In the final chapter of Adrianna’s Story, Adrianna and the rest of the hybrids walk on eggshells around the emotionally unstable Yavara. Yavara tries to ignore their avoidance, but it hurts her greatly, as she views them as the only family she has now that Elena is (to her knowledge) dead. Kiera goes off to find Rose, and instead finds Arbor. Arbor regretfully confesses that she cannot save her daughter, and so beckons Kiera to have sex with her so that she may finally change into a succubus, and end her torment. The rest of the hybrids and Yavara go to the city arena, where Yavara shows herself to be callous and easily manipulated by the will of the crowd. Adrianna worries that this bodes ill for the war with the Highlands.
Later that night, Adrianna and the other hybrids all marry each other in a drug-fueled ceremony. Arbor acts as the priestess. A very drunk Yavara crashes the wedding, and in her grief and jealousy, takes control of Adrianna’s mind, and begins to slowly kill her. Arbor decides to let it happen, as she fears what Yavara might do to her children if she intervenes. The other hybrids all try to tear Yavara off Adrianna, but it’s not use. Yavara is the most powerful being alive, and their fists and knives mean nothing to her. Adrianna and Yavara have a mental conversation, and Yavara realizes almost too late what she has done. She allows herself to be beaten nearly to death by the other hybrids before she slinks off into the darkness. Adrianna goes to comfort her, and confesses that Elena is still alive. She does not tell Yavara that Elena has fallen in love with Leveria. Yavara is so relieved by the revelation that she forgives Adrianna for all that she’s done, and Adrianna forgives her. They make love, and in so doing, the find their love for each other.
And so, Adrianna’s Story ends.
Part Eleven: Stalemate
Chapter Thirty-Five
FIELD MARSHAL SHORDIAN
I looked through my telescope out over the Highland Rift. Though the Highland Kingdom border was technically drawn just east of the marshlands, geologically, this was the beginning of the Highlands; a three-hundred-mile-long cliffside that marked the uplift of the Highland Plateau. Legend said it was created by some heathen god ten-thousand years ago. I thought it was more likely the result of sediment erosion.
“She crossed the marshlands.” General Florence Krakis said beside me.
“That, she did.” I concurred, closing the telescope.
The cavalry commander watched the Alkandran horde flood the flatlands below, their banners stretching from horizon to horizon. “It’s an invasion.” He muttered.
“Not yet.”
“What do you mean?”
I gestured broadly to the enemy line. “Do you see how they’re stretching themselves so thinly? One arm of the horde is moving north, one arm is moving south, and the head is staying here. They’re matching our forces at North Fort, South Fort, and Mid Fort. If they were inclined to invade, they’d bunch between the forts to minimize the effectiveness of our counterattack.”
“You’re saying they followed us across the marshlands just to form a line?” Krakis raised an incredulous brow.
I nodded. “An all-out assault while we’re at full strength would be a pyrrhic victory at best, but if he draws our lines thin and whittles us down by the day, come midwinter, there will be mile-long sections of the Rift we won’t be able to cover.” I assessed the rows of engines that stretched along the top of the ridgeline, “This army is the full strength of the Highlands, but Alkandra is yet in its infancy. Their numbers will swell as ours dwindle. Time was never on our side in this war, but now it’s our greatest enemy. Brock knows this.”
Krakis shifted uncomfortably. “It’s a stalemate then.”
“For now.” I grunted, spitting over the edge, “Our fate’s in the hands of politicians now. God help us all.”
ELENA
Leveria had the names of the ten major houses written on parchment and laid out in three piles on the table. In her pile was Tiadoa, Xantian, Shordian, Droughtius and Straltaira. In Ternias’s were Ternias, Huntiata, and Jonias. Between them were only two pieces of parchment: Feractian and Feltian. A pile of poker chips represented the scores of minor nobles, but in the grand scheme, they meant very little. They were just numbers, and so were given no names.
“After his son’s disgraceful defeat and suicide, Lord Droughtius abdicated his position to his granddaughter, Sofia, and she has ambitions of her own.” Leveria muttered, taking Droughtius’s name, and moving it to the center pile. “Xantian has been a reliable ally, but I soon won’t be able to keep ignoring his requests to help him with his dwarven contracts, and he’ll seek other avenues.” She moved Xantian’s name to the center pile. “That leaves me with just your mother and my husband.”
“Mother abdicated to me this morning.” I said.
Leveria flinched in surprise. “What?!”
“She did it in a letter, which is just like her.” I rolled my eyes, opening the missive in my hand, “She left for the estate last night without saying goodbye. Since you didn’t win the battle you bet the entire country on, the Straltaira coffers are empty, and the peasants are wondering about their pay. She needs to secure the home front, so I’m to represent my family in court.”
“You did it far better than her anyway.” Leveria smiled, “You were already the representative in all but name. Now with you able to make official proclamations, we can really start corralling some of these nobles.”
“Uh-huh.” I said, and casually leaned over the table, ***********ed my name from Leveria’s pile with a single finger, and slid it in front of me.
She gawked at me, a look of utter betrayal on her face. “You fucking bitch.”
“I thought you’d be proud of me setting out on my own.” I pouted my lips.
“I fucking made you!”
“And you created a monster.” I giggled, poking Leveria’s nose.
Her pale face turned so red that I thought she might pop. She was absolutely adorable for a murderous psychopath. “Elena,” she hissed, “if you don’t put your name back in my fucking pile—”
“You’ll do what?” I grinned, “Threaten me with wildly-creative torture deaths?”
“I’ll skin you alive in the city square, and make you wear your hide as a suit! I’ll cut off your cock and nail it to your forehead, then I’ll ride you like a unicorn! I’ll shove hot knifes up your cunt and carve out your womb, then I’ll climb inside and make you give birth to me!”
“That last one was new.” I giggled.
“Do not fucking betray me, Elena!” She snarled, “You’ve seen what I do to those who aren’t loyal!”
“And I’ve always been loyal—to Yavara—as I told you from the beginning.”
Leveria took two deep breaths through her nose, and let them out through her mouth, calming herself. Her rages were always a little tongue-in-cheek to mask her loss of control. I knew that scared her more than anything. She’d always been so measured and precise with her emotions, but since the day Yavara had won her battle, she’d been prone to wrathful outbursts. She eased herself against the edge of the table, and donned her analytical mask, studying the new layout like a chessboard.
“Who do you have in your pocket?” She asked.
No one I thought bitterly, but said, “You know I won’t tell you.”
She smirked at me. “So you do have someone. That’s good to know.”
“I will neither confirm, nor deny.”
“Never mind, you have no one.”
“You’re so sure?” I asked with a raised brow.
She snorted. “Careful, Elena. Knowing your own weaknesses is a stateman’s greatest strength, and you have become very arrogant.”
“It’s my bravado that’s charmed the Noble Court.”
“It’s what you do behind the scenes that matters.” Leveria muttered, “And we still don’t know the breadth of Ternias’s conspiracy. How many of these names in the middle secretly belong to him?”
“He plays things close to the chest, but we can make assumptions.” I said, “He was a staunch proponent for war, and that has weakened him. His support from Ardeni is not as strong as it once was, and he can’t guarantee his factors the money that would’ve come after reclaiming the Midlands. With the coffers empty, Huntiata’s city watch has gone on strike, and Huntiata has lost faith in Ternias.” I plucked Huntiata’s name from Ternias’s pile, and placed it in the middle. “If what I gleaned from my sources is correct, Jonias’s loyalties run deeper. She intended on marrying Ternias once he got the crown.”
“Stupid slut.”
I chuckled. “Yes, she is. Ternias may have an ace up his sleeve, but I think it’s more likely that whoever he had before the battle is now gone. Much like the rest of the country, the Noble Court has been thrown into chaos.”
“And now that you’re freelancing, you’ll seek to pull nobles from me.” Leveria said, then looked up at me, “So, are we going to address the elephant in the room then?”
“The familial line of succession.”
“With you at the head of your house, that puts you third in line. As you said, the country’s been thrown into chaos. Who knows what could happen?”
“That is something I can guarantee won’t happen.” I laughed.
Leveria smiled with her lips, but not with her eyes. “There have been whispers from some of the minor nobles. Whispers of vassalage. As the war rages on, and we stress the citizenry to the breaking point, the whispers might be given voice from someone who matters. Will it be you, Elena?”
“Go fuck yourself.”
“Don’t act like the thought hasn’t crossed your mind.”
“My only position will be for peace.” I said, “Vassalage is not an option, nor is me sitting on the throne, as absurd as that is.” I twisted my name on the table, pointing it toward Leveria’s name, then Ternias’s. “Whichever one of you stubborn fuckers finally decides to call for peace will get my support. I won’t threaten your throne, Leveria, but I will make it quite uncomfortable.”
She laughed. “Don’t be naïve. A unanimous vote of no confidence has never happened by one side convincing all the nobles to vote against the crown. It happens by getting enough nobles that you can kill the rest without consequence. Whoever you throw your support behind, the other will die.”
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