The Fourth Realm (Realms Gate) Page 4

  “Anything can. I ride all the time into Lokranor through the main gateway.”

  “Then I shall see how brave Argon is.”

  “Argon?”

  “My horse.” He boosted her up into the saddle. “Until tomorrow, Katya.”

  Kat rode off with Balthazar lolloping behind. This time she did glance back, Ulrik was watching her. So very cute indeed, she sighed to herself. The shaggy blond hair made him look like a surfer.

  CHAPTER 4

  Arianna rode through the secondary gateway from Muirhead into Vasmaar, she wanted to have several words with Damon. Timmo was hot on her heels.

  Will you bloody slow down, Erin? Your father will slice me open if I leave you unattended again.

  Well keep up then, slow coach.

  I take it you’re heading to wage another fight with Damon.

  Another?

  Yeah, that’s all you guys do.

  No, it’s not. If you had half a brain you’d realise that I keep needing to put him back in his place.

  My life would be so much easier if you both admitted you’re attracted to each other and get it together.

  Yuk, what a vile thought. Damon finds anything with a pulse attractive.

  Even you.

  Watch it, Selvig. I can have you replaced.

  Unlikely your father would find anyone else crazy enough to watch your back.

  I don’t need anyone watching my back.

  You’re the heir to the Lokranor throne. Trust me, you need it.

  How far behind are you?

  By the time you finish hollering at Damon, I should be at the Castle. In fact, if I just stopped and waited for you here, I’d be better off.

  Arianna chuckled. She really did feel sorry for Timmo; watching out for her really was a thankless task. But at least she wasn’t as accident prone as her mother or Katya. She should be grateful she didn’t inherit that gene.

  At the speed she was travelling, it did not take long for Vasmaar Castle to come into view. Her horse was pulled to an abrupt halt outside the main steps. A guard hurried over to take her reigns. Striding into the main hallway, she bellowed for Damon. A servant came running.

  “Damon is occupied at the moment, my lady,” he bowed formally.

  “Interrupt him,” she grunted, removing her gloves. “It is urgent.”

  “I will try.” He looked rather worried and scuttled off up the main stairway.

  Arianna paced up and down in the hallway, warming herself by the raging fire.

  Damon appeared at the top of the stairs a few minutes later looking decidedly dishevelled. “I can’t believe you stormed in here demanding I be disturbed.” He stomped down the stairs towards her.

  “What were you doing that was so important?” She raised an eyebrow.

  “I was in bed with two rather eager ladies.” He walked past her into the living room and poured himself a goblet of wine. “Now please tell me what you want so I can get back to my willing companions. Unless of course you have a more interesting proposal?”

  “You are truly vulgar,” she curled up her lip.

  “That’s not what the ladies upstairs say,” he grinned.

  “They are bound to be complimentary as you no doubt paid for them,” she responded sourly.

  Damon laughed. “Sex is one thing I do not have to pay for. Women find me irresistible.”

  “Only the ones who don’t know you, otherwise they’d all find you repulsive.”

  “Much as I love trading insults with you, are you going to tell me what was so urgent?”

  “Father says you insist on escorting me into the banquet hall on my birthday. What is your ulterior motive?” she scowled at him. Such a move would suggest an agreement of some sort between them to everyone at the banquet.

  “I was just being chivalrous. Knowing your family history, you would trip over and land on your royal backside.” A mischievous grin crossed his face. “Actually I would pay good money to see that.”

  “You wish. I plan to make my entrance alone, not with some halfwit from Vasmaar.”

  “Sadly for you, Wilhelm agrees with me. It would highlight the unity between the two territories. Besides, unmarried noble ladies never walk into a banquet hall alone.”

  “Then I will find someone else to escort me.”

  “Good luck. Anyone with good sense would give you a wide berth.”

  “Which proves my earlier comment that you have reduced mental capacity.” Erin stalked out to the hall and pulled her cloak back on. “You may return to your paid companions.”

  “You can’t dismiss me in my own house, Arianna. You’re forgetting that I rule Vasmaar.”

  “Yes, this rather quaint backwater.” She gave him the most condescending of smiles.

  Damon was starting to feel decided irritated; Arianna had managed to get under his skin again. She really was worse than a bed of stinging nettles. “You have precisely three seconds to get out the castle before I decide to throw you in the dungeons overnight.”

  “You wouldn’t dare.” Arianna stood glowering at him, hands on hips.

  “Is that a challenge?”

  “No, just stating a fact.” She turned on her heels and walked purposefully towards the door. The next second she found herself flung over Damon’s shoulder.

  “Your time is up. The dungeons it is,” he grunted.

  “Put me down at once, you miserable ass,” she squealed.

  “You had your chance to leave. Now either apologise for insulting me under my own roof or be prepared to spend the night in less than luxurious accommodation.”

  “Father will have your head for this,” she hissed.

  “He will be grateful for a night’s peace from your screeching. Not forgetting, of course, that the only one of your family who can match me for power is your mother.” Actually she was far more powerful but he was not about to admit that.

  She wriggled and squirmed but he held her in a vice like grip so she couldn’t use her sword or reach the dagger in her boot. There was nothing for it but to bear the ignominy of being carted off down to the dungeons, which to be honest were much better than many. Damon tossed her into one of the cells.

  “I’ll arrange for a servant to bring you something to eat later. In the meantime, enjoy your stay and I will see you in the morning. Hopefully by then, you’ll be a little more amenable.”

  “I am so going to damage you for this,” she seethed through the bars at him.

  He flashed her a winning smile as he left the dungeons. Arianna was fuming; she would make sure he never walked straight again when she next got her hands on him. She flopped down on the small bed, her only chance of escape was to over-power the servant who would bring her some food and hopefully bed linen. Then she remembered Timmo, he would get her out of here.

  Sadly, after a few minutes frantically trying to contact him, she realised he was too far away for their telepathic powers to work. That and the fact she was underground. There was nothing for it but to wait and plot Damon’s downfall, hopefully as painful as possible.

  Erin heard the sound of male laughter echoing down the hallway. Magnus was visiting.

  “You don’t get any more attractive with age,” she teased as she reached up and kissed his cheek. “How is my Viking toad doing?”

  “I couldn’t possibly comment on your husband,” he grinned.

  Wilhelm snorted loudly and passed her a goblet of wine.

  “To what do we owe the pleasure of your company?”

  “I’m retreating a safe distance as fireworks are due to go off shortly in Vasmaar.”

  “Why?”

  “Damon has Arianna locked in his dungeons overnight.”

  Erin bit her lip to stop herself from laughing. “Any particular reason?”

  “It’s Arianna, does there need to be any reason?”

  “No. Damon certainly has courage. She’ll be out for his blood after this,” Erin winced. She knew her daughter well; she would seek to get even with him f
or this humiliation. “I hope she’s not expecting us to get her out?”

  “I think it best if we give them space to work out the issues they have.”

  “They’ve had issues since Arianna could walk,” Wilhelm muttered. “I think I should just announce their betrothal and be done with it.”

  Erin slapped her husband’s arm. “Only if you want to take up your place in the family mausoleum early. There will be no arranged marriages for any of our children.”

  “Their union has been prophesised. If you remember, Aria said Lokranor and Vasmaar would be united by marriage.”

  “But she did not say it was these two. You’re just assuming it is.”

  “I’ve seen the way Damon looks at Arianna.”

  “He’s male and she is turning into rather a beautiful young woman, of course he’s going to look. If something is going to develop between the two, it will be without our interference.” Erin gave her husband her fiercest look.

  He raised a hand in defeat. “I defer to your better judgement, wife. Now how about we have dinner and Magnus can update us on events in Vasmaar?”

  “Perfect,” Magnus nodded. “I do have something I need to discuss with you both.”

  “Nothing too serious, I hope?” Erin raised an eyebrow curiously.

  “Damon has made a discovery, at least a potential discovery that could affect us all.”

  “Go on,” Wilhelm commanded gently.

  “It appears there could be another realm, possibly two.”

  Wilhelm choked on his wine. “Another realm?”

  “Yes. He noticed on a chart a landmass that existed before the rift, no longer appears in any of the three realms.”

  “Is it possible?” Erin glanced at Wilhelm.

  “Possible, yes. Probable, no. Otherwise it would have been detected a long time ago.”

  “Only if the gateways were open,” Magnus responded. “They might have been blocked.”

  Wilhelm called a guard. “Locate Ajax and have him join us immediately.” He diverted his attention back to Magnus. “What is Damon planning on doing with this knowledge?”

  “He is obviously keen to explore and ultimately protect his lands. He thinks one of the gateways is in Vasmaar.”

  “How come no-one has picked up on this missing landmass before?” Erin asked.

  “I guess because we are so used to seeing just the Realms we grew up learning about. Not many people study anything from before the rift, so it has never been noticed. If it does exist.”

  Ajax appeared a while later and Wilhelm briefed him. “I need you to examine all the charts pre and post rift. It seems we have a landmass unaccounted for.”

  Ajax looked at Wilhelm like he had spoken in another language. “Another landmass?”

  “Yes. Damon has come across a chart in Vasmaar that has a large territory from before the rift which is no longer visible in any of the Realms.”

  “I think it unlikely,” Ajax was on the defensive. He knew everything there was about the history of the realms. To miss something of this magnitude would be unthinkable.

  “Please check anyway. It is possible that the chart Damon has is incorrect.” Wilhelm glanced over at Magnus after Ajax had left. “If Damon does discover a gateway, I need you to shadow him. As we all know, he is a little hot-headed at times and I really don’t want the Second Realm declaring war on the possible Fourth.”

  “You’ve had twenty years of peace,” Magnus grinned. “If your army does not see some real fighting soon, they’ll forget what it is to be a Viking.”

  “With four daughters, my life can hardly be called peaceful,” Wilhelm grunted. And to highlight his point, they all heard the unmistakable squeals of their youngest daughters.

  Erik, the head of Wilhelm’s elite force, burst into the room, one thrashing twin under each arm. “I think these two delinquents belong to you, my lord.”

  Wilhelm rolled his eyes. “What have they done now, Erik?”

  “They somehow got into the armoury and were re-enacting the last battle scene in Lokranor.”

  “How were their sword skills?” Wilhelm asked without thinking. He received slap to the back of his head from his wife. “I mean, thank you for returning them. How great a mess is the armoury in?”

  “Trashed,” Erik responded, releasing the two girls.

  Knowing her daughters as she did, Erin immediately put up a shield around the girls so they were trapped and could not inflict any harm on Erik. They scowled at their mother.

  “Well, you two created the mess so you can clear it up.” Erin looked fiercely at her children. “However, I am getting fed up with constantly dealing with the trail of destruction you leave behind. How are the citizens of Lokranor supposed to trust their King when he cannot even control his own children?” Her green eyes never left the twins. “After the summer, you are supposed to be going to secondary school in Thurso. Mess up again and that will all change. I will send you to boarding school, but at other ends of the country to each other. Am I clear?” Her tone was so chilly, both daughters lost their defiant look. “I said, am I clear?”

  “Yes, Mother.” Both hung their heads.

  Erin looked over at Erik who was trying to retreat. “Please escort the twins back to the armoury to clear up their mess. No-one is to help them and they will remain there until everything is back to where it was.”

  Erik nodded and reluctantly ushered the two children out.

  “You’re still damn scary when you get cross,” Magnus grunted.

  “And you’re still spineless,” she retorted. “But something has to be done with them, they are hell on earth at the moment.”

  “High spirited,” Wilhelm grinned. “They really are the children of a Viking.”

  “Then perhaps I should leave them here with you and retreat to the quiet of Muirhead. Actually that sounds like a wonderful idea. With Arianna in Vasmaar, it would just be Katya, and as she rarely communicates with anyone anymore, it should be bliss.”

  “Your place is with your husband, wife,” Wilhelm stated flatly.

  Erin loved it when he tried to behave all masterful, it never worked though. “If your wife does not de-stress, there is every chance you might get zapped with Loxhadrin.”

  Magnus glanced at his friend. “Has she really never hit you with that stuff?”

  “Never.”

  Erin did not correct Wilhelm. She had in fact once used blue energy on him to render him unconscious after he took the news of his father’s death rather badly. Now was not the time to drag up that painful memory.

  “How come it was just me you liked to zap?” Magnus complained.

  “Because I don’t like you,” Erin laughed.

  “You still are and always will be an irritating brat.”

  “And you forever a toad.”

  Wilhelm stood up. “It’s like having Arianna and Katya back in the room with you two bickering.”

  “She started it,” Magnus grumbled.

  Erin poked out her tongue at him. “And I can finish it.” She teased him by raising her hand. Magnus ducked instinctively behind Wilhelm. “Once a chicken, always a chicken.”

  Erin left the two men in the dining room and retreated to her bedroom for a long soak in the bath. She wondered how their family had become so dysfunctional in the last year or so. Sure, it was never going to be easy raising children in two different realms, but of late the wheels had really fallen off their carefully controlled life. Arianna was angry with everyone, more so now that it looked like she might not inherit any powers, the twins were virtually out of control, and Katya was almost a recluse. Had she screwed up somewhere along the way? After Arianna’s banquet, she would spend more time in Muirhead with Katya, trying to coax her back out of her shell. Something must have happened to cause this change, but at the moment her daughter was not letting her mother into her confidence. She would sort out her family, she vowed.

  Damon couldn’t sleep, Arianna was firmly embedded on his mind. He hoped
Wilhelm would not be too offended with the treatment of his heir, however she had to learn she could not insult him in his own residence. Yes, Lokranor might be a kingdom and his just a territory, but he should merit some respect. He gave up on sleep and poured himself some wine. His evening really had not gone to plan. After Arianna had crashed in, he found he no longer had the taste for a debauched evening with the ladies so had sent them packing. Instead he spent his time, as he so often did, in his father’s study. It was where he felt closest to him. Eventually he gave up on that too, there was only one place he really wanted to be. Besides, he should check that she was alright.