Martin walked out of the dining hall, preparing himself to meditate in his study when he almost ran into Ana heading for breakfast. “Ana! Good morning!”
Ana barely smiled. “Good morning, Martin.”
He paused. “Is everything alright.”
She sighed, shaking her head. “The dread is so deep. I feel like it’s only gotten worse.”
Martin felt a spike of panic. “Is Inessa…”
“Still asleep, last time I checked. But something is off, and demons are at play. I cannot tell whether it’s within our own household or if it’s just the war.”
Martin nodded. “Say the word and I can get you some strong lavender incense from High Elder Navir.”
“That is kind, thank you. He must be busy, but if I have another night like last night, I might have to.”
“You couldn’t sleep, either?” Martin asked.
Ana shook her head. “Not at all. There must have been a bird at my window or something. Might have to drink more calming tea tonight.”
Martin frowned. “I’ll send a message to High Elder Navir, see if he can’t make some strong lavender. I’m sure it’s been a hard week for you as well.”
“Thank you for your thoughtfulness, Martin.”
She left and Martin made his way to the study where Derio waited for him with incense sticks. “Do not interrupt unless it’s an emergency,” Martin said.
“Understood, Martin,” Derio said.
“Any word from the dungeons?” Martin asked.
“Simply that Indenuel is still sleeping.”
His fingers gripped the sticks. “Still?”
“They got a lot of corruption out of him, apparently,” Derio said.
Martin’s nod wasn’t convincing. “Alright. Well, after my meditation I’ll go make a personal visit.”
“Understood,” Derio said.
Every day they were getting closer to Inessa being fertile, and Martin needed to make sure he could get Indenuel’s mark off before he even suggested his idea. Martin closed the door, lighting a candle before burning the incense. He placed it in the first bowl by the door, then moved over to the one by the window. He heard the familiar sound of horse’s hooves beating against the rocks as a messenger rode through the gates. Martin looked over, his heart stilling. With no trees, he heard horses’ hooves a lot the past few days, none delivering the message he wanted. Maybe this one would be different.
He glanced out the window and stopped. He knew that dismount. That walk. The gentle voice of gratitude as he handed the reigns off to a servant.
Martin turned, opening the door. Nathaniel was alive. He was alright. He was home. Rosa beat him out the door, and he smiled, slowing his steps before stopping all together, knowing she needed to say hello first.
Rosa threw her arms around him, and Nathaniel took her, spinning her around, kissing her. Martin looked away, giving them privacy. Sara walked toward the front door, smiling, tears running down her cheeks.
“What did I tell you?” Nathaniel asked, breaking away. “Not a scratch.”
Rosa laughed, tried to say something, but ended up kissing him again. Adrian tore out of the front door.
“Api! Api!” Adrian said.
Nathaniel broke away in time to receive the hug from his youngest, smiling. He simply hugged him tightly, whispering something into his ear. Adrian nodded tears running down his cheeks. Nathaniel’s other boys came, and Martin remained by the door, waiting for his son to give them each individual hugs, smiling, laughing, letting them see he was physically home.
“What happened?” Eduardo asked. “High Elder Navir still has the trees blocked.”
“I’m sure the news will come soon. I am sworn under oath not to say anything, but what I can say is they have asked us all to come into the city, prepared to do whatever we can to protect her. Kiam is still out there, and the best way we can win this war is defending her. It is the best tactical advantage we have, considering our dwindling numbers,” Nathaniel said.
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“What about the army? We saw them, their campfires. Right outside the wall. There were hundreds of campfires between you and Santollia City,” Diego said.
Nathaniel smiled. “I assure you, son, the news will come soon. But I will not be the one to spread it.”
Diego groaned but nodded. Sara walked up, smiling. “Welcome home, son.”
“Hello, Mother.” Nathaniel hugged her.
“Have you eaten? You look exhausted. I think you’ve lost weight while you were out there. Come have breakfast,” Sara said, patting his stomach.
“There are some things I’d like to talk to Father about first, but then I will eat.”
“Well, alright. Do you want me to bring you anything?” Sara asked.
Nathaniel smiled, taking Sara’s shoulders before kissing her on the forehead. “I’m home, Mother. I won’t leave until I’m called. And I assure you, I will not leave this house until I have had breakfast.”
Sara smiled, touching his cheeks. “What about lunch?”
Nathaniel took her hands from his face and placed them together, patting them. “I will probably be reprimanded for saying this, but I’m quite sure I’ll stay until dinner.”
Sara hugged him again before breaking away. “Alright, then. Go talk to your father.”
Nathaniel, never shy about hugging people, was already hugging Martin before he had time to lift his hands.
“Welcome home, son,” Martin said.
“Thank you for watching over my family for me,” Nathaniel said.
“An honor, as always,” Martin said.
“Can we speak in your study?” Nathaniel asked, breaking away.
“Yes. I was getting it ready to meditate when you arrived,” Martin said, stepping aside to let Nathaniel walk in the home first. Nathaniel hugged Adosina, then bowed to Ana.
“Carlos says you’re an idiot and you should have parried left. Whatever that means,” Ana said.
“Tell Carlos to stop worrying and it worked out just fine in the end,” Nathaniel said over his shoulder. Ana smiled, shaking her head as Martin walked into his study, putting out the incense. “I won’t be long,” Nathaniel said, giving one more kiss to Rosa before closing the door.
“Is everything alright?” Martin asked, placing the sticks to one side before easing himself into his chair.
“Do you have any news about what happened out there?” Nathaniel asked.
“No, no. However, with the army returning, I’m certain High Elder Navir will call a meeting soon,” Martin said.
Nathaniel nodded. “Right.”
“Are you going to tell me? Or should I wait for the reports from the Generals?”
“I swore an oath,” Nathaniel said.
“Understood. I will respect it. What would you like to talk to me about?” Martin asked.
Nathaniel sighed, and Martin saw the shift. Saw the happy persona melt off and the grim one take its place. “As the highest surviving commanding officer in the army that decided to come back, I snuck past Kiam to come back over the wall for a supply run last night.”
Martin frowned. “That sounds incredibly dangerous.”
“Which is why I didn’t tell my men where I was going. We were short on supplies, and we needed to survive the battle planned for the next day. We didn’t have much of a chance before, but with added supplies it could at least boost morale.”
“So, you risked your life to bring back supplies?”
“Arrows, daggers, swords, as well as food and enhanced herbs for teas and such, I knew what the men needed, and that the armory was well stocked. Trees were blocked, so I had to make the choice.”
Martin couldn’t stop his hand trembling as he rubbed his forehead. He didn’t want to imagine the danger of such a mission. “Alright. Glad you’re safe.”
“I passed by our home on the way out of habit. Mostly to see a familiar place. And… and I saw Indenuel here.”
Martin paused, frowning. “You saw… Indenuel? Here?”
“Yes, Father. He was climbing up the window into Inessa’s room,” Nathaniel said.
Martin stared at his son, not one emotion coming from his face. “That’s… impossible.”
Nathaniel gave a sad smile. “I know what I saw, Father.”
“But he’s-” Martin stopped. Nathaniel wasn’t supposed to know Indenuel was recovering in the dungeon. With Tolomon being in the dungeon, there was no way the boy could leave. Martin’s frown deepened. “You’re certain it was Indenuel?”
“Yes, Father.”
“Heading up to Inessa’s room?” Martin asked.
“I couldn’t hear what they said, but when they started kissing, I left them alone and kept going, and I do assume they kept going,” Nathaniel said.
Martin stared at Nathaniel. He wanted to believe Nathaniel was just seeing things, but the fact was, he had seen it himself. In a vision. Not only that, but Martin had spent the past couple days trying to get this very thing to happen. But the thing that left him so unsettled was that Indenuel couldn’t do something like this until his mark was gone. But… but his vision. Indenuel was marked. “Son, you realize what you’ve told me. You realize Indenuel is in a higher class than you. You have laid an accusation against him, and if he denies it, you could receive ten lashings for damaging the reputation of the Warrior.”
“I know what I saw. Inessa is your concubine, and despite the social classes, I thought you needed to know.”
Martin tapped his finger against the desk, feeling troubled. Inessa was more than just his concubine, and he still swore to make sure no one knew the truth. He believed Nathaniel, of course, but it simply didn’t make sense. Indenuel was in the dungeon. Tolomon was guarding him. There was no way Tolomon would let Indenuel out for something like this. The only ones who were powerful enough to swear him to secrecy was the High Elders. But they wouldn’t swear Tolomon to secrecy just so Indenuel could sleep with Inessa. So what was…
Navir wasn’t allowing him into war meetings. He cut off the connection to the trees. Sending him on a wild chase through the books to keep him busy.
Martin stood, and Nathaniel watched him curiously.
Pushing Martin to keep sleeping with Inessa. Not laying down the law when he knew Martin was lying. Giving him a deadline of a month and a half. He had no idea what was going on with Indenuel. He assumed he was getting healed, that the other High Elders were taking care of it. He realized his grave mistake. Indenuel still had a dangerously red mark in his vision, and he knew the men he worked with. Men capable of keeping the darkest of secrets. “I need to go.” Martin headed for the door. “Welcome home, son.”
“Thank you, Father.”