Dreamwalker's Bride - Chapter 82

Chapter 82: A quick meeting
Trace moved quickly down the hallway and stopped before the familiar door. Rapping twice on its frame, he waited for the instruction to enter.

Sanders was in his chair, staring out his window with a deep expression of concern.

“Good Morning,” Trace greeted flatly.

The older man’s eyes slid towards him before he responded, standing. “Ah, Trace. No doubt you have come to inquire about the magic user the princess requested. I believe I may have found one that will suit her needs, but of course she has the final say. Let me retrieve my notes on the person’s talents. You can take them and show them to the princess for her perusal, I know how exacting she can be so I made sure to…”

Sanders began pushing through the papers on his desk with a look of deep concentration.

“That’s not entirely why I’m here,” Trace glanced around.

“I cannot discuss anything else right now, I’m afraid,” Sanders told him, looking up into Trace’s eyes only briefly, with a warning in them. “I simply haven’t the time to talk of anything other than my direct duties given by the monarchy.”

“You were sitting in a chair staring out the window,” Trace pointed out, ignoring the warning. If Sanders thought he could get out of sharing more information, he was sorely mistaken. The ball was in just a few days and there was little time to get out of the predicament he was in. He had planned to wait until tonight and visit Sanders’ dreams again, but if he could find out more now, that would save so much time, and he might learn something he could use immediately.

“Deceptively sedentary,” Sanders shook his head. “My mind does the work, and it must have quiet. Please go, perhaps we can meet at some later date and discuss whatever it was you wanted to go through–”

“I need answers about some things,” Trace resisted Sanders’ efforts to urge him out the door.

“I assure you, I can’t give you any answers outside of my duties to the crown–” The older man seemed frazzled, and Trace paused.

“Are you saying you are unable to or unwilling to?” He asked softly. The corner of Sanders’ eyes tightened, and the door that Trace had left open suddenly closed.

“I was afraid of this, Trace,” A voice said from behind them. “I had hoped you would cooperate willingly, but after your half-hearted efforts at following instructions during the war, I knew this was a risk.”

Trace’s stomach clenched, and he turned. The light glinted off of a ring on the man’s unfolded hands: A wolf, inlaid deep, with a snake around its feet. Trace lifted his gaze to look straight into Count Oakdown’s eyes.

“You,” He swallowed. “It was always you?”

“That’s what I like about you, Trace. So trusting. So… innocent,” The lord’s eyes twinkled. “If only you weren’t also abominably honorable and curious. Couldn’t you have just done your job?”

“I have done it,” Trace frowned. “I’ve done everything your letters instructed, from the beginning.”

“And so you shall continue to do what my letters instruct, without attempting to thwart my plans or inform anyone about my orders, my past actions, my identity, or my goals,” Lord Oakdown’s voice dropped two octaves, and Trace felt a physical pressure pushing him down. Sanders was quiet across the room.

The feeling was suffocating, like having your head held under a thick quilt with weight on top of your chest as you struggle towards fresh air. Trace gasped under it, but stayed on his feet and protested.

“I don’t even know your goals. I have no idea what you ultimately want. The throne? Are you the one that will wear green and yellow? Marry the princess and try to become the next king?”

“You think too small, Trace,” Oakdown shook his head. “It’s disheartening, but predictable.”

The weighty feeling lessened as the conversation continued, but Trace felt like a mark had been placed on his soul, restricting his ability to choose his actions. He glanced at Sanders, who was looking down.

“You don’t seem that surprised by my power,” The lord noted calmly, with a withering glance at the older magic-user in the corner, “but as we are all three of the same kind, there need be no animosity between us.”

“You threatened my family. My secret, my wife and her sister.” Trace reminded him, “I’m not sure how you think there would be no ill feelings.”

Oakdown sighed heavily and shook his head. “I see there will be no convincing you. Your father-in-law was like that, did you know? He thought my plans were ridiculous, and made me use my power to control him… but it’s so draining. Do you feel that with your dreams? The exhaustion that comes from using your power too much?”

Trace hesitated, then nodded slowly. Oakdown brightened.

“Then you understand how frustrating it can be to have someone push you, resist you… In the end, it was his downfall. I suppose your wife told you all that, or perhaps not? Did you sneak her into the palace somewhere or did she run away from you?” Oakdown asked the question lightly, but Trace was a little shocked at such a gap in the information Oakdown had. He’d begun to think of his blackmailer as borderline omniscient.

Trace glanced at Sanders, who was still intently focused on the floor. The man must know, from watching Trace dream, that Trace’s wife was here. It was impossible for him not to have put it together, but he’d found a way to keep that from the lord.

“That’s none of your concern,” Trace chose not to lie, since he was rather bad at it, generally speaking. Still, there was pain in his voice.

“Hm. I could compel you to tell me, but that exhaustion, you know. I can only do so much, and Sanders tries to get around me constantly. If he weren’t so useful I’d have gotten rid of him long ago.” Oakdown whispered the last part as if it were some great joke. A secret.

“What did you do to my father in law?” Trace frowned. Anaisa had said her father was dead and that Barnabas was responsible. What had he done?

“Ha! So she didn’t tell you anything!” Oakdown crowed. “Poor orphan. I compelled her father to confess himself a fake and a traitor. It took almost all my power to do it, but he was resisting so much, it was easier to be rid of him… Anyway, you see that opposing me will only end in your horrible death. I’m sure you’ll cooperate fully with me now.”