right back to the thought he should have made an appearance at this point, at least to you.”

  “I can’t get my mind around that, either,” he said. “With the way he’s known everything else that has happened, he must know about this. If so, what could be keeping him from stopping us? He either wants me to go, or…”

  Jerris quirked a brow as Keiran’s words trailed off. “Or?”

  The vampire’s eyes widened and he locked gazes with the guard. “Or something very, very bad is happening up north that has stopped him.”

  “What might be bad for him might be good for everyone else, however,” Jerris added.

  Keiran nodded. “We can only hope so.”

  * * *

  Thana emerged out of the castle physician’s quarters and headed for the kitchen. Laron had just confirmed Corina’s suspicions about the young woman being pregnant. It had taken her several days to get up the nerve to visit the physician, still not certain if she was excited or terrified.

  With her condition confirmed, however, and her questions about it answered for the moment, Thana was much more relaxed. She moved through the castle, wanting to find Corina and tell her she’d been right.

  When she walked into the kitchen, Corina wasn’t present. Instead, Magretha was within, slowly kneading bread to be served to the remaining castle guards for their evening meal.

  Thana hadn’t spoken much to the woman since her arrival as she tended to take up jobs in the courtyard, serving the sentries. Since Keiran had told her what Jerris said about his interest in Magretha, Thana couldn’t help but take the opportunity to try and get Magretha’s feelings on the subject.

  Hearing someone approach, Magretha brought her attention up just as she shaped up the dough to let it rest.

  “Queen Sipesh, to what do I owe the honor?” she asked, her peasant’s brogue deep.

  “Please, Magretha, just call me Thana. That title doesn’t quite suit me,” she said.

  A small hint of color came to Magretha’s round cheeks, her smile widening. “Aye, if it so pleases you, T
hana. Might I help you with something?”

  “No, I was simply wandering around seeing what I needed to do,” Thana said.

  “You do an awful lot of work for a queen,” Magretha replied, shaking her head. “Things that should be left up to us servants.”

  “But I was a servant before I was a queen,” Thana replied. “I take some happiness in the work. I would be terribly bored sitting about all day with nothing to do while Keir did his job.”

  Magretha wasn’t accustomed to talking to royalty, even though Thana was humble about her station in life. Still, she’d been lonely since Jerris had left and welcomed the conversation.

  “Speaking of the king, how are you feeling with him away?” Magretha asked.

  Thana sat down on a stool next to the counter. “I don’t like that he’s gone. Makes the days seem terribly long.”

  “Aye, I understand that well enough,” Magretha replied, shaking her head.

  “It sounds like you’re missing someone as well,” Thana said, watching for her reaction closely.

  Magretha’s cheeks went red again, and she wiped her hands off on her apron. She knew Jerris and Keiran were very close, so it was likely Thana knew she’d been spending a good amount of time with the young guard. “I will confess that I do.”

  Thana tried to temper her reaction to hearing that and leaned further onto the counter. “Is that so? Can I be a nosy one and ask whom?”

  There hadn’t been anyone for Magretha to discuss her relationship with the guard to, but there was something in Thana’s demeanor that made her comfortable in doing so.

  “Well, perhaps you know that the younger Sir Steiner and I have been spending some time together,” she confessed.

  “I’ve noticed that Jerris has been busy as of late,” Thana said.

  “Aye. We are just friends, I don’t wish to give any impression that more has developed, but I’ve grown rather accustomed to having a few drinks with him at the end of the day,” Magretha replied.

  Thana studied the other woman intently as she spoke, seeing her cheeks grow even hotter, and her eyes looked on the verge of tears. Clearly, Jerris’ absence had a profound effect upon her.

  “Jerris seems to like you very much.”

  Magretha set her hands on the counter before her and stared down at them. “We have great conversations and tease each other quite a bit. I know I’m not much to look at, though, and I know I’m a far cry from the girls he’s rumored to have pursued in the past.”

  “I’ve known Jerris all of my life,” Thana said quietly. “He’s never spent as much time with a woman as he’s been spending with you. Other girls have come and gone within days. Keir and I noticed he’s been disappearing off with you now for a number of weeks—if not months.”

  Magretha leaned forward and cocked her head to the side, desperate for any useful information. “Has Jerris said anything to you?”

  Thana smiled and shook her head. “Not to me, but to Keir, aye. He’s confessed he cares for you very deeply. I think he was even displeased with going on this trip because he’d rather have been here.”

  Her hands came up to her mouth, covering it as she gasped. The color on her cheeks spread down to her neck and chest, eyes going wide. “Is that true?”

  “I would have no reason to cruelly toy with your emotions,” Thana said.

  Magretha fanned her face with her hands, a wide smile evident as they moved away from her mouth. “I thought I was merely a distraction until he found a woman he was interested in.”

  “I think you are the distraction,” Thana replied, laughing.

  Chapter 3

  Athan stood in the blowing snow, blinded by the whiteout conditions. His ears were filled only with the screaming of the wind as the cries of his men had finally gone silent. Little sunlight filtered down through the blizzard, and he’d lost track of whether it was day or night. The wind tore at him, stripping all the heat from his body.

  He didn’t know if it had been the cold that had silenced his men or their injuries, but it didn’t matter. There were no more terror-filled minds polluting the air around him. He tried to focus and feel what he couldn’t see, but there was nothing. The vampire had never seen, felt, or even picked up the scent of their attackers.

  With a dozen men accompanying him, he’d left his forward camp and headed into the storm that morning. He’d waited patiently for several days for scouts to go in and return with reports of what they encountered after the first group of ten, but none of them ever made it back. Deciding to get to the bottom of it, he’d taken matters into his own hands.

  The attack had come from an unknown direction, the storm amplifying beforehand and blinding them all. His men shouted at one another as they tried to coordinate their defense, but it had been fruitless. Their horses had been quickly slain beneath them, and the vampire and his soldiers had struggled to move in the snow.

  Athan’s own mount had been killed by some unknown force. In the case of his animal, the horse had only been an extension of himself and not truly a separate creature. Still, the agony of something taking his conjured horse’s neck and snapping it was an experience Athan would never forget.

  The vampire stood in place, turning slowly with his sword held out before him. No enemy ever appeared for him to attack, however. He was utterly alone, but someone had to be there. His men and horses hadn’t all torn themselves to ribbons, falling silent one at a time around him.

  The vampire hadn’t felt the sensation of fear for centuries, and it wasn’t something he welcomed. He hadn’t faced anything he’d not been able to defeat since becoming a vampire, but as his feeling of complete isolation grew, Athan’s outstretched hands began to shake.

  He cursed the snow as he took a few steps forward, the blade of his sword vibrating from the force of the blowing ice in the air. Only three steps forward through the knee-deep snow, and his boot caught on something that sent him careening to the side. There was a lull in the blizzard, and Athan found himself lying across one of his dead men.

  Athan felt the warmth of blood soaking through his clothing, and he hastily moved to get off of the body and back to his feet. The red liquid instantly froze and stiffened in his coat and shirt. He paid it little mind, however, as the fact he was able to see finally was foremost on his mind.

  He spun around and spotted more dead men and horses. The snow was streaked in broad swaths of crimson, which were quickly turning pink as fresh snow settled down as the wind abated.

  The vampire stopped looking around as a figure emerged before him. Though his eyes wanted to tell him there was someone there, his other senses picked up nothing at all. It was as if it was a statue, and yet Athan knew that wasn’t the case.

  The ghost stood far taller than Athan, and though wrapped in a fur cloak, it was obvious the being was lean of build. Long, white hair hung in narrow braids to his waist, but it was his skin and eyes that drew Athan’s immediate attention. His complexion wasn’t a shade the vampire had ever seen on a living person. Instead, it possessed a cool, gray hue, nearly matching the steel tone of his eyes.

  It was all enough to give Athan pause, his sword lowering slightly before him. His guard was quickly brought back up as he heard a low snort to his left, and he spun to see what had produced it.

  Athan stumbled to the side in terror as he found himself looking directly into the eyes of a massive, white bear. Though it was on all fours, its head was on the same level as the vampire’s. It wore an armored helmet of sorts, attached to a set of reins. The behemoth had an ornate saddle upon his back, and Athan had to assume the ghost-like man had ridden this beast through the storm.

  Athan struggled to regain his wits about him when he realized the bear wasn’t going to advance, nor did it seem as though the strange man who’d appeared was going to attack. He lowered his sword further, though he was still unnerved by the fact he couldn’t sense anything coming from either the ice bear or its owner.

  “What is it you want?” Athan asked,
his fear being pushed away and his arrogance returning now that he could see what he was up against.

  The man took a slow step closer, using the spear he held as a walking stick. He didn’t respond right away, his eyes never shifting from the vampire.

  Athan, in turn, took a step backward. Unable to see into this being’s mind left him feeling profoundly helpless, and it made him uncertain if he was a real threat or not.

  Halting, the ghostly man finally broke the silence with a deep, smooth voice. “Are you Athan Vercilla?”

  Though he was being spoken to in Talausian, it was with an unfamiliar accent, which the vampire needed a moment to dial into. “I am Lord Athan Vercilla, ruler of Talaus. Who are you?”

  “I am Sytir Everac of the Nahli,” he replied, giving a hand signal to the ice bear. “Chief of the Mage Caste.”

  Athan paid little attention to the bear slowly moving to lay down, simply relieved the animal was being put into a more relaxed pose.

  Never having seen a Nahli before, Athan hadn’t been certain what to expect. There were rumors the Nahli were the descendants of elves who’d once lived in the polar north, but this entity before him was far from the small, jovial beings children were told about.

  It didn’t matter, ultimately. Athan was angry.

  “Why have you moved from the north and interfered with my sovereignty?” Athan asked.

  Sytir didn’t respond immediately, reaching up with his free hand to push several thin braids back behind one of his elegantly pointed ears.

  “Answer me!” the vampire shouted, growing impatient.

  The Nahli locked gazes with Athan and took another step forward. “We have our reasons, and it was time to let you know there are those quite capable of stopping you.”

  “Our nations have been side by side for ages without issue, why now?” Athan asked, his confusion evident.

  “We didn’t deem you a threat, and the affairs of humans are not our concern as a general rule. It was only in the past decade that we received our first personal accounts regarding you. We don’t seek to overthrow you as those who would seize your country are just as wretched as you, but we will keep you contained. You will no longer continue to expand your empire.”