Chapter 19

Once we had secured our belongings and the ladies had removed their armor, we made our way downstairs. I had some trepidation as to the reactions people would have to Lillian, but I was not going to leave her alone. We assumed that we were relatively close to the lair of the Voguel, so we wanted to limit the risks. As we approached the dining hall, we could hear the murmurs of conversation emanating from the room. All conversation stopped when we entered. All of the patrons and even some of the staff were staring at us. I was sure it was a mixture of the fact we were new faces, the fact we had a wolf with us and the fact it was one man and seven gorgeous women.

We ignored the stares and whispers and we made our way to one of the larger tables. Once seated, a young woman came over, though I noticed a slight worried glance towards Lillian.

“Good afternoon,” The young woman said with a smile. “My name is Kaily and I will be your server. We have a house stew that is the house special for today,” she continued as she handed out menus “These list the available meals for today and drinks. I will give you a few moments to decide.”

“Thank you very much Kaily,” I replied with a smile I hoped would be able to ease her unease at Lillian’s presence.

We all decided on the stew and I gestured for Kaily to return. As she approached, I once again saw her nervously glance towards Lillian. I dropped my hand down and began to pat and rub Lillian’s head, which she enjoyed and began pressing her head into my hand.

“There is nothing to be afraid of,” I said to our server. “She only attacks to defend us, otherwise she is a big softy. So you want to try and pet her?”

The server looked from me to Lillian for a few minutes, before giving a slight and almost unseen nod.

I continued petting Lillian as the young woman slowly reached out her hand. As she neared, Lillian turned to look at her, causing her to jump and pull her hand back slightly. She glanced up at me and I nodded. She once again began teaching out and, a few moments later, her hand touched the fur on Lillian’s side. She slowly began to move her hand around and a smile appeared on her face

“She likes you,” I told the young woman. “I know with everything happening, wolves might terrify you, they did for me at one time. Lillian here is different, and she has come to be my closest ally.”

The server pet Lillian a little longer, then she asked for our orders. While we waited for the food, we discussed our next moves. Given the distance to Celka’s home village, it seemed that we needed to deal with this threat now. By the time we would return, Janet would be close to giving birth and the others would be pretty far along, too.

“Do we want to force an attack now?” I asked. “With the babies on their way, I do not want to run the risk of losing you or the babies.”

The girls all smiled warmly at my protectiveness of them and our children. It was Janet who decided to respond.

“Let us decide after our meeting at the fort. We can get an idea of the numbers present and those still to arrive. Besides, I also need to check in the aviary. I had left our destination here hidden in the notes I sent. My friends all know the codes I use, so I am expecting to have more than a few messages waiting for me.”

I could not argue as it was a sound plan. Our food arrived a few minutes later and the smells had my mouth watering. We had done okay with the cooking on this trip, but nothing beats a well-cooked meal. It made me long once again to be home at my table with my friends and my newfound family.

Aphronia quickly made her way down the corridors towards the throne room. Just when she had learned of her target’s arrival at Celka’s town, she had been summoned to see the master. Her stomach felt like it was in knots as she neared the entrance. As she entered, she noticed that he was not sitting on the throne but pacing the room.

“I am here as you requested, sire,” she announced, dropping to one knee. “What is it you wish to ask of me?”

This politeness did not suit her, but she was still waiting for his answer. Her life depended on it and until then, any sign of disrespect could mean her death.

“It is nearly time for my plan to come into its final stage. I have thought about your offer and I will accept it, but that will have to wait. I leave tonight and I cannot have any distractions. I want you to oversee things here while I am away, I trust that you will be more than capable of handling it.”

She was shocked at his words as she did not expect to get her answer but then lose her chances at revenge.

“Thank you, master. I will try my best to fulfill your wishes in your absence, though I do wish I could be going with you.”

He nodded, “Then come to me and let us seal our union, starting a new chapter for us and all Voguel.”

She nodded and approached him, nervousness and excitement filling her as she slowly closed the distance between them. This was the chance she was looking for, but it would require the proper opening. She stood before him and knelt, trying to maintain her illusion of fealty. He placed his hand on her head and began utterances in an old and forgotten dialect. When he stopped, she stood before him and he removed the cloak covering her. When he asked her to do the same, she knew there would be no better time.

She sensually walked around him, giving a show of attraction as she got into position. Aphronia made sure he could not see her back, as she had the coated blade, she had stolen hidden there. Once she was behind him, she leaned forward and kissed his neck while running her left hand to the clasp of his cloak. She then slowly drew the blade from its hiding place and as she opened the clasp of the cloak, she drove the blade deep into his back.

He screamed in pain as the blade tore into his flesh and the searing heat of the coating began to make its way into his blood. She withdrew the blade and made to stab him again, but he turned and back handed her. The blow stunned her enough that he was able to wrench the blade free from her grasp.

“You foolish bitch,” he roared in anger. “After all you have done, you now attempt to assassinate me?”

“Fuck you, you piece of shit,” she screamed back. “I have wanted to be free of you and your oppressive rule for centuries. We are in the state we are in now because of you and your poor leadership. Besides, I did not need to assassinate you, only render you impotent.”

“Oh and how did you do that?” He said with a condescending sneer. “I seem perfectly fine and the wound you gave was not even a fatal one.”

Aphronia’s mouth turned up into a smile as she said, “That blade is coated in the cure that the Torgal bitches brought with them. I stole it from them when I escaped and have been waiting for the perfect moment to put it in your back.”

The man in the cloak started laughing, which was not the response that Aphronia was expecting. She started having a bad feeling and was beginning to think she needed to get out of there fast.

“Very well done, Aphronia,” he said with a worrisome smile. “You have bested me and if it is coated in the cure, then I am truly fucked.”

Aphronia smiled at his appraisal of the situation, but she still had the nagging feeling that something was not right.

“However,” he said as he continued, “you made one foolish mistake. You assumed that I was your sire.”

Her eyes widened in shock. He had been the man on the throne for the past four centuries. He had been giving the orders, during the last three attempts to claim Vishant, including this one. How could he not be the master? This had to be some kind of sick joke or him trying to confuse her.

“If you are to rule and rule effectively, it must be from the shadows. I am, like you, sired by him and given a specific task like you had been. Though my job was to facilitate his rule and act as a sacrificial lamb if someone like you tried to make a play for his power.”

Aphronia asked, “If you are not our leader, then how could you know his will? There are no carrier birds here and only I and four others come here.”

“The same way you tried to get information from that boy from Bardack,” he answered. “The master visits me every night in a dreamscape to find out our progress in his plans and to give out new instructions. I will know tonight if I am indeed cured and then so will the master. I have no doubt the master will come to find out why it had happened, and he will want to skin you alive.”

Fear gripped Aphronia and she turned to run, only to confront two of the biggest men she had ever seen.

“There is no use in running, my dear,” he said with a sadistic smile. “You will not get past them and I have your only weapon.”

She glanced at the dagger and cursed herself for not being able to hang onto it. As she turned her focus back towards the large men, all she saw was a big meaty hand swinging towards her face and then everything went black.

The meal was delicious, and we paid our compliments to the server before we headed out of the inn. Janet had made sure to grab my money bag before we left, and we planned to visit the stable master before heading to the fort. We made sure to let our hostess know where we were going and when we expected to be back. We had quietly discussed it during our meal, and we decided to test this place. We had made sure to pack our footlockers in a way that would ensure it was easy to tell if someone went through any of them.

Small scraps of paper were left in between the lid and the bottom. If it were opened the paper would fall out and would show that it had been opened while we were gone. We made sure the paper was placed at the back so, when it fell, the person responsible would be less likely to notice. We wished we had not needed to do it, but, given our possible proximity to our enemy, we knew there was inherent risk being here.