by Bronwyn Eley
‘No,’ he whispered.
No.
It was a nightmare. It had to be.
Anders hurried forward and bent down beside Jesper’s still form. He grasped her shoulders and lifted them. Her head sank back and her mouth opened, as if she was going to say something. But she didn’t. Her sunlight hair brushed the ground.
I rushed forward, falling to my knees by her head. ‘No, no, no!’ I wailed, cupping her face. My sweating hands burned against the coolness of her cheeks. ‘Jesper, come on!’
Anders turned to the other body in the room. The one I hadn’t even noticed until now. He was a city guard, or had been, until someone stuck a knife in his gut. I turned to Jesper, or what used to be her. Had she killed him? Had she taken him down with her?
Her skin wasn’t fair anymore; a sickly cold tone enveloped her entire body. She didn’t look regal. She wasn’t beautiful. Her eyes had sunk inwards; her mouth had gone slack; her dress was stained with blood and everything else released from her body the moment someone had stabbed her. I reached for a blanket on the edge of her bed and moved to drape it over her lower half, to hide the stains that did not belong on her kind, abused body.
She hadn’t even put on her shoes yet – I spotted them on the other side of the room. Her feet, once as fair as the rest of her, were turning black.
Her dress had slipped, revealing a damaged shoulder. I touched my fingers to the days-old wounds from Rennard’s cruel hands, now covered in fresh blood from my shaking fingers.
‘What did he do to you?’ I whispered. ‘Why did you let him?’
Her dress had a small tear over her upper thigh. Something was wrong with the flesh beneath. My breath hitched as I reached to spread the tear wider.
Melted flesh, about the size of a fist. Once hidden, now on display.
‘What?’ I whispered, running trembling fingers over the grooves in her skin.
Anders was still holding her close. He glanced at me, gently released his grip on Jesper’s body, and pulled me to him, an action that broke me. My pain echoed around the room. I pressed my face into his chest and screamed.
Pain shot from my head down my neck. My body shook. I shoved against Anders, pushing away from him. ‘Thorn!’ I spat, choking on his name, pointing to the body. ‘He did this! I know it. But w-why?’ I glanced down at Jesper’s face. ‘Why kill her?’
Anders merely stared at her, eyes glazed over.
‘It makes no sense,’ I said, wiping my face with my sleeve. My knees groaned with pain against the stone floor, begging me to stand, to flee while I could, before Thorn came back.
‘I wanted to send someone else,’ Anders said quietly. I looked at him, taking in the pain on his face through narrowed eyes. ‘I said I would stay with her just in case, and send someone else to fetch you, but she insisted she would be fine and that you –’ He drew a sharp breath, blew it out. ‘That you were the one in danger.’
‘I’ll kill him for this.’ Rage rose in my chest. After killing Rennard, the thought of doing it again sent waves of sickness through me. But for Jesper, I would make Thorn pay.
‘You can’t be sure it was him.’
‘But it was,’ I seethed, throwing a hand toward the dead guard. My breath hitched, panic swamping me again. ‘He sent his murderer to finish her off because he’s too much of a coward to do it himself. Maybe if he had, she would have killed him instead!’ I drew a shaky breath. ‘I don’t know why he did this, but I know it was him.’
I fumbled to move the blanket higher over Jesper’s body, to cover her. But not her face – not yet. I let out a sob and Anders reached for my arms.
I snatched them away, falling back, shooting my hands behind for balance. I hissed when my left hand landed on a sharp object.
The Relic lay harmlessly by Jesper’s side.
Wrapped up in all the panic, the blood, the fear, I hadn’t noticed it. I stilled.
It was blue again.
But slowly, very slowly, the blue began to leech away to yellow.
No.
Cupping my hand to my chest, I turned away from it. Anders’ eyes were wide.
‘Is that the – how did it –?’ He cut himself off. The next words that came from his mouth were careful, quiet, considering.
‘You touched it.’
The pounding in my chest grew louder as I stared at my throbbing hand, at the mark imprinted in the centre of my palm. From the impact.
No.
Anders must have known, too, that Jesper was pregnant, the last of the Ediann bloodline able to possess it. No longer. Not since Thorn –
The full weight of what just happened crushed down on me. I couldn’t feel it anymore – the pain the Relic had brought me day after day for the last few months. But I did feel something. Something else, something new. A gentle warmth, like the comforting heat of a fireplace, radiating from the stone.
It had been free from the Ediann bloodline for only a few moments, perhaps an hour at most, before another bloodline claimed it.
Mine.
With trembling lips, I grabbed the Relic and hurled it across the room. I didn’t want it. That ugly, cursed, poisonous stone. But I had touched it –
No, no, no, no –
‘Jesper, I’m sorry,’ I moaned. She hadn’t wanted it either. Look what it got her. A life of misery. Sold off by her own family. Used by a man who only cared about attaching power to his bloodline forever.
The Relic killed Rennard. It was his undoing. And now it had killed her too.
But whoever had done it hadn’t taken the Relic from Jesper afterwards. It made no sense. Why just kill her for the sake of killing?
I looked at the dead guard.
‘Who was he?’
‘I don’t know,’ Anders admitted, scrutinising the blank face. ‘It doesn’t matter right now. We have to get moving.’
I shook my head, looking to my friend. Anders stood, taking me with him. My gaze lingered a moment longer on her.
‘She’s gone, Kaylan.’ I could tell he was trying hard to suppress his pain. It was clear he had cared for Jesper. ‘And now we have to go.’
‘Get off me!’ I shouted, jerking my arms back. He barely moved but released his grip. ‘If it was Thorn, why did he do this?’ I pointed to Jesper, blood coating the bottom of my pants, the fabric sticking to my skin. ‘Why kill her and leave that?’ I threw my arm out roughly toward where the Relic had landed.
‘Maybe Thorn didn’t do it,’ Anders said as I paced over to the fallen jewel. I stared down at it silently for a moment, listening to his reasoning. ‘Maybe it was this man alone – he obviously didn’t get the chance to take it.’
Anders’ eyes were back on Jesper. She was so still. As was Anders. As was I. As if we were waiting to be told what to do next.
Rennard stood over her body, lost in quiet reflection, a small smile tucked in the corner of his mouth. He returned my stare, eyes cold and empty as mine.
But he wasn’t real.
I took a step back. Too many bodies in the room. Too much death. Too much blood.
Another step.
My back met an obstruction and I turned to it, rage coiled in my fists, ready to strike.
I wasn’t ready to see Jesper’s warrior costume, the one I had made for her, hanging on the wardrobe before me. My hands froze mid-air, then slowly reached for it. Why did she have it out?
Running my hands over the leather, I pulled the armour from the wardrobe. The weight of the mail strained against my weak muscles as I appraised it.
Had she intended to take it with us when we left? To wear it?
The secret warrior, struck down before she had the chance to become what she desired. Freedom had been before her. Her chance to start again – and not alone, either – was gone now.
With great effort, I tugged my shirt over my head and dropped it on the floor.
‘What are you doing?’
There was a delicate edge to Anders’ voice that told me, without having to l
ook, what my naked body looked like. Without care, I continued to strip down to my undergarments.
‘We need to get moving, Kaylan.’
‘My clothes are covered in blood and muck. They will do nothing to help me in a fight. But this –’ I held up the armour meant for Jesper. ‘This might be useful to me out there. Will you help me get the mail on?’
‘Of course,’ he said softly, moving toward me. Together we fitted the suit to my malnourished body, pulling the straps to make up for the generous space left behind by the Relic’s poison.
‘Put this on, too.’ Anders pulled a black cloak from Jesper’s wardrobe and flung it across my shoulders.
As soon as we were done, I ran from the room, unable to be there a moment longer. A small part of me regretted not saying goodbye to Jesper, and I even slowed at one point as the urge to return pulled at me. But I didn’t. I kept running. I didn’t know or care if Anders was following.
I welcomed the steep ramp that led to the grounds. My vision was a blur in the darkness outside. The sun was gone and a harsh wind knocked me about as I ran into the gardens.
Then the downpour began. Pelting into me at an angle, making my skin sting. But I welcomed it, watching the blood from my hands dilute in the rain, slithering down toward the ground and away from me.
I moved onto the grass and pushed for Markus’ outhouse, encouraging my legs up the hill. I crashed into the fence, swaying forward, the wood buckling under my weight. The dogs hurried out of the house to my aid.
‘Kaylan?’
Markus appeared in the doorway. I looked up at him, wheezing. He ran to me. ‘How did you get here?’
I opened my mouth, not knowing what to say. Not really knowing why I had come here.
‘How did you get out? What’s going on?’ He frowned. When I still said nothing, he hopped the fence, grabbed my shoulders and lowered us to the ground. He wiped a hand over his face to remove the rain. ‘Kaylan, let’s go inside –’
‘No,’ I said hurriedly. ‘I can’t stay.’
‘What’s happened?’ The crease in his brow had never been so deep. ‘Why are you wearing that?’
‘I – I can’t say.’
He would have heard about Rennard. About my incarceration. I should have been the one to tell him about Jesper, but I couldn’t bring myself to say it. He would find out soon enough, but by then, with any luck, I would be gone.
If I told him I was leaving, he would try to help me. It would be the death of him.
‘I just wanted to see you,’ I said breathlessly. It was then that I noticed the frown on his face – different to the one that had been there before. I knew that look. The pain, the confusion and fear.
He could feel the Relic.
Then I realised: so could I.
But –
I reached down to my pocket, suddenly feeling the lump that had always been there. I must have grabbed it on my way out, taken it from where I’d thrown it to the floor.
Why had I done that?
‘Is that blood?’ He touched the side of my face, pain seemingly forgotten. Then he grabbed my wrists, pulling them roughly. ‘Tell me what’s happening, Kaylan!’
‘I cut myself by mistake.’
‘You’re lying,’ he muttered, eyes flaring.
I was so sick of lying to him. How could I not tell him about Jesper? How could I leave him to hear it from someone else, someone who didn’t love her as we did? Would this be my last lie to him? Would this be how he remembered me?
I pressed my lips to his. He jumped slightly at their touch, returning it fully after the briefest moment. But this couldn’t last.
I broke us apart and pulled away. He didn’t move after me, just sat there in the mud and rain.
‘Despite everything that happened here –’ I began softly, but the rain overpowered my voice. I spoke louder. ‘Despite the pain and the inevitable end for me, for us – despite it all, I’m glad that I met you.’
Everything in my tone begged Markus not to ask questions, to just accept what I was saying. He remained silent until I took a step back.
‘How are you going to get out?’ He pushed to his feet.
I pressed my hand gently against the stowaway in my pocket. There was no pain from it anymore. A dull warmth, maybe, but no pain.
Mine.
Was this what it was to be on the other side? To feel no pain or fear from the magic?
‘I’m coming with you,’ Markus said suddenly.
His words gave me pause, but only for a second. I gave my best careless smile. ‘You can’t. Think of what will happen if you’re caught.’
‘Kaylan!’
We both stopped short at the desperate call that rang out of the darkness. It was Anders, and he was close.
I turned to face Markus again.
‘Who is that?’ he asked.
‘Duty calls.’ I did my best impersonation of someone who hadn’t just found her friend’s lifeless body on a cold floor. One last time, I tried to be the girl I was before all of this happened. I slid my arms around Markus and drew him into a hug.
‘Kaylan!’ Anders’ voice called over the howls of the wind as he reached us. He gave Markus a questioning look. ‘What are you doing? We have to go!’
‘Kaylan, wait –’ Markus reached for the squirming mass of animals at the fence, eager to be close to us, and pulled one from the pack.
Rover.
He pressed her to my chest.
‘Markus –’ I began.
‘Take her.’
The wind howled and I hunched over the puppy to protect her. When I looked up again, Markus had hopped the fence and was returning to the house. The dogs followed him.
‘Kaylan.’ Anders placed a hand on my shoulder. ‘We don’t have time for this.’
He deserves more than you.
I pressed my lips together, but followed Anders into the wild night. As much as I resisted, I couldn’t help stealing one final glance behind me.
Markus was nowhere to be seen.
Chapter 30
What a cruel trick the Relic was playing on me. With the magic now mine and Rennard gone, I thought the pain would go with him. But it wasn’t that easy. The damage was done and, while the searing effects of its poison were gone, I still felt less than I once was.
With Rover bouncing around in my arms and my weakened muscles begging me to rest, keeping up with Anders was challenging. I was glad he took charge, leading the way through the winding streets.
There had been only one guard at the gate, which surprised me at first. But when Anders didn’t pause a beat, I realised he must have arranged it. How many were loyal to Jesper over Rennard?
The wind was wild. Had it not been for the rain, the dry dust embedded into every crack or crevice in this city would have been flying around furiously. Instead, the wind blew the rain sideways. It struck our exposed skin like little daggers. Wooden shop signs whipped around harshly, and I narrowly avoided being struck by a falling roof tile.
Ropes of my hair wove across my face, sticking across my eyes and mouth. A blessing, I figured, hiding my traitorous face from those who would turn me in.
As we passed into the lower streets, I called directions to Anders. My heart surged as I began recognising the streets of my childhood, the houses of people who I hoped were still my friends after what I had done.
I tried not to imagine the worst. That I would find my house empty and learn that Thorn had taken my family into custody. If he had, my plan as it was would go out the window. I would never leave without them, even if that meant I never left at all.
I rounded a corner at such high speed that I barrelled straight into Anders’ back. He grunted, turning around to grasp my shoulders. The look in his eyes was frantic, the pressure in his hands burning my skin as he held me back from going any further.
‘Anders,’ I shoved against him. ‘We have to move.’
That was when I heard it. The sound of voices above the rain. Not just normal voic
es: panicked voices. Cries, shouts, a commotion.
I angled my body to see around Anders’ broad shoulders. Rover fell from my arms as they went slack. She yelped, but the sound passed right through me.
Any other time, I would have been impressed by the way I freed myself from Anders and hurried past him to my house. But the gathered crowd that stood between me and my front door was all I cared about right now.
I didn’t slow down. I barrelled right into a large man whose back was to me.
‘Move!’ I screamed. ‘Move!’
He moved. They all moved.
They must have known it was my house. My front door with the large sign bolted to the wood. I didn’t stop to read it. All I saw was a flash of the word SEDITION before I ran through the open door.
The house was a mess. Chairs overturned, water spilled across the floor, mixing with dark ash from the dying fireplace.
The same ash that covered my little brothers’ bodies.
I stood unmoving in the doorway. The rain drenched my back and the floor around my feet, frozen in place. Voices behind me grew louder but blurred into nothing.
‘Kye!’ I hurled myself forward and crashed to the ground. My hands were covered in dirt and blood and rain, but I grabbed him anyway. I shook his body harder than I should have. His little head flopped side to side. His eyes were closed.
The nightmare before me tried to push past the barriers I’d thrown up in my mind. This had to be another hallucination. It had to be. It had to be.
It wasn’t.
I screamed, then. Louder than any sound I had ever made.
‘Kaylan!’ It was Anders. Other people were calling out too. ‘Kaylan, we have to go!’
‘It’s her!’ a woman yelled from behind me. ‘Ian, grab her before Captain Thorn returns!’
‘Don’t touch her!’ Anders again.
It escalated after that. People started pouring into my house alongside the rain, making their way toward me and Anders. Pushing and pulling. All the while, I screamed. Every time someone tried to grab me, I clawed at their eyes, pulled at their hair. I shoved them away and aimed my booted foot at their kneecaps.
