Damask & Deception (Spellbound #2)

Chapter 31: Long Road to Ruin

Lord Morvan of Delen sat in his elaborate tent on the fields outside Ossol, enjoying a glass of wine as the rain hammered against the cloth of his shelter. The weather was miserable. Heavy clouds had pervaded the skies all day only to let loose as dusk settled, accompanied by a strong wind sweeping over the fields and swaying the trees of the nearby forest. None of this mattered for Lord Delen. His pavilion was made of thick, durable cloth that could withstand most of what nature had in store, and a brazier kept it warm enough.

Whether his army had enough tents to keep them warm and dry, he didn't particularly care. Had he expected the siege to last through the winter, things might have been different, but he knew for a fact it wouldn't. Really, he was just waiting for word that the king had been disposed of, and the siege would soon be over. The crown was nearly his. It was so close he could almost feel the gold against his fingertips.

He just needed his useless stepdaughter to do as she'd been told. No one denied the Son of Deva, so he didn't really foresee any problems there. All he had to do was wait. And he hated it. Waiting was a fool's game. Men like him didn't sit around, they acted. Which was why he had marched on Ossol before the Son of Deva had told him to. That, and he preferred the crown to himself rather than some useless child of the late king's. Why would he settle for being the unofficial ruler by proxy while the child grew up, when he could take the crown for himself?

Son of Deva had underestimated his prowess. He'd shown him, though. By marching sooner he'd moved the plan ahead, and any day now he would be the new king. Everyone would bow to him. The thought made him grin. He would have preferred to kill the insolent whelp everyone called king himself, but that wasn't practical, so this would have to do.

He looked up as a gush of wind rustled his dark hair, smiling widely as he saw that his stepdaughter had entered the tent. In the dim light at the edge of the pavilion, her face looked drawn, her eyebrows knitted and her eyes shaded. Her golden-red hair was plastered to her head and shoulders, drenched from the pouring rain. Water was dripping all over the bear rugs covering the ground. She hadn't bothered donning a cloak.

"Is it done?" he asked, unable to keep the excitement out of his voice.

She shook her head, making him scowl. When she didn't elaborate, he snapped, "Well stop standing there like a witless ogre and tell me what's going on! You're getting my furs wet."

When she still made no attempt to speak or move, he fidgeted a little in his seat before standing up. There was something different about her tonight, and he was feeling uneasy. She finally took a step forward, and as the flickering light of the lamps reached her face, he took an involuntary step backwards as he saw the pure hate burning in her green eyes.

"You've been working with Son of Deva all this time," she said, and her tempered voice caused a chill to travel along his spine.

"So have you," he pointed out.

"Against my will. You're doing it out of sheer greed and hunger for power."

Placing his hands on the back of his chair to brace himself, he leaned forward slightly. "And you're telling me that the years you spent with him didn't teach you anything?"

She smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. "Of course it did. But it also showed me I wanted nothing to do with him and his plans. I see he told you about us."

Us? Lord Delen frowned. "You and... Son of Deva?" He knew he was staring, but he couldn't help it. "I didn't realise you had been quite so... close to him. I assumed you were one of his followers."

"No, I was his partner. He picked me up at Highglaive after Deva took Messina all those years ago."

"Highglaive? Where the sorcerers live?" Maybe he should have kept track of where she went after she'd run away, but he'd been angry enough not to care what happened to her, and so he'd only ever sent people looking for her after being contacted by the Son of Deva.