A War Of Traitors( ARTK, Book 2)

Chapter 38

Ferdrar 27th, 3329 A.G

The Posani people ate breakfast later than she was used too- so Avelyn had taken it upon herself to find the kitchens. She was not as helpless as many nobles- her parents had raised all of their children that way.

The only problem? She'd been walking around for what felt like an hour, trying to find them. For all of House Whittaker's similarities to House Emeric- the kitchens were not near the great or small hall, like the entire place had been built to give servants as much work as possible. She'd gotten to a point where she'd finally walked up to the floor of chambers to find a servant, but there was no one else in the hallways. Instead- there were voices coming from what she believed were here father's rooms.

She could only make out some of the words- House Whittaker's doors were thick, but her brain filled in the rest.

  "I've already agreed to the marriage- and to give you soldiers, but where exactly would my men be sent? Or have you not thought that far ahead?" Lord Torcull said, and Avelyn wanted to punch him. Of course her father had thought of where to put them. He was not an idiot.

  "You must think strategically." Her father insisted. "An army must rest strategically- anything else means death. When they do camp as they get closer to my home, where do you think it'll be?"

  Avelyn thought back to her own lessons then. When she were younger, her father'd made sure she was educated on the ways of war. He didn't have much to teach her about the first war- no one did, but there'd been countless small trade disputes since the beginning of time and smaller wars before the great one that'd almost been forgotten. While he'd never been in a war himself- he was intelligent enough to know that two centuries of peace would not last.

  The lake of Aises was a strange place-  almost too perfect. Once Nara Ashhand's army went around it, it would be a straight path to House Emeric. The water almost never froze over, yet it was drinkable and hadn't make anyone Ill in over a hundred years. Travel would make even the strongest warriors tired- so what better place was there to rest days before a battle?

That was what they'd think, and the Posani soldiers would be there waiting for them. They wouldn't see it coming, and then they'd be slaughtered- Avelyn thought. Once Nara Ashhand was dead, she and her husband could live together in peace- fucking who they wanted to fuck, sleeping without looking over their shoulders or listening for thousands of footsteps.

The marriage would happen. Her and Segar had both made their peace with it, decided to be civil about it so they wouldn't live a life of misery.

"You mean to meet them at The Lake Of Aises?" Lord Torcull asked after thinking for a moment.

"Correct. If we meet them there, the fight will be solely in Valia. We will show them no mercy and kill every single person there." Avelyn shook her head. This was not her favorite side of her father. It was likely that there'd be a child or two with the army, witches and servants who'd done nothing to wrong them.

She could protest all she wanted, but at the end of the day it wouldn't matter. She was a woman, and she was in a territory known for it's hatred of women. Her father would not ever dare to strike her, but he could and no one but her betrothed would do a thing about it.

If she'd been born in Praris, things would be different- but she wasn't. Men had always been their leaders in Posan and Valia- who'd had four queens combined in all of their history.

"Indeed-" Torcull finally said. "I think you and I could be great friends. I like the way you think."

Of course you do- Avelyn thought. Lord Torcull Whittaker was a sick man who would be in his own dungeons for life if he'd been born a commoner. It was his title that protected him and nothing else. If only-

  "Eavesdropping, are we?" Avelyn jumped and accidentally stumbled backwards into Anna Whittaker. "What are they talking of?"

Avelyn's heart raced for only a moment before she composed herself again. The Lady Anna was a beautiful woman despite a healing bruise on her cheek; her hair a reddish-brown, nothing like the gray-blonde of her brother's or the light blonde curls their sister Helywyse had. Her skin was nearly flawless; Avelyn had to try her hardest not to stare at the bruise as she spoke. "How they are going to kill Queen Nara Ashhand and her entire army."

Anna let a smile appear on her face then as she held back laughter. "Then they are both idiots. One does not simply.... kill the first queen in two hundred years so easily."

"My father is an intelligent man. He-"

"If that were really true, he would have stayed out of the war between Voryn and Kroba." Anna sighed. "You are young. Naive even-"

"You are barely a year my senior." Avelyn scoffed. "And yet you-"

"I do not wish to fight." Lady Anna interrupted her back. "We will be sisters by-law whether either of us wants to or not. You at least.... have gotten lucky."

Anna turned to walk away, but Avelyn would not have it. "Lucky? My betrothed may be kind but-"

"Yes, you are lucky you idiot!" Lady Anna snapped. "You're pretty and unique enough- if you'd been betrothed to Torcull he would have raped you already. He is a cruel man, yet he holds all the power here because I am a woman. You at least are promised to someone who will protect you from him- who will always be kind and never mistreat you. If I could have chosen which brother to be forced into a marriage with- it would have been Segar."

  "And yet he does nothing while your other brother beats and rapes you. You've been wed long enough that your sister in Sharean must have heard of his cruelty, but she-"

  "My sister has her own responsibilities. Segar.... could only do so much to protect someone who isn't his own wife. He may have a lord title, a few servants and guards loyal to him - but as a younger brother of the commanding lord it is only a courtesy. Just two of them would follow his commands over Torcull's- but I'm certain he's told them to always protect you by now. Torcull's only waiting for a reason to execute him, but Segar won't give him one. So yes- count yourself lucky that you will belong to him and not my husband. That is a fate worse than death."