24. Chapter 22 Zorvan

Chapter twenty-four

Chapter 22: Zorvan

L ysander, Emyth, Tavin, and I return to the castle with Ruby in tow. She agreed to be bound so that we could pretend that she was a prisoner. We don't want to tip our hand to Walden.

We march through the front doors with a purpose, and Rupert meets us at the bottom of the stairs. One of Walden's primary duties is to notify whoever is in charge when there are new people within the castle wards.

"Prince Zorvan! I wasn't expecting you back so soon. Is everything alright?" Rupert's eyes flick to Ruby.

"Everything is fine. We just suspect that this fae woman may have information. Where is Walden?"

"He's here somewhere. He came and told me you'd arrived, then left. I'm assuming that he returned to his quarters."

"We'll need him in the dungeons for this one." I nod aggressively to Ruby. She's irritated at the situation, but I don't care. This makes the most sense. "I need to go see Airen for a truth drought. Tavin, keep an eye on her."

Once I'm in the infirmary I shut the door quietly behind me. Airen's attention is pulled from her work. She looks confused at first. Then concerned. Then angry.

"You haven't found her then?" she asks with so much disdain that I can almost taste her rage in the air.

I cross the room until I'm standing just a few inches from her and say as softly as possible, "No. But I have a couple of leads about where she is. I need suppressants. As high as a dose as I can get without killing someone. And I need it in dart form. Something injectable and discreet. I also need a truth drought. Can you do that? And fast."

"Why are you being so quiet about this?"

"Because the person I need to dose is one of our own. I'll tell you more when I can, but right now I need you to move quickly."

"If it will help get her back, I'll do anything," she says with resolve. She's a good friend to Arden. I still harbor a bit of guilt when it comes to how Arden ended up in the infirmary the first time, but regardless, I'm glad they met.

With a haste that I've never seen from the petite faun, she pulls out a couple of vials and two small shooting darts. She pours the contents from one vial into an empty one and then inserts it into a hollowed out portion of the dart.

"Jam this into the person's neck and apply enough pressure to the vial to puncture the seal. It'll release on its own over time but if you push on the vial with your thumb it'll release quicker. If you need to knock them out," she pulls another dart with another vial, "use this one. It has a very potent sleeping drought from my own stores in it."

I narrow my eyes at her, "I think we need to have a discussion about what you're brewing for yourself."

"It's come in handy for you twice now, so maybe just say thank you," she says with a smirk. "Now go figure out where our girl is."

"Thank you, Airen," I say, taking the darts from her hands. "Arden is lucky to have you."

"Just bring her home, okay?"

I put the suppressant dart and the truth potion in my right pocket, and I put the sleeping drought dart in the left. Then I join my men in the dungeons.

In one of the interrogation rooms, my men stand in a half circle surrounding Ruby who sits at a table. She looks absolutely livid, and I make a mental note to offer her some form of compensation for going along with our ploy for so long.

Walden stands directly behind her. I grind my teeth at the thought of this piece of shit being in my employ for this long. He brought Elliott with him. Elliott stands in the corner of the room just watching what's happening.

I walk behind Walden and make eye contact with Tavin to make sure he's ready in case something goes wrong. "Open her mouth, Walden." I say and he pries Ruby's mouth open with little effort. I doubt she's even fighting him. She knows she's in no real danger.

I pull the suppressant dart from my pocket, and in one smooth motion I jam it into Walden's neck and press on the vial.

"What the fuck?!" he screams and Elliott moves from his position in the corner.

"Stand down!" I say to Elliott, causing him to freeze in place.

Walden is clearly trying to conjure some of his magic, but is unable to do so. When ingested, suppressants can take up to an hour to fully kick in. This is a much better route.

I haul Ruby to her feet, cut her bindings, and shove Walden into the chair. "What are you doing?" Rupert asks.

"Walden here has been working with The Sentinels," I say.

"No I haven't!" he cries indignantly.

"I just dosed you with enough suppressant to render you useless for a week, so I can't give you the truth serum. Unfortunately for you that means we're going to have to rely on more traditional methods of extracting information. Unless you want to just go ahead and tell me, now."

"I'm not working for The Sentinels!" he yells.

"Okay, the hard way."

Walden looks like he might piss himself. As he should. He knows better than most what I'm capable of. A stupid man may have tried to hide his fear, but Walden is not a stupid man.

"Don't jerk me around, Wally," I say in a condescending tone.

"I don't have any business with them! I swear it!"

"Then why are you wiping the memories of the people of Krean?"

Walden's face crumples. He's caught and he knows it. A thread of joy pulls somewhere inside of me. He's been aiding in the suffering of the people of Feldorn for Stars know how long. His head swivels around so he's looking at Elliott whose face is lit with betrayal.

"You didn't," he says through clenched teeth.

"I had to, El."

"Someone enlighten me as to what's going on, please. We're in a bit of a time crunch," The Sentinel says.

Elliott storms from the room and I gesture for Lysander to follow him. Since they're both dire wolf shifters, they have pack tendencies which gives Lysander more rapport with him than anyone else in the room.

I turn my attention back to the issue at hand. "I need answers, and if you value your life, you'll give them to me. If you're not working for the Sentinels, then who are you working for?"

"She'll kill me. I can't-"

" I will kill you. But not before I torture answers out of you. If you tell me what I need to know, then maybe you'll get to live." That's a lie. He committed treason, and aided in the destruction of dozens of Feldorites. But whatever I need to tell him to get the information I need.

I've never seen Walden show much emotion. Maybe some laughter when he was joking around with his men, but never anything extreme. It's pitiful watching him cry.

"Before I tell you anything, I need you to make me a promise."

"You're not really in a position to be asking for favors."

"I realize that, but I know that you have a heart beating in that chest somewhere. I'm not ignorant enough to believe that you're going to leave me alive after this. I always knew this was a possibility but it was a risk I was willing to take.

"If I tell you what you need to know, I need your word that you'll get my son back, and that you'll protect him." He isn't crying anymore and his features have gone hard. "Otherwise, I'm not telling you anything."

"What son?" I've known Walden most of my life. He's never had a romantic interest, let alone a child.

"His name is Theodas. He's in Solardin. I need you to make sure that you get him back and that you take care of him. He deserves at least that."

"Why is he in Solardin?"

"I will tell you everything, but first I need your word that you will do what you can to protect him." He extends his hand asking me to make a vow to him that I cannot break.

I search his eyes, and decide that it's worth the risk. Whatever information he has is important enough to make an unbreakable oath. I place my hand in his and feel the buzz of the magic bond flow between us, tying us together.

"Thank you," he says, then he takes a deep breath. "So I guess I'll start from the beginning. About three or four weeks before Millandra went missing, we had a large ball. Do you remember that?" he asks and I nod my head.

"That was the engagement ball for Emyth and Millie, and the introductory ball for the female Solardinites. That was the first time Falmir and Iona and the rest had been here."

"Yes." Walden nods his head. "King Esrend and Queen Cyndair attended along with all of their children and some of their grandchildren. I was at the party, and I had a few too many fae wines. I wasn't on duty that night because I wasn't head of the guard yet. I blacked out for a little while, and when I came to I was in a bed in one of the guest quarters. I was naked and there was a fae woman in the bed with me.

"I didn't recognize her so I knew she must be from Solardin. She told me her name was Kasultha, and that she was a handmaid to one of the royal girls. They stayed for a few more days and we talked and got to know one another when I wasn't on duty. She was beautiful, and kind, and everything I was searching for in a mate. I thought that I had found the one." His face falls. "I can't believe I was so stupid.

"We exchanged letters after she left. I told her about how you were looking to promote me to head guard, and when Millie went missing, I wrote to her about it telling her what little I knew at the time. I told her how I felt responsible since I was one of our better guards and I wasn't with Millie when she disappeared."

I interject, "I know you know this now, but there wasn't anything anyone could have done. Millie's father killed those guards to make it look like they had been abducted so that he could get Millie out of Sangaris."

"Yes I know, but at the time I felt guilty." He heaves a deep sigh and continues, "Kasultha offered to come visit. I didn't really want her here in the castle, so I offered to take a couple of days off and meet her in one of the villages. We met in the tavern in Krean, and stayed there for a few days.

"Then she left. She wrote to me a couple of times and then I stopped hearing from her. About three months later, I got a letter asking me to meet her in Krean. I figured that I enjoyed her company enough that if all she wanted was to sleep together, then that was fine by me.

"When I arrived she was already in the room we were supposed to be sharing. Only...when I entered the room, it wasn't Kasultha there. Well, it was. But she wasn't who she said she was."

"What do you mean?" Rupert asks, catching me off guard. His voice is angry.

"It was Queen Cyndair. It had been her the whole time. My trysts with Kass had been a lie from the very beginning."

The door to the interrogation room opens. Livarius, Jarrah, and the leader of The Sentinels enter, followed shortly by Lysander and Elliott. I nod to Jarrah, "Good of you all to join us. We were just getting to the good part of Walden's story."

"No offense, but why would Cyndair want to sleep with you?" Emyth asks. "You're an attractive fae, but you're just a guard."

"Because she's a crazy bitch and nothing she does is without reason," The Sentinel says.

"What do you know of it?" Rupert growls. His behavior is extremely bizarre. I decide to let Walden finish his story before I take on another issue.

"One thing at a time, fellas. Please continue, Walden."

"It was a part of her plan the whole time. When she had visited Krean the first time, she intentionally got pregnant."

"She what ?" Livarius says. "What a hypocritical bitch. She acted like I was a spot on her shoe when she met me because I wasn't legitimate and she's out here having bastard children with random guards from other kingdoms?! No offense." He says to Walden.

"That's the thing. It wasn't out of love or respect for me. It was so she had leverage. She held my baby hostage and threatened to kill him, an infant, if I didn't do exactly as she said. So I did everything she told me. She would bring him to Krean once every month or so, and would let me hold him and play with him.

"He grew so fast, and before I knew it his fortieth birthday had rolled around. Now he's an adult, and he doesn't want much to do with me because of the lies he's been told, but she still holds his well being over my head. So I just kept doing what she said. I know you'll try, but you can't compare to her, Prince Zorvan. She's thousands of years old."

"I agree," The Sentinel says, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning against the wall. "She's more powerful than you could imagine."

"Who the fuck are you?" Rupert spits.

"Oh. Right. How rude of me. Though I'm a little offended that not one of you recognizes me. Although the bloodsucker gets a pass since he wasn't even born yet when I left." He pulls off his helmet, freeing his mop of wavy dark blonde hair. There is a familiarity there, but I cannot place it.

Lysander lets out a small gasp and whispers, "Oh my Stars. Which one are you?"

I furrow my brow and study him a little more intently. Then it clicks.

"Nevidian."

I shake my head in disbelief. "What are you... why are you?"

"That's an impossibly long story that we may or may not get to. But for now, we need to focus on retrieving my nieces from that wretched woman."

"Nie...Niec ES? " Rupert asks. "Cyndair has both girls?"

"Yes, that was my fuck up. I'd kept Mandira safe for the better part of the last decade, but I got complacent. Cyndair has all sorts of magic at her disposal, and I should have known better."

"Arden's sister is here ?" Livarius asks.

"She's alive ?" Emyth asks.

"And now that crazy bitch has both of my granddaughters," Rupert says, collapsing into a chair."

" Granddaughters? " Nev says in shock.

"How could you let her take them? Why did you even have them to begin with?" I demand.

"Truthfully, I was trying to get Arden away from you."

"She was on her way to Kildara to be with Ardeth!" Livarius slams his fists down on the table. "You've now taken my mother, my sister, killed my step father, and stolen my mate. Is there anything else you would like to take from me? I'm sleeping with Tavin. Is he next on your agenda?"

"Interesting," Nevidian says. "But no. I don't intend to take anything else from you. In fact, you can have your mother and sister back just as soon as I can safely retrieve them. Now that Cyndair knows that I've been working to keep the girls from her, I'm sure there's a target on my back.

"I am sorry about your step father, though. He just resisted too much. One of my guys had to take him down in self defense."

"You just took up Nuvian's mantle after he left," I ask, my voice bitter.

"My brother didn't kill your parents."

"You were barely ten years old, and you were in bed when they died! You don't know anything about what happened that night."

"Did you see him poison the wine?" Nevidian asks.

"No, but–"

"Nu loved you like a brother. He respected and adored you. He never would have hurt your parents."

I grind my teeth together. There's always been a part of me that hoped that it was a misunderstanding, but… "Why the fuck did he run if he didn't have anything to do with it?"

"Because he knew you'd blame him! He tried to take us with him to the earth realm that night, but my sister refused. She said that over her dead body we would be raised human. So she struck up a deal with Cyndair and Esrend, and took us to Solardin."

"Bullshit. Nuvian killed my parents, and you know it."

Nevidan's nostrils flare. "We don't have time for this. We can sort it out after we have the girls back."

We're both breathing heavily, staring each other down. He's right. I know he's right. I close my eyes, and take a deep breath.

"Well since you've been working so closely with Cyndair, how do you propose we do that? Even with my dragon, we can't go storming the castle. We have to have a plan."

"They have back entrances to the castle," Nev offers.

"They'd be warded," Jarrah says.

"We have dozens of flying shifters. We could infiltrate that way," Livarius says.

"Again, wards. And most of the people in Feldorn are not going to go up against Cyndair on our behalf," Rupert says.

"Not on our behalf, but if we have proof that we know what she's been doing, they might be willing to go on behalf of the captive women and children," Lysander says.

"All we have is the word of a Sentinel, and besides, we need to keep that knowledge close to the vest in case we need to use it strategically. With Iona and Falmir in our cells, and our relationship with Solardin being so rocky, I think we'll need it as a bargaining chip later," I say.

"We could dig another tunnel," Tavin says with a snort.

I half consider it before shaking my head. "Honestly…" I take another deep breath. They're not going to like this. "I think we have to leave Arden there until Cyndair comes for the trial."

"Absolutely not!" Livarius yells. "I cannot be without her that long. And what if they're…" He looks as though he's about to be sick.

"Cyndair wouldn't be so bold to use her–Ashylan royalty– as…" Emyth starts, looking even more pale.

"As what?" Nevidian asks.

"Breeding stock," I answer.

"What do you mean? Of course not. Cyndair doesn't like species of fae intermixing." He looks around at all of us with an amused look on his face. It falters when he sees how serious we all are. "Why would you think that she was using anyone for that?"

"Because your group has been rounding up the females and sending them off to Solardin," Ruby snaps.

"What?" Nevidian asks with a nervous chuckle. He has a look on his face like he's expecting one of us to let him in on the joke.

"Don't play stupid, please. It's been a very long week, and I would like to be done here," I say.

"I'm no t playing stupid. I don't understand why you think that Cyndair would be using the girls…that way…"

"What did you think was happening to the women and children you took?"

"We were just getting them out of Feldorn. We were trying to get them away from you!" he says as if that should be obvious.

"The women are being used as incubators for hybrid babies you twat!" Ruby yells.

"No." Nevidian's response is definitive. "There's no way. She wouldn't do that; especially not to my–" He shakes his head. "No. Cyndair said that if we brought her women and children, that she would give them a place of asylum away from Feldorn."

"Why would they need asylum?" Zorvan asks with a hint of anger in his voice. "None of my subjects are in any danger here."

"Because there were groups of men going around raping and pillaging the villages..."

"That was you . You did that!" Zorvan roars.

"NO! We always got to the villages just after they were set alight. We saved what women we could and took them to Solardin."

"How did you know what villages to go to?"

"I received tips from the seers that worked with Cyndair. Our job was to go in, get the women and children to trust us, and save them. Wherever you're getting your information from, it's incorrect."

"Ruby is telling the truth," Walden says. "I've been wiping the memories of the couple of women who managed to escape and make it back."

"How many were there that made it back?" Emyth asks.

"Three."

Nevidian sits down in an empty chair, and cradles his face in his hands. "She told me not to harm them. She told me that the women and children would be safer in Solardin if things got violent here. She told me…we have to get them back. We have to get Arden and Dira back."

I shove down the urge to tell him again how it's his fault that Cyndair has them. Placing blame won't get us anywhere any faster.

My stomach churns at what I'm about to say. "Arden just went through A heat cycle, and was on heat suppressants. It's unlikely that she'll have another on before–"

"Zorvan!" Jarrah interrupts. "You cannot possibly be–"

"Even if that is what Cyndair's goal is, it's unlikely that Arden will get pregnant before we get her back."

"She might not get pregnant, but she'll be traumatized and emotionally destroyed!" Emyth shouts.

"She's been there three weeks already. Whatever was going to happen to her has happened to her." Zorvan says.

Emyth growls in frustration. "Fucking stop it! Just STOP! We're not leaving her there."

"Okay, look. We'll do it this way: as an absolute last resort, we'll plan to go get here the second Cyndair arrives. I'll obviously stay here, but you all can go and retrieve her. In the meantime, every waking moment is spent rallying the people of Feldorn behind us– subtly, we don't want them going to war on our behalf before we're ready, or reporting to one of Cyndair's spies. We don't tell them what's going on, just build trust and relationships with them. When we're not in the villages talking to people, we're here, plotting and planning. We use every single thing at our disposal.

"Tavin, I want you making arrows and training up some of the nature court as archers. Let's turn them into snipers. Jarrah, you're obviously on strategy. All day every day until she's back. Emyth, you need to reserve your powers so when the time comes, we can wipe out as many people as necessary. Lysander, I want you to commune with the fucking Stars every second of every night until they give you something useful.

"If we try to get into that castle without a solid plan, then we die, and Cyndair keeps Arden and takes over Feldorn. We cannot go at this half-drawn. Am I clear?"

I make eye contact with each of them, and they each give me an understanding nod.

"Walden, I will discuss your punishment with the council, and make the decision after we've voted on it. My first impulse is to slit your throat right here, but I know that I'm not thinking rationally. For now you're going to be confined to a cell. But before you go, I'm curious about something," I say.

"I'll tell you whatever you need to know."

"Why did you heal the satyr?"

"I really felt that if you had been more clear headed that you wouldn't have killed him. I was going to tell you all after the girl came back," Walden says.

I give him a sad smile. I may have let him live in the long run. Especially if Arden had any say in it.

"Okay, well, that's all we need from him. Tavin, I need your help," I say. "Please don't argue with me about it."

Tavin nods knowing exactly what I'm about to ask. "Who and how much?"

"Make sure they all forget who Rupert really is, and any connection between Arden and him. Make sure they forget what Nevidian has done, and make Ruby forget what Walden has done."

"I knew I shouldn't have fucking come here," Ruby spits out. "I hate memory charms."

"I know. And I'm sorry. But this is a huge issue of security and you're a liability," I say. "I will pay you handsomely for your help."

"Fine," she grumbles and plops down in a chair next to Walden.

"Can you also make me forget what Walden told us?" Elliott asks. "I would rather just pretend that none of that happened."

"Sure," Tavin says.

Jarrah stays with Tavin and guards the door while Tavin wipes their memories. The rest of us move our conversation to the strategy room to discuss everything that's just come to light in a more comfortable environment.