Feral Mage 3: Chapter 35

The words sounded slightly wrong, as if he couldn’t get his tongue to roll the same way Vex or Nicole could to pronounce certain syllables. Maybe it was because he didn’t have fangs, and that made the sound strange?

Vex looked up at him from the book, her ears flat and her tail curling under her. He had wondered what her reaction would be when she learn, and he figured it would be a combination of her usual stubborn self and anger. Not an expression of defeat.

“Why?” she asked in beastkin, her voice laced with fear.

That hint of fear made it all click for Bryce. He now understood somewhat why Vex had been so bullheaded about him trying to learn it. Fear. Fear that he would drive her away like he originally tried, or push others away who wish to join their pack. It gave her a sense of having some control and security in their relationship.

“Because you’re my mate, and I want to understand you always,” Bryce answered. He thought about saying his next words in beastkin, but didn’t trust himself to get it right. “I was a piece of work when we first met, Vex. I kept people at a distance and put up walls, even the twins whom I had called my friends for years. You were the one who broke down those walls, and I’ll admit, your stubbornness helped.”

He wrapped his arms around Vex and pulled her close against him.

“The thing is, I’m not that man anymore. I’m not pushing you girls away. I’m doing what I can to keep you close to me and safe, to keep our pack safe.”

He felt Vex’s arms squeeze him as her tail slowly started to sway.

“Every day we’re awaking to finding ourselves in greater danger, and I’m getting dragged into situations I have little control over. I don’t want that with my pack. I can communicate with Callie and Janna, but beastkin has always been a wall between you and me.”

Vex sniffled, and he felt her hands tug at his jacket.

“I’m sorry,” she said, as he felt tears soak into his shirt. “No more walls.”

He held her as the waves of emotion washed over Vex. When she finally stopped, he pulled out the handkerchief Thea had given him and wiped away Vex’s tears.

“We’re a pack, Vex. Trust and communication are the only way we can make that work,” he said.

She nodded, then looked at the handkerchief.

“Do you want Thea in the pack?” she asked.

Bryce froze for a second, then remembered his own words. He looked around the street, making sure they were alone.

“I doubt Lady Thea is interested in me that way. She’s also a Princess and I’m a commoner, that’s not a match that would be allowed to happen,” Bryce stated, then tapped his chest. “I’m her beastkin.”

Vex tilted her head in confusion, her eyes red from crying.

“Like you used beastkin as a way to feel in control. She’s using me as a way to feel safe against her magic. She’s terrified of becoming a chimera and sees me as the only thing that can save her if she ever becomes one again. It’s a dependency, no matter what she or anyone else might think it is,” Bryce answered.

Vex nodded as she wiped her eyes.

“Good. No Princesses for the pack,” she said in beastkin.

Bryce smiled and put his arm around Vex’s shoulder as the two of them continued to walk toward the Baroness Julia’s apartment.

“Oh? Do you not want me to call you my Princess?” he teased in her language.

Vex pouted and responded in kind.

“I’m not useless like a Princess!”

Bryce got a laugh out of her response, and despite her tears, Vex was in high spirits by the time they arrived at the part of the city where Baroness Julia’s apartment was located. Unfortunately, both their spirits dampened when they saw the soldiers gathered outside the row houses. Vex, and Bryce slipped into a nearby alleyway and watched as Jasper banged on the door.

“Baroness Julia! This is an order from the Duke himself,” Jasper yelled once he was done hammering on the door. “Due to the coming hostilities, the Duke wishes for Princess Thea to join him so that she may remain safe.”

The fact that some of the guards carried chains told a very different story from Jasper’s words. They intended to arrest Thea and anyone with her.

Why now?

The Duke knew Thea had been staying at the guildhall. He could have sent someone to arrest her at any time. Was it because the invasion was so close? Or did the Duke learn something from Charlotte that changed his mind?

Bryce grimaced as he watched Jasper start to knock on the door again. He felt Vex tug on his jacket and turned to see her ears perked. She then pointed down the alleyway, then back to her ears, which twitched.

She hears something.

Bryce nodded, and Vex started to lead him down the path toward backside of the row houses. Unlike the front, there were no guards on this side. Perhaps because these houses only had one exit. Bryce wondered why Vex had wanted to come here, then he saw a brick fall from the wall of one of the buildings. Pulling on his Primal Troll Aspect, he rushed over and started to help tear away the brick and mortar. Bellamy was on the other side of her wall, her Howler Aspect active.

“I thought I smelled your scent,” she smiled as her clawed hands tore a brick free and dropped it.

Bryce could see Thea and Baroness Julia behind her. Both were watching the entrance in the direction of the door where Jasper’s knocks were thundering.

“What happened?” he asked, pulling bricks from the wall with his enhanced strength.

He managed to make a large enough hole for Bellamy to step through, Thea and Baroness Julia following her.

“Not sure, but they don’t look like they’re here as friends,” Bellamy answered.

A loud thud hit the door, and Bryce realized they had forgone trying to coax them out and were now attempting to break in. Quickly, Bryce and the others started moving away from the row houses and fleeing back into Witchbrook.

Can’t go back to the guild.

That would be the first place Jasper would consider them going. They needed a place to lie low while they figured out what was going on. Bryce considered leading them out of Witchbrook, but there would be guards at the city gates. If there were crowds, they could blend in, but the pending invasion had made the city sparse, except for one place.

The Temple.

Those still in the city were gathered there in droves, praying to the Divine for protection in the coming days. Also, Sister Harper was there and might know something, or at least can keep Thea and Baroness Julia safe while Bryce informed Mark of what was going on.

“We’re going to a friend of Mark’s and see if she can help us,” Bryce said as he led them.

They took the alleyways in a winding path toward the temple and were forced to stop once for Baroness Julia to catch her breath. Though while she did, Bryce managed to find some travel cloaks that had been abandoned among some rubbish, probably by those fleeing the city. They were stained and ragged in spots, but would mask Thea and Baroness Julia’s finer clothing and hopefully help mask their status as nobles.

When they arrived at the Temple, it was as Bryce had expected. Patrons knelt before the various statues of the Divine, pleading for aid. While the priests and priestesses always claimed that the temple was the unifier of the people, the rich and poor, the noble and the peasant, Bryce only saw the poor here praying.

He grimaced at the all too familiar sight of a mother wearing little better than rags, placing the few scant coins she had into the box for donations to the Divine. Her children were standing beside her, already thin. Part of him wanted to hand the woman some coins, tell her to use them for food and supplies, but he knew they would just go into the box. He had done similar all those years ago.

He felt Vex’s hand grip his and turned to see the wolfkin watching him. He could see the concern in her eyes and knew she picked up on his discomfort at the scene. He squeezed her hand, then led their party toward the staircase.

“Sister Harper’s room is on the second floor,” he said, hoping the temperamental priestess was there.

He breathed a sigh of relief when they arrived at her door, and she responded when Bryce knocked.

“I thought I told you all, I’d skin the next one to knock and make a wineskin from them!” Sister Harper’s voice roared through the door.

Both Thea and Baroness Julia took steps back, pulling their travel cloaks tightly around themselves as if to hide within them. Bryce knocked again, and a second later, the door swung open to a scowling Sister Harper. The old woman’s eyes darted from all of them, settling on Thea and Baroness Julia. She frowned, opened her door fully, and stepped aside to allow them to enter.

“You’re horrible at trying to hide a Princess, you know,” Sister Harper said to Bryce as she closed the door.

Bryce sighed as he walked into the cluttered room, his gaze locked on the statue of Ciarra in the back.

“I’m starting to think that myself as well,” he said as Vex broke his gaze with the statue to glare at it. He turned to face Sister Harper. “Jasper was trying to arrest Baroness Julia and Princess Volson. We eluded them and came here.”

Sister Harper’s frown deepened.

“The Duke’s assistant? He’s the one who took Charlotte into custody on the Duke’s behalf.”

Bellamy leaned against the wall, watching Vex stare down the statue.

“Could they be trying to take Lady Thea as a bargaining tool?” she asked.

Thea gave him a nervous look as she stood beside Baroness Julia.

“That’s my best guess, but why didn’t they ask for her when they took Charlotte?” he countered. “Everyone is waiting for the alarm bells to ring for the coming attack. Jasper and his men should have been stationed at the port. This seems off for them to just now be considering Lady Thea a bargaining tool.”

The sound of things hitting the floor drew Bryce’s attention, and he watched as Vex emptied a cloth bag that held used candles onto the floor, only to place the bag over the head of Ciarra’s statue.

“I don’t think you should do that to a Goddess, even a heretical one,” Thea said. “Don’t you fear the Divine’s wrath?”

Sister Harper scoffed.

“She should fear my wrath,” she said, crossing her arms while glaring at Vex. “I can tell she’s from the Wilds and probably holds to the legends of her people. No doubt her brazen attitude is because she believes she has Divine protection due to her Storm eyes.”

Vex nodded, then quickly picked up the remains of the candles and placed them on the table.

“Storm eyes?” Bryce asked.

He saw her amber eyes lock with him as she smiled before rushing over to his side.

“Old beastkin legend. They say a nameless storm God took a wolfkin as his bride, and that amber eyes mark the descendants of their union.

Bryce looked to Sister Harper.

“Nameless gods?” he asked.

She nodded.

“Usually, these are teachings for those who serve the temple, but I suppose there’s no harm in telling you. The Divine housed and worshiped here are known as the third generation. They are the ones approved by the Kingdoms and are the Divine we have the greatest records about. We call these the True Divine, as their powers are apparent in the spells we cast. Despite what fools like Alex and the others who believe the Cheese Wheel Theory will say.”

Sister Harper’s expression turned sour at the mention of Alex, then she pointed to the statue of Ciarra.

“The second generation are the Divine that are typically labeled as heretical. Their worship often requires more savage practices, and as a result, you typically only see them worshiped by cults in secret. I believe the Dwarven Mountain’s clans are a bit more open about their worship, though.”

She then pointed to Vex.

“The first generation is only known about in fragmented legends. Some debate whether they were heroes who, over time, were elevated to divinity in stories, or whether they were members of the True Divine, but the legends were never connected to the deities as we know them. The University believes they were just a means to explain natural events.”

Bryce looked to the statue of Ciarra before turning back to face Sister Harper.

“I need to talk to Mark and try to figure out what’s going on. Can you keep Lady Thea and Baroness Julia safe?”

Sister Harper approached the statue and pulled the bag off Ciarra’s head.

“They are welcome to stay here. I doubt any of the priestesses or priests are brave enough to disrupt me while I’m in my study.”

Bryce looked to Vex, who was already beside him, then Bellamy.

“I’ll stay here with them, just in case things turn south,” his old mentor said.

Together, he and Vex left the room and started to make their way out of the temple. They needed to get to the guildhall and figure out what was going on.