Broken Lords: Book Two of the Broken Mirrors Duology Read online

  Broken Lords

  Book Two of the Broken Mirrors Duology

  A. F. Dery

  Copyright © 2015 by A. F. Dery. All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Front Cover design by SelfPubBookCovers.com/FrinaArt

  ISBN-10: 0986258164

  ISBN-13: 978-0-9862581-6-9

  To Rick

  Who taught me all I know about honor.

  Table of Contents

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ONE

  Thane watched Kesara from the corner of his eye, pretending his real focus was out the window. Ordinarily, he would have ridden on horseback rather than in a carriage- in fact, he only had the one carriage, a relic from his father’s day, and had been forced to negotiate himself inside very carefully as it had not been built to accommodate a man of his size- but he hadn’t needed the bond to recognize Kesara’s unease by now. Oh, she had been very polite about it, but there was something about the way she suddenly needed to look at the floor when murmuring her acceptance of his first idea at travel arrangements that seemed to say it all.

  He hated to admit it, even to himself, but whereas before their bonding, he had never been one to make others suffer needlessly, now that he could judge how to at least make Kesara comfortable, it was beyond his ability to deny her. Arranging for a carriage to take them to Court, which was supposedly the more “civilized” mode of transport for one of his station in life anyhow, was nothing to him. Not that he had ever particularly cared what others thought. He somehow knew- again, no bond required- that she would have been absolutely miserable riding a horse all that way. It was a journey of several days, and much of the terrain was rough and would already be bound to leave bruises even with the carriage.

  Kesara still did not seem very easy even now, seated across from him and next to the other window. His legs filled the space between them like a bridge, shins resting against the bench she was sitting on, and although he did not normally notice his own size, just now he felt like a giant. A giant sealed into a little wooden box. Kesara stared out of her window with a blank look on her face that revealed nothing of discomfort or fatigue, but he knew from their bond that, in the very least, she was exhausted. He was waiting for her to drop off in hopes of doing some creative stretching of his limbs without embarrassing himself, but whatever their bond told him, she appeared to be alert and in no imminent danger of succumbing.

  And though Thane was having difficulty trusting whatever ephemeral thing linked them together now, he somehow knew, without knowing just how he knew, that something was troubling her. Her unusual degree of silence since the bonding would have told him that much anyway, he thought dryly, but that strange “sense” was certainly a handy confirmation of his suspicions.

  He could not help but feel somewhat troubled himself about what had taken place during their bonding. He had been wholly unprepared for it, and had been unable to find the courage to ask any more about it. He was trying to take it on faith that whatever had happened was normal, but now he feared that he’d been wrong to just let the subject drop. Perhaps it was troubling Kesara now as well.

  “Aren’t you tired?” he finally asked, and she jumped a little in her seat at the sudden sound of his voice.

  “You know I am,” she said after a moment, finally looking at him. He was surprised to see that she had reddened a little.

  “It’s no crime to be tired, Kes,” Thane said gently. “I don’t mind or anything. If you wanted to have a little nap…”

  “That’s not necessary,” she assured him, turning her gaze back out of the window.

  Thane sighed inwardly. Apparently this still caused quite a bit of movement in his chest, because Kesara looked at him again, her eyes questioning.

  “Kes, you’ve been a little…quiet, since the whole bonding thing,” he said quietly. “Do you regret accepting me now?”

  Her blue eyes widened. “No, of course not!” He waited for her to say more, but she only bit her lower lip, twisting her hands a little anxiously in her lap, the silence growing thick between them until finally she added, “It’s just…well…weird. I mean, knowing you know what I need at any given moment. It’s, I don’t know. A sort of loss of privacy, I guess. I feel awkward. I’m sure I’ll get used to it, it’s just…” she shrugged helplessly.

  “Ah,” Thane said, considering this with no small sense of hopefulness. He supposed it would be a little awkward, if she knew every time his stomach was empty, every time he was nervous or the carriage jolted him a little too hard.

  Though of course, he felt no discomfort from the jolting. He didn’t think he would ever get used to that. Ailments he had had and simply thought of no longer due to long familiarity were nearly jarring in their absence now, aches and pains and twinges that he had just learned to live with and usually ignored. He fought back a surge of guilt at the thought of Kesara shouldering all that now.

  “What’s wrong, Thane?” he heard her ask, and realizing he’d begun to stare out the window again, hands fisting helplessly at his sides.

  “I was just thinking of how much was wrong with me that I never noticed until it was gone,” he said. When she didn’t reply, he looked back at her and saw she was mouthing the words slowly as if trying to make sense of them. He suppressed a grin and repeated himself slowly, taking what was surely a sick delight in watching the red deepen in her face and neck.

  “I understood what the words were, my lord, I just couldn’t understand what it meant,” Kesara said, a little defensively.

  “Oh, of course, of course,” Thane said, losing the war with the corners of his mouth. Kesara, of course, noticed at once and lifted her chin a little.

  “It doesn’t bother me…the things you ‘never noticed,’ I mean…I really am just embarrassed…I don’t really know what it is you feel coming from me. I mean, I know it’s supposed to be related to needs, and it’s supposed to be easily dismissed…” Kesara looked at him almost pleadingly. “Can’t you just dismiss it, then? Stop noticing, maybe?”

  “What are you worried that I’m finding out about you, Kes?” Thane asked teasingly. “That you find my company horribly boring and can barely keep yourself awake? That I was right about you needing to eat a dozen times a day to compensate for your small stature?”

  Thane sensed a stab of anxiety coming from her at the same moment as she insisted, “You were not right about that!” Her eyes widened and she added quickly, “Or the other thing!” But he was now too preoccupied to enjoy her flustered state. What he first said had almost panicked her, but that wasn’t the right word. He had struck on the heart of the matter without meaning to, he realized. She was worried he’d discern something from whatever it was he sensed from her. He couldn’t even imagine what it might be. If she was actually repulsed by him, it was only what he would have expected, and surely would have recognized such a feeling by now anyway, particularly in such close quarters as they now traveled in. What could it be?

  He fe
lt her tension and embarrassment mounting, and it only took a moment for him to remember that he had failed to answer her denials. “I’m wondering what you’re so worried about,” he said by way of explanation, looking at her intently. “You are very tired, and worried about something. That is all I can tell right now.”

  The tension abated; was it relief he felt now? “Well, that makes sense. Though I’m not sure what ‘need’ my mental state could be conveying.”

  “The need for reassurance, maybe? Or maybe you should just tell me what’s wrong. Whatever it is, I won’t be upset, Kes,” Thane said, trying to sound soothing and entirely uncertain as to his level of success.

  “I told you already, Thane…it’s just awkward, that’s all. Like I’m not alone in my own head anymore.”

  “I can’t read your thoughts, though, Kes. Whatever you may have heard, it’s not a Dread Lord thing.” He let himself smile, just a little. To his surprise, she smiled back, all anxiety gone in a moment.

  “I’m glad,” she said simply. “I’m not always very diplomatic in my thoughts.”

  “I gathered that already, from your reluctance to tell me just what is going on with you and Darius,” Thane said reflectively. He just barely stopped himself in time from widening his grin. “But now that you are my captive audience…”

  Kesara groaned a little, crossing her arms. “Speaking of things you could maybe consider dismissing, my lord..”

  “Oh, no, I must hear about how a man as…popular…as Darius managed to annoy and offend you to the point of rendering yourself unconscious on my breastplate.”

  “You know, it’s really remarkable that I have managed to remain lucid in spite of all the head trauma I’ve suffered recently,” Kesara said thoughtfully.

  “Isn’t it? So why do you dislike Darius? Come on, you can tell me, Kes.” Thane briefly considered batting his eyes in a show of innocence, but wisely banished the idea.

  “I just misunderstood him, my lord. He did make me angry, and we did have words, but generally, it is the…misunderstanding that is the difficulty where your steward is concerned.” Kesara looked back out the window, uncrossing her arms and settling against the seat as though that were the end of the matter. Thane snorted, amused despite himself at her naivete.

  “And the ‘misunderstanding’ that rendered him so distasteful to you?”

  Kesara sighed and returned her gaze to him. “Is it really important? I realize now that I was wrong. Wouldn’t it be wrong to share my unjust suspicions with you now?”

  “Not at all. And I’m sure I could come up with some convincing explanation for why this is, if only I wasn’t getting very tired of trying to pry this out of you. Or maybe your fatigue is just contagious. Regardless, can’t you just have pity on your poor guileless Lord and come out with it?” Thane tried his “Court smile” on her, lips firmly pressed together, and only just curved. She gave him a strange look, as if she had just seen him try to do something unseemly and bizarre, like lace his boots with furry kitten tails.

  “Uh…all right…if you really won’t just let this go?” She gave him a hopeful look and he slowly shook his head. She swallowed. “Well…it’s just that the other servants, the male servants, liked to inform me regularly of how childish and unwomanly I appear to them,” Kesara looked down at her lap, twisting her hands together once more, and then blurted out in a rush, “So when he tried to be flirtatious, I thought he was interested because he fancies children!”

  Thane stared at her in shock as her hands flew up to her face, her embarrassment and uncertainty in the wake of this confession nearly palpable, even without a bond to inform him of it. It took a long moment for his brain to even register what she was suggesting, and then confusion joined the shock.

  “Darius? Really?” Thane sputtered. “You thought my steward was a pervert? You thought I’d let a sick person like that run my tower? Really?”

  “I told you I misunderstood,” she said miserably through her hands. “I didn’t plan on ever telling you. I realized when you said that I don’t look like a child to you that maybe I had it wrong about him.”

  “I’m glad you didn’t decide instead that I must be a pervert as well,” Thane declared gravely, his shock quickly giving way to amusement. The more he thought about it, the harder it became not to laugh, until finally he was forced to take refuge in his own hands to hide his bared teeth, lest she also misunderstand his mood. He felt his shoulders start to shake ominously, against his will.

  “M-my lord?” Kesara ventured warily.

  He just shook his head mutely, unable to speak.

  “I’m really sorry,” she said tentatively, and he felt her remorse; her need, he supposed, for absolution of some kind.

  It was just too much. He started to laugh, and couldn’t stop until tears ran down his face and the carriage halted, his driver coming around to express concern and shoot suspicious looks at Kesara, which only made him laugh harder. He finally managed to compose himself well enough to wipe the tears from his face and take in her appearance: arms crossed again, eyes narrowed, face thoroughly unamused.

  “I thought I offended you,” she said accusingly at his amused look.

  “Me? Don’t worry about me, Kes. Just think of poor Darius!” And Thane relapsed into chuckles as the carriage resumed motion.

  “I think I’ll just have that nap you suggested, my lord,” she said, a trifle coolly.

  “Oh, come now, Kes, don’t be that way,” Thane said, trying desperately to sober up. “You have to admit, if you think about it objectively…I mean, if you only knew Darius’ reputation with women…well, if you were me, you’d be laughing, I assure you.”

  “Mmm-hmm,” Kesara said, looking unconvinced, but to his surprise, she suddenly smiled a little. “I’m glad you were amused, Thane. The alternative was not one I think I would enjoy.”

  “Well, I suppose you probably didn’t enjoy my amusement, either,” Thane said doubtfully, suddenly feeling a little guilty. He knew all too well how horrible he looked while simply grinning. Teary eyed and bellowing with laughter, he could hardly imagine what he must have looked like to her, and he doubted his hands had been much help.

  “I like the way you laugh,” Kesara said lightly, then abruptly her smile vanished, and she looked back down at her hands. “But, um, I really do think I wouldn’t mind a nap…”

  Thane gave what he hoped was a regal incline of his head indicating his agreement and looked out his own window again, but he felt his heart suddenly racing. How in the world do I stop noticing you, Kes, he wondered silently. Tell me how to ‘dismiss’ you from my mind.

  What was worse than his inability to do just that had to be his glaring lack of desire to accomplish any such thing. He looked at her again, now that she had leaned her head against the side of the carriage and closed her eyes. She looked so young to him. Their bonding had bought her time, but she would still die relatively young, even if he somehow managed to live to old age himself. That thought saddened him more than he thought possible. It is a small wonder that she calls herself cursed, Thane thought, diverting his gaze back to the window. He would have loved to watch her sleep awhile, so rarely was he able to study her unnoticed, but even he had to admit that sort of behavior was more than a little creepy. He really had no right to be “studying” her in the first place, he reminded himself firmly, staring at the scenery unfolding outside his window without actually seeing any of it.

  It was not long past dusk before the carriage came to a halt in one of the larger towns not far from Eladria’s western-most border. It would add time to the journey, but Thane had no intention of going through Malachi’s territory at a time such as this. Karani bustled with life and activity, miners only just returning to their homes, the few foreigners who traveled through by way of Eladria’s outer roads seeking refuge at the town’s only inn.

  That same inn happened to be rather small and cramped, overseen by a very portly and balding Eladrian whose grim demeanor only relaxed i
nto obsequiousness after he finished cringing in recognition of his Dread Lord’s disfigured visage, a development Thane waved away like a pesky gnat.

  “Hospitality isn’t really what I would call an Eladrian trade,” Thane admitted to Kesara, with an air of vague regret and all the gravity of imparting a confidence. She gave him an incredulous look that he serenely ignored. “As it happens, there is only one room presently vacant, but he is more than willing to evict the patrons who already paid him to make room for us. I, of course, told him that was unnecessary. My escort will be happy to camp outside, and so will I. It’s really just you who needs a proper bed.”

  “That really isn’t necessary, my lord,” Kesara said, frowning a little. “I have slept outside before. I’ll be fine.”

  But behind her words lurked something else, which teased at the edges of Thane’s mind. Anxiety. He regarded her curiously.

  “I assure you, you will be perfectly safe. It is known that you are with me, and we are still in my country.”

  “I know, my lord,” she said quietly, by all appearances relenting. But he felt her anxiety growing.

  “This is so strange,” he said. “You say one thing, but mean something entirely different. Are all women like this? No wonder I’m so unpopular.” And he gave a subdued version of a smirk, hoping to cheer her. But she just looked at him blankly. He sighed.

  “Remember that whole bit about mind reading? And how I can’t actually do that?” Thane tried. “Can you just be frank with me, Kes? Why does the idea of sleeping in the inn bother you?”

  “It’s irrational, I know that,” Kesara said, picking at her sleeve absently and not meeting his eyes. “I know you are here, too, and circumstances are different now. But I didn’t have a very nice time the last time I was traveling through your country. Still, I know you are right, and I will go wherever you want me to, my lord.”