The Last Seers: The Last Seers, #1

By Lisa Hall-Wilson

Edric's always done the right thing, worked hard, and put other's needs before himself. And then the confirmed bachelor falls for Aralyn. Their joining wouldn't be proper, would break tradition and put old friendships at risk. But duty still calls. He's charged with protecting the Seers—their supernatural gifts his people's last defense against an enemy that can't be killed by sword or fire. And the last Seers are being hunted into extinction. How much is he willing to sacrifice to make her his own?

Tavia is a lethal assassin, a House Keeper, and her parentage has forced her to straddle two worlds. She longs to fight for those she loves, for those who can't fight for themselves, but she can't win on her own. Will she let down her guard for the man fighting for her heart?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lisa Hall-Wilson
• Release date: Jul 6, 2018
• ISBN: 9780995323810

Book preview

Chapter 1

He regretted nothing. Edric’s fingertips skimmed across the delicate skin on her bare shoulder, across the valley of her waist, up over the mound of her hip, across the birthmark he couldn’t see, and down to her knee. He kissed her shoulder. Her skin was softer than the flesh of a peach. In the pitch black of the vacant house, the lavender she used in her hair imprinted forever on his brain.

What are you thinking about? Aralyn turned towards him.

A home, a beautiful wife who loves me, a family and time to spend with them. Peace.

That’s a nice dream.

What do you wish for?

I want everything you spoke of and more, but I am tired of dreaming about things that will never happen. She sat up and leaned back on her arms, her skin the color of cream in the narrow shaft of dawn creeping in around a crack in the door. This is all we’ll ever have, these stolen moments in the dark.

She was a precious jewel intended for a rich man to possess, not him. At home, he’d have held open doors for her, stood guard outside. They wouldn’t be friends, they wouldn’t speak or exchange anything but a polite smile or gesture of thanks. But neither of them had grown up with what they’d been born to. Do you love me?

Of course. Do you doubt it?

"I know it to be riht, but you’ve never said it."

Do the words matter? Her voice grew quiet. Once I say them, I won’t be able to pretend those feelings don’t exist. And then Da will send me to another’s bed and I have to live with that. I can’t do it.

Say it because it’s true. He kissed the tender skin on the inside of her wrist. His lips found the thin raised scars there. Because you don’t want another.

Don’t. She twisted her wrist out of his grasp.

You have nothing to be ashamed of. These scars brought us together. He stretched out her arm again and she didn’t resist. He kissed the inside of her wrist, running his tongue over the thin crisscrossing knife scars. You are a warrior. You faced death and walked away from the battle. This is proof that you are strong.

Strong? They’re proof I’d given up.

You chose life not knowing how any of that would turn out. That’s one of the bravest things a person can do. He released her wrist. Say it because you have hope.

Aralyn pushed her fingers through his hair. I will always love you.

Tears welled up in his eyes but he blinked them away. The words mattered, but she spoke as though they would inevitably be parted. Marry me.

My father will never let us marry.

Edric sat up and pulled her into his lap, pressing kisses to her neck and bare shoulder. What Ulrik wants doesn’t matter. There was so much she didn’t know. Her face was like a pane of glass, her every thought transparent. He couldn’t risk having his plans discovered.

I can’t do this anymore. She pushed against his chest and moved into the dark.

It’s all true. Everything I promised you. It’ll happen. I just need a little more time.

She didn’t answer. She could move in the dark like a cat.

Have I ever lied to you? Edric reached for her but found only air. He straightened and cracked his head off the underside of the table. He cursed under his breath. I know how this must sound, but I have to leave town for a day. I will be back by morning at the latest. Sooner I hope.

He groped on the floor and found his pants. He felt for the laces to identify the front and rammed his legs into the holes. Aralyn said nothing and she was right not to believe him. Her life was miserable and all he’d done is make promises because he was afraid to take her away from Ijon. Her real father would never consent to her marrying an orphan. He lost his balance and hit the floor.

Take me with you this time.

Her voice ripped a bloody gash in his heart. He was beyond selfish and she still loved him. He stood and finished tying the laces on his pants. He cast about with his hands and found his shirt. He had done his duty well for many years. Why couldn’t they be together, he could provide a good life for Aralyn. He could reason with Barric. It is a short trip. I am faster on my own.

She lifted his arm and came around to his front, sliding her hands across his belly and ribs. If you insist on speaking of dreams, I insist on knowing when you will make them happen.

Trust me just a little longer.

Her arms loosened around him and she let space fall between them.

He couldn’t lose her. Words tumbled from his lips. Tonight. Could he manage that? There was so much to sort out, but he wouldn’t take it back. He’d tear out his own eyes before he broke her heart. He’d just have to figure something out if things didn’t go as he hoped with Barric today.

She pressed her forehead against his chest. Promise?

He put his arms around her. Yes, today is your last day in Ijon. I swear it.

She stepped back and ran her hands down his arm until she found his fingers. She tugged him towards the crack of light coming in from around the door. The sun was already up. I shall pack.

He shifted her back into the dark. No, you must carry on like everything is normal. Ulrik can’t suspect anything. Or your mother.

How do I do that? She bounced on her toes and giggled. She threw her arms around his neck. Can I tell Tavia? Maybe she could come with us? She talks endlessly of leaving Ijon and living with the Remnant across the river.

Tavia can’t come with us. She doesn’t have the mark. His hands roamed Aralyn’s body, memorizing every curve and soft swell. He held her face in his palms. Marry me? Have my sons. Let me take care of you.

Only if you take me away from this wretched city.

He couldn’t keep the grin from his face. Done. Hope was a powerful thing indeed.

Chapter 2

The sun glared down at him as though it censured every step. Edric slowed his descent down the backside of the ridge by grabbing saplings and hugging tree trunks. He paused and lifted his water skin to his lips. The cool liquid slid down his throat. He gave his face a vigorous rub. There were easier ways down the ridge, why had he chosen this one?

Aralyn’s smiling face came to mind. He recalled the feel of her body against his, her tentative touch, and the arch of her back. He shook his head. Shouldn’t have let it go that far. What would Cilix say?

Didn’t matter what his father had done. He was his own man. He wouldn’t abandon Aralyn or any children they may have. But if Barric discovered their tryst—it wasn’t a tryst. She’d agreed to marry him. All that stood in his way was Barric’s love affair with tradition.

Edric cleared his throat. Courage, man. She loves you. You’ve already accomplished the impossible.

He continued down the slope and swatted at a mosquito buzzing around his ear. Instead of her Watcher, he’d be her husband. She didn’t need a wordsmithing, pen-wielding, focused-on-making-money politician. She needed a skilled soldier for a husband, someone strong enough to keep her safe.

Sounded good.

The trees thinned and mossy soil gave way to loose shale and rocks. He took another step and his foot slid on the scree. He went down to one knee and lunged for a sapling to stop his fall. His fingers curled around the thin trunk and his palm ripped open. He pulled himself to his feet. His knee and shin stung. Breathing hard, his heart thumping like a frightened rabbit’s foot, he straightened. These summons to clandestine meetings had to stop.

The various scrapes clamored for his full attention in a cacophonous pounding throb, but his training kicked in and the distraction lessened. He tore off a strip of fabric from the bottom of his tunic and wrapped his hand to stop the bleeding.

Barric had to say yes, because Edric wouldn’t break his promise to Aralyn.

He reached the river and headed south. A raven squawked out a warning. The reek of rotting greenery and stagnant water filled his nose and he used his hand as a shield from the wretched odor. Cold water seeped into his boots and squished between his toes.

Why did they have to meet in a swamp? Fifteen years of watching Aralyn, making the trek over the ridge for these meetings, this is not why he chose to be a soldier or agreed to the post of keeping the seers safe.

Barric sat on a log with a bow slung over his shoulder, his back to the river. Edric spied a stump and sat. None of his training had prepared him on how to ask a man to give away his daughter. The wood under him sagged from rot, but held his weight after a moment.

He stretched out his legs, his muscles pulsed after his hasty climb over the ridge. "Why do we have to meet here? The stenc would chase away a buzzard from a fresh corpse. What news from Sousterre? Are all my charges well?"

Barric sat and stared straight ahead. He didn’t look up at Edric’s greeting and kept his hood pulled down over his hair.

You all right?

Barric drank deep from a wine skin. They’re all dead.

A red hot pain shot across Edric’s bottom. He leaped from the log. The wood was infested with red ants. He brushed any trace of the biting beggars from his pants and smacked at the one that got up inside his sleeve. Who’s dead?

All of them. Barric sucked in a breath. He gripped his wine skin and took a long swallow. My family. I am all that’s left.

What are you talking about? That’s impossible. He’d ensured they were all secure. He had alternate locations to run to if they were threatened. He’d planned escape routes and early warnings. They’re all hidden. No one knows where they all are.

Barric took another swallow. Yet, they are gone.

Edric stared. He couldn’t recall the last time Barric had tossed anything back like that, smelled like a fruit wine.

Barric tipped up the skin to his lips again. He sliced the air with his hand. Gone.

Dead? Questions clouded his mind like a child stirring a mud puddle. He looked at Barric, his eyes welling up. What? I don’t…

Barric took a long draft. When the elders sent my supplies, I was told the news. Wolves broke through the gates. Happened on the same night in every city. He turned to stare at Edric. Even Kella and the old ones—they’re all dead. Barric took another swallow and winced as the wine burned down his throat. I am summoned home. Immediately. You also.

Edric’s thoughts darted in one direction and then another like a startled flock of pigeons. They were gone? Kella was gone? His chest ached. How?

That’s what I was going to ask you.

His throat tightened. What are you saying?

If you were the only one who knew where they were, and the wolves were able to find them all, how did that happen?

If it was me, why haven’t the wolves found you also? You are the last male... The faces of those who were gone flashed through his mind. His throat closed and his gut clenched. How?

Barric pushed his hood back and tipped the wineskin to his lips and then shook it. He swished the skin near his ear and then tossed it into the bush. Where is my daughter?

Aralyn. Edric reached for his throat and then relaxed. She’s safe. You’re sure they’re dead? They were all trained how to hide—

I’m sure.

All of the seers gone. He straightened. The book. Where is that book I asked you to hide?

What book?

The leather-bound journal with your family’s crest on the cover. I gave it to you to hide before we left Sousterre. What did you do with it? I recorded everything there, all the current hiding places, backup locations, escape routes, names and ages—everything, in case something happened to me.

Barric stared at the ground and shook his head while he thought. Then his spine stiffened and his eyes widened. I put it on the bookshelf in my father’s study. I didn’t know it was that important.

Then it was found and we are betrayed from within.

Why would one of my family betray their own? Betray me?

The enemy wants your family dead. Everyone has a price if they have a reason for betrayal. That’s why I hid the book to begin with. Granted, I didn’t expect to hide the information this long. And you have been away long enough for others to think they can step into your place.

Barric continued to sit. He didn’t pace or even stand. Only a few had access to that bookshelf.

Like your sister? No love lost there.

Barric cleared his throat seeming to end that line of discussion. You have to get Aralyn out—tonight.

Chapter 3

Everything had changed. All of Edric’s rehearsed logic to justify Barric blessing his marriage to Aralyn meant nothing. The only safe place for you and Aralyn is at home.

Kella and the old ones weren’t safe there. The secret cities are no longer secret. Barric stabbed the ground at his feet with a stray stick. It’s a week’s ride to Sousterre from here.

Barric looked at him, his eyes had the glossy distance brought on by alcohol. There is no village, no city, safe for our people even on our side of the river. We are hunted from every direction but the sea.

Edric’s reasoning wasn’t getting through, so he changed arguments. Our fathers made sure we knew all of the old paths and tunnels. Those were not recorded any where. You and I may be the only ones who can get her home.

Has her gift shown itself yet?

Edric paused, putting aside all of the knowledge gained through conversation and close observation. What would he have surmised only from a distance? Not that I’ve seen.

That’s odd. Barric was quiet for a moment. How does she fare?

You mean Felora? You still won’t say her name? What did he say? Felora still shared the bed of the War Man, Ulrik. She still fought for the lord of Ijon as a House Keeper. She still neglected Arah and did nothing to stop Ulrik’s abuse of her or her daughters. Nothing’s changed.

I dreamed of her last night. Barric stared up at the sky. No, not a dream. Something more. Maybe. I don’t know. That’s why I summoned you. I was… He drew in a deep breath. Doesn’t matter now. Barric shook his head as though he cleared his thoughts with the movement. Bring Aralyn here. Find… His voice cracked. Find her mother and warn her.

Warn Felora that I’m taking Aralyn? Edric jabbed the air in the direction of Ijon. That’s suicide.

Warn her of what’s coming. For me.

Edric’s brows shot up. Barric had run out of favors a long time ago. I think that whatever duty or love—I don’t know—that’s kept us here and Aralyn in the city, is done.

This was the Purge spoken of in the scrolls. It has to be. Barric pushed the hood back from his face, his voice becoming clearer. War is at our doorstep and I would see her have one last chance to choose a side.

Choose him, is what Barric meant. Choose their people. Felora made her choice, years ago. Leave her to it. She is not bound or chained, she could leave at her will and yet she stays. Your loyalty to that woman is beyond all fathom.

Barric’s voice changed, the anguished tone overlaid with a hard edge. She is still my wife. You will warn her because I ask it of you.

A direct order? Edric clamped down on his tongue. He had what he wanted. The marsh stretched out for a good ways, but the reeds were too tall for his liking. A small splash sounded to his left. A frog? You should return across the river. It’s not safe here.

A splash, closer, sounded to the right. Too big for a frog. Edric froze.

Barric reached for an arrow and stood. What is it?

Edric held a finger to his lips and pointed towards the sound. Barric stared in the direction Edric pointed and readied his bow.

The splash came again. Louder. Closer. Edric reached for the sword at his belt and found the handle. Two large splashes and a black-gray blur to the right. Wolves!

Barric leaped to the left and landed elbows first in the muck. The wolf landed where Barric had been standing. It spun and Edric put himself between Barric and the beast.

The wolf stood more than waist high on all fours. What’s this? The canine lips snarled. A Watcher and the last seer?

Was it alone? They usually traveled alone, but the last few times they’d met Barric had mentioned seeing them in packs. Just like Felora had warned all those years ago. Edric spoke to Barric over his shoulder. Move toward the river.

The wolf followed them, its red eyes glowed as if lit from within the beast’s skull. Small splashes sounded to the right and left. Even the frogs knew evil when it showed up.

Edric’s feet sank into the mud and the water rose to his knees. Each step became treacherous and unsure. The wolf stopped following them where the river met the edge of the swamp.

It lifted one paw and shook the mud from its pads. What’s this I hear about a daughter? In the city?

That wolf had to die. Edric took a step forward. He left Barric thigh-deep in the water.

The beast’s snarl turned to a canine snicker. Want to play, Watcher?

An arrow sailed past Edric’s ear. The shaft lodged in the wolf’s chest and the animal dropped. Edric twisted. Barric had another arrow notched and let it fly. The shaft pierced the beast’s rib cage, but the wolf made no whimper. The effects of the wine must have worn off.

Barric notched another arrow and pointed it at the dead wolf. It couldn’t be allowed to tell the others about Aralyn.

Edric slogged through the muck back to the fire. He prodded the corpse with a toe. It’s dead.

Good. Barric lowered his bow.

Edric put a foot on the shoulder of the wolf and with three strikes the head was off. He lobbed the head—eyes still wide open and maw gaping, into the river. One wolf that won’t rise again. He turned back to Barric. You want the tail?

Barric shook his head.

"You earned