Chains of Moonlight Chapter Six

The sun was warm on Aesira’s skin and the grass soft against her wings. Her eyes were closed as she just soaked up the beautiful day.

Wind rushed and then a foot nudged her side.

Aesira cracked her eye open to see Tofa had dropped out of the sky and stood over her. She just closed her eyes again and said, “No. I’m resting.”

“Come on, you have no idea what I’m here for! That’s not fair.”

“I saw the spear behind your back, Tofa. You’re not subtle.” Aesira opened her eyes again and pointedly looked at it.

“Fine. Maybe you’re right. But you’re not resting, you’re being lazy. We can’t have the Captain of the Guard for Princess Ragna being lazy and getting weak, right?” Tofa reached down with one hand and started to pull on Aesira’s arm. “So, get up and come spar with me.”

Aesira just stayed on the ground, Tofa’s pulling useless. “I’ve already run enough drills today. You’ll have to find someone else.”

Tofa let go of her arm and dropped to the ground, brown and white wings draping on the grass behind her. “I’ve already tried everyone else. They’re too afraid to.”

Tofa’s brother, Ivorr, was rather infamous for his grudges, and everyone in Valha had heard his very vocal disapproval of his sister joining the guard. He claimed it wasn’t about the position being beneath her, but it was about her safety.

Aesira didn’t know what she would do if it was about status.

But she also didn’t even know how much Ivorr was aware of. Tofa didn’t seem to know anything about the discussion between their families, but had latched onto Aesira because Aesira was usually the only one who pushed her instead of placated her. Aesira hoped Tofa’s favor would help convince her parents of Aesira’s suitability.

Tofa and Ivorr hailed from a mid-ranking noble family, one of the only ones that didn’t see the guard as being beneath them, not when Tofa and Ivorr’s uncle had been the Captain of the Guard for Princess Ragna before he’d retired and the position had gone to Heimir, and then later Aesira.

If Aesira wanted to marry into the nobility, they were the only chance she had.

“Give me half an hour,” Aesira said. “Then I’ll spar with you, and I’ll be quite cross if you don’t even manage to dent my shield.”

Tofa squealed and shot back up into the air, beating her wings. “Thank you! Lady Fate bring you fortune all your days!”

Aesira pushed herself up onto her elbows and yelled after her. “It’s not that serious, Tofa!”

Footsteps sounded, pulling Aesira’s gaze away from Tofa as she disappeared. Heimir was crossing the palace courtyard, also watching the air where Tofa was getting smaller, scowl on his face. “Don’t tell me you’re taking her.”

Aesira sighed and dropped her head back, letting her hair hang from her head and brush the grass. “His Majesty informed you then.”

“Princess Ragna actually.” Heimir came to a stop in front of her. When Aesira didn’t look at him, he nudged her leg with his foot. “She’d assumed King Baror already had. She didn’t want me to worry, insisting you were already all over planning this trip, including having submitted which of the royal guard you’d be taking.”

Aesira finally rolled her head back up and eyed her brother. “And?”

Heimir crossed his arms. “Are you taking Tofa?”

Aesira sighed and held her hand out. Heimir immediately uncrossed his arms to take her hand and pulled back. Aesira climbed to her feet. “If I am, there’s nothing you can do about it now. The assignments are submitted and approved by His Majesy. It’s my mission. I choose the fliers at my discretion.”

“She might be good enough to pass as a guard while we’re in Valha and safely within our borders and skies, but anywhere else?” Heimir didn’t let go of Aesira’s arm. “You can submit a new assignment. Say you changed your mind.”

Aesira raised an eyebrow. “And when Tofa finds out I didn’t choose her—worse, I was going to take her, but then took her off, what do you think happens then? She’ll think I don’t think she’s good enough, that she hasn’t earned her place in Ragna’s guard, and that I’m the same as everyone else who has told her she’s not good enough. That kind of betrayal in her eyes… Tell me, how do you think your next conversation would go with her parents?”

Heimir said, “That’s for me to worry about, not you. I’ll deal with her parents. You know I can spin it so they’re not insulted, and who knows, her brother might actually thank you for it.”

Aesira shook her head. “You know they hang off her every word. Her parents will take her side and this deal will fall apart before it even starts. I don’t have a choice. Tofa has to come so we keep her and her family happy and Tofa will be able to speak firsthand to my skill and prowess as captain. Plus, she loves me. They won’t be able to hesitate anymore.”

“I won’t keep her and her family happy at the risk of yours and Ragna’s safety,” Heimir said. “Aesira, I’ve been thinking, maybe this deal isn’t the best idea after all. I know you say you want—”

Aesira cut him off. “Stop that. I’m committed. I’ll do whatever it takes to make this happen.”

“But you shouldn’t have to. It’s not right you have to sacrifice your future for mine. I shouldn’t have let it get this far. It’s my problem to solve.” Heimir shook his head. “I’ll find another way.”

Aesira’s wings rustled behind her, shaking out her frustration. “I’m not having this argument again. There is no other way. This was my idea in the first place. Even if there was, it’s too late to turn back now. Besides, sacrifice? What am I sacrificing? I benefit too.”

“That still doesn’t change the fact Tofa isn’t ready for a mission like this. She’s a liability.”

“Please, you’re making this a much bigger deal than it is. The Moon Elves won’t even know we’re going to Iubar until we’ve already landed. It’s not like we didn’t successfully escort Ragna to Tyre and back six months ago. It’ll be just like that but with different scenery.”

Heimir scoffed. “You know full well this is nothing like the trip to Tyre.”

“Then it’s a good thing I’ve studied the plans from the last time we had a royal visit Iubar.”

“The Moon Elves have gained more ground since the last time King Baror visited.”

“And I’m not stupid, Heimir. I’m not taking the same route. I’m taking us over Adastra and into the plains. We won’t be flying over Lunheim or their camps.” Aesira grabbed him by the arms. “I can do this. If I haven’t got much longer as captain, can you at least trust yourself that you trained me well enough to make this my last hurrah before I retire?”

Heimir tilted his head. “I am a very good teacher.”

Aesira smiled and squeezed his arms. “See? You’ve taught me well. Don’t worry about Ragna and I. I’ll keep her safe, and when I come back, everything will change.”

“It’s not about always about training. I know you’ll be fine and you’ll keep Ragna safe, but you’re my sister, it’s my job to worry. Not to mention, no matter how good you are, there’s always a chance something goes wrong.” Heimir grabbed at her arms but looked back up at the sky. “You’re going to get her killed.”

Aesira stared at him.

That…

That wasn’t right.

That wasn’t what Heimir had said that day.

“She’s going to get someone killed.”

This wasn’t a memory anymore. Aesira moved to rip herself away, but Heimir wouldn’t let go. His expression was cold as he stared her down.

“I warned you. You didn’t listen. You never do, do you?” His nails dug into her skin, and she gasped at the pain shooting through her. “You always think you know best. How’d that work out for you now?”

“Heimir—” Aesira gasped, trying to pry his hands off her, but he wouldn’t let go. “You’re hurting me.”

The grass of the courtyard faded beneath her boots, and she dropped to the ground, her knees nearly cracking on the stone. Her wings brushed up against cold metal bars. Heimir was still griping her, only this time from the other side of the bars.

“Am I?” Her brother’s expression darkened and he jerked her closer, her head banging against the metal. “You deserve it, don’t you?”

She grabbed at the bars with one hand, trying to push back, but getting nowhere.

“You didn’t listen to me, and look what happened,” Heimir hissed. “You killed her. You killed them all. You played Lady Fate and handpicked all six of them for death, but somehow you’re the only one left standing? You don’t think you deserve to suffer for what you did?”

His hand shifted to wrap around her throat, and Aesira choked. “No—I do—I didn’t want—”

“Want? You think you get to want anything anymore? It doesn’t matter what you want. What matters is what you did.” Heimir’s eyes dropped down. “You deserve to drown in the blood you spilled. You could live two hundred years more and you’ll never wash it off.”

Aesira followed his gaze, and he was right. She was covered in her comrades’ blood.

“I’m sorry!” Aesira sobbed. She tried to wipe her hands on her clothes, but the red kept coming. It smeared across her dress, her skin, and she couldn’t break free of her brothe’s grip, not that it would matter as the blood kept pooling around her. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t want to be the one to live!”

“Does sorry do anything for the spouses and children, the brothers and sisters, the mothers and fathers with empty urns on their mantles?” His grip tightened, and all she could do was choke and scramble, staining her neck red as she tried to pull Heimir’s grip off her.

Finally he let go, throwing her to the ground. Aesira rolled onto her back, gasping and choking for breath as her feathers turned red and clumped with the wet liquid sinking in.

“You’re not even worth the breath it takes me to speak. What a failure you’ve turned out to be.” Heimir shook his head and locked eyes with her. “Where did I go wrong?”

She didn’t know.

Aesira had tried so hard, and yet there she was, on the floor of a Moon Elf dungeon with nothing to show for it.

“Now I’m here because of you. You couldn’t finish one simple mission, and now you’ve gotten us all trapped here. You couldn’t just talk and tell them what they wanted to know so they’d kill you. You just had to be stubborn, and now Ragna is paying the price.”

Aesira rasped. “Ragna?”

Heimir shook his head. “You weren’t satisfied with your comrades’ blood on your hands. You had to stay silent and add mine and Ragna’s too.”

The bars her wings were brushing up against faded.

Heimir’s voice shifted. It sounded strange.

“Yes, Princess Ragna.”

A strange feeling was ebbing away, and it wasn’t until it began to fade that she’d even noticed it. Her face wasn’t pressed against cold stone anymore. Leather bit into her wrists and ankles. Her wings were weak, drooping behind her as her front was pressed up against the back of a chair.

The magic… it had that same cold, silvery chill she’d felt before. Moon Elf magic.

It hadn’t been real. None of it had.

Aesira snapped her mouth shut and began to open her eyes. It was hard to see in the darkness. The Moon Elves needed so little moonlight to see. She could make out silver hair and an outline hovering nearby.

Her throat hurt, and she was certain there were very real bruises, but they hadn’t come from Heimir.

“What about Princess Ragna?”

The thick accent and mispronunciation gave him away. Prince Emmerich.

She shifted in her seat, and he swore in Lunian Elvish. Immediately a hand sank into the back of her head, wrenching it back, exposing her throat. A blade pressed to it and she saw Emmerich out of the corner of her eye. “Speak.”

Aesira just closed her eyes. Maybe he’d be frustrated enough to kill her this time since whatever magic he’d done hadn’t worked.

The cold metal left and the sharp point dropped to right between her shoulder blades. After however many times she’d been interrogated, Aesira no longer felt anything when they handled her, no matter what inappropriate ways they touched her wings. The blade pressed slightly into the ridge where it began to protrude from her back.

“You like these, right? Keep them?” Emmerich readjusted his grip on her head, twisting it painfully. A drop of blood rolled down her back. “If you want to keep them, speak.”

Would he really cut her wings off her back?

Aesira stared into his savage silver eyes. Or was it just a bluff?

Could she risk it?

One secret to keep her wings?

Except… It wouldn’t just be one secret. And what good would it do her when they would kill her regardless of whether she spoke or not?

Aesira closed her eyes again, hoping for a tolling to ring in her chest and vibrate down to her bones.

No Death Knell.

Emmerich thrust her head forward, swearing again. Then a fiery hot burst of pain ripped through her back and her left wing. Aesira couldn’t help the scream that left her hoarse raw throat. She tried curling in on herself, but the leather straps holding her down kept her from doing so. She thrashed in the chair, her right wing swinging and flapping. Leather snapping filled the air, and Aesira twisted, falling out of the chair with her right hand and ankle free.

More Lunian Elvish filled the air, swearing it seemed like.

Her palm was flat on the ground bracing herself as she curled her good wing around her. Feathers and blood were under her skin. She looked over her shoulder, and her left wing filled her vision. There was. A clear slash through the feathers where he’d cut, blood welling up as well, but not a crippling wound.

It was definitely a painful one.

And a reminder that her wings were not sacred to them.

Emmerich barked orders at the guards in the corner, and Aesira was freed from the other straps. Aesira tucked her good wing to her back right as the guards reached for her so he got her arm instead. They started dragging her out of the interrogation room and her injured wing trailed behind them.

Aesira couldn’t hold on much longer. The pain was too great.

Hopefully their patience wouldn’t either.

If they were upgrading to magical means of torture, it had to mean they were close to the end of their rope. She had to be even more careful. She couldn’t let them fool her. No matter what memories or fears they brought forth to the front of her mind, she had to stay silent.

At least it seemed they only instigated the vision, they didn’t seem to have access to what happened in it, only her physical verbal responses. Otherwise Emmerich would have pressed her sooner and would have dug deeper to manipulate her into seeing the meeting where she’d learnt about the purpose of Ragna’s trip to Iubar.

The secret was safe for now.

Aesira was going to gladly die before they wrested it from her mind and lips.

And then maybe the blood on her hands would finally dry as she was laid to rest in an unmarked grave behind Moon Elf borders.

Thanks for reading Chapter Six of Chains of Moonlight! Read Chapter Seven here!

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