Chasing Shadows (Saving Galerance, Book 1) (28 page)

*

Guardian Amias reached out for the bowl of fruit on the
large, empty wooden table and grasped an apple in one hand. As he was going to
take a bite, the door to his personal eating chambers opened. He glanced at the
man in the doorway and then promptly bit into the crisp skin of the fruit.

“I’ve been hearing good reports from Breccan,” he commented,
setting the apple down to search for something else to eat. “You’ve turned
Auberon into a perfect little hero and the Harbingers into the beasts they’ve
been claiming to be.” He popped a grape into his mouth and turned to where Brin
stood with his hands clasped behind his back, a severe expression set on his
face. “I don’t know about you, Brin, but I’d call that good work. Don’t look so
grave.”

“I look grave whenever there is a problem to be dealt with,
sir.”

Amias was about to eat another grape, but he let it fall to
the table, rolling until it fell on the floor by his feet. “You know that’s not
my favorite thing to hear about.” He paused before asking, “What is it that
went wrong?”

Brin took a step towards his table. “A group of our youngest
were supposed to be sacrificed in order to paint the Harbinger in an even more
brutal light, but… Something went wrong. A girl had been locked up with them.
She was able to slip out and somehow save them all.”

“And do the men suspect who’s behind it?” Amias asked, his
face darkening.

“They’re smart, sir. They have to know. Thankfully they’re
also smart enough to know not to say anything. I can’t say it’ll last forever.
But it’s the girl that worries me more.”

“So deal with her then,” Amias advised. “You know I will not
stand for loose ends.”

Brin shook his head. “It’s not that easy. I can’t just kill
her. A lot of the officers have grown…attached to her. It might set them over
the edge if we have her killed.”

“So make it look like an accident,” Amias said, shaking his
head as though the solution was so simple he shouldn’t have needed to be told.

Brin closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. “I’m afraid
that’s not all. The way she saved them,” he shook his head, “it was miraculous.
No one knows how she did it without dying. And, with the scorch marks on the
stone walls…”

“Scorch marks?” Amias asked, his curiosity piqued.

“When she blasted the doors open,” he clarified. “The mark
it left on the stone was…peculiar.”

“How so?”

Brin cleared his throat. “Well…they look exactly like a set
of wings.”

“Wings?” Amias repeated.

“The guys have started calling her The Albatross.”

Amias chuckled, finding amusement in the whole situation.
“That’s a child’s myth, Brin.”

“It’s also a dangerous symbol that you took great pains to
outlaw,” he reminded him.

Amias smiled and asked, “What’s this albatross’s real name?”

“It’s Norabel.”

“Well,” Amias said, looking down to the fallen grape by his
feet and crushing it with his boot. “Send a rider to Lorcan and inform him that
this unexpected hero Norabel is to be recognized for her act of bravery.”

“Hero?” Brin asked in surprise.

“There’s more than one way to deal with a mistake, Brin. If
you can’t kill the girl, then make her one of us. The rebels have their face,
so she shall be ours. The gentle, altruistic face of the Pax. Because as long
as all the heroes are on our side, the Harbingers can’t do a wretched thing.”

“What exactly do you want Lorcan to do?”

Amias returned to the bowl of fruit and shoved it aside to
make way for a dessert tray that had been placed next to it. “Liadrel,” he
announced, his hand hovering over the different treats in careful deliberation.
“A plentiful playground of delights, soon to have its doors opened in grand
ceremony. What kind of a guardian would I be if I didn’t invite our heroes to
the party?”

“I shall tell Lorcan to inform her sir,” Brin said with a curt
bow.

“Not just her, the whole of Breccan!” Amias exclaimed with a
proud huff. “Give the rest of them something to look up to like a shining ray
of light. If Lorcan lets all of Breccan know what she’s done, that she’s going
to Liadrel because of it, they’ll be falling over themselves to try and keep
our officers from stubbing their toes if they think they might get the same
reward.”

“You are right sir,” Brin relented with a nod.

“Then why does it sound like you think I’m wrong?” Amias
asked. He finally chose a dessert from the tray and set it apart from the
others.

“I’ve looked into this girl’s history. And I’m…I’m just not
sure she’ll be the compliant, shining image you want her to be. You were
responsible for burning down her home when she was very young.”

“Was I? How unfortunate,” he remarked with a carefree smile.

“If you put her in the public eye, she might prove to be
trouble.”

Amias picked up his dessert and broke it in two. He
carefully ate one half, taking his time to taste the flavors, and then held the
other half up towards Brin.

“Do you know what this is?” he asked.

“Some sort of cake, sir,” Brin replied, unsure of why he was
being asked this.

“No Brin,” he shook his head. “It’s not just some sort of
cake. This is cold cream strawberry velvet cake infused with the nectar of the
Cliaura plant. It has never been tasted outside the borders of Cashel.”

“Your point sir?”

“The point is very simple.” He popped the rest of the cake
in his mouth and quickly gulped it down. “You can make even the most righteous
person do anything you want with the right leverage. To put it another way,” he
said, licking the cream off his fingers, “Liadrel is a vast place filled with
wonders; it would be very easy to lose oneself inside.”