Free Web NovelChapter 401: Chapter 401
"What do you know about the recent disappearances?" Circe asked Ragnar later that night as she readied herself for bed, even though she already knew that she would not be getting a peaceful night’s rest. Her mind was restless and far too crowded with thoughts for sleep to come easily. Still, she intended to try to get whatever rest she could, because if the arrangement she had made with Cornelia went according to plan, she was bound to have several tiresome days ahead of her.
Her question seemed to come out of nowhere after a long stretch of silence in which she had not said a single word.
Ragnar glanced up at her from where he sat on the edge of the bed and noticed that she had paused in the middle of the room. She was already watching him intently, waiting for his answer. He had not been home for long, only just returned from the capital a short while before dusk. ƒrēewebnovel.com
"Not much is truly known about it right now," he said, idly scratching at his bearded jaw as he considered his words. "No one knows how it happens or where the people who vanish have been taken. None of the victims have been found, neither dead nor alive. But that hasn’t stopped people in the affected communities from speculating and spinning all kinds of wild stories about what might have happened to them."
Circe slowly stepped across the room, closing the distance between them as she climbed onto the other side of the bed and rested her back against the wooden headboard.
"What type of wild stories?" she asked, hardly even trying to conceal the curiosity in her voice.
Ragnar indulged her inquisitive mind just as he always did. In truth, he was glad to see that even though her thoughts were still preoccupied, she did not look as distraught as she had before he left for the capital.
"When there were only a small handful of people missing, most assumed they had simply gotten lost or slipped away in the dead of night. A common occurrence for some living in those types of rural areas." Ragnar explained. "But when the numbers kept growing, people started coming up with darker explanations. Some think it’s the work of bandits roaming the countryside. Others believe it’s the action of the rebels from the east slowly bleeding down into the south." He paused briefly before continuing. "And then there are those who insist it must be magic, some powerful force capable of snatching a person straight off the street without leaving even the faintest trace behind."
Circe glanced down briefly at her hands, which rested curled slightly in her lap.
"What if they were right?" she asked quietly. Then she lifted her eyes to meet his gaze. "About there being magic involved."
There was something different in the way she spoke now, something subtle in both her voice and her posture that immediately alerted Ragnar that something was wrong. The mating bond between them pulled taut like a tightened string, and through it he could sense faint echoes of the emotions she was feeling.
He turned fully toward her, giving her his complete attention. The bond tugged insistently at his chest, urging him closer, pushing him to comfort her in whatever way he could, anything that might help ease the weight that burdened her heart. He could only feel a fraction of what she felt through the bond, yet even that small glimpse was enough to tell him that something heavy pressed down on her.
"Did something happen while I was gone?" he asked.
Circe nodded slowly.
"Something did happen. It happened tonight, actually. I met a woman on my way back home, and I believe she is one of the people who went missing," she said. "Are you familiar with the name Cornelia Biven?"
Surprise instantly lit up Ragnar’s eyes.
"I am," he said, recalling how only months ago he had sent his friend, Gonan, to Kezar to search for her, only to discover that she had vanished without a trace.
"I saw her walking alone on the road barefoot," Circe continued. "Casilo and I took her to an inn for the night, and before I left her, she told me something." Her expression suddenly turned serious. "I believe I know what happened to the missing people and where they might possibly be. I want to help them, and I’m hoping that doing so might somehow lead me to Rowen. You were right when you suggested that the two incidents might be connected. Tomorrow, Cornelia is going to take me there. To the cave I have been seeing in my dreams."
Ragnar opened his mouth as though he were about to object to her plans and persuade her to reconsider. The things she set out to do were risky at best and life-threatening at worst. A hundred reasons to stop flashed through his mind but when he finally spoke, it was to say the very thing she hadn’t expected.
"I will come with you," he said without hesitation.
There had never been a single doubt in his mind. Wherever Circe went, he would follow. He could see the fierce conviction shining in her eyes, the unmistakable sign that she had already made up her mind. Nothing he said would change that. The only thing he could do, the only thing that truly mattered, was making sure she remained safe. And he could only do that if he went with her.
***
Seraphine placed a sealed letter into Nheera’s waiting palm. Afterward, she took a few quiet steps back, the soft rustle of her gown the only sound in the otherwise quiet chamber. The queen had been far surlier than she usually was ever since Falein defeated her champion in the duel, and everyone in the palace, including her ladies-in-waiting, had been careful not to incur her wrath any further.
After Falein dragged away his son’s corpse, the royal guards had wasted no time in seizing the assassin that Arik brought into the throne room and tossing the man into a cell. Just yesterday, the king had ordered that the assassin be executed. Yet despite all that, it had done next to nothing to settle the matter for good. Arik’s dramatic display before the courtiers had lit a dangerous spark among the nobility, exactly what he had intended, and the assassin’s confession of Nheera’s involvement in Luria’s murder had not helped matters in the slightest.
If anything, it had only made the situation far worse.
There were many who sympathized with Falein, people who believed Arik’s death had been cruel and unjust and there were just as many demanding retribution for him. In their minds, Arik had become a martyr. It was a sentiment shared not only by members of the aristocracy but by the common folk as well, for House Tomar was well beloved among the people. Riots had broken out in the city shortly after the duel, and some of the braver voices had even gone so far as to openly call for Azul’s imprisonment.
It felt eerily similar to the scandal with her stolen ring all over again, only this time the outrage being directed at her was far worse than it had ever been back then.
Now, in the quiet privacy of her chambers, with Seraphine standing silently in the corner like a statue, Nheera glanced down at the sealed letter resting on the table before her with thinly veiled disdain. She already knew who it was from. There was no doubt in her mind that it had come from Aeron. His personal seal was stamped into the wax, the same as the other recent letters he had sent, letters she had not bothered to reply to.
But she knew she would have to send a response soon, or her continued silence might prompt him to pay her another visit. And another visit from him was the last thing she wanted.
The threats he had made the last time he had been in the palace were still painfully fresh in her mind. If he came here again, he might very well decide to make good on those threats. He would love nothing more than to see her suffer. Yet she knew he would not dispose of her just yet. She was still far too important to his ambitions. That was precisely why he now kept her on such a tight leash, one he could tug on whenever it pleased him. And it pleased him greatly to know that she was trapped beneath his thumb. The knowledge fed his pride and his ego, knowing that he controlled her.
Reaching forward, she grabbed a small dinner knife from the table and slid its edge beneath the wax seal, breaking it with a sharp crack. She unfolded the parchment and began to read.
By the time she finished, her fingers had already begun to curl. Once she had read the letter’s contents in full, she crumpled the parchment tightly in her fist, her teeth grinding together in frustration. The message was hardly different from the last one he had sent. Once again, Aeron demanded that they move to the next phase of their plan and that they do so with haste.
But she couldn’t. Not when there were already people in the streets calling for Azul’s imprisonment. And that was not even the only problem they were facing. Lord Rycoff had somehow discovered that Halric was responsible for the death of his son, Kaz, and now the man was openly threatening to wage war against House Nereth in retaliation. Yet Aeron did not seem to care about any of that. He did not care about the danger gathering around her family.
Aeron Tavish cared about no one but himself.
With a sharp flick of her wrist, Nheera tossed the crumpled letter onto the floor. For the briefest moment, Seraphine’s eyes flickered downward toward the balled piece of parchment with interest before she quickly averted her gaze again. Nheera, however, remained none the wiser.
Azul arched a brow, studying her closely as he leveled her with a questioning look.
"Something on your mind, mother?"
