Chapter 52

The second sun had risen before Duo had a chance to return to the imperial apartments where the man standing guard outside reported that he had not heard anything from within. During the early hours of the morning, Duo and the other men had first gone through the entire palace, finding pockets of warriors hiding that they quickly dispatched. When they had finished looking for intruders, they began the long, repulsive task of dragging the bodies of Caron's men out of the palace to be dumped in the plaza. Duo was hoping to find Raenald's body, but the coward was not among the dead which was no surprise to the other men who confirmed Duo's suspicion that Raenald was despised, not just by Caron, but his men as well. When they finished dumping the bodies on the pyre and lit it ablaze, they began to prepare the dead of the palace guard which was what brought Duo to the imperial apartments. They had come for the bodies in the imperial apartments to add Caron's men to the pyre, and to take Amyr and Falia to prepare with the honor and ceremony they deserved in death.

He ordered the men who had come with him to wait outside so that he could speak with Arora first, and stepping inside, he was disgusted by the stench of death, both here and the stench of burning flesh in the plaza. There was blood everywhere in the salon, and Duo paused over Amyr's body for a moment where he noted so many cuts and stab wounds that he was sickened to imagine what the man had suffered, and seeing a dagger still stuck in his heart with jewels embedded in the hilt, Duo knew that Caron had ended the life of his own son. He was glad he had killed Caron, not just to save Arora, but to punish him for what he had done in Imperia. He had special plans for his corpse, and he didn't give a damn if his men protested. Caron wasn't getting an imperial send off.

Duo was sure there were still bands of Caron's foul warriors roaming the streets, but there was nothing he and the men could do but protect the palace for now. They would have to wait until Trey returned with his army to retake the city, and in the meantime, Duo would hold the palace with the men that had gone out with him two days ago to bring the emperor back. Thinking about it now, Duo grudgingly admitted to himself that Dax and his hocus pocus had probably saved Trey's life when Duo would have brought him back to an occupied city and a force too small to protect him.

Seeing that Arora was not in the main living area where the fighting had been contained, he headed back to the door where he ordered the men waiting to come inside to take the bodies out. They didn't betray their thoughts when he instructed them to leave Caron's body and that of his vile son near the palace gate so that he could deal with the remains personally. Once Trey returned, Duo would go into the city and hunt down not only any of Caron's hiding men, but anybody that had aided him. He knew now that there were homes in Imperia that had quartered the army that must have drifted into the city in small groups until Caron had amassed his army. Duo intended to find out who among the citizens were traitors and who had been forced into compliance with threats or fear of what would happen to them if Caron overthrew the emperor.

Before heading to the bed where he had left Arora, he noticed her torn and bloodied battle tunic scattered near Caron's body, so he swiped up all the shredded cloth before the men reached him to take Caron's corpse. Rolling the clothing into a ball and tucking it under his arm, he went to Arora's bedchamber. Not only did he find it deserted, the bedding was gone, and he glanced first in the bathing chamber to see if she had returned and he saw that the pool had been drained and the bloody path he had followed the previous night to find her was cleaned away. Since there was no where she could have gone, he left the bathing chamber and went to the balcony that overlooked the garden and he found her standing at the railing, a basket at her feet and behind her, a pile of burning cloth that must have been her bed.

Wearing a floor length white tunic, she stood with her back to him, her arms raised to the sky along with her face, and he could see that her eyes were closed. Before going to her, he dropped off the pile of clothing to the fire, watched it ignite and burn, then went to stand behind her, patiently waiting for her to finish her prayers. The baby was sleeping soundly in the basket that was lined with what Duo suspected was one of Trey's tunics. Duo was tempted to reach down to touch the baby he had helped Arora bring into the world, but he did not want to cross some Calabrian line in regards to infant males. He had already done enough, and knowing it, he hadn't spoken to any of the men to inform them that she had given birth without her mate's presence.

"Thank you, Duo."

Arora had not turned around, and he was glad because he would feel an overwhelming urge to kill someone if he saw the bruises and cuts Caron and his disgusting son had inflicted on her. "You don't need to thank me, Arora."

Now she did turn to face him and he grimaced upon seeing that she looked even worse than she had the day before. "I'm sorry you have to see this, Duo, but I am not strong enough to heal myself."

He rubbed the back of his neck. "You will heal without magic."

"I suppose I will," she said as she bent to take the baby from the basket. She came to him. "By Calabrian custom, this is your son, Duo."

Duo snorted with laughter although he felt the urge to hold the baby. "I would be a terrible father." But when she held out the child to him, he took it and looked down at it's sleeping face. "I thought babies cried all the time."

"Although he is Guerani, I haven't felt his powers. At the moment, he is very tired." She shrugged as she looked at the baby he held. "Perhaps he has more of his father in him than Shamara. I sensed her powers when she was in my belly, but not his."

"He looks more like you and Apolo," he remarked as he touched the dark fuzz on the baby's head. Then he remembered Mirah's accusation and wished he hadn't pointed out the resemblance.

Arora smiled. "I will try harder not to listen to your thoughts, but that one was particularly strong."

"And I will try not to kill anyone who maligns you in the future."

"If you did not, you would decimate probably more than half the population of Calabria when they call me a Wasteland whore." She put one hand on his shoulder and the other on her son. "I thank you for not telling the men about the baby. Perhaps we can still salvage something of this disaster."

"I will tell them that you must stay in your bed, and when Trey returns we can pretend the baby is born then."

"I am sorry that you must lie," she told him softly, and he heard the tears more than saw them.

Tucking the baby in the crook of one arm, he put his hand under her chin and raised her face, and cupping her swollen and bruised cheek, he brushed away the tears with his thumb. "It's not the first time I have lied and it won't be the last."

For a moment, she pressed her cheek into his hand, and then she straightened, wiped away the tears from her eyes and scooped the baby from his arms. "He will be hungry soon as I am now. Can you bring me some food?"

"It's going to have to be raw," he told her. He didn't trust anything in the kitchen, so he went to the balcony, then he swung over the edge and let himself fall to the garden below. As he scrounged for anything moving on the leaves of the plants or in the dirt, he wondered how he was going to keep Apolo from reading the lies he was going to tell Trey. By the time he returned to Arora the same way he had left her, he still didn't have an answer and after giving her what he found in the garden, he asked her what they would do about Apolo.

She did not respond as she munched on a beetle, and after swallowing she said, "I have the same worry, Duo. We have a few days before that happens. I hope I will have an answer by then."

She fell silent and he sensed that she was troubled, but did not speak, so he glanced back at the doorway. "I had better rejoin the men."

Arora put her hand on his arm. "When you give the funereal rite for Amyr and Falia, do it in front of the palace so that I might take part from the balcony. He was a good, gentle man who deserved a better life, certainly not the one Caron had given to him. I don't know what Trey saw in him or how he could know that a man born of Caron's house could be honorable, but you should know that despite what happened in the end, he saved my life again and again. He gave his life to protect me when he could have surrendered me to save Falia and earn Caron's acknowledgment."

Duo put his hands on her shoulders. "He was an honorable man."

"Come to me after the funereal rite and we will share the few memories we have of him. I am more sure now than I have ever been since you told me that Trey had made him a warlord with the responsibility of protecting me and the palace that the gods had directed him to do so. Without him, I would have long been dead before you returned."

Duo had never even attended a funeral on Earth or in the colonies, so he hung back as some of the men built a pyre for Amyr and Falia while others washed and prepared their bodies. Throughout the day they would do the same for all the men and their mates who had died in the attack on the palace. There was nothing he could do but watch, and then listen as they stood together sharing memories of Amyr as the fire consumed his body and that of his mate. Duo did not know Amyr well except through training, but he could talk about Falia because he had known her for several months. So he joined them, and when the fire died away to leave ashes, he watched the men collect them so that they could toss them to the gods on the wind when it was safe to leave the city.

After he finished, he went to his own room where he bathed and put on fresh clothing before he went to Arora's rooms with more food that he had gathered in the garden. She was in her bedchamber, and he paused in entering because he heard her weeping, but he could not bear to hear her suffering alone. He hurried in to find her on the floor, holding her hands over her head as she rocked back and forth. Duo dropped to his knees beside her and gathered her into his arms, holding her close as she sobbed against him, clutching him so tightly it was painful.

When she suddenly became limp in his arms, he knew she had lost consciousness. He picked her up and carried her to the bed where he lay down with her, holding her close. He did not want her to wake up alone. He knew how she must feel after the beating she received at the hands of Caron and his son, especially when she had come so close to death. Duo knew how she must have felt when she looked up at Lord Caron poised to kill her because he had faced his own mortality more than a few times. He understood how it would rattle her now even though she was safe.

During the night after he dozed off, he awoke to hear the baby whimpering, so he disentangled himself from Arora's arms and used the light from the moons to guide him to the baby. Gently scooping him from the basket, he was surprised when the squirming bundle calmed when he touched him. On the way back to the bed, he paused by the entrance to the balcony, attracted by the light from the moons. He didn't know if newborn infants could see, but he showed the moons to the baby anyway, and as he held him, Duo tried to look past the moons to the space beyond and willed the wormhole to open. But he knew he would not see it happen. He absolutely refused to believe there were powerful entities that guided his actions even though he was sure Arora now believed that the gods had forced him to stay on Calabria so that he could save her life. He had been in the right place at the right time. That was all there was to it.

"The baby is hungry, Duo."

Sighing, he went to the bed and handed the baby to her before lying down beside her and drawing her into his arms again, holding her as he did when she nursed Shamara on their march through the mountains. "I think he likes me."

"You will always hold a special place in his life because you welcomed him into the world."

"I'll be his favorite uncle," Duo said with a smile as he thought of edging out Apolo in his nephew's affections. Then his smile faded as he realized that he was thinking about his future on Calabria again.

Arora's hand covered his and she entwined her fingers with his. "Would it be so terrible to stay with us? I would be very sad if you left us, Duo."

He closed his eyes, and he did not tell Arora that he would be very sad if he left. Arora and Trey and their children had become his family and he was afraid he did not want to leave even if the wormhole opened up.

Feeling her lips against his forehead, Duo sighed and allowed her magic to send him to sleep.

At least he thought it was her magic until he entered a world of dreams that resembled more of a nightmare when Dax appeared like a wraith.

"Not you again," grumbled Duo. "What do you want now?"

"You are nothing more than a conduit." Duo did not have a chance to react as Dax suddenly seized his hands and he felt the cold rush of his magic race through him. The experience lasted for only a moment and it left behind residual power.

Duo blinked and looked at the apparition. "What did you just do?"

"I healed my daughter and gave her the power of the ancestors. As for you, you want to shield your thoughts from my offspring. I just gave you that ability."

Duo glared at him. "Do you think this changes anything. I still want to kill you for what you did to Trynity."

"You can try, but it won't do any good. I am already dead." Dax turned on his heel and his dark cloak billowed out behind him as he walked away.

"Hey!" Duo called after him. "I don't ever want to see you again! Did you hear me? Stop messing with my head!"

The demon put up a hand to wave to him, but he did not turn to look at him, and after he disappeared into darkness, Duo fell into a deep sleep that was not disturbed with dreams or nightmares.

Wastelands

Before they cleared the shadow of the mountains, the imperial army came face to face with a smaller force at the head of which stood Meridon, his mighty war axe in his hand. The army at his back was appeared to be made up of several of the nomadic hill tribes, and Apolo could see their chieftains among them.

"I had hoped that you made some progress with Meridon during your visit," muttered Trey at Apolo's side as he adjusted the sling in which Shamara was sleeping soundly. "According to Duo, you spread yourself thin among his females."

"Meridon doesn't have a problem with me," Apolo told him while reaching out with his powers to blanket both Trey and Shamara with a protection spell. If the battle turned ugly, at least they would not be harmed. "He said that his people traded with the Guerani frequently when they lived in the hills. His issue is with your house."

"I have barely begun my house," said Trey with exasperation. "Maybe he should wait to see what I will do before he tries to cut off my head. The alternative to my rule would not be pleasant."

"The alternative is many years, perhaps even generations fighting for the imperial throne," remarked Wattan from Trey's other side. "Caron is the strongest of your opponents, but he is far from the only warlord who would like to see himself on the throne."

Trey blew out his breath. "We don't have time for this battle. Why is he doing this? I have superior numbers and the imperial warriors have proven time and again that Meridon's men are no match for them."

"I suppose you can see what he wants," said Apolo and they moved their horses forward with the intention of discussing his demands, but they had only advanced a few paces before the chieftain held up his ax in a blatant warning that he did not intend to discuss any terms.

"Get the men ready for battle," Trey told Wattan, but the other man did not have a chance to turn his horse when the clansmen began their charge.

Apolo and Trey barely had a chance to draw their swords before the black clad men of Meridon's tribe were upon them. Their training saved them when they were able to maintain their composure to leap off their horses to enter the battle instead of trying to escape. If they had tried, Apolo was sure that their attackers would have buried their swords in their backs.

There was initially some chaos, especially when the tribesmen came at the imperial army with their curved short swords. Trained to repel attacks from imperial long swords, they had difficulty fending off the quick attacks, but they soon adapted and it did not take long for them to beat back the chieftains and their men. The battle lasted a few hours, and when it ended with Meridon giving the order for his men to retreat to the hills, Wattan and Apolo were able to persuade Trey to let him go. On the open plains, the imperial warriors had the advantage, but in the hills, Meridon's men would cut them to ribbons which made the chieftain's attack on the plains difficult to comprehend.

Now there was a delay to take care of the dead and wounded before they could move on, which they did three days later. Trey had planned to rest the army at Edgeland Fortress, and Apolo was glad because he was starting to worry that they would not reach Imperia before Arora gave birth. Trey had sent his messenger bird back to the palace when they had turned away from the mountains, but he had yet to hear back from Arora, and that bothered Trey. He confided to Apolo that her last message had been curt, that she questioned whether he wanted to be with her, but Apolo assured him that she was anxious about the baby because Shamara's birth had not gone well.

To make better time, they forged ahead on the road to Imperia with a smaller force. Leaving Chasek behind to command the bulk of his army, Trey was surrounded by his imperial guard and Wattan along with the strongest of his men, Shamara sleeping soundly in the sling that Apolo now wore.

Suddenly Wattan announced, "I see a rider approaching, my lord."

Apolo put his hand out to keep Trey from moving out of the protective circle around him, then nodded to Lord Wattan to confront to the unknown man approaching. Shamara stirred but she did not awaken.

"I'm not a child," grumbled Trey. "Haven't I proven I can take care of myself?"

"What kind of imperial guard would I be if I let you leave my protection?" Apolo cajoled him. The last three weeks it had been difficult to restrain Trey, and not only did he ignore his own safety, he rarely listened to counsel, neither his nor that of his warlords. When it became apparent that the scouts had been feeding him false information, it took all of Apolo's willpower not to tell Trey that he had been warned by them all that the reports were too good to be true.

They were only a few days away from Imperia now and Apolo was just as anxious as Trey to return. He had stopped feeling Arora two days ago when he should have felt her presence stronger as they drew closer. Apolo had not told Trey because he was afraid he would panic, and since Apolo felt enough panic for the both of them, he did not need the added worry of trying to keep Trey from doing something rash to reach her. Apolo knew she was not dead because he would have felt her among the ancestors, but he also knew that she must be in danger if she could not spare any magic to maintain the link between them.

Lord Wattan was returning at the head of a squadron surrounding their visitor. Although he wanted to read his thoughts, Trey had forbidden him from intruding on the privacy of his loyal warlords because they might think their emperor was suspicious of them. So Apolo had to wait with Trey until Lord Wattan came to him, his men surrounding the man they had escorted.

"You're not going to believe who has come to surrender to you," Wattan began before the man pushed his way through the men to come before Trey.

"I have not come to surrender." Raenald of house Caron stood before Trey, his chin raised defiantly. Apolo reached for his sword, wanting nothing more than to cut off his head, but Trey put out his arm in front of him to stop him.

Raenald's icy blue eyes took in Apolo with contempt. "Keep that sorcerer away from me." At his words, Shamara stirred and whimpered against Apolo, drawing a contemptuous glance that Raenald did not hide. Apolo put a calming hand on Shamara to put her back to sleep which the child resisted for a moment before succumbing.

Trey gave Apolo a grateful smile before he turned back to Raenald. "If you are not here to surrender, then what are you here to do?"

Caron's least favored son dismounted and dropped to a knee before Trey's horse and lowered his head as he put his hand to his chest. "I give you my oath, Trey of house Zeno, to serve and protect you."

Trey's brows shot up in surprise and he turned to look at Apolo, probably torn between wanting him to ferret out his reason and accepting his oath at face value. If Raenald was giving his oath, he had a self-serving reason and Apolo hoped Trey had the sense to give him the order to dismount and touch the vile bastard groveling before him to determine his motives and his sincerity.

Lord Wattan's face was dark with fury. "Why should the emperor trust you when you so recently brought a force against him?"

When Raenald glanced at Wattan, there was hatred in his eyes. "He has taken the oath of his father's lackey, a man whose loyalty I would question knowing that you led Dillan to his mate."

Wattan did not respond and Apolo could see that Trey was annoyed to have the incident brought up. Zeno had sent Wattan to the Wastelands to bring the man claiming to be his heir back to Imperia so that he could judge for himself, and Dilan had tagged along, claiming that he wanted to prove his loyalty to Zeno, but what he really wanted to do was find Arora. His bond to her had been ripping him apart and he had been desperate to have her despite Zeno's command to stay away from her.

"Where is your sire?" Trey demanded. "And why should I not believe that you have an ambush waiting around the next turn in the road?"

"I am on my knees before you," Raenald pointed out. "My father ordered me to attack you that day with a small force, knowing I would be defeated."

The man's blatant lie surprised Apolo, and he heard Trey snort before he said, "Do you think I don't know what your father had planned? I defeated his assassin, who consequently gave his oath as you are doing now. Your army is protecting my palace instead of lying dead in the Wastelands."

Raenald jerked his chin up. "I admit that I fled the battle, but I knew nothing of my father's plans for the bastard. He has never confided in me."

"Why would he?" asked Wattan. "You're a worthless coward."

Raenald reached for his weapon as did Wattan, but Trey sliced his hand in the air. "Enough! I will hear him out."

Apolo wanted to remind Trey what kind of despicable creature Raenald of house Caron was, but he held his tongue because Trey would not like the reminder that his common sense oft times was of secondary importance to his goals.

"My father took my brother and many warriors to Imperia. As we speak, they are attacking."

Trey was so agitated by the statement, that his horse reared over the man, but Trey managed to calm the beast if not himself. "Why are you not with them?"

"I told you that my father had no intention for me to survive the incursion in the Wastelands. He send me as a diversion because he knew you were planing to return with your mate to Imperia and he hoped to separate you from her."

Raenald had not raisen from his knees and he looked to be in earnest as he looked up at Trey. Given the heinous nature of his revelation, it could only be true, and he did not need to add that Caron would try to kill Arora because he believed the easiest way to end Trey's reign would be to deprive him of his bonded mate. Trey's self-recriminations at being so easily duped were broadcast loudly to Apolo who wanted to ease his fears for Arora, but he knew that Trey would not want him to do it now because it would make him appear weaker than he already did.

"Will you accept my oath?" asked Raenald. "I believe that you will defeat my father, and because he will never give you his oath, you will have to kill him. As for my brother," Raenald shrugged. "He will not survive the fighting when the bastard my father trained to be a murderer faces him. I will return to my father's holdings as the head of house Caron, and you will have my fealty if you but accept my oath."

Apolo glanced at Wattan, and he didn't have to read his mind to know that he was conflicted. Wattan despised all the males of house Caron, but if Trey could control Caron's warriors through this man, then he was going to have to accept the devil's oath.

But Trey was skeptical. "Why should I trust you?"

Raenald did not look away from his piercing gaze. "Unlike my father, I know when to admit that I am wrong. You are Zeno's son, the rightful ruler of Calabria, and you have shown yourself worthy to be my emperor. My father knows it too, but it is to his advantage to proclaim otherwise."

"That was a pretty speech," said Trey with a half-smile. "Yet I recall many times not so very long ago when my father was alive that you and your brother along with Dilan questioned my right to be crown prince. I have even heard that you refuse to accept that Dilan was Dax's son and not really my brother."

The other man lowered his head. "I can only ask for forgiveness for my ignorance. I was a fool to trust Dilan."

Apolo heard Wattan snort and caught the malevolent look Raenald shot him. If Trey did not forbid them from fighting when they returned south, they would be at each other's throats. Apolo hoped that Trey did not believe Raenald because even without reading him, Apolo knew that the bastard was a shameless liar who probably didn't understand the concept of honesty or what it meant to give his oath.

"You come here without an army," Trey pointed out. "How do I know that Caron's men will even accept you."

"My father has never denied my rights as his son," Raenald said hotly and Apolo could sense that he was getting frustrated by Trey's refusal to accept his oath. "If my father is foolish enough to stand against you and lose, then his men will accept me." He raised a brow. "Perhaps if you were to make me a warlord ..."

Trey said nothing as the men around them either guffawed or made their outrage known, and when Trey put his hand up, the men quieted before he said, "You have not earned the honor, Raenald of house Caron. That you can stand before me and ask for it, tells me that you do not understand what it means to be a warlord or the responsibility it entails. If you would submit yourself for training with one of my warlords, perhaps some day I would consider your request. But I have no evidence that you can wield a sword properly or that you can lead men, so until I do, I cannot honor you."

Raenald's face grew red with his anger. "Will you name that terran a warlord? He does not even understand our customs!"

"I was unaware that you even knew Duo Maxwell," said Trey, his gaze narrowing on the man.

For a moment Raenald seemed flustered, and then he said, "I have heard much of his exploits. My father is displeased by the trust you have given the terran, and I know that one of his first demands upon taking Imperia will be that he be handed over to him."

Wattan shifted in his saddle. "My lord, we waste time on this fool. Imperia is threatened and we must make haste."

Trey looked from Raenald to Apolo who he signaled to follow him. They guided their horses away from the others so that they could talk without them hearing, but Apolo wished he had asked him to read Raenald before they did. He did not trust him, would never trust him, no matter what he brought to the empire in giving Trey his oath.

"I don't need to read your thoughts to know you do not approve," Trey said after letting out a long sigh and reaching out to put his hand on Shamara's back. The child had gone through so much in the last few weeks with her father, but she had been resilient, and Apolo was delighted in how quickly she learned to use her enormous power even though she could not even speak.

"Of course I don't approve," Apolo told him as he put his hand over Trey's. "You cannot trust Raenald."

"Yet I don't have a choice. He is right about the men of house Caron. They will look to him for leadership if both Caron and Raemon are killed. I trust Lord Amyr and his men to keep him at bay. The palace is easily defended even if I have my doubts about the city.

Trey sighed deeply. "You can feel how much I do not want to do this, but I must. Caron has too many men, and I still have too many other warlords who oppose me. If I can neutralize house Caron, I can concentrate on the others without the fear that house Caron will align with one of them."

Apolo entwined his fingers with Trey's. "You have made a mature decision after all the insults and mockery you have suffered from that hill weasel shit throughout the years he had embedded himself in Dilan's backside."

Trey met his gaze. "I am worried about Arora. I trust the palace guard, but ...but I need to know that she is safe. Tell me that she is safe."

Apolo squeezed his hand before drawing his own back. "I have not felt any danger to her, Trey, so do not worry needlessly." At least that was not a lie since he had not felt anything from her.

"And the baby? What if I am too late and my son is born before I can be there for him?" Trey shook his head as he removed his hand from Shamara. "I cannot think about that now. What I must do for the empire goes against my personal feelings, so I had best get it over with so that we can get to Imperia on the morrow."

Without another word, Trey guided his horse back to where Raenald waited, and Apolo wanted to smash his face with his fist – Duo Maxwell had some ideas that should be implemented in situations like this – when he saw the other man's smug smile, having already guessed what would happen next.

"Raenald of house Caron, I, Trey of house Zeno, give you my oath, to protect and serve as your emperor." Apolo heard the groans of some of the nearby men who trusted Raenald as little as he did.

Raenald lowered his head in homage, but Apolo caught his sly smile. What had Trey just done?