BOOK 12: CHAPTER 13: PRELUDE TO A SENDOFF

13 – Prelude to a Sendoff

“It’s been a pleasure, Victor,” Morgan said, offering his hand once again. Victor shook it, always impressed by the taut, perfect control the man had over his aura. If he didn’t force the matter, exerting his will against him, he’d never be able to guess his power. “We’ll be waiting for word.”

Victor smiled, nodding as he looked from Morgan to Olivia—his cousin, for lack of a better term—and then to Rellia. “It’ll be a couple of weeks at the earliest.”

“Right.” Olivia grinned, glancing past him to where Cora stood, hands clasped, listening with rapt attention. “Your little trip to Coloss. I’d be interested in learning more about the citadel you claimed.”

“I’ll have my ward write up a report.” Victor didn’t glance at Cora, but he winked at Olivia, whose smile broadened. “Anyway, just continue to stall. The Ridonne won’t move against you until things are settled on Sojourn, and, as I said, my allies are keeping the council busy with other matters.”

“You’re sure we can’t help with that part?” Rellia asked, stepping forward, arms wide for a hug.

Victor pulled her close, pressing her crimson curls against his chest. They’d grown closer since sharing the trauma Thoargh visited upon her. He’d never thank the pendejo for it, but he supposed he could at least acknowledge that he appreciated the people in his life a little more after losing some of them—and nearly many others, even more precious. “No. I have my allies there and my plan. It’s better that you stay here to act in case something goes wrong.”

“We’ll be watching our Farscribe books,” Olivia said.

As Rellia pulled back, Victor glanced at Cora. “Shall we?”

She nodded, then, her face stricken with embarrassment, curtseyed. Her cheeks bloomed crimson as she caught herself in the middle of the impulsive movement, and Rellia chuckled.

“Poor thing,” she whispered. “She’s a bundle of nerves.”

Victor winked and then nodded at Morgan. “She’s smitten, I’m afraid.”

Morgan choked out a half-stifled laugh, then turned, walking toward the door. “I’ll take my leave.” He waved over his shoulder. “My wife will want help with the children.”

Victor watched him go, grinning almost cruelly. “He’s a little uptight, isn’t he?”

“He’s a good man, Victor.” Olivia stepped forward, grabbed his shoulder, and stood on her tiptoes to lightly peck his cheek. “Don’t tease.”

“Fair enough.” Victor waved, then motioned toward the exterior door. “Let’s go, Cora. We’ll walk for a while. I want to clear my head.”

Cora practically bolted for the door, holding it open for him without making eye contact with anyone. As he stepped out, he heard Rellia say, “Not that easily, young lady. I want to thank you for your attentiveness during the meetings. I was very impressed.”

“Th-thank you, Lady ap’Yensha.”

Victor strolled down the path a ways, letting her handle the attention on her own. It was endearing, really, seeing her like that. Her demeanor was markedly different when she was among other adults, though he had a feeling it had more to do with the absence of her compatriots than anything else. He stood by a fountain, listening to its burbling song until she caught up with him. He looked up at the sound of her steps. “All good?”

She nodded. “All good.”

“Let’s walk a bit, then. This path will lead us out of Rellia’s garden into a small woods where we can find a trail leading down to the road.” As she fell into step beside him, he asked, “Well?”

Cora looked up at him, nearly stumbling over a loose paver. “Um, what do you mean?”

“You must have questions. Think about the meetings we had and make a list in your head. I want to hear your top questions.”

They continued walking and were well into the woods beside Rellia’s estate before Cora cleared her throat and asked, “It sounded to me like Lord Hall”—she was referring to Morgan—"is both capable and willing to fight the Ridonne who control the Imperial Seat in Tharcray. I don’t quite understand how the politics in Sojourn stay his hand.”

Victor smiled, nodding. “A good question. It’s not just Morgan—it’s Olivia, Rellia, and a dozen others who’ve been using the dungeon here to gain power far more rapidly than the Ridonne on Fanwath. Things are complicated, though, because long before we’d settled the Free Marches”—Victor gestured to the surrounding forest—“the Ridonne had established partnerships with some of the more powerful veil walkers on Sojourn.”

Cora nodded, hopping over a large root that grew over the path. “I understand that. I thought that was to protect Fanwath from veil walkers from other worlds, though.”

“Exactly right, but the Ridonne here, and their more powerful relatives on Sojourn, argue that it’s due to my interference that people have grown in power so rapidly. They argue that, like me, people such as Morgan and Olivia should be prohibited from interfering with conflicts on Fanwath. They use their alliances on Sojourn as leverage—threatening to unleash a powerful veil walker on them.”

“But how is that fair?”

Victor smiled. “It’s not fair, but politics never really is.”

“But how can they decide who gets to defend their home and who’s too powerful, especially when they’re the ones who want to conquer us?”

“Well, they shouldn’t be able to do that, but their alliances are stronger than ours—at least our open alliances. Rellia and the people from First Landing made agreements with a few veil walkers on Sojourn for protection, but they’re not influential or powerful enough to stand up against the coalition the Ridonne have formed.” ṘÅꞐ𝘖฿Εṣ

“And that’s what you aim to change?”

Victor almost reached over to ruffle her hair, but held himself back—she’d gone to far too much trouble to tame it. “That’s exactly right. The Sojourn City Council has always been corrupt, according to Ranish Dar, but it’s reached a new low in the last decade or so. I’ve got a plan to change things a bit.”

“Will you have to fight?”

Victor thought about the question as they walked. He paused by a fallen tree, taking Cora’s hand to steady her as she hopped atop it, then down to the other side. “I might. I have some powerful allies, but their main role will be to forestall an all-out war. I can see myself being challenged, however—Arona, too.”

“And you must accept?”

Victor looked down at her, grinning. “Must? No, but I want to! It’ll be the quickest solution to this whole mess. First, I’ll need to force our enemies’ hands.”

“Thus, your mysterious plan.”

“You’re sharper than you look, chica.”

Cora smiled, but she feigned outrage. “What do you mean by that? I don’t look smart?”

By then, the path had carried them out of the woods, and Victor could see the road ahead, down a long, gentle slope through a green field. He stopped and looked at Cora, slowly nodding. “You look smart enough.”

Her smile broadened. “So that means I must be very smart indeed.”

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“Exactamente.” Victor reached into his spirit space and pulled out his portal array components. “Help me set this up, smartie.”

Cora took some of the stones and, using Victor as the center point, took two strides away from him to place the first one. “When we get back home, will you help me buy an axe?”

“Buy?” Victor snorted, shaking his head. “Not a chance.”

“Well, how am I supposed to get one?”

“We’re gonna get you some ore, and when we go to Coloss, you’re going to help forge your blade.”

Cora looked up from the stone she’d just placed, eyes widening. “Truly?”

“Truly.”

“Is that what you did?”

Victor chuckled, shaking his head. “I’ve told you how I got Lifedrinker, haven’t I?”

“Oh!” Cora slapped the heel of her palm against her forehead. “Of course! I love the story; Lady Lam gave it to you.”

“Hey! Her! Don’t ever call her it, okay, chica

? You’re lucky she’s in my spirit space right now.”

Cora looked mortified as she held out her hands, taking another portal array stone from Victor. “I’m so sorry! I knew that. It just slipped.”

“It’s fine. Like I said, we’re lucky she wasn’t here to hear.” He laughed, realizing Cora was taking him a little more seriously than he had intended. “Relax. She’s pretty understanding. If she got pissed, she’d just work it out in our next fight.”

“What sort of ore will we use for my axe?”

“Heart silver, of course. You might as well start learning with an axe that might wake up.”

Cora set the stone in place. “Really?”

Victor nodded. “It’s rare, but if you believe and if you always remember that there’s a baby spirit in there—talk to it, thank it, tell it your secrets—you might wake it up.”

“That’s what you did?”

Victor nodded. “Lifedrinker loves to fight, and she gets angry like I do. We need to figure out your style, but I already have some ideas. You’re good at shaping your blood-attuned Energy, and you’ve already learned how to do some healing, so…” Victor grinned, letting his words trail off as Cora placed the last stone. “Let’s just say I think Blood Magic will make you a good axe fighter; we just need to lean into your strengths. I might need to help you design some new spells.”

Cora tilted her head, looking at him sideways. “You know how to write spells?”

Victor made a pfft sound, thrusting the portal destination orb at her. “I can see I’ve let other people do too much when it comes to your education. Seriously? You think I don’t know how to make a spell? I use elder magic, chica.”

Cora took the heavy destination orb, holding it in her cupped palms. “Will I learn to do that?”

Victor tapped her shoulder until she looked into his face, then he held a finger to his lips and winked at her as he said, “You won’t hear about anything like that from me.” His words only served to confuse her further, but Victor didn’t care. He’d talk to her about elder magic when the time was right and when they were some place private where he felt secure from the System’s prying eyes—like his fae-crafted vault.

He pointed to the orb. “Focus on where you want the portal to appear—like my garden—and then activate it with a little Energy.”

Cora closed her eyes, and a moment later, Victor felt her Energy surge. Then, the portal snapped into existence, displacing the air with a sudden gust as its magenta surface, like a pool of strangely dyed water, hung vertically in the air. Victor picked up all the portal stones, took Cora’s wrist, and stepped through.

They’d been gone three days, as Victor had predicted, but it was almost evening time, and the house was quiet when they stepped out of the portal into the garden. He looked at Cora, her face pale in the waning sunlight, and said, “You have anything you want to do before people realize we’re home?”

She shrugged. “Deyni and Dalla won’t be home for two more days.”

“Want your first lesson?”

She nodded eagerly. “Yes! But I don’t have an axe yet!”

Victor waved a dismissive hand. “That won’t matter. Come on, let’s go down to the beach.” As they walked out of the garden and down the slope toward the Silver Sea, he tried to explain, “The basics of fighting, no matter what sort of weapon you have, are always the same. You need to learn to control your center of gravity, to read the intentions of your opponent, and to manage your movements with as little waste as possible.”

“We learned some of that at the academy.” She smiled up at Victor, adding, “In our silly fencing lessons.”

Victor laughed. “Okay, okay. I wasn’t being serious when I said that. Fencing is good for fundamentals, or so people keep telling me. Even so, you’re going to have to learn to do a few things differently. Not yet, though. Today, we’ll start with grappling.”

And so they did. Victor reduced his size significantly, even going so far as to decrease his overall mass so that he was hardly any heavier than Cora. Then, under the ochre sky, in the last rays of sunset, he let go of all of his worries, his stress, and the many tasks ahead of him, and tried to pretend he was back in school, helping a freshman go over their drills like his coach would sometimes make him do.

It was a relaxing time, and they both laughed a lot. As it grew darker and darker, Victor summoned an orb of inspiration-attuned light, and the practice continued. It wasn’t until the village came alive with lights and footsteps heralded Efanie’s arrival on the beach that the two sat down, sweating and red-faced, in the sand to stretch. “I thought I heard your voice down here!” Efanie said, standing with her hands on her hips, staring at Victor.

“He’s teaching me to fight!” Cora announced, looking up at Efanie, who, for all intents and purposes, was a mother figure to her.

“I would have loved to know you were back. There’s nothing prepared for dinner.”

Victor, still sitting in the sand, shrugged. “I’m sure the cooks can prepare something.”

“That’s not the point, though.”

Efanie sounded miffed, so Victor looked at her more seriously. After seeing more than irritation—something like concern—in her eyes, he turned to Cora and said, “Do me a favor, will you, kid?”

She nodded immediately. “What?”

“Run up to the house and tell the cook on duty to grill some meat. You pick what you want for dessert.”

Cora jumped up and, on bare feet, ran up the sandy slope toward the garden. Efanie sat down in her spot, turning her angled, almond-shaped eyes on Victor. “The trip was successful?”

He shrugged. “I told them what I could of my plan and got everyone to agree to wait. Morgan and Olivia will maintain the peace up by First Landing, and Rellia’s going to ensure nobody moves north through the pass.”

“Was Cora good?”

Victor smiled. “Better than good. Hardly had to say a word to her. She was up at dawn, acted professionally, and even took notes without me asking. Everyone was really impressed with her.”

Finally, Efanie got to what was bothering her. “And now you’re teaching her to fight?”

Victor leaned back, letting his palms sink into the sand behind him. “She asked me to.” Efanie’s brows drew together, and he hastily added, “And I want to. I need a student. I have legendary axe skill, Efanie. It’s wrong not to pass on what I know.”

She put her elbows on her knees, leaning her chin into her hands. “But Cora? The axe? Really? I thought she’d take to the rapier like me—like Kethelket. She’s really quite good.”

Victor shrugged. “She’s young. She can learn more than one weapon. Anyway, she’s a Blood Caster, and I’ve met some in the legion back on Dark Ember who can do pretty incredible things—enhance their bodies, regenerate, even achieve a state of mind a lot like my Berserk. She’s tough, too. I think she’ll take to the axe really well.”

“Of course, she will; she idolizes you. Tell me, did you promise to train her before or after the meetings?”

“Before…”

Efanie nodded. “And do you not understand why she’s trying so hard? She’s probably walking on rainbows ever since you said yes. She’s a very goal-oriented girl, Victor, so please don’t make promises you don’t intend to keep. It’s wonderful that you’ve started, but don’t park her in a palace somewhere and forget about—”

“Whoa, easy!” Victor laughed, holding up a hand. “I’m taking this seriously, Efanie.” Victor put a hand on his stomach. “I felt it here, in my gut, when I decided to teach her the axe. It’s my bloodline speaking. I need a student. She’s my ward—it’s only right.”

Efanie looked into his eyes for a long moment, then nodded. “Very well. I won’t pester you about it further.” She held up a finger. “Except to ask one more question. Are you training her to fight for any…specific reason?”

Victor shook his head. “Nothing planned, but…” He paused, considering his words. “You know I have a lot of enemies. I know you’ve been training her, and I know she’s had defensive lessons at the academy. I just want to do…more.”

“Well, I’d be a fool to argue with that sentiment.” She smiled, inhaling deeply, and Victor knew she was savoring the fresh air. There was something about the atmosphere on Fanwath, especially deep in the Free Marches, where his properties lay. The sea air was part of it, of course, but it held a quality that made him realize that he shared at least one sentiment with the Ridonne—the world deserved to be protected.

They sat quietly for a little while, and then Efanie cleared her throat and asked, “So, the girls will be back from school in two days. Will you allow me to plan a send-off for them?”

“Yeah, of course. I’m looking forward to seeing everyone. I even received word from Valla; she’s getting permission from her master to make a visit.”

Efanie practically flew to her feet. “That means Rellia will be here! Borrius?”

Victor laughed, shrugging. “Probably.”

“Don’t just sit there and laugh! You have to help me! We’ll need to use the portal hall as a dining room. We’ve done so once before for a Shadeni wedding, but I’m not sure the tables we have are appropriate…”

Victor stood, feeling very strange as he saw Efanie looming over him. With a soft chuckle, he relaxed his constraints on his body, stretching his height by another foot or so. “Take a deep breath, Efanie. I’ll have my staff at Iron Mountain help out. I’m sure we can even borrow some tables.”

Relief washed over her countenance, and she laughed almost a little hysterically. “That’s music to my ears. Speaking of—do you think we could hire a quartet?”

Victor put his arm over her shoulders and steered her toward the house. “Yeah, of course. Not a problem. By the way, Lam was at Rellia’s, and she’ll want to join, and you know she’ll get Edeya to come along—might as well plan on a few others from Dark Ember to join. Things are slow over there at the moment. I figure everyone’s going to want to bring presents for the girls.”

“Oh, goodness,” Efanie said with a sigh, leaning into him as they walked. “Why do I feel old for the first time ever?”