Akisane leaned over to peer down at the bridge where his brother had landed. With his telekinesis, he’d sent him over the edge.
His hands shook.
The remnants of the stain were still down there. That's where his brother's head split and his brain burst from his skull.
How dare the Duke put this guilt on him. Anyone could have assassinated his brother. It didn't have to be him.
There was so much he wished he could’ve told William. There was so much that could never be said.
He recalled every word they shared here. At least every word he told his brother was true. The Duke was too strong to resist. Worse, the evil below the mountain pulled his father's strings just as sure as his father pulled his. If one listened closely, one could hear the beast's pounding on the world's foundation.
A flap of wings snagged his attention. Behind him, the leathery wings of a vester brought the batlike thing gently down. And in its clutches was a girl in a nightgown. She struggled against the creature, but it kept a clawed wing on her when it set her down.
Akisane didn’t like the vesters. He shooed it away. That may not be the smartest thing he ever did, but one must show power with these opportunists. “Release her and begone. You’ve done your job.”
She stumbled and pulled her nightgown back onto her shoulder. “You can't do this to me. Who do you think you are?”
I’m a murderer. A puppet of Duke Akitomo. “I'm the Duke's son, under the Duke's orders, in the Duke's castle. That's who I am, and I have every right.”
“Your father told you to kidnap me?”
“So what if he did?”
“Would you jump off that wall if he asked you to?”
It was like being struck. Her words went far deeper than he could have anticipated. She looks suddenly very afraid as if he'd made a threat. But then it hit him—he was trembling. Perhaps she'd mistaken the movement for rage.
Perhaps that was a good thing. If she kept her mouth shut, it might protect her from the Duke. “Do you see that tower built into the mountainside?”
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She looked up at it.
“It's nearly unreachable after the rest that connected it was destroyed. There are no stairs or ladders, no bridge, and no other way to reach its height other than to fly.” He approached her and took her arm. “Except, there is another way. There's a certain skill that my family has perfected over the years.”
He took her along the ramparts to where the fortifications blocked the moonbeams.
Just before he began the shadow walk, he saw the man with a conical hat on a distant roof. Damn him. He didn't know what side the man was on, if any. But he would have to be dealt with. One shouldn’t be on rooftops. It's dangerous. One might slip. Bear witness of crime.
Shadow walking did not involve straight lines. They snapped at jarring angles that showed different views of the castle as they skimmed in liquid night.
She gasped at some of the unnatural movements and sounds.
“You're seeing spirits that aren't normally seen. There are layers to the world that we’ll never understand.”
When they arrived at the high tower entrance, with the rest of the castle far below, he already knew his father was present. It was profoundly dark within. It was a preternatural thing only the Duke conjured. “Have I been blessed with the presence of His Grace?
The Duke stepped into view. “Whether you're blessed or not is irrelevant.”
“How may I help you, Lord Father?”
“What do you make of this, Whitebeard? If he is indeed this Sada of the Dragon Order, surely he's powerful.”
Akisane didn’t care. After all, the visitor was going to go through the draining ritual. “I don't know. I couldn't read them.”
“Well then, wench, tell me about him.”
The girl raised her chin a little. “I don't know him. We ran into him in Dunaguard and arrived here as only acquaintances.”
“Oh, I love liars. That means they’ve never taken an oath. See to it this girl—Ema, I believe—finds her stay comfortable. And see to it that the information is extracted from her.”
The Duke became immaterial, Shadow walking away.
Akisane turned to the Ema. “I’m leaving now. I would think about what you’re going to tell me. If you think you can appeal to my humanity, know that the Duke holds your fate in his hands.”
He returned through the shadows to the castle, but he didn’t sleep the night. How could he? After an hour in bed, he got up and walked the halls like a ghost.
Henry
Level: 7
Focus: Telekinesis
Secondary focus: Shadow walker
Weapons: demon sword - 5% corrupt