Summoner 16, page 25
Maybe they all were in on it.
I glanced around at my friends, my lovers, my fiancée, and my wife, and I shook off my suspicions. I trusted the people sitting at this table with my life, and they were my family. There was no way they were hiding things from me, especially not something as big as thinking I was connected to the Beastmaker prophecy in any way.
Why would they want to marry me and have my children if they thought I could bring about the end of the world?
It didn’t make sense. I needed to clear my head, but no matter where I looked or what I tried to think about, my mind kept wandering back to the image of my name scrawled in Arwyn’s handwriting.
I really enjoyed physical training that afternoon, since the heavy exercise got me out of my head for a while, but once the lesson was over for the day, my thoughts were heavy once more.
I crossed the campus and headed into the city without looking up or paying attention to the streets around me. I had my bandolier and my daggers, but I didn’t think there was any chance of danger.
Once I reached the Retching Goblin, I suddenly realized I didn’t know where Freya was, but I wasn’t worried about her so much as I was in search of something comforting. A note laid on the floor just inside the threshold of my room, and I instantly recognized Nia’s fine handwriting before I even picked it up.
The sun was setting, but it was still early enough for my room to be well lit, so I didn’t have any trouble reading my fiancée’s note.
Dearest future husband--
There was a heart drawn next to the word ‘husband’ and I smiled. I loved how Nia could be girlish and sentimental one moment, and then all business in the next.
It is customary for the bride and groom to have a period of separation before the wedding. Tradition dictates three days must pass while the couple is apart before they can be joined together as husband and wife. This gets a little tricky for us, since we go to school together, but I know we can do it!
The last thing I want to do is be away from you, but the less criticism I get from my family, the better.
I love you so much!
Three more days until I’m officially your wife!
Yours forever,
Nia
She finished with another heart, and I couldn’t help but laugh out loud at her antics. It was artfully diplomatic to sandwich the bad news about being separated from each other between loving doodles.
Nia Kenefick continued to amaze, entertain, and attract me.
The words in her letter echoed around my mind.
Three more days until Nia was my wife.
I sighed contentedly and crossed the room to my bed. It was still fairly early, and I hadn’t eaten dinner yet, but I wanted to take a moment to linger over the letter from Nia.
I hoped Freya and the other girls weren’t affected by the forced separation between us.
The guys had been acting weird and distant ever since they’d disappeared with Maelor a few days before, and I tried not to feel lonely as I relaxed against my pillows.
Suddenly, the sound of several feet stomping up the stairs echoed through the door, and a moment later, the portal flew open as three men in black masks barged in.
I leapt to my feet as my hand automatically jumped to my bandolier, but my instincts told me to wait.
Before I could make another move, however, a fourth walked up behind the three, and he raised a gloved hand in the air then clenched it shut.
Rings of rock manifested around my torso, and my arms were pinned to my sides beneath the earthen restraints. I struggled against it with all my might, but something kept rolling around in the back of my mind.
Elemental earth magic?
Then one of the men stepped over to me, and the next thing I knew, I was staring at the inside of a black hood.
What the fuck was going on?
I considered summoning the Archons with a wave of my will, but again, some unexplainable hunch urged me to hold off.
Who were these people?
I felt my legs being lifted out from underneath me, and then I sensed them carrying me from my room and down the stairs. I fought against the urge to struggle against them. I was outnumbered, and there was at least one mage among them. I needed to be careful and pay close attention.
Where were they taking me?
I could have five angry goddesses at my back with a mere thought, so I wasn’t too worried about my safety. More than anything, I was curious.
One way or another, I would find out what was going on.
And soon.
Chapter Thirteen
I didn’t know where I was being taken, but I could tell I was being carried down the stairs, and a moment later, the air quality changed. We were outside on the streets of Varle, but it only lasted for a few short breaths, and then I was shoved onto a seat. I heard the click of a door shutting and a muffled voice clucking, and then the sound of horse hooves against the paving stones drifted into my ears.
It seemed like I was in a carriage.
“Should we do it now?” a familiar sounding voice whispered. “Or should we wait until we get there?”
Where did I know that voice from? It definitely belonged to someone I knew, I was sure of that much.
“We should wait till we stop,” another voice said, and it sounded like it belonged to an older man.
Allow me to destroy your enemies, Dio pleaded from inside his crystal. These men will not withstand my might.
I furrowed my eyebrows as I tried to identify the speakers. The familiar ring to their voices was hard to ignore, and I was starting to get the distinct feeling I knew them.
“Stop talking, idiots,” a third person hissed. “He can still hear you.”
Gawain? Why would the fire mage try to kidnap me?
“You don’t say,” a dry voice drawled sarcastically.
Varleth? What the fuck was going on?
Now, I was beyond curious, and I wanted whatever was covering my face off so I could look my abductors in the eyes.
“Gawain? Varleth?” I asked as I moved my head around in a pointless effort to face the fire mage, even though I still wore the bag over my head. “I recognize your voices. Guys, what the fuck?”
A loud, dramatic sigh was the only response to my words, but then someone yanked the bag off my head, and I blinked around at the interior of the coach to get my bearings.
Gawain, Varleth, Braden, and Keith Almasy stared back at me with sheepish expressions.
Your friends have betrayed you? Dio sounded genuinely confused. I was not expecting that.
“Told ya it wasn’t going to work,” Almasy announced, and he gave me a wink. “Gryff’s too smart for simple tricks.”
The pilot snapped his fingers, and the restraints around me vanished. Of course, the hardened rings of rock pinning down my arms had been Keith Almasy’s doing. The elemental earth mage was known as “The Groundbreaker from Garvesh” due to his talent with earth magic, after all.
“Sorry, Gryff,” Braden said as his cheeks reddened. “I thought it would be funny.”
“What’s going on?” I looked around at my friends in utter confusion. I hadn’t seen Almasy since he’d left Utun, but the light-haired pilot looked better than he had ever before.
“It would have worked if Gawain could have kept his mouth shut,” Varleth observed with his typical dryness and bypassed my question.
“What the fuck is going on?” I repeated in a louder voice.
My friends exchanged glances with each other, and then they all faced me with wide grins. The excitement on their faces was obvious, but that only furthered my confusion.
“It’s your bachelor party,” Braden informed me in a defeated tone. “We’re getting you wasted tonight to celebrate your wedding this weekend.”
“What?” I laughed. “That’s awesome. I can’t believe you guys did that. Did you really have to throw a bag over my head, though?”
“Like the big guy said, it sounded like fun.” Gawain shrugged. “Don’t lie, if you had the chance to do it to one of us, you would take it.”
“That’s probably true,” I said. “I wouldn’t have gotten caught, either, but I can’t party tonight. It’s a school night.”
“Are you serious?” Varleth raised an eyebrow and gave me a look like I was the dumbest person he’d ever seen. “The goddess wielding, one-man army can’t handle drinking on a school night?”
“Come on, Gryff,” Braden urged. “Relax and let go a little. Nothing bad is going to happen.”
“Careful with your words there, kid, because now something’s bound to happen,” Almasy noted in an amused tone. “He still doesn’t know about the other surprise, after all.”
“What other surprise?” I asked slowly as my gaze flicked from face to face.
My friends avoided my eyes, but then Almasy laughed and clapped me on the shoulder.
“Relax, Gryff,” the pilot encouraged with an easy smile. “All things in good time. Just, you know, remember that what we did came from a place of love.”
“Maker, help me,” I groaned as I ran a hand through my hair. “I don’t even know what to expect anymore… ”
“One thing we can tell you,” Braden said with obvious excitement, “is Orenn went to go get Mur, and then Maelor is also meeting us before we go to the Dancing Dryad. It’s going to be so crazy.”
“The Dancing Dryad?” I asked with an arched eyebrow. “Is that a tavern?”
“Yes and no,” Almasy replied with another wink.
“They serve alcohol,” Gawain supplied in a vague tone.
“I called ahead and reserved a table,” Braden informed me with a proud grin. “And don’t worry, the girls know all about our plans, and they were all onboard. Nia and Arwyn actually helped us out a lot.”
“Not that we needed their help,” Gawain interjected. “I know my way around Varle enough to throw a good party, have no fear.”
“Fortunately, I stopped them from doing anything too ridiculous,” Varleth added, and he gave the fire mage a look of annoyance. “Gawain wanted to go horseback riding.”
“Forgive me for thinking Gryff would want to see his mule again,” Gawain muttered as he tugged on the sleeves of his velvet maroon jacket.
“Hell, I’d be fine with seeing the mule again,” Almasy offered. “Not that I had any special friendship with it, but that was a good animal if my memory is accurate.”
He took a swig from the silver flask he always kept on his person, and with anyone else I would have suspected some hidden source of alcohol, but I knew Almasy was a diabetic, so I had no doubt his container was full of fruit juice.
My mind flashed to Char, the mule I’d ridden across the Southern continent. Gawain had been in charge of our horses during the mission, and he’d picked the long-eared hybrid steed for me in hopes the stubborn beast would be less affected by my essence crystals. The fire mage’s instincts were spot on, and I’d quickly grown to respect and admire my mount.
In the end, Gawain had chosen Char as one of the two horses he brought back to Mistral, and the fire mage had declared he would find a way to breed the sterile hybrid. It was the first mention of the mule since my return, and my desire to see my old steed renewed.
After the wedding, I decided to myself, and then I returned my focus to my friends.
“So, you’re still not going to tell me what the other surprise is?” I asked in a feigned hurt tone as I gave my friends a pleading look. “After you barged into my room, threw a sack over my head, and carried me off? Pretty rude… ”
“Well,” Braden murmured as he spread his hands, “you gotta let us keep at least one surprise. Where’s the fun in telling you everything right away?”
Suddenly, the carriage screeched to a halt.
“Whoa, easy there, my beautiful fillies,” a musical, yet masculine voice called to the horses from outside the coach. “Thanks for the ride, darlings, it was lovely.”
Then the door to the coach popped open, and I was greeted with a friendly smile by a man with short, jagged ashen hair and bright, piercing blue eyes. He wore a black leather jacket with a high collar and a loose-fitting gray shirt beneath it. The quality of his clothes was obvious, from the embroidered hem of his jacket down to the shining silver buckles on his tall, knee high riding boots.
The resemblance to my fiancée was uncanny, and I blinked for several breaths while I processed the new person’s sudden appearance.
“Hi.” The man stuck out his hand to shake. “We haven’t met yet. My name is Nayveth. I hear you’re about to marry my baby sister.”
I swallowed hard as I took his offered hand and shook it firmly.
Nayveth fucking Kenefick was standing right in front of me, and I’d gotten zero chance to prepare for the encounter.
“Gryff,” I grunted, then I cleared my throat as I regained my composure. “I’m sure you knew that already, though.”
All I knew about Nia’s older brother was he’d moved to the ocean after serving his time with the military. Oh, and he could talk to fish. As in actually speak with aquatic animals.
I still had a hard time wrapping my mind around that fact.
Obviously, as a Kenefick, Nayveth had to be powerful and record breaking in some way, so it was hard to contain my awe at having him standing in front of me.
“I did.” Nayveth nodded, and an amused twinkle danced in his blue eyes. “It’s nice to finally meet you, and to put a face to the name I’ve read about in so many of my sister’s letters. My apologies for the surprise introduction, although I must say, it was totally worth it.”
“What do you mean?”
“The look on your face right now is priceless,” Nia’s brother informed me with an ear-to-ear grin.
The tension in my shoulders broke, and I couldn’t help but laugh. Then realization dawned on me, and I turned back to my friends with sudden understanding.
So, this man is not your enemy? Dio asked, and he grumbled a little as though this was very disappointing news.
“This is why Maelor pulled you out of the dining hall that day,” I said as the pieces started to click together in my mind. “And why everyone’s been acting kind of weird lately.”
“A lot of it was my doing, I’m afraid,” Nayveth explained, but his smile didn’t fade. “I had never met you before, so I wanted to make an impression.”
“Consider me impressed.” I mirrored his grin. “I’m not usually surprised so easily, but I have to admit, I’m flattered you guys went through so much trouble for me. So, what’s next? Are there more surprises?”
“Sort of,” Gawain offered in a vague tone.
“Not helpful.” I rolled my eyes.
“But it is fun,” Braden chirped. “At least for us.”
“We have officially arrived at the first stop of the evening,” Nayveth declared with a dramatic flourish of his arm toward the street beyond the carriage. “The Silver Lion.”
I stepped out of the carriage and onto the paving stones, but when I looked up, all I saw was a small pink cottage with white trellises covered in rose vines across the front of the porch. A lamp burned in the window behind a lace curtain, but no other signs of life were visible.
Oddly enough, the cottage was crammed between two businesses on a street not far from the Academy and the Retching Goblin, but it seemed out of place with its quaint appearance and humble existence.
I gave my friends a confused look, but they merely snickered and shoved me forward.
“This is a tavern?” I asked Nayveth as I crossed the distance to the little stone porch. I had to duck my head to fit beneath the sagging awning, and I eyed the small door skeptically, since I didn’t know if I’d even fit through a space that narrow.
“Did I say tavern?” the ashen-haired water elementalist asked with a playful lilt to his voice. “I didn’t intend to. I think I just said it was called The Silver Lion.”
“Um, okay… ” I cast a sideways glance at Nia’s older brother, but his face was unreadable. While I assumed he was older than me since his youngest sister and I were close in age, he appeared much younger, closer to my age, and his light hearted energy added to his youthful vibe. “You’re not going to tell me anything, are you?”
“Nope,” he chirped gleefully as he pulled open the door and ducked inside.
I followed in Nayveth’s footsteps, and I peered around in curiosity at the tiny foyer. All of the walls were pink, and the room was lined with tiny shelves covered in lace doilies and small statues. A podium stood at an angle in front of the opposing door, and a small, gray haired woman stood behind it on a box.
“Six, please,” Nayveth said to the woman without any prelude.
“Yes, sir,” the old woman replied with a curt nod. “You’ll have to go in pairs, or half will have to wait till tomorrow.”
“No, no, that’s not necessary,” Nayveth assured her. “Pairs is fine, thank you.”
The gray-haired lady nodded again, and then she hopped down from her box and disappeared through the door behind the podium.
Where were we?
It seemed to be a teahouse of sorts, but my confusion only grew the more pleased Nia’s brother looked. Then the rest of my friends piled into the tiny room, and we stood shoulder to shoulder as we waited silently for the woman’s return.
The giddy grins on Braden and Gawain’s faces continued to baffle me, but Almasy just had a knowing twinkle in his eyes, and Varleth was snorting and huffing so much it sounded like he was practically chuckling.
Nayveth clapped me on the shoulder and leveled me with a steady gaze, and his blue eyes pierced into me with an intensity I was growing more and more familiar with since announcing my marriage to Nia and being around more of her family.
“Gryff,” he said in a serious tone, “are you ready?”
“Ready for what?” I asked as I shook my head in confusion. “I don’t even know what I’m getting ready for.”
“You’re gonna love it,” Gawain assured me. “I was nervous my first time, too, but now I go every chance I can.”
“I don’t have enough information to be nervous,” I informed him.
