Rise of the Lich Sentinel Read online

  Gavrael led Gedeon down a maze of hallways and hoped he was going the right way; he’d only been to Alaric’s office once before. As luck would have it, they made one more turn and through the open door he saw the bent head of the sentinel leader. He was at his desk scribbling away on parchment just as he had been the last time Gavrael had traveled back to the compound. Alaric glanced up and the look in his glowing eyes was intense.

  “Gavrael and Gedeon,” Alaric said. “A pleasure to see you both. I trust your matebond is going well?”

  “Thank you, Alaric. We’re doing great,” Gedeon replied.

  “The dragons and sorcerers you live with, they are in good health?” Alaric asked.

  “Yes, we came to discuss an idea with you,” Gavrael stated.

  “Have a seat,” Alaric invited and two gray chairs shimmered out of nowhere in front of his desk. Gavrael and Gedeon sat without delay.

  “Reverent Knight Conley Gylde-Kempe suggested a concept he believes may improve the lives of sentinels,” Gavrael explained.

  “I am always here to listen to ideas intended to better our people.”

  “We believe it would be better if more sentinels were able to join the Council of Sorcery and Shifters,” Gedeon said. “They deserve to do more than train all day, and it would allow them the opportunity to hopefully meet their mates.”

  “I have told Gavrael before that it doesn’t benefit them to learn of mates if they are stuck here.”

  “Yes, but they don’t need to be stuck here,” Gedeon replied.

  “The necromancers aren’t interested in allowing us to leave, so it’s better for us to stay.”

  “That is why the Reverent Knight recommended a sentinel take on the task of finding some independence for our people,” Gavrael stated.

  “How do you mean?”

  “Alaric, you are our leader though you don’t use the formal title emblazoned on that dusty banner behind you,” Gedeon replied. “If you were to leave the compound and champion the sentinels’ cause, you could file a petition with the Council of Sorcery and Shifters.”

  “To what end?”

  “If we were to become a full-fledged race with voting rights, we could begin the process of gathering resources and allies to allow sentinels to have richer and fuller lives instead of simply existing here at the compound,” Gedeon said.

  “You truly believe such a thing is possible?” Alaric asked. “It does sound as if it would be better for our people.”

  “I seek only to enrich the lives of sentinels,” Gavrael stated. “It will take time and we will need help, but we do believe it is possible.”

  Alaric said nothing for several minutes, and his strange eyes gave away nothing. Unlike the few sentinels Gavrael had met, his black hair was slicked back, away from his face, giving him a hawkish appearance. Finally, he broke the silence. “This can benefit sentinels. I will try Reverent Knight Conley Gylde-Kempe’s plan. He will be an ally to us?”

  “Yes,” Gavrael assured him. “Both he and his mate are allies of our Draconis Court of D’Vaire. The Grand Warlock would be willing to assist as well.”

  “And the necromancers?”

  “We haven’t spoken with the Arch Lich yet,” Gedeon explained. “We wanted to see what you thought about the idea first. We answer to a dragon, but we’re sentinels and you’re our leader. Our allegiance is to you as well.”

  “You are both exemplary sentinels,” Alaric said. “Though to be honest, I can think of no one who is not. I would prefer to move forward after we know whether the necromancers will stand in our way. If they cannot or will not help, this plan cannot succeed and I must always put forth the needs of the sentinels before my own. I cannot leave unless I know it is for reasons which will benefit them.”

  “We will speak to the Arch Lich as soon as we can,” Gedeon promised. “Will you need him to summon you?”

  “No, I have no necromancer of my own,” Alaric replied. “I am free to come and go from the compound.”

  “Have you ever left before?” Gedeon asked.

  “As I explained, I cannot leave on a whim. My duty is to the sentinels. It has been from the time I was resurrected and will be for time eternal. I will go and visit your Council of Sorcery and Shifters, though I cannot promise I will linger. I have many men to take care of here at the compound.”

  “Okay, should we make any other arrangements for you? A place to stay? Perhaps at D’Vaire?” Gedeon asked.

  “I will not need accommodations. I will not be able to stay for a great length of time.”

  “But this cannot all be accomplished in a matter of hours,” Gavrael argued.

  “I understand. I will simply have to go back and forth,” Alaric said. “No one else is here to see to the sentinels.”

  Gavrael understood what his leader was saying; it was only Alaric there to oversee thousands of sentinels. The only contact they had was with their leader—they spent nearly every hour of each day locked in a small cell. The only time they left was to go to a training room, where they fought against a hologram, and then returned to their dorm. It was a solitary existence and a boring one at that.

  As far as Gavrael knew, that’s exactly how it had been since the sentinels were created two thousand years before. What no one understood—or those who knew were unwilling to explain—was why they were stuck there in the first place. Sadly, that was just the tip of the iceberg when it came to the mysteries surrounding his race. Perhaps with some distance away from the compound and the help of the Council, they could remedy the situation and pull everything, including the men themselves, out of the shadows.

  They said their good-byes to Alaric soon after, promising to return when they’d gained the support of the leader of the Order of Necromancia. Then the world around Gavrael grew hazy and he knew Blodwen and Trystan were summoning them back to their home. He would ask their help in securing an appointment with Arch Lich Chander Daray; he doubted the sorcerer would be against aiding them. Chander was the only necromancer outside of Court D’Vaire who summoned forth his assassins on a regular basis, and he’d tried to get his brethren to listen to reason, but it had been his own elder council who had no interest in anything regarding the sentinels. Gavrael hoped the rest of the Council of Sorcery and Shifters were not as closed-minded, because he and Gedeon would not rest until their people were released from their prison.

  Chapter 2

  Arch Lich Chander Daray needed to get upstairs to his office, so he headed to the large bank of elevators after finishing his lunch. But when he turned the corner, the sight before him changed his plans. Chander reversed course so fast he slammed into his sentinel, Benton, who grabbed his arms so they didn’t both topple to the floor.

  “You all right?” Benton asked.

  “Are they gone?” Chander panted out. The fear caused his heart to race and whenever that happened these days, it caused discomfort in his chest.

  “Chand, it’s been a couple of months since the Reverent Knights were mated,” Benton said in a soft voice. “You can’t avoid them forever.”

  “I don’t see why not,” Chander replied as he began walking toward the door which led to the stairs.

  “Drystan is your friend.”

  “He was my friend,” Chander corrected as he looked up at the steps he really didn’t want to take. “That was before he found out I separated him and Conley for over six centuries.”

  “It wasn’t your decision alone that kept them apart, and it wasn’t done out of malice,” Benton argued as he followed him up to the next floor. “And without you, they would both be dead and not getting a second chance together at all.”

  “You aren’t supposed to come between mates,” Chander forced out. All this exercise was making him short of breath—a sad state of affairs for a relatively young necromancer. Maybe he did need to start taking better care of himself, he thought as they gratefully left the stairway. “Not for any reason. Besides, they both hate me. It’s easier if I avoid them.”
r />   “Drystan was angry but I don’t think either one of them hates you.”

  “Can we change the subject?” Chander asked as he strode down the hall.

  “Fine,” his sentinel stated, though he didn’t sound happy about it.

  Chander arrived at his destination and yanked open the door to the Order of Necromancia before Benton could do it for him. As usual, all five members of the elder council were inside as well as Chander’s assistant, Evergreen.

  “Chander, might I have a word with you?” Elder Sigimund asked.

  “I’m afraid it will have to wait,” Chander replied as he greeted Evergreen with a smile and took his messages from him. “I have a meeting.”

  “We need to go over the budget,” Elder Sigimund insisted.

  “I’d be more than happy to argue with you over the budget after my meeting,” Chander said.

  “If you are too busy to go over the figures, we could tackle the budget without you,” Elder Sigimund offered.

  “Whether you like it or not, Sigimund,” Chander began as he headed to his office door, “Fate chose me as the Arch Lich upon my birth. Until she takes away my rank, I will oversee the Order of Necromancia and that includes our annual budget.”

  Once inside the sanctuary of his personal space with his sentinel, Chander tore off his crown and tossed it down on the desk. Whipping off his cloak, he placed it on a hook and plopped down in his office chair. As usual, the entire room was covered in books and dust.

  “They’re so annoying,” Benton remarked as he sat behind his own desk.

  “Tell me about it,” Chander muttered.

  His phone buzzed. “What’s up, Evergreen?”

  “Chand, Gavrael and Gedeon D’Vaire are here.”

  “Send them in,” Chander replied as his sentinel grinned.

  “Yay, sentinels,” Benton cheered as he opened the door to let the two D’Vaire assassins in the room.

  Chander stood. “Great to see you both.” He did not offer his hand; sentinels greeted people without touching, so they all exchanged nods of their heads. “Have a seat, guys.”

  “Thank you, Chander,” Gavrael said as he took one of the two guest chairs. Gedeon grabbed the other. When they were both seated, Chander sat as well.

  “What can I do for you?”

  “We have been speaking with Reverent Knight Conley,” Gavrael explained. “And he came up with an idea which may help sentinels.”

  “What did he suggest for our people?” Benton asked.

  “He proposed we ask Alaric to come here,” Gedeon answered. “He could petition the Council of Sorcery and Shifters to make the sentinels an official race with voting rights.”

  “Have you spoken with Alaric?” Benton asked.

  “We did,” Gavrael stated. “He is willing to come here if it can benefit the sentinels.”

  Chander sighed. “I can’t promise it will. The elders aren’t interested in the sentinels. The Order of Necromancia isn’t going to be able to do anything to help.”

  “Is it possible to become an official race without the Order of Necromancia?” Gedeon asked.

  “If your leader—Lich Sentinel is his title, right?” Chander asked and received three nods in response. “If the Lich Sentinel can get some important races to help sponsor the sentinels and lay the groundwork then yes, I think you can do it without the Order of Necromancia. If my people could help it would go much faster, but my hands are tied.”

  “Don’t worry, we understand, if you could help you would,” Gedeon replied. “We don’t hold it against you—we just want to be able to help ourselves. If we were a part of the Council, it would open up a great deal of opportunities for us.”

  “You’re right,” Chander agreed. “You could apply for aid which would allow you to provide housing and other things necessary to facilitate the sentinels outside of your compound. You may need to get the Council to pass a law forcing the necromancers to summon their sentinels because I don’t know how many will volunteer to bring them here on a permanent basis. I can’t give you any idea of the likelihood of such a law succeeding though.”

  “I figured that,” Gedeon said. “We know you’ve tried to lead by example with Benton and Baxter sharing their time here, but no one has adopted the same practice.”

  “Ugh, do you have to say his name?” Benton asked.

  Chander gave him a bored look. “You really need to get over your issue with Bax.”

  “Baxter is a good sentinel,” Gavrael stated.

  “I like you, Gavrael,” Benton said. “So I’m not going to argue with you.”

  “Do you have a place for your Lich Sentinel to stay while he is here?” Chander asked.

  “He says he won’t need one,” Gedeon explained. “He’s not planning on staying here. Alaric will return to the compound when he’s not working on our Council goals.”

  “I guess all you need from me then is to summon him,” Chander replied with a smile as he pushed up his glasses.

  “Actually, no,” Gavrael stated. “He says he can come and go from the compound whenever he wants since he does not have a necromancer.”

  Chander’s eyebrows rose toward his frizzy hairline. “I didn’t know that was possible.”

  “Neither did I,” Gavrael remarked.

  “All right,” Chander said. “Is there anything you need from me?”

  “Perhaps you could introduce him to the Emperor?” Gedeon asked.

  “You guys are the ones who live at a dragon court,” Chander noted with a chuckle. “Shouldn’t you be the ones introducing him to our Council leader?”

  “Emperor Chrysander is a friend to Court D’Vaire,” Gavrael said. “But we want Alaric to feel confident the Arch Lich is willing to help even if the Order of Necromancia is not.”

  “Gavrael, you should be in politics,” Chander observed. “I’d be happy to escort the Lich Sentinel to meet Chrys. Just send me a text when everything is set up. I’d prefer if he met me at the Office of the Emperor though. Otherwise I’m going to have to explain what the Lich Sentinel is doing here to the elder council, and I want to avoid that as long as possible. Once Chrys is on board, it will be difficult for the elders to try and dig their heels in on this.”

  “We were thinking we’d have Alaric come to D’Vaire, and Dra’Kaedan could go with him to visit His Majesty,” Gedeon explained.

  “You’re both turning out to be pretty savvy about this,” Chander remarked. “Flanked by the Grand Warlock. Chrys will know right away the sentinels are serious about this plan.”

  “We’d like to invite the Reverent Knights to be a part of the meeting as well, but we wanted to check with you before we add them,” Gedeon said. “I know you’re not on the best of terms.”

  Chander pressed his lips together. He didn’t want to be anywhere near the Reverent Knights. It wasn’t fair to force them to be in his company, but he wasn’t going to do anything to put a wrench in the sentinels’ plan to find some level of independence. “You can speak to them about it. But I can’t guarantee they’ll want to be in the same room as me.”

  “They haven’t had any sharp words to say about you when visiting D’Vaire,” Gedeon informed him. “But if you prefer them not to be included, we can forgo the invitation. We really feel like the most important thing is that you’re there with the Lich Sentinel. We only thought about adding them since the idea was originally Reverent Knight Conley’s.”

  “No, I’ll go no matter what,” Chander replied. “Invite them. Reverent Knight Conley deserves to be recognized for his contribution and with all of us there, we would be showing a united front of necromancers and both resurrected races.”

  Gavrael stood. “Thank you for your time, Chander.”

  “Thanks for coming to speak with me about this,” Chander said. “The sentinels are going to be very grateful for all you’re doing to aid them.”

  “We have done very little,” Gavrael argued before he and Gedeon stepped out to head back to their home at Court D�
�Vaire.

  “You about turned green when he said the words Reverent Knight,” Benton remarked after they were gone.

  Chander decided he was tired of explaining to both of his sentinels about his feelings toward the Reverent Knights, so he remained silent. He wanted the leaders of the fallen knights to be happy. Chander was devastated to lose his friendship with Drystan, and he would have liked to call Conley friend as well, but that was simply asking too much after all he had done to the pair. He wasn’t proud of his actions in deciding they should be separated. His sentinels argued he’d only been seventeen when he had suggested keeping them apart. Chander’s idea had been to force Drystan to be alone for a century so he wouldn’t bind his blood with Conley’s and remember their previous lives. They’d both been murdered and he had feared they would become hell-bent on retribution instead of seeing to the defense of the Council as he’d resurrected them to do. Something which seemed ridiculous to him now; over the centuries he’d concluded that all permanently resurrected people—that came from his spell for fallen knights or the one which created the sentinels—were incorruptible.

  As it turned out, it hadn’t been a single century, it’d been more than six since he’d made the deal with Arch Wizard Egidius, and he’d turned out to be a world-class asshole who had held Conley’s body hostage. While he’d been unaware of the wizard’s awful personality flaws, it had still been Chander’s suggestion to tear apart two mates, and it was something he would never forgive himself for. It was one of the main reasons he knew he was undeserving of one himself and didn’t want one.

  Chander had no idea how a relationship worked, and he didn’t want to know. From the moment of his birth, he’d been forced to become the Arch Lich. Fate had done that to him. He hoped she would listen when he begged her not to match him up with the other half of his soul. The part he did have was swimming in guilt and remorse. Hardly a suitable place for love to grow from and he could not bear the idea of having a mate who was nothing more than another person to add to the pile of people he’d let down in his over six and a half centuries of life. All he wanted to do was study magic and do what he could to help necromancers and the Council he’d once ruled. Nothing else mattered.