Six of Ruin (Heirs of Irenwell #1)

A strange mixture of enchantment and panic laced the air as we looked at the Aradda Tower, a grey, spiky building, etched into the solid rock of the mountain’s cliff. Haunting, frightening towers rose to the night skies; the middle one the tallest, its peak disappearing behind the mushy clouds travelling by.

The cliff we stood on provided a good look at the entrance; a stone bridge, crossing over a deep abyss, leading to the massive, iron door. Trees and bushes protected us from view, but I still felt the presence of every guest entering the imposing fort.

Beings of a completely different origin, ones I’ve never seen in my life, all dolled and dressed up, walked in pairs towards the door and the ethereal music coming from inside. The sound of melodious, haunting instruments lulled me into awe.

The creatures were mostly tall and lean, with translucent, sparkling skin and deep, soothing voices, dressed in gorgeous finery.

Pieces of clothing I’ve never seen before exchanged before my eyes, from long robes dragging across the stone bridge, cracking with magic at the edges, creating lights and sparks and colours, to fiery scarves that slid around the body, leaving little to imagination. From dresses created from leaves and flowers, with nocturnal butterflies flying around, to elegant, sleek black dresses that devoured all light.

A deeply sensuous scent travelled through the air, the scent of musk and dangerous, poisonous fruits that lulled their victims into feelings of safety.

This, I thought, this would be something worth retelling, this was a site worth seeing.

“What are they?” I finally opened my mouth.

“Spirits.” Rixen answered while sitting next to me on the rock and sharpening his knife.

My companions set up everything we needed to pass through Aradda; weapons, vials of who knew what, clothes and gold. Ace went over the plan three times, but it didn’t quite concern me. I would be attending the ball.

“How come back when we were in Woods of Loria the spirits were wolves?” I asked. “All of these look humanoid.”

“They have different forms.” Rixen said. “It just so happens that the most useful form for dancing is the one that stands on two feet.”

“Is everyone here?” I mumbled towards Ace, who sat on the ground and furiously mixed some potions. “Even Liu Raj?”

“No, they don’t dance.” The mage answered. “But Liliana might be here, she doesn’t miss this kind of thing and she did get a blood-induced makeover a couple of days ago. Don’t be surprised if she shows up wearing one of your dresses.”

Rixen’s brows furrowed, “You gave the mind mage your dresses?”

“And my crown.” I shrugged. “She wouldn’t help us otherwise.”

Nickeltinker chuckled, tinkering with vials, strange shooting devices and tiny daggers, “How many crowns are you down to?”

I looked at the green-skinned boy and sighed, “I gave one to Ace, one to Liu Raj and one to the witch. So, I’m down to two.”

Nick looked up, “I’ll bet you three silver pieces you won’t have any by the end of the journey.”

I let out a laugh, “I would never give away all my crowns, Nick. People need to know I’m a princess.”

“We’re lucky nobody tried to kidnap you.” Rixen mumbled.

“I’ll still bet you three silver pieces.” Nick shrugged.

“You’re on, floran.” I raised my eyebrow. The green-skinned boy leaned towards me and we shook hands on it. “But if you steal them, it counts as cheating.”

The floran puckered his green lips, “Fine.”

“Do we know everything?” Ace asked, his judgemental, bored eyes landing on me. “Does everyone know what to do?”

I rolled my eyes, “Yes, Rixen and I will go to the dance.”

“Yes, and make sure you move around a lot.” Ace said. “The dress you’re wearing smells like them, it will confuse them enough to not realise what’s going on. Your presence will cover our tracks while we’re moving through the tunnels. Smell is important to them, it’s sharp and attuned to magic-less blood and I have three magic-less creatures breaking through their tunnels.”

“We’ll move around a lot.” I mumbled.

“If anyone,” Ace raised his finger as a warning and looked at me, “And I mean anyone comes to talk to you, you’ll do what?”

I let out a sigh, “Shut up and be pretty.”

“Thank you.” Ace nodded. “Now go get dressed.”

“I can’t believe you spent a month and a half trying to convince me to wear pants and three days later you’re making me wear a dress again.” I crossed my hands on my chest.

Danilo raised his head from the sword he sharpened in his lap, “You shouldn’t have given the witch your crown. She can probably cast a spell on it, or something worse.”

“It’s definitely worse.” Ace said causally. “She’ll wear it to some godforsaken town and pretend she’s a queen, then she’ll slaughter everyone.”

I took out the witch’s dress with a sigh and headed for the trees.

“Princess,” Ace stopped me, “Where do you head to after the ball?”

I grunted, “North-west until we reach a town at the edge of the Spirit territory, right under the Waiting Tower.”

“Ah, the last bastion of life, the town of Dahn, right under what used to be a great shadowman fort and is nothing but a ruin now.” Ace frowned at Rixen. “Your species really let themselves go. But if all shadowmen are as inert and inapt as you, it’s no wonder.”

Rixen said nothing, but the swish his blade made spoke in his stead.

Ace glanced at me again, “And don’t you stand there and wait for us.” His gaze jumped at Rixen, his tone turned serious. “Don’t you wait for us. If we’re not out by the time you are, you run towards Dahn.”

My stomach flipped upside down. Despite fearing Ace, I was far more afraid of losing him. I realised just how important bringing him along was. We would never pull this off without a mage. We had no choice.

“Torvald,” Rixen called the sleeping brute, who raised his head from the warthog’s belly, “If something happens, you kill.”

“Ugh, kill.” The giant mumbled.

Rixen looked over our group, “You protect them like you would protect me.”

“Protect.” Torvald murmured.

“Irina,” Rixen’s eyes settled on me, telling me more than his voice could, telling me about the fear and panic he felt, “Put on a dress.”

I nodded, disappearing behind the line of trees. I made sure to still see them, suddenly afraid something would snatch me in the darkness. The fear wasn’t the only thing I felt. Melancholic nostalgia settled in my heart.

I was so far away from home, far away from safety, familiarity and warmth. The last strings that tied me to my home were the two crowns I carried in my suitcase, none of which I could wear tonight.

Stranger yet were the feelings of awe. In a different, more potent way, I felt privileged to be able to see the Spirit territory, to bask in its mesmerizing, borderline-magical, glory. A certain longing clawed at my heart, longing for the places I’ve never visited, and sensing just how beautiful, and different, and strange the world might be.

In a way I wanted to stay, I wanted to meet these individuals, I wanted to see how they lived, what they believed in, what secrets they hid. As I slid on the black dress and felt it hug my body in a soothing, warm manner, I thought this place was enough to feed my curiosity and sense of wonder for years to come.

The idea of being cocooned in Irenwell, or even in the human lands in general, seemed foreign now, a distant wish.

I smoothed the surface of the dress, enjoying the way it felt under my fingers, the roughness of small, silver fibres drowning in the gentleness of silk.

“Your Grace,” Danilo’s voice startled me, “Are you decent?”

I turned around, only to find the knight facing the trees and not looking at me.

“You can turn around.” I smiled, briefly reminded of how it felt being treated as a real princess.

There lay the core difference between Danilo and Rixen. With Danilo, I felt like a princess, proper and safe, but most importantly, secured in a comforting reality which I understood and knew how to navigate. With Rixen, on the other hand, I felt thrust into the unknown world where my own, primal impulses prevailed; fear, malevolence, manipulation. I also felt the thrill and excitement of freedom, of the sheer capacity to push your own limits and break out of the cocoon.

At the end of the day, however, this life I was currently living wasn’t mine. It was an episode, a childish, rebellious tantrum. When it finally finished, I would go back to being a princess, where the crown on my head was heavy enough and the walls of the fort high and strong enough to keep me safe.

Weren’t we all, at the end of the day, choosing our own prison?

Danilo coughed, “Your Grace? Are you alright?”

“Sorry,” My head snapped in his direction, “I’ve a lot on my mind.”

“I can imagine.” The knight nodded. “I’m sorry.”

I let out a small laugh, “You’ve nothing to be sorry for, Danilo.”

“I’m sorry for the part I played in dragging you here.” The knight bowed his head. “Whatever scars you might bear later on, I’d always be partially responsible for them.”

I nodded, understanding where his words came from, “Well, I don’t blame you.”

For a moment, he remained his usual self, head held high, jaw firmly clenched and eyes focused and sharp. Then it all collapsed, his shoulders slumped, his mouth hung open and his blue eyes turned foggy.

“Irina,” He whispered, “I don’t know what to do.”

It was a sentiment I shared, a sentiment we all shared. None of us had a clue what to do and it was comforting in some ways.

I smiled, “We’ll figure it out.”

“Tell me,” His eyes glanced up, “Do you believe what Ace is saying about King Bernard?”

Words got stuck in my throat as I attempted to lie for the sake of comfort. It didn’t feel right. We deserved the truth, no matter how terrible or scary.

“I’m not sure.” I sighed. “I want him to be wrong. But it’s best to prepare for the worst.”

“I don’t know what I’ll do if he’s right.” Danilo sat on the rock nearby and leaned against his knees, his arm muscles tensing. “I don’t... I don’t know how to rule a kingdom. God, I’m just a guy with a sword, I can’t even speak properly in front of people.”

I swallowed, “We’ll figure it out, Danilo.”

I was equally as clueless as him, possibly even more so, but I knew I couldn’t let him crumble under the pressure. None of us had the privilege to do so right now, not even me.

“Irina,” The knight looked up, a certain masked regret lingering in his eyes, “I’m going to need you by my side.”

My heart skipped a beat, and not in the fluffy, enamoured way.

“Please, be by my side.” The knight’s blue eyes filled with unshed tears. “I’ll screw up a kingdom, I’ll make mistakes, and I... I won’t know what’s the right thing to do.”

The idea of spending my life with this man once appeared incredible, a wish-come-true. It felt like an obligation now, and in a frightening way, the obligation felt more necessary to fulfil than my flimsy wishes.

“I’ll be by your side.” I nodded.

Danilo took in a deep breath of relief, “Are we going to figure it out together?”

Another nod, “We’ll try.”

“If it’s any consolation, I’m seven hundred years old and I still have no clue what the hell I’m doing.” Ace’s smug voice ruined the moment.

Danilo’s usual demeanour returned as quickly as it disappeared; his neck stretched, his jaw tensed and his posture stiffened.

I blinked away the tears, “Good to know, oh, great wizard.”

“May I have a word with the Princess?” Ace bowed mockingly towards the knight.

Danilo looked at me, “It’s your choice.”

“I’ll be right back.” I nodded.

Danilo glared at Ace one more time and walked away.

The mage pouted, “I don’t think he likes me all that much.”

“There are people that do?” I arched my eyebrow and sat on the rock Danilo was on a moment ago.

“Two or three in seven centuries.” Ace shrugged. “There’s something I need to talk to you about.”

“Go ahead.”

Ace came closer and for once, his mocking guise gave place to seriousness, “There’s a real chance someone will figure out I’m going through the tunnels tonight. Rixen and you might have to continue this journey alone.”

“Ace,” My voice bordered on growling, “you said you would protect them. Everyone, not just me.”

“And I will.” The mage looked like he tried hard to contain the eye-roll. “But I can fail, too. If they sense me, or if someone sees me, we might not make it. If that happens and if we don’t meet you in Dahn, you run, run like all the devils of the world are chasing you.”

Panic laced my already enhanced senses, “I don’t know where! How are we going to cross the Frozen Sea? Rixen cannot turn me into a shadow, I cannot... We won’t... Ace!”

“Listen.” The mage grabbed both my shoulders and pulled me up. “You must reach Orathia and steal the spell. Rixen and you have what it takes to open the seal.”

“How... how would we get there?”

Ace dug through his pocket and took out a gilded vial, “Stop in Dahn, gather food and clothing. Take only the most necessary weapons. Rest for a couple of hours, you will need it. Then run through the Waiting Tower across the ice-covered wasteland of the north. Rixen knows the way.”

I stared at the gilded vial, I couldn’t see the colour of the liquid, “What is that for?”

“Your ride across the Frozen Sea.” Ace put the vial in my hand and closed my palm. “Drink it and call forth Abazmakiel. Tell him I sent you.”

I searched his eyes for an explanation, but found none, “Who is that? Ace, come on.”

“Focus, woman!” The mage shouted. “Abazmakiel, remember the name. Once you reach Orathia, Rixen will know the way to the tome, steal the spell and hide. You wait for me there, understood? Soterios cannot have that spell.”

“Wait for you there?” My mouth hung open. “How are we supposed to wait for you there if Aradda guards are ordered to kill you in sight!?”

“I’m not that easy to kill.” Ace squinted.

“Ace,” I tapped my foot on the ground, “You better not risk the lives of my actual friends to save yourself.”

“I won’t.” Now he did in fact roll his eyes. “It’s going to be fine, Aradda guards are too busy drinking and trying to fuck a nymph on the summer solstice. But I need to know that the spell will be safe if something happens.”

“Fine.” I put the vial in my brassier. “You better not die, old man.”

“Now,” Ace stepped away, “Put on a smile, Princess, you’re about to attend a spirit ball, and if they smell your nervousness, they will eat you alive.”

At least being a princess taught me how to smile when I felt like dying.