Daisy and Pernilla each took one of the other two bedrooms.
Brux grabbed a sleep sofa, and Kopius nabbed the other one.
The soldiers had taken their backpacks off the ship and brought them to the suite.
Everyone hustled around the room settling in and getting ready for bed.
Paley took a towel and began drying herself.
“How are you feeling?” Van sat on the double bed.
“I feel fine,” Paley said. “After the…you know…incident, Brux and I haven’t been separated.”
“Still, don’t forget to take Madame Vang’s drops.”
Paley yawned. “I won’t.” She crawled into bed and instantly fell asleep.
Van lay restless, staring at the intricate Venus flytrap designs on the wallpaper. Her mind kept veering back to Ferox. His almond-shaped amber-yellow eyes. His broad shoulders. His strong chin with a hint of stubble. Everyone seemed to respond to his innate power and ability to command. Van had figured that kind of power in the hands of a royal Bale would inevitably produce a dark thread.
Yet, Van glimpsed inside his soul. And it was bright white. That meant Ferox championed for good, not evil.
But could she trust him?
Every time she thought about his light—his goodness—she felt the dark part of her own soul call to her. The damaged part of her soul. The part that turned black when Van murdered Ferox’s sister, Solana. But, being such a good person, Ferox seemed to have forgiven Van for this transgression.
Or did he?
He could be toying with her, to ensure she retrieved the Cup.
Van closed her eyes, but her mind continued to wander.
Zurial had crossed through space and time to show Van a glimpse of her life. She found it an odd coincidence Zurial’s message was about her doomed marriage to a Balish king. And now, Van had met Ferox, the Balish crown prince.
He was a descendant of Manik and Zurial. Van was a descendant of Goustav and Amaryl. She quickly reminded herself that they came from two different ancestral lines.
The brothers, Manik and Goustav, had become romantically involved with sisters, Zurial and Amaryl. Niece, nephews, cousins? None of that mattered now. The ancients mingled and married a thousand years ago. Ferox was safe for her to date.
Van’s eyes shot open.
What?
She couldn’t even think about dating Ferox. He was a worse romantic choice than Brux.
When Van got older and had to settle down, her requirement for a husband included marrying someone with the highest percentage of Elemental blood, someone pure-blooded, or from a “royal” Lodian bloodline. The rule stemmed from ancient times when Salus Valde was ruled by kings and queens. Today, Salus Valde was a democracy with a senate, cabinet, and president.
But the Lodian Consilium remained adamant about keeping Lodian bloodlines pure, as did the Elementals. Pure-bloods marry pure-bloods—at least those over eighty percent undiluted—and there were still many around due to the stigma of both Lodian and Balish beliefs that mixing bloodlines was a treasonous betrayal to their respective people. As for Van, the Anchoress, this rule was unbreakable.
If Van ending up marrying Ferox and they had children, Van would further dilute the Elemental blood from her Anchoress line. Last year she received a warning not to do that very thing in a memory engram from her ancestor Amaryl.
Zurial told me the same thing!
Look what happened when Zurial married Manik—complete disaster. Zurial had reiterated Amaryl’s warning.
When Amaryl gave birth to Astrid, the baby she had with Goustav, she lost the Elemental protection from the Quasher for the entire Anchoress lineage, right down to Van. This was the reason for the Alignment, the restriction of when she could safely travel outside of Salus Valde without fear of an attack by the Quasher.
If the Elementals did that to Amaryl, then what would they do to punish Van?
Cold dread seeped down into her bones.
Van heard shuffling and a muffled commotion coming from the main room. Since she couldn’t sleep anyway, Van slipped out of bed to investigate.
Chapter 34
Van entered the main room of the suite and discovered Kopius and Brux wide awake and attempting to sneak out a window.
“Looks like they’re reinforced.” Brux tugged at one of the two windows.
“They’re designed to keep us in,” Kopius said.
“I don’t even want to think about what they use this place for,” Brux said, grimly.
Kopius marched over to the suite’s door.
“Don’t.” Van startled them both.
“The door’s guarded anyway, already tried it,” Brux said. “They didn’t even wake up Ferox to ask and decided on their own it was too dangerous for me to leave the inn.”
“We can take care of the guards.” Kopius clenched his fists.
“No. We can’t lose Ferox’s support until we get Thyra on our team. We need her.” Van came to this realization in the moment. “If the seal is at the bottom of the sea, we need Thyra to get there and mend it. She’s part fish. I’m sure she can hold her breath underwater.” Van gave them a quizzical look. “Why are you trying to leave?”
Brux turned to his puppy curled up on a makeshift bed made of towels and pillows. “I need to get Hiccup to an animal healer.”
“You mean a vet?” Van asked.
“Where’s your bunfy?” Kopius asked. “Maybe we can use his Swiss army tail to pick the lock on the window.”
“Wiglaf’s not a tool.” Van scrunched her brow. If Kopius knew about Swiss army knives, strictly an Earth World item, he must have spent more time there than he let on. Van looked at him in a different light, and for the first time, wondered if he was working as a double agent for Uxa.
His mention of Wiglaf caused her to feel a void in her heart. She wondered why her furry friend hadn’t come to visit. She assumed Cortica had something to do with it. The place was too dismal for her beautiful, little bunfy.
“He’s getting sicker.” Brux stared worriedly at Hiccup. “I gave him the rest of that strengthening potion you got for me and Paley from Madame Vang, it didn’t work. Maybe she can make an animal tincture that will heal him. Van, Ferox likes you. If you asked the guards to see him, they’d let you. He’d allow us to go see the madame if the request came from you.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Van said. “We have a long way to go with two missions on our plate—the Cup and the seal. We’re almost halfway to the end of the Alignment.”
“Van, he’ll die,” Brux said, with misting eyes.
“Maybe tomorrow. If we have time.”
Memories of the Quasher terrified her. Its snarling, snapping jaws. Claws the size of swords. Hostile, unwavering red eyes.
Even after Van went back to her bed, the Quasher haunted her thoughts until she fell into a short, disturbed sleep. When she woke a few hours later, she decided to check on Brux and the puppy.
Brux cuddled Hiccup in his arms. “He’s dead.” Tears streamed down his cheeks.
“Oh Brux, I’m so sorry,” Van said.
“Paley and Daisy will be destroyed,” he said as if his tears were for their pain.
Van couldn’t figure out why she couldn’t cry. She reached down inside and felt numb. She knew the puppy’s death was heartbreaking, but that was the cycle of life. We live, we do the best we can, then we die.
“It was just a dog,” Van said, in a failed attempt to console Brux.
“How would you feel it were Wiglaf?”
Van remembered the devastation she felt when she thought Solana had skinned Wiglaf alive. But there was nothing Van or anyone could have done to save that poor bunfy who died in his place.
Van shrugged, unable to find words to describe how she felt or didn’t feel. Why couldn’t she feel?
“My mistake.” Van shrugged again. “I’m getting something to eat.”
She went to the cabinets in the mini-kitchen. Glad to see Ferox had
made sure the cupboards were stocked.
“You have to care about all creatures not just humans,” Brux called from across the room. “We’re all interdependent and interconnected. Together we make up the fabric of the life force. When are you going to understand that?”
Van turned to Brux and stared blankly at him.
She shoved a cream-filled sponge cake into her mouth and went back into her bedroom. She wanted to slam the door behind her, but Paley and the others were sound asleep.
Brux infuriated her. Of course, she knew all life was interconnected. That was the whole point of why she was killing herself to protect the terrigens and her people. But his reaction to Hiccup’s death caused Van to question if she had made the right decision by not asking Ferox for help with the puppy.
Hiccup’s death was on her. Did that make her a bad person?
Van strained her brain trying to fathom how the puppy’s life was more important than their mission and her safety from the Quasher. Getting the puppy medical help would’ve jeopardized both. They were running short on time.
But nobody seemed to care about that except Van.
After mulling over her decision, she concluded that any good leader would’ve done the same thing.
With that resolved, she tucked back into her bed, ready to get more sleep.
Her mind continued to spin. She twisted and turned so much that her sheets got tangled. Ugh. She tossed them onto the floor and threw her legs over the side of the bed. Wasting time in this hovel caused her anxiety to spike.
Van considered eating more snack cakes, then sadly admitted that there wasn’t enough food on the entire island to fill the void she felt inside.
Her frustration grew. She quietly paced the bedroom as Paley slept.
She vowed to always choose the good, to resist the dark pull in her soul. It made sense to deny her emotions so she could make the right choices as a leader—like she had done with Hiccup.
However, what counted as a good decision had become increasingly unclear.
If I could just get this damn curse removed, I’d be free to find a way to save my soul and everything would be fine.
She needed to refocus. The best person to hash over her issues with happened to be a meditation away. Van sat on her bed in the lotus position. She took control of her breathing; her mind went quiet. Inwardly, she called out to her spirit guide.
“Greetings, my little warrior.”
Jacynthia hovered several feet off the floor. Her amaranthine robe flowed in an otherworldly breeze.
I didn’t get Hiccup medical help, and the puppy died. Was that the wrong choice? If it was, then maybe all my past decisions were wrong—like when I used the power of the Coin to kill Solana.
“One can learn as much from doing something wrong as by doing something right. The Creator observes only how you respond to the challenges you face.”
How am I supposed to respond?
“The empowered person notices how water changes its shape to fill any space it encounters. Rocks breaking the water’s path, warns us not to resist change and not to cling to old approaches. We learn from this observation to bring flexibility and consistency into every situation.”
I’m a bad person, right? My soul—it’s dark, isn’t it? Tell me the truth.
“You cannot be whole or powerful until you make peace with your dark side,” Jacynthia said. “When you exist in a state of duality you remain connected to the physical world where your senses perceive opposites. Good, bad. Right, Wrong. Healthy, sick. Reconcile with the pull of opposites within yourself. Only then will you be in accord with the will of the Creator.”
But I don’t understand how to accept my dark side. I don’t want to make peace with it.
“The two power idea is a creation made by humanity. When you believe in two powers, you must always upgrade your inner fight. The two forces within you will always be in conflict with each other. Stronger always defeats weaker.”
So my darker side is stronger? Is that what you’re telling me?
Van’s anxiety intruded into her thoughts and caused Jacynthia’s image to falter.
She gained control of her breathing and grew calm, bringing her spirit guide into focus again.
“There is no such thing as good power and bad power. There is only one power, that of the Creator. The Creator took a piece of itself and made space for your existence. You were born with the ability to re-connect with this force that created you.”
She found Jacynthia’s advice confusing, and fatigue encroached onto their conversation. She needed time alone to contemplate her spirit guide’s wisdom, and Jacynthia faded away.
Van attempted to understand but her tiredness won out, and she slipped into a deep sleep.
Chapter 35
Van woke to someone banging on the suite’s door.
She waited, lying in bed, hoping someone else would hear the knock and go answer it.
The thumping persisted.
“I just got to sleep.” Van groaned and lugged herself out of bed.
This better be important. Why isn’t anyone else waking up?
Van shuffled through the main room.
Brux and Kopius were sound asleep, each on top of their own pull-out couch. Neither had bothered to expand their couches into a bed. The dead puppy was wrapped in a towel that Brux still cradled in his arms.
Van gazed at Brux’s sleeping face—peaceful now. A sharp contrast to only hours ago when he was wretched with pain. Van felt a pang of regret. She paused to grasp her chest, to make the feeling go away. Empathy made her weak.
The knocking continued.
“Not sure why this couldn’t wait until morning,” Van muttered. She swung open the door, eager to stop the tenacious rapping before it woke everyone in the suite.
A pretty woman in her late twenties curtsied. “Sorry to bother you, miss.”
She was dressed in a tightly laced, elegant gown with a matching cape, and her face was heavily decorated with make-up. Van recognized her as one of Madame Vang’s demimondaines.
The two guards in the hallway shifted tensely as they kept sharp eyes on the woman and Van.
“Oh, right.” Van was expecting to hear whether or not the madame had found a cure to the Anchoress curse. Her interest peaked. “Come in.”
“Thank you, miss. But I cannot stay. I came to give you this.” She held a hand basket filled with homemade soaps and offered it to Van.
Van accepted the basket, a bit confused. “Um…”
“Madame Vang regrets to inform you that she cannot find a solution to your problem. Since your boyfriend has already paid for her work regarding this matter, she offers you these soaps in its stead.”
Van prickled at the woman’s use of the word boyfriend but was pleased Ferox had taken care of paying the madame.
“Okay, thank you.” Van accepted the basket, feeling disappointed. But, her father had searched for years to find a counter-curse and never found one. How could she expect Madame Vang do it in a few hours?
“Take a bath, use them now. They will cheer you,” the woman said with a smile. “Make you smell pretty for your beau.” She winked. “If not him, then someone else.”
Van wearily eyed the soap. The woman hinted that it’s infused with magic, or pheromones, that makes the user alluring to the opposite sex. Something Van had zero interest in.
Instead of asking the woman if she had a friendship soap, Van said, “Will do. Please thank Madame Vang for me.”
The woman curtsied again.
Van closed the door, surprised that no one had woken from the demimondaine’s visit.
She placed the basket of soaps on the accent table by the door. Then wandered back to bed and snuggled under the covers.
Early the next morning Ferox pounded on the door and requested that they gather downstairs.
Everyone rose, and Brux told the others the sad news about Hiccup.
Paley and Daisy shed tears. Pernilla and Kopius bowed their head
s in grief but displayed fortitude.
Ferox and Thyra expressed their condolences. Ferox allowed Brux and the team to bury his puppy outside. Van hoped the funeral service would help Brux put the ordeal behind him.
Afterward, the team headed into the dining hall. They chowed down a prepared breakfast of sweet potatoes, sautéed river eel (Van and Daisy abstained), and colorful mixed fruits. Brux kept his distance from Van. She could tell he hadn’t forgiven her about Hiccup.
After the team finished their meal, Ferox appeared behind Brux and Kopius, flanked by two of his men, each wore a backpack and carried an extra sword.
“The journey will be dangerous,” Ferox said. “Can I count on you?”
Brux and Kopius nodded.
“You have your weapons?” Ferox asked the guys.
They nodded again.
“I have mine too.” Pernilla raised her hand and waved it.
Van could tell the patriarchal Balish society was getting on Pernilla’s nerves.
Ferox nodded to her. “Of course.”
“Here,” Ferox said. His men handed Brux and Kopius each a sword. “Take this as well.”
Pernilla held out her hand for a sword, too. Although she still carried a concealed dagger, as did Daisy and Paley—although Paley seemed even more squeamish about her blade now that it had been tainted with nixe blood.
Van patted her jacket pocket to make sure she had her jackknife, despite knowing Koga-clava would serve her better in a fight. But, still. After the coffin incident, she wasn’t taking any chances.
Pernilla scowled when Ferox didn’t acknowledge her gesture and, instead, he turned toward Thyra.
“Let’s get moving,” he said.
Thyra knew the area but didn’t know the exact location of the river. What she knew, along with information gathered by Ferox and some of his men, was that the river had to be on the other side of the island, the undeveloped part, the place people were too afraid to explore. Not because of any lurking cutthroats, but because of the terrifying creatures that lived in the darkest part of the island.
Plague of Death Page 28
