The Black Shard

by Victoria Simcox

  "Really?" Bronya said, listening intently.

  "Well, Jobin was walking by the restaurant, so I asked him where everyone had gone—why the street was so barren? He said it's because there's an illness sweeping over our city, making the people of Ezeree very sick."

  "Then we need to inform Werrien about this so that he and Kristina can leave Tezerel as soon as possible."

  "I was thinking the same thing, but then Sepel and Heerzek Brinewine, along with two other girls, just happened to pass by, looking for Werrien and Kristina. I told them that they were inside the restaurant, and then I told them what Jobin had told me about the illness."

  "What did they say? Did they already know about it?"

  "Yes, they did."

  "So, did they ask you to tell Werrien and Kristina to go back to the ship so they can leave Tezerel as soon as possible?"

  "I asked them if I should tell Werrien, but they said that King Warren declared that the illness was confined to the city and that it would be fine for Werrien to take Kristina on a horse ride up to the Hills of Norel."

  "Do Werrien and Kristina even know about the illness going around?"

  "No, and Heerzek mentioned that the king said it would be best to not even mention it to them, because he didn't want to worry Werrien." Zalya sighed and a somber expression came to her face. She held Bronya's hands in hers. "I don't know if you are aware of this, Bronya, but Kristina's time here in our world is very short, and so the king wants Werrien and her to have some fun before she has to leave again."

  Tears suddenly came to Bronya's brown eyes. She let go of Zalya's hands and reached into her apron pocket for a handkerchief. She wiped her eyes with it.

  "Now, now, girl, pull yourself together. We can't have you going out into the dining area all misty-eyed and with your emotions falling out all over the place," Zalya said.

  "Yes, of course not," Bronya said. "I certainly can't be blubbering all over the customers, now can I?" She sniffled and blew her nose.

  Zalya embraced Bronya. "You're a kind soul, Bronya," she said, patting her on the back. "Now let's go out there together and bid the youths farewell. Shall we?"

  Bronya smiled and nodded her head. The two of them went to the dining area, where they saw Leri and Shin hanging around Werrien and Kristina's table. Leri was standing and Shin was now behind Leri's chair. Leri was animatedly gesturing something with his hands, explaining, with great detail, how he had caught the large beast of a shark mounted on the wall.

  "And I'll have you two young'ns know, 'twas no picnic, reeling the monstrous creature in. No siree. Took me and my first mate, Shin, here,"—he reached out and hit the other dwarf on his back—"oh, I'd say t'ree hours or so before he gave himself up to us."

  Shin said nothing but only smiled beneath his meticulously twisted and curled mustache.

  Zalya and Bronya approached the table.

  "Leri," Zalya said, "that shark tale of yours gets longer each time you tell it."

  "The young'ns here are intrigued by it," Leri said running his weathered hand over his silky-smooth beard.

  "Do ya even have a clue at all who you're telling it to?" Zalya said.

  Leri, who wore glasses, had them set on the top of his head. "Now, Zalya, don't take me as a fool. I can see we have here two Ezereen yout's," he said.

  "Is that all?" Zalya said, staring at him wide-eyed.

  "Two very fine Ezereen yout's," Leri amended.

  Zalya shook her head and rolled her eyes. Then, with a light swipe of her hand she pushed Leri's glasses off his head so they fell to the bridge of his crooked nose.

  Gawking through his glasses, Leri blinked a few times as he glanced from Kristina to Werrien. Then his face lit up. "Flippity flounders!" he said. "Why, it's our own handsome young prince." He looked at Shin. "Why didn't ya tell me i twas our own prince sittin' here?" he said.

  "Well, cousin, ya never asked me, now did ya?" Shin replied with a smirk.

  - 34 -

  The Hills of Norel

  Leri apologized many times to Werrien and even offered to take Werrien and Kristina on his boat for a tour of the coastline of Tezerel. But Werrien let him know that he already had plans to take Kristina horseback riding.

  Bronya placed the warm bag containing the pastries on the table in front of Kristina. Kristina opened it and the smell of the freshly baked delicacies streamed into her nose. Kristina's face beamed happily up at Bronya and Zalya. "Oh, my gosh! These smell so good!" she said.

  "Wait until you taste them," Bronya said, beaming back at Kristina. "They're Zalya's specialty."

  "I bagged them up because I figured you would want to be on your way and still have time to enjoy the lovely weather," Zalya said.

  "Thanks, Zalya," Werrien said.

  Werrien and Kristina stood up to leave, but as they walked to the front door of the restaurant, Kristina's arm suddenly felt very itchy where Dozo had licked it, and she scratched it vigorously.

  The weather was pleasantly warm when they stepped outside, and Kristina was glad that it had cooled down since they were in Zalya's backyard. Taysha and Lisheng were standing near the front entrance, but Lonkin was nowhere in sight.

  "Funny," Werrien said. "Lonkin usually meets me when he delivers the horses to me." Werrien glanced around and noticed that there wasn't a soul in the street except for Zalya, Bronya, Kristina, and himself. "Sure is quiet out here," he added. Then his face suddenly lit up. "Oh, yeah! Now I know why! It's because of the fishing tournament this week."

  Bronya's eyes nervously shifted to Zalya, remembering she had thought the same, that the tournament was this week and not the next.

  Zalya changed the subject quickly. "So where are you two off to?" she asked Werrien. She wanted to make certain he was planning on leaving the city right away. If there was an illness going around, she didn't want him to catch it.

  "I'm going to take Kristina for a ride up the Hills of Norel," Werrien said enthusiastically, smiling at Kristina.

  Kristina smiled back at him. She was really looking forward to the ride.

  "Well, it's quite the trip. You two better get a move on it if you want to catch the sunset from the top of the hills," Zalya said.

  "There's the most beautiful view of the Sicapif Sea from up there," Bronya said dreamily.

  The four gave each other their parting hugs, and then Werrien and Kristina mounted the horses.

  "Werrien!" Zalya said suddenly. "I must not forget to tell you: Sepel and Heerzek were here a little earlier when you two were still in the restaurant."

  "And they didn't come in to eat?" Werrien said. "That's not like them."

  "They had a couple of young ladies with them; they were entertaining," Zalya said with a wink at Werrien. "They also said that when you're finished with your ride, your father would like you to go directly to the ship."

  "I was planning on doing that anyway," Werrien said. "The horses will be ready to get back to their stalls to rest." He patted Lisheng on his muscular neck.

  Kristina, sitting on Taysha, was eager to get on their way. The sore on her leg was irritating her again, and her lower arm was still itching. She wondered if an insect had bitten her arm. If it did, it must have been invisible, because I haven't seen one insect in Tezerel or Bernovem. She glanced down at her arm, but nothing about it looked unusual to her, other than it being quite red where she had been scratching it.

  The four said their good-byes, then Zalya and Bronya stood on the cobblestone street, watching Werrien and Kristina until they disappeared from sight. Right after, Zalya turned to Bronya, who didn't look quite herself. Bronya's usually vibrant, pink cheeks and ears were pale, and dark circles surrounded her eyes.

  "You're not looking your perky self," Zalya said. "Are you under the weather too?"

  Bronya stared ahead soberly, at the barren street. She seemed to be in a daze. "Do you mean you aren't feeling well either?" she asked, turning to look at Zalya—and that was when she noticed a red sore forming on Zalya's n
eck below her right ear.

  ~ ~ ~

  Taysha and Lisheng followed a trail that snaked up to the Hills of Norel. It took them a couple of hours to reach the very top, and when they finally did, even though they were covered in sweat and breathing heavily, they were in great spirits.

  "This is my favorite place in all of Tezerel," Taysha told Kristina, whinnying happily. The beautiful white mare suddenly reared up on her hind legs, and as her upper body raised up in the air, Kristina felt overjoyed as well. She laughed, for it brought back memories of the first time that she was in Bernovem, though this time was different from back then. Now, she no longer was scared of Taysha's abrupt moves—no, this time she welcomed them.

  Werrien and Kristina rode the horses through what seemed like endless rolling green pastures, galloping them until the horses had burned up most of their stored-up energy. When the horses became too tired to run any longer, the teens brought them to a stream to drink some fresh, cool water. Then they removed the horses' bridles and saddles so that Taysha and Lisheng could spend some time in the meadow, grazing and relaxing before embarking on the journey back down the hills.

  Even though the horses were tired, they still had enough energy to run free in the meadow and even buck up a few times before settling down to graze.

  While the horses grazed, Werrien took Kristina to the northwest side of the pastures, where there was a bluff, and beyond that, just as Bronya had stated, was a breathtaking view of the sun as it cast its rays over the Sicapif Sea.

  Werrien sat down on the ground near the edge of the bluff. "Have a seat," he said to Kristina, patting the grass beside him. Kristina sat next to him, and as she did, she felt the stone heat up, though not around her neck area—this time it was inside her shirt, near the waistband of her jeans.

  Werrien stared out at the sea. "How do you like the view?" he asked.

  "It's beautiful," Kristina said, but all she could think of was the broken necklace. Her stomach cramped up, and even though the sun's warm rays shined down on her, she shivered. There's no more time for putting it off. I need to tell Werrien now what has happened to the necklace.

  Before she could, however, he addressed her. "Kristina?"

  She turned to look at him and wondered why his blue-green eyes had a peculiar look in them, one she hadn't seen before. "Yes?" She felt very uneasy and hoped Werrien didn't notice her apprehension.

  "Do you remember when we were behind the waterfall, and you asked me if there were any girls in Tezerel that I might be interested in?"

  Kristina quickly broke eye contact with him and stared out at the sea again. "Yes, of course I remember," she said somberly. I suppose that now you're about to tell me that there was someone all along. She turned again to face him. "Werrien, before you say anything more, there's something really important that I need to tell you."

  "Please, let me finish first what I was about to say," Werrien insisted.

  "Okay, if you must, but then I really need to tell you something."

  Werrien looked intently at her. "I just need to say that there is actually someone in Tezerel that I am interested in."

  Kristina's heart torpedoed. Of course, she thought. I already knew it. It's that beautiful girl who was in the restaurant.

  "Actually, very interested in," he added. If her mind hadn't been consumed by thoughts of the consequences of the broken necklace, she would have gotten up and walked away.

  "Whatever, Werrien," she said sharply. "If it's 'I'm happy for you' you're wanting me to say, then I'll say it." Her eyes glazed over. "But that doesn't mean that I'll really mean—"

  Before she had finished her sentence he reached his hand out toward her and brushed away a strand of her hair that had fallen across her left eye. "You know what I admire about you?" he said.

  "No, I can't say I do," Kristina said. She just wanted him to get on with it and tell her who the girl was so that she could tell him about the necklace.

  "You don't realize how incredible you are," he said softly. "And, may I add, how beautiful you are."

  She stared at the ground between them, and a tear rolled out of the corner of her eye. "Thanks for the compliment," she said softly, "but you really don't have to try to make me feel better. I can take what you're about to tell me."

  "Please look at me," Werrien said. She did so, and his eyes seemed to pierce through hers like lasers. "The girl in Tezerel is you," he said.

  Kristina's brow creased—she looked up at him curiously, trying to comprehend his words.

  He smiled. "You weren't in Tezerel when you asked me, so I didn't want to lie and say that there was someone there, when she just happened to be sitting right next to me on the rock behind the waterfall."

  Kristina sniffled and at the same time couldn't help but smile. Her eyes shifted back to the ground. Leave it up to Werrien to make a joke out of this, she thought.

  "Please don't look at the ground," Werrien said.

  "All right," Kristina said, her stomach flooding with butterflies. She looked up at his face.

  His eyes scanned her face. "I'm in love with you," he said.

  Her mind drew a blank; she was speechless.

  "Ever since that day we stood on the rock, before you left Bernovem the first time, I knew that I loved you."

  Kristina wanted to tell him that she felt the same about him, but for some reason, the words wouldn't come out of her mouth. Then suddenly, he drew nearer to her, and instinctively her eyes closed. Next, she felt his lips touch hers, and at that very moment, her heart sped up, so fast that she thought it might explode out of her chest.

  Right after the kiss, Werrien noticed that she was trembling. "Are you okay?" he asked.

  "I'm fine," she said, even though her nerves felt like they had just been lit on fire. "It's just that ... this is the first time for me."

  "For me as well," Werrien said. "And I'll remember it forever."

  Kristina stared up at him again. "I will, too," she said.

  They kissed again and then both fell silent for a short while, listening to the light breeze roll over the hills.

  Then Werrien broke the silence. "I was planning to tell my parents how I feel about you." He paused for a brief moment and then went on. "But now that I already know what their reaction will be, I don't think I will."

  Kristina suddenly thought of Werrien's conversation with his father the night before. "Werrien," she said, "it's about the necklace." She nervously tore a chunk of grass up from the ground, and as she did so; Werrien looked at her hand and noticed blood trickling onto it, down from the same spot on her arm that she had been scratching.

  - 35 -

  Truths Are Told

  The persistent itch on Kristina's arm had suddenly returned and she began scratching it again, not even aware of the blood.

  Werrien took hold of her arm; it felt cold and was covered in goose bumps. "You'd better quit scratching. You're making it bleed," he said.

  Kristina looked at her fingers. They were trembling and the tips had blood on them. Werrien turned her wrist over, and they both stared at the spot where she had been scratching.

  "The last time I looked at it, it was only slightly red," Kristina said. It was now an open wound the size of a pencil eraser. She looked up at Werrien and pulled her hand out of his grip. Then she quickly stood up and backed away from him.

  Werrien stood up as well. "Hey, if I hurt you in anyway, I'm—"

  "No—it's not you," she said agitatedly. "Werrien, the necklace broke." She reached into her shirt and pulled out the warm stone; it was shimmering, pale pink, and dangling at the end of the golden chain's broken end. "Hester tore it from my neck last night in a jealous fit of rage," she explained.

  Werrien's lips tensed into a thin line. Though he tried not to overreact, he couldn't hide the bleak expression that had formed on his face. He stared blankly at the broken necklace, a million random thoughts churning in his head.

  "Werrien, I know why I have these sores," Kristina
said distraughtly.

  "What do you mean, 'sores'?" Werrien responded. "Do you have more than one?"

  "When you didn't come to meet me last night, where the trio was playing their music, I decided to go to your father's cabin and meet up with you there instead. But when I arrived there, it dawned on me that you might be having a private conversation with your father that I shouldn't interrupt. Instead, I decided to go back up to the main deck, but as I approached the ladder, I saw Elzwur's foot stepping on it. I panicked and quickly hid behind the ladder. Anyway, to make a long story short, I heard through the outer wall of your father's cabin when your father told you what had happened to Margah, when he took off his crystal."

  "How many sores do you have?" Werrien calmly asked again.

  "Only two," Kristina said, bending down to roll up her left pant leg to show him the one on the inside of her calf. When she viewed her bare leg, her stomach wrenched in a knot—the sore was now the size of a dime, with a small amount of puss surrounding it. But that wasn't the worst of it. She had developed what looked like a raised, red rash on her leg as well. She quickly rolled up her right pant leg and found yet another sore developing just below her knee, and the rash was forming on that leg as well. Werrien was standing beside her and she looked up at him. "It's happening to me, the same as it happened to Margah."

  Werrien was afraid she was right, but he didn't want her to know it. "Kristina, try to stay calm. I'll run to the woods and find some fairy blossom."

  "All right, but hurry—please!"

  Werrien was only gone for a few minutes, but every one of those minutes felt like an hour to Kristina. Her mind gravitated toward thinking of what it would be like to be a tree on top of the Hills of Norel. At least I'd have a nice view of the Sicapif Sea. She cringed at her thought. I can't believe that I'm actually trying to make the best of this terrifying situation. Am I going crazy as well? She glanced around but couldn't see a single tree, other than those in the woods where Werrien had run. She thought of how lonely she would be. I hope that Werrien would at least come to visit me. Just as she thought this, Werrien's hand gently touched her shoulder. She flinched away from him.