The Marenon Chronicles Collection

Chapter Thirty-One





Julian Hobbes stood in the king’s bedchamber, wrapping his dark cloak around him. It was late at night, so no one would notice he was gone until morning. By then he would be far away. He fixed a dagger to his belt and fastened his sword to his back. The weight of kingship had been too much for him. He had let the power go to his head and the Dunarians had suffered for it. Because of him, three innocent council members were dead. Because of him, an innocent man in Homestead had been killed. Because of him, the Stühocs were winning the war, and the only force fighting against them lay in shattered pieces.

He wondered what his father would think of his actions from the past week. Ruben Hobbes would have been ashamed of him. No wonder he had left the kingdom to Morgan. Morgan would have been too incompetent to cause the destruction that Julian had created. Now Julian would be the laughing stock of the kingdom. He had been used. From the beginning it was planned that he would be the Stühoc’s pawn. They had laid it out so perfectly. Julian had truly believed what he was doing all along had been the right thing, but now he could see that he had been played. He had done everything that Holden and Anithistor had wanted him to do.

No more.

After sneaking into the king’s bedchamber, he made his way out to the balcony. He shuddered as he remembered the last time he had seen his brother on this balcony. The memories haunted his dreams almost every night. Almost more haunting was the lack of remorse he felt for letting Morgan die. It had been a terrible act, but he was convinced that more lives were saved because of it.

He tied a piece of rope to the edge of the balcony and shimmied his way down the side of the wall. The stables weren’t far away and his sarian, Eden, already had her saddle readied.

When he reached the ground, he touched his wrist, the skin feeling bare without the green wristband. He had no need for it any longer. The only person he could see himself contacting would be Kaden, but it was unlikely that he would want to hear from Julian.

After Julian had returned from his ‘meeting’ with Spencer, he had confirmed to the others that he had been wrong the entire time. He remembered Kaden just slumped on the ground with his head low, and Darius wanted blood. Julian was sure that if the guards had not subdued Darius, he would have made good on his threats to kill Julian on the spot. Kaden had told Julian that he had not trained him to be a monster. It was the last thing he said before he left. Julian had spent the next thirty minutes puking, revolted at what he had done.

Robin and the other guards were truly worried about him, but Julian paid them no attention. He had gone to his bedchamber and locked the door. His angry screams and breaking glass could no doubt be heard from the other side of the castle.

Eventually, Julian calmed and was able to collect his thoughts. He came to the conclusion that he couldn’t fulfill his duty to Marenon – to help defeat the Stühocs – by being in the public eye. He had written out a note, instructing Robin to take care of the duties of the throne at Farlaweer in Julian’s absence. But he wasn’t giving up his kingship completely.

As far as Julian knew, there had been seven Sleepers. He had killed Holden and Spencer, but that left five others. The Sleepers had been created to bring down the Dunarians, paving the way for the Stühocs to easily take over the rest of Marenon. Julian wasn’t sure where these other Sleepers were, but he wasn’t going to let them destroy what he had helped build.

Four individually silk-wrapped medallions rested safely in his cloak pocket.

The Dunarians still needed the last two medallions in order to be able to use their ultimate weapon. The orange one, he hoped Nalani had been able to obtain. The green one rested safely in Elysium. He was going to find a way to get the green medallion, and he knew he could get the orange one from Nalani. The Dunarians would see that he was no traitor. He would use Marenon’s Map. He would show them that the weapon could ultimately destroy the Stühocs for good. They needed no Meshulan. They needed no other hope. All they need was Julian Hobbes.

*****

Alric couldn’t believe he had let himself get caught. Now Nalani and Coffman were in the same situation. He had heard the whistle and saw the sarians fly in. Why didn’t they leave me and save themselves?

The three of them had been taken to the tower where Alric and Nalani had tried to steal the medallion a few days before. There they stood before the Stühoc king who had the power to destroy them in a second, but for some reason chose not to. His gray face was wrinkled into a disgusting, evil scowl.

“Sarians. An attempt to steal a medallion. Impeccable fighting. I smell the Dunarian’s work all over you,” Anithistor said. He held out the orange-jeweled medallion, taunting them with their failure. “Did you really think you could steal it from me?”

None of the three said a word.

“No matter,” Anithistor said. “I never needed the medallions to make the Sphere work anyway. We’ve grown far too powerful to be stopped.”

“So why don’t you just kill us already?” Alric asked. “I hate the small talk.”

“Because I need to use you as insurance,” Anithistor said. He reached his hand out and motioned for Mintuk. Mintuk walked around them and placed their wristbands into Anithistor’s hands. He set two of them on the table and grabbed Alric’s wrist, clasping it to his arm.

“My Sleepers have killed the Gatekeeper,” Anithistor said. “And I’ve decided to let the Meshulan live. He will be here before morning. I say this to tell you that the Dunarian’s destruction is nearly complete.”

“Why are you telling me?” Alric said, jerking his arm away from the foul creature.

“There are still others. Kaden, for instance. He knows you. He trusts you. You are going to kill him for me.”

Alric laughed. “Yeah, sure thing boss, I’ll get right on that.”

“You will kill him, or your friends here will suffer.”

“We’d rather die,” Nalani said. Coffman let out a grunt of agreement.

“And so you shall, should your dear Alric not do as I ask. Death is not what you need to worry about, though,” he said turning to Nalani. “If you do not bring Kaden’s head back to me in Mudavé within a week, your friends will feel the most gruesome torture imaginable. Sure, they will die, but they will suffer for a long, long time. And it will all be on you,” he said turning his head to Alric. “Kill Kaden, and you will be free.”

“Like you’re going to free us,” Alric said. “You’ll just kill us too.”

“You are no threat to me,” Anithistor said. “I care nothing for your life or death. Only the Dunarian’s leader matters. Bring me his head and you and your friends will leave, unharmed.”

Alric had never been put in such a position before. He had never cared for others so deeply that this kind of threat would work on him. But here he was, standing in front of the most desirable woman he had ever met, and the best friend he had ever known, forced to choose between their lives and the life of Kaden Osric.

He looked at Coffman, then Nalani, and cursed under his breath.

“Get him out of here,” Anithistor commanded.

The guards grabbed Alric by the arms, forcing him toward the doorway.

“Don’t do it, Alric!” Nalani yelled.

“Save yourself!” Coffman yelled.

“I’m not letting either of you die!” Alric said as he was shoved through the doorway. Then it slammed shut. He wasn’t sure if he would ever see either of them again.

The guards led him to the two sarians. He mounted one of them, and just like that, he was free, although he had never felt more like a prisoner.

The Gatekeeper had been killed? Silas was the Stühocs’ prisoner? He couldn’t believe how quickly things had fallen apart.

Alric knew what he had to do. He was a man of few loyalties, but he was loyal to his friends. The course of the war could be changed, the course of history for Marenon could be changed, but Alric’s mind would not be changed.

He was going to kill Kaden Osric.