Chains of Moonlight Chapter Seven

Every day since Emmerich’s visit, Veremund couldn’t get the little valkyrie off his mind.

No matter what he did to try to distract himself, all he could see was her bruised, bloodied face, and matted hair behind the bars. The reports he had to read and the correspondence he had to write to give his orders were mostly an afterthought to his wondering about how his valkyrie was doing now.

Would he even recognize her if he saw her? Or had Emmerich had his men tear her to a thousand pieces to where not even her own family would know her if they saw her?

The times he made it out to the training grounds, usually dragging Rainulf to spar with him, every blow he struck reminded him of hers from the battle. Every time Rainulf fell, he saw her lying prone on the ground, great wings unmoving on top of her. Rainulf, like always, was the first to tap out, always leaving Veremund with more fight than he knew what to do with.

To be fair, if Rainulf spent more time fighting and less time hounding Veremund with questions about what had happened on his mission, and about the valkyrie he’d brought back, he wouldn’t lose quite as badly. Rainulf did stop after Veremund had snapped at him that if he wanted to know about it, he should ask Emmerich.

If Veremund wanted a real fight, he could always indulge Emmerich in one of his many requests to spar. Veremund did take him up on it every once in a while, just to make sure his little brother didn’t pose a threat to him in case a real fight ever occurred. Only a year before, Emmerich would have been his only option, or making one of the guards do it against their will.

Now Veremund had Rainulf he could use. It seemed having at least one friend was more useful than Veremund would have ever anticipated.

But not even something as novel to Veremund as having a friend could fully distract him from his thoughts about his little valkyrie.

He was halfway to considering an unholy thought of sneaking down there in the daytime. Most of the palace would be asleep. The guards would be tired and weak, but she would be wide awake. It would just be to see how she was faring.

Emmerich had not given him any details, and after so thoroughly refusing to provide any assistance, Veremund couldn’t ask for details.

If anyone found out how he had gotten down there—if his father found out—the consequences would be immense. But the thoughts of facing his father’s wrath for using his dark magic and wasn’t by itself strong enough to fully stop him from considering the idea.

Almost like his father was reading his mind, only a few nights after Emmerich had come to him for help, Veremund received a direct summons from their father. Usually, Veremund did his level best to avoid summons from their father as much as possible. Unfortunately as the heir, his duties required a certain level of communication, but most often that involved war meetings and council meetings where Veremund wasn’t alone with him.

When Veremund set foot in his father’s study, he was the last one to arrive. His father was already standing by the window, looking out at the courtyard below in the moonlight. Emmerich stood on the other side of the large lunabark desk, his arms behind his back, hands clasped and his expression, cold and impassive.

Veremund couldn’t see his father’s face, but he would bet any amount of money that his father was not in a good mood. He never truly was.

Veremund dipped into a respectful bow, his father watching through the reflection as he said, “I am here at your summons, Your Majesty.”

He held the bow until Father turned his head just enough, pristine, shimmering silver hair cresting over his shoulder and down his back. “Rise.”

Veremund did so, keeping his expression as empty as his younger brother’s.

His father continued, “I trust you’re intelligent enough to know why you’re here.”

He had a fear of what this was about. He really hoped it was about anything else. “I am here to be of service in whatever way you ask of me.”

Without fully turning away from the window, their father gestured for Emmerich to speak. Emmerich straightened up and with far more decorum than he had the last time Veremund had spoken to him, he went into detail about his progress. Specifically, he talked about how unreceptive the valkyrie been to their methods, including magical.

Veremund was grateful that after decades of experience he maintained his facade and didn’t so much as smirk when Emmerich was detailing how the valkyrie’s silence had been getting under her captors’ skin more than any of them had been getting under hers.

When Emmerich concluded, their father finally turned away from the window fully to look at Veremund. “What insight do you have to offer from when she was your captive?”

Veremund shook his head slightly. “I have provided Emmerich with all that I learned. Her name is Aesira, and she is the Captain of the Guard for Princess Ragne. She gave up no other weaknesses. She only has one brother in the king’s guard. There is no other family to be used against her.”

Again, he held back his uncertainty about whether there might be a lover that could be used against her. Nor did it entirely matter, because even if she did, talking about them wasn’t going to break her. If they wanted to use that information, they’d have to be able to get their hands on the people that mattered the most to her, and at that point, it would be more trouble than she was worth.

Their father leveled his gaze at Emmerich, and while it certainly couldn’t be called kind or fond there was a lot less steel in it. “You truly believe this valkyrie is unbreakable?”

Finally. Their father would have no choice but to see Emmerich hadn’t been the right choice for this job. Veremund held back his smirk, but he was going to enjoy hearing Emmerich admit defeat.

Emmerich nodded. “I’ve done everything I can think of. Her tolerance for physical pain is astounding. More so than any of the other valkyries we’ve captured and held. Not to mention the mental acuity she has to not speak even when we cast spells on her to torment her in her mind. We could give it more time, but since we can’t magically see her memories for ourselves, it seems like it would be more of a waste of resources than a gain. Clearly, she’s been trained to withstand our methods. Our spies will soon return to us and the full extent of the princess’s mission in Iubar anyway.”

It was as sweet as Veremund had been hoping for. Maybe he should sneak down to the dungeon just to thank the valkyrie for finally knocking Emmerich off the pedestal their father put him on.

Their father nodded, “The overgrown dove has made my orders easy. Stop wasting resources on the loathsome creature. If she won’t talk, she dies.”

“Wait.”

That dangerous word left Veremund’s mouth and before he could even register it was coming. Both Emmerich and his father turned and shot him sharp looks. Emmerich confused and fearful, while their father’s furious.

Emmerich had admitted he wasn’t capable, but that didn’t prove Veremund was. They both needed to see the mistake Father had made taking the valkyrie from him in the first place.

“What if the bird has other useful information that we don’t even know that we don’t know about?” Veremund covered himself with a disinterested air.

He couldn’t be too obvious about it.

If his father sniffed how much Veremund wanted this, he’d never get it. He never did.

“Such a hypothetical is useless if the creature can’t be made to talk,” Father said, narrowing his eyes.

Veremund lifted his chin. “Emmerich couldn’t make her talk. That’s not the same thing.”

Emmerich’s mouth fell open, and Veremund stamped out the urge to smirk and relish in the betrayed expression on his brother’s face.

“That’s what this is about.” Their father took his seat in his elaborate chair, leaning back, crown glinting in the moonlight. “Even if you could succeed, I see no point in wasting any more time or resources on it.”

Did Veremund let this one go?

He was still the firstborn. Emmerich admitted he was out of his depth. Could that be enough?

She was just a valkyrie. There would be other opportunities for Veremund to cement his superiority.

But for years Veremund had been pouring himself into a war effort he didn’t even care to win, and it hadn’t made a speck of difference in the way his father spoke about him.

And Veremund had a promise to keep.

This valkyrie was the best chance he had. He had to take every inch of ground he could from Emmerich, and he would take her.

“If more of her kind are joining the fray, we need to know every advantage they might be hiding up their sleeves. Who knows what other secrets the bird is hiding? She’s the Captain of the Guard for the princess and the sister of one of the king’s guardsmen. If her people are mobilizing for war, she could give us much needed insight into their forces.”

Their father sat up a little straighter. “I’ll give you one chance to make the valkyrie speak before we put the creature down.”

One chance.

That was all Veremund needed.

Their father waved his hand, a clear dismissal. Both Emmerich and Veremund bowed and murmured, “As you command, Your Majesty.”

When the study door was shut behind them and they were heading down the hallway, Emmerich raised an eyebrow at him and said, “What made you change your mind about helping me with the valkyrie?”

Veremund just looked straight ahead. “Maybe I just wanted to see you admit to our father you failed so I can be sure to get the credit when I succeed in breaking my valkyrie where you failed.”

Emmerich rolled his eyes. “Well, I hope you’re happy. You’re far too old for this petty jealous nonsense. Who cares who gets the credit?”

Spoken just like someone who had never had anything to prove.

Veremund had been proving himself since the day he was born. “And you’re still too young to understand anything.”

“Good luck.” Emmerich scoffed. “You’re wasting your time. Nothing is going to work. I’ve tried everything I can think of.”

Veremund shook his head. “Not everything I can think of.”

* * *

Thanks for reading Chapter Seven of Chains of Moonlight! You can read Chapter Eight here!

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