~24~
Lyria was feeling smug. So, so smug. And she felt she had good reason to feel smug, to feel pleased with herself, with the wisdom of her very own 'brilliant' war strategies. For they were now crossing the grassy plains and foothills that formed the border between Adarlan and Terrasen and yet they had not met any form of resistance. Lyria was now completely and utterly convinced that they would be able to ride all the way to Orynth, completely and utterly unopposed. She was now expecting Aelin to be defeated and broken in spirit and therefore an easy kill. Thus making it ever easier for her to snatch Rowan out from under her nose.
Deep down, however, Dorian knew that something wasn't right. The Aelin that he knew wouldn't willingly leave her kingdom undefended. This lack of opposition was brooking something rather suspicious in his opinion. But Dorian couldn't talk, not when he was acting against reason. Not when he was currently riding at the head of an army, intent on conquering the kingdom of his dearest friend.
Dorian wished, though, that he could break free of the hold Lyria had over him. He truly did not wish to destroy the life of his friend, nor to wreck the kingdom she so dearly loved. He wanted to know why she was not going to defend Terrasen from the army Lyria and he were riding at the head of. And most of all, he wanted to be free from Lyria. Why couldn't Aelin and the others come to save him from her?
He didn't want to spend the rest of his lifetime enslaved to her, his mind and body hers to command, to be freed only be his death. He didn't want to endure Lyria for a single moment longer. He didn't want to endure this slavery for a single moment longer. Why wasn't Aelin going to save him from this slavery the way he had saved her from the slavery of Endovier? Wasn't anyone ever going to save him? Didn't they care about him after all?
"Remember not to look so gloomy," Lyria said, smiling broadly, "when we enter the city of Orynth, to the cheers of the newly liberated people. When we are recognised as the heroes and liberators of this entire continent. Perhaps one day the liberators and heroes of this entire world. Just imagine how much they'll glorify us then."
"We've still got a while to go before we reach Orynth," Dorian said, all the while giving Lyria a saucy smile that he did not feel. Truth be told, he felt sick to his stomach, but with Lyria around, he had no control of his actions, of his speech. "If my memory serves right, we still have a few weeks' ride before we reach the capital city. And a couple of rivers to cross, as well."
"Bah!" Lyria declared loudly, clearly unconcerned. "Rivers are nothing, and are nothing to cross. I am more than used to rivers. After all, they don't call Doranelle the city of rivers for nothing. If any one will be able to ford and cross those rivers for our use, then it will be me. I am, after all, our resident expert on rivers."
Dorian wished he could frown at that, he didn't believe her claim about being an expert on rivers, nor did he believe that she would be able to find a way to cross those insanely deep and dangerous rivers all by herself. He also remembered with ease the ice and wind magic of Rowan Whitethorn and his cousins. If any one would be able to make those rivers uncrossable for their army, it would be Rowan and Endymion Whitethorn.
As though she could read his mind, Lyria suddenly shot him a sharp look, and Dorian suddenly felt something sharp and thorny jerk around in his insides, as though they were being torn up and shredded. Have you forgotten that since our marriage, I can control all your actions, hear all your thoughts, read your mind as though slipping through the pages of a book? Lyria's voice echoed through his mind. Have you forgotten that I can, therefore, read and hear all of your disloyal thoughts? Do you not wish the honour of serving me and mine long ere now?
Dorian had forgotten. Or maybe he had simply been so miserable that he had not even noticed. If she could read his mind, just how much control did she have over him, and his life? Would death even be enough to save him from her? But for now… Best to appease her, he thought. If he managed to appease her enough, perhaps she would be more inclined to set him free once she had Rowan back in her life.
"I am sorry to have disappointed you, Lady Lyria," Dorian said amiably. "I hope I won't disappoint you again. Being in your service is true honour. Being in your service is true freedom. It is the honour of a lifetime to serve you. I hope to be able to provide you with your heart's desire ere long."
The various Adarlanian lords and their soldiers who were within earshot were appalled by their king's comments. They may not have understood the context of King Dorian's comments, but in reality, they did not need to know. For, it was quite obvious to them that their king had betrayed them all by selling their kingdom's freedom to this blatantly evil foreign woman. And now, he was cold hearted enough to lead an army on the kingdom of Terrasen, the very kingdom of which his friend was queen of. The kingdom of the very friend that Dorian claimed to love so dearly. Dorian's actions ever since the evil bitch of a lady had come into his life were nothing short of disgusting. It was nothing short of despicable.
However, if they wanted to retain their power, influence, wealth and positions, they had to remain silent. They had no intention of being killed by either Lyria or Dorian, simply for questioning their betters. They would remain silent, keep their growing indifference and hatred to themselves, even if it killed them to do it. For, they had no other choice, if they wanted to live, and they were too cowardly to desert the army that they had been forced – under the threat of death – to raise.
"Quiet, all of you," Lyria suddenly declared, although none of them had dared speak directly to her in nearly a month. In fact, none of them had dared speak directly to her since the day before they departed Rifthold. Lyria paused before continuing. "Within a few days, we will have crossed the border into Terrasen. Now, I understand that some of you might be feeling rather hesitant about the coming battle, having not yet recovered from the horrors you endured in the war. But I need you to get over such sentimental values. The citizens of Terrasen are as corrupt as its royalty. It does not matter, it does not concern me what happens to them, as long as they are punished as justly for their corruption, depravity and perversion and immorality as much as their rulers are."
Upon hearing Lyria's words, the foot soldiers began to fidget and the more highly ranked soldiers began to squirm in their saddles. Hearing Lyria speak about innocent lives like that made them more than slightly uncomfortable. It wasn't as though Adarlan were completely innocent in the human rights department; forcing people into the slavery in the mines of Calaculla and Endovier would forever be an unpleasant stain on their kingdom's history. But the wholescale slaughter of innocent lives like this was not something they felt comfortable with.
"Now, let us go free this kingdom from the corruption of its rulers," Lyria said spurring her horse forward, completely oblivious to their ever growing dislike and hatred of her person. Dorian merely smiled coldly at them all before spurring his horse after Lyria's.
They didn't get very far, after that creepy little villain's speech before one of the limited number of spies that were in Lyria's employ came galloping up on his horse – one lord couldn't help noticing that the spy's horse was of much poorer quality than Lyria's. Despite everything, the lord couldn't help wondering how cheap Lyria was if she couldn't even bother ensuring those in her employ had good quality animals to ride.
"Trap!" the spy gasped out as soon as he caught sight of Lyria and was within earshot. "It's a trap! Terrasen's forces are gathering at the junction of the Florine and Perranth rivers! They're planning an ambush for us! Flee! Flee! Flee for your very lives! Flee!"
"No," Lyria said loudly and firmly. "There will be no fleeing. If any of you attempts to flee or to desert this army, they will face the consequences of their actions."
Every one present, including the spy slash messenger, paled dramatically.
"We will face this army that the Fire Queen seems to have raised. Raised only in the sense of self preservation, for she evidently knows that the justice we bring will see her hanging," Lyria said loudly, unaware of the entirely negative affects her speech was having on her army. "We will face this opposing army, and we will win, for we are just in our causes and reasoning. When we face our enemy in battle at last, we will fight for our rights, for glory, and for justice."
Once again, everyone present merely stared at Lyria in shocked disbelief, completely unable to think, let alone speak. For it was blatantly obvious – to them, at least – that Lyria was not doing any of this for justice or glory. It was more than obvious to them all that she was only doing this for personal gain. They had all noticed the unhealthy obsession Lyria had with the consort of the Queen of Terrasen more than once. From that, and her evident hatred of Queen Aelin, it was fairly easy to infer that Lyria loved Rowan obsessively, and had been unable to get over the fact that he had jilted her.
"One last thing before we plan our strategy for the battle that is to come," Lyria said confidently. "I am so sure, so confident, of our imminent victory that any strategy that is we plan cannot encompass failure. If I say we will win this battle, then we will win. Victory will be ours, I swear it on my life."
Many of them were rather sceptical of Lyria's claims. Fighting a battle at the junction of two such mighty rivers would be a challenge for them, especially as Terrasen's forces would have claimed as much of the advantage they could find as they could, before they had even heard of them. But Lyria seemed to remain unaware of that. In fact, despite all of her previous assertions, she didn't seem to know the first thing about battle or warfare at all.
And that was worrisome to them all. Lyria's constant assurances of approaching victory, her constant self-delusions and sense of self-gratification did not bode well for them. In fact, nothing at all about the coming battle boded well for them. Nothing at all.
For they were foreigners and they did not know the territory well. But even so, they knew enough to know that their chances of victory in this battle were next to zero, the enemy would surely be using the rivers to their advantage, as well as the magics of their rulers.
Magic was the one thing in this conflict that Lyria had not even considered once. For magic had now been illegal in Adarlan for generations. Ever since magic had returned to the land, there were very few who had magical gifts flowing through their veins. Very few Adarlanian citizens who had magical gifts had survived the last King's reign of terror. Their magic wielders had been slaughtered wholesale.
And magic was now the one thing that could win them this fight. And their very lack of magic would surely be the one thing that would now damn them all to a slow and terrible death upon the battlefield.
Almost from that moment onwards, Lyria's planning for the coming battle seemed destined to fail. Despite her previous claims of being an expert on rivers, she now seemed to be nothing of the sort. She seemed to have no idea just how dangerous, just how deadly, just how lethal, a river battle could be. And that was just a full on battle where there was just one river involved. And in this case there were going to be two rivers involved in the battle.
If they were unable to ford the rivers, and as there was likely to be no such thing as bridges anywhere in the region of the two rivers met, many of them would surely drown in those rivers, dragged down by the weight of their armour.
But Lyria wasn't listening to them when they told her that. In fact, she told them that it wasn't her fault if the weight of their armour was too much for them to bear. She told them that it wouldn't concern her at all if all of them died in battle, as it would mean only that any survivors would be able to march northwards faster after the battle.
None of them dared point out to her that if they all drowned during the battle, if they were all killed, she wouldn't even have an army to lead to Orynth. But none of them dared to mention it to Lyria, because if they did, they knew that Lyria would kill them herself.
The only thing that was cheering those soldiers in that moment was the fact that Lyria was clearly no longer feeling as smug as she had been before. The news of the ambush planned for them had thoroughly shaken her, even if she wasn't going to mention it to anyone – ever. The news of the ambush had shaken Lyria's confidence in her eventual victory. She was not as confident as she had been just an hour or two before.
Lyria's personality had changed irrevocably the moment they had begun to much north, and was growing more erratic by the minute. If he didn't know better, he would say that her self-delusional disorder was growing worse.
Remember, I can hear what you are thinking, she suddenly said in his mind, and he groaned. He had, once again, forgotten about that particular little tidbit. You must remember to remain a king confident of his coming victory in battle before the men, Lyria told him mind to mind, reminding him firmly of his duties toward her. But if you do continue to doubt my abilities I may have to review my opinions on your usefulness.
Dorian merely bowed his head at that. Despite his cowardice, despite his desperate wish to be free of Lyria, he very much wanted to live. He knew that if Lyria 'reviewed' her opinions of him, then he would definitely end up dead. But Dorian was in a very precarious situation here, and he knew it. Dorian may have hated being bound to Lyria, but he was very much aware that it was only a matter of time before his lords and ladies, before the men of this army started questioning him openly about the disconnect between his actions and reasoned thoughts.
If you think you aren't up to the task, Lyria snapped in his mind, then you just shut the hell up and leave them to me.
I will be able to handle it, Dorian thought back bitterly, wishing the woman would just get out of his mind, and was pleased when her voice in his head went suddenly silent.
The moment when Dorian began to be questioned by his men about his loyalties came much sooner than he had ever expected. That night, after dinner, several of his lords and a handful of their soldiers cornered him in the very bushes where he had been seeing to his needs.
"Good evening, gentlemen," Dorian said calmly, trying valiantly to cover his shock and discomfiture. Who did they think they were that they could interrupt him when he was seeing to his body's needs? If they walked in on him while he was pissing, then what was to stop them walking in on him while he was having sex? He was their king, for heaven's sake! They would do well to remember it! "What can I do for you this fine evening?"
"Cut out the horseshit, Dorian," one of the lords said irritably. "You haven't been acting like yourself ever since the Lyria bitch first came to Rifthold."
"You surely can't agree with what the woman wants," another of the lords said. "Growing up, you always said you wouldn't ever act like your despicable father – your words, not mine. And now you're acting exactly like him. Terrasen is the kingdom of one of your dearest friends. And yet, here you are, set to reconquer and destroy it."
"So?" Dorian shrugged, suddenly wishing they would just go away. "Where are you going with this? Quite personally, I don't."
The third lord in the group spoke up at this. "What we want to know is if you truly believe the horseshit that Lyria is spouting, or if you hate or as much as we do. This is us trying to gauge if you want Lyria gone as much as we do. If you want to get rid of her as much as we do."
Dorian was truly torn as he said that. On the one hand, he truly despised Lyria, and wanted her gone as much as they seemed to want her gone. But on the other hand, due to the way he was bound to Lyria, he was also duty bound to tell her all about this conversation, and her response would be to kill them all.
"I don't know what to tell you, gentlemen," Dorian said as calmly as possible, trying to fight his rising panic. "Lyria only wants what is best for us all. I would suggest that you all begin to obey her as I do. You will find life much easier if you do."