18. Fifteen

Fifteen

" W hy did you force me to call my men back?" Prince Liam jumped off his horse, almost losing his balance on the stub of his left leg. He ripped his helmet from his head and threw it aside, sending it bouncing across the courtyard. "We could have caught them by now!"

His father stood with his hands behind his back. "Wester has a better idea."

"Please enlighten me," he snapped. He never imagined Lily would stab him in the back. He thought they had a special connection, and then she did this ?

"Inside." The king turned and walked into the castle.

Liam's nostrils flared and he gritted his teeth together. He pulled his cane from its place on the side of his horse and stormed after his father. He followed his father to the meeting room, and his father closed the door behind him.

Wester was sitting in one of the armchairs with his brows dipped in a scowl, massaging his jaw. He rose to his feet when Liam entered the room and nodded. "Although this wasn't planned, it may work to our benefit."

"Losing your pawns?" Liam folded his arms across his chest.

"Losing Lily," King Barith said.

Liam glanced at his father. "She escaped with them?" He snorted. "Why would she do that?"

"You did threaten to have her executed," Wester replied. "The soldier, Takai, told us."

Liam rolled his eyes. "How is losing Lily helpful? Shouldn't I go and rescue her from them? If they truly are so dangerous, that is." He knew saying the last part was risky. His father hated the Karasha. But if he was supposed to hate them too, there had to be a good reason.

"Lily is the key to releasing Merete from the tree," Wester said.

Liam's arms dropped to his sides. "What?" he blurted. "And you're just letting her go with them?" He gestured with both hands toward the door. "Shouldn't that be a bigger reason for me to get her back?"

Wester held up his hand. "Calm yourself. Giving her a little bit of freedom may be just the push she needs to truly tap in to her power."

"She doesn't even know, does she?" Liam said. He shook his head. "With all the secrets you two have been keeping, it's a wonder this kingdom is even functioning." He looked directly at his father.

His father was completely unfazed by his glare. Instead, he said, "I want you to use your time to gather our men and provisions, prepare weapons, whatever we need to do to prepare for battle. As soon as we are ready, we will enter Vasha with our army. You can rescue Lily. She will break the spell. You'll both return home."

Liam flexed his hands. It sounded so simple. But he was learning that nothing about his father's plans were simple. And there was something in his father's eyes that led him to believe there were more secrets being held from him. "Why do I feel like there is still something you're not telling me?"

Wester turned to the king.

Liam's father rested his hands on the edge of the table. "Yoresh, the leader of the viper rebellion, has been in communication with Lord Sraylin."

"I know this."

"What you don't know is Sraylin was trapped on another plane of existence during the battle years ago. He has given us instructions to create a portal so he can escape. I have been preparing what is necessary to speak with him myself and feel confident that I am ready. Wester and I were preparing to do so when the alarm sounded."

Liam's brows furrowed. "You're trying to summon him from another realm? Isn't that dangerous?"

The wizard shook his head. "If a viper unskilled with magic can summon him, so can I."

"What is the point? What if he's a demon now and deceiving you? Why is it you both trust this viper? Didn't he give you his own son?"

Wester tucked his hands into his robes. "If Yoresh has spoken with Sraylin, I need to know that what he has relayed to us is the truth. I need to know that the spell to release Merete is sound and that we will be successful. We may only get one opportunity."

Liam scowled and rested his hands on his hips. "This sounds dangerous."

"It may be. If Lily were still here, I would have her do the spell. She's more powerful." He removed his hands from his robes and held a parchment out to the king.

Liam's instinctive reaction was that he was glad Lily wasn't there. Wester hadn't told her hardly anything, and he doubted she knew the potential danger of summoning a demon. With how innocent she was, he also doubted the wizard had ever tried to train her to summon anything.

"Let's get to the experiment room," Wester said. He glanced at Liam. "Will you be all right climbing all of those stairs?"

"Yes," Liam said without hesitation. He leaned on his cane and walked with confidence out the door and to the first of three or four staircases. He wasn't sure how many steps the wizard tower had.

When he finally made it up, the end of his leg hurt from the pathetic prosthetic rubbing so hard. Climbing stairs was the most painful activity, as it caused the metal end to rub uncomfortably against his nub, even with the padding. Still, he made it into the wizard tower, but paused at the top of the first staircase.

This was where Lily spent all of her time when he didn't see her in the castle. It was small and cramped with books and parchment, which seemed to be carefully organized. The kitchen had just barely room enough to prepare a meal. And then it was up to the next level, a short staircase that opened into an enormous space. The floor was painted with a wide circle. In the center was a crescent moon with a cross at the two open tips. On the edge of the circle were shapes or perhaps letters Liam didn't recognize. Six red candles were placed around the interior of the circle.

Liam noticed the cot on the back wall. What else had they done to Asher after the beating in the dungeon? What had been so awful for Lily to risk her own life to break him out? Liam had tried to explain to her that his people were basically murderers, and she still took pity on him!

Wester crossed to the table on the left and took a bowl filled with a bubbling green goo. "I do not know if this is how Yoresh summoned Sraylin. I highly doubt it, because it takes a spell I had to search for. I believe Sraylin may have found an open portal." He walked to the edge of the outer circle and held his arms straight out, the bowl still in them. In a deep, commanding voice, he said, "I summon the light!" The skull ring on his left index finger glowed red, and all of the candles ignited simultaneously. He stepped into the ring and set the bowl in the curved blank space of the moon. He unfolded the parchment and stepped back out of the circle. "I summon to this world the elf king, Sraylin. I open this portal and call you forth."

Liam felt the hairs on the back of his neck prickle. Training as a soldier, he had learned this sensation meant danger. He gripped the hilt of his sword at his waist and loosened his hold on his cane, just in case. A part of him was excited to see a demon summoned. But another part knew once this began, none of them could back out.

The goop in the bowl sparked and then ignited in green flame. The flames on each of the candles burned green. Immediately after, they shot up toward the ceiling with heat Liam had never felt before.

He stepped back and shielded his face with his arm.

The flames died down as suddenly as they'd risen, and a white-haired elf stood in the summoning circle. Purple tattoos adorned his neck, and his icy eyes narrowed. But his lips spread into a smirk and he chuckled. "Wester and King Barith! By the gods, it is good to see you." He stood tall and proud. "I did not expect to be summoned in such a way. Where is Yoresh?" He looked around and then his eyes landed on Liam. "Who is this?" His gaze dropped to Liam's missing foot and his lips spread into a smile. "You are Prince Liam. King Barith's son. I did not think you survived the blood plague." He turned to the king for an explanation.

"We had to cut off his leg to save him," his father answered.

"Perhaps he was not meant to die," Sraylin replied coldly.

Wester cleared his throat. "With all due respect, we called you to ask about your plans for Merete. Yoresh told us you contacted him. Clearly, that was true. But we need to know how Lily is supposed to break the spell binding Merete."

Sraylin nodded his head slowly. "I do not know what he told you, but I must have a vessel to leave this plane, at least for a short period of time. Once my spirit is strong enough, I can return to my full form. Unfortunately, stepping from this world back into that of the living requires me to access a living host."

"Like a parasite," Liam mumbled.

The elf's eyes darted to him, and Liam immediately understood he was supposed to keep his mouth shut and he was not part of this plan.

"Once you are back, what of the tree?" his father asked.

Sraylin's attention returned to King Barith. "Where is the girl? She must begin to prepare for the spell. It is quite complicated."

Liam resisted the urge to say "I told you so," and resorted to smirking instead while his father and Wester exchanged nervous glances.

"We do not currently have her," Wester finally replied.

"What?" Sraylin almost shouted.

"She escaped with the prince of Vasha this evening," Wester said. "She has grown a lot, but still refuses to tap into the most powerful side of herself. I cannot crack it. She lacks confidence. I believe letting her out into the world for a few days will be the door she needs."

"But Prince Liam and his men will be leaving in a couple of days, and they will be in position when you are summoned forth," King Barith added.

Sraylin leaned forward. "I have been waiting for fifteen years. Fighting for freedom all this time. I will not allow my plan to fail. I will not remain in this place of demons and darkness any longer."

"We are on your side," King Barith said firmly. "Do not threaten us, because you cannot enter this world without our help, and you certainly cannot free your wife."

Sraylin straightened and his face calmed. "You are correct. Forgive my anger."

"Lily will be ready," Wester said. "We all will be."

The elf closed his eyes and his voice became soft. "I cannot wait to hold Merete. To feel the sunlight and grass. It has been far too long."

"We will be at your side. It is what we vowed years ago," King Barith said.

Sraylin opened his eyes and offered a little smile.

"With nothing else to discuss, I release you," Wester said and waved his hand over one of the flames.

Sraylin disappeared in a puff of smoke, and the green flames went out.

Liam folded his arms. "I don't like sitting on my hands."

"You need time to gather an army," his father replied and turned to him. "We need a bigger contingent than twenty men following you into Vasha. You have never seen war. Although I hope that isn't what happens here, we must be ready for it. The Karasha may be animals, but they fight with heart and will kill our men if we aren't ready." He walked over and put his hand on Liam's shoulder. "I have every bit of confidence that you will find Lily and make her comply."

Liam nodded. "Yes, Father."