by L. Filloon
We look around as Alorn walks over to the desk . He’s just about to strike the small desk bell when a short man of about five-foot nothing enters from a back room. He’s round, with rolls of fat, layer upon layer of it, hanging from under his chin to his swollen feet that are fitted into shoes two sizes too small. He limps his way over to us and I recognize his scent instantly. I notice Alorn stepping back with a distaste ful look on his face. A troll.
When Kalinest bonded the Thirteen Clans to each other, he separated the denizens of Velesi and severed the realm from the realm of man. However, there were those who chose to remain in this realm to find their own fortune and there were many who made it. Obviously, the ancestors of this troll were not part of that group.
“Humph,” he greets as he reaches the registration desk, “Sidhe from Velesi are you?” He sneers as he looks us over , and in return we look down at him stone—face and without greeting.
“I can smell Mother Earth on you,” he continues . “Fresh from Velesi.” After a moment he asks, “What do you want?”
“Two rooms ,” answers Alorn.
“I don’t take Velesi money here, it’s useless,” remarks the troll his eyes wearily on Alorn.
Alorn pulls from his side pocket a diamond the size of a quarter. It’s worth fifty of the troll’s motel and then some. The troll’s eyes widen greedily as he licks his thin lips. When he reaches out for the small fortune, Alorn snaps it up in a tight fist, holding it only inches from the troll’s reach.
“The diamond is yours,” I finally say. He shifts his eyes from me to Alorn’s close d fist . He continues to listen as I say , “For two rooms, adjoining, a few hours…and some discretion.”
His attitude changes to one of obscene servitude. “But of course, your highness. I have two available for you.”
I raise my brow at him and after a moment he insolently says, “Yes, Prince Tharin, I know who you are. We are still Velesian after all.” The sneer returns to his face and in a blink of an eye he finds the tip of Alorn’s Shadika knife digging painfully into one of his large jowl s .
“I’m sorry your highness. Please excuse my insolence , ” squeaks the troll, his fat hands up in the air, his large eyes, covered with several moles, staring fearfully at Alorn.
When neither Alorn nor I make a move to speak, he continues on quickly, “My name is Konalt , and I didn’t mean any disrespect.”
“How do you know me?” I ask quietly. His eyes become less worried and more fearful as the tone of my voice finally registers in his little brain.
“It’s all over the spheres, your highness. Word is out that you have come for the missing princess, the daughter of Senestra.” He swallows hard as Alorn put s more pressure on the knife.
When Alorn and I continue to stand without speaking he goes on to say, “There’s a reward, a bounty, for any information that would lead to your capture.”
“Who?” I ask not raising my voice.
“I…I don’t know. It came through the spheres and those who don’t possess one heard it by word of mouth.”
“How much?”
“Five million.”
His eyes shift to the window and focus on Julia standing close to Tolan. Forgetting about Alorn’s blade, he sneers again as he says, “Ah, the princess herself. You do me honor in allowing me to provide shelter for the both of you and for Prince Tolan. What an honor indeed.”
Alorn presses his arm lightly forward, this time drawing blood. Konalt squeals again, standing very still not saying another word.
“We will take our business elsewhere .” I lean toward him so he doesn’t misunders tand my meaning, I quiet ly say, “A nd if we should come into some trouble before reaching Vele si, we will be back. All of us; and next time, I will not keep my cousin from doing what he so wishes to do now.”
Alorn’s blade disappears as quickly as it appeared. Konalt puts a hand to his throat swallowing hard. Before we take a step away, he holds out his other hand and says, “Wait! Prince Tharin, please.”
He reaches for a drawer and Alorn’s gun is out in an instant, aim ed at the troll’s head. He raises his hands again and speaks quickly, “I have something for you, for atonement.”
Alorn waves his gun slightly indicating that Konalt move to the side. The troll backs away as Alorn walks around the counter to the drawer the troll had been reaching for. He opens it slowly only to find a brown sphere. He steps back and stands a few feet from both the drawer and Konalt. I do the same. Nodding his head toward the sphere, Alorn indicates for Konalt to activate it.
Spheres are very dangerous if they a re not clear or pure white. The spheres are mainly used among the royalty of the Thirteen Clans , as they are created using pure energy. Only those with strong enough wills and the knowledge of alchemy know how to create these spheres . Since alchemy is unpredictable and dangerous , its use was outlawed centuries ago, with the exception of the royal families of each Clan. Any other color to the sphere indicates that the sender or the receiver who created it isn’t of royal blood . It also means they don’t have the full knowledge of alchemy or the will to produce a pure white ball. Therefore, any colored sphere is unpredictable and dangerous.
Konalt sighs heavily as he reaches for the sphere. Concentrating hard , he spins the sphere between his pudgy hands until it floats before him. After a moment, the image from the sphere appears and a hooded person waits quietly.
“Oh, damn it,” curses the troll as he hits the sphere with both hands. Both Alorn and I step back instinctively, but it doesn’t explode. Instead , it blinks out momentarily then springs back to life with the hooded face speaking in troll-tongue. Konalt’s fingers work on the sphere and once again it blinks out. This time when the hooded face reappears he’s speaking in the neutral tongue of Velesi.
“…and any information on the Twin Lights that results in their detainment will receive five million dollars, per p rince. My Lord is very generous, so if the brothers are taken alive, there will be an added bonus of five million dollars…per p rince. We will send…” then the sphere goes black and remains that way.
“Damn thing goes out at that point,” said Konalt as he hits the sphere once again. The click of Alorn’s gun stops the troll from striking it again. He looks toward my cousin, breathing laboriously. He sighs, grabs the sphere , and places it back in the drawer.
“How do you get in contact with them when you’ve detained us,” I ask.
The fat troll shrugs his heavy shoulders and says, “I don ’t know. I could never get pas t that last part without the sphere going black on me . That’s why it’s in the drawer.”
“Why show me this,” I ask staring at him steadily.
He shrugs his shoulders again, “In hopes that you’ll change your mind about staying here.”
“Ah,” I reply, “and , of course , the payment for your hospitality has nothing to do with it?”
The greasy smile on his face is enough to make me want to shoot him myself . He replies , “The thought did occur to me , your h ighness . Hopefully, by showing you the bounty on your heads, you’ll trust me enough to stay in my humble abode.”
“I don’t trust him,” says Alorn quietly. “I think I should take him out so we won’t have to worry about looking over our shoulders.”
If there is anything true about trolls , it’s this : They are born liars. They can’t help themselves; it’s ingrained in their genetic makeup. If Konalt is telling the truth about the sphere, then he doesn’t have a way to communicate back to the hooded messenger. However, that doesn’t mean that there’s not another sphere hidden somewhere else . Perhaps a sphere not colored as the one in his top drawer.
“As I said, we will find accommodations elsewhere.” I give Alorn a look and he flicks something to Konalt, who despite his size , quickly catch es the small object. When he ope ns his hand, a small ruby sits i n his palm. His greedy eyes grow wide and he licks his lips again. The small gem is not worth the weight of the diamond, but instead of buying f
ifty of his buildings, it would at least buy him one more with all the furnishings.
“Do you accept the payment for the information you ha ve just shared with us?” I ask quietly.
“Yes, yes, I accept!” answers Konalt nodding his head, causing all his jowls to shake with greed, his eyes never leaving the gem.
“Done, ” I state quietly and then , “You’ve accepted the gem of the Oak Clan in payment of a service done in good faith. Should you betray us in any way that will cause us harm in any form, the gem will find your heart and explode it into a thousand pieces.” The tro ll slowly turns his head toward me as I continue, “You can give it away, lose it or even sell it . It doesn’t matter. The gem will travel thousands of miles and go through ten feet of steel or concrete to find your heart, and you will die for your betrayal. That is the stipulation of accepting the gem of the Oak Clan.”
Konalt continues to stare at me and then back at the gem in his palm. He let s the gem drop, but in a flash it shoots back into his palm, sitting there quietly. He begins to shake and beads of sweat appear on his brow , and that is how we left him.
Alorn steps from the back of the counter and I turn as he reaches me. We walk toward the door together , smug in the knowledge that Konalt won’t betray us . Konalt is a greedy one and fearful for his own life. The smugness of putting one over the fat troll instantly disappears when we step out of the office and walk right into Lily and Mellis in an embrace.
Any rational thinking on my part is gone. “Mellis, take your hands off her.”
I notice that Mellis drops his arms, but Lily continues to hold on to him. In fact, not only does she keep her arms around him, but she puts her head on his chest and then squeezes him tight before letting him go . With a smile she thanks him sweetly before walking away. Mellis turns and looks at me with a shrug and his palms up. I watch Lily as she approaches the SUV asking Phoris for help. My large cousin smiles at her and moves to assist.
“Phoris,” I mentally call, “we’re not staying. It’s not safe here.”
Phoris stops, then leans close to Lily relaying the message. She turns toward me, shrugs her shoulders and returns her backpack to the SUV. I continue to watch her as she walks over to Julia . I watch as Tolan step s aside giving them some privacy , but not without catching Julia’s eye before she turns her attention to Lily.
I turn back to Mellis as he walks my way .
“She was just thanking me, c ousin. I had no idea she was in love with my chest, although I must say it’s a pretty nice chest,” he muses smiling broadly and easing me out of my ire.
Alorn muffles a laugh and then breaks out into a big smile as I give him the same hard look I g i ve Mellis. Both of them are taking advantage of the situation and I don’t feel like playing along, not that it matter s much to them. I sigh . I t’s not always that Alorn finds anything funny and smiling for him is like cracking the cemented head of an ogre. Gradually, I feel the tension leave me. Saving myself from any more jokes, I change the subject and let Mellis in on what just happened inside the motel. He’s instantly sober and remains quiet as Alorn finishes retelling the scene with Konalt.
“So, you think he’ll rat us out?” asks Mellis.
We all know that even though what I told Konalt about the gem is true, there is always a way around it. The troll himself wouldn’t know how to do it, but someone with more cunning, like Harlu, would figure a way to get the information from the troll . All the while without the troll realizing what was happening. It would n’t matter to Harlu if the troll died, just as long as Harlu got what he wanted.
Shaking my head I say, “Maybe without knowing it, he will.”
I call for Phoris to join us. Once he’s part of our group, we fill him in .
I face Phoris and ask , “Can you find us a tree large enough to house us for a few hours? I know it will be difficult in this city, but do you think you can do it?”
“I’ll reach out to see what I can find. Then Alorn can use the streams to locate it. I saw many patches of green when we crested the valley on our way in. It’s only a matter of finding the right one ,” he answers, rubbing at his chin.
I look over at Lily and Julia saying, “There’s one thing. The troll mistook Julia for Lily , so we need to be sure that Tolan is aware.”
As if knowing that he’s the subject of our conversation, Tolan walks over to us , and Mellis fill s him in. He’s quiet for a moment. Then he places a hand on my shoulder saying, “Then I have no choice but to keep Julia at my side at all times, b rother.”
I nod. One by one we all smile as Tolan laughs pleased at his new situation with Julia. Even though my brother may think he has no worries in protecting Julia, we all know he doesn’t think straight when it comes to her. I send out a quick message to Mellis, Alorn and Phoris that at least one of them is to stay close to Tolan and Julia at all times. Even as Tolan turns to watch Julia, all three agreements come quickly from my cousins.
I look at my brother momentarily and wonder again how he can lose all his senses over a girl. I think of Kalis and find myself surprise that I haven’t thought much of her since meeting Lily. Kalis. Why am I finding that I don’t want to rush back to her as much as I did before?
I follow my brother’s gaze to Lily and Julia. Lily. Why did I want to snap Mellis’ head off when I saw them holding each other? It never matter ed as much when I had see n Kalis with the others. Whether they were speaking quietly, or sharing a laugh or even embracing each other as a greeting or a farewell. So why does it bother me when any of them do the same with Lily? It’s because she’s important to the treaty and she can’t be distracted from what needs to be done , comes that tiny voice in my head. I can’t have her falling for any of my cousins if she’s to sit as my queen, right? What would people say? Like I’ve given a damn what anyone h as said in the past . I need to get Lily back to Velesi, marry her and get this over and done with. Then I can go back to the way things were with Kalis. I think about that for a moment and the idea of not spending that time with Lily instead p uts me in a bad mood, again. By the time this is all over with I’ll forget what being in a good mood is like.
*
Chapter Twenty-Six Lily
“What’s going on ?” ask s Julia.
“I don’t really know. Phoris just said we can’t stay here, it’s too dangerous.” I answer.
“Do you think the Ange is onto us?” she asks.
“Maybe,” I respond looking around us, “but I guess I’ll have to ask Tharin about it.” I turn to her and ask, “Maybe you can ask Tolan ? It s eems like you two are on good terms …finally.”
We both smile at each other and I notice she’s blushing. She glances over to where Tolan is standing next to Tharin and says, “Lily, I know that I just met him yesterday, but I feel like, maybe he likes me.”
“Really, Julia? I think that he likes you a lot !” I respond earning a smile from my friend.
“Yeah, maybe you’re right.” She thinks for a moment then says, “I like him, too, Lily. But, I’m so scared that it could all be in my head.”
“No, he really does like you. He doesn’t stare after me the way he does with you, or get really quiet and shy when you’re around. Yeah, the guy likes you.”
“I don’t know,” she answers stubbornly, “guys like him don’t look at me.”
“Why, what’s wrong with you?” I ask a bit annoyed. She gives me an uncertain look as I continue, “I’ll tell you what’s wrong with you. You’re so use d to all the ver bal abuse Frank and Chris force—fed you that you actually believe their lies. You know why ‘other guys like Tolan’ didn’t talk to you? It’s because Chris made it a point t o bash your face in every night so no one would even look at you, as much as say anything to you.”
She’s quiet and I remember how talking about Frank and Chris this way only makes her withdraw. I grab hold of her hands and say, “Can I ask you something?” She nods without looking at me. “I know that Tolan has offered to heal your wounds, wh
y haven’t you let him?”
She shrugs a shoulder at me dejectedly. I shake her hands gently forcing her to look at me, “You can’t hide behind your bruises forever, Julia.”
“I know,” she answers quietly, “but it’s all I have, besides you of course.”
“You’ll always have me, but I won’t let you hide behind me either. The bruising will go away . You’ll have no choice but to let him see you for who you really are. Look, even now your lip seems to be healing.”
She smiles shyly before saying, “That’s because of his kiss.”
We both laugh at her remark. It’s good to see Julia on the brink of happiness , whether or not she knows it. She doesn’t believe that Tolan is crazy about her . I know that he’ll show her with time and patience …a lot of patience. A pang of jealousy hits me. Am I jealous of Tolan and Julia’s new relationship? Or am I just jealous that I still haven’t been kissed? I glance over at Tharin and my hopes of a first kiss vanish when I see the look on his face. Why is that guy always in a bad mood?
I sigh as we turn to move toward the SUV. Julia is about to open the door on her side when Tolan runs up and stops her.
“You wi ll be riding with me from now on , ” h e says with a straight face, but his eyes give him away.
Julia looks over at me unsure and I smile back saying, “I’ll talk to you later.” I give Tolan a smile which he returns with one of his own before turning and leading Julia away. That pang hits me again. I stand for a moment watching them leave . I look over and watch as Tharin walks up to the driver ’s side, his face unreadable.
I release a patient sigh, thinking, it’s going to be a long night .
*
Chapter Twenty-Seven Lily
