306- Two Weeks to War
POV Viktor Averwyn:
She believed polenta—mamaliga—should accompany every dish. The worst part was that I had become addicted to it.
“No, I came to take care of some things in the office at home.” I poured myself a large shot of ţuică, which burned down my throat like pure alcohol.
I glanced at my daughter, perched on one of the chairs, her long dark hair tied back.
“Hi, Dad. Today I went back to teaching at the little school,” she said softly.
“That’s good. The children must have missed you.”
She nodded, a little more animated now that we were making peace.
We had few children in the village, only seven. Fortunately, three were girls, because for centuries the number of male births had been far higher, and we had an enormous shortage of females. In truth, only ten of them were adults, some unable to reproduce—like the older ones and the duchesses, who were betas.
If things continued like that, we would end up going extinct. I needed to prepare an alpha to replace me when I died, because it seemed I wouldn’t be as lucky as Edric and Aldren with their offspring.
It was shit on top of shit.
I drank another glass of the liquor, and Daciana looked me up and down.
“What is it now?”
“Nothing. I’m going to the office.”
I had barely finished speaking when my phone began ringing. I saw Aldren’s name, and the feeling of bad news grew stronger.
“What is it?” I answered abruptly.
“Emergency meeting in Noctheria. In one hour, Viktor.”
“In one hour I’ll be having lunch.”
I listened carefully to what he said, though my tone remained disinterested.
“The meeting is because of you. Don’t miss it. Fuck!”
I almost growled with pure rage. My eyes met Adelina’s and Daciana’s, both standing still and staring at me.
Just thinking—and being almost certain—that this had something to do with my daughter filled me with a mixture of fury and anxiety.
“Viktor? It really is important. The Elders didn’t even have time to prepare the invitations. The matter is serious.”
“I got it already.”
“We’re waiting for you.”
I hung up and turned to leave. My mind trying to stay clear.
“Dad…”
“I’ll talk to you later. I’m busy.”
“Wait!” She ran and stepped in front of me, all nervous. “I want to apologize. It was all my fault.”
I took a deep breath, staring into her dark eyes. Worry engulfed me, and I raised my hand, caressing her soft face.
“None of what happened was necessary. But it wasn’t your fault if Felix’s tongue was bigger than his mouth. Just understand that I want what is best for you.”
“I know. All I want is more freedom and…”
“Are you going to start again?”
“You don’t have to take me to the Lust party. But you could at least accompany me outside of here so I can meet other people. Please!”
I rubbed my hair and it fell over my forehead. She was stubborn!
She had no idea what danger she was in!
“That’s enough of this conversation.”
“Dad…”
I left her behind and walked out of the castle. I had thought about not attending the meeting, but I needed to know exactly what was going on.
As I headed for the gates, I called Lonut.
“Any news on Vlad?”
“Not yet. They’re looking for him.”
“Call me when you have something.”
The guards opened the enormous, heavy gates, and I went out. As soon as I found myself before the road and the woods, I took the forest path. There I shot between the trees, running so fast that the vegetation passed like flashes. I jumped obstacles, dodged branches, knowing every inch of the way.
I knew exactly where to go and which areas to avoid so I wouldn’t set off a mine or trigger a trap. Many of them were activated by high technology, but some were archaic surprises.
And extremely deadly.
I cut through the forest between my property and Konrad Cyndrael’s. I passed between Aldren Valmorin’s and Lucian Tharengard’s. Finally Edric Dãneşti’s, without entering any of them.
Throughout the entire route, the scent of lilies and nutmeg accompanied me, sometimes stronger, sometimes fainter. But it stayed embedded in my nostrils, disturbing my already unstable emotions even more. I had to find out who it belonged to. But I could swear it was a female’s scent.
I set that aside for later when I entered the neutral grounds of Noctheria, which belonged to the Elders. I stopped before the gates guarded by large security men in black robes, their faces almost covered by the same fabric.
My breathing quickly steadied, and I adjusted my long navy-blue coat over the embroidered vest beneath it. I brushed away the stubborn lock of hair that always mussed me and walked forward with calm steps.
They let me pass without a word.
The fortress was imposing, all stone with wooden beams, high and sturdy walls that had withstood the elements for centuries. There was no electricity there, so candles and candelabras stretched everywhere. Because of the closed, dark environment, they remained lit even during the day.
I heard only my boots on the cold floor. The rest was silence, with each room I entered. From a distance I sensed the Elders’ characteristic smells, a mixture of old paper and ashes. But this time there was something different.
I sniffed the air. A trace of moldy parchment. Of something rotten that I could not identify. It wasn’t meat. Like old, badly washed clothes, wet for centuries. What the hell was that?
The main hall was opened by two more silent guards. Of the five tall wooden chairs arranged in a circle, four were occupied and one waited for me. The three Elders sat in theirs, in a separate corner.
My eyes took in everything at once. The hard, worried expressions of Aldren, Konrad, and Edric. The hatred pouring across Lucian’s face. There I became certain of everything and cursed Vlad and his family.
Then I realized the source of the strange smell. The three old men had always been frail. One without eyes, one without ears, the other without a mouth. Linked by telepathy, like Siamese twins separated at birth and left with deformities. I had never understood how they survived, even how the one without a mouth ate. But somehow they managed.
We had always believed they were immortal, great as wizards. That if that ever ended, we would all die or the fragile peace between us would collapse for good, bringing chaos and destruction. They formed a whole, preached balance, were the oldest figures upon the Earth.
But I was no longer sure.
Two of them, the one without a mouth and the one without ears, seemed to have shrunk. Their skin even drier and more wrinkled, an ugly grayish color. Thin and hunched in their chairs. As if they had withered quickly in a matter of months, more than in centuries or millennia.
“What happened to them?” I looked directly at the blind one, who didn’t even have time to answer.
“You son of a bitch dog!”
Lucian lunged toward me out of his mind. At once I snarled and threw my arms forward, my claws and fangs springing out in full, rage corroding me from head to toe.
At last I would kill the bastard!