Day 16 of Midwinter, Sunset

Market District, Falias

Annwn

IT HAD BEEN AGES SINCE I HAD TRAVELED USING RADIANT SURGE, AND I HAD FORGOTTEN THE EXHILARATION OF RIDING THE SUNBEAMS. THOUGH THE TRIP FROM CRUACHAN WAS LONG, I REVELED IN THE NEWFOUND FREEDOM.

THE SOUTHERN GATE SENTRIES HAD REQUIRED…SOME PERSUASION TO SHARE THE NEWS THAT OUR FATHER HAD BEEN HOME FOR A FULL DAY, NECESSITATING A CHANGE OF PLANS. WE WOULD NEED TO REMAIN UNSEEN, SOMETHING EASY TO ARRANGE.

“Stop it!” I screamed inside my own head as we walked into the central city. “You killed them!”

NO, WE KILLED THEM.

I shook my head in a helpless attempt to shut up the voice that I couldn’t escape. I stared down at my hands, rubbing them as if I could erase the violence they’d carried out… violence I’d been unable to prevent despite sharing a body with the perpetrator. “Where are you taking me?”

WE ARE GOING TO THE MARKET WHERE YOU FIRST EXPLORED THE CITY WITH THE SAGE.

“Please,” I begged silently. “I need to get to the tower where they are holding Brigid.”

ALL IN DUE TIME.

“There is no time! Father will be cutting any loose ends before he finishes the war.” I felt the alien presence’s stubborn resistance to any change of plans, tinged with…was it longing I felt? It couldn’t be.

I WOULD SEE THE FAMED CAPITAL CITY OF ANNWN. IN MY TIME, THIS PLACE WAS NOTHING MORE THAN A WAYPOINT IN A TRAIL SYSTEM RUNNING FROM WELL TO WELL.

Belenus ignored my pleas to stop, and I remained an unwilling passenger in my own body as we walked northwest into the market district. The stalls and shops of the purveyors went on for blocks in all directions, the colorful canopies representing where each vendor had traveled from. There were faded reds from Gorias, the once-brilliant color long faded by the sun. Other stalls held the distinct blue of Murias, or the deep green Findrias was known for. And of course, a majority represented the tan hue of Falias, the capital.

The central marketplace was named after Lir, largely due to the fountain at its center. In the grandeur of the city, the fountain seemed small and unremarkable, and yet it had always been considered the center of the market district.

My mouth watered at the smells from the various food vendors. I hadn’t had anything to eat the previous few days other than dry, salted meat, but even so, the strength of my hunger surpassed anything I could remember feeling in the past. Before I knew what had happened, I found myself crossing the street to stop behind a small crowd that stood in front of a food stall of rotisserie meats turning over a fire. The stall vendor held a large carving knife that he used to carve slivers of the hot meat off for the waiting customers. Judging by the size, most of the cooking animals would likely feed ten or twelve people.

Drawn to the crackle of meat and the hiss of fat, I drifted toward the fire, unable to look away. My movements were strange, predatory, and the crowd seemed to sense it. One by one, the townsfolk slipped aside, watching me with wary eyes.

I desperately wrestled for control, gaining a half-second hold that allowed me to flip a coin to the man turning the spit before Belenus crushed my will beneath his and ripped an entire chicken from the spit. He growled and buried our face into the hot meat, grease spurted onto my hands as he devoured the meat in huge chunks. I took advantage of his distraction to make my way out of the increasingly shocked crowd to an alleyway, my face and hands dripping with grease and chicken entrails.

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“What are you doing?” I said in my mind between mouthfuls of meat.

I HAVEN’T EATEN LIKE THIS IN MORE TIME THAN I CAN REMEMBER.

I had to frame this in a way he would understand. “We are supposed to be keeping a low profile. Everyone knows me here, and you are drawing unwanted attention to us.”

I watched myself lick my fingers clean of the chicken debris and the other filthy reminders of the past two days, namely, killing and crawling through centuries of dirt and grime. My thoughts overpowered Belenus’ control of my body for a moment, and my stomach rebelled. I lurched closer to the alley wall, leaning against it as the partially chewed chicken shot from my mouth like it was being fired from a cannon.

GIVE ME CONTROL

“No,” I said aloud, and watched as a passerby paused long enough by the alleyway to see the spectacle. I waved a hand at the man to move along. “You need to stop for a moment and listen to me. I have come here for a very specific reason.”

I felt Belenus pause as if thinking. YES. TO FREE THE FIERY QUEEN.

“She is being held in the westernmost spire of the Watchful Crown.”

AND YOUR FATHER?

“In the central spire,” I said, wondering why Belenus wanted to know about my father. I had assumed he could read all of my thoughts.

I CAN. The voice seemed darkly amused. BUT YOUR DESCRIPTION OF THE SPIRE WILL E NAVIGATE THE CITY.

“Why do you want to know where my father is?” I asked, searching my pockets and bags for a cloth that I could wipe my greasy mouth and hands on. Belenus, surprisingly, seemed to be letting me.

WE MUST WREST THE SWORD FROM THE USURPER BEFORE WE LEAVE FALIAS.

I paused, cloth in hand. “Father will never part with the sword as long as he draws breath.”

THERE IS A SOLUTION FOR THAT.

His message was clear enough, and I thought back to the way he… no, WE had dispatched the southern gate guards. “Despite everything, I don’t wish to kill my father.”

YOU WON’T HAVE TO.

“No!” I snapped, wondering if Belenus could feel my turmoil. “I won’t let you kill him.” My mind was quiet for a few moments before Belenus continued.

VERY WELL. WE WILL FIND THE SWORD OF LIGHT AND RESCUE THE WOMAN.

“Fine,” I said quickly, hoping to mask the feeling of relief that had washed over me. “But why do you wish to find the sword?”

IF I UNDERSTAND YOUR PLAN, YOU WISH TO FREE THE WOMAN AND REUNITE HER WITH HER FAMILY ON THE FRONT LINE.

“You know that is precisely my plan,” I muttered. Clearly, he’d been reading my thoughts again.

THERE IS NO POSSIBLE MEANS OF VICTORY WHILE THE USURPER POSSESSES THAT SWORD.

Belenus was right. I had pondered that exact thought from the first day I had set myself on this course of action. We needed to capture the sword, and time was short–it would need to be done before the war convoy left the city walls.

“I agree,” I said. “But stealing the sword will be very dangerous.” I heard the beginning of a crazed chuckle in my mind and suppressed an involuntary shiver. Official source is NoveI[F]ire.net

LET ME HANDLE THOSE THAT STAND IN OUR WAY.

“These people are… were my friends. I won’t kill the King’s Guard.” The voice in my mind was silent.

Finally cleaned of the worst of the grease and dirt embedded in my skin, we set off out of the alley. Even if I hadn’t known my way around the meandering streets of Falias, all one had to do was look up. The Watchful Crown of the central city held the highest towers in all of Falias. In fact, it was how the city had earned the nickname “Hightower.” It was also where Father ruled from.

From where we stood in the market, the three spires of the crown appeared to be the same size, with the central tower set back on the horizon. In reality, I knew the central tower was nearly twice as tall as the two others. In each of the three main towers there were other, smaller spires. Brigid would likely be in one of the smaller spires in the eastern crown.

Despite running across a contingent of soldiers heading south to the gate, we managed to avoid attracting any attention on our way. I wondered if Father had learned of the murder of his guards, but more than that, I wondered how we would achieve our goals without causing even more death and destruction.

Even as those fears passed through my mind, I heard another chuckle from Belenus that grew and grew until it felt as though my own thoughts were being crushed under the weight of the sound. The laughter permeated my psyche in such a way that I felt myself on the edge of being driven mad.

I longed for the quietude of my own thoughts and my own struggles. But with Belenus in my head, silence was a luxury I feared I might never know again, especially in the trials that awaited us in the spires above.