Now he did look at Jewd and saw the anguish in his friend’s face, recalled promising the man just the day previous that he had no further secrets. ‘Jewd, please listen to me. I didn’t know that Loethar was even Valisar. How could I? None of us did. I learned about the powers of the ageis at the Academy. I sensed my powers were more than just a trifling magic around the time of my mother’s death, but essentially they felt like tricks for most of my life.’

‘I don’t believe persuading people to spill their private knowledge is a circus trick, Kilt,’ Jewd interrupted, his voice hard. ‘What you’ve admitted to being able to do is hardly trifling. It fills me with both awe and dread. And anger — because you chose to keep it from me.’

‘I told you, I have not used those powers until just days ago when I went in search of Lily.’

‘Well, at least you admit that she means that much to you!’ Leo cut in archly. ‘We will find her and we will get her back, Kilt, I promise you that. But right now we have to understand what we’re up against here. We are not your enemy, so stop treating us as if we are. Jewd and I need to share as much as possible with you or we can’t protect you.’

Kilt laughed sadly. ‘Protect me? You have no idea what you’re dealing with.’

Leo was not to be dissuaded by the disdain in his friend’s voice or the low threat that underpinned his words. ‘That’s the point I’m making. We don’t have any idea and so we wish to understand. I know what an aegis does, what he or she is born for. I’ll be honest, I’ve never felt mine present.’ He gave a hollowgrin. ‘But, my understanding is that as a Valisar I should feel that person and only that person who was born for me.’

Kilt sighed. ‘That’s right. The Valisars are only aware of their own aegis,’ he lied, grateful for Leo’s obviously weak powers. ‘However, an aegis who comes too close would be aware of all the Valisars, which is why it’s so dangerous.’ He felt bad for lying, but knew it was necessary. ‘The magic inside me recognises you even though I am not your aegis. Your presence sickens me, Leo.’

Leo looked at him, open-mouthed.

‘That came out the wrong way,’ Kilt backtracked. ‘What I’m trying to say is that what you saw me experience with Loethar is, to some degree, how I feel around you.’

‘I make you feel ill?’

Kilt nodded. ‘I have worked very, very hard to overcome it. But it is always there. Your father did the same to me. The first time I saw the king from a distance my magic responded to him; that’s how I knew what I was. That’s why I made my home up here in the highlands, so I could avoid the towns and city, live as an outlaw, keep to myself and only have people around me I could utterly trust.’

‘And that’s why you’ve been avoiding me.’ Kilt watched the young king throw a glance at Jewd.

‘I have kept my distance, Leo, but I have not avoided you. Apart from your dealing with Freath, I am proud of you and what you have become. I just find it hard to be around you for long periods.’

‘And it’s different with Loethar?’ Jewd asked.

Kilt gave a snort of despair. ‘Wildly different. I lose control. He nearly undid me back there,’ he admitted. ‘And he knew it. If he has another attempt at me, I won’t win. I was only able to resist this time because all of you came to my aid.’ Kilt shook his head with disgust. ‘Loethar’s a Valisar!’ he spat. ‘Incredible! He murdered his own brother.’

‘Half-brother,’ Leo corrected. ‘And he would take you to task over that. My father killed himself to prevent Loethar having the satisfaction.’

Kilt shrugged. ‘Half-brother, full brother. Did your father know they were related, do you think?’

Leo shook his head wearily. ‘I don’t know the answer to that. My heart says no, but Loethar seems to think my father was aware of him. My father was a man of secrets. It’s possible he could have known — that might explain why he went to such lengths to have the plan in place for me should Loethar overrun the Set.’

Kilt agreed. ‘I didn’t know Brennus in the way that many did but my instincts combined with what I’ve learned over the anni suggest that he was perfectly capable of having this information and acting upon it.’

‘Why didn’t he just send an army in and kill Loethar if he knew?’ Jewd wondered.

Leo shook his head. ‘That would not be his way. My father was not a coward but confronting Loethar on his territory, with nowhere for an army to take him by surprise, no familiarity of the lay of the land or helpful knowledge of what the enemy was capable of, would have definitely made him reluctant to take that approach. And perhaps he wasn’t completely sure of Loethar’s birthright, so he waited for Loethar to come to him.’

‘Very costly,’ Jewd remarked.

‘In hindsight, yes. Too costly,’ Leo admitted. He frowned and turned back to Kilt. ‘So in Loethar’s presence you will always feel nauseous and without control?’

‘In his presence I will be at his mercy. I will be made well again, of course, but only when he’s bonded me.’

Leo nodded and looked at Jewd, who wore a quizzical expression. ‘The Valisar must consume part of his aegis to trammel him.’

‘Consume? As in eat?’ Jewd qualified, a look of dismay on his face.

Kilt nodded at the same time as Leo and Jewd looked away, disgusted, then stood. ‘Well, that’s going to happen only over my dead body, Kilt.’

Kilt smiled sadly. ‘I don’t deserve you, Jewd.’

‘No, you don’t,’ the big man replied. ‘You don’t deserve Leo or Lily or any of the people who support you.’

Kilt nodded in acknowledgment. ‘There’s more, and you might as well know it, now that I’m being forced to bare my soul,’ he said. As his companions threw a worried glance at each other, he continued, ‘I don’t know what it is but I’ve felt a disturbance.’

‘Disturbance?’ they asked together.

Kilt considered how best to explain himself. ‘Not so long ago I suffered a sort of dizzy spell. I thought it was still part of the same response to Loethar but I’ve been thinking about it and it was not. I have no doubt now. It had a different signature … it felt different. I don’t really know how to describe it and while this might sound fanciful, the only way I can pin it down is to say that it felt very clean … a really pure sort of magic.’

‘Loethar’s is tainted, you mean?’ Jewd tried.

Kilt shook his head. ‘No, not exactly. Loethar and Leo possess no magic of their own. Neither of them is empowered in the way that say I am or any Vested is. But both are Valisar and a Valisar can respond to the magic of the aegis. I should also tell you, Leo, that your Valisar magic is very weak. I’m grateful for that or I would never have been able to live around you.’

‘Trust me to be the weak link in the family,’ Leo replied quietly but savagely. ‘I suppose Loethar is strong?’

Kilt nodded.

‘Go on,’ Leo said, his mouth twisted in private disgust. ‘What about this new feeling you’ve experienced? Who or what is it?’

‘I don’t know. I can only use the word pure because it feels like it has its own source, its own reason. But beyond that I don’t understand it.’

Each of them paused to consider this new revelation but it was Leo who broke the silence. ‘Well,’ he said, straightening, ‘we can’t worry ourselves with what we don’t know, don’t understand yet. We have enough to frighten us right now. We need to make adecision about Loethar and we have to consider the next step for Lily. Whatever else is hurtling at us can wait as far as I’m concerned.’

Jewd nodded. ‘I agree. Let’s make a decision about Loethar. Do we kill him? I’ll oblige if no one else has the stomach for it.’

‘No,’ Kilt said. ‘His death achieves little right now. We need to know more about why he’s here. Why he’s alone. What his intentions are.’

‘To bond you, clearly,’ Leo said.

‘No, that’s not right. He had no idea that his aegis was roaming the north. And if I wasn’t the attraction the most obvious conclusion is you,’ Kilt said, stabbing a finger towards Leo. ‘Except he didn’t even know you were alive! He wouldn’t have even recognised you or known you were the missing Valisar if you’d introduced yourself under a guise. So he’s here for different reasons. And he certainly didn’t arrive here willingly. Why did he travel north? Why alone? We need to learn as much as we can to help Leo’s chances.’

‘All right, but we can’t let him near you,’ Jewd argued.

‘We don’t have to. I will speak with him,’ Leo said, his tone brooking no argument. ‘It is my place, anyway, to do so. His challenge is essentially at me.’

Jewd frowned. ‘If he’s the rightful heir, where does that leave you, Leo?’

‘Leo is heir,’ Kilt growled. ‘His father was king. He is next in line.’ He looked at Leo. ‘The fact that your grandfather sowed wild seeds on the plains is not anyone’s concern. Loethar is a bastard heir of mixed blood. Brennus married a royal; you are a blueblood. That gives you rank.’

Leo didn’t look convinced. ‘I suspect we won’t get an opportunity to argue it in front of the nobles. Loethar took the crown; he has worn it for over a decade now and let’s be very frank, his people are now comfortable with who is ruling. The fact that he is Valisar only improves his position, if I’m honest.’

It was Kilt’s turn to share a worried glance with Jewd. ‘Are you relinquishing your claim, Leo?’

‘Absolutely not! I’m simply stating that we could argue the rights and wrongs of it until we’re blue in the face. The fact is he wears the crown. Me arguing my lineage makes little difference. I must take the crown back … by killing him if necessary. And if that whore Davarigon giant hadn’t got in my way, I might have achieved that and this conversation would be academic.’ He took a deep breath. ‘I’m going to talk to Gavriel. I’ve got a decade’s worth of catching up to do with him.’

‘Don’t let Loethar corner you into doing anything hot-headed,’ Jewd warned. ‘You are a king. Don’t forget that. It’s your calm and your inability to be taunted that will most frustrate him.’

‘You made a fool of him once,’ Kilt agreed, ‘hiding under his nose and then escaping so audaciously. Continue to make a fool of him by not falling prey to his baiting. That’s how you’ll keep the upper hand.’

Leo grinned. ‘Thanks.’

After he’d left, the two men remained quiet for a while. Finally Jewd sighed. ‘Were you planning to tell me or were you just going to give me the slip?’

Kilt looked up at his friend. ‘Why do you think I’d leave?’ he asked, dismayed.

Jewd shook his head, gave a brief rueful smile. ‘I’ve told you before, I’m big, not stupid. Did you think I couldn’t work it out for myself?’

Kilt looked down again. ‘Jewd, I don’t know what to think but I know this: you are the best friend a man could have.’

‘I’m glad you realise that.’

‘I would have discussed it with you.’

‘Look at me when you say that. I have to know I can trust you, Kilt, or as I’ve told you previously, it might be easier to leave you to it.’

‘That’s not what I want.’

‘Then I demand your honesty.’

Kilt stood up, feeling stronger again despite his aching muscles. He sighed. ‘I guess I don’t even need to ask if you’ve noticed anything about Leo.’

‘I’ve noticed. Leo is pushing for independence. He won’t live for very much longer under your thumb.’

Kilt nodded. ‘That’s as it should be. He’s been groomed to rule since he was on his mother’s teat.’

‘He’s still capable of poor decisions.’

‘Aren’t we all?’

Jewd fixed Kilt with a firm stare, before he spoke very quietly. ‘But I suspect his next will be his least wise.’

Kilt swallowed. ‘You’re thinking what I’m thinking. Then I’ve got to go, get as far away from the Valisars as possible.’

‘Then we go together.’

‘Jewd —’

‘We go together, Kilt. Look at the state of you. If Leo comes after you — and he will, we both agree on that — who is going to protect you?’

‘Maybe it’s best if I just submit and —’

Jewd had grabbed Kilt by his shirtfront before Kilt could even finish the thought. ‘No one is eating you, is that clear? No one is going to have you under his control! Leo has de Vis back. De Vis has always seen Leo as king and treated him as such.We can leave the two of them together and go north into Barronel via the mountains. We’ll cross into Cremond perhaps; no one’s going to be looking for you there. Leo will assume you’ll head south in search of Lily. And we’ll get to her, Kilt, but we have to ensure they lose your scent first and you have to heal too. For now we both agree Lily is safe. For now we both agree your safety is paramount.’

Kilt nodded. ‘Take the money we’ve hidden and give it to the men. Tell them they should scatter. And grab the medicine. We need little else.’

The man struggled but, fuelled by anger, got his words out. ‘I’m going to kill you for this, de Vis.’

‘Yes, well, I’ll look forward to your trying. Gives me the perfect excuse of self-defence to finish you off once and for all,’ Gavriel replied disdainfully.

‘Be quiet, Loethar!’ Elka ordered. ‘Conserve your strength.’

‘Sage advice. I’ll need it to kill your lover and his friend.’

‘He’s not my lover and I suspect his friend is no friend of mine after I got in his way,’ she said, hefting him into a better position on her back.

‘Let me down, for Gar’s sake!’ Loethar complained. ‘I’m not an invalid, simply injured.’

‘Do it, Elka,’ Gavriel said.

Elka had just about had it with both of them. She lowered Loethar, who held his groans but grimaced in pain.

‘Ribs are the worst, aren’t they?’ he said, almost amused.

‘How’s your neck?’ Elka asked.

‘I’ll survive. And the burn will be a timely reminder for when I slit my half-brother’s throat.’

‘If I give you the chance,’ Gavriel said.

Loethar laughed. ‘Where is your great king, de Vis? Is he too frightened to face me?’

‘As a matter of fact you’ll likely see him sooner than youthink. Elka, can I leave you with him? I have to meet with Leo.’ At her nod he disappeared into the woods without so much as a backward glance.

Elka turned to regard Loethar. ‘He’s perfectly capable of killing you, you know. I would counsel you to stop the taunting.’

‘And spoil my sport?’

‘Well, you’ve been warned.’ He gave her look like a child, mischief in his eyes, and she couldn’t help asking, ‘You’re really Valisar?’

He nodded. ‘Though what good it does me I don’t know.’

‘That sounds like regret,’ she commented, settling nearby.

‘In a way,’ he admitted. ‘But I don’t really know in what respect. I don’t regret the empire. I think unifying the realms has been positive for all in the Set; I think the mix of cultures, though difficult at first, has resulted in prosperity. In the wider population people seem relatively content. So I suppose it boils down to personal regret.’

‘All the death perhaps?’

‘Probably. Many died who didn’t have to.’

‘None of them Valisar, of course.’

‘Other than the queen. I would have preferred that she had lived. I would have given her a good life wherever she chose to live out her days. But the heirs had to die. I failed there,’ he admitted with a humourless grin. ‘Leo has been the most slippery of enemies.’

‘He’s had a lot of support from the right people, it appears.’

Loethar nodded. ‘How true. The would-be-king in exile is surrounded by loyalty, while I, as ruler, am surrounded by treachery. Freath, my close aide, someone I considered a friend even though he was my servant, betrayed me all along.’ He gave a low, savage laugh. ‘His loyalties were always with the Valisars. I admire his extraordinary courage to live in the lion’s den on their behalf. Leonel is fortunate.’

‘I doubt he sees it that way. His family is dead, his friends are missing, his throne has been usurped.’

‘You should have let him kill me.’

‘I believe in justice, not revenge.’

‘Then you are in the minority, Elka, though I respect that more than you can imagine.’

‘Fairness and justice are what make a people into a society. They’re the cornerstone of a strong civilisation.’

‘Indeed. But fairness and justice rarely go hand in hand. For instance, Leo feels it is fair that he should be king and yet it is not just, for I am the true heir. Kilt Faris considers it fair to do everything he can to elude me and yet his very birthright is to be my aegis. And isn’t it just that I exercise that right? You see? Fairness and justice are rarely comfortable bed companions.’

She smiled. ‘I think you are the slippery Valisar, Loethar.’

Gavriel didn’t have to wait too long; Leo came striding through the forest soon enough, walking like a man comfortable in his surrounds. Gavriel marvelled at the figure approaching. He’d left Leo as little more than a youth, but now he walked tall and strong, with a proud chin. His hair had darkened but he still resembled his beautiful mother, while having the more powerful build of his father. Gavriel felt a spike of pride accompany the rush of relief that Leo had survived.

He stepped out from his hiding place suddenly, deliberately, but Leo didn’t break stride, not at all unnerved, and Gavriel was reminded that his old friend had been living as an outlaw for more than a decade. Leo would know forest life better than most.

Leo grabbed Gavriel into a bear-hug, slapping him on the back. ‘I can’t tell you how good it feels to see you alive,’ he remarked, ‘although my fist twitches to punch you for leaving as you did.’

Gavriel grinned. ‘I should punch myself.’

‘Where is he?’

‘Safe with Elka.’

‘Tied up?’

‘No need. He’s going nowhere with her around.’

‘I don’t feel I need to apologise regarding Elka, Gav; she should never have challenged me. But at the same time any friend of yours is certainly someone I feel obliged to respect.’

‘I’m sure she hasn’t given it another thought.’ Leo looked as though he wanted to say more but Gavriel was glad when the young king chose to hold his tongue. That was a relief; he didn’t want to have to defend Elka against the king … although he would, of course. ‘As much as I want to sit down and learn about your life, time is our enemy. How’s Faris?’

‘Brighter. The sickening has passed but, like Loethar, he’s quite beaten up.’

‘Leo, we both have good reason to hate Loethar. That grudge has to be kept separate from how we feel about his stealing the Valisar throne.’ Leo stared at him, but said nothing, so Gavriel pressed on. ‘My point is I hate him too. It wouldn’t take much for my heart to get in the way of my head and order my hand to take up my sword and run him through.’

‘So what’s stopping you?’

‘My instinct is stopping me.’

‘Instinct, or Elka?’

Gavriel didn’t rise to the bait. He fixed Leo with a hard stare, glad that he was still taller. ‘Elka has no loyalty to either you or Loethar.’

‘Is that so?’

‘Why would it be otherwise? She owes neither of you anything. Her loyalty is to me. I’m sure I don’t deserve it most of the time but that’s how it is and her commitment to me means that she understands the need to protect you at all costs.’

‘Protect me? Why didn’t she let me kill my enemy, then?’

‘Because murdering him in that manner wouldn’t have solved anything. Her actions have given you the opportunity to consider your position and make an informed decision. If killing him is your decision, you’ll make it in a mood of calm, not in a bloodrage. Frankly, I think you would have regretted it if you had struck him dead then. This way you get a chance to question him.’

‘That’s what Kilt thinks.’

‘Then listen to him. We’re all on your side, Leo. Come, we can speak alone later but first talk to him, ask him your questions.’

Reluctantly, Leo followed. They found Loethar talking quietly with Elka as though they were old friends. Gavriel bristled at their familiarity but disguised it with his introduction.

‘Here we are, Leo, the great and now very humbled and hurt man who calls himself emperor simply by sitting a false throne.’

Loethar looked up and laughed. ‘You amuse me, de Vis. Greetings, nephew; I was just telling Elka here how fortunate you are to have such loyalty still burning so fiercely for you.’

‘From what I hear you can’t claim the same,’ Leo said, regarding him as though tasting something bad.

‘You are right. I am surrounded by treachery at every turn. Even my newborn daughter turned away from her father and died on me.’

‘A girl?’ Leo exclaimed.

Loethar gave him a humourless grin. ‘Yes, and like all Valisar daughters she barely survived her birth.’

‘Not all,’ Leo said. He grinned humourlessly at Loethar’s puzzled expression and squatted next to the barbarian. ‘You clearly haven’t spent much time around the family or you’d know we’re famed for our secrets.’

‘What are you talking about?’ Loethar asked.

‘What do you know about the Valisar Legacy?’ Leo responded.

Loethar tried to shrug and grimaced in pain. ‘I’ve learned plenty over the anni with the family library finally at my disposal,’ he said. Gavriel noticed how he couldn’t hide his feelings; his expression clearly betrayed the anger he was feeling. ‘I know that there is the legacy of the aegis magic and the near enough immortal protection it offers. I know about the so-called Enchantment that says that the females born of the line possess the greatest of all powers … to coerce at will.’

‘Why is that so different from what some Vested can do?’ Gavriel asked.

Leo turned to him. ‘The magic of the Vested can be impressive, but even so, any sort of coercement of theirs is of a low form and can probably only be sustained for short periods. The magic of the Valisars is said to be much more powerful, or so my father and grandfather told me.’

‘And I’m sure you are looking to gain some of that power for yourself,’ Loethar said and Gavriel noticed a look pass between uncle and nephew that spoke of a respect for each other’s cunning. ‘Anyway,’ Loethar continued, ‘my heir is dead, my mother has been murdered, my wife has been banished, my brother turned traitor, my closest friend has been killed. All in all, life is hardly an orchard.’

‘Aludane save us! And I thought your life was complicated,’ Elka remarked, glancing at Gavriel.

He smirked at her as she turned back to Loethar. ‘I’m sorry to hear of your losses. No one should lose a mother and a daughter in such a short time.’

‘I’m not sorry,’ Leo said coldly. ‘The more of his kin that is gone, the better. Besides, I’m sure he and his ill-bred horde killed whole families when they came rampaging into the Set.’

‘You are my kin, Leo,’ Loethar said, with an equally wintry tone. ‘And you’re right. I deserve no pity from anyone here.’

‘Nor will you get it,’ Gavriel remarked.

Loethar shrugged, clearly ignoring the pain it prompted this time.

Elka looked from Loethar to Gavriel. ‘Why don’t you just kill him and be done?’ she said, so sarcastically that Gavriel flinched inside. ‘I hardly recognise you when you act this way.’

‘We’re here to talk,’ Gavriel said to Loethar, covering his dismay at Elka’s attack. ‘Why did you come north?’

Loethar sighed. ‘It’s complicated. In short, the death of my child and my belief that my wife murdered my mother conspired to make me want to get away from the castle. In order to do so I brought our mother’s ashes to my half-brother, whom I suspected was considering rising up against me. Now I know that those suspicions were right.’

‘So your trip to the north was all about delivering your mother’s ashes to Stracker?’ Gavriel asked.

‘No, that was my excuse I gave myself. My real reason for heading north was to find out who killed Freath and why,’ Loethar explained.

‘I can put you out of your misery on that question,’ Leo said.

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