Shattered Souls (Guardians of the Maiden Book 3)

“Build the pressure of your Essence in your hands and body,” Lucenna instructed. “When you feel the intensity of its heat, release it at the target.”

She was outside in the manor courtyard with Dyna and Rawn, the sky was orange and pink with the rising sun at their backs. Dyna breathed deeply as she moved into position. Rawn stood thirty paces away from them with his sword out and ready. His breath formed small clouds in the chilly air.

Lucenna nodded. “Ready?”

Dyna’s hands glowed bright green with crackling power and she nodded.

“Rawn is your target.”

Dyna held out her hands and released her magic with an exhale. A powerful green surge shot towards him with an incredible force. With a quick swing of his sword, Rawn sliced right through it and the Essence Blast dissipated into a puff of smoke.

“Again.”

Dyna cast spell after spell, running as she leaped and dove. Rawn deflected each attack until he missed one and it hit the shield Lucenna had placed to protect him.

“Well done,” she told her proudly. “You’re improving.”

A bright smile lit up Dyna’s face, and Lucenna was glad. She had been down the last week since Zev’s departure. And it seemed she was upset with Cassiel for letting him go. Their magic lessons were the only thing that cheered her up.

Lucenna glanced up at where Cassiel sat on the banister of his balcony, always keeping watch over his little mate, even when she ignored him.

“Let’s move on to quick attacks,” Lucenna said. “Not all of your opponents will be stationary. Watch me now.”

Rawn readied his sword then Lucenna bombarded him with a series of spells. Fire, electricity, shards of ice. His sword gleamed in the sunlight as he cut through them all at an unbelievable speed. The smoke cleared, and he was left standing untouched. They heard clapping behind them and turned to see Eagon, Klyde, and Tavin watching them by the courtyard doors.

Klyde nodded at Lord Norrlen, visibly impressed as they walked over to join them. “How did you do that, mate?”

“My sword is enchanted to disperse magic. It’s an elf innovation not yet traded to the rest of Urn.”

The mercenaries inspected it like children awed over a new toy.

Lucenna remembered the first time Rawn cut through one of her spells. She had also been shocked and awed. The mages hadn’t known such a thing existed.

“Elves are well acquainted with magic but for those who are not Magi Masters, enchanted weapons serve as a form of self-defense.” Rawn handed his sword to Eagon for him to hold.

The lieutenant balanced the hilt in his hand, testing the weight. “It appears to be a regular sword. What ore was used, if I may ask?”

“Lothian,” Rawn said.

“Elvish steel.” Klyde took it next and wielded it expertly, the sword whirling as it sliced through the air. “Not easy to acquire, I take it?”

“I’m afraid not. It’s only found in Greenwood, and forged exclusively for King Leif’s army. Perhaps you may be able to pay a Magai Master to enchant your twin blades with a similar spell should you visit Greenwood one day.”

“I might do so. I have a feeling I’ll have use for it.” Klyde winked at her.

Lucenna rolled her eyes. “Is there a reason you interrupted us, Captain?”

“Right, we came to speak to you, Lord Norrlen.” He said to Rawn. “The recruits expressed interest in elvish combat strategies, and I came to inquire if you would mind giving a lesson. It’s not every day an opportunity like this comes through town.”

Klyde clapped Tavin’s shoulder as he spoke. The lad was a foot shorter but no doubt would grow to be the same height. Lucenna couldn’t help staring at how much they resembled each other.

Rawn seemed to find it unexpected but was flattered by the request. “It would be my pleasure. I could join you later this afternoon, as I am currently preoccupied with…”

“Oh, please go on, Lord Norrlen.” Dyna waved him away. “I’m to join Gale and Edith for tea anyhow. I will go in and change out of my armor.”

“I will need mine, then,” Rawn said. He started towards the manor with Eagon and Dyna. Standing, Cassiel’s wings stretched wide and he flew off into the sky.

Lucenna had no interest in watching the recruitment, so she turned back around and continued practicing creating ice from the moisture in the air. It was new magic to her and out of her guild element. But she couldn’t concentrate when she felt someone standing behind her.

Lucenna exhaled sharply and glared at him. “What?”

Klyde tipped his head. “Good day to you, lass. The sunlight’s grace pales in comparison to your beauty.”

“Sod off.” She continued casting spells.

He laughed and sat on the stone banister surrounding the courtyard. “Come now, I merely thought to spare a moment to have another one of our enjoyable conversations. You know, the ones where you pretend to be angry only to cover up the fact that you’re fond of me.”

Lucenna rolled her eyes. “Are you always this arrogant?”

“Only if you consider confidence to be arrogance.”

He really had some nerve.

“Well, I am not in the habit of holding conversations with strange men.”

“Wise of you. If I see any about, I will let you know.”

Lucenna groaned sharply. “I know what you’re doing. And your little flirtations won’t work on me, Captain. I suggest you stop before I mention it to your wife.”

Klyde canted his head. “My wife?”

“Tavin, he is your son, isn’t he? Edith is a good mother and she doesn’t deserve—” Lucenna’s rant was interrupted by Klyde’s burst of laughter.

“Ah, right. Your companions assumed. I’m not his father and Edith isn’t his real mother, but we did raise him together, I suppose.”

Lucenna stood there dumbly, not understanding their family tree at all.

“Tavin is half my age. I would have thought it was obvious,” he said.

“Your beard doesn’t exactly make your age clear.”

“I’m twenty-eight, if you were wondering.”

“Splendid,” Lucenna retorted. “And I wasn’t.”

She continued to blast her magic at the field, melting most of the snow. The sky filled with shards of enchanted ice and they glimmered like diamonds in the air. Then she brought them down with a swing of her arms and they impaled the ground around them. Lucenna breathed deeply, feeling a little drained. She wiped the sweat off her brow and turned to meet the mercenary’s thoughtful gaze.

“Who are you?” He asked her, his blue eyes shone with fascination. “What are you doing here?”

She glared. “It’s no business of yours.”

“I was hoping to hear what tale you would fabricate.”

“I’m not a bard.” Lucenna strode for the courtyard doors, giving up on training for the day.

Klyde slowly observed her from head to toe as she passed him by. The way he was looking at her sent a nervous tingle down her spine. “Well, I presume you’re highborn. From the way you walk and talk, you certainly carry yourself with importance.”

She stopped to scowl at him. “What is that supposed to mean?”

Klyde’s smiling eyes fell on her ring. “Let me guess. You hail from a noble family and your father promised your hand to an old king or prince perhaps. But you ran away before the wedding and now the jilted groom is desperately searching for his bride, so you’re in hiding.”

Lucenna gaped at him in disbelief and hid her hand behind her.

He grinned. “I guessed right, eh? But why wear the ring? Guilt?”

“You have a wild imagination.”

Klyde shook his head and came to her. “Oh no, I’m not imagining things. I have put a lot of thought into this. What I have not figured out is why your unusual group came together, how you ended up in the most remote place of Urn, and why all of you have bounties placed by a famous outlaw.”

Lucenna stilled. “You know who placed the bounties?”

“Love, everyone knows. Tarn is the most wanted man in Urn and believe me, you will have people come after you merely to get to him.”

She glowered angrily at the courtyard. They narrowly escaped the Port of Azure because the Azure Guards wanted to use them as bait to capture Tarn. “I haven’t met him before. I don’t know anything about him.”

Klyde’s eyebrows shot up. “You don’t know what he looks like?”

“No. I told you we haven’t met.”

He tilted his head. “Yet he placed a bounty on you. Why?”

She unintentionally glanced at the manor.

Klyde followed her gaze. “Because of Dyna.”

“No,” she snapped.

“Or does it have to do with the jewel missing from your medallion?” He glanced at it in question.

“I’m not going to answer your questions. Stay out of it.”

The captain chuckled and shrugged. “I have guessed most of your stories already. Rawn has two bounties, one by Tarn and another by Red Highland—no doubt having to do with his covert mission. Cassiel is a prince of Hilos, so he is hiding in general, and Zev is a unique werewolf who happens to be related to a unique human who can use magic.”

Lucenna failed to hide her surprise. Klyde had been studying them since they arrived. The thought of him paying that close attention to her made her tense.

He frowned at her. “But Dyna is the one I am most curious about.”

Lucenna pointed her finger at him and electricity crackled around it. “I remember warning you what would happen if you continue to pry into our matters. Why do you keep insisting?”

“Call it curiosity.”

“Have you ever heard curiosity can get you killed?”

His eyes gleamed, now even more intrigued. “I’ll eventually figure it out, love.”

“I’m not your love.” She tapped the tip of his nose. Klyde’s body jerked with a bright voltage and it threw him back into a pile of snow. His enchanted coat protected him from the brunt of it, otherwise she might have burned off half his face. He blinked at her, quite literally shocked. “Serves you right. Don’t stick your nose where it doesn’t belong.”

Klyde chuckled. “You wield magic magnificently. I would like to see what you could do with a sword in your hand.”

“I have no interest in using such a crude weapon. It’s too long and heavy.”

His dimples deepened at his responding smile. “Aye, not the first time I’ve heard that.”

“Ugh.” Lucenna clenched her fists, itching to punch the mercenary. “One would think you were raised in a barn. Why do you continue to vex me?”

He threw his head back and laughed, his blue eyes dancing in the sunlight. “I can’t help myself. You’re prettiest when you’re mean.”

She stared at him, stunned silent as a familiar heat rose to her face. “This is how you do it, isn’t it?”

“Do what?”

“You flirt a little, say the right thing, and with a face like yours, you have the women falling at your feet,” she said dryly. “Well, I’m not going to fall for it, Klyde. I’m not interested and never will be, so its best you leave me alone.”

Turning on her heel, she headed for the manor. But he was in front of her in an instant and he caught her wrist. “Wait, Lucenna—”

Purple Essence burst from her skin, shoving off his hold. “I told you not to touch me,” she hissed. “All men are the same. They don’t understand the meaning of the word no.”

As soon as the statement left her lips, she saw the instant change in his demeanor. His jaw tightened, and his mouth thinned. Fury burned in every line of his face, giving his blazing blue eyes a breathtaking intensity that was very intimidating.

“We don’t do that here,” he said with all icy seriousness. “And frankly, I’m quite offended you would assume that of me. I should make it clear that I would never force myself on a woman. I don’t tolerate that filth among my men or in my town.” His soft voice was so frosty it swooped a chill down her spine. “Ever.”

As annoying as she found him, Lucenna wholeheartedly believed him. It was his eyes that told the truth, the coldness in them that said he had faced such things in some manner or other. And she wondered then what happened if someone decided they wanted the warmth of someone who didn’t freely give it? What happened to the men who defied Klyde?

She looked at his strong hands, calloused and scarred from his violent life, and she suspected the punishment would be grave.

Klyde released a heavy breath and rubbed his face. His anger melted away as quickly as it appeared. When he looked at her again, amusement had returned to his face. “Besides, I never met a woman who denied me.”

“There’s a first for everything.”

He grinned now, both dimples surfacing. “Indeed.”

She rolled her eyes and took a step to leave but he caught her elbow again.

“Bear it a moment,” Klyde said at her hiss. He moved her aside and nodded to the spot where her foot would have landed. “There is a stone missing in the cobblestone there. I was merely trying to spare you a sprained ankle.”

Lucenna didn’t believe him at first. The spot where he’d pointed was covered with too much snow to see that. With a brandish of her hand, her magic blew it aside, uncovering the hole. She definitely would have hurt herself.

“How did you know that was there?” she asked.

He shrugged. “I tripped over it yesterday morning when I was shoveling the courtyard.”

The delivery of that lie was so clean, Lucenna might have believed it if she hadn’t been watching him clear the snow.

She crossed her arms, studying him. “Perhaps the reason why you’re so interested in our secrets is because we’re living among yours.” The statement drew something out of him. Klyde still looked amused, but slight tension hovered in the corner of his mouth, in the line of his shoulders. She glanced at the manor. “Might they be up on the fifth floor? You told us to stay off of it because it was unstable, but that was a lie, wasn’t it? You know this place, more than you pretend. What happened to the people who used to live here, Klyde?”

After a moment, he looked away, all amusement gone from his face. “All you need to know is that everyone who lived in that manor is dead.”

“Even the little boy?”

Klyde’s eyes flickered to her.

“In my bedroom, a child had carved their name on the left bedpost. At first I thought it was your sister’s name, but it wasn’t. That room once belonged to a boy named Dale.”

They stared at each other in the windy silence, flurries swirling around them. Eagon came out into the courtyard with the rest of her companions now dressed warmly for the weather.

“All right?” Eagon asked Klyde. “What happened to your nose?”

He kept his gaze on her. “Lucenna took exception to something I said.”

“You probably deserved it, then.”

“I did.”

“Do you want to join us?” Dyna asked her.

“No, thank you. I prefer to stay out of the snow.” She cast an invisibility spell over herself and stalked for the manor.

“Stay away from that one if you know what is good for you,” Eagon said as she reached the courtyard doors.

Klyde shot a grin in her direction, as if he could see right through her spell. “When have I ever chosen what’s good for me?”

“Word of advice, Captain,” Rawn said as they headed for the side path to town. “Seeing as you may be a man who enjoys taking risks, should you find yourself facing off with Lady Lucenna, it would be wise of you to run.”

She stepped inside the hall, Klyde’s voice drifting to her.

“I will keep that in mind, Lord Norrlen.”

Lucenna’s heels clacked on the floor angrily as she made her way up the stairs to her bedroom. The man has a death wish. Why else would he continue to get under her skin?

Her steps slow when she reached the second landing. The manor was eerily still and quiet now that it was empty. Her eyes drifted up the stairs that lead to the other floors. The shadows were more prominent there. Almost ominous, as if to warn her of what might be waiting beyond.

But Lucenna had never been scared of the dark.

She continued climbing.

They had only been in town a couple weeks, yet Klyde guessed the majority of her story already. It was her turn to get answers.

She took the steps to the fifth floor. The air felt much colder up here. It stroked her nape like icy fingers, and she shuddered. Webs hung from the ceiling, dust coating every surface. The narrow hall led to a set of doors.

The Lord’s chambers.

Lucenna reached them and hesitantly reached for the knob. A part of her felt it was inappropriate to snoop but the other half argued that he had it coming. With a flick of her fingers, the heavy bolt clicked. She had to use force to turn the knob. The old doors unnervingly creaked in the silence as they slowly swung open.

The chambers were dark, the air stale and foul from having been trapped for so long. Thick blue drapes were drawn against the southern windows. A massive canopy bed made of dark mahogany rested against the right wall, the pillows and sheets moth eaten. In front of it was a dusty old fireplace. She waved her hand at the heavy drapes and they parted at her command. Dust swirled in the rays of sunlight illuminating the bedroom.

Lucenna stared at it, not sure what she was looking for. Strolling in, she circled the room, seeing nothing other than it once belonged to a noble family. Something to the left of it caught her eye. With the window open, it illuminated an odd shaped mound on the floor. She approached it only to see that it was a body with a sword stabbed through its back. It had long decomposed.

Something bubbled in Lucenna’s throat and she thought she might vomit. She stared at it in horror, frozen in place. A rusted stain marked the rug beneath the dried out corpse. The skin was unusually preserved in the room that had been closed off for over fifteen years. It was gray and shrunken around the bones. It still had hair and gauntly long nails. The lips had been pulled back against the teeth, open in a soundless cry.

The tattered livery hanging on what was left of the body was only worn by someone of high nobility. On the sword’s pommel was an emblem of the family crest that matched the faded banners downstairs.

“You’re not supposed to be in here,” Klyde said behind her, his voice so quiet it sent a chill down her spine. He truly could see through her invisibility spell. His jacket, the far away thought reminded her.

Lucenna’s heart pounded behind her ribs, falling completely still with her gaze still on the corpse. “Did you kill him?” She held her breath, partially dreading his reply.

“Yes.”

At the admission, she spun around and backed away from him. “Why?”

“What’s it matter now? He is a dead man either way you look at it.”

Lucenna clenched her fists. “You’re a murderer.”

Klyde’s mouth hitched in a cold smirk. “Aye, that I am, love. And I’m very good at it. I’ll make no apologies for that.”

“Why did you kill the Lord of the Manor?”

“Because he deserved it, and that is all you need to know.” There was a finality to his tone that warned her not to push him further. “Please leave.”

“I won’t until you tell me why.” She scoffed at his answering glower. “Oh, pardon me. Does it annoy you that someone had the audacity to pry into your past?”

Klyde made for the door. She waved her hand and it slammed shut in his face.

He halted there with his rigid back to her. “Don’t force me to show you who I am. You might not like what you see.”

The frigid warning made her stiffen but she had to know.

Klyde’s coat defended him against attack spells and revealed glamor spells, but how well did it work against spells that were neither? Lucenna drew the rune for a truth in the air and it briefly pulsed purple before fading.

“What happened?” she asked.

The question triggered the truth spell and a shudder went through Klyde. He faced her and the look in his eyes made her think he knew what she’d done.

“That man…wasn’t the Lord of the Manor. But he assumed the position when the Lord died,” he said through his teeth. “The first thing he did was come for my mother.”

Lucenna stiffened. The wind against the windows, making her jump.

“As you can imagine, she was beautiful. It wasn’t the first time someone wished to possess her because of it. I should have known what he planned when he sent me and Gale away to speak with her in private. When we returned she was beaten and her torn skirts were soaked with blood.”

“Captain,” Lucenna said faintly. “You can stop now.”

“You demanded to hear this tale,” he said harshly. “Now you will listen.”

She lowered her head.

“My mother…” Klyde’s jaw worked, the muscle straining in his throat. “She was sickly and anything that could cause an illness would be fatal. That man knew it but he raped her anyway and she died. But it wasn’t enough. That bastard came for my sister next.”

Lucenna’s sucked in a shallow breath.

“When I heard Gale’s screams, I found them in here. He was on top of her…tearing at her dress. Over there.” Klyde’s eyes landed the corpse, his gaze going distant. “So, I took his sword…and I drove it through his back. I stood where you are now as I watched him die. Then we barred this room, the manor, and we never stepped foot in it again until now.” He exhaled a heavy breath and his eyes rose to hers. “The end.”

Lucenna looked away from him, too ashamed of herself. She waved her fingers and the door creaked open. “I’m sorry…”

For all the wrongs done against him. The loss of his mother, her intrusion of his past, and forcing him to speak of it.

The anger was still on Klyde’s face when his warm hand took hers. Even so, his hold was gentle. She let him lead her out of the room. Taking a key from his coat pocket, Klyde locked the door and she continued letting him lead her down the stairs.

Klyde brought her to another door, and it took her a moment to recognize her borrowed bedroom. She sighed, feeling beyond stupid for her personal vendetta now.

When she took the door knob, Lucenna paused.

The ghost of a tired smile hovered on his lips. “Yet another question, love?”

“How…” she hesitated. “How old were you when…?”

“Thirteen.”

“Gods. You were only a boy.”

“Aye.” Klyde turned away for the stairs. “And he died in that room, too.”

Lucenna stayed there in the hall, listening to his footsteps head for the front door. She went to the end of the hall and saw him mount Onyx in a smooth leap. Reins snapping, he galloped away, leaving behind hoof-prints on the path.

She looked past the forest to the town of Skelling Rise beyond the trees. They had wanted answers to the mystery of his past, but Klyde’s story wasn’t her place to share. So she decided to keep this revelation to herself.

But as Lucenna stood there, staring blankly in the direction he left, a glaring realization came to her. By his age, the timeline put him here fifteen years ago.

During the overrun.

The townsfolk didn’t arrive after Azurite fell—because they had never left.