Rise of the Legion Read online

  This is a work of fiction. The characters and events portrayed in this book are products of the author’s imagination.

  RISE OF THE LEGION

  No part of this book may be sold or reproduced in any form without permission from the author.

  Cover art illustration:

  Jenna Pearson - @jemlin_c

  Written in New Zealand

  Copyright © 2021 Chloe Cullen

  All rights reserved.

  ISBN: 9798701238983 (Paperback)

  ISBN: 9780473564780 (Hardback)

  For my husband Thomas, who supports all my dreams

  1

  Cori had been working at the Weary Fairy Bar for almost two years and would swear that she had seen nearly everything possible occur in the establishment. Her first night, a man had slathered himself in lard and attempted to slide across the entire bar – in an attempt to win a bet – and he would have won, too, if not for the spilled flaming shot two thirds of the way down. He promptly caught fire and had to roll around on the ground to put the flames out. Then there was the day they had tried selling ‘limited edition’ savoury bread rolls, and a raucous fight had broken out over the last one, which was proof that no one can have nice things. Here, a handful of brawls meant a slow day, and no one would ever take fully intact kitchenware for granted by the end of a shift. Yet amongst all the chaos, Cori could say she enjoyed working there. Next to what her life used to be, the unexpected and madness and the strange owners and patrons were a welcome change, with a new family to enjoy it with.

  By now, she knew the regulars, and would greet each of them with her well-practiced cheeriest smile while they were sober, and would relish kicking them out when they were too drunk to stand any longer.

  Each of her days working at the bar in the East Markets of Everton were more or less the same, and Cori considered that a blessing.

  What she didn’t know was that today was going to be different. Very different.

  Cori did not expect a member of the Legion to stroll into the bar and casually sit down at one of the defaced pine tables in her section. She had chosen this area of Everton specifically because even though she remained in Holmfirth’s capital, it was still a poorer area that had never been teeming with Legionnaires.

  The East Markets were a sprawling mess of streets, shops, apartments and most importantly there were many places to stop for hot food and a cold drink. The area was awash with merchants making their daily attempts to sell their wares, the most successful of which were those on the docks, selling seafood or cabins on their ships. The docks in the East Markets could take you anywhere in Holmfirth. This was part of the reason why Cori had come here, the nearness to the sea and the access to the ships if she needed. It was a messy, poor, and sometimes dangerous part of the city, but Cori had never been afraid. At least not of the drunken men looking for a warm bed, or the thieves slinking about in the shadows. Cori had been afraid that the Legion would come for her one day. Evading the Legion had been the only goal she could focus on for the past two years.

  She knew that the Legion rarely concerned themselves with petty brawls in a lowly establishment like the Weary Fairy, so Cori had felt safe in the knowledge that they would not find her, that she could continue living her life without them. The Legion tended to be more prominent in the Royal Quarter, near the Palace and the Legion Compound, which if you headed directly north, was over an hour away by carriage ride. This was what Cori considered as one of the upsides to working in such a ramshackle pub in this part of the city. She never thought she’d see the day where the Legion would come in for a drink and discover she was there.

  But Cori had been a fool, convincing herself in thinking they hadn’t already known exactly where she was.

  That day had started so normally, waking to the sounds of the carriage stalls rolling down the cobbled streets, and the sounds of the horse hooves clopping on the stones and whinnying into the crisp, morning air. It had become one of Cori’s favourite sounds. There was a small comfort that she cherished about knowing the area and its habits.

  That morning, she had bathed and dressed, springing around her small one-storied rented apartment before she headed off to the bar to start for the day. Cori always stopped at the first fruit stall and exchanged a copper coin for a fresh piece of fruit. At this time of year, it was a crisp apple, which she enjoyed on the short stroll to the bar. The early morning air was a cool breeze over her skin, the smell of the ocean like a drug as she inhaled. She never realised how much she loved the ocean until she lived right next to it.

  Everything Cori had in her life now was vastly different from her old life. And in many small ways, she loved it. There were moments of nostalgia where she missed what she used to have, and who she used to be, but they passed when she remembered why she’d left.

  The remainder of the morning had passed by somewhat uneventfully. It usually didn’t get rowdy until after the midday quiet periods. She exchanged some words with her grumpy, yet lovable boss: Maud, who was a large, brutish man who Cori had been amused to find had a soft spot for each one of his employees. Cori knew that people had a lot to say about Maud, sometimes not at all that kind, but she’d come to learn that he had a good heart behind his rough exterior.

  Cori’s favourite person also worked with her at the bar, and she had become her partner in serving, cleaning tables, and witty banter. Adeline.

  Adeline had been working at the Weary Fairy before Cori had started. When Cori had first approached Maud to ask for a job and was trying to hide her desperation, it was Adeline that encouraged him to hire her, telling him that there was “something I like about this one!” That had been the start of her new life. Adeline promptly took Cori under her wing and found her the apartment that Cori had been able to rent. Adeline got it for lower price than Cori knew was possible, even in the East Markets. She never would have made it without Adeline, and Cori wasn’t sure she would ever be able to repay her for that.

  Together, Cori and Adeline had served the morning patrons and had taken up their cleaning duties before the lunch rush came in.

  “Alright, alright… give me a minute! Today’s guess has to be my favourite so far, but I want to word it right,” Adeline exclaimed while she repositioned a chair to get a broom under the table. It was just past midday, and the bar currently only had one customer, a rather lovely old man who was already six ales deep and slurring his words while requesting a seventh, Maud moodily serving him with a frown on his face.

  Cori shifted the oil lamp across the tabletop she was wiping down and lifted a corner of her mouth at Adeline. “I can’t wait to hear this one.”

  Adeline rolled her eyes but smiled. She was always smiling and looked damn good doing it. Adeline had to be one of the prettiest girls Cori had ever met with her tall, willowy frame and long black hair. Cori would never want any of the constant attention that Adeline got from the male patrons, but she still did envy the girl with her natural looks and the way she moved so gracefully.

  Cori was average height, but she felt short next to Adeline. She would almost consider her to be Adeline’s opposite with her curves where Adeline had little, and Cori’s blonde hair to her jet black.

  “Okay, so last night I had this epiphany, and I have a feeling I’m close this time.” Adeline propped the broom’s handle against the nearest table and came closer to Cori. “You were an educator up at the Royal Quarter, but the life of teaching others amongst the wealthy became cumbersome to you, so you opted for a simpler life with us lowly commoners.”

  Cori always had an easy grin for Adeline, but it slipped slightly at her words.

  It had become a kind of game for Adeline to make a daily guess at what Cori had done before she was a bar maid in the
East Markets.

  Adeline had asked about Cori’s life soon after they had first met. Cori had not been able to answer without lying. Cori was not ready to tell anyone about the before, but she had come to find it an amusing game with Adeline to hear her outlandish theories about Cori’s life before they had met. Yesterday she was a juggler for the rich houses down south in Lullin. Adeline had almost guessed the truth a few times, and Cori promptly steered her in a new direction.

  One of Adeline’s first questions to Cori was where she had been when the magic had disappeared. Cori had seen her face twist with sadness as she asked the question, so Cori had answered that honestly. She had been a young child barely walking, and so would never know if she would have become a Diviner or not. Adeline had nodded sadly to that and had told Cori she was descended from the God of Flame, Nixos. Adeline had confided that she had been five years old and was one of the few blessed with fire magic when it was suddenly ripped away from her. It was a brutal honesty that Adeline had shared.

  Twenty years ago, a person could become a Diviner if they were descended from one of the Gods. Cori had once read about how the magic could only connect to a ‘Godsblood’, someone who shared their divine blood. This was before a large portion of their books were destroyed recklessly by those who could not bear the loss of magic. Now there were hardly any books left, save for the few they had in the Legion’s library. But she had still read what she could growing up in the Legion Compound, absorbing knowledge about their history. The Gods and Goddesses had been a part of Holmfirth for over seven-hundred years. In that time, there had been many sons and daughters created with the mortals. Those born from the parentage of the Gods had been deemed a Godsblood, and many, but not all, had developed magic at an early age. They were the Diviners. The Godsblood each went on to have families of their own, who also had families of their own and so forth. Yet, even as the blood diluted more and more with mortal blood, some still became Diviners and developed their gifts, and then magic had become a normal part of Holmfirth’s society.

  But it was gone now, suddenly torn away for reasons still unknown. The dwelling the Gods had once called home, Vistellus, sat on top of the inaccessible mountain near the capital and was empty for all anyone knew. No mortal had ever seen the inside of the home atop the mountain, although many had tried. And no one had heard from the Gods since the day the magic died. They were just… gone.

  Telling Adeline that she had not been old enough to have developed any magic, was about the only thing she had told her that was the truth. Cori kept the rest of her past to herself.

  And so, Cori continued to hide the truth from her, especially during their guessing game. Today, Adeline was wrong with her guess, but she had used to live and work in the Royal Quarter. If Adeline knew the truth about Cori, there would be many more questions, which she would not be able to answer without putting herself at risk. Cori forced her usual grin with a hint of arrogance. “Ade, you were closer when you thought I was one of those people who empty the puke buckets on trading ships.”

  Adeline somehow laughed and sighed at the same time. “Fine, but one of these days, I’m going to guess correctly, and you better tell me.”

  Picking up the broom, Adeline moved on to the next section and began sweeping again. Maybe one day Cori might be able to tell Adeline the truth, but today it was still too hard. The life-altering truth still haunted her, two years later, no matter how hard she denied her past and tried to run away from it.

  Cori stared down at the rag in her hands for a moment, and even though she begged her brain not to, it conjured up the image of her hands that had once been coated in dark, sticky blood. She could see it like it was still there, like the blood had never been wiped clean from her fingers. She watched in horror as a line of thick, warm blood ran down the side of her palm and dripped to the floor. A choking feeling clogged in her throat, and she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.

  Cori blinked hard, willing the vision away, and when she opened her eyes, she realised it was not blood that had fallen to the floor, but the rag she had been holding. She forced in a deep breath and bent to the floor to retrieve the rag. Cori shoved those haunting thoughts deep within her and continued with her cleaning of the tabletops, a slick sweat still on her palms.

  “Oh. My. Gods.” Cori heard Adeline whisper from behind her a few minutes later. Cori turned to see her staring wide eyed as someone entered the bar. “That man is… divine!”

  Cori didn’t bother looking up at her words but snorted. “You think that about every man, or woman for that matter, who doesn’t have any major limbs missing.”

  “Yes, but… he is very good-looking,” Adeline said dreamily before Cori heard her emit a dramatic sigh, “and of course, he’s sitting in your section. Of all the luck…”

  With a last wipe over the top of the table, Cori started towards the next one with a faint smile on her face. It had taken a long time for Cori to start smiling again after she’d left her old life behind, but Adeline made the task easier. “Why don’t you cover me? I have my hands full here.”

  “You don’t have to ask me twice.” Adeline placed the broom down and sauntered away.

  Cori watched with an amused expression as Adeline put on the full sway of her hips and walked over towards the man now sitting in one of the corner booths. Cori found herself wishing she had some of Ade’s confidence, watching as she placed two hands on the table and leaned in, probably giving the man a rather nice view down her flowing blouse.

  Cori turned her eyes to the poor man, only to have her heart jump inside her chest. The man’s eyes were on Cori, staring intently at her. And she knew him.

  ***

  Adeline walked away from the table, having taken his order.

  Keeping eye contact with him, Cori summoned every ounce of strength within and cocked her head to the side, allowing a half grin to pull at her lips that she didn’t feel at all. With effort, she walked towards the man, twirling the rag in her hand as though she didn’t have a care in the world, even though her stomach was churning, her heart pounding more forcefully with every step toward him.

  “Thoren,” Cori said as she reached the table, and in one swift move, she slid into the seat opposite him, “what brings you into my part of the neighbourhood?”

  “Your part of the neighbourhood?” Thoren leaned forward, resting his arms on the wooden table top that Cori had only just cleaned. He looked the same as Cori had last seen him, though a little older, and his once leaner body had filled out significantly. But Thoren still had the same silver-grey eyes, thick brown hair and strong jawline, which he now used to smirk at her. “How quickly you forget.”

  She wouldn’t let herself show the emotion that was swirling inside her with his presence. He was a physical reminder of everything she had left behind. Even the grey of the tunic he wore with the five-pointed starburst insignia was enough to make Cori feel like she needed to bolt and vomit up the apple she had eaten earlier. She refused to look anywhere near his left wrist, knowing that the tattoo there would match the one on her own wrist, which was currently hidden underneath a piece of fabric tied around her wrist.

  In a voice laced with forced boredom, Cori said, “unfortunately, I forget nothing. What are you doing here?”

  Thoren leaned back, surprise followed with irritation crossing his features. “That’s kind of like a hello, only ruder. I bring you a summons from the Legion President.” Thoren unrolled a piece of parchment and read from it. “A summons for Corisande Oakheart to present herself to Maveron Swarbrik, President of the Legion, at her earliest convenience.”

  Cori forced her face to remain blank as Thoren placed the parchment down on the table between them, but she couldn’t stop the heavy swallow as a lump formed in her throat. She hadn’t spoken with anyone about the Legion in two years.

  Cori raised an eyebrow at him, praying her voice to not tremble. “Don’t you mean your father?”

  “Why does that matter?�
��

  “Just say it how it is, Thoren.” Cori watched as Thoren visibly clenched his jaw, his eyes narrowing at her slightly.

  Finally, after a moment of what Cori considered was some serious teeth grinding, Thoren spoke. “Yes, my father has summoned you to meet with him.”

  “And what does he want from me?” Cori leaned forward, trying to portray a semblance of the confidence that Adeline possessed. She desperately wanted to hide that inside, tendrils of emotion that she had long ago bottled up and stored away were starting to seep out.

  At that moment Adeline returned to the table, placing a glass of water in front of Thoren. She threw a strange glance at Cori, her eyebrows rising with a silent question.

  Cori smiled easily at her. “Thanks Ade, I’ll be back to help you in a moment.”

  “Alright,” Adeline replied slowly, and she glanced between the two of them questioningly before she moved away to pick up the broom that she had abandoned moments ago.

  Cori turned back to Thoren. “So?”

  Thoren sighed through his nose, a hand going to his water glass. “I don’t pretend to know why my father does anything, I’m not the President.”

  “Feeling a little left out, are we?” She leaned back in her booth seat and smirked lazily at him.

  Thoren was about to take a sip of his drink, the glass halfway to his mouth before his hand froze, and his stormy grey eyes flickered up to hers. Slowly, he lowered the glass back to the table, which didn’t even make a whisper of sound as he placed it down.

  Then he said quietly to her, “not as much as you are.”

  Cori looked at him sharply. “I’m doing just fine.”

  Thoren shook his head, like he didn’t believe her. “Why are you here, Cori?”

  “Why shouldn’t I be here?” she challenged him, genuinely curious as to what his answer would be.

  He looked around, perplexed. “A bar maid, Cori… really? You’re down here serving drinks, wiping tables and picking drunks up from the floor. Don’t you want more than that?”