Feral Mage 3: Chapter 18

The maids led them back to the main entrance and to a large oak door under the staircase. Bryce could hear muffled conversations on the other side of the doors.

One of the maids knocked, then both faced them, bowed, and left. The conversation inside the room quieted, and a moment later, the door opened to reveal Jasper. The Duke’s assistant opened the door the rest of the way and gestured for them to enter.

“My Lord, may I present to you, Princess Thea Volson and Lady Callie Queenshield,” Jasper said with a bow.

It didn’t surprise Bryce that he wasn’t given an introduction. He had accompanied Thea enough times to noble events and understood that most viewed him the same as the furniture in a room. He bowed the same as Thea and Callie before entering the lavish dining room.

Duke Brook sat at the head of a long table draped in white cloth, silver plates laden with food covering it. Far more than could be eaten by the dozen or so nobles gathered.

When they stood, Thea followed Jasper to a seat, the Duke’s assistant pulling the chair out for her. Bryce and Callie moved to the back wall, joining the other nobles’ guards standing behind their clients. Two of whom he recognized as the fencer and knight from the ship, though the fencer now wore a battle axe beside his rapier.

“I'm glad you could take my invitation,” Duke Brook greeted as he cut into a steak. “I must admit I'm surprised to see the legendary Frozen Rose in your company.”

The Duke looked towards Callie, who bowed graciously to him.

“I am merely here as her bodyguard, my Lord,” Callie stated.

The Duke set down his knife and fork and grabbed a napkin to wipe his face.

“Nonsense. I would consider it an honor to have a woman of your renown to dine with us,” the Duke said before gesturing to a spot beside Princess Thea.

Callie gave Bryce a small glance as she passed by on her way to the seat. Jasper pulled out the chair for her before he moved to his spot on the wall behind the Duke.

“How has the legendary Frozen Rose come into the employment of our young Princess here?” the Duke asked.

“I have been working as a mercenary since I arrived in Witchbrook a few months back. I am merely here to help the lead mercenary on the contract,” Callie stated as she folded the napkin and placed it on her lap.

The Duke let out a laugh, and Bryce saw him looking in his direction with a raised eyebrow.

“You’re the legendary Frozen Rose. A swordwoman from House Queenshield, The Blades of the North, or at least they were known as that when the Winter Kingdom was still intact. It's hard to believe someone with your lineage would play second fiddle,” the Duke said with a grin. “Even if he can talk the City Guards into bringing him honey and fresh biscuits while in a cell.”

Laughter and murmurs echoed around the table in response, all except for Callie and Thea. When the silence settled over the room, Callie spoke again.

“You are right, my Lord,” Callie said, her voice bringing a chill to the air. “But Bryce is different. He is the man who defeated me during the Second Northern Border War. You could say he’s the reason why I left Duchess Frozenviel and am in Witchbrook.”

Callie looked away from the Duke, her blue eyes focusing on him before turning back. Thea stared at him as well before she turned her attention back to the table.

“Bryce is a skilled warrior. He is the one who rescued me from a band of dwarven thugs known as the Red Shield Company, who were my Uncle’s pawns. Were it not for him, I would have a wooden heart like those monsters that attacked your ship,” Thea stated.

Once more, the nobles at the table gossiped among themselves, this time about what Thea had revealed. The Duke’s gaze moved from Bryce to her, and his expression shifted from amusement to unsmiling.

“I had hoped to save such an unsavory subject until later, but the conversation has drifted there,” the Duke said, straightening in his chair. “My assistant Jasper has spoken with several nobles as well as inquired about Count Gerland, where Harold Volson and the Volpin army have encroached into the Kingdom of Brook. Something that has been ignored due to the power of the Northern Alliance and the fact that Count Gerland and his lands do not appear to be under any distress.”

The Duke shook his head.

“The blindfold has been ripped away from my eyes, and I now see the danger our Kingdom is in. I…”

A soft knock sounded at the door, causing the Duke to pause as Jasper moved to open it. A sea elf woman in an elegant dress stood on the other side, flanked by two sea elf knights. Her hair was pitch black except for a bright blue strand.

“My lord, may I present to you, Princess Charlotte Salt of the Saltland Kingdom,” Jasper announced.

The Duke smiled and nodded to the new arrivals before looking back at Thea.

“Princess Volson, let’s resume this matter after breakfast,” he said before looking to Princess Charlotte. “Welcome, I trust your travels have had fair winds?”

Bryce watched as Jasper escorted the sea elf to a seat, her two guards taking a position against the wall behind her. He caught Callie giving the woman a cutting glare that went unnoticed by anyone else at the table, at least that Bryce saw.

So, this is the person who scared Alice…

Charlotte beamed as she looked around the table, though she lingered a moment on Thea and Callie before she turned and faced the Duke.

“The winds were fair, though not as fair as I had hoped. I must apologize for arriving too late for your birthday celebrations,” she said.

The Duke’s face soured.

“Perhaps the Divine were watching out for you. The party ended with an attempt on my life and a few deaths,” he said.

A gasp escaped Charlotte as she covered her mouth with her hand.

“My Duke, are you unharmed?” she asked with a good imitation of genuine concern.

“Thanks to the quick action of Jasper, Bryce, and the other guards aboard my vessel, though several gave their lives in our defense,” he said solemnly.

Praise me now, but you still made me spend the night in a jail cell.

He knew the Duke had only mentioned him due to Callie and Thea singing his praises a moment ago. Something Bryce both hated and appreciated. Charlotte tilted her head slightly.

“Bryce? I recently spoke to a snow elf woman who mentioned that name. She seemed quite smitten by him.”

“He’s my bodyguard,” Thea quickly stated, her tone almost defensive.

Charlotte’s gaze drifted to Thea before moving behind her to him. He saw her lip quirk up into a smile before focusing back on Thea.

“If the tales I heard were true, then you chose well, Princess Thea,” Charlotte said.

Much to Bryce’s relief, the table’s conversation drifted away from him to the usual banter he would hear at noble events. Discussions of fashion, food, and politics that intermingled with plain gossip.

When the meal had concluded, though with still enough food left on the table to feed a few families, the Duke and his guests moved outside to the garden for fresh air. Many of the guests played some odd game with wooden mallets and colorful balls that Bryce couldn’t quite figure out the rules of. Regardless, he and the other guards stood off to the side by the hedges of the garden, far enough not to disrupt the game. Thea had the Duke’s ear, and they were in a conversation, the old man listening intently to her.

“I believe she will have his full support,” Callie said as she joined Bryce by the hedges.

He looked at her and bowed his head.

“Lady Queenshield,” he said.

She scoffed at him and struck a very unladylike pose.

“I’m a curiosity to them, nothing more and certainly not their equal,” she said, joining him in watching the nobles play their odd game. “House Queenshield has fallen, and I’ve come to terms with that fact.”

Bryce let out a sigh and kicked himself for the slight to her.

“Sorry,” he said.

Callie shrugged.

“I know you don’t like nobility. Every time Thea dragged you to events like this, you’d come back prickly,” Callie said, before turning from the game to look at him. “Like it tears open an old wound.”

One of the colorful balls rolled into another one, barely moving it. Several of the nobles started cheering, some even waving their mallets in the air.

“It does. I lost my family during a drought. Our Baron still took his cut of the crops and even threw a lavish party while we starved outside his castle,” he said, anger slipping into his voice as he clenched his fist. “You know how many people the food left from the Duke’s breakfast could feed? I see things like that and I wonder what if…”

Callie stepped closer to him, and he felt her hand gently wrap around his fist. He felt his anger start to fade at her touch, and when he opened his hand, she intertwined her fingers with his.

“You can’t change the past,” Callie said softly, her hand squeezing his.

Bryce knew that. He also knew it was pointless to dwell on the memories, on the anger. He had watched the Baron, whom he blamed for his family’s deaths, die in a puddle of his own piss. Yet it did nothing for his anger, and his family was still dead.

He felt Callie’s thumb making small circles on the back of his hand as he held it, the sensation soothing his nerves as they watched the strange game.

“Bryce, I have wonderful news!” Thea started to say as she hurried over to them. “The Duke—”

She slowed to a walk as her eyes focused on their joined hands. Bryce was unsure what was going on when Thea approached and took his other hand in hers, then started pulling him away from Callie.

“Please follow me,” Thea said, her voice cracking as she glared at the snow elf.

Bryce felt Callie’s grip release his, and Thea pulled him behind her, causing more than a few nobles to start to whisper. Bryce saw Princess Charlotte watching them with a grin.

“Lady Thea, I don’t think it’s appropriate for you to be touching a commoner like me,” Bryce stated, reminding Thea of her status.

It was different for Callie since she had no titles or lands. As she said, the nobility didn’t view her as an equal, just a curious peasant and a cautionary tale. Thea, though, was a Princess with a Kingdom attached to her lineage. Many would want Bryce arrested for even a rumor that the two of them were involved together; some might even be willing to put a bounty on his head for it.

Thea breathed heavily as she finally stopped at his words and released his hand. She had taken him to a spot in the garden with some privacy, though not enough that more rumors might spread. She looked up at him, her mouth opened as if to say something, and then closed. She took several deep breaths as she calmed herself before she started speaking.

“The Duke is giving me his full support,” Thea said, smiling at him. “I feel we’re finally making progress in stopping my Uncle. Thank you, Bryce, for being my steadfast blade in this cause.”

He bowed to her.

“It’s what you hired me for, Lady Thea,” he said, having a bad feeling in his gut about this conversation, given the way Thea had looked at Callie.

Her smile diminished slightly at his blunt words, but Bryce knew he needed to establish some distance between himself and her. The dependence she was developing on him wasn’t good for either of them.

“I understand, you are a mercenary. Though I believe you have gone beyond the call of your profession in your aid to me. That is why I wish to do this, though it will only be ceremonial until we depose my Uncle and the Volpin Kingdom is free from his control,” Thea said, meeting his gaze as she held out a hand toward him. “May I see your sword?”

Bryce’s blood chilled as she stared at her.

“Lady Thea, we agreed to talk about this after meeting with the Duke. I’m just a merc,” he said.

She looked at him with hope in her eyes.

“You could be so much more,” she said softly. “Just stay with me, please.”

He recalled what Callie had said about Thea offering him titles and wealth, how it could change his, Vex’s, and Janna’s lives.

A blood-curdling scream drew his and Thea’s attention. His hand moved to his sword and drew it, the same as the other guards around the hedges. Bryce also pulled on his Primal Troll Aspect, feeling his strength swell inside his body.

“That came from the eastern woods’ edge,” the Duke stated and looked at Jasper. “We have men there, don’t we?”

Jasper flexed his fingers before he started to rotate his hands in a circular motion. Water was pulled out of the surrounding fountains and water features, gathering in his hands.

“Yes, my Lord. Ten guards should be patrolling that area,” he said.

Everyone stared at the hedges as the sound of clanking armor grew closer. To Bryce, it almost sounded like a full regiment of knights was marching while in full plate.

Then a man’s head appeared low to the ground at the end of the hedge leading into the garden. It turned and looked at them with a twisted smile as the man crawled out from behind the hedge.

Another scream erupted from the nobles, and Bryce stared in disgust and horror as the man’s body kept appearing out from behind the greenery, armor covering its strange shape. It was as if someone took over a dozen men, cut away everything except the torso and arms, then stitched them together in a long line to mimic a boneweaver centipede. Only allowing the first one to keep his head.

“What kind of monster is that?” Thea asked as she recoiled.

Bryce shook his head.

“That’s not a monster. I don’t know what the hells it is,” he said.

He heard Ciarra sneer in his ear as she gave the horrific thing a name.

“They dare mimic my children with this abomination! Kill it!”