A Tale of Revenge

Hi everyone! Sorry for the delay in posting this chapter. Life and rewrites conspired against my one-a-week plan. I've gotten a lot of great feedback that's helped me make this act a lot better (I think), so it was worth the wait even if I did leave you with a cliffhanger.

Enjoy!

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Anna sat on the bed for a long time after Leonid departed. Most of her felt numb, as if not truly a part of her anymore, no doubt the consequence of her once-again intact body. Her mind seemed to be closing it out as well, actively pushing away parts of her that she found she could not reconcile herself with, as if she could shed her own skin like clothing she disliked. She stared at the far wall without seeing it. How long she remained this way, trying to deaden her tether to a reality she couldn't quite accept, she wasn't sure.

The silence in the room was so complete that when footsteps sounded outside the chamber it was enough to pull her from her daze. Her heart beat faster and she wracked her panicked mind as muffled voices came from beyond the door. A timid knock came.

"Your highness? Your dinner as requested," the servant's soft voice called out.

For a moment Anna stared, open mouthed and confounded by her circumstance before reason returned to her.

"Leave it!" she called out, placing her magic into the words so those who heard them would perceive only the king's voice.

The shuffling footsteps hurried away and Anna waited breathlessly before moving towards the door. She pressed her ear to it, trying to slow the beating of her heart so she could hear if someone was waiting there. It only occurred to her to use her sight when she found herself incapable of closing out the frantic rhythm. "Idiot," she muttered to herself. She reached out with her magic and found the servants had gone leaving only guards at the external doors to the king's suite, two rooms beyond where she was crouching. She slid the door open and snatched the tray into the room with too much speed, sloshing some of the liquid offerings out of their bowls.

She crouched over the food, the first she had seen in days, and ate ravenously. She barely tasted it; each frantic bite warmed her from the inside, making her feel just a bit more human. She slowed as her stomach began to ache, wiping her messy fingers across the rug.

Clothes were the next step. She discovered that the king's clothing was kept somewhere else and she was left with only an assortment of night robes and shirts. She pulled on a silky black sleeping shirt, long enough that it brushed her thighs. It fluttered out around her slight form so she adopted a tie from one of the robes, winding it around her waist three times before using up the extra slack. The loose sleeves were ripped off at the shoulder. Billowing trousers with golden embroidery matched the shirt and she used the ties at the ankles to secure the legs, tucking the large waist underneath the shirt and the makeshift belt to hold it in place. There was no hope for shoes and she reconciled herself to walking barefoot across the grounds.

Her urgency was returning as she pulled herself together. There were pressing matters to be handled, and sitting about in a cloud of despair was serving no one, least of all herself. Once dressed to her satisfaction Anna paused to gather her thoughts. No one must know the king was gone, but she could not remain in this chamber for three days, not when Orlith was coming back for her, and not when Evo was still in his workroom with the others.

Anna considered her options and began to saturate the room with her magic, controlling the sounds and sights that anyone nearby or entering might hear or see. She found the magic slid through her so easily, twisting to her will with practically no resistance. Having watched Serena so closely during her time with Evo, Anna found she could formulate the magic into what she wanted using some of the techniques she'd seen used. It felt good to be in control again. When it was completed to her satisfaction she drew the illusion of a body in the bed, filling the room with the sound of masculine snores.

She turned to the doors and stopped again. She needed to be quiet about this, to remove both Evo and Orlith without raising an alarm. She would not be able to contain full out panic with a mirage king. She would fool no one for too long into a conversation, not to mention what might happen if someone tried to touch something that wasn't there. She needed help. She needed Serena.

She reached out with her sight, finding it unimpeded from within the confines of Evo's barrier over the palace. She found Evo in the North tower several buildings over. Serena and a few others were with him in his workshop. The others she discovered in cells at the base of the tower, their collars winked magically at her through her spell. She turned to look for Orlith, her search more tentative. She felt him in the prison block far beneath her feet. Her magic barely brushed his form before she pulled back, unwilling to feel his presence more fully.

Anna steadied herself. The promise of progress after so many days of barely surviving was exhilarating, enough so that it allowed her to dismiss the darkness that still clung stubbornly to her insides. She raised her hands to her lips. Leonid had been here, despite all he'd said before about abandoning her to her fate. His kiss had restored more than just her body and magic, but it gave her another point of focus, something that spanned to the other side of this affair in the capital. He was coming back for her. She could almost smile.

She slipped out of the room, the late hour meant she barely passed anyone in the halls. She emerged on the ramparts above the inner retaining wall, the cool autumn night coming through the thin fabric of her clothes, hard stones pressing into her bare toes. She began to make her way past the sentries in the dark. As she came to an abandoned stretch of walk, the inner one being less patrolled then the outer defensive parapet, she came to a stop. Something in the air felt wrong, like a sound that she couldn't quite hear.

In front of her on the wall a woman appeared, a goddess dressed in red silk, corkscrew curls tumbling down around her perfect face, which was twisted in anger. Anna halted, her eyes wide.

"Where is he?" the goddess boomed, her voice laced with deep, echoing undertones that seem to amplify in the dark.

For a moment Anna was too stunned to say anything. The goddess held out her hand, red claw-like nails extended towards her as coppery magic flowed from the tips like the curled smoke of a pipe. The sight of her nails brought Anna back. She'd met this deity before.

The spell reached out towards Anna, grasping her skin and jerking her towards the angry goddess. When the woman clasped Anna's chin in her palm, her nails digging into her cheeks she spoke again, venom in her expression. "I won't ask you again human, where is your king?"

Anna didn't speak, her eyes still wide with fear. There was no answer that she could offer. Leonid warned her that Imonesh was dangerous, especially if she learned anything about Leonid and Anna's arrangement. The goddess narrowed her golden eyes at Anna's silence. "What are you hiding?" a sharp nail ran down the exposed skin at Anna's neck, slicing the skin ever so slightly. She struggled and tried to move away from the goddess's grip with no success. "Should I open you up and see what secrets you have inside?" The nail dug deeper.

"That's enough, Imonesh," another voice rang out behind Anna and she was dumped on the ground so that her back was to the intruder. She turned to see another goddess whose eyes and lips were as blue as the sapphires at her shoulders. "You've been summoned."

Imonesh's eyes narrowed. "Emera, what a surprise. It must have been an age since you've walked these grounds. Come to reminisce?"

The other goddess looked pleased. "If you keep them waiting it will go worse for you."

"Then I'll take this little creature with me, so she can answer to the disappearance of my charge." Coppery magic flowed towards Anna once more. She scuttled backwards on her hands towards the goddess at her back.

Bolts of blue lightening came from behind her, stopping Imonesh's power from reaching her. "Your charge is with The Five now, answering for crimes against another god's property." The blue goddess's voice grew harsh as she stepped forward, dragging Anna to her feet and shoving her back. "And he has an interesting story to tell about a certain magical weapon in development."

Anna could no longer see Imonesh's face but she could feel the fury in the air around them. With a short, frustrated scream, Imonesh disappeared from the wall, taking the crackling energy with her.

The other goddess turned back towards Anna, her blue eyes familiar as she appraised the girl before her. Anna realized she bore a strange resemblance to Leonid, almost as though they were parts of a set. A small smile touched her sapphire lips. "You've done very well, Anna."

"Who are you?" Anna asked, confused and a more than a bit frightened.

"My name is Emera, I was once very close with your great-great-great grandmother." Her voice was soft, the godly undertones were muted.

"What is going on?" Anna asked dumbly, her mind still catching up with the events taking place around her.

Emera sighed, "It is a long and complex tale, one that Leonid should no doubt tell you." At the sound of his name Anna's heart lurched. Emera looked at her knowingly. "I'm afraid that the worst of what's befallen you has been a consequence of the debt that Leonid owes me, one that I collected on a few months ago."

A bird flitted down from behind Anna, causing her to jump a little. The tiny thing landed on Emera's shoulder and ruffled its feathers, the motion striking Anna as somehow familiar. She stared at the bird for a moment until the goddess stepped closer, claiming Anna's attention again. "Someday soon all will be explained, but now you must go and free your people, free yourself from the men that have twisted your home into a dark and evil place."

Anna narrowed her eyes and stepped back, getting the distinct impression the goddess was trying to manipulate her. "I will do what I set out to do, to seek justice. That is all." This was not her home; these were not her people.

Blue lips stretched into a smile. "I'm beginning to see why Leonid has been so well diverted these past few months." Emera stepped up to Anna. A hand laced in shimmering blue veins met her cheek, the scratches Imonesh had left disappeared. "Be safe, little one, much depends on it, not least of all my brother." With that she leaned down and pressed her lips to Anna's and was gone, the little bird with her.

For a moment Anna stood stunned. What was going on? The night seemed strange and vacant, as if the goddesses had taken the air with them when they left. She shook her head, both in denial of the strangeness and to clear her head. Leonid, again his name made her chest ache. Imonesh's talons brought back the moment in the woods so clearly. She had been so terrified, and he had simply held her still. Anna raised her hand to her chest, as if to rub out the strange empty feeling there. He had come for her, he had stopped the king when the agreement was trespassed against. He was coming back for her. She looked up, seeking out the stars as the clouds parted and converged in the autumn sky. He was all she had, and she had to trust he would come back.

The thought helped steel her resolve and she started out again, shaking off the discomfort of the momentary stillness. The goddesses' visit had disturbed her but she had to focus on what she could accomplish here. Her mind felt slow as she turned over the brief interaction with the goddesses. Her purpose a week ago had been so straightforward and now here she was in the middle of a mess of gods and monarchs with a sorcerer bending the laws of magic to his will. The thought of Evo and the others pushed her forward. She could hope that Imonesh was far from her and that Leonid would explain it all eventually.

The rest of her passage was uneventful. Between the hour growing late and her ability to hide herself from all who passed, Anna found herself moving through the dark laundry rooms, the smithies and stables and finally to the base of Evo's tower, with no one else the wiser. She reached out with her sight, feeling for all the sparks of life she could see in the building with her. Just below her were several collared people. There were no guards beyond those who passed sporadically along the parapet and on their way back to the barracks on the far side of the tower. Two on patrol walked by the window of the hallway she stood in. Their voices were untroubled and they continued on.

Anna checked that Evo was still upstairs with the others before she moved to the descending stairwell. There were no torches, so Anna used her sight, not wanting anyone to notice a suspicious light. The round underground chamber was dark when she reached it, as were the cells that faced the center of the room. She could see the others sleeping there, huddled on small cots in the cold. One slept more heavily than the others. She approached his cell.

"Marek," she called out softly. Her voice sounded strange in the quiet. There was a stirring in a nearby cell but nothing from the healer. "Marek," she tried again.

"You won't wake him like that," came a whisper from the adjacent cell. Anna saw a portly dark woman squinting through the darkness in her direction. "He's been healing non-stop the last few days. He's out for a good long while."

Anna turned to the woman, hearing others stirring around them. "Are you all trapped here by his command?" the woman looked a bit surprised by the question. "I mean, can you move if I open these doors?"

"Yes!" someone hissed in a whisper behind her, Anna turned to see a younger woman, pale and thin in her rags. The others were awake, all of them pressed against the bars of their cells, peering through the total darkness as if they would be able to see her purely by will. "He orders us to return to our cells and close ourselves in. Once that is complete we are free of the command until he summons us."

"And what of his control? Has he completed the weapon yet?" Anna whispered, wondering whether it was not better to leave them in their cells while she dealt with Evo. The thought twisted in her gut. She could not leave them here now that she had the power to free them.

"Most likely he has not," an older man said from the far side of the room. "He has told the king he needs weeks more to prepare."

Anna didn't love the idea of something so crucial being only 'most likely,' but she had precious little to work with and she might need their help eventually. She was fairly sure she could keep Evo from commanding them through the spells of their collars but his unknown plan for them still troubled her.

"Anna?" Marek's sleep-sodden voice came from before her.

"Marek," she said again, relieved for the familiar sound of his voice. "I can get you out but I can't take the collars off. We need to get to Serena, she's the only one who can do it. I think if I get to Evo I can stop his commands."

"How are you walking, child?" the healer approached her, his hands covering hers where they were wrapped around the bars. "I did not think I would see you again..." he trailed off.

Anna took a breath. The pain of losing Dev was still sharp and untended; she feared the emotions welling up more than she could admit. But there was no time for that now. "I can stop Evo," she was addressing all of them, "but we cannot leave yet. I must ask you all to promise me that you will wait at least three days from now. No one can know that anything has changed."

She turned her eyes to the others, many of whom were already promising her they would be patient. She had to trust them, there was no way she could leave them like this even for one more day, but she meant to heed Leonid now as she hadn't before. She checked once more that the sorcerer upstairs was unaware and she opened the doors.

"Balance bless you, child," the stout woman breathed as she stepped out of her cell. The others also murmured their appreciation. Marek found her shoulders and clasped her tightly to him. Anna found she was uncomfortable with the contact and pulled away before too long.

"We will go upstairs together. When we enter the workroom, I will make sure he cannot order you against me," she whispered to them as she moved towards the stairs. There was an older man who looked at her with questions in his eyes, no doubt unsure, but he stayed quiet. She let a slight glow flare across her palm so that they might follow her and she started her ascent.

The door to the workroom was ajar as she approached and she heard Evo's muttering inside. Something crashed and she jumped as he cursed. Her heart was racing in her chest and she felt her fingers tingle with anticipation. For a moment she hesitated, not wanting to face the room again, but his violent words drove her onwards.

She pushed the door open and strode in, fixing her eyes on the tall man hunched over an open tome. He didn't look up immediately as he was still cursing into the pages.

"I have no more time for anyone," he snapped, straightening and turning towards her. "I've already—" the words died on his lips as he saw her standing there, full to the brim with power, his other collared prisoners behind her.

For a moment he just stared at her, and then she felt him reach out to the spells in the collars, bringing them to life around her.

"I don't think so," she said as she moved her own magic into the metal, displacing his influence. She chased his commands around the spell, her magic all-consuming in its pursuit. He backed away from her, from the others as they stood around her. Serena was still on the far side of the fire pit with him, her eyes were wide as she looked from her redemption to her captor.

"You cannot remove the collars!" Evo shrieked at Anna. "It is attached to their life force. You will never be able to free them."

Her eyes glittered menacingly. "I will find a way." She raised her hand as Evo threw a burning rune at her. It dissipated in the air before her. He shouted a spell, which barely manifested itself on her limbs before it too disappeared. Without the others he was just a lesser sorcerer with limited fighting power. She advanced on him, grim satisfaction painting her face as he cowered in fear.

But then Evo raised his hands, chanting words Anna could not understand and Anna felt the collars come to life around her. She attempted the same move, to displace his magic, but instead she found there was no command to remove. Each collar had, for lack of a better description, opened up the power of its wearer, and then linked that power with the others to create a great web of spinning magic around her. She looked to Serena and saw in her face real fear.

Evo grinned at her as he raised his hands further, the power from the others pooling in his palms. "You should not have come back for them, little idiot." Anna reached out into the spell around her, trying to find some way to break it, and finding it was all too powerful. And what was more, Evo had not lied, the power he had tapped into was flowing through them but it was also of them. She had only felt that energy once before when she had made her deal with Leonid; it was their souls.

She turned back to Evo, and before she could think to mount an attack, he threw the built up energy straight at her. The black fire inside her came around her, blocking the spell but only just. The power continued coming at her from all sides, a barrage she could barely withstand. Her shield shuddered under the immense pressure. Anna fell to one knee, straining against the energy that threatened to burn her to ashes. The heat prickled her skin, the rush of power around her closed in.