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Chapter 20

“WHAT?!?!?”

Straining your voice will only bring your enemies closer to you.

Gwen stood up, ready to strike. “Where are they? Where are they going? I’m going to stop anyone from hurting Indearie!”

Be SILENT!

Gwen quelled.

Listen, you pathetic creature. This house is in the first true danger it has faced in centuries. Our home is under siege, and the lord of the manor still lays ill. With no other hope that is near enough to be of assistance, the task of defense lies with you.

“Me?”

I am as shocked as you.

“But, but I can’t.”

Student, your friends are captured. Deveren is going to use them as bait, and do whatever it takes to convince you to surrender our secrets to him. That must not happen.

“Right.”

No matter how much you may want to save your friend, the greater good is…did you just agree with me?

“Yes.” Of course she agreed with him. Gwen wasn’t stupid. If Indearie and Rosamund were captured, Deveren was going to use them. And once he had everything he could get, he’d kill everyone. It was the only thing that made sense.

But that didn’t stop the predicament. Gwen was all by herself.

With magic she barely understood. Drake had run off, Rosamund and Indearie were captured, Doramont might as well have been. And the duke?

“Where is Everwynn?” she asked.

The Heir has been where he always has been. The Voice replied. With family.

Gwen nodded. In the tower. Of course he had to be in the tower. That was the one place Felton would think he was safest, and in the most danger. No wonder the butler went with him.

Think, Gwen, think. Deveren was trying to take over, which meant he needed…something. He needed everyone out of the way. Duke Everwynn was out of commission, same with his prime butler. All of his students had run off. There was no one alive…

Gwen looked up. There was no one alive to challenge his claim as rightful heir.

Just what Drake had said about power. Whoever had the power, made the rules. Unless anyone else who had that power could make them stop.

That’s what Deveren was trying to do. If he wanted to take over Everwynn’s lands, he needed to ensure that the Duke would never rise up again to challenge him, or that anyone was around who could say exactly what happened that evening.

He needed Everwynn. And he needed the students.

Which meant that Gwen had the advantage.

How? How does this give you an advantage?

“Because I know what Deveren doesn’t,” Gwen said.

“I know what no one alive truly knows.”

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Deveren pounded on the static blue wall. Emerald flames burst out of his fist with every smack, scorching against the barrier. And still it held.

“Everwynn!” He shouted. “Everwynn, get out here!”

“He’s not coming out,” Indearie said. She stood next to Deveren. Her legs and arms were shackled, guards surrounding her and Rosamund.

“Are you sure he’s in there?” Deveren asked. “One hundred percent sure?”

“That’s where Felton put him when we saw the Duke last,” Indearie said.

Deveren threw a fireball at the blue wall. The orb burst, sending everyone to the floor in a wave of green heat.

“Damn it!” Deveren shouted. “What is that thing?”

“Just one of those little quirks that every house has, right?” Rosamund asked.

“I wasn’t asking you, Rosamund,” Deveren muttered. He got back to his feet. “In fact, I’m not entirely convinced this isn’t one of your games.”

Rosamund arched an eyebrow, and looked around. “Captured, in my own prison. Held by an overwhelming force, pressured to give you the means to kill my warden. That’s right, you’ve fallen into my trap.”

Fire burst out of his hands. “Do not toy with me, girl! One word from me, and I could have you hanged on the spot.”

Gwen leaned over the edge of the roof, peering in through the top of the window. Curiouser and curiouser. Deveren had no clue what the Tower was, but he definitely knew Rosamund. And judging by the history, it looked like she was one of those wretched nobles.

“Don’t seek to threaten me, count,” Rosamund bit the words through her tongue. “You have invaded my home, and seek to kill my lord. It will be a most fortuitous set of circumstances that will keep your head upon your shoulders.

Gwen silently snorted. Yup, that was a noble.

Deveren turned away. “I have two boys ensconced around the estate, away from my influence. A girl who seems to have my pawn’s magic tucked away. and my two captives seem to think it funny to try and play games.”

He raised his voice. “Everwynn! If I do not start hearing some good news, I am going to start slicing body parts off of these girls until I feel better!”

Indearie spun, and jumped, slamming her feet into the ground. A burst of lightning kicked up from her toes, striking at the count. He dropped just in time, and lashed out with his flames. Rosamund slammed into Indearie, driving them both to the ground.

“Idiots!” Deveren screamed. “I am surrounded by nothing but idiots!”

“Temper,” Rosamund said.

“I am simply trying to take what is my due, Rosamund,” Deveren said. “You of all people should know what that is about.”

“And why I know it is never going to work,” Rosamund said. “So please, just give up on this, and run while you can.”

Deveren leaned in close. “Not without a consolation prize.”

Gwen jumped, and waved her hand. She fell through the window, and straight into the count. She drove him into the ground, howling.

“Deveren!” She shouted. “This ends now!”

He coughed. “Ah. The miscreant. I was wondering where you had run off to.”

“Let them go, and we’ll let you walk away, now.”

Deveren’s eyes glinted. Green fire burst out of his body. Gwen blew backwards, slamming into a wall. She coughed, the wind knocked out of her.

Deveren stood up. “I’m getting quite tired of all of these pathetic felons thinking they can tell me what to do. And girls, no less.”

He pointed at Gwen. “I am not some little noble you can pickpocket on the streets. I am Count Deveren, lord of the Deveren Castle! Your lord’s estates have fallen to my power! Bow before me, and hope that I am merciful and spare your pathetic lives!”

Gwen stood up. “Now, Millie!”

The room dropped ten degrees. Frost creeped up the windows. The pale blue light arched out of the Tower wall, spiraling out through the hallway.

Out of the light came the staff. Eerily dressed, with ragged suits and outfits. Bone showed through their sagging flesh, and they looked out of eyeless sockets.

The guards’ will could only take so long. At the sight of thirty skeletal figures they broke and ran for the exits. In the distance Gwen could see others running too, trailing cuts and thorns from the greenhouses, and chased by the rest of the staff.

“What’s going on?” Indearie whispered to Gwen.

“The staff,” she said. “They’re defending their home.”

In moments, Deveren stood alone.

“Away!” Millie rasped, pointing a bony finger at Deveren. “Away! or suffer the wrath of Everwynn!”

Deveren’s face set. “Please.”

He snapped his fingers.

The room was filled with green fire. It roared out of him, consuming the hallway. Gwen caught a glimpse of an emerald gem hurtling towards her, ablaze and growing larger, before it consumed her sight and all she could see was white.

And all she could feel was fire.

The girls screamed, and clutched at each other.

“Indearie!” Rosamund shouted. Her own red flames shot out of her, trying to protect the two of them. They were snuffed out in instants, powerless against Deveren’s onslaught. Gwen dove towards the others, and drove them to the ground, burying their faces in the floor. They all cowered, and prayed. They couldn’t move, they couldn’t breathe. All they could do was die.

But in seconds, it was over.

Gwen, Indearie and Rosamund looked at each other. They were completely unharmed. The inferno that they had felt, the blaze they thought would consume them, was gone. The walls were not singed, the windows weren’t warped. Had it all been an illusion?

No. The staff was gone. And everywhere they had stood, be it on the floor, the ceiling, or the walls, there was a neat little x scorched into the surface.

“What happened?” Indearie asked.

Gwen understood, and grew cold. Deveren had beaten the staff back. The ghost force, who couldn’t be killed, couldn’t be stopped, could do nothing against Deveren’s fire. They had been consumed, sent back into the Tower to be healed and recuperate. The count had been able to scorch the souls of the departed workers.

And he had done it without harming a single piece of furniture that he didn’t wish to.

Deveren adjusted his cloak, and looked at the girls. “I can be patient. And I can follow procedure. But you, you little…cons. Convicted cretins, who can do no more than inconvenience me, and almost make me lose my temper. Now you have done it. Now you see what a true noble can do.”

He sighed. “Now do you wish to tell me where Everwynn is, or shall I simply raze this house to the ground?”

“There’s no need for that, Deveren.”

The four of them turned around.

There was a light tapping on the Tower wall. It creaked open, and Duke Everwynn walked out. He was wearing a silk nightgown, elegantly tied up in a tassel. He tapped out a beat with a single-edged saber. A tricorn hat was upon his head, and he wore blue spectacles, that twinkled as he walked.

“I rather like my house. It’s already been razed to the ground once, and I hate to make it a habit.”

Deveren stared, unbelieving. “You, you…”

“Everwynn!” Gwen choked out. “Everwynn!”

“You’re ok!” Indearie shouted.

“Hmmm?” The duke frowned, and looked at the girls. As recognition dawned, he brightened. “Ah, girls! Wonderful to see you all getting along beautifully. I hope the last few days have gone splendidly?”

“Not so much, milord,” Rosamund said. “We had a few uninvited guests.”

Duke Everwynn tapped his free hand on the saber, and nodded.

“I see. Well, I will deal with this presently.”

“This is a trick,” Deveren said.

“What is?” Duke Everwynn said. His eyebrows rose. “What about me is a trick?”

“I, I…” Deveren trailed off, and he looked around wildly. His eyes fell on Gwen, and he smiled.

“Duke Everwynn, I demand that you give me that little murderer. She killed my father, and must die.”

The duke sighed, and looked at Gwen. His eyes filled with sadness, until he had to close them. A single tear fell from his face.

“No.”

“No?” Deveren asked.

“Absolutely not. She is essential to my library.” Duke Everwynn walked past the girls, towards North Wing and the kitchens. “My books have just now started to make sense. Replace my librarian, and who knows what kind of order they will find for themselves. Color coding?”

Deveren and the girls stared at each other, and then followed Everwynn down the stairs.

“I do apologize for not greeting you at the door, Deveren,” Everwynn said. “I had a marvelous rest. It had been a rather taxing few days, what with settling in my new charges, and some excitement caused by all that contained. But I heard from one of my maids that you were kind enough to let yourself in!”

He smiled to Indearie. “Is he not one of the most forward-thinking counts you ever did meet?”

“Absolutely, Duke,” she agreed.

“Everwynn…”

“I am famished,” Everwynn said. “And to tell the truth, I want to make something truly scrumptious. Felton has forbidden me from requiring the staff make me chocolate chip pancakes with strawberries and cream. Says that I need to watch my figure, and that my staff is not allowed to help me cheat a diet.”

His eyes lit up. “But if I make the pancakes, and for my students, then it is a wondrous gift, not a cheat!”

Deveren slammed his fist into the wall. “Everwynn!”

Flames flared up out of his fist. “You will accede to my demands!”

“Oh, grow up.”

Deveren stared, shocked. Everwynn glanced back at him unamused.

“Honestly, you’ve been a count for all of five minutes, and yet I am already bored silly with your demands, and tantrums, and constant whines.”

He pointed at Gwen. “That young woman did not kill your father. I will vouch for it, as will my staff, and your first act as lord of Deveren Castle will be to make a gigantic embarrassment of yourself squabbling in front of the Council.”

The Duke smiled. “I can think of far better ways to disgrace your family legacy.”

There was a harsh twinkle. Gwen turned around, and saw the Tower wall glow white-blue, before dulling back to its usual color.

“She is my right,” Deveren warned.

“No,” Everwynn said. “She isn’t.”

He pulled himself up to his full height. “Now, you have asked, demanded, and pleaded thrice. And thrice I have denied you. By the laws of the Council, and the magic contained in my demesne, you have your answer, and it is truth.”

Everwynn laid a hand on the sword. “Challenge me, if you dare.”

Fire wrapped around Deveren. Gwen tried to look small and unimportant. Everwynn had to be bluffing. There was no way that he could take on that kind of power. It was impossible. And Deveren had to know it.

But the count sighed. He dispelled his flames. “I believe this has been a rather productive meeting between neighbors, Everwynn?”

“Absolutely!” The Duke said, smiling. “Thank you so much for tending to our rather boisterous guests when they stayed overlong.”

Guests? Neighbors? Gwen looked around.

There was a tap on her shoulder. Rosamund leaned over. “Watch this. Deveren’s about to take care of all of our problems.”

“What?”

Deveren nodded. “Well, I live to serve.”

He grit his teeth. “Now, shall I dispose of the guests who so rudely exhausted your hospitality?”

“They have extended their stay rather more than I can bare,” Duke Everwynn admitted. “But I don’t want them hurt too badly. Especially dear Maladie, he must feel awful.”

“Awful…yes.” The two nobles walked downstairs, chatting.

“What’s going on?” Gwen whispered.

“Deveren is going to finish helping us get rid of Maladie’s guards, before putting him in a carriage,” Rosamund said.

“Finish?” Indearie asked. “When did he start?”

“Last night,” Rosamund said. “Or whenever is most convenient to line up a proper narrative.”

“What?” Gwen asked. “Wait, you mean he’s…”

“Getting away with everything?” Rosamund asked. “Of course. He’s a noble.”

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Dead by the Book

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I didn't ask for a destiny.

Especially one that says that I'm supposed to destroy every god in existence.

It made the name William Creed a curse. Made me turn tail and run from the only home I knew. Left my friend, my favorite ghost, and hoped that the gods would just forget about me.

But now I'm back. Chasing the one good paycheck I've seen in years. Chasing some kid who's in way over his head, searching for a book that could break reality.

I'll have to take on dragons, the undead, a whole cosmos of deities, and my own mother.

Welcome to God Street. Where miracles become realities.

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