Theurgy: Forsaken Oaths (Book Two)

Chapter 10 Move forward

Massia was noticing a pattern with all of her mother's relationships. They were all very one-sided. Just a few minutes in the same carriage with both Novia and her mother has definitely given her the impression that just maybe these two women did not get along. She had heard that like Lupurious, Novia was quite close to the former king. So she supposed she could understand some form of disdain for her mother taking his place all so suddenly. So when Lupurious returned to Silondras and Novia took his place, she thought they would perhaps not have to trade blows like she usually does with the other Paladin. Granted, that assessment was at least true. But even still, there was this unspoken tension beyond that thread of relations connected them that kept both on edge. Massia honestly thought they would spend the rest of the carriage ride in silence. But then, his mother made the first move.

"How much do you know?' she asked. Novia seemed a little surprised, but she instead glanced at Massia just beside her with a cautious gaze. "Don't worry; my daughter is quite privy to what is going on."

"Six months and only now, you ask?" Novia asked her, then scoffed. "I was almost sure that the king was mistaken with you."

"I had other priorities," Celia told her. "You simply wasn't that urgent of an issue. But now that I have the time, I suppose we can settle things, right? How is it that you figured this all out, Novia? Does James talk in his sleep?"

"He doesn't," she said. "One of my men found a book written by some mage long ago. They couldn't make sense of it, but with you boy, James' behavior, and my men disappearing all over the outlands, I knew that James had to be aware of something he was hiding from the rest of us. But I couldn't for the life of me anticipate . . this. Gods and godslayers. Do you know what this does to all historical research of the past thousand years, Celia? It completely rewrites everything we know about this world."

"Which is part of the reason we keep it a secret," she said. "Well, we used to keep a secret."

"So, you plan on telling more people?" Novia asked. "About what you and James and the others have been doing all this time in the shadows of histories."

"Soon," Celia said. "But first, we must set the board. Know our enemy's pieces and our own. My son, Lyse, is simply the first of many."

"I figured that much," Novia sighed. "I knew you didn't pick Antalya for anything unrelated."

"Do you have your concerns?"

"Antalya is one of the areas where my knights have been disappearing to," Novia said. "I've received mission reports from them before heading there, detailing a need to explore ruins below the city above. Unfortunately, none have come back, and there is no word what happens to them."

"Lyse just may be able to do something about that while he's in the area," she said.

"And your other boy? What is his purpose going North then?"

"We suspect that Talin influences the Frostlands," he is there to help in the siege that Aurelius is planning on the capital cities of one of their major kingdoms and see what he can uncover if anything."

"You have certainly spread yourselves thin," Novia noticed. "They are practically alone in their assignments. I know very little of the enemy we now face, but I know enough to know they are a major threat even to knights of our caliber. We were utterly unprepared for their attack on the capital. If they can be so cunning, are you sure they can succeed?"

Massia questioned much the same. She, of course, bore witness to their brutality. And she dreads to think back to that night, to him. Even people like that are out there, always waiting to do what they did to the previous kings. Even though her a brief time with her brothers after their return, they were far different from when they left their village. Not one of them resembled themselves. Her eyes lacked their original clarity. Her brothers, were tattered and strained. Her mother was seemingly more fortified than before. Talon attacked them in their beds, in their home. Taken away what was precious to all of them. Left wounds. She could not grasp how one could fight an enemy that had struck you so. However, when she looked up to see the Queen give another coy answer to her Paladin, instead she saw the proud and assured visage of a familiar woman looking back at Novia. The same woman who taught her weaving and dance as a child. The same one who helped her brothers read and write for their exams. She looked at Novia and spoke with absolute confidence only a mother who knew her children could muster.