Chapter 34 Declarations

Do you still see my parents? I hope they didn’t leave. They’re still there? That’s good. I’m not as nervous knowing that they are watching. I disappointed them once when I lost a fight with another young Prince Eater and they had to save me. I will not disappoint them again. – Prince Eater #34

First Sun the next morning an early knock on the door roused Alec. He rubbed his eyes, dragged his hands through his hair, and glanced at Jon. Catrin had kept Alannah overnight, and this was the first time in many dimmings that he and Jon were alone. As often as he had wished that very thing, now it seemed wrong, empty, and incomplete. He rose, automatically buckled his knife at his waist, and strolled to the door.

When he opened it, the Grays Commander was standing there in full battle dress and helmet. Beside him was a second Gray much smaller in stature.

“What do you want?” Alec challenged, his hand snapping to the knife.

Gil Braeford removed his helmet and said, “I want to go after Seán and want you to go with me.”

“Why didn’t I see it?” Alec asked himself aloud. He took his hand from the hilt of his knife and rubbed his forehead with his fingers. “You’re the delivery man. You were spying on us, you piece of shit.”

The smaller Gray cleared his throat and lifted off his helmet. Liam McCreesh grinned at Alec’s astonishment. Gil and Liam stepped to one side to reveal Lachlan O’Hara, his sons, and a group of Alec’s other students. Alec’s eyes skirted across them and he asked, “Why are all of you here? Why are you dressed like that, Liam?”

“I’m a member of the Armored Grays,” Liam explained proudly. “Rory and I joined the Grays yesterday evening.” He waved to the entire assembly standing in the hall and added, “We are going after Seán immediately and want you to go with us.”

“They’ll execute us,” Alec snapped. “And I won’t see Jon killed, not even for Seán.”

Gil Braeford shifted his weight from foot to foot, dipped his head in acknowledgment, but responded, “I understand. The problem is that no one else will save the boy. He has you, Jon, and the Grays.”

“Annie is already gathering the Rebels,” Alec pointed out.

“Her help will be invaluable,” Gil concurred. “However, she wants Jon or Seán to be king. She’ll save him on her own terms, for her own reasons. If Annie saves him, we’ll have to rescue him twice.”

“I see your point,” Alec agreed. “I’ll come with you, but not Jon. I have to be certain that Jon is someplace secure first. I won’t risk his life.”

“It isn’t your life to risk or not risk, Alec,” Jon interjected as he limped forward. “I won’t stand by idly while my last brother is destroyed. I tire easily. I have spasms of pain that I can’t control. I can’t always use my voice as well as I’d like. I don’t know how much use I can actually be, but I’m going after Seán. The entire Kingdom of Midhe Nuae needs most of what Annie is after, and together I think we can help keep her under control.”

Alec sighed his acceptance of Jon’s decision, and then turned to Gil Braeford and asked, “What’s Seán to you, anyway?”

“My pledge to Harrison,” Gil answered. “He knew Ava would alter him in ways he could neither predict nor prevent. He begged for and received unwavering fealty from us to his sons. All of the Grays are pledged to protect the princes, aid them, and preserve their lives, even at the cost of their own.” Gil’s eyes moved to Jon as he explained coldly, “We lost two Grays who were gambling on duty, so there’s forty-eight of us.”

“Fifty,” Liam corrected.

Gil smiled at Liam and answered Jon’s unasked questions, “Jon, you were in too much agony to realize it at the time, but I was extremely careful when I rode you out to the field and set you down. I didn’t abandon you. I retreated a safe distance and stood guard until your husband reached you. That was Harry’s plan. My eye was on that wolf when you shot it, Alec. You couldn’t take the time to search the ground thoroughly, but if you had, you would have found my bolts there. Your father wanted the two of you to escape.”

“His ring was awfully sharp for someone who wished me well,” Jon said with bitter sarcasm. “In terms of your protection, that wolf was so close I could see down its throat. First that bull, and then the wolves.”

“Bull?” Gil asked. “You were delirious. There weren’t any bulls, only pasture rats and wolves. The wolf wasn’t that close.”

“The wolf was going for his throat, for figgict sake, and your figgict king mutilated him, and then mandated his execution,” Alec objected heatedly. He swung his face right then left then looked directly at Gil and challenged, “And don’t call Jon a liar. I saw the bull’s hoof prints in the ground.”

Jon looked at Alec in surprise and then focused on Gil as the Grays Commander explained, “Holy King Harrison, driven by the influence of Ava’s drugs, lost control of his emotions and hit you, Jon, despite his own efforts to stop himself. He cried in my arms afterward. The Writ of Execution was signed by the Most Revered, not Harry.”

“Padraig hurried us inside when we arrived at SnakeIn,” Alec said as realization dawned on him. “You and Padraig work together.”

“When necessary,” Gil admitted.

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Alec clenched and unclenched his fists, barely able to restrain his anger, until Jon said softly, “That’s the way it’s always been. The magi control the king by any means necessary. Royalty who dissent – if they’re fortunate – escape to SnakeIn. The magi avoid the city because if the residents don’t destroy them, the city itself will. The king, too, because of the horns. That’s what the city defenses target.”

“Magi don’t have horns,” Alec pointed out.

“Not externally, but to become a mage, a girl is given doses so that she develops an immunity,” Jon explained. “The city defenses will destroy anyone with even traces of it in their system.”

“That’s a bluff,” Gil contradicted “The city doesn’t kill the magi. Watchers on duty do the killing, or sometimes the residents of SnakeIn do. There are two wide bands of altered stone in the main gate, and narrower bands in smaller gates along the perimeter walls, that The Four Glorious modified to react to the presence of the chemicals – the poison – in the Prince Eater horns. If an intruder has those chemicals in their system, the stones send out arcs of Holy Lightning to trap the intruder in place. It isn’t enough to kill anyone. The sentries on duty do that. And magic has nothing to do with it. Despite the name, it isn’t even holy. On Earth, they called it electricity, and they used it for many things, like making vehicles move without being pulled by horses, or bringing waterfalls right into houses. It sounds like far-fetched storytelling, but it’s cited by The Four Glorious in their scholarly papers. On Earth it damaged the land, so they refused to allow its use beyond what was needed to protect SnakeIn from the kingdom. The point is that it is possible to work around SnakeIn’s detection system. I’ve been doing it for years.”

“You have the poison inside you?” Alec asked.

“Full of it,” Gil said. “I’ve been dosing myself every day since Harry became Holy in his Ritual. One prick of a horn each day.”

“Why doesn’t the Most Revered control you the same way she does my father?” Jon asked.

“There’s some connection between her bracelets and the horns,” Gil explained. “She not only creates that lightning but also uses them to render Harry unconscious.” Everyone fell silent as the others considered the new information. Finally, Gil continued, “The detection field at the gates is only a few stones in width. There are two, obscure entrances – not pleasant ones – that were never modified. Once inside even someone saturated in the poison can move about as freely as anyone else. But that isn’t the question on the table right now. I need your help to save Seán. Are you coming?”

Instead of answering, Alec squared his shoulders and pointed at the students gathered in the hall. He cleared his throat and told them, “I have no say in what Liam and Rory do now that they are Grays. And you are an adult, Lachlan, but none of the rest of you are going. You are all good students, but you’re not soldiers. I will not allow you to march to your deaths. Stay here. Continue training and practicing. Guard the inn. Help guard the city. The day will come when you will be soldiers and will be called on to fight. Prepare for that day.”

The students grumbled and started voicing objections. Lachlan O’Hara held up his hands to quiet them, and said, “All of you come with me. We’ll go downstairs and discuss what to do next.”

Alec nodded his thanks to Lachlan and when they disappeared down the next landing, he wrapped one arm around Jon’s waist, wiped his forehead with his free hand, and finally returned his gaze to Gil and asked, “When do we leave?”

“The two of you leave as soon as your gear is packed,” Gil said. “Liam and Rory will ride out with you. I will meet you outside the city walls.”

As Alec, Jon, Rory, and Liam rode to the main gate they were quickly joined by SnakeIn volunteers who wanted to fight against the magi with them. Other residents gathered on the sidewalks to see them off with shouts and cheers that brought a smile to Jon’s face, “Archer Mulrian! Archer Mulrian!”

The Watchers stationed at the drawbridge came from their hidden gatehouses and saluted, not the two youths for their bravery and not Jon Holdingfree whom everyone had known all along was The Prince Rescued by Love. They saluted the Legendary Royal Archer Alec Mulrian. When the group got beyond the wooden bridge and onto the road toward Hilltown, Rory paused for a final look back at his parents. Pointing at the city’s stone walls, he called out, “Look.”

Two new iron cages swung beside Beathas and King Indulf. One displayed the body of the late Commander of the Magi Soldiers, while the second gibbet held what was left of his accomplice.

Annie stood in front of the pub fireplace in almost the same spot where Jon and Alec wed. Tom stood at her side, as did her aunt, Kenzie Docherty. As First Contingent, Annie’s responsibilities included leading not only this meeting but also the actions resulting from it. If the decision was war, she would lead the Contingent’s Army, which styled themselves as Annie’s Rebels, against the Most Revered, and if necessary, against her own father. Other members of the Contingent faced similar choices since all were exiled members or descendants of exiled members of the royal family: aunts, uncles, first, second and third cousins. Not every city official in SnakeIn was ex-royalty but by design, every member of the ruling Contingent was required to be.

Since her broken arm was still wrapped, she held up one hand to quiet an assembly of ordinary citizens, members of the Armed Watch, merchants, tradespeople, and agents who had or would infiltrate Hilltown. When the crowd settled, she began, “Another prince is about to be tortured, possibly killed in the Ritual, the child Prince Seán.”

“He’s one of my son’s best friends,” Mrs. McCreesh said in astonishment. As others in the crowd nodded in recognition, she asked, “Why would they do something so horrible to a nice boy like Seán?”

While Mrs. McCreesh loudly voiced her opinions at the assembly, Grace McCreesh and two of her friends from training slipped into the kitchen. One girl stayed by the door as the lookout while Grace and the second girl swiftly rummaged through the drawers, cupboards, and cabinets.

“I need weapons that I can hide in my clothes,” Grace commented as if reminding herself as much as providing instructions.

“Like this?” Grace’s friend held up a paring knife.

“Yes, that one’s good,” Grace agreed. “I wonder if it will cut through rope?”

“I’ll look in the storage room for a rigging knife like my Papa uses,” the girl responded and darted into the storage room behind the kitchen.

While she was gone, Grace confiscated a wooden mallet for tenderizing meat, and a boning knife with an unusually long, thin blade. When her friend returned with the object she sought, Grace tucked the rigging knife in her bag and said, “Thank you both. I’m going to fight for Seán.”

“Where did you learn to use these?” The lookout asked. “Mr. Holdingfree hasn’t talked about weapons.”

“Watcher O’Leary,” Grace replied with a smile. “Mr. O’Leary began teaching me long before Mr. Holdingfree started his classes.”

“If we can sneak away, we’ll go, too,” her friends offered.

“Don’t get in trouble with your Mama and Papa,” Grace warned. “I don’t want you sent to bed without your dinner or anything. I’m leaving in a few minutes with the others.”

“They agreed you could fight with them?” the girl who found the rigging knife asked.

Grace laughed. “They have no idea I’m going.”

©2022 Vera S. Scott