Chapter 33 Ren Monroe

Earlier that morning, Ren had woken up and vomited.

It was unlike her. She'd never reacted that way before exams or practicals. No amount of pressure had ever impacted her physically. At first, she'd assumed her body was finally suffering the physiological burdens her mind refused to feel. But then she'd realized the turning emotions were coming from Theo. A pulsing nervousness was feeding from him, threading in and out of her own thoughts. A few minutes later, she felt that manifest into more. A steady pull across their bond.

Theo was summoning her.

She accepted. It was like allowing herself to be swept away on a wave. The magic ushered her across space and time. Her feet set down on the familiar ramparts. She was not looking down at Nostra—but the opposite way, at the northern pass. Cold wind nipped at her too-thin clothing. In the distance, she saw the reason for Theo's anxiety. An army was marching across the once-empty plain. No attack had come from this direction in a century. Squinting, she saw Dahvid Tin'Vori riding at the head of their party. He looked smaller than he had the first time they met, though Ren suspected anyone would look small across that endless terrain.

As she watched their approach, she knew exactly what it meant for Theo to be standing on the ramparts, unmoved. His familial duty, however embarrassing, was to run up the western tower. He should have been there already, preparing to light the ancient beacon. The signal that would warn his family—and all of Kathor—that an enemy was coming. But he remained at her side like a statue. A harbinger of a new era. He watched that distant army for a time; then he looked right over to where Ren was and wasn't standing. She looked back at him.

"I'm doing this for you," he whispered.

Ren felt his emotion—raw and untethered and wild. It was like setting her hand to the sun. She retreated before it could burn her, and the vision vanished. Their bond continued to thrum with that wild energy, but Ren found herself back in the safety of the bathroom—vomiting the rest of last night's dinner. Not the most romantic bookends for such an important moment, she knew, but beggars could not be choosers.

An enchanted carriage arrived in the morning. Ren delayed slightly, pretending to run back inside and fetch missing items. She could not arrive too early. Vega settled on her shoulder as she walked outside. Her chosen outfit was a two-piece charcoal dress. The jacket had padded shoulders and a thick collar, with midnight-black buttons running down to a cinched waist. Her skirt matched, though the fabric was patterned with distinct creases. She looked like a huntress.

She accepted the driver's hand as she stepped into the carriage. He smiled politely, making small talk, entirely unaware of her purpose. She knew it was likely he knew nothing about her at all. It was his job to escort her to the Brood estate—nothing more. Landwin had eagerly accepted her invitation. The letter had succeeded. Now she had one last performance to give.

Her role today was to keep Landwin Brood on his estate. At least until the attack began. She knew Dahvid's location, thanks to Theo, and knew exactly how long it would take the army to reach the northwestern woods that overlooked the property. She had used Vega that morning to notify Nevelyn, but she'd have no way of knowing if the girl's part of the plan succeeded until everything else was already crashing together. All she could do was perform her part in their grand play.

The carriage passed through the weather barrier surrounding the Heights. A light rain began pattering against the roof. The driver aimed for the western gates. She'd only flown in a carriage like this one other time. She felt the same dizzying feeling she had then. It always startled her to see Kathor spread out. All the houses, and all the people who quietly existed in their own worlds, never once brushing up against her own life.

As they passed over the city gates, Ren felt like she really did know the people down there. She'd lived amongst them, suffered with them, fought quietly on their behalf. She could only hope that the end of the Broods might mean a beginning for others. The first balancing act on scales that had been so imbalanced for so long that it made her sick to think about.

The city vanished from sight.

Great rolling hills ran into a scattershot of forests. She saw rivers and roads winding through the land like the veins of some great, slumbering beast. The trees eventually cleared, and the Brood estate came into view. A city in its own right. Pristine walls circled around a stretch of land that was as large as the entire Lower Quarter. From above, Ren had a perfect view of how the ancient Broods first divided their estate. In that era, the great measure of a house's wealth consisted of the four ideals: family, sustenance, strength, and rule. Two roads ran through the estate. One east to west, the other north to south. They created four equal sections—each one a nod to those original tenets.

The southernmost section was family. There were three lifeless, gray castles there. Each building was linked with the next by a series of glasshouse bridges. There were countless rooms in each one. Large enough to shelter thousands. These were the longtime dwellings of the Brood family, and the current residence of Thugar Brood.

The westernmost section represented the ideal of sustenance. All farmland. Ren's vantage point showed the pristine rows running north to south. These had once fed the Brood family, and she knew it had been designed to produce the ideal rations if they ever faced a siege. The Broods had decided to maintain the fields long after they were functionally unnecessary, because they were the perfect symbol of the brutal efficiency that had built their empire.

The easternmost quarter represented strength. Where the Broods kept their barracks. Every great house had a private army. None rivaled the Broods'. She could see the training grounds. Even now, there was a series of duels unfolding. Practice bouts and training exercises. According to Theo, there was always a minimum of one hundred soldiers on hand to defend the estate, but the full complement could be as high as five hundred, depending on rotations.

Lastly, the ideal of rule. The northernmost quarter was dotted with dozens of smaller houses. The servants' quarters. Each building was meant to demonstrate how many people depended on the Broods for their livelihood. All of their gardeners and their cooks and their physicians lived here. Ren knew many of the men and women occupying those homes had inherited them from their own parents. Some were loyal servants of House Brood and thought of Theo's family as their family. Others simply could not find occupations with better benefits and gladly took what they could from the most powerful people in the land. Ren faulted none of them.

"We must set down outside the gates," the driver called back. "Hold on to something, my lady."

As the descent began, Ren realized she didn't know the spellwork that enchanted carriages used for operation. It was a surprising gap in her studies. There had been a magical dynamics class her sophomore year that would have undoubtedly covered it, but she'd opted for Anatomical Magic to round out her resume. There was something marvelous about not knowing. A great reminder that there was more out there for her to learn. She sat in quiet wonder as the driver's spells guided them down with such precision that Ren felt like she was walking down a flight of giant stairs. A final halting charm had the carriage skidding quietly to a stop just outside the looming gates of House Brood.

She might not know how her carriage worked, but she knew why they'd set down outside the walls instead of inside. The Broods possessed a sophisticated defense system. All the great houses did. What else was there to do, once you'd gathered generational wealth? Obviously, one had to invent clever ways to protect it. She'd heard rumors, of course, but it was Landwin himself who'd confirmed the truth. The Broods were more guarded than their counterparts in one very specific way. The four gates, built to represent the cardinal directions, were only accessible by the direct line of House Brood: Landwin, Marquette, Thugar, Tessa, and Theo.

Theo's access had been stripped from him. His father had claimed it was a part of being the watcher—that historically, they would not allow that person access, in case they were compromised in the course of their duties. That was the ironic part of the whole situation. Theo had been compromised. The Broods' suspicious and outdated tradition was working. Theo could not get them inside.

Ren would only be allowed to enter as bait.

The great stone gates groaned open. Ren stood there, wondering who would come down to meet her. Thugar was the primary resident. Landwin was the one who'd actually arranged to meet with her. But as the shadows parted, Ren was surprised to see Marquette Brood. A little chill ran down her spine. This was the Brood she knew the least about. The one who had the vaguest records. Like a star whose brightness was predicated on the larger star it had been fated to be set next to in the sky. Her face was unreadable. Even if she'd married into the family, Ren felt as if she were a Brood in truth. She supposed the passing decades would have bent the woman toward her ruler.

Marquette gestured for Ren to enter. This was the first step. Nestling herself inside the walls. She walked through the gates and actually felt all that waiting magic that was prepared to destroy her. But she'd been waved in by a Brood. Given permission by one of the only gatekeepers. That was enough to keep the magic at bay.

"I am glad you came so early," Marquette said. "I wanted a word with you before your conversation with my husband—and I did not think that I would have the opportunity."

Once more, Ren was surprised. First, that was the longest phrase she'd ever heard Marquette utter. Even at the few family dinners she'd attended, Theo's mother had a habit of curt answers and sharp one-liners. She'd never once heard the woman tell a story or offer a theory about anything at all. The other surprise was that Marquette Brood was sweating. A quiet trickle that was running down her forehead, barely noticeable at all. Except for that it was crisp and chill today, with a fine breeze out of the west. She was nervous about something.

"I came to make a very simple request of you," Marquette said.

The two of them began walking up a beautifully paved road. On their right, the gray castles, brightened by sunlight. Ahead, a small battalion of soldiers running sprints.

"I am always grateful for the opportunity to prove myself. What can I do?"

"Do not sever your bond with my son."

Nothing could have been more startling. Ren actually tripped over her own feet and had to throw out both hands to keep from falling. Marquette looked at her with quiet, pleading eyes.

"Do not break his heart. Do not listen to any of them. Have courage, dear."

With those seditious words in the air between them, Theo's mother turned and began walking up the path again. Quietly she led Ren straight into the heart of the Broods' kingdom. It was a mark of bravery that she'd said what she'd said. A clear departure from Landwin's own plans and a sign that she actually did love her exiled son. Ren almost felt bad. Marquette thought she was playing a risky game by undermining their coming conversation. She had no idea that another game was already halfway finished and that she'd just led the wolf in through the front door.