Tyson wandered into the throne room. For the purpose of the room, he always thought it was too big and too empty. The room only had one important piece of furniture in it; his father’s throne. It would never be his, he thought. He had never wanted it, and it was never promised to him. Tyson thought the mighty Ourobus had thoughts of living forever as near-immortals do, or maybe he thought Tyson unworthy and wanted to give it to Tabitha. That would never happen either; she did not want it, and Tyson doubted their father remembered her name daily.
Tyson spent his childhood knowing he was already assigned a bride; the daughter of King Rowan, Lord of the Four Realms. He forgot that meant she would become queen of the realms, and that would mean he would be king one day, even if a consort king. He thought of it in the quiet room, and still it did not appeal to him, just as his father’s lordship did not appeal to him.
Growing up, his father always taught him about the importance of power over the people. He watched Ourobus try every way he could to get more power. He watched as the man ignored his sister—his twin—simply because females held no power, which didn’t make sense because in all the land, only two men had real power; the magia they possessed. Women were the ones born with it, but men harnessed it. Tabitha was just a useless child to him. He could not use her to fit his means because she was born without magia.
Tyson was witness to the altercation between his father and Queen of the Fae, Renal. Again, Tyson thought, another woman his father could not bargain with. She refused his request to alter the realms in his favor. He tried everything, even offering her devotion and worship, but she told him only the king—the one who controlled the heart stone—could fulfill such a request. She may have given that role to Rowan, but she would never overshadow him. It was his realm to rule, but Ourobus was always sore about the fact that she hadn’t split the land equally between them. She had, after all, gifted them both with magia.
Tyson looked around the room. The family crest hung on either side of the throne; a red dragon against a black background. Metal men stood on either side of the double door. Four giant windows let in the night sky. Pillars of fire lined the long room on both sides of a red and black isle rug. The room was dark and cold, not because of the temperature inside the walls, but because nothing emitted warmth. Tyson did not want to be the ruler in this room.
As he walked away from the giant wooden chair, he noticed lights flickering outside the window.
Tyson noted the light came from beyond the castle walls. Nobody was supposed to be outside the walls after nightfall. He tried to see who it was, but it was no use. The lights obscured the faces from him.
“What are you doing in here, Master Tyson?”
Tyson, startled, spun on his heels. “Uncle, good evening.” Tyson turned to face Gareth, a plump, dumpy man.
“What are you doing in here?”
“I was just contemplating my future,” he said, not sure of his answer.
“What?” Gareth asked, unsure of what he heard.
“Never mind. Hey, who’s that outside the walls? Does father know they are out there?” Tyson pointed to where he had seen the lights. As he tried to find it again, he noticed they were gone.
“I think you’re mistaken, my boy. You know your lord father does not permit anyone outside the castle walls after dark. It’s not safe.” Gareth shuffled to the window.
“Forget it, they’ve gone. You wouldn’t be able to see anyway.” Tyson snickered at his uncle, making his usual fun at his short stature.
“Oh yes, short, fat Uncle Gareth can’t see over the windowsill. Maybe you could give me a lift.” He laughed in spite of himself.
“What are you doing up so late, Uncle? It’s past your bedtime.” He chuckled once again.
“I forgot I was but a child. How astute of you to remind me,” the man said with a laugh. Then with a straight face, he added, “I was seeing to your Uncle Hogarth. He’s fallen ill this evening. Your father is using him to construct some new magia.”
“He’s still using buio magia, isn’t he?” Tyson asked with a stern look.
“Yes, he is,” Ourobus said, quickly entering the room. “Brother, would you mind leaving me and my son to speak in private?” He sat atop his throne.
“Certainly, brother. Good night, Tyson.” Gareth made a short bow and left the room.
“I don’t know why you’re fighting this, Tyson,” Lord Ourobus said to his son.
“Buio, father, is not what this land was born to. King Rowan has outlawed it. Not to mention it is dangerous. It is what you ran from when you left the old lands.” Tyson spoke frankly to his father.
“Buio magia will give us power that not even the king himself can take from us.”
“Why betroth me to the king’s daughter? Is it your wish to corrupt her; use her to get the throne upon Hearthstone for yourself? For goodness sake, he is your friend!”
“Actually, no, but now that you mention it.” Lord Ourobus considered his son’s words, then waved a hand dismissively. “I have no friends. All I have—all I need—is within this realm. My family. Your bride. You care for her now? I suppose I could use her to get you to think like me. Doing as I ask will keep her safe. You have my word.”
“Father!” Tyson screamed with outrage. The thought of such a thing brought bile to his mouth.
“Since when do you care for the girl? All this time she’s been here, and you would be dodging her still if not for me.”
“Well, things have changed. I do care for her. I do not wish to see her harmed in any way, let alone by your ambitions for power or to make me your puppet. Whatever it is you’re doing, you will leave her out of it. Do you hear me? She is not yours to toy with.” Tyson moved closer to the throne.
“Boy! Who do you think you are to give me orders?” Lord Ourobus stood from his iron chair. “I’ll have you bound to the stocks and liberate her body from her head if you speak at me that way again.”
“Oh, no you won’t, Father. See, I’ve learned something a long while ago. Your world revolves around getting the power you don’t have. Because you know that I do.” Tyson moved his hand slightly and sent his father crashing into his seat behind him. The weight of his magia held him bound to the great chair. “You will leave her be. Or so help me, it is I that will end you.” Tyson released the magic that held his father captive and started to leave the room.
“Don’t, Tyson. I only want what is best for us; for our family. Don’t walk away from me. I am your lord father. What is she, but a girl I chose for you?” he pleaded with his son.
“She is my family. You are nothing,” Tyson answered with his back to Ourobus. “You made it that way, and that is how it will be. I will make it so as soon as possible.”
Tyson headed to his chambers, ready to end the day. His mother, having heard the argument from the balcony, rushed to speak to her son.
“You showed him your hand, Tyson. Now he knows.” She looked tired and weary.
“He knows nothing more than what he’s suspected since I was born. I have magia; my twin does not. It wasn’t hard for him to put together, I’m sure.” Tyson ran his fingers through his hair.
“You should not have done that. He will be angry. He will retaliate,” she told him.
“There is nothing he can do to hurt me. Don’t worry.” Tyson gave her a hug and kissed her forehead.
“No, my child, but he can hurt those you care for.” She looked close to tears when he released her.
Sheree had held the secret of her children for many years from her lord husband. He had never felt threatened by women, and he did not fear them. In his eyes, women simply could not hold power. They were born maga, but that power was for men to control, and that is how he treated his advisors. They were his tools to do with what he wanted. He was gifted magia, but hardly ever used it. He made the maga that served him do everything he commanded. He said his son would grow to be a great stregone, a sorcerer stronger than himself. He believed he knew that his son would have
taken the magia from his daughter in the womb.
Tyson had known for years he was stronger than his father. He had tested his magia many times before using it in front of his mother. When he was ten years of age, his mother warned him to never use his full strength of power in front of his father, for he would find a way to use that power for his own gain.
Now that his father had steered away from the luce magia their land was built upon and taking in those who were exiled from the lands—by King Rowan—for using buio magia, Tyson was scared for the state of the man. He knew for many years his father wished to be a king in his own realm. As the only lord of the four realms and a luce stregone, he felt he deserved to be an equal to Rowan, who was also luce stregone; gifted magia by the fae queen.
The land they once lived in had been overtaken by buio maga. Five men and their families had survived by traveling away from their land and finding a home anew. Renal, Queen of the Fae, had deemed Rowan Pyliro the truest of heart, and she bequeathed to him the heart stone and magia. Once placed amongst the land, Pylira grew from the magia of the heart stone, giving them a new land to settle. More and more of their people found refuge with them and Rowan was named King of Pylira. Once he divided the lands amongst his four friends and asked Renal to make sure the lands surrounding the heart stone had equal access to the stone for power, the four realms were made. Out of the five men, only Rowan and Ourobus were gifted luce magia, light magic, so their families would be able to continue to breed strong stregone kings, for they were the only luce stregone in the land. Their luce magia was used to build their lands and make their families and clans thrive.
Ourobus was named Lord of Ormshire, Cantothos was named Lord of Carinthia, Regginad was named Lord of Regalis and Lorthos was named Lord of Largania. Thus, Rowan was named King of Pylira and Lord of the Four Realms. Over the years, the heart stone had grown under Hearthstone Palace, and each of the four realms had thrived. Every now and then, Rowan would get word of a buio maga from the old land passing through. He would have his palace guards find them and exile them to the lands beyond the realms.
Still, men and women lived beyond the realms, and Tyson knew Ourobus had been requisitioning his guards to find those men and women and bring them to his realm.
Tyson just had to figure out where they had been taken within the lands. He left the castle early each morning and searched the lands high and low to find where his father hid the buio he had brought to their home. So far, he had not found a single man, woman, or child, but Tyson knew his father. Those he would bring to his realm would all be women. He would want more maga to create a larger force against luce.
Chapter Four
Cherry Valley: Present Day
“If you don’t wake her, I will.”
I could hear Tabitha in the distance, and then Tyson. I couldn’t make out what he said, but I knew he was there. I always knew when he was near. I lifted my eyelids a little and saw the room full of all its occupants from earlier. Chase sat on the floor at my feet and Nolan played a video game on the other side of the room. Farlow was huddled in the corner with Tabitha, Tyson, and their uncles. They were obviously discussing why I had passed out again. Further observation told me there was someone sitting on the floor next to my head. She was picking and chewing on her nails. As she was about to spit one across the room, I threw my hand down and slapped her.
“I don’t think Mariella would be happy to know you’ve picked that habit up again,” I said to the girl, and she sat up.
“What?” She looked at me, confused.
“Your mother. She doesn’t like it when you bite your nails,” I reminded her.
“Wait, you know who my mother is?”
“Of course, I do. Christina, what is wrong with you?” I looked around the room and realized I had no memory of it. “Did Sheree redecorate?”
They turned and looked at me, all eyes wide and all mouths gaped open. The look of concern on their faces had me wondering if I had been ill. I looked down at myself to see if there were any signs of trauma and saw none. I also felt fine, so that couldn’t have been it. “Is something wrong?”
“What do you remember?” Tyson looked at me with his big blue eyes, which looked sad.
“What’s wrong?” I put my hand against his cheek, feeling the familiar buzz of electricity and relished in it.
“Nothing is wrong. I was just wondering what you remember?”
“I guess I would have to say the last thing I remember would be our walk to the pond this morning.”
Everyone in the room seemed to have the same mirrored expression of confusion.
It was then I noticed for the first time how everyone stared at me. The clothes everyone had on were strange and different than anything I’d seen before. I looked down and saw my usual long summer dress was replaced with thick pants and a heavy sweater. My hair was down and left unruly, instead of neatly pinned atop my head.
“She knows who I am,” Christina told them all. “She didn’t this morning.”
“Of course I do. We played together growing up. Your father, Regginad, is one of my father’s lords and friends.” I turned from her to the others. “Why is everyone looking at me like that?” I yelled with such intensity I felt like my father when he would boast over his men.
“Is it the locket maybe?” Tabitha pointed out.
The silver locket lay against my chest. I remember when Sheree had given the vile thing to me, and it suddenly felt like a hot coal against my skin. Instantly, I reached up and pulled on it. The chain broke, then I felt as if a cloud had been lifted from my head. The room grew fuzzy, my head swirled in place, and I couldn’t keep upright. Ty’s arms slipped around me again and then darkness.
“Why can’t we just wake her?” Tabitha asked.
“This has been happening to her whenever her memory is involved. We don’t know what it would do to her. Our uncles have said to leave her be till she comes around,” I heard Ty answer his sister.
“And how long does that usually take?”
“It varies. Damn it, Tabitha. Leave it alone. I’m just as eager as you, but we can’t force her.” Ty slammed his fist on a hard surface, making me jump and my eyes sprang open.
“Damn it. That has got to stop happening,” I said, testing my limbs and hearing Tabitha giggle.
The soft glow of the table lamp next to Ty’s bed allowed me to see the room. There was a fire lit in the hearth and besides Ty and Tabitha, nobody was in the room, for which I was grateful.
“Hey, stranger. Can I ask what you remember?” Ty sat on the edge of the bed and took my hand in his. Tabitha climbed into the bed on my other side.
“I had the locket on?”
“Yup, just as you made me promise.” Tabitha laughed a little. “The look on your face,” she said with a smile. “That’s exactly as I felt.”
“When?” Ty asked his sister.
“When that locket brought back all my memories of who I was.” She poked me in the shoulder. “I knew it worked.”
“Sorry. I thought I was helping. If I had known, it would make you feel like that. Ugh.”
I tried to move, but my body ached all over as if it had been thrown down two flights of stairs. Ty moved closer to help, but I pushed him away. I needed to be strong for myself. Having him nearby was enough.
“Okay, so who are we chattin’ with this time, eh?” Tabitha asked, making a binocular look with her hands to her eyes as if she could rip the information from my head.
“Oh, stuff it,” I scoffed and pushed her hands down. “I don’t think that’s the issue anymore. Can I have some water?” I asked Ty.
“Sure.”
He walked to the bathroom and filled a cup with water and I tried to explain the details of my out-of-body experience. The first time I woke, I remembered instantly everything from my former life, but nothing of the current one. It was as if my brain had filtered them and closed them off in different compartments.
“Nolan and Chase would have
never hung out in Ormshire Castle. I should have known it was different then, forget the fact that Nolan was playing a video game. Could you picture my father if we had those around?” I sipped the water, letting the cold soothe the ache in my throat. Left over magia was painful. The locket wiped the curse away, but the magia still kept a hold on me. I felt like a part of me still tried to break free.
“So, what’s changed?” Ty looked at me with worry again.
“Everything,” I said. The worry in his eyes looked worse, so I quickly amended that statement. “I am me again. I remember my life here, but more than that. I don’t feel like it was real. It feels like a distant memory, one I have to force to the surface. My real life was in Pylira. All of it is right at the front of my mind. I don’t have to work to remember a single detail. It feels like the time we spent here didn’t really happen; like it was a dream and not real.”
“It wasn’t real,” Farlow said as he opened the door. “That’s why I’m here. May we come in?” Christina was at his side, which meant the rest were surely close by.
As suspected, the entire group congregated in Ty’s room to learn of my experience and hear what Farlow had to say.
“Calipee created Cherry Valley within this world. This town does not exist on any earth map.” He looked at Chris.
“So that’s why I had to follow the internal GPS, and why my mother couldn’t tell us where to go.” Chris looked at Farlow.
“Yes. I had believed it was why we couldn’t get into town, but I suspect they used her force field around the town to their advantage and worked some additional magia on it as well,” Farlow answered.
“They?” Nolan asked. “As in the buio followers out there?”
“Precisely,” Farlow confirmed.
“If this world had been created solely for the purpose of keeping us away from Pylira, but safe as well from those who belonged here, it would make sense that Calipee would have some safeguards attached,” Ty commented.
The Curse of Ormshire (The Beast Within Book 2) Page 4
