Forbidden Journey

by Willa Hart

  Lord Regent Vlissimal is gone. He’s disappeared. All that remains on the beach are the two bonfires. The flames reach high into the sky. They burn, a blinding light. I gaze into the flames. In the center of the fire to my left is a face…Prince Leo! He is bound to a stake with fire raging around him! I look at the fire to my right…

  “NO!” I scream, “No, it cannot be! No!” I fight to stand, but my knees are weak, and I cannot get to my feet. My legs hurt; they burn with a horrible pain.

  “No, no, no!” I crawl up the beach through the wet sand and I pull myself up and look into the second fire and there in flames I see…

  My heart breaks and pain sears through me. Sarkany…my Sarkany…my beloved and my fated-mate is frozen in the flames of the second fire.

  I scream into the silence of the night.

  Meela… a voice calls into my mind again. Meela…please come to me. I huddle on the beach, awash in tears, unable to respond to the voice that calls my name.

  I no longer wish to live if Sarkany is not by my side.

  Chapter Eleven

  Taraz

  “I suggest that we use a poultice to apply the antidote,” Dr. Atta says. She pulls the bandage off Meela’s wound. No longer is the flesh black only around the edges of the gash, but now all of Meela’s flesh is turning black, following the lines that infiltrated Meela’s veins earlier in the week. “An injection would work faster.”

  “Then shouldn’t we inject her?” Jix asks. “To save her faster?”

  Dr. Atta glances from Jix’s excited face to mine. I share the concern that I see in Dr. Atta’s eyes.

  “The poultice would be better,” I say. “In case Meela has a negative reaction to the antidote.”

  “If the antidote fails,” Dr. Atta says, “I hope we still have enough time to save her.” Dr. Atta’s brows pull tight. “Of course the antidote could kill her too.”

  “We may kill her by trying to save her?” Jix asks.

  “But if we do nothing, she’ll die no matter what,” I say.

  The three of us look at Meela. Her color is ashen, and she barely breathes. The poultice has already soaked in the antidote and is ready to be applied to the gash.

  “I have your permission, then, Prince Taraz, to proceed?”

  Meela? Meela wake up, I beg one more time, praying to the Goddess that she hears my words and responds either by voice or mind. No sound. No thought. The weight of what I’m about to do weighs heavy on me. My brothers are likely dead by now, and with this poultice I may be killing my brother’s fated-mate. Is there any choice? To do nothing is to kill Meela as sure as the sun follows the moon.

  “Yes,” I nod. “You have my permission.”

  Dr. Atta picks up the poultice and spreads the entire cloth over the gash in Meela’s leg. Meela shifts on her bed and mumbles. No words that I can understand, but sound none the less coming from Sarkany’s fated-mate. Perhaps she will live. Perhaps I am in love.

  “It’s hurting her,” Jix calls out.

  She jerks and twists and grabs for her leg as though trying to pull the poultice from her wound. Sharalla and another Wolveskin guard step forward, and each grab one of Meela’s arms as Dr. Atta continues applying the poultice.

  Are they hurting Meela? I can’t be certain if the poultice is helping Meela or killing her. I send another mind-tendril to Meela. She’s still non-responsive. I can’t determine whether she’s in mental distress or not.

  “You have to stop,” Jix says. He turns to me, “Prince Roya, make them stop. She is in pain, she…she…” Jix’s eyes dart from me to Meela. “This can’t be good, the way she’s trying to pull it off.”

  Meela’s head is now rolling back and forth across the pillow, and the slight glistening that was on her face is now a steady drip down her face and her neck.

  This may be the only way to save her; to wait much longer could kill Meela.

  “It’s killing her,” Jix says. “I can feel it. I can see it.”

  I take a deep breath. Her reaction is severe but if we stop…

  “I’ve known Meela my entire life,” Jix says. “I can feel her emotions…I know how she feels.”

  My head whips around to look Jix in the eyes.

  “You can hear her thoughts? You can communicate by mind with Meela?” I ask.

  “No…No, sir, I’ve never been able to communicate by mind with Meela. But…” Jix drops his head and looks at the floor. He takes a deep breath then looks back up, into my eyes. “But I can tell what her feelings are without her telling me. I’ve been able feel her emotions for the last fifteen years.”

  I close my eyes. Such an admission if made in Ninaku or the Palace near Lord Vlissimal would get Jix killed, but Jix’s courage today may save our future Queen.

  “Please stop applying the poultice, Dr. Atta,” I say.

  She glances at me and then back to Meela. “You’re certain?” she asks.

  “Jix, are you sure of this? You know if we are wrong about removing the poultice, she may die.”

  Jix stares at me, then he closes his eyes and squints; his breathing quickens and he cringes as though in horrible pain. His eyelids pop open. “No, I’m sure. Please—” His gaze is panicked. “Please, take it off of her now. And we must wash the wound. Please…” He is nearly frantic.

  I glance from Jix to Meela to Dr. Atta. “Yes, I’m sure. I am not linked to her, but I trust Jix. I know he cares for Meela nearly as much as I do. Do as he says, take off the poultice.”

  Dr. Atta removes the poultice; she and her nurse start to irrigate the wound with water to rid as much of the antidote from Meela’s body as possible.

  At this moment, I realize this may be the first time I’ve taken orders from a Dreg. I look at Meela—who will become our Kingdom’s Queen—and realize that with her as our ruler, this will not be the final time I take an order from a Dreg.

  Dr. Atta and her nurse finish scrubbing and irrigating the wound. Meela is not better.

  Meela? The tendril I send into her mind receives no response…not quite death, but not even the bit of warmth I’ve been getting from Meela when I have reached out to her since we arrived from the hunting lodge. Nothing. Nothing at all. I am so tired of receiving nothing back from her. Jix sits on the other side of the bed. “Jix…can you try again to feel what she’s feeling?”

  I’m asking him to break the law, but I am quickly realizing that our laws are ridiculous and that I can no longer live in a kingdom that would so surreptitiously separate people based on little more than where they are born.

  He closes his eyes and grasps Meela’s hand a big tighter. “She is…at peace,” Jix says, and smiles. “A calm is within her…I don’t know why, but she is not anxious or afraid. It’s as though she is planning for a…a trip?” Jix opens his eyes. “Please, Prince Roya, you don’t think she’s preparing to go to the Goddess do you?

  Oh please, Meela, no, I think. Don’t leave me, don’t leave me here. I can not lose you too.

  The weight of losing Meela, and what that would mean to me and to the Kingdom, is too much for me to bear.

  “We will leave you now.” Dr. Atta presses her hand to my shoulder. I look into her eyes and we both know that there is nothing left, nothing more that we can do. Dr. Atta has exhausted the medical knowledge of the Wolveskin, and I have run out of ideas on how to save Meela as well. Now we must wait and see if Meela’s immune system can beat back the poison that seeks to kill her.

  I look to Jix. His eyes are slick with tears. “I need a moment,” Jix says. I nod and he leaves the room too.

  My heart is heavy. I’m losing all that is important to me, the least of which, I realize in this moment, is my Kingdom. My gaze stills on Meela. It is her and Sarkany and Leo that I want back, all of us together, whether it be in the Palace or some other place. I care little of the trappings or the power that comes with being a Roya—I realize that none of that means anything without the family that I love.

  Love. Yes, love. I press my palm t
o Meela’s face—I do not know her as deeply as I wish, but I have seen the inner sanctuary of her mind. I have felt her love for Sarkany and his love for her, and I have seen the determination in her eyes—yes, for Meela and I, if she survives, I believe there will be love.

  Meela, I think, if you hear me but cannot respond, please, I want you to return to me. Come back to this conscious place. Come back to me. I need you to come back. I can’t imagine a world without you. The feelings that I have….the sadness is as deep as when I lost Mother and Fathers. I…I do not wish to lose any more people in my life.

  I clasp her hand and press her palm to my cheek.

  “Prince Roya?” Jix stands beside me. He has returned, carrying my medical bag.

  “I forgot we took that with us to the hunting lodge. Did you carry it through the woods?”

  “I didn’t know if you or Meela were even alive, but I knew that if you were alive, that I wanted to be able to help you and Meela if you needed it.” His gaze slips from me to Meela. “Is there…there must be a way to save her.”

  I sigh. “There’s nothing in my bag that can save Meela. Everything I keep in that satchel Dr. Atta has in her lab. We’ve tried it all.” I press my hand deep into the cloth bag. My fingertips brush against the soft fluff of gauze, the thin surface of bandages, the hard edge of a pair of scissors, and even the thin twine of sutures. I pull each item out and set them on the bedside table. My fingertips brush along the bottom of the bag and then they feel it…an oval stone in the bottom of my bag.

  The Medaris.

  A tiny shock against my fingertips, and then a low vibration and a humming sound, as if by thinking of the Medaris I’ve turned on the crystal’s powers. I pull the purple and green stone from my bag. Light flows through the glass, moving and twirling as if the crystal is alive. My breath hitches in my chest. Could the Medaris save Meela? I stand and lean toward Meela, and the force of the vibration increases.

  “Do you think we could use the Medaris?” I whisper. I look at Jix. His eyes are wide, and he, too, sees how the Medaris responds at being close to Meela. The power of the stone seems to grow; its vibrations are deeper and more resonant, as though the power within the crystal strains to be let loose upon her.

  Jix presses his lips together and squints at the crystal. “I…I don’t know. The Medaris is untested. You had me put it in there in case something dire happened.”

  We both look at Meela. “This is something dire. The death of Meela could have an impact on the future of the entire Kingdom. I think…” I close my eyes and take a deep breath, trying to center myself and my thoughts. “We have to try,” I say. “If we do nothing, she’ll die.”

  I hold the crystal in one hand and with the other I gently lift the bandage that Dr. Atta just placed on Meela’s leg. The scent of rotten flesh rolls off the gash. Meela’s wound is nauseatingly awful and seems to grow worse with each moment. Black rough edges around the wicked and jagged gash that is angry, red, and swollen.

  “This will not heal,” I say. I state the obvious because my frustration is so deep with the state of Meela’s injury. I’m frustrated. My scientist’s mind can’t reconcile the inability of science to save Meela. “We’ve tried all the Wolveskin’s medicinal herbs and techniques,” I say. “If she wasn’t as unusual as she is—being part Dreg and whatever else she is—her immune system would have succumbed to the infection by now.”

  “That blade was designed to send whomever it touched straight to the Goddess,” Jix says with a hint of heat in his tone. “Meela has always been strong. Anyone else and…” His words trail off, and he bends over her leg.

  Neither of us want to say what we both know: Meela should be dead, and we have no idea how long we have before the Goddess comes and takes her away.

  “It’s time for this,” I say, and open my hand. In my palm is the Medaris. I’ve worked on this crystal for a long while. Part science and part magic. I developed it to relieve pain and accelerate healing.

  “I’ve used the Medaris on injured animals, but never on a human.” I look at Jix. “She could have a negative reaction to the Medaris and die.”

  “I fear, Prince Taraz, that she will die if we do nothing,” Jix says.

  I know his words are accurate. Meela will die if we do nothing and simply sit by her side.

  I swallow. “Jix you may want to leave. I’ll try to make this as pain-free as possible, but”—I shake my head—“I can’t guarantee it.”

  Jix nods.

  I place one hand on the edge of Meela’s wound. With the other I hold the Medaris. The vibrations of the crystal have turned into a golden light which swirls around the gash. I press two fingers inside the wound. A searing heat seals around my fingers as I probe deep into Meela’s rotting flesh.

  Meela’s body starts to twist away from me. I pause. Jix moves and grasps Meela’s shoulder. He nods at me, giving me permission to continue. I separate the flesh and slide my fingers deeper into the gaping wound on Meela’s thigh.

  “Aaaaaahhhhhh,” she cries, and takes a deep, gulping breath. I reach out my mind to hers; still there is nothing. She presses back against the pillow. I close my eyes and an electrical storm of lightning blasts in my mind. A swirl of white and purple light cascades around me and pulses through my body. What…what is happening? I think. I ride the light. In the distance, and yet close enough for me to touch, is Meela. Her eyes are open…she is awake and here and beside me, and yet she feels so very far away. This mindscape is neither dream nor reality. Meela reaches out her hand in this space between us that feels as though it is too far and too distant to bridge.

  A roaring sound like waves and a windstorm merged together crashes into my mind. Meela’s lips are moving, she is speaking, and yet I hear nothing. I see her lips move, her hand is outstretched, but I can’t hear her words. The beam of white light surrounds Meela and lifts her up and away from me. Meela is slipping farther from me, her hand still outstretched.

  Hold on to me! I yell within the light storm of the mindscape. I reach out to clasp her hand. The light is lifting Meela up and out of my reach. I squeeze her hand tighter, hoping to keep her with me. Above us, a vortex of golden light spins and spins through the darkness we inhabit. The light has her now and pulls.

  Don’t let go, I call out to her in my mind. While Meela looks at me I don’t know if she hears me or actually sees me. Her face appears frozen even though her eyes are open.

  Meela, you must stay! Please stay for Sarkany, for the Kingdom, for Jix… I pause. Please stay for me. I don’t know what is on the other side of the light vortex, but I do know if I lose Meela to that, it feels as though I might lose her forever. My heart breaks with the idea of Meela leaving us and not being a part of my life.

  The light shifts and flickers. She pauses in the lifting by the light. She glows from the inside out, as though she is no longer being carried by the light vortex but instead has become the light itself. The light comes through her and shines outward into the darkness.

  Meela, Meela, I think over and over again. Please, Meela.

  I am here, Taraz. Then her mind is linked with mine. She is in front of me now. Her amber-colored eyes filled with the radiant and golden light. I am not leaving. You have fought for me in the way that only you know how. You have saved me with your mind. I am yours.

  I wrap my arms around Meela in this mindscape, and her heart beats against my chest with a firm and healthy beat. Her breathing is deep, and her scent is of the rich and fertile earth and sunshine and waves. She is well…Meela is well, and she is mine.

  Hold my hand and ride the light, I think. The light will heal you.

  I grasp her hand ever so tightly, and with my eyes closed let the waves of light swirl around us. We ride the light, and I sink into the pleasure of knowing that I am safe and soon Meela will be healed.

  Chapter Twelve

  Leo

  You can’t accomplish anything in this life if you’re dead. I plan to stay alive. No matter who I have to b
uy, sell, fuck, or kill I am not dying today, and I am definitely not dying by being burned alive tomorrow because my brother decided that a Dreg is his fated-mate. Nor is my brother going to die.

  “You asked to see me.” Uncle sits in Mother’s chair beneath the portrait of Mother and our Fathers. The smile on his face is wicked and smug all at once. He’s getting ready, I suppose, for the painting that he will commission wearing the Royal robes. After, of course, he kills us and Princess Katya. Oh, yes, Uncle believes he’s got everything sorted. He’ll kill Sarkany and me tomorrow. Then, he’ll spend however long he needs, secretly hunting down Taraz, because while Uncle has told The Counsel that Taraz died, I’m certain that my scientific-minded brother is very much alive. We haven’t yet communicated, but I’ve not experienced the frigid dark feeling of death in his mind like I did when Mother and Fathers died. I nod at Uncle and sit in the chair across from Mother’s desk. Wagu, that little maggot of a man, stands beside Uncle.

  “Did you come to beg for your life, Leo? Plead for my mercy? Surely you know me well enough, to realize that I have none.” His brow raises and there is delight in his eyes. He’s taking great pleasure at the pain he believes he is causing me and my two brothers. And this…this incorrect fact and belief on the part of Uncle…that I am in pain and frightened is exactly how I know what I know. And what I know will be Uncle’s downfall.

  I smile. “Uncle, you are correct, I do know you well enough. In fact, I may know you better than I know my own brothers, because you and I? We’re very similar.”

  “Similar? How so? You are the heir-apparent to a Queen. Brought up in the Royal robes, lap of luxury. No, my boy, we are very much dissimilar, because while I may be the Queen’s brother, I was very much disfavored by her. Unlike you and your horribly spoiled brothers. Getting everything you could possibly want? No discipline, no work ethic, nothing.”